Anda Laal Masala - Guest Post by Vidya Nayak Shenoy

Anda Laal Masala is a starter cum main course dish that was tried by many following Kudpiraj's Garam Tawa but Vidya Nayak Shenoy was one of the earliest ones to prepare it, much before the recipe article was posted in this blog spot. I had posted the dish with recipe in an online group in May last, from where she was inspired and she immediately came out with this item.

Vidya is one of those who follows any recipe meticulously and makes them dishes to the liking of her family. Here is Anda Laal Masala by Vidya Nayak Shenoy.

Christmas Greetings

Wishing all the readers of Kudpiraj's Garam tawa,

"Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2014"

Cake and Kuswar courtesy: Manohar D'Souza & Family, Bahrain/Mangalore

Prawn Ghee Roast - Guest Post by Shilpa Sunil Rao

Welcome to our guest contributor Shilpa Sunil Rao. I know Shilpa over the last three years and have seen her recipe posts closely. She is a perfectionist and starting from ingredients to serving, she follows rule meticulously and gets the right results, winning many accolades for her creativity. She has no hesitation when she wants clarifications for her doubts if any.

Shilpa is a happy go lucky person with a passion for fine cooking and blissful living. May it be her office work, looking after her two lovely kids or being ideal wife to her successful doctor husband, she manages it all with a smile. Let's read in Shilpa's own words, what she has to say about herself.

______________________________________________________________________

Hello friends, I am Shilpa Sunil Rao from Bahrain.  A Computer Consultant by profession, I have experience working with major IT giants like Oracle(IFLEX), Patni, Mastek in India and as Project Manager in Bahrain. Currently I have taken hiatus from work to be with my kids and their ever demanding school work.

I am happily married to Dr. Sunil J Rao who is MD in Internal Medicine, currently working in a hospital in Bahrain and is also pursuing his Diploma in Diabetology from  University of Liechester, UK. We are blessed with 2 beautiful kids Shashank aged 8 and Shamita aged 5.

My love for food began during my 10th standard vacation.  I used to watch lot of food channels and kept on experimenting on various dishes which polished my culinary skills.  Back home my parents always encouraged me with my failed recipes which instilled lot of confidence in never giving up. I don’t flinch when someone tells me you have to cook for 25-30 people. I can pre-plan and come up with finger licking wonderful traditional, party, continental or kids menu in a jiffy!! Lot of my friends call me to assist them when they throw a party at their place!

Now with the E generation coming up the recipes can be circulated online through various forums.  I am an active member in many food forums. I have also an eye for photography hence my new possession a Nikon D5100 captures my culinary creation very beautifully. Now my recipe circulation has increased from close family, friends to unknown people and hope it keeps on increasing.

I love collecting recipe books, collecting variety of serving ware, Driving, Reading.

Stay Blessed Always!!!

Shilpa Sunil Rao ______________________________________________________________________

Shilpa Sunil Rao successfully prepared Prawn Ghee Roast following Kudpiraj's Garam Tawa some months ago and she says it was tasty and spicy, finger licking good and won the hearts of her family members and guests! She has prepared it many times and every attempt was a success. Shilpa has many more in store to showcase and we look forward to a long term association with her. Wishing Shilpa Sunil Rao Season's Greetings and a bright future in the art of cooking and fine living.

Ghosaale Sheere Chutney(Ridge gourd Peel chutney)

Ghosaale or Ridge Gourd or Sponge Gourd in English, Heere Kaayi in Kannada, Thurai in Tamil and Peere in Tulu, is a delicious vegetable that grows on a creeper with tough outer peel with sharp ridges and a spongy soft core. This vegetable is grown in abundance in South India. We GSBs make various curries and sambar with this vegetable. The outer peel is normally discarded but we make a good use of that. We make a fantastic chutney with it!

Yes, a chutney with Ghosaale Sheeru or ridge gourd peel. This chutney has added goodies like jeera and asafotoeda which help in digestion and keep the digestive system regulated. Chillies add to the spicy touch and tamarind gives it a tangy sharpness which lingers on for long. You can relish this chutney with rice and daal, rice and curd, congi, chapathis, pooris, idlis and sevian(string hoppers).

Ingredients:
Ridge gourd peel - 1 cup
Cumin seeds - 1/2 Tsp
Grated Coconut - 1/2 Cup
Green Chillies - 2
Asafotoeda - A pinch
Tamarind - Cherry size ball
Ghee - 1/2 Tsp
Salt - To taste

Method:
Heat ghee and roast cumin seeds till they crackle.
Add green chillies and ridge gourd peel and fry till raw smell disappears.
Keep aside and roast asafoetida.
Grind together, roasted and raw ingredients to a chutney.
Add salt to taste and mix.

Note: You can also add 2 small red chillies instead of green ones to make this more spicy.

