Homemade Silky Chocolate Pudding

All these days I never thought of making chocolate pudding at home until I saw my kids fighting for one. I don’t know when my boy started liking them because he used to hate it, kids likes and dislikes keep on changing, its hard to know. I promised them to make one at home and luckily I had a chocolate bar in my pantry which I got it to make homemade almond chocolate.
When I told my boy I am making chocolate pudding, he said, “ Make it different than usual like topping it with ice cream” since I didn’t have a vanilla flavored ice cream in my freezer I gave him topped with whip cream and some sprinkler and my kids really loved it. There is nothing like home made chocolate pudding with its silky smooth texture and a wonderful chocolate flavor.

Ingredients
Semi-Sweet chocolate bar – 4oz
Sugar – 1 cup
Whole milk – 2 and ½ cup
Cornstarch – ¼ cup
Salt – 1/8 tsp
Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
Whip cream and some sprinkler for topping (optional)

Method
Mix cornstarch, sugar and salt in a pan and add milk to it slowly and whisk it until its lump free. Place it over a boiling water(double boiler method) and stirring occasionally.
After 15 mins, when the mixture starts thickening add the chocolate and continue stirring for 3 to 4 mins and remove from the heat and add the vanilla extract.
Pour the pudding in the serving cup and cover the pudding by placing the plastic wrap directly inside the cup over the pudding; this prevents from developing a pudding skin on the top.
Refrigerate for an hour and serve it topped with whip cream and sprinklers. Enjoy!! 

Sprouted Moong dal and Oats Dosa – A healthier version of Pesarattu

Summer vacation is almost here and my boy who is in kindergarten already started counting days and he is so much excited and happy but I am wondering how am I going to entertain him all summer. He got accustomed to being in school all day and now I am thinking hard to come up with fun activities to keep him busy.
Last year president Obama proposed a longer school days for this generation of students to remain competitive to the remaining world. I think that’s a good idea, the children here have only 180 days of school compared to more than 200 days (don’t know the exact no.) of school back in India. I am worried what kind of problems my kids will face adjusting to the Indian schooling system when we go back to India.
Coming back to the recipe this one is super healthy and nutritious dosa. I usually make salads and curry using this sprouts but this is the first time I am trying out dosa just b’coz of my kids. My boy hates eating vegetables in any form and salad no doubt he never even try to taste it. I thought making dosa sprouted moong dal is the only way I can make my kids eat these healthy sprouts. Luckily there was no difference in the taste compared to the original pesarattu even by adding oats to it and my kids ate without any fuzz and that gives me a great satisfaction.

Ingredients
Green moong dal – 1 cup
Oats – ½ cup
Green chilies – 2
Onion chopped – 1 medium
Ginger – 1”
Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
Curry leaves – 5
Cilantro – 1 cup
Salt to taste

Method
Soak moong dal overnight and drain all the water and keep coved in a wet cloth for minimum 12 hrs and make sure the cloth is wet all the time. When its sprouted, grind along with all other ingredients using a very little amount of water to a coarse paste. Make dosa out of it and enjoy with ginger chutney.

Strawberry Jam

Strawberry season is here, if you love strawberries, it’s the best time to pick your own strawberries.  Last week on a fine sunny day my family went for a strawberry picking …it was super fun. Picking your own strawberries is the best way to know that you are getting the freshest strawberries. Luckily there were more than few farms near my place but we chose a one which is little far off, heard they have the very tasty strawberries and sure they did. My kids loved exploring the strawberry field, my boy was busy looking out for big ripe ones and my girl was busy playing on the farm rather I would say destroying the plants. Most of the berries went into the basket but not before tasting few. Actually when we went there most of the strawberries have been picked but still we managed to pick two basket full of good ripe ones.

After eating the fruit and making juices and smoothies out of it, still lots of berries were left, so I ended up making the strawberry jam. For just three cups of mashed strawberries gave me seven 8oz jars of jam. To extend the jam’s shelf life, processing the jars is more important.


Ingredients
Strawberries cut and mashed – 3 Cups
Sugar – 5 cups
Pectin – 1 packet (1.7oz)
8oz Jar – 7

Method
1.Processing the bottles- clean the jars and lids and boil them separately for 10 mins. 
2.Rinse, hull and cut the strawberry and put in a bowl and mash them with a potato                          masher until no lumps. Mix 1 packet of pectin to the strawberry.
3.Bring the mixture to boil, stir in the sugar and continue boiling, stirring in between. Use a spoon to remove the foam from the surface.
3.Boil until the mixture thickens for about 20 to 30 mins in a medium heat.
4.To perform the gel test, take a half chilled steel spoon full of mix and bring it to room temperature on the spoon, if it thickens up to the consistency of your choice, the jam is done. If not add little more pectin and bring it to boil for a min.
5.Remove from heat and cool for 10 mins and remove the jars from the hot water without using your hand and pour the jam and seal it and enjoy it.
A scoop of vanilla ice cream topped with this jam at its best. 

