ulli vada / onion pakoda/ onion bhaji/ ulli pakkuvada

one of my favorite teatime snacks. Easy to make, easy to eat. This time, used my new Borner mandoline to slice the onions . 

Nazrani armadillo eggs

So this is my first "fusion" recipe on this blog, even though this is not the first in my kitchen. My family has had to be at the receiving end of such experiments, many times. The experiments range from pretty simple and obvious to the not-so-common, and so far, my family, let's say, are still among the living. :)

Anyway. the bigger item in the picture above is the armadillo egg. The smaller one is regular jalapeno poppers --a variety of  recipes for which are on the internet. I will post  links to some at the end of this. We are focusing on the armadillo eggs here. On Guy Fieri's Triple D, -- ya, again -- I saw this Texas eatery serving huge armadillo eggs which had brisket meat as an ingredient. They used pickled jalapenos, and did not use any cheese, if I remember right. Since we like things hot, fresh jalapenos is the way to go. In a recipe for poppers, Isaw sausage meat being used to cover up the jalapenos, with no breading, and they were baked. That sounded great too, btw. will post links. oh, there are a million versions out there -- grilled, bacon -wrapped, all sorts of add ons in the fillings..... . this is my version.

Here's the recipe for my Maltex or Nazrani armadillo egg:

I used beef for stir fry. You can get away with ground beef.

Ingredients:

6 jalapenos, fresh
4 tbsp cream cheese
about a cup grated cheddar


1/2 lb beef -- stew meat, ground beef, stir fry meat -- doesn't matter
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp Kerala meat masala ( I use my mother's mix - garam masala is ok in a pinch, but there is a difference in taste -- if using "curry powder", it will be a completely different thing)
1/2 tsp red chili powder ( reduce to your preference)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper, ground
1/2 cup boiled potatoes (optional) I had some handy, so I used it.
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup bread crumbs
salt

1 egg, beaten
oil to fry


Prepare the meat -- cut into pieces if in strips, clean. In a pot that goes on the stovetop, mix the beef with the cumin, meat masala, chili powder, garlic powder, black pepper, salt, . Pour enough water to cover the top of the meat. Now bring it to a boil. Lower heat and cover and cook. The meat should be tender when done.

While the meat is cooking, you can cook the potato, either in the microwave, or on the stove, if using potato.
Otherwise, start on the jalapenos. Cut each into half, lengthwise. Remove all the seeds. Be careful not to handle it too intimately or too rakishly-- will get burned. :)
Anyway, now fill each pepper cavity with cream cheese. Put some cheddar on top. Press lightly so that they all hang in there together. At this point, you can dredge these peppers in buttermilk, flour, buttermilk, bread crumbs, in that order. And you'll get jalapeno poppers. well, you could've  added some paprika, cumin etc, even onion, to the cream cheese before , But we are not talking of poppers here, are we?

So while that meat is getting cooked,  we can get ready the assembly line. The bowls of all purpose flour, buttermilk, breadcrumbs in a row.

Once the meat is cooked, put that in the food processor and process. If you have the potatoes, you may add it now and process some more.

Otherwise, wait for it to cool a little, add 2 tbsps of the beaten egg and mix well. You may add the remaining egg to the bowl of buttermilk.
The next steps are a bit messy. But they are worth it.

Cover the filled jalapeno half with the meat mixture. Carefully dredge in the flour.
Now into the buttermilk. Let it rest for a while. You can deal with the rest of the peppers at this time.
Now roll the buttermilk-dipped peppers in bread crumbs. The first two steps can be repeated once more before the bread crumb step. That will make everything hold together better. The second method, where we do it twice is better, but I get lazy sometimes.

