Wheat Dosa / Kuli Paniyaram (Padu) with Bell Peppers

It takes me a year to find time to draft a post :) No, I am definitely not at all busy. Just that priorities change and then passion becomes liability.
This blog has helped many nurture their cooking, most of all it has helped me remember recipes of the new dishes that I put together.
I have been baking a lot of late, However my heart still goes to South Indian food. This is comfort food for me.
This recipe is quick to put together can be used in more than one way. Feel free to add or remove vegetables. Just that i had quite a few bell peppers to finish up.

Ingredients

Wheat Flour - 2 Cups
Maida - 1 Cup
Rice Flour - 3 Tsp
Baking Powder - 1 Tsp
Salt - As required

Seive all of the above and set aside.

Onion - 3 Medium (Finely Chopped)
Bell Pepper (Yellow, Red, Green) - 1 Each (Finely Chopped)
Cumin Seeds - 1 Tsp
Chilli Flakes - 1 Tsp
Pepper Powder - 1 Tsp
Milk - Half cup
Roasted Peanuts - 2 tsp (Optional)
Oil - As required
Ghee - As required

Cooking Method

To the sieved flour mixture add required water to make it into a thick creamy batter.

Add onion, bell peppers, cumin seeds, chilli flakes, pepper powder, peanuts and mix the batter until you a smooth and colourful batter.

 Add milk and mix it into the batter well.

Heat a tava, spread the batter evenly, add drops of oil or ghee (I added both :) ). 

Cook on both sides until it turns golden brown. Serve hot with Chutney Powder.

I turned some of the batter into tasty Kuli paniyaram / Padu. I prefer Padu's over dosa !!!

Add ghee while cooking these, They give a nice flavour and aroma.

The Rice flour, gives a nice crunch, these are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Cooking time : 30 min (Including the dosa / padu making time)
Serves : 4

Vazha Yellai Kozhukattai

Irrespective of the fact whether we celebrated a particular festival or not,  My Amma always ensured that all the delicacies of the season is cooked at home. We never once felt deprived of anything.

This is my childhood favorite and i can just go on eating this....... Its a simple and Yummy dish.

Outer Covering 

Ingrediants

Rice Flour - 250gms
Ghee - One Spoon
Hot water - As required
Salt - 1/4 tsp

Cooking Method

In a large mixing bowl, Add Rice Flour and salt, Mix well.
To the above mixture slowly add boiling hot water and mix it using a spatula. When the mixture turns like chapati dough, add ghee and knead the dough until you get a smooth dough.
Set it aside.

 For Filling

Ingredients

Coconut - 1 Full (Grated)
Jaggery - 1 Big Cup (As per taste)
Cashew / Raisins / Badam / Dates - 1 Cup (Finely Chopped)
Ghee - 5 tsp

Cooking Method

In a large pan, add coconut and powdered Jaggery, Slowly heat it and mix until Jaggery melts.
Heat Ghee in an other vessel, fry all the dry fruits and add to the coconut mixture.
Add the remaining ghee and mix well.
Once the mixture leaves the sides of the pan, remove from heat.

 Making Kazhukattai

Take Banana leaf, cut into small rectangles, Wash and dry it.
Take a small ball of the outer covering and spread it on the Banana leaf, wet fingers in cold water if you find it difficult to spread.

Place half a spoon of filling in the center, press the sides and close the leaf carefully. Make many such Kozhukattai's and steam them for 5 min in a steamer or cooker.

The Kozhukattai is done, if you are able to remove the leaf without breaking kozhukattai.

Serve hot with a generous drop of Ghee :)

Remember :

1. Do not cook the filling for too long, It will turn hard and become a candy
2. Do not cook the stuffed kozhukattai for long, It will lose its shape and become watery, The filling might come out.
3. Make the outer covering thin, else it will become rubbery.

Minced Chicken Biriyani

Wish you all a very Happy New Year.
I know i have just not done any justice to this blog for the last 2 years, Hence i am here with this new recipe... Of late i have been trying a lot of new dishes, I just hope i have time to post them here.....

Minced Chicken Biriyani is a dish which was born out of my boredom, This is a very simple dish with loads of protein and very simple too, this is a boon to every working woman. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did....

Ingredients

Minced Chicken - 1/2 Kg
Rice - 3 cups
Onion - 3 (Finely Chopped)
Tomato - 2 (Chopped)
Green Peas - 100gms
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
Curd - 1 tsp
Clove - 3
Cardamon - 1
Cinnamon - 1"
bay Leaf - 1
Salt
Oil

Grind - Masala
Pudina (Mint leaves) - 1/2 Cup
Coriander Leaves - 1/2 Cup
Green Chillies - 4
Ginger - 2"
Garlic - 15 pods

Cooking Method

Soak rice in water for 30 min
In a thick bottom broad vessel, pour oil, Once oil is hot, add clove, cardamom, cinnamon and bay leaf.
Add onions and once they turn light brown, add tomatoes and fry till tomatoes are fully cooked and mashed.
Add the green Masala and fry till the oil separates from the Masala. Add turmeric powder and Garam Masala powder fry for a minute.
Add the ground masala and fry till the raw smell goes and the oil leaves the sides
Now add ghee followed by curd and fry till the curd blends with the Masala.
Add the minced chicken and green peas, fry for a minute. Add the soaked rice and add water in the ratio of 1:2, i.e for one cup of rice add one cup of water.
At this stage I transferred the entire contents to my rice cooker and set it on cook mode.
However you can cover and cook on slow flame or even pressure cook for 3 whistles on slow flame.

