Guest Chef: Mr Shankar Nagendra - the GoTo guy for Ribs!

Shankaranna is my dads youngest sisters husband. As a Sri Lankan, he shares our love for food in general and spicy food in particular. When they visited India earlier this year, we were fortunate enough to celebrate Holi with them and we got to meet them again in August, when we visited Canada.

Shankar makes the most amazing pork ribs I have ever eaten in my life. Honestly if I lived closer to these uncles of mine, I would never ever visit a restaurant again. The food they cook is so mindblowing, that restaurant food can never match up.

Their son Avinash assured me that it was his mum Yasmin who did all the hard work of going to the market, buying the ingredients, prepping and marinating them, while dad just hovered over the grill, sipping beer and  turning stuff over. Even if I were to believe him, his dad still possesses the formidable skill of being able to cook ribs that just melt away from the bone. 3 months down the line, I'm still salivating at the memories of these ribs.

The Ribs

The chicken was just smoking on the top rack while everything else was cooking below.

With some of the salads

A Fattoush kinda of salad with sprouted gram added too

I promise you, there were some veggies under all that cheese :)

The smoked chicken

Blueberry trifle for dessert

Masterchef Shankaranna

It was wonderful to be able to spend time with Yasmin, Shankar and their kids - my youngest cousins on my dads side. This was my husbands first visit to Canada and he was meeting a lot of my family for the first time. They all made him feel so welcome, that he says he will consider the option of retiring there on the condition that my family keeps cooking and I let him buy a vineyard in the Niagra region. LOL

Guest Chef: Mr Ossie Rosario - BBQ Specialist

Most of my aunts (moms & dads sisters) have chosen husbands very wisely. These uncles of mine are excellent cooks and in many cases, churn out better food than their wives. :) Although the wives help out a lot in the prep and mis en place.

On our trip to Canada in August, it was a fantastic opportunity to eat meals that they had lovingly prepared for us and I hope to be able to dedicate a blog post to each.

Uncle Ossie is the husband of one of my dads sisters and all my cousins in Canada wait for an invitation for a meal at their house. Uncle Ossie's Xmas cake is a marvel, in how it stays together with hardly any flour in the mix. It lasts for years in the refrigerator, as we zealously hoard our portions until assured that another batch is on its way to wherever we are currently located.

August is lovely weather in Canada every meetup was an occassion for a Barbeque. So here are the pictures from Uncle Ossies Barbeque. No recipes, because the secret to this food is not in the recipes, its in the love put into its preparation. The massaging and curing of the meat, the slicing of steaks of equal size and the cooking to perfection. The husband and I resoundingly agree that these steaks were the best we have ever had, firmly pushing our previous favourite "Ruths Chris Steakhouse" to Second Place.

Unfortunately steaks don't keep as well as Xmas cake does, so we couldn't carry any back with us :(

The marinating meat

Is gently placed on the grill

Well done for most of the family

Medium rare for us - it still melted in our mouth

Uncle Aussie gets some veggies on the grill

The vegetables getting grilled in their pans

The meal, once laid out

Some freshly tossed Ceasar salad

My first plate - I lost count of how many steaks I ate
The orange sticks are butternut squash made by another Aunt -  Belinda - which reminds me that I have to get that recipe from her and try it out with the local pumpkins

Sticking to the theme the dessert was also grilled

First Uncle Ossie grilled some cake and then some pineapple rings

1 layer of BBQ'ed sponge cake, followed with a layer of BBQed pineapple and a scoop of lovely ice cream

The next day, Uncle Ossie took us sightseeing and still brought us home and feed us home made burgers before dropping us to the station for our onward journey to Montreal.

A huge thanks to Uncle Ossie and Aunty Aureen for being such wonderfully warm and welcoming hosts and amazing cooks. We wish we stayed closer to you guys, even though it would be terrible for our waist lines.

