beef noodle soup

beef noodle soup

Roasted pumpkin soup

made with homegrown pumpkin

Pazhamangaakari - Kerala ripe mango and lentil

Another delicious ripe mango dish with lentils and coconut.

Yellow split pea soup - sample Kerala meal

My favorite combo. Forgot to add yogurt to the plate. Yellow lentil soup, spicy, fried fish, and a little lime pickle with rice.

Green lentils and chicken soup in aroma rice cooker

Chicken Tortilla soup

A delicious soup to welcome the cool nights of fall, this Mexican soup is similar to our so-called "curry".

Sambar

Sambar is one of the staples in our house. There will be some always. It goes well with rice, rotis, dosa and idli and vada etc etc. And it is healthy and spicy delicious and aromatic. It has a lentil base, and all kinds of vegetables, all kinds of spices including turmeric, coriander, asafoetida, and a few others.  One of the basic food item of South Indians. A soup, a stew, a so-called curry.

this one is special because I used a mandolin to prep the vegetables. Till now I did everything by hand, as I realize that I am kind of a perfectionist. Each vegetable piece had to certain shape and size.
But once I used the gadget, things looked different, but somehow easier. Tasted the same, anyway.

final seasoning with mustard seeds, dried chillies, spices

rice and sambar and ground beef

Christmas 2017

Countdown to Christmas 2017

When Christmas arrives, Europe, especially England, calls. I have written about my liking for those quaint  olde English pubs, castles, cottages and of course, food. This year wasn't too crazy, I made just a few.

The rock cake and sticky toffee pudding are favorites of kids over there, I hear. And of Harry Potter too! But I did not make a sticky toffee pudding. Instead, I made a gingerbread cake and the sticky sauce of the toffee cake., because I wanted to make gingerbread. I substituted golden syrup for the molasses in the gingerbread recipe, and for treacle in the sticky sauce one. In any case, it was delicious. When eaten warm, it was heavenly!

As usual, the Kerala style plum cake was made ahead. Christmas cookies are the usual ones, except this time, my decoration is kind of sloppy. Also, forgot the nose on the snowmen!

Linzer cookie

rock cakes

gingerbread

warm gingerbread with sticky sauce

Christmas cookies

Christmas eve 2017


Appetizers

lamb chops

latkes

Soup:

butternut squash soup with spiced cream as garnish

and bread

pain d'epi

Should have diluted that soup a tad bit, but by then, the roast and the accompaniments were calling for my attention, and so, just served it as it is. It was a meal in itself!

For the main course, this X'mas eve, I prepared a typical English roast. Roast beef, roasted potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, and gravy. Gave an American touch with the creamed spinach.

roast beef dinner

Desserts:

Kerala style plum cake, creme brulee

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the clink of the spoon  against the caramelized sugar on top, and the softness of the pudding inside! yum!


On Christmas day, a pared down Nazrani Christmas. For breakfast, Paalappam and lamb stew. Just our fish in spicy coconut sauce, fried fish, Beef cutlets, and a vegetable. Paalalppam looks a bit tattered! waiting and transferring didnt go well.

paalappam and lamb stew

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paalappam and stew - an earlier better pic

Nazrani beef varattiyathu with leftover roast beef

Carrot- Coriander soup

This soup is mentioned in a Betty Neels novel. The recipe I have used here, is by Jamie Oliver. A good Fall soup. It tastes like a simple, Indian soup or "curry", btw.





carrot-coriander soup

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

1 lb. carrots, sliced

1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp ground coriander
2 pints vegetable stock
3 tbsps chopped fresh coriander ( cilantro)
a squeeze of lemon juice
freshly grated nutmeg to taste

salt, pepper

single cream (use whipping cream) for garnish

1/2 tsp mustard or cumin seeds (optional) -- Pls. see my Note.

Heat oil --> onions, carrots, garlic = soft. <---+ coriander powder+ salt+ pepper. <--- stock = boil.
Cover & simmer - 20 minutes. <--- fresh cilantro. ---> all in blender = smooth.
+ lemon juice + nutmeg. Reheat until warm.
garnish with cream-swirl.

Note: Popping some mustard or cumin seeds in the heated oil, before adding the onions would give it another dimension tastewise, and visually.
PS: If annoyed by the way I've written out the method, it's just because I am too lazy some days. and testing out a different way. anyway, for the recipe in real words, you may go to jamieoliver.com.

