Vanilla cookies

These are a breeze to make and are so crispy. I am not fond of chewy cookies and very fond of crispy ones. Thus this cookie satisfies me to the end of satisfaction. The chocolate chips added on some of the cookies are by my daughter.

Makes : 40 cookies

Preparation time - 15 minutes
Cooking time - 12-15 minutes

Ingredients:

Butter - 1/2 cup ~120 grams (at room temperature)
Sugar - 1/2 cup (if you like cookie to be more sweet, add some more sugar. This was sweet enough for me)
Maida / All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups
Egg - 1 (at room temperature)
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp

- Sift flour baking soda and baking powder together.
- In a mixer  or by hand, cream butter and sugar together. Add egg and beat till it is uniformly creamy.
- Add the vanilla essence to the mixture. Fold this mixture over the sifted flour gently and combine. Knead with hands if needed, but gently to form a dough.
- Pinch small balls from the dough, place them in the centre of your palm and press with the other palm gently  to form a cookie. This recipe yielded roughly 42 cookies for me. You can roll out the dough and use cookie cutters too.
- Place the cookies on a cookie sheet and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C for 12-15 minutes. The first batch took 15 minutes and the second only 12 minutes. Keep an eye on them after 10 minutes, so that they do not brown.
- Let them cool, then place in airtight containers.

Vegetable Fried Rice

This is not the chinese/thai style fried rice. My daughter is very fond of fried rice. especially for the colors. In addition, I find this a easier, healthier alternative. The dish is called fried rice because, the steamed rice is stir fried on a wok and mixed with choice of vegetables / meat. This is a whole meal by itself. If required, you can make a sauce and pour over the rice. This is quite easy to prepare, the only effort required is to cut the vegetables.

Serves : 4

Preparation time - 10 minutes
Cooking time - 10 minutes

Ingredients:

Rice ~ 200 grams(uncooked). I used Basmati rice. You can use whatever you have at hand.
Vegetables - Beans, carrot, cabbage - 100 grams each
Garlic - 1-2 cloves
Onion - 1 small
Oil - 2 Tbsp
Salt & Pepper - to taste

- Soak the rice for 10 minutes and use water in the ratio 1:2 (rice:water) and cook the rice in a pressure cooker on high for 2 whistles. Remove from heat.
- Chop the vegetables, onion and garlic finely.
- Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a wok*. Add the garlic, saute for 10 seconds, add onion, saute till it turns translucent. Add the vegetables. Season with salt (Add salt only for the vegetables) Keep the flame high and stir fry for 3 minutes or less. Vegetables should be crisp.
- Fluff the cooked rice with a fork.
- Remove the vegetables. Add the remaining oil and heat the oil so that it starts to smoke. Now add the rice to the wok and fry the rice for another 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.(Add salt keeping in mind, vegetables are already seasoned with salt).
- Add the vegetable mixture to the rice, fry for a minute and turn off the heat.

This rice goes well with spicy chilly eggs or simply a minty raita.

Methi Chicken

Methi / Fenugreek is used in a lot of countries around the world. It is supposed to be one of the oldest cultivated crops as old as 4000BC.  Fenugreek has a whole array of health benefits to its name. It is rich in protein, vitamin c, potassium, calcium, et al., Methi seeds form an important part of the indian cuisine. The fresh leaves impart so much flavor to the dish it is added. Methi stems are not used in cooking as it has a bitter taste.  In places where fresh leaves are hard to get, dry fenugreek leaves, also called as kasuri methi can be used. General tip to substitute fresh with dry leaves is to use the herbs in 3:1 ratio (fresh:dry)

This dish is not the methi murg you get in restaurants. This is lighter on spices but strongly flavorful. The dish delivers what the name promises, taste of methi and chicken. No garam masalas or curry powders to override the fenugreek.

Serves : 4

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes.
If you do not have a pressure cooker, cooking time could be a bit more.

