Peerkangai Poriyal (Ridge gourd Stir fry)

Like I mentioned in my previous post on Peerkangai Thol Chutney, peerkangai or ridge gourd is a versatile vegetable where the peel and the flesh can be used separately to make different dishes. Since the peel is kinda tough we need to remove it before making a stir fry. You can use the peels to make a chutney, for which you can find the recipe here. The stir fry or poriyal is very simple and quick. You can make it dry to go with rice or a little soggy to go with rotis.

Some things you may want to know about the vegetable are

• They let out a lot of water, so watch out.
• Once cooked the vegetable shrinks a lot, so if your cooking for large number of people you may want to buy more.
• You can use the seeds in the middle if they are tender, if not remove them before cooking.
• Save the skin (peel) to make a chutney (Dip). Recipe here

Ingredients:

• Ridge gourd/ Peerkangai - 2 large ones, peel and chop them.
• Onion - 1, finely chopped
• Garlic - 3 or 4, chopped
• Oil - 2 tblspn
• Mustard seeds - 1tspn
• Urad dal - 1tsp
• Channa Dal - 1 tsp
• Dry red chillies - 2 or 3, broken
• Coriander powder - 1 tspn
• Curry leaves - 1 strand
• Salt - to taste
• Chilli powder - 1/2 tspn
• Coconut,shredded - 2 tblspn

Steps: 

• Add oil in a pan, when hot add the mustard seeds, when they crackle, add the urad dal,channa dal, dry red chillies and the curry leaves.
• Immediately add the chopped onion and garlic and sauté till the onion changes colour lightly.
• Turn heat to medium high and add the coriander powder and chilli powder and sauté well till the raw smell of the coriander is gone.
• Then add the chopped ridge gourd and sauté. Add salt to taste.
• Sprinkle some water to start the cooking process and cover.
• In about 5 mins the gourd would have let out a lot of water, so remove the cover and cook it for another 5 mins. 
• If you like it to be soggy to go with rotis, add shredded coconut now, stir it in well and turn off heat.
• Or raise the heat to high and let the water evaporate, stir occasionally. Then add the shredded coconut, stir it in well and turn off heat. 

Peerkangai Thol (Ridge Gourd Peel) Chutney

This is a versatile vegetable I should say, you get two dishes out of 1 vegetable. The skin is bit tough, so you can peel it off and make a chutney (dip) with it and a poriyal (stir-fry) with the rest, for which you can find the recipe here, Peerkangai poriyal. So lets get started with the chutney for now. 

Ingredients:

• Peekangai thol (Peel of ridge gourd) -  from 2
• Coconut meat - 2 inches, chopped
• Dry red chillies - 2 or 3, to taste
• Ginger - 1/4 inch, chopped
• Urad dal - 2 tsp
• Gram dal - 1tsp
• Asafoetida - A pinch
• Tamarind - 1/2 inch
• Oil - 1 tblspn
• Salt - 1 tsp, or to taste

For tempering

• Oil - 2tspn
• Mustard seeds - 1tspn
• Urad dal - 1 tspn
• Dry red chillies - 1, broken.

Steps:

• Heat oil in a pan, when hot, add ural dal, gram dal, red chillies, asafoetida, and ginger and sauté for a minute.
• Then add the peel, coconut, tamarind and salt and sauté well for couple of mins.
  
• Cover and cook for 5 mins.
• Turn off heat. Cool and grind to a paste by adding water. Grind to desired consistency.
• Tempering: In a pan, add oil, when oil is hot, add mustard seeds, once it crackles add the rest of the ingredients. Add this hot oil mixture to the ground chutney. It will sizzle. Mix well. 
• Serve with idly, dosa or mix with plain white rice. 

Oven baked Tandoori Chicken (Whole)

Thanksgiving (Canadian) is usually celebrated with turkey, but my husband and I are not big fans of turkey meat, so we decided we will start a new tradition of an Indian thanksgiving with Tandoori chicken :) . I've always wanted to roast a whole chicken instead of cut pieces and this was a good opportunity for me to try it, and it was awesome. Its real simple. Just marinate and bake.

Here are some things you need to know before you start: 

• You have to marinate the whole chicken over night for the best result.
• Use yogurt (Curd) that is thick. 
• You need at least 1 hour to bake, so plan before you start. 

