Bottle Gourd Kofta Curry / Lauki Koftha Curry / Calabash Koftha Curry / Opo Squash Koftha Curry/ Bottle Gourd Kofta Curry/ Cucuzza Kofta Curry


There may be many people like me, who skip their meal when mommy serves the regular, old-fashioned bottle gourd curry. Well, I know, bottle gourd is very good for health. It contains more amount of water which is good for digestion, it keeps us fresh during summer, the bottle gourd juice helps treat ulcers and acidity. It's a blessing in disguise!! So, if you are like me, skipping the meal because of the same variety of bottle gourd curry, you are at the right place!! You will enjoy your meal as well as receive nutrients from the bottle gourd.  Bottle gourd 'kofta' curry is just the opposite. You will not skip your meal at all. Generally, this curry is made in a richer version. Today, I just made a simple and easy version using the basic gravy base, i.e, tomatoes, onions, and coriander. This curry can be eaten with plain rice, chapatis. while the richer version is mostly preferred with flat Indian bread. Feel free to adjust the seasonings according to your taste and also you can make the kofta balls instead of oval shape.





To Make The Koftas. You Will Need :


Bottle Gourd (Grated)
275 Grams  
Red Chilli Powder
1 Teaspoon
Chickpea Flour / Besan
4 Tablespoons
Ginger - Garlic Paste
More than ½ Teaspoon
Salt
½ Teaspoon (or) To taste
Oil
As required  to deep fry the koftas  ( No Picture)






And Oil.

To Make The Gravy You Will Need : 

Onion,  Tomato  and  Coriander  Puree
3 medium-sized Tomatoes+ 3 medium-sized onions + ½ bunch  of fresh Coriander
Red Chilli Powder
1 ½ Teaspoon
Coriander Powder / Dhania Powder
1 Teaspoon
Ginger – Garlic Paste
1 Teaspoon
Turmeric
½ Teaspoon
Salt
½ Teaspoon (or) to taste
Oil
3 Tablespoons
Coriander
To Garnish ( No picture)

I did not grind into a smooth paste. It gives a good texture when its slightly coarse.


 Oil and Coriander.

Method : 

Begin by peeling the skin off, grate the bottle gourd and squeeze out the water from it (save the water to use it in the gravy)  
To the grated bottle gourd, add all the spices and the flour, mix well, shape them and fry in the hot oil until golden brown. 


   
Now, to make the gravy, add oil to the pan,  followed by the puree (when the oil gets hot), add the spices and cook until the oil starts separating from the puree.
When the puree gets thickened add the bottle gourd water and cook for a further 3 to 4 minutes. Add the koftas to the gravy and garnish it with coriander.


And garnish with coriander!! 




Ready to relish :)

Notes :1.  To make this curry, follow the same procedure but adjust the seasonings according to your taste. Your grated gourd may weigh less or more than 275 grams. You could also taste your grated gourd mixture before frying.   
2. You could also add whole garam masalas to the oil while preparing the gravy. Let the spices slightly get colored and add the puree.

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Thank you For Visiting  Blessy's  Kitchen :)

Fried Chicken




Fried chicken is the favorite of all. Fried chicken can be made in many ways. The chicken can be battered or floured and deep-fried in hot oil. Today I made the floured fried chicken by using various herbs and spices.  Koreans make their fried chicken by frying the chicken twice which makes the chicken's coating even crispier. (well, my fried chicken pieces  were crispy enough when fried for once) Koreans also saute their fried chicken in a special sauce. Today I'm making fried chicken without the coating of any sauce on the outside. The cooking procedure is based on KFC style. You can season the chicken with a dash of salt, pepper, chili powder, etc, which makes the chicken even tastier. So, shall we begin? 

