Kerala-Style Peas Masala Recipe

One of the early blogs I know is from Nags, actually I think I knew her sister's  Blog first and then came to know her or is it other way around, I don't remember anymore.

When I found her blog years ago she was a very young woman in her early twenties and I remember her early posts when she was living in Hyderabad and cooking for herself  and then posting what she has cooked etc.... from that young woman she has become this wonderful cook, and I just love her recipes as they are so easy to make and I know what ever I try from her place it is always good.

I have so many recipes which I have bookmarked and I have made few from her place like this Chick Pea Kozahmbu, which is a super hit in my place and I have made it so many times I hav elost count, then there is this Vengaya Kara Kuzhambu which we love too and when ever I do a thali party this dish is always there.

 



From the time I saw this peas curry I have been wanting to make but then as you know one wants to make so many dishes that there is hardly time to make every thing one want.

Nags curry looks more yellow than mine, but I think it would be to do something with my roasting the spices she added 1 tbsp of oil ,which i didn't I dry roasted them only after making the dish I was like hmmmm wasn't the pic in her place was lighter then I thought maybr i did something wrong and read the recipe and then found out about the oil, but don't know if tha tmakes a difference in taste.

As we all loved it. I even took two portions for Shyama when I went to visit her so that she just have to make rice or buy roties.

It is exams in college so she has not been home for a month, so Hans and I visited her twice taking some food and other things she need.

I did take step by step pics, but not adding them as nags as beautiful step by step pictures and explaining the recipe so if you want to make this delicious dish, you can hopp over to her place.

 



Mango Strawberry Daiquiri

I love cocktails, If I could I would drink them every day, but then that is just stays like a wish, as mostly cocktails are made here at home on weekends.
If it is good weather then I double love to drink them ,but we have not been having that much good weather here so in the end even if it is little but sunshine is there one is really in a good mood and in the friday evening I will be like yes cocktail time.
Here it is strawberry season and mostly there is strawberries at home from the market so one day I was like well I have strawberries and what drink to make,
Then I got this idea I do have mango pulp in tin ( if i had fresh ripe mangos I would have used them) so why not make a Daiquiri with this combination.
And I must say we love it, I have made few times after making this for the first time.



Ingredients.
50 ml Rum
10 ml lime juice
20 ml sugar syrup (optional)
4 to 5 strawberries
1 big tablespoon of mango pulp
Crushed Ice

Pour the rum, lime juice, sugar syrup, strawberries and ice into a blender and process at slow speed for 5 seconds, then at high speed for 20 seconds. Pour into a chilled glass  decorate with a strawberry and enjoy the drink.

Tiramisu from Rhubarb and Gingerbread

Before comming to Belgium I didn't even know there was something like Rhubarb as I have never seent them back at home.
When I came here my FIL had retired and he had this veggie/fruit garden near a farm outside the city, I think he had to cycle 7 km from his home to the garden.
But he loved working in the garden. MIL always complained instead of planting some 10 tomato plants he would plant atleast 50 and then in the end it is so much tomatoes that she has to make into a puree and then keep in the freezer etc...
He had so much variety of veggies etc... potatoes, leeks, celery , tomatoes , brussels sprouts ,Rhubarbs the list will go on and on.
But then after some years he got a bit sick even though he fully recovered from it MIL though it was too much for him to keep the garden even though he loved it so much.
I do wish he still had that garden thenI would have had planety of fresh veggies etc and I might even had asked him to plant some exotic Indian veggies.

