South Indian Thali!

I’m a proud Pakistani and I love my cuisine.

Like all of us I grew up saying what all Pakistanis say “My mom makes the best biryani!” . In general, we also believe that our food is better than any other “Desi” cuisine…particularly the Indian Cuisine and we don’t just believe that, we’ve been instilled with this very thought in general .

A very unpleasant picture just like the bogey man my mom used to scare me with to get me to sleep. As I grew up I realized the crazy bogey man image was just as ridiculous as the misconception about Indian Cuisine. Only difference is the enlightenment in my knowledge about Indian Cuisine, South Indian in particular was a recent incident.

Thanks to Poppy Agha, Before 2 decades of my existence had passed I discovered what I was missing.

My 5th week at PCI - as fast and wonderfully as they've gone by, I must be honest, I wasn't looking forward to my South Indian basics class because of the concept I've grown up with.

Our class began like always with a little flash back of the heritage and the divisions of South India and North India and their range of sub and main cuisines. It helps set the mood while also helping us understand the difference in cuisines cooked earlier hence making it easier to understand different methods and techniques that can be used with similar ingredients. As our counters were setup, I was a little put off by the amount of coconut oil (essential part of South Indian food) and coconut put across. But I didn’t let that deter me – I proceeded to cook up a gorgeous looking Thali and read on to find out how it tasted.

Thali:

Chettinad Chicken Khuzambu (Wet sauce-Tamil Cuisine)

Rasam

Maddur Vada

Pongol

Before starting, we made our own mixed spice also called Milagai Thool, essentially used in any South Indian house which we Pakistani’s refer to as garam masala.

Melagai thool:

Ingredients:

4 dried red chilies

2tsps coriander seed

1 tsp. black peppercorn

2 tsp. zeera

1/2 tsp. methi/fenugreek

4 curry leaves

1/2 tsp. turmeric

Method:

Roast the all the spices except the turmeric as it cooks faster. Once you notice the zeera changing color turn off heat and pop them in the blender with you turmeric and grind them and keep aside.

Chettinad Chicken Khuzambu

Ingredients

Chicken boneless- Cut into bite size pieces

2tbsps Ginger- Slice half a ginger and Mince finely (Cut into very small pieces)

5 baby onions-all cut into half

2 green chilies- slit the chili

2 tsps. dried red chilies

2 tsps coriander powder

2 tbsps. Grated coconut

2 tbsps. Cashew nuts- roughly chop

1 piece cinnamon (Daal Cheeni)

1 tsp. fennel seeds

2 cloves

1tbsp fresh mint

2 curry leaves 

4 garlic pods - Minced finely (very tiny pieces)

Coconut Oil

Milagae Thool

Method:

Add Coconut oil in a deep pan cover the bottom layer, add garlic, ginger, 2tbsp of mixed spices, coriander powder, dried chilli, grated coconut, fenel seeds then add chicken and mix till it coats the chicken.

Add half cup of water, onions, green chili and cinnamon stick and mix well then add one tbsp. of coconut powder leveled.

Before serving add a little water for it to blend.

My take:

When the coconut oil was cooking, it was a very different aroma to take in for me but it gradually wears on you and the end result, chettinad Chicken was delicious! It had a completely different taste then our normal chicken curry.

Rasam:

Ingredients:

2 tbsps. Tomato paste

1 tsp. tamarind paste- Imli (dissolve this in a cup of water)

2 pods garlic- minced

1 dried red chili

4 curry leaves

1tbsp coriander leaves

1 tsp. mustard seeds

1 tsp. cumin/zeera ground

1tsp black peppercorns ground

3tsp brown sugar or Gurr

Method:

Add 2 Tbsp. of coconut oil, garlic, tomato paste and 2 cups of water.

Add red chili, 1 tsp. salt and brown sugar and stir slowly.

Add 2 curry leaves, Milagae Thool and 1tsp of brown sugar. Let it cook

Ending it with a "Tarka" basically means to season by popping spices in a pan and adding to the dish.

In another pan, add 1tsp mustard seed, 1tsp zeera, 2 curry leaves. Just when the spices release a lovely smell. Pop them into the Rasam. Don't stir. Stir slightly while serving to maintain the flavors of the Tarka.

