ROASTED CHICKEN

Whether deep fried or shallow fried or just roasted any dry style of chicken is still a hit among most of us. We need to “at least” have chicken to get the feeling of having eaten a non-vegetarian meal. 

Now this dish as the name says involves just one process of cooking but it needs to be carefully crafted.

Ingredients:

Chicken leg- 3

Curd- 100ml

Ginger- garlic paste- 1 tsp

Red chilli powder- 2 tsp

Dhania powder- 2 tsp

Garam masala- 1 tsp

Saunf powder- ½ tsp

Pepper powder- 2 tsp

Turmeric powder- ½ tsp

Salt- to taste

Oil- 2 tbsp

Lemon slices- to garnish

Recipe:

          In a marinating bowl, add the chicken leg and all the other ingredients except oil and marinate for 45 minutes.

          In a fry pan add oil and roast the chicken leg over medium heat turning them over very frequently. Once done serve with lemon. 

NAATUKOZHI CHAARU

This dish is part of the South Indian wedding feast. Though not served on the day of the wedding, this is specially served to the groom the day he returns back to the bride’s house for a feast.

          After having had a nice wash with gingelly oil, the groom is served this dish which also is prepared in gingelly oil.      

          Why gingelly oil? Most of us are not aware of many merits of gingelly oil. This has a unique way of reducing body heat, enhances digestion and also has right proportion of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids and these make the oil one of the best to be taken in.

          Be careful not to use the so-called clear refined transparent oils because the more they are refined, the more harmful they are.

          Significance towards this curry is that the masalas are freshly pound/ground. And it is done using the traditional methods of stone grinding (Ammi).

Ingredients:

Country fowl (naatukozhi)- 1 full chicken

Shallots- 250g

Green chillies- 5

Ginger-garlic paste- 100g

Tomatoes- 2 big

Turmeric powder- 2tsp

Bay leaf- 1

Mace(Jaathipathri)- a small piece

Kapok(Maratimuggu)-1

Curry leaves- few

Salt- to taste

Gingelly oil- 4tbsp

For the powder:

Red chillies- 10

Dhania seeds- 2 tbsp

Pepper corns-  2 tsp

Dry ginger- ½” piece

Cinnamon- 2” stick

Cardamom- 5

Cloves-3

Star anise- 1

Cumin seeds- 2 tsp

Saunf – 1 tsp

For the paste:

Coconut (grated) – 1 cup

Shallots- 2

Cumin seeds- 1 tsp

Recipe:

          In a clay pot, roast all the ingredients listed under powder and pound them using a stone. This takes a significantly long time so make sure you do this first and keep the powder ready.

          Grind the paste ingredients into a fine smooth paste.

          In a clay pot, add gingelly oil and splutter curry leaves. Add bay leaves, mace and kapok and leave them for 30 seconds. Now add chopped shallots and fry them till golden. Add slit green chillies and sauté for a couple of minutes.

          Now add the ginger-garlic paste and fry until cooked. Now add the chicken and fry them for 20 minutes. Now add the chooped tomatoes and cook it for over 15 minutes.

          Now add the powder and mix well and cook it covered for 15 minutes.

Once the masalas have blended well into the chicken, add salt and the coconut paste and cook it covered for five minutes.  Add a dash of pepper powder to the curry and its all ready to be served.

          This curry tastes heavenly with the traditional uzhunthanchoru (rice cooked with black urad dhal, garlic and dry ginger ) and with other dishes like steamed rice, Malabar paratha, rotis and also serves as a good accompaniment for biryani.

PS:

·        When you roast the spices be careful to drop them in one by one so that you don’t burn any of the ingredients

·        If either of the ingredient is over roasted it tends to give a bitter taste to the gravy

·        Pounding them in a stone or grinding them on ammi isn’t a must. You can use your spice grinder/ mixer  grinder to do it as well

·        If you are using your spice grinder, make sure you crush the dry ginger with a pin roller as this tends to stay the same in the grinder and also damage the blades of the spice grinder/mixer grinder.

Mutton Cutlets

These are best tea time snacks. Whenever mom makes these I ve so enjoyed them from the making of it to the eating of it. Best when they are eaten hot, tastes yum when they are cold as well; this snack is an all-day thing to eat.

Ingredients:

Mutton (minced)- 250g

Potatoes- 5 medium sized

Onions- 2 big

Green chillies – 3

Tomato- 1 big

Ginger-garlic paste- 1 tbsp

Turmeric powder- 1 tsp

Red chilli powder- 2 tsp

Coriander powder- 1 tsp

Cumin powder- 1 tsp

Garam masala- 1 ½ tsp

Pepper powder – 2 tsp

Egg- 2

Bread crumbs- 1 cup

Salt- to taste

Oil – 3 tbsp

RECIPE:

          In a pressure cooker, add the minced mutton, water, turmeric powder, salt and cook it for 15-20 minutes. Keep it aside. Do not drain the excess water.

          Boil potatoes with a pinch of salt. Mash them well and keep aside.

          In a kadai, add oil and splutter finely chopped green chillies. Then add finely chopped onions and sauté them till they are caramelised. Now add ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell is off. Add tomatoes and a pinch of salt and cook well till they are mashed.

          Add the masalas given and add a cup (100ml) of the mutton stock and cook well the masalas are cooked. Now add the remaining stock and simmer till the gravy turns dry.

