Pai Fishland in Bhatkal opposite KSRTC Bus Stand, one of the oldest eateries, is a hangout for hot flaky Kerala Parottas that can be relished with a simple Sherwa or nonveg gravy, Chicken Sukka or some other local style chicken preparation. My relative Arun Isloor highly recommended the joint and I was fascinated to see them doing brisk business last Sunday evening when we were returning from Sirsi and stopped over for packing dinner. Apart from parottas, they have fish curry rice, fish masala fried, tawa fried, rava fried, Chicken 65 and a few other delicacies. Authentic Bhatkal Dum Biryani and Kushka are added attractions. That's not all. All these items are very reasonably priced. You may blow your top, if we say that the price of nice fresh hot flaky Kerala Parotta is Rs.6/- each! Two parottas with sherwa cost you Rs.20/-. Tawa fried Anjal/Seer fish may be priced just Rs.100/-, and you may feel lucky! So, what are you waiting for! Stop over at Pai Fishland on your way to Murudeshwar, Karwar, Goa, Sirsi, Hubli or Dandeli and have a sumptuous chicken and seafood treat! It is reasonably clean, toilet attached. Kudpiraj's Garam tawa was previleged to have a peek into their kitchen and check out what's cooking! Here are some of their dishes and also step by step pictures showing how they make Kerala Parottas in front of our eyes!
November 17: Today is Homemade Bread Day Bread has been around for thousands of years. Nowadays, people just don't have time to bake bread. The origin of this day is shrouded in mystery. but its purpose and benefits are obvious. The invention of the bread maker has taken a lot of the effort out of baking. There is no reason why everyone should not enjoy home made bread. It is healthier, higher in fibre content, and lower in salt and additives. Consider investing in a bread maker or borrow from a friend and get to baking home made bread today. Your nose, your taste buds, and your whole family will be glad you did! (Info source: Konchadi Vasanth Pai)
I suddenly realised about Homemade Bread Day after reading the above post by my senior friend Konchadi Vasanth Pai, in a social network group. Hence I hurriedly compiled this recipe article, and here I go! Paav Bun or Pav Bread is a staple snack for Maharastrians and those living in Konkan belt. It is mostly served with the world famous Mumbai street snacks like Paav Bhaaji, Vada Paav or Maska Paav. In Konkan and Goa, it is served as Misal Paav, a mixed sprouts curry with paav bread. They call paav bread as ladi paav, and the bread is baked in sheets which have tiny buns sticking to one another, but can easily be separated. This is a tasty traditionally made bread with simple methods. It is probably named as 'Paav' because of its size, one quarter of a pound of bread. We down South were not exposed to Paav bread until some of the North Indians set up chaat centers serving paav bhaaji. I first tasted paav bhaaji in Mumbai in 1975 at Lakhan's Paav Bhaaji and Kaala Khatta street food carts at the Five Gardens, Matunga. I used to go there daily with my friends Ananth, Vishwanath, Ajit, Anil, Panduranga and Ravi after dark and relish paav bhaaji loaded with butter, and wash it down with kaala khatta. Later when I visited Mumbai in 1978, I stayed at my brother's house in Mulund, but I used to go near Mukund market area and taste excellent paav bhaaji. At a bachelors' hostel in Bombay Central where my friend Alwyn Vaz stayed, they served paav bread with pork curry. I was wondering then, why Mangalore has not introduced that as yet! Very soon, maybe in 1980 Mangalore also started relishing paav bhaaji, thanks to a few street cart fellows and also to Hanuman Sweets Stall. By late Eighties Paav bhaaji was a favourite with Mangaloreans and we used to buy paav bread from Hanuman or from Nilgiri's in Balmatta. Today we have every nook and corner of India serving paav bhaaji and vada paav. Yet, we get mostly paav bun that is very soft and spongy, not exactly like they make in Mumbai. We do get good paav bun at Nilgiri's or at a few local bakeries, but I always wanted to make this bread at home, ever since we started baking some breads. My experiment with paav bread from the dough made for Khaliat Al Nahal, the honeycomb bread proved 80% success, but that day we had power outage, and the bread didn't raise properly. Looking for a good recipe, I came across this blog Yummy Tummy, where the blogger Aarathi mentions that whole wheat flour is mixed with refined flour to make tasty paav bread. I imagined how stiff the bread maybe, and how close the texture maybe to that of the original Mumbai Ladi Paav. In the deal to check if the recipe proves perfect, I didn't take step by step pictures, and I changed the volume of couple of ingredients to suit our taste. I also added some sugar to milk wash to get a 'kadak' or stiff and firm upper crust with a darker shade. This recipe yields about 12 medium size paav buns and 9 big ones. For step by step recipe you can browse following this link for the time being, and at a later date I shall update the recipe with good pictures. You may buy paav bread from store easily and eat it in a choice of snack combo, but I guarantee you, once you start baking fresh paav bread at home, you won't compromise with ready made ones. The nice aroma that fills the kitchen while baking them is so appetising, you may eat one or two more than the ready made ones. Besides, whole wheat flour adds to taste, making this a five star healthy bread with high fiber in your daily diet!
