Varutharacha Chicken Curry

Ingredients:

Chicken – ½ kg (cut into medium pieces)

Onion – 2 big

Tomato – 1

Green chillies- 2

Crushed Ginger Garlic- 1 tsp

Curry Masala Powder- 1 tsp

Curry leaves

Coriander leaves - few

Oil - little

Salt - to taste

To roast and grind:

Coconut grated – ½ cup

Cardamom – 4

Cloves – 4

Cinnamon – a small piece

Whole pepper – 1 tsp

Garlic - 4 - 5 pods

Ginger - 1"piece

Curry Masala Powder- 1 tsp

Method:

Heat a frying pan and dry roast the grated coconut, Garlic, ginger, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, pepper on low-medium heat till coconut becomes brown in color. Do continuous stirring and be cautious that it don't get burnt. Finally add  1 tsp of curry masala powder and remove from fire, allow to cool and grind the mix with little water to a fine paste.

Heat a Pressure pan and add oil. Saute chopped onions, green chillies, Crushed ginger and   garlic. Add 1 tsp of curry masala and stir. Add tomatoes and saute them well. Add chicken pieces and 1/2 cup water, stir well and Pressure cook giving two whistles in high flame.

Once done, Finally add coconut paste and curry leaves. Add water according to your desired consistency . Let it boil for 2-3 minutes and remove from fire. Add chopped coriander leaves also.

Yummy chicken curry is ready. This curry tastes good with Ghee rice, Plain rice, Vellappam etc etc

Recipe Courtesy: Mrs.Prassana Sugathan (Amma)

Ari unda (Rice balls)

Ingredients:

Rice ( Matta rice/ Red Kuttari/Par Boiled Rice) - 1 cup
Jaggery - 1 cup
Scraped Coconut - 1 cup
Cardamom - 3
Ginger - 1/2 '' Piece

Method:

Wipe the Rice with a cloth. In a thick bottomed kadai roast the Rice in medium heat till it is crisp and golden brown. See to it that all rice is uniformly roasted. Rice grains breaks. Remove from fire and let it cool.

Grind the  roasted rice in a mixer and transfer this to a plate.

 In the same mixer jar grind ginger piece . Add the powdered jaggery to this  and give a stir.  Also add grated coconut, cardamon and rice powder and coarsely grind it together for just a few seconds in the mixer. Grind till everything is well mixed.

Transfer this to a wide plate. Make small balls out of the mixture.  

You can make 18 balls of this size with this measurements. A healthy snack is ready........:)

Recipe Courtesy: Mrs. Ajitha Sadhanandan (Ammayi)

Curry masala Powder

Ingredients:

Coriander powder- 1 kg
Chilly powder-200 gms
Turmeric - 50 gms
Cumin seeds - 100 gms
Pepper-100 gms
Curry leaves- 1 cup

Method:

Heat a pan, dry roast all the ingredients one by one separately for 4-5 minutes or till aroma comes. Coriander seeds will pop lightly when u roast them, so roast until the popping sound stops. Roast Everything in medium heat. Allow the mixture to cool for a while and then blend it to a fine powder.

For this measurement you need to give to a flour mill to get it Powdered.  This can be kept in an air tight container and can be used for a longer period.

If you prefer grinding in smaller quantities at home. .Measurement for home grinding:

Coriander powder- 1 1/2 cup
Chilly powder-  1/2 cup
Turmeric - 4 tsp
Cumin seeds -  1/2 cup
Pepper- 1/4cup
Curry leaves- 1/2 cup

Roast all ingredients separately, except turmeric and while grinding the roasted ingredients add turmeric powder.Store in an air tight container

Recipe Courtesy: Uma's Mother,Pondicherry.

Nei Choru /Ghee Rice

Ingredients:

Kaima rice/ Jeeraka samba rice – 1 cup 
Cloves – 3
Cardamom – 3
Cinnamon – a small piece
Bay leaf – 1
Salt- to taste
Boiling water – 2 cups 
Ghee/ oil – 2 tbsp or as required.
Onion – 1 small, sliced finely
Cashews & raisins – 5-10, each

Method:

Jeera Samba rice is used for making Ghee rice. Clean and Soak  rice for 10 minutes and drain the rice and keep aside.


