The New Year is always welcomed with wine and cake, but you also need something substantial in your stomach to remain steady on your feet 🙂 My Bacon Wrapped Meat Loaf will provide loads of protein and fat to prepare you for your next trip around the sun. I had seen bacon wrapped dishes and wanted to try one myself. I created this recipe from scratch and a clip from a TV show taught me how to wrap bacon; my daughter came to my aid and did it to perfection.
India banned cow slaughter in 1977, so my husband’s friend used to refer to beef dishes as bull dishes as bull slaughter was (and is) allowed. My family loves the rich flavour of beef and I have been making this biriyani for 4 decades, especially for the Christmas feast. I created a beef biriyani recipe as mutton prices had soared and good mutton was hard to get. I have refined this recipe over the decades and it is now a sumptuous, satisfying, and irresistible treat. I serve it with my Sweet and Sour Brinjal Masala and Thayir Pachadi (Yoghurt and Onion Salad). I have now begun serving this biriyani with a boiled egg as well, as all the restaurants serve biriyani this way and it makes this biriyani extra festive.
Everyone expects fruit cake at Christmas time but that takes a long time and a lot of effort to make. This Jam Studded Cake technically has fruit in it by way of the strawberry jam. This cake is unusual in using vegetable oil instead of butter and the large number of eggs used. It can be served without accompaniment as a snack, or with ice cream as an after-dinner dessert. You can use either pineapple jam or marmalade if you do not like strawberry jam, in which case you will need to use pineapple or orange essence instead of strawberry essence.
In Thirunelveli, a glutinous rice is powdered and used in the preparation of halwa. It is black in colour and when cooked in water it develops a gel-like consistency. My mother used to make this halwa, grumbling all the time that it took her forever. It was a thick black mass that could be spooned out onto a plate, but it had a delectable taste that strongly resembled the legendary Thirunelveli Halwa. When I wanted to make this halwa, I couldn’t buy the rice in the stores because no one in Chennai knew what puttarisi was. A Facebook friend mentioned that I should look for black Kavuni rice in Chennai. I was finally able to obtain this rice, ironically not in Chennai but from a seller from some small town in Tamil Nadu who had listed it on Amazon. This Puttarisi Halwa is also made by Sri Lankan Tamils and they call this Dhodhal. This recipe is my mother’s version, standardised by me. Unlike kavuni arisi dishes made by other Tamil folk, Thirunelveli people do not use any flavouring agent which retains the original flavour of the ingredients and use white sugar instead of jaggery.
It is customary to leave cookies for Santa on the night before Christmas. I came across this unusual recipe in a book called 1001 Best Baking Recipes of All Time. I was struck by the unusual list of ingredients like rice flour and cardamom with vanilla. I had never used this combination earlier in cookies. When I baked these, I fell in love with both the unique flavour and texture. So, I thought why not give this to Santa – and by Santa, I mean myself 😀
Dindugal Biriyani became very popular in Chennai during the early years of this century. It is unique in being very different from the conventional Tamil Muslim biriyani – it does not use basmati rice; the dry masala is broiled and powdered and includes stone flower and star anise; the green masala has onion and green chillies ground together with ginger and garlic. The Dindugal Thalapakatti Biriyani is the most famous version of this biriyani, but I was always unimpressed with it because it lacked the wholesomeness of biriyani and the explosion of flavours in your mouth. I tried out various recipes and slowly developed my own which retains the uniqueness of the original but is also delicious and appetising.
January-March is the season for luscious yellow corn. It has a bland sweetish flavour and a crunchy texture which adds character to a dish. I have always loved sweet corn and chicken soup and wondered if I could get the same flavour with rice – and I could! I added coconut milk to give the rice rich flavour. It is a favourite in my house, and it goes very well with both vegetarian (Sweet and Sour Brinjal Masala, Dry Peas Curry) and non-vegetarian (Kala’s Chicken and Capsicum Curry, Kovilpatti Chicken Curry) side dishes. It is also a very attractive dish which can be served at festivals and to guests.
If your date lifts or runs, they may turn their nose up at traditional candy treats. However, these macro trackers usually cannot resist the word Protein and Energy 😀 I found this recipe for a Date Bar in The Complete Family Cook Book. I was quite reluctant to make this as my son doesn’t like fruits and nuts, but he doesn’t lift or run anyway so he doesn’t really need this 😀 My daughter and I just wolf these down, and I can testify that I become full of energy after even a single bar.
The late ‘90s saw Cauliflower Manchurian become wildly popular in Tamil Nadu. I do not know why it is called Manchurian because it has no link to that region, but its popularity drove me to try it out. I then make the Manchurian with Baby Corn, as my son refuses to eat cauliflower. The spice mix used here for making the masala paste is entirely my creation.
I have a fondness for pulavs and fried rice and like to come up with my own recipes. I have seen rice recipes using paneer by famous chefs, but I wasn’t impressed with the taste. As paneer is rather bland, I added capsicum to enhance the flavour. I also added baby corn because it complements capsicum. I usually serve this dish with hot and sweet tomato chutney as it goes well with the mild flavour of this dish.
Kala's Kalai 