Palak Paneer / Cottage Cheese & Spinach Recipe

Spinach & Paneer with Rotis serves a full healthy meal . It is very tasty and healthy Recipe .

Ingredients: 

Palak / Spinach leaves - 4 hand full(Cleaned and Chopped)

Paneer 250 gms

Tomatoes - 2 (Pureed)

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1tspn

Onion - 1 medium sized

Green Chilies - 3

Cumin Seeds - 1 tspn

Red Chilly Powder - 1 tspn

Coriander powder - 1 tspn

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn

Garam Masala - 1 tspn

Oil/Ghee - 2 tspns

Salt as per taste

Method:

Cook the spinach and chilly with little water for about 10 minutes.Grind the cooled mixture in a blender

Take a pan add little ghee and tamper Cumin seeds . Then add ginger and garlic paste .

After a couple of minutes add onion and stir till it turns transparent.

Add the pureed tomato and saute till the raw smell goes off.

Add red chilly powder,coriander powder,turmeric powder,salt and garam masala and saute for 5 minutes

Add the spinach paste and let it cook for 5 minutes.

Add the paneer and little water and cover the pan and let it cook for 10 minutes.

Garnish it with cream if desired and serve

Prawn Biriyani / Shrimp Biriyani / Dhum Biriyani

Many are scared of making biriyani because of the difficulty in preparing and its CALORIES . This Biriyani slashes both and satisfies the tummy . Here is the simple way to prepare .

Ingredients:

Safron color diluted  / Safron soaked in water
 

For Marinating:

Prawns - 350 gms

Red chilly Powder - 1 tspn

Coriander Powder - 1 tspn

Garam Masala - 1/2 tspn

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tspn

Ginger and Garlic Paste - 1/2 tspn

Salt as per taste

Combine all and marinate for about 45 minutes.

For Masala:

Onion - 1 big sized (Sliced Vertically)

Tomato - 1 big sized (Chopped Finely)

Ginger-Garlic Pate - 1.5 tspn

Green Chilies - About 10 ( Depends on spice levels)

Coriander leaves - About a bunch

Mint leaves - Handful

Red Chilly Powder - 1 tspn

Coriander powder - 1 tspn
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn

Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 tspn

Whole Garam Masala(5 cloves , 2 bay leaf , 2 Star anise, 1 Cinnamon Stick , 1 black cardamom)

Shah Jeera - 1 tspn

Oil - 5 tspn

For Making Rice:

Basmathi Rice - 2 Cups ( Soaked for 15 minutes)

Whole Garam Masala(2 cloves ,1 Star anise, 1 Cinnamon Stick , 1 black cardamom) - Optional
Oil or Butter - 1 tspn ( Butter gives a good flavor)
Water - 3.5 Cups

Method:

 

For Making Rice:

 

Take a pan and melt the butter and add the whole garam masala listed under "For Making Rice" ingredients . Then add strained rice and stir for about 3 minutes till butter coats rice well.

Now transfer rice to rice cooker along with water and cook it.

For Baking Prawns:

 

Pre-heat oven at 300F

Take a baking tray and grease it . Arrange the marinated prawns on it and place it in the oven for 15 minutes . Flip the prawns and let it go into the oven for another 10 minutes . 

This process avoids deep frying . If you like it to be deep fried , do so by frying the marinated prawns in the hot oil .

For Masala:

 

Place a non-stick pan on stove (medium heat) and add the oil . Add all the whole garam masala and then add the ginger&garlic paste .

After a couple  add onion and fry it till it gets transparent.Then add tomato and stir it till it becomes mushy . Then add the green chilies and stir for couple of minutes . 

Then add red chilly powder , turmeric powder, Coriander powder , garam masala powder and salt.

Stir till the raw smell goes away . If the masala sticks to the bottom of the pan add little water .

Now add the grinded coriander leaves and then chopped mint leaves . Add little water and close the pan with the lid and let it cook for 5 minutes.

