Quail Tomato Curry - Hot Food Lover:)

Kaadai Thakkali Kuzhambu:

Other Names: Kaadai Curry. Fiery hot Quail Curry. Hot and Spicy Quail Curry. Kaadai Thakkali Masala.

Ingredients:

Quails 1 pound(Cage free bird/ peasant bird)
Garlic 2 whole head, peeled and grated
Country Tomatoes large 3-6 (made into puree)
Dry Red Chilies 10-15 (Roasted and Powdered)
Turmeric 1/4 spoon
Lemon 1 large fruit
Mustard seeds 1 spoon
Cumin seeds 1/2 spoon
Fenugreek seeds 1/4 spoon
Asafoetida 1/2 spoon
Dry red chilies 3 - crisply fried for decoration
Curry leaves crisply fried for decoration
Sesame oil 1 cups

Method:


In a large non-stick wok, heat oil. Add mustard, cumin, fenugreek seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves. Let them pop and splutter well. Set aside to garnish.

Marinate the birds with salt, lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder and pinch of turmeric.

In a wide wok, add oil. Add garlic and fry them till fragrant. Then followed by chili flakes/powder...fry till fragrant.

Stir-in marinated meat along with its juice. Fry real good till opaque.

Now add tomato puree to it. Cover and cook over medium heat. This gravy will splatter around your stove top. So keep it covered.

Once gravy consistency is achieved and oil shows up on top, remove from heat.

Squeeze lemon juice if necessary. Garnish with the tempering spices(step 1).

Serve warm to go with you plain steamed rice, idly, dosa or barotta/roti.

Grilled Quails - Tandoored Quails/ Kaadai Tandoori

Tandoored Quails:

Ingredients:

Spices to be Toasted & Powdered:

Cinnamon
Cloves
Cardamom
Peppercorns
Coriander seeds
Tymol seeds
Chironji
Saffron

Use only a pinch of above spice blend.

Other Ingredients:

Black Salt
Regular Salt
Chili powder
Kashmiri chili powder
Red food color
Turmeric
Lemon juice
Yogurts (hung)
Ginger-garlic paste
Onion paste
Mint paste
Few cubes of butter/ghee for basting
Chaat masala to garnish.

About 1-2 spoons of above ingredients (ratio? you must decide).

Method:

Marinate the quails with plain salt, lemon juice and chili powder for about a hour.

Then followed by all the above mentioned items, except ghee.

Maybe for couple of hours will do!

Now, smear them with ghee and grill them till crisp on the outside.

If you prefer to do it in the oven, bake them for 30 minutes over 350 degrees and and broil them briefly for 2 minutes, often changing its position!

Enjoy!!

Quail in Country Style Curry

Quail Curry:

Kaadai Thanni Kuzhambu. Quail / Pheasant bird Curry.

Ingredients:

Quail - 2 (cut into small pieces)
Green chilies 3 sliced
Onion 1 grated
Ginger 2" julienned
Garlic 6 cloves julienned
Tomatoes 2 crushed
Salt
Turmeric 1/4 spoon
Chili powder 1 spoon
Pepper powder 1 spoon
Sesame oil few spoon
Cumin seeds
Curry leaves
Cilantro to garnish.

Method:

In a wide vessel, heat oil. Add cumin,chilies and curry leaves, wait till they splutter.

Now add ginger, garlic, crushed onions and salt...let the raw odour leave the pan and onions turns to golden color.

Now add tomatoes plus meat pieces. Saute for few minutes...until meat turns opaque.

Followed by turmeric, chili and ppper powders. Fry over high for few minutes and then add 4 cups of water, cover and cook for 10-12 minutes or till the meat becomes tender and nice.

Garnish with cilantro leaves, serve warm to go with your plain steamed rice.

Quail Pakoda

Quail Pakoda:

Kaadai Pakoda. Kaadai Pakora. Deep fried Quails. Fried Quails.

