Shami Kebabs (Mince meat patties)

Hello Everyone!

Ramadan Mubarak to you all! Ramadan is almost finished and  it’s unbelievable how the time flies. Here I am sharing with you one of my favorite Kebab recipes of all time. Since the days are longer here in Summer, we have'nt got much time to eat, literally. Sun sets here at 9:50pm and the Fajr Azan goes off at 2:45am. I always aim to reduce some weight as we have'nt got much time to eat and try myself to stay aloof from indulging into snacks and sweet goodies. Probably, that's why, all I want to devour is fried snacks!! But, I stop at that and dont eat anything else. No main course, just the unhealthy, yet delicious fried snacks. I am trying to comfort myself here, you see.

When Lubna asked me if I could do a guest post for her, I was delighted! It is her blog that springs in my mind when it comes to Ramadan recipes and I look forward to her Ramadan posts for recipe ideas. She has fabulous collection of recipes and I love her Ramadan series in particular. If you want to see the amazing compilation of recipes from all over the world, hers is the blog you want to be.  I have come across many amazing blogs through her blog, which other wise I would have missed. Check her blog out, and don't forget to get the recipe of my shami kebab there.

Restaurant Style Chicken 65

It looks like it’s been a while that I posted some recipes here. I have plenty of recipes pending in my drafts, I am not sure when I am going to be done with all those. I am caught up with loads of stuff for the past couple of weeks and I am going to be busy for the coming weeks as well. So, I am hoping my posts are going to sporadic, until unless I prioritize blogging over several other things like I used to do before. 

 

Back home, Chicken 65 is one of the most popular starters in an Indian restaurant menu. They are not seen in the menus here somehow, but these are the ones we always order for the starters, if they are available. The Indian restaurants here have very different menus as that to India, something that not only taste different, but looks quite different as well. I have to agree to the fact that, Indian food in Indian restaurants back home tastes so much better than the ones in here.

There are many stories about the origin of this recipe, I am not certain with any of them though. I read that, it uses chicken that is 65 days old. Some says it is the 65^th recipe on some restaurant menu. Whatever the story is, all I can tell you is, this is a great, simple and easy chicken recipe with great depth of flavour.

I always believed that we can never recreate the restaurant-like food at home and this recipe proved me wrong. I was quite surprised at its outcome, as it tasted as good as the ones we get in the restaurants if not better. It is not only scrumptious, but equally easy and quick to prepare. The outcome is always juicy, tangy and spicy chunks of meat slathered in goodness! I have already prepared it several times, many a times it being the starters for the party and I got rave reviews for it. I usually prepare it with chicken breast, as it is easy for the little ones to eat, but they are more tasty and tender with meat on bone.

Restaurant Style Chicken 65

Serves about 12-15 as starters

Recipe adapted from Shashirecipes

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 20 mins

 

 Ingredients:

 2 lb, 900g chicken breast, or legs cut into small bite size portions, about 2 inches

 Marinade:

1 tsp minced ginger

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp black pepper powder

1 Tbsp coriander powder

1 Tbsp Red chilli powder*

½ tsp cumin powder

½ Tbsp Paprika**

¼ tsp turmeric powder

2 tbsp corn flour

2 large eggs

3 Tbsp lemon juice

few drops of red colour

salt to taste

Others:

½ of a large onion finely chopped, ½ cup

1 tbsp finely chopped ginger

1 Tbsp finely chopped garlic

2-4 green chillies

1 tsp pepper powder

2 strands of curry leaves finely chopped

2 tbsp coriander leaves chopped

Vegetable oil to deep fry

Preparations:

1. Marinate the chicken piece with all the ingredients listed under marinade until the chicken is evently coated and leave it in the fridge for couple of hours or overnight in the refrigerator for the marinade to seep in the meat.

2. Heat oil in a kadai or a large frying pan and pour enough oil to deep fry the chicken. Oil should not be heated to smoking high heat, but retained at a medium heat to cook the chicken pieces.

