Chicken Curry with Green Peppers..

The weather outside is frightful, but i feel so delightful....:))
Ah... one of the comforts of the winter is the warm kitchen.. the same kitchen that used to swelter me in the summer is now a warm hearth, making me find reasons to be there and cook even if there is food in the fridge. (Its 23F outside.. a scant -5 Celsius and I am so glad to be at home and not working outside.)


As Nigella Lawson said in her book, "How to be a Domestic Goddess"(A must flip through for all you aspiring goddesses)" I've always thought that bad weather has its compensations, most of them culinary." The book has pretty simple recipes for a starting off baker and more than that it is jolly wonderful to read her take on each recipe.

So I don't need another cookie or another cake, but that's what I feel like making.. if they don't have bread, let them eat cake.. but to stay practical, I opt for a chicken item instead...curry today..with peppers..and lots of onions..though not a gravy based curry..more a cry.

Yet another spicy chicken curry.  It's your regular chicken curry but with bell peppers added to it to change the taste. Green peppers have the best taste, but yellow and red peppers are good too, they add a sweetness to the dish if you like that.

You will need:
Chicken-1 ½ lb, (700gm) cleaned and cut into small pieces.
Onions-2 or 3 medium sized ones sliced finely
Bell Peppers-2 green ones sliced thinly in strips( or use a mix of red, green and yellow)
Tomatoes-1 chopped into dices.
Hot Green chilies - 6 slit
Ginger–Garlic coarsely ground – 2-3 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Lemon juice-1 tsp
Red hot chili powder- 1 1/2 tsp (more or less as per taste)
Coriander powder-2 tsp
Garam Masala-1/2 tsp
Black Pepper powder- 1/4 tsp
Coriander, curry leaves- each a small handful, chopped
Salt - to taste
Oil-4 tbsp

Preparation:
Wash the chicken and lightly toss it with lemon juice and rinse again. Drain well onto a slotted drainer. Marinate with the turmeric,half the red chili powder, salt and lemon juice.
Heat the 2tbsp oil in a large shallow pan and add onions. When they are slightly transparent, add the peppers and continue sauteing. Add the slit chilies and curry leaves and stir. When the peppers wilt, remove most of the onions, all the peppers and keep aside.

Add ginger and garlic to the remaining onions, and saute.  Add more oil if the mix looks dry. When the raw smell goes, add the tomatoes, remaining chili powder, coriander and saute till the tomatoes soften. Then add the chicken and cook uncovered on medium heat for 3-4 minutes till water comes out. Do not add any water: it will prevent the spice powders from getting cooked. Then cover and cook 10-15 minutes. The amount of time depends on the size of the chicken pieces. Smaller pieces cook faster.

Add more salt if needed and then add the pepper and garam masala. Check to see if the chicken is cooked. Now add back the onions and peppers sauteed earlier to the chicken and stir well. If there is no water, add 1/4 cup water and cook it covered for five minutes to let the flavors blend.  Add the coriander leaves last, after switching off the flame. Let it rest covered for a while before serving.

Chicken Samosas..

This is one of the Ramazan specialities, samosas filled with meat. It is made completely by hand but feel free to replace with ready made wrappers such as spring roll wrappers, samosa wrappers or puff pastry sheets (Bake it as per the instructions on the box if you use puff pastry to make chicken puff). Ground meat(chicken or beef) is not recommended for samosas as it changes the texture. Chicken can be made either by pressure cooking, or by just cooking the boneless pieces in the spices and mash it up for a shredded texture. Also, the quantity of onions to meat is a personal preference. Increase or decrease as you like.
If you have any leftover grilled or fried chicken or chicken dry curry , u could add onions and chilies and make the filling masala.  The filling should be dry for the samosa to hold together.

Kolhapuri Chicken...

Another weekend gone and no change in status quo.. Another whole week and weekend spent on cleaning and showing the house...A spate of incidents where we had to spent our time outside the house while the realtor and their clients were seeing the house. Our house is so small that my little one keeps asking.,. what are they looking at so much...but still no response so keeping the fingers, toes and arms and legs crossed.

The only highlight of last week was a package from Nupur of "One Hot Stove" which arrived with aromatic messages. She sent me a sampler of the famous Kolhapuri masala, that too a homemade version. She was having a contest for it on her blog and she sweetly offered me a sample even though I didn't win the contest.

Searching for a chicken Kolhapuri recipe, I saw this interesting writeup on the Ten most popular Maharashtrian dishes and Kolhapuri curries was one of them.

The word "Kolhapuri" brings to mind the weirdest combination of items.. Padmini Kolhapuri of the 80s movies( brought back to mind by B4U music), Kolhapuri chappals of which I always had a pair of thru my college days and the stomach unsettling super spiced dhabha Kolhapuri food eaten on college tours.
My better experience with Kolhapuri cooking is limited to eating K. Chicken and veg Kolhapuri in Mumbai and once in Matheran and that too a long time ago. I remember its spine tingling spiciness after a long day walking and documenting Matheran, its spice just highlighting the heat around.( Some people like to eat spicy food and then drink hot tea, but that is a sure fire way of setting my head ablaze in the summer.) Now I just used to associate it with spice, the way Thai food is associated with spice now.

I deliberated over mutton or chicken Kolhapuri and settled on making Chicken Kolhapuri with it. The misal was also very tempting but I had no sprouted beans so went for the chicken. That's next on the agenda.

It turned out to be a very well spiced, ferociously red and fiery looking curry.... took the blandness out of the usual chicken curry. But it was not all heat.. there was a myriad other flavors in it now which I probably was unaware of years back. I didn't even know at that time it had coconut in it.

The combination of the dried coconut, fresh coconut and all the different spices gives it a taste very slightly similar to the varutha aracha chicken curry. I had run out of dried coconut, so I added only fresh coconut.. I am sure its tastes even better with dried coconut.

So I got one more chicken curry to my list of curries. Thanks a lot Nupur, we enjoyed the masala. Now I just need to learn to make it. :) For the Chicken Kolhapuri, I just followed Meera's recipe fully. So here is the recipe for those who want to try it out.

Chicken Soup and Frozen Herbs...

Herbs are the most expensive item as per the quantity, in my grocery list at least and I can only keep them alive for 10 days (maximum!!) before they lose their flavor. So I end up buying the cilantro-mint-curry leaves weekly while the other non-desi herbs are relegated to be the dried variety. Then last summer I had a small container herb garden and just loved the flavor of the fresh herbs...all became my best friends.....with such pretty names, how can you ask them not to... for anything, I would just hop out and get a sprig or two...oregano in kebabs(yeah, they taste great) and fresh basil in pasta sauce, thyme in grilled meats and potatoes...Rosemary and I don't get along so well so didn't invite her to my container party.

Then the winter set in and my herbs were freezing so I brought them in..I don't have a sunroom or a really sunny ledge so had to place them in the side tables in the living room next to the window...The next day there was dirt and a worm crawling out ..eeek.. squeamish me, banished them to the cold, apologizing and promising to revive them in the summer.



Then a month back, Matt of Daregal Gourmet offered to send me samples of a new product they were marketing...frozen herbs. The idea was so quirky that I had to try it out.
Usually during my supermarket stroll, something new finds it way into my cart..some end up in the cabinet, only to be thrown out, still unused after months, some become the new staple. But this one was interesting as they claimed that the herbs are cut at their peak, chopped, and quickly frozen.

They arrived packed in a box so huge that I forgot all about the go -ahead I had given to the herb people and opened it quickly...much too quickly to read the "Danger-Dry Ice- Do not touch with bare hands"...argh!!

Eight containers of herbs ..was a pleasant surprise. I had expected just one or two...Oregano, Cilantro, Parsley, Original Blend, Dill, Italian Blend, Basil, Grilling blend... each box had a particular herb or herb blend, chopped fine. On opening, they looked a funny shade of green, like someone had gathered the grass with the frost off my front lawn. But they smelled good, just like the herbs, so I hesitatingly tried them in some of my cooking. It took me a week before I gathered the courage to use it. All you do is keep them frozen until you're ready to use a particular herb, give the container a quick shake to loosen, and shake out on any dish you are making.

