Kozhi Roast

Ingredients:

1. Chicken - 2 lb(1 kg) cut into big pieces (I used chicken drumsticks and left them whole)
2. Onion - 4 thinly sliced
3. Garlic - 10 cloves
4. Ginger - 1 inch piece
5. Chilly powder - 3 tsp
6. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
7. crushed Pepper - 1/2 tsp
8. Soy sauce - 3 tbsp (optional , using Soy sauce gives the gravy the dark brown color)
9. Vinegar - 2 tbsp
10. curry leaves - 2 springs
11. Oil - 1/2 cup

Method:
Make a paste of 1 tsp chilly powder , turmeric powder,1 tbsp vinegar and salt to taste and apply to the chicken pieces and keep aside for 30 minutes or few hours.
Make a paste of the Garlic,ginger,soy sauce and 2 tsp chilly powder using a blender adding few tsp of water if needed. Keep this paste aside.
Heat oil in a frying pan and fry the chicken pieces until they are light brown on the outside. The chicken does not have to get cooked , we are only browning the outside.Remove the chicken pieces from oil and keep aside.
Add the sliced onions into the oil and fry until it turns light brown.Remove with a slotted spoon and keep it along with the fried chicken pieces.
In the same pan check how much oil you have .Keep 2 tbsp in the pan and pour off the rest of the oil.
Add the curry leaves and ground ginger-garlic-chilly paste and pepper powder into the oil and stir fry until the raw smell is gone and the oil starts separating from the masala.
Pour in 1 cup of water and bring to a boil.
Add in the fried chicken and onions and mix well.
Cover and cook until the chicken is cooked and the gravy is thick.
Add more salt & Vinegar to taste.
The soy sauce and browned onions gives this gravy a dark color without being too spicy.
Goes well with rice, bread,Roti , appam etc.

Vazhakka Upperi

Ingredients:

1. Raw banana - 5
2. Grated coconut - 3/4 cup
3. Green chillies - 5( 2 +3 - use 2 to grind with coconut and slice 3 into thin pieces.)
4. Shallots - 5
5. Garlic - 1 clove
6. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
7. curry leaves - 1 spring
8. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
9. dry red chilly - 2 broken
10. Oil - 1 tbsp
11. Salt - to taste

Method:
Make a coarse paste of the grated coconut , green chillies, 2 shallots, garlic and turmeric powder and keep aside.
Peel the outermost layer of skin from the raw bananas and cut into small cubes and leave them immersed in water.They turn a dull grey if they come in contact with oxygen. SO keep them in water until ready to cook.
Cook the banana cubes with 1 cup water and salt to taste until it is soft and some water remains in the pan.
Add in the ground coconut paste and mix well and cover and cook on low flame for 2 minutes.
Turn the flame off.
Heat oil in a frying pan and add the mustard seeds.
When it splutters add the dry red chillies and sliced shallots and curry leaves and fry until it is golden brown.
Add the cooked banana mixture into the onion mix and stir well.
Serve with rice and curd.

Malabar Chemeen Curry

In the Kannur region Fish or some sort of seafood is consumed on a daily basis. Meen curry is such an integral part of Kannur cuisine that outsiders often joke that - the lady of the house would wake up in the morning and along with breakfast preparation she would grind half of a coconut into a fine paste and keep it aside.Then depending on what kind of seafood is available that day the curry is made. Fish,crab,shrimp etc are used. When fresh fish is not available the same gravy is used to make a curry out of dry fish or Shrimp. This curry is not as fiery and concentrated in flavor as the Kottayam fish curry and hence you get best results when using extremely fresh fish.In other words the taste of the curry depends on the flavor of seafood you use.

Even during festivals like Onam and vishu when the rest of Keralites stick to a vegetarian meal, fish is inevitable in the Malabar region specially Kannur.Yes we Kannur folks love our seafood :).

