Thattukada

Jilebi / Jalebi

2011-10-25T23:26:00.000-07:00

Diwali, the festival of lights (and sweets!), is here. Back home, these days would be filled with light and the sounds of crackers and fireworks. I am missing all that, being in this part of the world. Another main attraction of Diwali is all the different varieties of sweets that are made at home or become available in stores during that time. So this year I wanted to make something too, which is when I landed upon this simple recipe of Jalebi/Jilebi in Vanitha magazine. It was a super simple recipe that I could not help trying and Jalebis have always been (and still is) a weakness of mine!

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Makes around 40 Jilebis (Depending on the size)

For the dough

Urad Dal	- 1 cup
Water	- 1/2 cup
Yellow Food Color	- 4 drops (Optional)
Refined Oil	- as needed to fry

For the syrup

Water	- 1 1/4 cups
Sugar	- 2 cups
Rosewater	- 1 tbsp
Yellow food color	- 2 drops (Optional)
Salt	- less than a pinch

Soak the Urad dal for at least 1 hour.
Grind the soaked dal into a smooth paste adding half a cup of water.
Add 3-4 drops of food color to this dough and mix well.
In a pan start boiling the water and sugar together for making the syrup.
When the syrup starts to thicken, add the rosewater, salt and 2 drops of food color.
When the syrup reaches a thick consistency, turn the stove to low. The syrup should be on the stove on low flame through out the whole cooking process. Syrup should not be of a thread consistency, but rather that of a simple syrup or syrup of Gulab Jamun. If the water starts to become of thread consistency during the cooking process, add more water and adjust.
In a shallow frying pan, add oil and heat. When the oil is hot, reduce the heat to medium which is the temperature to be maintained through out the frying process.
Fill the dough into a Ziploc bag and make a small cut at one of the corners to squeeze the dough into the oil to make jalebis. Make sure that the hole you make is really small. You could adjust the size of the hole after trying to squeeze out a little bit of batter to the oil.
Start squeezing out the dough into the oil in any pattern you want.
Fry the jalebis crisp and transfer immediately to the sugar syrup.
Let the jalebi soak in the syrup for 5-8 minutes.
Remove from the syrup and place it on the serving plate.

Note: Start making the jalebi as soon as the dough is made; do not let it sit too long.

As you can see it is a super simple recipe with very little ingredients. Be sure to try it and I am sure you will like it. A Happy Diwali to all my friends!

Eid Mubarak!

2011-08-30T09:11:00.000-07:00

Eid Mubarak to all my friends out there! Here is a virtual Eid feast for you!

Nei Choru

Pepper Chicken Roast

Paalaada

Nadan Mutton Curry

Mutton Biryani

Beef Fry

Chicken Liver Perattiyathu

Chicken Kurma

Baklava

Kinnathappam

T.G.I. Friday's® Value Offers

2011-08-26T23:44:00.000-07:00

Here are some foodie deals from TGI Friday for my readers out in Indianapolis, Baltimore, Chicago or West Palm Beach. Check these out!

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Indulgent Parmesan Crusted Chicken
Jack Daniels Pulled Pork Sandwich
Balsamic Glazed Chicken Caesar
Mouth-watering Black Angus cheeseburger

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Enjoy some of Friday's® delicious entrees including a drink of choice:

Indulgent Parmesan Crusted Chicken
Jack Daniels Pulled Pork Sandwich
Balsamic Glazed Chicken Caesar
Mouth-watering Black Angus cheeseburger

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Enjoy some of Friday's® delicious specials (including appetizers, entrees, and desserts):

Spinach Florentine Flatbread
Savory Dragonfire Chicken
Pan-Seared Parmesan Flounder
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Enjoy some of Friday's® delicious specials (including appetizers, entrees, and desserts):

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Pan-Seared Parmesan Flounder
Delicious Vanilla Bean Cheesecake

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Spicy 'n Sour Fish Curry

2011-08-19T18:00:00.000-07:00

I love spicy 'n sour curries, especially fish curries (In Malayalam, these curries would be called "Erivum Puliyum ulla meen curry" - again meaning spicy and sour fish curry). Fish curries, to me, are not complete without the souring agents like tamarind or kokum. A lunch with rice and fish curry is the staple food back home. I am not a big fan of rice, but a lot of times I do crave for this lip smacking combo.

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Serves 8-10 people

Oil	- 2 1/2 tbsp
Onion	- 2 (1 lbs)
Ginger Garlic Paste	- 1 1/2 tbsp
Tomato	- 1 (0.25lbs)
Turmeric Powder	- 1/4 tsp
Chilly Powder	- 2 tbsp
Coriander Powder	- 1 1/2 tbsp
Fenugreek Powder	- 1/4 tsp
Tamarind Pulp	- 1 tbsp (concentrate form)
Water	- 2 cups
Fish	- 1 1/4 lbs (I used Mahi Mahi)
Salt	- to taste
Curry Leaves	- 2 twigs

Heat oil in a pan. I used coconut oil to give it that traditional flavor.
Add onions that are very finely chopped to the oil and saute until they start to slightly brown.
Add the ginger garlic paste and saute until the raw smell is gone.
Add finely chopped tomatoes and saute until they are mashed.
Add the turmeric powder, chilly powder, coriander powder and fenugreek powder and saute for a few minutes.
Add the tamarind pulp to this. I used the store bought tamarind concentrate. If using normal tamarind, use a big lemon sized ball and use the water required as part of the recipe to make the paste.
Add water and salt and mix well and let it boil.
Add the fish pieces and curry leaves and let the fish cook.
Turn off the stove and close the pan and keep aside for sometime before you serve.

Like any other fish curry, taste of this curry is also enhanced the next day. In addition to rice, you could also have this curry with chappathy, appam, etc.

Kaju Badam Kulfi (Cashew Almond Icecream)

2011-08-10T22:59:00.000-07:00

I do not know if Kulfis can be called ice creams, they are kind of similar though. It has a different texture than that of ice cream. Making kulfi traditionally would have been a cumbersome task, with boiling and reducing milk, making cream, etc. Now that we get evaporated milk, condensed milk and heavy cream - all ready to use in cans - the preparation has become so easy and does not even need any cooking. I still remember the first time I had the chance to dive into this special dessert during my school days. It was a mutka kulfi of pistachio flavor (kulfi served in an earthen pot; mutka means earthen pot) and I think I should still have the mutka back home somewhere! The recipe I have here is adapted from Showmethecurry.com.

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Makes around 24 kulfis (depending on the mold used)

Condensed Milk	- 1 can (14 oz)
Evaporated Milk	- 1 can (12 oz)
Heavy Whipping Cream	- 16 oz
Whipped Cream	- 8 oz
Saffron	- 1 big pinch
Sugar	- 1/2 tsp
Salt	- a pinch
Cashews & Almonds	- 1/2 cup (Coarsely ground)

In a mixing bowl, combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, heavy whipping cream and whipped cream and mix well using an electric blender or by hand.
Grind the saffron together with sugar using a mortar and pestle and add to the above mixture.
Add the coarsely ground nuts to the mixing bowl and fold in. You could use any nuts of your choice.
Add a pinch of salt and mix well.
Pour the mixture into Popsicle molds or you could use small cups as shown in the picture below.

6. If using cups, after pouring the mixture to the cup cover it with an aluminium foil. Insert a Popsicle

stick into the cup through the foil. The foil will help keep the stick in place.

7. Refrigerate the kulfis overnight and serve. To take the kulfis out easily, just rub the cup between your

hands and try to take the kulfi out by holding on to the stick.

You could use pistachios alone and make pista kulfis. I have been making this recipe for the last 2-3 years now and it is a hit with kids and adults. A perfect cooler for the summer!

Egg Curry

2011-07-25T22:39:00.000-07:00

Egg Curry is always the fallback option when you feel like having something non-veggie and do not want to cook meat. Also egg is that one staple which kind of falls into the veggie and non-veggie category. When I think of egg curry, the first thing that comes to my mind are those breakfasts from "Amritha Restaurant" during my Technopark days (my office location back in Kerala, India), with soft 'n yummy Appams and spicy Egg Curry. As I am writing this, I can run a boat in my mouth! Egg curry is made in different form/fashion in different regions of India and the one I have here is a South Indian style.

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Serves 6-8 people

Coconut Oil	- 3 tbsp
Onion	- 2 (thinly sliced - around 1.5 lbs)
Ginger Garlic Paste	- 2 tbsp
Turmeric Powder	- 1/4 tsp
Chilly Powder	- 2 tbsp
Coriander Powder	- 2 tbsp
Garam Masala	- 1 tsp
Boiled Eggs	- 8
Salt	- to taste
Water	- 2 cups
Curry Leaves	- 2 twigs

Heat oil in a pan and add the thinly sliced onions and saute it until they start to turn brown. Do not let them burn, the onions should just start to caramelize.
Add the ginger garlic paste and saute until the raw smell is gone.
Add turmeric powder, coriander powder, chilly powder and garam masala and saute for 10-12 minutes in medium flame until the whole mixture has a deep brown color.
Add water, curry leaves and salt to the masala and stir to mix well. If you want a dry curry, you can reduce the amount of water or not even add it.
When the water starts to boil, turn off the stove.
Place the boiled eggs cut into half on top of the curry carefully and pour some gravy over it to make sure they get coated with the masala. You would not want to stir the gravy with the eggs, as it would break the eggs.
It would be ideal to close the pan and keep it aside for 5 minutes before serving.

This curry will be perfect with Appam, Idiyappam, Chappathy, Paalaada or any other breakfast item. This egg curry also brings to my mind, the jingle most Indians would remember! (It is a jingle that used to play on TV as an Ad for Eggs. In a nutshell, it means you should eat eggs daily in one form or the other- omlet, fried or boiled - be it Sunday or Monday)

Meri jaan, meri jaan, murgi ke anday!

Omlet khilaoon, fried khilaoon, boiled khilaoon!

Khilaoon murgi ke, murgi ke, ande hi ande!
Sunday ho ya Monday, roj khaayein ande

Chicken Roast

2011-05-16T22:57:00.000-07:00

This chicken roast recipe is adapted from the "My Treasure My Pleasure" blog by Anita. Her blog and recipes were one of my initial inspirations to start this blog. I have been making this chicken roast for sometime now (read years!) and it is always a hit. There is no fancy ingredient needed and it is a simple recipe, except for the amount of time you need to roast. The more you roast the tastier and darker the roast becomes; and that rule applies to any traditional roast dishes!

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Serves 6-7 people

Coconut Oil	- 3 tbsp + 2 1/2 tbsp (as needed)
Onion	- 4 (thinly sliced - around 2.75 lbs)
Ginger Garlic Paste	- 2 1/2 tbsp
Turmeric Powder	- 1 tsp
Chilly Powder	- 2 tbsp
Coriander Powder	- 3 tbsp
Garam Masala	- 2 tsp
Chicken	- 2 lbs
Salt	- to taste
Curry Leaves	- 3 twigs

Heat 3 tbsp of oil in a pan and add the thinly sliced onions and saute it until they turn transparent.
Add the ginger garlic paste and saute until the raw smell is gone.
Add turmeric powder, coriander powder, chilly powder and garam masala and saute for 2-3 minutes.
Add the chicken pieces and salt and mix well with the masala.
Add a twig of curry leaves and let the chicken cook. There will be water coming out of the chicken, so additional water will not be needed.
Let the water dry up. If the chicken is not cooked, when the water starts to dry up, add additional water as needed and cook.
Once the water starts to dry up, add additional oil as needed and keep sauting until it reaches a dark brown color.
Add the remaining curry leaves and serve the chicken roast.

This is an awesome roast recipe with not many ingredients and with the tempting aroma of coconut oil and curry leaves. It is a perfect accompaniment to any dish, be it rice, appam, roti or idiyappam.

Malai Vegetable Curry

2011-04-20T22:16:00.000-07:00

I am always in search of veg curry options, especially the quick and easy ones with a "different" taste. There are a lot of them that I am familiar with like the Errisery, Kalan, Pachadi, Sambar, etc., which are part of the yummy Sadya (Traditional Kerala Feast). I love all these curries, but I am more of a roti eater and these curries don't go well with rotis (at least for me). So this is one of the attempts to create a veggie dish that will go well with rotis and is easy to make as well.

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Serves 6-7 people

Oil	- 2 tbsp
Onion	- 1 (around 0.75 lbs)
Ginger Garlic Paste	- 1 1/2 tbsp
Tomato	- 0.25 lbs
Turmeric Powder	- 1/4 tsp
Chilly Powder	- 1 tbsp
Coriander Powder	- 1/2 tbsp
Cumin Powder	- 1 tsp
Mixed Vegetables	- 18 oz.(1 1/8 lbs)
Heavy Cream	- 1/4 cup + 1/8 cup
Kasoori Methi	- 1 1/2 tbsp
Salt	- to taste
Water	- 1/2 cup + 4tbsp

Heat the oil in a pan and add the sliced onions.
Saute the onions until they are transparent.
Add the ginger garlic paste and saute for 2-3 minutes.
Add the chopped tomatoes and saute for 3-4 minutes.
In a small bowl, mix the chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and cumin powder with 4 tbsp of water.
Add the powder paste to the sauteed onions and continue to saute for 5-10 minutes in a medium heat.
Add the mixed vegetables and salt to the pan and mix well to coat the masalas. I used frozen vegetables that had vegetables like peas, zucchini, cauliflower, carrot, green beans, red pepper and Baby Lima Beans. You could use any vegetables of your choice.
Add the remaining water and let it cook. Add more water, if needed to cook the vegetables.
Once the vegetables are cooked, add the cream and cook for 3-4 minutes in a medium heat.
Turn off the stove and crush the kasoori methi with your hands and add to the curry.

The addition of kasoori methi makes this dish all the more flavorful. Add more colorful vegetables to make a more colorful feast! This is a perfect combination for Chapathi, Roti, Naan and Ghee Rice.

Chilly Fish

2011-04-12T19:45:00.000-07:00

I really didn't know whether I should call this Chilly Fish or Fish Manchurian. Finally I settled with Chilly Fish; whatever the name is, this is a lip smacking dish! You could follow this preparation with Chicken or even with some fleshy veggies. You could make this dry and serve as an appetizer or make this with gravy and use as a side for rotis or a rice preparation. I also love the dry version with Roti and rice. This dish is a feast for the eyes as well as for your stomach!

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Serves 6-7 people

For the Fry

Fish	- 1 lb
Corn Starch/Corn Flour	- 3 tbsp
Ginger Garlic Paste	- 1 tbsp
Chilly Powder	- 1 tbsp
Salt	- to taste
Water	- 1/4 cup
Oil	- as needed to shallow fry the fish

Make a batter with the corn flour, chilly powder, ginger garlic paste, water and salt.
Cut the fish into small cube sized pieces. Use any boneless fish. I used Tilapia fillets.
Dip the fish pieces into the batter.
Heat the oil and add the fish pieces to the hot oil and fry.
It is ideal to fry the fish well/dark brown, which will help it keep its shape when adding to the gravy. Also it enhances the taste.
Transfer the fried fish pieces to a plate lined with a paper kitchen tissue, to absorb any excess oil.

For the Gravy

Oil	- 3 tbsp (left from frying)
Ginger	- 2 big piece (0.10 lbs)
Garlic	- 15 big cloves (0.10 lbs)
Green Chilly	- 3 big (0.10 lbs)
Onion	- 1 (0.75 lbs)
Tomato Sauce	- 3 tbsp
Soya Sauce	- 3 tbsp
Water	- 1/2 cup
Coriander Leaves	- handful for garnish (chopped)
Salt	- to taste

Heat a pan and add 3 tbsp of oil (used for frying the fish) to it.
When the oil starts to heat up, add the finely chopped ginger and garlic to it.
Saute the ginger and garlic until the raw smell is gone (for about a minute).
Add the finely chopped onions and a little salt and saute it well.
When the onions are almost translucent, add the chopped green chillies and saute for a minute.
Add the tomato sauce and soya sauce and mix well.
Add 1/2 cup water and mix well.
When the water just starts to boil, add the fried fish pieces and mix well to coat the sauces to the fish pieces.
Adjust the salt, if needed and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
Turn off the stove and leave the pan closed for at least 10-15 minutes for the fish to absorb the sauces and the taste to set in.

Note: - If you want a gravy version, you could add more water (around 1/2 cup) mixed with a little corn starch/corn flour (about 1 tsp). Make sure the corn starch is mixed well without any lumps.

This is an easy version of Chilly fish with just the basic ingredients. You could also add red bell peppers and spring onions to make it more colorful, if needed.

Old Fashioned Banana Cake

2011-03-22T22:27:00.000-07:00

Looks like I am becoming a hard core Ina Garten fan. This is another one of her recipes from the Barefoot Contessa book series "How easy is that?". Now what is the difference between banana cake and banana bread? The only thing I know of is that the banana bread is made in a loaf pan and the other one in a regular cake pan. If one of you has a better answer than that, let me know. This is a super moist 'n soft cake recipe and the taste reminds me of the unniyappams (a traditional fried snack made with rice flour, banana, etc). I have slightly altered the recipe to reduce the amount of sugar.

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Makes a 9" Cake

Very Ripe Bananas	- 3 (mashed)
Granulated Sugar	- 1/2 cup
Light Brown Sugar	- 1/2 cup (lightly packed)
Vegetable Oil	- 1/2 cup
Eggs	- 2
Sour Cream	- 1/2 cup
Pure Vanilla Extract	- 1 tsp
Grated Orange zest	- from a small orange
All Purpose Flour	- 2 cups
Baking Soda	- 1 tsp
Salt	- 1/2 tsp
Coarsely chopped walnuts	- 1/2 cup

Using an electric mixer or blender, mix the mashed bananas, granulated sugar and brown sugar on a low speed until combined. The original recipe calls for 3/4 cup granulated sugar. So if you want it to be sweeter, you could add 3/4 cup.
Add the oil, eggs, sour cream, vanilla essence and orange zest to the banana-sugar mixture and mix at low speed until smooth. If you do not have orange zest, you could avoid them.
In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking soda and salt to combine them well.
Add the dry ingredients slowly to the wet ingredients in a slow speed and combine well.
Stir in the chopped walnuts to the cake batter.
Pour the batter into a greased 9" baking pan.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 50-55 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. The heating time varies by the oven, so keep checking towards the last 10-15 minutes.
Cool in the pan for 15 minutes and turn on to a cooling rack and cool completely.

You should also be able to bake it in a loaf pan or even make this into muffins. This is a perfect snack which has the goodness of bananas and the crunchiness of the walnuts. You could also make this cake without the walnuts, if you do not like them.

