Nadan Beef Curry

Beef is one of our family favorites, especially R's! I know, I know, red meat is not so good for health and it is recommended that its consumption be limited! I tell this all the time too, though I can't stop eating beef once it is prepared. This is a quick and easy beef preparation that I came across in the Vanitha magazine in the article "Taste Route".

Beef	- 2 lbs
Onion	- 1 (chopped)
Turmeric Powder	- 1/2 tsp
Chilly Powder	- 2 tbsp
Coriander Powder	- 1 1/2 tbsp
Cinnamon	- 2 - 1" pieces
Cloves	- 5
Pepper Powder	- 1/2 tsp
Fennel Powder	- 1 tsp
Garlic	- 15 pods
Ginger	- 3" piece
Coconut Oil	- 2 tbsp
Salt	- to taste
Curry Leaves	- 2 twigs

1. Mix the cube sized beef pieces with Turmeric Powder, Chilly Powder, Coriander Powder, Pepper Powder, Fennel Powder, smashed Ginger and Garlic, Cinnamon, Cloves and Salt well.
2. Keep aside this marinated beef for at least 1 hour.
3. Heat oil in a pressure cooker.
4. Add some curry leaves and let it splutter.
5. Add the onion and saute until transparent.
6. Add the marinated beef, mix well and let it cook. No water is needed, as there will be water coming from the beef.
7. Open the cooker after the pressure is gone.
8. You could reduce the water by heating it a little more or add additional water if you need more curry.

It is an excellent spicy beef dish and a quickie too!

I also need to share with you some awards that I have received:

Jisha, Neetz, Aparna, Sandhya and Kairali Sisters has shared the Smart Blogger Award with me!

Neetz and Aparna has shared the Blog Lovin Award with me!

Priya has shared the Lovely Blog Award with me!

Cool Lassi(e) has shared the Kreativ Blogger Award with me!

Aparna has shared the Thank you Award with me!

Jagruti has shared the Friendship Gift with me!

 

 

Thank you dear friends for sharing these awards with me and inspiring me to keep going! I would like to share this award with all my blogger friends!

Moong Dal Kichadi

After Moong Dal Kachori, it is now time for Moog Dal Kichadi! This Kichadi is not the kind that you would have on a traditional Kerala sadya. This is a sweet dish and it is called Kichadi, don't know why it is called so. My mom makes this once in a while, especially during the Ramzan fasting time. It is a quick dessert, but it serves more as an evening snack for me. It is healthy and a good dish for kids.

Moong Dal	- 1 cup
Rice	- 1/4 cup
Water	- 3 1/2 cup
Sugar	- 3/4 cup to 1 cup (depending on your taste)
Salt	- 1/4 tsp (heaped)
Coconut Milk	- 1 cup (thick)
Ghee	- 1 1/2 tsp

1. In a pressure cooker, put Moong Dal, Rice (I used Sona Masoori) and 2 cup of water and cook it for two whistles.
2. Open the cooker after the pressure is completely released.
3. Mash the mixture slightly and add the remaining water, sugar and salt and mix well.
4. Once it starts to boil, add the coconut milk and mix it well again.
5. When this is almost ready to boil, turn off the heat and add the ghee and mix it.

You dish is ready. You can eat it as a dessert or a snack.

Khasta Kachori / Moog Dal Kachori for ICC

Khasta Kachori is the first one of the challenges that I took, as part of being a member of ICC started by Srivalli of Spicing Your Life. The reason for me joining the group was to try out some of the dishes that the group makes, which I would never make otherwise. So this would be a learning for me of all those unknown recipes. After joining, when I saw Kachoris is the challenge for January, I was not so excited. The main reason being I have never had Kachori before and didn't think it would taste good. But now I am really happy that I joined the challenge and took the effort to make kachori and tried this out! If it does taste anything near to what I made, I would say they are a must-try!

This recipe is adapted from Medhaa's Aunty and Tarla Dalal.

