Gourmet Corner: Recipes of the Indian Evening!

Here are some of the recipes we served during the Gourmet Corner: Indian Evening event yesterday. I hope you liked them... you can tweak depending on your appetite for spice! But this is as authentic as it gets!

RECIPE 1: Kodi Koora (South Indian Chicken Curry)

Ingredients:

1. Chicken with bones - 750g
2. Chilli powder - 3 tspns or more (I like my recipes to be fiery hot!)
3. Turmeric - 1 tspn
4. Ginger and Garlic paste - 3tspns each
5. Oil - 4 to 6 table spoons for cooking (depending on your body fat!) and 1 table spoon for marinating
6. Curry leaves - 2sprigs (optional)
7. Onions - 3 medium sized, chopped finely (alt qty: if u put the chicken on a plate, the chopped onions should be half the qty of the chicken)
8. Kashmiri chilli powder - 2tspn ( or regular chilli powder 1.5 spoons - this is in addition to the item 2 above)
9. Garam Masala / Chicken Masala Powder - 2 tspns
10. Coriander powder - 2 tspns
11. Salt to taste
12. Coriander leaves - handful, chopped finely (optional)
    

Preparation:

Mix the ginger garlic paste, turmeric and chilli powder with a table spoon of oil and coat the chicken with the mixture.Marinate the chicken for 1/2 hour to 3 hours

Cooking Procedure:

1. Heat the remaining oil in a large non.stick pan with a thick bottom
2. Fry curry leaves to crisp
3. Add chopped onion and stir-fry
4. When the onions are lightly fried and lose the raw smell, add the marinated chicken pieces along with the marination
5. Cook on medium-high flame. If you are using chicken breasts, fry on high heat to get the chicken cook faster and softer
6. Cook the chicken until it looses it's pink colour and the water released by it has evaporated. It may take 15-20 minutes depending on the chicken.
7. Now add the masala powder, coriander powder and kashmiri chilli powder.
8. Fry for 2 minutes and mix the chicken well with the powders added
9. Add the salt and add 1 and 1/2cups of water. Bring it to boil and cover. Simmer for 10mins stirring from time to time
10. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with basmati rice or roti

Reference:Kodi = ChickenKoora = Curry (the indian word from which the english word Curry originated)Kashmir = A place in India. If anyone disagrees, please add 4 extra chilli spoons in their chicken curry!

Recipe Inspiration: http://amma-cheppindi.blogspot.com/2006/11/kodi-kura-chicken-curry.html

RECIPE 2: Onion-tomato Raitha

Ingredients:

1. Sour Cream (Smetana) / Classic Yoghurt - 2 cups
2. Water - 1 cup
3. 1 medium onion, finely chopped
4. 2 medium tomatoes - finely chopped
5. Green chilli - 1, finely chopped (optional)
6. Salt - 1.5 tea spoons
7. Chopped coriander leaves - 1 table spoon (optional)

Preparation:
Mix the sour cream / yoghurt with water and stir well to make the liquid consistent

Add the salt and chopped green chilli

Now add the tomatoes and onion

Stir the mixture well for 2 minutes

Garnish with coriander leaves

For a great taste, eat within 30 minutes of preparation. You can refrigerate and eat it all week too, but i prefer the fresh taste of yoghurt/cream, before the onion spreads its taste.

Serve on the side with any spicy Indian dish - including Biryani, Chicken curry as above etc. Acts as a mild sauce to even out the fire of my fiery recipes!

Recipe Inspiration: My mom

RECIPE 3 - Vegetable Pulao

Ingredients

1. Basmati rice: 500 gms
2. Green/Red peppers: 2 no.s (cut into large pieces)
3. Cauliflower: 1/2 kg (finely chopped)
4. Cabbage: 1/4 kg (finely chopped)
5. Potaotes: 1/2 kg (large pieces)
6. Tomatoes: 2 no.s (large pieces)
7. Carrots: 4 no.s (diced)
8. Green Beans: 100 gms (cut into inch long pieces)
9. Cloves: 5 no.s
10. Black pepper seeds: 10 no.s
11. Cumin seeds:
12. Bay leaf : 2 no.s
13. Garam Masala / pulao masala - 2 tspns
14. Chilli powder - 3 tspns
15. Onion - 1 medium (quartered)
16. Oil - 3 table spoons
17. Salt to taste

Preparation:

Wash the rice thoroughly and soak in water for 1/2 hour. (This step can be omitted totally depending on your time. Last night, we didn't soak the rice due to the time pressure n hungry tummies!)

Cooking procedure:

1. In a deep cooking pan with thick bottom, pour all the oil and heat it
2. Add the cumin seeds, cloves, bay leaf, crushed black pepper and fry for 2 mins
3. Add the masala powder and chilli powder to the oil
4. Drain the water from the rice and add it to the oil and spices immediately
5. Fry the rice for 5 minutes on low-medium flame, stirring it continuously
6. Add all the vegetables including onion and mix well. Fry for 3 more minutes, stirring continuously
7. Add 2 cups of water for each cup of rice, if u r cooking in a normal pan. If you are using pressure cooker, add 1.5 cups of water per cup of rice (or depending on your cooker brand and size)
8. Add salt to taste (approximately 2 table spoons - bt depends on ur brand again!)
9. Cover and cook on medium flame, until done. Takes 15-20 minutes in a normal pan. Pressure cookers cook much faster

Serve with Raitha or onion gravy

Recipe Inspiration: One of my friends in India, Nidhi

Try them out some time and let me know!