Ruchik Randhap (Delicious Cooking)

Fish Crumb Fry / Fish Fingers

noreply@blogger.com (Shireen Sequeira) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 04:54:00 +0000

One of my most prized possessions on my bookshelf is this lovely hard bound recipe book that belonged to my mother. It has a thousand recipes that are quick and easy with a significant amount of Keralan recipes typically Syrian Christian style. I have tried out just a few recipes although my mum had attempted a lot more. Sadly, I do not know the name of the author as the book was sent for stiff (hard) binding and returned with no cover page and most of the first & last few pages callously torn.

Recently my son displayed his sudden liking for vegetables. Before I could rejoice and distribute sweets to the neighbours I realised that he was giving up something else in the bargain. Fish! A child who would only eat fish till the age of 3 (to the extent that we thought of changing our professions toconsider fishing instead) had suddenly stopped eating fish. So now my latest challenge is to feed him fish in whatever form possible. Since he doesn't like fish in curries or in its fried form, I have started grilling it for him.

This particular recipe looked so simple that I was actually skeptical at first. Nevertheless off I went to the market and bought some fillets and it turned out to be a winner. I plan to try it again soon whenever we have a kiddie party as it serves well as a starter too.

PS: This tastes great with tomato sauce or along with potato wafers/chips as the typical 'fish n chips'. They work well even as an accompaniment to rice & dal or fish curry.

Fish Crumb Fry

(Printable Recipe)

Preparation time: 5-10min | Marinating time: 1 hour | Cooking time: 5-8min | Serves 3-4

You Need

250gm fish fillets (boneless) * see notes
2-3 tsp maida (all purpose flour)
1/2 tsp (or to taste) pepper powder
2 tsp vinegar
salt to taste (about 1/2 tsp)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
oil to shallow fry

Method:

1. Wash and cut the fillet into finger sized pieces. Dry them on a piece of cloth to remove the excess moisture.

2. In a bowl, make a paste with vinegar, salt, pepper and maida. Marinate the fish pieces gently with this mixture. Keep aside for a minimum of 1 hour

3. Heat oil in a frying pan on a medium flame. Beat the egg lightly in a small bowl and dip the fish pieces in it and then coat them with bread crumbs. Smoothen all the sides with a knife or pat with your fingers

4. Fry on both sides till golden brown.

5. Serve hot with tomato sauce/ketchup

Notes:

You can use any fillets made out of any fish. Especially if you get ready made ones. If you need to get them made then large Pomfrets (white or black) work best because the meat is very flavourful. Buying large sized fish makes sure you get proper fillets and the wastage is minimised.

Bell Pepper & Grape Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Shireen Sequeira) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 06:27:00 +0000

The month of March is here already and I am trying to figure out the number of things that I have done in the past two months that were part of my To-Do list for the 2012. It doesn't look I have accomplished much. Nevertheless, its a month where we welcome the Indian summers that are fast approaching. The vegetable and fruit markets are already bursting with colours and flavours of the season. My regular fruit vendor asked me if I wanted a dozen mangoes for Rs.4000. I was flabbergasted and said that I was definitely planning to live for another few months at least and would prefer to eat them at a reasonable price. I was in no hurry, thank you very much!

Now that strawberries have slowly made their exit and mangoes belong to the future, grapes are basking in the limelight. Its black and green grapes for you this season. Grapes, grapes & grapes everywhere. At the fruit stall in the market or at the supermarket or on push carts, piles and piles of grapes try to entice you into buying them and enjoying them at leisure. This is the scene in my house since the past 10 days. Both the boys sit with their bowls full of grapes while I wonder what to make out of them. Last year I made some grape wine out of the abundant black grapes that were being sold dirt cheap. I quite enjoyed that process especially because it was my first time at making home made wine. This year, I toyed with the idea of making grape jam or some compote perhaps. But sweet things have no takers at home, so I chucked that idea. I came across this very refreshing salad at a dinner party last week - a get together at hubby's cousin's place and I was bowled over by the myriad flavours. While the dominant ingredient in this salad is bell peppers in various colours, its the grapes that tickle your taste buds. It was simply fantastic - trying to figure out the different ingredients by tasting them.

This multi coloured salad is something that makes for a lovely item on your party menu and is great as an everyday meal option too. I say meal option because when I was on a diet long ago, my nutritionist used to bug me daily to have loads of salads. Not being much of a cold food eater - I simply hated salads after a month of eating them. My diet plan did not revolve around replacing all meals with salads - if that's the impression you've got! Heck, no! Lunch and dinner always began with a bowl of salad and proceeded with whatever I was asked to eat (almost everything on a Mangalorean's wish list was included). Simple and easy. However, I cried and made a fuss during every appointment. I begged for anything but a salad and so the poor thing replaced salads with soups. I was happy for a while because I love having piping hot soups. I was happy until I started to run out of ideas to make soups :-( Anyway, one day she browsed through my blog only to find no salad recipes. I promised her that I would some day post something provided I found a recipe that was compelling enough to be tried at home. I did and I thank Nellie, hubby's cousin who generously gave me her recipe.

Bell peppers are popularly known as capsicums (shimla mirch in Hindi) in India. Till about a couple of decades ago I was familiar with only the green capsicum which was either eaten in the form of deep fried pakoras, or stuffed with a filling or in the preparation of Indo-Chinese dishes. Today the other two vibrant colours - the red & yellow capsicum have found their way into a dozen new dishes like dips, salads, soups & pizzas. Bell peppers are so called because of their bell shape and besides the red, green & yellow colours they come in many different colours including orange, purple, brown & even black! They vary in taste from spicy to sweet, to tangy. It is said that the red bell peppers offer the most health benefits compared to the green ones. Bell peppers are said to be a dieter's favourite vegetable as they are low cal, low fat, high fibre & a fat burning food. They are packed with vitamins A and C and contain significant amounts of folate and vitamin B6 which help fight against heart disease.

Grapes on the other hand have the ability to treat indigestion, constipation, fatigure, kidney disorders and help in the prevention of cataract, breast cancer and Alzheimer's disease. Grapes are one of the richest sources of vitamins A, C, B6 and folate in addition to essential minerals. They contain flavonoids that are very powerful antioxidants which in simple terms prevent free radicals that speed up aging process. Read more

One reason why I chose to post this recipe sooner than the pile of recipes in draft is because there are two occasions that fall in the month of March. 'Holi' the festival of colours that is celebrated all over India coincides with the International Women's Day this year on March 8th. I couldn't think of a better dish that could do justice to these occasions. This month I celebrate womanhood with something so colourful, simple, flavourful and healthy.

Bell Pepper & Grape Salad
(Printable Recipe)
Preparation time: 15min | Serves 3-4

You Need:

3 bell peppers (capsicums) - red, yellow & green - deseeded
1 medium sized cucumber
a handful of green grapes
a handful of black grapes
salt to taste
pepper to taste
a sprinkling of lime juice (about 2 tsp)
a sprinkling of chaat masala powder (about 1/2 tsp)
2-3 tsp of virgin olive oil (optional)

Method:

1. Dice the bell peppers, chop the cucumber and cut the grapes vertically into 8 pieces or as desired

2. Mix all the ingredients in a wide bowl and add the dressing - salt, pepper, olive oil, lime juice & chaat masala just before serving.

Sending this to Fruit Fiesta hosted by Ramya's Recipe

Bendanso Stu (Okra/ Lady's Finger Stew)

noreply@blogger.com (Shireen Sequeira) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 10:23:00 +0000

As per the Christian liturgical calendar we have officially stepped into the month of Lent - a time of penance, repentance and prayer. It also marks the Death & Resurrection of Jesus and recalls the events of the Passion of Christ. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and culminates in the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday. Lent is observed for forty days during which many people make sacrifices in many ways especially by way of giving up rich food, sweets and meat. Most Mangaloreans I know have given up eating meat this Lenten season although this decision varies person to person. Some prefer giving up meat for the entire duration while some may eat only eggs and fish. Whatever the penance I think its a good time for some self introspection and penance besides giving our digestive systems a break especially if fasting or minimal consumption of food is part of this dietary sacrifice.

While I think its a very personal decision to eat meat or not, personally for me meat or no meat in my daily menu does not make much of a difference. Being a foodie, what matters to me is whether or not I indulge in rich food (vegetarian or non vegetarian, sweets and desserts) and whether or not I am willing to give that up and whether or not I am able to repent for my sins and lead a better and more meaningful, simple and prayerful Christian life. But for the benefit of many of you who follow my blog and are on the lookout for vegetarian recipes, I thought it would be the best time to post some nice vegetarian recipes.

Since vegetables were a religious part of our daily meals during my growing up years I simply love them and include them whatever way I can in our daily menu. Mangalore being a coastal town has always had access to the abundance of ocean's bounty and is always treated to its finest catch. This makes most of Mangalore a non vegetarian crowd. However the Catholic community being hard core non vegetarian by nature eat vegetables sparingly - maybe just one serving of vegetables and/or fruits a day or sometimes just one serving three to four times a week - which is not the healthiest diet as you can see. However, thankfully my mum made sure we got our daily dose of the green goodness and for a family of five she would cook at least a kilo of vegetables and legumes of all varieties, shapes and sizes. She wouldn't take 'no' for an answer and I don't think she ever had to shove it down our throats by force as vegetables were a much loved item on our plates which we gleefully wiped clean.

Mum used to make a lot of vegetables in the Thel Piao (oil & onion) style which is a simple method of steaming vegetables along with a few basic ingredients such as sliced onions, green chillies, oil, salt, a souring agent such as tomatoes or sol (the dried peel of a sour fruit similar to kokum) and a generous garnish of freshly grated coconut. This is probably a preparation that only Mangaloreans will like as it is devoid of any other form of masala and is makes for a healthy way of eating veggies. Surprisingly I haven't posted a recipe for it as I felt it was equivalent to giving out a recipe to boil water. I guess my blog will be incomplete if I don't post that recipe and I am planning to do that soon.

On my quest for new recipes for vegetarian curries, I found this recipe in Isidore Coelho's 'Ranpi' and although both R & I don't recall having eaten it during our time in Mangalore, we loved this version. Okra/Lady's Finger is stewed gently in coconut milk and basic spices - resulting in a curry that is delicately flavoured. Do note that the flavour of coconut milk is very dominant here. I made this curry last week as I normally make a vegetable curry when we fry fish - I prefer vegetarian curries to plain Dal every time. The meal was simply fantastic as this curry teams up very well with fried fish and white rice. I am sure it will taste great with brown (or red) boiled rice as well.

Bendanso Stu (Okra/ Lady's Fingers Stew)
(Printable Recipe)
Preparation time: 10-15mins | Cooking time: 15mins | Serves 2-3

You Need:

1/4 kg (or 12-15 large) tender okra/ lady's fingers / bhindi * see notes
2 medium sized onions finely sliced
1 inch ginger finely chopped
4-5 green chillies slit * see notes
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 pinches cumin powder (optional)
2 tsp vinegar
2 cups thin coconut milk * see notes
1 cup thick coconut milk
2 tbsp oil or ghee for frying
salt to taste

Method:
1. Wash the okra well, pat dry and cut the ends. Extract coconut milk and keep it ready * see notes
2. Heat the oil/ghee in a heavy based pan and fry the slit green chillies till transparent, toss in the chopped ginger & onions and fry till the onions turn pale/translucent.
3. Add the okra and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the thin coconut milk and turmeric powder and cook uncovered on a medium heat till tender but not mushy. Add salt to taste.
4. When the okra is tender, add the thick coconut milk and bring the stew to a boil. Add vinegar, stir and turn off the flame.
5. Serve hot with rice.

Notes:

Okra/Bhindi

You can use the large okra variety that is available in Mangalore. It has a pale green colour and are quite large in size

Chillies
The original recipe calls for 8 chillies. I used 5 chillies which was a bit spicy for my taste. I recommend you to use 4 chillies and add later if desired.

Coconut milk
Extracting fresh coconut milk
Grate the flesh of one coconut and transfer it to a mixer grinder. Add about 1/2 cup of warm water and pulse the mixer grinder for a few seconds.
Line a bowl with cheese/muslin cloth and transfer the ground coconut into it. Cover the cloth into a bundle and squeeze to extract thick milk. Keep aside
Add a little water (depending on how much thin milk you desire) and repeat process. This is the thin milk.

Preparing coconut milk from coconut milk powder
To make approx 2 cups thin milk - Dissolve 6 tbsp coconut milk powder in 1-1/2 cups warm water
To make approx 1 cup thick milk - Dissolve 6 tbsp coconut milk powder in 3/4th cup warm water

*I use Maggi coconut milk powder

Butter Cake - Simply Delicious!!

noreply@blogger.com (Shireen Sequeira) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:45:00 +0000

A post too soon eh? Considering that I've been taking my sweet time to post recipes since we welcomed 2012? Well, I've decided to get rid of my laziness and at least post all the recipes that have accumulated in my drafts - most of which were tried several times in the last 3-4 months when I was too busy writing the detailed Kuswar posts and didn't have the energy to post these (plus I was super busy, lazy and sick). Nice and simple recipes that have been tried twice or thrice with positive results and it would be a pity if I don't share them at the earliest. Since Lent has started on Wednesday I have decided to give up cooking interesting and new dishes - one thing I am most passionate about and maybe I should use this time to clear my drafts.

This particular cake which was highly recommended by my friend Rinku of Kitchen Treats became an instant hit and has been tried thrice already and will be baked many many more times I am sure as this recipe is a keeper. R loves simple cakes - the plain jane variety - no icing, no fuss, no frills and definitely no chocolate! Man! It's hard to survive with someone who doesn't like chocolate in anything. No chocolate cakes or brownies for him he says. Just to please me he takes a bite at the most. But I bake chocolate cakes anyways as the little fellow can't get enough of chocolate. Suits me fine! But thanks to the man and his choice of cakes, I have bookmarked a whole lot of cakes that don't make use of even a speck of cocoa. I am particularly keen to try out the sponge cakes that are so famous in Mangalorean bakeries. I hope I find a good one that is at least a close contender to the ones I've grown up eating if not the perfect one.

The reason why I have made this cake umpteen number of times is because the main ingredient - butter is found in abundance in my kitchen these days. Well, we have kind of switched over to fresh milk from the local dairy instead of the store bought tetra packed milk. I think its a better and wiser choice as it is fresh, wholesome and also leaves me with a whole lot of dairy byproducts. The amount of fresh /heavy cream that I get after pasteurizing the milk is enough to throw me into a tizzy - I not only have home made butter, but also home made buttermilk and ghee these days and the whole process of making each of these items from scratch is enjoyable and satisfying.

As I have mentioned before in some of my posts, its always a headache to find unsalted white butter when a recipe calls for it. Most grocers in my area stock up only salted 'Amul' butter and although its not a sin to replace unsalted butter with the salted one, not every recipe will be happy to accommodate my laziness. Unless I am prepared to walk miles to hunt for white butter I usually resort to the Parsi Dairy white butter that is available in Godrej Nature's basket, however, I am not happy with the quality as it usually tastes and smells slightly rancid which is blasphemous for a butter cake. You simply cannot afford to use poor quality butter in a butter cake can you?

Do make sure you use the best quality ingredients for this cake as there are no other flavours to morph the original buttery taste & texture here. This cake is best eaten warm and fresh out of the oven (wait until the cake is out of the pan though!). If you intend storing it for longer than a day, refrigerate it and pop it in the microwave for 15-20 seconds before serving - this warms up the butter and refreshes the cake immediately.

Anyway, all I can say about this cake is that it has a beeeeautiful texture and a plain, easy and melt-in-the-mouth flavour, almost like, well, butter! Hehe (it's not called 'butter' cake for nothing). The recipe obviously asks for a huge amount of butter (more than the quantity of flour) so its not something you would want to indulge in too often if you are health conscious (although I bet you'd like to!). It's the kind of cake that can be made for a simple tea party and you can safely assume that everybody will like it and reach out for some more. It's a perfect accompaniment to a nice hot cup of tea or coffee or plain milk and will appeal to the anti-chocolate league members, toddlers and those looking out for something simple to satiate their sweet tooth.

You can also get creative and take this cake to another level by serving it with some chocolate sauce. I used Hershey's and it was brilliant. The simplicity of the butter cake teamed with the rich smoothness of the chocolate was amazing (although I am not a huge fan of Hershey's syrup - next time I must try a different brand). The little boy had a lot of this combo and the big boy just liked it plain - slice after slice.

I have simply halved the ingredients in the recipe below. The measures are perfect if you intend to serve just 3-4 people, but I suggest you make the entire cake if possible as it simply melts in the mouth and you'll be reaching out for more!

