soya chunks pilav: what is the difference between pilav, fried rice and biriyani?

As promised here is my soya chunks pilav made using left over stir fried soya chunks recipe.

What is pilav / fried rice / biriyani?

Pilaf or pilav or pulav, is a dish in which rice is cooked in a seasoned broth.The English term pilaf is borrowed directly from Turkish, palov, which in turn comes from Persian polow (پلو), and ultimately derives from Sanskrit pulāka- (पुलाक), "lump of boiled rice". We know it, everything gains their origin from india :-).

In India pilav is mostly prepared in a coconut milk broth.

Fried rice, on the other hand is a popular component of Southeast Asian cuisine, where it is staple as Southeast Asian foods. It is made from steamed rice stir-fried in a wok, often with other ingredients, such as eggs, vegetables, and meat.

Biryani or biriani ( Malayalam: ബിരിയാണി, Kannada: ಬಿರಿಯಾನಿ, Tamil: பிரியாணி, Hindi: बिरयानी, Telugu: బిర్యాని, Urdu: بریانی) is a set of rice-based foods made with spices, rice (usually basmati) and meat, fish, eggs or vegetables. The name is derived from the Persian word beryā(n) (بریان) which means "fried" or "roasted".

Soya chunks Pilav

The first step is to prepare the soya chunks stir fry. The recipe is here. I used half of the above recipe to prepare my pilav.

Ingredients

1 - Rice - 2 cups
Water - 4 cups (+another 1/4 cup if using coconut milk powder)

2 - Soya chunks stir fry - half of the above recipe

3 - Coconut milk -  1/2 cup or coconut milk powder - 2 tbsp dissolved in 1/4 cup of water

Method:

- In a microwavable pot add rice with water, coconut milk and soya chunks stir fry.

- Mix well and cook in microwave at full power for 20 minutes or till all the water is absorbed.

- Mix well again as u will find some of the soya chunks find their way at the top. Mix so that all the flavours are combined.

- Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with raita, popadoms and spicy keralan pickles.

My best award ever: Look what asiya's daughter made for me.

It is with a heavy heart that I write this post today. I want to share something very close to my heart.


Today I got an email from Asiya of My healthy happy kitchen . It read like this:


"Sherin, my daughter is your fan.She specially made this award for you."


Here is what she made for me :-)

Thank u so much mole. This is the best award I have ever had.
I will cherish this.


Thank u Asiya. My words are not enough dear, to describe how I feel.:-)

My second guest post, on Sumanarthy's kitchen: Non diary vegetarian panna cotta with almond milk

I proudly present my second guest post, this time in my dear friend Sumanarthy's blog,  who I met in the blogophere :-) She own's a beautiful blog featuring traditional and western recipes. I was delighted when she asked me to do a guest post. To see the post and to get the recipe visit here.

The recipe I chose was a non-diary vegetarian panacotta. My son went through a phase of milk protein intolerance and I was trying to make his favourite desserts milk protein-free. I present here one such effort.

Also I would like to thank all you fellow bloggers for trying my recipes and encouraging this young blog. Can't thank u enough. :-)

The most recent one was my Keralan prawn biriyani featuring through flora cuisine cookbook in Nisha's blog 'Look who is cooking too' , who I learn from others in business, is a professional in the field.

For my original recipe for the same pls visit Keralan Prawn biriyani.

Thanks a lot dearies

Chicken n Broccoli Lunch Bowl in 10 Minutes: featuring whole wheat cous cous

Source: An Edible Mosaic, Middle Eastern Fare with Extraordinary Flair
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 - Broccoli - one head separated in to florets

2 - Whole wheat cous cous - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup

3 - Dried Italian herb seasoning - 3/4 tsp + 3/4 tsp
Onion powder - 1/2 tsp + 1/2 tsp
Garlic powder - 1/2 tsp + 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp + 1/4 tsp
Black pepper - 1/8 tsp + 1/8 tsp

4 - 2 tablespoons olive oil

5 - Boneless, skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced - 500 g

Method:

- Steam cook brocoli. In a microwavable bowl add brocoli with 1 tbsp of water and cook on full power for 8 minutes.

