Maachi/Fish Pulao - Parsi Cuisine

Its the first time that I actually made something related to Parsi Cuisine, and that too I tried a hand since its dear Meera of Enjoy Indian Food, who's hosting her first event 'RCI-Parsi Cuisine'.

I was very happy with the outcome of this Pulao and best of all, its super easy and fast to make. I know for sure what to do with rice and fish next time. So, do try it.

I looked up in the links provided by Meera and here is the original recipe and the source for my dish. I have used Salmon fillets for this pulao.

Ingredients

Basmati Rice - 1 1/2 cups

Fish - 3 large fillets ( I used Salmon)

Green chillies,chopped - 3

Onions, sliced finely - 2 big

Cinnamon sticks - 1 inch piece

Green Cardamoms - 3

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Tomatoes, skinned and chopped - 1 large

Garlic cloves, ground - 2- 3 cloves

Cloves - 4

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Sugar - 1/2 tsp

Cilantro - 1/4 cup

Salt- to taste

Oil

Method

- Fry the onions golden brown. Remove about 2 onions for later use. In the remaining onions, add in chopped coriander, green chillies, garlic and turmeric allowing it to cook for a few minutes. - Add in chopped tomatoes, cook till pulpy, and then add in the fish pieces with about 4 cups of water. When the fish is nearly done, add chilli powder and sugar and allow to simmer till about 1/2 cup of gravy is remaining.

- In the meantime, boil the rice with salt, removing when half done. Drain off the water and cool.

- In a pan put the reserved fried onions with oil, on a slow fire and add in cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamom and cummin seed which have been pounded slightly. Allow to simmer for a few minutes and remove off the fire.
- In a large pan, spread half the rice and layer with fish, fried onions with garam masala, fish gravy and then lastly another layer of rice which has been infused with saffron, topping it with very hot oil. Cover the pan and cook on a low fire for atleast 10 minutes. Mix all the palao together, cover and cook till rice is done.

Note :

- I used Salmon fillets and cut them into slightly bigger chunks.

- I have not used Saffron.

So, off this goes to Meera's 'RCI-Parsi Cuisine'. Wishing you great success in your first event Meera !

Regional Cuisine of India- RCI is the brainchild of Lakshmi of Veggie Cuisine.

Kadagi Saung / Breadfruit side dish

Saung (pronounced as song), is a very typical item in the Konkani cuisine. Its a spicy dish, bright red in color, great in taste and easy to make. Many different vegetables can be used to make Saung. This is a picture I took from what Mom had made back home.

What I have here today is of Breadfruit/Kadagi. For more on Breadfruit, see this post.

Ingredients

Kadagi/Breadfruit, cleaned & cut into small wedges - 4 cups

Onions, diced abt 1/2 inch size - 2 cups

Garlic, chopped - 5-6 cloves

Teppal/Sichuan peppers - 4-5

Tamarind pulp- from a marble sized ball

Red Chilli powder - 4 tsps or less

Haldi powder - a pinch

Salt - to taste

Oil

Method

- Mix the Tamarind pulp, salt, red chilli pwd, with very little water in a small bowl and keep aside.

- Heat about a tbsp of oil in a pan, add the onion and garlic and saute just till the onions are just transparent.

- Add the breadfruit pieces and just enough water to cook it. Once tender, add the turmeric pwd, and paste made with tamarind pulp. Slightly crush the Teppal pieces in little water and add it along with the water (abt 2 tsps) and the teppal pieces to the pan.

- Bring to a boil and then its done.

- Serve as a side with rice and dal or any other curry.

Note :

- The breadfruit slices cook very fast, so don't add too much water.
- It should be a dry dish, so no water should be present when done.

Happy Diwali !

Wishing one and all a very happy, prosperous and safe Diwali !!!

Have a great one !!!

Chettinad Chicken

A very well-known dish and loved by many. Am sure there will be many ways one prepares this, and I have to try many of them too. This recipe I have been following is from and I have tried it both with and without coconut, I must say they both taste great, but my personal favorite is the one which uses coconut.


You can view the original recipe here.


This is what I have followed.


Ingredients


Chicken - 2 1/2 lbs.
Poppy seeds/khuskhus - 2 tsp
Fennel seeds/Saunf/Badishep - 1 tsp
Coriander seeds - 1 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds/Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Red chillies - 5 - 8 nos. I used 5
Grated coconut - 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
Ginger(chopped) - 2 tsp
Garlic(chopped) - 2 tsp
Tomatoes(medium) - 3 nos(chopped)
Onions(medium) - 2 nos(chopped)
Lemon - 1 no
Cinnamon - 1" stick
Green cardamom - 4 nos
Cloves - 2 - 4 nos
Curry leaves - 10 - 15 nos
Chopped Cilantro - to garnish
Oil
Salt - to taste

Method

- Cut the chicken into small pieces.
- Roast the red chillies, grated coconut, poppy seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and fennel seeds in oil.Grind it to a paste along with ginger and garlic.
- Heat oil in a large pan.Fry onions, till golden. Add curry leaves and the ground paste and saute for some time.
- Add tomatoes, red chilli powder and turmeric powder. Add in the chicken pieces and mix well. Cook for 5 mins, then add 2 cups of water and lemon juice.
- Cover and cook, till the chicken is done.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro.
- Serve hot with rice or rotis.