“My 100th post” – Nothing special just Croutons Manchurian

At last this marks my "100th post", actually I targeted to complete 100 postings within a year of my blogging but it took more than a year for me to reach here. I wanted to post something sweet for my special 100th post and waited a week for me to prepare but till now I haven’t made anything special (lazy me) but I couldn’t wait any longer to mark this mini milestone in my blog so posting this croutons manchurian.
So, we reached the 100th post with this food blog, yes I say “we” because while I do all the cooking and writing my hubby helps me with the pictures so a little credit to him.
I have been blogging for a little over a year now and I have covered most of my family favorites recipes in my blog but my hubby complains that’s there is no healthy food recipes in my blog so I have decide to concentrate more on preparing healthy dishes with lots of vegetables and fruits and doing lots of variations to the regular dish I prepare to make it look healthier. I have to honestly accept that my hubby is not the only reason for me to go the healthier way of cooking; the other strong reason is my friend Viji. Yes I met her a few days back after her India vacation that is after 5 long months , oh my goodness that girl has lost a good amount of weight and what she said the reason is like eating healthy and lots of exercise. Me doing exercise is not possible so at least I want to try eating possibly healthier like more of fruits and vegetables..…hmmm from now on you can expect more of healthy food recipes in my blog. All the credit goes to Viji if I am still with this even after a month.
Today’s post is Croutons Manchurian, a quick and tasty recipe and to make sure this is not the "so called" healthier one. I used the store brought croutons and if can make one by yourself, that’s good and try out this recipe with it. When you buy from the store, make sure you buy the plain ones, I used the flavored one and I think plain one would have tasted better.

Ingredients
Croutons – 1 packet
Ginger chopped – 1 tbsp
Garlic chopped – 1tbsp
Onion chopped finely – 2 tsp
Green Chiles – 3 finely chopped
Chili garlic sauce – 1 tsp
Soy sauce – 1 tsp
Tomato ketchup – 2 tsp
Cilantro chopped
Oil – 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Method
Heat oil in a non-stick pan, add onion, garlic, ginger and chilies and sauté for 5 mins. Then add chili garlic sauce and soy sauce and ketchup and add ½ a cup of water and let to boil. Now add the croutons and mix well. The croutons will absorb the sauce and will turn soft. Finish off with lots of cilantro and enjoy this quick and tasty Manchurian.

Chettinad Lamb Curry

This is yet another chettinad delicacy from my kitchen. All my friends and family knew that I am very obsessed with chettinad recipes so this time my sister who took the privilege of passing on this recipe to me, I was not interested to know how she got it so I am not sure on its authenticity but I can assure you, "it’s very delicious". Anyway why bother about other stuff when it tastes excellent. Generally I adapt recipes to my taste, this is one kind of recipes I did follow faithfully and I have the taste and texture nailed down in this recipe and I doubt me trying another mutton curry recipe after tasting this one. This recipe is not too complicated and once if you try this, you’ll never go back to your own mutton curry recipe (like me). This curry is an excellent combination with idli. A plate of steaming hot idlis with mutton curry ….hmmm…. nothing can taste better than this..sorry vegetarian guys.

Ingredients
Lamb – 1 lb
Pearl onions – 15
Garlic Cloves – 10
Tomato – 1 medium
Coriander Powder – 1 tsp
Sambar Powder – 1 tsp
Paprika powder – 1 tsp (optional)
Chili Powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Ginger garlic paste – 2 tsp
Oil – 3 tsp
Cilantro
Curry leaves
Salt to taste

To Grind
Coconut – ¼ cup
Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
Cardamom – 2

For Seasoning
Cloves – 5
Cinnamon – 1”
Cardamom – 3

Method
Chop the onions if you its too big. Heat oil in the pressure cooker and add cloves, cinnamon and cardamom and when its aromatic add onions and garlic and sauté well and add the ginger garlic paste and now add the tomato and sauté until the tomato is mushy. Next add mutton/lamb and fry in slow flame for 10 mins. Add all dry powders one by one and mix well and add sufficient water and pressure-cook for 10 mins. When its done look for the consistency and add more water if needed and now add the grinded coconut paste and curry leaves and when its starts to boil turn off the flame and add cilantro generously. Enjoy!!

