Leaves of the curry tree have got nothing in common with the curry powder which is a blend of spices. It is also known as karipatta in common parlance or otherwise as sweet neem leaf. Even though resemble neem leaf; the curry tree is just about 3-4meter high with slightly pointed leaves.

Curry leaf is extensively used in Southern and western Indian cuisine though conspicuously absent in Goa. The leaves releases its fragrance after being fried for a while which makes it aromatic. If it is added to the curries, it requires a couple of minute of cooking to release its flavor to the curry.  They should be used fresh as far as possible as they do not keep well for a long time. Alternatively they can be fried and kept in airtight container for a few days but make sure to use them soon or else they will turn rancid because of the presence of oil. Some people also use it dry but the dried version has got very little flavor as most of the fragrant volatile compound have already vanished by then.

As it comes from the same family as neem, they almost exhibit the same medicinal properties like anti- bacterial properties. The dried leaves are also used as organic pesticide for plants.
Most of the recipe calling for curry leaves use it as one of the flavouring ingredient but not just on its own. Here we share peanut chutney flavoured with curry leaves which can be eaten during any meal.

Peanut Chutney
1 cup peanut with skin
1 tbsp tamarind pulp
2 green chilies (optional)
1 tsp rock salt
10 curry leaves
1 tsp peanut/ groundnut oil
½ tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp fenugreek seeds
½ tsp split urad dal
½ cup grated fresh coconut

Method:
Roast the peanut on a griddle until lightly blistered, approximately 5-8minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Once cooled, loosen skin from peanut. Heat oil in a pan and fry the curry leaves briefly until fragrant, add urad lentil and fry for another minute until the lentil is lightly colored. Remove from heat and cool. Put all the ingredients in a blender and grind to a paste. If you require to add water, add a little to facilitate the blending.

Tags: kulfi, curries, bhatura, tandoor, palak, chettinad, murgh, vindaloo, indian food, tikka masala

Vindaloo now a days, as it stands is a Goan interpretation of the popular Portuguese preparation originally called “Vindalho” which when dissected meant Vinho for wine and alhos for garlic. These two were the integral part of the dish originally made with pork which also contained ginger, pepper and red wine vinegar.

The modern version available in most of the Indian restaurant including the one in Goa is made with lots of chilli, tomato and potato. Potato because some of chefs have presumed that the last word in Vindaloo is equivalent to “aloo” (potato) which most of the Indian likes in some form or the other.  The pork used in the Portuguese recipe is not a very popular choice with the Indians and is a complete taboo with the Muslim Chefs; hence it further underwent a complete makeover and local versions made with lamb or chicken are equally popular with undertones of local Goan feni made with cashewnut fruit.

The original recipe is contained in the curry manual available with www.sonzyskitchen.com. However I will try to recreate the most commonly found lamb vindaloo.

Lamb Vindaloo:
1 kg lean lamb, cleaned and cubed into 1 inch pieces
3 tbsp cooking oil
2 medium red onion, chopped roughly
1 inch knob ginger, scraped and chopped roughly
10 cloves garlic, peeled
¼ cup coconut feni
½ tsp turmeric powder
2 medium potatoes, peeled, quartered and deep fried until crisp
1 small bunch fresh coriander leaves, washed and chopped
Salt to taste

Marinating ingredients
10 dried red chillis (can vary the quantity to suit individual palate)
10 peppercorns
10 cloves
1 medium bark cinnamon
5 nos green cardamom
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp mustard seeds
1/3 cup malt vinegar

Method:
In a blender, make the paste of marinating ingredients. Marinate the lamb cubes and season a little with salt. Keep aside for 2 hrs to allow the flavour to penetrate inside the meat fibres

In a cooking vessel, heat the oil and fry the lamb, stirring occasionally, until it is light brown on all sides. Add chopped onion, ginger and garlic and continuing frying until the vegetables are brown and cooked. Add turmeric powder and pour in coconut feni and water, bring to boil. Reduce to simmer for 10-15minutes until lamb is tender and the oil starts floating on top. Check seasoning. Serve hot garnished with deep fried potato wedges and freshly chopped coriander.

Bon Appetit !

- Kuntal

Tags: lentil, desi, curries, vindaloo, dosa, palak, indian food, roti, chana, dal

In India, Cumin is known in as “Jeera or Jira”. The use of cumin is very common in Indian and Pakistani foods. Black cumin seed (also called black seed) should not be confused with the herb, cumin. It is know as Shahi jeera and is the essential spice for so many aromatic preparation.

It is an herbaceous annual plant, with a slender branched stem 20-30 cm tall. The leaves are 5-10 cm long. Cumin seeds are similar to fennel and anise seeds in appearance, but are smaller and darker in colour. Cultivation of cumin requires a long, hot summer of 3-4 months, with daytime temperatures around 30°C (86°F); it is drought tolerant, and is mostly grown in Mediterranean climates. It is grown from seed, sown in spring, and needs fertile, well-drained soil.

Today, cumin is identified with Indian, Tex-Mex, Cuban and Northern Mexican cuisine. It is used as an ingredient of curry powder. Cumin can be found in some Dutch cheeses like Leyden cheese, and in some traditional bread from France.

A few of cumin’s medicinal uses include treating asthma, tumors, colic, fever, and snakebite.
Additionally it also acts as a stimulant as well as a great herb for digestive disorders and even as a antiseptic of sorts. The seeds themselves are rich in iron and are thought to help stimulate the secretion of enzymes from the pancreas which can help absorb nutrients into the system. It has also been shown to boost the power of the liver’s ability to detoxify the human body.

