Squid Curry

 

Finally Zion is out of fever zone & is all charged up. These days he is so attached to me & walks along with me like my tail. I cant tell you that he even doesn't let me go for a bath or toilet:) At last I decided yesterday to have some "me" time while he was asleep. My hubby gave me a reward card & told me shop whatever you want:) Now that is like a super gift for a wife right? I reached the MRT & called one of my friends to say that I am shopping today. She & I have had so many good times shopping together in the past. Now she too is a new mommy so she hardly gets time to go out & have "me" time. Finally it worked for both of us:) We met at Raffels place had lunch together, did some window shopping, chit chatting & then shopped till evening in the malls. It was a great outing. More than shopping we enjoyed each others company. Its so much important to have this "me" time once in a while. Before having Zion I used to meet this friend almost every week & now its like once a month or once in 2 months kinds.

These days I am so lazy to blog but definitely not lazy to cook. I have been making so many new dishes but haven't had the time to upload any of those. Now today's post is a curry that I made some time ago. This is a simple style Mangalorean curry made with coconut milk. This is how my Mom makes most of the fish curry. A very tasty & easy curry to go well with everything be it rice or roti's. This is how I made it:
 
Ingredients:

• 1 Kg cleaned & cut Squid
• 2 Onions chopped
• 2 Tomatoes Chopped
• 1 Tbspn ginger garlic paste
• 1.5 Tspn Cumin powder
• 1.5 Tspn coriander powder
• 1 Tspn chili powder
• 1/4 Tspn turmeric powder
• 1 Tbspn lemon juice
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 tspn fenugreek seeds
• curry leaves to garnish
• 1/2  cup hot water
• salt as per taste
• 1/2 tspn sugar
• 2 Tbspn coconut Oil
• Coriander leaves to garnish

Directions:

1. In a heavy bottom Pan, add oil fry fenugreek seeds, onions, ginger garlic paste until translucent
2. Add curry leaves tomatoes & cook this until fat separation.
3. Now add in all the Masala's mentioned above & saute for a minute.
4. Add the cleaned squid into this & saute for 3 to 4 minutes.
5. Now add in hot water, coconut milk , salt, sugar, lemon juice & bring this to a boil in low flame around 2 mins. Keep stirring or else the coconut milk will split
6. Turn off the flame & garnish the dish with coriander leaves.

Note:

1. I used coconut oil coz I use it for most of my seafood recipe to bring out the unauthentic Mangalorean flavour. You can use any other cooking oil if you want.
2. I cut my squid in round shape & they look like small onion rings, Well you can cut it any shape you want. Make sure you have cleaned it well

 

Goli Baje/ Mangalore Bajji

Mangalooru Bajji or Goli Baje is another fried snack that is very famous in the Mangalore region. These are also available in most of the udupi restaurants in Bangalore.  This was also one of the snacks my mom used to make for us. The best Goli baje's I have had is in coorg. There used to be a small canteen by name Kumar Vilas & my Pappa used to parcel some from there & get it. These were so delicious that my sister & I used to fight for major share. Back in Mangalore during our college days along with Buns, we used to order this one too. Hot baje's were served with coconut chutney & these were like KFC burgers to us.  These are easy simple to make & a very good evening snack with some filter coffee. This is how I made them:

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup All Purpose Flour/Maida
• 1/4 cup Chickpea Flour
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 1.5 Tbspn Coconut (chopped)
• 1 Tspn Cumin/Jeera Seeds
• 1 Tbsp Ginger (finely chopped)
• 1 Tbspn Green Chili (finely chopped)
• 6 to 8 curry leaves chopped
• Sugar - 1 tsp
• Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp
• Oil for frying

Directions:

1. Make a batter with all the above ingredients. The batter consistency should be as thick as cake batter.
2. Let the batter rest for at least 20 minutes
3. Now take 1 Tbspn of batter & drop them in the medium hot oil. Fry these for 2 to 3 minutes until they are golden brown. These Baje's will increase in size while frying. Goli Baje has a crisp crust outside and a soft spongy interior. 

   

Note:

• You can wet your hands & drop a small portion of batter in the oil to get those perfect round shapes.
• Zion was in my hand while I was making these, so could use my hands.

 

Mangalore Buns

I am sure every Manglorean loves this dish "Mangalore Buns" These are available in almost all restaurants, canteens in Mangalore region. My mom used to make them at least 1 once a week during our school days in coorg. We used to eat them almost every other day in our Agnes college canteen.. I love them a little sweeter & mostly this is made semi sweet. Its served with chutney or Sambar in the hotels. I love to eat them as it is. This recipe is already posted in my blog & then I dint have a canon, so most of my old post pictures are taken from my phone camera. I thought of clicking some pictures & revisting this post.

