#12 Goan Sausage Chili Fry

We were recently in Goa for a long awaited holiday. The sand, the water and the sun were absolute bliss. Though what people often tend to forget about is Goan cuisine. It has so many influences and the flavors are completely different from other parts of India. It's just been a few days since we got back, but the trip is already fading away. Luckily, we brought something back from Goa that can bring back that moment of bliss for a while - goan sausages (chorico).

We were doing some grocery shopping on our last day in Goa, when I saw a packet of interesting looking sausages on one of the shelves. They simply said 'Goan Sausages' on the packet. Intrigued, I asked Varun if we should pick them up; for Rs250 it was worth the risk. We went back to our hotel and were wondering how exactly you eat them. By asking around, we understood that you have to remove the sausage meat from the casing and cook it. We also managed to get a chili fry recipe from one of the locals. Now, considering we have never eaten this before, we're not sure exactly how 'authentic' the recipe is; but it sure is delicious!!

The sausage chili fry is quite tangy and spicy with a rounded, smoky flavor. It is generally served with pau, but we decided to serve it with hot dosas.

Unfortunately, we only bought one packet :( So, if anyone is coming to Ahmedabad from Goa then please call me!

You will need some goan sausages, potatoes, onions and chilies for this recipe.

Remove the sausage meat from the casing and chop into rather small pieces. Fry in a pan on a medium heat (don't add any oil). These sausages are essentially small pieces of pork mixed with a whole lot of vinegar and spices. They are then smoked before being dried for a couple of days. As the sausage meat is rather fatty, you don't need to add any oil at all!

Fry the sausage meat till the fat releases.

Add the diced onions and stir about. Also, if you feel that your sausages aren't spicy enough you can add some chili now. We added about 1/2tsp of red chili flakes.

Fry the onions with the sausage meat on a medium heat till the onions are translucent.



Add diced potatoes and a splash of water. Cover and cook till the potatoes are soft and cooked through. You may need to add some salt, but this will depend on the intensity of the sausages.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 250g Goan Sausage (chorico)
• 2 Medium Onions, finely diced
• 1 Large Potato, finely diced
• Red Chili Powder
• Salt

Remove the sausage meat from the casing and fry on a medium heat till the fat releases.

Add the onions and chili (if using) and fry till the onions are translucent.

Add the potatoes and water and cover. Cook on a low heat till the potatoes are soft and cooked through.

Taste and add salt accordingly.

Serve hot with bread/dosas/rotis.

#11 Green Chili Pickle

Dal and rice is a meal that we eat on a regular basis. After some time, one can get a wee bit bored of the same old and need to spice it up a bit. Indian condiments are the best at it. We love pickles and chutneys and always have a couple of bottles lying around.

This pickle came to be for a rather strange reason. We came home one day to find that Aisha had discovered the magic of online grocery shopping. Considering that she rarely buys any groceries; she ended up buying large amounts of things we didn't need and small amounts of those that we did! As you probably guessed already, 250 grams of chilies was something that we definitely didn't need. So I called up my grandmother and after she was done laughing she told me what to do. After a bit of trial and error we have gotten the proportions perfect.

This pickle takes about five minutes of prep, and only 3 days of curing. It couldn't get any better. It's tangy, moderately spicy and 'light' and it's never lasted for more than a week. Hope you love it as much as we do!

We start off by washing a whole bunch of green chilies. You'll also need some vinegar, mustard and salt.

Slit each chili lengthwise.



Now the fun part, throw all the ingredients into a sterilized glass jar and shake-shake!! Once everything is combined, just leave the jar in the sun and shake it every now and then. Done!

Ingredients

• 250g Green Chilies
• 50g Mustard Seeds
• 2tsp Salt
• 2tbsp Vinegar

Wash the chilies thoroughly and slit each one in half length-ways. Wash the chilies once more.

Grind the mustard seeds to a fine powder.

Sterilize a glass jar in some hot water. Allow it to dry completely.

