All about Food

There are many ways to prepare Mango pickle, however certain basics need to be ascertained prior making. 
• Type of Mango• Quantity• Storage• Period
There are few simple ways to prepare a good mango pickle and here I opt for a short period of time. 
• Ingredients required:
• Raw Mango medium size 6 nos• Fenugreek seeds 1 tbsp• Mustard seeds 2 tbsp• Asafoetida 1 tbsp• Rock salt as required• Turmeric powder 1 tsp• Fried Red chillies 10 nos• Sesame oil 1cups• Curry leaves 3 sprigs
Wash mangoes and pat dry or air it out so as there is no water content present in it. Cut mangoes in 1″ length dice. Add rock aslt and mix thoroughly. Spread it on a baking tray, cover it with a muslin cloth and sun dry for about 3 to 4 days depending on sunlight. Ensure every day, it’s tossed for all all pieces to get dried. 
Heat a pan on medium flame. Add dry chillies,fenugreek seeds and dry roast. Once the chillies starts swelling, and roasted aroma starts releasing, put off the flame and allow it to cool. Once it’s cold, grind it along with turmeric powder, asafoetida and rock salt. Keep in mind, salt is added to mango pieces therefore only required quantity of salt to be added along with spices while grinding. 
Now heat a wok. Pour a tbsp of oil. Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and curry leaves and wait for mustard seeds to sputter. Add now  mango pieces and the grounded spices and mix well and let the wok be over medium flame for about 5 minutes. Put off the flame and once it’s cold, store it in airtight glass jars or clay pot. Before storing,  heat the remaining oil in a pan over medium flame, and allow it to cool. Once it’s cold, pour the oil over the mango and keep it in dark area. Never use any wet spoon while taking it from jars. Use only dry and clean spoon at every usage. 
Happy Cooking! 

Fish Curry. 
There are various types of fish curry according to fish and ingredients used based on its flavor and cooking techniques. However, preparation from certain States, region has high acceptance like Maccher Jhol from West Bengal and Orissa, Malabar fish curry, Varutharacha Meen curry, Thala curry from Kerala, Hyderabadi Shahi Machi korma from Andhra Pradesh, Mangalorean Lady Fish curry and so on. The recipe I choose today is very simple, but truly delicious. 
Ingredients:
• King fish 500 gms cut in to chunks• Onion 2 medium size finely chopped• Tomatoes 2 medium size cut in qrts• Green chilly 4 nos slitted• Fenugreek 1/3 tsp• Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp• Ginger 1″ length cut in julienne• Turmeric powder 1 tsp• Coriander powder 2 tbsp• Chilly powder 3/4 tbsp• Tamarind paste 2 tbsp• Rock salt to taste• Curry leaves 3 sprigs• Coconut oil 3 tbsp
Heat a pan over medium flame. Pour 2 tbsp oil and once it’s hot, add mustard seed, fenugreek seeds and allow it to sputter. Add now 2 sprigs of curry leaves. Add chopped onions and saute till it’s translucent. Add now turmeric powder, chilly powder, coriander powder and saute for a while. Pour a cup of water, add salt and mix well. Add tomato, Ginger, tamarind paste, green chilly. Mix well, cover the pan allow to summer for about 5 minutes. 
Now add the fish pieces, and slowly give a swirl and this point, do not use a spoon to mix. Make sure there is adequate water to cover the pieces. Cover the pan and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the remaing curry leaves and pour oil over the fish curry. It’s ideal to serve it after 15 to 30 minutes until then, let it rest. 
Happy cooking! 

