Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Chilly Baby Corn

One of the ways to beat homesickness in an expat life is to have family and friends visit every once in a while. We have been having a steady stream of visitors over the last couple of months and it has been a blissful couple of weeks cooking and sight seeing.

 The kind of food available in most attractions here in Singapore is limited to sad food courts or the teeming KFC's and McD's. While it does look fancy on the first day, by the second and third day you will kill for idli smothered with podi or even die for a roti stuffed with grandsweets thokku. So invariably I had to come up with fancy food as packed lunch or for dinner when the folks crash in after a tired day. Its tricky to take packed lunch here as due to the heat and humidity most foods don't hold well unless you think puliyodharai is exotic (I am sure after day 4 some of them did think lemon rice is manna!!). One of the meals I had planned was Fried Rice and Chilly Baby Corn. The fried rice is a tested family heirloom. The Chilly Baby corn recipe was adapted from here.



Chilly Baby Corn



Ingredients

1 Cup Baby Corn - Blanched and sliced/cut in big pieces
Oil for frying

Marinade:

2 Tblsp - Maida or All purpose Flour
1Tblsp - Corn Flour
1 tsp - Red chilli Powder
1 tsp - ginger garlic and green chilly paste
1/2 tsp - Black pepper powder
Salt to taste

Sauce:

1 Tblsp - Gingelly Oil
1 Dried Red Chilly
1 large Onion, chopped into chunks
1 Capsicum (Red or green) chopped into chunks
2 Tblsp - Ginger and Garlic - finely chopped
1Tblsp - Dark Soy Sauce (I use Chings brand)
1 Tblsp - Red Chilly Sauce (I use Chings brand) or 1/2tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp - Tomato Sauce
1 Tblsp - Corn Flour
1 tsp - Lemon juice
1/2 cup spring onion - white and green parts
Salt to taste



Method:

1. Mix together all items given under marinade and add the blanched baby corn pieces. Allow it to marinate for 30 minutes.
2. Heat Oil and fry the marinated corn. Drain and set aside. You can either shallow fry or deep fry. Deep fry obviously is the tastier option.
3. Heat Gingelly oil (nallennnai) in a deep pan. Add the red chilly and allow it to release the fragrance
4. Add the ginger and garlic and fry.
5. Add the onion and capsicum and fry
6. Add all the sauces and chilli powder and mix well..
7. Taste and adjust salt.
8. Add the fried baby corn and mix well.
9. Mix the cornflour in little water and pour into the pan.
10. Squeeze the lemon juice and mix well.
11. Garnish with spring onion.
12. Serve hot with fried rice.




Notes:

1. Gingelly Oil / Nallennai gives a lovely flavor to Chinese and Thai dishes. Its different from sesame oil. If not available then you can substitute with sesame oil.

2. You can replace baby corn with mushrooms / broccoli / cauliflower / soy chunks.

3. Check out the Vegetable Fried Rice recipe here



Monday, March 23, 2015

Payatham Paruppu Payasam / Moong Dal Kheer

I learnt the basics of cooking from my mother-in-law. Sambar, different types of kuzhambu, the different poriyals . Hers is a rustic style of cooking - truly comfort food at its best. One of her best recipes is the payatham paruppu payasam - a regular in most of our festival menus.  The care she shows in following each step while making this dish results in a delectable dessert that truly represents food for the gods.

MOONG DAL/PAYATHAM PARUPPU PAYASAM




Ingredients:

Split Moong dal / Payatham paruppu - 1 cup (dry roasted until it gives a nice aroma)
Grated Jaggery - 1.25 cups
Cardomom powder - 1/2 tsp

Roast and Grind to a smooth paste

Cashews 5 to 6
Channa Dal 1 Tblsp 
Coconut 1 Tblsp
Milk 2 Tblsp 





Method:

1. Pressure cook / boil the dal until well done. Mash and keep aside. 
2. As the dal.cooks, heat a pan with jagged and water.
3. When the jagged melts and starts thickening remove from heat and strain the scum that collects on top. Return the liquid back to the pan and continue heating it.
4. Add the mashed dal and mix well.
5. As the mixture thickens add the ground paste and cardomom powder. 
6. Garnish with fried nuts and raisins. 
7. Serve warm. 




Notes:
* If the payasam is thick at the time of serving add some warm milk to it.

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