Chicken Pakoda

You will need:

• 2 chicken breast (½ lb )
  
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste(can substitue with chopped ginger and garlic to enhance the flavour)
• ½ cup gram flour
• ¼ cup rice flour
  
• 2 tsp chilli powder
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp garam masala powder
• few curry leaves(chopped)
• salt as regd
• 1 lemon juice
• ½ cup Onion finely chopped(lengthwise)
• 2 green chilli (finely chopped) purely optional
• oil for deep frying(can go for baking too)
• ¼ cup water(enough to form a thick paste consistency)
  

Step 1:

Boil some water and add the breast pieces in it. Let it boil for 20 minutes.

Note:

(I used Rotisserie/grilled chicken breast. Shredded the chicken pieces using knife!!!)


Step 2:

Allow the chicken to cool for few minutes. In the mean time just slice the onion and green chillies.

Step 3:

Sieve the gram flour, rice flour together in a mixing bowl. Add salt, garam masala powder, chilli powder, coriander powder to it and mix it well. Add little water to form a very thick paste.It will look like this...(Urad dal vada / Methu vada consistency)



Step 4:

Check for salt and now add the onions, green chillies, curry leaves and mix it well. Now shred the chicken using hands or with the help of knife. Add the shredded chicken to the above paste.Now the pakoda batter is ready.

Step 5:

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Take small amount of pakoda batter and pour it in the oil and fry it till it turn golden brown color.

For crispy pakoda's better to have the flame in medium or low and fry for more minutes till it turn brown in color.

Serve hot with your favorite sauce..

You can add a pinch of red color also...

Chapathi

You will need:

• 2 cups wheat flour
• ½ cup curd/Yogurt
• ¼ cup warm milk
• 1 tbsp oil/ghee
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt(can increase or decrease for taste)

• warm water as reqd
• Maida/ Rice flour for flattening(Rolling)
  

Procedure:

Mix all the ingredients together except water and rolling flour. After mixing the ingredients together just add water little by little to get dough shape. The dough should not be very hard like rock. Anyway we are going to use some maida/rice flour for rolling/flattening. So add enough water to make it a soft dough. Let it rest for 1 hour.

Make small balls as of golf ball size. Flatten each ball using the rolling pin. Using rolling pin just flatten it to a thickness of credit card.

Heat a non-stick tawa on high heat. When its hot just place the chapathi and toast each side for about 2 to 3 seconds or until slightly browned. Rub with little oil/ghee/butter on top and place them on the paper towel. Repeat the process for rest of the dough and serve hot with vegetable or non-veg gravy!!!!

This chapathi will be very soft. I made with Golden Temple chapathi flour. You can try with any brand chapathi flour.

Egg Fried rice

This recipe is one of my favorite recipe from my college days onwards. After knowing this recipe i love to make this whenever there are new visitors to our home. They don't know how simple it is right.. I used to make this without black cumin. One of our friend gave me good idea to add this in fried rice.Then i started hunting for this black cumin. But couldn't find that in 2 Indian stores. But he brought this to us and i started adding this to all the rice varieties.Specially to peas pulao, tomato rice, vegetable biryani,etc.. Here's the simple recipe for that simple fried rice. Even you can make everyone happy by making this!!!!

You will need:

• 1 cup Tilda Basmathi rice
• 1½ cups of water
• 3 tbsp ghee/butter
• 4 eggs
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tbsp black cumin(gala jeera)
  
• 1 cup mixed vegetables(carrot, green peas, beans)
• 1 tsp white pepper powder
• 3 green chillies(finely chopped)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce(optional) I prefer without soy sauce!!
  
• ¼ cup cashew nuts
• ¼ cup raisins
• pinch of ajino moto
• salt for taste

Step 1:

In a rice cooker just cook the rice with 1½ of water. When it turns to cook just allow it to cool. After 5 mins using a fork just stir it carefully to release the heat from the rice.

