Rice noodles nadan keralan style

Any rice based food is close to my heart, being a keralan :). I luv rice noodles and frequently try to add it to my menu. Last week I went to a south asian shop with my neighbour P. She introduced me to this new brand of rice noodles called 'Niru'. I used it this morning for my breakfast and it gave me the silkiest smoothest rice noodles ever. We all loved and ate to our hearts content.

Presented is my easy recipe for rice noodles and its keralan style.

Chicken peralan

Ingredients

1 - Chicken - 1 kg

Vinegar - 2tbsp

Ginger - 2 tsp

2 - Chillipowder - 1 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Ginger - 1 tsp

Garlic - 1 tsp

Fenugreek - 1 pinch

3 - Onion - 1 cup

Mustard - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

4 - Tomatoes - chopped - 1 cup

Green chilli - 4-5

5 - Vinegar - 1 tbsp

Sugar - 1/2 tsp

6 - Oil - 3 tbsp

Method

- Cook (1) in a pressure cooker for 8 minutes after first whistle

- Grind (2)

- Heat a pan with 1 tbsp oil and splutter mustard. Add rest of (3) to this and saute till onion turns light brown. Keep this aside.

- Heat the pan with the second tbsp of oil and saute (4). When tomatoes are nicely cooked remove from hob and keep aside.

- Heat the pan again and add the third tbsp of oil and saute the ground paste till spices are not raw anymore. Add cooked chicken pieces to it and mix to get the pieces coated well. Add salt to taste and when this boils add (5) and mix till the gravy thickens. Remove from hob.

- Before serving, mix the chicken with (3) and (4) kept aside

- Serve hot with freshly prepared chappatti. :)










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Feast of sacrifice

Fish fry marinade

There are various recipes to marinate a piece of fish to be fried. I present here two very easy fish marinade recipes. The amount of spices is calculated for 200g of fish. For those with a a high fiery threshold, I suggest doubling the red chilli powder/ paste. :) I use kashmiri chilli when I have it in stock as it gives ur fish fry such a beautiful vibrant colour. If using ordinary chilli powder, use half the amount pls.

Recipe 1

Ingredients

Kashmiri chilli powder  - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves to taste
Salt to taste

Recipe 1

Kovakka thoran featuring Ivy gourd

Thoran and me? Everybody knows a syrian christian from mid kerala CANNOT make a good thoran. It is a fact. That is unless she gets help from her south kerala thoran specialist friend. In my case it was my dear friend S. Sorry dear if over time my modifications have spoiled ur gorgeous recipe.


Presented is a recipe for kovakka thoran.

Ingredients

1 - Kovakka - 250 g

2 - Grated coconut -1/2 cup

Shallots / chuvannulli - 3-4 small ones

Garlic paste - 2 tsp or more according to taste

Green chilli - 2

Cumin - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

3 - Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Onion - 1 medium chopped

Curry leaves - 2 sprigs

4 - oil - 2 tbsp

Method

- Grind (2) with little water making sure it doesn't go mushy.

- Heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds.

- Add onions and saute till they turn translucent.

- Now add the ground coconut mixture and saute till the raw smell and taste disappears and the coconut turns light brown.

- Add the vegetable and curry leaves, mix well and simmer covered for about 10-15 minutes or till the vegetable is cooked through. Add no more water. If you like very dry thoran, leave this for another 5 minutes for a crispy thoran.

Options

- Add turmeric to grinding mixture

- Avoid garlic

- Add chopped green chilli, dried red chilli or urad dal along with mustard seeds.

- Add red chilli powder to onions.

- Cook veggies separately with salt in microwave till coconut is cooked.

- Add veggies first after onions and add coconut mix only a few minutes before switching off the hob.


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Kadalakkari - featuring chickpea and coconut

Fancy a quick chana curry to accompany ur puttu or batura or even a lazy-FZ porotta-evening? Here is the perfect recipe for u. It is quick and easy and uses store-cupboard-ingredients. 

Ingredients

1 - Chana / Kadala /chick pea - cooked - 200g 

2 - Coconut grated - 1/2 cup or less according to ur taste

     Meat or chicken masala - 2 tsp

     Salt to taste

3 - Curry leaves - only if u have them in stock

4 - Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

5 - Oil - 2 tbsp

6 - Coconut milk powder - 2 tsp

     Hot water - 3 tbsp

Method

- Grind (2) with 2 tbsp of cooked chana and enough water to a smooth paste.

