Tomato Fry

This tomato fry is very good side dish for the stuffed parathas. Basically stuffed parathas by itself is a very wonderful dish and you wont need any side dish for that. They can be eaten with pickle or just plain yogurt. This tomato fry is not too spicy and very simple and goes very well with stuffed parathas and for even chapati. Try this simple recipe when you are out of vegetables and this dish takes only very little time to prepare.

Ingredients:

Tomato chopped lengthwise - 6 medium

Green Chili slit lengthwise - 3

Ginger Chopped - 2 tsp

Coriander Powder - 2tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Cilantro

Sugar - 1tsp

Salt as required

Oil - 2 tsp

Procedure:

Heat oil in a non-stick pan and add cumin seeds and when it splutters add green chilies and ginger and mix for 2 mins and add the coriander powder and turmeric powder ,give a quick mix and add tomatoes and salt and mix and be careful that the tomatoes should not become mushy. Close and cook in reduced flame for 10 mins or until the tomatoes are cooked. Add sugar now, increase or decrease depending on the tomatoes. Garnish with cilantro. Server with suffered parathas or even plain paratha. Enjoy!!

Hyderabadi Chicken Briyani

There are lots and lots of ways to make briyani . In tamilnadu they use jeera rice to make Bryan's and it has different flavour and taste. I myself make briyani in 3 different ways. Hyderabadi briyani is the most popular and one of the best . Hyderabadi briyani is one of the tourist attractions of Hyderabad. This is cooked in layers of chicken and rice on dum - its a slow steam cooking. This is usually accompanied with onion raitha

Ingredients:

Whole Chicken cut - 1lb

Basmati rice - 2 cups

Whole garam masala ( cardamom -2 Cinnamon , clove - 5, bay leave -3)

Shahi Jeera or black cumin - 1tsp

Ginger Garlic paste - 3 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Yogurt - 1/2 cup

Green chilis slit - 4

Briyani masala - 5 tsp ( use shan briyani masala)

Cilantro chopped - 1cup

Mint chopped - 1/2 cup

Oil - 3 tsp

Salt as required

Fried Onion - 1/2 cup

Procedure:

Wash and soak rice for nearly 45 mins. Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients for half an hour except fried onion and reserve half cup of cilantro . Boil water with little shahi jeera and 1 tsp of oil and salt.When water boils add soaked rice and cook until 80% done and drain the water. In a non stick pan add the marinated chicken and cook in medium heat for 10 to 15 mins. Pre heat oven at 375* F . Transfer the chicken into oven safe pan and top it with fried onions , and top of that add rice as a layer. Mix red food colour with 2 tsp of water and spoon it on top of the rice . Garnish with reserved cilantro on top of rice and close with an aluminium foil and bake for 30 mins. Serve with onion raitha. Enjoy hot!!!

Chicken Nuggets

This is really a kids favorite. This is conveniently available ready made and ready cooked in many fast foods but nothing like making one by our self with love for our kids and if you are more concerned about the preservatives this home made chicken nugget is the best as you know what it has in it. So here is the recipe for chicken nuggets.

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken breast - 1/2 lb

Egg - 1

All purpose flour - 1tsp

Pepper Powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt as required

Bread crumbs

Oil to fry

Procedure:

Cut the chicken to small piece as you like. Beat the egg in a bowl and add flour , pepper and salt and mix well. Keep the bread crumbs in a plate , you can use either plain one or flavoured bread crumbs. Dip the chicken pieces one by one in the egg mix and mix it in the bread crumbs so it is coated well and shake off the excess bread crumbs and keep aside for 5 mins. Heat oil in a frying pan and deep fry the chicken pieces until it turns golden brown and remove to a kitchen paper towel to remove excess oil and serve with ketchup. Enjoy!!

