Varutthuaraccha chicken curry

Varuthuaracha chicken curry, chicken in fried coconut gravy.I made my Lil' one Ram who is almost 3 years to help me on this dish for TRS's Little chefs in the kitchen .Oh..boy..was that fun?..fun or more work for me clean up after his help.He usually likes to sit on the counter top while i am cooking.He likes to point out on things around the kitchen and ask "amma whatz that?".He will keep on asking until he is tired or i am getting restless...:)).This time i asked him to separate pods from garlic,oh..boy ..he was so excited.and again, i was worried 'coz he had just made a mess on the coffee table with water.My H was asking are you sure you wanna do this ?..hahaha.By this time R had started his job.I was telling him to pose his hands for the snaps also again n' again while he was busy helping me.R finally got frustrated and threw all the garlic pods on the table and filled the bowl with his cereal and start eating it.Anyways did a good job on garlic...:)).Thanks to TRS for intiating such a good blog event, may be by next time R will be more helpful than this.

Varuaraccha chicken curry

Ingredients

Chicken - 1 cornish hen (cut into medium pieces)
Ginger garlic paste - 1 1/2 tbsp
Chilli powder- 1tsp
Dania powder - 1tsp
Turmeric powder - 1tsp
Onion - 1 medium sized (chopped)
Tomatoes - 1 large (chopped)
Green chillies - 2
Garam masala - 1/2tsp
Coconut- 3tbsp
Fennel seeds - 1/2tsp
Curry leaves - as needed.
Oil - as needed
Salt - as needed


Method

Fry coconut and fennel seeds in 1 tsp of oil till golden brown and grind it into a fine paste.In a pressure cooker, heat oil and fry onions till golden brown.Now add green chillies,gg paste and tomatoes one by one and fry well.Then add all the powders and fry till the raw smell goes.Finally add chicken and salt and mix well.Add just enough water(i had added 1/2 cup) and cook it for 1 whistle.Switch off the heat.Once the pressure is gone, open the cooker.Add the grinded coconut paste and let boil on medium heat till nice aroma comes.serve hot with rice,roti.







Tips : If you could, do avoid adding water while cooking chicken.Chicken tastes much better if you allow it to cook on its own water.while cooking in a pressure cooker, just add lilttle bit of water to avoid buring.

Inji Kashayam

Inji kashayam, a medicinal drink made with fresh ginger,pepper,coriander seeds and jaggery.This is mother in law's famous recipe to make us all feel better when we are down with cold,indigestion or even nausea.Simple and easy to make and this is my entry for JFI-Ginger by Rosie.

Ingredients

Fresh ginger - 1 inch piece
Coriander seeds - 1tbsp
Whole Peppercorns - 1tbsp
Jaggery - 3tbsp(use it according to your taste)
Water - 2 cups

Method

Crush ginger in a mortar.Add water in a sauce pan and heat it.While its heating add ginger,coriander seeds, pepper and jaggery.Bring this to a boil and let it boil for about 5-6 minutes.Sieve it through a tea filter.Serve hot to feel better.



Tips : While buying ginger, look for the longer ginger root 'cause, the longer the ginger root, the fresher it is.

Challah

It's been long since i baked something good.So decided to bake and started looking into my fav.Cook book "America's test kitchen".Whatever i tried from this book, came out very well.So finally made my mind on this eggy braided bread from Jewish cuisine.Got attracted to this bread just because of the braids.The end product was so good didn't feel like eating it.After started eating it, couldn't stop ..:))These make sensational french toast also.





Ingredients

All Purpose flour - 3 and 1/2 cups
Water (warm) - 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp
Butter - 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Eggs - 2 (large)
Egg yolk - 1 (large)
Egg yolk - 1 (large)
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Instant or rapid rise yeast - 1 envelope ( 2 1/4 tsp)
Salt - 1 1/4tsp
Sesame seeds or poppy seeds - 1tsp (optional)


Method

You can mix the dough either with hand, or stand mixer or even processor.I am posting the food processer method here.Whisk 1/2 cup of the water,butter,eggs, and egg yolk together in a liquid measuring cup.Pulse 3 cups of the flour,sugar,yeast and salt in a food processor(fitted with a dough blade if possible) to combine.With the processor running,pour the egg mixture through the feed tube and process until a rough ball forms, 30 to 40 sec.s.Let the dough rest for 2 min.s, then process for 30 sec.s longer.Turn the dough out onto a clean counter and knead by hand to form a smooth, round ball, about 5 minutes, adding the remaining 1/ cup flour as needed to prevent the dough from sticking to the counter.Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 and 1 1/2 hours.

Whisk the egg white and the remaining 1 tbsp water together to make egg wash.Turn the dough into a lightly floured counter.Divide the dough into two, one twice as large as the other.Divide each dough into 3 pieces and roll each piece out into 16 - inch ropes( three ropes will be much thicker).Braid two loaves,(just like braiding our hair),one large and one small.Transfer the large braid to a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, brush with egg wash, and secure the smaller braid on top.cover with greased plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place until it has nearly doubled in size and springs back slowly when intended with a finger, 30 to 60 minutes.( i had a small amount of dough left over after braiding, so just made a smaller braid and attached it to the top end)

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees.Brush the loaf with the remaining egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.Bake until golden, 30 to 40 minutes.Transfer the bread to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature before slicing, about 2 hours.( again i couldn't wait till that time :))





Tips : For easier dough rising, especially on these winter days, heat the oven to 200 degress and then switch it off.After 10 minutes or so, place the dough inside the oven.I use the same method sometimes for dosa batter fermentation.In not so wintery days, just switch on the oven light and place the dough inside.