Fill the jar with the chilies and add all the remaining ingredients. 

Shake the bottle till everything is evenly combined. 

Place the bottle in the sun for 3 days, shaking it every now and then.

This pickle lasts for about a month, and even longer if refrigerated.

#10 Silken Chocolate Tart

This chocolate tart has an almost mousse like texture. It holds its shape and one would expect something rather firm, but when you take a bite; it just disappears into silken bliss!

You will need chocolate, cream, sugar, butter, biscuits and milk for this delectable tart.

Crush the biscuits and mix in half of the sugar.

Pour in some melted butter.

Mix the mixture thoroughly till the butter is evenly distributed.

You then press the biscuit mixture into a pie dish with a detachable bottom.

That's the base of the tart done. You now need to work on the filling. Chop up the chocolate rather fine and mix with the remaining sugar, bring the milk and cream to a very low simmer. Pour the cream mixture over the chocolate (do not stir at this point).

Once the mixture has cooled completely, mix thoroughly to get a smooth chocolate ganache. Crack in both the eggs and stir till it's completely smooth. Don't whisk this mixture as you don't want any air in your tart.

Pour your filling into the prepared tart shell and bake for about 40-45 minutes at 150C. You'll know it's done when the tart is set but still a tad wobbly. Allow it to cool completely in the tin before your remove it. Yum!

Ingredients

• 250g Chocolate, finely chopped
• 40g Sugar, granulated
• 1/2 cup Cream
• 1 cup Milk
• 2 Eggs
• 2 packets Hide&Seek Biscuits
• 50g Butter, melted

Gently heat the cream and milk till it is warm to touch but not boiling.

Mix the chocolate with half of the sugar and pour the milk and cream mixture on top.

After a couple minutes, whisk gently till you have a silken mixture. Allow the chocolate mixture to cool completely. Stir in the eggs one at a time (don't whisk because you don't want any air in the mixture).

Grind the biscuits and the remaining sugar to a fine powder. Add the melted butter and press into a 9 inch pie dish. Allow the base to harden in the fridge for about 10 minutes.

Pre-heat your oven to 150C.

Pour the chocolate batter into the prepared tart base and bake for about 40 minutes or till the tart is set but wobbly. Allow to cool completely and then chill for about an hour before you remove it from the tin. 

Serve cold. 

#9 Coriander Chutney

Coriander is a herb that is a common ingredient in Indian households. There are numerous things you can do with it, but we tend to get lazy and it ends up getting all dry and droopy. An easy way to use up left over coriander is to make it into chutney. In our minds, it actually preserves the herb and you have something yummy in the fridge to jazz up literally anything!

We will be showing numerous ways to use coriander chutney in the coming posts, so don't worry about making too much and not knowing what to do with it!

This chutney is moderately spicy, quite tangy and rather garlicky. The tang comes from lemons which adds on to the freshness factor. The color is a beautiful green and absolutely lip-smacking.

The ingredients for this are fairly simple. Coriander (duh!), lemon juice, chilies, onion, garlic and some salt. You want to add the salt once you've already got the paste almost there - this way you can really control the amount that goes in. One thing to keep in mind is that you can use the entire coriander plant for this; roots included. Just make sure you wash off any mud! In fact, it's the stalks and the roots where most of the flavor is!

The actual process to make this chutney is as simple as can be. Just pop all the ingredients into a food processor and grind till it's quite smooth. You may think that you need some water. You don't. Just have patience and keep scraping down the sides and kind of 'fluffing up' the coriander leaves and stalks that can get stuck around the blades.

Ingredients

• 100g Coriander, roughly chopped
• 1tsp Lemon Juice
• 3-4 Green Chilies, roughly chopped
• 1 small Onion, quartered
• 4-5 cloves Garlic, peeled
• Salt

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and grind till smooth.

#8 Tomato Soup

Tomato soup is comforting and warm. It can make a bleak day look much much happier. One sip and you'll have warmth streaming into your body from your fingertips to your toes!