Ingredients:

• Whole chicken skinned - 1

Initial rub:

• Salt - 1 Tspn
• Lemon juice - from 1/2
• Chilli powder - 1 Tspn (optional, if you like it spicy)

For Marinate:

• Yogurt (Curd) - 3 Tblspn
• Ginger garlic paste- 1 Tblspn
• Tandoori chicken masala powder* - 2 to 3 Tblspn based on how spicy you want it (I suggest you taste the powder first, yes! taste it, to see how salty and spicy it is)
• Coriander powder - 1/2 Tspn
• Salt - 1/2 Tspn 
• Corn flour - 1 Tspn + 1 Tspn (For top coating)
• Oil - 2 Tspn

* Or use 1 tspn each of cumin powder, chilli powder, garam masala, dry fenugreek leaves and 1/2 tspn of red food colour.

Final Touch after baking:

• Lemon juice - from 1/2

Steps:

• Clean chicken well and pat dry with a paper towel or clean dish cloth.
• Pierce the chicken with a knife, push it really well into the chicken, not just the surface so that the marinate will get into the flesh. You may want to do some deep cuts in the chicken's breasts as they are white meat, the toughest.
• Mix the ingredients of the initial rub together and spread all over the chicken and into the cuts and pierces.
• Next mix the ingredients of the marinate.
• Spread the marinate well all over the chicken again and inside the cavity too. Cover and refrigerate over night.

Next day:

• Take out the chicken from the fridge and keep it out for about half hour at least to come to room temperature (preferably 1 hour)
• Preheat oven to 400 F.
• Now, dust the marinated chicken with corn flour using a stainless steel strainer for even coating. This will give you a nice crisp layer on top. 
• Drizzle oil all over the chicken.
• Place chicken breast side down on a rack* and bake. This will ensure even cooking all over at the same time.
• Bake for 25 minutes, then flip the chicken around and bake for 20 minutes. Then again flip it and bake for extra 20 mins.
• After the 65 mins, raise temperature to 425 F and bake for 5 mins for the final browning on the top. Not for too long or you will dry out the chicken.
• Remove from the oven and squeeze a fresh lime or lemon all over the chicken.
• Cover the cooked chicken with aluminium foil for 5 to 10 mins to rest before you serve.

* - I used a cooling rack, I placed it on a foil covered baking pan so that the dripping does not stain the pan. If you have a roaster with a rack at home use that. 

If you do not have a roaster or a cooling rack to bake on, don't worry, place chicken on a foil covered pan and remove the drippings from the chicken each time you turn.

Quick Channa (Chickpeas) Masala

This is a quick take on the traditional Channa masala recipe. I always have 3 kinds of store bought spice powder/mix at home, biriyani masala, chicken masala and tandoori chicken masala. The one I mostly use is the chicken masala, any curry (gravy) I make and I toss a spoonful (or sometimes more) in it. On my son's birthday I was making so many things and  in a hurry instead of adding chicken masala I ended up adding tandoori chicken masala and it turned out better than usual :) and I have stuck with it ever since. You just need few ingredients and 1 pressure cooker for fast results.  

Ingredients:

• Channa / Chickpeas - 1 or 2 cups (Soak in water for couple of hours)
• Onion - 1 chopped
• Tomato purée / crushed tomato - 3/4 cup
• Ginger garlic paste - 1 tblspn
• Tandoori chicken masala - 1 1/2 tblpsn
• Coriander powder - 2 tspn
• Water - 2 Cups
• Salt - To taste
• Lime - 1/2
• Oil - 2 tblspn
• Fennel seeds - 1/2 tspn
• Cinnamon stick - 1

Steps:

 
• In a pressure cooker, heat oil, when hot add fennel seeds, cinnamon stick and onions and sauté.
• When the onion changes colour slightly add the ginger garlic paste and sauté. 
• Add the tandoori chicken masala, salt, Coriander powder and Tandori chicken masala and sauté, add the tomato purée and sauté for 3 mins.
• Drain the soaking channa and add to the mixture in the pressure cooker. Stir.
• Add water. (water should cover the channa and be 1 or 2 cms above it. Add more or less water depending on this measurement)
• Add more salt if needed. Close and put the weight on the pressure cooker. 
• Cook for 15- 20 mins. 
• Release pressure and open. Squeeze lime in. Randomly mash the channa with a potato masher to make a thick consistency of your choice, or take some channa out, blend it in a blender and add it back to the mixture.