Thoran

Living in  a multicultural university gave me an opportunity to discover new cuisines and ingredients that I probably would never even consider tasting. And the exploration resulted in heady new flavors. One of the discoveries was my introduction to the Mallus. There was once a quote shared on facebook that "You do not happen to Mallus, they happen to you". Resham George happened to me and let me tell you it was one of the highlights of my postgraduate days. She introduced me to her mother Lathika George and her debut cookbook - The Suriani Kitchen and that day was good for the future of my tastebuds. The book brings us recipes from the Syrian community of Kerala - some indigenous and some that are staples in the Kerala kitchen. The book cover is unassuming echoing memories of the old memories of grandmothers on the grindstones, smoky coal ovens, blackened iron skillets and comforting aromas of the Indian hearth. The pages that followed did not disappoint - playful stringhoppers or idiappams, indulgent chemeen biryani, the staple Kerala chicken stew, the famous appam and stew, the delightful avial...the list just goes on and on. And the best part of the book - you follow the instructions and the food that comes out is just right.

I first flipped through the pages of the book at Resham's home in Kodaikanal. And once I touched down on flat land buying the book was the first on my land. Since then, it has become my constant companion in creating delicious, easy recipes from the land of Kerala. The recipe in this post is Cabbage thoran  which is adapted from her spinach thoran recipe from the book. The thoran is a spice paste made with grated coconut and aromatics. The cabbage is tossed with this paste and fried with some mustard seeds and curry leaves. I have added some turmeric for color and a green chilly - well, because I love the spicy kick.

Ingredients:
For the thoran
1 medium red onion
1 inch ginger
4 garlic cloves
1 cup grated coconut
1tsp cumin seeds
Blend all the ingredients together for a coarse paste.
To fry
1 medium cabbage very finely chopped
1tsp mustard seeds
7-9 curry leaves
2 dried red chillies
1 slitted green chilly
1tsp turmeric
salt to taste
oil for cooking
water as required

Method:
Toss the cabbage with the thoran paste
Heat oil. Splutter the mustard seeds. Break the chillies and add to the pan.
Add the curry leaves. Be careful of the splatter.
Fold in the marinated cabbage through the spluttering spices. Cook for five minutes.
Add the slitted green chilly and turmeric. Sprinkle 2tbsp of water and cook for fifteen more minutes.
Serve with some herbed rice and a spicy dal for a wholesome and delicious dinner.

Egg Pulusu

Waiting for the East Coast Express to take me for the first time to Hyderabad I was informed by my uncle that Andhra cuisine is a mix of spicy and sour and that I better be prepared for it. The words perhaps tinged with my bittersweet feelings of leaving home kept me away from the local cuisine for a while. However, in due course curiosity-as it always does-won out. And a good thing too, for the cuisine is my kind of spicy with lots of heat and just the right sourness to give the food a robust, full-bodied flavor. I mean, it is really full on.

Pulusu translated into English means sour or acid. The addition of tamarind along with fenugreek seeds to this gravy gives it the acidity that characterizes the essence of this cuisine. The egg, on the other hand, is one of my favored ingredients and the perfect partner for this marriage of flavors. So try this recipe of Egg Pulusu and prepare your taste buds for this adventure.

Mise-en-place

2 eggs.

Bring water and egg to boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Remove and de-shell eggs.

Ingredients:

2 eggs boiled

1tsp turmeric

2tsp red chili powder

1tsp coriander powder

1tsp cumin powder

1tsp methi[fenugreek] seeds

1tsp mustard seeds

3 dried red chilies

2tbsp curry leaves

1 medium onion chopped

2 slitted chillies

1tsp ginger garlic paste

1tbsp tamarind

1/2cup water

salt to taste

oil as required

Method:

Heat oil. Add a pinch of turmeric and red chili powder. Fry the eggs till brown on all side. This should take two minutes. Remove.

Add the methi and mustard seeds, dried red chili and curry leaves. Stir everything together. 

