Recipe Details

I have been really looking into the key essentials that byadgi chili brings to the table and have really being fooling around with an idea to infuse our local chilies with oriental sauces and voila, this dish popped out.

 

Byadgi Chilli Prep

Take about 100 grams of dried Byadgi chillies and soak it in warm mater till it gets soft.  Transfer this to a mixie where it is semi ground.  

 

Main Ingredients

50 Grams Garlic - Mixer Ground

2 Medium Onions cut in small pieces

3 Tbsp Dark Soy (Preferable Lee Kum Kee or Woh Hup)

2 Tbsp Light Soy (Preferable Lee Kum Kee or Woh Hup)

4 Teaspoons Sugar

1 Teaspoon Salt

1 Tsp Vinegar

6 Tbsp Sunflower Oil

 

Cooking Technique: Follow this flow

1) Add the Sunflower Oil to a Tawa

2) Add the Onions - Make sure the onion gets a semi golden brown color to it before adding the next set of ingredients.

3) Add ground coarse garlic - This should also be coarsely ground.  Add this till the garlic gets fried.

4) Continuously mix both ingredients so that they do not stick to the bottom and get burnt

5) Add the Byadgi chilies and mix continuously.  Lower the heat and keep cooking all the elements for about 10 minutes

6) In a separate bowl, mix the light and dark soy with sugar and taste the sauce.   It should have a nice salty sweet texture to it. (4 teaspoons of sugar please)

7) Add the soy mix and continuously mix for another 10 minutes

8) Add the balance 1 teaspoon of sugar

9) Add the vinegar for final touches and you're all set!

10) Serve hot with White Rice!

​

Tips -

Byadgi Chilies when ground - I would actually prefer the chilies to be ground with a pestle and mortar but if you do not have the time and patience, you could grind  it in a mixer.  

 

Warning - Do not make it a paste.  It should be semi ground.  The mixer should not be on for more than 5 seconds. It has to have the coarse ground feel to it!

I have been really looking into the key essentials that byadgi chilli brings to the table and have really being fooling around with an idea to infuse Kerala with Konkana dishes and voila, this dish popped out.  

 

A suttle flavor of coconut milk infused with byadgi chilli and milk, yes, milk powder!  What an awesome dish this turned out to be.

 

Fish Marinade

500 gms of sea bass / bhetki fish, marinated with 1 tsp each of turmeric, kashmiri chilli, pepper powder and salt.  (Kept aside for 10 minutes)

 

Preference is to use fillets

 

Frying the Fish in:

Coconut oil

 

For the Powder (Roasted on a Tawa)

15 red Byadgi chillies (I used Kashmiri 9 & Guntur 6 for heat)

1 tbsp coriander seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

10 black peppercorns 

¼ tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp fenugreek seeds

½  cup grated coconut

1 tsp Garam Masala

10 Curry Leaves

 

For the Paste

1 large onion, roughly chopped 

10 cloves of garlic

½ inch ginger, roughly chopped

2 Green Chillies

2 Coriander stems with leaves

 

Mix added to the Paste and Powder

100 ml coconut milk 

100 ml milk powder

 

Final Touchup

9 teaspoons of Tamarind (Kerala Pulli - Kothampulli)

One small tomato finely chopped

2 Teaspoon sugar

200 ml water 

Salt to taste

20 to 25 curry leaves

1 stem coriander leaves

 

Make the Powder

1) In a flat tawa, fry all the ingredients marked under "For the Powder" and make sure that they are fried till you get a good aromatic smell from the byadgi chillies.

2) Please ensure that you do not burn the ingredients while having them fried.

3) Transfer the items over to a mixie and grind all of the ingredients together.  The garam masala should be added at the end once all the ingredients become finely powdered and run one final quicj churn to all of the ingredients.

4) Take it out from the Mixie and add to a tight lid bottle container

 

Make the Paste:

1) Put all the ingredients mentioned under "For the Paste" in a blender and crush them till you get a fine paste

 

Cooking Technique:

1) Fry the fish on a Tawa.  Do not over fry and should only be a Tawa toss till you get a slight brownish char on both sides.  Keep aside - Use sunflower oi

2) In a separate wok or deep dish pan, add 2 tablespoon of coconut oil

3) Add the paste and cook it for about 10 minutes.  Keep stirring the paste.  To this, add 21/2 tablespoon of the powdered ingredients.

4) Cook for about 5 more minutes and add water little by little.  Once you notice the oil to slightly rise up, add the remaining amount of water

5) In a separate cup, add the coconut and  milk powder and mix it properly.  Ad this to the main dish.

6) Add the Kothampulli.  Only use the juice and keep adding spoon by spoon till you get a nice suttle sour feel to the dish.

7) Add the tomatoes, sugar and add salt to taste.

8) Add the fried fish to the frying pan.

9) End with a tinge of garam masala added followed by fresh curry and coriander leaves.

​

10 Serve hot with White Rice!

​

Tips -

Use Byadgi chillies for authentic flavour & aroma. 

 

Do not burn the ingredients on a Tawa

 

Do not switch on a mixie and go out for a walk and come back ten minutes later.  The heat in a mixie also burns the ingredients which eventually will become useless as well once burnt

Ingredients - 

 

500 gm fish, marinated in ½ tsp each of turmeric and salt. (I used lady fish) 

15 red Byadgi chillies (I used Kashmiri 9 & Guntur 6 for heat)

1 tbsp coriander seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

10 to 12 peppercorns 

¼ tsp mustard seeds

12 to 15 fenugreek seeds

½  cup grated coconut

½ tsp turmeric powder

1 large onion, roughly chopped 

10 cloves of garlic

½ inch ginger, roughly chopped

Tamarind, lime sized ball 

400 ml water 

Salt to taste

For the seasoning

100 ml coconut milk 

2 shallots chopped small 

20 to 25 curry leaves

Coconut oil

 

Method -

1) dry roast spices, coriander, cumin, peppercorns, mustard, fenugreek (until aromas comes out, DO NOT BURN IT!)

