Goan Sausages... as you like it !!

The only words you think of when you hear the name GOA -  beaches...beaCHES... BEACHES...!! Afterall, that's what Goa is known for. But as far as I am concerned, my experience of visiting a new place or travelling to a new destination is generally through my gustatory sense... afterall, I am and have always been 'crazy-bout-food'.

OK... so I'd heard people rave about Goa and its beaches and its night life not to forget the drinks and plethora of sea-food... but what I was most looking forward to during my short visit to Goa, was sampling the authentic Goan cuisine !

Well, you don't always get what you want and wish for... sometimes you get MORE...   :-) and I was lucky that that was the case with me; for I happened to meet two of my class mates, Ahva and Shikha, after 18 years. It was a memorable re-union made even more special by the serendipity of the meeting and it was a wonderful time I spent with Ahva, her husband and Shikha catching up and chatting up over food, drinks and the salty breeze. I tasted some of the most delectable Goan cuisine - Cafrael Chicken, Prawn Recheado and Golden friend prawns prepared by Octavio (Ahva's hubby) who as it turned out had worked as a professional chef  for many years!!.. and ofcourse, all the food was washed down with a few bottles of Goa's very own Kings beer. The scrumptious dinner culminated on a high crescendo of a heavenly chocolate mousse made by Shikha ! 

Then there was this awesome sea-food lunch I had with an office colleage... a lunch of the most exotic Balchao prawns, golden fried squid,  goan fish curry and rice. On my last night, Ahva and co. took me to this roadside "thela" (mobile restaurant), where we had an awesome meal of Sorpotel and pork stuffed buns... all washed down once again, with beer !! Well, didn't I say "you don't always get what you want.... sometimes you get MORE !!".... but then all good things must come to an end... and so did my wonderful trip !! 

On the return, I took back some unforgettable memories of the trip and some Goan food stuff  like the Recheado masala, Balchao masala, and some Goan sausages.

Back home I got down to preparing the Goan sausages. There are many ways in which they can be made, but I stuck to the simple method of sauteeing them with onions and tomatoes. So here goes my recipe -

Ingredients:
One string of goan sausages
3-4 medium size onions
2 medium size tomatoes (optionally you can use half a cup of tomato puree)
salt, sugar and vinegar (optional) to taste
2-3 tbsp oil

Method:

Dice and sautee the onions till they turn transparent.

 Meanwhile remove the sausage covering and put the meat into a separate bowl.

Add a bit of sugar to the onions and let it caramelize for a minute. Next add the diced tomatoes (or puree). Stir well to blend the onions and tomatoes. Add the meat to this mixture and stir again.

On low heat let it cook for 10-20 minutes, occassionally stirring. This enables the fat to be released and the sausages will be cooked well. Finally add the salt and if you find the sausages lacking in their tanginess, add a tbsp of vinegar.

The sausages are now ready to eat.... !

Serve them hot with rice and dal or store in refrigerator in an air-tight container - that way they can stay well over a week. However, if you find the preparation turning too spicy and hot as it seeps on longer in the masala and oil, you can add boiled potatoes to accompany them or use them as a filling for a yummy sandwich. Thats what I did!

For the sandwich, layer the sausages between slices of buttered brown (or any other) bread along with layers of sliced tomatoes and cucumber.  

Enjoy and GO...A...AAAHHH...!!! 

Liver Fry

This is a recipe for hard core non-vegetarians. This recipe may not go down well with the pseudo non-vegetarians or those newly initiated into eating non-veg food. While, I love cooking and eating the innards - gizzard, liver, kidney and all.... I've known many a non-veg eaters who'd turn up their noses at the very thought of eating the inner organs of a creature, whose flesh they have no qualms about relishing !

Well, this is my mom's quick recipe for cooking chicken innards. It takes less than 15minutes to cook chicken liver (excluding the gizzard, which takes a lot more time to cook).

The method is simple.... and quick, if the innards are cut into small pieces.

Marinate the liver/heart/lungs of the chicken for 5minutes, in a mixture of turmeric powder, red chilly powder, salt, ginger-garlic paste and garam masala.

In a pan, add 2-3 tablespoons of oil and heat. Add the marinated innards to the hot oil and let fry, stirring constantly. Once the innards start cooking, they will turn stiff and lose their reddish colour. This is the time to lower the heat and cover the pan, stirring occassionally. It will take about 5-10 minutes for it to be cooked.

