Friday 31 October 2008

Fish mollee/Fish molly (A mild fish curry in thick coconut milk)

This is going be my last post before I go to Abu-Dhabi to pay a visit to my family and my friends. Iam planning to travel on november 2nd and should be there for a couple or months. I don't really know how much of blogging I will be able to do from there, but sure, I will come back with a bunch of my mother's delicious recipes.

I had fish mollee for the first time at my friend Z’s house when we went there for the Iftar party. There were around 15 people for the party and this curry was a super hit of that day. The curry was so delicious and everybody was drooling over. Its very easy to make. Here goes her recipe:

Fish mollee
Serves 4

Ingredients:
500 -600 gm Fish cut into 1 ½ inch pieces
½ cup chopped onion
1 medium size tomato
1 ½ tsp black pepper powder
¾ tsp turmeric powder
1 ½ cup thin coconut milk
½ cup thick coconut milk
2-4 Green chillies split lengthwise
4 cloves
2 small piece cinnamon sticks
3 sprigs Curry leaves
½ tsp plain flour
½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
Salt as required
Oil – As required

Preparation
1. Marinate fish in 1 tsp pepper powder,1/4 tsp turmeric powder and salt and keep aside for 20 minutes.
2. Heat a pan and add litttle oil. Shallow fry the fish slightly until partially cooked. Drain them on kitchen towel.
3. Heat another saucepan, add 2 tbs of oil and add cloves and cinnamom. When the aroma of the spices starts to come off, add onion and sauté until golden. Add tomato, pepper powder, turmeric powder, kashmiri chilli powder,green chillies, plain flour and curry leaves and sauté until the tomato goes soft.
4. Add thin coconut milk and boil for around 5 minutes. Add fish to this and boil for further 3 minutes. Add thick coconut milk and boil for another two minutes.

Serve hot with chappathi, puri and plain boiled rice.

Notes:
My friend Z had added capsicum and I really liked the taste of it. So I also added ½ of a medium size red capsicum diced at step 3 along with other ingredients. But that’s purely optional


Sraavu varuthathu (Crushed Shark in spicy coconut masala)



I feel somebody might feel bizarre when I post this recipe as I don’t really know many people eating shark. These are not the giant man eater shark that Im talking about. These are edible baby sharks. If you think this dish is bizarre, please feel free to comment. And let me know if you had any bizarre dishes before as well….like a hundred days old egg, a fertilized egg, (these are had in China), or even a stuffed camel?! I read from a food article that stuffed camels are found in the Middle Eastern countries, but I don’t really know how far this is true. May be it is a myth. And the way they described stuffing the camel was even strange. The camel is stuffed with a large sheep or goat and rice along with dried nuts and fruits. The sheep itself will be stuffed again with around 20 chicken and rice, nuts and spices. And not to finish there, the chicken itself is stuffed with a huge number of boiled eggs and rice!!!!And this serves a mob of 100 people it seems!!! I don’t how the camel is going to be cooked though, and they wont fit the oven or any vessel.:). So may be it is a fairy tale.
The only part that I hate in making this dish is the smell of the fish that comes out while boiling. Keep the kitchen well ventilated and open the windows. Else you will have a fish smeling house!

Sraavu varuthathu (Crushed Shark in spicy coconut masala)
serves 4

Ingredients :
300-400 gms Shark or 1 ½ cups of crumbles shark..
1 ½ cup onion
2 tbs kashmiri chilli powder
1 tbs Coriander powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
3 green chillies
½ cup freshly grated coconut
15 curry leaves
5 tbs coconut oil
salt as required.

Preparation:


1. Boil shark in plenty of water for about 15-20 minutes until it is cooked.
2. Drain off the water and wash the fish in cold water. Peel off the skin and crumble the fish using hand. (I had 1 ½ cup of shark crumble. Take equal amount of onion as shark crumbles.)
3. Heat a frying pan and add oil. To this, add chopped onion, green chillies, curry leaves and fish and cook it covered until onions go soft and transparent.
4. Add chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and salt and mix well and sauté for around 2 minutes until the raw smell of the spices goes off.
5. Add in the grated coconut and mix well and cook it covered for about 5 more minutes.
It goes very well with rice, rice pan cakes etc.

Tuesday 28 October 2008

Chemmeen Varattiyathu (King Prawns in spicy masala)

Ingredients:
2 cups King Prawns,shelled and deveined.
3 cups Onion sliced thinly (2 medium size)
1 ½ cups chopped tomato (4 medium size)
2 tbs Kashmiri Chilli Powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
3-4 twigs of curry leaves
2-4 green chilli (as per taste)
4 tbs coconut oil
Salt as required.

Preparation:
1. Heat a large heavy base non stick cooking vessel on medium flame and add all ingredients except curry leaves.
2. Cook it slowly on a medium heat until onions are cooked well and mushy and prawn are completely cooked. It takes around 20-25 minutes. When it reaches that stage, add curry leaves and stir well. It is delicious with rice, ottil polliachathu, marichedutha appam etc. if you want you can add half a cup of water at the end just before adding curry leaves.

Marichedutha Appam (Rice pancakes 1)

These are ver simple and delicious pancakes made of rice to go with many curries including Chicken curry, fish curry, prawn curry, prawn varattiyathu etc….And having a sweet tooth, I have it with sugar! I like it that way. I use to have this at home when my mom makes it for us either for breakfast or dinner. I am surprised that I never made them even once. I just forgot about it. Two days back when I was thinking what to make for dinner, Marichedutha Appam just popped into my mind out of blue, and since I had lots of leftover rice in the freezer I made them. My mom makes different kinds of stuffs like Ottil pollicha appam, mutta ssurkki, thenga pathal, kalthappam etc..out of the same batter. They are made with slight difference and yet taste so different. I think this name might be very new to many people as it is used colloquially in our place.


