Cabbage and Peas Rice

Kids don't eat vegetables most of the time..atleast my kids don't. But vegetables are so important for their nutrition and this is one way I make sure they have their daily dose of nutrition from vegetable... vegetable rice. Also, my husband will take his lunch box only if it is variety rice... He hates it if I give plain rice with side dishes- too much trouble to mix everything!!! So here's a lunch box speciality from my kitchen.... and believe me, it is really tasty!!!

Cooked Basmati Rice: 2 cups

Cabbage Shredded: 1.5 cups

Green Peas: 3/4 cup

Oil: 2 tbsp

Cumin Seeds: 1 tsp

Onion: 1 diced

Green chillies: 2 slit

Turmeric Powder: 1/4 tsp

Salt: as needed

To Grind to a very smooth paste:

Coriander Leaves: 3/4 cup

Coconut grated: 1/4 cup

Ginger: 1 inch

Cloves:2

Cinnamon: 1 inch

In a kadai, heat oil and splutter cumin seeds.

Throw in the onions, greenchillies and saute for 2 minutes.

Now add the ground paste and saute for a minute on low flame

Add the cabbage and peas and let it cook on low flame. This should take about 8-10 minutes.

Do a taste test and adjust the salt.

Now add the rice and mix properly and switch off the stove.

Goes well with raitha - I pack cutlets or chicken fry with this.

Chole Masala/Chenna Masala/Garbanzo beans in a spicy gravy

This is another recipe from puthrichechy's kitchen (My teacher, friend, sister...don't know what to call her). She is a fabulous cook, a  wonderful wife, a great friend, an imaginative mother (the kind of surprises she gives her daughter-noone can beat that!!!), a hard working and sincere person all clubbed into one. She is a pure vegetarian but her non-veg dishes are heavenly....and I don't even have to describe her vegetarian dishes.... yumm-elicious...

Chick peas: 1 can (If using canned chickpeas, rinse and drain)

(or 1 cup chick peas soaked in water for 8 hours)

In a pressure cooker, cook the chenna with 2 cups water on high for five whistles and keep aside.

(If you are using canned chickpeas, omit this step. you can cook for 1 whistle after the masala is added)

To saute and grind

Onions: 1 chopped

Tomato: 1 large chopped

Ginger garlic paste:1 heaped tbsp

Fennel Seeds: 1 tsp

Heat oil and saute onions, Tomato, Ginger garlic till tomatoes are mashed up.

Turn off stove and add the fennel seeds. When it cools, Grind in the mixie.

To Temper:

Cinnamon: a small stick

Cloves:2

Star Anise: 1

Oil: 2 tbsp

Onion: 1 Large chopped finely

Coriander Powder: 2 heaped tsp

Chilly powder: 1 1/2 teaspoons

Turmeric Powder: 1/4 tsp

Chole Masala: 1 heaped tsp

Heat oil and add the cinnamon, cloves, star anise and saute for aminute.
Throw in the onions and saute till it is slightly brown.
Add the ground paste and saute for a minute
Add the masalas and saute till raw smell is gone.
Add the chickpeas to the masala and let it cook for 10 minutes on low flame or you ca pressure cook again for 1 or two whistles
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with Bhatura or Rotis

Kerala Dal Curry

Parippu curry reminds me of Onam sadya... Ive mentioned before in my blog that Onam was the only time we used to have sadya at home and as a child I always associated sadya with Onam... didn't know we could have sadya otherwise!! So once at a friend's place when her mom served sadya for her birthday, I blurted out- "why Onam sadya?" and they laughed and said "ethu onam sadya alla piranaal sadya aane" (meaning- this is not Onam feast, but birthday feast)... I guess that was when I realized Sadya can be had any time- it is just that when you have it for Onam, it is called Onam sadya.... Anyway... Here comes the recipe....


To Pressure Cook:
Moong Dal: 1 cup
Green Chilly: 3
Turmeric Powder: 1/4 tsp
Water: 2 cups
Salt: as needed

To grind
Coconut grated: 1/3 cup
Garlic: 2 cloves
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp

To temper:
Oil: 1 tbsp
Mustard: 1 tsp
Dried red chilly:2
Shallots: 2 sliced
Curry Leaves: 1 sprig
Dessicated Coconut: 1 tbsp (This is optional- I like it this way!!!)

Cook the to pressure cook  ingredients for 4 whistles on high heat.
Open the lid, mash it well and add more water and salt if needed.
Now add the ground paste and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes.
Transfer the Dal curry in to a serving dish.
In a kadai, heat oil and splutter mustard, add redchillies, shallots, curry leaves and the dessicated coconut.
Make sure the heat is low-the coconut should get browned...not burnt!!!!
Pour this over the dal curry.
Serve hot with rice, ghee and Kerala Pappadom.

Weight Loss Tip 5

Don't wait till you are very hungry... coz when hunger really strikes you, chances are that you will turn to junk food!!! Coz if you are really hungry, you won't bother to cook or even heat up a healthy meal.. you will go for the easier option, the crisps in the larder!!!!

Disclaimer: Iam not a Dietician or a Doctor or a Nutritionist. This worked for me. You may follow this at your own risk.

