Onion Ghee Roast

This hardly calls for a blog post. Yet, me being me, I am posting it :)
All credit for this goes to the ready made batter I bought from the store and the super duper non stick Dosa Pan I recently bought. My only contribution was making the onion roast (lol!)

Ripe Mango Curry

 This is a recipe I learnt from my mother in law. It is my husband's favourite, hence I had no choice but to learn it (lol!)

The only downside of this dish is that it can be made only during summer. Ugh, if you want to know why - Ripe Mangoes are available only in Summer!!!

You can make this with all varieties of mangoes, but the best would be the small mangoes which are usually home grown. I used this variety named "Senduram". Don't ask me the English name.

BisiBela Bath (Sambar Rice)

Bisi Bela Bath (Sambar Rice)

This was the first recipe I posted on my blog. This is my best friend G's mom's recipe...and since aunty is a super duper cook, I thought it is an auspicious sign to start off with her recipe... Even if I become half as good as her, I would be satisfied.

Ingredients:

• Rice – 1 cup (small cup)
• Tuvar Dal – 1/2 cup (same measure of rice)
• Water – 6 cups 3 ½ cups for the rice and 2 ½ cups for the dal – total 6 cups (same measuring cup)
• Shallots (Sambar Onions) - 1/4 kgs
• Tomato - 2
• Carrot - 1 (diced)
• Potato - 1 big (cut into square pieces)
• Beans - 5-10 (cut into 2 inch pieces)
• Double Beans - 15-20
• Any other Vegetables that you want to use (If you are using Brinjal, do not pressure cook it along with rice and other veggies)
• Sambar Powder - 2 tblsp
• Tamarind - The size of a big lemon
• Salt to taste
• Ghee – 6 tbsp
• Gingelly Oil (Nalla ennai) – 4 tblsp
• Turmeric – 1 pinch
• Mustard and curry leaves for seasoning.

For the masala:

• Corriander seed - 5-6 tblsp
• Red chilly - 10-15 (adjust as per your spice requirements)
• Channa Dal (Kadala Paripu) - 2 tblsp
• Asafoetida (Perungayam) 1/2 inch piece
• Fenugreek (vendhiyam/uluva) 1 tsp
• Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
• Cloves - 2
• Pepper - 1 tsp
• Garlic - 2
• grated coconut 1/2 coconut shell

Method:

• Sauté the onions and the vegetables in ghee.
• Wash the rice and dal and soak for 15 minutes in water.
• Add the required amount of water, the sautéed onions and vegetables, a pinch of turmeric, tomatoes and pressure cook for 5 whistles. (Do not pressure cook the brinjals)
• Fry the masala ingredients in a little ghee but make sure they do not get blackened as it will change the taste of the rice, dry grind them first, then add adequate water and grind it to a fine paste.
• Boil the tamarind water (add lots of water as it is bound to eventually become dry) and salt.
• Then add the ground masala and bring to boil again.
• Add the cooked rice, dal and vegetables and mix well adding ghee when required and a little bit of gingelly oil.

Season with mustard and curry leaves and ur bisi bela bath is ready!!!!!!!!!! Serve with Potato Fry!


Note: Use the same measuring cup for Rice, Dal and Water. Adjust the masala quantity according to the amount of rice, dal and vegetables you have. I used a small measuring cup. Since you add so many vegetables and water, this dish usually trebles in quantity. So use a small measuring cup and retain the masala quantity according to your taste buds.

South Indian Potato Fry

The simplest and yummiest dish...you can hardly go wrong with this. You can modify it to your taste, you can keep experimenting with this dish and yet it does not fail you. Every time, i try some new concoction and am fairly satisfied with the end result... I guess it is primarily due to my bias for potatoes... Anything with potatoes are yummy for me... This can be made with South Indian Masala's and seasoning or with North Indian Masala's and seasoning... either way, it tastes great.
I made this the way the Brahman's in Chennai make it... to go along with the Bisi Bela Bath (aka Sambar Rice) I made.

Here is the recipe for this simple Potato Fry.


Ingredients:

• Potatoes - You can use the baby potatoes or the normal ones
• Gingelly Oil (Nalla ennai) - 4-5 tblsp (yeah, its Potato FRY) If you do not want to use gingelly oil, you can use normal cooking oil
• Salt - to taste
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Sambar Powder - 1 1/2 tblsp
• Red Chilly Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric Paste - 1/4 tsp
• Mustard - 1 tsp
• Channa Dal (Kadala Paripu) - 1 tsp
• Broken Urid Dal - 1 tsp
• Asafoetida Powder - 1 pinch
• Curry Leaves - 1 sprig (What is south indian cooking without curry leaves?)

