Nadan Chicken and Potato curry

I wonder how fast summer days squeezed by , when my mind search for  cues of the shortest and the most beautiful seasons of the year.

Its been a fun filled summer with lots of trips and gatherings , and the latest one to Niagara last weekend, with friends visiting from India. How I wish I could save a slice of those delicious memories, sigh.

Lot of people have been sending me requests for a chicken and potato curry recipe and I always give them the link for this Nadan beef curry with black pepper .We rarely eat chicken and beef now and have been delaying making this for a very long time. Not that we are turning vegetarian or anything , but we have been trying to eat seasonal fresh produce and go healthy for some time now.

But as you might know kerala syrian christians are known for their daily meat-fish-alcohol intake. So we love chicken , pork & beef ; we make it occasionally and fish many times a week , its just that we take it in a harmless way ;).

During my last trip to the local farmers market I bought a couple of cute lil baby potatoes and I have no clue what was I thinking then , since it wasn't just enough to whip up a curry or stir fry for two with those. 

I paired it with chicken and made this curry with freshly crushed black pepper ,ground coriander and coconut milk; and served with herbed butter rice for dinner. Simply delicious !

Recipe for Naadan Chicken and Potato curry with Black pepper
Serves - 4 to 6
Preparation time - 10 minutes plus 30 minutes for marination
Cooking time- 40 minutes.
Ingredients:-
Bowl  1
Chicken - 1 kg ( I used thighs cut into medium sizes)
Salt to taste
Crushed black pepper - 1/2 tea spoon
Crushed 2 cloves of garlic & a small piece of ginger
Meat masala - 1/2  tea spoon ( optional; but I used it )
Bowl 2
Oil - 2 tablespoon
Bay leaf - 1 or 2
Cloves - 3-4
Cardamom lightly crushed - 3-4
A pinch of cumin and fennel ( optional)

Curry leaves
Onion finely chopped - 2 big
Garlic chopped  - 3 to 5 cloves
Ginger chopped - an inch piece ( i use a lot of both ! so use as per ur likes )
Bowl 3( this recipe is spicy , so use spices as per your heat level)
Kashmiri red chili powder - 1/2 to 1 tablespoon
Coriander powder - 1 tablespoon ( i use freshly dry roasted and ground coriander)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tea spoon
Water - just enough to make a paste with all the powders.
( or instead of all the powders you can use store bought meat masala , but the quantity depends on the brand , so please look the recipe measurements on the back of the masala pack and adjust the spoons with the kilos of chicken)

Potato cubed - 2 ( if using baby potatoes use 5-7)
Canned coconut milk - 1/2 to 1 cup
Warm water - 1.5 to 2 cup ( depends on how much gravy you want )
Salt to taste
Crushed black pepper - 1/2 tea spoon
Garam masala - 1/2  tea spoon

Method:-
Combine all the ingredients in Bowl  1 and mix well. Keep aside for 30 minutes; else keep refrigerated until you are ready to cook ( take it to the room temperature before 30 minutes you start cooking)
Heat oil in a pan and add the ingredients in Bowl  2 and fry for a minute. Add onion, curry leaves and fry for 5-6 minutes and add garlic and ginger and saute till brown or the raw smell disappears. This will take around 8-10 minutes.
Make a paste with all the ingredients in Bowl  3 and add to the pan and fry for a minute or two.
Add marinated chicken ,salt to taste and cubed potato and combine well and saute for 2-3 minutes.
Mix canned coconut milk with warm water  and add to the pan and mix well.
Add garam masala and cook covered in medium flame for 30 to 40 minutes  (add more water if needed, )
Uncover , add crushed black pepper ,cook for another 8-10 minutes.( cook more time if you want the chicken to be too tender or if you have bone in or leg pieces ). If you want more gravy , mix coconut milk and water, add to the pan and bring to boil.
Drizzle a tea spoon of oil and curry leaves . Switch off the flame and let stand covered for 30 minutes for all the flavors to blend in .

Good day guys!

✎Sarah

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Kerala style Coconut Fish Curry with Tomato

I recently bumped into Maureen's space while blog hopping and it was love at first sight. She is such a versatile blogger and I adore her photography . When she asked me to do a guest post with a Kerala dish I was excited and jumped at the opportunity . ................Read the rest of the post and recipe here in her Blog - Miss Tam Chiak 


I am adding a recipe card below for some readers who requested for the same :)

Good day guys,


✎Sarah

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Strolling through Williamsburg and Smorgasburg, Brooklyn

Hey guys,hope you are all  enjoying the end -of the -summer , beginning- of the - autumn season. Just thought will share  some summer-y pictures before the colors arrive , of our 9/10/11 trip to Brooklyn. It was mainly meant to eat and shop around the corners of this old charming place. Since my camera tag along any where I go , clicked some pictures too . Hope you guys njoy it.

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Netholi / Podimeen Varuthathu - Kerala Style Anchovy Dry Fry

I am so proud to tell you all that , this small space of mine , Vazhayila.com , reached "the legendary 10,000 hits a day,twice last week. I am not a number gal , neither do I know whether its a big thing; but my friends A and P says it is (hello!!! i don't get 10,000 everyday, wink), and its just because of those two, I am scribbling these lines.
In that case I am so happy,that I was able to reach there with my simple home cooking and your support.