Resting Time for the Dough	- around 1/2 to 1 hr
Frying time for the Kachoris	- 20 mins for each batch
Soaking Time for Moog Daal	- around 1 hr
Cooking Time for Filling	- around 15 mins
Yields	- around 15

For the Dough

All purpose flour/Maida	- 2 cups
Oil/Ghee	- 1/4 cup
Salt	- 1/2 tsp
Water	- as needed for kneading

1. Mix the flour and salt and add the oil/ghee; mix till you get a bread crumbs texture.
2. Slowly add water and make a soft dough. Knead well for about 8 minutes.
3. Cover and keep aside to rest for at least half hour.

For the Filling

Split Moong Dal (yellow)	- 1/2 cup
Cumin Seeds	- 1 tsp
Asafoetida	- a pinch
Curry Leaves	- 2 tsp chopped fine
Green Chilli - Ginger paste	- 1 tsp
Sauf / Fennel seeds powder	- 1 tsp
Garam Masala	- 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli powder	- 1/2 tsp
Mango powder/Amchur	- 1 tsp
Oil	- 1 tsp
Salt	- to taste

1. Wash and Soak dal in water for atleast 1 hour. You can go up to 4 hours, not more.
2. Drain the water well.
3. Grind the dal to a coarsely. (Will resemble Idli Rawa)
4. Heat oil in a pan.
5. Add the hing and cumin seeds.
6. Once the seeds splutter add the curry leaves.
7. Add the dal.
8. Lower the heat and keep stirring for 5 minutes till the dal stops sticking to the pan.
9. Cook for another 10 minutes on low till the dal turns slightly brown.
10. Add all the masalas.
11. Cook for few minutes till the aroma of the spices hit you.
12. Add Salt.
13. Remove from heat and keep aside to cool.

Special Tips / Notes for the filling:

• The fillings have to be really dry if not when rolling they will ooze out when rolling.
• For idea on pressing the filled kachori, check out Manjula's method. If you try to press out using a rolling pin, the filling may come out and make holes in the kachori.
• Fry the kachori's on medium low to get a crisp outer layer, that is the key. For people using electric stove, the numbers can be going from 6 to 4.

Chicken Liver Perattiyathu

Today when I came home, R had visited the Asian store and this pack of chicken liver was waiting for me. I wanted to make it then 'n there, as it had been a long time since I ate it. Now as usual the next thought was how I want to prepare it. Browsed through a ton of recipes and cooking videos online, but nothing seemed to satisfy me. Finally I decided to come up with a mix-match of all those that I saw. Yeah this is like one of those Jagathy movies where he sees a lot of English movies to come up with a new Malayalam movie :-) Anyways the end result was satisfying!

Chicken Liver	- 1 lb
Kashmiri Chilly Powder	- 2 tbsp
Turmeric Powder	- 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder	- 1/2 tbsp (Coarsely ground)
Refined Oil	- 2 tsp
Water	- 1 tbsp + 1/2 cup
Salt	- to taste
Small Onions	- 2 cup
Ginger Garlic Paste	- 2 tbsp
Garam Masala	- 1/2 tsp
Coconut oil	- 3 tbsp
Curry Leaves	- a twig

1. Mix the Chilly Powder, Turmeric Powder, Pepper Powder, Salt and Refined oil well.
2. Add the Liver pieces to this and mix well.
3. Add a tbsp of water to this and completely marinate the liver and keep aside for at least 30 minutes.
4. Blend the small onions in a mixer to a coarse paste. Water is not needed.
5. Heat the coconut oil in a pan and add the curry leaves.
6. Add onion mixture to the oil and saute for a minute.
7. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute until the onion-ginger garlic mixture develops a light brown color.
8. Add the marinated chicken liver and garam masala to this and mix well. Add salt, if needed.
9. Add half a cup of water and close the pan after mixing well. Let it cook for 6-8 minutes.
10. Open the pan and keep stirring until all the water is evaporated and the dish becomes of a dry consistency.
11. Turn off the stove. Garnish with curry leaves and serve.

