Chickpea/Kabuli Chana Fugad

We Mangaloreans are good at making fugad of every available legume or vegetable...:D That is one of the reasons why I feel I am unable to prepare any other vegetable curry..lol!! Ask my husband as to how I break into a sweat when we have shudh vegetarians over for lunch. Cause my basic knowledge of preparing veggies is reduced to fugad!!

Since our arrival to Germany and having gotten ourselves acquainted with Indian families who are vegetarians has encouraged me to take a bold step and whip up some veggie delights. I will definitely post some of the delicious vegetable gravies I have prepared, but for now, back to this dear chickpea fugad of mine.

Every family will have it's own unique way of preparing it. Here is mine.

Ingredients:

• A cup of chickpeas soaked overnight.
• 1 medium onion
• 1 large tomato
• 3 to 4 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• a sprig curry leaves
• 1 tsp bafath powder
• a handful of freshly grated coconut.
• 4 tbsp oil
• salt to taste

Method:

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight for 12 hours.
2. Drain them. Place them in a pressure cooker with enough water so that they are soaked well(roughly an inch above the peas). Add salt to taste and pressure cook till just about tender(They shouldn't be too soft). Since I use a german pressure cooker with no whistle, it takes me about roughly 15 to 20 minutes to cook.
3. Meanwhile, slice the onion fine. Chop the tomato. Crush the garlic with skin.
4. In a deep bottomed vessel or kadhai, heat the oil. When sufficiently hot add the mustard seeds. As they splutter drop in the curry leaves and crushed garlic. Fry for a few seconds.
5. Add the sliced onion, fry for 2 minutes. Drop in the chopped tomato and fry well till both onion and tomato blend together. 
6. Toss in the grated coconut and bafath powder. Mix well.
7. Now add the cooked channa, a little of the stock(depends on how dry you want it). Mix well so that the coconut and masala is coated well around the peas. Adjust salt.
8. Cook on a slow flame till peas are well cooked and water is absorbed. Do not allow it to burn.
9. Have it with hot rotis or rice and sambhar.

Note: Since I had very few strips of fresh coconut, I added a fistful of dessicated coconut.

Chicken Sukka

A big hello to all..:-)

I am back with the recipe of a favourite dish of ours. 

Having come to Germany with limited cargo, one of the things I chose to leave behind were my precious cookery books. Isidore Coelho's "The Chef" being one of them.The decision was made thanks to our week's pre trip 3 years ago.  I more or less came to the conclusion that sourcing basic Indian ingredients would be hard and was I right. The first few months were indeed a struggle to cook for a well seasoned chef like me. 

Over a period of time I learnt to substitute wherever possible or make do without some ingredients like fresh curry leaves. Last week when I spotted some in an asian store we regularly visit, I felt I had hit the jackpot. I grabbed whatever packs were left much to the amusement of my hubby. He couldn't figure out what would I do with so many leaves. I told him to leave that worry to me. Since then, I have been taking a leaf or two from the refrigerator just to take a whiff of the strong scent. I had forgotten what it smelt like. This week's meals have been tasting oh so different too. Thanks to the seasoning with this special ingredient.

Coming back to the chicken sukka, you may wonder how did I get the recipe? My sister has been kind enough to mail me some of my favourite recipes from the book. Thanks a ton Annie..:-)

Source: Isidore Coelho's THE CHEF

Ingredients:

• 1 tender chicken
• 1 cup scraped coconut
• 1 onion
• 2 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp pepper corns
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 8 long dry red chillies
• 3 short dry red chillies
• 1 tbsp raw rice
• salt to taste
• vinegar to taste

For the seasoning:

• 3 tbsp ghee
• 1 sprig curry leaves

Method:

• Wash the chicken, cut it into small sized pieces.
• Cook it in very little water and salt to taste till tender.
• Dry roast in a pan or thava the coriander, cumin seeds, peppercorns, dry red chillies. Roast the rice too till it is puffed up and brown. Powder all together with the turmeric powder.
• Slice the onion fine. In a deep bowl mix well the cut onion, powdered masala and scraped coconut together.
• In a  deep bottomed vessel heat the ghee. When hot drop in the coconut masala mixture along with the curry leaves and fry well for around 5 minutes till you get a nice aroma.
• Drop in the cooked chicken pieces(without the water) one by one, mixing carefully so that the masala coats the pieces well. Depending on how dry you want the dish, you can add the required amount of water. I added only 6 tbsps of the chicken broth as I wanted a dry but moist dish.
• Cook for 8 - 10 minutes till done.  Adjust salt and add vinegar to taste. Serve hot with rotis or brown bread with a side serving of salad.

