Duck Roast Gravy (Tharavu Roast curry) - A Christmas Savoury delicacy

In the spirit of the festive season, I am trying to bring to you as many recipes as possible to help you prepare for your big Christmas lunch or dinner! If you are a member of my Facebook page, you would have seen some of the posted recipes related to Christmas. If you have not yet seen our facebook page, please visit here and 'Like' the page so as to have it bookmarked. Spread the word with your family and friends as well.

Duck roast is often taken as an option to the western Christmas tradition of Turkey Roast especially in Christian families in the South of India in the state of Kerala. Duck Roast would often be accompanied with Appam,  either 'KallAppams' (Indian Toddy Pancakes) or 'PaalAppams' (Milkhoppers). You could also serve this with Kappa Vevichathu (Tapioca Steamed and Fried) or Rice of your choice or Rice Iddiappam (which looks like miniature rice noodles). Hopefully I will post the Kappa Vevichathu recipe very soon :) Although Duck Roast is normally accompanied with Appams or Fried Rice even during Christmas.

I hope you enjoy this creation of mine. Sorry I don't have better pictures of the process as this was taken way earlier than I had intended to start this blog. I will definitely upload better pictures should I try this again. Hope you are having a great Christmas season!

I meant to post this recipe last week but my system decided to have some technical issues at about the same time. It is resolved now so hope I get time (amidst all the baking and cooking) to post as many recipes to Christmas and even the New Year 2014 to help you design your dinners/lunch/desserts :)

You need:

• 1 kg Duck, cleaned well (soak for at least 20-30 minutes in turmeric, salt and vinegar), fat removed, skinned and cut into medium pieces*

These ingredients are required for the Marinade:

• 2 tbsp Red chili powder
• 2 tbsp Coriander powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• Salt to taste

Remaining ingredients required for the recipe:

• 2 roughly torn  long dried red chilies
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 6-8 green chilies, slit lengthwise
• 2 tbsp of cooking oil (although you should use coconut oil if you want it to taste as close as possible to the traditional version)
• 2-3 large purple onions, diced finely
• 10-12 small red onions, diced finely
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 medium-sized tomatoes, finely sliced
• 1" ginger, finely diced
• 6-8 cloves garlic, finely diced
• 3-4 tbsp Garam Masala
• 1/2 tsp  Turmeric powder
• 2 tbsp Coriander powder
• 3 tbsp of Red Chili powder
• Coconut milk - 2 extracts : 1st extract 1 cup and 2nd extract 2 cups. You can try the Homemade version here as I did for this recipe. Just make sure to adjust the water accordingly as required for this recipe.
• Salt to taste

*Optional: you can leave a few pieces with skin on possibly the wings or even portion of the legs/breast

The Make:

Preparation Time: 20 minutes | Cooking Time: 1 hour | Serves: 5-6 adults

It is best to leave a few pieces with the skin on and you can opt to take it out later to add some flavour of the duck fat in the dish. I have tried it without as well and I can vouch for the former. You can take off the excess oil off the top of the finished dish. Make sure before marinating to drain out any water content from the duck meat.

Marinate the duck meat for 4-6 hours. You can choose to do it for longer or lesser. The more you marinate the duck meat, the more flavourful the end result. I ended up marinating my Christmas duck roast for 8-10 hrs. I had a huge banquet of dishes for this particular Christmas :) Trust me not a drop of the gravy was left to the next meal let alone the next day.

1. Heat the oil in a clay pot or deep-bottomed wok or even a pressure cooker and splutter some mustard seeds.
2. Toss in the curry leaves, red onions, dried red chilies, ginger and garlic and saute well for 2-3 minutes.
3. Next add the diced purple onions and saute till translucent.
4 .Toss in the green chilies and saute till the onions turn lightly brown.
5. Add the marinated duck meat and salt. Cover and cook for 40 minutes on medium-low heat. If you are using the pressure cooker, make sure to add enough water to just about cover the meat or about a cup lower as the duck fat would also release making the gravy very watery. It should cook for about 5 whistles on medium-high. You would have half-cooked duck meat at this stage using either of the methods.
6. In a bowl, mix the turmeric, red chili, coriander powders and garam masala and add the 2nd extract coconut milk bit by bit mixing well.
7. To the half-cooked duck, add the 2nd extract spiced coconut milk on low heat and mix well. Cover and cook until the gravy has just thickened and the meat cooked.

If the duck meat is of good quality it would be soft and tender.

8. Lastly but more importantly add the thick 1st coconut milk extract and mix gently. Bring to almost a boil and set aside.

Serve with hot Appams or Fried Rice or Kappa any other flatbread/rice of your choice.

Bon Appetit! Tis' the season to be jolly falalalalalalala....Seasons Greetings all!

