Celebrating Easter with Kerala Beef Roast !
Holidays have started off but the break is just too small this year.In 1o days time, the school reopens and I am back to square one .Have plans to visit my parents home before the whole break is over. On the occasion of Easter, the recipe that I am very keen on sharing is one that many have requested me to.Kerala’s Beef Roast recipe is one of the most famed recipes. Beef has a prominent place in the Kerala cuisine among the meat lovers. The buffalo meat is meant to be much tougher than other meat, so it’s mostly pressure cooked as it takes more time to tenderize.This is equally good with the flaky Kerala porottas as well as rice.
- 1kg of beef
- 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
- 4tsps of Kashmiri chilly powder
- 2tsps of Coriander powder
- 1 1/2 tsps of garam masala powder
- 1-2 tsps of black pepper powder
- 4 green chillies slit
- 2medium sized big onions sliced thin
- 1inch piece of ginger crushed
- 10 cloves of garlic crushed
- 1/2 cup of coconut chips sliced
- 1tbsp of vinegar
- 1 cup of shallots sliced .
- Coconut oil
- Curry leaves
- Salt to taste
- Cut the cleaned beef pieces into small cubes .Marinate the beef pieces with chilli powder, green chillies , ginger , garlic , turmeric , coriander powder , garam masala, vinegar , curry leaves , big onion and salt to taste.Pressure cook the meat or cook the meat in a pot with water till it is very tender .In a wok , heat coconut oil , fry coconut pieces till crispy , add the sliced shallots , saute till translucent , pour the cooked meat with stock and mix.Evaporate the stock water so the meat is marinated ,Add in the pepper powder and continue frying .You can add in oil to the sides of the pan if it sticks too much .Once it becomes really dark brown in colour , all the moisture would have evaporated out .Garnish with curry leaves and take it off heat .
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Crispy crunchy Pakwan with Dal !
It’s strange how you meet up with new people every day in your life .There are moments when you feel that you are at the verge of existence but its inspiring how a total stranger can create a new character in your life …Its a similar kind of experience that I had travelling for the research of my new books.Its pretty much amazing to see that there are people in the villages who love what they do in their life despite facing day to day crisis.
Dal pakwan has always been one of the highlight recipes from my recipe diary .Its traditionally a very famous Sindhi breakfast .Recipes have always been a fascination and their collections a hobby .May be I might have got that from my mother .During school days I fancied clipping out all the recipes that had fancy photos.Its crazy how I used to stick them up in a diary and try to try them out on weekends.My kids are the ones who have taken up those crazes now all they would love to do on a holiday is to cook something of their own .I guess I have two budding foodies all set to conquer my kitchen …
- 1/2 cup of chana dal /chick pea lentils soaked for 30 mins
- 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
- 1tbsp of oil
- 1/2 tsp of dry mango powder
- 3-4 green chillies chopped
- 1/2 tsp of red chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp of onion finely chopped
- 1 tsp of tamarind extract
- coriander leaves
- salt to taste
- For Pakwan
- 1 cup of All purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds
- 1tsp of oil
- Salt to taste
- oil for deep frying
- Wash and pressure cook the lentils with turmeric powder, water and salt to taste for about 5-6 whistles.Once cooked slightly mash the lentils with a wooden spoon . Heat oil in a wok , fry cumin seeds and green chillies .Add in chilli powder and dry mango powder .Make sure that you stir and keep it on low flame so that you are not burning the powders. Stir in the cooked lentils and turn off the flame .Garnish with chopped onions and coriander leaves.
- For the pakwans, mix salt , flour , cumin seedsin a bowl .Pour in water slowly and knead it into a dough .You can also add a teaspoon of oil to the dough to smoothen out the dough .Let the dough sit for about 10-15 minutes.Divide the dough into balls and roll each ball into discs.Prick with a fork on the rolled out dough . Heat oil in a wok and deep fry the pakwans till they are golden and crisp.
- Serve warm with dal .
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
A revive ..with the delectable crab curry !
It’s after a gap of about 6 months that I am posting today….I had been head over heels on a few commitments that were lagging on .There were bubbles of happiness and a few perks of disappointments in this time span ..and after all thats all about life .The photos were always all set for my posts..but scheduling out my time to post was the hardest part …with my classes and working on my biggest project which was my new cookbook…”4 ‘o’clock temptations of Kerala”. This year I was invited over to the world’s largest book fair “The Frankfurt Book fair 2015” to represent my cookbooks. I was one among the 5 Indians to be a part of the Gourmet Gallery at the fair. Although I couldn’t make it at the last minute to the fair my new cookbook on the snacks of Kerala were exhibited at the fair….Thanks to my brother and the Frankfurt fair team .My new cookbook is an insight to the authentic snack recipes of Kerala.