AFAM -Banana Update

Thank you all for your delicious entries.Shall do the round up by 25th of this month.
as this event was announced on a short time,those who are planning to participate but didn't get time to post the recipe and send me the link and pic, can do it on or before 24th.Thanks again ...

Lo mein noodles with Orange chicken

This is veggie lomein noodle with Asha's Orange chicken.

Lomein Noodles with Veggies

Ingredients

Noodles - 1 hand full
Red pepper - 1/2 (sliced)
Green pepper - 1/2 ( sliced)
Onion - 1/2 (sliced)
Cabbage - 1/2 cup (shredded)
Olive Oil - as needed

For Sauce

Corn starch - 1tbsp
Soy sauce - 1tsp
Hot chilli sauce - 1tsp
Salt - as needed


Method

Cook the noodles in boiling water with a drop of olive oil (so that they don't stick) and little salt.Drain them and keep it aside.In a pan, heat olive oil and saute onion, peppers and finaaly add cabbage and salt.Just saute them, do not fry them fully.They should have that crunchy taste.Now make the sauce by mixing the ingredients listed under "For sauce" with little water.Pour this into the veggies and and keep stirring it.('coz the corn starch will get thick too fast and you don't want lumps of sauce in the noodle).Finally add noodles and toss it well with the veggies.I serve them hot with Asha's Ginger chicken.




Tips : Always add few drops of oil while cooking noodles to keep them from sticking.Pouring cold water on cooked noodles as soon as they are drianed will also prevent them from sticking.

Black channa theeyal

This is my entry for Pooja of My creative ideas's Vegetable of the Week - Dried beans.


Ingredients

Black channa - 1 cup (pre soaked and cooked)
Shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
Shallots - 5 -6
Garlic - 3-4 pods
Pepper corns - 1tbsp
Chilly powder - 1tsp
Dania powder - 1tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Jeera - 1tsp
Curry leaves - 3-5 leaves.
Tamarind - lemon sized ball.


For tadka

Mustard seeds, urad dal, vendhayam/fenugreek,curry leaves.



Method

Soak black channa overnight and pressure cook it for 2 whistles.Soak tamarind in water and extract the juice.Keep it aside.In a pan,on medium low flame ,heat 2tbsp of oil and fry jeera.Now add coconut and fry till they are almost golden.Now add shallots, garlic,curry leaves,pepper,chilly powder,dania powder and tumeric powder one at a time and keep frying till the aroma comes.(frying this well is the key part).After this cools down , grind it into a smooth paste.Now in another pan, heat oil and do the tadka.Add he grinded paste,tamarind extract and salt.Let it boil well(on med-high) till the raw smell goes and the liquid is getting thicker.Now add Channa and cover n' cook for few more min.s.Finally open and cook for some more min.s and serve it hot with rice.





Tips : You can prepare and store this fried coconut mixture for days.Coconut won't get spoiled once it's fried well.

Banana-Strawberry shake.

Thanks you all for the AFAM-Banana entries.Hope to receive more entries from rest of you.This is my second entry to AFAM - Banana.This again one of my son's fav.milk shakes.




Ingredients

Banana - 2
Strawberry - 4 Fresh or frozen (i used pretty big ones)
Sugar - 5tsp
Milk - 2 cups(cold)
Ice cubes - a few
Vanilla/strawberry flavored iceceram - 1 scoop (optional)

Method

Blend all the ingredients together till it's foamy and serve immediately.again i use skim milk and no ice cream for me.And for the lil' one i use whole milk and ice cream.If you are using ice cream then skip sugar.




Tips : Frozen strawberries are the best for drinks like this.They are much more easy for storing and economical.

Just a reminder...

Just a reminder for AFAM - Banana.Hoping to receive more entries by 20th of this month.Thanks in advance

Chiili Chicken

MBP - Monthly Blog Patrolling, an exciting new blog even intiated by Coffee of My Kazhana of Recipes to thank/honor all the fellow foodies out there by trying out their recipes.As soon as i heard about this, the first thing that came to my mind was Asha.Asha of Foodie's hopewas one of the first visitors to this blog and encouraged me to go on with it.What is more perfect than this event to thank her for supporting and encouraging me.so i searched through her blog, and finally decided to go with Chilli chicken,which was a hard decision to make since she had so many goodies there.Thanks Asha for sharing such wonderful recipes with us.

Thanks to Coffee for hosting this wonderful event.Thanks to all fellow foodies who got me going and hoping to thank each one of you through this event




I served her chilli chicken with Chappathis instead of Pita bread,onion relish and substituted chillies for capsicums.Check out more of Asha's delicious recipes here

Tips :Split green chillies can be used to make thick home made yogurt.Just put one split green chilli in the milk+1tbsp of live yogurt mixture before keeping it for curding.(hmm...is there a word like that?..hope you got the idea).

Banana-Peanut butter smoothie.

