Coriander Stems & Spinach Stems Stir Fry With Prawns

 

          This is an unusual dish prepared with the roots / stems of coriander leaves and spinach. These are generally discarded. However, they contain the most nutrients. So I decided to make use of them in the form of a simple stir fry. 

          I added some fried prawns for some extra flavour. For a veg. version, it can simply be omitted and few fried vadis / dried lentil dumplings can be added. Enjoy it as a side dish with either rice or chapattis. I like to relish with hot steamed rice. 

• stems from 2 bunches of coriander leaves, chopped
• stems from 1 bunch of spinach leaves, chopped 
• 1/2 cup prawns, stir fried in one 1 tsp. oil for a minute
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tsp. garlic, chopped
• 1-2 dry red chilies
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp. red chili powder or to taste
• 2 tbsp. mustard oil
• 1/2 tsp. nigella seeds (kalonji)
• 1/2 tsp. roasted panch phoron powder 

           Heat oil in a pan and temper with nigella and red chilies. After a few seconds, add the onions and garlic and sauté till light brown.

          Now add the chopped stems, salt, turmeric powder and red chili powder and fry on low flame for 4-5 minutes till the stems are soft. 

          When done add the fried prawns and the panch phoron powder and mix well. Serve as a side dish.

Egg Angara with Jeera Rice

          Serve this restaurant style egg curry along with some jeera rice as they both complement each other. Prepared this Egg Angara with a slight twist as the main gravy based ingredients were first char grilled on an open flame and then made into a paste. This gives a nice smoky flavour to the dish. 

          On the other hand steamed rice can be more flavorful in the form of jeera rice. It  tastes yummy with the flavour of the ghee along with the crunch of the fried cumin seeds. So this simple platter is apt to be served and enjoyed during special occasions along with your family and friends. Happy Cooking !!!

Egg Angara - 

• 2-3 boiled eggs, cut into half
• 1 onion
• 1-2 tomatoes
• 2 green chilies
• 3-4 garlic cloves
• 1" ginger
• 3 tbsp. oil
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 2 bay leaves 
• 1" cinnamon stick 
• 2-3 cardamoms 
• 4-5 cloves
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp. red chili powder
• 1 tsp. garam masala powder
• 1 tsp. roasted coriander powder
• 1 tsp. ghee
• 1 tsp. coriander leaves, chopped

          Grill the onion, tomato, ginger, garlic and green chilies on an open fire till it is slightly charred. Grind into a fine paste and keep aside. 

          Heat oil in a pan and lightly fry the boiled eggs. Drain and keep aside. Temper the same oil with cumin seeds, bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamoms and cloves.

          Add the onion paste, turmeric powder and red chili powder. Saute till the oil separates. Add 1 - 1 & 1/2 cups water and salt. Bring it to a boil.

          Cover and simmer on a low flame for 4-5 minutes till the gravy reduces to a desired consistency. Add the garam masala powder and ghee and simmer further for a minute. 

          Switch off the flame and transfer to a serving plate. Arrange the boiled eggs over it and garnish with coriander leaves. 

Jeera Rice - 

• 1 cup Basmati rice, soaked for 30 minutes
• salt to taste
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 2-3 tbsp. ghee (clarified butter)
• 1 & 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1-2 green chilies, chopped
• 1 tbsp. coriander leaves, chopped

           Pressure cook the rice in 1 & 1/2 cups water, salt and lime juice for 1 whistle. Spread on a plate to cool down.

          Heat ghee in a pan and temper with the cumin seeds and green chilies. Then add the rice and mix well. Saute for a minute or two on a low flame. 

          Add the coriander leaves and give it a toss. Switch off the flame and transfer to a serving plate.

Egg Angara

         Try this restaurant style egg curry right in your kitchen with a simple trick. It will take your egg curry to a next level. I named it Egg Angara as the main gravy based ingredients were first char grilled on an open flame and then made into a paste. This gives a nice Smokey flavor to the dish. 

          So in my opinion Egg Angara is apt to be served and enjoyed during any special occasion. Do enjoy this simple egg curry in a new avatar along with steamed rice, jeera rice, pulao, plain biryani, naan, tandoori roti, roomali roti or just plain chapatti. So check out the step by step pictorial recipe to prepare it. 