3. Once the oil is hot, add few chicken pieces in the kadai and let them cook for about 3-4 minutes undisturbed until the bubbles starts to come down. Using a slotted spoon, flip the chicken pieces over and cook for 3-4 more minutes. At a medium heat it just takes about 7-8 minutes to cook each batch, but check the doneness by taking out couple of pieces. Make sure it is cooked through and you don’t see any pink in the middle. Over cooking them can make it hard and chewy, so make sure you cook it for sufficient time to keep it juicy and moist. Once done, drain them in a kitchen towel to remove excess oil.

4. For the tadka, in another oan, add 2 tbsp of oil and throw in chopped onions. Once they trun golden, add in the ginger garlic, curry  leaves and green chilli and sauté for 2-3 minutes until the raw smell fades.

5. Add in pepper powder and coriander leaves and sauté for few seconds and then add the chicken pieces and mix well. Serve hot with rice, chappathis or naans or as starters.

Kerala Chicken Stew - Two Recipes

Chicken stew is one of the curries that I prepare ever since I started my cooking expedition. It has evolved much since then, as I improved much in cooking, and learned to balance the flavours and spices. I make two versions of it now, one being the easy, low fat version without using nuts and other one slightly richer version using ground nuts and thick coconut milk. The gravy is usually white, as no powdered spices are used apart from little garam masala. Curry gets most of its flavour from the whole spices that flavour the oil, along with onion, ginger and garlic. Even though the curry looks plain and white, it is very aromatic and full of flavour.

I usually use maggi coconut milk powder to make coconut milk, but if you could extract fresh milk from coconut it would be even better. You may use fresh, frozen or even desiccated coconut to extract the milk. I tend to be lazy when it comes to grinding coconut and squeezing all that glorious white milk off it, leaving behind extra pots and pans to wash. So almost always use Maggi coconut powder. You can also used canned coconut milk by diluting it with water to thin it out. I never use canned coconut milk in my cooking as I feel it has got a strong synthetic aftertaste.

This curry is usually served at home along with appam, ghee rice, pathiri, chappathis or even bread.

Kerala Chicken Stew

Preparation time:10-20 minutes

Cooking time:30-40 minutes

Recipe 1:

Ingredients:

1 kilo chicken

1 large potato,300g, peeled and cut into 2 “ pieces

2 large onions, finely chopped, 2 ½ cups

1 ½ tbsp grated ginger

1 ½ tbsp grated garlic

3 twigs of curry leaves

1 large tomato, 175g, cut into long strips

2 tbsp coconut oil/vegetable oil

5 cardamom

5 cloves

2 -3 2” piece of cinnamon sticks

1 tsp pepper corns slightly crushed or use it as whole

3 bay leaves

4-5 green chillies slit lengthwise

1/3 cup cashewnuts soaked in ½ cup thick coconut milk

½-1 cup thin coconut milk

½ tsp garam masala powder

1-2 tsp lemon juice

Preparation:

1.Wash chicken well and place It in a colander to drain of all the excess water.

2. In a wide non stick pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil. When hot add cardamom, pepper corns, cloves, bay leaves and cinnamon and cook for few seconds until it leaves aroma. (Heat is kept to medium as high heat burns the spices).

3. Add the chopped onion and salt and sauté until it starts turning golden. Add the chopped ginger and garlic and cook till the raw smell fades.

4. Add tomatoes, 2 twigs of curry leaves and sauté until tomatoes are pulpy.

5. Add chicken pieces and mix well and cook for 5-6 minutes.

6. Pour in the coconut milk, stir, and cook it covered on low heat until the chicken is half done, for about 10 minutes.

7. Add in the potatoes and cook till the chicken is tender and potato is cooked.

8. Add in cashew paste, remaining curry leaves, lemon juice, green chillies and garam masala. Gently heat to simmering point and take off the heat. Serve it along with ghee rice, appam etc.

Recipe2:

Ingredients:

1 kilo chicken

2 large onions,sliced thin, 3 cups

2 tbsp grated ginger

2 ½ - 3tbsp grated garlic (10 cloves)

3 twigs of curry leaves

1 large tomato, 175g, cut into long strips

2 tbsp coconut oil/vegetable oil

5 cardamom

6 cloves

3 2” piece of cinnamon sticks

2 tsp pepper corns slightly crushed

4-5 green chillies slit lengthwise

11/2 - 2 cup thin coconut milk

½ tsp garam masala powder

2 twig curry leaves

Preparation:

1. Wash chicken well and place It in a colander to drain of all the excess water.

2. In a wide non stick pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil. When hot add cardamom, pepper corns, cloves, and cinnamon and cook for few seconds until it leaves aroma. (Heat is kept to medium as high heat burns the spices).

