Yam Fry(Suran/ chena kilangu masala)

We visited one of our close friend's place few months back. They prepared yam fry as one of the side dish. OMG... It was tasting really good. Lini akka your yam fry rocks. So few days back, i gave it a try . It came out really good and we loved it. Same taste like lini akka's yam fry. Next time i have to try her beef fry recipe.

I used frozen chopped yams to make this dish. If you are using fresh yam, peel off the skin. Then chop into bite size pieces and cook along with some water, salt and turmeric till it become soft. Simple to make and tastes very good with mild curry's/ gravy's.

You will need:

• 2 cups of chopped yam
• ½ tsp chilli powder
• ½ tsp cumin powder
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• ½ tsp pepper powder
• salt for taste
• 2 tbsp oil

Procedure:

Step 1:

Cook the yam for few mins in water along with turmeric and salt till it become soft. Discard the water once the yam is cooked well

Step2:

Heat oil in a non stick pan. When the oil becomes hot add the cooked yam and saute it for 2 mins. Then add chilli powder, pinch of turmeric powder, cumin powder. Check for salt at this time. Saute it uncovered in a low flame for 10 more mins. When its ready add some pepper powder and saute well for one more min. Serve it hot with dal curry and rice.

I got few awards last week from my wonderful friend Ramya.


Thanks Ramya for passing these awards to me.

Ceylon Egg Parotta

You will need:

• 2 cups All purpose flour/ maida
• ½ cup water
• 2 tbsp oil
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp sugar

½ oil for kneading, flattening and toasting.

For egg Mixture:

• 4 eggs . (You can reduce to 2 eggs also)
  
• 1 red onion(chopped finely)
• 3 green chillies(chopped finely). You can use pepper powder also)
• 5 curry leaves(chopped finely)
• few coriander leaves/cilantro(chopped finely)
• salt for taste

Procedure for making egg mixture:

Mix together all the ingredients under egg mixture and have it ready.


Procedure for making Parotta dough:

Step 1:

Take a bowl and add flour, salt, baking powder, sugar and 2 tbsp oil. Start kneading by adding water little by little.

I used my hand mixer to do the work for me. You can use atta kneader, stand mixer, or hands to do kneading. Using hand mixer, mix it for 10 mins with medium speed.

Step 2:

After kneading the dough, make it as a ball shape and apply 2 tbsp oil and knead it nicely with hands. Then cover it with a wet cloth or wet paper towel and keep it aside for 2 hours.

Hint: Wet cloth/ wet paper towel(tissue) means soak the cloth/tissue in the water and the squeeze out all the water from it. Then cover the dough with this cloth.

Step 3:

Now make a big working surface to work with these parotta. Granite table or mica works perfect for this.

Step 4:

Divide the balls into 5 equal portions. Each balls need minimum 1 tbsp oil to flatten and toast. Apply oil on top and start rolling using rolling pin till you get paper thin texture. In the mean time heat the tawa on medium high heat.

I used electric griddle. Temp is 350 F.

Rolled dough:


Step 5:

After rolling the dough thinly, lift it carefully and spread it on the tawa . Apply oil on top and after 30 seconds flip it carefully. Now its time to add egg mixture.

Step 6:

Add 2 tbsp to 3 tbsp egg mixture in the center as shown in the picture.


Step 7:

Fold it from sides to form square shape. Pic is shown below



Step 8:

Now take approximately 1 tsp egg mixture and apply it on top to give more shine and colorful look.

Heat till it get golden brown color on both the sides by applying some oil. You can serve it by cutting it into 2 pieces also. Serve it with any spicy side dishes like chicken masala, mushroom masala, crab masala or even with simple sambhar.

Bottle Gourd Masala

You will need:

• 1 bottle gourd
• 2 onion(chopped into fine pieces)
  
• 1 tomato / 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
  
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp garam masala powder
• pinch of mango powder/ amchoor powder (optional to get more of sour taste)
  
• 3 tbsp oil
• salt for taste
  

For seasoning:

• 1 tsp mustard
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp channa dal
• 1 red chilli
• few curry leaves
  

Procedure:

Step 1:

Peel off the skin. Chop the bottle gourd into bite size pieces. Heat some water in a pan and cook the bottle gourd pieces along with some salt till it turns soft. You can even pressure cook the bottle gourd for a whistle or 2 to save time.


Step 2:

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, channa dal one after other. Then add red chilli and curry leaves.

Step 3:

Now add the chopped onions and sate it till it become transluent. Then add the ginger garlic paste. Saute it for a min and add tomato. Saute tomato till it become soft. Then add the chilli powder along with garam masala powder.

Step 4:

Now add the cooked bottle gourd along with 1 cup of water and amchoor powder. Check for salt. Cook till you get thick gravy. It will take 3 more mins on medium heat to get thick gravy. Garnish with some chopped coriander leaves.

This spicy gravy goes well with chapathi, kulcha, roti.

Hint:

You can even add uncooked bottle gourd after adding masala powders. But it will take long time for the bottle gourd to cook. .

Garlic Pickle

A click with flash light OFF:


A click with flash light ON:



You will need:

• 1 cup garlic cloves
• 10 green chillies (optional)
• ½ cup vinegar or ¼ cup lemon juice
• ½ cup gingelly oil (nallennai)
• salt as reqd

To roast and grind:

• 2 tbsp coriander seeds
• 10 dry red chillies
• ½ tsp fenugreek seeds (venthayam)
  
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• few curry leaves
  

Procedure:

Step 1:

Peel off the skin from the garlic and keep it aside. If the garlic is too big chop the garlic cloves lengthwise.

