Appam & Chicken Stew in Thalayad, Kerala

My parents in law live on a farm in a village called Thalayad in Kerala. My mother in law Alice Mathew is a renowned cook and makes a great meal of the every day appam and chicken curry.
Each home has their own style of cooking the famous appam and chicken curry / stew breakfast, especially a Syrian Christian home.


Here is how Alice Mathew makes her chicken curry.

Because the chicken is quite hard there, it is first pressure cooked with ground whole spices. Farm grown pepper, cinnamon, and store bought cloves are ground on stone and chucked in. Add some salt and turmeric. Add 3 green chillies slit down te middle and a handful of curry leaves.
2-3 whistles in the pressure cooker are enough.
Then fry onions, 3-4 sliced fine for a full chicken till brown, add at least a tablespoon of fresh ginger and another of garlic. Add a teaspoon of coriander powder and red chilli powder. Sprinkle some hot water to bring it together and add the chicken. Once the chicken is cooked, add the thin coconut milk ( the second & third press ). Continue to cook the chicken curry for 5-8 minutes, turn the ehat low and add the thick coconut milk. Garnish with fried small onions.
In Kerala, we use fresh coconut oil . So are the coconuts and many of the spices. That is  key to making this curry so delish !

I miss you Psyche !

In tribute to my wonderful friend Psyche Abraham who passed away recently I am re-posting her recipes for Chicken Tarragon and mashed potatoes. I have never had better mashed potatoes and neither will you till you make them like Psyche. I wish I had taken a photograph of these two dishes when she made it for me in Trivandrum many years ago. RIP Psyche (April 1, 1936 - July 15, 2013)

Try Psyche Abraham's Chicken Tarragon and Mashed Potatoes. I once visited Psyche when she used to live in Trivandrum and I was making dinner. Psyche was appalled to hear my method of making mashed potaoes and instantly went into the kitchen and showed me how its done right! I couldn't resist sharing the recipe with you and I'll post more recipes from Psyche as we go along.
Psyche has written a book - From Kippers to Karimeen, A Life
In India, its been published by Roli books and available at all leading book stores.

Chicken Tarragon (for four)
4 whole legs i.e. thighs and drumsticks cut into two and preferably with skin on. Butter - a generous lump Salt, pepper, and dried tarragon. Brown the chicken in butter and put in an oven-proof casserole that has a lid Sprinkle with salt pepper and tarragon (tarragon may be substituted for mixed herbs or rosemary). Pour the remains of the butter in which the chicken was fried over it all, cover and cook for about 45 mins to 1 hour in a 180 oven. This is amazingly simple but delicious and a favourite with all my family.

Mashed potato (also called duchesse potatoes if you want to be fancy).
Select good firm large or medium sized potatoes. Peel and cut into quarters or eigths and boil until soft (but not too soft) in salted water. Strain as soon as cooked i.e. while the potatoes are still hot and mash with a fork. Add a lump of butter and mix in, then add a couple of desertspoons of milk, mix in and then beat vigorously till the potatoes become light and fluffy which will never happen if the potatoes are mashed cold!. Serve hot.

Bean and Tofu Soup

I have started using my Chinese clay-pot again after ages. Its great for the stove top and in the oven.

Soak a cup each of kidney and garbanzo beans overnight. Boil in enough water that you can use in the soup later.

 Chop green onions, garlic, spinach, tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms and tofu.

Heat the clay pot,add a drizzle of oil, add garlic, half the green onions, spinach mushrooms tomatoes zucchini and stir. Add salt and plenty of freshly ground pepper.

Cover and cook on a low heat for a while.6-8 minutes
Add a cup and a half of stock or a soup cube.
Add the boiled kidney and garbanzo beans with its water if you want this more soupy
Lastly add the chunks of tofu and cook covered for 5 minutes.
Add the remaining green onions on top and cover .

Naadan Kozhi Roast- Spicy Roast Chicken, A recipe from Kerala

I just made this yesterday at a friends house as catering request. Its fun and easy to make, tastes fabulous and is the best thing to serve with your every day rice and dal. I got the recipe from the book - Chef's Favourites from the Taj, which was a gift given to me by Lakshmi Lal. So thank you Lakshmi !

The recipe calls for cooking this dish in coconut oil, which if you want to replace with any other cooking oil is fine.

