Earchi Achar / Meat Pickle

This is my favorite pickle. And the recipe is a family recipe passed from my mother to me. I love eating it with hot rice or paratha.  Always a saver when there is not nonveg at home.

 

Ingredients

Tender beef/mutton - 1 kg (cut in small pieces and washed)

Ginger – 1 tbsp. (cut lengthwise)

Garlic – 15  (cut lengthwise)

Mustard seed – 2tsp cup

Fenugreek seed – 1 ½ tsp

Turmeric powder – 1tsp

Red chilli powder – ½ cup

Vinegar – approx 1 ½ cup

Salt as per taste

Curry leaves – about 20 leaves

Oil for frying -

Method

1.     Pressure Cook meat along with 2 tbsp of vinegar, 1tsp salt and ½ tsp turmeric powder for 1 whistle and 5 min.  remove the access water after it cools.

2.     Heat about 1 cup oil in and pan and fry the meat still it is crisp brown from outside. 
3.     Dry roast mustard seed and fenugreek seed.
4.     Coarsely grind the roasted mustard & fenugreek seed.
5.     Heat 2 tbsp. oil. To this add ginger & garlic and fry till is light brown. Add curry leaves and saute. 
6.     Remove the pan from the heat and add turmeric powder, red chilly powder, salt, ground mustard and fenugreek.  Mix well.
7.     Get the pan back to heat, add the fried meat pieces and mix well.
8.     Now add ½ to 1 cup of vinegar (according to the thickness of the gravy you want).
9.     Boil the mixture for 2 min.
10.    Remove from fire, cool and bottle it.

Eggy Muggy (Toddler Special)

I got this recipe from a colleague of mine when my little one was 15 months old and my elder son was 9 yrs.  There was no name for this recipe, so my sons christened it as Eggy Muggy. Both my kids like it even today when they 6 and 13 years old.   Whenever my elder son feels like eating something sweet they team up and make it together, so it’s that simple.

Ingredients

Egg - 1

Milk powder  - 4 tsp ( you can use children milk powder (lactogen) also)

Milk - 1 cup

Sugar - 1 to 2 tsp

Nutmeg power – 1 pinch ( optional while make for toddlers )

Or Vanilla essence – ½ tsp  ( don’t add it while make for  toddlers)

Method

1.     Beat milk powder and egg nicely till it becomes a thick paste and all the milk powder dissolves.

2.     Boil the milk with the sugar. 

3.     When the milk starts boiling, low the flame.

4.     Now start pouring the egg mixture slowing without steering ( spoon by spoon).

5.     If you adding nutmeg powder or vanillas essence, this is the time. 

6.     Let it cook for 2 mins (it takes a curdle form ).

7.     Stir it well and it is ready to eat. 

8.     It can be eaten warm or cold. 

Jaathikka Chammanthi / Nutmeg Fruit Chutney

Pleasantly aromatic, nutmeg is actually seed kernel of fruit-nutmeg.  We always use the nut and the mace of this fruit.  In my childhood my grandfather’s house had an old Jaathi (nutmeg tree) near the family well. I would tag along with him every morning  to collect the fallen nutmeg fruits. During these walks I have tasted the fruit but never liked it.  These are few of the summer vacation memories I have.

I never knew that we could make such taste chuttney out the nutmeg fruit. Thanks to my cousin's husband who mentioned it and i went hunting for the recipe.  So, this year’s visit to Kerala taught me this new recipe. It’s my Grandmothers special recipe. Thanks to her I have found one more traditional recipe.

So now try to find this fruit and make this chammanthi and ENJOY!

 Ingredients

Jaathikka fruit/Nutmeg fruit – 2

Grated coconut – 1 cup

Green chilli – 2 – 3 (according to your taste)

(Note : I prefer kandari chilli / birds eye chilli if it is readily available)

Shallots/ sambar onions – 5

Ginger – small piece

Garlic – 3 piece

Salt – according to your tast

Curry leave – 10 finely cut

  Method

1.     Break the Jaathikka into half and remove the red inner coat (mace) and the nut.

2.     Now roast the fruit directly on the gas flame/stove till the out layer burns and the inside cooks. ( authentically it done in a hearth/chulha)

3.     Peel of the burnt outer skin, clean  the remaining with a dry towel and cut it into small piece

4.     Grind all the ingredient except the curry leave into a smooth paste.

5.     Mix the finely cut curry leaves.

6.     It’s ready to serve.

Aam Panna

Aam panna is tangy summer cooler made out of raw mango.  This is homemade summer cooler which all of us must have had during our childhood. As it prevents from sun stroke and stomach problems in summers, my mother always stocked it in her refrigerator during summer. It was such a refreshing drink to have when we come in from the scorching heat of Nagpur with the outside temperature being 45 – 48 ⁰C. I really miss those lovely childhood days.

