Chicken Roast

My Easter special dishes – Chicken roast and Chicken Curry

Here goes the recipe for chicken roast

Don’t add any of the chicken masala available in markets for this!!!!

For marinating the chicken

Chicken – ½ kg (cut into smaller pieces)
Salt
Chili powder – 1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Pepper powder – 1 tsp
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp

Mix thoroughly with hand.

For preparation

Oil as required
Curry leaves – a few
Sliced onions – 3 big ones
Chopped Green chilies – 5
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Chili powder – 1-2 tablespoon (I made spicy chicken)
Pepper powder – 1 tsp
Garam masala (powdered spices) – 1 table spoon
Perumjeerakam - powdered (Aniseed) – 1 tablespoon


Marinate the chicken for half an hour.
Now pour oil in a kadai. Add onions, curry leaves, green chilies and salt.
Saute till onions are brown in color.
Add coriander powder, chili powder and pepper powder.
Saute for few seconds.
Now add the chicken pieces, garam masala and aniseed's powder.
Mix well.
Pour some water. Keep simmer and close the lid.
It may take nearly 40 minutes to get the chicken cooked. You can stir in between and add chili powder if it’s not spicy.
Switch off the flame when the chicken is cooked and the gravy is fully coated in chicken pieces.
You can garnish with curry leaves.
Serve hot with rice, Chapatti or porota.

Chicken Curry

My Easter special dishes – Chicken roast and Chicken Curry

Here goes the recipe for chicken Curry

Don’t add any of the chicken masala available in markets for this!!!!

For marinating the chicken

Chicken – ½ kg (cut into smaller pieces)
Salt
Chili powder – 1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Pepper powder – 1 tsp
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp

Mix thoroughly with hand.

For preparation

Oil as required
Curry leaves – a few
Sliced onions – 3 big ones
Green chilies – 5 (each cut into half).
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Chili powder – 1-2 tablespoon (I made spicy chicken)
Pepper powder – 1 tsp
Garam masala (powdered spices) – 1 table spoon
Perumjeerakam - powdered (Aniseed) – 1 tablespoon
Coconut milk (1st and 2nd milk) – from half the coconut

Marinate the chicken for half an hour.
Now pour oil in a kadai. Add onions, curry leaves, green chilies and salt.
Saute till onions are brown in color.
Add coriander powder, chili powder and pepper powder.
Saute for few seconds.
Now add the chicken pieces, garam masala and aniseed's powder.
Mix well.
Pour some water. Keep simmer and close the lid.
When the chicken is half cooked add 2nd coconut milk. Stir well and close the lid.
It may take nearly 40 minutes to get the chicken cooked. You can stir in between and add chili powder if it’s not spicy.
When the chicken is fully cooked add 1st coconut milk. Stir and keep simmer for 3 minutes. Switch off the flame.
You can garnish with curry leaves.
Serve hot with appam, idiyappam, Chapatti or porota.

Kappa Puzhugiyathu

It was was getting more than a month that I had the taste of my favorite dish kappa and was longing to eat it. So I made it yesterday.

Here is the recipe

Chopped Kappa (tapioca) – 1 kg
Green chilies – 5 (each cut into half)
Sliced Ginger – 1 tablespoon
Curry leaves – a few
Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Coconut Oil as required
Mustard seeds - a few

Cook tapioca in some water adding salt and turmeric powder. {Make sure tapioca is cooked till it becomes soft}
Heat some oil in pan. Add mustard seeds, curry leaves, ginger and green chilies.
Saute for some time. Now add cooked tapioca. Mix well. Switch off the flame.
Garnish with few curry leaves.

Peas Masala

This suits wells with appam, idiyappam, chapatti and porota. It’s simple and easy to make.
Here is the recipe.

