Aloo Gobi

Aloo Gobi is a very simple and satisfying dish, with the combination of potatoes (aloo) and cauliflower (Gobi).

The same dish can differ in cooking process and the spices used, the taste varies according to that. I have had different varities of aloo gopi, each one was different in taste. 

You can fry the potato and cauliflower pieces before cooking to make it a dry dish. But here I skipped the frying part and instead pressure cooked the potatoes. So the look is very much different from the traditional Aloo Gobi. This is the way we cook at home - Aloo Gobi with a new taste. :). 

Ingredients 

Potato - 2
Cauliflower - 1 small
Onion -1 finely chopped
Tomato- 1
ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/4 tsp (optional)
Coriander leaves
Salt
Oil

Method

Cut cauliflower into florets and put them into warm salt water and keep for a while.
Cut potatoes in size matching to the cauliflower. Cook the potatoes.
Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds and onions, stir cook until the onions become translucent, add green chilies, ginger garlic and tomato and mix thoroughly. Cook till everything get mushy and soft,   Add the cauliflower and the cooked potatoes,  add turmeric powder and garam masala, mix gently cover and cook in low flame for 5-6 min,  uncover and cook in high flame for 1-2 min. Remove from stove.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with chapatti.

Pachadies

Last week was 'Vishu, a Hindu festival celebrated in Kerala and in Tamil Nadu it marks the Tamil New year.  Vishu is also a day of feasting. The foods consist of equal proportions of salt, sweet, sour and bitter items. Any Festival… you celebrate it with special food.
Sadya is a major part of all Kerala festivals and pachadi is inevitable part of sadya.  So I decided to share 3 different varities of pachadi today.  pachadi is a side-dish curry similar to the north Indian Raita,  Pachadi is commonly eaten with rice. Curd/yogurt based pachadi can be made of any vegetable.

Beetroot Pachadi 

The first one is the beet root pachadi, or the “Pink pachadi”  that’s how my kids name it. The lovely pink color makes the sadya look attractive and colorful.  This is simple to make and delicious, which goes well with rice. This may not be the traditional way of pachadi…  but my way of making it simple.

Perfect combination of look and taste… infact color and taste. :) 

Ingredients
Beetroot- 1 medium size, grated
Onion- 1 medium size
Curry leaves
Mustard seeds
Yoghurt- 1 ½ cups
Green chili- 3

Method 

Heat oil in a pan. Splutter the mustard seeds, add curry leaves, green chillies and the chopped onions, when the onions becomes translucent, add the grated beetroots , cook it for 5-6  min with occasional stirring . Allow to cool and add the yogurt and mix well. Beetroot pachadi is ready.

Banana Pachadi

Next item on the list is the banana pachadi (ethapazham pachadi) , this is made out of ripe banana. The dish is Hot and sweet.  The sweetness of banana and the hot taste of green chillies.. , another perfect combo, perfect place for this pachadi is in the sadya. 

Ingredients
Ripe Banana (Etha Pazham/Nenthra Pazham) – 1 big cut into small pieces
Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
Red Chilly Powder – 1/2 tsp
Curd/Yogurt – 1 cup
Salt

For Grinding
Coconut Grated – 1 Cup
Green Chilies – 3 or 4
Cumin (Jeera) – ¼  tsp
Turmeric Powder – ¼  tsp
Mustard Seeds – ¾ tsp
Ginger – 1 tsp
Water – 1/2 cup

Method

Grind coconut, greenchillies, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder and ginger to make a smooth paste.
Cook banana, along with turmeric powder, redchilli powder, salt and water, until soft. Mix the grounded paste to the cooked banana, and cook for another 4-5 min, reduce the flame and add the curd and mix well. Don’t boil after adding curd. Remove from stove.
Heat coconut oil a pan, splutter mustard seeds, red chillies and curry leaves. Pour over the pachadi.

Potato Pachadi

And the third one  is Potato pachadi , the other two was common , but pachadi with potato is not so common…. I got this idea from one of  my tamilian friend…  this goes well with the flavored rice, than in the sadya , the perfect partner is either tomato rice, or lemon rice.  Goes well as an item for sadya also.

