Coimbatore to Srinagar - Ninth Stop - Pathankot - Punjabi Mutton Curry

This virtual journey continued to its ninth stop in Pathankot, Punjab. If the recipes look familiar to US Indian restaurant eaters, it is because most of the food available in most Indian restaurants is from this Indian state - Punjab. The restaurants always mix it up a bit but adding a lot of butter, cream and stuff which makes it a lot richer than the way most people cook on an every body basis.

This Punjabi mutton curry made just the perfect meal for a Sunday. Delectable and a nap is called for after enjoying it. Pretty easy to make. Depending on the quality of the goat meat, cook the goat before proceeding with the recipe. If the goat is delicate and cooks easily, proceed with precooking.
The recipe is based off of this recipe, link here.

Mutton pieces mixed with turmeric powder. Cooked curry.

Punjabi Mutton Curry
Preparation Time:20 minutes
Cooking Time:30 minutes
Ingredients

1. 2 lbs Mutton Curry (used rib meat cut into riblets)
2. 2 cups of chopped onion
3. 4 garlic cloves grated or chopped fine
4. 2 tbsp coriander powder
5. 2 inch piece of ginger grated
6. 1 cup of tomatoes chopped
7. 1/2 cup of yogurt
8. 2 tbsp corianader powder
9. 1/2 tbsp chili powder
Whole Spices
10. 1/2 tsp pepper corns
11. a small piece of cinnamon
12. few cloves
13. a couple of cardamoms
14. 1 tbsp oil
15. 1 tsp garam masala
16. salt to taste

Method

1. Take the mutton in a pressure and cook for 4-6 sounds. You can skip this step and cook the mutton on the stove top if you like or pressure after all the spices and onion have been sauteed.
2. In a pressure cooker heat oil and when hot add the spices followed by the onions. Let the onions get nice and brown.
3. Next add the grated ginger and garlic and saute till the raw smell is gone. Do this on low heat so as not to burn the ginger.
4. Now add in the coriander powder and chili powder and mix it well.
5. Add the tomatoes and cook till it is mushy and the oil separats from the mixture.
6. Add teh cooked mutton pieces into the masala mixture and cook for 3-4 minutes till it is well coated.
7. Reduce the heat whisk the yogurt to smooth and add to the mutton along with salt and cook for another 5-10 minutes. If you did not precook the mutton, you have to cook the mutton for 25 minutes or so for it to be well cooked.
8. Add the garam masala powder and coriande leaves and turn off the heat.

Serve with naan or rice. Tastes so good.

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Coimbatore - Srinaga - Eighth Stop - Bathinda- Amritsari Fish

If you want to know what this Coimbatore - Srinagar, is all about, start here. The group is still going strong with their walking/running routine. The complaint that most people have for lack of exercise and sometimes even cooking and eating proper foods is that there is no time. While this is partially true, having time or not having is mostly in our hands isn't? While it might look like there are a lot people whose jobs do not give them the flexibility to take time away from their desks, but with a little planning and will power I certainly think regular exercise and proper eating can fit into a schedule.

There are many benefits to exercising with a buddy or a group. There is a group to keep you motivated and you feel responsible for not letting the group down ensures that you get up and exercise daily. While social media and WhatsApp create a lot of social problems, there are definitely benefits when used for purposes like this.

What has worked for me is to get out to exercise very early in the morning. If I postpoe it, the rest of the day's activites take over and it is kind of hard to get motivated. So finding the right time is the first step.

In that journey, the next stop was Bathinda and the dish they chose to make was Amritsari Fish. Ingredients are very similar to making a bonda/bajji was my first thought. Personally I would have replaced besan with just 1/4 the quantity with corn flour to make it lighter. There was no deficiency in taste though, it was pretty delicious but slightly on the heavier side in the stomach.

We used monk fish but any firm fleshed fish will work. I avoid using Tilapia because it is not as flavorful and most of the time the fish is farmed in ways that don't feel right to me but choose the fish as per your preference.

The recipe is based off of this recipe.
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Mix the fish into the masala and get it well coated. Heat oil and start frying in batches.
Remove when golden brown and drain.

Amritsari Fish
Preparation Time:20 minutes
Cooking Time:20 minutes
Ingredients

1. 1 1/2 lbs Monk Fish
2. 1 cup besan (substitute wiht 1/4 corn starch for a lighter coating)
3. 1 tbsp red chili powder
4. 1/2 tsp ajwain (omam) powder
5. 2 tbsp of ginger & garlic paste
6. 1 lime/lemon
7. salt to taste
8. Oil for deep frying

Method

1. Cut the fish into bite sized pieces. Wash and
2. Mix together all the ingredients other than the oil, lemon juice and fish with a hand whisk.
3. Now squeeze the lime juice, break the egg, whisk it together, add the fish and let the pieces be coated.
4. Heat oil in a kadai/wok and add the fish, 3-4 at a time. Let it cook till it becomes golden brown.
5. Remove and drain in a colander. Line with paper towels if needed.

