Garam Masala - A Marathi Way Of Making It.

Garam Masala Powder is a blend of various spices, that is dry roasted to release the aroma of the spices and then powdered. This is stored in air tight containers, so that the aroma of the spice mix is not lost. Garam masala powder is used in a dish towards the end of the cooking, when the dish is almost done, so that the aroma of the powder is not lost. Making of garam masala powder differ from region to region and as per one's requirement to a particular dish. Here is a spice blend, given to me by a maharastrian lady, who uses this garam masala powder in her chicken curry, sabzi and other maharastrian dishes that she prepares.

Ingredients

2 tbsp - Coriander seeds

2tbsp - Black pepper corns

2 tbsp - Fennel seeds

1 tbsp - Cloves

1 tsp - Shah jeera

4 big sticks - Cinnamon

2 to 3 - Mace /Javitri

6 - Bay leaves

5 - Big black cardamom

2 - Star anise

1 to 2 tbsp - Khus khus / poppy seeds

Method

1 ) In a heavy kadai / pan, add the all the ingredients listed except khus-khus. On a low heat stir and dry roast the spices. The spices will release it's aroma and will turn lightly brown. Turn the stove off, transfer the spices into a plate to cool. Now add khus khus to hot pan and let it warm up in the heat of the pan. If needed place pan on low heat till khus-khus turn light brown. Take off stove and cool.

2 ) Once cool, transfer to a coffee grinder or a good blender that can powder the ingredients well.

Transfer the powder into a air tight container.

Now an homemade garam masala powder is ready to be used in any dish that calls for this spice blend to flavor and spice up the taste buds, with its aromatic flavors.

Phirni - Creamy Rice Pudding

It's been long since i posted a sweet dish here. Phirni / firni, a creamy rice pudding is easy to put together and a sweet delight that is garnished with nuts. The basic ingredients are milk, rice and sugar, then as to one's taste and preference you can make variations to this basic recipe. Addition of almonds, rose water, saffron or mango or strawberry can bring about variation in taste. This recipe has some almonds and rose water to enhance the taste of phirni.

Ingredients

4 cups - Milk

3 to 4 tbsp - Coarsely ground basmati rice

1/2 to 3/4 cup - Sugar ( or as to taste )

1 to 1.5 tsp - Rose water or few drops of rose essence

20 - Almonds, blanched & thinly sliced

Method

1 ) To blanch Almond - Put almond in microwave safe bowl, with little water. Microwave for one minute. Take off the microwave and set aside for few minutes to cool. You can now peel the almond skin off very easily. Slice thinly and set aside.

2 ) Boil milk in a big pan. Once the milk has boiled, take some boiled milk and mix it with ground rice to a smooth consistency. Then pour the rice mixture to the milk on stove and keep stirring continuously. Cook till the milk has thickened and has a creamy smooth consistency. This will take about 10 to 15 minutes of cooking time.

3 ) Add sugar and taste for sweetness. Adjust sweetness as per your taste and preference. After adding sugar simmer for a few minutes to dissolve the sugar, while stirring constantly. Take off the stove, add the rose essence and stir in the sliced almonds, reserving some for final garnish on top.

Pour phirni into shallow dessert bowls. Allow to cool to room temperature, refrigerate and serve cold. Traditionally phirni is served in small earthen cups / matkas, like the one in the picture.

Note - For variation, crushed pistachio nuts can be added as final garnish. Also cardamom powder can be sprinkled.

Stuffed Soya Potato Cutlet

Soya nuggets are rich source of proteins and they are referred to as the vegetarian meat. And it's so true, that this soya potato cutlet tastes more like a meat cutlet, when you bite into the stuffed soya nugget filling in the center. A delicious snack, which will be a good add to your tea time.

Ingredients

6 medium - Potatoes, boiled

1 tsp - Chat masala powder

1 tsp - Ginger, finely chopped

1 - Green chili, finely chopped

Salt to taste

For filling in center

3/4 cup - Soya Nuggets

1 small - Onion, finely chopped

2 - Green chili, finely chopped

2 tsp - Ginger, finely chopped

Few coriander leaves, finely chopped

Salt to taste

For Coating

1 - egg

Salt to taste

Method

1 ) Soak Soya nuggets for one hour in water. Drain off the water from the nuggets after one hour.

