Happy New Year!

Dear Friends,

One more day and the New Year will be there. I'll be off my blog for a couple of days, as I'd be busy with the preparations for the New Year celebration.
May this Happy and Prosperous New Year 2009 bring lots of love, joy, peace and good health to all of you!!! Let's keep hope alive! Love, Smile, cheer up and Enjoy!!!!

Fried Chicken in Pepper Sauce

Ingredients:
1 kg chicken pieces
1 tbsp thick soya sauce
½ tsp cumin powder
2 tbsp freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp pasted garlic
2 big onions
1 tbsp corn flour
6 tbsp Oil
Fresh herbs for garnishing

Method:
Marinate the washed chicken pieces in a mixture of a tbsp of garlic paste, the soya sauce, cumin powder and a tbsp of pepper. Leave it for 20 minutes.

Dissolve the corn flour in a quarter cup of water;

Pan-fry the chicken pieces until slightly brown in 3 tbsp of oil. Reserve it separately.

Heat the remaining oil in a vessel, add the onions and fry until slightly golden, add the remaining garlic paste, and fry until oil separates. Add the fried chicken pieces, and stir fry for few seconds. Add enough hot water just enough to cover the chicken. Add salt and more pepper if necessary. Cover and cook until chicken is done.
Add the dissolved corn flour mixture. Let it boil and when the sauce thickens, remove it off the fire, sprinkle some fresh herbs and serve hot.

This sauce goes well with French Breads or some pan- fried potatoes or Finger chips.

Pan-Fried Potatoes

Ingredients:
6 big potatoes
Salt
2 tbsp Freshly ground Pepper
Aromatic herbs
2 tbsp each of Butter and oil

Method

Boil the potatoes until done, (we need the potatoes cooked but still firm). I pressure cooked with the skin until 2 whistles.

Cut them into medium sized cubes.

Sprinkle salt, pepper and fresh herbs; Stir well.

Heat 2 tbsp each of Butter and oil in a pan; fry the potatoes until all sides are brown and slightly crispy. Sprinkle some more fresh herbs and serve;

This goes well with any braised, roasted or fried meats.

I've served with Fried Chicken in Pepper Sauce;

Samossa

Ingredients: (for 30 Samossas)

For the wrapping:
15 sheets Brik pastry (I used round shaped sheets)
¼ cup Melted butter

For the filling:
500g ground meat
4 tbsp curd
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
½ tsp chilly powder
1 tsp cumin powder
¾ tsp garam masala
½ tsp turmeric
1 ½ tsp coriander powder
Salt as necessary
¼ tsp chaat masala (optional)
1 tbsp lime juice
5 tbsp Oil
1 sprig curry leaves
2 onions
3 green chilies
3 tbsp coriander leaves

Method:
Marinate the ground meat in a mixture of curd, ginger-garlic paste, chilly powder, salt, coriander powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder and garam masala for about 15 minutes.
Chop the onions into very fine pieces. Cut the green chilies into fine round pieces; also chop the coriander roughly.
Heat oil in a wok; add the onions, green chilies and the curry leaves, fry until slightly brown, add the marinated meat and cook closed on medium heat for about 10 minutes. Open and stir-fry on high flame until all the liquid evaporates. Sprinkle the lime juice and remove from the flame.
Sprinkle the coriander leaves, the chaat masala and when completely cool.

The wrapping:
Take a sheet of the brik pastry


and cut into equal halves.

Spread one of the halves; fold the curved part down like in the image below to make a rough rectangle.

Spread some melted butter on the whole part.
Place a spoon of the filling in the right corner of the pastry.
Fold it tightly to make a triangle.

(Here, some beaten eggs can be used to stick the sides of the pastry.)
Fold on and on to make a tight multilayered triangle.
Continue with the rest of the filling.

Preheat the oven to high (240° for me), arrange the samossas on a baking sheet and bake for about 7 minutes on each side.Have a nice snack time!!!


PS: I didn’t have mint leaves at the moment, but mint chutney is the perfect pair for hot samossas.
Meat can be very well replaced by any vegetables. This recipe is sent to Srilekha's EFM Savouries Event

Meen Kozhambu (Fish gravy)

Ingredints:
750 g Fish (washed, cut into pieces)
A lemon size tamarind
1 sprig curry leaves
2 big Onions
3 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 big tomato
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp chilly powder
1 cup coconut milk
Salt (as needed)
5 tbsp oil
Coriander leaves for garnishing.

Method:
Prepare the tamarind extract by letting the tamarind soak for 15 minutes in 3 cups of salted warm water and by filtering it. Mix the extracted tamarind water with the coconut milk. Reserve.
Paste the onions; chop the tomato into fine long pieces;
Heat oil in a vessel, add the curry leaves, when they splutter, add the onion paste, fry until slightly brown , add the tomato and the ginger garlic paste, fry until the oil separates from the sauce on medium heat. Add the coriander powder, chilly powder, salt and turmeric and stir-fry until the raw smell goes. Increase the heat to maximum, add the tamarind/coconut milk mixture, taste and rectify the salt. Let it boil for about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low medium, add the fish pieces and let it cook covered for about 15 minutes. Garnish with some fresh coriander leaves.

