Mutton Curry

I don't have a consistent recipe for mutton curry. We love mutton in any form, fried, curried, pulao, or in a biriyani. I would have tried umpteen versions of mutton curry by now, sometimes with an extra ingredient or sometimes with an ingredient missing out. No matter how the recipe goes, it always comes out delicious. Of all the meats, I think mutton has the strongest flavor. Lamb and mutton are different, but I call it a mutton curry even when I use lamb.

Here is the recipe I used this time:

Mutton or Lamb - 1.5 lbs(approx.), cut into big pieces
Cinnamon - i small piece
Cloves - 3
Big onion - 1, chopped finely
Green chillies - 3, slit
Curry leaves - one sprig
Garlic - 8 to 10 cloves
Ginger - 1 piece
Coriander powder - 3 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Kashmiri chilli powder - 1 tsp
Tomato - 1 medium, chopped
Potatoes - 1, optional
Salt - to taste
Cilantro - 1/4 bunch
Oil - 2 tbsp

Heat oil in a pressure cooker(or any heavy bottomed vessel), and add cinnamon and cloves. After a minute, add onions, green chillies and cook until onions are translucent. Make a coarse paste of garlic and ginger and add it to the cooker. Stir occasionally and cook until the raw smell disappears. Add curry leaves and all the dry masala powder. Cook for a couple of minutes. Add mutton and salt. Stir fry on a high flame until all the masala is coated on the mutton pieces. Add tomatoes, and potatoes if using. Add 1/2 cup of water(or more if you are not pressure cooking). Bring it a boil, cover the cooker, and cook until done. Cooking time varies depending on the cooking vessel you use. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve with rice or chapathi.

Want to play again?

The first one is bittergourd, second is a piece of kodampuli soaked in water, and the third is lemon. :)

Beetroot Pachadi

Beetroot -1
Turmeric powder -1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
Coconut - 1/2 cup
Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
Green chillies - 3
Shallots - 2
Yogurt - 1 cup
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Whole red chillies - 3
Curry leaves - a few

Peel and cut the beetroot into small pieces. Cook beetroot pieces with salt and turmeric powder. Add 1/2 a cup of water for cooking. Grind coconut with cumin seeds, green chillies, and shallots. Add the ground paste to the cooked beetroots and bring it to a boil. Simmer for a few minutes and remove from the stove. Add yogurt and mix well.
Heat oil in another pan and add the mustard seeds. When they splutter add whole red chillies and curry leaves. When the chillies turn brown, add it to the curry.
Serve with rice.

Cooking from the blogs.........

A taste of Malabar- Kozhi Nirachathu/Stuffed Chicken(Recipe Source: Malabar Spices)

More Malabari taste, Mussel Fry(Recipe Source: Malabar Spices)

Radish Pachadi (Recipe Source: Salt&Pepper)

Meme - ABOUT ME, ME AND ONLY ME!

Thank you Archana & Rashmi for tagging me.

I am thinking about: buying a treadmill.

I want to : visit an island.
I wish : Indian Rupees were equal to American dollars!
I regret : about shouting at my kids. :(
I hear : the music from the Baby Einstein video.
I am : sleepy right now.
I dance : with my kids.

I sing : when there is no one to hear.
I cry : very easily.
I am : still sleepy.

I write : blogs, emails, shopping list, codes.
I confuse : myself.
I tag: anyone who wants to play this next.

Vegetable Pulav/Pulao

We make biriyani often, but we are not pulav fans. As far as I understood, there is a subtle difference between pulao and biriyani. I wonder if pulav could be an easy and mild version of biriyani for it can be made in a very short time and still tastes good. In a biriyani, rice and masala are cooked separately, and then the rice is layered between the masala at the final stage. But pulao is a one pot dish in which everything is cooked together. For me, pulao is like a 30 minute meal recipe which comes handy when I am in a hurry. Any side dish that you serve with a biriyani goes well with pulav too. We usually serve this with pickles, yogurt, and pappadam.

