Mom's Recipes

Indian food presents a range of flavors, intense and subtle, as diverse as the country's culture itself. Indian cuisine, known for its variety is only a tiny portion, of what this beautiful country has to offer. This page is a small effort to present, the different flavors of Indian cooking. The following are a few easy recipes. I plan to add more soon.
Untill then... Happy Cooking!

1. Rasgulla

Milk dumplings in sugar syrup. Rasgulla (or "roshogolla" as the Bengalis prefer to call it) is a very popular East-Indian sweet dish, one of the specialities of West Bengal. It's great as dessert.

Method

1. Boil milk. Add vinegar. Once the whey separates, strain and wash thoroughly. Tie it in a thin piece of cloth and squeeze till all the water's gone.
2. Add one spoon of sugar and knead well. Make this mixture into small balls and set aside.
3. Make syrup with sugar and water over low flame. To the boiling syrup, add the balls. Cover it and cook for 10 - 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Add a few drops of essence.

Notes

1. If you don't have rose essence, you can add 3-4 cardamom seeds to the syrup.

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2. Fish Mollee

Noted for its abundance of fish, Kerala cuisine is fragrant with coconut and spices. This particular recipe is for a very delicious fish curry made with coconut milk. This one's my grandmother's.

Method

1. Cut fish into 2 inch pieces. Mix salt and turmeric powder. Rub over the fish and set aside.
2. Cut onion and chilles into thin slices. Peel ginger and shred it fine.
3. Heat oil in a large wide pan over medium heat. When hot add the onion, chilies and ginger. Stir in the curry leaves. Stir-fry till the onion is tender.
4. Add a pinch of turmeric powder and 3/4 cup of water. Mix well and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat and add fish pieces gently. Spoon the sauce gently over the fish.
6. Add salt. Cover and simmer for a few minutes, shaking the pan gently to prevent fish from sticking to the pan.
7. Add coconut milk, stir it in very slowly or shake the pan gently for it to blend into the sauce. Cover and simmer for three to four minutes, shaking the pan occasionally.
8. Add lime juice. Remove from heat. Serve with rice.

Notes

1. Traditionally made with seer fish/kingfish steaks - it works well enough with cod steaks or haddock fillets.
2. Instead of stirring the sauce, shake the pan gently to avoid breaking the fish pieces.
3. Coconut oil could be substituted with any vegetable oil.

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3. Cauliflower Manchurian

Fried cauliflower pieces in a thick, spicy sauce. As always, there are countless methods of preparing this 'much hyped about' dish. Here's one of them.

Method

1. Separate the cauliflower into small bite sized florets. Mix flour, cornflour, baking powder, chilli powder, salt and milk into a thick batter. Dip the florets in this batter and deep fry. Keep this aside.
2. To prepare the sauce: Heat oil. Stir-fry garlic and green chillis for a minute or two on low flame. Add soya sauce, tomato ketchup and vinegar. Cook for half a minute. Add water and allow it to boil. Add cornflour to the boiling sauce, stirring continously. Cook till the sauce thickens .
3. Garnish with finely chopped spring onion and green chillies.
4. Just before serving, heat sauce on low flame. Add fried cauliflower. Heat for a couple of minutes.

Notes

1. Drain fried florets on a paper towel and place in an airtight container to prevent it from getting soggy.
2. Dissolve cornflour in 1/2 cup of water before adding to the sauce. This prevents it from forming lumps.

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4. Chicken Biryani

Basmati Rice cooked with chicken and spices. This is my mother-in-law's recipe. Its really tasty!

Method

1. Clean and joint the chicken. Grind ingredients into a smooth paste with very little water.
2. Fry this paste in a little butter/ghee, till the raw smell goes. Stir in the tomato and cook for a while. Add chicken, turmeric powder, salt and mix well. Add a little water and cook on a low flame.
3. When the chicken is done and the gravy is fairly thick remove from fire. Separate the chicken pieces from the gravy (if in excess) and set aside.
4. Cook rice with remaining spices, mint leaves, a pinch of turmeric, salt and a dash of lime juice. When done, fluff lightly with a fork.
5. Saute sliced onion in butter till browned.
6. In a flat pan, layer the chicken and rice alternately adding sauteed onions and chopped coriander.
7. Serve hot with onion salad and mint chutney.

Notes

1. Add a little butter when cooking rice to prevent grains from sticking to each other.
2. If theres extra chicken gravy, it can be added while cooking the rice for extra flavor, but make sure it doesnt get soggy.

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Chicken Tikka

Boneless chicken marinated in yogurt and spices, cooked in an oven.

Method

1. Clean and cut the chicken into 1 inch cubes. Rub lemon juice and salt and set aside for a few minutes.
2. Mix yogurt and all other ingredients of the marinade. Add the chicken and let it marinate in the refrigerator for about 4 hours.
3. Thread the chicken on skewers alternating with wedges of onion.
4. Cook the chicken in a pre-heated oven for about 6-8 minutes. Baste it with butter and cook for another 10 minutes or untill the chicken is done.
5. Serve hot with sliced onion.

Notes

1. A little food color may be added to give it that nice red look.
2. Pieces of capscium could also be added to the skewers.

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Paneer Jalfraize

Cottage cheese sauteed with onion, capsicum, tomatoes and spices.

Method

1. Cut paneer into inch long pieces. Chop onion and capsicum into one inch square pieces. (Separate the layers of the onion). Deseed and cut the tomato into fairly large wedges. Chop ginger finely.
2. Heat oil in a hard bottomed pan or wok. Add broken red chillies and cumin seeds. Fry for a minute.
3. Add ginger. Fry till the raw smell goes. Add onions and later capsicum, saute till slightly tender.
4. Add all the powders and salt and mix till vegetables are coated. Add tomato pieces and saute for a minute.
5. Reduce the heat. Stir in the paneer. Add vinegar and cook on low heat for two to three minutes.
6. Garnish with chopped coriander just before serving.

Notes

1. Red and yellow bell pepper could be added for a little extra colour.
2. Cottage cheese/paneer can be substituted with firm tofu.

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Copyright © 2002-2003, Tharunya Bhasker
Last Updated On 07/30/2003