Mum knows the Best....

The end is a new beginning... says the butterfly.

2017-04-17T16:44:00.000+05:30

When I started this blog, I was just trying to organize my recipes into manageable chunks. A quick online reference in times of great hurry, which believe you me, happens more often than you'd imagine. But after a few posts, I really liked sharing my experiences, reminiscing about forgotten days, writing about people who shared their valuable recipes. Although I didn't write frequently, writing here brought me great joy.

Due to unavoidable reasons, I am going to deactivate this blog in the near future. And you are most welcome to join me on https://sandysmenu.blogspot.com/

I am grateful to all those who viewed the blog and encouraged me with their kind words. I hope you can continue to do the same. I am quite excited about my new blog and I hope to be more regular in posting my favorite recipes. I would love for you to be a part of this journey!

I am in the process of moving all the contents to the new blog address and this will take a few days or may be weeks. But I am also posting new recipes and mixing it up.

See you at https://sandysmenu.blogspot.com/

Cheers!

Pork Adobo

2016-07-27T16:00:00.000+05:30

Adobo is a popular Filipino dish, it is considered by many to be the national dish of the Philippines. Pork and chicken are combined to cook adobo, or you can cook them separately too though I have always cooked adobo with pork without adding chicken. It is cooked differently across various regions, but the basic ingredients remain the same, i.e. soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, peppercorn and bay leaves. There are different versions that add either red chillies, brown sugar, potatoes, coconut milk etc, but that varies based on personal tastes, preferences and regions.

I have adapted the recipe to suit our tastes, but I learnt the recipe originally from Aate Rhea, who was my cook at one point. It tastes best with hot rice and steamed vegetables.

Recipe credit : Aate Rhea

Ingredients:

Pork - 1/2 kg (2 inch cubes)
Garlic - 6 flakes
Crushed peppercorn - 1/2 tsp
Bay leaves - 2 nos
Dry red chilly - 2 , roughly ton
Soy sauce - 1/4 cup
Vinegar - 2 tbsp
Coconut milk - 200 ml
Oil - 2 tsp

Method:

Heat oil in a pan, add the chopped garlic and fry for a minute. Add the pork cubes, and fry till they are browned.
Add all ingredients except coconut milk and cook till the pork is almost done.
Add the coconut milk and cook till the pork is done.

Note : Aate Rhea's recipe

No coconut milk, red chilly and oil is used
Combine all ingredients in a pan and cook till done.

Tamarind prawns

2016-07-13T16:00:00.000+05:30

Today's recipe like most recipes on this blog, is a no hassle preparation. As you read it you might dish, wonder if it will turn out alright. And that's the beauty of this dish, no fuss to make it and yet turns out tasty. I guess that's also because if you have fresh good quality prawns you can never go wrong with it. Many of the recipes I have shared on this blog are from my mum in law, and this is one of her quick fix yet delicious gems.

Recipe credit - Rozita Coutinho (Alex's mum)

Ingredients:

Prawns - 1 cup, peeled
Tamarind pulp - 1 tbsp
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Red Kashmiri chilly - 2 nos
Salt as required
Oil as required

Method:

Wash and place the prawns in a pan that is placed on the stove, use medium flame.
Add all the ingredients into the pan except oil.
Mix well and let it cook, the prawns will give out water.
When the water evaporates, add oil to the pan and stir well to avoid the prawns from sticking to the pan. Cook till the prawns are done.
Switch off the flame and serve hot with chappatis, or as a side dish with rice and dal or curry.

The recipes for dals and curries :

Dal Fry
Dal Palak (Spinach in lentil soup)
Plain coconut juice curry
Plain red coconut curry

Plain coconut juice curry

2016-07-06T16:00:00.000+05:30

In the last few weeks I have shared a couple of coconut based curries. A couple of weeks ago I published the Plain red coconut curry. Today's curry recipe is similar to it, except that instead of ground coconut we use coconut milk in this recipe. You may think it tastes similar too, but a coconut milk based curry tastes much richer and has a creamier texture. You could also add prawns to this curry and make a prawn curry and it tastes wonderful. Since prawns are preferred fried or as a dry preparation in my house, I like to make the curry plain. Serve the curry with hot rice, a piece of fried fish and any vegetable foogath and you will have finger licking meal.

Recipe credit : Rozita Coutinho (Alex's mum)

Ingredients:

1 Coconut - milk extracted or
400 ml - coconut milk
Oil - 1 tbsp
Onion - 1 large, finely chopped
Tomato - 1 medium, finely chopped
Green chilly - 1 or two, slit (optional)
Tamarind pulp - 1 tbsp
Stock cube - 1 no

For the masala:

Kashmiri chilly - 8 nos
Garlic - 6 cloves
Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Peppercorns - 1 tsp

Method:

Grind to a fine paste the ingredients, mentioned under for the masala. Keep aside. Reserve the water used to rinse the grinder jar.
In a pan, heat oil, add the chopped onion and fry till light brown.
Add the tomatoes, and the ground masala, stir well and cook for two minutes. Add the stock cube, reserved water, tamarind pulp and the coconut milk.
Let it simmer for about twenty minutes, check for consistency.
If adding chilly, add it two minutes before putting off the flame.

Pork roast - Goan style

2016-06-29T16:00:00.001+05:30

This is one of my favorite pork recipes. It's a precious gem from my mum in laws kitchen. This recipe has very basic whole spices combined with ginger and garlic. The only thing that you may not find in your pantry is cashew fenny. My mum in law believes that it adds a unique flavor to the dish, and if you have access to it , you must use it in this recipe.

Recipe credit : Rozita Coutinho (Alex's mum)

Ingredients:

Pork - 1 kg chunk
Garlic - 8 big cloves
Ginger - 1 and half inch piece
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Peppercorns - 25 nos
Cardamoms - 6 nos
Cinnamon - 2 inch sticks.
Cloves - 10 nos
Vinegar - 2 to 3 tbsp
Cashew fenny - 1 tsp
Salt as required

Method:

Wash and cut the meat into four large chunks. Drain excess water.
Dry grind the spices into a coarse powder.
Make a paste of the ginger and garlic using vinegar.
In a pan, marinate the pork with salt, spices, cashew fenny and the ginger garlic paste.
Marinate for 6 to 8 hours or over-night. Refrigerate the marinated pork.
Let the meat come to room temperature before cooking it on slow flame. Depending on how tender or tough the meat is, adjust the cooking time.
Put the same pan on the stove and cook till 3/4th done.
Remove the pieces onto a plate and cut 1/4 inch slices and put it back in the pan to cook completely. This ensures the slices don't curl while cooking.
Check for seasoning and serve with pulao or in sandwiches.
In case, you don't have cashew fenny, you may skip it. But I'm told the fenny enhances the flavor.

