Masala French Fries (Indian Version)

You Need:

Potato - 2 nos

Chilli powder  As per your spice level

Maida flour - 4 tbsp

Corn flour - 2 tsp

Salt - As per your taste

Oil - To fry

Cut the potatoes into one inch cubes and wash well in cold water. Pat dry.
Take a bowl, add the remaining ingredients except oil, and mix well. Add the potatoes to this flour mixture and mix well. If required, sprinkle water to bind the flour and potatoes.

Keep this aside for two min. Meanwhile, heat the oil to fry the potatoes.

Deep fry the potatoes in medium low flame in batches.

Crispy, spicy and salty potato fries are now ready.

Tomato Soup (Homemade)

Wanna make tomato soup as in restaurants....Here you go..:)

You Need: (Serves - 2)

Tomatoes - 3 nos

Onion - 1 no

Garlic - 6 nos

Pepper powder - As per required spice level

Cream - 1 tbsp (Optional)

Tomato sauce/ketchup - 4 tsp

Corn flour - 2 tsp

Oil - 2 tsp

Water - 3 cups

Cut the onions and tomatoes into small pieces. Remove the skin from garlic and keep aside. Mix corn flour in sufficient amount of water and keep aside.

Take a non stick pan, heat oil and fry the garlic till slightly roasted.
Then add onions and fry till cooked. Then add tomatoes and little salt for the tomatoes to cook fast.

Once the tomatoes are cooked / mashed well and raw smell is gone, add three cups of water. Let it boil for 15 min in medium low flame. Then add the corn flour mixture, tomato sauce, cream and pepper powder. Stir well and let the soup thicken. Check the salt and spice level.

Tips: Top it with little cream for garnishing. Add deep fried bread pieces/croutons if required for enriched taste.

Serve these restaurant kinda "Tomato Soup"....Nothing says comfort like a bowl of tomato soup during monsoon season.

Chocolate Rava Kesari

You Need:

Rava - 1 cup

Sugar - As per sweetness

Cashew nuts - For garnish

Raisins - 2 tsp

Milk - 2 cups

Cocoa powder - 2 to 2 1/2 tsp

Water - 1 cup ( you can also use 3 cups of water or milk)

Ghee - 4 tsp

Take a non stick pan, fry the semolina in little ghee until it is very lightly roasted and you get nice aroma of rava. Keep aside.

Then fry the raisins and nuts in little more ghee.  Keep aside.

Then bring water and milk to a boil. Add the rava and stir continuously to avoid clumps. Reduce to medium low flame. Stir until the mixture thickens and rava is cooked well. If required, add water for the rava to cook.

 Mix the 3 tsp of melted ghee and cocoa powder in a separate bowl. 

Once rava is cooked well, then only add the sugar to the rava and it will liquefy the mixture again. To it add the cocoa-ghee mix. Cook till the cocoa mix is cooked well and the mixture starts to thicken. Switch off the flame.

Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled. Either way it tastes splendid. 

Different and delicious kesari is now ready.

Serve to your guests and this will be "talk of the day" :)

Chicken 65

Chicken 65 is one of the most common non-vegan appetizer in our country. Very simple and yummy dish. Trust me, there's not a chance to go wrong with this recipe.

You Need:

Chicken  (Boneless) -500 gms

Ginger and Garlic paste - 4tbsp

Yogurt/ Thick Curd -4 tbsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4tsp

Red chilly powder - 2 to 3 tsp ( As per required spice level)

Red food color( if required) - pinch (Avoid, if using kasmiri chilli powder)

Salt to taste

Take a large bowl mix in the ginger and garlic paste, curd, red chilly powder, turmeric powder, salt and food color. Mix well to from smooth and thick paste, add the chicken pieces to the masala paste and  marinaded for 4 hours. Heat enough oil to deep fry the marinaded chicken pieces. Deep fry the chicken pieces in batches till crisp and golden color. 

Crispy, spicy chicken 65 is ready to be served.

