PRAWN MOILEE

PRAWN MOILEE is a Keralite recipe. I keep on exploring their fish recipes and find them as alluring as taking a tour of their back waters. I had been to few places of Kerala with our parents, not yet experienced a boat ride in the calm waters watching the greens ashore. Back in 1992, I felt may be someday I shall be there with my someone special....nature lovers think similar. What I dislike are the sea fish varieties! Prawn is not a fish but Bengali love it as a fish, my brother is allergic to seafood, he used to love prawn once! The son loves prawns a lot, but without the shell! The mother gets it for her & the brother's wife!

Yesterday, we attended a get-together . There I met a Keralite couple. Given my preference, we talked of our cuisines, exchanged ideas and promised trying each other's recipes. It feels good when we meet people of other ethnicities.....we learn a lot about another culture, customs, cuisine. Through the exchange of ideas, we equip ourselves with more of knowledge and get the right exposure.

Friday evenings, I feel relaxed and usually get my groceries. My refrigerator looks happy with the greenery, fish & meat! Whenever I open the door..... they as if say...Come.... make good use of us! This morning, I thought I have prawns, fresh curry leaves, why not prepare some Prawn Moilee and imagine myself having a candle lit dinner with quite a few fish & vegetarian specialities.

INGREDIENTS :

Prawn[medium to big size] : 10
Coconut Milk[thin] : 1 cup
Coconut Milk[thick] : 1/2 cup
Onion : 1[big]
Tomato : 1[big]
Garlic : 2pods
Ginger : 1inch
Green Chilli : 2
Curry Leaves : 8-10
Cinnamon : 1inch stick 2
Green Cardamom : 3
Cloves : 3
Salt : As required
TurmericPowder : 1 tsp
Red Chilli Powder : 1 tsp
Oil [authentically coconut]: 2 tbsp[I used sunflower]

METHOD :

Wash, clean and de vein the prawns. Wash again. Apply 1/2 of salt and turmeric powder to the prawns. Mix well. Keep aside.

Wash and mince the the ginger and garlic. Slit the green chillies. Cut the tomato into 4 pieces. Wash the curry leaves and slice the onions. Keep the thin and thick coconut milk in 2 separate but same size cups.

Heat oil in a wok. Temper with the cinnamon, green cardamom and cloves. As they release a nice aroma, add the minced ginger and garlic. When the raw smell goes add the sliced onions.

Fry till the onions turn light brown. Add the curry leaves. As they splutter,  add red chilli powder and the remaining turmeric powder. Add the thin coconut water. As it comes to boil, pour in the marinated prawns. After 2-3 minutes, add the tomato pieces. Cover and let simmer for 3 minutes at medium to low heat.

Uncover and add the thick coconut milk.  Add the slitted green chillies. Boil for another 2 minutes at medium to low heat. Switch off. Its done.

Serve with piping hot steamed rice!

KOMOLA KHEER / ORANGE PUDDING / SANTRE KI KHEER

Its pretty long time I have not posted a dessert recipe. I definitely do them over the weekend, click pictures and then however a fish or meat curry comes to the blog. Today I thought I must post a bit uncommon kind of a dessert. This is not as regular as rice kheer. It is mostly done in the winter because orange is used in it which is found in abundance during winter at our place.

These days whenever I see an orange, I fly back to the mid 70's / 80's. A lazy afternoon....winter time... a small verandah in our rented flat.... I can see myself and my little brother basking under the sun sitting close to our mother's lap. She would be busy peeling those sweet juicy oranges and putting inside our mouth. Just  as a mother bird feeds her kids. Those were the most peaceful episode of our lives, we had nothing to think or fear about. A winter vacation at school; an elaborate lunch, afternoon naps and mom's lap. We mostly ate oranges fresh. This dessert was not prepared at our home neither did I eat it anywhere. I perhaps saw the recipe somewhere. 

Chinese New Year is approaching and a visiting friend got me a big box of oranges last week. I think its auspicious among the Chinese. I am not allowed to eat much of sweets and fruits but I am not been able to resist the temptation of these red, juicy fruits. Here they are available in different varieties and names. I lack enough of food knowledge and end up calling them all oranges. Whether its sweet or not matters to me. I had been planning to make desserts and smoothies with those sweet round balls. This recipe requires milk, sugar or jaggery and small pieces of orange pulp with the white skin of the segments removed.

