Dry Crab Curry with Fresh Blue Crab

I am back with a delicious and enticing post for you all... Last week I just couldnt find any time for myself, to draft a post and share with you. I didnt make anything new at all last week and so I am posting about the Crab curry - JZ style that I made sometime back.

We have an oriental foods market in MN which is about half an hour or more drive from my home. The market is famous for its wide variety of fresh seafood and vegetables, many of which are also available in Kerala. So the Keralites in MN love to visit this particular shop and try their hands at all the veggies and seafood just like the ones available back at home. Since its really far from my home, we dont go there often, but we do when we can. Once when we went there, they had some fresh blue crab. When I say fresh, I mean frrrrrrrresh!! They were alive, moving around in the basket they were in. I saw a few people try hard with tongs to pick them up and put them in brown paper bags all the while thinking about the delicious stuff they are going to come up with!! But the crabs were fighting tooth and nail, with their claws, viciously attacking the tongs coming at them. I felt envious of the people buying them, I had never made anything with crab before! I didnt even know how to clean or cook the crab.

Anyways, I felt adventurous that day and I asked JM to buy me two of them. JM generously passed me the "honor" of getting the crabs into the bags. After a lot of wrestling around, I got two of them into the bag. All the while we were driving back home, I imagined them escaping the bag and crawling around in the trunk, ready to pinch me with their claws!! ;-)

But to my relief, they were still in the paper bag. After researching on the internet, I boiled them whole for a few minutes and then cleaned them. I cut them in half and proceeded to make a curry that I just thought up then and there. I made the crab curry in a traditional fish pot, the one made with clay, used for making fish curries. I should say that it was really delicious!! Believe me, it really was! It was amazing, with the flavors reminiscent of Kerala Fish Curry. I got good reviews from JM - a true seafood buff, so I am sure that it really was good. I loved it too, apart from the fact that I dont believe in working hard to get a small morsel of delicacies such as shrimp and crab!! ;-) Hopefully you would love this recipe. Try this out and share your results with me.

Recipe (Serves 2):

Blue crab - 2 nos (1 lb)
Green chilli (Serranos) - 1, sliced lengthwise
Onion - 1/2, chopped
Ginger - 1" piece, sliced thin
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Kudampuli (Camboge) - 1, cut into pieces

Method:

Clean and cook the crab for a few minutes with the shell on.

Cut the crab in half.

Saute the ginger, chillies and onion in oil in a saute pan or fish curry pot.

Add the red chilli powder and turmeric powder, saute well.

Toss in the crab halves.

Pour some water in, just enough to cover the crab partially.

Season with salt.

Close the pan with a lid and cook until the water is evaporated and the masala coats the crab.

Serve hot with rice.

Enjoy!!

Tips:

1. I still am not an expert in cleaning the crab, so check out the experiences from others on how to clean it.

Hope you enjoyed reading my post. Wishing you all a great day and an awesome week ahead!!

Steamed rice cakes and Black chickpeas curry (Puttum Kadalayum)

Hey everyone, how are you all doing? I finally started my work at the University this week - on Tuesday! Its become really hectic at home nowadays since I take the bus and have to leave home at 6.50 am. The evenings are just as hard because poor lil LM also gets home after almost 9 hours at school and is really tired after all the running around! I am planning on taking the Fridays off and finally my first weekend is here today!! :-) Its a lot of work at the research lab with a lot of standing and walking around! But I should say that it feels good to be back in a lab after a gap of 3 years. Because of the new experience, I couldnt plan well on my posts last week, but I hope to post regularly from next week onwards!


This recipe for the Black chickpea curry is from my mother-in-law who visited us last year. I had taken these pictures then and was saved as a draft for so long!! Puttu (steamed rice cakes) and kadala (black chickpea curry) is an outstanding breakfast combo in Kerala, India. Eventhough it is more popular as a breakfast item, you can get these anytime you fancy, from one of the roadside stalls or restaurants. Puttu is a simple blend of rice flour, salt and water which is then steamed in cigar shaped or bowl shaped molds. You can also use a regular steamer in which case the puttu will not be in any molded shape. I didnt like it as much when growing up, but after moving to the US and not getting to eat these made it a delicacy for us!!

Puttu can also be eaten with sugar or ripe bananas (for sweet versions) or also with whole moong dal curry (cherupayar curry). Since coconut is abundant there, Keralites typically tend to use a lot of coconut in their cooking - puttu can be made by either mixing grated coconut with the flour or just lining the steamer with grated coconut.