Puliyodhari/Puliyogere/ Tamarind Rice

Its been ages since I made the tamarind rice- in an authentic way and to be honest I haven’t done it this way and the main reason is I hate this dish. At last I decided to make it as my hubby loves this and I don’t want to find an excuse for not making just because I don’t like it. Every one says this dish is so tasty and I don’t know why my taste buds always rejects this rice.
Everyone knows this is a very popular temple prasadam allover south India and many people visits temple regularly just for this but visit for sweet pongal they give at temple and sometimes they would give both and I always trade my puliyogere for pongal with whoever I go. This rice is also very popular for picnic in India but not in the trip I am organizing or at least I make sure curd rice is also there or else no picnic:-)

Ingredients for pulikachal/gravy
Tamarind – A golf ball size
Gingelly oil - ¼ Cup
Channa dhal – 2 tbsp
Roasted Peanut – 3 tbsp
Red Chilies – 3
Mustard – 1tsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Asafetida
Salt to taste

For the Powder
Sesame seeds – 2 tbsp
Coriander seed – 2 tsp
Fenugreek seed – ¼ tsp
Red Chilies – 2


Method
Add enough water to soak the tamarind and microwave for 2 mins and extract the juice and discard any lumps and do no add more water.
Heat the oil in a pan and add the asafetida and mustard seed and when they splutter add channa dhal and peanuts and add turmeric powder and when the channa dhal turns red add red chili and add the tamarind juice and add half of salt and remaining salt can be added while mixing with rice. Reduce the heat and cook until it becomes thick and oil floats on top. Cool and store in the refrigerator in a bottle and this will stay fresh for a month.
For the powder, just roast all the ingredients and grind to a coarse powder and store in a separate container.

For making tamarind rice
Cool the rice after cooking and rice should be separate.
Add little pulikachal with rice and mix it and sprinkle little of the powder and mix. Add salt to your taste and Enjoy with papad.

Mushroom and Pepper's Sandwich

This is a very simple and delicious sandwich. This sandwich was prepared  for my hubby to take to work for lunch and I had to hurry as it was getting late and you can see that in my picture, did not wait for it to even focus. This is very filling, healthy and easy to carry in a lunch box as well. Mushroom and peppers are the terrific combination I could think of for a vegan sandwich and the whole sandwich comes together very well and the taste you will really relish.

Ingredients
Bread – 4 slices
Button Mushroom – 5 chopped
Red and yellow peppers Chopped – 1 Cup
Cheese Singles – 2 (use any kind of your choice, I used provolone)
Oil – 1 tsp
Salt and pepper to taste
Mayonnaise and Dijon mustard to spread

Method

Heat oil in a pan and fry peppers till half cooked and add mushrooms and fry for couple of mins by adding salt and pepper.
Meanwhile spread the mayo and Dijon mustard on one bread slice and place the fried mushroom and peppers and top it with the cheese and close it with another bread slice.
Put the sandwich in a skillet and evenly brown over medium heat on both sides...ENJOY!!

Creamy Broccoli and Cheese Soup

This is a flavorful creamy, cheesy and tasty broccoli soup. When I was looking online for a good broccoli soup most of the recipe was like blending all the ingredients together and making a soup of it but I wanted real broccoli chucks in my soup to enjoy the broccoli in every spoon of soup I take and this recipe I prepared the way I wanted and it tasted really good and also it is a very simple broccoli soup recipe. This is not too creamy but really very yummy. It is a very delightful appetizer one would have. This was a huge hit in my house and my hubby gobbled it down and my kids, who are not a big soup fan, enjoyed it.
I used chicken broth and if you want vegan version use vegetable broth.

Ingredients
Butter – 1tbsp
Large Broccoli head – 1 Cut to small florets
Onion – 1 finely chopped
Chicken Broth – 2 Cups
Water – 1 Cup
All Purpose flour – ¼ Cup
Cheddar Cheese – ½ Cup
Milk – 1 cup (Use any milk I used half and half)
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Over a medium heat, melt butter in a large pot. Add onions and sauté till they are tender.
Add broccoli florets, chicken broth and water to the pot. Cover and bring to a boil for about 10 mins or until broccoli is tender.
Add salt and pepper.
In a small bowl mix flour with water and add to the boiling broccoli mixture.
Add the cheese and cook for another 4 to 5 mins in a reduced heat.
Add the milk and when it starts to boil turn off the heat.
While serving add little cheese on top and serve with crackers of your choice and Enjoy!!!!