The new cookbook would be soon out for sale on my blog and other sites for sale within a month…
So with all this hotchpotch at the background my recipe for today’s palette is a Srilankan Crab curry .This recipe was adapted from the cookbook “Saraogini’s Srilanka food” by Sarogini Kamalanathan. A very composed and loving lady whom I had met during my visit to Beijing for the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards last year in May 2014…she was Sarojini ..We had exchanged our cookbooks and I have been cooking many wonderful recipes from her collections….
- 3 medium sized crabs, cleaned & prepared
- 2tbsp of oil
- 1 large onion sliced
- 1tbsp fenugreek seeds
- 1tsp mustard seeds
- 1 sprig of curry leaves
- 2 green chillies slit
- 2 tbsp of paprika powder
- 1 cup of water
- 1 ½ cup of coconut milk
- Sprig of drumstick leaves(muringa leaves)/ coriander leaves
- Heat oil in an earthen pot or a heavy bottomed vessel , add fenugreek , splutter mustard seeds and sauté the onions till they caramelise, add green chillies, chilli powder , salt and stir. Add in the prepared crabs, pour in the water, give a good stir cover and cook for about 10-15 minutes. When the crabs have turned a nice orange colour ,add the coconut milk and slightly simmer for another 10 minutes, turn off the heat and garnish with fresh muringa leaves or coriander leaves and serve ..
- Its best to cook the crab curry at the least an hour before you serve ..
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Soya Ginger Chicken ..a variant!
Back after the rice porridge recipe with a new post. Its been quite some time since I posted a non veg recipe. Soya chunks have always had their fav place with my kids and I keep trying out more variations with it .The soya chunks have the best source of fiber and is quite high in protein content.
Its like the magic pill bundled up with all the good things. Last Sunday I was planning on what to cook for dinner and then popped up with this recipe of Soya Ginger Chicken.I have been using both sizes of soya chunks for my cooking..but have always found a soft spot for the mini soya chunks on count of their delicacy.
- ½ kg of Chicken cut into small pieces
- 1 cup of mini soya chunks
- 2 tsp of Soya sauce
- 2 tbsp of ginger sliced finely
- 2 tbsp of garlic sliced
- 2 large onions chopped
- 1 tbsp of Kashmiri chilli powder
- 1 tsp of Garam masala powder
- 2 tsp of coriander powder
- 3 tsp of Chicken masala powder
- 1 tsp of black pepper powder
- 1 tomato pureed
- 3 tsp of oil
- Salt to taste
- For Tempering
- ¼ cup of sliced big onion
- 4-5 green chillies slit
- Oil
- Curry leaves
- Soak the soya chunks in hot water for about 15minutes.
- Heat oil in wok, sauté ginger and garlic, chopped onion till translucent.
- Pour in the soya sauce and keep stirring, add in the chilli powder, coriander powder,
- pepper powder, garam masala powder and chicken masala powder.
- Stir till the raw smell from the powders subside.
- Add in the pureed tomato paste, ½ cup of water and let it simmer.
- Wash the soya chunks in cold water and squeeze them out into the sauce along with
- the chicken pieces.
- Add required amount of salt and cover and cook the chicken till tender.
- Thicken the sauce so that the chicken & soya are coated and turn off the flame.
- In a small pan fry out the sliced onions till in caramel color along with the slit green
- chillies and curry leaves.
- Temper the dish with the fried items and add 2-3 tsp of chopped coriander leaves
- before serving.
- Best served with rotis and fried rice.
Heres the feature that came up in the magazine Mahila Chandrika a Chandrika daily publication..
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Start off Monsoons with… Coconut Rasam!
Hah! Laggin on posts ……………………….
I’m not able to update up my news after Beijing….Its been running around most days ………travelling up and down ,classes, school,kids, welcomings, interviews…….Achoo…………… sniff.. …..Achooooo…..yikes its Monsoon back in Munnar and I have been haywire in my schedules…latest update am down with a cold…..Sniff! Sniff! Theres just one more week left for the school to close for monsoon vacations here in Munnar..
Here are a few paper reports that came up in a few regional papers…
24page6 change for ekm
Season is up for coughs and colds……so how about a special rasam???This Rasam is the best thing to have with rice if you are down terribly with a cold or fever. It’s more like a curry in its looks but is super Yumm soup!
