Poha

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

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

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

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

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

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!!!

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

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

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

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

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.