This i first ate on the streets on Hyderabad, and was great as a starter, snack to munch on. This is my version of it..
Make a fritter batter with flour -25 g cornflour – 40 g chicken stock powder- 2 g/ ½ tsp pepper – .5 gm ¼ tsp water .. to form a thin batter Paprika- 5 g/1 tsp .Mix with raw sliced chicken/ paneer/ canned baby corn or mushroom, approximately 250 g , and deep fry…we never said was going to be healthy.
Then Heat 10 ml oil add some curry leaf ,1 sprig sliced chili – ½ or more if you want to be a fire breather and chilli powder. -5 g/ 1 tsp Whisk yoghurt -1T/ 25 g coriander -½ t/ 2 g cumin powder – ¼ t/ 1 g Ginger and garlic paste- 10 g/ 2 t
Add to the curry leaf and chilli mix and saute with the fritters till dry and coated with the mix..
One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
After that rather theatrical name we must get down to brasstacks. The first part of the name comes from King Ram from the great indian Ramayan and baan the arrow or missile he used to vanquish the great demon / Rakshasa , Ravan. This term was used for a base onion and tomato gravy in my hotel company many many years back which used to go into allmost all the Indian food and thus the second part of the Tolkien title from the One Ring.
heres how we do it
oil -10 ml butter15 gm cumin -¼ tsp cardamom green-2 cinnamon- 1 small pc
cloves 2-3 Heat oil, add butter and whole spices then add 500 gms chopped onions and saute on low heat till light brown. Add ¼ tsp coriander pdr, 1/8tsp cumin powder, pinch turmeric powder. Add in about 20 gms of ginger and garlic paste. continue to saute. Add in 400 gm tin of chopped tomatoes , and slow cook till the oil starts to separate out.
This version of meat comes from a transmogrified version of a Barbacoa, but flavoured with traditional south Indian spice mix where they would shudder at the mere thought of the holy cow tainting the spices .Never mind the fact that the neighbouring state Kerala has plenty of Beef Pepper fry .
But never mind we must go boldly where no man has gone before . We will then take it further and serve this rich spice laden stupedous concoction and put it in a bao or a sourdough bun or even a dosa .Our recipe serves 4 hungry people or more if you only serve it as finger food
Beef rump or similar-600 g For the marinade Yoghurt- 2 TB/55 gms approximately Turmeric – 1/4 tsp , 2 gms Ginger and Garlic paste- 2 t /10 gms Salt- 1 For the gravy Oil- 1T /20 gm Curry leaves- 1 sprig/ 1 gms green chilli- 2 ea/ 5 gms Onions brown peeled and chopped-250 gms Tomato crushed/ Tomato passata – 75 gms coriander powder- 1 t/ 5gm cumin powder- 1/2 t / 2 gm chipotle chilli – 5 gms- coconut cream- 100 ml For the dry spice mix Cardamom green- 3 ea Cloves- 2 cinnamon stick – 1 small Bayleaf- 1/2- The indian bayleaf is actually a cassia cinnamon leaf called tej patta, if you dont have that then use bay, dessicated coconut- 1T/ 15 gms peppercorns- 8-10 star anise/anasi poo- 1/2 fennel seeds- 1/2 t Dagadphool/Kalpasi- 1-2 gms this gives it a unique aroma Toast all in the microwave and then grind to a coarse mix Method. Marinate beef, ideally overnight, if pressed for time then atleast a few hours. for the gravy, heat oil add curry leaves , and green chilli and then the chopped onions, sand saute till brown add the powder spices and tomato and cook till the oil starts to separate from the mix.
This is a very traditional breakfast food, served in Maharashtra , and made usually by the ” Bamans/Bramhins”. Luckily i was half of one so got to taste this delicacy many a time as a child. The sago or tapioca pearls are made from the sap of the tapioca,( Dont ask me how, because i have never researched that).
To date there are several tradional eateries in my town of Pune, where this is served only once or twice a week, depending on their menu or when it used to served as a fasting food.Some oof those places like ” Sri Uphaar Gruha”, maintain their tradition.Another place where i would eat this a lot was at Deccan Gymkhana Tennis Club, where an old guy called Appa was running their canteen. 2018 when i went to look alas, the whole place had changed
and the canteen disappeared. Even Sri Uphaar gruha had moved from its share a bench with some unknown stranger and only 15 seat capacity to just down the road in a more spacious place. Fortunately the food was still good
Ok before we meander too much lets get back to the job in hand .