Cooked Green peas – 100gm
Sliced Onion – 2
Sliced tomato – 1 [I didn’t add tomatoes]
Green chilies – 4(each cut into half)
Curry leaves – a few
Mustard seeds – a few
Oil as required
Salt to taste
Garam masala – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Chili powder – 1 tsp
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Coconut milk – 1 cup (1st & 2nd milk extracted)

Heat some oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds.
Add onions, green chilies and curry leaves. Add a pinch of salt. Saute till onions becomes brown in color.
Now add tomatoes, chilies powder, coriander powder, garam masala and turmeric powder. Stir for few minutes.
Add cooked peas, salt and some water. Close the lid
Simmer and add 2nd coconut milk. Let it be there in flame for few minutes.
Now add 1st milk. Stir and switch off the flame.
Garnish with few curry leaves. Serve hot.

Sambar (using sambar powder)

Recipe for sambar - quick and easy way to make sambar using eastern sambar powder

Chopped vegetables (as your wish) - Drum sticks, potatoes, lady’s finger and tomatoes.
Dal – 1 small glass
Tamarind water – ¼ cup
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Asafoetida (Kayam) – 1 tsp

chili powder – 1 tsp
Easter sambar powder – 1 tablespoon
Salt to taste

For seasoning

Oil as required
Mustard seeds – a few
Curry leaves – a few
Red chilies – 3
Fenugreek – 1/4 tsp


Cook dal in some water.
Pour some more water and add vegetables, turmeric powder, Asafoetida, chili powder, eastern sambar powder and salt. Mix well.
Once the vegetables are cooked add tamarind water. Allow it to boil.
Stir well. Let it boil until sambar becomes a little thick. Switch off the flame.
Now prepare seasoning in the pan and add it to sambar.
Garnish with curry/coriander leaves. Sever hot with rice.

Dal Curry (Mulakoshyam)

People call this in different names in different places. I call it as ‘mulakoshyam’.
This is one of the easiest side dish we can prepare along with rice.

Recipe is below

Dal (Red Gram Dal/ Toor Dal) – 1 cup
Sliced Tomato – 1
Green chilies – 4 (each cut into half)
Turmeric powder – ½ teaspoon
Red Chili powder – 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves – a few
Salt to taste
Coconut Oil – 1 teaspoon

Cook Dal in some water.
Add sliced tomatoes, green chilies, turmeric powder, red chili powder and salt.
Pour some water and keep simmer.
Switch of the flame when tomatoes are cooked and the gravy becomes semi thick.
Add curry leaves. Sprinkle coconut oil. Mix well. Serve hot with rice.

Chicken Stir Fry (Kozhi Varattiyathu)

I learned making chicken with Bets recipe for preparing ‘chicken with spicy gravy’. . She is my friend from Kuttanad, indeed a good non veg cook .While staying together it was Bets who always makes chicken dishes for us. I will always stay near to her while cooking, watching the preparation process and will ask her lots of doubts. While coming back from home she always brings Beef fry and pickles for us. I’m really missing all those sweet moments now.

Any way all those are gone days. I ‘m now used to making chicken dishes in various styles.
Last weekend I made chicken stir fry for lunch.

Here goes my recipe for spicy Kozhi varatiyathu

For Marinating

Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder – ½ tablespoon
Chili powder – 1 tablespoon
Coriander powder – 1 tablespoon
Pepper powder – 1 tablespoon
Salt
(You can use chicken masala of any brand also along with this if you wish)

Other Ingredients

Chicken pieces – 11/4 kg
Pearl onions – 1 cup
Garam masala (powdered spices) – 1 tablespoon
Chili Powder – 11/2 tablespoon
Coriander powder – 1 tablespoon
Green chilies – 5 (each cut into half)
Curry leaves – a few
Coconut Oil as required
Salt to taste.

Marinate the chicken for half an hour.
Pour some oil in a Kadai, add onions, green chilies and curry leaves. Stir for some time. Add garam masala and marinated chicken. Stir for few seconds.
Add some water. Mix well. Close the lid and keep simmer until the chicken is half cooked.
Stir in between and add Chili powder and coriander powder. I added eastern chicken masala also at this stage. Close the lid.
Once the chicken is cooked add coconut oil and keep stirring till brown color is obtained.
Garnish with curry leaves. Serve hot with rice.