Garnish it with chopped coriander and onion rings.

Eat with roti or as a starter.... !

Quick and Easy 'Papeta par Indu'

This recipe is a variation of the traditional parsee dish - 'papeta par indu' (egg on potatoes, literally), re-christened as 'andalu' by Priyanka Biswas, my roomie a year ago- a term she coined by blending the words 'anda' (egg) and 'aloo' (potatoes).

The traditional version of the recipe involves cooking potato slices or potato chips before layering it with the eggs... however, in order to make the dish more quickly and easily, I prefer to use the ready made salted potato wafers... not the "uncle chips" or "Lay's" type... but the traditional fried potato wafers of the " Hot Chips" type!

The Method:
Heat a packet of potato wafers that are pressed into a shallow frying pan in half a cup of water. Once the wafers get soggy and form a kind of sludge, lower the heat and add 2 spoons of tomato ketchup, a Tspoon of chilli powder, a pinch of sugar and salt to taste (make sure how much salt you add as your wafers are already salted). Now add a little more water and press down the potato sludge and form a flattened base. Cover the pan and let it simmer.

In a separate pan, whisk 2-3 eggs till nice and frothy. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to the egg. Now open the lid of the pan and gently pour the whisked egg over the flattened potato layer. Make sure there is enough egg to cover the potatoes from every side of the pan. Cover the pan again, and let it simmer on very low heat, till the egg gets poached and well cooked. If the preparation is well cooked, you will be able to slice out pieces of it (almost like a pizza).

Now for some twists in the recipe

• For an Italian twist, I sprinkle a little oregano, pepper and cheese instead of the tomato ketchup, in the potato. I also add some of the same ingredients to the egg layer and garnish with cilantro or chives.
• For a Punjabi twist, I saute some onions and garlic before adding the potatoes in the pan and then add some Chola Masala and garam masala too.
• The final twist is that instead of beating/whisking the eggs on the potato layer, I simply crack open the eggs on the potato layer (with full golden yolks) and let them poach... the number of eggs may depend on the number of diners and also as per the size of the pan to be covered.

Twists in the base

Parsees are known for their undying love for eggs, in any form whatsoever and hence the dishes "bhinda par inda" (eggs on fried okra), "masoor par inda" (eggs on masoor dal), "methi par inda" (eggs on fenugreek) "khima par inda" (eggs on minced meat) and the traditional wedding savoury dish "tamota par inda" (eggs on tomato stew).

In the picture: "tamota par indu"

Tomato Corn Wheels

This recipe is of my own making.... it is an attempt to create a vegetarian dish that gives the non-vegetarian experience of  biting into the juicy flesh of the corn, cracking the bony woody ring and pith of the cob and sucking at the marrow-like gravy... ofcourse it can never absolutely match the non-veg experience... but none the less, its a great dish in itself.

What you need for the recipe:

• 2 cobs of sweet corn
• Tomato puree or finely chopped tomatoes
• Medium onions finely chopped
• 2 tsps garlic and red chilli paste
• 2 medium Cinnamon sticks
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 2 tsps sugar

Method :

Cut the corn cobs into half inch roundels/wheels and keep aside (it requires some effort cutting the cobs, but its well worth the effort).

In a deep sauce pan saute the onions till golden brown. Add the cinnamon sticks ,garlic-chilli paste and stir for a few seconds. Now tip in the chopped tomatoes (or tomato puree) and cook till it begins to boil. To this add half a cup of water and tip in the corn roundels.

Cover the pan and let it cook for 5-10 mins or till the corn is cooked and the gravy thickens a bit.

Finally add the vinegar, sugar, salt and stir for a few seconds and remove from stove and serve with rice or hot chapatis.

Chilly - Cottage Cheese Gravy

A quick paneer recipe, this!

Stuff you need to make this recipe:

200gms Paneer (Cottage Cheese) chopped into 1/2 inch cubes

Onions and Capsicum (green bell pepper) cut into 1/2 inch pieces

Tomato puree (or finely chopped tomatoes)

Green chillies

3-4 Garlic cloves crushed or chopped finely.

