Memorable Easter brunch 🥂

Easter was last Sunday (4 Apr); we had cousins over for brunch and here’s a glimpse of the spread. Why am I writing a week after Easter? Because things didn’t go as per plan and it’s the little surprises along the way that make the occasion memorable 😌. So let’s start with the menu –

✹Appam and Mutton stew

✹Mutton cutlets

✹Mango and chicken salad

✹Fish biryani

✹Chicken fry

✹Raita and Pappadam

✹Ice cream ( bought from BR)

Since it’s brunch on Sunday morning, there will be little time to make all the dishes that day itself and hence advance prep and cooking is essential.

Friday evening I made the mutton cutlets and stored them in the fridge. On Sunday morning, I just have to coat them with beaten egg and bread crumbs and fry 🥘.

On Saturday, there were three things on the to do list. I made the chicken fry with onion and curry leaves. It’s a very simple dish, but very tasty. It’s good to make it is advance as it lets the flavours soak into the meat. On Sunday, I just have to re-heat it.

I also cooked the mutton for the stew the next day. And I made the batter for the Appam. This was the tricky part. My mom would advice me to say a little prayer while making the Appam batter. I have made Appam many times before and every time, they turned out soft and tasty; but this time Murphy’s Law (“Anything that can go wrong will go wrong”) came into play. The problem was with the yeast; the yeast refused to bloom. Without the yeast, the Appam batter will not ferment. I tried three times to bloom the yeast in the sugar solution. The fourth time, I could see a few bubbles forming and there was the faint characteristic smell of fermentation and I just mixed it with the Appam batter, hoping for the best. But the batter did not ferment as it usually does😏.

Finally Sunday, Easter morning 🌸; I made the mutton stew first. Next was the fish biryani 👉Easy Indian meal (Set #8): Kerala Fish biryani 🍚 . Then I fried the mutton cutlets and made the chicken and mango salad 👉Mango Showers : [1] A Summer salad 🥗 .

Finally it was time to make the Appams. The batter did not rise. There were bubbles seen. So instead of the usual Palappam, I made Vellayappam. Vellayappams are small flat Appams, made on a hot tawa. I was skeptical about them, but happily, it turned out great and we had the traditional Appam and Stew for Easter 😋. Last was making the raita and frying the pappadams.