Sweet Rice Flakes (Avil Nanachathu)

This has been always my mom’s handy to satisfy our hunger after coming from school.
I recently had this from my friend Biji’s house, aunty had prepared and it reminded me those days I enjoyed eating this sweet snack. Aunty is a great cook and she knows a lot of ‘Palaharam’ recipes. I love eating her idiyappam and potato stew. Well, I’ve decided to learn those snack recipes and will share with you soon provided my cooking results are success.

Here is the recipe

Beaten rice/avil - 1 cup
Grated Coconut – ¼ cup
Sugar – 3 tablespoon
Water – 3 teaspoon

Sprinkle water to beaten rice. Add Sugar and grated coconut. Mix through with hand. Keep aside for some time. Your snack is ready.

You can prepare this in other different style also.

Beaten rice/avil - 1 cup
Grated Coconut – ¼ cup
Powdered jaggery – 3 tablespoon
Fried Sesame Seeds ( Varutha ellu) – a few
Cardamom powder – 1/2 tsp
Water – 2 teaspoon

Add powdered jaggery and water to the pan.
Cook until jaggery is melted.
Add the Beaten rice to it. Stir well Add grated coconut, cardamom and fried sesame seedsMix well. Remove from the flame and let it cool

Plum Cake/Dry Fruit Cake

I always believe my Christmas is not complete until I eat ‘elite’ plum cake. That brand is very popular in kerala and most of the bakeries choose it.
I know it’s not Xmas but I tried making it just for fun. I just had a chat with one of my friend before preparing it. But the process she explained was very lengthy. She told people use a bit brandy/rum for this and will soak the dry fruits in it for weeks/months. I don’t have so much of patience to wait two three weeks and I also found it difficult to get various ingredients. So I made it in my own way. I was eagerly waiting near the oven as if I’m waiting for the exam results till my cake was baked. To my astonishment the cake was a success and it tasted good.

Here goes my recipe

For Caramel – ½ cup sugar and 1 tablespoon water, ½ cup water
Milk – 11/2 cup

Butter - 50gm

Powdered sugar - 1 cups

Eggs - 1

Plain flour (Maida) - 2 cups
Baking powder - 2 teaspoon

Vanilla essence - 1 teaspoon
Red Wine – 2 tablespoon

Dry Fruits - ¼ cups (raisins, nuts, fruity, dates, cherries and almonds)

Prepare the caramel by adding ½ cup sugar and 1 tablespoon water keeping in low flame.
Swirl the pan in between. Remove from the flame until the caramel becomes thick brown in color. Now pour ½ cup of water into it. Let it cool completely.Heat the milk till it boils. Add Butter to it.
Beat the eggs. Add powdered sugar to it. Beat until it become soft.
Mix the flour and baking powder, add this to the egg mixture.
Again add milk-butter mixture and vanilla essence to it. Mix well. Add the caramel and red wine. Mix thoroughly.
Add dry fruits. Mix up.
Pour the batter into a buttered baking dish. Microwave in power P8 (80%) for 8 minutes. Let it to cool for sometime. It’s ready to eat….

Avial

People use different vegetables for making avail .It’s all your choice whether to use or not a particular one.

My recipe is the below

Chopped (length wise) Yam pieces – 1/4cup
Chopped (length wise) Carrots – 1/4 cup
Chopped (length wise) string beans (Achinga) – 1/4 cup
Chopped (length wise) drum stick – 1
Green chilies (cut into half) – 5
Grated Coconut – 3/4 cup
Sour Curd- ½ cup (you can use tamarind water – ¼ cup also instead of sour curd)
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Chili powder -1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds – a few
Curry leaves – a few
Salt to taste
Coconut oil as required

Cook the vegetables adding some water, turmeric powder, chili powder and green chilies.
[Make sure you will add very little water always so that avail will be thick. I wanted bit gravy for lunch and hence I added more water].
Grind grated coconut, cumin seeds and few curry leaves with very little water to make a fine paste.
Now add coconut paste and salt to the cooked vegetables. Simmer for three minutes.
Beat the curd and add to it. Mix well. Switch off the flame.
Add few curry leaves. Sprinkle a teaspoon of coconut oil. Mix well. Serve hot with rice.

