Maskasangi Ambat
It has been a while since I posted something new here. A lot of things are going on and somehow the blogging took a back seat. But I do update my instagram page regularly(which is much easier and less time consuming!). So please do checkout my page . Link at the top. This moringa gravy or maskasangi ambat was on my list to post for a very long time. Maskasangi or Moringa has become a huge health food fascination lately. But in our part of the world, it was/is always a hit. Everyone has a moringa/drumstick tree in their backyard. My parents have one tree in their garden too, but it never really yield anything. But our neighbors always shared their bounty with us. My parents reminded us to eat maskasangi – they reminded us it was full of iron. It was added to so many dishes like kolmbo , sukke , sagle and many more. The flowers were made into phodi . The leaves are used in many dishes too like this rotti . This ambat is a very simple dish that aayi makes very regularly. It is spiced with just teppal(tirphal) and kokum. The main vegetable in this gravy shines through. You can also make this with cauliflower.
Maskasangi Ambat
Ingredients: 10-12 drumstick pieces 1 cup fresh frozen coconut 4-5 red chillies (add more if you can handle spice) 5-6 teppal 3-4 kokum Salt Method: Cook drumstick pieces in water and salt. Grind coconut with red chillies to a very smooth paste. Slightly crush teppal in water to extract the aroma. Add the water to the cooked drumstick, discard the teppal pieces. Add the ground masala, kokum to drumsticks. Cook till the gravy starts boiling. Serve hot with rice. Serves : 2-3 Preparation time : 20mins
Maskasangi Ambat
Here is the video of the recipe
Chicken Biryani with Coconut Milk
During Christmas holidays we visited our cousins in Boston. My cousin’s place, we had delicious and comfort vegetarian food, something I was craving a lot. At V’s cousin’s place, we had all non vegetarian meals. I was in a foodie’s heaven, amazing food at both places and we had a very relaxing time.
Make a big batch of it, as it is just out of this world and it disappears in no time.
Chicken Biryani with Coconut Milk
This dish was prepared for us by V’s cousin’s wife Poornima Vaini. She made all-chicken dinner and lunch for us. Since I am a big Biryani lover, I really enjoyed this Biryani with coconut milk in it. She shared her recipe with me. I might have missed one or more steps, but this came out really well when I came back and made this. It is extremely easy one to make (I don’t know why it is called Biryani, because rice is not cooked separately here. Everything is mixed and cooked at once, but I will still stick to the name).
Ingredients: 1/2 kg (17oz approx) chicken 1/2 cup potato(optional) 2 cups basmati rice 2 cups(1 can) light coconut milk 3/4 cup onion slices 1/2 cup tomato 4-5 strands coriander leaves 1 tea spn biryani powder 1-2 tea spns chilli powder A pinch turmeric A tbl spn yogurt/curds 1 tea spn ginger paste1 tea spn garlic paste Ghee/Oil Salt Whole Spices : 4-5 cloves 2″ cinnamon 4 green cardamom 2 bay leaves
Method: Add ginger paste, garlic paste, turmeric, chilli powder, yogurt, biryani masala and salt to chicken pieces. Mix well and keep aside for about 30mins. Heat ghee/oil (I add both ghee and oil) and add all whole spices. Now add onion, salt and fry till they are brownish. Add tomatoes and fry for few mins. Add chicken along with all marinade and fry for 3-4 minutes. Add potatoes(optional). Add rice and fry for few more minutes. Now pour in the coconut milk and about 1 and 1/2 cups water, salt, mix well. Cover the lid and cook on a medium heat till done. Garnish with coriander leaves. Switch off heat and leave it as it is for about 15-20mins. Serve hot. Serve with cold raita.
Serves : 4-5 Preparation time : 45mins