Snow...yeap..it was snowing the whole day yesterday.After about a full month of pretty "hot" winter, we are just slowly getting the touch of the real winter.Maybe mother nature thought...hmmm..OK....that's just enough for these people..letz bring out the snow.Yesterday it was snowing the whole day and i had to get out for groceries.Though H alerted me day before itself and asked me to buy everything which of course i neglected.So today here i am stuck with whatever in the pantry.Wanted to make banana milkshake but no ice cream and suddenly my fridge stopped making ice cubes..duh..so got stuck with bananas, which of course i brought a bunch as soon as it was selected as theme.So finally decided to make smoothie with banana and peanut butter which is Ram's favourite.So here goes the recipe,hope you enjoy it.This is my entry for AFAM-Banana





Ingredients

Banana - 1 (riped)
Peanut butter - 1 1/2tsp (used the fat free one)
Sugar - 1tbsp ( he likes it sweet, so i added lilttle more)
Cold milk - 1 cup (i use whole milk for him and 2% or skim milk for me)

Method

Blend all together till smoothie is foamy.Garnish with banana slices.Serve it immediately.





Tips : To make bananas ripe faster, place them in a paper bag overnight.Frozen bananas are also good for smoothies.While making fruit salads using bananas, use little bit of lemon juice to prevent banana from turing brown,





For more about Banana and it's benefits click here

Akkara vadisal - a pongal special

Wishing you all very very happy pongal...

Ingredients

Rice - 1/4cup
Channa dal/Kadalai paruppu - 1/4 cup
Moong dal/Pasi paruppu - 1/4 cup
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Jaggery/Vellam - 1/2cup(Use according to your sweet tooth)
Cardamom powder - 1tsp
Saffron - few strands
Cashew nuts - 5
Raisins - 5
2% Milk - 1 cup
Water - as needed.

Method

In a pan heat 1 tbsp of ghee and fry channa dal and moong dal separately.Boil jaggery with 1 cup of water and pass it through a sieve to remove any sand.In a pressure cooker, add cleaned rice, channa dal, moong dal, jaggery water, milk,cardamom powder, saffron and enough water.Pressure cook them for about 6-8 whistles.(changes according to your cooker).In a pan, heat 1 tbsp of ghee and fry raisins and cashews.Pour these into the pongal and serve.






Tips: Use Thiruniru/basmam/vibhuthi for cleaning Vizhakku/oil lamps.This will help remove the black colored oil remains on the lamp.

Chicken 65

An easy,spicy and tasty appetizer...

Ingredients

Chicken - 4 breast pieces (cut into bite size pieces)
Onion - 1 (cut into big pieces)
Green chillies - 4 (slit)
Oil - as needed
Coriander leaves - for garnishing

For marinating chicken

Ginger garlic paste - 3tbsp
Red chilli powder - 3tsp
Salt - as needed
Red food color - a pinch
Lime juice - 1tsp
Corn flour - 1 (optional)

Method

In a bowl, mix chicken,gg paste,food color,red chilli powder,corn flour,salt and lime juice well and keep aside for about 45 minutes for marination.The longer you keep the more tasty it is.As i was out of time i kept only for 45 minutes.After marination, deep fry all the pieces and drain out excess oil by placing it on the paper towel.Take 2 tsp of that oil in another pan and saute onions slightly.Garnish chicken 65 using this sauted onions, slit green chillies and chopped coriander leaves.

P.S :I have seen in some restuarents they serve this with some slightly sauted shredded cabbage.




This is cozy chenile scarf i knitted for myself...





Tips : While buying chicken in large quantity, like from stores like sam's club,as soon as get home divide them into individual portions and put in separate ziploc bags.Squeeze max air out of the ziploc before closing and put in the freezer.This is healthy and you can avoid thawing and freezing the whole packet again n' again each time you cook chicken.

A Fruit A Month

Photo Source wikipedia

An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away,Your Food Shall Be Your Medicine - just two of the many proverbs/quotes telling us the importance of fruit,food and diet.Fruits,been there as a good diet for man since ADAM n' EVE.They so rich with minerals, vitamins, etc.They are known to be good remedy for some of the common illness and for much serious health issues.For example,Grapefruit juice is known to be good for cold while Pomegranate fruit is good for your heart.It's shame, if you are like me who doesn't take as much as fruit as needed.So i thought of this idea of making us eat more fruit through FOOD BLOGGING which we love and have in common.So here is AFAM - A Fruit A Month.Rule are pretty much the same as other Blog Events.


1.Based on the fruit of the month, you have to come up with a recipe with the fruit in any form fresh or dried.

2.Post the recipe on your blog and if you could post the picture also by 20 th of the month.

3.If you can, write more info about the fruit.Like my mom always says Pomegranate fruit is good for your healh especially for your heart.Some of might know about home medicine used for common cold/fever using fruits.

4.Email me your name,the pic,permalink of your recipe/pic to beyondusual@gmail.com with AFAM -(fruit name)as the subject.

5.Fruit of the month will be announced during the first week of that month. You have to email me your post by the 20th of that month and the final round up will be done in the last ten days.

So here is the fruit of this month "BANANA" suggested by Lakshmik.

Hoping to see more of you participate and spread the word about AFAM around the Blogworld.

Fruits

As new year begins, most of us must have taken up or trying hard to take up the biggest resolution of all "Getting Fit".Well,as fruits play an important role on this resolution, how about selecting each fruit for a month and sharing the recipes.
Let me know , if you all are interested we could proceed and select the fruit of this month...ok..

Chettinad Chicken Kuruma and Three things Meme...

