Chicken Varutharachathu

Preperation Time: 40-45 min

Ingredients
Chicken (with bone) - 1/2 kg
Coconut - 1 cup
Onion - 2 nos
Tomato - 1
Green Chilli - 4 nos
Ginger (smashed) - 1 tsp
Garlic (smashed) - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 2.5-3 inch length stick
Cloves - 4 nos
Fennel Seeds - 1 1/2 tbsp
Shellots - 1 tbsp
Garlic - 1 no
Red Chilli pwdr - 1 1/4 tsp
Corinader pwdr - 2 1/2 tsp
Turmeric pwdr - 1/2 tsp
Chicken Masala - 3 1/2 tsp
Fennel Seeds pwdr - 1/2 tsp
Water - 1 cup
Oil
Salt for taste

Preperation Method

1) Take a pan and add coconut, cinnamon, cloves, fennel seeds, shellots, garlic to it.
2) Continously saute these on medium flame until the mix turns brown in color.
3) Add 1 tsp red chilli pwdr, 2 tsp corinader pwdr, 1/4 tsp turmeric and saute until the mix turns dark brown in color. Keep this aside and allow the mix to cool.

4) Grind the mix into a fine paste.
5) Heat oil in a pan and add onion, green chillies, smashed ginger, garlic and saute until color changes to golden brown.
6) Add tomatoes and saute until tomatoes melt.
7) Add all remaining powders, chicken, salt and water to the pan and mix well.
8) Add the ground coconut mix and saute for 2 min.
9) Cover the lid and allow it to cook for 7-10 min.

Spicy chicken curry is ready now.. Serve hot with Roti/Chapati.. :-

Tomato Onion Fry

Preperation Time: 10-15 min

Ingredients
Onion - 1
Tomatoes - 1
Green Chilli - 2
Ginger - 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Red Chilly pwdr - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric pwdr - a pinch
Salt for taste
Oil
Corinader leaves - 1tbsp

Preperation Method
1) Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds to it. Allow it to sputter.
2) Add green chilli and ginger to it. Saute for a minute.
3) Add onion, salt andsaute until onion turns light brown in color.
4) Add tomatoes and all powders and saute for 4-5 min.
5) When oil starts seperating, the curry is ready to be served.

This dish goes very well as a side dish for roti/chapathi and can even be used with Rice too.. :-

Pineapple Pachadi (Pineapple coconut curry)

Preperation Time - 40-45 min

Ingredients
Pineapple - 1/2
Red Grapes - 1/4 cup
Coconut - 1 cup
Green chilli - 2
Jaggery - 2 tbsp
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 1/2 tsp
Butter Milk - 1/4 cup
Dry red chilli - 2
Turmeric pwdr - 1/4 tsp
Curry Leaves as reqd
Salt for taste
oil

Preperation Method
1) Cut the pineapple into thin slices. Add the pineapple pieces and turmeric pwdr and cook it in a pressue cooker(6-7 whistles).
2) Grind coconut and green chilli into a fine paste.
3) Add 1/2 tsp mustard seeds to the mix and grind it. (Do not grind it too much as the ground mix will turn bitter)
4) Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, dry red chilli and curry leaves and allow it to sputter.
5) Add cooked pineapple, jaggery and sugar and saute for a while.
6) Add ground coconut mix and saute for 4-5 min.
7) Add red grapes to the pan and saute for another 2-3 min.

Sweet pineapple pachadi is ready now.. This is a good side dish with rice.. :-

Cherupayar Thoran (Moong Dal dish)

Preperation Time - 20-25 min

Ingredients
Moong Dal - 2 cups
Coconut - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1 (small)
Dry red chilli - 2
Gree chilli - 2
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Turmeric pwdr - a pinch
Salt for taste
Oil

Preperation Method
1) Soak moong dal for atleast 6-7 hrs. Cook the moon dal in a normal pan. Drain the excess water and keep aside.
2) Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, dry red chilli, urad dal and curry leaves. Allow mustard seeds to sputter.
3) Add onion and green chilly and saute for a while.
4) Add cooked moong dal to the pan and saute for 2-3 min.
5) Add shredded coconut, salt and turmeric pwdr and mix well.

