Slow Cooked Mutton Chops with Caramelised Onions

Mutton chops are of two kinds - the potato covered croquette like ones like these, and the delicious cut of meat that I cooked for dinner.

These babies were lying in my freezer forever. I had marinated them and bunged them in hoping to cook them soon but somehow the opportunity just never came. Today we had nothing on the agenda and dinner was going to be at home. I had these out and thawing and they were ready to be cooked in a few hours. The initial plan had been a sort of gravy and I had planned to fool around with poppy seed paste and other bits and pieces but somehow I wasn't in the mood for something fussy. So the chops ended up being slowly pan fried with a generous handful of sliced onions.

Grilled Chops with Caramelised Onions

Marinate a few chops with curd, ginger garlic paste, salt, turmeric, cumin powder, a good dash of coriander powder, and your favourite garam masala blend. Let it marinate for a good six hours or overnight in your fridge.

Slice a couple of onions finely. In a flat non stick pan heat a couple of tablespoons of any neutral oil. Once the oil is hot add the onions and fry gently till they begin to turn pink. Add the chops and fry on high heat for a couple of minutes turning the chops to sear all sides.

Lower the heat and cover the pan with a lid that fits. Let the chops cook undisturbed for 15 minutes. Turn them over and cover and cook again for another 10 to 15 minutes. Add any marinade that's left in the bowl. Don't add any water.  Let the chops cook on low heat as slowly as possible. Mine took around an hour to cook. Just check occasionally to ensure that nothing's getting burned.

The chops will have no gravy, just the darkly caramelised onions that have absorbed the marinade and the flavours of the meat.

Serve these as a starter on their own. Be sure to add some of the onions to each serving. Eat with your fingers and I promise you, you will lick them clean. A simple no fuss dish, slowly cooked. Poetry on a plate.

Marathon Bloggers Project 52

Cafreal Chicken goes Red!

My love affair with Chicken Cafreal started with my mother's hunt for easy recipes which she could cook with minimum fuss and delicious results. At some point she discovered the ready made green flavourful masala paste that was one of the greatest gifts to the cook who is simply too tired to cook from scratch. We tried various brands and voted the Goana Foods green cafreal masala as our favourite. This magic paste was available at the local cold storage shop and we bought it in vast quantities and even order it online today. Here's the recipe for green cafreal chicken.

It was many years later that I made it to the magical place that is Goa - and there I discovered red cafreal masala  made by another company called Marcarfly. Here was a revelation in a plastic packet! I didn't know a red variation even existed and since then my kitchen is always well stocked with plenty of packets of both varieties. You can buy this at Kitchenette at Margao or at the other similar shop just next to it.

Nothing is easier than making Red Cafreal Chicken. All you do is marinate the chicken with a little salt. Slap on a generous bit of the masala paste and let it sit for an hour. Then all that's left to be done is for the chicken to be slowly fried. If you're in a hurry, don't wait. Cook it immediately.

Here are a few pics of what this absolutely delicious dish in a jiffy looks like..

The paste is thick and oily and has a deep red colour Be careful! The colour gets on to everything!

Coat the pieces nicely with a generous amount of the paste. Let is sit for an hour.

Fry slowly in a neutral oil and let it cook properly inside and then let the outside get nice and crisp. Cook the leg pieces and the breast pieces separately. The breast pieces need a shorter cooking time and will get overcooked if you dunk in all the pieces together. A little care goes a long way.

Serve hot off the pan with bread or rotis.

This works well with prawns too. And you can also do just a big pile of chicken wings and serve them up as a starter. Be sure to have plenty of napkins handy!

Momos on the mind

Momos were suddenly omnipresent in most of my conversations over the last couple of days and I thought to myself, it's high time I tried making them. I love momos. And I love pork momos the best. Chicken momos are a huge compromise and vegetable momos are an aberration. I had all the makings for pork momos in stock and I had finished the day's quota of work early. The omens were auspicious and my momo adventure began.

I first googled momo recipes just to get some basic concepts clear but nothing seemed to match with what I remembered from the momo parties in the Boys' Hostel at Deccan College all those years ago. I chanced upon some videos on Youtube which were a great help in figuring out the making of the momos themselves. 15 minutes of serious internet research and I was ready to rock and roll.

I put the pork mince out to thaw and chopped onions and grated some fresh ginger in the mean time. Once the pork was completely thawed I threw in the chopped onions, grated ginger and salt, mixed it all well and let it sit.

Flour, water and a good pinch of salt is all I used to make a soft pliable dough for the covering. Once kneaded thoroughly, it rested for about half an hour.

And then the real fun began.

I rolled out the requisite disc and then I proceeded to make the first momo. Here it is - 

not bad eh? 

As I made the rest of the momos they got easier as I got more confident. As soon as the first five were done I was ready to steam them and see how I had fared. 

