Green Peas Masala

Hot green peas masala with rotis or appams is my hot fav! Made this a couple of days back and it turned out to be awesome.

Just happened to notice that my posts these days lacks pictures to accompany them. My cam ran out of battery and just got it replaced. Will take pics of these items the next time I make them and will most definitely upload!

Ingredients:
Green Peas - 1 cup
Onion - 2
Tomato - 3
Garlic - 3 pods, big
Ginger - 2" piece
Green chilly - 1
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp, chopped (add more if you like them)
Salt as needed
Jeera - For tempering

In a little oil, pop jeeras
If you would like to add whole garam masala, you can do it now as we'll blend this mixture.
Add ginger, garlic and green chillies and fry for a minute
Add onions into this and saute until golden brown
Tomato time :) Add tomatoes now. Mix well until tomatoes are all mushy and cooked.
Turn off the gas, wait for this to cool and then blend them well.
In a pressure cooker, add a little oil and then the blended mixture and saute well for 3 minutes or so.
Now add all the powders
Add the green peas at this stage, and close the lid
Cook for 2 whistles
Wait until pressure is all gone
Open and add the coriander leaves and a tbsp of butter on top. Serve warm.

Aloo Paratha

I was just going through my old posts and realized that I was idle for a few months. The truth is that I did not cook much those days. Summer days, huh! Who would cook in the hot kitchen when the hot world beckons for trips? ;) Well, let me try and make up for all that with a few posts in the coming days.

The climate has started changing and it's all so cold outside these days. And this is the best time to cook. I love to don the apron and experiment. And yesterday night, it was Aloo Paratha time. In the past, whenever I planned to make this, hubby used to say that he has never liked the taste and asked me not to make them. Which means, I have not made it since wedding until yesterday, that is. I decided to make it and give it to him and see what he says. And voila, after finishing off the plate and asking for an extra one, he asked me to make the same thing the next day :) Hooray, operation success. Now I can add another one of my favorites to our menu!

Ingredients:
Chapati Dough (made by mixing wheat flour, water and salt)

For the filling:
Potato - 2 large - boiled, peeled and mashed
Onion  - half of a medum sized one, very finely chopped
Green Chilly - I added just one as the ones I get here are very hot, adjust according to your taste(finely chopped again)
Coriander leaves - 3-4 tbsp, chopped
Salt - as per taste

Mix all the ingredients under 'for the filling' really well. I used my hands for this as it's much easier that way than using a masher(or so I feel)
And now for the best part, making parathas:
Make dough balls a little bigger than what you usually make for chapatis, and make an equal number of potato filling balls of same size. Making these balls in advance makes it easier to make parathas simultaneously while rolling them out.
And now, roll out a chapati of a 5-inch diameter, put the filling inside and cover well from all sides.
Roll the ball in dough, and dont forget to get the sides rolled too. This will make sure that the paratha will not stick to the rolling pan or the surface on which you do this.
Now with the closed side up, roll the parathas by moving it around. Don't turn it around. You have to keep a monitoring eye on the top to make sure that the filling does not come out.
Roll as much as you can(with practice, you can make very thin parathas, but don't get over ambitious the first time like I did!)
Now put that on to a hot pan and cook. Once the first side is half done, turn it around and apply ghee/oil on the golden brown side. After a minute or so, turn over again and apply ghee/oil on the other side too. Once both sides are oiled, and cooked, you are good to go. Since this process takes some time, you can actually roll out the next paratha in the meantime.
Parathas tastes best with pickle and thick curd.

Let me know if you happen to try this out :)

Paniyara Dosai

I was craving for an evening time snack when Gayathri mam called me up on phone. This topic obviously came up and she told me about Paniyara Dosai amongst a million other Dosai recipes. It made me wonder why I did not even hear about it during the many years at a Tamil Nadu hostel. Anyways, I tried out the recipe immediately with some Idli batter I had at home, and it tasted awesome with Idli podi.

