Aloo Keema Kaleji

Aloo Keema Kaleji

Aloo Keema Kaleji

There is no end to variations that one can experiment with when three of the prime ingredients like baby potatoes, Minced mutton and Liver get together. The idea was to keep it simple while providing a different flavour for the taste buds. The result was grade A and this goes well with Indian Breads though with a Bengali background I must say that this goes well with rice too.

Ingredients:

1.5 kilos Mutton Mince Hand Made and not too fine
300 grams Liver
2 tsp Saunf
1.5 tsp Whole Cumin
30-35 crushed Garlic Cloves
2 Tbsp Coarsely ground red chillies
1 Tbsp Yellow Chilly Powder
2 Tbsp Black Pepper coarsely ground
2 Tbsp Garlic Paste
1 Tbsp Ginger paste
2 Tbsp Tomato Puree
3 medium onions chopped
300 grams baby potatoes
Salt
Mustard Oil
Ghee

Boil the potatoes with salt, discard the skin and set aside
Heat a bit of Oil
Fry the liver for a minute or two, drain and set aside (discard the oil)
Heat fresh oil
Add the Saunf and Cumin and let them splutter
Add the onions and fry them almost until golden brown
Add the garlic and the black pepper and sauté for 20 seconds
Add the pastes and the purée and stir until the moisture dries up
Add the mince and the chilly powders
Give it a good stir and then allow the moisture to evaporate (stir once in a while)
Sauté for for 2-3 minutes until the colour is kind of rich
Add salt and just enough water, bring to a boil and then cover and cook on low until three fourths done.
Add the liver and mix well.
Cook until done. Add the potatoes, mix well and allow it to simmer for a minute more. Add hot liquid ghee!!
Garnish with Coriander leaves if you like.

Five Spice Pork

Five Spice Pork     Pork was in the agenda.  A morning digital conversation  with Billi Mom Subhashree Basu.  A short trip to the local market.  The conclusive delightful evidence as follows:

1 kilo sliced pork belly 20 sliced Garlic cloves 1.5 tsp Five spice powder 10 Thai chillies diagonally sliced 4 tbs Light Soy sauce 4 bunches of Bok Choy 20  shallots cut into halves Lemon Grass 1 Star Anise Oil Salt   Parboil the pork until three fourths done.(Added a star anise, lemon grass, 2 tbs soy sauce and salt) Once done, drain and set aside.   Heat oil in a wok Fry the pork in batches and set aside. Heat oil again Add garlic and shallots and sauté for a minute or two Add the meat Add Thai chillies Add the Five spice powder Add 2 Tbs Light Soy sauce Add Bok Choy Add  chopped lemon grass stems Add salt only if required( I did not) Stir for a couple of minutes on high   Serve hot.

Butter Pepper Garlic Crab

A visit to Mahesh Lunch home last week had anyway perked us up. It also enthused the mind to try and replicate the same at home. But first, we needed crabs. A trip to the local seafood market  resulted in procuring some  excellent fresh crabs. The result was overwhelming!!

Butter Pepper Garlic Crab

6 pieces of Medium Size Crabs – cleaned, main claws separated

8 Tbs of chopped Garlic

1.5 Tbs of coarsely Ground Roasted Black Pepper

Salt

3 Tbs of Olive Oil

300 grams of Butter

2 tbs of White Oil

Heat oil on low and add 6 tbs of Garlic

Allow the garlic to become crisp and brown (stir now and then – entirely on low)

Drain and set aside the crispy garlic

In a wok add the olive oil and 50 grams of Butter and heat on low

Add the balance 2 tbs of chopped garlic and cook until soft and light brown

Add ½ Tbs of Black Pepper

Stir and after 30 seconds add the crabs

Increase the heat and sauté

After about a minute reduce the flame to medium

Add a bit of salt(not too much)

Once the crab shells turn red, reduce the flame to low and sprinkle some water

Cover and cook for about 10-15 minutes

Take off the lid and check if the crab meat is done. (Check the meat of the main body)

Check if there is any moisture and if so allow the same to evaporate

Now add the 250 grams of butter and the rest of the black pepper

Once the butter melts, mix well

Switch off the flame. Add the crispy garlic. Squeeze some lime juice. Serve hot with some Neer dosas or Appams. We love it with rice too.

