Sinful Curry

Christmas is that time of the year when I’m overwhelmed with fond memories of  my Mom’s little kitchen in Bangalore. Back in the 80s, during Christmas, my Mom used to be charged with careless abandon as she cooked, baked and fed an endless number of family and friends. This Christmas, I tried my best to recreate those soulful aromas from my Mom’s kitchen hoping my 3 year old too will stash them away in his book of ‘fond memories’ . Fruit and Nut Cake Tutti Fruitti Cake Rustic Naked Chocolate Hazel Chocolate Caramel Twist Lamb Cutlets – Kerala style Spinach Mushroom Cheese Folds Shrimp Biryani Baingan Masaledar – Eggplant Masala Curry Chicken in Coconut milk – Kerala style Tomato Onion Raita

This is a ‘must have’ while serving biryani of any form, be it chicken, lamb, shrimp or vegetable. Biryani no doubt, is satisfying by itself. But when accompanied with Baingan Masaledar you enter a whole new world that you never want to leave. While growing up in Bangalore during Ramzaan and Eid, many of my Dad’s Muslim friends, sent home huge boxes of festival delicacies. Among all the treats that arrived the Lamb Biryani and the Baingan Masala were my favorite. Till date I’ve never tasted anything as delicious as that. The greedy me looked forward to these feasts more eagerly than a fasting devout Muslim waited for the crescent moon at the end of Ramadan. I’ve tried very hard at deriving these recipes from my memories of those days. I’ve come close but not close enough with the Lamb Biryani recipe. The Baingan Masaledar however, if my memory serves me right, is on the dot. Try it and let me know :). Ingredients 2 lbs eggplant (small round/oval one...

Especially while cooking Indian, I cannot get myself to cook shrimp without coconut in some form or the other.  Shrimp and coconut for me, is one of the perfect pairings in food . A little bit of of coconut goes a long way. So, though my Shrimp Biryani recipe calls for a full cup of coconut milk, the calorie conscious could do with half coconut and half 2% milk. The difference would be insignificant. This recipe is mind blowing simple  and very often the top sell at most spreads. Shrimps are  tender and delicate and hence do not require long hours and complex procedures for marinating. Ingredients 1 lb medium sized, deveined and shelled shrimp 1 large  or 2 medium sized onions finely sliced 4 large tomatoes, diced in chunks 5- 6 green chilies, slit length wise 1/2 tsp turmeric powder 2 tbsp grated ginger 2 tbsp diced garlic 1/2 tsp black pepper corns 1/2 tsp kerala garam masala 3 cups basmati rice pinch of saffron refined vegetable oil 2 tsp sesame oil or ghee (clarified butter) 2 tbsp...

While shopping a day before Thanksgiving at the Asian market, I chanced upon these organically grown, beautiful looking, pearly white and earthy brown Beech Mushrooms or Buna Shimeji. I immediately picked a pack of each because I looove cooking with mushrooms. For me mushrooms are meek and cooperative in any dish. They hold on to their texture and flavour whether sautéed, stir fried or souped. With all the immune boosters and antioxidants mushrooms harbor, delicious eating couldn’t get more healthy. So, coming back to my beech mushrooms, I got them during Thanksgiving hoping to stir fry them for the teriyaki cooking I planned during the long weekend. But, like the many things that we plan during holidays the cooking never happened and these 2 packs sat un-noticed for a whole month. Then while rummaging through the fridge just before my Christmas party I noticed these  balls of  pearls sitting fresh and bright as ever. A whole of thirty days and not a bruise or a wrinkle....

This mouth watering cake is very similar to my chocolate cake except that I folded caramel sauce into the batter and stuck in toasted hazelnuts into the frosting. This slight twist made a world of difference to the taste and texture of the cake.   Hazel Caramel Chocolate Twist   Ingredients for the Cake 13/4 cups of all purpose flour 1 1/4 cup butter 1 cup milk 3 eggs It is essential for the butter, milk and eggs to be at room temperature 13/4 cups sugar 3/4 cup cocoa powder 3 heaped tsp baking powder 5 -6 drops of good vanilla extract 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp of instant coffee powder Ingredients for the frosting 3/4  cup  butter 2/3 cup Cocoa powder 2 cups powdered sugar 1/2 cup milk 5- 6 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 tsp instant coffee powder 1 cup finely chopped toasted hazelnuts Ingredients for Caramel Sauce 1/4 cup of sugar 2 – 3 drops of vanilla extract 3 Tbsp butter 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream Directions for the Caramel Sauce Heat sugar on high heat in a heavy-bottomed pan with a...

