Erachi Pathiri

This was inspired by Jincy. I had made it for Iftar on one of the last few days of Ramadan...

One of Jincy's colleague had got this to office and as she and her husband, Anaska, loved it she made it back home in her kitchen. And she got some for me to taste. It was yum yummy.

And I too tried to re-create it in my kitchen. As its rice power and not maida used, it felt good for the tummy right after breaking the fast....

I totally loved it! Ate two while I was making it :D. Hafizka and Nafih loved it too. Ayaan liked the chicken. The chicken filling I used was this...

I made it exactly like how I make a chicken curry, with less but thick gravy... with a touch of powdered dry mint leaves and pressure cooked potato cut into cubes.

For the chicken filling I used:

• Boneless chicken
• Big onions - 1
• Tomatoes - 1
• Green chilly - 1
• 3 to 4 Curry leaves chopped 
• Ginger-Garlic paste (make fresh with 4-5 cloves of garlic and an inch of ginger)
• Pressure cooked potatoes.. cut into small cubes (Optional)
• Garam masala - 1 tsp
• Chilly powder - 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
• Coriander powder - 2 tsp
• Pepper powder (Add if green chilly and chilly powder does not give u ur desired spicy level)
• Coriander leaves
• Fresh mint leaves or dry mint leaves powder
• Salt to taste

How to make:

• Heat oil in a pan add chopped onion... sautee until they start turning brown..
• Add ginger-garlic paste... cook until the raw smell of garlic goes
• Add tomatoes, green chilly, chilly powder, turmeric powder, salt, coriander powder and chopped curry leaves.
• Cook that until oil starts forming on the side... then add in the chicken... add pepper here if u want it more hot.
• Cook the chicken well...boneless cubes of chicken dont take much time to cook.
• Add cooked potato cubes.
• Add in the coriander leaves and mint leaves
• Switch off flame. The filling is ready.

Now the pathiri I made with:

• 2  cups roasted rice flour
• 2.5 cups water
• salt to taste

Take a deep bottom vessel. Add the water and salt. Let the water come to boil. Lower flame and add in the rice flour. Mix well and keep covered for a minute or 2 on that low flame. Do make sure it doesnt get burnt at the bottom.

Then comes the kneading. The dough will be hot so knead it with a spoon until it turns warm. Then knead with hand to make a really soft dough. 

Use a press to make round pathiris. 

Take a pathiri, put some of that chicken filling on top and then cover with another pathiri. 

Press the sides with a fork.

Now u can either steam it or cook it on the skillet.

I steamed all except 2 which i cooked on the skillet on hot flame. I liked it both ways. It took around 15 minutes to steam-cook it. The steamed ones look neat and tidy...

The below pic shows the one I cooked on skillet. I was checking something out on the computer and left that on the skillet a bit too long.

I didnt make these pathiris really thin coz then i'll have to deal with them breaking when i turn them over to cook the other side.

I've had this post in my drafts since I made it. I never really got the time to post it. Right after Eid I went for vacation to India and reached back just a little over 2 weeks ago. Took a little time getting settled and getting back into the mood for posting on blog...

Any way, here I am... back to cooking... and blogging :)

Peas Curry

Ingredients

1. Green Peas - 1 cup
2. Onions - 2 (minced)
3. Tomato - 1 (chopped)
4. Ginger Garlic paste - 2tsp
5. Green chillies - 2 (slit lengthwise)
6. Coriander powder - 2 tsp
7. Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
8. Cumin powder - 1/4 tsp
9. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
10. Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
11. Coconut milk - 1/2 cup
12. Curry leaves- a sprig
13. Oil - for sauting onions
14. Salt - to taste

Method

Cook peas with just enough salted water. If there is more water, the gravy will become too watery.

While peas is getting cooked, heat oil in a pan and sauté onions until golden brown.
Add ginger-garlic paste, green chillies, curry leaves and the chopped tomatoes. Saute for few more minutes till tomatoes are cooked.

Turn the heat to low and add coriander powder, chilly powder, jeera powder and turmeric powder. Saute till the aroma comes. Be careful not to burn the powders, otherwise the curry will taste bitter.

Add the peas along with water in which it was cooked and combine. Simmer for 8-10 minutes until you see the oil separating and the gravy thickens.

