Cauliflower Poriyal/ Thoran

You will need

• cauliflower(can use full or just use half cauliflower. I used just half of the cauliflower to make this poriyal and save the other half to make cauliflower bell pepper masala rice.
• 1 onion(medium size)
• 6 green chillies
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• 1 egg(optional)
• 1 string curry leaves
• ¼ tsp mustard seeds
• ¼ tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp ginger garlic paste
• 2 dry red chillies(optional.. can use red chilli flakes too)
• salt to taste
• 3 tbsp oil

Step 1:

Grate the cauliflower using the grater and keep it aside.
Chop the onion and green chilli finely and keep it aside.

Step 2:

Heat oil in non-stick pan and add mustard seeds and cumin seeds to it. When it splutters add red chilli, curry leaves, ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, green chillies and onions to it. Saute it for 2 mins. Now add the grated cauliflower and saute it for 1 min. Cover it with a lid for 3 to 5 mins till the cauliflower is cooked. Add salt to it.

Step 3:

For more taste add one egg on top of the cooked cauliflower and saute it along with the cooked cauliflower till you get scrambled egg texture. You can substitute egg with freshly grated coconut too.

Serve it hot with rasam rice, moru kulambhu, more curry or with fish curry. Its purely your choice. Its goes well even with chapathi.

Sardines Fish Gravy

In our place sardines fish is very popular. Its called chala mean in Tamil, Mathi mean in Malayalam. This fish has very unique taste comparing to all the other fish.

People who have tasted the fresh sardine fish curry know the taste about this fish. You can fry as well as make gravy. But in US getting fresh fish is not possible nah. So i just tried with canned fish. This canned fish dint taste exactly like the fresh fish gravy. But it taste very good than what i expected. Definitely people who know about chala mean can give it a try.

This fish is available in all American grocery stores. You can find this next to canned tuna fish. You can find different types of canned sardines like sardines in water, sardines in oil, sardines in tomato juice, etc. I'm not sure that which one taste better. I have done my experiments with 2 different cans like combination of Sardines in water and sardines in oil.

You will need:

For fish curry:

• 2 3.75oz Sardines
• ½ red onion(roughly chopped)
• 5 green chillies(can decrease if you like less spice)
• 5 garlic cloves
• ½" ginger(optional)
• 1 tomato(finely chopped)
  
• 1 tsp tamarind paste(can increase or decrease according to your taste)
• 3 tbsp fish masala powder(i used homemade fish masala, you can use store bought fish masala powder too)
• 2 to 3 cups of water
  
• salt for taste

For tempering:

• 2 tbsp oil
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• 1 pearl onion/shallot(finely chopped)
• 1 string curry leaves
• 5 fenugreek seeds(venthayam in Tamil)
  

Step 1:

Roughly chop onion, ginger, garlic, green chilli and then grind it to a fine paste adding some water and keep it aside.

In this picture you can see fish masala powder, canned fish, and the ground paste.



Step 2:

In a pan add the ground paste, fish masala powder,tomato, tamarind paste, saltwater and allow it to boil for 5 mins. Now add canned sardines to this and allow it to boil(Discard the canned oil/water/ juice). After 5 mins reduce the heat to medium and let it cook for 15 to 20 mins uncovered till you get very thick gravy as shown in picture. Switch of the heat and keep it aside.

Note:

Don't stir the fish while its getting cooked. This will break the fish pieces.

Step 3:

For tempering:

Now for tempering add oil in a small pan. When its hot add mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds. After it splutters add chopped shallots and fry it till you get golden brown color. Now add the curry leaves. Now pour this mixture to the above cooked sardine gravy and cover it with a lid immediately, so that the flavour will stay inside. Thats what my Mom told.

Sardine curry is now ready to serve. Enjoy with rice, chappathi..

Sweet Banana Bajji

You will need:

• 2 plantain(ripe)
• ¾ cup All purpose flour/ Maida
• 3 tbsp sooji/ rava
• 2 tbsp rice flour
• pinch of yellow color
  
• ¼ cup sugar(can increase or decrease according to your taste)
• pinch of salt
• ¼ cup water(can increase or decrease) Its better to get methu vada consistency so that the mixture will stick nicely with the banana)

Step 1:

Peel the banana, slice it and keep it aside. You can slice banana anyway you like.

Step 2:

In a mixing bowl combine rice flour, sooji/rava, All purpose flour/Maida, sugar, yellow color and salt. Add water and mix it well to get a thick consistency.