Step 2:

Dry roast the spices:

Heat a pan on medium high heat. Dry roast coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, red chillies, curry leaves and cumin seeds for 3 to 5 mins till it leaves a good aroma and well roasted. Then dry grind the spices and keep it aside

Step 3:

Heat oil in a pan and add garlic, green chillies to it. Saute garlic till it turns golden brown color. Then add the ground spices to it and saute well for a min.

Step 4:

Now low the heat and add vinegar/ lemon juice to it along with salt. Taste the pickle and check for salt. Enjoy!!!!!!


Hint:

• I added green chillies with garlic pickle, because i love green chilli pickle too.

• To thicken the pickle, you can do one more simple step. Peel ¼ cup garlic and microwave it for 1 to 2 min till it becomes soft. Grind it to a fine paste and add it after adding the ground spices.

Potato bajji & Onion bajji

Potato Bajji

Onion Bajji



You will need:

Ingredients 1:

• 1 cup gram flour (kadala mavu)
• ½ cup rice flour
• ½ tsp red chilli powder
  
• 2 pinch of asofoetida (hing, perunkayam)
• 2 pinch of thymol seeds (omam, vaum, ajwain)
• 2 pinches of baking soda
• salt for taste

Ingredients 2:

• 1 big potato
• 1 red onion
• oil for deep frying

Procedure:

Step 1:

Mix all the ingredients under ingredients 1 by adding water to form a paste texture. Approximately 1½ cups of water.

Step 2:

Heat oil in a deep frying pan on a medium heat.

Step 3:

Cut the potato and onion into very thin slices. Dip the potato and onion pieces one by one into the gram flour paste and fry it in the hot oil. Flip it once a while till its done.

Step 4:

Crispy bajji is now ready to serve with any chutneys like red chutney, coconut chutney.


Hint:
Onion bajji takes more time to fry than potato.

Potato Cauliflower Semi gravy

My friend Shanthi tried Potato cauliflower semi gravy and sent me this picture. Wow Yummy Shanthi.... Will come to your home sometime this week to try your recipes....

Rava Idli/ Sooji idli

 Including rice in every meals is not that good for health right?.  So just replaced rice with rava. The taste was really good. The texture was very soft. We loved it.

You will need:

• 1 cup urad dal
• 3 cup rava/ sooji
• ¼ tsp fenugreek seeds (Venthayam in tamil, uluva in malayalam)
  

Procedure:

Step 1:

Soak the urad dal and fenugreek seeds together for minimum 5 hours. Then grind this to a fine paste by adding water.

Step 2:

After that just mix rava/sooji to the urad dal paste and grind it just for 5 more mins by adding water. By doing this rava will get mixed with urad dal perfectly. You can also mix rava to the urad dal paste using hands.

Step 3:

Allow it to ferment for minimum 8 hours. Grease the idli vessel and make idli's. You will get fluffy and soft idli's. Enjoy with peanut chutney, dal sambhar or with any of your favourite chutney's.

Optional:

Adding 1 cup of cooked rice will give you soft idli. Specially if you are staying in cold place, add 1 cup of cooked rice.

Butterfly award

Priya honored my blog with Butterfly award. Thanks a lot Priya and i'm very honored to get this from you.



The rules of the award are:

Put the logo on your blog.
Add a link to the person who awarded you.
Nominate 10 other blogs
Add links to those blogs on yours, and leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

I have put the logo on my blog, also add the link to Kitchen flavours who awarded me..

Now i have to nominate 10 other blogs. But all my blog friends already received this award. So as of now i'm just selecting 2 blogs.

Here we go:

Kamala
Ammupatti

Adai

I love easy to do recipe's.I have tried many combinations of adai's. Everytime adai taste really good, but sometimes it stick to the pan a lot while spreading. This combination of adai mixture is perfectly good and it gave me thin and crispy adai's. So those who like thin and crispy texture will love this adai. And the best thing is it wont stick to the pan while spreading.

You will need:

Ingredients 1:

• 1 cup channa dal
• ½ cup urad dal
• ¼ cup green gram
• ¼ cup toor dal
• ¼ cup moong dal (optional)
  

Ingredients 2:

• 1 inch ginger chopped finely
• 5 green chilies
• ½ asofoetida (perumgayam, hing)
  
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• few curry leaves
• few coriander leaves chopped(optional)
  
• 1 cup cooked rice

Procedure:

Step 1:

Soak Ingredients 1(all dal's) together for minimum 5-6 hours.

Step 2:

Now grind to a course paste along with cooked rice, ginger, green chillies, asofoetida, curry leaves, coriander leaves and cumin seeds. Dont grind it to fine paste.

Step 3:

Adai doesn't need any fermentation. So after grinding, you can make crispy adai's immediately and serve with any chutney's, sambhar or with aviyal.

Simple to make and tasty to eat. Better to use blender or mixie for this grinding purpose instead of using wet grinder. Easy to clean and just take few minutes to grind.

Hint:

For onion adai, just sprinkle finely chopped onions while spreading the adai.

Carrot Rice

You will need:

• 1 cup basmathi rice
• 2 cup water
• 1 cup grated carrot
• ½ cup chopped onion
  
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 star anise
• 1 tsp cumin seeds/ black cumin
  
• 3 green chillies
• ½ tsp ginger garlic paste
  
• 1 tsp pepper powder
• pinch of turmeric powder
  
•  few curry leaves
• salt for taste
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp ghee

Step 1:

Heat oil and ghee in a pressure cooker. When the oil becomes hot add cinnamon sticks, star anise, cumin seeds and allow it to splutter. Then add chopped green chillies, ginger garlic paste, curry leaves and saute it.