I know , I am yet to respond to many emails ; its just that I am crazy busy now a days with some  projects that I am doing. Guys I am really overwhelmed by the love,and support you give me - to a person -whom most of you know only through this space. 

When you say,  you come here,not just for recipes,but to read me and drool over the pictures, I am  truly touched.I am so lucky to get some real close friends through vazhayila ......Thanks a lot.

I was not a big fish and meat eater as a kid , and never drinks milk , since I puke at the smell of it. My parents always feared I will get some calcium deficiency and gave me calcium tablets. Remember those weirdly shaped sweet smelling tablets?

Kozhuva or Netholi as it is popularly known, was the only calcium rich thing my mom was able to feed me . Not exactly this one , but the smaller version of it - Podimeen or chooda. But there was one condition, the fish has to be cleaned and prepared before I come back from school. So our maid used to take it her home , clean it and then bring it back; and mom will dry fry it with lots of curry leaves from our backyard  before I am back .Though I loved it I pretend as if I am eating for her sake.Wink. How   nasty cute of me? 

N loves this , and I make it for him often with "fresh and frozen" cleaned Anchovy ( Seafood Delight brand) I get it in Indian stores here. A bowl of dry fried Podimeen , a bottle of chilled beer and football games , is kin of his idea of relaxing on a weekend.

Recipe for Kerala Style Netholi / Podimeen / Anchovy Fry

Serves - 4

Total cooking time - 40 minutes for cleaning and marinating and 15 minutes to fry

Ingredients:-

Netholi/ Kozhuva/Anchovy - 1/2 kg

Juice of 1 lemon 

Salt 

Bowl 1

Kashmiri Red chilli powder - 1 to 1.5 tablespoon ( use as per your heat level)

Turmeric powder - 1/4 to 1/2 tea spoon

Ginger - a small piece

Garlic - 3-4 cloves

Black peppercorns - 1/2 tea spoon

Salt to taste

Bowl 2

Curry leaves

Oil as needed for frying

Directions:-

Clean and wash the fish several times.( remove the head, tail and all inside if it is not already cleaned) Marinate it with lemon juice and salt and keep it for 5 minutes.

This helps to get rid of the smell.Wash well and keep aside in a bowl.

Grind together all the ingredients in Bowl 1 to a fine paste , by sprinkling 1 or 2 tablespoons of water.

Put this paste into the bowl , add curry leaves and marinate the fish well. 

Keep aside for at least 30 minutes. If you are keeping for more than an hour , refrigerate it.

Heat oil in a deep pan and slide in the fish and fry it in batches , until it is done and dry fried.

Always keep your flame on medium, and this may take 5-10 minutes depending on the frying pan and your gas flame.Serve warm.

Good day all

✎ Sarah

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Pacha Manga Pachadi - Onam Sadya Special

I was lost in a different world of travel , vacation and fun ; reluctant to come back . I felt a void , when N - the key ingredient of my bliss - left for job , after all those perfect days together...I wanted to slide back into my pastime's subtle graces ; but didn't have a clue how !!

Somewhere between , I came to it ; the realization that its the enticing aroma of spices , the orchestra of my tinkling pots and pans and the comfort of healthy home cooking is what's missing and that's the only thing that could bring me back on track.

I teased my palates with our favorite spices, brought home those end - of -the -summer produce from farmer's market and aunts', cooked , ate and shared it with a close circle of friends and I slipped back to my green pastures. I learned a bit hard way " Cooking can be therapeutic ".

Pacha manga pachadi , is one of the first things I learnt to cook from N's mom. Usually served for onam or vishu sadya , she makes it every time she has guests over for dinner.Unlike regular pachadi / kichadi yogurt is not used in this , since mango is already tangy.

Here in this recipe , tiny mango pieces are cooked in mustard and ginger infused coconut milk and finished with a flavorful tempering of coconut oil and curry leaves.

Here is a recipe card to keep :)

Recipe for Kerala style Pacha manga pachadi - Onam Sadya special

Serves - 4

Total preparation and cooking time - 20 minutes

Ingredients:-

Green mango - 1 big

Onion or shallots chopped - 1/4 to 1/2 cup

Ginger chopped - an inch piece

Green chilli chopped - 3-4

Turmeric - a pinch

Curry leaves- 3-4

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tea spoon

Salt to taste

Oil - 1 table spoon

Thin coconut milk - 1 to 1.5 cup

Thick coconut milk - 1/2 cup

Tempering

Oil - 1 table spoon

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tea spoon

Dried red chili - 2

Kunjulli /Shalotts chopped - 1

Curry leaves - 5-6

Directions:-

Clean and chop green mango into small pieces ,like we chop for pickle.

Heat 1 table spoon of oil , preferably coconut oil in a pan and add chopped onion or shallots , ginger , green chili and curry leaves .Saute for 3-4 minutes in a medium flame.Do not let it brown.

Crush 1/4 tea spoon mustard seeds in a mortar and pestle .

Add mango pieces , turmeric and crushed mustard seeds to the pan and mix well.

Cook covered by adding thin coconut milk for like 5-6 minutes in low flame.

Uncover , add thick coconut milk , simmer for two minutes and remove from fire

Tempering :-

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil , and mustard seeds.when they splutter add chopped shallots , dried red chiles , curry leaves and fry till brown.Pour over pachadi.

Notes:-

If green mango is not tangy enough you can add 1 or 2 tablespoons of yogurt.

Good day all ♥♥

✎Sarah

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