Stir Fried Bok Choy & Awards

Hi friends,

After few busy days, I am back here to share and follow :) ... Hope all are quite busy trying new recipes and sharing with fellow bloggers.. All these days I too was partly busy  in kitchen preparing new recipes which some turned fab and some not oops!!. Was pretty busy on the other things in life so couldn't capture or share my kitchen trials.. Anyways hoping to give more time on blogging again. 

Back to my post, I and hon' always loved Chinese cuisines (No, I am not talking about Indo-Chinese manchurian and fried rice ;) ). Traditional Chinese cuisines are much more interesting than we expect a cuisine would be. You will discover every meal has been well calculated for proper proportion of  greens & meat... Apart from that they also use fermented goodies for flavoring the things up. Which is why their food habits are more healthy and balanced. About their wok and extreme heat I will share in next post since lot many things to talk about it.. 

Being in China almost 4 yrs we are addicted to their food and culture. We do cook Chinese food at home 2 or 3 times a week. Never thought of sharing one :( That's bad.. So this post is all about "Bok Choy" lovely green from China which has a very old history. You can find them as a main dish as stir-fried alone or with some meat and also garnishing. The picture I used to share the recipe is a year old. 

Since the Chinese food are best when eaten hot and warm, photographing is really a pain. No one has patience in front of steaming hot dish ;)..  

Aloo Palak / Spinach & Potato Masala

Aloo palak is a subtle spinach dish with potato. This is a healthy and delicious veggie delight to go with roti or any other Indian bread. I have seen some people use pureed spinach in this. But I use chopped spinach along with stems. I believe pureeing would kill all the nutrition the spinach holds. Anyways thats all upto to you.. For me I like the texture of my aloo palak more than that of pureed spinach masala.. And also I use to saute them in brief so that I can get most of its vitamins ;) Such a health freak huh??... So here's my Aloo palak in my style.. 

Pavakka Theeyal/Kaippakkai Theeyal/ Bitter gourd curry

Another vegetarian dish from Kerala "Kaippakkai Theeyal". Kaippakkai meaning "Bitter gourd". You could also use vegetables like yam, pearl onion, raw mangoes, eggplant in place of bitter gourd. It's a curry made with roasted spices,coconut and the vegetables are boiled in tamarind water.  

When we hear the name bitter gourd most of our face changes to no no mode..  But trust me, this

recipe is full of flavours. From sourness from the tamarind, sweet from coconut & jaggery, to slight bitter from the bitter gourd makes this dish delicious.

Pepper Chicken / Kozhi Milagu varuval

Black pepper is one of my favourite ingredient, especially when used in Non veg preparations. I am posting Pepper chicken recipe with a touch of Kerala tadka. The taste totally rely on the fresh ingredients we use to prepare. So I have used fresh ingredients wherever I can. This is definitely a treat to your taste bud. We love to have pepper chicken along with rasam and rice. However it can be also served with Indian bread. Nothing is as heavenly as an ice cream after this peppery meal.

Kerala Chicken Curry with Cheratta Puttu / Nadan Kozhi Kuttan with Cheratta puttu

I have come up with one of the highly popular and most desirous recipe from Kerala"Puttu" (Malayalam). Usually served for breakfast along with "Chickpea curry". "Puttu" is a dish made by steaming rice flour using cylindrical vessel and so the shape of puttu is cylindrical. It is called "Kuzha Puttu"(Kuzhal = Small Cylindrical pipe). Another way of steaming puttu is by using half coconut shell which is called "Cheratta puttu" (Cheratta = coconut shell). Nowadays  some variation of puttu uses wheat, rava, whole grains etc.. Also you can find readymade flour for making puttu. On the other hand, the accompaniments also varies widely. Most common is chickpea curry, banana and palm sugar. Also goes well with any other curries and non veg curries.

Bhindi Fry (Okra/Lady's finger Fry)

When I was a kid, I hated my vegetables like all other kids do. I'd always tried to get away from the veggies my mom used to pack for lunch. It was like eating something which isn't meant for human beings ;). I never ever thought I'll have to come across a person who loves the veggies and without them will not survive. Yes! That's my hubby.. He doesn't care if I haven't cooked any curry for rice. Instead he needs a large portion of poriyal/veg side dish for his rice/roti.
I started liking subzi /vegetables after going to the beautiful city "Surat" in Gujarat. I have been there for almost 5 years and I hope that changed our palate. I can proudly say Surat food changed my perspective on food. The way they cook their food and feed the guests with lots of passion is  never forgottable and will always remain with us.
My passion towards food and cooking is all started from there. And now it's never ending journey..
From wide vegetarian dishes served in Gujarat, we love our Bhindi ki subzi (Okra/Lady's finger). Lady's finger is unique in taste and texture. I have posted Bhindi fry recipe with Gujarati touch, which I usually prepare to accompany roti (Indian wheat bread) 

Vishu 2012!!

