Kozhi kulambu.

Kozhi (pronounce as koli) is the Tamil translation for chicken. Before the arrival of the broiler chickens in India, the home grown chickens would sense a tough time during the festival days .Yes , it is true, there was a time when people would not get chicken from grocery stores. Instead the lady of the house should have a strong mind to process the bird. My mom being a fragile lady, used to instruct the maid to finish all the processing outside our gate and to bring the cut pieces. So having chicken curry would be a distant dream for those chicken hearted people in that period. But getting goat meat was not that difficult, as there would be ample shops selling them.
Nowadays we are very lucky to have chicken in any time of the year.
But definitely we miss the native style 'kozhi kulambu' prepared with country chicken (Nattu Kozhi). Any way I tried to make the most of what I get to bring back those memories.
I prepared this Kulambu for Easter dinner along with rice and deep fried drumsticks.




Ingredients:
Chicken (with bone) - 1/2 kg (1 lb)
salt - to taste / 2 tsp
water - 5 cups
oil - 4 tbsp
Fennel seed (sombu) - 1 tsp

To chop separately:
Red onion - 2 (100 gms)
Roma tomato / vine tomato - 4
curry leaves - 1 brig
cilantro - 1 handful
mint leaves - 1 handful

To Dry roast and powder: 
(we can add 1 tbsp garam masal powder instead of this step)
Pepper corn - 1/2 tsp

coriander seeds - 1 tsp
Fennel seed - 1 tsp
cinnamon - 1 inch
Cardamom (Elakkai) - 2
Cloves (Kirambu) - 4
Cashew - 10


To wet grind:
Ginger - 2 inch
garlic - 4 pearls

To grind(optional)::
coconut - 1 long piece (1/2 cup shredded)
cumin - 1 tsp




Powders :
Red chilly powder - 1 tbsp
coriander powder - 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Method:
Wash and clean the chicken pieces in running water.Apply some turmeric powder and keep aside.
Heat 2 tbsp of cooking oil in a deep pan and add 1 tsp fennel seeds (sombu).
After it turns red , add the curry leaf ,chopped onion and fry till it becomes golden brown.
Then add the chopped tomato, green chilli, cilantro , mint leaves, curry leaves and cook till they becomes mushy with oil starts showing up.
Now add the ginger garlic paste and stir it well for 30 seconds.
(Adding the ginger garlic paste after the tomato is a good idea to prevent charring of ginger-garlic paste).
Now put the chicken pieces and stir it for 2 minutes.
Grind the roasted spices along with coconut (optional). We can do this without coconut also. But coconut removes the strong chicken flavor and imparts a sweet smell.
Add water along with the powders, salt.
Then cook the chicken till it becomes tender (simply in a tightly closed vessel).
Check for salt.
The chicken kulambu should be thinner than the chicken gravy .
Kozhi kulambu is ready!


Serving suggestions:
Serve hot as side dish with paratha /Idly / aapam / thicker dosa / ghee rice / coconut milk rice / plain rice.
Serves 6 people.

Happy New Year

Today is the traditional New Year for Tamil people. Many are trying to celebrate it on Pongal day. I am cherishing my memories , when people had elaborate festivities in Temples on those days and finished preparing Idly , sarkarai pongal, sambar and a koottu. Any way my hearty wishes for a Happy New Year for those who celebrate it.

The Lent season and Easter.

Hi friends,

Wish to brief a bit about the Lent days and the Easter we celebrated.
The Lenten season started with Ash Wednesday . Many people choose to remain vegetarians throughout the season. Actually I planned for a more silent Lent season with meditation and prayer. I had a theme called Sufferings of Jesus. Surprisingly I was able to concentrate more on the 'Stations of Cross' (the Fourteen stages from which Jesus was accused , suffered and crucified) on those days.
This 'Stations of cross' prayer has a lot of meaning , recommended for people who wish to view the worldly things with a good perspective.

The holy week started with the Palm Sunday (on 04-05-2009).
We got some palm leaves as a symbol of greeting and welcoming Jesus. It is a custom to make crosses out of them to keep inside the house for an year.
The next year we have to return them to the Church, where the dried leaves are burnt to make ashes to distribute on Ash Wednesday.


The day before Good Friday is called the 'Maundy Thursday' and it refers to Holy Thursday, when Jesus instituted the Eucharist (holy bread and wine representing the body and blood of Jesus) at the last supper, and also commemorates the washing of the Apostles feet, the word Maundy comes from the Latin word Mandatum which means commandment,Jesus said to His Apostles `A new commandment I give you,Love one another as I have loved you`.

