Category: Lunch | 1pm Meal

Categories
Dinner | 8pm Meal Lunch | 1pm Meal

Pepper Prawns Fry Kerala Style

Prawns Fry
Pepper Prawns Fry Kerala Style

Remember the Kerala style pepper prawns fry that went with the udon noodles a few posts back?

They were the yummiest Kerala style prawns adding the right amount of tang and crunch to the soft, gooey udon. Crazy as it sounds, the marriage between the Malyali prawns’ fry and Japanese udon noodles was a happily ever after with a touch of spice all along. How amazing is that!

The prawns were so great that I thought they were worth a deep dive. I mean just in case you would like to serve up just the prawns fry with no noodles. The best thing is there are so many ways to enjoy this dish. If you prefer the more traditional dish, you can serve them on a bed of bland rice. For something a little more western, these prawns also make for a great topping on canapes. You can put them on an almond cracker. Add a dash of lime and sprinkle of sesame and there you have the perfect finger food with your favorite cocktail. Speaking of cocktails, happy Friday folks!

Scroll down for the recipe. You may also want to check my recipe for prawns in coconut cream sauce.

Prawns Fry

 

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Prawn Pepper Fry

Ingredients

  • Prawns (cleaned and deveined)- 250 gm
  • Small onion (finely sliced)-1
  • Green chili (chopped fine)- 1 (go higher on chilies if you like it hotter)
  • Red chili powder-1/2 teaspoon
  • Turmeric powder-1/2 teaspoon
  • Black pepper powder-1 teaspoon (freshly ground works best, but you could use packaged too)
  • Curry leaves- 3 sprigs
  • Ginger-garlic paste- 1.5 tablespoons
  • Freshly grated ginger and garlic-1 tablespoon
  • Salt-1 tablespoon to taste
  • Oil-2 tablespoons

Instructions

  1. Marinate the prawns overnight in a refrigerator or at least a couple of hours with green chilies, red chili powder, turmeric powder, pepper powder, salt and freshly grated ginger and garlic. Take it out of the refrigerator a 15 minutes before cooking
  2. Heat oil in a wok and add sliced onions and curry leaves. Cook on medium heat till the onions are brown and aroma from the curry leaves fills your kitchen
  3. Add ginger-garlic paste and cook for another 2 minutes
  4. Add the marinated prawn-spice mixture and mix well. Cook on medium-low heat for 5-7 minutes till the spices are well incorporated and the prawns get a reddish brown hue
  5. Serve hot as finger food on thin crackers or mix with noodles as a complete meal

Notes

Calories (for 100gms)- 100
Nutrition- Protein/Vitamin B Complex/Iron/Potassium/Iodine/Phosphorous
It does wonders for your- Muscles/Blood/Bones/Teeth/Nerves
This is “My 1pm/8pm Meal”

https://onewholesomemeal.com/pepper-prawns-fry-kerala-style/

[kkstarratings]

Categories
Lunch | 1pm Meal

Chicken Dum Biryani With Beetroot Raita

Chicken Dum Biryani
Chicken Dum Biryani With Beetroot Raita

If I were to go on a diet and be allowed just one cheat meal in a month, that meal would be Chicken Dum Biryani.

When I graduated from just a “noodles-sandwich” cook to a proper cook, one of the first dishes I wanted to make was biryani. I tried quite a few (and I mean QUITE a few) but nothing would match the authentic Hyderabadi Biryani. My search finally ended with Chef Sanjay Thumma’s restaurant-style biryani recipe. It is one of the simplest and yet the best I have tried so far. I must have made it at least 20 times if not more in the last few years. Each time it is appreciated and licked clean off the plate by one and all.

With multiple attempts, I have tweaked the recipe a bit but even if you follow Chef Sanjay’s original one to the T, the results would be as good. Let the list of ingredients not intimidate you. It really is extremely simple! Give it a shot and you would be hooked, just like me! You may serve it with a tomato and onion raita. However, what you see in the picture is the chicken dum biryani with beetroot raita.