Handy Hint:

Cook the rice a day before. So that the rice wont stick one on one.

Step 2:

In a non stick pan heat ghee and add black cumin to it. When it splutters add ginger garlic paste, green chillies and mixed vegetables to it and close with a lid. Stir it occasionally. When its fully cooked add eggs to it and stir it continuously till you get scrambled egg form. Now add pepper powder to it. Sprinkle some salt also at this stage. Switch off the heat.Now the mixed rice mixture is ready!!!

Step 3:

In another small pan just roast the cashews and raisins with 1 tbsp ghee till the raisins get ballon structure.

Step 4:

Add the mixed fried rice mixture to the cooked rice. Add ajino moto, soy sauce to it and stir it nicely.Check for salt and pepper.

Step 5:

Garnish with roasted nuts and rasins and serve with chicken masala. Click here for chicken masala recipe.

Enjoy!!!!!

Note:

Chicken Fried Rice

Sameway we can make chicken fried rice also. Just shred the rotisserie chicken or the cooked chicken and add it instead of vegetables.

Lemon Rice

Will upload the pics soon.. I made this long back and i dint take pics of this at that time!!!!

You will need:

• 1 cup Sona masoori Rice
• 2 cup water
  
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp Mustard seeds
• few Curry leaves
• 1 tbsp Bengal gram(Kadalaparippu)
• 1 tbsp Black gram(Uzhunnuparippu)
• 2 Red dry chillies
• 1" piece Ginger (finely chopped)
• 2 Green chillies - (finely chopped)
• 1 Onion- (finely minced)
• Turmeric Powder - A pinch
• 1 tbsp Peanuts(Nelakadala)
• Salt - As reqd

Step 1:

Pressure cook the rice for 5 whistles and keep it aside.

Step 2:

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, curry leaves, Bengal gram, black gram and red dry chilly and stir well.

Step 3:

When these turn a little brown in colour, add green chillies, chopped ginger, onions, peanuts and turmeric powder. Stir well till onion turns light brown in color. Add pre-boiled rice, lemon juice and salt. Keep on medium flame for about 3-4 minutes.

Tomato Rice

You will need:

• 1 cup Basmati Rice - (soaked in water for 1/2 hr)
• 1 cup Coconut milk (can substitute with 1 cup water too)
  
• 1 cup water
• 3 tbsp Tomatoes paste (Can add 2 finely chopped tomatoes too)
  
• 2 tbsp garlic paste
  
• ¼ tsp Poppy seeds powder (Khashakhasha)
  
• ¼ cup Onions - (cut length wise)
• 3 nos Green chillies - (cut length wise)
• 4 dry red chillies
  
• 1 0r 2 sticks of Cinnamon(Karugapatta)
• 3 tbsp ghee/oil
  
• 2 Cloves(Grambu)
• salt to taste
  
• ½ cup chopped coriander leaves for garnishing

Method 1:

Step 1:

Heat ghee in a pan. Saute cinnamon, cloves,red chillies, onions, green chillies. When the onions turn translucent add the garlic paste and poppy seeds powder. Saute it for 1 min till it get rid of the raw garlic smell.

Step 2:

Add tomato paste and coconut milk to it. Allow to boil. Now add rice and salt. Cover the pan and keep on a low flame.

Step 3:

When it is done, garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Method 2:

Step 1:

Cook the basmathi rice with 1 cup of water and 1 cup of coconut milk and keep it aside.

Step 2:

Now heat ghee in a pan. Saute cinnamon, cloves, onions, chillies. When the onions turn translucent add the garlic paste and poppy seeds powder. Saute it for 1 min till it get rid of the raw garlic smell.

Step 3:

Add tomato paste to it and saute it for just a minute. Add it to the cooked rice and mix it well. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve it with boiled egg and favorite pickle.

Spicy Chicken Fry

We had a pot luck party in our friends home for Thanksgiving. I was thinking what can i contribute for that party. Suddenly this came to my mind. Wow.. We really had fun on that day. Specially ate turkey for the first time in my life. Can't forget that day. And one more interesting thing. My friend made Three Milk Cake.. It was delicious!!!