Ingredients:
Chicken (I used curry cut ) - 600 grams
Fenugreek leaves - 1 bunch or  little more than a handful of leaves
Onion - 1 big, finely chopped
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Green chili paste - to taste (optional. If not using, use 1 tsp pepper powder)
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 1/2 Tbsp
Water - 1 cup

- Heat the oil in a pressure cooker, add the onion. Once the onion turns translucent, add ginger garlic paste and green chili paste.
- Fry for a minute. Add the chicken to the pot. Add salt. Fry for 3 minutes on high heat so that the water from the chicken is dry.
- Add the fenugreek leaves. Fry for a minute. Now add water and turmeric powder. Mix well and close the lid of the cooker.
- Keep the flame in high for 2 whistles, and in low for 5 minutes.
- Turn off the gas.
- Goes well with rice and chapati.

Tip:
If you want the gravy to be a little thick, add some maida mixed in water to the dish before closing the lid.

NolenGurer Payesh

NolenGur / NotunGur / PataliGur as it is called in WestBengal is simply the date palm jaggery. It is easily available in the winter time.The sap is collected from the datepalm tree overnight and is boiled without separating molasses, etc., It is rich in iron and certainly more nutritious and doubly delicious than plain old sugar. If stored in an airtight container in a cool, dark place, it can stay upto a year. The gur can be substituted for sugar in any recipe, but the payesh is a must do thing.

The rice used for payesh is a special variety called GovindaBhog. Literally it means, food for the God(Govinda). It is not available where I stay, hence I had to make do with substitutes. The rice has a unique flavor to it. If you cannot get the rice where you stay, substitute with other small grain rice or semolina or vermicelli or sago.

According to wiki, Payesh "is a rice pudding, which is a traditional South Asiansweet dish. It is made by boiling rice or broken wheat with milk and sugar, and flavoured with cardamom, raisins, saffron, cashew nuts, pistachiosor almonds. It is typically served during a meal or also consumed alone as a dessert."

Serves: 4

Preparation time - 5 minutes
Cooking time - 45 minutes

Ingredients: 

Whole milk  ~500 ml
GobindoBhog rice - 2 Tbsp
Gur - 100 grams (Place the gur inbetween plastic sheet and pound it with something heavy)
Ghee - 2 tsp
Bayleaf - 1
Clove - 3
Cardamom - 3
Nuts for Garnish 

- Heat a heavy bottomed vessel (else, the milk might burn or rice will get stuck to the bottom of the pan), add 1 tsp of ghee. Add the rice keeping the heat low. Take the rice out in a minute.
- Add 1 tsp of ghee to the same pan. Add bayleaf, clove and cardamom seeds. Fry for 30 seconds.
- Add the milk to the pot and bring it to a light boil. Now add the rice. Keep stirring every minute so that nothing gets stuck at the bottom. Never use high heat while making payesh.
- The milk should reduce to half of the original volume. Takes 30-35 minutes.
- Turn the heat to the minimum possible setting. Add the gur now and mix it.  Some people have mentioned that cooking the payesh after adding gur makes the milk curdle. But, I did continue cooking without issues. 
-  Let the payesh sit on the flame for another 10 minutes. Now turn off the heat. Garnish with raw / fried nuts (cashew, almond, pistachios) and raisins.

Personally, I prefer having the payesh cold. But it can be served warm.
Tip:
If you are using 500 ml milk, select a vessel which can hold double the volume, i.e 1 litre
If you do not have rice, substitute with equal amount of vermicelli (the thin variety is better) or semolina. It does miss the flavor, but I did not find anything missing in the taste.

Adai -Savory Lentil Pancakes

This is not everyday food. I will start by saying that if your hand is shy of dropping oil on the tava, please do not try this. Not that it cant be made with less oil, but the taste is certainly different.  This uses less rice and more lentils, so might be a good change for people looking out for dishes with more protein than carbohydrates. My mother makes the best adai in town and this is her recipe. I just cut down the number of  red chillies that go in.

