Chili Fish...quick fix, spicy and tangy

On a month long vacation and while downloading vacation photos found a few photos which I should have posted before taking off…but the lazy me forgot L…sooo, doing so now…the first one of the lot is Chilli Fish…quick fix, spicy and tangy snack or side dish with a typical Indo-Chinese meal…enjoy…will try and post more as and when I can…

Chilli Fish

Ingredients:

• Fish, boneless fillets, 250gms (I used Sole; you can use any firm white fish)
• Oil, 1 tbsp

For the marinade:

• Corn starch, 1 heaped tbsp
• Dark Soy sauce, 1 tbsp
• Pepper, ½ tsp

For the sauce:

• Spring onions/Scallions, white bulb and green tops finely chopped separately, 4
• Fresh ginger, finely chopped, 1 tbsp
• Garlic, finely chopped, 1 tbsp
• Green chillies, finely chopped, 2-3 according to taste
• Light Soy sauce, 2 tbsp
• Tomato ketchup, 3 tbsp
• Red Chilli sauce, 1 tbsp
• Corn starch, 1 tsp mixed in Cold Water, 1/3 cup
• Oil, 1 tbsp

Instructions:

Clean and wash the fish fillets. Pat dry and cut into small pieces.

Add them to a bowl with all ingredients mentioned under marinade. Ensure all fish pieces get coated with the marinade mix. Let it rest for about half an hour.

Over medium high heat, heat 1 tbsp oil in a fry pan. In a single layer, shallow fry the fish pieces till golden brown on both sides. Drain and transfer to a serving plate.

Start with the sauce…

In the same pan, add 1 tbsp oil.

When the pan is nice and hot, toss in the ginger, garlic and green chillies. After about 15-20 seconds, add in the finely chopped white portion of the scallions. Sauté till they go soft.

Add the light soy sauce, tomato ketchup and red chilli sauce. Mix well.

Add in the cornstarch mixed with water to the pan. Stir well and let it come to a boil.

Switch off the heat and toss in the fish. Mix well but with a very light hand so that the fish gets coated with the sauce but doesn’t break.

Serve immediately topped with finely chopped green portion of the scallions.

Notes:

• If you want the fish to be super crispy, make a runny batter with half corn starch and half maida/regular flour, a pinch of baking powder, soy sauce and chilled water. Dip the fish fillets in it and deep fry in hot oil. Pour the sauce over the batter fried fish just before serving.

Falafel...made my way!!

Falafel...of course it is falafel and of course it needs to be deep fried…well, noooo!!!...not if you are obsessive over left over oil and end up frying more and more stuff just so that you can finish all that oil in the pan...and definitely not if you want a hassle free life…soooo, out came my non stick Paniyaram pan/ Appapatram / Dutch Poffertjes Pan/ Danish Æbleskive pan (yes, the same pan I had used for Daler Bora/Red Lentil Fritters)…the only thing you need to take care of is to cook at low flame...do I need to mention that this way uses much less oil?...about 3 tsp for the entire batch J

Falafel

Ingredients:

• Chickpeas, 1cup
• Onion, 1 medium
• Garlic, 2-3 cloves
• Parsley, finely chopped, ¼  cup ( you can use a mix of coriander and parsley or just coriander as well)
• Roasted cumin powder, ½ tsp (simply dry roast/toast the cumin seeds and grind them to use or skip and increase the quantity of regular cumin powder)
• Cumin powder, ½ tsp
• Coriander powder, ½ tsp (optional)
• Red chili powder, ¼ tsp (optional but gives a nice kick! I have added green chilies as well at times with the mix, but that’s just me J)
• Pepper powder, ¼ tsp
• Salt, to taste
• Lemon juice, 2 tbsp
• Olive oil, 1 tbsp
• Maida/ Regular Flour, 2 tbsp
• Oil, for frying

Instructions:

Wash and soak the chickpeas overnight/8-10 hours in cold water. They will double up in size as they soak, so ensure the bowl you use is big enough and there is ample water for soaking.

Drain and rinse the chickpeas well.  

Put the chickpeas into a food processor with the garlic and pulse till you get coarse bread crumbs consistency. Please be careful while doing this and don’t let the chickpeas form into a paste like consistency as then your falafel will have no texture.

And texture is the reason why I separately grate the onion (squeeze out the juice) and finely chop the parsley by hand instead of dumping everything together in the food processor.