You will need:

• 10 chicken drumsticks
• 1 cup curd
• 1 tbsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 2 tsp chopped curry leaves
• 2 tsp coriander paste
• 1 tsp tandoori paste(optional)
• pinch of red color
• 1 tsp salt(can increase or decrease)
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• oil for deep frying

Step 1:

Make few slots in the chicken with a knife. By this way the marination will go very well into the chicken. Now mix all the ingredients together except oil. Let it marinate for minimum 6 hours. I prefer overnight marination in the refrigerator.

Step 2:

Heat oil in a pan medium high. Just fry the pieces till the chicken is well cooked.

Note:

You can even bake the chicken. Set the oven to 350F. Arrange the chicken drumsticks in a buttered sheet. Bake it for 30 mins. Then just turn it and bake it again for 15 to 25 mins..If need apply oil/ butter on top of it. Tandoori chicken is now ready to serve.

Serve with lemon wedges and onion rings.

Beetroot Fry/ Poriyal

You will need:

• 1 beetroot
• 2 tsp pepper powder
• salt for taste
• few curry leaves
  
• 2 tbsp oil
• 2 eggs {can add ¼ cup of grated coconut too}
  

Step 1:

Peel the beets using the peeler and chop it using food chopper. You can also grate them using grater.

Step 2:

Heat the oil in a non-stick pan add curry leaves and then chopped beets to it. Saute it for 1 min and then close it with a lid.

Step 3:

After 3 mins remove the lid and add pepper to it. When the beetroot is fully cooked just add 2 eggs to it ans saute it till you get scrambled egg form. Add salt according to your taste and serve hot with steaming rice or chapathi.

Panettone French Toast

Panettone is an Italian Bread. I read the story in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panettone
One day when i was watching TV i saw one of the Italian chef making this toast. Felt like eating it that time itself. I love fruit bread. So this is similar to that but a bit difference in taste. Specially this is the first time i'm seeing a bread in this cylindrical size. Tastes good before toasting itself. And after toasting its excellent. Enjoy!!!!


You will need

• 10 slices Panettone Bread(I cut it vertically 4 and then horizontally 1 inch slices.)
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup cold milk
• 2 tbsp sugar/honey (optional.. since its sweet already)
  
• Ghee/Butter/ Oil (Just enough to toast the bread).
  

Step 1:

Just cut the Panettone Bread into desired shapes. Small the pieces, easy to flip it while toasting.




Step 2:

Whisk the eggs and then add milk and honey/ sugar to it. Adjust the sugar according to your taste.

Handy Hint:

No need to add sugar with milk and egg. Just sprinkle or pour some honey on top of it at last for a great presentation. You can use maple sauce too.

Step 3:

Heat a non-stick frying pan to a medium heat and heat butter/ghee in it.

Step 4:

Just dip the bread slices into the egg, milk ,sugar mixture and toast the bread till you get light golden color. Flip it and fry the other side too.

Enjoy with sliced fruits and a cup of coffee. Enjoy your day.

Note:

You can make this with ordinary bread too

The Pencil Parable

This is the best message which touched me during college days . From a simple pencil we can learn 5 important lessons. Go through the slides.That will make you feel great..

Life is all about ups and downs. So never get disappointed at any stage. YOU WERE MADE TO DO GREAT THINGS!!!!!

Pal Khova/ Milk Kova

Pal Khova is one of our favorite dessert during childhood days. Just taught of making this since we cant get fresh khova here. I never knew that this would take such a long time for me to get the delicious khova. Oh my God. It killed my time. But was really satisfied with the outcome. Very comforting dessert. We enjoyed it.




You will need:

• 4 cups milk
• 3 tbsp ghee
• ¾ cup sugar (can go upto 1 cup sugar)
• 1 tbsp rava/sooji (optional)
• saffron(optional)
  
• More patience!!!!! (very important!!)
  

