Daily Archives: May 28, 2013

Vegetable Kothu (minced) parotta (with egg).


Here is the recipe for vegetable kothu parotta. Chicken/Mutton parottas are done the same way except that we use the chicken/mutton curry instead of the vegetable curry.
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Ideally, the leftover kurma/salna is used to make kotthu parotta. Because I don’t have any leftovers, I am going to make a simple yogurt based vegetable korma.To start, heat 1 tbsp of oil and fry a couple of cloves, cinnamon sticks and fennel seeds.
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Sauté some onions, couple of green chillies and ginger garlic paste.
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Sauté the mixed vegetables, I am using carrots, green beans and green peas here. Add the chopped tomatoes.
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Sprinkle some salt and cover and cook. when the veggies soften, add turmeric powder, chilli powder , coriander powder and a pinch of garam masala or instead of all these you can just add your favorite curry masalas or meat masalas.Image
Add 3 tbsp. of yogurt.
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Add little water, sprinkle some coriander leaves and cook until the curry is done.That’s the vegetable curry. You can make chicken/mutton curry the same way or you can use the coconut based korma/salna.
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Now to make kothu parotta, chop some onions, green chillies, other green peppers (like bell peppers that is rich in flavor but not in heat), curry leaves and coriander leaves.
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Parottas (at room temperature), 2 eggs and your curry. (eggs are optional)Rest of the steps should be done right before serving and it takes only 10 minutes, so have everything ready and cook right before serving.
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Shred the parottas.
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I am cooking in a wok. You can also use flat skillets, but avoid the heavy non-stick pots or pans. The wok helps the parotta to crispen a little and also I like to use metal spatulas to cook this particular dish and the spatula minces the parotta as we mix everything .
In the wok, I have heated up  oil to sauté  fennel seeds, onions chillies, curry leaves and coriander leaves.
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Add the parottas and the curry.
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Add some coriander leaves.. as you are mixing keep mincing the parottas with your spatula. Cook in high heat, the parottas will crisp and mince easily.
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Move the parotta to the side of the wok and scramble two eggs in the wok.
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Mix the egg with the parotta…and its done.
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Fish Curry ( Chettinad style)


These days its quite easy to make fish curry by simply adding “fish curry masala” or some other instant powders and convince ourselves that “well, its not too different from what my grandma used to make ” 🙂 . It  is different from what grandma made. Here is the recipe for the traditional fish curry, definitely will be worthy of the efforts.

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Fish cleaned and cut and rubbed with turmeric powder and salt. (I have Tilapia here, Mackerel and King fish are better options.)

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shallots (or onions), tomatoes, garlic and curry leaves

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spice blend (Not taking any shortcuts today)
red chillies
coriander seeds
fennel
cumin
black pepper
raw rice (helps to thicken the curry)

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In a spoon of oil (I am using sesame oil – which enhances the flavor of this curry), fry the spices.

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Grind them with some curry leaves to a smooth paste.

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Dilute the masala and add tamarind and jaggery(vellam or brown sugar) to it. Add turmeric powder and salt to the mix and set aside.

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Add sesame oil to the pan and fry some mustard seeds. Sauté the onions, garlic and curry leaves.

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Sauté the tomatoes.

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when the tomatoes soften, add the masala.

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Let the curry boil and reduce.

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When its almost done , place the fish in the curry. reduce the heat, cover and cook without stirring.

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The fish will  cook in 5 mins , cover and set aside for 30 mins before serving.

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Serve with steamed rice. The curry tastes even better the next day ( there are movie songs written about the taste, if you won’t take my word for it 😉 )

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