Indian style Hot and Sour Chicken Soup

It has been a while since my last post. This blog is my me-me time, something I enjoy doing. Like always my me-me time is a last priority and sometimes it never features in that list. But today is a unique day, a combination of sick children, rain and a desire to cook something as cure to all - a comfort food basically, landing on Sig’s wonderful blog and her JFI Tamarind event. I decided to try something different with my comfort food – Chicken soup. When someone has a cold at home, my first recourse is to make crab curry and after that chicken soup. We had crab curry last Sunday, but the coughs and colds are still around. For the JFI-tamarind event, I decided to make a spicy hot and sour chicken soup and yes the sourness in the soup comes from tamarind.

Tamarind is one of the key ingredients in Tamil cuisine. Coming to think of it all vegetable gravies (kuzhambu) have tamarind as their main ingredient. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that tamarind has influenced the way the Tamil cuisine has evolved. The thought of experimenting with tamarind has not occurred to me before and thanks to the JFI event started by the amazing Indira of Mahanandi and hosted this time by the lovely Sig of Live to Eat for giving me a chance to try and share this. The results were very good and the soup was what I needed on a rainy summer’s day. Now many can dispute with me, if it really is summer in this part of the world. But that is a different story.

Chicken stock:

For making chicken soups, I believe in making my own stock. I save up all the bones in the freezer for making stock. When I don’t have enough bone, I use some chicken thighs or small whole chickens to make the stock. Place the chicken bones/thighs, 3 big onions quartered, a bulb of garlic, 2 carrots cut into chunks, a bay leaf, few pepper corn, a sprig of coriander leaves, some spring onions in a stock pot and cover it with water. Bring the stock to a boil and skim away the bits you get on the top. Then reduce the fire and let the stock simmer for a couple of hours. Drain the stock using a sieve. The stock lasts for 3 days in the fridge or you can freeze the stock for later use.

For the soup:

1. Onion chopped – 1
2. Tomatoes – 1.
3. Ginger – 1 inch
4. Garlic – 4 pods
5. Peppercorn – 1 Tbsp
6. Cumin – 1 Tbsp
7. Fennel – 1 Tbsp
8. Curry leaves – a sprig
9. Tamarind – size of a small lime.
10. Chicken – 100 gms.
11. Oil – 1 sp
12. salt

Soak the tamarind and extract the liquid. To speed up the process, microwave the tamarind on high with some water for a minute. Then mix some cold water to this and extract the liquid.

Grind the peppercorn, cumin and fennel in a blender. Chop the onions finely, and cut the tomatoes so that you get eight pieces out of it. Finely chop the ginger and garlic.

Heat oil in a pan and add the ginger garlic and sauté for a minute. To this add onions, curry leaves and tomatoes and sauté till the onions are soft. If you like your soup hot, increase the amount of peppercorns. Add the chicken and sauté until the chicken is sealed. Add some water to this mixture and then add the powdered spices. To this add the tamarind extract. Let it come to a bubble. To this add a liter of chicken stock and season with salt. Let it come to a boil and cook until the chicken is cooked. You can garnish with coriander leaves if desired.

Serve with some bread. It will warm your heart as one of my little solider says.

Stir Fried Chinese Noodles

Year of the Rat starts today. As a toast for the Chinese New Year I made this easy stir fry noodles. My older son was so excited with his present of a red envelope with a coin inside by one of his Chinese classmate. He was so excited that he showed the envelope to everybody and talked about it. The little thing also learnt to say thank you in Chinese.

A New year every month, how nice. There will be a break in March and then with April a New year starts in the Tamil and Telugu (?) Calendar. Some helpful soul has found out that the Cambodians also celebrate their New Year in April. If the wise chief minister of TamilNadu could move the Tamil New Year from April to March instead of January, we can have a hatrick of New Years. Now wouldn't that be nice? What would definitely be nice is this noodles and read on to find out how to make it.

