Pickled Jalapeños n' a note on 'The BBQ Story', Bangalore

I have to do a blog post today....yeah, HAVE TO. You must have all realized that i'm being rather slow with my blog post updates these days....well let me assure you its not lack of cooking. I have been really busy with guests/friends pouring in (what with me not working anymore more n' all, I'm the only one with loads of time on my hands) n' on top of that I'm just not inspired to take photographs of what I have been cooking. Don't know why, i'm hoping its just a phase n' it will soon be over. I have heard some bad news yesterday which has left me feeling gutted. Well mopping up is over n' I have decided to do a blog post today.







I have mentioned Chef Sarabjeet in my Hara Bhara Paneer Tikka post a while back. I met him at this Weber grill workshop here in Bangalore. Now he n' his friends are working together on projects/workshops to make food enthu people like you n' me, convert that enthu into some serious skills in the kitchen. They call it 'The BBQ Story' n' "Learn, Grill n' Chill" is there motto. :) So far, they have done 3 workshops, missed out on the 2 of them, but I ensured I could take part in the 3rd one n' I enjoyed it a lot. Some of you who have added me on Facebook must have seen some of the snaps here. The menu that day was Banglore Muslim Dum Biryani, Chicken Malai Tikka, Grilled Ghost Kheema Tikka, Grilled Fish Wrapped in Plaintain leaf with a Coriander marinade.. The Biryani was to die for, the recipe was simple, but the tips n' pointers the Chefs there tell us while cooking are irreplaceable. All in all, it was just an awesome Sunday for me. Please read more about them here n' follow them for more regular updates. They are coming up with BBQ Chapter 4 on 24th July...the details are as under.

Chef Sarabjeet says...."Learn to make,Country style Grilled Steaks and Home made fresh Sausages, and lots more...!!!!!!
When..????-24th July, Sunday
But what time..?? 10am onwards
Now..Where..?? @ Yolk Studio Kormangala
How to book..? Call sarabjeet on 9916580506 or text Sushil on 9880340900
and to drink??......:) Wines from Nine Hills..!!!!!..come learn, grill and chill..!"

Coming to today's recipe, its a simple recipe for some fuss free Pickled Jalapeno Peppers. I love pickled jalapenos, if I see them listed as an ingredient while ordering a Pizza, i'm almost always biased towards that pizza. Buying them in Bangalore is an expensive option. I buy a 200gms of sliced jalapeno pickle for Rs.75/-. So when I saw a packet of fresh Jalapenos here, I just had to buy them. Having no clue how to pickle them didn't help. Saw lot of takes on how to do some fancy way of pickling them. But I decided to stick with this simple version. The recipe is adapted from here.



Ingredients:

1. Fresh Jalapeños: 250gms (whole or sliced)
2. Salt: 1tbsp
3. White Vinegar: 1cup
4. Water: 1 cup

Method:

Step 1: Warm the jar you want to put the pickle in. (I kept it in the MW for 1.30 seconds)

Step 2: Pack the jalapeños in the warm glass jar. Since I used whole Jalapeños Peppers, I prodded them with a serrated knife to ensure that they soak up the brine.

Step 3: In a saucepan, add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for about 5 minutes. (I just boiled the mixture in MW for 2mins).

Step 4: Pour hot brine over top. Bubble your jars thoroughly by tapping them firmly on the countertop and using a wooden chopstick to release any stubborn bubbles. Wipe rims, apply lids and bands.

For a crunchy bite, you can start nibbling on them within a few hours. As for softer texture, let this sit for 4-5 days. They say you can keep it refrigerated for upto two months.
They taste awesome in a sandwich n I plan to take some for my mom who is a huge fan of Sandwiches n' pickled veggies. Happy Cooking!!! :)

Vanilla Cupcakes (Oh! I love them.....)

After my happy experiences with the Blueberry n Banana Muffins and the Mangoes n' Figs Muffins, I decided to learn cupcakes. Both Rj n' me, we love vanilla cupcakes. Ok, I stand corrected, he loves it more than me. We used to buy them often before, but he turned sugar conscious a while ago n' we stopped buying them. I baked these babies n' he is begging for more on most days. Ever since I tried them the first time, I have made them twice again after that. That's how good this recipe is.