Moong Dal dish is ready to be served now :-

Channa Masala

Preperation Time: 25-30 min

Ingredients
Channa - 2 cups
Tomatoes - 2 nos
Green Chilly - 2 nos
Ginger - Small piece
Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup
Red chilly pwdr - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric pwdr - 1/2 tsp
Coriander pwdr - 1/2 tsp
Cummin pwdr - 1/4 tsp
Cummin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp
Kitchen king Masala - 1 tsp (optional)
Water - 1/2 cup
Lime juice - 1 tbsp
Salt for taste
Oil

Preperation Method
1) Soak channa in water for atleast 8-10 hrs and cook it in a cooker. Cook till 3-4 whistles comes.
2) Grind tomatoes, ginger, green chilly, corinader leaves and cummin seeds into a fine paste.
3) Heat oil in a pan. Add the ground mix to it and saute for a while.
4) Add all powders and saute for 3-4 min.
5) Add cooked channa, salt and water to the pan and mix well.
6) Cover the lid and allow it to cook for 7-10 min.
7) Remove the lid and mash 10-15% of the channa in the pan.
8) Add lime juice to the pan.

Channa Masala goes really well with roti/chapati :-

Cucumber Lemonade

Preperation Time - 5-10 min

Ingredients
Cucumber (salad) - 1
Lime - 1
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Sprite (or water) - 1 cup

Preperation Method
1) Peel the cucumber and remove the seeds from it.
2) Squeeze the juice out of the lime.
3) Blend cucumber, lime juice, sugar and sprite together
4) Drain the mix and add ice cubes to it.

Serve the cucumber lemonade chilled.. You will feel really refreshed after having this.. :-

Mushroom Masala Thoran

Preperation Time: 20-25 min

Ingredients
Mushroom - 250 gm
Coconut - 1 1/2 cup
Onion - 1 small
Mustard Seeds - 1 tbsp
Coriander pwdr - 1 1/2 tbsp
Red Chilly pwdr - 1/2-3/4 tbsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Dry Red Chilli - 2
Curry leaves - 1/4 cup
Garlic - 1 nos
Urad Dal - 1 tbsp
Salt for taste
Oil

Preperation Method
1) First, fry coconut in a pan until it turns brown in color.
2) Add all pwdrs to the pan and saute until the mix turns dark brown in color. Saute continously and make sure the mix does not burn. Keep this aside and allow it to cool.
3) Grind the mix into a fine paste.
4) Heat oil in another pan. Add mustard seeds, dry red chillies, curry leaves and urad dal to it. Allow the mustard seeds to sputter.
5) Add sliced mushroon pieces and cook it. Do not add water for cooking.
6) Add the ground fried coconut mix to the mushroom and saute for a while.

Mushroom masala thoran is ready. Serve this hot as a side dish for rice.. :-

Vellayappam

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Vellayappam is one of the speciality breakfast items of Kerala. Appam looks like Dosa but differs from Dosa in the way the batter is prepared and the method used to cook in a pan.

Most crucial thing in making appam is the making of soft fermented batter. More the softer and fermented the batter, better will be Appam. Also, Appam comes out best when made in the specific pan used for Making Appam.

Ingredients
Basmati Rice - 1 cup (usually in Kerala, we use long white rice)
Urad Dal (Uzhunnu) - 1 tbsp
Yeast - 1 tsp
Coconut - 1/4 cup
Cooked Rice (any) - 1/4 cup
Jeera - 1 tsp
Shellots - 1 or 2
Sugar - 2 tsp
Salt for taste

Preperation Method

Making Batter -
1) Soak basmati rice and Urad dal for atleast 6-7 hrs
2) Grind basmati rice and urad dal into a fine batter.
3) Add coconut, cooked rice, shellots, yeast, jeera to the batter and grind.
4) Move this to a vessel and keep it in room temp for min 8-10 hrs. (make sure the vessel is big enough because the batter will rise up because of yeast fermentation)

Making the Appam-
1) Add sugar 10 min before you start making Appam. (Sugar will make the Appam crispy and sweet)
2) Heat a pan (preferrably pan used specifically for making Appam. If not, use a pan which is not having a flat surface).
3) Take batter in a big spoon and pour it in the center of the pan. Then take the pan of the burner and rotate it to spread the batter to the sides. (Make sure when you rotate, the batter remain thick at the center and sides are thinner. Do not spread the batter using the spoon).
4) Do not turn the Appam upside down.