Watermelon Rind Surnali

Surnali means fermented dosa. Some call this Surnoli. The name is derived from a combination of Sooru(Ferment) and Poli(Dosa). GSB Konkanis are pioneers in making these wonderful fluffy pan cakes to perfection. Plain Surnali has no added vegetable or fruit fiber in it but we had watermelon at home, white rind of which blends well with the dosa.

Hence watermelon rind surnali. The subtle flavour of watermelon rind makes these surnalis more tasty. Plain surnali is a signature snack made on Tulsi Pooja day at GSB homes. Surnali tastes heavenly with fresh butter. My mother painstalkingly made them on cast iron tawa on which these pan cakes stick and get charred sometimes, in spite of adding generous drizzle of ghee or oil. That's because surnalis have added jaggery in them that get caramalised quickly. Today, nonstick tawa has made our job easier and surnalis are less oily.

You can make these surnalis for breakfast or as tea time snack. Traditionally we make some Rulanv or Phova Upkari with this, so that after eating these sweet pan cakes, tea/coffee tastes good.

Ingredients:
Raw white rice - 1 cup
Buttermilk or curd - 2-3 cups or QS.
Grated coconut - 1/4 cup(About 4 Tbsp)
Watermelon white rind - 1/2 cup ground
Methi seeds(Optional) - 1 Tsp
Grated/powdered jaggery - 1/2 cup
Thin Phova(Beaten Rice) - 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/4 Tsp
Salt - To taste
Cooking soda(Optional) - A pinch

Method:
Wash and soak rice and methi seeds for 2-3 hours at room temperature.
Wash phova in a colander with running water and squeeze drain.
Grind soaked rice and methi seeds with grated coconut, phova and jaggery.
use only buttermilk or curd for grinding the ingredients to a thick batter.
Allow to stand for 8-12 hours at room temperature to ferment.
Add salt to taste, turmeric powder, optional cooking soda, ground watermelon rind and beat well.
Heat a nonstick tawa and drizzle a spoonful of ghee.
Spread the dosa batter evenly into 5-6 mm thick dosas.
Cover with a dome lid.
When the surface of the dosa is dry and the dosa starts to get browned, drizzle 1/2 tsp ghee and flip over.
Roast on the other side and serve hot with a knob of fresh butter.

Note: You can also add rind of ash gourd or pumpkin, pulpy center part of chinese cucumber(Magge/Soutekaayi), raw papaya or even cucumber instead of watermelon rind.

Chicken Kadipattha - Guest Post by Vidya Nayak Shenoy

Welcome to our Guest Contributor Vidya Nayak Shenoy.

About Vidya Nayak Shenoy:
Vidya Nayak Shenoy is a home maker, settled in Bangalore with her husband Prakash Shenoy and her two children Rakesh and Preeti. Her passion for cooking started due to the constant demand by the grown up kids. She had to learn cooking new dishes daily so that their lunch boxes are done full justice when they return them empty! Vidya is a member of various online food groups and has mastered many Indian, Continental and Oriental recipes. All in the family are talented and are good at capturing pics with top notch quality.

Vidya says, "It’s a never ending learning process with so many delicacies to cook especially when one is living with loving husband and kids who demand the best in life! Online social groups have made me experiment with hundreds of new dishes successfully and also given scope for showcasing my food fashion. My husband Prakash being from a family of professional photographers is a good photographer himself and because of him, I am inspired to capture pictures of my dishes too. This has also given a home maker like me to take to freelancing in online food groups."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vidya Nayak Shenoy is a follower of Kudpiraj's Garam Tawa since its inception in September 2012. She followed our recipe for the starter dish Chicken Kadipattha Fry recently and made the dish for her family and guests many times, which was liked by all as finger licking good! Here is what she has to share with the readers of Garam Tawa.

Chicken Kadipattha Fry

Kudpiraj's Garam tawa is proud to be associated with Vidya Nayak Shenoy as Guest contributor to this blog spot. Wishing her success in her culinary journey and looking forward to many contributions from her.

Chicken Dum Biryani

Biryani is perhaps the best complete meal in the world that is the contribution of Mughals to India. It has rice and curry combined with exotic spices, fruits and nuts to give a heavenly feeling for the eater as each bite dances on the taste buds and releases different aromas one after the other! One can feel the satisfaction of fine dining after consuming a sumptuous portion of Biryani. Now a days,parties and feasts are mostly incomplete without Biryani on the menu. At least, Biryani is my personal favourite!

I first tasted Chicken Biryani at Hotel Woodside Mangalore in the year 1973. We were on a Bekal trip arranged by our college and at Pallikere, our lecturers were eating biryani for lunch in a restaurant and we were eating vegetarian meals! The aroma of biryani made us few friends make a straight dash to Hotel Woodside after returning to Mangalore and order biryani. Needless to say that it was finger licking good!