The recipe source? Ria's Collection. If you check her blog, on the homepage it self, you will see these oh! so pretty vanilla cupcakes she had baked recently with a friend. I had visited her blog to check out another recipe, but I saw these n' fell in love instantly. I just had to try them, n' the cupcakes comes out perfectly. The texture is just great. I didn't use the chocolate frosting, that will go well with this, just coz we like them plain. The lesson I learned from it? Find a reliable source for good simple baking recipes n' I can get over my fear and have good results. I haven't changed the recipe much, I have just reduced the amount of salt by half from Ria's recipe. With this I learnt the simple n' yummy basic cupcakes. My sincere thank you to Ria for sharing such a nice recipe.



Ingredients:
(Makes about 16 cupcakes if you are using big cupcake liners)
1. All purpose flour: 2 cups
2. Baking powder: 2 tsp
3. Salt: 1/4 tsp (omit if you are using salted butter)
4. Castor sugar: 1 cup
5. Unsalted butter: 1/2 cup (room temperature)
6. Eggs: 2nos
7. Milk: 1/2 cup (room temperature)
8. Vanilla extract: 2 tsp

Method:

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F. Keep the cupcake trays also ready by placing the cupcake liners in them.

Step 2: Sift the dry ingredients (Flour, Baking Powder and Salt) together, if possible, thrice.

Step 3: Cream the butter and sugar for 3 mins.Add in the eggs one by one and beat it will for 1 minute after each addition. (I'm guessing the time is mentioned coz we need to get the consistency right, I loved that bit of precision in the recipe. Great for an amateur like me.)

Step 4: Next with the motor running,add the sifted flour and milk alternately starting and ending with flour.By now the batter should be light and fluffy.

Step 5: Spoon it into the cupcake liners, about 2/3 rd's full, which will be about 2 1/2 tbsp.

Step 6: Bake for 20-25 mins or till the top is lightly golden brown in colour and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (it took mine only about 20mins)

Step 7: Remove from the tin immediately and let it cool completely before frosting (if you opt to frost it).







Honestly, I loved this recipe n' it helps me produce great results. In a span of 3 weeks, I have made this three times. Having guests at home helps. :) Happy cooking!!! or better still Happy Baking!!! :)

Curd Rice/ Mosarnna

Curd Rice for me is like a healing food. Perfect to have when your tummy is troubling you. For the 2yrs that I was in Sales in Bangalore, I faithfully had this for lunch almost everyday. Not really cause I had tummy ache everyday :). But coz Adigas in Bangalore serves a really yummy curd rice with a mixed vegetable spicy pickle. I would say, like a Biryani gets served for weddings in Kerala (as if its a must), in Karnataka, Curd Rice is considered special and gets served for all occasions. Almost like a meal is incomplete if Curd Rice doesn't get served. This Curd rice recipe is a South Indian rice recipe. It is easy and quick and simple dish to make especially if the cooked rice is ready.Generally it is served at the end of the meal.

Curd rice is aka Dahi Chawal(Hindi) Thairu Sadam(Tamil) and Mosarnna(Kannada). I wish I could stay n' chat more. But I have a really busy weekend ahead of me and I should really be going. Wish you all a Happy Weekend. The recipe is as under.






Ingredients:

1. Cooked rice : 2 cups
2. Plain curd : 3/4 cup (not too sour) (also feel free to be generous n' add more curd)
3. Milk : 1/2 cup
4. Green chilies : 1 or 2
5. Ginger paste : 1/4 teaspoon.
6. Salt - to taste

For Seasoning:

1. Oil - 1 tbsp
2. Tur Dal - 1/2 tsp
3. Massor Dal - 1/2 tsp
4. Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
5. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
6. Asafoetida - a pinch
7. Curry Leaves

Method:

Step 1: Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. When they stop crackling add Dal (I used masoor n' tur, you can use any dal, i'm sure). Fry it, but ensure it does not get burned.

Step 2: Add asafoetida, chopped chilies and curry leaves. Fry for 5 seconds.