1 tsp Kasuri Methi

Chopped coriander for garnish

Sugar and salt to taste

Method for preparation:

Saute the paneer cubes and capsicum in 2 table spoons of oil, till golden brown. Remove the pieces from frying pan and set aside.

In the same pan saute the onions till they turn pink. 

Now add the garlic, chilly and tomatoes (or tomato puree). Cook till tomatoes release some water and turn tender. Incase of tomato puree, add a little water to make the gravy. Finally add a big pinch of sugar and the kasturi methi. Tip in the fried paneer and capsicum. Add salt to taste. After a final stir, remove in serving dish and garnish with chopped coriander.

Boiled Egg Patties

This one's for my mom. Its one of her many specialities. A typical Parsi perparation - "Inda na Paetice" - which come with  full boiled egg at the centre of the patty. Traditionally there are two variations of the patty stuffing - mince meat patties "kheema na paetice"or "akuri na paetices" made with "bhurji" stuffing in the patties. Ofcourse, you can let your imagination run wild and make your own variations too.

Things you'll need :

Boiled eggs (as many as the number of patties you want)
Boiled potateoes (approx. quantity would be one large one for each egg you take)
1 raw egg
Salt, pepper, butter
Tomato Ketchup

To prepare :

Mash the boiled potatoes properly , making sure no lumps remain. Add melted butter, salt and pepper.
Apply some cooking oil to both your palms and take a large scoop of the mashed potatoes in your cupped palm, and flatten it into a cup-like shape. Apply tomato ketchup on the inner layer and place the full-boiled egg in the hollow of the mashed-potato cup. Cover the egg with the the mashed potato and shape it into a round or flattened patty. Make all the patties likewise, and keep them aside.

In a separate bowl, whip a raw egg till fluffy. Heat a pan of oil, till ready for deep frying the patties.
Dip each patty into the beaten egg and deep fry, till golden brown.
Put them on a butter paper or paper napkin, to remove excess oil.

Serve with green coriander chutney, mayonnaise or green salad.

At this point I cannot resist narrating an incident related to this preparation.

During a Parsi luch that my mom prepared for a bunch of non-Parsi friends, one of the guests who had gorged on close to three boiled egg patties (in addition to the other non-veg food), seemed intent on disecting the patties before eating them. Wondering what was wrong, my mom asked her if everything was okay, to which she replied (ofcourse to my mother's greatest amusement)... "oh, the food is wonderful, but even after eating 3 of these egg patties, I am unable to figure out how you managed to put the whole boiled egg inside the potato !!"

Macaroni Muddle

This is a recipe I can fall back on when I am feeling a little unreasonable, that is, I want something "different" for dinner (different from the usual dal chawal or roti sabzi) but I do not want to eat out nor invest much energy on cooking something grand. Moreover, this dish is perfect if you want to use up all those little scraps and bits of things lying around in your fridge or kitchen.

The best part about this dish is that no matter how many times I make it, it never tastes the same; simply because every time I make it, there is either some new ingredient or some ingredient missing from the earlier version ! Its possible to change the taste and texture of this dish also by replacing the macroni with any other kind of pasta. You can find a huge list of different types of pasta here, though the most commonly available ones are the penne, fusilli, farfalle and macaroni.

So much said about the possible variations in the prepartion , here is my version of the recipe.

What you'll need:
Small sized onions, peeled and quartered lengthwise allowing the layers to fall apart.
Green bell pepper (capsicum) chopped into 1 inch pieces
Cocktail sausages cut breadthwise into small roudels
Mushrooms (pre-sauted in butter)
Chopped garlic and green chilles.
Packet of macaroni
Soy sauce, chilli sauce and tomato ketchup
Salt to taste
Grated Cheese (Cheddar or Mozerella)

The method:

Boil half a packet of macaroni with a pinch of salt and a drop of oil (to prevent it from sticking together), till soft and well cooked. Drain and set aside.

In a non-stick Wok, saute the onions and garlic till golden brown, add the rest of the ingredients including the macaroni and saute for a minute. Add the sauces, ketchup and salt to taste. Stir fry for another minute and remove from heat. Remove into a serving dish and sprinkle with grated cheese while still hot, allowing the cheese to melt.

 

For the vegetarians - replace the sausages with small cubes of paneer. I've tried that variation, and it tastes as good !