3. Add the chopped onion and salt and sauté until it starts turning golden. Add the chopped ginger and garlic and cook till the raw smell fades.

4. Add tomatoes and sauté until tomatoes are pulpy.

5. Add chicken pieces and mix well and cook for 5-6 minutes.

6. Pour in the coconut milk, stir, and cook it covered on low heat until the chicken is fully cooked, for about 20 minutes minutes. Towards the end of cooking, add curry leaves, green chillies and garam masala. Gently heat to simmering point and take off the heat. Serve it along with ghee rice, appam etc.

Atti Pathal/Atti Pathiri/Chatti Pathiri (Chicken and Pancake Layers) - A North Malabar Special.

I guess we had our share of snow for the year. It was snowing horrendously over the past two weeks followed by the heavy rain and blustering winds. Since we dint get any snow last year, it was a sight to see the streets covered in soft fluffy snow, snow kissed trees and hills. It was a task scraping down the ice off the car numbing your fingers with the cold seeping through the gloves, clearing off the driveway and driving on the slippery roads.

The snow has all gone now, but it’s still cold with fluctuating temperature constantly hitting below zero, snowing raining, winds and all that could remind you of cold. Snow was good even though freezing, the son and the neighbourhood kids spent time playing outside until late, making snow man, sledging and throwing snow balls at each other. I just watched them through the window, sipping hot tea to keep myself warm

All you want for winter is some warming, comforting and quite a filling meal, perfect for a cold chilly weather. This recipe of mine does fit the chilly weather.  Atti-pathal, which literally means ‘layered loaf’ is a very favourite of ours and a delicious recipe which involves quite a bit of work.  It is similar to lasagne, with alternative layer of meat mix and the pasta sheets, but use egg mix instead of the cheese. This is one dish, that I would suggest everyone to try atleast once in their life time. Absolutely scrumptious!

We in kannur call it ‘Atti pathal’, but many others call it Atti pathiri/chatti pathiri etc. Whatever you call it, this is the savoury version of the chatti pathiri I posted long back. It is one of the most popular snacks that comes from North Malabar Muslim house hold, where they usually serve this for an evening snack. But this is so rich, that it would keep you full for longer so that a dinner usually would not be required.

Recipe is straight forward, make the chicken filling, make the pancakes, and layer them by dipping the pancakes into the egg mix. Sounds simple? It’s not hard to make, believe me, but it does take very long time to prepare. Chopping, sautéing and cooking; this is a labour-oriented dish, but the end result is very satisfying. These kind of labour oriented snacks are usually made during Ramadan, and is had once the fast is broken.

Since preparing atti-pathal takes quite a bit of time, cooking process can be done over couple of day’s time. Make the filling one day, and do the rest next day. Making the whole dish in a day can tire you out, and you wouldn’t want to do it again. So it would be a good idea if you could split the job. You could also use the same filling for any snack like samosa, cutlets, spring rolls etc..Over to the recipe:

Ingredients:

750g chicken on bone

2 tsp oil

1-2  tsp black pepper powder

¼  tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp salt

For masala:

5 medium onions sliced, 500g, 4 cups

8 garlic 1 ½ tbsp, finely chopped

2 ”, 1 ½ tbsp finley chopped ginger

4 green chillies finely chopped, 2 tbsp

½ cup finely chopped coriander leaves

¼ tsp turmeric

¾ tsp garam masala powder

For pancakes:

2 cups plain flour

2 large eggs, 120 g

2 ¼ cups water

¾ tsp salt

2 tsp melted ghee

For egg-milk mix to coat the pancakes:

4 eggs,250g or you may use 5 if you don’t have enough eggs to coat the pancakes

¼ cup milk

pinch of salt

Preparations:

For the filling (Chicken masala):

1.Rub the chicken with salt, turmeric and pepper powder. Place it in a saucepan, add oil, cover and cook on medium heat until the chicken is done, turning couple of times occasionally. Once the chicken is cooked, boil off the liquid in the pan, turn off the heat.