Add the coconut milk and simmer for one more minute.

Your peas curry is ready! Serve with Chapatti, Appam or bread.

Vegetable Pulao

Here is an easy Vegetable Pulao recipe. You'll need at least 3 vegetables. I used carrots, Green peas, chick peas and beans. It doesn't take much effort or time.... plus doesnt create that much of a mess to clean up :P

Things you'll need are:

• Basmati rice - 2 cups (This would server 4+ ppl)
• Vegetables (I used 2 carrots, 4-5 Beans, half a cup cooked chick peas and half a cup cooked, frozen green peas) 
• Chopped Onions - 2 medium sized
• Ginger - 1 inch
• Garlic - 6 cloves
• Green chillies - 2
• Coriander leaves - a handful
• Cinnamon - 1 stick
• Cardamon - 3-4
• Cloves - 3-4
• Salt to taste
• Sunflower oil/ Butter - 4-5 tbsp
• Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
• Chilly powder - 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder -1 tsp
• Garam masala - 1tsp

Direction to make:

• Chop all the vegetables and keep aside.
• Grind the garlic, ginger, green chillies and coriander leaves.. keep aside
• In a heavy bottom vessel (which has a tight lid), heat the butter/oil and add the cardamon, cloves, cinnamon sticks. Saute for a few minutes, lower flame and add the onions.
• When the onions start to turn brown add the ginger-garlic-coriander. Saute.
• Add the red chilly powder, turmeric powder, garam masala and salt
• Mix well. All these should be done on low flame so as not to burn them.
• Now we add the vegetable. Between the carrots and beans, the beans take longer time to cook, so I added that first. Let it cook for a minute then added the carrot. Let that also cook for a minute. Then I added the cooked chick peas and green peas.
• Now turn up the flames and add 4 cups of water. Use the same cup u used for measuring rice. If ur taking 2 cups rice, u need to take 4 cups water. The ratio is 1:2. 
• Add the lemon juice and  rice. Mix well. Check salt. Cover with lid. Lower flame.
• Check after 10-15 minutes. I didnt check the exact timings, so can't say if it took more than that to cook. Do check the rice and dont let it go mushy.

Serve with raita and pickles if u want. The rice would be spicy enough. We had it with raita :)

Try it out.. simple enough recipe...
Make and let me know how it turns out....

My Aunt's Keema Lasagna

A week or so ago my aunt had mailed me pics of the lasagna she had made. Take a look...

Mouth-watering uh? :)

Here's another one.... :P

And another... :D

She has given me the recipe... but she more or less put as much of an ingredient as she felt would go best. I'll try it out and put up the post with approximates.

Any lasagna lovers?? What fillings do you like in a Lasagna?

Fish Molly / Molee

Ingredients

1. Fish - ½ kg
2. Onion – 2 thinly sliced
3. Ginger –1 inch
4. Garlic –5 - 6 cloves
5. Green chilli – 3 – 4
6. Cloves – 6
7. Cinnamon – 2 stick
8. Cardamom – 5
9. Bay leaves - 2 
10. Tomato – 2-3
11. Coconut milk – 2 cups
12. Oil – enough to shallow fry fish
13. Mustard Seeds –1 tsp
14. Curry leaves – a hand full
15. Salt – to taste

For Marination

1. Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
2. Pepper powder – 1 tsp
3. Lemon juice – ½ lemon (optional)
4. Salt - to taste

Method

1. Marinate the fish pieces with turmeric powder, pepper powder, salt & lemon juice and keep aside for 1 hour.
2. Meanwhile prepare all the other ingredients. 
3. Shallow fry the marinated fish till they are half done.
4. Heat oil in a pan and splutter the mustard seeds.
5. Make sure that the heat is on medium and add the cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and bay-leaves and fry for few seconds.
6. Add ginger and garlic and fry for a min.
7. Now add onions and green chillies.
8. After few minutes add the tomatoes and saute for few more minutes.
9. Once the tomatoes becomes soft add coconut milk and salt. Let it boil.
10. Add the fried fish pieces and cook till they are done.
11. Serve hot with Palappam or bread.

