Recipe: Kori Rotti - Chicken Curry - Manglorean Style

Kori Rotti are thin sheets of ground rice rolled out and sun dried.

This is a traditional dish of the Bunts (Tulu Speaking) Community that originate from Mangalore. This dish is available in most Manglorean Restaurants in Bombay (majority of non-vegetarian Manglorean restaurants around India are owned by the Bunts)

This particular curry is poured over the Kori Rotti and the Rotti is eaten half crisp, half soggy. As far as I know the Rotti is no longer made in homes, it will be available in any Manglorean store in Bombay/Bangalore. I carry 4-5 packets of Rotti with me from Mangalore whenever I visit.

This dish can also be made with boiled eggs, for egg eating vegetarians and for strict vegetarians you can substitute chicken or eggs with potatoes.

The curry also goes well with plain rice or dosas, if you don't have access to Rotti.

Ingredients:
1 kg chicken
3 onions
1+1/2 coconut (or 1/2 coconut + 3-4 200ml packets of Dabur coconut milk)
1/2 lime sized tamarind
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
12 short red chillies
10 long red chillies
1 tbsp corriander seeds
1 tsp peppercorns
1/2 tsp methi seeds
1 tsp jeera
1 pod garlic
little oil
salt to taste
a few curry leaves

Method:
In 1 tbsp oil/ghee fry one sliced onion. Add half a scraped coconut, tamarind, haldi and dry roast for a while.
Dry fry chillies seperately.
Dry fry corriander, pepper, methi
Lastly add jeera and garlic.
Grind all these ingredients to a fine paste

Extract coconut milk from 1 coconut or use Dabur coconut milk.
Mix the ground paste into the thin coconut milk and put on a low fire When the masala begins to bubble, add chicken pieces and 1 sliced onion.

Add salt to taste and cook till done.
Put the fire on sim and add the thick coconut milk and give it a very slow single boil.
Temper with 1 deep fried onion
Serve with kori rotti or rice.

 Add more coconut milk if the curry is too spicy for you. If you run out of coconut milk, you can use regular milk to balance the spice quotient.

Recipe: Utthappams

Utthappams are traditionally eaten at tea time with batter leftover from breakfast dosas, but now with refrigeration and other techniques, they are eaten for breakfast too.

The ingredients for utthappams are simple - leftover dosa batter and whatever toppings you choose. And a little eno fruit salt if required for aerating the batter. The batter needs to be slightly on the thicker side and slightly sour.

Onions, tomatoes, green chillies and corriander are the traditional toppings for utthappams and can be used in any combination. Since our house has slightly picky eaters: one wont eat raw tomato another doesn't eat raw onions, I normally have all these ingredients chopped but I don't mix them up. I then scatter the appropriate ingredient on the utthappam depending on whom I'm frying it for.

Method:
Bring the batter to room temperature.
Add some eno fruit salt to the batter to aerate it if required.
Heat a little oil in a frying pan.
Pour some batter into the pan and spread into a circle.
Sprinkle the toppings of choice on top of the dosa.

Once the bottom starts to crisp up, you can either flip it over (the toppings will get a bit fried) or cover the pan and steam it slightly (the slightly  raw sweet taste of the toppings remains) so the top is also cooked.

How much you fry the utthappam can also vary depending on personal preference. I like mine crispy like below for tea time and softer as further below for breakfast (and as you may have guessed from the pics below, I :) am the picky eater who doesn't like raw tomatoes)

Serve with chutney.
The picture above is with Green Tomato Chutney and the picture below is with Mummy's White Coconut Chutney and my MIL's Green Tomato Chutney

Utthappams are great for breakfast or an evening snack. But can also be your meal if you like.

Options:
While onions, tomatoes, green chillies and corriander are the traditional toppings for utthappams and can be used in any combination. Grated coconut is also an excellent topping if you like. You can experiment with any vegetables that cook quickly like shredded carrots, chopped bell peppers and pair them with appropriate chutneys or curries.

Grated cheese is also an option for fussy children who may not like the veggie toppings. (but try and avoid overturning the uttappam if this is the option you choose, instead cover the pan and cook till both sides are done.

You can even experiment with cooked minced meat if you like. The only things you need to keep in mind are:
1. the topping should be cooked within the time it takes for the utthappam to fry - so precook the topping if necessary
2. the toppings should not be too heavy, else the utthappam will collapse.

Also refer my previous post on Onion Utthappams

Recipe : Green Tomato Chutney

This is my Mother-in-law's recipe. She makes this chutney in huge quantities whenever tomato season is on and this chutney is then served like a pickle on the side during meals.

When this chutney is ground on a silbatti, it is a semi-dry chutney. Since I use this chutney with dosas and other South Indian dishes, I add a little more water (this also makes it easier to grind in a food processor)

Since this recipe does not include onions, it keeps well in the fridge and lasts for 2 weeks or more (provided you use a clean dry spoon) without any need for preservatives.

Ingredients:
3 tomatoes
3-4 cloves garlic
2" ginger
4-10 green chilies (depending on your spice tolerance)
a bunch of fresh corriander - roots chopped off
lemon juice or vinegar to taste
salt to taste

Method:
Skin the tomatoes by either of these 3 methods:
- blanching in hot water and immediately immerse in cold water
- microwave the tomatoes on high then seal them in a plastic/ziplock bag while still hot - the skin will losens and peel off easily
-  if you are really adventurous you can roast the tomatoes on a flame like brinjals for bhartha - this gives a smoky taste - if using this method to skin the tomatoes, you can optionally minimise the other ingredients for a smoky tomato chutney. Fair warning - this method can result in a mess on your gas stove if you aren't careful.

If you are in a hurry and don't care about texture, leave the skin on, but semi cook the tomatoes before grinding.

Grind all the other ingredients except lime juice and salt on a silbatti/grinding stone or mixi. Add minimal water.
Adjust lime juice/vionegar and salt to taste.

Serve with dosas or any kind of Poli

Or serve as a side with a roti / rice + dhal kind of meal

Picture above is tomato chutney with Onion Utthappam