South Indian Style Crispy Pan Fried Potatoes

What qualifies as a good food item? It must be nutritious, fresh, enjoyable, and for most of us, it is also part of a great memory. I remember having conversations that start with "remember the delicious curry or dish you make.....?" The way a curry makes you feel and how much you enjoy it definitely depends on the memories you associate with it. This is the reason every time I go back to my home town, I go back to eat some of the things that I remember from my youth. Not because I cannot make it here, but to re-live those memories and try to capture the enjoyment again. I used to do this a lot when my mother was alive - it was always, "amma, can you please make xxx for me, again?"  

I am glad that in the hectic lifestyle that I have in Melbourne with my full time job and prescribed limited holidays, I still managed to create some memories for my children. I was pleasantly surprised when my daughter texted me for the recipe of the fried potatoes with the spices.  I thought I might as well go the whole way and put it in my blog because one day when I am not here, she can still refer back to it! Perhaps my son would want to make it too - which will be an added bonus!  

So here it is, the quick and easy way to make it and it takes less than 10 minutes from prep to service!

Seafood Risotto

Comfort food, but also loaded with calories! I went all ahead with this one for my children with the butter and cream, but if I made this for myself, it would probably be just with olive oil and chunks of fish.  We are having a dry February, so there was no wine to drink with this beautiful risotto; but I did have left over wine from before that I used for cooking the rice. This could be a quick mid week dinner too as it is easy to prepare and quick to cook.  All up, it took me just about an hour including prep. I adapted the Recipe Tin Eats recipe to suit my taste.  I served it with a simple salad of shredded beetroot, cucumber, salad leaves and a feta cheese dressing.

Basic Chicken Biriyani - Rajam's recipe

 For most Indians, biriyani is an emotion. There are so many different varieties of biriyani in India and the one you had growing up generally ends up being the winner. The reason is obviously it brings back so many fun memories, and secondly, it is a taste that gets embedded in the ridges and grooves of your brain. Nothing anyone makes is even remotely close to that taste that you know is possible and you strive hard to find it everywhere. I found many Indian restaurants in Melbourne cook the rice and the meat seperately and then layer it in and call it biriyani. Of course it made me mad because for me the meat and rice must be cooked together for it to have the status of biriyani.  Yes, biriyani definitely has a status, if the meat and rice are cooked together in a delicious conglomeration, then the status is definitely at the top.

The trick to getting a perfectly cooked rice and meat dish is 1) excellent quality biriyani rice, 2) infinite patience and 3) careful measuring.  I use India Gate "classic basmati rice extra long" because it never fails me. India Gate basmati rice cooks into a fine long grain, fluffy and beautiful and I know the ratio is 1 cup of rice means two cups of liquid. 

My mother used to make biriyani at home for special occassions and that is what I have tried to create today for you. This is not a very hot dish, but by all means reduce the number of green chillies if you feel it might be too hot for you.  The red chilli powder I have used is Kashmiri chilli powder  which is not hot. 

Also, my mother never used to marinate and seal the chicken when she made chicken biriyani.  However, the chicken she used were organic and small sized where as the ones I see here are huge and have very little flavour - even if they are supposedly organic.  So that is a variation that helps with increasing the flavours of this dish. 

Lets get to the recipe without further ado!  This recipe calls for marination of the chicken and I do it the day before I am planning to make the biriyani.

Lamb Shanks

 After a long hiatus of nearly 5 months, I am back again! During the 5 months I had been busy preparing for my daughter's wedding, a cruise, the actual wedding, a trip, visitors and finally back to me and my old phone taking pictures and my familiar lap top...writing up another recipe!  This recipe is dedicated to the wonderful lamb I had in New Zealand, my friends and family at the multi cultural wedding and all the rejoicing and reconnecting that happened in the last half year. It is also dedicated to the wedding and the welcoming of new members of the family and the joyous celebrations associated with it! To my friends and family who have been encouraging me to get back to blogging, this one is for you too.  I love you all.

To the butchers at Preston market and the Publique French Bakery, thank you for the produce and the best olive sour dough baguette!