Medu Vada

Friday morning I was searching the net for a nice easy recipe... something to make for Iftar. It had to be something simple... and by simple I mean: less mess to clean up after. I guess this is why I hate cooking to start with. All the dishes to do and the cleaning up...
I'm not so familiar with food names Indian or others... so even if I did come across something I've had, the name might make me think it as something new, until I go thru the ingredients. As a kid I wasn't much into any food. I'll eat if I was really hungry and mostly it was Indomie noodles or some sandwich or the potato+maccaroni + maggie cube+ milk thing I used to make... I liked that combination and used to make every time I felt I needed a snack....
I've had vada's made of urud daal but when my brother-in-law, Nafih, mentioned this soft, donut-shaped vada made of urud daal, I thought it must be something new. He said my mom-in-law makes real good vada's... and so that was it.. it intrigued me... if he'll like it then I'll try making it...
Getting the men to eat is not something easy. After having a baby, I love practically every and all kinds of food. But that is not the case with my husband... or his brother... Good thing my son takes up from me on eating habits :D

After blogging about food for more than half the year, I'm not only starting to love the way food looks, I also developed a more than healthy appetite for them. Searching for new recipes to try out, I've come across some really amazing food blogs. I love to read them coz they write with such passion about food... it's really inspiring :) . Steffy and I will be updating our Blogs v luv with the lovely blogs we come across. Some of the most recent being: Foodelicious, Kurryleaves and The Big Sweet Tooth... such charming ladies behind these blogs :) ... Do check them out... I'm sure you'll love them...

Coming back to the Vada's..... as i said i thought they were something new until I checked Google.... Google says its the same stuff u make for dahi vada excluding the dahi...
I really am no good at food and names... :)

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients: 
- Urud daal - 1 cup
- cumin seeds - 1 tsp
- a few curry leaves, finely chopped
- chopped onions - 2 to 3 tbsp (optional)
- Ground Pepper - 1tsp
- Asafoetida - a pinch
- salt to taste
- Oil for frying

How to make:
Soak Urud daal for 6 hours or over night.
Blend it into a course, thick paste. When blending add as little water as possible.
Add the cumin seeds, chopped onions, curry leaves, pepper, asafoetida and salt. Mix well. Beat the batter with a spoon until its all fluffy....

Make into donut shape and deep fry... fry until they turn golden brown...

This chutney is my current favourite dip. There is tamarind, coriander and chillyyy!!! All my favourites mixed together to give a mouth-watering, spicy dip for vada's, cutlets, onion rings....

I was more in love with the dip than the vada's. Quite easy to make too.

Blend together 1/2 cup of chopped coriander leaves, 4 tbsp of thick tamarind paste, 2 green chillies and salt. Make it into a paste.... 

Enjoy!!  :)

Beef Curry

Ingrdients

1. Beef - 1 kg
2. Potato - 1 big
3. Onions - 2 nos
4. Shallots - 1 cup
5. Dry red chillies - 10 nos
6. Coriander seeds - 3 tsp
7. Black Pepper - 1 tsp
8. Cinnamon - 2" piece
9. Cloves - 4 nos
10. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
11. Garlic  - 10 nos
12. Ginger - 1" piece
13. Tomatoes - 2 nos
14. Turmeric powder - ½ tsp
15. Coconut oil - 3 tbsp
16. Salt - to taste
17. Curry leaves - few
18. Coriander leaves - 2 few
19. Corn flour - 1tsp (optional)

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a frying pan and fry the dry red chillies and keep aside.
2. Fry coriander seeds and keep aside.
3. Fry black pepper, cinnamon sticks, cloves and cumin seeds together and set aside.
4. Saute Shallots, till they turn brown.
5. Grind all the above fried ingredients together.
6. Pressure cook chopped beef with turmeric powder, salt, potato and the above mixture.
7. Saute onions in the pan, till brown followed by green chillies, crushed garlic and ginger and chopped tomatoes.
8. Add these to the cooked beef and cook for few more minutes.
9. When the curry turns brown, turn off the flame.
10. If you want the gravy to be thick,  mix the corn flour in a little cold water and add it to the curry (optional).
11. Garnish with curry leaves, coriander leaves and a spoon of coconut oil.

Enjoy with Puttu or Appam!

Crispy Onion Rings

This is one easy-to-make, mouth-wateringly deeelicious, crispy-crispy snack. :)
My elder sister, Shahmida, introduced me to this.