Serves 4

Preparation time - 10 minutes
Soaking time - 4-6 hrs
Cooking time - 4 minutes each

Ingredients:
TO SOAK
Rice - 3/4 cup
Channa Dal - 1/2 cup
Toor Dal - 1/4+1/8 cup
Moong Dal - handful (optional)
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Red chili - 4 (to taste)

Curry leaf - few
Oil - 1 Tbsp each
Salt to taste

- Wash and soak the ingredients under TO SOAK list for minimum 4 hours to overnight.
- Grind the soaked ingredients with little water to a coarse paste. The mixture should be coarse, a smooth adai loses points.
- Add salt and chopped curry leaves to the mixture. Let it sit for minimum 10 minutes before proceeding. There is no necessity for fermentation here.
- Heat a tava, iron tava works best as high heat is needed. Spray the tava with oil. (I have a cheesecloth tied to a potato masher, and I wet the cloth with oil and rub the cloth over the hot tava.
- Take a ladle full of the adai mixture and pour it on the hot tava. Now spread it as much as you can. Make a hole in the center with your ladle. Pour 1 tsp oil in the centre. Pour 1 tsp oil all around the edges. Let it cook for a minute in high heat. Reduce the flame to medium and cook for another minute. Turn over the adai and let it cook for 2 minutes more
- Take it out of the tava on to the plate. Have it hot with sambar / tomato sambar / coconut chutney / Ghee / Jaggery

Carrot halwa

This was the first dessert I prepared and it turned out well on the first attempt. I was a novice in the kitchen arena then, still this was one easy dessert to prepare. You cant go wrong with this one. The ingredients are few and a little less or more of any of the ingredients does not change the outcome drastically.

Serves - 4
Preparation time - 10 min (To grate the carrots)
Cooking time - 25 min

Ingredients:
Grated Carrot - 1 1/2 cups packed
Milk - 1 cup ( I used 3% fat milk)
Sugar - 1 cup
Cardamom powder / cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp (optional)
Ghee / Oil - 1 Tbsp

Steps:
1. Grate the carrots.
2. Heat 1/2 Tbsp oil in a non stick pan and add the grated carrots. Stir for 2 minutes in medium flame.

3. Add 1/2 cup of milk and increase the heat and cook with the lid open till the milk is absorbed, say 5 minutes.

4. Add the remaining milk and reduce the flame to medium low and cover the pan and let it cook for 7 - 10 minutes.
5. The milk must now be absorbed, if not give it another 2 minutes with the lid open.
6. Add the sugar, stir it and cover it to cook till the mixture comes together. If there is little liquid remaining, do not worry, it is absorbed when the halwa cools down.

7. Do not overcook. If the sugar is overcooked, halwa will harden.

Coconut chutney

I feel if there is a dish any south Indian knows to cook, it must be coconut chutney. It is really simple to make, does not involve many spices, and is yummmy. But I have to say, the best chutney is what my father makes. Even my hubby and my MIL agree with me.

Serves - 4
Preparation time - 5 minutes
Cooking time - 2 minutes (optional)

Ingredients:
Coconut - 1/4 coconut ~ 3 Tbsp
Green chili - 2 -3 (to taste)
Pottukadalai (Roasted bengal gram / fried gram) - 2 Tbsp
Salt

Optional:
Garlic - 1 clove
Coriander leaves - 2 sprigs
Shallot - 1

Tempering:
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - few chopped
Oil - 1 tsp

1. Grind all ingredients with water for desired consistency.
2. Heat oil in a tadka / tempering pan and pour the tadka over the chutney.
Serve with idli / dosa / upma / adai

Chicken Curry - I

There are so many ways to make chicken curry, keeping a note of them is a difficult task. And I am the kind of person, who can never ever stick to a recipe. I cant help but change something either out of laziness, which happens more often or out of curiosity to see what happens because of the change. There are very few recipes which I make without changes. Then I cook like an automated cooking machine running an automated script to cook.This is one recipe which I run on script. It does have a list of ingredients and might sound like a lot of work, but after making it you will realise, it was quite simple once you have put the ingredients together.

Serves - 2

Preparation time - 5 minutes + 15 minutes to wait

Cooking time - 20 minutes

Here is what I used:

Chicken - 300 grams

To Grind:

Onion - 1 Large

Tomato - 1 medium

Coconut - 1 1/2 Tbsp

Roasted Channa Dal - powdered / Besan /All purpose flour(Maida) - 1 Tbsp

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp (fresh is best)

Chicken masala - 1 tbsp

or

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder - 2 tsp

Chili powder - 1 tsp (to taste)

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp 

Oil - 2 Tbsp (roughly 25 ml)

salt - to taste

Coriander leaves for garnish

Steps:

1. Grind everything under To Grind section to a not so fine paste. Mix it with the chicken and let it sit for 15 minutes or more.