To Make This Recipe, You Will Need : 

Chicken  (With Skin)
As required ( No picture)
Dried and Ground Oregano
1 Teaspoon
Dried  and Ground Basil
1 Tablespoon
Dried  and Ground Sage
1 Tablespoon
Black Pepper Powder
½ Tablespoon
White Pepper Powder
2 Teaspoons
Chilli Powder
1 Teaspoon
Paprika
½ Teaspoon
Salt
2 Teaspoons
M.S.G (Mono sodium glutamate) (or) China Salt
½ Teaspoon (optional)
Onion Powder
½ Tablespoon
Garlic Powder
1 Teaspoon
All purpose flour
2 cups
Milk + Egg (or) Buttermilk + Egg
½  cup milk + 1 egg (beaten)
Oil
As required for deep frying ( No picture)

                        

                       

                       

                       

Chicken & Oil


Before, getting to know about the method to prepare the Fried Chicken, there are a few important steps to follow when you want the Fried chicken to be juicy and tender.

To get juicy, tender chicken, you need to brine the chicken.  Brining is a process where meat is submerged in the solution of water and salt. Sometimes even aromatics are added for extra flavor, and sugar for sweetness.  The top reason to brine the meat is 

1. Chicken is lean meat. That means it does not contain a high amount of fat when compared to other meats like lamb, beef, etc. When you fry the lean meat in the hot oil, there are possibilities to have a dry fried chicken which we don't want. We get dry fried chicken because of the less moisture (which we get from fat) present in it. 

2. When we brine, the salt alters the protein structure in the meat. This change in the cell structure, allows meat to absorb and to retain moisture. (this is how the meat remains tender and juicy because it has got enough moisture during the brining process) 



To Prepare Brine Solution: Take enough water which is enough to submerge the chicken pieces. 
For 1 liter of water, add 30 grams of salt. Stir until salt gets dissolved. Add the chicken pieces and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours or overnight. 



If you're not interested in brining, then add the chicken pieces to the buttermilk (instead of using milk + egg mixture, use buttermilk + egg) Let the chicken pieces rest in for about 1 hour and continue to bread the chicken with the flavored flour (which you'll be knowing in the "Method" section).

Method : 

Now, let's make a flavored flour breading for our chicken! 

Take a big bowl and add flour to it, followed by all the spices. Mix well. 

Take the brined chicken pieces and pat dry them (it's important to pat dry). 

After pat drying them, add the chicken to the milk and egg mixture(1/2 cup milk + 1 beaten egg), next coat them with the flavored flour.

*If you've brined your chicken in Buttermilk + Egg then directly coat your chicken with the flavored flour and later re-coat it when you're about to add the chicken piece to the hot oil. 

Heat the oil on medium flame, when the oil is ready, quickly re-dip the chicken piece in the milk and egg mixture and re-coat it with the flavored flour and fry them on medium flame for about 10 to 15 minutes. 

If you're adding many pieces at once, it will take longer time obviously because every single piece needs heat.



Completed first coat. 

(Re-coat the chicken pieces which you are about to add to the hot oil. Do not re-coat all pieces at once)





And fry the chicken pieces. 

Serve with Tomato Ketchup!! 




Enjoy!! 

NOTES :
1. If you want to add aromatics to your brine solution, add Peppercorns, thyme sprigs, curry leaves, crushed garlic pods, etc. 
2. If you're using Buttermilk + egg as your brine, then you no need to pat dry the chicken after brining. But pat drying after cleaning and washing the chicken is a must.
3. You could prick the chicken pieces and season with a slight touch of salt and pepper.
4. For even coloring, keep flipping the chicken pieces while frying. 
5. If the flour happens to end up and you are left with chicken pieces? simply take 2 cups of flour and add all the spices to it and you are ready for the next batch.
6. I bought all the herbs and spices at 'Brown Tree'.



Please give it a try and let me know in the comment section below. If you happen to make fried chicken in another way, do let me know in your comments. Thank you for visiting Blessy's Kitchen :)..


Love eating chicken?? Check out other Chicken Recipes on Blessy's Kitchen : 












Mutton Biryani (Kacchi Biryani Style)


I just can't resist Mutton Biryani. It's something I loved eating as a child too. Adding a couple  spoons of Ghee to my biryani while marinating the meat and also at the end, which makes the biryani even better. I followed the same steps which I did for Chicken Biryani. I used mint and coriander puree for chicken biryani, but today for this Mutton Biryani I'm using mint and coriander leaves. You can also use purees. Be free to adjust the seasonings according to your taste.



For easy understanding, I divided the recipe into 3 parts.

The first Part is about marinating the meat
The second Part is about cooking the rice
The third part is about layering the rice and infusing it with extra flavors.