Navratri Special....

Wishing all my friends, a happy and prosperous dussehra!

Here's some of the delights I made on this auspicious day for my family and neighbors ....Do check the photos now...the recipes will be up soon! I hurry, I forgot to take a pic of Sundal and Susiyum.....check out in last pic...:)

Ciao!

Vanilla flavored Kesari

Spicy Diamond Biscuit 

Gulab Jamun with cashew filling

Chocolate flavored Kesari

Phirni - A Bengali dessert 

2 in 1 Kesari

The platter of delights

Paniyara Omelette(Muttai Appam)

I learnt this omelette recipe from my mom. She used paniyaram utensil to make these paniyara omlette. You can also call it as muttai appam. I grabbed them as and when she took them out from the mould. Very attractive and tasty side dish.

You Need:

Eggs - 2

Green chilli's - 1 or 2 nos

Salt - To taste

Onion - 1 no (Finely chopped)

Oil - 1/2 tsp

Take a bowl and add finely chopped onion, green chilli, salt and mix well by adding little water. Now add and beat the eggs and whisk till fluffy. Put the paniyaram mould on heat. Pour little oil in all holes. Pour this egg mixture in all holes till its up to 3/4 of  the hole.  Turn it with a skewer or knife slowly and cook for another minute. Take them out and serve hot.

This dish surely be the "dish of the day" during any potluck or kitty party.

Brinjal Chutney

Got bored of Coconut chutney...Try this Brinjal chutney. It is an excellent side dish for traditional idli's and dosa's. 

You Need:

Eggplant - 1 no

Tamarind pulp - 2 tsp

Tomato - 1/2 no

Coriander seeds - 1 tsp

Green chilli - 3 to 4 nos

Salt - To taste

For tempering:

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - Few

Oil - As needed

Wash the eggplant and place it directly on medium low flame. Cook till the skin turns to black completely and brinjal looks little shrunk as in the picture. Turn the brinjal constantly so that it is evenly cooked.  Place the brinjal directly on medium flame until the skin turns to black completely and the brinjal looks a little shrunken. Remove from heat and let it cool. 

Peel the skin and remove the pulp. Add tamarind, green chillis, tomato, coriander seeds and salt to the eggplant pulp. Grind it to a fine paste. 

Take a non stick pan, add 2 tsp of oil. Once heated, add the ingredients given under tempering. Then add the grinded paste and cook for 3 to 4 min in medium flame. 

Yummy brinjal chutney is now ready. The simplicity of these dishes which make it to be more attractive by working women. You can store this in fridge for a week.

Simple Paneer Butter Masala

This is very simple dish with very less ingredients but it taste yummy.

You Need:

Paneer - 200 gms

Onion - 3 nos

Tomato - 4 nos

Chilli powder - 2 1/2 tsp

Garam masala - 1/4 tsp

Jeera powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - To taste

Butter - 2 to 4 tbsp

Grind the onions to a fine paste. Also grind the tomatoes to puree. Slice the paneer into cubes.

Take a non stick pan, heat butter. You can fry the paneer slices in butter till roasted. This is purely optional. Once butter is heated, add the onion paste. Salute well till the onion is cooked and turned light golden brown color. This step is more important as the onion enriches the taste of this dish. Once onion is cooked, add tomatoes puree.

Let the mixture cooks for about 10 min in medium flame. Add the spice powders and salt now. Add enough water and cook covered. The mixture should be cooked well till the butter/oil separates from the sides. Check the gravy consistency, if required add little more. Once the gravy is ready, add the sliced paneer cubes and cook covered for few more min and switch off flame.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with roti or naan. A very simple and yummy paneer dish is now ready.

Dahi - Aloo Chaat

Chaats, a savory snacks is quite famous in our country from road side stalls to hi-5 restuarant, you can find this in the menu. It is assortment of spicy, sweet-tangy flavour.

