Spice and Rice

Delhi Belly

2011-12-11T16:03:00.000-08:00

A Little treat from my dear Bro!
and also a gastronomical gift from the main land of India .
Since I have been blogging for the last 5 years which is very seldom , but the pursuit has always been the same as my fellow bloggers to bring out the best in the world of cooking from what I see around or from what I cook around ,this time it happened that my brother who was travelling on a business trip to Delhi decided to let his camera lens go wild on the streets on 'Dilli' and the results were phenomenal . Thanks to him I could share all the fabulous pictures here ;)
North Indian food has been hailed to a pedestal and deserves to be there too as it has a colorful blend of spices that get ur taste buds taking a ride of their life.

Most photos posted down here are of street vendors and street food commonly sold in India in this case specifically Delhi vegetarian and ample kinds of non vegetarian options too

The list is endless believe me when I saw these pictures all I wanted to do is get on the first flight back home they are too tempting.

Like this one a perfect example of fast food breakfast street style , fast easy breakfast on the go and yum malicious.

Usually this is a very common sight on the streets of any busy Indian street be it Mumbai or Delhi you will come across quite a few vendors standing out in the open and frying food in hot pipping oil or puris frying in hot oil served as a snack usually accompanied with some kind of a veggie side commonly called as 'sabji' made of potatoes or garbanzo beans with spices to jazz it up.

Like they say a picture is worth thousand words hence the above one says it all !
And to sum it all saving the best for the last another very common snack the Indian answer to the burger own very own Vada pav .

Njoy and happy holidays!

Paneer Mattar Masala

2011-11-15T01:43:00.000-08:00

Today was a wet day for us felt like cuddling under a warm blanket with a hot cuppa of chai with a good book :) but it was dinner time so I decided to make some thing a little more heavy and fulfilling as the weather was so calling for it .
I usually have a block of paneer or in American terms 'cottage cheese'
sitting in my freezer and staring at me along with that was the Malaysian parathas just side by side that made my dinner decision easy .Now Malaysian parathas are very similar to the maida rotis in India but not as hardy as the naan a little more on the soft and flakier side these are pre rolled frozen all that needs to be done is to cook on a non stick pan, but just make sure these are made right before you eat as these rotis do not taste that good if they sit for long time again easily found in Indian and also Asian stores. These rotis go great with any kind of gravy my kiddos love to have them rolled with honey too YUM ;0

What u need for Paneer mattar masala
Paneer- 1 block cut in to cub sizes
small green peas-1/4 cup
onion - 1 cup paste form
tomato -1 finely chopped
ginger garlic paste - 2 teaspoon
green chillies- 3 chopped fine optional
cilantro-1/4 cup chopped
half n half -1 tablespoon optional
oil-2 tablespoon
salt- as needed
turmeric- 1 teaspoon
jeera - 1 teaspoon full
tikka masala or garam masala- 1/2 tablespoon

Heat non stick pan add the oil let it heat add the jeera when they start to spurt, add the onion paste cook well till the raw taste goes away and the oil separates. Add the ginger garlic paste to this paste cook for 5- 10 mins till the raw smell diminishes, add the chopped tomatoes let this mixture cook for a few mins on low flame.
Meanwhile fry the paneer cubes in pan till all the sides are brown keep them separate in a bowl after done with the frying. Add the garam masala or the tikka masala, turmeric and salt to the tomato- onion paste by now this turns into a thick consistency ,add the Green chillies again this part is optional or u can substitute with paprika too. More color less spice :)
Add the fried paneer pieces and the small peas to this mix also add a little water if the mixture is too thick, last add the half n half as needed u can add more if needed. Make sure when u add the half n half the pan is on low flame so the the cream does not curdle.The consistency u should be looking for of the gravy that is not too watery or not too thick .
Garnish with the chopped cilantro and have with Rice or rotis!
Njoy!

Pad thai

2011-11-12T12:55:00.000-08:00

Coming to the US and in the first month we went to Thai restaurant according to all my newly acquired pals this was very close to Chinese food and good too. So as usual playing on the safe side we ordered some fried rice and ginger chicken or something like that not very clear on the details since it has been close to 10 year now ;0

Then later I came across the ever popular Thai dish called Pad Thai which I instantly fell in love with for years it stuck to be the favourite dish to be ordered any Thai restaurant then later I started to venture into making this one from scratch. well after a few attempts i nailed it now it is a regular at our place .

The only catch is that u cannot make it ahead of it just make it before u plan to eat.

the recipe I followed is all thanks to an other blogger whose link is posted below .

Try u wont be disappointed

http://chezpim.com/cook/pad_thai_for_beginners

Njoy!

Rava Upma

2011-10-29T14:18:00.000-07:00

Breakfast is usually the first meal of the day and hence the name break the fast :) usually on weekends I luv to make something heavy so we all can indulge into good food and fill up our hungry bellies for the rest of the easy and lazyy weekend ahead. I remember as a child travelling in trains the best part was eating the train canteen and station food yummy!!!
Usually it would take us 2 days to get to our destination and the starting station would have an entirely different food selection then the ending station because both were 2 different states .The canteen food was more or less the same one dish which I truly looked forward to on the train was their upma packed in a little silver container, hot and steamy delivered by the canteen men who would come ahead of time to take your order , along with this upma we always ordered hot coffee or garma-garam tea what a great way to start your day! Eating the upma , while sipping on some hot coffee and looking outside the through the window of the train was so relaxing . I miss those long train rides , now when we go to India we reach the same destination in 2 hrs even before U can finish your breakfast and coffee it is landing time , and the view out of the window of the plane well now thats a whole different story!

And that is why I still have that dish as my top 5 breakfast dishes to indulge in on a weekend morning!

WHAT U NEED TO MAKE THE DISH:
upma- 2 cups
shallots-1 tablespoon chopped
ginger chopped-1 inch
green chillies-2-3 chopped
curry leaves a few optional
cilantro a small bunch chopped
mustard seeds- 1 teaspoon
urad dal-1 teaspoon
butter 1 tablespoon
EVOO-1 tablespoon
water-2 cups

Heat a thick bottom pan , add the oil when right temp is reached add the mustard seeds let it spurte add the urad dal toast for 1-2 mins then add chopped shallots, ginger, chillies. curry leaves, saute for 5 mins.
Add the rava and salt to this and again toast for 5 -7 mins till the rava is very slightly brown.
Then add water and let this simmer for 10 mins till all the water is absorbed into the rava.
Mix the upma well such that the rava is all separated out evenly , toss the butter in for added softness and garnish with chopped cilantro leaves.
Njoy !

Beef cutlets

2011-10-02T13:21:00.000-07:00

Beef cutlet is not a very universal Indian dish but when u go down south like specifically Kerala this dish is a perfect appetizer and a great compliment to hard drinks and otherwise too . U cannot go wrong with this absolute crowd pleaser make it and u will be hailed as a rock star even if it is just for the day ! ; P
I usually make it around Christmas or Easter time truly delectable dish believe me there won't be any left overs with this one!
what u need to make the recipe:
Beef -2 pounds
boiled potatoes-2
shallots chopped-1/2 cup
(sorry the pic shows big red onion in the backdrop cos I had used up the shallots for the cutlets!)
ginger finely chopped-1/2 inch
green chillies chopped as per taste
cilantro chopped -1 tablespoon
salt to taste
bread crumbs plain- 2 cups
oil to fry as needed
eggs -2 beaten

There are different options to make the mix but the one I follow is to boil the beef pieces with a little salt in the cooker till well done. Then use a blender to get it to a thread like consistency with out adding any water at all just the meat this texture gets it close to the authentic beef cutlets in kerala because I have tried this other ways comes out little chunky.
add the chopped shallots, chillies, ginger, cilantro, salt
and the boiled potatoes blend these all well together.
Then line up the beaten eggs first add a little salt to the eggs too, then the bread crumbs
start making the patties of the beef mix.
Heat a pan with oil when the right temp take the patty dip the patty in the eggs , then coat with the bread crumbs next stop is the hot pan.
Turn the patties both sides till golden brown serve with tomato ketchup or shallots marinated with chillies and vinegar Njoy!

Simple Rice Pilaf

2011-09-24T12:18:00.000-07:00

It has been long since I have posted something close to a recipe on my blog , well busy life takes a toll on you never the less my 3 and 1/2 year old blog has started to hyperventilate getting near on to its last breath and so in desperate need to revive it I decided to post, the other very valid reason is that this was my weekend off no plans ahead so just lazing on the couch like a potato I decided to put this time to good use visit my blog world and seeing all the excellent recipes & updates that my fellow blogger's were up to inspired me to get in action .

So here's is a very simple dish

Rice pulao or like the western world calls it rice pilaf , name it either ways this dish is a great combo with any gravy dish.

What u need to make this dish:

Rice -2 cups

frozen or fresh peas -1/3 cup

cub size cut up carrot -1/3cup

ghee-1 tablespoon

bay leaves-4

cardamon-4

cinnamon stick -2 inch length

whole black pepper-1 teaspoon

salt to taste

lemon juice-1 teaspoon

water -4 cups
Heat a thick pot /pan ,add the ghee which can be also substituted with oil too as per taste and preferences of the individual . Add the whole spices to the ghee toss around till a smoky aroma comes, add the carrots and peas cook for 10 mins on medium flame .

Then add the cleaned rice to this stir till the rice is pearly white at least another 5 mins .

Add hot water to this mix gently stirring usually the water should be twice the quantity of the rice .

When the rice starts boiling add the lemon juice and salt cover for 15 -20 mins till the rice is fully cooked
Serve with hot curry and Njoy this easy peasy recipe

Fried potatoes

2011-03-28T10:23:00.000-07:00

Potatoes are the most commonly available vegetables in any country or region .They are starchy, hardy and filling which compliments any dish be it vegetarian or a non vegetarian dish potatoes can just dwell well and give the dish a whole new taste and texture.