Step 2:

Then add the chopped onions along with the turmeric powder and saute it till it turns golden brown color.

Step 3:

When the onion turns golden brown color add the carrot to it and saute it for a min. Then add water, pepper powder, salt along with rice.

Step 4:

Close the pressure cooker and wait for 3 whistle. Then wait for the pressure to release. After 15 mins enjoy the carrot rice with simple raita or curd/yogurt.

Yummy carrot rice is now ready to serve.

My new award..

I'm not sure I actually am but I feel honored anyway. Ramya is a wonderful woman. She has passion to cook varieties of dishes and got time to work tooo. Thanks Ramya for picking me to award this Wylde Woman award.! This is my first award and its very special to me.


It's gonna be tough picking ladies who haven't already been picked because while I have a small circle of blog friends , and all the ladies in that small circle rock and have mostly been chosen for the award already. So forgive me if I pick someone for a second time!

The rules for the award are

You can give it to one or one hundred or any number in between - it's up to you. Make sure you link to their site in your post

Link back to the blog site http://tammyvitale.typepad.com/ Tammy can go visit all these wonderful men and women and remember the Purpose of the Award: To send love and acknowledgment to men and women, who brighten your day, teach you new things and live their lives fully with generosity and joy.


Passing this on to...

Priya

Broccoli Poriyal/ Broccoli stir fry

You will need:

• 1 lb brocolli
• 1 onion
• 1 tsp pepper powder
• 2 cloves garlic(chopped finely)
• ½ cup grated coconut
  
• salt for taste

For tempering:.

• 2 tbsp oil
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp urad dal
• 1 dry red chilli
• few curry leaves (optional)

Procedure:

Step 1:

• Chop onion finely and keep it aside.
• Chop broccoli finely using knife. Or you can use food chopper to do fine chopping. I used food chopper to chop the broccoli.

Step 2:

Heat oil in a pan. When its hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, dry red chilli and the curry leaves and allow it to splutter. Now add the chopped onions and chopped garlic to it. Saute it till it turns golden brown color.

Step 3:

Now add chopped broccoli to it. Add pepper powder and salt to it. Saute it or close the lid for couple of mins till its fully cooked. Since the broccoli is chopped finely it will take just 2 mins to cook.

Step 4:

If its watery dont close the lid. Just saute it for few mins. Check for salt. Finally add grated coconut and saute it for 2 more mins.

Serve with sambhar rice or even as side dish for roti, chappathi.

Kovakai Masala/ Tindora Masala/ Ivy Gourd stir fry

Ivy Gourd/ Kovakkai is a good source of Protein and Fiber. You can eat it raw and can make varities of dishes out of this vegetable. It looks like small cucumber. Tastes very good with all spices in it. So here comes the recipe.

You will need:

• 4 cups Kovakai/ Tindora
• 1 big onion
• 3 tbsp chopped tomato
• ½ tsp ginger garlic paste
• 3
• 1½ tbsp chicken masala powder or(1 tsp chilli powder, 1½ tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp garam masala powder, ½ tsp cumin powder)
• salt to taste
• ½ tsp pepper powder
• Lemon juice(optional)
  

For tempering:

• 3 tbsp oil
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp urad dal
• 2 dry red chilli
  
• few curry leaves
• cilantro(coriander leaves) for garnish
  

Procedure:

Step 1:

Wash the Tindora/ Kovakkai nicely in the running cold water. Trim of the ends and slice it horizontally into thin pieces.

Step 2:

Chop onion and tomato into fine pieces and keep it aside.

Step 3:

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, red chili and curry leaves to it. Allow it to splutter. Now add te chopped onion to it and saute it till it turns light golden brown color.

Step 4:

Now add the ginger garlic paste to it and saute it till it get rid off the raw smell. Add the masala powders along with chopped tomatoes to it.

Step 5:

Now add the chopped tindora pieces to it and coat well with all masala powders. Then cover with a lid and keep the flame on medium heat.

Step 6:

Allow the tindora pieces to cook in low flame for 10 mins stirring occasionally.Add salt and pepper powder to it. Finally squeeze the juice of ½ lemon on top of it and serve hot with roti, chapathi or with any rice as side dish. You can even garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Enjoy!!!!!

Rava Dosa / Sooji Pancakes

Rava dosa is one of the breakfast dish in India. Very simple to make, but it need some skill to spread the batter very thin in the hot pan.

Here comes the recipe..

You will need:

• 1. 5 cups of rice flour
• 1 cup of sooji/ rava
• ½ cup of maida/ all purpose flour
• salt for taste
• water as required to form a thin batter (consistency similar to butter milk)

For tempering:

• 1 tsp oil
• 1 tsp ghee
• ¼ tsp mustard seeds
• ¼ tsp cumin seeds
• ¼ tsp black cumin
• ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes / red chili powder
• ¼ onion ( chopped finely)
• few curry leaves (chopped finely)
  

Step 1:

Heat oil and ghee in pan. When its hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, black cumin, and then the finely chopped onions. Saute onions till it turn golden brown color. Then add the curry leave sand teh red chili flakes and switch off the heat.

Step 2:

Take another bowl and add maida, rice flour, sooji/rava, salt and water. Mix it well to get thin batter. Now add the tempered mixture to it and mix it well.