I made these steamed rice cakes in a small steel "chiratta" vessel which is shaped like a coconut shell and can be steamed on the steam outlet of a pressure cooker. So its called chiratta puttu. In addition to imparting the cute shape to the puttu, the "chiratta puttu" vessel also makes it easier to steam the individual portions of puttu in less than a couple of minutes. Read more about puttu at wiki. I usually use the puttu flour available in Indian stores (Double Horse brand), for making these. It is basically plain rice flour, but the ones for puttu is more coarsely ground than the fine rice flour available in general grocery stores. If using fine rice flour, it might help to dry-roast the flour in a skillet, wetting the flour with water and then steaming the puttu.

Black chickpeas takes a long time to cook, so do soak it overnight in water. Using a pressure cooker makes it easier to cook after soaking, even then it takes about 20 minutes. If using a saucepan to took, be advised that it will take longer. Chickpeas curry can be had along with many other traditional Kerala breakfast or even with rice. The coconut milk in the curry makes it an all time delicious and sought after traditional Kerala curry.

I hope these descriptions are enough for those who are not familiar with these dishes. Trust me, its a very delicious combo, especially the black chickpea curry with coconut milk. The recipe follows. So try these out and let me know how it turned out. I would be happy to answer any more questions that you might have. Enjoy!!

Black Chickpea Curry

Recipe :

Dried black chickpeas - 1 1/2 cups
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Garlic - 3 cloves, sliced lengthwise
Onion - 1 small, sliced
Curry leaves - a handful (if using)
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp
Canned thick coconut milk - 1/2 cup

Method:

Soak the chickpeas overnight in water.

Pressure cook the chickpeas in enough water for a whistle.

Reduce the flame and cook for about 15-20 minutes.

In a pan, pop the mustard seeds in oil.

Add the sliced onions, garlic and curry leaves and saute.

Once the onions are soft and sauteed well, add the spice powders.

Saute until the spices are well cooked.

Add the cooked chickpeas with any remaining water to the pan.

Season with salt and bring to a boil.

Boil the curry until it is of the desired consistency.

Just before removing from heat, pour the thick coconut milk and mix well.

Serve hot with puttu!!

Steamed rice cakes / Puttu :

Take the desired amount of rice flour and add salt to it. Then add warm water, a little at a time until the flour is just wet. Break up the lumps with your finger tips and palms, until soft and powdery, and just wet. The puttu flour is now ready to be steamed.

One way to make sure that the flour has been adequately wet is to hold a handful of flour and press lightly to shape. If the flour holds the shape and then breaks up easily when pressed, the flour is ready!

For the chiratta puttu:

Boil a cup of water in a pressure cooker. Cover with the lid and allow the steam to escape through the outlet on top. Line the steel puttu mold with a bit of grated coconut. Fill the mold loosely with wet puttu flour. Cover with the mold lid. Keep the mold on top of the steam outlet. The puttu is done when steam comes out of the top of the puttu mold. Srve hot and enjoy with hot chickpea curry!!

Hope you enjoyed reading the post. Have a great weekend!!

Beef Croquettes (Cutlets)

Hey everyone!! Hope you all had a wonderful Easter and Vishu (in Kerala)! Things have been very very hectic for me back home at MN. We came back from California on Friday and have been taking care of several overdue stuff all through this week. I was busy putting together a humble Easter meal on Saturday and decided to stick to some basic dishes (mixed cuisine) including these beef croquettes/cutlets and onion salad as an appetizer, naan, fried rice, pork vindaloo, raita, pappad and pickle for the main course and caramel custard pudding to finish off the meal. I would like to share the recipe for these croquettes today!! I also have a small movie with a few of the floral pictures that I took in CA, along with a song I sung and recorded at home (WARNING : neither perfect nor professional!!). The song is from the new Malayalam movie Sagar alias Jacky. Drop me a word if you like it! ;-). More pictures of the trip will be uploaded soon on "Through the looking glass".

