Beef Vindaloo

 

      Vindaloo or vindalu (Konkani) is a dish originally from Goa, India. The term vindaloo derives from the Portugese dish "Carne de Vinha d' Alhos", which is a dish of meat, usually pork, with wine and garlic. The dish evolved into the vindaloo curry dish when it received the Goan treatment of adding plentiful amounts of traditional spice and using malt vinegar instead of red wine. Alternate terms are vindalho or vindallo. Restaurants often serve this dish with chicken or lamb sometimes mixed with potatoes. Traditional vindaloos do not include potatoes, the discrepancy arising because the word "aloo" means "potato" in Hindi.

    Vindaloo is a popular dish in many parts of India. The dish has gained popularity in Britain, Germany, the Middle East, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, where it is almost universally featured on Indian restaurant menus. The Vindaloo served in western restaurants is really just a version of the standard "medium" restaurant curry with additional chilli and including potatoes. It is one of the hottest dishes available on the menu where it is served.

Source - Wikipedia

Ingredients

1. Lean stewing beef - 2 lb / 900 gm, cut into 1 inch cubes 
2. Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp / 15 ml
3. Dry red chillies - 4
4. Black pepper corns - 1 tsp
5. Seeds from 5 green cardamom pods
6. Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
7. Black mustard seeds - 1 tsp
8. Brown sugar - 1/2 tsp 
9. White wine vinegar - 4 tbsp
10. Oil - 2 tbsp
11. Onion - 1 large, finely chopped
12. Ginger - 1 inch piece
13. Garlic - 7 - 8 cloves
14. Coriander powder - 2 tsp
15. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
16. Pepper powder - 1 tsp
17. Salt - To taste

Method

1. Clean the beef stew pieces. Marinate them with 1 tsp pepper powder and enough salt.

2. Put the cumin seeds, dry red chillies, pepper corns, cardamom seeds and mustard seeds into a spice grinder (or a mortar and pestle) and grind to a fine powder.

 

3. Spoon into a bowl, add the sugar and white wine vinegar and mix to a thin paste. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large heavy pan and fry the chopped onion for about 10 - 15 minutes adding little salt.

4. Put the onions and spice mixture into a blender or food processor and grind to a coarse paste.

 

4. Heat the remaining oil in the frying pan and fry the meat cubes for about 10 minutes until lightly browned. Remove with a slotted spoon.

  

5. Add the ginger and garlic to the oil remaining in the pan(you can add a little more oil if you want, the pan will still have the meat juices that oozed out from the beef, that’s okay). Fry for 2 minutes. Stir in the coriander powder and turmeric powder. Fry for a further 2 minutes.

6. Add the spice and onion paste and fry for about 5 minutes.

7. Return the beef cubes to the pan with 1 1/4 cup / 300 ml water. Cover and simmer for about 1 - 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is tender.Remember to stir in between so that the gravy would not stick to the bottom of the pan. Serve with plain rice, jeera rice or chapatis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recipe : Best Ever Indian Cookbook

Fish Curry in Coconut Milk - Trissur style

 

 

  Today we have a Trissur style fish curry recipe to share with you all. The recipe was shared by one of my dear friends, Preetha Jayesh, who is an expert in cooking Trissur style nadan dishes. She makes the best sambar, chicken stew, dal preparations and fish curries. I will post all her yummy Trissur recipes over time hopefully. This recipe is not the authentic one, it is her adapted version. The authentic recipe calls for smoothly ground coconut and tamarind instead of kudam puli, I will share that recipe soon. I used tilapia but you can use any kind of fish for this recipe. You can even try out this recipe with prawns, it is equally delicious!! It is so easy to prepare and goes really well with rice. Try it out friends!

Ingredients

1. Fish - 3 fillets ( I used tilapia)
2. Ginger - 1.5 inch, chopped
3. Pearl onion / kochulli - 5 + 5, chopped
4. Green chillies - 2, slit
5. Curry leaves - 1-2 sprigs
6. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp + 1/4 tsp
7. Chilly powder - 1.5 tsp + 1 /2 tsp
8. Coriander powder - 1.5 tsp
9. Coconut milk (thick milk) - 1/2 - 3/4 cup
10. Kudam puli (gamboge) - 3 or to taste
11. Salt - To taste
12. Oil - 2 tsp

Method

1. Clean and cut the fish fillets to desired size. Marinate them with 1/2 tsp chilly powder, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder and enough salt for at least 20 minutes.