2 ) Heat a pan with oil, fry onion, chili, ginger to a slight brown color. Then add coriander leaves and stir for a second then add soya nuggets, salt to taste, simmer and cook closed with a lid for 8 to 10 minutes. Sprinkle water in between and stir if the fry is getting too dry.Take off the stove and cool once the nuggets are cooked.Nuggets should be dry without any excess water.Once cool, transfer the cooked soya fry into a blender / grinder and pulse for one or two times to get a coarse mixture of the nuggets.

3 ) Boil potato with skin. Discard the skin and mash potato finely when still slightly warm. Knead to make a smooth dough. There should not be any lumps. Add chat masala powder, ginger, green chili and salt to taste. Mix well with the potato.

4 ) Take a small amount of potato dough, make a ball of it, then shape it like a cup to add filling in center. Add a little soya mixture in the center and then wrap it with potato dough. Now shape it like a ball and flatten little to a cutlet shape.

5 ) Beat an egg well with little salt. Dip the cutlets in the egg and then shallow fry it to a golden brown color. Drain off the oil and serve.

Serve hot as a snack with tomato ketchup.

Sraavu / Shark Curry

How about some fish and rice for lunch ? If there is a good fish curry, then there is nothing more i need with rice.When i got some fresh sraavu from market, i remembered the sraavu curry amma used to prepare. The gravy had a slight mustard flavor to it and made the taste quite unique for this fish curry. I have not seen amma add mustard seeds that is ground with other ingredients, for any other fish curry. So this was special for sraavu curry. I called amma for the recipe and here it goes.

Ingredients

1 kilo- Shark, skinned & cut to small pieces

1 tsp - Red chili powder

1 tsp - Turmeric powder

2 to 4 - Green chili, slit in center

1/2 cup - Small onion, diced

2'' piece - Ginger, chopped

1 big lemon size - Tamarind

Few sprigs - Curry leaves

Salt to taste

To grind to a smooth paste

1/2 shell - Coconut grated

4 - Kashmiri dry whole chili

1.5 to 2 tsp - Mustard seeds

Method

1 ) Extract 1 to 1.5 cup tamarind juice from the tamarind pulp, by soaking in water.

2 ) To a earthen pot add fish pieces, chili powder, turmeric powder, green chili, ginger, small onion, curry leaves, salt and enough water to immerse the fish in. Bring to a boil, simmer and cook till the fish is cooked.

3 ) Meanwhile, grind to a smooth paste, coconut and kashmiri chili with tamarind water. Then add mustard seeds and pulse two to three times to get the mustard seeds crushed. Just get the seeds crushed and not a paste.

4 ) Add the coconut paste to the fish and add more water if needed to get a semi- thick gravy consistency. Bring to a boil, simmer for a few minutes, add some curry leaves and pour some coconut oil on top. Take off the stove and serve hot.

Serve hot with rice and enjoy the meal.

Chicken Manchurian

I was so carried away by the beautiful blooms in my little garden, i was more focused on capturing the flowers in the frame rather than the chicken manchurian. Just love the picture to see the blooms. Coming to the recipe, a popular Indian chinese dish called chicken manchurian goes well with chinese fried rice. A manchurian implies, a sweet and salty brown sauce and you can read more about the origin of indian - chinese cuisine here.

Ingredients

1 kilo - Boneless chicken, cut into small pieces

1 - Egg white

1 tbsp - Cornflour

To marinate chicken

2 tsp - Red chili powder
1 tsp - Black pepper powder

2 tsp - Worcestershire sauce

Salt to taste

For Sauce

8 big flakes - Garlic, crushed & chopped finely

2 - Green chili, chopped

2 to 3 stalks - Spring onion, chopped

1/2 tbsp - Vinegar

1 cup Water

1 tbsp - Corn flour

1 tbsp - Soya sauce

1/2 tsp - Sugar

1/4 tsp - Pepper powder

Method

1 ) Marinate chicken pieces in ingredients listed for marination. Marinate for 3o minutes. Mix egg white and cornflour well. Add this mixture to chicken pieces and mix well.