My best friend V doesn’t do cake in any other form but chocolate. Though she lives thousands of miles away she insisted I bake a chocolate cake for sure. And like I always do for her ;), I complied  and whipped up my Naked chocolate delight in her honor. This one is for the God Mother of my son- Rustic Naked Chocolate     Ingredients for the Cake 13/4 cups of all purpose flour 1 1/4 cup butter 1 cup milk 3 eggs It is essential for the butter, milk and eggs to be at room temperature 13/4 cups sugar 3/4 cup cocoa powder 3  tsp baking powder 5 -6 drops of good vanilla extract 1 tsp of instant coffee powder Ingredients for the frosting 3/4  cup  butter 2/3 cup Cocoa powder 2 cups powdered sugar 1/2 cup milk 5- 6 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 tsp instant coffee powder Directions for the cake In a bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at time. Add in the vanilla. Sift together flour, baking powder, coffee powder , cocoa powder and salt u...

Since I began my baking a full week ahead of Christmas, it gave me plenty of time to  try out a few different kinds of cakes this time around.Of course I ‘had’ to  begin with my mom’s all famous ‘fruit n nut’ cake. Most of the cakes I bake follow the basic cake recipe and just a few additional ingredients give them their own identity. Here’s to you ma, blogging my very first recipe of your cake. Simple to make, hard to resist, crunchy and munchy cake.   fruit n nut cake   Ingredients 2 cups of all purpose flour 1 1/4 cup butter 2/3 cup milk 3 eggs It is essential for the butter, milk and eggs to be at room temperature 1 1/4 cup sugar 2 heaped tsp baking powder 5-6 drops of good vanilla extract 1/2 tsp of instant coffee powder (optional) 1 tsp cocoa powder (optional) 1/3 cup of raisins 1/3 cup of cashewnuts 1/3 cup of mixed candied fruit 1 tsp orange zest 1/4 tsp nutmeg 2 – 3 spoons caramelized sugar 1/2 tsp salt Directions Caramelize 2 -3 spoons...

Got this recipe from my neighbor J, who is an amazing cook herself. She’d made this for my friend L’s birthday and I just couldn’t get enough of it. I improvised it a tad bit and voila the cake is something that really calls for a cry of “A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom!!!!!” Tutti Frutti is essentially candied papaya . It gives a nice bite when folded into the cake. In India you get them as sachets of multicolored fruits in any bakery. In the US however, they were hard to find until, I stumbled upon them in my local Chinese market.  They tasted exactly like the ones in India did, but were chunkier and plain orange in color. The color didn’t matter to me and I just diced the chunks into smaller bits for the cake. So, if you are having trouble finding it, ask your Chinese grocer for candied papaya and I’m sure he would find you some. Ingredients 2 cups of all purpose flour 1 1/4 cup butter 2/3 cup milk 3 eggs It is essential for the butter, m...

Christmas is that time of the year when I'm overwhelmed with fond memories of  my Mom's little kitchen in Bangalore. Back in the 80s, during Christmas, my Mom used to be charged with careless abandon as she cooked, baked and fed an endless number of family and friends. This Christmas, I tried my best to recreate those soulful aromas from my Mom's kitchen hoping my 3 year old too will stash them away in his book of 'fond memories' . Fruit and Nut Cake Tutti Fruitti Cake Rustic Naked Chocolate Hazel Chocolate Caramel Twist Lamb Cutlets – Kerala style Spinach Mushroom Cheese Folds Shrimp Biryani Baingan Masaledar - Eggplant Masala Curry Chicken in Coconut milk - Kerala style Tomato Onion Raita

This spice mix  is a blend of cinnamon and cloves in 1:1 ratio (by weight). The combination of these two spices give a very unique flavor. Again, this is an intense spice mix and should be used sparingly.   Ingredients 50 gms cinnamon (patta/dalchini) 50 gms cloves (gramboo/long) Directions Dry roast the spices individually in a heavy skillet, preferably cast iron. Make sure the flame is set at medium heat. Keep stirring, be watchful and don’t let spices burn on you. Grind both the spices together into a fine powder. Store in an air tight container. Use sparingly since these are intense spices and can be over powering.

