Sunday Thai Lunch

Recipes to follow soon!

Gur Gajar athanu / Hot and Sweet Carrot Pickle

Ingredients

4 kg carrots; cut into baton style sticks
6 tablespn salt
1 cup split/hulled mustard seeds
1/2 cup coarsely ground coriander
1/2 cup coarsely ground fenugreek
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 sticks cinnamon
4 whole cloves
3 cardamom pods
8 black peppercorns
2 cups oil
1 cup ground red chillies
2 teaspns turmeric powder
4 cups grated gur / jaggery

Method

1. Mix the salt and carrots well, spread the carrots on a large tablecloth and dry in the sun
2. Place the whole spices; mustard seeds, coriander, fenugreek, fennel seeds, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom pods and peppercorns in large container.
3. Heat the oil in another pan, and add to the whole spices.
4. Add chillies and turmeric to the masala, mix
5. Add the gur / jaggery and mix.
6. When cool add the dried carrots mix and place in sterile bottles.
7. This pickle is ready to eat immediately, but improves with age.

Menu for my Birthday Lunch

The whole family is getting together for my birthday on Sunday.

My sister Pari suggested that the theme for my Bday be Thai, as Ben, my nephew (age 19) has just come back from Thailand, she also thought it would be a good idea to ask him to contribute to the menu. So here it is:

Starters

Rick Stein’s Thai fish cakes – cooked by saju

Chicken satay to be cooked by Ben. (Recipe to follow)

Main Course

Thai Green Chick Curry to be cooked by Pari, recipe to follow.
Prawns Pad Thai, I will be using the basic recipe from Chez Pim
Egg fried rice

Dessert

Kulfi by Shaheen

Birthday Cake by Muni

Kobi jo Shaak / Spicy Cabbage

The earthy flavour and the wonderful rustic aroma of mustard seeds popped in hot oil is unforgettable, quite unlike mustard powder or paste taste. Here is a typical Gujarati recipe for cabbage, great with chapatis or puris

.

1 cabbage; finely shredded
3 large tomatoes; blanced, peeled and liquidised
2 cloves garlic - minced
1 inch ginger - grated
2 chillis - minced
1 table spn vegetable oil
1 tspn mustard seeds
1/2 tspn tumeric
2 teaspoons coriander/cumin mix
salt to taste


Method
1. Heat oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds, as soon as they start to splutter, add the tomatoes, garlic, ginger and the minced chillis, stir and fry for a few minutes.
2. Add the cumin, coriander and tumeric, fry for a few minutes.
3. Add the shredded cabbage, stir well, so that it is coated with the mixture.
4. Add salt and cook for 15 minutes or until the cabbage is cooked.

Muthiya /Coconutty Lamb and Vegetable Stew with Dumplings

Today Chachi made Muthiya for Khane. Muthiya is quite labour intensive and I was not able to get the step by step photos, but I watched closely.

Muthiya are named after the dumplings which are made in the muthi of the hand or fist shaped, the dough is placed in the palm of the hand, you then close the hand gently to make a sausage like shape. This dish is a typical Khoja / Ismaili dish, it is like a stew with lamb, vegetables and dumplings in a coconut sauce. Mmmmmmmmmmmm………. Delish. Chachis Muthiya are the best.

Ingredients

Stew

2 lb lamb, cleaned and cut in small chunks
3 tspn minced cloves garlic
3 tspn grated ginger
3 tspn minced green chillies
juice of 1 lemon
2 large onion; finely chopped
1 bunch or 2 cups fenugreek; chopped fine
2 cups finely chopped spinach
1 400g can plum tomatoes; liquidised
2 400g cans coconut
2-3 medium size aubergines; cubes
1 cup guvar beans; topped and tailed
2 cups peas; fresh or frozen
1 cup chana dal; soaked overnight and boiled
1 cup black eye beans; soaked overnight and boiled
1 400g kidney beans
1 400g chickpeas
10 baby new potatoes; scrubbed
2 limes
salt to taste
2 tbs vegetable oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 stick cinnamon
2-3 pods cardamom
2-3 cloves
6 peppercorns
2 tspn coriander and cumin powder
½ tspn tumeric powder
½ tspn garam masala

Dumplings

2 cups millet flour
coriander leaves
fenugreek leaves
2 tspn minced garlic
2 tspn grated ginger
2 green chillies
salt to taste

Method

1. Marinate the meat overnight with lemon juice, garlic, ginger and green chillies.
2. Boil the lamb in 2 cups of salted water, keep aside
3. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the cinnamon, cumin seeds, cloves, cardamom and peppercorn. Let them pop and add the onions, fry until brown.
4. Add the fenugreek and spinach leaves, fry for a few minutes, until the volume of leaves is reduced.
5. Add tomatoes, mix and fry for about 5-8 minutes, add the coriander, cumin and tumeric powders, mix and cook for a few minutes.
6. Add the aubergines, peas and guvar beans. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
7. Add the coconut liquid and lime juice mix and add the potatoes, all the beans and meat. cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
8. Meanwhile make the muthiya / dumplings. Mix all the ingredients with a little water or meat stock until you get a fairly firm dough. Shape the muthiya by placing a walnut size piece of dough in your palm, make a fist gently. Place the muthiya on a tray until all made.
9. Gently place the muthiya in the boiling stew. Cover and cook for a further 10 minutes.
10. Sprinkle the garam masala and serve in deep bowls.