2 ) Heat enough oil to deep fry. When the oil is hot, add chicken pieces in batches and fry till brown and done. Drain off the oil and set aside.

3 ) To make the sauce - Mix cornflour, vinegar, soya sauce, sugar, salt, pepper powder to one cup water and keep aside.Heat some oil in a pan , add garlic and green chilies and saute till garlic looses its raw smell, then set aside some spring onion for final garnish, rest add to the pan and saute for a minute. Then add the mixed ingredients in water to the pan, stir and bring to a boil. Simmer and add the chicken piece to the sauce and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, closed with a lid. Once the sauce has thickened and coated the chicken pieces, take off the stove and serve garnished with some chopped spring onion.

Serve hot as a side dish with chinese fried rice.

Note - I have suggested boneless chicken pieces, but i have done with chicken with bones. Also to enhance the Chinese flavor, a pinch of MSG, know as ajinomoto can be added, which is optional.

Idichakka Thoran - Tender Jackfruit Stir Fry

When such traditional dishes are made, makes me think, if only i had the ammikallu. That would have made the pounding easy. I remember as a kid,my mother's kitchen well equipped with traditional gadgets like ammi kallu and like. But then later those gadget were replaced by modern gadget like mixie / grinder that made life easy in a city life. Though bit laborious in comparison to grinder to make a smooth paste of ingredients with ammi kallu, the taste that is got from ingredients pounded and ground in ammi kallu is not found in the modern grinder.
Coming to the recipe, very young and tender jackfruit is used to make this thoran. Applying oil liberally on hands and knife before cutting helps to prevent your hand and knife getting sticky from the gum inside the jackfruit. De-skin the jackfruit and then chop the jackfruit to small pieces. Once done with chopping, you can clean the knife clean, by placing it on fire and then wiping the knife with a newspaper.

Ingredients

3 cups - Chopped tender jackfruit

1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

Few curry leaves

Coconut oil

Salt to taste

Grind coarsely

1/2 to 3/4 cup - Freshly grated coconut

1/2 tsp - Cumin / jeera seeds

4 - Green chili

6 big flakes - Garlic

2 - Shallots / small onion

A small piece - Ginger

Few curry leaves

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds

1 tsp - Urad dal

2 - Whole dry red chili

1/3 cup - Shallots, chopped

Few curry leaves

Method

1 ) To a pan add 1.5 cup water, turmeric powder, salt to taste and bring to a boil. Add jackfruit pieces, little coconut oil and cook closed with a lid on simmer till jackfruit is cooked well. Once jack fruit pieces are cooked, increase heat and let all the water dry out. Cool and then you can add in little batches jack fruit into a blender/ grinder and pulse one or two times to get it crushed. Or you can use a mortar and a pestle to pound the jack fruit pieces lightly.

2 ) Heat a kadai /wok with coconut oil, add mustard seeds urad dal and let the mustard seeds pop. Then add dry chili and saute, then small onion and fry till lightly browned. Add curry leaves and the coarsely ground coconut mixture. Fry till the raw smell goes, then add jack fruit and mix in well. Stir and fry for a few minutes and take off the stove.

Serve with rice as a side dish.

Rogan Josh

Mutton cooked in a rich gravy of spices, that is roasted and ground to a smooth paste, releases an aroma that is so delightful, it can tickle your palate with flavor and taste. Kashmiri chili gives the deep red color for the gravy.