A delicately created recipe, using few superior ingredients to appeal those who love to indulge in creating something very special. For those true Connoisseurs. 
Ingredients required:
• Hard boiled egg yolks 6 nos. Eggs cooked for 7 minutes. • Broccoli florets 1 cup• Carrot Sliced 1/2 cup• Button Mushroom 1/4 cup• Bell peppers diced – Yellow 1/4 cup                                    – Red 1/4 cup                                    – Green 2/4 cup• Green onion(Scallions)cut in 1″ length• Bread 4 slices • Butter 2 tbsp• Chopped garlic 1/2 tbsp• Freshly crushed black pepper 1 tsp• Bouquet Garni (P/T/B) • A P Flour 1tbsp• Kosher salt as required
Heat a large pan over medium flame. Add butter and once butter start melting, add in the chopped garlic and saute. Once it’s half done, add flour and stir well till you get roasting aroma of garlic and flour. Add 2 cups of water. Add bouquet garni,crushed pepper, salt and stir well. Let it simmer. Add broccoli and carrot and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the remaining vegetables and mix well. Allow it to cook for about 10 minutes. Add now the egg yolk. Ensure the yolks are not broken. Therefore, stirring to be done carefully.Add green onion, Remove bouquet garni and discard. Break bread slices in to pieces and add a long with vegetables & egg yolk. Serve immediately. If not bread will get soaked in sauce. 

Happy Cooking! 

Chicken Merhaba’
The word ‘Merhaba’ in Turkish means Welcome! This recipe has nothing to do with Turkey, but this chicken recipe needs your attention. Therefore, I named it “Merhaba’.Undoubtedly an amazing dish with just very few ingredients. So let’s get on to preparing our Chicken Merhaba’. 

Ingredients required:
• Chicken curry cut 500 gms• Shallots 2 cups• Red chilly flakes 2 tbsp• Cooking oil 2 tbsp• Rock salt to taste. 
#     Wash and drain the chicken pieces. ##   Crush the shallots using a mortar and pestle. ### Use a combination of Dried red chillies which is spicy and Kashmiri chillies for its factor- color. 

Heat a wok at medium flame. Pour the oil and once the oil is hot, add shallots and saute until it’s golden brown. You may add little salt to get this process quicker. Once shallots are brown, add  chilly flakes. Stir well and saute for about 3 minutes. Now time to add chicken. Mix chicken properly. Increase the flame to high and stir.Let it cook on high flame for about 3 minutes. Add a cup of hot water and mix well. Check for salt. Reduce the flame to medium-sized low, cover the wok and cook for 15 minutes. Once it’s cooked, do not remove the lid. Allow it to rest for few minutes. 
Serve hot with Kuboos, Pita bread, Tandoor breads, plain hot rice or with anything of your choice. Let’s welcome Chicken Merhaba. 

Happy cooking! 

Confit’ a French culinary term literally means ‘Preserve’. Therefore Garlic confit is all about preserving it to use later. 
Ingredients required:
• Garlic cloves peeled 1 cup• Virgin Olive oil 2 cups• Thyme 2 sprigs
Take a pan,  keep on low flame. Add peeled garlic cloves and pour olive oil. Allow to simmer for about 20 – 30 minutes. Once the oil start turning hot, you can observe bubbles releasing out from garlic. In this process, the water content in garlic being replaced by oil therefore it can be preserved for a long time.Also,you may notice that the garlic color is getting changed and it’s the time to put off the flame. Once it’s cooled, it can be transferred to an airtight glass bottle to store in refrigerator. 
You can also seperate both – Garlic & Olive oil and can prepare a puree out of garlic for specific usage. And oil for flavouring and dishes. 
Happy Cooking! 

Ingredients:
• Baby spinach 2 cups • Sweet corn 1 cup• Butter 1tbsp• Virgin Olive oil 1 tbsp• Garlic 4 cloves crushed• Shallots 3 nos finely chopped• Freshly crushed Black pepper 1/2 tsp• Fresh Thyme or Sage 1 sprig• Oregano 1/4 tsp• Fresh cream 2 tbsp• Kosher salt to taste
Blanch the spinach and put in cold water for few minutes and then drain it. Seperate corn kernel from corncob and keep aside. 
Heat a pan over medium flame. Pour butter and once it’s melted, add crushed garlic and shallots. Once its translucent, add the corn and saute for a minute. Add drained spinach, olive oil and given it a good toss. Add pepper powder, salt and the herbs and make well. Turn the flame high,pour the cream and give few good flips and it’s ready to be served. 
Happy cooking! 

