She believes one should spend time with their family on Easter instead of sweating away in the kitchen. That is when the easy grandma recipes with fewer ingredients become handy. Though she hails from an Anglo-Indian family in Kollam, Samantha is settled in Irinjalakuda. Happy that she could share the joy of Easter this year after the long lull brought in by the pandemic, she is cooking up a storm with a few family recipes.
Beef, pork, chicken — her list goes on. She will break the lent with a mild breakfast — Appam and stew. For lunch, some Pork Vindaloo and rice will be a great choice. But Samantha’s vindaloo is not the traditional tomato-based curry born in Goa. It is a blend of spices. “Every Anglo-Indian dish is a different version of local cuisine. Every family has their own recipes.
My cooking style was influenced by my mother and grandmother. For our version of vindaloo, ginger, garlic, cumin, mustard, turmeric, pepper, chilly powder and vinegar is made into a fine paste. It is then sauteed in a pan with oil. The paste is then mixed with pork in the pressure cooker and cooked for 25 minutes on low flame. Earlier, the dish was cooked in open-heat, which takes around an hour till it’s semi-dry. You can try the same with chicken and beef too,” says Samantha.
She also introduces Devil Fry made using shredded beef. According to her, the dish is a great way to use leftover meaT. The meat is cooked with spices in a pressure cooker, shredded and roasted in the leftover meat stock with lots of chilli flakes, onions, green chillies and curry leaves. Thedish gets its name Devil Fry from the red colour it has at the end, says Samantha.
Easter needs a few sweets. Samantha’s age-old sweet festive delicacy, Orappam, has many childhood memories attached to it. A usual sight at Easter feasts, the dish has a soft filling with nuts and raisins with a crunchy outer layer. Orappam tastes very similar to bebinca (a traditional multi-layer Goan cake) but the process and ingredients are different.
However, it is a time consuming process. “Traditionally, the mixture comprising rice flour, coconut milk, brown sugar or jaggery, eggs, nuts, raisins, a little ghee and a pinch of salt is whisked and combined thoroughly in a bowl. It is then poured onto a pan, baked on a brick hearth with firewood and burnt husks/coconut shells kept on top of the lid for the extra heat. But now, you make it with an oven. Usually, Orappam is eaten by itself. But it also goes well with a spicy curry if you like the hot and sweet combo,” she adds.
To add some fun to the spread, she also has special bunny macarons, which can be enjoyed by kids. “They are filled with white chocolate ganache,” she says.
@hungrypenkutty
non-alcoholic spiced wine
Ingredients:
Black grapes : 1kg
Sugar : 800g
Water : 3.5 litres
Sliced ginger : 180gms
Nutmeg : half, powdered
Cinnamon : 20gms
Cloves : 4nos.
Lime, sliced into 4 pieces : 2nos.
Method: In a pot, cara melise 200gms of sugar.
Once amber brown, add sliced limes, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and half a litre of water. Simmer for 5-8 minutes
Add black grapes and the rest of the sugar
Mix and cook until they’re softened
Pour in the rest of the water
Bring it to a boil and allow it to reduce by an inch
Then cool, strain, pour into a bottle and store in the fridge
Shelf life: Lasts up to two weeks.