Chilly Gobi (Chilly Cauliflower)

Dedicate this post to my sissy – for teaching me the experiments with cauliflower.

This yummy flower often was ignored at home, because Bawa detested it and Mommy didn’t want to make anything he detests. Hence me, sissy and bro were relying on Bharath Restaurant (Thrissur) for this yummy treat.

When Bawa agreed for a small corner for we amateurs this dish was definitely the first thing that came in our mind. I still remember the first version of Chilly Gobi made by sissy – the florets were crunchy and the sauce was not as delicious as Bharath's – yet we devoured every piece of it.

With time Bawa's girls became experts in Chilly Gobi – though it didn’t reach the level of Bharath – all these restaurants have a secret ingredient they don’t wish to reveal. Once sissy even asked the waiter there about the recipe – and he just smiled.

Ingredients:

Cauliflower                                           – 2 small no:s

Big Onion                                              - 2 small ones cut in square pieces

Green Chilly                                         – 4 nos

Onion and Ginger                                – Chopped, 1 tablespoon each

Capsicum                                             - 1 no, cut in squares

Kashmiri chilly powder                         – 2 teaspoon

Vinegar                                                - 1 tablespoon

Tomato Sauce                                      - 4 tablespoon

Soya sauce                                           - 1 tablespoon

Salt                                                      - as needed

Fennel seeds                                         - 1 teaspoon

Oil                                                         - For frying and cooking

Coriander leaves                                   - for garnishing

For marination

Cornflour                                              - 1 tablespoon

Maida/All purpose flour                        – 1 tablespoon

Pepper powder                                    - 1 tablespoon

Oil                                                        - 1 tablespoon

Salt                                                      - As needed

Preparation

Take water, enough to immerse the cauliflower florets,  in a pan - add one teaspoon of salt and bring to boil. Add the florets, heat it in high flame for 30 seconds, remove from flame and drain.

Mix the ingredients listed under 'For marination' with little water. Add the florets to it and marinate for 10-15 minutes.

Shallow fry the florets, in the remaining oil add fennel seeds, followed by onions – sauté until the onions become soft. Add ginger and garlic and sauté for a while. Add capsicum and sauté.

Mix kashmiri chilly powder and vinegar and make it to a paste – you can use chilly sauce instead of this. Mix this with soya sauce and tomato sauce. Add this sauce cocktail to the sautéed veggies.

Transfer the florets to this mix and sauté in high heat for about a minute.

Garnish with coriander leaves or spring onions.

Chicken Biriyani (Amma-n-Mummy's version)

This is a combined version of Mummy and Amma's biriyani.

You need:

Chicken – 2 kg 

Marination mix:

Kashmiri chilly powder   - 3 table spoon

Turmeric powder              - 1/2 tablespoon

Coriander powder             - 1 1/2 tablespoon

Lemon juice                      - Of 1 lemon

Salt                                    - as needed

For  Masala:

Onion                                       - 4 big ones sliced

Ginger and garlic paste              - 4 tablespoon

Green chilly paste                     - 4 tablespoon

Tomato                                    - 3 big ones

Coriander and mint leaves         - a handful each

Cashew nuts                             - 4 tablespoon

Ghee                                        - 5 tablespoon

Oil                                            - 5 tablespoon

Garam Masala                         - 3 tablespoon

For Rice:

Basmati Rice (long grain)       - 1 kg

Cardamom                               - 4-5 nos

Bay  leaves                               - 3 big ones

Cloves                                      - I tablespoon

Fennel seeds                             - 1 tablespoon

Ghee                                         - 2 tablespoon

Oil                                            - 2 tablespoon

Lemon juice                              - of one lemon

For Garnishing:

Onion                                      -  of 4  big onions (sliced and fried)

Cashew and raisins                 - one handful each (fried in ghee)

Coriander leaves                     - a handful

Mint leaves                             - a handful

Saffron milk                            - half a cup

Coconut milk                           - half a cup

Ghee flavored with turmeric powder – 6 tablespoon

How I did it:

Marinate

Mix all the ingredients listed under marination (except lemon) and add chicken pieces to it. Marinate overnight. Add lemon juice to the mix just half an hour before shallow frying.