Method:

• Wash and Pressure cook the potatoes for 2-3 whistles. Again, you may not want to cook the potatoes and fry them directly. Another alternative is to peel and cut the potatoes and boil them in water till cooked. I prefer the pressure cooker method because of its simplicity.
• Peel and cut the cooked potatoes
• Heat oil in a pan.
• Splutter curry leaves, mustard seeds, urid dal, channa dal till fried.
• Add the asafoetida powder and then the diced potatoes.
• Saute for 5 minutes and then add the salt, turmeric, chilly and sambar powders.
• Fry for 10 minutes and then cook covered for another 5.
• Mix the tamarind paste in about 2 tblsp of water and sprinkle it over the potatoes and fry on high flame till dry.
• Remove and Serve Hot!!!

Note: If you do not wish to add Sambar Powder, you could increase the quantity of chilly powder or you could use any curry powder of your choice. Adding the Tamarind paste is optional... I like the sourness it imparts, hence I add it. You could fry onions, garlic and tomatoes and alter this dish again. As I said, you can keep experimenting with this dish.

Fish Mollee

Fish Moilee, Fish Mollee... however it is called is literally Fish Stew. It is prepared pretty much the same way as we prepare the vegetable stew or the mutton stew. Kerala is known for the seafood consumption and the abundance of coconut in its cuisine. So you can well imagine what would happen when the two come together exclusively for a dish!!!!

I was very curious to understand what the word Mollee meant. I googled for it, and most of the websites/blogs claim that Mole is Spanish for stew and Mollee is the "Manglicised" version of this word. I'd like to believe that because it is a very Indian thing to extend the e's (like Shoppee). I guess this was the barter system of those days - they took our spices and taught us how to cook their dishes (albeit for them).

Apparently Indian Mackeral (Ayila) is supposed to be the best one to go with Fish Molee, but you can make it with any fish. I made mine with Pomfret. It is the thick coconut milk and the mild spices that add the flavor to this. Lightly laced with pepper and made spicy with green chillies, the sweetness of the coconut milk acts as a balance, making this dish simply yummilicious! :)

Here is how I made the fish mollee this time.

Ingredients

• Fish (any variety, but try not to make it with the extremely small ones like Anchovy or Sardines) - cleaned and cut - 10 pieces 
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Chilly Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Pepper Powder - 2 tsp for marinating and 1 tsp for the gravy
• Salt - to taste
• Coconut oil - 4 tbsp
• Curry Leaves - 3-4 sprigs
• Small Onion/Shallots - 15-20 sliced fine
• Green Chilly - 5 slit lengthwise
• Tomato - 1 cut into round pieces
• Ginger - 2 inch piece finely chopped
• Garlic - 10 cloves slit lengthwise
• Garam Masala Powder - 1 tsp
• Thin Coconut Milk - 2 cups
• Thick Coconut Milk - 1-2 cups (depending on how thick it is - I used one big pack of Maggi coconut powder and dissolved it in 200 ml water.)

Method:

• Marinate the fish with salt, turmeric powder, chilly powder and pepper powder and set aside for 1-2 hours.
• Heat 3 tbsp coconut oil and fry them till they are cooked (this is only to avoid the fish from crumbling while cooking - hence you do not have to deep fry it)
• Remove the fish from the pan. Discard the remaining oil. I wouldn't recommend you to use that for making the gravy as it has a weird smell.
• In another pan, heat 1 tbsp coconut oil. Add curry leaves, ginger, garlic, green chillies and onions and fry till they are done.
• Add the tomato and thin coconut milk. Add salt to taste.
• Add the fried fish pieces and bring to boil. Cook till the fish is done.
• Add 1 tsp garam masala powder (I wouldn't recommend Everest or MDH or Badshah - these taste best when you use them for north indian cooking - You could use Sakthi or Aachi or any south indian brand for this dish. If you have Eastern Curry powder or Chicken Masala, you could add that - it enhances the taste of the dish.
• Mix well and ensure that the fish pieces do not crumble.
• Add 1 tsp pepper powder.
• Add the thick coconut milk and bring to boil till the gravy reaches the required consistency.
• Serve hot with Appam or Idiappam.

Note: If your gravy is too thin, it is probably because the coconut milk was not thick enough. You could add 1 tsp of cornflour to thicken the gravy if you like.

