Category Archives: Lunch

Butter chicken

Today’s guest blogger is Mohamed Muzain. A staff of UNDP, one of his hidden talents became known to colleagues after he cooked a delicious dish for a potluck. I requested Muzain to share one of his famous recipes and he shared his recipe for butter chicken.

Butter chicken

Time taken: 45 mins

Serves 8

Ingredients:

  • Chicken – 1 Kg
  • Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
  • Onion – 4, medium-sized, for puree + ½ , for frying
  • Tomato – 4
  • Ginger-garlic paste – 2 tbsp
  • Yoghurt – 1 cup
  • Chilli powder – 2 tsp, for marinating sauce + small tsp, at the end
  • Chillies – 5
  • Curry leaves – 1 or 2 sprigs
  • Rampe leaf
  • Cumin seeds/ Nacheeraham – ½ tsp
  • Cinnamon – 1 ½ “
  • Cardamom – 8 or 10
  • Butter – 125 g

Method:

  1. First, wash and clean the chicken and chop it up into smaller pieces. Rub some turmeric powder over the chicken pieces and keep aside.
  2. Next, prepare the marinating sauce.
  3. Peel the onions and tomatoes. Chop them up and blend them together. Transfer the puree to a mixing bowl.
  4. Add the yoghurt, 1 tbsp of the ginger-garlic paste and 2 tsp chilli powder to the puree. Mix the marinating sauce well.
  5. Transfer the turmeric powder coated chicken pieces to the marinating sauce bowl.
  6. Ensure that the chicken pieces are well coated. Let the chicken pieces soak in the marinating sauce for at least 30 minutes.
  7. Chop up ½ the onion and slit the green chillies in the middle.
  8. Heat some butter in a pan and fry the chopped onion, curry leaves, rampe and the slit chillies.
  9. When the onions turn golden, add the remaining ginger-garlic paste.
  10. Add the cumin seeds, cinnamon and cardamom to the pan. Mix the spices well.
  11. Transfer the contents of the mixing bowl, the chicken pieces together with the marinating sauce, to the pan and let the chicken cook on low to medium heat for about 30 mins.
  12. When the chicken is well cooked, add a small tsp of chilli powder and the remaining butter.
  13. Mix well before removing the pan from heat.
  14. Serve hot with rice or rotis.

Recipe source: Mohamed Muzain.

Veggie omelette

This is my mother’s version of a veggie omelette. It is spicy, crunchy and very filling.

Veggie omelette

Veggie omelette

Time taken: 8 – 10 mins

Serves 2

Slice of veg omelette

Ingredients:

  • Egg – 1
  • Green peas – 2 tbsp
  • Chopped carrot – 2 tbsp
  • Chopped beans – 2 tbsp
  • Chopped potatoes – 2 tbsp
  • Chopped onion – 2 tbsp
  • Green chillies – 2, chopped
  • Salt – ½ tsp
  • Pepper – ½ tsp
  • Low fat oil – 1 tbsp

Method:

  1. Whisk the egg in a small bowl and add the chopped veggies and seasoning.
  2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and pour the egg and vegetable mixture onto the pan.
  3. Fry the omelette for a couple of minutes each side.
  4. Serve hot.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Omelette and Omelette Curry

This omelette and omelette curry are recipes of my grandmother’s, as remembered by my mother.

(a) Omelette

Time taken: 6 – 7 mins

Serves 2

Omelette

Ingredients:

  • Eggs – 2
  • Onion – ¼
  • Green chilli – 1
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • Sesame oil (gingelly oil) – 1 tbsp

Method:

  1. Finely chop the onion and chillies.
  2. Whisk the two eggs. Add the salt and pepper and the chopped onion and chillies and whisk them together.
  3. Heat 1 tbsp of sesame oil in a pan on low heat. Pour the egg mix in the pan and fry for about 2-3 minutes. Flip to the other side and cook for another 2 -3 minutes so that both sides are well-cooked and browned.
  4. Remove from heat and serve as is or use in omelette curry.

(b) Omelette curry

Time taken: 20 mins

Serves 2

Omelette curry

Ingredients:

  • Omelette
  • Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp
  • Onion – ½ , chopped
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • Tamarind extract – ¼  cup
  • Coconut milk – ½ cup
  • Curry powder – 2 tsp
  • Sesame oil – 1 tbsp

Method:

  1. Cut the omelette into pieces and keep aside.
  2. Heat a tbsp oil in a pan and sauté the fenugreek seeds, chopped onion and curry leaves.
  3. Add the tamarind juice and cook for a few mins.
  4. Then add the coconut milk and curry powder and salt, to taste.
  5. Cook for about 6- 7 minutes till the curry comes together and gravy thickens and then add the omelette pieces. Cook for a minute or two before removing from heat.
  6. Serve with rice or pittu.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Ash plantain curry

The second recipe that I would like to share today is one of my mother’s ash plantain recipes.