3 slices of Kuridkoek crumbled up ( this is a kind of ginger bread with spices etc)
250 gm Mascarpone
2 egg yolks ( I used medium eggs)
100 gm fine sugar ( I used 50 gm as we don't like desserts to be too sweet)
2 tablespoon Amaretto Liqueur
100 ml cream
5 to 6 tablespoon Marsala Wine
250 gm Rhubarb
50 gm Vanilla Sugar ( I used 30 gm, as I love the sourness of the rhubarb)

Wash and peel the Rhubarb and cut them into small chubnks.
In a pan add the rhubarb and the vanilla sugar and cook in a medium heat for +/- 10 minutes till they are soft and pulpy. Keep them aside to cool it. (You can do this always the day before and keep them in the fridge)
In a glass bowl add the egg yolks, mascarpone, sugar and amaretto and whisk till they are creamy.
Whipp up the cream to a soft peak and fold the chipped cream to the masacrpone egg mix.

Now to assmemble the tiramisu .
Add few of the crumbled up kruidkoek in to each glasses ( I serve them in individual glassed) add a tablespoon of the Marsala wine on to them making sure they are soaked very good.
Add a thisck layer of the mascarpone cream mix, then add a layer of the cooled rhubarb pulp, then again a layer of mascarpone cream mix. Sprinkle on top few crumbs of the kruidkoek and keep the glasses in the fridge for atleast few hours before you serve them.

I do have step by step pics I will add the later .

 

Chicken Vindaloo

 

I think if you are familiar with Indian Cusine you will know about Vindaloo, I remember reading somewhere In UK when the Indian food started becoming popular men who wanted to show how macho they were ordered the most spicy dish which was vindaloo and aparently vindallo, roties, rice and beer was was a done thing.

I have made Vindaloo before but then from a spice paste I got from Aparna when Hans went to visit there in Goa .

But I have been wanting to make them from scratch and few weeks back while taking to my sis she was saying she made this delicious Chicken Vindaloo which her husband and kids loved it, so I asked her to give me the recipe and made them to the delight of my family.

Ofcourse as this is a very spicy dish I only made it when the day when FIL and Niece was not comming for lunch as I know they woudn't be able to handle the heat :-)

If you like you can less the amount of chilli or add more chilli depends on how much heat you can handel. Plus you also can aadd 2 potatoes cunt in chunks. I ddidn't even though I love potatoes in curries but Hans is like that is doubel carb :-)

 

 

 

 

1500 gm Chicken with bones cut in medium pieces

4 tablespoon oil

5 tsp corriander seeds

1 tsp black peppercorns

3 to 4 tsp chilli powder (I used Kashmiri chilli powder)

5 cardamoms just the seeds from it

1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds

3 sticks of cinamon

1 tablespoon cummin seeds

1 tablespoon mustard powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

3 large cloves of garlic

1 tablespoon ginger paste or ginger piece

125 gm grated fresh coconut

100 ml red whine vinegar ( you can use white too)

3 onions cut in pieces and then make into a rough paste

1 bay leaves

100 ml water

3 tsp garam masala powder

Salt to taste.

In a pan dry roast coriander seeds, peppercorns,chilli powder, cardamom seeds,fenugreek seeds, cinamon and cummin seeds.

When they are roasted powder them using your spice grinder.

In the mean while add the grated coconut together with the turmeric powder, mustard powder, ginger, garlic ,vinegar and make into a smooth paste, you might have to add a little water to get it really smooth.

Mix this smooth paste and the roasted powdered spices and keep it aside.

Heat the oil in a wok or deep pan, add the onion paste and bay leaves and fry tillt hey are lightly brown.

Add this chicken pieces with salt and fry for few minutes, add the smooth paste mixed with the powdered spices and fry for futher few minutes.

Now add the water and bring into boil.

Lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes till the chicken is almost done.

Add the garam masala and simmer till the chicken is fully cooked.

Serve with plain white rice.

Strawberry Cream Tarts

This year the strawberry season was late and also the prices are higer , maybe because of the bad weather we have been having here.
But must say I love strawberries, I could eat them straint one by one, Hans and Shyama though they would prefer if i serve the strawberries with whipped cream.