Butter Cake
(Printable Recipe)
Preparation time: 15min | Baking time: 30-35min (for below quantity) | Yield : 8-10 medium sized slices

You Need:

100gm/3/4th cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder * see notes
100gm sugar * see notes
1/4 tsp salt * see notes
125 gm unsalted butter * see notes
2 eggs at room temperature
2 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:
1. Preheat oven at 180 C for 15mins. Prepare a 8"x4" loaf pan (* see notes) by either lining it with parchment/butter paper or greasing it well with butter and then dusting it with flour.
Sift the flour, baking powder & salt at least 2-3 times. This helps make the cake all the more fluffy.
2. In a large mixing bowl beat the butter & sugar until pale. Add one egg at a time and beat well.
3. Pour in the vanilla extract and mix till incorporated.
4. Add the flour in 2-3 parts alternating between flour and milk (ie add one part flour to the butter egg mixture and mix well with a spatula.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 30-35 minutes or till the skewer inserted comes out clean. My cake was done in exactly 32 minutes.
6. Remove the tin from the oven and place it to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Careful invert the cake on to the wire rack and tap the tin so that the cake slides out easily. Allow to cool completely before cutting it.
7. Serve with a hot cup of tea, coffee or milk or simply enjoy it plain. You can also cut up each slice into chunks and eat it with chocolate sauce poured over it

Notes:
1. The original recipe makes a note of 'double action baking powder' - you can use any brand of baking powder in India. Weikfield specially mentions 'double action' on the box. Other brands are Bluebird and Bakers which are also double action. Apparently there is a 'single action' baking powder that is often used for commercial baking.
2. The original recipe asks for 90gm sugar, however I increased it by another 10 grams as it results in a perfect moderately sweet cake. I used regular granulated sugar and powdered it using a dry mixer jar.
3. If you are using salted butter (like Amul), skip the addition of salt. Most cake recipes that ask for unsalted butter do not ask for salt, but it is always advisable to add a pinch or two as it helps bring out the flavours in the cake.
The original recipe is for the full quantity, I have halved it here. For the full quantity it is advisable to use a 7"x7" square pan and not a 9"x9".. A bigger square pan will result in a slightly flatter cake.

Sending this entry to
Zesty Palette's - Sweet Luv
Tomato Blues - Bake Fest
Tickling Palates - I Love Baking
Spice & Sugar Tales - Cakes, Cookies & Desserts

Kombi Sukhi (Mangalorean Catholic Style Chicken Fugad/Sukka)

noreply@blogger.com (Shireen Sequeira) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 09:18:00 +0000

I am back after another well deserved break :-) This time it was not illness (well, that came later) that kept me away from my blog but a wedding in the family. R's nephew, our close friend and the best man for our wedding got hitched! The wedding was very special and a lot of fun with a whole lot of people (family) who flew in from different parts of the world to be a part of the special occasion. So in other words, it was the Great Indian Wedding that unfolded day after day - the whole of last week.

Well, I've heard a lot about Mangalorean weddings in Mumbai not being as spectacular as those in Mangalore - I beg to differ because it just depends on the crowd and the mood. And plus the presence of family & friends who go that extra mile to make your day extra special. My boys and I used this opportunity to let our hair down & have some fun. We also got plenty of time to reconnect with relatives we hadn't met in ages and some new ones who we had never met before and all of us got on like a house on fire.

Coming back to our topic, the only catch about the weddings in Mumbai is that the wedding menu usually lacks the traditional & complete wedding spread. Most Roce (pre-wedding ceremony) & weddings that I have attended usually offer a North Indian fare replete with flavoured rice, rotis, vegetarian & non vegetarian curries, dals and sweet dishes. But I see that this is beginning to trend even in Mangalore with some part of our cultural and ethnic dining experience eroding away giving rise to a more contemporary feel. I guess I will touch upon this topic at length in another post. For now, it's the Chicken Sukka or the Kombi Sukhi as the Catholics call it in Mangalore.

The Chicken Sukka is a popular and much loved dish among Mangaloreans. Different communities make it differently with minor changes in the ingredients and method of preparation. I have already posted the recipe of the Bunt style Kori Aajadina and I know that Protestants make it differently too. Chicken Sukka is nothing but a dry dish made with several spices ground into a perfect masala and mixed with roasted grated coconut. However, many Mangalorean households resort to the short cut method of using Bafat powder instead of grinding spices. The result is not bad I must say as you can have a nice Chicken Sukka ready in no time. However, since I am always on the lookout for new recipes or new ways to make the things I have grown up eating, I think this recipe won't disappoint you. It's worth the extra time & effort taken to grind the masala. It tastes wonderful when paired with Panpolay (Neer Dosa) or just plain white or boiled rice.

For those who are unfamiliar with this dish, well, its a moderately spiced dish compared to the Bunt recipe. The spice is balanced well with a bit of tang brought in by the tamarind. The roasted rice gives a nutty edge to the dish and the grated coconut adds to the yum factor - I would say that this dish is lip smackin' good!

This dish was one of the items on a Roce or a Wedding menu in Mangalore decades ago, but I am not sure it is a novelty or a specialty today. Many varieties of Chicken have replaced this traditional dish and so it is commonly prepared in many homes as part of the Sunday lunch menu.

Kombi Sukhi (Chicken Fugad/Sukka)
(Printable Recipe)
Preparation time: 15mins | Cooking time 25mins | Serves 4

You Need:

1 kg chicken on the bone
1 medium sized onion sliced
1 tbsp tomato puree (optional)
3 tbsp ghee
salt to taste

For the masala

8 long dry red chillies (Bedgi) (or to taste)
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1/2 tbsp cumin (jeera)
7-8 peppercorns (or to taste)
1 tbsp raw rice (white rice)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 cup grated coconut
1 marble size ball of tamarind or 1 level tsp tamarind paste

Method:
1. Cut the chicken into small pieces, wash & allow to drain on a colander for 15mins (this helps drain off any traces of blood). Boil the chicken with 2 cups of water & salt to taste till it is cooked halfway. Keep aside
2. On a skillet/tawa dry roast the rice till it puffs up slightly & turns reddish, remove & roast the red chillies, coriander seeds, cumin, peppercorns & rice - separately one by one - grind these ingredients to a fine powder and then add the coconut and pulse the mixer a couple of times - the coconut should remain coarse and not ground into a paste.
3. Heat the ghee in a heavy bottomed pan and toss in the sliced onions, fry until pale and then add the ground coconut & masala mixture. Fry on a slow flame for about 2-3 minutes till you get a nice aroma from the coconut that is frying. Add the tamarind paste or juice
4. Add the pre-cooked chicken and half its stock. Mix well, cover & simmer for 2 minutes. Check salt to taste & add more if required. Continue to cook until the chicken is done. You may need to add all or part of the chicken stock.
5. Serve hot with rice & dal

Red Velvet Brownie Bites With Cream Cheese Frosting - Valentine's Day Special

noreply@blogger.com (Shireen Sequeira) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 06:23:00 +0000

So today is Valentine's Day - the day when lovers across the world express their love for each other. I never was much of a V Day person as I feel that one should express their love every day and not wait for one particular day in the year. Having said that, I don't have anything against those who wish to celebrate this special day in a way that means the most to them.

During my growing up years in Mangalore, V Day was celebrated popularly in school & college in different ways. Some would decide to wear clothes that coincided with the colours of love - Red and Pink, some would exchange Red, Pink, Yellow or White roses as they deemed fit (depending on who the recipient was). Lunches and movie plans were thrown in to make the day extra special & fun. Gifts and cards were exchanged ensuring brisk business for Archies, Hallmark and such shops that thrive on 'special' days and speciality gifts.

While some people made the most of V Day, some would end up having panic attacks - of being confronted by a person they didn't quite like, others longed for an acknowledgement of their unexpressed love. All in all a beautiful day until some anti-social elements made V Day and all those who chose to celebrate it a target of their wrath.

I think we all know the story behind Valentine's Day. More than being a 'foreign' culture, we must know that the language of love knows no boundaries. Simply put, this day started to be celebrated in memory of Valentine, a priest who lived in Rome during the third century. Rome was ruled by emperor Claudius who was obsessed with having a big army and expected men to volunteer to join his army. However his subjects were not interested in war and didn't want to leave their wives and families. A furious Claudius imposed a cruel law that did not allow any more marriages (how crazy!). Valentine however went ahead with his favourite activity of getting young couples in love married and secretly got them married in barely lit rooms in the presence of God (no pomp and show or a lavish wedding entourage in tow) . However, the cat was out of the bag soon and Valentine was thrown in jail waiting to be beheaded for having gone against the king's new law. What a heavy price to be paid for helping couples join together in the bond of marriage!

During his time in jail many young couples came to visit him and threw flowers and notes up his window just to let him know that like him, they too believed in love. One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard who would visit Valentine and cheer him up. On February 14, 269 A.D, the day he was to be beheaded Valentine wrote a note of thanks to her and signed it "Love from your Valentine". This is believed to be the beginning of the custom of exchanging love notes on Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day today has found new meaning - it is a day to celebrate love and friendship. It doesn't have to be your lover or better half. I think love has no boundaries, of time, place age & relationships. So if you love someone, just let them know - it doesn't have to be on Valentine's Day! Just say it before it's too late!

By the way, whoever has been following my blog since its inception will know that I made Red Velvet Cupcakes for V Day last year. Not again!? (Hehe) - well, I went searching high & low for a new kind of a dessert for today, some of them flopped so badly that they were beyond recognition and obviously didn't made it to the blog today. Maybe I should have a flop recipe section on this blog! Anyway, some random and frantic searching later I found this lovely recipe on A farm girls dabbles and thought it was really cute. So what if I was making a Red Velvet recipe again? Ain't I celebrating V Day with the same guy too?! (LOL!). I guess I will keep trying different ways of eating the Red Velvet cake every year - what say Ro?

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Red Velvet Brownie Bites With Cream Cheese Frosting
(Printable Recipe)
Preparation time: 25mins | Baking time : 35mins | Yield: 50 brownie bites

You Need:

For the red velvet brownies

1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 oz./85gm bittersweet chocolate chopped
1-1/2 cups / 230gm powdered sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt * see notes
1 oz./30ml liquid red food colour
1 cup /115gm all purpose flour (maida)
1/2 tsp baking powder

Additional items

9"x9" square baking tin
two strips of aluminium foil 9"x16" each
oil spray or oil to grease the tin

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. /227gm cream cheese at room temperature
4 tbsp butter at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups /230gm sifted powdered sugar
silver dragee, edible sparkles/sprinkles - optional

Method:

Preparing the brownies:

1. Preheat oven to 165 degrees C/ 325 degrees F. Place a foil piece in the baking tin leaving the extra foil hanging on two sides. Repeat with the other sheet in the opposite direction thus lining the pan completely. Spray/brush oil along the surface. Sift the flour and baking powder twice & keep aside.

2. Met the butter and chocolate in a double boiler or in a heavy bottomed saucepan on a slow heat until the chocolate is melted. Remove and whisk well to avoid any lumps.

3. Whisk in the sugar and one egg at a time. Stir in the vanilla, salt and food colour. Add the sifted flour and fold. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 30-35 mins till the surface is puffed and dry and the skewer inserted comes out a bit moist. Remove the cake tin and cool completely on a wire rack

Preparing the frosting

Beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and mix. Add the sifted powdered sugar and blend well.

Assembling

Lift the brownies out of the pan with the help of the foil. Place on a cutting board and peel away the foil from the sides. Spread the frosting evenly using a spatula. Decorate with sprinkles if desired. Cut into bites of 1-1/4"x1-1/4". Wipe the knife after each slice to achieve clean cuts

Notes:

1. For the brownies, I used a blend of salted & unsalted butter and so I skipped the salt. Do note that these brownies are supposed to taste a bit tart and salty, so you may want to increase the sugar slightly. I used regular granulated sugar that I powdered in a dry grinder.
2. After the brownie has cooled completely, slather it with the frosting only when you are ready to serve as it may dribble down the sides (as you see in my pictures). Alternatively you can prepare the frosting and refrigerate the cake until you are ready to serve. However, brownies taste best at room temperature.
3. Always use fresh cream cheese to avoid a sour taste to the frosting. If it is a bit sour you can add a little extra sugar to it

Sending this entry to

Srivalli's Chocolate Mela

Zesty Palette's - Sweet Luv

Vimitha's - Love & Chocolate Fest

Anzz Cafe's - Valentine's Day Special

Tomato Blues - Bake Fest

Junia's Chocolatelove Bloghop

Tickling Palates - I Love Baking

Spice & Sugar Tales - Cakes, Cookies & Desserts

Daal Baati (Five Lentil Soup & Unleavened Baked Bread)

noreply@blogger.com (Shireen Sequeira) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:19:00 +0000

During my growing up years in Mangalore North Indian food was synonymous with Punjabi food. Tandoori Chicken, Butter Chicken & Naan satiated those rare cravings for food that wasn't home made or Chinese (which was also synonymous with 'eating out'). As far as I can remember eating out wasn't so fashionable in Mangalore twenty years ago. Thrifty mothers made sure they provided nutritious yet frugal meals at home and hence most restaurants were patronized by those who primarily went there to enjoy a peg or two besides restaurant style meals that were rarely replicated at home. However, a couple of (Indo) Chinese restaurants (Hau Hau & Hau Ming) did some good business there (I mean who doesn't like Indo-Chinese??) which eventually helped the restaurant industry to pick up as the years went by.

Despite having eaten a decent amount of Punjabi food in Mangalore my taste buds have never outgrown it. But stepping out of Mangalore and into the 'real' world helped me broaden my horizon and explore the different cuisines that came under the big umbrella called 'Indian Food'. Earlier, food that typically belonged to the northern hemisphere of India was labelled as North Indian food. While time spent in Bangalore helped me savour South India's variety of food, my life in Bombay enriched my culinary experience with a larger variety of cuisines and sub cuisines. It is in Bombay that I was able to figure out the finer nuances of North Indian food. Till then I guess I was similar to those people in the North who thought that South Indian food only consisted of Idlis & Dosas :-)

Like I have mentioned many times before about my love affair with vegetarian food, it was truly a delight to taste some amazing Rajasthani food at Rajdhani and be treated to unlimited food served on a thaali (platter) . I was completely bowled over by the variety of flat breads - fried or baked in tandoors that were served during every meal. The guests at Rajdhani are treated rather royally. Once you are seated the Maître d' summons the waiters who cheerfully set the table for you and the noisy service of serving the food starts almost immediately. There is no time to think or talk as the food speaks for itself and all you do is simply watch in delight as this wonderful gastronomical journey unfolds itself in front of you and you are lost in the flow. While you are busy indulging in the awesome spread, in true Indian style they insist on serving you some more of this and a little of that until you are stuffed to the gills & actually (and politely) beg to be excused - all in good humour of course. The meal ends with a sweet dish of your choice which you need to select before the meal commences. Well, I know this drill so well because I was Rajdhani's prized customer when I was expecting my son. Not only did I drag hubby to this place but also guests who visited us had to go through the ordeal of eating an 'eat-all-you-can' for 200 bucks meal. Maybe I should go back to Rajdhani and ask them to issue me a loyalty card or a monthly pass maybe :D

Coming back to today's dish - The Daal Baati is supposedly the most popular item on the Rajasthani menu. No festival or wedding menu is complete without this dish. Besides being absolutely simple it also is a lovely medley of ingredients, primarily lentils. My love for lentils found a new dimension with this beautiful recipe. Dal (lentils) in South India is often eaten in a watery form unlike how it is eaten in most of North India - a thick soup like consistency that is a perfect accompaniment to chapathis, rotis or naan. This particular combo consists of the Panchmel Dal (made of five lentils) and the Baati (a hard unleavened bread usually baked over firewood or over kandas - ie cow dung cakes). Baatis can be baked in a gas tandoor or an electric oven as well (which is what I did). The steamed version of the Baati is known as the Bafla. And irrespective of their cooking technique they are always served dipped (read drenched!) in ghee and accompanied by the Panchmel dal and choorma (deep fried dough balls crushed and mixed with sugar or jaggery and served with mixed nuts). This trio makes for a delicious, filling & satisfying meal.

I tried this recipe a few months ago from Priya Mitharwal's blog Mharorajasthan and instantly fell in love with this super delicious meal. My son loved it the most and still dreams about the hard buns - Baati as he is an ardent fan of Indian breads - any form, any texture, any flavour. While the Panchmel Daal was a fantastic blend of flavours from the different kinds of dals used I was quite happy to get the Baati right in terms of texture and flavour. I sorely missed the Choorma though, but I am sure I will make up for it when I make this super delicious dish again.

By the way, the Rajasthani Baati is a lot like the Litti-Chokha of Uttar Pradesh which is made with a spiced Sattu (a special gram flour/besan) filling. I hope to try that soon besides another couple of Rajasthani recipes that I have bookmarked. For now, enjoy the Daal-Baati!

Daal - Baati

(Printable Recipe)

Panchmel Daal: Soaking time| 8hours or overnight | Preparation time: 20 mins | Cooking time: 25min
Serves 4-5

Baati: Preparation time: 5 mins | Baking time: 25min
Serves 3

You Need:

A) For the daal:

1/4 cup toor dal (split yellow pigeon peas) soaked for 10mins
1/4 cup moong dal (split skinless green gram) soaked for 10mins
1/4 cup masoor dal (split red lentils) soaked for 10mins
1/4 cup chana dal (split chickpeas) soaked for 10min
1/4 cup whole moong (whole green gram with skin) soaked overnight/8 hours
1 cup finely chopped onions
1 cup finely chopped tomatoes
1 tsp (or to taste) red chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1 tsp oil
salt to taste

For tempering/tadka for the daal

1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 green chillies sliced (adjust to taste)
1 inch ginger chopped
5-6 cloves of garlic crushed
2 tsp ghee

For garnishing the daal

1/2 cup finely chopped coriander leaves

B) For the baati

1 cup whole wheat flour (aata)
1/4 cup chickpea flour (besan)
1 tbsp semolina (rawa)
1/2 cup ghee (in liquid form)
2 tsp coarsely crushed fennel seeds (saunf)
2 tsp coarsely crushed carom seeds (ajwain)
salt to taste

For basting the baatis and serving

1/4 cup ghee

Method:

Preparing the daal

1. Heat the oil in a pressure cooker and fry the onions till translucent. Toss in the chopped tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the dry masalas, mix and fry for a couple of minutes.
2. Add the washed & soaked dals and fry for 2 minutes. Add enough water so that it covers the dals for about an inch above them. Cover the pressure cooker lid & cook for 12-15 minutes on a medium high flame.
3. When the cooker comes to room temperature (the whistle/weight comes off easily), mix the contents and add water to arrive at the desired consistency. Don't add too much water, the daal should be thickish. Toss in the chopped coriander leaves. Cover & keep aside.
4. For the tempering/seasoning, on a medium flame, heat the ghee in a smaller pan and toss in the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. When they stop spluttering add the green chillies, ginger, garlic and onions and fry lightly until you get a nice aroma and take care to see that the contents do not burn. Quickly pour this seasoning into the prepared daal.
5. Serve hot with baati or rice!