Scrambled Eggs

2011-03-10T22:17:00.000-08:00

Does this even call for a posting in this space? Scrambled Eggs are so simple to make, that I was confused as to whether I should do this as a post in here. But then, this is my life saver recipe and one of my family favorites. I make this when I do not have that much time to cook or when I am not in a mood to cook and still want to eat something tasty.

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Serves 4-5 people

Oil	-3 tbsp
Eggs	- 4
Onion	-1 big (around 1 lb)
Green Chilly	-3
Chilly Powder	-3/4 tsp
Grated Coconut	-1/2 cup
Salt	-to taste

Heat the oil in a pan and add the finely chopped onions and little salt and saute well.
When the onion turns translucent, add the finely chopped green chilly and chilly powder and saute for a minute.
Add the grated coconut and mix well for a minute or two.
Beat the egg with enough salt.
Add the beaten egg to onions and keep mixing. Add salt, if needed. Continue this until the egg is completely dry and scrambled. This could take up to 10 minutes.

This could be eaten like a thoran (stir fry) with rice, on its own or with rotis. My favorite combo with this is Chapathi. Also you could make sandwiches with this mixture. I am sure most of you make this in one form or the other. This is definitely a quick 'n easy recipe which is super yummy! Sending this to Any One Can Cook Series.

Fish Molly

2011-03-02T22:27:00.000-08:00

It's been a month since I posted something in this space! I am still very much here - alive and kicking! It's just that I have been so busy this last month with my move to my new home and my son's birthday. It is kind of tough to get out of the non-blogging mode now, but I am trying hard. The emails that I am getting from my friends out there are the main inspiration to get back! So here is my first attempt towards that with the Fish Molly/Fish Molee recipe. Don't ask me how this curry got its name - I have no clue! But sure it is an interesting name, as is the dish. Presenting another traditional Kerala Recipe!

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Serves 6-7 people

For the Fish Fry

Fish	- 1 lb (cut into cube pieces)
Turmeric Powder	- 1/4 tsp
Red Chilly Powder	- 1 tsp
Salt	- to taste
Coconut Oil	- 2 tbsp

For the Gravy

Coconut Oil	- 1 tbsp
Onions	- 1 big (around 0.9lbs - thinly sliced)
Garlic	- 6-7 big pods (around 0.05lbs)
Ginger	- 1 big piece (around 0.05lbs)
Green Chilly	- 3
Tomato	- 1 (around 0.25lbs)
Turmeric Powder	- 1/4 tsp
Thin Coconut Milk	- 1/2 cup
Thick Coconut Milk	- 1/2 cup
Water	- 3/4 cup
Curry Leaves	- 2-3 twigs
Salt	- to taste

Marinate the fish pieces with turmeric powder, chilly powder and salt and keep it aside for a minimum of 10 minutes. I used Mahi Mahi fish for this preparation.
Shallow fry the marinated fish pieces in coconut oil until slightly brown and keep aside after draining the oil. This is to just make the fish a little firm (and tasty, of course) so that it will not break when put into the gravy.
Add a table spoon of coconut oil to the same pan which was used to fry the fish together with any remaining oil from frying.
Crush the ginger and garlic coarsely using a mortar pestle or a mixer and add to the oil.
Saute the ginger and garlic until the raw smell is gone.
Add the sliced onions and saute until they are transparent.
Add the green chilly and turmeric powder and saute for a minute.
Add the chopped tomatoes and saute for few seconds. Do not overcook it.
Add water and thin coconut milk to the pan and let it boil.
Add the fried fish pieces and salt to the gravy and slightly mix it and let it cook for 3-5 minutes.
Add the thick coconut milk and let it boil for 2-3 minutes.
Add the curry leaves and turn off the stove.

The coconut oil and coconut milk in this curry makes it really flavorful and yummy. This Fish curry goes perfect with Appam, Rice, Idiyappam and bread as well. I love eating this even with Rotis.

Easy Beef Chilly Fry

2011-01-27T21:10:00.000-08:00

I think by now most of you know my special affection towards beef recipes. I love dry preparations of beef. So when I saw this recipe in Magic Oven in Kairali TV, I could not stop myself from trying this out. I already have a Beef Fry Recipe in this space, but this one had a different set of ingredients. One of the best things about this recipe is that it does not have too many ingredients nor too many steps is needed to cook up this dish. So this being an Easy Beef Fry recipe, I had to try it out!

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Serves 5-6 people

Beef	- 1 kg
Red Chilly Flakes	- 4 tbsp
Garlic	- 8 big pods
Fennel Seeds	- 1 tbsp
Turmeric	- 1/2 tsp
Vinegar	- 1 tbsp
Curry Leaves	- 2-3 twigs
Coconut Oil	- 3 - 4 tbsp
Salt	- to taste

Cut the beef into small cube pieces.
Smash the Fennel Seeds and Garlic into a coarse mixture. You could grind Red chilies to make the red chilly flakes.
Mix all the ingredients except coconut oil and curry leaves into the cubed beef pieces and let it marinate for 15 minutes. Marinating is optional, if you need to rush through.
Pressure cook the beef until it is 3/4th done. No need to add any water.
Release the pressure carefully & slowly and open the cooker when it is safe to and continue cooking it until the water from the beef is almost evaporated.
Add the coconut oil and curry leaves to the cooker and keep stirring until it reaches the dryness you need.

You could use more oil, if you need to fry it really dark. This beef goes well with all kinds of rice and breads. For a beef lover, this would also work as an appetizer.

Chicken Puffs

2011-01-13T10:50:00.000-08:00

Let me start off by saying a "Happy New Year" to all my friends out there! Hope you all had a fantastic start. Before I get on to the recipe, let me tell you about one of the most exciting recognition that I received end of December. My Kinnathappam recipe was selected as one of "The 30 Best Recipes of 2010" at a contest conducted by Chacko’s Kitchen. So not to mention that I have had a fantastic start for 2011!

So I will start off this year's post with an appetizer - Chicken Puffs. Something I have missed a lot after coming to US. Back home, this used to be one of the favorite snack for tea, and we used to have it at least once a week. But we never made this home. I would run to our nearby bakery - Anjali Bakery - one of the popular ones in the Trivandrum area to get the fresh baked hot puffs just out of the oven. They were in huge demand that you have to get them by 2pm or they would be gone. It was a blessing when I discovered the puff pastry sheets in the grocery stores in US. So here is what I do to recreate the taste and memories back home of the fresh hot puffs from Anjali Bakery.

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Makes 12-15 Puffs

Oil	- 2 tbsp
Onion	- 1 small (0.65 lbs)
Ginger Garlic Paste	- 1 tbsp
Turmeric Powder	- 1/2 tsp
Chilly Powder	- 2 tsp
Garam Masala	- 1 tsp
Chicken	- 0.45 lbs (cooked & shredded)
Pepper Powder	- 1/2 tsp (coarsely crushed)
Puff Pastry Sheets	- 2 or 2 1/2 sheets
Egg White	- from 1 egg
Salt	- to taste

Add oil in a pan and add and saute onions when the oil is hot.
When the onion turns translucent, add the ginger garlic paste and saute until the raw smell is gone.
Add turmeric powder, chilly powder and garam masala to this and saute for a minute or two.
Add the shredded chicken to this and mix until well combined. I used a 12.5oz can of chicken chunks.
Add the coarsely crushed pepper and salt and mix well for 5-10 minutes in a medium flame.
Turn off the stove and let the mixture cool.
Thaw the Puff Pastry Sheets as instructed in the packaging.
Cut the thawed puff pastry sheets into the required shape. I made 6 puffs from one sheet as you can see from the picture. A packet has 2 sheets.

Fill each puff with 1 1/2 to 2 tbsp of the chicken mixture.
Line the sides of the pastry with water using your hands and seal the puffs with the filling. The water will help it stick well together.
Once all the puffs are done, beat the egg whites and brush the top of all the puffs with a light coat of egg whites. This will give the puffs a glazed look.
Arrange the Puffs in a baking tray lined with a parchment paper or greased with butter/oil.
Preheat the oven at 400 degree F and bake the puffs for 20 minutes or until they are slightly brown.

This recipe will make 12-15 puffs depending on how much filling you put into each puffs. You could replace the chicken with veggies or beef to make a variation. Serve the puffs with ketchup or on its own with tea. It will definitely be a perfect appetizer for parties!

Spicy Prawn Coconut Roast

2010-12-21T23:54:00.000-08:00

Prawns always come in handy when you want to make something quick and easy, especially when you get it cleaned and packed in a bag! I love the prawns with the tail on, as it adds more taste to the curry/dish you make. I was trying to cook up something different with prawns and was thinking about different ingredients that should go into it. The one thing I knew for sure that needs to be in was coconut. I love how the taste of prawns gets enhanced by the flavor of coconut. So here I am with my new trial which really turned out great, that I have already made it a couple of times now!

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Serves 5 people

Prawns	- 1 lb (I used Tail on Prawns)
Shredded Coconut	- 1 1/2 cups
Small Onions	- 20 no:s
Chilly Powder	- 1 1/2 tbsp
Coriander Powder	- 1 1/2 tsp
Turmeric Powder	- 1/2 tsp
Oil	- 2 tbsp
Ginger	- 30 gms (10 oz.)
Garlic	- 30 gms (10 oz.)
Water	- 1 1/4 cup
Salt	- to taste
Curry Leaves	- 2 twigs

Dry roast the shredded coconut until it is reduced to half (around 3/4 cups) and is slightly brown in color.
Add the small onions and a twig of curry leaves and roast for 5-6 minutes in a medium flame.
Add the chilly powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder to the coconut and roast again for 4-5 minutes in a low medium flame.
Keep aside the roasted coconut to cool down.
Coarsely grind the roasted coconut in a mixer. No water is needed.
Smash the ginger and garlic using a mortar and pestle or mixer to a coarse paste.
Heat oil in a pan and add the smashed ginger and garlic; saute until the raw smell is gone.
Add the prawns to the pan and mix well with the ginger and garlic paste.
Add the coarsely ground coconut to the prawns and mix well.
Add water and salt to this and mix well again.
Allow the prawns to cook and keep stirring in between.
When the water is almost reduced, add the remaining curry leaves and keep stirring the prawn continuously, until it is dried up and is in the roasted form.

If you are a fan of prawns and love coconut, I am sure you will love this dish. This will go well with all different rice varieties including plain rice and also with rotis, appam or parotta.

A Give Away and an Upcoming Review

2010-12-18T11:40:00.000-08:00

And the winner is Sarah Naveen of Vazhayila! Congrats Sarah!

It has been over a year since I have been "actively" blogging. When I say "actively", I mean at least 3-4 posts a month. I had started this blog in mid 2008 and did 2 posts during that year and then went into a long hibernation mode for a year and half. I started back up again in late 2009 hoping to get some momentum going and I should say I was successful so far, at least in my terms. It was mostly due to the support from all my fellow bloggers, my readers out there and of course, my family! In this one year, I gained a lot of good friends, got blogger awards and recognitions from my fellow bloggers and also got selected as a Preferred Blogger by CSN stores. In addition to trying and posting recipes, I also did some reviews and have more coming. Keep looking in this space for an upcoming review to see my new toy from CSN! It could be anything from leather messenger bags to a cooking gadget!

So for this one successful year and for all the support that you guys have given me, I have decided to do a small giveaway! I bought a copy of "Cooking Yourself Thin Faster" for the giveaway. This book has around 75 recipes that you can make in a flash and still be on your diet, without sacrificing the foods you love! Most recipes in this book would be familiar to most of you, but with much scaled down calories. It has recipes for Breakfast, Starters, Main Course, Sides/Soups/Salads and Desserts with great pictures. I have started trying some guilt-free desserts from the book already and they have turned out great - not at all compromising on the taste! Please note that this is not a sponsored giveaway. Here are some pictures of the book for you to take a sneak peak:

Getting on to the rules for the giveaway:

The contest is only open to US, Canadian and Indian Residents. For all others, if you have a friend/relative in US, Canada or India, you could always get it shipped to them.
The contest closes on December 31 at 11:59pm PST. Winner would be announced in this blog on January 1st.
The winner will be selected using random.org and will be notified via email. Please post your email id as well, if you are not a registered blogger. In the event that winner does not respond back within 3 days after they receive the email, a new winner would be chosen.
You could leave a separate comment for each one of the below activity:

Follow Thattukada publicly via Google friend connect and leave a comment under this post saying so. If you are already a follower, just comment so. (Mandatory)
Share this post on your facebook and leave a comment about it under this post. (optional for additional entries)
Tweet about this giveaway and comment here. (optional for additional entries)
Post about this giveaway in your blog and comment here. (optional for additional entries)

So you could leave a maximum of 4 comments and quadruple your chances to be the winner.

So what are you waiting for! Keep the entries flowing in and Good Luck to you all!

Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins

2010-12-15T20:27:00.000-08:00

Muffins are like cupcakes, except that they are a little bigger and it is a widely accepted breakfast item in this part of the world (US). Also cupcakes normally come with frosting and muffins do not. When I think muffins, I think of blueberries, may be because I love blueberry muffins. I feel that muffins are at its best with blueberries; somehow I have a feeling that my 4 year old son believes so too. This recipe is from Ina Garten's book Barefoot Contessa Family Style. Even though it is called Coffee Cake muffins, coffee is not an ingredient; may be they call it so as it is eaten with/or intended to be eaten with coffee at the breakfast table.

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Makes 18 muffins

Unsalted Butter	- 1 1/2 sticks (12 tbsp) at room temperature
Sugar	- 1 1/2 cups
Extra Large Eggs	- 3
Pure Vanilla Extract	- 1 1/2 tsp
Sour Cream	- 1 cup
Milk	- 1/4 cup
All Purpose Flour	- 2 1/2 cups
Baking Powder	- 2 tsp
Baking Soda	- 1/2 tsp
Salt	- 1/2 tsp
Blueberry	- 2 cups

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy for about 5 minutes using an electric mixer.
With the mixer at low speed, add one egg at a time to the butter-sugar mixture.
Add in vanilla, sour cream and milk to the batter and blend well.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
With the mixer at low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter and beat until just mixed.
Fold in the blueberries using a spatula and mix it slowly and uniformly into the batter.
Preheat the oven at 350 degree F.
Line the muffin tray with paper liners and scoop the batter into the paper liners in the muffin pan, filling each cup just over the top.
Bake for 30 minutes until top of the muffins are lightly browned and a cake tester comes out clean.

A tip from the book to scoop equal quantity of batter for the muffins was to use an ice cream scoop and to grease the top of the muffin pans to make it easier to take the muffins out. Both the tips worked out well for me.

This is a must-try bakery style muffin which would be a sure hit among the kids. My son liked it so much that he was not happy about me taking a few to office for my friends.

Easy Indian Fish Fry

2010-12-07T20:13:00.000-08:00

For me and my family (and for most people from South Kerala, I would think), a normal lunch consists of rice, a curry (could be a vegetarian curry like Sambhar, Moru Curry, etc or a non-veg curry like a Fish Curry), a thoran (stir-fried veggies) and a fish fry. Adding fish to your daily diet ensures that you get your daily dose of omega-3 fatty acids which helps reduce the risk of heart disease and promotes healthy brain function. In addition to all these health benefits, it just makes the lunch, or any meal, all the more exciting. The version of fish fry I have here is a simple 'n easy 'n quick one, to the extent that I do not even know if a posting for the same is needed in this space here. I am just going to go ahead and do it anyways!

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Makes 18 square pieces

Fish	- 1 lbs (I used Mahi Mahi)
Chilly Powder	- 2 tsp
Turmeric Powder	- 1/2 tsp
Salt	- 3/4 tsp (add according to taste)
Oil	- as needed to fry

Cut the fish into square pieces.
Add the chilly powder, turmeric powder and salt to the fish and mix well with your hands. Do not add any water, as the water content in the fish should be enough.
Keep the fish aside for a minimum of 30 minutes to marinate.
You could shallow fry this fish with very little oil or deep fry with more oil. You also have the option of baking, by broiling the fish in a conventional oven for 10 minutes.

Enjoy the fried fish with a meal or even as an appetizer. When serving as an appetizer, you could add on some sliced onions and lemon on the side.

Parippu Vada / Lentil Fritters

2010-11-30T23:09:00.000-08:00

It is getting colder and colder in this part of the world. These are the times when you feel like having some of those comfort snacks like Parippu Vada (Lentil Fritters), Ulli Vada (Onion Fritters), etc with a cup of steaming hot tea. I still remember those old days when we used to wait for the lady who used to bring parippu vada most every evening to sell at our place. We used to wait for her, so we can have the tea with the vadas. Now that I do not have the luxury of sitting and waiting for the lady who sells Parippu vada, I had to dig into my bookmarked recipe from Mishmash to make the vadas myself.

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Makes 20-22 vadas

Toor Dal	- 1 cup
Small Onions/Shallots	- 3/4 cup (chopped)
Ginger	- 1/8 cup (thinly chopped)
Green Chilly	- 1/8 cup (thinly chopped)
Curry Leaves	- 2 twigs (chopped)
Salt	- to taste
Oil	- as needed to deep fry

Soak the dal for at least an hour.
In a grinder, quickly grind the dal into a very coarse paste and transfer to a bowl.
Add in the chopped small onions, ginger, green chilly, curry leaves and salt to the dal and mix well.
Check to see if you can make a small gooseberry size ball out of the dough and flatten it slightly with your palm. If you think the dough is not sticking together, it could be because the dough is too course. If this is the case, take half of the dough and mix it again in the grinder to a slightly less coarse texture. Mix this with the rest of the dough to create cohesiveness for the dough to stick together.
Heat oil in a deep frying pan in medium flame. Test if the oil is hot by dropping a tiny bit of the dough and see if it comes to the top with oil bubbling around.
When the oil is hot, start making the balls out of the dough, flattening it with your palms and fry it in the oil.
Fry in a medium flame so that the inside is cooked well while the outside is crispy.

Serve your Parippu Vadas with a steaming hot cup of tea or coffee. What could be better than this on a cold and freezing wintry evening. Thanks Shn for sharing the recipe!

Goan Beef Curry

2010-11-21T17:12:00.000-08:00

I was on my search for a "different" beef preparation when I landed upon this Goan Beef Curry. The main thing I was looking for in the recipe was some unusual ingredient. We love beef big time and always make the Kerala style nadan beef recipes and hence was looking for a change this time. My search ended when I saw this Goan Beef Curry recipe in Lakshmi Nair's Cook Book - Pachaka Kala. The ingredients that made me try this recipe was fenugreek and mustard powder, that is unusual in a beef curry, at least for me. It was definitely worth the attempt!

