Nadan Kozhi Porichathu | Kerala Chicken Fry

With Easter just a day away marking the culmination of the Holy week and season of lent, Christian households would be prepping up a feast to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. Our celebrations often overshadow the real reason for the existence of such a day. To put it in a line - Easter Sunday celebrates resurrection of Jesus Christ from the tomb on the third day after crucifixion, fulfilling the prophecy that the Son of God would die for our sins and rise on the third day signifying eternal life.

With a good share of Indian Christian population in the Southern state of Kerala, Easter Sunday would witness a day of festivity both at church and at homes. Here is a recipe that you can add on to the menu - Nadan Kozhi Porichathu/ Kerala Chicken Fry.

Ingredients

To Marinate –

• Chicken – 1 kg cut into medium or large pieces
• Ginger- garlic paste – 2 tsp
• Kashmiri chilli powder – 1 tsp
• Red chilli powder – 1 tbsp
• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
• Fennel powder – 1 tsp
• Garam Masala – 1 tsp
• Vinegar – 4 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Water 

For the masala - 

• Coconut – ½ cup grated
• Curry Leaf – 2 sprigs
• Coconut oil – for deep frying
• Red chilli powder – ½ tsp
• Salt

 Method

• Clean the chicken and pat dry them. Create gashes on the chicken for the marinade to seep in.
• Prepare the marinade using the ingredients listed under ‘To Marinate’. Add water only if required to form the paste.
• Marinate the chicken pieces in the marinade and set aside for a minimum of half an hour or maximum of a day in the refrigerator.
• Heat oil in a deep pan, add the chicken pieces and fry on both the sides on medium flame until the chicken is cooked and a golden brown colour is attained.
• Transfer this on to a kitchen towel to drain off excess oil. Transfer this to a serving dish.
• Once all the batches of chicken have been fried, add coconut and curry leaf to the same oil along with chilli powder. Fry until the coconut turns light brown in colour.  It will continue to cook even after you take it off the flame. Spread this onto the chicken in the serving dish. Sprinkle a dash of salt over the dish and serve hot.

Chemmeen Puttu | Prawns Steamed Rice Cake

Sundays are not a very happy day to wake up to, being the start of the week in Dubai - yet today morning I woke up refreshed and happy. Dubai has been my home for more than three years. I have got used to living here by now. Yet after packing off Shibin to office ( yeah, I mean it)  as I sat down with a cup of coffee, I felt the urge to wake up to the chatter of birds amidst luscious green trees and not to forget the occasional patter of rain drops during the monsoons. These imageries manifests my childhood!

I was brought up in a village named Chanthar, 4kms from the small town of Brahmavar to the north of the temple town of Udupi. My parents moved to this place post their marriage and has since been our home. Technology and trends were slow to reach this place but education never was! Even today this place sees a plethora of educational institutions. During the late 80s and early 90s, a large part of this area was under forest cover. Things began to change with the Konkan railways tracing their path through the remote area. Yet, a majority of places seemed unaffected. Truth be said - monkeys, rabbits, peacocks, fox, wild hens, a variety of birds made these forests their home.Stray cats and dogs were in plenty too. So were Snakes! I refrained from mentioning snakes along with the other animals because it gives me creeps and nightmares which I wake up to and fear moving any part of my body for the fear of touching a snake lurking around in the dark. 

Flora and fauna thrived in plenty. ( has changed a lot over the last 10 years I have to admit) Waking up to the chattering of birds or the rain drops falling on the roof tops slowly gliding towards the drains and making its final landing on the ground made our day. Wading through ankle high rain water to school was normal rainy season to us. Sitting in the patio as a family watching the winds sway the trees was a monsoon Saturday afternoon hobby. Bathing in the rain water was a pastime we looked forward to provided there were no thunder and lightning. Climbing the mango tree and the rose apple tree to pluck the fruits were our summer hobbies! Staying away from the hairy caterpillar was our winter agenda! It's sad that due to the unscrupulous ways of man, our next generation may never ever get to enjoy the God created amazing world, just the creation of man that were made destroying that of God. Yet they say, Nature has its way! 

I did not mean to mull over on the above subject this long but it just came by!

On to the recipe, puttu is indigenous to Kerala! Malayalees, I am sure will put up a fight for that:) Traditionally made by steaming rice flour with coconut and served with banana or kadala curry, today the dish has found many re-invented forms and combinations! About a year back I tried mixing some leftover puttu with left over prawns roast, the results of which were magnificent. Since then, I have been wanting to try a prawns topping with coconut in it to complement the puttu well! Puttu with no coconut is not puttu for me:)

Moving onto the recipe of Chemmeen Puttu -

Ingredients

To Marinate – 

1. Prawns – 750 gms (small size)
2. Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
3. Kashmiri chilli powder – 1 tbsp
4. Pepper powder – ½ tsp
5. Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
6. Fennel powder – 1 tsp

For the masala - 

1. Onions – 3 finely chopped
2. Ginger – 1 tbsp finely chopped
3. Garlic – 1 tbsp finely chopped
4. Coconut – ½ cup grated packed
5. Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
6. Curry Leaves – 2 sprigs
7. Coconut oil – 2 tbsp

For Puttu - 

1. Puttu podi/ Rice Flour – 2 cups
2. Water – 1 to 2 cups
3. Salt to taste

Method

• Take the rice flour in a bowl and add salt. Sprinkle water over the flour as needed and begin mixing using your fingertips.
• To check, take a handful of the flour mix and press it in your palms. First it should form a lump and on further prodding the lump should crumble.
• Once the flour mix is done, press it down in the bowl and keep it aside covered.
• Clean and de-vein the prawns. Use small size prawns. If the prawns are of bigger size, slice them into smaller pieces.
• Marinate the prawns with the ingredients listed under marination and set aside for 20 minutes.
• Dry grind the coconut and cumin seeds, set aside.
• Heat coconut oil in a pan, add onions and saute until it wilts. Add curry leaves, ginger, garlic and saute until cooked.
• Add marinated prawns to this, adjust salt and cook it covered for 5 minutes.
• Add the coconut mix and cook for a while until the prawns are completely done.
• Heat water for steaming the puttu. Layer the masala first in the puttu kutti and then add puttu podi. Steam the puttu for 5 minutes or till steam escapes from the top. ( done wither on top of pressure cooker or puttu kodam.
• Serve it hot.

