Spicy Chicken Curry

Chicken Curry is a dish that is Chicken cooked in a thick gravy . It has become an extremely popular dish all over the world now . There are many variations to making a Chicken curry and in India it depends on the region . Down south coconut is used as the main ingredient for making the curry paste along with other spices like Red chillies, Coriander seeds, Cumin seeds, Fenugreek seeds and fresh ingredients like Ginger, Garlic and onions.
Here I am sharing  an Easy to prepare lip smacking  Chicken Curry that is a family favorite..

Ingredients
 Chicken half kilo
Onions 3 large finely sliced
Tomatoes 2 large chopped
Yogurt 2 tablespoon
Ginger half inch piece
Garlic 10 -12 seeds
Gharam Masala powder 1 and a half table spoon
Coriander Powder 1 tablsespoon
Red chilly powder - 1 teaspoon
Salt and Pepper to taste
Turmeric Powder half teaspoon
Coriander leaves a handful, finely chopped
Oil

Method :-
1, Clean and cut the chicken into desired sized pieces. Add a little  yogurt, Turmeric powder,salt and pepper to the chicken pieces. Mix well and keep aside.
2, After half an hour , Cook the chicken just until done.
3, In a shallow frying pan heat some oil and fry half the quantity of  sliced onion until brown and almost burnt and crisp.Drain the onions. The remaining oil can be used for making the curry.  Grind the fried onions to a  fine paste along with the ginger, garlic and the remaining yogurt. Keep aside.4, Take a deep frying pan and add the oil . Add the sliced onions and fry until beginning to brown. Now add the onion paste and fry until well blended.
4, Next, Add the Tomatoes and mix well . Add the Ghram masala powder, Coriander powder and the Red Chilly powder and mix well.Let the mixture simmer until the tomatoes are cooked and well blended. Sprinkle some water if needed.
5, Add the chicken  pieces with all the liquid and mix into the gravy. Let the curry simmer for sometime until the chicken absorbs the spices. Check salt and add more if needed.
6, Add the chopped coriander leaves and mix thoroughly before taking off the fire.
This curry goes well with Steamed rice, Naans or  Parathas 

Layered Pancakes with Cheese and Spinach...

Ingredients for the Pan cake 

1 large glass full - fat milk

Eggs 3

Plain flour about 130 grams

A large blob of butter ( 30 gms)

Sugar and salt to taste

Making Pancakes  

1,Beat the eggs , add the salt,sugar and the milk and finally the flour, whisking all the time until you get a smooth  flowing mixture .

2, Heat a Shallow frying pan or Tawa and smear a little butter on the pan and pour one ladle full of the pan cake mixture . Twist the pan around so that the mixture spreads.  Let it cook for a minute or two. After which turn it over and let it cook for  a few more  seconds.  Slide the cooked pan cake on to a plate.

3. Make all the pan cakes this way and keep them aside. Makes about 8 medium sized pan cakes 

For The Spinach Filling

Spinach leaves 1 bunch -  coarsely chopped
Spring onions - one  bunch chopped
Onion - 1 small sliced
garlic - 5or 6 seeds crushed
Oil 2 tablespoons
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method 
Heat oil in a pan and add the crushed garlic and the onion slices.Fry well until the onions are beginning to brown. Add the spinach and  the spring onions and stir fry adding salt and pepper until the spinach and spring onions are cooked but crispy and crunchy. keep aside
For Layering
Grated cheese
To Layer the Pancake 
Take a oven proof dish and smear some butter on to it. Place one pan cake and spread a spoonful of the spinach - spring onion mixture and grated cheese cover with another pancake. Add a spoonful of spinach mixture  on top and grated cheese.Repeat this process using 4 pan cakes. Finally spread cheese over the top of the 4th pan cake and place it under a grill or in a hot oven until cheese melts and begins to brown. Cut into wedges and serve...

Steamed Fish with Garlic Butter sauce

Ingredients 

Sear fish or any large fish that can be cut into fillets - half kilo
Salt and pepper
turmeric powder a pinch



For the sauce 

Garlic 12 -14 - chopped into fine pieces or crushed
Green chillies - 2 cut into small pieces
Spring onions one or two shredded
Ginger half inch piece grated
Salt and pepper 
Olive oil a little
Coriander leaves a small bunch finely chopped
Butter 1 table spoonful
Lime juice - 3-4 tablespoonful or according to taste
One tomato sliced



Method 

Smear the fish with salt,pepper and turmeric powder and keep aside.

To make the sauce 

In a pan heat the olive oil and add the garlic, green chillies , spring onion and the grated ginger. Let it cook gently without getting burnt. Turn off the heat and add the butter and the coriander leaves. Mix well and add the lime juice.

