Coconut milk rasam

Ingredients:
Oil, mustard seeds – ½ tsp, cumin seeds – ½ tsp, red chilli – 1, curry leaves, hing – ¼ tsp, tamarind extract – 4 tbsp, tomato – 1, pepper powder ¼ tsp, salt, turmeric powder – ¼ tsp, green chilli – 1, thick coconut milk 4 tbsp, chopped coriander leaves

Method:
> Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, red chilli, curry leaves, hing, tamarind extract, chopped tomato, pepper powder, salt, turmeric powder and green chilli and cook for 4 or 5 minutes in slow flame
> Turn off the flame and add the coconut milk and chopped coriander

Coconut milk rasam ready :)

Eggless Black Forest Cake (Microwave)

Ingredients:
Butter – 75gms, cocoa powder – 1 ½ tbsp or melted unsweetened chocolate 75gms, powdered sugar – 1tbsp, condensed milk – 300ml, all purpose flour 125gms, baking powder – ½ tsp aerated cola drink – 100ml, grated chocolate – 1tbsp, cherries

Method:
> Blend butter, melted chocolate, powdered sugar and condensed milk using an electric beater
> To this add the all purpose flour and aerated cola drink alternately
> Make a smooth thick batter and pour it in a greased bowl and microwave at high for 5 to 6 minutes
> Let it stand for another 5 minutes
> Cool it and flip it in a plate and slit the cake horizontally into two pieces
> Sandwich the layers with condensed milk
> Spread some condensed milk on top of the cake and on its side
> Decorate it with grated chocolate and cherries

Eggless Black Forest cake ready :)

Cauliflower Manchurian

Ingredients:
Cornflour – 1 tbsp, red chilli powder – ½ tsp, pepper powder – ¼ tsp, salt, ginger-garlic paste – 2 tsp, cauliflower, oil, cumin seeds – ½ tsp, chopped onion, red chilli paste, green chilli paste, pepper powder, soya sauce – 3 tsp, sugar – 1 tsp, lime juice – 1 ½ tsp, chopped coriander leaves

Method:
> Mix cornflour, red chilli powder, pepper powder, salt, ginger-garlic paste with water and make a thin batter
> Dip the cauliflower in the batter and deep fry in oil and keep it aside
> Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds, ginger-garlic paste, chopped onion, red chilli paste, green chilli paste, pepper powder, soya sauce, sugar, lime juice and (little) salt
> Sauté for few seconds and add the fried cauliflower and sauté for few more seconds
> Garnish it with chopped coriander leaves

Cauliflower Manchurian ready :)

Basic Crepe

Ingredients:
Egg – 1, salt, all purpose flour – 2 tbsp, sugar – 1tsp, toned milk – 2 ½ tbsp, vanilla essence – ½ tsp, oil, nutella (for fillings)

Method:
> Beat egg in an egg beater
> To this add salt, all purpose flour, sugar, toned milk, vanilla essence, oil and whisk until smooth (the consistency of the batter should be such that it should spread evenly when poured on the pan, add milk accordingly)
> Pour the batter in the pan, swirl the pan if required
> Serve the crepe with nutella when done

Crep ready :)

Apple carving - Flower

Apple carving - Swan

Chocolate Pudding (Microwave)

Ingredients:
Toned milk – 2 cups, unsweetened chocolate/coco powder , sugar – 6tsp, egg – 1, vanilla essence – ½ tsp, condensed milk

Method:
> Mix toned milk, unsweetened chocolate, sugar and microwave it at 100% (high) for 7 minutes. Stir in between
> Beat the egg in an electric beater
> Cool the milk, add the beaten egg and vanilla essence and microwave at 50% for 5 minutes
> Pour it into pudding bowls, cover its mouth with silver foil paper and refrigerate for minimum 6 hrs
> Garnish it with condensed milk

Chocolate pudding ready :)

Couscous Upma

Ingredients:
Ghee, ½ tsp cumin seeds, ½ tsp mustard seeds, ginger-garlic paste, curry leaves, green chilli – 1, chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, chopped capsicum, grated carrot, grated potato, boiled green peas/channa dhal, salt, couscous – 1 cup, chopped coriander leaves, lime juice

Method:
> Heat ghee in a pan and add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, ginger-garlic paste, curry leaves and sauté for few minutes.
> To this add the chopped onions, green chilli, chopped tomatoes, chopped capsicum, grated carrot, grated potato, boiled peas and sauté for few more minutes
> Add 2 cups of water and cook closed
> When the water bubbles add the couscous and cook closed in slow flame till the water evaporates
> When done top it with coriander leaves and drizzle some lime juice.

