Vendakka ( Okra ) Curry

In my quest to find a way to bring more veggies to our diet, I thought of making one of my mom's old recipe. She puts omelet at the end to the curry.




INGREDIENTS

1. Vendakka - 1 cup
2. Garam masala - 1 tsp
3. Onion - 1/2
4. Curry Leaves
5. Ginger - 1/2 inch
6. Garlic - 2
7. Thin coconut milk - 1/2 cup
8. Thick coconut milk - 1/2 cup
9. Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
10. Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
11. Cashew nut - 10 (optional)
12. Oil - 2 - 3 tbsp
13. Salt - to taste

PREPARATION

1. Heat half Oil in a pan and fry Okra for a few minutes. Remove from the pan and keep aside.
2. In the same pan heat the rest of the oil and sauté onion, ginger , garlic and curry leaves for few minutes. Be careful not to let the onion turn brown.
   
   
   
3. Now add chilli powder, turmeric powder and garam masala and sauté for few minutes.
4. Now add okra, salt and thin coconut milk and cook for few minutes.
5. If you are adding cashew, grind it with thick coconut milk and add to the curry. Cook for few more minutes and your curry is done!

Dahi Vada

Hey guys! :)

It's been a long time since I last posted. I've been a bit busy of late... and when I did get the time, I was lazy... :)

My in-laws had come a month back so I'd got out all my love for making beautiful food with a relish. Tried out lots of stuff.. mostly sweet dishes... but a lot of times it was just that... good to look at... :P

But these vadas, they were a smashing success!

The first time I had dahi vadas were from a Pakistani neighbour's place back in Saudi. They were soooo good, I asked my mom to make it when I got back home. Dahi vada was something new at my home. I don't remember anyone making them back home in Kerala either. Not in my place...

My mom took the recipe from aunty and since then Dahi vadas have always been a must-have dish during Ramadan....

That was a long time ago... when I was in the 3rd grade I think...
After getting married this is the first time I've tried it.

For the vada you'll need
- Urud daal - 1 cup (you'll get around 20+ medium vada's)
- cumin seeds - 1 tsp
- 3-4 curry leaves, finely chopped
- chopped onions - 2 tbsp (optional)
- salt to taste
- Oil for frying
(Actually for the vada all u need is urud daal and salt. The cumin seeds, curry leaves and onion adds extra taste. That's the best part of cooking at home after all. You can make it as you like it)

For the Dahi
- Dahi (add water to thin the yogurt.. I use the Almarai Leban we get here in the gulf)
- A handful of coriander leaves
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- green chillies 1-2 (this depends on how hot ur chillies are. If 2 are not enough add more)
- salt to taste

For garnishing
- Coriander leaves
- Urud daal - 1 tbsp
- Kashmiri chilli powder
- Chaat masala

How to make:
- Wash and soak the daal in water for about 4-6 hours.
- Grind it into a smooth paste. Don't add too much water for grinding. It should be a thick, smooth paste.
- Add salt, cumin seeds, onion and curry leaves. Mix well.

Heat oil in a large pan and drop spoonfuls of batter into it. Fry until it turns gold drown. Do make sure the oil is hot before dropping the batter in.
Take the hot vadas and put them in a mixture of cold water and salt for 2-3 minutes. Then squeeze out the water and keep aside...
Make small vadas.... once its soaked in water and then later the dahi, it'll swell up and be twice its size... unless, ofcourse, its BIG dahi vadas you want....

Now for the dahi part:
Blend together the cumin seeds, green chillies, coriander leaves and yogurt. Add salt (according to your taste) to the mixture.

Now arrange the vadas in whatever dish u want to serve it in and pour the dahi mixture over them.
For garnishing u could simply use coriander leaves. I roasted some urud daal in oil and poured over the dahi vada. If u like something crunchy this is a good option. I love it with chick peas too.
Then I just sprinkled some kashmiri chillie powder and Chaat masala on top to give it that spicy look of the Indian food :)

These vadas turned out really soft and everyone loved it. I like collecting such simple snack ideas. Easy to make for guests. There was this recipe I came across a few days back for making stuffed dahi vada: http://cooking-goodfood.blogspot.ae/2012/03/stuffed-dahi-vada.html. It looks yum yum....planing to try it out soon... :)

Tata for now... will catch up later when I have some other beautiful yummilicious food and recipe... :)

Nadan Chicken Roast

This is one of the best Nadan Chicken roast I have made. If you can make this in a clay pot, even better!

