Daily Archives: July 21, 2014

Savoury envelope appam

Preparation Time : 40 minutes

Cooking Time : 10 minutes for filling and 5 minutes for each envelope appam

Serving : 8-10 members

Description

Savoury stuffed appam. The recipe for this dish was borrowed from my mothers cook book panorama home recipes of Kerala which was gifted to her by her friend. A treasure trove of home -style recipes. To me, recipes have always been more than instructions about how to make a great dish. Having this recipe in hand for quite sometime and being in my to try list as well, Every time something or the other just kept me away from the dish.My quest to make non-deep fried dishes for Iftar this year made me do this dish but with a little changes of using lesser oil than what the original recipe demanded. Once you have the pancakes and filling ready, you just have to assemble them together, shallow fry and cut and serve the pillow Drool worthy treat. Tadaa it’s ready.The layers and the crisp outer cover sure does tempt you a lot.It’s the same old thin pancakes and filling we make at home just like how our mothers would make but with a wicked clever, knock out spin of twist in assembling that gives this dish a oomph factor. This dish is a must try for all the home ministers.

Ingredients for pancakes / appam

Ingredients	Quantity
Flour / Maida	1 1/2 cups
Milk	1/2 cup
Eggs	2
Salt	v
Water	enough to get a loose batter

Method for pancakes / appam

Mix maida , eggs , salt and milk together .
Add water little by little according to the required amount to get a nice smooth thin batter . Keep aside .

Ingredients for filling

Ingredients	Quantity
Mutton / chicken keema	250 gram
Green chillies	4
Onions	2 chopped
Ginger garlic paste	1 teaspoon each
Garam masala powder	1/2 teaspoon
Coriander powder	1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder	1/4 teaspoon ,
Oil	2 teaspoons
Coriander leaves	1/2 bunch chopped

Method for filling

Cook washed and cleaned keema with coriander powder , turmeric powder and salt to taste .
Heat oil in a non – stick kadai . Fry the chopped onions to brown adding ginger garlic paste . Sauté to crisp .
Top with green chillies , garam masala powder , cooked keema and chopped coriander leaves .
Fry for two minutes or until dry and set aside .

Ingredients for Maida paste

Ingredients	Quantity
Flour / Maida	1/2 cup
Salt	to taste
Water	just enough to make a thick paste of maida

Method for Maida paste

Mix all the above mentioned ingredients together to get a thick consistency paste with out lumps . Set aside .

How to proceed

Make pancakes with the loose batter of 3 sizes ( small , big and bigger ) in a non stick pan . ( i used 3 different sized non – stick pans for the 3 sized pancakes ) you get 3 pancakes in each size for the amount of batter mentioned in the recipe . Cook the pancakes on both the sides and set aside .
Place the small pancake . Spread 1 1/2 tablespoon of filling in the Center in the shape of a square . Apply maida paste all around the filling till the edge of the pancakes . Fold the maida paste applied four sides in wards to form a small envelope .
Take the big pancake . ( the middle sized pancake ) place 2 tablespoon of filling in the Center and spread evenly into a square shape leaving the edges of the pancake . Apply maida paste apart from the filled portion up to edges on all four sides . Place the 1st small envelope on top of the square filling and fold like the first envelop from all four sides inwards .
Do the same with the 3rd ( bigger ) pancake . Each time placing the previous folded envelope on top of the square filling and folding the sides of the maida paste applied four sides in wards to get a bigger envelope .
Heat a tawa with 1 tablespoon of oil and place the sealed side down and press to make it firm and crisp . Turn over and press the other side as well to get a golden colour crisp cover . With a help of a tong , carefully turn it over on all sides and fry to golden colour and crisp .
Remove from tawa . Cut into four triangles and serve hot with tomato sauce . You get a crisp outer layer with soft inner layer of pancakes filled in between with the filling .

Notes

Vegetarians can omit the eggs in the batter . Substitute with vegetable filling . Follow the same recipe and go ahead for the vegetarian version .
I have added mixed vegetables ( carrots , beans , green peas , capsicum and cabbage ) along with the chicken keema for the filling . Just to add more vegetables in our diet as its ramadan and no other way than to cheat every one at home to get some veggies into their tummy .
You could dot the pancakes with ghee while cooking on both sides .( I skipped using ghee , so my pancakes were oil free pancakes made in non – stick pans .)
You could pan fry each envelope in oil for every envelope making sure each envelope has a good sealed sides and golden crisp cover . Start with small pancake and make sure each pancake gets bigger than the other , resulting in crisp golden layers outside as well as inside . ( I just pan fried the outer last layer alone wanting to avoid the extra oil content in the dish )
I made just 3 different sizes of pancakes , resulting in 3 envelopes to be folded . Maximum you could do with 4 envelopes . ( I tried with 4 but it was too massive and huge )
In total other than the oil used for the filling , I have just used 1 tablespoon of oil to fry each 3 layered envelopes . You could oil spray and fry and reduce the 1 tablespoon of oil that I used as well .

