231) MUTTA ROAST

MUTTA ROAST

ONION CHILI ROAST WITH BOILED EGGS

A TRADITIONAL KERALA TEASHOP DISH

Ingredients:

     1)    Eggs – 10 Nos.

     2)    Onions – 700 gm.

     3)    Hot red chili powder – 2 teaspoons

     4)    Turmeric powder – ½ teaspoon

     5)    Coconut oil or any other cooking oil – 2 tablespoons

     6)    Salt – 1 teaspoons

To boil the eggs:

          Put 10 eggs in a pan or vessel together with a teaspoon of salt. Pour in enough water to immerse the eggs. Set on the stove. As soon as the water is just starting to boil, turn down the heat and cook for exactly 10 minutes on a simmering flame. Turn off the heat and drain off the hot water. Pour in cold water to keep the eggs from cooking further and to loosen up the shells. Change the water after a minute. Repeat once more. Now the eggs are cool enough to be shelled. The salt we added at the beginning helps to remove the shells causing no damage to the egg whites. Taking out of the water one by one, shell all the eggs and set aside.

To roast the onions:

          Peel the onions and cut off the hard root portion. Cut the onions lengthwise into thin long pieces. Set a thick cast iron wok (for greater taste) on high heat. Pour in the coconut oil. Tip in the onions and the salt. Taking care not to let the onions burn at the base; stir continuously till they turn a golden brown in colour.

          Now sprinkle the chili powder and the turmeric powder. Stir well for a minute and taste. Add more salt or chili powder if required. Garnish with the boiled eggs and serve with vellappams, soyyea polos, chappatis, porottas, pathiris or with freshly baked bread.

Enjoy!!!

Note:

          I have given you a highly enjoyable milder form of the mutta roast which is nowadays usually served as a very fiery dish capable of bringing tears to your eyes and a burning sensation in your stomach in small teashops across Kerala; owing to the quantity of chili powder used. The onions are also under-roasted with a profit motive which was not the case some decades ago.

          The teashop owners of those times used to serve wholesome, delicious food in generous helpings with minimum profit, as they were more quality-conscious and had more love in their hearts. Alas! Most deplorable is the case of the vast majority of teashops today. The sweetness of the perfectly caramelized (neither raw nor burnt) onions has to be balanced by the heat of the chilies and by the right amount of salt and cooking oil.

          So, dear viewers, do not yield to the temptation of the beautiful red mutta roast that you see in teashop windows. Rather, cook your own healthy, balanced and delicious mutta roast at home and enjoy.

133) EGG BIRIYANI

EGG BIRIYANI

A QUICK TO MAKE DELICIOUS REPAST

Ingredients:

     1)    Biriyani rice (aged, scented, narrow grain raw rice) – 500 gm.

     2)    Ghee (clarified butter) – 2 tablespoons

     3)    Cardamom – 1 pod

     4)    Cinnamon stick – 1 inch piece

     5)    Cloves – 2 Nos.

     6)    Saffron – 2 pinches

     7)    Cashew nuts – 25 gm.

     8)    Sultanas or raisins – 25 gm.

     9)    Onions – 250 gm.

     10)    Hot green chilies – 3 Nos.

     11)    Tender ginger – ½ inch piece

     12)    Garlic cloves – 4 Nos.

     13)    Cumin seeds – ½ teaspoon

     14)    Tomatoes – 250 gm.

     15)    Eggs – 8 Nos.

     16)    Garam masala powder – 2 pinches

     17)    Water – 1 litre

     18)    Turmeric powder – 1 pinch

     19)    Salt – 1½ teaspoons

To Make:

          Hard boil the eggs. Break off the shells and set aside (for beginners, the method of boiling eggs is given in my boiled egg curry recipe). Wash and drain the rice. Set a wok on low heat. Put in t he rice. Pour in a tablespoon of ghee. Tip in the cashew nuts, the sultanas or raisins, the saffron, the cinnamon stick, the cloves, the cardamom and ¾ teaspoon of salt. Stir occasionally to roast slowly till the rice loses its stickiness.

