Black Chickpeas and Ivy Gourd Fugadh

Nutty black chickpeas cooked in spicy gravy; accompanied by the sweetish Ivy gourd and gently tempered with coconut and jaggery. This is one dish that is close to my heart, the one that takes me back to my childhood every single time, with the taste still lingering in my memory forever.

Though my mum makes this dish often, she confesses to learning it from her mother.  My dear grandmother at whose place I’ve spent many a happy holidays. Even to date, whenever my mum gets black chickpeas; I know for sure what’s on the menu. Every step of the recipe is magical, right from the moment when the chickpeas are pressure cooked to when the masalas are being sautéed and then finally the coconut garnish; food porn if I could call it that. And that’s not all, there is a bit of tradition involved as well.  The 8^th of September, is a special day; where Christians celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This day, the menu is special and is called ‘Noven Jowaan’ roughly translated to ‘new meal’; the new signifying that the meal has been prepared from the new harvest as a thanksgiving to the almighty for his graces. The dishes are prepared in series of odd numbers and this one definitely makes it to that spread. 

Somehow, very honestly, I had long wanted to post this but somehow didn't get to do it. It was the only the other day when I headed to a meeting outside office and had to eat a restaurant. I ordered this one and believe me, the beauty of the dish had been massacred. Seriously, nothing pains me more than Manglorean food gone wrong. I decided to come home and  get it done. 

So then, here is a family recipe. Like its made at my home. Try it, garnish it with spices, temper it with coconut and serve it love. My family loves it, I'm sure yours would too.

Black Chickpeas and Ivy Gourd Fugadh

Ingredients:

• 200 grams, black chickpeas, refer cooking instructions below in the procedure
• 100 grams, Ivy gourd, cut length wise
• 50 grams fresh coconut, grated
• 50 grams jaggery, roughly chopped
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 5-8 cloves of garlic, minced 
• 1 large tomato, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons corriander seeds
• 1 tablespoons, black pepper corns
• 1 tablespoon, cummin seeds
• 1 teaspoon, mustard seeds
• 7-8 Whole red chillies
• 1 small teaspoon, turmeric powder
• 1 Sprig Curry leaves
• 3 tablespoons oil
• Salt to taste
• 300 ml water

Procedure:

• Soak the black chickpeas in 300 ml water overnight or atleast 6-8 hours. Wash them under running water till water runs clear.
• After washing, pressure cook for about 15 minutes or till you hear about 3 whistles. Retain the water if you wish to have some gravy
• Dry roast the corriander seeds, pepper corns, cummin seeds, and red chillies till they give out a nice aroma. Once done, cool for a while and then, grind to a fine powder. Keep aside.
• Heat the oil in a pan, add the curry leaves and mustard seeds. Wait till the seeds splutter.
• Add the garlic and let it . Then add the onions and saute till the onions turns translucent.
• Now, add the coconut, turmeric and the powder. Saute, till the oil has started leaving the sides
• Now, add the chickpeas and the Ivy gourd and mix well.
• Add the salt, jaggery and tomatoes and give it a good mix. Cover and cook for about 7 minutes.
• If required, add some water from the boiled chickpeas.
• Serve hot with rice or chapattis.

Of Chicken 65 and Rajnikanth Flicks

Today’s dish Chicken 65, is the second best thing to come out from Chennai. The first being Rajnikanth.  And just like Rajnikanth, it is humble, is unassuming, has a huge fan base, and above all, manages to quietly steal the show from everything else at the table. There is a bit of history thrown in behind the invention of the chicken 65, which goes something like this.

Many years ago, a customer walked into a small little restaurant in Chennai and asked to be served a meal. Now, it was around closing time; but not wanting to send back a hungry customer, the owner ordered the chef to quickly prepare something from whatever was available in the pantry. The chef did and the customer left with a grateful heart only to come back the next day and ask that the same dish be served to him. This went on for a couple of days and then, the owner decided to feature the dish on his regular menu. The  menu already had 64 items and this went on to become the 65^th item, thus prompting the name “Chicken 65”. 

Another story goes back to the pre-Independence era, when the British soldiers who frequented the military café in Chennai. They had a favorite dish whose longish name they couldn’t pronounce and there ordered it by saying “Chicken 65”. The 65 apparently rhyming with the last name of the dish. Sounds interesting right?

Food does becoming interesting when there is a story to back it up.  But this dish is not just about the story behind it. It is about its simplicity in every aspect making it a case in point for cynics who don't buy the argument that simple dishes can be tasty as well. Picture this, you marinate the chicken, cover it with batter and fry it, toss it in the sauce. Not too difficult, right? Yet, every bite will make you swoon, towards the end you will be full, but not satisfied and in all probability will have you asking for more. Pretty much like a Rajnikanth classic flick where you know you cannot go wrong.

I had initially not planned to make Chicken 65. I had boneless chicken in the fridge and in all probability would have gone in for a Chinese meal, but as the proverbial twist in the tale, the majority voted against Chinese and I decided to make Chicken 65. The only real effort was staying away from the crisp fried chicken and proceeding to the preparation of the gravy. I was pretty thrilled at the result simply for the fact that I got it right in the first go. My suggestion is don’t make it with a lot of gravy; it just enough to coat the chicken pieces  and yet give you that feeling of it lingering on your pallete.

Try it, the feeling of ecstasy and satisfaction you will derive be unparalleled. Mine was!! 