- Boil water in a kettle. Pour a cup of this water in a bowl, stir in the couscous, 3/4 teaspoon Italian herb seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Cover the bowl tight and let the couscous steam until tender, about 5 minutes.

 - Heat the oil in a large (preferably nonstick) skillet over medium heat. As the skillet heats up, season the chicken with the remaining 3/4 teaspoon Italian herb seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Spread the chicken out evenly in the hot pan and cook until done, about 4 to 6 minutes, flipping once. (To check for doneness, cut a piece in half and make sure there is no pink.)

- Get out 4 bowls; spread the couscous on the bottom of each bowl, then add the broccoli and top with the chicken. Serve hot or cool to room temperature and refrigerate to enjoy as lunches throughout the week (they reheat well in the microwave).

Spicy indian rice noodles

Ingredients:

1 - Rice noodles -  2 cups
Water - 6 cups

2 - Green beans - 1/2 cup, finely chopped
Carrots - 1/2 cup, finely chopped
Peas, fresh or frozen - 1/2 cup


3 - Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Dried red chillies -2, broken into a couple pieces


4 - Onions -  1/2 cup, finely chopped

5 - Coriander powder -  1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder -  1 tsp
4-5 tsp vegetable oil

6 - Tamarind paste - 1/4 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp

7 - Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp, finely chopped

8 - Salt to taste

Method

- In a deep pan, bring water to a boil. Add the dry rice noodles and cook for 4-5 minutes until just cooked, but not mushy. Drain, add a cup of cold water, drain again, and keep aside.

- In a microwavable bowl, add (2), sprinkle some salt and water,  cover and cook for about 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Keep aside.

- Heat oil in a  pan.  Add the cumin and mustard seeds. As the seeds start to pop, add the red chillies and fry until chillies change colour.

- Add the onions along with some salt. Saute on low heat until they are translucent.

- Add (5) and saute to mix well.

- Add the boiled vegetables and (6), along with 1/2 cup water. Cover and cook on low heat till sauce thickens.

- Add the rice noodles, a little at a time till noodles are well coated with the sauce. Mix well and saute on low heat until the noodles have absorbed the gravy and are well-coated. Don't forget to check for salt at this stage.

- Garnish the spicy rice noodles with chopped coriander and serve hot..

Tips:

- Use pre-cooked rice noodles to save time.

- Use tomato ketchup or soy sauce instead of tamarind if u wished.

Mutton Sheekh Kebab: as spicy as u want them to be :-)

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 10-15 minutes
Servings: 6 persons

Ingredients :

1 - Mutton kheema - 2 cups

2 -  Onion thinly chopped - 1
Green chillies thinly chopped - 2
Ginger-garlic paste - 2tbsp
Garam masala powder - 1 tbsp
Cornflour - 1 tbsp
Coriander powder - 2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Nutmeg Powder - 1/2 tsp
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
A pinch of black pepper powder
Salt to taste

3 - Chaat masala to sprinkle
Oil to fry

4 - Olive oil or melted butter to baste

Method:

- Squeeze the water from mutton kheema, add all the other ingredients and mix well. Marinate for 1 hour.

- Make kebabs to ur desired shape. I shaped them around metal skewers. Take a big portion or ball of the keema mixture and press around the skewer. Flatten the mixture to stick tightly around the skewer.


- It is always a good idea to shallow fry a tiny ball as tester and taste it for salt and spices.

- Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees on high heat. Place the skewers in hot oven and keep the oven on grill mode. Keep rotating them occasionally and bast either with butter or oil. When the kebabs seem cooked, remove them from the skewers.

- Now heat a flat griddle and drizzle some oil. Place these kebabs over the tawa for few minutes.
Sprinkle some chaat masala and serve immediately with coriander chutney and salad.

- They are great for a hot barbecue.

- Kebabs are delicious with rice or any flat bread like naan.

Apologies about the quality of the pictures, took them with my phone in a hurry before they disappeared in to thin air. I did not get a chance to eat it, except for the tester which was superb.

Tips:

- U can use bread crumbs or roasted dal powder to help shape ur kebabs if they turn too soft.

Gulab Jamun from scratch: An indian sweet fit for the kings.