I served this dish with a simple curd salad and Lemon n Onion wedges.

Cooking time : 30 minutes
Serves  : 4

Apple Pie

Merry Christmas to all my readers. What a blessed place the world would be, If we had that Christmas feeling all year. I have been cooking and experimenting a lot of dishes this Christmas season. will surely share the recipes soon.

This apple pie was baked for Christmas at home, Its a very simple, moist and juicy cake. Goes very well with ice cream.

Ingredients

Eggs - 4
Milk - 1/2 cup
Flour - 250gms
Sugar - 150gms
Butter- 150gms
Baking Powder - 1tsp
Apples - 4 (Peeled, Cored, and Chopped into bite size pieces)
Vanilla essence - 1tsp
Cinnamon powder - 1tsp
Raisins - 4 tsp

Baking Method
Preheat oven to 150C.
In a mixing bowl, Add melted butter, sugar and eggs one by one and beat till fluffy. Add vanilla extract and milk.
In a separate bowl, mix Flour, Baking Powder and Cinnamon Powder. Add this powder mixture to the egg mixture. Add chopped apples.
Grease the baking tin with butter, add the batter. Spread Raisins on the top and bake at 150C for 30 minutes or till the knife comes out clean.

 Serve it warm with vanilla ice-cream.

Brownie

This recipe is from Shalini, our neighbor.  The last time she gave me this brownie, I just could not  stop eating. I must say she is an awesome baker :) . 

I told myself that this would be one of the first cakes I would bake.... and I baked it last night. But could not call it a success unless my baking Guru (Shals) tasted and said it was right. Yipeee.... She tasted and said "YUM" . 

So here's the recipe....

Ingrediants

250gms unsalted butter

200gms Dark chocolate

75gms dries cherries - Optional

50gms chopped nuts - Optional

30gms cocoa Powder

65gms plain flour

1 tsp Baking powder

360 gms Caster Sugar

4 Large Eggs

Zest of 1 orange - Optional

250 ml Creme Fraiche - Optional

Baking Method

Set your microwave on convention mode. Preheat at 180C for 10 min.

Melt butter and chocolate in double burner and mix until smooth and creamy.

Add cherries and nuts (if you are using them) and stir together.

In a seperate bowl. Mix cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and sugar.

Add the dry powder to the chocolate mixture, one spoon at a time.

Beat eggs and mix into the chocolate mixture until you get a silky consistency.

Grease cake tin with butter. Then sprinkle some flour on it .  

Pour the cake mixture into the cake tin and bake the cake for 25 min at 180C or till a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

Cut into squares and serve warm with creme fraiche and orange zest.

Note : Dont overcook. Should still have springy sponge effect.

Simple Cake

My new convention microwave has given me the courage to explore into the world of baking.

This is a simple 7 step to a yummy spongy cake. A must try if you are baking for the first time. You will soon find a lot more cake recipes in this site. :)

 Ingredients:

1 1/4 Cup Sugar
1 1/2 Cup - Maida
1 cup Butter (Room Temperature)
4 eggs (Room Temperature)
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp baking powder

 Method:

   1. Set Microwave in convention mode. Preheat for 10 min at 180C.
   2. Sieve together flour and powder.
   3. Powder Sugar and beat with butter till it turns into a smooth batter.
   4. Add eggs one at a time beating it all the time. Add vanilla essence.
   5. Add flour mixture 1 spoon at a time mixing slowly.
   6. Grease cake tin with butter. Then sprinkle some flour on it .
   7. Now pour the cake mixture into this dish and bake the cake for 30min at 180C or till a tooth pick inserted comes out clean

Cooking Time : 1 Hour

Serves : 5


Note:
If you do not have oven, you can very well bake in Pressure Cooker.
Do not pour water underneath.  Just take the containers of cooker and grease it with butter and sprinkle a spoon of flour on it and without touching it, remove the extra flour if it has stuck with the butter on the container.
Now pre-heat the cooker, pour the batter only half of the container greased.
Put cashews, raisins etc if required and bake it by not closing with cooker lid with gasket but with a flat lid which can cover the cooker completely.
First 5 minutes, keep in full flame and then keep in low flame for 1/2 an hour.
Just check opening the lid by dipping with a small knife or thin long pin, if the batter sticks to it, then you need to wait for another 5 - 10 minutes.

Chicken Stew

This blog has visitors from all most all over the world and some of this credit should go to my sister Golda. If not for her I would have never complied these recipes and got the idea of a Blog. While my sister was in down south. All most everyday I used to email recipes to her and that's when the idea of compiling simple everyday recipes came to me.