Ingredients:

1. Shrimp - 1 lb( about 1/2 kg)
2. Chilly powder - 2 tsp
3. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
4. Shallots - 5 (slice 3 roughly and slice 2 finely for tadka)
5. Ginger - 1 inch piece chopped
6. Garlic - 8 cloves chopped
7. Curry leaves - 2 springs
8. Dry red chillies - 2 broken
9. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
10. Oil - 1 tbsp
11. Cocum/Kudam puli or Tamarind paste - to taste
12. Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
13. salt - to taste

Method:
Grind the coconut with 1/4 cup water to a fine paste and keep aside.
Peel, de-vein, wash and drain the shrimp and add to a clay pot.
Add the roughly chopped shallots, garlic,ginger, chilly powder, turmeric powder, salt to taste, cocum/tamarind paste and 1 cup water to the clay pot and stir well.
Cook this mixture until the shrimp is cooked and absorbs the flavors( about 10 minutes).
Add in the ground coconut paste and enough water to make a semi thick gravy.
Bring to a simmer and adjust salt and tamarind to taste and turn the flame off.
Heat oil in a small pan and splutter the mustard seeds.
Add in the shallots and fry until it turns light brown.
Add in the dry red chillies and curry leaves and fry for a minute.
Pour this into the curry in the clay pot and keep covered for 10 minutes.
Mix the curry well and serve with rice.

King Henry

Vodka is an essential spirit distilled from grains such as sorghum, corn, rye or wheat. Among grain vodkas, rye and wheat vodkas are generally considered superior. Some vodka is made from potatoes, molasses, soybeans, grapes, rice, sugar beets and sometimes even byproducts of oil refining or wood pulp processing.

Vodka owes its popularity to its reputation as an alcoholic beverage that "leaves you breathless", as one ad put it — no smell of liquor remains detectable on the breath, and its neutral flavor allows it to be mixed into a wide variety of drinks.It is traditionally drunk neat in the vodka belt**  and is commonly used in cocktails  and mixed drinks.The purer the vodka, the better it blends with other aromas meaning  VODKA brings out the best in other tastes too.By law, vodka  cannot have a distinctive color, smell, or flavor. It is, in many ways, an essential spirit.
 

**vodka belt — Eastern Europe , Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway  and Sweden.

King Henry or Chi chi is a Vodka Pinacolada ie you substitute the Rum in a traditional Pinacolada with Vodka and you have a King Henry or Chi Chi

Ingredients:

1. vodka - 1 part
2. Pineapple Juice - 3 parts
3. Coconut cream - 1 part
4. Sugar - 1 tbsp (add more to taste if you like it sweet)
5. crushed Ice cubes - 5

Method:
Add all ingredients to a shaker and swirl until sugar is completely dissolved then Shake briefly with the crushed ice, and strain into a glass. Garnish with a slice of pineapple  and serve cold.

Pressure cooker Beef Biriyani

Ingredients:

1. Basmati rice - 2 cups
2. Beef - 2 lb cut into large pieces
3. Curd - 3/4 cup
4. Water - 2 cups
5. Whole spices - 4 cardamom,2 cloves,1 bay leaf,1/2 inch cinnamon stick ,5 whole peppercorns
6. Onion - 2 medium large sliced thin
7. Tomato - 1 large sliced thin
8. Ginger - 1 inch piece crushed to coarse paste
9. Garlic - 1 pod crushed to coarse paste
10. Green chillies - 7
11. turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
12. coriander leaves - 1 cup chopped
13. Mint leaves - 1/4 cup
14. salt to taste
15. Ghee - 3 tbsp
16. Biryani masala - 1 tbsp (crush together cloves,cinnamon,cardamon,Fennel)

Method:
Marinate the Beef with 1/2 cup curd , and 1/2 of the crushed Ginger and garlic plus 2 slit Green chillies and turmeric powder.Add salt to taste and keep aside for 30 minutes.
Soak the Basmati rice for 20 minutes while the meat is marinating - drain and keep aside.
Heat Ghee in a pressure cooker and add the whole spices and  saute for a few secs.
Add sliced onions and saute until they start turning color about 8 minutes.
Add the remaining ginger and garlic and saute until raw smell is gone.
Add in the marinated meat and stir fry for 5 minutes.
Add the chopped tomatoes and saute until tomatoes are cooked.Add in the biriyani masala and remaining curd and the mint and coriander leaves and stir well.
Add in 2 cups of water and salt to taste and bring to a boil.
Add the drained Basmati rice and cover the cooker.
Once the steam starts forming put the weight on and keep on flame for 4 minutes (2 -3 whistles).
Turn the flame off and leave the cooker undisturbed for 25 minutes.By then the pressure would have released .Open the cooker and serve the biriyani hot with Salad, pickle and chutney

NOTE : The Beef we get in US takes very little time to cook.Adjust cooking times according to the type of meat you use.If you are using Goat meat you will have to precook the meat for 30 minutes (until it is 3/4'th done) before adding rice and pressure cooking.

