Fry A Thon: Mixture Mom style

Mixture is a quintessential South Indian Snack, and it is exactly what its name implies: A mixture of little bits of everything : nuts, puffed rice, raisins, green chillies, curry leaves : Sugar and spice and all thats nice. Salty sweet with a hint of fennel, so unhealthy and yet so irresistable. Making it at home though is a Frying Marathon. My mom usually makes this every Diwali, but H. likes it so much I make it atleast once a month. The price of love i guess. Now, it is available at stores, but if you have the patience, try this recipe.Not only are the results infinitely better, it is endlessly customizable.

Some ingredients I buy readymade, but even then this recipe is basically a BIG assembly job and one where going through the instructions is worth it.

Ingredients:

Store Bought Ingredients:
1 14 oz bag Masala Boondi
1 14 oz bag Sev
2oz Fennel Sweet: Basically a cake sprinkle type candy with a fennel seed inside.

Other Ingredients:
11/2 cups Thin Poha
1/2 cup Peanuts
1/2 cup Cashew Nuts
1/2 cup Raisins
Diamond Cut : Little pieces of flavored fried dough that melt in your mouth
Ingredients:1/2 cup Maida,1 tsp Black Pepper Powder, 1 tbsp Crisco


Flavorings:
10-15 Curry Leaves
3-5 cut green chillies
Turmeric
Red Chilli Powder

Equipment: I set up a frying station to do this. Look at the picture to the left. A deep pan and a completely stainless steel meshed strainer ( large) are ideal. If you have a strainer with a plastic rim like me, you will have to be very careful that the rim does not ever touch the hot oil.

I first mix the dough for the Diamond cut. Take the 1/2 cup of maida , rub the shortening into the dough. You can do this with your fingers. Add pepper powder and salt to taste. Now add cold water slowly to the dough and add as little water as possible to make a soft dough.(Think pastry dough). Cover with cling film and Referigerate.

Now back to the strainer oil set up. Keep the following ingredients ready on the side while the oil heats up, the thin poha, curry leaves, green chillies, raisins.

For the puffed rice: Once the oil is hot, put some ( about a couple of tablespoons) thin poha into the strainer and dip it into the hot oil. Within 1 or two seconds you will see the poha puff up AND the sizzling of the oil will stop. Shake the strainer to remove excess oil and put the poha on to bounty sheets or paper to drain the oil. Donot overcrowd your strainer with poha or your rice wont puff up. Other thing is the oil has to be really hot or the rice doesnt puff up. Dont worry if if your first batch doesnt puff up, it tastes quite good.

Once the rice is done, put in the curry leaves in the strainer, Dip into the hot oil. Once fried , reserve on paper.

Next come the Green chillies. Deep fry them too.

Last are the Raisins. Deep fry the raisins and reserve.

Peanuts: Toast the peanuts in 1 tbsp oil over low heat until golden and just browning. Season with salt and red chilli powder , reserve.

Cashew: Toast the cashewnuts in 1 tbsp oil over low heat until golden and just browning. Season with salt and red chilli powder, reserve.

At this point you might want to change the oil in the pan.

Last thing to make is the Diamond cut. Divide the diamond cut dough into four parts. Roll out one part dough with a rolling pin ( belan) like you would a roti. Cut it with a pastry wheel or a knife with a sharp edge into little diamonds. You could also do any other shape you like. Deep fry.

Assemble all the ingredients, the boondi, the sev,the fennel sweet, the diamond cut, the fried poha, the cashews, the raisins, the peanuts, the green chillies and the curry leaves. Take 1 tbsp oil in a pan, when hot add the turmeric and red chilli powder. When the turmeric and red chilli powder are no longer raw, in about a minute, pour this oil on the assembled ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Taste for salt and adjust.

Customizations: You can sub unpuffed corn flakes for the poha, adjust the green and red chilli powder according to your heat level. Its easier to begin with lower levels of heat and salt , because you can always add them.

Whew!

I would recommend making a huge batch, because of the assembly involved the size of the batch is not a problem. You can even skip a few ingredients like the diamond cut, the boondi or sev or even the cashews - depending on what you have on hand and how much time you are willing to spend. Dont skip the seasonings though.

Marcha ane Rai na Kuria : RCI Gujarat

This is my last minute entry for Mythili's
RCI GUJARAT






















Gujarat is dry desert region and this recipe really shows their love for chillies and pickles. In a Gujarati village, I saw fresh chilies picked in the morning from the Vadi, roasted over charcoals, skinned and served with a little salt to accompany the simple lunch of Bhakri Ane Shaak. Gujaratis have a whole repertoire of pickles that they pickle only with lemon and salt which include roots such as fresh turmeric root and mango turmeric( manga inji).

This recipe is a simple Gujarati fresh pickle recipe from my best friend's mom.

Ingredients:

Green Chilies
Lemon Juice
Salt
Rai na Kuria (Mustard Flakes easily available at your local Indian grocery)

Slice the green chilies vertically. Remove all the seeds. Split the chilies into four. Place in a glass jar with tight lid. Add two table spoons of lemon juice for every half cup of green chilies.Add water until the chillies are submerged. Salt until fairly briny like sea water. Add about one table spoon of rai na kuria. Put the lid and set aside for 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator. Serve as a pickle with roti and shaak. After two or three days, the chilies will become brown and thats when you know they are ready. Enjoy

Curry Cuisine

1.Laal Maas
Substitute paneer for the meat to make it vegetarian

25-35 dried red chillies
11/2 tsp cloves
51/2 oz ghee or vegetable oil
9 oz plain yoghurt, whisked
2 tsp cumin seeds, roasted
11/2 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp red chilli powder
2 tsp salt
2 cinnamon leaves or bay leaves
6 green cardamom pods
5 black cardamom pods
21/2 oz garlic cloves, finely chopped
9 oz onions finely chopped
21/4 pound leg of lamb or goat with bones, cubed
3 cups lamb stock
2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro

Set aside three or four of the dried chilles to use later, put the remainder to soak in half cup waer. Put aside 4-6 of the cloves and 1 tbsp of the ghee.

