Meo's Cuisine

Gooseberry chammanthi

noreply@blogger.com (Esmy) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:29:00 +0000

Sometimes little things might work wonders such as this

Cook gooseberry with some salt in a pressure cooker and soak them in salt water for atleast a day.
Now smash the gooseberry with some chilly powder and salt if required and 2-3 tbsps of coconut oil, add chopped baby onions and smash well. This combines well with rice and tastes like heaven.

Beef cutlet

noreply@blogger.com (Esmy) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 07:10:00 +0000

Day before yesterday we celebrated our first wedding anniversary....cant imagine we had completed an year so soon...I made some chicken biriyani,beef cutlets and vegetable cutlets...This beef cutlet is my mom's special recipie which I had relished during my childhood days.My mom makes this often and takes it to her office and shares it with her colleagues....I do also remember she made during one of the mission sales day in school and I sold some 40 cutlets for 700 rupees...I started selling the cutlets for 4 rupees each and as the demand increased we increased its price up to 15 and 20 rupees... still there were students ready to pay for it.I guess that was in my 4th or 5th standard and our class stood second in mission sales collection..

Lets go to our recipie...

Ingredients

Beef-1/2 kg

To cook beef
Beef -1 kg (cooked 1 kg beef with the below masala and took half kg for cutlet)
Green chillies-3
Pepper powder-1-2 tsps as per your taste
Ginger- 1 inch piece
Garlic pods-4
Salt to taste

For cutlet mix

Green chiliies -6
Pepper powder-1 tsp
Garam masala- 1/2 tsp
Onions-3
Potatoes-3
Salt to taste

Eggs beaten with salt as required about 2-3
Bread crumbs

Cook beef with salt ,turmeric, pepper, ginger garlic paste and green chillies also place the peeled potatoes on top along with the beef.Or you also cook potato separately without peeling out the skin.

Take a pan with some oil and add onions and fry till light brown now add thinly sliced green chillies and fry for a minute now add garam masala and pepper fry for another minute.Remove from pan.

Take half kg meat from cooked beef and grind it in a blender.
Now add some oil in the same pan add ground beef and fry for 5 mins till the mixture becomes less sticky.Now add the onions mixture mix well with beef and fry for 1 minute.Now mash the potatoes, do not make it into a paste, just mash well and mix with the beef mixture and check for salt.Adjust the pepper and garam masala as per your taste.

Now shaped out cutlets put them in beaten egg and dip in bread crumbs and deep fry one by one till dark brown on all sides.

Note:
The cutlet mix should be firm not loose.
Cool the potatoes and mash them do not blend potatoes in a blender, just break and mash them.
In case ur cutlet mix is loose u can drop then in bread crumbs shape them and then put them in beaten egg and coat them again in bread crumbs.

Kerala style fish curry

noreply@blogger.com (Esmy) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 06:56:00 +0000

Fish curry in kerala is cooked in earthern pots which elevates its flavour.
For that matter any dish cooked in an earthern pot has an unique taste.

I still remember the taste of fish curry made by my grandmother freshly plucked and ground spices available at home like pepper,turmeric,chillies ,curry leaves and the fish caught just few moments before making the curry from the river flowing beside our house.Makes me feel nostalgic...Waiting for my next visit to kerala.

Here goes the recipie.

Ingredients

Mathi/Chala/Sardine- 5 nos
Chilly powder- 2 tsp
Pepper- 1/2 tsp
Corriander powder- 1tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Baby onions-4
Onion- 1
Curry leaves- 3 twigs
Ginger- 1/2 inch
Garlic- 4 pods
Tomato- 1 small
Kudam puli/black tamarind- 1 piece torn into two
Coconut oil preferred

To marinate

Chilly powder- 2 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Pepper powder-1/2 tsp
Salt to taste

Directions

Marinate the cleaned fish with ingredients from marinate section and set aside for 2 hours in a refrigerator.

Take an earthern pot/deep bottomed pan and add some oil and saute the chopped big onion and when it turns transparent add chopped baby onions and saute till it becomes light brown.

Now add crushed or ground ginger garlic paste and saute till raw smell goes.
Add chopped tomato and curry leaves , saute for a minute now add all the powders, salt to taste and saute well.