Croquettes are small fried food roll containing mashed potatoes and minced meat or fish as main ingredients and often encased in bread crumbs. This is one of the common appetizers made in Christian homes in Kerala, India for special occasions like Christmas and Easter, even as sides or snacks. I am sure I wouldnt be able to think of any celebration we had without sampling one version or the other of these cutlets!! We usually love the cutlets with a splash of tomato ketchup on the side when served as an appetizer or snack and is a great accompaniment to tea or coffee. It can be dressed up as a more adult-kind of snack with a side salad of onions, green chillies and vinegar rubbed together. It can also be served as a side to fried rice/pulao/plain rice. It is generally deep fried, but I usually shallow fry the cutlets in a skillet and brown them on either sides.

We really enjoyed the cutlets and I am sure you would too. Please do try out the recipe and let me know if you enjoyed it! The cutlets should be fine if made with other minced meat including chicken, pork or turkey (though I havent tried them), or can be subsituted with carrots, beetroots, mashed potatoes and peas for a vegetarian version of the croquettes. Enjoy!!

Recipe (Makes 20-30 cutlets) :

Ground beef - 3 lb chuck
Onions - 1 1/2 medium, diced small
Ginger - 1" by 1" piece, minced
Green chilly (Serrano) - 1, minced
Garlic - 2 large cloves, minced
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Kashmiri Chilli powder - 3 tsp
Coriander powder - 3 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Golden Klondike Potatoes - 1 1/2 lb
Eggs - 3, beaten lightly
Breadcrumbs - as needed (~2 cups)

Method:

Cook the potatoes until very tender (in a pressure cooker, saucepan or microwave).

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed skillet.

Saute onions on medium hight heat for about 2 minutes.

Add the ginger, garlic and green chillies.

Saute until the onions are tender (for about 2 more minutes).

Lower the flame and toss in all the spice powders.

Allow the spice powders to cook by adding a tbsp or two of water, on low flame.

Cook the spices until oil separates.

Add the ground beef and separate into smaller chunks using a wooden spoon.

Close the skillet with a lid and cook the beef over medium flame for about 15 minutes, or until no longer pink and is cooked well.

Remove the lid and allow the beef keema to dry.

Allow the beef to brown lightly.

Switch off the flame and allow to cool.

Once cooled, mash the potatoes coarsely and mix in.

Mix the beef-potato mixture until everything comes together.

Shape into round or oval patties or cylinders.

Dip each beef patty in the egg, shake of excess.

Coat the patties well with bread crumbs, one at a time.

If the patties are very soft, set aside until easier to handle (it will harden a bit).

Fry the patties, a couple at a time, and serve hot.

Tips:

1. The cutlets can be deep or shallow fried. I usually shallow fry them with a bit of oil in a skillet. Deep frying gives a uniform brown color to the croquettes. The pictured ones were deep fried. The last picture shows cutlets which were shallow fried.
2. The cutlets can also be frozen (before frying) wrapped in plastic wrap and kept in an airtight container. Thaw in the refrigerator or in the microwave and use as needed.
3. The cutlets/croquettes can be served hot as an appetizer with tomato ketchup on the side, or with a salad of onions and green chillies in vinegar.

Here's a floral treat from California with a home-recording (by JZ @ Tasty treats) as background score!!

Hope you all enjoyed the movie. Have a great day!!

Ginger Chutney ( Inji Curry)

Inji Curry or Ginger Chutney is one of my favourite condiments from Kerala cuisine. Last year, we had my in-laws visit us here in MN. During that time, I had my MIL prepare some of her signature Kerala dishes and had posted about them. I still have a few left from last year's collection, some which I had not had a chance to share with you all. This recipe for Inji curry is simple and very delicious. Inji curry is usually a must have during "Onam sadya" which is a festive meal served on plantain leaves along with rice and a wide assortment of curries and condiments. The perfect combination of sweetness, sourness and spicyness makes this simple chutney one of the tastiest sides to an Indian meal. But we dont need to wait for festivals to enjoy such fine curries and condiments, do we!? ;-)

I thought that I'll have my MIL make this and keep in the fridge for use after she is gone. But I am not exaggerating when I say that it was gone in days. It was lip-smackingly good. Try this out and you'll love it. Since she worked without measuring spoons, the amount of ingredients are approximates. Please feel free to work around with the recipe to tailor it to your tastes.

Recipe :

Ginger, chopped very fine - 1 1/4 cups
Green chillies - 5 serranos, chopped very fine
Onion, small - 1/2, chopped fine
Kashmiri chilli powder - 3 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Tamarind paste (concentrated) - 1 tsp
Jaggery - 1/4 of one block
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Oil - as needed
Curry leaves - as needed

Method:

Chop the ginger and green chillies finely.

