Mutton Vellai Kurma

 A mild, light mutton kurma from Parvathy's kitchen on YouTube. This is run by my friend's mom and she has some very authentic recipes which are well explained and have great results. I have transcribed it  just to make it easier to follow while cooking.

Ingredients

• 500g Mutton
• 200g shallots
• 10 cloves garlic
• 1 potato
• 4 heaped tsp coriander powder
• 6 slit green chillies
• 2 sprig curry leaves
• 4 tbsp coconut oil

To grind to a fine paste

• 1/2 cup coconut
• 1 tsp poppy seeds
• 10 cashews

For tempering (round 1)

• 1 brinji leaves
• 2 pieces cinnamon
• 2 cardamom
• 2 cloves
• 1 start anise
• Big pinch kalpasi

For tempering (round 2)

• 10 broken cashews
• 1 tsp sombu
• Curry leaves
• 1 tsp ghee

Method

1. In a pressure cooker, add the coconut oil. When it heats up, add all tempering ingredients in round 1.
2. Add shallots and fry till it gets soft.
3. Add green chillies and curry leaves and chopped garlic.
4. Saute for 3 minutes.
5. Add coriander powder.
6. Add mutton and saute till mutton gets heated up.
7. Add the salt and the whole unpeeled potato.
8. Close cooker lid and pressure cook for 20 minutes after first whistle.
9. For the final tempering, add 1 tsp ghee to a pan and add sombu, cashew and curry leaves. Add tempering to cooked mutton.
10. Mash the potato and add it back to the mutton.
11. Once mixture starts boiling, add the cocount paste.
12. Bring it to a boil and allow to boil for 2 mins. Switch off heat.

Chettinad chicken pepper kuzhambu

Recipes from Solai's blog has been featured several times in this blog before and for a tasty reason. I visited her blog after a gap and was pleasantly surprised to find a whole bunch of new recipes on it.

But one particular recipe caught my eye: http://solaiachiskitchen.blogspot.in/2012/05/chettinad-milagu-kozhi-kuzhambu.html

Because, any recipe with the words "chicken" and "pepper" in them makes me want to run to the kitchen and cook the dish asap. Besides, this recipe sounded very promising.

I made it and it was delicious. Both S and I could even slurp the kuzhambu without any accompaniment.

I did not make any change at all to the recipe. Follow it as is for a wonderful pepper chicken dish.

Chettinad chicken pepper kuzhambu

Chili chicken

This recipe for chili chicken must be the easiest ever. And it tastes great too. No wonder I always use this as my default chili chicken recipe!

http://mydhaba.blogspot.com/2005/12/chilly-chicken.html

Super easy and tasty chicken fry

You can also call this chicken dish SM chicken in honor of my cousin S's MIL who came up with this ultra easy recipe to make super yummy (but non-oily) chicken fry.

Below is the recipe in its original form. I have made notes regarding minor variations at the end. Please note that a non-stick pan is a must if you don't want to be hunched over your chicken while it is cooking and/or don't want to use copious amounts of oil.

Ingredients
Chicken 1/2 kg - cleaned and cut into medium sized pieces
Red chili powder 1.5 - 2 tsp (as per your spice tolerance level)
Dhania powder - 2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
2 tbsp plain yoghurt
Juice of 1/2 a medium-sized lemon
1" piece cinnamon stick
5 large pearls of garlic (or 7-8 small cloves)
Oil
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Take a wide non-stick pan and add enough oil to coat base of pan. Place on medium heat.
2. Add the cinnamon stick. Crush the garlic using a mortar-pestle (or the wide edge of a knife) and add.
3. When the garlic has cooked a bit and gives off a nice aroma, add the chicken pieces, chili powder, dhania powder and turmeric powder. Mix well so all the chicken pieces are coated with the spices.
4. Cover the pan with a lid, reduce heat to low.At this point, you can leave the chicken undisturbed and simply let it cook for 15-20 minutes. No necessity to add any water.
5. Check the chicken to see if it is done. If not, continue to cover and cook.
6. Else, add necessary salt, the yoghurt and lime juice. Mix well and cook without the lid till all the liquid from the yoghurt has evaporated and the chicken is mostly dry and has a nice coating to it.
7. Turn off heat and serve hot with rice or rotis.

