Vegetable stew for "appam"

The "appam" is best enjoyed with warm fragrant stew. There is the white stew and some people prefer to have a brown curry. My family prefers the white stew. This is how I make a white vegetable stew.

Serves 4 to 6 persons
Preparation time 20 to 30 minutes

Ingredients

1. Mixed vegetables like potatoes, beans, carrots and cauliflower florets, all cut in similar shape and size - 1/2 kg

2. Green peas - 1/4 cup

3. Onions or shallots sliced long - 1 cup

4. Ginger sliced thin and long like the onions - 1 tablespoon

5. Garlic sliced long - 1 tablespoon

6. Fresh red chillies* - 2 or 3

7. Curry leaves - 2 sprigs

8. Whole green cardamom - 3

9. Cloves - 3

10. Cinnamon sticks - 2 (half inch pieces)

11. Whole black pepper - 1/2 teaspoon

12. Fennel seeds - 1 teaspoon

13. Oil - 2 tablespoons

14. Salt to taste

15. Thin coconut milk - 2 cups

16. Thick coconut milk - 1/2 cup

Method

1. In a pan or wok, heat the oil.

2. To the hot oil, add items numbered 8 to 12. Let the cardamoms pop.

3. Add the ginger, garlic and onions in this order. Saute till onions turn pink.

4. Add the mixed vegetables, curry leaves from one sprig and peas. Saute for a minute.

5. Add salt and the thin coconut milk. There should be enough liquid to cover the vegetables. (So if needed, add some water to reach the level of vegetables.)

6. When the vegetables and the potatoes are cooked, add the thick coconut milk, the rest of the curry leaves and the slit red chillies. Adjust for seasoning. Give it one boil and take off the heat.

7. Serve hot with "appam"s.

Tips

The recipe for "appam" is given before this recipe.

*I like to add fresh red chillies as these will not be confused with the beans in the stew.

I prefer using instant coconut milk powder to make the milk.

All the vegetables cut in a similar shape and size add to the visual appeal of this dish.

Kerala meat cutlets or minced meat croquettes 

Cutlets, especially the non-vegetarian variety, have a great fan following in our home. Whenever there is "kheema" or minced meat in the house, the first request is always for cutlets. If there are green peas ("mutter") at home, then there is a toss up between "kheema mutter" and the cutlets.  Anyway, my family loves cutlets at any meal, so I make the mix and stock it in the fridge for quick use. I find that having a greater amount of mashed potato in the mix, makes for a smoother cutlet. The covering is crisp, but the inside is not so full of meat or chunky. That is something my family enjoys....a non-stringy, easily eaten patty. This is achieved by increasing the quantity of potato and using mince made with lean meat and no gristle.  Most other recipes have a much greater meat to potato ratio than that I do, but since my recipe meets with my family's continued unstinting approval, I like to make the cutlets this way, and I have found many others prefer them too. This is what I do.

Makes about 8 medium sized cutlets
Preparation and cooking time: 45 minutes to 1 hour

Ingredients

1. Meat mince (raw) - 1 cup
2. Potatoes (boiled and mashed) - 1 1/2 cups

Items 3 to 8 measured after chopping very fine:

3. Onions   -  2  teaspoons
4. Ginger   - 1 teaspoon
5. Garlic   - 1/2 teaspoon
6. Green chillies  - 1/2 teaspoon
7. Fresh coriander leaves - 1 tablespoon
8. Curry leaves - 1 tablespoon


9. Fresh bread crumbs - a little more than 1 cup
10. Pepper powder - 1/2 teaspoon or according to taste
11. Red chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon or according to taste
12. Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
13. Garam masala powder - 1/2 teaspoon
14. Egg white beaten - 1 or 2
15. Salt to taste
16. Oil for tempering and deep frying 

Method

1. Wash the mince in a wire mesh strainer under running water. Let it drain for 5 minutes or so. Transfer to a thick-bottomed vessel and add item no.s 10, 11, 12, 13  and 15. Add 3/4 cup of water, if it is mutton mince. Stir well so that the spices reach all parts of the mince. Cook till the mince is totally dry.  No need to pressure cook. Turn off heat and leave the mince to cool in a large platter.

2. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan and brown item nos. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8. This need not be crisp. Add this to the mince in the platter.

3. Add the well mashed potatoes and chopped coriander to the above.

4. Adjust the seasoning and knead well.

5. Divide the mix into balls. Roll in beaten egg white and then bread crumbs. Makes about 8 balls.

6. Pour enough oil in a hot wok for deep frying. Let oil become quite hot, but not smoking hot.

7. When the oil is ready, take a mince-potato ball and flatten it a bit and slide it on the inside of the wok into the hot oil. Repeat with more mince-potato balls, making sure the oil is still quite hot and not crowded. The hot oil should reach above the cutlets, otherwise the cutlets could break. Turn over gently,  and remove each cutlet from oil when well browned and crisp. Drain on kitchen paper.