Basmati rice – 1 cup
Ghee/Oil – 1 tbsp or more
Cinnamon – 1 small piece
Cloves, Cardamom – 2-3 each
Onion, chopped – 1 medium
Green chillies – 2 (or more, depending on how spicy you want it)
Garlic and ginger paste – 1 tbsp
Tomato – 1 chopped
Mixed vegetables(Carrots, Green beans, Potatoes, Peas etc.) – 1 ½ cup, chopped
Kashmiri chilli powder – ½ tsp
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Garam masala powder – ½ tsp
Salt – to taste
Lemon juice – 1 tsp
Mint and coriander leaves – a few

Heat oil/ghee in a heavy bottomed vessel and add the whole spices. Add onions and green chillies. Saute until the onion is translucent. Add garlic ginger paste and cook for a couple of minutes until the raw smell disappear. Add all the masala powders. Cook for a minute. Add tomatoes and all the vegetables. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Make sure it wouldn’t stick to the bottom. Add 2 cups of water and salt. When it comes to a boil, add rice and lemon juice. When it comes to a boil again, partially close with a lid. Cook 10-15 minutes on a very low flame until all the water disappear. Add coriander and mint leaves on top. Turn off the stove, cover, and let it rest for 30 minutes.

You can garnish pulav with fried cashews and raisins.
To improve the taste, you can try frying the rice in ghee before adding the water. Wash and drain the rice well before frying.

More pulao recipes from fellow bloggers:

Priya's Channa Pulao

Ashwini's Shrimp Pulao

Archana's Kashmiri Pulao

Sailu's Soya-chunks Pulao

Indira's Cherry-tomato Pulao

Annita's Mushroom-peas Pulao

Inji's Peas Pulao

Prema's Peas Pulao

Eggplant Curry

Saffronhut’s dahiwala baingan has been a staple in my kitchen for quite a while now. I make this whenever I have eggplants no matter what kind. I have even tried it with the big eggplant. The other day I was prepping to make this delicious dish to serve with rice. After shallow frying the marinated eggplants and keeping them aside, I started slicing the onions. That’s when I realized I did not have any yogurt at home (I always use yogurt for this recipe instead of sour cream in the original recipe.). I hate running to the grocery shop once cooking is started. What’s a dahiwala baingan without dahi? So I made a few alterations to the original recipe, and ended up with a new dish. I do make a similar dish with eggplants at times, but it tasted better this time. I guess the 30-minute marination of eggplants in ginger garlic paste made it even better.

Eggplant/വഴുതനങ്ങ Curry

Eggplant – 1 big
Garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Ginger paste – 1 tbsp
Oil – 3 tbsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
Curry leaves – a few
Onion – 1 medium, chopped finely
Green chillies – 3, sliced
Chilli powder – ½ tsp
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Tomatoes – 1 big, chopped
Salt – to taste

Slice the eggplants into small pieces. Smear salt, and garlic ginger pastes on the eggplant pieces and keep aside. After 30 minutes, gently squeeze out the water from the eggplant pieces and shallow fry them in 2 tbsp of oil. Drain. Alternatively, you may broil them until it is light brown.

Heat 1 tbsp oil and add mustard seeds, curry leaves, and cumin seeds. Add onion and green chillies and cook until the onion is slightly brown. Add chilli powder and turmeric powder. After a minute, add the tomatoes. Cook for a couple of minutes. Mash the tomatoes with a spoon. Add ½ a cup of water and bring it to a boil. Add fried eggplant pieces and bring it to another boil. Add salt if needed and turn off the stove. Serve with rice or chapathi.

Also check out:
Prema's stuffed brinjal curry
Nila's eggplant curry
Nandita's brinjal-podi curry
Priya's brinjal curry

Can you guess?

Now you know how I would take a picture for a guessing game! This should be easy for you. I am going to post a recipe using one of these, so please guess it fast. :)

Scroll down for answers!

Yes, they are eggplant and long beans, not green beans.

Here she is again!! Remember she made her debut in my aebleskiver pan post?

Happy Onam!

Happy Onam to all my blogger buddies!!