Ingredients

1 kg chicken, boneless or with bone

2 teaspoons dhania powder ( coriander powder )

2 1/2 teaspoons red chilli powder

1/2 teaspoon black pepper crushed

1/4 teaspoon haldi ( turmeric)

salt to taste

30 gm rice flour

350 gm onion chopped ( 2-3 medium sized onions )

3 green chillies sliced

2 teaspoons ginger

2 teaspoons garlic

3 green cardamoms, coarsely crush

3 cloves,coarsely crush

1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder

1/2 teaspoon saunf ( fennel powder )

2 sprigs curry leaves

1. Marinate chicken with chilli powder, dhania powder, haldi,salt and rice flour. Fry chicken crisp and set aside

2. Heat oil, add curry leaves, onions, ginger, garlic, green chillies, cardamoms and cloves. Saute onions till they are soft

3. Add chicken, garam masala, pepper and saunf and toss well. Serve hot.

Thalassery Chicken Biryani

This is the first time I'm making a Thalassery Biryani, from Ummi Abdullah's book Malabar Muslim Cookery. I have given her exact recipe from the book, but I didn't add cashews and raisins as I don't like much dry fruit in biryani personally.
We had it with raw papaya thoran, pappadam and fried mackeral fish। A thoran is not necessarily served along with a biryani meal, it would usually be fried fish, pappadam , pickle and raita. But since I had some raw papayas at home, I decided to make the thoran,which quickly made friends with the biryani at the table.
Chicken Biryani- Ingredients
1 Kg Chicken
1 Kg Pulao Rice ( I use a small-grained biryani rice from Calicut called Kaima, but Jeera rice works well too )
500 gm onions
250 gm ghee or oil
100 gm green chillies
50 gm ginger
50 gm garlic
1 tsp poppy seeds
pinch of d=saffron or yellow food colouring
2 tsp garam masala powder ( I used my own)
1 cup curd
1 bunch coriander leaves
small bunch mint leaves
20 gm sliced cashewnuts
20 gm raisins
Juice of 1 lime
2 tsp rose water

Ummi Abdullah's Garam Masala ( Dry Grind the following spices to a powder )
2 gm cinnamon
1 gm green cardamom
1 gm cloves
1/4 Nutmeg
1/2 tsp anise seed
1/2 tsp cumin seed
1/2 tsp cake seed
2 gm mace

1. Slice the onions fine.
2. Grind the green chillies, ginger, garlic, and poppy seeds.
3. Chop the coriander and mint leaves
4. Heat a heavy bottomed vessel and add half the ghee. Add half the sliced onions and fry till transparent.
5. Add the ginger-garlic,chillies and poppy seed paste and fry for 2-3 minutes
6.Add the chicken and fry a few minutes more.
7. Add the beaten curd, salt and 1/4 cup warm water. Cover and cook on a slow fire.
8. When the chicken is half cooked,add the lime juice, coriander leaves and mint leaves. Cook till the chicken is tender and the water is absorbed.

9. Wash the rice and drain it in a colander.
10. Heat the rest of the ghee in a vessel. Add the pother half of the onion and fry till golden brown, add the cashews and raisins and fry with the onions. Remove and keep aside.
11. Add the drained rice and fry for 5 minutes. Add double the quantity of hot water and cook the rice till soft and the water absorbed.
12.Take the vessel with the chicken and sprinkle some of the garam masala powder on to the chicken masala.
13. Put one layer of cooked rice on top of the chicken masala. Sprinkle some garam masala powder, some fried onion, cashew nuts and raisins and some saffron/ food colouring soaked in rose water.
14.Finish with two more layers of rice the same way.
15.Cover with a heavy lid.
16.Place some live coals on top for 15 minutes or put the dish in a pre-heated oven for 15 minutes.

Ritu's Rajma ( Red Kidney Beans)

If you live in Bangalore and know Ritu Talwar, you'll know that she makes a kick-ass Rajma-Chawal lunch on Sunday, well - maybe most Sundays. These are no ordinary Rajma beans either, they're the best, and come all the way from Jammu.

After years of eating this meal at so many different homes and restaurants all I know is that I can tell a good Rajma meal when I taste one and this is absolutely the best !