INGREDIENTS

1. Chicken - 1 kg
2. Onion 4-5 * 
3. Ginger - 2 inch piece
4. Garlic - 8-9
5. Curry Leaves - few
6. Salt - According to taste
7. Water - 1 cup - only if you need gravy
8. Oil - 2- 3 tbsp

To Roast **

1. Chilli powder - 1 tsp
2. Pepper - 1 tsp
3. Coriander powder - 2 tsp
4. Garam masala - 2 tsp
5. Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp 

METHOD 

1. Cut the chicken into small pieces.
2. Dry roast all the ingredients under roast and mix well with the chicken pieces. Keep aside for 1-2 hrs.
3. Now slice the onion, ginger and garlic into small pieces.
4. Heat oil in a pan and sauté the onion, ginger and garlic till dark brown. Be careful not to burn them. 
5. Now add curry leaves and sauté for few more seconds
6. Now add the chicken mix to the onion mix.
7. Add salt and water if you need more gravy

Tips

1. Adding a little salt to the onion will reduce the sauté time.
2. If you have time, slow cook the chicken. 

      * You can add more or less onion depending on how much gravy you need.
      * *  Again you can adjust the chilli and masala level according to your taste. Be careful not to burn.

North Indian Chicken

Do you love North Indian Chicken dishes? Then this one is for you. This is the first time I have made a north Indian Chicken Curry. And I managed to take photo at every step!

 INGREDIENTS
 

1. 1  kg Chicken
2. 3  Large onions (minced)
3. 4  Cloves of garlic (minced)
4. 1  Medium ripe tomato puréed or 2 tablespoons tomato sauce
5. 1  Tablespoon fresh grated ginger
6. 2-3  Green chilli - chopped
7. 2  Teaspoons coriander powder
8. 1½ Teaspoon red chilli powder (or according to your taste)
9. 1 Teaspoon Paprika (optional)
10. ½   Teaspoon turmeric powder
11. ½   Teaspoon black pepper
12. ½   Teaspoon garam masala (or according to your taste)
13. ¼   Cup of  plain yogurt(optional)
14. 2 - 3 Bay leaves
15. 3    Tablespoons vegetable oil
16. ¼  Cup of chopped coriander leaves
17. Salt
18. 1  Cup water - Add more if you want more gravy

METHOD
1. Wash and clean the chicken and cut the chicken into pieces. Keep it aside.
2. Mince the onions and garlic in the chopper or grind them in the blender.

3. Heat the oil in a pan and saute the onions till golden brown.
4. Meanwhile puree the tomato.
5. Add coriander powder, red chili powder, paprika and turmeric powder to the fried
     onions and fry for few seconds. 
6. Add tomato puree and yogurt.

 
7. Once all the water is evaporated and the chicken pieces, bay leaves, salt and water and cook for 15 mins.
8. Once the chicken is almost done, add grated  ginger, chopped green chilies garam masala, and black    pepper powder.
9. When ready to serve transfer the curry in a serving bowl and garnish with chopped  coriander leaves.

Kerala Fish Biryani

"The Belly rules the mind." - Spanish Proverb

The soul reason I made this for dinner Friday night was because my elder sister had mailed me pics of what she had made for lunch.
Fish Biryani. Her husband loves it.
It was so mouth-watering to look at that I just had to have it!
So I made it!

I love biryanis. I prefer chicken thou. I like mutton biryani only if the mutton is tender and juicy.
My husband had got some fresh King Fish on his way back from Jummah prayer. And everything else I had at home... just needed to get a good recipe. I have never made fish biryani before.. needed to find a good one...

