It is mango season now and my mom is here in Hyderabad. So she cooked this Konkani dish which is a must in most Konkani weddings which happen around Summer season. In other seasons, mangoes can be replaced by pineapple and grapes.




Method

1. Grind 1 cup grated coconut, 1 marble sized tamarind, 2 red chillies to a coarse paste adding little water. 
2. Dry roast 1 tsp mustard seeds till they splutter. Add this to the grinder along with 2-3 tsp jaggery (according to your taste) and grind it again.Add 1 cup of mango deskinned and cut into cubes. You can also add pineapple, grapes, orange cubes (deseeded). Mix well.
3. This goes well as a side dish with rice.

I like chicken cooked in south Indian flavours with mustard seeds and curry leaves flavoring the gravy. Tried my hand at Chettinad Chicken today and it turned out good.

Method

1. Marinate 1 kg of chicken with salt, turmeric and chilli powder for at least an hour
2. Take 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add 7-8 dry red chillies, 1 cup grated coconut, 1 tsp poppy seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 1 cardamom, 3-4 cloves, 1 inch piece cinnamon, 1 tsp fennel seeds(saunf) 1 inch piece of ginger and 7-8 cloves of garlic, 1 twig (around 10-12) curry leaves and roast them till the masala is cooked. Grind this into a fine paste in grinder
3.  Heat 1 tbsp oil in a vessel and when the oil is hot add 1 Bay leaf , 1tsp mustard seeds,1 tsp cumin seeds. When the mustard seeds start popping,  fry 1 large sized onion till brown. Add 1 twig of curry leaves and the ground paste. Add 3 finely chopped  tomatoes, 1 tsp red chilli powder, pinch of turmeric powder and salt to taste.
4. Add chicken and mix and cook for 5 mins.
5. Add two cups of water, juice of 1 small lemon and cover and cook till the chicken is done (This can take upto 20-30 mins). Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves and serve with chapatis or rice.

This is again a favorite Konkani dish. The taste of Sichuan Pepper (Tepal) and Turmeric leaves gives this dish a flavor that lingers on.

Method

1. Clean and cut around 20 mushrooms into 4 pieces.
2. Take 1 cup freshly grated coconut, 10-12 red chillies, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 1 small lemon sized tamarind and grind them together into a very fine paste in the grinder.
3. Mix this paste with mushrooms in a pan. Add salt to taste. Add 1 tsp coconut oil. Add 8-10 sichuan pepper (tepal in Konkani/Tirfal in Marathi).

4. Cover with 4-5 pieces of haldi leaves
5. Cover this pan and cook on small flame for 30 mins.
6. This is how the dish will look after its cooked.

Serve as a side dish with rice. Dont forget to remove the haldi leaves before serving!

We like Italian cuisine. Being prolific rice eaters, we have  developed taste for Risottos. Tried Chicken Mushroom risotto yesterday for the first time and it turned out good.

This is how I cooked this dish.


Method

1. Heat  1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil. Add 1 thinly sliced onion and saute till translucent. Add  2 garlic pods  finely chopped and saute. Add 1 cup of Rice and saute till the rice is well coated with oil. Do not wash the rice before adding it to the pan. I used 1 cup of Riso Arborio. 


2. Boil 500 ml chicken stock on another stove as the onions are sauteed. I used Maggi stock cubes but I am sure home made stock will taste even better. Add chicken stock to the mixture to just cover the rice and stir the mixture until the stock is absorbed. Add more of the stock and keep continuing this till the rice is just cooked right. Dont overcook the rice. This can take upto 20 mins. By the time the rice is cooked your hand surely should start to hurt :)  If you fall short of stock you can add some water.


3. Add salt and pepper to the rice according to taste.
4. In the meantime also add 1 tbsp oil to a  pan. When the oil is hot, add 1/2 cup of boneless chicken cut into cubes and 1 tbsp chopped garlic and saute for 5 mins. Add 1/2 cup mushrooms and chopped basil and saute for 2 mins or until the mushrooms and the chicken are cooked.
5. Now add this to the rice. Top it with butter and grated parmesan cheese and serve hot

This is one of the tastiest Konkani Curries and features on my list of favorite Konkani dishes. Comes a close second to crab curry !!
Mom is here and hence she brought along Shark pieces from Mumbai. Shark is a difficult fish to clean as its skin needs to be removed so remember to ask the fish monger to clean and cut it for you. Shark is also available in dried form but here we have used the fresh fish.