Mix the yoghurt with the cumin seeds, ground coriander, chilli powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

Heat the rest of the ghee in a heavy based pan. Add the remainng cloves, the cinnamon leaves, and the green and black cardamoms. When they begin to crackle and change color, add the garlic. Saute for two minutes or until the garlic begins to turn golden. Add the onions and cook for 10 min or until golden brown, stirring constantly.

Stir in the meat and cook for 2-3 minutes. Drain the soaked red chillies and add to the pan. Continue cooking for 10-12 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated and the meat starts to brown slightly. Now add the spiced yoghurt and cook for another 10-12 minutes or until the liquid from the yoghurt has evaporated.

Add the stock or water and bring to a boil, Then cover the pan, reduce the heat and simmer until the meat is tender. Adjust the seasoning. Remove from heat and keep warm.

Do tadka with ghee, reserved cloves and dried red chillies.
Sprinkle with coriander leaves.

2. Plantain curry

South african style Plantain dish.

4 plantains
3 tbsp vegetable oil
3/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 sprig of curry leaves
1 onion, finely chopped
11/4 piece fresh ginger, finely chopped
2 green chillies
2 tbsp chopped cilantro leaves
lemon juice

Steam the plantains for ten minutes. Reserve.Pop mustard,add onions, ginger, curry leaves. Peel the plantains just before grating it into the onion masala. Add salt, turmeric, green chillies. Saute. Top with lemon juice and cilantro leaves. Serve.

Cooks notes: Best served fresh, dries out when referigerated. Tastes sort of like potato poha.

Happy Diwali!!

A very happy diwali to everybody. Here's a typical Diwali bachanam recipe - Chettiar style ribbon from Salem in Tamilnadu , India. Best on diwali or any rainy day. It is different from other ribbon in its smoother almost silky texture and a very slight sweetness which depends on whether your coconut milk is store made or home made.

For newbies, the tall steel thingie is called an acchu - a modern variant of an old device - sort of like a cookie maker with different molds for pressing out different shaped fried objects ! :) Reminds me of the old joke - UFO is an unidentified fried object.

Ingredients are simple,

Rice flour

Coconut milk ( fresh or store bought)

Sesame seeds

Kadla Parappu

Rice Powder and Kadla Parappu should be in the proportion of 3:1 . Grind the kadla parappu into fine powder. Add sesame seeds and salt to season. Red Chilli powder is optional. Knead the flour using as much coconut milk as you require. Heat oil in a deep pan , use the slotted plate in the Acchu to squeeze out the dough into hot oil.

Voila - Deepavali bachanam Ribbon!! Enjoy madi.

Khichado

Entry for Mahanandi Independence Day Food Parade::
KHICHADO:: from Gujarat

A very happy Independence day to all!
Since Ive only been cooking for the last couple of years, the word traditional / classical "food" really threw me for a loop. In between desperately dredging up memories of grandmas cooking and phone calls to the motherland i was struck by an epiphany, what is traditional in Indian cooking?

Our culinary traditions have been handed down generations orally, from mother to daughter (mostly- i think!). Fragments of memory and little modifications along the way, but at best we have a comprehensive culinary record of what - the last two hundred years? Vegetables like tomatoes and potatoes arrived in India after the new world, i.e the americas were discovered. It is our ability to transform whatever is at hand into something that our heart immediately knows is ours - ' Indian', if you want to call it that is perhaps the cornerstone of all indian cooking; something that unites all Indian states and regions.

Nuff ruminations already!! What I have here for Independence day is a really really authentic, real deal Gujarati recipe called Khichado. It is traditionally made for January 14th , Makarsankranti or Kite flying mania day, with young wheat berries from the famous Bhal wheat growing region of Gujarat. Best part is, it is both a recipe for a single dish and a meal in itself. I would recommend it as a good breakfast porridge.

Ingredients:
1 cup spring wheat berries ( available at your local organic co-op)
1/2 cup Toor dal or Tuver dal
Handful raw peanuts
2 dried dates(kharek) or fresh dates
Pinch Haldi/ Turmeric
Red Chilli powder to taste
1/3rd cup fresh coconut
Ghee

Seasoning:
1 tbsp ginger
Green Chilli to taste
Ajwain
5 Cloves
2 inch Cinnamon

Sugar(optional)

Soak the wheat berries in warm water overnight or for six hours minimum. Boil in the cooker with some extra water. Remove. At this point you could either give it a quick whirl in the mixer or pound with potato masher to make the wheat berries less chewy. I prefer the chewy texture and leave it as such. Cook the tuver dal / toor dal with the kharek or fresh dates, a pinch of salt , the handful of peanuts, and the coconut . In a pan take as much ghee as your arteries can stand, and add the seasonings in the following order - ajwain, cloves & cinnamon, ginger and finally green chilli. Combine the wheat berries, tuver. Add a pinch haldi or turmeric, red chilli - give it a quick boil. Add seasoning and serve.

Usually Gujarati food is a combination of salt and sweet. If you wish you can add more sugar preferably brown. Traditionally khichado is served with finely diced cucumber and onion as a meal in itself. Enjoy!!