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Chicken Dum Biryani

Ingredients

  • Chicken (a mix of drumsticks and thighs)- 500gm (remove the skin off the drumsticks and dice the thighs in approximately 2 inch sized cubes)
  • Long grained basmati rice- 1.5 cups
  • Hyderabadi Biryani Masala (I use Shaan brand. Chef Sanjay makes fresh masala but I struggle to find lichens here so just use the packaged masala)-3 tablespoons+1 tablespoon
  • Cumin powder-1 teaspoon
  • Coriander powder-1 teaspoon
  • Red Chili powder-1/2 -1 teaspoon or as per taste
  • Turmeric powder-1 teaspoon
  • Fresh mint Leaves (finely chopped)- 3 tablespoons
  • Fresh coriander Leaves (finely chopped)- 3 tablespoons
  • Freshly squeezed lime juice- 2 tablespoons
  • Yogurt-3 tablespoons
  • Green chili (finely chopped)-2 or to taste
  • Ginger-garlic paste- 2 tablespoons
  • Onion (1 medium)- Sliced fine
  • Tomato (1 small)- Chopped
  • Rose water-1 teaspoon (for fragrance only and doesn’t impact the taste so you can avoid if it doesn’t go well with you)
  • Kewra water-1 teaspoon (for fragrance only and doesn’t impact the taste so you can avoid if it doesn’t go well with you)
  • Whole garam masala (1 mace, 1 star anise, 2 centimeters long cinnamon bark, 1 big cardamom, 4 small cardamoms) wrapped and tied in a small muslin cloth
  • Bay leaf-2
  • Cumin seeds-1 teaspoon
  • Saffron- 4-6 strands
  • Salt-1.5 tablespoon+1teaspoon+1 tablespoon
  • Vegetable oil- 2 tablespoons+1/2 tablespoon+1 tablespoon
  • Ghee- 1 tablespoon
  • Whole wheat aata for making dough to seal the wok (the method is called dum)

Instructions

  1. Marinating-The most important step is the marinating the meat overnight. If you perfect this step, 70% of the job is done. Take a large glass bowl and mix ingredients number 1-13 (except the basmati rice) well. Add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and 1.5 tablespoons salt. Mix again, cover and place it in the refrigerator overnight to marinate. Minimum 4 hours of marinating is recommended.
  2. Preparing the biryani- Keep the marinated chicken out of the refrigerator 15-20 minutes before cooking. Soak the rice in water for an hour
  3. In a thick-bottomed wok (kadahi) add ½ tablespoon oil. Add sliced onion once the oil is hot and fry till golden brown. Keep aside half the amount for garnish later and to the remaining half add chopped tomatoes and stir for 2-3 minutes. Once the tomatoes are soft, add 1-tablespoon biryani masala and cook on medium heat for 5-7 minutes until the masala is cooked through and starts to leave oil. Add 1-teaspoon salt, mix well for 2 minutes and keep aside
  4. Bring 3 cups water to boil in a deep wok and add the soaked rice, 1/2-tablespoon oil and 1-tablespoon salt, bay leaves and cumin seeds. As the rice is previously soaked, it would not take long to cook. Please note that we are not going to completely cook the rice at this stage as it would further cook with the chicken during the dum process
  5. While the rice is cooking, place the marinated chicken in the same heavy bottomed wok which you used to fry onions making sure all the chicken pieces are uniformly touching the base of the wok and not overlapping each other. To ensure this please use a wide bottomed wok. We do not turn on the heat yet
  6. Once the rice is 70% cooked turn off the heat and with the help of a strainer, take the rice out and place it gradually over the chicken layer. Make sure you do not add any water from the rice to the chicken wok during the straining process. Please note that we are not draining the water out of the rice all at one go, rather taking rice out with a strainer gradually and adding to the chicken
  7. Once you have transferred the entire rice, make a small well on one side of the rice-chicken layer and place the muslin tied whole garam masalas. This would add more fragrance to your biryani
  8. Spread the previously cooked tomato-onion mixture, saffron, rose and kewra water and ghee on top of the rice evenly and seal. How you seal would vary based on the kind of wok you use. I used a Le-creuset, which has a heavy lid, so I just covered as usual and then sealed the edges using kneaded dough. If you are using a wok with a light steel lid then place the lid upside down and then seal with the dough to avoid any steam leakage. Please note that the dum process involves cooking the meat (and rice) in its own steam thus retaining maximum flavor of rice, meat and spices. Hence proper leak-free sealing is important (see here for tips to proper sealing- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUC_Ksz1oPg)
  9. Place a flat iron pan on high heat and place the above sealed wok on it. Let it cook for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to low, remove the pan and place the wok on direct heat. Let this sit for another 15 minutes before turning off the heat. Wait for 20 minutes before taking off the dough seal using a kitchen knife. Open the lid gradually as it would still be very hot with steam inside
  10. Serve hot garnished with friend onion, mint and coriander and onion-tomato raita. I served with some beetroot raita and raw onion rings drizzled with lime and salt

