Author: Anandhi

Mutton Keema

Mutton keema! A staple curry in most of the Indian and Pakistani households, exceptionally delicious dish with its buttery texture. This particular version is our family favorite and I’d learnt it from my MIL. One of the best picnic food, ideal for canning. It will be good in room temperature for 3 to 4 days, if untouched. Deep fry the onions if you’re canning. The same recipe goes for beef keema, just replace the mutton with minced beef. If you give this recipe a try, do share your comment!

–Ingredients for 3-4 servings–

1/2 kg minced mutton
2 bay leafs
2 sticks cinnamon (1/2 inch each)
3 green cardamom
1 black cardamom
4 cloves
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 finely chopped onions
2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste
2 tomatoes (finely chopped or puréed)
2 sprig curry leaves
2 green chillies
2 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
2 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder
2 sprig coriander leaves
1/2 cup cooking oil
salt as needed

–Process–

1. Heat 1/2 cup of oil in a pressure cooker. Add all the whole spices and saute until it leaves the aroma
2. Add the chopped garlic and saute for a minute. Then add the chopped onions and saute until they become translucent
3. Put in the ginger-garlic paste and curry leaves and saute until the raw smell goes off
4. Add the minced meat and mix well. Let it cook in a medium flame for 5-6 minutes. Now add the tomatoes and all the powders and give it a stir
5. Pour in 300 ml water, add green chillies and salt. Pressure cook in a medium flame for 3 whistles
6. Sprinkle the coriander leaves and serve warm

Tips
1. Green peas and potatoes (peeled and medium chopped) goes well with mutton, you can add them along with the water and then pressure cook
2. We’ve been accustomed to above mentioned amount of oil, you can reduce if you feel its too much

by Categories: MainsTags: , , , , Leave a comment

Ashoka (Ashoka Halwa)

An exquisite dessert that tingles your taste buds from the lands of Thiruvaiyaru! I’m sure each and every soul in and around Thanjavur would have come across this dessert atleast once in their lifetime.

My mother is from Thanjavur, anyone who is visiting us from there had always brought us this wonderful dessert. I would highly recommend you to visit the shop that serves this dessert for the past 50 years. I’ve tried to bring the nearest version of the original recipe (it’s secret, though), try and let me know your comments.

Ingredients
1/2 cup moong dal (yellow split)
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon maida
2-3 tablespoons milk khoya/khova
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
6-7 tablespoons clarified butter/ghee
Nuts and dry fruits as desired
Red food dye (optional)

Preparation
1. Dry roast the moong dal, pressure cook until it becomes mushy and grind it to a fine paste
2. Heat a pan and add a tablespoon of ghee, roast the nuts-dry fruits and remove them from the pan
3. Add another tablespoon of ghee and maida. Cook in a low flame and make sure you don’t burn the maida
4. Pour in 2 more tablespoons of ghee and the ground moong dal paste. Cook in a low flame for a minute or 2, pour in the sugar and keep stirring. If you’re adding a food dye, then add it now by dissolving it in a tablespoon of water
4. Add the khova-cardamom powder and continue stirring
5. Add in the rest of the ghee and keep mixing until it leaves the sides of the pan, approximately 5 minutes
6. Mix the roasted nuts and serve warm.

Tips
Since we have added ghee, it might harden up once it cools down. So, please reheat before serving.

by Categories: DessertsTags: , , , , Leave a comment

Carrot Halwa

Carrot halwa is one of the sought-after desserts, almost on all the special occasions. We don’t need any special occasion to eat this dessert and I make it at least twice in a month. With a very few ingredients, it wins the hearts of the people. This was the first dessert I learnt to make on my own in my teenage days, I have fine tuned the recipe over these years and come up with my best version. Each home has it’s own version, a single ingredient can bring a drastic difference in the outcome. My secret ingredient is salt. Yes, you heard me right! Salt enhances the taste of the other ingredients, making the recipe stand out! Without further ado, let’s get into the recipe.

Ingredients
500 grams carrot (peeled and grated)
500 ml whole milk
100 grams sugar
50 grams clarified butter
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
Dry fruits and nut, as desired

Preparation
1. Heat 1 tablespoon of clarified butter in a pan and roast the dry fruits and nuts. Remove them from the pan and keep aside.
2. Add another tablespoon of clarified butter and saute the carrots until the raw smell leaves.
3. Pour in the milk, close the lid and let it boil in medium flame for 20 minutes. Keep stirring occasionally, add in the sugar and cook for another 15 minutes with the lid closed.
4. Add cardamom powder, salt and the remaining clarified butter. Keep stirring until it reaches your desired consistency. I cook for 15 more minutes to have a desiccated texture.

Try it out and let me know your comments with a picture! 🙂

by Categories: DessertsTags: , , , , Leave a comment

Mambazha Pulissery (curd based mango curry)

Mangoes! It’s that season of the year.