On a different note, I am searching in CSN stores to pick up a Christmas gift for myself and my kitchen. As most of you know, you would be surprised with the array of their offerings which ranges from extra tall bar stools to great cookware which would be hard to find anywhere else. Now lets get on to the recipe!

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Serves around 10 people

Oil	- 5 tbsp
Onion	- 2.5 lbs (2 big - thinly sliced)
Garlic	- 18 pods
Chilly Powder	- 2 tbsp + 1tsp
Coriander Powder	- 3 tbsp
Cumin Powder	- 1.5 tsp
Mustard seeds	- 1.5 tsp
Fenugreek Powder	- 1.5 tsp
Turmeric Powder	- 1.5 tsp
White Vinegar	- 6 tbsp
Water	- 4 tbsp
Thick Coconut Milk	- 1.5 cup
Beef	- 3.5 lbs
Salt	- to taste

Crush the garlic using a mortar and pestle into a coarse paste.
Heat oil in a pressure cooker and saute the crushed garlic for a minute.
Add the thinly sliced onions and continue to saute until they turn transparent.
In the mean time, using a mortar and pestle or a mixer, grind the mustard seeds adding a little vinegar. You could also use mustard powder instead.
When the mustard is finely ground, add the chilly powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, fenugreek powder and turmeric powder and mix well with the remaining vinegar and water to make a fine paste.
Add this paste to the cooker and saute until all the water is gone and oil starts to ooze out.
Add the beef and salt to the cooker and cook for around 3 whistles or until the beef is cooked. Turn off the stove when the beef is done. No need to add any water, as there will be water coming from the beef.
When the pressure is released, open the cooker and turn on the stove again.
Add the coconut milk to gravy and mix well.
When the mixture starts to boil, turn off the stove and the beef curry would be ready to serve.

So if you are looking for a different beef curry recipe, this is definitely worth a try. The fenugreek together with the mustard paste gives the curry a unique taste and flavor.

Today I aslo happened to see the event at Chacko's Kitchen The 30 best recipes of 2010 and decided to give it a shot. I have sent across the Kinnathappam and Coconut Rice recipe to the event. Wish me luck!

Meen Vevichathu / Kudampuli etta Meen Curry / Spicy Fish Curry

2010-11-07T11:58:00.000-08:00

Each region in Kerala has its own version of Fish Curry with its own unique flavor. The version here is the Kottayam Style Spicy Fish Curry which uses Kudampuli (Coccum), where as if you go to the Trivandrum side you would find fish curries that uses Vaalan puli (Tamarind). The Fish Curry here is also referred to as the Toddy Shop Fish Curry (Shappile Meen Curry) as it is the kind served in the toddy shops in Kerala. The taste of this curry is enhanced when served the next day. It would be ideal to use a 'manchatti' (Earthen pot) which also adds to the taste of the curry.

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Serves 8-10 people

Coconut Oil	- 3 tbsp
Mustard seeds	- 1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves	- 2 twigs
Fish	- 1 lbs (I used Tilapia; Any kind of fish is fine)
Shallots	- 1/2 lbs
Ginger Garlic Paste	- 2 tbsp
Coccum	- 4 pieces
Water	- 2 1/4 cup + 7 tbsp
Kashmiri Chilly Powder	- 3 tbsp
Turmeric Powder	- 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder	- 1 tbsp
Fenugreek Powder	- 1/2 tsp
Salt	- to taste

Add the coccum pieces to a cup of water and keep aside.
In a mixer, grind the shallots with no or little water. You do not have to make it a fine paste.
Mix Kashmiri Chilly Powder, Turmeric Powder, Coriander Powder and Fenugreek Powder with 7 tbsp of water and keep the powder paste aside. This is a spicy curry; adjust the chilly powder as it suits your taste.
In a pan or earthen pot, heat the coconut oil.
When the oil is hot, splutter the mustard seeds and 1 twig of curry leaves.
Add the ground shallots to the oil and saute until all water is evaporated and it starts to become a light brown color.
Add the ginger garlic paste and saute again until the raw smell is gone.
Add the powder paste to pan and saute again until all the water is gone and oil starts to ooze out. This could take 7-10 minutes in a medium flame.
Now add the Coccum with the water and add the remaining water as well.
Add salt to taste and let it boil.
Add the fish pieces and swirl the pan itself so that the fish is immersed in the curry. Do not use a spoon to mix from this point, as it will break the fish pieces.
When the curry starts to boil, turn off the stove and close the pan with a lid and keep aside for 10-15 minutes.
Garnish with remaining Curry leaves and serve.

As mentioned earlier, if made ahead the taste is enhanced. This goes well with Mashed Tapioca (Kappa) and Rice.

Trifle Pudding

2010-10-21T18:56:00.000-07:00

Trifle pudding is a quick and easy dessert that can be served for any occasion. The ingredients of a trifle pudding are arranged in layers and is normally served in a glass bowl which shows off the distinct layers which could be of different colors. The layers that make up this pudding are normally cake, fruits, jello, whipped cream, custard or ice cream. You could use ingredients based on your imagination and come up with your own unique trifle pudding. With the different textures of the various layers in the pudding and the tasty ingredients that go into its making, it is a "never-fail" recipe for a dessert. The one I have here is made with mostly store bought ingredients and hence the only prep time needed is to assemble the different layers, except for making the custard.

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Serves around 10-12 people

Butter Pound Cake	- 3/4 lbs
Milk	- 2 cups
Custard Powder	- 3 tbsp
Sugar	- 2 tbsp
Mixed Fruits	- 30 oz can
Whipped Cream	- 8 oz
blueberry	- a few to garnish (optional)

1. Take 4-5 tbsp milk and mix with the custard powder. I used strawberry flavored custard powder to create a pink layer.
2. Boil the remaining milk in a pot and add the sugar.
3. When the milk starts to boil, add the custard mixture and keep stirring.
4. When the milk starts to thicken, turn off the stove and let it cool. The custard does not have to be very thick.
5. In an 8" x 8" pan, layer the cake pieces cut to around 1" thickness.
6. Using a fork, poke the cake all over slightly.
7. Pour the almost cool custard on top of the cake layer evenly.
8. Drain the fruits from the can to remove all the syrup. I used a can of mixed fruits cocktail. You could also use fresh fruits for better taste; if using fresh fruits use around 20oz. of chopped fruits.
9. In a bowl mix the drained fruits with the whipped cream well. I used cool whip.
10. Now layer the fruits with cream on top of the custard.
11. Cover the pan with a foil and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
12. You could garnish with some blue berries on top and serve.

A perfect recipe when you do not want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. You could also use a sponge cake or mix the fruits with ice cream, as a variation to this recipe.

Nei Choru / Ghee Rice

2010-10-12T21:15:00.000-07:00

Nei Choru is another one of the traditional Muslim dishes made during special occasions. This was what my mom used to make during most weekends back home. It is a quick and easy dish, but that does not in any way affect its grandeur. It definitely belongs to the group of those royal dishes such as Biryani and Pulao. The flavor of the ghee and the spices makes it all the more regal. The flavor was filling up the place so much, that my son was climbing up on a bar stool to see what was cooking!

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Serves 4-5 people

Basmati Rice	- 1 1/2 cup
Oil	- 1 tbsp
Cinnamon	- 1 - 2" stick
Cloves	- 3
Cardamom	- 3
Onion	- 1 small size (around 0.35lb - sliced)
Ginger Garlic Paste	- 1 1/2 tbsp
Green Chilly	- 1 big (sliced of round)
Water	- 3 cups
Ghee	- 2 tbsp + 1 tsp
Salt	- to taste
Raisins	- 1/2 a handful (optional)
Cashew nuts	- 1/2 a handful (optional)

1. Soak the rice for around 30 minutes and drain it.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add cinnamon, cloves and cardamom to the oil and saute for a minute. You could use ghee instead of oil as well.

3. Add the Onions and saute until transparent.

4. Add ginger-garlic paste and saute until the raw smell is gone.

5. Add the green chillies and saute for another minute.

6. Add the water and salt and let it boil.

7. Add 2 tablespoons of ghee when the water starts to bubble.

8. Add the drained rice to the boiling water.

9. When the water is almost evaporated, turn off the stove and close the pan with a lid and let it rest for 15-30 minutes.

10. Fry the cashews and raisins in the remaining 1 tsp of ghee until the raisins are plump.

11. Garnish the ghee rice with the fried cashews and raisins. You could also fry some onions and garnish.

This aromatic ghee rice goes well with most all curries, be it Vegetarian or Non-Vegetarian. Bring in a Raita, Pappadam and pickle to the table and you are ready for a perfect feast.

Baklava

2010-10-07T21:07:00.000-07:00

Baklava is one of the divine desserts that I was introduced to, after coming to the US at a Greek restaurant. That first bite made me a big fan of this dessert. A number of countries have claims as being the origin place for Baklava including Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iran and so on. It is a rich flaky pastry made with phyllo sheets filled with chopped nuts; nuts used could be almonds, walnuts, pistachios, etc sweetened with a simple sugar syrup known as 'Atyr' or 'Atir'. I have looked all over the internet for the perfect recipe and this is a combination of multiple recipes (allrecipes, dedemed, etc). It did come out great!

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Makes 20 pieces
For the Simple Syrup/Atyr

Water	- 1 1/2 cup
Sugar	- 1 1/2 cup
Honey	- 3/4 cup
Lemon Juice	- 1 tsp
Rose Water	- 1 tbsp

1. Boil the water and sugar together in a pan until the sugar completely melts in.

2. Add the honey and let the mixture simmer.

3. Add the lemon juice and let it boil for 10 minutes.

4. Add in the rose water and boil for another 10 minutes.

Atyr or Simple Syrup is ready. This needs to be refrigerated before using in the baklava. I made this a day ahead and refrigerated it. It is also a perfect syrup for pancakes.

For the Baklava

Walnuts	- 10 oz
Pistachio nuts	- 6 oz
Cinnamon Powder	- 1/2 tsp
Nutmeg Powder	- 1/4 tsp
Butter	- 8 oz (2 sticks)
Sugar	- 2 tbsp
Phyllo Sheets	- 8 oz

1. Chop the walnuts and pistachios into small pieces (you can see the size up to which the nuts need to be chopped from the picture). I used slightly salted pistachios. You could use the nuts of your choice; just use a total of 16 oz.

2. Dry roast the chopped nuts for around 5-7 minutes in a medium flame. Do not let it brown.

3. Once roasted, let it cool for 10-15 minutes.

4. To this, add sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg powder and mix well.

5. Melt the butter in a bowl.

6. Butter the baking pan generously using a brush dipped in melted butter. I used a 9" x 13" disposable aluminium foil pan.

7. Unroll the phyllo sheets carefully. You need to work quickly on these sheets, else they dry up quick. You can cut the entire roll to the length of the pan, if needed. I just folded the edges to meet the size of the pan, as and when I was placing each layer. That worked well too.

8. Butter each sheet generously and place in the pan one over the other. The numbers of layers needed is up to you. I placed 8 sheets at the bottom.

9. Now spread half of the chopped nuts evenly on top of the 8 layers of phyllo sheets.

10. Butter another 5 layers of thin phyllo sheets one at a time and place one over the other.

11. Spread the remaining nuts evenly on top of this second layer of phyllo sheets.

12. Add 7 more layers of phyllo sheets on top of this after buttering each layer. Butter the top layer as well.

13. Now carefully cut this into the required shape you need. Do not cut completely through the bottom. This will help the sugar syrup to not go to the bottom of the pan and prevent soaking the phyllo sheets.

14. Bake for 30 minutes in a 350 degree F preheated oven.

15. Pour the refrigerated simple syrup over the baked baklava immediately after taking out of the oven.

16. Serve when baklava cools down. Do not cover the baklava as it may get soggy.

Baklava should remain crisp even after all the syrup is absorbed in.Garnish with some powdered pistachios.

If you are a dessert person, I am sure you will fall in love with this. The only problem with making this is you cannot just stop at that first one. So I would suggest you make it when you have a party or share it with your friends; if you are not bothered about calories, then don't even worry - just go ahead and make it.

Sending this Baklava off to Meeta's Monthly Mingle - Taste Lebanon event hosted by Bethany of Dirty Kitchen Secrets.

Chocolate Bundt Cake

2010-09-25T20:44:00.000-07:00

Chocolate Cakes have a special place in everyone's heart. When I think of chocolate cakes, I think of Ambrosia (a Bakery in Trivandrum) whom I think has one of the best chocolate cakes and one of my friend's mom, who used to make awesome chocolate cakes. This is the kind of chocolate cake that is not too sweet with a coffee flavor and is best eaten with the plain vanilla ice cream. I have been looking for the perfect recipe for a long time and happened to see one in Bharathy's blog - Spicy Chilly. The picture looked awesome and decided to try it out. That was a wise decision and I have been making this for sometime now in different forms - cup cakes, round cakes, etc.

This time I decided to try it out with the Bundt pan that I got from CSN stores as part of a review for them. As mentioned in my prior CSN Store review, if you are looking for a specific cooking tool/gadget that you cannot find anywhere else, try CSN stores as they offer a wide range of products from twin beds to cookwares.

Now moving on to the Chocolate Bundt Cake recipe, I have made very slight changes to the measurement and here is my version:

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Makes a 12" Bundt Cake

All Purpose Flour (Maida)	- 1 cup
Milk Powder	- 1 tbsp (heaped)
Cocoa Powder	- 4 tbsp (heaped)
Baking Soda	- 1/2 tsp
Butter	- 11 tbsp (145 gms)
Sugar	- 1 cup
Egg	- 4
Coffee Powder	- 1 tbsp (heaped)
Yogurt	- 4 tbsp
Vanilla Essence	- 1 tsp
Salt	- 1/4 tsp

1. Sieve the Flour, Cocoa Powder, Baking Soda, Milk Powder and Salt at least 4 times to make sure that the dry ingredients are thoroughly mixed well. I used Hershey's Cocoa powder. Avoid salt if using salted butter.
2. Beat the sugar and butter well until they become smooth.
3. Add the eggs to the butter and beat well for 2-3 minutes.
4. To this, add vanilla essence and coffee powder (make sure that you are using fine coffee powder; if they are in the crystal form, powder it before you add it) and mix well.
5. Now add the yogurt to the batter and blend well. When adding the yogurt, make sure there are no lumps.
6. Now slowly fold in the flour mixture to the batter and mix well.
7. Grease a 12" bundt pan with butter and pour in the batter.
8. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degree F for 30-35 minutes.

This cake is best eaten with a scoop of plain vanilla ice cream - yum! It is great on its own as well! Thanks Bharathy for sharing this recipe.

Sending this to "Virtual Party - Chocolaty Dreams" Event hosted by Shabitha.

Kinnathappam - A Traditional Dessert

2010-09-18T23:49:00.000-07:00

Kinnathappam is another one of the Eid specials and is a traditional dessert made especially during special occasions. It is a soft, slightly wiggly but firm, all white with specks of cumin, cardamom flavored, melt in your mouth kinda dessert. The history of Kinnathappam is similar to Paalaada, with a South Tamil Nadu Origin and mostly made by Muslim population in South Tamil Nadu/Trivandrum regions. The name Kinnathappam is because it is made in a "Kinnam" meaning plate. As a kid, I used to drink the batter for the Kinnathappam as much as or even a little more than I actually ate the Kinnathappam. It is one of the best desserts ever!

Makes two 9" Plates

Sona Masoori Rice	- 1 cup (or any good variety of raw rice)
Water	- 2 cups
Eggs	- 2
Coconut Milk	- 2 cups (thick)
Salt	- 1/4 tsp
Sugar	- 1 cup
Cardamom	- 4 pods (powdered)
Ghee	- 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds	- 1/2 tsp

1. Soak the rice for at least 3 hours.
2. Grind the rice into a fine paste with water as needed using a grinder. When grinding is done, add the remaining water as mentioned in the recipe. Total quantity of water used should be 2 cups.
3. Now using a muslin cloth/cheese cloth or a fine mesh strainer, strain the batter.
4. In a mixer beat the eggs, sugar, salt and coconut milk and blend everything together.
5. Add this to the rice batter together with the powdered cardamom. The consistency of the batter would be watery.
6. Heat water in a steamer and place a Steel Plate or Cake Pan in the steamer. I used a 9" cake pan, as I didn't have a steel plate, which is traditionally used.
7. When the steam starts to come, add 1/2 tsp of ghee to the pan.
8. Add 1/4 tsp of cumin to the pan, when the ghee starts to melt. Leave the pan in the steamer for a minute for the cumin to slightly coat with the ghee.
9. Take the Pan out of the steamer and pour half of the thoroughly mixed batter to the pan, filling around 1 1/4 inch height.
10. Close the pan with an aluminium foil and transfer it back to the steamer and close the steamer.
11. Let it steam for 25-30 minutes.
12. Take the pan out of the steamer and let it cool a bit. Cut into desired shapes and serve. Repeat the same with the remaining batter to make another plate of Kinnathappam.

Note:- It would be ideal to grind in a grinder than a mixie/mixer, if you want the Kinnathappam to be soft. My first attempt was using a mixer and did not come out that soft. So this time I used the grinder. If you do not have a grinder, try using cold water to grind in a mixer (that's a tip from my mom).

The taste is enhanced when Kinnathappam is served chilled. You could avoid the cumin, if you do not like its taste in a dessert. And when making this, do not forget to taste the batter before steaming it up! You do not want to miss the taste of the batter either :-)

Update:- This recipe was featured as one of the "30 Best Recipes of 2010":

Paalaada - Yummy Rice Crepes

2010-09-13T19:22:00.000-07:00

Paalaada is one of the specialty dishes that is made back home during Eid and other special occasions. It is as thin as a crepe paper and just melts in your mouth. Paalaada is so thin that it is folded to some special shape that makes it easy to handle. The name may be cause it is as thin as the skin that forms on heated milk which is called "Paal - Aada" in Tamil/Malayalam. Paalaada is basically a South Tamil Nadu Muslim recipe and being nearer to the border is also made by Muslims in Trivandrum area as well - that is the history that I know of.

Back home, we would not even let Mom fold that first Paalaada that comes out of the pan, as it is definitely for tasting. I still follow that tradition :-) and eat the first one that comes out sharing with my son. But the only thing is that you find it hard to stop with that first one!

Makes 40 - 45 (Serves 5-6 people)

Basmati Rice	- 2 cups (or any variety of raw rice)
Water	- 2-3/4 cups
Eggs	- 2
Coconut Milk	- 1-1/2 cup (thick)
Salt	- to taste

1. Soak the rice for at least 3 hours.
2. Grind the rice into a fine paste with water as needed. Do not exceed the total quantity of water mentioned in the recipe.
3. Add eggs and coconut milk also to the mixer and blend everything together.
4. Add any remaining water to the batter. The consistency that you need is really very watery.
5. Add Salt as needed. Your batter is now ready to be prepared.
6. Heat a 10" or 12" skillet at slightly higher than medium flame.
7. When the skillet is hot, pour a ladle full of batter (a little less than 1/4 cup) into the skillet and immediately rotate the ladle to spread the batter. Watch attached video (My first attempt at the video, rather R's!).