1. Soak 1.5 cup of Rajma beans overnight in 6 cups water

2. Cook the beans in the same water with salt for 4-5 whistles in the pressure cooker on a high flame and then on a low flame for 20 minutes

3. Grind together- 3 medium onions, 3 tomatoes, a 2" piece of fresh ginger and 6-8 garlic cloves, 2-3 green chillies

4. Heat a little oil, add the ground masala, half a teaspoon of turmeric. Keep stirring this on a medium flame till it becomes a fairly dry ball

5. Add 1 tsp coriander powder, 1/2 tsp. red chilli powder, 1/2 tsp garam masala, 2 tsp. mutton masala. You may need to add some of the liquid from the boiled rajma, or a little hot water to loosen the masala paste and the added powders. Stir together to form a thick paste

6. Add the rajma beans only to the dry masala and stir for 7-8 minutes. Add more salt if you need to

7. Heat the pressure cooker with all the liquid in it and add the rajma beans and masala back to it, bring to a boil and cook together till the gravy is of the consistency you like. Once the oil comes to the surface the rajma is ready

8. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve with plain boiled rice and kachumbar salad!

Irene Desouza's Nawabi Chicken

I worked with Irene D'Souza's daughter some time ago . When we met at the lunch table in office, Charmaine D'Souza's food was the best !! This gentle but exquisite tasting Chicken Curry is really quite "nawabi" without being heavy and rich.
Irene was generous with the recipe, just like with her food.

1. Marinate a Kilo of chicken in thick curd for half an hour or so

2. Fry 2 onions finely cut till brown

3. Add a tablespoon of ginger-garlic paste

4. When fried well, add a tablespoon of chilli powder, a pinch of haldi (turmeric powder) and 1 teaspoon each of jeera (cumin), dhania (coriander) and garam-masala powder. Fry all the masala till the oil separates

5. Add the marinated chicken , salt to taste and cook till the chicken is soft and cooked

6. Add slit green chillies if you want it spicier

7. Garnish with coriander leaves chopped fine

Tapioca and Sardine Curry, A Kerala Speciality

Known as "Kappa-Meen Curry" in God's own country- this is by far the best breakfast, lunch or dinner I have eaten when I'm in Kerala. Its made on most days as a late morning breakfast at my father-in-law's farm, north of Calicut in a place called Thalayad, for the workers who work on the coconut plantation. This breakfast is often eaten along with a chutney that's spicy and tangy.
Don't leave Kerala without trying this dish, and its made with a variety of fish curries other than sardine curry.

Zains Restaurant - Calicut Kerala

Because of this article we went for an exquisite meal, to Zains in Calicut, Kerala. Below is an extract from the article in Outlook Traveller by friend Hari Menon on North Kerala's Mappila cuisine. You can read the whole article here.

" Zain’s is where Kozhikode’s foodies go for their biriyani fix. There’s a good reason why the lane outside the restaurant fills quickly with cars, bikes and people. It isn’t just the biriyani. The dishes Zainabi Noor’s kitchen turns out every day are among the best examples of Mappila cooking you can get anywhere. It’s been over three decades since Zainabi started this restaurant, a pioneering woman entrepreneur. Today, as she surveys her popular realm with a mixture of businesslike efficiency and grandmotherly charm, it’s hard to believe her critics gave the venture a month. Her husband and partner, Noor Mohammed, an Afghan who once played football for Kerala, takes me through the day’s specials, most of which customers can check out in a glass cabinet in the restaurant—a good thing for visitors, since the menu is entirely in Malayalam. There’s the wonderfully fragrant prawn and chicken biriyani; kozhi adachitathu (whole chicken stuffed with eggs) which is half-cooked in masala, then fried, before being returned to the masala; the wonderful meen pathiri, a rice-based bread this time, steamed in plantain leaves with a fried fish and savoury stuffing, and, to finish with; unnakai, made from mashed boiled bananas, mixed with eggs, sugar, nuts and raisins before being deep fried, and chattipathiri, a savoury dessert made of refined flour pathiris layered with a mixture of beaten eggs, cardamom and sugar, with cashew, poppy seeds and raisins added."

Photo: A plate of plain pathiri with chicken curry.

Zains is located behind the Fire Station on Convent Cross Road, South Beach,

Calicut - 673001

Tel: +(91)-(495)-2366311

Doc Varkey's Pork Chops with Apple Sauce

I thought I'd include some organic facts about pork before the recipe so we don't immediately relegate this much maligned meat into the "not-so-healthy" category of foods.
Eat in moderation just like anything else you enjoy !!