INGREDIENTS :

Milk [full cream] : 2 lt.
Coconut Rock Sugar : 100-150 gm [You can use Sugar]

Sugar : 1 tbsp
Orange : 2-3 Standard Sized

Bayleaf : 1-2

Green Cardamom : 4-5

METHOD :

Pour the milk in a heavy bottomed vessel and put for boil.  Simmer at low heat until it reduces to almost half, stirring every 3-4 minutes. This may take some 2 1/2 hours! In between, add the bayleaf and towards the end, a little torn green cardamoms!

Meanwhile, wash and peel the oranges. Discard the white skin from the segments and get the pulp. Get the zest of one orange.

You can use either sugar or jaggery to sweeten the pudding, I have used coconut rock sugar! 

As the milk quite thickens, we will add the coconut rock sugar & switch off the gas! We would allow it to melt & stir to incorporate well! 

Switch off and transfer into a serving bowl. Let cool. When it is no more hot & just warm, we will add the orange zest. 

When it cools completely, add the orange segments & put for refrigeration. The dessert is to be served chilled!

Please do not add the orange pulp and zest when  the kheer is still hot, they may curdle it. We do not need to use artificial orange essence as the orange zest and pulp will add a fresh mild flavour to the pudding. If you wish to cut down the cooking time to half, add evaporated milk or cream or condensed milk to thicken the milk quickly!

BENGAL EGG CURRY

You may ask why are you calling it 'Bengal Egg Curry'? The instant answer is... for the potato chunks I have used in it. We have to put potatoes in curries. I think the world knows about our love for potatoes, fish, books and sweet n sour gossips. Few other unique characteristics of us I will mention in this post. Well, we are not a propertied clan but don't think twice spending thousands on buying books. We religiously visit book fairs and are introduced to Voltaire, Rousseau, Tagore, Kafka at a very young age. Our parents think there are only two decent professions in the world....Doctor n Engineer. Beyond this they refuse to think. To pursue this, small kids are put into a tremendous pressure of competition. 

To have a practical knowledge of this you have to be present at any school gate during the dispersal time. You can see the cat fight among moms....why your son got 20/20 and mine 18/20....he cannot...I made him do each sum 10 times...and the final dictate....the teacher is partial. The poor little kids never understand why his/her mother is bothered about only 2 marks. That each child has different learning abilities is unacceptable to a Bengali mom, in general. Right from the middle school, kids are sent to teachers subject wise, completely destroying their thinking ability. Why?...Because they have to secure 95% and become a doctor or engineer. Otherwise their future is doomed. Our parents refuse to accept there is only one 1st position in class and only one can get that. The last bencher may not love physics or mathematics but may love painting. That hidden talent dies a natural death due to the illogical expectations.

I was very much a part of all these back then. Once the son was back from the school, at least 10 phone calls were made to and fro  my home....on one single topic...hey how much your daughter/son got...when I was worried about that 2 marks, my son was dying of hunger. Then finally came the ultimatum....from my senior....do not make my son a part of the game...'Commit to memory and vomit'. I want my son to be happy in life. The poor mamma has a lot of dreams and tries to give vocal tonic to her son....when ever daddy is not around.

Besides this craziness, Bengalis are foodies & culturally inclined...we love watching Bergman to Satyajit Ray as much as the masala movies. We do not have money, perhaps that is the reason why our parents fight to make us study well. But we can boast of our cultural inclination that we inherited from the yesteryear's Bengal Intelligentsia. We definitely can boast of that. Again we should be grounded at the present so that the world do not identify Bengalis by a Nobel Prize won by my white bearded heartthrob and by the excellent speech delivered at the Chicago Seminar.

Finally, about 90% of the Bengalis speak miserable Hindi but we still have to speak it!...hahaha...

Oops! I forgot I sat down to write a recipe. Well, paying due respect to our love for potatoes, I am blogging about the recipe of BENGAL EGG CURRY.

