Pork Masala Dry

This recipe is quick, easy and a must try for all pork lovers. Chunks of pork cooked till tender with generous amount of spices is definitely the best way to cook it.

Ingredients | Serves 5/6
1 Kg | Pork cubes (with fat - optional)
25 | Dry Red Chillies
100 gms | Ginger
100 gms | Garlic
1/2 Tsp | Turmeric Powder
3 Tsp | Pepper Corns
3 Tsp | Cumin seeds
1 | Onion - Diced
100 ml | White Vinegar
Curry Leaves
Coriander Leaves
Salt & Oil

Make coarse paste of red chillies, ginger  & garlic, pepper corns, cumin seeds and keep aside.

In a cooker, put the cleaned pork and let it cook till it leaves considerable amount of water. Drain this water and pour in about 4 Tbsp of oil and stir. Add turmeric & salt (to taste) and let the pork cook for about 5 minutes so that it leaves some water. To this, add ground paste, diced onions, curry leaves & finely chopped coriander and mix. Now pour vinegar. Check if the gravy in the cooker is sufficient to pressure cook for 6-7 whistles. If not then add some water and pressure cook. Once the lid is off, stir and cook to remove excess water present in the pork.

Pork masala tastes great with steamed rice and Andhra "Pappu Charu" (Tamarind based lentil stew).

Okra Masala Fry

Also known as ladies finger or Bhindi, okra has it's own fan following - (include me!:)) It easily tops my list of favorite vegetables. Here is the recipe of this delicious Bhindi Masala that goes great with steamed rice or chapathis.

Ingredients | Serves 3/4

1/2 Kg | Okra
2 | Onions
1 | Tomato
1/2 tsp | Cumin
1/2 tsp | Sounf (Aniseed)
1 tsp | ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp | Chilli Powder
1/2 tsp | Coriander Powder
1/2 tsp | Garam Masala Powder
1 Pinch | Turmeric Powder
1/4 | Coconut
Oil
Salt

Wash and pat dry the okras with a towel. Remove the front and back part of the okras. Cut the okras into 2 inch long pieces and deep fry (a handful at a time) till they turn crisp. Keep them aside. 

With about 1 tsp oil, fry chopped coconut, cumin and sounf and grind this mixture into a fine paste. Heat 4 tsp oil in a saute pan and add finely chopped onions. Fry the onions till they turn golden brown. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for about 5mins on medium flame. Now add turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala & salt. Stir this thoroughly and add chopped tomatoes. Once the tomato is well cooked, let the mixture to cool down and grind this into a paste as-well. Fry this paste along with the coconut, cumin & sounf paste for about a minute or two. Now add the fried okras and mix it well such that the paste is spread evenly on the okras. Let it cook on low flame for about 10 minutes. Keep stirring often. Add more salt if needed.

Serve hot with dal as side for rice or roti!

Mutton with Drumstick & Mango

To all meat lovers, this simple yet flavorful mutton preparation will give your taste buds a good tingle. Juices from the drumstick and mango makes it evBen more relish-able.


Ingredients | Serves 4/5

1Kg | Mutton
1 | Drumstick
1 | Unripe Totapuri Mango
4 | Onions
2 | Tomato
2 tsp | Red Chilli Powder
2 tsp | Coriander Powder
1/4 tsp | Turmeric
Oil
Curry Leaves
Salt to taste.

Mutton with Drumstick and Mango

Fry finely chopped onions in a cooker along with the curry leaves till the onions turn brown. Put the meat and stir. Add salt and turmeric and cook for 3 minutes. Now add chilli and coriander and let this cook for another 2 minutes. Add finely chopped tomatoes and stir well. Leave this on medium flame - stir occasionally till the tomatoes melt completely. Once this is done, add about 750ml water and bring it to a boil. Check for the salt in the gravy. Pressure cook for 3 whistles. Now the mutton is well cooked. To this, add the drum sticks and cut mango slices (mango cut into 4/5 pieces). Pressure cook for 1 whistle. This mutton curry will taste good with rice.

Zesty Noodle Delight

When the Idly-dosa-upma-roti gets boring, when the taste buds crave for something tangy & spicy - It's time to stir out the 2 minute delight!  
This simple yet scrumptious noodle preparation will leave you fork-licking for more! 

Ingredients | Serves 4/5

4 packets | Maggie Noodles
4 glasses| Water
2 | Onions
2 |  Green Chillies Chopped
100 gms | Chopped Vegetables - Carrot, Beans, Capsicum
1/2 Tsp | Chilli Powder
1 Tsp | Soya Sauce
3 Tsp | Tomato Sauce
2 Tsp | Cooking Oil
3 Tsp | Ghee

Heat oil & ghee in a wok. Stir fry the onions along with the green chillies for about a minute. Add the chopped vegetable, 1/2 tsp salt and saute on high flame till the vegetables become crisp. Add chilli powder and 1/2 tsp of soya sauce and saute.Add water and bring it to boil. To this, add the taste maker and stir well. Break the noodles into smaller chunks and put it into the boiling mixture and mix. As the water thickens, add 1/2 tsp soya sauce and tomato sauce. Stir the noodles to evenly spread the sauces. Cook till you get the desired consistency.

Mutton Biriyani

This one definitely tops my list of most savored dish! It's absolutely ambrosial! For it to taste so,  wee bit extra effort would be needed along with LOTS of care :0).
What I suggest is to have all the ingredients ready (chopped, grated etc.etc.)before starting with the cooking.

Ingredients | Serves 5/6

1 Kg | Basmathi Rice
1 Kg | Mutton
300 Gms | Onions (Chopped)
200 Gms | Tomatoes (Chopped)
100 Gms | Ginger (Paste)
100 Gms | Garlic (Paste)
5 | Green Chillies
1 Bunch | Mint (Pudina) leaves
1 Bunch | Coriander (Pudina) leaves
1 Tsp | Red Chilli Powder
1 | Lemon (Juice extract)
4 | Cinnamon ( 1 inch pieces)
6 | Cloves
1 | Bay leaf
3 Tbsp | Oil

To start with, cook mutton with some salt. I suggest using a cooker as it consumes less time.
While the mutton is getting cooked, select a vessel to prepare the biriyani. It must be big enough to contain rice and mutton. Pour oil in it and wait for it to heat. Add the spices; cinnamon, cloves and bay leaf. Wait for the cloves to sputter. Add chopped onions and green chillies - vertically split. Fry until the colour of onions turn deep brown. Now add ginger and garlic paste. Fry on medium flame until the raw aroma of  ginger-garlic paste disappears. Ensure you keep sauteing to avoid the paste from getting burnt. Add chopped tomatoes and some salt. Fry until this mixture turn into a pulp (gravy). Then add chilli powder, pudina and chopped coriander and mix well. Add in the cooked mutton and stir. Leave it on medium flame for 5 minutes for the mutton to absorb the flavor from the gravy.

Spices, chillies and onions

....ginger garlic paste and tomatoes

Now for the 'rice - water' proportion which is most important when preparing biriyani. Measure rice in a cup. For 4 cups of rice add 7 cups of water, for 5 add 9 cups (1 cup less than double of the rice quantity).

....water and rice added

Add the measured quatity of water into the mutton and bring it to a boil. Add salt to taste. Add the rice and stir. Let it to cook with lid on high flame for 3 minutes and then on medium flame till its done. Stir occasionally (twice preferred) carefully moving the rice from the sides of the vessel to the center.

Yummy! lip smacking! finger licking! Biriyani is ready!!

The measures of ingredients mentioned will vary depending on the quantity of rice and mutton.