2) add some 2 tbsp coconut oil to a pan heat and toast the dry chillies for 1.5 mts on low flame don’t over toast it, Byadgi and Kashmiri will retain it’s colour Guntur will turn a bit brown. 

3) grind - the roasted spices, chillies, garlic, ginger, tamarind, grated coconut, turmeric powder, roughly chopped onions, salt add some water and grind to fine paste.

4) Add the ground past to a cooking pot add water to a loos creamy consistency, taste, add salt if need, heat on medium flame to boil  

5) Add fish in the boiling creamy curry cook for 5-7 mts – 

6) add coconut milk and cook for 2 mts 

7) fry the fine chopped shallots in 2 tbsp until brown switch off the flame throw in the curry leaves and add to the seasonings to the fish curry.  

 

Serve with steam rice or neer dosa. 

 

Bon appetite!

​

Tips -

Use Byadgi chillies for authentic flavour & aroma. 

Inspired from the Infamous Singapore Chili Crab

We all go through lengths to understand our products better and this means making the travel to the origin to understand why a dish like, the Singapore Chili Crab would make it to the top and be regarded as one of the most wanted dishes in the world.

 

While at Mekong / Aroi, we took this challenge to build the most authentic dish and we gave it all.

It came very close to the award winning dish.

 

I have taken this privilege to build my very own version of this award winning dish.  I call this Chan's Chili Crab.

 

Crab Fry Coating

• Blue Crab - 1/2 Kg

• Corn Flour Weikfeld 3 Tbs

• Chili Powder 1 Tsp

• Chicken Powder 1 Tsp

​

Crab Fry

• Heat the oil in a small wok till its hot

• Coat the blue crab with the ingredients mentioned

• Fry both sides till the crab turns red and slightly crunchy

• Keep it aside and dry off excess oil

​

Ingredients

• Onion 1/2 Bulb Chopped

• Garlic 8 Cloves Semi Ground (Stone Grinder)

• Green Chili Seedless - 2 Large

• Byadgi Chili - 6 Dry Chillies, soaked in water and semi ground on stone grinder

• Chinese Sesame Oil - 2 Tsp

• Tomato Sauce - 11/2 Tbsp

• Shaoxing Wine - 2 Tsp

• Fish Sauce - 2 Tsp

• Oyster Sauce Woh Hup - 1 Tbsp

• Egg - 1  broken in a bowl and whisked

• Butter - 3 Tbs

• Coriander Leaves Chopped - 2 Tbs

• Corn Flour Weikfeld 1 Tbs

• Sugar 2 Tsp

• ​

Steps

• In a wok, heat the butter

• Fry the garlic next

• Add the onions

• Watch for the garlic and onion to settle in and turn slightly brown

• Add the Byadgi Chili (Fry the chili for about 2 minutes)

• Add Tomato Sauce

• Now add the Oyster Sauce, Shaoxing Wine and Sesame Oil to the dish

• Cook for another  minute at high

• Mix the cornflour under ingredients in 2 tablespoons of water and add to the dish

• Add the whisked egg (See tips for more details)

• Add Sugar

• Add the Fried Crab to the dish

• Add Fish Sauce

• Do a quick mix with the coriander leaves and serve hot

Serve hot with white rice!

Bon Apetit!

​

Tips

Do not over cook the crab

 

Please note: when you add the egg to the crab, firstly the heat needs to be lowered to low and then slowly add in the egg in concentric circles around the dish that is worked in the wok.

 

Make sure that you do not overcook the egg

IF CHAN CAN FRY CHICKEN, SO CAN YOU!

 

The COVID19 lock-down, gave me the opportunity to look beyond and find my inner self!  All rubbish!  My weekend craving for KFC and not being able to get this for the family, gave me and opportunity to take this up as a challenge and build something better.  Ladies and gentleman, I give you CHANS FRIED CHICKEN!! 

 

Main Ingredients:

 

Chicken Marinade:

Chicken Wings: 0.5 Kg (Around 6 Chicken Wings; Broken into two pieces) - Total 12 Pieces

Curd: 2 Tablespoon

Pepper: 1/2 Teaspoon

Salt to taste

 

Separate Bowl:

Egg - 1 Egg

Salt to taste

 

Main Batter Coating

Maida: 4 Tablespoons

Cornflour: 3 Tablespoons

Garlic Powder: 2 Teaspoons

Chili Powder: 1.5 Teaspoon

Thyme: 1 Teaspoon

Mixed Herbs: 1 Teaspoon

Pepper Powder: 1 Teaspoon

Chicken Broth Powder: 1 Teaspoon (Optional)

Salt to taste

 

Suggested Steps:

• Make the chicken marinade and mix it well.  Make sure to massage every wing pieces in the bowl to ensure the ingredients are nicely wrapped up in the meat.  Cover the meat and keep it aside and let it rest for 2 hours (Overnight has the best results, always)

• In a separate bowl whisk the egg and salt till it gets a bit frothy and keep it aside.

• As for the Main Batter coating, please follow exactly to what's mentioned.  You could opt out of the Chicken Broth Powder if you prefer but I do prefer including this to the batter.