Step 1:

Heat a heavy bottom pan , add milk, sugar and ghee to it. Stir it for 30 mins. Stirring occasionally. After 30 mins increase the heat and stir it continuously (just to avoid lump formation) . When its boiling just reduce the heat and then again increase it. Its a bit hard work. But the result will satisfy you!!!!.

Step 2:

Now add rava and saffron to it and continuously stir it. At this stage the mixture will look like this.



Step 3:

Now totally after 1.30 hours of hard work, the mixture will reduce to 1 cup of khova. At this stage you can see some vigorous bubbles too.. Now transfer the mixture to a buttered cookie sheet and pour the mixture to it. Allow it to cool for some time.


Step 4:

Using Pizza cutter just cut it into desired shape or just using ghee roll it into desired shape and enjoy your day. You will surely enjoy the outcome after 1.30 hours of hard work.

Thattai (Rice fritters)

Thattai is a very famous snack in South India. I was thinking to make this thattai few weeks back. But somehow i was not able to make it till today. Tried it today and i'm very happy. Because i made my hubby's favourite dish at home. Whoohoooo!!!!





You will need:

• 2 cups rice flour
• ¼ cup urad dal flour ( can use coffee grinder to grind it)
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp sesame seeds
  
• 2 tbsp channa dal
• 1 tbsp moong dal
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• pinch of asofoetida
  
• pinch of baking soda(optional)
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 2 tsp paprika/kashmiri chilli powder(can substitute with chili powder also)
• 10 curry leaves(finely chopped)
• salt for taste
• roasted peanuts finely chopped (optional)
• less than ½ cup water
  
• oil fr deep frying and for flattening

Step 1:

Soak moong dal and channa dal in hot water for 15 mins.

Step 2:

Sieve rice flour and urad dal together in a bowl. In that add melted butter, cumin seeds, salt, baking powder, sesame seeds, asofoetida,curry leaves and mix it. Now strain the moong dal and channa dal. Add it to the above mix. At this stage the dough will look like this.

Step 3:

Now add water to the above mix little by little till you get a stiff dough similar to chapathi dough.


Step 4:

Heat oil in a medium heat. Now divide the dough into 4 parts and work with one by one. Take one part and flatten it. I used cookie cutter to get the shape.While rolling use oil just to stop dough from sticking.Flatten it to a thickness of credit card.

You can also do this without using cookie cutter. Just roll it into small balls(smaller than golf ball) and flatten it using hand or using rolling pin. Use oil to flatten it.
Step 5:

Fry it one by one and drain it in paper towel . Let it cool for 10 mins. Now you can enjoy with a cup of coffee/tea. Store the remaining thattai's in a air tight container.

Simple Shrimp Fry

You will need:

• 1 cup shrimp (cooked @ frozen)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp garlic(peeled and finely chopped)
• salt for taste
• 2 tsp chilli flakes
• few curry leaves(optional)
• few whole red chilli(optional)

Procedure:
Step 1:

Just wash the cooked prawn and keep it aside.

Step 2:

Heat butter in a pan add garlic and saute it in a medium flame for few seconds. Now add whole red chilli, red chilli flakes, curry leaves. After that add shrimp to it and saute it till it turns light brown color. Sprinkle some salt for taste.

Can serve it as shrimp salad with greens and your favorite veggies.

Curry leaves Rice

As you know curry leaves is very good for digestion and has many other good properties too. Specially in India and Srilanka people use this leaf in all the recipes. Most houses have a curry leaf plant in their garden.

After coming to US i'm counting and using curry leaves for daily cooking. As you know its very costly here. But when we went for shopping this week, we got so much fresh curry leaves. So i was thinking what can i do with these leaves. Tot of making this rice and we liked it too!!!!


