Irachi Pathiri

Irachi Pathiri is a Malabar Muslim dish with chicken stuffed in flour pathiris/tortillas and deep fried. This is kind of a must try for us every year during Ramzan fasting days from the famous Zains hotel in Calicut. During those days Zains have all those yummy Malabar Muslim snacks available in the evening time and we make sure that we have at least a single visit there on one of those days.

Irachi Pathiri is not a heavily spiced snack, it is mildly spiced. But don't count the calories and fat when you have this. 😜
Here goes the recipe for Irachi Pathiri which yeilds 2  medium sized pathiris. 

Ingredients:

1. Chicken pieces - about 100gm
2. Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp 
3. Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
4. Turmeric powder -1/8 tsp
5. Salt to taste
6. Onion, chopped - 1/4 cup
7. Ginger, chopped - 1tsp
8. Garlic, chopped - 1 tsp 
9. Oil - for frying + 2 tbs
10. All purpose flour - 1 cup
11. Salt to taste
12. Egg - 1
13. Sugar - 1 tsp
14. Cardamom powder - 1 pinch
15. Ghee/ oil - 4 tbs

Method:

1. Marinate chicken pieces with salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder and coriander powder for 10 minutes.
2. Cook chicken in half a cup of water. 
3. Once chicken is cooked well, cool them and shred the chicken 
4. Knead flour with salt and water and keep it closed for 10-20 minutes 
5. Heat 2 tbs oil in a pan and sauté onion , ginger and garlic for 2 minute under medium flame 
6. Add the shredded chicken to the above and sauté it for 2 more minutes 
7. Roll the dough to 4 round shaped pathiris 
8. Spread chicken mixture on a pathiri 
9. Cover it with 2nd pathiri 
10. Apply a bit of water on the pathiri edges for sticking them together 
11. Seal the sides using a fork or with finger
12. Remove any trapped air by pricking the pathiri with tooth picks 
13. Heat oil in a deep frying pan  
14. Deep fry pathiris till they are cooked and golden brown
15. Keep them on oil absorbing tissues
16. Mix egg,sugar, salt and cardamom powder and pour it to a flat bottomed bowl or plate
17. Heat another flat pan with ghee in it
18. Dip fried pathiris in the egg mixture so that both sides have egg mixture on them. You may spoon the egg mixture on the pathiris or flip pathiris in the egg mixture instead of dipping it
19. Fry pathirus on the flat hot pan with ghee till the egg mixture on both sides are cooked and slightly browned.

Irachi pathiris are ready to be served!

Sambar, without sambar powder / Lentil vegetable soup

Sambar is one of our family favorite day to day dish. In Kerala itself there are so many varieties of sambar as we move from South Kerala to North Kerala. Slightly sweet version from south to the roasted coconut version sambar from north tastes good with rice as well as idli or dosa.

Our usual sambar is made with sambar powder and roasted coconut paste. That is my mom's version. And that is one of the best tasting sambar I have ever had. 😊

But the below Sambar recipe is adapted from my mother in laws version of sambar which is made without sambar powder. This is the best sambar recipe without sambar powder :). 

Ingredients:

1. Sambar dal/ toor dal - 1/3 cup
2. Tomato, wedges - 1 cup
3. Onion, wedges - 1/2 cup
4. Drumstick, cut - 1/2 cup
5. Ladies finger, cut - 1/2 cup
6. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
7. Tamarind paste - 1.5 tsp 
8. Salt to taste 
9. Coconut oil - 2 tbsp 
10. Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
11. Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
12. Curry leaves - 6
13. Dry red chilli - 2-3

Sambar masala:

1. Coconut oil - 1 tsp
2. Split urud dal - 1 tsp
3. Uluva/ fenugreek seeds - 3/4 tsp
4. Kayam / Asafoetida - 1/8 tsp
5. Curry leaves - 4-5
6. Coconut, shredded - 2 heaped tbs
7. Chilli powder - 1 tsp
8. Coriander powder - 3 tsp

Method:

Sambar masala:

1. Heat a tsp of coconut oil in a pan
2. Add kayam, urud dal, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves and sauté till urud dal is golden brown. 
3. Add coconut and stir till coconut is golden brown. Stir continuously under low flame so that coconut doesn't get burned. 
4. Add chilli powder and coriander powder to the above and stir for a minute and switch off the flame. 
5. Make smooth paste with the above. 