Recipe: Food made from Prashad of Gaay-Bachde ki Puja

The day before Dhanteras (i.e. 3 days before Diwali) is celebrated as Gaay-Bachde ki Puja - veneration of cows and calves by some families in UP. My husbands Naani (maternal grandmother) and Maami (mothers brother's wife) observe this, while his mother doesn't. (From what I have come to understand, married women here, observe the rites and rituals followed by the matriarchs of their husbands family and add on any rites and rituals from their own families if they feel very strongly about them - There are so many festivals and rituals in the UPite Hindu Calendar that there is ample choice to pick and choose.)

On this day, the women offer various kinds of grams/dhals/lentils to a cow and her calf and for the whole day, they only eat foods made from grams/dhals/lentils or their flours (primarily besan). While lentil soup/dhal seems the most straight forward option, it feels weird to eat just that without rice or rotis. So pakodas (deep fried balls) are what tends to be made of these dhals.

We reached after the puja was over, so I unfortunately don't have any pictures of that, but I do have plenty of pictures of the food.

Any kind of dhal needs to be soaked before it can be ground for pakodas. Urad dhal needs the longest time 6-8 hours. Channa dhal needs 4-6 hours and moong dhal can be soaked for an hour or so.

To make the pakodas, the soaked dhal is ground to a paste with enough water. You can then add flavourings like onions, green chilli, coriander leaves, ginger. But technically you only mix enough for them to be flavourings, but not so much that they turn into onion pakodas.

Urad dhal pakodas aren't very tasty on their own or even with cuttings, so these get turned into dahi vadas. Just grind soaked urad dhal, you can add a little ginger and green chilli if you like. Personally I also like to split a few raisins in half and add it to the batter. Drop little balls of batter into hot oil and deep fry.

As soon as you take them out of the pan, they are dropped into a bowl of water. If you want to cool them first, then they need to be soaked in hot water later. Soak for about 5-10 minutes (depending on size of your pakodas/vadas). Then squeeze out all the liquid from the soaked vadas.

Layer them in a deep bowl. Pour lightly whipped curd/yoghurt over these vadas.

Sprinkle with chilli and jeera powder.

Serve topped with sweet and sour chutneys.

Mamiji made some pakodas with channa dhal and some with moong dhal, some with onions and some without.

While most of us kept merrily popping these golden balls of deep fried goodness into our mouths, those who wanted a slightly more substantial snack, smashed them between slices of bread for a more filling option.

Guest Chef - Mrs Anju Mishra

Onam Sadya with Mrs. Leelavathi Menon (Recipes Included)

I know I've been remiss about blogging for the last couple of months. Onam is a time for new beginnings, so it seemed like a perfect reason to get back to writing. A Malyali friends mother invited us over to join the family for their Onam Sadya and Aunty very kindly explained to me the details of the traditional meal. Errors, if any, in this article will be due to my own incomplete understanding or regional differences in practices.

Onam is a festival celebrated in Kerala to rejoice in the rice harvest among other reasons. Most South Indian states will also be celebrating their own Rice Harvest Festivals in the coming days. My community in Mangalore, celebrates it on the 8th of September each year. (we follow the Western calendar) I may just write about that next week. (fingers crossed) :)

 As Onam is also the festival of rain flowers, beautiful designs are created on the floor with different flowers called Onapookkalam or Rangoli as it is known in Hindi speaking parts of India.

While traditionally Onam is celebrated over 10 days and sadyas (meals) are eaten over plaintain leaves, it is difficult to find these traditions in their entirety outside of Kerala. Convenience and lack of availability of key ingredients means some things have to be planned way in advance or compromised upon.While our meal today wasn't as traditional with banana leaf et al, the spirit and enthusiasm of Mrs Leelavathi Menon's family made it a wonderful experience.


Like most cooks of her generaton, Aunty cooks without precise measurements. Its a handful of this and a pinch of that. The recipes that follow are hers and without measurements. If you would like me to try and pin down the measurements for something, do let me know. Hopefully the pictures of the finished products will help you decide on quantities.