Cutlet

Cutlet is one of my favorite bakery items. After learning the recipe I started preparing it at home rather than buying from outside. Everyone likes it and I do love cooking it for them. Today I made vegetable cutlet for evening tea.
Here is the recipe

Mashed potatoes – 2
Chopped Green chilies - 2
Chopped ginger – 1/2 tsp
Sliced onions – 1
Finely chopped carrot – 1
[Shredded chicken – ½ kg - if you are planning to make chicken cutlet]
Garam masala – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Salt to taste
Plain flour – 2 tablespoon OR egg white – 2
Bread crumbs – 1 cup

Heat some oil in pan. Add ginger, onions, carrots and green chilies one by one. Sauté for few minutes. Add salt, garam masala and turmeric powder. Stir well. Cook for few minutes.

[For chicken cutlet, cook the shredded chicken and add this also to the pan along with onions, ginger and green chilies.]

Add mashed potatoes and Mix well. Switch of the flame and let it cool.

Now make small balls of desired shape.
See below

Make a batter adding water to plain flour or beat the egg white.
Dip each of the balls in flour/egg white and roll in bread crumbs, deep fry in the oil.
You can have cutlets along tomato sauce.

Sambar

I usually stick on to sambar powder for making this. The taste is good and it is very easy to prepare also. But yesterday I thought of making it in a typical style ‘varutharacha sambar’. One of the regular viewers of my blog, suju bhaiya has been asking me to post this recipe sometime back and I was not sure about the masala preparation for that. At last I managed to get details from mom and prepared it. The looks were slightly different and it tasted superb.

So here goes the recipe for you, try it out

Pearl onions – ½ cup (I prepared ‘Ulli Sambar’)

You can include other vegetables like Drum sticks, potatoes, lady’s finger and tomatoes other than ‘ulli’ if you wish.

Dal – ½ cup
Tamarind water – ¼ cup
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste

For preparing Masala

Grated Coconut - 3/4 cup
Coriander powder - 2 tbsp (you can use seeds if available)
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Fenugreek (Uluva) - 1 tsp
Asafoetida (Kayam) – 1 tsp, Red chilies - 5, Curry leaves - a few
Oil as required

For seasoning

Oil as required
Mustard seeds – a few
Curry leaves – a few
Red chilies – 3
Fenugreek – 1/4 tsp


Heat some oil in a pan. Add all the ingredients for masala; Fry it till it becomes brown. Keep it aside for cooling. (Keep in low flame while frying so that the ingredients are not over burned) Make a fine masala paste by grinding the fried mixture along with some water.

Now cook dal. Pour some more water and add vegetables, turmeric powder and salt.
Once the vegetables are cooked add tamarind water. Allow it to boil.
Now add the masala paste. Stir well. Let it boil until sambar becomes a little thick. Switch off the flame.

Now prepare seasoning in the pan and add it to sambar.

Garnish with curry/coriander leaves. Sever hot with rice.

Gobi Manchurian

This is a popular starter find in most of the restaurants. This is very easy to prepare at home also. Yesterday I made it for dinner and the taste was simply awesome. The recipe is below

Cauliflower – 10-15 florets
Corn flour - 3 tablespoon
Plain flour – 3 tablespoon
Water – ¼ cup
Chilly powder – 1 tsp
Soya sauce – 1 1/2 tablespoon
Tomato ketchup – 1 1/2 tablespoon
Chopped Spring onions – a few
Chopped green chilies – 2
Chopped capsicum - 1
Ginger garlic paste – ½ tsp
Pepper powder – ½ tsp
Salt to taste
Oil as required

Soak the florets in the boiled water for 10 minutes.
Make a thick batter by mixing corn flour, plain flour, salt and chilly powder.
Dip the florets in batter for 5 minutes.
Deep fry the florets in oil until it becomes golden brown. Keep aside.