Now add the marinated fish and some water to cook( enough water to immerse the fish) and now add two tamarind pieces and cover the pan sprinkling some curry leaves on top.

Wait till the bubbles appear and simmer for 5 minutes and when fish is cooked switch off.

Serve with hot rice or steamed tapioca.

Kozhukatta

noreply@blogger.com (Esmy) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Rice dumplings stuffed with a mixture made of coconut and jaggery, a traditional sweet.

After a long time made kozhukattas...

Its our family' all time favourite and I make it when I want to avoid a deep fried snack or when there is extra coconut in my shelf else when I have leftover dough of iddiyappam.

But this time, I had planned to make it as I had a sudden craving for it.Kozhukattas are prepared at home very frequently and especially on saturday, previous day to palm sunday.And the day is called "kozhukatta shinyaicha" or kozhukatta saturday in cochin.

I feel really happy when I cook traditional food because I feel a kind of reunion being established with my roots and also it reminds me of sweet old childhood days.

Lets go to the recipie...

Ingredients

Rice flour- 2 cups
Hot water-1 3/4 cup
Cardomom-4 pods
Grated jaggery- 3/4 cup
Grated Coconut - 1
Oil- 1tbsp
Ghee- 1 tbsp

Directions

Add salt as per taste to hot water and add rice flour to it little by little till it absorbs all the water.
leave it aside for 15 minutes.
Now add oil and make a smooth dough as for iddiyappam.

For filling

Melt jaggery with 3-4 tbsps of water and filter it for impurities and now transfer it another pan and now add grated coconut and keep stirring till the mixture becomes thick. Now add criushed cardomom pods and ghee at this stage and mix well.

For making dumplings

Make small balls out of the dough.
With oil smeared on hands, make small cups with the dough and stuff the balls with the coconut mix carefully and seal it and form a ball.

Steam this in a idli maker or pressure cooker for about 10-15 minutes till it is done.

Serve it with tea.

Badam Sweet

noreply@blogger.com (Esmy) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 06:25:00 +0000

Sweet made of almonds garnished with cardomon and saffron.

Ingredients:

Almonds – 1 cup
Sugar- 1/2 - 3/4 cup depending on your taste.
Milk – 3/4 cup
Ghee – 4 tbsp
Saffron- 1/4 tsp
Cardamom- 1 pod (powdered)

Directions

Add almonds to boiling water, switch off and cover and allow them to soak for 1 hour.
After an hour, peel its skin and grind it with little water to make a smooth paste.
Take a deep bottomed pan add milk and sugar. Wait until until sugar dissolves.Then add almond paste.Add ghee and cardamom powder and mix well.
Keep stirring every few minutes on low-medium- heat. It takes about 30 -40 minutes to thicken.
Once it starts leaving the edges of the vessel, transfer it to a greased plate.
Knead it like a dough to give it a polish look.
Make burfis of desired shapes and garnish with some saffron and almonds.

Aloo Paratha

noreply@blogger.com (Esmy) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 12:38:00 +0000

Aloo paratha, indian flat bread made of whole wheat stuffed with potatoes.

Ingredients

Wheat Flour- 2 cups
Potatoes- 4 medium size
Dried Mango Powder-1/2 tsp
Chilli powder-1/2 tsp
Green chillies-3
Water enough to make a dough
OIl-1 tbsp

Directions

Mix wheat flour, salt and water together to make soft pliable dough.Add oil and knead well once again.
Set the dough aside and cover it with a damp cloth. Let it rest for ten minutes.

For the filling

Cook the potatoes and let them cool down. After the potatoes are cold enough to handle, peel the skin off and mash the potatoes.Add thinly chopped green chillies, mango powder and salt and smash along with the potatoes.

Make small pairs of balls of the dough and potato mixture. The potato balls should be about little larger than the dough balls.
Roll the dough into 3 inch diameter circles. Place a potato ball in the center and fold the dough by pulling the edges of the dough together to make a ball.
Keep them aside for 3 to 4 minutes before rolling them.
Heat a flat pan on medium flame.Place the paratha over the pan. When it puffs and the colour changes flip them over after few seconds sprinkle some oil on the paratha and flip again till the paratha turns brown on both sides.Remove from flame and serve hot with raita or pickle.