Notes:
1. You can use 2-3 sprigs of curry leaves as seasoning along with the cinnamon and garlic to get a nice flavor.
2. There is no necessity to marinate the chicken beforehand. However, if you are so inclined, you can marinate the chicken with all the turmeric and about 1/2 of the chili powder you are planning to use and a little bit of salt. Adjust the ingredients accordingly while cooking.
3. The original recipe tastes great as is. Really, no tweaking is necessary.

Madurai style chicken kuzhambu

This is an easy recipe for chicken kuzhambu and is pretty tasty to make too.

http://websamayal.blogspot.com/2006/09/madurai-style-chicken-kuzhambu.html

These are the minor modifications I made to the recipe:

1. Added about a tablespoon of dhania powder and 1/2 tsp of black pepper powder to the chicken marinade.
2. Added 1 tsp of roasted fried gram (pottukadalai) to the dry ingredients to be ground.
3. I added 1.5 tbsp of coconut instead of 4 tbsp (I think no coconut shd also be fine).
4. Added a handful of curry leaves and 1/2 tsp of fennel seeds (sombu) as well for seasoning the oil used for tempering. I added only 1 cardamom instead of 3.
5. After opening the cooker, I added a  handful of chopped coriander leaves and let the liquid simmer for about 10 minutes before switching it off.

Egg roll

For me, egg rolls are the stars of Calcutta street food. When we lived in Calcutta, we used to buy egg rolls on Saturday nights as a weekend as a treat. I have never managed to get quite the same taste at home (obviously). Still, the egg roll recipe below makes a very satisfying and tasty dish with very little effort.

Using maida malabar parottas will take the taste of this dish to an entire new level. However, using wheat rotis is a not-too-bad healthy compromise.

Egg roll

Egg Roll

Ingredients (for one roll):
1 cooked wheat chapathi
1 egg
1/2 small onion, chopped
Lime juice, about 1 tsp
Tomato sauce
Green chilli sauce
Soy sauce
Pepper
Salt

All the ingredients

Method
1. Add the lime juice to the chopped onions and set aside.
2. Spray cooking oil on a tawa and place on medium heat.
3. Place chapathi on heated tawa. Break egg over the chapathi. Spread egg as much as you can over the surface of the chapathi.
4. Sprinkle pepper and salt on the egg (remember soy sauce is salty, so do not go over board with the salt).
5. Carefully flip the chapathi so that the egg side is facing down.
6. Continue cooking on medium heat. When the chapathi rises a bit, it means the eggs are cooked and are fluffing up.
7. Remove the egg coated chapathi from the tawa and place non-egg side down on a plate.
8. Sprinkle the onions in a vertical line across a diameter line of the chapathi.
9. Sprinkle all three sauces over the onions. The quantities of the sauces you use depends on your taste but in general, adding equal amounts of each (around 1-2 tsp each) tastes best.
10. Roll up the chapathi carefully so that the filling does not spill out.
11. If you want the roll to look professional, you can wrap a piece of wax paper or napkin paper around the lower half of the roll so that the filling does not fall out.

Serve hot!

Notes:
1. You can mince about 1/4-1/2 a green chilli and add it to the chopped onion/lime juice mixture. It enhances taste but could turn out to be very spicy if the chillis are fiery!

Easy chicken biryani

This recipe makes tasty chicken biryani. As an added bonus, it is quite easy to make. I was quite thrilled when I put the lid on the pan for the last bit of cooking and realized that I had not spent much time over the stove. The secret to that was using oil liberally (still not as liberal as the recipe suggested). Now I realize why restaurants have such a free hand with oil and ghee!

