Upma Kozhakattai with Thuvaiyal - a mouthful of joy

What you'll need:
1.5 cups Idli Rava
2-3 small dried red chillies
2 T grated fresh / frozen coconut
1 tsp udad dal
1 tsp mustard seeds
pinch of asafoetida
a small piece of jaggery
Water to cook the rava is used in proportion of 1:3, for one cup idli rava, use 3 cups water
1 tsp oil
1 1/2 tsp of salt/ salt to taste

Method:
1.Heat 1 tsp oil in preferably a large non-stick wok. Splutter the mustard seeds. Add the udad dal and fry till golden brown, and then saute the dried red chillies and asafoetida for a few seconds.

2.To this, add 4 1/2 cups of water. In the water, put in the coconut, jaggery and salt. Bring it to a rolling boil.

3. Keep the flame on sim, and add the idli rava little by little with oonstant stirring to avoid any lump formation. Stir the rava for 5-6 minutes like how you would make an upma. All the water must get absorbed and the resulting mass shouldn't stick to your fingers.

4. Remove the 'upma' onto a big dish / thali and cool off for 5-10 minutes. Once cooled, take a big handful of upma and shape it into ovals / spheres. You will get roughly 14-15 such kozhakattais from 1 1/2 cups of flour. Arrange this in a steamer and steam them for 10 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

5. Serve hot with lentil-coconut-tamarind chutney and a nice cuppa 'extra strong' filter coffee. Don't forget to play some old Tamil songs in the background togive that finishing touch to the atmosphere.

You would find this recipe in any of the Udipi hotels, so the only way to experience this bliss of a breakfast is to make it yourself

For the Thuvaiyal:
1.Heat some oil in a pan. Splutter some mustard seeds, add 2 T of bengal gram lentils (chana dal), 2 T of udad dad (split black gram lentils), 4 dried red chillies. Saute till the dals are golden brown. Add a pinch of asafoetida. Remove from flame and cool.
2.In a chutney grinder, place 1 cup grated coconut, 1 tsp softened tamarind, 1 tsp of jaggery, the sauted mix, salt to taste. Grind till the mixture is fine.
3.You can do a tempering with mustard seeds and curry leaves to this chutney after you remove it into a bowl.
This chutney goes very well with most other South Indian tiffins like Idli , Dosai and Adai.

Kuzhi Paniyaram with FriedGram Chutney

For Kuli Paniyarambr />
Ingrediantsbr />
Finelly chopped Onion -1 medium onion
Finelly chopped Green Chillies - 4
Finelly chopped Curry and Corinder Leaves - 1 1/2tbsp
Mustard seeds - 3/4tsp
Urad dal - 1tsp

Methodbr />
1) Heat oil in a kadai, add mustard seeds and curry leaves and allow it to crackel

2) Then add the chillies and onions and sauté for a few minutes.

3) Add this sautéed mixture to the idli batter and mix well.

4) Heat the Kuli Paniyaram Chatti and add little oil in each hole and pour 1 spoon
of batter in each hole.

5) Cook them on both the sides.


FriedGram Chutneybr />
For Chutneybr />
FriedGram - 1 cup
Greenchillies - 4-5
Garlic - 3-4 pods
Tamarind - a small grape sized
Salt - To taste

For Tadakabr />
Oil- 1tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/4tsp
Curry leaves - 5-6leaves
Urad dal - 1/4tsp
Hing - a pinch

Methodbr />
1) Grind togther all the ingrediants for the chutney to a smooth paste along with the salt.
2) Do the tadaka and add it to the chutney.

Vadakari

Ingredients:

chana dal 1 cup
coconut milk 1 cup
onions 2
tomatoes 2
chilli powder 1 tsp
coriander powder 1 tsp
turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
oil as required

To grind to a tight paste:
ginger 1 small piece
garlic 8 flakes
saunf 1 tsp
chillies 3
cinnamon and cardamom and cloves : 1 each

Method:
Soak the chana dal for 1 hr and then grind to a coarse paste. Slice the onions and tomatoes. Take one tsp of the ground masala paste and mix with the chana dal paste and add salt.Fry this in oil as a vada shape and keep aside. Next heat some oil and add the rest of the ground masala and once it is well fried add the tomatoes and ground paste and chilli powder and turmeric and coriander and saute well. Add coconut milk along wiht this and bring to a boil once. Now, divide the vada balls into a haphazard manner and add some water and once it boils remove from the fire.

Chicken Malaysia

Ingredients::


Chicken(boneless)------------------250 gms
Gingergarlic paste------------------1 teaspn
Greenchillies-----------------------4 chopped
Black pepper-----------------------1/4 teaspn
Corn flour--------------------------2 tblespn
Cashewnuts------------------------50 gms , chopped
Coriander---------------------------1 bunch
Salt
Oil

Take the boneless chicken and cut it into equal sizes and put them in a bowl. Add ginger garlic paste, salt, green chillies, black pepper to the chicken pieces. Mix them well. Leave it for an hour for marinating.

Later add cashewnut pieces, coriander and corn flour to the marinated chicken. Mix it well.

Now fry these pieces in oil till they are golden brown.

Shahi Egg Curry

Ingredients ( To serve - 4 )

1. Chopped Onions -- 3/4th cup
2. Eggs -- 6
3. Green Chilli -- 2 (Chop it)
4. Garlic cloves -- 4 to 5 (Chop it)
5. Chopped Tomatoes -- 3/4h cup
6. Milk Cream (Malai) -- 3 tbsps
7. Chopped Coriander leaves ( Cilantro ) -- 2 tbsps
8. Garam masala, Chilli Powder -- 1/2 tsp
9. Turmeric powder --1/4th tsp

Method :
1. Boil the eggs and cut into half. Keep aside.