SNC#2- North Team challenge- Gulab Jamun

Divya Pramil of You too can cook Indian Food is the brain behind SNC challenge - recipe exchange where two teams challenge each other with their authentic recipes. The teams get a month’s time to prepare the recipe and post on their spaces. This is the 2nd event of the series and this November months challenge was posted by Pallavi (Northern team) and Yasodha ( South team)

A bit about Gulab Jamun 

The history says that Gulab jamun originates from an Arabic dessert called Luqmat Al-Qadi and became popular during the Mughal era.

In Nepal it is widely known as Lalmohan,The Persian word Gulab (गुलाब) means rose, as rosewater syrup is often used, although saffron syrup and honey are also common.

Jamun may refer to the jambul fruit, which is usually of a similar size to pieces of the dessert. There are various claims regarding the originator of the dish, with some saying a Sikh chef named Sajjan Dhillon first prepared it as a delicacy for the king of Jalalabad. The dessert also became popular throughout the Ottoman Empire.

Variants: 

Kemal Pasha dessert

Kemal Pasha dessert is a dish that is very similar to gulab jamun. It originates from the district of Kemalpaşa,Bursa, in Turkey. Traditionally it is made using a variety of cheese that is particular to the region.

Kala jamun, "black jamun"

Gulab jamun gets its brownish red color because of the sugar content in the milk powder or khoya or bread. In other types of gulab jamun, sugar is added in the dough, and after frying, the sugar caramelization gives it its dark, almost black colour, which is then called kala jamun, "black jamun".

Canadian Jamun

The sugar syrup may be replaced with (slightly) diluted maple syrup for a gulab jamun with a Canadian flavour.

Here is how I made it.

I had a sweet helper this time too :-)

Recipe

Ingredients

Milk Powder - 1 cup
Ghee/Clarified butter - 3 tbsp
Rava/semolina - 1 1/2 tbsp
Plain flour - 2 tbsp
A pinch of baking powder ( see below before adding it to ur mix pls)
Milk - 3 tbsp

Oil/ghee to fry

Sugar -  1 cup
Water - 1 cup

Few drops of rose water
A pinch of Cardamom powder

Chopped almonds - 1 tbsp , to garnish

Method:

- Sift the milk powder, flour, semolina and baking powder.

- To this, add the ghee and mix well, like u would for puttu or naan. Now add the milk, 2 tbsp to start with, and make soft dough out of it. Add another tbsp if you feel the mix is dry.

- Bring the dough together and using the palm of one hand and fingers of other and then between both palms a ball and place in a bowl. Cover with oiled cling film and let it sit for 20-30 min.

- Meanwhile, in a pan bring the sugar and water to the boil. Make sure the sugar dissolves completely. Add the gulab jal/rose water. Keep it aside till further use.

- Make small balls out of the dough. In a deep pan pour sufficient oil that can immerse the dough balls completely. Heat the oil on full flame. Once it smokes, reduce the flame to medium. After the smoke disappears, add one dough ball first. If it turns black on the outside, reduce the flame to low-medium. We are looking for an inviting brown color on the dough balls.

- You may fry 2-3 at a time depending on the size of ur pan. But be sure to constantly roll the balls in the oil so that they get an even color.

- Remove with a slotted spoon and add directly to the warm sugar syrup.

- To serve, put a few balls of the gulab jamun, some syrup and garnish with almond slivers.

Confession:

Now, I had a few hiccups while trying to make it.

Everthing went well, I was happy with my pictures, until I dropped my first jamun ball in oil. To my horror, it started disintegrating, the disintegrated bits started to burn in the hot oil and my fire alarm went off. I quickly closed my kitchen door, opened the door out, like u do in these circumstances, and when I looked at my hot oil pot, the jamun was no where to be found. It had disappeared to leave tiny black dots fo burnt stuff.

Now, where did I go wrong!! How can I face myself. :-) .The only difference to the recipe I am used to preparing was the baking powder. Did I use too much of it was my question.

Google came to the 'rescue'. Various people had posted about this same experience and too much baking powder was the culprit apparently each time.

A pinch of mine could have been a bit more that needed. The second time I avoided it, for a better result.

I called out to the SNC team for help, and God they were so helpful. U guys rock. I learnt  a lot during this challenge. I suppose that's what these challenges are all about. Thank u very much my dears for the support first of all, not making me feel like a fool, and those outstanding tips u shared.