Parippu Vada

noreply@blogger.com (Esmy) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 20:00:00 +0000

A deep fried tea time snack mostly had in south india.

Ingredients

Soaked Dhal- 3/4 cup
Ginger-1 inch grated
Curry leaves- 2 twigs chopped
Onion- 1 big chopped
Green chillies-2 (finely chopped)
Red chilly powder-1 1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds- 1/2 tsp
Corriander leaves-2 tbsp (finely chopped)
Salt to taste.
Oil to deep fry

Directions

Take 2-3 tbsp of soaked dhal and keep it aside.Grind the remaining dhal coarsely.
Mix all the ingredients together with ground dhal make small circular vadas and deep fry them in deep bottomed pan.

Palak paneer

noreply@blogger.com (Esmy) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 13:26:00 +0000

Paneer (indian cottage cheese) cooked with spinach.This is can be served with chappathis or any indian bread.

Ingredients

Paneer- 15 cubes
Palak- 1 bunch
Onions-1
Tomato- 1
Cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp
Corrainder powder- 1/2 tsp
turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp
Cream -2-3 tbsps
Garam masala- a pinch
ghee- 2 tbsps

Directions

Fry paneer in a pan with a tbsp of ghee till it turns light brown and remove to a plate.
Now wash and drain palak and saute them along with green chilly in the same ghee used to fry paneer till they become soggy in nature.Now remove them from fire and cool them.Grind it to a paste in a blender with some salt.

Cook the tomato in a vessel with water till the skin breaks and peel the skin and make a puree of it.
Add remamining ghee and saute thinly chopped onions till transparent and brown.Add turmeric powder,corriander powder,cumin seeds and saute for a minute, now add the palak paste and also the tomato puree and cook them for 10 mins with some water.Now add garam masala,cream and paneer and cook for 5 minutes and remove from flame.

Chicken Masala

noreply@blogger.com (Esmy) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 13:06:00 +0000

Chicken cooked with home ground spices and coconut milk.This can be had with chappathis rice or used as a masala for biriyani too.

Ingredients

Chicken-1/2 kg
Onions- 3 large
Tomatoes-1 /2 of one or small tomato
Cardomom-2
Cloves-2
Cinnamon- 1 small piece (size-1 cm)
Chilly powder- 1 1/2 tsp
Corriander powder- 1 tsp
Ginger paste- 1 tsp
Garlic paste- 1 tsp
Green chillies-2
Coconut milk-thick milk 1/2 cup (coconut milk obtained the first time when grinding coconut) and thin milk- 1/2 cup (coconut milk obtained from the grinding the coconut the second time with some water)
Corriander leaves- few

Directions

Take a pan add oil , saute chopped onions till golden brown add ground spices,ginger garlic paste and saute for 2 mins , now add spilt green chillies,chopped tomatoes and fry till raw smell is gone and everything is cooked.
Add chilly powder,turmeric powder,corriander powder,and saute well for another 1 -2 mins.
Now add chicken pieces and cook along with thin coconut milk and salt to taste.When the gravy thickens and chicken is cooked add the thick coconut milk and cook till it forms a thick consistency.

Another alternate way is to cook the chicken along with the masala in a pressure cooker with the thin coconut milk and then when it is cooked add the thick coconut milk and cook with lid open till the gravy thickens. But care should be taken that chicken does not get over cooked. Remove from flame and garnish with corriander leaves.

Onion Theeyal

noreply@blogger.com (Esmy) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:39:00 +0000

Onions fried and cooked with roasted coconut along with spices and coconut oil.
Can be served with rice.It can be stored for a longer time.I used to take this to hostel and have it whenever I disliked the side dishes there.

Ingredients

Baby onions-2 hands full
Coconut grated- 1/2 of a coconut
Chilly powder- 1tsp
Corriander powder- 1tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves- 1 twig
Jaggery- 2 pinches
Tamarind- gooseberry sized ball saoked in hot water
Oil-coconut oil preferred
salt to taste

For seasoning

Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves- 1 twig
Dried red chiliies- 2-3

Directions

Take another pan add grated coconut, curry leaves and fry till light brown add some oil if required.
Now add chilly powder,corriander powder,turmeric powder and saute for a minute till the raw smell diminshes.Remove from flame cool them and grind in a blender till it forms paste and oil oozes out.