Family size rava dosa


Step 3:

Heat a non stick flat pan on medium high heat. Spread the batter nicely in the hot pan. Better to start from sides of the pan and then finish it in the middle. But at Vahrehvah video i saw him sprinkling the batter over the pan using hands. I tried that and it worked for me. Apply oil on top if necessary. Turn the dosa when it turns golden brown colou. Enjoy with sambhar, chutney or with idli chutney powder

Kara Kuzhambu/ Simple spicy curry

Kuzhambu is the tamil word for curry. This kara kuzhambu is the simple version of sambhar but without dal. I made this kara kuzhambu with one vegetable i.e, brinjal(Egg plant). You can make this kara kuzhambu with fried okra(lady's finger), drumsticks(murungaikai) too. It tastes wonderful with garlic, tamarind paste and small onions in it.

You will need:

• 1 big onion (chopped finely)
• 10 small onions or use one more big onion (chopped finely)
• 5 garlic pods
• 3 small brinjals (chopped finely)
• 3 tbsp canned crushed tomatoes or 1 tomato(chopped finely)
• ¼ tsp tamarind paste
• 1 tbsp sambhar masala powder / (1 tsp red chilli powder and 2 tsp coriander powder)
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 2 pinch of asofoetida (perungayam)
• salt for taste

For tempering:

• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• few curry leaves
• 3 tbsp oil

Procedure:

Step 1:

Heat oil in a pan and when its hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, followed by asofoetida and curry leaves. When it splutters add chopped onions(small onions and big), chopped garlic and chopped brinjal. Saute it till it turns golden brown color.

Step 2:

Adding masala powders:

Now add the sambhar masala powder along with cumin powder and saute it for 1 min. Then add chopped tomatoes and saute it for min. Now add some water with tamarind paste and salt. Allow it to simmer for 3 to 5 mins or till it thickens.

Serve with steaming rice and omellete. Enjoy!!!!


Hint:

1. If you like very thick consistency add 1.5 cups of water or else add more than 2 cups of water.
2. You can even add 1 tsp jaggery/ 1 tsp sugar to this dish.

Cashew Chicken curry

This recipe is the base for Hyderabadi chicken recipe. Adding cashews in gravy gives very good tastes to that dish. I used to add cashew powder to egg gravy, vegetable kurma and also to some of my chicken dishes. This time i grind chicken with some khus khus(kasa kasa) and it gives very good taste to the chicken gravy. So just sharing that recipe.


You will need:

• 1 lb chicken
• 1 onion (chopped finely)
• 1 tomato (chopped finely)
• 3 green chillies
• 2 tbsp chicken masala powder or (2 tsp chilli powder, 3 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp garam masala powder)
• few mint leaves
• few coriander leaves
• 3 tbsp oil
• salt for taste
  

To grind to fine paste:

• handful of cashews
• 1 tsp khus khus (kasa kasa)
• ½ cup grated coconut

Procedure:

Step 1:

Heat oil in a pan and add mint leaves, coriander leaves to it. Then add the chopped onions and green chillies to it and saute it till it turns golden brown color. Then add the ginger garlic paste and saute it till it get rid off the raw smell.

Step 2:

Grind the ingredients (Cashew nuts, coconut, khus, khus) to fine paste and keep it aside.



Step 3:

Now add the masala powder, tomato and then the chicken. Allow the chicken to cook for 5 mins with the lid on. Then add the ground paste to it and allow it to cook for 3 more mins. If you need more gravy you can add coconut milk or water to it. Add salt. Garnish with corinader leaves and serve with ghee rice, naan, roti, chapathi. Enjoy!!!

Cucumber Kichadi/ Cucumber in curd

This recipe is one of my mom's recipe and we all love it. Specially after adding curd it tastes very good.

You will need:

• 3 small cucumbers/ 1 big cucumber
• 1 onion (chopped finely)
• 3 garlic (chopped finely)
  
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp urad dal
• few curry leaves
• 2 dry red chillies
  
• 2 tbsp oil
  
• 1 cup curd

To grind:

• ½ cup grated coconut
• ½ tsp cumin powder
• 3 green chillies
  

Procedure:

Step 1:

Peel the skin from the cucumber and cut it in half. Remove all the seeds inside it using a spoon. Then chop it into fine pieces.Cook the cucumber in water along with a touch of salt till it become soft and fully cooked. There should not be any water when the cucumber is fully cooked. If you have any water remaining even after the cucumber is fully cooked, discard the water.

Step 2:

Heat oil in a non stick pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, curry leaves, and red chillies one after another. Then add the chopped onions and garlic and saute it till it become golden brown color.

Step 3:

Grind grated coconut, cumin powder, 1 small onion(optional), green chillies to fine paste.

Step 4:

Now add the ground paste to the non stick pan when the onion turns golden brown color. Then add the cooked cucumber to it and check for salt. Switch off the heat and allow it to cool.

Step 5:

When it is fully cooled add curd to it and mix it well. Check for salt once again. Enjoy with sambar rice.

You can make the same recipe with carrots and beetroot too.

Spinach Dal

You will need:
For pressure cook dal:

• ½ cup moong dal
• 1½ cup water
• 4 garlic pods
• 5 small onions (pearl onions)
• ½ tomato (chopped)
  
• 4 green chillies
• ½ tsp cumin powder
• 2 drops of oil
• ½ tsp lemon juice
• salt for taste
  

For tempering:

• 2 tbsp oil
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp urad dal
• ¼ cup finely chopped onions
• few curry leaves
• 3 dry red chillies
• bunch of chopped spinach
  

Procedure:

Step 1:

Cook all the ingredients under for pressure cook dal. Pressure cook it for 3 whistles. After 15 mins open the lid and mash the dal using a spoon.
Step 2:

Take a non stick pan and add oil to it. When its hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, dry red chillies, curry leaves one after other. Now add the chopped onion and saute it for just few mins, and then add the chopped spinach to it and cover with a lid. Cook untill spinach become soft.