Once done, mix everything together in a big mixing bowl. Cover and refrigerate the mix for a couple of hours to let the flavors develop.

Heat the Paniyaram pan on low heat and add a spoonful of the paste into each indent.

Once the falafels start pulling away from the side, add a few drops of oil on the sides of each one. When one side is crisp golden brown and top is set, turn the other side and cook till the other side is also crisp brown

If you are deep frying these: with slightly wet hands, shape into balls in the size you prefer. Test one first to ensure that they don’t break apart. If they do, add a little more flour to the mix. Test again, if it still falls apart, you can add an egg. (see see see, told you my method was so much more hassle free  didn’t I !! J ). Fry on medium heat till golden brown on both sides.

Serve with Hummus and Tzatziki as a snack or stuff in pita pockets with add-ons of your choice

Hummus and Tzatziki recipes are already on the blog here: Hummus recipe  and Tzatziki recipe (I skipped on topping up the hummus with extra olive oil this time and we still loved it J )

Potato and Zucchini pancakes with Feta Cheese served with Tzatziki...Weekday Blues!!

Potato and Zucchini pancakes with Feta Cheese…and let’s not forget Tzatziki…perfect for a weekend brunch or combine with a light salad for a perfect meal to chase away those weekday blues…yes, unlike normal people who just have to deal with Monday Blues, I, the drama queen, choose to extend them forever and call them Weekday Blues

Potato and Zucchini pancakes with Feta Cheese served with Tzatziki

 Ingredients:

For the Pancakes:

• Potatoes, 250 gm
• Zucchini/Courgette, 250 gm
• Fresh Mint or Dill, finely chopped, 2 tbsp (optional)
• Onions, 1 small
• Spring Onions/ Scallions, only green portion finely chopped, 4
• Feta cheese, crumbled, ½ cup
• Maida/Regular all purpose flour, 2 heaped tbsp
• Egg, 1 large
• Salt, to taste
• Pepper, to taste
• Red chili flakes, to taste (optional)
• Oil, for shallow frying

For Tzatziki:

• English/Seedless Cucumber, 1 medium size or use regular cucumber and discard the seeds
• Greek Yogurt, ¾ cup or you can hang normal yogurt for a couple of hours in a muslin cloth and then use that instead, just ensure that it is not too sour
• Fresh dill or mint, finely chopped, 1 tbsp OR Dried dill or mint, ½ tsp
• Garlic, minced, 1-2 cloves
• Lemon juice, 1 tsp
• Salt, to taste
• Pepper, to taste
• Olive oil, 1-2 tbsp (I always skip)

Instructions:

               

Tzatziki:

We need to chill our Tzatziki so start on that first.

Wash, dry and top and tail the cucumber. Using the large holes of a box grater, grate the cucumber. Squeeze out the water completely.

Mix the grated cucumber with rest of the ingredients in a bowl. Taste and adjust seasoning and keep in the refrigerator while you get on with the rest of the recipe.

Pancakes:

Wash, dry and finely chop the green onions. Add to a large mixing bowl.

Crumble the feta cheese and add to the mixing bowl.

If using mint or dill, chop up and add to the mixing bowl.

Using the large holes of a box grater,

• Onion: (peel), grate, squeeze out the water/juice completely and add the pulp to the mixing bowl.
• Zucchini: (Wash, top and tail), grate, squeeze out the water/juice completely and add the pulp to the mixing bowl.
• Potatoes: (wash, peel), grate, squeeze out the water/juice completely and add the pulp to the mixing bowl.

Add in lightly whisked egg, salt, pepper, chili flakes, sprinkle flour over the top and mix everything well together with a fork. Don’t overwork the batter.

Heat 3-4 tbsp of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. The base of the entire skillet should be covered by about 1/8 inch of oil layer so adjust the oil quantity according to the skillet size you are using.

Test the oil by adding a small spoon of the mix to the skillet – if the mix sizzles and bubbles immediately the oil is ready.

Scoop heaping tablespoons of the mix into the skillet for each pancake and flatten lightly with a spatula. (I used a cookie cutter ring to shape this time). 

The thinner you make them the crisper they are – so  about ½” thick if you want them crispy on the outside and gooey inside and ¼” thick if you want them really crispy. 

Fry until golden brown and cooked through about 3-4 minutes per side.Drain on paper towels.