This is a 'must have' while serving biryani of any form, be it chicken, lamb, shrimp or vegetable. Biryani no doubt, is satisfying by itself. But when accompanied with Baingan Masaledar you enter a whole new world that you never want to leave. While growing up in Bangalore during Ramzaan and Eid, many of my Dad's Muslim friends, sent home huge boxes of festival delicacies. Among all the treats that arrived the Lamb Biryani and the Baingan Masala were my favorite. Till date I've never tasted anything as delicious as that. The greedy me looked forward to these feasts more eagerly than a fasting devout Muslim waited for the crescent moon at the end of Ramadan. I've tried very hard at deriving these recipes from my memories of those days. I've come close but not close enough with the Lamb Biryani recipe. The Baingan Masaledar however, if my memory serves me right, is on the dot. Try it and let me know :). Ingredients 2 lbs eggplant (small round/oval ones, try gett...

Especially while cooking Indian, I cannot get myself to cook shrimp without coconut in some form or the other.  Shrimp and coconut for me, is one of the perfect pairings in food . A little bit of of coconut goes a long way. So, though my Shrimp Biryani recipe calls for a full cup of coconut milk, the calorie conscious could do with half coconut and half 2% milk. The difference would be insignificant. This recipe is mind blowing simple  and very often the top sell at most spreads. Shrimps are  tender and delicate and hence do not require long hours and complex procedures for marinating. Ingredients 1 lb medium sized, deveined and shelled shrimp 1 large  or 2 medium sized onions finely sliced 4 large tomatoes, diced in chunks 5- 6 green chilies, slit length wise 1/2 tsp turmeric powder 2 tbsp grated ginger 2 tbsp diced garlic 1/2 tsp black pepper corns 1/2 tsp kerala garam masala 3 cups basmati rice pinch of saffron refined vegetable oil 2 tsp sesame oil or ghee (clarified butter) 2 tbsp...

While shopping a day before Thanksgiving at the Asian market, I chanced upon these organically grown, beautiful looking, pearly white and earthy brown Beech Mushrooms or Buna Shimeji. I immediately picked a pack of each because I looove cooking with mushrooms. For me mushrooms are meek and cooperative in any dish. They hold on to their texture and flavour whether sautéed, stir fried or souped. With all the immune boosters and antioxidants mushrooms harbor, delicious eating couldn't get more healthy. So, coming back to my beech mushrooms, I got them during Thanksgiving hoping to stir fry them for the teriyaki cooking I planned during the long weekend. But, like the many things that we plan during holidays the cooking never happened and these 2 packs sat un-noticed for a whole month. Then while rummaging through the fridge just before my Christmas party I noticed these  balls of  pearls sitting fresh and bright as ever. A whole of thirty days and not a bruise or a wrinkle. I a...

This amazingly simple salad is refreshingly soothing on a hot summer day. My husband in a big lover of yogurt and this salad is something that he would pour on top of anything and everything if he had a choice. Though I don’t recommend that :), I think it tastes splendid plain by itself and goes very well with  with any spicy dish, like Biryanis, Pulaos, Indian breads etc. When paired with any dish, the slightly sour yogurt with luscious tomatoes and crunchy sweet onion chunks, though subdues the over effects of the spices, surprisingly forms a new intense flavor in the process. Ingredients 3 tomatoes, diced into small chunks 1 red onion, finely diced 1 green chilies, diced julienne style (optional) 3 tbsp finely chopped cilantro 2 cups yogurt salt to taste Directions Mix tomatoes, onions, cilantro, green chilies, yogurt together and add salt to taste. You have your raita in a jiffy. Now wasn’t that easy?!