Weight Loss Tip 4

The most sensible tip...
Watch what you eat..... and watch what you do...
In simple words, Expend more calories than you consume... That's the only way you can lose weight!!! If this is registered in your brain, you don't need any other tip!!!!
For eg: a piece of black forest cake is roughly 490 calories... ah!!! and a 65  kg woman has to run one hour at 5 mph to lose 490 calories.... simple maths!!!!

Disclaimer: Iam not a Dietician or a Doctor or a Nutritionist. This worked for me. You may follow this at your own risk.

Weight Loss Tip 3

That chocolate might be tempting... but look at the bigger picture... what is more important? a minute of indulgence or a life time of happiness?
I love this quote "Nothing tastes as good as being thinner feels"

Disclaimer: Iam not a Dietician or a Doctor or a Nutritionist. This worked for me. You may follow this at your own risk.

Weight Loss Tip 2

Iam neither a doctor nor an expert, but speak from experience...

Find a better substitute.... healthier and tastes almost the same!!!!
for eg.. instead of butter, use apple sauce while u bake.
Grill ur fish, No frying....
or if you cannot live without dessert, have a bowl of no fat yoghurt with fruit slices!!!!

Disclaimer: Iam not a Dietician or a Doctor or a Nutritionist. This worked for me. You may follow this at your own risk.

Weight Loss Tip 1

Iam not a doctor and havent even visited a nutritionist or a weight loss clinic... But have read a lot about weight loss from here and there and.....
Thought I will key in what all helped me in losing weight...

 So here comes Tip 1

Drink hot water after each oily meal...  because cold water will make the fats cling to your body and it will line your intestine while hot water makes the fat slide through....
I don't know how far this is true... but it helped me, I guess!!!!

Disclaimer: Iam not a Dietician or a Doctor or a Nutritionist. This worked for me. You may follow this at your own risk.

Cabbage Fry

This is my favourite vegetable...  I love it best raw and mixed with mayonnaise...hmmmm....
My husband loves cabbage pepper fry as that is how madras mom makes it... but my mother has a habbit of adding garam masala to all stir fries... so one day I made it like that and now my DH is in a dilemma... which is better? Even I can't decide... Both are so yummy!!!!!

Cabbage chopped: 2 cups
Onion chopped: 1
Ginger: 1 tsp diced
Garlic: 1 tsp diced
Green Chillies: 2 split
Garam Masala: 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder: 1/2 tsp
Oil: 1 tbsp
Mustard: 1 tsp
Salt: as required

Heat Oil in a kadai and splutter mustard seeds.
Throw in the onions, ginger, garlic, green chillies and saute for half a minute.
Now add the cabbage, turmeric powder and salt and saute on low heat.
The cabbage will cook in its own water and also the oil helps!!!
When it is almost done, add the garam masala and again saute for a minute.
Turn off stove and serve hot with rice.

Linking this recipe to

 

For beginners...

Tuna, Rajma and Corn Salad

Rajma: 1/2 cup
Sweet Corn: 1/2 cup
Tuna Shredded: 1 can (or you can substitute this with shredded chicken)
Red chilly: 2 (or green chilly)
Olive oil: 2 tbsp
Vinegar: 2 tbsp

Wash Rajma properly and soak it in water and let it stand overnight.
Drain the water and pressure cook the rajma with a cup of water ( 4 whistles on high)
Keep it aside.
Cook the corn by boiling it in water for a few minutes.
Make sure you add 1/4 spoon sugar while cooking corn but no salt.
Drain and keep aside.
Now in a bowl, place the Corn, Rajma,Red chilly and shredded Tuna and mix well.
Season with salt and pepper. Add oil and vinegar and toss gently.

Granola Bar

All my recent posts were really calorie laden recipes and I really indulged the whole of last week!!! My mom-in-law gave me a warning signal... saying cooks put on weight very fast.... I guess thats true!!! So I wanted to slow down. And yesterday I got two of my cousins online and when I told them to try out Orappam, both of them said they would love to but not now... Calorie conscious!!!! And when I spoke to my eldest sister-in-law last week, she told me to include some low calorie recipes like salads.... So all this was running in my mind......
.... and today happens to be my brother's birthday...Tho he is in Canada, I was planning to bake a cake so that my kids can cut it and sing Happy Birthday, Ammacha... but.... calories!!!! suddnely I changed my whole plan and thought will do a granola bar... healthy, tasty and guilt free....and this is what I did.. NO SUGAR, NO BUTTER, NO CHOCOLATE, NO EGGS!!!! wanted to add apple sauce instead of peanut butter but I didnt have stock and was in no mood to go out and buy...so I guess next time, I will chuck the peanut butter and make it with apple sauce!!!! hmmmm....


Instant Oats: 2 cups
Wheat flour: 1 cup
Honey: 1 cup
Peanuts: 1 cup
Almonds: 1/4 cup
Peanut butter: 4 tbsp (heaped)
Raisins: 1 cup

Crush the peanuts, chop the almonds and mix all the ingredients properly.
Make sure the honey and peanut butter is properly mixed with the dry ingredients so that u get a sticky mix.
(otherwise it will fall apart when you try to cut the bar)
Now on a greased baking tray, spread the mix and press hard so that it is compact.
Now bake at 170C for 30 minutes or till the edges are brown and the raisins balloon up.
Take it out and once it cools, cut your granola bars to desired shape.

Store it in an airtight container. Enjoy without guilt!!!!

Mutton Curry

This is a very easy and tasty mutton curry preparation... A beginner's guide to cooking mutton, I would say!!!