Anyway, do try it and let me know, did you enjoy it.

Ingredients

Raw mango  – 3 medium size

Sugar – 100gm/ as per taste

Cumin powder/ jeera  - 1tsp

Pepper powder – ½ tsp

salt – ½ tsp

5 glass chilled water

  Method

1.     Clean the mangos and boil it with ½ cup water in a pressure cooker for 2 whistles

2.     When it is cool, take out the pulp completely and mash. Throw of the seed and the skin.

3.     To this pulp add water, sugar, cumin powder, pepper & salt. Mix well till the sugar dissolves.

4.     Strain this mixture (optional :  if you like to get tit-bits of mango pulp in your drink, then don’t strain.

5.     Your aam panna is ready to serve.

6.     Or refrigerate and use when required.

Balushahi

Balushahi is a sweet dish which we got to relish very rarely during Diwali.  I liked the soft and flakey ones.  And always thought it was very difficult to make. But believe me it is one of the easiest sweet to make, if you know to how the dough should be knead.  Now days, I make it regularly and try to make variations with flavors.

So please try making it!

Ingredients

For Balushahi

Maida – 1½ cup

Baking soda / meeta soda – ¼ tsp

Ghee / clarified butter – 6tbsp

Curd – 4tbsp

Salt a pinch

Ghee /oil to deep fry

  

For sugar syrup

Sugar - 2 cups

Water - 1 cup

Cardamom powder

 Method

For Syrup

1.      In a sauce pan add water and sugar and bring it to boil over medium heat.

2.      Let it simmer until the syrup is almost one thread.

3.      Add cardamom and mix.

4.      Set aside and let it be warm.

For Balushahi

1.      In a bowl mix the flour and baking soda ( best is to swift it together).

2.      To this add the ghee and mix it with your finger till it has a crumby texture.

3.      Now add the yogurt and mix into a dough (do not knead it into soft dough).

4.      Cover the dough and let it sit for about an hour.

5.      Knead it twice or thrice. (Not more than that).

6.      Divide the dough in lemon size portions ( about 12 balls)

7.      Roll in your palm to make small ball (Balls should not be  very smooth and should have cracks all       around).

8.      Flatten in by pressing it between you palms and make a deep dent in the center.

9.      Heat the oil in a fry pan  (don’t over heat it, let it be on medium heat throughout the frying                   process).

10.  Now fry the prepared balushahi in batches of 5.  Don’t over crowd it.  Fry it slowly till both the           sides are golden brown.  It would take about 10 min to get this done. If you do it in high flame,         the inside of the balushahi will not get cooked properly.

11.  Take it out and place in on paper towel to let the extra oil get absorbed.

12.  Now dip the fried balushai in the sugar syrup, let it coat all through and remove it. (Don’t leave           them in the syrup)

13.  Garnish them with pistachios.

Coconut Cookies

When we were kids we never had banded fancy cookies like today.  For us in the 70ies and 80ies there was biscuit-wala who got nankathai, coconut cookies, pista cookies etc. in his tin boxes on his cycles. Remembering childhood days days here is coconut cookies of those days.

Ingredients

Butter – 150gm

Castor sugar – 150gm

Desiccated coconut – 100gm

Refined flour/maida – 150gm

Egg – 1

Desiccated coconut – for dusting

 Method

1.      Mix butter and sugar with beater. 

2.      To this add the egg. 

3.      Now mix the desiccated coconut and flour.

4.      Make a dough of the above mixture.

5.      Cover the dough and keep it in a refrigerator for 30 min.

6.      Now take a lemon size portion of this dough, make a ball and flatten (let it be thick).

7.      Light dust desiccated coconut on top.

8.      Line the baking tray with parchment paper and place the cookies in it.

9.      Repeat from step six with the rest of the dough.

10.  Preheat the oven for 150⁰C.

11.  Bake the cookies for 15 min.  

Strawberry with Whipped Cream

Ingredients

Whipping cream – ½ cup

Fresh Strawberry – 1 cup

Strawberry crush – 4 tbsp

 Method

1.      Use cold liquid whipping cream. ( note : don’t use whipping cream immediately from the freezer, it should be cold and liquid. 

2.      Whip it, till it is 3 times the quantity with an electric beater (about 10-15 min), don’t make it very stiff.

3.      Cut the strawberry into small pieces. ( I like it very small, it’s you choice).

4.      Mix the whipped cream and the cut strawberry.

5.      Take a big glass; pour half a tbsp. of strawberry crush from the side by tilting the glass.

6.      To this add the whipped cream mixture.

7.       Now pour the remaining ½ tbsp. of strawberry crush on top of the cream mixture.

8.      Decorate it with a whole strawberry.

9.      You can repeat it for 3 more glass.  

Serve it cold. Kids love this.