Coffee Chocolate Mousse

This is the first time that I was trying to make a vegetarian mousse using Agar-Agar instead of gelatin. I was quite nervous of the outcome. But I have to say it came out pretty neat. I was always very apprehensive of using agar-agar.  I was happy with my first time try, so I may try more recipes with this.

 

Ingredient

China grass / agar-agar - 10grams (cut into small pieces)

Milk – 4 cups

Sugar – 5 to 6 tbsp

Coco powder – 3 tbsp dissolved in 2 tbsp milk

Coffee powder – 2 tsp dissolved in 2 tbsp milk

Cream – 1 tbsp

Method 

1.      In a non-stick pan combine 1 ½ cup of water with agar-agar and cook over a slow flame till it dissolves completely, stirring continuously.

2.      Strain the mixture and keep aside.

3.      In a pan boil the milk.

4.      Add sugar, coco mixture, coffee mixture and agar-agar liquid.

5.      Simmer over a slow flame, stirring continuously for 5 -7 min.

6.      Remove from flame and let it cool.

7.      Add the cream and mix well.

8.      Pour the mixture in to the individual bowls.

9.      Refrigerate for 4 to 5 hrs.

10.  Decorate it with chocolate vermicelli.

Chicken Pepper Chettenad

This is a chicken made the Chettenad style with pepper as the only ingredient for flavour. There is no other masala put in. It has a thick gravy of curd. There is a little sourness of curd, lemon juice and tomatoes. But a very light recipe.

Ingredient

Marination

1kg – chicken
1cup – thick curd
1tsp – ginger garlic paste
1 ½ tsp – freshly crushed pepper
½ tsp – lime juice

For Gravy

3tbsp – oil
3 - onion finely chopped
1tsp – ginger garlic paste
2 – tomatoes blanched and finely chopped
Salt to taste

For Tempering

1tbsp – oil
2 whole dry red chilly
1 spring of curry leaves

Method

Marination

1.       The chicken should be medium size pieces.

2.       Prepare a marinade with the whipped curd, ginger-garlic paste, crushed pepper and lime juice.

3.       Marinate the chicken with this gravy for about 2 hr.

 

Gravy

4.       Heat the oil in a kadhai

5.       Add the onion and fry over a medium heat till it turns light golden in colour.

6.       Add the ginger-garlic paste and sauté till golden brown.

7.       Add the tomatoes and stir fry till the oil separated.

8.       Add the chicken alongwith the marinade and salt.

9.       Stir for 5 min and add 1 cup of water.

10.    Cover and cook till done.

 

Tempering

11.    Heat the oil in a small frying pan.

12.    Put the whole chilly and curry leaves.

13.    Remove when the chillies turn dark and pour over the chicken.

14.    The gravy should be thick.

Olan

Olan  is one of the Onam Sadya recipes.  It is simple and fast to make.  It is very difficult to get the red black eyed bean in North India. So I usually us the regular black eyed bean also known as lobia in hindi.  

Ingredient

Ash gourd (Safed Kaddu) – 2 cups

Grated coconut – 1 ½ cups

Red black eyed beans/ Lobia/ Van Payar – ½ cup

Green chilies – 3

Curry leaves – 1 strand

Mustard seed – ½ tsp

Oil – 1tsp 

Method

1.      Soak the beans overnight or for about 2 to 3 hrs. ( you can skip this step if there is a time constrain)

2.      Cook the bean till soft, and keep aside ( don’t overcook it )

3.      Add ½ cup water to the grated coconut, grind and extract thick coconut milk.

4.      Cut ash gourd to small square pieces.

5.      Cook it by adding a little water, salt and green chillie about 10 min ( don’t make it mashy)

6.      To this add the cooked beans, coconut milk, curry leave. Mix well and cook for 5 min.

7.      Pour the oil and take of the flame.

Note : The gravy should be thick, don’t make it watery.

Mirch Ka Saalan

This is a very famous Hyderabadi dish. It is normally serves with biryani. When I make it we have it with chapattis or hot steamed rice.  My elder son and his friends like it very much. 