Ash plantain curry

Time taken: 35 mins

Serves 4

Ash plantain curryIngredients:

  • Ash plantain – 1
  • Tomato – 1
  • Onion – ½
  • Green chilli or capsicum – 1
  • Ginger – 1”
  • Garlic cloves – 2
  • Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp
  • Crushed chillies – 1 tsp, or as per taste
  • Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
  • Salt, to taste
  • Low fat oil – 1 tsp

Method:

  1. First, cook the ash plantain, with skin, in water for 15 minutes. Leaving the skin on during boiling will prevent the plantain from turning from white to ash.
  2. Once cooked, remove the plantain from the water and peel. Chop up the plaintain into small pieces and sprinkle some salt over them and keep aside.
  3. Chop up the tomato, onion and green chilli.
  4. Heat a tsp oil in a pan and sauté the chopped onion, ginger, garlic and green chilli with the fenugreek seeds.
  5. Add the chopped tomato pieces to the pan and continue to sauté for a few more minutes before adding the salted, chopped up pieces of ash plantain.
  6. Add ½ cup of water to the pan and adjust salt. Add 1 tsp crushed chillies and ¼ tsp turmeric powder.
  7. Cook the curry till it comes together and the liquid nearly dries up.
  8. Serve with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Vegetable coconut curry

Today’s recipe is a curry recipe of my mother that I really like. It is a simple and delicious curry.

Vegetable coconut curry or Vellai curry, as it is known in Tamil

Time taken: 20 – 25 mins

Serves 4

Vegetable curryIngredients:

  • Cauliflower – ½ cup, chopped
  • Potato – ½ cup, chopped
  • Green peas – ¼ cup
  • Carrot – ½ cup, chopped
  • Onion – ¼, chopped
  • Chilli – 1, chopped
  • Coconut milk – ¼ cup
  • Pepper – ½ tsp
  • Lime juice – 1 tsp, or more as per taste

Method:

  1. Heat 1 tsp oil and sauté the chopped onion and chilli for a minute in a pan.
  2. Then, add all the chopped vegetables to the pan along with 1 cup of water and cook the vegetables for 10 mins.
  3. Add the coconut milk to the pan and cook the curry for another 5 mins.
  4. Add the pepper and cook for a couple of minutes before removing from heat.
  5. Squeeze some fresh lime/ lemon juice over the vegetable curry and serve with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Thosai with Sambhar

Today’s recipe is a meal that my mother often makes at home for dinner – Thosai with sambhar and sambal. This is a meal that can also be eaten at breakfast or lunch.

Thosai with Sambhar

(a) Thosai

Cooking time: 30 mins + soaking and fermenting time: 12 hours

Makes 20

Ingredients:

  • Raw rice – 1 cup
  • Ulunthu/ urad dal – 1 cup
  • Fenugreek – ¼ tsp
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • Onion – small piece, chopped
  • Cumin – 1 tsp
  • Pepper – 1 tsp
  • Turmeric – ½ tsp

Method:

  1. Soak the rice, dal and fenugreek for 6 hours.
  2. Drain the soaked mixture and wash it lightly.
  3. Put the mix in the blender together with the curry leaves, chopped onion and cumin, pepper and turmeric. Blend until the thosai batter has a consistency similar to that of pancake batter consistency.
  4. Transfer the batter to a bowl. Cover and let it ferment for another 6 hours.
  5. Add salt and mix before heating up the thosai pan or flat pan.
  6. Pour a large spoonful of batter and spread it out. Flip to the other side after a minute or two so that both sides are cooked well and have brownish tinges.
  7. Serve the thosai hot with sambhar and dried red chilli sambal.

(b) Sambhar

Cooking time: 30 mins

Serves 5 or 6

Ingredients:

  • Mysore dal – ½ cup
  • Brinjal – ½ cup, chopped
  • Beans – ½ cup, chopped
  • Carrot – ½ cup, chopped
  • Potato – 1 medium-sized, chopped
  • Pumpkin – ½ cup, chopped
  • Murungai Kai – ½ cup, chopped (optional)
  • Onion – ½, chopped
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • Tamarind extract – ¼ cup
  • Crushed chillies – 1 tsp
  • Cumin powder – 1 tsp
  • Coriander powder – 1 tsp
  • Pepper – ½ tsp
  • Garlic cloves – 2 or 3, crushed
  • Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
  • Coconut milk – ¼ cup
  • Salt, to taste

Method:

  1. Cook the vegetables, in a pan with 3 cups of water, for about 15 – 20 minutes on medium heat.
  2. Reduce heat and if water had dried up, add another ½ cup water.  Add the tamarind juice, mix well and cook for another 5 minutes.
  3. Add the crushed chillies, cumin, coriander and pepper powder, crushed garlic and turmeric powder to the pan. Mix well and cook for a few more minutes.
  4. Towards the end, add ¼ cup coconut milk. Cook for a few minutes before removing from heat.
  5. Serve sambhar with thosai or idli.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Ambarella chutney

Update (02/07/2014): As I wished to send in a dish to the first virtual vegan linky party initiated by Annie, Poppy and Angela, I decided to send in an old recipe that I had shared on my blog in its early days. So, I am sharing this chutney under the side dish category for the potluck.