Marichedutha Appam
Serves 2-3

Ingredients:1½ cup raw rice (Pachari)
2 cups cooked rice
1 medium onion
3 cups water
salt as required
oil- as required

Preparation
1.Soak rice in water for a minimum of 1 hour.
2.Grind it along with coked rice and onion until very smooth and no grains of rice can be felt when you touch it.
3. Add enough salt and mix well. When u taste the batter, you must feel it a bit salty but again not too salty.
4. Heat a frying pan at high heat, add 2 tbs of oil and pour 2-3 ladleful of batter (1-1 ½ cups of batter) and just wobble the pan a little to spread the batter evenly.
5. Cover with a lid and cook until the bottom side is cooked and you can see golden patches here and there. The top part will be just getting set. At this stage, using a spatula, flip over the marichedutha appam. If you see that its breaking, and is difficult to turn, close the lid and wait for some more time until you can turn the appam easily. Cook the other side also in the same way until you get golden patches here and there. Keep turning a couple of time to ensure that it is fully cooked and edge is crispy. It takes a bit of time. May be 4-6 minutes to get one cooked.
6. Continue the same process with the rest of batter until all batter is used up.
Serve hot with its best combination King prawn varattiyathu, or even simple chicken curry or fish curry.

Notes1. I used 26” pan to make this. If you are using a larger pan, pour more batter.
2. My mom used to add half the amount of cooked rice to the raw rice. But she uses cooked long grain rice. I tried using the same amount with the cooked basmati rice, but my appams turn out very hard. So I increased the amount of cooked rice.
3. Even if it is cooked, the rice inside will be a bit sticky. It will get set once it is cooled.
4. The thinner version of marichedutha appam which uses only one ladle of batter and just a drop of oil or no oil is ottil pollichahu. But it tastes different and ofcourse takes longer than marichedutha appam

Monday 27 October 2008

Chocolate Coated Brazil nuts

I don’t really know how I came up with making these chocolate coated Brazil nuts. That particular day I had bad craving for sweets and all I could see was some cooking chocolates in the cabinet that I bought in bulk the other day when there was a huge price drop. Since the chocolate was 72% cocoa containing dark chocolate, it was bitter rather than sweet. These chocolates will make an excellent frosting for cakes or a ganache. Then I started thinking of making something out of it that as easy as 1-2-3 and requires minimum amount of time. First I thought of making chocolate mousse, but again the thought of whipping up the egg made me lazy. Then I spotted some brazil nuts in the same cup-board and suddenly it clicked me to make my favourite chocolate, i.e. Chocolate coated Brazil nuts. I normally buy milk chocolate coated Brazil nuts to which I’m very much addicted to. Once I start eating them, somebody has to handcuff me to stop eating them. I used to have a bag of these chocolates containing around 24-26 chocolates. Ya, it was SEK who counted them one day. One day when we were going to London for our visa purpose, I grabbed a bag of Brazil chocolates and slipped it into my pocket so that I can eat them all the way to London which was 2 hour train journey. SEK saw me putting something into my pocket and asked me what it was. I told him it was Brazil nut chocolates. Knowing me very well and my chocolate greediness, he told me not to eat more than 2 pieces from it. I told him that’s too less. He then miserly increased the number to 4. I told him I am not going to stop by eating 4 and that’s too less. He then started counting the chocolates and warned me not to eat more than 4.

We then set off for London and I started nibbling on chocolate very slowly like a toothless child. When I had around four of them, SEK grabbed the bag and kept it in his hand. And after sometime he slept off with the bag of chocolate loosely held in his hand. I slowly started twisting my two fingers into the bag to get hold on another piece and started munching it. Later when SEK was in deep sleep, I took the bag from him slowly and kept on munching the whole journey. SEK had completely forgotten about the chocolates by then. When we reached home, SEK asked me, “Where is the chocolate bag?”. I replied by saying “You had taken it from the train and you dint give it back” and I just smiled. SEK out of astonishment asked me “You ate them all, didn’t you?!....Yes, I had a bag of chocolates in half a day. After that day, I purposely avoid getting them. I find it that addictive!
Chocolate Coated Brazil nuts
Serves : Depends on the person.
Ingredients: (Appx)
75 gm Milk chocolate
10-15 brazil nuts.
Method:
1. Break chocolate into small pieces. Microwave them for few seconds until the chocolate is completely melted. This doesn’t take very long. But if kept for longer time, chocolate will get burnt. Chocolate can also be melted by Bain Marie method.
2. Add Brazil nuts to this chocolate one at a time and roll over until all sides are coated with chocolate. Pick it up with a fork and place it on a baking paper. Continue with the rest of the nuts and pour the remaining melted chocolate on the nuts slowly.

3. Place the chocolates in freezer for around 10 minutes or until the chocolate is completely set. Peel off the chocolates from the baking paper and Start munching.

Notes:
1. If you are using dark chocolate add 1 tbs of icing sugar along with chocolate while melting it.

2. If you dont have baking paper, lighly oil an aluminium foil and place chocolates on them.

Thalassery Mutton Dum Biryani

Biryani is the most common festive dish in Kerala Muslim society. Apart from that many will be familiar with this exotic dish by hearing from somewhere and somehow. I remember my mom saying that during past, that is quite long ago; during the time of my parents wedding, the main course used to be Ghee rice along with chicken curry in the afternoon and some home made snacks in the morning. I don’t remember the names of snack that my mom mentioned, but I will update on that once I get to talk to her about it. Until 6-7 years back, Biryani used to be the only main course for any Muslim wedding accompanied by Alisa, raita, pickles and if it goes a bit more posh, chicken fry as well. Nowadays the marriages are even getting more lavish with many varieties of food apart from Biryani and Alisa including Naan, battura, fried rice, different curries, like chicken chilly, mutton Korma, vegetable korma etc, salads, fruits and not to be missed- different kinds of desserts like the ever famous muttamaala that is made of Duck eggs with a steamed pudding made mainly of egg whites and sugar and then strands of egg yolks cooked in sugar syrup sprinkled on top of it., Ilaneer pudding, semiya payasam and many others. The only thing you need to have while attending the wedding these days is an extra tummy or starving the day before the wedding to at least taste everything.

Again, the taste of Biryani differs from home to home. I have had Biryani from different relatives of mine and each time I have them, they have a different taste. This is my mom’s version of Mutton Dum Biryani and it tastes real good. Chicken Biryani can also be prepared in the same way.