Let's get down to the recipe - I wanted this to be a relaxing day so I actually put the lamb shanks on the stove and went to the local shopping centre to do my weekly shop and get a coffee before coming back to check on the meat. It was two and a half hours all up but the meat was tender and I didn't need a knife to cut it at all.

Basic Chicken Curry - Naadan Kozhi curry

"Amma, do you have a recipe for the chicken curry you make in your blog?" I was in India - and this request was from my son, in Australia - a very urgent text message. While I was flattered that he even bothered reading my blog, I had to disappoint him and say that I never thought to put it in since it was almost a staple and I assumed everyone knew how to make it.  "Well, I think you must add it in, it makes it easier for me" - was his verdict.  So here it is, the basic chicken curry - or naadan kozhi curry - which means traditional chicken curry.

My son is going through a phase where he loves drummettes more than any other part of the chicken - so I made this for him using drummettes. However, I prefer to make it with an entire chicken - including liver and gizzard. Both my children are not fans of the liver and gizzard, unfortunately, so I have just made it his way.  However, if you are willing to try it, add it in - it adds so much more flavour to the dish.

Venn Pongal - Savoury Rice with Dal

 It was the 80s and I was in a hostel along with about 500 students.  we were slogging to get through our examinations. And every other day, breakfast used to be Venn Pongal. I cannot begin to tell you how much I had come to hate this dish! Every semester break I would rush home and eat my mother's home cooked food - especially the breakfast items and complain to her about how bad this venn pongal was!

The cook in my hostel, bless her, was known as Narayana amma - no one knew her real name.  She was just Narayana's mother.  And Narayana who must have been in his early 20s used to help get grocery and generally help his mother in the kitchen, It was not Narayana amma's fault of course, but she negotiated the best deal for herself and making venn pongal was one of the simplest breakfast things.  She also didn't use ghee as it was too expensive, and cashew nuts were far and few. 

Fast forward 35 years - and I find myself thinking of Narayana amma, Narayana, the patti (grandmother) whose job it was to help grind the dal to make the vadas. I found this amazing recipe by chef Dinu on instagram and decided to wake up early, motivate myself to make a Kings Breakfast on this long weekend and get the recipe  out.  So here I am!!!!  I am extremely pleased with my decision and my belly is thanking me too - :-D

Baked Potatoes with Cream

 My son's absolute favourite side dish served with lamb chops. He makes it himself and has honed it down to an art form.  Browned evenly with the potatoes cooked in cream that has cooked and turned into a butter like consistency - this dish is very easy to pig out on! Using only 4 ingredients, you really cannot go wrong.

Prawns with Mango and Chilli Mayo

 In my early days in Australia, I used to wonder how people could eat prawns that were just passed through steam - unshelled and with the intestines intact.  In fact, when I asked my first ever manager in Australia how they ate the prawns without removing the intestines, he was not able to answer me. He had always eaten them like that, he said and he had not fallen sick.

I avoided having them for several years. Eventually, when I did work up the courage to eat one, I found them juicy and sweet.  This image of a prawn is of course totally opposite to what I grew up with. I now like them like this - and in Summer, most people enjoy prawns cold in a salad.  I hope you try this prawn and chilli mayo salad with ripe mango - the mango sets off the sweetness of the prawns.

Tomato Feta Pasta

 The feta -tomato pasta has been doing the viral rounds for some time. I have seen many versions of it and always wanted to try it. If you have a TV dinner night planned, this is the perfect dish for it - because it is a one pot dish and even the washing up is quick and easy.

I am going to use the picture of the tomatoes and the feta since that looks way sexier than the finished dish :-)

The beauty about this simple dish is you can add more vegetables if you like and chop and change the herbs. I was able to use up the asparagus in the fridge and you know I cannot be without chilli.  With the garlic, you can add less, I just love the smell and taste of baked garlic so I added more.  And one it is baked, you can mush it up like butter, so it is not even visible anywhere in the final picture!