INGREDIENTS :

Eggs[preferably duck] : 4
Potato : 1[big]
Onion : 1[big]
Tomato : 1[medium]
Ginger Paste : 1tbsp
Garlic Paste : 1tsp
Cumin Seeds : 2 pinches
Bayleaf : 1
Red Chilli Powder : 1tsp
Turmeric Powder : 1tsp
Salt : As required
Green Chilli : 2
Bengali Garam Masala : 1/4tsp [a bit of cinnamon, green cardamom and cloves dry roasted and powdered]
Sugar : 1/4tsp [optional]
Oil [preferably mustard] : 4tbsp

METHOD :

Wash and boil the eggs with enough water. Add some salt to the boiling water, this helps the shells to come out smoothly.  Make 2-3 slits on the eggs. Apply little salt and turmeric powder to the boiled eggs and mix well.

Peel and wash the potatoes. Cut each into 2 pieces. Apply  little salt and turmeric powder, mix well.
Chop the tomatoes and discard the seeds, wash. Slice the onions. Slit the green chillies.

Heat the oil in a wok. Fry the eggs lightly and keep aside. Now fry the potato pieces till light brown.

Temper the remaining oil with cumin seeds and bayleaf. Add the onion slices. Fry till brown. Add the garlic and ginger paste. Fry till the raw smell goes away. Add the tomato pieces and fry till the spice mix separate from the oil. Add the salt, turmeric and chilli powder and saute for 1 minute.

Add the fried potato pieces, mix well and keep covered at lowest heat for 1-2 minute. Now add 1 cup water and cover again. Let it boil till the potatoes are 80% done. Now add the fried eggs and the slitted green chillies. Stir once and cover. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Open cover and add the garam masala powder and 1/4 tsp sugar. Stir well and switch off.

Serve hot in a bed of piping hot steamed rice. Goes very well with roti too!

DOI BEGUN

Doi begun is fried eggplants in yogurt gravy. With the ongoing heat, I feel like having more veggies than meats. As for fish, I am always game for it, in any given situation. The veggie preparations have to be tasty and full of flavour with the right kind of tadka. I always keep a bowlful of plain yogurt at home, keeping in mind its multiple use. I prefer  substituting yogurt for cream in my cooking. Our type of cooking does not require cream much. Given my heavy stature, I am too scared using cream on a regular basis. Using yogurt is quite common in Indian or its' subcontinents' cooking. It adds to the taste and texture of the gravy.


Doi Begun/ Dahi Baingan is a popular dish in India.The actual region of its origin is not known. It may be cooked in most of the regions with little variations in the method and use of spices. Mostly the yogurt is beaten with spices and poured over the fried brinjal. But I cook it for 2-3 minutes along with the tempering. I use little sugar to adjust the sour taste. The other day I had few  brinjals and hence the idea of Doi Begun popped up. This simple dish helps you to beat the heat.

INGREDIENTS :

Eggplant : 1big or 2-3 medium sized
Yogurt[plain] : 200gm
Mustard Seed : 2tsp
Green Chilli : 3-4
Nigella Seed : 2-3pinches
Turmeric Powder : 1/2tsp
Salt : As required
Sugar : 1/4tsp [optional]
Oil : 2tbsp

METHOD :

Wash and cut the eggplants into desired shapes. Apply little salt and turmeric powder to it. Soak the mustard seeds in water for about an hour. Strain the water, prepare a paste of it along with the green chillies, little salt and 2-3 ice cubes.

Heat oil in a pan. Fry the eggplant pieces in batches till golden brown. Temper the remaining oil with 2 pinches of nigella seeds. Add the spiced yogurt. Add 1/2 cup water to the yogurt bowl, mix well with the remaining yogurt. Pour over the yogurt mix. Stir well.

Let it boil for 2-3 minutes. Add the sugar. Cook for another minute. Its done!

Arrange the fried eggplants on a plate. Pour the yogurt sauce over it!

Serve with piping hot steamed rice/roti!! Get some "kolai er dal o aloo bhaja" as in the picture and a wonderful vegetarian meal is ready.

DAHIWALI CHICKEN

This island city is getting hotter every day with almost no rain. Weather forecast says this will remain for the next three months. Being selective about food and keeping it less spicy is important. If I prescribe more  of light fish curries and less chicken in such a scenario, my son will stop eating. A mother cannot accept this. Hence, I thought if chicken is to be prepared regular at home, it has to be made in such a way that it does not become taxing on our stomach. 