Ingredients: Whole Wheat Flour - 1.5 Cups Refined Flour(Maida) - 1 Cup + 2 Tablespoons Salt - 1 Tsp(or according to taste) Sugar - 2 Tablespoons + 1/4 Tsp for milk wash Active Dry Yeast - 2 Tsp Warm Milk - 3/4 Cup + 1 Tablespoon for milk wash Warm Water - 1/2 Cup Refined Vegetable Oil - 2 Tablespoons Method: In a saucepan,add milk, heat until it is luke warm. Alternately you can warm it in a microwave for 10-15 seconds. Take the warm milk in a glass tumbler or a non metallic bowl, mix in sugar and yeast, cover and keep for 10 minutes to proof/activate. Mix 1.5 cup wheat flour, 1 cup maida and salt in a mixing bowl. Make a pit in the center and pour the yeast milk mixture. Knead well adding the oil, and water little by little, for 10 minutes, or until you get a sticky but firm dough. Grease the bowl, apply oil on the dough ball, cover with kitchen cloth and allow to raise for one hour at warm room temperature. The dough will have doubled by then. Sprinkle little flour over the dough, punch it to release the air and knead again adding little flour for 5 minutes. Roll the dough into a thick rope or log, cut into 9, 12 or 16 equal parts, shape each part into a ball, dust the balls lightly with flour and place them as close as possible to one another, in a 8x8 baking tin. If you can't accommodate all the dough balls in one medium size tray, you can either place them in a single long tin or two small tins. Cover the dough balls and keep for another hour or slightly more, when they double up again, stick to one another and fit snugly in the tray. Mix 1 tablespoon warm milk with 1/4 Tsp sugar, brush this milk over the top of the dough balls. Preheat oven at 180°C for 10 minutes, and place the tray on wire rack, bake for 25-35 minutes or until the bread gets brown on top. Remove from oven, allow to cool down for 10-15 minutes, detach the bread from the baking tray using a butter knife and serve. Apply little butter and warm them up for a minute in the microwave, serve them as Paav Bhaaji, Vada Paav or Maska Paav. I relished them with Egg Burji for brunch.
We were on a road trip to Sirsi in May to attend a family function. Engaging Dolphy D'Souza's taxi cab, our plans were to start slightly late in the morning at about 10:00 and reach Honnavar by 1:00pm and have our lunch there. My classmate cum friend Manjeshwar Madhav Bhat is settled in Honnavar and he knew a place where we get fresh and hygienic seafood preparations. Some months earlier, my niece Seema D Shenoy from Puttur and her family had dined there and she being a foodie and a good cook herself, appreciated their food very much. Ever since, I always wanted to visit that restaurant and check out their preparations.