• Pull out the chicken and ensure it has rested well. 

 

Frying Process:

• Take each piece out.  Make sure to get rid of the excess liquid by wiping it by the side of the inner bowl.

• Mix it in the batter and coat it well.  When coating, make sure the piece is well submerged into the batter and turned multiple folds

• Take the piece out and submerge into the egg liquid.

• Take it out again and then submerge back into the batter mixture again.

• Then push this into the frying pan.

​

Ensure to maintain a fixed temperature of 150 degrees and keep watching till it gets to a golden brown color.  Serve Hot!

​

Tips

The biggest mistake we all do.  Absolutely no patience and fry the chicken at maximum heat!  Always make sure to maintain temperature for the chicken fry.  I bought this lovely contraption from Amazon where you could place your chicken wings at a constant temperature similar to what they do in KFC.

 

You could follow this link and purchase the same:

 https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B00ZFMDL86/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 

Additional Information

Indo Thai Fusion dish with Peanut Sauce

 

Indians for a very long time have considered Thai food as comfort food.  This is due to some commonality of spices that Northern Thai families used in their dishes like Green and Red curries.

 

Today, I would like to give you a recipe for a fusion dish that I had created which is a fusions of Indian spices tossed with two basic Thai elements in the dish.

 

Ingredients

 

 

• 400 grams Sea Bass

• 5 Green Chilies sliced without seed

• 15 cloves garlic, peeled and semi ground in a stone grinder

• 1 teaspoon Coriander Powder

• 1/2 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder

• 1 Teaspoon Chili Powder

• 1/2 Teaspoon Garam Masala

• 1/2 Teaspoon Eastern Chicken Masala

• A Pinch black pepper

• 1/2 Teaspoon Jeera powder

• 1 Cup Coconut milk

• 1 Tablespoon coarse peanut powder with skin

• 1 Tablespoon Peanut Butter

• 11/2 Tablespoon Butter

• Fish Sauce to taste

• 12 Basil Leaves

 

 

Sea Bass marinade 

 

 

• Marinade the meat with light soy sauce (preferably lee kum kee or woh hup - 2 Tablespoon) and Chilli Powder (2 Tsp)

• Marinade for about 30 mins to an hour for better flavors (Overnight for best results)

• Fish cut should be a fillet; cut in cubes

 

 

Steps for Crispy Fish

 

 

• Spread some cornflour onto a plate.  

• In a separate wok, heat about 300 ml of oil until it gets to a frying temperature. (See tips)

• Take each piece of the fish and toss it around in the cornflour till all four edges of cornflour are stuck on the fish.

• Deep Fry the fish till you see a nice brown crisp around the fish.

• Keep it aside

 

 

Steps for Main Dish

 

 

• In a hot work, add the butter and one tablespoon of oil and watch it boil for a couple of seconds.  Add the garlic and chilli and fry till it gets slightly brown. Follow this up with Coriander, Turmeric, Garam Masala, Eastern Chicken Masala, Black Pepper and Jeera Powder.  

• Cook for about a minute but keep stirring to ensure that the masala does not get burnt.  

• Add half the contents of the coconut milk and mix well.  Continue cooking till you see a layer of the oil start floating to the top.  This maeans that the masala is well cooked.

• Add the crushed peanuts and cook for another minute or two

• Add Peanut Butter and mix well till you get a smooth paste

• Add the remaining coconut milk and cook for another 30 seconds

• Add Fish Sauce to taste.  (Keep adding small quantities)

• Add Basil Leaves and stir fry quickly for 15 seconds and take it out from the wok.

 

 

Serve hot with Basmati Rice!

​

Tip

If you go to your local food supermarket, you will find local cornflour to branded ones like Weikfeld.  I would strongly suggest to use Weikfeld, since the local ones tend to crumble off the fish while frying

 

In order to check if the oil is hot prior to frying fish, take a piece of coconut stem stick and push it against the oil.  If you see bubbles forming around the stick, then the fish is ready to be cooked.

A COASTAL KONKANI DISH - HEAVEN!

​

This dish takes me back to my college days at MIT, Manipal, where a lot of us used to pack up and head straight for Shetty’s Lunch home and try one of their best kept secrets.

 

“The Kundapura Chicken Ghee Roast”

 

The Kundapura Chicken Ghee Roast which originated from Kundapura, was introduced as a signature dish by a family run restaurant in Kundapura called “The Shetty’s Lunch Home”

 

The Shetty’s lunch home was infamous for many dishes like the Kaane Naked Masala fry and Squid Masala, but the Chicken Ghee Roast just stood way above the rest in terms of flavor that packed a punch.

 

I remember while working in Bangalore, I used to tell my wife that while visiting Manipal, we should go to Shetty’s to try out this dish. This would always be our one-hour lunch stop with a minimum 2KG chicken that gets cleared in a matter of seconds.

 

Later in the year, I remember a close friend of mine, Rajesh Pai, had started a restaurant on Sarjapur Road, Bangalore called Kanua. A typical coastal Mangalorean restaurant, this was the other place where Rajesh Pai took this dish to a completely new level and trust me, this dish became an unforgettable dish in the heart of Bangaloreans’ ever since. We will miss you Rajesh and do hope you bring Kanua back to Bengaluru someday!

 

As for another close friend of mine, Nagendra Nayak, who lives in Udupi, Nagi, I am targeting you next since I have heard a lot about Asha’s version of the Kundapura Ghee Roast that beats any other Kundapura dish right out of the park!