Chicken 65

Ingredients:

For marinating the Chicken 

• 550 grams chicken, cut into medium sized pieces (you could either use boneless or with bone)
• 2 teaspoons, red chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon, turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon, crushed pepper
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Salt to taste

For the batter

• 6 tablespoons, rice flour
• 2 tablespoons, cornflour
• 1 egg, beaten well
• Salt- a pinch
• Oil, sufficient to fry the chicken pieces

For the gravy:

• 100 grams, Greek yoghurt, whisked well
• 2 teaspoons, garlic paste 
• 1 teaspoon, ginger paste
• 3-4 green chillies, finely chopped
• 1 Sprig, Curry leaves
• 1 teaspoon, cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon, red chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon, turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon, garam masala powder
• 1 teaspoon, corriander powder
• Juice of half a lemon
• 2 tablespoons, oil
• Salt- to taste

Procedure:

• Wash the chicken, pat it dry and marinate it with the red chilli powder, turmeric powder, pepper and lemon juice. Do not add the salt at this time. Keep it aside for an hour.
• Sieve together the rice flour, and corn flour and the salt and keep aside. Beat the egg well.
• Now heat the oil on medium heat. 
• Line two bowls one with the rice flour and corn flour and the other with the egg.
• Add the salt to the chicken pieces and mix well. Take each piece of chicken and coat well with the egg and the flour mixture (in that order) and fry in the oil till each piece stands out separately and is golden brown in colour.
• Take out and drain on a absorbent paper. While we proceed to make the sauce.
• In a deep bottom pan, heat the oil (mentioned under the heading "for the gravy").
• Once it heats up, add the curry leaves and the cumin seeds and allow them to crackle.
• When the curry leaves release aroma, add the ginger, garlic paste, green chillies and saute well.
• Add the spice powders and mix well. Sprinkle a few drops of water so that the powders don't stick to the bottom of the pan.
• Now, add the yoghurt, salt and mix well to integrate the spice powders.
• Finally add in the fried chicken pieces and mix well so that the yoghurt gravy is fairly dry and the chicken pieces are coated well.
• Transfer to the serving plate, sprinkle lemon juice and serve hot.

Beef Roast (Goan Style)

I had a few friends over for dinner over the last weekend. The menu preference was pretty simple, Sorpotel and Sanna.

While extolling the virtues of the sorpotel and the provenance of the slain pig, one of my friends asked the question that would have pricked the heart of any Mangalorean, “What’s better  Goan  Cuisine or Mangalorean cuisine”? All eyes turned to me… I felt as if the answer to world peace lay in what I was to reply.

Was there ever something we called “Goan Cuisine”?  I wondered. Lots of fish, beef and pork, I’d presume. Vegetables? Could be..  I had always been seen as the preacher ultimate for Mangalorean cuisine and now I was to explain something that I always thought had been derived from us Mangloreans..I did check, a couple of Google pages and a few phone calls later I had my answer. Well, more or less…

From a bird’s eye view, it would be easy to believe that Goan cuisine begins and ends with sorpotels, vindaloos and balchaos; thankfully, it doesn’t end there. There’s a lot and more to be explored. Classified as Goan Hindu and Goan Christian it largely deriving largely from the influences of their erstwhile colonial masters, the Portuguese. All you need to do is visit Goa, and allow your nose to lead to a myriad of flavors of a cuisine that is complex and intriguing but something that needs to be cherished and loved.

To be honest, you would be hard pressed to find a restaurant that serves an authentic Goan meal. The kinds that would remind you of mum and of home. Like in Mangalore, the recipes are handed down from generation to generation and in the constant danger of being lost in the  quickly spinning wheel of time.

The question for me then was what dish do I prepare for the post. I didn’t need to search long and hard. My mum quickly gave me a recipe she’s aced and perfected for almost a decade now. I remember having this Beef Roast even as a kid. It’s not quite like a dry roast, not really a gravy but somewhere in between. The best thing is that it’s pretty easy to make and the only time it really take is for the marinating. So, this is something my mum made and like a good student I watched and made notes while she expertly went about her chores. When she finally opened the pressure cooker there was an explosion of flavours that would make any food lover go weak kneed.

As we were at the table, my mum did give a small tip we could use for all recipes- to make a perfect dish pay attention to all the ingredients, but don’t forget the huge scoop of love that you will need to add the very beginning.

Goan Style Beef Roast

• 500 grams beef (preferably in 1 large piece)
• 2 large potatoes, cubed
• 3 large red chillies
• 1 tablespoon, red chilli powder
• 1 tablespoon, turmeric powder
• 2 tablespoons, corriander powder
• 2 tablespoons, cummin powder
• 2 tablespoons, crushed pepper
• 1 tablespoon, garam masala powder
• 60 ml, Goan Vinegar (or any other vinegar will do)
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 300 ml water (or more as may be required to cook)
• salt to taste

Procedure:

• Wash the meat and pat it dry. DO NOT cut the meat at this point.
• Use a fork and gently prick the meat on all sides. Now, rub all the spice powders, salt and vinegar all over the meat. Keep the meat side for atleast 3-4 hours, better if you could keep it over night.
• Once the marination time is up, take out the meat and cut in into medium sized cubes.
• Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add the red chillies and potatoe cubes and cook for a while
• When the chillies begin to crackle, add the meat and give it a stir. Add the water, some salt only if necessary, and close the lid of the pressure cooker and allow it to cook for about 30 minutes. Please note that the cooking time may differ as per the quality of the meat.
• Serve hot with rice or sannas.