2. Heat the oil in a kadai or a pressure cooker, add the cumin seeds to sizzle and then add the chicken mixture.

3. Stir fry for 5 minutes, then add water and salt.

4. Cover it with a lid. If using a pressure cooker, turn off the heat after 2 whistles. If using a kadai, cook for 10-12 minutes or till the chicken is well cooked.

This chicken curry goes well with steamed rice and chapati.

Franco Indian Toast

I know, the name sounds funny. English Indian is called Anglo Indian, so I am hoping French Indian should be Franco Indian. Anyway, this is nothing as fancy or as crazy as the name suggests. It is simply French Toast the Indian way. You can make it as hot and spicy as you want or without any chillies. I feel there is no fun when there is no spice(barring a few favorites, ofcourse)

Serves - 2
Preparation time : 7 minutes
Cooking time: < 10 minutes
Here is what I used:
Bread slices - 4
Eggs- 2. If the egg size is small, make it 3.
Onion - 1 finely chopped
Coriander - a handful maybe, finely chopped

Green chillies - finely chopped (optional)
Red chili sauce - 1 -1 1/2 tsp per slice according to taste
Milk - 1 Tbsp per egg
Sugar (optional) - to taste

There are exactly no instructions to mention here. Just beat the eggs with salt, milk and sugar if using. Dip the bread slices in the egg mixture in a way, bread is covered nicely and egg mixture is dripping from it. Now add the sauce and seasoning and throw it on a hot skillet or tava. Garnish with onion, green chili, coriander leaves and cook it on both sides till crispy. Remove from heat and relish.

Vermicelli / Sameya Upma

This is one of the breakfast foods that all of us are fond of. It takes no time at all to make and is indeed filling and we dont have a need to grab a bite before lunch time. Finely chopped veggies like beans, carrots, cabbage, peas, cauliflower can be added to make it more fulsome.

Serves - 3
Preparation time - 5 min
Cooking time - 12 min

Ingredients:

Vermicelli - 200 grams (Roasted vermicelli works best)
Onion - 1 medium onion chopped
Green chili - 2 or to taste
Oil - 1 Tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp (optional)
Curry leaf - few
Salt - to taste
 Water

How to:
- Heat a pan and pour the oil. Keep the flame high. Once the oil is hot add the mustard seeds. Let it splutter and add the urad dal and curry leaf. Once the dal is browned, add the green chili and onion.
- Saute onion till it turns translucent. Add the roasted vermicelli and salt and saute for 1 min on low flame. Take care not to burn the vermicelli.
- Add enough water so that all the vermicelli is soaked and increase the flame to high and cover the pan. After 3 minutes, reduce the flame to medium low and let it cook for another 3-4 mins. Switch off and let it rest for a minute or two before serving.

Best served with coconut chutney / onion chutney / pickle & curd / tomato thokku.

I have served this with tomato thokku and coriander thokku.

Niramish Jhol

This is a bengali staple food. My mother in law insists this is a comfort food and a health food and I agree completely. If you are not feeling well especially for stomach issues, this Jhol should help you bounce back to your normal self. It has a lot of vegetables and has jeera, turmeric, coriander. You can choose any number of vegetables for this, but potatoes and brinjal are recommended.

Here I have used potatoes, brinjal, squash, cabbage and potol.

Serves 2
Preparation time : 10 min
Cooking time : 15 min

Ingredients :

Vegetables of your choice - 250 grams
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 2 tsp
Green chili - 1-2
Chili powder - to taste (if you want it hot - optional). I have not used it.
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 1/2 Tbsp
Salt - to taste

Steps:
1. Clean and cut all the vegetables into equal sized pieces.
2. Heat the oil in a kadai or saucepan, add the vegetables and stir them so that the oil is coated. (Add the vegetables one by one keeping in mind their cooking times. For example, potol takes long time to cook and cabbage the least. So, potol goes in first and cabbage the last after 3 minutes)
3. Add salt and stir fry for 5 minutes, till vegetables turn tender.
4. Now add all the powders except cumin powder and add a cup of water. Boil for another 5 minutes
5. Add Cumin powder and boil for another 5 minutes or so when the jhol reaches desired consistency and vegetables are well cooked.(Recommended consistency is jhol should be runny)