Ingredients:
Idli Batter - 3 big ladles
Onion - half, chopped fine
Green chilly - 1, chopped fine
Curry leaves - A sprig, chopped fine
Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp, chopped
Mustard seeds
Urad dal

In a little oil, splutter some mustard seeds, and add the urad dal
Add onion, chillies and curry leaves to it and saute well
Add a little salt(as needed for this onion mixture as the batter already contains required salt)
This mixture can then be added to the idli batter along with coriander leaves and mix this well
Make small Dosais(even smaller than uthappam as it tends to stick to the pan)
Enjoy with idli podi/coconut chutney/tomato chutney

Mango Bread

Our trip to Costco ended like it always does... Too many veggies n fruits at home now! And now that our home smells of mangoes and strawberries, decided to go with strawberry milk shake and a mango bread. What can be a better way to spend Sunday afternoon? (Dont you dare say nap, am trying to kick the habit :)

Ingredients:

Mango - One big juicy fresh one

All purpose flour - 1 cup

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Baking soda - 1/2 tsp

Salt - A pinch

Egg - 1 (in room temperature)

Yoghurt - 1/4 cup

Olive oil - 3 tbsp

Sugar - 1/2 cup
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Blend the mango without water and get the puree.

Sieve together APF, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Mix together egg, yoghurt, oil, mango pulp, sugar and vanilla essence until the sugar is all dissolved.

Make a well in the flour mixture, and add the yoghurt mixture to it.

Whisk everything together.

Add chopped nuts like pecan/walnut at this point if you wish to. 

Pour the batter to a greased and floured pan and bake for 30 mins at 375F(center rack)

Done. Enjoy maadi :)

Coffee Walnut cake

Tea time and feeling like some cake? Here is coffee-walnut cake for you...

Ingredients
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1/2 cup(make it 3/4 if you like your cake quite sweet)
Butter - 1/2 cup
Eggs - 2
Vanilla Essence - 1 tbsp
Instant coffee powder - 2 tbsp
Milk - 1/4 cup
Boiling water - 2 tbsp
Chopped Walnuts - 2 tbsp

Method
Preheat oven to 350 F
Grease and flour a cake pan (I used 9" round pan greased with a little butter and sprinkled with some flour)
Sift together the flour with baking powder.
Add coffee powder to the boiling water and make sure that it's fully incorporated.
Beat butter and sugar until they become fluffy.
Add the eggs one after another, and beat well.
Add vanilla essence and mix.
Add coffee-water mixture and mix.
Now add the flour and milk alternately, starting and ending with flour.
Add chopped walnuts.
Bake for 30 mins or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

(I am not much of a frosting person, and hence my cake looks plain. If you like it frosted, whipped cream-coffee flavored ones will go really well with this cake)

Snackable Aval

Feeling lazy in d evening but still feel like a spicy-salty-sweet snack? Then this is for you. Best part is that this can be stocked up.

Ingredients:

Aval / Rice flakes - 1 cup (substitute with pori/puffed rice)

Peanuts - 1/2 cup

Cashew nuts - 2 tsp

Raisins - 2 tsp

Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Chilli powder - A pinch

Turmeric powder - A pinch

Heing (Kayam) - A pinch

Sugar  - 1 tsp

Salt - As per taste

Method:

Roast Aval in oil for about 3 mins. By then it will become a lil crisp. Now transfer it to a plate and roast peanuts n cashewnuts in about 1 tsp oil.   After a couple of minutes, add curry leaves. Once it turns stiff, add raisins. Stir fry for a minute. Add salt, heing and turmeric powder. Mix well. Add the previously roasted aval to this and mix again. Sprinkle chilli powder and sugar. Let cool. Time for tea :)

Apple Jam

We always stock up on bread at home, and I never do prefer it much. But today, I really fancied a bread-jam sandwich. And there was no jam. Phew! I googled for easy jam recipes, and came across this super-easy apple jam recipe.