Ingredients

Chicken - 2 lbs
Onion - 2 (medium sized)
Tomato - 2 (roma )
Ginger garlic paste - 2tbsp
Red Chilli powder - 1tsp
Dania powder - 1tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2tsp
Green chillies - 2
Pepper powder - 1tsp
Perunjeeragam - 1tsp |
Cardamom - 2 |can subsitute whole garam masalas with 1tsp of garam masala pwd
Cinnamon - 1 |
Cloves - 2 |
Oil - as needed
Curry leaves - as needed
Salt - as needed

For grinding

Coconut - 2tbsp
Pottu kadalai/Dalia - 2tbsp



Method

Cut Chicken into medium pieces and clean it.In a pan, heat oil and fry all the whole garam masalas and then add green chillies and onion.Fry till onions are golden brown.Now add ggpaste and tomatoes.Fry well till tomatoes are fully cooked and add chiili,dania,pepper and turmeric powders.Fry till raw smell is gone and then add grounded coconut+dalia paste.Fry for about 4 mins.Finally add chicken, salt,curry leaves and just enough water.Mix well and cover and cook for 10 min.s on medium flame.Then open and cook till chicken is well cooked and gravy is thick.Serve hot with idly,rice or roti.










Three things Meme

First, Thanks to Lakshmiammal for tagging me.I really enjoyed writing this...


Three things that make me laugh

1.My son's "mm sorry","Thankku","hat appened"..in his way..just cracks me up..
2.Stupid n' hilarious dance moves by H
3.Any good cinema comedy

Two things that made me cry

1.Having my son ...it was a happy cry though..
2.When H doesn't listen or gives no attention when i am serious abt something (like his smoking).


Three things that make me scare

1.Darkness
2.Traffic police..yeap..i don't know why..?
3.My son getting hurt or something


Three things I love

1.Honesty
2.Son,Hubby and Family
3.Friends


Three things I hate

1.Hate itself
2.Lying
3.My Patience...(I'm very very patient)


Three things I don’t understand

1.Talking about others when you have your own handsfull to handle?
2.What inspires any person to invent things..like what insipired to go to the moon?
3.Why start too many knitting/crochet all at the same time with a toddler in the home?


Three things on my desk

1.Vicks Vaporub (i am addicted to it)
2.My Notebook in which i write Sriramajayam.
3.TV Remote


Three things I am doing right now

1.Watching David Letterman while typing this
2.Waiting for my lil' one to finish his milk
3.Watching Dad and son fight in the bed...(their bedtime ritual)

Three things I can do

1.Talk nonstop and loud(this got me into playing MIL in a school play):)))
2.Laugh and make others laugh
3.And some cooking,knitting,etc etc


Three things one should never listen to

1.Others
2.Others
3.and others ( always listen to yourself...)


Three favourite foods

1.Amma's idly with onion chutney
2.Grandma's Theeyal with rice
3.MIL's Sambhar,Aviyal and Thayir pacchadi


Three beverages I drink regularly

1.Coffee in the morning which H makes
2.Water (is it considered as a beverage?)
3.Leftover juice from son's zippy cup.


Three Tv shows I watched / books I read as a kid

1.Ramayan
2.Lotz of Rajendrakumar
3.All kinda magazines like Vikatan,Kumudam(Yeap, don't remember reading any cartoons or comic books)


Three fellow bloggers I would like to tag

Mallugirl of Malluspice
Viji of vcuisine
Nidhi of Cooking made easy

Beans Poriyal

Ingredients

Beans - 1 cup (chopped)
Coconut - 2tbsp
Jeera - 1tsp
Garlic - 1pod
Curry leaves - as needed
Red chillies - 2
Salt - as needed
Oil - 2tsp
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Urad dal -1/2 tsp

For grinding

Grind coconut,jeera,garlic and curry leaves into coarse paste.


Method

Cook Beans in microwave for about 5-8 mts(Do not over cook it,in alternate way you can cook it in the pan itself).In a pan, heat oil.Fry mustard seeds, urad dal, red chillies and curry leaves.Add cooked beans and salt and saute well.Finally add the coconut paste and saute till raw smell is gone.Serve with rice.

Paneer chappathi

As most of you might know about Nidhi of Cooking made easy won the Emeril Scratch contest and made us all proud.Paneer was her winning recipe.So i decided to make this paneer chappathi as of way of congratulating her.Congrats Nidhi...


Paneer chappathi


Ingredients

Paneer - 1/4 lb (cut into small pieces)
Atta - 2 and 1/2 cups
Salt - as needed
Butter - 2tbsp (softned)
Jeera - 2tsp


Method

In a food processor, put atta,paneer,salt,jeera,butter and mix it into a soft dough using water.Be careful while adding water, not too much.If you don't have a food processor, shred paneer fine using a shredder and mix everything with hand as you do for chappathi dough.Thanks to Saffron of Saffron hut for this method of using food processor for mixing paneer well with the dough.This makes mixing very easy.Let the dough rest for 30-40 mts.Dough will be very soft because of paneer and butter.Make about 20 balls out of the dough and roll into chappathis.In a hot tawa, cook each chappathi till golden brown on both sides.There is no need to add any oil while cooking it.There you have it nice and soft paneer chappathis.I served it with Aloo sabji.

