Ennai Kathirikaai Kuzhambu - Fried Brinjal Curry

Kathirikaai or Eggplant or Brinjal as it is called in various parts of the world is one of those vegetables that renders itself to many different dishes. I still remember during my younger days avoiding this vegetable (technically a fruit) as much as I can. It has a very distinct taste - which I believe to be an acquired one. I don't remember eating Ennai Kathirikaai as a main dish ever. It usually comes in as part of a "south indian"" thaali meal.  As the name suggests there's going to be a lot of oil involved - beware. There were quite a few variations in the way this was prepared as described in the various Youtube videos and blogs. So here is mine a mix of a few versions. Hopefully you would like this one.

Ingredients

Main

1. Eggplant - preferably the small ones. In case you don't have the small one, you can dice it up in large pieces. (6-8 pieces)
2. Shallots - leave it whole if they are the small varieties. If they are the big ones as we get in regular grocery stores you can either quarter / halve it depending on the size. (5-6)
3. Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
4. Curry leaves - approximately 15-20 leaves
5. Dried Red Chillies - 4-5
6. Tamarind water - 1/2 cup
7. Jaggery  (can be substituted with brown sugar or just plain sugar) - 2 tablespoons

Marinade

1. Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
2. Chilli powder - 2-3 teaspoons
3. Coriander powder - 2-3 tablespoons 
4. Salt - 1 teaspoons
5. Tamarind water - 2-3 tablespoons

Wet Masala

1. Onions - 2 large red onions
2. Tomatoes - 2
3. Turmeric powder - 2 teaspoons
4. Chilli powder - 1 tablespoon
5. Coriander powder - 2-3 tablespoons
6. Ginger garlic paste - 2 tablespoons
7. Cumin seeds - 1 tablespoon
8. Fennel seeds - 1 tablespoon

The Method

1. Wash and remove the stems of the brinjals leaving the crown intact. Take caution with the stems as it could be a bit spiky.
2. Create a fairly paste with the ingredients of the marinade (turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, salt, tamarind water and bit of more water.
3. Slit the brinjals on the smooth side as a cross to open them up a bit.
4. Apply the marinade into the slits and also cover the skin and let it rest for about 10 minutes (or until you complete the next few steps - until #10).
5. In a large kadai / sauce pan heat a few tablespoons of vegetable oil.
6. Saute the onions until they are translucent.
7. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute for a few minutes.
8. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and coriander powder and saute until the spices mix well.
9. Add the tomatoes and saute until the tomato becomes soft and mushy.
10. Add the fennel seeds and cumin seeds mix it well and take it off the stove.
11. Let this cool down to room temperature.
12. In the same pan add about half a cup of oil - enough to shallow fry all the brinjals.
13. Once the oil has heated up shallow fry the brinjals until the skin turns brownish c
    
    olour. Take caution to do this under medium to low heat to avoid the brinjals getting burnt.
14. Blend the ingredients of the sauteed wet masala into a smooth paste.
15. In the same sauce pan add the mustard seeds and let it splutter.
16. Add the curry leaves, dried red chillies and and shallots and saute for a few minutes.
17. Add the blended wet masala paste and saute until oil separates - which is usually about 10 minutes.
18. Add salt to taste.
19. Add a few table spoons of the tamarind water and about a tablespoon of Jaggery and bring it to boil. Ensure the jaggery is dissolved and mixed well.
20. Add the shallow fried brinjals and mix it well.
21. Add enough water to the level of preferred consistency and curry required.
22. Bring it to a boil and stop once the oil separates.
23. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Happy Cooking!!

Enjoy!!

C

Chettinadu Kozhi Varutha Curry - Chettinadu Chicken Curry with Roasted Spices

It was during the later part of my 20s when I was introduced to Chettinadu cuisine in restaurants like Anjappar, Karaikudi etc in Chennai. After I moved overseas I had missed it for quite some time until Anjappar started spreading its wings globally. Invariably these restaurants have this dish in their menu - "varutha curry". Recently we had been to a Chettinadu restaurant Grand Chettinad that was newly opened in our area. They had the same dish and it tickled my interest to try it out at home. I had to do a bit of research on this since there were quite a few variations from different chefs. Interestingly there was one North Indian chef who attempted this who pronounced Kozhi as Kozee and of course I ignored the rest of his recipe video. Chettinadu is famous for various chicken curry recipes. I have attempted a few myself - Milagu Kozhi - Pepper Chicken and my very first Chicken Chettinad (after which my nickname of Chicken Chetty came around). The main difference in varutha curry recipe is that you roast all the spices - wet and dry before you add it in the curry. So...long folks - now to the details.