This spice mix  is a blend of cardamoms, cinnamon and cloves in a 1:2:2 ratio (by weight). The combination of these three spices gives a rich flavor to any dish. Again, this is an intense spice mix and should be used sparingly Ingredients 50 gms cinnamon (patta/dalchini) 50 gms cloves (gramboo/long) 25 gms cardamom seeds (elaichi/elakka/elakki) Directions Dry roast the spices individually in a heavy skillet, preferably cast iron. Make sure the flame is set at medium heat. Keep stirring, be watchful and don’t let spices burn on you. Grind the spices together into a fine powder. Store in an air tight container. Use sparingly since these are intense spices and can be over powering

This mouth watering cake is very similar to my chocolate cake except that I folded caramel sauce into the batter and stuck in toasted hazelnuts into the frosting. This slight twist made a world of difference to the taste and texture of the cake.   [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="483" caption="Hazel Caramel Chocolate Twist"] [/caption]   Ingredients for the Cake 13/4 cups of all purpose flour 1 1/4 cup butter 1 cup milk 3 eggs It is essential for the butter, milk and eggs to be at room temperature 13/4 cups sugar 3/4 cup cocoa powder 3 heaped tsp baking powder 5 -6 drops of good vanilla extract 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp of instant coffee powder Ingredients for the frosting 3/4  cup  butter 2/3 cup Cocoa powder 2 cups powdered sugar 1/2 cup milk 5- 6 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 tsp instant coffee powder 1 cup finely chopped toasted hazelnuts Ingredients for Caramel Sauce 1/4 cup of sugar 2 - 3 drops of vanilla extract 3 Tbsp butter 1/4 cup heav...

My best friend V doesn't do cake in any other form but chocolate. Though she lives thousands of miles away she insisted I bake a chocolate cake for sure. And like I always do for her ;), I complied  and whipped up my Naked chocolate delight in her honor. This one is for the God Mother of my son- [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="435"] Rustic Naked Chocolate[/caption]     Ingredients for the Cake 13/4 cups of all purpose flour 1 1/4 cup butter 1 cup milk 3 eggs It is essential for the butter, milk and eggs to be at room temperature 13/4 cups sugar 3/4 cup cocoa powder 3  tsp baking powder 5 -6 drops of good vanilla extract 1 tsp of instant coffee powder Ingredients for the frosting 3/4  cup  butter 2/3 cup Cocoa powder 2 cups powdered sugar 1/2 cup milk 5- 6 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 tsp instant coffee powder Directions for the cake In a bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at time. Add in the vani...

Since I began my baking a full week ahead of Christmas, it gave me plenty of time to  try out a few different kinds of cakes this time around.Of course I 'had' to  begin with my mom's all famous 'fruit n nut' cake. Most of the cakes I bake follow the basic cake recipe and just a few additional ingredients give them their own identity. Here's to you ma, blogging my very first recipe of your cake. Simple to make, hard to resist, crunchy and munchy cake.   [caption id="attachment_30" align="aligncenter" width="528" caption="fruit n nut cake"] [/caption]   Ingredients 2 cups of all purpose flour 1 1/4 cup butter 2/3 cup milk 3 eggs It is essential for the butter, milk and eggs to be at room temperature 1 1/4 cup sugar 2 heaped tsp baking powder 5-6 drops of good vanilla extract 1/2 tsp of instant coffee powder (optional) 1 tsp cocoa powder (optional) 1/3 cup of raisins 1/3 cup of cashewnuts 1/3 cup of mixed candied fruit 1 tsp...

I finally got off the phone with my Mom who ok’ed my proportions for the kerala garam masala ! I’m sorry I kept you waiting. It took time because I couldn’t have her tsking while reading this post. Call me a sissy, but I really do need her approval. Among all the excellent cooks in my life, she is the finest. I’m not saying this because of the obvious fact – she scares the living day lights out of me, but simply because, in my standards she is the best I’ve seen so far. There are many versions of this garam masala and this is my Mother’s. It has been tried and tested by my family and friends, and all of them have loved it. The proportions are in metric system, because that is the system my Mother uses and I don’t ( dare not ) question my Mother. Ingredients 25 gms cardamom seeds(elakka/elaki/elaichi) 50 gms cinnamon (patta/dalchini) 50 gms cloves (gramboo/long) 1 whole, 5 gms when powdered nutmeg (jadikya/jaifal) 100 gms fenne...