Spicy Egg Masala

Sometimes its becomes difficult for me to think what to cook with egg as egg being such an versatile and tastes very good however way its being cooked and goes fabulous with almost anything. At last I settled with this spicy egg masala which is easy to cook and the best. Each time I prepare I try to use different seasoning and all the time the taste is always wonderful. This recipe is very good side dish for any bland rice but I like it for biryani and its tastes even great for roti or chapati.

Ingredients
Egg – 5
Onion – 1 finely chopped
Tomato – 2 medium size finely chopped
Green Chiles – 2 finely chopped
Clove – 2
Cinnamon – ¼”
Cardamom – 1
Fennel seeds – ½ tsp
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp
Coriander Powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Chili Powder – ½ tsp
Pepper Powder – ½ tsp
Cilantro to garnish
Oil – 3 tsp
Salt to taste

Method
Boil the egg and remove the shell and cut the eggs into two haves and keep aside.
In a pan, heat oil and add the fennel seed, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. When its aromatic add the onion and sauté until it turns brown.
Add the ginger garlic paste and mix and add the tomato and cook until the tomato turns mushy and if needed sprinkle water in between.
Now add all the dry masala powders other than the pepper powder and cook in a reduced flame until the raw smell is gone and add little water in between to avoid burning the masala. Last add the pepper powder.
Now add the egg and mix carefully to coat the gravy with the egg and take care not to separate the yolk and white
Add cilantro and enjoy with anything you like.

Hot Chili Chicken

Here is yet another favorite hot dish of mine - chili chicken. This is not the usual Chinese style chili chicken, this kind of chili chicken is available at all the Andra style restaurant in Bangalore and they use the whole green chilies to make this dish “really spicy” and they used to be pleasantly spicy for me and I still have not found something else very tasty and that also made my eyes water like this. Suddenly I just started craving for this dish and I prepared myself remembering the taste and I would say I could nearly match more than 75% of the original taste and just enough to satisfy my lingering craving. I used the chicken for the chicken curry and really tasted good but still you can marinate the chicken and use for this recipe. Here is the recipe,

Ingredients
To marinate
Chicken – ½ lb
Yogurt – 2 tsp
Ginger Garlic paste – ½ tsp
Chili powder – ½ tsp
Turmeric Powder – ½ tsp
Salt – little

Other Ingredients
Green Chilies slit – 10 to 13 (depending on your need)
Onion – ½ of 1 Chopped very finely
Tomato – 1 finely chopped
Coriander Powder – 1 and ½ tsp
Garam masala – 1tsp
Cardamom Powder – ¼ tsp
Oil – 3 tsp
Salt to taste

To Grind
Garlic – 6 Cloves
Ginger – ¾ inch
Cilantro – ½ Cup

Method
Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients and refrigerate for 1 hr.
Heat oil in a non-stick pan and add the onion and sauté for 5 mins or until its tender.
Add the tomato and fry for few mins and add the grinded paste and mix. Add the coriander powder and mix.
Add the green chilies and mix. Now add the chicken and sprinkle little water and close and cook for 5 mins, checking in between to avoid burning.
Now open and reduced the flame and cook by mixing occasionally until the chicken is fully cooked and the dish is dry without any water.
Garnish with cilantro and enjoy as a side dish for any kind of rice.

Sweetheart Chocolate Cake

This valentine Day I decided to make two separate treat for kids and for my hubby. I chose chocolate cookie for my boy as he adores chocolate a lot and my hubby doesn’t have any special interest when comes to flavor so went on with the same chocolate even for the cake. I wanted to show to my family how much they mean to me and also how much I love them with these special straight from the heart treats. To make it more romantic, I cut the cake in the heart shape with the cookie cutter and it turned out lovely to look at and my hubby was really surprised and he finished off without a speck.