Chemeen Thoran - Shrimp/Prawn Masala with coconut

This one is an all time favorite.... I can just eat this - truckloads. It is very spicy, has loads of onions and coconut that gives it the ability to tickle all the varied taste buds. The bigger the prawn, the better it tastes. This can be made in a variety of preparation styles, which I would eventually post here, but this time I had this craving to eat this one and so it was. I did modify the traditional recipe a wee bit... I found an Andhra prawn masala recipe in one of the blogs and I added some extra ingredients based on that. My mother makes this dish devoid of the extra  bit and as you read the recipe, I will tell you which ingredients are a part of the original recipe and which are my inclusions.

The problem with prawns or rather the difficulty in cooking them lies with the initial cleaning and deveining part. Once that is done and you have clean meat in your bowl that's ready to cook, you can churn out wonders. My husband and mom are so fond of prawns that everytime we go out for a meal, we would invariably end up ordering atleast one dish.

It was only the week before that I saw some pics on my ex-colleague's Facebook album - that had yummy prawns and fish curry - I was so tempted that I asked for the recipes and very sweetly, his wife sent me all the recipes immediately. I wanted to make the recipe that she had suggested but that had tomato sauce in it and I was not sure if my in-laws who are visiting me would like a different taste. So i decided to stick to the traditional Thoran (obviously with a few modifications from my end).


Here are the key ingredients that I used:

• Prawns - de-veined and cleaned - 1 kg
• Shallots (Small/Sambar Onions)- 300 gms
• Green Chillies - 4-5 (depending on how spicy you want it to be)
• Coconut - 1/2 to 3/4 grated (depends on how much you like)
• Curry Leaves - 3-4 sprigs
• Ginger finely chopped - 2 inch piece
• Garlic chopped lengthwise - 10-15 cloves
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Chilly Powder - 1 tsp (adjust it according to your spice level)
• Salt - to taste
• Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
• Coconut Oil - 4-5 tbsp (you can reduce it)
• Tamarind Paste - 1/2 tsp or Kudam Puli - 1/2 piece *(Optional)

For marinating the prawns (to be ground to a fine paste):

• Chilly Powder - 2 tsp
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - 1 tsp
• Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp*(Optional)
• Poppy Seeds (Khus Khus) - 1 tsp *(Optional)
• Cashew nuts - 1/2 cup *(Optional)
• Cinnamon - 1 small piece *(Optional)
• Clove - 1 *(Optional)

Note - The items marked *(Optional) are my additions - traditionally, my parents never added these to the Chemeen Thoran. I wanted to make some variations and hence this. You can prepare it without all these 4 ingredients and trust me, it will only taste yummier!

Method:

• Marinate the prawns with the ingredients above and set aside for 2 hours
• Heat coconut oil in a vessel, splutter mustard seeds.
• Add curry leaves, chopped shallots, green chillies, ginger and garlic and fry well.
• Add the turmeric powder, chilly powder and salt and fry well.
• Add the marinated prawns and mix well.
• You may add the tamarind paste or the kudam puli if you want a tangy flavor in the dish.
• Do not add water as the prawns will bring out water.
• Cook covered till the prawns are done.
• Dry the excess water and add grated coconut and mix well.
• You can remove the Kudam Puli piece after cooking, if you have added it.
• That's it - Tasty Chemmeen Thoran is ready to be served with rice and roti's!

Note: Apart from cleaning and de-veining the prawns, the tough parts would be to peel and chop the shallots and grate the coconut. An easier alternative would be to use normal onions and exclude the coconut and maybe you may want to substitute the coconut oil with your regular cooking oil - but trust me, it will lose the authentic flavor.

Malabar Prawn Curry

My husband loves prawns, but we rarely buy them because of the smell they emit when being cooked and the tedious proceedue of deveining them and cleaning them up. The last time we went to the supermarket, I found a packet of freshly cleaned prawns for sale. So I picked it up and tried my hand at the prawn curry that my mother and mother in law make so deliciously (BTW, my father and father in law are better cooks than their respective spouses).

I was never too fond of the prawns curry till before my marriage. I always prefered Prawn prepared in the "Thoran" style with lots of onions and coconut. Husband dear on the other hand is an ardent lover of the prawn curry. So now, everytime there is prawns at my mom's place, its this preparation that my better half so loves. Here is the recipe I picked from my mom.