Step 3:

Heat oil in a deep frying pan on medium heat.

Step 4:

Dip the banana slices in the above mixture and deep fry it till you get golden brown color. Keep the deep fried banana bajji on a paper towel to absorb the oil.

Serve with your favorite drinks. Enjoy your banana bajji when its still hot..

Three Milk cake

Thought of doing something special on this special(Valentines) day. This came into my mind. My friend Lini akka made Three Milk Cake for Thanksgiving dinner and we loved it very much. So just started to make this cake in the morning(just as a surprise) and we had nice time. I used non fat milk when i made this cake. You can choose whatever you want. As you know, best fatty ingredient butter is absent here. So you can enjoy this cake without guilt..

As it's Valentine's day i cut this cake into heart shape. We started our hunting for a heart shape pan from Monday. But couldn't get in nearby stores. Checked in L&T, Kohls, etc. But i couldn't find the heart shape pan. So I just cut the shape using a knife and it came out good.Whoohoooo.. Happy Valentine's DAY!!!!!!




You will need:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ cup milk
  
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• pinch of salt

Ingredients to soak the cake

• 1 cup condensed milk
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 1 can heavy cream(you can substitute with milk also)
• ¼ tsp Rum extract(optional)

Step 1:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Step 2:

Preparing dry ingredients:

In a mixing bowl sieve the all purpose flour along with the baking powder and keep it aside.

Step 3:

Preparing wet ingredients:

In another mixing bowl, beat the eggs using a electric mixer on medium for 2 to 3 minutes. Then add sugar, milk and vanilla essence to it and mix it for 1 min.


Step 4:

Adding dry to the wet ingredients:

Now add the dry ingredients(flour and baking powder) to this wet mixture and beat it less than a min.

Step 5:

Bake

Grease 8*8 inch baking pan and pour the mixture into that and bake it for 25 to 30 mins till you get a clean tooth pick(same old technique!!!!)

Step 6:

Allow the cake to cool for 10 mins. You can use fork to make small slots in the cake.
I just trimmed off the top layer of the baked cake. That way, the cake can absorb the milk very easily.




Step 7:

Using a mixer just mix all the three milks together with rum extract in a mixing bowl. Now pour the three milk mixture onto the baked cake when the cake is still warm. Allow the three milk cake to chill/soak for minimum 4 hours inside the refrigerator. Even overnight soaking is good.

Cut it and serve. Wow wonderful wonderful cake.. Very moist and yummmmmmmmmmy!!!!!!!!

Spinach Chicken Gravy

You will need:

• 1 lb chicken (chopped into bite size pieces)
  
• 2 cup spinach paste
• 1 cup onion(finely chopped)
  
• 1 tomato (finely chopped)
  
• 2 tsp garam masala powder
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp cumin or black cumin
• 1 cup chopped coriander
  
• salt as reqd

To make spinach Paste

• 1 bunch spinach(chopped roughly)
  
• 7 green chillies
• few curry leaves
  
• 3 garlic cloves(chopped roughly)
  
• 1 tsp oil
  

Step 1:

How to make Spinach Paste:

In a pan add oil and then add green chillies, curry leaves and garlic to it and saute for a min. Then add the roughly chopped spinach and close the lid for 4 mins. Then switch off the heat and allow it to cool. Then grind it to a fine paste using blender/ mixie.

Step 2:

To make Spinach Chicken:

Take a non stick pan and add oil to it. Then add cumin seeds and allow it to splutter. Add chopped onions to it and saute it till it turns light brown color. Now add ginger garlic paste, chopped coriander, garam masala, coriander powder and chopped chicken and saute it for 3 mins. Now add the tomato and close with a lid and allow the chicken to cook for 10 mins.

Now add the spinach paste and curd/water to get your desired consistency. Close it with a lid for 5 more mins. Spinach chicken gravy is now ready to serve!!!

Note:

You can include grated coconut also when making spinach paste. Adding water /curd is purely optional. It will taste good before adding curd itself.

Capsicum Peas Rice

You will need:

• 1 cup Basmathi rice
• 1 ½ cup water
  
• 1 Green Bell Pepper(cut into small cubes)
  
• 1 cup green peas
• 3 green chillies(finely chopped)
  
• 1 medium onion(cut lengthwise)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 cloves
• 2 star anise
• 2 tsp black cumin(gala jeera)
  
• salt as regd
• oil for frying onions(2 tbsp).. Can use clarified butter(ghee)/butter also.
• roasted cashews, raisins for garnishing(purely optional)
  

Step 1:

Take a nonstick pan and add some oil to it. When its hot add black cumin seeds to it. After it splutters add cinnamon stick, cloves, star anise to it. Then add chopped onions to it and saute it till it turns light golden brown color.

