Pork roast - Goan style

This is one of my favorite pork recipes. It's a precious gem from my mum in laws kitchen. This recipe has very basic whole spices combined with ginger and garlic. The only thing that you may not find in your pantry is cashew fenny. My mum in law believes that it adds a unique flavor to the dish, and if you have access to it , you must use it in this recipe.

Recipe credit : Rozita Coutinho (Alex's mum)

Ingredients:

1. Pork - 1 kg chunk
2. Garlic - 8 big cloves
3. Ginger - 1 and half inch piece
4. Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
5. Peppercorns - 25 nos
6. Cardamoms - 6 nos
7. Cinnamon - 2 inch sticks. 
8. Cloves - 10 nos
9. Vinegar - 2 to 3 tbsp
10. Cashew fenny - 1 tsp 
11. Salt as required

Method:

1. Wash and cut the meat into four large chunks. Drain excess water.
2. Dry grind the spices into a coarse powder.
3. Make a paste of the ginger and garlic using vinegar. 
4. In a pan, marinate the pork with salt, spices, cashew fenny and the ginger garlic paste.
5. Marinate for 6 to 8 hours or over-night. Refrigerate the marinated pork.
6. Let the meat come to room temperature before cooking it on slow flame. Depending on how tender or tough the meat is, adjust the cooking time.
7. Put the same pan on the stove and cook till 3/4th done.
8. Remove the pieces onto a plate and cut 1/4 inch slices and put it back in the pan to cook completely. This ensures the slices don't curl while cooking.
9. Check for seasoning and serve with pulao or in sandwiches.
10. In case, you don't have cashew fenny, you may skip it. But I'm told the fenny enhances the flavor. 

Beef chilly fry with pan fried potatoes

This dish was a happy accident. I had set out to make something else but due to some reasons, ended up making this. It was an instant hit, you can have this with chappatis or bread, in a sandwich or wrap, or with dal and rice, irrespective of what you pair it with, it tastes heavenly.

The best thing about this recipe is you can tinker around with the spices and sauces. Add or delete as long as you have the basic ingredients in place. You can create this dish to suit your palate and preference.

Ingredients:

1. Beef - 1/2 kg 
2. Garlic - 4 cloves, finely chopped
3. Ginger - 1/2 inch piece, finely chopped
4. Green chilly - 2 nos, roughly chopped
5. Onion - 1 large, sliced
6. Tomato - 1 large, sliced
7. Worcester sauce - 1/2 tbsp
8. Soy sauce - 1 tsp
9. Red chilly sauce - 1 tsp (optional)
10. Salt as required
11. Oil as required
12. Coriander leaves - for garnish
13. Potatoes - 2 nos, cut lengthwise

Powdered spices

1. Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
2. Pepper - 1/2 tsp
3. Red chilly - 1/2 tsp
4. Garam masala - 1/2 tsp (optional)

Method:

1. Cut the beef into half inch tips, wash and set aside.
2. Add all the powdered spices to the beef tips and mix well. You could do this, before chopping the other ingredients for the dish. Set aside.
3. In a pan, heat oil, add the ginger, garlic, green chilly and onions. Fry till the onion is softened.
4. Add the tomatoes, salt and the beef. Mix well, bring it to a boil and then let it cook on low flame till the beef is cooked.
5. Add about one cup of water as required to ensure the contents don't stick to the pan and the beef is cooked. This could take about 30 minutes depending on how tough or tender the meat is. Please use your discretion.
6. This is a dry dish with with very thick sauce, so don't add too much water.
7. Lastly, add the sauces, check for taste and consistency, put off the flame.
8. Garnish with coriander leaves.

For the potatoes:

1. In a pan add 1 cup water and salt, bring it to a boil, add the potatoes and cook till 3/4th done. 
2. If the water has not evaporated while cooking , drain the water, drizzle little oil so the potatoes are coated and pan fry till done.

Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani

Biryanis are a favorite in my home. Since we discovered Shaan - Bombay Biryani, we haven't tried any other recipe. So in the last year and a half we haven't cooked any other biryani recipe. It's the easiest biryani recipe ever and once we stumbled upon it, didn't try anything else till I ate this awesome Hyderabadi Biryani, that my friend Sudha cooked. 