My take:

It’s like a hint of lovely Indian tomato soup! I absolutely loved it. Apparently what we cooked is just an easier version of Rasam.  Regardless, I'm a fan! This dish is served for/with any meal, eaten hot or cold as a main dish with rice preferably Pongol (one type you'll learn ahead) or appetizer. Suit yourself;]!

Maddur Vadda

Vadda is traditionally made from dal, lentil, gram flour or potato.

The Vadda I made is known as Maddur Vadda made from onion.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mixed flour- rice flour/maida / sooji

1tsp cumin seeds

2-3 green chilies- chopped small

2 baby onions- 2 minced finely and 1 sliced (to keep the texture)

2-5 tbsp. of coconut oil

Method:

To a bowl of flour pop in minced and sliced onions add cumin and add 2-3 tbsp. of water. It's like making a kebab, do not over add the water as it will make the batter too sticky. Add half tsp. of salt.

Add green chili and mix.

Take portions of the batter and make flattened Vaddas'. They need not be in a perfect shape just traditionally flatter than the kebabs.

Fry them in 2 tbsp. of coconut and 4 tbsp. of normal oil. We combined two oils just so the entire Thali doesn't have the same aroma or similar flavor. Fry them until they are brown on both sides just like in the picture.

My take:

I wasn't too sure about the Vadda's. I don't eat Pakora's or onion rings with pleasure yet I had a go at my Vadda’s like there’s no tomorrow! I dipped them in Rasam and they were just so scrumptious!

Best for Last!

Pongol

I am a fan of rice! I like rice with all my curry meals or anything that goes! I can even eat yogurt and plain rice! My brothers often tell me I was adopted from a Bengali family which means all types of rice are welcomed to be tried out by me!

Ingredients:

Rice- half cup dipped in water for at least 30 minutes

Coconut oil and cooking oil

Ginger quarter minced

4 garlic pods- minced

1tsp of Milagai Thool

Add 2 tbsp. of coconut oil and 2 tbsp. of cooking oil. Add ginger and garlic. Drain water out and add the rice to the pan. Add Milagai Thool and half cup water. Mix

Let this cook, as soon as you see the water is reducing add half cup more. You'll notice in a minute while stirring that your rice has started to expand. Just as more water is absorbed, add half cup more and stir. Repeat it if needed one last time, it should be expanded and sticking together in luscious shades of pink and brown.

My take:

Oh dear!! You don't need any curry or anything to have with it! It’s that good!! I tried with the Chettinad Chicken and also with the Rasam. It tasted divine with both. I specially loved it with the Rasam. It's crazy how Rasam can be eaten/served in so many ways!

Overall take on the Thali

It was a wonderful dish; however we did not use asafetida also known as hing which is widely used for South Indian cuisines. That might be a huge jump of cultures. However, This Modernize Thaali that we made was not only a surprise to my taste buds but also a distinctive Desi experience. I'm definitely looking forward to trying out other endless range of cuisine our neighboring country has to offer us.

Picture by Niha.H Dagia

Bon Appetite

Bubble bursting-ly yours

-A-

Experiment-Pan raised chicken with Chili-lemon sauce

Continuing warning from my last post. I made slight amends to the recipe of the sauce. Instead of Mustard sauce I made Lemon and chili fuse to make a complete different blend. Here is what I got

What went wrong?  As you can see the sauce is a lot thicker, even though I like it that way it toke alot of milk to get it to that texture and that was because I decided I was too smart to add extra ingredient above what was suppose to be added. I, in a very professional manner threw the flour into the pan like there wouldnt be any tomorrow hence I got a very floury taste...to eliminate that I added extraa lemon and chili above what I actually wanted to add. My bad

Though in all fairness it was edible... my brother and mum ate it all up.

Pan raised chicken:

I used the exact same method for chicken as before. You may add mint or parsley or any other herb you prefer for the stuffing. I ran out of them, so I settled with the same sliced green chili and red chili flakes, as used earlier in the pan raised chicken with mustard sauce recipe.

Lemon-chili sauce (right way):

Its ingredients and method:

Follow the same roux method as provide for the Mustard sauce...FOLLOW IT (don't worry about the
thickness, it thickens as it cools)

Add pan roasted vegetable if you please (I didn't)

Instead of  Cumin and Mustard seed add whole chili (balls) (cook like you'd cook the cumin and seeds taught in the mustard sauce recipe)

Chili flakes (I used cause of my extra lemon and extra flour mess to add spice)

Lemon drops (DROPS) :)

I garnished the sauce with lemon zest to add color 

Walaaaa! You've got lemon chilli sauce...better than the one I made, for sure.