You need tomatoes, onions, garlic, red chili powder, oil, cream and some stock or water for this yummy soup.

You want to start by blanching and peeling your tomatoes.

You then fry your onions and garlic in a bit of oil. And simply throw in your blanched tomatoes.

You then break down the tomatoes with the back of your spoon or spatula. Considering the tomatoes are already cooked, this should happen quite easily. Pour your stock or water over the tomato, onion and garlic mixture. Sprinkle your chili too. Allow this mixture to simmer for a couple of minutes. Puree and pour into a cup. Spoon some cream on top, and you are good to go!

Makes 1 cup

Ingredients

• 4 small Tomatoes
• 1 small Onion, finely chopped
• 3-4 cloves Garlic, minced
• 1/2tsp Red Chili Powder
• 1 cup Stock/Water
• 2tsp Oil
• 1tsp Cream
• Salt

Blanch the tomatoes in some water and remove the skins.

Fry the onions and garlic in the oil till golden brown. Add the tomatoes and break them up with your spoon. Pour the stock all over and sprinkle the chili on top. Allow the mixture to simmer for a couple of minutes. Cool.

Puree the tomato mixture and heat it for a few minutes in a saucepan. Add salt to taste. 

Serve hot with a drizzle of cream. 

#7 Aloo ka Sabji

This sabji is one of Varun's favorites. He was living by himself in Pune for a couple of years and rarely ever had any money to spare. He would starve himself for a couple of days and then spend the few rupees he had on some potatoes and onions. The sabji is delicious and not only because it came to be due to desperation!

Our friend Abhishek is also a true fan of this sabji. He actually learned how to make it and is the only thing he knows how to cook!

All you need for this are some potatoes, onions, red chili, and salt.

You then peel and chop the onions and potatoes as small as you can. Cook the onions and potatoes till they soften in a frying pan with a lid.

You then remove the lid and sprinkle the spices all over. You can adjust the amounts to your liking. You could also add garam masala, chaat masala, sabji masala... literally anything. It's this step that truly makes the sabji incredible. You need to really fry the sabji till its quite brown and almost crispy. And that's all! The entire process doesn't take more than 10 minutes! You can eat it with rotis, bread or just a spoon :)

Serves 1

Ingredients

• 1 large Potato, finely chopped
• 1 large Onion, finely chopped
• 1/2tsp Red Chili Powder
• Salt
• 1tbsp Oil

Heat the oil up in a pan. With the heat on medium, add the potatoes and onions and cover with a lid. Stir occasionally and cook till the potatoes are soft. This should take about 5-7 minutes.

Remove the lid and sprinkle the chili powder and salt on top. On a medium-high flame, fry the sabji till it is nicely browned.

Serve hot with rotis.

#6 Aloo ka Paratha

Parathas are absolutely delicious. My favorite are potato. They are nicely flavored without being overdone. Just the right balance of spice and comfort.

What you will need for this recipe are potatoes, onions, garlic, red chili powder, dried mango powder, salt, flour and water.

Combine all the ingredients for the filling and make a soft dough with the flour and water.

Divide the potato into six portions, and do the same with the dough.

You then flatten a portion of dough slightly.

Place a portion of potato in your flattened dough.

Bring up the sides of the dough till the potato is snug inside.

Flatten the dough-potato ball till it is about an inch thick.

Roll out to about 1/4 inch thickness.

Lightly fry the paranthas on either side until they are golden and cooked through.

Makes 6 large paranthas

Ingredients

• 2 large Potatoes, boiled and mashed
• 2 small Onions, finely chopped
• 6-7 cloves Garlic, minced
• 1tsp Dried Mango Powder
• 1tbsp Red Chili Powder
• 1tsp Salt
• 2 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 cup Water
• Oil for frying

Add the water to the flour a little at a time to make a soft dough. You may need to add a little more than a cup, or a little less. Divide into six equal parts.

Mix the potatoes, onions, garlic, dried mango powder, chili powder and salt together. Divide into six equal parts.