Thalassery Mutton Dum BiryaniServes 6-8 hungry people

For Ghee rice:4 cups Basmati rice
6 cups water
1 cup onion sliced (1 medium size onion)
1 tsp cumin seeds
6 cardamom pods
6-8 cloves
5-6 small pieces of cinnamon sticks
3 bay leaves
½ cup clarified butter (Ghee)
Salt to taste

For Biryani masala:
1 ¼ kg of mutton
4 cups chopped onion (4 medium-large onions)
3 ½ tbsful freshly crushed garlic (15 cloves)
3 tbs freshly crushed ginger (4")
1 ½ cup chopped tomatoes (4 medium size tomatoes)
10-15 Green chillies (depending on pungency)
1 tsp pepper powder
½ cup Chopped Coriander leaves
¼ cup Fresh mint leaves chopped
2 tsp lime juice
2 tbs curd
½ tsp garam masala + extra to sprinkle on rice while layering.
Oil – 3-4 tbs
Salt as required

Step by step guide to prepare Dum Biryani:Method to prepare Biryani masala:

1. Wash mutton well, pat dry with a kitchen towel and keep aside.

2. Add ginger, garlic and chillies together in the processor and crush it well.

3. Slice and chop onions into further small pieces.

4. Heat a Large vessel and add oil. Sauté chopped ginger, garlic, chillies and onions along with salt until the onions become translucent.

5. Add chopped tomatoes. When the tomatoes starts to soften, add mutton, pepper powder and cook until almost done. This can be pressure cooked as well. After the mutton is cooked, if there is lot of gravy in the pot, make sure you boil them off to get a thick gravy.

6. Add lime juice and chopped coriander and mint leaves. When the meat is completely cooked, Add curd and stir well. Don’t boil. Add garam masala and close lid to infuse in the flavour.

Method to prepare Ghee rice:
1. Wash rice and strain off all the excess water by placing the rice in colander.

2. Boil water in the kettle or a large cooking vessel.

3. In another large pan, set the heat on to high and add ghee. When the ghee gets hot add onions and sauté until the onions just starts turning pink. At this stage add cardamom, cloves, bay leaves, cinnamon and cumin seeds and sauté for a minute until the aroma of the spices starts coming out. Add the required amount of boiling water and salt to this.

4. Tip in the rice slowly and cook on high heat by keeping the lid open. When almost all the water has evaporated (you must be able to see the bottom of the pan with no water ), close the lid tightly and let it cook for around 6-10 minutes depending on the rice, or may be more. In between you can toss the bottom part of rice and bring to top so that the rice gets cooked evenly. Once the rice is completely cooked, fluff it using a fork or a large spatula carefully without breaking up the rice. While the rice is still hot, do the assembling.

For layering the biryani and final cooking:
1. Divide the rice in three parts and Biriyani masala in 2 parts.

2. Take a large heavy base vessel and rub it with oil or ghee. Layer the bottom of the vessel with the first part of the rice. Sprinkle a good pinch of garam masala all over and pour first part of biryani masala along with meat all over the rice. Tip in the second part of rice and sprinkle a good pinch of garam masala all over again. Pour the second part of Biryani masala on top of the rice and put the last part of rice and sprinkle all over with garam masala again. So now you have layers of rice and masala that’s goes like this: rice, Biryani masala, rice, Biryani masala and again rice.

3. Cover the entire vessel with foil (to ensure that full steam stays in), then close the lid tightly. Place a weight (you can also use any vessel filled with water for this) over this vessels and cook on hob top for about 20 minutes at very low heat. This is to infuse the flavour of the biryani masala into the rice and this process of cooking is called ‘Dum’. At this point of time u can see that all rice on top has curved up.

4. You can also do the layering in an ovenproof vessel and place it in a preheated oven at a very low temperature for about 20-30 minutes for the final cooking. I never tried this, but my friends do it this way.
Just before serving, garnish with fried onions, cashews and raisins. Enjoy with Cucumber Raita, tomato and onion salad, Coconut chutney, pickle and pappadams!

Important Notes and tips:
For Biryani:
Always remember: Cook Biryani masala before cooking rice. Never cook rice before masala. You can always prepare the Biryani masala a day ahead and later on use it whenever you need them also.

For Biryani masala:
The most important thing to be noted is that there should be only minimal water in the Biryani masala. The masala should be quite thick. Else during dum, the rice will absorb so much of water and will be over cooked and mushy. Since the mutton and onions release lot of water by the end of cooking, there will be lot of moisture in the masala. Turn the heat up and dry off the excess water until you get thick gravy. Take care to stir in between else it might get burnt.

For Ghee rice:
1. Never wait until the onions get brown or golden as this will change the colour of rice completely. You will get a golden rice rather than usual white.

2. Flame adjustment is very necessary while cooking rice. Keep the flame/heat high until u see all the rice has come on top and water has gone down but still the rice is not cooked. At this stage lower the flame and cook until done.

3. If you carefully notice, you can see that I have used less water for ghee rice for Biryani than the normal ghee rice. Since Biryani masala will be having some moisture, the rice will absorb it evenly. If you use more water than stated, again, the rice will go soggy.

Saturday 25 October 2008

Ghee Rice (Neychor)


This is an easy Malabar festive food that’s made especially when guests come home with quick notice or even for a variety when there are parties at home. The trick in making this ghee rice lays mainly on the water and fire adjustment. Once these both are done properly, the rice should come out perfect. The rice is very fragrant with the whole garam masala and the clarified butter really boosts up the flavour of this dish.

This was one of the dishes that used to make in the budding stage of my cooking. And the first recipe in my old recipe book that I lost long ago. I remember the first time I made this, the rice came out caky I don’t remember why it happened so, may be I added too much of water. You could literally cut the ghee rice into slices. I prepared this for my husband (SEK) during the first visit to UK and I was still a student. SEK used to ask me frequently to learn at least few recipes from my mom as she is an excellent cook. I never bothered to. All I thought was I would write the recipe down, and follow as such and anything any everything will come out perfect. I never even cooked once before that first visit to SEK. First time when I landed here I took the recipe book to kitchen, started making ghee rice as that was the easiest at that time. I added onions with exact measure given by my mom and started to sauté it in low flame. After around 15 minutes, I started wondering how long the onions will take to get cooked because I remember my mom finishing the dish itself by half an hour! And I dint know how they will look once they are cooked. I waited for some more time and confused what to do, called my husband and asked him “Are the onions getting cooked or are they already cooked?” .SEK was surprised and he told me that was why I asked you to try it out from there before coming.