Couscous upma ready :)

Onion Rings

Ingredients:
2 onions (large), all purpose flour – 1 tbsp, corn starch - 1 ½ tbsp, baking powder – ½ tsp, chilli powder – ½ tsp, salt, sugar – ½ tsp, egg white, milk, bread crumbs, oil

Method:
> Mix all purpose flour, corn starch, baking powder, chilli powder, salt, sugar, egg white and milk using an electric beater
> Slice onions horizontally and separate the rings
> Dip the rings in the batter and roll it in bread crumbs
> Refrigerate it for more than 2 hrs and deep fry in oil
> Serve it with ketchup or mayonnaise

Onion rings ready :)

Potato - Button mushroom cutlet

Ingredients:
Oil, cumin seeds - ¾ tsp, ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp, turmeric powder – ¼ tsp, chopped coriander leaves, chilli powder – 1 tsp, coriander powder – ½ tsp, salt, button mushroom – 100gm, green peas, carrot – 1, potato – 200gms, lime juice – 1 tsp, all purpose flour – 1 ½ tbsp, bread crumbs – 1 ½ tbsp

Method:
> Boil grated carrot, green peas and potatoes and keep it aside.
> Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds, ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, chopped coriander leaves, chilli powder, coriander powder, salt and fry for few seconds in slow flame
> To this add the boiled peas, carrot, chopped mushroom and cook for few minutes
> On a separate bowl, mash the potatoes, add the cooked mushroom, lime juice and mix well
> Add water to the all purpose flour and make a thin batter
> Make cutlets of desired shape, dip them in the batter and roll them in bread crumbs
> Refrigerate it for more than 2 hrs and deep fry in oil
> Serve with thinly sliced onions and tomato ketchup

Cutlet ready :)

Button mushroom fry

Ingredients:
Oil, cinnamon – 1 inch, cardamom - 1, clove – 1, bay leaf – 1, cumin seeds, onion – 2, salt, turmeric powder - ¼ tsp, ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp, curry leaves, green chilli – 1, tomato – 150 gms, button mushroom 250gms, pepper powder, coriander leaves, chilli powder – 1 ½ tsp, coriander powder - ½ tsp, cumin powder – ½ tsp, lime juice – 1 tsp

Method:
> Heat 4tsp oil in a pan and add cinnamon, cardamom, clove and bay leaf
> Remove the masala from the oil
> To the oil add cumin seeds, chopped onions, salt and fry for few seconds
> To this add turmeric powder, ginger garlic paste, curry leaves, green chilli, chopped tomatoes, chopped mushrooms, 2 tbsp water and cook closed for few minutes
> On another pan heat 2 tsp oil and add chopped coriander leaves, pepper powder, cumin powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, cooked mushrooms and fry till the water evaporates
> Add lime juice and garnish it with coriander leaves.

Mushroom fry ready :)

Prawn/Shrimp bajji

Ingredients:
Shrimp – 200gms, salt, chilli powder – ½ tsp, bajji mix - 4 tbsp, soda bicarbonate (a pinch), oil

Method:
> Clean the shrimps and cut them into two pieces so that they don’t curl while deep frying.
> To the shrimps add a pinch of salt, chilli powder and mix well. Let it rest for 15 minutes
> Make thick batter with bajji mix and water
> Add a pinch of soda bicarbonate to the batter
> Dip the shrimps in the batter and deep fry in oil

Shrimp bajji ready :)

Kulfi

Ingredients:
Milk – 500ml, milk powder – 1tbsp, cardamom pods – 2, sugar, food color (optional)

Method:
> Boil milk in slow flame on a wide mouth pan
> Keep collecting the milk layers that forms while boiling milk until the quantity becomes ¾th of the original quantity
> Blend the collected layers, sugar, cardamom and diluted milk powder in a blender (use cold milk for diluting the milk powder)
> Add the blended mixture to the boiling milk and boil for some more time
> Add food color (optional)
> Cool it and pour it into kulfi moulds
> Refrigerate for more than 6 hours

Kulfi ready :)

Nungu / Ice apple shake

Ingredients:
Nungu (palm fruit) – 5, fresh thick coconut milk – 1 cup, milk – 1 cup, sugar, ice cubes

Method:
> Blend 3 nungus and all the other ingredients in a juice blender
> Pour it in shake glasses and garnish it with pieces of nungu

Nungu shake ready :)