The liver perattiyathu goes well with Parotta, Roti, Rice and what not!

Carrot Kums

Carrot Kums - Doesn't the name sound interesting? This was a completely new Dessert to me! Never even heard or had the slightest clue about such a dish. I happened to see this in a television cookery show 'Swad' in Jaihind TV. Per the show, it is a specialty of the Kannur area. Anyways the name made me inquisitive and I had to try this out. It came out excellent! I have made some slight changes to the measurements of the recipe.

Carrot	- 1 cup (Grated)
Eggs	- 4
Milk Powder	- 6 tbsp
Sugar	- 7 tbsp
Cardamom	- 3 pods
Salt	- a pinch
Ghee	- 1/2 tbsp
Raisins	- to garnish

1. In a mixer, grind the Carrot to an almost smooth paste. Do not add any water.
2. To this paste, add eggs, milk powder, salt and sugar and blend well.
3. Add Cardamom to the blended mixture.
4. Heat ghee in a pan and pour this mixture into the pan. Heat should be set to a little less than medium.
5. Close the pan and cook for 6-7 minutes.
6. Check to see if the kums is cooked well.
7. Decorate it with Raisins.

It is a great dessert that can be prepared in a jiffy and a good way to get carrot into your diet.

Chana Masala / Chickpeas Curry

Chana Masala is a North Indian Dish, more popular in Punjab. The most popular accompaniment for this curry is Batura. Together Batura and Chana Masala duo is referred to as Chole Batture. Per Wiki, it is sold by roadside eateries in North - meaning North Indian Thattukadas :-) and is a heavy breakfast accompanied by the cooling 'n refreshing lassi. In Southern India, the most commonly used Chana is the Kala Chana and the preparation is slightly different as well. I am slightly biased towards the Chickpeas (White Chana), may be because they look more beautiful to my eyes. Anyways here is my version of the Chana Masala.

Oil	- 2 tbsp
Onion	- 1 (chopped)
Channa (Chickpeas)	- 1 cup
Ginger Garlic paste	- 1 tbsp
Tomato	- 1
Turmeric powder	- 1/4 tsp
Coriander Powder	- 2 tsp
Chilly Powder	- 1 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala	- 1/2 tsp
Aamchur (Dried Mango powder)	- 1/2 tsp
Cumin Powder	- 1/4 tsp
Water	- 2 1/2 cup

1. Soak the Channa overnight or for a minimum of 4 hours.
2. Heat oil in the pressure cooker and saute the onion till transparent.
3. Add Ginger Garlic paste and chopped tomatoes and saute for a couple of minutes.
4. Add the powders - Turmeric, Coriander, Chilly, Garam Masala, Cumin and Aamchur to this and saute for a couple of minutes.
5. Add the soaked chana and the water to this and mix well.
6. Close the pressure cooker and cook the chana until 2-3 whistles.

Wait for the pressure to go before you open the cooker. Your chana masala is ready to serve. You could garnish with some corriander leaves (I ran out of them). Even though the perfect accompaniment is Batura, it also goes well with Chapathi, Poori 'n Roti.

And now it is award time! Shahana of Me 'n My Apron has shared 3 beautiful awards with me. Thank you Shahana!

I would like to share these  3 awards with:

1. Namitha and Sunitha of Collaborative Curry
2. Cicily of Spices from the Queen of Arabian Sea
3. Aparna of Ladies Special Adukkala
4. Bharathy of Spicy Chilly


Cicily of  Spices from the Queen of Arabian Sea has shared 2 beautiful awards with me. Thank you Cicily!

I would like to share these 2 awards with:

1. Sarah of Vazhayila

2. Shahana of Me 'n My Apron

3. Rahin of Lazzat

4. Faiza Ali of Faiza Ali's Kitchen

5. Katy of Food for Hungry Soul

6. Deepa and Tanu of Hamaree Rasoi

7. Aquadaze of Served with Love