Here, I’ve brought you a typical Kerala dish. The first time I had mambazha puliserry was at onam sadhya. Love for Kerala food is one of the things that my husband and I have in common. From a simple kappa puzhukku to beef dry roast, we have always fallen for them. It has become a part of our routine food in the recent years and influenced us, for good.

It’s a sweet variant, close to mor kuzhambu, give or take a few ingredients.

Ingredients
3 ripe mangoes, peeled and chopped
2 green chillies
1/2 tablespoon cumin
1/3 cup grated coconut
1/3 cup beaten curd
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
salt, as needed
1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
For tempering
1/2 teaspoon mustard
1/4 teaspoon fenugreek
2 dry red chillies
1 sprig curry leaves
3 tablespoons coconut oil

Preparation
1. Boil 2 cups of water, slit 1 green chilli and add it to the water
2. Blend grated coconut, cumin, 1 green chilli and few tablespoons of water into a coarse paste and keep aside
3. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and mangoes into the boiling water, close the lid and cook them for 10 minutes
4. Pour on the ground coconut paste, add some salt and let it boil for a 3-4 minutes. (I prefer this dish to be sweeter so, I add a tablespoon of sugar here.)
5. Switch off the flame, add the beaten curd and mix well.
6. Heat the oil in a small pan, add the mustard and let it splutter, then the rest of the tempering ingredients. Pour it on top of the pulissery and serve.

by Categories: MainsTags: Leave a comment

Upside-Down Apple Cinnamon Rolls

The best part about holidays is being with the family. A decadent dessert with a strong and bold cuppa adds an additional essence to those beautiful moments. Cinnamon rolls are one of our family favorites. This recipe makes a classic, buttery soft cinnamon rolls ideal for all the special occasions. Each and every bite will make you sing praises of the rich dough and pure goodness of cinnamon.

Eat them fresh or store up to a month in the freezer. My freezer is always stocked up with a couple of these rolls with variety of fillings like sweet and hot mint chutney, tomato and garlic chutney. I’ve used yeast but, it’s completely optional. A few of my friends feel intimidated using yeast, if you are feeling the same way, it’s okay! You can totally replace it with baking soda.

Ingredients
Dough
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted)
1 tablespoon yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups + 1/2 cup (for rolling and dusting) of all purpose flour

Filling
6 to 7 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Caramel sauce
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 apple, skin peeled and thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation
Cinnamon Roll
1. Butter 10 inch pan and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix warm milk, sugar and melted butter. Add the yeast and mix well. Leave it undisturbed for about 15 minutes and let the yeast bloom. Blooming time varies from place to place so, eyeballing should help.
3. Add 2 cups of flour and combine well. The mixture will be sticky, trust me it will come together. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap or warm towel and let it rise nearly double the size for 1 hour.
4. Filling – In a small bowl, add the brown sugar, cinnamon and butter. Mix well and set aside.
5. Transfer the dough into clean working surface, knead the dough by adding 1/4 cup of flour, salt and baking powder. Gradually add the remaining flour and keep kneading for 10 more minutes.
6. Do you see a smooth dough, bouncing back after poking? Then, it’s ready for the show. Roll them into a rectangle shaped sheet of about 1 cm thick. Make sure the edges are also 1 cm thick and sharp.
7. Spread the filling evenly over the dough and start rolling it from the shorter end. Brush the seam with water and pinch them. Trim down the uneven edges, if any. Cut the log into a small rolls of 3-4 centimeters thick.
8. Caramel Sauce – In a sauce pan over a medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of butter, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, lemon juice, salt and the sliced apples. Saute them for 3 minutes and off the flame.
9. Preheat the oven to 175˚C. Arrange the apple slices in the prepared pan and pour in the syrup. Place the cinnamon rolls on top the apples. Don’t jam-pack the pan, the rolls will expand. Cover the pan and leave it in a warm place for 30 minutes.
10. Bake them for 25-30 minutes. Once baked, immediately flip the pan onto a plate. Enjoy while warm!

It might sound like a hell of a process. Believe me, in the end, it’s all worth it! My husband loves this for breakfast. So, I usually makes this in 2 batches.

Tips
Make sure the milk mixture is warm before adding the yeast. If it’s too hot, bring it down to warm.
We like the tart apples so, I’ve used granny smith and left the skin unpeeled. If you want the apples to be crunchier, cut them into thick slices.
While kneading the dough, try cutting down the additional flour as much as possible.
Baking temperature varies from oven to oven, make sure you have an eye on the rolls and reduce the upper temperature to 160˚C, if you see them burning.
If you’re not a sweet tooth, ignore the caramelization. Make tiny chunks out of the apple, sprinkle them on top of the filling, roll and bake.

by Categories: DessertsTags: , , Leave a comment