Entrance
It is just by the side of old Padukani causeway bridge
That's the garden ambiance
Deepak setting up the table for 5
Madhav Bhat inspects the table
Padukani bridge and the old causeway
So we were there little after 1:00pm and Madhava lead us there, a vast garden setup adjacent to Padukani(Badagani) bridge past Haldipur, about 10 Kms or almost half way between Honnavar and Kumta. It was near Kasarakod until some months ago, but has been recently shifted to the present place, said my friend. It was named 'Hotel Casuarina' by the owner ND Bhat, when it functioned at Kasarakod amidst casuarina trees. It was ND Bhat's ambition to serve the travellers with the goodies of Uttara Kannada at affordable prices. The location is exactly half way between Mangaluru and Panaji and also Managluru and Hubballi, making it a convenient place to dine at mid day or in the evening for those travelling between said places. The place looked serene and cozy perched amidst giant acacia trees, with permanent and make shift canopies in the garden that provided shelter for diners. They have maintained it meticulously clean as well. There are wash rooms for ladies and gents to get refreshed after a long and tiring journey. We were greeted with a smile by two friendly hosts by name Sudanshu and Deepak, who attended to our table. Madhav knew them personally and had informed them over phone about our visit, so they readily understood what we want. Madhava Bhat ordered three starters, Prawn Sukkha, Belanji(Bollanjir in Tulu, Motiyale in Konkani) and Surmai Rava Fried along with regular fish thaali. Their menu had many items including chicken preparations. Shubha, Madhav's wife told us that their chicken items are lip smacking good! They also have bottled cold water and a wide range of cool drinks but we settled for cold and warm water. Very soon, there were plates full of fresh seafood treat on our table, hot and inviting! We gorged into them one by one, while the boys brought the thaalis shining like mirror, and we continued gobbling up the steaming white rice with the hot and tangy fish curry and the side dishes. Each item was fresh and clean, not as spicy as we get them in Mangaluru, but certainly tasty and aromatic.
Belanji Rava Fried
King Fish Rava Fried and Prawn Sukkha
Fish Thaali
That's a lovely King Fish Rava Fried
Bill itself is the proof for reasonable pricing!
Author with Deepak and Sudanshu
Prawn Sukkha is different than Tuluva style preparation. It is more sticky with lots of onions, garlic, chillies and turmeric but has less added coconut, rather just a garnish of freshly grated coconut. Belanji fried was crisp and hot, well marinated with a rather bland masala and it had right amount of salt in it. Surmai rava fried was the item of the day, fresh thick and big steaks of King Fish marinated with a spicy tangy masala, rolled in rava and fried to perfection. Each bite tasted like a piece of savoury cake and literally melted in the mouth! Their fish thaali contains a bowl of white rice, a bowl with full mackerel curry, a small bowl full of vegetable fry and that day it was cabbage pallya. A fried fish such as Mackerel or Sardine and a pickle is also served along with the thaali. The fish curry rice was good, but fish curry was slightly bland and the gravy was too thin. That's how a Uttara Kannada fish curry(Meen Saaru) is normally prepared, for I have dined at some sea food restaurants in Bengaluru, Karwar and Honavar in the past run by Uttara Kannadigas and found similar preparations.
Fried fish and other special seafood preparations are priced seasonally as per prevailing rates. With two bottles of water, two plates each of starter dishes and four fish thaalis, our bill summed up to Rs.1270/- for 5 persons and it was worth every rupee, I must confess. Try this place, if you are on a road trip to Goa or Mumbai. Family will love the surrounds with Badagani(Padukani) River flowing by the side, kids will love playing in the garden and men can just laze around watching the bustling highway traffic crossing the Padukani bridge, or even enjoying the whiff of fresh wind in the shade of mammoth acacia trees. Address: Hotel Casuarina Near Go Green Homestay Padukani(Badagani) Bridge NH66 Haldipur - 581327 Uttara Kannada District Contact No: ND Bhat - 9449441990
Paratha is perhaps the most sought after Indian Flat Bread that's liked by almost all. Plain parathas to stuffed parathas, over the last 27 years we have been making them in different ways. Some days ago, Meena came out with her own formula, when she wanted to make something new for brunch. She came out with a tasty nutritious paratha that has a mixture of vegetables and also three different flours to make it tasty as well. Here is Three Flour Mixed veg Paratha that she made that tasted just fantastic. Try it with ketchup or plain yogurt spiced up with salt and a dash of chilli powder and garam masala. It is too good for words!
