WHITE USSAL BHAJI (SPROUTED WHITE PEAS CURRY)

Ingredients

1.5 cup - Dry white peas, soaked overnight

1 medium - Onion, chopped

2 medium - Tomatoes, chopped

1 - Bay leaves

2 sprigs - Curry leaves

To fry & grind to a paste

1'' size - Ginger, chopped

5 big flakes - Garlic, chopped

1/4 shell - Copra Or 1/2 cup - Fresh coconut, grated

1/2 cup - Coriander leaves

2 to 3 tsp - Kashmiri chili powder

1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

1 tsp - Garam masala powder

Method

1 ) Soak white peas over night and drain.

2 ) To make gravy - Heat oil in a pan, add onion, ginger and garlic. Fry till the onion turn pinkish. Now add copra / coconut and fry till coconut turns lightly brown in color. Turn off the stove and cool. Transfer to a blender and grind along with coriander leaves, chili powder, garam masala powder to a smooth paste, adding little water as needed.

3 ) Heat cooker with some oil, add bay leaves, curry leaves, onion and fry till lightly brown in color. Now add tomato and fry till tomatoes gets cooked on low heat. Then add ground masala and stir for a few minutes. Then add the white peas, stir and mix well with masala. Add 3 cups of water, salt to taste and stir. Close the cooker and pressure cook for 15 minutes.

APPAM

Ingredients:
2 cups uncooked rice , soaked for 4 to 5 hours and drained
1/2 cup cooked rice
1/2 tsp dry yeast
2 pinches of sugar
1 cup coconut milk
salt to taste
2 tsp sugar

Method

1. For the batter
2. Combine the soaked rice, cooked rice and approx. ½ cup of warm water and blend in a mixer to smooth paste. Keep aside.
3. Combine the dry yeast, sugar and ½ cup of warm water in a bowl and mix well.
4. Put a pinch of plain flour, cover and keep aside for 10 minutes.
5. Combine the ground paste, coconut milk, salt and sugar and mix well.
6. Add the prepared yeast mixture and mix very well. Cover and keep aside to ferment for 2 to 3 hours.
7. Heat an appachatti (appam pan) and grease it lightly with oil.
8. Pour a big ladleful of the batter into it and slowly rotate the pan in a circular motion so that a thin layer forms on the side while it remains thick in the center.
9. Put a little oil on the edges, cover with a lid and cook on a slow flame for 2 to 3 minutes, remove the appam when the center fluffy part is cooked.
10. Repeat with the remaining batter to make 14 more appams.
11. Serve immediately with coconut stew.

Manglorean chicken curry

• 1 kg Chicken cut into medium size pieces
• 4 short dry chillies
• 4 long dry chillies
• 1 tbsp. coriander
• 1 tsp jeera
• 1/2 tsp peppercorns
• 1/2 tsp mustard
• 2 medium size onions (for grinding)
• 1 medium onion sliced (to be boiled along with the chicken)
• 1 small onion for tempering/tadka
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 a coconut grated
• Milk of 1/2 coconut (optional - only if you wish to eat a gravy which tastes strongly of coconut milk)
• 1 small ball of tamarind
• 1 tsp garam masala powder

Method:
1. Dry roast the ingredients (dry chillies, coriander, pepper, mustard, jeera, onions, garlic) one by one on a hot pan. Powder the dry ingredients (minus the onions & garlic) first if you are using a mixer grinder and then add the onions, garlic, grated coconut, tamarind & garam masala. Grind to a fine paste using a little water

2. Boil the chicken with 1 onion sliced (toss it in the pan with the chicken, no need to fry it first & all that jazz) and salt and a little water if required. Cook until chicken is done.

3. Add the ground masala to the chicken & bring it to a boil.

4. Heat a small pan, add ghee and when its smoking hot toss in the 1/2 sliced onion, reduce the flame to avoid burning. This is the Tadka/Tempering - Add this to the chicken gravy and serve hot