Daily Archives: November 19, 2013

Oats Kolakattai

Preparation Time : 10 minutes

Cooking Time : 30 minutes

Serving : 6 members

Description

A very healthy break fast main course with oats and vegetables . Usually every one at home are so fussy about oats . Every time it’s on the break fast table , there is a problem . They will want cornflakes , sandwhich or some thing else instead . I got this recipe from a regional tv channel . It was so easy and quick to make . I remember I didn’t even take note of the recipe , I just stored it in my mind . Tried it out and no one even knew that oats was there in the dish until I let them know . Now it’s a regular dish on my break fast table .

Ingredients for kolakattai

Ingredients	Quantity
Rice flour	1 cup
oats	1 cup
salt	to taste
water	3 cups
onion	1 chopped
carrot	1 chopped
beans	4 chopped
cabbage	1/4 cup chopped
green peas	1/4 cup
oil	1 tea spoon
mustard seeds	1/4 tea spoon
urad dal	1/4 tea spoon
curry leaves	few
coconut	1 table spoon

Method for Kolakattai

Mix oats , rice flour and salt to taste together . Mix in the water and soak the mixture for 5 minutes .
Heat a non stick kadai with oil , add the mustard seeds , urad dal and curry leaves .
Once they splutter top with chopped vegetables and onion . Sauté with salt to taste till half cooked .
Add the coconut and mix well . Pour the soaked oats mixture and keep stirring till it gets to thick dough consistency .
Take out and roll into lime size balls and steam in a greased base for 8 to 10 minutes , like for idle or ediappam .
Serve hot with chuntny .

Ingredients for chutny

Ingredients	Quantity
coconut	1 cup
red dry chillies	6
salt	to taste
tamarind	a large pinch
small onions	4

Method for chutny

Grind coconut , red chillies , tamarind and salt to taste with out water to a coarse paste .
Then add little water and grind to a thick coarse paste .
Finally add the small onions and grind just to crush the onions . Mix well .
Taste and adjust and serve with the oats kolakattai .

Banana Tart

Preparation Time : 30 to 40 minutes

Cooking Time : 15 minutes

Serving : 6 to 8 members

Description

It’s the national dish of Mauritius . My daughter Anisha had gone for her honeymoon to Mauritius . Where ever they ate any time of the day , they were served banana tarts . My gal and my son in law loved the tart . They went on and on about the banana tart after their trip . I got the recipe from a satellite tv channel. Took note of it and tried . It was so yum And the best part was it tasted exactly like what my daughter had in Mauritius .

Ingredients

Ingredients for Main dish	Quantity
Banana	4(mashed)
sugar	1 1/4 cup
vanilla essence	few drops
black or yellow food colour	few drops

For tart

Ingredients for Tart	Quantity
Maida	250 gm
cold butter	100 gm
salt	a pinch
butter	to grease the tart tin
egg	1 beaten to brush on top of tart

Method

Mix mashed bananas , sugar , food colour and vanilla essence together .
Cook in a non – stick kadai , stirring frequently till it forms a thick paste . Keep aside .
Rub maida , butter and salt together to get bread crumb consistency . Add little water to get a pastry dough .
Do not knead to much . Cover with cling film and keep in the refrigaratore for 1/2 an hour . Preheat an oven at 200 degree celsious .Roll out to 1/2 inch thick circle .
Cut small circles out of the big circle pastry dough . Grease a tart tin with butter , place the small circles in to the tart moulds . Prick with a fork and blind bake for five minutes .
Take out cool and then fill with banana filling . Cover the tart with pastry strips in a cross cross pattern .
Brush egg over the top of the tart . Bake for 8 to 10 minutes till cooked through . Serve hot or cold .

Marble Cake

Easy to make yummy cake . The two colours in the cake really tempts you to have more . I serve it with chocolate sauce topping . Can serve warm , chill or at room temperature .