Ingredients

Apple - 1 medium-sized

Sugar - 4 tbsp

Lime  - 1 tbsp

Method:

Peel and grate the apple. Mix this with sugar in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 2 mins. Take it out, mix well and microwave again for another 1 minute. At this point, it became one of 'jammy' consistency for me. If not, microwave again (upon close watch!).

Once done, add the lime juice, mix well and let it cool. 

And my first jam was ready. Though I have taken a pic of it, I have not uploaded it. Will soon do that. Meanwhile, my bread-jam combo is waiting for me :)

Shrimp Masala

Had some shrimp in the freezer, and really wanted to try something with it and ended up with shrimp masala for lunch.

Ingredients:
Shrimp - 25-30 medium sized
Onion - 1 medium
Tomato - 1 small, cubed
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - one spring
Coriander leaves - For garnish

Method:
Saute onions until brown. Add ginger-garlic paste and saute for another minute. Add tomatoes at this point and saute again until tomatoes are cooked. Once this mixture is ready, let it cool and then blend it without adding water(or minimal water).
In the meantime, stir fry the prawns adding the powders in a tbsp of oil. You may even add a slit green chilly if you feel like it. Once the raw smell is gone, add the blended mixture and let it cook. Once the prawns are cooked, add the curry leaves and let it simmer for a minute. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Little Hearts

Ingredients :
Puff Pastry sheet - 1
Sugar - 4 tbsp

Roll out the puff pastry sheet. Sprinkle sugar on top. Roll it gently so that the sugar gets incorporated and do the same on the other side. And now its time for rolling. Roll as per the image below and cut them with a knife.
Bake at 400F for 8 minutes. Let them cool for 5-6 minutes and then turn them around and bake again for additional 4-5 minutes. And lo, little hearts are all set to be devoured :)

The above image is something I found online,  and this is how my own lil hearts turned out to be :)

Easy Parippu Curry

Well... do you forget to but tomatoes every now and then and then think of what curry to make for lunch? This one is a saviour. Very simple and very Kerala-ish.

Ingredients:
Toor Dal - 1/2 cup
Grate coconut - 1/4 cup
Jeera - 1/4 tsp
Green Chilly - 2
Pearl onion - 8-10
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - Half a spring
Salt - As per taste

Recipe
Pressure cook dal with turmeric powder, green chillies, 4 pearl onions and salt.  Blend coconut with jeera. Once dal is cooked, add blended coconut mixture and bring it to a boil. Once cooked, add tadka with mustard seeds, curry leave, remaining pearl onions and red chillies.

And lo, you are done :)

Mixed Noodles

Was going through 'yummyoyummy' when I found a recipe for mixed noodles. And decided to create a version of it with the ingredients I had at home. Do try this at home when you have quite some stuff at home, feel like cooking but not in a mood to put in a lot of work. Well, that was the kind of mood I was in today - could not even bring myself to think about making roti dough.

Ingredients:
Any noodles - 1 cup
Chicken breast fillet - 1, cut into strips
Eggs - 2
Soya sauce - 1 tbsp
Chilli sauce - 1 tsp
Tomato sauce - 1 tsp
Vinegar - 1 tsp
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Garlic - 2-3
Salt
Pepper
Shredded cheese  - if you feel like it (1-2 tbsp)

Mixture of the following veggies(some/all of these can go in, I had only a few!) - 1 cup
Carrots
Red and green peppers
Jalapenos
Onion
Cabbage
Celery
Beans
Spring Onion
Lettuce
Mushrooms

Method:
Cook the chicken with salt and pepper.
Cook noodles as per instructions in pack.
Saute ginger and garlic.
Add veggies with salt to the sauted ginger-garlic. If you are using any veggies that might take extra time to cook, it will be better to half-cook it prior. But since we are talking about a quick recipe here, it will be better to add only those veggies which you do not mind eating crisp(think healthy ;)
Once vegetable are cooked, scramble egg with salt and pepper and add to it. You can do it in the same pan by moving the veggies to a side.
Add cooked chicken pieces to this.
Now it's time for all soya sauce, tomato ketchup, chilli sauce and vinegar. Add these and mix well.
Toss the noodles to this mixture and check salt.
Throw in the cheese after turning the stove off, that is if you decide to add it.
And most importantly, serve hot.