Rajam's Fish Mollee

 In 1993, when I was getting ready to migrate to Australia, I would sit with my mother for hours and write down recipes in my little brown diary.  I have thumbed through my diary for several years now and it is heavily stained, and dog eared. I have been transferring recipes from the diary into the online platform.  The diary however retains the magic of my mother's memories, the cooking smells that came from our kitchen at home and the delighted squeals of the rest of the family when the food was plated up.  The online platform, I find, doesn't have the soul though it is very convenient.

This recipe was one of the most loved of my appa's and he would get the fish sliced thinly from the market so amma could make it just the way he liked it.  The fish we bought for this dish was Spanish Mackerel but I guess you can use any firm fleshed fish. I was lucky that the fish monger at my local market sliced the fish thinly for me just how I like it.

This recipe is said to have been passed down from the Portuguese traders  who visited Kerala to buy spices.  It has now become one of the most sought after dishes in restaurants that is well known by all Keralites and a lot of visitors too.

This stew is very versatile and can be served with appam, rice, idiappam or bread rolls and toast.

Today I have served it with red rice flour idiappams.

Tamarind Rice

 My children love their sour lollies.  Little hard jellies in the shape of worms covered in sugar crystals. So sour it would make my brain go numb. To be honest, I am not a fan of it at all. Now, the sour fix we used to get when we were kids was from the fruit called tamarind. All natural, bean shaped, with seeds inside, green when unripe and dark reddish brown when ripe. Sweet, sour, tangy, making my mouth water even as I write about it - that is the unique quality of the tamarind.  Every South Indian home has a stash of tamarind in the pantry. My grandmother used to place fresh picked tamarind into large jars of concentrated palm toddy syrup.  Eventually, the natural crystals of brown sugar would form and cling on to the fibres of the tamarind. One of those, with a bit of syrup on the side - by God, it was a heavenly treat that nothing else can beat!

I have not had them in decades.  In fact, I do not even know if anyone makes it in their homes any more. Whether or not they make it, the tamarind is as important as the chilli in the South Indian cuisine.

One of my childhood favourites and now my children's favourite is the tamarind rice.  This rice can be made a couple of days ahead and stored in the fridge.  It doesn't go off easily.  The reason is the tamarind acts as a preservative. When we went for picnics, tamarind rice packed into little parcels inside banana leaves were a must have item.

Curried Pumpkin Soup

 I have a huge harvest of pumpkins!!!! So here is one of our favourite pumpkin soups right in time for the cold autumn nights. 

Egg Curry with Fresh Cream

 With Orthodox Easter just gone by, some of you might still have a large amount of boiled eggs at home which you can use to make this beautiful curry and have it with pita bread and / or rice.  It is a mild curry full of flavour and a great way to use up those boiled eggs!

Hommus - Chick Pea Dip

 Whether you are having a tough day at work or you just want a quick and easy dip for your flat bread - or may be you are fasting during Lent and want to whip up something vegan.  You cannot go past this creamy easy to make and absolutely delicious Hommus dip.

Originally from the Middle East, Hommus or Hummus is extremely popular throughout the world and it can be served with crackers, fresh or toasted breads or with vegetables as a dip.  It is vegan and gluten free and as such, favoured by a lot of my friends as well.

It is a great dip to carry to work to share with colleagues or one that you can have by your side while reading a book or just relaxing.

Neichoru - Kerala Ghee Rice

 "Grief is nothing but another form of love", said an acquaintance. How so, Purnima, I asked. "Well, when you love someone a lot, you spend time with them, you talk to them, hug them, kiss them, buy them gifts, and so on. What happens after they pass?  This enormous love that is stored within you for that person is pushing to come out and it can't because  the person you loved has passed.  Therefore, it takes other forms - that lump in your throat, that sudden burst of salty tears, the crack in your voice, that pain in your chest..... yes, that is my theory anyway", she said. Since I spoke to her I haven't been able to get rid of the thought that is Purnima's theory. So profound. And it made so much sense. 

Today's unrequited love has taken the form of this ghee rice and chicken curry amma used to make usually on a Sunday. I just wanted to eat it and pretend like she has made this special meal for me again.