- If using dried chana, cook pre-soaked chana in enough water and salt in a pressure cooker for 20 minutes after first whistle.

- Heat a oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and wait till they splutter. 

- Add curry leaves (if u have them).

- Add the ground paste and saute for a few minutes.

- Now add cooked chana and let it simmer for 3-4 minutes. 

- Mix coconut milk powder in hot water till no lumps and add this to the curry.

- Let it simmer for another 3-4 minutes.

- Your curry is ready to serve. 

Fish hearts - Indian fish cakes

Any one bought the wrong kinda white tasteless fish and did not know what to do with it? Well I have done it many a times and each time it turns in to something different. This time I thought I will try an east-west combo, not really a fish cutlet but may be more like a fish cake. The shape gives it the name - fish hearts. My valentine cookie cutter came in handy.

Fish hearts - fish cake style

Ingredients

1 - Fish(any kind, I used sainsbury's white fish) - 500g

Vinegar - 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Ginger paste - 1 tsp

2 - Potato - 1 medium

3 - Onion - 2 medium - chopped

4 - Pepper crushed - 1 tsp

Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp

Garam masala - 2 tsp

Turmeric - 1/4 tsp

Chilli flakes - 1/2 tsp

5 - Bread crumbs - 1/2 cup

Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup

6- Bread crumbs - 1 cup

Egg - 1

7- Oil - 2 tbsp

8- 2 tbsp of hot water

Method

- Cook fish with (1) in a pan till flaky.

- Boil the potato in a pressure cooker till well done and mash-able.

- Heat oil in a pan and saute finely chopped onions. When the onion is transparent, add the cooked fish and break them into flakes in the pan with your spoon.

- Add (4) one by one mixing after each addition and saute till the mix is dry. Taste for salt. I felt at this point that my fish mix was too dry and may not hold together later. Hence, I added hot water to combine and soften the mix.

- Mash potato and add coriander leaves to it. You can add salt to this mash if you want.

- Combine the fish mix with the potato. Add 1/2 cup bread crumbs to help combine the mix. I used fresh crumbs made from white bread.

- Shape them which ever way you want.

- I prepared them in two ways.







- Fish cutlet style - Dip the fish shapes in beaten egg and fry in oil.

- Fish cake style - Dip fish shapes in beaten egg and then in bread crumbs and then fry in oil

Fish hearts - Fish cutlet style

- Fry till golden brown.


- Fish hearts are best served with tomato ketchup and thinly sliced raw onions and they make a pretty good starter or appetiser. My son loves them a lot and finishes a whole plate with some ketchup.


So what is the verdict? which style wins?





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Feast of sacrifice

Theeyal - a spicy aubergine curry with onions, tamarind and coconut

Ingredients

1. Aubergine - 300g / 2-3 cups
    Shallots/ onions - 1/2 cup
    Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
    Green chilli - 2
    Curry leaves - 2- 3 sprigs
    salt
2. Grated coconut - 1 cup
    shallots/onion - 1/2 cup
    curry leaves - 2- 3 sprigs
3. Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
    Coriander powder - 2 tsp
    Chilly powder - 2 tsp
4. Tamarind paste - 2 tbsp
5. Red chilli - 2
    Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
    Oil - 2 tbsp

Method

- Cook aubergine cut in to medium chunks in enough water and rest of ingredients of (1) till soft.
- Meanwhile dry roast (2) till coconut turns brown shaking the pan constantly to get an even colour. 
- Dessicated coconut is faster to get roasted. :)
- Mix (3) in to the pan and stir for another minute over low heat. 
- Grind this coconut mix to a coarse paste with as little water as permitted by ur blender.
- Once your aubergine is cooked add the coconut paste together with tamarind to it and let it boil.
- Add final tadka by adding dried chilli and mustard seeds to hot oil. Once the mustard seeds start to splutter, remove from heat and tip it over to ur theeyal.

Enjoy this spicy veg curry with par boiled rice. Yummmm!

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Erisseri with butternut squash & adzuki beans

When onam is around the corner, any keralan turns a veggie eater. And I'm no exception. What's coking today? Yes Erisseri. Erisseri is one dish that excites you each time you eat it. It is definitely the taste of home for me. 

