Bhakres

Pushpa Prabhu

Ingredients
1 cup rice flour
1 cup sooji (roast all the sooji you buy - very lightly - before storing)
3/4 cup coconut grated
2-3 green chillies - deseed and chop finely
1 cup sliced onions ( quartered )

Preparation
First take a spoon of salt and one of sugar. With the back of a spoon mix this with the chillie pieces on the chopping board. Then add the onions and mix well. In a mixing bowl add the sooji and then add a little water and mix. Next add the onions mixed with salt and chillies. Stir well. Then put in the rice flour and water and mix well. Thin to the consistency you need.

Method
Heat the dosa tava till hot. Take a ladleful of the bhakre mixture and pour into the centre of the tava. Spread in dosa like fashion - as far as possible. Put a teaspoon full of oil around the bhakre and into any holes that may be there in the middle. Cover with a lid for 2-3 minutes. Open and turn. It should cook a bit on the second side too. The main side should be brown and the bhakre a bit crisp.

You could replace the onions with grated cucumber for the cucumber bhakres only remember that you need to add 2 teaspoons of sugar to that mixture.

Chicken Fry

Roopa Nayak

Ingredients
1/2 kg chicken cut in small pieces ( about 1" or a bit larger)
1 cup dahi
2" ginger piece
7-8 pods of garlic
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp red chilli powder

Preparation
Make a paste of the ginger and garlic and add to the dahi. Also add salt, garam masala and red chilli powder. Mix well. Check taste and then add to the chicken. Ensure that all the pieces are well coated. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours.

Method
Heat a little oil in a kadai. Put the chicken and stir till all the pieces are coated with oil. Then cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Open and keep stirring till the water dries and the oil comes to the surface. Serve Hot.

Green Chicken Curry - 2

Roopa Nayak

Ingredients
1 kg Chicken pieces ( broiler )
1 coconut of 1 1/2 cups of coconut milk
2 medium bundles of coriander
11-12 green chillies
11-12 garlic pods
3 marble sized bits of tamarind
4" ginger
4 medium onions

Sabud Garam Masala
1 tsp khus khus
5-6 cloves
3-4" cinnamon
7-8 peppercorns
1 cardamom
1/2 tsp jeera
1 tsp coriander seeds

Method
Make a paste out of one bunch of coriander, 2" ginger, 7-8 pcs garlic and 7-8 pcs green chillies. Apply to the chicken pieces along with salt and a pinch of turmeric and set aside.

Fry one chopped onion, 4 pods of garlic, 2" of ginger and 4 green chillies chopped fine in a kadai. Fry just for a short while to take away the raw smell of onions. Remove from oil and set aside. In the same oil fry the garam masala. Remove, allow it to cool and then put into a mixie along with the fried onions, another bunch of coriander, the tamarind and 2 tablespoons of coconut from which the milk has been removed. Make a masala

Take 3 chopped onions and fry in a pressure cooker till nicely browned. Add chicken and fry for a few minutes. Then close the pressure cooker and allow it time for one whistle. Wait for the pressure to subside before opening to ensure that the chicken is cooked. Open and add the second masala and allow it to boil. Also check to see if the chicken in tender else cook for longer. Then add coconut milk and allow it to simmer for 5 minutes. Add half the quantity of coconut milk add more if the flavor has not come out. If not spice enough add red chilli powder and check and top up salt.

Prawn Wadis (Cutlets)

Manjula & Roopa Nayak

Though this recipe is originally for shell fish. We made these wadis once with prawns and the next day with cabbage, both very tasty. I think its all the coconut! Gals the cabbage version for you - sorry!

Ingredients
250gms prawns OR shredded cabbage ( v.small bits )
1 and 1/2 medium onions chopped fine

For the Masala
1/2 a coconut grated
4 red chillies } saute a
1/2 tsp coriander seeds } bit
a pinch of turmeric
a marble sized bit of tamarind
salt to taste.

For coating
a mix in equal parts of sooji and rice flour

Method
Grind the masala. Make sure you only add water as required as you want a thick paste and definitely not a watery one. If it does turn out to be too watery add a bit of rice flour to thicken.

Add the onions and prawns and mix well using your hands ( kallay )

Take a bit of the mixture in the palm of your hand and make a ball the size of a laddoo and roll in the coating mixture. set aside on a plate. Do this with all the mixture.

Then put a griddle on the flame and wait for it to heat well. Add a teaspoon of oil. Tilt the tava in different directions till the surface has a coating of oil.

Lower the flame. Take one ball of mixture and flatten on the tava. Repeat till the tava is filled but leave enough place around the wadi for you to be able to turn them.

Do not turn too quickly as the wadis then just break up. Wait for the first side to cook and brown well before turning and then let it brown well on the other side too. Add oil while turning to ensure that it doesnt stick to the tava.

Serve hot. We cooked them in coconut oil but I dont think that that is necessary.