Beef Curry Recipe

If you are searching for an easy simple yet packed full of flavor beef curry recipe this is the one!

For this recipe, you must use curry leaves which you can get in any Indian grocery store. Curry leaves, in my opinion gives a beautiful aroma and flavor to this curry. However, the barbeque spice I use in this recipe  is totally optional. I felt the barbeque spice will give a nice touch to the beef. The good thing about this recipe is you can totally control the  spice, throw in the all the ingredients in a pressure cooker, put the flame on and VOILA!

I was inspired to make this curry by mariasmenu.com. Honestly. I don't even know how many times I visit her site a week:-). Her recipes are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. I was wondering what to do with the half kilo beef that I had and ended up making this beautiful curry. Thank you Maria. (Click here for Maria's beef recipe)

(Psst.. I had to use my camera phone for the picture since Mr cam is a lil sick..meh)

Ingredients:-

Half kilo beef cubes

1 medim sized onion chopped

6 cloves of  garlic chopped

1" ginger chopped

1 tbsp kashmiri chili powder 

 1/2 tsp coriander powder

1/2 tsp meat masala powder

1 tsp Barbeque spice powder(optional)

1 tsp vinegar

1 tsp soya sauce

1 sprig curry leaves

2 tsp pepper powder

salt

Half cup beef stock 

1/4 cup cream

2 tbsp coriander leaves chopped

Method:-

Wash and clean the beef 

In a pressure cooker mix beef,onions,garlic,ginger, chili powder,coriander powder, meat masala powder. barbeque spice(I bought this from the carrefour spice section), vinegar, pepper powder, salt, soya sauce and curry leaves. 

Pressure cook this on low heat for 3 whistles. You don't need to add water. The water content in the beef will be released. After 3 whistles are over, put off the stove and let it rest for 20 minutes. Release the pressure and check for the  'doneness' of  beef. Mine was nice and soft at this stage.

 Add the beef stock and cook for 5 minutes on low heat. Add  the cream and give it a boil. Mix in the coriander leaves. I garnished with some coriander leaves, a dash of cream and few pinches of chilli powder. Serve hot with rice or rotis.

(I am thinking coconut milk instead of cream can take this recipe to another level too)

Happy Cooking!

How to cook Basmati Rice(Absorption Method)

 When I got married to the love of my life, I didn't even know how to cook rice. Do I need to add salt? Do I need to soak the rice? How long does it need to be cooked? More importantly, how do I cook the rice? Oh GOSH! The questions in my mind were endless and I had thought I knew all about cooking. We eat a lot of steaming hot rice at home. My husband prefers rice to rotis. Our favourite is basmati rice. The difference in the way my mom cooked rice and my mom in law cooked rice is that my mom uses brown rice and my mom in law uses sona masoori rice. However, for certain  rice dishes, on special days and when guests come both of them only use basmati rice.

Basmati rice is a long grain rice which has a unique fragrance. Most of the time whole spices(cloves, cardamom,cinnamon etc..) and herbs or lemon juice are added to it while cooking rice for aroma. When its cooked it should be soft and fluffy with each grain separate yet not mushy. It should look like white long pearl. You can have with a simple dal or you can make a rich  biriyani with it. I use absorption method to cook rice at home and the same method is used for cooking jasmine rice and sona masoori rice. Always use the best quality rice you can afford, I have been using India Gate for years.

Ingredients:-

2 cup Basmati Rice

3.5 cups Water 

2 pinches Salt 

A clove, cardamom and cinnamon piece

1 tsp ghee (optional)

Method:-

Wash the rice with room temperature clean water till d water starts getting clear. Soak the rice for 30 minutes in room temperature water. This helps in elongating the rice,

In a pot mix the water, ghee, spices and salt and bring to a boil.(If you have not soaked the rice, for 2 cups rice use 4 cups water). Add the rice and bring the water back to boil Cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and cook for 15 minutes on low heat. If the lid is not tight enough use an aluminium foil to seal the pan. After 15 minutes put off the heat and let it rest for another 5 minutes, 

Serve the rice hot with dal or chicken curry. 

Happy Cooking!

Tuna Cake Recipe

If you are on a budget, have canned tuna in the pantry yet you want to have a flavorful dinner, this is the way to do it-TUNA CAKES! There a are a zillion ways to make this, This dish is so versatile that you can throw in what you have in hand and make these scrumptious patties, This dish is a good source of protein.