All u need are some onions, Gram flour, Rice powder, Chilli powder and salt...

Make a batter with 1 cup gram flour, 1/4 cup rice powder, 1/2 tsp chilli powder and salt. Add just enough water to get a thick batter kinda like idly batter...

Slice the onions into rings, Dip in the batter and deep fry in hot oil. It is all bound to stick together, so put one at a time if ur not in a hurry :)

Serve ASAP so that it stays crispy.. :)

Serve with a nice sauce to dip and eat... tamarind-dry red chilli-coriander is a good combination if u want a spicy-sour one. Tomato Ketchup would also do.

I don't like ketchup as a sauce. I like it on bread... as a sandwich :D. One of my friend back in KG used to always get Tomato Ketchup sandwich :D and I used to go home, ask my mother to make me that. Since then I love it. I still do :)

Chicken Cutlets

Yeeessss..... only one cutlet....

It's been a week since Ramadan started and I haven't been able to take any pics of the food I make. I always cook just before Iftaar and there wouldn't be any time for pics. And later there won't be any left overs to show how it was either.

But yesterday, I managed to save one cutlet! :P

Here's the recipe for about 20+ cutlets:

- 1/2 kg Boneless chicken cut into small pieces
- 2 Potatoes (Pressure cooked.. then mashed)
- 1 Big onion sliced into fine cubes
- 4-5 cloves of garlic sliced finely
- ginger (half or just a little more than half the amount of garlic u take)
- 2 green chillies sliced finely
- pepper powder - 1 tsp (add more if u want)
- salt to taste
- chopped coriander leaves 1/4th of a cup
- 1 egg
- Bread crumbs
- Oil for frying

If ur potatoes are big add only 1. It's better to have more chicken than potatoes...

Heat oil in a big frying pan. Sautee onion till it becomes soft. Add ginger, garlic and green chillies. Cook for a minute or 2 then add in the chicken pieces, salt and pepper. Cook the chicken well. As it's boneless and small they'd cook fast. If there are big pieces of chicken do try to break them down. When u feel the chicken is cooked switch off stove. Add in the potatoes and coriander leaves. Mix everything well. Add salt or pepper if needed.

(Do be careful with the salt. If salt is less in the cutlet u could always serve it with a nice chilli or ketchup sauce. No one would notice the salt....but an excess of salt in cutlet? What can be done for that? Any ideas?)

Beat the egg in a bowl.

Now, after u've let the mixture cool down a little, make small cutlets in whatever shape u want. Dip the cutlet in the egg, then coat it with bread crumbs. Do that for the rest of the cutlets.
When you are done with all, fry in oil till they turn golden brown. Fry only as much as u need. You could freeze the rest for cooking later.

You could make cutlets with leftover chicken too. The number of cutlets will depend on the size of your cutlet...

Cauliflower Kurma

Hey guys....

I had made some veggie gravy Monday night to go with rice for dinner... because I was out of non-veg to make curry :). A meal without fish/chicken is not much appreciated here. So while the guys had gone out to buy some fishy/chickyy, I made this cauliflower kurma.

My husband loves cauliflower and I had a lot of it sitting in the fridge. At first I thought of making cauliflower curry with coconut milk, but then the cauliflower kurma (which is with either thick cream or coconut grinded to paste) has much richer flavour and I love the creamy texture..

I opted for the kurma...

I had thought of frying whatever non-veg they get... but there wasn't any time for that. They came home pretty late... around 11. I had given them a big list of things to buy. Ramadan shopping list. I wanted to keep things ready so that all my fasts are not totally absorbed with cooking. The funny thing about fasting is, we tend to want to make each and everything that comes to mind. Even the food we dislike otherwise starts to sound and look appealing :P :D

This is what all you'll need for making the kurma...