While I was digging out some information about our very own potato , was surprised to know that this vegetable has a quiet a bit of history to its credit that too an interesting one.!!!

Now I got this recipe from a very close friend of mine who we were visiting after 5 long years they had recently moved back to Seattle from India.This recipe reminds me so much of her and the good times we have had for the past few years together. The day she made this was a perfect puri bhajji kind of a Seattle day , the weather was kind of still cold although it was May , it kept raining intermittently and we all had so much to catching up with to do when they had left US 5 years back both our kiddos were just a few months old although we kept in touch all this while it felt great to be back together .

Here to great friends and good times with them !!

What u need for the recipe :

Potatoes- 3 peeled and cut cub size

Onion- 1 chopped fine

green chillies- 3-4 chopped

ginger garlic - 1 tbsp finely chopped

EVOO-1 TBSP

salt to taste

tumeric pwd- 1 teaspoon

cilantro- 1/2 bunch chopped

dried meethi leaves- 1 teaspoon

jeera - 1 teaspoon

dried coconut flakes- 1 tbsp

Heat a non stick pan add oil after a few minutes add jeera and dried meethi leaves these have very distinct and strong flavor it gives the dish a very authentic flavor too fry it till it gets lightly toasted, then saute the onions then goes in the ginger garlic paste which needs to be cooked till the raw taste is gone .

Add the potatoes ,salt and turmeric set the flame on medium low and let this cook for about 15 mins check in between so that the potatoes do not get stuck at the bottom of the pan.

Last is the finisihing touches add the chopped chillies and then after about 5-10mins when the potatoes are fully cooked add the cilantro leaves and the coconut flakes let them toast a little . The coconut flakes toasted gives this dish a very nutty flavor which perfectly compliments dal rice or hot fluffy puris too !

Puris

2011-02-15T10:24:00.000-08:00

Today's post I decided to touch up on a classic breakfast in most Indian homes, PURI -BHAJJI . I remember my college days there was a street stall just outside the campus that every morning like clockwork had a guy frying hot puris to be served with potato bhajji yummy !The smell itself was so intoxicating , no wonder in a matter of time he would sell all of his stock of aloo puri ;P Puri or pooris are a very popular snack or breakfast in northern part of India . One of the easiest to make and has a very filling result. The recipe is pretty similar to that of making rotis or chapatis but instead of cooking it on a flat pan the bread or puri is deep fried in oil which makes it soft and literally irresistible with any gravy . what u need :

2 cups of wheat flour or atta

warm water as needed

oil 1 cup

Knead all the above ingredients in a dough and set aside for 45mins to an hour. The trick to make soft rotis or even puris is to knead using warm water and let the dough sit for at least 45 mins. For puris try making the dough not too hard a little more on the loose side also when the puris are rolled out in small round puris use oil instead of wheat flour ,which adds on to the softer texture of the puris too. Another thing is to have moderate heat for frying the puris once the right temperature is set do not keep changing it. Also you just need to turn the puri in the hot oil once each side because the more you keep turning the harder the puri becomes also drinks a whole lot of oil. Make small balls of the dough , flatten it out with a rolling pin and deep fry in oil , I usually use EVOO ( extra virgin olive oil ) as puris are not the healthiest but on a rainy day these are the best . These sell like hot cakes are can be kept for few days in the fridge, mine never makes it to that point :) Serve these puris with aloo bhajji or even a gravy like recipe would be a great combo with these puris ! !

Puttu and Kadala curry

2011-01-02T17:15:00.000-08:00

I am beginning this new year 2011 with one of the favourite breakfast of most keralities worldwide Puttu and Kadala curry one that has been blogged so many times in different variations, has been favourites in movies too. The other day I was watching an old Malayalam movie featuring Mammoty as a mentally handicapped man , and the food he loved the most was puttu he also is nick named puttu in the movie. That gave me an inspirational to make puttu and kadala curry for breakfast so here it is the recipe that I made from

What u need :

Rice powder- 2 cups
Coconut shredded fresh- 1/2 cup
Water ( warm )- as needed
salt - as needed

Mix all the above ingredients without the coconut with your hand and add warm water at a slow rate , constantly mixing the rice mixture , the final product has to be in a semi wet consistency the way what I have been taught by my mom and probably her mom is you should be able to make a ball when you grab the mixture and also should be able to break it in to powder like
consistency then you have reached the goal.
The utensil to make puttu is usually a funnel like hollow on top with the base with a much smaller hole. Now a days there is an option of cherata puttu also which means the utensil is in the shape of a coconut Shell to be exact half coconut shell.
Now layer the coconut about 1 tablespoon then the rice mixture and in the end again coconut.
This funnel is then set on to a steamer you can use a cooker as the base alos or the traditional vessel that it comes with . This then connects to the puttu kutti (utensil) at the bottom and the hot steam from the cooker cooks the puttu which is usually done in 8-10 mins max.

Serve with ripe bananas or any gravy combination for this time I went with Kadala curry. This is like a marriage made in heaven so good together just the way the start the day off right !

Happy new year 2011

2010-12-30T12:34:00.001-08:00

WISHING EVERYONE IN THE BLOG WORLD A VERY HAPPY , PROSPEROUS AND PEACEFUL 2011

Banana Bread

2010-03-02T10:15:00.000-08:00

Bananas are a usual at my place first few days we try to consume them with upma when they are just of the right ripeness then as days pass by they start turning color and then nobody wants them any more not even me. So usually these ripe and slightly blackened bananas get transformed into the banana bread I am sure who ever invented this recipe did it out of desperation to use up the too ripe bananas what ever be the case it turns out great. This recipe is based on the food network website very easy and simple to make , and a great snack too.

what u need :

1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 large eggs
3 ripe bananas
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing.

Beef Curry

2010-02-26T13:05:00.000-08:00

We are just back from our India trip which was so good, all of us had a great time. Among all the dishes we got to try the one that inspired me to make this dish was the beef curry well I have modified it a bit , but this is a good gravy dish with appam , rotis or rice too.

what u need :

beef cut up-1 pound
onion - 1 cup chopped length wise
garlic -1 tablespoon chopped fine
ginger- 1 tablespoon chopped fine
tomato- 1-2 chopped
curry leaves- 7-8
turmeric- 1 teaspoon
chilli pwd -1 teaspoon (add spice as needed)
paprika - 1 teaspoon
black pepper ground- 1 teaspoon
garam masala- 1 teaspoon
EVOO-2 teaspoon
salt to taste
coconut milk- 1/2 cup

Clean and cut the meat in bite size pieces add 1/2 cup water cook in the cooker till at least 2 whistles let it cool down

Meanwhile heat up a thick bottom pan, add 2 teaspoon EVOO add the chopped onions and curry leaves cook till translucent.

Add the chopped ginger- garlic till raw smell is gone.

Add the paprika, garam masala , black pepper, cook for few mins , then add the cooked beef.

As beef is going to take some time to cook so cover the pan and let it cook on low flame, be sure to be mixing it once in a while so that it does not get burnt .

Add the chopped tomato let it cook down.

After about 20-25 mins the beef starts to sweat out the oil , add the coconut milk in the end .

Add salt as per taste, and serve with hot rice or chapathi.

Chiken Fry with coconut

2010-01-10T14:28:00.000-08:00

Chicken Fry with Coconut:

There are so many dishes to make chicken but every time I cut up chicken , it ends up in the same old curry style so this time I decided to make it a little different way.This dish is partly inspired by a u tube cook and partly by my dad who is a fantastic cook.

There are very few people who enjoy cooking and my dad is one of them, he made sure that everyone who was around participates in the cooking process even if it was just watching him cook which was so entertaining , and the cooked dish usually was a winner!! He made the whole process of cooking so easy and enjoyable looking back I guess that was one of the reasons I love to cook :)

This year as we are planning our trip to India there are so many things on the TO DO LIST most of all is to spend some quality time with family and friends and also get to eat some great Indian food .Most of the time we go out to eat is to some fancy Indian Restaurant and end up having Indian dishes unheard of so me and my hubby usually sneak out the house under some shopping pretense and coz we love to eat the street food pipping hot vada pav's , pav bhaji and my favorite the hot masala dosa right of a tava on the streets of Mumbai irresistible . We manage to have all these every trip , trying to keep the tradition on for this trip too.

Coming back to the recipe this a a little time consuming dish but all the time and effort put in in the end is well worth it.

What u need :

chicken – 1 full cut up in bite size pieces
onion – 1 cup chopped
coconut grated - ½ cup
ginger garlic – 1 tablespoon chopped
red dried chillies – 4-5
black pepper whole – 1 teaspoon full
cinnamon bark- 2-3
cloves- 4-5
bay leaves – 3-4
cardamon – 3-4
anise star- 2-3
curry leaves - 1-2 springs
oil – 1-2 tablespoon
salt to taste
turmeric- 1 teaspoon full
paprika 1 tablespoon

Heat a small pan and roast the whole spices for a few minutes , set aside to cool .In the same pan roast the grated coconut till they r crispy and brown this usually takes 5-10 mins be careful to not burn the coconut.Now mix the coconut with the spices using a blender , mix till it is in a fine shredded form do not add any water this has to be in a dry texture.Heat a pan add oil , saute the chopped onions , add ginger garlic and cook for 5-10 mins add the curry leaves too.Add the coconut mix , along with spices turmeric and the paprika add the chicken to this mix cook for at least 20 mins till the chicken is all cooked well. Serve with hot rotis!!

Dal Fry

2010-01-02T19:23:00.000-08:00

After a long hectic travel day or a long round of high calorie fattening foods all u feel like eating is something simple and comforting. Usually after we r back from a hectic trip I try to whip up some simple Dal and Rice just brings back goodness in every bite!! A little pickle and yogurt um um good!!