Gravy preparation

Shallow fry the chicken pieces and keep aside.

Grind tomatoes, coriander and mint leaves to a smooth paste. Soak cashew in hot water for 10 minutes and make a thick paste.

Add finely sliced onions to the oil which you used for frying the chicken pieces. Sauté till golden brown, add ginger garlic paste - sauté, add green chilly paste – sauté, add tomato paste and sauté till the flavor is rich and the oil separates. Add garam masala and sauté. Add the chicken pieces and coat well with the masala. If you feel that the gravy is not enough add a cup of coconut milk. When the chicken is almost done, add cashewnut paste and cook for 3-4 minutes.

The gravy is ready.

Rice preparation

Boil water thrice the amount of rice. Add the whole masalas, salt and lemon juice. Add rice to it, boil till the rice is half done. Remove from flame, drain and spread in a tray.

IMPORTANT: Do a salt check at this point

Layering

Take a big heavy bottom vessel and coat it with ghee.

Spread one layer of masala in the vessel. Make another layer with rice on top of this. Garnish with cashew nuts, raisins, coriander leaves, mint leaves, flavored ghee, saffron milk. Repeat the process.

Cover the vessel and cook in low flame for 10-15 minutes until steam comes from the top layer. It is advised that you keep some weight (another vessel filled with water) on top of the rice vessel during the low-flame cooking.

And it is ready!

The 'Gulf-karan' Beef Fry

Back in mom's place, every time when someone leaves for the "arabi nadu" – this 'Gulf-karan' beef fry tops the must-have list. I was the fortunate little one in the family to devour the left-over beef masala in the uruli… The flavor of the "uruli-wiped" pathiri still lingers....yum! This Easter I made this beef fry – the aroma of the masala, rich with the flavor of coconut oil took me back to those childhood days…

Bawa often mocks mom saying the beef fry recipe is inherited from the family – umma (granny) used to be an expert in this, mummy makes excellent ones, and when the turn came for sissy she too proved the legacy…

Dear mummy, kuttu didn’t break the tradition and am happy happy happy that it came out so well…

You need:

Beef – 2 kg

(If you are living outside India, it is better that you go for Australian Beef – It was after 20 minutes of pondering and more pondering that I finalized on Australian beef. Made the guy over there to pack Local Beef first, then changed mind and opted for New Zealand beef, then finally settled down on the Australian – luckily, that was a right decision!)

Coconut Oil

(It is difficult to decipher the exact quantity, the rule of thumb here is to be generous with coconut oil – that is indeed the taste maker)

Curry leaves

Coconut slices (Thengakothu)

For marination:

Small onions                 - chopped, 1 1/2 cup

Big Onion                     - sliced, 2 cup

Ginger-garlic paste        - 5 table spoon

Coriander powder       - 3 table spoon

Turmeric powder        - 1/2 table spoon

Kashmiri chilly powder – 2 table spoon

Pepper powder               - 1 tablespoon (increase it as per your spice factor)

Garam Masala               - 3 tablespoon (recipe follows)

Vinegar                         - 3 tablespoon

Salt

Garam Masala

Mummy says a big no to the readymade garam masala, hence it is always prepared at home.

Cardamom         - 5-6 pods

Cinnamon          - 5-6 small pieces

Cloves               - 5-6 nos

Fennel seeds     - 3 tablespoon

Cumin seeds     - 1/4 tablespoon

Bay leaves        - I small leaf, crushed

Curry leaves      - as needed

Toast the above spices in coconut oil and grind.