These tuna cakes can be frozen. I used green chilies but you can substitute this with bell peppers and if you have only carrots or peas at home use that. Some people add mayo in the recipe and if you like mayo add 2 tbsp. . You man make this spicy, gluten free or not. If you don't want to have the bread crumb coating don't do the crumb coating but the result is excellent. Having said that, have to tell you that the bread crumb coating is the best part of this dish. Instead of regular bread crumbs you can use panko bread crumbs for the coating if you like that extra crunch.

Ingredients

370g canned tuna(drained)

2 eggs

1 cup +1/2 cup bread crumbs

2-3 tbsp plain flour

Half medium sized onion chopped

2 garlic cloves  minced

1/4 inch ginger minced

2 Green chilies (optional) chopped

1/4 cup Cilantro chopped

2  tbsp Lemon juice 

1 tsp BBQ spice powder(optional)

1 tsp Paprika 

1-2 tsp pepper powder

1 tbsp oil

Method

In a pan, heat oil and saute chooped onion, garlic, ginger and green chilies till translucent(or till raw smell goes). Keep this aside for 5 mins

In a bowl, mix the tuna. 1 egg. bread crumbs, cilantro,sauteed ingredients,bbq spice, paprika and pepper, I used my hands to mix this, (I know I know....you can use spoon or fork if you want)

Form the moisture into patties of the the size of your palm. I made 7 patties( I know right..tis' cheap...hehe)

. Dust the patties with flour. Beat the egg a bowl. Dip each patty in the beaten egg and roll with bread crumbs. 

At this point you can pack some and freeze if you want to, Defrost and shallow fry for 2 mins on each  side when its required.

Serve hot with salad,tomato sauce or cream cheese spread.

Happy Cooking!

Pal Payasam Recipe (Keralean Rice Pudding)

Paal(Milk) Payasam(Kheer/Pudding) is a rice pudding made in the southern parts of India. In Kerala cuisine there are different kinds of payasams but this is one of the easiest,trust me! Usually this is served when you have a sadya(kerala feast) for a wedding or Onam, I made this recently when we had a get together at my cousin's and my husband loved it. 

The difference between the western rice pudding and the Keralean rice pudding is that Keralites use cardamom as flavouring instead of cinnamon or nutmeg. I have never seen my mom making payasams without cardamom.She uses 'broken' brown rice which is the best but I couldn't get that so I used brown rice. But I have seen people using basmati rice and sona masoori rice. The point is you have to cook the rice in milk till its soft. I will always prefer making payasam with rice which takes a long time to cook beacause I want the milk to reduce down.

Ingredients:-

1/2 cup Rice

2 liters milk

1 can condensed milk

4 Cardamom(1/4 tsp of cardamom powder)

1/2 cup sugar

3 tbsp Ghee 

1/4 cup Raisins 

1/2 cup chopped cashew nuts

Methods

1)Pressure cook rice, cardamom and milk for 20 minutes and leave this to rest for another half an hour, After the resting time is over, mix in the condensed milk. Check for the sweetness and garnish with raisins and nuts fried in ghee

OR

2) In a heavy bottomed pot cook rice with cardamom, milk and condensed milk over medium low flame.  I cooked this for one and a half hours. Keep checking the sweetness of the payasam and add sugar if required. I had to add 1/4 cup of sugar. Fry the raisins and cashew nuts in ghee and mix with the payasam, This is the method I used because I had to double the quantity and my poor lil pressure cooker was not big enough.

Serve chilled!

HAPPY COOKING!

Fudgy Brownie Recipe

I love brownies and I enjoy baking them too. I was going to see my niece last weekend and I wanted to make something for her-something easy yet rich.  If you are a 'chocoholic' like my family give this a try, you won't be disappointed.This has a thick crackle top with a dense moist inside. And I don't know why I feel brownies taste better the next day after its baked!! 

There are three types of brownies- 'cakey', chewy and fudgy. Fudgy brownies are my favorite because of its richness. I have always felt that this brownie tastes the best after a day or two. Secrets? Well, the overload of melted chocolate and the really well beaten eggs. You have to beat the eggs with the sugar on high speed till it becomes pale and frothy. This gives the meringue like texture to the brownies yet so dense and rich inside because of the melted chocolate and egg yolks.