I made this ghee rice with a special rice from Kerala called Jeerakasala rice. It is small grained and  fragrant. This rice is cultivated in Northern Kerala and is used for all special occasions due to its fragrance. It is available in Indian grocery stores in Melbourne. If you are unable to find it, you can use Basmati rice for this preparation.

Pakistani Chilli Rice

 I wanted something exotic to go with my Yakhni Lamb so I experimented with this random recipe from You tube. It was demonstrated by a Pakistani Chef in Urdu, and it was easy enough to follow. Thank you Chef Afzaal Arshad for this super easy rice dish.

The key is to have good quality long grained rice and to soak it for 30 minutes prior to cooking.

You could make this with capsicum, but since my lamb dish was not hot, I chose to go with chillies.

Parippukeerai - Purslane with Mung Dal

 Who would have thought! When I saw this common weed displayed as an edible on Vasili's Garden on Channel 31, I was very curious about it.  It sparked my interest and I read up on it.  It is a vegetable called purslane and it has a very high content of omega 3 fatty acids plus proteins, vitamins A, C and E and minerals like iron, potassium, calcium and magnesium. The leaves of this plant have a salty lemony flavour and hence it is called "uppukeerai" or salt spinach in my homeland.  I am lucky to have this vegetable growing in my garden freely.  It has pretty red stems and tiny yellow flowers so I have let it grow freely.  Today, however, I decided to harvest, cook and taste for myself this magical herb with so much of goodness in it.  And I must say I was not at all disappointed. Salty, tangy and just perfect with mung dal.  As Vasili would say, Maresi!! I will be making this all through summer as I still have heaps of this in my yard. Make sure that you harvest your purslane from a known area - where weed spray has not been used.

Sweet Corn Chicken Soup

 A quick and easy meal that you can have on its own or with a slice of toast.  After over 10 days of really hot weather we suddenly went to a cold snap in Melbourne with the temperatures dropping 15 degrees C overnight.  We all felt like soup and this is one very easy soup to make even if you have to run to the store to get the ingredients.  

This recipe is from https://mamalolacooks.com/corn-soup-egg-drop-soup/ - I have modified it slightly. 

Sundal - Chickpea Salad

 Amma used to serve this up as afternoon tea once in a while.  I was never a fan of it in my younger days. As I grew older and my taste buds changed, I realised that I have become a huge fan of chick peas. It is filling, packed with nutrients and above all, so tasty - and don't forget, gluten free. That ticks so many boxes. If you are thinking of controlling your appetite, chick peas are a great option as a small amount keeps you feeling full for longer.

In my youth, we never bought tinned chick peas. In fact, I was not even aware of the tinned chick peas until I came here to Australia! Amma did it the old fashioned way - soaking the chick peas over night and then cooking them the next day.  This recipe is however, made with the tinned chick peas - reducing the cooking time. Also, in amma's recipe there are no added raw vegetables. I added them in as I wanted something light and fresh for dinner on this hot Melbourne evening!

This is also served as a popular street food item in news paper cones in Marina Beach, Chennai. You can use your choice of legumes and /or garnishes.

Chellammal Grandma's Chicken Curry

 I love family history - especially when it relates to food! My husband's dad is from a place called Agasteeswaram near Nagercoil. This recipe belongs to his mother.  What is beautiful about this recipe is the simplicity, use of easily available ingredients and the effortlessness of making this dish. Every time he spoke about his mother's special chicken recipe, my father in law's eyes would light up and he would promise to make it for me some day. He discussed the recipe with me, but never ended up cooking it for me. So based on what he told me, I have tried to recreate Chellammal grandma's chicken recipe. 

I believe when Chellammal grandma made this dish, it was almost pure white like the coconut milk she used. The reason for the colour in my dish is that I browned the chicken pieces before adding the coconut milk.

I can imagine grandma cooking this dish, putting it all together in an earthen pot, and after making sure the coals were burning red hot in her wood fired stove, she would go off to do other chores.

When she came back in an hour or so, the food would be ready to serve to the hungry family.