Chop onions into thin slices and fry them in a pan till they are golden brown and crisp.
Now add tamarind water and cook till the onions bulges.Now add the ground paste and simmer for few minutes till they become thick.Add some jaggery and mix well and cook for a minute and remove from flame.

Take another pan add mustard seeds splutter them , add curry leaves and broken dried red chillies and saute well, pour this to the above mixture and mix well.

Vendakka/ladies finger Pachadi

noreply@blogger.com (Esmy) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:06:00 +0000

This is another onam special dish cooked in curd.This is a simple recipie and tasty too.

Ingredients

Ladies finger- 15 nos
Green chillies -3
Salt to taste
Curd -1 cup
Oil -2-3 tbps

Directions

Take a pan add the sliced ladies finger pieces and fry till all the moisture evaporates keep sauting them.
Now add oil as required and the sliced green chillies, salt and fry along with the ladies finger pieces.
When the pieces become crisp add beaten curd and cook for 1 minute and remove from flame.

Mango pachadi

noreply@blogger.com (Esmy) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 11:51:00 +0000

Creamy dish containing mango pieces cooked with coconut and curd and some spices.This goes well with rice.This is part of onam sadhya and is made in different ways.Here is one recipie.

Ingredients

Unripe Mango-1

To grind

Cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
Green chiliies-2

Coconut milk-1 /2 cup
Curd- 1 cup
Salt to taste
Oil -3 tsps

For seasoning

Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp
Curry leaves-2 twigs
Dried red chillies-3
Baby onions-4

Directions

Chop the mango into small cubes and soak then in water for half an hour.Squeeze them of water and drain such that some sour juice goes off with the water.

Grind the cumin seeds,mustard seeds and green chillies into a fine paste.

Cook mango pieces in 1/4 cup water with salt till it is cooked,when they are done add the coconut milk, ground mixture and cook for another 2-3 minutes.Now add beaten curd and mix well and cook for a minute until bubbles surface and remove from flame.

Take another pan add coconut oil, splutter mustard seeds,add curry leaves broken red chillies and chopped onions and fry for a minute add this mixture along with oil to the above and mix well.

Serve with rice.

Varathuaracha Sambar

noreply@blogger.com (Esmy) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 08:33:00 +0000

This sambar is made by roasting coconut with few spices and tastes different from the ordinary one.

Ingredients

Vegetables-carrots-2, beans-6 nos,drumstick-1.(I have used only drumstick in this recipie)

For sambar powder

Urad dhal(Black gram)-1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds- 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds-1 tsp
Curry leaves-2 twigs
Coconut-1/4 to 1/2 of a cocconut grated
Cloves-1
Chilly powder- 1 tsp
Corriander powder-1 tsp
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp

For cooking vegetables

Dhal (Toor dhal or Masoor dhal)- 1/2 cup
Green chilly-1-2
Ginger crushed-2 tbsps
Garlic-1 tbsp
Tomatoes-1
Onion-2
Asafoetida-1-2 pinches
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Tamrind -gooseberry sized ball saoked in hot water
Jaggery -2 pinches

For seasoning

Baby onions-3-4
Curry leaves-1 twig
Dried red chillies-3
Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp

Directions

Take a pan add the black gram,fenugreek seeds,curry leaves,cumin seeds,cloves and saute well.
Add grated coconut and saute till it becomes light brown add some oil and saute again, now add chilly powder,turmeric powder,corriander powder and saute for a minute or two.Allow it to cool aand blend in the blender till a paste is obtained and you would see oil oozing out of the paste.

Now take a pressure cooker, add the washed dhal and the lengthwise chopped vegetables and cook along with crushed ginger,split green chilly,sliced onions,chopped tomatoes,turmeric powder and salt till done.

Now add the ground paste into this cooked vegetable mixture and allow it to boil at low heat.Add asafoetida, juice of a tamarind soaked in hot water and jaggery at the same time.After it boils remove from flame.