On Good Friday, we had fasting till afternoon and had simple meals after that.
I prepared 'Koottan Choru' (a one pot meal) and Paruppu thovaiyal (fried dhal chutney).
Then we went for a small drive and I bought the marshmallow candies shaped like chicken along with Jelly bean eggs and marshmallow bunny to decorate the Easter cake.
Then attended the Good friday Mass with 'Stations of cross', a procedure / representation staged by the school children of St.Cecelia Church. That was a wonderful presentation by the kids. Everyone applauded the troop.
The we came home by 10 Pm , had mild dinner and slept.

The Saturday is the day of expectation and to bless the food in Church. In India we won't go for a blessing of food. I ran very late on cake decoration and cooking. I was not able to finish cooking 11Am . So we didn't take it for a blessing. Simply Prayed with the prepared food in our house itself.
The menu was chicken kulambu, authentic Chiken fry, raitha, rice and carrot cake. other recipes will be coming soon:)
Thanks to Premy's cake for her wonderful cake decoration ideas. They were very useful for me.


In the night , we attended the grand Easter Mass in the St. Cecelia Church of Iselin. That was a lovely Mass and the church was decorated with white flowers and the resurrected Jesus. There was a Baptism ceremony in the pond , while everyone of us confirmed the faith again. Then we returned very late at night.

The next day , that is on the Easter day we visited the orchid show in the Botanical garden, Bronx, NY. The travel was very tiresome , had to take 3 trains and a bus to reach the show. Car parking , toll and traffic were enormous .so we chose to travel by public transit. It was a very worthy journey ,as I was able to relax and enjoy the views:)
Reached the show by noon. It was very very spectacular one, a rare show and a must to see. I have never seen such a vast collection of orchid flowers in one place. The garden was so big and the freezing breeze restricted us to explore other places.
Yet enjoyed the Easter day in the NY and came home for a goodnight sleep.

Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead!

Moghlai Kichidi (Green gram rice)

While searching for a rice recipe with green gram , I came across this wonderful kichidi from the web.
I was blown over by the title Moghlai Kichidi and I am sure no one can deny the delicious pulaos and kichidis from Moghlai recipes. Surprisingly the end result resembled much like a biryani to me .
In the original recipe they soaked the Basmati rice and green gram for 2 hours before cooking. I used brown Basmati rice (soaked for 2 hours) and sprouted green gram. Brown Basmati rice has a lot of fiber content and so it can be used as a best substitute for white rice.
Here goes the recipe.



Ingredients:
Organic Brown Basmati Rice - 1 cup
sprouted green gram - 1/2 cup
onion - 1 (chopped)
green chillis - 4 (slitted)
Tomato - 1 (chopped)
ginger - 1 inch
garlic - 3 pods
cilantro , mint leaf - a handful
Bay leaf - 2
salt - to taste
oil - 2 tbsp
To powder:
shahi Jeera - 1/2 tsp
cloves - 3
cardamom - 2
Cinnamon - 1 inch
To temper:
curry leaves - 1 brig
cashew nuts - 10
ghee - 1 tbsp

Method:
1. Wash and soak rice for 1 hour.
Soak green gram overnight.

2. Make a powder of the items given.
Chop onion, tomato and green chilli.
Make a coarse paste of cilantro, mint leaf, ginger and garlic. Keep aside.

3.Heat oil in a pan, put the bay leaf. Then add onion and green chillies till they become soft.
Then add the tomato and cook till it becomes mushy.
Now add the ginger garlic paste and bay leaf.

4. Fry till the raw smell goes. Add the spices powder and mix.

5. To this, add the soaked rice and green gram. Add the salt and fry till the rice turns a bit white.
Then add water just enough to immerse everything. Cover and cook in very low flame till done.
If all the water is sucked add little more water if necessary.

6. Garnish with cashew nuts and curry leaves fried in ghee.

Moghlai kichidi is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Cooking time : 1 hour.
Serves 2.
Enjoy with any raitha.

Moghlai Kichidi goes to Trupti's CFK - Rice event. Cooking for Kids event is a master mind of Sharmi of Neivedyam. This kichidi full of fiber is good to overcome obesity and other related problems. Hope all the kids like my Brown Basmati - Moghlai Kichidi.