Odisha Dalma. 
The dish, a part of Chappan Bhog served at Puri Lord Jagannath Temple. It’s truly divine. 
Ingredients required:
• Tur dal (Pigeon pea/Red gram) 1cup• Moong dal (Mung bean) 2 cups• Turmeric powder 1 tsp• Green chili 6 nos slitted• Raw banana 1 nos diced• Drumstick 2 nos cut in 2″ length• Carrot 1medium sized cut in dice• Potatoes 2 medium size diced• French beans 6 nos diced• Yellow Pumpkin diced 1/2 cup • Egg plant 2 medium size diced• Tomatoes 3 medium size • Ghee(clarified butter) 3 tbsp• Mustard 1 tsp• Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp• Fennel seeds 1/2 tsp• kalonji (caraway seeds) 1/3 tsp• Methi (Fenugreek) 1/3 tsp• Hing (Asafoetida) 1/2 tsp• Bay leaves 2 nos• Cinnamon stick 2″ length• Roasted cumin powder 1 tsp• Dried red chilli 2 nos cut in pieces• Ginger 1″ length chopped• Fresh grated coconut* 1/4 cup 

Step 1Cook dal along with turmeric powder and green chili in a pressure pan for about 4 whistle duration and allow pressure to settle. 
Step 2Blanch the tomato and peel out the skin and keep it aside
Step 3Cook washed vegetables in a pressure cooker for about 3 whistle duration and put off the flame. Wait till the pressure get released. Step 4Let’s get onto make the famous Panch Phoran masala. Heat a pan over slow fire. Pour a tsp of ghee and add Cumin seeds Mustard seeds, Fennel seeds, Fenugreek and Caraway seeds and roast it till it released natural essential oil and emits an enchanting aroma. Remove the pan from flame and allow it to cool. 
Step 5
Heat a wok over medium flame. Pour a tbsp of ghee and add ginger, bay leaf and saute till ginger raw smell fade. Add peeled tomato.Add hing to it. Using backside of a wooden spatula, mash the tomato. Now add the cooked vegetables, cooked dal. Mix thoroughly. Pour in a cup of water. Add  Panch Phoran masala to it and mix well. Check for salt and consistency. Reduce the flame and let it simmer for another 5 minutes. 
Step 6Time for tempering. Heat a pan over medium flame. Pour the remaining ghee to it and when it turns hot, add mustard seeds, cinnamon sticks grated coconut and once mustard seeds start sputtering, add cumin powder mix well and pour the tempering to Dalma. Mix well. Serve along with steamed rice or tandoor breads. 
* Optional. Note: You may use raw papaya or squash too
Happy cooking! 

Crab roast is very popular in all most all parts of Kerala and it’s widely served at Toddy shops and Thattu kada’s (Street shops) were local regional food is served. 
Ingredients required:
• Crab 6 medium sized cleaned & cut • Onion 3 medium-sized finely chopped• Ginger paste 1 tbsp• Garlic paste 1 tbsp• Tomato 3 medium sized chopped• Grated copra* (dried coconut)1/2 cup• Roasted fennel seeds powder 1/2 tsp• Chilly powder 1 tbsp• Kashmiri chilly powder 1/2 tbsp• Coriander powder 2 tbsp• Garam Masala powder 1 tsp• Freshly crushed Black pepper 1 tsp• Curry leaves 3 sprigs• Coconut oil 3 tbsp• Rock salt as required
Step 1In a mixing bowl, take cleaned and cut crab, add little salt, turmeric powder and rub thoroughly over all parts of crab and leave it to marinate for half an hour. 
Step 2Take a wok, heat over medium flame. Pour 2 tbsp of coconut oil. Add chopped onion and saute. You may add little salt to it so that the onion will get cooked fast. Saute till it’s getting translucent. Add ginger, garlic paste and saute till it’s raw aroma is gone. Add now green chillies, and saute the mixture is turning light brownish. Add now the powder spices and mix well. Let them start releasing its aroma. Add chopped tomatoes and stir well. Cook till tomato turns mushy. We need to cook it to get a thick soft texture gravy as crab roast would be in semi sold consistency. Pour half up of water, mix well cover it and cook for about 10 minutes so that the oil start releasing from the gravy and float on top. 
Step 3To get a traditional cooking mode, flavour and taste, now we need to transfer the gravy to a Chatty (clay pot) Crab taste better if cooked in a Clay pot. Heat a Clay pot over medium flame, transfer the gravy to it and time to add crab in to simmering gravy. Slide in each pieces and give it a good mix. Cover and cook for 6 minutes. Check for saltIf required you may add. Remove the cover and cook for another 6 to 8 minutes. The required cooking time for carb would be 12 -15 minutes under medium flame. Pour in the remaining coconut oil. Remove from flame, cover the pot and let it rest for another 15 minutes. 
Serve it along with steamed rice or with boiled Kappa ( Cassava/ Tapioca) 
* Adding dry grated coconut will give a munchy texture while you relish yummy gravy. Happy cooking! 

