Chicken Curry with Black Pepper

Miriyalapodi Chicken / Milagu Chicken

Chicken is so versatile that we can hardly run out of different ways to cook it. I have around 10 varieties of chicken curry recipes sitting in my drafts, waiting their turn to be published.

This recipe, chicken curry in black pepper is one of my favorite chicken curry dish. My grand mother being the chef behind this simple yet tasty chicken curry. No matter how many times I try I still can't catch up with the taste of my Grand Mother's Black Pepper Chicken. Perhaps there is some invisible ingredient that use to give this delicious taste that I can't explain only experience.

Some how this chicken curry was made only for special occasions in my home. Well this was a must for Christmas...And I use to wait eagerly for that special Christmas lunch when this pepper chicken was one of the delicacies among many.

I really love the aroma of this dish, cause it bring all those memories afresh. And I miss my Grand Mother all the more. Cause all my cooking is inspired by her's. Simple yet Tasty.

Ingredients :
2 lb - Chicken Skinless
1 Tbsp - Oil
Whole Spices:
4 Cinnamon Sticks broken
5 Cardamom
6 Cloves
Others
2 Big Size Onions, sliced
2 Green chillies
2 Tbsp Ginger Garlic paste
1 whole Tomato, cut into small cubes.
2 Tbsp Coarsely crushed black whole pepper.
Salt to taste
Coriander to garnish

Method :
In a wide pot/pan heat oil.
Add the whole spices and allow them to brown a little
Now add Onion, green chillies and cook till onions are translucent.
Once the onions are cookedn add ginger garlic paste and keep mixing so that it doesn't stick to edges.
Add Tomatoes, and cook them well.
Now add the cleaned, cut chicken pieces and salt.
If desired add 1/2 tsp of garam masala powder
Mix well to coat the chicken pieces with all the spice masala
Cover and simmer for 5 - 8 minutes or till all the juices from the chicken are secreted, stirring occasionally.
Now add the crushed pepper powder to the chicken curry and cook till the chicken is fully done.
Sprinkle some water if it is too dry while the chicken is cooking.
Once the chicken is cooked and leaves oils add coriander and remove from heat.

Serve with plain rice and Parupu Rasam.

Lentil Pepper Tamarind Soup / Dhal Milaguthani Soup

Paruppu Rasam / Miriyalu Pappu Charu



This can be made with freshly prepared dhal or left over dhal can be used too. In my case whenever i have some left over dhall, and have a craving of rasam i make this parupu rasam.

To make Dhall:
Pressure cook or boil 1 cup of dhal with a few pods of garlic and 2 green chillies(if desired)
Mash it to make it a smooth paste and add some salt.
Keep aside.

To Prepare Rasam:

To grind coarsely - rasam paste:
5 Peeled Garlic Pods
2 tsp Black pepper balls
2 tsp Cumin Seeds

For tempering:
1 Tbsp Oil
1/2 tsp Mustard
4 Red chillies
10 Curry leaves
1 Tbsp Tomato paste
1 tsp Coriander power
A pinch of Hing/Asafoetida
Lemon size ball of Tamarind soaked in 3 cups of water

Coriander leaves to garnish



In a deep pot head oil, add mustard.
After mustard splutters, add red chillies, curry leaves fry a little.
Now add the coarsely ground rasam paste, fry for 2 to 3 mins.
Add hing and coriander powder and fry.
Add tomato paste, fry a little.
Add the pre-cooked dhal, and mix well.
Now add the juice from the soaked tamarind in water.
Bring this to boil and then add the coriander leaves and remove from heat.

Goes well with Pepper Chicken. We had it this along with Gobi masala too.


This is my entry for this JFI - Tamarind hosted by my favorite food bloggie out there, Sig of Live to Eat. Orignally this event was started by Indira of Mahanandi.

Chettinad Chicken

There isn't any place in Tamil Nadu where you don't come across the chettinadu restaurant. And most of the restaurants in this state have the chettinad items on their menu.

One such delicacy is the Chettinad Chicken. A real variation of the normal chicken curry. It has all this combination of authentic spices both whole and ground and with lots of red chillies and curry leaves, this is one dish full of flavour in a very unique way.

During my stay in Chennai, I and my Tamilian husband use to enjoy this most of the times. At first I guessed the ingredients that would have gone into it and prepared it, it did come out very near. But with tons of recipes out their in the net, we can never go wrong.

Though it takes a little amount of time with the preparation of the special spice paste, the investment is worth it and the taste pays off.

Ingredients
Dry Spices:
1 tsp fennel seeds
2- 4 bay leaves
5 cardamom pods
2-4 cinnamon sticks, broken
4 cloves
12-15 curry leaves,
Others :
2 tbsp oil
2 Onions peeled and finely chopped
1 large tomato, chopped or 1/4 cup tomato puree.
2 lb chicken, skinned and cut into small pieces (preferably chicken breasts)

For the Spice Paste:
5-6 dried hot red chillies( increase to 8 or 10 if desire more spicy )
1 tbsp cumin seeds
3 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp white poppy seeds
5 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
2 inch piece of freshly chopped Ginger
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
Salt to taste.