Preparing the baati
1. In a flat wide bowl mix all the ingredients mentioned under 'For the baati' and knead it into a smooth dough. Add very little water only if required. Keep covered until required. Pre-heat the oven on Low on grill/broil mode (I preheated at 110 degrees C for 10mins). Keep a baking tray covered with aluminium foil ready
2. Pinch out lemon sized balls out of the dough and roll between the palms to ensure that the surface has no cracks. Gently make a dimple (thumb impression) in the centre of each baati.
3. Brush each baati generously with the ghee and place on the baking tray and into the oven on the top rack and broil/grill for approx 20-25 minutes flipping them halfway across bake time. Add or reduce bake time depending on your oven to ensure that the baatis turn a golden brown evenly.
4. Remove, dunk them in ghee (unless you are health conscious) and serve hot with Panchmel Daal

Notes:
The baatis do not fluff up and are not soft like regular bread/buns. This is because there is no leavening agent (like yeast, baking powder etc) used. The baatis remain the way they looked before you put them into the oven, except that they emerge harder, browner and tastier.

Meat Biryani - Beary (Mangalorean Muslim) Style

noreply@blogger.com (Shireen Sequeira) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:08:00 +0000

I guess I am taking my new year 'resolution' a bit too seriously. Although I cook & click almost on a daily basis, I don't have as much enthusiasm to post the recipes soon enough. I am enjoying my time off the blog doing routine things that include enjoying my new found sense of relaxation thanks to the yoga classes that I joined a couple of weeks ago. Needless to say, my mornings are extra-hectic because of them especially since my teacher likes to call her students for some extra classes during the week. But then no one's complaining. It truly gives me my 'me-time' which is hard to come by otherwise. Throw in a few exercises and I think I am doing much better health-wise than I ever did before. I was never quite a 'gym person' although with a strict diet (read portion control) and some good ol' brisk walking in the garden I could keep weight under control.

However, all my discipline goes for a toss when a good biryani comes along :-) I think I have written volumes about my biryani obsession and I don't want to elaborate on it once more. But I want to make a subtle point here - more than trying out just any biryani, the sole purpose of my life (as I have now defined) is to try out different kinds of biryanis made by people of different cultures. This year hopefully I want to try out at least 5-6 different styles and flavours of biryanis that include different techniques of cooking. I am sure there are no dearth of recipes and I am confident that a majority of them are already recorded in Katy Dalal's Biryanis & Pulaos that I proudly possess. However, I didn't have to flip through that book this time. One of my readers who belongs to the Beary (pronounced as 'barry' or 'byari') community in Mangalore wrote in to me and after a few mail exchanges we became friends. She was kind enough to share a tried & tested biryani recipe and that had me drooling instantly. I realised that I had not yet posted any Beary style recipe although I have tried out recipes from the much celebrated cuisines of the Bunt, Konkani, Catholic & Protestant communities of Mangalore. So I am thankful to Mrs. Safiya Rahamathulla for her recipe.

The Beary is the Muslim community concentrated mostly in coastal South Kanara (Dakshin Kannada). This ethnic society incorporates the local Tulu culture of Dakshin Kannada and diverse traditions of the Moplahs of the Malabar coast and is one of the earliest Muslim inhabitants of India. The Bearys speak their own dialect called the Beary Bashe or nakk-nikk, also known as Beary palaka. I am reminded of my various trips to the string of shoe shops (owned by Bearys) on Market Road, Hampankatta where I used to listen to this unique language and try to make sense out of it. Was it Tulu or Malayalam or a blend of both? This language kept me guessing throughout the shoe purchasing session. I also used to hear bits of this language and glimpses into the daily lives of Bearys when I used to pass by some houses while on my way to my granny's place. Elderly ladies in ethnic Beary style attire, their ears and necks adorned with intricate ornaments used to always catch my attention. We exchanged a smile to acknowledge the familiarity of a stranger - (as much as it sounds like an oxymoron) bringing about a sense of secularism that probably is struggling to survive in our country today and especially in Mangalore.

The word 'Beary' is said to have been derived from the Tulu word 'Byara' which means trade or business and since the major portion of the community was involved in business & trading activities, the local Tulu speaking majority called them as Beary or Byari. However, a couple of other theories suggest that the term Beary could also have been derived from the Arabic word Bahar which means 'ocean' and Bahri means 'sailor' or 'navigator'. It could also have been derived from the root word 'Malabar' since the great Islamic Da'ee, Malik bin Deenar had arrived on the coast of Malabar during the 6th century and a member from his group Habeen bin Malik travelled through Tulunad, preached Islam and is also credited with the building of a mosque in the Bunder area of Mangalore in 644 A.D (Courtesy Wikipedia)

Now here's a bit of history that I found interesting. As per Wikipedia Bearys used to refer to the area south of Mangalore (I am assuming is towards the Thokottu area) as Maikala which is their cultural and economical capital and apparently Maikala got its name through the Kadri Manjunath Temple which was earlier a Buddhist temple. The Buddhist goddess Tara Bhagavathi was also known as Mayadevi who in the course of time came to be known as Maikala. Historians are of the opinion that Maikala is one of the ancient names of Mangalore. Some say that Mangalore got its name from the temple of Mangaladevi. However, irrespective of the root of its name, its important to note that so much history is buried deep beneath this beautiful coastal city that is home to people from various faiths, beliefs and cultural ethnicities. It is a blend of these cultures that makes Mangalore what it is today - so special & so endearing.

Honestly my association with the Beary community was minimal during my growing up years as there were just a couple of Beary girls in my class who were quiet and peace loving and quite contrary to the prankster in me :-) I wish I had made more friends and enjoyed their company and maybe, just maybe I would have had some food related memories to talk about today ;-)

Now, a little about today's dish. Although I have tried many types of biryanis involving elaborate as well as simple procedures, this is one of those flavourful biryanis that are made with minimal ingredients and carry a South Indian trademark - especially because of the use of coriander leaves that are not ground but shredded during the layering thus avoiding the bitterness that the leaves impart if used in large quantities.

This biryani is very subtle in its flavour and aroma with just about the distinct fragrance of fennel wafting through the grains. Do adjust the quantity of fennel to suit your taste. I recommend you to make this biryani at least a couple of hours in advance before you serve it. This helps the flavours set in as the dum helps to achieve and I must say that it tastes better the next day. The flavours are not over the top and despite the use of a lot of ghee, it does not taste like a heavy duty biryani that one finds hard to digest (unless your choice of meat is beef)

The preparation & cooking time have been calculated considering a slow cook like me (especially beginners). If you are quick, this biryani does not take as much time as mentioned below. I have given elaborate instructions which experts may not really need. Feel free to dabble with the method of preparing the rice depending on the luxury of time you have and also alter the ingredients as per taste.

Meat Biryani - Beary (Mangalorean Muslim) Style

(Printable Recipe)

Preparation time: 45min | Cooking time: 1 hr | Layering & Cooking on Dum : 30mins

Serves 4-5

You Need:

1 kg beef or mutton on the bone
juice of 1/2 lime (optional - use while cooking the meat)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder (haldi) (optional - use while cooking the meat)
fistful of chopped coriander leaves (optional - use while cooking the meat)
5 big onions sliced
6 juicy tomatoes thinly sliced
1/2 cup of coriander leaves chopped
1 inch cinnamon
3 cardamoms
3 cloves
salt to taste
ghee for frying

For the rice

600gm / 3 cups basmati rice * see notes
2 inch cinnamon
3 cloves
2 cardamoms
salt to taste

For the masala (to be ground)

8-10 green chilies *see notes
1 tbsp fennel seeds (badashep/saunf) * see notes
2 tbsp coriander seeds
2 whole pods garlic peeled (Indian variety)
2 inch piece of ginger
1 tsp mace (javithri) flakes
3-4 star anise (chakri phool)
1/2 nutmeg (zaiphal)
1 packed cup of mint leaves

To be ground separately

2 tsp poppy seeds (khus khus) (substitute with 1 tsp grated coconut if khus khus is not available)
5 almonds (badam) soaked in hot water and skinned

For the layering

3 onions finely sliced
1/2 cup of mint leaves roughly chopped
1-1/2 packed cups of coriander leaves roughly chopped
2 pinches saffron strands soaked in 3 tsp rose water or milk
2 tsp Garam masala (optional)
15-20 whole cashewnuts
20-25 raisins/kishmish
2 tsp ghee (to grease the pan)

Method:

A) Cooking the meat

1. Cut the meat into medium size pieces, wash and allow to drain on a colander for 10 minutes.

2. Transfer into a pressure cooker and sprinkle water up to the level of the meat. Add salt to taste. Add lime juice, turmeric powder & fistful of coriander leaves

3. Cover & cook on a full flame until the first whistle goes off (takes about 8-10mins).

4. Reduce the flame to sim and continue to cook for 20-25mins in the case of beef. If you are using mutton, follow the same procedure till step#3 and then cook for about 13-15 mins if the mutton is tender.

5. Allow the pressure cooker to cool down completely before removing the weight (whistle). Mix contents once and keep aside.

B) Preparing the garnish

1. Heat 4 tbsp ghee in a wide heavy bottomed pan and fry the onions till golden brown, drain & keep aside.

2. To the same ghee add cashewnuts and fry till golden brown n drain n keep aside.

3. Turn off the flame and add the raisins n take it immediatly or else it will burn.

C) Preparing the masala

1. In a large pan (or use the same pan that was used to fry the garnish) heat 2 tsp ghee. Toss in the whole spices (garam masala) and fry for a minute.

2. Add onions and fry till golden brown. This will take about 4-5 minutes.

3. Add the sliced tomato and fry for 2 mins on a medium high heat and reduce the flame a bit and continue to fry until the oil separates from the masala.

4. Add the ground green chilli masala, fry for about 4-5mins

5. Add the pre-cooked beef/mutton, adjust salt to taste and add the meat stock in parts. Allow to boil till meat is tender. Don’t make a watery gravy but use up stock to make a thick gravy.

6. Add the almond paste to it n boil again 4-5 mins. Add chopped coriander leaves on top of it. Turn off the flame after a couple of minutes

D) Preparing the rice

Using the draining technique (where rice is partially cooked, layered with meat and then placed on 'dum' till it is fully cooked)

1. Wash & soak the basmati rice in water for 15mins.

2. Boil rice in plenty of water along with the whole garam masala. Cool al-dente (3/4^th done).

3. Drain and keep aside until required

You can prepare the rice using the absorption technique (where rice is fully cooked and then layered along with meat)

1. Wash & soak the basmati rice in water for 15mins

2. For 600gms (3 cups) rice use a little less than double the quantity of water. ie 3x2 = 6 cups of water minus 1/2 cup = total of 5-1/2 cups of boiling water.

3. Heat 2 tsp of ghee in a large enough pan to accommodate cooked rice, add the washed & drained rice and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the freshly boiled water. Adjust salt to taste and add juice of 1/2 a lime. You may add 2 bullion (stock) cubes for an additional flavour.

4. Bring the water to a rolling boil, stir and cover the pan with a tight lid. Reduce flame completely and continue to cook for 6 minutes. Turn off the flame and let the rice cook in the steam. Open the lid after 3-4 minutes and fluff up with a fork. Cover & keep aside till required.

E) Assembling

1. Brush the base and sides of a large wide vessel with 2tsp ghee. Place one third of the meat as the first layer. Add a one third of the of the rice over the meat. This is the second layer

2. Sprinkle one third of the fried onions, cashewnuts, raisins, a few coriander leaves, a few mint leaves, part of the saffron mixed in rose water. This is the third layer.

3. Repeat the process till all the meat, rice and garnish has been layered.
4. Make a few holes through the biryani and drizzle some ghee through them.

If you have cooked the rice as per the absorption technique proceed to step# 6, else proceed to step#4

4. Seal the vessel with dough or aluminium foil. Place a tight lid over it to ensure there is no loss of steam.

5. Place on the vessel on a cast iron tawa/skillet and let the biryani to cook on dum for 20-25mins. Turn off the flame and allow the flavours and aromas to blend well before serving.

6. Serve hot with the raitha of your choice

Notes

Rice: The original recipe asks for a 1:1 ration between the meat & the rice. However I have scaled it down to 600gm of rice to a kilogram of meat since I have a small family.

Chillies: The original recipe calls for 20 green chillies since there is no other source of basic spice (peppercorns or such), however, I used 10 medium sized green chillies as I was using just 600gm rice. This resulted in a moderately spicy biryani. Adjust the quantity of chillies according to your taste and as per the quantity of rice used.

Fennel seeds: Reduce the quantity by half only if you don't like the intense fragrance of fennel seeds, however, the aroma does get masked by other ingredients when the gravy is done.

Although this is a dum style biryani, you may choose to hasten the process by cooking the rice fully, layering it & then serving it immediately. However, the dum technique increases the flavour quotient of this biryani.

Recipe updated on 10/02/2012 to incorporate minor changes to the ground masala which now includes the below items that were earlier mentioned under 'For the rice'

1 tsp mace (javithri) flakes
3-4 star anise (chakri phool)
1/2 nutmeg (zaiphal)

Eggless Chocolate & Bottle Gourd Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Shireen Sequeira) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:37:00 +0000

The first month of this year has flown by so quickly and as I do every year, this year too I exclaim "Wow! Wasn't it the 1st of Jan just the other day?" How many of you are thinking on the same lines as me? Well, it's time to get into a retrospective mood and see if we've really achieved anything that we set out to achieve. Anyway, whether or not we've done things we should have we must applaud ourselves for the small goals we have achieved. So here's a really simple, delicious and healthy (almost!) cake for you!

When I came across this recipe in Raji's blog - Vegetarian Tastebuds my eyes were glued on that one picture which made me drool. Literally! I have a weakness for chocolate cakes even though I can't go beyond a couple of bites or a slice at the most. And owing to the fact that I have a fussy toddler (who's getting better) and his tastebuds to deal with, I am on the prowl for cake recipes which have some way of sneaking in otherwise unpalatable veggies - Bottle Gourd included! So I was actually pretty amazed and amused that someone had actually thought of sneaking this humble veggie into it. True to what Raji said, nobody could guess that this cake had a vegetable in it - my son and my friend's kids happily ate it bite after bite thoroughly enjoying the moist cake with a deliciously thick sauce dribbling from all sides. My friend warns me never to disclose the secret to her kids and send the same cake every month!

What I loved about this cake is that it can be made with simple (and cheap!) ingredients without any fuss - all you need to do is sift the dry ingredients once and then 'dump' them along with the wet ingredients, combine well & then bake it. The best part is that it adheres to a vegetarian or vegan's diet. Veganism is a practice that abstains from the use of animal products and includes foods such as eggs, meat (and all animal-derived products), dairy milk (and all its by products) & honey. Even the sauce/ganache does not require you to buy expensive bars of chocolate and then go through the drill of having to melt it in a double boiler and such.

My only regret is that I made this pretty late in the evening, when the sun was about to set and ended up with a whole bunch of blurry pictures. I have selected the best ones for you. Couldn't help decking up the cake with strawberries that are so much in season and in abundance here in Mumbai. I hope it doesn't mislead you into thinking that it's strawberry cake or something like that. But then you see, deception is the whole idea here ;-)

P.S: This cake is especially for Usha D'Silva-Rego who requested me for recipes of easy to make cakes with veggies sneaked in them and which made no use of butter. Don't we all love cakes made with oil?

Eggless Chocolate & Bottle Gourd Cake

(Printable Recipe)

Recipe Source: Vegetarian Tastebuds

Preparation time: 15mins | Baking time: 30-35mins

Yield: One 7" cake | 8 servings

You Need:

1 cup (125gm) all purpose flour (maida)
6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hintz dark cocoa) * see notes
1/2 cup+2 tbsp powdered sugar *see notes
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp instant coffee powder
1/8th tsp salt
1/4 cup odourless oil (olive or canola)
1 tsp white vinegar (diluted)
1 tsp vanilla extract/essence
3/4 cup (approx) water
1 cup grated bottle gourd (dhoodhi or lauki in Hindi/sorekai in kannada/boblein in Konkani)

For the chocolate sauce:

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup warm dairy milk or soy milk
1/2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp maida/all purpose flour

Method:

For the cake:

1. Preheat oven at 180 degrees C for 10-15mins.

2. Grease a 7" round cake tin with oil and line it with parchment paper - or just grease it well & dust it with flour. Keep aside.