          In another vessel, set a litre of water on high heat. As soon as the rice loses its stickiness, pour in the boiling water and stir till it comes to a boil. Turn down the heat to minimum and cover with a lid. Stir every few minutes to keep the rice from sticking to the base.

          In the meantime, peel the onions and cut into long strips. In another wok or pan, pour in the rest of the ghee and put in the onions. Set on low heat and stir occasionally to roast slowly. Keeping an eye on both the woks, slice the tomatoes into long thin strips and set aside.

          Peel the ginger. Use a mortar and pestle to crush the cumin seeds. Put in the ginger and crush it too. Now put in the garlic and the green chilies and crush them as well. Now put the entire crush into the onion in the wok. Check to see if the water in the rice has evaporated. If the water has disappeared fully, the rice is done. Switch off the lid and cover with lid.

          Stir the onion and the crushed ingredients. Put in the remaining ¾ teaspoon of salt. Add the tomato strips. Stir and sprinkle 2 pinches of garam masala powder. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. You won’t need too much salt since you have already seasoned the rice. Stir for just 3 minutes for the tomatoes to blanch a bit, but not cook through. Add the boiled eggs and switch off.

          Take a tablespoonful of the cooked rice and mix in a pinch of turmeric powder till it turns uniformly yellow. Mix the turmeric rice lightly into the cooked rice. Your beautiful mouthwatering egg biriyani is now ready to serve.

To Serve:

          Spread out a thin layer of the cooked rice on a plate. The spread should be rounded in shape about the size of a large saucer. Put a couple of eggs with a scoop of the onion-tomato masala. Put more rice on top to cover the eggs and the masala. Pat it smoothly into a dome and serve. This recipe is enough for four small plates or for 2 large plates. If you have more guests, you need to make more proportionately.

          You will find that egg biriyani is easy to make and tasty to eat. In India, hot and sweet pickle, thick chutney, onion-tomato-green chili-curd salad and papad are served as accompaniments.

Note:

          As my children, my husband and I are predominantly vegetarian except for an occasional dish of eggs or seafood; I do not cook or eat any meat dishes now. I used to cook meat for my parents and I used to eat it with them when I was quite young. Based on those memories, I would like to give you a few tips to make chicken biriyani or mutton biriyani.

          It is better to select large (around 200 gm.) pieces of tender chicken or lamb. If you are using a kilogram of meat, it is necessary to increase the quantity of hot green chilies to 5 Nos. and the garam masala to 1 teaspoon. You will also need to put an extra half a teaspoon of salt (around 1¼ teaspoon in all) in the masala.

          Rub the crushed chilies, spices and the garam masala powder into the meat. Pour in 2 tablespoons of curd and massage the meat pieces. When the onions are nearly roasted, put in the meat. Pour in enough water to immerse the meat. Turn up the heat. When it comes to a boil, turn down the heat and put in the tomatoes. Stir occasionally and check to see whether the meat is cooked. If cooked, turn up the heat and let the excess water evaporate. Switch off and serve as described earlier including one boiled egg with a piece of meat inside the rice on each plate.

Enjoy!!!

123) BOILED EGG CURRY

BOILED EGG CURRY

A PRECIOUS MANY IN ONE RECIPE (SEE NOTE)

Boiled egg curry with pathals

Ingredients:

     1)    Coconut – ½

     2)    Dry hot red chilies – 7 Nos.

     3)    Coriander seeds – 1 tablespoon

     4)    Shallots – 100 gm.

     5)    Onion – 50 gm.

     6)    Ginger – 1 inch piece

     7)    Turmeric powder – ½ teaspoon

     8)    Tender curry leaves – 4 sprigs

     9)    Cinnamon stick – 1 inch piece

     10)    Cloves – 5 Nos.

     11)    Star anise – 1

     12)    Tamarind bit – the size of half an olive

     13)    Tomato – 1

     14)    Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon

     15)    Black pepper corns – ½ teaspoon

     16)    Fennel – 1 teaspoon

     17)    Coconut oil – 1½ tablespoons

     18)    Eggs – 12 Nos.