The information below is sourced from http://www.organicfacts.net

Nutritional Value of Pork:
Pork makes to the position of most widely consumed meat till today, with being bred almost in all major parts of the world. It is a rich source of proteins and fats. This meat being used to make sausages, ham and bacon is an essential part of people's daily nutrients requirement in many countries. No doubt, Pork has always been an energy packed food.

Nutrition Facts and Information about Pork:
Pork has a high mineral content of Phosphorus, Selenium, Sodium, Zinc, Potassium and Copper. The two minerals which are present in good quantities are Iron and Magnesium, while Calcium and Manganese are found in traces only.

Vitamin Content of Pork:
Pork is highly enriched with Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Thiamin, Niacin, Riboflavin and Pantothenic Acid. However, Vitamin A and Vitamin E are found in very small amounts.

Calorie Content of Pork:
Calorific value of Pork is 458.0 per 100 gm. This is quite high when compared to other animal products like chicken.
Health Benefits of Pork:
Consumption of Pork in moderate quantities is helpful in gaining energy. It is good for skin, eyes, nervous system, bones and mental performance. Intake of Pork also ensures better immunity to body due to presence of essential antioxidants.

Now that we have that out of the way, here's the recipe for this delicious pork chops recipe which is slightly adapted from Doc Varkey's - only in the method of cooking and not in ingredients.

Ingredients

4-6 pork chops/Spare Ribs

2 medium onions sliced fine

1.5 tablespoon olive oil

1 Apple, peeled and chopped small

1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste

1 cup warm water

1 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon Maggi hot and sweet tomato ketchup :-)

Salt to taste

Method

1. Sear pork chops on a high flame till brown on either side. Keep aside.

2. Heat 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil in a pressure cooker or a heavy bottomed casserole. Add onions. Cook till soft

3. Add chopped apples and cook till soft

4. Add ginger-garlic paste, honey, wooster sauce, pepper, maggi sauce or any hot & sweet sauce, and stir over a low flame till all ingredients combine well

5. Add browned pork chops and cook together for about 10 minutes

6. Add salt to taste, and a cup of hot water and stir

7. Pressure cook for 30 minutes or cook on low heat in a covered casserole till meat is soft

Sunila's Parsi Dhansag

I am half parsi from my father's side and so I have grown up eating a fair amount of parsi food. My mother learned how to cook parsi food really well and so we often eat and cook it. I am including her recipe for mutton dhansag and will keep adding my other favourites. Also attached is an article written by Freddy Birdy about eating Bombay Duck at my mother Sunila's house in Delhi.

Ma’s Dhansag
Boil : dhuli mung, masoor, and tur dals ( 1/3 Cups each, or you will have too much dal) with 2 chopped onions, 2 tomatoes, a wedge of (50 gm ) baingan, white pumpkin, yellow pumpkin, a small bunch of methi and a few leaves of palak. If available, put in a green mango. Boil just enough to puree it all roughly.

Marinate I kg of meat in 2 Tbsp. adrak-lassan (ginger-garlic). Fry 3 sliced onions till brown, add meat and stir till it leaves water, add 4 Tbsp dhansak masala, 2 Tbsp. sambhar masala, 2 grated tomatoes and the vegetable puree. Add 1 tsp red chilli powder, 1tsp zeera powder,1 tsp dhania powder , 1 tsp. garam masala powder.

If you haven’t put in the green mango add some tamarind juice at the point when the dal-vegetable puree is added to meat.
A tadka of a few methi leaves crackled in oil with some whole red chillies on the top is nice
Parsis also add a spoon of jaggery after the tamarind juice as they like their food quite sweet but you can skip that.
Of course if you are making veggie dhansag, you follow all the steps except instead of marinating meat in adrak lassan (ginger-garlic) you add 1 tbsp. of adrak-lassan to the fried onions.


Bombay Duck in Delhi.
By Freddy Birdy

Some of Delhi’s most delicious meals can be had outside its restaurants.

If you are ever invited to lunch at Sunila Patel’s, and if you happen to know in advance that she will be serving her crisp-fried, green chilly-stuffed Bombay Duck, then please do drop every pressing engagement and go.

It is an arduous climb up several “ builder-steps” to her second floor apartment, but worth every asthmatic gasp.

You will be seated at a square wooden table, bought in the mid eighties at Taaru’s, that furniture brand that existed when there were no such thing as furniture brands. Behind you will be a wall full of books, leaning against each other unselfconsciously like old friends. The walls will be scattered with delicate Mickey Patel drawings. And a split air-conditioner will lower the second floor summer temperature considerably.