You will need:

• 3 cup cooked rice ( allow the cooked rice to cool for few minutes) Can add more also
  
• 20 curry leaves
• 1 tbsp urad dal
• 4 tsp channa dal(bengal gram/kadala paruppu)
• 3 tsp toor dal(thuvaran paruppu/ sambar dal)
• cumin seeds
  
• 4 red chillies
• 1 tsp amchoor powder(optional)
• pinch of asofoetida
  
• salt for taste
• 2 tbsp oil/ghee (for tempering)
  
• 1 tsp mustard seeds (for tempering)

Step 1:

In a frying pan just fry (channa dal, urad dal, toor dal, curry leaves, red chillies, cumin seeds) ingredients and saute it till it turns brown color.

Note: No need to add oil at this stage.

Step 2:

Dry grind the mix using a coffee grinder or with a small jar dry mixie/ blender.

Step 3:

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds to it. When it splutters add asofoetida to it. Now add amchoor powder, salt and the cooked rice to it. Check for salt. Your curry leaves is now ready to serve.

I don't know what really go well with this rice. We ate this with onion raita and tandoori chicken.

Garlic Chutney

You will need:

• 1 whole garlic (for roasting)
  
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 string curry leaves
• 1 tsp tamarind paste(can increase or decrease)
  
• mustard for tempering
• ural dal for tempering
• salt for taste
  
• few curry leaves for tempering(optional)

Step 1:

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Take an aluminum foil sheet, place the garlic on it and just brush it with butter/oil . Now make it as a pouch.As shown in fig


Step 2:

Bake the garlic for 35 to 45 mins. After that let it cool for few minutes. Squeeze the garlic from skin or just take the roasted garlic by peeling the skins.

Step 3:

In the mean time just heat 1 tsp oil in a pan, add red chillies, curry leaves and tomato. Saute it for few minutes until tomatoes turn soft and well cooked. When the tomatoes turn soft just add tamarind paste to it and switch of the flame. Allow it to cool for few minutes.

Step 4:

Now grind the tomato red chilli mixture, the roasted garlic and the raw garlic pods till it become a fine paste..

Step 5:

For tempering:

Heat 4 tbsp oil in a pan add mustard seeds, ural dal one by one. After it splutters add some curry leaves and then add the ground mixture to this and saute it till the oil oozes out from the ground mixture. Stir in some salt and switch off the flame.

Enjoy with hot idli/dosa. For me it tasted better on the second day than the first day.

Note:

1. You can also do this without roasting the garlic. If so you have to use just 6 garlic cloves.
2. If you dont have oven just saute the garlic pods using 1 tsp oil till it turns brown colour.

Palak Sausage Gravy

I like that palak panner dish. As you know its a very healthy dish. But i dont like to eat the panneer pieces in that. So i tried with vienna sausage. It worked and it taste good too. So non veg lovers can definitely give a try. Specially those who dont like panneer like us will like this dish. Healthy and simple!!!!.


You will need:

• 1 can vienna sausage
• 1 bunch spinach/palak
• 2 green chillies
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp amchoor powder or tamarind paste
• 5 cloves of garlic (chopped)
  
• 1 inch ginger (chopped)
  
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• 2 dry red chillies
• ¼ cup onion (finely chopped)
  
• 1 string curry leaves
• salt for taste
• oil for tempering

Step 1:

Heat water in pan and add garlic and ginger to it. Allow it to boil for few minutes. then add chopped spinach and green chillies into it . Let it cook for few more minutes till the spinach is fully cooked.

Step 2:

After the spinach mixture is fully cooked allow it to cool for some time. In the mean time cut the canned sausage into small chunks like the way we do for panneer/tofu.

Step 3:

Grind the spinach mixture to a fine paste. Dont add any water to it. If you add water the final product will turn very watery.

Step 4:

Heat a non stick pan mediun high. Add 2 tbsp oil, when its hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, onion one by one. When the onion turns translucent add curry leaves and dry red chillies to it. Now add the sausage chunks and saute for few seconds. Add the spinach mixture to it. Finally add tamarind paste / amchoor(mango) powder and salt depending on our taste.