It is not the chicken that is harmful, it is the spicy curry which is the source of all the troubles. Lean meat is good for our body, the reason why I do not quit chicken though I do not love it much! After stepping in here, I have got flexible and accepted that curries other than red and spicy ones can be equally tasty. There are healthy ways of cooking chicken...grilled...baked... light curries! 

We were having fish curries for the past 3-4 days followed by an all vegetarian day on Saturday because of Vasant Panchami / Saraswati Puja. Before someone started to revolt, mamma felt Sunday menu should have a chicken item. This Chicken  dish is done only with plain yogurt & few other ingredients. To make you believe me I am proceeding with the recipe. Although I have added some amount of water to the curry towards the end, this dish tastes best without the addition of water, allowing to cook it in the yogurt mix! For that, use 200-250gm of plain yogurt for every 500gm of chicken!

INGREDIENTS :

Chicken : 1 kg
Plain Yogurt : 400-500 gm
Garlic Paste : 2 tbsp

Ginger Paste : 2 tsp

Green Chilli Paste : 1 tbsp
Sliced Onion : 1 medium tea cup
White Pepper Corn : 1 tsp
Black Pepper Corn : 8-10
Bayleaf : 1

Dried Red Chilli : 3-4
Turmeric Powder : 1/2 tsp

Salt : As Required
Oil : 3-4 tbsp

METHOD :

Wash and marinate the chicken with a spice mix blending together yogurt, white pepper corns, green chillies, salt, turmeric, ginger & garlic pastes! Keep covered for 2 hours. 

Peel, wash and slice the onions.

Heat oil in a wok. Temper oil with  the bayleaves, dry red chillies and the black pepper corns. Add the sliced onions. Fry until brown & crisp!

Add the marinated chicken with all the marinade. Fry at medium to high heat for 3-5 minutes stirring continuously. Now lower the heat to minimal and cover. We have to uncover and stir every 4-5 minutes to avoid sticking.

After about half an hour of cooking, the yogurt will release water, so you may not require to add water. I did add I coffee mug of water, slitted green chillies, cooked for another 10 minutes at low heat, without a cover!

Served with flatbread varieties, it tastes amazing! A salad has to go on the side!

MOCHAR GHONTO [BANANA BLOSSOM VEGGIE]

Banana Blossom Veggie is a regular dish among us...specially on an all vegetarian day. Cooking it is simple but the processing time is a bit lengthy....we need to have a bit of patience for this. What you get at the end is a less spicy veggie with a hint of sweetness that we get from the sugar & coconut used.The peanuts used gives it a nutty flavour along with the Bengali garam masala powder used! It may be prepared in almost all regions of India, I am posting the very authentic recipe of the Bengali Homes. I cannot have a mocha ghonto that has no sugar used in it! But yes, I wish to have "banana blossom poriyal" some day! I wonder how they cook banana blossom this fast when it requires a lot of time in our kitchens even after boiling the chopped vegetable in a pressure cooker! I do like the simplicity of a poriyal!

I have chosen this recipe today for a reason. The busy life that we lead today, such time consuming, traditional recipes are vanishing. This generation girls would rather go for a quick fix paneer dish than cooking this one. I don't blame them, the kind of the crazy life given, it is really hard to follow traditional recipes. They can always counter argue...'Did my grandmother go out for work?' Such arguments are needless. As far as I am concerned, I am not contemporary but primitive, love to follow tradition. I believe, if our tradition had been wearing sarees, it should not be done away with. Vegetables and curries that had being made traditionally, should not get wiped away just because they are time consuming. At least, to show respect to our tradition, we must keep them alive.

Some people close to my heart can be almost veggies. I do have a bone of contention with them, I would accuse them for lifetime for not treating me well, some of their associations I have always hated! Though there is no reason to do anything for them, as a food blogger I would want to believe I have a social responsibility of gifting recipes to people! They may live far away, unlikely to meet and cook a nice meal for them. May be they are busy professionals and away from their own place for a long time. Today's post is for them. 

