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!

Easy Curd Curry

Now, this is a life saver am talking about. When 4 of us friends decided to stay together renting out a house in Bangalore with no idea what awaited us, it really was. Ask any youngster staying alone and he/she is sure to turn up with their own version of curd curries. This had always been our fav, especially on days when there were no vegetables at home(which happens to be, lets try, almost every day?) We have made it with just onion, tomatoes, chilli pwdr, salt and curd having run out of every other thing in the house. So, feel free to miss any ingredient as the situation demands as long as you have the determination to finish the curry off :)

Ingredients:
Curd     - 1 cup
Onion   - 1
Tomato - 1
Turmeric powder - A pinch
Salt       - as  per taste
Green Chillies - 2 (use chilly powder if not available)

All of the below or whatever is available can be used:
Ginger
Garlic
Curry leaves
Dried red chillies
Cumin seeds / Cumin powder
Mustard seeds
Coriander leaves

Splutter mustard seeds. Once done add cumin, curry leaves and dried red chillies. Add onion and salt to this and saute well. Once you feel that the sauting will do, add green chillies, ginger and garlic. After a minute, add diced tomatoes. Once the tomatoes are well cooked, add turmeric powder and mix well.  If using cumin powder or chilly powder add them at this stage. Add curd and coriander leaves, and turn the stove off.

Variations:
If you are a person whose fridge is well stocked, you may add cucumber/green papaya/any vegetable you deem fit after adding turmeric powder.
If you have the energy and patience to scrape coconut or if you happen to have some handy, you can grind it with a few cumin and mustard seeds and add it to the mixture and bring it to a boil(before adding the curd).

Meen Thoran

I had a few canned boxes of Tuna at home, with which I wanted to experiment making thoran. I have heard that it tastes better with Sardines, but for today, tuna will have to do. Till date, hubby has been the tuna expert with the curry he makes. I will post his recipe one of these days.

Ingredients 
Canned tuna in water - 2
Turmeric powder       - 1/2 tsp
Coconut                    - 3/4 cup
Green Chillies            - 4
Shallots(Cheriyulli)     - 5-10 nos
Ginger                       - 1" piece
Heing(kayam)            - small piece
Curry leaves              - 5 leaves
Mustard seeds
Salt

Cook the tuna with just turmeric powder and salt. Meanwhile, crush the coconut, green chillies, shallots, ginger, heing and curry leaves without adding water. Once the tuna is cooked, add the ground coconut, and mix well. Adjust salt. Once it's well cooked, add tadka with mustard seeds and curry leaves. You may also saute some shallots and add them along with the tadka.

Alteration:
If using some other fish instead of tuna, add kudampuli or plain puli while cooking the fish in the first step. Most people do not like the taste of puli in tuna which is why I have not added it here. But if you prefer it that way, feel free to go ahead and add a little.

(As always, I apologize for the pic :(  )

Butter Cookies

I badly wanted to make cookies after seeing them in all shapes and sizes in various stores here, and I set out to experiment. The cookies which came out tasted great but didnt look all that great (I dont have a cookie cutter). The recipe, though, is simple enough even for kids to follow.

Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Sugar                  - 1/2 cup
Butter                  - 1/2 cup

Whisk together all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Make small rounds and press them to shapes as you wish.  And bake them at 375 F for 10 mins. Let them cool. And crispy cookies are all so ready for you to taste. Isn' t that easy?

Alteration:
You may use ghee instead of butter and that comes out great too.