Now heat some oil in a pan. Add ginger garlic paste. Sauté for few seconds.
Add onions, capsicum, salt and green chilies. Stir for few seconds.
Add the fried florets. Add pepper powder. Stir well.
Add Soya sauce and tomato ketchup to the left out batter (if there is no left out batter, make it by mixing a tablespoon of corn flour in some water).
Now add this mixture into the pan.
Stir until the florets are fully coated with the thick sauce. Switch off the flame. Garnish with spring onions.

Mambazha Pulisheri

People who are fond of ripe mangoes definitely like this. It’s sweet and sour taste makes it different from other dishes.

Here is the recipe

Ripe mango – 2 (chopped into smaller pieces)
Chilly powder – 2 tsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Curd – 1 cup
Grated coconut – ½ cup
Sugar – 1 table spoon (if u wish only)
Mustard – a few
Cumin seeds – a few
Curry leaves – a few

Cook mangoes in 2 cups of water with turmeric and chili powder.
When it is cooked add salt, sugar and coconut paste (grind grated coconut, cumin seeds, water).
Simmer for 3 minutes. Beat the curd and add it. Mix well. Switch off the flame.
Prepare seasoning in the pan by adding mustard, curry leaves and red chilies. Add it to gravy. Garnish with few curry leaves. Serve with rice. You can keep this for sure three four days.

Puri Bhaji

Hot puri with bhaji is very tasty to eat. I used to make it on Sundays. You can surely include this for breakfast. It is really delicious.

The recipe is below.

For preparing Puri

Wheat flour – 11/2 cup
Water – ¾ cup
Oil – 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Make dough by adding water, salt and oil to the wheat flour.
Divide it and make small balls.
Roll out each ball to a circle and fry it in the oil.



















For preparing Bhaji

Mashed Potatoes – 2
Sliced onion – 2
Green chilies – 3 (each cut into half)
Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil as required
Curry leaves – a few
Mustard – a few


Heat some oil in pan. Add mustard. Saute for few seconds.
Add green chilies, onions and curry leaves. Stir for few minutes.
Add mashed potatoes, turmeric powder and salt.
Add some water. Stir well.
Place the lid.
Stir in between.
Cook till water is boiled, the gravy becomes thick.
Garnish with curry leaves.

Egg Fried rice

I’m a great lover of Chinese foods. So whenever we dine out I always choose Chinese restaurants.

Well, one thing I’ve noticed is that fried rice in different hotels varies in taste and color. I’ve tried this so many times to get that original Chinese flavor which I have tasted from restaurants. I wish I could peep into a Chinese kitchen and learn the recipe.

Yesterday I prepared this dish for dinner and my husband managed to bring chicken from the restaurant and we ended up in having a grand dinner.

I didn’t include Ajinomoto/china grass. This pinch of ajinomoto is the taste enhancer of food in Chinese restaurants. If you wish you can add that.

Here is my recipe.

Cooked Rice – 1 1/2 cup.
Eggs - 2
Chopped capsicum – 1
Chopped Onions – 1
Chopped Carrots -1
Chopped Garlic – a bit
Spring onions – a few
Pepper powder – 1 tsp
Soya Sauce – 2 tablespoon
Red chilly sauce – 2 tablespoon
Oil as required
Salt to taste

Heat some oil in a pan. Fry the eggs, Stir and break it up.
Add garlic and rice (For cooking 1 ½ cup rice use only 2 cups of water. After cooking keep it in refrigerator so that it won’t stick together). Stir well.
Add capsicum, onions and carrots.
Add Soya sauce and red chilly sauce. Stir well.
Add pepper and salt.
Stir for 2 minutes. Switch off the flame.
Garnish it with spring onions. Serve hot with chicken.