Ingredients
All purpose flour - 3/4 Cup
Granulated sugar - 1/4 Cup
Packed light brown sugar - 1/4 Cup
Cocoa powder - 3 tbsp
Baking soda 1/2 tsp
Milk - 1/2 Cup
Margarine - 3 tbsp
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
For Chocolate Frosting
Margarine - 1 tbsp
Powdered Sugar - 2/3 Cup
Cocoa powder - 1tbsp
Milk - 2 tsp
 

Method
Heat oven to 350°F.
Grease and flour 8-inch square baking pan.
Stir together flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.
Add milk, vanilla extract and beat with whisk until smooth.
Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake for 20 to 25 mins or until the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool completely. Transfer to cutting board and using a heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut cake into 4 hearts.
Chocolate frosting:
Mix all the ingredients and whisk until smooth, adjust the milk or the sugar powder according to the consistency needed to spread on the cake.
Spread chocolate frosting on top of two hearts and place remaining two hearts on top to make two small cakes. Enjoy!!

Valentine Chocolate cookie Popsicle – A Treat of Love

When talking about the Valentine’s Day my boy has not changed a bit compared to previous year. As soon as the month Feb. started, he got excited and started the count down from day one till 14th and he started wishing from as early as 12th and he even wished me “Happy Valentine’s eve” on 13th, valentine’s day is so special for him. So for such a special occasion I should give him special, not something buy from the shop, it should be made with love so I decide to surprise him with ‘chocolate cookie pop’ treat as he is a chocolate boy, I mean chocolate is his favorite. I made this treat with love especially for him and I could see how thrilled he was, not knowing what I am making and trying to peek in-between and he was totally surprised to a see cookie on a Popsicle and he loved it. My girl not knowing what’s all the excitement about acted the same way as her brother and enjoyed the cookie.

Ingredients
Butter or margarine, softened – 2/3 Cup
Granulated sugar - 1-1/4 cups
Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
Egg – 1
All-purpose flour - 1-1/2 cups
Cocoa Powder - 1/2 cup ( I used Hershey’s)
Salt – ½ tsp
Baking soda – ¼ tsp
Popsicle sticks - 10
Pink frostings for decoration

Method
Heat oven to 350°F.
Beat butter, sugar, water and vanilla in large bowl on medium speed of mixer until well blended. Add egg and beat well.
Stir together flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda. Gradually add to sugar mixture, beating on low speed just until blended.
Refrigerate dough until firm enough to handle, say for 10 mins.
Roll dough into small ball and place on cookie sheet and leave enough space between the cookies as they spread while baking.
Insert wooden Popsicle stick about three quarters of the way into side of each ball. Flatten slightly.
Bake for 15 minutes or until outside edges are firm and center is set.
Cool several minutes on cookie sheet. Cool completely and decorate the cookie with pink frosting as you like. Enjoy!!!

First year of Blogging

I completed one year after I hit the “publish post” as a first entry on my blog and its very hard for me to believe that I made this far. I started this blog not to publish my culinary journey but just because my hubby wanted a record of my recipes so when I go on a India trip for couple of months he can follow my recipes and that’s the main reason I started and now it’s become a record for me to refer what I learned along the way. This blog has given me an opportunity to meet so many fellow bloggers. This blog has been the witness to my culinary up and downs.
 Actually I planned to hit 100 posts within my first year but I could not do it and I blame myself for that. First I should thank my hubby for making me do this and my son, because of who I always explore many recipes and my girl for sparing some time of hers and allowing me to blog and my fellow foodies, for your lovely comments and awards which inspired me a lot and I thank every one of you who stepped into my blog.

Minced Chicken Wrap

Sorry I took a long break in updating my blog and I have a reason for that, I was on vacation to Disney world with family and after that kids were sick one after another and I was totally immobilized and stuck with my kids and at last I made myself some time to sit and update my blog.
This delicious minced chicken is wrap is great for a snack or even as a meal itself and more over its very ideal during traveling time. I made this dish for a brunch and it is very stomach filling and kept me hunger free for a long time after having just two warps and it is also quite simple to prepare. Here is the recipe of the delicious minced chicken wrap.

Ingredients
For the Filling
Minced Chicken – 1lb
Onion – 1 very finely chopped
Tomato – 2 very finely chopped
Garlic – 5 very finely chopped
Ginger – ½” finely chopped
Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tsp
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Cumin powder – 1tsp
Chili Powder – ½ tsp
Garam masala – ½ tsp
Fennel seeds – ½ tsp
Egg - 1
Cilantro chopped
Salt to taste
Oil – 3 tsp

For the Tortillas
Wheat flour – 1Cup
All Purpose flour – 1 Cup
Shortening – 1 tsp (optional, even you can use oil)
Salt to taste
Water - 1 Cup

