Paruppu vadai

Paruppu vadai is made out of dal dumplings fried in oil .
it tastes excellent when eaten hot. here goes the recipe. I happened to do this for a potluck on Diwali party.


Ingredients

Channa dal - 500 gms
Onions - 2 big nos
Curry leaves - 4 stalks
Dried red chillies - 4 nos
cumin seeds - 2 tspns
fennel seeds - 2 tspn
salt - approx 2 tspn(acc to taste)
asafoetida - 1/4 tspn
oil- 3 cups for frying

Method

• Soak the channa dal for abt 2 hrs
• when they have doubled in size set aside about 5 tbspns of channa dal, this gives a crunchy taste to the vadai
  
• grind the remaining channa dal along with the red chillies to a coarse paste and add the chopped onions,roughly chopped curry leaves and cumin,fennel,asafoetida , salt ,coarsely grinded channa paste and the remaining dal and mix thoroughly .
• heat oil and meanwhile gently form lemon shaped balls out of this coarse paste and press it down with your palms
• when done fry these in batches and serve it hot with any chutney of ur choice or enjoy it as such.

Egg Macroni

Ingredients

Pasta - 200 gms
Onion - 1 medium sized
Egg - 2 nos
Tomato puree - 4 tbspn
Garam masala - 1/4 tspn
Chat masala - 1/4 tspn
Chilli powder - 1/4 tspn
Coriander powder - 1/4 tspn
Pepper powder - 1/4 tspn
Salt - acc to taste
Oil - 2 tspn
Butter - 1 tspn

Method

• Boil the pastas with 1 tspn o f butter and drain and keep aside
• In a pan heat oil and add the finely chopped onions and when they become golden brown add the tomato puree and saute for few mins and then set aside.
• In a larger pan add oil and break open the eggs and all the above mentioned masalas and keep sauting till the eggs get scrambled
• at this stage add the boiled and drained pastas and saute for few secs and then add the previously prepared onion and tomato paste .
• make sure the pastas are properly covered with the masalas
• serve it for breakfast or as a evening snack.
  

Prawn 65

Ingredients

Prawns(cleaned & deveined) - 30 (small) or 15 (big)
soy sauce - 1 tbspn
vinegar - 1 tbspn
Ginger garlic paste - 1/4 tspn
Red Color - a pinch (optional)
Coriander powder - 1/4 tspn
Chilli powder - 1/4 tspn
garam masala - 1/4 tspn
turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn
Corn flour - 1 tbspn
Egg white - 1 no
Salt - acc to taste
Oil - 1/2 to 3/4 cup of oil for frying

For seasoning

Curry leaves - few
Green chillies - 2 to 3

Method

• Heat a pan(no oil needed) and add the prawns and turmeric powder.the prawns will leave water . keep sauting gently until the water dries up.now u can see the prawns coiled up at this stage remove from flame and allow it cool
• in a bowl add the prawns , ginger garlic paste, soy sauce,vinegar,coriander powder,garam masala powder,chilli powder,salt n red food color and leave it for atleast 30 mins to get marinated. i usually leave it for 2 to 3 hrs.
• Mix the egg white and corn flour to the prwans and leave it for 5 to 6 mins
  
• Heat oil in a pan(i usually use a small pan to reduce the amount of oil) and then fry the prawns in bathches of few .
• when done... heat abt 1/4 tspn of oil in another pan and ad the curry leaves and the green chillies cut lengthwise and then add the prawns saute for few secs and serve them hot as an appetizer

Chicken Briyani

Chicken Briyani is made of chicken cooked with spices and basmati rice.
Ingredients 1

Chicken - 1 kg
Curd(yoghurt) - 3 tbspn
Lemon juice- 1 tbspn
Salt - 1 tspn
Chicken Masala - 2 tspn
GingerGarlic paste- 2 tspn
Turmeric powder - 1 tspn
Coriander powder- 2 tspn
Chilli powder - 1/2 tspn

Ingredients 2

Bay leaf- 2 nos
fennel seeds - 1 tspn
Nutmeg powder - 1 tspn
star anise - 1 no
cardamom - 4 nos
Clove- 5 - 6 nos
cinnamon sticks - 2 - 3 nos



Ingredients 3

Onions - 2 big nos(lengthwise)
Tomato- 2 big nos(cubed)
Green Chilli - 2(slit lenthwise)
Ginger Garlic paste- 3 tbspn
Coriander- a bunch(chopped finely)
pudina(mint leaves)-a bunch(chopped finely)
Ghee(clarified butter) - 2 tbspn
Basmati Rice - 2 cups
Chicken masala - 3 - 4 tbspn (as per taste)
Oil - 4 - 5 tbspn
salt - acc to taste


Method

Chicken Marination

• wash the chicken(medium size) and set aside
• In a large bowl add 2 tbspn of curd and all the other ingredients 1 and mix it well
  
• Add the chicken to this and leave it aside for min of 40 mins
• wash and soak the basmati rice for a min of 30 mins
  
• In a pressure cooker or a heavy bottomed pan heat oil
• and then add the ingredients 2 except nutmeg powder and wait till they splutter ( 1 min)
  
• and then add the onions cut lengthwiseand saute it for few mins
• then add the nutmeg powder and saute it
• then add the green chillies , coriander leaves,mint leaves and tomaotes and saute for few mins
• then add the ginger garlic paste and saute it for sometime till the tomatoes get smashed
• then add the marinated chicken and salt and chicken masala..(Add 2 tbspn of chicken masala and then as per taste adjust accordinly)
• cook for some time till the chicken is almost cooked
• drain the water from basmati rice and set aside
  
• in the mean time heat a pan and add the ghee and then add then add the basmati rice
• saute it carefully and when the flavour of basmati arises and the rice does not stick to one another at this stage switch off from flame
• now add this basmati rice along with the chicken which is almost cooked
• taste for masala and spice level and then add 3 cups of water..the rice shud be just immersed in water
• close the lid and keep the flame in lowand wait until the rice cooks
• when the rice is cooked arnish with coriander and enjoy it with raita and eggs.