I followed the recipe exactly as is except for these alterations:
1. Added 1 slit green chilli to the seasoning items.
2. Cut down the recipe to use 2 cups of basmati rice rather than 3 cups and scaled the rest of the ingredients accordingly.
3. I cooked basmati rice till it started boiling in the electric rice cooker.I also added a bay leaf to the basmati rice along with the water and salt before cooking.
4. Since Indian gas-stoves do not have the "very low" temperature setting, I heated a tawa on high, then reduced the heat to the lowest setting and placed the dutch oven containing the layered chicken and the rice on top of the tawa for the last stage of cooking.
5. After turning off the stove, I left the dutch oven covered for 10 more minutes before opening the lid and mixing the chicken and rice together.

This recipe is dedicated to my sis who recently wrote about her rather interesting experience making chicken biryani :-).

Chicken liver pepper fry

My husband is a liver-lover. I don't care much for it though.I had to be forced to eat it during childhood - liver was considered to be very nutritious and thus was one of the foods I had to eat compulsorily.

This recipe from Solai's kitchen made such delicious liver fry that I voluntarily ate a few spoonfuls. My husband polished off the entire dish. Try it out!

Chicken liver pepper fry

 I made the dish with chicken liver and halved the ingredients as eye-balling told me that I probably had closer to 100g of liver rather than 200g.

Spicy Masala Shrimp (prawns)

We went to the fish-stall yesterday and bought shrimp as they looked quite fresh in their shells. The store-keeper was very helpful and offered to de-shell as well as de-vein the prawns. How nice! Obviously, we took up on the offer and brought home about a 1/4 kg of cleaned prawns.

Prawns sauteed in butter and seasoned with freshly ground pepper and salt tastes divine. However, it is not so healthy. But then, prawns being what they are, they taste quite divine when cooked with desi spices too.

Spicy Masala Prawns

Ingredients (makes enough for 2-3):
[Don't be daunted by the long list. The recipe is quite easy to make.]

Marinate:
1/4 kg cleaned prawns
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp red chili powder
3 tsp garlic powder (optional)

Mix all the ingredients together and leave in fridge overnight or outside for a couple of hours.

To Season:
Oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2 broken red chillis
1/8 tsp asafoetida (hing)
7-8 torn curry leaves

To cook:
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 long green chilli, chopped fine
25 shallots, peeled and sliced
1 tbsp cilantro, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp dhania powder
1/2 tsp black pepper powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder (optional)
1/2 tsp fennel powder
Oil
Salt

Method:

[Remember to bring prawns to room temperature before starting to cook.]
1. Put a wide non-stick pan on a stove on medium heat and add oil enough to coat base of the pan.
2. Add the seasoning ingredients in the following order: mustard seeds and red chilis. When mustard begins to crackle, add hing followed by curry leaves.
3. Add the ginger, garlic and green chilis. Stir all the while to make sure nothing burns.
4. When the above mixture begins to turn color, add chopped coriander leaves and stir for a couple of seconds.
5. Toss in the onions and sufficient salt (remember, you have already added some salt to the prawns).
6. Stir fry the onions till they turn golden-brown and then add in the masala powders other than fennel powder (chili, dhania, turmeric, pepper, garam masala, kashmiri chili).
7. Stir fry for a few seconds and then add in chopped tomatoes and mix in well.
8. Add about 2-3 tbsp of water, cover the pan, lower the heat and allow it to cook till the tomatoes turn mushy (about 2-3 minutes).
9. Increase the heat, uncover the pan and continue stir frying till all the water has almost evaporated
10. Toss in the prawns and spread them so each prawn has contact with base of the pan.
11. Once the prawns have changed color, flip them and cook the other side.
12. Prawns cook really fast - so steps 10 and 11 should be done in under 3 minutes. Do not overcook prawns or they will become rubbery.
13. Adjust salt as necessary. Sprinkle fennel powder and mix it in to spread it evenly.
14. Switch off heat and serve after 10 minutes or so. If you plan to serve later, when you reheat, try to do it on the stove and  reheat only till the prawns masala heats through (about 1-2 minutes).