Ingredients:-

Potato -1 medium

Curd – ½ cup

Mustard seed – ½ tsp

Urad dal – ½ tsp

Salt

Oil

Method

Boil potatoes and mash them into pieces,

Heat oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds, add urad daal, green chilies, curry leaves, and fry it; Add potatoes and fry for some time. Add curd and salt and mix well.. remove from stove. Serve with rice.

Chili Chicken

After a few days break, back in the blog with a new dish… this time it’s the Chili chicken. I doubt if I can call this as chilli chiken… this is my version of chilli chiken customized for the taste buds of my kids.  

Kids have a special liking towards the chicken dishes, Chicken and Chili complement each other incredibly well, But here I replaced the chilies with not so hot green chilies and I reduced the amount of the chili sauce also.. so there’s no way that I can call this a 'chili' chiken.

Chili chicken is the most popular dish in the Indo – Chinese cusine.  This tastes its best with Fried rice or noodles.  I served it to the kids with the Indian Chapathi.  “Yumm… more more more… :)” … reaction  made me a Happy mom! 

Ingredients

Chicken - 400gm
1 onion, cut into cubes
1/2 of a green capsicum  cut into cubes
4 green chillies, slit
3 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
1 teaspoon green chilli sauce
1 tbsp soya sauce
2 tbsp tomato sauce
1 teaspoon red chili powder
Make a smooth paste of 1 tbsp corn flour + 3tbsp water
Sugar – ½ tea spoon

Preparation

Marinate the chicken with soya sauce, 2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste, chili powder and salt, (add pepper powder also if u want to make it more spicy) keep this for 30min to 1 hr.
Add 3-4 tbsp oil in a pan and shallow fry the chicken pieces, turning them over when the cooked sides are brown. Drain and set aside.
 In the same pan, add chopped onions, green chillies, and capsicum. Cook until the onions turn transparent - add the remaining soya sauce, chili sauce, ginger garlic paste, sugar and tomato sauce. Stir-fry on high for about 30 seconds until well blended. reduce the flame
Add the fried chicken  and the corn flour-water paste. add salt, Stir and cook for another 3-4 mins until the sauce comes around and thickens due to the corn flour.
Serve hot.

Chocolate Cake

I try to provide recipes that have been tested thoroughly in my kitchen.  Here’s another one …..  Chocolate Cake!

Baking with kids is a fun way to spend time together, As much fun to make as they are to eat.  and if  it’s a chocolate cake the happiness is double!  

About the mess… :)  hmmm …. I guess, it’s worth the fun. :)) 

Ingredients:-
 
1 ½ cup self raising flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (Dark)
1 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
3/4 cup milk
1 cup sunflower oil
2 eggs

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour cake pan.
In a bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar and baking powder with a wire whisk.
Add milk, oil and eggs and beat it to make it a smooth paste. You can beat by hand or using an electric beater at low speed.
Transfer to the cake pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
After the cake has cooled slice it into pieces.
Store cakes loosely covered at room temperature for up to 2 days. To loosely cover, place aluminum foil, plastic wrap or waxed paper over the cake without sealing the edges so air can circulate.
 

 

Bhindi-Tomato curry

Bhindi(okra) is all time favorite in the family, so I like to make new dishes with bhindi.

The original recipe of this dish is from the very famous cookery show in one of our regional channel, ‘Magic Oven’ by Lekshmi Nair. Her dishes are always simple and easy to make.  I watch this long back,  but  the first attempt was not so perfect , coconut got roasted a little extra. …:)  but this time it’s just perfect.  Given below is an easy recipe to spice up your meal.  We had it with chapati and I am sure it will go well with rice also.