Goes well with Rice/Idli/ Chapati/ Dosai

Christmas Celebration

Just back after Christmas celebrations, a great night with my family at my sister-in-law's place, the joy and peace of Christmas was there along with the delicious preparations of my sister-in-law together with her charming husband.

Here goes the menu:

Apéritif

Portuguese Akra de morue and chinese fish (didn't have the time to picture)...
Sis-in-law's Husband special: ( equal quantities of Gin and Vodka on the rock, perfumed with fresh raspberries)

Samossas (by Akal's Saappadu) Recipe HERE
Baked Snails with garlic Parsley and butter sauce

Entrée

Fried Prawns, corn salad leaves and cucumber accompanied by delicately tossed Scallops topped with lumpfish roe. ( Accompanied by a Muscadet)
Maincourse

Deer Stewed in mushroom sauce, Potatoes sautées ( Paired with a glass of Côtes du Rhone)

Dessert

A log of Raspberry
and a Chocolate Raspberry cake (paired with Champagne ofcourse)

Golden Water

Sis-in-law's Husband special: ( equal quantities of Gin and Vodka on the rock, perfumed with fresh raspberries)

Happy Christmas!!!!

Boondi Laddu, Mullu Murukku, Plain Murukku, Special Mysore Pak

Special Mysore Pak

It doesn’t matter how they call it elsewhere, but at home, my teddies call it “special” mysore pak. It is rich in ghee, and definitely rich in calories but when you place it on your tongue and when it melts, Mmmmm...it’s simply scrumptious.

Mysore Pak originates from the kitchen of Mysore Palace, in the state of Karnataka, where it was first created by a palace cook named Kakasura Madappa. Let's come to our kitchen now:


Ingredients: (makes about 15 pieces)
2 cups gram flour
3 cups ghee
For the sugar syrup:
2 cups sugar
Water (approximately ¾ of a cup)
½ tsp Powdered Saffron
1 tbsp rose water ( optional)
½ tbsp powdered cardamoms


Method:
In a double bottomed vessel, roast on medium heat, the gram flour, in half a cup of ghee, until the raw smell goes.

In the meanwhile, prepare the sugar syrup.
In another vessel, put the sugar and add water just to cover the sugar;.
Make a thick syrup of two string consistency. If one takes a bit of the warmed syrup by the fingers and separate, it should form a thread. Add the rose water, the saffron and the cardamoms.

Add the roasted gram flour as soon as the thread consistency is formed. Stirr well so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the vessel.
Now add the remaining ghee a tablespoon at a time and start stirring and stirring. It doesn’t matter at all if your hands are aching, preventing it from sticking to the bottom is more important that your hands….!!!!
Stir while adding the ghee and continue stirring until the ghee is absorbed by the gram flour mixture each time before you add the next tablespoon; Hope I’m clear???!!!


We’re not done yet, continue stirring until you see at last a sort of frothy kind of mixture, when it bubbles and when it doesn’t stick any more to the sides of the vessel.
Stop everything and pour this mixture into a greased plate and shake the plate a little to spread the mixture evenly.

Wait until it becomes warm to cut them into desired shapes.
It’s now time for the degustation!

Plain Murukku

Ingredients:
2 cups rice flour
½ cup urad dhal
½ tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp sesame seeds
¼ tsp asafetida
Salt as necessary
2 tbsp ghee
Water as needed
Oil for deep frying

Method:

In a pan, add the urad dhal flour and dry fry without oil, on low medium flame, until you a get nice aroma. keep stirring to avoid burning the flour.

Mix all the ingredients along with the flour except oil to form a smooth dough. The dough should be neither too loose nor too hard, but a stiff soft dough.

Fill up the murukku press.

Deep fry in hot oil using a murukku press.


Drain and enjoy for an evening snack.
This recipe is also sent to SriLekha's EFM Savouries;

Mullu Murukku ( Rice and Moong dhal crisps) Type 1

Ingredients:
4 cups rice flour
1 cup Moong dhal flour
1 tsp sesame seeds
2 cups coconut milk
Salt ( as needed)
1 tbsp ghee
Oil for deep frying:

Method:
Dry fry the moong dhal flour until the raw smell goes.
Mix in a bowl all the ingredients except oil and make a stiff dough.
Fill in the murukku press, (I used a single star nozzle) and deep fry in hot oil. ( I have done on high heat so I browned the murukku too much). Fry on medium flame, the oil should neither be too hot nor too warm.
Enjoy for snacks or for an aperitif. This recipe is also sent to SriLekha's EFM Savouries;

Paupiettes de porc (Stuffed Pork Scallops in stewed vegetable sauce)

A “paupiette” is a thin slice of meat (Poultry/Veal/Beef/Pork) pounded to make a thin wrap and rolled around a filling of finely ground meat or vegetables. The paupiette can be fried, baked or braised in wine or stock. It can also be wrapped in bacon before being cooked.