Looking back through ancient India till today one of the most prominent dishes that show up in each and every Indian cuisine be North Indian, South Indian, West or East Indian is undoubtly the dal rice.I think every Indian restaurant has this dish on its menu may a little more fancy version of dal , like dal makhani , or dal tadka , or on the south side parippu etc but all these boils down to the same thing. I remember flipping pages of international magzines mostly the travel or food magzines where u stuble upon an article about India and a snap of a plate of rice and yellow gravy by the side ( dal ). Brings back so many warm memories.

Dal basically is also called lentils and fall in the category of pulses loaded with protein. Easily available in most Indian stores actually now I have seen them in the regular grocery stores too, usually in the Asian aisle. There are quite a few varieties of dal for that matter

Like:

Toor dal , Masoor Dal & Moong Dal

Many more u can add on , but these are the most common ones found almost in every Indian Pantry.

I remember when we were young my parents used to get all their groceries from this one store where everyone goes to, and usually a whole year’s worth, not by pounds but by kilos. Same with rice in our kitchen there was this huge aluminum vessel filled with dal which as and when my mom could use the lentils it was like a magic vessel which was never empty which my mom always made sure . My mom made dal almost few times a week it goes a long way, made be mostly in sambar form by adding lots of vegetables to it.

I always loved simple dal and rice so fulfilling and comforting usually I make it with toor and masoor dal mixed in equal proportion.

Sometimes I boil them in excess and store in the freezer in smaller containers then as and when needed U can thaw and use it.

Now to the recipe what u need :

· Toor dal ½ cup

· Masoor dal ½ cup

· Onion chopped fine ¼ cup

· 1 Tomato chopped

· 2-3 chopped garlic

· 1-2 green chillies ( optional )

· Cilantro chopped ¼ cup

· 1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves (meethi )

· 1 tablespoon olive oil or any u prefer

· ½ teaspoon full turmeric powder

· 1 teaspoon full or mustard seeds and jeera

· Salt to taste

Boil both the dals after washing few times in water, usually I boil it in a cooker with the water level an inch above the dal , u can also boil it in the deep set pan but takes a lot longer. After the dal has cooled down .Heat a pan with the oil add the mustard and jeera when they start to pop add the chopped onion cook for a few minutes . Then add the chopped garlic and green chillies sauté till soft and a little brown in color.

At this point u can also add a chopped tomato which is optional, cook the tomato thru then add the dried fenugreek leaves which have a very strong flavor absolutely flavorful this ingredient will just seal the deal for u, makes the dal so yummy and AUTHENTIC. Add the turmeric powder stir for a few minutes and add the cooked dal make sure it is a thick consistency u can add water as per your preference.Add salt in the end if water is added do let it boil then add the chopped cilantro leaves for garnish.

Serve with hot steaming rice or rotis too .Enjoy !!

Cabbage Thoran

2009-12-29T15:38:00.000-08:00

Cabbage Thoran

Such a universal keralite side dish, in Kerala practically every vegetable can be turned into a thoran just because of the abundance of coconuts all around the state.

But also makes every vegetable simple delectable I remember one of my aunt's in Kerala use to make okra thoran which tasted good of course it was loaded up

with shallots and grated coconut. I like the thorans , but by far the one that tops the list will be the cabbage thoran also because my brother loves this thoran

goes great with fried fish and Moru curry.

In India my neighbor who lived next door to us was a fantastic cook and the way she sliced cabbage was a sight in itself, most common way to chop the vegetable down south was and is to use a finger glove to protect ur finger which still gets bruised at the end of the ordeal

Cutting by holding the vegetable in ur hand which needs a talent not everybody can do it but sure with some practice and cuts u will get there and not using the chopping board, but the product was amazingly fine and small.

Coming to the US I was surprised when I walked through the grocery store aisles especially the produce, that cabbages are available in so many varieties, the usual one the green cabbage that we get in India then the red cabbage more like a purple red which I not a big fan of then who can forget the lil' version called Brussels sprouts.

A whole lot to choose from, I have tried all of them Brussels sprouts do taste a little different than the regular green cabbage and good too.

Now to the recipe which is a super simple and easy dish to make,

what u need

Cabbage 1/2 chopped fine

Grated Coconut 1/4 cup

Shallots 1-2 chopped

Ginger 1/2 inch grated

Green chillis chopped 1-2

Curry leaves 1 spring

Mustard seeds 1 teaspoon

Oil to cook 1-2 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Heat a non stick pan , add oil to the pan , after a few minutes add mustard seeds when they start to pop, add the chopped shallots, ginger, green chillis and curry leaves , and sauté for a few minutes.

Add the chopped cabbage and the grated coconut together sauté add salt as needed let it cook for 10 minutes

In between keep stirring the pan to avoid the thoran getting burnt. Once the cabbage looks translucent u can switch the heat off

I like to cook it a little more to brown the cabbage just a tiny bit adds flavor to the dish.

Serve with rice or rotis too.

Merry Christmas & happy new year

2009-12-22T18:44:00.000-08:00


It's the most wonderful time of the year
With the kids jingle belling and everyone telling you
"Be of good cheer"
It's the most wonderful time of the year.

WISHING ALL OF YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS
 AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010!!
HOPE U ALL N! JOY THIS WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!

T

Moru Curry

2009-12-21T15:34:00.000-08:00

Moru Curry is a traditional side dish at any keralite home , perfectly blends with chicken , fish , meat or vegetables, This dish is basically yogurt sauteed with mustard seeds and shallots, some variations of theses are by adding either mango, pineapple, raw bananas, white cucumber etc . The addition of veges just makes it more hardy and filling. I remember having this dish almost every few days but still was never bored of it , if nothing kalan or pulissery is always there which are the other names for this yummy dish.

This Year as Christmas is just around the corner the one thing we all look forward to is the warmth, and goodness, with our family and yes ! the yummy food. This dish was a regular side dish for all Christmas dinner's we had along with the family and still is .There are always the popular ones like chicken curry , beef olatheyadhe and pork vindaloo. Along all the other dishes are on the list I decided to share this one something simple and super easy still so tasty!! It perfectly complements the non-vegetarian dishes sort of adding a added comfort level to the dishes.
What u need:
1 shallot chopped
5-6 red Chillies

1 teaspoonful garlic chopped

½ tea spoon Turmeric Powder
¼ tea spoon Methi (Uluva) Powder
¼ tea spoon Cumin (jeera) Powder
2½ cup Yogurt (Curd)

salt, oil, mustard seeds, and curry leaves.

Heat oil in a deep set pan add mustard seeds , red chillies, garlic curry leaves and chopped shallots.
Stir for a while and then add the turmeric powder, methi powder, cumin powder and salt.
Now add some water. Cover it and cook for some time.
When cooked well, switch off the stove, and after a while add the whipped yogurt to it, stir well.
add the whipped yogurt gently in to the pan with stirring it .
Add salt in the end with constant stirring . U can also add coconut milk for a rich flavor .
Other options also include adding cooked cub sized veges like white cucumber, raw banana or pineapple too.
Enjoy with rice !!

Baked Chicken with herbs

2009-11-30T17:26:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is always such a great time to reach out and celebrate the season, before coming to the US little did I know of such a tradition existing, but now that my lil' kinder gardener comes homes with all the educational information it is so interesting to learn about Thanksgiving and what it has evolved in.
Every year we at home celebrate Thanksgiving by giving thanks to all the people who make your life and world a beautiful place, also we make the dishes only difference since we do not have a big family around whom we always MISS during the holidays , so the big Turkey is substituted by a whole chicken which a family of four can easily devour.

this baked chicken is super simple and a delicious,

What u need:

whole chicken thawed
butter - 2 tablespoon RT(room temp)
all herbs -thyme, oregano, rosemary my favourite
rock salt- as needed
black pepper- freshly crushed
lemon-1 cut in slices

Rub the dried chicken with butter, salt and pepper all around
make sure to go under the skin of the chicken.
Add the herbs to the baking pan rub lemon on the chicken
keep it for at least 2 hours in the fridge.
then Preheat oven to 400°F Cook for 30 minutes at 400°F.
Then lower the heat to 350°F and cook for 10-30 minutes more (approximately 14 to 15 minutes per pound total cooking time) until juices run clear (not pink)
when poked with a sharp knife or the internal temperature of the
chicken breasts is 170°F and the thighs 185°.
serve with potatoes and Njoy !

Egg Potato Curry

2009-11-16T12:11:00.000-08:00

Every Sunday growing up I remember my mom would make idly , dosa or on occasions appam for breakfast, now that I am a mom myself I have few traditions of my own since the weekdays are so busy with two kids and jobs the weekend I prefer to make a hearty breakfast and the one that my 6 year old loves the most is appam and egg curry. Some days he will specially request for it.
Since we all love it this one is a pretty common breakfast and easy to make too. I usually boil the eggs and potatoes the evening before make things a lot easier. Now to the recipe

What you need :
eggs-4 boiled
potatoes-1 boiled cut cub size
onion (shallots ) - 1/2 cup chopped
ginger- 1 tablespoon chopped
tomato-1 finely chopped
turmeric- 1 teaspoon
chilli pwd -2 teaspoon (add spice as needed)
paprika - 2 teaspoon
garam masala - 1 teaspoon
curry leaves- 4-5
half n half or coconut milk-1/4 cup
whole spices -cinnamon, cardamon, bay leaves ,anise ,mace (few each)
olive oil-2 tablespoon
salt as needed

heat a pan with the EVOO.
add the whole spices in to get the flavor going,
add chopped onions and chopped ginger into the hot oil and
cook till the raw taste goes away or till the onion turns a little brown
then add turmeric, paprika, chilli pwd, and garam masala and
let it cook for a few mins more till the spice blend into the onion .
Add the tomatoes mix well let it cook for at least 5-10 mins
add the salt as per your taste
let it simmer till the gravy is thick .
Add the eggs and the boiled potatoes mix well now the give the sauce a creamy texture add coconut milk or half n half. Simmer for few mins more DO NOT BOIL.
Serve with soft appams .