Heat oil and pop the mustard seeds and curry leaves (if using).

Saute the ginger, onions and green chillies until the ginger turns brown.

The mixture should be dry and the ginger should still have a bite to it.

Add the chilly powder and turmeric powder and saute well.

Stir in the tamarind paste and add water and salt to taste.

Allow the mixture to come to a boil.

Toss in the grated jaggery and cook until the chutney comes to a desired consistency.

Ginger Chutney can be stored in the refrigerator for about 3 weeks.

Tips:

1. The recipe worked well for our family. Please feel free to adapt the recipe to your tastes.
2. Reduce the amount of chilly powder for a milder chutney.

The deadline for "Lets go nuts : Almonds" is March 31, 2009. So friends, please hurry in your entries to jz.tastytreats@gmail.com.

Have a great day!!

Egg Biriyani & Pista Kulfi for an awesome treat!

I just dont know how fast each week passes by! Dividing my time between taking care of a 3 year old, her pre-school, JM's busy schedule and household chores, I just know that Monday (the dreaded day!!) comes by just as soon as the previous one is over! So these days, I havent done much of baking or cooking "specials", for that matter. I am inviting you to share two excellent recipes that I had tried out earlier, from two other talented bloggers. The first one is Shn's Egg Biriyani and to finish it off with a sweet note, there is Sujatha's Pista Kulfi.

This egg biriyani caught my interest the first time I came across Shn's post on the recipe. Immediately I bookmarked it in my favourites. Last year at Christmas, I decided to give this a try. Just because it was just the three of us on Christmas, I didnt feel like preparing an elaborate meal. And coincidentally I fell sick the two days before Christmas. By that time I really needed something simple. We were all happy with the egg biriyani which is actually a little more complex than the name suggests. One would expect the biriyani to be biriyani rice and masala with just hard boiled eggs. But this recipe is a bit more complex with egg omelettes and homemade masala. I was a bit overwhelmed with all the steps, probably because I was not feeling well. Anyways, try this out and you wont be disappointed.

Check out Shn's Egg Biriyani at Mishmash!

I really dont have to say how much I love desserts. When Sujatha posted this Pista Kulfi recipe, I was itching to make it as soon as possible. But since I am on a small sugar-high dessert ban, I had to be patient. The recipe remained attractive among all my bookmarked recipes. Finally a few weeks ago, I made the kulfi and it was out of the world!! I am not kidding, it was awesome! It was melt in your mouth kind which no one would be able to resist. The best part about the recipe is its simplicity and can me mixed together in minutes. JM absolutely loved it, he was willing to have it for breakfast, if I would let him! The recipe was enough for probably 12-14 kulfi-sicles but they were gone in a day! I just cant thank her enough for this delicious dessert. Dont believe me?, try it out for yourself......

Do try out Sujatha's Pista Kulfi recipe at Spicy Khazaana.

My dear friend Ivy of Kopiaste has bestowed upon me, the Adorable Blog award. I thank her immensely for remembering me while passing on the award.

I would love to pass it on to,

Asha of Foodie's Hope and Aroma

Divya Kudua of Easy Cooking

Priya of Priya's Easy N' Tasty recipes

Trupti of Recipe Center

Aquadaze of Served with Love

Soma of eCurry

Finally, dont forget that Lets go nuts: Almonds is the "happening thing"/ ongoing event on Tasty treats. Do check out the event announcement and rush in your delicious entries with almonds in them, before March 31.

Have a great day!

Spicyana's Christmas Fruit Cake

First of all, let me wish all my friends - my readers - A Very Happy and Prosperous New Year, 2009. Thank you all for the wishes that you bestowed upon me this holidays and wishing you all the best this year too!!

I was having these work week start - blues or rather the blues after the holidays! JM had some extra vacation time and he surprised me with the news that he is going to be with us during much of the holidays. Eventhough we didnt have anything spectacular planned, this was one of the best holidays of my life. It was such a welcome change after his hectic work schedule and we spent time catching up on our good old life, lazing around the house, taking lil LM out, browsing, shopping (yes, I got quite a few baking stuff too!), ah... the best of times!!