While searching in Google (as usual :) ) for a good fish biryani recipe I came to this amazing site ( http://www.desimelange.com/ ) This site is awesome!! I love the photography! The pics would tempt even those who hate cooking into making it. You just have to check this site. I'm sure you'll love it as much as I do. And the fish biryani recipe I got from it was perfect. I'm no great shakes at fish biryani, but I loved the resultant biryani I managed to cook up in my kitchen :)

As usual I got a bit too excited with the turmeric.. :) My biryanis are always very yellow :D
Once I remember (a few months after marriage back when we were in Bangalore) I made prawns biryani which had sooo much turmeric in it that our hands were all yellow even after washing it with soap :P

So here's how I made it:

Ingredients:
1/2 kg King fish... there'll be about 6 steaks..
2 and 1/2 cups of basmati rice (I use the Mumtaz Basmati rice we get here in Dubai)
3 big onions sliced finely
2 large tomatoes chopped
1.5 tbsp of garlic(crushed)
1.5 tbsp of ginger(crushed)
Green chillies, sliced (add according to how spicy hot you want it)
1.5 tsp garam masala powder
1/4 tbsp turmeric powder
1/2 tbsp chilli powder (Add only if u need more chilli to ur masala!!)
3-4 cloves, cardamom and 2-3 small pieces of cinnamon sticks
2 tbsp lemon juice
A handful of fresh coriander and mint leaves chopped
Sunflower oil (traditionally biryani is made using ghee but i prefer sunflower oil)
Salt according to taste
Some roasted almonds and cashew nuts for garnishing

While making a fish biryani its best to fry the fish lightly first so that it does not break while making the masala and mixing with rice.

So for the marination part we will need:
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 and 1/2 tbsp chilli powder (Here u can use the Kashmiri chilli powder if u have. It will give a nice red colour to the fish)
1 tbsp of vinegar
Salt according to taste
(All this u can adjust according to how u like your fish, after all that's the best thing about cooking at home: You can eat food exactly the way you like it.)

Now first marinate the cleaned fish and keep aside.
Wash rice and cook it in a heavy bottom vessel with enough water. Add 1-2 tbsp oil and a little salt to it. Keep checking the rice. When its almost cooked (kinda like 3/4 cooked... is there something like 3/4 cooked? :) but u get my point, right? It should be a little more than half cooked but not completely cooked) drain water using a colander and keep it aside.

Next we fry the fish
Place a big wide pan with lid (big enough to accommodate the masala + rice) on the stove, put 5-6 tbsp of oil. When the oil is hot fry the fish in it lightly. Mine went a bit over cooked at one side as u can see...

After you've removed the fish from oil and done with frying,  put cloves, cardamom and cinnamon sticks into that same oil. Saute it for a minute and then add the sliced onions. When the onions soften and starts browning a little add the ginger and garlic. Add tomatoes & green chilies when the raw smell of the garlic disappears. Now mix in the turmeric, chilli powder, garam masala, salt and lemon juice. You will know the tomatoes are cooked when u can see that all the water in it has evaporated and oil starts accumulating on the sides. Now this is one tip from that site which i really liked: To debone one of the fried fish and mix the shredded pieces in the masala.
Add some of the mint and coriander leaves now.. Keep some aside for garnishing...

Switch off stove, place the fried fish on top of the masala and  cover with lid.

Now for the layering...
(Usually when I make biryani just for me and my husband, I put the cooked rice on top of the masala(It'll be rice for 2.. so not much there for layering)... roast some almonds and cashew nuts in 3 tbsps of oil... put that on top of the rice and pour that same oil, in which I roasted the nuts, on top. Cover it up and place in oven for 10-15 minutes on 175 degree C. That's why I make the masala in a pan big enough to hold the rice too...
I mix up the rice and masala 5 minutes before serving... garnish with a few mint and coriander leaves)

Anyway, layering really is like this(using a heavy bottom vessel):
The bottom most layer should be a bit of the fish masala. Keep all the fish outside. Mix fish with rice only while serving. This is not a must.. its just to make sure they dont break into pieces.
Now make the second layer with rice over the masala layer. Sprinkle lemon juice, garam masala powder, fried onion, roasted cashewnuts, almonds and coriander leaves over this (I didnt do this. I didnt even have coriander leaves for this biryani. It didnt make a noticeable difference thou. But mint should always be there in the masala... it gives more of a biryani flavour than coriander does)

Then reapt with masala layer then rice... The topmost layer must be the rice...
Cover with lid and place in oven for about 10-15 minutes on 175 degree C. Or place it on stove on low heat for 5-10 minutes.

Serve with the fish :)

This was my first try at Fish Biryani and Alhamdulillah it turned out good.
My taste buds loved it :)
That's the best part of cooking.... we make the way we like :)