3. Sift all the dry ingredients - flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, baking soda & coffee powder together in a large bowl

4. Make a small well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients - oil, vinegar, vanilla & water. Mix well.

5. Squeeze out excess water from the bottle gourd and add to the mixture and combine. Pour the contents into the prepared cake tin and bake for 30-35mins or till the skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

6. Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool in the tin for 10-15 after which you can gently invert it onto a wire rack and leave it uncovered to cool completely.

7. Serve as it is with a cup of tea or served with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Or slather with sauce and enjoy!

For the chocolate sauce

In a saucepan combine all the ingredients and whisk so remove lumps if any. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir to avoid burning at the base. Boil for a couple of minutes till the mixture appears to thicken. Remove from the heat. The sauce will thicken as it cools.

Pour the sauce over the cake and spread using a spatula. Cover sides too. Decorate as desired and serve

Notes:

For the cake, increase the sugar with upto 3/4th cup if you are using dark unsweetened (Dutch processed) cocoa like Hintz. My cake turned out a wee bit bitter. If you are using regular unsweetened cocoa like Cadbury's in India, the above mentioned quantities are just fine

I am linking this recipe back to where it came from! Raji's event 'Veggie/Fruit a month - Bottlegourd'

Chocolate Mela by Srivalli

Chane Ghashi (Konkani Style Chickpeas Curry)

noreply@blogger.com (Shireen Sequeira) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:42:00 +0000

After all the festivities that we saw in the last 2-3 months, life has come back to normal. There are routine and regular activities taking place in my life as well as in the kitchen. A post-it with ideas for breakfast is hanging on my fridge - more than being the 'organised' kinds, I am more of the forgetful kinds who needs notes all over the place to remind me of chores waiting to be finished. So yes, a comprehensive list was drawn keeping everyone's tastes & preferences in mind. This helps simplify things a lot during the week when the early morning madness grips me. Most mornings see me running around like a headless chicken. And sometimes my face draws a complete blank at the mention of 'what's for breakfast?'. So a list of breakfast ideas helps me plan ahead, stay in control and put something that is satisfying yet quick on the breakfast table.

Pooris (deep fried flat bread) are undoubtedly the family's favourite, however, it's not one of the healthiest options for me as there is deep frying involved - but an occasional (read monthly) indulgence is pardonable. Though it is not one of the 'quick' options on my breakfast menu public demand cannot be turned down easily you see. And then the thought of tearing a piping hot Poori and savouring it with some delicious side dish like this Ghashi has me drooling from the night before and so in an almost mechanical fashion you will find me doing the drill - washing & soaking the chickpeas, checking if a coconut needs to be freshly grated and if there is sufficient whole wheat flour in stock.

Until I discovered this recipe, I used to always team up Pooris with Baaji - a spiced mashed potato side dish that is famously found under wraps (literally!) in a crispy Masala Dosa. Poori Baaji is a famous Mangalorean dish that is eaten along with the morning or evening tea. However the other lip smacking alternative is to eat the Pooris with Chane Ghashi (chickpeas in a spiced coconut base) or Kurma (mixed vegetables in a spiced coconut base). These two variants are typically famous Konkani preparations and you are bound to find either or both on the menus of some famous oota-thindi (meals & snacks) restaurants in Mangalore.

The best part about writing a blog is that one gets to make friends from all walks of life. What makes it even better is that when requested these friends more than willingly contribute tried and tested recipes, handed down from their own mothers and grandmothers, tweaked to perfection with every try. These are the recipes I love to try with confidence. So a big thank you to Mrs. Vidya Nayak Shenoy who I met via Facebook and whose Dali Tove recipe is a much loved staple in my home and has received a lot of applause and appreciation from many readers who have tried it with perfect results. She was also kind enough to share her Khotto/Khottige (Idlis steamed in Jackfruit leaf baskets) recipe with the fine details.

Although I had taken this recipe from her long back, it never made it to the blog despite having been tried several times in my kitchen. You see, the mad rush in the mornings to make breakfast, pack my son's snack box and send him to school takes up all my energy and then I am in no mood to click any pictures. Today, invariably I knew I had to do it as my Pooris came out quite good (although not perfect - I am still working on them). But by the time I captured the Ghashi the Pooris fell flat :-( Nevertheless, I knew that this recipe, irrespective of the quality of pictures needed to be shared. It would be a shame not to!

This is one recipe, like the Dali Tove, that is simple to put together and so very yum!

Poori Ghashi - a match made in heaven. A piping hot meal eaten with relish and washed down with a steaming hot cuppa. Aah! A perfect way to start your day...

Chane Ghashi

(Printable Recipe)

Soaking time: 8-10 hours | Preparation time: 5-10 mins | Cooking time 15-20mins

Serves 2-3

You Need:

1/2 cup chickpeas (kabuli chana/choley) soaked overnight or for 8-10 hours
salt to taste

For the masala (to be ground)

1 cup freshly grated coconut
5-6 (or to taste) long dry red chillies (preferably Bedgi/Byadgi chillies)
1-1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1 small ball of tamarind or 1 level tsp tamarind paste
2-3 small garlic flakes

For the seasoning

1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds (methi)
1 sprig (or 7-8 leaves) curry leaves/kadipatta
2 tsp oil (preferably coconut)

Method:

1. Drain the soaked chickpeas and refresh with fresh water. Add enough water to cover the chickpeas, add salt to taste and pressure cook for about 6-7 whistles or until the chickpeas are tender. Turn off the flame and allow the cooker to cool down to room temperature. Remove the lid, stir and keep aside.

2. In a heavy bottomed pan heat 1tsp oil and toss in the dry chillies and fry for a half a minute. Grind them along with the rest of the ingredients mentioned under 'For the masala' to a fine paste.

3. Add the ground paste to the chickpeas and add the stock or sufficient water to arrive at a thick gravy like consistency (make a thinner gravy if you wish to eat it with rice). Check salt to taste. Bring the curry to a boil. 4. In a smaller pan heat the oil for seasoning. Toss in the mustard seeds. When they stop spluttering add the fenugreek seeds & curry leaves and immediately take off the flame. Temper the curry with this seasoning and cover the pan with a tight lid. Turn off the flame.

5. Serve hot with pooris (recipe here), chapathi or rice.

Fresh Fig Jam

noreply@blogger.com (Shireen Sequeira) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:30:00 +0000

I was not a jam & jelly kind of a person. Until now. Well, I took up the challenge on Mumbai Food Bloggers' forum on Facebook that revolves around creating a dish with the fruit, vegetable or ingredient of the week. And hence my hunt began for figs, that are in season now. Although I sent hubby to look for them all over the place the week before last, we eventually found them in Hypercity Malad, our well stocked supermarket, and I couldn't wait to try my hand at making my own home made jam!

When I was little the only jam I knew was the mixed fruit jam by Kissan - the quintessential Indian brand for jams & tomato ketchup. We used to buy it occasionally and slather it generously on buttered bread slices for our Sunday breakfast - breakfast on Sundays was always bread, butter, jam & a Cavendish banana. The kind of 'light' breakfast that used to make my head go dizzy in exactly one hour - yes, somewhere in the middle of the Sunday morning mass that I used to attend. Being a hearty breakfast kind of a person, this 'light' breakfast used to vanish before I took my last bite. The hunger pangs would then send signals to my brains and I used to only picture all kinds of delicious things that my mum had set out to prepare for the Sunday afternoon meal and actually pounce on the food the moment the table was laid without even as much waiting to say the grace before meals.

Well, I simply abandoned the Kissan jam when my cousin from abroad (who was exposed to all kinds of organic jams) told me that most Indian jams were loaded with artificial/synthetic flavours & colours. This was decades ago - before 'organic' became popular even in a place like Mangalore where half the produce was grown at home and was organic anyway. Then came the weight loss era and so once again anything sweet for breakfast (or any meal) was a big no no. Last year I did attempt making Strawberry jam, however, it was done so dispassionately, that I don't think it had any takers and luckily it was a small batch so down the drain it went eventually.

In 2011 I tried my hand successfully at making wines and I thought it was a good start to try my hand at other kinds of preserves - jams & pickles as well. So luckily for me, this challenge was announced and I am glad I made this jam although a very small batch. I managed to get 600gm of fresh figs that were in good condition. If you wish to make a small batch for yourself (and not to distribute) anything between 500gm-700gm of figs is good to go (unless you plan to eat this seasonal fruit the whole year through). If you have never bought fresh figs before (like me) - remember to pick those that are not pre-packed & sealed (especially in supermarkets in India) - you may get cheated (like me). Clever packing techniques ensure that bad fruit is placed at the bottom of the box and the good ones facing up. You will be in no position to check if each fruit is perfectly ripe and firm. Some of them will be on the verge of rotting. It is better to buy from a known source especially your local fruit vendor who stocks up the best produce.

Figs, known as Anjeer in India range in colour from purple-black (which is what I bought) to pale green. When buying look for slightly yielding flesh as figs don't ripen after picking so buy them ready to eat. Figs go well with sweet and savoury dishes and you can find some yummy and exotic yet simple to make recipes in this month's (Jan '12) BBC GoodFood magazine.

Figs by the way are one of the oldest fruits - references to the fig tree are made in the Bible as well. The reason why I have named this recipe as a Fresh Fig Jam is because 'Figs' often invoke the picture of dried figs that are very popular. However, this jam is made from the fresh fruit.

By the way, this time I think I should shut up and let the pictures do the talking. The first one below is my favourite. I have got a million shots of this one. Figs coated in granulated white sugar. Every time I see it a sense of calm descends over me. I can stare at this picture forever! Pink, white and traces of green - such beautiful colours of life in full bloom. For all those of you who are living in places where the weather is bleak & dreary, I hope these pictures brighten up your mood a bit!

PS: My favourite photo editing site - Picnik.com is closing :-( It's such a pity and it is also why I am unable to make a collage of the process of jam making, so posting each of the pictures separately for you

(Above Pic: Figs quartered and mixed with granulated sugar and a cinnamon quill)

(Above Pic: Figs after being kept overnight mixed in sugar. The sugar has turned into a syrup)

(Above Pic: Figs gently stewed on a slow fire for 45 minutes and then mashed with a fork)

(Above Pic: Fig jam, cooled and packed into a sterilized jar)

(Above Pic: Fig jam, ready to eat)

Fresh Fig Jam
(Printable Recipe)
Preparation time: 5 mins | Cooking time: 45mins
Yield: 600gm approx

You Need

500gm figs
200-250 gm sugar
juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 cinnamon quill/stick (optional)

Method

1. Remove the stems of the figs, wash & drain them. Cut into quarters or chop them up if you want jam in a paste like consistency (I prefer a junky jam so I quartered each of them)

2. Ideally after de-stemming the figs you can weigh them again & use sugar which is half the weight of the figs - this is for a mild to moderately sweet jam. If you wish to make a very sweet jam you can use figs and sugar in the ratio of 1:1

3. Place the figs, sugar and cinnamon quill in a wide bowl & mix the ingredients well. Cover and keep refrigerated overnight.

4. The next day, heat a heavy bottomed pan on a slow fire and add the fig & sugar mixture. Add the lime juice and let it cook for approx 35-40mins - the sugar will thicken while the figs get stewed. Ensure that the mixture does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Stir every now & then. Crush the figs gently using a fork.

5. Towards the end of the cooking time you can do a 'gel' test by placing a little jam on a metal spoon that has been dipped in ice cold water. Allow the mixture to cool and check the consistency desired. When a good gel stage is reached, the surface of the fruit mixture will wrinkle slightly when pushed with a finger

6. Turn off the flame and spoon the mixture into sterilized jars (read how to sterilize jars here) when the mixture is still hot (once the mixture cools it will get sticky and it will be hard to handle). Leave the jar lids open until the mixture has cooled. Close the lids and store in a cool place.

7. Enjoy the jam with some warm bread & butter!

Plantain (Raw Banana) Curry

noreply@blogger.com (Shireen Sequeira) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:35:00 +0000

I love recipes that turn out perfect the first time I try them. But that depends on whether the recipe has been shared accurately and in its entirety. Most times for reasons best known to them people don't share proper recipes - maybe out of fear that you will outdo them & turn into a skilled cook overnight! One trait I quite dislike in people who don't part with their treasured recipes (even if they don't run a restaurant or a catering business) is that they simply wriggle out of the situation when asked to share their star recipes. A few encounters with such people made me even more determined to learn to make those dishes on my own anyway - using the trial and error method or by hunting for them online or simply asking people who are more than willing to share - love such kinds!

I realise that I have started this post with a negative line - something business schools tell you not to do, but this ain't a business mail :D and I needed to get it off my chest. Phew! So we are back to this recipe which turned out quite like the way I wanted - thanks to the person who shared it on Tarla Dalal's website. I have tried it thrice already, dabbled with the ingredients here & there, yet the result has always been good, so I stuck to the original quantities (almost).

I have been a die hard fan of vegetarian food and a pure veg meal served on a nice big banana leaf makes me drool even at the thought of it. So I was not surprised when this innate desire translated into a strong craving when I was an expectant mother. I was in Mangalore during the fifth month of my pregnancy and I dragged one of my good friends (who had already had her lunch) to Woodlands Hotel (opposite to the Goldfinch Hotel) where they used to serve the afternoon meals on banana leaves. I stuffed myself silly with everything that was served on my leaf, even shamelessly asking for seconds & thirds and my friend who was forced to eat along with me had a good time watching me hog! I used to frequent this place when I was working and as part of the Sales team had many a lunch break that could accommodate eating at leisure so my colleagues & I had an opportunity to taste the food at many good restaurants in Mangalore. Among all the dishes that were part of the elaborate thaali (platter) meals, anything that was prepared with plantains (raw bananas) were my favourite. I loved the chunks of banana stewed in an aromatic coconut curry or stir fried in a host of tempered ingredients. For me it was as gratifying as it for those who love anything made of potatoes. So yes, I am always on the lookout for a recipe that makes good use of plantains in curries and this one has never failed me.

What I liked best about this curry is its simplicity - of method & ingredients. I say 'method' because now I am adept at grinding masalas with coconut in it, so it may not be so simple to those who detest grinding masalas. And I say simplicity of ingredients because contrary to most South Indian curries that call for a hundred ingredients, this one does not ask for the the ingredient I hate to work with - onions! I dislike the peeling & the crying that is involved while getting to work with onions. I envy the Jains - honestly I do. They come up with the most brilliant dishes without making use of onions. But this one makes use of garlic (which I absolutely love in any form!). You can have the pleasure of eating it with rice and whatever is leftover can be savoured as an accompaniment to chapathis for the next morning's breakfast

A vegetable curry figures at least once a week or ten days on my menu - simply because I don't stick to making just a Dal every time we eat fried fish (it is almost a custom in Mangalorean Catholic homes to make Dal when fish is fried). Sometimes I make a simple tomato Saar (clear soup) made with Maggi stock cubes, sometimes its the Daliso Saar (lentil clear soup) or the Dali Tove (Konkani style spiced lentil broth). When I am lazy to make two dishes - I put them together and come up with a vegetable curry sometimes teamed up with legumes/lentils. So joining the bandwagon of a vegetarian's (vegan's) delight - Valchebaji Ani Gule (Spinach & Black Eyed Peas), Pikya Ambyachi Kadi (Ripe Mango Curry), Deeviso Guzo Ani Dal (Breadfruit & Lentil Curry), Mogem Ani Kulta Kaat (Field Marrow & Horsegram Curry) or the recently posted Mogem Losun Miri (Field Marrow in a Garlic & Pepper Curry) is today's Plantain Curry

P.S: The difference between plantains and bananas is that the former is starchy, low in sugar, has a thicker skin and needs to be cooked before consuming. Bananas are sweeter and consumed as a fruit. However, the variety that is cooked is popularly referred to as the raw banana.

Mogem Losun Miri (Field Marrow/Madras Cucumber in a Garlic & Pepper Curry)

noreply@blogger.com (Shireen Sequeira) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 09:13:00 +0000

One of the most traditional Mangalorean vegetarian curries would have to be the Mogem Losun Miri - a delicious all season curry made with Field Marrow (found in supermarkets today under the label 'Madras Cucumber') in a mildly spicy and fragrant curry made predominantly of garlic, pepper, chillies and onions ground to a fine paste along with other ingredients.

In the olden days when people used to eat a lot of home grown vegetables, the Mogem (nasal pronounciation of 'Mogay') along with other vegetables that were harvested from one's own field and those that had a longer shelf life used to be stored for many weeks by hanging them from the ceiling, firmly bound by dhoriyo (thin coconut fibre ropes). Every household had many mouths to feed and hence one could find a host of such veggies ranging from Field Marrows (Mogem), Pumpkins (Dhudheim), Ash Gourds/Pumpkins (Kualo) & Bottle Gourds (Bobleim) waiting patiently to be cooked one by one in a khodi (spiced coconut curry with a combination of vegetables & legumes/dried sea food/meat) or fugath (dry side dish made with the tempering method) or thel piao (semi dry side dish made with the stir fry method) or sweet dishes like kheers (payasams) or halwas.

