Eggplant in chilly and coriander paste

Eggplant is not a very popular vegetable, either you love it or hate it, and there is no middle ground. However it is one of my favorite vegetables and I'm always trying new recipes, even though I'm the only one who eats it at home. This recipe I share with you today was generously shared by my friend Sudha, who is an excellent cook. She tells me it is a very popular preparation in the South of India. It goes very well with hot steamed rice and a generous dollop of ghee. This is one of those recipes where you don't sweat much in the kitchen, and the dish tastes amazing.

Recipe credit: Sudha J

Ingredients:

1. Eggplant - 250 gms (cut into 3 inch pieces)
2. Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup
3. Green chilly - 2 nos
4. Garlic - 1 clove (optional)

**Ingredients for tempering:

Oil - 2 tbsp (or as required)
Curry leaves - 10 leaves
1/2 tsp each of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, chana daal, urad daal, turmeric powder.

**All ingredients for tempering are optional except oil.

Method:

1. In a pan, heat oil, add the mustard seeds, when it stops spluttering, add the remaining ingredients mentioned in tempering.
2. Add the brinjal/ eggplant quarters and salt. Let it cook on slow flame.
3. In the meanwhile, grind the coriander leaves, green chili and garlic to a fine paste.
4. When the brinjal/ eggplant has almost cooked, add the ground paste and mix well. Let it cook till the  brinjal/ eggplant is done and switch off the flame.

Chicken/Mutton stew - Recipe from Kerala

Chicken or mutton stew is a classic comfort food for many. Pair it with appas or appams, and you can't go wrong. I usually serve this with a simple pulao, and the meal is as amazing if not more.

One of the things that really appeals to me about this dish is it's simplicity. And for that reason I cook this fairly regularly. It's a mildly spiced curry with coconut being the dominant flavor. I hope you and your loved ones like it as much as its liked in my home.

Recipe credit: Ms.Anita Arakal

Ingredients:

1. Chicken /Mutton - 1 kg
2. Potatoes - 3 medium sized
3. Oil - 3 tbsp.
4. Onion - 2 large
5. Garlic - 2 tbsp.
6. Ginger - 1 inch piece
7. Green chilly - 3 nos.
8. Curry leaves - two sprigs
9. Coconut milk - 200 ml
10. Vinegar - 2 tbsp.
11. Salt and Water - as required

Spice mix:

1. Peppercorns - 1/2 tbsp.
2. Cardamom - 5 nos
3. Cloves -6 nos
4. Cinnamon - 2 inch stick
5. Turmeric

Method:

1. Cut and wash the meat into curry pieces. Drain and keep aside.
2. Peel and cut the potatoes into wedges or cubes. Soak in water till they are ready to be used.
3. Chop onions, slice garlic and grate/slice ginger. Chop the green chillies
4. In a pan heat oil, add the spice mix except turmeric. After about a minute add the onions, garlic and ginger. Fry till the onions are soft and light brown. Add the green chillies.
5. Add the meat and let the it fry till it is browned on all sides.
6. Add the potatoes, vinegar, salt and turmeric.Mix well. If you'd like to add water, add half a cup or 100 ml of hot water.
7. Cook on slow flame covered with a lid for about 15 minutes or till the meat is done. In case you are cooking mutton the time taken for it to cook will be much longer. Please use your judgement.
8. Lastly add the coconut milk, once the gravy starts boiling check for salt and consistency. Adjust if required and turn off the flame.

Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani

Biryanis are a favorite in my home. And Hyderabadi chicken biryani is one of my absolute favorites hands down. Biryanis are a lot of hard work, but this is so so worth the effort.

I wanted my first recipe on this blog to be a classic Indian recipe and hence sharing this lovely gem from my collection.

Biryanis are a combination of long grained rice layered with meat cooked in spices, and potatoes. It is natural to get intimidated with the laundry list of spices that go into cooking the meat. However what I did to get over it, was organize the list of ingredients into manageable chunks, and then it didn't look so scary anymore. That's the reason I have organized the list of ingredients into three marinades. In fact it has helped me memorize the recipe too. Now when I cook this biryani, I don't need to look at the recipe. :-)

Potatoes are optional and many recipes do not include it, but since everyone at home is so fond of it, I end up adding it to all my biryanis. So you can completely skip the potatoes if you don't like them. Also at times we may not have shahijeera, star anise and black cardamoms readily available in the kitchen. It's ok to skip them too.