Beef Pepper Masala

Beef Pepper Masala

The item in the agenda had to be fulfilled some day or the other and we ventured out in this NO- rain-delayed- Monsoon sunny Saturday afternoon towards Joseph’s at Bandra. Asked for some tenderloin steak beef about 500 grams and a few packets of bacon, the latter having nothing to with the topic here.

Came back home and slept after some delicious homemade Pav Bhajji. Post siesta had a cuppa tea and then cut the steak pieces in to medium-small pieces.

Peeled about 25 cloves of Garlic and kept it on my arrangement plate. De-skinned about 4 medium sized potatoes and cut them into…not too big pieces. Fried them in oil, fully cooked and set them aside.

The actual action started after this.

Heated the oil mixed with a tbsp of ghee and put in the following:
Medium Crushed – 5 Green Cardamoms, 10 Cloves, I Black Cardamom, 10 Pepper Corns
And a Bay Leaf.

Once the above was kind of done (all in medium flame), diluted 1 tbsp of Ginger Paste and 2 Tbsp of Garlic Paste and put it in and waited for the moisture to dry up.

Increased the flame now, and in went the meat. Stirred the meat nicely for the juices to seal and then reduced the flame to low. Some moisture would come out and once that evaporated, I put in the masala as follows-----------> ½ tsp of Turmeric powder, 1 tsp each of Coriander, Cumin and Red Chili Powder and 1 tbsp of Black Pepper Powder. Mixed the meat and the masala nicely and stirred often and on until the oil separated. Added those Garlic Cloves too while the masala was being cooked and along with that added a few whole red chilies.

Then poured in 2 tbsps of beaten curd, 2 tsps of vinegar and stirred it again. Added salt to taste along with a minute pinch of sugar. Heated up some water and added the same and covered and cooked until the meat was fully cooked. Before covering the wok I spread those potatoes on top of the stuff but did not mix it in.

It would have taken another 10 minutes or so and then switched of the flame and transferred the same to a bowl.

We had this with some buttered rice, but any Indian Bread would go well too. Next is your turn!!

Bamboo Shoots with Bacon

Bamboo Shoots with Bacon

Ingredients:

150 grams of Bamboo shoots

1 Tbs Rice Wine Vinegar

50 grams Deveined Shrimps

3 Tbs Light Soy Sauce

2 Tbs Fish Sauce

50 grams Bacon cut into pieces

4 Green Chillies Slit and cut into longish pieces

1 Red Bell Pepper cut into cubes

2 Tbsp Chopped Garlic

1 Tbsp Chopped Ginger

Process:

Add the Rice Wine Vinegar to the Bamboo shoots and set aside for 30 minutes or so.

Heat  a wok (no oil required)

Place the Bacon and allow it to cook until the fat leaves the meat

Remove the Bacon and set aside. Remove the fat and set aside.

Mutton Bhuna

Mutton Bhuna the II

500 gms of Mutton – small cubes
3 Tbs of White wine vinegar
2 tsp Fennel Seeds
2 tsp Coriander Seeds
6 Whole Red Chillies
20 Garlic Cloves
1 Tbsp Ginger Juliennes
3 tsp Kashmiri Chilly Powder
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
1 Onion Finely chopped
2 Tomatoes finely chopped

Marinate the mutton with White Wine Vinegar and some ginger paste and leave it overnight in the refrigerator.

Dry roast the coriander seeds, Chillies and Fennel Seeds and grind them coarsely. Set aside.

Heat Oil+Ghee in a Wok
Add Onions and saute until more than light brown
Add half of the Garlic cloves
Add the tomatoes and saute until the moisture evaporates
Add the chilly powder and turmeric powder
Sprinkle a bit of water and then once the masala is done add the meat.
Stir well and bhunno for a while(atleast 6-7 minutes)
Add the coarsely ground powder and mix well
Stir for a couple of minutes and add hot water
Bring to a boil and cover and cook on low until meat is done
Mix ½ tbsp Ginger juliennes and the remaining garlic cloves and then dry up the moisture.
Transfer and garnish with more ginger juliennes and do pour some hot ghee. Serve with Roti/Nan or Rice!!!