Serve hot with tzatziki.

You can make these in the oven as well: 
Preheat the oven to 220°C. Brush baking sheet liberally with oil. Place the baking sheet in the oven for 10 minutes.  Scoop heaping tablespoons of the mix onto the baking sheet for each pancake and flatten with a spatula you would need to this quickly so that that the baking sheet remains hot. Bake until the pancakes are golden brown on the bottom, about 12-15 minutes. Flip the pancakes and bake until they are brown on the other side, about 8-10 minutes.

               

Notes:

• I hate throwing away the water/juice from the veggies (yes, I am my mom after allJ), so I squeeze the water out by taking small handfuls of the grated veggies and squeezing them over a bowl. Once done, I repeat the squeezing bit again to get them really dry. The onion juice goes into the marinade for chicken/meat, I drink up the zucchini and cucumber juice and the potato juice goes on my face to remove the blemishes that old age is bringing in every day. You can do that whole spread out on a kitchen towel and then wringing over the sink bit – but it will not give you that “I am such a good housewife” feel J

• Keep the peel on the cucumber and zucchini but leaving the peel on or off the potatoes is totally up to you.

• Keep the grating order as written – potatoes last or else don’t blame me if your batter changes colour to a dark dirty brown!

• Using dill or mint is optional but it gives a nice flavor dimension, so would suggest that you try using them at least once. I didn’t this time round as I couldn’t find dill and hubz hates mint. Needless to say if you do decide to add either one of them, add the same thing in the tzatziki as well.

• You can add chopped up spinach instead of zucchini in the pancakes – yummmmm

• Go easy on the salt first as feta is salty – taste and adjust. And please don’t go easy on the pepper!

• If you don’t want to use Feta or don’t have it, you can either skip it or use crumbled or grated Paneer/Indian cottage cheese instead.

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta...shutting out the world!!

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta…when all you want to do is cuddle up with a book and forget about the real world

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta

Ingredients:

• Pasta, of your choice, 100 gms
• Garlic, finely chopped, 1 or 2 cloves
• Onion, chopped, ¼ small
• Red Bell Pepper, 1 large
• Tomato, chopped, ½ large 
• Cream, 2-3 tbsp (less or more according to taste)
• Dried Parsley, ½ tsp
• Chili flakes, to taste (optional)
• Black pepper, to taste
• Salt, to taste
• Olive oil, 1 tbsp
• Butter, 1 tsp
• Fresh parsley to serve

Instructions:

Roast the red pepper in a 220C oven until the skin is black and blistered. Remove and place pepper in a paper bag or cover with kitchen towel. Once the pepper is cool enough to handle and the steam created by the paper bag/kitchen towel has loosened the skin, peel it, remove seeds and chop.

Cook pasta according to package instruction / al dente. Take out about ¼ cup of pasta water and keep aside. Drain the pasta.

While the pasta is cooking, start with the sauce.

In a pan over low heat, sauté garlic and onions in olive oil till soft. Add in the red pepper, tomato and cook for 3-4 minutes. 

Switch off the heat and blend the red pepper mix into a slightly coarse puree in a blender/food processor.

Heat butter in the same pan and tip in the red pepper puree. Add in the reserved pasta water, dried parsley, salt and pepper. 

Let the sauce heat up and then add in the cream. 

Stir well and then add in the drained pasta,

Toss so that the sauce coats the pasta, check for seasoning and done!!

Serve sprinkled with a little fresh parsley on top.

Options: 

• If you want, you can use stock (chicken/veg) instead of pasta water  

• You can add some grilled/roasted cubed chicken to the sauce or serve the sauce on top of some grilled chicken with salad 

• Add some Parmesan cheese 

• Add about a tsp of balsamic vinegar while sautéing the veggies 

• Switch parsley with basil

Pasta with Roasted Yellow Pepper, Tomatoes and Feta...quick lunch/dinner

Pasta with Roasted Yellow Pepper, Tomatoes and Feta…our quick quick lunch yesterday…

Pasta with Roasted Yellow Pepper, Tomatoes and Feta

Ingredients:

• Pasta, of your choice, 100 gms
• Garlic, finely chopped, 1 or 2 cloves
• Yellow pepper, 1 large
• Tomatoes, chopped, ½ large 
• Feta cheese, crumbled, 2 tbsp + 1 tsp
• Chili flakes, ¼ tsp or to taste
• Black pepper, 1/8 tsp or to taste
• Dried Oregano, 1/8 tsp or to taste
• Salt, only if needed to taste
• Lemon juice, about 1 tsp
• Olive oil, 1 tbsp

Instructions:

Roast the yellow pepper in a 220C oven until the skin is black and blistered. Remove and place pepper in a paper bag or cover with kitchen towel. Once the pepper is cool enough to handle and the steam created by the paper bag/kitchen towel has loosened the skin, peel it, remove seeds and chop.