Marble Cake

After succeeding in making chocolate cake I felt more confident and today I baked a marble cake.
See my cutie marble cake……..

Don’t u feel like eating this lovely cake?

I felt eating it up the very moment I baked it.
Soon after the cake was made I took the picture of it and mailed my husband. I told him that I can’t wait so long for him and that I’ll finish it up. He then started mailing me pleading not to eat and that we can cut it together. I didn’t agree. Just thought of kidding him. But at last I assured him that I’ll not touch it until he comes.
Try this out definitely… the recipe is below.

Milk - 1 cup

Butter - 50gm

Powdered sugar - 2 cups

Eggs - 2

Plain flour (Maida) - 2 cups
Coco Powder – 1 tablespoon

Baking powder - 2 teaspoon

Vanilla essence - 1 teaspoon

Heat the milk till it boils. Add Butter to it.
Beat the eggs. Add powdered sugar to it. Beat until it become soft.
Mix the flour and baking powder, add this to the egg mixture.
Again add milk-butter mixture and vanilla essence to it. Mix well.

Divide and keep the batter in two dishes.
Mix coco powder to one of the dish and mix well.Now pour the batter into a buttered baking dish from each of the dishes slowly as below.

Microwave in power P8 (80%) for 7-8 minutes. Let it to cool for sometime. Turn the cake upside down. Decorate it with cherries. Have it with evening tea.

Egg Roast

This is a best suited side dish with vellayappam, idiyappam and of course with chappathi.
Its dark brown color accompanied with spicy odor tempts everyone and I guess all of you will enjoy the taste!!!
Here is my recipe

Boiled Eggs - 2
Green Chilies – 3 (each cut into half)
Sliced Onions – 3
Tomato – 2 (chopped into smaller pieces)
Coriander powder – 2 table spoon
Turmeric Powder – ½ tsp
Garam Masala – 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds – A few
Curry Leaves - A few
Salt to taste.
Oil as Required.

Heat some oil in a pan. Add mustard, curry leaves and green chilies. Sauté for few seconds.
Add Onions and salt. Stir well until the onions turn golden brown.
Pour bit more oil. Add chopped tomatoes. Stir for few minutes. Now add coriander powder, garam masala and turmeric powder. Stir for few minutes. Add salt if needed.
Make few slits on eggs. Add the eggs.
Add some water. Stir and close the lid. Cook for few minutes till it boils. Switch of the flame.
Garnish with coriander or curry leaves .Serve hot.

Pumpkin Dish (Mathanga pulingari)

I didn’t like pumpkins at all. Even in my house dishes with pumpkins were made very rarely. I had a taste of this in my in-laws house. Gradually I too started liking this.
Now this has become one of the common dishes in my menu.

Here is the recipe

Chopped Pumpkins – ¼ kg
Daal – ¾ cup
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Chili Powder – 1 tsp
Mustard – A pinch
Red Chilies - 3
Tamarind water – ¼ cup
Salt to taste
Curry leaves - A few
Oil – As required

Cook Dal in some water. Add chopped pumpkins.
Once the pumpkins are cooked add salt, chili powder and turmeric powder.
Stir for few seconds.
Add tamarind water. Let it boil until the gravy tends to be little thick.
Add salt if needed. Mix well. Switch off the flame.
Prepare seasoning in the pan by adding ingredients one by one (mustard, curry leaves, red chilies). Add it to the gravy. Serve with rice.

Chutney

Today I made chutney with dosa rather than sticking on usual chutney powder for a change.
I thought I will let u know this simple recipe, may be useful to the beginners

Grated Coconut – 1 cup
Sliced ginger – a few
Sliced Pearl onions – 3

Green Chilies - 2
Curry leaves – a few
Mustard seeds – a few
Red chilies - 3
Oil as required
Salt to taste

Grind grated coconut, ginger, green chilies, salt and onions along with some water.
Heat some oil in a pan. Add mustard, curry leaves and red chilies.
Pour the coconut mix into it. Stir well.
Simmer for 2 minutes. Switch off the flame.
Serve hot.