I had visited him quite few times during my studies before settling with him completely. And I think it s almost the same story every time I visit him. Apart from the ghee rice, I also had one signature curry at that time. Either it was chicken, mutton or prawns; it all had the same masala (Chilli powder, coriander powder and turmeric) and the same taste. And another funny incident I still remember is that; at that time where SEK was under my brutal culinary experiments, one day I had prepared the chicken curry and the next day I made prawns. SEK asked me did u put prawns in yesterday’s chicken curry, as both taste exactly the same. :) It was only when I started living with him (July 2007) I started to take a bit of interest in cooking…A discovery of different ingredients and cuisines from across the world…..Cooking is not that simple… Ghee rice (Neychor)
Serves 8

Ingredients:
4 cups Basmati rice
8 cups water
1 cup onion sliced (1 medium size onion)
1 tsp cumin seeds
6 cardamom pods
6-8 cloves
6-8 small pieces of cinnamon sticks
3 bay leaves
½ cup clarified butter (Ghee)
salt to taste

Preparation
1. Wash rice and strain of all the water by placing the rice in colander.
2. Boil water in the kettle or a large cooking vessel.
3. In a large pan, set the heat on to high and ghee. When the ghee gets hot add onions and sauté until the onions just starts turning pink. At this stage add cardamom, cloves, bay leaves, cinnamon and cumin seeds and sauté for a minute until the aroma of the spices starts coming out. At this stage add boiling water and salt to this.
4. Tip in the rice slowly and cook on high heat by keeping the lid open. At this stage you can see that rice lies in the bottom of the vessel and water is on top.
5. When you see that the rice has come on top and water has gone below, reduce the flame to low, and cook it covered until all the rice is cooked eventually. In between you can toss the bottom part of rice and bring to top so that the rice gets cooked evenly.

Serve hot with chicken curry/mutton curry, raita , pappadam and pickle. And whenever there is neychor at home, chicken fry is always there.

Notes:
1. Never wait until the onions get brown or golden as this will change the colour of rice completely.
2.Always ccok in hig flame until u see all the rice has come on top and water has gone down but still the rice is not cooked. At this stage lower the flame and cook until done.
3. You can also add 4-6 curry leaves along with the boiling water for extra taste and aroma.
4. For smaller quantity, just use half the amount of ingredients.

Orange Cake



After the great success of my lemon cake I thought I will give another go with the orange cake again. Yes, I have been trying to bake orange cake for sometime now. In fact I tried baking the orange cake twice before and it was an absolute failure and pledged that I would never try them again. I followed the same procedure and same recipe twice also exactly. I don’t really know where it went wrong as I did what was exactly shown. The name of the cake was ‘Delicate orange cake’. But when I baked it, it came out so hard that if somebody would get a hit with it, they might see million stars. I baked it after watching a cookery show on TV and was quite sad when it turned out bad for the second time and threw out the whole stuff. But again I think, cooking is all about trial and error. Keep trying and finally you will do it right. And the feeling when you get it right is very soothing.

Few days back again, I saw another orange cake being baked on the tv cookery show. I felt very tempted again. Few days after watching that show I baked the orange cake by mixing few recipes and finally the orange cake hit the goal. This is the first time that it came out good, Gosh. I was very pleased with the outcome. Orange cake is a very good alternative to plain cake with a light zesty smell and orange flavour. The cake is very light and soft and so I think it will be delicious even without the syrup and it will last for few days in the refrigerator. It tastes best at room temperature rather than warm. This cake was quite huge than expected since it gets good volume by whisking the eggs and sugar.



Orange cake
Serves 12- 14

Ingredients
250 gm plain flour
300 gm granulatedSugar
200 gm unsalted butter
2 tbs orange zest
4 large eggs
2 level tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
200 mls freshly squeezed orange juice+ 2 tbs sugar
2 tbsful icing sugar

Preparation
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Butter and flour the sides of a 9” cake tin and line the base with greaseproof paper.

2.Melt the butter gently in a saucepan and set aside.

3. Using a hand-held electric beater, whisk together the eggs, grated orange zest and sugar for a few minutes until light and slightly fluffy. Stir in the melted butter and sift in the flour and baking powder and salt. Fold it all together gently.

4. Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin, smooth the surface and bake in the oven for 50 minutes or until golden or when a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
5. Remove the cake from the tin and place it on a cake stand or separate dish.

6. Prick the cake all over throughout the bottom using a skewer. Stir in the 2 tbs of sugar in the orange juice and Pour it all over the cake while still hot.

7. Let the cake cool down completely. Sift icing sugar on top generously and serve in slices with tea or coffee.


TIPS and notes:
1. While adding flour to cake batter never over mix as this will result in heavy cake and like bread rather than spongy and light cake.
2. Use the correct measures.
3. Use the right oven temperature. Don’t use high temperature to bake cake as outer part will get brown quickly and inside will remain uncooked.
4. Instead of sprinkling the Icing sugar on top, u can also use orange icing to spread on top.
Use freshly squeezed orange juice for pouring on top. Don’t use store bought orange juice as the taste is very different. Don’t Use the blender for juicing orange as it turns out bitter after sometime. Recipe Source : Rachel Allen:Bake.

Wednesday 22 October 2008

Pumpkin Curry (kumbalanga curry)


Pumpkin curry is a simple and delicious side combination when there is ‘meen mulaku chaar’ or spicy red fish curry and plain rice. Since it is Halloween time here pumpkins are readily available everywhere. Get a large pumpkin, peel off the skin and scoop out the seeds inside. Cut them into chunks and divide them into several freezer bags and pop them into freezer for later use. They really keep well in the freezer.