Ingredients:
- Cauliflower - 1 big flower
- Medium sided onion - 1/2 cut lengthwise
- Tomatoes -1/2 cut into cubes
- Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
- Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
- Coriander leaves- 1 tsbp chopped
- Oil - 2tbsp
- Salt to taste

To grind:
- Coconut or Cream (I used cream) - 1/4 cup
- Fennel seeds  - 1tsp
- Cashew nuts - 5
- Onion - 1/2 medium
- Tomato - 1 small
- Garlic -  5 cloves
- Green chillies - 2
- Cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece
- Cloves - 2

How to make:
- Grind all the ingredients under 'To grind'  with little water to a smooth paste and keep aside.
- Clean and cut cauliflower into small florets and pressure cook with salt, water and turmeric powder. It should only be half cooked. Don't let it get overcooked and mashed.
- Heat oil in a pan, add onions and fry till golden brown. Add tomatoes, chilli powder, turmeric powder. Mix well and cook until oil starts to ooze out and the tomatoes are mashed.
- Now add the ground paste and cook till raw smell of garlic leaves and oil starts to separate.
- Now add the cauliflower and mix well. Switch off flame.
- Add more water if the gravy is too thick for ur liking...
- Taste and adjust salt.
- Garnish with coriander leaves. I sprinkled some dry mint on top instead of coriander.

It's a reasonable easy recipe... won't take time if u have clean work space and everything (like grinder and other stuff) ready. The resultant kurma was quite creamy... like butter chicken gravy. This would go best with chapati's or roti's. But I had rice already cooked.You could add potatoes or green peas to it if u want more veggies.

Will try to put up Iftar recipes if time permits. Or else I'll post them all after Ramadan. Ok then, Catch u guys later.....

Ramadan Kareem!! :)

Squid Roast

I was not feeling well yesterday. Headache as usual (It's a really hot summer! :( ) and I asked my husband to go buy the grocery. I had asked to buy some fish for making curry. He got home squid and (not surprisingly) prawns. He always buys prawns not matter whatever else he buys...

I decided to make squid roast.

This ones an extremely simple recipe. What you'll need is:

- squid, cleaned and sliced into rings - 1/2 kg
- 2 onions thinly sliced
- 1 tomato, diced
- 4-5 cloves of garlic
- Ginger - 1 tsp
- Chilli powder - 1 tsp
- Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
- Garam Masala - 1 tsp
- Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp(add more or less depending on how spicy u want it)
- Curry leaves - 4 to 5
- Salt to taste

How to make:

- Heat oil in a pan and add the sliced onions and curry leaves.
- Saute until the onions start turning golden brown. Add ginger and garlic. Mix well and let it cook for a minute or 2 until the garlic smell goes.
- Add chilli, turmeric, garam masala and pepper powder. Add the tomatoes and mix well. Now let it cook for another 2 minutes or so until the tomatoes turn soft and mushy.
- Now add the squid and salt. Mix and let it cook through. Make sure not to over-cook the squid. I did.. and it turned all rubbery. It takes hardly 10 minutes or so to cook squid.

(There is also another method of cooking squid in which the squid is first marinated with chilli powder, turmeric and salt and cooked for about 5-6 minutes and kept aside. The masala is made separate and the cooked squid added into it. Either way u get the same stuff...)

My son was walking around with this. He likes squid, but this one was too spicy for him. So I cleaned off all the masala from it and gave him.

Catch u later then.. tata! :)

Beef Fry

Ingredients

1. Beef – ½ kg
2. Onion – 1 big, finely sliced
3. Small onion – 10-15, sliced
4. Ginger - 1 inch
5. Garlic - 10
6. Chili powder – ½ tbsp
7. Coriander powder – 1tbsp
8. Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
9. Vinegar – 2 tsp
10. Bite size coconut pieces (thengakothu) – ½ coconut
11. Coconut oil 3-4 tbsp
12. Salt - to taste
13. Curry leaves
14. Garam Masala – ½ tsp

To Roast and Grind

1. Fennel Seeds – 1 ½ tsp
2. Cinnamon – 1 inch piece
3. Cloves – 6- 8
4. Cardamom – 4-5
5. Bay-leaves –2

Instructions

1. Roast and powder all the ingredients under to roast and grind and keep aside.
2. Mix all the powdered spices, ginger, ½ garlic, small onion, chilli, coriander and turmeric powder, vinegar, salt, and beef and pressure cook till it is done.
3. Heat oil in a pan and fry coconut pieces and keep aside.
4. Now saute the onions, rest of the garlic and curry leaves till it becomes golden brown. 
5. Add garam masala and saute for one more minute.
6. Add the cooked beef, coconut pieces & curry leaves.  
7. Fry till all the water is evaporated and is fried. 
8. Serve with rice.