2. In a claypot or any deep pan, add the chopped ginger, 5 chopped pearl onions, two slit green chillies, few curry leaves, 1.5 tsp coriander powder, 1.5 tsp chilly powder and kudam puli pieces.  Pour around 1.5 cup water and boil this gravy until it reaches a thick consistency.

 

3. Now bring down the heat to medium-low and add half of the coconut milk. Mix well and add the marinated fish pieces. After adding the fish pieces, swirl the clay pot to mix everything well. Cover with a lid and cook the fish pieces at medium-low heat for around 15 mts gently swirling the pan in between. When the fish pieces are done, add the remaining coconut milk and a few curry leaves. Adjust the salt and switch off. Taste-check the gravy, if it tastes very sour, remove one or two kudampuli pieces.

4. Heat oil in a pan and add the  remaining chopped pearl onions. Brown them and add on top of the fish curry. Do not omit this step as it gives a nice aroma and flavor to the fish curry. Cover the pan with its lid and keep aside for at least 15 minutes for the flavors to set.

 

 

Tips:

 

1) In step 2 , you can crush the ginger, pearl onions and curry leaves (njeruduka) with your hands adding a tsp of coconut oil. This gives a wonderful aroma and extra taste to the gravy.

 

2) You can replace kudam puli with other souring agents such as tamarind or mango slices.

Pal Payasam / Kheer

 

 

 

Ingredients ( Makes about 6 - 8 servings)

1. Unnakkalari  / red rice - 1/2 cup
2. Sugar - 1 cup + 2 tbsp
3. Milk -  Around 5 cups (I used low fat milk (2%). If you are using whole milk - use 4 cups of milk and 1 cup water)
4. Cardamom powder - 2 pinches or 2 cardamom pods slightly crushed

Method

In a pressure cooker, add the washed unnakkalari, milk and sugar(You can also add  2 crushed cardamoms along with these ingredients). Close with the lid and cook at medium-low flame. When the steam starts coming out, put the pressure  cooker weight and cook for about 40 mts (without any whistles) at medium-low flame. Switch off. Keep it aside for a minimum  of 1.5 - 2 hrs, before opening. Open the pressure cooker, check the sugar and add 2 pinches cardamom powder (if you did not add crushed cardamoms before) and mix well. If the pal payasam is very thick, dilute it by adding milk. Serve warm or cold.

 

 

Tips : You can replace the red rice with basmati rice or sona masoori rice.

Tandoori Fish

 

 

Ingredients

1. Fish - 2 filllets (I used tilapia fillets)
2. Lemon juice - 1 tsp
3. Curd - 1 tbsp
4. Ginger - 1/2 inch
5. Garlic - 2-3 pods
6. Chilly powder - 2 tsp (You can use 3-4 dry red chillies instead of chilly powder. Adjust according to your spice tolerance. )
7. Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp
8. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
9. Garam masala - 3/4 tsp
10. Salt - To taste
11. Oil - 2 tsp

Method

1. Grind all the ingredients above (except oil and fish) to make a paste. Clean the fish pieces and make slits on both sides. Marinate the fish with the paste for at least 1 hr. Preheat the oven to 450 F. Line a baking tray with aluminum foil, brush it with oil and place the fish fillets on it. Drizzle a little oil on top of the fillets.

2. Bake for about 10 - 15 mts. Take out the baking tray and flip the fish pieces to the other side, again coating with oil. Bake for 10 more minutes. You can put the oven in the broil mode for the last 1-2 minutes but take care not to burn it. Serve hot with plain rice or spicy green (coriander - mint) chutney. Here is the recipe for green chutney.

Green chutney

1. Cilantro - 1 small bunch
2. Mint leaves - 1/4 cup
3. Garlic - 1 pod
4. Ginger - 1/4 inch
5. Green chillies - 2 small , seeded
6. Yoghurt -  2 - 3 tbsp
7. Lemon juice - To taste
8. Salt - To taste

Wash the cilantro and mint leaves. Drain well. Blend everything together in a mixer until you get a smooth paste. Adjust the salt and lemon juice. Serve immediately.

 

Chicken Thoran and a Fashion Show :)

 

We had our Kerala association's (KAW) onam celebration on 18th and I (Maya) had participated in a fashion show. These are the videos of the show and the slide show of the event & off-stage pictures that my hubby took. I am the 6th one at 5 minutes 20 sec (wearing the black costume and a silver band on forehead) in the Western, Lady Gaga song. Hope you enjoy them :).