Method
For the Filling
Heat oil in a non-stick pan and add the fennel seeds and when they crackle, add the onion and garlic and ginger and sauté until the onion turns light brown and add the ginger garlic paste and mix well for couple of mins.
Add the tomato and cook until the tomato turns mushy and add all the dry powders one after another and mix.
Add the minced chicken and mix and close and cook until chicken is cooked and it should be very dry. Beat egg in a bowl and add to the chicken mixture and cook till its done.
Garnish with cilantro.
For the Tortillas
Mix all the ingredients under “for the tortillas” and set aside for a minimum 15 mins and make into medium ball size and roll it quite big(little bigger than chapatti) and cook in a heated griddle on both side with little oil. This will yield six tortillas. By adding the shortening makes the tortillas very soft.
Spread mayo on the tortilla, add the filling in the middle and top it with onions and cilantro and roll it and enjoy the warp.

Pesarattu/Moong dhal Dosa with Ginger Chutney

Has every one watched the 'Avatar' movie??? if not please watch it soon as this is the must see movie. I watched it the second time with my boy last weekend, I can't believe my boy has grown big to accompany me for a movie and the first time we went as a family ..yes with my 18m old girl and I could not watch the movie peacefully the first time, its a wonderful movie and a woman sitting next to me kept on saying "wow" for each and every scene and its worth it. 
Coming to the recipe, I would say pesarattu with ginger chuttney is the combination and if I don't set a limit say 3 or may be 4 dosas, I would ending eating countless number of dosas, I love it sooo much. The greatness of this dosa is there is NO need for fermentation so as soon as you grind it you make can dosa out of it. Lets get to the recipe of my heartthrob dish.

Pesarattu/Moong dhal Dosa

Ingredients
Green gram dhal - 1 cup
Raw Rice - 1/4 Cup
Onion - 1/2 of 1 chopped
Ginger - 1"
Green Chiles - 2
Cilantro - 1 Cup
Salt to taste

Method
Soak dhal and rice together for 6 hrs and grind to a paste in a mixie with all other ingredients and make like regular dosa and if you want you can aslo add onions in it and it would be more tastier. Enjoy with the ginger chutney.

Ginger Chutney

Ingredients
Ginger - 2"
Urad dhal - 2tsp
Channa dhal - 1tp
Mustard - 1/2tsp
Red chilies - 4 
Curry Leaves - 10
Tamarind - small ball size
Jaggery - 1and 1/2tsp
Salt to taste 
Oil - 2 tsp    

Method
Soak the tamarind in water for 10 mins.
Heat oil in a pan and add the fry the urad dhal and channa dhal till its turns golden brown and add the red chilies and mustard and add the curry leaves and fry for few mins. Grind these fried dhal with oil and with jaggery and ginger to a fine paste and enjoy it with pesarattu.

Mushroom and chick peas Curry and An Award

I love to add mushroom in all my side dishes I make for chapatti as it is very good source of nutritional value and more over I love the taste of mushroom. This is also same kind of dish I tried by adding the mushrooms to the chickpeas and as usual it also tasted excellent and I think for me any dish with mushroom would taste great. I want my family some how they should eat mushroom at least once in a week and I make sure to do that and I try to avoid making anything in fried form using mushroom as  there would be no point in taking the mushroom for what it is. This is the good side dish for chapatti and in every bite you get the taste of channa and the mushroom that's the best of all.

Ingredients
Mushroom - 1 Cup Chopped
Channa/Chick peas - 1 Cup Boiled
Bell pepper - 1/2 cup chopped
Onion - 1 chopped
Tomato - 2 Chopped
Green Chilies - 2
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 2 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
Chili Powder - 1 tsp
Kasoori methi / dry fenugreek leaves - 2 tsp
Cilantro to garnish
Salt to taste
Oil - 3 tsp

Method
Heat oil in a non-stick pan and cumin seed and they splutter add the onion and green chiles and saute till its tender and add the ginger garlic paste and mix for a min.
Add the tomato and cook till its turns pulp and add all the dry masala powders and give a good mix and add 1 cup of water and cook cooked for 10 mins and stirring in between.
Add the mushroom,bell pepper and boiled chickpeas and mix and if needed add little water and cook until mushroom is done. Add the kasoori methi leaves and mix and garnish with lots of cilantro and remove and serve hot with chapatti and enjoy!!!

My fellow blogger Renuka Bendre Rao  from http://cookingyummy.blogspot.com/ has shared this wonderful award to me and I thank her for remembering me for this.