(Pic source: Internet)

This 'hanging garden' used to be found in a long corridor beside the kitchen in almost every house with a tiled roof. By the way, the architecture of all these houses were almost the same. Three or four steps led to the entrance of every house which then branched into a sopo (porch) that was built in a symmetrical fashion. One side of this long and thin porch overlooked the garden - one could sit on the graadhi (parapets) & enjoy the evening breeze - I have spent many childhood moments enjoying the breeze or watching the pitter patter of raindrops during the monsoon from these parapets. The porch was also a place where the less important activities were held and the special happenings took place in the inner hall or living room which again branched out into bedrooms and the kitchen (which was almost always on the left side of the hall). This kitchen - the place which housed the hearth fuelled by lankhod (firewood), pidey (dried palm stems), sonna (dried coconut husks) & khatti (coconut shells) was the place where the most delicious meals were prepared. However, such kitchens were not the prettiest thanks to all the kheri (coal dust) that formed a layer on the walls & ceilings - but then no one complained as every kitchen met the same fate and modular kitchens weren't in vogue then anyways!

I think the aromas (of the earthen pots, the firewood & the spices) that wafted through the kitchens were sealed in the dish that was being cooked and made the food more enjoyable & sustaining. I can't imagine a modular kitchen giving the same result today - which is why I largely believe that traditional methods and modes of cooking play a predominant role in the superior quality of a dish. This along with the right combination of foods made for a complete meal. When I say 'combination of foods' it means that a vegetable curry for example when eaten with unpolished rice, a side dish of meat, fish (often dried fish), pickles & curds was nothing but a simple yet healthy combination of carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and nutrients.

Hence a combination of the right cooking techniques, organic ingredients and a balance meal played its part in ensuring healthy minds and bodies - little wonder then that our ancestors were far more healthy & with fewer ailments than the modern generation.

Mogem Losun Miri
(Printable Recipe)

Preparation time: 10 mins | Cooking time: 20 mins

Serves: 2-3

You Need:

1/2 a medium size/ 350gm mogem/field marrow/madras cucumber
1/2 onion finely sliced
jaggery to taste (about 1 tbsp)
1 tbsp oil for frying
salt to taste

For the masala

4 long dry red chillies (I use Bedgi)
4-5 peppercorns
1-1/2 tsp cumin (jeera)
1/4 tsp turmeric (haldi)
1-1/2 medium onion
4 flakes of garlic with skin
1 marble size ball of tamarind or 1 level tsp tamarind paste

For the seasoning/tempering

3 cloves garlic (with skin) crushed
2 -3 tsp oil (preferably coconut oil)
4-5 curry leaves/karipatta (optional)

Method:
1. Wash the the field marrow and cut it into half and then quarters, remove the pith & seeds and then cut into small cubes. Keep aside.
2. Using a little water, grind all the ingredients mentioned in 'For the masala' to a fine paste
3. In a wok or pan add the masala, 1-1/2 cups of water, cubed field marrow, sliced onion, jaggery and salt to taste. Mix and bring the gravy to a boil. Reduce the flame to a medium low and cook till the field marrow is tender but firm.
4. For the seasoning - heat oil in a small pan and toss in the mustard, when it stops spluttering add the crushed garlic and pour this seasoning into the curry. Cover the pan immediately to retain the fragrance of the seasoning. Turn off the flame.
5. Serve hot with rice

Notes
You can save cooking time by making this curry in a pressure cooker. Instead of a regular pan add all the ingredients mentioned in Step# 3 in a pressure cooker. Close the cover of the pressure cooker and place the weight (whistle) and cook on a full flame till one whistle goes off. Turn off the flame immediately and allow the pressure cooker to cool down for a couple of minutes and then slowly try releasing the pressure by lifting the whistle with a spoon. Open the cover carefully, stir once and proceed to Step#4

Chicken Lollipops

noreply@blogger.com (Shireen Sequeira) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 16:21:00 +0000

A couple of days ago my friend Rinku told me that if I wasn't going to start blogging again soon, I would forget what it was all about! She was so right. Ever since I returned from my Christmas holiday the home has beckoned me to tackle every possible thing that I didn't do while on vacation - doing the laundry, cooking, sorting, de cluttering and tuning myself back to a 'routine life' - things that sap the energy out of you and make you wish that you could take off on another vacation! So blogging has taken a back seat as I was trying to fit in the above mentioned mundane tasks and a fresh bunch of things I want to achieve this year - commonly called as 'new year resolutions'. To be honest I never make new year resolutions on the 1st of January - (I make & break new resolutions everyday - Ha Ha!)

I didn't intend this to be a post on my achievements of the previous year or the things that I want to achieve this year. I'd rather write that post at the end of this year if and when I have achieved those things, but I realised that sometimes you have to think aloud to reinforce your intention of getting something done. It is like making a commitment in public that you are bound to honour lest you lose face if you don't complete it. So technically you can say that the reason behind not posting more than one recipe in the last15 days lies behind the very resolution for this year - to read more books - physical books that are falling off my book shelf for lack of space. Did I ever tell you that more than reading books I accumulate them with a hope of reading them 'soon'? That 'soon' hasn't come in years and all I have is piles of brand new books unread waiting to fulfil the purpose of their lives. I can't part with them either as I hate lending my books (they usually never come back - it's a universal truth) Neither to do I sell my books at the second hand shop because I intend keeping them for my son to read when he grows up. But with all the eBooks and Kindles and iPads I wonder if technology will get the better of him or if he will respect the piles of books his mother has lovingly collected for him all these years. So yes, coming back to my resolution - I tried to stay off the blog and read some books - I flopped myself on my couch and thoroughly enjoyed the experience of reading a real book - with real pages - pages you can touch and feel and burrow your nose into, taking in the fragrance of the books and letting even your senses enjoy the experience of reading - eBooks are devoid of this fabulously personal experience. So after having read a book cover to cover in 2 days I headed back to the bookstore and bought some more fat classics that should see me through till the end of March at least - so I am a happy girl now!

Since I consider 2011 to be one of the crappiest years of my life, I was really looking forward to 2012 - and I have decided to focus on someone who never got too much attention till date - Me! Yeah, it sounds selfish, but I think as moms we begin to neglect ourselves without realising it and put everything and everyone else ahead of us. So this year will be about taking care of my health (those seemingly insignificant things such as taking care of my feet, hair, nails and skin) and happiness (reading a lot of books, watching a lot of movies and blogging at leisure of course). Yeah, that's all - nothing over the top - I told you I don't make major resolutions. I think one needs to break down those major ones into baby steps and tackle them one by one lovingly. And even if I don't achieve all of these in this calendar year, it does not matter. Life is all about forming good habits that go a long way - not just something that has a start & end date like a project or course or even a bottle of medicine.

Another thing that I really want to do this year (not a resolution as such) is to make things from scratch - that includes a whole range of things - from grinding my own masala powders to utilizing my kitchen waste to make organic compost that can be used for my plants. Compost? Well, will leave that for another post. For now, I am back with another recipe that will delight most readers. I say 'most' because unless you are a pure vegetarian or do not like deep fried foods, you simply cannot resist these irresistible chicken lollipops - the star attraction of most Indian parties. The young and the old will love them - a delicious appetiser. Crunchy on the outside and succulent on the inside these lollipops are best eaten fresh and piping hot with a sprinkle of chaat masala powder and served with onion rings and a dip, sauce or chutney of your choice.

While using a store bought masala powder is the easiest thing to do if you are trying to make this appetiser for a bunch of guests who drop in on short notice, you can try the method of grinding your own masala and marinating the chicken a day in advance and refrigerating it. It will take your load off this extra task on the day of your party and you can focus on other things.

I keep improvising on the masala by adding a bit of this & a dash of that and the result is always satisfying. Do give it a shot when you are planning the menu of your next party!

Chicken Lollipops
(Printable Recipe)
Preparation Time: 15 mins | Marinating Time: 4- 12 hrs | Deep Frying Time: 3-4 mins per batch
Serves: 6-7

You Need:

1kg (approx 32-34 pieces) chicken lollipops
oil for deep frying (about 1 litre)
strips of aluminium foil to wrap the base of the lollipops

For the marinade

1/4 tsp turmeric (haldi)
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1 tbsp garam masala powder
1/3rd cup/30gm cornflour (cornstarch)
1/3rd cup/30gm maida (all purpose flour)
1 egg
juice of 1 small lime (optional - use this if you are not using sour curds)
1/2 tsp amchur (dried mango) powder - optional
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander

To be ground to paste

10 bedgi chillies *see notes
10 kashmiri chillies * see notes
a 3 inch piece ginger
10 -12 cloves garlic (Indian) without skin
2/3rd cup thick sour curds (yogurt)
salt to taste (about 2 tsp)

For garnishing (optional)

2 sprigs coriander or mint leaves chopped
lime rings or wedges
onion rings
a sprinkling of chaat masala powder

Method:

Marinating the chicken
1. Wash the chicken lollipops and allow to drain completely on a colander. If you find traces of water, pat them dry with a kitchen tissue. Keep aside
2. Grind the ingredients mentioned under 'To be ground to paste' - use a little water only if required as the curds is sufficient to help grind the dry ingredients. Transfer the paste into a wide deep bowl, add the remaining ingredients mentioned under 'For the marinade' and mix well. Check the taste & adjust salt & lime juice as required.
3. Add the chicken lollipops and marinate the pieces well. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Ideally keep the chicken marinated for 8-12 hours before frying.

Frying the lollipops
1. Heat oil in a deep heavy bottomed kadhai or wok. The flame needs to be on a medium high as a full flame will burn the lollipops on the outside and leave the insides uncooked. The oil is ready for frying when you drop a small piece of marinated meat and it comes up to the surface within 2-3 seconds. The oil should not to be too hot or else the outsides will brown too fast leaving the chicken uncooked.
2. Carefully drop 5-6 lollipops (or as many as your kadhai can comfortably accomodate) into the hot oil and fry for about 3-4 minutes until the colour deepens to a dull red/maroon. After a couple of batches of frying reduce the flame slightly if you feel that the outside is browning too fast.
3. Remove carefully with a slotted spoon, drain the pieces of excess oil by slanting the spoon against the sides of the kadhai. Transfer the lollipops onto an absorbent kitchen tissue.
4. Repeat the process to fry the remaining pieces.

Plating & serving

1. Wrap strips of aluminium foil around each lollipop bone and place on a serving plate.
2. Decorate the plate with onion rings and/or lime wedges or rounds.
3. Garnish with chopped coriander/mint leaves.
4. Serve hot with tomato sauce or a Mint & Yogurt Dip (Recipe to follow)

Notes:
The chillies (10 bedgi & 10 kashmiri) may seem a lot, but for the above mentioned quantity of chicken lollipops it is moderately spicy. The combination of flour (maida) and cornstarch (cornflour) balances out the spice, however use your discretion and increase or decrease the quantity of chillies. Note that the Bedgi variety are for the spice and flavour and the Kashmiri chillies are low on spice but lend a beautiful colour - this eliminates the need to use any food colouring. You can use any variety of chillies that are spicy along with the Kashmiri variety.

I am sending this to Sweet Heat an event hosted by Michelle Peters - Jones of Food, Football & a Baby

Pudim (East Indian Christmas Pudding) - For the Twelfth Night

noreply@blogger.com (Shireen Sequeira) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Let me begin the first post of this year by wishing each one of you a very Happy New Year 2012!! May you have a bright & beautiful year ahead filled with all good things and the very special gifts of peace, happiness & good health!

So I am back after a long break - vacation to be precise. Like I mentioned in my previous posts, I was all geared up to celebrate Christmas & New Year with my brother's family this time and was excited to meet the rest of my family complete with uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews. Family reunion was more like it and boy! do I love reunions! Meeting people you love every once in a while is a huge stress buster, don't you think? Throw in some retail therapy and you are all charged up like the Duracell battery to last another hundred months or till the next reunion :-)

While I had planned to post a lot of 'Xmassy' recipes to last till the end of December, the last minute shopping, packing & a wedding in the family during mid Dec made it impossible for me to sit at leisure and post them. Which is why a couple of them including today's recipe is making an appearance just in time before the Christmas season officially comes to an end. Yes, today, the 5th of January is celebrated as the Twelfth Night - the traditional last day of Christmas, the night before the Epiphany (Feast of the Three Kings) that is celebrated on the 6th of January. The custom of celebrating the Twelfth Night which was popular across the western countries has largely died out now. The Twelfth Night used to be marked by baking of a special cake, laced with spices, remembering the kings who came from the East to see the new born baby in a manger - Jesus Christ. I am sure by now you have been reminded of the famous traditional Christmas carol 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' which has been roughly interpreted which you can read here

Although today's recipe is not a typical Twelfth Night cake, I thought it was the perfect day to wind up my Christmas recipe series with this perfect steamed Christmas pudding or 'Pudim' a recipe that I found in the BBC Good Food magazine and is claimed to be a part of the East Indian Christmas spread that celebrates the flavours of Maharashtrian-Portuguese fusion cuisine. Although I had only heard about Christmas puddings I had never eaten one, and this was a perfect way to savour a traditional pudding made by the local Christian community in a place I now call home - Mumbai.

This rich pudding is a refreshing change from the usual Christmas goodies that are either baked or deep fried. It tastes great when eaten fresh out of the steamer and is sinful if eaten with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. The combination of the steaming hot pudding with the richness & tartness of all the fruit and the icy cold ice cream with the milky sweetness makes for one helluva Christmas dessert experience. It is the perfect dessert that doubles up as a Christmas cake for those who do not have an oven - all you need is a large steamer and a couple of hours on hand (you need not remain in the kitchen all the time)

Pudim

Servings 10-12

Preparation time: 20mins, Soaking time: 8-12 hours, Steaming time 2-1/2 hours

(Printable Recipe)

You Need:

110gm cold butter (unsalted)
1/3rd cup/50gm self raising flour *see notes
110gm white breadcrumbs (I used Panko)
1 tsp mixed spice * see notes
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 -1 tsp cinnamon powder
1-1/4 cups/ 225gm brown sugar
1/2 tsp nutmeg powder
1 tbsp lemon zest
2 eggs
150ml beer
50ml red wine

Fruits/Dry fruits/Nuts to be finely chopped

1 apple (the sweeter the better)
110gm raisins (brown kishmish)
110gm sultanas (golden kishmish)
275gm currants (black kishmish)
275gm prunes
25gm almonds

Method:

1. In a large mixing bowl grate the butter and sift in the flour. Add the bread crumbs, salt, spices and sugar and mix everything well. Add the finely chopped fruit, lemon zest and nuts.

2. Whisk the eggs and add them to the above mixture. Pour in the beer and wine and mix well. The mixture will be of a sloppy consistency which is fine. Cover the bowl and leave it overnight in a cool dark place.

3. The next day pour the mixture into lightly greased medium size glass or metal round serving bowl (or whatever shape you want the pudding to be). Cover the dish with greaseproof/parchment paper and then a sheet of foil over it.

4. Place sufficient water in a steamer and bring it to a rolling boil. Place the prepared bowl into the steamer, cover & steam for 2-3 hours. Top up with boiling water as required (check at frequent intervals if the water has dried up). Once done, remove and allow to cool. Replace the greaseproof paper and foil and replace with fresh ones. Store in a cool dark place, preferably in a refrigerator if you are not serving it on the same day.

5.Prior to serving, reheat the pudding by placing it in a steam bath (steam lightly for 10-15minutes). Serve generous helpings of the warm pudding - as it is or with vanilla ice cream.

Notes:

Since the recipe asked for self raising flour which I did not have, I used Maida and 1/4 tsp baking powder for the required quantity.

You can make your own breadcrumbs by lightly toasting bread slices on a hot tawa/skillet and then pulsing the chunks in a dry mixer grinder for a couple of seconds.

Mixed spice is a combination of powdered spices - cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, allspice, coriander & dry ginger. I will post the recipe shortly

Due to non availability I skipped the sultanas altogether - it did not affect the taste or texture of the cake. Feel free to dabble with the quantities as long as you preserve an approximate of the total required quantity of dry fruits.

Make sure the dry fruits are finely chopped which is what gives the dense texture to the pudding - I missed to take care of this which is why I got a slightly chunky pudding.

I am sending this recipe to an event hosted by Ramya's Recipes

Simple Salted Tukdi (Diamond Cuts)

noreply@blogger.com (Shireen Sequeira) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 21:16:00 +0000

Time for another recipe! I love the long breaks from blogging (I am rather surprised to be saying this) - you see, Christmas is nearing and everyday has so many activities and events packed into it, that there is hardly any time left for blogging :-) I am sitting by the window sill as I write this post, a lovely corner of a kitchen at my brother's place. Well, I am here to celebrate Christmas & new year with my brother's family and the weather is so beautiful, I am actually wearing a light sweater. And no, it's not snowing where they live - deserts are cold too! (wink wink)

I know I haven't been regular with my posts since a while now - well, travelling to another country with a child can be taxing - and the excitement of meeting relatives, being with family, shopping and simply switching off to an 'on-a-vacation' mood overshadows the need to blog regularly :-) So while I still have another couple of Christmas posts lined up as planned, I don't think they will make it to the blog before Christmas day, so you will see these coming up one by one at my leisure - in between the shopping and the lazing and stuffing myself with all the gorgeous food - yeah, I may just post one recipe in a few days :-)

Well, without boring you any further, let me tell you that today's recipe is not the actual Thukdi recipe as many people prefer to eat - this is basically a by-product of the Neurio session - the leftover dough actually was cut up, deep fried to provide the much needed comfort food for my son - I would call these mildly salted plain Thukdis the close cousin of the cheeslings - very crispy, very light & terribly economical. A different Thukdi recipe will follow as soon as I try them (I am busy making cakes and other Kuswar at my bro's place) - so do watch this space for more recipes!!