Perhaps on a leisurely weekend, they find a banana blossom in the market, which reminds them of  how much pain their mother took to process it and with how much love and care she cooked it. Posting this recipe with hope that one fine morning , while exploring through the internet, they might stop by my recipe of Mochar Ghonto, cook it in their kitchen. Beyond this, I would not want any proximity with these people, they have caused me pain & insult! My contemporary Bengali readers may remember how they played with the maroon coverage of the blossom using it as a boat whenever it rained. I regret that our son never got acquainted with such little pleasure, they wouldn't know or look back at what we call "Bengali Nostalgia"! But the son eats "Mochar Ghonto", I should be happy about it! People change or not, relationships do change, it depends largely on our behaviour.

INGREDIENTS :

Banana Blossom [mocha] : 1
Potato : 1[big]
Ginger Paste : 1tbsp
Cumin Powder : 1 tsp
Red Chilli Powder : 1tsp
Turmeric Powder : 1tsp
Salt : As required
Garam Masala Powder[Bengali] : 1/2 tsp [an equal amount of cinnamon, green cardamom and cloves toasted lightly and ground into a powder]

Coconut Piece : 1 tbsp [cut small]
Roasted Peanuts[halved] : 8-10
Bayleaf : 1
Cumin seed : 2 pinches
Dry Red Chilli :  1 [halved]
Oil [preferably Mustard] : 2-3 tbsp
Ghee[clarified butter] : 1tbsp [skip to make it vegan]
Sugar : 2 tsp

Garnish with shredded coconut [optional]

METHOD :

Rub your palms with oil so that while peeling and chopping they do not turn black. Let us start with peeling off the maroon outer cover and take out the flowers. 

At one point, the coverage is cream in colour and cannot be peeled off. That portion has to be sliced & chopped off and put in a bowl of water. Our mother would slice & batter that portion! I would blog about it some day!

Discard the maroon coverage. We have to clean each flower at a time by removing the transparent case  and the hardest stigma from each flower. Chop the flower in batches and put in the bowl of water. Then, pressure cook up to 3-4 whistles at low heat adding water, turmeric and salt. 

Peel, wash and cut the potatoes into cubes. Marinate with little salt & turmeric.

Once cool, open the lid, strain the boiled blossoms and discard the water. 

Heat the oil in a  wok. Fry the potato pieces and keep aside. Temper the remaining oil with cumin seeds, halved dry red chillies and the bay leaf. Add the  coconut pieces & stir fry for sometime!

Once they turn light brown, add the ginger paste. Fry till the raw smell goes. Add the cumin powder, turmeric powder, salt, chilli powder. Fry for a minute and add the squeezed boiled banana blossoms. Mix well. Cover. 

After 4-5 minutes,  remove the cover and add a cup of water. Stir and cover again. Keep the heat at low.

After 3-4 minutes, add the roasted peanuts and fried potatoes. Mix well and cover cook for 4 minutes. Remove the cover and add the garam masala powder, sugar and ghee. Mix well and cook for 2 more minutes.

Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with shredded coconut.

Serve warm on a bed of piping hot steamed rice! It should go well with chapatis too!

TANGY N HOT MUTTON CURRY

Today is my brother's birthday and he is extremely fond of Mutton....curry or dry. He shares his birthday with a great man of all time Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. It is a prescribed holiday in West Bengal. Hence we always had a grand spread on this day. I do miss him on this day. Since I cannot be with him on this day, I prepared this dish for him on my last visit to Kolkata this winter. I t was such a pleasure to see him happy. There is nothing more satisfying in seeing your loved ones enjoying what you cook. So far his birthday is concerned, the mamma's boy's mom and an extremely adorable wifey is there to take care of. So I am at peace. 

Many a tangy-sweet memories are peeping in. We fought like two warring nations...two diagonally opposite characters...me too quiet and he a naughty chatter box. Buttt....whenever anyone uttered anything against him....his ever protective sister was always standing before him...he was the one who cried inconsolably on the next day of my marriage, when I was leaving my parent's home to embrace a new life. A happy go lucky character, he is too fond of cricket and crazy about formula 1 races. 

