- Wash and soak the basmati rice in water for 20 minutes.
- Soak the chick peas overnight and then cook as you regularly do in a pressure cooker. Keep the cooked water for gravy. Drain half cup of the boiled chick peas in a blender jar and pulse twice without adding any water. Keep aside.
- Heat a pan and add oil. Add the ginger-garlic paste. Sauté until raw smell disappears. Slide in the onions, curry leaves and sauté until lightly browned.
- Add the turmeric powder, hot chilli powder, kashmiri chilli powder, coriander powder and garam masala.
- Add the tomatoes and cook till the tomatoes are mushy.
- Add the ground chick peas and mix well. Then, add 1 cup of the chickpeas cooked water. Add the remaining boiled chick peas and cook covered for 5 minutes.
- Then add the 2.5 cups water, add the lemon juice, and finally add the drained rice and few coriander leaves.
- Cook for two whistles on high. Finally, add the remaining coriander leaves once the lid is opened. Fluff with a fork and enjoy with yogurt and cucumber.
Saturday, June 03, 2023
Black Chana Pulao | Karutha Kadala Pulao | Lunch Box Special
Monday, May 29, 2023
Mango Oats Smoothie ~ Healthy Breakfast Smoothie
- Wash and peel the mangoes. Cut and dice cubes, add to a blender jar. Add oats, soaked cashews and blend coarsely. Then, add half of the milk and honey. Blend again smoothly. Add the remaining milk, blend again. Pour in glasses and serve chilled.
Sunday, May 14, 2023
Chicken Sandwich ~ Lunchbox Ideas
- Wash, rinse and cut the chicken in bite size pieces. Cook the chicken with salt and pepper powder, add 1/4 cup water. Cook covered for 6–7 minutes until done. The water is used up while cooking, if not, drain the chicken pieces and cool slightly. Shred the chicken pieces using a fork in thin strands (don't use a mixer as it gets fine minced).
- To a bowl, add the shredded chicken, fine chopped carrots, onion, capsicum, mixed herbs, chilly flakes, salt lightly.Add mayonnaise and give a quick mix. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour for flavours to set (optional step but gives a nice flavour). Add the chopped coriander leaves, give a quick toss. (I have not added any salt in the filling as cooked chicken contains salt, if you wish you can add)
- Apply the butter and spread the sandwich filling. Spread butter on the other side of the bread, top up with another slice. Spread butter again and place on heated tava or frying pan. Smear butter on the top bread slice and flip. Cook another 30 seconds until toasted.
- Similarly, make all the other sandwiches. Enjoy warm with a dash of ketchup !!
Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Baby Corn Masala | Baby Corn Gravy Curry
- Clean the baby corn and cut thick slices.Keep aside.
- Soak the cashews and khus khus in water for 20 minutes.
- Heat a pan, add 2tbsp oil. Add the chopped onion, add chopped ginger, chopped garlic.
- Add turmeric powder, cumin powder, fennel powder, garam masala, coriander powder, hot chilli powder. Sauté on low flame.
- Add chopped tomato and add salt. Cook till the tomatoes are mushy. Switch off flame.
- Cool the mix lightly and transfer to a blender jar. Add the soaked cashews, khus khus and grind to a smooth paste.
- Heat a pressure cooker and add 2tbsp oil. Add the chopped baby corn. Sauté on high for 3 minutes until slightly wilted.
- Add the ground paste, add a cup of water. Adjust salt, add a pinch of sugar.
- Close the cooker and coo for three whistles. Switch off and wait till the pressure is released.
- Open the lid, and you can see oil floating on the surface of a well cooked masala. Garnish with some coriander leaves. Mix and enjoy with chapathis, phulkas.
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
Prawns (Konchu) Kizhi | Prawns Parcel
Watch on YouTube-
- Wash and clean, devein the prawns. Add salt, turmeric powder, pepper powder, hot chilli powder, ginger-garlic paste. Mix well. Marinate and leave for 30 minutes.
- Soak the tamarind in little water. Squeeze out the extract then, keep aside.
- Heat a pan and add oil. Slide in the prawns as a single layer. Fry for 2 minutes each side and flip other side. Cook the same, drain from oil. Keep aside.
- To the same oil, add chopped onions, sliced garlic, ginger, green chillies and curry leaves. Sauté until lightly browned. Then, add the splice powders on low flame and sauté. Finally add in the tomatoes, tamarind extract and cook till tomatoes are soft and mushy. Mash the tomatoes as much as possible.
- Add coconut milk on low flame and give a quick mix. Cook till the liquid is dried up, switch off flame. Masala is ready.
