Eda Chutney Na Patties – Egg Chutney Patties

Eda Chutney Na Patties – Egg Chutney Patties

Makes 6 big (actually huge) patties

This one comes to you from a Parsee kitchen. It’s a Parsee delicacy and a Bawa needs no special occasion to make this. We’ll gobble these anytime, anywhere. :-) There was a time when, as a kid, I hated chutney. When I entered the kitchen arena as a teenager and began trying out new textures and flavors, I could have kicked myself for being stubborn so as not to try it earlier. (Yes, mom you were right, as always. I admit it’s delicious). Spicy-tangy coriander-mint chutney and eggs beautifully encased in mashed potato. What could go wrong with that??

Ingredients:

3 eggs, boiled, shelled and cut into two

1-1¼ kilo potatoes, boiled, peeled and smoothly mashed

Salt, to taste

½  - 1 cup semolina

2 eggs, beaten and seasoned with salt

Oil, to fry

2 tablespoons oil, to grease palms (literally :-) )

Ingredients for Chutney:

½ coconut

1 bunch coriander leaves

1 bunch mint leaves

10-12 green chilies

6-7 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon jeera (cumin seeds)

3 medium sized raw mangoes, (use to taste depending on the amount of acidity best suited to your taste buds - when not in season use lime juice)

Salt, to taste

Sugar, to taste

Method for Chutney:

1. Grind all the ingredients to a thick chutney. (The chutney has to be really thick therefore if you can grind it without adding water that would be superb, but if your grinder blades need that wee bit of nudge, then add a wee bit.)
2. When done, keep aside. 

Method for the Patties:

1. Season the mashed potatoes with salt.
2. Oil the palm of your hands so that the mashed potato doesn't stick, take a big lump of mashed potato and shape it to form a deep cup.
3. Add half an egg and a big spoonful of chutney into the cup and carefully work your way to closing the cup to form a pattie. Set the made pattie on a thali sprinkled with a little semolina. (This way the patties wont stick to the thali/plate and it will be easier to handle when you lift it)
4. Repeat till all the potatoes and eggs are used up.
5. Roll the patties in the remaining semolina, dip in beaten-seasoned eggs and fry in oil till golden brown on all sides. 

Chef Notes: 

1. Refrain from adding too much water when grinding the chutney because the chutney has to be really thick to ensure it doesn't seep out of the patties when you fill it with chutney.
2. Preferably make the chutney a day in advance and keep it in the fridge. I usually do that because the chutney becomes a wee bit firmer and easier to handle when refrigerated.
3. When you make the patties, ensure there are no cracks in the outer potato layer. The smoother the pattie the less chance of it splitting during the frying process.
4. This quantity makes six huge patties. You may quarter the eggs instead of halving them and make smaller patties and that will yield twelve patties instead of six. 
5. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism. 

Afghani Chicken

Afghani Chicken 

The name of this dish is ‘Afghani Chicken’ but this recipe comes to you from a very authentic Parsee recipe book. Maybe some Parsee ancestors decided to settle in that part of the world for a while, when we were forced to flee Persia during the persecution and happened to pick up this gem from that region. Then again, maybe it was just a weird Bawa feeling the urge to name it so. These are the only (in)sane reasons that comes to mind for a Parsee naming the dish so. Well, food knows no religion or language. What matters is how it tastes, so regardless of whether it is India, Persia/Iran or Afghanistan, I vouch that this one tastes awesome. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 kilo chicken

4 onions, sliced

4” piece ginger

1 whole pod garlic

½ teaspoon turmeric powder/haldi powder

1 bunch coriander leaves

2 green chilies, slit

¼ kilo curds, beaten smooth

A few strands saffron

2 potatoes, peeled, quartered and fried

125 grams ghee/clarified butter

2 hard boiled eggs, quartered

Salt, to taste

Grind to paste:

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

10 peppercorns

7 white cardamoms

8” cinnamon

7 cloves

2 green cardamoms

1 tablespoon cumin

30 grams dry coconut

½ tablespoon charoli/chironji

4 dry red Kashmiri chilies

Method:

1. Clean and wash the chicken and cut into the required number of pieces.
2. Grind the ginger-garlic together to a paste.
3. Fry onions in ghee until golden brown and keep some aside for garnishing.
4. Add ginger-garlic paste to the onions in the ghee and fry well for a minute.
5. Add turmeric powder, green chilies and fry well for a few seconds.
6. Add the ground paste and fry well till ghee separates. Add coriander leaves and fry for a few more seconds.
7. Add chicken pieces, salt and mix well. Add water and cook till chicken is nearly done. Blend in curds.
8. Mix saffron with a little warm water and let it steep for a while, then add to the chicken.
9. Simmer the gravy till thickened to desired consistency.
10. Garnished with fried potatoes, hard boiled eggs and fried onions. Serve with parathas or tandoori naans. 

Chef Notes: 

1. If you reside in a country where they have strict restrictions in regard to the use of poppy seeds, feel free to substitute them with cashew nuts. 
2. The potatoes were to be quartered and fried but I prefer them as chips or wedges hence opted to cut them as accordingly. 
3. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism. 

Macchi No Ras (Fish in light aromatic gravy)

Macchi No Ras (Fish in light aromatic gravy)

This delicately flavored dish is made quite often in Parsee houses. Its best had with plain steamed rice, but then again when I'm in the mood for bread instead of rice, I sop up the 'ras' (gravy in Parsee lingo) with chunks of pau (bread).

Ingredients:

4 slices fish (i've used Surmai-Kingfish)

3 medium-sized onions, finely chopped
20 curry leaves

4-6 green chilies, finely chopped
6 teaspoons garlic, crushed or very finely chopped

6-6½ teaspoons rice flour
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, coarsely ground

½ bunch fresh coriander, finely chopped

Salt, to taste

6 tablespoons oil

Method:

1. Heat oil, add curry leaves and allow to splutter. 
2. Add onions, green chilies, saute till soft and translucent pink.
3. Add the crushed garlic, coarsely ground cumin seeds and sauté.
4. Cook for a couple of minutes and add the rice flour.
5. Sauté well for another two minutes.
6. Add 600-650 mils water and bring to a boil. 
7. Add salt to taste.
8. Carefully place the fish in the boiling gravy for 6 to 7 minutes (You may need to boil the fish for a shorter time if you are using smaller pieces of fish)
9. When fish is cooked, add chopped coriander leaves and give it a gentle stir or lift the vessel and give it a gentle shake to ensure the coriander spreads out evenly in the gravy. Serve hot with plain steamed rice.

Chef Notes:

1. Feel free to use any fish for this dish. Prawns too work beautifully in this gravy.
2. I had once substituted the rice flour with all purpose flour/maida, and most people wouldn't mind doing it, but having had both, i would definitely prefer to go with rice flour. I found all purpose flour/maida to be a tad heavy on the palate.
3. Please don’t overcook the fish. It should be light and perfectly flaky when you poke a fork into it. 
4. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.