Step 3:

Mix the cooked spianch with the mashes cooked dal . Serve with hot rice and ghee.

Hint: You can add coconut milk and tamarind paste to make the curry watery. But thick curry taste very good with a touch of ghee.

Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani

You will need:

For marinating Chicken:

• 2 lb chicken
• 1 cup curd
• salt as reqd
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
  

For rice:

• 3 cups rice
• 4.5 cups water
• 3 cardomom
• 5 cinnamon sticks
• 4 cloves
• 3 star anise
• 1 tsp black cumin seeds
  
• salt for taste
• 3 tbsp oil

For Chicken Gravy:

• Marinated Chicken
  
• 2 red onions
• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 3 green chillies
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• ½ bunch of mint leaves
• ½ bunch of coriander leaves(cilantro)
  
• 3 tbsp ghee
• 3 tbsp oil
  

Ingredients to grind:

• 1½ tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• ½ cup cashew nuts
• 1 tsp khus khus (kasa kasa in Tamil)
• ½ tomato
• 5 tsp grated coconut

For garnish:

• ¼ cup cashew nuts
• ¼ cup raisins
• 2 tbsp ghee

Procedure:

Step 1:

Marinate the chicken:

Cut the pieces into desired shapes and marinate chicken with curd, ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder and salt. Allow it to marinate for min 5 hours inside refrigerator.

Step 2:

For making rice:

In a rice cooker add rice along with water and allow it to soak for 1 hour. After 1 heat heat another pan and add oil to it. Add all spices under For rice (Cardamom, cinnamon, black cumin, cloves and star anise. Then add this to the rice and allow it to cook until its done in the rice cooker. After that use a fork to release the heat from the rice. Be careful not to break the rice. Allow it to cool for half an hour.

Step 3:

To grind:

Grind dry ingredients first. ie, cashew nuts, khus khus, coriander powder and cumin powder. When its finely powdered add grated coconut and grind it. Finally add tomato and grind it to form a paste. Keep it aside.

Step 4:

For chicken Gravy:

Heat oil and ghee in a pan. Add green chillies, mint leaves and coriander leaves to it and saute it for 3 mins. Now add onions to it. Saute it till it become light brown color. Now add ginger garlic paste to it and saute it till it get rid off the raw smell. Now add marinated chicken and chili powder to it and close with a lid. Allow the chicken to cook for 5 to 10 mins. Now add the ground masala to it and saute it for 3 mins.



Step 5:

For making Biryani:

Take one big pan and start layering. Put some rice and then the chicken gravy and then the rice and then the chicken gravy.

Step 6:

For garnishing:

Heat ghee in a pan. Add cashew nuts and saute it for 2 mins. Then add the raisins and saute it till it get balloon structure.

Step 7:

Garnish with chopped cilantro and this nuts. Serve it with chicken gravy.. Enjoy Hyderabadi chicken biryani!!!.


Hint:

1. You can increase spiciness according to your taste bud.

2. To get different colors in the biryani, you have to mix ½ tsp color with 2 tsp milk. Then using a spoon just pour it on top of the biryani after layering the biryani. Leave it undisturbed for few mins. Then mix it. So that the color with stick only to few rice and it wont make the whole biryani same color. I used orange food color.

Fish Molly

Fish Molly is one of the authentic Kerala recipe made with King Fish. This time i tried with this Navara fish. I got this fish from an Indian store thinking that i can fry this fish. When i fried this fish it taste good. But the bones was so strong and was very hard to eat. So tried this way and we loved this dish. Specially the gravy tastes very good. Hope you will like it too.

You will need:

• 10 to 15 navara fish (Kellimean in Malayalam)
• 1 red onion
• ½ tomato
• 
  
• 1½ tbsp Fish masala powder (1 tsp chilli powder, 1½ tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp cumin powder and a pinch of fenugreek powder)
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp urad dal
• 2 strings of curry leaves
• ½ tsp tamarind paste (can increase or decrease)
• salt for taste
• 4 tbsp oil (For frying fish)
  

For marination:

• 1 tsp chilli powder
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• ½ tsp ginger garlic paste
  
• salt for taste
• ½ tsp lemon juice/ vinegar

To grind to fine paste:

• 3 pearl onions (Chinna ulli, chinna vengayam, kutty vengayam, sambar onion)
• 4 garlic pods
• 3 green chillies
  
• ½ cup grated coconut

Procedure:

Step 1:

Clean the fish and marinate the fish with chilli powder, turmeric powder, ginger garlic paste, salt and vinegar. Allow it to marinate for 15 to 30 mins.


Navara Fish

Step 2:

Now heat oil in a non stick pan. Fry fish pieces just for 3 mins one side and 2 mins on the other side. Keep the fried fish aside in a plate.

Fried fish:


Step 3:

In the same oil (in which you fried the fish) add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, curry leaves one by one and then add the chopped onions to it and saute it for 3 mins till the onion become golden brown.

Step 4:

In the mean grind perl onions, green chillis, garlic, grated coconut (Under ingredients to grind). Grind it to a fine paste adding 1 tsbp water.

Step 5:

Add the ground paste to the onions when the onion turns golden brown color and saute it for 2 mins. Then add the spices(fish masala powder or the chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin and fenugreek powder) and saute it for just a min. Then add the chopped tomatoes to it. Now add 2 cups of water and allow it to boil for 5 mins. Add tamarind paste and salt at this stage.

