Prawns and Bimbli with coconut

In my old house I had a lovely patch of garden. I had a drumstick tree, two calamansi plants, a lovely bimbli plant and a few flowering plants.  The bimbli plant was in full bloom, when I first moved in. They were so many fruits on the plant and many of them were just falling off and getting wasted. So I was trying to think of recipes where bimblis were used so I could  put mine to good use.

I had eaten raw bimblis dipped in salt and chilly powder as a kid, but I couldn't get myself to eat it like that again. I could use a few to in daal, or in the red curry. These are sour fruits and are used as souring agents mostly. And then Alex thought of the prawns and bimbli sukhem his mum makes. Now it may seem like a strange combination, but all I can say is it works well. A few what's app messages later, this dish was ready and devoured in no time. Since I had access to bimblis so easily, this dish was regularly on our menu. I made this dish dryish with no water and it went very well with chappatis. So here's the recipe for you.

Recipe credit: Mrs Rozita Coutinho

Ingredients:

1. Prawns - 1/2 cup
2. Bimbli - 1 cup
3. Onions - 1/2 cup
4. Coconut - 1/2 cup
5. Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
6. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
7. Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
8. Salt as required
9. Oil as required

Method:

1. Cut the bimblis in proportion to the size of the prawns. Add a little salt, mix and keep aside.
2. In a pan, heat little oil, add the prawns and dehydrate them completely on high heat. Keep aside.
3. In the same pan, heat oil, add finely chopped onions and fry till they are soft and pink.
4. Add all the powdered spices and mix well.
5. Add the salted bimblis, mix well and let it cook for about two minutes.
6. Add the coconut, mix well, and cook for a further two to three minutes.
7. Lastly add prawns, mix well and cook till the prawns are done.
8. Check for salt and add if required.

Plain red coconut curry - Bachelor curry

Goan and Mangalorean fish curries are famous and very popular amongst foodies. Though I don't eat a lot of fish, I grew up in a house where fish curry and rice was a staple diet. My mum refused to cook separately for me, this was my mother's idea of tough love. :-) I learnt to eat the rice and curry without touching the fish. A strange but workable solution for all. Till date I enjoy fish curry and rice, minus the fish.

After I met Alex, I learnt to cook the plain red coconut curry from his dad. I was so happy to discover a curry that was so close to a fish curry, but minus the fish, unheard of in my mum's house. This curry uses all the same spices and instead of fish, you add a stock cube for the flavor. It is also known as the bachelor curry in Mangaloren cuisine. For picky fish eaters like me who love the coconut curry and prefer fried fish to curry fish, this is a super combo. Add a simple vegetable like cabbage or beans foogath, on the menu and you have a wholesome and delicious meal.

You can find more curry recipes under the label - Curry.

Recipe credit : Mr. Cyril Coutinho

Ingredients:

1. Onion (small) - 1 no
2. Tomato (small) - 1 no
3. Stock cube - 3 nos (Half inch cube)

For the masala (ground paste of spices):

1. Coconut - 200 grams
2. Kashmiri red chillies - 7 nos
3. Garlic - 7 cloves
4. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
5. Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
6. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
7. Peppercorn - 1/2 tsp
8. Onion (small) - 1 nos
9. Tamarind - a marble sized ball 

Method:

1. Slice the onion and tomato. Add salt to the onion and mix and keep aside.
2. Grind to a fine paste all ingredients mentioned under, for the masala. Add water as needed while grinding.
3. In a pan, place the salted onion, sliced tomato and the masala, bring this to a boil. Add about two cups of water, and cook on low flame for about 25 to 30 mins.
4. Add the stock cube five minutes before putting off the stove.
5. You may add drumsticks, or okra for additional flavor.

Tomato saar (Recipe 2)

I shared a tomato saar recipe on the blog a few weeks ago. That recipe is a cross between tomato saar and rasam. Well today's recipe is from my mum's kitchen and an authentic Manglorean saar.

This saar automatically makes me nostalgic and transports me to my childhood. Those were the days, when you sat to eat and were served the simplest food that brought such great pleasure. No amount of fine dining and gourmet food can replace my mum's saar that brings back such fond memories of my childhood. Sigh. Coming back to the post today if you'd like to view the previous recipe you will find it here.