My uses:
I used the herbs to season and marinate chicken for grilling. The chicken marinated in a blend of the oregano along with lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika came out very nice and the leftovers can be used for other chicken stirfries or wraps.
The grilling blend works very well with fish to get a good combination of herbs in a hurry. I grill salmon and flounder often for the kids and the light parsley-butter-garlic-pepper is what they prefer so this is easy to use for that.

The Italian blend, Parsley and Basil, I used in pastas and pasta sauce and tasted good.
The Dill was particularly good in soups as shown below.



In general, the herbs work well in cooking uses and it smells really nice. They dissolve very fast but I didn't like the wet feel and taste when used directly on salads as garnish. The cilantro was the weakest herb as cilantro by itself is so delicate that I feel freezing damages its crisp taste. So, for our curries garnish, I still prefer the fresh cilantro.

They are expensive but not too much.. almost the same as the dried herbs. Compared to the amount I buy and have to discard, it's cheaper in the long run. If you do a lot of non-Indian cooking, grilling etc, then these herbs are a handy tool to have. You don't have to buy a lot for the tiny bit that you need for each dish and throw the rest away. They fit well in the freezer door too, so storing space is not a problem. All in all, I feel these frozen herbs are an improvement over the dried ones, though I do have to use them more to conclude fully.



All American Chicken Soup
This is a light soup that really is a kid favorite...they like the soup from restaurants and cans(disgusting over salty things!!urgh!!)so this is one soup that I resist adding my touch and make it as it is. You probably see this recipe everywhere in books and shows. The ingredients when bought are too much in quantity, so sometimes I chop it up and store it in the freezer in soup combination.


You Will Need:for 4 servings
Chicken pieces with bones-1 pound
Garlic-6 cloves
Onion-1 1/2 medium sized ones cut into 1/6ths.
Carrots-3 long ones, peeled and cut into big chunks
Parsnips-1/2 (optional)
Celery- 2-3 stalks ends trimmed and cut into 1" lengths.
Water-4 cups water
Dill- 1 tsp
Whole Peppercorns-1/2 tsp
Salt- 1/4 tsp or as per taste.
Preparation:
Remove any fat from the chicken and wash it well. It's better to keep it as big pieces for ease of removing the bones later.
Put the chicken and all the ingredients except for salt in a large heavy stock pot( open pressure cooker will do) and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook uncovered for 30-40 minutes. If there is any impurities, skimming the broth will remove it. Add salt as per taste and adjust the seasoning with fresh parsley, dill and/or black pepper. Remove the chicken meat from the bones and return to the soup. Serve hot with a spot of butter or cream.

Note:
The parsnip and celery together add a sweetness to the soup that didn't appeal to me much, but the kids loved it, so try it either way and modify accordingly.
If you are making a large quantity, there will be fat in it. Skim off the fat by refrigerating the soup and removing the solidified fat.
You could add any kind of noodles (boiled separately) to this soup, but the ones that go best are the egg noodles. We like the wide twisted noodles.

 Spicy Modifications: 

1. Add scallions chopped up with ginger for a different twist. 
2. Add 1/2 tsp paprika for a slight spice kick
3. Shorba style: Omit the dill and parsnip. Add 1/2 tsp garam masala before cooking. Remove the chicken. debone and reserve. Smash up the rest of the veggies and pass the soup thru a strainer to get a semi- clear liquid. Do a seasoning of a pinch of cumin seeds and 1/2 chopped onion to the stock and add the reserved chicken.  Add more pepper and indianized soup ready.
   

Chicken Malai Tikka

Some more soups were left to blog but I have no photos for them so decided to post them later. Meanwhile my family craved something spicy and meaty and so here it is...Chicken malai tikka.I am sure my readers in the metros in India have their favorite tikka/kebab corner, which they frequent regularly and hence wonder why we bother making this at home.

If I could access Nizamuddin, Karims, Delhi Durbar or Bade Miyan here, I would choose to just sit back and eat. But the food in the Desi restaurants here look reasonably desi, smell good but the food is a watered down version of the real thing. All color and no flavor. So when we meet up, my friends and I take turns making the grilled tikkas as appetizers and each of us have a wonderfully unique recipe.

And on a week night, this is good for dinner....A green salad, some tortillas or pita and a tzatziki sauce or yogurt sauce, all wrapped up makes for a sumptuous meal.



This is one of the typical marinade for chicken kebabs or tikkas or whatever you want to call them. The names have been used interchangeably by everyone for small bites of chicken marinated in a yogurt based spice mix and grilled.The literal meaning of tikka is "pieces of chicken" and the word Kebab or Kabob is generally used for minced meat or cubes of meat on a skewer, usually marinated before cooking. The malai in the name comes from the addition of yogurt, sour cream or cream(malai) in the marinade and even butter to baste it. It adds a creaminess to the chicken's texture and makes it soft. Traditionally made in the clay oven, tandoor, the tikka is cooked surrounded by the high heat for a short time. It imbibes the smoky flavor and cooks fast, leaving it crusty outside and juicy inside.

In the summer I grill it on the backyard gas grill but all through winter, its done in the broil setting in my cooking range. (It does run up my gas bill though!!)

Since my version uses just a whole chicken cut up into small pieces, some with bone in it, I call it tikka. Kind of a smaller version of tandoori chicken. You could make it with boneless cubes too for ease of eating but the flavor is entirely different.. So its your choice, really. The boneless version is good for making chicken tikka masala, a very popular creamy chicken curry.

I have tried many recipes for the malai tikka, some with cream and some with sour cream or yogurt but this combination is what I end up using week after week. The others are really good too and when you do have sour cream or leftover cream at home, its great to use them but who wants to inject fat unnecessarily? So I stick to yogurt which is thickened and that gives it a rich flavor without too much fat. To make thick yogurt, hang the required amount of yogurt in a clean tea towel and place in a large strainer over a bowl. Leave it for as long as you need. After about a hour or more, the whey would have drained out leaving behind thick yogurt. You could also buy Greek yogurt instead and use that.

You will need:
A whole chicken cut up into small pieces. Use a 2 to 3 pound size one.
For the Marinade
Thick Yogurt-1 cup
Juice of 1 whole lemon
Ginger paste-2 teaspoon
Garlic paste- 2 teaspoon
Red Chili Powder- 1 and half teaspoon(Use less if you want it less spicy)
Paprika-3/4 teaspoon
Turmeric-3/4 teaspoon
Coriander Powder-1/2 teaspoon
Cumin Powder- 1 teaspoon
Garam Masala- 2 teaspoon
Cilantro - 1/2 cup finely minced.
Salt to taste
Olive Oil( traditionally butter is used, so u can use either.)-3 Tablespoons

Preparation:
Blend all the marinade ingredients in a blender . Marinate the chicken for at least 2 hours or over night in the refrigerator. Skewer the chicken on either wooden or metal skewers. I usually make it without skewering out of laziness and it tastes just as good. To keep bamboo or wooden skewers from burning, soak for several hours in water before using.

Outdoor: Clean the grill grating and oil with a cloth. Preheat to the maximum heat and grill for 15 minutes, trying not to keep turning them over all the time. Just turn once midway and baste with oil.

Indoor: Preheat the broiler or set the oven to the highest setting say 500 F. Place a grill grating on top of an aluminum foil lined tray. Brush with oil and spread the chicken on the grate. Grill for 7-10 minutes on one side and then turn them over.Total maybe 15 to 20 minutes. Baste with butter or oil in between if it looks too dry. The timings may vary based on your oven's heating and type so use your judgment. If the quantity of chicken is less, it will take less time. When they are done, the pieces would not stick to the grate and only a clear juice will run out.

Garnish with onions, cilantro and lemon wedges..enjoy! Serve hot with Mint Chutney.

Related Links:Mandira's Chicken Malai Kabab

Sweet Corn Chicken Soup

The last of the current series of soup..The weather is thankfully turning the corner and spring is peeping through the buds on the trees. Hmm.... Time to do preventive weed treatment and fertilize the yard!!And maybe open the grill.:)

This is the easiest of the soups and for the longest time I associated it with the Indo-Chinese restaurants in India and thought it was something very complicated! Then my friend's mom should me this non soy based, non ajinomoto based healthy soup and it became a regular in our house. Maybe in India it is complicated, but here with the advent of canned Sweet Corn Creamed Style, it is so easy! Maybe you do get creamed corn there too! The addition of scallions and ginger garlic gives the soup it the flavor we are accustomed to.