This process is similar to Fish Biryani

Step 2:

Add the above mixture to the rice along with water, salt and cook in the rice cooker till its done.

Hint:

Don't stir the rice when its hot. Use a fork to stir the rice when its cool.

Step 3:

In a non stick pan add some ghee/oil and saute the bell pepper along with chopped green chillies for 3 to 4 mins. Then add the green peas to it and cover it with a lid for 2 more mins. Switch off the heat when both the ingredients are cooked.

Don't overcook the bell pepper.

Step 4:

Mix the cooked bell pepper, green peas to the cooked rice and stir it using a fork. By this way you avoid breaking of rice. Check for salt. Garnish with chopped cilantro(coriander leaves).



You can garnish with roasted cashews and raisins for better result. Serve this delicious rice with your favorite veg/Non-Veg curries..like Beef gravy, chicken masala,

You can make mixed rice with any veggies like, cabbage, beet, carrot, beans, corn. Go for your favorite veggies!!!

Crispy Fried chicken

You will need:

For Marination:

• 1 lb chicken (preferably thighs or drumstick)
• 3 cup hot water(luke warm water is also fine)
  
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp curd
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp garam masala powder

For the coating

• 1 egg
• 1 tsp pepper powder(optional.. We prefer spicy chicken)
• 1 cup Oven fry Extra Crispy chicken. (I used KRAFT brand)
• 3 tbsp All purpose flour/ Maida

Step 1:

Make some slots in the chicken and soak it in the hot water for 3 hours along with the marination ingredients like(salt, curd, chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder).

Step 2:

After 3 hours dry the chicken using paper towel and keep it aside.

Step 3:

In a mixing bowl just mix the egg very well and keep it asde. In another mixing bowl mix the all purpose flour , pepper powder and the crispy fried chicken mixture and keep it aside.

Step 4:

Take a cookie sheet and spray it with non stick cooking spray.

Step 5:

Take the chicken and first coat the chicken with the egg mixture and then into the crispy mixture and place it in the cookie sheet.

Step 6:

Bake it in 400 F for 20 mins for boneless chicken. For boned chicken bake it for 35 mins.

You can substitute the crispy fried chicken mixture with bread crumbs too. But using this crispy fried mixture you will get very very crispy chicken.

If you are making with bread crumbs add some chilli powder, pepper powder and salt along with the bread crumbs.

Instead of baking you can deep fry the chicken also at medium heat for few minutes till it turn light golden brown color.

Beef Gravy

You will need:

• 1 lb beef(cut into small cubes)
  
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 4 Dry red chillies
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 cloves
• 2tsp cumin seeds
• 1 big onion(2 medium onions)
• 5 pearl onions(chopped roughly)
  
• 5 garlic cloves(minced finely)
  
• 1" ginger(minced finely)
  
• 2 green chillies(chopped)
• 1 tomato (chopped)
  
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• 1 cup water
  
• 1 string curry leaves
• ½ cup chopped coriander leaves
• Oil and salt as reqd (Use coconut oil for good flavour)

Step 1:

In a non stick frying pan add pearl onions and fry for 1 min. After that add cinnamon, cloves, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, black pepper and red chillies one by one. Fry all these till nice aroma comes and keep it aside. In a mixie grind all these fried ingredients together.

Step 2:

Pressure cook the beef with some salt, turmeric, and with these ground mixture till the beef is cooked. You can go for baking also.

If baking, bake it at 350F for 1:30 hours. Better to add 1 cup water to this. Cover it with an aluminum foil. Make some slots/holes in the aluminum foil when covering.

Step 3:

After the beef is fully cooked take another non stick pan and add some oil in it. Fry the onions along with green chillies, curry leaves, chopped ginger and garlic. When the onion turns translucent or light golden brown color add tomato and saute it 2 more mins. Then add the cooked beef (along with the juice which you got after baking/ cooking the beef)and saute it till you get your desired consistency.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves(cilantro) and serve hot with variety rice or Indian roti like naan, chapathi.