Step 6:

Add the fried fish at this stage and allow it to boil for 2 more mins till you get thick gravy. Check for salt. Enjoy with rice, dosa or even with chapathi.

Bhindi Masala/ Lady's finger Masala

Bhindi Masala is a very popular dish in North India. This time i tried with peanut and also with sesame seeds. The taste was real good and very different from the regular Bhindi Masala. I limited the number of tomatoes. So i got it as dry. So you can serve this with chapathi as well as with dal curry.

You will need:

• 15 baby okra's (Chopped)
  
• 1 red onion (Chopped)
• 1 tsp lemon juice ( to avoid stickiness)
  
• 3 tbsp peanut
• 3 tbsp sesame seeds (ellu in tamil)
  
• ½ tsp red chilli powder
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• ½ tomato (optional).. (Chopped)

For tempering:

• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp fennel seeds
• ½ tsp urad dal
• ½ tsp channa dal
• 2 red chillies
• few curry leaves
  
• salt for taste
• 5 tbsp oil
  

Procedure:

Step 1:

Heat a pan and add peanuts. Dry fry them for 1 or 2 mins till it turns golden brown color. Then add 1 tbsp sesame seeds to it an saute it till it splutter. Allow it to cool and dry grind them in a mixie or in a coffee grinder.

Step 2:

Tempering:

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, channa dal, urad dal, red chillies, curry leaves one after other. Allow it to splutter. Then add chopped onion and okra to it. Add lemon juiceand salt to it and saute it. Do not close with a lid. Saute it till it get fried very nicely. It will take min 5 mins in medium high flame.

Step 3:

Adding Spices:

Now add the remaining sesame seeds , chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder to it and saute nicely till you get rid of raw smell.

Step 4:

Adding Peanut powder:

Add peanut sesame powder at this stage and saute it. Check for salt. At this stage the dish will look like as shown in the pic below. You can serve this as side dish for rice with dal curry.



Step 5:

Adding Tomatoes:

If you want semi gravy form then you have to add tomato at this stage and saute it till its fully cooked.

Potato Cauliflower Semi gravy

This is a simple and healthy dish which goes very well with Chapathi. And very quick too. Because the ingredients added in this dish wont take much time to cook. Potatoes might take 5 mins and cauliflower just 3 mins to cook. So this can come under 30 mins meals. we like these 2 vegetables and i make this very often. so just sharing this recipe, so that you can enjoy this dish as well.


Here comes the recipe..

You will need:

• 2 red onion or 1 big yellow onion
• 1 tomato or 3 tbsp canned crushed tomatoes
• 10 fingerling potatoes.. You can use 2 regular potatoes
• half of one big cauliflower( cut into small florets)
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp garam masala powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• ½ tsp black pepper powder
  
• salt for taste
  

For tempering:

• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• ½ tsp fennel seeds
  
• 1 tsp urad dal
• 1 tsp channa dal
• 1 red chilli
• 5 curry leaves
• 3 tbsp oil

Procedure:

Step 1:

Heat a non stick pan and add some oil. When the oil is hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, channa dal, red chillies, curry leaves and the urad dal one after other.

Step 2:

Add chopped onions and saute it for 3 mins in high flame till it become light brown color. Now add the potato, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, pepper, garam masala powder and close the lid for 2 mins. Add the tomato paste at this time. Now add ½ cup of water along with salt and cover it with a lid for 3 more mins till the potato is half cooked.

Step 3:

Now add the chopped cauliflower and cook it till its full cooked. It will take less than 5 mins. You can add water if it started sticking at the bottom of the pan. To get semi gravy form, you have to allow the water to evaporate by not closing the lid.

Yummy potato cauliflower gravy is ready to serve. Serve with chapathi

Spinach Fish Biriyani

I combined spinach and fish in the same dish and it worked good for me. While sauteing onions for fish biryani i added a bunch of chopped spinach also. It was good and children's were not able to fin that there is spinach(# 1 enemy of kids) in that dish. You can even name this as Veg Fish Biryani. Ha ha. Thats not the exact name . Ok its your choice to name this dish. Eat healthy. Live healthy!!!!

Palak Mushroom Gravy

You will need:

• 10 button mushrooms
• 1 tbsp chicken masala powder( 1 tsp chilli powder + 1½ tsp coriander powder + 1 tsp cumin powder + ½ tsp garam masala powder)
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 dry red chillies
  
• 1 red onion (finely chopped)
• 1 tsp amchoor powder (You can substitute amchoor powder with ½ tomato too)
• 2 tbsp oil
• salt as needed

For spinach gravy:

• 1 bunch spinach
• 1 tbsp chopped garlic
• 1 tbsp chopped ginger
• 3 green chillies
• ½ tbsp oil

Procedure:

Step 1:

Heat oil in a pan and add ginger and garlic and saute it for a min. Now add the green chillies along with the spinach and close with a lid. Allow it to cook for 2 to 3 mins till the spinach is cooked. Allow it to cool and grind it to a fine paste without adding water. It should be a thick paste.

Step 2:

In the mean time heat another pan and add 2 tbsp oil. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and red chillies when the oil is hot and allow it to splutter. Not add the chopped onions and saute it for 4 mins. Then add the chopped mushroom, some salt and saute it along with onion till it turns golden brown color. Now add the masala powder and saute it for a min . (If u r adding tomato, you can add at this time.) Add the spinach paste along with amchoor powder. Allow it to cook for 2 or 3 mins. Check for salt and serve with roti, chapathi, kulcha. Enjoy!!!

