THE KITCHEN AFFAIRE

This is a recipe i got from a friend of mine, Sangeetha, and it really came out well.  I literally licked my fingers when i ate this at her place and was craving to have it again. So i decided il try my hands on this. :) Ingredients Rice - 1 C Vegetables( Beans, Cabbage, Carrot, Capsicum) - 1 C (Finely chopped) Eggs - 3 Soy sauce - 2 t Black pepper powder - 2 T Salt - to taste Oil - 1 T Spring onions - 1/4 C (Chopped) Method Cook rice by adding salt and 1tsp of oil to the boiling water. Make sure that its not cooked completely. Transfer the cooked rice to a large plate and let it cool. Now heat 1 T of oil in a pan, add the vegetables to it. Fry the vegetables adding salt, pepper and 1 t of soy sauce. Fry on very high flame, so as to get the light smoky flavor like fast food fried rice. Cook the vegetables, still maintaining their crunchiness and color. Transfer the vegetables to a plate. In the same pan add, eggs, salt and pepper and prepare scrambl

Ingredients Wheat powder - 1 C Water - 1½ C Finely Chopped Onion - 3 T Finely Chopped Ginger - ½ t Chopped Green Chilly -2 Curry leaves -few Salt - to taste   Method Mix all the ingredients to make the dosa batter. Heat a frying pan. Pour one spoon full of batter on the pan. Pour some oil on it. When one side is golden brown and turn the otherside.

Ingredients Cooked & Cooled rice – 2 cups Choped onion- 1/2 cup Diced vegetables(Carrot,Green Beans)- 1/2 cup Green Peas -1/4 cup Chopped Capsicum,Celery & Spring Onion- 1/2 cup Whole dry chillies slit-3 Soya Sauce -2 tsp Green Chilly Sauce – 1 tsp Pepper powder – 1 tsp Salt – to taste Olive Oil - to taste Method Heat oil in a pan and add onion and red chillies. Add all the diced vegetables and green peas and saute well. Add soya sauce,chilly sauce and salt to it. Stir for few minutes. Now add capsicum,celery and spring onion and cook till vegetables are tender. Cook untill all the water evaporates. Finally add cooled rice to it and mix well on high heat. Add pepper powder and stir well. Garnish with Spring Onion greens. You can also add scrambled egg along with this.

This is a recipe that i got from Amma while she was here with us. :)  Simple and delicious is the most easy way to describe it. Goes superb with Rice and a thoran. Ingredients Red gram - 1 Cup Thick coconut milk - 3/4 Cup Thin coconut milk - 1/2 Cup Winter Melon/Kumbalanga - 3/4 Cup - Cut to small square pcs Green chillies - 3 Salt - As required Method Pressure cook the red gram till its soft yet not mushy (Upto 4 to 5 whistles). Take off the lid and continue cooking. Add the melon pcs, slit green chillies and salt to taste. Allow the mixture to cook till the contents of the pressure cooker become a little  concentrated. Add thin coconut milk to the mixture and once its hot enough add the thick coconut milk too. Let it cook for few more minutes. Then its all set to be served.

The thought of pazham pori reminds me of the vendors who walk around us in trains. All my morning trips to cochin was something i would look forward to, mainly for the yummy pazham pori, uzhunnu vada and cutlets.. What an aroma they have.. :) Ingredients Ripe Plantain- 1 ( peel and cut into 2 parts, cut them lengthwise into 3 ) Maida / all purpose flour - 1/4 cup Rice flour - 2 teaspoon ( for crispness of the covering ) Salt- a pinch Sugar -1/4 teaspoon Water - for diluting the batter ( 1-2 tablespoon ) Oil for frying Method For the batter Mix maida, salt, rice flour and sugar with water. Batter should not be too watery. For frying Heat oil in a pan. Dip each banana slices into the batter and fry on a medium flame till get golden colour. Turn occasionally. Drain out from oil and keep in paper towels. Serve with tea / coffee.

Ingredients For cooking the dal Toor dal - 1/2 C Water - 2 1/2 C Salt - to taste Ghee - 1/2 t Turmeric - a pinch For Sautéing Tomato, diced - 1 Brinjal, diced - 1 Onion, thinly sliced - 1 Vegetables : Ladysfinger, Ash gourd, Plantain, Carrots, Drumsticks Ginger, thinly sliced - A small piece Garlic cloves, thinly sliced - 1-2 Green chillies - 3 Turmeric powder - ¼ t Coriander powder - 2 t Chilly powder - 1 t Sambar Powder - 2 T Tamarind paste - ½ t Cumin seeds/ jeera : ¼ t Coconut oil : ½ t Salt to taste For seasoning Coconut oil - 1 Mustard seeds - 1 t Fenugreek seeds - 3/4 t Dry red chillies - 2 Asafoetida - 1/2 t Curry leaves For garnishing Coriander leaves Method For cooking dal Wash Toor dal thoroughly in water. Along with water, turmeric powder, ghee and salt, cook washed dal in a pressure cooker, in medium heat, until it is cooked and soft. For me it takes around 4-6 whistles. For the gravy Heat

