Indian Chicken Roast - Oven Baked

Ingredients:

1 tsp Chilli Powder
1 tsp Cumin Powder
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
1/4 Tumeric Powder
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste

Marination:

Mix all the ingredients with 2 lb Chicken. Check the spices and add more salt or chilli powder as required. Marinate atleast for 1 hr. Overnight marination in the refrigerator will be great.

Place the chicken pieces on a Aluminium foil covered baking dish(Aluminum foil helps in easy clean up and is optional). Put the marinated Chicken pieces for 375F about 30 mins turn and cook for 20 mins. Increase to 475 and leave 10 mins until it browns.

Makes yummy appetizers too. Enjoy Hot!!

Green Shrimp

1 bunch fresh coriander leaves
1 medium onion (chopped)
2 green chillies
1 tomato (chopped)
1 clove garlic
2 lb shrimp (cleaned and de-veined)
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp cumin powder
Salt to taste


Grind Coriander, tomato, 1/2 onion, green chilli and garlic into a fine paste.  In a pan heat oil and add the onion. Fry until onion turns lift brown. Now add the ground paste. Add chilli powder, cumin and salt to taste. Cook until the mix reduces to half its consistency.

Now add the shrimp and cook for 10 minutes. Remember over cooking shrimp will make it rubbery. By now the shrimp will be well coated with the green curry and cooked. Remove from heat and serve.

Kasa Kasa Payasam

I crashed my laptop with all the photos in it. I also seemed to have misplaced the usb cord that connects the camera to the desktop computer and hence I'll be next few recipes with out photos. Will update photos when possible.

Ingredients:

1 cup Kasa Kasa (poppy seeds)
1/2 cup Jaggery
8-10 Almonds
1/2 cup grated coconut
1 tsp ghee
8-10 raisins
1/2 cup milk

Method:
Soak the Kasa Kasa with a little water for 30 mins. Soak Almond and grated coconut in the milk for 30 mins. Grind soaked poppy seeds with soaked almond and grated coconut along with the milk that was used for soaking.

In a deep bottomed pan add 1 cup of water and add jaggery. Allow it to dissolve well and if needed strain the jaggery water and then keep aside. In another deep bottomed pan heat the ghee and fry the raisins. Remove and add the ground poppy-almond-coconut mixture into the remaining ghee. Bring to boil and then add the jaggery water while stirring constantly.

Boil well and if needed add little milk. Stir the mixture constantly so that it does not boil over. When done add a little cardamom powder and add the fried raisin.

This payasam tastes best when served cold.

Organic food?

Its everywhere and everyone is talking about it. Organic food!!

I heard about Organic food only after I moved to US.  In simple terms Organic variety of a food involves food which has been grown without the influence of pesticides, insecticides and herbicides.

Even though I have often wanted to buy organic food, I find that it gets very expensive. There has been a lot of articles on what can be bought organic and what cannot be bought organic. It gets confusing at some point, so here is a list for my reference which I read in a article on yahoo.

Preferably Organic
—Most Commonly Contaminated*

1. Peaches
2. Apples
3. Sweet Bell Peppers
4. Celery
5. Nectarines
6. Strawberries
7. Cherries
8. Kale
9. Lettuce
10. Grapes - Imported
11. Carrots
12. Pears

If Budget Allows, Buy Organic

1. Collard Greens
2. Spinach
3. Potatoes
4. Green Beans
5. Summer Squash
6. Peppers
7. Cucumbers
8. Raspberries
9. Grapes - Domestic
10. Plums
11. Oranges
12. Cauliflower
13. Tangerines
14. Mushrooms
15. Bananas
16. Winter Squash
17. Cantaloupe
18. Cranberries
19. Honeydew Melon
20. Grapefruit

It’s Your Call
—Least Commonly Contaminated

1. Sweet Potatoes
2. Tomatoes
3. Broccoli
4. Watermelon
5. Papaya
6. Eggplant
7. Cabbage
8. Kiwis
9. Sweet Peas - Frozen
10. Asparagus
11. Mangoes
12. Pineapple
13. Sweet Corn - Frozen
14. Avocadoes
15. Onions