Mutton: 1 kg

Onions Sliced: 3 medium

Tomatoes chopped: 2

Ginger chopped: 1 tbsp

Garlic chopped: 2 tbsp

Curd: 1 cup

Turmeric powder: 3/4 tsp

Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp

Mutton Masala: 3 tbsp (I use Aachi mutton masala)

Cinnamon: 1 inch piece

Cloves: 2

Cardamom: 2

Star Anise: 1

Salt and Oil: as required.

Marinate the mutton with curd, salt and turmeric and keep aside for half an hour.

In a pressure cooker, heat oil and splutter mustard.

Throw in the onions, ginger, garlic and saute till onions turn brown.

Add the mutton masala and the tomatoes and saute till the tomatoes are mashed.

Add the mutton and just enough water to cover the mutton and close the lid.

Cook for 15 minutes on high heat.

Garnish with coriander leaves.

Mathanga Erissery (Pumpkin Curry)

Whenever I make Erissery, so many faces flash through my mind. One face is of my eldest co-sister...she often makes pumpkin curry and it is yummy!!!

The 2nd face is of my 3rd co-sister... its a funny incident which happened a few years back at my mom-in-law's place. Mom usually stew mangoes and pinapples in sugar syrup. So this incident happened during a summer vacation and mom's store room was like a mango store!!! One day me and my 3rd co-sister were just back from a shopping trip and we got into the dining room and ah!!! beautiful yellow mangoes in a syrup...hmmmm... my sis took one and put it in her mouth and her expression...priceless!!! It was pumpkin...

The 3rd face is of my one time neighbour, Archana.. she wanted to have mathanga erissery and was going on asking me the recipe.. I had no clue that mathanga curry was called mathanga erissery... I told her I have not even heard of this dish!!!! later she made and gave me too and I said "this is mathanga curry"!!!!

The 4th face is that of Esther, my right hand during my initial days of being a 2nd time mom.. she used to make dal curry just like Erisserry... it was sooooooo tasty!!!  And after coming to Cairo, this is the first time Im making Erissery and I really enjoyed my dinner last night.

Pumpkin cubed: 2 cups

Green Chillies: 2 split

Turmeric Powder: 1/4 tsp

Salt: as required

To grind

Coconut grated: 1/2 cup

Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp

Garlic: 2 small cloves

To temper:

Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp

Dried red chillies: 2

Curry leaves: 1 sprig

Coconut grated: 1 tbsp

Boil the pumpkin with green chillies, turmeric and salt till soft.

Mash the pumpkin with a fork.

Now add the ground paste and let it cook on a low flame for a few minutes.

Switch off the stove.

In a kadai, heat oil, splutter mustard, dried chillies, curry leaves and pour it over the pumpkin curry.

In the same kadai, fry the grated coconut on low heat till brown. (dessicated coconut works best for this step)

Pour the browned coconut over the curry and serve with rice.

Cheera Thoran

I hated cheera all my childhood.. so I just can't force my kids to have(guilty conscience) but if I make Spinach dal, Ro boy will have it.... So how do I make them eat the thoran.... just what every other mom does... Oh yes...tell em about POPEYE's strength!!!! so now my son eats spinach thoran to recharge his super hero strength!!!

Spinach: a bunch (Here I used Mysore Cheera or Velicheera)

Onion: 1 medium diced

Mustard: 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves: 1 sprig

Coconut grated:1/2 cup

Garlic: 2 cloves (optional)

Green chillies: 3

Turmeric Powder: 1/4 tsp

Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp

Oil: 2 tsp

Salt: as required

Wash and drain the spinach.

chop in to thin strips.

Coarsely grind coconut, garlic, greenchillies, cumin seed and turmeric powder

Heat oil in a kadai and splutter mustard.

Throw in the diced onion and saute for a minute.

Now add the spinach, ground paste and salt.

Sprinkle water while cooking

Cook till done.

Orappam

I first read about this in Sarah's blog and that too in 2007.
From then I've been wanting to make this but never did it till today!!! When I read the ingredients, I could taste it.... and I guess it was a DejaVu. I actually could see my ammachy making it... (but later came to know from my mom that ammachy never made it!!!)
I guess it is the ingredients that gave me the feeling... nutmeg and caraway seeds was an integral part of ammachy's baking... If she bakes a cake, these 2 ingredients will make a way into the recipe...
Well, then later I asked 2 of my cousins and they also told me they've never heard about it..my mother-in-law also said the same thing...  and then I called up my mom and she told me that it is usually made in Catholic homes for Christmas and Easter.. and she's read it in Vanitha a looooong time ago and said she vaguely remembers the recipe but still not very sure... So what do I do, I searched the World Wide Web.. and what do I see? just 3 or 4 posts.. and one was Mishmash.. but only the picture was there as she got the recipe from Sarah..so has  given a backlink to Sarah's recipe... then I saw another site which was almost like Sarah's... then another 2 sites where they've copied Sarah's recipe just like that and pasted.. wink!!!!
So, I thought I will follow Sarah's recipe... Did exactly like she's described except that I didnt use brown sugar.. I used one cup of plain sugar and 1 cup of molasses syrup (instead of 2 cups brown sugar) the rest of the recipe, I blindly followed and the end result.... WOW!!! too good... Like Shn has described..."a taste of childhood, yet vague" Shn, I guess made it with sugar that's why her Orappam is white.. and mine's brown coz of the molasses.
Iam sure I will be making this often, so maybe next time I will make with white sugar though the original recipe (according to Sarah) says molasses syrup.