Ingredients for the Cake

Ingredients	Quantity
Maida	1 cup
baking powder	1 tea spoon
butter	1/2 cup
eggs	2 separated
milk	1/4 cup
powdered sugar	1/2 cup
vanilla essence	1 tsp
cocoa powder	1 1/2 tea spoon

Ingredients for Chocolate topping

Ingredients	Quantity
chocolate	100 gm
cream	75 gm
honey	3 table spoon

Method
Mix maida and baking powder together. Beat butter and sugar till light . Add the egg yolks one by one , beating well after each addition . Add vanilla essence and beat well . Fold in maida , alternately with milk . Beat egg whites to soft peaks . Fold into the maida mixture . Divide the mixed mixture into 2 equal parts . Mix in cocoa powder to one part . Preheat oven to 180degree Celsius . Grease a baking mould . Place alternative spoonfuls of vanilla and chocolate mixtures in it . Swirl with a fork . Bake the cake for 40 to 45 minutes until done . Cool completely . Pour chocolate topping over and serve .

Chocolate topping ; cut chocolate into small pieces . Place cream and cut chocolate in a microwave safe bowl . Cook on medium for 2 minutes , stirring often till chocolate has melted . Stir in honey . Cool to thick stiff pouring consistency . Pour on the cake and serve .

Arisi maavu Rotti

Preparation Time : 10 minutes

Cooking Time : 3 minutes

Serving : 6 to 8 members

Description

That is how we call it in my moms place . This dish is an authentic dish very own to the Muslim speaking Tamils who hail from Palghat And Coimbatore region . In Malayalam the same dish is known as ari pathiri or just pathiri . I remember my grand mom ( dads mom balkees perima ) used to tell me that at her times of being young any one wanting a girl to be married to their family would be asked 3 questions. One if they finished reading the holy Quran , two , do they pray five times a day and third Do you know to make arusi maavu rotti ? This dish is that important to the Muslims of the Palghat , Coimbatore region . Thank god I got married to a Tamil family because I didn’t know how to make pathiri till very recently . I made it a point to learn as I love the dish and didn’t want the dish to fade away from my daily cooking .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Rice flour	2 cups( heaped , 350 gm )
salt	to taste
water	2 1/2 cups

Rice flour is the flour you use to make ediappams with .

Method

Heat water with salt to taste in a heavy bottomed vessel .
Once it boils , reduce the heat and pour the rice flour as one lump in the Center of the boiling water .
Insert a ladle in the middle , close with a lid and cook in reduced flame for 5 minutes . Remove from fire and mix quickly with the ladle .
Make a smooth dough by wetting your hands in water as the dough will be hot . Make small tomato size balls and roll flat thin chapathis using rice flour powder .
Heat a tawa , place the pathiri wait for 20 seconds turn over , wait for another 20 seconds then turn over again . The pathiri will puff .
Remove and apply ghee lightly on one side . Do the same with all the rice flour balls .
Serve hot with any non veg gravy.

Apple and Banana Flitters with Home made Custard

Preparation Time : 10 minutes

Cooking Time : 5 minutes to deep fry +8 to 10 minutes for home made custard sauce.

Serving : 6 members

Description

Apple And banana flitters with home made custard . You can use any fruit of the season like pineapple , lychee …. It was raining and cold . Had guests For lunch .wanted to serve them dessert after the meal but not a cold one as it was very cold . Went through my recipe book and got this recipe . Made it and was a big hit . I don’t remember whose recipe this is must be vicky ratnanis or Sanjeev kapoors .happy bites to all .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Apples	1 big ( cored and cut into rings )
banana	1 diagonally sliced
flour	150 gm
sugar	5 gm
yeast	2 gm
cornflour	150 gm
water	120 ml
oil	to deep fry

For home made custard

Ingredients	Quantity
Cream	250 gm
sugar	50 gm
egg yolk	1
venilla essence	few drops
cornflour	1/2 tea spoon diluted in 1/4 tea spoon water

Method for Flitters

Cut the apple rings to 1/2 inch thick rings . Soak apple rings and bananas cut in lime juice to prevent oxidation .
Mix yeast in water and sugar , let it rest for a while . Add the flour and cornflour with some water and whisk well to form a thick batter .
Let it rest for 6 or more minutes till the batter rises . Coat the apples and bananas first in some flour and then dip in the batter And deep fry till golden brown in color .
Drain and serve immediately with home made custard.

Method for home made Custard sauce

Boil cream , sugar and vanilla essence together on low flame .
Add the beaten egg yolk and keep stiring to make sure the yolk does not curdle .Cook till a thick sauce is formed .
Add the diluted cornflour and cook for 5 more minutes .
Remove from heat , strain. And cool . Serve with flitters .