Mushroom Stir Fry/ Poriyal/ Thoran

Mushroom becomes one of our favourite vegetable now a days. So started trying new dishes using mushrooms. In our hometown my mom used to make Poriyal/ Thoran out of all the vegetables. So tried poriyal out of mushroom also. We liked it. So just sharing this recipe to my blog friends.

You will need:

• 10 button mushrooms
• 1 onion
• 4 green chillies
• 1 tsp garlic (finely chopped)
  
• 1 tsp cumin powder (Roast the cumin seeds and grind it to a powder form and add to all the curries. This will give very good taste to all the dishes.)
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• ½ cup shredded coconut
• salt for taste
• 3 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• few curry leaves

Procedure:

Step 1:

Chop the mushrooms and onions finely.

Step 2:

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds and allow it to splutter. Then add the chopped onions along with green chillies and garlic. Saute for 2 mins in medium flame. Now add the chopped mushrooms, coriander powder, cumin powder, salt and saute it 5 more mins. You can even close the pan with a lid. When the mushroom is fully cooked add grated coconut and saute it for 1 more min.



Enjoy with rasam rice or with roti, chapathi.

Spicy Potato fry

You will need:

• 2 potatoes (I used 6 fingerling potatoes)
• 2 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp pepper powder
• 1 tbsp oil
• salt for taste
  

Step 1:

Cut the potatoes desired size and wash it in cold water. Add some salt to the potatoes. Boil the potatoes in stove top with some water or else in a microwave till it become soft. You can even shallow fry the potatoes with some oil or even bake it.

Step 2:

Now take a non stick pan and add 1 tbsp oil and add 1 tsp chilli powder, pepper powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, onion powder, garlic powder and then add the cooked potatoes. Saute it carefully and allow the spices to coat the cooked potatoes. Add salt if necessary. Serve with dal rice or with rasam rice.

You can even serve this with homemade chicken burger. Enjoy!!!!!!

Mushroon Biryani

You will need:

For making Mushroom masala:

• 15 button mushrooms (Cut into desired shapes. I cut each mushroom into 4 pieces)
• 2 medium size onions (finely chopped)
• 1 tomato(finely chopped)
• 2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 2 tbsp biryani masala
• ½ tsp paprika or red chilli powder or chopped green chilli
• ½ cup coconut milk
• ½ cup yogurt/ curd
• salt for taste

For making rice:

• 1 cup rice
• 1½ cup water
  
• 1 onion (chopped length wise)
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 star anise
• 2 cloves
• salt for taste
• 1 tbsp oil

For garnish:

• 1 tbsp ghee
• ¼ cup cashew nut
• ¼ cup raisins

Procedure:

Step 1:

Making Rice:

In rice cooker add rice and water. Allow it to soak for min 30 mins.

In the mean time heat oil in a pan and add cinnamon, clove and staranise. Along with that add chopped onions and saute it till it turns transparent. Turn the heat off and transfer the mixture to the rice and water and cook it till done.

When the rice cooker turns to Warm button, take the vessel out and allow it to cool. Using a fork release the heat out of it. Allow the rice to cool for minimum 30 mins.

Step 2:

Making biryani gravy/ sauce:

Heat oil in a pan add finely chopped onions, chopped mushrooms and green chillies. Saute it till onions turns translucent. Now add ginger garlic paste and saute it for a min. Now add the biryani masala powder and then the chopped tomatoes, chopped coriander leaves and saute it. After 3 mins add the coconut milk and the curd. Then switch of the heat and check for salt.

Hint:

You can add green pepper/ capsicum or red pepper also along with onions.



Step 3:

Making Biryani:

Mix the above Biryani gravy with the cooked rice and mix it well. Bake it in 350 F for just 5 mins.

Step 4:

Garnish:

Heat ghee in pan and add cashews and saute it till it turns light golden brown. Then add raisins and saute it in a low flame till it get balloon structure. Then garnish the biryani with this and serve with onion raita, Garlic Chicken, Chicken Masala, Spicy Chicken fry, Chilli Chicken

Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nethili Fry

You will need

• 2 cups of frozen nethili fish (anchovies)
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• ½ tsp cumin powder
• ½ tsp coriander powder
  
• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
• ½ tsp fennel seeds
• salt for taste
• ½ tsp lemon juice/ ½ tsp vinegar
• oil for shallow frying
  

Procedure:

Step 1:

Wash and clean the fish. Mix it along with the above ingredients and allow it to marinate for 15 to 30 mins.

Step 2:

Heat oil in a pan and fry the fish. Dont crowd the pan with more fish. Fry it till it become brown color. Then throw in 2 strings of curry leaves and mix it with the fried fish. This will enhance the flavor. Enjoy with rasam rice and rice or with dosa, idli..

Soya Wadi Roast

You will need:

• 1 big onion (finely chopped)
  
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp coriander powder
  
• 4 garlic pods (finely chopped)
• ½ inch ginger (finely chopped)
• 3 green chillies (finely chopped)
• 1 tsp pepper powder
  
• 1 string curry leaves
• 2 tbsp oil
  

For Cooking Soya:

• 2 cups of soya chunks
• 1 tsp vinegar/ 1 lemon juice
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 cup water
  

For Roasting:

• 1 cup grated coconut
• 1 tsp coriander powder/ coriander seeds
  
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 5 red chillies
• 1 string curry leaves
• 1 tbsp oil
  

Procedure:

Step 1:

For Soya Cooking:

First soak the soya in hot water for 10 to 15 mins. Then rough chop the soya into bite size pieces. Chopping the soya will allow the spices to get inside soya.

