Indian Cuisne from across the globe http://www.gourmetindia.com/index.php Fri, 10 Sep 2010 07:24:54 +0000 0 http://www.gourmetindia.com/topic/145-sindhi-cuisine/
Portion: Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 kg Mutton Chops
6-8 Baby potatoes
5-6 Big Red onions - Medium chopped
5-6 Big Tomatoes - Medium chopped
1 Big pod of Garlic + 3 inches of Ginger or 2 tsp of Ginger + Garlic paste
4-5 Green Chillies chopped
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1 tsp Peppercorns (Kali Mirch) - crushed not powder
2 tbsp Garam Masala Powder
2-3 Bayleaves
2-3 Big Black + 2-3 Green Cardamom (Elaichi)
1 cup fresh curd/dahi/yoghurt
10 tbsp of cooking oil
chopped Coriander Leaves -  for garnishing
Salt to taste
100 ml water

Method:

On high flame, heat all the oil in a big deep pan or your pressure
cooker, fry the ginger + garlic for 1 min, add all the onions
and fry until light brown. I prefer red onions as the pungency goes best with meat dishes, add the mutton and fry it for another 10-15 minutes . Half way thru frying the mutton add the turmeric, red chilli, garam masala powders, green chillies, bayleaves, black pepper and salt. Later add the tomatoes and
cook till dry. Then add the curds and cook for 5 mins. Add the water and the baby potatoes. Keep stirring well at all times as we are cooking on high flame.

Now from here we either cook the meat further on low fire for 10 mins with the pressure cooker lid but without the whistle or we pressure cook it for 3 whistles. The gravy must be thick. These are my approximations, kindly use your judgement.

Sprinkle some chopped coriander leaves on top and serve.

The meat should be fresh as it will cook faster, if it is frozen then thaw it in a microwave for 15-20 mins. Most microwaves have auto settings, you press defrost, meat, 1kg and start.

This dish goes best with hot rotis, chappatis or pao.

Enjoy !

SAUCY]]> Fri, 10 Sep 2010 07:24:54 +0000 http://www.gourmetindia.com/topic/145-sindhi-cuisine/ http://www.gourmetindia.com/topic/1467-nana-shetty-masala-powder-from-kundapura/ Sun, 05 Sep 2010 04:36:35 +0000 http://www.gourmetindia.com/topic/1467-nana-shetty-masala-powder-from-kundapura/ http://www.gourmetindia.com/topic/134-biryanis-and-pulaos/
Moreover, this probably is in the wrong place in the forum.

However, this restaurant concept is so close to my own fantasies, that i had to excerpt this item from the DECCAN HERALD (exact reference lost):

"The Biryani Merchant there is no menu. They simply sit a customer down and pile the biryani on. And the fare changes every day. For starters there’s Gazak, delectable kebabs. On a Friday, say, a guest is first served Ghosht ke Pasinda and Reshmi Kebabs. Then three different raithas: beetroot, cucumber and tomato, and Burrhani.

While the captain serves a helping of Calicut Fish Biryani, the guest, if so inclined, can hear The Biryani Merchant’s ‘Connoisseur in Residence’, Vishy Shenoy, descant on the history and geography of all the world’s biryanis.

The Kacchi Yakhani Biryani (Hyderabadi) that follows, though not spicy enough for this reviewer’s unrefined taste buds, certainly does demonstrate that the 35 different biryanis the restaurant offers are distinctive. The Awadhi Murgh Biryani is probably the best, but the Bharwan Lauki, Nawabi Tarkari and Sabz Kheema Biriyani give vegetarians a very good reason to try what The Biryani Merchant calls the ‘Quintessential Biryani Experience’.

After sampling the victuals on offer, the customer can call for more of what he likes best and as much of it as he wants. If, that is, he has room for more.
Dessert is traditional -- Sheer Kurma and Tomatar ka Salan -- before ‘special’ Sulaimani chai and hookahs in different flavours. The price for being treated like an epicure is a fixed Rs 300.

The chefs, Mr Shenoy says, are specialists from the communities of the biryani’s origin and the ingredients they use are sourced with care. Only copper vessels and coal are used to dum the biryani.