These holidays, I also caught up on some of the recipes that were bookmarked so long ago!! Infact, around the Christmas time much of our specials came from recipes shared by other talented chefs in the blogosphere!! One of the best recipes I tried out is Spicyana's Fruit Cake. I made it twice, one for a Fruit Cake competition (which I didnt win BTW), and then for a gathering of a group of my friends. Needless to say, it was an awesome hit and it literally disappeared in minutes!! Everybody loved it, the taste, the texture and the looks. I know its slightly off-season or a bit late to make this post - which was actually delayed because JM was at home and I was too lazy to write a post. But I thought its only just to let you all know that this is one great recipe and gives you good results. Moreover, who needs a holiday to have a great Fruit Cake!!?

Here is a pictorial representation of a few stages in the making of a wonderful fruit cake. I have never been one to love the fruit cake, but now I do, I really do!! :-). I hope you all would enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them! ;-)

The first time I made this cake was in a round cake pan 9" by 3" and took about 1 1/2 hours to bake. The second was in a bundt pan (pictured) which took about 1 hr 10 minutes. So watch out for the baking times which would differ with the pan and your oven. I finished off the cake with a bit of dark chocolate ganache (chocolate and cream) poured over the cake and decorated with a bit of chopped nuts.

Thanks a lot for the overwhelming response to my first event - Santa's Holiday Challenge. I will be posting the round-up, judging details and the polls soon (just as soon as I get out of my stupor!). Do check back to vote for your favorites and help choose the two lucky winners of Santa's gifts!!

Coincidentally Jai & Bee of Jugalbandi are calling for the theme "Color Red- in a culinary theme" for their acclaimed event CLICK. I think the picture of my Fruit Cake would qualify for the event. So the first picture of the cake is my entry to CLICK : Jan 2009. Hope the photography gods smile upon me (atleast remotely) this time! ;-)

Have a great day!!

Kerala-style Lamb Stir-fry (Lamb peralan)

Eventhough we are hardcore carnivores, we rarely buy lamb in the US. Even while we were in India, mutton was considered a bit pricey a few years ago, so it was only prepared for special occassions. I first bought lamb in the US for an Easter meal, the recipe for which I have posted on my blog. It was the recipe for a roasted lamb which was marinated overnight in red wine. We loved it! When my MIL came here, we once again bought the boneless leg of lamb for a taste of Indian Lamb Curry. My MIL made this preparation which is relatively easy to execute. With just some basic Indian spices, she made an extraordinary dry lamb preparation which we absolutely loved!! It was just another version of the typical Kerala-style beef that we make at home, and it was fantastic. It would be an excellent accompaniment to rice, rotis or chapathis. We even used a bit of the lamb curry to make a lamb stew for appam, the recipe for which I will post soon. Hope you all would give this recipe a try. This would be a great collection to your lamb recipes!

Recipe:

Lamb (Boneless leg of lamb) - 4 lb

Onion - 2 large, sliced

Thai green chillies - 2 small, sliced

Ginger - 2" piece, sliced

Garlic - 2 cloves, sliced

Red chilly powder - 1 tbsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tbsp

Coriander powder - 3 tbsp

Garam masala - 2 tbsp

Black pepper powder - 1 tbsp

Vinegar - 1 1/2 tbsp

Method:

Heat oil in a large skillet.

Saute the onions, green chillies, garlic and ginger until tender and cooked.

In a small bowl, mix the red chilly powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, garam masala and black pepper powder.

Make a smooth paste of the powders with water.

Add the spice paste to the sauteed onions mixture.

Saute well on open flame until the spices are cooked and oil starts to separate from the mixture.

Toss in the cubed meat and vinegar.

Mix until the meat is well coated with the spice mix.

Pour a little bit of water if needed.

Close the pan with a lid and cook on low flame until the lamb is cooked and tender.

When the lamb is cooked, remove the lid of the pan.

Stir fry until all the water is evaporated and the spices cling to the meat.

Serve hot.

Tip:

1. The lamb can also be cooked in a pressure cooker. Saute the onion-spice mixture, mix with the lamb and add the vinegar. Then cook in the pressure cooker. Once the lamb is cooked, transfer the cooked lamb curry to a skillet and stir fry until all the water is evaporated and the preparation is dry.
   

Kerala-style Vegetable Stew

I am feeling extremely lazy having to adjust again to the life here with just the three of us. The in-laws left last week, so I was pretty busy having to do everything by myself again! So the little free time I get is spent lazily, either relaxing or reading. I wish I could share the recipes with you all, without spending time typing the recipes! ;-) I guess I need a little more time to get to actively blogging again! I browsed through some of my friends' blogs and was blown away by the array of recipes and events on all the blogs. I wish I hadnt missed these recipes and events, and know that I have a lot of catching up to do. Awesome job on your blogs, you all! Hope you all are having a blast! Anyways, here's another one of my Mother-in-law's recipe contributions.