Dhokla

This is a north Indian snack but popular all over India. This is made with either besan or sooji. I like the besan (gram flour) version. This is usually served with coriander chutney. This is very fluffy and very tasty snack. This is a steamed dish and you can eat as much as you like :-)




Ingredients:

Gram flour or besan - 1cup
Yogurt - 1 cup
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Green chili chopped - 1
Eno fruit salt - tsp
Cilantro chopped - little
Sugar - 1 tsp
Salt as required.
For seasoning:
Mustard - 1tsp
Curry leaves - 5
Green chili - 3 slit
Cilantro
Oil - 2tsp

Procedure:
In a bowl mix gram flour and yogurt to a smooth paste , the batter should be thick. Add other ingredients and set aside for 1/2 an hour. To steam I used the cake pan, you can use anything. Grease the pan and pour the batter in it and steam cook for 10 to 15 mins. When its done cut to a medium sized cubes and season it with mustard and curry leaves and garnish with fried green chilies and cilantro. Serve with coriander chutney.Enjoy!!!

Coriander Chutney for Chaat

This cilantro or coriander chutney is mainly for the chaat foods like samosa , dhokla , tikkis and much more. So we can say without this chutney the chaat is not a complete one. This chutney will add up a nice spice to the chaat. Here is the recipe for the easy chaat chutney.


Ingredients:
Cilantro - 1 bunch
Green Chili - 4
Cumin seed - 1tsp
Lime juice - 2 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Ginger - 2"
Sugar - 1tsp
Salt as required



Procedure:
Cut off the roots from the cilantro and wash well and blend together with the remaining ingredients in a blender to a smooth paste. Serve with the chaat.

Tasty..Tasty..Yummy...Yummy Chaat - Masala Puri and Behl Puri

Chaat an all time favorite snack for any Indian. Masala puri chaat is my favorite one. This is very delicious and mouth watering dish. Always the road side cart chaats tastes great and better than some restaurants. When I was living in bangalore I use to miss the chaat from coimbatore , I dunno they always tasted yummy and different than bangalore chaat. Here in US I miss even the Bangalore chaats . Here is the recipe of the masala puri and behl puri I tried and the taste was so delicious it just took me to the coimbatore road side chaat stall.

Masala Puri
In coimbatore,for masala puri chaat they place the puris on the plate by making a just small hole on the top and they add boiled peas and masala on to it.I am making a similar one.

Ingredients:
For Gravy
Dried Peas - 1 cup
Onion Chopped - 1 cup
Garlic - 2
Ginger - little
Coriander Powder - 2tsp
Garam Masala - 1tsp
Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Green chili - 2
Cilantro - little
Salt as required

Other Ingredients for masala Puri:
Pani Puri
Onion Finely Chopped - 1 big
Tomato Finely Chopped - 1 (Mix onion, tomato, carrot and cilantro.)
Cilantro Finely chopped - a lot
Grated Carrot - 1
Sev - 1 cup

Preparation:
Soak peas for nearly 8 hrs and pressure cook them with little salt and keep aside. Grind all the ingredients under for gravy with only 1/2 cup of boiled peas to a fine paste. Reserve another 1/2 cup of boiled peas. Add the paste to the remaining peas and bring to a boil and cook until raw fragrance is gone and keep adding little water to maintain the consistency -it should not be too thick. Masala is ready. Now Place 5 to 6 puris in a plate and make a hole on top of the puris. Add little reserved peas into each puris and pour the masala on top of the puris and top it with onion mixture and little sev. Great masala puri chaat is ready.Enjoy!!!!!



Behl Puri
This is also similar to coimbatore style chaat.

Ingredients:
Pani Puri - 4
Puffed Rice - 2 cup
onion tomato carrot cilantro mixture
sev
Masala gravy
salt
little lime juice

Procedure:
In a big bowl put puffed rice , break in the puris to it, add onion mixture, and add the required masala to it,then add salt and lime juice to it and give a good mix and serve it with topped onion mixture and sev. Behl puri is ready.Enjoy!!

Mushroom and Capsicum curry

This is one of the delicious dish for chapati. In my opinion bell peppers and peas are the best combination for mushroom to enhances its flavour.This is one vegetarian dish I make often for the chapati. So here is the recipe for the awesome dish.