Then I had a chance to visit Madras(Now Chennai) in 1977 along with my sister in law for her visa. We went to Buhari's for lunch as per advice by some of the elders who authenticated the food there. I tasted Chicken Dum Biryani for the first time there. I found something unique about it but I was not good at cooking those days, except for making chapathis and tea! Besides, we didn't eat meat at home when I was a bachelor. I mostly went to restaurants with friends to taste chicken or mutton.

In Bangalore in the Eighties, I've tried some of the best biryanis at Taj, Ghousia and Renowned City Restaurant around City Market, RR and Annapurna in Gandhinagar and Imperial on Residency Road. They made Mysore Kerala or Andhra style biryani, cooking the masala with the rice. In Mysore, Biryani Paradise on New Sayyaji Rao Road made good biryani. Shilton Hotel on St Mark's Road was also a favourite hang out for pulao, biryani and paya curry. Some years ago, biryani at Bombay Lucky Restaurant in Bunder, Biryani Paradise in Kankanady and Royal Durbar in Bendore were good. Mangala and Rajkamal also served very good biryani. Hot Plate in Lalbagh Mangalore has fantastic Kerala Dum Biryani. At Muslim weddings, I've relished some of the finest dum biryanis.

After getting married, we started making most of the Mughalai and Punjabi delicacies at home following recipes from Femina magazine and later Khana Khazana and others' cookery shows. Meena is adept at making many kinds of biryanis and she cooks the rice perfectly, whichever style she follows. Hence biryani making is her specialty and I am a silent spectator most of the times when she cooks it!

However, last evening when we had a guest for dinner, I told Meena that I'll make the chicken masala for the dum biryani and asked her to make the ghee rice for that. Here's what we made and how we made it. This recipe was never a failure and I am confident that the readers will archive this recipe and not deviate from this. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Ingredients:
Long grain Basmati Rice - 400 Gms(2Cups)
Whole garam masala  - 1 bay leaf, 5-7 green cardamoms, 6 cloves, 1" stick cinnamon, 2 star anise, a pinch of mace
Salt to taste
Refined oil - 40 Ml
Ghee - 40 Ml
Lemon - 1/2
Water - 3 1/2 cups
Chicken without skin - 7-8 biryani size pieces(Around 800 Gms)
Curd - 15 Ml
Turmeric powder - 1/4 Tsp
Red Chilli powder - 2 Tsp
Ginger Garlic paste - 5 Tsp
Brown Onion - A handful
Kasoori methi - 1 Tsp
Brown onion paste(Optional) - 2 Tsp
Green chillies - 6
Mint leaves - A handful + 1 Sprig chopped
Coriander leaves - 50Gms
Tomatoes - 2 cut into small wedges
Sugar - 1 TSp
Saffron - A pinch dissolved in 10 Ml warm milk
Raisins - A handlful
Cashew bits - A handful
Maida or wheat flour dough(Chapathi dough) - For sealing the vessel during dum(Optional)

Method:
Marinate chicken pieces with salt, 2 Tsp ginger garlic paste, a few brown onion strands, kasoori methi, chilli powder, turmeric powder and curds in a fridge for 3-4 hours.
Grind green chillies, mint leaves and coriander leaves to a fine paste.
Wash and soak basmati rice in water at room temperature for 20 mins.
Drain and keep aside.
Heat 20Ml oil and 20Ml ghee in a thick bottomed vessel with lid.
Fry the whole garam masala spices till cardamoms start to crackle.
Add 3 and 1/2 cups water, bring to a boil and add soaked rice.
When the water starts to boil again, squeeze half lemon, add salt to taste, close the lid and simmer.
Rice will get parboiled within 10 minutes and the water gets absorbed by the rice grains.
Switch off the flame and allow to cool down.
Now place a non stick pan on the flame.
Add remaining oil and heat.
Fry the cashew bits till golden, remove and keep aside.
Add brown onion paste to the hot oil and remaining ginger garlic paste and fry till oil leaves the sides.
Add the green masala, sugar and fry till raw smell disappears.
Add marinated chicken without the marinade and fry well on high flame for 5-10 mins.
Now add the marinade, mix gently, check for salt and then add the tomato wedges.
Cover and cook for another 5 mins.
Don't add any water, as chicken cooks in its own juices and the marinade.
When the gravy thickens and chicken is just tender, switch off the flame.

Preparing for Dum:
You may use the same vessel in which you cooked rice, for preparing the chicken and rice for dum.
Empty the parboiled ghee rice into a platter.
Pour the chicken masala into the vessel.
Sprinkle half of the brown onions over the curry and 10 Ml ghee.
Cover the curry with ghee rice and garnish with remaining brown onions, fried nuts and raisins, remaining ghee and the saffron soaked in milk.
Sprinkle chopped mint leaves all over.
Close the lid, seal the lid with maida/wheat flour dough on the rim and place on fire with a perforated roti plate or a griddle underneath.
Keep on dum for 10-15 mins.
Open seal just before eating.
Scoop a layer of hot rice with chicken masala and serve with choice of raita.