Presented here is my mum's recipe with very minor changes that I made to suit the availability of ingredients in this cold part of the world. My ammamma who was a great cook herself, used to say the proof-of-an-erisseri is in the 'sssiiii' sound when roasted coconut falls on the cooked pumpkin and gram.   :D  Many of the experts have one or two points on which they score a dish. Isn't my ammamma's point a classic? 

Now, the classic recipe calls for 'mathanga' - pumpkin and 'van payar' - red beans. I use pumpkin when I can get my hands on it or I settle down for butternut squash. I never manage to get good van payar, so I often use black eyed beans or adzuki beans.

Here you go!

Ingredients

1. Butternut squash - 400g, which comes to about half of one.
    Adzuki beans - 200g / 1 cup
   Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
   Curry leaves - a few sprigs
2. Coconut - 1 cup - grated or dessicated(pre-soaked)
    Cumin - 1 tsp
    Green chilli - 2
    Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
    Shallots/ Chuvannulli - 3 small
    Salt to taste
3. Grated/ dessicated coconut - 2 tbsp
4. Dried red chilli - 2
    Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
    Oil - 2 tbsp

Butternut squash chunks, pre-soaked beans, grinding mix and rest of the squash chunks all set to rest in my freezer.

Method

- cook the beans in a pressure cooker with enough water, salt and turmeric powder for 10-15 minutes after the first whistle depending on your cooker.
- grind together (2)
- when the beans are 3/4th cooked, add the squash cut in square chunks and ground paste and cook for a further 5-10 minutes.
- dry roast the grated coconut in a pan with no oil till nice aroma hits your nose and the coconut turns brown. Make sure to shake the pan constantly to get an even roast.
- tip this on top of your cooked squash-bean mixture to get the official 'ssssiiii' sound
- heat some oil in a small pan add rest of (4) and heat till mustard seeds splutter. 
- pour this on top and voila your erisseri is ready. 
- one could avoid the last step to get a healthier erisseri, but trust me the mustard, chilli and oil gives it the authentic taste and aroma.

Enjoy!!!

Tips

- Pre-soak your beans for perfect buttery end result.
- If your butternut squash is crisp and raw try cooking it together with the beans for the full time.

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Black forest cake - featuring chocolate and coffee powder

A piece of the soft black forest cake is one that no one can resist. In the city where I was born and brought up in, there was a bakery/ bakers called M. They made the softest black forest cakes ever and their cake for christmas or birthday was such a pleasure to have, one had to pre-order as such was it's popularity. Not sure if the bakers still exist or if they make their world-famous-in-the capital city-cakes any more.


Presented is my take on the classic which gives best results each time.


The base for my black forest cake is 'devil's food cake'. Now, where I got this recipe! Got it from a book I borrowed from my first supervising consultant Dr JF at my first job. It was a small cooking booklet of 'Vanitha', a fortnightly malayalam magazine in India. :) It tasted like the black forest cake I tasted from M. Made a few changes and added a frosting and here is the result.

Ingredients:

1. Butter – 180 g
Sugar – 1 ¾ cup
2. Eggs -3
3. Plain flour – ½ cup
Baking powder – 3 tsp
Baking soda – ½ tsp
Cocoa powder/ drinking choc – 2/3 cup
4. Instant coffee powder – 3 tsp
Red food colour – ½ tsp
Water – ½ cup
Milk – ½ cup

Method:

- Mix (1) together with hand mixer/ planetary mix . Add eggs one by one to this mixing well after each addition.
- Mix (3) well. Add this to the above mixture, red food colour, coffee powder in water and milk all adding half first and then second half till they combine well.
- Remember to only fold while getting the dry and wet ingredients together
- Transfer to 2 cake dishes and bake for 45 mts at 180 degreeC
- Join the two cakes using black cherry conserve.
- Ice using whipped cream, choc shavings/cake crumps and cherries.


Have a taste - - - - - :D







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Appangalembadum ottakku chuttamayi... :) Appam - a rice pancake with coconut

Long gone are the days when you had to make a 'thari kurukku', have the best roasted rice flour and then wait and pray for the appam batter to rise. My mom-in-law has the best mix for making appam which has become the staple appam recipe for many of my dear friends, cousins and family. I plan to share the same with you all today. Not only is it easy and quicker to prepare, it is infallible and produces the softest yet crispy-frilled appams ever.

Let me!