Stuffed Brinjal(Microwave/Stovetop)

When I used to go to chennai during my vacation, one of my relatives used to make this stuffed brinjal. It would taste heavenly. My mother does not like brinjal, so our brinjal consumption was less and even when we had brinjal, it would only be the stir fried brinjal. So, whenever I go on vacation, I would be expecting this brinjal for lunch quite eagerly :)) This kind of preparation takes some time and effort, but the end result is worth every second of your time. Do try this on a weekend or when you have more time at hand.

What I used:
Small Brinjals - 250 gms, the smallest you can find. Try to pick up same size brinjals.
Oil - 2 Tbsp
Salt - as per taste
To Roast and Grind:
Red chili - 3 (deseeded or not depending on your tastebuds) OR
Chili powder - 1 tsp
Coconut - 1 Tbsp
Coriander seeds - 1 Tbsp
Garlic - 3
Chana Dal - 1 tsp (If you have roasted chana dal, grind it directly along with other ingredients without roasting)
Jeera - 1 tsp
Tamarind paste - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
salt

How I made:
- Wash the brinjals. Apply some salt and set aside.
- Dry roast all the ingredients under 'To Roast and Grind' except oil and tamarind paste for 2 minutes on medium flame. Let it cool
- Grind the roasted ingredients along with oil and tamarind till it attains a fine texture.(If it is coarse, the stuffing will not stay when cooking)
- Now slit the brinjals. Cut the stem portion of the brinjal and slit the brinjal from top to 3/4th in a way that the brinjal does not break. Now turn the brinjal, bottom facing you and slit from the other side.

- Stuff the brinjals with the ground paste.
- Heat the oil in a kadai or a non stick pan and drop the brinjals one by one gently. Use a wooden spatula to toss them around. Keep the flame low and cover the pan and let the brinjal cook. Add little oil if the brinjals are getting stuck or sprinkle few drops of water every minute till the brinjals are tender.

This goes well with rice, paratha.
For the microwave version, after stuffing the brinjals, steam them in a idli steamer for 7-8 minutes on medium-high. Brush the brinjals with some oil and microwave for another 3-4 minutes without the lid on.

Simple stir fried carrot and capsicum

This simple carrot and capsicum stir fry goes very well with ghee rice. When I have to make some food only for myself, I make a stirfry with whatever vegetable comes into my hand from the vegetable tray. However, my favorite is this capsicum-carrot stir fry and aloo capsicum. This is a very simple, tasty and a healthy recipe. It is not often that you find a recipe with this deadly combination. This recipe uses very few ingredients and very less oil.
This is what I used:
Carrot - 200 gms, grated
Capsicum - 200 gms, chopped
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Hing - a pinch
Red chili - 1, optional
Sambar powder - 1 heaped tsp, optional

How:
- Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, once it splutters, add the red chili and the hing.
- Add the vegetables and salt. Saute for 4 minutes in medium flame.
- If you like your stir fry to be spicy, add sambar powder and saute for a minute before turning off.

This goes very well with ghee rice.

Making ghee from butter at home

Hi everybody, Thats how my daughter addresses us if she finds me and her dad at the same place. She constantly surprises me by uttering new sentences or doing something I dont expect.
I had never had store bought ghee till I was married. My mother always makes ghee at home and I never thought there would be so much difference in taste and flavour between homemade ghee and storebought ghee, even if the butter and ghee are from the same manufacturer. There really must be some magic happening when you make ghee at home. It seems silly that I am making a post for this simple clarification of butter.( Thats what the process of making ghee from butter is called, hmm.. interesting). But the first time I clarified butter(Not again), I took it out too early and the next time, I let it burn and all I got was burnt, browned, not so pleasant smelling something. Maybe I am the only one who has fumbled or ever will fumble this, still I thought somebody can benefit from this.

The quantity of ghee you get will be almost same as the weight of butter, after all it is just clarified butter.