Recipe credit: Mrs Cecilia Sequeira

Ingredients:

1. Tomatoes - 3 medium
2. Kashmiri Chillies - 3 nos
   (Make 4 slits at the bottom of the tomato and along with the kashmiri chillies place in boiling water for five minutes. Keep aside.)
3. Garlic - 4 cloves
4. Cumin/ Jeera - 1/2 tsp
5. Mustard seeds/ rai - 1/2 tsp
6. Onion - 1 medium

Grind the above ingredients  into a smooth paste. Use very little water while grinding.

Tempering:

1. Oil - 2 tbsp.
2. Onion - 1 small (finely chopped)
3. Curry leaves - a few
4. Long green chillies - 2 finely chopped (optional)

Method:

1. Heat a pan, pour oil, add the curry leaves, onions and chillies.
2. Then add the ground paste, salt and fry well. Add a glass of water. Let it simmer for  7 - 8 minutes. Adjust seasoning and consistency according to your taste.
3. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.

Notes:

• Typically tomato saar is a watery soup poured over rice generously and eaten with a fried fish or vegetable on the side. 

Pork roast - Goan style

This is one of my favorite pork recipes. It's a precious gem from my mum in laws kitchen. This recipe has very basic whole spices combined with ginger and garlic. The only thing that you may not find in your pantry is cashew fenny. My mum in law believes that it adds a unique flavor to the dish, and if you have access to it , you must use it in this recipe. I have never made pork roast without fenny, so I don't know how much the flavor will differ if you do not add it. However, if you look at the list of ingredients, the spice mix is quite strong and I personally think that using cashew fenny can be optional.

You may find other pork recipes below. Click on the recipe name to see the detailed instructions.
PorkBafath

Recipe credit : Ms. Rozita Coutinho

Ingredients:

1. Pork - 1 kg chunk
2. Garlic - 8 big cloves
3. Ginger - 1 and half inch piece
4. Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
5. Peppercorns - 25 nos
6. Cardamoms - 6 nos
7. Cinnamon - 2 inch sticks. 
8. Cloves - 10 nos
9. Vinegar - 2 to 3 tbsp
10. Cashew fenny - 1 tsp 
11. Salt as required

Method:

1. Wash and cut the meat into four large chunks. Drain excess water.
2. Dry grind the spices into a coarse powder.
3. Make a paste of the ginger and garlic using vinegar. 
4. In a pan, marinate the pork with salt, spices, cashew fenny and the ginger garlic paste.
5. Marinate for 6 to 8 hours or over-night. Refrigerate the marinated pork.
6. Let the meat come to room temperature before cooking it on slow flame.
7. Put the same pan on the stove and cook till 3/4th done. Depending on how tender or tough the meat is, adjust the cooking time.
8. Remove the pieces onto a plate and cut 1/4 inch slices and put it back in the pan to cook completely. Use a fork to hold the meat and use a sharp knife to cut.This ensures the slices don't curl while cooking.
9. Cook till the meat is completely done and check for seasoning.
10. Pork roast sandwiches are absolutely delicious and you may also serve this as a side dish.

Prawn or Shrimp Pulao

Prawns pulao is a one pot delicious meal. It is one of our favourite prawn preparations, favorite not only in my home but also at both my sisters homes and a hit with all the kids and adults. This is my sister's recipe, and I have eaten this at her home innumerable times. My sister is an excellent cook, she can make the most mundane foods like daal and khichdi into delicacies. This is one such gem from her repertoire.

Recipe credit: Ms. Anita Arakal

Ingredients:

1. Rice - 1 and 1/2 cup
2. Prawns - 1 cup
3. Cloves - 4 nos
4. Cardamom - 4 nos
5. Cinnamon - 2 inch piece
6. Peppercorn - 10 nos
7. Bay leaves - 2 nos
8. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
9. Fennel seeds/ saunf - 1 tsp
10. Green chillies - 2 nos *
11. Kashmiri chilly powder - 2 tsp*
12. Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
13. Coriander pwd - 1 tbsp
14. Onions - 3 nos (medium)
15. Tomatoes - 3 nos (medium)
16. Coriander leaves - for garnish
17. Soya sauce - 1 tbsp
18. Salt - to taste
19. Oil - as required
20. Water - double the measure of rice

** Always use chillies as per your spice tolerance.

Method:

1. Shell, de-vein and wash the prawns. In a bowl put the prawns, add the soya sauce, and a pinch of turmeric. Mix well and let it marinate till your other ingredients are being prepared.
2. Chop onions, tomatoes and chillies and keep them separately aside.
3. In a pan, heat oil, add the whole garam masala (whole spices) from serial number 3 to 9 under the list of ingredients. Let it fry well for about a minute or two.
4. Add onions and fry well. When the onions are translucent, add green chillies and the marinated prawns, and fry well for two to three minutes.
5. Add the tomatoes, salt, chilly powder, turmeric powder and coriander powder. Mix well and let it come to a boil.
6. Now add the water, bring it to a boil and then add the washed rice. When it comes to a boil, lower the flame, put a tight lid on the pan and let it cook for 10 minutes or till the rice is almost done. Just before you switch off the flame , you may add the coriander leaves for garnish.
7. Put the lid back on and after a minute switch off the flame. Don not open the lid for another 15 minutes as the cooking process continues.
8. Serve after 15 minutes.

