Koottu

I've made this with raw papaya, chow chow (choyote squash) and a couple of other veggies and it turns out amazing. The first two are my absolute favourites, but I'll happily take any koottu I can get. This recipe is adapted from a bunch of different recipes. This one uses toor dal, since it is my current fave, but I've also made it with chana dal and simple pink masoor.

Ingredients

• Tur daal 1 cup
• Choyote squash 2 medium to big
• Water 2.5 cups
• Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp

For the coconut paste

• Dessicated coconut or fresh/frozen grated coconut 1/2 cup
• Green chillies 2
• Cumin seeds 1 tsp

For the tadka / tempering

• Oil 2 -4 Tbsp  
• Mustard seeds, black 1 tsp
• White urad dal 1tsp
• curry leaves 10-15 
• Dried red chillies (optional)

Method

1. Wash and soak the daal for either 30 minutes at room temp or 15 minutes with hot water
2. Add water, chopped veggies and turmeric powder to a pressure cooker and cook for about 5 whistles
3. Grind the ingredients for the paste into a smooth paste.
4. After the pressure releases, add the paste to the cooked daal+veggie
5. Heat the oil and add the mustard seeds and the urad daal. When the daal turns light golden and the mustard begins to sputter, add the curry leaves and then turn off the heat and add the red chillies. 
6. Add to the daal+ veggies while still hot. Let the daal boil for a few minutes for the flavours to incorporate.
7. Eat with hot rice or chapati if you're a weirdo like martin. 

Coconut curry (with chicken, pork or fish)

This recipe is adapted from here. I originally made it with chicken but have tried it with pork shoulder and it tastes like it would be amazing with fish as well. I've kept the heat to a minimum by deseeding the dried kashmiri chillis and the result has been a mild and very flavourful curry.

Ingredients

• Chicken 2 kg (or pork, about 1.3-1.5 kg)
• Dried Kashmiri chillies 4-5 
• Peppercorns 16-20 
• Coriander seeds 4 Tbsp
• Fenugreek seeds 1/2 tsp
• Tamarind, (if dried soak in hot water) 2 Tbsp
• Dessiccated coconut 1 cup
• Oil 3 tbsp
• Red onions chopped 4-5 
• Ginger garlic paste 1 tb
• Turmeric
• Green chilly 2 (totally optional)
• Curry leaves (if dried, add 3 times as much) 20 leaves
• Salt
• Coconut milk 1/2 cup

Method

1. Dry roast the red chillies, peppercorns, coriander seeds and fenugreek seeds in a pan. Add them to a grinder jar with the dessicated coconut and add the tamarind water to make a smooth paste. If you don't have ginger-garlic paste, add fresh ginger and garlic at this step.
2. If you are using pork as your protein, cut the pork into 2" pieces and then add to a pressure cooker with salt, pepper, a dash of vinegar and turmeric. Add 2-3 table spoons of water and pressure cook the pork until half done. I used fläskkarré and pressure cooked for 15 minutes after the first whistle. Skip this step if you're using chicken. 
3. Heat oil in a pan and add the curry leaves (And green chillies, if you're using them) and then the chopped onions. Once the onions are well cooked, add turmeric and then the masala paste. 
4. Cook the paste until oil separates and then add the protein on medium heat. Add salt (I add a tsp for every kg, to begin and then adjust to taste at the end).
5.  Leave the dish alone for about 10 minutes and then stir occasionally about every 5 minutes, for a total of 20-25 minutes.
6. Adjust the final consistency with coconut milk, adding more if you want it runnier and less if you want it more dry. Cook with coconut milk for about 5 minutes on low. 
7. Very good with rice and with roti.