Ingredients

Noodles - 250 gms (cooked according to the packet instructions)
Carrot - 1 cut into thin strips
Green chillies - 5 cut into thin slices
Mushroom - 100 gms (sliced thinly)
Onion - 1 sliced
Garlic - 1 (cut into thin strips)
Chicken - 100 gms (cut into bite strips)
Prawns - 6 big ones (cut into bite sized pieces) or 12 small ones

Soy Sauce - 7 Tbsp
Oyster Sauce - 2 Tbsp
Rice Vinegar - 2 Tbsp
Fish sauce - 2 Tbsp

Peanuts - 4 Tbsp (roasted and crushed)

Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions. Drain the noodles and rinse under running water and dribble some oil(sesame oil gives it a special flavour) in the noodles and mix it. This prevents the noodle from sticking.

Heat 3 Tbsp of oil in a very hot wok. Having a hot wok is important for any sir fry. When the oil is hot, put the onions, carrots, garlic and green chillies. Fry until the onions turn brown and then add the chicken. When the chicken is sealed, it is the turn of the mushrooms. The prawn goes in next. Fry for a minute and then add the soy, fish and oyster sauce. Since the ingredients are not seasoned, be liberal with the soy sauce. Lastly add the noodles and give ir a good stir. Garnish with coriander leaves and the peanuts. The peanuts add a lovely crunch to this yummy noodle. This noodle is the perfect dish to curl up on the sofa with and watch Master Chef.

Chettinad Kozhi varuval (Chettinad chicken fry)

I am a convert, ever since I watched Hugh’s chicken run on Channel 4. The program highlighted the pitiable conditions of the intensively reared chicken (popularly called broiler chicken in India) Vs the better conditions of free range chicken. You can find more about it here. The site has a facility where you can find free range chicken near the place you live in the UK. This program got me thinking hard and long. Now that is something that doesn’t happen often, I mean the thinking bit. If truffles are cultivated and available in plenty would they demand the respect they have now. As food becomes cheap we loose respect for it and abuse it. To turn this around, I have chosen to buy free range chicken and decrease the frequency of chicken consumption. What I do is buy one whole chicken and get the hubby to cut it (he can be a real sweetheart sometimes) and store it in different bags in the freezer by cuts – bony bits, fleshy bits and the thighs. The bony bits for kuzhambu, fleshy bits for varuval and the thighs go under the grill.

Let me give my brain its much needed rest and stop rambling about my new found enthusiasm for free range chicken and get to the recipe. This Chettinad chicken varuval is Mrs Mano’s recipe. She posts her recipes here. I have tried many of her recipes with stunning results and wouldn’t shy away from recommending them. Alright before you loose patience here goes the recipe.... (ah finally)

Ingredients

• Chicken – 750 gms

Grind

• Garlic – 4 pods
• Ginger – 1 inch
• Fennel – 1 Tbsp
• Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
• Coriander powder – 1tsp
• Chilli powder – 1 Tbsp
• Pepper – 1 Tbsp
• Lemon juice – 1 Tbsp
• Yogurt – 1 Tbsp
• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
• Salt as required
  

Frying 1

• Onion - 1 chopped
• Tomato – 1 chopped
• Ginger-Garlic paste – 1½ Tbsp

Frying 2

• Onion – ½ sliced
• Curry leaves – 1 twig
• Red chillies – 3
• Pepper powder – 1 tsp

Method

Grind together all the ingredients under ‘Grind’ to a paste. Marinate the chicken with this paste for a couple of hours. Heat oil in a pan and fry the onions. When the onions are soft add the ginger-garlic paste and then the tomatoes. Fry until the tomatoes are soft and the oil comes out. To this add the chicken with very little water and cook until done and the water is evaporated. In another pan heat some oil and fry the red chillies, curry leaves and the sliced onions. When almost done add the pepper powder to the onion and mix it well. Add the fried onion to the cooked chicken and give it a stir. Vola there you have a lip smacking chicken dish. Although the list of ingredients looks exhausting, it does not take a lot of time to make this. So please don’t let the long list put you off from trying the recipe and of course you can adjust the spice level.