Friday Food: Mutton Sukka Varuval

Mutton Sukka Varuval/ Mutton Pepper Fry

Ingredients:

1 lb mutton(bite size pieces, preferably with bones)
3 garlic pods
1 inch piece ginger
1 Tomato
1 onion (chopped finely)
Few sprigs of Coriander leaves (chopped)
1 sprig curry leaves
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp pepper powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
 2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Method:

Make a paste of ginger and garlic either with a mortar-pestle or in a blender.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pressure cooker. Add the cumin seeds and let it splutter for a second and then add half the chopped onion. Fry for a few minutes and add the ginger-garlic paste. Then add the chopped tomatoes, few curry leaves and coriander leaves.

Add turmeric powder and 1/4 tsp of garam masala. Add the mutton pieces and salt to taste. You can add 1/2 a cup of water if required. Pressure cook this mixture for 2 whistles on medium-high flame. Remove from heat.

In a separate pan, heat the remaining 1 tbsp oil. Add the remaining onion and fry until golden brown. Add curry leaves. Now add the liquid from the cooked mutton. To this add cumin powder, garam masala and pepper powder. Check the taste of salt and add more if required.

When the liquid is half its original quantity, add the mutton pieces and fry until all the liquid is evaporated. Keep stirring so that the pieces do not stick to the bottom of the pan.

Remove from heat once done, garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Mutton Paruppu Kozhambu

Mutton in Toor dhal Curry

It was mothers day this Sunday. I have fond memories of this Mutton Parupu Sambhar growing up and this post is for my mom.

Ingredients:

1 lb Mutton(preferably bone with some flesh on it)
1/2 onion (chopped)
1 cup toor dhal
1 small Tomato
1-2 pods of garlic (chopped)
Curry leaves
1 tbsp Sambhar Powder
Salt to taste

Seasoning

1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds
1/4 onion (chopped finely)
Couple of sprigs of Coriander leaves(chopped)
1 sprig - Curry leaves
1/4 cup of dilute tamarind juice
A pinch of Asafoetida
Oil

Method:

In  a pressure cooker add the toor dhal, mutton, garlic, tomato, onion, curry leaves, sambhar powder, salt to taste and 2 cups of water. Pressure cook on medium-high heat for 3 whistles. Remove from heat.

In a separate pan heat oil and add mustard seeds. When the mustard splutters add onion and fry for a few minutes until the onion is brown. then add curry leaves and asafotida. Add the coriander leaves and the dilute tamarind juice. Pour this seasoning over the prepared Parupu.

Serve hot with rice.

Note1: The tamarind in seasoning is optional and can be skipped.
Note2: More vegetables like drumstick, brinjal can be added to this to add more flavor.
Note3: I like my mutton well cooked(almost to the point that it falls apart on touch). So pressure cooking it along with dhal. If you like your mutton pieces to be more chunkier, cook it separately and add to the dhal.

Mushroom Biryani

Ingredients:


1 cup sliced Mushroom
2 cup Basmathi Rice
1 small strip Cinnamon
2-3 Cloves
2 Cardamom
1 Bay leaf
1/2 onion chopped
Salt to taste

Grind to Paste:

3 green chilli
1 inch piece Ginger
2 cloves Garlic
2 Tomatoes
1/4 cup coriander leaves
1/4 cup mint leaves
1 small strip cinammon
2 cloves
1/4 onion chopped

Method:

Grind all the ingredients under "Grind to Paste" to a fine paste.  I am using cinnamon, cloves in both girding and in the main rice dish.

Also soak the Basmathi rice in water for 30 minutes.

In a large deep bottom pan heat oil. Add the cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf, cardamom. Fry for a minute and add the chopped onion. Now add the chopped mushroom and fry until the mushroom is half cooked. Now add the ground masala and salt to taste. Add 3 cups of water and bring to boil.

Tip: I am adding only 3 cups of water because I already have 1 cup of masala. Rice and water is added in a 1:2 ratio.

Now add the rice and cook for 5 minutes on medium-high. Turn the heat down to low and cook closed for 15 minutes or until the basmathi rice is cooked.

Serve with raitha and boiled egg