Traditionally, there is an order in which food needs to be served and where it is placed on the leaf. I have seen this in other South Indian Brahmin communities, but have not observed this in the North Indian style except for Rotis before Rice

The first course of an Onam Sadya is always Parippu & Nayya with Appalams & Rice.
Nayya is Ghee. Appalams are the Kerala papads that have to be deep fried traditional style, no nonsense of roasting or microwaving them.

Parippu is a preparation involving Moong Dhal.
Roast the Moong Dhal for a bit and then add water and cook it with some salt and a coarsely ground mixture of coconut, jeera and green chillies.
When cooked, season it with raw ghee and raw curry leaves.
(The consistency is thick like a Dhal Makhni, but much lighter on the stomach)
Serve with hot rice, ghee and Appalams

  
From Left to Right: Sambhar, Olan, Parippu, Avial and Cabbage+ Carrot Thoran. The Central large dish is the Kalan









Olan is next. A dish made with Red Lobia.
Presure cook the red lobia with a little salt.
When done, add some pumpkin (kaddhu and cook again until the pumpkin turns soft.
Mash the mixture slightly, like you would while making chhole.
Add some coconut milk and take off the fire just before it bubbles.
Season with coconut oil (uncooked) and raw curry leaves

Avial is the next dish on the menu.
This is a dish most easily identified with Vegetarian Malyali cooking.
Any combination of vegetables is cut into crudites
The vegetables are cooked with turmeric, salt and a pinch of chilli powder.
When cooked, add finely b eaten curd to the mix.
Then add a coarsely ground mixture of coconut, cumin (jeera), green chillies and curry leaves.
Season with fresh coconut oil and fresh curry leaves.

Thoran is the dry dish served with all these Vegetarian curries.
Thoran can be made with beans or cabbage or carrots or a combination of vegetables.
For this dish, the vegetables need to be grated or sliced thinly
Coarsely, dry grind some coconut, onions, cumin (jeera), green chillies and curry leaves.
Heat some oil in a pan.
Add mustard seeds, when they splutter, add urad dhal or raw rice to complete the seasoning.
To this seasoning, add chopped onions and curry leaves.
When the onions are between translucent and light brown, add the vegetables and some salt and cover and cook till done
(Note: Do not add any water to the vegetables unless you are cooking beans)
When the vegetables are cooked, add the coarsely ground coconut mixture.
Stir well and remove from the flame.

Sambhar or Kalan is the next course.

Kalan is a curry made with Yam (Jhimikand), Ash Gourd (Petha) and/or Kerala Bananas (Nandarkai)
Kalan can be made with a combination of these vegetables or any one of them.
Lightly cook the vegetables with a little turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt.
Finely grind some coconut with cumin and pepper corns. You can add water or curd/yoghurt to smoothen and moisturise the mix.
Add some beaten curd and the coconut mixture to the cooked vegetables.
When it starts to boil, remove fromheat and season with mustard, fenugreek seeds (methi), dry red chillies and curry leaves.

Kerala Bananas (Nandarkai) are a major part of the Onam Sadya. They are served as chips - both savoury (salted) and sweet (coated with jaggery and deep fried)
Often times it will also be served just chopped up (1 banana chopped into 3 equal pieces)

Pulinji is a ginger-tamarind chutney that is made in large quantities during Onam.
Finely chop fresh ginger and green chillies.
Heat some oil, season with mustard seeds, then add the ginger and green chillies and fry till the ginger turns light brown.
Add tamarind juice (imli paste), turmeric powder, salt and curry leaves.
Boil well until the mixture turns slightly thick.
Add jaggery and cook well.
This chutney will keep well for awhile.

Pulinji and other chutneys and pickles are also an integral part of the sadya.

Sweets as always, are an extremely important finish to all Indian feastive meals.