Kerala Eral Kuzhambu (Kerala Prawn Curry)

A Madhu Jaffery recipe again with a twist. This is from her book ‘The flavours of India’ and she opens the recipe with the line ‘I Love this dish with a passion’. I have made a twist, a tip I found here. Having spent 21 years of my lifetime in Coimbatore, means that the Kerala influence is inescapable. We had a neighbour from Kerala who also happened to be a great cook. She would share many of her special dishes with our family. I was lucky enough to spend a few days in Kerala and I cherish that experience. Lots of yummy food everywhere we went. Unfortunately I was with a gang who was fussy about food and was complaining. Nevertheless I enjoyed the food and loved it. Nothing I am ever going to say will do justice to Kerala food. Here goes the recipe,

• Prawns - 600 gms (Shelled and deveined)
• Onion - 1 (medium sized thinly sliced into half moons)
• Garlic - 5 (cut into thin pieces)
• Ginger - 1 inch (grated)
• Chilli powder - ½ tsp
• Paprika - 2 Tbsp
• Turmeric Powder - ¼ tsp
• Coconut milk - 400 ml
• Curry leaves - 1 twig
• Green chillies - 3
• Tamarind - lemon size
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Oil - 2Tbsp
• Salt as required

Grinding

• Coriander seeds - 3 Tbsps
• Fenugreek seeds - ¼ tsp
• Pepper - 1 tsp
• Curry leaves - 1 twig
• 

Dry roast the coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds and pepper and powder it in a blender with the curry leaves. Once the powder is fine add 5 raw prawns to it and grind it with some water. Heat the tamarind with water for 2 minutes on high. Dilute with cold water and extract the juice. Heat oil and add the mustard seeds and when they pop add the curry leaves, onion, garlic and fry till brown. Once brown add the ginger and sauté for one more minute. To this add the chilli, paprika, turmeric powders and the ground paste and fry till blended. Add the tamarind extract, salt,green chillies and let it bubble. To this gravy add the coconut milk and the prawns. When the prawns are cooked, remove from fire and enjoy with hot boiled rice. If you enjoy very spicy food, the paprika can be replaced with chilli powder. The gravy is thick and would go well with Chapatti as well. This dish is a treat for your senses. It looks, smells and tastes divine.

Spicy Bolognese sauce

Italian food is one of my favorite. It is there on my top three list and I love to try different Italian recipes. This spicy Bolognese sauce of mine is influenced by Delia’s recipe which you can find here. As a South Indian I had to spice the sauce, not that I like spicing all food that I come across. But when I read a recipe, I feel it could do with some spices and this was one such. I cut down on the meat level demanded by the original and used lamb mince instead of beef mince. This went down very well with the troops. I also spotted a potential to camouflage veggies in this recipe - will have to try that next time.

This is how it can be made

• Lamb mince – 500gms
• Canned tomatoes – 2
• Tomato puree – 4 Tbsp
• Onion – 1 chopped
• Garlic – 2 big finely chopped
• Nutmeg – 1/2 grated
• Coriander powder – 3 Tbsp
• Chilli powder – 1 Tbsp
• Cumin powder – ½ tsp
• Olive oil – 4 Tbsp

Heat the olive oil and add the onion and garlic and fry for a few minutes. Add the mince to this and fry until the mince turns brown. Add the canned tomatoes, tomato puree and the spices and mix it all up. Season with salt and pepper and enough water and let it bubble. Once the gravy starts bubbling reduce the fire and let it simmer for 2 hours without the lid(this is important). The end result will be a thick brown-reddish sauce. It tastes yummy with Spaghetti. The sauce could also be frozen and goes well with rice and chapatti too.

Meen Varuval (Spicy fried fish)

It is Fish time again. My family especially my son can’t get enough of fish. This is a pan fried recipe. The fish could also be deep fried, but pan frying saves a bit of oil and so I prefer it. The marinade is very simple and the marinating time required is also only about an hour.

