Chicken Ghee Roast
A very famous South Indian flavourful, spicy chicken dish which can be enjoyed with appams, neer dosa or steaming hot white rice. It has its origin from Kundapur, a small town in Mangalore, Karntaka. This has indeed become popular all over India, best one I had to date in Mumbai was the mushroom ghee roast with Malabar Paratha at Bombay Vintage. There goes the recipe.....
Ingredients
1/2 kg boneless chicken cleaned and chopped into bite sized pieces, marinated overnight in 1 tablespoon of yogurt, a small spoon of turmeric powder, 1/2 a lime squeezed, 1 tspn chilli powder, salt as per taste.
For making the paste
6 red chillies roasted and kept first, keep aside
1 medium sized ball of soaked tamarind
10 cloves of garlic
1 tspn of coriander seeds
1 tspn of cumin seeds
1 tspn of black pepper corn
1/4 tspn of fenugreek seeds
Dry roast all the above except the chillies since they are already done and the tamarind and garlic, Now take a mixi jar add the tamarind and the garlic cloves, all the roasted spices, add little water and make a smooth paste.
Curry leaves for garnishing
3 table spoons of ghee
Method
In a pan take the ghee, heat it and add the chicken, let it saute for a while on medium flame, add the ground paste and the salt, mix well and cook till the chicken is done and the paste leaves the sides of the pan. Garnish with fresh curry leaves. You can make it also with mushrooms or paneer. Serve hot with neer dosa, hot rice or malabar paratha. Below is the picture of the paneer ghee roast.
Finger Millet/Ragi/Nachni Idli
Idli, sambar and chutney is one of the most loved South Indian dishes. Tangy tasty spicy sambar and the nutty chutney goes well with steaming hot, melt in the mouth soft idlis. Udupi, a small town in Karnataka, happens to be where this originates from. I have made a little change in the idli batter which is making it more tasty, healthy and satiating. Here goes the recipe...
Ingredients
1 cup of split black gram lentil and a handful of beaten rice (the thick variety) soaked for about 5/6 hours
1 cup of finger millet soaked for 5/6 hours
3 cups of idli rava, this makes the idlis a little grainy and airy which is why I prefer this to rice
Method
Once soaked grind the lentil and the beaten rice with little water to a thick paste and transfer to a bowl, take a large bowl so there is place for the batter to rise,, grind the millet too with very little water and add to the bowl, in another bowl take the idli rava, wash and drain the water and keep both the bowls covered for fermenting overnight.
Next morning mix the batter with the idli rava, adjust the water, add a small spoon of edible soda, salt as per taste and steam the idlis in the idli maker. While making I sprinkle little black pepper powder on the idlis, this gives it a nice aroma and taste. Relish the idlis with coconut chutney and sambar loaded with vegetables.
Mumbai Street Food Pav Bhaji
Pav is the bread you can see in the picture and Bhaji is the vegetable eaten with it. The mix of potatoes, cauliflower, green peppers, green peas and some aromatics makes this, one of the quintessential dishes for anyone living in Mumbai. Best one till date for me is and always will be, is the Sardar Pav Bhaji in Town at Tardeo, with loads of butter and loads of spice. Next best one could easily be the one we have at Classic Fast Food, with cheese at Matunga. Here goes the way i make it....
Ingredients
A
3 potatoes peeled
1 whole cauliflower, made into big florets
1 cup of green peas
Pressure cook all these to 2 whistles, mash roughly by hand and keep ready
B
1 green bell pepper chopped fine
3 onions finely chopped
3 tomatoes pureed
10 cloves of garlic pureed with 1 small tomato
2 tspns of chilli powder
2 tspns of Badshah pav bhaji masala
Salt to taste
Amul butter for making the vegetable and to smear on the pavs
To use while serving
Some lime wedges, onion finely chopped, coriander for garnishing
Method
In a pan take 3 table spoons of Amul butter, add the chopped onion from A, add the bell pepper and saute well, add the garlic tomato puree, saute well, now goes the tomato puree to be sauteed till it gets well cooked. Now add the salt, masala and the chilli powder. Mix well, add the mashed vegetables. Cook well and add water if required. Some people like it a bit flowy with the veggies totally mashed. We like a bite of the vegetables. Once the bhaji is well cooked, garnish with onions, coriander and a squeeze of lime, serve it with the buttered pavs, made crisp in a pan, I like cheese so the extra topping you can see in my picture!!