For the founders of the restaurant, Bangalore is only the beginning. They plan to make the biryani experience global. Abhik Biswas, a director in the venture, says it will be something of a worldwide chain in the next three years. The insouciance with which Mr Biswas speaks of taking The Biryani Merchant to Paris, London and the US would beggar belief but for his candid admission that the entire endeavour is one big leap of faith.

The restaurant, on Castle Street, even has wireless internet connectivity for the unlucky who have to take work to lunch. Customers are invited to inspect the kitchen for proof of hygiene, but are well advised to desist. " DECCAN HERALD

I wonder how this place is doing.

More to the point, it would be great if the many professional chefs here were to write in and describe how they see biriyani to be evolving in the Hotel restaurant culture.

Traditionally, biriyanis were prepared for a large number of people, who all ate the same menu, at more or less the same time, allowing the use of the traditional vessels and dum pukht methods.

With the Hotels and restaurants becoming the repositories for grand feast type dishes for most people, how amenable are the old methods to serve people demanding different flavors over a long period of time. Will the biriyani still be cooked old-style and reheated on demand?

Even in the famous Muslim restaurants of Kolkata, the biriyani served is laughable compared to that prepared by an expet called in for that purpose alone. I have never had a satisfactory biriyani in any American restaurant, and the single time i experienced both Oberoi and Taj in Mumbai, in 1974, the biriyanis were more pulaos than the dum-pukht kind.

Anyway, enough of my big mouth. Waiting for your thoughts.]]> Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:20:26 +0000 http://www.gourmetindia.com/topic/134-biryanis-and-pulaos/ http://www.gourmetindia.com/topic/49-mithai/
1 kg. cashews soaked for a few hours in water
600 gms sugar
2 tbsp. ghee
1 tsp. cardamom powder

Drain and grind cashews to a fine paste using  as little water as possible.

In a thick non stick pan cook on low heat the paste and sugar.
Keep on stirring till the mixture starts leaving the sides and then add ghee and cardamom powder and mix well.

Spread on a oiled worksurface and roll lightly with a rolling pin, to 1/8" thickness. Apply silver foil, cool and cut into diamond shaped katlis.

Next time I am going to try the same method with Almonds.]]> Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:06:54 +0000 http://www.gourmetindia.com/topic/49-mithai/ http://www.gourmetindia.com/topic/1463-hyderabadi-delicacies/ http://www.gourmetindia.com/blog/33-hyderabadi-delicacies/

Do leave your comments updates here for Amarnath to respond !]]> Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:35:28 +0000 http://www.gourmetindia.com/topic/1463-hyderabadi-delicacies/ http://www.gourmetindia.com/topic/60-summer-coolers/
Gareth (sweats profusely)]]> Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:13:13 +0000 http://www.gourmetindia.com/topic/60-summer-coolers/ http://www.gourmetindia.com/topic/222-ladakh/ ]]> Mon, 09 Aug 2010 05:43:35 +0000 http://www.gourmetindia.com/topic/222-ladakh/ http://www.gourmetindia.com/topic/244-mutton/
Ingredients


First saute all the onions, whole spices, kewra leaf and meat. Then add powders of coriander, saunf, cumin and garam masala. Add water and cook slowly for 30 minutes. Blend garlic, besan and 1/2 cup dahi before adding and cooking a little more.


Serve with home made khameeri roti.
]]> Sun, 01 Aug 2010 16:29:30 +0000 http://www.gourmetindia.com/topic/244-mutton/ http://www.gourmetindia.com/topic/774-north-karnataka-food-festival/
Food being prepared


Crowds waiting patiently


Ta da! We got the first serving.


Do any of you all remember the bioscope wallah?



Ravum, you were taking notes of the food, please post your comments here.]]> Fri, 30 Jul 2010 07:56:44 +0000 http://www.gourmetindia.com/topic/774-north-karnataka-food-festival/ http://www.gourmetindia.com/topic/153-exotic-fruits-and-vegetables/ fruits may benefit by cutting them underwater and I dont mean the the condition that requires a scuba suit; I thought I'd start a topic on fruits and vegetables. In the last few years of free imports, I think I've come across all kinds and more recently this weirdo:

Dragon fruit. It tastes kinda kiwi but with no zing. So what exotic fruit and vegetable have you all come across lately?

]]> Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:14:59 +0000 http://www.gourmetindia.com/topic/153-exotic-fruits-and-vegetables/