          Add the mashed potato and blend the masala into the potato. Once done add the minced mutton and salt and mix well. Leave them on a low flame for 10 minutes turning them over every two minutes.

          Put the flame off and add pepper powder, mix well keep it aside and let them cool.

          Break open the eggs in a shallow bowl, whisk them well adding a pinch of salt and keep them aside.

          Spread the bread crumbs on a flat plate.

          Make small balls of the mince mutton, flatten them into small rounds. Wash them with egg and coat them with bread crumbs. Shallow fry in hot oil, making sure not to burn the bread crumbs.

The tastiest mutton snack is ready to serve.

          Tastes good if eaten as it is , or when it is inside a burger or with biriyani or with sambar/rasam/curd rice. Name anything, you can eat cutlets with them.

         

         

Fish Masala

          Almost similar to fish moilee, I would rather this is a tamil style of fish moilee. This is the only benefit when you belong to both groups… Integration of cuisines and that result in amazing new recipes which form a legacy later.

Ingredients:

Pomfret fish- 1 of size 500-750g

Onion- 1 big

Shallots- 15

Ginger-garlic paste- 2 tsp

Green chillies- 3

Tomato- 1 big

Coriander leaves- a few

Turmeric powder- 1 tsp

Red chilli powder- 3 tsp

Dhania powder- 2 tsp

Pepper powder- 2 tsp

1^st Coconut milk – 200 ml

Salt- to taste

Coconut oil – 3 tbsp

Recipe:

          Marinate fish with salt, pepper powder, red chilli powder. Shallow fry in a tawa and keep it aside.

          In a kadai, add two tablespoons of coconut oil. Add shallots and sauté them until translucent. Now add onions and fry them till they caramelise. Then add green chillies and sauté for a couple of minutes. Now add ginger-garlic paste and then add tomatoes and cook well until they are mashed.

          Now add the coriander leaves and toss them a bit. Now add the masalas and cook them until done. Now add the fish and fry them along with the masala till they get blended. Once these are over turn the flame off and add the first coconut milk.

          This dish goes well all forms of flavoured rice and maida breads like naan, roshi, maida chapathi and roti.

PS:

·        Do not fry the fish too much as this tends to be very crunchy and doesn’t blend well with the masala

·        After adding the fish make sure u toss the gravy less so that the fish is intact

         

Squid Curry

          Of all sea food there is few stuff that are really special, exquisitely tasty but are available verily on a seasonal basis. Squid tops this list. The aroma while it is getting cooked, the flavour of the dish and a unique non-seafood taste is what makes this special.

Ingredients:

Squid- 500g

Shallots- 20

Green chillies- 5

Tomatoes- 2 big

Ginger-garlic paste- 2 tsp

Mint leaves- few

Coriander leaves- few

Turmeric powder- 1 tsp

Red chilli powder- 1 tbsp

Dhania powder- 2 tsp

Cumin powder- 1 tsp

Pepper powder- 1 tsp

Cinnamon- 1 stick

Cloves- 2

Cardamom- 2

Star anise- 1

Curry leaves- a sprig

Salt- to taste

Coconut oil- 3 tbsp

Recipe:

          Clean the squid off all the ink and its shell and dice them into cubes.

In a pressure cooker add the cleaned squid, a few shallots, two slit green chillies, one teaspoon of ginger-garlic paste, one chopped tomato, turmeric powder, salt and a teaspoon of coconut oil and pressure cook for 20 minutes.

          In a kadai, add oil and splutter curry leaves. Add all the whole spices and sauté them for a minute. Add sliced shallots and fry them till translucent. Now add the slit green chillies and sauté them. Add ginger-garlic paste and cook for a few minutes. Now add chopped tomatoes and a pinch of salt and cook them well till they are mashed.

          Now add all the masalas one by one and the stock from the cooked squid and mix them well. Let the masalas get cooked in the squid stock for 10 to 15 minutes on low flame. Now add the squid along with all the additives and cook them for 10 minutes. Add mint leaves, coriander leaves and sauté for a couple of minutes. Put the flame off and sprinkle pepper powder and squeeze out a few drops of coconut oil on to the gravy.

PS: Squid is a crustacean and has a high tendency to induce allergy even if you are not allergic to other crustaceans like crabs, prawns or lobsters. Never store up raw/marinated/cooked squid in the refrigerator as this triggers the allergic responses very quickly.

Coalman pepper chicken

Serves 3; Preparation time 45 minutes.

Ingredients: 

Chicken - 500 gm (preferably the thigh bone)

Onion - 2 big sized (diced)

Green chillies - 3 (slit in halves) 

Curry leaves - few 

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Oil - 4 tbsp

Salt - to taste

THE MASALA: Roast 4 tsp of pepper corn and 3 tsp of jeera till the jeera gives a mild black tint. Then make it into a fine powder using a mixie. 

How to make?

                  In a deep kadai, preferably a non stick one, add oil and once it is heated allow the curry leaves to splutter. Then add green chilles and saute for 15 seconds and then add onion and saute till they turn golden brown. Now add the washed chicken pieces and add turmeric powder and salt and cook it covered. Turn it over every five minutes to prevent charring. After 25 minutes add the masala and repeat the same witout covering the kadai. Continue this for 15 minutes. The dish is ready. Garnish with fresh cut onions and lemon.

This goes good as a starter or as an accompaniment for paruppu kuzhambu, sambhar and of course biriyani too!!!