- Wash a banana leaf. Cut the mid-ridge slightly of the leaf without cutting the leaf as in video. This will be used to tie the parcels. On flame, place the leaf and wilt lightly, exposing to heat on all sides. Keep aside.
- Divide the masala in four. Add one part of the divided masala, then place half of the prawns. Top it with another part of the masala. Hold all ends together and tie the parcel using the cut mid-ridge. Similarly, make the other parcel with remaining masala and prawns.
- Place the prepared kizhi in a mann chatti and cook the parcels by turning all sides(2-3 minutes each side) until the masala and prawns get nicely cooked and coated with masala. The leaf gets shrunk and the oil starts to appear on the leaf. Switch off, open the parcels and enjoy with steamed rice.
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
Vazhakka Erissery (Kaya Erissery) | Raw Banana Curry
Vazhakka erissery is a delicious vegetarian curry served for sadyas in the olden times, as shared by my mom. She says this erissery was one of the best served curries in the sadya. Gradually, parippu curry replaced erissery in the sadya menu as years passed by. Erissery can be made with so many veggies, but this kaya erissery is a ozhichu (gravy style) erissery. Mathanga vanpayar erissery is more of a thick erissery like kootu curry.
Kaya erissery can be made with raw plantain too, but I love the ponthan kaya (raw banana) erissery as it mashes very well and this curry tastes best. The skin of the raw banana should be removed completely so that the banana mashes very well like mashed potatoes. This fibre rich curry is very easy to prepare and so go ahead and give this a try for Vishu !!
- Wash and peel the skin of the raw bananas very nicely so that there is no green part seen (though it is said to retain the green part of the raw banana skin, but for this particular recipes it's better to peel off the green part completely). Add to a bowl of water and cut the banana in small pieces. Add rice cooked water (kanji vellam) and wash again to get rid of the thick sap.
- Add the washed banana pieces to the cooker, add water (1 cup), salt, turmeric powder, hot chilli powder. Cover and pressure-cook for 3 whistles.
- In the meantime, add grated coconut to a blender jar. To this add cumin seeds, garlic cloves, shallots and little water. Grind to a smooth paste (not very fine though), keep aside.
- When pressure is released, mash the cooked bananas almost done. Add the ground paste, give a quick mix. Add 1/2 cup water to the blender jar and add to the curry.
- Bring this mix to a boil, adjust salt if needed. Add more water if required to adjust consistency. This curry thickens on cooling, so add water accordingly.
- Heat a pan or wok, add ghee to temper. When ghee is hot, add mustard seeds. Add red dry chillies and curry leaves. Add grated coconut and fry till golden brown. Switch off and pour over the prepared curry. Keep covered for 10 minutes, mix and serve warm.
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
Custard Sago Milkshake
Saturday, April 01, 2023
Vegetable Burger (Crispy Veg Patty)
- Heat a pan and add oil. To this, add the ginger-garlic paste along with green chilli. Sauté until crisp. Then add finely chopped carrots and beans. Add salt and sweat them till crisp.
- Add in the spice powders on low flame and sauté. Add the grated potatoes and give a quick mix. Adjust salt if needed. Finally, add chopped coriander leaves. Switch off flame.
- Divide the mixture when it is warm in four. Shape the patties using a cookie cutter and then refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Make a slurry using corn flour and water to dip the patty (Don't make the slurry very watery). Add bread crumbs to another plate, dip each of the made patty in the corn flour slurry, roll in bread crumbs. Similarly, prepare all the patties.
- Heat a pan and add oil to shallow fry the patties. Slide in each of the patties and fry till golden brown, flipping all sides gently (The sides can be fried by tilting the oil towards one side). Remove using slotted spoon on a paper towel (remove the paper towel immediately as the patty loses the crispiness).
- Repeat frying all patties till crisp.
- Heat butter (1 tsp) in a frying pan and cut the burger buns in half. Place the half buns to toast nicely on the butter. Remove to a plate, apply burger mayonnaise. Place lettuce leaves, place the prepare crispy patty. Add a cheese slice, place tomato slices. Spread burger mayonnaise on the top cut bun and place on top. Secure with a tooth pick and enjoy !!
Sunday, March 26, 2023
Strawberry Beet Juice
beetroot 1 small, peeled & cubed
strawberry 5-6, hulled
sugar 2 tbsp
ice cubes
Sunday, March 19, 2023
Instant Amla Chutneys - Dhaniya Amla Chutney & Spicy Amla Chutney (No Coconut)
almonds 5
amla 2, deseeded and cut
ginger 1/2’ piece
hing (kayam podi) 1/8 tsp
salt to taste
Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Gobi Manchurian
- Cut the cauliflower florets in bite size pieces and add to hot water mixed with salt. Leave the florets to blanch for 5 minutes so that the florets get cleaned. Rinse in cold water and drain water.