• Coriander powder – 2 Tbsp
• Chilli powder – 1 Tbsp
• Cumin powder – 1 Tbsp
• Fennel powder – 1 Tbsp
• Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
• Salt as required
• Lemon juice – 1 Tbsp
• Fish steaks – 4 medium size or 2 large ones.
• Oil

Mix all the ingredients and make a paste with some water. Rub the paste on the fish and leave it to marinate for at least an hour. Heat a pan and pour about 5 Tbsp of oil. When the oil is hot add the fish steaks and fry them 5 minutes on each side. If the steak is thick the fish may need more time to cook. The fish goes very well as a side dish with many rice dishes. I made it with King Fish steak. But any firm fish will suit the recipe.

Chicken Biryani

Deepavali cannot be Deepavali without Biryani for me. My mother makes Biryani on that day. Many of friends think it is odd to cook non-veg on Deepavali. As with almost all recipes there are many different versions. I learnt to make mine from my cousin who is a fantastic cook. She was my savior when I first came to the big bad(or good) city of Chennai. She actually taught me the basics of many things apart from cooking like the art of buying make-up and draping a sari really-really fast. We don’t see each other or talk often now, living in different continents doesn’t help. Following in the family footsteps I made Chicken Biryani for Deepavali. Before I go in depth detailing my family history here is the recipe.

• Red Onions – ½ Kg
• Tomatoes – ½ Kg
• Ginger-garlic paste – 2 Tbsp
• Slit green chillies - 5
• Mint leaves – a big bunch
• Coriander leaves – a big bunch
• Cardamom – 2
• Bay leaf – 1
• Cinnamon – a long stick
• Cloves – 3
• Chicken – 1 Kg
• Oil – 6 Tbsp
• Basmati rice – 1 Kg ( 4 cups)
• Salt as required

Slice the onions thinly, and chop the tomatoes finely. Chop the coriander and the mint leaves finely. Wash and rinse the rice. The preparation and cooking takes time. Heat the oil in a hard bottom vessel and add in the spices. When they start to pop add the green chillies. And when the skin of the green chillies start to turn white add in the sliced onions and fry. This is the most important stage of cooking. The deep dark brown color comes from these well fried onions. The quantity of onions should reduce to at least one fourth the original volume. When the onions are a deep brown and reduce considerably in volume add the tomatoes and fry them till the oil floats on the top. After this add the ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell disappears. Then add in the chopped leaves and again fry till they are well combined and sweated down. Add the chicken into the masala and coat the chicken well with this. Add the washed rice and 6 ½ cup of water and mix well. Season with salt and leave the vessel open until bubbles start to appear. Close with a lid and get the stove flame to as low as possible. You could also finish the cooking in a mild oven. To maintain the flavours, you can seal the lid with dough made from wheat flour. It takes approximately 25 minutes to cook, you can check by opening the lid to see if all is well. You can serve the Biryani with onion raita. I always make more, so there will be plenty of left-overs for the next day. The re-heated Biryani, the day after tastes even better. Enjoy!!!

Tandoori Chicken

I love all things food. I remember cherishing a copy of Folio – food edition that came long ago with ‘The Hindu’. The food of a region reflects the culture to some extent and one of favorite day dreams while traveling is – discovering an ancient recipe book while digging (I am always a foodie anthropologists in my day dreams) in the Indus valley (thinking big). I love to know what the ancients ate, no matter the geography and wouldn’t mind trying out recipes. Anyway back to reality and the best I could do is watch cookery programs on TV. As a native I am interested in how the British perceive Indian food, so of particular interest are the food programs that are actually shot in India. All famous TV cooks have done it. From Keith Floyd to the latest Gary Rhodes many have made the trip. Of them all, Madhu Jaffery’s series scores the highest and Gary Rhodes the lowest. He did not find a pudding in India worth cooking and that I guess sums it all about his understanding of Indian food. I chanced upon the Tandoori chicken recipe on the Indian series that Madhu did. This chicken was made by a street vendor in Amritsar. I can’t kick myself enough for not committing the recipe to paper. But I made an attempt with the aid of my brain calls and the results were certainly worth a try. Especially if you have parties, this recipe can come in handy as you can marinate the chicken the day before and cook it in an oven on that day.