Pumpkin Curry (Kumbalanga curry)

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:
½ kilo pumpkin (Kumbalam)
1 cup Grated coconut
3 large cloves of garlic
1 cup+1 ½ cup water
2 green chillies
1 tsp Red chilli powder(or depending upon taste)
½ tsp turmeric powder
salt- as required


For tempering:
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 twig of curry leaves
3 tbs Coconut oil


Preparation:
1. Peel the skin off the pumpkins and scoop out the seeds using a spoon. Cut them into medium sized chunks and cook it covered along with salt, 1 ½ cup water, green chillies and garlic.
2. Grind coconut to smooth paste with 1 cup of water, red chilli powder and turmeric.
3. when the pumpkins are completely cooked and soft, mash it with the potato masher. There should be no lumps.
4. Add the ground coconut and just cook it for 2 more minutes or until the raw smell of chilli powder has disappeared. Don't cook for long as the coconut will start to curdle.

For tempering:
Add oil in a kadai or pan. When it is smoking hot, add mustard seeds. When they start to splutter, Add curry leaves and let them splutter too. Add this to the pumpkin and mix well.
Serve hot with plain boiled rice.

Monday 20 October 2008

Bread Roll


Here is a delicious snack using the Meat Masala. I had this snack for the first time from my freind Hanan's place around few years back . This was something new to me at that time. It's a great tea-time snack if you have the filling already made ahead and is normally served warm with ketchup as dip. The cheese and the masala filled inside really works magic I feel. The crunchy crust outside and the Meat Masala along with touch of melting cheese inside is just divine.........

Bread-roll
Serves 2-3

Ingredients:
10 slices of bread (dont use sweet bread)
Cream cheese (of your choice) – as reqd.
2-3 Large egg whites
Bread crumbs - As required.
Meat Masala – As required.
Vegetable oil - to deep fry the bread rolls.

Preparation:
1. Lightly beat the egg whites and keep aside.
2. Cut the crust of the bread and flatten the bread using a rolling pin until almost flat.
3. Spread a thin layer of cheese on all four edges and inside if you prefer. This should be done only to one side of the bread.
4. Place a tablespoon of Meat Masala in the centre and fold the bread slice into half with Meat Masala inside and press the edges tightly to seal the stuffing in.
5. Just dip the bread roll in egg whites and roll it over the bread crumbs until the bread is evenly coated with crumbs.
6. Repeat the same process with other slices.
7. Deep fry in oil until golden brown.
8. Drain the excess oil in kitchen towel and serve warm.

Notes:
If you want a better looking bread roll you can cut the bread with cookie cutter or even cups/glasses/lid of any jar into round shapes or any other shapes and then flatten it using the rolling pin. If you are doing it this way, you need 2 slices of bread to make a bread roll. That is; take 2 slices of bread, cut into your desired shapes, roll it and flatten it. Then spread cheese on one side of one bread slice, keep the Meat Masala in, and cover with the other slice and press the edges well to seal the stuffing in. then follow the same steps from 5. This one will look real good to make it for the guests.

Tip:
While making bread roll this way, there will be quite lot of bread leftover after cutting the crust. You can just grind them to bread-crumbs and freeze them for later use.

Tuesday 14 October 2008

Quiche Lorraine



I prepared this tart after watching the video of Rachel Allen:Bake on UKTVFOOD. I have never made anything similar to this one before and thought of giving it a go. I took the Recipe and its contents from UTVFOOD website. You can also watch the video there. The show is amazing since she present it so well that even a beginner can follow. She makes it so easy and even the complicated stuffs looks so simple and delicious. The tart turned out perfect, it was mild and creamy and kids will love it. It is normally served as lunch or dinner. Quiche Lorraine has a crispy shortcrust base baked and then filled with creamy filling.

Quiche Lorraine

Serves: 6
Prep: 25 min, plus 30 minutes chilling Cook: 1 hr 15 min

Ingredients:
For the shortcrust pastry

200g plain flour, sifted

100g butter, chilled and cubed

a pinch of salt

1 medium egg, beaten

For the filling
1 tbsp olive oil

175g chicken breast, cut into strips

100g onions, peeled and chopped

4 eggs (2 whole, 2 yolks)

250ml double cream

1 tbsp chopped Parsley

1 tbsp chopped Chives

50g Cheddar cheese grated

50g Gruyere Cheese, grated

Preparation:

watch video here.

For the shortcrust pastry:

1. Put the flour, butter and a pinch of salt in a food processor and process briefly.

2. Add half the beaten egg and continue to process. (You might add a little more egg, but not too much as the mixture should be just moist enough to come together.) If making the pastry by hand, rub the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Then, using your hands, add just enough egg to bring it together.

3. With your hands, flatten out the ball of dough until it is about 2cm thick, then wrap it in cling film or place it in a plastic bag and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or, if you are pushed for time, in the freezer for 10–15 minutes, before using.

4. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. 5. Line a 19cm high-sided tart tin with the shortcrust pastry and cover the base with baking parchment. Fill the tin with baking beans and bake blind for 15-20 minutes until the edge of the pastry is firm and is just starting to turn golden. . Remove the beans and parchment for the last five minutes until golden

For the filling:

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the chicken strips for 5-6 minutes. Remove and drain on kitchen paper. Sweat the onions gently in the same oil for a further ten minutes, or until softened. Keep them aside.

2. Meanwhile, whisk the two whole eggs and two egg yolks in a medium-sized bowl together with the cream, herbs, cheeses, chicken strips and onions. Mix well and season with salt and black pepper.

3. Pour the filling into the pastry base and return to the oven to bake for 30–40 minutes, the top turn golden brown or until the centre has set. Serve warm with a green salad.

Alisa

Alisa is one of the most served dishes during the Muslim weddings in Kerala. Apart from weddings, it is also one of the favourite dishes served before lunch or dinner as a starter. During weddings, Alisa is made in huge steel pots and then served just before the main course that is normally a Mutton Biriyani or Chicken Biriyani along with fried chicken, salads, curd with vegetables, pickles etc. Alisa is served by scattering fried onions, fried raisins and fried cashews all fried in clarified butter or ghee. This brings that extra taste to this dish and is very important. Omitting this part doesn’t bring the full flavour of Alisa. Since this dish has very less oil, it is suitable for diet conscious mates as well. As alisa is quite filling, we used to make it at home for dinner mainly.