Pal Urundai/ Rice flour balls in milk sauce

You will need:

• 1 cup puttu flour
• ¾ cup grated coconut
• pinch of cardamom powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp sugar(optional)
• 1 cup milk or coconut milk
• 2 cup water + 2 tbsp water
  
• ¼ cup boiled water

Step 1:

Boil 2 cups of water in a pan. In the mean time take a mixing bowl and add puttu flour, grated coconut, salt and sugar,boiled water and mix it with a spoon.




Step 2:

When the dough is still warm just shape it as small balls. The size of the ball should be smaller than golf ball. Smaller the ball size it taste better.



Step 3:

Just drop the balls into the boiling water one by one and allow it to cook for 5 mins. After 5 mins just add the milk and cardamom powder along with this mixture and allow it to boil for few more minutes(5 to 7 mins) till the urunda is fully cooked inside. Add salt and sugar at this stage if needed.

Step 4:

Mix a tbsp of puttu flour with 2 tbsp cold water and then pour it to the boiling(water, milk, puttu balls) mixture. This will thicken the sauce. By mixing the puttu flour with water you can avoid lump formations.

Step 5:

Pal urunda is now ready to serve. You can serve this for breakfast.

Note:

You can make this urunda only with sugar too. Even that will taste good.

Don't press it too hard to get the ball shape. This will harden the balls and will take more time to cook

Banana Payasam

You will need:

• 2 ripe bananas(mash it nicely)
  
• ¼ cup sugar(can increase or decrease according to your taste)
• ¼ cup sago(javvarisi)
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cup water
• 1 tbsp custard powder(optional)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract(optional)
• ¼ tsp cardamom powder
• 2 tbsp clarified butter(ghee)/butter
• 2 tbsp chopped nuts(cashews and almonds)
  
• 2 tbsp golden raisins
• pinch of salt

Step 1:

Heat water in a pan and add sago to it. Let it cook till it become tender.It took more than 20 mins in medium heat.

Step 2:

In a non-stick pan heat ghee. When its hot add nuts and saute it till it become brown color. Using a slotted spoon take the nuts when its ready and keep it aside. In the same ghee saute raisins till it become balloon structure and keep it aside with nuts.

Step 3:

In the same ghee add mashed bananas and saute it till it become nice brown color. Now add milk, cardamom powder and sugar to it and allow it to boil. Let it boil for 5 mins in medium heat.

Step 4:

Take some cold milk in a cup and add custard powder to it and mix it nicely. Then add this custard liquid to the above banana mixture. In this way you can avoid formation of lumps.

Step 5:

Check for salt and add the cooked sago along with the water to it and allow it to boil till you get your desired consistency.

When its warm add vanilla extract and check for sugar. Finally garnish with roasted nuts and raisins. Super fast dessert is ready..



Note:

If you like very liquid consistency you can add more milk /water. I like thick consistency, so i boiled it till i get nice thick consistency. Its purely your choice!!!!!

You can make this payasam without sago also. Or you can substitute sago with vermicelli too..

Spinach Pasta

You will need:

• 2 cup of uncooked pasta
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp gala jeera(black cumin)
• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
• salt as reqd
• 1 tsp mango powder(amchoor powder)
• 2 tbsp oil
• 2 tbsp curd/Yogurt
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 inch ginger(finely copped)
• bunch of spinach
• 2 green chillies

Step 1:

To make spinach paste:

In a non stick pan just put a few drops of oil. When its hot add chopped ginger,green chillies and garlic to it and saute it till it turns golden brown color. Now add spinach and close with a lid. After 2 mins you can see that the spinach is fully cooked. Now add amchoor powder and allow it to cool for few minutes. Then grind it to a fine paste using blender/mixie. Use one cup of paste to make spinach pasta. You can make palak sausage gravy or palak paneer gravy or spinach chapathi with the remaining paste.

If you don't have amchoor powder add ½ tsp tamarind paste when you make spinach paste.

Step 2:

Cook pasta as per packing directions. Better to add few drops of oil and lemon juice while cooking pasta to avoid sticking. When pasta is fully cooked filter it and keep it aside.

Step 3:

Take a non stick pan and heat oil in it. When its hot add gala jeera to it. After it splutters add ginger garlic paste and then chilli powder. Now add the spinach paste and mango powder to it. Just saute it for 1 min. Now add the cooked pasta to this and saute it for few minutes. Add salt, curd and lemon juice to it and stir it well.

Step 4:

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve it hot. Non-Veg lovers can garnish with a scrambled egg too.