I love this tender birds! They are gamier in taste, low in calories, better than chicken, low fat/thin skin...pretty fast in getting cooked! What else do we want!! Hmmm today I deep fried it, just for a variation! They turned out super crispy!

Ingredients:

Quails 1-2 chopped to bite size
Salt
Chili powder 1 spoon
MSG 1 pinch
Soy sauce 2 spoons
Ginger-garlic paste 1 spoon
Egg whites 1
Lemon juice few spoons
Corn flour 4 spoons
Oil for deep frying
Curry leaves fried to garnish
Garlic 6-8 chopped & fried to garnish.

Method:

Marinate meat with all the ingredients mentioned above(except oil & garnish items). Let this sit for about 2 whole hours.

Heat oil in a wok. When it comes to smoky hot...deep fry them quickly for about 2-4 minutes.

Garnish with curry leaves and garlic. Enjoy as a snack/appetizer.

Quail Biriyani

Quail Biriyani:

Kaadai Biriyani. Peasant bird & spicy rice dish.

Food and culture go hand in hand and leaves its own print in history. India has layers of history still not erased. The country has witnessed more than a dozen of invaders and with every invader came a different culture and a new cuisine!!

Arab travelers and invaders introduced strong spices and several recipes to India, the most popular of which is the Biriyani. The fusion of different cultures and different food habits has refined the Biriyani recipe as to what it is today.

The word 'Biryani' comes from the Parsi word 'Birian' meaning 'Fried Before Cooked'. Based on the cooking style, rice is fried before cooking. The original recipe can be traced back to Persia or modern day Iran. This was a royal dish for the Indian Kings and rulers. The Royal kitchen used to boast itself with varieties of meat - deer, hare, duck and quail!!!

Since the Mughal empire was widely spread, their Biriyani recipe can be still be found in places where the Mughals had a foothold even after they are long gone. The local and outside influences fused to create a few unique styles of biriyani.

Nawaab of Arcot, a small time south Indian ruler introduced several meat recipes to Tamilians. Arcot biriyani gets its unique flavour from strong south Indian chilies and short grain rice(Seeraga Samba). Duck, Turkey and Quail biriyani is still common in the country side.

Ingredients:

For Meat Marination:

Quail/any mid sized bird 2
Ginger-garlic paste 1 spoon(freshly prepared)
Green chili 2 minced
Scallion 1 grated
Country Tomato 1 grated
Mint 6-8 leaves bruised
Cilantro leaves bruised few
Lemon 1 fruit freshly squeezed
Rock Salt
Chili Powder 1/4 spoon
Yogurts 1/4 cup.

For Biriyani:

Short Grained Rice 2 cups
Green chilies 6 slitted
Onions 2 sliced
Tomatoes 6 chopped
Salt
Chili powder (optional...its not used generally)
Mint 10 leaves
Cilantro few leaves
Ghee 1 cup.

Spices:

Cloves 3
Cinnamon 2 sticks
Cardamom 6 crushed
Bay leaves 3 crumbled
Star anise 2
Marati Mokku 3
Rose petal few(dried)
Birinji flower 1
Saffron few strands - tapped

Method:

In a wide crock pot, heat ghee. Throw in all the spices. Let them crackle up.

Then add chilies, wait till it splutters and turns white.

Followed by onions...fry real good till golden. Maybe add salt o hasten your process.

Now tomatoes....cover and cook. When tomatoes turn pulpy, add chili powder.

Stir-in marinated meat. Cover and cook till meat is tender!

When the meat is tender and oil shows up on top, make sure there is no extra moisture. Then stir-in rice.

Let the rice get well fried for brief period. Then measure your water and add the same.

Cover and cook in a least possible heat. I always slow cook under sim, the no-1 knob here. Again it takes 1- 11/2 on stove top. Well one could set these in oven over 350 degrees for 3 whole hours. Choice is yours!

Enjoy with accompany of Vellore Serva, Spanish Onion raita and Hard boiled egg!

