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.
Happy Deepavali everyone! This Gulab Jamun is a sweet from North India that is very popular during Deepavali. My father used to make gulab jamun, certainly with the help of my mother, using milk powder instead of koya (milk concentrated to a solid block). Though we didn’t know the correct procedure, we all enjoyed the adventure of making and eating it. I have standardised the recipe after reading many other methods of making it. I also make it with milk powder because koya is not easily available in Tamil Nadu. Serve it with vanilla ice cream for a glorious combination of flavours and taste!
Manappadu is a fishing town in the deep south of Tamil Nadu with a predominantly Catholic population. My husband’s friend, Rex Rodrigo, hails from Manappadu and his grandfather started Thomas Rodrigo & Sons in Chennai to provide worship supplies for the Catholic community here and in Sri Lanka. When I got married, Rex invited us to his house for dinner, and his wife Germaine had prepared this fabulous mutton curry. I was stunned and delighted by its heavenly flavour and immediately got the recipe from her. It has been with me for 50 years and I have tried the same with beef, but I was not satisfied and prefer the mutton flavour.
Easy to make Manappadu Mutton Paal Kuzhambu (Mutton in Coconut Milk Curry)
We in Thirunelveli are quite indifferent to the names of North Indian dishes. The P in Parathas and Pooris is always pronounced as a B, giving us Barotta and Booris. The term barotta was picked up from the chopped up parathas served as street food in bus stations. A similar technique was applied to use the leftover pooris in households.
Muttai Barotta (Leftover Poori and Egg Scramble)
Ireland is famous for Coddle (amongst many other things like leprechauns). There are many versions of this dish as it is made from leftovers, but the main ingredients are bacon, sausages, and potatoes. It makes a very good 1-pot meal. We love sausages in my family, and I was very keen to try this easy-to-make sausage ‘curry’ :D. I found a recipe in Best of Ireland and modified the method of cooking to suit the Indian kitchen. I follow the book’s suggestion and usually serve this with Irish Soda Bread.
Coddle
Egg bonda is a snack made by deep frying boiled egg halves dipped in thick batter. Egg bonda is usually made with Bengal Gram flour batter and fried like a bhajji (vegetable fritter). I have tasted this in many places, but always felt that the Bengal Gram flour dominated the taste of egg. Therefore, I have created my own batter using a large amount of rice flour and a small amount of Bengal Gram flour and maida to help in the binding, which achieves a more balanced flavour. I have also added a green masala to the batter to enhance the flavour.
Kala’s Egg Bonda
I have always collected recipes from my students. The recipe for fried pork chops was given to me by a Chinese student, Yen Swan Chie, way back in 1972. I modified it for pork ribs and was very pleased with the results. It’s a big hit with guests, so make sure you make plenty 🙂 Serve with vegetable fried rice.
Fried Pork Ribs
Easter is approaching, and all those who have given up eating meat, fish, and poultry will be anxious to get back on the wagon! This simple mutton fry is my grandmother’s signature dish. She used to use ghee and gingelly oil together to cook the meat. I last enjoyed her cooking 65 years ago and recently standardised this dish from a recipe my mother had noted, so it’s a trip down memory lane for me.
Mutton Pepper Fry
You can do more with pumpkins than just carve them for Halloween. Why not make halwa instead? In India, pumpkin halwa (a very rich and heavy sweet) is usually prepared with white pumpkin. My mother’s recipe book also mentions preparing pumpkin halwa with white pumpkin. In Tamil Nadu, yellow pumpkin is also used to make halwa but is not as well known as white pumpkin halwa. I have used the same procedure my mother gave me, changing only the method of removing most of the moisture from the pumpkin.
Yellow Pumpkin Halwa (Sweet) for Halloween
Pirattal in Tamil means stirring or turning. My mother called this recipe sadha meaning plain/ordinary/simple. It does live up to its name as only the coconut and ginger-garlic paste need grinding. She used only garlic, but I have substituted it with ginger-garlic paste to spice it up. This pirattal is so easy to prepare that even cooking noobs can try it 🙂
Sadha Mutton Pirattal (Simple Mutton Curry)
Kala's Kalai 