Vegetarian Version: Just replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock. Add the white stem of the scallion or leeks for more flavor.


You will Need:
Chicken- 1 pound
Sweet Corn cream Style -1 can
Green part of Scallions/spring onions-one handful
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh Ginger -Garlic paste -1 teaspoon
Corn Starch - 1 to 2 teaspoon
Egg- 1 ( beaten)

Garnish-Mix 3 Green chillies chopped with 2 Tbsp white vinegar and let it sit for some time.

Preparation:
1. Pressure cook the chicken with bones with 1 heaped teaspoon of fresh ginger-garlic paste and 4 cups of water for 1 whistle. Open the cooker when it cools, strain the stock and keep aside in the cooker. Remove the chicken from the bones and cut into bite sized pieces. Add this to the stock and return the pressure cooker to the flame.

2. Add the entire contents of the corn can and pressure cook again for a whistle. Alternatively you could slow cook for 15 minutes, add corn and cook for a further 15 minutes. Open the cooker and return to the flame,add salt and pepper and check the consistency.

3. Depending on the corn, it may be sufficiently thick or thin. Add 1 teaspoon of corn starch mixed with some of the stock if it looks too thin and let it boil. As it boils, add 1 beaten egg and remove from flame. The egg is optional. I mostly don't add it as it tastes good without it too. (I haven't added it in this photo.)Garnish the soup with fresh cilantro (a bit) and fresh cut scallions and top it with vinegar chilies.

P.S.Be careful of the corn starch..too much can spoil the taste and make it too thick. Also as it cools, it congeals further so stop when it is just short of your desired thickness. For those who don't get creamed corn in a can, just boil or pressure cook corn till tender and blend it with 1/4 cup milk till it is slightly creamed. Some like it very smooth so you can blend it all the way, else leave it chunky.

Easy version:
You could make this with boneless chicken too but the bone-in-ones taste better.
Instead of the step 1, use Chicken Boneless- 1 chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces, pressure cooked with 1 can of creamed style corn and 3 cups of water. Then proceed as above.

Related Links: A Veg version of the Sweet Corn Soup

Ulli Kozhi/ Chicken Cry With Lots of Onion

Its cold out there (below zero..brr..r.)and it snowed yesterday. It's slushy and snowy and the roads are horrible. The schools are opening late so the kids are loving the weather but for the poor commuters, its havoc on the streets with accidents and delays.

Thankfully I am home, wrapped up in a warm clothes but still chilled to the bone. Anyway, it's the perfect season to make this yummy spicy chicken cry (a cross between a curry and a fry)and some parathas or madikki pathiris. This is my friend's recipe and though I kept making it, never got around to blogging it before. Thanks Ki! You are right, it goes well with almost everything.

For those who like the gravy more than the meat (and scrape up the gravy leaving the pieces behind :)), this is a perfect dish as you can't really separate the two with the gravy clinging so happily to the meat that there are no bland spots left. The coconut oil and curry leaves reminded me of some of the Kerala Resort style cooking. If made with boneless chicken, can be a rich appetizer. Yum!!

Notes: Use small pieces of chicken and do fry the tomatoes too. The oil daunted me a bit earlier but its not really a lot if you consider how much gets used up in frying. You could microwave the onions in a microwave safe plate for 5 minutes or so to cut down the frying time if you want to.

You will need:
Chicken -1 kg cut in pieces
Onion- 4 medium sized ones (2-3 cups chopped)
Tomato- 3 medium sized ones diced
Lemon Juice- 1 lemon’s juice.
Salt to taste

Spice Masala(to be ground together)
Red chili powder- 2 1/2 tea spoon
Turmeric- ½ teas spoon
Ginger- ½ inch piece
Garlic- 4
Cinnamon- 1 inch piece
Cardamom -3
Pepper -1 table spoon
Oil (coconut oil tastes the best.) But any oil can be used-1/4 cup more or less
Curry leaves- A handful
Coriander leaves – A Handful

Preparation:
After cleaning and cutting chicken , wash it well and let it drain in a colander. Marinate the chicken with ½ teaspoon each of the chill powder, turmeric and salt , lemon juice for 1/2 hr.

Slice the onion into thin long slices. Heat oil, add the onion and fry them on medium heat till golden brown and crisp. This should take about 8-10 minutes. Make sure they don't burn. The less the oil you use, more chances of it getting burnt.

Remove the onions and keep aside. After keeping aside 1/4th of the fried onions for garnish, crush the rest with hand or give a quick whip in a processor. (Don’t make it into fine paste) Just one pulse should be enough.

In the same oil, fry the cut tomatoes for about 3-4 minutes and keep aside.
Then add the ground masala and fry on low heat until the oil runs clear. Now add the marinated chicken, fried tomatoes, crushed onions to the masala ,mix well and let the water come out of the chicken. If there is not enough water, add ½ cup water to cook.

Cover and cook on low heat. The chicken should get cooked in about 15 minutes on low heat, but keep checking and stirring.

Add more salt and adjust taste as necessary.
Don't add too much of water as this not a gravy dish, more like a cry and tastes best with the whole onion masala sticking nicely to the chicken. Garnish with fried onion, curry leaves and coriander.
Goes well with almost everything…appam, puttu, paratha….

Malabar Chicken Biryani..

What is a celebration without good food????
Eid, Christmas, New Year, all have one thing in common..lots of mouth watering food and a distinct disregard for the consequences of over eating. Here the holiday season is now officially on and eating is the highlight till Jan 1st. So how many parties do you have planned for next week?(How many did u escape from?)
What is your favorite holiday food? Is it the sweets or the appetizers? I for one thrive on the appetizers and then peck on the main course unless its something very different. And of course dessert rules supreme so have to make some space for that too. But a biryani defies these rules and I have to try it, even if its just one bite.

If we were in Calicut, every weekend would punctuated with a wedding, a birth, a salkaram(party) or whatever..everything being a reason to make a biryani..( eg. every Sunday in my grandma's house!)
So I asked my parents (who missed a whole lot of such events being here with me) if they get sick of it and to my surprise they bashfully refuted it. A good plate of piping hot biryani is always welcome for a Calicut wallah, even if you just had one last week.:) No diets will work there.



I had a lot of requests to post a Chicken Biryani recipe but somehow in my house, since there is more of all the other biryanis being made, this one got left behind. But it is just as good as the other ones so give it a shot. Better late than never, here it is finally. The photo is not complete since I ran out of onions and nuts for garnish but here it is. Also a good mix of masala and rice somehow isin't photogenic! So the final photo is how the biryani should look like before it gets attacked.

Chicken biryani is not fun if the chicken gets dried out and tastes like cardboard. So start with halal small chicken and you are on the right track. Do marinate as much as possible for better taste. If the marination time is more than 2 hours, omit the yogurt in the marinade as it is a meat tenderizer and will break down the meat too much. In that case, add the yogurt when u start cooking. Do not skimp on the ghee-oil while frying the onions for garnish as this is a celebratory dish..not diet food. That oil poured over the rice gives the crucial flavor while dumming or cooking in vapor.
Do not leave the rice in the oven after the alloted time as it will dry out the whole masala and rice.(Spoken from an unfortunate experience.:() Use basmati rice that you are familiar with and not a new sack of rice opened for the occasion. (Another unfortunate experience when the rice got sticky!!)
Do make it in the holidays and let me know.
Eid Mubarak and Merry Christmas!!

