Mixed Fried Rice

This dish needs no introduction..A staple in all Indo-Chinese restraurants and a must with any oriental side dish, like chilli chicken, manchurian, ginger chicken, sweet and sour varieties.

Again fried rice is so versatile dish. Sure they are hundreds or thousands of varieties of this type of preparation and this is only one of them.

Ingredients:
4 - 6 Cups Cooked Rice(Preferably Basmati)
2 tsp Sesame oil
5 Thai or regular Green Chillies slit and cut diagonally
1 big Onion cut length wise
2 Tbsp fresh ginger garlic paste or use freshly chopped
1 Egg (beaten and scrambled)
2 Cups choice of veggies diagonally crated (Carrots, Cabbage, Green Beans,)
Choice of meat, poultry, seafood(Small peices Chicken, beef, mutton/lamb and small variety shrimp/prawns)
2 Tbsp Soya Sauce
1 Tsp fish Sauce
1 Tsp Green Chilly Sauce
1/2 Red Chilly Garlic Sauce(completely optional..I didn't use)
1/2 White Vinegar
A few sprinkles of Cooking Wine
A pinch of Aginomoto(optional)
Salt to taste
Spring onions chopped, one half to add while frying and the other for garnishing.


Procedure:
In a wok, heat oil, sizzle green chillies.
Add Onions and cook till crispy
Add ginger garlic paste and saute'
Add half of spring onions and saute'
Add Chicken, meat and seafood and salt and dependign fresh you are using fresh or cooked give time to cook or warm up.
Add half of the sauces at this point.
Now add the Chopped veggies, some salt and stir the veggies till crispy and cooked, for 5 -7 mins or so,
Add aginomoto if using.
Now add the cooked plain rice along with all the remaining sauces.
and combine well to coat all the grains evenly with the mixture.
Add scrambled egg.
Add enough salt again and mix well.
Transfer to a serving bowl and Garnish with spring onions.
Serve with choice of any Indo-Chinese Side dish.

Curried Minced Meat w/ Ridge Gourd

------AKA Kheema Birakaya/Birakankai Kheema-------

Kids back to school last week after that long summer break and though fall is going to officially start next week, it seems like winter is already here..And chill weather always calls for something soothing and comforting..and think about comfort food its always authentic dishes from home afar..One such comfort food for me is a cup of hot rice with this preparation of minced meat and veggie..

The combo of a non-veg and veg is always a hit and it got to be when it is an Andhra preparation. So here is yet another scrumptious dish straight from amma's kitchen. Being a Tamilian, my husband is not so used to these combos. Though he loves Andhra cuisine and by all means my cooking, the first time I mentioned I'm preparing Kheema(Minced meat) with Ridge gourd(Birkankai - Tamil) he had his eyebrows raised but totally got bowled with the result..


So for those who enjoy Indian cooking and don't mind eating meat, next time pickup a pkg of minced meat and a pack of Ridge gourd(readily available in most of the South Asian stores) when you grocer and let your kitchen be filled with the aroma of this side dish.

Ingredients:
2 to 3 long - Beerakaya/ Ridge Gourd / Beerkankai (De-skinned and chopped into small cubes)
1 to 1.5 lb Kheema ( Mutton/Beef)
2 tsp oil
2 medium Onions chopped
4-5 Green Chillies slit
A Few Curry leaves
1 Tbsp Ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Red chilly powder
1 tsp Coriander pwdr
1/2 Cumin pwdr
1 tsp garam masala powder(Home Made)
Salt to taste
Finely chopped fresh coriander leaves to garnish

Procedure :
Heat oil in a pan/wok and add chopped onions, slit green chillies, curry leaves, and cook till onions are translucent.
Add ginger garlic paste and cook till rawness is gone.
Now add minced meat(kheema) and salt.
Add garam masala powder
Mix well.
Cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes or till the kheema changes color, stirring occasionally.
Add chopped ridge gourd pieces to the kheema curry and cook till both are is fully done.

Sprinkle some water if too dry while the kheema is cooking.
Cook till the ridge gourd almost gets disappear in the kheema..much like the pic above..follow the pics anti clockwise..
Once the kheema is cooked and oil starts oozing from the sides add coriander leaves and remove from heat.
Serve hot with plain rice first and then with sambar.