Method
In a frying pan, heat 1 tbsp of the oil and roast the cumin seeds, chillies, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, black peppercorns and poppy seeds and grind a into a fine powder.
To this add garlic, ginger, turmeric and salt along with some water and blend into a smooth paste.
Heat the remaining oil in a saucepan. when hot, add all the dry spices.
Stir fry and add the onions and fry till lightly coloured.
Now add the spice paste and keep stirring.
Add whole tomatoes or puree and fry till all the raw smell is gone. Now Add the chicken pieces and coat them well with the masala. Add enough water, and simmer till the chicken is tender.
Now on high heat reduce the gravy into thick consistency so that the gravy sticks to the chicken pieces.
Alternately, for small servings, heat up a tawa, add a bit of oil, curry leaves, broken red chillies fry a little and add the watery chicken gravy with a little chilly powder and keep stirring till all the gravy becomes thick and sticks to chicken,
Garnish with coriander leaves.

This can be served with any seasoned rice like Tomato Rice, Coconut Rice, Lemon Rice or Iddiyappam or parota.

This is my entry for the blog event Chicken my Favorite, created and hosted by Vandhana Rajesh of Cooking up Something Nice

Tomato Rice/Thakali Sadam/Tamata Annam

For South Indians rice is a must. Rice being one of the best crops in S.I. and the harvest of which is also celebrated as a festival(Pongal), there are no less varieties of Rice in South India. And with so many types of rice we got to have that many recipes to try it. You visit any vegetarian restaurant in Tamil Nadu in the lunch time they have a series of seasoned Rice varieties..Thakali Sadam(Tamato Rice), Thenga Sadam(Coconut Rice), Sambar Sadam(Lentil gravy Rice), Thayir Sadam(Yogurt Rice), Lemon Rice and the list goes on. 'Sadam' basically means cooked rice in Tamil.

I cook a few versions of Tomato Rice...Here is one of them. Probably the easiest of all.

Ingredients :
4 Cups Cooked Rice ( Preferably Ponni or Sona Masoori Raw rice)
1 Cup Tomato Puree

for Tempering:
2 tsp Sesame oil
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1 tsp Channa dhall
5 Red chillies broken into pieces
10- 12 Curry leaves;
1 Medium Onion cut into thin stripes
1/2 tsp each of the CCC powder(Chilly, Cumin, Coriander)
Salt to taste
A few Coriander leaves finely chopped

Optional:
1/2 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
A pinch of Hing/Asfoetide

Procedure:
Heat up oil in a Kadai(Wok), allow mustard to splutter.
Add Channa Dhall, fry a little to change the color.
Add red chillies and after they fry add curry leaves and onions and fry them till onion changes color.
If desired add ginger garlic paste and hing at this point and fry.
Now add tomato puree and cook well.
Add the CCC powders and cook for another min.
Now add the rice and salt and mix well for about 1-2min, so that every morsel is evenly coated with the seasoning.
Add coriander leaves and remove form heat.

Serve hot with potato chips, or any dry veggie curry or if are a non-veg with a thick chicken gravy.(Chettinad style- Recipe in the next post)

This is my contribution to the event Mixed Rice Varieties created and hosted by Simple Indian Food - An Easy Cooking Blog.

Spicy lentil Doughnuts in Seasoned Yogurt

AKA - Dahi Vada(Hindi)/Perugu Garelu(Telugu)/Thair Vadai(Tamil)

With the food blog event 'Frozen Yogurt' going on for this month which is hosted by Siri's Corner and with all the goodness of the Yogurt for us to enjoy, I can't but post this recipe.

This is popular for Breakfast/Tiffin or Snack in Tamil Nadu and Andhra. In my house whenever I'm able to make it, it becomes a meal. My two kiddos enjoy it. It's made in no time too.


You can make the vada from scratch or use the store bought ones. To make vada at home, soak required amount of Urad dhall(White Lentils) in water for about 1 to 2 hours, grind it into a smooth paste adding very less water..the batter should be very thick not loose. Add chopped onions, chillies, finely chopped ginger, a few curry leaves, black pepper balls and salt to taste to the ground lentil paste mix well and deep fry them in doughnut shapes. You can ignore adding all other ingredients except salt if you desire a lighter version. Usually in dahi vada is plain version.

Method for Thair Vadai or Perugu Garelu
This is say for about 6-8 vadas :
Just whip a cup of Yogurt, then add 1 cup water, to make the mixture like thick butter milk.
Add salt to taste.
Microwave vadai for 1 minute to make them soft.
Add to the above Yogurt mixture and soak well. Keep aside.
For seasoning, add a tea spoon of oil, after the oil is hot, add 1/4 spoon of mustard, 1/2 tea spoon urad dhall, 2 red chillies broken into pieces, 6-8 curry leaves, a pinch of Hing,
After browning add to Yogurt & vada mixture.
Garnish with Coriander leaves.
Wow!!!!!!!! It tastes good.

The recipe for Dahi vada has a deviation. As I mentioned the plain version of the vada are soaked in little sweetened Yogurt and the above seasonings are not used.
Instead the sweet tamarind sauce is spread on the Yogurt and Vada mixture and garnished with chat masala, cumin powder and a pinch of red chilly powder and coriander leaves.

