Storm In My Kitchen

  Butter Chaklis These are yummy, flakey, crunchy.....melt in your mouth bites of deliciousness 1 cup rice flour 1/2 cup besan flour 2 tablespoons sesame seeds 3 tablespoons butter A big generous pinch of asafoetida Water to bind the dough Oil to deep fry Mix the dry ingredients nicely. Add butter and mix the dough to a breadcrumb texture. Add water a tablespoon at a time and make a soft but non sticky dough....keep wetting your fingers and knead the dough for 5 minutes Heat oil in a deep kadai on a high flame. Then grease your Chakli mould and put the dough in. When the oil is hot, reduce the flame to low and squeeze the chaklis directly into the hot oil....fry on medium low flame till the chaklis are a light brown colour. Remove from the oil and put in a strainer to remove excess oil and then move to paper towels for all excess oil to be absorbed. Enjoy with tea, beer, whiskey or just on its own....the possibilities are endless You can change the flavour by adding cracked pepper, chi

  Bottlegourd and kasuri methi curry . A simple quick curry. Fresh methi leaves can also be used. Leave out the water if you want a thick curry to be had with roti or paratha. In a pan heat two tablespoon mustard oil. Let it smoke. Then switch off the stove and cool it. Now heat the oil again and add a bay leaf. Add a finely chopped onion and a teaspoon of ginger garlic paste. Saute till the onion is transparent. Add half teaspoon each of turmeric, chilli, cumin, coriander powder and a quarter teaspoon of garam masala. Fry this masala for two minutes, adding a bit of water. Add about 250 gm bottle gourd pieces. Now add half cup coconut milk, a handful of kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) one sliced tomato, a few slit green chillies and salt to taste. Add half a cup of water. Cover and cook until the bottle gourd is done.

  Sweet mango pickle/cutney Slice 5 raw mangoes.  Add equal quantity of grated jaggery to the mangoes. Make slits and add 6 whole red chillies(more can be added depending on how spicy you want the pickle to be) Leave overnight. The jaggery will melt by morning. Keep this jaggery-chilli-mango mixture on a low flame.  Dry roast half tsp each of methi, jeera and a few cloves and pepper. Roast 3 tsp of saunf. Crush all these in a motar pestle. Doesn't have to be a powder. Add to the mango mixture along with salt to taste. When the jaggery starts to thicken, take off the heat. Bottle when cool.

  Shahi Kheema   Heat 3 tablespoon oil. Add whole spices - 2 bay leaves, 1 inch piece cinnamon stick, three each of cardamom and clove, 1 star anise, a few pepper corns and 6-8 small garlic cloves. Fry until the garlic gets light brown. Add a large finely chopped onion and a heaped teaspoon of ginger garlic paste. Fry till the mixture starts turning golden. Add a quarter teaspoon turmeric powder, one heaped teaspoon red chilli powder, a tablespoon of cumin-coriander mixed powder. A heaped teaspoon of shahi biryani powder (I have used Everest brand). Mix nicely. Add a little water and fry the masala until the oil comes up. Now add half kg minced meat. Fry a minute on high heat. Now add the puree of two tomatoes, half cup of fresh cream, a cup of methi leaves (optional) and a tablespoon of vinegar. Cook for 7-10 minutes on low heat. Now add a few fresh sliced green/red chillies. Cook another 2 minutes.  Served with toasted pav smeared with butter and syrka pyaz. For the syrka pyaz, slice

Orange cake ¾ cup sugar  Peel of an orange  ¼ cup butter 2 eggs 1 cup orange juice 2 cups flour 1 tsp baking powder ¼ tsp baking soda Pinch of salt Reserve 2 tablespoon of the orange juice and mix with two tablespoon of icing sugar. Preheat the oven to 180°C Grease your baking dish In the jar of the mixer, add the sugar and orange peel. Powder it. Add the butter, eggs and orange juice. Blend. Then add the baking powder, baking soda and 1 cup of flour.  Blend again nicely. Scrape the sides add the second cup of flour and salt. Blend again scraping the sides in-between. Pour into the baking dish, three fourths full.  Bake for about 40 minutes or untill done. Demould the cake when warm and spoon over the reserved orange juice.

  InjiPuli (Ginger-Tamarind Chutney) Chop ½ cup ginger and 4-5 green chilli into tiny pieces, heat 3 tablespoon coconut oil and fry the ginger and chilli pieces, when it starts to get brown, add ½ haldi powder, 2-3 tsp red chilli powder, ½ tsp methi powder(or crushed methi dana) and ½ tsp asafoetida, mix well and fry half a minute, then add 2-3 tablespoon tamarind paste or extract. Add few tablespoon water to make a very thick paste then add 5-6 tablespoon jaggery....cook till it becomes thick, add salt. Give this a tempering of mustard seed, curry leaves and  dry red chillies. Check for seasoning, sweet and spice and adjust accordingly.