Serve with wedges of lime.

It is a fantastic appetizer. Or can be a side dish for a rice dish. Like what you are reading? Subscribe!

Coimbatore to Srinagar - Seventh Stop - Jaipur - Rajathani Layered Veg Biryani - Jodhpuri Kabuli Recipe

The next stop on the virtual journey was in the beautiful city of Jaipur. Rajasthan - the culture, the foods, the architecture, the harsh conditions in which people live all make the place utterly fascinating. I am so glad that DH set out on this journey. The Indian culinary portfolio is so vast that is almost impossible to cover everything in one life time.

While I have barely scratched the surface of Kongu Foods and Tamilnadu foods so it is absolutely impossible to travel around India and even begin to master the recipes from the rest of India. But I think we are fortunate to have this array of delicacies - from the rustic to the sophisticated to enjoy from various parts of India.

The ingredients are all familiar but the manner in which they are combined and cooked is what makes them specialities of a region. Take this recipe for example, all familiar ingredients but the way it is put together is very different making it familiar but yet different tasting.

DH cooked the dish from this blog VegeCravings here. The recipe consists of cooking the rice, shallow frying the vegetables followed by cooking them in a yogurt based gravy and then layering and cooking it. Makes it a meal fit for the maharajahs :)

Recipe in pictures,

Vegetables that are used in the recipe.
Spices and shallow frying the vegetables.
Steam the rice and complete the shallow frying of the vegetables.
Steam the rice and complete the shallow frying of the vegetables.
Prepare the gravy for the vegetables and start layering.
Finish the layering.

There are several different steps to making this recipe, some of these can be done side by side. Although the ingredient list looks very elaborate, it is fairly straight forward.

Rajasthani Layered Veg Biryani
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients

1. 2 cups of rice
2. 1 cup of yogurt
3. 1 cup of sliced onions
4. 1/2 cup of tomatoes
5. 4 garlic cloves
6. 2 inch piece of ginger
7. 2-3 green chilies
8. salt to taste
9. 2-3 tbsp of oil
10. 2 tbsp ghee
11. 2 potatoes
12. 2-3 carrots
13. 1/2 medium cauliflower
14. 1/2 cup of peas
15. 2 slices of bread - diced into cubes
16. 1/4 cup of cashews
17. seasonings: bay leaves and 1 tsp cumin seeds
Whole Spices
18. 1 tsp pepper corns
19. 2-3 cardamoms
20. 3-4 cloves
21. a small 1 inch piece of cinnamon
Spice Powders
22. 1 tsp of turmeric powder
23. 2 tsp coriander powder
24. 2 tsp red chili powder

Method

1. Wash and cook the rice till it is almost cooked, fluff it up and set it aside.
2. Cut and prepare the vegetables, slice the potatoes into rounds, dice the carrots and chop the cauliflower.
3. Slice the onions, peel and mince the ginger, garlic and green chilies.
4. Coarsely grind the whole spices and set aside.
5. Heat a pan with the ghee and roast the cashews and set aside.
6. Add a bit of oil to the ghee, roast the potatoes till it starts to turn brown and set aside. (control the instinct to eat all the roasted potatoes)
7. Add the diced carrots and roast them and set aside, followed by the cauliflower, roast it and set aside.
8. Add the diced bread and roast it and set aside.
9. In the same pan add the bay leaves, cumin seeds and when browned add the onions and saute till they are browned.
10. Add the minced ginger, garlic and green chilies and saute them for 2-3 minutes.
11. Add the spice powders,salt and the coarsely ground spices and mix it well.
12. Add the whisked yogurt and add it to the spices and mix it well.
13. Add the roasted vegetables and mix it into the yogurt sauce. Cook for 2-3 minutes and set aside.
14. Now on to layering the dish,
15. Add a layer of cooked rice to a baked dish, followed by a layer of the yogurt gravy with vegetables.
16. Add another layer of rice and gravy. Now top the gravy with coriander leaves, choppe onions, tomatoes and cashews.
17. Preheat the oven to 325F, and bake for about 10 minutes till heated through.
Mix and serve.

A fantasitc dish if you ask me. Serve with some raita. Like what you are reading? Subscribe!

Coimbatore to Srinagar - Sixth Stop - Kota (Contd.) - Rajasthani Missi Roti

If you want to follow along the virtual journey from Coimbatore to Srinagar through exercise and of course food that is tasted along the way virtually of coure, click here.

If you are not used to eating this much besan and to avoid flatulence problems don't combine Gatte Ki Subzi with Missi Roti we were told but DH was not ready for separating them :) so we had them together and we none the worse for it.