Simple Salted Tukdi
(Printable Recipe)

You Need:

1 cup (125gm) maida (all purpose flour)
a little less than 1/4 cup of warm water
1/4 tsp (or to taste) sugar
pinch of salt
oil for deep frying
1/4 tsp salt dissolved in 2 tbsp water (if you like mildly salted tukdi)

Method:

1. In a wide pan (the one used to knead dough for chapathis) place the flour, salt to taste and sugar to taste and add warm water in parts. Mix with your fingertips until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Proceed to knead into a smooth pliable dough. Allow it to rest for 5 mins

2. Pinch out lime sized balls of dough and roll them out flat into a round shape (like a thin chapathi).

3. Run a cookie cutter/pizza blade diagonally across the chapathi to make diamond or square shapes. Repeat until all the dough has been used up to roll into chapathis and cut into shapes.

4. Heat oil on a medium high flame for deep frying. Drop the diamond shapes into the hot oil and fry until the colour changes to pinkish brown. If you wish to make them salted, add 1 tsp of salt water per batch before they brown. When the gurgling noise subsides you can remove the tukdi out.

5. Remove with a slotted spoon, drain on a absorbent kitchen tissue and when it is completely cooled, store in an airtight container.

Pathekaan (Banana Chips) - Kuswar 4 - and Celebrating Terra Madre at the Mumbai Food Bloggers' Meet

noreply@blogger.com (Shireen Sequeira) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:32:00 +0000

While I had planned back to back posts of the Kuswar series, I had to take a short break to focus on what I was going to make for the potluck dinner on Saturday, the 10th of December where the food bloggers in Mumbai met. Incidentally on the 10th of December the global network of Slow Food and Terra Madre came together to celebrate the Terra Madre ('Terra' stands for earth and 'Madre' means mother) and promote local food. Terra Madre is coordinated by the Slow Food Organisation, a movement which lays emphasis on using locally available ingredients and traditional cooking methods to preserve culinary diversity. This movement was started as a resistance to the opening of McDonald's in Rome in 1986 and was officially founded in 1989 'to counter the rise of fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people's dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world" - read more

The Mumbai food bloggers' also celebrated the Terra Madre Day by way of a potluck dinner - organised by Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal and hosted by Nikhil Merchant - each one of us was required to bring a dish that was made with ingredients that were either local or seasonal or a dish that was traditional and/or uncommon. It was my first time to the bloggers meet & was very excited to meet everyone. I chose to take a traditional Mangalorean dish that was pretty unpopular outside Mangalore, was made differently by each community in Mangalore and suited the theme of Slow Cooking very aptly. Any guesses? Well, I made the quintessential Mangalorean Pathrade/Pathrode in a curry. Since I was aware that there would be vegans and vegetarians as well, I prepared a vegan (without meat and ghee) version and a non vegetarian (mutton curry) version. For those of you who don't know what Pathrade is - well, it is nothing but rice cakes made of rice and colocasia (arbi) leaves and spices. The Catholics steam this mixture in Teak leaves. Mangalorean Bunts, Konkans and Brahmins make it differently - ground masala paste is smeared on each leaf and then stacked one above the other, rolled and steamed or cut into pieces and fried before consuming. Since I didn't find Teak leaves in Mumbai, I simply steamed the cakes in banana leaves - the result was just perfect.

The dishes brought by others revolved around the same theme - I was not only introduced to new cuisines but also unfamiliar ingredients, methods and flavours. We also had two chefs who graced the event,. one of them was Vikas Khanna (of MasterChef India fame) who is also a Michelin starred Indian chef based in New York. Since I religiously follow MasterChef India (which he also judges) it was a huge surprise and a pleasure to have him present at the meet.

Coming back to our recipe for today - whoever doesn't like banana chips, please raise your hand - I am sure there are very few people who do not like these addictive chips made from our humble Nendra bananas. Nendra Bale (in Kannada) /Nandarkai (in Konkani) as we call them in Mangalore are colloquially known as the Macho banana or Kerala Banana. They are usually consumed in their ripe form and are very nutritious and delicious. Some people can barely finish a whole large banana in one go and you can equate each banana to at least 6-7 elaichi bananas! That's a lot of bananas eh? In the South, the dried & powdered form of the semi ripe banana is one of the first foods offered to babies when they are weaned as it is highly nutritious and naturally sweet which is what appeals to fussy eaters as well.

These ubiquitous chips score over the potato chips in South India and are a favourite among many people I know. These much loved chips however are not made in most homes in Mangalore today, maybe because not everyone has the time & patience to slice & fry the unripe bananas and maybe because many do not know the process. Neither did I - just learnt them from my MIL recently and was amazed at the simplicity of making them at home - honestly, I think this is one snack I don't mind deep frying at home (I am not a fan of deep fried foods but have to give in to the pressure from hubs & the little brat once in a way). Making your own banana chips is the best way to ensure a cost effective (unless you are frying in olive oil!) and fresh batch made right in your kitchen. Since you have complete control over the quality of oil used to deep fry you can ensure that you have healthier snacks at home. I have made these twice in the past 3 weeks and each time they have been finished before I could even store them in an airtight box!

These chips are called as 'Pathekaan' (n is silent - just a nasal pronunciation) in Konkani and figure in the Kuswar platter which is usually dominated by sweets. The Pathekaan along with Khara Kaddi (spicy sticks made of chickpea flour) are probably the only two items that are savoury. If you can find raw Nendra bananas, do give these chips a try. You will love them!

Pathekaan (Banana Chips)

(Printable Recipe)
Yield: 300gm (approx)

You Need:

4 raw Nendrakai bananas
oil for deep frying

For the salt solution

1/2 - 3/4th tsp salt (for moderately salty chips)
3 tbsp water

You also need:

a potato chip slicer or a mandolin blade

Preparing the bananas

1.) Wash the bananas & pat them dry. Run a knife gently along the length of each banana taking care to see that the knife does not cut through the flesh of the banana - make cuts with the knife only as deep as the outer green skin. When you have made approx 5-6 such vertical cuts, carefully skin the bananas using the tip of the knife if required. Peel the entire banana & retain the peels - you can cook an interesting side dish (Click for recipe).

2.) Repeat the process and peel all the bananas & immediately place them in a large bowl of water - this will help the bananas to retain the colour otherwise they will turn black

Preparing the salt solution

Dissolve the salt into the water. Keep it aside

Deep frying the chips

1.) Heat oil for deep frying in a heavy bottomed kadhai or a deep wok. Let the flame be medium high. Hold the slicer at a safe height over the kadhai & quickly slice the banana so that the pieces drop into the hot oil.

2.) Using a slotted spoon give the chips a stir and continue to cook them on a medium high flame. The colour will slowly begin to change from off-white to pale yellow & then bright yellow. Ensure that you give a mix every now & then so all the chips fry evenly.

3.) Around 1-1/2 minutes into the frying process, add about 2 tsp of the salt solution into the kadhai. You will hear a furious gurgling of the oil as the salt water spreads into the kadhai. Wait for this sound to subside.

4.) You can then remove the chips ladle by ladle. Ensure that the oil has been drained from the chips by placing the ladle against the side of the kadhai for a few seconds before transferring onto an absorbent kitchen tissue. Continue to fry the remaining bananas.

5.) Allow the chips to cool completely before storing them in an airtight container. The chips keep well for 10-12 days if they haven't been eaten by then!

Pic1: Slice the banana into the hot oil
Pic2: Fry until the colour turns into a bright yellow, scoop out the chips with a slotted spoon
Pic3: Drain excess oil on an absorbent kitchen tissue
Pic4: Store in an airtight container

Notes:

Ensure that you buy absolutely raw bananas as they will be hard to slice once they start to ripen. If you do not find this variety, you can use plantains too (plantains are the variety that are used for cooking)
An average wide mouthed kadhai accomodates chips of one banana at a time. Do not overcrowd the kadhai as the chips will not fry evenly.
You need to slice the banana quickly and carefully as the heat can get uncomfortable if you delay (as we call 'Dhaau' in Konkani - which can burn your hands if you are inexperienced with this). Also, take care not to drop the slices from such as height that the oil splash outside the pan.

Neurio/Nevries/Karanji (Crescent Shaped Sweet Puffs) - Kuswar 3

noreply@blogger.com (Shireen Sequeira) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 06:17:00 +0000

It's been a year since this blog was reborn - I cannot write further unless I thank the people who believed in me & with a word of encouragement, a gentle nudge & a loving (?) kick got me to revive this blog - I haven't looked back ever since and I hope to carry on with as much passion & enthusiasm as I have done the whole year through in recording the recipes that I try out in my kitchen. So thanks to my friend May, cousin Prema & hubby Roshan who in various ways (in the order mentioned above) coaxed me to continue writing this blog. My biggest support has been my hubby to whom I dedicate this post. Neurio??? You may ask, well, yes, although he is my biggest critic and the one who gives me a thumbs up or thumbs down signal each time something is whipped up in my kitchen, he was travelling when I made the Neurio and didn't get even a crumb to eat when he returned. So yes, this is for you Roshan - feast your eyes on these pics, willya!

I am sure most of you have eaten the Neurio which are are popularly called as Karanji with slight variations in the filling. Karanjis are made especially during Diwali, at least in South India and are a significant item on the Kuswar platter as well during Christmas. In my opinion Neurios are best made at home as the filling is fresh, fragrant & juicy - unlike the store bought variety which is made weeks in advance and tastes rancid (stale) if you have been unlucky enough to pick up old stock.

Making Neurio (Nevries) at home is lots of fun. Among all the Kuswar items I learnt to make them first from my MIL a few years ago. It is one sweet that falls into the dual category - simple yet complex - simple because technically it's not as difficult as it looks - the dough & the filling is damn easy to make and complex only in terms of the steps involved in doling out each Nevri. Make the dough, prepare the mixture for the filling, roll out puris, place the filling, fold, cut the edges, deep fry! So yes, an extra pair of hands can be a blessing. But people like me who live away from home and have no help beyond a pair of 3 year old hands which generously help by eating up half the mixture can also make it with great elan!

Describing a Nevri is what I like to do best - a crescent shaped sweet samosa with a crunchy exterior and a delightful centre - a filling made of sesame, cashewnuts, poppy seeds, kopra , raisins, sugar (or jaggery) & cardamom - is like a coming together of a large family made up of a variety of members, their characters, temperaments, shapes, sizes & nuances - each bringing in a special flavour & fragrance into the family - the presence of all brings great sweetness into one's life and an absence of even one is greatly felt.

Such are our Indian festivals - the great Indian family that comes together brings all this & more. This reminds me of one of my favourite quotes

~ "A family that prays together & eats together definitely stays together" ~

Neurio/Sweet Puffs
(Printable Recipe)
Yield: approx 25-27

You Need:

For the dough:

2-1/2 cups/ 300gm maida (all purpose flour) + extra for rolling
1 fistful / 25gm (approx) rawa (semolina)
3/4th cup (approx) warm water
a sprinkling of sugar
salt to taste

For the filling:

1/3 cup/50gm sesame seeds (til)
1/3 cup/50gm broken cashewnuts (kaju)
2 tbsp poppy seeds (khus khus)
1/4 cup slivered/chopped dried coconut (kopra) - optional
1/2 cup grated coconut
2 tbsp (approx) /40gm raisins (kishmish) - cleaned, washed & dried
3 tbsp/25gm caster sugar or regular granulated sugar powdered
2-3 cardamoms (elaichi) powdered - optional

For deep frying

approx 1 litre oil

Method:

To make the dough
1. In a large wide bowl mix the maida, rawa and the salt and sprinkle about 1/2 cup of the warm water working your way towards kneading the mixture. Initially the mixture will look like bread crumbs. Use the heel of your palm to knead into a smooth dough. This can take 5-7 minutes, add parts of the reserved water until your dough is smooth & pliable. Reserve any remaining water aside.
2. Cover the dough with a damp cloth for a few minutes until required.

To make the filling
1. Heat a tawa/skillet and roast the sesame seeds, broken cashewnuts, grated coconut & poppy seeds one by one on a slow flame until just about roasted. Do not over roast them as they will turn bitter.
2. Mix all the ingredients (except the raisins & kopra) in a large bowl & add the powdered sugar. Transfer this mixture on to the hot tawa once again and continue to stir until the entire mixture turns sticky (as the sugar begins to melt). Keep aside

To assemble
1. Make small lime size balls out of the dough, dust with a little flour and roll them into thin flat circles, the size of puris.
2. Place about 1 tsp of the sticky mixture right in the centre of the puri, place a couple of slivers of kopra and raisins each on the mixture.
3. Use the reserved water to moisten the edges of the puri - this helps to seal the edges as the water acts as a glue between the edges. Fold the puri in half such that it forms a crescent shape (semi circle). Seal the edges carefully and use a cookie cutting blade/pizza cutter to trim the jagged edges or just use a fork to make a pretty design around the edges.
4. Repeat the steps until all the filling has been used up. Retain the extra dough (if any) to make Tukdi (recipe to follow)

To deep fry
1. Heat oil on a medium high flame for deep frying in a large heavy bottomed wide kadhai or wok. Test the preparedness of the oil by dropping a small ball of dough into the oil. If it comes up to the surface immediately (within 2-3 seconds) the oil is ready for deep frying.
2. Depending on how large your kadhai is carefully drop 6-7 nevris into the hot oil and fry both the sides till golden in colour.
3. Remove using a slotted colander, drain excess oil and transfer the nevris onto an absorbent kitchen towel
4. Let the nevris cool completely before you store it in airtight containers. Nevris keep well for 10-12 days after which the filling may turn rancid.

Stepwise:
Pic1: Make lime size balls
Pic2: Roll out the dough into medium sized puris
Pic3: Place the mixture/filling in the centre leaving out enough space around the edges

Pic4: Moisten the edges with water - this helps to seal the edges properly else they will open up while frying
Pic5: Fold the puri into half forming a crescent (half moon) shape. Gently seal the edges with your fingers
Pic6: Trim the edges using a pizza cutter or a fork

Pic7: Drop neuries into the hot oil
Pic8: Fry on both sides and add oil on the surface of the neuries until they puff up
Pic9: Fry till pinkish brown & remove

Above Pic: You can either use a cookie/pizza cutter or a fork to trim the edges or make a design

Notes:
It is preferable not to roast the raisins as they taste sour when you eat the nevri, you can just place them onto the mixture while preparing the neuries
If you still have some dough remaining after using up all the mixture you can make simple salted Tudki out of it (recipe to follow)

Kokkisan/Roce Cookies/Rose Cookies - Christmas Goodies ~ Kuswar 2

noreply@blogger.com (Shireen Sequeira) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:16:00 +0000

So 'tis the season to be jolly! We had one helluva weekend - ate out, watched a movie, celebrated a friend's birthday and yes, put up the Christmas tree and my little fellow decorated it too - well, almost! He put up all the trinkets on one single branch & dragged the rest of the decoration around in the hall - so we spent double the time cleaning up after the mess he had created. Anyway, if this isn't fun, what is? When I was younger we had a real tree - a particular variety that is commonly called as the Christmas tree in India.

Since my mum & dad were passionate about gardening we even had a plant nursery for a few years and so having a few Christmas trees at home was a common thing. Our tree at home (the one I claimed for myself) grew steadily as the years passed by and eventually had to be transferred from its pot to the ground to accommodate its robust roots. What seemed like an easy task to decorate it turned into a challenge as it grew taller and more decoration had to be bought every year - however, it was always fun to decorate it along with my cousins and then beg our dads or brothers to put up the lights as well. Some of them blinked softly every few seconds and those are the ones I really liked.

In Mangalore, almost any Christian house you visit will have a Crib & a Christmas tree decorated - most times its a branch chopped off fresh from the Casurina tree. Probably today most homes have made a transition to store bought fake trees that need to be fixed every year and then stashed away. Christmas cards, silver bells, little gifts, angels, stars and other tree ornaments glistening from the branches at night always made me feel so good.

Speaking of trinkets reminds me that today's recipe, the Kokkis or Rose/Roce cookie as it's called in English does look like a pretty X'mas tree ornament, doesn't it?

To be honest, despite being a hard core Mangalorean & a big Kuswar lover, I had never seen the process of making the Roce Cookies, neither had I seen the mould required to make them. After I got married, I learnt to make the Rice Laddoos & Neuries (Sweet Puffs) from my MIL and she happened to tell me about the process and I only had a big question mark displayed on my face. I simply could not figure out the process, anyways, she was kind enough to teach me this time after which I tried it again in my kitchen in Mumbai. On my recent trip to Mangalore, I searched high & low for the mould and paraded the whole of Market Road, Mangalore (upto the old vegetable market - Vodli Market) and finally found it in Bharat Steel who stock every possible type of crockery you need. I am not sure where this particular mould is available in Mumbai, but I am sure Andheri Market will have moulds of other shapes if not this one (post updated with resources - pls scroll down)

A word of caution though - if you are making these for the first time you may need an extra pair of hands to help you fry the cookies while you are busy getting the impressions made in the batter, however, it's not rocket science as I was able to make them on my own plus click the step wise pictures - so don't worry.