This is our new favorite and will be yours too. 

Biryanis are a combination of long grained rice layered with meat cooked in spices, and potatoes. It is natural to get intimidated with the laundry list of spices that go into cooking the meat. However what I did to get over it, was organize the list of ingredients into manageable chunks, and then it didn't look so scary anymore. That's the reason I have organized the list of ingredients into three marinades. In fact it has helped me memorize the recipe too. Now when I cook this biryani, I don't need to look at the recipe. :-)

Potatoes are optional and many recipes do not include but since we are so fond of it, I end up adding it to all my biryanis. So you can completely skip potatoes. Also at times we may not have shahijeera, star anise and black cardamoms readily available in the kitchen. It's ok to skip them too. 

Recipe credit : Sudha J

Ingredients for rice:

1. Basmati Rice – 500 gms
2. Oil – 1 tbsp
3. 6 peppercorns 
4. ½ tsp shahijeera 
5. Salt to taste

Chicken – 500gms

4 large onions (sliced, deep fired till dark brown)
**The recipe my friend shared, requires the onion to be deep fried but I shallow fry the onions, and this has not altered the taste of the biryani in any way.

Marinade 1

1. 3 black cardamoms
2. 4 small cardamoms
3. ½ tsp shahijeera
4. ½ tsp jeera/cumin seeds
5. 5 cloves
6. 3 bay leaves
7. 2 star anise
8. 2 inch cinnamon stick

Coarsely grind the above.

Marinade 2

1. ¼ cup mint leaves
2. ¼ cup coriander leaves
3. 4 green chilies (adjust according to spice tolerance)
4. 5 cloves of garlic or 1 tbsp of paste
5. 1 inch piece ginger or 1 tbsp of paste

Grind to a fine paste using little water.

Marinade 3

1. 200 ml yoghurt
2. 1 tsp chili powder
3. ½ tsp turmeric powder
4. ½ tbsp coriander powder
5. Juice of half a lemon or one lime.

Garnish:

1. A few sprigs of coriander and mint leaves chopped finely
2. Food color (Red, yellow, green) – dissolve color as required in milk
3. 1/4 of the fried onions.

Method for rice:

1. Wash and soak the rice for half hour before you cook it.
2. In a pan big enough to cook the rice, add water so that ¾ of the pan is full. Put this on the stove.
3. Bring the water to a boil and add the rice.
4. Into this water add, salt, a tablespoon of oil, ½ tsp shahijeera and 6 peppercorns.
5. Cook till the rice is ¾ cooked, and drain the excess water using a colander.
6. Keep aside.

Method for chicken:

1. In the pan you wish to cook the biryani, add the washed and drained chicken, add marinade 1, marinade 2, marinade 3, salt, two tablespoons of oil and ¾ of the fried onions.
2. Mix all the ingredients well and let it rest for one hour at least. Marinate longer for better results.
3. When your ready to cook the biryani, layer the cooked rice on top of the marinated uncooked chicken.
4. Put your garnish on top of the rice. I also add a tablespoon of ghee on top of the rice. This is purely optional.
5. Seal the pan, and put it on the stove.
6. Now cook the biryani on high flame for 10 minutes, next cook on medium flame for ten minutes and finally on low flame for the last ten minutes.
7. After you put off the stove, let the biryani rest for at least half hour before serving.
8. Serve with cucumber raita.

                                      

You can add fried potatoes while layering, but ensure that the potatoes are cooked well. I used two large potatoes and par boiled them before pan frying for a few minutes and adding them to the chicken. I did this as the chicken was marinating.

One of the reasons the biryani is easier to cook, is cause it eliminates the whole process of cooking the chicken separately, layering and cooking on dum. It also works well since you are not using too many utensils so the cleaning process after cooking is much simpler too.

Beef mince in vindaloo sauce

Ground meat is extremely versatile. You can cook them in different sauces, make pies, cutlets, meat balls and the possibilities are endless. Minced meat with pau (bread) or pulao is much looked forward to meal at home. We used to eat a lot of ground beef, however, we have started cutting down on our red meat consumption in the recent past. Since we bought ground beef after a long time, I didn't want to cook it in my regular style. After skimming through many sites, I found today's recipe on a facebook page dedicated to East Indian recipes. I love this FB page as it has some awesome collection of authentic East Indian fare.

