Chicken Kheema

Subhash had been having a stressful week and I wanted to make something special for him. Luckily I found ground chicken in the grocery store and I decided to surprise him with this dish. Looking at the smile on his face was worth the time spent in the kitchen :) So here is the recipe for Chicken Kheema which is said to have originated in Persia but is extremely popular in India and Pakistan.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground chicken (You can use any other kind of ground meat too)

1/2 cup peas ( fresh or frozen)

1 large onion, chopped

1 tsp Ginger Garlic paste

2 Green Chillies, chopped

1/2 tsp Turmeric

1/2 tsp Red Chilli powder

Salt to taste

2 Bay Leaves

4 Cloves

2 Cardamoms

1/2 inch piece Cinammon

Oil for cooking

Cilantro for seasoning

Method:

- Take oil in a pan. Add the whole garam masala. Then add the onions and saute till golden brown. (Sometimes I omit the whole masala and add ground garam masala powder instead, both taste equally good)

- Add ginger garlic paste. Also add turmeric, salt and red chilli powder and cook till the oil separates from masala. (You can also add 1/2 tspn of kitchen king or chicken masala or garam masala).

- Now add the peas and cook for 5 minutes.

- Add the ground chicken and cook well on medium heat, stirring occasionally till all the water in keema dries up and it looks grainy.

- Remove from heat. Sprinkle cilantro and serve with naan, roti, paratha or pav

Kappa Meen Curry

Kappa or Yucca root is widely grown in Kerala. Apart from being inexpensive it is also an excellent source of dietary fiber and carbohydrates. Kappa and Meen curry is undoubtedly a 'Match made in Heaven' and hence one of the most popular dishes of Kerala ranging from a poor man’s hut to a five star hotel. Here is one of numerous ways of making the fish curry to be served with Kappa

Ingredients:

1/2 kg Fish (Sardine, Mackeral, King Fish, Tilapia or any other fish of your choice)

5 - 6 Pearl onions/ Shallots

1 1/2 tbsp ginger garlic paste

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp Corriander powder

1/4 tsp. Mustard seeds

Curry Leaves

Tamarind - Lemon sized

Coconut Oil for cooking (you can also any other oil though traditionally coconut oil is used)

Method:

- Soak tamarind in hot water for at least fifteen minutes.

- Heat oil and splutter mustard seeds. Add curry leaves and saute the onions.

- Add the ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and corriander powder and roast for a minute.

- Now add in the fish and the tamarind paste and cook on medium heat till done. (Do not stir much because that may break the fish pieces)

- This curry tastes best when allowed to rest for a few hours and even better the following day.

- You can serve it with rice or Kappa, latter being one of our favorites.

Unnaka Chemmeen Curry

Fish and coconut are integral to Kerala cuisine, and this dish is surely an amazing combination of the two. This curry always brings memories of my summer holidays in Kerala. Dry Fish is usually cooked the most in monsoon in Kerala, however my grandma made it an exception to make it in summer because we cousins find her Unnaka Chemmeen Curry lip smacking. So here is me trying to step into her shoes (too big to fit i must say but still worth it)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Dried Prawns (Unnaka Chemmeen)

1/2 cup diced Mango

1 cup Grated Coconut

1 tsp Chilly Powder

1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder

1/4 tsp Cumin Seeds

1 medium Onion

7-8 Red chillies

Oil for cooking

Salt to taste

For Seasoning

1 tbsp Oil

1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds

4- 5 Shallots Sliced

Curry Leaves

Method:

- Clean the chemmeen by removing the head and tail, if it has not been removed already and wash the chemmeen thoroughly.

- Grind together the onion, red chillies and grated coconut.

- Cook the chemmeen in water with turmeric powder, red chilli powder and mangoes.

- Now add the ground the paste and cook well for 5 - 7 mins and remove from heat. Also add salt at this stage because if you add salt earlier you may end up adding more.

- For garnish heat oil (preferably coconut oil) in a pan and splutter mustard seeds. Add curry leaves and shallots and pour this into the curry.

- Serve with rice.

Oolan

Oolan/Olan is perhaps the simplest of the traditional Kerala Sadya dishes. It is traditionally made with mathan (pumpkin), elavan or kumbalanga (winter melon or ash gourd), and black-eyed peas or cow peas. Enriched with coconut milk the unique combination of the ingredients produces a delicious dish with a unique, pleasing and inviting aroma which itself make you crave for more.

Ingredients:

2-3 tbsp Black eyed peas or Cow peas (Vanpayar)

1 cup diced Pumpkin (Mathanga/Mathan) or Ash gourd (Kumbalanga)

3- 4 Green chillies slit

1/2 cup Coconut milk

Salt to taste

1 tbsp Coconut oil

Curry leaves for garnish

Method:

- Pressure cook the pre soaked Black eyed peas/Cow peas until and keep it aside.

- Cook ashgourd /pumpkin and slit green chillies with salt and water until the vegetables turn soft.

- Now add in the cooked Black eyed peas/Cow peas and stir

- Then add the coconut milk and allow it to boil and remove it from the heat (the gravy should be thick)

- Season with coconut oil and a sprig of curry leaves. Mix well, cover it with a lid and allow it to stand for around 1/2 an hour before serving. This will help the dish to absorb the flavour of curry leaves and coconut oil.

- Serve with rice.

Dhokla

Having lived in Mumbai all my life i have always been surrounded by Gujarati sweetmeat shops. Everytime i passed these shops i would hog on the fluffiest, softest and spongiest Dhoklas ever. Here is how I try to recreate the same dhoklas in my kitchen

Ingredients:

500 gms Besan (Chickpea Flour)

1 cup Yoghurt (not very sour)

1 cup Water

1 tsp ginger paste

1 tsp green chilli paste (or more)

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp fruit salt/ soda bi carbonate

Salt to taste

Tempering:

2 tbsp. Oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

Few curry leaves

2-3 green chillies slit lengthwise

1/2 cup water

Garnish:

Cilantro (finely chopped)

Coconut ( freshly grated)

Method:

- Sieve besan and mix it with the yoghurt. The batter should be of a thick consistency. Keep this aside for 2 hours.

- Mix in the ginger paste, green chilli paste, turmeric powder, salt, lime juice and sugar.

- Prepare the steamer and grease a pan to steam the dhokla in.

- Mix the fruit salt gently into the batter, you will be able to see bubbles. (In case you want to make the dhokla in batches, remember to add the fruit salt/ baking soda to each batch of batter just before steaming and not before)

- Immediately pour the batter into the greased dish and put it into the steamer. The batter will rise while cooking so the pan should not be filled to the brim.

- Cook the dhokla till a toothpick comes out clean and has no batte sticking on it. (You can use rice cooker or pressure cooker or idli cooker for steaming dhoklas)

- Allow the steamed Dhokla to cool slightly and cut into squares.

- For the seasoning/tempering heat the oil in a pan and splutter the mustard seeds. Also add the curry leaves and green chillies.

- Pour this into the warm water kept aside for tempering and Sprinkle this mixture all over the prepared Dhokla and keep it aside for 10 mins.

- Garnish with the cilantro and coconut and serve with Tamarind Chutney and Green Chutney.