Got this recipe from my neighbor J, who is an amazing cook herself. She'd made this for my friend L's birthday and I just couldn't get enough of it. I improvised it a tad bit and voila the cake is something that really calls for a cry of "A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom!!!!!" Tutti Frutti is essentially candied papaya . It gives a nice bite when folded into the cake. In India you get them as sachets of multicolored fruits in any bakery. In the US however, they were hard to find until, I stumbled upon them in my local Chinese market.  They tasted exactly like the ones in India did, but were chunkier and plain orange in color. The color didn't matter to me and I just diced the chunks into smaller bits for the cake. So, if you are having trouble finding it, ask your Chinese grocer for candied papaya and I'm sure he would find you some. Ingredients 2 cups of all purpose flour 1 1/4 cup butter 2/3 cup milk 3 eggs It is essential for the butter, milk and egg...

This spice mix  is a blend of cinnamon and cloves in 1:1 ratio (by weight). The combination of these two spices give a very unique flavor. Again, this is an intense spice mix and should be used sparingly.   Ingredients 50 gms cinnamon (patta/dalchini) 50 gms cloves (gramboo/long) Directions Dry roast the spices individually in a heavy skillet, preferably cast iron. Make sure the flame is set at medium heat. Keep stirring, be watchful and don't let spices burn on you. Grind both the spices together into a fine powder. Store in an air tight container. Use sparingly since these are intense spices and can be over powering.

This amazingly simple salad is refreshingly soothing on a hot summer day. My husband in a big lover of yogurt and this salad is something that he would pour on top of anything and everything if he had a choice. Though I don't recommend that :), I think it tastes splendid plain by itself and goes very well with  with any spicy dish, like Biryanis, Pulaos, Indian breads etc. When paired with any dish, the slightly sour yogurt with luscious tomatoes and crunchy sweet onion chunks, though subdues the over effects of the spices, surprisingly forms a new intense flavor in the process. Ingredients 3 tomatoes, diced into small chunks 1 red onion, finely diced 1 green chilies, diced julienne style (optional) 3 tbsp finely chopped cilantro 2 cups yogurt salt to taste Directions Mix tomatoes, onions, cilantro, green chilies, yogurt together and add salt to taste. You have your raita in a jiffy. Now wasn't that easy?!

This spice mix  is a blend of cardamoms, cinnamon and cloves in a 1:2:2 ratio (by weight). The combination of these three spices gives a rich flavor to any dish. Again, this is an intense spice mix and should be used sparingly Ingredients 50 gms cinnamon (patta/dalchini) 50 gms cloves (gramboo/long) 25 gms cardamom seeds (elaichi/elakka/elakki) Directions Dry roast the spices individually in a heavy skillet, preferably cast iron. Make sure the flame is set at medium heat. Keep stirring, be watchful and don't let spices burn on you. Grind the spices together into a fine powder. Store in an air tight container. Use sparingly since these are intense spices and can be over powering

I finally got off the phone with my Mom who ok'ed my proportions for the kerala garam masala ! I'm sorry I kept you waiting. It took time because I couldn't have her tsking while reading this post. Call me a sissy, but I really do need her approval. Among all the excellent cooks in my life, she is the finest. I'm not saying this because of the obvious fact - she scares the living day lights out of me, but simply because, in my standards she is the best I've seen so far. There are many versions of this garam masala and this is my Mother's. It has been tried and tested by my family and friends, and all of them have loved it. The proportions are in metric system, because that is the system my Mother uses and I don't ( dare not ) question my Mother. Ingredients 25 gms cardamom seeds(elakka/elaki/elaichi) 50 gms cinnamon (patta/dalchini) 50 gms cloves (gramboo/long) 1 whole, 5 gms when powdered nutmeg (jadikya/jaifal) 100 gms fennel (peri...