Peterka

COCONUT BURFI
INGREDIENTS:
700 gms Sugar
2 Coconuts
35 gms Cashew nuts
7-8 Cardamom
70 gms Ghee

Method
Shred the coconut. Break the cashew nuts into small pieces and fry them in ghee. Powder the cardamom. Heat water in a vessel containing 1/4 ltr. of water and add the sugar to it. After the sugary liquid is no longer thin, add the coconut shreds and heat it until it turns thick. After sufficient stirring, add the fried cashew nut pieces and ghee and stir the mixture well. Add the powdered cardamom and mix it thoroughly and stop heating. Pour the mixture onto a plate which could accommodate sufficient thickness. Cut into rectangular pieces while hot.
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Chana Masala
INGREDIENTS:
2 T vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1 T curry
1 T tomato paste (I used ketchup, how embarrassing :)
15 oz can of chick peas drained, reserving 3 T liquid
1/2 T lemon juice
1/2 t salt
Fresh black pepper
Crushed red pepper, optional to taste
1 T butter

Method
Heat oil on medium high heat. Fry onions until slightly browned. Reduce heat to medium. Add garlic, curry, and paste. Stir and simmer about 2 minutes. Add chick peas, liquid, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper. Simmer 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add red pepper to taste. Add butter, stirring through to melt it. Stir and simmer for 5 minutes more or until peas are softened and dish is hot. Serve over rice.
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CHUTNEY
INGREDIENTS:
1.5 cups coconut (shredded)
1.0 channa dhal (roast until golden brown)
2-3 green chillies
1 inch ginger
2-3 tsps jeera
0.5 tsp tamarind concentrate (or lemon juice)
salt to taste

PROCEDURE
Grind above in a blender. season with hing, mustard seeds and curry leaves. Chutney variant #1.. grind 2 bunches coriander leaves for lip-smacking 'coriander chutney'
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SAMBAR
A liquid substance traditionally eaten with dosai, idli, vadai and rice, among other things.
INGREDIENTS:
1 large Onion, chopped into big pieces
Vegetables, like carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin,
Some curry leaves (if available)
Coriander leaves chopped 1T (cilantro)
Juice of tamarind size of perhaps
1/2-3/4 cup Thur dal (cooked)
Salt to taste
3/4 tsp Turmeric powder
3/4 tsp Mustard seeds
1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds (optional)
1 tsp Oil
2 tsp Coriander seeds
1/8 tsp Asafoetida (hing)
2 tsp Chana dal
10-15 whole red chili's, to taste
3-6 tsp Coconut (shredded)

PROCEDURE
Fry coriander seeds, asafoetida, chana and chili's and grind with coconut, use shredded dried if too lazy to deal with fresh. The quantity of coconut varies according to taste. Fry the onion for about 5 minutes in a little oil with the turmeric powder. Add the vegetables and some water and cook. I would add hard to cook veggies like carrot and chatyote first and cook for a while before adding sweet potatoes and pumpkin.(Can make this also with a single vegetable, no need to use all of them.) Don't overcook veggies, but when just cooked, add the tamarind juice, curry leaves and salt to taste, Soon after adding the tamarind juice, take a separate frying pan and heat up the 1T oil. When hot enough so that the mustard seeds will crackle when thrown in, put the mustard seeds in, once the crackling has stopped add the fenugreek seeds and stir until they turn a dark brown color (don't burn). Then add this the boiling mixture. Boil all together for another 5 minutes until the raw tamarind smell has left the solution. Now add the paste of masala and coconut and add the dal. Bring to a boil and switch off. Add chopped coriander leaves. Takes 2-3 hours for the flavor to settle down, but can be eaten right away also.

NOTES: Vegetables that must NOT be used are those that belong to the cabbage and cauliflower families. While frying ingredients for the paste, throw in the coriander seeds first and fry awhile before putting in the others, otherwise the coriander seeds won't fry properly and will taste pretty awful.
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TANDOORI CHICKEN
Ingredients:
6 pieces Thawed chicken, skinned
2 tsp Ground Coriander
2 tsp Masala (Tandoori paste is available)
Red pepper powder
Dash Garlic powder
Salt to taste
1 tsp Ground jeera
Soy sauce (or yogurt needed only if tandoori masala is used)

Method
If you are using the ready made tandoori paste then life is a lot easier. Replace all occurrences of masala and soy sauce (or yogurt) with the tandoori paste. Take the chicken and make deep cuts in it (so that the Masalas seeps in quickly). If you are using soy sauce as the base, put some on the chicken pieces and let it seep in the cuts. Rub in the Masalas as a mixture or one at a time. The idea is to let the Masalas seep in the cuts with the soy sauce. You can leave it for little while to seep in. If you are using yogurt, you'll get a more authentic taste since the original TC is after all marinated in it. In this case, mix the Masalas in the yogurt first and then rub the stuff into the chicken cuts as before. The yogurt tends to leave a considerable amount of water behind. DON'T THROW THIS AWAY. Let it evaporate in the oven with the chicken. This will keep the pieces from getting dry if over-cooked. Cook the chicken until it starts turning brown and the cuts you made start "expanding."

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