Step 3: Take off the pan from the stove and let it cool a little.

Step 4: Mix the cooked rice, curd, milk and salt.

Step 5: Add the seasoning into the rice mixture and mix well.

It is ready to serve. Serve it as a meal by itself or with lime pickle or mango pickle.The only thing to remember, really, is mix Curd Rice just before serving. Once the curd rice is mixed it should be eaten immediately or it can get sour, so if you are not planning to eat it immediately, put it in the fridge. Rice also becomes thick after some time. So a little milk may be added again at the time of serving. Adding Pomegranate Seeds, fried cashews, fresh grapes etc into the curd rice before serving it is a practice that I love. :) Happy Cooking!!

Grilled Carrots with Rosemary

I like carrots, they are sweet but tastes great in a savory dish. They are crunchy, look so pretty n' is packed with healthy nutrients especially Vitamin A, K n' C. (I learnt all that from the Active Foods workshop I recently attended). So anyways, Rj doesn't like it when I cook carrots, (for that matter most veggies) so I clean them n' give them in his salad n' he enjoys that. So I bought some extra yesterday. But I forgot to give him any last night n today he has some office thing so didn't need lunch n' won't be back before late in the night.

So I was looking at an option to make a juice. But then I came across this recipe for grilled carrots n' I just fell in love. I have been hoarding posts for later. But with this one I just couldn't wait to publish it. I totally love this recipe n' the kitchen smelt so good after grilling them with rosemary. You just have to try this. Our awesome friend, Jeffrey, who was with us in Bahrain, had given me this grill pan (I had even used this in my Hara Bhara Paneer Tikka recipe too) and its just so useful. He wanted me to show off this pan here n' I thought this recipe is perfect for it. lol.... I love it n have used it to make this. The recipe is adapted from here. So here you go.












Ingredients:

1. Carrots: 3nos
2. Butter: 2-3 tspn (room temperature) (yeah I was a little generous, I used salted Amul Butter)
3. Extra Virgin Olive Oil: 2tsp
4. Balsamic Vinegar: 1 tbsp
5. Rosemary: 1 tsp (chopped) fresh
6. Salt: if required
7. Fresh Black Pepper: as per taste (optional)

Method:

Step 1: Heat grill pan to high flame.

Step 2: Whisk together butter, olive oil, vinegar, and rosemary.

Step 3: I left the whole carrots in the marinade for couple of mins and then arranged them on the grill and brushed them lightly with the marinade occasionally. (all this should be once you have changed the flame to low. (keep them in the warm area first before shifting them to the hot area on the grill.)

Step 4: Grill for approximately 20 minutes, turning occasionally to prevent extreme charring.
When carrots are softer, but still slightly firm, remove from heat.

Step 5: Add to a serving platter and drizzle with the remaining marinade. I had to add a little more salt n' some freshly ground black pepper to give it an extra kick (but that is totally optional). I even grilled 2 red chilies along with this in the last 5mins n' ate it along with this. Try it try it...its good...Happy Cooking!!!

Blueberry and Banana Muffins

Let me start today's post by giving a heartfelt thank you to all who have left me a comment on my previous post. I will try the recipes you have taken the trouble to recommend to me. :) Here is my first post from a small series of Baking goodies I want to do this month. I had never made muffins before. I have eaten them a few times. But seeing these blueberries in the stall pushed me to buy them. I have heard on countless occasions how these are filled with anti oxidants, that pushed me a little too. I bought only a 100gms (what with the being so expensive in Bangalore n all that), that left me with very few recipes I could actually try. The first classic things that came to my mind were these Blueberry Muffins n' a Blueberry Compote on pancakes. But Rj doesn't like Pancakes n' I would've had to finish the whole thing on my own...how can that be interesting? That left me to choose these Muffins.






I really didn't know muffins were this easy to bake. An ingredient lead me to choose the dish, but boy am I thrilled with the results or what? So this is the first baked dish I taught myself. :) I will shamelessly say, what helped me the most is the fact that I didn't make any changes to measurements of the base ingredients. (normally i'm always keen on that coz I don't want too many baked things on my table) I got 15 baked muffins with measurements and there are only 3 left. :( If nothing else at the end of my baking journal, I will be overweight at this pace. :) But even that daunting thought is not killing my spirits. :) So, here you go. The recipe is adapted from here.