Milk Hoppers or PaalAppam

I have an earlier post on KallAppam (Toddy Pancakes). This recipe is not too far from it other than the fermenting agent. PaalAppam batter can also be used to make a sweet dish called 'Vattayappam' (Steamed Rice and Coconut Cake), a Keralite popular make with left over batter from the Milk Hoppers. I will try and post this recipe soon. You can make Vattayappam later in the day  as a Tea Time snack or the next day after making the Milk Hoppers.

To make these Milk Hoppers,

You need:

• 4 cups of raw rice or Basmati rice (long-grained rice)
• 1/2 cup of fresh grated coconut
• 5-6 cups of filtered water
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp yeast
• 2 cups of cooked rice
• 2 tbsp of cooking oil

The Make
Makes 15-20 hoppers | Preparation Time: 8-10 hrs (soaking and fermenting time) | Cooking Time: 20 minutes

1.  Soak the rice for 4-6 hours in the water.

2. After the waiting period, in batches, grind the soaked rice with some of the water in which the rice was soaked and the portions of the cooked rice and grated coconut.

3. Next add the yeast to some lukewarm water and sugar and dissolve. Allow to stand for 2 minutes and add it to the batter. Give the batter a good mix and cover and allow to rest. Grease the pan you plan to use the next morning and cover.

I did the grinding of my batter this evening and will allow it to ferment overnight. You can chose to make it in a few hours (3 hrs) of grinding.

4. After the resting period, add the salt to the batter and mix well and get ready to make those hoppers.

5. Wipe the pan with a paper kitchen towel. Heat the non-stick pan or an Appam Chatti (Hopper Pan with lid) on high and once it reaches the desired heat, lower the heat and lightly grease the pan with a kitchen paper towel dipped in oil (hold the oil in a small bowl for easy use and keep the towel dipped in). Use the same paper towel to wipe the pan between making hoppers.

6. Take a rounded ladle with about 1/2 cup quantity of batter and pour in the center of the pan and in a clockwise direction spread the batter to form a nice round circle or flower ring circle.

7. Cover and cook for about 2 minutes on medium-low heat. Uncover and place the hopper on a serving plate or in a casserole dish. You can also choose to serve as you make if your guests/family enjoy the crispy wings of the hoppers. You can also break an egg in the center of the poured out appam batter which can be had as is without any gravy/accompaniment.

8. Repeat till the batter is used up or as required. For the leftover batter, you could refrigerate and reuse even the next day to make more Milk Hoppers or make a sweet dish 'Vattayappam' (Steamed Rice and Coconut Cake).

Serve hot with Eggs in Coconut Milk or Chicken Stew or Vegetable Stew! Enjoy!

Easter Recipes - Eggs in Coconut Milk Gravy (Motta Thengapaal Curry) with Milk Hoppers(PaalAppam)

PaalAppam or Milk Hoppers are traditionally the go to breakfast meal for Easter Sunday morning and it is normally served with Eggs in Coconut milk. After 40 days of Lenten sacrifice, this is the first non-vegetarian or vegan meal we would consume.

My batter for my Milk Hoppers is being fermented even as I write this so I will share the Milk Hoppers recipe but the pictures would have to wait till tomorrow.

So for those last minute Easter cooks, the recipes I have for this Easter Sunday are easy to make and mostly under 30 minutes. In fact I made both the breakfast gravy and the afternoon chicken in less than 30 minutes each while juggling a curious and ever so enthusiastic toddler.

Eggs in Coconut Milk Gravy

To make the Eggs in Coconut Milk Gravy,

You need:

• 4 eggs (I used farm chicken eggs)
• 2 large onions, finely diced lengthwise
• 1 tbsp Kashmiri Chili powder (or Paprika powder)
• 1/2 tbsp Garam Masala
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp Coriander powder
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely diced and crushed
• 1/2" ginger, finely diced and crushed
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 green chilies, slit lengthwise
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 1 cup of Coconut milk
• Salt to taste
• 1 tbsp cooking oil

The Make:
Serves 4 | Preparation Time: 5 minutes | Cooking Time: 20 minutes

1. Boil the eggs in water (enough to cover the eggs) for 10 minutes and then place then in some ice water.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil a non-stick skillet, splutter the mustard seeds and then add in the curry leaves for less than a minute on medium-low heat.

3. Add the green chilies and ginger and fry till lightly brown.

4. Next toss in the onions and fry till lightly brown and add in the garlic.

5. Add the dry spices, salt; stir and cook till the spices leave the sides of the skillet. Crack the egg shells and cut each egg in half.

6. Add in the coconut milk. Add in the egg halves.

7. Bring to a boil and serve with Milk Hoppers.

Eggs in Coconut Milk

Happy Easter dear readers, family, friends and loved ones!