You will need

• Chicken thighs (with legs) - 4
• Single cream – 50 ml
• Ginger-garlic paste – 2 Tbsp
• Coriander powder – 2 Tbsp
• Chilli powder – 1 Tbsp
• Cumin powder – 1 Tbsp
• Garam masala – 1 Tbsp
• Red food color – ¼ tsp (optional)
• Lemon juice – 2 Tbsp
• Chat masala – 2 Tbsp
• Salt as required

Make the marinade by mixing all the powder except the chat masala with the cream, lemon juice, ginger-garlic paste and salt. Remove the skin from the chicken and clean and dry them. Make deep slits on the thighs. Rub the marinade on the chicken and well into the slits. If you want to reduce or increase the heat, adjust the chilli powder accordingly. Cover with a Clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 12 hours, the more the better. When the chicken is ready to cook, preheat the oven to as high as possible. Bring the chicken to room temperature and rub it with some oil. When the oven is really hot, keep the chicken into the oven on a baking tray. After 10 minutes turn the chicken over and baste it with the juices in the tray or with some oil. When both the sides are cooked (you can check by piercing the chicken and if the juices run clear then it is cooked) remove from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes. Then cut the thighs into 2 (you will get a drumstick and the actual thigh part). Toss the chicken or rub it gently with chat masala powder (this does make a difference) and the chicken is ready to serve. Every time I make it, the chickens are well received.

Meen Kuzhambu (South Indian Fish Curry)

Bang after an extremely busy and lazy period. How you may ask one can be both at the same. Actually this is what I specialize in and am good at it - 30 years of practice helps. It has been festivities involving fireworks first for bonfire and then for Deepavali. I have been bingeing on too many goodies that is way beyond my waist could cope with. Trying to sober down but without much success. This meen kuzhambu recipe reflects my position, trying hard to sober down but returning to old ways. So here is the recipe for meen kuzhambu for the pure pleasure of food. I got the recipe from this site (a great place for discussing food especially South Indian style) and have pretty much used it without any change.

• Shallots – 1 cup (or 1 large red onion)
• Coconut – ½ a coconut
• Tamarind – lemon size
• Tomato – 1
• Corriander powder – 4 Tbsp
• Chilli powder – 2 Tbsp
• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
• Salt
• Fish – 750 gms
• Fenugreek seeds
• Curry Leaves
• Sesame oil – 3 tbsp

Peel and chop the onions except 6 of the small onions. Is using a big onion chop it to medium size and reserve ¼th of them. Grind the coconut, tomato and the reserved onions to a fine paste. To this add the powders and grind again. Extract the tamarind juice and mix it with the ground paste. Clean the fish and rub it with turmeric powder and salt. Heat 2 Tbsp of sesame oil in a pan. Any oil can be used, in Tamil Nadu sesame oil is used to get a unique flavour. When the oil is hot add the fenugreek seeds (this gives a wonderful aroma) and add the curry leaves and onions and fry until the onions turns colour. Then add the ground paste with some water. This has to bubble of for atleast 20 mins. Use more water if the curry is thick. Then add the fish of your choice. King Fish goes very well for this recipe. Cook the curry till the fish is cooked. Pour over the remaining sesame oil on the curry and close it with a lid and enjoy. I have tried some other fish curry recipes as well, but none is as good as this one. The Kuzhambu taste even better the next day.

Prawn Pakoda

My family loves sea food and prawns are always a treat. I made these yummy little things for some friends. Who can resist some deep fried goodies especially when the goodies happen to be prawns! Prawns come in different shapes and sizes and I happen to think that the small fresh water ones we get in India (read as Madurai) are the best flavoured ones. Ah well I am partial in everything that is remotely connected with Madurai, how could I not be? Here in UK it is hard to find uncooked small prawns and so we have to settle for the bigger variety. It is nevertheless yummy and is delicious in curries, pastas and everything else they are made with. Once again this recipe is adapted from my ‘Rs 15’ cook book. What ever will I do without it!!