Ada or Paalada Payasam is a kheer made with ada.
Ada is made by grinding rice, rolling it into thin sheets on banana leaves, boiling the leaves with the rice paste and then cutting it into small pieces. Nowadays, readymade ada is available in specialty markets. Kheer is then made the same way, just substituting Ada for rice or vermicilli (sevaiyan).

Parippu Prathaman is a kheer made with moong dhal and sago (tapioca pearls / sabudana) but with jaggery and not sugar. This gives a hint of saltiness to the kheer.
This preparation is supposed to be so good, that even if you are absolutely stuffed, you will always have enough space for a bowl. That's what Parippu Prathaman means.

Both sweets can be eaten either hot or cold.

Like most good and healthy Indian meals, even though we ate until we couldn't eat another morsel, it has been extremely light on our stomachs. The dishes are all easily digestible and even the endless supply of rice with all those curries hasn't made me sleepy or lethargic.

Thank you Aunty Leela for a wonderful evening and we look forward to many more. Aunty also makes the most awesome idli sambhar that I have eaten. But I have never been able to stop to take pictures before eating. oh well, there will always be a next time :)

Onam Ashamsagal!

Shilme's Spring Rolls

My friend Shilme whose husband was posted in Cairo the same time as us, has now come to India, after short stints in Johannesburg and Ireland in between.

While Shilme is Malaysian, her sojourns across the globe have added depth and layers to her food and cooking style. She invited me over for a Malaysian home cooked soul-food lunch the other day. The food was so good that I was so busy eating, I did not take pictures.

I think I will start a series of posts on home made food cooked by my friends. Many of whom are wonderful cooks, but do not blog. They will be henceforth tagged as Guest Chef. They might include recipes, but at the least they will include photos.

Coming back to Shilme, she had made a wonderful beef broth with noodles and a variety of home made sauces. The broth was light and flavoursome. The noodles made it a filling dish as well. This dish is a kind of Malay soul food.

Shilme also fried up some home made spring rolls. While the pastry is the store bought variety, she makes the stuffing at home. Shredded cooked chicken and vegetables with salt, pepper and a hint of sugar make the stuffing.

She said that she stuffs and rolls the spring rolls and then freezes them. Then she just takes them out and immediately deep fries them for a tasy snack or side dish when needed.

She gave me some frozen rolls to take home and husband averred that these were the best spring rolls he has ever eaten in his life (he had no idea they were home made before I served them to him)

Thanks Shilme.

Edited on 1st December 2010 to add Shilme's Recipe
Ingredients for Stuffing:
250gms chicken mince (I usually make this at home with boneless breast and pulse in the food processor)
3 cloves garlic - minced
1 large Onion - chopped
1/2 cup carrot - minced
1/2 cup peas
1/2 chopped spring onion
1 tbsp veg oil
Salt, white pepper , a dash of sugar to taste

Method:
Heat oil till smoking hot.
Add garlic, sweat for a few seconds then add the minced chicken.
Stir fry till the chicken is cooked and looks fairly dry .
Add chopped onion, carrot and peas, stir till the vegetables are half cooked.
Season with salt, pepper and sugar.
Sprinkle the spring onion just before turning off the fire and give a quick stir.
Set aside to cool.

*These will yield about 20-25 pcs of spring rolls, depending how generous you like the stuffing in your rolls.
* You can just make the vegetarian ones by omitting the chicken and doubling the vegetables.

Red Chilli Sauce:
5 Fresh red chillies
3 cloves garlic
salt, sugar, vinegar to taste

Whiz in blender with some water till smooth, heat in a pan till it reaches your desired consistency.

Alternative Red Chilli Sauce:
Same process as above but I use dried chillies instead, cut them into a few pieces to remove the seeds, and saute in hot smoking oil for about a minute. Don't cook for too long it will get bitter and lose all the taste. Blend with other ingredients and heat in a pan till it reaches your desired consistency.

Good Luck.
Shilme