Add the baked/Deep-Fried prawns and stir it gently so that masala flavor gets into prawns.

Pre-heat the oven to 300F

Take a large glass bowl or tray . At the bottom spread 1 layer of rice and sprinkle the safron color then 1 layer of masala . Continue this process for as many layers as you wish . 

Cover the bowl or tray with aluminum foil and place it in the oven for about 40 minutes .

Take out stir gently and serve.

 

Pineapple glossy Halwa / Pineapple Halwa

Many ( including me) do not like to eat pineapple as such but likes the flavor of it . That is why i try recipes with pineapple . Today's one form of pineapple is halwa . With not so much ghee it looks glossy and yummy to taste.

Ingredients:

Pineapple puree 3 cups 

Sugar 2 cups

Ghee 3 Tablespoon

Chopped cashews 4 Tablespoon

Maida 1 tablespoon

Milk 3 tablespoon

Cardamom powder 1 tspn

Method:

Place a small pan on a low heat and melt 1 tspn ghee and add maida and stir it slowly for 2 minutes . Then  add milk and switch off the stove , Stir it without lumps and keep it aside.
Take another heavy bottomed non stick pan and melt ghee . Add the chopped nuts and fry it till golden brown color . Keep the fried nuts separately  . Now in the same pan on medium heat add the pineapple puree and stir for about 5 minutes or till a transparent texture.
Now add the sugar and keep stirring till you get bubbles .
Add the maida and milk mixture and stir it so that everything gets mixed up well .
Add the remaining ghee and keep stirring for about 15 minutes till a jam consistency is obtained .
Add the fried nuts and halwa is ready .

Note: If you like the nuts to be softer add them before the 15 minutes stir.

Ennai Kathirikkai Kulambu / Gutti vankaya Kura / Stuffed eggplant curry / Brinjal curry

This curry is very tasty and easy to make . It goes well with white rice and egg omelette

Ingredients :

Brinjals or Eggplant - 5 to 6

Tamarind paste as per taste

For Grinding:

Shallots - 5 to 6

Tomato - 1 medium

Pepper - 1/2 tspn

Cumin seeds - 1 tspn

Coriander seeds - 1 tspn

Shredded coconut - 3 tspns

Sesame seeds - 1 tspn

Roasted peanuts - 2 tspn

Garlic - 3 pods

Red chilly powder - 1/2 tspn

Curry powder - 1 tspn

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn

Coriander leaves - few

Salt as per taste

For Tampering:

Sesame oil - 3 tbsn 

Mustartd seeds - 1/2 tspn

Cumin seeds - 1/4 tspn 

Pinch of hing

Few Curry leaves

Method:

Grind all the grinding ingredients into a smooth paste and keep it aside.

Clean the brinjals and with the knife make a '+' cut at the base towards the stem but keeping the end near the stem intact.

Stuff the ground masala in to the slit brinjals and keep them aside.

Take a heavy non stick pan add oil and tamper with the tampering ingredients.

Now add the stuffed brinjal and leftover masala and close the lid for about 5 minutes on medium heat.

Open the lid and flip the brinjals and close the lid for 2 more minutes .

Add little water if masala sticks to the pan.

Add the tamarind water and let it come to a boil and cook for 10 more minutes till the oil seperates from the curry.

Note : This dish requires more oil than other curries.

Mutton Chukka

Mutton dishes are always special and every one likes it . This Chukka recipe is of madurai style and its my Mom in law's recipe . This recipe pairs well with Mutton curry .

Ingredients:

  

Mutton - About 250 gms

Shallots - 5 to 6(Chop it finely)

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn

Salt as per the taste

Oil for tampering

Few coriander leaves chopped

For Grinding: 

1 tsp of Pepper

1 tsp of cumin

1 inch cinnamon stick

4 cloves

3 red chilly ( Adjust as per your spice level)

3 cloves garlic (MInced)

1/2 tspn of minced garlic

10 tooth sized coconut pieces

 Few curry leaves

For Tampering:

1 tspn Fennel seeds

Method: 

 

Dry roast all the grinding ingredients and grind it after cooling.