Ofcourse I do wish strawberries didn't had any season and they would be there whole year around, they are available whole year but I think they are the best when it is in season as any other fruit and aslo price tag is much better when they are in season :-)

According to James the Best way to make shortcrust pastry that crumbled in th emouth texture is to do it by hand rather than the machine.
I have noticed when I make short crust pastry the tart shells do shrink a bit maybe because of the butter so make sure your tart shells are deep enough.



For theRich Shortcrust pastry: Source

200 gm plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp icing sugar
100 gm cold butter,cubed
1 egg beaten
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp iced water

1. Mix together the flour , icing sugar and salt. Add half of the cubrd butter to the flour.
Gently and swiftly, rub the fat into the flour untill it resembels coarse breadcrumbs.
Add the rest of the butter and mix untill it is the size of small peas. Make a well in the center of the dry indgridients.
2. Mix the egg with the lemon juice and water and gradually pour into the well a little at a time, rubbing it through your fingers, untill it forms a dough ( you many not need all the liquid)
Turn out into a flour board and knead lightly intill smooth. Shape into a ball, wrap in a cling film and fefrigerate at least 30 minutes.
3. To line the moulds, roll the chilled pastry into a circle using a litle flour so thatit don't stick to the board using the help of the rolling pin , roll the dough onto the pin and then unroll into the butterd tin or mould. Gently press in plces using your fingers.
4. Line the pastey cases with grease proof paper and fill witrh baking beans ( i use dry chick pea). Blind bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and the discard the grease proof paper and baking beans and then further bake for 5 minutes or untill the tart shells are baked fully.
Leave the tart shells to cool completley before you fill them. ( I remove the shells from the tin after 10 minutes and then leave it to further cooling.

For the filling.
300 ml full fat cream
2 tbsp of icing sugar
400 gms of fresh strawberries.
1 tsp vanilla extract

Whipp the cold cream together with the sugar and vanilla extract untill they are soft peak.
Spoon the whipped cream to each tart shells and then decorate with sliced strawberries.

 

Garlic Scampi's

Born and brought up in Kerala it is not a surprise that I love seafood, as we were lucky to get so much fresh product.

When I was living at home we mostly had some kind of a fish dish in a daily base.

And ofcourse most of the dishes were spicy.

So it was a real shock when I came here to Belgium and then saw people having bland fish dishes.

Ofcourse for me it looked bland but for them it was a delicious dish. I coudn't imagine how every one here could eat fish just steamed and with some kind of a creamy sauce or some light sauce with a squeeze of lime etc... so the first time I ate this scampi dish I liked it but I did miss the spicyness which we had back at home. But then later one I started enjoying dishes like this.

And I do have to admit this Scampi dish is one of my favourite dish.

If it is not for my Cholesterol I would have this dish once a week as I just love it.

And the plus point it is so easy to make.

Ofcourse if you make this dish make sure you have plenty of bread to soak up all that delicious olive oil etc....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Scampi's In Garlic. (For one person)

10 scampi's ( if you like you can remove the skin but I sometimes don't as this gives a good flavour to the whole dish, but do make sure you remove the vain)

4 to 5 tablespoon of olive oil ( if you like mre you can add, i do that sometimes as I love to use my bread to soak up all the goddiness when i eat the dish)

1 tablespoon of butter

2 to 3 onions chopped

3 garlic cloves finley chopped

1/4 tsp of chilli flakes ( optional)

2 to 3 tablspoon parsley chopped

Pepper and Salt to taste

Lemon / Lime to serve ( I squeeze a bit of lime juice on the dish before i eat it)

Heat a pan , add the olive oil and butter, add the onions and fry for few minutes, then add the garlci and chilli flakes fry futher for few mote minutes till the onions are soft and very lightly borwn.

Add the scampi's and fry for just 4 minutes. Don't over cook the scampis as then they will turn rubbery and chewy.

Add pepper and salt for taste, add the chopped parsley stir every thing and serve with loads of bread so you can mop up all the delicious oil butter mixture together with the scampi's.