Christmas Specials

It was a classic battle of the titans: one who knew how to genuinely cook versus one who knew how to cook from the book. The situation was simple: we had to cook something for the holiday party in office and my good friend in office said she would bring a vegetarian gravy for the South Indian Parathas (Parotas) which I had offered to bring along with the chicken gravy I was going to make.

(Technically she was helping me reduce the amount of gravy I had to prepare for the parathas. So Thank you Nalini :-) )

The party was on and one had to decide which was better - the Potato Peas gravy or the Chicken Gravy and here is the benchmark and verdict.

1. Which gravy had yummy chicken? Arun's awesome chicken gravy
2. Which gravy did not have potatoes and peas? Arun's terrific chicken gravy
3. Which gravy was more tasty because it had chicken in it? Arun's titilating chicken gravy
4. Which gravy was appreciated by the Vice president? Arun's astonishing chicken gravy
5. And finally which gravy was prepared by Arun? Arun's exotic chicken gravy

As you can see, it's a giant victory for my Chicken gravy hands down :D Now I really feel that I should share this amazing recipe with you all and so here goes:

Serves: Enough gravy for 16 to 20 rotis / rice (how many people: well, that depends on how many rotis one can eat)

Preparation:
Cut around 1 pound of chicken into small pieces (around 3 to 4 cups) and marinate it with 1 cup of yogurt, 1 teaspoon of chili-powder, 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon of garam masala, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste. Mix the paste and chicken well and let the chicken marinate for at least 1 hour.

Method:
1. Heat 8 teaspoons of cooking oil in a pressure cooker or a pan
2. Saute 3 cups of finely chopped onions till they turn golden brown and till the raw smell of the onions goes away (You can add a spoon of sugar to speed up the process)
3. Add 2 teaspoons of ginger garlic paste
4. Add 1 to 2 teaspoon of salt according to taste
5. Saute for 2 to 3 more minutes
6. Add 2 to 3 cups of chopped up tomatoes (depends on how much you like tomatoes)
7. Add 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder
8. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons of chilli powder depending on your taste
9. Add 2 teaspoon of garam masala
10. Add 2 teaspoon of corriander powder
11. Saute nicely till the mixture becomes a nice paste and raw smell of tomatoes goes away
12. Add the marinated chicken along with all the marination paste
13. Mix well and place the lid on the pressure cooker or simmer well if you are using the pan
14. If you are using the pressure cooker, let the chicken cook for about 2 whistles.

Do try the recipe my friends, happy cooking and Bon Appetit.

P.S.: As you know, I go by many names and in office, I am called Arun :*)

Bliss with food and family

Friday ~ Saturday, Nov 21 ~ 22

It all started with a spicy chicken gravy prepared by my room mate Srini and his wife Swapna. It was quite tasty and spicy or the “ssssss aaahhhh yummy” kind. After 3 buses and a flight I was in "Shivering Charlotte" to meet my best friend Elavarasan (I still cannot believe water is costlier than fuel on the flights). His ride was a 2003 black Ford Mustang and it roared down the highway in the ever brightening dawn sky. We met our good friends - Sai Gopal and Siva Sundar and we were on our way to Philadelphia. The ride was smooth until I started to drive. I had temporary driving license, and the fact that I had been driving in driver’s nightmare like Chennai gave me a bit of confidence. But little did I know that left handed driving would be so difficult than right handed driving. I had lot of difficulty keeping the car in the lane, I kept drifting towards the right edge of the lane and had a few scary moments with a big truck when I almost ran into it. Luckily, the brilliant truck driver moved further away from his lane. A million thanks to him as I am able to write my blog now. We stopped in the afternoon for some Chicken Chalupas from Taco Bell. This was the first time I had a chalupa and I must say that it is a brilliant invention of mankind. It not too hard, not too soft, just the right amount of “munchiness” (I am inventing this word, if it had not been invented already by another food lover). Resuming the drive we had dinner near Washington DC in Udipi Palace where I found a lot of Americans and Indians. Finding lot of Americans in an Indian restaurant told a lot about its quality. We finally reached Leo Gerald’s home. He is a very good friend from college, who is all brains and now working on steam cycles in nuclear power plants.

Sunday, Nov 23

We were in New Jeresy and we were searching for one particular Chennai restaurant: Yes, it is the "Saravana Bhavan". We were quite hungry and we could hardly wait after we ordered the ultimate delicacy: Ghee Pongal. (And since it won't fill our stomachs we also ordered the Saravana Bhavan Special Meals). I put one spoon from the Ghee Pongal in my mouth. I closed my eyes and felt the taste of the pongal in my tongue. My only senses active at that moment were my sense of taste and my sense of smell. As the Pongal slowly melted away from the tip of my tongue, reached the inner tongue and slowly glided down the throat, all I could think of was 'Singara Chennai' and all my friends over there. I was so mesmerized that I felt that I was back in Chennai in the bustling and relentless traffic; I could hear all the unnecessary honking and the sound of the iconic auto-rickshaws. It was a paradise in the mouth and the taste was just indistinguishable from the Pongal served in any of the 15+ Saravana Bhavans in Chennai. It was pure bliss. I was so satisfied from the food that I could not even notice the beautiful waitresses in the restaurant. Anyway, we were still hungry, and we completed the special meals, which again was terrific. I am running out of adjectives to describe the ambrosian food.