Ingredients

raw rice - 1 cup pre-soaked in plenty of water

cooked rice - one handful

grated coconut - of half a coconut or 1/2 cup of dessicated coconut- pre-soaked

sugar - 3 tbsp

yeast - 1/2 tsp or 1 tsp if using less strong yeast

salt - 1 tsp or to taste

Method

- pre-soak raw rice and dessicated coconut in tap water for a good 5-6 hours or if you forget to do that use hot water to soak the above, this time for only 1 hour.


- check if your rice is ready to be grinded. You can do that by gently breaking a grain of rice with your fingers. There should be no more chalk white dry rice left at the centre of the grain of rice.


- grind all except yeast for at least 6-7 mts in a blender.


- finally add the yeast and blender for 1-2 mts.


- do not worry about the sugar giving ur appams a sweet taste. The sugar is largely used up by the yeast and any left over sugar in the batter will give your appams a crispy light brown 'frill'.


- leave it in a warm area for the batter to rise. This can be done over night or during the day. I do it during the day and then leave in refrigerator over night. My mom-in-law says cooking with a cold batter makes the appam softer. I couldn't agree more with her.


- you can now make your appam. Use an appam pan, heat it at medium flame. Too cold pan leads to dried out appams and too hot a pan leads to ugly appams. Pour a ladle-full of batter at the centre of your pan, twist the pan to get the desired shape, close the lid and cook for 2-3 mts till the ends turn light brown. Get adventurous with the shape - flower, triangle, any other shapes?

- from this batter I usually get 12-15 appams.

- can't get an appam pan? Don't you worry! Use the batter to make pan cake/ dosa like appams. They taste the same and are soft except the crispy frills disappear. I use to make appam-dosas when I first came to the uk before I got my own appachatti.


- remember, they are best eaten hot.


Enjoy!!!

Tips for those living in temperate climates

great places to keep your batter to rise include:

on top of radiator
in the airing cupboard aka 'dosa muri'. I heard this term from my dear cousin D :) great name girl.
on top of the microwave if you know you will use the microwave a lot.
heat your oven to 50 degrees for about 15 mts and then switch off. Leave your batter inside.


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Feast of sacrifice

Vindaloo pork - featuring dry red chillies

Vindaloo is a traditional goan recipe, the adaptations of which you can find in any Indian restaurant in the uk. It is amazing how very few resemble each other in taste or form.


Here is what wiki says about vindaloo. The name Vindaloo is derived from the Portuguese dish "Carne de Vinha d' Alhos", which is a dish of meat, usually pork, with wine and garlic. The Portuguese dish was modified by the substitution of vinegar (usually palm vinegar) for the red wine and the addition of red Kashmiri chillies with additional spices to evolve into Vindaloo.


My dear mum used to make a lip-smacking vindaloo pork which I make quite often. That is not the recipe I plan to put in front of you today. This recipe I got from 'Kottayam Rotary Club Cookbook' which I borrowed from my dear friend and former colleague. She will be amazed to see this coz I was speaking to her only a few hours ago.


Here you go.

Ingredients

1. pork - 1 kg

2. skin of dry red chillies - 30, believe me the final product is only medium hot.

ginger paste - 2 tsp

garlic paste - 1 tsp

mustard - 1 tsp

fenugreek - 1/2 tsp

cumin - 1/2 tsp

3. onions - 2 large

4. tomatoes - 3 medium

5. vinegar - 2 tbsp

sugar - 1/2 tsp

6. oil - 4 tbsp

7. salt to taste

8. hot water - 1 cup

Method

- get the skin of 30 red chillies and discard the seeds. I added the seeds to my crushed chilli spice pot to use later. It might be wise to use a pair of disposable gloves while handling chillies if you have sensitive skin.

- grind (2) with little water

- saute onions in oil till golden brown

- add tomatoes and ground masala paste and saute well for 6-8 mts.

- add pork chunks to this with salt and mix well so that the masala sticks to the meat, before adding hot water

- I pressure cooked the meat for 20mts after the first whistle, but you can always cook the meat on hob which might take up to 45 mts.

- once cooked, remove from fire and add sugar dissolved in vinegar.

- This makes a curry with enough gravy to spare. If you like dry vindaloo try leaving the pot on hob on low flame sautéing occasionally till the gravy thickens and dries out. Use salt carefully if you are doing this. Either way the taste is great and is brilliant with chapati, naan, appam or kerala parotta.


Let me help you with my recipe for naan and appam.


Hope you enjoy making and eating this!

Biriyani masala

There are umpteen number of biriyani masala recipes according to region and even household.