Tur Daal and Drumstick Curry

2016-06-22T16:00:00.001+05:30

This recipe has been sitting in my drafts for way too long. I remember, when my mum lived with me, every morning post breakfast she and I got into a huddle of sorts in an effort to plan the meal for the day. During those days, at least most week days we cooked a vegetarian meal and stocked the fridge accordingly. On this particular day, the fridge seemed bare, and the only vegetable there was drumsticks. There was absolutely nothing else. I was dreading the thought of making lunch that only had drumsticks. But my mother's knack for making a curry out of anything amazes me. I guess that's what mothers are all about. Waving their invisible wands and cooking with the most mundane ingredients and turning them into a delicious meal.

Drumstick and Tur daal (aka pigeon pea) curry (Saango ani daalechi kadhi) is a tasty treat that goes well with steamed rice and a pickle or fried fish. This is a traditional Mangalorean curry with coconut and spices. In fact there are many such unheard of combinations that are a regular feature in a Mangalorean household. You can make a similar curry with brinjals or eggplant instead of drumstick, other vegetable curries include different types of pulses, winter melon, bottle gourd, cauliflower etc that can be cooked with coconut, red chilly and other spices. More recipes on that later. For now I'd say, this is a must try for people who like coconut based curries.

Recipe credit: Cecilia Sequeira

Ingredients:

Drumstick - 3 nos
Tur Daal (pigeon peas) - 1/2 cup
Tomatoes - 2 medium

Grind the below mentioned ingredients with water:

Coconut - 1 cup, grated
Onion - 1 small (roughly chopped)
Garlic - 2 flakes
Kashmiri red chillies - 3 nos
Cumin seeds (jeera) - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds (rai) - 1/2 tsp
Coriander seeds (dhania) - 1 tbsp
Tamarind - 1 small lime sized ball
Turmeric powder(haldi) - 1/2 tsp

Tempering:

Oil - 2 tbsp
Curry leaves - 10 -15 nos
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Method:

Cook the daal and tomatoes in an pan with 2 cups of water. If using a pressure cooker, let it cook for two whistles and switch off the flame.
Once the daal is cooked, add the ground masala, drumsticks and salt to the pan. Let it come to a boil and then add water as per the desired consistency. Let it cook for about 5 to 7 minutes.
For tempering, use a small pan, pour oil, when the oil is hot add the mustard seeds, when they stop crackling, put off the gas flame and add curry leaves.
Put this oil immediately into the pan containing the curry.
You can temper the curry just before or after you put off the gas flame.

Egg curry in coconut milk

2016-06-15T13:12:00.000+05:30

I don't make egg curries very often. We like our eggs fried, in omelets or scrambled. But when your in a rush and have no time for an elaborate meal, this curry comes to your rescue. I got this recipe from my friend Allie, who makes this egg curry quite often. Her recipe calls for only four ingredients- garlic, East Indian bottle masala, coconut milk and boiled eggs. I know many may wonder, how can it be so easy or will it taste good enough. But I can assure you, having eaten this curry at her home a couple of times, it is delicious, specially when paired with hot steamed white or brown rice.

I make this curry a little differently. I add a few ingredients to make it more suitable to our palates at home. The original curry tastes coconuty and creamy, and has delicate flavor of spices. My variation makes it a little more spicy with the addition of green chillies and ginger and has onions and tomatoes. It is still one of the easiest things to make when in a rush or if you like eggs in a curry !

Recipe credit: Allison D'souza

Ingredients:

Boiled eggs - 8 nos
Onion - 1 large, finely chopped
Tomato - 1 large, finely chopped
Green chilly - 4 nos, finely chopped
Garlic - 8 falkes, minced
Ginger - 1 inch piece, minced
East Indian bottle masala - 1 and 1/2 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - as needed

Method:

Heat oil in a pan, add onion and garlic, fry till brown. Then add ginger and green chillies and continue sautéing for a minute.
Add the tomatoes and salt and continue sautéing till they turn mushy.
Once the tomatoes look done, add the bottle masala. Mix it and slowly add the coconut milk.
When the curry comes to a boil add the boiled eggs. After about three minutes switch off the flame.

How to boil eggs:

Fill a pan or pot with enough water to cover the eggs. Gently ease the eggs into the pan.
Add a 1 tbsp salt and 2 tbsp vinegar to the water
Put the pan on the stove and let the water come to a boil. Lower the flame and let the eggs cook for five minutes.
After five minutes switch off the flame and let the eggs rest in the hot water for 12 minutes.
Wait for the eggs to cool down completely before cracking the shells. You may put the eggs in cold water, to fasten the process.
If the eggs are still hot or warm and you try to crack the shell open, they tend to break and you have egg white coming off with the shell. So be patient and gentle.

Beef chilly fry with pan fried potatoes

2016-06-08T16:00:00.001+05:30

This dish was a happy accident. I had set out to make something else but due to some reasons, ended up making this. It was an instant hit, you can have this with chappatis or bread, in a sandwich or wrap, or with dal and rice, irrespective of what you pair it with, it tastes heavenly.

The best thing about this recipe is you can tinker around with the spices and sauces. Add or delete as long as you have the basic ingredients in place. You can create this dish to suit your palate and preference.