Ingredients:

• Prawns - 1/2 kg, deveined & cleaned
• Raw Mango - 1/2 piece
• Tamarind - the size of a lemon
• Coconut - 1/2 shell grated
• Cumin Seeds - 2 tsp
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Chilly Powder - 2 1/2 tsp
• Onion - 1 cut into long slices
• Tomato (optional) - 1
• Ginger - 1 inch piece
• Green Chilly - 3-4 slit lengthwise
• Sour Curd - 3 tbsp
• Curry Leaves - a handful
• Salt - to taste
• Coconut Oil - 2 tsp

Method:

• Marinate the prawns with turmeric powder, chilly powder and salt
• Add onion, ginger. raw mango and green chilly to the marinated prawns and set aside for 2 hours.
• Soak the tamarind in water to extract the pulp.
• Grind grated coconut with the curd and cumin seeds to a fine paste (It is this consistency that decides how good your curry is going to be - so take care!)
• Cook the marinated prawns in the tamarind pulp till soft.
• Add the ground cocunut and curd mix and bring to boil. 
• Add salt to taste, curry leaves and a little bit of coconut oil and remove from stove.
• Serve with Rice or Dosa.

Kadala Curry (Black Chickpeas in coconut gravy)

Puttu and Kadala Curry is one of the most prominent breakfast items in Kerala. Puttu is made by steaming Rice Flour along with grated coconut and salt. There is a special mould available in the market. I picked mine from Guruvayoor. The success of your puttu lies in the consistency in which you mix salt, water and rice flour. It should not be too dry or too watery. To be frank, I do not know the consistency yet. I got my mother to mix the flour. All I had to do is put copious amount of coconut and flour in the mould and steam it.

Well, the Kadala curry is my preparation though. I undertook a laborious method of preparation today. (My mother does it in a jiffy). Here is how I prepared the Kadala Curry this morning.

Ingredients:

• Black Kadala (Black Chickpeas/Channa) - soaked overnight - 2 cups
• Potato - 1 (optional)
• Onion - 1 big
• Shallots - 10-15
• Tomato - 1 big
• Green Chilly - 2
• Corriander Powder - 2 tsp
• Garam Masala Powder - 1 tsp
• Red Chilly Powder - 1 tsp (or as per taste)
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Ginger Garlic Paste - 2 tsp
• Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
• Peppercorn - 1 tsp
• Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
• Curry Leaves - a handful
• Grated Coconut - 1 cup
• Coconut pieces - 2 tbsp
• Coconut Milk - 200 ml (thick)
• Salt to taste
• Coconut oil - 3 tbsp

Method:

• Soak Kadala (black chickpeas / channa) overnight.
• Pressure cook Channa, potatp(optional) with half an onion cut into thin slices and 2 green chillies slit vertically. Add a pinch of turmeric powder before you pressure cook it.
• Heat 1 tbsp coconut oil in a pan.
• Splutter Cumin seeds (jeera) and add the grated coconut. Fry till brown,
• Add corriander powder, red chilly powder, garam masala, pepper, ginger garlic paste and fry till the aroma of cooked masala arises.
• Add the other half of the onion and half of the tomato and saute well.
• Cool and grind to a fine paste with some boiled chick peas.
• Heat 2 tbsp coconut oil in a pan.
• Add mustard seeds and allow it to splutter.

• Add the chopped coconut slices and fry till brown.
• Add half the curry leaves and shallots and fry well.
• Add the tomatoes and cook till done.
• Add the ground paste to this and fry well.
• Add boiled chickpease and potato mixture without their stock.
• Add sufficient water, curry leaves and salt and bring to boil.
• Add coconut milk and bring to boil. Boil for 5 minutes.
• Remove from flame and serve with Puttu or Appam.

Sweet and Spicy Chutney

                         

Let me start with how I thought of this chutney in the first place. My colleague N who hails from Andhra Pradesh, brought to office one day, a ginger chutney that was out of this world. Promptly I asked for the recipe and she just replied saying grind ginger, chilly and jaggery together. That inspired me to add jaggery to the next chutney I made and it so happened that we had Rava Idli's for breakfast yesterday. So it was the ideal time to try this chutney. I'll let you in on what all I used for this.

Ingredients:

• Shallots - 15
• Tomato - 1
• Green Chilly - 2
• Red Chilly - 2
• Curry Leaves - 1 sprig
• Corriander Leaves - 1/4 bunch (2-3 stalks)
• Tamarind - i inch piece
• Garlic - 10 cloves
• Ginger - 2 inch piece
• Jaggery - the size of a tennis ball
• Oil - 2 tbsp
• Salt to taste

Method

• 
  
  Heat oil in a pan.
• Add shallots, curry leaves, green and red chillies, ginger and garlic and fry well.
• Add tomato, salt and cook covered till the tomatoes are mushy.
• Add curry leaves and corriander leaves and cook for another 5 minutes.
• Cool, grind with tamarind and jaggery.
• 
  
  Add more salt if requred and serve.