Chicken 65

Chicken 65 is one spicy and mouth-watering dish. There are many variation for this dish, but its usually deep fried, hot and spicy. It's quite simple to make and is one of my favourite chicken recipes.

The chicken is first marinated then fried in oil. A separate gravy is made in which the fried chicken is mixed. This particular recipe I got from vahrevah.com...

Here's what all you'll need:

For Marinating the chicken:
  - Boneless Chicken - 1/2 kg
  - Ginger-garlic paste (Make fresh) - 2 tsp
  - Pepper powder - a pinch
  - Salt to taste
  - 1 egg
  - Corn flour - 2 tsp
  - Oil for frying

For the gravy:
  - Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
  - Curry leaves - 4 to 5 leaves
  - Ginger (chopped) - roughly 1/2 tsp
  - Garlic (chopped) - roughly 1 tsp
  - Coriander leaves for garnishing
  - Chili powder - 1/2 tsp
  - Green chilies - 3 to 4 or check the spiciness and add how much ever u want..
  - Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp or check and add more/less if u require
  - Salt to taste

How to make:
Cut the chicken into small cubes. Make sure the chicken is dry before applying marination.
Add salt, a pinch of pepper powder, ginger-garlic paste and cornflour. Mix well. Now add the egg and mix well again. This egg coats the meat and keeps the juices in...
Now fry these chicken in oil until they turn light golden brown. As they are small cut pieces they tend to cook fast, so do be careful and don't over cook. Keep these fried chicken aside for now...

Now we make the gravy sauce for the chicken 65:
In a big sauce pan, heat 2-3 tbsp of oil. Add cumin seeds and chopped ginger & garlic. Saute until the raw smell of the garlic goes.
Now add chopped green chillies, curry leaves, pepper powder, chilli powder and salt. Cook for a little while. Then just before adding the fried chicken add a little water and then only toss in the chicken. Mix well.
That's about it. Garnish with coriander leaves... squeeze some lemon juice on to it...

(A point to be noted here is to be careful with the salt u add. The fried chicken will already be having salt. So be careful while adding salt in the gravy!!)




Adding red colour would give it an even yummier look. I restrained from using it in this thou, so mine looks more like simple masala fried chicken.
My mom makes this another way.. using yogurt or leban. A thick gravy kind of chicken 65. That one, I feel, is even better than this and goes great with ghee rice! :)
I'll put up that recipe of chicken 65 too when i make it... :)

My husband and I aren't much of a beef or mutton eater. It's chicken and fish for us. Lately, I've been trying to add veggies into our meals. But honestly, I'm losing on that part... my husband is not a big fan of veggies either. And I'm not so familiar with yummy veggie recipes. If any of you know, please do comment and let me know. I'd love to try out some new vegetable recipes...

That's all for now... catch u later! :)

Kerala Fish curry with coconut

Recipe adapted from ethnicindiancuisine

Ingredients    

1. Fish - 500 gms
2. Grated Coconut - 1 Cups
3. Ginger - 1 inch piece
4. Pearl Onion - 1 no
5. Red Chilly Powder - 3 tsp
6. Coriander Powder - 3 tsp
7. Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
8. Green chillies - 3 or 4
9. Kudam Puli or Tarmarind - 2 small
10. Curry leaves - 1 sprig
11. Coconut Oil - 2 tbsp
12. Salt - to taste

Preparation

1. Any kind of fish can be used for this. Clean and cut the fish into pieces.   
   
   
2. In a blender, grind ginger, coconut, pearl onion, chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, a couple of curry leaves and just enough water to make a smooth paste.  
    
3. Pour the ground mixture into a clay pot, add the rest of the curry leaves, kudam puli, green chillies, salt and required amount of water(depends on how thick you need the gravy to be) and bring it to a simmer on medium heat. 
     
4. Now add the fish pieces and mix well. Cook on medium-low till the fish pieces are cooked.   
5. Drizzle coconut oil over the curry and keep covered.  
    
6. Serve hot rice.

The original recipe had 2 cups of grated coconut but I felt that it was a bit too much.  This is not a very spicy curry, you can add more chilli powder depending on your taste. Be careful though. If you reduce the amount of coconut, you won't have to increase the amount of chilli powder.