Ingredients

1 to 1.1/4 Kilo - Mutton Shoulder, cut to small pieces
2 medium - Onion, sliced
2 Medium - Tomato, pureed
2 - Bay leaves
2 sticks - Cinnamon
5 - Green cardamoms
1 tsp - Turmeric powder
1 tbsp - Red chili powder
3/4 cup - Thick & sour Curds /yogurt, beaten

To roast

1 tbsp - Coriander seeds
2 tsp - Cumin seeds
1 tbsp - Poppy seeds
16 - Almonds, shelled
2 - Brown cardamoms
1/4 tsp - Pepper corns
4 - Cloves
A large pinch - Mace
2 Tbsp - Coconut, grated

To grind along with roasted ingredients

5 to 6 - Kashmiri,whole dry red chili
2'' piece - Ginger, chopped
10 to 15 flakes - Garlic
A large pinch - Nutmeg, grated

Method

1 ) Soak kashmiri chili in 1/2 cup hot water for 15 minutes. In a pan roast all ingredients listed to roast from coriander seeds to coconut on medium heat, stirring continuously until the spices give out their distinct aromas.

2 ) Now grind the roasted ingredients to a smooth paste along with kashmiri chili, ginger, garlic and nutmeg. Add and use the water in which kashmiri chilies were soaked in, little by little to grind the ingredients to a smooth paste.Aroma from the spices ground fills up your kitchen.

3 ) Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add bay leaves, cinnamon and green cardamoms. Stir for a few seconds Then add onion and fry till onions are golden brown. Now reduce flame and add turmeric powder, chili powder and stir for a second. Then add the ground paste, tomato puree and stir well.

4 ) Add one tablespoon curds, stir till curd is well blended. In the same way, add remaining curds one tablespoon at a time, till all curd is used up. Now stir and cook till oil separates on the top. Add meat and salt to taste. Stir meat till lightly browned. Add one cup water, stir well. Close the cooker and pressure cook for 10 minutes. Remove cooker from heat and cool.

Serve with basmati rice or roti.

Egg Vindaloo

Portuguese influenced Indian cooking and this influence can be seen in the Goan cuisine. Vindaloo style of preparation was introduced by the Portuguese in Goa. The traditional Portuguese dish, vindaloo evolved into a fiery, vinegary curry with the addition of various indian spices that was ground with vinegar to give it a unique taste, that is tangy, spicy and flavorful. This egg vindaloo has got a sweet and sour taste to it.

Ingredients

8 to 10 - Hard boiled eggs, shelled & cut into halves

2 big - Onion, sliced

6 flakes - Garlic, crushed

1'' piece - Ginger, minced

1 medium size - Cinnamon bark

2 tsp - Chili powder

1/4 tsp - Cumin seed powder

2 tsp - Sugar

3 tbsp - Vinegar

2 tsp - Worcestershire sauce

Salt to taste

Method

1 ) Heat one tablespoon ghee, in a pan, add cinnamon bark,onion and fry until onion turn light brown in color. Now add garlic, ginger and saute, then add chili powder, cumin powder, fry for a second and then vinegar. Fry the spices well with the onion for five minutes.

2 ) Now its time to add sugar, Worcestershire sauce, salt and one cup of water. When the curry boils add egg and simmer for 10 minutes, closed with a lid. Once done take off the stove and serve after half an hour to let the spices and vinegar settle and balance the flavors. Egg vindaloo can be had on the same day or after 2 to 3 days too.

Note - Boiled potato, cut in quarters can be added along with egg.

Rava Idli

While those white idlis are a common sight and need ahead of preparation time for soaking and fermenting, rava idli is a quick fix in comparison. With the addition of veggies like peas, tomato, it's nutritious as well as filling.

Ingredients

1 cup - Sooji rawa

2 cups - Curds / yogurt

1/4 cup - Green peas (optional )

1/4 cup - Freshly grated coconut

1 to 2 - Green chili, finely chopped

1 small piece - Ginger, finely chopped

1 small - Tomato, chopped (optional )

1/4 cup - Coriander leaves, finely chopped

4 to 5 - Cashew, spilt into half's

1/8 tsp - Hing powder

1/4 tsp - Baking soda / cooking soda
1/4 tsp - Eno fruit salt

Salt to taste

Seasoning

1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds

1 tsp - Urad dal

3 to 4 sprigs - Curry leaves

3 tbsp - Ghee

Method

1 ) Heat ghee in a kadai / wok, add mustard, urad dal and fry till mustard has spluttered and dal has lightly browned. Then add green chili, ginger and fry for few seconds. Then add curry leave, coriander leaves and fry a second . Now add rawa, cashew nut and fry for 3 to 4 minutes on low heat till rawa becomes crisp or roasted lightly.