Rava Idli (Semilona Idli/Pancake)

Till date I've made Rava Idli's with the ready made MTR mix that is available in the stores. This time around, I decided to try making the batter myself based on a recipe I'd read earlier in some blog. So here is how I made it.

Ingredients

• Rava (Semilona) - 1 cup
• Onion - 1
• Green Chilly - 2
• Curry Leaves - 1 sprig
• Corriander Leaves - 1 small bunch
• Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
• Split Urud Dal - 1 tsp
• Channa Dal - 1 tsp
• Cashew nuts - 2 tbsp
• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Curd (Yogurt)- 200 ml (maybe lesser, ensure the batter is not too thick or too watery)
• Salt - to taste

Method:

• Heat oil in a pan.
• Splutter mustards, urud dal and channa dal.
• When cooked, add curry leaves and finely chopped green chillies.
• Add finely chopped onions and fry till translucent.
• Add cashew nuts and fry them till brown.
• Add the rava and roast till it starts browning.
• Add corriander leaves and remove.
• Let it cool. Add curd (yogurt) and mix well till the batter is in a slightly thick consistency.
• Ensure the batter does not run too much, else idli's will not get cooked.
• Set this batter for 60-90 minutes.
• Steam in your regular idli cooker for 15-20 minutes (depends on the type of cooker you  have).
• Garnish with shredded carrots and serve with Chutney.

Potato Subji (Masala for Poori-Masala or Masala Dosa)

This is the simplest preparation and probably the first dish I made after my marriage. This goes well with Roti's and Poori's and can also be used as the stuffing for Masala Dosa. It is a dry subji, so we usually make it while travelling - atleast spares us the worry of having the gravy spill all over. It is very handy when you have to pack lunch or tiffin for school and office goers. Just roll it inside the roti or poori or stuff it inside a dosa. Here is how I made it.

Ingredients

• Medium sized potatos - 3
• Onion - 1
• Green Chilly - 3
• Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
• Split Urud Dal - 1 tsp
• Channa Dal - 1 tsp
• Curry Leaves - 1 sprig
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Grated Ginger - 1 tsp
• Asafoetida - 1 pinch
• Salt - to taste
• Oil - 3 tsp
• Corriander Leaves - for seasoning
• Optional - you could use peas or other vegetables that are boiled well. You could also use 1 tomato if you like that flavour.

Method

• Wash and pressure cook the potatoes.
• Cool, Peel and mash them well.
• Cut onions into small pieces.
• Heat oil in a pan.
• Splutter Mustard seeds and add the curry leaves.
• Add channa dal and cook till brown.
• Add the urud dal and cook till brown.
• Add the onions, green chillies and asafoetida powder and stir fry till translucent.
• At this stage you could add the tomato, peas or other veggies you want to add.
• Add salt and turmeric powder and mix well.
• Now add the mashed potatoes and mix well so that the masala and potato mash mixes well.
• Garnish with corriander leaves and serve.

And that is it... Enjoy your Poori or Roti or Dosa with this simple recipe and preparation.

Poricha Kootu

I don't know how this recipe got its name, but I was in love with it the first time I tasted it. My memory fails me as I have forgotten my tryst with this dish in school. The earliest I remember was having it from my colleague M when I was pregnant. Oh Boy, did I love it!!! M, being the kind soul she was ensured she got this for me regularly... this is the nicest part of being pregnant... people are eager to satiate your pregnancy cravings. M got it every other week for me. It's nearly 3 years now since this incident but the taste lingered on.

Recently I decided to ask my best friend G the recipe. I figured since it is a Tamil Brahmin speciality, G would know the recipe too...so what if M was an Iyer and G an Iyengar? The recipe ought to be the same right? G laughed and told me "DO you remember how you used to hog my lunch in school every time my mom packed this dish for me?". My jaw dropped, limbs dragged and the whole body shook!!!! Haha, let me not overdo, but I swear, I really did not remember having this dish earlier. G says she can recall very vividly how I used to exchange the Fried Rice my mom packed for me in exchange for her Poricha Kootu n Rice. I must have forgotten about it in my growing old years, but more than 10 years later, when M brought the dish, I loved it...so I guess the taste was cultivated when I was a 13 or 14 year old teen!

G gave me the recipe which I cross verified online. Fairly simple. So I decided to make it. And relish it!!!!