Ingredients:

Beef - 1/2 kg
Garlic - 4 cloves, finely chopped
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece, finely chopped
Green chilly - 2 nos, roughly chopped
Onion - 1 large, sliced
Tomato - 1 large, sliced
Worcester sauce - 1/2 tbsp
Soy sauce - 1 tsp
Red chilly sauce - 1 tsp (optional)
Salt as required
Oil as required
Coriander leaves - for garnish
Potatoes - 2 nos, cut lengthwise

Powdered spices

Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Red chilly - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp (optional)

Method:

Cut the beef into half inch tips, wash and set aside.
Add all the powdered spices to the beef tips and mix well. You could do this, before chopping the other ingredients for the dish. Set aside.
In a pan, heat oil, add the ginger, garlic, green chilly and onions. Fry till the onion is softened.
Add the tomatoes, salt and the beef. Mix well, bring it to a boil and then let it cook on low flame till the beef is cooked.
Add about one cup of water as required to ensure the contents don't stick to the pan and the beef is cooked. This could take about 30 minutes depending on how tough or tender the meat is. Please use your discretion.
This is a dry dish with with very thick sauce, so don't add too much water.
Lastly, add the sauces, check for taste and consistency, put off the flame.
Garnish with coriander leaves.

For the potatoes:

In a pan add 1 cup water and salt, bring it to a boil, add the potatoes and cook till 3/4th done.
If the water has not evaporated while cooking , drain the water, drizzle little oil so the potatoes are coated and pan fry till done.

Prawns and Bimbli with coconut

2016-06-01T16:00:00.000+05:30

When I moved into my new home late last year, one of the things that I was most excited about was the small patch of garden that came with the house. I've never had a garden, potted plants at my my mum's house yes... but an actual garden no. Well the excitement didn't last very long as I realized, I had no clue what to do. Thankfully the garden had the bimbli plant and it was in full bloom. They were so many fruits on the plant and many of them were just falling off and getting wasted. So I was trying to think of recipes where bimblis were used so I could put mine to good use.

I had eaten raw bimblis dipped in salt and chilly powder as a kid, but I couldn't get myself to eat it like that again. Alex's mum makes lovely bimbli pickle, but we don't eat a lot of pickle, so slaving to make a pickle was out of question. I could use a few to make daal, or in the red curry. These are sour fruits and are used as souring agents mostly. And then Alex thought of the prawns and bimbli sukhem his mum makes. Now it may seem like a strange combination, but all i can say is it works well. A few what's app messages later, this dish was ready and devoured in no time. Since I have access to bimblis so easily, this dish is regularly on our menu. I made this dish dryish with no water and it went very well with chappatis. So here's the recipe for you.

Recipe credit: Rozita Coutinho (Alex's mum)

Ingredients:

Prawns - 1/2 cup
Bimbli - 1 cup
Onions - 1/2 cup
Coconut - 1/2 cup
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt as required
Oil as required

Method:

Cut the bimblis in proportion to the size of the prawns. Add a little salt, mix and keep aside.
In a pan, heat little oil, add the prawns and dehydrate them completely on high heat. Keep aside.
In the same pan, heat oil, add finely chopped onions and fry till they are soft and pink.
Add all the powdered spices and mix well.
Add the salted bimblis, mix well and let it cook for about two minutes.
Add the coconut, mix well, and cook for a further two to three minutes.
Lastly add prawns, mix well and cook till the prawns are done.
Check for salt and add if required.

Pork chops - Oriental style

2016-05-25T16:00:00.000+05:30

Pork is one of my favorite foods, and they come in so many different forms, who can say no to a lovely slice of ham in a sandwich, or bacon with some mashed potato and scrambled egg, or the super awesome Goa sausage with pulao. Well clearly I can't. But when it came to pork recipes, I stuck to the tried and tested traditional recipes like Pork bafad, Pork sorpotel, Pork solantulem, and Pork vindaloo.

But in the past few years, I have ventured into pork roast, pork curries, and stir frys. More on that later. The recipe I share with you today is one of the many I've learnt from my mum-in-law. You must give it a go, and I promise you, you will love it.

Recipe credit: Rozita Coutinho (Alex's mum)

Ingredients:

Pork chops - 1 kg, washed and drained
Garlic - 2 tbsp, finely chopped
Celery - 2 big stalks
Green chilly - 1 no, sliced
Tomato ketchup - 2 tbsp
Honey - 1 tbsp (optional)

Marinade:

Salt
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
3 tbsp of vinegar
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp red chilly sauce

Method:

Marinate the pork chops with the ingredients mentioned under marinade for minimum two hours. For better results marinate longer and refrigerate.
Cook the chops till done and set aside.
In a pan, heat oil, add the chopped garlic, celery and green chilly. Fry well, but do not brown.
Arrange the pork chops on the pan, in such a way that each piece touches the surface of the pan. Fry till each chop has a brownish coat on either side.
Add the remaining marinade, and ketchup. Bring to a boil.
Lastly drizzle the honey. Check for seasoning and consistency.

Plain red coconut curry - Bachelor curry

2016-05-18T16:00:00.000+05:30

Goan and Mangalorean fish curries are famous and quite popular amongst foodies. Though I don't eat a lot of fish, I grew up in a house where fish curry and rice was a staple diet. My mum refused to cook separately for me, this was my mother's idea of tough love. :-) I learnt to eat the rice and curry without touching the fish. A strange but workable solution for all. Till date I enjoy fish curry and rice, minus the fish.

After I met Alex, I learnt to cook the plain red coconut curry from his dad. I was so happy to discover a curry that was so close to a fish curry, but minus the fish, unheard of in my mum's house.This curry uses all the same spices and instead of fish, you add a stock cube for the flavor. It is also known as the bachelor curry in Mangaloren cuisine. For picky fish eaters like me who love the coconut curry and prefer fried fish to curry fish, this is a super combo. Add a simple vegetable like cabbage or beans foogath,on the menu and you have a wholesome and delicious meal.

Recipe credit : Cyril Coutinho (Alex's dad)

Ingredients:

Onion (small) - 1 no
Tomato (small) - 1 no
Stock cube - 3 nos

For the masala:

Coconut - 200 grams
Kashmiri red chillies - 7 nos
Garlic - 7 cloves
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Peppercorn - 1/2 tsp
Onion (small) - 1 nos
Tamarind - a marble sized ball

Method:

Slice the onion and tomato. Add salt to the onion and mix and keep aside.
Grind to a fine paste all ingredients mentioned under, for the masala.
In a pan, place the salted onion, sliced tomato and the masala, bring this to a boil. Add about two cups of water, and cook on low flame for about 25 to 30 mins.
Add the stock cube five minutes before putting off the stove.
You may add drumsticks for additional flavor.