You Need:

Potatoes - 2 small nos

Puri's - 6 nos

Onion - 1 no 

Chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp

Garam masala - 1/4 tsp

Salt - To taste

Curd - 5 tbsp

You Need - For Sweet-tangy sauce

Dates - 20 nos (Small Pieces)
Jagerry - 1 1/2 cups (Grated)
Tamarind (adjust) 1 lemon size ball
Chilli powder - 1 tspWater 2 cups.
Salt - A pinch
Chat masala - 1 tsp (Optional)

Aloo preparation:

Peel the potatoes and cut them into small pieces. Take a non stick pan, heat 2 tsp of oil. Once heated, add onions and fry till golden brown color. Then add potatoes, chilli powder, garam masala, and salt. Add little water and cook covered till the potatoes are well cooked and mashed. The water should be evaporated. Potatoe masala is ready now.

In a non stick pan, add the tamarind along with the water and bring to a boil until it becomes thick paste. Once cooled down, grind tamarind mixture along with dates to a fine paste. Pour this tamarind-date paste back to non stick pan,cook for 10 mins on medium flame. Add the grated jaggery and allow it to melt with the tamarind date mixture.  Add all the spice powders and pinch of salt. Continue to cook till it becomes little thick, approx 20 mins on medium low flame. Turn off heat and allow it to cool. Sweet tangy sauce is ready now.

Take a serving plate, break the puri's, add potatoe masala and top it with sweet-tangy sauce and curd. Sprinkle chilli powder and serve these delicious chaat as evening snacks.

Basboosa / Semolina Cake

Basboosa..as the name sounds different, this dessert tastes unique. This is an Egyptian dessert. Also called as semolina cake.

You Need:

Plain sooji  / rava - 1.5 cup

Butter - 1 stick 

Curd - 1 cup

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Sugar - 1 cup

Lemon juice - 2 tsp
Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp (Optional)

For sugar syrup:

Sugar 1 cup
Water 1 cup
Lemon juice - 1 tsp

Take a bowl, add butter and sugar, mix well. Add curd and vanilla extract if required. Mix untill combined well. Add the baking powder and rava and mix well untill it has dough like consistency. Let it rest for 30 min. 

Preheat the convection oven to 375F. Grease a baking dish with butter and pour the dough into it. Level it with spatula. Bake for 20 min.

Take out and cut into squares or diamonds or whichever shape you like. Keep one almonds or cashew nut in each piece (Optional)

Now bake for another 12 to 15 min or till the edges are turned brown. Now put it in broil mode till the surface will turn golden brown for 2 to 3 min. 

Mean while prepare the sugar syrup until the sugar dissolves and has syrup consistency. This should not take more than 5-10 min. Add lemon juice - 1tsp to the syrup. Take the hot basboosa from the oven and pour this syrup over it.  If less butter is used or over baked, it may become little hard.

If you can resist from eating, well and good. But it tastes best after 24 hrs.

Deep fried potatoes

This is different potato fry. Tastes similar to french fries which you get in McD but it is masala coated.

You Need:

Potatoes - 2nos

Chili powder - 3 tsp

Maida flour - To coat the potatoes

Salt - To taste

Oil - To fry

Peel, wash and cut the potatoes into one inch long cubes. Mix chili powder, salt in separate bowl.  add very little water to make a thick paste. Apply over the potatoes. Leave aside for one hour. Roll the potatoes in maida flour and deep fry in the oil.

Drain the excess oil by using tissue paper.

Yummy potatoes are ready now. Isn't your mouth watering now..;)

Mutton Liver Fry

I'm a pure non-vegetarian, yet i hate mutton liver. My mom used to make mutton liver curry (Check recipe here), which I don't like till today. But I learned that recipe coz my hubby loved it when my mom prepared. 