Ingredients:

Mushroom Chopped - 2 cups

Bell Pepper - 1 Medium cut to small cubes

Onion chopped - 1 medium

Tomato chopped - 1 medium

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp

Coriander Powder - 2tsp

Chili Powder - 1 tsp

Garam Masala - 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Cumin Seed - 1 tsp

Yogurt - 3tsp

Salt as required

Oil - 3 tsp

Procedure:

Heat oil in a non - stick pan and add cumin seeds to splutter then add onion and ginger garlic paste and saute till the onion is well cooked. Add bell peppers and tomato and mix well. Add all the masala powders and mix. Now add mushroom and yogurt and salt and give a good mix and sprinkle little water. Close and cook in a reduced flame and continue mixing in between until the vegetables are fully cooked. Serve with Chapati.Enjoy!!!

Fish Curry

This fish curry is very delicious, I say so because my hubby just hates sea foods and I have tried three different fish curries so far and this is the only fish curry he like so it has to very delicious , am I right?? This recipe I got from one of the TV food shows.I don't remember the program name ...doesn't matter.. the recipe is important. Here is the recipe of the fish curry.I made this curry using the tilapia fish, you can use any fish of your choice.

Ingredients:

Tilapia fish - 3

Onion chopped - 1 medium

Tomato chopped - 1 medium

Green Chilies - 2 slit

Coriander Powder - 2tsp

Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp

Pepper Powder - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp

Tamarind - lemon size

Salt as required

Jaggery

Mustard - 1 tsp

Fenugreek - 1/2 tsp

To Grind:

Coconut - 1/2 cup

Ginger - 1''

Garlic - 3 Cloves

Pepper - 1/2 tsp

Cumin seed - 1/2 tsp

Curry Leaves - 3

Procedure:

Soak the tamarind in water and squeeze the tamarind and take the water and mix the powders in the tamarind water and keep aside. Heat oil in a pan and season it with mustard , fenugreek and curry leaves. Add the onion and saute well. Add tomato and green chilies and mix well for 2 to 3 mins. Add the tamarind water and allow it boil for few mins,then add the grinded paste. When the raw fragrance leaves add the fish . When the fish is cooked add jaggery and remove it. Garnish with cilantro.Enjoy!!!

Sabudana Vada/Sago Vada

Sabudana vada is a crispy great vegetarian delight.Its so easy to make and the kids usually loves this dish. This is a popular snack in Maharashtra,India. This tastes good when you add peanuts to it,since I didn't have peanuts I used cashew nuts and tasted even better. Try this yummy dish.

Ingredients:

Sabudana or sago - 1/4 cup

Potato - 1 medium

Cumin seeds - 1tsp

Green chilies - 2 chopped

Cashew - little

Cilantro

Salt as required

Oil to fry patties

Procedure:

Soak sago in water for about 4 hours and drain the water and set aside. Boil the potato and mash them fine. Combine potato, cumin seed , green chilies , salt and cilantro with the sago and make into small patties. Heat 2tsp of oil in a non-stick pan and place the patties in the pan , keep turning the sides until the patties turns to good brown colour on both sides. Serve with ketchup.Enjoy!!!

Broccoli Paruppu Usili

Paruppu usili is a traditional south Indian dish. Usili is mostly done with beans, broccoli usili is totally different and equally tasty compared to beans usili. I don't like broccoli before making this dish but now I am making this dish at least twice a month. Those who love beans usili try this broccoli usili you would love this one too . Beans usili has it own taste cant beat that but broccoli is equally good, it has aroma of broccoli in it. This is wonderful combination with sambar rice or curd curry(mor kozhambu )

Ingredients:

Broccoli - 2 cup cut to a small florets

Thur Dal - 1/2 cup

Red chili - 2

Cumin seed - 1 tsp

Asafoetida - 1 pinch

Salt to taste

oil - 2 tsp

Mustard - 1/2 tsp

Procedure:

Soak thur dal for 30 mins and grind together with cumin seed, asafoetida and red chili to coarse paste. Microwave broccoli in high for 3 mins and set aside. In a non-stick pan pour oil and season it with mustard seeds and when mustard crackle add the grinder paste and keep mixing for 2 to 3 mins and then add the microwaved broccoli to it and add salt and keep mixing until dal is nice golden brown. Server with sambar rice. Enjoy!!!!