Recipe credit: Sudha J

Ingredients for rice:

1. Basmati Rice – 500 gms
2. Oil – 1 tbsp.
3. 6 peppercorns
4. ½ tsp shahijeera
5. Salt to taste

Chicken – 500gms

Potatoes - 2 medium

4 large onions (sliced, deep fired till dark brown)

 **The recipe my friend shared, requires the sliced onions to be deep fried, however I shallow fry the onions, and this has not altered the taste of the biryani in any way. 

Marinade 1:

1. 2 black cardamoms
2. 3 small cardamoms
3. ½ tsp shahijeera
4. ½ tsp jeera/cumin seeds
5. 3 cloves
6. 3 bay leaves
7. 2 star anise
8. 1inch cinnamon stick

Coarsely grind the above.

Marinade 2:

1. ¼ cup mint leaves
2. ¼ cup coriander leaves
3. 2 green chilies (adjust according to spice tolerance)
4. 3 cloves of garlic or 1 tbsp of paste
5. 1/2 inch piece ginger or 1 tbsp of paste

Grind to a fine paste using little water.

Marinade 3:

1. 200 ml yoghurt
2. 1 tsp chili powder
3. ½ tsp turmeric powder
4. ½ tbsp coriander powder
5. Juice of half a lemon or one lime.

Garnish:

A few sprigs of coriander and mint leaves chopped finely
Food color (Red, yellow, green) – dissolve color as required in milk
1/4 of the fried onions.

Cooking method for rice:

1. Wash and soak the rice for half hour before you cook it.
2. In a pan big enough to cook the rice, add water so that ¾ of the pan is full. Put this on the stove.
3. Bring the water to a boil and add the rice.
4. Into this water add, salt, a tablespoon of oil. Adding spices is optional, if you'd like you may add ½ tsp shahijeera, 2 bay leaves and 6 peppercorns. 
5. Cook till the rice is ¾ cooked, and drain the excess water using a colander. Keep aside.

Cooking method for chicken:

1. Use a pan big enough that will accommodate the biryani i.e. the marinated chicken potatoes and rice, with some room for you to comfortably serve it.
2. In this pan add the washed and drained chicken, potatoes, marinade 1, marinade 2, marinade 3, salt, two tablespoons of oil and ¾ of the fried onions.
3. Mix all the ingredients well and let it rest for one hour at least. Marinate longer for better results.
4. When you're ready to cook the biryani, layer the cooked rice on top of the marinated uncooked chicken.
5. Put your garnish on top of the rice. I also add a tablespoon of ghee or clarified butter on top of the rice. This is purely optional.
6. Seal the pan with foil, and put it on the stove.
7. Now cook the biryani on high flame for ten minutes, next cook on medium flame for ten minutes and finally on low flame for the last ten minutes.
8. After you put off the stove, let the biryani rest for at least half hour before serving.
9. Serve with raita.

Note:

• Please use your discretion while using the stove settings, if your high flame is very high or low flame is very high, adjust accordingly so that the chicken does not get burnt. The point to remember is, the chicken needs to come to a boil in the first few minutes and then the flame can be lowered to ensure it is cooked till done. So use the cooking time accordingly.
• One of the reasons the biryani is easier to cook, is cause it eliminates the whole process of cooking the chicken separately, layering and cooking on dum. It also works well since you are not using too many utensils so the cleaning process after cooking is much simpler too.

Welcome to my Blog !

Dear Reader,

Welcome to my blog !

I love cooking for my family and friends. I didn't always love doing it, but it sort of grew on me over a period of time. Most of the recipes on my blog are simple Indian everyday dishes. I don't cook fancy restaurant type stuff, and I most certainly don't photograph my food like a professional. In fact most of the times I forget to click pictures. So most of the recipes here are without pictures, so when I say the recipes are awesome, I guess you have to take my word for it! Haha... Jokes aside, will try and add pictures to recipes as and when possible.

These recipes have been scribbled and jotted in many books over a period of years, most of them borrowed from my family and friends, a few from recipe books and other blogs, many from newspapers and magazines. Putting these recipes online was just a practical step towards organizing my book clutter. And voila, here we are!

I always believe that if you're happy doing something, it will always show in the results. And if you do it with love, nothing can stop you from being the best at what you do. I don't need medals and I don't need a certificate, just a hearty appetite, some appreciation and lots of smiles work for me. So on that note, I wish you lots of spice and love in your life. Let the cooking begin!

Cheers,
Sandy