8. Wait for 30-40 seconds until the sides of the paalaada start to come off the pan. You could either use your hands to take it out or turn the skillet upside down on an aluminium foil or a plate to take the paalaada off the skillet.
9. Paalaada is now ready to be folded in any shape you need. I have shown one method in the video or you could fold it into 4.

This goes perfect with any spicy naadan preparations like Mutton Curry, Beef Curry, Chicken Roast, or any vegetable curries. Or as mentioned in the start of the post, eat it without any curries! It is definitely a treat for your taste buds and a must try!

Chicken Kurma

2010-09-08T19:11:00.000-07:00

Kurma or Korma is told to have its origin from Mughalai cuisine. It consists of a creamy sauce which is made using either milk cream, coconut milk, a paste of ground nuts or a varying combination of these. This curry is highly flavored with a mixture of spices that you cannot just keep away from it because of its aroma. Kurma is usually not very spicy, especially due to the ingredients that gets added to make it creamy. There are a lot of versions of Korma available all over and the one I have here is a Malabar Muslim version which I came across in the book "The Suriani Kitchen" by Lathika George.

Serves around 10-12 people

Oil	- 2 tbsp
Onion	- 2 (1 lbs - Chopped)
Ginger Paste	- 1 tbsp
Garlic Paste	- 2 tbsp
Tomato	- 2 (0.4lbs - Chopped)
Turmeric Powder	- 1 tsp
Chicken	- 3 lbs
Curry Leaves	- 1 twig
Salt	- to taste
Water	- 3 cups

For Coconut paste

Cashew	- 1/2 cup (chopped)
Grated Coconut	- 1 cup
Green Chilly	- 5
Poppy Seed	- 1 tbsp
Water	- 3/4 cup

For Spice Powder

Cardamom	- 4
Cloves	- 5
Cinnamon	- 1 - 2" stick
Fennel	- 1 tsp

1. Dry roast the spices in a pan and grind to make the spice powder.

2. Make the coconut paste by grinding all the mentioned ingredients into a fine paste.

3. Heat the oil (I used coconut oil to give it that traditional Kerala taste and flavor) and saute the onions until transparent.

4. Add the ginger and garlic paste and saute until the raw smell is gone.

5. Add the tomato and turmeric powder and saute for 2-3 minutes.

6. Add the ground coconut paste and saute for 3-4 minutes.

7. Add the spice powder and mix well.

8. Add the chicken and salt and mix well to make sure that the chicken pieces are coated with the gravy.

9. Add water and let it cook in a slow fire until the chicken is done.

10. Garnish with curry leaves and serve.

This is a perfect accompaniment with Kerala Parotta, Appam and Chappathi.

Inji Curry/ Inji Puli

2010-08-31T21:52:00.000-07:00

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about Onam is Onasadya (the feast). If someone would make me sadya everyday, I would be glad to eat it on a daily basis. I love everything about the sadya, especially the Payasam round (dessert round). Another one of my sadya favorites is Inji Puli or Inji Curry. This is one of the sadya specialties that I never thought I would be able to make at home. For some reason, it always sounded complicated to me. Then I happened to see Sunitha's recipe for Inji Puli at Collaborative Curry and decided to try it out. It came out excellent. I have made very slight changes in the measurements according to my taste.

Ginger	- 1 1/2 cup (thinly chopped)
Coconut Oil	- 4 to 5 tbsp
Green Chilly	- 9 (thinly chopped)
Red Chilly Powder	- 1 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek Powder	- 1/4 + 1/8 tsp
Turmeric Powder	- 1/4 + 1/8 tsp
Asafoetida	- 1/4 + 1/8 tsp
Tamarind Paste	- 2 tbsp (used ready made pulp/concentrate)
Brown Sugar	- 4 1/2 tbsp
Curry Leaves	- 1 twig
Salt	- 1 tsp
Water	- 1 cup + 1 1/2 tbsp

1. Heat oil in a Pan and fry the chopped green chilly and ginger until slightly brown.
2. When slightly brown, take the ginger and green chilly out of the oil and let the oil drain.

3. Mix the Chilly Powder, turmeric powder, fenugreek powder and asafoetida with 1 1/2 tbsp of water.
4. In the left over oil (from frying ginger) in the pan, add the powder mix and curry leaves and keep stirring for 2 to 3 minutes in medium flame.
5. Add the tamarind paste also to the oil and mix well. You could also use normal tamarind. If using this adjust water accordingly.
6. Smash the fried Ginger-Chilly mix using a mortar and pestle a little.
7. Add this fried Ginger-Chilly mix to the pan and combine well.
8. Add the brown sugar, salt and water and let it cook and reduce to a thick consistency.

This could also be used as a pickle with Biryani or with a normal lunch. It will stay good for a couple of weeks even when not refrigerated.Thanks to Sunitha for the recipe!

Jammers (Grand Central Bakery Jammers)

2010-08-22T05:10:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow being Thiruvonam, the biggest festival of the state of Kerala, let me start by wishing all my blogger friends a Happy and Prosperous Onam.

As I have always mentioned in my posts, I am a big fan of cook books. These days flipping through baking cookbooks have become one of my favorite pass times, whether I make something out of it or not is a different question. The recipes should look really impressive and kinda easy to make, for me to come to that- "Try-it-out" mode. So this recipe here is something I came across from "The Grand Central Baking Book". This book contains some of the menu items available at the popular Grand Central Bakery; I have never been to the bakery myself, but reading this book is making me want to. So one of these days I am definitely going to pay them a visit. The Jammers are really easy to make and a perfect addition to the breakfast menu.

Makes 7-8 Jammers

All-purpose flour (Maida)	- 2 cups
Granulated Sugar	- 1 1/2 tbsp
Baking Powder	- 1 tsp
Baking Soda	- 1/2 tsp
Salt	- 3/4 tsp
Unsalted Butter	- 1/2 cup (1 stick)
Buttermilk	- 1/2 cup
Jam/Preserve	- 8 tbsp

1. Combine all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt) using a whisk.

2. Cut in the butter into the flour and use your hands or a mixer at a low speed to blend the butter into the dry ingredients until the flour texture changes to mealy. You should still see dime sized pieces of butter in the flour. You could refrigerate the mixture covered with a plastic wrap at this point, if you want to prepare later.

3. Make a well in the flour mixture and add in the buttermilk. Gently mix the dough until it comes together. Do not knead too much. The end product of this step should still have visible chunks of butter and floury patches. Add additional buttermilk (a tablespoon at a time), if the dough is dry and too crumbly.

4. On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough using the heels and sides of your palm, about 1.5 to 2 inches thick. The dough will not look smooth at this point either, and that is what we want.

5. Using a biscuit cutter or a water glass cut into circles about 2 to 2.5 inches diameter. Roll out the leftover scraps and repeat cutting into circles.

6. Using your thumb make an indentation at the center of the biscuit that goes almost to the bottom of the biscuit that is wider at the bottom. While doing this, support the outer edge of the biscuits with your fingers.

7. Fill in the indentation with a tablespoon of jam and put them 1 1/2 inches apart in a baking tray lined with a baking sheet.

8. Preheat the oven at 350 degree F and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

The jammers taste at their best when eaten warm. It is definitely a perfect breakfast and I would also eat it as a snack anytime.

Rosebud Madeleines

2010-08-08T19:24:00.000-07:00

Madeleine was on my list since long. These are very small sponge cakes with a shell like shape, which is obtained using the special madeleine molds. These are described as French butter cakes cause of their French origin and yummy buttery taste. I was looking around in most local stores in my area since sometime to find the madeleine pan, but without much success. That is when CSN stores contacted me to do a review of some of their products. I was looking at the wide variety of products that they had to offer, ranging from twin beds to cookwares to pick the perfect item for my review and guess what, I found the Madeleine pan on their cookware website. They do have a wide selection of all kinds of specialty cookware. Something definitely worth checking out!

Once I received the Madeleine pan, I started going over the 5 to 6 recipes that I had shortlisted for making madeleines. One of them was the Rosebud Madeleine recipe that was in the book "How to be a domestic Goddess" by Nigella Lawson. That sounded perfect, one of the reasons being the use of rose water which I love the flavor of.

Makes 12 Madeleines

Salted Butter	- 1/4 cup + Additional for greasing
Eggs	- 1 large
Sugar	- 2 tbsp (level)
All purpose flour (Maida)	- 1/3 cup
Rosewater	- 1 tbsp
Confectioner's Sugar	- for dusting (optional)

1. Melt the butter at a low heat and then leave to cool. You could also use unsalted butter (that is what the recipe actually calls for and then add a pinch of salt to the batter).
2. Beat the Egg and Sugar in a bowl for 5 minutes using an electric mixer, until it is as thick a mayonnaise.

3. Sieve in the flour into the egg-sugar mix shaking a sieve that is held above the egg-sugar mix.

4. Fold in the flour smoothly into the egg-sugar mix.
5. Add the melted butter and Rosewater and mix smoothly in.
6. Keep the batter in the refrigerator for an hour and then leave at room temperature for 30 minutes. (This is an optional step; I tried it with and without this step; did not feel much difference).
7. Preheat the oven at 425 degree F.
8. Brush the insides of the madeleine molds generously with butter.
9. Fill the molds with the batter (this would be 2+ teaspoons full for each). Do not worry about filling the indentations completely with the batter. The batter will spread as it heats up.
10. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Keep checking in between. It will be ready as the sides start to brown a bit.
11. Remove the madeleines from the pan and let it cool on a rack.

12. You could serve by dusting confectioner's sugar. It is awesome even without dusting the sugar.

These are a perfect tea time snack and for munching anytime. It is also an easy recipe with not too many ingredients. If you do not have rosewater, you could use some other essence like vanilla. But I would suggest getting rosewater if you have an option.

Showing off my newly acquired possession from cookware.com.

Chukku Kanji / Dry Ginger Porridge

2010-07-31T23:37:00.000-07:00

Chukku Kanji is one of the main dishes used for breaking the Ramadan fast back home. This would be the main dish that you would have after breaking the fast, eating dates and drinking a glass of juice (mostly lemon juice at my home). This Kanji is accompanied with Kaya Thoran or Kaya Odachathu (Recipe coming soon!) or Kappa together with Meen Curry. Chukku (Dry Ginger) has a lot of medicinal properties which is supposed to be good for your fasting stomach. A cup of this porridge is the tastiest thing, especially after not eating or drinking anything the whole day from dawn to dusk. It is also good when you have stomach problems and cannot take any solid foods.

Serves 8-10 people

Rice	- 1 1/2 cup
Water	- 11 1/2 cups
Grated Coconut	- 1/2 cup
Cumin Seeds	- 1 1/2 tsp
Dry Ginger (Chukku)	- 2 big pieces (0.7 oz)
Salt	- to taste

1. In a pressure cooker, boil the rice with 4 cups of water until 3 whistles. We want the rice to be mashed a little.

2. Grind Coconut with Cumin and 1/4 cup of water to a fine paste.

3. When the pressure is gone, open the cooker and add the remaining water (or as much as you need based on your consistency requirement).

4. Break the dry ginger into smaller pieces and add it to the cooker and stir well.

5. Add the ground coconut paste and salt to the cooker and mix well.

6. Let the mixture come to a boil and turn off the stove.

Chukku Kanji (also known as Nombu Kanji) is worth a try, even when you are not fasting.

This goes to the Iftar Moments event hosted by Ayeesha of Taste of Pearl City.

Coconut Rice / Thenga Chor

2010-07-25T20:31:00.000-07:00

Thenga Chor or Coconut Rice has a lot of variations from region to region. I have seen ones with grated coconut, with coconut milk, ones which are seasoned with mustard, and lots more. The one I have here, I am assuming, is a Southern Tamil Nadu version as my MIL is the one who introduced me to this. This is a highly flavorful rice with the addition of cinnamon and fenugreek. This is one dish that you could make for a special occasion like you make a biryani or ghee rice and serve with a spicy meat curry like Chicken Curry or Mutton Curry, preferably a Nadan (Traditional) style curry or a spicy vegetable curry.

Serves 5-6 people

Refined Oil or Coconut Oil	- 2 tbsp
Shallots	- 15-20
Green Chilly	- 2
Ginger Garlic Paste	- 2 tbsp
Coconut Milk	- 1/2 cup (thick)
Water	- 3 1/2 cup
Cinnamon	- 2 - 1" piece
Fenugreek	- 1 tsp
Jeera Rice	- 2 cups
Salt	- to taste

1. Soak the rice in water for 30 minutes. You could also use Basmati rice or Sona Masoori rice.

2. In a mixer grind the shallots and green chilly with very little water into a coarse paste.

3. Heat oil in a pan big enough for making the rice. I used coconut oil to give it that added flavor.

4. Add the shallot-green chilly paste and ginger garlic paste to the oil and saute until the raw smell is gone and the mixture is almost dry. Don't let it brown.

5. Add coconut milk and water to the pan and add salt to taste.

6. Add Cinnamon and fenugreek to the water and let it boil.

7. Add the drained rice to the boiling water.

8. Stir it in between and when the water is almost gone, turn off the stove. Rice may not be completely done at this point, it may be a little over 3/4 done.

9. Close the pan with a tight lid and keep it closed for 30 minutes.

10. After 30 minutes, the rice will be ready to serve with each grain separated out.

The special fragrance and taste that fenugreek adds to the rice is unbelievable considering that it is an ingredient with a slightly bitter taste; rest assured that you will not get any feel of that bitterness in this rice.

Mini Cheesecakes / Individual Cheesecake with Blueberry Sauce

2010-07-19T22:43:00.000-07:00

Cheesecake is one of those desserts that have always fascinated me - by its awesome taste, smooth and creamy texture and stunning looks. This is one thing I have always wanted to try out and never had the courage thinking it would be complicated. This time I brought all the ingredients and wanted to make a proper cheesecake, but then again I was not sure whether I should really start off with a big cheesecake recipe. Then I came across this Individual cheesecake recipe at Joy of Baking, which said it is a quicker version, the size being smaller reduces the baking time. So I decided to go for this. This version helps serving smaller portions in lesser time with no compromises on the Cheesecake taste.

For the Crust

Graham Cracker Crumbs	- 1 cup
Granulated White Sugar	- 1 tbsp
Salted Butter	- 4 tbsp (Melted)

1. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with 12 small pieces of parchment sheet on each cup with the ends hanging out. I buttered the cups before lining each with the parchment paper for the paper to stick in.

2. In a bowl, combine the Graham Cracker Crumbs, with the sugar and melted butter.

3. Press a heaped tablespoon of graham cracker mixture to the bottom of each of the muffin cups lined with parchment paper. I had some extra and so pressed in the mixture to 2 additional ramekins as well.

4. Cover and Refrigerate and proceed to make the filling.

For the Filling

Cream Cheese	- 16 oz (at room temperature)
Granulated White Sugar	- 2/3 cup
Eggs	- 2 large (at room temperature)
Vanilla Extract	- 1 tsp
Sour Cream	- 1/2 cup

1. Beat Cream Cheese in a bowl with an electric mixture on low speed until smooth. Do not over beat the mixture as it will cause cracks in the cheesecake.

2. Add Sugar and beat until combined.

3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating about 30 seconds.

4. Add the vanilla extract and sour cream and beat until incorporated.

5. Remove the crusts from the refrigerator and evenly divide the filling among the crusted cups.

6. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F and bake for about 18 - 20 minutes or until firm but the centers of the cheesecakes still wobble a little.

7. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Let cool and then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (a few hours or even overnight).

8. Taking hold of the two strips of parchment paper, carefully lift each cheesecake from the muffin cups. Gently peel off the parchment paper and place on your serving plate.

This recipe makes 12-14 Mini Cheesecakes, as mentioned I had used 2 additional ramekins.

For the Blueberry Sauce

Blueberry	- 5 oz
Sugar	- 1 tbsp
Lemon Juice	- 2 tsp

1. Keep apart a few blueberries for garnish.

2. Blend the remaining blueberries in a mixer.

3. Heat a pan and add the pureed blueberry and sugar.

4. Mix well until it starts to boil.

5. Add the lemon juice and stir in for a minute or two.

6. Turn off the stove and allow the sauce to cool and refrigerate it.

The Cheesecake could be served with the blueberry sauce and the blueberries. The tartness in the blueberry sauce together with the sweet cheesecake and slightly salted crust makes it the perfect dessert! I would say it is definitely a must-try!

Beef Roast/ Beef Ularthiyathu

2010-07-15T00:02:00.000-07:00

Presenting another one of our family favorites - Beef Ularthiyathu! The Malayalam word 'Ularthiyathu' is used to refer to roasted dishes. This dish is a specialty of Kerala, I would say Kottayam side and has unique flavors of Kerala linked to it - be it the slightly fried sliced coconut or the coconut oil. I am a big fan of the flavor that coconut oil adds to the Kerala style dishes and I have no words to explain the crunchy feel that you get when a slice of that coconut gets into your mouth! I got this recipe long back from pachakam.com and after so many years of doing this, it is highly altered.

Serves 8-10 people

Refined Oil	- 3 tbsp
Onion	- 3 big (Sliced - around 2.5 lbs)
Garlic	- 2 pods (thinly chopped - around 0.15 lbs)
Ginger	- a big piece (thinly chopped - around 0.15 lbs)
Tomato	- 2 (chopped - around 0.5 lbs)
Green Chilly	- 6 (chopped - adjust according to taste)
Turmeric	- 1/2 tsp
Chilly Powder	- 1 tbsp
Coriander Powder	- 2 tsp
Pepper Powder	- 2 tsp
Fennel Powder	- 1 tsp
Garam Masala	- 1 tsp
Salt	- to taste
Beef	- 4 lbs
Mustard	- 1 tsp
Coconut Slices	- 2 - 3 handful
Coconut Oil	- 2 tbsp
Curry Leaves	- 3 twigs

1. In the pressure cooker, add and heat the refined oil.

2. Add 2 of the sliced onions and saute for a few minutes until slightly translucent.

3. To this, add the chopped ginger, garlic, green chilly and tomatoes and mix well.

4. Now add the powders - Turmeric, Chilly, Coriander, Fennel, Pepper and Garam Masala and mix for 2-3 minutes.

5. Add the beef and salt to this and mix well. There is no need to add water, as the water from the beef would be enough.