Shakshouka | Eggs in spicy Tomato Sauce

Habits are quite situational! I hate waking up early mornings although I know that's the best part of the day and would love to inculcate the habit of waking up early. Having said that, do not mistake me to be a person who wakes up at 9 am! I am up before 7!Ain't that good enough :P However, I surprise myself on trips, I become an early riser. I love those early morning walks and that peace it gives! The part of Dubai I stay in has a serious dearth of such good and peaceful places for a morning walk which makes me think would the presence of such a place in the neighborhood make me an early riser (**thinking**)

The next best thing that could happen in the morning is an amazing breakfast. Eggs form an integral component of the breakfast table. When you can have a wholesome egg dish with just a slice of bread to wipe away the final gravy - yumm! Mornings are made!

That is Shakshouka to me - it makes an amazing dinner too! Its a dish popular in the Middle east and African region - debate is still on for the country of origin.
Here is the recipe -

Ingredients

1. Eggs - 3
2. Onions ( purple or white) - 1 large finely chopped
3. Garlic - 2 tbsp finely chopped
4. Tomato - 4 large
5. Cumin powder - 1 tsp
6. Chilly powder - 1 and 1/2 tsp
7. Pickled jalapeno - 1 to 2 tbsp chopped ( optional)
8. Capsicum - 1/4 cup chopped
9. Tomato sauce - 2 tbsp
10. Coriander leaf - 1/4 cup chopped loosely packed
11. Bread crumbs - 2 tbsp ( optional)
12. Salt to taste
13. Olive oil

Method

• Roughly chop the tomatoes and blend them.
• Heat 2 tbsp oil in a frying pan. Add the chopped onions and garlic. Cook until it wilts.
• Add cumin powder and chilly powder. Cook them well.
• Add the tomato puree along with salt. Cook it covered until the tomato is well cooked and begins to reduce slightly. This may take about 10 minutes on low flame.
• Pour in tomato sauce and add the capsicum and jalapeno. Cook for another minute or two before adding the chopped coriander leaf, save some for garnish.
• Break open eggs into bowls and slowly drop them into the tomato sauce spacing them well.  Sprinkle the bread crumbs over this and cook it covered till a white layer forms over the egg yolk. The egg yolk needs to remain slightly runny.
• Garnish with corriander leaf.
• Serve immediately with toasted bread!

You may also note - 

• In case you do not intend to serve immediately. Make only the gravy and add the eggs just 5 minutes before serving.
• The egg tends to cook and harden in the heat if left for too long before serving

Egg Drop Curry

If you were to name one item in your pantry that you cannot do without - what would that one item be? 

I do not have to think twice about this - its definitely EGG! I cannot do without eggs in the pantry, doesn't matter even if I go a week without eating eggs but to know that it is in the fridge and I can always reach out to in case of emergency makes me at peace. As I speak, I have just one egg left in my pantry and I am desperate to restock. This week has been Egg-strodinary week with egg on the menu almost all days simply because its the easiest thing to cook especially when your health prevents you from making elaborate meals. Hard boil, soft boil, fried , sunny side up, poached, omelette - there are many ways to go about it. 

I have been meaning to dole out some easy egg recipes but laziness got the better of me. But then I realised that eggs are meant for those lazy days when you want something to eat other than veggies and defrosting and cleaning of the meat and fish etc is something that you don't intend to get into! So eggs fit into my lazy frame of mind - oh boy I intend to tide over laziness - I always do, but then I am back to square one.

Here is the recipe of egg drop curry that goes perfectly well with every any Indian flatbread, bread and any appam. I paired it with idiyappam - string hoppers! So hop onto the recipe.

Ingredients

1. Eggs - 4
2. Onions - 2 large sliced
3. Tomato - 2 medium chopped
4. Ginger paste - 1/2 tsp
5. Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
6. Kashmiri Chilly powder - 1 tsp
7. Coriander powder - 2 tsp
8. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
9. Milk - 1 and 1/2 cup
10. Curry leaf - 2 sprigs
11. Coriander leaf
12. Salt to taste
13. Water
14. Oil

Method

• Heat oil in a wide pan. Add the thinly sliced onions and saute till it starts to wilt.
• Add ginger and garlic paste, cook till the paste is done.
• Add all the masala powder and cook it for about 2 minutes sauteing through out.
• Finally add the tomatoes and curry leaf and let it cook covered until the tomato has completely melted down.
• Adjust salt at this stage and add about a cup of water.
• Bring this to boil and pour in the milk.
• Reduce the flame and let the gravy heat up.
• Break open the eggs one at a time into a bowl. Then pour this gently into the gravy leaving space between each egg drops and cook it covered for another 5 minutes until the eggs are done.
• Transfer to a bowl and garnish with corriander leaf.

You may also note - 

• Always break open eggs into a bowl and then pour into the gravy. Breaking them open directly into the gravy could ruin the entire dish if the eggs have gone bad.

Check out other egg recipes on the blog!