HYDERABAD: It’s that time of the year when you want to feel pleasant even when wrapped up in your shawl. You want the warmth to stay in your body, inside you. And you it is not just those juicy, succulent strips of mutton or beef floating in hot, spicy froth, other than these winter picks it’s the choicest spices that keep your body warm.
Black pepper – ground, crushed, powdered added to that pot of mutton stew or chicken casserole not just gives the dish its unique flavour but keeps the body warm thanks to its rich anti-bacterial properties. This tiny globule of darkness is also a rich source of Vitamin K, Iron, Magnesium and Potassium. So, now you know what is that warmth that fills your mouth when you accidentally crush a pepper between your teeth.
Another common yet interesting condiment is shepherd’s weed or shepherd’s purse.
It is the good old ajwain that always stayed on top shelves of our grandmother when midnight stomach crises arose. It comes cheap and easily available hence also known as Poor Man’s Parmacettie. And it’s not just the seeds with their sharp taste that is used, the leaves and flowers, too, are used in cooking especially in Asian countries. These seeds are power-packed with Vitamin K, Vitamin A and Beta Carotene.
It’s known to cut down the effect of cold in blood stream. That’s how those besan pakodas taste so heavenly when these tiny wonders are added to the batter. Now, tie your apron strings read the below recipes that contain both the spices we talked about and rustle the recipes we provide below. Happy eating!
Recipes courtesy: Chef Maharaj Jodharam Choudhary and Chef Ajay Thankur from Khandani Rajdhani
Ingredients
Method: Wash, peel off and dice potatoes, yam, sweet potatoes, and raw bananas
Wash brinjal and slit them into four without cutting the stem
Make a paste of garlic, green chillies and ginger and mix cut coriander. Stuff in this mixture in potatoes and brinjal
String beans and cut into one-inch long pieces
Heat up oil in a thick-bottomed handi, mix in asafoetida and mustard seeds
When mustard seeds crackle mix in ground Masala and broad beans
Put the rest of the vegetables in layers one on top of the other
Sprinkle salt and turmeric powder
Stir-fry for five minutes on high flame heat
Pour out one cup of water, cover and simmer (boil slowly at low temperature) on a very low heat up for 10-15 minutes
Mix in fried Muthiyia and again simmer (boil slowly at low temperature) for 15 minutes
Shake the vegetables occasionally but do not use a spoon to stir.
Serve hot decorated with scraped coconut coriander l
For undhiyu
Ingredients
6 - 8 green leaf garlic
3 - 4 Baby Brinjal
50 gms fresh Tuver dana
50 gms fresh lilva dana
6 -8 small potatoes
100 gms sweet potatoes
100 gms yam (kand)
25 - 30 broad beans
2 raw bananas
30 gms Sugar
10 gms tamarind
5 tblsp oil
2 tblsp coconut scraped
4 green chillies
a pinch asafoetida
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 cup coriander leaves
2 inch ginger
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp whole Jeera
1 tsp Jawain
Salt as per taste
Lobster & Corn Chowder
Whole fresh
lobsters, cracked and split
Fresh corn
FOR THE STOCK
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 Onion, chopped
¼ Cups cream sherry
1 Teaspoon sweet paprika
4 Cups whole milk
2 Cups heavy cream
1 Cup dry white wine
FOR THE SOUP
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 Cups large unpeeled potatoes, diced, about 2 medium
1½ Cups onions, chopped, about 2 onions
2 Cups celery, diced, about 3 to 4 stalks
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
1 Teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 Teaspoons fresh chives, chopped
¼ Cup cream sherry
Method
Remove the meat from the shells of the lobsters. Cut the meat into large cubes and place them in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Reserve the shells and all the juices that collect. Cut the corn kernels from the cobs and set aside, reserving the cobs separately. For the stock, melt the butter in a stockpot or Dutch oven large enough to hold all the lobster shells and corncobs.
Add the onion and cook over medium-low heat for 7 minutes, until translucent but not browned, stirring occasionally. Add the sherry, milk, cream, wine, lobster shells and their juices, corncobs and bring to a simmer. Partially cover the pot and simmer the stock over the lowest heat for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in another stockpot heat the oil, add in potatoes, onions, celery, corn kernels, salt, and pepper and sauté for 5 minutes. Add lobster meat. Place a strainer over the soup pot and carefully pour the stock into the pot with the potatoes and corn. Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Add chives and the sherry. Serve hot.