6. Let it pressure cook until 3/4 done. Open the cooker when the pressure is completely gone.

7. Heat 1 tbsp of coconut oil in a saute pan and splutter the mustard.
8. Add the remaining Onion and saute until translucent.
9. Add the coconut slices to this and saute for 5-6 minutes.
10. Using a sieve spoon get the beef together with the onion/ginger/garlic/tomato/green chilly from the pressure cooker to the saute pan, draining out the stock as much as possible. (Save the stock - You could use that as a curry!)
11. Once all the beef has been transferred to the saute pan, start sauting the beef until it starts to completely dry up. Check salt and add if needed. You could also add pepper powder at this stage, if you feel the dish needs to be spiced up more.

12. At this stage drizzle in the remaining coconut oil and curry leaves and mix well until it is completely roasted.

13. Once done, garnish with the curry leaves.

The beef stock from the pressure cooking could be used in making Rava Beef Biryani.

This would be a perfect accompaniment with rice, roti, paratha and appam.

There is one more news that I would like to share with all my friends out there. I would soon be doing a review along with a wonderful recipe for CSN Stores who has a wide variety of stores that sell anything from twin beds to cookwares. So will see you soon with the review and the recipe!

Cheesecake Thumbprints

2010-06-30T23:24:00.000-07:00

Baking is an art that intrigues me. I keep getting Baking books from library to try out stuff, but would most of the time end up looking at the pictures and returning them; sometimes because I feel they are time consuming and at times because I may not have all the ingredients on hand. This time I had 'Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook' from library and me and my son were flipping the pages. We came across the recipe for Cheesecake Thumbprint cookies and my son was wanting to make it. He is 4 and enjoys watching me cook and giving me a helping hand. So I finally decided to try this one out and am happy that I did.

Makes around 15-16 cookies

Cream Cheese	- 2 ounce
Sugar	- 1/4 cup
Sour Cream	- 3/4 tsp
Vanilla Essence	- 3 drops
Salt	- 1/8 tsp + half a pinch
Butter	- 1 stick (1/2 cup) at room temperature
Egg yolk	- 1 large
All Purpose flour/Maida	- 1 cup

1. In a bowl, beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer at a medium speed for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.

2. Add 1/8 cup of sugar and half a pinch of salt and blend until smooth for 3 minutes.

3. To the cream cheese mixture, add half of the egg yolk, sour cream and vanilla and beat until smooth.

4. Refrigerate the cream cheese mixture for about 30 minutes.

5. In the mean time, beat the butter and remaining sugar with an electric mixer at a medium speed for 2 minutes. I used salted butter.

6. Add remaining salt (not needed, if using salted butter), egg yolk and beat to combine. If using Salted butter, add 2 tbsp of sugar in addition to the 1/8 cup of sugar.

7. Sift the flour into the butter mixture slowly with the mixture on low speed.

8. Once the ingredients are mixed well, use your hands to make the dough into ball shape.

9. Preheat the oven at 350 degree F.

10. Line a baking tray with a parchment paper.

11. Shape Level tablespoons of dough into balls and place on the prepared baking sheets about an inch apart.

12. Using your thumb or a spoon, make an indentation in the center of each ball.

13. Bake for 10 minutes and remove from oven and make indentations again with a spoon, as the dough may have raised a bit.

14. Bake again for 7-9 minutes until the edges of the cookies begin to turn golden brown. Turn off the oven.

15. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

16. Once cooled, fill the center of each cookie with around a teaspoon full of cream cheese filling, mounding it slightly.

17. Preheat the oven again at 350 degree and bake the cookies again for 7-8 minutes, until the filling is firm.

18. Cool the cookies in a wire rack completely and refrigerate in an air tight container for at least 4 hours before serving.

Your cheesecake thumbprint cookies are ready! The cookies are best if they are refrigerated overnight. Allow them to sit at room temperature for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Pepper Chicken Roast

2010-06-24T21:55:00.000-07:00

Pepper Chicken Roast is a quick recipe with a delicious outcome. The recipe is from my MIL and is one of her specials. The taste of pepper together with the tanginess of lemon juice gives this dish a kind of unique taste. So for people who are looking out for a different chicken recipe, this is definitely worth a try.

Onion	- 1 (around 3/4 lb) (Sliced)
Ginger Garlic Paste	- 4 tbsp
Green Chilly	- 2 (chopped)
Tomato	- 1 (around 1/4 lb) (Cut into small cubes)
Capsicum	- 1 (around 1/4 lb) (Cut into small cubes)
Turmeric Powder	- 1/4 tsp
Chilly Powder	- 1 tsp
Coriander Powder	- 1 tsp
Fennel Powder	- 1/2 tsp
Pepper Powder	- 1 1/2 tsp (according to your spice level)
Lemon Juice	- 2 tbsp
Salt	- to taste
Chicken	- 1 1/4 lbs (Cut into small pieces)
Oil	- 4 tbsp

1. In a bowl, mix all the above ingredients together except oil and mix well.

2. Keep the bowl with all the ingredients mixed well to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

3. Heat oil in a non-stick pan. I used Coconut oil as it gives a unique flavor to the dish.

4. Pick the Chicken alone from the mixed ingredients kept for marination.

5. Shallow fry the chicken in the heated oil until it is slight brown in color.

6. Remove the chicken from oil. In the same oil add the remaining mixture of onions, ginger garlic paste, tomato, capsicum and the other powders. You could add extra oil, if needed. Keeping the tidbits from frying the chicken in the oil enhances the taste and color of the dish.

7. Once the onion is completely translucent, add the fried chicken and mix well for a minute or two. Adjust the salt, if needed

8. Turn off the stove and close the pan and let it rest for 5 minutes.

The dish is a perfect accompaniment for most of the breads that you can think of as well as for any rice preparation.

Crab Shiitake Puff with Grape Fruit Sauce

2010-06-16T23:50:00.000-07:00

How does the name of the recipe sound? It has quite a story behind it. My team decided to do this get-together at one of our colleague's place as a team activity and the idea was to do 'Chopped'. For those who do not know what 'Chopped' is, it is a Food Network Reality show where the chefs are given 3-5 unrelated ingredients and are asked to come up with an Appetizer, Entree and Dessert. So now to what we did, I was asked to prepare an appetizer with Crab Meat, Shiitake Mushroom, Grape Fruit and Bran Cereal. Again unlike the show, we were given the ingredients a week early. The list of ingredients here were stuff I had never even bought before. Deciding what to make was a tough decision and had to try it once before I made it for the competition. I will cut the story short and get into the ingredients and method of making this appetizer.

For the Puff:

Crab Meat	- 300 gms (0.7 lbs - used 3 crab legs)
Shiitake Mushroom	- 150 gms (0.35 lbs)
Butter	- 3 - 4 tbsp
Ginger Paste	- 1 1/2 tsp
Garlic Paste	- 1 1/2 tsp
Chilly Powder	- 1 tsp (I used very little to make the appetizer mild)
Garam Masala	- 3/4 tsp
Egg Whites	- 1
Puff Pastry Sheet	- 1 Packet
Salt	- to taste

1. In a mixer, mince the cooked crab meat.
2. Chop the mushrooms into small slices.
3. In a pan, heat the butter and add Ginger and Garlic paste.
4. After sauting the ginger and garlic for 2-3 minutes, add the Chilly Powder and saute for a minute.
5. Add the chopped mushrooms and saute until the mushroom is cooked.
6. Add the minced crab meat, garam masala and salt and mix everything well for 3-5 minutes.
7. Turn off the stove and let the filling cool.
8. Use the puff pastry sheet to make puffs with the filling into any shape you want.
9. Line a Baking pan with parchment paper and place the puffs in it.
10. Beat the egg whites and brush the egg whites on to the top of the puffs. This is to give a glaze to the puffs.
11. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degree for 15 minutes and your puffs are ready.

For the Sauce:

Grape Fruit	- 6 oz can
Salted Butter	- 1 tbsp
Ginger Paste	- 1/2 tsp
Sweet Chilly Sauce	- 1 1/2 tsp
Chilly Powder	- 1/4 tsp
Brown Sugar	- 2 tsp
Salt	- 1/4 tsp
Water	- 1/2 cup
Corn Starch	- 1 tsp
Bran Cereal	- 2 tbsp (powdered)

1. In a pan heat the butter and add ginger paste and saute for 2-3 minutes.
2. Grind the grape fruit with the juice (I used the canned version, as I could not get the fresh ones).
3. Add the ground grape fruit to the pan and let it boil.
4. Add the sweet Chilly Sauce, Chilly Powder and Brown Sugar and mix well.
5. Mix Bran Cereal powder in little water and add to the pan.
6. Mix the corn starch in a little water and add to the pan as well. This is to give a glaze to the sauce.
7. Let the sauce thicken and add the salt.

We were rated equally for Taste, Creativity and Presentation and guess what, this dish won the second prize at this competition.

Nadan Mutton Curry

2010-06-09T23:23:00.000-07:00

Mutton Curry is an all time favorite of ours and most of our friends. They are certain restaurants that are so popular for Nadan Mutton Curry in Trivandrum that R and his friends always talks about it - Buhari, Vayalil, Paradise, etc to name a few. That was my inspiration to start trying out Mutton Curry. The combination that we usually have for this Mutton Curry is Puttu and Pappadam. This combination just gels so well that I do not have words to explain!

Oil	- 3 tbsp
Onion	- 1 1/2 (around 500gms)
Small Onion	- 10
Green Chilly	- 2 (adjust according to your spice level)
Ginger Garlic Paste	- 3 tbsp
Tomato	- 1 big (around 125 gms)
Turmeric Powder	- 1/4 tsp
Chilly Powder	- 2 tbsp
Coriander Powder	- 1 tbsp
Fennel Powder	- 2 tsp
Garam Masala	- 1 1/2 tsp
Mutton	- 2 lbs
Water	- 1/2 cup
Salt	- to taste
Curry Leaves	- 1 or 2 twigs

1. In a pressure cooker, add the oil and heat it.

2. When the oil is hot, add chopped Onions and sauté until they are transparent.

3. Smash the small onions and green chilly into a coarse paste and add that to the sauted onions, and saute for a few minutes.

4. Add Ginger-Garlic paste to this and sauté for a couple of minutes.

5. Add chopped Tomato and saute for 3-4 minutes.

6. To this add, Turmeric Powder, Coriander Powder, Chilly Powder, Fennel Powder and Garam Masala and sauté it for 2-3 minutes, until the raw smell goes.

7. Now add Mutton to this and mix well to make sure the mutton is coated with the masala.

8. Add Salt, water and close the Pressure Cooker (You could also avoid adding water, if you do not need much gravy).

9. After 4-5 pressure releases, you can turn off the stove.

10. Open the cooker after the pressure is all gone.

11. Garnish with Curry Leaves

Your mutton curry is ready to serve. In addition to Puttu, it also goes well with Ghee Rice, Plain Rice, Chapati, Paratha and anything you can think of :-) You could also do the same preparation with beef or lamb.

Easy Vellayappam / Palappam with Rice Flour

2010-06-01T22:33:00.000-07:00

I have already posted a recipe for Appam which calls for grinding soaked rice. I was getting a lot of searches on Easy Appam and Appam with rice flour on my blog's analytics report. This made me look for easy Appam recipes that can be made with rice flour. I came across one in one of my recently acquired cook books from my India trip this time - The Suriani Kitchen by Lathika George. I have made changes to the measurements in the original recipe and also used roasted rice flour since I did not have unroasted flour. Anyways the result was great. The appams turned out to be softer than the one with soaked rice.

Rice Flour	- 2 cup
Water	- 2 1/2 cup
Cooked Rice	- 3/4 cup
Coconut Milk	- 1 1/2 cup (thick)
Sugar	- 4 tbsp
Salt	- 1/2 tsp
Yeast	- 1 tbsp
Luke Warm Water	- 1/4 cup

1. In a mixer grind the cooked rice with 1/2 a cup of water to a fine paste.
2. Transfer this to a bowl.
3. In the luke warm water add the yeast and let it soak for a few minutes.
4. Now add the Rice Flour, 2 cups of water and coconut milk and blend well. You could use a grinder or a hand mixer.
5. Transfer the rice flour batter along with the cooked rice batter.
6. To this add, sugar, salt and dissolved yeast and mix well.
7. Keep the batter in the oven with the lights turned on. This is for places with cold climate; otherwise you could leave it outside.
8. The batter would be ready, if kept in an oven, in 1 hour. It would ferment and rise. Now adjust the sugar and salt if needed.

You need to use the Appa-Chatti to make appam and follow the below steps.

1. Heat the appa-chatti and smear a little oil.
2. Pour a spoonful of batter and swirl the pan - this leaves the center thick and the sides thinner.
3. Now close the pan and leave it to cook for a minute or two.

The preparation time is really reduced by using the Rice flour. So if you feel like having appam, you don't have to plan a day ahead.

Honey Drop Cookies

2010-05-20T23:54:00.000-07:00

Each country has a different name for a Cookie. In India and England they are called biscuits; in Spain they are called Galletas; and so on. According to culinary historians, the first historic record of cookies was their use as test cakes. A small amount of cake batter was baked to test the oven temperature. The name cookie is derived from the Dutch word koekje, meaning "small or little cake". Biscuit comes from the Latin word bis coctum, which means, “twice baked”. That is some history about cookie that I got from the internet.

The recipe that I have here is adapted from the Kairali Cookery Show "Magic Oven" by Lakshmi Nair. It is a quick and easy recipe and very tasty too.

All Purpose flour (Maida)	- 1/2 cup
Baking Powder	- 1/2 tsp
Egg	- 1
Sugar	- 1/3 cups
Salted Butter	- 3 tbsp
Honey	- 2 tsp
Vanilla Essence	- 1/4 tsp

1. Sift the flour and baking powder together. Also add a pinch of salt if you are using unsalted butter.

2. In another bowl, whisk the butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy.

3. To the butter, add the egg and beat well.

4. Add in the essence and honey and mix well.

5. Add the sifted flour and mix well.

6. Pre-heat the oven at 300 degrees F.

7. Line a baking pan with parchment paper and grease with butter.

8. Drop by 1/2 tsp of batter to the pan. Make sure you leave enough space between each drop of the batter as it would increase in size.

9. Bake for around 12-15 minutes until the cookie is golden brown.

When you take the cookie out of the oven, it may be slightly soft at the center. But as it cools it would become crispy.

This recipe will yield 30-35 cookies. My son loved it and the entire box of cookies vanished in no time! It is a quick recipe and a keeper.

Ras Malai for ICC

2010-05-17T18:49:00.000-07:00

Ras Malai is my favorite Indian dessert. So when Srivalli announced this month's challenge I was so excited. Soft paneer balls soaked in sweetened and thickened milk (Ras) flavored with cardamom - a treat to the taste buds. So when I tried this out Sunday, I was full of enthusiasm. Anyways my paneer balls did not turn out to be that soft :-(. Once I tasted my Ras Malai, I started doing more research to find out what went wrong. My finding is that the content of water in the paneer should not be more nor less, to make the paneer balls with the proper consistency. I think I squeezed too much water from my paneer. Anyways the Ras was excellent. Next time I will make sure I leave enough water in the paneer to make softer and smoother balls.

For making the Paneer balls

Whole Milk	- 1 litre
Lemon Juice	- 3 tbsp
Maida	- 1 tsp
Water	- 1.5 cups
Sugar	- 4 tbsp

1. Boil the milk in a vessel.

2. When the milk starts to boil, add the lemon juice and let the milk curdle.

3. Use a muslin cloth or strainer and separate the milk solids from the whey water.

4. Let it drain for 30 minutes to remove water and squeeze extra water as needed.

5. Now knead the paneer with maida to make a smooth dough.Add additional whey water if needed to make it smooth.

6. Make 7-8 balls out of this dough and slightly flatten it. Make sure that the balls are smooth and not broken.

7. In a pressure cooker boil water and add sugar.

8. When the water starts to boil, add the paneer balls and cook until 2 whistles or for 10 minutes and turn off the stove.

For making the Rasa/Syrup

Milk	- 3 cups
Saffron	- a large pinch
Sugar	- 4 tbsp
Cardamom	- 1 (powdered)

1. Boil the milk and add the Sugar and Saffron.

2. Keep boiling and stirring until the milk is reduced to half; may take 20-30 minutes.

3. Stir in the Cardamom powder.

Garnish

Pista

- 5-6 (chopped)

1. Open the pressure cooker, when the pressure is completely gone and take out the paneer balls.

2. Squeeze the paneer balls slightly to remove the water.

3. Add the balls to the rasa and refrigerate it for 4-5 hours.

4. Garnish with chopped pista and serve.

Overall the ras malai was good (not excellent) as the balls were not soft enough. If anyone has any other tips to make the paneer balls soft, please do share it here.

Thattukada Beef Fry

2010-05-08T00:55:00.000-07:00

For some reason Thattukadas (Road side eateries) always seems to have a special place in a lot of Keralite's heart. One thing I could say for sure is that we (me & R, and I think now my son too) has a special liking for Thattukada preparations. Don't know why, but the food there has a special taste that you would not find in any of the five star restaurants. Among our list of restaurants that we hop on, when visiting India, are a few Thattukadas too - one of the popular ones being Balan's thattukada and the special item there is the Beef Fry. I was thinking about Balan's beef today and had this urge to go ahead and give it a try. This is just an attempt to recreate the memories 'n taste and it came out good.

For Marination:

Beef	- 3 lbs
Chilly Powder	- 1 tbsp
Coriander Powder	- 1 1/2 tsp
Ginger Garlic Paste	- 1 tbsp
Fennel Powder	- 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder	- 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala	- 1/2 tsp
Salt	- to taste

Final Preparation:

Chilly Powder	- 1 tbsp
Ginger Garlic Paste	- 2 tbsp
Garam Masala	- 1/2 tsp
Pepper Powder	- 1 tsp
Salt	- to taste
Curry Leaves	- 2 twigs
Oil	- as needed to fry

1. In a pressure cooker, mix the beef with the rest of the ingredients for marination.

2. Pressure cook the marinated beef until it is 3/4 done (may be 2 whistles). No water is needed as there would be enough water coming from the beef.

3. Once the pressure is gone, open the pressure cooker and take one cup of the beef stock.

4. Heat another pan and pour the stock to it.

5. Add Chilly Powder, Pepper Powder and Ginger Garlic Paste to the stock and let it boil.

6. Add the beef to this boiling stock and mix well and let it cook. Add additional stock to this if the beef needs more cooking. Keep in mind we will be frying this too.

7. Check salt and add, if needed.

8. When the beef is almost dry, add the Garam Masala and mix well. Turn off the stove. If you want to avoid fried stuff, the beef can be eaten like this. It would taste great too.