Heat a heavy bottomed vessel, add 2 tbsps ghee and allow it to melt.You can also add 1 tbsp ghee and 1 tbsp oil. Once hot, reduce flame, add washed and wiped  cashew nuts and saute till golden brown and remove. Add washed and wiped raisins and saute for a few seconds and remove. Keep aside the cashew nuts and raisins. In the same vessel, add the sliced onion and saute till the onions are caramelized. or remove some onions to a  non stick pan and keep on roasting till they become brown be careful that they won't get burnt. Remove the onions and keep aside.This is used for garnishing.

In the same cooking vessel, add a tbsp of ghee and once hot, add the cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and bay leaf. Allow to splutter. Add sliced onions and saute till they become soft. Add the drained rice and saute on low flame for 10 mts. You should continously stir or if not, see to it that it won't get burnt. Rice should get roasted well and when dropped from spoon should give a dried sound. only if the rice is roasted well after cooking rice will not stick to each other.

Keep 2 cups of water for boiling in a separate pan.Add this boiling water to the roasted rice. Also add salt. Reduce flame to low, place lid and cook till the rice is soft.Open the lid and stir in between. When all water get reduced stirr and remove from stove.

 Nei choru/ Ghee rice is ready....... While serving garnish with roasted onions,  cahews and raisins....

Ghee rice tastes excellent with varutharacha chicken curry,Chicken stew, vegetable stew, curd salad ,cocunut chutney and Papad...Ready  for  a polling???.:)

Recipe Courtesy: Mrs.Prassana Sugathan (Amma)

Semiya Payasam

Semiya payasam is common in many kitchens.  My mother used to make this during festivals and ask me to take hot Payasam to Valsan uncle and Lali aunty ( my neighbors). 

This payasam followed me to many other places .....It was  in my mother in law's house also. Mathish likes to have chilled semiya Payasam. So thought of making it but after making, I felt so surprised and  happy to see kshetra, who never used to have any payasam happily had this payasam and said amma superrrr....She requested me to make this for her next birthday. Now she is 5 yrs & 5 months old and this is the first Payasam she ever had:))))

Ingredients:

Semiya/ Vermicelli -1 cup heaped

Sugar  - to taste

Ghee - 2 tsp

Cashew nuts - 6

Raisins - 10

cardamom - 1 tsp crushed

Water- 2 cups

Milk - 2 cups

Method:

keep the semiya/ vermicelli ready. If its long semiya you need to break them into smaller pieces.

In a cooker,  add ghee and fry cleaned and wiped cashews. when they turn light brown add cleaned and wiped raisins with the cashews. when both get fried remove from ghee and keep aside.  

 In the same ghee, roast vermicelli in Medium-low flame with constant stirring. The vermicelli should turn golden here and there. Pour 2 cups of water and pressure cook the semiya giving one whistle.

When done open the cooker and add milk and stir well. Again, keep on gas and keep on boiling with continuous stirring. Add sugar and powdered cardamom and remove from gas.Add fried cashews and raisins. use some for garnishing also.

Delicious semiya payasam is ready to serve...... It's often seen after sometime this payasam becomes thick, if you want it watery add little more milk and sugar . If  you want to make the Payasam more richer, reduce sugar and you can add condensed milk. Instead of cooking vermicelli in water, you can use milk to cook it.This makes it more rich.Remember to add sugar only after the milk is well boiled other wise milk gets spoiled.You can also make this in a pan. using a cooker makes the process faster....:)

Recipe Courtesy: Mrs.Prassana Sugathan (Amma)

Curd salad

Ingredients:

Big Onion - 1

Tomato- 1

Green Chilly- 2

corriander leaves- little

Curd-250 gms

Salt -To taste

Method:

Finely chop onion ,tomato and green chillies. Mix everything together with salt and keep it for 5 minutes . Finally add curd and mix well .Check the salt .

