Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Malai kofta curry

'Malai kofta' means 'Indian cottage cheese balls (paneer) served with a rich creamy non spicy gravy'.

Some time ago I prepared this malai kofta curry with the help of Sanjeev kapoor's and Vah chef's recipes. I used Sanjeev kapoor's version as it involved lesser vegetables but followed vahchef's instructions. His videos made me understand the difficulties in keeping the koftas in shape while frying (yeah, that's a big challenge here!). Click here to see the Vahchef's video. Thanks to the two great chefs, I have learned to make a famous Indian gravy.

Malai kofta dough prepared.
Ingredients:
For kofta:
Paneer (shredded) - 1 cup (100 gm)
(I made it at home by using 4 cups of 2 % milk).
Potato (3 numbers,boiled, peeled and mashed) - 2 cups (200 gm)
green chillies -4
All purpose flour - 1/4 to 1/2 cup
cashew - 4
raisin - 20
salt -to taste
oil (to deep fry) - 1 cup

Pressure cook the potatoes, peel and mash them.
Mix the crumbled paneer, finely chopped green chillies, broken cashew, raisin, salt and mix well.
Add all purpose flour (maida) little by little to get a thick but soft dough.
Knead well and keep aside.

Koftas before frying.

Now keep 1/2 cup of all purpose flour in a separate dish.
Take a small (strawberry size to lemon size) ball of dough. Make a spherical shape and dip it in maida flour. Then carefully pat to get a bullet shape.
Keep aside.

Koftas are fried now . I made a big batch and froze 2/3 of the above for further use.

Heat a wok with 1 cup oil and deep fry the cheese koftas carefully in low fire. They may tend to break if the dough is not proper. Otherwise we will get the exact shape.
( Keep in mind how the cheese on pizza melts with temperature. Likewise paneer is nothing but a kind of Indian cheese and hence it will also tend to disintegrate while frying.  So flip very carefully. Fry only one and check for the consistency. If needed add more all purpose flour to get a very thick dough, like the chapathi dough. Moreover the whole frying process should be done in very low flame).

Fry all the paneer koftas and let them cool. While hot,  they will be soft and can be easily broken. So wait till they cool.

After cooling we can freeze the koftas and use whenever required.

Malai kofta curry with a dollop of cream.

For curry:
onion - 1 cup (chopped)
almond, cashew - 5 each
tomato - 2
cilantro , mint - handful,each.
garam masal powder - 1 tsp
red chilly powder - 1 tsp
ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
salt - to taste
milk - 1/2 cup
butter - 1 tbsp
whipped cream - 2 tbsp

Method:
Microwave or cook the onion, tomato, cilantro, mint with 1/4 cup water, let cool and grind along with cashews, almonds to a fine paste.

Heat 1 tbsp butter in a wok. Put the bay leaf followed by the ginger garlic paste. Then add the puree and saute till raw smell vanishes.

Add masala powder, red chilly powder, milk, salt and bring it to a boil.

Check the taste and keep aside.

Before serving reheat the gravy and drop the prepared koftas. Top with the whipped cream.
Serve carefully without disturbing the koftas.

Serving suggestions:
Serve as side dish with any Indian bread like naan or roti.
Makes 25 small size koftas.

Tips:
Generally people add koftas to the curry just before serving, to avoid broken ones.
 I found that the koftas if prepared carefully stays in shape for 4 to 5 hours in the gravy, just like restaurant ones . But microwaving the whole dish may make the koftas crack, so if needed heat in stove top without stirring.
Do not defreeze them in microwave. Just leave them in room temperature or drop in hot gravy.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Sambar Podi (Tamilnadu style)

Sambar and Indian cuisine are inseparable. Sambar is a dhal based curry prepared with certain vegetables and poured over rice. The flavor and color of a typical sambar relies on the sambar podi (podi means powder). So it is a must to prepare a good quality sambar. In India the masala powders are normally ground in a dry mill. The house lady has to make several batches of the dry ingredients and pack them to the mill through some housemaid.

