Mutton Fry

Growing up in Hyderabad, mutton has been a regular dish in our household. It is not as widely available here in Southern California. Especially few years ago it was available only in some halal stores, or it was just me :) who never found the right places. From the last couple of years we are seeing more of it in asian grocery stores. Though mutton dishes come out delicious, I feel it takes much longer to cook it here than in India.

Ingredients:
2 lbs mutton (goat)
2 tsp chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric
Salt to taste
4 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 tsp oil

Spices to powder:
10 cloves
2 inches cinnamon
1 tsp poppy seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
4 tsp coriander seeds

For Seasoning:
¼ tsp mustard
¼ tsp cumin
2 red chillies
Curry leaves

For frying:
One onion coarsely blended
½ tsp chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric
Salt to taste
2 tbsp oil

Cilantro to garnish

Powder the spices and add to mutton along with chilli powder, turmeric, salt, oil and ginger garlic paste.

Pressure cook it until the mutton is tender. (You do not need to add water, but depending on your stove and your cooker if needed add ½ cup of water. Cooking time differs depending on the mutton.)

Once the mutton is tender, evaporate the rest of the water on high flame.

Heat oil in a pan, add seasoning, when mustard starts to splutter add coarsely ground onion along with turmeric, chilli powder and salt.

When the onions is more than half way cooked, add the mutton and fry till every thing looks well roasted.

Garnish with cilantro.

Cabbage Pacchadi

Hot rice with pacchadi and ghee has always been my favorite. Pacchadi is a very common dish in telugu homes. Mom often made pacchadi either with coconut, eggplant, gongura, mango or ridge gourd. Due to my love for the dish, I try it with lot more vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, spinach, carrot, bell pepper etc with little variations. I love them all.




Ingredients:
1 small cabbage chopped
2 tomatoes finely chopped
8 green chillies (adjust to taste)
2 flakes of garlic
2 tsp oil
Walnut size ball of tamarind
Salt to taste

For seasoning:
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp cumin
2 tbsp coriander seeds
Curry leaves
2 tsp oil

Heat oil, add seasoning, followed by garlic and green chillies. Set it aside and let it cool.

Heat oil in a wok, add cabbage and cook on medium to high heat for couple of minutes.

Add tomatoes and continue to cook until the cabbage is tender and looses the raw smell. Let it cool.

In the mean time soak tamarind in ¼ cup of warm water.

Grind seasoning into fine powder, add tamarind, grind into a fine paste.

Grind cabbage coarsely.

Mix everything together along with salt.

If you like lemon flavor you can reduce tamarind and add lemon.

Eating this with hot rice and ghee is an absolute delight!

Goduma Nooka Upma (Bulgar Upma)

Upma is a very common breakfast in the south. Unlike idli and dosa this does not need prior planning. Upma can be made with lots of variations. One of the upmas I like for its wonderful texture and high fiber content is Bulgar upma. You can find bulgar in most Indian stores, middle eastern stores carry it for sure.

1 cup bulgar
2 cups water
1 small onion sliced
2 green chillies
½ inch ginger finely chopped
2 tsp oil
Salt to taste

For Seasoning:
½ tsp mustard
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp urad dal
1 tsp channa dal
Curry leaves

Heat oil in a pan, add seasoning, when dal looks roasted add onions, green chillies and ginger.

Fry till the onion looks transparent.

Add water and salt and bring it to a boil.

Add bulgar and let it cook on medium for few minutes.

Reduce the flame and cover the pan. Leave until the water is all evaporated and bulgar is thoroughly cooked.

Baked Salmon

I am very picky when it comes to eating fish. Back in India I loved fish cooked in spicy gravy. After moving to US the only fish I ever bought was catfish. Over the years I tried couple other fishes but they didn’t appeal to me, so went back to eating only catfish.

I have heard a lot about how healthy salmon is. After hesitating a lot, finally decided to give it a try. Initially I marinated it with Indian tikka masalas along with ginger, garlic and yogurt.

