Daily Archives: November 19, 2013

Roomali roti

Preparation Time : 1 Hour 15 minutes

Cooking Time : 15 minutes

Serving : 4 members

Description

A very thin soft white colour roti which is my favourite . I first got to taste this in surya hotel in Coimbatore ( now the vivantha taj ) . I think , I was in the 4 th standard then . During holidays every Sunday lunch we used to go out . ( mostly to surya hotel as it was the best then ) surya hotel was one place that introduced me to a lot of new North Indian and Chinese dishes . Recipe and picture courtacy my daughter ANISHA .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
wheat flour	1 1/2 cups
maida	50 gm
baking powder	1/2 teaspoon
oil	2 table spoons
water	to knead
salt	to taste
soda – bi – carbonate	a pinch
milk	2 table spoons

Method

Sieve wheat flour , maida , salt , baking powder and soda- bi – carbonate together . Pour oil , milk and water little by little to get a smooth elastic dough . Set aside covered with a wet cloth for one hour .
Make small balls (lemon size ) out of the dough . Take 3 balls , flatten each ball with palms .
Apply oil on one ball , dust flour over . Top with the second ball and apply oil sprinkling flour over . Cover with the third ball and sandwhich the balls together .
Roll out the sandwhiched balls very thinly with the help of dry flour like tissue paper .
Stretch a little on all sides . Heat a inverted griddle ( up side down tawa ) . Place the rolled romali roti carefully over it and cook till done for about 1/2 a minute on both sides .
Remove , peel the romali roti into 3 seperate pieces . Fold like a handkerchief .
Serve hot with butter chicken or kadai chicken .

Chicken cheese savory

Preparation Time : 45 minutes + 2 hours to be kept in the refrigerator .
Cooking Time : 10 minutes for each batch of cheese savoury chicken
Serving : 4 to 5 members

Ingredients for step 1

Ingredients	Quantity
Chicken breast	2
red chilli powder	2 teaspoons
garam masala powder	1/4 teaspoon
pepper powder	1/4 teaspoon
ginger garlic paste	1 tablespoon
fenugreek powder	a pinch
salt	to taste
vinegar	1 teaspoon
oil	2 teaspoons

Method for Step 1

Mix all the above ingredients together with oil to get a smooth paste , except for chicken breasts .
Slit the chicken breasts from the sides , open out and flatten with a steak hammer without rupturing the flesh .
Marinate the chicken breasts in the paste evenly for two hours or more .

Ingredients for step 2

Ingredients for Filling	Quantity
cheese	3 cups grated
raisins	3 1/2 tablespoons
cashewnuts	3 1/2 table spoons chopped
green chillies	2 tablespoons chopped
chicken tikkas	1 cup chopped ( I didn't use them )
corriander leaves	2 teaspoons chopped

Method for step 2

Mix all the above ingredients together . Divide into 2 equal portions .
Place in the Center of each chicken breast piece . Roll the breasts firmly over the filling .
Secure the filling by useing tooth picks . Refrigerate for two hours or more . I left it over night .

Ingredients for Batter

Ingredients for Batter	Quantity
cornflour	1 cup
maida	1 cup
vinegar	1 teaspoon
egg whites	2
white pepper	to taste
salt	to taste
ginger garlic	v
oil	to deep fry

Method for Batter

Mix all the above ingredients together to form a smooth batter , except for oil to deep fry .
Heat oil to deep fry . Remove the tooth picks from the chicken breast rolls .
Pour the batter over the chicken breast rolls and turn them around making sure the batter has coated the chicken breast roll all around and sides .
Drop it into the hot oil and fry in medium heat for 10 minutes to a golden brown colour .
Make sure it’s cooked through . ( my first one was raw , had to fry it again ) . Drain . Cut into one inch thick pieces and serve hot .