Hint:

Can substitute tamarind paste with sour cream too.

Banana Bonda

Making bajji with ripe banana is very common and i have did that several times. But this time i thought of trying something different with simple steps. So just tried this in my own way. It was good and it taste similar to unniappam. Can name it as banana unniappam i think!!!!..



You will need:

• 1 ripe banana
• ¾ cup All purpose flour(Maida)
• 2 tbsp sugar(can increase or decrease depending on your taste).
• water just few tbsp (just enough to make dough)
• Yellow color a pinch(optional)
• oil for deep frying
  

Step 1:

Just mash the banana with the help of banana masher or using hands. Add flour to it and knead it well. Now add sugar and yellow color to it. Along with that add few tbsp of water to form a dough. The final dough should be thick like this....



Step 2:

Heat oil in a pan on medium heat. Take some dough in your hand (you can use spoon too) and put it in the oil. Don't worry about the shapes. We are not pro's right!!!!!.. Deep fry it till it become brown color.

Serve with hot tea/coffee and enjoy you evening time. Simple and tasty.. What else can you ask for?....

Banana Chips

I love banana chips. Same with my hubby too. In Nagercoil we can get this chips even in street side shops. So taught of trying this chips. Banana chips that we get from Indian store is not spicy enough. So 5 days back i tried this banana chips with riped plantains. But dint get the perfect taste. Specially dint get the crispiness. So next time when we went for shopping saw this unripe plantain in the Indian shop. Picked some from there and just gave it a try . Wow perfectly good and got the taste similar to the Nagercoil chips. We just loved this.

You will need:

• 2 unripe plantains(nenthram pazham in tamil)
• oil for deep frying ( can go for coconut oil for best result and aroma) But i tried with vegetable oil.
• ½ tsp salt (can decrease or increase depending on your taste)
• ½ tsp chilli powder(optional)
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• ½ cup curd

Step 1:

Peel the plantains, using a knife cut the banana into half and soak it in curd for few minutes. I say half an hour just to remove serum. So now you will have 4 slices of banana.


Step 2:

Heat the oil in a pan. Keep the flame very low.

Step 3:

Using a slicer just slice one of the banana slices. When the oil is hot put a pinch of turmeric powder into it followed by the banana slices. Deep fry it till it turns golden brown color. (It took more than 4 minutes to fry each batch. Allow it to cook till it become crispy). Place the chips in a bowl lined with paper towel. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and chilli powder to it and toss it well.

Repeat step 3 for remaining 3 banana slices.

Note:

I used the slicer which is attached to the grater http://www.amazon.com/Pedrini-Black-Stainless-Pyramid-Grater/dp/B0000959EV/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1199841835&sr=8-4


Step 4:

Finally toss it well and allow it to cool for 5 mins. After that save it in an air tight container. You can store this for more than a week.

Cashew Raisin Biscotti

Today i was planning to make cookies. So just kept the butter outside and was getting ready to make cookies. Suddenly Biscotti came into my mind. So just went ahead and search for few recipes. Got the good one. Then again i was not able to make final decision whether to make cookies or biscotti. Because i don't like Indian Rusks. But finally decided to try biscotti thinking if its not coming good then i can make cookies. You know what after making first batch i was very satisfied with the taste of this biscotti. So went ahead and made 2 more batches and stored it. And one more good news. it will stay good for more than 2 weeks. Just store it in air tight container or zip lock.

You will need:

• 1½ cup All purpose flour
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• pinch of baking soda
• pinch of nutmeg powder(optional)
• 2 Eggs
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla essence(can reduce to 1 tsp also)
• ¾ cup raisins (can go for dry cranberry, dry cherry too)
• ¾ cup roasted nuts( almonds. pistachio, cashew) i made with the mixture of three nuts.
  

Step 1:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Step 2:

Preparing Dry Ingredients:

Take a big bowl,sieve the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Keep it aside.