The important thing to be noted while making alisa is getting the right wheat. In Arabic it is called ‘Hab Hareez’. I don’t really know what this specific wheat is called in English, but, the wheat that is used for making alisa is skinless or the bran has been cleaned off. It is neither pearl barley nor boiled wheat. Because I tried these and cooked for very very long time and still they dint get cooked. Finally I had to grind it and then cook the ground wheat! I wonder what they are actually used for! Maybe for feeding pigeons or something. Lols!


Ingredients:
1 cup Skinless wheat
1 medium Onion
4 large cloves of garlic
500 mls hot water
¾ tsp Salt
A good piece of Chicken (1 leg piece+1 thigh piece)
4 Cloves
3 Cardamoms
1” Cinnamon sticks

For garnishing:
2-4 tbsful Ghee
½ medium Onion
1 tbs Raisins
8-10 Cashews
Sugar As required

Preparation:
1. Soak wheat for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight.
2. Set the flame onto medium and pressure cook wheat along with chicken, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, garlic and water for a minimum of 1 hour to 1 ½ hour or until the wheat is completely cooked. At this stage all wheat grain will be soft to touch and puffed up.
3. Add salt and stir well. Take out any chicken bones and beat well with the hand mixer (while hot) for about 10-15 minutes until all the cooked wheat is ground and the mixture looks grainy and thick. Don’t make it like puree. You can also use food processor for grinding the mixture. But if using a food processor, take care alisa is not too hot for the processor and it requires less time.
4. In another pan, add ghee, when it is hot, add rains. When they starts to puff up remove, drain in towel and keep aside. Don’t keep raisins for long because they can turn bitter.
5. In the same oil, fry cashews until golden. Take it out and keep them aside too.
6. Again in the same ghee, fry onions until golden. Turn the flame off; add the fried cashew and rains in the ghee.
7. Take 1-2 ladleful of alisa and spread it on a plate and spread little bit of ghee with back of your spoon and sprinkle raisins and cashews.
8. Sprinkle sugar on top and serve warm. Dive in!

It is normally served with sugar, but you can have it with curry as well. Never tried so far.

Friday 10 October 2008

Recipe Index

RECIPE INDEX 


Arabic Flavours                                                                                 

Asabia el Aroos (Bride’s fingers)

Beghrir (Semolina pancakes with honey)

Date Muhalabiyeh

Falafel (Middle Eastern Chickpea croquetes) with Tahini sauce

Harissa paste 

Hummus

Kibbeh or kubbeh

Luqaimat

Mehshi Malfoof (Stuffed Cabbage Rolls)

Moutabbal/ Baba Ghanoush


Usbu al Zainab


Breakfast Menu                                                                                 

American Super-light Pancakes

Appam (vellayappam)

Beghrir (Semolina Pancakes with honey)

Kiddie Pizza

Neeru Dosa (Paper-thin Rice and Coconut Pancakes)

Ottil pollichathu (Rice Pancake 2)

Plain Dosa

Pola (Palappam)

Rava Idly and Kashmiri Chilli Chammanthi



Cakes (Small cakes/muffins) and Breads                                         


5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

Apple Pola/Apple Kums (A Malabar Apple Cake)

Apricot and Almond Cake

Banana Bread

Best ever Brownies

Black Forest Gateaux

Celebration Chocolate Cake

Cherry Crumble Cake with Cinnamon

Chocolate Cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting

Classic Brownies

Cocoa Brownies

Dutch Apple Cake

Espresso Chocolatechip Cupcakes

Kums (Cardamom Flavoured sponge cake)

Lemon Cake

Low fat Banana Bread

Low fat Banana Muffins

Orange Cake

Peach and Blackberry Crumble Cake

Plantain Cake (Kaayippola)

Rosemary and Sundried Tomato Focassia

Savoury Semolina Cake

Strawberry Cream Gateaux

Simple Chocolate Cake

Super Moist Chocolate Cake

Zebra Cake


Chinese Flavours                                                                               


Chilli Fish

Chilli Garlic Fried rice

Chilli Paneer

Chilli Prawns

Chinese Stir-Fried chicken Noodles

Fried Rice


Cookies/Bars/Macarons/Biscottis etc.                                                               


Butter Shortbread Cookies

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Florentines

Lemon Scented Almond and Raisin Biscotti

Oatmeal Cookies

Orange and Raisin Cookies

Orangey Palmiers

Peanut Butter Cookies

Pistachio and Cardamom Cookies

Pistachio and Raisin Biscotti

Plain Macarons with Bitter Chocolate Ganache

Rosewater Macarons with Cardamom Infused White Chocolate Ganache

Sponge Fingers (Savioardi)

Strawberry and Oatmeal Squares


Desserts, Puddings, Payasams etc (Something Sweet )                  

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

Apricot and Almond Cake

Asabia el Aroos

Best Ever Brownies

Biscuit and Creme Pudding with Caramel Topping

Black Forest Gateaux

Boondhi Laddu

Brigadiero Chocolate Fudge Balls

Carrot Halwa/ Gajar Ka Halwa/Gajrela

Celebration Chocolate Cake

Cherry Crumble Cake with Cinnamon

Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

Chocolate Coated Brazil Nuts

Classic Brownies

Cocoa Brownies

Creme Caramel

Dark Chocolate Mousse

Date and Walnut Bars

Date Muhalabiyeh

Gulab Jamun

Il Diplomatico

Jelly Pudding

Kalakand

Lemon Tart

Luqaimat (Arabic Dumplings)

Mango and Cheese Pudding

Mango Pudding

Musaara Varakiyathu (An ancient Malabar Muslim Payasam based on wheat, coconut and Bengal Gram)

Nutty Pineapple Dessert with Caramel Crunch

Pineapple Cheesecake

Pineapple Souffle

Plain Macarons with Bitter Chocolate Ganache

Queen of Puddings

Rosewater Macarons with Cardamom Infused White Chocolate Ganache

Semiya Payasam (Vermicelli Kheer)

Strawberry Cream Gateaux

Super Moist Chocolate Cake

Tiramisu

Usbu al Zainab

Zebra Cake

Egg Based curries and Main dishes                                                 

Mutta Roast / Egg Roast (A simple Kerala Style Egg Curry)


Indian Bread Varieties                                                                     

Aloo Paratta (Potato stuffed Indian Flat bread - Unleavened)