Add the chopped onions and cook till brown. This should be a few minutes. Meanwhile in a bowl mix the ginger-garlic paste with a little water to make a thick paste. Add the red chili powder, haldi, cumin and coriander powder. Mix.

Add to the golden brown onions and stir. Cook for five minutes. Add the chilies and infuse the heat into the masala for another five minutes.

Add the tamarind, water and salt. Simmer for fifteen minutes. Stir every five minutes so that the masala does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Adjust for seasonings.

Meanwhile cut cucumber into thick slices and sprinkle with some chili powder. Serve along with the pulusu curry with some hot Basmati rice.

The Easiest Side-dish

The Chilly Paneer recipe perhaps belongs to the past along with the roadside oily chowmein and slightly metallic tasting manchurian. But on days when you want something quick and tasty to impress without using up a huge chunk of your cooking time this is the dish to make. A little bit of chopping and dashes of sauces and you are good to go. The most important thing in this recipe is getting the balance of the soy sauce and vinegar right.

It was said that when Chinese immigrants landed in Kolkata they adapted their recipes so that their clientele could find the dishes palatable. And thus the Indo-chinese cuisine was born and still goes on in the street-carts and roadside dhabas. This cuisine for me in no way resembles the authentic chinese food, however it is tasty and hits your spice spots very nicely.

The only work you need to do is to chop the base needed for building the chilly sauce. Then you throw stuff together, taste and hey presto - the Chilly Paneer is ready. 

Ingredients:

5 spring onions chopped

1 tsp of minced ginger

1tsp of minced garlic

1 small capsicum chopped

1tbsp soy sauce

1tbsp vinegar

1tbsp Red chilli sauce

salt as required

pepper as required

paneer cut into chunks.*

oil for cooking

Method:

Heat 2tbsp of oil. Add the ginger and garlic. Saute for a minute till they release their aromas.

Add the spring onions and capsicum and cook for 2 minutes till they soften.

Add the soy, vinegar and red chili sauce. This is the tricky part. Taste and adjust the balance till you get all the flavors balanced together. Sprinkle salt and pepper. 

Add the paneer and fold in. Simmer for 2 minutes.

Serve as a side dish with fried rice or steamed rice and curry. Either way you have a tasty dish at your fingertips. Enjoy!

*The recipe here has used the Milky Mist paneer which for me is the best paneer you can find in the supermarket next to the fresh one.

Loveofmylife: Spot#5

Homemade French Fries

And the time to cook....

Kadhai paneer was actually discovered by my father who saw it one day on Sanjeev Kapoor's Khana Khazana. Since its conception Khana khazana has brought indian and world recipes to Indian viewers in simple and easy ways and as a result for two months after that  initial viewing; on every family gathering this was the vegetarian main-course for dinner. After that since half the family loves paneer, it became standard fare for a Sunday lunch or a late Friday night dinner. And moi, a week after coming from home longed for the deliciousness that was fed to her while she spent her time watching Grey's anatomy and Dolce vita. So, standing at the frozen section aisle of the grocery section it was an easy choice to throw a slab of paneer into the cart.

The recipe is actually pretty standard and on the induction cooker - very easy.  It basically consists of throwing together standard ingredients that sit on the back of your fridge or the shelf. The addition of capsicum gives the kicky zing to the dish.The Kadhai paneer recipe that I have made right now is an adaptation of the Sanjeev Kapoor recipe.