• Prawns – 250 gms
• Gram flour (Kadlai mavu) – 3 Tbsp
• Rice flour – 4 Tbsp
• Chilli powder – 3 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Oil for deep frying

Mix the flours, chilli powder and salt to the prawns and let it rest for half an hour. The water in the prawns help to bind the marinade with the prawns. If using cooked prawns, make a loose paste of the flours, salt and chilli powder with some water and then add the prawns to the paste. Also reduce the salt level if using cooked prawns. Heat the oil in a wok and deep fry them. This can be served as a starter or as an accompaniment. If serving as a starter, you can make a dip using soy sauce, rice vinegar, oil, minced garlic, chillies and chopped coriander to go with it. Enjoy the prawn pakodas.

Sausages with carrots

Proudly presenting another successful camouflage dish – Sausages with carrots. This is strictly for kids who can eat Non-veg but would refuse to eat veegies. If someone in your house hold falls in this category read on, else well you can read on and make it a bit spicy to adapt to your taste. This recipe is adapted from Marcella Hazan’s ‘The essesntials of Classic Italian cooking’. The original calls for red cabbage. Since my son can smell a cabbage from miles away, I tried carrots and it turned out yummy. In addition for the first time in 3 years, my older son actually ate grated carrots knowing exactly what he was eating. It is a milestone today and thanks to blogging for marking this momentous day.

This is a quick and easy recipe with stunning results (if you like sausages).

• Sausage – 3
• Carrot – 1 large or 3 small grated
• Garlic – 1 Tbsp chopped
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Cook the sausage in a griddle or a frying pan. Prick the sausages with a fork while cooking to ooze some of the fat in the sausage. Once done, slice the sausages into 1 inch thick pieces.

Heat a spoon of oil olive in a pan and add the garlic. When the garlic turns brown add the grated carrot (in the original recipe, red cabbage is recommended). Cook this until done, turning the carrots gently in the pan and season with salt and pepper. Add the cooked sliced sausages and mix together. Serve it as a main course or as a side dish and enjoy. My kids lapped it up and Oh boy am I one happy bunny?

Karuvadu Thokku ( Salted dried fish dry curry)

It has been a hectic week so far and I haven’t had the time to post anything or to do anything else that could be labeled as leisure. To quantify it with an example, I missed the Nigella Express program (yeah it is that busy). When life gets this mechanical, the only way I keep my sanity to bearable limits is by cooking and eating, what else. So as a me and me only dish, the karuvadu thokku came into existence. None of my troops are keen on karuvadu , but hey I am the mummy. For the last 4 years (my vegetarian years), dried fish was banned in our household. It is time for a revival, what better way than this one, my mom’s recipe. Thokku might not be the right description for this dish, but then again remember I am the Mummy. So here goes the recipe…….

• Karuvadu (salted dried fish) – about 10 small pieces
• Onions – 2 medium size
• Garlic – 2 cloves
• Tomato – 2 medium size
• Chilli powder – 1 Tbsp
• Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
• Curry leaves – 1 twig

Heat a spoon of oil in a pan and add the fennel seeds and curry leaves. When the seeds change colour add the chopped onions, garlic and sauté till they turn golden brown. Then add the tomatoes and fry till they are mushy and combined well with the onions. Then add the chilli powder and fry for a few minutes. Now add the karuvadu (washed and cut into very small bite sized pieces) and fry into the masala. Add few spoons of water to prevent it from burning. I like the karuvadu to be cooked for a long time about 15 minutes. Add water from time to time the thokku is dry. Salt should be added last if required. It is a great for Sambhar and Yogurt rice. If made a bit mushy then it would go great with idlis too.

As expected none of my troops wanted to have anything to do with karuvadu. Ah well sanity preserved.