Thanks Goldie for making me famous in the world of blogging :)  and If this blog has helped you in someway do leave a comment. I would love to hear from you. Even if you have request for a specific recipe, let me know, I will try to post it as soon as possible.

Chicken stew is a simple and a yummy dish and goes very well with ghee rice / appam / dosa. If you have some unexpected guest, you can put this dish together in less than 20 min.

 

Ingrediants

Chicken - 1/2 Kg (Cut into bite size pieces)

Onion - 3 (Sliced)

Green chillies - 5 (slit)

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - 5

Cinnamon - 1"

Clove - 3

Elachi - 2

Bay leaves - 1

Coconut milk - 2 cups ( I used Maggie coconut milk powder)

Cashew nut - 5 (Soaked and ground into smooth paste)

Potato and Carrot - 1 cup (cubed and cooked)

Coconut oil - 5 tsp

Coriander Leaves - 2 tsp (chopped)

 

Cooking Method

Heat oil, Add elachi, clove, cinnamon, bay leaves and curry leaves followed by green chillies and onions.

Remember onions should only turn soft and it should not brown.

Once onions are soft. add ginger garlic paste and cashew paste, Fry for a minute.

Add chicken and cook till done (A little water can be added).

Once chicken is well cooked, add potato and carrot. 

Add salt.

Add coconut milk and reduce the flame & cook for 5 -7  minutes or until you get the required thickness.

Garnish with fried onions, curry leaves and coriander leaves.

Serve as soup or with Appam/ Bread.

Cooking time : 20 min

Serves - 3-4

Fish Fry

Ingredients

Fish - 1/2 kg (cleaned)
Chilli Powder - 3 tsp
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
Jeera powder - 1/2 tsp
Lemon  - 1
Salt
Oil

Cooking Method

Rub lime juice into the fish and set aside for 15 minutes.
Mix in chilli powder, ginger garlic paste, jeera powder and salt with a little lemon juice and water.
Apply the paste on the fish and rub the masala on the fish.
Refrigerate the fish for 20 minutes.
Deep fry the fish and serve with fresh cut onions.

Cooking time : 30 minutes (Including Marination time)
Serves - 4

Fish Curry

 Fish curry is a weekly delicacy in our homes. This is usually prepared  every Saturday and it tastes the best when eaten the next day. I have used Promfret for the curry which is skinned and cut into cubes. However all variety of fishes can be used for this curry. This is a typical traditional south indian style.

Ingredients

Cleaned and Cubed Fish (Preferably Promfret or King Fish) -  1/2 KG
Tamarind - Soaked in Hot Water
Curry Leaves - 5 to 6
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Methi - 1/4 tsp
Onion - 1 (Sliced)
Garlic - 4 Pods
Oil
Salt

Masala
Onion - 1 (Small, chopped)
Tomato - 1 (Small, chopped)
Coconut - 1 cup
Dry Chilli Powder - 2 tsp
Coriander Powder - 2 tsp
Ginger Garlic Paste -1 tsp

Cooking Method

Masala
In a Kadai, add one spoon oil, add coconut and roast till golden brown, add Chilli Powder, Coriander Powder,Ginger Garlic Paste and roast for a minute. Add onions and tomato, Fry for a minute.
Once cooled, grind the mixture into a smooth paste.

In a wide vessel, Pour oil, add mustard, curry leaves, Jeera and Methi seeds.
Add sliced onions and garlic, Fry till golden brown, add the Masala paste and fry till the oil leaves the sides, Add tamarind pulp and salt and allow the mixture to fry for an other minute.
Now pour water and adjust the consistency of the curry.
Once the curry starts boiling, Add the fish pieces and cook for 5 minutes.

Serve hot with Rice / Dosa


Cooking Time : 30 Minutes
Serves : 3

Bottle Gourd curry

Bottle Gourd is very effective in many ailments. Specially raw juice of this vegetable mixed with lime juice is very effective in curing UTI infections. Its also very effective in curing diarrhea. I used to ignore this vegetable until i knew its medicinal properties. Now this  is a part of my die.

This is a beautiful blend of Moong Dhal and Gourd. This curry goes very well with hot rice/Chapati and ghee :)

Ingrediants
Moong Dhal - 1 cup (soaked for 1 hour)
Bottle Gourd - Finely chopped one cup
Tomato - 1
Onion - 1
Garlic - 4 finely chopped
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - 5
Jeera - 1/4 tsp
Mustard - 1/4 tsp
Coriander leaves
Oil
Salt

Cooking Method
Heat oil in a kadai, add mustard, jeera and curry leaves.
Add finely chopped onion and garlic and fry till translucent. Add tomatoes, Chilli Powder, Asafoetida.
Fry till the oil leaves the sides and the masala gives a good aroma.
Add soaked dhal, Fry for a minute. add 2 cups of water and cook till the dhal becomes soft but not mushy.
Now add the chopped bottle gourd and cook for 5 min
Garnish with ghee and coriander leaves.

Cooking time : 30 min
Serves - 3

Note

• For fast cooking, pressure cook dhal with garlic and asafoetida. Add to the onion masala, followed by bottle gourd.
• You can substitute bottle gourd with white pumkin or cucumber.