Ingredients:
whole spices-
1 bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
4 dried red chillies halved
1 medium onion sliced
2tbsp ginger-garlic paste
2 medium tomatoes sliced
1 medium capsicum sliced
2tbsp coriander powder
2tbsp Red chilli powder
2 slitted green chillies
paneer cut into chunks
salt as required
water[a little bit]
1tsp kasuri methi

Method:
Set Induction temperature to 0800.
Heat oil. Splutter the whole spices[the bay, cinnamon and dried red chillies]. Add a tsp of coriander powder.
Add onions and saute for 7 minutes. Add ginger-garlic paste and mix in. Cook for five minutes.
Add the tomatoes and fold in till the tomatoes mash into the mix. Sprinkle red chilli powder and coriander powder. Cook for two minutes and then add the capsicum, paneer and slitted chillies. At this point if the masala sticks add some water[ no more than 3 tablespoons]. Also, reduce the temperature to 0600.
Cook for five minutes and season as required.Finally add in kasuri methi and simmer for five minutes.
Serve with steamed rice and dal.

Work instead of work

Partners-in-Crime

Picture the perfect lazy afternoon. Lying across comfy armchairs and staring into space. Procrastinating.
Then of course we get hungry. We have to have something to eat.
That is when the brainwave strikes - go to the Monday market and find some essentials to reconfigure into an original and tasty dish. So we drag ourselves outside, and since we are there - buy a lot of vegetables. And then my friend atomicgitten and me - we launch into the process of making dinner. Thinking about the process now in hindsight - it seemed like a relay tag-team. Onions, spinach and potatoes in then taken off the cooker, cauliflower and coconut milk followed next. The room was a simmering mists of spices, steamed nuttiness of rice and the underlying heat of chili.

Monday market, Sitaphalmandi[Hyderabad]

The entire meal was stirred on the induction cooker which is like an answer to a prayer. Induction cooking makes everyday busy life throwing together fast and delicious. The recipe which consisted in making a main-course vegetable dish of cauliflower and spinach simmered in coconut milk and a side-dish of fried potatoes easy. After all it took all of half an hour to make it. The only work we did was prepping up the vegetables for it.

Mise-en-place:
Dice potatoes and boil them[This should take twenty-five minutes]
Wash and chop spinach
Cut cauliflower into little florets
Slice onions, tomatoes and slit green chillies.

Cauliflower simmered in Coconut Milk

Courtesy-Sree

Ingredients:
1 medium onion[sliced]
1 medium tomato[sliced]
1 slitted green chilly
1 large cauliflower chopped into florets
1 cup spinach
2tbsp ginger-garlic paste
2tbsp red chilly powder
2tbsp coriander powder
1tsp turmeric
1tbsp garam masala
salt as required
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup water
3tbsp oil

Method:
Heat oil. You can regulate the temperature of the cooker by reducing it to 8:00. Saute sliced onions till browned.
Add ginger-garlic paste and fold in. Cook for five minutes till the masala browns. Add the slitted chilly and tomatoes. Cook for five minutes.
Sprinkle the spice powders except the garam masala. Add the cauliflower and 1 cup of water. Simmer for fifteen minutes. Season, add spinach and cook for five more minutes. Check for the spice - if needed add some more red chilly powder.
Add the coconut milk and the garam masala. Simmer for five minutes. The dish is ready to be served

Spicy-Spinach Potatoes:

Courtesy-Rijuta

Ingredients:
1tsp kalonji or nigella seeds
3 medium potatoes[boiled]
1 cup spinach[chopped]
1 medium onion[sliced]
3tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 slitted green chilly
2tbsp Red chilli powder
1tbsp coriander powder
1tsp cumin powder
1tbsp garam masala
2tbsp oil
Water as required

Method:
Heat oil. Splutter the kalonji [and this is the ingredient that takes the recipe to the next level of deliciousness]
Saute onions till translucent. That will be about ten minutes. The temperature setting is the same as the cauliflower dish.
Add the ginger-garlic paste, green chilly and tomatoes. Cook for ten minutes till the masala fuses. Add a little water if the masala sticks to the bottom of the pan
Add the spinach and the spice powder. Cook till the spinach melts.
Add the boiled potatoes. Season with salt. Cook for seven more minutes till the potatoes are semi-mashed into the masala. The side-dish is ready.

Serve both the dishes with steamed rice and tomato pickle.