Cook pasta according to package instruction/al dente. Take out about ¼ cup of pasta water and keep aside. Drain the pasta. 

While the pasta is cooking, start with the sauce.

In a pan over low heat, sauté garlic and chili flakes in olive oil till soft. Once the garlic starts to go soft, add tomatoes. 

Let the tomatoes go soft and crush them lightly to break the skin. 

Add the chopped up pepper, cooked pasta, pasta water, and chunks of feta cheese to the pan. Add a squeeze of lemon juice over top, season with oregano, salt and pepper, and toss everything well together. 

Check for seasoning, sprinkle with about a teaspoon of feta on top and serve.

Notes:

• Since Feta is quite salty, do be a little careful while adding salt.

• And also remember, to match the size of the veggies with the size of your pasta…chop/slice accordingly

Mutton Pepper Fry...real food!!

Mutton Pepper Fry…this post is for someone who thinks that I eat way too much chicken and not enough real food!!

Mutton Pepper Fry

Ingredients:

• Mutton/Goat Meat or Lamb, boneless and cut into small pieces, 500 gm
• Coriander powder, 3 tsp
• Chili powder, 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder, ½   tsp
• Salt, to taste
• Water, about 2 ½ cups
• Onions, sliced finely, 3
• Garlic, sliced finely, 4-5 cloves
• Curry leaves, a handful
• Black peppercorns, coarsely crushed, 1- 1 ½ tbsp
• Oil, 2 tbsp

For the spice mix:

• Green cardamoms, 4
• Cloves, 4
• Cinnamon, 1” stick

Instructions:

Wash and clean the mutton.  Boil till tender with coriander powder, chili powder, turmeric powder and salt – about 20-25 minutes. You should be left with about ¼ cup liquid to be used later.

While the mutton is cooking, light dry roast and then finely grind the green cardamoms, cloves and cinnamon. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a wok/kadhai or a pan.

Add in the onions and let them fry till they start turning golden brown.

Add in the garlic, curry leaves and fry for a couple of minutes till garlic gets soft.

Now add in the crushed peppercorns and the mutton with the liquid. Sauté for 2-3 minutes over low heat.

Add in the spice powder, mix and let meat cook for a further 4-5 minutes until all the water dries up and meat is browned.

Check and adjust for seasoning. Done!

Option: you can add in some tomatoes if you want...increase the oil by 1 tbsp.  Use 2 finely diced onions and when they soft, add in 3 finely chopped tomatoes. Let the tomatoes go mushy and release oil before adding mutton. This will give you nice smooth thick gravy.

Meen Molee/Fish Molee/Kerala style fish curry cooked with coconut milk ...Annie's Song!!!

Meen Molee/Fish Molee (Kerala style fish curry cooked with coconut milk)…am not very confident making fish curries but this is one of those that I love to make since I have never messed it up J (till now)…Annie, thank you for the recipe J

Meen Molee/Fish Molee (Kerala style Fish curry cooked with Coconut Milk)

Ingredients:

• Fish fillets,  (preferably white fleshed) cut into small pieces, 250 gms  ( I have made and eaten this with Seer (King Fish), Rohu (Carp), Rawas (Indian Salmon) , Pomfret and Sole...my friend Mo has made it with Red Snapper and swears by it )
• Fresh Ginger, grated/paste, 1 tsp
• garlic, grated/paste, 1 clove
• Pearl onions, thinly sliced, ½ cup ( you can use normal onions as well)
• Black peppercorns, coarsely crushed, ½ tsp  
• Curry leaves, 10-12
• Green chilies, slit, 2-3  ( remove seeds from half or all of them if you want)
• Tomato, cut into 5 wedges, 1 medium size
• Coconut milk, thin, ¾ cup *refer to notes
• Coconut milk, thick, ¼ cup *refer to notes
• Turmeric powder, ¼ tsp
• Salt, to taste
• Coconut Oil, 1 tsp + 1 tsp (if you don’t have coconut oil, use any white flavorless oil) 

For marinating:

• Salt, ¼ tsp
• Turmeric powder, ¼ tsp
• Lemon juice, 1 tsp

Instructions:

Wash, clean the fish and pat dry. Marinate the fish with marinade ingredients listed above for 10-15 minutes.