Kadai Prawn with potato

Today, the whole day i am trying post this recipe, but blogger wouldn't let me.And i couldn't visit any of other blogs or neither could i post comments.Did any of you go thru this?.Anyways finally at 10.30 pm , i could finally log into my account.So before blogger hangs up on me again let me go straight to the recipe....

My Cousin sis used rave about this dish alot.Whenever i talked about prawn, this is the only dish she kept on saying.So this sunday, i decided make this dish and called her for the recipe.Amazingly she was also making this one..:)..well i guess wise women think alike or may be we are just women thinking all the time about food n' food only..:))


Ingredients

Shrimp - 10-12 (i used cooked frozen ones)
Potato - 2 medium ones (cut into small cubes)
Onion - 1 (chopped fine)
Perunjeeragam/Fennel - 1 1/2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 2tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2tsp
Red chilli powder - 2tsp
Dania powder - 1tsp
Curry leaves - as needed
Salt - as needed
Oil - 2tsp

Method

In a pan, heat oil and fry fennel and curry leaves.Fry onions till golden brown.Once onions are fried well add gg paste and fry.Add turmeric,chilli and dania powders.Fry well till raw smell goes.Add potato,salt and mix well. Cover and cook till potatoes are almost cooked.Now add shrimps and cook till almost all gravy is evaporated.(There won't be much of gravy since we didn't add any water).Since i used cooked shrimp, i added it alomost at the end.If you are using fresh shrimp,you might have to add it bit earlier.Serve hot with rice/roti.

Chakkakuru aviyal/Jackfruit seed aviyal

Jack fruit seeds, i just love them.My grandma used to give us this seeds boiled with salt.Just love them.Whenever she buys a jackfruit, she stores the seeds just for us.You can make this aviyal,even poriyal with this seeds.Check this another chakkakuru recipe from Annita of My Treasure My pleasure.

Ingredients

Jackfruit seeds - 1cup (sliced)
Coconut - 3tbsp
Jeera - 1tsp
Garlic - 1 pod
Small onion - 1
Green chillies - 4-5
Turmeric powder - 1/2tsp
Oil - 2tsp
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Urad dal -1/2tsp
Curry leaves -as needed
Yogurt - 2tbsp
Salt - as needed


Method

Grind coconut,jeera,garlic,small onion,curry leaves,green chillies and turmeric powder into coarse paste.I used frozen jack fruit seeds, which came sliced.Thaw one cup of jackfruit seeds.In a pan, cook jackfruit seeds with salt and just enough water.Once seeds are half cooked add the coconut paste.Cook well till the raw smell goes.In a pan, heat oil and fry mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves.Pour thses into the seed mixture.Switch off the heat and now add yogurt and mix well.Serve with rice and sambhar.

Thanks

Hi all,I think i am getting a bit success on my last try on "Quit smoking".He had agreed to cut it down slowly and by the first week of february, he had promised to stop it for good.Though he had promised like this million times before, but this time he is been following the method i suggested.I had asked him to use the good old mint gums in between.Today morning i saw mint gum cover in the trash and i guess he already started taking the good road...anyways i would wait and confirm it.And then only i am planning to remove the caption.Thanks all for supporting me.

Ulli vada / Onion fritters

Ulli vada...hmmm..there is nothing more to say about it especially to those from kerala.Each and every tea shop will have these.I always wondered how ulli vada from those shops have exactly round shape.But i couldn't make round ones, i make more like flat ones.shall try and learn it on my next trip to india...

Ingredients

Onion - 1 (sliced thin)
Red chilli powder - 1tsp
Kadala maavu/Channa flour - 1 cup
Water - as needed
Salt - as needed
Oil - for frying


Method

Slice the onion very thin.I used slicer for this.Mix water,salt,red chilli and flour.Make it a little thinner batter than the normal bajji batter.This helps for crispy vadas.Heat oil in a pan on steady medium high flame.Dip onion slices into the batter and deep fry them till cooked and golden brown.Do not alter the heat, as too high heat can brown the outer and inside of vada won't be cooked enough.Place fried vadas into paper towel and drain excess oil.Serve these vadas with tomato sauce.

Rice flour dosa...

This is super simple breakfast item.Thnaks to my friend for sharing this recipe.

Ingredients

Rice flour - 1 cup (fried)
Small onion - 5 (chopped)
Coconut - 1tbsp
Jeera - 1tsp
Egg - 1
Salt - as needed

Method

Add warm water and mix everything together into a thinner dosa batter.The battter should be very very watery. Make dosas in a hot tawa.Serve hot with channa masala/potato masala.Pretty much any side dish will go with this delicious dosa.

Egg Roast

This is kerala style egg roast by chef Mrs.K.M.Mathew.This recipe calls for Duck's eggs, as we don't eat it, i used our good old chicken eggs.

Ingredients

Egg- 3 (hard boiled,shelled and with one or two slashes on each)
Onion - 1 cup (sliced)
Vinegar - as needed
Red chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder - 1tsp
Salt - as needed
Oil - as needed

Method

Fry onions in oil and lift it.Fry eggs in the same oil and lift them too.Remove the skillet from fire and add red chilli and pepper powders.Add a spoonfull of oil and return the skillet to the fire.Add salt,vinegar and eggs.Stir for a minute and cook till the gravy is thick.Lift the eggs.Put the fried onion in the skillet.Mix well and remove from fire.Arrange the fried onions around the eggs.

