There is a big green house....Daab Chingri

This dish almost seems like an extension of the riddle one learnt as a child. There is a big green house, inside it there is a big brown house, inside the big brown house there is a big white house and right in the middle there is a pool. The answer is " (Tender) Coconut". Replace the pool with some succulent marinated prawns, bake them for an hour. Voila! your dish is done.

I am super duper excited today. So much so that I have started writing the post even before the verdict is out. Making Daab Chingri(Prawns cooked in tender coconut shell) has been on my wish list for a while now. It looks and sounds so exotic.

With an ingredient list that sounds deceptively similar to of 'mustard prawn' it can't possibly taste very different( vetted by personal experience). However this is one dish where the journey is undoubtedly more enjoyable than the dish itself. There is a lot of excitement around preparing it. Even the staged photo shoot lasts much longer.

The prep work starts with hunting for " Tender coconut". Not as easily available post the scorching summer. Not always available at the neighborhood vegetable shops, typically the push- cart seller carries it. And then you have to get the vendor to scrape the top( this allows the heat in) , make a cut on top and slice a little bit from the bottom to help the tender coconut balance itself( for an extra fee of course). Drink the coconut water- you could save a little to add to the marinade- save the shell for the dish that follows.

Daab Chingri

Ingredients
Tender Coconut: Choose one that will fit into your oven.

Medium Sized Prawns: 1 kg, de-shelled and de-veined

Mustard Paste: 2 tbsp(my family likes the pungent taste of mustard, you could reduce the quantity to 1 tbsp)

Ginger Paste: 1 tbsp

Garlic Paste: 1 tbsp

Grated coconut: 1 small bowl(2/3 tbsp)

Onions: 2/3, sliced fine

Green chillies: 2/3, slit till halfway

Salt: To taste

Turmeric: 1 tsp

Mustard Oil: 2/3 tbsp

Wheat flour dough: To seal the top

Kalonji: For decoration

Method

It is a simple one step dish

• Mix all the ingredients together. Let them stand for a while
• Scrape the top of the tender coconut. Cut out the top(retain it as you need it later).
• Stuff the prawn marinade into the tender coconut, do not pack it tight.
• Put the lid back, seal with dough to make it airtight. Decorate with some kalonji- contrasts well with the off white dough and adds to the visual appeal.
• Bake in the oven for close to an hour at 180 degree centigrade
• Serve hot with steamed rice

The prawns have been baking for close to forty five minutes now. The tender coconut shell has turned dark brown. The dough sealing top has dried up and tightened around the top. Fifteen more minutes to go. Table has been set. Rice is done. So baited breath it is.

Just sampled the dish. Really succulent, juicy prawns with a hint of tender coconut. Went well with the otherwise simple meal of rice and daal. Plan to try a variation where I reduce the quantity of mustard and add some tender coconut to enhance the flavour.

This is one of those dishes when placed in front of guests makes them first gasp and then go Wow!

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!

Inspired by the Masters......Chicken Exotica

I am really, really excited as I write this post. Just minutes after having eaten the dish. It came out so well and everybody loved it. That it was something completely new, different and "my own" made dinner even more enjoyable.

So where do the Masters come in. Well, some parts of this dish are inspired by Master Chef Australia. Like co-food blogger, Knife, I don't like 'Reality food shows" where participants spend more time running between the pantry and their work stations than actually cooking. And your focus as you watch the show is to pray that your favorite contestant finishes on time, almost never on what he/she has cooked. But yes, as I watch them cook and between those pressure tests some combinations seem interesting. And then of course there are master classes where the dishes look "gorgeous" but a little too complex for everyday cooking. It was in one such show that I watched one of the judges try an onion, saffron and star anise combination. That has been the starting point of tonight's dinner. I typically use saffron either to make Biryani or in my desserts. Similarly Star anise gets restricted to Thai cooking. I felt inspired to combine the two seeming varied flavors with chicken and make a 'continetal' dish with them. The rest of the ingredients just got added on as I started cooking. Just be led by your senses and you cannot go wrong with your cooking.