Mint Vegatable Biryani

2009-11-09T10:34:00.000-08:00

Some days are just so hectic it is hard to make a full course dinner especially both me and hubby working and two kids it seems like we are always running and 24 hours do not seem enough, so to satisfy our hunger I usually try to make up some with whatever is left in the fridge since no one of us want to really go grocery shopping.
So this is a very common biryani whipped up with everything left in bitesN bits in your fridge. Also since my mint plant is growing by leaps and bounds have to chop it off like every month had to add some of those too which made this dish turned out pretty much like a mint vegetable biryani.

What u need:

basmati rice 2 cups
sliced onions 2
thinly sliced onions seperate for garnish 1 cup optional
tomato 1 cup
chopped vegetables like cauliflower, potatoes, beans, carrots , peas etc
green chillies 4 optional
garlic 1 inch
ginger 1 inch
minced coriander leaves
mint leaves about 1/2 of the cilantro
salt to taste
Star anise 1
Bay leaves 3
peppercorns 10
cloves and cardamon 8 each
cinnamon 2 pieces
garam masala Sanjeev Kapoor's 1 tsp
half n half 1/2 cup
turmeric 1/2 teaspoon
lemon juice 2 tsp

Heat with oil fry whole spices lighlty.
A minute or two later add onions cook till they r soft and little brown add tomatoes and veges fry well with the onions .
add ginger and garlic in paste form along with mint n cilantro.
Add to this turmeric powder and the spices u can add garam masala too I added Sanjeev Kapoor's garam masala.
Once the veges are nice crispy n half cooked add the half n half or cream also is an option gives a very soft flavour to the biryani , let it simmer till the sauce is thick about 10-15 minutes.
Now for the rice boil a pot of water with salt and lemon juice (lemon juice makes the rice fluffy ) and whole spices add the washed rice and cook till half done.
Strain the rice and let it drain ,then mix the vege gravy and rice little at a time till even and bake for 30 mins at 350 C. What I need did was took it baking pan out slightly mixed the biryani put it back in again makes it even color .

For garnish add fried onions and raisins serve with a yogurt based raita.

happy onam 2009

2009-09-01T09:07:00.001-07:00

wishing all of you very happy and

prosperous onam
2009!

Moong Khichidi

2009-04-20T09:35:00.001-07:00

There is something about khichidi that makes it so appealing when u are sick , or down with a cold the gluey texture makes u feel a lot better along with all the tender , love and care . I was first introduced to this recipe years back when I was at my friend P's house and as usual we were chatting non stop didn't realise it was almost lunch time and I was suffering from a cold all stuffed up . So she being a good cook decided to whip up some khichidi with the veges that were available . Although at that age ( being teenagers) nothing was really measured just eyeballed ,threw all the ingredients in a cooker after 2 whistles the khichidi was done.
P served this with homemade mango pickle and roasted papad YUMMY!!
Since then this dish is usually served at my place pretty regularly or if some one is sick.
Recently my 5 yr came down with a cold all stuffed up, didn't want to go to school but did play with toys all day . All he wanted was to stay at home , so for lunch I decided to make the moong khichidi which was pretty simple done in 20 mins.
Turned out great so here is the recipe :
Ingredients:

1 cup Basmati rice
1/2 cup spilt moong dal
3 tbsp Coriander Leaves, chopped
1/2 cup shallots chopped
1 carrot chopped
handfull of green peas
2 halopeno peppers chopped
1 tomato chopped
1 potato cubsize
1/2 tsb jeera
1/2 tsb paprika
1/2 turmeric pwd
1 tbsp olive oil EVOO
ghee to serve
Salt to taste

wash the rice and moong dal , soak for 5-10 mins .
cut all the veges , heat the cooker add EVOO , add the jeera seeds
after they splutter add the veges and saute for 2-3 mins
add turmeric, paprika , and salt cook some more
add the soaked rice and dal,
mix well add 3 cups of water.
add the chopped cilantro leaves
close the cooker , cook till at least 2 whistles blows,
which makes the rice a lil more gluey.
If u don't like the gluey texture one is enough .
serve hot with a dollop of ghee and pickle.

Coconut Chutney

2009-04-06T14:23:00.000-07:00

Coconut chutney has been a staple at our home as and when we have idlis or dosas which is like every other weekend . My mom would make this by adding a little tomato which tasted fine to me as I grew up loving it. But after our wedding every time I made the chutney i.e with the one with tomato in it my hubby dear would eat it , but somewhere down was not very happy with the end product coz he grew up having the orange nadan style chutney like the ones u have at thaatu kada . For all of u who do not know what a thaatu kada is it is a roadside eatery not necessarily in one of the best locations , or decor or hygiene but one thing u can be sure of is it has one of the best tasting foods. Every visit that we make to India we usually love trying food from these joints whether it is mumbai or kerala .

So then I began a quest for the recipe for the orange coconut chutney which I knew was simple but for some odd reason I never got it right. One time while during my trail and error experiments I added the shallots in the grinder along with the coconut and then I had to look no further , my orange chutney was born :) I guess the shallots gave it a raw taste to the chutney which goes very well with idlis .

What u need

coconut 1/2 cup
shallots 1-2 chopped
ginger 1 inch
curry leaves 4-5
oil 1 tsp
salt as needed
chilli pwd 1/2 tsp
mustard seeds 1/2tsp

grind coconut, ginger and shallots in to a fine paste , add oil in a pan when hot add the mustard seeds as they start to break add the finely chopped shallots and curry leaves,
keep the heat on low so that nothing gets burnt.
Add the chilli pwd stir well, add the coconut mix soon after the chilli pwd is added .
Keep in stirring for few mins then add salt.
Serve it with idlis or dosas.

Baghare baingan

2009-03-30T18:34:00.000-07:00

I was one of the most pickiest kid ever, and just to get me to eat my veges mom would try different recipes. Some vegetables didn't ever make in to my system as they never left my plate and eggplant was one of them. I remember my mom would make eggplant thorans and other possible mallu eggplant versions which never interested me until I came across this recipe .

She would make eggplant which were fried and then simmered in thick groundnut gravy which was tempered with jeera and mustard seeds, tasted great with hot parathas or rotis and I Loved it !!

Here in the US there are so many types of eggplants , but for this particular recipes u need the typical small purple Indian kind eggplants. The recipe turns our much better .

This is a recipe that I made from a fellow food blogger Zaiqa » Baghare Baingan original recipe link posted below, as the bookmarked recipe list had been getting longer and longer so about time I started to make them.

We had it with hot rice and dal tadka :)

Lasagna with ground turkey

2009-03-20T17:01:00.000-07:00

Lasagna is now a now craze at my home ever since my friend K made this dish it has been a big hit. The first time she made it for us ground beef was used, then we modified to healthy version the recipe down has turkey which tastes absolutely great and of course more healthy. Lasagna is pretty filling but can be made as per ur likes and dislikes by adding more veges like spinach etc.

what u need:

1 pound lean ground turkey
1/2 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 cups tomato sauce (we used prego)
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon crushed pepper
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
hand full chopped fresh parsley
12 lasagna noodles
8 ounces feta cheese
1 egg
2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup low fat mozzarella cheese grated
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
My folders:


In a wide pan, heat EVOO add ground turkey, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in tomato sauce, and water. Season with crushed pepper, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 15 mins till the turkey is all done, stirring occasionally. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine feta cheese with egg and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). To assemble, spread the turkey with sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Arrange noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the feta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese . Spoon meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes till the cheese on top browns . Cool for 15 minutes before serving. Serve with garlic bread or by itself

Chicken Curry

2009-03-18T16:54:00.000-07:00

Chicken curry is the most common delicacy on every menu of any and every Indian Restaurant
and every home has its own version of it too. So do we too have our version simple , easy and delicious . I always loved the Chicken that u get in India the ones that had more flavor to it and would not cook up so fast. So we opted out for the Cornish hen which is pretty similar in taste as compared to the Indian chicken and tastes also about the same.

what u need:
Cornish hen : cut in bite size marinate with salt and turmeric for 30 mins
onion (shallots ) - 1 cup chopped
garlic -1 tablespoon chopped
ginger- 1 tablespoon chopped
tomato-1 finely chopped
turmeric- 1 teaspoon
chilli pwd -2 teaspoon (add spice as needed)
paprika - 2 teaspoon
black pepper ground- 1 teaspoon
garam masala - 1 teaspoon
whole spices -cinnamon, cardamon, bay leaves ,anise ,mace (few each)
olive oil-2 tablespoon

heat a pan with the EVOO.
add the whole spices in to get the flavor going,
meanwhile grind the shallots, ginger and garlic into a fine mixture
add into the hot oil and cook till the raw taste goes away or till the onion turns a little brown
then add turmeric, paprika, pepper, chilli pwd, and garam masala and let it cook for a few mins more till the spice blend into the onion paste.
Add the cut chicken mix well let it cook for at least 5-10 mins
add the chopped tomatoes and salt to taste
let it simmer till the chicken is completely cooked.
Serve with hot rice or rotis.
salt to taste

Poha

2009-02-28T13:52:00.000-08:00

Poha is one of those snacks that just fit perfectly right on a dull and rainy day not too heavy does not take much time to make and tastes great, there are a lot of variations to this dish add more potatoes then it is potato poha , or with addition to peas turn it into a peas poha and the ever famous onion poha (kanda poha) anyways it turns out great.

what u will need:
1 cups Thick Poha ( flattened rice )
1 medium sized Onion chopped fine
2 Green Chillies
a few curry leaves
green peas 1 tablespoon
Chopped Cilantro
Grated Coconut for Garnishing
1 tsp lemon juice
Salt to taste

For Seasoning:
2 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1 tbsp Peanuts
1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder

soak the poha in lil' water, what I usually do is wash it once leaving little water to soak up in the poha in my experience the thick poha works this way better and then set aside till u get the other things ready. Fry the peanuts for garnishing and set these aside too.

heat the pan add oil till it warms up, add mustard seeds till it starts to pop, add the chopped onion , green peas, chillies and saute for few mins till cooked, add the curry leaves (optional) then add turmeric do not let it burn add the wet poha mix well .

