Daily Archives: August 14, 2014

Mauritian methi mutton

Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Cooking Time : 20 – 25 minutes

Serving : 4 -5 members

Description

Mauritian style methi mutton . This recipe is the from the book A TASTE OF MAURITIAN MUSLIM CUSINE by ZUBEITHA RANDERA . A cook book I received as a gift from my mother after her trip to Mauritius . All the recipes are home style recipes that are so easy to follow with easily available ingredients at home . The twist in this dish comes from the ground sesame seeds and poppy seeds paste added which just changes the regular methi dish to another level . The first time I learnt a methi chicken dish was from my aunt Nazeem ( mom’s sister ) . Every holiday my grand mother sabiya perima ( mom’s mother ) does a lot of cooking to entertain us . To give her some rest my aunt’s ( mom has 3 younger sisters and a brother who is younger to me !!! Wired but true :-)) ) and myself take turns to cook our respective hubby’s side star dishes for every one . That’s how I got to know about methi can be cooked with non – vegetarian . Quality time for us means cooking a meal together . While slicing onions , grinding masalas and washing the meat … We swap stories about our respective in – laws and gossip about near and distant relatives . While the kids would be busy playing dark room , ludo , snake and ladder or watching the telly munching on banana chips , murukku’s or what ever is there stored in the huge steel containers at the store room . After all food is glue that binds our family .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Fresh Fenugreek leaves	1 1/2 cups ( leaves alone)
Mutton	1/2 kg
Tomatoes	3 medium sized chopped
Oil	4 tablespoons
Salt	to taste
Turmeric powder	1/4 teaspoon
Red chilli powder	1/2 teaspoon
Ginger garlic paste	1/2 teaspoon each
Cumin powder	1/2 teaspoon
Garam masala powder	1/4 teaspoon
Onion paste	3 tablespoons
Fried onions	4 tablespoons
Curd	1/2 cup
White Sesame seeds	2 tablespoons
Poppy seeds	1 tablespoon
Water	1 cup

Method

Grind sesame seeds and poppy seeds together to a smooth paste and set aside .
In a pressure cooker mix meat with all the ingredients except for the ground paste and pressure cook on low heat for twenty minutes or until the meat is cooked through .
Then add the ground masala and mix well .
Being to boil . Check and adjust seasoning .
Serve hot as a side dish for roti , naan , chapathis , pulaos or white boiled rice

Note

The same recipe can be followed by using chicken also .

Kari kanji

Preparation Time : 45 minutes

Cooking Time : 35 minutes

Serving : 6 – 8 members

Description

Kari kanji . Nonbu Kanji is a staple In all Muslim house holds through out Tamil Nadu and Kerala . Mainly had during the holy month of ramadan while breaking their fast for Iftar which is hearty and filling . Every district in both the states have their own version of this same dish . This recipe is from a place called KAYALPATTINAM in Tamil Nadu which is near my hubby’s place . A Muslim town where they have their own wonderful custom of the married grooms having to live at their brides place there after . There is so much more to be mentioned but I will just stick on to the dish . I first had this kanji from a very close family friends place at DR. Thamby mamas home . ( they are family actually ) this kanji being a favourite of hubby dear got the recipe from nachi amma ( mrs . Thamby ) and from then on its a staple at home . This is a tenaciously guarded recipe that is passed down from one generation to the next but rarely documented . Another important mention related to this dish . I am a great fan and follower of the Facebook page NOTES FROM A MALLU KITCHEN which is run by Reshma Nooh . She had posted this recipe with a story about her hubby being a student of crescent school in chennai ( where my brother – in – law and all my hubby’s cousin brothers studied too ) where they serve this kanji and how she got the recipe … So on and so forth … I have to confess that Reshma Nooh and NOTES FROM A MALLU KITCHEN was my inspiration to start sauté , fry n bake . I was so very impressed by this story , she wrote about the kanji that I grabbed the idea and am doing the same religiously on my every post till date that are soaked in wealth of emotions coursing through me related to the dish and recipe .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Basmati rice	200 grams
Moong dal	50 grams
carrot, cabbage and beans chopped	50 grams
Tomato chopped	50 grams
Onion	1 sliced
Turmeric powder	1/2 teaspoon
Chilly powder	1/4 teaspoon
Thick coconut milk	extracted from one grated coconut ground with 2 glasses of water and strained
Boneless Mutton	100 grams
Cumin powder	1/4 teaspoon
Fennel powder	1/4 teaspoon
Coriander powder	1 /2 teaspoon
Ginger garlic paste	1 teaspoon each
Salt	to taste
Curd	1 tablespoon
Cinnamon	1 inch piece
Cardamom	4
Cloves	4
Ghee	2 tablespoons