But all this will fade to a blur and your whole, undivided attention will fall on the star attraction, as it is placed simply before you.

The Bombay Duck is not a bird, it does not quack, neither does it come from Bombay. Ours comes a short hop down the road from the Chitaranjan Park fish market. To call the Bombay Duck a fish would be like calling Shabana Azmi an actor. It is much more than that. It is about an inch longer than a 6 inch ruler, slender, firm, yet slightly, nicely, plump. [ Think Aishwariya Rai’s belly in Kajra Re.] It is marinated for a bit in a touch of turmeric, a finger’s pinch of red chilly powder, a tiny hint of ginger-garlic paste, stuffed with an entire small green chilly, dusted in the merest whisper of rice flour and gently placed delicately on an iron griddle glistening with smoking hot oil till it is done to an impossible deliciousness, shatteringly crisp on the outside, the flesh meltingly soft and moist on the inside.

Even though I would include Sunila in my list of favourite conversationalists in Delhi city, her Bombay Duck is best eaten in utter silence, with your fingers, head focused firmly on the plate in front of you, fingertips just slightly scalded by the searing hot flesh, hands used only in pantomime when it is time for your plate to be replenished. You pause midmouthful to rain fresh lime on it, lengthwise, from large half-discs of lemon, or gulp large sips of iced water. It is important to mention here that no other conflicting flavour be served alongside. The only thing that goes well with Bombay Duck, is more Bombay Duck.

The ingredients for this feast to end all feasts, cost a princely thirty rupees. But simply flashing a credit card will not give to access to this extraordinary taste sensation. The Bombay Duck is unlisted on menus in Delhi. It would appear naïve and a little foolish in front of its richer cousins: crabs, lobsters, tiger prawns, mussels. But it is a dish that occupies heartspace, not menuspace. In a sense, this is fast-food, straight from the fish market, into the frying pan and in your mouth. But it is possibly the world’s most delicious fast food. You cannot merely buy your crisp fried Bombay Duck, you have to earn it. And of course, it is never ever too late to get to know Sunila Patel.

Black-eyed pea soup/ Lobia Dal Soup

I love lentil and bean soups. I got the idea to make this one from my friend who ate this black -eyed pea/Lobia dal soup quite often while she was on the famous Delhi based dietitian, Shikha Sharma's diet plan. She mentioned how delicious one can make it apart from it being filling and nutritious. However, this recipe is my own variation. In addition to a high protein content, black-eyed peas serve as an excellent source of calcium and are also high in vitamin A and folic acid.

Ingredients
1 cup black-eyed peas/ Lobia
pinch of turmeric
1 onion chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
1 teaspoon red chilli powder/paprika
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped spinach leaves
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup spring onions
1 cup stock or 1 soup cube dissolved in 1 cup warm water

Method
1. Soak one cup black-eyed peas/lobia dal overnight
2. Boil in 3 cups water with salt and a pinch of turmeric/ haldi. If in a pressure cooker, 2 whistles on a high flame and 12-14 minutes on a simmered flame are enough.
3. Heat 1/2 a tablespoon of oil in a pan, add chopped onion and garlic and stir. Add 1 teaspoon red chilli powder / paprika (optional)
4. Add tomatoes and stir till they break down and cook completely.
5. Add the chopped carrots, spring onions, peas, spinach leaves, and stir for 5 minutes.
6. Add one cup of chicken or vegetable stock. One soup cube will do too. If using a soup cube, dissolve it in a cup of warm water and add to the pot.
7. Add salt and pepper to taste.
8. Add the black-eyed peas/Lobia Dal and the water it boiled in. Boil together till desired thickness and consistency.

Mutton Rogan Josh

This recipe is an adaptation of Camellia Panjabi's recipe from the book 50 Great Curries of India. Its a combination of both the Hindu and the Muslim way to cook it. Serve with plain rice, saffron pulao or serve with hot with rotis !

