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Friday, December 22, 2006

Erachi Varattiyathu - Meat Fry


Now that the Christmas is around the corner, a meat recipe for the family gathering. Kerala Christians are so good at cooking the meat as Ularthiyathu or Varathiyathu. Here is a recipe to try with a meat of your choice. (Use the meat of your preference, pork or beef for this recipe) Merry Christmas to my christian friends !!

Ingredients

1 kilo - Erachi /Meat

To dry roast, powder & marinate

5 tbsp - Coriander powder
1 tbsp - Red chili powder
1 tsp - Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp - Black pepper powder
2 - Cinnamon sticks
4 - Cloves
1 - Black cardamom / Badi Elaichi ( click for pic )
1 - Star Anise / Takkolam
1 to 2 tsp - Fennel seeds/ Perumjeerakam 


Grind Coarsely

5 flakes - Garlic
1 inch piece - Ginger
Few curry leaves

Seasoning

1 big - Onion , thinly sliced
1/2 cut - Coconut, cut to small bits
Curry leaves

Method

1 ) Dry roast the spices( Cinnamon, clove, black cardamom, star anise, fennel ) till the aroma comes out and add that to a blender. Then dry roast the powders on low heat, till the color changes to a deep color. Add to the blender and make a powder with the spices.

2 ) Grind coarsely garlic and ginger. Add few curry leaves and just crush.

3 ) Add the ground powder and coarsely ground to the meat. Add salt to taste and marinate for half an hour.

4 ) Place the meat in utensil to cook or pressure cook. (The meat you get in USA cooks very fast. So you don't have to pressure cook.)

5 ) Cook the meat on a low heat, covered with a lid. When the meat starts cooking, some water will come out and it will cook in that water. If not add very little water and cook covered. Cook till the meat is well cooked and all the water is used up.

6 ) In a pan fry the coconut pieces to a light golden color. Take off the pan and set aside. Add sliced onion to the pan and fry to a golden brown. Add curry leaves.

7 ) Add this to the cooked meat, stir and fry the meat adding more oil. (If you have not trimmed off the fat from the meat, you can fry in it's oil. If you have trimmed off all the fat then add more oil to fry)

Serve as a starter or as a side dish. Garnish with lemon wedges and onion rings.
Note
This is a spicy dish. Reduce the spicy level by reducing the quantity of red chili and black pepper.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

sounds very delicious, i made a simple one and guess i will definitely try this one next time.

sha said...

The meat fry looks really yummy! I would love to try this out. Thanks for sharing. May I know what cut of beef do you suggest I use? I have used beef chunk and its takes quite a while for it to soften. Thanks.

Pravs said...

The meat i buy here in USA,cooks very fast.Pressuring cooking will help in reducing the cooking time.

Chefs Menu said...

i usually pressure cook the meat with
some garlic,pepper and salt,so that it becomes soft,the recipe given by u is very yummy,I've tried it before but couldn't get the color perfectly,i used to add the masalas directly without roasting them,thanks for the good tip and a yummy recipe

Pravs said...

Thank you hobby cooking for trying my recipe. When someone tries my recipe and gives me a comment, it's very thrilling to know their opinion.
Roasting masala will make a difference to the taste and color of the masala.

Anonymous said...

Hi,I have been trying to find an authentic beef fry recipe,naadan style.This was just perfect,with the right color too!Could never get the color earlier.Thank you so much.It has now become one of my recipes to impress my mother -in-law :-)

Pravs said...

Hi Windswept: Thanks for letting me know, how this recipe turned out for you. wow, you are impressing your MIL with this meat dish.... i am bowled over :D

Simmy said...

excellent recipe .I tried it n came out really good..it tasted alot more yummy the next day

Anonymous said...

I tried out this recipe of yours and i must say you have an amazing gift in cooking. I loved the dish n so did my hubby. The colour itself was very inviting.I suggest everyone out there to try it. You wont regret it for sure.I dont know how to send a picture of it to you.If i did i would've send it to you.Your site is truly an inspiration to many.

Pravs said...

Anonymous : Thanks a lot for the kind words :) Please do send me the picture to my email id simplyspicy@gmail.com
would love to see it.