Heat water in a cooker vessel or a steamer and place a stand inside the cooker. Smear a shallow vessel that fits into the cooker with some oil and place the fish fillets in it and steam for 5-10 minutes.Alternatively you can place the fish fillets in a banana leaf and wrap it neatly and place it in the cooker vessel for steaming.
Take out the fish pieces and arrange them on a platter . Arrange the Tomato slices around the fish and pour the garlic butter sauce over the fish and the tomatoes. Serve with either steamed rice or on Toast.

Chicken Green Masala Curry with Brinjals

A very tasty and healthy curry made with Chicken, Brinjal and others..


Ingredients

Chicken - Half kilo , cut into pieces
Turmeric powder a pinch
Lime juice 1 tea spoonful
salt and pepper
Mix the above and keep aside.

Brinjal - 2 or 3 cut into large pieces
Carrots - 2 cut into rounds
Tomatoes - 1 or 2 cut into slices
Onions - 2 , cut into slices
Coriander leaves a few
Red chillies 2 cut into pieces

For the Green curry paste

Coconut one cup
Green chillies 3 or 4
Coriander leaves - one bunch
Ginger half an inch piece
Garlic - 12 seeds
yogurt 2 table spoonful
Onion 1 small
A few lemon grass leaves

Grind all the above in a mixer adding water if required .


Method 

1, Pressure cook the marinated chicken adding the tomatoes.
2, In a pan heat some oil and add the sliced onions and fry for a minute.
3, Add the cut Red chillies ,brinjal and carrot pieces and mix well.
4, Add salt and sprinkle some water. Cook on slow fire until the vegetables are cooked.
5, Add the green masala and the cooked chicken. Mix well and check salt.
6, Finally add coriander leaves and take it off the stove.

This dish goes well with steamed rice , Dosas or Aapams.

Sea Food Recipes from Mangalore - Spicy Prawn curry

Spicy  mangalorean Prawn Curry

Ingredients

Prawns - 250 gms ( shelled and deveined)

Onions - 2 large chopped

Tomatoes 2 medium sized cut into small pieces

Green chillies - 3 or 4, according to taste

Ginger a small piece

Garlic 6-7 flakes

Turmeric powder a pinch

Salt and Oil

Coriander leaves a few

For the curry paste
grind the following ingredients :-
One Onion sliced
Coriander seeds I tb sp
Red chillies 5 or more according to taste
2 tablespoonful of grated coconut
Yogurt - 3 tb sp
Method :-
Fry one sliced onion until brown and cool. In the same pan fry the Coriander seeds and the  red chillies. Grind the Onions , the grated coconut and the  spices adding 3 tablespoonful of yogurt , into a fine paste.
Crush the garlic and ginger  and add to the prawns along with some  salt and Turmeric powder. Keep aside for 5-10 minutes.
Heat  some coconut oil or any other cooking oil in a pan and add the marinated prawns. Fry lightly until the prawns curl up. Take them off  the pan and keep aside. Add  more oil if required and add the rest of the onions and fry until  brown, add the green chillies and the tomatoes and fry until the tomatoes are cooked. Add the ground masala paste and mix well. Add some water depending on the consistency required and let the mixture simmer for a while on low heat . Finally add the prawns that have been set aside and mix well. Let the prawns cook for a minute only to  absorb the gravy . Add chopped corainder leaves before turning off the stove.Prawns need to remain firm and not hard.if they are over cooked prawns turn hard or if they are not very fresh they tend to turn too soft after cooking…
This gravy is best served with Rice, Naans or even Dosas (pan cakes) …

Sea Food Recipes from Mangalore

Sear Fish gravy

Ingredients

Sear fish , pomphret or any other large fish  half kilo - clean and cut into slices, smaer some salt over the slices and keep aside

Grind the following ingredients :-

Red chillies 10 -12 or according to taste

Coriander seeds 1 and a half  table spoon

shalot onions 2-3

Tamarind a small amount ( if not available use lime juice)

Coconut scrapings half a cup

half teaspoonful of Turmeric powder

grind the  above ingredients to a smooth paste in a blender with required amount of water..

 Other ingredients required for the gravy :-

Onions 2 sliced

Green chillies 3 cut into small pieces

Ginger finely sliced

2 tomatoes chopped

a few curry leaves

Salt and Oil

Heat the coconut oil or ay other cooking in a pan and fry the onions , the green chillies, add the ginger slices, chopped tomatoes  and the curry leaves. After the onions are cooked but not browned add the ground masala paste and mix well. Add salt and 1-2 cups of water or more to get a thick gravy consistency  .Let the mixture boil for a few minutes on a low flame , after which  add the fish pieces carefully. Gently shake the pan so that all  the fish pieces gets coated by the gravy .Let it boil once and immediately take it off the stove.Fish cooks very fast and if over cooked the pieces get disintegrated. It should take just about 6-7 minutes. Serve the curry piping hot with boiled  rice accompanied with some  green salad and Yogurt.