Ingredients:

1. All Purpose Flour (Maida): 3 cups minus 2tbsp
2. Baking soda: 1tsp
3. Baking powder:2 tsps
4. Heavy pinch of salt
5. Caster sugar: 1 cup
6. Vegetable oil: 1/2 cup (or half a cup of melted butter) *
7. Egg: 1no
8. Yogurt (plain n unflavored) : 1 generous cup (throw in extra if you want)
9. Blueberries (fresh):1 cup
10. Banana (chopped): 1 cup
10. Vanilla Extract/Essence : 1tbsp
11. Softened Butter, for muffin tins (I used the cupcake liners so didn't need this)
12. Caster sugar (optional): for sprinkling on top.

* to my horror I saw that I didn't have enough Vegetable Oil with me. So I used melted butter instead. They say that while mixing the wet ingredients as mentioned in Step 3 below, one should take care while adding the hot butter to eggs. What I did was I added butter n' then added yogurt before adding the eggs n' I was safe.

Method:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 180° C.

Step 2: In a large bowl sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Step 3: In another large bowl whisk together sugar, oil, vanilla essence, egg, and yogurt.

Step 4: Add the dry ingredients (I sifted it in little by little) and stirring to a count of 10.

Step 5:Add blueberries and the chopped bananas, (reserving 1/2 cup of blueberries for later), to mixture and stir 3 times. (At this point I got a little worried, coz the batter looked really different from anything I have ever baked. But I decided to proceed as instructed.)

Step 6: Add mixture to well-buttered muffin pans or like I mentioned the Cupcake liners. Sprinkle remaining berries on top and press down lightly. Sprinkle a little sugar over top. (Brown sugar can be used instead.)

Step 7: Bake 20 to 25 minutes and allow to cool completely.

They came out so well, I looked at them and I could cry with Joy. I just couldn't stop smiling. Rj was at work n' I took some to my cousin Seena, who is passionate about baking. I just had to get her view on them. She liked them too n I was ecstatic. When Rj came home, he was balled over with the texture n' the fact that I used blueberries for the muffins. :) All in all I feel like a Happy Baker! Happy Baking!

Prawns/ Shrimps In Coconut Milk

You know how you find this truly amazing recipe, which gives you great results every time, wows the people you serve it to n' all that. That was what was happening with my tried n' tested Prawns Ularthiyathu recipe passed on from my mom. Every time we buy prawns, Rj wants me to make that. In March, when my father in law had come to stay with us, I had made it for him n' he loved it. He told everyone possible how good it was. I think, I will never be able to make that dish without fondly remembering how much he appreciated my efforts.


But I thought to myself, its high time I found another awesome recipe. I came across this continental recipe for Shrimps in Coconut Milk n' made a note that I should try it soon. Haven't had shrimps/prawns since more than 2months n' I was looking forward to this recipe. Meanwhile, I happened to come across Satrupa's Blog- Food For Thought....(yeah even I couldn't believe I'm seeing her blog only now...:( ). If you haven't visited her blog, please do so now!! Check out one of her recent post here. After taking a look at that, there was no way I could think of doing the continental less spicy version of Shrimps in Coconut Milk. ;) Here is a good link to read about the simple differences between Prawns n' Shrimps.


Another thing that attracted me to this recipe was how the measurements mentioned were perfect for two. This way, I didn't have to ransack my brain n' convert the measurements to suit us. Initially, I'd decided to stick to her recipe without changing a thing, but as I started cooking, I had to tweak it a little bit. I'm always surprised how 2 people following a recipe could come up with different tastes n' even look sometimes. I'm talking about dishes like that perfect chicken curry or biryani my mom makes, which just doesn't taste as good as her's does, when me n' my sister tries the same recipe...lol. Like I mentioned earlier, I have a lot of older posts to do, but this curry turned out to be a winner n' so did the snaps. So I just couldn't resist doing this post today. So here you go....