2 ) Now transfer to a plate and cool. Once rawa has cooled down,then do the next step. In a mixing bowl add curds and beat well.Then add green peas, tomato, coconut and salt to taste. Dissolve hing powder in little water and add to the batter. Then add cooking soda and eno to the batter and stir in well. Then add roasted rawa and mix well. The batter consistency should be like the idli batter ( add little water if the batter is too thick). Immediately go ahead and make the idli's.

3 ) Now steam idli's in an idli cooker, pouring the mixture into well greased idli moulds. Steam cook for 10 minutes. Once idli is cooked, remove from cooker and cool for 5 minutes then remove from the mould and serve.

Serve with chutney. Makes a good breakfast dish or a good evening snack. This batter yields about 10 to 12 idli's.

Note - If the curds/ yogurt is sour then don't add tomato. End result could be too sour idli. Use yogurt that is not sour for this recipe.

Mushroom Theeyal

Theeyal prepared with different types of veggies and even non-veg like prawns theeyal is a typical kerala dish, were coconut and spices are roasted to a brown color and cooked along with tamarind juice. I guess i didn't roast the coconut enough to attain that typical theeyal deep brown color. None the less, theeyal was tasty when cooked with mushrooms and went so well with rice. Adding a teaspoon of cornflour in water, makes cleaning mushrooms easy. The dirty surfaces to the top quickly.

Ingredients

200 to 250 grams - Button mushrooms
10 big - Shallots, chopped
2 - Green chili, slit in center
2 to 4 big flakes - Garlic, chopped
A marble size - Tamarind

To roast & grind

1 cup - Freshly grated coconut
4 to 6 - Dry red chili
1 tbsp - Coriander seeds
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
6 - Black pepper corns
A pinch - Fenugreek seeds

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds
3 to 4 sprigs - Curry leaves

Method

1 ) Cut cleaned mushrooms in halves. Add 1/2 cup water to tamarind and extract juice. Heat a pan, add little coconut oil, then add coconut, fenugreek seeds, red chili, coriander seeds, peppercorns stir and roast on low heat till it becomes golden brown in color. Then add turmeric powder and further brown the coconut to a deep brown color without burning it. Take off stove and cool. Transfer to a blender/ grinder and grind to a smooth paste adding very little water.

2 ) Heat little coconut oil in a pan, add mustard seeds,let it pop then add curry leaves ( you can do the seasoning in the last if you like and skip doing it in this step ) Then add green chili, shallots and garlic and fry for a minute. Then add mushroom and saute for a minute or two. Now add salt to taste, one cup of water and cook till the mushroom is well cooked.

3 ) Now add the ground coconut paste, wash the blender well with little water and add to the pan. Close with a lid and cook. Then add tamarind juice and bring to a boil. Adjust salt to taste. Now if you skipped seasoning, in step 2, you can finally season with mustard and curry leaves in the end.

Serve with rice and you may not need any non-veg curry for this meal.

Mixed Vegetable Korma

A flavorful korma with a mixed vegetables like mushroom, peas, potato and carrot which is cooked with aromatic spices, will make a good side dish to go with appam, steamed basmati rice or roti.

Ingredients

2 cups - Button Mushroom, chopped
1 big - Potato, quartered

1 cup - Green Peas

1 medium size - Carrot, chopped

1 big - Tomato, quartered

3 medium - Onion, diced

1 - Bay leaf

1 small piece - Cinnamon stick

2 - cloves

1 to 1.5 cup - Freshly made thick coconut milk

Grind to a paste

3 tbsp - Poppy seeds / Khus khus

6 to 8 - Green chili

6 flakes - Garlic

Garnishing

1 cup - Coriander leaves, chopped

Method

1 ) In a pan boil with enough water, peas, potato, carrot and tomato till half cooked along with bay leaf, cinnamon and cloves. Then add mushroom and cook till all the veggies are fully cooked with salt to taste.