Here is my moms Shark Curry recipe 

Method

1. Wash the fish and keep aside

2. Dry roast 1tsp coriander seeds, 7-8 red chillies, 1/2 inch cinnamon, 1 clove for 2-3 mins. Make it into a fine paste together in a grinder along with 1 cup freshly grated coconut, 1 lemon sized ball of tamarind and a pinch of turmeric.

3.Take 1 tbsp oil in a pan and Add 1 finely chopped onion. Fry it till it is translucent and then add the shark pieces.Add 1 cup of water and let the shark pieces cook. This may take around 10 mins on medium flame.

4.When the shark pieces are cooked add the paste. Add salt to taste. Adjust for water depending on how thick you want the gravy.

5. Cook for another 5 mins of medium flame or till the gravy boils.

6. Serve with rice.

This is a very easy dish to cook and the spinach and corn combination is very tasty. Really good for a light meal.






Method

1. Wash 2 cups of basmati rice and keep aside to remove the starchy content.
2. Heat 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp oil in a pressure cooker, add whole garam masalas like 3 cloves, 1 cardamom, 5-6 black peppercorns, 1 inch cinnamon stick and 2 medium sized onions finely chopped and saute till brown. Now add 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste and saute.
3. Add 1 cup of finely chopped spinach and 1/2 cup of sweet corn kernels chopped into 2. 
4. Add 1 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tbsp garam masala powder, 1 tbsp cumin powder and stir for 1 minute.
5. Add drained rice and saute for 2 mins till the masala coats the rice well.
6. Add 5 cups of water. Mix well. Add salt to taste and cover the pressure cooker and cook for 2 whistles or till rice is just well cooked.
7. Garnish with coriander and serve

We had relatives visiting us on Friday and I had to cook after coming back from work and did not have much time. So tried this quick recipe which I had written down in my book but had never tried before. I wasn't very sure how it would taste. But at the cost of sounding immodest, I must tell you that this turned out better than dishes served in restaurants:) 

Method

1. Take a non stick pan and fry 1 grated onion in 1 tbsp oil/butter and saute till brown. I add some salt while sauteing the onions as the salt gets absorbed and the dish tastes better.
2. In the meantime, take a bowl. Add 2 tsp of coriander powder, 2 tsp of chilli powder, 1 tsp garam masala, 2 tsp of kasoori methi powder, puree of  2 tomatoes and half a cup milk and whisk it and leave aside. I add spices always   based on my judgement and my preferred tastes..so you can change this according to your liking.
3. Add 1 tsp of ginger garlic paste to the onion and saute. Now add the above mixture and let it cook on a slow flame for 3-4 mins.
4. Add  250 gms paneer cubes and salt to taste and bring it to one boil. Garnish with coriander and serve with Chappatis. You can add cream if you want but I skipped it.

The video for this recipe can be found here at http://www.vahrehvah.com/Paneer+Butter+Masala:3536. I used fresh onions and fresh tomato puree instead of fried onions and ketchup that the chef is using here.

This is originally a Pakistani recipe. I like the tomato flavor in this dish which makes it different from other chicken dishes. In restaurants, they usually also add capsicum, but  I gave it a miss as I am not a big fan of capsicums :)

Method

1. Marinate 500 gms of boneless chicken with turmeric, chilli powder and salt.
2. Heat 2 tbsp  oil pan. Add 1 large sized grated onion and saute for a minute. Add 5 cloves of garlic, and saute till onion is brown in colour. 
3. Add the chicken and saute well for at least 5 mins.
4. Now pour 3 medium sized grated tomatoes and saute well. Now cover and cook for 20 mins.
5. Remove the lid  and Add 1 tbsp cumin powder, 1 tbsp coriander powder and saute.
6. Now cook for another 10 mins till all the excess liquid evaporates. 
7. Sprinkle 1tbsp ginger juliennes and finely chopped coriander and serve