Now deep fry in oil.
 Serve warm.

recipes i would try:

for armadillo eggs: http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2011/02/armadillo-eggs-recipe-jalapeno.html



for jalapeno poppers: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/best-ever-jalapeno-poppers/

off the shelf of a naadan chaayakkada or country teashop

The above scene is a favorite of mine. I love the song, the ambience, the setting. The easy-going, slow moving tempo of country life back then, back home. The decor is more or less the same for every teashop. A roof thatched with woven coconut palm fronds, floor made of packed clay, wooden-latticed windows, a few wooden benches and desks, posters of movies and other meetings on the walls, whole bunches of plantain hanging right at the front, with the shop owner right there behind his desk  flaunting his tea making magic, greeting each customer as a long lost friend. There will be a cabinet with its glass doors displaying the snacks,  inside -- sweet and spicy and salty ones. Kerala's teashops -- "chaayakkada" - as they are known, once dotted every corner of the land. They were a place where locals gathered to read newspapers, to talk of the current political issues, and pass on the latest gossip in the village too, all the while imbibing hot tea and snacks. It is from places like these, that the local comrades get sustenance after a hard day's "party" work. "Parippuvada" and a small banana and tea is shared among the political activists and passivists. Tea is served in special glasses, snacks and meals in stainless steel dishes or banana leaf.

All in all, teashops are meeting places filled with camaraderie, and brotherhood.  Much like the pub in an English village without the intoxication. For that we have our toddy shops. The sad part of all this is that usually not many women frequent these establishments in the class and gender-conscious Kerala.

The most common teashop snack is the "parippuvada" -- a lentil patty deep fried in oil. It's cousin "uzhunnuvada" also puts in an ppearance most of the time. "Puttu" and "kadala" is another pair that we find there. Jilebis, halwas and and laddus sometimes grace the shelves., along with boiled eggs, and banana fry -banana fritters- called "pazham pori". Many of these shops provide lunches too, with rice, rasam, sambar, papadams, pickles, a couple of vegetable dishes, such as erissery or aviyal,  mango-coconut chammanthi/relish, and fried and stewed fish, as the main attractions.

chaaya

A peep into chaayakkada menu:

Tea
Banana
banana fry/fritters
Parippuvada
Uzhunnuvada
Papadavada
Bonda  -- (with and without potatoes)
bajji -- different kinds -- chili, plantain, onion etc
dosa
Idli
upma
Idiappam/noolappam
neyyappam
unniappam
kappa
puttu/kadala
eggs, boiled or bull's eye

Lunch:
Rice
sambar
erissery
aviyal
rasam
morukari
meen/fish fry and stewed
pickles/achaar
relish/chammanthi/chutney
egg curry
porotta
egg masala
biryani (in some tea shops)

Tea:

most of the breakfast items


Depending on the prosperity and resources of the owner ,and depending on the location, the items vary in each teashop, but parippuvada and puttukadala are some of the classic chaayakkada staples.




parippuvada

Recipe:

Parippu/toor dal - 1 cup
kadalaparippu/chana dal - 1/4 cup (optional)
dried red chili pepper -5
water for soaking lentils
onion, chopped - 1/2 cup
green chili, chopped -2 or 3
ginger, chopped - a small piece
asafoetida, powdered. - 1/4 tsp
curry leaves
salt
oil

Wash and soak the lentils together, along with the dried red chilies in water for 3 hours at the most. Drain. Set aside a tablespoon of the lentils.
Grind  the rest of the soaked lentils and chili coarsely in the food processor.
Mix all the ingredients except oil.
Make the patties. Deep fry in oil.
Serve hot with a cup of hot tea.

puttu kadala

puttu



Recipe for puttu

Puttu flour - 2 cups (rice flour)
salt
water -- approx. 1 cup
grated coconut (with a little sugar if desired - if fresh coconut is not available, use sweetened coconut)