Tips I learnt:

- Add as less or avoid baking powder if u r vary of the results.

- Keeping the balls in refrigerator during the resting period helps them not to break.

- Maintaining low to medium heat is essential for the inside to be cooked and the outside to be not burnt.

First cash price: Yeah!

So pleased to share my first cash price of Rs.1000 from Asiya of My healthy happy kitchen

thank u very much dear. :-)

Event judged by Mrs Mano cooking expert and singer.

Coconut- Onion- Tamarind chutney

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Serves: 3

Ingredients

Dessicated coconut - 1 cup , presoaked in warm water

Dried red chillies - 3

Tamarind paste - 1/2 tsp

Onion, roughly chopped - 1

Ginger - 1/2 inch piece

Salt - 1/2 tsp

2 tablespoons water

Method

Grind all of the above ingredients to a smooth paste.

Best served with dosa, idli or kappa

Spicy Egg biriyani: Malabar style

Source: Adapted from 'The Epicure Cookbook' by Ms. Ummi Abdulla - mishmash

Serves: 4 adults

Ingredients:

1- Basmati rice - 2 1/2 cups (500g)

2- 3tbsp ghee

3- Cardamom - 4

Cloves - 4
Cinnamon stick - 4 small pieces

4- Onions - 3

1 big onion, thinly sliced for rice

1 big onion, chopped for egg masala

(and another for the omelette)

5- For rice: 

Green chillies - 4

Garlic cloves, medium sized - 4
Ginger - 1 inch piece

6- Water - 5 cups

7- Eggs - 3

Grated coconut - 2 tbsp
Onion, chopped - 1

Green chillies, finely chopped - 2
Red chilly powder - 1/4 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp
Salt to taste

8- For egg masala: 

Green chillies - 4
Garlic cloves - 6 big
Ginger - 3 inch piece

9-Tomatoes, chopped - 1 medium sized

10-  Biriyani Masala - 1 1/4 tsp

11- Freshly squeezed lemon juice - 1 1/2 tbsp
Coriander leaves, chopped - 1/3 cup
Mint leaves, chopped - 1/4 cup

12- Ghee - 2 tbsp

Biriyani masala - 2 pinches

13- Hardboiled eggs, halved - 4
 Biryani Masala - a pinch
 Pepper powder - a pinch
 Salt to taste

14- Oil for making omelettes and frying hard boiled eggs

15-Salt to taste

Method:

- Hard boil 4 eggs

- Make Biryani Masala

- Grind (5) and (8)  into coarse pastes and keep aside.

- Wash and drain the rice on a colander. 

- Heat ghee in a pot and add  (3). 

- Once their aroma hits ur nose add thinly sliced onions and sauté till it is transparent

-  Add the ground (5), stir well till the raw smell disappears. 

- Add rice and stir continuously for 2-3 minutes in low heat. 

- Add this to a microwave safe bowl with 5 cups of water  add salt and  cook at full power for 20 minutes or until rice is done. Using a fork, gently fluff up the rice.

- While rice is cooking, make omelette and egg masala

- Beat the eggs and add all the other ingredients and mix well.

- Heat the oil in a pan and make two omelettes out of this mixture.

- When done, transfer to a chopping board and cut them into small bite sized pieces and keep aside.

- Heat oil in a pan and cook thinly sliced onion, till they turn transparent; now add  ground (8) and sauté till it gives out a roasted smell. 

- Add chopped tomatoes and saute for a few more minutes. 

- Now add the Biryani masala, and combine well especially at the base. 

- Add bite size piece of omelette and blend well, followed by chopped cilantro/coriander and mint leaves. Sprinkle lemon juice, mix well. Do a taste test here and adjust the salt. Turn off the stove and remove from heat.

- Pour 2 tbsp ghee into your cooking vessel (oven –safe dish); spread half of the rice at the bottom, followed by the egg masala and sprinkle two pinches of biryani masala; spread rest of the rice as the top layer and add 2 tbsp ghee. 

- Preheat oven to 350 F. Close the pot with aluminum foil, put the lid back on and cook for 30 minutes.