Notes

Calories (per serving)- 380 (please note that I have used more chicken and less rice hence controlling the total carb intake making it lower than a traditional biryani. You could also swap chicken thighs with breast portion to further reduce the calories)
Nutrition- Protein/Fiber/Good fat
It does wonders for your- Muscles/Mood/Gut
This is “My 1 pm Meal”

https://onewholesomemeal.com/chicken-dum-biryani/

[kkstarratings]

Categories
Dinner | 8pm Meal Lunch | 1pm Meal

Tangy Cauliflower in Roasted Peanut, Chana Daal

Tangy Cauliflower
Tangy Cauliflower in Roasted Peanut and Chana Daal

Are you tired of the same old cauliflower curry recipes and looking for a change? Then this tangy cauliflower with peanut-roasted chana (split bengal gram) daal is just the thing for you. Cauliflower is S senior’s (that would be my husband ;)) favorite vegetable and he wants to eat it all year-round. It is somewhat difficult for me to eat the same onion-tomato cauliflower curry each time. So this time I tried something new with the readily available ingredients in my kitchen and the result was this tangy cauliflower.

This dryish preparation goes well with hot chapatis but if you want to eat with rice then you could make the gravy slightly more watery. I also topped it with sprouted lentils for an added crunch and health. Try it out and do not forget to share your feedback.

If like S senior, cauliflower is your favorite vegetable too, do try out the Achaari Paalak Gobhi and the Tandoori Cauliflower & Nuts Pulaao.

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Cauliflower in Roasted Peanut-Chana Daal Masala

Ingredients

  • Cauliflower- 250gm
  • Potato, medium sized (optional)- 1 (cubed)
  • Roasted peanuts- ¼ cup
  • Roasted split Bengal gram- ¼ cup
  • Amchoor (dry mango powder)- 1 tablespoon
  • Sambhar masala – 1 tablespoon
  • Dried red chili- 2
  • Tomato, medium sized- 1
  • Onion, medium sized- 1
  • Ginger-garlic paste- 1.5 tablespoons
  • Cumin seeds- ½ teaspoon
  • Sprouted lentils-1/2 cup
  • Salt-1.5 teaspoons or to taste
  • Turmeric- 1 teaspoon
  • Vegetable oil- 1.5 tablespoons

Instructions

  1. Blanch the cauliflowers in salted boiling water for 5-7 minutes or until just soft, drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking process. We do not want to make the cauliflowers too soft as they tend to break when mixing with the spices
  2. Blend the roasted peanut and split Bengal gram to a powder and set aside
  3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a heavy bottomed pan or wok and when the oil is hot add cumin seeds and dried red chilis
  4. Reduce the heat to medium and add onion and ginger garlic paste. Sauté until onions turn a golden brown and then add tomato and sauté for further 2-3 minutes
  5. Once the mixture starts to leave oil, it is done. Transfer into a bowl and set aside to cool
  6. In the meantime sauté the potatoes in the same pan until they are 70% cooked and set aside
  7. Blend the onion-tomato mixture to a smooth puree. Add the remaining oil to the same pan and add the puree when the oil is hot. Mix well and add the peanut-gram powder, followed by amchoor, sambhar masala and turmeric. Continue to stir the mixture on a low heat until all ingredients are well incorporated
  8. Add cauliflower and potato and keeping the heat low, mix well with the spice mixture. Cover and cook until soft. Add salt and half cup water if you prefer a curry
  9. Top with sprouted lentils and chopped coriander and serve with hot chapatis