Grilled Tiger Prawn

Ingredients:

1. Tiger prawn - 8 (about 1 lb)
2. Chilly powder - 1.5 tsp
3. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
4. black pepper - 1/4 tsp crushed
5. Vinegar - 1/2 tsp
6. salt - to taste
7. curry leaves - 1 spring
8. Oil - 2 tbsp

Method:
Clean and de-vein the shrimp - wash and pat dry with a paper towel.
Make a thick paste of chilly powder, turmeric powder,salt, vinegar and pepper adding just enough watre.
Apply the paste to the shrimp and keep aside for 30 minutes.
Heat a non stick pan or cast iron skillet on high and add in the oil.
Add the curry leaves and place the shrimp and fry for 4 minutes per side.
Serve hot garnished with Lime wedges.

Murnigakka Manga Unakka chemeen charu curry

Ingredients:

1. Raw mango - 4 big pieces (I used daily delight frozen raw mangoes)
2. Drumstick - 2 whole cut into 10 pieces
3. Cleaned Dry shrimp - 1/4 cup OR use 1 cup cleaned fresh shrimp
4. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
5. grated coconut - 1/2 cup
6. Green chillies - 7 slit
7. Shallots - 5 sliced into medium thick pieces
8. Shallot - 2 sliced thin for tadka
9. Curry leaves - 3 springs
10. salt - to taste
11. dry red chilly - 2
12. mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
13. oil - 1 tbsp

Method:
Roast the dry shrimp with some oil and chilly powder and salt to taste and keep aside.Crush half of the roasted shrimp into a coarse powder and keep aside.
Grind the coconut with 1/2 of the turmeric powder and 1 cup of water into a smooth paste and keep aside.
Add the mango pieces,drumsticks,crushed shrimp,green chillies,shallots and the rest of the turmeric powder into a pan and pour enough water to cover the s and bring to a boil, cover and cook until the drumsticks are cooked.(If you are using fresh shrimp  - add it along with the drumstick and mango pieces and cook it )
lower the flame and add in the coconut paste and bring to a simmer.Add enough water to make a semi thick gravy.
Heat oil in a small pan and add the mustard sees.
When it splutters add the red chilly and curry leaves and stir.
Add in the sliced shallots and fry until it is golden brown.
Take the curry off the flame and pour the tadka over it .
Add the remaining fried shrimp into the curry and Leave covered for few minutes.Serve with rice.

Mixed vegetable Green peas Masala with Beef bullion cube

Ingredients:

1. Cauliflower florets - 2 cups
2. Potatoes - 2 medium size peeled and cubed
3. Carrots - 1 large cubed
4. Beans - 10 cut into 1 inch pieces
5. Dry Green peas - 1 cup (soaked in water overnight and pressure cooked until 3/4'th done)
6. Onion - 1 big chopped
7. Tomatoes - 2 chopped
8. Garlic - 5 cloves chopped
9. coriander powder - 1.5 tbsp
10. chilly powder - 2 tsp
11. turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
12. Meat masala - tsp (pepper,cardamom,fennel,cloves,cinnamon - crushed)
13. Beef Bullion cubes - 4 (optional-you can use chicken soup cubes or vegetable soup cubes or maggie masala if you have it.)
14. Oil - 2 tsp
15. Salt - to taste
16. Curry leaves - 2 springs

Method:
Pressure cook the greenpeas for 5 whistles (3/4'th done) and keep aside.
In a clean pressure cooker add the oil and  onions,garlic and curry leaves and stir fry  for 2 minutes.
Add in coriander powder, chilly powder and turmeric powder and stir fry until raw smell is gone .
Add in the beef bullion cubes and tomatoes and fry until tomatoes are cooked.
Add in the green peas and potatoes,cauliflower,carrots and beans and mix well.
Taste for salt( the soup cubes have salt so add accordingly).
Pour in 1/2 cup water - if the cooked green peas has enough water you dont need to add more .There should be just enough water to cover the vegetable mixture.
Pressure cook for 3 whistles and turn the flame off.
Serve with Roti or Rice.