Ivy Gourd in Green Chutney / Tindora Hara Chutney wala

Dondakaya Kothimiri Karam Vepudu / Kovakai Kothimalli Kara Poriyal

Cooking is all about experimenting with the ingredients you have ready at hand..I'm always open for cooking without a recipe or adding variations to the staple procedures. No wonder I'm a fan of Michael Smith from Food Network/Food TV and always admired his style in the program "Chef at Home", where he always emphasis on cooking without a recipe.

Today's recipe is one such which absolutely came from my heart when I envisaged the flavours of adding the green chutney to regular Tindora stir fry and whipped up the same.

Ingredients:

1 lb Ivy Gourd/Dondakaya/Kovakai/Tindora (Cut into thin discs or cut length wise
1 tbsp oil

1/4 tsp Mustard seeds

1 Onion small chopped
2 Red Chillies broken into small pieces
1/2 tsp Red chilly powder
1/8 tsp Turmeric
A few curry leaves
Few lemon drops
Salt to taste

for the Green Chutney:

A Small bunch of Coriander leaves, chopped
1 Garlic clove chopped
4 Green Chillies chopped
Add water to the above items and grind to a chutney. Keep Aside

Method:

Heat oil in a kadai or wok.
Allow mustard seeds to splutter.
Then add the red chillies, onions, curry leaves one after the other and fry till onions are translucent.
Add the turmeric powder.

Now Tindora and required salt, give it a nice mix to coat them well with the seasoning.

Sprinkle some water and cook covered with lid till the Tindora is 3/4 cooked.
Keep mixing in regular intervals.

Now add green chutney and mix thoroughly..

Let the Tindora absorb all the green chutney into it.
Keep stirring till all the water is evaporated and Tindora is dry but well coated with the green chutney masala.
Add a hint of lime and remove from heat.
Serve hot with Rice, Sambar or Dhal curry

Cabbage Fritters or Pakoras

AKA Cabbage Pakodi /Pakoda

Got introduced to these fritters during my MCA days when our neighbour made these and passed it to us. I was actually stunned to see the ingredient inside these pakoras was cabbage..Because those days we are only used to onion pakoras..Wanted to include this snack in my kitchen menu too..Since it is deep fried I haven't made it once or twice say in these 12-13years..

The other day specially made these to blog on my space..Honestly is this one unhinged snack - guilty of course..You are consuming the nature's most nutritious vegetable in not so healthy form..but once in a while you got to have a treat!!! so enjoy sparingly with portion control!!!

Ingredients:Cabbage - 2 Cups
Channa Dhal Pwdr- 1 Cup
Green Chillies - 2 (chopped)
Baking Soda - A pinch
Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric Pwdr - A pinch
Chat masala Pdwr - 1/2 tsp ( for extra flavour)

A pinch of Amchur pwdr

Curry leaves - 8-10

Coriander leaves chopped - a few

Salt - to Taste

Enough Water

Oil for deep frying


Procedure:
1. Chop cabbage as shown in the pic and place it in a mixing bowl
2. Add the rest of the ingredients with water to make the batter thick enough to gather everything together. Adding excess water will make the Pakoras very oily.
3. Now drop small amounts of the mixed batter into the oil for deep frying.
Once the pakoras turn dark yellow or orange color strain them from oil onto a plate with issue paper to drain all the excess oil.
Arrange the Pakoras on a serving plate and enjoy with array of chutneys or sauces

Veg Fried Rice

One terrific combo for most of the Indo-Chinese dishes is a fried Rice..be it Chicken, Seafood, Mixed, Veg or if you are an eggetarian, you mind the addition of egg in your version of Veg fried rice..Adding egg sure enhances the flavour of the dish. I made this fried rice go with my crab Manchurian for which I posted recipe earlier.