Chicken Exotica( this dish looks really exotic)

Ingredients

'Chicken: 8/10 pieces

Vegetables: About 2 cups, 2 carrots and maybe 10/12 beans, cut into 1 inch long pieces

Spaghetti: I just grabbed a fistful( that is all that was left in the packet)

Onions: 5/6 large onions, cut into roundels

Star Anise: 2/3

Saffron: a pinch

Toasted sesame seeds: 1 tbsp

Chilli flakes: 1 tsp

Salt: to taste

Olive oil: 3/4 tbsps

Method

• Marinate the chicken with some lime juice and salt for about an hour.
• Heat the olive oil in the pan and add the saffron, star anise, saffron and a little bit of salt to it. Cook covered on low flame till the onions looks brown( should take about 30 minutes or so- keep checking as you cook). Remove onto a baking dish. Layer the dish with the onions. Leave the excess oil in the wok.
• Add the chicken to the pan, cook on high flame for about 5 minutes, add the sesame seeds and chilli flakes. Saute and transfer to the baking dish. Layer over the onions. Bake at 200 degrees for about 30 minutes.
• As your chicken is baking, boil spaghetti with some salt and olive oil. Once done, drain. You could add the vegetables to the spaghetti after it is half cooked or blanch the vegtables separately. Toss the vegetables and spaghetti into the same wok and toss for a couple of minutes so that it gets coated with the oil and spice, add some more of the tosted sesame to it.
• Finally, plating it all together. Make a little nest with the spaghetti and vegetable combine. Place some pieces of chicken on it. Spoon the onions over the chicken.
• Serve immediately.
• Verdict: Delicious!

This dish has such an unusual taste. The onions have a "meaty" flavor to them and cooking the chicken along with it makes the pieces really succulent. The chicken would also go well with some buttered toast or garlic bread.

Cheers to the fusion of flavors.

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!

Tales from the coast....Prawn curry

Most people love prawns unless they are allergic to them. Whether boiled, sauted, grilled, baked, fried, stewed, curried this versatile fish( actually crustacean) tastes good in all forms. The only tip to remember is to never overcook them. Then they get all hard, dry and rubbery. So just toss them in, wait for the color to change and out they go. If adding straight into the gravy, add during the final stages of cooking. Some recipes call for them to be cooked with their shell. While this gets a little messy to eat once you have managed to get beyond the top layer there is some flavorsome, soft flesh beneath.

Being from the coast, prawn were quite popular in our household and cooked with regular frequency. Mom tried several versions too- chilly prawns- stir fry the prawns with some soya, vinegar, bell pepper, chillies, onion, garlic and tomatoes to a succulent finish. Yumm!

And then of course Prawns in a mustard base, prawns in a coconut gravy. Actually prawns lend themselves quite easily to all kinds of cuisine- toss a handful into pasta, fry them with some butter and pepper, cook them with some rice and veggies for a most delicious pulao, add them to your salads for flavor, body and taste. You can do just about anything with prawns.

We cooked a more basic version for lunch today. Quite easy to prepare, just stir together a few basic ingredients and you are done. Delicious.

Prawn Curry

Serves: 6

Ingredients

Prawn: 250 grams, medium sized

Onion: 2, finely chopped

Garlic: 4/5 pods, finely chopped

Ginger: 1 inch, grated

Green cardamom: 3

Cinnamon: 2 inch sticks

Bay leaves: 2

Jeera/cumin seeds: 1 tsp

Tomato: 2, finely chopped

Potato: 2, cubed( ideally the same size as the prawns)

Ghee: 1 tsp

Mustard oil: 2/3 tbsp

Green chillies: 2

Cumin/Jeera powder: 1.5 tsp

Corriander/Dhania powder: 1 tsp

Chilli powder: 1 tsp

Turmeric powder: 1 tsp

Method

• Heat the oil in a wok/kadai till it starts to smoke.
• Add the prawns( to which some turmeric and salt has been added), saute for a few minutes. Remember not to overcook them. Remove.
• Into the same wok add the cumin seeds, bay leaves, onion, garlic and saute for a few minutes. Add cardamom and cinnamon sticks.
• Add the cubed potatoes and cook.
• Next, mix the grated ginger and dry spices( cumin, corriander, turmeric and chilli powder) with a little bit of water and add it to the wok. Add the tomatoes and cook till the tomatoes soften.
• Add some warm water( about a cup or two) and let the gravy come to a boil. Add the prawn and let them cook for about 5/7 minutes or so. Add the slit green chillies. Check the salt and add more if necessary.
• Finish off with some ghee.
• Serve hot with plain steamed rice.