Add salt as needed and close the pan for the poha to cook for few mins, u can even add little sugar which is also optional .

garnish with chopped cilantro, roasted peanuts ,coconut, and lemon juice enjoy this with a hot cup of tea .

Nadan Chicken Biryani

2009-02-25T18:04:00.001-08:00

growing we were always invited over for dinner to my aunt's place who lived very close to us and for most celebrations like Christmas , Easter , anniversary or birthday she would sometimes make her version of chicken biryani which was so delicious and just right with the spices that went along perfect with the onion vinegar salad. All that time never ever thought of jotting the recipe down well better late then never :)
Recently my very good friend S happened to make dinner for us when I was recovering after my delivery, as we have been blessed with our second baby Boy in Dec 2008!!!:)
It was so nice of her to make us food as with a newborn that is the best gift ever good home cooked food ,what she bought us for dinner was chicken biryani with salad , being hungry 24/7 I could hardly resist the smell and it smelt just like the one my aunt used to make well it tasted like that too. YUMMY!!
I guess what they say is true if u desire hard enough for anything then it comes to you ,
I had to get back to her for the recipe and here is the recipe

chicken 750 grams
basmati rice 2 cups
sliced onions 2
tomato piece 1 cup
green chillies 4
garlic 1 inch
ginger 1 inch
minced coriander leaves
mint leaves about a cup each
salt to taste
Star anise 1
peppercorns 10
cloves and cardamon 8 each
cinnamon 2 pieces
yogurt half cup
turmeric 1/2 teaspoon
lemon juice 2 tsp
ghee 1/2 cup
coconut milk 1/2 cup optional

grind 2tsp each of ginger, garlic, onion, mint and coriander leaves and marinate the chicken for 30 mins.

Heat ghee (substitute with oil if you need) fry whole spices. A minute or two later add onions and the ground stuff,along with the chicken, till it is half cooked add tomatoes when onions are almost done and when they are ready . During the last 10 mins or so some coconut milk , salt,turmeric, yogurt and lemon juice. let it simmer till chicken is almost done .
boil a pot of water with salt and lemon juice (lemon juice makes the rice fluffy ) and
whole spices add the washed rice and cook till half done.
Strain the rice and let it drain ,then mix the chicken gravy and rice little at a time till even .
Mix everything if the chicken has gravy it works fine as the rice doesn't dry up while baking
and bake for 30 mins at 350 C.
Serve with yogurt salad .

Lemon pickle

2008-06-09T12:05:00.000-07:00

PIC COURTESY: google image

Since the beginning of spring I have been thinking of making some home made pickles, especially lemon pickles although there are a ton of ready made pickles out there.

But home made pickles have a taste of their own, so this time when I was at the Asian super market spotted some yellow lemons could not resist so picked up a few.

Lemon is widely grown all over the world. Lemon grows in abundance in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Mexico and West Indies.The Ayurveda has regarded lemon as a valuable fruit and admired its properties. Lemon is sour, warm, promoter of gastric fire, light, good for vision, pungent and astringent. It checks the excessive flow of bile and cleanses the mouth. It dislodges phlegm (cough) and expels wind from the digestive tract. It helps in digestion and removes constipation. It prevents vomiting, throat trouble, acidity and rheumatism. It destroys intestinal worms.

The benefits of lemon are countless, and also they can been made into scrumptious pickle, as my parents are here this summer my mom decided to go ahead with the pickle recipe.

so here are the ingredients:

yellow lemon : 8-10

ginger chopped : 2 t sbp

garlic chopped : 2 tsbp

salt : to taste

chilly pwd : 1 tsbp

paprika pwd : 2 tsbp

tumeric pwd : 1/2 tsp

asafoetida pwd : 1 tsp

meethi pwd : 1 tsp

olive oil : 2 tsb

clean and dry the lemons set aside till properly dried, take care not a drop of water to been left as this can spoil the pickles.

add some oil in a pan add the lemons to cook slowly some acidic juice may come out, take care of cooking the lemons on low heat, for about 10 minutes.

then heat a non stick pan add the olive oil , ad d the chopped ginger -garlic saute for 5-8 mins , add the rest of the spices saute for few minutes more , and add salt as needed.

set this aside to cool down.

meanwhile wipe the cooked lemons and cut then in desired size and shape , do not discard the liquid as it is acidic and adds to the tanginess if the pickle .

add these cut lemon pieces to the rest of the sauteed garlic ginger mix, after mixed well .

store this pickle in air tight container and in a week will be ready to enjoy !!

note the spoon also used has to dry to avoid any kind of decay.

Khatte Chicken

2008-04-14T14:55:00.000-07:00

Chicken is one of our all time favourite non veg delicacy, and usually tastes good in any shape or form. I had been making chicken mostly the same routine way like curry or with coconut milk or dried chicken, so decided to try something different and something which didn't require a lot of effort too.

Hence my hunt began looking on the Internet (the obvious source) and also the cookery book collection that I had been piling on , that is when I came across a baked and rich chicken recipe in one of the cookery books(the Indian menu planner) called Katte Chicken,

so an experiment was on its way.

I was pretty sure that this would be different from the rest of the chicken dishes I make as it had new ingredients or the ones I never used along with chicken.

Above all that this was going to be baked , but my work paid off (not that I did much :))this turned out really good and is for sure a keeper.

Ingredients:

chicken breasts 12

almond paste 3 tbs

black pepper pwd 1 tsp

cumin seeds 1 tsp

capsicum 3 oz (optional)

ginger garlic paste 4tsp

green chilly 4

lemon juice 1tbs

onions in rings 2/3 cup

saffron 1 pinch

salt to taste

butter 1 stick

yogurt 1cup

Hang the yogurt in a cheese cloth until reduced by half.

Make a marinade of yogurt, ginger garlic paste salt cumin pepper lemon green chilly and almond paste, leave it aside for half and hour to marinate.

Grease a baking vessel place the chicken pieces without overlapping. Arrange the onions and capsicum rings over the chicken pieces and pour the remaining marinade over it.

Add dollops of butter and bake in oven for 20 minutes at 300 F.

Remove and sprinkle saffron, and let it stay for 10 mins more.

Serve with roti or hot rice.

RCI - KERALA

2008-01-07T15:11:00.000-08:00

I was looking forward towards this RCI event for long, luckily Jyothsna of Curry Bazzar came up with the event just in time, as we have just returned from our India trip almost a month back the memories are so fresh, we had a great time back home, also went on a boat ride through the ever famous kumarkom back waters, it is BEAUTIFUL!!!

a traditional house boat !!

on the way to the back waters!!

Kumarkom has now become a hub for tourism, very scenic ,also loaded with tourists from all around the world luckily we managed to get a houseboat for about 5 hours , there are also options for the night stay which looked too tempting but due to time constrains had to settle down for a few hrs, may be next time.

The whole trip is like an adventure u get to see nature at it's best, although there are plenty of 5 star hotels on the way but if u want to have authentic food then small food joints are the place to go ,we decided to try out a thaat kaada ( small shop) for lunch, which is just beside the backwaters, my brother and T went to see if it was good enough for all of us and the kids too, when they came back with the dishes I cud say this was going to be one lunch we will cherish for life!!!! see for urself :)

Lovely food just right amount of spices , fresh fish and to mention accompanied with toddy too good!! Kappa and meen (fish) chaar was the starter, along with karimeen fry , small fish fried, also something I never had before turtoise fry tastes like pork fry, and kakka erachi yummy!!!, then was the last course Rice with sambar ,& Payar (beans) thoran, which sealed the deal :)

one closer look at the thaat kada food!!!

It definitely was a great trip and we all were happy that we tried the food at the thaath kada ,which reminds of my entry for the RCI- KERALA.

Kappa and fish curry all time favourite for keralities anywhere and everywhere on the face of the earth :)

here is the link for the recipe

http://spiceandrice.blogspot.com/2007/05/kappa-with-fish-curry.html

Pork Fry

2007-12-26T12:10:00.000-08:00

As the season to be jolly passes by, the whole of Dec is spent waiting for this wonderful day where spirits are high , people all around are decking up their homes and trees, gifts being bought and given, good deeds are done without a second thought , so was my Christmas this year.

The best part was we had a group of our friends who were carolling visited us it was great, as for me growing up Christmas always started with the carol practise spending evening hours after school reciting all of Jim Reeves famous songs, and getting ready for the big day.

We would go around for almost a week carolling visiting family and friends , singing all our favourites and special requests too, as in Dec would get cold towards evening by the end of the night all of us would had dry throats and pockets stuffed with homemade cakes and sweets too, but that was fun, miss those days so much.
I was kind of surprised to know abt a group that did go out carolling , in our neighbourhood and they did a fantastic job, and from now on they are going to regular at our place for every Christmas !!:)

Now coming to the dish , this Christmas I thought of trying this one as it had been my hubby's long time favourite , and we just had the kallu shaap version of pork olatheyathe on our recent visit to Kerala ,India of which the snaps I will be updating hopefully soon :) , since then I always wanted to try this dish , had to dig into the succulent fatty part of the pork marinated with spices and cooked on low flame till all the heat is blended into the yummy goodness !! It is a perfect Christmas delicacy.