Step 3:

Preparing wet ingredients:

Take a mixing bowl add eggs and sugar and mix it well with an electric mixer high for minimum 5 minutes. Now add vanilla essence and nutmeg powder.
Step 4:

Now mix the dry mixture into the wet mixture little by little and continue to mix it with the electric beater.After adding the flour mixture, take a spatula and mix it for few more minutes, just to make sure the flour is mixed well with the wet ingredients.

Step 5:

Now with the help of spatula just fold in the raisins and nuts.

Step 6:

Butter the cookie sheet and pour the mixture into it as shown in pic below. Pat to 1 inch thickness.



Step 7:

Bake it for 20 minutes. Take the biscotti from the oven and let it cool for 10 mins. Please dont turn off the oven.

Step 8:

Cut the biscotti into ½ inch thickness diagonally. Bake them for 5 minutes with cut side down, remove and turn the cookies to other side and bake again for another 5 minutes. Switch off, remove and cool completely.


This will be crispy and crunchy. Specially we can take out for picnic or outing.

Can you believe that this biscotti doesn't have butter in it. Even without butter it taste wonderful. Give it a try and let me know how it came out for you!!!!

Pineapple Kesari

You will need:

• 1 cup rava/ semolina/sooji
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 cups Water (can reduce to 2 cups of water to get thick consistency)
  
• ½ cup ghee( can increase or decrease according to your choice)
• 1½ cup canned crushed pineapple in juice (if you are using pineapple chunks better cut it into small pieces)
  
• 1/8 tsp of kesari food color (egg yellow)
• big pinch of cardamom powder
• small pinch of salt
• ½ cup cashew and raisins (fried in ghee)

Step 1:

Heat a pan and add 2 tbsp ghee. Add cashews and fry for few minutes.After that add raisins and stir it till it become balloon like structure and transfer it into another bowl and keep it aside.

Step 2:

In the same pan add remaining ghee and fry semolina till it become light brown color.(till it gives nice fragrance). Now add water to it and stir continuously to avoid lump formations. Add sugar, cardamom powder,crushed pineapple with juice and allow it to boil. When it starts boiling add food color and a pinch of salt. Then add half of the nuts and raisins into this mixture and stir it. Please don't close the pan when making kesari. Save the remaining for garnishing.Keep stirring till you get your desired consistency.It will take less than 2 mins to get the desired consistency. When it starts bubbling vigorously switch it off and let it cool for 10 mins. Serve as dessert as warm or cold. It will taste good in both ways.

Step 3:

Garnish with remaining nuts and raisins and serve. A quick dessert is ready to serve.

Asparagus Vienna sausage fry

You will need:

• 1 Bunch Asparagus
• 1 can vienna sausage (chicken or beef)
• 1 cup onion(finely minced)
  
• 5 Garlic pods
• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp chilli or pepper powder
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
  
• 1 tsp garam masala powder
• 1 tsp chat masala for garnishing
• salt as regd
• oil for stir frying(I prefer 3 tbsp)
• ¼ cup coconut powder(optional)
  

Step 1:

Cut the asparagus into 1 inch length. Cut the vienna sausage also. It will be usually round. So better cut it into half.

Step 2:

Heat a pan and oil and then cumin seeds. Once it splutters add onions and garlic pods and saute it for few mins. Now add the ginger garlic paste, then the garam masala powder and saute it for few more seconds.

Step 3:

Now its the time to add asparagus. Saute it and close the lid for few mins till it get cooked.(Some prefer crunchy and some prefer fully cooked. So its purely your option to cook veggies.)

Note: You can even deep fry or bake the asparagus before adding into this dish for better taste.

Add chilli powder/pepper powder, sausages and stir it carefully, since the sausage will break easily. Add salt according to your taste

Hint:

The sausages will have salt. So better add salt according to your taste after adding sausages.

Step 4:

Garnish with chat masala, lemon wedges and serve with chapathi or as side dish for rice along with dal curry and papad..

