Parippu, South Indian Spiced Red Lentil And An Important Announcement

First I must apologise for the lack of post update for the past 2 weeks and I promise I'll make it up to you in the days ahead.

Growing up with many Indians friends resulted in me being very familiar with this everyday Indian dish. "An Indian meal is somehow incomplete without a dish with some kind os pulses in it" (or words to that effect), as many of my Indian friends have proclaimed over the years, so it is only fitting that I conclude our very brief culinary trip to Indian with this delicious lentil dish.

It isn't much of a looker but the wonderful aromas and the distinctive south Indian flavours of curry leaves, coconut milk, mustard seeds and cumin will have you coming back for more.

Before I proceed to the recipe, I have an important announcement to make - I officially left my previous job on the 10th of August 2013 having spent almost 10 months cooking the food that I know and love best. Unfortunately the lack of support from skilled staff and the management's direction (or the lack of it)  for the restaurant have made my position untenable and it was time for me to move on.

Life is a lot less stressful now as my new job does not required me to work on nights or weekends and it is only a 10 minute bike ride from home, leaving me plenty of time to read, write, make arts,  cook and  blog regularly again!

serves 4 to 6 as part of Indian meal
you'll need;
250 g of red lentils, washed and drained well
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 cup of coconut milk
2 green chillies, chopped
1/2 tsp of cumin powder
1/2 tsp of coriander powder
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder

for the tarka (final seasoning);
2 tbs of oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp of black mustard seeds
1 onion finely chopped
12 curry leaves

Prepare the ingredients and set aside.

Ingredients for the tarka - onion, curry leaves, black mustard seeds and cumin seeds.

Place the red lentils in a pot with 2 cups of water and add in the rest of the ingredients (except those for tarka) and stil to mix well. 

When it comes to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer and cook slowly for 20 to 25 minutes or until the lentils are turned into a soft mush. 

Next prepare the tarka or final seasoning - heat oil in a pan over low heat, add mustard and cumin seeds, cover and allow the seeds to pop. Remove lid and add in the onion and curry leaves, fry over low heat until the onion is golden brown.

Pour the tarka into the pot of lentil and mix well. Season well with sea salt and cook for a further 5 minutes before serving.

Serve as part of an Indian meal with plenty of steamed basmati rice or roti.

Punjabi Spiced Cabbage

We continue our culinary journey through India; from the deep south to the far north state of Punjub.

Not much I can say about this popular everyday punjabi vegetarian dish except it is so delicious I serve it with all my Indian meals at home.

It makes a great side dish to go with any meat or fish dishes, or you might want to team it up with a few other vegetarian dishes and have a very satisfying vegetarian feast instead.

recipe from The Food Of India
serves 4 to 6 as part of an Indian meal
you'll need;
1/2 an onion, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, bashed
3 cm knob of ginger, roughly chopped
2 green chillies, seeded and chopped
4 tbs of oil
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
hafl a cabbage (~500g), finely shredded
1 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp of cumin powder
1/4 tsp of chili powder
20 g unsalted butter

Finely shred the cabbage and set aside.

Finely blend onion, garlic, ginger and chili in a food processor.

Heat up the oil in a wok and saute the blended ingredients over low heat until soften, be careful not to burn or brown the mixture, add the cumin seeds and turmeric powder and continue to saute for a further minute.

Mix in the cabbage and stir thoroughly until cabbage is well coated with the yellow mixture.

Season with salt and pepper, cumin powder, coriander powder, and chili powder, stir to mix and cook for 10 minutes with the wok partially covered, stirring from time to time until the cabbage is soft. If the cabbage becomes too dry, sprinkle a little water. Finally stir the butter through and check for seasonings.

Serve the simple but delicious dish as part of an Indian meal.

Spicy Kerela Eggplant

I am a doer not a talker, so I really resent wasting my time with endless, meaningless chats or meetings. I say let the action do the talking, instead of sitting around idly waiting for the elusive pot of gold or in this case a beautiful pot of eggplant to appear.... no it won't!

After my opening rant, I am not going to write a long post about this favourite vegetarian dish of ours except it is bloody delicious! If you are an eggplant lover, you might want to try making it at this very moment.

Happy cooking and have a marvelous Sunday!

recipe adapted from The Food Of India
serves 4 to 6 as part of an Indian meal
you'll need;
2 large eggplants (~1kg), cut into wedges
400g tin chopped tomatoes
4 cm knob of ginger, chopped
8 garlic cloves
1.5 tsp of fennel seeds
1/2 tsp of nigella seeds
1 tbs of coriander powder
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
1/2 tsp of chili powder
1/2 tsp of crushed black pepper
salt to taste
oil for frying

Soak eggplant for 20 minutes and drain well.

Blend ginger and garlic with half of the chopped tomatoes until fine.

Nigella seeds and fennel seeds. Crush the fennel seeds lightly if you are not a fan of bitting into whole spice.

Fry eggplant in batches until golden brown, remove and drain off excess oil.

Add 4 tbs of oil to a large pan or pot and add in the whole seeds. Cover and allow the seeds to pop for a few seconds. Add the blended ingredients, the rest of the chopped tomatoes and spices and cook until the mixture becomes thick and oil starts to 'split'.

Return the fried eggplant to the pot and gently mix through the sauce, cover and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Season well with sea salt before serving.

I served this beautiful dish with chicken masala, punjabi cabbage (recipe up next) and plenty of steamed basmati rice on the side.