Mix flour and salt with water, till the dough is moist and crumbly, kind of like the dough for a pate brisee/short-crust pastry. Add the water gradually little by little. If you add too much, puttu will be hard spheres of dough.
If you add too little, you'll end up with dry as dust puttu. The right consistency of the mixture is important. One trick is to try holding a handful in your fist and press it firmly -- it should hold its shape, almost.
Now put a little bit of the grated coconut into the puttumaker to cover the little sieve-plate in there. Now put in a three heaped tablespoons full of puttu mixture. Do this alternating puttu mixture and coconut till you get to the top, ending with coconut. Steam for 5-6 minutes. Puttu can be made in different molds, even in coconut shells, when it is called chirattaputtu.

chirattaputtu

Serve with kadala and banana. Eggs sunny side up goes well with puttu, which is a very simple breakfast dish.




puttumaker

kadalakkari

Recipe for kadalakkari

There are many versions of  both the dry and curried kadala, as there are kitchens in Kerala. This is one of my favorites.

kadala (black chick pea) -1 cup
coconut, grated - 2-3 tbsp
dried red chili  pepper - 3
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
red chili powder - 11/2 tsp
coriander powder - 2 tsp
onion, sliced - 1 cup
green chili pepper - 2
mustard seeds - 1 tsp
ginger, a small piece sliced
garlic, 3-4 cloves crushed
tomato, chopped - 1/2 cup
curry leaves
Oil - 3 tbsp

Soak the kadala or chickpeas overnight. Cook till soft.

Heat a tablespoon of oil. Fry the grated coconut and dried red chili in the oil, for a few minutes, till coconut turns light brown and the aroma fills the room.(If using whole spices, those may be aadded to this now -- in this recipe, we are using powdered spices).Now grind this to a paste. You may add a tablespoon of the cooked chickpea to it when grinding.

Heat the rest of the oil in a wok. Add the mustard seed to this. Once they are done spluttering, add the curry leaves, onion, ginger and garlic. Saute till lightly browned. Add the spice powders now. Stir well for a minute. Now add the tomato and stir some more. When it is cooked, add the ground coconut mixture. Stir away for a few minutes. Now add chickpeas along with some water. Bring to a boil. Add enough salt. Let it simmer till it reaches the right consistency.



just a few more pics of teashop fare:




kaapapuzhukku, meenkoottaan,kondaattam, unakkameen,kattanchaaya
trans., mildly spicy mashed tapioca/yucca with salted fish sprinkles on top, fried yogurt chili peppers on the side, hot fish stew and black tea





pazhampori/banana fry



noolappam,mutta masala - rice noodles, egg masala

porotta
malabar porotta with the above egg masala is a delicious fixture  in the Malabar area teashops



idli

rice and a few sides --yellow  erissery with yellow split pea and squash, fish in coconut milk, zucchini mezhukkupuratti/stirfry, fried fish

brown erissery with dried red beans and pumpkin or squash

sambar

upma, payarukari/cream ofwheat porridge/drid red beans soup

malabar chicken biryani

dosa

Chicken vol-au-vents



chicken vol-au-vents

                                                                

 2 packets of puff pastry sheets or shells or vol-au-vent cases

4 garlic cloves, crushed

2 stems of leek, chopped

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped

1 tsp tarragon

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tbsp butter

1/2 lb. chicken thigh fillets, diced

2 tbsp white wine

2 tbsp cream

1 tbsp all purpose flour

1/2 cup shredded cheese ( optional)

Saute garlic, leeks, onions and mushrooms  in butter. Add the flour. Cook for 3 minutes. Add seasonings. Reduce heat. Add chicken. Cook for 5 minutes or more till chicken is cooked. Add wine, then cream. Stir till thickened. Spoon into vol-au-vent cases. Heat in oven for 5 minutes at 350 F.

If using puff pastry sheets, make cases, prior to filling. I couldn't get pre-made shells here, and made the cases from Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheets. Use 2 sheets together. Place one on top of the other. Press firmly. Cut 2" rounds from sheets. Score a smaller round inside each 2" circle, leaving 1/4" border-- do not cut all the way through. Bake them for 10 minutes at 425 F. Remove the soft center carefully using a fork, or just push it in. Cool.