Notes

Calories (per serving)- 95
Nutrition- Protein/Fiber/Vitamins C, K, B6/Folate/Potassium/Magnesium
It does wonders for your- Muscles/Gut/Immunity/Heart/Eyes
This is “My 8pm/1pm Meal”

https://onewholesomemeal.com/tangy-cauliflower-roasted-peanut-chana-daal/

[kkstarratings]

Categories
Lunch | 1pm Meal

Jackfruit Curry and Indian Superfoods

Jackfruit Curry
Jackfruit Curry

My parents often point out how easy life is these days where everything is right at our fingertips. But I tend to disagree.

Technology has proven more of a bane than boon. Google has answers to almost everything, right from the best time to visit Bali, to the right time for intercourse to ensure a progeny of a certain gender. Answers which our parents and their generation would only trust their doctors or the Almighty with, every second person has an opinion on that. And God forbid if you happen to be an easily influenced soul like me, sleepless nights are guaranteed! It has never been harder to just be!

Indian Superfoods

And if the discussion is about what is the right kind of food for a healthy (and wealthy) existence, then good luck to us! For me the last 5 years have been all about trying, discovering, and experimenting with all kinds of diets and fads or should I say fad diets. Apart from juicing (which to this date I am unable to wrap my head around), I think I have tried them all. It was during such trials when I laid my hands on Rujuta Diwekar’s – Indian Superfoods. And I have to say, she is one of the few whose words made sense and logic.

Rujuta Diwekar breaks down the myths around food and takes us back to the very basis of Indian food and cooking.

It all made so much sense. This is by no means is a paid promotion, but if you can, the 150 odd pages would be one of the best investments of time and money you would make. I have not been 100% successful in implementing all my learnings but it is work in progress.

Jackfruit and All its Glory

Jackfruit is one such superfood amongst others (ghee/kokum/cashew/ambadi/rice/coconut) she talks in great detail about. This particular fruit/vegetable was available in abundance where I come from. We ate it both ripe and raw but I had no idea about its nutritional goodness – immunity booster, protein source, antioxidant, fibres…the list is endless. Fortunately, it is easy to find jackfruit in Hong Kong too. So I tried to give a few jackfruit recipes a go. Over the next few days, I will be sharing some of my success stories with you.

The first one today being the tried and tested jackfruit curry. As Rujuta rightly points out – India’s very own mock meat even before it became fashionable to mock meat or go vegan…;) Every time my mother would cook mutton for the rest of the family, she would cook some jackfruit curry for me in the same spice blend as I did not particularly enjoy red meat. And I never missed meat! Do you have a tried and tested jackfruit recipe? Do share. I would love to try it out.

Scroll down for the jackfruit curry recipe. You may also want to try jackfruit pancakes or jackfruit idlis.

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Jackfruit Curry

Ingredients

  • Raw jackfruit (chopped two inches thick)- 500 gms
  • Medium sized onions (chopped)-3
  • Green chili- 2
  • Cumin seeds- 1 teaspoon
  • Bay leaf- 2 small
  • Cinnamon sticks- ½ inch
  • Big and small whole cardamoms- 2 and 4 pieces each
  • Star anise- 1 whole flower
  • Mace- One small portion
  • Garam masala powder- 1 tablespoon
  • Coriander powder-1/2 teaspoon
  • Cumin powder-1/2 teaspoon
  • Turmeric powder-1/2 teaspoon
  • Ginger-garlic paste- 1.5 tablespoon
  • Salt-1.5 teaspoon or to taste
  • Chopped coriander for garnish
  • Oil- 3 tablespoons