Over these last few years that I've been cooking biriyani, I have tried a few mixes and here is the one that I have finally ended up with.

1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp shahjeera
4 cloves
1 cardamom pod
1 inch cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp nutmeg powder
1 whole mace

I dry roast them for a few minutes to release their oils and till gorgeous aroma reaches your nose, let them cool down and grind them on the mill attachment on my food processor.

Please share your biriyani masala mixes here as well dearies.

Hyderabadi Mutton dum biriyani

I frequently try new biriyani recipes, I know adding pounds is what they do, but they taste so yum. Who doesn't like biriyani, rite? Anyway, hyderabadi biriyani is one that is very popular as you know. This I hope can still be called hyderabadi biriyani, coz I've been changing it each time. Appologies if you think I've ruined the classic. Here you go.

Ingredients

1. basmati rice - 2 1/2 cups

water - 5 cups

cardamom - 3

clove - 2

cinnamom - 2 sticks

2. mutton - 1 kg

warm water - 1 1/2 cups

3. yogurt - 1 cup

turmeric powder - 3 tsp

ginger-garlic paste - 4 tsp

green chilly paste - of 4 chillies

biriyani masala - 1 tbsp

4. dried red chillies - 4

cashew nuts - 10-12

5. onion - 5 thinly sliced and crispy fried

6. biriyani masala - 1 tsp

chopped coriander leaves - 1/2 packed cup or more according to taste

chopped mint leaves - 1/4 packed cup

7. juice of one lime

8. saffron strands - 2 pinches mixed in 4 tbsp of milk

9. ghee- 5 tbsp

10. salt to taste

Method
- pre soak basmati rice in enough water for 1 hour

- chop mutton to 1 inch chunks and marinate in (3) for 3-4 hours in refrigerator.

- make a fine paste of (4).

- in a wok add the marinated mutton pieces together with 1/4th of the fried onions and 1 tbsp of ghee.

- dry fry till ghee separates and then add 1 1/2 cups of warm water. Cook on low flame till meat is tender. If you prefer this step can be done in a pressure cooker like I did.

- In a deep pan heat 1 tbsp ghee, fry the whole spices followed by drained pre-soaked rice till an occasional rice grain starts to splutter. Now add the red chillies masala and enough salt followed by 5 cups of water. Cook rice till half done, when the rice still has a bite to it.

- separate rice on a big plate and leave to dry

-dry mix (6) well.

- Take a heavy bottomed oven proof pot (biriyani chempu) and pour 3 tbsp of ghee at the bottom. make a layer of rice, then 1/4 of mutton and sprinkle some of the dry (6) mix and lime juice. Make such 2-3 layers. The top layer needs to be of rice.

- sprinkle saffron milk on top of the rice

- close the lid and oven cook at 100 degrees for 20mts and then after at 50 degree to keep warm till you are ready to eat. Alternatively make a flour dough and use this to seal the lid to the pan and cook on hob at low flame for 20-30 mts.

- to serve, carefully spoon out the biriyani to a large pan and garnish with fried onions, cashew nuts, raisins and quarters of boiled eggs.


YUMMMM!







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Feast of sacrifice

Banana muffin in home made paper cup - featuring sultanas/raisins and tea!!

At work in my previous work place there was a private company selling yummy muffins in a rustic paper cup. I was waiting for a good muffin recipe to experiment my own paper cups. One day on the final presentation day of a course, when all my fellow attendees selected topics like 'obesity in kids', 'my research' etc I proudly chose to give a talk on kerala, my state in india and topped it up with a recipe handout and snapshot of keralan chicken biriyani. Feeling very special myself (you the feeling when you feel so good about urself what ever else the others thing? Yes, I had that moment), there comes another girl in another group with a recipe to banana cake her nan used to bake. I knew it would have been yummy and she knew it too. I came home and started searching for a yummy banana cake recipe. Low and behold I saw a recipe by the one and only comfort-food-queen Nigella Lawson. I knew this was it. I made a few alterations to suit my taste and needs and cooked it for my dear friend P and her daughter R. Here is the recipe I used.

Ingredients

very ripe bananas - 300g excluding peels

sultanas/ raisins - 100g

water - 75 - 100ml

tea bag - 1

plain flour - 175g

baking powder - 2 tsp

bicarbonate of soda - 1/2 tsp

salt - 1/2 tsp

butter - 125g

brown/ caster sugar - 150g

eggs - 2

vanilla extract - 1 tsp

Method

- preheat oven to 170 degreeC

- add boiling hot water to tea bag as u would for tea. Give it a squeeze and get the bag out. Nigellas original recipe asked for whisky. I substituted it for tea.

