Rice Ganji (Porridge)

Rice Ganji or kanji is an all time favourite for Ifthaar during Ramadan in Chennai. It is served to fasting muslims at most of the mosques there and is also prepared in almost every muslim house in Ramadan. It is a satisfying and fulfilling meal and is enjoyed with all sorts of snacks especially different kinds of vadas, samosas, pakoras etc. Sometimes to make it rich, some ground lamb or beef is added and it is called Aash. As a variation, small fried meat balls are also added.
 On the left is the picture of the rice ganji with grated coconut, chopped ciilantro and mint and below is the picture without the coconut which is also flavourful but has a lighter taste.

 Most important of all is the tadka or tempering which (done right at the end with ghee) takes it to the next level by making it rich and aromatic. Grated coconut and a hint of mint and chopped cilantro added just before tempering enhances its flavour and taste.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients: 

Rice - 1 cup
Moong dal - 1/4 cup
Onions - 1 small sliced
Green chillies - 2 small
Black pepper corns - 1/2  tsp + 5-6 for tempering
Fresh mint leaves - 5-6
Cilantro chopped - 1 tbs
Ghee - 2 tbs for tempering
Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Cloves - 2
Fresh grated coconut - 1 tbs
Ground beef/lamb - 1 tbs (optional)

Method: 

1. Dry roast the moong dal till lightly golden.
2. Wash the rice and the roasted moong dal till the water is clear.

3. Put it in a pressure cooker and add 2 cups of water, salt, pepper corns, green chillies and a little cilantro.
4. Close the lid and pressure cook for 5 mins after the first whizz or whistle. If you are not using a pressure cooker you can cook in the normal way by adding enough water and cooking on medium heat till the rice and dal are mushy.
5. Remove the lid of the pressure cooker after all the steam is out and add some more water to get a flowing consistency. It should neither be too thick nor too runny.
6. Now add the fresh grated coconut, mint and cilantro and let it simmer for 2 mins. Please note that the coconut has to be really fresh otherwise all your effort will be lost. Do not use the coconut if you get a stale or rancid smell. Transfer it to a serving bowl.
7. Now for the tempering, take a sauce pan, set it on medium heat.  Melt the ghee then add the 2 cloves, a few more (5-6) pepper corns and the sliced onions and stir continuously till they turn evenly golden brown. Now quickly add the ginger garlic paste, give it a stir and as soon as you get a whiff of the aroma pour it on top of  the prepared ganji.
8. Gently mix the tadka in the ganji and enjoy with fritters of your choice.

Tips:

Care should be taken not to burn the rice porridge at the bottom of the pressure cooker or pot. So cook on medium heat, add enough water and stir from time to time.

Do not burn the onions in the tempering, nor let the ginger garlic paste burn too as all the flavour is lost if it is burnt.

Those who want a meaty flavour can add 1 tbs of ground beef/lamb to the pot initially along with the rice, dal and other ingredients and follow the same method for the rest of the cooking.

Alternatively you may roast the ground meat in a just a little oil or butter, add ginger garlic paste, and then add the rest of the ingredients and pressure cook. Follow the rest from step 5. And when you do the tempering just brown the onions with the pepper corns and cloves only and add to the ganji.

Or add small fried meat balls and simmer for a while just before tempering.

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Kadai chicken

The flavour of the melted butter along with the pounded spices added a new dimension to the dish and it tasted intensely delicious!

Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

Chicken - 2 legs and 2 wings

Butter - 1/4 cup

Olive oil- 2 tbs

Black pepper - 1 tsp

Whole Coriander- 1 tbs

Whole Cumin - 1/2 tsp

Green cardamom- 8

Green chillies - 2 

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Tomato - 1 medium size

Dried Kashmiri red chillies  - 2 

Garlic cloves - 5 medium size

Chopped ginger - 1 tsp for garnish

Chopped cilantro - 2 tbs for garnish

Method:

1. De skin, clean, wash and drain the chicken. Rub with salt and keep aside.

2. Melt the butter with the olive oil in a sauce pan on low heat.

3. Pound the coriander, black pepper, green cardamom and cumin separately. Break the dried kashmiri red chillies. 

4. Add the pounded spices to the pan followed by the crushed garlic cloves.  Stir on medium hear to release a whiff of aroma. 