You will need: Serves 6 people with a good appetite.:) or 8 people
Chicken - 1 Small chicken of about 2-3 lbs
Onion – 400 gm or 4 medium ones
Tomato - 200 gm or 2 medium sized ones
Small Hot Green chilies – 100 gm or about 17 in number
Ginger - 50 gm or a 2 inch piece
Garlic pods – 50 gm or 8 cloves(big)
Pepper Powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Plain Yogurt- 3/4 cup (thick)
Fennel Seeds(Perinjeerakam/Saunf)- 1 1/2 tsp
Poppy Seeds (Khus khus) - 1 1/2 tsp
Mint leaves (Pudina) - 1 cup chopped
Cilantro leaves (Malli ela/Dhania) - 1 cup chopped
Curry leaves- a handful
Lemon juice- 2 tsp or juice of 1 lemon.(not lime)
Biryani Masala-1 tablespoon. Recipe is noted below.
Clarified butter (Ghee) - almost 1 cup or 1/2 cup mixed with 1/2 cup oil
Cashew nuts – 20 gm or a small handful
Raisins- 20 gm or a handful

For the rice:
Basmati rice - 1 kg/ 4 cups
Cinnamon (Karuvapatta) - 1 stick of 3 inch
Cloves (Carambu) - 4
Cardamom (Elakkai) - 4
One bay leaf, salt.
Lemon juice- 1 1/2 tsp or juice of 1 lemon
Salt to taste
Biryani Masala:
Cinnamon 2 inch piece
Cardamom 8
Cloves 8-10
Nutmeg 1
bay leaves- 1
Mace 5-6
Caraway seeds 1 tbsp
Star Anise-1
Dry roast all together and grind to a fine powder.

Preparation:
1. Clean the chicken and cut into medium sized pieces. Wash and drain well.

2. Soak the fennel seeds and poppy seeds in a bowl with water for an hour at least and grind with very little water to a very fine creamy paste. If it still feels grainy, add a tablespoon of grated coconut or a couple of cashew nuts to it to grind it well. Keep aside.

3. Grind together the ginger, garlic and green chilies into a very coarse paste. Pulsing them instead of non stop grinding works better. Chop the tomatoes into cubes and slice the onions. One onion should be sliced extra fine. This one is for the fried onion garnish.

4. Marinate the chicken with the poppy seed mixture, ginger, garlic, chili, and all the other spices and ingredients except the onions, biryani masala and herb leaves. Add salt too and keep covered for two hours at least. Marinating is very important in the case of chicken to help it to absorb the flavors. (But don't marinate the chicken over night as the texture will change. If you have to marinate overnight, omit the salt, lemon juice and yogurt and add that the 1 hr before cooking.)

5. Heat three fourth of the ghee/oil in a heavy bottom pan. Add the garnish portion of the sliced onions and fry, till they turn golden brown and crisp. Add a sprinkling of sugar to speed up the process. This should take about 10 minutes on medium low heat.. Remove the onions and stir fry the cashew nuts on medium heat till it turns brown on all sides. Drain and remove. Add the raisins now and stir till they plump up. Remove onto paper towels. This ghee/oil is used for flavoring the rice so save it.

6. Heat up the remaining oil and add the rest of the sliced onions and saute it till it becomes translucent. Add just the marinated chicken, and saute it on all sides for 3-4 minutes on high heat. Add the rest of the marinade and the biryani masala and the coriander, mint and curry leaves and mix thoroughly. Cook it uncovered on medium high heat while stirring constantly till the visible liquid is reduced to half.
Then keep it covered and cook on low heat for about 20 minutes. Check frequently to prevent burning and wait till the oil starts to separate. There should be some gravy left and the chicken should be almost cooked, not-coming-apart cooked. Add water only if there is no liquid for the chicken to cook. Check taste and add more salt or lime, pepper etc if needed.

7. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
8. Clean and soak rice for 10 minutes. Keep aside. Heat 3 tbsp of the remaining onion ghee/oil and add the whole spices- cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and bay leaves. Sauté for a second and add the drained rice. Stir fry the rice till it turns opaque and add 6 cups water (three fourth of the quantity required for ghee rice). When the water-rice mix comes to a boil, cover and cook on slow heat till all the water is absorbed. This would take about 4-7 minutes.

9. In an oven proof dish, spread half of the chicken masala(it should have some thick gravy)and place half of rice over it. Sprinkle some lemon juice to prevent the rice from sticking. Spread the remaining masala and top it with rice followed by lemon juice. Pour the ghee/oil(leftover from frying the onions) on top of it and sprinkle some garam masala, fried onion, nuts and raisins.

Close it with a layer of aluminum foil , crimp it along the sides and then put the lid and put it in the oven for 20 -25 minutes. Remove and let rest for another 5-10 minutes before opening.
10. Serve with coconut chutney (biryani chammandi), Pickled onions (Ulli surka), Yogurt and Papadam.

Alternately, if you are just cooking a small quantity, when the chicken is almost cooked and the gravy reduced, spread all the half cooked rice over it,right into the saute pan. Sprinkle nuts, raisins and onions and close with a tight fitting lid. Heat a flat cast iron skillet or the Indian Tawa, place the saute pan on it and cook on high heat for 20 minutes and then turn off the flame. Let it rest unopened on the tawa for another 15 minutes and now the "dum" work is also done.
Open and serve the top rice as white rice and mix part of the rice with the masala and serve separately.Enjoy!


Calicut Biryanis are usually made with a special rice called Kaima as the grains are smaller and impart a nicer texture to the Biryani. Kaima is a small aromatic flavorful rice also called "Jeera Rice", it stands apart just like Basmati. Available in all Indian stores here. You could use basmati too if you prefer. The photo below shows the difference in both qualities of rice.

This is a picture of an earlier batch of biryani made with basmati rice and has the requisite onions, raisins and nuts as garnish.

Grilled Chicken In Two Ways..

I have been on a veg kick for some time now and I usually don't like chicken. But then I got hold of a new book and my opinion has changed. A bad works man blames his tools...I wasn't grilling it right and now I know why.

Some of you must have seen the two books that I have on my side bar for some weeks now. I have been meaning to write about them but haven't gotten around to it as yet. They are my recent acquisitions from the library but so good that I keep renewing them. I guess I have to have my own copy now.


So today I will describe the second book: Chicken on the Grill: 100 Surefire Ways to Grill Perfect Chicken Every Time by Cheryl Alters Jamison. It has a lot of ways to grill chicken, and the book is nicely broken down to the recipes for a variety of cuts.. boneless, with bone, legs and thighs and whole chicken with detailed descriptions of how to grill each way.

Every section has a a bunch of neatly photographed and detailed recipes along with a myriad other variations of the marinade. There are dry rubs, marinades, sauces, brush on sauces..even condiments to be made with burgers and sandwiches.

I tried four recipes of which three were instant hits. The third was a chicken burger which was so good but it has no photo so can't be blogged about now. The fourth was a lemony garlicky chicken which I loved but was not as appreciated by the others. But here are the other two.

Every time the chicken was made, I made some extra which came in handy over the next couple of days for my express meals. Used as is or sauteed with your choice of vegetables and spices, it makes for great options on a weeknight.

Use only sea salt, not regular salt for both recipes. Sea salt is a broad term that generally refers to unrefined salt derived directly from a living ocean or sea. It is not fully refined as much as other kinds of salt, so it still contains traces of other minerals, including iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium, manganese, zinc and iodine which gives it a very different taste. I know its expensive but it changes the flavour dramatically. My grandma only uses sea salt and has a huge earthern ware pot with sea salt which we used to dip into to eat with mangoes. I believe this gives all her food a unique flavor. Crush it coarsely with a mortar and pestle.

6 things I make with leftover chicken:
1. Shred and add to noodles or fried rice or pasta.
2. Chop and add to the quesadilla mix while sauteing.
3. Use in a grilled cheese panini.
4. Saute with peppers for a hoagie or chicken cheese steak.
5. Roll it up in a tortilla wrap with lettuce, cheese and salsa or tacos.
6. Spice it up further to make instant chicken stir fry with rotis.

The Chicken Champ's Sunny breasts:(Don't go by the quirky name..its really good)
Preparation time is 5-10 minutes, keep aside for 15 minutes while the grill heats up and grill for another 10-12 minutes.


Dry Rub:
1 1/2 tbsp Dried Dill
1 tbsp granulated garlic
1 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
1 tsp granulated onion.( I didn't have this, so never added it)
1tsp Parsley flakes
2 tsp Fresh Ground Pepper

4 medium skinless chicken breasts
2 tbsp cold unsalted butter (I used very little)
4 thick lemon slices
1 tsp sugar(I didn't add this either)
2 tbsp lemon juice diluted with 1 tbsp water (optional)

Preparation:
1. Prepare the dry rub by mixing all the ingredients together.