Instructions

  1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a heavy bottomed wok and stir fry the jackfruit and keep aside
  2. In the same pan add the remaining oil and add cumin seeds once the oil is hot. When the seeds start to splutter, add the remaining whole spices and roast for a minute stirring continuously on medium-high heat
  3. Add onion and ginger-garlic paste and stir for another five minutes until the onions are brown, then add the powdered masalas. Do not add salt at this point. Adding salt before the powdered masalas are well cooked prevents even cooking and release of flavor from the masalas. Cook on medium low heat for 10 minutes. Sprinkle some water if the mixture gets dry and starts to stick to the sides.
  4. Add the fried jackfruit and salt and cook on medium heat for another 5-7 minutes till the spices evenly coat the vegetable
  5. Add half a cup of water (or more for a thinner gravy), mix well and cover. Let it simmer for another 10 minutes on low heat
  6. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with a side of rice or chapatis

Notes

Calories (per serving)- 193
Nutrition- Fiber/Vitamins A, B Complex, C/ Potassium/Magnesium/Manganese/Iron
It does wonders for your- Skin/Hair/Immunity/Sleep/Energy levels/Gut/Blood pressure/Eyesight/Bones
This is “My 1pm Meal"

https://onewholesomemeal.com/jackfruit-curry-indian-superfoods/

[kkstarratings]

Categories
Dinner | 8pm Meal Lunch | 1pm Meal

Vegetable Stew With Sprouts and Bottle Gourd

Vegetable Stew
Vegetable Stew with Sprouts and Bottle Gourd

In this age of globalization and greenhouse farming we often forget the importance of eating local and eating seasonally. A vegetable stew is however a versatile dish you can make with vegetables that are in season.

Let’s accept it, it is kind of tempting to be able to eat our favorite produce all year round, isn’t it? For example, each time I find myself picking up a cauliflower these days, I have to remind myself that growing up the only time I would get to eat them were winters. That said, I do ignore my “inner voice” sometimes and go ahead and pick broccoli’s fairer cousin (yes, I belong to the country obsessed with light skin, even in the 21st century India, being fair is still considered lovely 🙁 ; but that is a discussion for another day and another forum).

Coming back to eating seasonally, there are days when the heat is killing you so badly that all you want is a liquid diet (the virgin variety ;)). But liquids are not filling enough and with two hyperactive monkeys to keep up with, one does need a fair share of carbs and proteins. On one such day, this vegetable stew with sprouts and bottle gourd happened. Bottle gourd is such an underrated vegetable it makes me sad. It is packed with nutritional goodness just right for summer and so easy to whip up. Quite a light vegetable in itself, with some added lentils it makes for a more filling meal. Do give this recipe a chance for hot summer days and you are sure to return for a second helping. I paired it with a small portion of mint-mushroom pilau (another super easy recipe) and chilled buttermilk.

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Sprouts-Bottle Gourd Stew

Ingredients

  • Bottle gourd(chopped) – 250 gm (or 2 cups)
  • Medium sized tomato- 1 (increase it to 2 if you would like a tangier flavor)
  • Green chili- 1
  • Whole fenugreek seeds- ½ teaspoon
  • Sprouted whole black gram and whole moong beans- ½ cup
  • Turmeric-1/2 teaspoon
  • Curry leaves- 8-10
  • Garlic (minced)- 4
  • Salt-1 teaspoon or to taste
  • Oil- 1 tablespoon

Instructions

  1. Heat oil in a pressure cooker (or a deep skillet) and add whole fenugreek seeds and curry leaves. Make sure you reduce the flame as soon as the fenugreek seeds start to splutter as overheating imparts a bitter flavor to the seeds which impacts the overall taste of your dish
  2. Add minced garlic and stir for 2 minutes and add the bottle gourd, green chili, turmeric, sprouted lentils and salt. Pressure cook on high for 10 minutes or until the bitter gourd is soft and starts to leave water. If using a skillet, cover and cook for 20 minutes
  3. Turn off the heat and wait for the pressure cooker to release all the steam before opening. At this stage the stew appears very watery
  4. Turn on the heat and add chopped tomatoes and cook on medium-high for another 10 minutes till a relatively drier consistency is achieved
  5. Serve hot with steamed rice or mushroom-mint pilau