Recently, this Italian seasoning sitting in my pantry made me try this new recipe. I added whatever I felt like adding. The result was a tender moist salmon which became an instant family favorite.



3 one inch thick Salmon steaks
2 tsp Italian herb seasoning
4 tsp grated garlic
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp white vinegar
2 tsp lemon juice
6 tsp extra light olive oil
4 tsp cilantro finely chopped
Salt to taste

Mix all the ingredients and marinate fish in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Place the salmon in a baking dish and cover it with foil.

Bake it at 350 degrees for 45 mins.

Remove foil and bake for another 10 mins at 450 degrees to evaporate the juices.

Tender and moist salmon with a side of salad or steamed vegetables tastes great.

Beans stir fry with peanut flavor

Cooking is a joy, but time is precious. We don’t always have enough time to indulge in cooking. For those days I come up with quick n easy recipes. Frozen french beans are something I always have in my freezer. French beans fry is what I make in a snap when I am in a hurry.


Ingredients:
One frozen pack of French cut beans
1 medium onion sliced thin
2 tbsp roasted peanuts coarsely ground
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
¼ tsp turmeric
½ tsp mustard
½ tsp cumin
2 tsp oil
Salt to taste


Heat oil in a wok, add mustard and cumin.

When mustard starts to pop add onions fry for couple minutes.

Add frozen beans and fry on medium heat.

When the beans look cooked add turmeric, chilli powder, salt, coriander powder and cook for couple more minutes.

Add ground peanuts, stir until it is evenly mixed with the beans.

Tastes great with roti or white rice.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

For chicken:
1 lb boneless white chicken cut into bite size pieces
2 tsp ginger, garlic and chilli paste
2 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp corn flour
1 egg
Salt and pepper
Oil for deep frying

For the sauce:
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
2 spring onion chopped just the green parts
2 tbsp tomato sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp white vinegar
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp chilli sauce
2 tsp corn flour
1 tsp oil
Salt and pepper

Marinate chicken with all the ingredients under chicken except corn flour and egg for 2 -3 hours in refrigerator.

Add corn flour and egg to the marinated chicken and mix well. Chicken should be well coated with the batter, add a little water if necessary.

Deep fry chicken, do not over cook. I recommend double frying.

For the Sauce add oil to the sauce pan fry garlic just a little, add all the ingredients except spring onions and corn flour. Add a cup of water and bring it to a boil.

Add corn flour dissolved in water. This makes the sauce thick. Adjust the sauces to taste.

Add the fried chicken pieces and chopped spring onions.

Serve it piping hot with fried rice. :)

Chicken Fried Rice

2 Cups Basmati Rice
3 Eggs
¼ lb Boneless Chiken
½ Cup finely chopped Carrot
½ Cup finely chopped Green Beans
½ Cup finely chopped Spring Onions
3 tsp Ginger, Garlic and Green Chilli Paste
½ tsp Pepper
2 Tbsp Oil
2 Tbsp Butter
Salt to taste
Soy Sauce to Taste

Cook Rice and spread it on a plate to cool so that the grains are separate.

Marinate chicken with a little of ginger, garlic, chilli paste, salt, pepper and soy sauce.

In a kadai add a tsp of oil and on medium flame fry the marinated chicken, stirring continuously for about 5 minutes, remove and set aside.

Add couple tsp of oil and ginger, garlic, chilli paste, salt, pepper and mix them together, to that add eggs and stir continuously until they are set, do not let them over cook, remove and set aside.

Now add the rest of the oil and the rest of ginger, garlic, chilli paste, salt, pepper and all the veggies and stir on high flame, they should be just cooked but still be crisp, now add the chicken and egg and stir for couple more minutes.

To this add rice and butter and stir till the rice is heated through, add salt and soy sauce to taste.

Yummy Chicken Fried Rice is ready!

It goes well with Sweet and Sour chicken which is going to be my next post.