[SPEEDY_RACER]

Finally made mutton chops yesterday which would go well as starters.

Take tender mutton chops ensure that they are marinated with(chilli, garlic & ginger paste, mutton masala, garam masala, lime 1 tb spoon & 2/3 tb spoon of oil and salt to taste)

two ways to make either do it in electrical grill(if marinated for long time read 3 to 4 hrs) or on coal(i prefer coal).

1. since the chops were neither marinated nor boiled, i had mixed the above masala's. As i wanted the chops to absorb all the masala's onto it, i had packed the chops in the foil paper such way that no juices from the meat drips or flows out when its on hot coal.

2. ensure that these gets cooked on a very low heat for 30 minutes.

3. then take out one mutton chop to cross check whether its cooked or not once its cooked remove all the chops from the foil paper.

4. add a little bit of Ghee over the chops and place them on the grill to ensure that outer part is bit grilled and catches the smokey effect.

your chops are ready to serve with onion salad.

P.S: Don't throw the juices extracted in the foil paper we can just use it when we grill the chops for the smokey effect.

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by bblost

... My daughter and I will check a couple every time and am sure it will be over by the time its ready.

LOL Been there done that! My daughter and I had the same habit.

Originally Posted by SPEEDY_RACER

... marinated with(chilli, garlic & ginger paste, mutton masala, garam masala, lime 1 tb spoon & 2/3 tb spoon of oil and salt to taste) ...

Try another version - instead of just g + g, grate / grind some onion, ginger, garlic and soaked dry red chillies - and use as the marinade. Apply lemon (we don't get lime in India, do we?) and salt first after pricking all over with a fork, and then the rest of the marinade. Skip garam & meat masala in the marinade - sprinkle after taking off the heat.

What recipe do you use to make dry fish / prawn dishes?

[SPEEDY_RACER]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

LOL Been there done that! My daughter and I had the same habit.

Try another version - instead of just g + g, grate / grind some onion, ginger, garlic and soaked dry red chillies - and use as the marinade. Apply lemon (we don't get lime in India, do we?) and salt first after pricking all over with a fork, and then the rest of the marinade. Skip garam & meat masala in the marinade - sprinkle after taking off the heat.

What recipe do you use to make dry fish / prawn dishes?

Unfortunately i stay in a place currently not in India where i don't get red-chilies, and the onions here are not so great but in a city like Bangalore i would have used onion. more over getting the fresh lamb meat itself is a great thing.

I believe we get lime not the lemon in INDIA(Google Images) correct me if i am not wrong.

where as dry fish/prawn i use eggplant as the base and make the dish

first soak prawn/fish with some hot water along with salt for couple of minutes,clean the prawn/fish and keep it aside.

finely cut the Egg Plant depends on what type you take (Refer the image).

take a non stick pan add little bit of oil once hot add finely chopped onion, chilies & Curry leaf and fry it until they are light brown and they loose the raw flavor.

add the prawn/fish into the pan, fry them till the prawn/fish is light fried, now add the egg plant and close the lid. Once the egg plant is cooked add some garam masala along with salt to taste.

if you want the gravy to be more thinner then add bit more water usally the gravy is a thick gravy.

P.S: you can even add fresh prawns(not fresh fish) to make the dish.

[carboy]

Does anyone know where I can find non-iodized salt?

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by SPEEDY_RACER

Unfortunately i stay in a place currently not in India where i don't get red-chilies, ...

Where are you located currently? Never had any problem getting red chillies in Europe or US. Nor red (Spanish) onions. Red shallots (they are longish and oval) are a good substitute.

Originally Posted by SPEEDY_RACER

... I believe we get lime not the lemon in INDIA(Google Images) correct me if i am not wrong. ...

No, we only get lemons in the subcontinent for some reason. Limes, with rough green skin and a different taste / smell, one gets outside India. Even the importers don't get it in Bangalore (not worth the price). There are a couple of varieties of lemon with green skin when ripe (like Gandharaj), but they are not limes.

Originally Posted by SPEEDY_RACER

... where as dry fish/prawn i use eggplant as the base and make the dish ...