These brownies can be frozen and this recipe makes about 16 large brownies.

Let get right into the recipe.

Ingredients

2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips(I substituted 1/2 cup with dark chocolate)

1/2 cup or 110 g butter at room temperature

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla essence

Plain flour 1/2 cup

Almond meal 3/4 cup

salt 1/4 tsp

cinnamon powder 1/4 tsp(optional)

Brandy or rum 2 tsp (optional)

1/4 cup chopped nuts(optional)

You can even add some white chocolate chips. However, I like this plain :-)

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 degree F(180 C)

Butter an 8 inch square pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.

Mix flour, almond meal, salt, cinnamon powder and nuts(if using) and keep aside.

Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring (double boiler method). I always melt the butter a lil bit and then add the chocolate chips. I don't want the chocolate to get burnt you see.

When the chocolate and butter has completely melted, remove from heat and keep this aside to cool.

 Meanwhile, put sugar and eggs into a bowl and beat this till pale and frothy. 

I used an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. This takes about 3 minutes. This will make sure that our brownies will get a crackly top.Add vanilla essence.

Add chocolate mixture to to the egg mixing well.  Fold in the flour mixture. If you are using any alcohol and add that too.

Bake this 30 to 40 minutes. Do not over bake this.

 The top will be cracked and when you insert a tooth pick 

it should come out with moist crumbs,

 Cool this  and cut this into pieces serve this plain or with vanilla ice cream. You are supposed to cool this for a few hours but I couldn't wait to get my hands on these. 

Happy Cooking!

How to make Chicken Stock (White & Brown)

Use this flavorful chicken stock while preparing soups, rice, stuffing or gravies.. You won't be disappointed.

To make a good soup or stew you need to have a good stock. To make a good stock you need to have good ingredients which results in good flavor. By good ingredients I mean chicken wings, necks, bones etc which are not very inexpensive.(You can even use left over roasted chicken from last night)

If you want a clear stock or white stock merely simmer the ingredients in water with the aromatics, You do not need to roast them. This is best for soups and sauces. If you want brown stock, roast the meat in the pan on the stove or in the oven along with the vegetables, This has a deeper color with a caramelized flavor to it. This is best for stews and braises.

This is how I make chicken stock at home

RECIPE FOR WHITE STOCK

Ingredients

1 carrot

1 celery stalk

1 onion

2 bay leaves

Quarter cup cilantro or parsley

1 tsp Rosemary

1 tsp Pepper corns 

2 cans store bought chicken broth(optional, for more flavor)

salt

Method

Put all the ingredients in a pot of cold water. Bring it to boil and put the flame back on simmer. Let this simmer for a good 90 minutes.  Skim it frequently to prevent the stock from getting cloudy,Keep adding water when the quantity of water is getting low.

 Strain the stock using a sieve or colander and remove the solid part. Let this cool down and skim off the fat which forms on top. 

Another option is to pressure cook this on a high heat till 1 whistle. Continue on low heat for 30 minutes. Put off the flame and let it rest for another 20 minutes without opening the lid.

Have you heard that the measure of a good cook is how well he or she can make a simple soup?

Well. you can with this stock!

RECIPE FOR BROWN STOCK

Ingredients

1 carrot

1 celery stalk

1 onion

Ginger and garlic sliced 1 tbsp each

2 bay leaves

Quarter cup cilantro(optional)

1 tsp Rosemary

 1 tsp I used pepper powder

1 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tsp olive oil

salt

Method

In a heavy bottom pan, heat the oil and saute ginger, garlic, chicken, carrot and celery for 2 minutes or till browned.

Add 2 litres of water(room temperature). Add bay leaves, pepper and other aromatics you are using.

Bring to a boil on high flame. Add salt and soy sauce. Now turn down the heat and let it simmer. Bubbles should just gently break the surface. Keep adding water when the quantity of water is getting low.

 Skim it frequently to prevent the stock from getting cloudy. Cook this for 1 to 2 hours  This will give you deep colored stock, 

Strain the stock using a sieve or colander and remove the solid part. Let this cool down and skim off the fat which forms on top.