Kanji Ingredients Rice/ Kuthari : 1 cup Water : 6 cups Method Wash the rice thoroughly in water.  Along with 5-6 cups of water, cook rice in a pressure cooker or rice cooker, in medium heat, until it’s cooked well and soft enough.  Wait for 4-6 whistles from the cooker. Payaru Ingredients Cherupayar : ¾ cup Water : 2 ¼ cups Green chillies slit opened lengthwise : 4 Red pearl small onions/shallots : 7-9 Garlic : 3 Dried red chillies : 2 Red chilly flakes : 1 ¾ tsp Few curry leaves Oil, preferably coconut oil : 1 T Salt to taste Method Wash the green grams in water and drain the water fully.  Heat the pressure cooker and very mildly roast the green grams until they are dry and warm to touch.  Add 2 ¼ cups water, green chillies and salt to taste. Cook in the pressure cooker and wait for about 5-6 whistles in medium heat. Meanwhile, u sing a mortar and pestle set, crush the small onions and garlic and make a coarse paste. Heat oil in a

A simple and easy dish that tastes yummy too :) Guess i keep saying that for every dish. ;) But this one is really easy! This goes well with both chappathi and rice dish too :) Ingredients Toor Dal : 1 cup Onions (chopped) : 3/4 cup Water : 2-1/2 cups Turmeric Powder : 1/2 t Oil : 3 T Garlic (chopped) : 1 t Ginger (chopped) : 1 t Tomatoes (chopped) : 1 cup Green Chillies (chopped) : 1 t Cumin Seeds : 1/2 t Chilli Powder : 1 t Coriander Leaves (chopped) : 1/4 cup Salt to taste Method Take the dal and wash it properly. Soak it in about 2-1/2 cups of water for half an hour. Pressure-cook the dal until it is done. Take oil in a frying pan and heat it. Now, add chopped garlic, ginger, onion, cumin seeds and green chillies. Fry the mixture on medium flame for 3 to 4 mintues. Stir the mixture periodically. Put chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt and fry again on a high flame for about 3 minutes. Pour this m

Mutta roast... This is one of mummys signature dishes. Every time she made that, i bet i would have had n number of chappathis or appam along with it.. :D Ingredients Eggs : 3 Chilli powder : 1 1/2 t Coriander powder : 1 1/2 t Pepper powder : 1 t Aniseed : 1/2 t Cardamom : 1 pod Cloves : 2 Cinnamon : 1" Refined vegetable oil : 3 T Onion : 1 1/2 Cups, sliced Tomato : 1/4 cup, chopped Salt to taste Water : 1/4 cup Method Hard boil and shell the eggs. Keep aside. Grind to a paste chilli powder, coriander powder, pepper powder, aniseed and all the spices. Heat the oil and fry onion till transparent. Add the ground paste and on low heat fry until oil oozes out. Stir in the tomatoes and continue frying on low heat. After the tomatoes are blended well, add salt and water. Put gashes on the eggs and cover the pan. Simmer till the gravy is thick. Our curry is ready! Now serve hot!

This is one yummy nadan curry. I had it at my edappally home, Amma had prepared it ofcourse. It was just too yummy. I was almost licking my fingers! :D And then the next time i got into the kitchen i could not resist trying my hands on it. I got the recipe from Amma and there it was " yummy manga pulissery"  :D Ingredients Ripe Mangoes – 5-6 of small size Grated coconut – 1 cup Jeera - a pinch Garlic – 1 piece Small onion – 2-4 Green chilly – 3-4 Turmeric powder – 1/4-1/2 tsp Small onion – 4 Red chilly – 2 Mustard – 1/2 tsp Curry leaves Salt - to taste Oil Method Peel the mangoes and cook the peeled mangoes with salt and 1 -1 1/2 cups of water for 10 minutes. Grind together the number 2 ingredients with 1/2 cup of water to a fine paste. Add this and 1/2- 1 cup of water to the mangoes. Check salt and add more if required. Cook for 5-7 mins on low flame. Make sure that it doesnt boil. Remove from fire. For the tadka Heat oil

Ingredients Milk - 8 cups Rice - 1 cups Sugar - 2 cups Method Mix water and milk, cook in medium heat with occasional stirring till the volume reduces to half. Wash and drain rice, add it to the cooked milk, cook under medium heat till rice is done. Add sugar, cook for 20 more minutes with frequent stirring. Add crushed cardamom. Remove from stove. Optionally, cashew nuts toasted in ghee can be added.