But as it is not so goody good for ur health, cannot make it often or else it leaves Ur cholesterol levels shooting thru the roof ,it is going to be a once in a blue moon recipe or better said once in year Christmas recipe.

What u need:

Pork shoulder- 2 lbs cub size
( with the fat usually u get it in the asian stores)
onion (shallots ) - 1 cup chopped length wise
garlic -1 tablespoon chopped fine
ginger- 1 tablespoon chopped fine
curry leaves- 7-8
turmeric- 1 teaspoon
chilli pwd -1 teaspoon (add spice as needed)
paprika - 1 teaspoon
black pepper ground- 1 teaspoon
garam masala - 1 teaspoon
vinegar- 1 tablespoon
EVOO- 1 tablespoon
(extra virgin olive oil)
salt - to taste.

Marinate the pork with turmeric, vinegar , chilli pwd for 30 mins and set aside.

Meanwhile heat up a thick bottom pan, add 1 tablespoon EVOO add the chopped shallots and curry leaves cook till translucent.

Add the chopped ginger- garlic till raw smell is gone.

Add the paprika, garam masala , black pepper, cook for few mins , then add the marinated pork.

As pork is going to take some time to cook so cover the pan and let it cook on low flame, be sure to be mixing it once in a while so that it does not get burnt .

After about 20-25 mins the pork starts to sweat out the oil , let it cook in that oil so u can leave the lid open .

Add salt towards the end as per taste, and serve with hot rice or chapathi.

ENJOY !! HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

2007-12-20T13:00:00.000-08:00

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.

~Burton Hillis
Christmas has always been a time when you feel to be around the warmth of family and friends the most. It is the season for giving &, sharing happiness.
As the day comes close by and as all of you are getting ready the the magic of Christmas ,

Wish each of you

love , happiness & great times with your family and friends

wish u all of you a merry Christmas!!!

Happy holidays!!

Panna Cotta

2007-09-27T11:10:00.000-07:00

I was on a look out for a light and tasty dessert , which at the end doesn't make u feel all stuffed up, after dinner and I came across one in Betty Crocker's recipe book Panna Cotta .

This is an Italian dessert for cooked cream , an unbaked egg free custard with a silky texture .This is super easy recipe made with few ingredients, and the best part tastes great!!!

I just made a little addition as mango is fruit of choice in my family , and accepted in any shape or form I added mango pulp to the Panna cotta , it blends well with the vanilla flavor.

What u need:

1 cup half and half
1 teaspoon full unflavoured gelatin (usually found in the cake aisle)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon full vanilla
2 tablespoon Kesar mango pulp
dash of salt

Pour half and half in a pan , sprinkle the gelatin evenly over cold half and half , let it stand for 10 mins. Heat half and half mixture for 5-7 mins, stirringly constantly until the gelatin is dissolved and just before it begins to simmer.

Stir in sugar, vanilla , mango pulp and salt .

Pour this mixture into custard cups , cover with plastic wraps and refrigerate for 4 hours or until set.when ready run a knife around the edge , and dip the bottom of the cup in very hot water for few secs , immediately placing it up side down onto a dish & enjoy!!

Show me your cook books

2007-09-20T13:36:00.000-07:00

Cookbooks have always been my weakness most often I don't make a whole lot of recipes from them , but love to read the stories related to the recipes as to why the author chose or wrote about a particular recipe. Not to mention the wonderful pictures that are a huge selling point for any cook book.

My favorite cookbook cuts down all these barriers and is a straight down and simple Indian cookbook with the most mouthwatering recipes. Malabar Muslim Cookery book has been a great find for me, among all the other treasured book collection I have so far, I love the non-vegetarian dishes mainly.

Growing up in a catholic family never got hold of these delicious recipes luckily I came across this book. This book is one of a kind as most of these recipes in the book are the ones which are made at home on a daily basis or on special occasions too ,but are usually passed thru generations from family to family.

The author of this cook book Ummi Abdulla introduces the readers to gourmet Muslim cooking with the subtle flavours of pathiri, egg roast, Malabar Biriyani , Meen Biriyani etc. Although it misses out on pictures as a strong element but then your imagination can fill in the void.

This is my entry for the upcoming event "Show me your Cookbooks" hosted by Nags of
For the cook in me .

Stuffed meat Stromboli

2007-09-14T14:12:00.000-07:00

I am a regular viewer of Food network especially on my free days, I am always on a look out for new recipes ,ideas, and above all for the joy of cooking. It feels so good to see a well designed cooking event where everything goes as planned no mishaps ,and at the end the dish turns out a success um um um umm ummhh!!!

Few months back I came across a Pizza dough recipe by celebrity chef Tyler Florence ,it is a pretty simple recipe , but instead of making a pizza thought of adding a twist to the recipe why not stuff it with meat...like a Stromboli.

So I decided to give this idea a try and voila !!!

It turned out great!!!!

Here's the recipe:
Flour (maida): 1 cup
yeast : 1 teaspoon full
salt : 1 teaspoon full
Olive Oil : 1-2 teaspoon full
water as needed.

Mix the above ingredients to make a dough , remember to soak the yeast in little warm water before mixing it with the dough so that it gets activated . After the dough is mixed to the right consistency add oil to make it soft .Leave this for 1/2 hour with a lid, after that the dough will almost become double it's size , mix it up again and set aside for another 1/2 hour.

Stuffing:
Meat (chicken , pork or beef) :1 lbs
onion : 1 finely chopped
green chillies : 2 finely chopped
ginger & garlic : 1 teaspoon full finely chopped
Cilantro: 1 tablespoon chopped.
turmeric; 1/2 teaspoon full
garam masala : 1/2 teaspoon full
Black pepper : 1/2 teaspoon full
Olive oil : 1 -2 teaspoon full
salt to taste.

Boil the meat with salt and turmeric for 15-20 mins if in cooker till 3 whistles blow or else till well done. After it cools down mince it in a food processor , or u can use ground meat too for this dish I prefer minced meat gives a different texture .

Heat up a pan add the oil , then add the chopped onions , ginger, garlic and chillies cook for few minutes till translucent, add turmeric, garam masala black pepper, cook for few mins more,then add the meat .This has to be of a dry consistency so no need to add water, lastly add the salt and sprinkle the chopped cilantro leaves, let this cool down.

Next step is to roll out the dough on to a base , remember to oil the base or else the dough will stick, arrange the meat mixture on to the dough and fold it over to seal the ends. Cut in desired shape or size and bake at 375 C FOR 20 Mins . Serve with tomato sauce or mint chutney!!

Shrikand

2007-09-02T20:03:00.000-07:00

Growing up I always thought shrikand was a difficult delicacy to make,lil' did I know it is so effortless, tastes good and healthy too. I usually make this as breakfast dish along with puffy puris made of wheat flour, this also tastes good with plain chapathi, or even bread. My lil' one loves to just eat this by it self in a bowl.

It is one of the main desserts in Gujarati cuisine and a common side dish in Maharashtrian cuisine, this can be made with different variations like adding saffron, or mango, or even strawberry.

How to make:

yogurt : 1 cup u can use store bought plain yogurt or home made

sugar : 1/2 cup

saffron : few strands

warm milk : 1 tablespoon

cardamon crushed : 1/2 tsp

pistachios : 1 tsb

u can also add almonds if needed

Hang the curds in a muslin cloth in a cool place for approximately 4-6 hours until all the liquid has drained off.In a small bowl mix saffron into the warm milk until it dissolves. Mix together the hung curds, sugar, saffron mixture and cardamom in a bowl and churn using a hand blender. Place in the refrigerator, garnish with pistachios . Serve with puffy puris or rotis.

Recipes from fellow foodies

2007-05-29T15:09:00.000-07:00

First few months before I started to blog I tried a lot of recipes that were posted by fellow bloggers and still do, most of it I always wanted to make but didn't have the right recipe , this is just a small collection of recipes that I have tried thank u all for regularly posting recipes .

Biriyani
Biriyani is always a dish made for celebrations usually I would make it for Christmas or Easter or if it is a loved one's birthday,so had to be good during last few years I have tried so many variations of it, tried a lot of store bought masala too, but shiney's recipe absolutely stood out, thanks to her it is now a regular at my home.

Chicken biriyani

I made two variations one with chicken and the other with prawns both are good and easy .

Prawn biriyani

U can check shiney's blog Indain potpourri for these authentic recipes .
Shiney's Recipe

Puranpoli

Growing up in Maharashtra , I was a big fan of puranpoli which is like a stuffed sweet paratha kind made with lentils and jaggery, I remember for every holi after we were done with drenching each other in all possible colors , my friends grandmother would make puranpoli in the traditional way , and it tasted heavenly so soft that just melts into your mouth, it is usually accompanied with aamthi which is a sweet sour liquid, and also kheer .

Now in this Internet day and age I found a good recipe for puranpoli from Vaishali's blog Happy burp. Do check the recipe details here
Vaishali's Recipe

Sabudana Vada
Another all time favourite is the sabudana vada, made of sago mixed with boiled potatoes great snack to accompany a hot cup of tea on a rainy day, me and my friends on our way back from college would usually stop by this small tapri (shop) where they were known for making the best sabudana vada in town, served it piping hot with coconut chutney.

I got this recipe from Samayal blog, do check out the recipe here
Sudha's Recipe

Vegetable Puffs

2007-05-17T11:05:00.000-07:00

My dad on his way back from work would usually stop by this old bakery store near our house where they made the best puffs , flaky stuffed with vegetables or non-veg. They would also sell samosas ,cakes, pastries etc, but I loved the puffs. Even this time when I visited home with my son I was lucky enough to have more puffs from the same place, and my son too loved it.

After coming to the US I was told about the ready made Pastry sheets that are easily available to make puffs. After a lil' bit of hunting I got what I was looking for; Pepperidge farm pastry sheets.