Beet Root Thoran

Like cabbage, I include beetroot also in my lunch menu. It is also very easy to prepare.
The recipe is the below

Grated Beetroot – 1
Grated Coconut – ¼ cup
Turmeric Powder – ½ tsp
Green Chilies – 3 (each cut into half)
Mustard Seeds – A few
Curry Leaves - A few
Salt to taste
Oil as Required

Heat some oil in a pan .Add Mustard, Chilies and Curry Leaves. Stir for a minute.
Add grated beetroot, turmeric powder and salt. Stir for few minutes. Cover the pan.
Let it be on flame for 6-7 minutes. Stir in between.
Add grated coconut. Mix well.
Switch off the flame. Garnish it with few more Curry leaves. Serve with lunch.

Chocolate Cake

It’s again baking Time!!!
I tried making Chocolate cake and it was a grant success. See my cake below.

I was baking my cake when my husband came from office. He was eager to see the process of making cake. Soon the cake was baked and we couldn’t resist the fine flavor of cake from oven. We together decorated the cake.To be frank, within minutes we ate half of it. Truly I didn’t expect such a fine cake, it was soft and sweet. I felt very happy today.

Here is the recipe, please try it

Milk - 1 cup

Butter - 50gm

Powdered sugar - 2 cups

Eggs - 2

Plain flour (Maida) - 2 cups

Coco Powder – 3 tablespoon

Baking powder - 2 teaspoon

Vanilla essence - 1/2 teaspoon

Heat the milk till it boils. Add Butter to it.
Beat the eggs. Add powdered sugar to it. Beat until it become soft.
Mix the flour, coco powder and baking powder, add this to the egg mixture.
Again add milk-butter mixture and vanilla essence to it. Mix well.Pour the batter into a buttered baking dish. Microwave in power P8 (80%) for 7-8 minutes. Let it to cool for sometime. Turn the cake upside down. Decorate it with cherries. Sprinkle some icing powder.

Chutney Powder

This is quite familiar in markets now. But personally I feel home made chutney powder is tastier than packed ones. The aroma itself reveals its quality. I learned this recipe from my in laws. Infact my husband likes this more than having chutney. So I always make this and store it.

The recipe is

Black Gram (uzhunu parippu) - 1 cup
White Rice – 1 cup
Bengal Gram (Potu Kadala ) – 100 gm
Red chilies – 100 gm
Curry leaves – 100 gm
Asafoetida (Kayam) – 3 tsp
Salt to taste

Simply fry the above ingredients in a pan until it becomes partially brown in colour.
Allow it to cool.
Grind it and store in a jar.

Mix a portion of chutney powder with coconut oil and have it along with Idili or Dosa

Cabbage with Grated Coconut (Cabbage Thoran)

I make this often for lunch as cabbage is rich with iron. My early days of cooking were very funny. The very first time when I made this I used lots of water and the cabbage was very sticky. My friend Deepti struggled a lot to convert it into an eatable form. Later on I became an expert in this.

Here is the recipe

Grated Cabbage – 1/2 kg
Grated Coconut – ¼ cup
Turmeric Powder – ½ tsp
Green Chilies – 3 (each cut into half)
Mustard Seeds – A few
Curry Leaves - A few
Salt to taste
Oil as Required

Heat some oil in a pan .Add Mustard, Chilies and Curry Leaves. Stir for a minute.
Add grated cabbage, turmeric powder and salt. Stir for few minutes. Cover the pan.
Let it be on flame for 6-7 minutes. Stir in between.
Add grated coconut. Mix well.
Switch off the flame. Garnish it with few more Curry leaves. Serve with lunch.