Notes:
You can also make the same preparation in a pressure cooker. After adding the rice, you can cook it for three whistles. This preparation comes out more soft and wet.

Coconut juice chicken curry

Coconut juice chicken curry or simply known as juice chicken in my home, is my son's all time favorite curry. I cook this curry very often as it's a simple dish to cook and is ready in a matter of minutes. My Filipino cook has learnt to make this dish and she finds it easy to prepare, and that is s a testimony to the dish's simplicity. The only advance preparation that is required is the spice mix that can be prepared in a large quantity and kept for future use. I usually make this spice mix and use it for beef curry and green mince too. You can substitute the spice mix for regular garam masala as well and can use it to flavor vegetables and curries.  I learnt this recipe from my mum in law many moons ago and this recipe and the spice mix has become a very integral part of our kitchen and meals.

This chicken curry is simple to make, has a delicate coconut flavor and is mildly spiced. It tastes excellent with steamed rice, jeera rice or vegetable/plain pulao.

Recipe credit: Ms Rozita Coutinho

Spice Mix to be ground in advance:

1. Jeera or cumin - 1 tbsp
2. Peppercorns - 1 tbsp
3. Cinnamon - 4 inches
4. Cardamom - 6 nos
5. Cloves - 15 nos
6. Turmeric - 1/2 tbsp.

Grind to a fine powder and store in a air-tight container. Use as needed.

Ingredients:

1. Chicken - 1 kg
2. Potatoes - 2 medium, cubed
3. Onions (Large) - 2 no (sliced finely)
4. Ginger paste - 1 tbsp
5. Garlic paste - 1 tbsp.
6. Powdered spice mix - 1 and half tbsp * (from above)
7. Green chillies - 2 nos (finely chopped)
8. Coconut milk - 500 ml
9. Vinegar - 1 tbsp
10. Oil - 2 tbsp
11. Salt - as per taste

Garnish: (optional)
Chopped coriander leaves

Method:

1. Cut the chicken into medium pieces. Wash the chicken, apply salt and keep aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan, fry sliced onions till brown. Add ginger garlic paste, fry well.
3. Add the chicken pieces and cook on high heat for two to three minutes, add the spice mix, salt and mix well.
4. Lower the flame, add the tomatoes, green chillies, vinegar and potatoes.
5. Cook till the chicken and potatoes are almost done. Check for taste, the gravy should taste a little salty and spicy, since we still have to add the coconut milk.
6. Add the coconut milk and let the curry simmer for  three to five minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves. Switch off the flame and serve hot with pulao.

Easy & quick raw mango pickle

There are numerous types of pickles that can be found in an Indian kitchen - raw mango pickle is just  one of the many varieties. The sheer amount of choices can be overwhelming.  Which part of the country you come from, can have a huge impact on the way you view pickles. Pickles are made of almost all vegetables, some fruits, fish and meats, for example carrots, lime, ivy gourd (tendli), garlic, tomato, mixed vegetables, lotus stem, star fruit, shrimp (prawns), macerals, dried Bombay duck and the list goes on.

My mum never made any pickle, so I don't have any memories to share on that front. Our pickles were store bought as my mum believed that time and effort spent in making pickles could be put to better use :-) I grew up believing that making pickles was a tiring and time consuming process and never tried venturing into that area of cooking. That all changed two years ago, when a neighbor of mine shared a big bag of mangoes from the tree growing in her garden. Some of them were raw and some were on their way to ripening. I didn't want to be rude and accepted the mangoes gratefully, wondering what could I possibly do with these many mangoes. There is no way I could have used so many in a curry or daal, and therefore decided to try my hand at making a pickle.

So that's how I got initiated into the art of pickle making. While many pickles are tiresome to make, I chose a quick and easy recipe, by sifting through a lot of recipes online. My recipe has six ingredients that are essential - fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, red chilly powder, turmeric powder, oil and salt. Garlic and green chilly are purely optional.