The Kerala-style vegetable stew is a sweet, decadent gravy made with coconut milk as the base, which also have vegetables such as potatoes, carrots and peas. The spices are added whole to this stew, which maintains the light color of the gravy but still lends its fragrance and flavor. This delicious and rich stew is classically paired with appam, which is a pancake made with soaked rice ground into a fine batter with coconut and fermented with the aid of yeast. The appam - stew combo is a staple in the Christian homes in Kerala. It makes a greatly welcomed "special-occassions" breakfast and also seen served as a meal course in the wedding parties in Kerala. The stew is usually garnished with fried cashews and raisins and makes for a filling wholesome breakfast.The hardest part of making the stew in Kerala is the grinding and milking of the grated coconut, but since we get canned thick coconut milk in the US, the work is reduced significantly and hence can be easily prepared. Eventhough the best pairing of the stew is with appam, it also goes well with chappathi or even bread.

Recipe:

Potato - 1, cooked, peeled and cubed
Carrot - 1, cooked and cubed
Onion - 1/2, quartered and cooked
Peas - 1/2 cup, cooked
Whole peppercorns - 15
Cinnamon - 1", broken
Cardamom - 3
Cloves - 5
Star anise - 1, broken
Ginger - 1/2" sliced
Onion - 1 small, sliced
Green chillies - 2, split lengthwise
Coconut milk - 1 cup

Garnish (optional):

Cashewnuts - a handful
Raisins - a handful


Method:

Heat oil in a skillet.

Toss in the whole spices (peppercorns, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and anise) and saute until fragrant.

Add the ginger, sliced onions and green chillies.

Saute until the onions are cooked and tender.

Cook the vegetables in a microwave or on the cooker. Cut the vegetables into bite sized pieces.

Add the cooked vegetables to the onion mixture in the skillet and saute.

Season the vegetables by adding salt to taste.

When the vegetables are uniformly cooked, add the coconut milk.

Stir well until well mixed.

Allow to remain on the flame and stir continuously, until heated through.

DO NOT ALLOW TO BOIL.

Garnish with fried cashewnuts and raisins.

Serve hot.

Tips:

1. The potato can be cooked quickly in the pressure cooker. Halve the potato and cook along with a bit of water for 3 whistles, and then remove from heat. The carrot can also be placed whole along with the potato, and cut after cooking. If any of the vegetables appear undercooked, it can be cooked in the microwave.
2. The vegetables can directly be cooked in the microwave, after cutting into bite sized pieces.
3. We used frozen peas which were cooked in the microwave.
4. If the gravy appears too thick, add water to make it to the desired consistency.

Have a great day. Do visit often for more delicious recipes!

Shrimp Cutlets

Once again, I'm posting a recipe after a short break. As many of you know, I had family come over from India and stay with us for about 2 1/2 months. Time flew by quickly and they went back last Wednesday. So I decided to get back to what I missed a lot, blogging and catching up with my dear friends on the blogosphere! It sure feels good to be back. I know I have a lot of catching up to do, but thanks a lot for keeping me in your circle all this long. I am not feeling well these past few days, but I hope to get back to active blogging soon enough.

I couldn't help myself from posting this recipe today because this is one easy recipe which JM's mom introduced me to. Cutlets, in India, are basically croquettes made of vegetables or minced/ground meat (most commonly - beef) or fish. Eventhough I've had beef and vegetable cutlets (rarely ;-)) for as long as I can remember, I've never had shrimp cutlets before. This was a pleasant introduction to something really wonderful. The frozen shrimp available at the grocers here are nothing compared to the fresh ones my husband was used to, but this is a good way to dress it up to make it more flavorful. I am sure that if made with fresh shrimp/prawns, it would be a thousand times better than the ones made with frozen shrimp, which were still tasty nonetheless. So if you could get your hands on some fresh prawns, be sure to give this recipe a try. This would be a great appetizer or as a side dish with rice. Hope you all would love this recipe. Stay tuned for more recipes from my MIL. In the mean time, enjoy the shrimp cutlets! Have a great day!