2. Wash, drain, and place the chicken in a plastic/zip lock bag and pound with heavy pestle or a glass all over evenly. This is to even out the thickness of the chicken.

3. Cut a thin pocket into the sides of the chicken with a sharp knife. Dunk each piece into the dry rub liberally making sure there is a thick even coating of the spices on both sides. Place small pieces of the butter in the pocket and spray the chicken lightly with oil.

4. Fire up the grill and while it heats up, let the chicken rest at room temperature.

5. When the grill is hot enough, wipe the grill with a oil soaked paper towel and place the chicken. Grill uncovered for 3 minutes, turn over and grill for another 3 minutes and then close the lid for 5 minutes. Turn once more and cook for 4 minutes. If your grill is the charcoal kind, you don't need to close the grill cover, but I feel more comfortable with the last bit of deep heat cooking. Drizzle with the extra dry rub and lemon juice and spray with oil at each turn. The chicken is ready when it looks white throughout and the surface looks nice and crusty.

Chicken Piri Piri
This is a Portugese recipe and the result is a spicy searing hot chicken with a mild interior. The name is derived from the fiery African dried red chilies used in the sauce.

Dry Rub:
3/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2-3 tbsp dried red hot chili flakes
2 plump garlic crushed
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt

Preparation is similar to the above grilling. Just rub the marinade in generously and let it rest and then grill as above. If the grilling is to be done later, marinate and place in a zip lock bag in the refrigerator. This marinade migt be better with bone in pieces, but then the cooking time increases to 30 minutes to make sure it is fully cooked.


Grilling Tips From The Book:
COntrolling the temperature of the fire is the key to success. Chicken grills at a steady heat except when dealing with thighs and drumsticks. The best way to judge the heat is by holding your hand over the grate.(don't touch it though!)Count the seconds before you feel the need to pull away your hand..1-2 seconds means hot, 3-4 medium, 4-5 moderate. 7-8seconds..is the perfect temp for vegetables. (My grill is a gas burner so it really is not as great as a charcoal burner but it does give good results as I know how to handle it now.)
Before grilling, always make sure the grate is clean and scrub it with a metal brush.

Then carefully coat it with a thin layer of oil using a brush or cloth.(Spraying works but make cause flareups.)
Be Prepared with all the tools and ingredients. Time the grilling as you go along.

Check for doneness by using a thermometer(it is odne when the meat has 170 degrees internally or when the juices run clear, or cut and see if the center is white.) Normally we like it well done and crispy so that takes care of doneness.

DO not put too much sauce on the chicken as it will only burn and not let the inside cook well. Make sure there is no oil drippings as they may cause flareups. Do not keep turning the chicken as it needs to sear on one side to keep it from drying up.

So good luck and hope you guys have fun grilling.

Three Pepper Fajitas

It's always fun to sit back and smile as the guesses pour in just to see the versatality of everybody's imagination. Jackfruit in a fajita..the prize of originality goes to Sra while Nandita came the closest with yellow peppers. Still, thanks for being a sport.

Its a veggie fajita filled with sauted peppers, onions, cilantro, grated cheese and the optional sour cream and gaucamole. Yep, I did make some quesadillas too with the peppers and chicken but that's next on the posting list.

I buy the multicolored bell peppers from the price club on a regular basis just becacuse they look so good and they are so good for you. Every time, I go there the red, yellow and orange peppers just whistle charmingly to me as I walk past them, their colors making them stand out in the midst of all the vegetables. I force my eyes elsewhere, figuring I can go for a couple of weeks without them. But no,at the end of the shopping, there they are in my cart, and I am already conjuring up new ways to cook them.



So how good are they for you?
Brightly colored bell peppers, whether green, red, orange or yellow, are rich sources of vitamin C and vitamin A (through its concentration of carotenoids such as beta-carotene), two very powerful antioxidants. Red Peppers also contain lycopene, a carotenoid which aids the body in warding off cancer. Additionally, they are low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol, and Sodium while being high in fiber, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Potassium, Manganese, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Folate, Pantothenic Acid and Magnesium. For more info, click here. Did I get any converts? Don't eat this if you aiming to gain weight coz as you read above, they are low in fat.

Sweet peppers are plump, bell-shaped vegetables featuring either three or four lobes. They usually range in size from 2 to 5 inches in diameter, and 2 to 6 inches in length. Inside the thick flesh is an inner cavity with edible bitter seeds and a white spongy core. Bell peppers are not 'hot'. They contain a recessive gene that eliminates capsaisin, the compound responsible for the 'hotness' found in other peppers. When sauted or grilled, they are sweet with a fruity flavor. Here I have sauted them for multiple uses.

You will need:
Bell Peppers-3, one of each color
Onion-1
Red Pepper Flakes-1/4 tsp (optional)
Garlic-1 clove
Olive oil-1-2 tsp
Cilantro- a handful
Lemon Juice-a dash
Salt to taste
Black Pepper-1/2 tsp
Grated Cheese-a handful

Preparation: Slice the peppers vertically along the edges so as to remove the central seed core. Slice them thin into equal size pieces. Slice the onion finely. Crush the garlic. Heat the oil in a skillet and add the garlic and red peppers. Add the sliced peppers and onions, salt and saute them while stirring all the while. Lower the heat to medium and cover for 2 minutes. Open, increase the heat and continue stirring. They should wilt and get cooked in about 5-7 minutes. The high heat is to evaporate the water that the peppers give out. Add lemon juice and pepper. Now they can be used as a topping for fajitas, quesadillas, or even burgers.

Fairly good flour tortillas are available in supermarkets almost everywhere. Select the ones which are 6 or 7 inches in diameter. Warm them up by on a skillet and wrap them in a cloth napkin to bring them to the table.

For assembling the fajitas: Lightly toast a tortilla on a skillet on both sides. Spread a tablespoon of the peppers on it. Add grilled strips of chicken or beef if so preferred. Sprinkle chopped cilantro, grated cheese and a spoon on sour cream. Roll or fold over..Done.

Chicken Curry In A Hurry..

Invoking the summer gods with the Okra has worked (:)) as it is warm and sunny here finally. What a difference in last week's rainy and gloomy days and this week's sunny days!!

But the days suddenly have become hectic and cooking has taken a back seat for a moment. After a long time, studies are back on the horizon (for a test) and all the yummy recipes seem so time consuming and labour intensive. Focusing on remembering what you read is not so easy with a rusty brain, and stressing it further with a complicated meal planning is just not right.

Nevertheless food has to be cooked unless you want to brave the greasy restaurant staples on a daily basis. Blogging too has thus been quite on the slow track. So today, I am stealing some time to rescue my readers from the corny hindi video.:)

Rummaging through my cookbook, I came across a handwritten malayalam recipe tucked in my recipe drawer, called Chicken Shahi Kurma. Though daunted by the name, the recipe looked easy and It turned out to be a creamy chicken curry which fools you into thinking that it is rich and took ages to cook. No cream, no coconut milk, just good ole ground cashews to thicken it. Prep time is minimal if you use a 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts and the cooking time is 15 minutes. Curry in a hurry indeed!

You will need:
Chicken-1 ½ lb, (700gm) boneless, cleaned and cut into small pieces.
Onions- 1 1/2 medium sized ones
Green Hot Chilies-6-8
Garlic cloves-3
Ginger-1/2 inch piece
Carrot-1 large one
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Red Chili Powder- 1 tsp
Fennel Powder-1/4 tsp
Black Pepper Powder- 1/4 tsp
Cashew nuts-7
Whole spices: 3 cloves, 2 cardamom
Lemon juice-1tbsp
Plain Thick Curd (Yogurt)- ½ cup beaten
Curry leaves- 1 sprig
Cilantro(Coriander)- 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Oil-2 tbsp
Preparation:
1. Cut the chicken into 1-2 inch even sized pieces. Wash the chicken and lightly toss it with lemon juice and rinse again. Drain well onto a slotted drainer. Slice the onions finely and dice the carrots. Soak the cashew nuts in ½ cup warm water for 10 minutes. Cook it in the microwave for 1 minute to speed up the soaking. Then wet grind it with the cleaned ginger, garlic and green chilies to a very fine paste. Add water only as you need to grind.
3. Heat the oil on a medium flame in a large shallow pan, add the whole spices and the onions. Saute the onions till they are light brown. Keep stirring and add oil if the onions are sticking to the pan or browning too fast.
4. Add the ground paste, spice powders and saute well for at least a minute, or till the red chili powder gets cooked. Then add the chicken and carrots and stir well till all the excess moisture dries up. It would be good if the chicken gets sauted on all sides before getting cooked. Then lower the heat, add 1/2 cup water, salt and cook covered for about 10 minutes or till the chicken gets cooked. Keep checking and add a little bit water if it starts sticking to the pan.
5. Check to see if the chicken is cooked. Add the chopped leaves and then lower the flame to a minimum. Add the beaten yogurt and adjust salt seasoning. If the yogurt is not sour, add a tsp of lemon juice to balance the flavors.
Serve hot with pathiri, appam, bread, puttu or just paratha.