Mutton thoran

Ingredients

Mutton -1lb (boneless, cut into bite sized pieces)
Small onions - 1 cup (sliced)
Ginger garlic paste - 1tbsp
Chilli powder -2tsp
Dania powder - 1tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2tsp
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Curry leaves - as needed
Oil - 2tbsp
salt- as needed

For grinding (into a coarse paste)

Coconut -1/4cup
Jeera - 1tsp
curry leaves - as needed

Method

Cut mutton into bite sized pieces and clean them.Mix mutton with all the powders,salt and gg paste.Pressure cook it with just enough water for abt 4 whistles.In a pan, heat oil and fry mustard seeds, curry leaves and sliced small onions.Fry well till they are golden brown.Now Pour the cooked mutton with the juice in to this pan and cook it till the juice is completely evaporated.finally add the coconut paste and cook it till the raw smell disappears and mutton is well cooked.Serve hot with rice.

P.S : As you can see my mutton thoran has little bit gravy, as we like it that way.In traditional mutton thoran,there won't be any gravy at all.
The more shallots/small onions used, the more tasty this dish is...








Just finished knitting this sofy blanky for my friend who is expecting her baby this month...

Moru kacchiayathu

Ingredients

Curd - 1 cup
Onion - 2tbsp (chopped)
Turmeric powder - 1/2tsp
Jeera powder - 1/2tsp
Vendhayam/fenugreek - 1/4tsp(powdered)
Red chillies - 5-6
Dania powder - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - as needed
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Oil - 1tsp

Method

In a blender, beat curd along with curry leaves,turmeric powder,dania powder,jeera powder,fenugreek powder.Use water to thin down the curd while beating.In a pan heat
oil, fry mustard,curry leaves,red chillies, onion well.Now reduce the heat to low and pour the prepared curd onto the pan.Heat it on low and keep stirring it.Do not let it boil.Once the good aroma comes switch off the heat.Serve hot with rice.It's delicious to drink also...

Lemon sevai

Instant sevai,a must have in the pantry for quick and easy breakfast.Just you have to pour sevai into boiling water and cook for about 2 min.s.I brought this sevai from an indian store.You can serve this sevai with many types of flavours like lemon,coconut,curd etc.This time i cooked lemon sevai, here goes the recipe...


Ingredients

Instant sevai - 2 handful (i just eyeballed it, since you can measure it exactly)
Lemon juice - 1tsp
Red chillies - 4-5
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Urad dal - 1/2tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4tsp
Oil -2tsp
salt - as needed
Curry leaves - as needed


Method

Cook instant sevai as per package instructions.As i mentioned above, it takes only two min.s to cook.In pan, heat oil,fry mustard seeds,urad dal, red chillies, curry leaves and finally add turmeric powder and salt.Now add the drained sevai and lemon juice.Mix well and saute in medium heat for naother 2 min.s.

Rug using scrap yarns..

This is one of my latest crochetted product..a rug using scrap yarns...
Thanks to my friend who mentioned about this pattern and i got rid of a bag full of leftover yarns..:)

Letz start the year with a sweet touch..

This payasam is one of my H's favourite one which his mom makes all the time.So this is a "must have" in our home for all special occasions.So decided to make just this for starting a sweet, happy year ahead...

Kadalai Paruppu Payasam

Ingredients

Kadalai paruppu/Channa dal - 1/2 cup
Milk - 2 cup
Jaggery - 1 cup (shredded)
Cardamom - 3
Cashew nut - 5
Sago - 2tbsp
Ghee - 1tbsp (for frying cashews)

Method

Pressure cook kadalai paruppu with just enough water for abt 4 whistles.Switch off the heat and let the pressure go.Now open the cooker and mush down the paruppu very well.Add jaggery,cardamom and milk to it.Let it boil for abt 5 min.s and then add sago to it.Boil very well till sago cooks very well.Fry cashews in ghee and pour that into the payasam.

P.S: i had added little more jaggery than the mentioned amount, 'coz H likes it sweet.The amount of milk vary depends on how thick/thin you want the payasam to be.

Aappam with Mutton Kuruma and Thengai pal

It's that time of the year, where the year comes to end with a glory.When you hit the road, you could see the decorative lights on the houses each competing with other.It's festive mood everywhere, the malls, the neighbours.So why not carry that into your own kitchen ..right?.so when Nandita from saffron trail announced theme for WBB#8 as Christmas Special and when Ashwini from Food for Thought announced theme for JIHVA as Coconut, what else do you want to put yourself in the festive mood.Coconut plays an important role in all our festive cooking, like in sweets, payasams, biryani, non- veg recipes etc..you could go on like that.Though we don't celebrate Christmas traditional way, we used to cook special items on just to get in the festive mood.Came to know through friends that Appam and mutton stew is the special Christmas breakfast in kerala.Well, Aappam happens to be our fav. breakfast item in the house.The only difference is that we don't make mutton stew, we make mutton kuruma and thengai pal to go with aappam.