What you need to make Poricha Kootu

Any of the following veggies (any 2 would suffice)

Chow Chow (I don't know its english name) - 1

Green Brinjal - 5-6 cut lengthwise

Green Capsicum - 1

Kovakkai (Ivy Gourd or Tindora) - 100 gms

White Pumpkin - 100 gms

1. Moong Dal (Siru Parippu) - 1 cup
2. Channa Dal (Kadala Parippu) - 50 gms
3. Coconut - 1/2 shell grated
4. Jeera - 1 tsp
5. Green Chillies - 3-4
6. Peppercorn - 3-4 tblsp
7. Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
8. Sambar Powder - 1 tsp
9. Salt to taste

How to make it:

1. Pressure cook the Moong Dal and Channa Dal for 3-4 whistles.
2. Cut and boil the vegetables in water with turmeric and sambar powder.
3. Grind the coconut, green chilly, peppercorns and jeera into a fine paste.
4. When the veggies are cooked and soft, add the dal and bring to boil.
5. Add salt and mix well.
6. Add the ground coconut-peppercorn paste and cook till the gravy becomes thick.
7. Serve with hot rice and ghee!

This dish requires no oil. Yeah the coconut is a high cholestrol item, but still, NO OIL!!!!

I love this dish and looks like this is going to feature in my weekly timetable for lunch menu from now on since I've learnt to make it.

Malabar Egg Biriyani

Biryani.... I think it is to do with Malabar Mallu's! I've seen my grandmother drool over Biryani at this age. I know of no wedding/birthday celebration in our part of the world without a "Biryani Party". Though I am not too fond of the Nei Chor (Ghee Rice) that is served, the Biryani is yummilicious!!!! The Calicut Moplah Biryani or Thalassery Biryani finds a mention in wikkipedia as well.

I found this recipe on Mishmash's site (Egg Biryani Finally Makes It to the Hall of Fame). I was not as patient as her, so I probably tried a few shortcuts and omitted a few items. The end result however was appreciated, more so, considering that this is the first time I am making Malabar Style Biryani (My grandmother and mum in law make the yummiest Chicken Biryani...will post that recipe some time soon.)

Right now, it is Malabar Egg Biryani, Thanks to Mishmash. Now, you may wonder why I would want to write down the whole recipe here instead of just directing the link to her site. Well, it is purely for my reference purpose - When I want to make the dish the next time, I wouldn't have to search for it... I'd have it in my own collection here. So here goes the ingredients and the method.



Step 1: Biryani Masala

Ingredients:

1. Black Cardamom - 1 (Not in the original recipe, I had it, so I added it)


2. Green Cardamom - 1


3. Cloves - 5-6


4. Cinamon - 2 inch stick


5. Star Anise - 1 (Not in the original recipe, I had it, so I added it) 


6. Saunf - 3/4 tsp


7. Jeera - 3/4 tsp


8. Nutmeg - 1/4


9. Nutmace - 1


10. Caraway Seeds - 1/4 tsp (I did not have this, hence I did not add it)

Method:

1. Dry grind all the ingredients together. I read in another recipe that you could dry roast them first, but I was scared of burning them, hence I powdered them without dry roasting.

Step 2 -  Chilly-Garlic-Ginger Paste

Ingredients:

1. Green Chilly - 10


2. Garlic - 15 cloves


3. Ginger - 2 inch piece

Method:

1. This one aint rocket science. Grind all of them together into a fine paste without adding water.

The original recipe does not go in this sequence,but I did this just to spare me the misery of going through a power cut at the most crucial time. I finished all the grinding early in the morning so that even if the power gets cut by mid morning, my biryani would be ready by lunch.

Step 3 - Making the rice

Ingredients:

1. Basmati Rice - 2 cups


2. Water - 4 cups


3. Ghee - 4 tblsp


4. Ground Chilly-Ginger-Garlic Paste- 1 tblsp


5. Onion - 1 finely chopped


6. Bay Leaf - 2


7. Green Cardamom - 4-5


8. Cloves - 5-6


9. Jeera - 1 tsp


10. Salt - 1 tsp

Method:

1. Wash and drain rice


2. Heat Ghee in the pan


3. Splutter Jeera seeds.


4. Add bay leaf, cinammon and cardamom to this.


5. Fry for some time.


6. Add onions and fry till they turn translucent


7. Add 1 tablespoon of the ground ginger-garlic-chilly paste.


8. Fry till the raw smell disappears.


9. Add basmati rice and fry till all the water has evaporated.


10. Add salt and mix well.


11. Add 4 cups of water (same measure cup as rice) and bring to boil.


12. Reduce flame to sim and cover cooked till the rice is almost done and the water has evaporated completely

Note: At this stage, the rice may seem half cooked. It is okay, because you are going to let it cook more with the masala (Dum Style)