Ingredients:

1. Shrimps/ Prawns - 12nos (medium size)
2. Onion - 1/2 (medium size)
3. Garlic Cloves - 4nos
4. Ginger - 1/2 inch
5. Cinnamon Stick - 1 inch piece
6. Cumin - 1/2 tsp
7. Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp
8. Chili Powder: 1/2 tsp
9. Turmeric Powder: 1/2 tsp
10. Tomato puree - 1-2 tsp (depending on how sour you like it)
11. Mustard Seeds
12. Fresh Green Chilies: 2-3 (per taste)*
13. Curry Leaves - few
14. Coconut Milk - 1 cup
15. Kodampuli/ Cambodge: 1-2 (soaked in water)
16. Salt per taste
17. Oil

Method:

Step 1: Grind Onion, Ginger,Garlic,Cumin seeds,Coriander powder,Chili powder, Turmeric powder, Green chilies and Cinnamon to make a smooth paste. (add a little water or oil to help grind it well)

Step 2: Marinate the Shrimps/ Prawns with little turmeric and salt and keep aside for 10 minutes.

Step 3: Avoid this step if you are using store bought tomato puree. I didn't have any with me, so I chopped half a medium sized tomato n' boiled it with a little water. Once that is done, mash the same to form a thick paste/puree.

Step 4: Heat oil in a wok and fry the Shrimps/ Prawns just for few minutes so that they turn opaque. Taking care not to over fry them or they would turn rubbery.

Step 5: In the same wok, add more oil if required. Allow it to heat and hot temper it with mustard seeds and curry leaves.

Step 6: Add the ground masala and salt and fry till the masala is cooked well and there is no raw smell. Add tomato paste/ puree into the above.

Step 7: Add the coconut milk and allow it to simmer. Add the kodumpuli with water into this.

Step 8: Add some water if needed to adjust the consistency. Add the fried shrimps/prawns and simmer for 2 minutes before turning off the heat.



Serve it with some hot rice and it tastes divine. The reason why I changed Satrupa's recipe a little was coz I just wasn't able to get the color right. I think it could be coz of the good quality tomato paste available there or something. But anyways the taste was spot on. :) Happy Cooking!!!

Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate Lace Crêpes

I love crêpes, especially savory ones. I used to frequent the Crêpe Cafe in Bahrain. My favourite was their Florentine Crêpe, with a filling of spinach, feta, mushrooms, bechamel sauce and cheese. It was so so yummy. I miss not being able to dig in to something that good. Anyways, you know how infrequent my sweet posts are, so I decided to try n' make a sweet crêpe instead of a savory one. And NO surprise surprise, it turned out really well. ;)




I have tasted a lot of chocolates, both here n' while travelling abroad. But my sense of loyalty towards Cadbury's Dairy Milk has remained unwavered. :)....Infact a while ago, I even asked my friends on FB to tell me how to eat Cadbury's Silk the way they show it in the ads. :)...comments poured in with their gooey Silk experiences. If you haven't eaten Cadbury's Silk Chocolate the way they show in the ads, then you must do so asap! (to make it gooey, just pop the chocolate bar in the microwave for 5-10sec n' then have it) Really worth it...;)




I came across a chocolate lace crêpe recipe on Joumana's blog, Taste of Beirut a while ago. Fell in love, bookmarked it n' promptly kept it for later.:) A special thank you to Joumana for sharing such a lovely recipe...Rj recently gave me some Cadbury's Dairy Milk, I wanted to try something with it than eat it just as it is. I have often heard how one cannot use Dairy Milk for baking (no matter how much you love its taste) and that one needs to use cooking chocolate. But since this recipe involved no baking, I decided to use Dairy Milk. :) It tastes great. Other than this I have followed her recipe. So here you go....








Ingredients:

1. Dairy Milk Chocolate: 50gms (use any chocolate you like)
2. Eggs: 2nos (large)
3. All-purpose flour: 175 gms or 1 and 1/2 cup
4. Salt: as per taste
5. Powdered Sugar: 125 gms or 1/2 cup
6. Melted Butter: 3 tbsps or 45 gms
7. Milk: 250 ml or 2 cups
8. Vanilla Essence: 1 tsp
9. Cocoa Powder: 1/2 tbsp

Method:

Step 1: Beat the eggs in a bowl.