You Need:

Liver  - 1/4 kg 
Onions - 2 small  nos
Dry Red chilli - 1 no

Pepper powder - 2 to 3 tsp ( according to your spice level)

Coriander powder - 1 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Ginger- Garlic paste – 1 tbsp

Curry leaf - few leaves
Salt - To taste
Oil – For fry

Chop the mutton liver into small pieces. Cut the onion into small pieces and grind into fine paste. Take a non stick kadai, add oil to fry the onions. Fry till color is changed to light golden brown color. Add curry leaves and stir for few more min.

Add ginger garlic paste and stir for a min. then add all the spice powders and salt. Add little water and cook covered till the masala raw odour has been removed.

The masala should be well cooked. Now add the mutton liver and add water for the liver to cook. Don't overcook as it becomes hard. That's the reason, masalas are first cooked and then liver is added.

All the water should be evaporated and masalas should be well coated with the liver.

I saw fry recipe from other food blog...I thought of giving it a try. Since then, I started to do this dish frequently. Trust me, Mutton liver fry is the most mouth watering recipe one can have.

Goes well with rasam and curd rice. 

Fish varuval (Kerala Style)

Fish, is the one of the few things which strikes as when you hear "Kerala"...Fish roast even in the road side shops taste as good as in hotels. Check this traditional Kerala style fish fry:

You Need

Fish ( I used vanjaram in tamil) - 1/2 kg ( slices)

Chilli Powder - 2 to 3 tsp or as per spice level

Ginger-Garlic paste - 2 tsp

Curd - 3 tsp

Chilli chicken masala / Tandoori masala (Any brand) - 2 tsp

Salt as per taste

Mix all the ingredients and make a smooth paste. Add little water if required. Apply evenly on both sides of fish and marinate for about 30min to one hr. Shallow fry the fish till it is cooked and turned golden brown on both sides.

Delicious fish fry is now ready.

Grandma's Chicken Curry

This recipe had been adopted from Vahrehvah.com with slight variation. Follow the exact steps to get an excellent and delicious chicken curry which is gauranteed.

You Need:

Chicken - 1/2 kg
Onion - 3 nos (Finely chopped)
Tomatoes - 2nos (Finely chopped)
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 2 tsp
Jeera powder - 1/2 tsp
Coconut powder - 1/2 no
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Poppy seeds (Khus-Khus) ( It's a must) - 2 tsp
Ginger - Garlic paste - 2 tsp
Salt - To taste
Oil - To fry
Curry leaves - For garnish

Cut the chicken pieces and wash well in cold water. Take a pan, add poppy seeds and allow it to splutter in medium low flame. Add coconut powder to it and cook. Keep aside this coconut mixture.

In a pressure cooker, add oil to fry the onions. Add curry leaves and saute the onions till golden brown color. Add  ginger garlic paste & saute well. Add chicken pieces , salt and cook till it is 1/4th cooked. Do not add water. Water will ooze out from the chicken pieces. Add tomatoes and cook it is mashed well. Add coriander powder,chilli powder, jeera powder, garam masala to the curry & mixwell. Add the poppyseed & coconut powder blended mixture to the masala.  Add 2 to 3 cups of water . Put the lid & allow chicken to cook. Cook for 10 to 15 min. Garnish the curry with fresh coriander leaves & add salt if required. Check the curry consistency and add more water if required  or cook for few min to thicken the curry if desired.

Grandma's chicken curry is ready to be served with rice/roti/naan.

Chilli Omelette

Got bored of traditional way of doing omelette....Looking for a change....Check this chilli omelette.

You Need:

Egg - 1

Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Onion - 1/2 no (Finely chopped)

Salt - To taste

Oil - 1 tsp

Take a bowl, add little water and salt. Stri well till the salt is dissolved. Add the egg, finely chopped onions, chilli powder and salt. Mix well.

Heat a thick bottomed pan, add oil. Once heated, pour the mixture and cook in medium flame. When it is 3/4th cooked, flip it. Switch off the flame. It will be cooked completed in the heat itself.

Tip: Do not overcook the egg, as you would lose it nutrients. 

Serve this chilli omelette with sambar or dhal rice. Very good and different side dish.