Method

pressure cook rice , moong dal , carrots , beans , cabbage , turmeric powder , onion and tomato along with enough water to cover everything, and cook for 10 minutes or until cooked well .
Cool completely . Pressure cook the mutton with ginger garlic paste 1/4 teaspoon each , salt, chilli powder , cumin powder , fennel powder , coriander powder along with enough water and cook .
Cool completely and sherd the mutton pieces by blitzing in the food processor for a second . Take the cooled rice mix, and add to blender.
Blend for a second, then stop. You just need to get the rice and veggies just a bit mashed, so you can get tiny pieces, but no big lumps.
Add coconut milk, shredded mutton and mix well by hand. No blender this time.
Heat ghee, add cardamom, cinnamon, ginger garlic paste, and sauté till light golden and crisp .
Add curd mix well and Add to the kanji.the kanji should be of a thin running consistency like for soup .
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and Serve hot with cutlets , samosas and vadaas as accompaniment.

Mutton cashew pops

Preparation time : 20 minutes + 2 hours marination time

Cooking time : 15 – 20 minutes

Serves : 4 -5 members

Description

Mutton cashew pops . This recipe was passed on to me by my hubby’s cousin sister Babitha . Easy to make and high on taste , sure to raise eyebrows where ever served and a hit at parties . Loved the idea of serving this dish with the tooth pick on . This not so regular dish is a haute reinvention to posh up the usual meat that will end up taking our tables by storm . I have book marked this recipe in my hand written food stained pages of my first cook book but still felt had to re- check with Babitha once again about the recipe . Called her last night and took note of the recipe , which was exactly as she mentioned . Now ,was confused what to name this dish . Babitha suggested mutton cashew fry .. Sounded normal . Then I came up with mutton cashew pops as they look like meat Lolly pops . Finally adding more glamour to the name of the dish . Its time to share it with all you folks .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Boneless Mutton/ beef	1/4 kg cut into tiny pieces
Ginger	1/4 inch piece
Green chillies	6 or to taste
Mint leaves	1 teaspoon
Coriander leaved	2 teaspoon with stem
Chilli powder	a huge pinch
Black salt	a pinch
Salt	to taste
Curd	1 1/2 tablespoons
Cashew nuts	8 to 10
Oil	to deep fry
Egg whites	2
Tooth pick .	as needed

Method

Grind ginger , green chillies , mint leaves , coriander leaves , chilli powder , salt , black salt , curd and cashew nuts together to a smooth paste .
Taste and adjust the masala paste . Marinate mutton / beef pieces in this light green masala for 2 hours .
Pressure cook without water for 1-2 whistles . ( I pressure cook for one whistle and check if the meat is cooked ,
If not I pressure cook again for another one whistle .) reduce the cooked meat to a dry consistency until the thick masala coats the meat cubes well . Poke each cooked meat piece with a tooth pick .
( Usually i prep until till stage and leave them in the fridge and proceed when required just before serving. ) Beat egg whites with salt and pepper to taste .
Heat oil to deep fry . Dip each tooth pick meat piece into the egg white dip and deep fry to crisp and golden for 1-1 1/2minutes . Can fry 10 -12 tooth pick meat pieces at a time .
Drain and serve hot with the tooth pick along with tomato sauce or any dip of your choice .