Thanks - I MUST try this. I have never associated brinjals with non-veg (other than Moussaka).

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by bblost

Thanks Aroy. I will do this to the remaining cashews over the weekend.



This might be a problem. My daughter and I will check a couple every time and am sure it will be over by the time its ready.

You do not have to do it a lot of times. I generally get it right by the third try. Of course tasting during cooking is what makes cooking so satisfying.

[rohanjf]

Yesterday I prepared Dal, with four most common lentils.

Ingredients for Dal:
half cup toovar dal
half cup masoor dal
half cup moong dal
half cup chana dal
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder (more if you wish)
some salt
one large potato, diced into 1 inch cubes
one large onion, chopped
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp tamarind paste

Ingredient for Tadka:
a handful of crushed garlic (with or without peel - I used with peel)
a handful of curry leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds
5-6 green chillies (I removed the seeds)
refined oil

Procedure:
1. Soak all dals for an hour or so
2. Pressure cook the dals with tamarind paste, salt, chilli powder and turmeric powder for 5-6 whistles. Keep aside
3. In a non-stick pan, fry onion until brown
4. Add ginger paste and fry a little more
5. Add potato and some salt, and fry on low heat until the potato is tender and slightly burned (if you prefer the taste)
6. Add coooked dal to it (blend the dal a little - if you wish). Continue cooking on low flame until tadka is ready
7. In tadka vessel, heat oil (take enough oil to immerse all tadka ingredients in it). Then add cumin seeds, crushed garlic, curry leaves and green chillies. Fry until the green chillies start turning slightly brown. Then add the tadka to the dal. Close the vessel with a lid immediately to keep the flavours trapped inside.

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by rohanjf

2. Pressure cook the dals with tamarind paste, salt, chilli powder and turmeric powder for 5-6 whistles. Keep aside

Usually, they do not add salt when you pressure cook the dal. The thought here is, dal will not get cooked with salt. I am not sure, if this is for all types of dal, or is it only for tur dal.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by JMaruru

Usually, they do not add salt when you pressure cook the dal. The thought here is, dal will not get cooked with salt. I am not sure, if this is for all types of dal, or is it only for tur dal.

Dal does not get soft if you cook it with salt. The preferred method is to cook the dal, and add salt only when you season (tadka) it.

This applies to all dal and beans.

[rohanjf]

Thanks guys.

I must confess, I started eating dal only 7-8 years ago, and learnt cooking it only about 2-3 years ago (since dal is not a part of my traditional cuisine). Although I have never noticed that dal is undercooked, I'm going to try cooking dal without salt next time.

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by rohanjf

... dal is not a part of my traditional cuisine ...

Difficult to believe, unless you are from the North-East (perhaps even then)! By 'dal not part ...' did you mean HuLi or Sambhar or something, and Dal as in "without coconut, coriander, chillies etc."? "Dal" or pulses is common to both.

[rohanjf]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

Difficult to believe, unless you are from the North-East (perhaps even then)! By 'dal not part ...' did you mean HuLi or Sambhar or something, and Dal as in "without coconut, coriander, chillies etc."? "Dal" or pulses is common to both.

I am from Mangalore :-D.
When I was growing up, neither grandma nor mom cooked dal at home. I have not seen it in many functions/social gatherings either (where pork, mutton and chicken rule). At certain functions (called Roce), they serve some kind of saaru/rasam, where they use dal. But it is cooked differently. It is not mashed, so you can see the whole grains. Of course, I have never eaten it ;-)

[Sheel]

It would be nice to share pictures of the final preparations & in this shravan month, I can look at it greedily

[rsjaurr]

Has anyone used this electric tandoor? Enough of fried or coal roasted non veg stuff and now I want to turn to electric tandoor and also it will be lot easier to operate as compared to other.

I am thinking of buy either this tandoor or good quality OTG with rotisserie function which one will be better? Mainly it will used for non veg stuff almost twice a week and rarely for some function like biscuits,pizza or veg stuff.

[bblost]

Can anyone share a recipe for a Cheese Cake?