Heat oil in a pan and lightly fry marinated fish pieces on a medium heat. Remove and keep aside.

Heat the remaining oil in the same pan. Add ginger, garlic and fry for 10-15 seconds.

Add in the onions, green chilies, curry leaves and sauté till onions become soft and translucent.

Add in the turmeric and pepper and fry for 15-20 seconds till the raw smell of the turmeric goes away.

Now add in the thin coconut milk, mix well and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Slide in the fried fish and tomato wedges. Cover and cook the fish – since the fish is already half done while frying, it only needs to be cooked for 2-3 minutes.

Pour in the thick coconut milk and salt – carefully stir or just swirl the pan to mix in the coconut milk. You don’t want to break the fish or mush up the tomatoes by stirring too much.

Let is cook for another couple of minutes and done!

Notes:

• I use coconut milk powder as it is easy to adjust consistency per your requirement. 

• If you are using canned milk, keep the can in the refrigerator for a few hours – remove and open it without shaking too much. The layer formed on top will be thick milk/cream and the layer on bottom will be thin milk. 

• If you want to make it from fresh coconut – use grated or chopped coconut and blend it with double the amount of warm water to a smooth runny mixture. Sieve and squeeze through a muslin cloth – this is your first extract a.k.a. thick coconut milk. Blend the remaining coconut mixture with equal amount of warm water. Sieve and squeeze through a muslin cloth again – this is your second extract a.k.a. thin coconut milk. 

• You can make coconut milk with unsweetened, dried coconut as well – same process as with fresh grated coconut. 

• I prefer using coconut milk powder for curries because with it I have never faced the typical issue of coconut milk splitting while making the curry.The other option is not let the milk boil but only gently simmer to avoid it from splitting.

Bhaja Muger Dal/ Bengali Roasted Mung (Moong) Lentils...lunch is served!!

Bhaja Muger Dal/ Bengali Roasted Mung Dal…I have never been able to say no to the call of ‘more dal?’...ever…this roasted nutty dal is no exception…Two bowls and my lunch was done J (you of course can have it with dal/rice, veggies, salad and fried fish or chicken fry)

Bhaja Muger Dal (Bengali Roasted Mung Dal)

Ingredients:

• Mung Dhuli Dal/ Split Yellow Skinless Mung, 1 cup
• Water, 2 ½ cups (more or less according to the consistency you want)
• Salt, to taste
• Turmeric, ½ tsp
• Bayleaf, 1
• Sugar, abt ¼ to ½ tsp (optional, I normally skip)

For tadka/tempering:

• Desi ghee (clarified butter) or Oil, 1 tbsp
• Bayleaf, 1
• Cumin seeds, ½ tsp
• Garlic, finely chopped, 2 cloves
• Onion, finely chopped, 1 medium
• Fresh (or Frozen) Green peas, ¾ cup or to taste or you can skip this completely
• Bengali Garam Masala, about ¼ tsp (equal amount of green cardamoms, cloves and cinnamon)
• Green chilies, stems removed and slit, 2
• Fresh green Coriander, for garnishing

Instructions:

Dry roast the dal in a pan over medium heat, stirring continuously till it changes colour to golden to pale brown – some of the mung will be darker than the others and that is okay as long as they don’t burn!! The roasted dal will smell nutty...don’t try and multitask while roasting the dal...it can go from that perfect golden to burnt in the blink of an eye (yes, talking from experience!!)

Switch off the heat and spread the dal out on a plate or a bowl. Let it cool down completely and then wash the dal till water runs clear.

Drain the water well in a colander. Use fresh water for cooking and cook the dal with bayleaf, salt and turmeric till tender but still whole (should not turn mushy). 

If using sugar, add sugar to the dal once it is tender and you have switched off the heat.

In a pan, heat ghee. Add bayleaf, cumin, garlic and onions.

Fry till onions go soft and then toss in the green peas. Mix well and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add in the cooked dal and let it cook till peas are done.

Add in the green chilies and sprinkle garam masala. 