- ¼ cup of scraped coconut
- 2 tsp of cumin seeds
- 2 tsp of peppercorns
- 1 pod of garlic
- A gooseberry sized ball of tamarind
- 1 tomato (medium sized)
- ½ tsp of turmeric powder
- ¼ tsp of asafoetida powder
- 1 ½ tsp of Kashmiri chilli powder
- 1 cup of water
- 8-10 shallots sliced
- 1tsp of mustard seeds
- Coriander leaves
- Salt to taste
- Grind scraped coconut, cumin seeds, pepper, garlic and tamarind into and separate
- the smooth paste.
- Slice the tomato and grind it into a paste and mix it with the coconut mix.
- Heat oil in a wok, splutter mustard seeds, sauté the shallots, add in the turmeric
- powder and chilli powder, fry and pour in the ground mix.
- Keep stirring and when it starts boiling; add in a cup of water and salt to taste.
- When simmering, mix in asafoetida powder and a few chopped coriander leaves.
- Serve with rice and enjoy the monsoon.
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Tangy twist with Panchmel Dal!
Hope everyone celebrated their New year blast..so whts up with the resolutions…???My first and foremost resolution was to try to blog a bit more frequently 😛 ..the funniest part is how much I will be stickig on to it. One more day to go for the school to reopen and then back to the busy bee schedules…ahhh ..the first days are really goin to be damn lazy.Moreover the temperature over here has dropped down to around -2 ..which makes you longing to cuddle up even more into ur blankets..;)
Heres an interview on me which was printed in the magazine Sthreedhanam (Deepika Newspaper) in this months issue..
Heres the article that came up in Deshabhimani news paper on Jan 4th 2014
Now for this times post..thought of giving u all a tangy rajasthani recipe. This curry is a combination of 5 dals.I have earlier put up a recipe on 5 dal curry ..but this one is a tangy & spicy one…
Panchmel Dal
1/3 cup split bengal gram lentil
1/3 cup of yellow split peas
1/3 cup of green gram split lentils
1 tbsp of deskinned split black lentils
1 tbsp of green gram
3 tbsp of ghee
2 cloves
2 bay leaves
1 tsp of umin seeds
2 green chillies slit
a pinch of asafoetida
2 tsp of dry mango powder
2 tsp of tamarind pulp
Salt to taste
For masala paste
3 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp of coriander powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
Clean and wash the lentils.Pressure cook them with 4 cups of water till the lentils are cooked.Keep aside.In a bowl combine the ingredients for the masala paste with 3 tbsp of water to mix well to make a paste.Keep aside.Heat ghee in a pan and add cloves , bay leaves , cumin, green chilllies and asafoetida. When the cumin seeds crackle , add the prepared masala paste and saute on medium flame fo rabot 1-2 mins.Add the cooked dal , dry mango powder, tamarind pulp and salt and simmer fo r5- 7 minutes.Add water if required.Serve hot with rotis!
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Creamy Mughalai Chicken!
There’s loads of pics that I have been clicking around to upload on to my blog..hoping put them up in a few days.Yesterday being Saturday trying to laze around with my other chores was in a mood to pep up a heavy main course for my family.Its been a bit like ages since I cooked Mughalai Chicken.This creamy northie flavored dish was to go in hand with Missi rotis. Here the rains have been pouring quite heavily all of a sudden reminding that the monsoons are coming up….brrr..it is now getting a bit cold too..
Now off to the recipe of Mughalai Chicken..
Mughalai Chicken
1/2 kg Chicken cut in medium sized pieces
3 big onions sliced
1 tomato chopped
1 tbsp of ginger and garlic paste
1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
1 tsp of chilli powder
1 tsp of coriander powder
1 tsp of garam masala powder
1/2 tsp of cumin powder
1/2 tsp of dry fenugreek leaves
1/2 cup of fresh cream
40 gms of cashews soaked in plain water and ground into a paste
1 egg whisked
Coriander leaves chopped
Salt to taste
Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pan saute the onions,tomato and ginger garlic paste till pink and add in the tomatoes.Fry till it is mashed in,ad in turmeric powder,chilli powder , coriander powder,garam masala powder.Fry till the raw smell goes off and let it cool and grind this into a paste .Marinate the chicken pieces with the paste and add 1cup of water ,salt to taste , cover and cook till meat is tenderized.In an other pan heat 2 tsp of butter stir in dry fenugreek leaves and cumin powder.Pour in the cooked chicken with the gravy into the pan and let it simmer.Stir in the cashew paste on medium flame.In a small bowl mix the whisked egg and fresh cream together.Take care not to boil the cream .Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.Best served with naan,rotis and parathas..
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Vendakka(Okra) Curry and a Giveaway!
The best part after two months of heavy rain is when you see the sun smiling down on you.Clear blue skies and everything so green green..Hmm..by the way green reminds me of Okra.Yes today I have got a recipe for an Okra curry.If you are in the look out for a curry with cooked rice,this is a must try.