5. Add the chicken to the sizzling spices in the pan.

6. Turn over and cook the chicken till it changes colour. 

7. Add the whole green chillies and chopped tomato and give it another stir. 

8. Add 1/2 a cup of water, cover with a lid and leave to cook on simmer for 15 - 20 mins or more till the chicken is soft, tender and juicy.

9.  Do not forget to stir from time to time. If the water dries up, sprinkle a little more water. 

10. At the final stage add chopped ginger and cilantro, simmer for 2 more minutes and serve hot with rice. 

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Murmura chicken ( A Crispy Chicken Snack)

This is a quick chicken dish which I made for my son. It tastes more like a chicken snack than a main dish. It could be eaten on its own or with rice and curry. Great as an appetizer or side dish.  

Ingredients:

Chicken breast pieces - 1lb
Ginger garlic paste - 1 heaped tsp.
Red Chilli powder - 1 heaped tsp.
Turmeric - 1/2 a tsp.

Garam masala powder -1 tsp.

Fresh lemon juice – 1tbs.
Crispy fried onions - 1 handful
Curry leaves - a few

Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp.
Ginger chopped –1/2 tsp.

Dried red chillies – 2 small

Green chilli chopped –1 small

Onion chopped -1 small

 Vegetable oil –1 cup

Cilantro chopped – ½ cup

Method:

1.   Clean, wash and towel dry the chicken breast and cut into bite size pieces.

2.   Rub salt and lemon juice and leave aside for 5 minutes.

3.   Meanwhile mix together ginger garlic paste, turmeric, red chilli powder & garam masala powder and rub the chicken pieces with it.

4.   Heat the vegetable oil in a pot or frying pan and deep fry the chicken pieces till just crisp. Remove and drain on wire rack. (Draining on paper towels makes them soggy).

5.   Heat one teaspoon vegetable oil in a clean sauce pan. Add mustard seeds and when they crackle add dried red chillies (whole) and curry leaves followed by chopped onion & green chilli.

6.   Give it a good stir and quickly add the fried chicken pieces to the sauce pan.

7.   Throw in the crispy fried onions chopped ginger and chopped cilantro. Sprinkle some lemon juice and salt as required, then quickly give it another good stir and remove from pan.

8.   The crispy (murmura) chicken snack is now ready to enjoy.

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Green Masala Chicken

The Hara (Green) Masala Chicken has many variations. I like to keep it simple to bring out the flavors of the herbs and spices and not make it too heavy by using coconut, almonds, yoghurt and cream which I feel tones down the actual flavors and makes the dish tangy, sweet and heavy.

For this dish, I am using the same recipe my mom used for making lamb (hare masale ki phaal) which I loved so much. 

Again I forgot to take a picture for the blog.

Here's the recipe

Ingredients: 

Chicken - 4 legs

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Vegetable oil - 2 tbs

Green masala paste:

Green chillies - 2- 4 (medium size)

Onions - 1 medium size 
Garlic clove - 2 medium size

Fresh coriander - 1/2 cup

Fresh Mint - 1/4 cup

Cloves - 4 

Green Cardamom - 4

Black Pepper corns - 1 tbs

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Method: 

1. Clean, wash the chicken legs, put them in a pot, add a glass of water, 1 tsp ginger garlic paste and 1/2 a tsp turmeric, salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and let it simmer for sometime till it is cooked.

2. Meanwhile grind together first the dry spices (black pepper, cumin, cloves and cardamoms). Now add the garlic, 1/2 onion, green chillies and fresh mint and coriander leaves. Grind again to make a paste and set aside. 

3. Heat 2 tbs of oil in a sauce pan. Slice the other 1/2 of the onion and fry in the oil till they caramelize.

4. Take the cooked chicken pieces from the soup and add them to the pan with the onions. Turn down the heat and lightly fry them turning them over gently from side to side till they are evenly golden brown.

5. Now add the soup left from the cooked chicken followed by the ground masala and cook till the mixture thickens. Adjust the salt. The green chicken is now ready.

6. Garnish with some chopped fresh coriander on top and serve hot with some jasmine rice. 

Boiling the chicken first in water spiced up with turmeric, salt and ginger garlic paste makes it soft, juicy and aromatic. Then, sautéing it with caramelised onions enhances its flavour. Finally adding the ground green masala after the chicken has browned in the pan retains the flavours of the herbs and spices ground together. This chicken is so delicious!!