2. Take 2 tbsp of oil and fry the green chilli and onions in it for a while. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt.

3. Now, add the tomato and garlic and cook well for upto 10 minutes(approx) on medium. ( add a little water, it should turn out as a gravy )

4. Towards the end, add the milk cream and mix well. Now, add the eggs and stir gently.

5. Garnish with coriander and garam masala.

Note: Don't cook for a long time after adding the milk cream. Also, Shahi Paneer can be made by replacing the egg in the above recipe with Paneer.

Egg Curry

2 Eggs
1 Onion
1 Tomato
1 Green Chili
2 Pods of Garlic
1/2 Bunch of Pudina Leaves
2 Spoons of Cinnamon powder
2 Cardamon
2 Tbs of Butter
Salt for Taste

1.Boil Eggs and peel them off. Keep them aside.
2.Heat pan with Butter and add Chopped Onions, Tomato,Cardamons,Cinnamon and fry them till they are cooked well.
3.Blend all the fried items and add Green chili, Garlic and Mint leaves in to a gravy.
4.Add the blended gravy to the pan and cook it till it becomes a thick gravy.
5.Now cut the egg in to half and add it to the gravy. Cook the gravy with a Closed lid for 5 mins and the Curry is ready.

* Serve hot with rice or rotis.

Gongura Chicken - Chicken cooked in red sorrel leaves!!

Gongura Chicken Recipe

Preparation : 30 mts
Serves : 5 persons
Cuisine : Andhra


Ingredients:
1 kg chicken, washed and drained
4 medium sized onions, finely chopped
few fresh curry leaves
4 tbsp oil
1 tsp fresh garam masala powder
salt to taste

To Marinade:
1 cup curd
1 1/2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp red chilli powder

To make paste:
1/4 cup water
2 cups fresh red sorrel leaves
3 green chillies (adjust)
1 bunch fresh coriander leaves (optional)
1/2 bunch fresh mint leaves (optional)

Garam Masala Powder:
4 cloves
1 1/2" cinnamon
3 cardamoms
3 tbsp coriander seeds

Method:
1. Marinade chicken pieces in curd, turmeric pwd, red chilli pwd and ginger garlic paste and keep aside for half an hour.

2. Lightly dry roast the spices under 'garam masala powder' for 4 mts and let them cool. Grind them to fine powder, keep aside.

3. Boil the water, add fresh red sorrel leaves, coriander leaves, green chillies and mint leaves. Cook them for 3 mts and let them cool. Grind them into a fine paste and keep aside.

4. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed vessel, add finely chopped onions, curry leaves and saute till light golden color on medium heat.

5. Add marinade chicken, mix well, covered, cook on high heat for 5 mts. Reduce heat and cook for another 20 mts or till chicken more than half cooked.

6. Now time to add sorrel leaves paste and combine well. Place the lid and cook till chicken has turned soft and paste should mix well with chicken pieces.
7. Finally add salt and fresh garam masala pwd, mix well, cook more 5 mts and turn off the heat.
8. Serve hot with white rice or chapatis.


Note: 1. You can use red sorrel leaves directly instead of making paste. Then make slits on green chillies and use them directly.

Egg sweet Halwa

Well this Halwa or tukrian you should say can Be prepared in very short time and are very energetic and hot

the recipe goes here
Increase the quantities equally

Take a Pan and make it hot keep the fire burning
Pour one 200 ml cup of Ghee and 200 ml cup of sugar
Mix them well
They will mix and melt
Crack two Eggs and pour in the complete eggs without the shell
Mix it well with a wooden spoon preferrable
keep on mixing until a light brown color is acheived due to cooking of egg sugar and ghee together
Take out the Mixture in a tray( already greased with some cooking oil so that doesn't stick ) and spread it out

Level it and cut it with a sharp edge knife in Small squares
Decorate according to own taste
Let it cool down (put in the fridge)
Seperate from the tray and your egg sweet is ready
2 eggs recipe will be good for at the max 2 persons
so increase the QUantity for more persons

Have fun

Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Cake

For an ardent chocolate cake lover like me it took me this long to bake one. I like plain chocolate cake with simple icing , not those which are loaded with layers of cream. So I usually satisfy my craving by settling on the store bought mixes. But this time I decided to give it a go and tried out the recipe from Pusiva's culinary studio. I did'nt like the strong bitter flavour of the cocoa powder that I get here, so used chopped cooking chocolate instead. The cake turned out to be moist and perfect, exactly the way I like it.

We had the cake with some whipped cream, but next time I will make a single layer of chocolate Ganache.




Recipe Adapted from Pusiva's culinary studio.
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup plain flour
50gms of cooking chocolate.
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp hot water
1 tsp instant cofee powder or granules
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
3/4 cup water


Method:
Melt the chocolate by double boiling method and allow it to cool.
Mix the coffee poder in the hot water and allow it to cool.
Grease and prepare the cake pan
Seive the flour , baking powder and soda together.(if you are using cocoa powder, include that here)
Beat the buttr and sugar until light and fluffy.Add the egg and beat well for a min.
Now add the cooled chocolate, cofee mixture, vanilla essence , beat for approxately 2 - 3 min.
Add the flour little by little alternatly with water, finally ending with the flour mixture.
Give it a gentle stir by hand until all the flour dissolves. Do not beat while adding the flour.
Pour the mixture on to the prepared pan and bake in an 175C oven for 40 - 45 mins.




Note:
If your cake is browing quickly throw in a sheet of foil over the top of the pan after 20 mins of baking.
I baked the cake twice with and without the coffee powder , it tasted great. So the coffee powder is completly optional.