Ingredients: Refined Flour(Maida) - 1 cup Whole Wheat Flour - 1 cup Ragi(Finger Millet) Flour - 1 cup Caraway Seeds(Ajwain/Oama) - 1/4 Tsp Cumin Powder - 1 Tsp Chaat Masala - 1 Tsp Dry Mango(Amchur) Powder - 1 TspGreen Chillies - 3, finely chopped Mixed Vegetables(Finely chopped Cabbage, Capsicum, Onion, grated Carrot) - 1 and 1/2 cups Coriander leaves - 2-3 sprigs, chopped Mint Leaves - 1 sprig, chopped Salt - 1/2 Tsp(Or to taste) Oil/Ghee - For roasting + 1 Tbsp Method: Mix salt with chopped veggies and greens and then add all the three flours. Add a tablespoonful oil/ghee and knead the dough along with the veggies. Sprinkle little water while kneading, if the dough is too stiff/dry. Knead well into a soft pliable dough. Cover and keep for 15 mins. Make lemon size balls, dust with wheat flour and roll into 4 mm thick parathas. Heat oil/ghee on a thick tawa/griddle. Roast the parathas on both sides until they are well baked and turn golden brown. Serve with fresh plain yogurt spiced with a dash of salt, red chilli powder and garam masala powder.
The name 'Andhra' itself projects a 3D picture of spices and chillies, making foodies with a spicy tongue drool! Andhra cuisine is the most hottest among Indian cuisine that contains an array of exotic aromatic and pungent spices, lots of chillies and tang that makes the dishes mouth watering yummy. I am a fan of Andhra food, especially the Hyderabadi/Andhra Dum Biryani and the Chicken Roast Andhra Style. Legend has it, that able chefs serving the Nizams of Hyderabad developed this cuisine mixing Turkish, Arabic and Mughalai delights with Telangana and Marathwada spices, and the the Reddys mastered this cuisine over a period.
Till the mid Seventies, Andhra style biryani in Bangalore was made mostly in Military Hotels like Naidu's in Balepet. Then Hotel RR opened in Gandhinagar, being the first of its kind serving Andhra meals on plantain leaf, a variety of chicken and mutton specialties catering to the floating population around Majestic area, especially those who came from nearby towns for trading or watching a movie at the Santosh, Nartaki or Sapna theaters. I first tasted their biryani in 1980. Then came 'Annapoorna in Gandhinagar 6th cross where I found the biryani even better. RR spread their wings and opened RR Brigades, while Annapoorna opened their branch 'Annapoorna Galaxy' near Galaxy Theater on Residency Road. Then entered Nagarjuna, Amaravathi and Navayug. Today Bengaluru is flooded with Andhra style restaurants and fast food joints serving authentic Andhra Style Dum Biryani.
Mangaloreans had their own favourite hangout for Andhra food in the Eighties, when RR opened Plantain Leaf restaurant in the basement of Hotel Hilltop on Court Hill under franchise. That didn't last long, as the Mangalorean crowd either was too conservative about Andhra food or the management failed to sustain due to their own reasons. Now I heard Andhra House in Bejai is still open almost after 5 years of its existence, though I am not happy with the stuff they serve. It is not authentic Andhra style food as per my experience. There is a restaurant in City Center Food Court that makes Andhra Biryani and that is very spicy and somewhat better than Andhra House biryani.
So, now you all know that I am an Andhra Food buff! Any guy who can withstand the craving for relishing authentic Andhra Biryani for many years with patience can very well become a recluse, or try and find a way out himself how to make the biryani at home. Being born with a sensitive tongue that yearns for delicious goodies, I obviously decided to go with the second option and started browsing through google search for authentic Andhra style biryani recipes. I saw many recipes but each one lacked something or the other. I also found youtube videos of restaurants preparing Andhra style biryani and that helped me understand the scientific approach towards 'Kachcha Dum' style of making biryani. Chef Sanjay Thumma of Vahchef also demonstrates how to make Hyderabadi Biryani following dum style but the ingredients he uses are mostly hinted for the Westerners. We in India especially in the South like out biryani spicy, hot and perfectly done. So I followed the recipe by Vahchef, altered the ingredients and method much, followed the restaurant style cooking as per couple of youtube videos and arrived at my own recipe, that is a superhit at its very first edition!
