Poori Bhaji (Maami's Corner)

Nowadays everyone is conscious of what they eat, so much so pooris & other fried delicacies have disappeared from their daily menu.

Keeping the oil at the right temperature & ensuring that there’s minimum moisture in the material to be fried, you can successfully deep fry anything without making it soggy.

INGREDIENTS:

Whole wheat flour/atta: 1 cup (measured in a 200 ml cup)

Refined flour/maida: 1 cup

Semolina/rava: 1/2cup

Oil: to deep fry

Salt to taste

Water to knead

METHOD:

Mix atta, maida & rava together in a bowl.

Dissolve salt in water & knead the dough.

The dough has to be stiff.

Rest it for a while before rolling into small pooris.

Heat oil, fry pooris one at a time. Press the centre of the poori with a spoon, it will puff up, turn over & brown the other side too.

Drain on absorbent paper & serve with potato bhaji.

This quantity gives about 25 pooris.

 

 For the bhaji:

Potato: 200 g

Onion: 2 chopped

Green chilli: 2 chopped

Ginger: 1 tsp grated

Curry leaves: a few

Turmeric powder: 1/4tsp

Mustard seeds: ½ tsp

Black gram dal/urad dal: 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Oil: 1 tbsp

Wash potatoes well & pressure cook whole with skin for 7 minutes.

Cool, skin & mash them.

Heat oil in a pan, crackle mustard seeds, then add urad dal, when brown, add chopped onions, green chilli, ginger, curry leaves & turmeric powder.

Sauté well & add mashed potatoes & a cup of water.

Bring it to boil, add salt.

Serve with hot pooris.

If you like the consistency thick, do not pour water.

Murg Masala/ Chicken Masala (Party Menu)

This is how it looks initially.

 

INGREDIENTS:

Broiler chicken: 1

Onions: 6 sliced

Tomato: 6 chopped fine

Ginger-garlic paste: 1 tbsp

Red chilli powder: 1 tbsp

Cumin seeds: 2 tsps

Coriander powder: 1 tsp

Turmeric powder: 1/2tsp

Garam masala powder: 1 tsp

Lime juice: 1 tbsp

 Coriander leaves: 1 cup

Oil: 4 tbsps + for frying onions

Salt to taste

METHOD:

Clean chicken & cut into medium sized pieces.

Fry sliced onions brown, remove from oil & grind with ginger-garlic paste, chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, cumin seeds, lime juice & salt.

Marinate chicken with this paste for a minimum of 6 hours (keep in the refrigerator.)

Heat 4 tbsps oil in a pan, add marinated chicken & stir till it changes colour, for about 15 minutes.

Now, add chopped tomatoes. Keep stirring occasionally till it browns. (Do not cover & cook).

Sprinkle coriander leaves. Sauté till oil starts oozing from the sides of the pan.

Spicy & tangy chicken ready!

This takes about 45 minutes to cook on slow fire.

The end product!

     

"Varutharacha Kozhi" Curry (Traditional Fare)

INGREDIENTS:
Chicken: 500 g cut into bite-size pieces

Coconut: ½ grated

Coriander seeds: 1 tbsp

Dry red chilli: 6

Whole black pepper: 2 tsps

Fennel: 1 tsp

Cardamom: 2

Cloves: 4

Cinnamon: 1”piece

Shallots: 1 cup sliced

Garlic: 10 pods

Ginger: 1’piece

Turmeric powder: 1/2tsp

Curry leaves

Coconut oil: 2 tbsp

Salt to taste

METHOD:

To make the masala paste, first, dry roast coconut, coriander seeds, pepper, chilli, cardamom, cloves, fennel, cinnamon, a few curry leaves, ginger, garlic & shallots to a deep brown colour. Cool & grind without water.(This will give the paste a rich colour.)

In a kadai, pour oil, add chicken, stir till it changes colour.

Add turmeric powder, a cup of hot water.

Cover & cook till 3/4^th done.

Now, put in the ground paste & add water according to the consistency you require.

Add salt & a few curry leaves, simmer on low flame till oil clears on top.

Serve with rice, idiappam or tapioca.

I prefer to use whole coriander & spices for the flavour they impart to the dish, also, you don’t have to worry about adulteration.

Raw jackfruit aviyal/chakka aviyal (Maami's corner)

Summer time in India means plenty of jackfruit & mangoes.  

Many a times when travelling in Kerala, we have seen jackfruits rotting away. Now, staying in Pune, we yearn for this fruit, for the many forms it can take in Kerala’s traditional cusine, as ERISSERY, AVIYAL, PUZHUKKU or CHIPS. 

Yes, it is available in the many “Kerala stores”  that continue to mushroom all over Pune & Mumbai, even though it is a bit pricey at Rs.50 per Kg. For a 10 kg fruit that should be....! Not bad for something that, not so long ago used to be rotting away with no takers!!  

  

 INGREDIENTS:    

Raw jackfruit: 250 g

Jackfruit seeds: 10 cut lengthwise

Drumstick: 2 cut into 2” pieces

Raw mango: 1 peeled & sliced

Coconut grating: ½ cup

Green chilli: 2

Red chilli powder: ½ tsp

Turmeric powder: ¼ tsp

Cumin seeds: ¼ tsp

Shallots: 3

Curry leaves: a few

Coconut oil: 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

METHOD:

Cook jackfruit, drumstick, jackfruit seeds & raw mango with turmeric powder, chilli powder & ½ a cup of water.

In the meantime, grind coconut, green chilli, shallots & cumin. ( adding a few fresh curry leaves will give a nice aroma.)

Add ground masala to the cooked vegetables & salt too.

Last, pour coconut oil & add a curry leaves.

Keep covered for sometime before serving.

"Kappa- Kallu shop" style (Traditional Fare)

Kappa/tapioca/cassava is something we Keralites enjoy, be it as chips, curry or just boiled.

“ Kappa Puzhukku”/tapioca curry is made with or without coconut. Here’s the recipe of the “kallu shop” style spicy Kappa Puzhukku to be served with a red fish curry!

INGREDIENTS:

Tapioca: 1 kg

Dry red chilli: 20 or KANDARI: 10

Cumin seeds/jeera: 1 tsp

Turmeric powder: 1/2tsp

Garlic: 5 pods

Shallots: 5 

Curry leaves: a few 

Coconut oil: 2 tbsps

METHOD:

Peel the skin & cut tapioca into small pieces. Boil 2 litres of water & add the tapioca, turmeric powder & salt.

Drain when done.

Grind dry chilli, garlic, cumin & shallots.

Make a hole in the centre of the cooked tapioca & put the ground masala into it & cover it.

Let it steam well. Mash it with a spoon.

Pour coconut oil & sprinkle curry leaves.

Mix it up well before serving.

This is spicy as it is, better still, if you serve with a fiery fish curry. 

That is the speciality of the “Kallu shop” style Kappa Puzhukku!