Directions:

•  Marinate the beef with the ingredients listed under marination for 15-20 minutes. I usually keep the mix in the freezer for 10 minutes and keep it outside for rest of the time.
• Cook the beef in pressure cooker by adding a little water (3-4 tablespoon).
•  (For Australian beef it needed only 2 whistles for it to be fully cooked).
•  Heat coconut oil in a wok/heavy bottom pan and fry coconut slices till golden brown – keep aside.
• Now Sauté big onion and small onion till golden brown.
• Transfer beef to it.
• Cook beef on low flame till it changes black in colour – It took around 30 minutes to get the texture of the meat change to the darkest shade.
• Make sure that you keep adding coconut oil and curry leaves generously while stirring.
• In the end, mix the fried coconut slices. 
• Serve with ghee rice/biriyani/chappathi/pathiri/bread and whatever goes with it. 

Do a spice-check while cooking, if you feel that the beef is not spicy enough add pepper powder.

Chicken Fry - Kozhi Porichathu - Thrissur Style

When it comes to cooking, I had always been an onlooker. However, don’t know why and how, after marriage this compliment(!) continued glarin at me whenever some of JKs’ relative spoke to me – “Liya nannayi cook cheyyumnu kettu?” (heard tht you cook well?) and I would go ‘aaaaaaah’ – while questions like “ask who told” “don’t say no” “should I say no?” go dancing in my mind. Anyways those compliments were a confident boost and I used scribble in my dairy – “if I get compliment even before getting into the field, what could it be when I do?” Errr.. no self praising intended.. why I took the pen today is to write about the “chicken fry’ I made yesterday. It did come out well, and I would like to share it here.


Here goes the recipe:

For the first-phase marinade:

Chicken Drumstick (Leg Piece) – 8 nos
Turmeric Powder – ½ tablespoon
Salt – as needed

Second-phase marinade:

Turmeric Powder – ¼ tablespoon
Salt – as needed
Ginger paste – 1 ½ tablespoon
Garlic paste – 1 ½ tablespoon
Kashmiri Chilly Powder – ½ tablespoon
Lemon Juice – of 1 lemon
Coconut Oil – 2 tablespoons

For Frying:

Coconut Oil – for frying
Curry Leaves – just a handful

For Pricking:

Toothpick – 1 no (take 2 or even 3, if the toothpicks are light) ;)

For Garnishing:

Thinly sliced onion - 1
Lemon cut in wedges - 1
Procedure:

First Phase Marinade:

I read somewhere that marinading the chicken with turmeric powder and salt overnight could help getting rid of the raw flavor of chicken. I tried it in this recipe and it did workout! Make a paste of turmeric powder, salt and water and apply to the chicken legs.

The Pricking Phase:

Arm yourself with the toothpicks and make gentle pricks here and there on the chicken legs. Make sure that the incisions are deep and not wide. This is for better absorption of the flavors. Once the pricking is done, refrigerate the chicken legs overnight.

Second Phase Marinade:

Take out the marinaded chicken and gently wash it in running water. Drain the chicken pieces of excess water. Mix the ingredients mentioned in the second phase marinade and make a fine paste. Apply this to the chicken legs and leave it at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Fry:

Heat pan and add oil, gently fry the curry leaves and remove from the oil. Now add the chicken pieces and cook until done. The curry leaves are fried in the oil for an added flavor. You can use this with sliced onions for the final garnishing.

Just give it a try and do let me go, how it came out.

Kerala Fish Curry – Meen Vechathu!

By the time I completed my schooling I had to my credit of being thought in 8 different schools, at 8 different locations - uhmm its not that the teachers threw me out :) my dad had a transferable job and we followed him wherever he went. Anyways this moving along had a big advantage – more friends and more recipes! Yeah, the unity in diversity thing of our nation is applicable to the foodie department too. For the same main ingredient you get to see different ways of preparation. Take the fish for instance – some cook with ground coconut, some with coconut milk, some with a mix of both, and there are others who don’t rely on coconut at all.