1 kg mutton ( some bones)
8 cloves garlic chopped or crushed
3 teaspoons kashmiri red chilli powder
1/2 cup thick yoghurt
250 gm small onions chopped, normal onions will do too
1/4 cup ghee/ oil
4 cloves
2 large black cardamom
4 green cardamom
2 cinnamon leaves, tej patta
1 blade of mace/javitri
1 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon fennel / saunf powder
1 teaspoon ginger powder/ sonth
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
salt to taste

Method:

1. Boil the mutton with the garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt in 6 cups water for 30 minutes. Remove and strain. Keep stock aside.
2. Make a paste of the red chilli powder by adding a little bit of water.
3 Whisk the yoghurt, set aside.
4. Heat ghee/oil. Add onions and fry till golden brown. Add cloves, green and black cardamoms, mace coarsely ground together. Add the 2 bay leaves. Fry for a minute.
5. Add the coriander, fennel, ginger and turmeric powder and fry. Add chilli paste and a little warm water and stir.
6. Add the meat, saute till nicely coated by masala. If the masala sticks to bottom of pan keep adding a little of the stock kept aside.
7. Add whisked yoghurt and stir well.
8. Add 3-4 cups of the stock kept aside and lower heat. Cover and cook till meat is tender.

Seafood Pasta by Julia Mily

Please welcome another one of my favourite dishes! I've ordered it in so many restaurants and tasted so many variations, but this one cooked by Julia at our home was the best. I want to post many recipes of dishes made by Julia who's recently arrived from Munich for 3 months, and seems to be spending a lot of time cooking wonderful meals for us. It really should be the other way around, but we're soon going to make up for it and cook her favourite dish in India so far -Butter Chicken!

The trick to cooking this dish is that the pasta has to be done or at least almost done when you start making the seafood sauce, as once the seafood sauce is ready the pasta must go in immediately.

Ingredients
500 gms of mixed seafood (we had frozen shrimps, mussels, baby octopus and squid)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh garlic paste
1 stock/soup cube
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1 dry red chilli or 1/2 teaspoon red chilli flakes
3 large tomatoes chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley
2 tablespoon white wine
1 packet spaghetti

1. Cook Spaghetti in water with salt and few drops of olive oil and drain.
2. Heat the olive oil and stir in garlic. Add one dry red chilli or half teaspoon of red chilli flakes and stir for 2 minutes or so till the garlic cooks but not browns.
3. Add the seafood and stir on a high flame 2-3 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste
4. Lower the flame and add the white wine and stir.
5. Dissolve the stock/soup cube in some water and add to the dish.
6. Add tomatoes and stir. Keep tossing for 5 minutes. The tomatoes don't need to cook too much
7. Add parsley and stir.
8. Add cooked spaghetti toss thoroughly. Add more Olive oil and stir if the spaghetti is too dry.

* This dish tastes much better If you have the option of using fresh octopus, mussels with the shells on, gambas and fresh bits of sea fish.

Tuna Fish Salad

Here's a simple and wholesome summer salad. Potatoes added to this salad make a nice change from the regular recipes available. Serve chilled.

Ingredients
1 small can tuna, drained
2 medium potatoes boiled
3 fresh tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon garlic, chopped fine or ground
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
paprika to taste
Salt to taste

Method

Boil the potatoes, skin and crumble into large pieces. Chop the tomatoes into large pieces.
In a large bowl, combine the tuna, onion, mayonnaise, lemon juice, parsley, garlic , salt and pepper. Add the boiled potatoes and tomatoes. Mix well and refrigerate until chilled. Sprinkle with paprika if desired.

Green Masala Mutton Chops

I bought some mutton chops from Metro Cash and Carry at a great price the other day and decided to try this recipe. Turned out fantastic and much appreciated by all at a happy Sunday lunch at the Tulls. Here's how to make this dish.

Ingredients
8 medium mutton chops, washed and drained
3 finely chopped onions
1 tablespoon cooking oil
Salt to taste

Blend the following and Marinate chops in:
1 cup yoghurt/ Dahi
4 green chillies
1 teaspoon fresh garlic
1 teaspoon fresh ginger
a pinch of turmeric/haldi
1 teaspoon roasted cumin/jeera powder
pinch of red chilli powder
1/2 cup of fresh coriander leaves
1 tablespoon of mint/pudina leaves
Juice of half a lime

Method:

1. Marinate mutton chops for at least half an hour.
2. In a pressure cooker, heat the oil and fry the chopped onions till golden brown.
3. Remove 3/4 of the fried onions and keep aside for the garnish
4. Add marinated meat into pressure cooker with the remaining onions and stir for 5-6 minutes. Add the salt.
5. Close the pressure cooker and cook for 2 whistles on a high flame and 10 minutes on a low flame.
6. Turn the gas off and let the pressure subside.
7. Pour into a dish and garnish with the fried onions.

