Trupti Rane's Spice Moments: November 2011

Saturday 26 November 2011

Goan Prawn Curry

Goan Prawn Curry

Malvan is a town in the coastal area of Maharashtra called Kokan . The 96k Marathas in Kokan have a typical style of cooking prawn curry. The receipe includes a lot of red chilli, coriander seeds, grated coconut and kokum. Kokum-the purple berry is a speciality of kokan , it is used as a souring agent. When it comes to red chillies, I prefer using Sangmeshwar chillies or Kashmiri chillies.

Prawn curry is my brother- Rohit’s favourite, hence I take great pleasure in preparing this curry .

Preparation

Red paste : Soak in water : (3 tbspn) coriander seeds, (7-8) red chillies, (2-3) garlic cloves, (1inch) ginger, (1 tbspn) cumin seeds , (1 tbspn) fennel seeds and few coriander leaves . Soak well and blend into a smooth paste.
White paste : Cut onion ( 1 nos) in slices, add grated coconut (1 cup) , coconut milk (400 ml) and blend into a smooth paste.
Clean and wash prawns ( jumbo king prawns 200gm) well. Remove the shells and devein them . Marinate the prawns with lemon juice ( 3 tbspn) ,turmeric (1 pinch) and salt to taste
Heat one tbspn oil in a wide pan . Add onion diced (1 nos), fry till golden brown, now add chopped tomato ( 2 nos) sauté well till the mixture secretes oil. Then add the marinated prawns , red paste , white paste and stir well.
Now add Kokum ( 4-5 nos) to the mixture . Stir and let the mixture simmer for 15 minutes on low heat
Add a pinch of salt to taste ( if required). Cook the mixture for 5 mins .
Serve with steamed basmati rice and poppadum
Garnish with coriander

Serves : 4

Cooking time : 25 mins

Preparation time : 30 mins

Recipe : Non-vegetarian

Saturday 12 November 2011

Batata Wada and Wada Pav / Burger

Batata Wada and Wada Pav / Burger

This is the most popular fast food in Mumbai. It is a Maharashtrian dish. My favourite.

Vada (deep fried mashed potato patty ) is made out of potato referred to as batata in Marathi and Pav means bun. Marathi is the popular language spoken in Mumbai and Maharashtra.

Preparation :

Boil 4 British Potatoes , peel and mash them. Keep them aside
In a wide pan heat 1 tbspn oil on medium heat . Add large peeled garlic ( 4- 5 nos). Add black mustard seeds 1tspn when they crackle add 1 tspn cumin seeds, few curry leaves, a pinch of asafoetida, slited green chillies ( 2 nos), finely chopped ginger ( 1inch), a pinch of turmeric
Add the boiled mashed potato, finely chopped coriander and salt to taste.Mix well and Sauté for 2 mins. Switch off the gas cooker and set the mixture aside to cool
Divide the mixture in equal size balls ( Vada)
Then prepare the gramflour batter ( add 1 cup water to 2 cup sieved gramflour, add a pinch of salt and a pinch of baking soda). Maintain a medium consistency of the mixture. Let it not be too thick nor too thin
Dip each ball (Vada) in the gramflour batter, coat well and deep fry them in hot oil
Remove the Vada from oil when golden brown and place them on kitchen roll to drain off the excess oil. Keep the fried Vadas aside.

To prepare Tamarind and date chutney : Peel and soak (10 nos) dates in warm water. Now blend dates into a smooth paste , add tamarind pulp (2 tbspn) and blend sugar (1tspn) , blend well
To prepare Dry garlic and coconut chutney : Mix (1/2 cup) dessicated coconut, (1 tbspn) chilli ,powder and coarsely grounded garlic (1 bulb). Add salt to taste .Mix well
To prepare Green Chutney : Coriander leaves ( 1 cup), Mint leaves (6-7) , 2 green chillies , ginger (1 inch) ,peeled garlic ( 2 nos) ,salt to taste . Blend well into a paste.
Prepare the Pav now. Split the bun midway. Apply tamarind chutney and green chutney or dry garlic and coconut chutney and place the vada in the centre . This resembles a burger now. Wada Pav is ready .Enjoy !!!

Preparation Time : 30 mins

Cooking time : 20 mins

Recipe : Vegetarian, Vegan