I planned to write up on the good qualities of Yogurt but you can find that in this post at Siri's Corner.

Rice & Lentil Pudding...Chakarai Pongal - Think Spice

Last Monday being Victoria day we had a long weekend in Canada. Enjoyed watching the Fire works with kids from our balcony. And whats a holiday if it doesn't end with a sweet dish. I thought it would be right to post this pudding...for the Think Spice Food event. The spice for this month is "Cardamom"

This dessert which is mostly prepared for festivals in South India. "Chakarai Pongal" Chakarai in Tamil means Sugar. Pongal is the combo of cooked Rice and Moong Dhall.
Ingredients:
Raw Rice - 1 cup
Moong Dhall - 1-1/2 cup
Jaggery 400 to 500gms or Sugar - 1.5 to 2 cups (depending upon your sweet tolerance level)
Cardamon powder - 5 pods
Salt - a pinch
Coconut small pieces or shredded - 1/2 cup (optional)
Milk - 1 cup (optional)
ghee - 1/4 cup
Cashew and raisins fried in ghee - 1/4 cup

Procedure:
Wash & Pressure cook Rice and Dhall almost to paste consistency.
Make a jaggery or sugar syrup and add to the cooked rice and dhall mixture.
Add salt, cardamom powder, coconut, and milk.
Mix well and now add the ghee and stir well for the ghee to penetrate through the whole mixture.
Add the fried raisins and cashews and remove from heat.
Serve warm.

This is my entry for Think Spice - Cardamom originally created by Sunitha, and this month hosted by EasyCrafts.

Tandoori (Wild Atlantic) Salmon

Back home I never even heard of the name of Salmon fish. And the first time I ever tasted this fish was in an Air Canada flight from London to Toronto. When I had to choose from Chicken or Salmon, unlike other times I dared to try a totally new dish. That was a baked Salmon with creamy sauce and boiled greens..I was happy I liked it or else I would have starved that meal.

So there starts my story with this fish "Salmon"...and now for the past few years I enjoy the home cooked Salmon with boiled greens or vegies.

Though there are a variety of ways to cook this fish. This is one the most easiest, tastiest and healthiest ways I enjoy cooking it. And this contributes to a quick dinner meal...on the week days when you return home after a tired day of work.

More over kids and my Husband like it too. Though it can be made spicy..we can reduce the spice so kids can have too. As it is adviceable to have fish atleast 2-3 servings a week, I try to include fish in our meals. And if you are into that Omega3 slogan/jargon...then Salmon is one fish which contains "Omega3 fatty acids" which increases the good cholestrol.

More on Salmon:
Salmon nutrition facts show us that the benefits of salmon are many. The Omega-3 fatty acids in salmon and other fatty fish may help prevent heart disease and stroke by lowering the body's rate of blood clotting.

Omega-3 fatty acids also decrease the level of triglycerides, which damages your arteries, and can lower your blood pressure. All heart healthy advantages.

An added benefit is that research has shown that if you do have a heart attack, fish eaters are less likely to die from the irregular heart rhythm that often follows a heart attack.

Research is showing other benefits from eating salmon. Omega-3 fatty acids help lower LDL or "bad" cholesterol, another gain for a healthy heart. It is also thought to help prevent cancer, including prostate and breast cancer, as well as arthritis and other inflammatory diseases like psoriasis. You can see why salmon is thought to be one of the best foods with protein we can eat.

Omega-3 fatty acids have also been shown to reduce menstrual cramps, prevent depression and help protect against Alzheimer's disease.

A bonus for diabetics - Omega-3 fatty acids can help stabilize blood sugar. It is also thought to prevent hunger pangs, a real boon for those of us watching our calorie intake.

So if you are seafood eaters go ahead and take the benefit of eatign this fish.Here is one of the ways you can enjoy it.

The recipe below is the fusion of the western fish "Wild Atlantic Salmon" with the Eastern Spices. One of the best ways to eat this fish, cause Salmon has a mild flavour, to compliment it the addition of the Indian Spices really help.


Ingredients:
Wild Atlantic Salmon fish Steaks/Thick Fillets, w/or w/o skin.
Olive Oil for frying - 2 Tbsp; If baking top 1 tbsp oil on the fillets/steak

Marination:
Plain Yogurt : 1 Tbsp
ginger/garlic paste - 1 tsp
Chilly powder - 1tsp (Optional)
Fish Masala - 2 tsp (I use Shan Fish masala)
Tandoori Masala - 1 Tbsp ( I use Kissan or Zaika)
Lemon pepper - 1/2 tsp
Sambar powder - 1 tsp (optional)
Finely chopped Fresh coriander and curry leaves
Salt to taste.

Method:
In a bowl mix all the marination items with enough water to make a paste.

Rub the Marinate on the fish fillets with the above marination for 1 - 3 hrs

Now either pan fry the fish peices with the heated oil.

If baking preheat oven to 375c and bake each side for 10 minutes.

Garnish with onion rings, cilantro and a dash of lime.

Serve this with Stir fried or baked Vegies.