- Take a clean, heavy bottomed vessel and turn the flame to low. Now add the butter in the vessel. Toss the butter around till it melts so that it is heated evenly. At the start you can see a lot of froth forming. As time goes, the froth will reduce. In the picture, you can see some foam on top. This picture was taken 10 minutes after the butter melted. It takes 5 minutes after this stage for the perfect golden colored ghee. The ghee is done when most of the froth disappears.
In the sidelines - once the ghee is cooled, transfer it into a clean jar. What I usually do after making ghee is - add 2 spoons of atta in the same vessel with the ghee that is stuck in the vessel. Roast it till the raw smell disappears. Add 2 spoons of sugar, mix it well. If you are particular, you can make it into a laddoo and have. Otherwise, you can just relish it with a spoon. yum..yum..yum
Have fun!!!

Chinese StirFriedRice

We often visit a restaurant which serves this wonderful fried rice. This might not be the authentic chinese fried rice, I am sure it is not, but it tastes heavenly all the same and it has all the standard "indo chinese" ingredients. Moreover, it is easy to make, can be had as a meal without any additional dishes. So without much further ado, I present you, our chinese fried rice. (whistles and applauses ;-)

Here is what I used:

Beans, Carrots, Cabbage - Finely chopped(totalling 200 - 250 grams)

Onion - 2 medium size, finely chopped'

Green Chili - 2 slit (Adjust according to taste)

Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp

Garlic - 4 small, coarsely chopped (Adjust according to taste)

Either chicken pieces or vegetables like mushroom, babycorn can also be added.

Small grain Rice - 200 grams, soaked for 10 mins to 30 mins. I use JeeraRice.

Light soy sauce- 1 tbsp

Oil - 2 Tbsp(Peanut oil or sesame oil preferred, but any oil will do)

Salt- as per taste

Red chili sauce - 2 tsp (optional)

Fish sauce - 1 tsp(optional). If you have not used fish sauce till now, you should try it once. I am not a great fan of it, but my husband loves the flavor it adds.

Here comes the how:

- Boil the rice till 3/4 done with salt. To check take a grain of rice and taste, it should be hard but not raw. Drain the water and wash it in cold water to stop the cooking process.Set aside.

- In a non-stick pan or a wok(any vessel which has a light base works well for fried rice) heat 2 tbsp oil. Once the oil is smokey, add the garlic, green chili, onion and reduce the flame to low.saute till onion turns translucent. 

- Increase the heat to high-Add all the vegetables and saute for 2 minutes or till the vegetables are done but still crisp. 

- In high heat, add the soy sauce, salt. Add the cooked rice.Mix with a flat wooden spatula slowly so that the rice does not get mushy. Keep tossing the rice every 1/2 minute so that the heat is distributed evenly to the rice.

- After 4 minutes, add the red chili sauce and fish sauce, if using. Mix and take off the heat

- Rice is ready to eat

Suggestions : 

You can add mushroom / babycorn / scrambled eggs / chicken to the rice for a difference.

Kolkata Egg Roll

This is a regular dish at our home. We sometimes make it a egg chicken roll or a plain egg roll. This is what wikipedia says about the egg roll we are talking about. "In West Bengal in India, and especially Kolkata, "egg roll" refers to a fried egg wrapped inside a paratha flat-bread." You can see the egg rolls selling like hot cakes everywhere in kolkata and its picking up fast in all other places too. The dough for the roll is usually made with maida but I have used some leftover chapati dough here.

Serves : 2


What I used:
Chapati dough - enough to make 2 big chapati / paratha
If you want to make a dough:
Maida - 1/2 cup
Oil - 1 tbsp
Water 