I had promised two families that I would make something special for them at the weekend. We also had plans to give biryani to couple of close friends. Since the number of pax expected to relish the biryani reached almost 14, we decided to cook Chicken biryani with 2 or more KGs of meat. Now, the first step in dum cooking was finding proper vessel for that. A thick bottomed aluminum haandi(pot) is used by the Hyderabadis for making biryani. Restaurant chefs also use 'Biryani Thopu', a bigger vessel that holds huge quantity of rice and meat. I had purchased a vessel that's sufficient to make biryani with almost 5KG meat, at a shop on Market Road here some years ago, but never used it. I had also bought a matching lid for that thopu, so that the lid can be sealed properly during dum. I decided to use that for dum. Then there was a bigger question. Which griddle or skillet can we use for keeping under such a wide vessel! Then I found a large aluminum griddle that Meena had bought for making dosas. The biryani thopu fitted properly on that. You can see in the pictures how to set the vessel for dum. Making biryani requires big gas burners like in restaurants but with some idea, you can also use the home gas stove to make it as perfectly as in restaurants. I have succeeded with added patience that my parents have gifted me by inherent genes! If you also have some patience and keen observation, you can also make wonderful Andhra style biryani at home.
Next, let me narrate some scientific explanation about dum cooking. Dum cooking ensures uniform cooking of meat and rice under controlled steam pressure that builds up in the vessel placed on slow fire with the extra thick plate underneath the vessel acting as thermostat. Meat doesn't get charred, nor does it get shattered into tiny bits, rice grains swell up slowly and remain firm, at the same time soft and light. To get the right results, keep the rice cooking for just 5 minutes in boiling water 4-5 times the volume of rice and then fish it out with a mesh ladle and layer it over the semi-cooked meat. Rice is cooked in salty water with added oil just like we do in the case of noodles to retain the rice grains intact. Bay leaves are added to water as per my idea to give a good aroma to the rice and is trasferred along with the half cooked rice and spread over the meat. As you fish out cooked rice from the boiling water after 5 mins till you complete it, rice will cook almost in a range of 50% to 75 %. The first layer of 50% cooked rice touches the meat and oil underneath, while the 70% cooked rice is layered above that. This will result in perfectly uniform 100% cooked grains of rice. All the aromas of the added spices get sealed in the biryani during the dum process. Dum is opened just before serving the meal and biryani remains hot for hours without any need for re-heating!
As long as spices are concerned, Vahchef explains the same thing I had in my mind. Many restaurants avoid adding whole spices to biryani, as whole spices that you may suddenly bite, can be annoying while enjoying the meal. Besides, if you powder the spices, it needs just 1/3 the quantity as against the whole spices you may add to the dish, cutting down the cost considerably! Vahchef recommends the spices to be coarsely powdered without roasting them but I prefer roasting them a bit, as they turn crispy and get powdered easily in this coastal humid weather of Mangalore. There's nothing like hand pounded spices but since it is time consuming and laborious, I did that in the dry griding jar on my mixer.
Oil and ghee are used in equal volumes in making this biryani. Chicken is cooked with oil, while ghee is drizzled on the rice while laying for dum. The combination simply tastes heavenly. I prefer refined sunflower oil. Volume of oil and ghee can be between 40 and 50Ml each per Kilo of Chicken.
Choosing the right rice is also strategic. I used Jeera(Jeerak Samba) or short grain aromatic rice that's best suited for Andhra style Biryani. Traditional Andhra Biryani contained Nellore short grain rice in the olden days but now universally they use basmati rice, since basmati is available in abundance, is also cost effective and yields more volume of cooked rice. However, basmati grains break easily while jeera grains are firm and masalas are well coated and aromas are well infused in the rice grains during dum cooking.
Chicken should be cut into large pieces, at the most 10 pieces per kilo of chicken meat. Avoid adding neck piece, liver, gizzard and other waste parts, as biryani better be made with only fleshy pieces with bone intact. While serving the biryani, scoop out a piece of meat along with the masala and the spiced rice sticking to it on, to the plate, top it with the upper layer of rice and a lemon wedge. As side dishes, you can serve Hyderabadi Mirchi Ka Salan or Kachumabr Raita and one or two dry dishes like Chicken '65, Andhra Chilli Chicken or Andhra Roast Chicken. Andhra biryani can be best relished on a plantain leaf.