Sambar:

1. Cook sambar dal with enough water in pressure cooker till soft and mushy
2. Add all vegetables except ladies finger along with turmeric powder
3. Once the vegetables are almost cooked, add ladies finger. 
4. Add salt to taste. 
5. Add sambar paste to it and mix it
6. Once the sambar starts to boil, add tamarind paste and mix well 
7. Let it cook for 2 more minutes and switch off the flame. 
8. Add chopped coriander leaves. 
9. Heat coconut oil in a small pan for tempering. 
10. Splutter mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds
11. Add curry leaves and dry red chilli to the above and switch off the flame. 
12. Pour the tempering over sambar and keep it closed for a few minutes before stirring. 

Serve sambar with rice or idli. 

Hot and sweet mango chutney

Hot and sweet mango chutney is a quick chutney to go with samosas or cutlets. This is a no cook recipe that can be made with fresh ripe mangoes.

Ingredients:

1. Sweet mango, cut into cubes - 1 cup
2. Ginger, chopped - 1/4 tsp 
3. Green chilli - 2 , adjust to your spice level
4. Tamarind paste - 1 tsp
5. Sugar - adjust according to the sweetness of mango

Method:

1. Make a paste of all the ingredients in a blender and enjoy the chutney 

Samosa

Here goes the recipe for mildly spiced samosas. 

Ingredients:

For pastry:

1. Maida - 1 cup
2. Ghee - 2 tsp
3. Ajwain seeds - 1/4 tsp
4. Salt to taste

For filling and frying:

1. Oil - to fry + 2 tbs
2. Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
3. Onion, chopped - 1/4 cup
4. Ginger chopped - 1 tsp
5. Green Chilli, chopped - 1/8 tsp
6. Fennel powder - 1/4 tsp
7. Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
8. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
9. Coriander powder - 1tsp
10. Amchur powder - 1/4 tsp 
11. Potato, cooked and cut into cubes - 1 cup
12. Green peas - 1/4 cup

Method:

1. Knead all the ingredients for pastry with enough water to make a thick dough
2. Keep the dough closed for 30 min
3. Heat 2 tsp of oil in a sautéing pan
4. Splutter cumin seeds in it
5. Add onion, green chilli and ginger in it and sauté for 2 min in medium flame
6. Add all the spice powders in it and give a quick stir
7. Add salt to taste
8. Add potatoes and green peas and mix well and switch off the flame
9. Make 4 balls from the dough
10. Roll them to round and make a cup with it in your hand like shown in the picture above
11. Add the masala filling and close it well by applying water to the edges
12. Repeat the same with all the balls
13. Heat oil for frying and deep fry samosas in medium to low flame till samosas and cooked well and is crispy brown outside. 

Serve hot samosas with hot and sweet mango chutney and tomato sauce.

I am linking this post to FiestaFriday#125 which is co-hosted by  Quinn @ dadwhats4dinner and Elaine @ Foodbod.

Baklava

Baklava is a sweet pastry made with filo pastry layered with crushed nuts and dates soaked in sugar-honey syrup.

Ingredients:

1. Filo pastry sheets - 35 sheets in pan shape
2. Butter, melted and cooled - 2 cups
3. Crushed or chopped almonds - 2 cups
4. Dates, chopped - 1/2 cup

Syrup

1. Sugar-1/2 cup
2. Honey - 1/4 cup
3. Water -1/3 cup
4. Lemon peel, shredded - 1/2 lemon

Method:

1. Heat all the ingredients for syrup in a bowl, stirring in between to melt sugar
2. Once the syrup starts to boil, stop stirring and let it boil for 4-5 minutes and keep it in room temperature to cool
3. Preheat oven to 160 degree Celsius 
4. Butter a baking pan
5. Cut 35 sheets of filo pastry dough to the pan shape
6. Place a filo sheet in the buttered pan
7. Brush the filo sheet with butter and place  next sheet on top
8. Repeat the procedure till 10 sheets are placed on top of each other with butter brushed in between each sheet
9. Brush butter on the 10th sheet and layer with 1/2 cup of almonds
10. Again place 5 sheets of filo with butter brushed between each filo sheet
11. Layer 1/2 cup of crushed almonds again
12. Repeat the same 2 more times with 5 sheets of filo again and almonds
13. Top with 10 sheets of filo with butter brushed between each filo sheet
14. Finally brush butter in the top layer and bake for 1 hr
15. Raise the temperature from 160 to 220 and bake for 15 more minutes or till the top is golden brown
16. Take out from the oven and pour cool syrup on the hot baklava. You should be able to hear the sizzling sound. 
17. Keep the baklava open to cool in the room temperature
18. Let the baklava stand for a few hours undisturbed so the syrup penetrates well. 
19. Garnish with chopped pistachios.