Ingredients :-

Bindi(Okra)- 10-15 (small)
Tomato- 3 medium sized
Onion-2 medium
Curry leaves
Fenugreek (Uluva) -1/4 teaspoon

To grind
Coconut- 1 cup
Garlic -4 cloves
Small onion- 4-5
Redchilli powder- 2 teaspoon
Coriander powder- 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder- ¼ teaspoon

Preparation: 

Heat the pan add coconut, garlic and small onion , sauté it till the color starts to change. In this preparation you don’t have to roast the coconut to dark brown, a slight change in the color is just perfect,  add chili powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder and stir fry till it gives an aroma. Add a little coconut oil and mix well. Remove from the stove, allow to cool and grind it to a smooth paste. You can add water to make it a paste. Keep aside
In another pan heat oil, add curry leaves, add the Bindi and fry it with frequent stirring , when the bindi become soft  add onion and stir fry it till it become soft.  Add the masala paste.  Sauté it for 2 minutes, add the tomatoes and salt to taste.  Add  1 ½ cups of water mix well .  Allow to cook for 5-6 minutes.  Add the fenugreek powder, adding this gives a special aroma and taste to the curry. Remove from the stove.  Garnish with more curry leaves.  Curry is ready!

Pumpkin with Daal

Pumpkin with daal is another delicacy from my mother in laws kitchen. She prepares erisseri and this an adaptation of the same. Erisseri is a common dish from Kerala. it is a combination of vegetables and pulses and it is even served in traditional Sadyas.
The difference of this dish from the tradional erisseri  is , erisseri is usually garnished with roasted coconut, which is not done here.  And vanpayaru (red cow peas) is commonly used .. but, here I used Pumpkin and Moong Daal.
This is best with rice, and can be used for chapathi also.

Ingredients: -
1 ½ cups of pumpkin peeled and cut into cubes
Moong Daal- ¾ cup
Grated coconut – ½ cup
Cumin seeds- ½   teaspoon
Small onion -3-4
GreenChilli- 3
Garlic- 2 cloves
Turmeric powder- ¼ teaspoon
Curry leaves

Preparation:

Grind Grated Coconut, Small onions, cumin, Turmeric powder, Green chillies, garlic and keep aside.
Cook pumpkin with Daal after adding enough water and salt. Add the grounded coconut mixture to this, mix well. With a wooden spoon mash the pumpkins, you can leave a few chunky pieces if you like.  Cook for another 5-6 min in low flame.  Remove from stove.
For garnishing, heat the oil in a pan, splutter the mustard seeds, add curry leaves and  2-3 red chillies.  Pour this to the curry and mix gently.
I wanted to make it an oil free dish, so i skipped the garnishing part. instead, garnished it with some fresh curry leaves . The taste was equally good.  But of course garnishing gives an extra taste.

Fish Curry

The way fish curry is made varies from place to place in kerala.  Some use Kudam Puli, while others use tamarind or tomatoes.  The red curry with kudampuli is most common in my place.  But this may not be the traditional way of preparation, this is how i do it.

Keep the curry at least for 1 or 2 hours before serving so that the gravy absorbs all flavors. Fish curry made in clay pot( chatti) gives an extra taste to the curry. The flavor intensifies after a day.

The fish used here is 'para' , i've no idea about the english name. :) You can use any fish of your choice.

This goes excellent with boiled tapioca (kappa) or rice. But at the same time puttu is also a perfect partner. Nothing is better than puttu and fish curry to win an appreciation from my husband :)

Ingredients:-

Fish-500gm
Kudam puli - 2 nos
Red chilly powder-2 tbsp
Turmeric powder –½  tsp
Coriander powder – ½  tbsp
small onion - 5 - 6 nos
Ginger – 1 ½ teaspoon chopped
Garlic - 3 cloves
Green chillies - 2 nos
Curry leaves
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Fenugreek (Uluva) - 1/2 tbsp
Salt
Water

Preparation:

Make a mix of red chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder add some water to make it a paste. Keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan or clay pot, add the mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds. When they splutter, Add the ginger and garlic, small onions curry leaves and green chilies, when the onions turns golden yellow add the masala paste and fry it for few second. Add 1 ½ cups of water , and mix well. Add salt and kudampuli.
When it starts to boil add the fish pieces, close the lid and cook for 5 min. open the lid and cook uncovered for another 10 minutes  in low flame swirling the pan occasionally.
Remove from the stove, Close the pot , keep it at least for 1-2 hours before serving, so that the fish absorbs all the flavors.