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Barbequed lamb chops

I had pickled garlic and figs at home and so I tried to use them in the marinade for the chops. It not only enhanced the barbecued flavor but also kicked it up a notch and was just so delicious!!

We got so busy enjoying the chops that I forgot to take a few shots for my blog. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

Lamb chops - 6-8 pcs (1kg)

Marinade 1

Pickled garlic - 6 small size

Pickled red chillies - 4

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Pepper - 1 tsp

Salt - 1/2 tspa

Vegetable oil - 2 tbs

Marinade 2

Pickled figs 

Italian parsley

Garlic and red chillies pickled in vinegar

Method:

1. Clean, wash and dry the lamb chops with paper towels.

2. Grind together all the ingredients of marinade1 to a fine paste.

3. Rub the chops with salt. Then rub them well with the ground paste mixed with vegetable oil and leave to marinate for 3 - 4 hours. 

4. Barbecue the marinated chops on a medium hot grill for a few mins on both the sides till they are golden brown.

5. Grind together all the ingredients of marinade 2 to a fine paste and brush this rub at the final stage of barbecuing the chops. Keep basting with oil from time to time. 

6. Remove the chops quickly from the grill while they are still moist with the marinade. 

7. Brush more if there's any leftover marinade while they are still hot.

8. Sprinkle some chopped cilantro and serve them hot. Enjoy the delicious lamb chops.

Tips:

To pickle garlic, red chillies, figs etc just put them in a clean bottle and add salt, chilly powder (optional)  and vinegar, then cover the mouth of the bottle with cling wrap and leave it in the sun for a few days till they are soft, juicy and tender. 

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Eggplant egg sandwich

Ingredients: 

Sicilian egg plant - 1sliced

Panko crumbs - 1 cup

Corn flakes/ potato chips - 1 cup
White flour - 2 tbs

Egg - 1 for egg wash
Milk - 1tbs

Hard Boiled eggs- 2 - 4
Olive oill - 2 tbs
Mayonnaise
Tomato ketchup
Dijon Mustard


Method:

1. Cut the egg plant into 1/4" slices, sprinkle with salt and keep them aside.

2. Whisk the egg with 1 tbs milk in a bowl. Put the flour and the panko corn flake crumbs separately in two other bowls

3. Slice  the hard boiled eggs.

4. Take each egg plant slice, dust it with flour, then soak it in the egg wash, then coat it with the panko corn flake crumb mixture and keep it on a cookie sheet greased with olive oil. Sprinkle or spray some more oil on top of the slices.

5. Bake at 375 degrees fahrenheit for 10 mins or until golden brown. Set aside to cool. Another alternative is to fry the egg plant slices coated with crumbs on a non stick pan with a little olive oil.

6. Take one baked egg plant slice, spread some mayonnaise and dijon mustard on one side, place some boiled egg slices, sprinkle with salt and pepper, squirt some drops of ketchup then close it with another egg plant slice on which is spread mayonnaise and dijon mustard on the inside. Repeat with the other slices and make sandwiches out of them. Cut them into halves and enjoy.

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My French Omelette

I have been trying to perfect the art of making french omelette for so long. At last I did it! I tried and tried but finally I did succeed. It all requires tonnes of patience and diligent handling. Well it turned out just right - soft, silky and smooth. 

I used king oyster mushrooms and liked the flavour. You could use any mushrooms - white button, brown cremini or enochi etc. 

Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

Eggs- 1

Milk - 2 tbs

Salt to taste

Black Pepper- a pinch

Unsalted Butter - 1 tsp

Mushrooms chopped - 1 tsp 

Mozzarella cheese grated - 1 tbs

Method: 

1.Lightly fry the chopped mushrooms. Remove and keep aside. Grate the mozzarella cheese.

2. Set the non-stick frying pan on low medium heat which is really important as we don't want a leathery texture.  

3. Whisk the egg well with salt, pepper and milk till it froths.

4. Add a blob of butter to the pan and as soon as it melts pour in the egg mixture. 

5. As the mixture begins to set, spread it around and swirl it lightly on top with a fork or chop sticks so that it resembles custard consistency. 

6. Now add the mushrooms and cheese. Let the heat be on low or medium low only. Do not raise the heat. 

7. Insert a spatula under the egg and slowly turn over and fold the edge on one side. Wait till it cooks a bit more taking care not to let it brown at all.
8. Fold over again on the exposed side, then turn over gently on the other side and slide it slowly onto the plate. Enjoy!

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