8. Serve hot with tomato sauce or just plain as a side dish. Enjoy!

Tips

The preferred meat used for these cutlets, in Kerala, is beef. Mutton/goat meat mince is a personal preference in our home here. If you are using beef mince, there is no need to add any water before cooking in step 1 as beef releases a lot of water and this needs to be boiled away to make it very dry.

Boneless beef cubes can be used for this recipe. Wash and drain and pressure cook as per step 1, without any added water. When its dry and cooled, mince in batches, in a dry grinder to get fine shreds of cooked beef mince. (You can mince this as fine or as chunky as you wish.) The recipe can be taken forward from step 2 onwards. (For this recipe, take 1 cup of raw beef cubes.)


I like to add one more step to this recipe to improve the flavour. My family loves these cutlets a bit more spicy. So, I take 1/2 tsp of black peppercorns, a 1/2 " piece of raw ginger, a couple of green cardamoms (whole),  1 whole clove, 1/2'' of cinnamon and fresh curry leaves from 3 sprigs and dry grind it with half a slice of bread. You will get a very fragrant bread crumb mix.  Add this at step 3. The added flavour is quite nice.

While flattening the mince-potato balls, make sure cracks are sealed back into shape.

It is important that the cutlets are fairly well immersed in the hot oil while frying. Hot oil seals the cutlets from all sides and there is less chance of them breaking and flooding the oil.

These cutlets can also be shallow fried, but then the sides remain pale. They can also be baked after brushing with oil, in a medium oven till brown. A lot of cutlets can be made ready at the same time without  much oil and standing near a hot stove.

Fresh bread crumbs are made by whizzing a few slices of (any) bread in a dry grinder for a few seconds. The remaining crumbs can be stored in the freezer.

I prepare cutlet mix from at least 6 or 7 cups of meat. All will not be used right away. So, I store the remaining mix in the fridge and use it over the next 2 to 3 days. I like the convenience.

Usually, the ratio between meat and potatoes is 2 cups of meat to about 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes.

This is an excellent recipe for hors d'oeuvres.  The cutlets can be smaller and served with a dipping sauce.

Important - It is imperative to follow some safety precautions while deep frying. I avoid dropping  the cutlets into the hot oil. Instead, these are slid down the sides of the wok into the oil or else placed gently into the oil to avoid a hot oil splash. 

Mutton Fry

Mutton fry

A dish that just happened when I had to make something for potluck to take to a friend's place. My husband wanted mutton, but in all my life, we have only had gravy based mutton dishes or "biryani", and so out of necessity this dry dish was sort of put together as we were already running late that evening. It is very simple and quick. Thereafter, whenever I have made this, its one of the first things on the table to get over......which to me is a huge compliment. Needs only a simple "raita" and some warm "rotis" (Indian bread) to go with it. A useful recipe to have in one's kitty.

Serves 6 to 8 persons
Preparation and cooking time: about 40 minutes

Ingredients

1. Mutton* - 1kg
2. Green cardamom (whole) - 5
3. Cloves (whole) - 3
4. Cinnamon stick - 1"
5. Whole black pepper - 1 tablespoon
6. Star anise - 1
7. Aniseed - 1 teaspoon
8. Curry leaves washed - 2 handfuls
9. Salt to taste
10. Ginger chopped - 1 tablespoon
11. Garlic chopped - 1 tablespoon
12. Green chillies - 3
13. Coriander powder - 2 teaspoons
14. Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
15. Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
16. Onions sliced long - 1 cup
17. Oil - 2 tablespoons
18. Water
19. Chopped coriander leaves and lime wedges for garnish

Method

1. Wash and drain the mutton pieces.
2. Grind items 2 to 15 into a smooth paste using some water. It does not matter if the paste is watery.
3. Combine the mutton and the watery paste and boil for about 15 to 20 minutes. Add a little water if the mutton begins to stick to the vessel. You may pressure cook it, however, I boil this in a thick-bottomed vessel. Take off heat.
4. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a wok and add the sliced onions. Let them brown well.
5. Add the cooked mutton and all the gravy and cook till the mutton pieces are rather dry.
6. Serve hot with the chopped coriander leaves and lime wedges as garnish. Goes well with " rotis", "paranthas" or any sort of Indian bread. Needs only some "raita" or a green salad to complete the meal.

Tips

*Goat meat has been referred to as mutton.
The curry leaves give this recipe a nice, fresh flavour.
The amounts of chilli powder and pepper can be changed according to taste.
Chicken can be substituted for mutton in this recipe.
I sometimes use boneless mutton or chicken in this recipe to make spicy hors d'oeuvres.