Simple veg soup

2016-05-11T15:30:00.004+05:30

Soups don't usually feature in my menu unless someone is sick or has specifically requested for it. We live in a city that is warm all year, and that's why I believe we never really crave soup. But it's a different story when someone is sick, soup can be very comforting and goes down easy.

This recipe is one of the many recipes that I have learnt from my mum-in-law. We've had had this numerous times on our visit to her home. And for someone who doesn't like soup, David gobbles it up at an amazing speed. Of course his soup is blended, so its a thick creamy soup, while most of us at home prefer the thin runny liquid with almost melted veggies and macaroni.

Recipe credit : Rozita Coutinho (Alex's mum)

Ingredients:

1 large onion
1 large tomato
1 large potato
1 large celery stalk
1 large carrot (optional)
1/4 cup uncooked macaroni/noodles
1 tbsp yellow moong daal (split moong)
1 tbsp Oil
2 stock cubes/ 1 ltr of stock
Salt and pepper for seasoning

Method:

Soak the moong daal in half a cup of water an hour before you start making the soup.
Roughly chop all the vegetables and set aside.
Heat oil in a large pot, add the onions and fry till they soften, add the tomatoes and fry well for about a minute or two.
Add the potatoes, carrots, moong daal and celery and mix well. Bring it to a boil, lower the flame and let the vegetables cook and come together.
Add a liter of water, bring the soup to a boil and let it simmer it for 20 mins.
Add the macaroni/noodles, and the stock cube and let it simmer till the macaroni is cooked. Adjust the consistency and check for seasoning.

Eggplant in garlic

2015-10-30T15:00:00.000+05:30

Eggplants are very popular and easily available in the Philippines. I love this vegetable, and try and cook it at least once a week, even though I am the only one who eats it at home. Today's recipe is quite simple and I cook it very often. If your an eggplant fan,like me, you should give it a go.

Ingredients:

Eggplant - 200 gms
Garlic - 3 fat cloves
Salt and pepper - as needed
Oil - as needed

Method

Wash and cut the eggplant into three inch pieces (lengthwise)
Finely chop garlic.
Heat oil in a pan, add the garlic and fry for a minute.
Add the eggplant, salt and pepper. Stir fry for a minute and then cook on slow flame for six to seven minutes.

Alternately, you could marinate the egg plant in all the mentioned ingredients and grill till done.

You could also add half a tablespoon of soy sauce to add Asian flavor.

Bantayan Islands

2015-10-28T16:01:00.000+05:30

I have been living in the Philippines for almost two years now. It is a beautiful country. In fact it has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. And when you consider the fact that Philippines is made up of more that 7000 islands, you can only imagine the number of beaches that have to be explored.

In the one year that I lived in Manila, we didn't really travel to any beach destinations except Subic bay. It was a lovely first experience, but it didn't really wow us. That could be because we had to travel for over four hours one way using public transport. And on our way back we were caught in a massive traffic jam that made our four travel into a six hour ordeal. After this we didn't really travel around much.

When the new year started, Alex and I decided we must take every opportunity to explore this beautiful country, specially since we live in Cebu now, and there are many beach destinations that can be visited over the weekends.

Our first destination this year was the beautiful Bantayan Island in February. It is a small island and fortunately not a commercial beach destination. So there are no shopping arcades or malls. You can buy small souveniers like fridge magnets or keychains from hawkers at the port or if the hotel has a gift shop you could buy stuff from there. But this destination is not for shopping purposes.

We stayed at Anika Beach Resort, and we had a ocean view room for P 3500/-. This did not include breakfast. But they have a restaurant that is open from 6 am to 10 pm. The menu is very basic and has limited options. If you are vegeterian you may have not a lot to choose from. And there are not may options in town too. The food is tasty and freshly prepared, but the only bummer is the options everywhere are very limited.

We, however didn't notice all this on our trip since David and I were busy in the sea all day. It is just so beautiful that the pictures don't do any justice to the place.

On our second day, we did go around the island. We hired a motorbike for P 500, for half a day. We visited the oldest church in Cebu.

We also visited another resort that has some caves where one can swim. We lazed at one of the shacks right near the ocean, sipped our drinks, and listened to the ocean waves. We had planned to go island hopping but we got up late and missed our boat. Our two days at the island flew past too quickly. And we have decided to go back soon. This holiday is one of the best we've had so far.

Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani

2015-08-29T08:37:00.003+05:30

Biryanis are a favorite in my home. Since we discovered Shaan - Bombay Biryani, we haven't tried any other recipe. So in the last year and a half we haven't cooked any other biryani recipe. It's the easiest biryani recipe ever and once we stumbled upon it, didn't try anything else till I ate this awesome Hyderabadi Biryani, that my friend Sudha cooked.

This is our new favorite and will be yours too.

Biryanis are a combination of long grained rice layered with meat cooked in spices, and potatoes. It is natural to get intimidated with the laundry list of spices that go into cooking the meat. However what I did to get over it, was organize the list of ingredients into manageable chunks, and then it didn't look so scary anymore. That's the reason I have organized the list of ingredients into three marinades. In fact it has helped me memorize the recipe too. Now when I cook this biryani, I don't need to look at the recipe. :-)

Potatoes are optional and many recipes do not include but since we are so fond of it, I end up adding it to all my biryanis. So you can completely skip potatoes. Also at times we may not have shahijeera, star anise and black cardamoms readily available in the kitchen. It's ok to skip them too.

Recipe credit : Sudha J

Ingredients for rice:

Basmati Rice – 500 gms
Oil – 1 tbsp
6 peppercorns
½ tsp shahijeera
Salt to taste

Chicken – 500gms

4 large onions (sliced, deep fired till dark brown)
**The recipe my friend shared, requires the onion to be deep fried but I shallow fry the onions, and this has not altered the taste of the biryani in any way.

Marinade 1

3 black cardamoms
4 small cardamoms
½ tsp shahijeera
½ tsp jeera/cumin seeds
5 cloves
3 bay leaves
2 star anise
2 inch cinnamon stick

Coarsely grind the above.