Step 4 - Making the Egg

Ingredients

1. Eggs - 4 for making the omelet


2. Eggs - 4 hard boiled


3. Onion - 1 chopped into small pieces


4. Green Chilly - 1 cut into small pieces


5. Salt to taste


6. OIl - 2 tsp


7. Biriyani Masala (refer step 1) - 1 tsp


8. Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp


9. Chilly Powder - 1 tsp


10. Oil - 3 tblsp for shallow frying the hardboiled eggs.

Method:

1. Beat 4 eggs till soft and fluffy.


2. Add salt, onions and green chilly and mix well.


3. Heat a pan.


4. Add 1 tsp oil and pour 1/2 the mixture.


5. Reduce flame to avoid it getting burnt.


6. Turn side over and remove when it is done on both sides.


7. Repeat for the next omelet.


8. Shred the omelet into fine pieces.


9. Hardboil the remaining 4 eggs.


10. When cooled, remove the shell and cut into 2.


11. Add 1 tsp Biriyani Masala, 1/4 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp red chilly powder and salt and shallow fry them.


12. Set aside.

I omitted the hardboiled eggs bit because it was an egg overdose for us today. We had Spanish Omelet for breakfast as well, so I thought it would be wise to do away with the hardboiled eggs this time.

 Step 5 - Making the Egg Masala

Ingredients

1. Onions - 3-4


2. Tomatoes - 3


3. Biryani Masala (from Step 1) - 2 tblsp


4. Ground Chilly-Garlic-Ginger Paste (from step 2) - 2-3 tblsp


5. Ghee - 4-5 tblsp (You could substitute it with oil)


6. Salt to taste


7. Mint - 1 cup chopped


8. Corriander Leaves - 1 cup chopped


9. Thick Curd (Yogurt) - 3 tblsp


10. Lime Juice - from 1 big lemon or as per taste


11. Shredded Egg Omelet (from step 4)

Method

1. Heat ghee in a pan


2. Add onions and fry till translucent


3. Add the ground chilly-garlic-ginger paste and fry till the raw smell disappears


4. Add tomatoes and cook till mushy.


5. Add the dry powdered Biryani Masala and mix well.


6. Add mint, corriander leaves and shredded egg and mix well.


7. Add lemon juice and salt to taste and mix well.


8. Add yogurt and mix well.


9. Bring to boil.


10. Turn off flame after 1 boil (else the yogurt will separate)


11. You could test the salt now and adjust accordingly.

This step gets over very quickly as you don't have to wait for any vegetable to get cooked. The time taken is for the onions and tomatoes to get cooked and become a semi-gravy consistency.

Step 6 - Mixing the Biryani

Method: (This whole step should be done on a low flame)

1. Heat Ghee in a pan


2. Layer with one serving of rice prepared earlier. (Step 3)


3. Top with one layer of egg masala. (Step 5)


4. Sprinkle Biryani Masala. (Step 1)


5. Repeat this once again.


6. Place hardboiled and shallow fried egg halves (Step 4).


7. Cover with lid and ensure that no vapor escapes the pan.


8. Keep in sim for 20-30 minutes. Ensure that the rice does not get burnt. Depending on how cooked/uncooked the rice is, this time could vary from 15 minutes-30 minutes.

Step 7- Making the Garnish

Ingredients

1. Onions - Sliced into thin long pieces


2. Cashew nuts - 2-3 tblsp


3. Raisins - 2-3 tblsp


4. Ghee - 4-5 tblsp

Method:

1. Heat Ghee and deep fry each of the above separately till it turns blackish brown.

Step 8 - Finally the Biryani is ready

1. Remove the biryani from the stove and mix it well.


2. Take care to ensure that you do not crumble the hardboiled eggs (You could also add it at this stage if you dont want to disturb them too much.)


3. Sprinkle the garnish.


4. Serve!
   
   [caption id="attachment_126" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Malabar Egg Biryani"][/caption]

Phew! I never realised it was such a long process. But the efforts did pay off. Thank you Mishmash for sharing this recipe on your blog. My family had a truly wonderful lunch today along with Papadam Thalichathu, again another recipe from the same blogger!

Mangalorean Tomato Curry in Coconut Milk

This apparently is a Mangalorean/Konkani delicacy that is had along with Neer Dosa

( http://www.awesomecuisine.com/recipes/177/1/Neer-Dosa/Page1.html ), yet another Mangolerean delicacy.