Ingredients:
1400 g Pork parcels for paupiettes (I let the butcher do the parcel for me. If you cannot get it, please see the procedure at the end of the post)
2 Bay leaves
3 onions
4 garlic pods
Salt
Pepper
1 tsp chilly powder
½ tsp cumin powder
1 Bouquet garni or a bundle of 1 bay leaf, some parsley, thyme and sage leaf
1 cup broth (vegetable / poultry/beef)
1 cup dry white wine
4 big tomatoes
Vegetables:
4 carrots peeled and sliced in round pieces
400g mushrooms chopped (optional)
2 bell peppers chopped into dices (optional)
4 tbsp Oil
4 sticks butter

Method:
Slightly Salt and pepper the pork parcels.
Chop the onions very finely.
Paste the garlic pods. Chop the vegetables. Grind the tomatoes to make a puree.

Heat oil and butter in a double bottomed casserole, add the pork bundles in a single layer and brown all sides. Remove and reserve.

In the same vessel, add the bay leaves, followed by the onions. Fry until translucent; add the pasted garlic, fry until oil separates, add the chilly powder and cumin powder, stir fry and add the vegetables; stir fry a little more, add tomato puree, the bouquet garni, the broth and the white wine.
Taste and rectify salt (Careful with the salt, as broths usually contains enough already)
When a first boil comes, add the fried pork parcels, close and let it cook on medium flame for about an hour.

Serve hot with some fresh pasta, topped with some Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Goes well with Fettucines, but also with some plain rice. It makes a wonderful pair with a Beaujolais served at approximately 11° to 13°C. Bon appétit!

PS
Pork can be very well replaced by escalopes of Turkey/Veal/Beef.

Vegetables other than tomatoes can be skipped in the procedure and accompanied separately with the dish.

If you don’t get ready Pork parcels, then do the following procedure:

Flatten 8 pieces of pork scallops with a heavy knife. Salt and pepper generously.
Mix separately in a bowl 1 finely chopped onion with 500g good sausage meat, some fresh herbs (any) or some dry herbs, pepperand add the herbs - mixing well with your hands. Season with freshly ground black pepper.

Place a Tbsp of the above mixture on each pork scallop one-third of the way down. Roll the scallop around the sausage meat, tucking the meat around the stuffing until well rolled. Taka long string and place the bundle in the middle of the string, and tie; turn one-quarter turn and tie again; turn again and tie again. All we need is a neatly packed pork and stuffing. Cut off any excess string and proceed to tie up the rest of the pork scallops.This recipe is sent to Trupti's Recipecenterforall for the Winter Treat Event.

Stewed Pork with Apples and Cinnamon

Ingredients: ( for 4)
2 garlic pods
2 big onions
2 apples (variety golden)
700g of boneless pork (covered with a slice of bacon)
1 tbsp cinnamon powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp cumin seeds
4 cups of broth (chicken/ vegetable/ beef , anything will do)
Salt
Pepper
4 tbsp oil ( optional)

Method:
Peel the garlic and mince finely.
Peel the onions and cut them into quarters
Peel the apples; remove the seeds and the hard part, cut into big cubes.
Cut the pork in big cubes.
In a bowl, add the pork, powder with cinnamon, turmeric and cumin. Mix well and reserve.
(The following step can be skipped. Instead of frying the onions, add everything together.)
Pour oil in a double bottomed vessel; add the onions and the garlic and fry until translucent, and add the meat and fry until the meat is slightly browned on all sides, add the broth just enough to cover the meat. Cover and cook slowly on medium flame for about an hour. Add the apples 15 minutes before the end of the cooking.
Add salt, pepper and some fresh herbs. Serve hot.

PS
I’ve served with a mixture of three rice varieties: Basmati, Black rice and wild.
If you have too much sauce at the end of the cooking, let it evaporate for few minutes by cooking it with the lid open.
I don’t add salt while cooking the meat ‘coz the broth contains sufficiently.
Some dry prunes and dry apricots can be added to the sauce to make it more rich and copious.
Serving it with a wine from sunny places like a Moroccan Boulaouane is simply excellent.Bon appétit!This recipe is sent to Trupti's Recipecenterforall for the Winter Treat Event.

Ribbon Murukku

Ingredients:
1 cup Gram flour
1 ½ cups Rice flour
1 ½ tsp salt (or as needed)
6 Garlic pods
Ginger (half the quantity of garlic)
4/5 Dry red chilies
1 Tbsp Fennel seeds
¼ tsp Asafetida powder
1 tbsp Oil or Ghee
Oil for deep frying

Method:
Paste the ginger, garlic, red chilies, and fennel seeds with half a cup of water, filter it and keep the water. Add salt and asafetida to the water. Add oil to the rice and gram flour followed by the filtered water and knead together to form a stiff dough. It should be somewhat like the consistency of chapatti dough.

Put 2 Tbsps of the dough in the Ribbon murukku mould

and press it over hot oil and deep fry until golden brown.

This recipe is also sent to SriLekha's EFM Savouries;