Tomato Biriyani

Preparation Time : 25 -30 minutes

Cooking Time : 30 minutes

Serving : 4 members

Description

Tomato biriyani , an authentic recipe that I learnt from my mother – in – law . My daughters favorite as it’s a vegetarian dish that helps her with a lesser job of picking and cleaning the rice before eating not giving her much trouble like the biriyani . I have made one change from my mother – in – laws recipe of using blanched , peeled and pureeed tomatoes instead of chopped tomatoes as she does . I had to make the change as the previous chopped tomatoes used ended up in a lot of tomato skin in the rice were the picking and cleaning of the rice had to be done before eating . Pains taking but the out come totally justifies the effort put in . Using the tomato puree helps in getting a better red color as well . At home this dish is called as thakkali saadham , meaning tomato rice in Tamil but I feel it’s more of a biriyani than just a saadham as we get to experience the magic of true Indian spices in an array of exotic and rare symphony of elegance . This tomato biriyani does taste very different from the traditional biriyani but in a good way that oozes with old world charm and sure to hit the right spot making sure your senses are soothed .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Basmati rice	2 cup
Tomatoes	1/4 kg Blanched , skin peeled and ground
Onions	5 Sliced
Green chillies	5 Slit
Cinnamon	1 inch piece Powdered
Cloves	2 Powdered
Ginger and garlic paste	1 teaspoon each
Turmeric powder	1/4 teaspoon
Red chilli powder	1/2 teaspoon
Salt	to taste
Coconut paste	one hand ground
Ghee	4 tablespoons
Water	4 cups
Coriander leaves	2 tablespoons (chopped)

Method

Cut a cross in the bottom of each whole tomato making sure the other end is intact together . Drop the tomatoes into hot water and set aside for 5 minutes .
Remove from the hot water and cool , reserving the hot water that can be used to cook the rice . ( in case you are pressed for time drop the tomatoes into ice cold water ) peel the skin and blitz in a food processor to a purée .
Wash and soak basmati rice in water .Heat ghee in a pressure cooker .
Top with sliced onions and sauté for 5-6 minutes until onions are golden brown in colour . Add ginger and garlic paste diluted in little water and fry until raw smell has gone for about 4 minutes .
Add green chillies and tomato purée . Keep stirring occasionally until oil floats on top. Add turmeric powder , red chilli powder , salt to taste , powdered cinnamon and cloves . Mix well adding water .
Add coconut paste and mix well . Check seasoning and bring to boil . Drain the soaked basmati rice and add to the boiling water along with chopped coriander leaves .
Mix once gently making sure not to break the soaked basmati rice . Cover with lid and pressure cook for 2 whistles in high heat .
Wait for the whistle to subside , then open and serve hot with onion raitha , any spicy non – vegetarian or vegetarian gravy and paped .

Baked stuffed cabbage rolls

Preparation Time : 30 minutes

Cooking Time : 20 -25 minutes

Serving : 10 -12 members

Description

I have been getting requests pouring in asking for healthy recipes that are not deep fried to be had while breaking the fact for the on going month of Ramadan. Here is one try of mine. Please bear with the picture, as it was taken in a hurry. Happy healthy cooking folks.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
cabbage leaves	12 large
olive oil	6 tablespoons
vegetable broth or maggi cube stock	1 litre
Grated cheese	your preferred type
Balsamic vinegar	to taste
Rice	your preferred choice for making risotto
celery	1 stalk
carrot	1
red onion	1 small
Salt and pepper	to taste

Method

Carefully peel off 12 layers of leaves. Rinse and clean them and remove the hard stem.
Fill a large saucepan with water and salt and bring it to a boil. Then dip each cabbage leaf into the boiling water for about 1 – 2 minutes to soften them.
Chop some celery, carrot and onion finely.
Heat olive oil into a pan and fry the onions , carrots and celery .Add in about 300g of rice (any preferred brand for making risotto).
Add in 1 litre of vegetable broth or stock from cubes and a dash of balsamic vinegar. When the rice is almost cooked, add in some chopped cheese (you can use any preferred cheese or omit this ingredient). Season with salt and pepper .
Place 2 spoonful of risotto rice mixture and wrap it snugly. Fold the sides and roll tightly .
Place 12 cabbage rolls in a baking tray, lined with a ladle-full of vegetable broth. Brush some melted butter or oil on top of each cabbage roll
Sprinkle some grated cheese and bake them in preheated oven at 200 degrees for about 15 minutes. Serve hot .

Note

Can substitute with any vegetarian or non vegetarian filling of your choice .
Cheese can be substituted with paneer ( cottage cheese )

Tender coconut and palm fruit country punch

Preparation Time : 10 minutes

Cooking Time : nil

Serving : 2 members

Description

Tender coconut palm fruit country punch. A recipe mentioned by Shanthi Thangavel in saute,fry n bake when i posted palm fruit juice. Such a cooling drink to beat the heat of summer.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Tender coconut	1 ( water and flesh together
Palm fruits	5 peeled and crushed with hands
Palm sugar ( panai karkandu )	to taste

Method

Dissolve the palm sugar in the tender coconut water .
Add the tender coconut flesh and palm fruit bits . Mix well .
Serve chilled .