For the recipe click here

 

 

 

Chicken Sukka

 

Chicken Sukka or Ajadina is a very special & common dish in Mangalore region. This dish goes very well with Neer Dosas. I love this dish anytime with any anything. It has lot of flavours & coconut in it. This dish can be made either dry or with some curry. Like any other chicken dished this is also very addictive:). This is one dish which my mom made very often at home. I know that this dish is very common & made often in Mangaloreans home. Well this is my Mom's recipe & I think its the same as originak recipe with little or no changes. Since there is a lot of coconut in this, its defenitely not a very healthy dish to make more often. Atleast in my home where me & my hubby are on a bigger size:) The process might seems long coz of many ingredients but trust me this is again a easy recipe.I am going to devide the recipe process into 3 parts for easy understanding.

 

Serves: 6

Cooking time: 45 mins

 

Ingredients:

• 1 Kg small pieces Chicken
• 1 large Onion chopped
• 1 Tbsp minced ginger & garlic

For dryroasting & Grinding.

• 1 tspn Poppy seeds / khus-khus
• 3 inch Cinnamon stick
• 4 cloves
• Onion - 1 medium size, finely sliced
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
• Crushed garlic with skin - 5 cloves
• 12 to 15 Dry red chillies (Remove seeds)
• 2 Tbsp Coriander seeds
• 1/2 Tbsp Whole black peppercorns
• 1/4 tsp Fenugreek seeds 
• 1 Tspn Cumin seeds/jeera
• Tamarind - marble sized or Tamarind paste - 1/2 tspn

For garnishing

• Grated coconut - 1 cup
• Garlic with skin - 3 cloves
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil
• handful of curry leaves

  Preparation:

1. Heat a pan and dry roast the poppy seeds, cinnamon, cloves, sliced onion, garlic and turmeric powder.
2. Saute till the onions turn pale. Add dry red chillies, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, peppercorns and tamarind one by one and saute. Let it cool and then grind to a fine paste.
3. In a pan, add the chicken, chopped onion, salt and 3/4th of the ground masala paste. The remaining 1/4th to be added in the last step along with the coconut.
4. Cook The chicken without adding any extra water as  chicken itself will have some water in it. If you feel the chicken is getting very dry than add 1/4 cup of water.
5. In a pan dry roast the coconut, 3 cloves of garlic and cumin on a slow flame for about 2-3 minutes till you get a nice aroma . 
6. Once this is cooled, add in the remaining 1/4 th ground masala to this.
7. When the chicken is 90 % done add the coconut masala to it & give it a good mix.
8. If you want a little gravy then add some water to the chicken. Close lid & cook for 2 mins or until gravy thickens.
9. Garnish the dish with Curry leaves or coriander leaves.

Note:

• Since I dint have Curry leaves I skipped adding it.
• My dish looks a little darker coz I added more pepper as I love the peppery taste.

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Chicken Indad

 
 
This is my 4th post for BM#27. Chicken indad is a traditional Mangalorean Christain recipe. This is a thick gravy recipe & we add potatoes, Dates in this dish. This dish is mainly made for weddings & during festival celebration. Although there is dates in this recipe, this is not very sweet. There is a very good balance of flavours. This recipe goes well with Rice, Neer Dosa, Sannas & Akki Rotti. This is how I made this...
 
 
Ingredients:

• 1 kg chicken (Medium pieces)
• 2 medium onions roughly chopped (for grinding)
• 1 small onion finely sliced (for seasoning)
• 1/4 tsp tamarind paste
• 4 dates 
• 2 Tbsp Bafat powder (1 tspn Chili powder+1 tspn cumin powder+2 tspn Corinder powder+1/4 tspn Turmeric powder+1/4 tspn black pepper powder)
• 1 Tbsp ginger & garlic mince
• 2 tbsp coriander leaves
• salt to taste
• 2 tbsp oil
• 2 medium size potatoes
• Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

1. Cut the chicken into medium size pieces, wash & allow to drain.
2. Peel the potatoes and cut them into round shape 2 inch thickness.
3. Grind the 2 onions, tamarind paste, dates, bafat powder, ginger & garlic to a fine paste.
4. In a large wok heat some Coconut oil and fry the finely sliced onion till it turns translucent
5. Add the ground masala and fry on low flame till the raw onion smell disappears (this can take about 4-5 minutes)
6. Add in the potatoes and salt to taste and allow to cook for about 3-4 minutes
7. Now add the chiken pieces into this close lid & cook for about 8 to 10 mins. Add more water if required
8. Garnish with Coriander leaves.
9. 
    

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Kalumakai Fry

 

 

Yesterday I went to the wet market to pick up some fresh fish & meat. I saw fresh Mussels with one of the fish mongers & I picked a kilo from him. Mussels are very cheap, I paid just $2 for a kg. Mussels/Kallumakai is very popular in northen Kerala. During college days my Mallu fiends used to get it from their home. Aari Kadka is a very famous rice dish made with mussels in northern kerala. I used to wait for my friends to bring this while they are back to hostel from holidays. There are plenty on recipes the keralites make with Mussels. One if the simplest & commonly made are Kallumakai fry.