Ingredients

Dry Masala (Spices) - pretty much your entire spice box

1. Dry Red Chillies (key for any Chettinadu recipe)
2. Star anise
3. Cinnamon sticks
4. Fennel seeds
5. Cumin seeds
6. Coriander seeds
7. Cloves

Wet Masala

1. Shallots or Red Onions 
2. Shredded Coconut
3. Cinnamon sticks
4. Green cardamom seeds
5. Poppy seeds
6. Curry leaves

Marinade

1. Chicken - chopped in 1-2 inch blocks with and without bones (drumsticks go as is)
2. Ginger garlic paste
3. Turmeric powder
4. Red chilli powder

Other

1. Tomatoes (pureed)
2. Curry leaves - for garnish
3. Mustard seeds
4. Gingelly Oil

The Method

1. Marinade the chicken in ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder and chilli powder. Set it aside for about 30 minutes. Pretty much until you complete the other masala steps.
2. Dry roast the ingredients under "Dry Spices" until you can hear a bit of crackle and smell the aroma of the ingredients. Set this aside to cool down to room temperature.
3. Grind these ingredients into a smooth powder.
4. In a pan heat a few tablespoons of gingelly oil and saute the wet ingredients. 
5. Start with the cinnamon sticks, poppy seeds, green cardamom and curry leaves. 
6. Add the onions and saute until they turn slightly golden. 
7. Add the grated coconuts finally and saute until coconut turns slightly brown. (Takes about 5 minutes in all)
8. Set the wet roasted spices aside to cool down to room temperature.
9. Blend the wet masala into a coarse to smooth paste.
10. Heat a large sauce pan and add a few tablespoons of gingelly oil.
11. Add mustard seeds and saute until they splatter.
12. Add the marinaded chicken and dry masala and saute until the chicken is half cooked. Usually about 10 minutes.
13. Add the wet masala and saute for about 5-10 minutes.
14. Add the tomato puree and salt and saute for about 5 minutes until the puree is blended well.
15. Add as much water as needed to get the amount of curry and consistency you are after. Remember it is not expected to be too thin.
16. Leave it to cook until chicken is cooked well and the oil separates.
17. Garnish with curry leaves and serve hot with rice or parotta.

Enjoy Cooking!!

C

Palak Panneer - Cottage Cheese in Spinach Sauce

I have not been a big fan of spinach (or any green for that matter) for a long time until I got introduced to Palak Panneer. Every restaurant does this in different way - I like it nice and silky. It does take a few steps and a few ingredients  to make it this way. Every minute is worth the effort though. :) Of course there are various versions of the recipe across the web. I did a mix of ideas from a few and the outcome was quite good. 

Ingredients

1. Palak (Spinach) - preferably not the frozen ones - 500 gms
2. Panneer - I used about 500 gms chopped in 1/2 inch cubes
3. Onions - 2
4. Tomatoes - 1
5. Ginger Garlic paste - 2 table spoons
6. Ginger juliennes - a few for garnishing
7. Garam masala - 2-3 tablespoons
8. Green chillies - 2-3
9. Cloves - 3-4
10. Cashews - 3-4
11. Black cardamom - 1-2
12. Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
13. Cream - 1 tablespoon
14. Butter - 2 tablespoons
15. Kasoori Methi - 1 tablespoon
16. Amchur powder - 1 teaspoon

The Method

1. Heat a kadai with any vegetable oil of your choice and saute Cashews, Cardamom, Cumin, Chillies, Onions, Tomatoes and Ginger Garlic paste. Saute until the onions and tomatoes turn slightly mushy.
2. Keep this mixture aside from the stove and let it cool down.
3. Blanch the spinach in boiling water until the leaves wilt a little. Be careful not to overcook the spinach.
4. Drain the spinach (save the water) and transfer the spinach into an ice bath (a bowl filled with cold water and ice cubes). This apparently stops further cooking of the spinach and maintains its colour.
5. Blend the Onion tomato mixture into a smooth paste.
6. Drain this paste using a metal sieve or filter to get only the smooth paste to filter out the chunky bits.
7. Filter the spinach from the ice bath and blend the spinach into a smooth paste and filter the contents as above.
8. In the same kadai heat used in step 1 melt the butter and add the blended onion tomato paste.
9. Add the garam masala, kasuri methi (crushed up), salt and amchur powder and saute until oil separates.
10. Add the spinach / palak paste and saute for a few minutes until both pastes blend well and it comes to a boil. 
11. Add the spinach water (from step 4) as much as needed for the amount of sauce / gravy needed. Do not add to much to make it too watery. This is meant to be a slightly thick sauce.
12. Add the diced up panneer and leave it to cook for a about 5 minutes.
13. Add a dollop of cream and ginger juliennes as garnish and serve hot with rotis.

Enjoy Palak Panneer!!

C