Battura (A fried bread made of plain flour, semolina and curd)

Kalathappam (Unsweeteened rice cake)

Marichedutha Appam (Slightly thick rice pancakes with oil)

Meen Pathiri (Steamed rice pancakes filled with fish masala)

Neeru Dosa (Paper thin rice and coconut pancakes)

Neypathal (Deep fried Rice pancakes with fennel, onion and coconut)

Ottil Pollichathu (Simple Rice Pancake)

Plain Dosa

Pola (A steamed rice cake with fermented batter)
                    
Thenga Pathal (Rice pancakes with coconut)


Italian Cuisine                                                                                   


Classic Lasagne

Garlic Basil Bread

Il Diplomatico  

Italian Bean and Pasta Soup

Pasta with Mustard Sauce and Stir-fried Chicken

Pizza

Prawn and Pesto Pats Salad

Rosemary and Sundried Tomato Focassia

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni

Tiramisu


Malabar Dishes                                                                                  


Aana pathal/ Kozhi Pidi (Steamed Rice Dumplings in Rich Coconut and Beef Gravy)

Alisa

Apple Pola/Apple Kums 

Bread Roll

Chatti Pathal/ Chatti Pathiri

Egg Kebabs

Fish Cutlets 

Ghee Rice (Neychor)

Ghee Rice with Vegetables

Godambu Kaachiyathu (A Wheat Based Beverage Tempered with Fried Onions, Cashews and Raisins)
Kaayada (Unnakkayi)

Kadala Parippu Ada (Bengal Gram and Coconut Parcels)

Kalathappam/ kalthappam (Unsweetened)

Kallummakkaaya Nirachathu/Ari Kadukka/Stuffed Mussels

Kozhi Nirachathu

Kums/Mutta pola (Cardamom Flavoured Sponge Cake)

Malabar Chemmeen Biriyani (Malabar Prawn Biriyani)

Malabar Chicken Biriyani

Malabar Chicken Curry

Malabar Fish Curry

Malabar Meen Biriyani

Malabar style Meat masala

Malabar Style Pepper Mutton Curry

Marichedutha Appam (Rice pancakes 1)

Meen Pathiri (Steamed rice pancakes filled with fish masala)

Musaara Varakiyathu (An ancient Malabar Muslim Payasam based on wheat, coconut and Bengal Gram)

Mutta Marichathu (Egg and Plantain Turnover)

Mutton Buhari

Neypathal (Deep fried rice pancakes with onion, coconut and fennel)

Pazham Nirachathu (Stuffed Plantains)

Special Fried Chicken

Spicy Beef Masala

Spring roll

Thalassery Mutton Dum Biryani

Tharikkanji (Thari Kaachiyathu) - Semolina payasam

Thenga Pathal (Rice pancakes with coconut)

Thenga Varutharacha Kozhi Curry


Mutton/Chicken/Beef (Gravies and dry fries)                                


Balti Chicken Pasanda

Beef Ularthiyathu

Butter Chicken

Chicken Chettinad

Chicken Fry Masala

Chicken Mughlai/ Chicken Moghlai

Dal Ghosht (Meat with lentils)

Indian Style Roasted Chicken with Minced-meat Stuffing

Kadhai Gosht/Kadai Gosht (A North Indian Mutton Curry in Tomato Based Sauce)

Kerala Style Baked Chicken

Kozhi Nirachathu(Stuffed Chicken with Gravy)

Malabar Chicken Curry

Malabar Style Pepper Mutton Curry

Mutton Buhari (A Kerala style Mutton Curry)

Mutton Korma/Kuruma (A mild and creamy Mutton Curry)

Mutton Stew

Mutton Ularthiyathu (A Kerala Mutton Dry Curry)

Nadan Kozhi Curry (A simple Kerala Style Chicken Curry with fried potatoes)

Pepper Chicken in Cashew Nut Gravy

Roasted Tandoori Chicken

Rogan Josh (A North Indian Mutton Curry)

Special Fried Chicken

Spicy Beef Masala

Spicy Dahi Murg (Spicy chicken in yoghurt sauce)

Spicy Grilled Chicken

Thenga Varutharacha Kozhi Curry (Chicken in Sautéed Coconut Gravy)

North Indian Cuisine                                                                        

Battura/ Batura

Carrot Halwa/ Gajar Ka Halwa/ Gajrela

Handvo (Savoury Semolina Bread)

Kabuli Channa Masala (A popular Indian Curry with Chickpeas)

Kadhai Gosht/Kadai Gosht (A North Indian Mutton Curry in Tomato Based Sauce)

Paneer Butter Masala (Paneer Makhani)

Rajma Masala

Rogan Josh (A North Indian Mutton Curry)


Pasta, Rice, Noodles and Others                                                      

Aromatic Rice Pulao

Chicken Cobbler

Chilli Garlic Fried Rice

Chinese stir fried chicken noodles

Classic Lasagne

Coconut rice – South Indian style

Fried Rice

Ghee Rice (Neychor)

Ghee Rice with Vegetables

Kofta Pulao (Aromatic Rice with Meatballs)

Lime Rice (Elumichham Pazham Saadham)

Malabar Chemmeen Biriyani (Malabar Prawn Biriyani)

Malabar Chicken Biriyani

Malabar Meen Biriyani

Pasta with Mustard Sauce and Stir-fried Chicken

Pizza (Serves 3)

Quiche Lorraine

Simple Vegetable Pulao/Pilaf

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni

Thalassery Mutton Dum Biryani


Pickles, Jams and Preserves                                                             

Aubergine (Brinjal/ Eggplant) Pickle

Pineapple Jam


Ramadan Special Varieties (Iftar and Main Course Dishes)        

Apple pola/Apple Kums

Aana pathal/ Kozhi Pidi (Steamed Rice Dumplings in Rich Coconut and Beef Gravy)

Asabia el Aroos (Brides Fingers)

Bread Roll

Chatti Pathal / Chatti Pathiri

Chicken Donuts

Date Muhalabiyeh/ Muhalabiya

Date and Coconut Fritters

Falafel

Fish Cutlets

Godambu Kaachiyathu (A Wheat Based Beverage Tempered with Fried Onions, Cashews and Raisins)

Arabic Dumplings (Luqaimat)

