Spicy Onion Salad (Sarlas in Malayalam)

This is a very simple salad famous in some parts of Kerala, India. Locally this is known as sarlas (സര്‍ളാസ്). It is also known as sallas (സ‍ള്ളാസ്) in other places. This goes very well with items like cutlets, fish fry etc. There are also variations to this. There is one variation which uses coconut milk. I will post that sometime later when we make them at home.

I prepared this last weekend to go along with the chicken tikka that I had made.

Ingredients

• 2 large onions thinly sliced lengthwise
• 2 green chillies finely chopped
• 1 large tomato chopped into very small pieces
• 2 tbsp of vinegar
• 2 tbsp of salt
• A pinch of black pepper powder (optional)

Method

• In a bowl take the sliced onions and add the salt.
• Using your hands mix the onions and salt well and start squeezing the onion. Continue this for a few minutes, till the onions become crushed and the onion juices have come out
• Now squeeze dry the onion and transfer it to another bowl. Discard the water.
• Add the green chillies, tomato and the vinegar and mix everything well
• Add a pinch of black pepper powder (optional)
• Usually no more salt needs to be added. Taste and add salt if needed.

Serve this with cutlets, fish fry etc.

And one last picture

Dal Makhani

Ingredients

• Whole black lentil (Sabut urad dal) - 250 gm
• Ghee/Oil - 4 tbsp
•  Asafoetida (Hing) - one pinch
• Onion chopped - 1 large
• Tomato chopped - 2 medium
• Chilly powder - ½ tsp
• Turmeric powder - a small pinch
• Coriander powder - ¼  tsp
• Everest garam masala - 1/2 tsp
• Salt to taste

Make a coarsely ground/crushed paste of the following

• Green chilly - 1
• Jeera - 1/2 tsp
• Garlic crushed - 10 cloves
• Ginger crushed - 1" piece

 Method

• Soak the black lentils for 30 minutes in water. (3 cups of water for 1 cup of dal). Drain the water.
• Pressure cook the lentils with 3 cups of water for about 12 minutes (or until it is done). Bring the pressure cooker to full pressure and then lower the flame and let it cook. After about 12 minutes switch off the flame and then let it cool naturally. Once the pressure is completely released, check if the dal is cooked. If it is not, cook for a few minutes again. Open and mash the contents in the cooker slightly.
• Heat a pan and add the ghee/oil
• Add the  asafoetida
• Add the crushed ingredients and saute for about 2 minutes
• Add the onion and saute till they turn translucent
• Add the turmeric powder, chilly powder, coriander powder and garam masala (Everest garam masala)
• Add the chopped onions
• Saute till the masala is cooked
• Add the ingredients of the cooker
• Add water if required (the gravy should be of pouring consistency)
• Cook for about 10 minutes
• Add salt and coriander leaves
• Add a dollop of butter before serving (in that case add a little less salt in the beginning)

This tastes best when it stands for a couple of hours at least after cooking. Serve with hot naans.

Usually people also add one/two tablespoons of kidney beans (rajma) along with the black lentils. You can also add 3-4 tbsp of fresh cream after cooking.

This has been cooked by my wife who is a vegetarian and this is a favourite dish of many vegetarians. This is a very popular Punjabi dish.

Chicken Cutlet

Ingredients for chicken preparation

• 300 gm of boneless chicken breast
• ½ tsp of Kashmiri red chilli powder
• ¼  tsp turmeric powder
• ¼ tsp black pepper powder
• 1 tsp of lemon juice 
• Salt as per taste

Cut the chicken into small pieces. Wash and clean them and then pat them dry with a kitchen towel. Marinate the chicken pieces with the given ingredients for 2 hours. After 2 hours squeeze the chicken dry (remove as much water as possible).

Other ingredients 

• 1 large onion finely chopped 
• 1 tbsp of ginger finely chopped.
• 1 tbsp of garlic finely chopped
• 2 green chillies finely choped
• ½  cup of chopped coriander leaves
• 1 tbsp of chopped mint leaves
• ½ tsp of coriander powder
• 1 tsp of meat masala (optional)
• 1 tsp of cooking oil
• Salt as per need
• 1 large potate boiled and drained and mashed (add salt to this as needed)
• 1 egg broken into a bowl and beat lightly (add a bit of salt too)
• 2 cups of bread crumbs
• Oil for deep frying the cutlets

Method

• Take a pan and heat 1 tbsp of oil.
• Add the chopped onions, ginger, garlic and green chilly. Sauté the onions till they turn translucent.
• Add the coriander powder and the meat masala and sauté the ingredients for a couple of more minutes. Take the ingredients off the pan and cool it.
• Take the chopping attachment of a mixer grinder and add the chicken pieces, cooked onion mixture, mint leaves, coriander leaves and mince everything finely.
• Take the mixture into a bowl and add the mashed potato.
• Knead the whole mixture after adding a little more of spices (chilly powder, coriander powder & meat masala) if needed.
• Make lemon sized balls and flatten the balls.
• Dip them in the egg mixture and coat them with the bread crumbs.
• Deep fry the cutlets till golden brown.
• Serve hot with onion salad (will post the recipe of the onion salad later). It can also be served with any other slightly tart and spicy sauce like tartar sauce.

You can actually make different varieties of the cutlet by varying the spices and ingredients according to your taste.