The recipe is here

I've copied it to here. ....Thanks Sarah....

Ingredients

2 cups of rice flour

2 cups of brown sugar

2 eggs

I can of coconut milk(400ml)

2 tbls spn ghee

2 tbl spn coconut oil

1/2 t spn cake Jeera/caraway seeds

1/2 t spn cardomom powder

1/4 tspn nutmeg powder

10 cashews broken in to pieces

Take 6oz of of coconut milk and add 2 oz of water to it and boil it along with the broken cashews for 10 minutes.

Beat the egg and add the rest of the coconut milk, brown sugar, rice flour, spices and the ghee. Mix well. Add the boiled coconut milk along with the cashews.

In a thick bottom pan, heat the above mix on medium heat, stirring often. It will get lumpy as you cook and that is ok. Once the mix forms a thick lump( ie, there is no more liquid) put in to a 7 inch buttered cake pan. Level the top with a spoon.

Pour the coconut oil on top.

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees F( 170 C). bake it for about 20 minutes till the top is golden brown

Take it out of the oven and cool for 10 mints. Cut it in to slices and serve

Ada Poori

Does the name sound funny? The mix is like that of white Ada and the method of preparation is like that of poori. I must say it is a tasty and crispy breakfast dish that my family can have all the 7 days of the week.... but I make it only once in a while coz it has to be deep fried... so, since all 4 of us are prone to weight gain.... I make it just once a month and only on holidays so we can really sit and enjoy each and every bite.
My kids spread cheese on it and have while me and my husband eats it with any coconut milk based curry (whatever is available in the fridge...stew, chicken curry, ball curry etc....)

Rice flour: 2 cups
Grated coconut: 1 cup (you can add more...it will be tastier)\
Boiling water and Salt: as required
(You can also add greenchillies, diced onions and ginger to the rice flour for a different taste but my kids like it plain)

Roast the rice flour. Allow it to cool
Add salt and grated coconut to it and mix well.
Pour boiling water and mix properly with a spoon.
When you can handle the mix, make a pliable dough.
Make lime sized balls (okay...slightly bigger than that!!!) and on a plastic sheet press each ball with your wet fingers so that it becomes the size of a poori.
Deep fry this in oil, drain on a tissue paper and serve hot with any coconut milk based side dish of your choice.

Beef Ball Curry

This is another family favourite at my husband's place. What mom makes is super tasty and when she makes, it is a full 7 litre pressure cooker... We are 18 of us!!! (4*4 +2) and within minutes of serving, it will be all over!!!!



To grind:

Beef uncooked : 1 kg

Onions medium: 2

Ginger: 1 inch

Garlic: 3

Green Chillies:2

To Saute:

Onions: 3 sliced

Ginger: 1 inch chopped

Garlic: 5 chopped

Green Chillies:2 slit

Tomatoes: 2 chopped

Chilly Powder: 1 tbsp (adjust to your tolerance level)

Coriander Powder: 3 tbsp

Turmeric Powder: 1/2 tsp

Garam Masala: 1 tbsp

Curry leaves: 2 sprigs

Coconut Milk thick: 1 cup

Coconut Milk thin: 2 cups

Salt and Oil: as required

In a food processor, grind the to grind ingredients, take it out and make lemon sized balls and keep aside.

In a pressure cooker, heat oil and saute onions, ginger, garlic, green chilles,curry leaves till onions are slightly brown.

Now add all the masala powders and saute till the raw smell is gone.

Mix in the tomatoes, salt and saute till it is all mashed up and oil separates.

Pour the thin coconut milk and when it starts to boil, slowly add the beef balls and close the lid with the weight.

After the first whistle, simmer for 20 minutes.

Open the lid and pour the thick coconut milk and boil again for a minute.

Serve hot with rice or rotis.

NanKhatai

I have a big collection of recipe books back home... What Ive written down from my mom, mom-in-law, sisters-in law, friends...then papers torn from magazines.... then Pachakam from Vanitha publications... Then my favourite baking companion... Mrs B.F.Varghese's recipe books... so many.... but I was not able to bring all those books here...

(which is exactly why I started blogging again....after a 3 years gap.... just to keep all my recipes safe... for myself and my kids... that's the only reason Iam blogging... actually cooking is not a passion for me...and I hate photography from college days... I had a paper for Masters... I guess I scored the least for photography!!!)

Okay back to my recipe books.... well, I did bring 4 recipe books... one of which is my Mom's old"The All Electric Cook Book" printed in 1972. I wanted to bake a bread and so I took this book and as I was flipping through the pages, a white folded paper fell down... When I unfolded it,I got two recipes in my mom's handwriting..one was Doughnut recipe and the other Nankhatai... so here comes the Nankhatai recipe... The recipe says Dalda... but I used butter.

Maida: 2 cups

Butter: 1 cup

Powdered sugar: 1 cup +1/4 cup

Mix the butter and 1 cup powdered sugar properly.

Add the flour little by little and make a smooth dough.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven 180C for 10 minutes and grease a cookie tray.

Make small balls from the dough and arrange it on the cookie tray about an inch apart.