Tandoori Chicken

Preparation Time : 20 minutes + 6 hours 30 minutes for marination

Cooking Time : 20 to 25 minutes

Serving : 6 members

Description

My favourite as it tastes good and is healthy as well . There is a story behind this picture I have posted . My daughter Anisha has already posted this picture on Facebook with the title ka ka kabab . Which means crow ( ka ka in Tamil means crow ) kabab . No one got the point of what she posted instead I got so many likes n comments stating it looks yum . For the positive results of this picture I am posting this picture with its recipe again .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Chicken	( 600 gm each ) - 2
butter	1/4 cup to bast
chaat masala	1 tea spoon
cream	2 tea spoon
garlic paste	3 1/3 table spoon
ginger paste	2 tea spoon
lime juice	2 table spoon
red chilli powder	5 tea spoon
salt	to taste

For the marinate

Ingredients	Quantity
Cumin powder	1 tea spoon
Garam masala	2 tea spoon
ginger paste	5 tea spoon
lime juice	2 table spoon
oil	3 1/3 table spoon
Red chilli powder	5 tea spoon
saffron	2 strands
salt	to taste
Curd	( hung ) 1 cup
Onion rings and lime wedges	to garnish

Method

Make incisions on the breasts and thighs of chicken . Mix salt , red chilli powder , ginger garlic paste and lime juice together . Rub this paste over the chicken and keep aside for 30 minutes .
Whisk curd with all the marinate ingredients . Rub this masala over the chicken and marinate for 5-6 hours in the refrigerator .
Pre heat oven to 175 degree centi grade . Skewer the chicken , leaving a gap of 4 cm between each bird . Roast for 15 minutes or until done then baste with butter and roast again for 3 more minutes .
Cut chicken into four pieces . Sprinkle chaat masala and cream .
Garnish with onion rings and lime wedges . Serve hot with salad and green chuntney

Fried Rice

Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Cooking Time : 15 minutes

Serving : 4 members

Description

A favourite dish liked by all . Every one has their own recipe but I like mine the best . A regular dish at home , specially in the lunch box when My kids went to school .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Basmati Rice	1 cup
Onion	1
Spring Onion	1 Bunch
oil	100 ml
carrot	100 gm chopped
French Beans	100gm chopped
celery	2 stalks chopped
lime	1
capsicum	1 chopped
garlic	1 tablespoon minced
light soya sauce	1 teaspoon
ajinomoto	1/2 teaspoon
white pepper	to taste
salt	to taste
egg	2
chicken	1/4 cup (optional)

Method

Wash and soak rice for 10 minutes . Cook in plenty of boiling water adding salt to taste and 1/2 teaspoon lime juice .
Stir and cook through without breaking the rice . Strain . Keep aside for 5 minutes . Then spread onto a flat tray .
Heat 1/2 of oil and vegetables and stir fry on high flame for 3 minutes . Remove when vegetables are 1/2 cooked . Keep aside .
Heat the remaining oil add garlic and fry to light brown . Top with the chicken and fry for a minute .
Then add the rice . Mix gently adding the vegetables , salt to taste , white pepper to taste , ajinomoto and soya sauce .
Gently stir making sure not to break the rice . Mix in scrambled eggs . Mix well . Taste and adjust .
Serve hot with any Chinese based gravy dish .

Note

Chicken – 1/4 cup ( pressure cook with 1/2 teaspoon vinegar and salt to taste ) shread . (Optional )

Eggless Chocolate Cakes

Egg less chocolate cake with rich chocolate topping . My daughter loves cakes . I am a moderate cook when it comes to cakes . My best friend sulu is an expert in cakes n bakes . That’s why may be I am never confident enough . I made this cake for my gal Anisha . It turned out well ( I had my fingers crossed till I got good comments ) .

Ingredients
Flour – 1 1/2 cups , cocoa powder – 3 table spoons , baking powder – 1 tea spoon , salt – 1/4 tea spoon , brown sugar – 1 cup , oil – 5 table spoons , vinegar – 1 tea spoon , cold water – 1 cup , oil – 1 tea spoon to grease . Ingredients for rich chocolate topping : dark chocolate – 100 gm , cream – 75 gm , honey – 3 table spoon

Method

Mix flour , cocoa powder , baking powder and salt together . Seive this mixture twice . Add brown sugar and mix well . Mix oil 5 table spoons , vinegar and water together . Pour this mix over the dry mixture and beat for 5 minutes . Grease a baking pan with 1 tea spoon oil . Bake the cake in a pre heated oven at 185 degree centigrade for about 30 minutes Till cooked through . Check by poking a long tooth pick into the Center of cake . If it comes out clean without anything sticking its cooked . Cool completely and coat rich chocolate topping all over the cake . Decorate as u like and serve .

