Mutton Kheema

Mutton/Lamb Minced Meat Curry

---

Mutton Kheema/Kothukari/minced meat is a very famous TamilNadu recipe, esp. in the southern parts of TamilNadu. I have got this recipe from my mother in law and did a bit of improvisation to it. It is a spicy semi-gravy curry which tastes great with any Roti, Parotta or rice items.

Ingredients:	Quantity
Mutton/Lamb boneless finely minced*	1.5 lbs
Shallots/Small onions chopped	2 cups
Ginger Garlic paste	2 tbsp
Red Chili Powder	1/2 tsp
Turmeric Powder	1 tsp
Salt	To taste
Oil	2-3 tbsp
Tempering:
Cloves	2-3 nos
Cardamom	2 nos
Cinnamon Stick	1 inch piece
To Grind:
Grated Coconut	1/2 cup
Dry Red Chili**	8-10 nos
Coriander Seeds	2 tbsp
Fennel Seeds	1.5 tsp
Cumin Seeds	1 tsp
Poppy Seeds	1.5 tsp
Peppercorns	1 tsp

Preparation:
1) Heat 1 tbsp oil in a fry pan and fry all the ingredients listed to grind, except coconut. Add coconut and little water as required and grind into a smooth paste and set aside.
2) Meanwhile heat oil in the pressure cooker and add the whole garam masala listed for tempering and then add the chopped onions and ginger garlic paste. Sauté until the onions caramelize and the raw smell of ginger garlic paste disappears.
3) Add the minced meat to it and add very little water and pressure cook upto 2-3 whistles or well cooked.
4) Wait and release the pressure and add the ground masala and let it cook until the raw smell of the masala disappears and the gravy thickens.
5) Serve with any Indian flat bread or rice item.

Note:* If you do not get minced meat, then you can finely chop the meat and process it in a food processor (Mixie).
** Add or reduce dry red chilies according to the heat of the chilies and your tolerance level.

Parotta

South Indian Layered Flat bread

---

Parotta is a very popular pan fried layered flat bread served with spicy curries. It is very tasty and tempting, only disadvantage being, it is made of all purpose flour and needs lot of oil to get the consistency, taste and texture. When occasional Naan or Pizza are allowed even Parotta can be an exceptional food once in a while.

Ingredients:	Quantity
All purpose flour/Maida*	3 cups
Baking Soda/Soda bi carb*	1 tsp
Salt*	To taste
Egg	1 nos
Sugar	1 tsp
Warm water	1/2 cup or as required
Oil	3-4 tbsp + enough for frying

Preparation:
1) Sieve the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder and mix with egg and then add water and kneed well. Add the oil to the dough and kneed it very well. The dough should be very soft and slightly sticky. Wrap it with a wet cloth or cling film and let it rest for a couple of hours in the refrigerator.
2) Make medium sized balls of the dough and roll them into a very thin sheet with a rolling pin.
3) Make fleets of the rolled thin sheet of dough. Circle them and roll it again into a medium sized sheet. Add oil at each stage as required.
4) Fry them on a hot pan turning sides until well cooked applying oil on it. Serve hot with any spicy South Indian Curry like Kurma or Kuzhambu. Usually it is served with Salna as side dish and popularly known as Parotta Salna in southern parts of TamilNadu.

Dough Balls
Dough Spread and made into fleets
Rolled into circle	Circled dough rolled again
Served with Kothukari
Note:* One of my friend suggested that we can replace the self-raising flour to make Parotta. I had used it this time and it came out better than All purpose flour by itself. Leave out flour, salt and baking soda and replace it with self-raising flour.

Chicken 65

Spicy Deep Fried Chicken

---

Chicken 65 is a spicy deep fried South Indian dish. It is a very popular snack dish which is available in most of the non-vegetarian restaurants to road side shops. Usually I avoid deep fried foods and prefer to bake or shallow fry or grill. Some food items are so temping and let me break the rules. Here is one of it. Though it is dry dish it is very juicy and soft inside and crispy outside.