 

Folks in Bengaluru, if you have a craving for Chicken Ghee Roast, I am happy to let you all know that Shetty’s Lunch Home has started operations in Jayanagar and RT Nagar. Please follow Zomato and check for directions to head to that location.

 

Now let's get rolling with the Dish. 

 

Here you go, the recipe for Kundapura Chicken Ghee Roast

 

Marinade for the Chicken:

600gm Thigh Chicken with Bones

2 tbsp Curd  

1tsp Turmeric powder 

1tbl Kashmiri Chili Powder (Try Eastern Kashmiri Chili Powder)

½ Lime (Squeeze the juice over the marinade)

A pinch of Salt (Don’t add too much)

Steps: Mix all the ingredients in the bowl, cover the same with cling wrap and keep the same refrigerated for about 2 hours minimum (Best results are overnight)

 

Making the Paste

15 dried Byadgi Chilies (Seedless)

5 Guntur Chilies (Seedless) 

½ tsp mustard seeds 

½ tsp methi seeds

2 tbsp coriander seeds 

1½ Tsp black pepper 

1 tsp jeera

Tamarind Water (Make sure the water looks brown and has a tinge of sourness to the liquid)

15 cloves of garlic crushed

 

Soaked Coarse Paste:

10 Byadgi Chilies soaked in warm water

 

Steps:

Take the 10 chillies form the soaked water and coarse frond this in a mixer. Please note: Do NOT make this into a paste. It should be a rough coarse ingredient.

In a flat tawa, heat 1 tablespoon of ghee and fry the coarse chili till it turns bright red. Soon you will get the aroma of fried chili in the air. Move this aside in a bowl.

 

Main Dish Ingredients: 

Paste (See above)

Chicken Marinade (See above)

A small bottle of Ghee

15 curry leaves 

1 tsp jaggery 

½ a Lime for a sour flavor

Salt to taste

 

Steps for paste: 

Take a tawa and heat it on high flame. Take all the ingredients listed above and add it to the Tawa one batch at a time. First add the chilies and fry them followed by the rest of the ingredients. You will need to keep tossing the same to ensure that the spices do not get burnt. You will get the fragrance of the chilies infused with the spices and at some point, you will know that the ingredients are not ready to be transferred over to an electric grinder. You are required to then grind the items to fine powder. Make sure not to overdo the grinding bit so that the mix does not get burnt in the grinding process.

 

Once you get the Dry Powder in a course powdery format, add to this your garlic and tamarind water. Give it a grind in your mixer and add some water till you get to a paste format. Remember, I said paste and not watery. So, be careful when adding water in small quantities.

When completed, keep it aside. 

 

Main Dish Ingredients:

 

In a wok, add 3 tablespoons of ghee, add the chicken and cook for about ten minutes. Continue mixing ghee with the chicken marinade till the juice of the chicken mixes with the marinade. 

 

Remove the chicken pieces alone from the dish and keep it aside. Add one more tablespoon of ghee and continue mixing.

Now, add two tablespoons of the ready paste to the dish and continuously mix the dish. DO not keep it aside otherwise the bottom tends to get burnt hence it is important to mis the paste with the marinade mis continuously in the wok.

 

Once you see oil floating at the top, add back the chicken to the dish and continue to stir. The stirring part of the most important area that you will need to focus on.

After about 15 minutes, and while continuously stirring, add the mentioned Jaggery, curry leaves, lime and salt to taste.

 

Stir for another 10 minutes and finally add the remaining coarse paste into the dish and continue frying for another 10 minutes while adding two more tablespoons of ghee to the dish.

 

Serve hot with Plain Rice or Neer Dosa! (Recipe Coming Soon)

​

TIPS

 Please note, if you have made the paste, this could also be prepared with other meats like tenderloin and prawns. If you would like to try this with a vegetarian dish, I would suggest you give a shot with Paneer. 

 

Another Tip:  Ready Paste - You can bottle the same and reuse as many times you want. Paste is required to be refrigerated. 

 

Iron woks are best for cooking this dish. The flavor from the woks gives an extra punch to the dish. If you do not have a wok, you could use a flat steel griddle or heating plate. 

​

Avoid non stick 😊. You need to get a char to the dish and this cannot be accomplished with a non-stick.

Ingredients:

 

2 eggplant, sliced vertically

1 dish of all purpose flour/ bread crumbs, for coating

1 Tsp of seasoning, I took oregano and thyme mixed with bread crumbs or Italian seasoning, for coating.

2 eggs, beaten  with salt and pepper, to taste

1 cup pecorino cheese, shredded

1 cup mozzarella, shredded

4 cups or 32 ounces tomato sauce   

salt, to taste

black pepper, to taste

olive oil

 

Method: 

  

Hold the eggplant vertically and cut off the rounded side on each side so that the eggplant can be cut into equal 1 inch vertical slices.

 

Fill the bottom of a frying pan with olive and heat over a medium/low flame.

Coat the sliced egg plant with seasoned flour/ bread crumbs dip in egg and coat them again in bread crumbs or flour. 

Place in frying pan until golden brown. Remove each slice and cover them with paper towel to remove excess oil. Repeat until all the slices are fried.  

 

Add a scoop of tomato sauce onto the bottom of a square baking pan and then add three to four slices of eggplant to cover the bottom of the dish. scoop some tomato sauce on top of each eggplant slice and then spread the sauce evenly over the layer. Next, sprinkle mozzarella and parmigiana cheese. Add the next layer of eggplant slices and continue these steps until you have the last three to four slices left.