9. Heat oil in a pan for frying and when the oil is hot, fry the beef in batches.

10. Once the frying is done, in the same oil fry the curry leaves and garnish the beef.

My son loved it so much that I had a tough time taking the picture!

Give Away Time - CLOSED

2010-05-03T19:35:00.000-07:00

And the winner is Shabitha Karthikeyan of My Home Kitchen! Congrats Shabitha!

I am sure most of you have by now seen giveaways happening at a lot of blogs. I am one of the lucky ones who also got the privilege to do a giveaway sponsored by CSN stores to thank my dear readers out there. For those who do not know about CSN stores, it is comprised of more than 200 different shopping sites under the overall csnstores.com umbrella. Most of their sites are named for their primary product offerings or the styles they provide. CSN's product categories cover everything from cookware, ultra modern furniture, bunk bed-office combinations and fitness equipment to gaming chairs, grills, greenhouses and much. So for all your needs ranging from a corner TV stand, entertainment centers, rugs, house wares to home improvement stuff, you could visit that one place - CSN Stores. Now let’s get into what CSN has agreed to offer for my dear friends - you get to pick one from the below 9 choices:

Black & Decker Mini Pro Plus Food Processor

Presto Flip Side Belgian Waffle Maker

Back to Basics Brushed Chrome Smoothie Elite

Le Creuset 2-Quart Batter Bowl

Oster 12-Speed Osterizer Blender

Cuisinart Power Advantage 5-Speed Hand Mixer

Paula Deen 2 Qt. Double Boiler Set in Stainless Set

Farberware Classic Stainless Steel 2 Quart Covered Saucepan with Double Boiler Insert

Rachael Ray “Bubble & Brown” 2-Piece Stoneware Baker Set

So what do you want to pick for your sweet space? Now let's get into the rules and requirements for you to enter this contest.

Rules

1. The contest is only open to US and Canadian Residents. For all others, if you have a friend/relative in US or Canada, you could always get it shipped to them.

2. The contest closes on May 12th at 11:59pm PST.

3. The winner will be selected using random.org and will be notified via email. Please post your email id as well, if you are not a registered blogger. In the event that winner does not respond back within 3 days after they receive the email a new winner would be chosen.

4. You could leave a separate comment for each one of the below activity: (Note: - The first 2 are mandatory to enter the contest)

Follow Thattukada publicly via Google friend connect and leave a comment under this post saying so. If you are already a follower, just comment so. (Mandatory)
Visit the furniture store under CSN umbrella - RacksandStands and leave a comment as to what you would love to have from there. (Mandatory)
Tweet about this giveaway using the tweeter link below this post and follow me on twitter. Leave a comment with your tweet URL under this post.
Join Face book group - Thattukada and leave a comment about it under this post.
Add Thattukada to your blog roll and leave a comment about it under this post.

So you could leave a maximum of 5 comments and quintuple your chances to be the winner - please remember that the first 2 are mandatory for you to earn any additional entries.

Good Luck dear Friends! Happy Commenting!

Chilly Chicken

2010-04-27T20:11:00.000-07:00

Chilly Chicken is one of our family favorites. Considering the fact that it is an Indo-Chinese dish, I used to think that it is a delicacy of the Chinese which we have altered to suit our taste buds. But now my realization is that it is purely an Indian invention using some of the Chinese ingredients.

If you search for a chilly chicken recipe on the web, you would get tons of them. And the interesting part is these recipes vary a lot in the way they are prepared. So I am assuming it tastes different to different people across the world. For us, the best chilly chicken we have had is from the restaurant "Open House" in Trivandrum. We have a list of restaurants that we would visit every time we go on a vacation to India and this is one of them. They do not have a lot of options on their menu, but their chilly chicken and paratta is one of the best I have tasted. So this is an attempt to recreate the "Open House" taste. The recipe is actually from my mom and I have tried to build on that. Not sure whether this is anywhere near the "Open House" taste, but it tasted good and we enjoyed it!

Coconut Oil	- 3 tbsp
Chicken	- 1 1/2 lbs
Onion	- 2 big (chopped)
Ginger	- 1/2 cup (chopped)
Garlic	- 1/2 cup (chopped)
Green Chilly	- 6 (chopped) - reduce depending on your spice level
Tomato Sauce	- 3 tbsp
Green Chilly Sauce	- 3 tbsp
Light Soya Sauce	- 3 tbsp
Dark Soya Sauce	- 2 tbsp
Corn Starch	- 1 tsp
Water	- 1 tbsp to 1/2 cup
Salt	- to taste

1. Heat oil in a pan. You could use refined oil as well.
2. When the oil is hot, add the onions and saute it until transparent.
3. Add the chopped ginger, garlic and chillies and saute until the raw smell is gone.
4. Add the chicken pieces to this. Chicken pieces should be almost cube sized. Boned
chicken would work best and taste best too. I used boneless this time though.
5. Immediately add the sauces - tomato sauce, chilly sauce, light soya sauce and dark soya sauce.
6. Mix everything well and add salt, if needed. Soya sauce has enough salt that you may not need anymore.
7. Let the chicken cook. Keep stirring in between.
8. When the chicken is done, check the amount of gravy in the pan. This would be water from the chicken, as we have not added any additional water to the preparation at this point.
9. Depending on how much gravy you need, use a tbsp to half a cup of water to mix the corn starch (could use corn flour as well) with out lumps. Add this to the pan and mix well.
10. Cook for 2-3 minutes and turn off the stove.

So if anyone reading this has had the "Open House" chilly chicken, make this and let me know what you think!

Mutton Biryani

2010-04-16T23:08:00.000-07:00

I am BACK from my vacation - actually it's been more than a week now. I am saying this out loud, more for myself than my friends out there. Helping myself get back into reality! This is an attempt to get back out of my do-nothing mode.

This vacation was very special to me as it was my lil-sister's marriage. So the 4 weeks back in Kerala flew like 4 days; and not to say that I had such a great time back there with my sweet family. And my son has come back as a spoilt brat with all the pampering.

And to my surprise, when I came back there was a gift waiting for me at Foodie Blogroll. It was a set of 2 books from Kelly Donleaa who blogs at Organizing Dinner - 70 meals, One Trip to the store & Cook Once...Eat Twice! I was so excited to receive the gift especially considering the fact that I am all into collecting cook books now. This was a perfect addition to my collection. Thank you Foodie Blogroll and Kelly!

I have not cooked much since I came back and am still trying to get back to my normal self. I was feeling really bad that I am not giving much attention to my blog and hence decided to see what I have in my drafts and found a perfect one to celebrate my sister's wedding with my blogger friends. So here is a virtual feast for all my friends out there with a Mutton Biryani.

For Mutton Gravy:

Coconut Oil	- 3 tbsp
Mutton	- 2 lbs
Onion	- 2 (Sliced)
Ginger Garlic paste	- 3 tbsp
Cardamom	- 5
Bay Leaf	- 3 - 5 small
Cloves	- 5
Cinnamon	- 2 - 1" piece
Chilly Powder	- 1 tbsp
Coriander Powder	- 2 tsp
Turmeric Powder	- 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala	- 1/2 tsp
Tomato	- 1
Coconut Milk	- 1 cup (Thick)
Salt	- to taste

1. Heat oil in the pressure cooker.
2. Add cardamom, bay leaf, cloves and cinnamon when the oil is hot.
3. Saute for a few seconds and add the onions.
4. When the onions become transparent, add ginger garlic paste and saute until the raw smell is gone.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes and saute for 2 minutes.
6. Add the chilly, coriander and turmeric powder and saute well for a minute.
7. Add the mutton, salt and garam masala and mix well.
8. Close the pressure cooker and let it cook for 3-4 whistles.
9. Once done and the pressure is completely released, open the cooker and add the coconut milk and cook for a few minutes. Make sure there is enough thick gravy to mix with the rice. If not, add additional water and boil again.

For Rice:

Oil	- 3 tbsp
Rice	- 2 cup
Cumin Seeds	- 1/2 tsp
Salt	- to taste
Water	- 8 cups

1. Soak the rice in water for 30 minutes and drain it.
2. Heat 8 cups of water in a vessel and add salt to it. It should be slightly on the saltier side.
3. When the water starts to boil, add the cumin seeds.
4. Once water is completely at a boiling stage, add the soaked rice.
5. Pour the oil to this as well. This will help prevent the rice from sticking to each other.
6. Once the rice is 3/4 done, drain the rice and keep aside.

For Garnish:

Ghee	- 3 tbsp
Cashews	- handful
Raisins	- handful

1. Preheat the oven at 350 degree.
2. In an oven proof dish, mix the 3/4th done rice and the mutton together with the gravy.
3. Also mix 2 tbsp ghee to this.
4. Evenly spread it out on the dish and seal the dish with an aluminium foil.
5. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degree.
6. In a small frying pan, add 1 tbsp ghee and fry cashews and raisins, until the raisins become plump.
7. Garnish the biryani with the cashews and raisins.

Now let me share the 2 awards that I received from my friends while I was gone.

1.Honest Scrap Award from Beena Shylesh of My Kitchen
2.Sunshine Award from Adukala Vishesham

Thank you friends for considering me to share these awards.

I would like to share these with
1. Kairali Sisters
2. Memory Archived
3. Cooking and Recipes
4.Asra Ashaon Ka
5. Faiza Ali's Kitchen
6. Saju's Kitchen
7. Pan Gravy Kadai Gravy

Hyderabadi Chicken Curry

2010-03-06T21:57:00.000-08:00

Hyderabadi cuisine is highly influenced by the Mughal cuisine and is known for its richness and spiciness. It also has a unique flavor of its own created by all the different spices that goes into it. This is a Hyderabadi influenced chicken curry based on a recipe I saw in "Magic Oven" cookery show in Kairali TV. This is not the exact recipe from the show and is a variation. This is one recipe which can never go wrong, especially due to all the rich ingredients that goes into its making.

Cashew Nuts	- 15 no:s
Oil	- 2 tbsp
Cinnamon	- 1" piece
Cloves	- 3
Cardamom	- 2
Bay Leaf	- 1
Onion	- 1 small (finely chopped)
Ginger Garlic Paste	- 2 tsp
Green Chilly	- 1 (chopped)
Tomato	- 1 small (chopped)
Turmeric Powder	- 1/4 tsp
Kashmiri Chilly Powder	- 2 tsp
Chicken	- 1/2 lb
Cumin Powder	- 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala Powder	- 1/2 tsp
Water	- 3/4 cup
Cream	- 1/4 cup
Salt	- to taste
Coriander Leaves	- to garnish

1. Soak the cashews in water for 30 minutes.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add Cardamom, Cinnamon, Bay leaves and Cloves.
3. Wait until the smell of the spices start coming.
4. Add the Onions and saute until transparent.
5. Add Ginger Garlic paste and saute till the raw smell is gone.
6. Add Green Chilly and tomatoes and saute for a minute.
7. Add Turmeric and Chilly Powder and saute another minute.
8. Add the chicken pieces and mix well.
9. Add the cumin, garam masala and salt and mix well.
10. Close the pan and let the chicken cook. No water is needed as there will be water coming out of the chicken.
11. Grind the soaked cashews with 1/4 cup of water to a smooth paste.
12. Once the chicken is almost done, add the cashew paste and remaining water and mix well. Let it cook for a couple of minutes.
13. When the chicken is completely cooked, add the cream and cook for 2 minutes and turn off the stove.
14. Garnish with coriander leaves.

This rich and creamy chicken curry would be a perfect accompaniment with Chappathi, Roti, Naan or Jeera Rice.

Now I want to share my excitement with my blogger friends!

I am going on a vacation to India tomorrow for 4 weeks. So you may not see much happening here during this time. Take Care & will see you all in April!

Erachi Upmav / Rava Beef Biryani

2010-03-03T23:33:00.000-08:00

Are you thinking yet another Beef Recipe? This recipe is one which you could make with any kind of meat or even with vegetables. This is something that I have ate when I used to visit my relatives' houses for weddings in certain regions of South Tamil Nadu. This is served for breakfast on the wedding day. Then again I was reintroduced to this as a leftover makeover at R's place. My MIL used to make this for breakfast when we had leftover curries - Mutton or Beef. This is a quick and easy and moreover tasty breakfast. All you need is some leftover curries - preferably a Nadan Curry (Traditional Curry) with Gravy.

Coconut Oil	- 2 tbsp
Onion	- 1 small (chopped)
Ginger Garlic paste	- 1 tbsp
Chilly Powder	- 1/2 tsp
Rava (Semolina)	- 2 cup (lightly roasted)
Beef Curry Gravy	- 2 1/2 cup
Beef Pieces from the Curry	- 1 cup
Water	- 1 cup
Coconut	- 1/2 cup (Grated)
Salt	- to taste

1. Heat oil in a pan and saute onion till transparent.
2. Add ginger garlic paste and saute until the raw smell is gone.
3. Add the Chilly Powder and saute for another minute.
4. Add the Coconut and mix well. Let it cook for a minute.
5. Add the Beef Curry Gravy, Beef Pieces, Water and Salt and let it boil.
6. Add the Rava and mix well. Close the lid and cook a couple of minutes until the rava is cooked.

Your special breakfast dish is ready to serve. I would suggest that you use a spicy curry - any meat or vegetable or tofu/paneer - to make this upmav. It is worth to make a spicy nadan curry just to make this dish and not have to wait for a leftover.

Nadan Beef Curry

2010-02-27T01:07:00.000-08:00

Beef is one of our family favorites, especially R's! I know, I know, red meat is not so good for health and it is recommended that its consumption be limited! I tell this all the time too, though I can't stop eating beef once it is prepared. This is a quick and easy beef preparation that I came across in the Vanitha magazine in the article "Taste Route".

Beef	- 2 lbs
Onion	- 1 (chopped)
Turmeric Powder	- 1/2 tsp
Chilly Powder	- 2 tbsp
Coriander Powder	- 1 1/2 tbsp
Cinnamon	- 2 - 1" pieces
Cloves	- 5
Pepper Powder	- 1/2 tsp
Fennel Powder	- 1 tsp
Garlic	- 15 pods
Ginger	- 3" piece
Coconut Oil	- 2 tbsp
Salt	- to taste
Curry Leaves	- 2 twigs

1. Mix the cube sized beef pieces with Turmeric Powder, Chilly Powder, Coriander Powder, Pepper Powder, Fennel Powder, smashed Ginger and Garlic, Cinnamon, Cloves and Salt well.
2. Keep aside this marinated beef for at least 1 hour.
3. Heat oil in a pressure cooker.
4. Add some curry leaves and let it splutter.
5. Add the onion and saute until transparent.
6. Add the marinated beef, mix well and let it cook. No water is needed, as there will be water coming from the beef.
7. Open the cooker after the pressure is gone.
8. You could reduce the water by heating it a little more or add additional water if you need more curry.

It is an excellent spicy beef dish and a quickie too!

I also need to share with you some awards that I have received:

Jisha, Neetz, Aparna, Sandhya and Kairali Sisters has shared the Smart Blogger Award with me!

Neetz and Aparna has shared the Blog Lovin Award with me!

Priya has shared the Lovely Blog Award with me!

Cool Lassi(e) has shared the Kreativ Blogger Award with me!

Aparna has shared the Thank you Award with me!

Jagruti has shared the Friendship Gift with me!

Thank you dear friends for sharing these awards with me and inspiring me to keep going! I would like to share this award with all my blogger friends!

Moong Dal Kichadi

2010-02-21T23:04:00.000-08:00

After Moong Dal Kachori, it is now time for Moog Dal Kichadi! This Kichadi is not the kind that you would have on a traditional Kerala sadya. This is a sweet dish and it is called Kichadi, don't know why it is called so. My mom makes this once in a while, especially during the Ramzan fasting time. It is a quick dessert, but it serves more as an evening snack for me. It is healthy and a good dish for kids.

Moong Dal	- 1 cup
Rice	- 1/4 cup
Water	- 3 1/2 cup
Sugar	- 3/4 cup to 1 cup (depending on your taste)
Salt	- 1/4 tsp (heaped)
Coconut Milk	- 1 cup (thick)
Ghee	- 1 1/2 tsp

1. In a pressure cooker, put Moong Dal, Rice (I used Sona Masoori) and 2 cup of water and cook it for two whistles.
2. Open the cooker after the pressure is completely released.
3. Mash the mixture slightly and add the remaining water, sugar and salt and mix well.
4. Once it starts to boil, add the coconut milk and mix it well again.
5. When this is almost ready to boil, turn off the heat and add the ghee and mix it.

You dish is ready. You can eat it as a dessert or a snack.

Khasta Kachori / Moog Dal Kachori for ICC

2010-02-15T22:20:00.000-08:00

Khasta Kachori is the first one of the challenges that I took, as part of being a member of ICC started by Srivalli of Spicing Your Life. The reason for me joining the group was to try out some of the dishes that the group makes, which I would never make otherwise. So this would be a learning for me of all those unknown recipes. After joining, when I saw Kachoris is the challenge for January, I was not so excited. The main reason being I have never had Kachori before and didn't think it would taste good. But now I am really happy that I joined the challenge and took the effort to make kachori and tried this out! If it does taste anything near to what I made, I would say they are a must-try!

This recipe is adapted from Medhaa's Aunty and Tarla Dalal.

Resting Time for the Dough	- around 1/2 to 1 hr
Frying time for the Kachoris	- 20 mins for each batch
Soaking Time for Moog Daal	- around 1 hr
Cooking Time for Filling	- around 15 mins
Yields	- around 15

For the Dough

All purpose flour/Maida	- 2 cups
Oil/Ghee	- 1/4 cup
Salt	- 1/2 tsp
Water	- as needed for kneading

Mix the flour and salt and add the oil/ghee; mix till you get a bread crumbs texture.
Slowly add water and make a soft dough. Knead well for about 8 minutes.
Cover and keep aside to rest for at least half hour.

For the Filling

Split Moong Dal (yellow)	- 1/2 cup
Cumin Seeds	- 1 tsp
Asafoetida	- a pinch
Curry Leaves	- 2 tsp chopped fine
Green Chilli - Ginger paste	- 1 tsp
Sauf / Fennel seeds powder	- 1 tsp
Garam Masala	- 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli powder	- 1/2 tsp
Mango powder/Amchur	- 1 tsp
Oil	- 1 tsp
Salt	- to taste

1. Wash and Soak dal in water for atleast 1 hour. You can go up to 4 hours, not more.
2. Drain the water well.
3. Grind the dal to a coarsely. (Will resemble Idli Rawa)
4. Heat oil in a pan.
5. Add the hing and cumin seeds.
6. Once the seeds splutter add the curry leaves.
7. Add the dal.
8. Lower the heat and keep stirring for 5 minutes till the dal stops sticking to the pan.
9. Cook for another 10 minutes on low till the dal turns slightly brown.
10. Add all the masalas.
11. Cook for few minutes till the aroma of the spices hit you.
12. Add Salt.
13. Remove from heat and keep aside to cool.