Ingredients:
4 - 6 Cups Cooked Rice(Preferably Basmati)
1 Egg -optional(omit if u are strict Vegetarian)
2 tsp cooking oil
5 Thai or regular Green Chillies Chopped.
1 big Onion cut length wise
2 Tbsp fresh ginger garlic paste or use freshly chopped

2 Cups choice of chopped veggies (Carrots, Cabbage, Green Beans, Broccoli, Cauliflower)

2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
A pinch of Ajinomoto(optional)
Salt to taste
Spring onions chopped, one half to add while frying and the other for garnishing.

Procedure:

In a wide pan, heat oil, sizzle green chillies.
Add Onions and cook till Onions are little cooked and crispy
Add ginger garlic paste and saute'
Add half of spring onions and saute'
Now add the Chopped veggies, some salt and stir the veggies till crispy and cooked, for 5 -7 mins or so,
Now make space in the pan to beat an and make it into scramble, adding enough salt for the egg.
Once the scramble egg is fried mix it with the rest of veggies.
Add ajinomoto if using.

Now add the cooked plain rice along with soy sauce.

Add enough salt again and mix well.
Garnish with spring onions if desired and remove from heat.


Enjoy with any Chinese preparation delicacy..

Gongura Mutton or Mutton curry w/ Sorrel Leaves

We in Greater Toronto Area(GTA) are experiencing a heat wave, with temperatures poised to hit record highs we are under an extreme heat alert as dangerous heat invades ON & QC...kind of living Andhra summer here... So here is another signature dish of Andhra Pradesh, that we Telugu people celebrate.

A week ago I had this chance to make a much longed and missed leafy item dish called Gongura in Telugu(Andhra) which refers to Sorrel leaves in English. Give me this dish all through the year and I wouldn't say no to it. Then you can imagine how much I missed it over these years in Canada. We in east coast are not so fortunate enough to find Sorrel leaves in any grocery store, except someone gets the imported seeds and grow the leaves in summer in their farm or back yard. I think in west coast these are readily available thru farmers market..

A few weeks back a dear friend of us gifted me with this gongura which she purchased whole sale from an import vendor. My joy knew no bounds.
Though I have eaten and cooked Gongura in many varieties like Gongura dhal, Gongura Pachadi, Gongura tadka, Gongura Prawns..etc..the most relished combo for me with Gongura is Gongura Mutton.

Both my grand mothers and mother use to frequent this dish especially for me so passionately. Its like they use to dedicate this dish on my name.
So with that profound history lets see the making of it.
Good that I typed out the recipe long ago when my SIL asked for it, not withstanding the pestering my Bro gave her to make Gongura Mutton like my granny. Little did I believe that I will cook this dish my own in this part of the world.

Ingredients :
To Cook Gongura leaves:
1 bunch Gongura (Sorrel leaves)
4-5 Green chillies slit
1/2 of Small onion sliced
2 Big Garlic cloves, sliced
1/2 tsp home made Chilly made( andhra karam) - ( Use regular one if not available)
1 tsp oil
Rock salt to taste
Enough water to boil and cook the leaves thoroughly.

For the Mutton Curry:

1 to 1.5 lbs Goat or Lamb meat with bones cut into medium to small pieces
1 Tbsp Oil
2 Big or 4 Medium sized Onions chopped
4 Green chillies slit
6-8 Curry leaves if desired
2 Tbsp Ginger Garlic paste
1 Medium Tomato squeezed

1/2 Tsp Tumeric pwdr

1 Tsp Chilly power
1 Tsp Coriander pwdr
1 Tsp Home Made Garam Masala Pwdr
Salt to taste

Procedure:
Separate leaves from gongura stems ..do remember to add the small pods..which adds to the sourness.
Cook the sorrel leaves with all the rest of the ingredients in the "Cooking Gongura" list..till the leaves are fully cooked.

Remove from heat.

Mash the gongura thoroughly into a smooth paste and keep aside.

Now cook mutton the regular way...
Heat oil and saute' onions, green chillies, curry leaves.
Now add ginger garlic paste fry,
Add Squeezed Tomato and saute'
Add mutton, (usually 1/2 kg- for 1 bunch of sorrel leaves),
Add salt, karam, garam masala powder
Mix and fry for sometime..
Add a little water to cook mutton, or you can pressure cook it too.
Once the mutton is cooked almost, add the cooked mashed cooked gongura and mix well

Allow the gravy to cook for 7 - 10 so that the mutton absorbs the gongura .. and vice versa.