Murgh Masala, Chicken Masala

When Tummy suggested Indian for lunch I said yes right away. As I wanted something light and fresh rather than the more intensely spiced variety, this dish that I tried making once a while back came to mind.

Murgh masala or chicken masala is is a refreshing change from those Indian restaurant staples such as butter chicken or tikka masala. It is a classy yet complex dish but fortunately it is dead easy to prepare, just make sure you serve it with plenty of steamed basmati rice or roti on the side.

I also made a couple of simple side dishes to accompany this new favourite of ours, do come back later in the week to find out what they are! Happy cooking and see you soon!

recipe adapted from The Food Of India
serves 4 as part of an Indian meal
you'll need;
1.5 kg of skinless chicken thighs
2 tsp of cumin powder
2 tsp of coriander powder
1.5 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
2 onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
5 cm knob of ginger, roughly chopped
2 very ripe tomatoes, chopped
3 tbs of ghee
5 cloves
8 cardamon pods
2 sprigs of curry leaves
5 cm piece of cinnamon stick
150 ml of thick natural yoghurt

Mix cumin, coriander, garam masala and turmeric in a bowl and rub it onto the chicken thighs.

Put half of the onion with the garlic, ginger and tomatoes in a food processor and blend till smooth.

Aromatics for the dish.

In a large pot, saute the remaining onion with ghee, add in the cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and curry leaves and fry until the onion is golden brown.

Add the tomato and onion paste and stir for 5 minutes, season to taste with some good sea salt.

Add the spiced chicken, stir in the yoghurt and bring to the boil.

Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 40 minutes or until the oil separates from the sauce. Stirring from time to time to prevent chicken from sticking to the pot. If the sauce is too watery, remove the chicken from the pot and simmer until the sauce thicken, return chicken to the sauce. Check for seasonings.

Serve as part of an Indian meal.

Rohu Kalia, Fish Cooked In An Aromatic Turmeric And Yoghurt Sauce

It has been quite a week but alas! the much anticipated long weekend is finally here! As the day continues to heat up, lying in bed composing a blog post in my very cool room seems like the best thing to do at the time being. 

I have had a box of New Zealand deep sea cod fillets sitting idle in the freezer for months. There were many failed attempts and recipe ideas to use them up, I finally managed to do that last Sunday with a bit of planning and a will stronger than usual.

I came across this very simple Bengali specialty in The Food Of India - a beautiful cookbook that I often refer to whenever I want to try out some new Indian dishes at home. The end result didn't disappoint and this is certainly a recipe that I will go back to.

recipe adapted from The Food Of India

serves 4 as part of an Indian meal

you'll need;

600 g of cod or other film fresh fish fillets

oil for cooking

5 cm piece of cinnamon stick

4 cardamom pods

3 cloves

3 cassia leaves or bay leaves

1 small brown onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, crushed

3 cm piece of ginger, grated

1/2 tsp of turmeric powder

1 tsp of cumin powder

1 tsp of chili powder

400 ml of Greek yoghurt

3 green chilies, julienned 

salt and black pepper to taste

Prepare the aromatics and set aside.

Pan fry cod fillets in batches until golden on both sides, remove and set aside.

Add a little more oil to the pan, fry the cinnamon stick, cardamom pods and cloves and bay leaves over a low heat for about a minute. Add the onion saute until golden (~5 minutes). Add garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin and chili powder and continue to saute for a further 30 seconds.

Remove the pan from the heat and slowly add in the yoghurt (this prevents the yoghurt from splitting and curdling). Return the pan to the stove, add chillies and bring it to a simmer, season with salt and return the fish to the pan. mix the fish gently with the sauce and simmer until the fish is cooked completely. 

We had this mild dish with Punjabi cabbage (recipe up next) and plenty of steamed basmati rice.

Vegetable Pakora - "Malaysian Monday 83"

I made a batch of vegetable fritters for my very homesick friend G when she came for a visit over the weekend. It was a perfect snack for a beautiful afternoon filled with chatter, laughter and one too many drinks.

I grew up in Cameron Highlands which has a high percentage of population of South Indian origin so this has always been known to me as bajji  but for a Punjabi girl from K.L she prefers to call it pakora instead which is perfectly fine with me.

I very much just used what was in my fridge but eggplant, cauliflower can also be used. For all the meat lovers out there do remember to check out my chicken and vegetables bajji.

P.S Please check out the latest Muhibbah Malaysian Roundup if you haven't already done so.

makes 12 to 16
you'll need;
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 onion, cut into chunks
150 g of green beans, cut into 1.5 cm pieces
1 can of corn kernels, drained
1 cup of besan flour*
3/4 cup of water
1.5 tbs of chili powder
1.5 tbs of cumin powder
1 tbs of coriander powder
1/2 tbs of garam masala
salt and pepper to taste
oil for frying
** besan flour or chickpea flour can be bought from south Asian grocers

Cutting and dicing of the chosen vegetables and place them in a large bowl.

Mix besan flour, water and spices in a separate bowl.

Mix the besan flour mixture with the diced vegetables and season generously with salt and pepper.

Fry pakora in batches until golden brown. (1.5 heap tbs of batter/fritter)

I served them with Lingham chili sauce, another cure for homesick Malaysians.

My friend Sharon from Test With Skewer will be hosting this month's event, please send all your entries to its.sharon@gmail.com

To learn more about the event and on how to enter, please click here.