Take one portion of dough and flatten it slightly by pressing down with your thumb. Place a portion of the potato mixture in the center and bring up the sides of the dough disk so that you encase the potato in the dough completely. Do the same with the remaining portions of dough and potato.

Lightly dust your work surface with some flour. Gently press down the dough and potato ball till it is about an inch thick. Use your rolling pin to roll out the parantha till it is about 1/4 inch thick. 

Fry the parathas on either side for about a minute in about a teaspoon of oil each.

Serve hot with curd, chutney and pickle.

#5 Banana Bread

Banana Bread reminds us of home. It brings back fond memories of sitting at the kitchen table and lathering thick slices of the yummy bread with creamy butter and sweet jam. I despised bananas as a child (still do); and this was the only way I would eat the healthy fruit and actually ask for seconds!

The recipe is as straightforward as it could possibly get - you just mix all the ingredients up till you have a nice lumpy batter and pop it in an oven for twenty minutes. I told you it was easy!

This recipe is a really good way to use up over-ripe bananas. In fact, the riper the bananas, the better the flavor! Also, we like to imagine it's rather healthy given the fact that the fat and sugar content is rather low. And, you can also substitute the flour with whole wheat flour (aata) for an even healthier alternative.

You first need to get your ingredients together - bananas, flour, sugar, oil, chocolate, eggs, baking powder and cinnamon.

Mash up the bananas and whisk them together with the oil and eggs. And mix the dry ingredients together in another bowl.

You then simply fold the dry into the wet until just combined. Over-mixing can make the bread a little dry and tough; but it honestly doesn't really matter that much. The bananas are incredibly forgiving, and can moisten up anything!

We line our loaf tin with butter paper. You could also just grease the tin with some butter and then dust with flour. The butter paper is just easier because the washing up is much easier ;) Smooth your batter into the tin and bake for about 20 minutes, or till a skewer inserted comes out clean!

You could eat the banana bread warm from the oven. Or even toast it the next day and lather it with butter (yes, this may sound odd, but it tastes incredible).

Ingredients

• 2 cups Bananas, mashed
• 2 cups Flour
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 2tsp Baking Powder
• 1tbsp Cinnamon, ground
• 2 Eggs
• 1/2 cup Oil
• 1/2 cup Chocolate, chopped up

Pre-heat your oven to 170C. 

Sift the dry ingredients in a bowl, and mix the wet in another. Stir the dry into the wet until just combined.

Empty the batter into a greased loaf pan and bake for 20 minutes or till a skewer inserted comes out clean.

#4 Pancakes

When I was younger; whenever I thought of pancakes, I would make thin crepes and eat them with desiccated coconut and raisins. I thought they were heaven. I was then introduced to fluffy and airy pancakes lathered with butter and a generous drizzle of honey. I can't remember the last time I made crepes!

Recipe courtesy goes to Varun's mother - Vaneeta.

The best part of this recipe is that it's absolutely fool-proof. The only thing that could go wrong is if you forget about the pancake and it burns to a crisp (this has happened to me... numerous times).

You start off with collecting all your ingredients. You need flour, milk, sugar, eggs, oil and baking powder.

Just throw all the ingredients into a bowl and mix to get a smooth, almost satiny batter.

Pour a ladle-full onto a frying pan. You will know that it is ready to flip when the entire surface is covered in little bubbles.

Simply cook it for a minute or so on the other side. Spread a generous bit of butter all over and drizzle some honey on top! Heavenly!

Ingredients

• 1 cup Flour
• 1 cup Milk
• 1tbsp Sugar
• 2tbsp Oil
• 1 Egg
• 2tsp Baking Powder
• Oil for frying
• Butter and Honey to drizzle on top

Mix all the batter ingredients together to get a smooth, silky batter.

Heat up a little oil in a frying pan on a medium heat. Pour in one ladle-full of batter. You will know that it is time to flip when numerous bubbles appear on the surface. Cook on the other side for a further minute.

Serve hot with butter and honey.