• 2-3 boiled eggs, cut into half
• 1 onion
• 1-2 tomatoes
• 2 green chilies
• 3-4 garlic cloves
• 1" ginger
• 3 tbsp. oil
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 2 bay leaves 
• 1" cinnamon stick 
• 2-3 cardamoms 
• 4-5 cloves
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp. red chili powder
• 1 tsp. garam masala powder
• 1 tsp. roasted coriander powder
• 1 tsp. ghee
• 1 tsp. coriander leaves, chopped

          Grill the onion, tomato, ginger, garlic and green chilies on an open fire till it is slightly charred. Grind into a fine paste and keep aside. 

          Heat oil in a pan and lightly fry the boiled eggs. Drain and keep aside. Temper the same oil with cumin seeds, bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamoms and cloves.

          Add the onion paste and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Then add the turmeric powder, coriander powder and red chili powder. Sauté till the oil separates. Add 1 - 1 & 1/2 cups water and salt. Bring it to a boil.

          Cover and simmer on a low flame for 4-5 minutes till the gravy reduces to a desired consistency. Add the garam masala powder and ghee and simmer further for a minute. 

          Switch off the flame and transfer to a serving plate. Arrange the boiled eggs over it and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with plain steamed rice, jeera rice, pulao, plain biryani or any Indian bread. 

                     Grill onion, tomato, ginger, garlic & green chilies on open fire till slightly 
                     charred. Grind into a fine paste and keep aside. 

                        Heat oil & lightly fry the boiled eggs. Drain and keep aside. 

                      Temper same oil with cumin seeds, bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamoms
                       and cloves.

                       Add the onion paste and sauté for 2-3 minutes.  

                      Add turmeric powder, coriander powder & red chili powder. Saute till 
                      the oil separates. 

                       Add 1 - 1 & 1/2 cups water and salt. Bring it to a boil.

                      Cover & simmer on low flame for 4-5 min. till gravy reduces to desired                                              consistency. Add garam masala powder & ghee. Simmer for a minute. 

                       Switch off flame & transfer to a serving plate. Arrange boiled eggs over
                       it and garnish with coriander leaves.

                     Serve with steamed rice, jeera rice, pulao, plain biryani or Indian bread. 

Chicken Peas Curry

          This combination of Peas with Chicken into a curry form is simply yummy. I made use of dried white peas to make this delicious gravy. So go ahead and give it a try. Very easy and an awesome preparation, it can be enjoyed with any form of rice or Indian bread, including dosa, appam, idiyappam, etc.

• 400 gms. chicken curry cut
• 1/2 cup dried white peas, soaked overnight
• 3 tbsp. oil
• 1-2 bay leaves
• 1" cinnamon
• 2 green cardamoms
• 4 cloves
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 tbsp. ginger-garlic paste
• 1 tsp. tomato paste
• 1 tsp. red chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
• salt to taste
• 1 tbsp. roasted coriander-cumin powder
• 1 tsp. garam masala powder
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 tsp. ghee
• 1 tsp. kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves), crushed
• 1 tbsp. coriander leaves to garnish

          Pressure cook the soaked white peas in 1 1/2 cups water for 5 minutes on a low flame after the first whistle or till it is soft. Keep aside. 

          Make a paste of the ginger-garlic paste, tomato paste and all the dry spices with some water. Keep aside.

          Heat 1 tbsp. oil and saute the chicken till light brown. Drain and keep aside. Heat the remaining oil and temper with bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamoms, cloves and cumin seeds.

          Saute for a few seconds and then add the onion. Fry till it turns light brown. Add the spice paste and saute till the oil separates.

          Now add the tomatoes and fry till it is mashed. Add the fried chicken and 1 cup water or as needed. Cover and simmer till it is cooked and the chicken is tender.

          Add the boiled peas and simmer further for 2-3 minutes. Adjust water accordingly. When done, switch off the flame and add the ghee and kasuri methi. 

           Mix well and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve as a side dish with plain steamed rice, jeera rice, plain biryani, pulao, naan, kulcha, tandoori roti, paratha or just plain chapatti. It can also be relished with dosa, uttapam, appam or idiyappam.

Chettinad Mutton Chukka

          This is a traditional dry mutton curry in the authentic Chettinad style. Chettinad is a region in the Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, known for its spicy veg. and non-veg. recipes. Chukka means dry and the mutton is cooked with a concoction of various spices, freshly ground and strongly flavoured by the use of peppercorns. 