Sprouted Beans in Coconut Gravy(Kirlayle Mooga Ambat)

Source: Sanjeev Kapoor's Konkan cookbook

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup whole green gram(sabut moong)
• 1 tsp oil
• 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds(methi dana)
• 4 whole red chillies(bedgi)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• one and a half cups scraped coconut
• 1 tbsp tamarind pulp
• salt to taste

For tempering:

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 small sized onion finely chopped 
• 1/4 tsp mustard seeds and a few curry leaves

Method:

1. Soak moong in half a cup of water for 3 to 4 hours. Drain and tie it up in a muslin cloth. Leave it in a warm, dark place for a day to sprout.
2. Boil moong sprouts in one and a half cups of water till it is cooked but still firm and crunchy. Set aside.
3. Heat oil in a frying pan. Add fenugreek seeds and sauté till light brown. Stir in whole red chillies and turmeric powder and remove from heat.
4. Add to it freshly scraped coconut and grind with tamarind pulp to a fine paste. Add little water while grinding.
5. Combine the ground paste, boiled sprouts, salt and half a cup of water and bring it to a boil. Add more water if the gravy is too thick. Keep aside.
6. For tempering, heat oil in a small pan. Add mustard seeds. When they crackle add curry leaves. Add chopped onion and sauté till the onion turns golden brown(I was in a hurry and so the onion   is not golden in the pic).
7. Pour the seasoning over the curry and cover immediately to trap the flavors.
8. Serve hot with rice.

Note: I like to add a potato cut into cubes to the above preparation. You can boil it along with the sprouts in step 2.

Chicken Ghee Roast

Spring has officially arrived and I cannot tell you how good it feels to cook in a bright sunny kitchen. It's strange how something as simple as sunshine can perk you up and get you charged. While the flowers are just about popping up here and there, we are still waiting for the riot of green and all the color.

I have been motivated sufficiently enough to whip up new dishes for the family. This particular recipe had been bookmarked a long time ago, but I definitely lacked the mojo to prepare it..:D By the time I was done with the photo shoot, I promptly sat down with a chicken piece, the yummylicious dry gravy and some brown bread to go along and it wasn't even lunch time!!!! So there, I hope I have tempted you enough to try this out.

Source: Ruchik Randhap

Ingredients:

• 1 kilogram chicken washed and cut into bite sized pieces
• 1/2 cup ghee/clarified butter
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves and a few curry leaves(I didn't have any)

For the marinade:

• juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 cup thick curds or yoghurt
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• salt to taste

For the masala:

• 15 Kashmiri chillies *
• 8 Bedgi chillies *
• 12 peppercorns
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp jeera or cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 12 garlic flakes with skin
• 1 marble sized tamarind soaked in 2 tbsps water

Method:

1. Marinade the chicken pieces with the ingredients mentioned For the Marinade and refrigerate anywhere between 1 to 4 hours.
2. Heat a tawa a or a non stick pan and dry roast the chillies, peppercorns, coriander, cumin and fenugreek seeds. Using a little water grind this along with the garlic and tamarind paste. 
3. Heat 1/4 cup of ghee in a wide thick bottomed pan, add the marinated chicken pieces and cook over an open flame till the pieces are almost cooked. Transfer the pieces to another vessel and the liquid/gravy to another bowl(I had only half a small bowl of gravy).
4. In the same pan add the remaining ghee and fry the masala for 5-6 minutes or till the oil leaves the sides of the pan.
5. Add the cooked chicken, the reserved gravy and salt to taste(If added in sufficient quantity before, then omit). Cook on a medium high flame till the masala dries up. Add the sugar and mix.
6. Garnish with curry and coriander leaves. Turn off the flame.
7. Serve hot with neer dosa, roti or plain hot rice with some tomato saar as accompaniment!

* To know about the chillies used, click on this link.