 

Once you add the last layer of eggplant slices, only cover with a little bit of sauce and then bake in the oven at 400°F for 40 minutes. At 40 minutes, remove from the oven and sprinkle more mozzarella and parmigiana cheese on top and then place back into the oven for another 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted. 

​

Tips

I used 1 bottle of RAGU tomato sauce heated it on a pan added some chopped roasted bell pepper and couple of blanched tomatos, removed skin and seeds and chopped them to small pieces for freshness.

BRUNEI AND MALAYSIA COMFORT FOOD

 

What is Rendang? Can I make this at home?

 

If you have traveled through northern Borneo across Sabah and Sarawak, you will notice many tiny shops that sell two items, namely, a meat dry curry with plain Jasmine Rice.  When you sit down to eat, you are immediately transported to a land of flavors which combines Indian spices with the local flavors available in Malaysia like galangal and lemongrass . As for me, my toes start pointing upwards if the food agrees to my taste buds.  Wow!  What a dish.

 

Rendang has a Sweet-Spicy combination of flavors to the dish.  Rendang can be made in so many ways. For example, a typical Indonesian Rendang recipe adds Kicap Manis (Sweet Soy) as a substitute for Sugar to give it its rich darker color.  This is not available in India but you could use sugar instead.

 

Another interesting thing about Rendang is to keep it as dry as possible and store them.  Under Indian conditions, you could refrigerate for more than a month with no issues whatsoever.

Today, I will show you how to make an authentic Rendang with Beef and have all the ingredients made available to you in India!  For best results, only use Beef.  But if you need a strong second substitute, try Mutton.  It works as well!  (Consider 1 KG Buffalo meat for the recipe listed below) 

 

Serves 6

Step 1: Make the Paste

The paste ingredients consists of

 

• 4 Medium Sized Red Onions

• 7 Guntur and 4 Byagadi Chilies (These chilies are less spicy and gives color to your dish)

• 3 Lemongrass (This is now commonly found in India especially in Bangalore. If in Bangalore, please visit One MG or Namdharis and you will find them in the store)

• 7 garlic cloves

• One finger length Galangal piece

• One finger length Ginger piece

 

Recommendation: While the traditional method takes times and patience to manually grind, they taste a whole lot better than using a food processor.  But having said that, I use the food processor for parties and they come out great as well.

Main Ingredients

 

• 2 Kaffir Lime Leaves (You will be able to source them from 1 MG, Bangalore)

• One Can Coconut Milk

• One Lemongrass

• 2 Kaffir Lime Leaves

• One Tablespoon Tamarind juice (Make sure the juice is squeezed from the dry tamarind.  Use that juice only)

• 4 Cardamoms

• 3 Star Anise

• One Long Cinnamon Stick

• 2 Cloves

• Pinch of Salt (As per taste)

• Pinch of Sugar (As per taste)

• Pinch of White Pepper Powder (As per taste)

• Ground Coconut, fried and made into a paste

 

 

Step 2: Preparation of Dish

 

• Add oil in a wok and spread the oil out.

• Add the Star Anise, Cardamom, Cinnamon and cloves to the wok.  Fry till you get an aromatic flavor in the wok.

• Add the paste ingredients as mentioned above.  Fry the paste till you see an oil layer forming at the top

• Add Buffalo meat, Coconut Milk, Kaffir lime leaves, Lemongrass and White Pepper powder to the wok.  Mix thoroughly and leave it to simmer for about 15 minutes 

• Add ground coconut to the dish and and let it simmer for another 35 minutes.  (Note:- A lot of patience is required to mix the dish continuously and allow the water content to dry up.  Do not leave the stove at low heat without watching the same every 10 minutes or the bottom part of the dish may start to burn)

• Once all the water content dries up, dish out and serve with steamed rice.

​

Tips

As for Byadgi and Guntur Chilies, seeds would need to be removed (de-seeded) and soaked in warm water for 10 minutes OR till it becomes soft 

 

Quick Method to make the paste: Take all the paste items and add them into a wet grinder till they become a paste.

 

Traditional Method to make the paste:  Grind all items manually by hand in a stone grinder till they are close to being a paste. 

 

If you would like to learn how to make this, join me in a class where we will do it from scratch and you can see how it is done, step by step. 

 

AN AUTHENTIC MALABAR COASTAL DISH

​

Kadachakka, also known as breadfruit is typically from the Jackfruit family.  I remember having checked on this fruit inthe Kerala grocery store and was curious on how heavy and hearty this dish actually was.  Did realize after boiling the vegetable as to how meaty and flavorful the dish actually tasted.

 

On a mission, I decided to make an authentic coastal malabari kadachakka dish with parippu added to it.  (Parippu is also known as toor dhal that you can purchase from your local grocer).

 

Here is a fun fact.  This is a common dhal mix used to serve traditional Onam Sadhya.