Note:
You can also arrange layers of curry and rice in a microwave proof container(as mentioned earlier) and keep in reheating mode for 3-5 mins for dum.

Dumrote/Dumroot Halwa

The name 'Dumrote' sounds a bit strange when one reads it for the first time but let me assure you, this sweet dish is addictive and may become a permanent entry into your recipe book! I first tasted this at Udupi Krishna Bhavan(UKB) in Balepet Bangalore in 1980. I thought they mixed in left over Jehangir, a Muslim sweet resembling Jalebis in Kesari Bhaat to make this. At least the consistency looked like that and the dish had the strong aroma of camphor. According to my colleague in Bangalore Nagabhushana Hande who hailed from Kundapur, they made this with semolina and ash gourd with a dash of edible camphor. I was immediately addicted to it and every afternoon, I skipped lunch and had Dumrote, Idli sambar and Khaara Bhaat at UKB for almost 4 years!

I guess this dish originated from Karachi now in Pakistan. Karachi is famous for halwa and bakes. They make what is called 'Dum Ka Rote', a baked semolina cake without ash gourd. Muslims in Andhra and Tamilnadu also make Dum Ka Rote. Bangaloreans have distorted the name and some call this 'Dumroot'. They say Kashi Halwa and this are the same. Some make it with pumpkin and some with ash gourd. However, I didn't find anyone making it with added semolina.  Venkateshwara Sweet Meat Stall in Balepet sells Golden Yellow Dumrote that smells and tastes different. UKB still makes dumrote that is slightly browned like cake but tastes heavenly even today!

This is my second attempt to make it at home in the last 25 years and both the attempts are successful. I made my own formula and last time I added saffron. This time made it almost like UKB Balepet Bangalore, adding camphor. We had 2 fresh home grown ash gourds, each weighing over 4 Kilos and thought of making good use of them. Today being Shashti, a festival which is traditionally highlighted by preparing any dish with ash gourd, I thought of making this sweet and distribute among the close ones. Here's my recipe for the wonderful dessert called 'Dumrote'. I  added very little Orange Red food colour to the dish to get a feel of the original dumrote that is red in colour, but ours turned out light red.

Ingredients:
Ash Gourd(Well grown one) - 2Kg piece
Bombay Rava(Semolina) - 1 1/2 cups
Ghee - 150Ml(More if you like this rich)
Sugar - 2 cups(Reduce or increase according to taste)
Khova - 200Gms(Or Condensed Milk 100Ml)
Water - 4 cups
Cashew bits - 25Gms
Raisins - 25Gms
Green Cardamom - 6-8 pods, peeled and seeds crushed
Edible Camphor(Pachcha Karpooram) crystals - A pinch
Saffron(Use only if you are not using camphor) - A pinch dissolved in little warm milk
Orange Red Food colour(Optional) - A pinch dissolved in little warm water

Method:
Wash peel and cut the ash gourd into thick wedges as in the pics.
Grate them and collect the grated ash gourd in a bowl.
Using a juice strainer, squeeze out the juice from the grated ash gourd and collect the juice separately.
You should get 3 cups of the grated ash gourd and little more of the juice.
Heat 3-4 Tbsp of ghee in a nonstick pan.
Fry the grated ash gourd on high flame, mixing continuously, so that it doesn't get burnt.
Keep stirring for 15-20 mins when the mass should get cooked, gets slightly golden in colour and ghee leaves the sides.
Now add the collected ash gourd juice and bring to a boil.
Cover and simmer for 10-15 mins when the mass gets mushy and semi dry.
Boil 4 cups of water in a vessel and simmer.
Dissolve Camphor in little hot water.
Heat remaining ghee in a thick kadai(Wok) and fry the cashew bits till golden.
Remove and keep aside.
To the same ghee, add semolina and roast on medium heat till a nice aroma emanates and semolina starts to turn golden.
Carefully add the boiled water to the roasted semolina and mix well till semolina gets fully soaked but not watery.
Since roasted semolina tends to spurt while adding hot water, you should be really careful about your hands and face.
Now add the cooked ash gourd and mix.
At this stage, semolina expands 3 times in volume.
Mix in sugar and crumbled khova.
Sugar and khova melt and blend well with the mass.
Add food colour, crushed cardamom and camphor dissolved in water.
(Optionally add saffron in milk)
Mix thoroughly to get a homogeneous colour.
Top up with fried cashewnuts and raisins and serve hot.

Note:
All measures are in standard cup of volume 200Ml.
If you add condensed milk instead of Khova, reduce the quantity of sugar.