Bake for 15-20 minutes and let it cool (it will not be firm when you take it out but will get crisp as it cools)

Coat the cooled cookies with the rest of the powdered sugar.

Serve it as a tea time snack.

Breakfast Bruschetta

Bread Slices: 6

Onion: 1 diced

Tomato: 1 chopped

Egg:1

Salami slices: 6 chopped roughly

Pepper and Salt: as required

Butter: 1 tbsp

Oil:1 tbsp

Cheese grated: 1/4 cup

In a non stick pan, heat the oil and saute onions tomato and salami chopped for a minute.

Now add 1 egg, salt and pepper and scramble for a minute. switch off the stove.

Preheat the oven 280c.

Spread butter on the bread slices and bake both sides for 5 minutes on each side. (toasted)

Now spread the salami egg mix on each of the slice and sprinkle grated cheese on top.

Bake again at 280c till the cheese melts.

Serve Hot.

Potatoes and onions fry

This is an inspiration from Bengali cooking...but Ive changed the whole thing to suit my family's tastes... The original recipe uses poppy seeds and sugar and no masalas... and this is what I did...

Potatoes: 2 large
Onions: 1 large diced
Green chillies: 3 chopped
Turmeric Powder: 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala: 1/2 tsp
Salt: as required
Oil: 2 tbsp

Cook the whole potatoes till 3/4th done (I pressure cooked it on high flame for 8 minutes)
Peel the skin and cut into chunks
Heat oil in a kadai and saute the onions and green chillies till the onions turn slightly brown.
Add the turmeric powder, garam masala,salt and the potatoes and fry it.
Serve hot with plain rice or curd rice.

Prawns in coconut milk gravy

This is too tasty to be my own recipe... but believe me, it is!!!!

Prawns: 400 gms
Onions: 3 diced
Ginger: 1 inch diced
Garlic: 8 diced
Tomato: 1 large chopped
Turmeric Powder: 1/4 tsp
Coriander Powder: 1heaped tsp
Chilly Powder: 11/2 tsp
Garam Masala: 1level tsp
Salt: as required
Thick Coconut Milk: 1 cup

Devein the prawns and keep aside.
Heat oil in a kadai and saute the onions, ginger and garlic till brown.
Add all the masala powder and saute till the raw smell is gone.
Add the tomatoes and saute till it turns limp.
Mix in the prawns and salt with 1/4 cup water and let it cook on a low flame.
When it is done, add the thick coconut milk and take off fire.
Serve hot with rice or chappati.

Beetroot Pachadi

Yet another super duper easy and delicious kerala dish.....

Beetroot: 1large grated
Ginger: 1 inch chopped fine
Garlic: 2 slit
Green chillies: 3 slit
Turmeric Powder: 1/4 tsp
Salt: as required
Curds: 11/2 cups

To grind
Coconut grated: 3 tbsp
Mustard seeds: 1/4 tsp
Cumin: 1/2 tsp

To Temper
Mustard: 1/4 tsp
Dried Red Chilly: 2
Curry leaves; 1 sprig

Blend the to grind ingredients to a very smooth paste.
Mix the grated beetroot, ginger, garlic, greenchillies, turmeric, salt and cook this with 1/4 cup water.
When the beetroot is cooked and the water almost dry, add the ground paste.
Cook on a low flame for a few minutes and turn off the stove.
Add the beaten curd and mix properly.
Do the tadka and serve with rice. I love it with chappatis too.... ; )

Cashew Eggless Cookies

My husband's colleague's wife sent across a box of gulab jamuns... hmmmm...it was really yummy and perfectly made!!!! So I wanted to give a return gift and thought of baking  a cake. I started mixing the butter and sugar and as I was going to take the eggs, I suddenly remembered they are vegetarians.. and also I remembered my husband mentioning sometime before they do not even eat cakes as it has eggs!!!! ah!!!! Now what do I do.... so I thought I will make eggless cake, then as I was mixing it, I thought cookies would be a better idea and this recipe was born!!!!

Butter: 1 cup
Cardamom: 5
Sugar: 1 cup
All Purpose Flour: 2 cups
Baking Powder: 1/4 tsp
Cashewnuts: 100gm


Powder the sugar and cardamoms together in a blender and keep aside.

Sift the flour and baking powder together so that the baking powder is properly mixed in the flour. Keep aside.

Now mix the butter and sugar properly.

Now add the flour little by little and make a smooth dough.

Make gooseberry sized balls and place split cashew in the centre by slightly pressing the dough.

Place it on a greased baking tray 1 inch apart.

Bake at 180C till the sides are lightly browned. (It took 20 minutes in my oven... it will vary...so keep an eye)

 It will not be firm when you take it out but cool it properly and you will get crunchy cookies.

Once properly cooled, you can store it in an airtight container and serve it with tea.

Mutton Peralan

My son hates watching Indian channels... The only programme he will watch is Adukkala on Asianet and that too only the recipe bit! (hmmm... A little chef in the making!!!!). And when the recipe bit comes, by hook or by crook, he makes sure Iam there watching it. So this is one recipe I got from there....don't remember the exact day of telecast but I remember the recipe by heart!!!! I recommend anyone reading this to try it out....it's absolutely delicious!!!!



Mutton: 1 kg
Turmeric Powder: 1/4 tsp
Salt: as required.