 

 

Ingredients

Large green chillies  - 250gm ( make a slit on one side)

Onion – 3 large (cut into big pieces)
Tamarind – 20gms ( soak in 1 cup water for 15 min)
Ginger – 1 ½ tbsp chopped
Garlic – 2 tbsp chopped
Coriander seed – 1tbsp
Cumin seeds – 1tsp
Sesame seeds – 3tbsp
Roasted peanuts – ¼ cup
Poppy seeds – 1 ½ tsp
Kopra – 2” pieced (grated)
Fenugreek seeds – ¼ tsp
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Jaggery – 1tsp
Curry leaves – few
Salt – as per taste
Oil – 1 cup

Method

1.     Mash the tamarind with hand , strain and get tamarind water. Keep aside.

2.     Heat 1tbsp oil in a tawa, roast the onion in it for 10min or till it soften and turns golden brown. Keep aside.

3.      On the same tawa dry roast coriander seeds, sesame seeds, peanuts, cumin seeds, poppy seeds, grated kopra and fenugreek seeds ( all together) till they darken together and smell roasted.

4.      Grind together roasted fried onion, roasted spices, ginger, garlic, turmeric powder, red chill and red chilli powder in a mixer to a fine paste. Add tamarind water and again grind to a smooth paste. Keep aside.

5.      Heat oil  in a kadhai and deep fry green chilli. As soon as the green chilli gets a few golden brown spots, remove from the pan and keep aside.

6.      Now heat 3tbsp oil in a kadhai, add curry leaves to the oil, when it splatter, add the ground paste, salt & jaggery.

7.      Cook for about 5 – 10 min on a medium flame.

8.      Add the fried green chilli and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

9.      Add about ½ cup water and bring to boil.

10.  Cook for about 5 min on a low flame till the oil comes to the surface.

 

Sabudana Khichdi

Sabudana is made of tapioca (kappa in Malayalam), so it is also call tapioca pearls.  It’s a famous dish for fasting days in Maharashtra & Gujarat.

This is a Khichdi which I make for breakfast. This recipe is not for fasting day as I use onion and sometimes a pod of garlic. We have it with curd but my mother use to sprinkle sugar on top and have. You can try both ways and enjoy.

 

Ingredient

Sabudana  - 1 cup

Potato – 2 (finely chopped)
Onion – 2 (finely chopped)
Green chili – 2 (finely chopped)
Jeera – 1 tsp
Roasted peanut powder – ½ cup
Coriander leafs – 1tbsp
Oil – 1tbsp
Salt – as per taste

Method

1.     Wash the sabudana with water only once and soak  it in ¼ cup water overnight.

2.      Heat oil in a large pan.

3.      Add jeera and all allow it to crackle.

4.      Add onion and green chilli. Saute till the onions become transparent.

5.      Now add the potato and mix well.  Cover and cook till the potato is cooked.

6.      It’s time to stir in the sabudana with a tablespoon of peanut powder and salt. Mix well.

7.      Cover the pan with a lid and simmer on low heat occasionally stirring for 5 to 10 min or until cooked.

8.      Now add the remaining peanut powder and coriander leafs, and mix nicely.

9.      Cover the pan and switch of the heat and let it rest for 5 min.

10.  Serve it with thick curd.

 

Important :

·         To check the readiness, sabudana would have changed its colour from white to translucent and will be soft.

·         The sabudana ball should be separate and not lumpy.

·         Keep stirring on frequent intervals, so that it does not stick to the pan.

·         If you feel the mixture are becoming lumpy, add a little peanut powder, it keeps the pearls separate.  

Onam Sadya

Onam is the harvest festival of Kerala. It marks the homecoming of the mythical King Mahabali.

My childhood memories of Onam were only of Onam Sadya as we never celebrated it at home but one of our family friends would regularly call for Onam Sadya. On our way back from school, my brother and I would get down at their house; have a grand sadya and go back home. Those days I never thought of how they arranged the food item or how the course goes.  It was just about good food, yummy payasam and lots of fun with friends.