You can find this usually in the frozen section along with the pancakes and waffles.

What u need:

pepperidge pastry sheets-1 sheet (to thaw follow instructions on the box)
boiled potatoes-2
boiled peas-1/2 cup
ginger -minced 1/2 teaspoon
turmeric-1/4 teaspoon
chilli pwd -1/3 teaspoon
garam masala or chat masala-1/2 teaspoon
cilantro-1 teaspoon chopped fine

Mix all the above ingredients in a bowl. You may add more veges like carrot of ur choice,

You can also replace the veges with cooked chicken or meat, add salt to taste. cut the sheets as the size u need for puffs, and put a tablespoon of the potato mix seal the puff by pressing the edges, if needed use a bit of water.

One sheet can make 6 puffs easily, arrange them in the tray and bake as directed.

Serve with tomato ketchup.

Enjoy!!

Meethi paratha

2007-05-09T18:13:00.003-07:00

Meethi parathas always reminds me of my school days when each of us would get tiffins filled with variety of dishes, mine was always dominated with south Indian dishes like idli or dosa, mostly others would get the staple chapati with vegetable sabzi, and my best friend would get usually stuffed parathas, like aloo, gobi, muli, meethi,egg etc. she being a big fan of idlis and dosas and me of parathas so we would swap! and the parathas tasted so good with home made lemon pickle yumm!! even now we talk about our good old days and yummy tiffins.

This recipe is pretty simple and healthy, I usually make this in stock and keep it in then freezer
and whenever needed just take out a few and pop it in the microwave, it is good as new.
what u need :-

wheat flour (atta)-2 cups
meethi leaves-1cup chopped
I use the frozen meethi cubes-2
turmeric-1/2 teaspoon
chilli pwd- 1/2 teaspoon
jeera pwd-1/2 teaspoon
ajwain-1/2 teaspoon
garlic-green chilli paste-1 teaspoon
salt to taste

mix all the above ingredients together by adding hot water this makes the parathas soft.cover the dough and keep aside for 20 minutes, than make a flat griddle hot and make small balls of the dough, roll out rotis if needed add oil when

rolling .

put the paratha on the pan, that is when one side is done on the pan, apply oil on it and then later on the other side as well and cook it till it has brown spots on it.

Serve hot with curd and your choice of pickle.

Kappa with fish curry

2007-05-02T15:11:00.003-07:00

Kappa is very traditional keralite dish usually served in almost every nook and corner of kerala . Growing up I was not a big fan of kappa and always wondered what was it about this root that my parents would enjoy so much usually to have it at least once a month.
Now when I am miles and miles away from my home land I know the feeling which is same when I have a typical traditional Indian dish that reminds me so much of home.

Food has a way of getting you closer to the memories , the stories that we have heard growing up, the experiences .
Now kappa has cast it's spell on me too and surprisingly now I do like kappa.

what u need:
kappa (yucca )- 1 lb bite size
coconut- 1/3 cup
ginger-1 inch
green chillies-2-3
curry leaves-3-4
mustard seeds-1/2 teaspoon
oil-1 teaspoon
salt to taste

Wash the kappa pieces well then in a pan add enough water with turmeric and salt boil
till the kappa is soft to touch must be easily able to Peirce with a fork.
drain the water and set aside.
grind the coconut, chillies, ginger to paste form.
heat a pan with oil add mustard seeds after they pop add the curry leaves then coconut paste mix for 2 mins add the boiled kappa mix well.
add salt if needed let it simmer for 5- 10 mins.
then serve with fish curry .

Fish curry with mango

2007-05-02T15:11:00.001-07:00

Our back yard had a lot of mango trees , and each of a different kind, the biggest tree had really sour mangoes and my mom would make fish curry with these mangoes that tasted so good. The tangy sour taste of the mango in the fish curry yum!!

Fish curry is a must in any mallu home, I too grew up with the taste of fish and koodam pulli.
Almost every other day, fish either as a curry or fried was usual and it complemented any side dish too, sometimes just fish curry ,rice and curd is all u need, reminds me so much of home uummhh! absolute comfort food.

We never had a fish monger,but had a fish market where people would come rushing in after work every Tuesday or Friday.
My neighbour was also from Kerala , and an excellent cook, she used to make the fish curry in a typical Thiruvalla style that means the curry was dark red in color, and tasted so good.
growing up I never bothered to learn the recipe ,then after getting married to my surprise , my mom in law too made fish curry same Thiruvalla style as my in laws belong to the same place. So this time I didn't let the opportunity pass decided to learn from my mom in law. I always thought the red color was by adding a lot of chilli pwd, but that just makes the curry really hot,
better use paprika gives the desired color without adding on the heat of the dish.

This recipe is combination of my mom and mom in law's recipe,was made with frozen fish.

now to the recipe,
what u need:

fish -cut in cube size
raw mango-cube size without the skin
ginger- 1 inch chopped
garlic-5-6 chopped
onion - 1 chopped
curry leaves-5-6
turmeric-1/2 teaspoon
chilli pwd (paprika)- 2-3 teaspoon full
methi pwd (uluva podi)-1/2 teaspoon
salt to taste
oil- 1 tablespoon
kodumpoli- 2-3 (keep in water for 5- 10 mins)
mustard seeds- 1/2 teaspoon

Place wide set pan on gas/stove, add oil and mustard seeds, once they start to pop
add the chopped onions, ginger, garlic, curry leaves, let it saute for 5 mins.
then add turmeric, paprika , methi pwd and mix.
The trick to get the dark red color fish curry is to add paprika instead of chilli pwd,
because paprika adds a lot of color to the dish and not the spice unlike chilli pwd,
or if want a bit spicier add a teaspoon of chilli pwd too.
add the puli along with the water add 1/2 cup water also let it boil ,
then add salt and the fish and the mango.
Simmer on low heat for 15-20 mins, be careful while mixing or else the fish starts to crumble
check salt and let cool . Fish curry usually tastes a lot better the next day when all the flavours have blended in.
Serve with rice or kappa. Enjoy!

Sambar

2007-05-01T13:48:00.000-07:00

Sambar is a traditional south Indian recipe which includes a combination of dal and vegetables . In kerala itself there are variations to this recipe like typical sambar with tamarind in it, my sister in law makes the sambar with roasted coconut paste which gives a very nice and different taste.There are also variations where one vegetable stands out like tomato sambar, or vendakya (okra) sambar.
My recipe is the one my mom would make,

what u need:
toor dal -1/3rd cup
masoor dal -1/3 rd cup
potatoes- 2
onion-1
tomato-2
beans-5-6
carrots-1
ash gourd-1/2 cup
drumsticks-3-4 pieces
white pumpkin-1/2 cup
snake gourd-1/2 cup
curry leaves-5-6
turmeric pwd-1/2 teaspoon
chilli pwd-1/2 teaspoon
sambar pwd- 1-2 teaspoon
LG's asafoetida-1/2 teaspoon
mustard seeds-1/2 teaspoon
tamarind paste-1/2 teaspoon
salt to taste .

cut all the veges in cube size, wash the dal
and add salt ,turmeric , chilly pwd mix and
boil , I would usually cook it in a cooker till 1
whistle is done.

let it cool down , in a deep pan add 1 tablespoon
of salt add mustard seeds ,after they start
to pop add curry leaves keep the flame low add
Sambar masala , LG'S asafoetida this gives an authentic sambar taste to the dish and add the cooked veges and
dal mix well.
Add tamarind and if needed some water
let it boil for 5 mins.

put off the flame,
Sambar is ready !!

serve it with rice or idilis .

Idli

2007-04-30T11:46:00.000-07:00

Idlis are a staple breakfast at any south Indian home, and very rightly said by a fellow blogger an excellent baby food too and a healthy breakfast for all ages . I was expecting and when in my 2nd trimester we were travelling for my husband's work related trip, and being new to this country (US) I was just getting used to the spice less options of food.
One Saturday early morning I guess it was about 6am in the morning, and I woke up hungry and with a strong craving for Idlis and hot piping sambar, with all the hormone surge during my pregnancy I badly missed home food, so to satisfy my craving I woke my sleepy hubby and started demanding for Idli and sambar, and wasn't ready to settle for anything less, blame it all on my pregnancy,my sweet hubby who was half asleep, tried after a long day at work dazed, and then promised me to get it as soon as the close by Indian restaurant opens in the morning, and he sure did !!
They tasted good ,nothing like mom's idli's but enough to satisfy my craving.

Now it is a routine at my home every Sunday morning for breakfast it is Idli for sure, and my hubby prefers that too as he does not have to run to Indian restaurants any more:), my 3 yrs son too loves them and he has named them "the white ones".

To make idlis what u need:

Idli rice : 1 cup
Urad dal : 1/2 cup
Salt : to taste
yeast: 1 pinch
Soak the rice and urad for 6-8 hours, then grind it in a mixer (I use the Indian one I got from back home). Over the last few years, I went through several trial and errors to make soft dosas and idlis in this cold country. Quite a few attempts were disasters with idlis as hard as rock, but at other times it turned out to be great.
I tried a little trick , after the batter is mixed into a paste , take a pinch of yeast in warm water
and add to the batter just like u would do for making appams but only the quantity is less as compared . Try this and it will result in soft Idilis.
Cover this batter and leave it over night, next morning add salt, if the batter is to make dosas
make it thin and for idlis keep the consistency thick.
pour into the idli vessel spray with a pam or dab a little oil before pouring the batter prevents from sticking. Cover the Idli vessel and after 10-15 mins hot steaming idlis ready.
Serve with hot piping Sambar and Mint Chutney.

