Blog – Page 2 – Famous Foods

November 2018

Mughlai Kadhai Paneer

Paneer is one of the popular vegetarian ingredients not just across homes in India but also at street stalls and restaurants. A lot of households make their own and once you’ve tried homemade paneer you’ll never go back to shop bought. Although now most stores stock up on good quality paneer too. Its fresh, crumbly and quick to cook. The moist chunks are great in curries and for a bbq as they soak in the flavour of the spices it cooks with. For vegetarians this Indian cheese is a good source of protein. One of my favorite dishes is this Mughlai style Kadhai Paneer cooked with tomato, ginger, whole spices and peppers. The dish is rustic with the peppers and onions diced along with the paneer. Also roasting the spices give a gorgeous also grinding the spices to a coarse mix lends a bite to the resultant dish. Take your time with cooking the tomatoes as the curry thickens the flavour gets richer which helps coat the paneer chunks well. I also add some tomato puree with the fresh variety for added colour and consistency. You can leave out the the kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves) although they finish the curry with a delicious flavour. Served with naan and pickled onions this makes a perfect meal. Ingredients (Serves 4) 450gms paneer diced in bite size chunks 3 tbsp vegetable oil 120gms white onion finely chopped 4 garlic cloves finely chopped 400gms tomato roughly chopped 3 tbsp tomato puree 1 heaped tsp kashmiri chilli powder (or mild paprika) ¼ tsp turmeric powder 3 [...]

Prawn curry

Goan Ambotik is a classic recipe hailing from the west of India. Cooked traditionally with fish the key to this recipe is the use of fresh coconut rather than coconut milk. I’ve used prawn in my recipe as the sweetness of the prawns is perfect with the hot and sour flavours of the gravy. ‘Ambat’ in the local language means tangy and ‘tik’ or ‘tikhat’ as in Maharashtra/ Goa means spicy or hot. The heat of the curry comes from the dried chillies. I’ve opted for Kashmiri chillies which lend a lovely flavour and colour to the gravy. If you like it spicy use 10 or reduce the quantity if you prefer it milder. The paste also include vinegar and goan vinegar is perfect for it which lends the sour element. Finish the curry with tamarind paste although as always make sure to taste you curry before you add the tamarind and add only as much as you require. My tamarind paste is fairly diluted so 1 teaspoon is perfect! Served with plain rice this is what a Friday night at home needs! Ingredients (Serves 4) 10-12 king prawns deveined and shells off with tails left on ½ tsp turmeric powder Pinch of salt 3 tbsp vegetable oil 100gms white onion finely chopped 70gms tomato 400 mls water Pinch of sugar Salt to taste 1 tsp tamarind paste Coriander to garnish for the paste; 1 heaped tsp cumin seeds 1 tbsp coriander seeds 4 cloves 8-10 dried mild chillies (or Kashmiri dried chillies) 150gms grated coconut 6 garlic cloves ½” ginger roughly chopped 60mls goan vinegar (or malt vinegar) 150 mls water Method Add [...]

Spicy Lamb Curry

A steaming bowlful of tariwala gosht with tandoori roti served on a rickety table at a no frills dhabba (roadside home cooked stalls) near Ambala. It’s the food that brings us here on every visit. The tandoori dishes and dal fry are amazing but the gosht is definitely one to try as well. There really isn’t much much gosht/ mutton in the dish (well it is a no frills dhabba!) but to be honest it’s the gravy that I have always craved. I would happily devour a bowl of curry with roti than eat the meat unless its working my way through the Nalli/ marrow filled pieces. This thin soupy curry is spiced with ginger, chilli and tomato and served with some onions and lemon on the side. I ask for extra ‘tari’/ gravy which is perfect to dip the leftover roti in. Its perfect comfort food and made with basic ingredients that have some amazing flavours. Tariwala gosht is very much part of everyday Indian home cooking too and a basic curry that most households make. This can be made with chicken or mutton. My mum made a similar curry on Sundays with mutton. Despite such humble ingredients the warmth and balance of spices in the dish was something I always loved. While the mutton was simmering away, the aromas were so enticing and I couldn’t wait to tuck in with some rotis. If there was any left we would eat it the following day just with some crusty [...]

September 2018

Mutton Curry

Ingredients: 500 gram Mutton (lamb) 4 tblspn Oil 2 large onion sliced thinly 2 large tomatoes sliced thinly 1 tblspn ginger garlic paste 3 slit green chillies 2 tblpsn Kashmiri chilli powder 2 tblspn coriander powder 2 tsp Garam masala powder salt to taste to taste 3/4 cup Fresh Coconut grated Water as needed Coriander Leaves a handful finely chopped Instructions: Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add in onions and cook till golden. Once the onion is nice and browned, add in ginger garlic paste and saute for a min or so. Add in tomatoes and green chillies. Cook this till tomatoes cook down and turn mushy. Add in all the spice powders and salt. Mix well with the masala. The masala should be thick and all most like a paste. Now add in mutton and toss well with the masala. Keep tossing till the masala coats the mutton pieces and the mutton gets little dark brown in colour. Now add in very little water, say around a cup. Cover and pressure cook for 4 whistle, simmer the pan for 15 mins. Turn off the heat and let the steam go all by itself. When the mutton is cooking, dry roast the coconut in a dry pan till it is golden brown. Remove it to a blender and make it into a fine puree. Once the mutton is cooked, add the coconut paste in it and simmer for another 10 to 15 mins till oil separates on top. Add in coriander leaves and turn off the heat. Serve with rice or anything you like.

CHICKEN CURRY

INGREDIENTS: 1kg chicken, 4tbs chicken masala 2 onions, chopped or pureed Green chilly 3no 2 tsp. ginger paste 2 tsp. garlic paste 1 tomato Chopped salt to taste Cilantro/coriander leaves 1 tbsp. oil METHOD OF PREPARATION: Heat oil in a saucepan and fry the onions, ginger and garlic, together and cilantro/coriander leaves for five minutes on low heat. Add tomato,4tbs chicken Masala , chicken, and salt and mix for few minutes then add half cup of lukewarm water and cook on a medium low heat for half an hour, keeping the saucepan covered with a lid.

Quality of Foods

Food quality is the quality characteristics of food that is acceptable to consumers. This includes external factors as appearance (size, shape, colour, gloss, and consistency), texture, and flavour; factors such as federal grade standards (e.g. of eggs) and internal (chemical, physical, microbial). Food quality in the United States is enforced by the Food Safety Act 1990. Members of the public complain to trading standards professionals,[specify] who submit complaint samples and also samples used to routinely monitor the food marketplace to public analysts. Public analysts carry out scientific analysis on the samples to determine whether the quality is of sufficient standard. Food quality is an important food manufacturing requirement, because food consumers are susceptible to any form of contamination that may occur during the manufacturing process. Many consumers also rely on manufacturing and processing standards, particularly to know what ingredients are present, due to dietary, nutritional requirements (kosher, halal, vegetarian), or medical conditions (e.g., diabetes, or allergies). Besides ingredient quality, there are also sanitation requirements. It is important to ensure that the food processing environment is as clean as possible in order to produce the safest possible food for the consumer. A recent example of poor sanitation recently has been the 2006 North American E. coli outbreak involving spinach, an outbreak that is still under investigation.