Marinade 2

¼ cup mint leaves
¼ cup coriander leaves
4 green chilies (adjust according to spice tolerance)
5 cloves of garlic or 1 tbsp of paste
1 inch piece ginger or 1 tbsp of paste

Grind to a fine paste using little water.

Marinade 3

200 ml yoghurt
1 tsp chili powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
½ tbsp coriander powder
Juice of half a lemon or one lime.

Garnish:

A few sprigs of coriander and mint leaves chopped finely
Food color (Red, yellow, green) – dissolve color as required in milk
1/4 of the fried onions.

Method for rice:

Wash and soak the rice for half hour before you cook it.
In a pan big enough to cook the rice, add water so that ¾ of the pan is full. Put this on the stove.
Bring the water to a boil and add the rice.
Into this water add, salt, a tablespoon of oil, ½ tsp shahijeera and 6 peppercorns.
Cook till the rice is ¾ cooked, and drain the excess water using a colander.
Keep aside.

Method for chicken:

In the pan you wish to cook the biryani, add the washed and drained chicken, add marinade 1, marinade 2, marinade 3, salt, two tablespoons of oil and ¾ of the fried onions.
Mix all the ingredients well and let it rest for one hour at least. Marinate longer for better results.
When your ready to cook the biryani, layer the cooked rice on top of the marinated uncooked chicken.
Put your garnish on top of the rice. I also add a tablespoon of ghee on top of the rice. This is purely optional.
Seal the pan, and put it on the stove.
Now cook the biryani on high flame for 10 minutes, next cook on medium flame for ten minutes and finally on low flame for the last ten minutes.
After you put off the stove, let the biryani rest for at least half hour before serving.
Serve with cucumber raita.

You can add fried potatoes while layering, but ensure that the potatoes are cooked well. I used two large potatoes and par boiled them before pan frying for a few minutes and adding them to the chicken. I did this as the chicken was marinating.

One of the reasons the biryani is easier to cook, is cause it eliminates the whole process of cooking the chicken separately, layering and cooking on dum. It also works well since you are not using too many utensils so the cleaning process after cooking is much simpler too.

Tuna cutlets with potato

2015-04-17T02:00:00.000+05:30

Tuna cutlets are eaten with relish in my home. A simple meal of dal rice with tuna cutlets can be very comforting and lift spirits even on the dullest days. I have two tuna cutlet recipes and I alternate them so we get to eat both. This recipe was shared by my younger sister Doreen, who is quite a cook and baker. She is always cooking new recipes but surprisingly I have never borrowed many recipes from her in the past. These days, however, it's a different story. Usually over our daily chats we talk about what we have cooked and if the day's menu seems appealing, we end up sharing recipes. Thanks to technology like What's app, communication has become much easier specially if you live far and can't make expensive phone calls.

Anyhow, this recipe is a little different from the one I used to make regularly. The addition of potatoes and spices to the cutlets in this recipe, adds a lot of flavor and also gives it a lovely texture. You can find the recipe for the previous tuna cutlets here.

Recipe Credit : Doreen D'sa (my sister :-)

Ingredients:

Tuna flakes(360-400 gms) - 2 tins
Boiled potatoes - 3 medium
Onion - 1 large, chopped finely
Garlic -1 tsp finely chopped
Ginger - 1 tsp finely chopped
Green chilies - 2 finely chopped
Coriander leaves - 3 tbsp finely chopped
Chili powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - ½ tsp
Freshly ground pepper - 1 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Oil, as required for shallow frying
Salt, as per taste
Eggs - 2 nos
Breadcrumbs - 1 cup

Method:

In a pan fry the chopped onions, ginger, garlic and green chili till the whole mixture turns brown.
Add all powders except the garam masala powder and stir well.
Add the tuna and mix well, keep stirring and let it cook for about two minutes.
Add the garam masala powder and coriander leaves and mix well. Put off the flame.
Let the tuna mixture cool, post which add the mashed boiled potatoes. Mix the whole thing well and make round balls and flatten it out like patties.
Refrigerate for half hour.
Break the two eggs in a bowl and lightly beat it. Season with salt and pepper.
Spread the breadcrumbs in a plate.
Heat a pan, add oil for shallow frying. When the pan is hot, dip the patty in egg and coat it in the breadcrumbs, and put it in the hot pan.
Shallow fry on both sides for five minutes each or till they turn brown and look done.

French Toast

2015-03-26T15:00:00.000+05:30

French toast or egg bread as David calls it, is a favorite breakfast dish in my house. This is one of the only two ways David eats eggs, the other being eggs fried sunny side up. He refuses to eat eggs made any other way and that is extremely frustrating. But reserach says children refuse any new food twenty times before they decide to try it. So I have a long journey ahead of me, I guess, before he tries other egg preparations. Phew! But that's just a mum's rant.

Coming back to today's post, French toast is a easy breakfast recipe and can be tweaked to suit individual tastes and preferences. Typically, french toast is sweet but I remember eating this snack in my office cafeteria, where the chef added green chillies to suit our palates and there was no hint of sweetness whatsoever. It was more like eating a masala omelette bread. :-) But it was a popular dish and I loved it for my evening snack.

It is a simple dish and can be cooked by novices too. Specially if you have to make breakfast for a large group, this is a good choice.

Ingredients:

Egg - 1 no
Milk - 1 tbsp
Sugar - 1 tsp (as per taste)
Salt & pepper
Bread slices - 2 nos
Oil - for shallow frying

Method:

In a bowl, break the egg, add the milk, sugar, salt and pepper. Beat it well.
Dip one slice of bread completely and let it soak in the egg mixture.
Immediately transfer to a hot pan that has been drizzled with oil, and shallow fry on each side for a minute or two.
Repeat the same process with second slice.

Serve with tomato sauce.