pinch of salt

Knead water and maida together to make a elastic dough. Add oil to it and cover and let it rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Eggs - 3
Onion - 1 medium finely chopped
Green chili sauce - 1-2 tbsp(depends the heat level you want. I like mine spicy)
Lemon - juice of half lemon
Green chili - 1 finely chopped
Tomato ketchup - 1-2 tbsp (optional)
Oil - 6 tsp / 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste
How:
- Break the eggs in a bowl and beat it with a fork or a whisk with a pinch of salt
- Take a big lemon sized piece of the dough and roll it in a circle of 3 mm thickness. Repeat to make one more.
- Heat the tava ( iron tava will work better, but a non-stick will also work fine) and place the paratha on the hot tava. The tava should be hot while placing the paratha(not smoking hot).
- Drizzle 1 tsp oil all over the paratha and fry for 15-20 seconds before turning the paratha. Drizzle another tsp of oil and fry for another 15-20 seconds or till the paratha has brown spots all over. ( you can add more oil and let the paratha crisp more for better shop like taste)
- Remove the paratha from the heat. Now reduce the heat and spread half of the egg mixture to the size of the paratha on to the tava. Pour 1 tsp oil and place the cooked paratha on the eggs before the egg sets.
- Increase the heat. Once the egg is browned and done, it will stick to the paratha. Now take it off the tava.
- Repeat for the other paratha.
- To assemble the egg roll, place the cooked egg roll with the eggy side up. Spread the green chili sauce on the egg as much as desired. You can omit the sauce altogether, but the green chili sauce gives the required zing. Generously spread the chopped onion and green chili. Top it with tomato ketchup if required. Sprinkle some lemon juice on top.
- To roll the paratha, start from the side of the circle near you and work your way up. Make sure you have spread the sauce, onion, etc on the circumference, mainly near the center, otherwise the start and end of the egg roll will not have any. Once rolled, secure it by placing a tooth pick in the center or roll it in a paper like they do in shops.
We make a lot of variations of the egg roll at home. Hope to post it soon. Meanwhile, experiment and have fun.

Tomato Garlic sambar - Thakali sambar

This sambar is something my mother makes with idli, dosa, pongal, adai, etc. Needless to say, its our favorite, not just mine, me, my husband and even my daughter likes to have this sambar with a spoon. I make it with less chili than my mother for my daughters sake.

What I used :
Onion - 1 medium
Green chili -1
Curry leaf - 1 sprig
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 1/2 tbsp
Salt - as per taste
fresh coriander - for garnish
To Grind:
Tomato - 3 medium / 2 large
Garlic - 5-8 cloves depending on size
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Roasted channa dal - 1 tbsp (pottukadalai in tamil)
Saunf - 1 tsp
coconut - 1 tbsp (optional)

How:
- Grind all the ingredients under the To Grind section to a paste.
- Heat the oil in a kadai or a non-stick pan and add the mustard seeds. Once it splutters, add the green chili, curry leaf and onion.
- Fry till onion turns translucent, then add the ground paste and fry for 5 minutes stirring frequently.
- Add the chili powder and salt and fry for 3-4 minutes.
- Add 3/4 cup of water and mix it and let it boil for 5 minutes or till it reaches desired consistency. I like it thicker than the normal sambar.
- Garnish with coriander and enjoy with dosa, idli, adai, etc..
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Spicy cookies

These cookies are utterly delicious. Warning: you cant stop with one. I am always on the lookout for something savory but not fried and this is a good thing to have in hand. This is almost like a baked 'thattai' depending on what spices you use. Ofcourse, its  not a match for the deep fried golden circle my mother makes, but it is close :) These will stay in a airtight container for a week or more. I did not get a chance to test as the batch I made got over the same day and I didnt even manage to take a picture of them before dishing it out :(. Have to make do with the picture of uncooked cookies, (uncooked cookies sounds strange)

What I used:-

Maida ( Refined flour / All purpose flour) - 1 cup (almost 150 grams)

Cooking oil (Sunflower/ Vegetable) - 50 ml

salt

Sesame - 1 tbsp

Fresh methi -2 tbsp ( If using kasuri methi use1 tbsp)

Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp ( Adjust according to taste, you can skip this too)

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)

Baking powder - 1 tsp

How I did :-

- Sieve maida, salt and baking powder together in a bowl.

- Add all the ingredients except oil and give it a mix.

- Now add the oil and knead into a dough. The consistency should be like a soft chapati dough or like a normal cookie dough. Add cold water as needed.

- Cover the dough with a plastic wrap and rest it in the refrigerator for 15 mins.

- Line a tray with cookie sheet.

- Split the dough into 2 or 3 parts and roll each part into a thickness of 2-3mm. Now cut into desired shapes with a cookie cutter and place them on the cookie sheet

- Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degree for 12 minutes or till the cookies are golden brown.