PS: one quick and easy way to make the filling -- to get some readymade roast or fried chicken pieces from the store ;)

Sausage rolls



sausage rolls

   


 2 packets puff pastry sheets.
16 oz sausage meat
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup onion, chopped
sage
parsley

Season meat with herbs, spices. Cut puff pastry into square sections - 4" .Place filling in each. Roll up and seal the edges with beaten egg. Place on greased baking sheet seamside down. Brush with eggwash. Cut diagonal slits on top.

350 F oven. Bake for 35 minutes.

Custard tart



custard tart






Recipe for 9" tart
Ingredients
9 0z shortcrust pastry ( I used Pillsbury pie crust)
2 whole eggs + 2 egg yolks
1 pint half and half
2 oz unrefined caster sugar
1 vanilla pod/ half teaspoon vanilla
1/2 tsp nutmeg, grated or cinnamon

375° F oven. Greased pan. Line with prepared crust. Brush with eggwhite. Bake till golden, for 10 minutes.
Cool. Reduce temperature to 325° F.
Combine milk and cream in saucepan. Medium heat. Bring to simmer. Add vanilla.
Whisk eggs+ yolks + sugar. Add the milk mixture to this, slowly, stirring constantly.
Pour custard into pastry case/pie crust. Sprinkle top with nutmeg or cinnamon. ( I used both)
Bake for 30 - 45 minutes. Cool.

PS: These are usually made in mini tartlet tins, as individual pieces. Will post that once I make it.

Betty Neels English picnic - pasty

here's the deal with Neels

I enjoy reading a Betty Neels romance. There is a certain "purity" to her novels. They are no thrillers, there isn't any sex in them. The plots and characters are fairly repetitive. Still,  they please me. The sheer predictability make them home-like, or like a warm fireplace on a snowy night. I read them as a young girl in India, and now, as a middle-aged housewife in the US.

Back then, I was fascinated by the exotic ( for me)  locales, Amsterdam, London, Vienna etc. I walked along the English countryside, gazed at the canals and the old houses in Amsterdam, ate cakes at Sacher in Vienna, along with the heroine. I visited in my mind's eye, the English cottages, their gardens, the  black and white floors of a Dutch house, the museums and shops in the cities.
And of course, love! :)
There was a period when I forgot about these characters. But now they are back. Like a hot cup of tea, or a chilled glass of wine, these books relax me. But this time around, it is the food that captures my attention more ( of course, there will always be love  on my mind-- that pure, impossibly perfect, perfectly impossible, other worldly, golden ideal! :)). Betty Neels dishes out a  delicious menu in each of her books. And I try to recreate them. I research the recipes,  I combine, edit and create the dishes that Neels has mentioned in her novels. I am having fun doing this, as I learn new things. The recipes and pictures you see here have their origins from this liking.

Like her serious hero who is an expert at making small talk when he loves the girl, let's talk about nothing in particular, and have a glass of sherry before dinner. Here's to us! ;)
read more: who is Betty Neels

Now we 'll all go on a picnic with Betty.

 I forgot the boiled eggs for this platter. The heroine, after a nice walk on the beach, goes to a seaside eatery and enjoys a hearty teatime meal.

cucumber sandwich, sandwich with gentleman's relish, chicken vol-au-vents, cornish pasty, sausage rolls

Pasty


2 lbs short crust pastry -  I used pie crust.
2 tbsp oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium potato, diced and cooked (use microwave :)
1- 2  cups ground beef ( or lamb, diced, cooked)
1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped, optional
salt, pepper
cayenne (optional)
1/2 lb cheddar, grated
Eggwash for glaze


Filling -- Heat oil. Saute onion, garlic. Add beef. Cook well. Add mushrooms. then potatoes. Season to taste. Remove from heat. Add the cheese. Stir well.

400 F oven. Roll out pastry. Cut out 6" circles. Spoon in filling. Crimp edges together. Cut slits. Brush with beaten egg. Bake on sheet for 20- 30 minutes, till golden.

                                                      

buns