Take another pan splutter mustard seeds,add curry leaves,broken dried red chillies,and chopped baby onions and saute well. Add this to the sambar mixture and serve hot with rice, idlis or dosas.

Unripe banana spicy fry or pacha kaya fry

noreply@blogger.com (Esmy) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 15:09:00 +0000

This is a spicy side dish which can be accompanied along with bland gravies.

Ingredients:

Unripe banana-2
Sambar powder-1 tsp
Chilly powder-1 tsp
Pepper powder- 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder-a pinch for cooking + a pinch for frying
Baby onions-3-4 or as per taste
Curry leaves-few

Directions

Peel bananas and dice them into not too thin slices.
Take a pan, add the banana pieces into it, add turmeric powder , salt to taste and cook for few minutes until the banana gets cooked and the water dries up.
Allow it to cool.
Now in the same pan,add chilly powder,turmeric powder,pepper powder,sambar powder and mix well with a spoon till all the pieces are coated with the masala.Make sure the pieces dont get smashed in the process.

Now add some oil and fry for few minutes and then start sauting till the pieces are fried well.Before taking off from fire add some chopped onions and curry leaves and fry for few secs and serve hot with rice.

Idli or steamed rice cakes

noreply@blogger.com (Esmy) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 14:45:00 +0000

Idlis are fluffy rice cakes made out of rice and black gram and is recommended during a digestive disorder by doctors.

The procedure is same as preparing the batter for dosa however the consistency is thick compared to dosa.

Ingredients

Boiled rice-1 cup
Pacha ari(raw white rice)-1 cup
Ulunu (black gram)-1/4 cup

Salt to taste

Directions

Soak raw rice for about 3-5 hours.
Soak black gram for 1-2 hours.
Grind raw rice with boiled rice in a blender adding some water and remove to a vessel.
Grind black gram with some water and mix with above mixture.Add salt as required and stir well.

Allow it to ferment for 8-12 hours or till the batter has risen.

Grease a idli maker with few drops of oil so that idli comes out quickly when done.
Pour the batter into the greased moulds of the idli maker and place it in a vessel filled with 2 cups of water and cover it, steam for about 15-20 minutes.Make sure a vent is present for steam to escape.Remove from fire allow it to cool.

Serve with chutney or sambar.

Chocolate moist cake

noreply@blogger.com (Esmy) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 19:24:00 +0000

It was my husband's birthday 2 days back and wanted to make a cake for him.So tried out this chocolate moist cake.It came out well.Except for the icing part, which I had to do in a hurry and when my husband was out, so did a chocolate one which I had prepared earlier...I have given the vanilla icing recipie preparation here which suits this cake well.. you could go with that...

This is an excellent recipie, and trust me you will never regret.

Ingredients

All Purpose Flour - 2 cups

Sugar - 2 cups
Hershey's Cocoa - 3/4 cups

Eggs -2

Buttermilk- 1 cup

Vegetable Oil- 1 cup

Vanilla Extract -1 1/2 tsp

Boiling Water - 1 cup

Baking Soda - 2 tsp

Salt -1 tsp

For Vanilla Icing

Powdered Confectioners Sugar - 1 1/2 lbs /24 oz

Butter - 1/4 Pound Stick softened

Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp

Milk - as required to get the right consistency for icing.

Pinch of Salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and dust with flour 9 x 13 inch pans and set aside.
Blend all the ingredients into a mixing bowl until all ingredients are blended well and smooth.Pour the mixture into the cake pan.
Bake it for 1 hr or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and allow it to cool.

Preparing White Vanilla Icing

Place the powdered sugar, softened butter, and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Add a little milk and

mix at high speed until it becomes smooth and creamy.

Frost the chocolate cake with Vanilla icing or frosting of your choice, however vanilla fristing is recommended.

Spicy Pappad

noreply@blogger.com (Esmy) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 19:03:00 +0000

This is a spicy pappad recipie which goes well with bland gravies.It can be prepared easily and takes less time.

This is a simple recipie, yet I wanted to feature it here because I have rarely seen people having pappad this way.This is one interesting way to have pappad especially people who opt for spicy dishes.