My husband loves this and my mother in law made it when I went there the first time after marriage. I loved this and asked her for the recipe. She started laughing saying there is hardly a recipe for this cos it is so simple to make. And trust me, when I heard of the recipe then, I was like this can't be so tasty for such a simple preparation! But trust me it is.

This also goes along well with Appams and Puttu as well. I made this when I had my friends over and served it with Appams and they all loved it.

Ingredients

1. Garlic - 7-8 cloves chopped finely
2. Onions - 2 big ones chopped finely or into thin long slices
3. Tomatoes(Finely chopped) - 3 Big ones or 4 small ones (If you are using more onions, use more tomatoes)
4. Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
5. Chilly Powder - 3/4 tsp
6. Thick Coconut milk - 200 ml - 1 glass (I use 1 Dabur Hommade Coconut Milk carton) If you are using the powder, you could use 2 sachets.
7. Water - 200 ml (1 glass)
8. Oil - 2 tblsp
9. Salt to taste

(Yeah, thats it...i told you its fairly simple na!!! :-) )

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add chopped garlic and fry till golden brown.
2. Add onions and fry till translucent.
3. Add the tomatoes and cook till they become pulpy and lose shape.
4. Add salt, turmeric powder, chilly powder and some water and allow to boil till it becomes half its quantity.
5. Add coconut milk and simmer till it thickens.
6. Increase the heat, allow to boil and remove from flame.

That's it! The result is lip smacking yummy and a not so masaledar accompaniment to Appam, Puttu or Neer Dosa!!!!

Mathan Erisheri (Yellow Pumpkin and Dal Curry)

When I was young, I used to hate erisheri, but somewhere along the line, I began to love it. From then on, my experiments with this dish did not cease. I usually make erisheri with raw plantain, for two reasons

1. I love raw plantains


2. I can pressure cook the raw plantains, so making this dish saves me time.

Despite my reflux and acidity, I prefer having erisheri with heaps of pickle. Since we do not add tomatoes or tamarind to this, the sour quotient is missing in this dish. So I add pickle to it. But the best combination is Erisheri with curd (yogurt) and Payar & Kai (Long Beans and Raw Plantain) Mizhikkuperati.

My husband is from the Konkan side and he prefers a tinge of sweet in his food, a complete contrast to my ultra spicy taste. He usually adjusts to my spicy food, but this time I thought I would make Erisheri with Mathan (Yellow Pumpkin) as it is slightly sweet. Here goes the recipe. Note, the recipe is the same for any kind of erisheri, you just have to substitute the pumpkin with raw plantains/yam/peerkinga (ridge gourd I think).

Ingredients:

1. Yellow Pumpkin - 100 gms


2. Tuvar Dal - 1 cup


3. Grated Coconut - 1 cup


4. Jeera - 1 tsp


5. Green Chilly - 2


6. Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp


7. Chilly Powder - 3/4 tsp


8. Salt to taste


9. Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp


10. Curry Leaves - 2 sprigs


11. Red Chilly - 2 broken


12. Shallots - 2-3 finely chopped


13. Coconut Oil - 3 tsp

Method:

1. Wash and Pressure cook dal with a pinch of turmeric powder and a drop of oil


2. Cut Yellow Pumpkin (or any other veggie you are using) and cook them in an open vessel with turmeric. If you are using Yam or Raw Plantain, you can pressure cook them for 1-2 whistles.


3. Grind coarsely coconut gratings, jeera and green chilly.


4. Mix dal to the vegetable and allow to cook.


5. Add ground paste, red chilly powder and mix well.


6. Add salt and let it boil and cook till it is of a fairly thick consistency.


7. Remove from flame.


8. Heat coconut oil in a small pan.


9. Splutter mustards, add curry leaves and red chilly.


10. Add to the cooked gravy.


11. Finally, deep fry chopped shallots in remaining coconut oil and when it is blackend and appears burnt, add it to the curry. This is optional. My mother does not do it, but I liked the smoked flavour the burnt shallots generate.


12. Serve with Rice.

Aviyal

A signature dish from Kerala and popular in Tamil Nadu as well, Aviyal is a must for any Kerala "Sadhya". We mallu's actually do not need a reason to prepare this dish. This is a must have dish for every occasion and is also made on normal days to be had along with Rice and Sambar.

It is supposed to have been invented by Bhima (one of the Pandava brothers) during his agnaathavaasa. According to the legend, Ballav (Bheem's name during this time) when he assumed his duties as the cook in the kitchen of Virata, did not know how to cook. One of the first things he did was to chop up many different vegetables, boil them together and top the dish with grated coconut

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviyal)

Well, needless to say, the end result is yummilicious!