- Add the florets to a plate and add maida, corn starch(1/2 cup), ginger-garlic paste, chilli powder and salt. Mix well to give a nice coating. The coating shouldn't be very thick and should be lightly covered on all sides.
- Before frying, add the corn flour(3 tbsp) in a plate and roll each of the florets in the corn flour, shed off excess (helps retain the crunchiness for long after frying) and keep aside.
- Heat oil in a pan and fry the florets by dropping one by one and in batches. Fry until crisp by flipping all sides, drain from oil and place on paper towels. Remove from paper towels when warm to retain the crunchiness of fried florets.
- Then, heat oil (same oil can be used for frying) in a wok and add the chopped garlic and fry till light crisp. To this, add the chopped capsicum and onion, fry lightly along with chopped green onions (reserve the green tips for garnish). Then add the soy sauce, tomato sauce, chilli paste, vinegar, pepper powder, salt. Mix well.
- Mix the corn starch with water (1/4 cup) without lumps. Bring to a boil and wait till the sauce thickens. Add half a cup more of water (total water used 1 cup) to adjust consistency.
- Finally, add the fried florets and give a quick toss. Add cut green onions for garnish. Serve warm with fried rice.
Monday, March 06, 2023
Suji Gujiya ~ Holi Special
Holi without gujiya is a big missing, and mawa gujiya tops this list. However, if you don't have access to mawa or if it's hard to get easily at your place, do you wish to celebrate a Holi without gujiya?? No !! This is an answer to all those who are looking for a quick gujiya that tastes almost similar to mawa gujiya and can be stored for longer days than mawa gujiya. Suji guijiya almost matches the mawa gujiya and I love the filling in these gujiya as it's very tasty in itself. The cover is crisp, flaky and delicious. Try these out and enjoy for this Holi.
- Sift the flour with a pinch of salt, I missed the video clip of adding salt. To this, add ghee and mix the flour like bread crumbs. Hold the flour together by pressing and check if the ghee is moistened the flour. Then add water little by little to make a stiff dough, use very little water each time. I used about -6 tbsp or 1/3 cup. Knead the dough another 5 minutes to make the dough pliable, cover and restore 20–25 minutes.
- In a blender jar, add granulated sugar along with cardamom seeds and powder fine.Keep aside.
- In another pan, heat ghee. To this add fine rava(suji). Roast the suji for about 5 minutes on low flame. Add the dessicated coconut then and give a quick mix. Continue to roast another 5 minutes until the suji looks nicely roasted and browned. The coconut gives out a nutty flavour. At this point, switch off the flame and add the chopped almonds and cashews. Add the cut raisins, to give a nice mix. Transfer to a bowl and cool. Then add the powdered sugar along with cardamom. Combine well.
- Now, knead the dough another minute and pinch out small balls (around 12-14) of the prepared dough. Smoothen the ball and roll using a rolling pan in a 3' circle, no need to dust flour wile rolling.
- Place 2tbsp of the prepared filling in the center. Moisten the sides using water and stick the edges by folding in semicircle. Then make designs of your choice by folding the edges or by pressing using a fork.
- Place the prepared gujiya on a plate lined with clean cloth and cover with a clean cloth too. Prepare the rest of the gujiya similarly.
- Heat oil in a wok and when the oil is hot, slide in the prepared gujiya one by one. Don't overcrowd the wok. Wait for a minute for the gujiya to puff up and float on the surface of the oil.
- Then flip and fry all sides till golden frying. Similarly fry all gujiyas till done, its better not to place on paper towels as they lose crunch.
- Cool completely and store in airtight containers. Enjoy with tea or as a sweet !!
* Namak Pare
Monday, February 27, 2023
Green Apple Pickle
- Wash and wipe the apple very clean to remove any dirt or wax. Cut the apples in bite size pieces. Add 3/4 tsp salt and 1 tsp hot chilli powder. Mix well and keep for 20–30 minutes.
- Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. Splutter mustard seeds and then add chopped ginger and garlic. Add in curry leaves and sauté until light crisp.
- Add the spice powders on low flame. Add in 1/4 cup water and boil the spices until the water is absorbed and oil separates to the masala. Add salt.
- Slide in the cut green apples along with the water. Combine well with the spices and cook for 1-2 minutes. Switch off flame and add the 1/4 cup squeezed lemon juice. Mix well.
- Cool completely and store in airtight glass containers.