Once the gravy is thick remove from heat.
Serve with Hot rice.

Crab Manchurian

My schedule just got busier with enrollment into a new program..Kids summer vacation is going fab..sure it deserves more time of attention from parents..so that explains my absence for a few weeks on my space. Nevertheless here is another delectable Manchurian recipe which I churned out.

More than eating, kids love watching live crabs in the store or I have fun when I break open one frozen crab box and try to scare them with the claws..

When I lived in Chennai, there was this cute restaurant close to my place which served amazing Crab Manchurian made with dragon crabs..Ever since I wanted to duplicate it in my kitchen too..

Ingredients:
1 Box of Ceylon Crabs or Dragon variety (say around 2 lbs, cleaned)
To deep fry crabs:
2 tbsp Corn Flour
2 Tbsp cup All Purpose Flour (optional)
A pinch of black pepper
1 tsp each of ginger garlic powder or paste
Salt to taste
Enough oil to deep fry

Sauces:2 Tbsp Soya Sauce

2 Chilli Garlic Sauce

1 Tsp Worchester sauce
2 Tbsp Tomato sauce or ketchup

Others:1 Tbsp Oil
5 big Garlic pods chopped finely
1/2 cup Green Onions chopped
5 Green Chillies cut diagonally
1 Sweet Green Peppers

Procedure:Make a batter in a bowl with all the to fry list ingredients. Add crab pieces to it and mix well to coat them evenly.
Deep fry the crab in batches for 5-7 minutes and keep them aside.
Heat oil in a pan, add garlic, fry till slightly brown. Add green chillies and fry.
Add sweet peppers and stir fry till edges turn brown on high heat..
Remove the sweet peppers alone and keep aside.
Now add all the sauces, one by one and mix.
Add a little water to make a sauce gravy.

Add salt

Now add deep-fried grab, and carefully mix to coat the crab evenly with the Manchurian gravy sauce.
Cook for another 5 minutes till the gravy is sticking to the crab pieces, mix regularly.
Add water while stirring, if necessary.
Now add the stir fried green peppers and chopped green onions and mix again.
Remove from heat and serve with veg fried rice.(Will post the fried rice in my next post)

Red Snipper Fish Gravy

With kids school closing today, families are looking forward for the long weekend of US & Canada Day celebrations..Stores are flooded with new BBQ equipments and Summer camping and outdoor activity supplies. Truly you can smell the vacation spirit in the air. And all is well if weather co-operates without those thunder storms and gusty winds. We managed one outdoor BBQ in the past two weeks, but the second one was ruined with an un-invited stormy rain. Hopefully the Canada day fireworks won't face that.

Before we march into a new month, I have to stick to the theme of June "Seafood", in particularly "Fish" I posted different varieties of preparations of fish on my space. Today's recipe is yet another fish gravy..not much different from a regular one in procedure wise but quiet different in the sense of fish used. Red Snipper or yerra para(Telugu) or Shankara(Tamil) is a commonly available fish in South India and hence the traditional gravy recipe is used here too.

Ingredients:
3-4 Medium sized Red Snipper Fish, scales removed & cleaned from internal organs, cut into two parts
2 Tbsp Oil
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1/2 tsp Fenu greek
4 Garlic cloves crashed or chopped
1Medium size Onion,
4-5 Green Chillies
10- 12 Curry Leaves
1 tsp Ginger paste (optional)
3 Tbsp Tomato puree or 1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
1/2 Turmeric powder
1 tsp Coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp Chilly powder
1 lemon size tamarind ball soaked in 2 cups of warm water and juice squeezed.
1/2 cup Coconut Milk(fresh or canned)
Salt to taste
Coriander to garnish

Procedure:
Heat a skillet, add oil and then allow Mustard to splutter and add fenugreek seeds, and once the seeds emit smell add the chopped garlic and saute'
Add Onions, green chillies, curry leaves and cook until the onions turn translucent and fully cooked.
Add ginger paste if desired and fry
Add tomato pureeor paste, and mix well till raw smell is gone.
Add all the masala powders and fry well.
Now add Tamarind pulp and salt.
Bring this boil and add the Red snipper fish pieces.
Once the fish is almost cooked add coconut milk and allow it to boil on high heat for a minute or two.
Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves
Remove from heat.
Served with hot Rice/Roti or Parota.