Pazhampuri (Banana Fry)

This is an evening snack for tea often made in home. I can’t help myself eating three-four pieces when my mom makes it. My husband is also a great lover of this. On weekends I prepare this for him.

Recipe follows.

Ripe banana – 2 (cut into two).
Pain Flour [Maida] or Gram flour[KadalaMav] – 1 cup
Oil – As required

Make a batter mixing gram flour and water. [It should be in the paste form]
Add a pinch of salt
Heat some oil in the pan. Dip the banana pieces in batter and fry it in the pan. Turn to other side after some time.
Fry till the banana pieces turn golden brown.

Payaru/Achinga Mezhukkupuratti (string beans)

This is an easy go cook up recipe which I always make in my busy schedules. Achinga fry in coconut oil is also very tasty. I’ll try to post that recipe soon.

Here it goes for mezhukkupuratti…

Achinga/payaru (sting beans) – ¼ kg (each cut into smaller pieces of same length)
Onion – 2 (thinly sliced)
Green chilies – 2 (each cut into half)
Curry leaves – A few
Coconut Oil – As required
Chili Powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste

Heat some oil in a pan. Add green chilies and curry leaves. Stir for few seconds.
Add onions and salt. Saute for 2 minutes.
Add Achinga, turmeric powder and chili powder.
Pour some water. (Only a little bit). Close the lid and keep it few minutes.
Stir it in between. Cook 5 – 10 minutes till its raw smell vanishes.

Eruvulli with Beetroot

I tasted this first time when I had lunch in my sister’s house. Her in-laws had made this as a side dish. I couldn’t ask them about the recipe as they were all busy with different stuffs. After that I tried preparing the same many times. Each time it ended in different flavors. Finally one day I succeeded in reproducing that original taste which I was searching for.
















Here is the recipe for that
Grated Beet root – 1
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Grated Coconut - 1 cup
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilies - 3
Curd - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Curry leaves - A few
Oil – As required
Chili Powder – 1 tsp
Mustard – A pinch
Tamarind water – ¼ cup

Heat some oil in a pan. Add grated beet root, chili powder and turmeric powder.
Add tamarind water when beetroot is half cooked.
Add salt and coconut paste (grind grated coconut, cumin seeds, water).
Simmer for 3 minutes. Beat the curd and add it. Mix well. Switch off the flame.
Prepare seasoning in the pan by adding ingredients one by one (mustard, curry leaves, redchillies). Add it to the gravy. Serve with rice.

Veleyappam and Onion stew

This is one among our breakfast menu. Once in a week I’ll prepare this for sure as my husband also likes this. Stew or Egg roast will be the side dish made for this. The recipe is very simple to cook.

If you are planning to make it tomorrow then set the batter today evening itself.

White Rice - 2 cups (Soaked in water for 3 hrs).
Coconut Milk – 1 cup.
Yeast – ½ tsp
Sugar – 2 tsp
Salt – 1 tsp

Add ¼ cup warm water to ½ tsp yeast. Keep aside for some time.
Grind soaked white rice with water to make a soft batter. Add a bit of cooked rice also while grinding so that appam will be soft (You can use rice powder available in market if you find it difficult to soak and grind).
Add Coconut milk, Sugar and Salt to the batter. Mix it.
Add yeast mixture to the batter. Mix well. Now the batter is ready.

Heat a non stick pan. Pour the batter. Spread it and place the lid. Wait for 2 minutes and your appam is ready. There is no need to cook the other side.

I got up late and there was not enough time for me to cook egg roast. So I though of trying out something with onions. I don’t know what it is called but I named it as Onion stew.

Onions – 3 (thinly sliced)
Green chilies – 3(each cut into half)
Curry Leaves - A few
Mustard seeds – A pinch
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Coconut milk – ¾ cup
Salt to taste

Heat the pan adding oil. Add mustard, green chilies and curry leaves.
Add onions and salt. Add coriander powder. Saute till the onions are golden brown.
Add coconut milk. Simmer for 2 minutes.
Serve hot with Appam.