Goes very well with hot, steamed rice or if you are feeding tongues of steel, as an appetizer by itself!

How to fry fish with minimal oil

Craving fried fish but not craving the extra calories? Here's how to fry the fish with minimal oil as learnt from my mom and aunts. This takes longer than simply dunking the fish in hot oil but the extra time is worth it.

Tawa fish fry

 You'll need:
Marinated fish pieces
A tawa
A lid to cover the entire tawa
Oil

Method:
1. Coat the entire tawa with a thin film of oil.
2. Place it on a stove at medium-high heat and heat it.
3. Place the fish slices without overlap on the tawa.
4. Cover the tawa with the lid and cook till the fish starts changing color (meaning it has gotten cooked). This will take 3-4 minutes. Medium high heat should not be burning the fish, but if it is, reduce the heat to medium. If the fish seems too dry, add a few drops of oil around the sides.
5. Flip the fish over and repeat step 4.
6. Now reduce the heat further to simmer and flip the fish again. This time cook without the lid for about 2-3 minutes.
7. Flip the fish and repeat step 6.

At this point, fish will be done. Serve hot!

Remember to heat up the tawa on medium-high heat and coat it with a thin film of oil before frying every batch of fish.

Fish Marinade:
Can be any combo of the following
Red chilli powder
Dhania seeds
Turmeric powder
Cumin seeds
Saunf seeds
Fenugreek seeds (only a little, say 5-7, too much will add a bitter taste)
A few fresh garlic cloves
A little tamarind

Grind all of the above with enough salt for the quantity of fish you have got and a little water to make a fine paste. Apply on all sides of the fish and marinate for a couple of hours outside or overnight in the refrigerator. Bring down to room temperature before cooking if you had placed the fish in the fridge.

No quantities are mentioned for the ingredients above on purpose. It varies depending on the quantity of fish and your palate.  In general, the chilli powder and dhania would form the base for the marinade while the rest of the ingredients act as accents.

Perfect boiled eggs

This recipe makes eggs boiled just right each time:

http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/2007/04/how-to-make-perfect-hard-boiled-eggs.html

A kitchen timer is handy for people like me who look at the clock to time something being cooked/baked and after some time mostly either a) forget to go check on the dish after the prescribed amount of time has elapsed or b) remember all about checking on the dish but totally forget what the start time initially observed was, thus making it difficult to calculate the elapsed time.

Chicken kuzhambu

Basic, easy-to-make, tasty Chettinadu chicken kuzhambu:

http://solaiachiskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/08/chettinad-chicken-kuzhambu-authentic.html

Follow the instructions exactly and it is difficult to go wrong. Just follow the instruction to not use too much coconut very diligently  - extra coconut does turn the kuzhambu into kurma (believe me, I know). BTW, this kuzhambu tastes good with rice. dosas, idlis or rotis.

The blog author posts authentic Chettinadu recipes and most of the recipes on her blog sound (and look) so tempting.

Banana bread

When Focaccia bread is here, can banana bread be far behind? This is a very forgiving recipe - so if you have more or less bananas, it still turns out yummy. But the more bananas you have, the more moist and tasty it is. Also overripe bananas (what a delicious way to not let them go to waste!) work best though ripe bananas would do too:

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/banana_bread/

Remember not to stir the mixture too much after adding the flour.  You only need to mix in the flour enough so that all of it gets moist.

I usually toss in some walnuts (broken into smaller pieces) into the batter and mix it before adding the flour. I also sprinkle a light layer of chopped walnuts over the banana bread before baking - banana and walnuts make such a yummy combo!