To grind:
Garlic: 10 cloves
Ginger: 2 inch
Green chillies: 4
Shallots: 6

To Saute:
Onions: 1/4 kg diced
Chilly Powder: 1 tbsp
Coriander Powder: 3 tbsp
Turmeric Powder: 1/2 tsp
Fennel Powder: 11/2 tbsp
Salt: as needed

Marinate the mutton with turmeric powder and salt and cook it in a pressure cooker by adding 1/2 cup water.

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan and saute the ground paste till the raw smell goes.

Throw in the diced onions and brown it properly on a low flame.

Now mix in the cooked mutton along with the stock and add coriander powder, chilly powder and turmeric powder. Keep stirring. do a taste test and add required salt.

When the dish is almost dry, add the fennel powder and again mix the mutton properly.

Take off fire and serve hot with rice or chappati.

Bakharwadi

I love to snack and do have a big list of favourite snacks... Snacks are my best friend both when Iam sad and when Iam celebrating!!! Bakharwadi is one among the top 5 in my favourites list. This is a Maharashtrian snack and I first had it when my husband's brother brought it from pune....oooo... I used to crave for it when it got over and unfortunately we don't get Bakharwadis in chennai... then one day, while I was shopping at Nilgiris, I saw Haldiram's mini Bakharwadis... from that day onwards, my shopping would never be complete without a packet of Bakharwadi. During my second pregnancy, I used to crave Bakharwadi big time!!!! my that time neighbour, Indu brought a big box of bakharwadi from Delhi... I didn't even offer one piece to my husband!!!!
Now Iam in Cairo and forget Bakharwadis...don't get anything Indian here!!!!! So I thought I will make my own Bakharwadi and searched the net and got to Sanjeev Kapoor's recipe... here is the link

Bakarwadi Recipe

Make sure the dough is stiff, otherwise you will not get crisp Bhakarwadis. I did not steam the pinwheels. I just cut it and fried... came out good.

Tamarind Rice

I first had this in Bangalore when from college, we went for a field trip. My friend Udhaya made it for the whole group. But I never bothered to find out the recipe coz i hated getting into kitchen those days!! After I got married, I learnt to make this at my mom-in-laws kitchen.

Cooked Rice: 2 cups
Tamarind: half a lemon sized
Roasted peanut: 1 tbsp
Fenugreek powder: 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida: 1/4 tsp
Mustard: 1/4 tsp
Dry red chillies: 2
Curry leaves: 1 sprig
Chana dal: 1/4 tsp
Urud dal: 1/4 tsp

Soak the tamarind in a cup of warm water.
Heat oil in a kadai and splutter mustard, urud dal, chana dal, dry red chillies and curry leaves.
Add the fenugreek powder, asafoetida, peanuts and the tamarind extract.
When it becomes like a thick pulp, mix it in rice.
Serve hot or at room temperature with your favourite non veg dish.

Meat Rolls (Kerala bakery style)

As a child, whenever I used to go to Mallapally town bakery with my parents, my eyes will go to the meat roll tray. I just used to love it,.....still do. Once I asked my mom if she knows how its made and she said "its very easy...its just beef cutlet mix inside bread and deep fried. Once I came to Chennai, I used to miss it as only spring rolls were available in the bakeries there. So from then on, I started making this at home and my son will forego dinner if I make this. He even takes this as his school lunch!!!!





Bread slices: 12
Beaten eggs: 2
Bread crumbs: 2 cups

For the filling:
Beef cooked and minced: 2 cups
ginger garlic paste: 1 tbsp
Onion: 1 diced
Tomato: 1 chopped
Green chillies: 2 chopped
Pepper: 1 tsp
Cumin seed: 1 tsp
Coriander Powder: 3 level tsp
Garam masla: 2 level tsp
Salt and Oil: as required

Heat oil, splutter cumin seeds.
Add onions, finger garlic paste, green chillies and saute till onions turn brown.
Add the masalas and saute for a minute and then add the minced beef and mix properly.
Now add the tomatoes and cook till limp
Turn off fire.


Remove the crusts from bread and roll it with a rolling pin sprinkling water on it.
Place a tablespoon of the filling and roll the bread tight.
Dip it in the beaten egg and roll it in bread crumbs.
Repeat the procedure for the remaining bread slices.
Freeze it for atleast half an hour.
Now heat oil and deep fry the rolls.
Serve it as a teatime snack. Goes well with Tomato sauce.

Beetroot stir fry

I used to hate beetroot when I was a child.. For that matter, I hated anything vegetarian!!!! But after marriage, things changed and now I cannot imagine having a meal without atleast one vegetarian dish. This is a simple and tasty beetroot preparation.

Beetroot: 3 cubed
Garlic: 4 sliced
Curry leaves: 1 sprig
Pepper and salt: as required.
Water; 1/2 cup
Oil: 2 tbsp

In a kadai, add all the ingredients except oil and pepper and cook on a low flame till all the water is used up

Now add the oil and stir fry the beetroots sprinkling the pepper powder.

Saute for a few minutes and switch off the stove.

Serve hot with rice.

Beef curry

This one is a very tasty and easy beef preparation. I love it wth parotta...absolutely delicious... but goes well with chapati and rice also. Oh by the way, sometimes with leftover curry, I roast it and use it as a filling for Rice puttu....tastes yummy!!!!!