Cucumber raita

Ingredients:
Yogurt – 1 cup, salt, chopped cucumber – 1 cup, finely chopped coriander leaves – 1 tsp, Roasted cumin seed powder – 2 pinch, pepper powder – 2 pinch, red chilli powder – ¼ tsp

Method:
> Add salt to the yogurt and blend it using an egg beater
> To this add the chopped cucumber, finely chopped coriander leaves, roasted cumin seed powder, pepper powder and red chilli powder
> Garnish it with coriander leaves

Cucumber raita ready :)

Vermicelli Payasam

Ingredients:
Vermicelli - 1/2 cup, milk - 500ml, sugar, salt, cardamom powder, roasted nuts and raisins, sweetened condensed milk (optional)

Method:
> Roast the vermicelli in ghee and keep it aside
> Boil the milk, add the roasted vermicelli and cook for 7-8 minutes
> To this add sugar, cardamom powder and a pinch of salt
> Garnish it with condensed milk and nuts

Vermicelli Payasam ready :)

Coconut ladoo

Ingredients:
Grated coconut (2 cup), sweetened condensed milk (1/2 cup), desiccated coconut (1 tbsp)

Method:
> Fry the grated coconut on a dry non stick pan for few minutes
> To this add the condensed milk and fry the mixture till the mixture separates from the pan
> Let the mixture cool and make ladoos
> Roll the ladoos on desiccated coconut

Coconut ladoo ready :)

Shrimp/Prawn gravy

Ingredients:
Oil, cinnamon (1 inch), cardamom-1, bay leaf-1, clove-1, onion-1 (large), salt, turmeric powder, ginger garlic paste, red chilli-1, cumin seeds, grated coconut, tomato-1, mustard seeds, shrimp 250gms, chilli powder, coriander powder, pepper powder, sugar and coriander leaves

Method:
> Soak red chilli and ¾ tsp cumin seeds in warm water for few minutes
> Drain the water and blend it with grated coconut, chopped tomato and mustard seeds
> Add 2 shrimps to the blended mixture and blend it once again
> Add 5tsp of oil in a deep fry pan, to this add cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaf, clove, finely sliced onion, pinch of salt and cook till the onions turn golden brown
> Add ¼ tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp ginger garlic paste, the blended mixture and cook in slow flame for some time
> Add 1 tsp red chilli powder, 1 tsp coriander powder, ½ tsp pepper powder and cook for some more time in slow flame till the oil oozes out
> Add 2 tbsp water, ¾ tsp sugar, shrimp and cook
> Top it with coriander leaves when the shrimps are cooked.

Shrimp gravy ready :)

Channa Kabab

An easy restaurant recipe which can be prepared at home

Ingredients:
Channa dhal 100gm, cumin seeds, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves (lavangam), garlic cloves – 2, half inch ginger, one large size onion, bread slices – 3, few drops of lemon juice, salt and oil

Method:
> Soak channa dhal in water for more than 8 hours
> Drain the water and add cumin seeds, black pepper, cinnamon, lavangam, garlic cloves, ginger and chopped onion.
> Steam this in a pressure cooker until the dhal is very soft
> Cool it and blend it with salt (care should be taken in adding water while blending, do not add too much water)
> Remove the edges of the bread slices and add it to the blended mixture
> Mix it with few drops of lemon juice
> Make kababs and shallow fry in a tawa
> Serve it with ketchup

Kabab ready :)

Paal Kozhukattai

Only for those who have patience ;)

Yesterday was Ram Navami, so I prepared Paal Kozhukattai. It appears to be a simple recipe but it consumed lot of time to prepare.

Ingredients:
Raw rice, salt, milk – 500mg, milk powder (optional), sugar, cardamom powder, coconut milk

Method:
> Soak raw rice in water for about 2 hours.
> Drain the water and spread the rice in a clean towel and dry it under the fan.
> When it is little moist blend it in a blender
> Sieve the flour and boil the flour in an idly cooker (spread the flour on a clean cloth and place it in idly tray and boil it as you boil idly)
> Dry the boiled flour under the fan, sieve the flour and keep it aside.
> Boil water and add salt to it when it is very hot.
> Now add this hot water gradually to the flour and mix it with a spoon and make it a soft dough
> Cool the dough and roll it into thin, small, cylindrical kozhukattai
> Place the kozhukattai in a clean cloth and boil them in an idly cooker as you boil idly.
> Boil milk, add diluted milk powder in 1tbsp of milk
> Add kozhukattai and boil for some more time
> To this add sugar, cardamom powder and half a glass of thick coconut milk

Paal kozhukattai ready :)