2 ) Soak poppy seeds in warm water for 10 minutes. Then grind to a smooth paste along with green chili and garlic.

3 ) In another pan heat some oil, add onion and fry till light brown in color. Now add the ground poppy + chili + garlic paste and fry in oil for 5 minutes till the raw smell goes. Now add boiled veggies with stock, mix well and bring to a boil. (If there is no enough stock along with boiled veggies then add little water and bring to a boil). Adjust salt to taste. Now simmer and add coconut milk, bring to a boil. Garnish with coriander leaves and take off the stove.

Serve hot with appam, rice or chapathi.

Kakka Irachi Molagu Chaar - Spicy Clams Red Curry

A simple curry that doesn't need much of ingredients is this clam curry, that mom used to make for lunch. It used to be so yum that i didn't need any other curry to have with rice as a kid. Now when i got some fresh clams, i got back those memories and made the same clam curry, just as mom made it. The gravy is very thin and spicy with red chilly powder giving the curry a red spicy look.

Clams have to be cleaned well before cooking. Have a look here to learn how to choose good clams and clean them.

Ingredients

1 to 1.5 cup - Cleaned & shelled Clams

2 to 3 tsp - Kashmiri chili powder

1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder

2 to 3 sprigs - Curry leaves

Salt to taste

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard Seeds

1/2 cup - Shallots / small onion, chopped

Coconut oil

Method

1 ) First to clean the freshly brought clams in the shell. Wash the shells very well, many a times. Then place the shells in a pot with enough water to cover the shells well. The stock obtained from this, is used to make gravy. So add enough water. Now bring to a boil, remove any scum that surfaces on top. Once the clams have opened the shell, stopped boiling and take off the stove and cool. Discard all those shells that have not opened.

2 ) Take the meat out of the shell and discard most of the shell, saving some to cook with the gravy. This will give more flavor. Now you can clean the clam meat in water to further clear out any dirt. Strain out clear stock obtained from boiling the clams in shell.

3 ) Pour the clear stock into a chatty, pot or a pan, add chilli powder, turmeric powder, some cleaned clam shells, salt to taste and bring to a boil. Add the clam meat and curry leaves. Simmer and cook till for 5 minutes. Pour little coconut oil on top and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes more. Now turn off the stove.

4 ) Season with mustard and shallots. Heat coconut oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and pop it, then add shallots and fry till lightly browned. Pour this seasoning on top on the curry and cover the curry pan immediately to hold the aroma of the seasoning in the curry. Open after 5 minutes to serve hot with rice.

Serve hot with rice.

Paneer Bhurji

I hope every one had a good start of the year and are sticking to the new year resolutions :) Now to kick start the year 2010 blogging, let me present you with this Paneer dish. It's called paneer bhurji, which means scrambled paneer. Along with green peas and freshly made paneer, this makes a lip smacking side dish to have with roti.

Ingredients

2 cups - Freshly made crumbled Paneer
1 cup - Green peas, boiled
1 cup - Spring onion Or 1 big - Red onion, finely chopped
1'' piece - Ginger, finely chopped
2 - Green chili, finely chopped
1 big - Tomato, chopped
1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
1/4 tsp - Garam masala powder
1 tsp - Coriander powder
1/4 tsp - R ed chili powder
Salt to taste

Garnishing

1 cup - Coriander leaves, chopped

Method

1 ) Heat oil in a pan, add green chili, ginger and fry for a second then add spring onion or onion and fry the onion, till lightly browned. Then add the powders - turmeric, coriander, red chili and garam masala powder. Fry for a second in oil, then add tomato, green peas and salt to taste. Close with a lid and cook on low heat till tomato is fully cooked.

2 ) Now add paneer and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Close with a lid and cook for few minutes. Open and garnish with coriander leaves. Stir and fry till you get dry bhurji.

Serve hot with roti.

Note - Instead of green peas you can use bell pepper. To make it colorful you could use, red, green and yellow bell pepper. If the paneer turns out too dry then add one spoon of whipping cream.