Turkey Pasta

You will need:

• 1 lb ground turkey(If you don't have minced turkey blend it using blender to get minced meat)
  
• 12 ounce pasta
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tbsp chilli powder
• 1 tbsp coriander powder
• 1 tbsp garam masala powder
• 2 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp black cumin seeds(gala jeera)
  
• 2 tsp salt(can increase or decrease according to your taste)
• 1 onion(very finely chopped)
• 4 tomatoes(can substitue with ½ cup pasta sauce or tomato sauce too)
• 2 bread slices
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp oil
  

Step 1:

Finely chop the onions and add it to the ground turkey. Along with that add chilli powder, coriander powder, ginger garlic paste, salt, cumin powder, fennel seeds and black cumin and mix it well. When everything is blended take a loaf pan and place 2 bread slices in it as shown in pic.. (So that the meat wont have contact with the bottom of the loaf pan. In this way you can avoid watery meat.). Then transfer this whole mixture on top of the bread slices.


Now place the loaf pan in preheated oven(350 F). Let it bake for 1 hour.

Step 2:

When the meat is ready (after 1 hour of baking) allow it to cool for few minutes. Then crumble the meat using hands or knife and keep it aside. Discard the bread slices.



Step 3:

Cook the pasta as per instructions given in the package. When cooking pasta it is better to add few drops of lemon juice and a tsp of oil to avoid sticking. Better to save ½ cup pasta water when filtering.

Step 4:

Take a heavy pan add oil to it. When its hot add tomato's and saute it till it ooze out the oil. If you are using pasta sauce just saute it for few second. Then add the crumbled meat to it. If you want more spiciness just add some chilli powder at this stage.

Now add the cooked pasta to it along with that ½ cup of pasta water. Check for salt. Finally add lemon juice and serve it when it hot.. You can garnish this dish with chilli flakes and finely chopped coriander leaves.. Enjoy!!!!!!

Can do the same process with chicken meat too..
You can slice the baked meat and make it as sandwich/burger too. It will taste yummmmy with a touch of Mayonnaise.!!!

Dates Almond Bread

You will need:

• 1 cup wheat flour
• ½ cup bread flour(can substitute with all-purpose/maida flour too)
• ½ cup chopped nuts(Almonds)
• 1 cup chopped dates
• ½ cup sugar(can increase for more sweetness)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 egg(can add 1 more egg)
• ¼ cup olive oil/butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp buttermilk(optional)
  
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup water

Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 350F.

Chop the pitted dates and keep it aside in a bowl. Boil 1 cup of water. After it becomes hot just switch off the heat and pour that hot water into the chopped dates. Let it cool for 15 mins.



Step 2:

Preparing wet ingredients:

In a mixing bowl mix together egg, sugar, vanilla extract and oil until it becomes fluffy.

Step 3:

Preparing Dry ingredients:

In another bowl sieve together the wheat flour, bread flour, baking soda and baking powder.

Step 4:

Now mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredient using a spatula. Add the dates along with the water to this and mix it using the spatula to get the perfect bread dough.Don't over mix it.

Hint:

If you are using buttermilk add at this stage.

Step 5:

Mix in the chopped nuts.

Step 6:

Grease the loaf pan with butter. Pour the above mixture into the loaf ban and bake it for 40 to 50 mins in the preheated oven.

You date almond bread is now ready!! Enjoy!!!

Note:

Instead of wheat flour you can make this with All purpose flour/ bread flour/maida too. Buttermilk is purely optional. It taste good even without that.
In this recipe i used "Golden Temple" (Durum Atta flour)

Spinach Poori

You will need:

• ½ cup wheat flour
• ½ cup Maida flour/ All purpose flour
• ¼ cup Sooji/ Rava
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp oil for kneading dough
  
• milk for kneading dough(less than ¼ cup)
  
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 inch ginger(finely copped)
• bunch of spinach
• 2 green chillies
  
• oil for deep frying
  

Step 1:

To make spinach paste:

In a non stick pan just put a few drops of oil. When its hot add chopped ginger,green chillies and garlic to it and saute it till it turns golden brown color. Now add spinach and close with a lid. After 2 mins you can see that the spinach is fully cooked. Now allow it to cool for few minutes. Then grind it to a fine paste using blender/mixie. Use one cup of paste to make poori. You can make palak sausage gravy or palak paneer gravy or spinach chapathi with the remaining paste.