Step 2: Mix the flour, cocoa, salt and powdered sugar in another bowl. Transfer to the eggs and mix the two with a spoon.

Step 3: Melt the chocolate with the butter in the microwave and add to the batter

Step 4: Add the milk and vanilla gradually, stirring constantly until the batter is smooth and has no lumps. Set aside for thirty minutes.

Step 5: Heat the skillet and brush it with a little butter or oil so that it has a film of grease on the surface, no more. Pour the batter in the bottle or a decorating bag with a very small tip and pour the batter onto the skillet making circles, loops and other designs.

Step 6: When the crêpe appears cooked (two or three minutes should suffice on medium-high heat), slide it into a platter or on a piece of wax paper, to cool a bit.








Serve with some powdered sugar. I think this is a great dessert to be served with some ice cream or fresh fruits. The only thing is, I thought it tastes best when served hot n' slightly crispy. So serve it as you make it....(if that is possible). Happy Cooking!!!

Ragi Puttu Upma

I wanted to do this blog post yesterday....but between catching up with friends n facebook n' gtalk n' all that...I didn't get the time to....:(...so I might as well do 2 posts today....





Most mallu families would've made Puttu Upma with leftover puttu as a tea time meal....my mom's taste divine coz she adds left over beef ularthiyathu into it as well n that takes the whole thing a notch higher in my books. I have made this upma without adding Beef and it still tastes nice. I wasn't a big fan of a beef less upma until my aunt, Sandhyachechi, came n' stayed with me. She made this upma with the leftover Puttu from breakfast n' I really loved it...Now I don't wait to have leftover puttu for this anymore. I make puttu just for this upma.






Talking of Upma did you read/hear about New York's celebrated chef, Mumbai-born Floyd Cardoz who made Upma for a contest in NY and won a big ticket prize of $ 100,000 (that roughly around Rs 45 lakhs). The theme? "prepare an item based on food memories. " Imagine that....the simple n' one of the most common south indian dish winning his such a big ticket! I shouldn't make it sound too simple, he did prepare a very exotic version of our common upma with wild mushrooms n' I think Chicken...(not sure about the chicken part). Anyway, apparently after all this hoopla in NY over exotic Upma, restaurants all over the capital here, have been getting orders for extoic upma (more than ever before) from tourists. I'm reading this article in the Hindustan Times, sitting on Rajdhani Express with the worst upma I have ever tasted for breakfast...:(...sad or what????






My upma here is 'oh so simple', but tastes really good. For an added health factor I have started including ragi in our food whenever the recipe permits it. For benefits of Ragi...please check out this page at itsnotmadrasi. You get Ragi Puttu podi/powder in all the stores now. Brands like Eastern, Double Horse, Nirapara etc. So do try them out if you haven't done so already. I'm mentioning a simple way to make puttu too...just for those who haven't had it. So here you go...




Ingredients:

For Puttu
1. Ragi Puttu Podi/Powder: 2 cups
2. Grated Coconut: ½ coconut (at least) more if you like it like me...:)
3. Salt: to taste
4. Water: enough to crumble the mixture. (don't add too much water or you will be left with a dough instead of a crumble.)

For Puttu Upma:
1. Ragi Puttu: 2cups (roughly)
2. Mustard seeds: ¾ tsp
3. Black gram: ¼ tsp (if you don't have this, use the regular tur dal n its still taste great)
4. Onion: ½ cup (chopped)
5. Green chillies: 2 (chopped) or less if you don't like it spicy
6. Ginger: 1 tsp (finely chopped)
7. Curry leaves: 1-2 sprigs
8. Salt (Optional) (as puttu already has salt)
9. Ghee/Clarified butter: 1 tsp

Method:

For the Puttu
I did not use a puttu maker for this, I used the steamer plate/thattu (Dhokla maker plates) in the idli maker instead, coz I was anyways planning to make the upma with the puttu instead of puttu itself. Since I don't do pictorial step by step, please check out this blog for a good way of making traditional Puttu. For the non traditional one, follow my steps here.