Coconut-Coriander Chutney

Here is a simple recipe for the coriander-coconut chutney..

What all you'll need:
- 1 cup Grated Coconut
- A handful of coriander leaves
- 1 or 2 Green chilies
- 2-3 small onions
- Salt to taste
- Yogurt or lemon juice (1 tsp)
- Mustard seeds
- A few curry leaves

How to make:
Grind the coconut, coriander leaves, green chilies and small onions into a fine paste or to your desired consistency. Add salt and yogurt/lemon juice. Mix well.
Pop Mustard seeds in a pan with a teaspoon oil. Add curry leaves. Give it some 10-20 seconds and pour in the coconut-coriander mixture. Switch off flame.
Check taste and add salt or yogurt/lemon juice if needed.

I don't always use yogurt for chutney. I prefer chutney's without yogurt. Some people add half an inch of ginger to it when grinding. Try this out with tamarind. But make that a thick paste. Tamarind chutney's go best with vada. Next time I make them I'll put it up...

Different Moist Chocolate Cakes I've created so far...

I had been searching for the perfect moist chocolate cake and since having found it, ( http://coloursofourworld.blogspot.ae/2013/01/moist-chocolate-cake.html ), I have tried lots of different variations with it. Nothing drastic... just adding colours or excluding the cocoa or mixing with different icings...
I always had to make sure it'd not be too chocolatety, nor too fudgey...

Here are some of my creations:

This is one of my earliest creations. Its Moist chocolate cake with whipped cream frosting. Those chocolate balls are chocolate butter cream. I had first given the cake an icing of chocolate butter cream and then the whipped cream. And made some balls with the left over butter cream.... spread some cake crumbs on the sides. Those days getting to finish one cake was a big effort for me, so the decoration part would more or less be for the name sake.... wouldnt have much of an interest in it...

Here's a slice for u :)

It had tasted good :) My husband's cousin and wife had come that day from Muscat.... and lucky me, I had somebody who could actually understand the love for cakes and chocolates! :) Every time I make one of these I start wishing she was here...


This was my next experiment with the moist chocolate cake....A 3-layered cake...

Two of them being chocolate and one vanilla. This one has been topped with chocolate ganache, some honeyed corn flakes, grated chocolate (galaxy fruit & nuts) and strawberry...
This cake was so so soooo yummy. I totally fell in love all over again with this moist cake! :D

And here's a slice of that one too for u :)

And here is my latest experiment with the moist chocolate cake recipe....

I made it when my in-laws were here. It didnt turn out as good as the others in taste thou coz I went a little low on the batter and added flour to it at the end... which just made it a bit harder than what it was suppose to be and kinda dry. This one also I made into 3 layers: vanilla, chocolate and in the third one I added red colour. My red colour comes out pink :)
Frosted it first with whipped cream and then with chocolate ganache. Messed up on the piping work at the borders and tried to cover that up with some chocolate chips :P

Anyway, heres a slice for u :)

I've quit on making cakes and desserts. I'm the only one who has a sweet tooth here. And can u imagine a cake staying in the fridge for more than 2 or 3 days?!? No way! And so, they somehow end up in my tummy. And that is why I've said tata to cakes for now...

A few days back I saw a pic of cheesecake with jelly which my husband's cousin sister, Shamna, in Qatar, had made... I love cheesecake and jelly combination... have never made them myself thou....
I'm in quite a bad dilemma... If I get the recipe from her, then I'm sure to want to make it... and if I don't ask then that pic is going to have me go bake some or the other cake... hmm... should I ask?

Oh well... anyway, I hope you liked these cakes of mine. And don't worry, they're not fattening. They are just teeny meeny slices after all :D

Tata then! Catch u later.... :)

Masala Dosa

The greatest mistake is to continue to practice a mistake - Bobby Bowden

I can't believe I'm putting up a post on making dosa. I must have tried a million different tips for making dosa. And it took me like forever to finally get it right!
As usual I got my perfect recipe when I was browsing thru the net.