Masala Omelette

2015-02-20T14:00:00.000+05:30

An egg is a very versatile ingredient. Your imagination and creativity can create wonders when you have eggs to experiment with. One can cook different dishes with eggs - starters, finger snacks, main course and even deserts. I am an egg lover, I can eat eggs as often for a meal and not feel bored. In fact I love omelettes and can have them at any time of the day. An omelette is a quick fix meal and that's the beauty of it. It takes absolutely no time to make an omelette. Omelettes can be had for breakfast, lunch or dinner or as an in between snack. Omelettes are made by beating eggs and seasoning with salt and pepper. One may add different ingredients for making a delicious heavy meal. They are made differently across the world - folded or flat. And fillings could range from onions, mushrooms, cheese, ham et al.

The recipe I have for you today is the one you'd find in a typical Indian home for breakfast or at road side eatery. Indian omelettes are flat and typically contain onion, green chillies and coriander leaves and this is called - Masala omelette. I prefer a masala omelette for breakfast or as a side dish for dinner with dal or vegetable curry and rice. However, I also add tomatoes to my omelette. It's easy to make and for hard core non-vegetarians, an easy substitute for meat.

Ingredients:

Eggs - 3 nos
Onion - 1 small
Tomato - 1 small
Green chilly - 1 no.
Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp
Ginger - 1 tbsp (grated) Optional
Salt - to taste
Turmeric
Oil - for shallow frying

Method:

Chop the onion, tomato, green chilly and coriander leaves finely. Make three portions of these ingredients, including grated ginger.
In a big bowl, break one egg, add salt, turmeric and one third of all the chopped ingredients.
Beat all the ingredients well for a minute.
Heat a pan and pour oil as required for shallow frying. Pour the egg mixture on to the pan.
Egg cooks real fast and will set in about two minutes.
Check if the egg is cooked and flip it to the other side. Let it cook on the other side as well for 2 to 3 minutes.
Remove from the pan and repeat for the remaining two eggs as well.

Alternatively, all three eggs and all the ingredients can be beaten together and three to four portions can be made.

Omelette tastes best with pau, or bread which is lightly roasted on the pan after the omelette is taken off the pan. A hot cup of tea (chai) with the meal or at the end of it makes the meal complete.

Pork Solantulem

2015-02-16T14:00:00.000+05:30

Pork is a personal favorite of mine. I usually cook pork bafad, special occasions call for sorpotel, and I prepare pork solantulem when I'm in a hurry and don't have the time and patience to cook an elaborate dish. This is one of the easiest, fuss free pork recipes I know. This is a Goan dish, however, surprisingly I never heard of it till I got married. I have lived in Goa for a few years and have visited it quite often after I moved back to Mumbai. I have never seen this dish on any menu in any restaurant, nor have I heard any locals mention it ever. I think the sorpotel, vindaloo and choris take all the limelight and this humble recipe never made it to the stage.

But my mum-in-law makes this preparation once in a while and I learnt it from her many years ago. This dish is not spicy and I guess that's one of the reasons why it's not a party favorite. But I like this dish, not only 'cos of how easy it is to pull it together but 'cos it has very simple flavors. And of course 'cos it is David's favorite.

The original recipe has a handful of ingredients, viz; solam (kokum), garlic, cumin, salt and turmeric. But I add a few more spices to suit my palate. The star of this recipe is of course solam or kokum, which is absolutely essential, along with garlic and cumin. The other spices can be added or given a miss depending on convenience.

Ingredients:

Pork - 1 kg
Cumin - 1 tsp
Garlic - 8 fat cloves
Solam (Kokum) - 12 pieces
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Broken red chilies - 4 nos
Salt - as required

Additional ingredients:

Onion - 1 large
Cinnamon - 2 inch sticks
Cloves - 8 nos
Peppercorns - 1 tsp
Bay leaves - 2 nos

Method:

Add all the ingredients in a deep pan and keep on the stove on high flame. When it comes to a boil, reduce the flame and simmer for about twenty minutes or till the pork is done.
Stir occasionally to ensure it does not stick to the bottom.
Check for taste.
Any pork preparation, according to me tastes better after it has rested for a little while. At least one hour of rest will help the meat absorb all the spices and salt.

White chutney for dosa

2015-02-12T14:00:00.000+05:30

This chutney used to be prepared by my mum quite regularly, however I never bothered writing it down. Once I moved to Cebu, and started making dosas, I wanted to make this chutney. Based on my memory of the taste, I re-created it. And what can I say I nailed it. :-)

So last week I posted the recipe of dosas, and after that I posted the recipe of the potato bhaji that goes so well with it and today I am posting the recipe for a chutney that accompanies the dosa and bhaji and completes it.

Click Pole/Dosa for the recipe.

Click Masala dosa bhaji for the recipe.

Ingredients:

Coconut - 1/2 cup
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Green chilies - 2 nos
Tamarind - 2 to 3 small bits or 1/2 tbsp paste
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Onion - 1/2 of a small one
Salt

Tempering:

Oil
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - a few

Method:

Grind all the ingredients mentioned with very little water to a coarse paste.
In a pan, heat oil and temper mustard seeds, when they stop crackling add the curry leaves.
Then add the ground paste and mix well. Let it cook on the flame for two minutes.
Serve with hot dosas.

Dosa bhaji (Potato bhaji)

2015-02-09T14:00:00.000+05:30

Last week I had posted the recipe for dosas and this week I am posting two recipes that go well with it. Today's recipe is credited to my mum-in-law. She used to make this lovely potato bhaji with dosas every Friday, since Fridays are no meat days in their home. It is extremely simple to make this recipe and tastes heavenly with the dosas and some chutney.

Ingredients:

Boiled potatoes - 4 medium sized
Onions - 2 large sized, sliced thinly
Ginger - half inch piece, grated
Green chilly - 3 -4 nos, finely chopped
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Salt

Tempering:

Urad daal - 1/4 tsp
Chana daal - 1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Oil

Method:

Heat oil in a pan, add all the ingredients mentioned in - Tempering, in that order.
Add the onions, salt and chilies. Fry till the onions turn translucent.
Add the grated ginger and turmeric. Mix well.
Roughly mash the potatoes and add them to the pan, and mixing the contents of the pan well.
Sprinkle water if needed so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Don't pour water, if required keep sprinkling till all the contents are well mixed.
Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves. This is optional.

Recipe for dosas is here. You may also find it under the label of bread and breakfast.