An ideal snack for every occasion. Easy to prepare with limited ingredients. Try it out making. 

Ingredients:
For batter. 
• Hard boiled eggs 12 nos. Use only the egg white which is high quality protein content. Dice it in to small pieces. • Gram flour (Basen flour) 2 cups• Red chilli powder 1/2 tbsp• Chopped green chilli 1 tsp• Kashmiri Chilly powder 1 tsp• Ginger paste 1 tsp• Garlic paste 1 tsp• Garam masala 1 tsp• Fennel seeds 1 tsp• Roasted cumin seeds powder 1/2 tsp• Raw egg 1 no• Salt as required• Oil required to fry
For tempering
• Chopped garlic 1 tsp• Dried red chilli 3 nos cut in pieces• Curry leaves 2 sprigs• Oil 1 tbsp 
Take a mixing bowl, add all above ingredients for batter along with diced egg white. Break the raw egg and add to it. Mix well. Add required water to make a thick batter. 
Now heat a wok on medium flame. Pour oil and once the oil is hot, drop egg batter in any shapes you desire. However, ensure the batter is fully covered with oil. Do not stir for about a minute after dropping the batter in oil. If you stir, it may break and turn to little fragments. Now using a slotted spatula or a Turner, keep turning and once it’s done, remove and spread on a kitchen towel to drain any extra oil. Fry the batter batch by batch and do not over croud the wok. Also, please be careful as there would be sputtering while it’s getting fried. 
Now heat a pan, pour oil and once it’s hot, add chopped garlic, dried chillies and curry leaves. Saute for 2 minutes. Add now the fried Egg 65 and mix well. In case if you need, you may sprinkle little red chilly powder or Black pepper powder. Serve hot. 
Happy Cooking! 

A delicious fish preparation from the region of “Kuttanad’ in God’s Own Country, Kerala. 
Ingredients required:
• Fish cleaned,washed drained 1kg• Coconut 1 nos. Finely grated• Dried red chilli 6 (for spice) • Dried Kashmiri Chilli 6 nos (for color) • Fenugreek 1 tsp• Coriander seeds 2 tbsp• Onion 2 medium size chopped• Shallots 10 nos finely chopped• Ginger* 2″ length • Kudam puli**(Gambooge) 3 pieces• Curry leaves 3 sprigs• Rock salt to taste• Coconut oil 3 tbs

* Reserve few julienne for garnish** Soak kudam puli in warm waterCertain procedural changes enhance the flavor of the fish curry. 
Heat a pan over medium flame. Add coconut,chopped onion and chopped ginger and keep sauteing for about 5 minutes by this time, coconut & onion would have started getting light brown color.Now add dry chilies and coriander seeds, fenugreek and saute till you get a flavorful aroma from the pan. Add in 2 sprigs of curry leaves and give a good mix and put off the flame and allow to cool. Once it’s cooled, grind
Now take a pan, heat over medium flame. Pour 2 tbsp of oil and once it’s hot, add chopped shallots and saute till it’s translucent. Add curry leave and saute for a minute. Add the grounded paste and rinse the grinding jar with little water and add in. Stir well. Add salt to taste. Now add gambooge along with the water. Mix well, cover and allow to simmer. Add now the fish. Ensure that the fish is fully immersed in gravy. Therefore while adding gambooge, make sure adequate water is added per required consistency. Never stir after adding the fish. Cover the pan and allow to cook for about 10 minutes. Put off the flame and allow to test for about 15 minutes without disturbing. Check for salt, drizzle coconut oil,and garnish with ginger juliennes. 
This curry will taste amazing if refrigerated for a minimum 24 hours. Ideal along with steamed rice, appam, dosas or per individual choice. 
Happy Cooking!