Sweet Mango Pickle

This is my all time favourite!!!! whenever i make this i get reminded of my childhood days where my grand mom used to make this for me n my cousins... we used to relish with curd rice. we all used to sit around our grand mom and she used to give curd rice on our palms and we used to lick mango pickle along with it. This week as i was passing by i found mangoes on the trees ...wat a beautiful sight ...i stopped my car and i plucked enough mangoes
this ia a very simple recipe

Ingredients

Mangoes - 1 no (refer pic below for size)
Oil - 1 tspn
Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds - 6 to 7 seeds
Urad dal (splitted) - 6 to 7 seeds
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Jaggery(powdered) - 3 tspn


Method

• Cut the mangoes into cubes ..u can also cut them into small pieces.
• heat oil in a pan and allow the mustard seeds and urad dal to splutter
• then add the magoes and saute them for say about 7 to 9 mins
• then add the salt and chilli powder and saute for 2 mins
  
• then add around 3 tsp[ns of powdered jaggery and saute so that the mangoes get coated with the melted jaggery
• wait for 2 mins and then remove from flame
• sweetish tangy mango pickle is ready in mins
• cool and then enjoy with curd rice
• according to ur taste u can adjust the amount of jaggery

Shahi Paneer

Making paneer

Ingredients

milk powder - 4 tbspns(heaps)
water - 1 big glass
vinegar - 1 tbspn

Paneer is an Indian cheese n tastes yummy..
i usually prefer to make paneer with full cream milk but since i cant find any good full cream milk here in Africa ...i have used the nestle milk powder .

• take 4 tbspns(heaps) of milk powder in a boiling pan and add a big glass of water and mix it thorougly so that there are no heaps
• now heat this milk until it begins to boil ..at this stage add one tbspn of vinegar and after few secs switch off flame . the result will look like the pic below - the paneer n the water wud've separated
• filter this and spread the paneer on a plate..
• cover the paneer with damp cloth and a place a heavy vessel filled with water and let it set for a min of 3 - 4 hrs.. i usually leave it for 6-7 hrs. then cut into pieces and freeze it..

Ingredients for shahi paneer

Onion - 2 big ones
Tomato - 1 big one
Cloves - 6 nos
Cardamom - 6 nos
Whipped Cream - 20 cl
Paneer - 2 cups
Cashew nuts - few nos(optional)
Kashmiri chilli powder - 1 tspn
Coriander powder - 1 tspn
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn
Garam masala - 1/2 tspn
Oil - 2 tbspn

Method

• leave the paneer at room temperature atleast 2 - 3 hrs before preparing...so that it is soft
• now grind the onions n tomatoes to a fine paste n set aside
• heat 1 1/2 tbspn oil in a pan and add the cloves n cardamom n let it splutter and then add the ground onion tomato paste.
• keep stirring for a while n then leave it till the water from the paste gets dried . this will take around 20 mins...this step is very important as this gets rid of the raw smell from the onion-toamto pste
  
• when the onion- tomato begins to stick then add 1/2 tbspn of oil n keep stirring
• after few mins add the dry masala(Coriander powder, kashmiri chilli powder, turmeric,garam masala n salt acc to taste)
• saute this for a min or 2 and then add the whipped cream to this and keep stirring for 3 mins and then add the paneer cubes ...make sure that the paneer is coated evenly with the paste n care shud be taken not to break the paneer cubes.
• switch off from flame and transfer to another dish.
• garnish with cashew nuts (optional)... here i have not used cashew nuts for taste preferences
  
• serve with hot parathas or roti

Pizza

Usually we eat pizza outside but i wanted to try it at home...and yes it was a success and i thought i wud share it with you all.

Ingredients

All purpose flour/Maida - 2 cups
Yeast - 1 tbspn
Sugar - 1 tspn
Salt- acc to taste
Vegetables for topping - onions,Capsicum,Mushroom,Maize(any veggies of ur choice)
Tomatoes - 4
Onions- 1 small
Garlic - 2 pods
Grated Cheese - 400 gms
sunflower oil- 1 tspn
Olive oil- 1 1/2 tbspn
Pizza Spices - store bought

The spices for pizza which is available in the store consists of
Origano,Marjoram,Bay,Ginger,Paprika,Onion,Garlic,Rosemary,Salt

Method

• in 1/2 cup of luke warm water dissolve yeast,salt n sugar and in a bowl add the all purpose flour and then slowly add the luke warm water and one tbspn of olive oil and mix it to form soft pliable dough
• when done just apply the remaining olive oil on the outer surface and leave it closed until the dough is properly fermented or till it doubles in size.
• chop the garlic n onions very finely and puree the tomatoes
  
• heat oil in a pan and add the garlic and then the onions and fry it for a while then add the tomato puree to it and cook it for a while..if desired u can use the store bought tomato puree also...add salt and 1/4 tspn of garam masala(optional)
• now roll the dough to your desired shape....here i have made it rectangle to the size of my tray...
• when u have prepared the base just apply the tomato puree on top of it and then add the vegetables for topping which is cut lengthwise and then spread the pizza spices all over n then top it with the grated cheese.
• then place it the oven at 160 ..keep checking if its done. it takes 20 to 30 mins .