Stir Fried Chicken with Mushrooms and Cashews

A quick stir fry to liven up the dinner/lunch table and answer the question..hmm what shall I cook today? Use the basic spices and vary the vegetables as you have available.
You will need: Serves 3
Chicken-1/2 lb Boneless or use 1 chicken breast cut into pieces.
Dried Mushrooms (Shitake)- A handful
Onion-1 medium
Any Bell Pepper/Capsicum (Optional)- 1/3 of a pepper
Green Chilies -2
Red dried chili-3
Garlic-3 crushed
Ginger- ½ inch crushed
Scallions/Green Onion-3 stalks
Cashewnuts-A handful
Soy Sauce-2 tsp
Oyster Sauce-1/2 tsp
1/2 tsp black pepper
Oil-3-4 tbsp
Salt to taste
Lime juice-1tsp

Preparation:
1. Soak the dried mushroom in warm water for 20-30 minutes and squeeze out excess water and slice finely. Marinate the chicken in the soy sauce and oyster sauce for the same time.
2. Dice the bell pepper and chicken into the 1/2 inch squares.(The chicken should also be the same size cubes.) Keep the green part of the scallions to be added in the end.
3. Dry roast the cashews on low heat till fragrant and crisp. Alternatively, to make it richer, fry the cashews in a bit of oil till golden.
4. Heat the wok or pan to a high heat and add the onion and peppers. Stir fry on high heat for a minute and then lower heat and add the chilies, ginger, garlic, mushroom and stir fry again. After a minute, add the chicken and fry for at least 5-8 minutes or till the chicken gets cooked. From experience, I learnt not to mess with the size of chicken. Boneless tiny pieces is better off as then it gets cooked in the same time as the other ingredients. Check soy sauce and add a tiny bit more if needed.
5. When the chicken is cooked, add the cashewnuts, pepper, scallion’s green stem chopped and the lime juice. Toss well and adjust salt as required. If there is a lot of liquid left, add ¼ tsp of corn flour mixed with 2 tbsp water and let it simmer to thicken the sauce.
P.S. Use only dried mushrooms for this dish. It has a smoky intense taste which are lacking in the fresh ones. Any kind of dried ones (availiable at any Asian grocery store) will do but in this recipe, I used Shitake mushrooms. Also use dried whole red peppers not pepper flakes.

Chicken Stirfry, Chicken, Mushroom, Cashewnut, Food Blog, Indian Recipes, Spicy Recipes

Giving Thanks/ Roast Chicken and Neriya Pathiri

Giving Thanks is not easy. So when Meeta of What's For lunch, Honey asked to participate in Giving Thanks, the theme for her Monthly Mingle, I was forced to sit down and think. It is said a combination of nature and nurture makes an individual. Assimilating and absorbing a bit of something from every person and every place we come in contact with is so natural that we hardly pause to think back at what we were and where we are. Some of the culture of each place we set our roots in gets imbibed into our system.

Things, relations and knowledge I take for granted now was hard won some time back and these occassions only make it piquant. I have a lot to be thankful for but have not realy taken time out to thank anyone. A recent TV liquor commercial had the tag line "Toast Life", something we should do every healthy day of our life. (Every day I see a cop car pass by while my speedometer is nudging me, I thank God fervently.)

Now I feel like I just won an award and am asked to say a few words.. Bhaiyyon aaur Bahanon....
I would just like to say thanks to my family who support me through all my whims and quirks. They encompass my siblings, parents and my in-laws and my husband's siblings and all their families too. They got me started on this blog trip and are still my biggest critics and supporters. Once I get something in my head, my mom and mom in law get the brunt of it as I keep calling them to clarify a recipe and check all aspects. So they certainly deserve a special thanks.

Thanks to my better half guinea pig and my little one who eats all the stuff you see posted here (almost)and all the stuff I decided not to post.(hi hi:))My better half gives me the strongest encouragement(a clean plate is the best encouragement)and criticism even though he has no time to cook.:)My little one goes, "It has no flavor" making a funny face if the taste is not right.:)So u see, I have a tough crowd at home itself.

Thanks would be due to all my blogger friends who everyday are an affirmation that I am not the only foodie and food snob around. I learnt so many new recipes, got over so many food hurdles and made new friends whose posts I eagerly await. It has made me more familiar with other cuisines while sharpening my knowledge of my own cuisine. To name one would be take sides but I appreciate all of u especially the ones who take the time out to leave a comment which ensures that I am not talking to empty air. Go on leave your name and a comment, good or bad.

The recipe I chose for the Thanksgiving meal is a Roast Chicken, Malabar Style. I had posted it once but I think it is still appropriate to the occassion. So instead of writing again, I have linked it up to the previous Post which has a step by step set of photos.


The second item is Neriya Pathiri, a delicate rice roti or tortilla so thin that making it for a mom level cook still makes me nervous. It is all in the hands.
It is a dish which reflects the delicacy of all relationships and moments. You spent a good amount of time creating it and unless you savor it, its gone in a puff. The detailed recipe I will post by evening as I have to get this to Meeta before she hits the deadline.
So keep eyes peeled as I post the step by step for this Pathiri. It's not difficult but it's not easy.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!HUG UR FAMILY!!

Chicken Varattiyathu/Chicken Stir Fry

This is a yummy chicken recipe, spicy, hot and yet crunchy with all the pieces of cut dried coconut flavoring it. The recipe is originally Shynee’s Chicken Varuthathu which I had all liked for its intensity. Thanks Shynee!!!! It reminded me of the chicken dishes I had in the resort restaurants in the Backwaters and Wynad, Kerala.
Shallot, which is the main ingredient in this recipe, has a delicious peppery bite to it. Unlike onions, adding a lot of it to a dish doesn’t make it sweet. It still has a distinct flavor even after caramelizing. I made this recipe with just shallots for the family, but when I tried it as a party recipe, I realized the most time consuming part of the recipe is cleaning a whole lot of shallots. So, even though the taste comes form the shallots, I used fewer shallots and increased the quantity of onions. It works just as well to add the shallots in the end as then the flavor is not cooked away. Also I used the ready dry coconut thin cut rounds and chopped it up instead of whole dried coconut. Since I modified certain parts of the recipe, I have to write it down again.
Try it either way; it’s a winner for those who like chicken and spicy food. Tastes good as an appetizer, as a side dish with rice or with breads. The combination of spices succeeds in getting rid of the fatty flavor that sometimes overwhelms the chicken. The chicken I used instead of boneless breasts is Halal chicken, cut up into small pieces; which I feel has a better flavor and texture. Try to make it with quite small cuts of chicken or boneless breasts so that the masala adheres well.