Last time when me and Arun went to FADI's and Carrabbas, we had mashed potatoes along with other dishes. It tasted great and i noticed that he loved it lots. So then i thought il just see how it can be made. And whoa, that was so easy and it tasted the same way too. Yummyyyy.. Here it goes!!!! Ingredients Medium russet potatoes, peeled and cubed : 6 Warm milk : 1/2 cup Butter or margarine : 1/4 cup Teaspoon salt : 3/4 t Dash pepper - Place potatoes in a saucepan and cover with water. - Cover and bring to a boil; cook for 20-25 minutes or until very tender. - Drain well. Add milk, butter, salt and pepper. - Mash until light and fluffy.

I just love Medhu Vada (Tamil Name) or Uzhunnu Vada (Kerala Name). You guys should try this out. Awesome it tastes. Really :) Ingredients Black Gram Dal/Urad dal - 2 C Curry Leaves - Few sprigs Green Chilli, chopped - 1 t Ginger, finely chopped - 2 t Asofoetida - 1/2 t Pepper - 1 t Salt - to taste Oil - to fry Method Soak black gram dal in water for 2 hours. Drain the water from it and grind to a fine paste till it is creamy, but make sure it is not watery. Add to batter, green chillies, ginger, asofoetida, curry leaves, pepper and salt and mix well. Roll batter in to small balls and flatter in palm. Make a small hole in the middle. Heat oil in a deep frying pan and immerse the vada balls in it. When it turns golden brown, remove and drain oil. Serve with coconut chutney or sambar.

Sweets are my weakness. And Ladoo is among my favorites. :D  I used to look like one when i was in my college. Maybe thats why i just love them more. hihi  :D  Most of the ladoos can be made with hardly any effort. Besan ladoo is even easier. Not sure? Then check this out. :) Ingredients Gram flour (besan) - 1 C Powdered Sugar - 3/4 C Ghee - 4 T Cardamom powder - 1 t Few roasted nuts and raisins Method Heat ghee and roast gram flour on low heat till a nice aroma comes and the color starts changing.  Mix well the rest of the ingredients with this.  Once done make ladoos of desired size.  If it breaks and is difficult to make, add a little more ghee to bind it together. Isnt this fast enough? Fast and easy. :)

When indian cuisine mixes with Chinese you get a few indian styled Chinese cuisines. One of them being the Gobi Manchurian! Restaurants always serve this mouth watering dish with so much aroma that you wont think twice about finishing it.  :D  Guess what! I tried my hands on this superb dish and i can say that it tasted good. Let me pen down, how. Ingredients For the batter All purpose flour/Maida : 1/2 cup Corn flour : 6 t Finely chopped garlic : 1/2 t Finely chopped ginger : 1/2 t Red chilly powder : 3/4 t Salt to taste Oil to fry For the curry Cauliflower florets : 4 cups Chopped onion : 1 cup Green chilly : 2 Green onions : 1/4 cup Capsicum : 1/2 t Finely chopped garlic : 2 t Finely chopped ginger : 1 t Coriander leaves : a few Red chilly powder : 1 t Soy sauce : 2 T Green chilly sauce : 2 T Tomato sauce : 3 T Oil : 2 T Salt to taste Method To begin with, cut the cauliflower into medium size florets and add it to the

The yummy poori bhaji is an integral part of the indian meal. It can be easily made and relished at home too. It is served on every occasion at home, from a puja to a picnic. Poori Wheat Flour : 2 cups Curd : 2 T Water, to knead dough Salt (according to taste) Oil, to deep fry Mix curd in the flour and add salt. Knead soft pliable dough with water. Keep aside for 15 minutes. Divide dough into 10-12 parts, shape into balls. Roll each into 4 rounds with the help of some oil or dough. Heat oil in a deep pan, fry on both sides till light brown. Drain the oil on a kitchen paper. Serve hot with Bhaji. [caption id="attachment_377" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Poori Bhaji"] [/caption] Bhaji Potatoes - boiled, peeled and sliced : 2 Onion - chopped : 1 Green Chilies - chopped : 2 Ginger - finely chopped : 1/2 t Garlic - crushed : 1/2 t Turmeric Powder : few pinches Lemon Juice : 1 t Oil : 1 T Coriander - finely chopped : 1 T Cumin Seeds

Puttu-kadala! Slurp! A healthy and yummy delicacy. Puttu can be made with ragi, wheat, corn or rice grains. And kadala curry is made with the black chickpeas. Though making puttu may seem tough, the aroma of steaming soft puttu is a great recompense. Puttu is made using a cylindrical mold called "puttu kodam". Now i will let you into the trick of making soft puttu. Its basically all about mixing the right amount of water with the puttu powder. Puttu Rice flour : 2 cups Grated coconut : 1 cup Water : about half cup Salt Method Mix the rice flour and salt well in a large bowl. Spray water little by little, and keep mixing it in gently with your fingers.  The entire batch of flour has to be damp enough.  Cover and keep aside for 10 minutes. Fill about half your pressure cooker with water, cover and bring to a boil.  Do not put the weight. To fill the puttu mold, place the disc at the