One of the best Sunday meals we had. Pretty easy to make if you ignore the irregular shapes.

Rajasthani Missi Roti
Preparation Time:20 minutes
Cooking Time:20 minutes
Ingredients

1. 1 1/2 cups of Wheat flour
2. 1 tsp Red chili powder
3. 1 1/2 cups of Besan /Kadalai Maavu
4. 1 tsp coriander powder
5. 3 tbsp Ghee / oil
6. 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
7. 1 tsp salt
8. 1/2 tsp Ajwain (omam) powder

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients together sprinkling a little bit of water to make a stiff dough.
2. Taking small portions, roll them out into thin discs and cook on a griddle till cooked on both sides. Apply a little bit of oil if needed.

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Coimbatore to Srinagar - Sixth Stop - Kota - Gatte Subzi

The next stop in the virtual journey was a stop in Kota, Rajasthan. I always had a fascination for Rajasthan, the landscape, the beautiful pink buildings, the indomitable spirit of the people and of course the cuisine. So hats off to DH for jumping in and making it while I procrastinated.

2020 has taught us a lot of things. One big lesson is that we are all connected together and need to live in harmony. I use WhatsApp a lot, but have never been a fan of it because of the amount of time it seems to suck out of the day. But this year I have been thankful for it and making it easy to meet and do activities virtually. The exercise club has been going good so has the cooking.

This recipe was presented to the running club by one of their members. Rajasthani cuisine uses a lot of besan and beans in their cooking because of the absence of fresh vegetables. The one reason I have been avoiding cooking a lot of these very tasty dishes is because of the lack of interest in using besan. But this Gatte Subzi was delicious and for meat lovers who want the texture of meat in a vegetarian dish, this is it.

Gatte is the cylinder shaped dough that is made with besan. Use of spices help to elevate the taste of besan which does not have a taste on its own.

The recipe in pictures,

Prepare the gatte rolls and get the onions ready for the curry.
Saute the onions and add the masala paste.
Add the whisked yogurt followed by the gatte. Cook for 5 minutes till the gatte heats through.

Serve with bread of choice. We had it with Missi Roti also from Rajasthan (coming up next).

Gatte Ki Subzi
Preparation Time:25 minutes
Cooking Time:30 minutes
Ingredients

For the Gatte / for the Besan Rolls
1. 6 tbsp Besan (Kadalai Maavu)
2. 1 tsp red chili powder
3. 6 tsp Oil
4. 1/2 tsp powdered ajwain (omam)
5. salt to taste
For Curry / Gravy
6. 1 big Onion
7. 1 tbsp finely chopped Garlic
8. 1 cup Curd
9. 1 tsp cumin
10. 1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder
11. 2 tsp Kashmiri Red Chilly Powder
12. 1 tsp Garam Masala
13. 1 tsp Coriander Powder
14. 1 tsp Kasoori Methi (Dried Fenugreek Leaves)
15. 1 tsp red Chili Powder
16. 1 tbsp Coriander Leaves
17. salt to taste

Method

1. In a sauce pan set 2 cups of water to boil.
2. Meanwhile mix together all the ingredients under the gatta section without adding any water till a crumbly dough is formed.
3. Now sprinkle water a little at a time and knead to a medium stiff dough. Be careful while kneading with water. Dough should not be very soft otherwise the gatta will break when boiling.
4. Make 5-6 thin long logs out of this dough. Rub oil in your palms while preparing the gatta logs.
5. The water should be boiling hot at this point, put the logs one by one in boiling water and cook for 10-12 minutes. The gattas will float to the top they will start floating up and will have bubbles on the surface.
6. Insert knife into the gatta and if it comes clean the gatte are cooked. Take them out of the water and save the water for gravy.
7. Once the gattas have cooled cut into 1 inch pieces and keep them aside.
To make the curry / gravy :
8. In a bowl take 1 tablespoon of water, kashmiri red chili powder, turmeric and coriander powder. Mix well and keep aside for 10 mins.
9. Chop the onion and garlic into fine pieces. Beat the yogurt till it is smooth.
10. In a wide mouthed pan - kadai, heat oil or ghee if using, when hot add the cumin seeds.
11. When the cumin starts to turn color add chopped onion and garlic.
12. Saute till the onion turns light brown.
13. Now add in the soaked masalas and cook till the oil separates.
14. At this stage lower the heat and add the beaten curd. Now increase the heat and cook till the white specs of the curd disappear completely while constantly stirring. This will take about about 5-7 minutes.
15. Now add the chopped gattas and mix well along with salt and garam masala.
16. Cook on medium flame for 5 mins for the gattas to soak some flavors.
17. Add the water reserved from cooking the gattas, cover and cook for 5 minutes till the gattas are well cooked.
18. Lightly crush the kasoori methi and add it along with chopped corriander leaves.

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