You will need:
Chicken -1 ½ lb (chopped into small pieces)
Indian Shallots-2 cups peeled (chopped) The more the merrier!!
Red Onion-2 large-chopped fine
Tomato-2
Dried Coconut (Copra)-1 half-cut into small pieces
Ginger-2 inch piece
Garlic-8 large cloves
Green chillies-8
Red Chili powder-2 tsp
Pepper powder-2 tsp
Coriander powder-2 tsp
Turmeric powder-1 tsp
Garam Masala Powder: 2 tsp
Fennel seed powder-1 tsp
Fenugreek Powder-1/4 tsp
Lemon Juice- 2-3 tbsp
Curry leaves-2 sprigs
Cilantro leaves- 1 handful chopped.
Salt-as required
Canola /Olive Oil-as required

Preparation
1. Wash the chicken and lightly toss it with lemon juice and rinse again. Drain well onto a slotted drainer. Marinate chicken pieces with a little turmeric powder, chili powder and salt and keep it aside for 30 minutes.
2. Slice the shallots and onions finely and dice the tomatoes. Keep the shallots separate. Grind the cleaned ginger, green chilies and garlic to a fine paste. Keep all the spice powders ready.
3. Heat about 3 tbsp oil in a large shallow pan; add the curry leaves and shallots. Fry the shallots till they start turning a little brown and drain onto paper towels. (Keep aside to be added in the end.)
4. In the remaining oil, sauté sliced onions for about 3-4 minutes on medium heat and immediately add the ground ginger garlic paste, and saute well. Add some more oil (about 2 tbsp) if the onions are sticking to the pan. Then add the chicken, coconut cuts, tomatoes and spice powders and sauté on high heat for a couple of minutes. Do not add any water. Then lower the heat, cover it, and let it cook for about 10 minutes. This is just to cut down on frying time. Take care not to overcook it. The chicken will still have a bit of cooking left which is taken care of by the next step. Open and add salt and now keep stirring till all the water evaporates and the chicken browns evenly.
5. As it gets cooked and the extra liquid evaporates, the curry gives out the excess oil and the chicken and spices get further fried in that. Now add the previously fried shallots and mix well. At this point, it is important to keep stirring on high heat to let it fry all over. No need to add more oil, unless there is absolutely no oil let out by the chicken. The fried shallots also give out oil. This should anywhere between 10-15 minutes depending on the quantity and size of chicken pieces.
6. Check to see if the chicken is cooked. Add some more chopped curry and coriander leaves, sprinkle 1 tsp of lemon juice over the chicken and adjust seasoning.
Food BLog, cChicken, Kerala Recipes, Malabar Recipes, Chicken Stir Fry, Low Carb Recipes,

Kozhi Ishtoo/ Chicken Stew w/ Coconut Milk.

Cooking time: 20 mins Preparation time is another 10 mins
You will need:
Chicken-1 ½ lb, (700gm) cleaned and cut into small pieces.
Onions- 2 medium sized ones
Potatoes-1 large one
Tomatoes-1 small plum tomato
Turmeric powder – 3/4 tsp
Coriander powder- 2 tsp
Fenugreek Seeds-1/4 tsp
Black Pepper Powder- 1 tsp
Whole spices: 1”long Cinnamon stick, 3 cloves, 2 cardamom
Lemon juice-1/2 of a lemon (1tbsp)
Plain Yogurt- ½ cup beaten
Coconut milk- 1 1/2 cup
Leaves: Coriander, Mint, Curry leaves, each a small handful, chopped
Salt - to taste
Oil-2 tbsp
White/Idaho Potato-1

Ground paste:
Green chilies - 10
Garlic – 3 cloves (1 ½ tsp)
Ginger- ½ inch piece (1 tbsp)
Fennel seed- 1 tsp
Poppy seeds- 1tsp
Cashew nuts-3-4

Preparation:
1. Wash the chicken and lightly toss it with lemon juice and rinse again. Drain well onto a slotted drainer. Slice the onions finely and dice the potatoes and tomatoes. Mix ½ cup of coconut milk with 1 cup water to dilute it and keep aside.
2. Soak the poppy seeds, cashew nuts and fennel seeds in ½ cup warm water for half hour and then wet grind it with the cleaned ginger, garlic and green chilies to a fine paste.
3. Heat the oil in a large shallow pan, add the whole spices. Sauté till the fragrance fills the air and then add onion.
4. Fry onions till just slightly transparent and immediately add the ground paste, spice powders and saute well. Then add the chicken, potatoes, lemon juice and sauté on high heat for a couple of minutes. Then lower the heat, add the diluted coconut milk, salt and cook covered for about 10 minutes or till the chicken gets cooked. Keep checking and add a little bit water if it starts sticking to the pan.
5. Check to see if the chicken is cooked. Add the chopped leaves, the thick coconut milk and the tomatoes. Allow it to simmer just for a couple more minutes and then switch of the flame. Add the beaten yogurt and adjust salt seasoning.
Serve hot with pathiri, appam, bread, puttu or just paratha.
If keeping for more than a day, try to keep aside the stew before adding the second coconut milk as its taste changes for the worse with each passing day. If the curry without the milk is reheated and then fresh coconut milk is added, it tastes just as fresh as the day it was made.
Food BLog, Chicken Stew, Kerala Recipes, Malabar Recipes,Coconut Milk Recipes, Kozhi Ishtoo Fry,

WHB 1-Spicy Chicken Kebabs

The chilies from my garden are finally maturing after being green for over 40 days. I had almost given hope, initially not knowing that they need the hot summer sun to let their fiery capsaicin loose.The Scotch bonnet and Habanero Chilies are different pod types of the same species. They come in different colors, ranging from chocolate to yellow. My scotch bonnet chilies are an inch long, pale orange in color and oval in shape with a pointy tip. They are slightly sweet yet intensely hot. My previous post on the chili itself desribes its characteristic and has some rustic garden photos.
Scotch Bonnets from my garden were plucked and waiting for its time in the limelight. A special chili like Scotch Bonnet chili needs a special recipe that highlights its spicyness centerstage. Something like a Kabob/Kebab with a simple blend of flavors exploding in each bite.
A Kebab is minced meat on a skewer or meat cubes marinated in an array of spices and grilled. Kebab is usually made of lamb and beef, although chicken and fish can be used for some styles. The word kebab means “to roast,” which is what grilling is, properly speaking. Kebabs originated in Turkey but spread through the Middleeast to Asia. There are many varieties of Kebabs, as listed partially in Wikepedia.
My kebabs are from an Arab recipe but I added the sweetness of a Red bell pepper to balance the heat of the chilies. The scotch bonnet can be substituted by 5-6 green chilies or 2 jalpeno peppers. The Kebabs go well with Pita bread and White Sauce.
I am also sending this to the entertaining and educating Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Kalyn's Kitchen.

You will need: (makes about 10 kebabs)
Boneless Chicken Breast- 1 lb
Red bell Pepper- 3/4 of a whole pepper (1 cup chopped).
Onions-1/4 cup chopped finely
Scotch Bonnet Chili- 1/3 or more as per taste.(substitute any hot chili)
Black Pepper- 1 tbsp
Garlic -4 cloves
Parsley/Coriander leaves- 1 cup chopped
Lemon Juice- 3 tbsp
Spice Mix-1 1/2 tbsp
Olive oil-3 tbsp
Salt- 3/4 tsp
Metal skewers-Thick square ones.
Spice Mix:
Cinnamon-1 piece
Cardamom- 4-5
Cloves-7
Nutmeg- 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
Dry roast and grind all together and keep aside.

Preparation:
1. Wash the chicken breast and pat dry with paper towel, until completely dry.
2. Cut into small pieces and mince in a chopper in batches. Without adding any water, pulse for 1-2 minutes for each batch. Remove the minced meat into a mixing bowl. If there is any moisture, the kebabs would not hold together. So it is important to ensure that the chicken pieces are dry before mincing.
3. In the same chopper, now finely chop the red bell pepper (without seeds and core), parsley/coriander, onions, and chilies and add to the chicken. Add all the other ingredients and mix with hand or fork till well blended. Keep aside for at least one hour. The more the marinated time, the better it will be. It can even be marinated overnight in the refrigerator.
4. Grease your hands with a bit of olive oil and gather lemon size ball of the minced meat and shape it into a small tube. The oil is to keep the meat from sticking to the hand. If your hands start getting sticky, wash them well, dry and apply a new layer of oil before rolling again. If you have the thick square skewers, the kebabs should be chorded onto it along its length. Else, just insert a regular skewer through the length and remove it. It is not easy to make it hold on to the regular metal skewers as it falls apart when it cooks.
5. Preheat the grill to 300 degrees. The kebabs can be put directly on an outdoor grill, but if doing in an oven, line a tray with aluminum foil and spray a film of oil.
6. Place the kebabs on the grill and cover it to cook for 5-10 minutes. Turn only once after 5 minutes and do not keep opening the grill. Maintain heat at 300 degrees.
7. Serve hot with Yogurt-Mint Dip(chutney) described below and Pickled onions.