 Store these in different containers and freeze them. Remove the fat on top before use, This can store for few months,

HAPPY COOKING!

Kerala Fish Fry (Meen Varuthath)/ Pan Fried Fish

Keralites can always be proud of there fish curries and fries, just like Hyderabadis can be proud of their mutton and beef and Madrasis for their vegetarian food . Simple, easy and delicious. I have not enjoyed having fish in any other states as much as in Kerala.

When Ammi buys fish, she cleans the fish and she divides into 3- a part of it goes for the next day as fish curry, a part it goes marinated into the freezer(this is for emergency) and the final part for fish fry for the very next meal. Fish fry tastes the best when its fresh. My biggest question for Ammi about fish fry was how to get the masala(a blend of spices) stick to the fish. She asked me to add a little plain flour or cornflour to the masala and see the difference. My aunt makes beautiful fish fry too. She told me once if you are frying fish in a big quantity add one egg yolk to the masala. But since its only my husband and I at home we don't fry lot of fish. So we stick to the 'flour plan' more than the 'egg plan'.

Ingredients:

500g King Fish (3-4 thick fillets)

Lemon juice 1 tbsp

Salt

Garlic 3 cloves

Ginger 1/4 inch

Ground pepper 1.5 heaped tsp

Kashmiri chilli powder 3 heaped tsp

Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp

Plain flour 1 tsp

A spring curry leaves

Oil of your choice(Coconut oil is the best)

Method:

Clean the fish with water, pat it dry and apply lemon juice on the fish fillet, If you dont like the skin of the fish you can ask your fish fella to remove the skin for you.

Grind ginger, garlic and salt( I used coarse salt).  I did this job with a mortar and pestle.

Add chili powder, turmeric powder, pepper powder and plain flour. Mix well. 

Marinate the fish for at least 30 mins. If you are marinating for a longer time, keep the fish in the fridge. I used my fingers since the masala was thick. No tool is as good as your hands, you see.

After the marination time is done, heat oil in a pan for shallow frying. Put a sprig of curry leaves for the oil to be infused with a nice flavor. Push the curry curry leaves away from the center of the pan. We don't want the curry leaves to stick to the fish. We only want the flavor. Carefully keep a fillet of fish on the pan. Can you hear the sizzle? I love that sizzling sound in a kitchen!

Fry the fish on each side for 3 minutes on medium heat on each side. I like my fish to the dark and super fried so I put the heat on high.

Serve with sliced onions and a lemon wedge. The lemon juice on the fish just makes the fish taste so fresh.

Writing about you know I am thinking, would it have made a difference if I had added a teaspoon of fish masala powder to the masala I made??

Happy Cooking!

Light and Hearty Gazpacho Recipe

                            

I was searching on the net for a healthy soup recipe and I stumbled upon a Spanish chilled tomato soup called 'Gazpacho'.I liked the name, I liked the idea and I thought 'why not give it a try'. I am lazy and I don't have a food mill or a food processor. This recipe is perfect for me. Trust me cooking cant get easier! 

                          

I believe this was invented for a hot summer. However, to lose the extra pounds I put on for the holidays I need to take some extra measures. And here comes gazpacho for my rescue. You can any vegetable you like, as long it is fresh and can be eaten raw. Here is my version of Gazpacho

Ingredients

                                 1 large tomatoes                                    

1 cucumber

1 red bell pepper

1/2 lemon juice

2 tbsp olive oil

A handful of cilantro(You can also parsley) a

2 shallots

1 clove of garlic

1 chilli

Tomato juice( I used POM crushed tomatoes) 1/2 cup

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (for non-vegetarians)

Few ice cubes

Paprika 1/4 tsp

Salt and pepper

Method

Cut the vegetables into pieces. I reserved some chopped cucumber and tomatoes. Mix 1 tbsp olive oil, lemon juice, worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper and pour it over the vegetables and mix well. Transfer this into a food processor or mixer. Pour tomato puree over this.(Psst....Keep adjusting the salt).Add all the rest of the ingredients and grind till coarse. Mix in the chopped tomato pieces.

Garnish with some chopped cucumber and cilantro. You can serve this as a chilled soup or as a drink.

OR you can serve this with crusty french bread or some grilled shrimp. I like  it the way it is,

 Light and hearty!

HAPPY COOKING!