However, from Trivandrum fish curry to Coimbatore fish kolambu, everything managed its way to our dining table – thanks to Mummy. At my in-laws, it is cooked the coconut milk way. And is quite easy too. Like fish is first marinaded with all the ingredients except coconut milk and brought to boil. Once the fish is cooked the coconut milk is added and coconut oil spluttered with mustard and fenugreek powder is added.

My moms’ traditional version is different – she cook the fish in ground coconut paste and other ingredients and finally add roasted fenugreek seeds and curry leaves.

Yesterday I tried a mix of both and was not sure of the outcome until the final feedback from JK (my hubby). Once, he gave the thumbs up sign, I packed some and gave to Ms Panicky downstairs, when she too (and her husband) ‘wow’ed my dish – I decided it wont be a bad idea to post it and here it is my thekku and vadakku fusion fish curry.

PS: Sorry for the poor photography, actually I (read: the fish) was not prepared for one!

Ingredients:

To Marinate:

King Fish – 1 kg

Onion – medium size, thinly sliced

Ginger – chopped, 1 tbsp

Garlic – chopped, 1 tbsp

Green Chilly – 4, sliced lengthwise

Salt – to taste

Chilly Powder – 2 tbsp (alter according to your spice factor0

Turmeric Powder – 1 tbsp

Gambooge (Kudampuli) – 4 nos

(some don’t like the flavor of gambooge, that case u can either use tamarind or raw mangoes – I used tamarind in this)

Coconut – freshly ground, half cup

Coconut Oil – 3 tbsp

Marinade the fish with the ingredients mentioned below the To Marinade section and leave it for 30 minutes at room temperature. (Mom advises to marinade the fish in the ‘meanchatty’ itself.)

Add gambooges soaked in water/tamarind soaked in water to the fish and cook on medium flame. If you are using mango, cook the fish by adding 2 cups of water and add the mangoes when the fish is half cooked – adding the mangoes in the beginning could overcook it. Once the fish is cooked add the freshly ground coconut and cook for a while and remove the flame.

 Heat 3 tbsp coconut oil in a pan and add fenugreek seeds and curry leaves to it and sauté for 5-6 seconds and transfer the whole contents to the cooked fish.

Tastes yum with hot white rice, vellayappam and boiled tapioca.

When Kuttu Became the Cook!

 My dashboard has witnessed many a blogs on books, on book reviews, on movies, on random thoughts and the list goes on! However, I found my blognergy losing and reach point zero within the 3rd or 4th post. The realization hit me hard! I am not born to write on events, books and the newspaper kinda stuff – that’s what I do for a living, but for a hobby nothing can be filling than writing an all-food blog!

Till this January, I was a I-know-how-to-cook and what-to-add kinda girl, because I have seen my mom cooking and I knew by heart how to prepare biriyani, when to add masalas, coconut oil for beef, sameside stirring, smell to taste, and the like. But only when I was given the chattagam and chatty did I realize theory is not all! It is practical that matters. Not that practical is quite new to me – I have taken practical classes in our kitchen – however there I had mummy supervising and helping me out with generous tips. But at the in-laws place I am a know-it-all and wouldn’t it sound bad if I go asking doubts? Anyways my first practicals (Akale-akale) didn’t disappoint me, not tummies either! The impression was made!

Now is the real testing phase of my life – I reached Doha, Qatar and have only my hubby to cook for! But that’s the worst part – I was often reminded of the adage on the “way to mans’ heart”!!! if not now, NEVER! So I googled, googled and googled and was please to see a big group of foodbloggies – cooking and serving round the clock!

The adage did work out! Thanks to all the bloggers! Now that I have passed the test, its time to think back – the paths followed and the blogs read! It would be real bad, if I don’t show my gratitude! I made up my kitchen, cleared my dashboard of old blogs and set an online space for my kitchen! Welcome to my blog and do boost me with your comments!