* Since I didn't have bedgi chillies, I ended up using the shorter variety. It did turn out spicy, but then I LOVE spice..:D

Pork Bafat

Ingredients:

• 1 kilogram pork cut into cubes
• 5 big onions(cubed)
• 2 inch ginger finely chopped
• 1 pod garlic peeled and halved
• 5-6 green chillies slit
• marble sized tamarind
• 4 cloves and cinnamon sticks each
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 tbsp bafat powder( can increase the quantity depending on tolerance to spice)
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• salt to taste

Method:

1. Wash the pork pieces, drain well and keep aside.
2. Soak tamarind in 3 tbsps water.
3. In a big vessel, mix the pieces of pork with the onion, ginger, garlic, green chillies, spices, bafat powder, tamarind water, and salt.
4. Cook on a low flame for an hour, stirring at repeated intervals.
5. When almost done add the vinegar and mix well.
6. Serve hot with sannas, appams or a bowl of hot rice.

Chicken/Kori Ghassi

Source: Konkan Cookbook by Sanjeev Kapoor

Ingredients:

For the marination:

• 1 kilo chicken, cleaned and cut into small pieces
• 1 and a half tbsps lemon juice
• 1 and a half tbsps ginger garlic paste
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• Salt to taste

To grind:

• 1 and a half cups scraped coconut(I used a cup of desiccated coconut)
• 1 and a half tbsps coriander seeds
• 15 peppercorns
• 1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds(methi)
• 1 and a half tsps cumin seeds
• 10 whole bedgi red chillies deseeded(I do not deseed)
• 3 tbsps oil
• 3 medium sized onions finely chopped(to use half of this for grinding)

To season:

• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 10 curry leaves(I didn't have any)
• 8 garlic cloves finely chopped

For the gravy:

• 1 and a half tbsps tamarind pulp
• 3/4 cup coconut milk

Method:

1. Marinate chicken with the marinade ingredients for an hour.
2. Dry roast scraped coconut to a light brown color. Lightly sauté coriander, fenugreek, cumin seeds, peppercorns, and whole red chillies in 2 teaspoons of oil. Grind these along with roasted scraped coconut and half the chopped onions to a fine paste using a little water if required.
3. Heat remaining oil in a vessel. Add mustard seeds and curry leaves. When the seeds begin to crackle, add chopped garlic and onion and sauté for 5 minutes on low heat.
4. Add ground masala and sauté for 5 minutes till a nice aroma is given out.
5. Add marinated chicken. Stir well and add one cup of water. Adjust salt. Cover and cook till chicken is well cooked. 
6. Add tamarind pulp and stir well. Add coconut milk and remove from heat just when it comes to a boil.
7. Serve hot with Mangalore roti or with Deutsch brötchen(bun) as I have done...:)

Spicy Chicken Stew/ Jeeren Meeren

Hi guys!! I hope everybody's Sunday is turning out just as they want it to be. This side, it is lazy and nice..:) We were on our weekend outing yesterday so today was a quiet day at home. 

        Over to what was on our lunch menu this afternoon. Every Sunday it is the hen that is cooked in our home. Occasionally the pig too has an entry to make. Depends on the mood, mine.... not the pig's...:) The spicy chicken stew I made today is one of the family's favorite. It does taste a lot like the jeere meere version of Mangalore, though it's a blend of all the Indian spices without coconut. It is an excellent accompaniment with neer dosa, appam, sanna or pulao.

Ingredients:
To grind:

• 3 medium sized onions quartered.
• 2 inch piece ginger chopped
• 2 big cloves garlic
• 1 tomato chopped
• 3 green chillies
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp pepper corns
• 3 inch cinnamon stick
• 5 cloves
• 4 long red chillies
• 1/2 tsp mustard
• marble sized tamarind

1 kilo chicken cut into small pieces

1 small onion finely sliced.

1 tbsp ghee

1 tsp vinegar(optional)

salt to taste.

Method:

1. Wash chicken and keep aside.
2. In a mixer grind all the ingredients to a fine paste.
3. In a khadai, heat the ghee. Fry sliced onion till golden brown.
4. Add the ground masala and fry well till it gives out an aroma(about 10 minutes). Be careful not to burn.
5. Drop in the chicken pieces and mix well till the masala coats all the pieces. Add salt.
6. Add in a cup of water( you can rinse the masala from the sides of the mixer with a cup of water and add this)
7. Depending on your taste you can add more water if you would like a thinner form of gravy.
8. Cook till the chicken is soft and tender.
9. If you would like an extra tinge of sourness you can add the extra teaspoon of vinegar. 
10. Serve hot with neer dosa, appam, sanna or pulao.

(This gravy does turn out spicy. To suit your palette you can reduce the amount of green chillies and pepper)