Recipe:

Shrimp - 8 oz
Potatoes - 2, cooked and peeled
Pearl onions - chopped, 3 tbsp
Green chillies (serranos) - 1, finely chopped (~2tbsp)
Ginger - 2 tbsp, chopped
Garlic - 1 tbsp, chopped
Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
Curry leaves - optional (10-12, finely chopped)
Egg - 1, slightly beaten
Breadcrumbs - as needed

Method:

Cook the cleaned shrimp with a bit of water, a pinch of turmeric powder and salt, until all the water is evaporated.

Allow the shrimp to cool.

Process the shrimp in a food processor to a medium mince.

Heat oil in a skillet and add onions, green chillies, ginger, garlic and curry leaves (if using).

Saute until the onions are somewhat cooked and the ginger and garlic are no longer raw.

Add chilly powder and turmeric powder to the onion mixture.

Saute until fragrant.

Toss in the minced shrimp to the skillet.

Saute until the shrimp mixture is just dry.

Adjust the seasoning and keep aside.

Mash the cooked and peeled potatoes retaining some small chunks.

Mix the potatoes with the shrimp mix.

Shape into cutlets.

Dip each cutlet in the beaten egg.

Roll in breadcrumbs.

Fry the cutlets until golden brown.

Serve hot with ketchup and chilli sauce.

Tips:

1. Curry leaves are optional and can be done without.
2. Instead of pearl onions, regular onions or shallots can be used.
   

Wishing you all a great weekend ahead!!

Egg Curry with Coconut Milk and Idiyappams (Steamed Rice Noodles)

Today I am posting the first of a series of traditional kerala recipes that my mother-in-law is cooking up for us. The egg curry with coconut milk is an all-time favourite in our home. Keralites can hardly keep themselves from adding coconut, in any form, to their curries. And true to form, this delicious egg curry has rich coconut milk as the main flavoring. The coconut milk added to this curry gives a rich, sweet taste which balances the flavor of the blend of spices added. It also has a tasty gravy which forms an ideal dipping sauce for idiyappams (steamed rice noodles), appams and chapathis. In Kerala, the coconut is generally grated and then squeezed with water to make the coconut milk. The first squeeze would yield a thick milk which is added last to the curry (so as not to curdle it) and the second and third squeezes would yield thinner milk which generally forms the majority of the gravy. Today we have used the canned coconut milk, available in the Asian aisles, which was not thinned down. I hope everyone would love the series of Kerala recipes as much as we are enjoying them at home! ;-) If anyone is interested in knowing how to make idiyappams, please let me know! Aaswadikkoo! (Enjoy!)

Recipe (Serves 4) :

Eggs - 4, hard boiled
Ginger - 1" piece, sliced
Onion - 2 medium, sliced thin
Green chilly - 1, split lengthwise
Tomato - 1, quartered
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Coconut milk - 1/2 cup
Water - 1/2 cup

Method:

Remove the shells from the hard boiled eggs.

Heat oil in a skillet.

Saute the onions, gren chillies and ginger until the onions are cooked and tender.

Add the red chilly, coriander, turmeric and garam masala powders and saute until fragrant.

Add the tomato chunks and stir to mix well.

Pour water to the mixture and season with salt.

Bring to a boil and allow the onions and tomato chunks to cook.

Stir in the coconut milk and mix until heated through. (DO NOT boil).

Toss in the eggs.

Serve hot with idiyappam, appam or chapathi.

Check out the Egg Roast (without coconut milk) here.

This is a pictorial representation on how to shape the idiyappams. If anyone is interested in knowing more, just send me an email (jz.tastytreats@gmail.com) or leave a comment.

I am sending this to the "Curry Mela" hosted by Srivalli of Cooking 4 all seasons.

I was greeted today by the "Blogging Friends Forever" award passed on to me by Sujatha of Khazana of my favourite recipes. Thank you so much Sujatha, I really appreciate it! Thanks for being my friend!

The following rules apply to this award:

1. Only 5 people are allowed to receive this award
2. 4 of them followers of your blog.
3. One has to be new to your blog and live in another part of the world.
4. You must link back to who ever gave you the award.

I would like to pass this onto,

Sukanya of Hot n' sweet Bowl
Vani of Illatharasi
Rachel of Tangerine's Kitchen
Rashmi of Delhibelle
Shreya of Mom's Cooking (who is relatively new to my blog)

Enjoy your awards and have a nice day!!