- While rice is at the final phase of cooking, hard-boil 4 eggs and when done, halve them. Sprinkle biryani masala, pepper powder and salt on halved eggs and shallow fry them in oil for a minute. Remove from the pan.

- Layer rice and egg masala or simply mix the rice and egg masala together and garnish with boiled and fried egg halves.

Mambazha pulisseri : Mango - coconut - yogurt savoury mousse

My dear friend A from med college was asking for a veg- kid friendly recipe and I instantly thought about the below recipe which was resting in kukskitchen's drafts. 

My son luvs everything sweet: spicy chicken with honey, dosa - appam etc with sugar, pancakes with golden syrup and the list goes on.

After a bout of D&V when his appetite is not up to mark, I try to cook something special for him which is nutritious and tasty for his tiny palate all at the same time. This time I had some frozen mango cubes in my freezer, which I bought for mango milkshake - smoothie. Mambazha pulisseri it is then! It is my BIG kid's favourite too :-) What better reasons do I need!

Here is how I made it

Ingredients

1- Mango, cubed - 1 1/2 cups
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Salt – to taste
Water- 3/4 cup

2- Coconut grated- 3/4 cup, I used dessicated coconut soaked in hot water.
Green chillies chopped- 1
Cumin seeds-1/4 tsp

3- Yogurt or Curd- 1 cup

4- Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Whole red chillies- 2
Curry leaves- 1 sprig, optional
Coconut Oil - 1 1/2 tbsp

Method:

- Cook mango along with rest of (1) until the mango becomes soft and tender.

- Using a potato masher, coarsely mash the mango cubes to a lumpy paste.

- Grind (2) to a smooth paste.

-Add this to the mango and cook till the coconut gets cooked

- Now remove from hob and add thick yogurt stirring well.

- Get it back on the hob and simmer for less than a minute on low flame.  Remove from the flame. Don’t boil the yogurt mixture as it will curdle.

- In another pan, heat coconut oil, splutter mustard seeds. Add whole red chillies and curry leaves, saute and remove from flame.

- Add this to the mango/yogurt mixture, close it with its lid and let stand so the flavours combine together.

Serve with rice and popadoms. Yummmm!!!

Tips:

- Other sweet ingredients like pineapple and dates give a similar sweet pulisseri.

- The same recipe can be used to prepare pulisseri with cucumber, plantain and marrow.

- Other additions to the grinding mixture include garlic and shallots which give u a pulisseri with a difference.

- Dry fry the ground mixture on medium heat to a light brown thick paste before adding the cooked veggie and yogurt to make a 'kalan'. Plantain is the classic ingredient used in kalan.

For my version of pulisseri without coconut see here:

Pulisseri without coconut :featuring marrow

Healthy no ghee microwave kheer : Thattikkuttu payassam : featuring rice

Yes another thattikkuttu recipe. :-)

My son wanted a payassam and I was too lazy to do it the hob method. Microwave was the way forward. :-) And the result is.........

Boiling milk in a microwave is always scarry; one tiny minute more than needed and u end up having to clean up the whole oven. I kept on looking thru the glass window every other minute. Well, now I know the time needed for the perfect taste, still leaving my microwave clean :-)

Serves: 2

U need: A large microwave safe bowl, so the milk doesn't spill over.

Ingredients

Rice - 1/2 cup - I used basmati
Water - 2 cups
Milk - 1 cup
Sugar - 5 tsp
Cardamom powder - a pinch
Saffron strands to garnish

Method

- In a large microwavable bowl, add rice and water and cook on full power for 10 minutes till rice is cooked.

- Drain excess water and pour in the milk and sugar. Stir well. Pop it back in the microwave and cook for a total of 8 minutes, stirring after every 2 minutes. This helps dissolve the sugar better and makes sure the milk doesn't spill over.

- Add cardamom powder and mix well.

- Garnish with saffron strands and serve.

Let me know if there is an even easier version of making payassam girls. Share pls!

Linking this to:


Love2Cook's Event Deepavali Delights 2012

My attempt on the famous Coorg pandi curry: featuring pork.

For those of you who have never heard of it, Coorg is Kodagu, the smallest district in Karnataka. If you were to draw a rectangle around it, it is only about 60 miles by 40 miles. During British Raj, Kodagu was called Coorg ; and its people, Coorgs, rather than Kodavas as they call themselves.