Stir and serve topped with some more ghee if you want.

Options:

• Replace garlic with ginger
• Add both garlic and ginger
• Add in some tomatoes
• Replace chopped onions with whole pearl onions – cooked till they start breaking up
• Add in some grated coconut while boiling the dal and just before serving top with some grated and fried coconut
• Use mustard oil for tempering and then use ghee just for topping
• Make a paste with bayleaf and water and use that in tempering
• Instead of garam masala powder, sprinkle with roasted and powdered cumin seeds.

From my notes section of  Mung Dhuli Dal:

Not a class on dals/pulses/lentils but just wanted to ensure you know which dal I was talking about – it is the first one (yellow in colour). 

Rogan Josh/ Lamb in red gravy (Kahmiri Pandit style)…Colour me Red!!!

Rogan Josh (Lamb in red gravy)-Kashmiri Pandit style…specifying which style as there are innumerable versions of this dish: Kashmiri Pandit, Wazwaan, Pakistani, Persian, North Indian and even British! J...every style of cooking has varying ingredients and ways of cooking…this is my version, adapted over the last of couple of years and finally settled on with a combination of the recipes from Sarla Razdan’s book Kashmiri Cuisine and Anshie Dhar’s blog Spiceroots

Rogan Josh (Lamb in red gravy)-Kashmiri Pandit style

Ingredients:

• Lamb/ Mutton (Goat meat), on the bone, preferably from the leg, 500 gms (or boneless 750 gms)
• Hing/Asafoetida, ¼ tsp
• Cloves, 3-4
• Black cardamom, 1, crushed
• Cinnamon, 1” piece
• Plain Yogurt/Dahi, ¼ cup
• Kashmiri Red Chili Powder, 2 tsp (this is what gives the curry its red colour)
• Sonth/Dry Ginger powder, ¾ tsp
• Saunf/Fennel powder, 1 ½ tsp
• Salt, to taste
• Green Cardamom, 2, crushed
• Cumin powder, 1 tsp
• Mustard Oil, ¼ cup (or use ghee…if any of these two are not an option for you, use any flavor less oil of your choice)
• Water, 2-3 tablespoons + 1 cup + more boiling water if needed

Instructions:

Kashmiri Rogan Josh is typically made with Lamb meat but that is tough  to source here so I substitute with Mutton i.e. goat meat. Ideally should be made with pieces on the bone as meat on the bone adds flavor to the curry but if boneless is what you prefer, please go ahead and use that.

Wash and clean the meat. Squeeze out the water completely and then pat dry the mutton pieces with paper towels. (there are people who say one should never wash the meat but just wipe it with a soft wet cloth but I have always seen everyone at home washing and cleaning the meat and hence so do I…go with what you think best, just make sure  that the meat is dry before you start cooking)

Whisk the yogurt well and ensure it is at room temperature.

Heat oil in a wide heavy bottom pan. (if using mustard oil, please do smoke and then cool the oil first; if using ghee or any other oil , please don’t let it smoke). 

Add asafoetida, cloves, black cardamom and cinnamon. Let the spices sizzle and flavour the oil for about 10-15 seconds. Increase the heat to high and add in the meat. We need to let the meat brown on all sides – don’t stir around too much, let it brown on one side for 2-3 minutes before flipping it over to brown on the other side.

Once the meat is nice and brown on all sides, lower the heat and add the yogurt. Mix and stir well till the yogurt almost evaporates.

Add the Kashmiri chili powder and stir so that the chili powder coats the meat. Add 2-3 tablespoons of water to prevent the chilies from burning (all this, still at low flame)

Once the oil starts to separate, add dry ginger powder and fennel seed powder. Stir well and add a cup of water.

Increase the heat and let the water come to a boil. Once it boils, add salt and lower the heat again.

Cover and cook on low flame till the meat is tender and you can see a layer of oil separated from the gravy.Cooking time will depend on the quality of the meat – for the meat that we get here, takes about an hour for meat on the bone and about half an hour for boneless meat. 

Do remember to stir occasionally to ensure the spices don’t stick to the bottom of the pan. And when you open the cover to give a stir, add some hot boiling water if you think it is getting too dry.

Add the crushed green cardamoms and cumin powder, mix well. Let it simmer for a couple of minutes.

If you can, let it rest for a couple of hours before serving

Serve with steamed rice.