Pole (poh-lay) or dosas

2015-02-05T14:00:00.000+05:30

We love variety in our plates, and Alex and I gulp down dosas, as though they are going out of fashion. That may be because I never made them, and the only opportunity we got to eat this awesome treat was either when Alex's mum or my mum prepared it. Both my mums encouraged me many times to try this as it was sooooooo simple. And yet I never gave in. Even after I moved to Manila and now Cebu, I never gave this preparation a second thought. Then one day, I had a Tamil- Telugu family move into my neighborhood. I was over-joyed at the thought of having Indian neighbors. And one evening as David and I were sitting at Sudha's (my neighbor) house, she asked him if he was hungry. And David said he was, so she quickly went to the kitchen and got him a dosa within five to six minutes. David ate that and then asked for more. You can imagine my awe, that was inspired by this simple and humble dosa. The fact that it took so little time to make something so lovely was the big draw for me.

That is when I started making dosas with a enthusiasm that is bordering psychotic. This episode happened in mid-December 2014. Since then, I have dosa batter in my fridge on any given day. For many days, David ate nothing but dosas for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and just like that he has decided to give dosas a break.

However, Alex and I have gotten used to eating dosas for breakfast. They are quick to make and an healthy option and go so well with chutney and sambhar or potato bhaji.

This is the simplest thing to cook besides rice and yet it took me so long to start making them. But better late than never I guess.

Ingredients:

Rice - 3 measures
Urad daal - 1 measure
Methi seeds (fenugreek) - few seeds.
Salt - to taste
Oil - for pan frying

Method:

Wash and soak rice and fenugreek seeds together in a bowl with enough water to cover the rice.
In another bowl, wash and soak urad daal. Soak for 2 - 3 hours.
Grind the rice and daal separately in a mixer to a smooth fine paste using little water. The consistency should be thick and creamy.
Empty the batter into a vessel, where the batter occupies half of the vessel, leaving room for it to rise. It will increase in quantity by at least half so use a large enough vessel.
Do not add salt at this stage.
Leave it over-night or at least eight to nine hours to ferment.
When the wait time is over. Mix the batter well and adjust consistency by adding water if required. Add salt.
Heat a flat pan, pour a little oil and then laddle the batter onto the pan, just like a pancake. Cook on simmer till the edges start to loosen and leave the pan. You may add oil on the top of the dosa and turn it over so it cooks on the other side too. This should take about thirty seconds.
You can make as many dosas as you want and then store the remaining batter in the fridge. It stays upto a week.
Once done, serve it hot with your choice of chutney and sambhar.

Click the following links for recipes that go well with Pole pronounced poh-lay, in konkani or Dosa

Beef Curry (Kerala Style)

2015-01-29T08:35:00.002+05:30

This is my first post this year. And the last time I posted was over six months ago. A lot has happened in those six months. Phew! I did move cities. And in the new city - Cebu, I moved twice. So there has been a lot going on. Including a month and a half in Mumbai. :-) So last year was a lot of travelling, hopefully this year we will travel for leisure. Well that is one of my goals anyway. To travel and explore Philippines. It is a beautiful country with gorgeous beaches, awesome food choices and friendly people. What more could a traveler ask for. So here's hoping that I make my goal a reality. And let's say amen to that.

Now coming back to the recipe below, which by the way has no connection whatsoever to my ramblings above, is one of my all time favorites. Of all the recipes that have been sitting in my drafts for ages, I was surprised to see this one, wondering why its hasn't been posted yet. This dish makes a fairly regular appearance in my elder sister's (Anita) home. And obviously if I am visiting is a part of the menu for one of the meals. Anita learnt this recipe from her elder sister-in-law Leena chechi many moons ago. What I particularly like about this preparation is the number of spices that come together to create this delightful spicy curry. As always, please use the number of chillies, cinnamon and peppercorns as per your spice tolerance. You may also use your discretion in using ginger and garlic. This dish is fiery hot if prepared with the exact measurements given below. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Beef - 1 kg (cubed into 1 inch pieces)
Oil - 3 -4 tbsp (as required)
Mustard seeds - 2 tsp
Curry leaves - 3 sprigs (roughly 25 leaves)
Onions - 3 big sized (roughly chopped)
Green chilly - 4 nos ( roughly chopped)
Garlic - 25 flakes (finely chopped)
Ginger - 2 and 1/2 inch piece (finely chopped)
Red Chilly powder - 1and 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 2 and 1/2 tbsp
Bay leaves - 3 nos
Vinegar - 1 and 1/2 tbsp
Methi (fenugreek) seeds - 1/4 tsp (roasted and ground)
Coconut - 1 and 1/2 cup (thinly sliced into 1/2 inch bits)

Spice Mix coarsely ground:

Cinnamon - 7 one inch sticks
Cloves - 6 nos
Cardamom - 6 nos
Cumin - 1 tsp
Aniseed (Saunf) - 1 tsp
Peppercorns - 10 nos

Method:

Wash and drain the meat. Apply salt and keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, when they stop spluttering, add the curry leaves, onions and green chilies. Fry till the onion becomes brown.
Add the chopped ginger and garlic, and continue frying for another 2-3 minutes.
Add the ground spice mix, the powders, bay leaves, meat and vinegar. Mix well.
Cook till the meat is done. This should take about twenty to thirty minutes depending on how tender the meat is.
While the meat is cooking, fry the coconut bits in oil till they change the color. Add a pinch of turmeric powder to this. Keep this aside.
Dry roast the methi seeds and and powder it. You can use a rolling pin or a mortar and pestle to do this.
When the meat is cooked, adjust the consistency of the curry. It should ideally be a thick gravy. Add the fried coconut and methi powder. Mix well. Put off the flame after about two minutes.

This curry goes well with steamed rice, appams and dosas.

Dal Fry

2014-05-21T11:41:00.000+05:30

Dals or lentils are a common preparation in most Indian meals. I have to dedicate few posts to this humble yet important dish. I cook dal at least once a week. Some weeks more. ;-) Mostly on days that I have no clue what to cook or on days when I feel we need to take a well deserved break from all non vegetarian food. The beauty of cooking dals is that it can be cooked in so many different ways, by adding as many or as little spices, vegetables and other ingredients from your kitchen. I personally prefer to keep it simple. But today's post is by no means a simple dal recipe. It is one of the most popular dal preparations of all time. At least in my circle of family and friends.