Note : Leave out the coconut if you do not want.

- Also you can increase the amount of coconut to about 1/2 cup to get a more thicker gravy.

Kadagi Phodi / Breadfruit fries..

Palpanasa Kadagi or Breadfruit is a loved vegetable( or fruit) in Konkani cuisine. I know of many many people who absolutely love this and none that don't. This may not be a common vegetable but is just extremely tasty and when cooked right, its the melt-in-the-mouth types. If you don't know about it, read here.

In my family, we use it for Phodis ( shallow fries), Baje (deep fries like pakodas), in dry dishes with and without coconut, and gravy based dishes with coconut. Hmm, by far, I love the Phodis best of them all, and couldn't possibly just stop eating until there's no more :)..I strongly recommend everyone to try this atleast once to know what I'm talking about here.

To clean the Breadfruit, you have to peel the outside thick skin, then remove the pith(gheer) from the center. See the collage below. The one that I have here is not the freshest of them all, else they are light greenish in color.



The way you make the Phodis is just like how you make any others. So, here it is..

Ingredients

Breadfruit slices - 12-15
Semolina/Rava - 1/2 cup approx.
Red Chilli powder - 2 tsp or more
Salt - to taste
Oil - to shallow fry

Method

- After removing the outer skin and the pith from the breadfruit, cut it into thick slices as shown in the collage ( approx. 1/4 inches thick).

- Take the slices in a wide bowl, and soak them in water for a few minutes. Then, drain the water and add salt and toss to coat the slices evenly. Keep aside for about 10 minutes.

- When ready to fry, mix the rava and chilli powder, coat the breadfruit slices evenly in it, and start placing each slice evenly on a hot tawa.

- Drizzle oil around and over each slice and cook same way on both sides till done.

- To check if it is done, insert the steel spatula through the slice. It should be soft and go through easily, should not be tough.

- Serve hot as a side with rice and curry/dal.

Check out my other phodis here & here.

Maskasangi Talasani / Drumstick side dish

This is one of my favourites with Drumsticks. Just a simple coconut-pepper combination takes the drumsticks to another level. The drumsticks you use in this should be not too old ones (joon) and stringy, else it doesn't taste good. So select nice small, tender ones. Mom had made this when I visited her this time and here is how its made.



Ingredients

Drumsticks, cut into 2 inch pieces and sliced in half- 2 cups

Freshly crushed black pepper/Pepper powder - 2 tsp. or more

Fresh/frozen grated coconut - 1/4 cup

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Oil

Method

- Heat about 1 tsp oil in a kadhai/pan. Add mustard seeds and once they splutter, add the cut drumstick pieces, saute for a few seconds, add water just enough to cook the drumsticks. Cover and cook till half-done.

- Add salt, coconut and pepper and mix and cook covered till the drumsticks and fully cooked and tender. Cook uncovered if there is any extra water so that finally the dish is dry.

- Serve as a side dish with rice and curry.

Note : You need more coconut and pepper for this. Skimping on the coconut will not give good results.

- If you don't like pepper, use red chilli powder instead, but the taste is completely different.

Kaccha Avalakki / A Poha recipe...

An excellent snack/breafast item which is very quick to make and easy to carry for long journeys too. The good thing in this the powdered nuts being added. I had seen this in a TV show and accordingly adapted it.

Ingredients

Thin Poha/Beaten rice/Avalakki - 4 cups
Peanuts - 2 tbsp
Putani/Hurigadale/Roasted split chana dal - 2 tbsp
Green chillies, chopped - 3
Grated fresh/frozen coconut - 2 tbsp
Red onion, chopped fine - 1 small
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Hing/Asafoetida - a pinch
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp or as you prefer.
Salt - to taste
Oil
Cilantro - 1 tbsp or more.
Sev - to garnish, optional.

Method

- Heat little oil in a pan. Fry the peanuts in it, remove from oil. Next, add the Putani, fry and take out. Coarsely powder the peanuts and putani together in a mixie/blender.
- In the same pan, add more oil if needed, once hot, add the mustard seeds. Once they start popping, add the cumin seeds, green chillies, onions, hing, turmeric and salt. Saute for a few seconds and take off from flame and pour in a bowl.
- Add to the mixture the coconut, lemon juice, cilantro and the powdered peanuts and putani and allow to cool.
- Then add the Poha to the above and mix evenly with your hands.
- Garnish with more cilantro, sev and coconut.

Note : If you are carrying this for a journey, you can add the sev just before serving.
- You can eat this with yogurt also.
- Use only the thin variety of Poha in this.