Rice Idli

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups rice - preferably par boiled (sela)

1 cup split and husked dhuli urad

2 tsp salt

Method
Soak the rice and lentil in water separately for 5-6 hours.

Grind the lentil to a fine smooth paste, and the rice a little coarse (enough to feel a texture, like fine sand).

Mix the two ground ingredients with salt and enough water to form a batter of dropping consistency.

Leave, covered, in a warm place to ferment to a spongy batter, overnight.

Steam in an idli steamer and serve hot.

Key Ingredients: Rice, salt, husked black gram

Kakori Kebab

Ingredients
Oven temp: 425F-220 C

2 cups minced mutton/lamb

1 tsp ginger-garlic paste

2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp powdered black pepper

2 tbsp chopped green coriander

Chopped green chillies to taste

2 Tbsp chopped raw papaya

4 cloves

1 black cardamom seeds

1/8 tsp powdered cinnamon

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 blade mace

1/4 tsp grated nutmeg

2 cups onions - sliced thin, and browned crisp in 1/2 cup ghee

1/4 cup bhuna chana - powdered

1 egg

Ghee for brushing some chaat masala

Onion rings and lemon wedges for garnish
Method
Mix all ingredients except ghee and garnishes to marinate for about 4 hours, then grind to form a smooth, thick paste.

Knead this mixture well and mix in the roasted gram and the egg.

Cover and refrigerate for another hour.

About 25 minutes before serving, shape the meat around the skewers and place the kebabs on to a grill over a drip tray, or in a pre-heated oven (also on a drip tray).

If cooking them over a charcoal grill, you will have to keep rotating them so that they brown and cook evenly.

They should take 15-20 minutes to cook.

Brush with ghee and cook another 2 minutes.

Serve garnished with chaat masala onions and the lemon and serve with green chutney.

Key Ingredients: mutton, keema, salt, ginger, garlic, green chillies, papaya, black cardamom, onion, clarified butter, egg, lemon rind, black pepper, coriander leaves, cloves, cinnamon, cumin seeds, mace, nutmeg, bengal gram,

Chicken Stew and Appam

Ingredients
For the chicken stew:

1/2 kg chicken

4 Tbsp coconut oil

2 onions finely chopped

1 red chilli (chopped)

2 green chillies (chopped)

1 Tbsp ginger-garlic paste

2 tomatoes (chopped)

2 potatoes (diced)

Coconut milk- 1st and 2nd extract from 1 coconut

Salt

Pepper

1 lemon

Small bunch of coriander


For the appam:

1 cup soaked rice

3 Tbsp grated coconut

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 Tbsp cooked rice

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp sugar
Method
For the chicken stew:

In a deep pan, take some coconut oil, add chopped onions, red chilli, green chilli, ginger garlic paste. Fry until soft and golden.

Add chicken to the masala mix and fry for 3 minutes.

To the chicken, add tomatoes and potatoes and mix well. Add 2nd extract coconut milk.

Season the chicken with pepper, salt and add water. Put the lid on and simmer for 45 minutes.

To the chicken add 1st extract of coconut milk, coriander and lemon juice.


For the appam:

For Appam, in a deep bowl take cooked rice, add grated coconut and soaked rice. Blend it well into a smooth paste. Keep it overnight for fermenting.

To the fermented paste, add baking soda, salt, sugar and water. Blend the paste to a smooth, consistency.

In a small kadhai, pour 1 ladle of appam mix and move the kadhai such that the mix is spread out evenly.

Cover it for 1-2 minutes.

Let it cook until holes appear throughout appam and the edges become brown.

Key Ingredients: Chicken, Rice, Tomato, Potatoes, Coconut milk, onion, red chilli, green chillies, ginger, garlic, salt, black pepper, lemon, coriander leaves, desiccated coconut, baking soda, sugar