Chettinad Aatukkari Kuzhambu (South Indian Lamb Curry)

Generally I tend to adapt recipes to my taste. This is one of a few recipes that I follow faithfully and thanks to Madhu Jaffrey. I found this wonderful recipe from a Madhu Jaffrey book in the library and copied some pages 4 years back. Unfortunately, my memory is weak and fails to find the book name. I have never even tried another recipe for lamb kuzhambu(curry) after discovering this treasure. You will have to try it to appreciate it and I promise you will not regret. It is a bit laborious, but worth every bit.

A bit of caution though – This is pure indulgence and a little heavy around the waist.

This is how it can be prepared for 1Kg lamb.

Lamb/mutton – 1 Kg

Dry grind

• Fennel seeds – 2 Tbsp
• Poppy seeds – 2 Tbsp
• Corriander powder – 2 Tbsp
• Chilli powder – 2 Tbsp
• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Wet grind

• Garlic – 8 cloves
• Ginger – 1 inch piece
• Coconut – 3/4^th of ½ a medium size coconut

Tempering

• Fennel seeds – 1 spoon
• Cloves – 2
• Aniseed flower – 1
• Cinnamon – 2 sticks
• Curry leaves – 2 twigs

Others

• Onion – 1
• Tomato – 1
• Oil – 4 Tbsp
• Salt

Grind the dry ingredients into a fine powder. Grind the wet ingredients into a smooth paste. Chop the onions and quarter the tomatoes.

Heat oil in a thick bottom pan and add the tempering ingredients. Once the fennel seeds change colour add the chopped onions and fry till golden. Add the powders and fry for 2 minutes. When it starts sticking to the pan add the quartered tomatoes and fry till they are slightly mushy. At this stage add the ginger-garlic-coconut paste and fry well till the raw smell disappears. The masala might need some water to stop it sticking it to the pan. When a nice aroma comes from the masala add the washed and diced lamb/mutton. There are two ways you can do it. The quickie way is to cook the meat in a cooker and add the cooked meat to the masala. The round about way is to add the lamb raw and add 4 cups of water to the masala. Close the gravy with a lid and simmer until the lamb is cooked. This might take some time and not very environmentally friendly. The guilt can be erased to some extent as it is once-in-a-while dish and it really is worth it. Once the lamb is done and the gravy reaches your desired consistency switch off the flame. The consistency I prefer is thick gravy. It is great for boiled rice and idlis. Hot steaming idilis with mutton kuzhambu is S’s favourite and mine too.

Linguine with Chilli Prawns

India won the 20-20 world cup and what can be a better occasion for a celebration dinner!

We had gone to the birthday party of a dear friend’s and had a great celebration dinner, so was in a mood for something non Indian but still special today. Thinking about specials, I landed up on this recipe.

Cooking pasta is always a bit of flinch for me, mainly because S does not appreciate it and the kids love it. Weird as it may sound, he really doesn’t. To try and reach a compromise I have resorted to the versatile Linguine. The sauces are not heavy and easy to cook.

You will need

1. Linguine – 4 bunch ( about 250 gms. I use hand measure, 1 handful per person).
2. Chilli – 4
3. Garlic – 3 cloves
4. Lemon juice – 2 Tbsp
5. Prawns – 16 (4 each)
6. Roasted pepper (capsicum) – 1 (Roast the pepper on a gas flame, remove the skin and chop)
7. Tomatoes – 2 quartered
8. Coriander leaves – a handful
9. Salt and pepper for seasoning

Basic Recipe Courtesy Good Food magazine October 2002

Cook the linguine according to the packet instructions and drain. Add some butter or olive oil to the linguine.

For the sauce, chop the chillies and garlic. Heat 2 tbsp of Olive oil in a pan and add the garlic and chilli. After 30 seconds add the tomatoes and roasted pepper. Add the prawns and cook till they turn pink. To make life easier, I use frozen cooked prawns. Add salt and pepper. Add the lemon juice and adjust seasoning according to taste and add the coriander leaves. Toss the cooked and drained linguine in the sauce. Scoop into a bowl and enjoy.