  Stuffed veggies in a tomato soup base For the stuffed veggies Small bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, brinjal, zucchini, snake gourd, brinjal etc (can use any combination of veggies. You will need about 8-10 pieces for 500 gms mince 500 gm mince (chicken/mutton or beef) 1 tsp dried mint leaves (or half cup finely chopped fresh leaves) ½ tsp oregano 1 tsp za'atar 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste 1 large finely chopped onion 1 tablespoon red chilli powder or chilli flakes Salt to taste Scoop out the inside of the vegetables gently keeping a little lid.  Mix the rest of the ingredients nicely. And stuff the veggies. For the tomato soup Two large tomatoes ground to a puree. Half tsp each not oregano, rosemary and tarragon 1 litre chicken stock or 1 Maggie stock cube with a little of water.  1 tsp chilli paste 1 tsp ginger garlic paste Salt to taste.  Boil all the ingredients until the raw smell is gone.  Reduce to a simmer and add the stuffed veggies.

  Mix vegetable stirfry I used 1 cup of a pack of frozen vegetables (it was a mix of zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, beans, red and yellow bell peppers) Heat a tablespoon of oil, add quarter tsp of mustard seeds. When seeds sputter,. Add half a pod of crushed garlic and 2-3 sliced green chillies. When the garlic starts browning add a sliced onion and the mixed veggies. Add salt and turmeric powder. Cover and cook about 5 minutes on low heat. Sprinkle two tablespoon of freshly grated coconut and dry up the liquid if any.

  Crab Curry Wash and clean the crabs. I've used 6 small crabs. Dry roast ¼ cup fresh coconut, 3 dry red chillies, 6-8 garlic cloves, 1 inch piece of ginger, 1 tablespoon coriander seeds, ½ tsp pepper, 2 clove, 1 cardamom and 1 small piece of cinnamon. Grind to a paste with 2 tablespoon tamarind extract.  Heat 3 tablespoon oil add a few stalks of curry leaves. Add a large finely chopped onion. Fry until the onion starts turning brown. Add the crab pieces and ½ tsp turmeric powder and 1½ heaped teaspoon of chilli powder. Toss and add salt to taste. Add the ground paste and a cup of water and bring to a boil. Add a few slit green chillies (optional, but really worth it) cover and reduce heat. Cook for 5-7 minutes.  Serve with rice and a lot of patience.

  Za'atar-Sesame Bread 1 teaspoon active dry yeast 1 tablespoon sugar ½ cup warm water Proof for 5 minutes until bubbly 2⅓ cup flour (300 gms) 1 teaspoon salt  2 tablespoon olive oil  ⅓ cup milk Add the milk and olive oil to the yeast mixture. Then add in two cups of the flour along with the salt to form a smooth soft dough. Add more flour as needed if it's too sticky. Knead for about 7 minutes. Then rub a bit of olive oil on your palms and form the dough into a ball. Put the dough into a bowl and cover and keep to rise in a warm place, until doubled. Takes about an hour and half.  Then punch back the dough, knead for about a minute more. Shape as desired and brush with olive oil. Keep to proof another 30-35 minutes until doubled. Heat oven to 220 degrees and place a shallow bowl of water at the bottom of the oven.  Brush the dough once again gently with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with za'atar and sesame seeds. Score if desired and bake for about 25-30 minutes.

Onasadya   1. Poovan pazham (small banana) 2. Ethaka Upperi (banana chips) 3. Chakka Varuthathu (jackfruit chips) 4. Naranga aachar (lime pickle) 5. InjiPuli (Ginger – tamarind relish) (Chop ½ cup ginger and 4-5 green chilli into tiny pieces, heat 3 tablespoon coconut oil and fry the ginger and chilli pieces, when it starts to get brown, add ½ haldi powder, 2-3 tsp red chilli powder, ½ tsp methi powder(or crushed methi dana) and ½ tsp asafoetida, mix well and fry half a minute, then add 2-3 tablespoon tamarind paste or extract. Add few tablespoon water to make a very thick paste then add 5-6 tablespoon jaggery....cook till it becomes thick, add salt. Give this a tempering of mustard seed, curry leaves and  dry red chillies.) 6. Carrot salad 7. Padavalanga - kadala parippu thoran (snake gourd-chana dal stirfry) (heat oil add tempering of mustard seeds, garlic, green chillies and turmeric. Add soaked channa dal with couple tablespoon of water and cook covered for 5 minutes. Add salt the