Today is also the marriage anniversary of T's sister, wish them both happiness forever! My son & the man enjoys mutton, also parents; so why not? This Mutton Curry I cooked just the traditional Bengali way without the potatoes though. Bengali Chicken or Mutton Curry usually have potatoes in them. We usually like to make it red and hot, hence use dry red chillies instead of green chillies. Even tomatoes were not used traditionally. Read somewhere tomatoes were not used in Bengali cooking, may be a century back and termed as 'bileti begun', meaning Foreign Eggplants.

INGREDIENTS :

Mutton : 1kg

Onion : 4 [big]

Tomato : 2 standard sized 

Garlic Paste : 2tbsp

Ginger Paste : 2tsp

Coriander Powder : 1tsp

Dry Red Chilli Paste : 1tbsp

Bengali Garam Masala : 1/2tsp [ a powder made from of dry roasted cinnamon, green cardamom and cloves] [use 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp green cardamom, 2 pinch of cloves powders]

Lemon Juice : 1/2 small tea cup

Salt : As required

Turmeric : 1tbsp

Bayleaf : 1

Oil[mustard] : 4 tbsp + 2tbsp for marination

METHOD :

Wash the mutton thoroughly. Get the juice from the 2 lemons. Make paste from garlic, ginger and red chillies separately. Marinate the mutton with 2 tbsp oil, lemon juice, and 1/2 tsp of ginger, garlic, red chilli paste, turmeric and salt. Keep marinated for at least 3-4 hours in an air tight container in a refrigerator. Take out an hour before cooking.

Wash, peel and slice the onions. Heat the oil in a wok. Temper with bayleaf and add the sliced onions. Fry at low heat until brown. Add the rest of the ginger, garlic and red chilli pastes and fry till the oil separates. 

Now add the salt, turmeric and the coriander powder and sauté for a minute. Add the marinated mutton with all the marinade. Mix well and cover. Turn the heat to minimum. You have to uncover and stir every 3-4 minutes. Do this till all the water dries up which may take about 45 minutes. 

Wash, cut & add the tomato, cover cook at minimal heat! Once the water dries up, add 2 coffee mugs of warm water. Stir and cover again. After 10 minutes, open and add the garam masala powder, give a stir. Boil for another 2 minutes and switch off.

Remember the whole dish is to be prepared in slow fire. Be careful about the amount of oil you use, because there will be lot of mutton fat oozing out and mix with the gravy. Although this island's mutton variety does have no fat!

Enjoy with plain rice, sweet pilaf, vegetable pilaf or your choice of breads!

STUFFED CHICKEN PARATHAS [CHICKEN KEEMA PARATHAS]

PARATHAS are unleavened flatbreads prevalent throughout South Asia. It is made by pan frying whole wheat dough on a tava[pan]. Usually we use ghee or oil to fry them. We can make it plain or stuff it with potato, cauliflower, spinach, radish, paneer or keema. Stuffed Parathas can be simply eaten with some pickles and yogurt. Plain parathas goes best with potato or vegetarian curries, dal or meat. They are made  in varied shapes... round, square and triangular are more common.

'PARATHE WALI GALI'....meaning the bylane of flat bread, is the name of a narrow street in the Chandni Chowk area of Delhi, India. It is famous for a huge number of shops selling paratha. It is said about 200 variety of parathas are available there. Since childhood I have visited Delhi six times...5 times with parents and once with hubby because whichever place of Northern India you visit, from Rajasthan to Kashmir to Shimla....you generally go via Delhi. The unfortunate me have missed visiting Parathe Wali Gali each time. On my next visit surely not to miss.

Roti and Parathas are extremely loved by my men. Back from office, almost everyday someone will ask...is it roti/paratha or rice today for dinner? If the answer is roti or paratha, there is a hidden smile on his face....hidden because he never asks for anything....he never had or have demanded for anything. He accepted what life has bestowed on him. For such people you always feel going that extra mile and try to give your best. Back to track, parathas, of different types are regular at my home. These parathas are made with a minced chicken filling.

INGREDIENTS :[for the dough]
Whole Wheat Flour[atta] : 2 cups
All Purpose Flour[maida] : 1cup
Salt : As required
Water : As required
Oil : 1tbsp

INGREDIENTS :[for the filling]
Minced Chicken : 250 gm
Onion : 1[big]
Garlic : 3 pods
Ginger : 2[1inch pieces]
Green Chilli : 2
Salt : As required
Black Pepper Powder : 1/4tsp
Oil : 2tbsp

We need 1tsp oil for each paratha to fry.
METHOD :
Let us prepare the dough first. Take the two flours, salt and oil in a wide mouthed vessel. Mix well. Add water little by little and keep on rubbing with your right palm. Continue doing this unless a soft but firm dough is formed. Cover with a squeezed wet cloth for 1 hour.