           This yummy preparation can be enjoyed with either plain steamed rice, plain Biryani, jeera rice, pulao, dosa, appam, idiyappam, parathas or any Indian bread. So go ahead and give it a try by following a step by step pictorial recipe to prepare it.

• 450 gms. mutton on bones, cubed
• 3 tbsp. oil
• 2-3 onions, chopped
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 1 tsp. ginger-garlic paste
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 tsp. tamarind paste
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
• salt to taste
• 3-4 tbsp. Chettinad spice paste

Chettinad Spice Mix-

• 2-3 tbsp. coriander seeds
• 8-10 dry red chilies (I used Kashmiri red chilies)
• 2-3 green cardamoms
• 1" cinnamon stick
• 5-6 cloves
• 1 tbsp. cumin seeds
• 2 tbsp. fresh grated coconut
• 1 javitri (mace)
• 1 tbsp. stone flower
• 1 star anise
• 1/4 tsp. fenugreek seeds
• 1/2-1 tsp. peppercorns
• 1 tbsp. fennel seeds
• 1 tbsp. sesame seeds (opt)

          Dry roast the coconut first till light brown. Then add rest of the ingredients and sauté for a minute on a low flame or till you get a nice aroma coming through. Keep aside to cool. Then grind into a fine paste by adding some water. Set aside.

          Pressure cook the mutton in 1 cup water for 20-25 minutes on a low flame after the first whistle. Separate the mutton from the stock and keep aside.

          Heat oil in a pan and fry the chopped onions till light brown. Then add the ground  Chettinad paste. ginger-garlic paste and turmeric powder.

          Sauté till the oil separates. Add the tomatoes and continue to fry on a medium flame till it is mashed.

          Now add the boiled mutton, salt and the curry leaves. Mix everything well and add 1/4 cup water. Cover and simmer till the gravy turns thick. 

          Serve as desired, with any form of rice preparation or Indian bread like plain biryani, pulao, jeera rice, paratha, naan, appam, dosa or idiyappam.

                                Heat oil & fry chopped onion till light brown. 

                    Add ground Chettinad paste, ginger-garlic paste & turmeric powder.
                    Sauté till oil separates. 

                     Add tomatoes & continue to fry on a medium flame till it is mashed.

                Add boiled mutton, salt & curry leaves. Mix well & add 1/3 cup stock. Cover
                and simmer till gravy turns thick. 

              Serve with any kind of Indian bread or rice preparation like plain biryani, pulao,
              jeera rice, paratha, naan, appam, dosa or idiyappam.

Peanut Mutton Curry

          This is an absolutely simple and an easy no-fuss Mutton Curry with some peanuts and few kaffir lime leaves added to it for a nutty and a lemony flavour. I also added potatoes and a few yellow chili peppers that I found at a grocery store here. 

          You just need to marinate the mutton overnight and simmer before you pressure cook. It is that simple. This delicious dish can be relished with plain steamed rice, jeera rice, pulao, plain Biryani, naan, kulcha, tandoori roti or plain chapatti. You may try having with dosa, appam or idiyappam too.

• 500 gms. mutton with bones, curry cut
• 1 onion, 
• 1" ginger
• 4-5 garlic cloves
• 1 tomato, 
• 2-3 tbsp. roasted peanuts
• 3-4 whole yellow chili pepper (opt)
• 1-2 potatoes, cut into halves
• 1/2 cup yoghurt
• salt to taste
• 1-2 tbsp. red chili powder
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tsp. garam masala powder
• 3-4 tbsp. oil

          Grind together onion, ginger, garlic, tomato and peanuts along with some water into a smooth paste.

          Marinate the mutton with the ground paste, yoghurt and all the dry spices overnight. Heat oil in a pan and add the marinated mutton. Cover and simmer on a medium flame till dry.

          Add 1 cup water, potatoes and the yellow chili peppers. Pressure cook for 20 minutes on a low flame after the first whistle. Switch off the flame and allow it to cool down before opening the lid. 

         Serve with plain steamed rice, jeera rice, pulao, plain Biryani, naan, kulcha, tandoori roti or plain chapati. You may try having with dosa, appam or idiyappam.