 

Boil the Kadachakka

 

 

• 400gm Kadachkka

• 1 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder

• Boiling Water

• Salt to taste

 

 

Boil the Kadachaka along with turmeric and salt till the Kadachakka turns soft.  Dry the water and keep it aside

 

Keep these ingredients ready:

 

 

• 4 tablespoon coconut oil (Preferably a brand called Tengin)

• Boiled Kadachakka

• 4 Byadgi Chilli Seedless

• 15 sambar onions

• 1 cup boiled toor dhal

• 4 big green chilli (seedless)

• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds

• 1/2 teaspoon jeera seeds

• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder

• 2 teaspoon chilli powder

• 21/2 tablespoons cashew paste

• 2 cups of thick coconut milk

• 1/4 cup crushed garlic

• 1 cup chopped tomatoes

• 2 tablespoon ghee

• 8 curry leaves

• salt as required

 

 

Steps for making the dish:

 

 

• In a frying pan, add 4 tablespoons of coconut oil

• When hot, drop in the garlic till it gets slightly brown and the raw sell is not there anymore

• Now, add in the small onions and loosely cook till it gets soft

• Add in the chopped tomatoes

• Add the green chillies and cook for a minute

• Add  a pinch of salt

• Add the turmeric powder and mix well for 30 seconds

• Add chilli powder

• When cooked, you will notice a slight oil later floating at the top

• Add one cup Coconut milk and mix well.  It should cook till it gets slightly thick

• Once you see that, add the cashew-nut paste till it gets slightly thick

• Now add the Kadachaka to the masala and cook till the Kadachakka becomes soft and soggy

• Add the remaining cup of coconut milk and wait till the sauce gets real thick

• Now mix the dhal to the dish and cook till it gets really thick

• Add sate to taste

 

 

In a separate pan, on high heat

 

 

• Fry the mustard seeds till it crackles

• Add the Curry leaves till it gets crisp

• Add the Byadgi chillies and fry together

 

 

Pour this content over the Kadachakka Dish and add three tablespoons of ghee to complete the dish!

 

One of the best Kerala dishes I have tried so far

​

Tips

As for Byadgi and Guntur Chilies, seeds would need to be removed (de-seeded) and soaked in warm water for 10 minutes OR till it becomes soft 

 

Quick Method to make the paste: Take all the paste items and add them into a wet grinder till they become a paste.

 

Traditional Method to make the paste:  Grind all items manually by hand in a stone grinder till they are close to being a paste. 

 

If you would like to learn how to make this, join me in a class where we will do it from scratch and you can see how it is done, step by step. 

 

What Makes Indians love Thai food?

​

Indians for a very long time have considered Thai food as comfort food.  This is due to some commonality of spices that Northern Thai families used to use in their dishes like Green/Red curry.

 

Today, I would like to give you a recipe for a fusion dish that I had created which is a fusions of our very own regular spices ties up just two basic Thai elements into the dish that would wow you on first go.

 

Ingredients

 

 

• 300 grams buffalo undercut

• 5 Green Chilies without seed

• 15 cloves garlic, peeled and semi ground in a stone grinder

• 1/2 inch Ginger Piece

• 1.5 teaspoon Coriander Powder

• 1/2 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder

• 1 Teaspoon Chili Powder

• 1/2 Teaspoon Garam Masala

• 1 Teaspoon Eastern Chicken Masala

• 1/2 Teaspoon black pepper

• 1/2 Teaspoon Jeera powder

• 1 Cup Coconut milk

• 1 Tablespoon coarse peanut powder with skin

• 1 Tablespoon Peanut Butter

• 11/2 Tablespoon Butter

• Fish Sauce to taste

• 12 Basil Leaves

 

 

Buffalo undercut marinade and fry procedures

 

 

• Marinade the meat with light soy sauce (preferably lee kum kee or woh hup)

• Marinade for about 30 mins to an hour for better flavors

• Meat should be tender and cut thinly as slices

• Hammer the meat with a large spoon to make it spread out evenly

• Fry the meat slightly on both ends on a hot Tawa and keep it aside. (Add sunflower Oil to fry.  Not much oil is required for a Tawa Fry)

 

 

Steps for Preparation

 

 

• In a hot work, add butter and watch it boil for a couple of seconds.  Add the garlic and ginger and fry till it gets slightly brown. Follow this up with Coriander, Turmeric, Chili, Garam Masala, Chicken Masala, Back Pepper and Jeera Powders.  Cook for about a minute but keep stirring to ensure that the masala does not get burnt.  

• Add green chilies and fry for about 30 seconds

• Add the crushed peanuts and cook for about a minute

• Add half a cup of the coconut milk.  Leave half a cup aside and mix well

• Add Peanut Butter and mix well till you get a smooth paste

• Add the meat to the dish and cook for about 2 minutes

• Add the remaining coconut milk and cook for another 30 seconds

• Add Fish Sauce to taste.  (Keep adding small quantities sine it could get salty)

• Add Basil Leaves and stir fry quickly for 15 seconds and take it out from the work.

 

 

Serve hot with Basmati Rice

Bon Apetit!

Ingredients

 

4 bay leaves 

1K pounds small mussels, scrubbed and debearded. you can also use clamps, shrimps or calamari instead of mussels.   

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 

4 large garlic cloves

2 dried red chili chop finely

thinly sliced 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper 

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 

1 cups dry white wine (optional)

2 fist full Italian spaghetti or linguine 

Salt 

Freshly ground pepper

parmesan cheese grated 

 

Method 

Step 1

In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the spaghetti just until al dente. Drain the pasta well.

 

Step 2

Melt butter in a large, deep skillet. Add the thinly sliced garlic and cook over low heat just until golden brown, about 4 minutes. 

 

Add the crushed red pepper and cook for 1 minute longer. Combine the wine with the bay leaves and bring to a boil. 

 

Add the mussels, cover and cook over high heat, shaking the pan a few times, until the mussels open, about 5 minutes.  Add the crushed red pepper and cook for 1 minute longer.  

 

Add the lemon juice and simmer over moderately high heat until the sauce is reduced   

 

Add hot spaghetti to the mussel sauce and toss over low heat until the pasta is uniformly coated. Season with salt and pepper. 

 

Sprinkle some parmesan cheese and serve.  