Ingredients

Pappad- 10 nos torn into small bits

Chilly powder-2 tsp

Baby onions-5-6

Directions

Take a little oil in a pan just enough to fry the bits of pappad.

After they are done remove them to a plate.

Now add some oil in a pan, add the crushed onions and some little salt enough for the onions (pappad is already salty) and chilly powder and fry for a minute and turn off.

When its time to serve just mix in the pappad with the onion mixture.

Snake gourd and dhal

noreply@blogger.com (Esmy) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 16:40:00 +0000

This is another recipie from my mom.I refer to this as yellow gravy, since I dint know its name.

This is a yummy recipie which is less spicy yet adoring.Please do try it.

Ingredients

Snake gourd-1 no

Masoor Dhal- 1/2 cup

Green chilly-2

Chilly powder-1 tsp

Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp

To grind

Grated coconut- 1/4 cup

Jeera (cumin seeds)-2 pinches

Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp

Garlic-2 cloves

For seasoning

Mustard- 1- 11/2 tsp

Baby onions-3-4 crushed

Curry leaves- few(1-2 twigs)

Red chillies- 2 broken

Salt to taste

Directions

Chop snakegourd into smaller pieces, and cook with dhal, add salt,chilly powder, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder,and little water in a pressure cooker.

Now grind grated coconut, garlic, jeera, turmeric powder and green chillies to a fine paste.

Add this paste to the cooked mixture and stir in and allow it to boil until bubbles surface. (Do not over cook coconut might tend to separate).

Take another pan add oil,when hot add mustard let it splutter, then add curry leaves, crushed baby onions, broken red chillies and saute, when done pour it into the dhal mixture and mix well.

Serve hot with rice.This goes with other side dishes like egg burji or pappad.

Ribbon murrukku

noreply@blogger.com (Esmy) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:14:00 +0000

This is a crispy snack item which is in the shape of a ribbon and often found in bakeries.

It is a combination of bengal gram flour,maida,egg,rice flour and salt.

Here is this recipie.

Ingredients

Bengal gram flour-11/2 cups

Egg-1

Rice flour- 1tbsp

Maida- handful

Ghee

Baking powder- pinch

Oil to deep fry

Salt to taste

Directions

Seive all the flours except maida, add salt,baking powder,beaten egg and add ghee till it forms bread crumbs.

Sev

noreply@blogger.com (Esmy) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:24:00 +0000

This so called sev recipie is a combination of bengal gram flour and small amount of rice flour with few spices.It is a crispy snack.Try it.

Ingredients

Bengal gram flour-2 1/2 cups

Rice flour- 1 cup

Ghee- enough to mix the flour such a way they resemble bread crumbs

Salt to taste

Coarsely powdered red chillies-2 tsp

Coarsely powdered pepper- 1 tsp

Baking powder- pinch

Directions

Seive the flours, add chilli,pepper, salt and also mix ghee into it such that it forms bread crumbs.

Now add some water and make a dough similar to chappathi.

Now stuff a portion of the dough into a mould and press them straight into the hot oil and deep fry.

Drain them of oil when light brown.

Puttu and green gram gravy( Cherrupayar curry)

noreply@blogger.com (Esmy) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 07:55:00 +0000

Puttu is a breakfast item of kerala and is also popular in some areas of Tamil nadu and Srilanka.It is a steamed rice cake layered with grated coconut.

It is a breakfast item that is cooked frequently in Kerala homes.Malayalees who migrate to other countries never fail to get a puttu kuti (puttu mould).

Puttu is mostly taken in combination with banana,green gram curry (cherupayar curry),Black chick pea curry (kadala curry) etc.. you can also try combinations of your choice.My husband has it even with chicken curry :-).In parts of cochin, puttu is had with beef stew and also with sweetened and cardomom flavoured coconut milk.

Here I have prepared puttu with green gram curry.....

Ingredients

Roasted Rice flour-1 cup

Water to moisten flour

Salt to taste

Coconut gratings as required.

Directions

Rub the rice flour with water mixed with salt to taste, till all the rice flour has been moistened.(Do not add too much of water just sprinkle on it.)

Now blend it just for one turn in a blender.So that you do not get any lumps and the moisture is evenly absorbed across the rice flour.