Potato And Lima Beans
Inspired by a post in Ghar Ka Khana, uploaded by Aditi. S. Ray, this vegetable is made adding five varieties of vegetables. The name is Nariyal Teekha Panchmel. I liked it so much that I did not want to wait to bring all five vegetables!! Made it with only potatoes and the beans. Thanks to dear Aditi for adding a new dish to my kitchen. Enjoyed eating it with mix flour flat bread. Here is the way I made it, following the recipe by Aditi).
Ingredients
3 large potatoes peeled, chopped into medium sized cubes
200 gms lima beans deveined, cut into long pieces
3 green chillies slit
1 tspn of chilli powder
1/2 tspn of turmeric powder
Salt to taste
1 cup scraped or roughly ground coconut
Method
In a pan take some mustard oil, add the potatoes and beans, when almost done add chilli powder, salt, turmeric powder, coconut, stir well till the coconut gets well cooked, add little water cover and cook for a bit, add freshly chopped coriander(traditionally turmeric leaves are roughly torn and added in the recipe) and cook for a while. Lastly before removing it from the fire add a teaspoon of raw mustard oil. This is normally eaten with steaming hot rice. I made rotis and it tasted great.
Roasted Aubergine Dip
The roasted aubergine dip is made of the big seedless variety of aubergines. tastes best roasted on the gas. can be made in the Otg too. Mine is inspired by the middle eastern dip which is nutty and creamy with the tahini, they eat this with their breads. I made finger millet flat bread to go with mine. It is called bhakri in Marathi, the aubergine dish is called bhareet. My recipe is as below....
Ingredients
2 aubergines roasted on the gas with a little oil smeared on them
2 onions finely chopped
6 garlic cloves crushed
1 tomato chopped fine
1/2 cup dry roasted sesame powder
1 tspn of chilli powder
Juice of half a lime
Fresh coriander for garnishing
Method
First step would be to remove the pulp of the roasted aubergines after they cool down in bowl and roughly mash it,. In a pan take some olive oil and add the chopped onion. Saute till well done, now add the garlic, stir for a while. Add the tomatoes, cook till done, add the mashed aubergine, lime juice, cook for a bit, add salt, chilli powder, the sesame powder and mix well, add some more olive oil, mix well and transfer to a serving bowl. Serve with bhakri or pita bread.If you are fond of olive oil, you can drizzle more on top while serving.
Pithla With A Little Twist
Pithla is a curry made of chick pea flour and some spices, which is typically from Maharashtra / North Karnataka dish. A very easy quick fix comfort dish which goes well with rice and bhakri. Made with chick pea flour (besan). Made in different ways, semi solid, with lumps of the chick pea flour or a little flowy which can be eaten with rice in place of dal, with a dash of fresh clarified butter.
Ingredients
2 cups of chick pea flour
Water as required
2 cups of cleaned chopped spinach
1 tspn of ginger powder
1 tspn of garlic crushed
3 green chillies chopped
Juice of half a lime
Salt to taste
Coriander for garnishing
Method
In a pan take some oil, add mustard seeds, let them splutter then add asafoetida and turmeric powder. Now add the chillies, garlic paste, ginger powder and the chopped spinach. Stir well, once the spinach cooks add 3 cups of water, salt, the lime juice and let the water get a boil, now simmer the flame and add the chick pea flour little by little, stir as you add, once you are done with adding the flour, mix well and let it cook. It may form little lumps of flour but no worries this tastes yum. I personally like it this way. (You can also mix the chick pea flour in a bit of water and mix till there are no lumps and then add it to the boiling water if you want a smooth curry). While stirring you can put the flame off when you get the desired consistency. Transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with chopped coriander, serve hot with clarified butter / ghee.