 

This is the first time I am cleaning the mussels & I must say that they stink so badly.. yucks....  I have cleaned the smaller ones before but they don't stink like these... At once i felt like throwing them all, coz i just couldn't control the smell. But I knew that once they are cleaned properly & washed they will taste very good. Although I like Seafood, but if it stinks I don't eat.The cleaning was a really long process but the end result so superb. I also went through a lot of cleaning videos on the net. Here are few links you can refer to  if you do not know how to clean these. click here to view the video to clean the black dirt from Mussels.

 

 

Ingredients:-

• 1 kg Mussels / Kallumakai (Once cleaned it will be 1 cup)
• 1 Tbsp Ginger garlic piece
• 1 Tspn Kashmiri red chili powder
•  1/4 Tspn pepper powder
• 1/4 Tspn Turmeric powder
• 1/2 Tspn Cumin powder
• 1 Tbsp  Lemon Juice
• Salt to taste
• 3 Tbsp Oil for frying
• Handful of curry leaves

Method:

1. Wash the mussels well under running water. If there are any opened shells discard it as they are spoilt.
2. In a heavy bottom pan add water about 3/4th of pan & cook the mussels with shell for about 10 mins in this water or until all shells are opened.
3. Drain off the water & remove meat from the shells, set aside.
4. Now there is a black part in the mussel meat that needs to be removed after its been boiled.
5. Once you remove the black part, soak the mussels in turmeric water for 10 minutes.
6. In a mixing bowl, add all the above ingredients except oil & curry leaves.
7. Now heat the pan with oil & add this mussel mixture & cook it for about 3 to 5 mins. Finally garnish them with curry leaves.

 

Elle Belle

 

 

This is my 3rd post under Gian food for BM- 26. Elee Belle is nothing but coconut & jaggery stuffed Pan cakes. I have used sugar instead of Jaggery. This is my hubby's Fav & he can eat any number of these:) When we had gone on a holiday to Goa my hubby kept ordering these almost 2 to 3 times a day. In Goa they make different types of filling. I also had chocolate Pancakes, Banana & Peanut butter. However the traditional & the tastier one is with coconut. You can add jaggery instead of sugar.

 

I remember my school days, how my Mom used to make these for our evening snacks. Mostly my mom used to make these with neer dosa's & sometimes with flour batter. These are very simple to make & can be done under 10 mins. A quick breakfast/ snack or even kids meal.

 

Ingredients:

 

Pan cake Batter

• 1.5 Cup Maida/ All purpose flour
• 2 eggs beaten
• 1 cup water (less or more to get the right consistency)
• Pinch of salt

For the filling:

• 1.5 cups grated coconut
• 1 cup sugar/ Jaggery
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 Tspn cardamom powder
 

 Method:

• Make a batter with With flour, beaten eggs, salt & water. The batter needs to be thin a little thinner than dosa batter.
• For the stuffing mix all the ingredients mentioned in the list & just microwave it for 30 secs. This will combine the sugar & coconut well.
• Heat the non stick flat Pan (Tawa) Pour a laddle of batter on the Pan & spread it around with the spoon to make it a thin Pan cake.
• Cook only on one side for about a minute or try & lift with a spatula. This comes off easily from the non stick Pan. (I try to fill the Pan cakes with stuffing immediately to avoid any sticking).
• Place a pancake on a plate. Place sufficient coconut filling in the centre, fold both the sides inward or just one side like the way I have done. Make sure that the filling is well covered or roll like a Swiss roll. Follow this process & the Pan cakes are ready to serve.

 

 

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Mangalooru Buns

This is one of my fav snack. This snack is mangalore speciality and I used to eat these almost every other day in our college canteen. My mom used to make them for breakfast & sometimes for evening snack. In coorg its very cold so my mom would mix this at night & keep it overnight to puff up. In the mornings she would fry them & the house would smell so good. Its a very easy recipe & use over ripe bananas. Make sure the Bananas are sweet or else the taste of Buns will differ. 

Makes: 15 Buns

Making time: 4- 8 hours

Cooking time: 2 mins

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Maida, all purpose flour & a little extra for binding
•  2 riped bananas
• 1/2 CUP Sugar
• 1/2 Tspn of baking soda
• 2 tbsp yogurt
• salt per taste
• 1/2 T spoon cumin seeds
• 1/2 Tspn Sesame seeds (optional)
• 1 Tbsp oil for dough
• Oil for deep frying

Directions:

1.  Mash the Bananas with a fork to a smooth puree. Add in sugar & mix this well so that the sugar is well combined:
2. Now combine the rest of the ingredients. Add water only if required. You need to bring all this together to form a soft dough.
3. Once the dough is formed just pour 1 tbsp of oil & massage the dough around with this.
4. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel & rest it in a warm place for at least 4 to 6 hours. The dough should double in size
5. Now punch in the dough to remove any excess air pockets. Take a small ball size dough & with a rolling pin roll them into small round shape. This should be 1/2 inch thickness.
6. Heat the oil & fry these in the hot oil for 1 to 2 mins on both sides. While frying make sure you keep pouring the hot oil on top of these buns (Like we do while frying Pooris)