Now take the puttu maker, spread some grated coconut at the bottom and add some of the moistened rice flour till half of its length ( do not stuff it too hard, just fill in ,and it will occupy itself) then sprinkle grated coconut again and repeat as before and fill with rice flour until the mouth of the puttu maker now again sprinkle grated coconut on top and cover it with it lid.(no too tight just place it above just to cover.)

Take some water in a pressure cooker and replace its weight with the puttu maker and wait until you see steam coming out of the holes of the puttu maker.Steam for about 5-8 minutes.Remove to a plate pushing it from behind with the stick.

Green gram curry

Green gram -1 cup

Green chilly-2 small nos slit into 2

Chilly powder- 1 tsp

Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp to cook green gram+1/2 tsp while preparing the curry

Pepper powder- 1/2 tsp

Onions big or baby onions-if baby onions are taken then 5 nos else 1 medium sized onion

Curry leaves few

Oil

Salt to taste

Directions

Soak green gram in water for 5-8 hours and wash it well.

Cook it with turmeric powder,green chillies and salt in a Pressure cooker with water enough to immerse.It takes about 8-9 whistles in my pressure cooker.

Take a pan ,add oil, fry chopped onions and when transparent add chilly powder, turmeric powder, pepper powder and curry leaves and fry for a minute.Now add the cooked green gram and mix well, add water if necessary, also check salt.Allow it to boil and remove to a serving plate.

Serve with puttu. This is an excellent combination.

Butter Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Esmy) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 06:55:00 +0000

Cookies are said to be derived from the dutch word called koekje which means " little cake".Cooks wanted to test the temperature of their oven so they made smaller samples of it for testing which however became a hit.

This is a simple butter cookie, and uses readily available ingredients.It is tasty,buttery and is crisp, which makes it an ideal companion for tea.

And no one can eat just one!!!.

Ingredients

All purpose flour- 21/4 cups

Granulated Sugar-2/3 cup +some to sprinkle on top.

Butter-1 cup

Vanilla essence- 1 tsp

Salt- 1/2 tsp

Eggs-1

Directions

Beat sugar and butter in a blender, until it becomes fluffy, add in the egg and vanilla essence and beat again.

Mix flour and salt and slowly mix in to the above mixture.

Make smalls balls out of the dough and shape into different sizes and shapes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the cookies on the baking sheet, leaving a little space between them. Sprinkle a little sugar on each cookie. Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies have turned golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool.

Fried Rice

noreply@blogger.com (Esmy) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 13:45:00 +0000

Fried rice is a popular recipie of Asian cuisine.especially in Chinese and American Chinese cuisine,Indo chinese cuisine with countless varieties.There are different types of fried rice varying from veg fried rice, egg fried rice,chicken fried rice,prawns fried rice,mixed fried rice to fried rice recipie associated with places of origin.

This is a simple recipie and could be prepared during a party at your home.

And believe me children will like it the most.

It could be served with chilli chicken or any chinese side dishes.

I prepared this fried rice today since I felt bored and wanted to boot myself ...you know sometimes cooking refreshes you and all the more when someone compliments you for it :-)..My husband calls this kochi fried rice.

Ingredients

Basmati rice- 1 cup

Carrots-2

Beans-20 nos

Eggs-2 optional

Spring onions-1 bunch

Cardomom-2 nos

Cloves-3 nos

Bay leaves-1

Cinnamon-3 small pieces each little more than the length of cloves.

Corriander- handful

Ginger garlic paste made from small piece of ginger and 2 big garlics.

Lime-1

Water for cooking rice-11/2 cup

Onions-3

Cashewnuts- handful

Raisins-handful

Corriander to garnish

Directions

Wash basmati rice thoroughly and and allow it to drain.

Heat a pan, add the basmati rice and fry till it becomes hot and all the water has dried up, add 1 tsp of ghee and fry for a minute.The rice should not turn brown.

Take another pan add small chopped pieces of carrot and beans and add little water(1/4 cup) allow it to get cooked with some salt.Add 1/2 tsp of sugar to this mixture.Wait until the water dries up and when the vegetables have been cooked.Do not over cook.Remove to a plate.Add ghee in the same pan, add chopped spring onions,and saute until they become tender then add the carrots and beans and saute well for a minute and remove from fire.