Kokkisan/Roce Cookies

(Printable Recipes)

Yield 33-35 cookies

You Need:

150gm raw rice cleaned & soaked for 2-3 hours
3/4th cup (100gm) maida
1 egg
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 coconut or 1 packed cup grated coconut
3-4 cardamoms without skin

You also need

Roce cookie mould/metal form * see notes
a wide & shallow mixing bowl (without tall sides)
a wide heavy bottomed kadhai
slotted ladle

Method:
Extracting the coconut milk
Coarsely grind the grated coconut & cardamom seeds using a little less than 1/2 cup lukewarm water. Transfer the contents onto a muslin cloth spread over a vessel. Make a bundle of the cloth & its contents and gently squeeze out the coconut milk. Cardamom flavoured thick coconut milk is ready.

Preparing the batter
Drain the soaked rice & grind it along with 1/2 cup of the thick coconut milk and salt to a fine paste. Retain the remaining coconut milk aside
Add the sugar and the flour (maida) and stir it gently to avoid any lumps and pulse the mixer grinder again for a few seconds till well incorporated. Transfer the contents into the bowl & add the egg & mix it gently (if you beat the mixture too much the egg will turn frothy & the batter will incorporate air bubbles which result in cookies with bubbles on their surface which we want to avoid) - see pics
The batter should be of dosa batter consistency. Not too stiff & thick and neither runny & thin. Adjust the consistency by adding a teaspoon of the reserved coconut milk at a time and mixing the better well till incorporated.

Frying the rose cookies
Heat oil for deep frying in the kadhai. Add enough oil so that you are able to fry at least 3-4 cookies at a time. Let the oil heat up on a medium high flame. Dip the mould in the hot oil for a minute or two - Don't skip this step - it is important for the mould to heat well else when you dip it into the batter, the batter wont stick to the mould.
Dip the mould carefully into the batter until the batter coats the mould but does not cover the entire mould - take care to see that the batter does not cover the upper surface of the mould - this is very important as your cookie-making programme will end up in a disaster. Also, do not leave the hot mould dipped for too long into the batter as the heat from the metal mould will cook the batter in the bowl. So be quick and do the drill - dip mould in the batter & dip it in the hot oil and shake the mould as if you are tapping the mould into the hot oil in quick progression. This helps the batter to release itself from the mould & float in the hot oil after which the process of frying continues.

Just in case you want to know what happens if you drown the entire mould in the batter!

Above Pic: Cookie mould was completely covered in batter as a result of which the cookie could not release itself from the mould (true story!)

Repeat another two or three times till you have 3-4 cookies frying at a time. Fry the cookies till they start to look pale pink-golden. Flip over & fry the other side as well. Do not allow them to turn brown as the colour should be a pale pinkish golden (rose colour).
Flip the cookies back to the right side facing up and using a slotted ladle fish out the cookies one by one, drain them gently against the side of the kadhai & transfer onto an absorbent kitchen tissue to drain off the excess oil.

Stepwise:

Pic1: Place the mould in the hot oil for 2-3 minutes

Pic2: Dip the mould gently into the batter (the upper surface of the mould should be seen)

Pic3: Transfer the mould immediately into the hot oil

Pic4: Shake the mould continuously to release the cookie batter

Repeat the process of frying till all batter is finished. Towards the end, gently tilt the bowl it so that the mould has enough batter to dip into - but take care again not to allow the batter to overlap the mould.

Stepwise:

Pic5: Continue to shake the mould until the cookie releases itself

Pic6: Cookie has released itself into the oil

Pic7: Fry until pinkish brown. Fry on both sides

Pic8: Flip over & drain using a slotted spoon

Storing the Rose cookies:
Once the cookies have completely cooled off, store them in an airtight container. They keep well for 2-3 weeks

Notes:
1. The Kokkis mould is available in most steel crockery shops in Mangalore. I bought mine from Bharat Steel, Market Road (opp to M.D Souza bakery before it closed down). The mould cost me around Rs 75.

Updated
2. One of my readers suggested Cheap Jacks, Hill Road, Bandra (near St. Peter's Church) for all kinds of moulds especially the X'mas variety.
3. You can buy it online. These are called the Rosette mould. Here's the link

2. Make sure that the consistency of the batter is just right so you get the best quality of kokkis. Do not beat the egg too much as it will turn frothy & form bubbles on the cookies as you see in my pictures - lesson learnt!
3. Some recipes do not ask for maida to be added - however these make the cookies extra crisp and easy to bite.

Kidyo/Kidiyo/Kulkuls (Sweet Dough Curls) - Christmas Goodies ~ Kuswar 1

noreply@blogger.com (Shireen Sequeira) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 10:46:00 +0000

The word 'Kuswar' instantly brings to mind the Kulkuls that are loved by the people of all ages. Kulkuls can be eaten plain (made with slightly sweetened dough) or rolled in (mael) sugar icing (preferred by kids especially). Kuswar is almost synonymous with the twin terms Kidyo-Gulio. Gulio refers to Rice Marbles which are often hard to bite and most people I know skip even making them. I haven't made them yet, but did make the Kulkuls several times in the past couple of years.

Although most of the Kuswar used to be made at home when I was a kid, as the years passed by we stuck to making just the kulkuls & rice laddoos (thandhlache laadu) at home and the rest of the Kuswar was bakery bought. My dad would buy the plum cake, neuries (sweet puffs), kokkisan (roce cookies) in addition to walnuts, oranges (from Coorg) and Nendra bananas (also called as macho bananas). This odd combination of sweets (home made & bakery bought), seasonal fruits & nuts made Christmas even more special. While the rest of the goodies got over soon, the kulkuls lasted well into the new year.

It's sad that today not too many families make these Kuswar goodies, the younger generation is definitely missing out on all the fun that we used to have as kids, sitting round the dining table curling the kulkuls with forks or combs. I just introduced this lovely custom to my son who was more than willing to help my husband & me curl the kulkuls

I have attempted the kidyo with just 1/4kg flour, it makes just a small batch enough for 2-3 people with average appetites :-) Make sure that if you are doubling or tripling the quantity of flour, you have some company, an extra pair of hands to curl the dough lest you give up half way! Trust me, you will be happy with the results and enjoy the whole experience if you are attempting this for the first time, so keep going! Enjoy!!

Kidyo/Kulkuls
(Printable Recipe)
Yield: 1 small batch

You Need

250gm maida /all purpose flour
1 egg (optional) * see notes
approx 1/4 cup freshly extracted coconut milk or lukewarm water
1 tbsp sugar * see notes
1 tbsp warm oil
a sprinkling of salt to taste
oil for deep frying

For the sugar glaze/icing

75-100gm sugar (depends on how thick an icing you prefer)
1/4 cup water (approx)

You will also require:

a unused/clean comb or fork
a small bowl with a few drops of oil to grease the fork/comb
a large & wide mouthed heavy bottomed wok/kadhai for deep frying
slotted spoon
large flat dish to place the curls

Method:
Preparing the dough
In a large bowl (used to knead dough for chapathis) mix the maida, salt, sugar and egg until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. To this add the coconut milk in parts - using only as much as required to help knead the flour into a smooth pliable dough. For best results knead the dough well for at least 5-7 minutes wetting your fingers with coconut milk every now & then to help achieve a smooth dough. (see notes). Keep the dough aside - cover with a damp cloth so that the dough doesn't dry up during the process of making the dough curls

Curling the kulkuls
Depending on the kind of design you wish - choose the thin or thicker bristle side of the comb or a fork. Slightly grease it with a dab of oil (let it not drip). Make small marble size balls of the dough and flatten each ball over the bristles/fork to form a thin rectangular patch. Start rolling it from one side using a little pressure on your finger tips so that the dough has the impression of the bristles/fork. Seal the edges gently - ensure that the impression is not lost. Place the curl on a large lightly greased plate. Continue the process to make more curls until all the dough is used up

Pic1 Pic 2 Pic 3

Pic 1: Marble sized balls of dough

Pic 2: Kulkuls made using a comb

Pic 3: Kulkuls made using a fork

(Design courtesy: Mr. Husband! - Thank you R!)

Deep Frying the kulkuls
Heat oil in the kadhai on a medium high flame (see notes). When the oil is ready for frying, drop as many kulkuls as the kadhai will hold. Be careful not to let the oil splatter on your face! Reduce the heat a bit if necessary and fry until the kulkuls are golden pink. Do not let them brown too much. Remove with a slotted spoon, drain excess oil against the side of the kadhai & transfer onto an absorbent kitchen tissue. Allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container. Kulkuls keep fresh for upto 2 weeks

Glazing the kulkuls
The next day, make the syrup by heating the sugar and the water to make a syrup. When the syrup thickens and coats the back of the spoon, toss in the kulkuls and hold the pan on both sides and gently toss the kulkuls so that all of them are uniformly coated with the syrup. Transfer the kulkuls on a large plate or clean banana leaf and quickly separate them with a fork so that they don't stick to each other. Allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Above pic: kulkuls freshly rolled in the icing syrup and waiting to cool

Notes:
1. I have tried making kulkuls with different measurements at least 4 times. The trick in getting the perfect kulkuls - the Mangalorean way (a bit hard yet crispy to the bite) is to knead the dough well and to use a bit oil while kneading. Adding the egg is optional as I have noticed that it makes the kulkuls softer.
Some people add baking powder to the dough - this never worked for me as I got fat and fully bloomed kulkuls - not my type. I prefer the thinner Mangalorean variety of Kulkuls that snap at every bite.
2. You can even add butter instead of oil, however, the shelf life reduces as butter can smell rancid after a while.
3. Some recipes call for semolina/rawa to be added to the flour. This apparently makes the kulkuls more crisp with an almost biscuit-like crunch (again, not something I prefer). Do make sure however to lightly roast the rawa if you intend adding it as it helps the dough to cook faster
4. If you don't intend glazing the kulkuls you may add an extra tbsp of sugar to the dough to sweeten it. Plain kulkuls taste great too.
5. The oil for deep frying must be adequately heated and at the right temperature to ensure that the insides of the kulkuls are fried as well. Smoking hot oil will brown the kulkuls on the outside faster and leave the insides uncooked. Inadequate heating of the oil will result in kulkuls that will soften after they cool and won't be crisp as desired. To test the readiness of the oil drop a small (mustard size) ball of dough into the hot oil, if it pops up to the surface within 2-3 seconds, your oil is ready for frying
6. If your dough is not soft & pliable you will find it difficult to curl them and the edges wont seal resulting in them opening up during the frying process, so ensure that your dough is kneaded well and is really soft - to test it, after kneading, poke your thumb into the dough ball, if it makes a smooth impression & the dough doesn't stick to your fingers, then your dough is correct. Well kneaded dough ensures that your kulkuls seal off at the edges without applying too much pressure. If at any stage you find that the dough is rough, add a few drops of oil to knead instead of water or coconut milk. When you break off the marble size balls it should be elastic and not break in abrupt jerks

P.S

Kulkuls are called as or Kidyo/Kidiyo in Konkani which means worm. Before you say eeks, let me tell you that they are called so simply because they look like silkworms. Let the name not discourage you to make these lovely sweets.

Preparing For The Season of Love

noreply@blogger.com (Shireen Sequeira) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 12:30:00 +0000

My dear friends, I am more than delighted to write this post as I eagerly await the month that starts tomorrow ~ December ~ a month that brings good cheer and happiness to millions across the world as it is in this month that we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, Lord & Saviour, on the 25th of December. Christians across the world celebrate the birth of the One whose life and teachings are the foundation of Christianity.

As per the Christian calendar we are currently observing the season of Advent (from the Latin word adventus meaning "coming") which starts on the fourth Sunday before December 25th and ends on the day of the Nativity of Christ (25th of December) after which starts the Christmastide which lasts twelve days (this is the origin of the Christmas carol - The Twelve Days of Christmas) and ends on the 6th of January (Epiphany) which is also celebrated as the Feast of the Three Kings (The Magi)

Jesus
"The Reason For The Season"

Image Courtesy free-stories.net

Although I have been waiting to write this post since ages, I was waiting for Advent to start. The season of Advent is the symbolic time of preparation of one's self for the coming of the Lord. Along with this, a host of other preparations are made and it is a time of love and happiness, bonding and togetherness. It is also the time when families meet and greet each other and gifts are exchanged. Sadly, in today's world the whole focus of Christmas has shifted from the commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ (the Son of God who came down to this earth for the salvation of the whole world) to the famous Santa Claus (originally Saint Nicholas, a kind soul) who as per folklore is said to bring gifts to the homes of children who have been on their best behaviour the whole year through (well, even I believed this when I was a kid!). Undoubtedly, Christmas becomes more delightful for kids and adults alike when we have Santa look-alikes wandering around adding a sparkle to the celebrations.

However, the real meaning of Christmas is beyond Santa and beyond the festivities, the gifts, the food, the cards, the decorations, the X'mas Tree and the commercialisation of this meaningful feast. In short, the real meaning of Christmas is truly the giving of love everyday!

(The story of the birth of Jesus - from the Candle Bible For Kids)

I have a lot of memories revolving Christmas and what it meant to me when I was a child. It brings back vibrant memories of colours, food, music, movies and people. The events that surround this festival, the countdown to the actual day, the enthusiasm and cheer is something else. If I were to open the chest of my memories, I would not be able to pick just one. There are just too many! When I was in school we used to have the Crib competition to look forward to. A crib is a miniature model of the actual scene of The Nativity - the manger where Jesus was born. It typically consists of a open manger (a trough or an open box in which feed for livestock is placed - as in a stable) and the worldly parents of Jesus - Mary & Joseph and shepherds and their livestock that were present in the area surrounding the manger. The best presentation of this Nativity scene would fetch prizes. I remember that whoever was interested to take part would have to form teams and give their names & I used to always participate with my bunch of friends - a mix of Christian & non-Christians. The participation mattered, not the winning (err, well, the winning mattered too and the disappointment always followed when we didn't win - haha!)

(A typical crib on display outside churches in Mangalore)

The run up to Christmas also had me listening to and singing the carols. A Christmas carol (also called a noël) is a carol (song or hymn) whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas. Since I was part of the Church Choir we used to go Carolling (singing the carols from door to door) - those days were so much fun!

My mother and I would also make trips to the greeting card shops (there was no Archies or Hallmark in those days - just 'Jerosa Company' or 'St Joseph's Art Printers) to buy our quota of Christmas greeting cards with the warmest of wishes and those that had pictures of the scene of The Nativity or western houses with snow on their roofs and everywhere, pictures of all kinds of Christmas paraphernalia - pictures of a Santa with a goodie bag laden with gifts wrapped in bright colours or a scene of a Christmas tree heavily decorated, a fireplace with wood crackling away and a cat cuddled on a small carpet enjoying the warmth. Oh! how I wished I was part of such scenes! But the tropical climate of Mangalore never saw any winters - well, a few chilly evenings here & there and the adults in my family used to say 'Illeshe Thand podla' (it's beginning to get cold) - so with temperatures as high as 28-29 degrees C at night we would wrap ourselves in thick blankets and drift to sleep with some carols playing softly on our dual cassette deck (our most prized possession in those days almost as coveted as the iPad itself). On some sultry evenings after dinnertime I would sit with my cousins on the steps of our house and gaze into the dark night bejewelled with sparkling stars that took the position of the Three Kings (Orion's Belt) and a child's imagination transported me back into history to the time when Jesus was born.

Image Courtesy: templates.com

Since my childhood saw me reading a lot of Enid Blyton books, I used to wish that it would snow in Mangalore too and that Santa would visit me via the chimney (which didn't exist although I made several trips to the dusty, cobweb ridden attic to find that secret door). But obviously none of that happened. No snow & no Santa, despite the hundreds of letters I wrote to him & threw over our old Guava tree. Then there was this year when my brother took pity on me & threw in some 'phoren maal' (his prized collection of imported stationary) in an old sock & left it by my bedside. Boy! Was I thrilled!! (I din't tell him I was so skeptical about it and that I knew who the 'Santa' was).

The first couple of weeks of December also heralded the onset of the making of Kuswar (the traditional collection of Christmas sweets & savouries) in every family. The popular sweetmeats that in addition to the quintessential plum cake and that are part of the Kuswar are kidiyo (kulkuls/deep fried pastry dough curls), gulio (Rice Marbles), neurio (nevri/sweet puffs), kokkisan (roce/rose cookies), thandhlache laadu (rice laddoos), thilache laadu (sesame seed & jaggery laddoos), rulaonche laadu (semolina laddoos), tukdi (sweet or savoury deep fried diamond shaped pastry dough), pathekan (banana chips), chakliyo (chaklis/rice & lentil spirals), sukur unde (deep fried balls of lentils & jaggery), khaara kaddi (spicy rice & lentil sticks) to name a few. Each family picks their own favourites in the above mentioned list.