 

 

KAW Seattle Onam 2010 - Shanti by Anju Neilju

 

 

Kaw Onam 2010 fashion show photo slide show

 

 

Chicken Thoran Recipe

 

 

 

Ingredients

 

1. Chicken - 350 gm
2. Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
3. Red onion - 1 large, thinly sliced and chopped (Using pearl onions will be more tasty. You can use around 15 pearl onions)
4. Green chillies - 6 -7, chopped fine
5. Ginger - 1.5 tbsp, chopped fine
6. Garlic - 1 tbsp, chopped fine
7. Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
8. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
9. Chilly powder - 1 tsp
10. Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
11. Cumin powder - 1 pinch
12. Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
13. Garam masala - 1/4 tsp (Optional)
14. Mustards - 1/2 tsp
15. Coconut oil - 1 tbsp
16. Salt - To taste

Method

1. Clean and cut the chicken to small pieces.

 

2. Heat 1 tsp coconut oil in a pan and cook the chicken in enough salt until they are done stirring occasionally. It will take around 15 mts. There is no need to add water since water will ooze out from the chicken. Shred the chicken pieces with your hands when they cool down.

3. Heat some more oil in the same pan and splutter mustards. Then add the chopped ginger, garlic and green chillies. Saute for 2 minutes at medium heat. Then add the sliced onion. Stir-fry until they turn transparent. Add the grated coconut, turmeric powder, chilly powder , pepper powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and a few curry leaves. Stir for a few seconds and add the shredded chicken , garam masala and mix well. Stir fry for a few minutes. You can add a tsp of coconut oil for an extra taste. Switch off. Serve hot with rice.

 

 

Uppumanga / Salted Mango Chammanthi - Two Versions

 

Ingredients

1. Uppumanga - 1-2 slices
2. Grated Coconut - 1/2 - 3/4 cup
3. Pearl onions - 2 - 3
4. Green chillies - 2
5. Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Method

Grind all the ingredients together in a mixer. There is no need to add salt as the mangoes are already salty. Serve with rice / kanji.

UPPUMANGA CHAMMANTHI VERSION 2

Ingredients

1. Uppumanga (salted mango) - 1.5 small
2. Pearl onions - 6 - 7
3. Green chillies - 2
4. Curry leaves - 1 sprig
5. Coconut oil - 2 tsp

Method

Crush / grind all the ingredients together in a mixer. Then transfer to a bowl and add the coconut oil. (Traditionally it is crushed using a mortar and pestle. Crush the pearl onions, green chillies and curry leaves. Now add the chopped uppu manga pieces and slightly crush everything together. Finally pour the coconut oil and mix well). There is no need to add salt since the mangoes are already salty. Serve with rice / kanji.

 

Uppumanga / Salted Mangoes

Ingredients

1. Whole mangoes (Naattu Manga) - Around 20 - 25
2. Salt - 1/2 - 3/4 cup
3. Water - As required
4. Kanthari mulaku (bird’s eye chilli) - 1/2 cup
5. Gingelly oil /nallenna - 2 tbsp (optional)
6. Mustard - 1/2 tsp (Optional)
7. Dry red chillies - 2 (Optional)
8. Dry turmeric - 1 piece, crushed

Method

 

1. Wash the mangoes and pat dry. Use only fresh mangoes for uppumanga. Wash the birsd’s eye chillies and pat dry.Take off their stem part (njeduppu) and slightly crush their ends (attam pottikuka) or make a small slit.

2. Boil enough water in a vessel. Allow it to to cool down.

3. Clean a ceramic jar (bharani) and put the mangoes inside. Now pour the cooled water over the mangoes. The water level should be just above the level of mangoes. Add around 1/2 - 3/4 cup salt and 1/2 cup bird’s eye chillies.

4. In a pan add 2 tbsp gingelly oil, splutter mustards and fry dry red chillies. Pour it over the mangoes. This is done for an extra flavor and is completely optional.

5. Add a piece of slightly crushed dry turmeric piece to into the jar. This is to prevent any fungal growth. Cover the jar with its lid. Place a heavy weight on top of the lid to make it air-tight. You can tie some sand (charalum mannalum) in a cloth and place on top of the bharani. Keep the bharani in a cool, dark place for at least 2 months before using them. You can store them for more than a year.

 

 

 

Unnakka Kappa ( Dry Tapioca) Puzhukku

 

   Unnakka kappa / dry tapioca is basically tapioca that has been washed, cleaned, sliced / diced and dried in the sun. This will keep for years without going bad. Soak them in water for at least 6 - 8 hrs to make them soft, when you need to use them. Puzhukku, tapioca chips and puttu are some of the dishes that can be prepared with dry tapioca. Dry tapioca puzhukku is prepared in the same way as fresh kappa but the taste differs a lot. It has a unique taste of its own and goes really well with fish curry / kanthari mulaku chammanthi or any other spicy chutney/curry of your choice.