Gajar ka Halwa (Carrot Halwa)

I love sweets.. and this one for my sweet tooth. :D

Many recipes I found for Gajar Ka Halwa, combining those, I have devised my own way of cooking this. I really don’t mind making it rich and with lots of dry fruits because it’s made once in a while.  Below is my version.

Ingredients:-

2 cups shredded carrots
2 cups milk
½ cup water
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon cardamom powder
Cashew nuts
Raisins
Butter

Preparation:-

Put the water to boil, when it starts boiling add the grated carrots. Cook for 5-7 minutes. Set aside.
Boil the milk on medium-high heat in a non-stick pan until it is reduced to about to 1 cup. Stir often to ensure the milk does not burn in the bottom of the pan.
Add the cooked carrots to the milk Add sugar, mix well and cook till the sugar has dissolved and all the milk has been absorbed.
add cardamom powder and stir-fry for another three to four minutes until the halwa starts to leave the side of frying pan.
Roast the cashew nuts and raisins for the garnish.

Tomato Rice

Tomato rice is something easy to make and light on the ingredient; this is an extremely flavorful rice dish using ripe red tomatoes and rice.  It is simple , yet amazingly tasty.
Raita is all that you need to make this a perfect easy meal..... :)

Ingredients:

2 cups Basmati rice
5 large ripe tomatoes cut into cubes
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 large onion chopped fine
3 green chillies

Ginger Garlic paste - 1½ tablespoon
1 teaspoon chillipowder powder
½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
1 teaspoon garam masala

Coriander leaves for garnishing
Salt to taste

Preparation:-

Cook the rice separately, keep aside.  

Heat the oil in a deep pan and add the mustard seeds and green chillies. Allow to pop, add ginger garlic paste and fry for few seconds.  add the onion and fry till soft. Add the tomato and mix well. Cook till the tomatoes turn pulpy. Add the red chilli powder,Turmeric powder, garam masala powder, salt to taste and mix well. Cook on a low flame for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently.
Turn off the fire and add the rice. Mix well. garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
Serve with raita.

Batter Fried Chicken

Chicken Fry is very popular because of it taste. Fried chicken can be made in a variety of methods, by just altering the way you make batter. Indeed, preparing fried chicken batter recipe depends entirely upon your taste buds. Simply soaking chicken pieces in a well-prepared batter for a specific time can convert your Fried chicken into something very special and tasty. 
My modification to the dish is I garnished the fried pieces with a tadka,  it’s a simple garnishing but the output was really nice.

Ingredients:-
Chicken – 400gm
Ginger paste- 1 ½ teaspoon
Garlic paste- 1 ½ teaspoon
Turmeric Powder- ¼ teaspoon
Garam masala- 1 teaspoon
Salt
Corn flour- 2 table spoon
Rice flour-1 tablespoon
Gram Flour (kadalamavu) – 1 tablespoon
Egg – 1

Oil for Frying

For Garnishing:-
Mustard seeds – 1 teaspoon
Green chili -2
Curry leaves
Onion- 1 chopped
Red chili powder- ½ teaspoon
Coconut Oil

Method:- 

Marinate the chicken with Ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala, corn flour, gram flour, rice flour, salt, and 1 egg.  Mix well with hand and keep it for 1 hour.

Heat oil in a kadai and deep fry the marinated chicken pieces  Cook for 13-15 minutes or until golden

Add 1 spoon of coconut oil in a pan, pop the mustard seeds,  add green chilies and curry leaves, sauté it for  few seconds, add the onions , sauté it till it become soft.  Add the red chili powder and mix well. Remove from the stove.

Garnish the fried chicken in the serving dish with the above  mixture.