Excellent curd salad is ready to be served with biriyani and curd rice....:))))

Recipe Courtesy: Mrs.Prassana Sugathan (Amma)

Sweet wheat Dosa

 Ingredients:

Jaggery - 4 or to taste
Water-2 1/2 cups
Wheat flour-2 cups
cardamom - 3
salt- 1 pinch
Gingelly oil or Ghee - As required.

Method:

Dissolve Jaggery in 2 cups of water and stain the melted jaggery.

In a vessel, add the wheat flour,  powdered cardamom,  pinch of salt, filtered jaggery water and mix well to make the batter.

Bring pan to low heat and make dosa with 1 ladle spoon of batter. Add 1/2 tsp of gingelly oil or Ghee around the dosa. Cook until it is golden brown on both sides and remove from gas.

........ healthy Sweet Wheat dosa is ready to serve:)

Recipe Courtesy: Mrs. Uma Mohan,Puducherry.

Tandoori Idli

This is  a "make over" of left over idli. We can also make idli upma and fried idlis with the left over idlis. If we don't like idlis we can try this recipie :)

Ingredients:

Idli-5

Big onion-2

tomato-1

Ginger and garlic crushed-1tsp

coriander leaves- little

Curry leaves-few

Green chillies-2

Potato-1

salt- to taste

oil-1 tsp

Mustard- 1 tsp

Red food color- 1 pinch

Method:

Cut idlis  into square cubes. cut all vegetables. crush ginger and garlic.

Cut potatoes length wise and fry in little oil and keep aside.

 In a kadai, splutter mustard and add onions,green chilies,crushed ginger garlic and curry leaves and saute. When Onions turn pink add tomatoes and stir. Also add turmeric powder and red chilli powder .When they are cooked add little food color and stir.

 Add chopped idlis and mix with the masala adding coriander leaves. Transfer this to a a serving plate with fried potatoes.

Tandoori  idli with fried potatoes is ready ....:)

Recipe Courtesy: Mrs.Latha,Coimbatore.

Mutton Brain fry

Another mutton delicacy from my brand ambassador of Mutton.Here many believe that its very good for health esp. for kids.I have never had it when I was in Kerala  But when I heard so much about it even I thought I will give a try. And once in a while OK YAAR....Its true it has got the most bizarre “brainy ” look .  Well, if  you can cast away with that weird thought then you get to taste the best dish ever which taste similar to scrambled egg whites with creamy texture.

Lamp brain serves as a good source of protein, vitamins and Minerals. A serving of lamb brain contains 1,736.6 mg of cholesterol, almost 600 percent of the recommended limit of 300 mg per day.

Ingredients:

Mutton (Goat or Lamb) brain - 2

Big Onion - 1

Small Onion - 10

Ginger - 1/2 inch piece

Garlic - 6 pods

Green chilly -1

Red chili powder - 1/2  tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Corriander Powder-1/2 tsp

Black pepper powder - 1/2 tsp

Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves (optional) - 4

Salt - for taste

Gingelly Oil – 2 tbsp

Method:

Wash brain well in water. Handle it very gently and use it on the day of purchase itself. Its very delicate.While cleaning remove the delicate outer skin to the maximum possible. Ina mixer grind small onions,ginger and garlic and keep aside.

In a Kadai pour 2 tbsp of oil and add onions to it and fry till they turn pink. when done add turmeric powder,coriander powder, red chili powder, one green chilly,salt and saute well. when you add full green chilly it gives less spice.Also add the ground small onions,ginger and garlic and fry.

 When the masala gets cooked well add the cleaned brain to it and stir. Let the brain get scrambled. Mutton brain gets cooked in just 2 to 3 minutes and so never cook them for long. Also the best way to identify if the brain has cooked in and out is to see if the pinkish strands disappear, and the brain changes color from pink to white inside. Finally add pepper powder, garam Masala and little gingelly oil and remove from fire.

Mutton brain fry is ready.....The cooked dish is very soft and creamy:)


Recipe Courtesy: Mrs.Latha, Coimbatore.