 

There are some lucky people who get it right in the second or third try... but I wasn't one of them. I tried and tried... got fed up of the rubbery idlis and dosas. The reason I still went on to find the ultimate recipe which might help is coz I love dosas so much. I love crispy dosas with coconut-coriander chutney. And, Alhamdulillah, I got it from this site, http://www.veggiebelly.com/

This is what you'll need:
- 1 cup of ponni rice (or any such similar medium grained rice)
- 1 cup idli rice
- 1 cup urud daal
- 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds (uluva)
- 1 teaspoon salt

The ratio of rice to urud daal is always 2:1.
With the above measurements u can get dosas for about 8 servings.

Wash both the rice and place them in a large bowl. Fill the bowl with water so that the water is about 2 inches above the rice. Let it soak for about 8-9 hours. Do the same with the daal and fenugreek and place in a separate bowl.

After the required hours of soaking you will notice the daal has swelled up and the rice will be easy to break with your fingers...

Grinding:
You should grind the daal first and then the rice.
Put the daal+ fenugreek into a grinder and grind into a smooth, fluffy paste.  If u can't grind it all in one go, then divide into small portions and grind. Add more water as and when needed. The final result should be a fluffy smooth but thick paste. Pour it into a large bowl.

Now grind the rice the same way. The rice should be ground to a smooth but slightly gritty batter. And pour that also into the large bowl. Mix the two. Cover the bowl loosely. It should not be air tight.

Now this is the part which you have to get right. The fermentation. If the batter does not ferment properly then the dosa/idli won't come out well. This is what went wrong for me.

This is what I learnt from veggiebelly.com:

"If you live in a warm climate leave the batter over night in a warm place (about 8 hours) to ferment. Ideal dosa idli batter fermentation temperature is around 90f or 32c.

If you live in a cold climate, turn on the pilot light of your oven. (do not turn on your oven!). Place the batter bowl on the lowest rack, farthest away from the light. The light will give the batter enough warmth to ferment. Leave the bowl in the oven for about 10 hours for dosa batter to ferment. Sometimes, the batter may take up to 18 hours to ferment in colder climates.

The fermented batter should be frothy, and almost doubled in volume. "

This info was just what I wanted! May God bless her! :)




If  the fermented batter is too thick, add a little water. For dosas, the batter must be of pouring consistency, but not too runny.

Add salt to the batter and we're ready to make our dosas..

Heat a 9 inch non-stick skillet on high heat. Pour a ladle (1/4 cup) of batter on the pan. Using very little pressure  swirl the ladle in concentric circle to spread out the batter.
It should not be too hot or else the batter will thicken and stick to the ladle.  I don't add oil before pouring in the batter coz it really is not necessary. The dosas don't stick to it. But u can add if u really need it.

Cook on medium-high heat till the dosa starts turning golden brown.

At this point you can fold the dosa over in half or (for masala dosa) put a little masala in the centre and fold from both sides or roll it into rolls. For extra crispy dosas, flip over and lightly brown the other side.

Taste ur first dosa and adjust salt accordingly.

Now for the masala part: 
I like making the masala with potatoes. Some people add carrot to it too. You can add if u prefer that.

What all you'll need:
- 1 big onion cut into fine cubes
- 4 medium potatoes
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 lemon
- Pepper to taste
- 1 or 2 green chilies finely sliced
- salt to taste
- Vegetable oil

Clean potatoes and put in pressure cooker with a cup of water. On the first whistle reduce flame. And on the second whistle remove from flame. Check whether the potatoes are properly cooked. Peel skin and mash the potatoes. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a frying pan, add cumin seeds. After the cumins are done with their flutterings ( :) ) add the onions and fry until they start turning golden brown. Add green chilies. If you r adding carrots add them now.After that's done cooking add the mashed potatoes. Mix well. Switch off flame. Squeeze in some lemon juice (According to ur taste). Add pepper and salt.
That's about it for the masala part.  Its quite simple.

Plain dosa goes well with coconut-coriander Chutney and Sambar

If you still find that u can't make the perfect dosa, check out this link: http://www.veggiebelly.com/2011/03/perfect-dosa-recipe.html. It has lots of do's and don't and questions answered. Maybe it might help u.

I make this batter for idli and use it the next day for dosa by adding a little water to loosen it. Idlis require thicker batter.

Ok then.. I'm gona put a full stop to this post. It has been long enough as it is :)
Catch u later.
Tata for now... :)