There’s a small surprise ..scroll down after the recipe..I have a free giveaway of my cookbook
“Lip Smacking dishes of Kerala”!
Vendakka(Okra) curry
1/4 kg okra cut into medium sized pieces
1cup shallots sliced
2 tomatoes cut into small cubes
1tsp Sambar powder
1 1/2 tsp coriander powder
3tsp Kashmiri Red chilly powder
1/4 tsp Yellow turmeric powder
tamarind(gooseberry sized)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4tsp fenugreek seeds
oil for frying
curry leaves
salt to taste
For grinding
1 cup grated coconut
Heat a oil in a kadai ,deep fry and separate the okra.Grind the grated coconut into a fine paste.
Heat 3tbsp of oil.Add in the mustard seeds and let it splutter.Then in goes the fenugreek seeds and curry leaves.Add in the sliced shallots and saute till translucent and spoon in the yellow turmeric powder, chilli powder, sambar powder and fry.Now fry in the tomatoes till cooked and add the coconut paste with 2 cups of water and stir.When the curry starts to simmer add in the fried okra pieces and the curry is ready to served with steaming rice.:)
“Lip Smacking dishes of Kerala” my venture in ink on the mesmerizing and aromatic Kerala cuisine.Indulge into the flavours of my land through the recipes…and make your kitchen smell..Yumm!I’ll be giving away signe d copies of my book .The giveaway is global. 🙂
To be eligible for the Giveaway you have to do three things:
1.Subscribe to “Nimi’s Culinary Ventures” in an RSS feed or through Email.
2.Become a fan of my Facebook page and FB cookbook page.
3.Leave me a comment telling me that you have done 1 &2 with your “Email id.”
For additional entries:
4.Tweet about this giveaway on your blog or on Twitter
5.Do leave me a comment saying that you have done so that I can alott u an other entry 🙂
Deadline for entries of this giveaway is Wednesday,31st of August 2011.The winner will be chosen through Random.
Wishin u all luck!:)
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Mutton Roast..with Easter Wishes!
Happy Easter to everyone of u!
I hope u all must be enjoyin urselves..
Well my news here is that it was our wedding anniversary yesterday..hmm..its been 8 years nw..For a change my hus was ready to help me out in the kitchen with the menu ..mutton cutlets as appetizers and for lunch it was finalized with Vegetable Pulao and Mutton roast.For a touch of sweetness I made a Strawberry cake.The Mutton Roast is something that I love making coz its quite easy peasy and quite tasty too..
Heres the recipe..
1kg mutton(cut into pieces)
1 cup small onions crushed
2 green chillies julian cut
3/4 cup coconut pieces sliced
1tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1tsp garam masala powder
For Marination
1 tbsp Coconut oil
2tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp Coriander powder
1tsp Black pepper powder
1tsp garam masala powder
1tsp vinegar
curry leaves
2 large onions sliced
2 tsp of Ginger garlic paste
Salt to taste
Marinate the mutton pieces well and pressure cook the mutton with 2 cup of water till cooked.
In a kadai on medium flame, pour 2 tbsp of coconut oil .Add in the coconut pieces,1/4 tsp turmeric and a pinch of salt and fry them till golden brown.Now add in the crushed small onions with the slit green chillies and saute till the onions turn translucent.Lower the flame and add in the chilli powder and garam masala.Stir till an aroma comes.Add in the cooked mutton with the stock water in to the sauted masala and let it simmer.Simmer till the gravy becomes very thick.It goes well with Rotis and rice!
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Aloo Mutter an impeccable delight!
Aloo Mutter is a dish that my hus always craves for rotis/chapathis..This lovely combi of potatoes and peas really kicks up your taste buds..
Heres the recipe
ALOO MUTTER
3 large potatoes (cut into quarters)
1 1/2 cup green peas
2 large onions chopped
1 and 1/2 tsp of Ginger garlic paste
a pinch of turmeric
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp cumin powder
1 large tomato
1/4 cup curd
1/4 tsp garam masala
Fry and seperate the potatoes and peas in oil.In a heavy bottomed pan fry the onions and saute in the ginger garlic paste and all the spice powders (chilli ,coriander,cumin and turmeric except garam masala).Add blanched tomatoes and simmer till the spices are cooked.Add in the potatoes and peas let it cook covered.Pour in about 1/2 cup of water if the gravy is very thick,When the potatoes and peas are well cooked,add in the well beaten curd and simmer till the gravy becomes thick.Garnish with coriander leaves.
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Hi! I am Nimi Sunilkumar…an award winning cookbook author /culinary demonstrator/freelance writer / food photographer/food blogger …spiced with the flavors of food..