Special Tips / Notes for the filling:

The fillings have to be really dry if not when rolling they will ooze out when rolling.
For idea on pressing the filled kachori, check out Manjula's method. If you try to press out using a rolling pin, the filling may come out and make holes in the kachori.
Fry the kachori's on medium low to get a crisp outer layer, that is the key. For people using electric stove, the numbers can be going from 6 to 4.

Chicken Liver Perattiyathu

2010-02-13T03:22:00.000-08:00

Today when I came home, R had visited the Asian store and this pack of chicken liver was waiting for me. I wanted to make it then 'n there, as it had been a long time since I ate it. Now as usual the next thought was how I want to prepare it. Browsed through a ton of recipes and cooking videos online, but nothing seemed to satisfy me. Finally I decided to come up with a mix-match of all those that I saw. Yeah this is like one of those Jagathy movies where he sees a lot of English movies to come up with a new Malayalam movie :-) Anyways the end result was satisfying!

Chicken Liver	- 1 lb
Kashmiri Chilly Powder	- 2 tbsp
Turmeric Powder	- 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder	- 1/2 tbsp (Coarsely ground)
Refined Oil	- 2 tsp
Water	- 1 tbsp + 1/2 cup
Salt	- to taste
Small Onions	- 2 cup
Ginger Garlic Paste	- 2 tbsp
Garam Masala	- 1/2 tsp
Coconut oil	- 3 tbsp
Curry Leaves	- a twig

1. Mix the Chilly Powder, Turmeric Powder, Pepper Powder, Salt and Refined oil well.
2. Add the Liver pieces to this and mix well.
3. Add a tbsp of water to this and completely marinate the liver and keep aside for at least 30 minutes.
4. Blend the small onions in a mixer to a coarse paste. Water is not needed.
5. Heat the coconut oil in a pan and add the curry leaves.
6. Add onion mixture to the oil and saute for a minute.
7. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute until the onion-ginger garlic mixture develops a light brown color.
8. Add the marinated chicken liver and garam masala to this and mix well. Add salt, if needed.
9. Add half a cup of water and close the pan after mixing well. Let it cook for 6-8 minutes.
10. Open the pan and keep stirring until all the water is evaporated and the dish becomes of a dry consistency.
11. Turn off the stove. Garnish with curry leaves and serve.

The liver perattiyathu goes well with Parotta, Roti, Rice and what not!

Carrot Kums

2010-02-09T21:09:00.000-08:00

Carrot Kums - Doesn't the name sound interesting? This was a completely new Dessert to me! Never even heard or had the slightest clue about such a dish. I happened to see this in a television cookery show 'Swad' in Jaihind TV. Per the show, it is a specialty of the Kannur area. Anyways the name made me inquisitive and I had to try this out. It came out excellent! I have made some slight changes to the measurements of the recipe.

Carrot	- 1 cup (Grated)
Eggs	- 4
Milk Powder	- 6 tbsp
Sugar	- 7 tbsp
Cardamom	- 3 pods
Salt	- a pinch
Ghee	- 1/2 tbsp
Raisins	- to garnish

1. In a mixer, grind the Carrot to an almost smooth paste. Do not add any water.
2. To this paste, add eggs, milk powder, salt and sugar and blend well.
3. Add Cardamom to the blended mixture.
4. Heat ghee in a pan and pour this mixture into the pan. Heat should be set to a little less than medium.
5. Close the pan and cook for 6-7 minutes.
6. Check to see if the kums is cooked well.
7. Decorate it with Raisins.

It is a great dessert that can be prepared in a jiffy and a good way to get carrot into your diet.

Chana Masala / Chickpeas Curry

2010-02-06T14:17:00.000-08:00

Chana Masala is a North Indian Dish, more popular in Punjab. The most popular accompaniment for this curry is Batura. Together Batura and Chana Masala duo is referred to as Chole Batture. Per Wiki, it is sold by roadside eateries in North - meaning North Indian Thattukadas :-) and is a heavy breakfast accompanied by the cooling 'n refreshing lassi. In Southern India, the most commonly used Chana is the Kala Chana and the preparation is slightly different as well. I am slightly biased towards the Chickpeas (White Chana), may be because they look more beautiful to my eyes. Anyways here is my version of the Chana Masala.

Oil	- 2 tbsp
Onion	- 1 (chopped)
Channa (Chickpeas)	- 1 cup
Ginger Garlic paste	- 1 tbsp
Tomato	- 1
Turmeric powder	- 1/4 tsp
Coriander Powder	- 2 tsp
Chilly Powder	- 1 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala	- 1/2 tsp
Aamchur (Dried Mango powder)	- 1/2 tsp
Cumin Powder	- 1/4 tsp
Water	- 2 1/2 cup

1. Soak the Channa overnight or for a minimum of 4 hours.
2. Heat oil in the pressure cooker and saute the onion till transparent.
3. Add Ginger Garlic paste and chopped tomatoes and saute for a couple of minutes.
4. Add the powders - Turmeric, Coriander, Chilly, Garam Masala, Cumin and Aamchur to this and saute for a couple of minutes.
5. Add the soaked chana and the water to this and mix well.
6. Close the pressure cooker and cook the chana until 2-3 whistles.

Wait for the pressure to go before you open the cooker. Your chana masala is ready to serve. You could garnish with some corriander leaves (I ran out of them). Even though the perfect accompaniment is Batura, it also goes well with Chapathi, Poori 'n Roti.

And now it is award time! Shahana of Me 'n My Apron has shared 3 beautiful awards with me. Thank you Shahana!

I would like to share these 3 awards with:

1. Namitha and Sunitha of Collaborative Curry
2. Cicily of Spices from the Queen of Arabian Sea
3. Aparna of Ladies Special Adukkala
4. Bharathy of Spicy Chilly

Cicily of Spices from the Queen of Arabian Sea has shared 2 beautiful awards with me. Thank you Cicily!

I would like to share these 2 awards with:

1. Sarah of Vazhayila

2. Shahana of Me 'n My Apron

3. Rahin of Lazzat

4. Faiza Ali of Faiza Ali's Kitchen

5. Katy of Food for Hungry Soul

6. Deepa and Tanu of Hamaree Rasoi

7. Aquadaze of Served with Love

Oma Podi or Kara Seva

2010-01-31T16:06:00.000-08:00

This time the recipe comes from my hubby dear! No, he does not cook very much. There is a handful that he makes and comes out excellent. This is one of the new additions to his list. I would call it a combination of Oma Podi and Kara Seva, coz it looks like Oma podi - but does not have Omam/Ajwain and hence the ingredients match more that of Kara Seva. Anyways it came out great that a tin of this snack vanished in a single day!

Rice Flour	- 1/2 cup
Besan (Gram Flour)	- 1 cup
Ginger Garlic Paste	- 1 tbsp
Asafoetida	- 2 pinch
Chilly Powder	- 1/2 tbsp
Salt	- to taste
Water	- 3/4 cup
Oil	- as needed for deep frying

1. Mix all ingredients together except Oil to make a smooth/soft dough.
2. When adding water make sure it is thick and soft enough to be pressed using an Idiyappam maker (Noodle maker).

3. Heat enough Oil in a pan to deep fry the snack.
4. Fill dough into the Idiyappam maker and press the sev into the hot oil.
5. Make sure to place the sev in oil with enough gap, so that they don't stick together.
6. When almost done, turn them over to fry both sides equally.
7. Take the sev off the oil and put them into a tissue paper to drain off any excess oil.

Once cooled, you could store them in containers (if you can resist the temptation). It is an excellent tea time snack!

Prawn Biryani

2010-01-28T23:11:00.000-08:00

I was talking to my sister over the phone last weekend and she was trying to make my mom furious by saying that I have more mention about my MIL in my blog than her. She was specifically referring to my mom's biryani recipe and was asking why I didn't post that yet. All this in front of my mom. My sis was having a good laugh and enjoying the whole scene. I don't think she was able to agitate Mamma (at least I hope so :-) ). Anyways this conversation forced me to make the Biryani following my mom's recipe. Her recipe is that of a "Pakaa" Biryani. "Pakaa" meaning cooked. So Rice and Chicken are prepared separate and then layered. The other version of Biryani is "Kacha" biryani. "Kacha" meaning uncooked where all the ingredients are cooked together.

For Rice:

Rice                       - 2 1/2 cups
Oil                          - 2 tbsp
Onion                     - 1/2
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp
Salt                        - to taste
Water                    - 5 cups
Ghee                     - 2 tbsp

1. Soak the rice in water for 30 minutes. Basmati rice is commonly used. I used Jeera rice this time for a change.
2. Heat oil in a pan and saute the sliced onions until they turn transparent.
3. Add ginger garlic paste and saute until the raw smell is gone.
4. Add water and enough salt and let it boil.
5. Add soaked and drained rice to the boiling water.
6. Also add the ghee and let the rice cook.

For Prawn Masala:

Oil                          - 21/2 tbsp
Prawn                     - 1 1/2 lb
Yogurt                  - 3/4 cup
Onion                     - 1 1/2
Ginger Garlic Paste - 2 1/2 tbsp
Green Chilly            - 3
Small Onions           - 10
Turmeric powder      - 1/4 tsp
Chilly powder           - 1 1/2 tbsp
Garam Masala          - 1 tbsp
Salt                         - to taste
Water                      - 3/4 cup

1. Mix the prawns and yogurt with enough salt and keep aside for at least 30 minutes.
2. Heat oil in a pan and saute the sliced onions until they turn transparent.
3. Add ginger garlic paste and saute until the raw smell is gone.
4. Add the slit green chilly and smashed small onions to this and saute for a minute.
5. Add turmeric, chilly powder and garam masala to this and saute for another minute.
6. To this add the prawns, salt and water and let is cook.
7. Once the gravy starts becoming thick, turn off the stove.

To Garnish:

Ghee                        - 1/2 tbsp
Raisins                     - a handful
Cashews                   - a handful

Layering:

1. Make alternate layers of the rice and prawn masala in an oven proof pan.
2. Close it with an aluminium foil and bake in a 300 Degree pre-heated oven for 15 minutes.
3. In a pan, heat ghee and saute the raisins and cashews until raisins becomes plump.
4. Garnish the biryani with the raisins and cashews.

This is a simple and quick recipe for delicious biryani. You could replace the prawns with chicken and make chicken biryani as well.

Chicken Stew

2010-01-24T19:41:00.000-08:00

Chicken Stew is that special dish that goes well with Appam. All South Indian stews are cooked in coconut milk. So being a South Indian when I hear the word stew the first thing that stands out in my mind is coconut milk and its special rich flavor. It is also referred to as "Ishtu" in some regions of Kerala. The Stew could be made with Vegetables as well as with Chicken, Mutton or Beef. The one I have here is with Chicken.

Oil                        - 2 tbsp
Cinnamon              - 2 - 1 inch pieces
Cloves                   - 7-8
Onion                    - 1 1/2
Chicken                 - 1 1/2 lb
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 1/2 tbsp
Tomato                  - 1
Green Chilly           - 3
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Coconut Milk        - 1 cup thin & 1/2 cup thick
Curry Leaves          - 1 twig
Salt                         - to taste
Water                   - 1/2 cup

1. Heat oil in a pan (I used Coconut oil to give it a complete traditional taste).
2. Add the Cinnamon and Cloves and saute for a few seconds; then add the thinly sliced Onions.
3. Saute the onions until they turn translucent.
4. Add Ginger Garlic paste and saute until the raw smell is gone
5. Add the slit green chillies and chopped tomatoes and saute for a minute.
6. Now add turmeric and salt to this and saute well.
7. Add Chicken and curry leaves and mix well.
8. Add water and thin coconut milk and let the chicken cook.
9. When the chicken is 3/4 done, add the thick coconut milk and cook it till the chicken is done.

This also goes well with Rice. Potato is a common ingredient in most stews as well. The version I have here, as you can see, is without potatoes. I somehow do not like the idea of adding potatoes to a non-vegetarian dish. Again it's just me; you could add those as well.

Now let me tell you about how excited I was this week - I got two awards and those too my first ones. Thanks Aparna (http://ladiesspecialadukkala.blogspot.com/) and Sarah (http://www.vazhayila.com/) for sharing theses awards with me. It is really inspiring and encouraging for a fresher like me!

Now rules for accepting the "Kreativ Blogger" Award from Aparna:

Rules for Accepting this Award

1) Thank the person giving the award
2) Copy the award to your blog
3) Place a link to their blog
4) Name 7 things people don't know about you
5) Nominate 7 bloggers
6) Place a link to those bloggers
7) Leave a comment letting those bloggers know about the award

7 things about me that you may not know :-)

1. I could spend hours in front of the TV doing nothing.
2. I love to listen to music, especially when I cook.
3. I believe in God and believe all that happens is for good.
4. I work at the IT department of a retail company and love my job.
5. I get things done sooner under pressure.
6. I miss my family back home in India.
7. I love sleeping.

Here is the award from Sarah:

I would like to share both these awards with the following friends:

1. Tina - http://www.kaipunyam.com/
2. Maria - http://www.mariasmenu.com/
3. http://www.adukalavishesham.blogspot.com/
4. http://kothiyavunu.blogspot.com/
5. Sushma - http://authenticfooddelights.blogspot.com/
6. Ria - http://riascollection.blogspot.com/
7. Priya - http://recipes-priya.blogspot.com/

Mutta Surka

2010-01-17T20:59:00.000-08:00

Mutta Surka is a tea time snack. I do not have any clue about the origin of this snack, whether it is a Kerala dish or a Tamil Nadu one. It is something that my mom and mil makes. It could be made as a sweet or spicy snack. I love the spicy one more and the version I have here is my mom's and it is the spicy one.

Rice Flour      - 1 cup (Roasted)
Coconut         - 1/2 cup (Grated)
Ginger            - 1 tbsp heaped (Crushed coarsely)
Green Chilly    - 3 (Crushed coarsely)
Small Onions - 6 to 7 (Crushed coarsely)
Egg                 - 1
Curry Leaves - 1 twig
Salt                 - to taste
Water           - 1 cup
Oil                  - as needed to fry

1. Take rice flour in a bowl.
2. Add Coconut, Crushed Ginger, Green Chilly, Small Onions, chopped Curry Leaves, Egg, Salt and water to the rice flour and make a thick batter.
3. Heat Oil in a Unniappam Chatti (Karol Scoops).

4. Drop a spoonful of batter into each of the scoops. Fry until slightly golden brown.

Enjoy Mutta Surka with your evening tea! The quantity mentioned here would make around 20 mutta surkas. You could make the sweet version by adding sugar instead of ginger and green chilly.

Varutharacha Meen Curry

2010-01-15T23:33:00.000-08:00

This Fish Curry is from Trivandrum side, as I understand. Each region in Kerala has a different style of preparation for Fish Curry. The variation of the fish curry comes from the way coconut is used in the curry or the kind of ingredient used for sourness - Tamarind (Vaalan Puli) or Kokum (Kudam Puli). This preparation uses tamarind and dry fried coconut.

Coconut                - 1 1/2 cup (Grated)
Small Onions         - 6
Turmeric Powder   - 1/4 tsp
Chilly Powder         - 2 tsp
Coriander Powder - 2 tsp
Fenugreek Powder - 1/4 tsp
Curry Leaves         - 2 twigs
Fish                      - 1/2 lb
Drumstick             - 6 to 7 2" pieces
Tamarind              - a small lemon size ball
Water                 - 2 cups
Salt                       - to taste

1. Fry the Grated Coconut with a twig of curry leaves until completely dry. This should not be brown yet.
2. Add Small onions and fry for a few minutes.
3. Add all the powders (Turmeric, Chilly, Coriander & Fenugreek) and fry till the raw smell goes. At this point the mix should be brown in color.

4. Once the mix is cooled, grind it with 1/4 - 1/2 cup water in a mixer to a fine paste.
5. Pour this into a vessel.
6. Extract the tamarind juice in 1/2 cup water and add this to the vessel.
7. Turn on the stove and also add drumsticks (slit side wise), salt and remaining water.
8. Once the curry starts to boil, add the fish and let it cook for 5 minutes.
9. Add remaining Curry leaves and turn off the stove.

Your fish curry is ready. Making this in a clay vessel (Manchatti as shown in picture) enhances the taste. This goes well with Rice, Kappa and Chappathi.

Vellayappam / Paalappam

2010-01-11T22:50:00.000-08:00

Vellayappam is a specialty of South India. It is pancakes made from fermented rice flour and is one of the main breakfast dishes of the region. The bowl-shape of these appams with the thick-soft center and crisp lace-like sides makes it a feast to the eye; not to mention about the taste buds. The best combination for appam is Stew - be it Mutton, Chicken or Vegetable.

Uncooked Rice      - 2 cup
Cooked Rice          - 1/2 cup
Coconut                - 1/2 cup
Yeast                    - 2 tsp
Luke Warm Water - 1/4 cup
Water                   - 1 1/2 cup
Sugar                    - 3 1/2 tbsp
Salt                       - 1/4 tsp
Oil                         - as needed

1. Soak the rice in water for a minimum of 4 hours. I used Sona Masoori rice. Any raw rice (Pachari) can be used)
2. Once soaked, grind the rice into a very fine paste using 1/2 cup of water. Transfer this to a bowl.
3. Grind the Cooked rice with 1/4 cup of water into a fine paste and transfer along with the rice batter.
4. Grind the coconut with 1/4 cup of water coarsely and add to the bowl.
5. In the luke warm water add yeast and let it dissolve well.
6. Add this yeast, remaining water, salt and sugar to the batter and mix well.
7. Keep the batter in the oven with the lights turned on. This is for places with cold climate; otherwise you could leave it outside.

The batter would be ready, if kept in an oven, in 1 hour. It would ferment and rise. Now adjust the sugar and salt if needed. You need to use the Appa-Chatti to make appam and follow the below steps.

Take off the appam from the pan when cooked and serve with stew. This measurement would make around 20 appams.

Note:- 1 cup = 250ml

Shahi Murgh

2010-01-06T21:45:00.000-08:00

Royal Chicken cooked in yogurt... doesn't that sound great? That was the description given by Madhur Jaffrey for Shahi Murgh in her book Quick & Easy Indian Cooking. This recipe is a slightly altered version of Shahi Murgh from Madhur Jaffrey's book. I love reading cook books and watching cookery shows. So I borrow a lot of cookbooks from the local library and this book is one of them. And not to mention, this particular recipe is a real quick one.