Step 2:
To make dough:

Sieve the maida/ all purpose flour if it has any lumps. In a mixing bowl add wheat flour, maida/ all purpose flour, sooji/rava, salt, sugar and 1 cup of spinach paste. Mix it all together. Add milk to knead the dough. Finally add 1 tbsp oil and kneadit. The dough should have the consistency similar to pizza, chapathi. Allow the dough to rest for 1 hour. Then divide the balls into small balls.



Step 3:

Flatten/roll the dough using rolling pin to get a circular shape. If you are not able to get the perfect round shape just cut it using large cookie cutter/ lunch box lid after flattening to get the perfect round shape.

Step 4:

Heat oil in deep fry pan. Better to have the flame medium. When the oil is hot just drop the flattened poori into the oil. Press with the spatula with a slotted spoon to get puffed poori. when it turns golden brown just flip it to get golden brown color in the next side too. When the poori is ready just place it in the paper towel. Enjoy with potato masala, chicken masala, palak sausage gravy, or with your favorite side dish.

Note:

• You can use cookie cutters to get your desired shapes.
• You can make palak panner gravy by replacing sausage with panner. Enjoy your day with a healthy breakfast. Can have this for dinner too.

Handy Snacks For Superbowl

I hope that at least a few of you are football(I mean American football not Soccer) fans, like us. But even if you’re not, you know that the biggest thing this Sunday is the Super Bowl (6pm EST on Fox) and that many of you will be watching it (or at least checking out the commercials), or entertaining friends while the game plays in the background. Naturally, you’ll need some food to sustain you while you watch. Here are a few of my favorites from my site, some of which will be making an appearance on Super Bowl game day.

• Cashew Raisin Biscotti is one of the handy and less calorie snack. This biscotti doesn't have butter in it. So you can enjoy this while watching Super bowl.

• Those who like spicy Biscuit can try this Masala Cookie

• Hey you can try samosa's too. You know what we can bake samosa instead of deep frying.
  

• If you like Indian chips you can try Banana Chips or Thattai(Rice Fritters)

• Chicken Nuggets is one of our all time favorite recipe. I'll be very happy if i can eat this as snack or for dinner or as chicken burger too with a touch of Mayonnaise.

Enjoy Superbowl !!!!.. Go Giants!!!!

Banana Bread

A healthy breakfast which you can make it in the weekend and enjoy it the whole week. Can spread butter or jam on it for extra taste.

You will need:

• 2 ripe bananas, smashed
• ½ cup olive oil/ melted butter ( 1 stick)
  
• 1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1½ cup wheat flour (chapathi flour)
  
• ½ cup of bread flour (can substitute with All purpose flour)
• 2 tbsp chopped nuts (silvered alomonds, cashews)
• ¼ cup raisins

Step 1:

Preheat the oven:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Step 2:

Making bread dough:

With a wooden spoon, mix oil into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flours last and mix. Mix in chopped nuts and raisins.

Pour mixture into a buttered loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour(Till the tooth pick come out clean). Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Brinjal Prawn Masala

I was thinking to make this dish for a year. But somehow dint get perfect time to make this dish. You can definitely try this dish even if you don't like eggplant(Indian brinjals from Indian store). Very spicy and tasty dish. You can enjoy with chapathi, dosa and with naan(Indian bread).

Regarding rose in the picture, I just gave it a try to make the rose using tomato skin. It worked!!!!. Thanks to my friend who told me how to make this. She told just peel the tomato and swirl it to get rose shape. Wow simple easy tip gave me good tomato rose. You can try too for a nice presentation.

You will need:

• 5 small brinjals/Eggplant
• 20 medium size prawn/shrimp
• 1 medium size onion
• 2 tomatoes
• 2 green chillies
• 3 tsp chilli powder
• 3 tsp coriander powder
• 2 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp garam masala powder
• few curry leaves
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 3 tbsp oil

Step 1:

Chop the onions, green chillies, tomatoes, brinjal and keep it aside.

Step 2:

Heat oil in a pan add curry leaves, onions, green chillies, brinjal and saute it for few minutes till onion turns translucent.

Step 3:

Now add the ginger garlic paste and saute it for 1 min. Add cumin powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder and saute it for 2 more mins till it get rid of the raw coriander smell.

Step 4:

Add tomatoes and close it with a lid. After 3 mins add prawns , salt and saute it for a min .Then close it again for 3 mins.

Step 5:

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with chapathi, Indian Bread, or as a side dish for rice.