Happy Summer!!!!!

Curried Shark Scramble or Sura Puttu or Sorra Pidupu

India's version of Academy Awards is about to roll out its the red carpet here in Toronto. The stage is all set for the North American debut of the annual IIFA awards at the Rogers Centre.
With Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez hosting the Much Music Video Awards, Sunday last and the Bollywood much hyped IIFA this Saturday, its a star studded week here in the City.

My recipe this week is also a Signature Star Dish in Seafood mostly in my home state Andhra. Adherently cherished in my childhood days. In fact his was one of the best Seafood delicacy my mom(Amma) used to cook. The unusual way of preparing the seafood in this variety used to draw attention and a curious me was totally taken for a suprise the with the exceptional taste of this delightful recipe.

I completely duplicated her version here. We in Toronto Area are fortunate enough to get fresh shark in most of the Asian Stores. So once in a while I make this fish scramble curry, famously known as Sura puttu in Tamil and Sorra pittu in Telugu.
This is one main course dish to accompany with hot Andhra masoori rice and Sambar(Pappu pulusu). For those who follow low carb diet, skip the rice and make a milder version of this scramble to eat with steamed or stir fry veggies.

Ingredients :
1 lb Shark piece w/ or w/o skin
2 Tbsp oil
2 large Onions diced
6-8 hot Green Chillies
10 - 15 Curry leaves
2 Tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
1 tsp Turmeric powder
Salt to taste
Freshly chopped coriander to garnish.


Procedure:
Bring 3/4 saucepan of water to boil and add the Shark Chunk along with half of the turmeric powder and some salt.
With closed lid, steam the fish till it is fully cooked.
Remove from water and take of skin if necessary.
Now scramble the fish log into small pieces. Reserve the bones too.
Keep aside.
Mean while, in a wide pan, heat oil and add onions, green chillies, curry leaves and saute' till the onions are translucent.
Now add ginger garlic paste and fry till rawness is gone.
Add turmeric powder and salt and fry.
Now add the scrambled fish and mix thoroughly till all the fish is coated with the masala.
Cover and let the spice flavours be induced into the fish, and the fishy smell gone and the delectable aroma of dish sets in.
Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and remove form heat.
Serve with rice and sambar.

Curried Salmon Fish Masala- Jara Hatke!!

Was on a vegan spree for the last few months and yes still have a couple of vegan recipes in drafts to post...but I think my blog needs a non-vegan recipe feeds..Most of all June being my hubby's b'day month it would be appropriate to go with his favorite "seafood" theme. And guess what this is - his own creation too, with which he surprised me one evening when I returned Home late from work.

So all for you seafood lovers this is a must try...Salmon fish just blends with all the flavours of this recipe. You can't ask for more.

Ingredients :
4 large Salmon, fillets or steaks(Frozen or fresh)
2 Tbsp Oil
2 Medium Onions
2 Tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
4-5 Green Chillies Slit
A hand full of Curry leaves
Half a Tsp Turmeric powder/Haldi
1 Tsp Chilly Powder
Half a tsp Garam Masala powder
A tinge of black pepper
Salt to taste.

Procedure:
Oops!!! let me check it with my husband first..
Okay..got it..
Heat oil in a wok, add onions, slit green chillies and curry leaves and cook till onions are caramelized.
Add Ginger garlic paste and fry till raw smell is gone.
Now add turmeric powder, fry.
Add chilly powder and salt and fry well.
Now add the fish pieces and to watch them scramble as we mix and fry it with the onion masala.
Keep roasting for about 10-12 mins mixing regularly till the fish is done.
When the fish is almost cooked, add garam masala powder and sprinkle black pepper powder just before taking the wok off from the oven top.
Add coriander chopped if desired..
Serve with hot rice and sambar or mixed fried rice.