Ingredients:	Quantity
Skinless Boneless Chicken Thighs*	1 lb
Yogurt	2-3 tbsp
Ginger Garlic Crushed/Paste	2-3 tsp
Red Chili Powder	1 tsp
Green Chilies Slit	2 nos
Curry Leaves	One Strand
Oil	For Deep Frying + 1 tbsp
Red food color (Optional)	2-3 drops
Marinade:
Egg	1 nos
Corn Flour	2 tbsp
Red Chili Powder	1 tsp
Pepper Powder	3/4 tsp
Coriander Powder	1/4 tsp
Turmeric Powder	1/4 tsp
Salt	To Taste
Ginger Garlic Paste	1 tsp
Lemon Wedges	To Garnish

Preparation:
1) Clean and cut the chicken into cubes. Add the red chili powder, corn flour, ginger garlic paste, pepper powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and salt and mix well. Then add the egg and mix well and let it marinate for atleast one hour.
2) Deep fry the marinated chicken until they are almost cooked, nearly 6-8 min's** and set aside on a paper towel.
3) Heat oil in a fry pan and add the slit green chilies, curry leaves and chopped (or paste of) ginger and garlic. Sauté for a few seconds and then simmer the stove (or remove from the stove) and add the yogurt and stir well. Add the red chili powder, very little salt, and food coloring (if using it). Stir for a few seconds, do not let the yogurt to curdle.
4) Add the fried chicken into it and sauté until the chicken is well mixed with the yogurt gravy. Simmer it until all the liquid evaporates. Garnish with lemon wedges and serve it as a snack or with Biryani.

Note: * Use thigh pieces instead of chicken breast pieces, since they don't turn dry so soon. They are more soft and tender than the breast piece.
** The frying time varies on the size of the chicken pieces, no of chicken pieces you fry at a time, oil temperature. Check one piece before you remove them out of oil. Do not overcook, it will become dry.

Pudalangai Milagu Kootu

Snake Gourd and Lentil Curry

---

Kootu is Lentil and Vegetable curry which is part of the South Indian thali. This is also called as poricha Kootu or milagu kootal. Various other vegetables can be used in this Kootu like the Chayote Squash(Chow chow), Turnip, Pumpkin, Beetroot and any other vegetable.

Ingredients:	Quantity
Red Gram Dal	1/2 cup
Bengal Gram Dal	1/2 cup
Snake Gourd medium sized	2-3 nos
Turmeric Powder	1 tsp
Asafoetida	1/4 tsp
Salt	To taste
Spice Paste:
Dried Red Chili	2-3 nos
Coriander Seeds	1 tsp
Black Peppercorns	1/2 tbsp
Cumin Seeds	1 tsp
Bengal Gram Dal	1 tsp
Urad Dal	1 tsp
Grated coconut	2 tbsp
Coconut Oil/Ghee*	1 tsp
Tempering:
Mustard Seeds	1 tsp
Urad Dal	1 tsp
Dried Red Chili halved	1 nos
Curry Leaves	1-2 strands
Coriander Leaves Chopped	2-3 tbsp
Coconut Oil/Ghee*	1 tbsp

Preparation:
1) Wash and soak Dal in water for atleast 30 min's. Peal and cut the snake gourd.
2) Pressure cook Dal's, Snake gourd, Asafoetida, Salt and turmeric powder up to two whistles.
3) Meanwhile heat ghee/coconut oil in a pan and fry the ingredients for spice paste and grind them into a fine paste.
4) Add the ground spice paste into the cooked Dal and let it cook until the raw smell disappears.
5) Heat ghee/coconut oil in a pan and add the ingredients for tempering and once the mustard seeds splutter add it into the Kootu. Serve it with steamed rice and Kuzhambu.

Note: * Usually Coconut oil is used in this Kootu. If you do not have any you can use ghee for a unique flavor.
* You can add 1 tsp tamarind to the Kootu at step 4.
* You can leave out Bengal gram Dal and just add red gram Dal or add Moong Dal.