The original recipe calls for more spices, and onions. I have made quite a few changes to the original recipe by adding and subtracting ingredients and introducing new ones too. I guess, that's a trick any cook worth their salt learns over time. The dish looks deliciously red, and goes well with pau or bread rolls.

Ingredients:

1. Beef mince (ground beef) - 1/2 kg
2. Onions - 1/2 kg
3. Oil - as required
4. Tomato ketchup - 2 tbsp
5. Potatoes - 2 nos (optional)

Vindaloo masala: * See notes

1. Kashmiri chilly - 8 nos
2. Cumin (jeera) - 1 tsp
3. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
4. Garlic - 10 flakes
5. Ginger - 1 inch piece
6. Vinegar - 2 - 3 tbsp

Method:

1. Chop onions. Wash and drain the mince to remove excess water. Cut potatoes in two inch cubes.
2. Heat oil in a pan, add the onions and fry well. When the onions have started turning light brown add the vindaloo masala. Fry the masala well by stirring constantly for about a minute or two.
3. Add the minced meat, and potatoes, mix the contents of the pan well. Add 1/2 cup of water to the pan.
4. Let it cook on slow flame till done. This should take about 20 minutes. Stir in the tomato ketchup a minute before you take the dish off the stove.

Notes:

1. You may use any ground meat, including mutton, chicken or pork. In case your using chicken mince I recommend using fewer chillies, and garlic flakes. Chicken meat is more delicate than red meat and hence should not be cooked with the same quantities of spices as used for red meat.
2. Vindaloo masala is required to be ground in vinegar. I recommend dry grinding the red chilly, turmeric and cumin first.  Then adding garlic and ginger with vinegar. This will ensure that you don't end up using too much vinegar for grinding.  Please use your discretion in using vinegar, as too much will wreck the dish. Adding a little water while grinding the masala is ok.
3. Adding water is optional, specially if you are not adding potatoes to the dish.

Minced meat cutlets

Cutlets are a great accompaniment to any meal. They can be had as starters by themselves or can be eaten with pao, especially as a snack before dinner. Many years ago, when I was studying in Goa, going to Miramar for cutlet pao was an exciting event and my friends and I looked forward to that trip. We also loved the choris pao, squid masala, sorpotel pao and other delicacies. Mind you these treats were sold off the cart on the street and were quite popular with the locals as well.

The recipe I share with you today is borrowed/ learnt from my MIL. Whatever I am in the kitchen today is due to her encouragement and guidance. She has taught me many things inside the kitchen and other wonderful things about life. What can I say, I’m a lucky girl!

Ingredients:

1. Mince meat (beef) – ½ kg
2. Turmeric – ½ tsp

Method to cook the mince:

1. Wash and drain the mince on the drain board.
2. Put a pan on the stove, and put the mince and the turmeric, dehydrate the mince completely.
3. Once dehydrated you could mince it further in a mixer. Keep aside.

Ingredients:

1. Onion – 1 medium (finely chopped)
2. Tomato – 1 medium (finely chopped)
3. Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tbsp
4. Coriander leaves – a few sprigs
5. Green chilly – 2 nos (finely chopped)
6. Egg – 1 no
7. Bread crumbs – as required
8. Oil – as required
9. Salt – as required

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan, fry the onions, add salt, fry till translucent, add the green chillies and tomatoes, fry well, and add the ginger garlic paste.
2. Cool the above mixture and then give it a twirl in the food processor or a mixer.
3. Mix the cooked mince into it and the egg. Make small cutlets.
4. Roll in the bread crumbs and shallow fry.

**Personally I prefer to mince the meat once it has been dehydrated, but that is completely optional.

Always use chillies, oil and salt as per individual preferences and palate.
I have never used chicken mince to make cutlets but I'm told it can be substituted, so please use your discretion.