Yogurt-Mint Chutney:
Coriander leaves-1 cup
Mint leaves(pudina)-1 1/2 cup
4 green chillies
Garlic-3 cloves
Lemon Juice-2 tbsp
Plain Yogurt-4 tbsp
Salt as per taste
Preparation:
Wash and chop the coriander. mint leaves coarsely. Put all ingredients except yogurt in a small blender. Blend till smooth. Add very little water if required. Remove with a rubber spatula. Add the yogurt and taste. Add more salt if needed. Stays fresh for 3-4 days with yogurt and for 2 weeks without yogurt.
Weekend Herb Blogging, Chicken Kebab, Recipes,

Nadan Kozhi Curry/Chicken Curry with Coconut

This is a very rustic (nadan) chicken curry, with no frills, no lengthy preparation and no elaborate ingredients. Most Malabar feast recipes are heavy and intricate while their everyday cooking is minimalistic and simple. The daily meals are typical of the rest of kerala cuisine, with dosa, puttu, neriya pathiri etc for breakfast, fish- rice based lunches,pathiri and a meat curry for dinner.In fact, my mother laughs when I ask her for this recipe. She calls it the neetiya curry. The origin of this curry is more Malapurram, my father’s naadu, than Calicut. She tells me the story of olden days, when there were unforeseen guests, and the chicken was less, the cooking was underway, so this curry gets stretched (neetiyathu) and becomes more and more watery to create more gravy. But in its simplicity, it is a perfect accompaniment to any rice based item such as pathiri, idiappam, puttu etc and even with porotta. It goes amazingly well with plain bread, somewhat like bread and stew.
I found that the Malaysian appetiser, Roti Canai’s chicken curry has almost the same taste, perhaps a legacy from Malayalees who migrated to Malayasia a long time ago.
According to my friend Ki in Kuala Lumpur, the roti -canai is our own kerala porota. There early Indian restuarants were set by Malabar muslims and they called themselves Malabarees. She says "Canai" in malay (bahasa meleyu) means flattening/smoothening/grinding. I wonder if they fish sauce to this curry too. I have friends who just go the Malaysian place Penang, to double order this as a main course.

Cooking time: 15 min
You will need:
Chicken-1 lb, (500gm) cleaned and cut into small pieces.
Potatoes- 2 medium size
Onions- 1 small one
Tomatoes-1 really small one
Green chilies paste– 3 tsp
Garlic –Garlic paste – 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder – 3/4 tsp
Red chili powder- 1 tsp (more or less as per taste)
Coriander powder-4 tbsp
Pepper- 1/2 tsp Powder
Coconut grated-1/2 cup or ½ cup coconut milk
Coriander, curry leaves each a small handful, chopped
Salt - to taste
No oil.
Preparation Method
1. Wash the chicken and lightly toss it with lemon juice and rinse again. Drain well onto a slotted drainer. Chop the tomatoes, onion into small pieces. Peel and dice each potato into 8 pieces.
2. In a pressure cooker or heavy bottomed sauce pan, add chicken, onions, spices and everything else except the green leaves and mix well. Pressure cook for 1 whistle. Alternately, cook covered for 10-15 minutes on low heat. If doing so, keep checking often.
Grind the coconut with ¼ cup water to a very fine paste. Alternatively, you can use coconut milk powder, dissolved in warm water.
3. After the pressure cooker cools down, open and check if the chicken is cooked. Add salt and the chopped leaves. Add the coconut paste and turn on the flame again. Let it simmer for at least 10 minutes on low flame.Mix well and check taste. If there is very little gravy, add ¼ to ½ water to make extra gravy and let it boil well. Turn off and serve.
Food, Chicken Curry,Malabar Recipes

Malabar Kozhi Porichathu/ Fried Chicken

The weekend was spent lazing at the beach, getting our fill of the salty air and baking in the sun, munching goodies. Here we go to the beach, driving anywhere between half hour to one hour, while the beach air prevades the atmosphere in Kozhikode. As the trains approach the calicut station, you can notice the change. The smell of the salty wet air mixed with the slight stink of rotten fish and algae.. hmmm.. brings back memories.
Everybody lands up at the beach on the weekend evenings, with family/wife/friends in tow, socialising or walking or just gazing at the sunset. When i was a kid, my grandfather used to take us further north on the beach road, to an isolated "Koyal" beach, which was our name for the giant unused sewer pipes that lay embedded in the beach. We used to play all kinds of pretend games there. We used to top off the evening with ice cream, cutlets, salted mangoes.... Recently when I visited, even that part of the beach is now densified.

And so, my craving for the nadan chicken fry started. Simple as the recipe is, it is rarely made at our house, as the chicken is deep fried after marinating in just chili powder, turmeric and salt. Sometimes a tablespoon of rice flour is also added to the marinade. The healthier version of this is listed below.

You will need:
Chicken- 1 lb (or 5 pieces of leg)
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder -3 tsp or less
Lemon juice -1/2 tsp
Any oil for frying (coconut oil tastes the best)
Salt to taste
Preparation:
1. Clean and make gashes on the side of the legs.
2. Mix the spice powders and salt first, taste it, and then add the chicken and keep aside for at least 1-2 hrs. Do not add water to the marinade.
3. Heat 1/2 cup oil in a wok or sauce pan for 5 mins and reduce heat. Add the raw chicken pieces gently. Do not crowd the chicken in the wok. Do it in batches if the pan or wok is small.
4. Fry on medium heat for about 10-15 mins, turning once or twice to allow all sides to be cooked equally. If the chicken pieces are small, they won't take as much time, so fry it till the color changes to a golden brown. For checking, insert a sharp knife edge into the meatiest portion and if no juices run out, the chicken is done.
5. Drain with a slooted spoon onto a paper towel to remove the excess grease.

Related recipes:Chicken Shallow fry
Food, Chicken Fry,Malabar Recipes

Nadan Kozhi Curry/ Malabar Chicken Curry

This is the traditional chicken masala curry made on a regular basis in my mom’s house. She makes it when there are impromptu guests for breakfast with pathiris, or for dinner with neichoru or madikki pathiri.
For a long time, I had been adding variations to this recipe, but gradually gravitated away it, finally forgetting the original recipe. So it was a pleasure to get it back from my mom and start over again.
This chicken curry uses most of the whole spices locally available in Kerala, which in turn gives it its unique flavour, associated widely with Malabar curries. You could omit adding more water in the end to make it a Chicken Masala (Kozhi Varatiyathu).

Cooking time: 25 mins Preparation time is another 10 mins
You will need:
Chicken-2 lb, (750gm) cleaned and cut into small pieces.
Onions- 2.5 cups chopped (3 medium sized one)
Tomatoes-2 cup tomatoes (2 medium sized ones)
Green chilies - 6 chopped
Ginger–Garlic paste – 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder – 3/4 tsp
Red chili powder- 2 tsp (more or less as per taste..this will be spicy)
Coriander powder-3 tsp
Whole spices: 2”long Cinnamon stick, 4 cloves, 3 cardamom
Pepper- ¼ tsp (whole or crushed)
Leaves: Coriander, Mint, each a small handful, chopped
Salt - to taste
Oil-4 tbsp
Curry leaves – one sprig

Preparation Method
1. Wash the chicken and lightly toss it with lemon juice and rinse again. Drain well onto a slotted drainer.
2. Heat the oil in a large shallow pan, add the whole spices. Sauté till the fragrance fills the air and then add onions.
3. Fry onions till transparent and add chilies, ginger and garlic and stir well. Then add the tomatoes, all the spices and chicken and cook uncovered on low heat till water comes out. Do not add any water: it will prevent the spice powders from getting cooked. This will take between 10-15 minutes. Keep stirring to avoid the spices from getting stuck to the pan.
4. Add salt and the pepper. Check to see if the chicken is cooked. If there is no water, add ½ cup water and now cook it covered for five minutes to let the chicken cook well. Add ¾ water to make extra gravy and let it boil well. Add the leaves, leaving the coriander leaves for the last, after switching off the flame.