Ada payasam

Preparation Time : 10 minutes

Cooking Time : 30 minutes

Serving : 8 to 10 members

Description

A yummy payasam very own to Kerala . Every house hold has its own version . I guess mine is fusion of Kerala payasam and Tamil Nadu Payasam together . I made it yesterday for my friends Priya and neetha ( both are vegetarians ) and packed it of to their respective homes . Have to mention about the bronze vessel in the picture . It was gifted to my mother – in – law for her wedding by her grand mother . It is actually a bettal leaf stand . My mother – in – law gifted me four things ( very sentimental to her ) to me when I moved in to a seperate house . One this bettel leaf stand , another mortal / pastel and ammi / sil pata ( South Indian grinder made with stone ) gifted to her by her mother and one ceramic plate from Colombo her father had gifted her . All the four gifts are kept with care and respect till date at home . These are a few antique treasures I own .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Ada	250 gm packet
water	6 cups
jaggery	1/2 kg
coconut milk	1/2 litter
salt	a pinch
Bengal gram (boiled)	50 gm
cardamom	10 powdered
rice flour	5 table spoons
ghee	3 tablespoons
cashewnuts	2 table spoons
raisins	1 table spoon
cinnamon	I piece
clove	1
coconut bits	1 table spoon

Method

Boil the Ada in water for 15 minutes or until cooked through .
Add the boiled Bengal gram , coconut milk , jaggery , cardamom powder and mix well . Bring to boil stirring now and then .
Dilute the rice flour in little water and pour over the boiling payasam , stirring continuously till a thick flowing consistency is obtained . Remove from heat .
Heat ghee , add cinnamon , clove , cashewnuts , raisins and coconut bits . Fry till the cashewnuts are brown .
Pour over the payasam and mix well . Serve hot .

Masala Fish fry

Preparation Time : 15 minutes + marination time

Cooking Time : 8 minutes

Serving : 4 members

Description

This masala is what my mother uses to fry fish . Really tasty . Back home in Coimbatore it’s really difficult to get fresh fish so my liking towards fish was less but once I got married to Tirunelveli the quest for fresh fish was over . any guests from Coimbatore when ever fish is served they go head over heels about the fresh fish . happy fishy Sunday .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Fish	1/4 kg
green chillies	4
chilli powder	1 teaspoon
turmeric powder	1/4 teaspoon
cumin powder	1/4 teaspoon
pepper powder	1/4 teaspoon
salt	to taste
small onion	3
juice of lime	1/2
curry leaves	few
ginger garlic paste	1/2 tea spoon each
egg	1 beaten ( use 1/2 of the beaten egg )
coconut oil	1 tablespoon to shallow fry each piece of fish

Method

Grind all the ingredients together except for fish and coconut oil to shallow fry to a nice smooth paste . Taste and adjust .
Marinate fish in this masala and top with few whole curry leaves for 2 hours or more . ( My mom keeps it closed with a mesh lid under the sun till it has to be fried ) heat coconut oil to shallow fry .
Shallow fry the fish to get a crisp crust on top and a soft inside on both sides . Serve hot .

Chinese Noodles

Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Cooking Time : 10 minutes

Serving : 4 members

Description

My kids both of them love it but then have to make 2 versions always one veg for my veggie gal ANISHA and non – veg for the rest of us . I used to like noodles but in between started prefering fried rice but now it’s back to noodles . As I mentioned before my entire schooling was in good shepherd public school in ooty . We were fed so well but not allowed to keep snacks or chocolates . Still we ( sindhu , sulu my best buddies and myself ) used to manage to have snacks through out the academic year . Our main staple snack was maggie noodles . Catch hot water from the hot water tap in our toilet mug . Run to our secret place near the trunk room . Break the noodles with the masala packet and wait for 3 minutes for it to cook . The longest 3 minutes of our lives . Gobble it out with the runny watery liquid and the noodles . Life was fun fun fun..

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Chinese noodles	200 gm
carrots	2 juliens
capsicum	1 big juliens
cabbage	100 gm shredded
beans	1/4 cup cut slanting long strips
spring onion	few chopped
onion	1 sliced
ajinomoto	3/4 teaspoon ( optional )
oil	4 tablespoon
light soya sauce	1 teaspoon
tomato sauce	1 1/2 table spoon
sugar	1 teaspoon
salt and white pepper	to taste
vegetable or chicken stock	1/2 cup

Method

Heat water in a large heavy bottomed vessel .
When boiling add salt , 1 teaspoon oil and broken noodles .Cook till noodles are just soft . Do not over cook .
Drain and rinse in cold water to prevent noodles from sticking to each other . Heat oil in a large wok .
Add one garlic flake crushed , top with onion and all the vegetables except for onion stem . Stir on high flame for 3 minutes .
Add ajinomoto , salt and sugar . Keep stiring till vegetables are 3/4 cooked still having a bit of crunch in them . Add all the sauces , white pepper and onion stem . Mix well . Taste and adjust .
Stir in the cooked noodles along with the stock and fry till the stock has been absorbed into the vegetables and noodles .
Once all the flavours have infused together and is dry remove from heat and serve hot with tomato ketchup .