Actually I would prefer  soups a little less processed, and the vegetables not cooked to death. I like some bite in them -- but that is my preference. Some like the velvety smoothness of the pureed version. Of course the blended version is always better if one is in convalescence or there is something wrong with the teeth, like if there is none left.

lettuce-cucumber soup

Ingredients


 125g spring onions
400g lettuce
200g cucumber
100g fresh or frozen peas
50g butter
750ml light chicken stock
5 mint leaves
Single cream



Method
Trim and finely slice the spring onions. Separate the lettuce leaves, rinse and shake dry. Shred the lettuce. Peel the cucumber, halve, slice into strips and chop. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed pan, stir in the spring onions and cucumber and a generous pinch of salt. Cover and cook over a low heat for five minutes.

Stir the lettuce through the onions, cover again and cook for ten minutes, stirring halfway through. Add the stock and peas, bring to the boil for five minutes until the peas are tender. Liquidise with the mint leaves for three minutes to break down the fibres. Return to the pan, taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve hot with a swirl of cream.

Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/recipes/article4122669.ece

Yellow split pea curry -- parippukoottaan

One of my favorite dishes is parippu curry, a lentil soup, actually. Each state in India has its own versions of daal. Each home has its own favorite version. Some add cumin, others mustard, yet others cilantro, or all of those.
This, here, is my favorite.




parippu

 Ingredients:

yellow split pea/ toor daal -- 1 cup
onion, sliced - 1 cup
garlic, crushed -- 4 cloves
4 green chillies, split
turmeric powder -- 1/2 tsp
crushed red pepper -- 4 tsp
tomatoes, diced -- 1/2 cup (optional)
curry leaves
Oil - 3- 4 tbsp
Salt

Cook the lentils with a pinch of turmeric powder.
Heat oil. Saute onion, garlic, green chillies, curry leaves, till onions are soft and the garlic gives out its aroma.
Add the turmeric, crushed red pepper. Fry for a minute. Add the tomatoes. Saute for a couple of minutes, till they wilt. Add the cooked parippu with enough water to get to your preferred consistency.  Stir well. Bring to a boil. Add salt to taste.

Note: If you like, you may add a couple of pearl onions, a crushed clove of garlic, and a couple of green chillies to the lentils, when you cook it. I soak the parippu overnight in water,(kind of an overkill) and use a pressure cooker to cook it.Instaed of oil, you could use ghee, which is heavenly, but not as healthy. :)

red chori(dried red beans) or payaru -- top left/ parippu or yellow split pea--bottom right

The same recipe can be used to make other lentil curries/soups, like payarucurry, which is a variety of tiny dried red beans, called red chori in Hindi. And this one takes a lot of soaking.

payarucurry



Very good with rice, and Kerala fried fish, and mango pickle.

parippu curry, kerala fried tilapia, dried shrimp fry



Buttermilk curry or Morozhichukoottaan or morucurry





Now to the buttermilk curry! As usual, the recipe has many variations, depending on the occasion, and taste preference. For instance, if it is for medicinal purpose, as in for indigestion, the buttermilk curry will not have onion or coconut. And also, it will be totally fatfree.

moru = buttermilk. koottaan = to add/side dish/accompaniment/add-on. so, meenkoottaan is fish curry.

ozhichu= to pour. thus, morozhichukoottaan is a dish made of buttermilk, that is poured on rice, which is our main food.

Ingredients:

Buttermilk - 1/2 gallon
Oil - 2 tbsp
Onion, chopped -- 1/2 cup
Ginger, crushed -- 1 tbsp
Garlic, crushed -- 1 tbsp
5 green chillies, slit
turmeric powder - 1 tsp
red chilli powder -- 1/2 tsp
fenugreek/ methi powder - 1/4 tsp
cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
black pepper powder - 1 tsp
Coconut, grated, fresh or dried coconut powder -- 1/2 cup
mustard seeds, black - 1 tsp
dried red chillies - 3
curry leaves -- 1 sprig
Salt, as needed

Heat oil. Add mustard seeds. Let'em pop. Reduce heat, we do not want it burned. Add the onion, ginger, garlic, green chillies. Saute for a minute or two, till soft and you get the aromas. Add the dried red chillies, each broken in three pieces ,and the curry leaves.
Now add the spice powders. stir and fry for a minute. Add the coconut.
stir and fry for amother minute or two.
Pour in the buttermilk. Keep stirring. Low to medium heat. Add enough salt. Do not let it come to boil. Should be just warmed enough.