Step 1: Add salt n' water to the puttu powder to get the crumble required. Powder the mixture with your hands to form a coarse n soft crumble.

Step 2: Add scraped coconut to the above. I add a generous amount, coz i love the taste.

Step 3: Heat water in the idli maker, once the water boils, place the steamer plate above the water n' fill it with the above mixture. Steam it until cooked well. (roughly 5-10mins or less) The puttu is ready.

For the Upma

Step 1: In a kadai/ wok, add the ghee and do the tadka with mustard seeds, Dal n' add the curry leaves.

Step 2: Add the chopped ginger, fry it a little, add the chopped onion n' green chilies to this. Fry it well.

Step 3: Add the cooked puttu mix into this n' stir well. Adjust the salt if required. Sprinkle in a little water, if you think the puttu is not soft enough. And viola! its ready....






Serve it with some Kaddala Curry/ Chole or even a spicy meat curry (I served it with my Chicken Chettinad) and it needn't be something you serve only at tea time. Make it a meal. :) Happy Cooking!!!

Chettinad Chicken

I'm a big fan of chettinad cuisine, just the thought of the Beef Chettinad that I had in Goa, during our vacation in Decemeber, still makes my mouth water. But I haven't tried a lot of chettinad cuisine at home, other than this Egg Chettinad I had made long back. Rj had to go out of station on a family emergency n wanted to make something nice for him for dinner the day before he left.




In a situation like this, I find it easy to rely on cooking expert Sanjeev Kapoor's recipes. I have complete faith in his recipes, like I always say they will never let you down, even if you are trying it for the first time! That's how I decided on  Sanjeev Kapoor's Chicken Chettinad recipe. I have followed his instructions to the last dot n' it was amazing. I have always favoured my Darbar Ki Karahi and Murgh Makhani recipe for chicken if I want to make chicken it for a special occasion, but I have to say, this recipe is gonna be a stiff competition to all my previous chicken recipes. So here you go...




Ingredients:

1. Chicken : 500gms/ half a kilo
2. Dry Red Chilies: 5 whole pods
3. Coconut: 1/2 (scraped)
4. Poppy seeds (khuskhus): 1 tsp
5. Coriander seeds: 1/2 tsp
6. Cumin seeds: 1/4 tsp
7. Green cardamom: 1no
8. Clove: 1no
9. Cinnamon: 1/2 an inch piece
10. Star anise: 1/2
11. Fennel seeds (saunf): 1/2 tsp
12. Ginger: 1 inch piece  (roughly chopped)
13. Garlic: 5-6cloves
14. Oil: 1/4 cup (the original recipe used olive oil, but I used regular sunflower oil)
15. Onion : 1no (medium) chopped
16. Curry leaves: 10-12
17. Tomato: 2 small or 1 large (chopped)
18. Red chili powder: 1/2 tsp
19. Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp
20. Lemon juice: as per taste
21. Coriander leaves: 1tsp (chopped)
22. Salt: as per taste

Method:

Step 1: Roast dry red chillies, coconut, poppy seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, star anise, fennel seeds in 1 tbsp of oil

Step 2: Grind the above into a paste along with ginger and garlic. (my mallu instinct worked overtime n' i tried using my new stone pestle n' mortar unsuccessfully to do this, so I had to do a little twist later, which I will mention)

Step 3: Heat the remaining oil in a kadai/wok and fry onion till golden. Add curry leaves and the ground paste and sauté for some time.

Step 4: Add tomatoes, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt to taste. (at this stage I could see that my paste needs to be a little more ground n ground the same in a mixer grinder to a fine paste. That is the reason why you can't see any tomato pieces or curry leaves in my pictures) Once I ground the same into a thick paste, I sauteed them for a min more in the same kadai without adding more oil.

Step 5: Add chicken and mix. Cook for five minutes and then add two cups of water, lemon juice, cover and cook till the chicken is done.

Step 6: Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves.




It is best served with hot rice or chapathi or even paratha. But I served it with puttu, coz after taking time out to decide on what to make n' the whole process above I had time only for something simple like puttu. :) Happy Cooking!!!