Oil                           - 3 tbsp
Cardamom                - 4
Cloves                      - 4
Cinnamon                 - 1" piece
Bay Leaves             - 2 small leaves
Salt                          - to taste
Black Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Chicken                 - 1 lb
Yogurt                       - 1 cup
Chilly Powder             - 2 tsp
Coriander Powder    - 1 tsp
Cumin Powder           - 1 tsp
Coriander Leaves      - few twigs
Raisins                      - 1 tbsp
Almonds                   - 5-6 (blanched)
Ghee                        - 1/2 tsp

1. Marinate Chicken with 1/2 tsp of pepper powder and salt to taste.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add Cinnamon, Cloves, Cardamom and Bay Leaves.
3. When smell of the spices starts coming, add the marinated chicken and let it cook.
4. In another bowl, mix yogurt, chilly powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, 1/2 tsp pepper powder and coriander leaves. Blend this into a smooth mixture.
5. When the chicken is almost cooked (should start to become light brown), reduce the flame to low and add the seasoned yogurt mixture and keep stirring.
6. Yogurt will start to loosen up. Increase the heat to medium at this point.
7. Continue cooking until the gravy thickens and starts clinging to the chicken. Turn off the heat at this point.
8. In a small pan, heat the ghee and add raisins and almonds and fry until the raisins are plump and almonds become slight brown.
9. Add this to the chicken to garnish. You could also sprinkle some chopped coriander leaves on top.

You could omit the raisins if you do not like those on a spicy dish. But I would say it gives a twist to the curry. This goes well with Rice and Roti. You could also make this with prawns. I make it with the cooked prawns which kind of help make the curry in a jiffy.

Punjabi Lassi

2010-01-06T10:42:00.000-08:00

Origin of Lassi goes back to Punjab. The main ingredient in Lassi is yogurt. Different lassis are made by combining yogurt with different spices or fruits - Salted Lassi, Sweet Lassi, Mango Lassi, Makhaniya Lassi and what not. It is an excellent drink for summer. There is nothing better than having a big glass of lassi during a hot summer day. The recipe I have here is one for a sweet lassi.

Yogurt - 1 cup
Water  - 3/4 cup
Salt      - 1/4 tsp
Sugar   - 2 1/2 tbsp

Blend all the ingredients together in a mixer and your drink is ready. Now drink this and cool off!!!

Easy Egg Curry

2010-01-05T22:58:00.000-08:00

Curries that can be made in a hurry always come to help. This recipe is one of those. It is an Egg curry where you do not need to hard boil the eggs. When making egg curry, hard boiling the eggs is the part that is time consuming, at least for me - boil it, cool it and then de-shell it. So this curry takes off all that additional steps out of your cooking.

Oil                              - 2 tbsp
Onion                          - 2 chopped
Ginger Garlic paste      - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder          - 1/4 tsp
Kashmiri chilly powder - 1 tbsp
Coriander powder        - 3/4 tbsp
Garam Masala             - 1 tsp
Eggs                           - 6
Curry Leaves               - 1 twig
Water                          - 2 1/2 cup
Salt                             - to taste

1. Heat the oil in a pan and add the curry leaves.
2. Add the onions and saute it till they start to turn brown.
3. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute.
4. Add Turmeric powder, Chilly powder, Coriander powder and Garam Masala and saute for a minute or two.
5. Add water and salt to taste and let it boil.
6. Break the eggs and drop it into the boiling gravy. Space it evenly.

7. Close the vessel and let the eggs cook for a few minutes. Once the eggs are done, your curry is ready.

Enjoy your egg curry with Roti or Bread!

Pepper Rasam

2010-01-03T22:44:00.000-08:00

Rasam is a comfort food for my family and I would say for any malayalee. It is also served as part of the Kerala Sadya. Another good thing about this dish is that it is good for digestion and may be one of the reasons that it is served as one of the last courses of the traditional sadya. It is considered as a soup as well.

When I started cooking I used to use the rasam powder that you get ready made and it never yielded good results; may be I was not making it right. Now this one here is a simple and quick recipe with no ready make rasam mixes.

Oil                           - 2 tbsp
Mustard                   - 1/4 tsp
Pepper                     - 1 tsp
Ginger Garlic Paste   - 1 1/2 tbsp
Green Chilly             - 1
Cumin powder          - 3/4 tsp
Tamarind                 - small lemon size ball
Water                      - 5 1/2 cups
Curry Leaves            - 1 twig

1. Heat oil in a vessel and splutter the mustard and curry leaves.
2. Add split green chilly, ginger garlic paste and saute until the raw smell is gone.
3. Add Pepper powder and cumin powder and saute for a minute.
4. Extract tamarind juice in a cup of water and add it to the vessel.
5. Add the remaining water and let it boil.

Your rasam is ready. You could drink it as a soup or have it with plain rice.

Unnakka - A Variation

2010-01-02T00:45:00.000-08:00

Unnakka (Unnakai / Unnakaya) is a specialty of the Malabar region. The name of the dish comes from its shape. My mom used to make this yummy snack especially during the fasting season (Ramzan) as one of the items for breaking the fast. It is one of my favorites. Let me tell you that this is not the real traditional version of unnakka, but a quick and easy version with some variations of mine.

Print / Save this Recipe

Makes around 25-30 pieces (depending on the shape)

Plantains	- 2 big (Ripe, not too much ripe though)
Sugar	- 3-4 tbsp (to taste)
Egg	- 4
Salt	- a pinch
Oil	- 2 tbsp + Additional for frying
Raisins	- 3/4 cup
Cashew Nuts	- 1/2 cup (broken into small pieces)
Ghee	- 1 tbsp
Coconut	- 1/2 cup (grated)
Bread	- 3 loaves

Pressure cook the plantain for a single whistle. You could also cook it in a little water or steam it.
Take a pan and heat 2 tbsp oil. To this add the beaten eggs (with a pinch of salt) - around 3 1/2 eggs. Keep 1/2 egg for frying later.
Scramble the egg and transfer to another bowl.
Add the ghee to the pan and fry the Cashews and Raisins till plump. Transfer it together with the scrambled eggs and turn off the stove.
Now mash the plantain well and add coconut, scrambled eggs, raisins and cashews to it.
Mix everything well and add sugar as needed, depending on the sweetness of the plantain.
Take a small ball of this mixture and roll it into the shape of unnakka or any shape you want. Continue this process for the complete mixture.
Put the bread in a mixer and make it into crumbs. You could also use store bought bread crumbs instead.
Take each unnakka and dip into the kept aside beaten egg.
Roll this in the bread crumbs.
Heat enough oil in a frying pan to fry the unnakka.
When the oil is hot, fry each of the unnakka that is rolled in bread crumbs till golden brown.

I don't think the ones I made shows the proper shape of unnakka nor have I followed the traditional style; but still they taste yummy. It is a great evening snack.

Mutta Appam

2010-01-01T15:17:00.000-08:00

First let me Wish a Very Happy Twenty Ten to all my friends out there!

Mutta Appam is a quick and easy snack/breakfast. This is something I learnt from my MIL. She has a lot of such easy and quick fix dishes, most of which I have just eaten without wondering how it is made, when I used to live with R's family back in India. Now I have started calling her up for these easy dishes. So you could expect more of these kinds coming up soon... I guess these may have an origin from South Tamil Nadu, as she is from there...

For making Mutta Appam, you would need the following:

Rice Flour      - 1 cup (flour used for Idiyappam - Roasted flour)
Egg                - 2
Coconut         - 3/4 cup (Grated)
Sugar             - 2 - 3 tbsp
Salt                -  1/4 tsp
Water            - 1 1/4 cup
Small Onions - 2
Oil                 - 1 tbsp

1. Take the rice flour in a mixing bowl and add the Eggs to it and mix well.
2. Add Coconut, Sugar, Salt and Water to the rice flour and make a batter as thick as the Dosa / Pancake batter.
3. Chop the small onions into small pieces.
4. Heat a tawa / frying pan (at least an inch deep).
5. Pour 1/2 tbsp oil into the pan and add half the onions to this when the oil is hot enough.
6. Let the Onions slightly brown.
7. Pour half of the batter to this and ensure that the heat is at medium.
8. When the top of the mixture is almost set, turn it over (this would take 8-10 minutes).
9. Give the other side 5-6 minutes and take it out.
10. Repeat the same steps for the next one.
11. Sprinkle some sugar on top, if needed.

You could divide the batter into 3 portions and make 3 appams, if you want a slightly thinner version.

Spicy Prawn Masala

2009-12-24T16:46:00.000-08:00

I love spicy food. I have seen that Indians would go to any restaurant and try to get them to make the menu items they offer spicier. I am one of them who always would love to go for 5 Stars (*****). One of the things I was told by my Indian friends when I had a baby was that, never give the baby non-spicy stuff or reduce the spice just for the kid. I know a lot of them have to keep aside food for their little ones before they add the chillies. I didn't want to do that extra step, so I followed their instruction and fed my son with the same spice level as ours. It has worked great so far for us!

This recipe is a real spicy 5 star one! If you cannot take that much spice, reduce the amount of chilli powder to suit your taste buds.

Oil                                - 2-3 tbsp
Curry Leaves                 - 1 twig
Onion                            - 1 big (Chopped)
Ginger-Garlic Paste        - 2 tbsp
Chilly Powder (normal)    - 2 tsp
Kashmiri Chilly Powder     - 1 tbsp
Turmeric Powder            - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala                - 1/2 tbsp
Prawns                           - 1/2 lbs (Used Cooked Tail Off Big Kirkland Signature Prawns)
Lemon Juice                   - 1 tbsp
Water                            - 1 cup
Coconut Oil                   - 1/2 tbsp
Salt                               - to taste

1. Marinate the prawns with Salt, chilly powder (normal) and lemon juice. Keep aside for 15-30 minutes.
2. Heat cooking oil in a pan and splutter half of the curry leaves.
3. Add onions and saute it till they start turning brown.
4. Add ginger-garlic paste and saute till the raw smell is gone.
5. Add Turmeric, Kashmiri Chilly Powder and Garam Masala and saute well for 1-2 minutes.
6. Add the marinated prawns to this and make sure the prawns are completely covered with the masalas.
7. Add a cup of water to the prawns and let it boil. At this stage you could stop, if you need a gravy dish than a dry one.
8. In a medium heat keep sauting the prawns, until the water starts to reduce.
9. Add the coconut oil and keep sauting until it reaches the consistency you need and darker color.
10. Add the remaining Curry leaves and serve.

This dish will be a treat for anyone who loves spicy food. Enjoy your Spicy Prawn Masala / Chemmeen Masala.

Vegetable Pulao

2009-12-24T00:07:00.000-08:00

Vegetable Pulao or Pilaf is a rice dish mixed with vegetables and mildly flavored with the spices like Cardamom, Cloves and Cinnamon to give it an aromatic flavor. Here is a little bit on the history of Pulao/Pilaf (Source:Wikipedia):

The English term pilaf is borrowed directly from Turkish, but all these terms ultimately derive from (Classical) Persian پلو , which is pronounced [paˈlau] in Persian (Dari), and in standard Iranian Persian, polów. In Urdu is pronounced pulāo پلاو. Depending on the local cuisine, it may also contain a variety of meat and vegetables. Pilaf and similar dishes are common to Middle Eastern, Central and South Asian, East African, Latin American, and Caribbean cuisines.

The recipe I have here is the Indian version of the Pilaf. I got the basic version of this recipe from one of my friend's mother (Thank you Thankam Aunty!). We had a dinner at their place where aunty made this Pulao and my son could not stop eating it. So I had to get the recipe from her.

Basmati Rice - 2 cups

Onion - 1 (medium sized)

Ginger-Garlic Paste - 1 1/2 tbsp

Tomato - 1

Green Chilly - 2

Cardamom - 5

Cloves - 5

Cinnamon - 1.5inch stick

Oil - 5 tbsp

Mixed Vegetables - 1 1/2 cup (Corn, Green Peas, Corn & Green Beans)

Coconut Milk - 1/2 cup

Water - 3 3/4 cup

Salt - to taste

1. Soak the rice in water for 30 minutes
2. I used the frozen mixed vegetables. So I microwaved the vegetables for 5 minutes.
3. Using a mixer, make a fine paste of the tomato and green chilly.
4. Heat 3 tbsp of oil in a pan in medium heat.
5. Add the spices (Cardamom, Cloves & Cinnamon) to the oil and saute for a minute.
6. Add the Onions and saute until they start turning brown.
7. Add the Ginger-Garlic paste and saute until the raw smell is gone.
8. Add the tomato-green chilly paste and saute for 2 minutes.
9. Add the water and thick coconut milk and mix well.
10. Add enough salt (could be more on the higher side, as the rice and veggies have to cook in this) and let the water boil.
11. Add soaked rice and microwaved vegetables to the boiling water.
12. Add 2 tbsp of oil to the water as well. This will prevent the rice from sticking together.
13. Once the rice is almost cooked and very little water is left, turn off the stove and close the pan with a tight lid.
14. Open the lid after 30 minutes and the Pulao should be ready.

You could garnish with nuts and raisins, if needed. This is a quick and easy recipe, especially if you are using the frozen mixed vegetables.

Mango Cream Pudding

2009-12-21T21:29:00.000-08:00

Summer in India is known for its delicious Mangoes. Last summer when I was on vacation in India, I got to eat Mangoes from every home I visited. That is how much popular Mangoes are in India. Per the article in Wiki, nearly half of the world's mangoes are cultivated in India alone! Here in US, I have rarely tasted good Mangoes. So most of the time you have to satisfy yourself with the Mango pulp. But then it is convenient too. You could quickly make Mango Shakes, Mango Lassi and other Dessert with this pulp. Here is a quick and simple recipe for a tasty Mango Cream dessert.

Cool Whip - 16 oz
Mango Pulp - 30 oz (1 tin)
Pistas - 5-6 for garnish

1. Blend the Cool Whip to make it a little smooth. I used two 8oz box of Kraft Cool Whip.
2. Mix the Mango pulp with the smoothened cool whip using a blender. Keep aside 2 tablespoons of pulp for garnish.
3. Now put the 2 tablespoons of mango pulp kept aside on the top of this mixture and give it a swirl to garnish.
4. Crush the Pista and spread on the top.
5. Refrigerate for an hour.

Yummy mango cream dessert is now ready. Your kids would love it, not that adults won't.

Christmas Fruit Cake / Plum Cake

2009-12-20T10:56:00.000-08:00

It is that time of the Year again...Gifts, Santa, Holidays, and Fruit Cakes...Christmas time...

Fruit Cake is something I have always missed after coming to the US. Not that we don't get fruit cakes here, but not the kind that you get back in Kerala. These fruits cakes are also known as Plum Cakes. These cakes packed with dry fruits and nuts and the caramel flavor always has been one of my favorites. Last December I happened to taste the fruit cake made by one of my friends, which brought back those same old memories to my taste buds. The first thing I asked her was the recipe. She gave me 2 scanned pages of a book which I do not know who the author is, neither did she. I tried it out with some modifications last Christmas and turned out be a great success.

This year I planned ahead and soaked the dry fruits early November and made the cake after 5 weeks. So it was much more tastier. So here goes the ingredient list for the Fruit Cake/Plum Cake:

Print / Save this Recipe

Makes a 5 lb Cake

All purpose Flour	- 2 cups
Salted Butter	- 1 cup
Sugar	- 1/2 lb
Eggs	- 5
Pineapple Jam	- 1/2 lb (I used Kissan Jam)
Candied Peel (Tutti fruiti)	- 1/2 lb
Raisins	- 1 1/2 lb (Minced)
Cashews	- 1/2 lb (chopped)
Baking Powder	- 2 tsp (level)
Nutmeg Powder	- 1 tsp
Cinnamon & Cloves Powder	- 1 tsp
Caramel Syrup	- 3 tbsp
Orange Juice	- 3 tbsp
Vanilla Essence	- 3-5 drops
Rum	- 700 ml (optional - I used Myers's Rum)

Mix the minced Raisins with the Candied Peel in a storage bowl. Add Rum to this. Close the bowl. Keep this for a minimum of 3 days. I kept this for 5 weeks. Shake the bowl every other day. Again this is an optional step. You could make this cake without soaking the raisins in Rum as well.
Drain the rum out from the dry fruits and keep the fruits aside.
Separate the Egg White and Yolks. Beat the Egg yolk well.
Sift the Flour, Baking powder, Nutmeg powder and Cinnamon and Clove powder together.
Mix the drained dry fruits and chopped Cashew Nuts with the flour using a spatula and ensure that the fruits/nuts are well coated with the flour.
Beat the Butter and Sugar together with a blender and add the beaten Egg yolk to this. Beat the mixture until it becomes light and fluffy. If using unsalted butter, add 1/2 tsp salt.
Add the Caramel syrup, Jam, Orange Juice and essence to the Butter mixture and beat again until everything is mixed well.
Add the Butter mixture to the flour and mix well. You could use the blender.
Beat the Egg whites until still. There should not be any moisture in the bowl or the blender to ensure that the Egg whites would become stiff.
Fold in the Egg Whites to the flour mixture slowly using a spatula.
Pour the cake batter into a butter smeared baking pan (I used 14 x 10.5 inch) or a pan lined with parchment paper.
Pre-heat the oven at 325 degree and bake for around 1 hour. The time would vary depending on your oven. So keep checking.

Once the cake is out of the oven, let it cool. The cake would taste good, if you could resist the temptations and eat it the next day. This recipe would yield around 5 lbs of Fruit Cake. I am not sure whether the picture I have given here does any justice to the taste of the cake. If you like fruit cakes, this a must try.

Sending this recipe to the Cakes'n Cookies event hosted by Sara's Corner and Show me your Cake Event hosted by Dil Se.

Caramel Syrup

2009-12-19T19:41:00.000-08:00

Caramel is a beige to dark brown confection made by heating any of a variety of sugars. It is used as a flavor in puddings and desserts, a filling in candies and chocolates, and a topping for ice cream and custards.

I made this syrup for my fruit cake. Caramel Syrup can be made in large batches and kept in the fridge. You can keep it refrigerated for more than a year.

Sugar - 10 tbsp
Water - 10 tbsp

1. Heat the sugar in a vessel in medium flame.
2. Stir in between and continue till it starts to bubble.
3. Keep in stove until it reaches the darkness you need. Ensure that it does not get burnt.
4. Add water to this boiling mixture. Ensure you keep a safe distance when you do this, as it could splash.
5. Let the mixture cool to room temperature.

Your Caramel is now ready. You could store it in a closed container and store in the fridge.

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