2. Cool the chicken down, separate the chicken off the bone and shred the chicken using fingers and  discard the bones. Keep the shredded chicken pieces aside.

3. In a large frying pan or a sauce pan, throw in the sliced onion, ginger, garlic, green chillies and salt and cook on medium heat until onions are soft, wilted and translucent.

4. Add pepper powder, turmeric powder and sauté for few more seconds.

5. Add cooked minced meat and lime juice to this; mix well and simmer for about 5- 10 minutes on medium heat keeping the lid on.

7. Add chopped coriander and garam masala to this and stir well and cook for further couple of minutes until the leaves are wilted.

Egg-milk mix:

Break the eggs into a wide bowl and whisk in milk.  Add a pinch of salt and keep aside. This is used to coat the pan cakes while layering, and to keep the whole Atti pathal into one piece without splitting.

For the pancakes and final Assembling:

1. To make the batter, Mix all the ingredients well in a large bowl using a balloon whisk or Blend them in a blender until everything is blended without lumps.

2. Now, for making your pancakes, make them to the size of the saucepan or cake tin that you will be doing your final assembly. I cooked my atti pathal in a 9 inch pan, so I made my pancakes slightly bigger than the pan, about 10-11 inch, so that I can cover the base of the pan well. For making the pancake, Mix egg, flour, salt, ghee and water into a lump free batter.

3. Heat a frying pan to medium heat, pour a ladleful of batter into the centre of the pan, and with the back of the spatula, move in a gentle coil motion starting from the centre of the pan stretching out of the pan to draw the batter out to make a thin pancake. You can also swirl the pan to spread the batter to form a thin pancake.  Cook for a minute, then flip over and cook on the other side for half a minute or so until you see few brown spots sparingly on the pancake. You will get about 10-12 pancakes of this size with this amount of batter.

4. Grease the pan you are going to make your attipathal and place the first pathiri onto the base of the pan.

Note: I sometimes layer my pan with aluminium foil to avoid the pancake sticking to the pan. Not necessary, but if you are worried about your pan-cake sticking to the pan, line the pan with aluminium foil. I also cook pancakes and do the layering of the pathiri in the saucepan simultaneously, so, by the time I finish making the pancakes, I would also have finished layering the pathiri. I do it mainly because, while stacking up the pan-cakes, there is a possibility of the pancakes sticking onto each other making it difficult to separate. You may avoid this by gently smearing the cooked pancakes with oil or by placing foil or cling film between the layers OR by placing them separately on a news paper. I don’t do any of them, as I can manage assembling and pan-cake making at the same time.

5. Make a second pancake, same as above, dip it in egg-milk mix and place it on the first pancake. Scatter some masala on top sparingly and place another pancake dipped in egg-milk mix on top of the masala. Keep repeating the procedure until all the pancake batter is used up to make pancakes and layering is done. When it reaches the top-most layer, place 2 pancakes, just as how you did for the base of the attipathal.

(So, when you flip your pan cake, if in case if one pancake stick to the pan, your filling is still safe as there is another pancake beneath it. This is my tip).

6. Pour the remaining egg-milk mix onto the stacked pathiris and  tuck in the sides of the pan cakes in.

7. Cover the pan tightly with a tight fitting lid, place a simmering plate (if you have one as this prevents the pathri from burning) on the heat and place the saucepan with the Atti pathiri on the simmering plate. Let the atti pathiri cook on low heat until the egg mix on top is set and steam has started coming through, about 20-30 minutes depending on the heat and the pan used. Flip this on to a plate, and slide it back to the pan, the top side going down. Cook for 5 more minutes. 

You can cut them into squares of serve in wedges and have with ketchup if you like it that way.

Notes: Making this attipathal is not a science. You can use any size pan and make make pancakes to fit that pan.

This can also be baked in a pan. Bake it in a moderate temperature oven until the top is just golden.