Heat the cooker and add about 1 tspn of oil . Add fennel seeds . After about 30 seconds add shallots and fry for 2 minutes .

Add  Mutton and turmeric powder and stir it for about 5 minutes.

Add the grinded mixture and stir for another 4 minutes . Add salt.

Add about 1/2 cup and water and cover with cooker lid with whistle on .

After a whistle ture the stove on medium heat and wait for 4 more whistles.

When the pressure is released open the cooker lid .

Trasfer the pieces along with the gravy to a non stick pan and switch on the stove to medium heat.

Slowly gravy starts to thicken  . Keep stirring till you get the thick consistency and serve with coriander leaves sprinkled.

 

Spicy Fried egg

Plain boiled eggs are always boring to eat . The recipe takes only few minutes to prepare and you can enjoy the spicy and crispy eggs.

Ingredients:

About 5 boiled eggs

oil - 2 tspn

Red chilly powder - 1/2 tspn

Coriander powder - 1/2 tspn

Pepper and cumin seed powder - 1/2 tspn

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn

mustard seeds - 1/4 tspn

Few Curry leaves

salt as per taste

Method: 

Cut the eggs vertically as shown in the picture

Take a non stick pan and place it on stove with medium heat.

 Add oil and tamper with mustard seeds and add curry leaves  . Turn the stove to low heat.

 Now add Redchilly powder , coriander powder , Pepper and Cumin seed powder , turmeric and salt . Give it a stir . Now add the eggs with yolks down . 

Wait for 2 minutes and flip the eggs carefully so that the yolks dont seperate from whites.

Allow it for another 2 minutes . Switch off the stove and serve .

Ready for enjoying!

Paneer Peas Masala

Karasev

Karasev

When you crave crunchy and spicy snacks and could not wait to eat then this is the best option as it can be prepared in just 10 minutes.

Ingredients

 

4 cups besan flour

1 cup rice flour

1 tspn whole pepper

4 dried red chilly

1/2 tspn Ginger-Garlic Paste

1/2 tspn red chilly powder

2 tspns melted butter

salt to taste

Oil for frying

water for mixing

Murukku maker

 

Method

Gring pepper and redchilly.

Take a large bowl and add besan and rice flour .

Add melted butter, red chilly powder,grinded mixture,ginger-garlic paste and salt

Now knead it all by adding water little by little.

The dough consistency should be like chapathi dough.

Heat the oil and drop a small dough ball and if the dough comes up instantly ,the oil is ready for frying.

Grease the murukku maker and fill it with dough and start pressing directly into oil . Make a big murukku .

Let it fry till golden brown in color.

Let it cool down and then break into small pieces.

Ready to eat!

Kadalai Maavu Laddu

Kadalai Maavu laddu or Besan laddu are nutritious , made from besan or chickpea flour or gram flour,ghee and dried fruits.Kids love these laddus.

Ingredients

 

2 Cups Besan Flour

1.5 Cups Powdered Sugar

3/4 Cup Ghee

15 Cashewnuts

1/2 tsp cardamom powder 

Method

 

Heat the pan on medium heat and add ghee .

Add the cashews and besan flour together  . Stir for about 15 minutes breaking all the lumps.

When cashew nuts turn golden brown in color , add the sugar and cardamom powder and stir for 5 more minutes breaking all the lumps.
Switch off the stove and leave it for 5 minutes.
Check if you could make laddu . Don't try if the mixture is hot as it could hurt your palm.
If the laddus break apart , add another 2 tspns of melted ghee and mix well and then try to make laddus.
Laddus get a good shape and texture , when mixture is in warm or tolerable to touch condition.
Appreciations for making these laddus are more sweeter than laddus themself :)

 

Semya Payasam

May it be an auspicious day or event or festival or inviting guest , first thing that strikes my mind  is payasam .
Making payasam is the easiest job for me.
It can be served hot or cold.
Here is the recipe for quick payasam.