Kaayada (Unnakkayi)

Kadala Parippu Ada (Bengal Gram and Coconut Parcels)

Kallummakkaaya Nirachathu/Ari Kadukka /Stuffed Mussels

Kibbeh Akras / Kubbeh

Malabar style Meat masala

Meen Pathiri (Steamed rice pancakes filled with fish masala)

Mutta Marichathu (Egg and Plantain Turnover)

Mutta Porichathu (Egg Fritters)

Musaara Varakiyathu (An ancient Malabar Muslim Payasam based on wheat, coconut and Bengal Gram)

Pazham Nirachathu (Stuffed Plantains)

Spring roll

Tharikkanji (Thari Kaachiyathu) - Semolina payasam


Salads, Dips and Sauces                                                                    


Avocado and Tomato Salsa

Beetroot and Couscous Salad

Chunky Garlic Sauce

Coconut Chammanthi/Biriyani Chammanthi (Thenga Chammanthi)

Harissa paste

Hummus

Kashmiri Chilli Chammanthi

Mayonnaise

Moutabbal/Baba Ghanoush (Egg plant dip with Tahini paste)

Pacha Manga Chammanthi( Raw Mango with Coconut)

Prawn and Pesto Salad

Pudina ki Chutney (Mint Chutney)

Salad with Caeser Dressing

Slada Hummus (Warm Chickpea Salad with Onions and Paprika)

Tahini Sauce

Seafood (Gravies,snacks and Dry Fries)                                                      

Chemmeen Chammanthi

Chemmeen Muringavaal Curry (King Prawns and Drumsticks in Thick Coconut Gravy)

Chemmeen Varattiyathu (King Prawns in spicy masala)

Chilli Fish

Chilli Garlic Prawns

Chilli Prawns

Coconut Prawns with Spices

Fish Mollee

Kallummakkaaya Nirachathu/Ari Kadukka /Stuffed Mussels

King prawns and Okra in coconut gravy

Malabar Fish Curry

Masala Koonthal (Spicy squid Masala/Calamari Masala)

Prawn and Pesto Salad

Sraavu Varuthathu (Crushed Shark in spicy coconut masala)

Tuna Chikkiyathu /Spicy Tuna Thoran (Stir-fried Tuna With Spices)


Side dishes (Dishes served along with Main course)                      

Beans Mezhukkupuratti (Kerala Style Beans Stir fry)

Beef Ularthiyathu

Beetroot Thoran(Stir fried Beetroot )

Chemmeen Chammanthi

Chicken Fry Masala

Chilli Fish

Chilli Garlic Prawns

Chilli Paneer

Chilli Prawns

Coconut Prawns with Spices

Crispy Fried Cauliflower

Fried yams (Chena Porichathu)

Indian Style Roasted Chicken with Minced-meat Stuffing

Kakkiri Pacchadi (Cucumber in tempered coconut and yogurt sauce)

Long Beans Thoran (Stir-fried Long Beans)

Masala Koonthal (Spicy squid Masala/Calamari Masala)

Pacha Manga Chammanthi( Raw Mango with Coconut)

Pumpkin Curry (kumbalanga curry)

Special Fried Chicken

Spicy Grilled Chicken

Sraavu Varuthathu (Crushed Shark in spicy coconut masala)

Stir-Fried Potatoes (Urulakkizhangu Thoran)

Tuna Chikkiyathu /Spicy Tuna Thoran (Stir-fried Tuna With Spices)

Vendakka Pacchadi

Snacks (Sweet and Savoury)                                                             

Apple Pola/Apple Kums

Ari Murukku (A crunchy snack made of rice, lentils and spices)

Banana Bread

Bread Roll

Chatti Pathal / Chatti Pathiri

Chicken Donuts

Chocolate Glazed Doughnuts

Date and Coconut Fritters

Dumplings (Luqaimat)

Egg Kebab

Falafel

Fish Cutlets

Garlic and Basil Bread

Handvo (Savory Semolina Cake)

Kaayada (Unnakkayi)

Kadalapparippu Ada (Bengal Gram and Coconut Parcels)

Kallummakkaaya Nirachathu/Ari Kadukka /Stuffed Mussels

Kerala Puffs

Kibbeh or kubbeh

Kiddie Pizza
 
Kums (Cardamom Flavored Sponge Cake)

Low-fat Banana Bread

Mutta Marichathu (Egg and Plantain turnover)

Mutta Porichathu (Egg Fritters)

Orangey Palmiers

Pazham Nirachathu (Stuffed Plantains)

Pistachio and Raisin Biscotti

Rava Idly

Spring Roll

Sukhiyan (Moong Beans Fritters)

Usbu al Zainab (Zainab's fingers)


Soups and Starters                                                                            


Chilli Fish

Chilli Paneer

Chilli Prawns

Creamy Broccoli and Mushroom Soup

Italian Bean and Pasta Soup

Meat Kibbeh Akras/ Kubbeh

Potato and Cauliflower Soup with Cheese

Spicy Grilled Chicken

Swiss Oatmeal Soup with Chicken and Vegetables

Vegetable Curries (Gravies and dry curries)                                 

Beans Mezhukkupuratti (Kerala Style stir fried Beans)

Beetroot Thoran(Stir fried Beetroot )

Crispy Fried Cauliflower

Fried yams (Chena Porichathu)

Green Peas Curry in Coconut Milk

Kabuli channa masala

Kakkiri Pacchadi (Cucumber in tempered coconut and yogurt sauce)

Kumbalanga Moru curry (Ashgourd curd curry)

Long Beans Thoran (Stir-fried Long Beans)

Muringavaal Thengapaal Curry (Drumsticks in Coconut Milk)

Pacha Manga Chammanthi( Raw Mango with Coconut)

Paneer Makani/Paneer butter Masala

Pumpkin Curry (kumbalanga curry)

Rajma Masala (Kidney Bean Curry)

Spinach Dal/Palak Dal

Stir-Fried Potatoes (Urulakkizhangu Thoran)

Vegetable Kadai/Vegetable Karahi

Vegetable Korma

Vegetable Stew

Vegetables in Coconut Gravy

Vendakka Pacchadi (Okra in yougurt sauce)
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