CHENNAI: Mash some potatoes with salt and pepper. Saute onions, garlic and capsicums together. Marinate some minced chicken with salt, pepper, cumin, chilli, coriander and add it to the pan. Make a potato patty and add this mixture to it. Roll them up into a ball and dip it into flour, egg and then crumbs. Fry it and there you go, potato chicken dumplings for your New Year party!
I’ve been a chef for seven years now and specialise in continental cuisine. But, I want to perfect my hand in my traditional cuisine — Chettinadu! The most difficult dish to prepare and which also turns out to be my favourite is Chettinadu fish curry. A small incorrect measurement can change flavours and wreck it. But someday, I will perfect it!
I love sea food and I can live on it, especially garlic flavoured prawns; some delicious sea food on a plaintain leaf while sitting on the floor at my home with loved ones. Blissful, really! And an extra spoon of butter maybe? My favourite ingredient has always been butter. It can take your dish to another level of delicious! You know, as much as I’m a jovial chef at my work place, I can get a little tensed and worked up at home when food gets wasted. I wonder why…but I love my food and my family. (smiles) I was very young when I began to appreciate the art.
I would help mother make chappatis, dosas and chutneys too! I continued to follow her recipes for a while, then began to learn from senior chefs at work before I began to experiment myself. Once, I tried a dish with polenta pasta and fish. Instead of using cornflakes as crumbs to cover the meat, I used polenta pasta. It came out well and the crispiness lasted for a long time! I also cooked in a silver foil pouch which caused every ingredient to retain their individual flavours.
Experimenting with food can bring a lot of surprises!
Here’s another tip. You must always have your curd rice cold. Try this: Add Sauteed ginger, small onions, chilli and curry leaves to the curd rice mixture and serve warm. The flavours of ginger and shallot will be different and you will love it!