Month: October 2013

Dhingri matar – A guest post

| Rekha Vengalil

 

It’s a guest post for a dear friend Avika from “A day through my life“, who I met here in the blogosphere. It’s been an absolute pleasure to have met her and she really has a great space with some mouthwatering Kerala recipes and others. Her recent post of Unniyappam did keep me drooling over. Thank you Avika for sharing your space for my post. Its been wonderful meeting you. God bless. 
 
Well not talking any further and  over to Avika’s for the recipe I share – “Dhingri matar”and browse through her space for some really mouthwatering recipes. 





 

Apple slices with crispy and crumble topping

| Rekha Vengalil
A recipe from the cook book “cakes and desserts”. With baked apples and a crispy topping; is absolutely delicious. Team it up with a scoop of ice-cream too.
 

You need –

  • Sharp red apples – 4
  • Butter – 60 grams, cold and cut into cubes
  • Caster sugar – 3 tablespoons
  • Lemon juice – 2 teaspoons
  • All purpose flour – 1/2 cup
  • Brown sugar – 1/3 grams
  • Porridge oats  – 3 tablespoons
  • Ground cinnamon – 1/2 teaspoon
  • Salt – a pinch

How to –

Butter a 8 inch spring form cake pan.Set aside. Pre-heat the over to 180 C.
 
Peel and core the apples and cut into slices. In bowl combine the apples, lemon juice and sugar. Toss well and spread them over the cake pans.
In food processor, combine the flour, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, salt and pulse. Add the butter cubes and pulse again till everything starts to form lumps.
 
Spread the crumble over the apples and bake for 30 minutes. Remove and cool completely before slicing and serving.
 
 

Chicken xacuti

| Rekha Vengalil
 
Cooking up something new gives me a high and this curry was no less exciting. A spicy hot Goan curry made from a blend of interesting spices. A recipe from my sister’s MIL and I had to do away with one of the ingredient mentioned, as poppy seeds are banned in Singapore. Nevertheless, the curry tasted great, and the whole family loved it. Indeed very happy with my first go at Konkan cuisine! 
 

You need – 

  • Chicken – 750 grams. Cleaned, washed and cut into bite-size pieces.
  • Grated fresh coconut- 3/4 cup
  • Garlic – 3 cloves
  • Spices
    • Whole dry red chilies – 4-5 or per taste
    • Cumin seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
    • Coriander seeds – 1 tablespoon
    • Black peppercorns –  1 teaspoon
    • Fennel seeds –  1/2 teaspoon
    • Carom seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
    • Cloves – 2
    • Cinnamon 1 inch stick
    • Star anise – 1
  • Turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon
  • Onions,- 1, finely sliced
  • Salt to taste
  • Grated nutmeg – a pinch
  • Tamarind pulp – 2 teaspoon
  • Oil – 1 tablespoon or as required
  • Salt to taste
 

How to –

Heat a pan and dry roast the grated coconut till light brown. Remove and set aside. In same pan dry roast all the ingredients under spices till fragrant, Allow to cool and blend them along with the grated coconut, garlic into a smooth paste with water as required.
 
Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan, sauté the onions till translucent. Add the ground coconut-spice paste and cook till oil starts to separate., Tip the chicken pieces and sauté over high heat for 2-3 minutes. Add 1.5 cups of water, tamarind pulp, nutmeg, salt; mix and bring to a boil. 
 
Turn the heat to low. Cover and cook till the chicken is done and the gravy is thick (you may add water to adjust consistency of the gravy as required).
Turn off the heat and serve hot with rice/roti.
 
 

Spicy chicken and bell pepper stir-fry

| Rekha Vengalil

You need- 

  • Chicken breast – 500 grams, cut into thin strips
  • Bell peppers – 2 small (I used red and yellow), Cut lengthwise
  • Green chili – 2, minced
  • Garlic – 2 cloves, minced
  • Onion – 1 small, thinly sliced
  • Ginger – minced, 1 teaspoon
  • Dark soy sauce – 1.5 tablespoons
  • Rice wine vinegar – 2 teaspoons
  • Sesame oil – 1 tablespoon or as required
  • Sambal chili paste – 2 teaspoons

How to –

In heat oil in wok and fry the chicken strips till slightly browned. Remove and set aside.

Into the same wok, add more oil if need. Add the garlic, ginger and chilies and saute for a minute. Add the onion and cook till translucent.

Add the Chili paste and cook till the raw smell is gone. Tip chicken, soy sauce, vinegar and toss everything well till combined and stir fry for 3 minutes.

Add the bell peppers and stir fry for further 2 minutes or till just done. Do not over cook the peppers. keep them crispy.


Check for seasoning and add salt if required since soy sauce is salty.

Turn off the heat garnish with some fresh coriander leaves and serve hot with boiled or fried rice.