Note: You may make this as thick or thin as you like. Add boiled and cooled water.

If you are in a really nutritious mood, you may add some veggies -- say, zucchini, cucumber etc. cubed and cooked. Or you can add them right before pouring in the buttermilk, cook, and then finish off.

I ran out of curry leaves, so you don't see any curry leaves. :(

rice withbuttermilk curry, nazrani beef fry, baby mango pickle (hot)

Serve with rice, pickles and Nazrani style mutton or beef fry, or Malayali "thorans" and "mezhukkupurattis" -- vegetable stirfry, or spicy lentils.

beef vindaloo

This dish said to be brought to Goa by the Portuguese, -- vin =wine, ahlo = garlic-- is now thoroughly Indian. It is at once a stew, and a pickle. The wine-garlic connection reminds me of all the other red wine - garlic - bouquet garni soups/stews of Europe. Here, the spices are Indian.  Usually made with pork, it works well with a variety of meats, and fish, and every cook seems to have his/her own mix of spices, and ways in which they are dealt with - some are ground from whole form, some are used in powder form etc. The idea is to get the spices as fresh as possible. I am not averse to using powders, (as long as they are not from Jambavan's time) esp when there is a time constraint.
This recipe is adapted from a  recipe by  Mrs K. M.Mathew,  the original Malayali Julia Child from Kottayam.  And this is quite hot.



beef vindaloo



Ingredients:

2 lbs beef, cubed

1st set:

20 Kashmiri chillies

1'' piece ginger, cut in small pieces

4 flakes of garlic, slightly crushed -- just hit it with the tenderizer once and the skin comes off too

1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek (methi) seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1tsp peppercorn
1/2 cup water

2nd set :

1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
2 cups onion, sliced thin
2 medium size tomatoes, chopped

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tsp garlic flakes, sliced
1 tsp ginger, sliced thin

2 tbsp vinegar, regular white, mixed with
1/4 tsp sugar or another 2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1/2 cup oil
salt


Clean and drain the cubed meat.

Soak the spices in the 1st set in water for half an hour. Grind them all together. You may soak this paste in the vinegar, if you like. And then marinate the beef in this mixture overnight or for a few hours. Or you could just leave it alone, and add the vinegar later. I did not do the whole marination thing, btw.

Heat oil. Add the mustard seeds from the second set. Reduce the heat, if it's smoking. We don't want them burned. Let'em pop. Add onions and saute till light brown. At this point, some cooks remove the onion and puree it.
Others puree onions first and then saute it till brown. Again, I chose the easier way -- the one with sliced onions. Didn't have the heart to overkill. :)

Okay, where were we? The onions are almost brown. Add the turmeric now. Stir once or twice. Add the chopped, red tomatoes. Now, here's another chance to wait around scratchin' your head, metaphorically. I microwave the tomatoes for 1 to 2 minutes, till they are soft, then add it to the onion. This will reduce the frying time of tomatoes. Because, one secret to a great tasting dish is properly cooked tomatoes. Now keep stirring, till the oil separates, and the tomato -- onion mix is a dark red.

Add the ground paste -- the first set -- now. Saute.

Add the meat. Again, some prefer to brown the meat with a little marinade.  The meat is then removed and set aside, while the onion is pureed. Needless to say, I browned the meat in the onion and ground masala mix. No removings and setting asides. Stir well. Pour in the red wine vinegar, that we had decided to leave alone. Stir again. May add salt at this point. Add enough water to cover the meat , Cover and let it come to a boil. Now reduce heat and  cook on medium-low heat till the meat is done. Could take around 2 hours. I should say it is getting marinated slow and nice on the stove. ;) Stir it around once in a while, we do not want a burnt stew.  Once the meat is cooked, raise the heat and let the sauce reduce to your desired consistency. Meanwhile, add the last set of ginger-garlic slices, and  pour in the last of the vinegar. Let it simmer some more. Adjust salt.



braided mini breads

 Serve hot with rice, bread, or Indian rotis.

This version is quite hot. Also, instead of the 20 whole chillies, we may use 4 tsp kashmiri chilli powder or 2 tsp kashmiri and 2 tsp regular red chilli powders. For those who want it milder, use 1/2 tsp kashmiri chilli powder or 2-3 whole ones. And, if you do not feel like soaking and grinding the masalas, use  powders.
And in spite of all the shortcuts, the dish turned out delicious, and will be even more, the next day.

i will post the recipe for the bread soon. :)

love
asha