Notes

Calories (per serving)- 65
Nutrition- Water/Folates/Vitamin C/B3/B6/Calcium/Iron/Zinc/Manganese/Magnesium
It does wonders for your- Nerves/Gut/Skin/Sleep/Bones
This is “My 1pm/8pm Meal”

https://onewholesomemeal.com/vegetable-stew-sprouts-bottle-gourd-stew/

[kkstarratings]

Categories
Lunch | 1pm Meal

Toor Daal Missi Rotis With Mango Pickle

Missi Rotis
Toor Dal Missi Roties with Mango Pickle

A busy weekend and an even busier Monday morning meant an empty refrigerator as I found absolutely no time for my grocery run. Thankfully I had some leftover toor daal (split pigeon peas) from the night before so these missi rotis happened.

All I had to do was knead the leftover daal with some whole wheat flour, add some spices and roll out soft silky missi rotis. We enjoyed it with homemade sweet mango pickle and fresh langra mangoes. Oh! If you are wondering, what on earth are langra mangoes and have not tasted them, you are missing something in life. Not as famous as their prettier and commercially popular cousins alphonsos, these green coloured wonders are much more flavourful, sweeter and not to mention easier on the pocket 😉

Something I Want to Share…

I quickly belted down the hot rotis and rushed out for groceries. The heavens had broken loose and by the time I returned home I was soaking wet, exhausted, it was almost dinnertime for the kids and I had no time to cook a meal. My patience levels were running low and the dam was going to burst any moment when suddenly an image of this old lady who was selling flowers in the wet market flashed in my head.

There she sat under a makeshift plastic tent, which shielded her (and her precious flowers) from the heavy rain as she munched on her lunch. There was something about that wrinkled unperturbed face that was completely oblivious to the entire hullabaloo around her. She seemed completely at peace with it all and most of all with herself.

How could she? And if she could, then with all that the Almighty has bestowed on me, why couldn’t I? So, what my kids have to repeat a meal, shouldn’t I be grateful for the food on their plates and roof on our heads? At that one moment, my mood switched. I went from being agitated and guilty to thankful and happy. Let us look around us and always remind ourselves of what we have v/s what we do not. Just this one switch would make life so much more worth living. It is something I wanted to share with you.

Getting back to the toor daal missi roti, scroll down for the detailed recipe. You may also see my recipe for paalak missi roti here.

 

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Toor Daal Missi Roti

Ingredients

  • Leftover (or freshly boiled) toor (spli pigeon peas) daal- 1 cup
  • Whole wheat flour- 2 cups
  • Ajwain (carom) seeds- ½ teaspoon
  • Medium sized onion chopped fine- ½
  • Green chili chopped fine- 1
  • Amchoor (dry mango) powder- ½ teaspoon
  • Salt- 1/2 teaspoon or to taste (if using freshly boiled daal add 1 teaspoon)
  • Oil – 2 teaspoons
  • Oil or Ghee for pan frying

Instructions

  1. Bring the leftover daal to room temperature (do not microwave). Mix all the ingredients together adding 1-teaspoon oil and knead the dough. Cooked daal should have enough water for kneading but add some more water if needed.
  2. Cover with cling wrap and let the dough sit at room temperature for 15 minutes; then uncover and knead again till a smooth consistency is achieved.
  3. Grease your hands with some oil and form the dough into balls slightly smaller than the size of your palm
  4. Roll out into approximately 6 inch discs and pan fry on a hot skillet making sure the edges are evenly cooked by pressing them intermittently with a spatula and flipping to cook on both sides.
  5. Serve hot with chutney or pickle of your choice or fresh ripe mango juice (aam ras)

Notes

Calories (per serving)- 153
Nutrition-Protein punch/Fiber/Iron/Vitamin B
It does wonders for your- Muscles/Gut/Stamina
This is “My 1 pm Meal”

https://onewholesomemeal.com/toor-daal-missi-rotis/

 

[kkstarratings]