Remove the Appam from the pan and serve hot :-

Tomato Chutney

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Preperation Time - 15-20 min

Ingredients
Tomatoes - 2
Onion - 1
Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Red Chilly pwdr - 1-2 tbsp
Oil
Salt for taste
Coriander leaves for garnishing

Preperation Method
1. Heat oil in a pan. Add onions and saute until onion turns light brown in color.
2. Cut tomatoes into small pieces and add to the pan.
3. Saute the mix until the tomatoes are cooked and the mix becomes like thick puree.
4. Keep the tomato mix aside for 15-30 min and allow it to cool. Then grind the mix.
5. Heat oil in another pan and add mustard seeds. Allow it to sputter.
6. Now add ground tomato mix to the pan and add red chilly pwdr and salt. Saute for a while.
Garnish with corinader leaves..

Tomato chutney can served as a side dish for breakfast items like Dosa or Idli or even as a side dish for rice during lunch/dinner..

Semiya Payasam

Onasamsakal!!! Last week was Onam.. Kerala's biggest festival of all.. One of the National festivals of India... This time for Onam, I made Semiya payasam (kheer) for the Sadya (lunch feast) and here is the receipe for the payasam..

Preperation Time: 30-40 min

Ingredients
Vermicelli - 2 cups
Ghee - 4 tbsp
Cashew Nuts - 10 gms
Raisins - 10 gms
Milk - 1 litre
Cardamom - 1/2 tsp
Cloves - 2 (optional)
Sweet Wafers (Banana/Vanilla flavour) - 2 (this will add additional flavors in the payasam)

Preperation Method
1. Heat ghee in a pan and fry vermicelli until it turns golden brown in color.
2. Fry cashew nutsand raisins in ghee and keep aside.
3. Boil milk in a vessel. When milk starts to boil, add sugar, crushed wafers, cloves and cardamom to it.
4. Add vermicelli to milk and allow it to boil. Stir occassinally and make sure that the mix does not turn too much thick.
5. Add the fried nuts and raisins to mix.

Sweet semiya payasam is ready to serve.. Can be served hot or cold. :-

Chocolate Mango Lassi

Preperation Time: 5-10 min

Ingredients
Sweet Mango - 3 nos
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Curd (thick) - 1 cup
Ice cubes - 6-10
Chocolate Chips - 1/2-1 cup or Chocolate syrup

Preperation Method
1. Blend the mangoes, yogurt, sugar and ice cubes into a thick mix.
2. If using chocolate syrup, take 1 tbsp of syrup and drop it on top of Lassi.
3. If using choco chips, then double boil the chips in water to make the syrup and drop the syrup on top of the Lassi.

Serve the chilled drink :-

Gobi Manchurian

Preperation Time: 35-40 min

Ingredients:
Cauliflower - 1 med size
Spring Onion - Small bunch
Garlic - 5 to 7 nos
Onion - 1 medium
Capsicum - 1/2 cup
Green Chilly - 4 to 5
Soya Sauce - 1 1/2 tsp
Green Chilly sauce - 2 tbsp
Tomato Ketchup - 2 1/2 tbsp
Vinegar - 3/4 tsp
Coriander Leaf for garnishing
Oil
Salt for taste

For batter:
All purpose flour - 1/2 cup
Corn flour - 1/4 cup
Rice flour - 2 tbsp
Egg - 1
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Red chilly pwdr - 1/2 tsp
Soya sauce - 1/2 tsp

Preperation Method:
1. Cut cauliflower into medium size pieces
2. Mix all the ingredients listed for making batter and make a thick batter.
3. Add the cauliflower pieces into the batter. Then fry them in oil until the pieces turn golden brown in color.
4. Heat oil in a pan. Add white part of the spring onions, green chilly, ginger, garlic, capsicum (small cube sizes) and onion (small cube sizes) and saute them for a while.
5. Add all sauces and vinegar to the pan and mix them well.
6. Add the fried gobi pieces and mix them well until the gobi pieces are well coated with the sauces.
7. Garnish with green part of the spring onions and coriander leaves.

Note: If you want gravy, mix 1 tbsp corn four with 1 cup water and add to Gobi manchurian.