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!

Baked Pazham Nirachadu

Ingredients:

1. Rip Plantain /Nendra pazham  - 2
2. Coconut , shredded - 3 tbs
3. Sugar - 3 tbs
4. Ghee - 1 tsp
5. Cardamom powder - a pinch
6. Flour - 2 tbs
7. Salt to taste
8. Dates - 2
9. Raisins - 10
10. Cashew nut - 10
11. Coconut oil - 2 tbs
12. Brown sugar - 1 tbs

Note:
Use ripe plantain. Not mushy or over ripe plantain

Method:

1. Heat ghee in a pan
2. Add coconut, cardamom powder, raisins and cashews and fry them for a minute
3. Add sugar to it and mix well. Take off the pan from the flame. (Take care not to burn or brown coconut)
4. Pre heat oven at 150 Degree Celsius
5. Peel off the plantain skin.
6. Using a small sharp knife, make a horizontal slit through the plantain, taking care not to cut both ends. While making slit, the sharp end of the knife shouldn't reach the other end of the plantain.
7. Using the tail of a spoon or your fingers, widen the slit slowly.
8. Remove the seeds of the plantain
9. Spoon the coconut mixture into the slit and press it down
10. Remove the dates' seed and cut the dates into small pieces
11. Place dates on the coconut stuffing
12. Mix flour and salt with water to make a slightly thin paste consistency
13. Spoon the flour paste on the coconut mixture to close the plantain slit
14. Sprinkle brown sugar on top of the flour paste
15. Brush coconut oil in baking pan and on plantain
16. Bake it for 30-40 minutes or until cooked and slightly browned
17. Take off from the oven and cool it.

Serve it warm with caramel sauce!

Irachi Pathiri Sandwich

Irachi Pathiri is a Malabar special Muslim dish. It is usually made with meat/chicken masala stuffed in flour poori, deep fried and again shallow fried with egg mixture on it. I have tried to avoid the deep frying part by using bread instead flour dough. It is definitely worth a try!

Ingredients:

1. White bread slices, big- 8
2. Minced chicken  - 150gm
3. Onion , chopped - 1 medium
4. Green chilli, chopped - 1
5. Ginger - chopped - 1/2 tsp
6. Garlic, chopped - 1 tsp
7. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
8. Chilli powder - 1/2-1 tsp
9. Coriander powder - 1 tsp
10. Salt to taste
11. Oil - 1 tsp + 3 tbs
12. Sugar - 1 tsp
13. Cardamom  powder - a pinch
14. Egg - 2
15. Milk - 1/2 cup

Method:

1. Heat a tsp of oil in a non stick pan
2. Saute ginger, garlic, green chilli and onion in the oil
3. When onion is translucent and lightly browned, add turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and saute for 1 more minute
4. Add minced chicken and salt and mix well and fry till chicken is cooked very well
5. Remove chicken mixture from flame.
6. Trim off the hard sides of the bread slices
7. Spoon the chicken masala to the centre of 1 bread slice , wet the sides of the bread slice ends on all four sides with water
8. Take another slice of bread and wet the sides with water and top the bread slice with chicken masala like as sandwich
9. Stick all four sides by squeezing the wet edges of both slices together. Take care not cut the bread slices
10. Repeat the same rest of the 6 slices too. So now you have 4 sets of sandwiches.
11. To make the egg custard mixture, mix egg, sugar, cardamom, milk and a pinch of salt in a flat bottomed bowl and keep aside.
12. Heat a flat pan with 2 tbs of oil to roast the sandwich
13. Dip both sides of sandwich in the egg custard mixture. There should be an egg custard coating on both sides of sandwich
14. Roast the sandwich in the hot pan covered.
15. Turn the sandwich once the bottom side has browned a bit (take care not to burn it) and cook the other side till browned
16. Move the roasted sandwich to a kitchen tissue to soak up extra oil
17. Repeat steps from 13 to 16 for all four sets. Cut it diagonally and serve warm!

Thari Kanji/ Semolina porridge

When I was working in Trivandrum soon after the college days, along with friends, we used to stay at a rented house. Every evening, we used to buy vegetable, milk, curds, fis etc on daily basis as we didn't have a fridge there.. (Can't imagine living without a fridge now..). And we cooked each night wonderful dinner with rice, curry, thoran and at times with fish or chicken too.. Sonia was the expert in fish cutting and frying.. mmm... beautiful days from past...So coming back to thari Kanji, it was one of the very common breakfast item for me and Kavya on most of the busy mornings. And almost all days had busy mornings, we had to apply kastoori manjal to increase our complexion, we had to gossip about everyone around us, we had to select the dress for office...etc etc :D
Thari Kanji is a very quick, easy to cook breakfast with mild sweet taste.  It is one among the many yummy Nombu thurakkal ( breaking Ramzan fasting) dish as well. It is considered to be good for lactating mothers too.. My mom used to make this for me every day after I gave birth to my lovely son..

Ingredients:

1. Milk - 1.5 - 2 cups
2. Semolina/ Rava, roasted - 2.5tbs
3. Sugar to taste
4. Cardamom - 1(optional)
5. Saffron - a pinch (optional)

Note:

• When rava is cooked, its solid white or cream color will change to a bit transparent
• Thari Kanji is not a very sweet dish, it should be mildly sweetened

Method:

1. Heat 1.5 cup milk in a saucepan
2. Add cardamom and saffron if you are using it
3. When milk is hot, add rava and  stir so that there is no lumps formed
4. Once the rava is cooked, add sugar and mix well
5. If porridge  is too thick, add little more milk, if too thin, add 1/2 to 1 tsp more rava and cook it.
6. Switch off the flame and enjoy it warm