I have given the recipe for 1KG chicken or mutton meat. You may multiply the ingredients according to your requirements if you want to prepare and store the masala powder. Add lesser quantity of masala powder and reduce up to 50% if you feel the aroma is too strong. My spice level is much higher than many! Make this biryani following the step by step method carefully but confidently, and you will never fail. Dine like the Nizams of Hyderabad. Treat your guests royally. Marinating chicken for 10-12 hours makes the meat soft and it melts in your mouth, says Vahchef and I vouch for each word, each superlative he uses in his video, shown at the end of the recipe.
Ingredients:
1. Broiler Chicken without skin - 1KG fleshy meat cut into 10 biryani size pieces
2. Salt - To taste(I used 1 1/4 Tsp per KG of chicken and 2-3 Tsp while cooking rice)
3. Red Chilli powder - 2 Teaspoon
4. Turmeric powder - 1/2 Teaspoon
5. Coriander powder - 1 Tsp
6. Cumin powder - 1/2 Tsp
7. Ginger-Garlic paste - 2 Tablespoon
8. Brown Onion - 2 big onions sliced thin and fried with oil till crisp and golden.(reserve a handful of brown onions for garnishing over rice)
9. Tomatoes - 4 big cut into wedges 10. Mint Leaves - A handful(4-5 sprigs) chopped
11. Coriander Leaves - A handful(50Gms) chopped
12. Green Chillies - 6 diagonally cut
13. Lemon juice - 1 lemon
14. Refined vegetable oil - 50Ml+1 Tsp
15. Plain Yogurt - 20 Ml
16. Jeera(or Basmati) Rice - 500 Gms
17. Bay leaf - 2
18. Melted Ghee(Clarified butter) - 50Ml
19. Chapati batter a handful - For sealing the vessel lid for dum.
For the Biryani Masala Powder:
Bay leaf - 1
Cloves - 6
Cinnamon - 2" stick Green cardamom - 3
Star Anise - 1
Mace - A pinch
Shahjeera - 1 Tsp
Fennel Seeds - 1 Tsp
Black Cardamom - 1/2
Black Peppercorns - 1 Tsp
Marata Moggu - 4
Kasoori Methi - 1 Tablespoon
Method:
Dry roast the masala ingredients till crispy. Coarsely powder in a mill and keep aside.
Marinate chicken with ingredients 2 through 13 along with biryani masala powder for 10-12 hours in the fridge, reserving one tsp of masala powder for sprinkling on the rice during dum.
Wash rice thoroughly and soak with 1 liter water for 10-15 minutes, drain and keep aside.
Heat the biryani dum vessel on the stove, add oil.
Once the oil heats up, drop the marinated chicken pieces along with the marinade in the vessel.
Add plain yogurt, mix and check for salt.
Allow to fry for 2-3 mins and then flip all the chicken pieces over.
Heat the griddle on high flame and transfer the dum vessel on it.
Side by side boil 3 liters or more of water in another vessel.
Add 2 Tsp salt, 1 Tsp of oil and 2 bay leaves to the boiling water.
Add the washed soaked rice and allow to cook for about 5 mins.
By this time, the rice will have cooked 50%.
Fish out as much as the cooked rice as you can along with the bay leaves, drain out the excess water and layer the rice over the chicken pieces in the vessel.
Last remaining rice will be 70% cooked and this can be laid on the surface of the previous layer of rice.
Sprinkle remaining biryani masala powder and handful of brown onions over the rice, drizzle ghee and saffron all over.
Line the inside groove of the cover lid with an even strip of chapati batter, close the lid on the vessel and press firmly all around to seal the lid.
Place a heavy weight or a vessel over the lid.
When the contents of the vessel starts to sizzle(feel the tremours on the vessel with built in dum or steam), simmer the flame and allow to cook for another 15-20 mins.
By this time the chicken as well as the rice will cook perfectly.
Switch off the flame and leave the vessel sealed.
Just before serving, open the lid, scoop out some masala drenched rice and a piece of chicken from the bottom of the vessel on to a half dinner plate, top with plain biryani rice, place a lemon wedge over it and serve with side dishes like Raita, Hyderabadi Mirchi Ka Salan and any dry Andhra style dish.
That way a sumptuous dinner can be served just like in any good Andhra style restaurant!
Vahchef Sanjay Thumma explains how to make Restaurant Style Chicken Biryani