​

Tips

  

To cook al dente (“to the tooth” in Italian) or chewy spaghetti

- Use enough water - More water helps to dilute the starch content so that the pasta does not turn sticky.

- Undercook the pasta by 3 minutes Undercooking the pasta by just a touch will ensure it is perfectly al dente

- Don’t add oil to the boiling water - prevent pasta from soaking up the tasty sauce

- Don’t rinse cooked pasta under cold water - washes away the pasta’s flavour and nutrients

 

- Scrub the mussles / clams well, or, if you're preparing mussels, scrape away their beards with a knife and scrub them.

Saucy mushrooms over cheese and fluffed eggs

When you get really hungry and tell yourself, "What do I need to get done to have a KETO diet?" Well, this is it.  A hearty breakfast that keeps you looking for more.

 

Ingredients:

 

 

• Half a packets of packaged button mushrooms

• Two tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese

• Two tablespoon of oyster sauce

• 10 Italian Basil Leaves

• 15 Cloves Garlic

• Two Eggs

• Three Green Chillies without seed for flavor (Cut in smaller bits)

• 2 tablespoons Butter

 

Fry the Garlic

In a flat Tawa, take contents of the garlic and green chili and fry it till it gets crunchy.  Add a little salt to taste and keep it aside.

 

Make the egg:

First step is to make the egg fluff.  Break two egg whites in a bowl and whisk (if you have an automatic one, its better) away.  Once it becomes frothy, add the remaining yolks to the bowl and mix.  Keep it aside

 

Mushroom Sauce

In a separate pan, add butter.  Once it heats up, add to the heated butter mushrooms and saute for a minute till the mushroom start getting softer. Add Oyster sauce and mix for about 20 seconds.  Now, add the grated cheese to the dish followed by basil leaves and toss the items around in the dish. Ensure that you do not cook for more than 30 seconds or else the sauce tends to dry up quickly.

 

Frying the egg:

Now in a flat Tawa, add the egg mix and cook it till the bottom layer starts getting brown and the top layer still looks wet.  Now slowly take one end of the egg and toss it over the other to get a semi circular shape to the egg.  Ensure that the egg does not dry up.

 

Presentation and Plating:

On plating, first place the egg on a plate.  Add the crunchy garlic and chiili over the egg and the mushroom sauce by the side

 

Voila, enjoy your eggshrooms!

A COORG SPECIALTY DISH

​

So, what is so special about Coorgi Pandi Curry.  It's probably similar to what you do as a marinade for a regular pork curry.  The key here is the sourness that you get from the Kothampulli which is a specialty in this dish.

 

In all my recipes, I try and make it a point to change a combination on what I feel would attribute to the great Coorgi Pandi curry and this experiment was once of those.  Instead of only adding dry powder, I have also introduced a combination of including Soaked Dry Byadgi Chilies ground coarsely.

 

Ingredients:

 

For the powder coating pork mix:
1 kg pork
5 Byadgi Chili; 5 Guntur Chilli with seeds removed

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

5 teaspoons coriander powder
4 teaspoons Coriander seeds
3 teaspoon peppercorns
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
5 Byadgi Chili Soaked in warm water and ground coarsely 
1 teaspoon methi seeds

Salt to taste

For the Final Mix in a Pressure Cooker:
5 Byadgi Chili Soaked in warm water and ground coarsely 

2 Big Onions
2, 1 Inch piece ginger
10 cloves garlic

10 Green Chilies without seeds 
1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves

For the final touch

Add the remaining Pork Oil
1 bunch coriander leaves
3 Kothampulli (Take three pieces and soka in hot water and wait till the liquid turns black)

 

Steps

 

• On a flat Tawa, dry fry the Guntur and Byadgi Chillies, turmeric powder, peppercorn seeds, cumin and the coriander seeds.

• Keep it aside for cooling for 5 to 10 minutes

• Move the contents to a mixer and grind to a powder

• Take the complete mix and marinate the pork  and leave it aside for one hour.

• Get the pressure cooker ready

• Mix the cut chilies, onions, ginger and garlic with the Pork and marinade in the pressure cooker at low heat

• Add four tea cups of water

• close the pressure cooker lid and pressure cook all the ingredients for up to three whistles

• Let the dish pressure cook with stove switched off.

• Open the Pressure cooker and transfer the items to a wok and cook till all the gravy has dried up and becomes thick and dark.

• In the process, add the coriander leaves as well as the kothampulli liquid and mix till you get a Spicy-Salty and Sour flavor to your dish

• Serve hot with White Basmati Rice

Tips

When you buy buy pork in Bangalore, always buy from the Karnataka Ham Shop.  The owner knows his cuts.

 

When you speak to the owner, ask him for Pork Butt mean and tell him that you require the meat for roasting.

 

Byadgi is a type of chili used a lot in konkana cooking.  It has a very nice aroma and gives a bright red color to your dish.

 

Do not over roast the chilies otherwise the dry roasted chili powder will smell burnt

Zucchini/courgette also known as summer squash cooked in light garlic sauce with bean sprouts.  

This easy to make crunchy veg accouterments can be served with rice or noodles.

 

  

Ingredients-

One Zucchini – medium / large size 

Red onion –small size – thin sliced 

Green onion – 2 sliced to small pieces 

Dry red chilli flakes – 1 tsp 

Garlic – 2 cloves cut small 

Bean sprouts – 10 gm

Soy sauce – 2 tsp

Sesame seeds – 2 tsp

Salt – 2 tbsp remove excess moisture from Zucchini

Sesame oil 2 tsp

Coconut oil – 1 tbsp (optional if you don’t have sesame oil).