The chutney recipe for today is ambarella (spondias dulcis) chutney. Ambarella is said to be good for people with diabetes.

raw ambarella

Ambarella chutney

Time taken: 15 – 20 mins

Serves 4

Ambarella chutney

Ingredients:

  • Ambarella – 3
  • Cinnamon – 1” piece
  • Crushed chillies – 1 tsp
  • Sugar – 1 tbsp
  • Salt, to taste

Method:

  1. Peel the three ambarellas. Chop up the ambarella into 5 or 6 pieces each and put them in a pan. The middle portion is difficult to remove or chop up so it can be left as it is and included in the pan.
  2. Add 1 cup of water or just enough to cover the ambarella pieces.
  3. Add a piece of cinnamon and some salt, to taste, to the pan. Cover and cook for about 10 mins.
  4. If the water has completely dried up, add ½ cup of water.
  5. Add 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp crushed chillies to the pan.
  6. Increase heat and cook for some minutes till the chutney comes together and it is no longer watery but rather a thick sauce-like consistency.
  7. Remove from heat and transfer to serving bowl.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Mango chutney

Today, I thought of sharing two of my mother’s chutney recipes.

Raw mangoes

Mango chutney

Time taken: 20 mins

Serves 4Mango chutney

Ingredients:

  • Mango – 1, unripe
  • Onion – ¼, chopped
  • Malu miris/ capsicum – 1, chopped
  • Mustard – 1 tsp
  • Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
  • Crushed chillies – 1 tsp
  • Sugar – 1 tbsp
  • Vinegar – 1 tsp (optional – best to add, if you want to keep chutney for some days)
  • Turmeric – ½ tsp
  • Salt, to taste
  • Low fat oil – 1 tbsp

Method:

  1. Wash the mango, de-seed and chop up the mango with the skin into 1 inch slices.
  2. Marinate the chopped up mango pieces with salt and turmeric. Keep aside.
  3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and fry the mustard and fennel seeds. As they start to splutter, add the chopped onion and malu miris.
  4. After a few minutes of frying or once the onions become pinkish, add the marinated pieces of mango and mix well.
  5. Cover and cook on low heat for 5 mins.
  6. Remove cover and stir.
  7. Add 1 tsp of crushed chillies to the pan. Mix well and cover and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
  8. Remove cover again and this time, add 1 tbsp of sugar and the optional 1 tsp vinegar.
  9. Mix well and cover and cook for a few more minutes.
  10. Remove from heat and mix well before transferring to the serving bowl.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Brinjal salad

One of the brinjal recipes of my mother that I like is the brinjal salad. Her recipe is an adaptation of her grandmother’s recipe.

Brinjal salad

Time taken: 15 – 20 mins

Serves 2

DSC00012

Ingredients:

  • Brinjal – 1
  • Chilli or capsicum – 1, chopped
  • Onion – ¼ , chopped
  • Pepper and salt, to taste
  • Freshly scraped coconut – 2 tbsp (Optional)
  • Lime juice, to taste

Method:

  1. Wash the brinjal and then wrap the whole brinjal, in tin foil.
  2. Boil a half-filled saucepan of water and then drop this tin-foil wrapped brinjal in the pan to cook for 10 minutes.
  3. After the brinjal is cooked, remove from the pan and unwrap the foil. Peel the brinjal immediately as it will otherwise be difficult to remove if cooled.
  4. Mash the cooked brinjal.
  5. Add the chopped onion, chilli, optional scraped coconut and the salt and pepper seasoning. Mix well
  6. Add some lime juice and serve with rice.

Note: My great-grandmother used to roast the brinjal, wrapped in a leaf, inserted among the firewood stove so I can imagine that the salad would have had a nice smoky, roasted flavour. So, translated into today’s world, roasting the brinjal wrapped in tin foil in an oven would be the equivalent.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Palakottai curry

This is one of the ways my mother cooks jackfruit seeds.

It is difficult to cut up fresh, ripe jackfruit. When you keep it for 2 to 3 days, it becomes easier to chop and peel the outer layers and remove the fruit. As you pull out each of the sweet and ripe yellow fruit, cut a slit and remove the seed inside and collect in a separate bowl.

Palakkottai curry

Time taken: 20 – 30 mins

Serves 3

Palakkottai curry

Ingredients:

  • Palakkotai (Jackfruit seeds) – 1 cup
  • Coconut milk – 2 ½ cups (thin consistency)
  • Onion – ½ chopped
  • Curry leaves
  • Curry powder – 1 tsp
  • Salt, to taste

Method:

  1. Wash and clean the jackfruit seeds.
  2. Put the cleaned jackfruit seeds in a pan and add 2 ½ cups of thin coconut milk. Also add the chopped onion, curry leaves and the curry powder and salt.
  3. Cook for about 20 minutes until the curry thickens and the seeds are cooked and soft enough.
  4. Serve with rice or pittu.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.