Ingredients:

1. Raw mangoes - 1 kg
2. Mustard seeds - 2 tbsp
3. Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
4. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tbsp
5. Kashmiri red chilly powder - 2 and half tbsp
6. Salt - 1/4 cup
7. Oil - 250 ml
8. Garlic - 1 pod
9. Green chilly - 4 nos

Method:

1. Read the notes before you actually start.
2. Wash the whole mangoes in water, scrub them clean and towel dry them. They need to be completely dry with no trace of moisture. You can sun dry the whole mangoes if possible. Cube the mangoes into one inch pieces.
3. Apply turmeric powder and salt to the mangoes and keep aside.
4. Dry roast 1 and half tbsp of mustard seeds and the fenugreek seeds. Cool it and dry grind it to a smooth powder.
5. Crush and peel the garlic, roughly chop it. Wash, dry and cut green chilly into two inch pieces.
6. Use a large pan to make the pickle, big enough to hold all ingredients, and with enough room to mix the contents well.
7. Heat the pan, add the oil, let the oil heat well. Add the half tbsp of mustard seeds, let it splutter, when the spluttering stops add the garlic and the green chilly. Adding garlic and green chilly is optional, in case you aren't using it, just move to the next step.
8. Switch of the gas flame and add the ground powder and red chilly powder.
9. Now add the mangoes and mix well. Cover with a lid and let it marinate for 24 hours. the pickle should look oily as this will ensure a longer shelf life.
10. Transfer to clean, dry and air-tight glass jars. Use as needed.

Notes:

• I have kept the above pickle at room temperature for two weeks and in the refrigerator for over six months.
• Moisture is the biggest enemy of any pickle, so everything used in the pickle making process should be completely dry, including your hands, the spoon to mix, the chopping board, knife, all pans, bowls etc used for holding the ingredients till they are used. I can't stress enough how important this part is.
• Storage jars should be preferably sun dried.
• In case the mangoes are not sour enough, you can heat a 1/4 cup water in a sauce pan, bring it to a boil and add 1/4 cup vinegar to it. Let it boil well, put off the flame. Cool it down and add to the mango pickle after the pickle has come to the room temperature.

Egg curry with coconut milk

I don't make egg curries very often. We like our eggs fried, in omelets or scrambled. But when your in a rush and have no time for an elaborate meal, this curry comes to your rescue. I got this recipe from my friend Allie, who makes this egg curry quite often. Her recipe calls for only four ingredients- garlic, East Indian bottle masala, coconut milk and boiled eggs. I know many may wonder, how can it be so easy or will it taste good enough. But I can assure you, having eaten this curry at her home a couple of times, it is delicious, specially when paired with hot steamed white or brown rice.

I make this curry a little differently. I add a few ingredients to make it more suitable to our palates at home. The original curry tastes coconuty and creamy, and has delicate flavor of spices. My variation makes it a little more spicy with the addition of green chillies and ginger and has onions and tomatoes. It is still one of the easiest things to make when in a rush or if you like eggs in a curry !

Recipe credit: Ms. Allison Temple D'souza

Ingredients:

1. Boiled eggs - 8 nos
2. Onion - 1 large, finely chopped
3. Tomato - 1 large, finely chopped
4. Green chilly - 3 nos, finely chopped
5. Garlic - 8 flakes, minced
6. Ginger - 1 inch piece, minced
7. East Indian bottle masala - 1 and 1/2 tbsp
8. Salt - to taste
9. Oil - as needed

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan, add onion and garlic, fry till brown. Then add ginger and green chillies and continue sautéing for a minute.
2. Add the tomatoes and salt and continue sautéing till they turn mushy. 
3. Once the tomatoes look done, add the bottle masala. Mix it and slowly add the coconut milk.
4. When the curry comes to a boil add the boiled eggs. After about three minutes switch off the flame. 

Process to boil eggs:

1. Fill a pan or pot with enough water to cover the eggs. Gently ease the eggs into the pan.
2. Add a 1 tbsp salt and 2 tbsp vinegar to the water
3. Put the pan on the stove and let the water come to a boil. Lower the flame and let the eggs cook for five minutes.
4. After five minutes switch off the flame and let the eggs rest in the hot water for 12 minutes.
5. Wait for the eggs to cool down completely before cracking the shells. You may put the eggs in cold water, to fasten the process.
6. If the eggs are still hot or warm and you try to crack the shell open, they tend to break and you have egg white coming off with the shell. So be patient and gentle.