Aattu kaal soup

Preparation Time : 45 minutes

Cooking Time : 1 hour

Serving : 6 members

Description

Aattu kaal soup as we call at home which means trotters soup / goats leg soup . This recipe is an authentic family classic very own to my mothers place which is nearly a pale black in colour ( the colour might put you of but i assure you it tastes heavenly ), very spicy where you feel the slow burn singing the sides of your tongue and less fat constant compared to my in – laws place trotters soup .at my In – laws place , the trotters soup is a pale yellow colour with ground poppy seeds added to it , garnished with crushed pepper and cumin seeds . very minimally spiced and mildly flavoured but a lot more fatty . I have already posted the recipe of my in – laws place trotters soup . Once on a holiday to U.K , was at my friends place ( baby as we call her / meera aboo Thamby ) . She served us totters soup for dinner . I was so surprised to see the trotters there , as each piece was so big and had much more flesh compared to what we get in India . I did ask her if these are cows trotters as it was so fleshy , big and more sticky . Those were the best trotters I have had till date . Her second son akil was a kid about 6 years and i remember , he kept asking ” I want jelly meat ” …. I don’t know how many of you remember the story about what my brother had gone through because of this trotters soup with my son on my previous post on trotters soup . Well this is the soup that put him into such an situation .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Cleaned Trotters ( goats legs )	4 legs ( each leg cut into 3 pieces )
Garlic	100 grams cut into rounds
Small onion	one hand full cut into rounds + 5 chopped to fry and season
Ghee	2 tablespoons
Cinnamon	1 inch piece
Cloves	2
Coriander powder	1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder	1/4 teaspoon
Cumin powder	1/2 teaspoon
Black Pepper powder	3 teaspoon or to taste
Salt	to taste
Coriander leaves	few chopped

Method

Pressure cook the trotters along with turmeric powder , coriander power , cumin powder , pepper powder , small onions and garlic in low flame for 10 -15 whistles with water 1/2 inch above the trotters .
The trotters flesh should fall apart from the bones and while eating the flesh should dissolve in your mouth .
Add salt , taste and adjust . Heat ghee , add cinnamon , cloves and small onions .
Sauté for a minute until the onions are brown and pour over the trotters soup .
Mix well , garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with arisi maavu rotti ( rice flour pathiri / roti ) .

Kari Vadai

Preparation Time : 30 minutes

Cooking Time : 20 minutes

Serving : 10 members

Description

Kari vadai . A yum mouth watering authentic dish very own to my in – laws place . I make the entire process of getting together the mixture ahead and refrigerate . So the frying part is done in a much relaxed laid back way . This is had as it is , no dips or sauces to be accompanied along . As you fry , every one is drawn towards the kitchen by following the aroma filled in the air . make sure to make plenty as they will be devoured in on time even before its on the table to be served . At moms place we make another form of the same recipe with raw keema and its called kaima vadai . But I like this Kari vadai better as its more crisp and soft . I have tasted a keema vadai similar to this one at my aunt shajithas place in Salem . They call it as Sami vadai .( this tastes even better ) Used to wonder why this wired name . Recently I am in to a lot of kebabs . And got to know that the North Indians call their Kari vadai’s as shammi Kabab . It just hit my mind that , the word shammi must have taken its form to change into Sami . The reason why I think so is interesting because in Tamil we do not have a single word which starts with the pronunciation of the letter SHA and this alphabet was included recently during the Mughal period in India . for sure this recipe also must have been passed down to all of us from the Mughals . They should have mentioned it as shammi and we Tamils should have called it Sami as we were not used to pronouncing SHA . No offence to anyone , its just a thought that I assume must be right .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Bone less mutton	1/2 kg
Bengal gram dal	200 grams
Onion	2 small sized chopped finely
Tomato	1 medium sized chopped finely
Green chillies	2 chopped
Egg	1 large
Lime	1/2 juice
Mint leaves	2 tablespoons chopped
Coriander leaves	2 tablespoons chopped
Ginger garlic paste	1/4 teaspoon each
Salt	to taste
Red Chilli powder	1 teaspoon
Garam masala powder	1/4 teaspoon
Oil	to deep fry

Method

Pressure cook the boneless mutton with salt to taste , ginger garlic paste and little water for 3 whistles or until well cooked .
Reduce the water in the cooked mutton and set aside to cool .
Pressure cook the Bengal gram dal with just enough water to cook the dal and pressure cook for one whistle , making sure that the dal is cooked but does not get mushy .
Drain the dal and spread it over a tray ( I spread it over a news paper ) so that all the moister evaporates and the dal is in a dry consistency and cools down .
Blitz the cooled mutton just to separate the cooked mutton to thin treads .
Set aside 1/2 hand of boiled Bengal gram dal . Blitz the remaining Bengal gram dal to a fine powder . Mix the blitzed mutton ,
Dal powder and all the other ingredients together . Mix well .
Taste and adjust . Take a small lime size ball of the mutton mixture and flatten it to make vadais .
Do the same to all the mutton mixture .
Heat oil to deep fry and fry the Kari vadais in medium heat for 3 -4 minutes until the vadais get to a deep golden colour , crisp and cooked through . Serve hot as it is and enjoy ….
You can use beef instead of mutton which gives better taste