We then drove to New York and roamed around the downtown of the world’s largest city. The walk was tiresome and I settled for an Ultimate Chicken Burger at Ruby Tuesday. It was good but let's just say my taste buds were not in cohesion with that burger.

Monday, Nov 24

We were thundering down the highway towards Washington DC. En route, we met one of our closest friends Abhishek. Afterward, it was a walk in downtown of the capital city and also cruised in and out of the streets to see it's prominent landmarks. Soon after, we were throttling towards Charlotte when the traffic and rain delayed our progress. The visibility was poor and we took a detour in Richmond and had our dinner in a Farook’s restaurant. It was a small one, managed by a North Indian family. The naan, and onion kulcha were delicate and Chicken Jalfroze was a good combination. We gulped the food down and were back to the drive in the rain. I took over the drive for sometime to give rest for Ela and it was a scary 2 hour drive. All I could see was the yellow reflectors in the middle; the lane markers near the edge of the roads were not visible and driving at 70 Mph in that never-ending rain was a bit scary. At one point, the road narrowed and merged into a single lane near a construction zone, where the reflectors were not at all visible in the fleeting rain and I almost came close to the touching the concrete blocks on more than one occasion. Phew.

Tuesday, Nov 25

The flight took off and I found myself drinking cappuccino outside the Houston Airport waiting for my cousin to pick me up. He made his appearance in his big SUV and we made our way to his home. After quick refreshments, we had lunch in foodruckers and I chose a chicken carribean salad. The chicken salad was a beautiful combination of leaves, fruits and grilled chicken and helped me refresh my stomach. (I stopped having any all veggie salad after one unfortunate incident in Chennai, wherein I got sick for two days after eating an all green food.) After a quick trip to NASA and making sure that I don't belong there with my puny brain, we headed back home and I found my cute little niece waiting for me (and of course her dad). This was the first time I met her and soon enough we were playing while my sister-in-law made some terrific vegetable puffs, egg puffs and the Tamil Nadu village style mutton gravy. "!!!". Do I need to say more? We drove to Dallas that night, and I had an hard time keeping my eyes open during the 4 hour drive after such good food.

Wednesday, Nov 26

It was sister-in-law’s brother’s place and here is another amazing person and fantastic gourmet: my sister-in-law’s sister-in-law. Whilst I was playing with my niece, and with both of my niece's cousins (yes, I was twenty years younger and playing on par with them), she had made the Tamil Nadu village style mutton gravy, mutton briyani, pepper chicken fry, and chicken masala. Vvvvaaaaaaavvv !!! I had many servings of the delicious Briyani and it instantly reminded me of both my mom's and aunt's cooking. I came to know that my sister in law and her sister in law learned them from my aunt who is again a terrific connoisseur in the kitchen. I could really feel sitting at my home in Chennai. The key to a good briyani is how the aroma from the spices blends into the rice and the meat, something my aunt and mom have perfected over the years. Its really hard to express how happy I felt after having that good food.


That evening I met my dearest friends from college Jude and Mukesh who are graduate students at the University of Texas, Dallas and we had our food in a Thai restaurant and had something called yellow chicken curry. It reminded me of similar food in India from Tamil Nadu’s neighbour Kerala. There is a lot of similarity between the two cuisines.

Thursday, Nov 27

The next day after having delicious buffet in a restaurant called Chetinad with my friends, I had some Indian style cat fish fry again in my sister-in-law’s sister-in-law’s place. That night I met my sister who is also in Dallas: she and I – well, we are pretty good examples for "One need not be related by blood to be real brothers and sisters". After playing with my niece and nephew here I had some delicious Rava Idli. If there is one thing I like in south Indian vegetarian food apart from a perfectly made melt-in-mouth Pongal, it is Rava Idli. This was the first time that my mouth watered along with my heart.

Friday, Nov 28

The next day it was again Tamil Nadu style chicken gravy at my sister’s place. My sister-in-law’s sister-in-law had made some delicious Crabs. Once during my childhood I ate too much crab and threw up and ever since then I am unable to eat crab. Sadly I was not able to rejoice this delicacy.

Saturday, Nov 29

Back to Houston and my cousin and I took a small trip to Galveston. I had been insisting on one particular food item from my cousin and my sister-in-law it was the grand finale of all the food items I had for my whole trip: "Kothu Parota". It is relatively hard to make, compared to the rest of the food items discussed above (except for Saravana Bhavan melt-in-mouth Pongal). You need the right amount of flour and make proper Parota dough, the right amount of Mutton or Chicken Keema, eggs, onions and tomatoes and also a bit of the arm strength. My sister-in-law had made the it beyond excellence; I now feel like I owe her an expensive gift. She also made some Tamil Nadu style Fish gravy with Cat Fish which I enjoyed till my stomach could fit. I was so dumbstruck with the taste of the food.

And so...

Flight tickets to Charlotte, Houston and back to San Diego: $600
Planned expensive gifts for cousin, sister-in-law, her brother and her sister-in-law: $1000
Eating titillating and exquisite South Indian food on the other side of the planet: Priceless


Bon Appetit