Matoke and Bijanjaalo / Green Bananas/ Plantains and Beans

This month Jhiva for Ingredients is bananas. Hosted by Mandira and Ashwin of Ahaar



Having been born in Uganda, East Africa, matoke (green bananas) was stuff I was brought up on. Matoke can be cooked in several ways:
1. Mashed with Lamb or Chicken; Oluwombo
2. Stewed in a Spicy Peanut Sauce
3. Boiled with tomatoes; usually given to invalids as it is so easy to digest
4. with kidney beans

Yesterday we had matoke with anasazi beans. You can read a bit more about this bean at Ellen's Kitchen





4 - 5 matoke (green bananas from Uganda)
1 1 cup anasazi beans; soaked overnight and pressure cooked
1 200g can peeled tomatoes; liquidised
2 cloves garlic - minced
1 inch ginger - grated
2 chillis - minced
1 table spn vegetable oil
1 tspn mustard seeds
1/2 tspn tumeric
2 teaspoons coriander/cumin mix
salt to taste

Method
1. Peel the green bananas, slice that into 1 inch chunks and place in cold water, (otherwise they discolour).
2. Heat oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds, as soon as they start to splutter, add the tomatoes, garlic, ginger and the minced chillis, stir and fry for a few minutes.
3. Add the cumin, coriander and tumeric, fry for a few minutes. Add the bananas and the beans with boiling water (2 cups) and mix so that the vegetables are coated with the mixture.
4. Add osalt and cook for 20 minutes

Nice by it self with chevro or you can serve with chapatis or rice

Spicy Beetroot Soup

I could not resist a bunch of beetroots in Sainsburys on Saturday. They ended up being a light supper for us on Saturday Evening (......a starter for Sunday Lunch time, on Monday I had to say no!) . This soup is delicious with some crusty bread, and can be a light lunch / supper or a starter.

Ingredients
4-5 fresh beetroots; peeled, washed and diced
1 onion; diced
1 leek; chopped roughly in 1 cm rings
2 potatoes; peeled, washed and diced
6 cloves garlic; chopped fine
1-2 red chillies (I got mine from the garden, 1 inch long, but super hot!); choped roughly
1 tblspn olive oil
salt to taste


Method
1. Heat the oil in a pan, and fry the onions until golden brown,
2. Add the garlic and saute for a few minutes
3. Add all the vegetables and the chilli and saute for about 10 minutes
4. Add 3-4 cups of water or stock (vegetable or chicken), I didn't have any.
5. Simmer until the vegetable are cooked, using a liquidised wand to homogenise until smooth.
6. Serve with crusty bread. I tried to swirl a little creme fraiche on the top, but it sank!!

Peas Saagu

This is my entry for

hosted by the Lovely Asha from Foodie's Hope. I have also taken the liberty of adapting one of her recipes. It turned out delicious, thanks Asha.

The Regional Cuisine of India (RCI) is a great idea of Laksmi of Veggie Cuisine. It has certainly given me a chance to try dishes I hadn't even heard of. Thank you Laksmi for the idea. Thank you Asha for hosting the Karnataka Cuisine. I now know where it is on the map!

Ingredients
1 cup dried peas; soaked overnight (I let the peas sprout for 3 days); boiled
3 potatoes; boiled and chopped
1tblspn oil
1 medium onion; chopped finely
2 tblspn sour cream
coriander for garnish
Masala Paste
1/4 Cup fresh grated coconut
1 tbsp poppy seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1/2 tbsp Cumin Seeds
2 tsp black peppercorns
2 tbsp roasted peanuts (Asha used roasted chickpeas; but I did not have any
2-3 6reen chillies
2 tbl chopped coriander
1 inch piece cinnamon
3-4 cloves
1/2 tspn turmeric




Method
1. Grind the dry ingredients, poppy, coriander and cumin seeds, peppercorns, peanuts, cinnnamon and cloves.
2. Mix in the coconut chopped coriander and tumeric and grind until you get a smooth paste, keep aside for later.
2. Heat oil in a pan, and add the onions, fry until golden brown, add ground masala, cook until nicley toasted.
3. Put in cooked peas with the water they were cooked in and potatoes, bring to boil, add sour cream and coriander, mix
4. Simmer gently for a few minutes and serve with chapati, puri or parotha.

Hey has any one heard from Asha? N/T