Years after that now after marriage and with kids, far from parents, Onam has a different meaning.  It’s  a get-together of all Malayali friends, pookalam, preparation of  different types of payasams, exhibiting your collection of  Kasava saree, etc.

This year the celebration was a little different.  The Sadya was a group preparation.   All the ladies prepared one or two item.  We all met at one house and had a yummy Sadya.  Thanks to  Darshana, Bubby, Deepti, Sudha, Smita, Amrita  and Neetu. Due to them I could click a nice picture of a full Sadya.

The most important thing which I learnt this time was the way the sadya is served. 

            a)   Clean banana leaf is spread out with the end towards the left.

b)      You start serving from the extreme left

1.      Pazham /Banana

10. Papadam

2.   Banana Chips / Sarkara Upperi

3.   Pullyinchi

4.   Naranga curry/ Manga curry ( Lemon /Mango curry)

5.   Kichadi

6.   Toran

7.   Kalan

8.   Avial

9.   Kutta curry  

            c)  You serve the rice only once the guest  is seated

            d) Now serve boiled rice in the centre with 12. Paripu/dal and pour ghee on top

            e) Next serve rice with 13. Sambar

            f)  Now serve the 16. Paladda or any payasam. ( Some have payasam mixed with banana or with papadam).

            g) Next is little rice with 14. Rasam

            h) The meal end with rice and 15. Moru.

You can add lot more dishes to this like erissery, pullissery, pachadi, olan, theeyal, cherupayar payasam, Palada Payasam etc. 

Note : As I get time I will start posting recipes of all these item.

Modak

Its Ganesh Festival time.  Though a Malayali by birth, I have stayed in Maharashtra for the first 29 years of my life. So, Ganesh festival and all things related to it was a very important part of growing up.  As friends and neighbors were mostly maharastrians,  Ganesh sthapana (installation of idol) on Ganesh Chaturthi, Ganesh Visarjan ( immersion of the idol), Modaks, durva collection, visiting of different mandals are some of the memories of childhood related to Ganesh festival .  I miss all those festivity excitement now in Gurgaon.  And most important the steamed modals made by all the neighborhood kaki’s and Vaihini’s.  

 

One of my colleague’s wife makes yummy modaks, for the last few years she has been sending modal for me during Ganesh Chaturti, which keeps me fulfilled of my sweet desire.  But, this year they are in Pune to celebrate the festival and I and few of the other colleagues are missing our dose of Modak’s.  So, tried my hand in making Modak’s and treating the team. Below is the result.

Ingredient

For the outer cover

Rice flour – 1 cup
Water – 1 cup
Ghee – 1 tsp
Salt – pinch

For the filling

Grated fresh coconut – 1 cup
Jaggery  - ½ cup
Cardamom powder – ½ tsp
Nutmeg powder – ¼ tsp

Method 

For the filling

1.         In a non-stick pan heat the grated coconut and jaggery  till the jaggery melts and both of them mix together.

2.         Add cardamom powder and Nutmeg powder and mix well.

3.         You can keep this mixture in a refrigerator for 2 to 3 days.

 
For the cover

1.         Swift the rice flour nicely.

2.         Boil the water with ghee and salt.

3.         When the water boils, put off the heat.

4.         Immediately add the rice flour and mix well.

5.         Cover this mixture with a lid and keep it for 5 min.

6.         After 5 min, transfer the mixture to a kneading bowl.

7.         Knead this mixture to a soft dough, while it is still warm ( when it gets cool it will get lumpy).

8.         This this dough in an airtight container.

To make the Modak

1.         Apply ghee in you hand. Take little lemon  size dough and roll it into a ball.

2.         Flatten it well, as thin as possible without breaking.

3.         Shape the edge into a flower pattern.

4.         Put a spoonful of filling in the middle of the flower.

5.         Seal the dough, shaping like a water drop.

6.         Grease the steamer plate.  Place these steamer on the greased palate and steam these modaks 5 min.  (I use idle steamer, you can use the dhokla steamer, momo maker or cooker without whistle).

7.     Makes around 8 Modaks.