I learnt this recipe from my elder sister, Anita, and this recipe has a special place of honor in her kitchen. Her family loves a meal of dal fry with jeera pulao and fried chicken. Who wouldn't! In fact as I am writing this post I am salivating for this meal. :-( But this meal will have to wait, at least for now.

Coming back to the post, this specific dal preparation goes well with jeera pulao (cumin tempered rice), Indian pickle and papad. According to me, this simple meal is worth many scrumptious buffets, as it brings many fond memories of my childhood and loved ones. Hope you like it as much.... Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Tuvar Dal - 1 cup
Onions - 3 medium (Finely chopped)
Tomatoes - 3 medium (Finely chopped)
Green chilly - 3 nos (adjust as per taste) (Finely chopped)
Garlic - 3 fat flakes (Finely chopped)
Ginger - 1/2 inch (Finely sliced)
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida (hing) - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - 20 leaves
Coriander leaves - for garnish (Finely chopped)
Oil - as required
Salt - as required

Method:

Cook the dal in 1 cup of water till it is soft and squishy. Once cooked, whisk it so that the consistency is thick throughout. Keep aside.
In case your cooking the dal in a pressure cooker, take three whistles, and then take it off the stove. The dal should be thick in consistency, and not watery and runny. Keep aside.
Heat oil in a deep pan, add the mustard seeds, let it stop crackling. Then add the chopped garlic,green chilly, curry leaves, and asafoetida. Mix well and let it fry for a minute. Add the ginger.
Then add chopped onions and fry well till the onions turn golden brown.
Add the tomatoes. Mix well. Let this mixture cook for a couple of minutes. When the oil starts leaving the sides, add the powders. Stir well and fry the mixture for two to three minutes.
Finally add the cooked dal and salt. Mix well. Let the dal simmer and mix with all ingredients for three to five minutes.
Garnish with fresh chopped coriander leaves.

Pork Sorpotel (Goan style)

2014-05-14T10:35:00.000+05:30

Today's post is truly special. I am posting the recipe of my most favoritest pork dish. SORPOTEL. I have eaten pork sorpotel for every Christmas for the last eight years. And of course on other special occasions too, like a wedding in the family, Easter and a loved one visiting after a long time. The credit for this recipe completely goes to my dearest mum in law (MIL). She laboriously cooked it year after year on every special occasion and she has been kind enough to share the exact details not only of the ingredients but the method too. She in fact made a smaller quantity once, no special occasion, just so that I could watch and learn. How great is that! I learnt to cook this about two years ago when my MIL was visiting her daughter in Dubai for Christmas and we would be without sorpotel. I took this opportunity to put my notes to good use and voila....

Just to give you a background, Sorpotel has portugese influence, and is made by the Goan, Manglorean and East Indian Christian communities. This dish is made in large quantities since it is mostly served on special occasions like weddings, birthdays and parties. The best part about this dish is that it can be cooked well in advance. In fact it tastes better, more pickled with each passing day. Each community makes it differently, for instance the Manglorean community cook sorpotel with the pork offals, and parts of the pig that are otherwise usually discarded. They also add pig blood to the preparation. I have never eaten this dish, as it is not available commercially. So unless you get invited to someone's house for a meal, where this dish is prepared and served, there is a slim chance of you getting to taste this. The East Indian community, on the other hand, has two versions of the sorpotel, one red preparation, where they use their famous bottle masala and the green sorpotel, where they use whole ingredients i.e.without being ground. And finally the Goan community cook this dish with pork meat and pig liver. The method is mostly the same, where the meat is par-boiled and then chopped into tiny pieces and fried in its own fat, and after which the masala or sauce is prepared and the meat is added and allowed to soak in the spices. This dish best tastes a couple of days after it's made.

So brace yourselves for some hard work, and no shame in asking for help, specially when it comes to chopping the meat. But you will love the dish and when you see your loved ones enjoy it, all the hard labor just seems worth it!

IMPORTANT NOTE :

The ingredients in the recipe are for half kg meat only. Please adjust ingredients as per the quantity of meat you will cook.
It is recommended that for every 1 kg of pork meat, add 1/2 kg pork liver. This combination tastes best.
Use pork belly for this dish, as the belly has the best distribution of meat, fat and skin.

The delicious fiery SORPOTEL!

Spice Mix:

Kashmiri Cilly - 5 nos
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Black peppercorns - 20 nos
Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
Cloves - 5
Cardamom - 2
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
***Vinegar - as required

Dry grind the above ingredients to a fine powder. Add vinegar last to make a paste. Use as much vinegar as needed but be careful as too much will make the dish too sour.

1) Pork meat and liver boiled
2) Chopped liver

1) Fried meat
2) Fried chopped ingredients

Ingredients for chopping:

Onion - 1 medium (finely chopped)
Garlic - 5 medium flakes (finely chopped)
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece (finely chopped)
Green chilly - 1 no (finely chopped)

Method:

Wash the meat well. Place the whole chunk of meat in a sauce pan and add 1 cup of water. Let the meat cook for ten to fifteen minutes.
Set the meat aside for cooling. Reserve the water. Cool the water and refrigerate.
Once the meat has cooled, cut the meat into quarter or half inch cubes. Keep the meat and liver pieces separate.
Heat a pan, pour little oil, fry the chopped meat first. Fry till it changes color. Use oil initially, later the pork will release its fat and you will not need to use oil. Fry the liver till it turns black. Note that the liver needs to be fried longer than the meat. Set aside the fried meat.
Heat a sauce pan, fry the onions till they turn golden brown, then add the remaining chopped ingredients. Fry well.
Add the ground red masala and meat. Fry the masala well.
Add the meat and liver, and salt, mix well. Put off the flame. Note: No cooking.
Let the meat marinate for four to six hours.
After six hours, cook the meat with the reserved water, on slow flame for thirty minutes.
Since the meat is to be consumed after a few days, don't refrigerate on the same day.
Refrigerate after two or three days.
During those two to three days when the meat is not refrigerated, heat the meat twice a day on the flame, preferably once in the morning and once at night.