Its no good if I keep this award all by my self so I love to share this with ,

Ashkuku from http://asha-oceanichope.blogspot.com/
Latha from http://flourishyourflavour.blogspot.com/
Rohini from http://curriesandspices.blogspot.com/
Muraligeetham from http://ruchibhedangal.blogspot.com/
Babli from http://khanamasala.blogspot.com/  

Please kindly accept this.

Spicy Shrimp/Prawn Curry

This is one of the easiest and tastiest shrimp curry ever. Shrimp is one favorite food of my boy and he likes different variety of dishes prepared with shrimp so I have to keep trying out new dishes with it by making changes with the ingredients and even a little variation to the same dishes he likes a lot but this dish turned out to be little spicy than I expected so he did not like this dish L but he did like it to eat with dosa, this is a excellent dish when eaten with rice and I really enjoyed every mouth of it with rice. This is very simple to make and I bet every one of you will sure love this dish.

Ingredients
Shrimp – ½ lb
Onion – 1 finely chopped
Tomato – 2 finely chopped
Tomato paste – 1 tsp (optional)
Green chilies – 2 slit
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp
Coriander Powder – 2 tsp
Cumin powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Chili powder – 1 tsp
Cloves – 3
Cardamom – 3
Cinnamon – ½”
Salt to taste
Cilanto to garnish
Oil – 3tsp

Method
Clean and de-vein the shrimp and set aside.
Heat oil in a non-stick pan and add the clove, cardamom and cinnamon and when its aromatic add the onion and fry till it turns brown and add the green chilies and ginger garlic paste and fry.
Add all the dry powders one by one and mix and add the tomato and cook until tomato turns to pulp by adding little water to it.
Now add the tomato paste and mix and add shrimp and give a good mix and add 1 and ½ cups of water and close and cook in a reduced flame for 10 mins or until the curry like consistency is reached and garnish with cilantro.
Serve hot with rice and enjoy!!!

Bhindi/Okra Masala

This is another one recipe I got from cleaning my old crap. I don’t remember taking drown this recipe and also never tried this recipe before, might have forgotten completely about it but actually this dish tasted really good when I prepared and it’s a very good combo for chapati. This is a totally dry dish and I was not sure whether everyone in my family would like it so I have to make another dish to be on safer side but surprisingly everyone liked it.

Ingredients
Bhindi/okra – 1lb cut lengthwise
Onion – 1 chopped
Tomato – 2 mediums chopped
Green Chilies – 2 slit
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Bay leaf – 1
Clove - 2
Coriander powder – 2 tsp
Cumin Powder – 1 tsp
Chili powder – ½ tsp
Amchur powder – ½ tsp
Garam masala – 1tsp
Ginger garlic – 1 tsp
Oil
Salt to taste
Cilantro to garnish

Method
In a non-stick pan, heat 2 tsp of oil and fry the okra until its cooked and turns light brown in color and set aside.
Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds, clove and bay leaf and when its aromatic add onion and green chilies and sauté well.
Add ginger garlic paste and fry for few seconds and add tomato and cook till tomato are mushy and now add all the dry ingredients leaving garam masala and cook.
Now add the fried okra and mix well to coat with the masala and finish it of by adding the garam masala and garnish with cilantro. Enjoy with roti, naan or chapatti.

Chettinad Chicken Curry

I am very obsessed with the word “chettinad”, to me they are very tasty and really spicy to eat and they are the best. Any restaurant or any food with a chettinad tag to it drives my attention and every one can guess I gonna order only that. I lived in Chennai for a very short period of only six months and within that short time I had visited almost all of the chettinad restaurant there. Not just visiting restaurant, if anyone says I have the authentic chettinad recipes I waste no time to take the recipe from them. This recipe I got it from internet long time ago that’s before I started blogging and during my transit from Illinois to North Carolina I misplaced it, though I have prepared this recipe many times, its always difficult for me to remember all the ingredients and more over the method of cooking is what adds the taste to it and I also have no idea from which site I got this recipe, so didn’t get a chance to prepare it until now during these holidays while cleaning my old crap I got this recipe back and I was so much delighted and prepared it the following Sunday and relished it so much. I actually made for breakfast, as a side dish for idli and every one loved it, especially my boy who always prefers dosa for idli, loved idli with this chicken curry.