I wish to recreate a simple recipe which is being used in India for centuries and is the real cold drink with all the goodness to fight the extreme summers of the sub-continent.

Jeera Pani
2 tablespoon cumin seeds, toasted until fragrant
570 ml water
15 grams fresh mint leaves
1 teaspoon rock salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Method
Put water in a saucepan and bring it to boil. Remove from heat and allow cooling slightly.
Crush cumin lightly to release flavor, add to the water alongwith mint, salt, sugar and lemon juice. To have a smooth drink, you can also strain the water but for additional character, I like to serve with all the ingredients. If you wish to spice up the drink, you can also add finely chopped green chili. Chill and serve.

- Kuntal.

Tags: dosa, lentil, karahi, handi, kebab, gosht, roti, desi, idli, indian food

Question : When making curry and adding coconut milk, should you heat the milk till it separates?

Kuntal Answers….

While some of the recipes require to cook the coconut milk longer along with the paste which act as a natural emulsifier for the milk and does not allow it to separate easily. It is quite common to see the fat from the coconut milk flowing on top of Thai curries and soups. In the Indian cuisine especially in the South India cuisine, most of the curries are thin; hence thick coconut milk is preferred. Reduce the heat to low after adding the milk and stir for a while to form an emulsion with the rest of the ingredients, allow the curry to simmer only to avoid the distasteful split which develops if one cooks on a high heat after the coconut milk is added.

Seasonal vegetable in coconut milk
Ingredients:

• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced into an inch
• 12-15 broad beans stringed, halved and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup green peas, shelled
• 1/4 flower cauliflower cut into medium florets
• 2 medium carrot peeled and diced into an inch
• 100 gm red pumpkin, peeled and diced into an inch
• 1 ½ cup freshly scraped coconut flesh, (white part only)
• 2 tbsp tamarind  pulp
• 3 tbsp groundnut  oil (olive oil optional)
• 4 red chilies whole
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 8-10 garlic cloves,  peeled
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• salt  to taste
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp black gram split
• 8-10 curry leaves

Method:
1.Add warm water to one cup of scraped coconut and extract the first pressing using a muslin cloth. Next blend the contents of the muslin with half a cup of water until smooth and strain again using the same muslin/ cheesecloth. Keep aside. Dissolve tamarind pulp in half cup of water.

2.Heat a little oil and sauté 2 whole red chillies, cumin, coriander, garlic and the remaining half cup of scraped coconut until aromatic. Grind into a fine paste using little water.

3.Simmer the vegetables in the thin coconut milk adding the hard vegetables first in descending order with turmeric powder, tamarind extract and salt until three-fourth done. Add the ground masala and cook for 10 minutes.

4.Heat a little oil separately and add the remaining red chillies broken into two, mustard seeds and Black gram split. Add curry leaves and add this to the vegetables.

5.Continue cooking the vegetables till done. Then add the thick coconut milk and simmer for two to three minutes. Serve hot with boiled rice.

Bon Appetit !

Tags: handi, dal, bhatura, dosa, tikka masala, gosht, paneer, balti, kulfi, curries

Some of the herbs and spices are almost synonymous with Indian cuisine and ginger is one of them and much so for the medicinal properties it exhibits. There has been a long tradition to the use of ginger which is well amplified by the practitioners of Ayurveda where it was used as a mild cure for flatulence, nausea and vomiting. Ayurvedic “trikatu” powder where dried ginger is used to strengthen the digestive tract.

Right from the eponymous curries to morning non caffeine tea, ginger is in vogue everywhere either in young, mature or dry form. Ginger and garlic paste finds its way into most of the North Indian curries and so is the chopped and julienned ginger. Ginger lemon and honey drink is a very good morning refresher and supposed to fight diabetes if taken early morning besides fighting cold and flu symptoms. Secondly it also helps getting rid of the empty stomach bed tea habit which is damaging to the intestinal lining.

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Tags: lentil, vindaloo, chana, curries, idli, kebab, naan, desi, bhatura, paneer

Here is a recipe for a simple Rice Kheer

Ingredients
# 3 Litres Milk
# 100 Grams Rice
# 100 Grams Sugar
# Kesar (Saffron )
# Elaichi (Cardomom)
# Badam (Almonds)
# 2 Tbsp Water

Method
Boil Milk. Add rice to the milk when boiled. Stir the milk until it gets thick and of dropping consistency.
Allow the milk to cool. When the milk mixture is at room temperature, Add Saffron, and Sugar to it and mix it well. The Milk mixture will get a good colour. Top it with Almonds and Cardomom Powder.

Tags: naan, kulfi, sambhar, dosa, handi, chettinad, desi, roti, palak, tandoori

Simple Yoghurt appetizer made from Tiny Dumplings of Besan (Chickpeas flour) put in Yoghurt.

• 600 ml Yoghurt
• 1/4 tea spoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint or coriander

Method

Soak the boondi in water for about 10 minutes.
Squeeze lightly and set aside.
Beat the yoghurt smooth with fork, add the salt, pepper and sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves.
Fold(put in and mix well) the moist boondi in yoghurt.
Refrigerate. Sprinkle with chopped mint or coriander leaves.
Serve chilled.

Tags: gosht, chana, karahi, vindaloo, dhokla, kulfi, tikka masala, tandoori, curries, idli

Home Improvement : Lentil Stock is good for plants !

a. Use the water used for washing dals and rice to water the plants. This water is very rich in nutrients and acts as a fertilizer.
b. Remove yellow food stains from table mats, etc., by applying a paste of detergent and water to the stained areas and keep in the sun for an hour. Wash like your other laundry.

Next time, do not throw away the Lentil Stock…