Beef: 3/4 kg cubed
Mustard: 1 tsp
Onions: 2 diced
Ginger: 1 inch diced
Garlic: 4 cloves
Green chillies: 4 slit
Curry leaves: 3 sprigs
Salt and oil: as required

To grind:
Garlic: 1 pod
Ginger: 1 inch
Pepper: 1 tsp
Chilly Powder: 3 heaped tsp
Coriander Powder: 6 heaped tsp
Turmeric: 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala: 1 tsp (get the recipe here )


Heat oil in a pressure cooker and splutter mustard and curry leaves.

Saute onions, ginger, garlic and green chillies til onions turn translucent.

Now add the ground paste and saute till oil separates.

Add the beef and mix till the beef is well coated with the masala.

Pour 11/2 cups water, close the lid, keep the weight and after the first whistle, simmer it for 20 minutes.

Delicious beef curry ready!!!!

Upma

This is yet another very easy recipe for breakfast. I love upma days coz it is very easy to make...don't have to bother about a side dish..... and also I love the twinkle in my son's eye when he sees the Upma...

Rava: 1 cup
Boiling Water: 11/2 cups
(You can use 2 1/2 cups water if you want a soggy upma.. but Kerala upma is a bit dry...I like that)
Ghee 1 tbsp
Onion: 1 small diced
Ginger: 1/2 inch diced
Mustard: 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves: 1 sprig
Green chillies: 2 slit
Salt: as required


Dry roast the rava on a low flame. Be careful not to brown it. Allow it to cool.

Heat the ghee, splutter mustard, curry leaves and add the
onions, ginger and green chillies and saute for 2 minutes.

Add the Rava and a minute later add the boiling water and salt and mix properly in a low flame.

Cover with a lid and switch off the stove.

Take off the lid after 5 minutes and serve hot.

Egg Pinwheel sandwich

This is a family favourite. At my hubby's place, whenever we go for a picnic, Egg sandwich is a must. My son absolutely loves this....but my daughter will eat it only if I make pinwheel sandwich.. she is fascinated by the shape, I guess.... Well, for her, it needn't be egg inside.... she likes peanut butter the best!!!! So here in Cairo also, whenever we go to the beach, I carry this and I guess our Egyptian driver is fed up!!! (he might be thinking "she doesn't know to make anythinng else"!!!)

For the filling:
Eggs Boiled: 4
Cheese: 1/2 cup (You can substitute cheese with butter or mayonnaise)
Salt and Pepper: as required.

Bread: It would be better if you can buy a full loaf, remove the crust and then slice it horizontally to 5 equal parts and place the filling and roll... but since I don't get a full loaf like that here in my nearest convenient store, this is how I do it...

White Bread: 8
Brown Bread: 4

Mash the boiled egg with a fork and mix it with cheese, salt and pepper.

Remove the crust from the bread slices

Now take 2 white bread and 1 brown bread and place it in such a way that, just the edges overlap. Make sure the brown bread is inthe middle

Now apply a little water on the overlapping edges and press it slightly to keep it together.

Take a rolling pin and flatten out the slices a little.

Spread the filling on each slice of bread.

Roll from one side tightly to create a pin wheel.

Wrap tightly in a plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or more.

Take out the plastic wrap, and cut it into smaller pinwheels.

The edge pieces will not look good, so you can eat it and serve the rest.

Sending this recipe to

Tuna Masala

I love canned tuna. On lazy days it sure comes in handy.. and ofcourse tastes wonderful too. This is a very easy, tasty and a multi purpose recipe.... Multi purpose coz you can do whatever you want with it... either as a side dish for rice or roti or as a sandwich filling...or as a filling for fish roll or for biriyani.... you can get as creative with it as you want.

Tuna: 3 small cans
Onions: 2 diced
Garlic- 5 chopped
Tomato: 1 medium chopped
Tomato paste: 1 tbsp
Beans, peas, carrot: 3/4 cup chopped
Coriander Powder: 11/4 tbsp
Chilly powder: 1 tbsp
Cumin powder: 1 tsp
Garam masala: 1 tsp
Salt: as required

Drain the oil from the tuna and heat it in a pan ( the water will splutter..don't bother..just take a few steps back and stand till it stops)
Throw in the onions and garlic and saute till brown.
Add the tomato chopped and tomato paste and saute till limp
Add the masala and saute till the raw smell goes.
Add the vegetables with a little water and let it cook.
Once the vegetables are cooked, add the shredded tuna and required salt.
Serve it hot with rice or roti.

If you have leftover tuna masala, it makes a great biriyani to be packed in lunch boxes. Just mix it with long grain rice and pack. Tastes yummy!!!

Lime Rice/ Lemon rice and Prawns stir fry

Whenever I make Lime rice, I remember my nephew, Akshay. When I was newly married, he was in std 1. Those days, he would only take lime rice for lunch...day after day...365 days!!!!
I used to hate lime rice when I was in college.... the reason was in Bangalore hostel, they used to serve it for breakfast...and it was called Chitrana..... and I just couldnt imagine eating rice for breakfast and so I never ever bothered to taste it. But after marriage, seeing Akshya's enthusiasm in taking lime rice to school everyday, I thought i will give it a try and wow... it was not at all like how I imagined it to be. So this is lime rice the way Akshay's mom, my dear sophy makes it!!!