So, for the First Part you will need the following ingredients :


Mutton (With Bone)
800 Grams
Mint Leaves
½ Cup (or) 25 Grams
Coriander/ Cilantro Leaves
½ Cup (or) 25 Grams
Green Chillies ( Chopped)
1 ½ Tablespoon
Medium Sized Onions (Sliced) (Fried Onion)
2
Turmeric Powder
½ Teaspoon
Biryani Masala Powder (Badshah (or) Eastern)
1 Tablespoon
Yogurt/ Curds
1 Cup
Ginger Garlic Paste
4 Tablespoons
Red Chilli Powder
1 ½ Tablespoon
Salt
1 ¼ Tablespoon (or) To Taste
Lemon Juice
1 ½ Tablespoon


                                             
                                     

                                     
           
                                     

                              

                                       
            
                                       

Method : 
To the cleaned and washed Mutton pieces add the above ingredients, mix well and marinate it overnight in the refrigerator. 
Note: Use half of the fried onions for the marinade.  



Next, for Second Part you will need the following ingredients : 

Basmati  Rice
800 Grams (or) I Kg
Bay Leaves
2
Kapok Buds
2
Green Cardamom
4
Shah jeera
½ Teaspoon
Cloves
6 to 7
Cinnamon sticks
2
Water
Enough to cook 1 Kg of rice (No Picture)
Salt
3 Tablespoons (or) As required, water should be salty ( No Picture)
Oil
1 Tablespoon (No Picture)


(You can use other spices like Star anise, Black Stone flower (raathi puvvu))

Water, Salt, and oil. 

Method : 

Wash and soak the basmati rice for about 15 to 20 minutes.

To a big rice pot, add 1 Tablespoon of oil and add the spices to the hot oil and fry until you get the aroma of the spices (spices like cardamom, cloves, Kapok buds should get swollen)

Next add water, salt and let it come to a boil.
Note: Water quantity is not measured in this case because we are straining the rice in the end. So basically we need to add more quantity of water than the rice.
When the water comes to a boil add the soaked basmati rice and cook until it's 70% done. 
Drain the rice using a colander and follow the Third Part. 




(Cook the rice until 70% done)

The Final Part i.e, the Third part is simple. Check out the ingredients :

Biryani Masala Powder
To sprinkle on each layer (Less than ½ Teaspoon for each layer)
Lemon Juice
To drizzle on each layer (1 Teaspoon for each layer)
Fried Onion
To Sprinkle on each layer
Mint Leaves
To spread on each layer
Saffron food color
To pour on the top layer (few pinches of color powder+ 3 to 4 Tablespoons of water
Oil
More than Half cup ( No Picture)


                                      




And oil (I used the oil which I fried the Onions)

Method : 
In this part, we are going to assemble the Biryani.
First, add the marinated mutton  to the pot in which you are going to make the biryani. 
Next, add a layer of rice, sprinkle some biryani masala, spoon lemon juice, spread mint leaves, sprinkle the fried onions and again add a layer of rice and continue to add the third Part related ingredients(except oil and color (optional) until you finish the rice.
Now, for the final layer, add oil and saffron/ color. 
Cover it with aluminum foil, place the lid on it and cook on high flame for 15 minutes. After cooking on high flame for 15 minutes, place a tawa underneath the pot and further cook for further 45 minutes on low flame.





After 45 minutes Mutton Biryani is ready to serve :)!!
Serve the Biryani with salan, raita, and salad. I served my biryani with salan, Gongura Chicken(Sorrel leaves chicken/ Saag Chicken), and onion raita.



(Some pieces of the mutton may get slightly colored. Don't worry it tastes good )


(Uncolored  Mutton piece on the left side - Slightly colored Mutton piece on the right side)





Notes: If you don't want to marinate the meat for one whole night, simply marinate for at least 2 hours by adding 3 Tablespoons of Raw Papaya Paste.
Generally, I add equal quantities of meat and rice. Here I have used more quantity of rice( 800 grams of meat and 1 Kg of rice) which is not a problem. If you end up with rice and no pieces left in it, add scrambled egg to it for a simple new dish:)

Enjoy :)