Chicken Soup with Shallot Seasoning

This recipe is a little improvisation of the traditional American chicken soup. In coastal Kerala the soup left over from boiling clams is usually served with a simple seasoning of shallots semi-fried in oil. In this recipe I just tried to make the chicken soup little less bland by doing the same and result was promising, which I want to share with you.

Ingredients
1.Any chicken parts - 2 lbs (I used organic drum-sticks with the skin on)
2.Celery - 5 stalks (cut in halves)
3.Carrots - 4 (each split in halves)
4.Onion (red) - 1 (cut in 4 pieces)
5.Shallots - 5
6.Butter - 1 tbs
7.Salt for taste
8.Black Pepper

Cook ingredients 1-4 in about 4 quarts of water and some salt in a soup pot. Bring it to boil and then let it simmer until the chicken is well cooked so that the meat would come off easily from the bones.

Strain the mixture and save the broth; skim off excessive fat and foam if there would be any.

Cut the veggies into small pieces. Remove meat from bones and cut into small pieces and discard the bones.

Melt butter in the soup pot and saute finely cut shallots until it will be slightly browned. Pour broth into it and let it get warm but not boil. Add more salt if needed and freshly ground black pepper for your taste. Add the cut veggies and chicken, adjust the taste if needed and serve.

Spicy guacamole

I never really knew there is such a fruit called avocado before moving to Bay Area. I remember seeing it in various forms while eating at Mexican restaurants before, but I thought then that it is one of those ethnic food items that you really cannot understand.

In California, you cannot escape anything Mexican and Avocados are even advertised on radio. When I made Guacamole for the first time, I didn't know that I made Guacamole! It just turned out like that and somebody ate it recognized it for me! When I started off to make my first Guacamole, I thought it might make a good dip for tortilla chips if avocado would be mixed with chopped tomatoes, cilantro and onion and seasoned the mix with salt, freshly ground black pepper and olive oil.

Over a period of last 4-5 years, I perfected the recipe and it is now an essential item in any party that I host. And people love it.

Here is my recipe of my version of guacamole which is extremely easy to make and feel free to provide your feedback.

Ingredients

Avocado - 3 large

Red onion - 1/2
Tomato - 1 medium
Cilantro - 5 stalks
Thai green chili - 2 (optional)

Extra virgin olive oil - 1 tbsp
Fresh lemon juice - 1 tbsp
Black pepper
Salt

Steps

Open avocados and scoop the meat into a large bowl. Chop onion,tomato, cilantro stalks and green chili into very small pieces and add it to the bowl, and mix everything well. You can leave the avocado meat little short of becomning paste. (The store-bought guacamole is usually in a paste form and I hate it.)

Add olive oil, lemon juice and salt to the mix and grind black pepper directly to the bowl and mix again. Taste the mix, and add more salt and/or lemon juice to balance the taste.

Serve guacamole with tortilla chips.

Tropical Fruit Salad

Though not part of home-cooking in Kerala, fruit salad is a popular dessert when it comes to a restaurant meal. Typically, a mix of icecream and cut fruits and nuts. In Bay Area, any tropical fruit is available in cans in Asian stores and this recipe makes use of that abundance.

Ingredients

1. jack fruit - 1 can
2. mixed fruits - 1 can
3. coconut jelly - 1 can
4. palm seed - 1 can
5. mangoes - 2 count
6. sweet condensed milk - 2 tsp
7. sour cream - 1/2 lbs

Steps

Cut all the friuts in to very small pieces. Add sour cream and condensed to this. Refrigerate the mix for a day before serving.

Cheera Thoran (Sauteed Indian Spinach)

Cheera is a kind of Spinach that is a very common leaf vegetable available in Kerala. It comes in many colors and tastes, and it is mainly consumed sauteed; as a side dish with Kerala meal. In the Bay Area, the green Cheera is available in Indian stores.

Ingredients
( serves 5)

1. Cheera - 1 bunch ( cut in to tiny pieces)
2. shallots - 3 count
3. green chili - 2
4. mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
5. oil and salt as needed.

Steps

Crack mustard seeds in oil and saute shallots and green chili in it for about 3 minutes. Add the cut Cheera to that, and saute until the mix dries and cooked. Serve it hot.

Meen Pollichathu (Fish Baked in Banana Leaf Wrap)

Ingredients
(serves 8)

1. fish fillets (Tilapia or Salmon) - 2 lbs ( Cut in to pieces which are medium-thick and about 5 inches long)
2. chili powder (mild) - 3 tsp
3. turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
4. salt - to taste
5. shallots - 2 lbs
6. ginger - 2 inches
7. green chili - 2
8. curry leaves - 2 stems
9. banana leaves (fresh or frozen as available in Asian stores) - as needed

Steps

Marinate fish in chili powder, turmeric powder, and salt and keep it for 1 hour and then pan-fry.

Saute onion, ginger, green chili and curry leaves for about 10 minutes and keep it aside.

Wrap one or two pieces of fried fish in banana leaf with a tsp of sauteed onion mix. Wrap that again in aluminum foil and bake it for about 15 minutes in 350F.

Remove the aluminum foil and serve the fish warm in banana leaf. This will be an excellent appetizer or a side-dish for a typical Kerala meal with rice.

Moru Curry (Butter-milk curry)

This is basically a slightly cooked butter-milk or light yogurt in spices, mainly turmeric which gives its bright yellow color, and a vegetable, usually winter melon.

Ingredients
(serves 8)

1. yogurt - 2 lbs
2. winter melon - 1 lbs ( cut in pieces)
3. green chili - 3 count
4. turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
5. water - just enough to cook the melon.
6. mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
7. dry, red chili - 4 whole
8. fenugreek (Uluva) - 1/4 tsp
9. curry leaves - 1 stem

Steps

Blend yogurt in a mixer for 1 to 2 minutes until the mix looks uniform.

Cook winter melon in water with turmeric powder and green chili. Once the water is dried up, bring the heat to low. Add the blended yogurt to this. Make sure that you stir it frequently. Add salt to taste.

Break mustard seeds in oil, and lightly brown red chili, uluva and curry leaves in the same oil and garnish curry. Serve with rice.

Payar Thoran (Boiled dry red beans sauteed)

Payar in Malayalam only means beans. But, in this dish, a dried red-beans available in Indian stores is used. Sometimes, it is called Vanpayaru in Malayalam.

Thoran and mezhukkupuratti are almost the same style of cooking vegetables, beans and roots in Kerala. The only major difference that I see is that in making a thoran, grated coconut is used as an extra ingredient, but mezhukkupuratti is typically a simpler preparation of sauteed vegetables, roots or beans in oil with some spices and shallots. Beans are socked in water overnight and boiled in water, and roots are boiled also before making either thoran or mezhukkupuratti.

Ingredients

1. red chori (a dried red beans available in Indian stores) - 2 cups ( soak in water overnight)
2. grated coconut - 4 tsp
3. shallots - 2
4. garlic -1 pod
5. cumin seeds (jeerakam) - 1/2 tsp
6. chili powder - 1/2 tsp
7. turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
8. salt to taste
9. whole, dry red chili - 4 counts
10. mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
11. oil - 1 tbs

Steps

Pressure-cook soaked red beans. Wait for 3 whistles and then turn off the heater; keep it for 5 minutes.

Pulse ingredients 2 though 7 for 1 minute in a food processor. Crack mustard seeds in oil and add whole chili and curry leaves to it. Sautee it for about 30 secs. Add cooked beans and the prepared spices to it. Once the mix would be dry, turn off the heater. Serve with rice as a side-dish warm or cold.