Kaju katli( cashew diamonds

Today i just thought of making some sweet dishes for my hubby's colleagues as Holiday presents. Suddenly Kaju katli came into my mind because of its taste.. As you know people here in the US like good presentation. So i went ahead and did this Kaju Katli. This is the first time i tried with powdered Cashews. Earlier i used to wet grind the cashews and the final product will be cashew Halwa!!!. This time tried with powdered cashews and guess what it really worked. The final product was better than Adyar Sweets. Thats what my husband said!!!. HA HA HA. So you can surely try this for a simple and quick dessert.

You will need:

• 1 cup whole cashews
• ¾ cup powdered sugar
• ¼ cup water

Step 1:

Finely powder the cashews using coffee grinder. (I have Indian Mixie. So i powder the cashews using the small jar which comes along with Mixie set.)

Step 2:

Take a heavy bottom pan (to distribute heat evenly, flat bottom is best) and add water and sugar to it and heat it for some time till you see bubbles.

Now add the powdered cashews and stir it continuously for few more mins. Keep stirring it untill it forms a soft ball.

You can also check by taking little of the mixture and roll it on a plate and see whether it solidifies within seconds. Transfer the content to chopping board lined by aluminium foil. Let cool for few minutes, and knead when its still warm. Place plastic wraps on top of the content and roll it to desired thickness and cut in diamond shape. Again, let it cool and then store in air-tight box for up to a week. It can also be refrigerated.

Hint:

If the dough is sticky, stir it few more mins to get the desired consistency.

If the dough is too hard just add few drops of warm milk and roll again

Calamari Fry (Squid, kanava in tamil)

I love this calamari from my childhood onwards. I love this dish in fry form or else like poriyal. But after coming to US i was searching for this fish. But i really dont know how to clean this fish.I have seen my mom taking some black ink from this fish. So i was in a dilemma whether to really buy this fish or not. To my surprise i saw cleaned calamari's in fish section in a grocery store one day. Wow very happy and tried this. It really rocked because of its taste and childhood memories.!!

You will need:

• 2 cups calamari rings (cut the calamari into small rings like onions) You can use tentacles if you like it or else just use the rings.
• 1 cup All purpose flour
• ¼ cup corn flour
• ¼ cup semolina rava
• 1 tsp chilli powder(Marinade)
• ½ tsp pepper powder (Marinade)
• ½ tsp garam masala powder (Marinade)
• salt for taste (Marinade)
• ½ tsp sugar (Marinade)
• 1 egg white (Marinade) can go for whole egg too
• Oil for deep frying
  

Step 1:

Cut the calamari into small rings like ½ cm thickness and wash it thoroughly.

Step 2:

Marinate the calamari with chilli powder, pepper powder, salt, sugar, garam masala powder, egg for minimum 5 hours. I prefer overnight.

Step 3 :

Now mix all the dry flour (All purpose, corn flour, and semolina rava) together in a bowl. Now coat the calamari with these flour and take out the extra flour by sifting.

Step 4:

Now heat the oil medium high and deep fry the calamari for less than 1 min until the flour gets golden colour.

Hint: Don"t overcook the calamari. It will turn rubbery. When cooking calamari we have to be very careful. It needs very less time to cook.

Cooking Calamari:

The proper temperature and timing also determine calamari's tenderness. In general, cook them briefly over moderate to high heat (30 seconds to 2 minutes) or slowly over low heat (at least 30 minutes).

Serve hot with tartar sauce, or mayo chilli sauce( just combine 1 cup mayo with ¼ cup chilli sause). Garnish with lemon wedges and coriander leaves.

How to make tartar sauce from Mayonnaise.

1 cup mayo
1 tbsp dill pickles chopped
2 tbsp onion chopped
salt a pinch
sugar a pinch
pepper powder as reqd.

Grind them together in blender(Mixie) for few min. Check for salt. Very easy and tasty dip for fried seafood dishes.