Since we will be out of town for this christmas weekend, i made this dishes last sunday.This is my entry for JIHVA,WBB#8 and for VCC Q4 0 FAHC





For Aappam recipe check here


Mutton Kuruma

Ingredients

Mutton - 1 1/2lbs
Onion - 2 (chopped fine)
Ginger garlic paste - 1tbsp
Red chilli powder - 3tsp
Dania powder - 1 1/2tsp
Tumeric powder - 1/2tsp
Garam masala - 1tsp
Green chillies - 2 (slit)
Coconut - 3tbsp
Curry leaves - as needed
Oil -as needed

Method

Clean mutton three times well in the water and use little bit of turmeric powder while cleaning the third time.In a pressure cooker heat oil.Fry chopped onion, green chillies and curry leaves.Fry till onions are almost brown.Now add gg paste and fry till the raw smell goes.Now add chilli,dania,turmeric and garam masala powders.Fry and then add mutton pieces and salt to it.Fry for abt 2-3 min.s and add enough water just to cover the mutton pieces.Pressure cook these for 3 whistles.After that switch off the heat and let the pressure go away.In the mean time, grind coconut into a smooth paste.Switch on the heat to medium level and add the grounded coconut paste to mutton.Let boil nicely and switch it off.Serve hot with rice/roti/idly/aappam etc.










Thengai pal

Ingredients

Coconut milk - 1/4 can
Sugar - as needed
Cardamom - 2
Water - as needed

Method


Mix coconut milk,water,sugar and cardamoms well.(Add just enough water).Slightly warm it in low flame.Careful not to boil it, just warm it.serve it with Aappam.I used canned coconut milk.You can also extract coconut milk freshly.

Vellarikka Paruppu kootu with Beet+Carrot poriyal

Oh..it's been almost a week, myself and lil' one are down with worst viral fever second time in 3 weeks.Didn't have the least energy to get up and cook something.This is first time i had been down with something this bad and missed mom alot and her cooking.A hot glass of her pepper rasam will just cheer me up right out of the bed.This is the time i hate H's cooking the most..:).As being the only healthy person in the home now, he is the real VICTIM to our annoying tantrums..:))
This is my feel better food that i cooked right before getting sick..:))May be i knew i am gonna get sick and this will come in handy...well it did...Hope to get better soon and post my Christmas Special WBB entry soon...

Rice with rasam, Vellarikka Paruppu kootu and Beet+carrot poriyal.

Vellarikka Paruppu kootu is similar to this recipe , just i replaced beans with vellarikka/Cucumber.


Beet root and carrot poriyal


Ingredients

Beet root - 1/2 of a medium sized one (grated)
Carrot - 1 large (grated)
Curry leaves - as needed
Red chillies - 5
Oil - as needed
Mustard seeds- 1tsp
urad dal - 1/2tsp

Method

In a pan , heat oil and fry mustard,urad dal,red chillies,curryleaves.Finally add beet and carrot with salt.Saute till they are well cooked and raw smell is gone.Serve hot with rice.

Green chilli - Mutton fry

Simple but Delicious mutton recipe...

Ingredients

Mutton - 1/2 lbs ( boneless and cut into small bite size pieces)
Onion - 1/2 of big sized one (chopped fine)
Green chillies - 5 (chopped fine)
Jeera - 1/2tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2tsp
Oil - as needed
coriander leaves - for garnishing

Method

Clean mutton three times well in the water and use little bit of turmeric powder while cleaning the third time.In a pressure cooker, heat oil and fry jeera, onion and green chillies.Now add mutton pieces, salt and turmeric powder.Mix well and add just enough water.Pressure cook this for 2 whistles.After the pressure goes down, open the cooker and cook till almost all the gravy is evaporated and mutton is almost dry.Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.Serve hot with rice/roti.Believe me, with this much less ingredients, this dish tastes superb...

Pongal

I didn't post some of the dishes i made last week as was lilttle busy.This Pongal is one of them.This one of the special breakfast item of tamilnadu.

Ingredients

Moong dal -1/3 cup
Rice - 1 cup
Jeera - 2tsp
Green chillies - 3(slit)
Whole pepper - 2tsp
Ginger - 1/2tsp (grated or finely chopped)
Ghee - 2tsp
Cashews - 10
Curry leaves - as needed
Asafoetida - a pinch


Method

In a pressure cooker, dry roast rice and moong dal separately and then wash them using water.In the Pressure cooker now heat ghee and fry jeera,pepper,green chillies,ginger,curry leaves and finally cashews.Finally add rice and moong dal.Add salt and 5 cups of water and mix well.(Adding water depends upon your cooker also.Generaly for pongal, more water is addded.).Pressure cook for abt 4-5 whistle.
Serve hot with Chutney and sambhar.

P.S: In pongal sambhar, i usually don't add any veggies.Just onion and tomamtoes.

For sambhar recipe, check out here

For Chutney recipe , check out here

Instant Ras malai

Last time when i made Ras malai, Mandira from Ahaar had mentioned about using canned Rasgullas to make Rasmalai.So when i had friends over last weekend, i decided to go this easy way...came out reallly well.so here goes the recipe...

Ingredients

Rasagullas - 1 can
Sweetened condensed milk - 1/2 can
Whole milk - 1 1/2 cup
Pista - 10
Saffron - 6 strings

Method

Mix condensed milk and whole milk well and slightly heat it in microwave for abt 3-4 min.s.DO not let it boil.Now open the rasagulla can, and start squeezing out maximum sugar syrup from each rasgulla (careful not to break it).Place all the rasagullas into the milk mixture.Add Pista and Saffron into it and again slightly heat it for 2 min.s in microwave.Let it cool down a bit and keep it in the refrigerator until served.

Masala dosai

Masala dosai , yet another delicious dosai type filled with potato masala and coconut chutney.