After marriage, I lost the interest to prepare the masala powders at home because of several reasons.  First I could not make our modern maid to carry all the containers to a grinding mill as we do in our parent's house and I too shied to carry them all along that streets:) Then our need was so small to imagine. So I started buying Sakthi masala powders in the beginning and somehow it became a habit of me. But recently I was forced to prepare this authentic sambar powder due to a misplaced shopping list and hence I prepared it in a small quantity (see below) for that month. It turned out much easier and I couldn't control my joy on tasting my mom's sambar after a very very long time. The flavor of the sambar powder not only filled our house but also our hearts too:) Nowadays home made sambar podi has totally replaced that convenient sachets in my house.

Here is that authentic sambar powder recipe.

Freshly prepared Sambar powder.

Ingredients:
coriander seed - 2 cup
dry red chilly - 2 cup
(or chilly powder - 3/4 cup)
cumin - 1/4 cup
black pepper - 1/4 cup
fenugreek (methi / venthayam) - 1 tbsp
mustard - 1 tbsp
turmeric - 1 tsp
asafoetida - 1 tsp
channa dhal - 3 tbsp
urad dhal - 3 tbsp

Method:
The red chilly I have mentioned here is for basic need only. Mostly I prepare my sambar podi without red chillies and add the red chilly powder while making sambar. By this we can avoid the hastle of powdering red chillies and also we can alter the chillies according to need every day.
Heat a wok and dry roast all the above separately (except turmeric, chilly and asafoetida powders). Dry roast the dry chilly in  batches at last , to avoid sneezing. Take out and keep them together in a broad plate (or muram , a very broad winnowing tool / basket).
After they cool completely, grind them to a fine powder. Then spread the powder in a broad paper and keep in room temperature to loose the heat generated during grinding, otherwise the powder may turn black. Store it in an air tight container.

How to use this powder?
Makes nearly 2 cups of powder. This powder can be used in making all kinds of sambar, vatha kulambu, idly sambar, poriyal etc. It will be enough for 2 adults for 2 months. If stored in freezer / fridge, this podi remains very fresh and fragrant.

To make sambar with 1/2 cup toor dhal, use 1.5 tbsp home made sambar powder.

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சாம்பார் பொடி செய்ய தேவையான பொருள்:
கொத்தமல்லி விதை  - 2 கப்
காய்ந்த மிளகாய் - 2 கப்
(அல்லது மிளகாய் பொடி  - 3/4 கப்)
சீரகம்  - 1/4 கப்
மிளகு  - 1/4 கப்
வெந்தயம்  - 1 மேசைக்கரண்டி
கடுகு  - 1 மேசைக்கரண்டி 
மஞ்சள் தூள்  - 1 தேக்கரண்டி
பெருங்காயத்தூள்  - 1 தேக்கரண்டி
கடலை பருப்பு - 3 மேசைக்கரண்டி
உளுந்தம்பருப்பு - 3 மேசைக்கரண்டி

மேலே கொடுத்த அனைத்து பொருட்களையும் தனி தனியே வாணலியில் வாசம் வரும் வரை வறுத்து , ஒன்றாக சேர்த்து அரைக்கவும். காய்ந்த மிளகாய் உபயோகிக்காமல் மிளகாய் தூள் உபயோகிப்பது , நம் சுவாசத்துக்கு நல்லது. கார நெடி பிடிக்காதவர்கள் மிளகாயை வறுத்து  அரைப்பதை தவிர்த்து, மிளகாய் தூளை லேசாக சூடாக்கி , சாம்பார் பொடியில் சேர்த்தால் மிகவும் சுவையாகவும், செய்முறை  எளிதாகவும் இருக்கும். 

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சாம்பார் செய்முறை:
1/2 கப் துவரம்பருப்புக்கு 1 1/2  தேக்கரண்டி சாம்பார் பொடி  சேர்த்தால் போதும் .
பருப்பு வெந்த பின் , காய்கறிகளை வேகவைத்து , இந்த சாம்பார் பொடி  சேர்த்து பருப்புடன் சேர்த்து கொதிக்க வைக்க வேண்டும்.
நெய் சேர்த்து தாளித்தால்  , சாம்பார் ரெடி.

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