A very simple meal that leaves you feeling satiated- that I think is the power of simplicity.

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!

From the land of butter and cream....Presenting Daal Makhni

I have never used as much butter and cream in one dish. Those of you who have read my earlier posts would have noticed that most of the dishes I write about are either low oil or no oil. Ironically this post(laden with butter and cream) follows the " Freedom from oil" post.

Well, in a weak moment I agreed to make " Daal Makhni" for sonny dear. In fact he played it out quite well, " Mom, you never make anything "rich"(emotional pressure), R's mother makes really nice Daal Makhni and Paneer Butter Masala(read come on Mom you ought to be the best)". That did it. Over the next few days I began my search for easy to prepare and authentic Punjabi recipes. Decided to start with Daal Makhni. Daal is considered a low involvement, low skill dish in most part of the country. Serves as an accompaniment and often passed over for other more interesting food . But in the North and for people from Punjab it is main course, staple food- Chole Kulche, Rajma Chawal, Tandoori Roti and Daal Makhni are popular combinations. There is a lot of painstaking effort that goes into making the perfect daal. Cooked on slow fire for hours, simmering brings out the flavor of the daals. So no quick pressure cooking and tempering.

This is As's( a true blue Punjabi) recipe. Her instructions were very precise and easy to follow. She also simplifies the steps which makes it easy for somebody making the dish for the first time. I think the best tip she gave me was to pick up " Roopak's Daal Makhni" masala. Roopak Masalas are easily available in most supermarkets in Delhi. I have used their Oregano seasoning, Dahi bhalla Masala, Biryani Masala. Thank God! for blended masalas, easy to replicate the taste each time. And like one of the ad says ' helps Mrs. Chawla make her Sambhar as good as Mrs. Reddy's'.

I love the concept of trying out food from different parts of the country/World. A global kitchen which is literally a melting pot of recipes, fusion food. Just thinking about it is exciting. And yes, the opportunity to make something new, different each day and for each meal. Wow! I was so excited about making this dish that I made it on a 'weekday' morning. Slow cooking does allow you to go about your chores as the dish cooks.

Daal Makhni( Serves 6/8)

Ingredients

Saboot Urad Daal: 1 cup

Rajma Daal: 1 handful

Tomato Puree: 10/12 tbsp

Garam Masala: 1tsp

Cream: 1 cup

Daal Makhni Masala: 3 heaped tsp

Butter: 2 tbsp

Refined oil: 1 tsp

Garam Masala: 1 tsp

Method

• Soak the daal overnight in 8 cups of water.
• Pressure cook the daal with 8 cups of water and salt to taste( this daal cooks for much longer than regular daals so do ensure you have added enough water else you risk burning it).
• Let the cooker give out one whistle and then cook on low flame for 40 minutes. Keep aside and let the cooker cool down on its own.
• Take a kadai/wok and heat the oil. Next add the tomato puree and cook for 10/15 minutes.
• Mix the daal makhni masala in about half a cup of water and add it to the tomato puree. Cook for another ten minutes. Add butter
• Add the tomato puree mixture to the daal and let it simmer for 20/25 minutes.
• Add the cream and 1 tsp of garam masala
• Served hot with rotis.

The boys just loved it. Younger one had it with rice(sacrilege, I know) and the older one with phulkas. The kitchen smells divine as the daal cooks. The daal has a smooth, creamy texture and all the ingredients blend together to create sheer magic. You will definitely have people asking for more.And for all you non-vegetarians reading this post, like I'd told my Dad years ago, 'Ghar ki daal murgi barabar'.

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!