Coconut chutney

Coconut - 1/2 cup (shredded)
Pottu kadalai/Dalia - 2tbsp
Garlic - 1 clove
Green chillies - 4
Tamarind - a small amla size
Curry leaves-as needed
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Urad dal - 1/2tsp
Shallots - 2 *chopped)
Oil-as needed
Salt-as needed


Method

Grind coconut,pottu kadalai,garlic,tamarind,curry leaves,green chillies and salt together with little water into a smooth paste.Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds,urad dal,curry leaves and chopped shallots.Pour this tadka into the grounded coconut chutney.


Potato Masala


Ingredients

Potato - 3
Onion - 2 (small sized, sliced)
Green chillies - 3
Turmeric powder - 1/2tsp
Ginger - 1/2tsp (grated)
Fennel/Perunjeragam - 1tsp
Curry leaves - as needed
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Urad dal - 1/2tsp
Oil - as needed
Salt - as needed



Method

Boil potatoes and peel and smash them with a fork.In a pan, heat oil and fry mustard seeds, urad dal,fennel seeds,curry leaves, green chillies,ginger and sliced onions.Fry well till the onions are golden brown.Now add the boiled potatoes and add turmeric powder and salt.Add water and mix well.Adding water is to make little gravy,so add only required amount.Let it boil for abt 2-3 min.s and switch off the heat.



Masala Dosai

Ingredients

Dosa batter - as needed
Coconut chutney - as needed
Potato masala - as needed
Oil - as needed


Method

In a hot tawa, make a thin dosa.Place dosai in a serving plate.Spread one half of the dosai with coconut chutney and the other half with potato masala.Fold the dosai in half and serve it hot with Coconut chutney and Sambhar.

Kozhi varuval / chicken fry

We had this chicken fry for the first time at our friend venky's place.From that time onwards i made it sure to cook this quite often.

Ingredients

Chicken - 1 lb
Red chillies - 10 (seeds removed)
Small onion - 150 gms
Tomato - 1 (chopped)
Perunjeeragam/Fennel -1/2tsp
Patta/Cinnamon - 2 pieces
Lavang/cloves - 2
Whole Peppercorns - 1/2tsp
Curry leaves -as needed
Ginger-garlic paste - 2tsp
Coriander powder - 3tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2tsp
Green chilli -1 (split)

Method

In oil fry saunf,patta,lavang,curry leaves and pepper.Add onion and fry well.Now add gg paste,tomatoes,greenchilli,red chillies.Fry well till the raw smell goes.Add turmeric and coriander powders now and fry well.finally add chicken pieces and salt and make sure the chicken pieces are well coated with the masala.Only add little water if neccessary.Fry till all the gravy is evaporated and the dish is almost dry.
Serve it hot with rice/roti.

Beans Kootu and Black eyed beans poriyal

Beans Kootu

Ingredients

Toor dal - 1 cup (cooked)
Beans - 1cup(chopped)
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Urad dal - 1/2tsp
Perungayam - a pinch
Turmeric powder -1/2tsp
Curry leaves - as needed

For grinding

Coconut- 1/4cup
Jeera - 1/4tsp
Garlic - 1 pod
Shallot - 1
Red chillies - 5-6


Method

Grind the coconut with other ingredients listed under "For grinding" into a fine paste.In a pan heat oil and fry mustard seeds,urad dal and curry leaves.Add beans and fry well.After the beans are well cooked add the grinded coconut paste and fry till the raw smell goes.Now add toor dal.Add turmeric powder and perungayam and boil for abt 5-6 mintues.Serve hot with rice.


Black eyed beans poriyal


Ingredients

Black eyed beans - 1/2 cup (cooked)
Coconut - 2tbsp
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Garlic - 1 clove
Curry leaves - as needed
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder - 1tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2tsp
Urad dal -1/2tsp
Oil - as needed


Method

Soak and cook black eyed beans.Grind coconut,garlic,jeera,curryleaves,chilli powder,turmeric powder into a coarse paste.In a pan heat oil and fry mustard seeds,urad dal, curryleaves and then add the coconut paste and fry very well.After the raw smell goes, add the beans and salt.Fry for some more time.Serve hot with rice or roti.

Lesson learned

Yesterday evening my H called and told he is gonna be late from office and i needed to come and pick him up at the station.So by 7.30 pm , in that cold weather got my lil all bundled up and left for the station.On the way i was thinking only about the news i have been following from morning.The news about James kim and his family.They got lost in the wilderness of oregon with their two kids.After 9 days of hell, only mother and daughters were saved.Hats off to that "superhuman" who lost his life trying to save his family.Now back to my story,i was thinking how i will be handling a situation like this and was wondering would i be able to survive.The main problem with me is that i won't charge my cell phone frequently and have very lil knowledge abt the car(i have been driving only for a year now).So i reached the station, as H got into the car, i tried starting the car..it won't start..tried again n' again..it just won't start...battery died .By this time the station was empty and again it was bitter cold outside.My lil' started to get irritated 'coz of the cold and H tried to start the car again.No luck, so he started calling up the insurance company and thank god for them, they said help will be there in 30 mts.We spotted a cab nearby(he was waiting to pick up someone i guess) and myself and lil ' one got a ride back home while my H was there waiting for the help.Though this not even close to what the Kims went thru, but it could happen easily to anyone anytime.I learned my lesson to have my cell phone fully charged at all time and be prepared at anytime...