Clay Pot for setting Yoghurt/ Dahi

I just bought this clay pot from the Dastkari Haat Samiti bazaar that came to Bangalore for a 10 day fair held at Chitra Kala Parishad. Its from the Rajasthani terracotta pottery stall. I was told by the potters that if I thought I was setting good yoghurt/dahi at home, I didn't know how much better it could be if I set it in pot like this ! Sure enough, this mud pot for Rupees 80/- has given me the BEST yoghurt I have ever been able to set at home and it tastes delicious. My friends have since also praised the pretty clay pot and the taste of the yoghurt/dahi set in it.


The clay pot is not glazed or coloured with anything. It helps to wash it gently in water several times before using it to remove any debris.
I also find it useful to fill any clay cooking vessels with left over water in which you have cooked rice, and leave it overnight. It primes the dish and prepares it for cooking, or in this case setting yoghurt/Dahi.

Focaccia Bread with Olives and Habanero Chilli

This is an easy Focaccia Bread recipe I learned from Mary Berry's Complete Cook Book, a lovely pictorial cookbook published by Dorling Kindersley. I'm still trying out different variations and recipes, but so far, my tried and tested one is this. I used chilli oil made with home grown habanero chillies as a garnish on this bread.

Ingredients
750 grams of flour, plus a little extra for dusting
1 packet or 7 gms of fast acting dried yeast
3-4 tablespoon rosemary ( I use dried herbs) but if you have access to fresh, please use that
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus a little extra for greasing
250 ml tepid water
2 teaspoons of coarse sea salt
2 tablespoons chopped olives
A sprinkle of habanero chilli oil

1. Put the flour in a bowl, add the yeast and the rosemary
Make a well in the middle, add oil and water and knead dough to a soft but not sticky consistency. When its smooth and elastic- shape it into a round and place the dough in a slightly greased bowl, cover and keep away in a warm place for an hour till it has doubled in size.
2. Turn out the dough on to a lightly floured work surface and knock back with your fists. Knead for 2-3 minutes and then roll it out to form a round shape -5 cm and about 2 inches thick. Oil the baking dish lightly and place the dough in it. Cover with cling film and leave for another hour in a warm place.
3. Brush with chilli oil or plain olive oil, sprinkle the olives and sea salt and bake in a pre-heated oven for 25 minutes at 190 degrees C or 375 degree F.

Sprouted Dal Moth

This dal, more popularly eaten in its namkeen or savoury form is really delicious when sprouted and eaten as a spicy dal. You can make this semi dry or more liquidy depending on what your meal is like. Delicious and high in nutrition, it has become one of the regulars in our home.

Ingredients and Method
Soak one cup of Dal Moth overnight. Wrap in a muslin cloth and keep it in a strainer to sprout use a sprouting dish.

Heat one teaspoon of oil.
Add a pinch of asafateda.
Add a teaspoon of cumin seeds, when they crackle, add 3 slit green chillies
Add 1/2 a teaspoon of ground garlic and 1/2 a teaspoon of ground ginger, Stir for 1 minute.
Add a pinch of turmeric, 1/ 2teaspoon coriander powder and 1/2 a teaspoon of red chilli powder and stir
Add the pulp of 3 freshly grated tomatoes. Stir and cook till the oil leaves the masala
Add the sprouts and salt to taste. Stir to mix well.
Add 1 1/2 cups of warm water of you want the consistency thin and 1/2 a cup for a more dry consistency to eat with rotis
Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and juice from 1/2 a lime.

Stuffed Whole Karela / Bitter Gourd

Ingredients
8 karelas/ bitter gourds
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon oil/ghee

Stuffing
2 grated onions
1 teaspoon garlic paste
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
1/4 teaspoon fennel powder/ saunf
1 tablespoon of the grated skin of the Karela
salt to taste

Method
1. Grate the outer skin off the karela. Keep one tablespoon aside (optional)
2. Slit along one side and remove the seeds.
3. Soak them in salted water for half and hour. Squeeze out water.
4. Heat a little oil, fry grated onions and then add all the other ingredients in the same order as listed. Mix and turn off the fire.
5. Once cooled stuff the karelas and tie with string only if required. The stuffing masala once cooked sticks together in a tight consistency so does not generally fall out.
6. Heat oil, once hot add the karelas, lower heat and roll them around till browned evenly on each side.