Hope you like this :)

Banana Cake

I have become a baking fan!!!
I was just not feeling upto my afternoon map and decided to try out something new, and thus started with banana cake recipe, and I threw in some blueberries and chopped walnuts too. The result was wonderful, the cake is long gone :)


Ingredients:
All Purpose Flour - 1 cup
Sugar                   - 1/2 cup
Ripe Bananas       - 2 medium sized mashed
Baking soda         - 1/2 tsp
Yoghurt               - 1/2 cup
Chopped nuts      - 1/2 cup, optional
Blueberry            - 1/2 cup, optional
Unsalted Butter   - 1/2 cup
Salt                     - 1/4 tsp (avoid if using salted butter)
Egg                     - 1

Preheat oven to 350F.
Mix together bananas, butter, sugar, yoghurt and egg.
Sieve All purpose flour, salt and baking soda.
Add the flour to the banana mixture, and mix well.
Add chopped nuts and blueberries if you prefer.
Grease the baking pan with butter and flour.
Bake for 30 minutes.

Mushroom Thoran

Today was my first time with Mushrooms in my kitchen, and since its not something on the first few pages of my hubby's favs, I decided to make do with Mushroom Thoran.

I started with watching a few videos on how to clean them. One of them was particularly useful. It said about mushroom's affinity to water and how it will retain water in it making the recipe go bad. Its best to wipe it clean with wet and dry paper napkins instead of leaving it under running water.

Ingredients:
Mushroom  - Finely cut, 1 cup
Coconut     - Grated, 1/2 cup
Curry leaves- 6-7 leaves
Pepper        - 1/4 tsp
Green Chillies - 2(spicy)
Coriander powder - 1/4 tsp
Garlic           - 1 clove
Ginger          - 1" piece
Salt              - As per taste

Mix together all the ingredients except mushrooms, and crush them. If you have very finely grated coconut, then the crushing part applies only for ginger and garlic.
Pop some mustard seeds, and thrown in a little Jeera too if you like the flavour.
Add the mushrooms and saute for a minute.
Add the grated coconut mixture, and mix well.
Cook closed with a little stirring every now and then until done.
This makes a wonderful thoran as an accompaniment to rice.

Chicken Strips

Chicken nuggets are generally deep-fried, and I generally resist the temptation to dwelve into a twenty of them for this particular reason. So decided to bake them cut as strips and evaluate the end product :)

Ingredients:
Chicken breasts cut into long and thin pieces - 1/2 lbs
Salt - As per taste
Pepper - As per taste
Lime juice - 2 tbsp
Egg white  - Of that of one egg (You can use the yolk as well if you feel up for it. For the time being, am sticking to the healthy option :)
Bread crumbs

Marinate chicken with salt, pepper and lime juice. Refrigerate for one hour.
Roll the chicken strips over the egg white and immediately over bread crumbs so that it sticks all around. I used  seasoned crumbs, but the plain ones will be just as good.
In a baking pan lined with a foil, arrange these strips. Spray a little oil(olive oil being my choice).
Put the oven on 'broil' mode, and broil for 7 minutes. Then turn over and broil for an additional 4 minutes. It's always better to check after 5 minutes since the size of the strips you have may vary from what I had.
Once its browned on both sides, enjoy it piping hot with some tomato ketchup and lime wedges (and don't you forget to let me know how it was).

Variation:
If you wish to bake it, bake at 350F for 20 minutes.
Deep frying will make it tastier, if you are game for it!