 

 

Method –

Slice Zucchini thin into quarters, place zucchini in a sieve over a bowl or in a straining bowl add salt leave aside for 10-15 minutes.  

Wash zucchini in cold running water squeeze excess water with both your palms and place it on kitchen paper towel and pat dry. 

Place the dry Zucchini in a bowl, add cut garlic, red chilli flakes, sesame seeds, red onions soy sauce, and sesame or coconut and mix. 

Heat wok or pan on high, add the mix to the pan stir fry for 3 minutes, add bean sprouts Stir fry for 1 minute and switch off the flame garnish with green onion. 

 

Served with rice or noodles, or have it as low carb snack. 

 

Bonappetit 

​

Remove excess moisture from zucchini to get the crunchy texture.  

 

- Place zucchini in a sieve over a bowl or in a straining bowl add salt leave aside for 10-15 minutes

A fragrant chicken stew with spiced bone-in chicken cooked with tangy preserved lemons, sautéed onions, and savoury green olives. Finished with sprigs of fresh cilantro.

Tagine is often associated with Moroccan cuisine, where slow-cooked savoury stews made in a traditional unglazed clay pot with meat, poultry, or fish, are cooked with vegetables, aromatic spices, dried fruit, and nuts.

 

  

Ingredients :

1.5 kg chicken (preferable with bones cut into large pieces)

 

To Chicken Marinade:

Saffron water: A large pinch of saffron + quarter cup of warm water. We will use 2 table of saffron water. You can store excess in your refrigerator 

The pulp of 1 large preserved lemon, as I did not have access to preserved lemon, I used fresh lemon. 

( How to make preserved lemon https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_preserved_lemons/ )

bunch of fresh cilantro / parsley

2 large garlic cloves

2 teaspoons ground paprika

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon of pepper

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Ingredients for the tagine:

2 onions (grated)

2 tablespoon olive oil

Pinch of salt and ground turmeric

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Handful of green olives

The skin of 1 preserve lemon (cut into quarters)

 

Method :

Preparing the ingredients

1- Soak the saffron in some warm water for 10 minutes. 

2- Quarter the preserved lemon. Separate the pulp from the skin. Finely chop the pulp and reserve the skin for later. 

3- Finely chop the parsley and cilantro.

4- Grate the garlic cloves

Marinating the chicken

5- Now we are ready, let’s make the charmoula! In a large bowl combine: the chopped parsley and cilantro, chopped preserved lemon pulp, garlic, ground paprika, ginger, cumin, pepper, saffron water, and olive oil. Mix well. 

6- Place the chicken in the charmoula marinade and massage into the flesh. 

7- Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.

 

Setting the tagine:

8- Finely chop the leftover onion pieces.

9- Drizzle olive oil in the bottom of the tagine and cover with the onions.

10- Sprinkle a little bit of salt and turmeric over the onions.

11- Add the chicken over the onion bed, and cover with any leftover charmoula.

 

Cooking the tagine:

12- When cooking in a traditional tagine over the stove, use a heat diffuser to avoid burning and cracking the bottom of the tagine. It’s a must! 

13- On low-medium heat, place the diffuser first, then the tagine on top of it. Cover and cook for around 15-20 minutes until the onions and chicken release their juices and the liquids start simmering. 

14- Then, reduce the heat to low, cover the tagine, and cook until the chicken is tender. This can take 1 hour or more, depending on the chicken parts and quality of your tagine. Very important – make sure that the heat is low.

15- Add the lemon juice and green olives to the sauce. 

16- Top the chicken with the preserved lemon skins. 

17- Taste your sauce and add salt if necessary – we wait until the end to add salt, because the preserved lemons in the charmoula are already salty!

18- Do not cover the tagine, and continue cooking for another 15 minutes or so, until the liquids have evaporated and the sauce thickened. 

 

Serve with crusty or pita bread. 

 

Bon appetite! 

 

Cabbage, grated raw mango & coconut thora or stir fry is an accompaniment infused tropical flavours.

  

Ingredients- 

Raw cabbage – 500 gms

Raw mango – 150 gms

Red Onion – 1 medium size 

Garlic – 1 clove (optional)

Green Chilli – 3 or 4 nos

Turmeric – 1 tsp

Coconut – ½ cup 

Cumming seeds – 1 tsp

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Chana dal (raw split chickpeas) – 1 tbsp (optional)

Urad dal (skinned black gram) – 1 tbsp (optional)

Curry leaves – few 

Coconut oil – 2 tbsp

Cut/shred cabbage to small pieces, grate raw mango, cut red onion to thin slices, and cut Garlic to thin slices.     

 

Method –

1) Mix shredded cabbage, cut red onion, Garlic, turmeric, cumming seeds, curry leaves in a big bowl.     

2) Heat oil add mustard seeds to crackle, add  Chana dal and urad dal fry until golden brown. 

3) add cabbage mix and stir-fry for 3 minutes in high heat 

4) add grated raw mango and stir fry for 2 minutes in medium heat

 

 A brilliant accompaniment that is eaten with rice and curries. 

​

Tips

Tips – cabbage should not be overcooked or undercooked it should be crispy when done 

Ingredients 

 

Health benefits – 

Cruciferous vegetables chock-full of beneficial nutrients. 

Turmeric -  antioxidant activities  anti-inflammation, antimicrobial 

Mustard - vitamins A, B6 and C 

Cumin – Anti-diabetic, Anti-inflammatory  and Gastroprotective effect. 

coconut oil - high amount of natural saturated fat increase good cholesterol (HDL).