Quail Roast

Close-up!:)

Quail Roast

Quails Pan Roast

Quails Raw Meat

Quails in Wild

Quails Roast:

The Quail is called 'Bater' in Hindi. We call it has 'kaadai' or 'Goudhari' in Tamil. (Ofcource both are entirely different species )Quail is a small type of bird that belongs to the Pheasant family. There are two species of quail in India; the black-breasted quail found in jungle (Coturnix Coromandelica) and the brown-coloured Japanese Quail(Coturnix Coturnix Japonica) which is bred for meat or the one used for commercial Quail production. Until few years ago it was a game bird, hunted for pleasure and meat. Now it has been commercially cultured everywhere. The commercially cultured species are Japanese varieties called Couturnix quails.

Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds in the pheasant family Phasianidae, or in the family Odontophoridae. The Old World species (Europe, Africa, Asia) . The New World quails(endemic to America) are not closely related, but are named for their similar appearance and behaviour. Anyways...as far as I get some quails here at Oxford, I am fine with any species!:)

According to gourmets, it is tastier than chicken. The breast and legs are considered delicacies. The meat is more gamier in taste! Besides taste, meat promotes good body and brain development in children. Best balanced food for pregnant and nursing mothers! The skin is so thin and less in fat content (very low calorific value) but more of phospholipds. So no worries of Cholesterol!

When compared to chicken meat(in raw) we get the following results:

When Quails have 73.93% moisture, chicken has 73-87%. Quails have 20.54% of protein compared with 20.66%. Fat 3.85% while for chicken 3.61%. Carbohydrate is so less 0.56% while chicken has 0.78%. Minerals account about 1.12% has chicken has 1.08%. Doesnt this sound amazing! I know some of you are thinking very intelligent now....what is the great difference, right! Hey imagine the size of the quails and chicken, please!

This is the first time I spotted some frozen quails in Walmart. Although not exactly like Indian Peasant bird(kaadai/ kowdhari). It was at least mid-sized bird. I thought of charcoal grilling them after a nice rub with Indian spices. Since it was so cold outside....decided to put them in an oven. So to get away with raw garlicky odour...was pan roasting them for a while...before taking it to the oven. And imagine what...it was half cooked by the time. So concluded as Pan-Roast! Doesn't that sound nice!

Ingredients:

Quails 2
Garlic 1 whole head (peeled and grated)
Dry red chilies 1 fistful (toasted and grated)
Curry laves few (used them dry here...so crumbled)
Country tomatoes 2 finely chopped
Salt
Turmeric 1/4 spoon
Sesame oil few spoons
Cilantro.

Method:

Heat oil, in a wide pan. Add chili flakes,c Curry leaves and garlic. Fry real good....until the whole house is aromatic with nice garlic odour.

Now stir-in tomatoes...fry till they wilt and oil shows up on sides.

Add salt and turmeric. Now add whole of chopped quails. Fry them over low heat...until they coat oil, spices and getting cooked. Constantly roll them to finish cooking thoroughly all the sides(applies to one uses whole quails). One could possibly take it to oven roast. Must be great that way!

Serve to go with regular rasam rice or dhall rice.

Neer Kozhi Milagu Perattal:

Quail Pepper Fry. Quail Pepper Roast. Water Fowl Pepper Fry. Neer Kozhi - Water Hen/fowl.

Its a variety of hen, a water fowl actually. I am not sure about its Zoological name. Its a game bird, very small....and has very slender legs. Much like miniature Kokku(crane). Its hunted for its meat. The meat is very gamier in taste! Well.....its not found all the time in the regular market. One need to go to speciality fowl market. If you found one....try this recipe! Since all the game birds/peasant fowls and mid sized birds are categorised under Quails here. I list the same...preapre quails in the similar fashion! Digg in!

