Cooking with Amma (2)

The ultimate rice & curry feast

This was an absolutely incredible meal. It looks like a lot of work but with a few helpers for prep, really quite easy and straight forward.  

The helpful prep - 

Chop a huge pile of onions finely as they will be used in many things

Gather fresh curry & pandan leaves

Chop garlic, ginger and pound till a paste forms 

WADE

Soak some lentils (either red lentils or yellow split peas)

Using a grinder, process the lentils to a very coarse paste along with

-        Chopped red onions

-        Chilli flakes (green chillies add extra texture and spice)

-        Maldive fish flakes (or dried shrimp also works)

-        Curry leaves

Season to taste  

Shape into balls with a spoon and fry at low heat with a neutral oil (we used rice bran) 

POTATOES

Boil the potatoes till 80% cooked, basically done – drain all the water

Fry curry leaves till fragrant, then add potatoes and stir to coat

Add 

Salt

Chilli flakes 

Maldive fish powder (ground Maldive fish flakes)

Toss to coat and warm through

Add a small amount of finely chopped onion and cook with lid on for a few minutes 

BEANS in claypot

(We made these with snake beans, but I guess any similar vegetable could be cooked this way)

Chop the beans into small bite sized pieces and place inside the empty claypot

Toss together with

-        Curry powder

-        Turmeric

-        Salt

-        Chilli powder

-        Coconut powder (in lieu of coconut cream)

Once well coated, add water and bring to a boil. Add some pandan / curry leaves if using

Simmer gently till all the coconut clumps have dissolved and the sauce is slightly thickened

DAL

Soak red lentils for an hour or so, and wash thoroughly (eg. 3 times)

Add to the claypot along with onion, garlic & curry leaves

Season with

-        Curry powder

-        Chilli

-        Turmeric

Add enough water for approx 2x the volume of lentils

Bring to boil and simmer till a thick gloopy delicious mess forms  

CHICKEN CURRY

Fry in a generous amount of oil the 3 Cs (cardamom, clove & cinnamon)  till fragrant

Add the ingredients to form the base of the curry

-        Onions

-        Pounded garlic & ginger paste

-        Curry leaves shredded

Add chicken pieces (thigh is best, or any type except breast will do)

Add a generous spoon of curry powder and some natural yoghurt

(Don’t add any water as water may escape from the chicken)

Once coated and cooked, add some fine chilli powder and tamarind

Cook for 10 - 15 min till the sauce is thickened, stirring occasionally

(Optional: can marinate the chicken in yoghurt & spices)

RICE

The centrepiece of this whole feast!

Wash basmati rice and drain well

Use the same flavour profile of the chicken curry – cook in oil onions and the 3Cs (cinnamon & clove & cardamom)

Add rice and toss to coat all the grains with the delicious aromatic oil

Prepare some cold water in which you dissolve some turmeric to make the ideal amount of yellow

Take the rice from the stove and tip into the rice cooker along with the turmeric water

While the rice is cooking in the rice cooker, fry some cashews

Once cooked tip the rice onto a generous platter and scatter with cashews & raisins 

(Words cannot describe how fragrant and delicious this dish is)

Cheat’s version – fry in oil the leftover gravy from the chicken curry with raw rice and proceed with the rest of the steps

ALL TOGETHER...

We also had freshly fried pappadums 

And this refreshing salad of finely chopped carrot (could be grated) and parsley with a generous squeeze of lemon. 

The feast altogether looked like this

My plate... I mean my first plate before I went back for more! 

Finally a little sweet watalappan (spiced coconut custard pudding)... will have to learn how to make this next time!