Long grain rice cooked: 1 cup                            
Oil: 1 tbsp
Mustard: 1 tsp
Urad dal: 1/4 tsp
Chana dal: 1/4 tsp
peanuts: a handful      
Dried red chilly:1
Curry leaves: 1 sprig
Shallots: 3 sliced
Garlic: 2 sliced
Turmeric Powder: 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida: 1/8 tsp
Salt: as required
Lime juice: half lime     

Heat oil, splutter mustard, dried red chilly, urud dal, chana dal, peanuts, curry leaves.
Throw in the shallots and garlic and saute for a minute.
Now add the turmeric powder, asafoetida and salt and take off fire.
Mix in the rice and lime juice till the rice is properly coated


    
Lime rice a very easy option for packing lunch. I usually make prawns stir fry to go along with the lime rice. this is how I make the prawns.

Prawns: 1/2 kg
Shallots: 5 thinly sliced
Garlic: 10 thinly sliced
Ginger: 1 inch thinly sliced
Pepper powder; 1 tbsp
Chilly Powder: 11/4 tbsp
Turmeric Powder: 1/4 tsp
Coriander Powder: 1 tbsp
Salt: 2 tsp
Oil: 2tbsp

Make a paste of all the masalas.
Devein the prawns and marinate it with the masala paste.
Heat oil and saute the shallots, ginger and garlic till slightly brown.
Now add the marinated prawns and saute for a minute.
Add 1 tbsp water and close the pan with a lid (Make sure the flame is low)
The prawns will get cooked in its own water.
When the water dries up, take off lid and fry properly in the oil that remains.
Now your prawns is ready to be packed!!!

Very Tasty Fish Pickle

You might be wondering why my title reads very tasty.... everybody knows fish pickle is very tasty... well, I promise you this pickle is tastier than all other tasty recipes of fish pickle. Last month, I was chatting with a friend of mine, Aysha and she, after reading my prawns pickle recipe(where Ive mentioned Dhanya's fish pickle) told me that she still remembers Dhanya's fish pickle- so tasty!!!! I immediately wanted to make it and I mailed Dhanya to ask her for the recipe..but I guess her e-mail id changed and I searched all the networking sites for her... No she isnt registered anywhere!!! : (  But suddenly I remembered once my eldest sister-in-law made prawns pickle which was very tasty and that time I had asked her how she made it, and she told me it is a thick onion tomato based gravy.... which got me interested and asked her the whole recipe.. but till date I hadnt tried it out... but when I made it, it tasted exactly like Dhanya's fish pickle... EUREKA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fish fillet: 1 kg cut into small pieces
Garlic: a handful slit lengthwise
Green Chillies: 6 slit
Ginger garlic paste : 3 tbsp
Mustard: 2 tbsp
Onion diced: 1large
Tomato chopped: 2 small
Chilly Powder: 3 tbsp +1 tbsp
Turmeric Powder: 1/4 tsp+ 1/4 tsp
Fenugreek powder: 3/4 tsp
Salt: as required
Vinegar: 1/4 cup
Water: 1/2 cup
Oil: 1/2 cup

 

Make a paste of 1tbsp chilly powder, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder and a tsp salt and rub it on the fish pieces.

Heat oil and deep fry the fishes till crisp followed by the slit garlic and slit green chillies. keep this aside

Now in the remaining oil, splutter the mustard seeds and throw in the diced onions and saute till properly browned.

Now add the ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute and then add the tomatoes and saute till limp.

Add all the masalas and saute till oil separates.

Add the fried fish, garlic and greenchillies, water, vinegar and salt and boil for 2 minutes.

Take off fire and when it cools, store in an airtight container.

Tasty Beef Fry

This one is almost like the kerala beef ullarthu. Ive given it a tasty twist with my favourite ingredient- soya sauce . Ofcourse, kerala beef ularthu without any twist tastes simply out of the world- but for a change!!! and Ive used big onions instead of shallots....and sadly no curry leaves  : (

Beef cut in cubes: 3/4 kg
Onions: 3 diced
Ginger diced: 2 tbsp
Garlic diced: 2tbsp
Coriander Powder: 2.5 tbsp
Chilly Powder: 1 Tbsp
Pepper Powder: 2 tsp
Turmeric Powder: 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala : 1 tbsp (get the recipe here )
Soya Sauce: 1 tbsp
Salt and Oil: as required
Mustard: 1 tsp

Heat Oil in a pressure cooker and splutter mustard seeds.
Saute Onions, ginger and garlic till brown.
Add all the masalas and saute on low flame till the raw smell goes.
Now mix the beef properly into the masala.
Pour 2 cups water and pressure cook for 20 minutes on low flame after the first whistle.
Transfer the cooked beef and gravy into a heated kadai and let the gravy dry up.
Add the soyasauce and saute again for a minute.
Serve hot with rice.

Mixed Vegetable Saute

This is a very easy stir fry (minus chopping the vegetables!!! but if you have frozen vegetables, nothing like it!!!)
Onion sliced- 1 medium
Soya sauce- 1 tsp
Salt and Oil: as required
Frozen vegetable mix- 1 cup
 OR
Beans and Carrot chopped- 3/4 cup
Green peas- 1/4 cup

Heat oil in a pan and saute the onions till translucent (if using fresh vegetables, otherwise wait till it is light brown if you are using frozen vegetables).
Now add the vegetables and saute till done.
Add the soya sauce and salt and saute again for a minute.
Serve hot with rice.