The Kodavas are a rather unique community, a martial race of handsome, brave and hospitable people, 

tall, handsome men and beautiful women with sharp features. :-) 

Coorgs are "pure" or "strict" non-vegetarians, as some of them like to call themselves. This obviously goes back to the times when they hunted the wild boar, deer and birds that populated their dense forests.

Pork is a great delicacy in Kodagu,and this classic curry is the star of the table.

I attempt to make the famous Coorg pandi curry. With ur blessings, here I present. It was so yummy so yummy, I have no words to describe the taste. No wonder it is so famous. :-)

Source: Chef Naren Thimmaiah’s . This is his mum's recipe 

Ingredients:

1- Pork - 1 kg, with some fat( and ideally some bones,cut into cubes) not exceeding 250 grams.
Turmeric powder - 2 tsp

2- Onions - 2 large, chopped fine.

3- Ginger - 4 inch piece
Garlic - 4 cloves

4- Mustard seeds - 1 1/2 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 2 tbsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
Whole black peppercorns - 1 tbsp

5- Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
Red chili powder - 1 tbsp

6- 2 cups hot water.

7- 1 ½ tablespoon kachampuli (kudampuli), or dark malt vinegar ( see note on ingredients for substitutes)

8-Green chillies - 3 slit in half

9-  salt to taste.

10- A little oil for frying

Method :

- Grind the ginger and garlic to a fine paste.

- Dry roast (4). Start with the spices that take longer to roast. Mustard seeds should turn white and begin to crackle; the cumin and fenugreek should turn dark brown and begin to release their aromas, followed by peppercones. Allow them to cool, then grind to a fine powder.

-Wash and drain the pork, sprinkle with the turmeric and set aside.

-Fry the chopped onions in a little oil ( 3-4 tablespoons) until lightly browned.

-Add the garlic ginger paste and fry for a few minutes.

-Add the pork and turmeric, and fry until the pork releases water, and begins to change colour.

-Sprinkle and mix in (5), and finally all the dry roasted spices. Stir thoroughly. Add salt to taste.

-Add about 2 cups of hot water, or according to the gravy required.

-Pressure cook on medium heat for about 20 mins. Remove from gas and allow the pressure to drop.

-Add about 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons of kachampuli, and simmer for a few minutes. If you are using a substitute for kachampuli, like a dark brown vinegar, you will have to double the quantities, and the curry may not be so dark in colour. Finally, add the green chillies.

Goes great with chapathi.

Soya chunks stir fry: low fat meat alternative

Soya chunks is something that has never been featured in kukskitchen. The whole 'going healthy' pairs well with soya chunks.  Soy is rich in protein and low in fat. There are many a variety of soya available in the shops - tofu and dried soya meat being just the most common ones I have seen.

Also recently my craze is using fenugreek powder. It not only takes the raw smell away from meat or fish but also is very nutritious and has claims of improving ur glucose tolerance if u r diabetic. Start early, eh?

Soy meat is the term used for textured soy protein (TSP). Dried soy meat can serve as replacement for meat in vegetarian cuisine and in cases when one must reduce intake of animal proteins. It is brown in color and looks like nuggets. There are two types of soy meat: 50% protein rich (made from soy flour) and 70% protein rich (made from soy concentrate).

A few tips when using soya meat/ chunks for beginners

- Measure the quantity you need for the recipe. Choose a dish at least double in capacity. Dried soy meat grows in size when you rehydrate it.

- Rehydrate the soy meat. Boil water and pour it in the dish over the soy meat. Stir it with a spoon and leave it for five to 10 minutes. Alternatively, you may use vegetable or meat stock instead of water. You may add a bit of lemon or vinegar.

- Dried soy meat may last over a year when you store it at room temperature. Once you rehydrate it, however, use it immediately or store it in refrigerator. Don't leave it in refrigerator more than three days.

I will be posting a few more of my soya chunks recipes ( still in draft phase) in time. Watch this space.

The recipe below yields enough for 4 servings. I preserved half to make soya chunks pilav for dinner. 