Kuswar prepared by my mum-in-law for X'mas 2010

As per the tradition every household used to make huge batches of Kuswar that was sufficient for the members of the household after having distributed it amongst the neighbours, friends, relatives, guests and to the poor and needy who were invited to come home for some alms giving. So one can imagine how much Kuswar used to be religiously prepared by the ladies of the house under the able supervision of the matron of the house (usually the grandma). Kuswar that was made well in advance (as early as in November or early December), stored in airtight steel boxes used to last the whole month through and well into the first week of January. My mother however discontinued making many of the items as the years rolled by, so I had to relearn to make many of them after I got married. Today there are many new items added to the traditional Kuswar platter - milk cream, marzipan, coconut toffee, banana halwa, coconut laddoos to name a few. I hope to learn them one by one in time for next Christmas if not this one ;-)

Ready made Kuswar is available in many bakeries in Mangalore today. People consider it far easier to just shell out some money & buy the Kuswar than to actually toil over it. However, there is no guarantee of the freshness or quality of bakery bought stuff as bakers start the baking & making of eatables at least 2 months in advance. Today as the traditional joint families have been de clustered, women from nuclear families find it difficult to cope up with the challenges of the Kuswar making process (trust me, if you plan to make it single handedly like I did with small kids hanging around for good measure, it can take quite some time & a huge amount of your patience). The cheerfulness and camaraderie that we once shared with fellow 'Kuswar makers' (a.k.a siblings, cousins & aunts) is probably a thing of the past. I know a lot of people (especially you my dear readers who have written in to me since the past couple of months, asking for Kuswar recipes) who armed with the Kuswar recipes would cheerfully want to bring back the old times of making Kuswar at home and so in the days to come, I will post a few recipes that I have been personally tried & tested twice in my kitchen. This is my humble attempt to help all of us recreate the magic of Christmas.

Have a blessed & meaningful season folks!!

Rice Wine

noreply@blogger.com (Shireen Sequeira) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 06:09:00 +0000

It's never too late to post a wine recipe is it? Well, I think you may just have another wine, just in time for Christmas if you make it right away! Pronto! Got caught up in a million little things at home and somehow although I've been grooving to the Christmas songs I am yet to execute my long list of Christmas To-Dos. I am so excited to look forward to the lovely and busy month of December. Birthdays, shopping, travelling, meeting family & friends, celebrating Christmas and then bringing in the New Year and a brand new month & year before we head back to our lives here in Mumbai. So many things to do and so little time! Well, I am saying this despite the fact that I've been planning for Christmas since two months, time never seems enough. I have a whole laundry list of things to do - try out new recipes & post them on the blog, buy gifts and wrap them, put up the Christmas tree & decorations - all before the 18th of Dec before I travel. Phew!

The past couple of weeks saw me scavenging around for wine bottles. Well, these are not specially crafted bottles (like the decanter) but just pretty ones that I wanted to store the wine in and possibly gift someone. It is really sad that in a place like Mumbai where it is almost impossible to return empty handed from a shopping trip for anything that you fancy, I did not find a single bottle! Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Home Centre, Home Stop and my local crockery-wala - the answer was always 'no'. Finally I went to Andheri Market and asked for a wine bottle or bottle to store wine and got puzzled looks in return. Eventually I had to shed my inhibitions and bluntly ask for 'sharaab ka bothal' (liquor bottle) and got smirks instead. As if I was going to a liquor shop to buy my quota of booze. Tsk tsk! The only option I was left with was to actually empty my collection of liquor/wines in my bar at home (which my man only likes to collect although both of us don't go beyond an occasional beer or wine while we entertain guests). Anyway, a big lesson learnt - never attempt making wine at home unless you have enough bottles to store it in! (and of course a large glass/ceramic jar to make the wine in).You see, after I made the ginger wine (which is tasting better with every passing day) I caught this major obsession to try out wine after wine from my mum's handwritten book [I am clarifying this as I got mails from readers asking if my mother had published a book - well, no, she hasn't authored any although it's not such a bad idea , I must tell her!:-)]

So coming back to the Rice wine, the very name gives you a feel that this could be the typical oriental variety. Rice wine features prominently in Chinese & East Asian's cuisines. The Japanese Sake (pronounced as Sa-Keh) is gaining popularity thanks to restaurants that bring world cuisine especially the Sushi to the table. Although in Japan Sake is more of a general term for all kind of alcoholic beverages, the rice alcohol is called the Nihonshu and is made through a brewing process more like that of beer than a regular fermenting process that the wine calls for.

So that makes us Mangaloreans the pioneers in making sweet wine made of rice by the fermenting process (ha! Just kidding). Rice wine looks & tastes almost like toddy (palm wine) in its nascent stages. Mine turned out a bit more strong since I was over ambitious about making the entire quantity of wine (with 4.5 litres of wine when my ceramic jar could hold only 4 litres of liquid). So as and how the rice & sugar was added to the water, the water started spilling out of the jar. Tsk tsk! Too bad I didn't realise that the jar needs to be really large to accommodate all that water, sugar & rice - I had the Thirsty Crow story unfolding right in front of my eyes :-( I did remove a litre of water from the jar, so that explains why the wine is a lot more strong than intended - but that's ok, I can drink my blues away someday in the future and get totally intoxicated, haha!

I think Ginger & Rice wines are so apt for the Christmas season - Mangalorean tradition says so. Grape wine however is an all season wine and is more associated with the wedding celebrations (but let's not get into the discussion of whether they even serve genuine wine at weddings these days)

(I know, I know, this is a milk bottle - but I couldn't help it!!! I promise you some better pictures soon - will update this post!)

Do try this wine right away if you want to taste it just in time for Christmas. Instead of the customary 3 weeks, you may keep this wine to ferment for 17-18 days (or until the frothing stops) and then decant. Bottle it just before serving. Making it for New Year is not such a bad idea (assuming you have already made the ginger wine for Christmas)

Rice Wine

(Printable Recipe)

Preparation time: 10 mins

Fermenting time: 3 weeks

Yield: approx 4.5 litres

You Need:

4-1/2 litres boiled & cooled water
350 gm raw rice * see notes
1.5 kg sugar
juice of 3 limes (or lemons)
120 gm raisins (preferably golden)
1-1/2 tbsp dried yeast (I used DCL)
50ml brandy

You will also require:

a clean & dry 6 litre glass or ceramic jar ('buyaon' in Konkani/ 'bharani' in Kannada)
a long spoon or spatula to stir the contents
clean & dry empty wine or liquor bottles (approx 3 standard bottles)
a strainer
a large, clean & dry steel vessel to strain out the contents
a clean & dry funnel to pour the wine into the bottle

Method:

1. Extract the juice of the limes. Clean raisins, wash, dry & set aside. Dissolve the yeast in a little lukewarm water.

2. Place all the ingredients including the water into the ceramic jar and stir the sugar until it is mixed well (doesn't need to dissolve right away as granulated sugar will take sometime to dissolve which is ok)

3. Keep the jar in a warm dry place of your kitchen. Stir the contents with the long spoon/spatula once a day. Gently squeeze the puffed up raisins that float to surface with your fingers - this is just to get all the juices out of the raisins.

4. After 3 weeks strain the contents into the clean, dry steel vessel. Discard the rice & raisin skins. Add the brandy, give it a stir and store the liquid back into the washed & dried ceramic jar until you are ready to bottle it or use a funnel to fill the bottles with the wine.

5. Ensure that the bottles are placed where they needn't be moved around (this is because the decanting process requires the containers to be absolutely still as the sediment settles to the bottom of the bottles).

Notes:

You can use any type of raw rice (belthige as its called in Kannada, Surai as its called in Konkani) I used cheaper quality Basmati rice. You needn't wash the rice.

Sending this to Julie's event 'Christmas Delicacy' which is from 15th Nov-31st Dec 2011

Raw Banana Peel Upkari/Sauté (Kelyachya Saliche Upkari)

noreply@blogger.com (Shireen Sequeira) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 04:56:00 +0000

So I've been trying out a lot of dishes lately. Most of them are in preparation of the upcoming Christmas season - well, that's just a clue for you, I won't divulge in more details as I am waiting to post those recipes from Dec 1st onwards. For now, I will post the recipe of one of the by-products of an ingredient. No prizes for guessing that I am talking about the Raw Banana here.

Isn't it nice when you try out something for the first time and realise that you can actually get two dishes for the price of one? Well, I set out to make something out of raw bananas and just when I was going to throw the peel my hubby made his grand entry into the kitchen as said he could make a quick dish out of the fleshy peels. "Eh?" I exclaimed, not because I was surprised that one could put the peels to good use but because I was surprised that he would be actually cooking that day (doesn't happen too often these days). Maybe I inspire him! Hehe. Ok, so he donned his virtual apron and quickly put this yummy & simple dish together.

Getting the most out of every vegetable is something I need to learn. Back in Mangalore people prepare this dish although it was never done in my house. Maybe I should attempt making such dishes out of peels and skins of fruits and vegetables and make a section on this blog just for such recipes. Since eating organic and not wasting food has suddenly become fashionable, I am sure a lot of you would be interested to try this out.

You can try making this dish out of raw bananas as plantains have a thinner skin and you may not get much of the white flesh as they are used for cooking anyway. Aren't Bananas and Plantains the same you may say. Well, no, raw Bananas are edible as a fruit once they ripen and turn yellow, red (or pale green in the case of the green Cavendish) and are generally not 'cooked' as a side dish. 'Plantain' on the other hand must be cooked before consuming. Plantains are firmer, have more starch content and less sugar content than Bananas and do not grow as long as Bananas. However, Plaintains are often confused with Bananas and most people I know think that the Cavendish and the Nendrakai variety are called the 'Plaintain' while the smaller ones (for example the Kadhali/Elaichi variety) are called the Banana. If you still have a doubt read this.

(Above Pic: Flesh of the peels scraped out and ready to be cooked)

So the next time you buy raw bananas to make a sweet or savoury dish out of it, don't discard the peels. Try making this dish. You won't be disappointed, I promise.

Raw Banana Peel Upkari
(Printable Recipe)
Serves 2

You Need:

the peels of 4 raw bananas * see notes
1/2 onion finely chopped
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp tamarind paste or 1 tbsp tamarind juice
salt to taste

For the seasoning

1/2 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp urad dal
5-6 curry leaves
1 clove garlic crushed
1 tsp vegetable masala powder * see notes
1/2 onion finely chopped
1 tbsp oil for frying

Method:

1. Wash & place each peel on a cutting board - green side facing down and carefully scrape out the white fleshy portion. The green (outer surface) is fibrous (called as 'naar' in Konkani) and is not edible. So the easier way of removing it is to scrape out the white flesh off the green fibre than doing it the other way round.

2. Mince the white portion of the peel and place it in a wok or kadhai and add enough water to cover it, salt to taste, 1/2 a chopped onion, turmeric & tamarind paste/juice and cook it on a medium flame till half the water has dried up. Stir in between to avoid it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. When the peels have partially cooked. Turn off the flame & keep it aside

3. In another heavy bottomed pan heat the oil, reduce the flame and toss in the mustard. When it stops spluttering add the urad dal, curry leaves and crushed garlic. Stir it, taking care to see that the contents do not burn. Add the remaining 1/2 chopped onion and fry till translucent. Add the vegetable masala powder (you can turn off the flame to avoid burning).

4. Add the pre-cooked peel mixture and its water. Check salt to taste & allow to cook for a further 2 minutes on a slow flame.

5. Turn off the flame & serve hot with rice or chapathis.

Notes:

To peel a raw banana run a knife along the length of the banana, making a shallow slit all the way down taking care to see that the inside flesh is not bruised. Once you have made several slits, gently use the tip of the knife to remove the peel off the flesh.

If you do not have the Mangalorean vegetable masala powder, you can use any masala powder that is suitable for vegetables or a blend of spices or may even use Bafat powder.

Chicken Chettinad

noreply@blogger.com (Shireen Sequeira) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 05:48:00 +0000

I've been waiting to try out the Chicken Chettinad since the time I ate it in a small restaurant in Bangalore some aeons ago. Never thought I had the recipe sitting right inside my Sanjeev Kapoor collection on my book shelf. What triggered me to flip through the book was when I saw it on my friend/blogger Cherie's blog and from that day on I have decided to go through all the recipes in my existing (and ever growing) collection of recipe books and toss them away (read 'donate') if I haven't cooked even one dish from it for over a year. Looks like my New Year's resolution has already been made. At least this will help me focus on the important things in life and make the much needed space on my book shelf for better things.

By the way, I totally agree with Cherie that although Chicken Chettinad was born in Tamil Nadu it tastes a lot like a Mangalorean dish - replete with a host of tongue tickling spices and grated coconut that makes it well, almost a cousin of the Kori Aajadina (Chicken Sukka). The minor difference would be the generous use of fragrant spices like Fennel (Saunf) & Star Anise (which is the dominant flavour) in the Chicken Chettinad. We Mangaloreans use a lot of tamarind in our curries which is replaced by the tomato here. Apparently in some regions of Tamil Nadu, this dish is prepared without the coconut, so you may skip the same, however, I think it tastes bests with some coarsely ground coconut.

By the way, if the Mangaloreans have'nt noticed yet, the serving dish used here is made of 'pouli' (in Konkani) or the Areca nut palm leaf which are eco friendly and are used to make plates & dishes meant for a one time use. I see these are catching up in Mangalore where caterers use them to serve food. I was quite impressed with them when my mum bought me a pack (knowing my latest obsession of collecting cutlery for the blog). I went and bought another pack of smaller bowls from Nilgiris Supermarket, opp S.D.M College, M.G. Road, Mangalore

So well, isn't it a case of presenting Chettinad in a Mangalorean way? ;-)

Chicken Chettinad
(Printable Recipe)
Serves 4

You Need:

1 kg chicken
1 large onion chopped
3 medium sized tomatoes
1 large sprig or 10-12 curry leaves (karipatta)
juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp chopped coriander (for garnish)
salt to taste
3 tbsp oil for frying

For the masala

6-8 long dry red chillies (I used Bedgi) * see notes
2 tsp poppy seeds (khus khus)
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 cloves
1 inch piece cinnamon
3 green cardamoms
1/2 star anise (chakri phool)
1 tsp fennel seeds (saunf)
1 cup or 1/2 a grated coconut
2 inches ginger
6 garlic flakes
2-3 tsp oil for roasting

Masala powders

1/4 tsp red chilli powder (you may skip this) * see notes
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Method:
1. Clean the chicken and cut it into medium size pieces. Wash and drain on a colander.
2. Heat some oil in a a skillet/tawa and roast the long dry red chillies, poppy seeds, coriander and cumin seeds, green cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon, fennel, star anise and grated coconut and grind to a coarse paste along with ginger & garlic.
3. Heat oil in a large wok/kadhai and fry the onions till golden. Toss in the curry leaves and fry for a few seconds and then add the ground paste and saute for some time. Add the chopped tomatoes, red chilli powder and the turmeric powder and fry for a couple of minutes
4. Add the chicken pieces, mix well and cook for 5 minutes on a medium high flame. Add salt to taste and 1 cup water, lime juice. Cover & cook till done. If you want more gravy add a little extra water to achieve the desired consistency.
5. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with rice or chapathis

Notes:
You may use 6 red chillies and skip the the chilli powder if your tolerance to spice is low. You can also use Kashmiri chillies if you don't have the Bedgi variety and add the red chilli powder.
The original recipe asks for 1 tsp chilli powder which increases the spice level of this dish

Minced Chicken Kurma

noreply@blogger.com (Shireen Sequeira) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 05:37:00 +0000

Minced Chicken Kurma or Kheema Kurma..well, I was debating what the name of this recipe should be. Kheema Kurma sounded funny so I vetoed it. It brought to mind many such names of people that rhyme with their surnames - I won't get into the details - I will leave you to think of such names that you've come across in your life. Yeah yeah, a total time pass activity. But then, what are weekends for? To take it easy and relax.

That is pretty much what I will be doing this weekend. Going to finish my housework now & then do my weekly shopping at the supermarket. So without boring you with too many philosophical stories, will leave you with this simple recipe which I found in the Mangalore Ladies Club Recipe book and tweaked it a bit. It's a typical Kurma/Korma style of making chicken mince, so if you are only fond of eating mince in its red masala form, forget about this recipe. The cashewnut paste in this recipe lends this lovely creamy texture and flavour that is a perfect accompaniment to chapathis.

Minced Chicken Kurma
(Printable Recipe)
Serves 4

You Need:

800gm chicken mince/kheema
3 medium onions finely chopped
3 small tomatoes finely chopped
1/2 cup curds
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 cup green peas
50gms (or a fistful)cashewnuts ground to a paste
2 tbsp heavy cream (optional)
oil for frying

Whole spices

1/2 inch cinnamon
2-3 cloves
2 cardamoms crushed
1/4 tsp cumin seeds

Dry masala

1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp (or to taste) red chilli powder
1/4 tsp garam masala powder

For garnishing

2 tbsp chopped coriander

Method:

1. Wash & drain the mince in a fine slotted colander until all the water drains off.

2. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed kadhai or wok and add the whole spices and fry for a few seconds. Add the chopped onions and fry till pale & then add the dry masala powders and fry for 1/2 a minute. Add the chicken mince and fry for another 2-3 minutes.

3. Toss in the chopped tomatoes and ginger-garlic paste and fry well for another 5- 6minutes until it is almost dry. If the mince has let out a lot of water then don't add additional water. Else add 1/2 cup water and simmer for 6-7 minutes until most of the water evaporates & the mixture becomes dry.

4. Add curds and mix well. Add the cashewnut paste and mix again, allow to simmer on a slow flame for 5 minutes. If you wish to add some more water to make a thick gravy you can add about 1/2 cup water.

5. Toss in the green peas, cover & cook for 2minutes. Turn off the flame

6. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves & serve hot with chapathis