     19)    Salt – 1½ teaspoons

To Cook:

          Grate the coconut. Peel the shallots and the ginger. Finely chop the ginger. Peel the onion and chop to fine pieces. Finely chop the tomato. Hard boil the eggs.

I usually boil them like this:

          Put 10 eggs in a pan or vessel together with a teaspoon of salt. Pour in enough water to immerse the eggs. Set on the stove. As soon as the water is just starting to boil, turn down the heat and cook for exactly 10 minutes on a simmering flame. Turn off the heat and drain off the hot water. Pour in cold water to keep the eggs from cooking further and to loosen up the shells. Change the water after a minute. Repeat once more. Now the eggs are cool enough to be shelled. The salt we added at the beginning helps to remove the shells causing no damage to the egg whites. Taking out of the water one by one, shell all the eggs and set aside.

          Put the grated coconut, the red chilies, the coriander seeds, half of the peeled shallots, 2 sprigs of curry leaves, all the cloves, the cinnamon, the black pepper corns, and the fennel seeds into a cast iron wok. Set the wok on low heat. Roast slowly; stirring occasionally till the grated coconut turns golden brown without burning. Switch off the heat and let cool naturally. 

          Transfer to a food processor. Add a little water and grind to super fine paste.

Set a flat vessel or pan on high heat. Pour in the coconut oil. Throw in the mustard seeds. As soon as they are about to finish popping, put in the rest of the shallots. Lower the heat and stir for 2 minutes. Add the chopped onion stir till the onion gets nicely caramelized.

          Now pour in the curry paste. Pour in 500 ml. of water. Tip in the salt, the turmeric powder and the chopped ginger. Break in the remaining raw eggs and stir till it comes to a boil. If you feel the curry is too thick for you, add a little water. Taste and add more salt if required. Chuck in the chopped tomato pieces. When it starts boiling, slip in the 10 hardboiled eggs. Switch off the heat.

Serve hot with pathals, ghee rice, vellappams, chappatis, putte, pathiris, porottas, rice noodles or with freshly baked bread.

Enjoy!!!

Note:

          You can also substitute the eggs with clams, mussels, crabs, mushrooms, shark meat, potatoes, mixed vegetables, green peas, meat or soaked chickpeas to make many wonderful curries. As the flavor of this curry wafts out of your kitchen, do not be surprised if your neighbours come running to you with mouths wide open. Do cook and see for yourself.

26) POACHED EGG MASALA CURRY

POACHED EGG MASALA CURRY

Ingredients:

     1)    Eggs – 10 Nos.

     2)    Coconut oil or other cooking oil – 1 tablespoon

     3)    Mustard seeds – 1 teaspoon

     4)    Tender curry leaves – 3 sprigs

     5)    Tomato (medium sized) – 2 Nos.

     6)    Shallots – 5 Nos.

     7)    Ginger – 1 inch piece

     8)    Garlic – 4 cloves

     9)    Turmeric powder – ½ tea spoon

     10)    Roasted coconut curry masala (see recipe) – 1 cup

     11)    Garam masala – ½ teaspoon

     12)    Salt to taste

To Cook:

          Chop the tomatoes. Peel the shallots. Peel and chop the ginger. Peel the garlic. Chuck the tomatoes, shallots, ginger and garlic into a food processor (mixie) and grind to fine paste.

          Put a wok on the stove. Pour a tablespoon of coconut oil or other cooking oil. Throw in the mustard seeds. When they start to finish crackling, put in the curry leaves. Add the tomato paste and stir for 5 minutes. Add the roasted coconut curry masala. Pour in 2 glasses of water. When it starts to boil, add the turmeric powder, garam masala and 1 ½ teaspoons of salt. Taste and add more salt if required. Now break an egg and slip it in softly holding it just above the surface of the curry. Stir softly to avoid burning at the base. Likewise, put in the rest of the eggs. Simmer for 7 to 8 minutes stirring softly all the while. Switch off the heat.

          Your fragrant and delicious poached egg masala curry is now ready. Serve with bread, porottas, chappatis, patthiris, pathals or rice.