Chana masala

Ingredients:

White Chick peas /Chana - 2 cups

Onion -  2 

Tomato - 1 

Ginger - 1 inch piece

Garlic -5 flakes

Green chilly-1

Red chili powder- 1 tsp

Corriander Powder-1tsp

Garam masala powder / Channa Masala powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp

Salt - as required

Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp

Milk-1/4 cup

Oil - 1 tbsp

Cumin seeds-1tsp

water- 2 cups

Method:

Soak chana overnight or at least for 8 hours.In a Pressure pan heat oil and  add 1 tbsp cumin seeds. When cumin seeds gives good aroma add finely chopped onions and saute well. If you add little salt to the Onions, it will get roasted fast. when onions turn pinkish add 1 tsp of turmeric and saute well.Grind ginger, Garlic and green chilly in a mixer and add to this.Saute them well.

Grind tomato in the mixer and add to the cooker. Also add red chilly powder and Coriander powder. Saute them well, till the raw taste goes. If the mixture is getting dried you can add little water and saute again.To this add soaked chana and water. 

 Pressure cook this with one whistle in high flame and three in low flame. When done. Open the cooker and mash some chanas so that curry becomes thick.After mashing give a good boil. Add garam masala powder and switch of the gas. Add coriander leaves, required salt , milk and stir well.

And chana masala is ready to serve.........:)

Recipe Courtesy: Mrs. Usha Tripati,UP.

Egg noodles

Ingredients:

Egg or plain noodles- 1 pkt

Garlic(crushed)- 4-5 Flakes

Onion( finely sliced)-1

Carrots (finely sliced)-2

Beans (finely chopped)- 1/4 kg

Capsicum (finely sliced)- 1 

Green chillies ( slit into half)-2

Corriander leaves-little

Pepper and salt- to taste

Soya sauce - 3 tbsp

Tomato Sauce- 2 tbsp

Vinegar-2 tsp

Oil-3 tbsp

Eggs- 2

Method:

Heat water in a big vessel,when a water come to boil,add salt and 1 tsp oil.Drop the noodles into the boiling water and cook till almost done. Pour the water and noodles into a large strainer and drain all the water.Place the noodles under running water to cool it down.Place this aside

Chop all vegetables and keep aside.

Place a wok on high flame,add 1/2 tbsp oil,Add Crushed garlic, onion and fry well.Add all vegetables and saute well. when done (Vegetables should not be over cooked. It should be crispy) add Cooked noodles and stir well. Add Soya sauce,Tomato sauce, pepper, salt and vinegar to the noodles and Stir well.

In another Pan add oil and break eggs ,add little salt and pepper and scramble the eggs.Add this scrambled eggs to the noodles and stir.

And there super duper Noodles is ready.....:)

Recipe Courtesy: Mrs.Latha,Coimbatore.

Mutton chops - Dry & Gravy

Ingredients:

Mutton-1/2 kg

Cinnamon Stick – ½ inch piece

Cardamom- 2 nos

Cloves – 3 nos

Pepper – 5 nos

Fennel seeds- 1tsp

Big onion- 2 

Ginger-1 inch piece

Garlic- 5 nos

Red chili powder-2 tsp

Turmeric powder-1 tsp

Coriander Powder-3 tsp

Salt- to taste

Method:

Grind Cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, pepper, Ginger , Garlic and fennel seeds in a mixer.  Saute big onions with little oil.  Add this to this mixer and grind with the spices. 

In a pressure cooker splutter some mustard and add cleaned mutton, ground masala and onions. Also add turmeric powder, Red chili powder and coriander powder.  Pressure cook until the mutton is cooked well. If you want to remove some gravy separately add more water say, 2 cups of water. If you don’t want gravy add less water say,   1 cup.

Pressure cooking and the measurement of water depend on the mutton .So you need to be cautious about that

Transfer this to a kadai. Add salt and give a good boil. If you want gravy separately and if there is sufficient gravy you can now transfer them separately to bowl with two three pieces.   Simmer the balance pieces till there are completely dried.If you don’t want gravy separately, simmer the mutton till they are completely dried.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot...... Mutton chops ready:)

Recipe Courtesy: Mrs.Latha,Coimbatore.