Ingredients:

Game Fowls 2-4
Sesame oil - 1 cup
Garlic 1 whole head - peeled & semi crushed
Mustard seeds 1/2 spoon
Cumin seeds 1/2 spoon
Salt
Turmeric powder 1/2 spoon
Chili powder 2 spoons
Peppercorns 2-4 spoons(powder them without toasting it previously)
Curry leaves 1 cup
Mint to garnish.

Method:

In a heavy bottomed skillet, heat 2 spoons of sesame oil.

Add Mustard and cumin seeds. Let this crackle up. Add curry leaves too.

Then followed by Garlic...fry till fragrant.

Now stir-in meat. Saute for few minutes. Maybe until it turns opaque(protein denatures) Now add in little salt and turmeric powder(1/4 spoon). Saute for few more minutes. Add 1 cup of water, cover and cook over medium heat.

When the meat is alomost doen, add chili and pepepr powder...fry over high heat.

Serve warm to go with your steamed rice.

Kaadai Masala:(Chettinad Style)

Hotel Ponnusamy Style Kaadai Masala. Quail Chettinad. Quail Chettinad Masala. Game bird/fowl in Feiry Hot Masala.

Ingredients:

Quils/Game Birds/ Kaadai - 4 or 6
Salt
Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
bay leaf 1
Sesame oil 1/4 cup.

To be fried in Little Oil and Wet-Ground Coarsely:

Purple Onion 1
Ginger 2"
Garlic 3-4 cloves
Country Tomatoes 2

To be Toasted Each Separately & Powdered Together:

Cinnamon 1-2 sticks
Cloves 3
Cardamom pods 3
Coriander seeds 1 fistful
Pepper corns 1-2 spoons
Dry red chilies 6-8
Fennel seeds 1 spoon
Poppy Seeds 1-2 spoons
Coconut freshly grated 1/2 cup

To Garnish:

Crisply Fried Curry Leaves 1 cup.

Method:

Wash and clean the birds. Remove its beak and gut. Wash thoroughly to remove even the fine feathers. Set aside.

In a wide, non-stick or Iron wok, heat oil. Add Bay leaf. Then followed by wet-ground paste.

Add salt and turmeric to it. Fry really good, maybe till oil shows up on sides and aromatic!

Now stir-in quills. Cover and cook over medium heat. One could add 1 cup of water.

When the meat is tender, add powdered spices and continue cooking without lid. Maybe till its raw odour leaves the pan and oil shows up on sides.

Garnish with curry leaves.

Serve warm as a side dish for South Indian Meals/ chappathi, Appam, Dosa....etc

Kaadai 65:

Deep Fried Quails. Fried Japanese Quails.

Quail is called 'Kaadai' in Tamil. Its a wild /game bird.

Ingredients:

Quils 6
Ground cinnamon powder 1/2 spoon
Ground cloves powder 1/2 spoon
Ground coriander seeds powders 2 spoons
Ground black pepper 1 spoon
Red chili powder 1-2 spoons
Red food color 1 pinch
Salt
Ginger paste 2 spoons
Garlic paste 2 spoons
Lemon juice 1 cup
Egg white from 2 eggs
Rice flour 2 spoons
Oil for frying
Crisply fried curry leaves 1 cup for decoration
Crisply fried sliced green chilies for decoration
Crisply fried chopped garlic 1 cup for decoration.

Method:

In a large bowl, add all the ingredients except oil, quils and decorating items.

Mix them thoroughly and bring them to wet-paste form.

Now wash and clean the quils and try to remove even the minute fine feathers from it.

Now rub-in the masala(the paste above). One can poke the bird....at 4-6 places, to get it well marinated.

Set this aside for atleast whole 2 hours.

Then....heat oil. Deep fry them. Just 2-3 at a time. Fry till deep-red color. Maybe over medium heat.

When it is crispy, fragrant and deep-red in color. Serve them warm over banana leaf. Garnish them with crisply fried curry leaves, garlic and green chilies.

Can be treated as starter or side dish for meals or even as evenning snacks.