I took a while to post our "Vishu" feast since I thought to post the menu recipes at first. Our menu had few of traditional dishes. It's been always difficult to plan whole meal for two persons. So I selected few main dishes to serve along with rice. For those who haven't read my past posts about "Vishu" here goes a brief description 

"Vishu" is the New year in accordance with Malayalam Calender. It falls on the next day of Tamil New year. The most important event in Vishu is the "Vishukkani" meaning "the first thing seen on the day of Vishu after waking up". Vishukkani consists of arrangement of various fruits, mirror, konna poo (Yellow flower), raw rice and urli in the pooja room of the house.

Another famous ritual is "VishuKaineettam" where elder people gift money to the young people.

This year I prepared Aviyal, Olan, Cabbage Thoran, Brinjal Sambar with rice and Ada prathaman served as dessert. It was almost like being in hometown. 

Olan

One another Side dish from Kerala. Very simple to cook yet tasty. Olan recipe has very few ingredients and less time taking dish to prepare. During any festivals in Kerala you can find "Aviyal" , Olan, Kalan, Thoran etc.. served as side dish for steamed brown rice. And most of the recipes including dessert will have coconut as an ingredient. I prepared this recipe for "Vishu".

"Vishu" is the New year in accordance with Malayalam Calender. It falls on the next day of Tamil New year. The most important event in Vishu is the "Vishukkani" meaning "the first thing seen on the day of Vishu after waking up". Vishukkani consists of arrangement of various fruits, mirror, konna poo (Yellow flower), raw rice and urli in the pooja room of the house.

Another famous ritual is "VishuKaineettam" where elder people gift money to the young people. We used to wait the whole year to get the gifts from our elder members from family ;).

 Olan is prepared with Ash gourd and coconut milk. In some places it is prepared with Ash gourd and black eyed bean as well. Here I have posted Olan recipe which uses only Ash gourd and coconut milk.

Aviyal

One of my favourite side dish is Aviyal which is from my motherland Kerala. I used to be very proud whenever I'd to say I am from Kerala. Mostly the reasons behind feeling that way are it's been my birthplace, as it got the title "God's own country"and undoubtedly the cuisine.

My family migrated from Kerala to Tamil nadu even before my birth. So I can say that the relationship between me and Kerala is just my birth and the summer vacation we have at our Grannies home during schooling.

Everytime when we visit Kerala I'd always have these jobs to do, jumping into the lake, walking by the sides of deep Canal (even if I feel nervous), collecting the fallen mangoes, having our meal served in banana leafs 3 times a day ;).. 

Picking the mangoes was always my routine job. We had 4 mango trees of different kind. Since we always go in summer which is the mango season, we would grab a basket half of our size and go to each tree, collect the mangoes and of course one in hand to bite.  

The good thing about their food is they grow vegetables at their garden. And most of the days they cook with their garden vegetables. Hardly few times I see them buying from markets.

So Aviyal is a side dish for rice, prepared with many vegetables whatever available at your garden cooked with Kerala's identity "Coconut" and a touch of sourness from curd.

Only recipe you need not worry about unavailability of any vegetables I mentioned in here.. But you definitely require coconut and curd. I got this recipe from my mom. Hope you guys find it easy to cook. Traditionally, vegetables like Yam, Drumstick, Raw Banana, Raw Mangoes Carrot, Ash gourd, Pumpkin, Bitter gourd, Cucumber, Green beans and Cow beans are used. Here I don't get Yam, Drumstick, Raw banana. So it's all upto you to add or omit any vegetable.

Sambar

Sambar is very common side dish for rice in South India. Every home prepare sambar everyday for rice, idli, dosa etc.. It's a mixture of split pea and vegetables. Throughtout the south the sambar has been cooked in different way and the recipe varies widely region to region. I know to cook sambar in three different ways, one from Kerala which i got it from my mom, the second one a Tamil nadu style and the third one is easy & fast sambar cooked in pressure cooker. This recipe is from Tamilnadu. I will post the other ways of preparing sambar later. I have used brinjal in this recipe.

Mutton Korma

Mouth watering Mutton Korma!!

Yes! Mutton Korma is one of the South delicacy. It's a rich Mutton gravy usually made with coconut and spices. Goes great with Paratha, Dosa or Chapathi. Same recipe can also be adapted for making Chicken Korma. What I have understood about korma is, in North India usually Korma is based on Yogurt and Nuts and in South the gravy is based on Coconut. Both the Korma's are different when u taste. Here i have posted south Indian Korma. Cook & relish.