I put them all in my quickly put together steamer which was a large pot with water on which I placed my stainless steel colander. I oiled this so the momos wouldn't stick. This I covered with a steel plate, bound the sides with a thick towel to minimise the steam that would escape. Once the water was boiling nicely I steamed the momos for about 25 minutes. Since I didn't have a proper steamer that shut tightly, I gave them some extra time. 

Here they are! My homemade pork momos..

With the first batch I realised that I needed to make the covering thinner and yes, the next batch did turn out even better with my newly gained knowledge. Fat juicy momos, mouthfuls of heaven, made by me. What a triumph!

I probably sound childishly thrilled but momos have so many memories attached that making them fairly successfully myself has been a special achievement indeed. A slice of the past visited me as I spent this evening making momos and reliving wonderful days at the Deccan College with our friends Aren and Chumbeno. Thanks guys, I could never have done this without you. 

Grilled Chicken Livers

This is what Hubby has requested I make this evening to have with drinks...
Its an extremely simple recipe, practically cooks itself...and with delicious results.

Chicken livers, cleaned.
Cajun seasoning
salt
neutral oil

Sprinkle the Cajun seasoning liberally over the chicken livers and let it marinate for a while. Add salt too.
Heat some oil in a non stick pan and fry the livers quickly over a high flame. Reduce heat after a minute and let it cook further. Don't cover, let the moisture evaporate while cooking. Once the livers have turned pink inside, they're done.
Serve in a pretty platter with toothpicks and napkins.

In case you don't have Cajun seasoning, make a mix of some fried garlic, chilli flakes, a little pepper, salt and you get quite ggod results using this combination too.

Garlic Mushrooms

My love affair with mushrooms started just as I began college. My cousin Bipasha and I shared a great love for mushrooms and we discovered many recipes using the button mushrooms that were available in the market.

This is a very easy way of doing mushrooms and it is somethig I often serve when I'm having guests over...

250 gms Button mushrooms, washed thoroughly
garlic, finely minced or sliced
1 cube Maggi seasoning
fresh black pepper
1 tbsp soya sauce
olive oil

Slice the mushrooms, not too thin. Make sure they have been washed really well and all the mud is off. In a pan heat some olive oil and toss in the sliced garlic. Fry for a minute and then add the mushrooms. Once they release water crumble in the flavour cube. Add a good grinding of fresh black pepper. Let it cook covered till the mushrooms are done. Remove lid and dry out the excess liquid. Splash in the soya sauce and coat the mushrooms well.

Remove onto a serving plate and serve.

Chicken Cafreal..easier done than said!!!

Chicken Cafreal is one of my classic preparations. It is absolutely fool proof, it has never failed...and it is probably the easiest and yet impressive dish that I rustle up in no time at all. Of course there's no way I can really take all the credit for it. The secret is a ready-made marinade that I buy and always have in my pantry cupboard. Cafreal Masala by Goana foods. You can order this online, they will deliver it by post to you.

www.goanafoods.com

The masala itself is a coriander/mint paste with some other spices, a green masala.



Chicken Cafreal.

1 chicken
cafreal masala
salt (only if you need it)
Butter/Olive oil


Marinate the chicken pieces in a generous amount of the marinade masala. Let it sit for half an hour or so. heat butter or Olive il in a flat pan and put in the marinated chicken and marinade. Fry on a high flame till chicken is well coated in oil/butter and the masala for about 3 to 4 minutes. Reduce flame and cook covered till the chicken is cooked through.

Serve with garlic bread or rotis or regular sliced bread. It tastes lovely with the little soft 'gutli' pavs that are available in Mumbai, too.

You can use this same masala with squid. Get the squid cleaned and sliced into thin rings. marinate and cook as above. It's just yummy!! Prawns work well too.

You can make a really yummy and out of the ordinary starter by doing chicken wings with this marinade. Make sure you have plenty of paper napkins around!

Gorgeous Garlicky Chicken wings...

This is one of the easiest but most scrumptious recipes for making a quick snack or starter...

Chicken wings, tips removed.
salt
Fresh cracked pepper
Garlic, chopped and fried
Olive oil.

Marinate the wings in salt and pepper. Heat a little oil in a flat non-stick pan. Place the wings in hoy oil and lower the heat. Cover and let it cook for 3 to 5 minutes, undisturbed. Turn wings over to cook on the other side. Sprinkle a liberal amount of the fried garlic and cover again. Once the wings are cooked through (test with a fork. When juices run absolutely clear, they're done) increase heat and let the wings crisp a bit.
Serve hot!! They're simply yummy..

I usually keep a jar of fried garlic in my pantry.





All you do is chop a mountain of garlic and deep fry it quickly without burning it. Let it cool completely and store in an air-tight jar.