Camarones Rancheros (ranch-style shrimp)

 We ordered  Camarones Racheros from a Mexican restaurant last week. The shrimp dish tasted lip-smackingly good. I thought there would be a long ingredient list and complex cooking behind the delicious taste but was amazed to find simple recipes when I searched for recipes with this title.

I had my own doubts about the taste when I adapted from this and this recipe to make the dish - it just seemed too simple to yield great taste. Boy - was  I wrong! What a great big bang for the buck. This recipe comes together in a very short while and is very flavorful. Use the freshest shrimp you can find for the best taste.

Ingredients

• About 1lb shrimp - deveined and cleaned.
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive or any other vegetable oil
• 1/2 of a red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 ripe roma tomatoes, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, chopped (retain seeds from one half only, you can add more seeds if needed later)
• 1 tsp chicken bouillion
• 1/8 - 1/4 tsp black pepper
• Salt to taste.
• 2 handfuls of chopped cilantro (leaves and tender stems)

Method

1. Heat a saute pan over the stove and add in butter and oil.
2. Add in onions and saute till translucent.
3. Add in jalapeno and saute for 3 minutes.
4. Add in the garlic and chicken boullion and give it a stir.
5. Add in tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cook uncovered for 3 mins.
6. Cover with a lid and simmer for 12 minutes.
7. Add in the shrimp and cook uncovered till shrimp is no longer pink. You will need to flip around the shrimp mid way through to ensure even cooking. This should take from 4-10 mins depending upon how big your shrimp are
8. Turn off heat, Add in the chopped cilantro and stir well.
9. Serve hot with rice.

Chicken Thanni Kuzhambu

This recipe is adapted from Jinoo's kitchen's thanni kuzhambu recipe. This is a great recipe and tastes especially great with dosai.

Note: I typically make the thanni kuzhambu powder in bulk and store in freezer. See the recipe for the thanni kuzhambu powder at the end.

Ingredients

• 2 cups shallots
• 1/3 cup coconut 
• 2 + 2 sprigs curry leaves
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 kg chicken
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 2 heaped tbsp thanni kulambu podi
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1+ 1 cup water.
• 2 sprigs coriander leaves.

Method

1. Heat 2 tsp sesame oil in a pressure cooker. Add and fry shallots and 2 sprigs curry leaves for 2 mins.

2. Add coconut and fry for a minute more.

3. Transfer to a mixie, add 2 tbsp of the thanni kuzhambu podi and grind to a fine paste.

4. In the same pressure cooker, add in chicken, turmeric powder and gg paste. Saute for a few mins.

5. Add 1 cup of water and salt. Cover and cook for 10 mins (for broiler chicken) or 20 mins (for nattu chicken) till 3/4th done.

6. Add in the remaining curry leaves, salt and the thanni kuzhambu paste and 1 cup of water. Pressure cook for 10 mins.

7. Once pressure comes down, add a couple sprigs chopped coriander leaves as garnish.

Thanni Kuzhambu podi

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup coriander seeds
• 12-15 red chillis
• 2 tbsp each of cumin seeds, pepper corns and fennel seeds
• 3 2 inch cinnamon sticks
• 5 cloves
• 2 tbsp rice

Method

1. Dry roast coriander seeds and chillis till toasted. Set aside.

2. Dry roast the rest of the ingredients together till the rice starts puffing up.

3. Grind everything to a smooth powder.

Oven roasted channa dal

This is an addictive and healthy snack. Recipe is adapted from here: https://loveisinmytummy.com/2016/06/oven-roasted-chana-dal.html

Ingredients

Channa dal (split) - 1 cup, dry.

1 tsp salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp red chili powder

About 1 tbsp olive (or other vegetable) oil

Method.

1. Soak channa dal for an hour.

2.  Pressure cook with 1 tsp of salt and 3 cups of water for exactly 5 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally. An Instant Pot works great here as you can soak the channa dal and use the delay function to start the cooking after an hour.

3. Drain the boiled channa and lay to dry on a towel for at least an hour.

4. Pre-heat oven to 400F. 

5. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray the foil with a thin layer of cooking spray.

6. In a bowl, toss the channa dal, garlic powder and oil. Spread the mixture on the lined baking sheet.

7. Bake in the middle rack of the oven for 15 minutes.

8. Take out the tray, stir the channa dal a bit and put it back in for another 10  minutes.

9. Check for doneness. If the channa is still soft, stir again and then bake for another 5-15 minutes (best to check at 5 minute intervals to avoid burning. Stir the channa dal each time you pull the tray out to ensure even roasting). Channa dal should be golden brown and crisp (but not hard) when it is done.

10. Transfer the channa dal to a heat proof dish and toss with the chili powder when the dal is still warm. Add more salt as needed. Use a couple drops of oil while tossing if it seems like the chili powder is not sticking to the dal.

11. Let it cool down completely and then transfer to an air-tight container.