Ingredients

1- Dried soya chunks - 150 g

2- Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Onion - one thinly sliced

Tomato - one thinly sliced

Ginger paste- 1 tsp

Garlic paste- 1 tsp

Red chilli paste - 1 tsp

3- Meat masala - 1 tbsp

Red chilly powder - 2 tsp or to taste

Coriander powder - 2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Fenugreek powder - 1/2 tsp

4- Coriander leaves, chopped - 2 tbsp

5- Oil - 2tbsp

Water or veg stock - 1/2 cup

salt to taste

Curry leaves - optional

Method

- Rehydrate the dried soya chunks as above or according to packet instructions. I used boiling water to rehydrate soya chunks for this recipe.

- Heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds. Now add rest of (2) in order sauteeing after each addition. Keep frying till the onion turns transparent.

- Now it is time to add the dry powders. U can either mix them together with some water and then add to the hot pan or add them dry and mix well while in pan. Add curry leaves now if u r using them.

- Add about 1/2 cup of water / stock and cover with a lid and simmer for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure the soya chunks are coated well and all the juices are absorbed.

- Garnish with coriander leaves.

- Serve hot with chapathi or rice.

Gothambu halwa: Flour halwa

This one is close to my heart as it is one of the first sweets I made, and I was in school. Those days my brother  would eat anything I made and was my critic. Me, my sis and my mum would try all sorts of things in our kitchen in Trivandrum. He has got a more sophisticated palate now. My SIL is an amazing cook herself. :-)

The only slight change I made was to add dark muscovado sugar for that extra colour and taste.

Ingredients

Chappathi flour - 2 cups
Ghee - 1 1/2 cups
Castor sugar - 1 1/2 cups
Dark muscovado sugar - 1 cup
Cloves - 3
Cardamom - 5
Water - 8 cups
Rose water - 2 drops
Cashewnuts - 8-10

Method

- Dry fry cloves and cardamom till they release their oils.

- Boil sugar with water in a sauce pan till sugar dissolves

- Add ghee to a non-stick pan and saute flour in it with the whole spices and fry till flour turns light brown.

- Now add the sugar syrup and stir well to make sure no lumps are formed.

- Add dark muscovado sugar and at this stage use a sputter guard. :-) Stit till till the mixture lets itself off the edges of the pan

- Spread on a ghee smeared plate add rose water and garnish with roasted cashews.

- Cut them in to desired shapes and serve warm.

Tips:

- Try using plain flour and avoid muscovado sugar for a light brown halwa.

Linking this to:


Love2Cook's Event Deepavali Delights 2012

Bread caramel pudding: Dinner party special

Puddings are a vital element to a dinner party success. Here is a quick and easy yet tasty pudding with a presentation enough to wow ur guests.

Ingredients

Bread - 10 slices, cubed
Egg-3
Sugar- 3/4 Cup (1/2 + 1/4 cup)
Milk- 3 Cups
Butter - 50 gm

Method

-  Preheat oven to 375 F /180 C

- Separate the white and yellow of all the eggs

- Beat the yellow with a fork and add the milk into it.Mix well and keep aside.

- Add half a cup of sugar to a thick bottomed vessel. Turn the heat to medium. When the sugar starts melting ,give an occasional stir. The sugar will now start to change colour. When completely caramelised ,it turns golden brown in colour. Turn off the heat and add butter to it. It will melt, mix well. Allow to cool.

- When the caramel is cooled down to room temperature, add the milk- egg yellow and mix well.

- Butter a baking pan or individual ramekins, and arrange the bread pieces at the bottom. Pour the caramel - milk mixture and allow bread pieces to soak all the lovely juices.

- While the bread takes its time to soak, beat the egg white hard ,adding 1/4 cup sugar in portions. Beat it well to a stiff peak, like for a meringue.

- Spread the meringue over the soaked bread pieces. Allow it to seep into the spaces in between ur bread pieces.

- Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the top turns a golden brown color.

- Keep them refrigerated till ready to serve.

Tips:

-If the caramel syrup becomes too hard, heat it with 1/4 cup of water and it will turn syrupy again.

-Take care not to add hot caramel syrup to the egg-milk mix, or else u will end up with scrambled egg.

- While the bread pieces are soaking the juices, use ur fingers to gently press them down.