Ingredients

1. Unnakka Kappa / Dry tapioca pieces - 1/4 kg 
2. Grated coconut - 1/2 - 3/4 cup
3. Green chilly - 2 - 3
4. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
5. Curry leaves - 1 sprig
6. Garlic - 1
7. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
8. Salt - To taste

Method

1. Wash the unnakka kappa pieces well and soak them overnight in enough water. If you are using dry tapioca that has been cut lengthwise, break it down to cubes with your hands. Crush grated coconut with garlic, green chilly, turmeric and curry leaves. You can pulse 2-3 times in a mixer. Keep aside.

 

2. Cook the tapioca pieces in a pressure cooker for 2 -3 whistles(or until soft) adding enough water (around 3-4 cups). When the pressure releases, open the pressure cooker and drain the water. Add the crushed coconut-green chilli mixture, few curry leaves and salt to the cooked unnakka kappa. Mix well and mash the tapioca. Cook for a few minutes. Check for salt. You can add 1-2 tsp of coconut oil if you wish.

 

 

Tips:

You can season it with mustards and dry red chilly if you wish.

Pappaya/Omakka Thoran - Two Versions

 

 

    We know that we have been posting lots of thoran recipes in our space. But the thing is, we Keralites have a strong attraction towards thoran, that it finds a place in our menu almost every day. A typical Keralites’ normal lunch is not complete without rice, a yoghurt or coconut-based gravy, thoran, mezhukkupuratti and some non-veg dish. Each thoran is prepared in a different way with different veggie combinations, spices or different seasonings to bring out their best flavors. The unavoidable ingredient in all these thorans is coconut.  Both the papapya thoran recipes that we have shared today tastes very different. The first version which tastes like cabbage thoran uses grated papaya and the preparation method is also exactly like that of cabbage thoran that we have have posted here. The second version calls for   pappaya that is chopped finely and seasoned with urad dal along with mustards, dry red chillies etc which gives it a nutty and unique taste. My mother used to make the grated pappaya thoran for my brother who hated pappaya and was a lover of cabbage. He  never even realized the difference. Try it and see..

 

Ingredients

 

1. Pappaya - Half medium sized
2. Onion - 1/2, chopped fine
3. Geen chillies - 4 - 5, sliced diagonally 
4. Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
5. Grated coconut - 1/2 - 3/4 cup
6. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
7. Mustards - 1/2 tsp
8. Dry red chillies - 1-2
9. Salt - To taste
10. Oil- As required

 

Method

 

1. Grate the pappaya. I grated it in a food processor.

 

 

2. Crush the grated pappaya, grated coconut, chopped onion, green chillies, curry leaves, turmeric powder and salt with your hands (njeruduka).

 

 

 

3. Heat oil in a deep pan. Splutter mustards and brown dry red chillies. Now add the grated pappaya-coconut mixture. Mix well and cover for a few minutes. Then open the lid and stir fry until dry. The whole method wont take more than 10 - 15 mts. Serve hot with rice.

 

SECOND VERSION

 

 

Ingredients

 

1. Pappaya - Half medium sized
2. Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
3. Grated coconut - 1/2 - 3/4 cup
4. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
5. Chilly powder - 1 tsp
6. Garlic - 1-2 crushed (chathachathu)
7. Mustards - 1/2 tsp
8. Urad dal (uzhunnu parippu) - 2 tsp
9. Dry red chillies - 1-2
10. Salt - To taste
11. Oil- As required

 

Method

 

1. Chop the pappaya finely(kothi ariyuka). I chopped it in a food processor.  Crush grated coconut with garlic, turmeric powder and chilly powder(njeruduka). Alternatively, you can crush or pulse it in a mixer. Keep aside.

 

 

2. Heat 2 tsp in a deep pan. Splutter mustards, add dry red chillies, urad dal and brown them. Now add the chopped pappaya, curry leaves and the crushed coconut mixture. Mix well. Cover and cook at low heat for a few minutes. Now open the lid and stir fry until dry. Serve hot with rice.

 

 

 

 

Tips:

 

Vanpayar / Cherrupayar  - pappaya is a great combination. You can add around 1/2 - 3/4 cup cooked vanpayar / cherrupayar to this thoran.