Prepare the filling now. Mince the garlic and ginger and wash. Wash, peel and slice the onion. Wash and chop the green chillies. Heat oil in a pan. Add the minced garlic and ginger. Fry till light brown and add the sliced onion. As they turn brown, add the chopped green chillies. Saute well and put in the prewashed minced chicken. Add salt and black pepper powder. Saute for 3 minutes and cover cook at low heat till all the water dries. The filling has to be very dry otherwise it will be very difficult to roll the parathas.

Now make round shapes from the dough. Make hollows in them and fill in with chicken filling. Close very nicely. See the picture below.

Dust and roll the balls into round shaped parathas with help of a rolling pin and base. Please do not press hard the parathas while rolling, they may tear. See the picture below.

Heat a tava[pan] on a gas oven. Put one paratha. Let cook for 30 seconds and flip over. Repeat 2-3 times. Pour in 1 tsp oil. Fry both sides well. This way fry all the keema parathas. See the picture below.

Once done serve with pickles and yogurt!! Please note, you can prepare your filling as per your choice of spices!!

LEMON RICE

Earlier South Indian Cuisine meant only Idly, Dosa and Uttapam to me, till I visited some of the major temple cities of Southern India in 1992 with my parents. The memories are still fresh in my mind. I loved everything about the tour, the history behind the temples, the sarees, the beaches and the local cuisine using lot of coconut in almost everything. It was such a pleasure to have breakfast with appam, at lunch munching on a big dosa with coconut chutney and for dinner gorging on rice and fish curry using tamarind juice and coconut milk. With a filled stomach, watching the temple architectures, built during the rule of different dynasties was an educational tour sort of. I specially loved Kanyakumari, Pondicherry, Mahabalipuram, the Kovalam Beach and the very romantic hill station of Kodaikanal. I wish to visit these places again at some point in life.

    

There is so much of history  attached to the temples that a 15 days tour is not enough to cover even half of them and have a taste of the local cuisine. It was in that 15 days span, I got acquainted with lemon rice, tamarind rice, mango rice. For an ardent rice lover like me, it was quite a treat. Back home, my mother did not really prepare them, neither the Kolkata eateries did sell them. In general, South Indian food meant Dosa, Idly and Medu Bada in Kolkata then.

It is now that I have a couple of South Indian colleagues at work, I get to taste various South Indian dishes almost everyday. I specially like LEMON RICE and like to have it with plain yogurt. There are many number of posts already on it, I thought  of adding mine too.

INGREDIENTS :

Par Boiled Rice : 1 cup

Lemon Juice : 1/2 small cup

Curry Leaves : 10

Black Mustard Seed : 1/4tsp

Black Gram[Skinless] : 1/2 tsp[urad dal]

Chana Dal : 1/2 tsp

Raw Peanut [with skin] : 3 tbsp

Dry Red Chilli : 4[halved]

Turmeric Powder : 1/4tsp

Salt : As required

Oil : 3 tbsp

METHOD :

Wash the rice thoroughly 4-5 times and soak in water for about 1 hour. Heat 6 cups water in a deep bottomed vessel. Once the water starts boiling, add the rice. Let boil at medium heat. Keep on checking whether its done. Drain the water when the rice is 80% done. Get the juice from the lemon.

Heat 3 tbsp oil in a wok. Fry the raw skinned peanuts for 2-3 minutes, take out.

Temper with mustard seeds. As they splutter, add the urad dal and chana dal. When they turn light brown, add the pre washed curry leaves and the halved dry red chillies.

Add the boiled rice. Put in salt and turmeric powder. Fold in well. Keep stirring at medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the lemon juice and mix well. At this stage you can add the fried peanuts and 2 slitted green chillies if you wish to. 

Switch off gas and transfer to a serving bowl.

Serve with plain yogurt/raita accompanied by salads!!