Now boil the soya along with the ingredients under For Soya cooking. i.e with vinegar, salt, coriander powder, chilli powder and water. Allow it to cook for 5 to 10 mins. Drain the soya and keep it aside.


Step 2:

For Roasting:

Heat oil in a pan on low heat. Add ingredients under For Roasting i.e, grated coconut, red chillies, cumin seeds, curry leaves and coriander powder. Fry it till you get dark brown color.

Allow it to cool and grind to a fine powder/ paste. Paste or powder will work fine for this recipe.

Step 3:

For making Soya Roast:

Heat oil in pan. When the oil is hot add ginger, garlic, green chillies, and onions and fry it till it turn golden brown color. Now add the drained soya chunks, garam masala, coriander powder, curry leaves, pepper powder and fry it. After 3 mins add the roasted powder/ paste and fry it till you get dark color like roasted beef.



Frying will take minimum 5 to 10 mins. But the outcome will be delicious when its roasted till it get dark color on medium flame. Enjoy with dal rice!!!!!!!!!!!

Dosa, nethili curry and soya roast!!!



Hint:

I added 1 cup of baked ground beef (leftover from Kheema Paratha) to this dish along with ground paste, which made the dish very tasty than what i expected.

Nethili Fish Curry/ Anchovies Curry

You will need:

• ½ cup Nethili fish/ Frozen from Indian store
• 2 pearl onions / ¼ of red onion
  
• 4 garlic pods
• ½ cup grated coconut
• 3 green chillies
• ½ cup mango(chopped into bite size pieces)
• 2 tsp fish masala powder (1 tsp coriander powder, ½ tsp chilli powder, ½ tsp turmeric powder)
• tamarind paste to taste if necessary(If the mango is not tangy enough)
• salt for taste
• 1 cup water
  

For tempering:

• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp urad dal
• 1 string curry leaves
• 2 tbsp coconut oil

Procedure:

Step 1:

Grind together onions, garlic, green chillies, coconut together to form paste.

Step 2:

Heat 1 cup of water in a pan and add the ground paste into it. Allow it to boil along with fish masala powder and the chopped mango pieces.. When it starts boiling add the nethili fish(anchovies). Don't stir the fish when its getting cooked. Stirring will break the fish.

Allow it to boil for 6 to 10 mins till the fish gets cooked.

Nethili curry with dosa


Step 3:

For tempering heat another pan and add oil in it. When its hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal and curry leaves one by one. Pour this on top of the cooked fish curry and mix it gently. Seve it with hot rice or with idli, dosa.

Chicken Biryani

Chicken biryani is one dish where you can experiment different ways. I love to make chicken biryani in different ways whenever i make. So this time tried in a different way and we liked it very much. So taught of publishing it.

You will need:

For baking chicken:

• 1 kg chicken (cut it into bite size pieces)
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tbsp vinegar/ lemon juice
• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 2 tbsp curd/ yogurt
  
• salt for taste

For making rice:

• 1 cup rice
• 1½ cup water
  
• 2 onions (chopped length wise)
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 star anise
• 2 cloves
• salt for taste
• 1 tbsp oil
  

For making Biryani:

• 3 onions (finely chopped)
  
• 1 tomato (finely chopped)
• 3 green chillies (finely chopped)
• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 2 tbsp biryani masala powder (I prefer aachi masala or shakthi masala powder)
  
• ½ cup coconut milk
• ¼ tbsp yogurt or a juice of 1 lemon
• half bunch of coriander leaves finely chopped
  
• salt for taste
• 4 tbsp oil

For garnish:

• 1 tbsp ghee
• ¼ cup cashew nut
• ¼ cup raisins

Procedure:

Step 1:

Baking Chicken:

Cut the chicken into bite size pieces and wash it with turmeric, vinegar and salt to remove the raw smell.

Take a ziplock or a plastic container and add the ingredients under For Baking Chicken. Mix it well and allow it to marinate for minimum 2 hours.

After 2 hours of marination preheat the oven to 350 F. Place the marinated chicken pieces in a baking tray and bake it for 15 mins. After 15 mins flip the chicken and bake it for another 10 mins.

Chicken is now ready for Biryani.

Step 2:

Making Rice:

In rice cooker add rice and water. Allow it to soak for min 30 mins.

In the mean time heat oil in a pan and add cinnamon, clove and staranise. Along with that add chopped onions and saute it till it turns transparent. Turn the heat off and transfer the mixture to the rice and water and cook it till done.

When the rice cooker turns to Warm button, take the vessel out and allow it to cool. Using a fork release the heat out of it.

Step 3:

Making biryani gravy/ sauce:

Heat oil in a pan add finely chopped onions and green chillies. Saute it till turns translucent. Now add ginger garlic paste and saute it for a min. Now add the biryani masala powder and then the chopped tomatoes, chopped coriander leaves and saute it. After 3 mins add the cooked chicken, and the coconut milk. Adding curd/yogurt is purely optional. You can substitute curd with a juice of lemon too. Then allow it to boil for 1 min.

Step 4:

Making Biryani:

Mix the above Biryani gravy with the cooked rice and mix it well. Bake it in 350 F for just 5 mins.





Step 5:

Garnish:

Heat ghee in pan and add cashews and saute it till it turns light golden brown. Then add raisins and saute it in a low flame till it get balloon structure. Then garnish the biryani with this and serve with onion raita, Garlic Chicken, Chicken Masala, Spicy Chicken fry, Chilli Chicken

Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!