Cut chocolate into small pieces . Place the cream in a microwave safe bowl . Add the chocolate pieces . Cook on medium for 2 minutes , stirring often till chocolate has melted . Stir in the honey . Cool it to thick of stiff pouring consistency . Apply and coat all around the cake and serve . ( u can do the same by double boiling in case u don’t have a microwave .)

Marathi Besan Flour Cakes

Preparation Time : 10 minutes

Cooking Time : 40 minutes

Serving : 6 to 8 members

Description

Recipe courtesy femina magazine . I knew to make very few dishes useing besan flour like bajji and pakoda . I wanted to Prepar this dish as soon as I read it . It’s an awesome tasteing snack . I serve it usually for break fast or in the evening along with tea . I bet, you won’t be able to stop with one piece .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Gram flour	200 gm
cashew nuts	30 chopped
green chillies	1 chopped
coriander leaves	4 table spoons chopped
water	300 ml
turmeric powder	1/2 tea spoon
chilli powder	1 tea spoon
tamarind pulp	1 tea spoon
salt	to taste
sugar	1/2 tea spoon
oil	5 table spoons plus 1 tea spoon plus 200 ml to deep fry

Method

Mix gram flour , cashew nuts , powdered spices , green chillies , tamarind pulp , coriander leaves , salt , sugar and water together . Heat 5 table spoons of oil in a non – stick pan .
Add the gram flour mixture and sauté for twenty minutes on medium heat till dry . Remove and set aside .
Grease a square or rectangular shaped plate 1 inch deep with 1 tea spoon oil .
Press the gram flour mixture evenly into it , about 1/2 inch thickness .
Allow to cool for thirty minutes . Cut into 2 inch squares .
Heat oil and deep fry to golden brown in colour . Serve hot with green chuntny and tomato sauce . In Marathi it’s called kaju kothimbir vadi .

Vermicelli Biriyani

Preparation Time : 30 minutes

Cooking Time : 35 minutes

Serving : 6 to 8 members

Description

We call it semiya biriyani . This is an authentic dish from the Tamil speaking Muslims who are addressed as rawvthars . Both my grandmoms and my mom are perfect in preparing this dish . I remember my grandmom ( dads mom ) balkees perima used to make this in a huge vessel for us in at least 10 to 12 kg of meat . As we cousins only were 29 members . Recently I made this for my friend Sindhu and her daughters . The gals went bonkers over the samiya biriyani . She got the recipe from me as her second daughter oozy wanted samiya biriyani for her birthday . My sons favourite dish and it has to be made by my mom for sure .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Mutton or chicken	3/4 kg
fried vermicelli	600 gm ( better if we fry in ghee to golden brown in colour )
ginger garlic paste	2 table spoon
onion	5 sliced
tomato	4 big chopped
coriander leaves	4 table spoon chopped
mint leaves	3 table spoon
green chillies	6 slit
curd	1 cup
small onions	one hand crushed
cinnamon stick	5 pieces
Cloves	4
Cardamom	4
ghee	1 1/4 cup ( can mix oil with ghee instead of useing ghee alone )
chilli powder	1 1/2 table spoon ( add to taste as I prefer the spicy version )
lime	1/2 juice
water (ratio)	Measure vermicelli and add water equal to the measurement of the vermicelli

Method

Heat ghee adding cinnamon , cloves , cardamom with onions .fry onions to dark brown in colour .
Add crushed small onion, green chillies , ginger garlic paste to brown.
Top with tomato , mint , coriander leaves , curd , salt to taste , meat and chilli powder . Stir well till it forms a thick gravy.
Pour measured water to cook the meat . Once cooked add lime juice.
Taste and adjust.
Bring to boil and add vermicelli . Once the vermicelli is half cooked and water has reduced Lower the flame and keep in dum for 5 to 8 minutes . The vermicelli biriyani is ready.
Serve hot with onion Raitha.

Note

At times curd added might give a lot of gravy out before adding water to cook the meat . In that case , just reduce 1 cup of water and cook the meat . Add the fried vermicelli and you find the water is not enough , boil the one cup of water and add as required.