Don't fret if you don't have a loaf-tin. I always bake it in a cake pan and banana bread in any shape is just as delicious

Spicy chicken kuzhambu

Another recent find. If you love the spicy taste of black pepper, this one is for you:

http://www.spicytasty.com/meat-and-seafood-entrees/spicy-chicken-kuzhambhu-spicy-chicken-curry/

Since the heat mostly comes from black pepper, it is good for you. Tastes great with rotis and dosas. Would taste even better with malabar parottas.

I followed the recipe exactly except for adding more curry leaves than specified because I like the flavor of curry leaves (and because I have a big bag-full of curry leaves at home, thanks to the custom of getting free-curry leaves whenever you go vegetable-shopping in Chennai :-D).

Hot milk sponge cake

Who would have thought making yummy-tasting sponge cake would be so easy? I used to think all along that McRennett made the best sponge cake in the world. I only now realize that this could be because I have only tasted sponge cakes from McRennet. Haha!

Not to take anything from McRennett (seriously, I really love their sponge cakes) but the following recipe made sponge cake which was pretty close in taste and texture to the McRennett stuff. I got the recipe from an old recipe book no longer available (General Foods Kitchen, All About Baking) bought at the library's used book sale. So, no online link. Instead here is the entire recipe:

Slices of sponge cake

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs unbeaten
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla (or 1 tablespoon grated orange rind)
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter or margarine

Method

Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Beat eggs in a large deep bowl until very thick and light (about 5 minutes). Gradually beat in sugar. Add vanilla. add flour to egg mixture, a small amount at a time, blending by hand or at low speed of electric mixer. Bring milk and butter just to a boil. Very quickly stir into the flour mixture, blending thoroughly (batter will be thin). Pour quickly into a baking pan which has been greased and floured on the bottom only. Bake at once in a moderate oven (350 F) for 30 to 35 minutes. Serve warm.
 

I reduced the sugar (I like milder sweetness) plus had to bake for longer than specified - use the toothpick comes out clean when inserted through the center method of testing for done-ness. Other than that, the only other problem with this recipe is, you will have to halve or quarter it and bake. Because, once you start eating, you will not be able to stop and I don't want to be responsible for you feeling guilty about meeting the calorie requirements for a week on a single day :-D.

Tandoori chicken / Mint sauce

This is a super-tasty, guilt-free chicken recipe. There is hardly any oil involved:

http://saffronapron.blogspot.com/2009/07/oven-baked-tandoori-chicken.html

Though I have tried the recipe exactly as written above (including making the tandoori masala powder from scratch) you can also used store-bought tandoori powder and follow the box directions for marination. The end result is delicious either way.

Where the above recipe totally shines is the baking part - cook exactly as per the direction given and you will be looking at juicy, professional looking and tasting tandoori chicken in the end.

The following mint sauce recipe makes a great dip for the tandoori chicken:

 http://www.tarladalal.com/Mint--Yogurt-Dip-16369r

I followed the directions exactly - only added a wee bit more garlic (I like garlic) and half a green chilly.

Spicy egg masala / kurma

This is a very recent find. I wanted a change from the usual egg kurma recipes with coconut et al. and found this one:

http://mydhaba.blogspot.com/2005/12/spicy-egg-masala.html

Everyone who tasted it raved about it. Totally a keeper.

Fried rice

This recipe was a super find:

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/shrimp_fried_rice/

My days of making soggy fried rice are finally past. Yaay :-D! The most important thing is to make sure the rice is cold (and was not soggy when you made it first). If you do not have day-old rice, cook rice afresh, spread it in a thin layer on a plate(s) and keep it under the fan for half an hour or so till it is cold to the touch.

Important, the spring onions are what give the fried rice its fried-ricey taste. Do not skip it.

You can skip the shrimp and egg entirely. You can use chicken instead of shrimp - I like to saute the bite-size pieces of chicken till it gets cooked completely before adding it to the rice.