Avial

2007-04-29T13:13:00.000-07:00

My dad is an excellent storyteller who is good at making up stories at the very instance, and growing up I was a picky eater so to get me to eat he would make up a story around each dish which made it interesting.
There is this story that he would tell me about how avial was born, long time ago a set of cooks were preparing food for a wedding as the wedding was of a brahmin family there had all the vegetarian recipes ready, but towards the end the head cook ended up with a little of every vegetable left , so he decided to try a new recipe asked his fellow cooks to cut up all the leftover vegetables lengthwise and boil them, then made a mixture of coconut , ginger, jeera pwd and mixed with the boiled vegetables, to end it up gave a garnish of sputtering mustards in hot oil with curry leaves.
After the dish was done he asked it to be served along with the remaining dishes and to every one's surprise that was the dish that sold like hot cakes!
Hence AVIAL was born, true or not I sure enjoyed eating avial and reminds of this story every time I make Avial.
It is like a medley of vegetables which includes most of the vegetables like tomato, potato, drumstick, onions, beans , yellow pumpkin, carrots, ash gourd etc. I have seen the Americanised avial too with a little addition of bell peppers and celery too.

My recipe is more towards the tradition version. for this recipe
what u need:

potatoes- 2
onion-1
tomato-2
beans-5-6
carrots-1
ash gourd-1/2 cup
drumsticks-3-4 peices
white pumpkin-1/2 cup
snake gourd-1/2 cup
green chillies-2-3
turmeric owd-1/2 teaspoon
salt to taste
yogurt- 1 tablespoon
u can add or delete vegetables as Per your likes & dislikes
I sometimes add payar (the long strings), tindora (kovakaya), arvi ( kirala), also raw mango if available.

for the paste:
coconut-1/4 cup
ginger-1 tablespoon
jeera pwd-1 teaspoon
green chilles- 3-4
garlic-2-3

for tempering:
oil- 1 tablespoon
curry leaves-4-5
red dried chillies-2-3

Cut all the vegetables length wise, put in a large pot add salt , turmeric pwd, and 1/2 cup water
cover the pot and let it cook till the veges are boiled and cooked do not over cook it or the avial gets too mushy.

Meanwhile grind all the paste ingredients, add the the cooked veges, and mix simmer for 5-7 mins.
temper the dish with sputtering mustard's seeds with curry leaves and red dried chillies.
once the avial cools down add the yogurt and mix, this gives a thick consistency and a sour tinge this is optional.
Serve with rotis or rice.

Beans thoran

2007-04-26T22:18:00.001-07:00

Thoran is a dish made of finely chopped veges blended with coconut , usually the most common thorans are cabbage, carrot, payar,beans,ulli,potato...the list is endless.

My mom would make this pretty often as it goes well with any other side dish veg or non veg.

for beans thoran u need

beans fine chopped(i use the french cut frozen beans)

makes the job a lot easier.

onion: 1/2 chopped

coconut: 1/4 th cup

ginger: 1 teaspoon finely chopped

green chillies: 2-3 chopped

curry leaves: 4-5

jeera pwd: 1 teaspoon

turmeric: 1/2 teaspoon

oil: 1 teaspoon

mustard seeds: 1 teaspoon

salt to taste

heat up a pan with oil, add mustard seeds after they pop add the chopped onions, chillies,ginger and curry leaves.

Cook for 3-4 mins then add the chopped beans ,turmeric, jeera pwd and salt mix well.

Cover the pan and let it cook for 5-7 mins on medium heat.

then add grated coconut to the pan and cook for other 5-10 mins.

U don't need to add any water as this cooks in its own moisture.

Serve with rotis or steaming rice.

Ulli Pacchadi

2007-04-26T20:20:00.000-07:00

Pachadi is usual recipe on the long list of onam sandya dishes.It can be made with any variety of veges cucumbers, mango, lime, squash and also beet root.
This is a simple recipe from my mom in law's recipe collection,
this dish is very easy and quick to make.
all u need is

small red shallots kunj ulli: 4-5 chopped fine
ginger: 1 teaspoon chopped
green chillies: 1-2 chopped
curry leaves: 4-5
mustard seeds:little pwded
curd: 1/2 cup

oil: 1 teaspoon
salt to taste

Heat a pan add oil, and put mustard seeds when they start to pop add the chopped onions, ginger, green chillies and curry leaves.

saute till the onion is soft and cooked about 5-7 mins.

also add some crushed mustard seeds they give a different flavour to the pachadi.

Put off the heat and after it is cooled off add to the yogurt and salt to taste.

serve hot with steaming rice and sambar.

Karemeen fry

2007-04-26T17:59:00.000-07:00

Although we would visit kerala once in 2 years, each visit reminded me of great food we would have. It usually would be 2 month summer vacation visiting grandparents , uncles , aunts and a lot of cousins, and our routine was of visiting some relative every other day.

Mallus are very hospitable people and love to make a table full of recipes to welcome guests, so did my relatives.

Along with all the other delicacies karemeen fry was a must, growing up we didn't have chance to have a lot of karemeen so whenever we were in kerala Karemeen was always on top of the list.

Now settling here in US, although being so far from home , by the advance in overseas export karemeen is so easily accessible :) best part all cleaned ready to go.

I still remember when my hubby had come to see me for the first time, bride-hunting and was asked if I know to cook, my mom smartly replied she sure does only doesn't like to clean fish!!

In response my father in law replied 'oh don't worry in US u will get fish all cleaned up' :)

so here is my recipe.

what u need:

karemeen ; 4-6

turmeric: 1 teaspoon

chilly pwd: 1 teaspoonb

black pepper pwd: 1 teaspoon

lemon juice: 1 tablespoon

oil: 2 tablespoons

salt to taste

mix all the pwd elements to a thick paste , make cuts on the fish and apply the paste to the fish.

marinate for 1 hr.

Heat a pan with 2 tablespoons of oil, fry the fish well each side ,till crispy and done.

Serve with hot rice.

Paneer masala

2007-04-26T16:35:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favourites among North Indian cuisine, and a usual order at any Indian restaurant. Paneer is a protein rich food, and can be made at home,
but most of the time I end up buying it from the Indian store although not home made but equally good.

here goes my recipe

what u need:

paneer : 250 gms
onion : 1 chopped grind into paste
ginger: 1 teaspoon
garlic : 1 teaspoon
tomato: 1 chopped or tomato paste: 1 tablespoon
garam masala: 1 teaspoon
turmeric: 1/2 teaspoon
chilly pwd:1/2 teaspoon
jeera : 1 teaspoon

half and half: 1/3rd cup or cream also can be used.
salt and oil as needed
cilantro to garnish

In a pan add oil u can use butter also , if needed
add jeera after 1-2 mins add the onion paste if u r using red onions the dish will a little to the sweeter side, once the onion is almost translucent add the ginger garlic in paste form.
cook f0r 5-7 mind till oil separates out.

To this add turmeric , chilly pwd, garam masala and mix well.

Again a little trick if u need the fiery red color and not the spice,

add tomato paste instead of raw tomato, it gives a good red color without increasing the heat of the dish,

or else u can just puree tomatoes in a blender and add to the pan.

cook for 5-7 mins till the tomatoes are totally cooked, meanwhile make a flat griddle hot add some oil again u can use butter if needed, cut paneer into cubes size and shallow fry them on the griddle, turning each side every few mins.

add the paneer cubes in to the pan and mix carefully.

cook for another 2-3 mins till the spices blend into the paneer cubes.
Add the half and half , usually I would just use whole milk also .
cover the dish and let it simmer few mins then put it off.
Garnish with cilantro leaves and serve hot with rotis or naan

Entering this interactive world of blogging.

2007-04-26T14:46:00.001-07:00

For the last few weeks I have been an anonymous reader of most blogs; amusing and teaching me a lot about cooking and cultures that ripple through India as a heartbeat.
At this point I don't know what new I have to offer , I do have one thing in common with all the foodies..LOVE TO COOK and try out new dishes too, but the cuisine that I just can't get enough of is "namade naadan kerala cuisine".

My cooking has always been inspired by two very strong ladies, my mom and my mom in law both of who were working ladies and excellent cooks, to finish it up a little of this and that of my own tricks!!

Let me start with our patent weekend breakfast; idli, dosa , or appam

When growing up I always remember my mom being a working lady who was busy all week but come Sunday morning, we would be waking up to the aroma of piping hot dosas with chamanthi and a smiling face which made every day seem like a special day.

DOSA

What you need

___________

Idli rice : 1 cup

Urad dal : 1/2 cup

Salt : to taste

yeast: 1 pinch

Soak the rice and urad for 6-8 hours, then grind it in a mixer (I use the Indian one I got from back home). Over the last few years, I went through several trial and errors to make soft dosas and idlis in this cold country. Quite a few attempts were disasters with idlis as hard as rock, but at other times it turned out to be great.

I tried a little trick , after the batter is mixed into a paste , take a pinch of yeast in warm water

and add to the batter just like u would do for making appams but only the quantity is less as compared .

Cover this batter and leave it over night, next morning add salt, if the batter is to make dosas

make it thin and for idlis keep the consistency thick.

Make a griddle hot and pour the batter to make fresh piping hot delicious dosas.

Coconut is the most widely used element in kerala cuisine, needless to say that it is usually a prominent member in each dish, but the best part is that it adds a different flavour to each

be it an avial , or theeyal, or chamanthi.

Now there are a lot of ways of making the coconut chutney that goes so well with idlis or dosas, here is my version.

what u need:

grated coconut : 1/2 cup

ginger: 1 inch

red dried chillies: 2-3 add more if u like it hot!

curry leaves : 4-5

shallots: one chopped

mustard seeds: 1/2 teaspoon

salt to taste

grind the coconut with ginger and red chillies to a fine paste add water if needed.make a kadai hot add oil, and mustard seeds when they start to pop add the curry leaves and chopped shallots.

cook for few minutes till translucent,add the coconut mix, and mix keep the flame low or else the chutney with curdle.

cook for 1-2 mins then add salt.

serve with hot dosas or idilis.