Vegetable Rawa Kichadi

Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Cooking Time : 15 minutes

Serving : 2 to 3 members

Description

Uppuma is one breakfast dish no one at home likes . So any day planing to have a heavy lunch , breakfast at home is always Uppuma . Every one has it with a frown on their face . My hubby just has a look and leaves skipping breakfast . ( as I do and my maids too ) but when it’s vegetable kichadi every one loves it . We end up with an empty vessel always .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Rava/Sooji/Semolina	1 cup
Onion	3/4 cup finely chopped
Ginger paste	1/4 teaspoon
Garlic paste	1/4 teaspoon
Green chillies	2 slit
Vegetables	3/4 cup ( mix of beans, carrot, peas and capsicum )
tomato	1 small chopped
Turmeric powder	1/4 teaspoon
Chilli powder	to taste
Curd	2 teaspoons
Lime juice	a squeeze
Water	3 cups
Mint leaves	few
Coriander leaves	few chopped
Ghee	1 1/2 tablespoon
Cinnamon	1 inch piece
Cloves	2
Cardamom	1

Method

Heat ghee in a pressure cooker adding cinnamon , clove and cardamom . Fry till fragvent .
Top with onions and fry to brown . Add ginger garlic paste and fry to brown .top with mixed vegetables , green chillies , tomatoes , coriander leaves , mint leaves and salt to taste .
Sauté for 5 minutes . Add curd , turmeric powder , chilli powder and stir well and cook for 3 minutes .
Pour water and pressure cook for 1 whistle . Add a squeeze of lime and bring to boil . Taste and adjust .
Add sooji little by little stirring continuously in reduced flame making sure no lumps are formed .
When moisture is adsorbed and kichadi is cooked , remove from flame and serve hot .

Konkani style prawn fry

Preparation Time : 35 minutes + 1 hour for Marination

Cooking Time :6 to 8 minutes for each batch of prawns fried

Serving : 8 members

Description

Any thing prepared at home in prawns is a favourite to all except for my daughter ANISHA . ( as mentioned before a pure Vegetarian in a Muslim household ????? ) I remember the small prawns that my grand ma ( moms mom Sabiya perima , Payya as we address her now ) used to make fried in coconut oil during my holidays in Palghat . I miss every bit of those holidays and my grand father . ( he is no more , the best grand father anyone would dream to have , miss you periyatha ) he used to wake up all cousins early in the morning , dump us in his ambassador Car (would stop in between and we cousins had to push the car from behind ) and go to the market . What ever we wanted was bought and prepared on that day itself from chicken , mutton , fish , prawn the list would go on and on . Wonder how my grand mom cooked and catered to all our needs , we were a huge gang of people in all age groups .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
cleaned prawns with tail	1 kg
turmeric powder	1/4 teaspoon
chilli powder	1 1/2 tablespoon
coriander powder	1 tablespoon
salt	to taste
ginger garlic paste	1 teaspoon each
coconut oil	2 tablespoons
water	enough to bind the masala .

Method

Grind the above together except for cleaned prawns and marinate the cleaned prawns for one hour.

Batter ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Egg	1
rice flour	3 tablespoons
salt	to taste

Method

Make a smooth paste mixing all the ingredients together . Bajji batter consistency and set aside .

Coating Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Sooji ( rawa)	1/2 cup
bread crumbs	1/2 cup
chilli flakes	to taste
salt	to taste

Method

Mix all the ingredients together and set aside take the marinated prawns and dip into the egg , rice flour batter .
Then coat the dipped prawns in rawa , bread crumbs mixture .
Coat well on all sides leaving the tail . Do the same with the remaining prawns . Refrigerate for 10 minutes .
Deep fry in hot oil over medium heat till crisp and golden brown in colour . Drain . Serve hot .
Can give a garnish with crisp fried green chillies and chopped coriander leaves along with lime wedges . It tastes yum as it is .

Wheat bread diet Sandwhich

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 8 to 10 minutes

Serving : 4 members

Description

Every one at home compliments me saying I am a good cook but critisize me that I never cook healthy food . My gal ANISHA is a health freak and is very cautious about eating and cooking . After her nagging and complaints about me , finally have started experimenting over healthy food . My first try were these wheat bread diet sandwhich . It tasted good and was filling too . I served it with mushroom soup .