Spicy fried Sardines

Sardines are called mathi in Tamil and is one of the most under rated fishes in the world. But I happen to love it. My love affair with sardines started when I was 13, on a summer vacation. It was only me and my dad at home for almost a week. Needless to say he cooked all the week and one day he got 2 kilos of sardines and deep fried them. I ate it all (almost all) within an hour and that is when it all started. I like to deep fry it, till the bones are crisp as this reduces the fuss by making it edible. It is a simple recipe.

Sardines – 8

Turmeric powder – 1 Tbsp

Chilli powder – 2 Tbsp

Salt – as required

Oil – for deep frying

Clean the fish and clean the gut. Some super markets stock cleaned and gutted sardines in the frozen section. If using frozen fish never defrost in a microwave, thaw naturally. Marinate the fish with salt, chilli and turmeric powder for 30 minutes to an hour. Heat oil in a shallow pan and deep fry them till crisp and drain on kitchen towels. It is one of my favorite fish recipes. My kids love it too. My daughter who prefers pink even in fish (salmon) loves to eat fried sardines with Paruppu (lentil curry) or Rasam rice.

Kozhi Kuzhambu (Chicken Curry - South Indian style)

Kozhi Kuzhambu

This is my mother-in-laws recipe, who is a fantastic cook. It is a bit different from other kuzhambu recipes as the chicken is first sautéed in oil to seal its flavour.

Chicken – 1 Kg

Sambhar powder – 4 Tbsp (if not using sambhar powder substitute with equal parts of coriander and chilli powder)

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Tempering

1. Mustard seeds – 1 tspn
2. Fennel seeds – 1 tspn
3. Urad dal – 1 tspn
4. Cumin seeds – 1 tspn
5. Curry leaves – 2 twigs

Masala

1. Red onion – 2 large (or 10 small onions)
2. Coconut – ¾ of one half of a medium size coconut
3. Garlic – 10 cloves
4. Ginger – 1 inch
5. Curry leaves – 2 twig

The iron wok in the picture has a special place in my kitchen. I brought it in the Meenakshi Amman temple markets in Madurai. I use it for frying and tempering.

Clean the chicken and rub it with turmeric powder and salt. Fry the ingredients under masala in a little oil and grind it into a paste.

Heat 2 Tbsps oil in a pan and add the chicken and fry it till the chicken is sealed. Then add the sambhar powder and mix it well with the chicken. Add the ground masala and adjust the water level as required. Close with lid and cook until chicken is cooked.

Heat another pan and 1 tbsp oil and add the tempering ingredients. Once the mustard seeds pop and the urad dal is brown add it to the kuzhambu and cover it with a lid. It tastes very good and will go well with chappati, rice and parotta. S likes to have this kuzhambu the next day with parotta.

Grilled Pompfret

Grilled Pomfret

My son loves fish and so do I. When I was pregnant with my second child, we went to the fish market in Birmingham every week and tried many kinds of fish. Coming from TamilNadu, I was amazed how different fish can be from one part of the world to another. The market has a wide variety of fish. Even King fish and pomfret are available now. The recipe below is inspired by the fish recipe from Madhu Jaffery’s Far Eastern Cookery. The strong spices do not over power the fish flavour. You can taste the spice and the fish.

Pomfret Fish – 1 (weighing approximately ½ Kg),

For marinating the fish

1. Chilli powder – 1 Tbsp
2. Paprika powder – 1 Tbsp (it gives a lovely red colour)
3. Corriander powder – 1 Tbsp
4. Cumin powder – ½ tspn
5. fennel powder – ½ tspn
6. lemon juice – ½ lemon
7. turmeric powder – ½ tspn

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade into a paste. Clean the fish and make slits on the fish. 2 slits on each side. Rub the paste on both sides and inside the slits. Pat the fish with some oil on the top. It helps the marinade to sweep into the fish. After 2 hrs, grill the fish on medium heat on both sides about 10 mins on each side. Take care not to over cook the fish, the fish will loose its flavour and become rubbery.