Green Meat

Green meat is an all time favorite with all at home and is quite simple to make. Another recipe that my MIL has taught me. It is cooked on most days of the week for dinner and we never get tired of eating it. The potatoes are specially mouth watering and you could reduce or increase the quantity of potatoes as you desire. It goes well with steamed rice, pulao, pao, roti.

 

The Garam Masala powder used in this dish is specifically ground at home.

 

Garam Masala powder:

1. Jeera - 1 tbsp
2. Peppercorns - 1 tbsp
3. Cinnamon - 4 inches
4. Cardamom - 6 nos
5. Cloves - 15 nos
6. Turmeric - 1/2 tbsp

Grind to a powder.

 

Ingredients:

1. Beef  - 1/2 kg
2. Onions (medium) - 1 no (sliced finely)
3. Ginger paste - 1/2 tbsp
4. Garlic paste - 1/2 tbsp
5. Garam masala pwd (mentioned above) - 1/2 tbsp
6. Green chillies - 2 nos (slit)
7. Tomatoes (medium) - 1 no(finely chopped)
8. Vinegar - 1 tbsp
9. Coriander leaves - few sprigs finely chopped

Potatoes (large) - 1 no (cubed). This is optional.

Method:

1. Wash and cut the meat into small cubes. Apply salt and keep aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan, fry sliced onions till brown. Add ginger garlic paste, fry well.
3. Add meat pieces, fry on high heat till the water evaporates.
4. Add 1tbsp of the garam masala pwd, chopped tomatoes and fry well.
5. Add 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Cook on slow flame till meat is half-cooked.
6. Add the potatoes and cook till both potatoes and meat are cooked.
7. Add two slit chillies, vinegar and simmer for two mins.
8. Adjust the consistency of the gravy as desired. Don't make it too watery, doesn't taste right.
9. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. (Optional)

 

Pork Bafad

Pork is a favorite amongst the Christians; Goans, Mangaloreans or East Indians love their pork preparations with a gusto that one can say is borderline crazy. Cholestrol can go take a hike, we love our "dukramaas". There can't be any celebration that is complete without pork preparartion. Well "Pork bafad" is a Mangalorean pork preparartion that has its own place of honor. No roce, wedding, christmas, birthday (you get the drift ;-)) can be celebrated without pork bafad. Atleast that's how it is done in my family. Infact my husband is amazed at how much pork my family and I can gorge in one go ;-), he thinks we ought to get a prize just for that.

I'm sure others enjoy it too, but there are no definite statistics to prove that :-). There are many variations to the recipe I have share below. Some prefer too many onions - this adds to the gravy and make it a bit sweet. Others prefer too much spice. I've tried various recipes and this won the most votes in my family. So this recipe is a family recipe now. This recipe was printed in my parish bulletin and was shared by a senior citizen, whose name unfortunately I did not capture. But God bless her, its an awesome recipe and if you do try it and like it you know who to thank !

Ingredients:

1. Pork - 1 kg
2. Onions - 3 nos medium (Cubed)
3. Ginger - 1 inch (chopped finely)
4. Garlic - 1 pod (chopped finely)
5. Green chillies - 3 nos (slit)
6. Cloves - 6 nos
7. Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
8. Bay leaves - 2 -3 nos
9. Vinegar - to taste
10. Salt - to taste

The below ingredients to be ground:

1. Kashmiri chillies - 15 nos
2. Peppercorns - 10 nos
3. Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
4. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
5. Tamarind - 1/2 a lemon sized ball (soaked in warm water)

Grind the above using water.

Method:

1. Cut the pork into 1 inch cubes. Wash well and drain excess water.
2. In a pan large enough to hold all ingredients, put the pork, add the ground masala and all ingredients. Mix well and switch on the gas.
3. Use water to clean the mixie jar. Do not use any more water than that for the preparation.
4. Bring the meat to a boil, lower the flame and let it cook for 25 -30 minutes.
5. Continue cooking till dissolved fat appears on top or until the meat is tender. This could take anywhere between 45 mins to an hour.
6. Check for spice and salt.
7. Tastes best with Sannas or pau.

* Note: Pork tastes best when the preparation is allowed to rest atleast for a couple of hours, better still for a day.