- add sultanas to it and leave it for 5-10mts

- combine / seive flour, salt and raising agents together in a bowl.

- melt your butter

- in a second bowl add the melted butter to sugar and mix well. Now add the eggs one at a time mixing well after each addition.

- mash your bananas, a few chunks are ok, they add texture to ur muffin.

- add the bananas to ur second bowl together with drained sultanas and vanilla extract.

- Nigellas original recipe used walnuts. I am not a big fan of them, hence avoided it.

- add the flour mix to the banana mix a little at a time, gently folding the mixture in. Never use a hard hand or you will end up with a banana flavoured stone.

- I poured this mixture in to a buttered and paper lined muffin tray and baked for 20 mts. A cake with the same mixture would take 1 hr.










The recipe warrants yellow cavendish bananas, the usual ones you get in supermarket, but if you can't get it 'robusta' green bananas are great too.


For the paper cup, I cut a square piece of baking sheet and moulded it into the trough in the muffin tray. They sure do add a great personal touch to ur muffins.


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Feast of sacrifice

Chocolate pudding featuring condensed milk and cream

Who doesn't know 'Magic oven' and its pretty and confident host Lekshmi Nair. I am a huge fan. Haven't managed to acquire her cookbooks yet, but managed to photocopy one from one of my friends who owned it. This recipe was telecasted in her tv show and my lovely sis-in-law R got the recipe for me.

Ingredients

milk - 2 cups

cocoa powder or drinking chocolate powder - 4 tbsp

condensed milk - 1 tin

gelatin - 2 1/2 tbsp

water - 1/2 cup

whipped cream - 1 1/2 cups

Method

- double boil or microwave 1 cup of milk with 4 tbsp of chocolate powder

- double boil or microwave 1/2 cup of water with 1 1/2 tbsp of gelatin

- mix both of these together with 1 cup of milk and a tin of condensed milk

- make sure to mix very well, one could use an whisk.

- once this mixture reaches room temperature add 1 1/2 cups of whipped cream and fold it in making sure not to knock air ut of the cream.

- pour this to a big bowl or small cups to serve, your choice, and freeze for 1/2 - 3/4 hr.

- refrigerate this till ready to use

- for garnish use milk/dark chocolate shavings, buttons, shapes or sprinkles if serving for kids.

















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Feast of sacrifice

Keralan cauliflower bhaji featuring gramflour

Growing up as a kid, us three kids had a very good appetite. My mum knew this and used to make a variety of snacks together with routine food. Cauliflower bhaji was a favourite especially between me and my sister. My sister S when she went to college made her own alterations to it. When I started cooking on my own I added a few more ingredients and here is the current recipe that I use.

Ingredients

A - 250 gm cauliflower


B - 1 cup gramflour or plain flour


3 heaped tsp corn flour


1 tsp aniseed


1/2 tsp asafoetida (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asafoetida)


1/2 tsp chilli powder


1/4 tsp turmeric powder


salt to taste


1/2 tsp baking powder


1/2 cup water or more according to taste.


Oil for deep frying or spray oil for grilling

For prep

1 tsp salt


1/4 tsp turmeric powder


enough water to cover the veg

Method

- Prepare your cauliflower by separating them in to florets and soaking them in salt, turmeric powder and water for 1/2 an hour. Drain the water off before preparing batter.
- Prepare batter by mixing all the ingredients in (B). Make sure to break any lumps with fork or even better, your fingers (put on kitchen disposable gloves if you have sensitive skin. If your hand starts to 'burn', wash under running tap water immedietly, dry and apply oil to the affected area - grandma's tip)
- Dip each floret in the batter and deep fry till 'golden-brown' in colour. For you healthy ones out there, you can grill the veg. Dip in batter and place on baking tray and spray cooking oil on top, turn ar intervals, spraying oil on each turn. Grill for 15 minutes.
- Absorb excess oil on kitchen towel and serve hot to enjoy the crisp batter.
- The same recipe stands good for any veg of your choice. My other favourites include onion rings, potato, spinach, chilli ( yes, hot green chilli) capsicum, plaintain, the list goes on.






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Feast of sacrifice