Yakhni Pathan

Ingredients

500g mutton

1/2 cup oil

Salt

Water

3 large onions, chopped fine

20 cloves garlic, peeled

2-3 dry red chillies, whole, stems intact

Bouquet garni (tied loosely in a square of muslin)

2 tbsp whole coriander

1 tsp saunf

Method:

In pressure cooker, sauté mutton in hot oil until colour changes. Add salt and enough water – about 2 ladles – to submerge bouquet garni. Place bouquet garni in cooker and pressure cook until almost done (about 10 minutes of simmering on low heat after the full pressure whistle.)

When pressure drops, open lid, squeeze and remove bouquet garni. Remove chillies, pound, strain out seeds and plastic-like outer skin. Return clean red pulp to curry.

Simmer, mashing any visible bits of onion or garlic with the back of a ladle against sides of pan. The aim is to get smooth, thick gravy. Cook, uncovered, only till excess moisture evaporates; the onions etc shouldn't “brown”. Then add a couple of spoons of water and simmer, covered, to get “roghan”, the oily red film, on top.

Tori with Coconut and saunf

Ingredients

1 kg kali tori (or any similar variety of gourd)

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 tsp mustard (sarson) seeds

To be ground together

1 cup grated coconut

2-3 green chillies

1 tsp saunf

2 whole dried red chillies, broken into two

1 tsp chana dal

Salt

Method: 

Wash and peel tori. Slice into discs. Heat 1 tbsp oil and sauté mustard seeds till they splutter. Add tori and cook, covered, till tender. While tori is cooking, prepare coconut paste. In a blender, grind coconut, green chilli and saunf to a coarse paste. Place the ground coconut mixture in the centre of the cooked tori, covering it with the tori. Cover the pan with a lid. The steam from the tori will cook the coconut paste. Add salt and mix the coconut with the tori. In a small frying pan, heat the remaining oil. When it becomes very hot, sauté red chillies and chana dal. Pour the seasoning over the beans. Stir well to mix.

Cheese quesadilla

INGREDIENTS:

(For filling):

Cheese: 300 gm

Chopped onion: 100 gm

Chopped coriander leaves and chillies : 50 gm each

(For Tortilla dough):

Maida and wheat flour: 100 gm each

Egg: One

Olive oil: 25 ml

Salt: To taste

((For Salsa sauce):

Onion: 50 gm

Tomato: 100 gm

Chilli: 25 gm

Coriander leaves: 50 gm

Vinegar: Five ml

Olive oil or salad oil: 10 ml

Tomato ketchup: 10 gm

Salt: To taste

METHOD:

Prepare Tortilla dough and keep it aside for 30 minutes for proofing. Mix all the ingredients to make a filling.

To prepare the salsa sauce, chop the onion, tomato, chilli and coriander and mix all the ingredients.

Make mini chappatis of the dough and roast them in the grill. Stuff the filling inside the Tortilla and make it in a crescent moon shape.

Vazhaipoo puttu

Vazhaipoo puttu is a dish that has been part of our family's cooking tradition for decades.

What you need

Chick peas (Channa dal) – 100 gm

Banana flower (Vazhaipoo) – 150 gm

Ginger, finely chopped – a little

Garlic, finely chopped – a little

Green chillies - 2

Onion - 2

Oil - 2 tsp

Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp

Salt - to taste

Asafoetida (optional) - 1/4 tsp

For garnishing

Coconut, grated – a little

Curry leaves – a few

Cooking instructions 

 

Soak the channa dal for 20 minutes and grind it coarsely without adding water. Steam this for about ten minutes in a steamer and cool at room temperature. Clean the vazhaipoo and chop finely.

Heat two tablespoons of cooking oil in a kadai and add half a teaspoon of asafoetida, finely chopped curry leaves, two slit green chillies, finely chopped ginger and garlic and sauté for a few minutes.

To this add finely chopped onions and fry until golden brown. Now add the vazhaipoo, along with half a teaspoon of turmeric powder and salt. Add the steamed channa dal to the mixture without lumps. Sprinkle some water and keep aside for five minutes.

For garnishing, add grated coconut and curry leaves and serve hot.

This tastes best with ghee rice, rasam or plain rice.