Like I said earlier you can make your own sauce by experimenting with spices like origano or pepper or add more vegetables or anything else you might think blends well.  Don't worry if you screw up a few times, look on the bright side...you'll have better stories everytime. Also, you can always learn from the mistakes and make it again and again!

Bonn Apettite!

-A-

Pan raised chicken with Mustard sauce

This is one of those recipes that you can amend and experiment with different spices and herbs once you know how to make the basic roux(*roo) for the white sauce and to butterfly chicken. Most of all it's super easy. It's the Plate up from my first class that I have blogged about last.

          Ingredients:

• 1 chicken breast
• 1 onion- dice sliced
• 1 carrot- Julienne stripped and dice sliced
• 2 garlic pods - minced
• 2 tbsp Flour
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried Mustard(seeds)
• 1 tsp Cumin
• Olive Oil
• 3 tbsp Butter
• Chili flakes
• 2 Green chili

Method:

To Prepare the sauce:

1. First add 3 tbsp of butter into the saucepan at medium heat to avoid over browning/burning the butter
2. After your butter has melted,add 2 tbsp of flour and stir for 2-3 minutes to minimize the lumps and blend into butter as much as possible
3. Add a pinch of salt (chili flake can be added as per your taste)
4. Slowly add milk while stirring constantly
5. cook until the sauce is smooth and thickened. For thinner sauce add more milk and stir till you have your desired consistency of sauce and turn off the heat

Adding spices:

Cooking time is 1-2 minutes.

1. Take a separate pan and add 1 tsp of Mustard seed and 1 tsp of Cumin
2. add a pinch of salt and on medium heat cook the two till cumin turns brown
3. turn off the heat as soon as you can smell the cooked cumin 

Keep the sauce and spices separately


Preparing the Chicken:

1. Slice your chicken breast by running your knife in a sliding manner just close to the end like Jack and Jill went down the hill.Which then creates a heart like shape when opened up ( do not cut the through the end)
2. Add sliced green chili ,salt and red chili flakes as per your taste
3. Fold it back like you'd fold a sandwich
4. Hold your chicken from the opening ends to avoid your filling from falling and butterfly (dip) the chicken into a bowl of flour
5. Add 3 tbsp of olive oil to the pan at medium heat,when the oil has heated add the floured chicken into the pan and leave it to sizzle and cook
6. Wait till the bottom is clearly cooked(you'll notice the chicken bulging) and then move the chicken around to make sure the flour doesn't stick to the pan,flip the chicken over and cover with a lid and slow down the heat a little

Turn of the heat after 5-6 minutes and let the chicken steam inside

Cooking vegetables:

1. Add 3 tbsp of Olive oil in a sauce pan on medium heat
2. Add the diced sliced onion, add pinch of salt and Chili flake
3. fry them until brown
4. drain out the cooked onions into separating dispenser to separate the left oil
5. Repeat the above procedure  for your minced garlic, diced carrots and Julienne stripped

NOTE: to cook all the vegetables separately to get the essence of every vegetable separately

Bring your white sauce pan to medium heat, to make the thickened and cold sauce workable with other ingredient slowly add milk and stir till its loosened up.

then add

1. The cooked cumin seeds and mustard seed to the sauce and stir until its mixed and turnoff heat
2. Add the fried onion,garlic and the diced carrots to the sauce,stir till everything is mixed well.

You may use Mustard powder without Cumin seeds if you're not able to get hold of mustard seeds.

Serving:


You may Picasso-ize your dish with the sauce, chicken and julienne carrot strips as and however you like it because the sauce and chicken are ready to be dived into!

You can always cook your own way fuse up however one likes, add more herbs like mint or parsley or spices in your stuffing (this will help expand your understanding and help add your own originality to a dish later on) or just make the plate more decorative. Like my chef says, "It's your work of art, your painting!"
(Mine wasn't really a painting, just a conscious first attempt.I get better at expressing...trust me)



Please read my next post on my experiment, to avoid blunders I made making the same dish with a little amends.


Bonn Appetite:)

-A-