Enjoy! 

Turkish style poached eggs with yoghurt

Hi

I like to try out different cuisines nd thankfully my husband is also enthusiastic about my endeavors. It doesn't take anything more than a sulky person at home to dampen your spirits when you are trying something new.I am lucky that way( and in many other ways too :) )Anyways I tried this from the lovely turkish blog http://almostturkish.blogspot.com and I am in love with turkish food. I have tried a number of recipes from there and each and every one of them was a hit.

I made a few changes to the recipe and this is what I came up with.

I didnt have nearly enough yogurt but I was craving for this so much, I went ahead an made it anyway, yummm..Its finger lickin good

Makes 2 servings. You can double the eggs and make 2 eggs per serving if you love eggs.

Eggs - 2(preferably at room temp)

Fresh curd - 1/2 cup or as much as you like
Butter or oil - 1 1/2 tsp
Mint flakes or any dry herb seasoning
Finely chopped garlic - 1 small
Oats - 1 c
Red chili powder - 1/2 - 1 tsp(adjust to taste)
Salt - as per taste

- Break 1 egg in a bowl
- Heat water in a deep pan and after it comes to a boil, lower the heat so that its not boiling, but water is hot. Stir the water in the centre with a spatula to make a whirlpool effect and tip the egg into the hot water.
- Increase the heat to medium. Let it cook for 3-5 minutes for soft to hard poached egg.
- Take the egg out and place it on a paper towel to drain off the water. Cook all the eggs you want this way, preferably one by one or two at a time.
- Spread 1/2 cup of oats in a plate and top it with yoghurt. Now place the poached egg in the centre.
- In a small pan, heat oil or butter. Once hot(before it gets smokey) add the garlic and after a 5 seconds add the chili powder or paprika. Do not let the chili burn(5 - 10 seconds will be enough). Turn off the gas and add the dry herb seasoning to the hot oil.
- Drizzle the oil over the yoghurt and the eggs and dig in

This was quite delicious and healthy too. Nowadays this has become a regular breakfast option at our home.

Chocolate cuties

Hi everyone,

Am back after a break. Had been away spending time with some relatives over diwali and so. I am posting some sweet recipes I made for diwali. I made this one on the go just adding things, but it turned out very nice. I am very bad at photographing( which reminds me I have to buy a new camera. I am taking photos with my cell phone:(  still. ), but I tell you these cuties looked very cute and tasty too.

Here is the recipe without much ado
Besan ( Chickpea flour) - 1 cup
Unsweetened Cocoa powder - 1/3 cup ( I used cadbury powder)
Cardamom / Cinnamon powder for flavor
Almonds for garnish
Ghee - 4 tbsp + some for rubbing

For syrup

Sugar - 1 cup

Water - 1 cup

- Sieve the besan and cocoa powder separately and keep aside.

- Heat a non-stick pan or kadai and add 1 tbsp ghee and in low to medium flame roast the besan till the rawness of besan is gone and  a nice aroma fills the air (ahhhh, If smells can be delicious, this certainly is). Take care not to brown it.

- On the side you can prepare the syrup by boiling the sugar and water together for 5 mins.

- Keep the flame low. Add the sugar syrup to the besan and stir continuously so that no lumps are formed. (Besan is quite fast in forming lumps and you have to keep up with it to make a smooth paste).

- Add 1 tbsp ghee now.

- Add the sieved cocoa powder and mix it well.

- Add the cardamom or cinnamon powder and mix it in.

- Now with the flame low, keep stirring this mixture every minute or so adding 1/2 tbsp of ghee every minute till the mixture forms a ball. It should not stick to the sides of the pan and when the mixture is taken in a spatula and inverted it should not fall. Another way of checking is rub your hands with ghee and take a small mount of mixture and try to shape it into a ball. It should  keep its shape and not crumble.

- Turn off the gas. Once the mixture comes to a bearable temperature, shape it into balls, press with your palms lightly to flatten it a little and place a slivered almond in the centre of each.

Tips:

- Do not let the mixture get very cold as it might harden and making shapes will not be possible.

- In case you have overcooked the mixture, you can add a few drops of milk, and stir vigorously in low flame to get it back