Kerala Style Sardine Curry

Recently I have been posting few multicuisine and north indian recipes. Yesterday i got a chance to cook my regional cuisine. When i was crossing the seafood section in local supermarket the name sardine (Mathi) caught my eyes. With my eyes wide opened i rushed to the shelf  and i gave a big smile to those sardines lying just in front of my eyes. Actually sardine fish is hard to find in China. Its been years i saw them and tasted them. So walked back to home thinking whether to fry them or to curry them. I had some coconut lying in the fridge so finally i decided to make the fish curry. Since its been long i cooked mathi curry i made a call to my mom and asked for her recipe. She is from kerala so the curry is. This is truly my mom's recipe.  I love her recipe as much i love her. :)

Servings:  2

Preparation Time: 30 mins

Cooking time: 20 mins

Level: Moderate

Ingredients:

1)       Sardine fish	250 gm
2)       Pearl onion	10 nos
3)       Dried red chilly	5 nos
4)       Fenugreek seeds	1 tsp
5)       Coriander seeds	1 Tbsp
6)       Coconut (grated)	½ cup
7)       Tamarind	10 gm
8)       Mustard seeds	½ Tsp
9)       Curry leaves	8-10
10)   Vegetable oil	2 Tbsp
11)   Salt	As req

Method:

1)       Heat 1 tbsp oil in a hot pan.

2)       Add 8 nos of pearl onion, 3 nos of red chilli, fenugreek seeds and coriander seeds.

3)       Toast gently for few mins .

4)       Grind the coconut to a paste

5)       Grind them by adding water to fine paste.

6)      Soak the tamarind in 1 cup of hot water for 15 mins and extract the paste. 7)      To the same pan which used for roasting pour the tamarind water and let it boil. 8)      Add turmeric powder and salt. 9)      Now add the ground masala paste and mix well. 10)  While the masala is still boiling add the cleaned fish one by one gently. 11)  Turn the heat to low and close lid. Cook for 10 mins. 12)  Now add the coconut paste and cook for another 5 mins. 13)  Transfer the curry to the serving bowl 14)   Heat remaining oil in a separate pan for tadka and add mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves and remaining red chilli respectively

15)  Once mustard seeds splutter fully add chopped pearl onion. Fry till golden brown. 16)  Pour the tadka onto the curry. Serve with steamed rice.

	Note: 1) This recipe can also be used for making prawn or any other fish curry. 2) Curry which is one day old tastes the best. 3) Clean the fish by removing its scales, head, tail and gills. Wash it in cold water with little salt

Rogan Josh

Rogan Josh with a twist!!!

Rogan Josh is from Kashmir, meaning  cooked in oil at high heat. Tradionally Rogan josh is a Lamb dish cooked with Kashmiri chillies which gives the red color to the curry. But I made a twist by swapping Chicken for Mutton. I have also cooked Rogan josh with Mutton. But I couldn't find any big difference in the taste of the curry except the meat. The gravy is enriched with all kind of spices and curd is added to lessen the intense taste of red chillies. I make few non veg dishes in my pressure cooker to get a well blended gravy. You could also use skillet, but cooking time varies little longer than the pressure cooker. This recipe is adapted from Hawkin's recipe book.

Servings: 2
Cooker time: 10 mins
Preparation time : 20 mins
Level: Moderate

Ingredients:

	Mutton / Chicken	500 gm
	Vegetable Oil	1/4 cup
	Bay leaves	2
	Cinnamon	2 ½ cm stick
	Green cardamoms	2
	Onions	200 gm
	Tomatoes	150 gm
	Turmeric powder	1 Tsp
	Red chilli powder	1 Tbsp
	Curd beaten	¾ cup

Salt

as required

Roast and Grind:

	Coriander seeds	1 Tbsp
	Cumin seeds	2 Tsp
	Poppy seeds	1/2 Tbsp
	Almonds	10
	Brown cardamoms peeled	1
	Peppercorns	¼ Tsp
	Cloves	2
	Mace	a pinch
	Whole dry red kashmiri chillies	3
	Ginger	15 gm
	Garlic	5 flakes
	Nutmeg grated	A pinch

Method:

1. In a pan, roast together coriander seeds, cumin seeds, poppy seeds, shelled almonds, brown cardamoms, peppercorns, cloves, mace and grind to a paste along with whole chillies, ginger, garlic and nutmeg adding little water.

2. Heat oil in cooker. Add bay leaves, cinnamon and green cardamoms. Stir for a few seconds. 3. Add onions and fry till golden brown. 4. Add ground paste, tomatoes, turmeric and chilli powders. Stir.

5. Add 1/3rd of the curd and stir fry till curd is well blended. Do the same for remaining curd .Stir fry till oil shows separately. 6. Add meat and salt. Stir fry for 5-10 minutes. 7. Add 1/4 cup of water and mix well

8. Close cooker. Bring to full pressure on high heat. After the first whistle reduce heat and cook for 10 minutes.

9. Remove cooker from heat. Allow to cool naturally.

10. Open cooker, transfer to serving bowl and garnish with cilantro.

Note:
1. Goes well with nan, chapathi or pulao
2. If you are using chicken reduce the frying time from 10 to 5 mins ( see no.6 in method)
3. You can also substitute cashew nut instead of almond.