Now take a pressure cooker, turn on the stove, and put on low fire, add 2 tbsps of ghee and add bay leaf,crushed mixture of cloves,cinnamon and cardomon and fry for a minute.

Add the paste obtained from corriander,ginger and garlic and saute well.Add rice and mix well and pour water.Now extract the juice of 1 lime without seeds and pour into to this and mix well with the other ingredients.

Add salt to taste.

Pressure cook for 1 whistle.

When it is time to serve, mix in the vegetables with rice into each plate without damaging the texture of the rice.Do not keep mixing for a longer time.You can use two spoons to mix from both sides and try shuffling without giving much pressue to the rice.

If u want to add eggs, you can beat 2 eggs with some salt and pepper and fry it and until it forms curds, then you can mix it into the rice.

You can also add fried onions.Take a pan, add ghee,add thinly sliced onions and salt and fry till they become brown and crisp. Sprinkle it over the rice.

In the same way you can also add fried cashewnut and raisins and mix with rice.

Care should be taken to see that the rice does not break while mixing.Use less amount of ghee or as needed then and there but not too much which can spoil the texture of the rice. If in case you feel that there is less amount of ghee in the rice you can always heat some ghee and mix it at the end.Also when preparing in larger amounts, it is wise to mix in rice and vegetables just before serving.

Sugar is added to enhance the vibrance of the vegetables.

Please take care to chop the vegetables finely so that your fried rice will taste better.

Try this and enjoy !!!

Drumstick and Dhal curry

noreply@blogger.com (Esmy) — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 13:59:00 +0000

This week has been a drumstick week for me.. as my husband had brought a good number of drumsticks from the grocery.

Drumstick is a very healthy vegetable,it serves as a source of iron,calcium,potassium and many other vitamins and minerals.In some parts of tamil nadu drumsticks are used in sambar s and other curries especially every tuesday and friday, when they refrain from having non vegetarian food.

So I am trying to cook them in different ways to utilise them.

This recipie here is a simple combination of drumsticks and dhal yet appetising and great to have with rice.

Ingredients

Dhal-1/2 cup I used masoor dhal my fav...

Drumstick-2 nos chopped into medium pieces

Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp

Chilly powder-1 tsp

Green chillies -1 spit into two

Salt to taste.

For seasoning

Baby onions-3-4

Few curry leaves

Mustard seeds-1tsp

Red chillies-few broken pieces

Directions

Pressure cook dhal and drumsticks for 2-3 whistles with chilly powder,turmeric powder,salt and green chilly.

Take a pan add oil,splutter mustard seeds, add chopped onions fry for a minute, add curry leaves,and broken chillies and saute for few seconds.

Pour this onto the pressure cooked mixture and mix well.

You could also add 2-3 green mango slices if you wish.

Chappathi Rolls F6UWXTV5AMH5

noreply@blogger.com (Esmy) — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 05:21:00 +0000

This is one my dad's recipies.It is easy to cook and also yummy.

After my marriage I prepared this for mother in law and husband and they liked it too...Also it is a portable breakfast item.You can easily prepare this and pack it up by wrapping it in a tisssue or silver foil.And you can have it while travelling to your office.Also it occupies less space.

My husband goes to office by 7 in the morning and sometimes when we miss the alarm..and if I am spared with 15 minutes to 7 ...I prepare this recipie and pack it for him so that he has it while travelling to office or while at office.

Ingredients

Chappathis-5 prepared using ghee or butter

For filling

Eggs-3

Onions-2

Pepper-1/2 tsp

Few curry leaves

Salt to taste

Directions

Beat eggs as usual with pepper and salt .

Now take a pan, add some oil to it and add chopped onions and little salt(dont add much as you have already added some to the eggs,manipulate accordingly) and fry till it becomes transparent.

Now add the beaten eggs and keep stirring with a spoon,so that you get curds as they coagulate.

Now fill in to the chappathis and may be you could roll it into a silver foil and twist the ends of the foil like the chocolate wrapper, if you are planning to use it as a picnic snack.