Ingredients
Whole cut chicken – 1lb
Pearl onion/sambar onion – 15
Tomato – 2 chopped
Garlic – 10 cloves
Green Chilies – 2 slit
Ginger Garlic paste – 2 tsp
Cilantro to garnish
Oil – 4 tsp
Salt to taste
To marinate
Yogurt – 2tsp
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp
Coriander powder – 2-½ tsp
Chili powder – 1tsp (use to your taste)
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Salt
To Grind
Coconut – 3 tsp
Poppy seeds – 2 tsp
Fennel seeds – 1tsp
Seasoning
Cloves – 5
Cinnamon – 1inch
Cardamom – 2
Fennel seeds – 1tsp
Pepper Corns – 1tsp
Curry leaves - 5

Method
Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients under 'to marinate' and set aside for minimum half an hour.
Dry roast poppy seeds and soak in hot water for 5 mins and grind with coconut and fennel seeds.
In a big pan, heat oil and add all the ingredients under 'seasoning', one by one and when its aromatic add onion, garlic and green chilies and sauté for 5 mins and add the tomato and fry till tomato is soft and mushy.
Now add the ginger garlic paste and mix well and add the marinated chicken and mix and add little water or as much water depending on the consistency to need and cook closed until the chicken is cooked well.
Add the coconut paste and cook for just 5 mins and garnish with lots of cilantro.
Enjoy it with rice.

Crackers with toppings – A chaat dish

In Bangalore, one of the most crowded place I would say is the chaat shop, there is one such shop I am aware of is the Calcutta chaat shop at koramangala area and if happen to visit that chaat shop in one fine evening, you would be surpurised to see the place flooded with people and you have to wait for a long time to place your order and I would say its worth all the wait, they serve the best chaat there and even now my tongue tickles when I just think of their dishes….wow awesome. The recipe today is the toppings I made is good as such or can be served as a topping for crackers or even with chaat poori. I served mine with the multi grain cracker made especially for serving with toppings and it tasted really wonderful and I am sure this is a crowd pleaser.

Ingredients
For topping
Frozen peas – 1cup
Boiled potato – 1 Chopped to small cubes
Green Chiles – 2 slit
Onion – 1 medium finely chopped
Coriander Powder – 1 tsp
Cumin Powder – 1 tsp
Chaat Masala – ½ tsp
Cilantro
Oil – 2 tsp
Salt to taste

For Serving
Crackers of your choice
Chaat tamarind sauce
Yogurt
Chopped tomato - 1
Sev

Method
Heat oil in a non-stick pan and sauté the onion till cooked and then add the green chilies and sauté for few mins.
Add the green peas and cook until its soft.
Add the masala powders and keep mixing to avoid burning of the masala powders.
Add the potato and mix well and now finish it of by adding chopped cilantro and make sure add liberally and this gives a wonderful aroma and taste in each bite.
While serving, place the crackers in a serving plate and in each cracker put a spoon full of peas topping on it and top it with yogurt, little tamarind sauce, tomato and sev. This is a wonderful chaat to enjoy.

Chicken Malai Kabab

I am back from my holidays, had a wonderful vacation at Myrtle Beach so still not able to come over from that mood. This recipe was lying in my draft for quite a long time and since I didn’t prepare anything new to post, I am taking this opportunity to post my old recipe. I prepared this dish on my hubby’s office grill out get together, where most of them were American and I made it less spicy and more cheesier to suit them and surprisingly this dish turned out to a huge hit among them, so if have any American family coming over your house sure this dish is gonna make them drool. This recipe is taken from the vahrehvah website and I am sure many would be familiar with this recipe but still I am posting for those who haven’t tried. Here is the recipe ..

Ingredients
Boneless Chicken Breast – 1lb Cut to a desired size cubes
Mozzarella Cheese – 1 Cup
Cream – 3 tsp
Ginger Garlic Paste – 2tsp
Meat Tenderizer – 2 tsp (optional)
Cardamom powder – 1tsp
Pepper and salt to taste
Green Chilies – 3
Cilantro – ½ cup
Wooden Skewer – 3 (soak in water for min 30mins)

Method
Pat dry the chicken with a kitchen towel and cut to cubes and marinate with ginger garlic paste, meat tenderizer, salt, pepper and cardamom powder and keep refrigerated for 1 hour.
Grind green chilies and cilantro to a coarse paste and mix with the chicken.
Mix cheese and cream and add the chicken and marinate for 2 hrs.
Pre heat oven to 400*F
Put the chicken in the skewer and place in a oven safe bowl and place it the oven for 10 mins on both the side and now turn the oven to broil mode and cook till the chicken turns brown on both the sides. Serve with some mint chutney and Enjoy!!!

I got a award from Ashkuku and thanks dear for passing on to me ....