Ingredients

Ingredients for Sandwhich	Quantity
Wheat bread slices	2
light mayonnaise	½ teaspoon
Egg white omelet	1
olive oil	1 teaspoon
mixed vegetables	1/2 cup ( carrots , beans , green peas , capsicum , cabbage ) chopped
salt and pepper	to taste
chilli flakes	to taste
dried oregano , thyme , rose Mary and basil	little

Ingredients for Soup	Quantity
mushrooms	1/4 kg chopped
potato	1 small chopped
onion	1 big sliced
garlic	2 flakes
stoke cube	1 ( I used maggi vegetarian )
water	3 cups
pepper	to taste

Method for sandwhich

Heat 1/2 teaspoon olive oil in a non – stick pan . saute all the vegetables with salt for five minutes stirring constantly
Season with pepper , chilli flakes and dried herbs . set aside.apply light mayonnaise on one side of the bread slices.
Place the egg white omelet over One bread slice ,Top with mixed vegetables sautéed and cover with the other bread slice over ,mayonnaise applied side towards the vegetables .
Heat a sandwhich toaster apply little olive oil and toast the sandwhich to crisp . Serve hot with soup .

Method for Soup

Pressure cook mushroom ,all the ingredients together for 3 whistles .
Cool completely . Blend to a smooth runny pulp . Strain .
Bring to boil . Adjust seasoning and serve hot along with the sandwich .

Aloo dum

Preparation Time : 10 minutes

Cooking Time : 15 minutes

Serving : 4 members

Description

My love for potatoes is a lot . My favourite vegetable is potato . Remember as a kid in boarding school we were served all kinds of vegetables including a lot of potatoes too . We did have a vegetable garden in the back yard of our school . There were cabbages,carrots ,cauliflowers,potatoes , strawberries , plum trees , apple trees …. Can remember only this much .The vegetable garden was fenced but any chance we get myself and my friends Sindhu Krishna and gazeena sulu kunahmed would sneak in and rob what ever we could . When we get potatoes . We used to run to the boiler room where they had fire wood burning always . Trow the potatoes into the fire wait for a few minutes and remove and peel and eat the hot potatoes . It was great fun .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
potatoes	500 gm
green chillies	8
onions	1 1/2 cup chopped
ginger	2 cm
coriander powder	1 teaspoon
cumin powder	3/4 teaspoon
turmeric powder	1/2 teaspoon
oil	5 tablespoon
bay leaf	1
Cloves and cardamom	4 (each)
cinnamon	3 pieces
curd	1 cup beaten to smooth
salt	to taste

Method

Cook potatoes with salt . Peel and cut into big cubes .
Grind green chillies , onion and ginger together without adding water .
Heat oil in a kadai , add all the whole spices and fry thill they crackle . Top with ground paste and sauté till the raw smell vanishes .
Add all the spice powders one after the and mix well stirring for 2 minutes .
Add curd , salt to taste and stir well so that the masala gets mixed and blended with the curd . Bring to boil .
Add the boiled cubed potato pieces and simmer for 5 minutes till all the flavours infuse into the potatoes and the gravy coats the potato pieces
Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves along with poories , chapathis or boiled rice .

Pazlam naiyil varuthathu

Preparation Time : 10 minutes

Cooking Time : 5 minutes

Serving : 4 members

Description

A simple snack made with just 3 ingredients . At home we have a huge pile of Kerala plantain hung in the middle of our store room and it is replaced when over . Kerala plantains are served on the table in some form or the other every day . I miss my Kerala plantains a lot as its very difficult to get them in tirunelveli , even if we do its not of good quality as back home . So when in moms place I make it a point to feed myself a lot with Kerala plantains and add a lot of calorie content too .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Ripe Kerala plantain	4 peeled and cut into 1/2 inch circles
Sugar	to taste
Ghee or oil	1 tablespoon for each batch

Method

Heat an iron griddle or a dosa tawa .
Pour ghee . once hot , place a batch of cut ripe Kerala plantains .
Turn each piece after 40 seconds . Cook the other side as well for another 40 seconds .
Once you get crisp edges and a soft inside of each plantain piece , remove to a serving plate and sprinkle sugar to taste over when hot , as it helps the sugar to melt a little which gives a lot more taste to this snack .
Serve immediately