Simple Tomato koottu (Thakkali koottu)

Many may be very familiar with a side dish made with tomato. Just posting this for the new chefs and for my record.
This is one of the most simple but delicious dishes made by my mom. I always consider this koottu as my mom's signature dish. Though the version seems so simple, I have never achieved the mom's touch in this koottu.
Whenever my mom ran out of any vegetables in her fridge, then she used to make a simple dhal and this thakkali koottu along with rice. I always love these kind of quick to fix recipes, as they won't demand me to stay in the hot stove for long hours. Just a gentle serving on plain steamed rice can do the magic. Good for a lazy cook. huh:)
A very simple dish but surely a mouthwatering one.

Thakkali koottu.

Ingredients:
Ripen Tomato - 4 (250 gms)
Green chilli - 4
Shallot onion - 6
Shredded coconut - 2 tbsp
salt - to taste
oil - 1 tbsp
mustard seed - 1/2 tsp
cumin seed - 1/4 tsp
curry leaf - 1 brig.

Method:
Chop the onion and tomato very finely and keep separate.
Heat oil in a wok.
Put the mustard seeds and after they crackle add the chopped onion, slitted green chillies, curry leaf . Fry till the onion gets soft. (Not red).
Then add the chopped tomato , 1/2 cup water, salt and cook covered, till the tomato turns mushy.
After the tomato gets cooked completely, add the cumin seeds, shredded coconut and heat for a minute. The consistency should be like a thick curry.
Switch off flame.
Tomato koottu is ready !

Serving suggestions:
Goes well with chapathi , plain rice , curd rice, any sambar rice.
Serves 4 people.
Time taken : 15 minutes.

Note:
The Vine tomato, Indian country tomatoes, cherry tomatoes or plum tomatoes add more taste to this koottu.
But the Bangalore tomato or Roma tomato won't bring the real flavor.

Green peas Masala

If you have some frozen peas lying in your freezer and you want to fix something jazzy for the dinner, then here is a peas masala curry in just 10 minutes. It is one of my favorite curries because of its simplicity and lingering taste.
If planned properly, this dish can be done by soaking (5-6 hrs) the dried peas also.
But cooking the dry peas may take a lot of time:(
It tastes great if prepared with fresh peas with pods. I love buying them with pods because i think it is really a fun to remove the crunchy pods:) and to see the green pearl like peas inside.

Green peas masala curry / pachai pattani curry (Tamil)/ Sweet peas masal.



Ingredients:
Green peas (fresh or frozen) - 1 cup
chopped onion - a handful
curry leaf - 1 brig.
ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Tomato - 1
oil - 1 tbsp
chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
coriander powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
fennel seeds - 1 tsp
cumin - 1/2 tsp
salt - to taste
water - 1/4 cup

Method:
Remove the pods and collect the green peas. (If frozen peas are used, then defrost them in running water).Wash them in running water.
Heat oil in a kadai.
Add a tsp of fennel seeds. After it turns red, add the chopped onions and curry leaves.
Fry till the onion becomes tender. Then add the ginger garlic paste and saute well.
Then goes the chopped tomato and cook till it becomes mushy.
Now put the green peas ,salt, chilli powder,cumin, coriander powder, turmeric and 1/4 cup water.
Cook covered until done.
In just 10 minutes Green peas masala is ready.
Garnish with finely chopped cilantro.

Serving suggestions:
Serves 2 people.
Good to go with chapathi, naan, vegetable pulao, any rice dish.

Pasta Soup

After posting a lot of authentic Indian dishes , I felt like giving something easy like a one pot meal with Pasta. We can make innumerable dishes with Pasta, but this soup is my very own invention:). No need to add any cheese / cream / ranch .The vegetables, nutrition makes it a whole meal and ofcourse a mild dinner after a generous evening snack.
So here goes a pasta dish, Just for a change.



Ingredients:
Pasta (whole wheat) - 1/2 cup (sea shell or Conchiglie Pasta)
Corn (frozen) - 2 tbsp
Frozen peas - 2 tbsp
Shredded cabbage - 1/2 cup
Minced Onion - 2 tbsp
Carrot (shredded) - 1/2 cup
water - 4 cups
Corn flour / All purpose flour - 1 tsp
Tomato sauce - 3 tbsp
To grind:
garlic - 2 pods
Cumin - 1/2 tsp

Method:
Bring to boil 4 cups of water. Then add the pasta , cook it for 10 minutes. Then add the ground items and vegetables given above.
Cook till the pasta becomes soft.
Then goes the tomato sauce.Add salt to taste.
Dissolve the corn flour in 1/4 cup water and add it to the soup.
Bring to a boil and switch off immediately.

Serving suggestions:
Serves 2 adults.
Serve with a dash of freshly ground Black pepper.