Sago/ Sabudana pearls(large sized )- 200 gm/ approx 1 cup
peanuts shelled, peeled roasted – 2 T/ 40 g
Green chilli- 1 medium
Potato 1 medium(125 g or so ) cooked and peeled
Salt to taste
Sugar- to taste
cumin / jeera seeds- 3 gm/ 1 t
Ghee/ clarified butter- 10 g/ 2t
Oil- 10 g/ 2 t
The pre preparation starts the night before, when you soak or just wash the sago pearls. What i like to do is just wash in a strainer and wash a few more times after and they will swell up./Alternately you can also soak with the barest minimum water to just come up to the surface level of the pearls in a bowl.Beware too much water and the tapioca starch in it will make it into a sticky yucky gooey mess. Practise and experience helps.
The next morning the soaked pearls should be swelled up and easy to separate not clumped up. To the sago we add crushed peanut+chilli which we blitzkrieg together in the blender. ( Not too fine mind it , we like some texture in it).We also add salt and some sugar to taste. its not a sweet dessert so the sugar is just to balance the chilli and make it oomph.
Heat the oil and ghee and add the cumin, cook it till turns browner but not burnt then add the cubes of potato and saute them till they are coated and not very mushy. The next step is crucial too to ensure you dont get stodgy khichdi.
Add in sago mix and stir very lightly.keep on a medium/ low heat and cover just for a minute. you might need to add more oil/ ghee .Any longer and the pearls over burst and get mushy, we just want them translucent and slightly sticking to each other.
Garnish with chopped coriander and shredded coconut and or cucumber and yoghurt relish and sing an ode to ye olde masters Appa..
The name is just me being cheeky and calling it like how the Thai Chef i trained under would call a curry and how the Marathi peoples (i am half marathi) call this artery blocking snack!!
I first ate this at this hole on the wall bakery called ” Santosh bakery” on Apte Road, where one of my close friends Gautam “gotya” kotwal used to stay. They would have a line of people waiting to get them and would invariably be sold out since they made it only 1-2 times a week.
What made it better was that Santosh bakery packed up their shop and moved to 100 mtrs from our house in Pune .Unfortunately by then, i was away in Dubai i think oor could be Chennai then Dubai..
They used t make this by hand and bake them in a puff pastry / flaky pastry and filled with a spicy mix of potatoes and peas and so on. There are more refined versions available all over the world and in different forms( could be a turnover or a sausage roll or something else wrapped in pastry )
My version is something that anyone of you can make at home, pretty easily. There are more complex versions where you make the puff pastry at home and while i can do it quite easily(or train you to make it too).
Not on this post though we are going to keep this succint and short and easy to accomplish.
The recipe below makes about 20 generous sized ones …
Puff/ Flaky pastry- 1kg—ready made one , look for one made without animal fats.
For the filling
oil-25 ml
onion chopped- 1/ 200 g
cumin- 1/2 t- 2 g
turmeric – 1/4 t- 1g
green chilli chopped- 1-2 or more, if you like to live dangerously like my friend Jatin Nandrajog used to at one point of time.
Ginger and garlic- 20 g
chopped vegetables- 100g(carrot, cauli, beans or whatever you fancy really)
green peas-50 g / 2T
cooked and peeled potato-250 g
coriander chopped-as much as you like usually i add abput 2 sprigs of my favourite flavouring herb…stems and all, just make sure you wash it well
So you heat upthe oil and add cumin and saute the onion and add the chilli, turmeric, ginger and garlic. Also add in your chopped vegetables and peas. Make sure the vegetables are cooked and then add in the potato. Check seasoning( is there any salt written there, no because i was checking to see, if you do read everything)
Cool down your mixture and then add in the coriander . then you make the sheets into triangles or rectangles. Seal the edges well and then refriegrate for 15-20 mins. You need to keep these cool, because the pastry gets very soft otherwise.
Preheat your oven to about 180C/ 400 F and brush these with beaten egg or milk if you dont eat egg.
Bake for about 18-20 ,minutes turning midway through to make sure they get coloured evenly.
You can replace the filling with spinach and ricotta or cooked chicken , or mince and will still be very nice.
Enjoy with some spicy suicide sauce or tomato ketchup or dipping sauce of your choice…ill put down some dip and sauce recipes soon too
stories of foods from the world over, laced with a hint of sarcasm and some black humour, its not for everyone, but then never was meant to be..