Ingredients

 

1/4 Cup Roasted Vermicelli / Semya

2 Cups milk(Can add little water)

1/2 Cup Sugar

2 tsp Ghee

10 cashews

10 raisins

1 tsp cardamom powder

Method

Heat pan and add ghee . After a minute add cashews and saute for few seconds and then add raisins . Saute both till cashews are golden brown in color . Keep it aside leaving the ghee in the pan.

Now add semya to the pan and saute it till semya gets coated with ghee.

Add milk and cover 3/4th of the pan with lid and keep stirring in between till the semya gets cooked .

Add Sugar and cardamom powder and let it cook for another 5 minutes. 

Tranfer this to a serving bowl and garnish it with fried nuts and raisins.

Tasty payasam is ready!

 

 

 

Indian Style Chicken Pizza

I love Pizzas and i always wanted them to have a south indian touch . I tried this and it came out so spicy and tasty!!

Ingredients

 

For Pizza Base:

1 Cup All Purpose Flour

1/2 sachet of Rapid Rise Yeast

1/3 Cup Warm Water

Salt as per taste

1 table spoon pure olive oil

1/2 teaspoon of sugar

For Pizza Sause:

3 garlic pods(Finely minced)

3 Green chilly(Finely Chopped)

1/2 onion(Finely chopped)

2 Medium sized tomatoes(Pureed)

1 Teaspoon Olive Oil

1/2 Teaspoon Red Chilly powder

Salt and pepper as per the taste

2 pinches of Oregano

For Chicken Topping:

1/4 Lb boneless Chicken(Cut into small cubes and cooked with salt)

1 teaspoon Olive oil

1/2 teaspoon Red chilly poder

Little Pepper

For Topping:

Mozzarella Cheese as per your requirements

3 Sweet Peppers(1 orange , 1 red and 1 yellow)

1/4 Bell pepper(Green)

1/2 Red onion

 

Method

 

For Pizza Base:

In a bowl of warm water , combine the salt and yeast and give it a stir . Let it stand for 10 minutes

In another large bowl add All Purpose Flour , salt , olive oil and yeast mixture and knead it well for about 10 minutes.

Grease a bowl with olive oil and place the dough and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Keep this in awarm place for about 2 hours till the dough is doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 400 degree Fahrenheit

When the dough is ready knead it again and roll it (rectangular or circle) as per your choice.

Place it on the pizza pan and place in the oven . Allow it for 10 minutes . 

Pizza base is ready.

For Pizza sause:

Heat oil in the frying pan and fry garlic and green chillies. Then add onions and stir till it becomes pink in color

Now add the tomato puree and stir it for 2 minutes and then add red chilly powder and salt.Let this cook till it condenses.

Add Oregano and switch off the stove

For Chicken topping:

Heat oil in a pan and fry the chicken by adding red chilly powder , Pepper and salt till it becomes semi crispy.

Finally when every thing is ready for the pizza to be made 

Preheat the oven to 350F

Take the pizza base and apply the pizza sauce evenly .

Top it with chicken and all the topping ingredients except cheese.

Finally top it with cheese.

Now bake it for 15 minutes ( or till cheese turn golden brown in color).

Enjoy making the pizza!!

Crispy Fried Chicken

I like KFC chicken except for more breading on it . So i tried fried chicken with indian spices and little breading and believe me it was awesome . If you have kids home its a must try!

Ingredients

2 Thigh pieces.

1/4 teaspoon red chilly powder.

1/4 teaspoon pepper powder
Salt as per requirement
Non sticking cooking spray
Seasoned flour for breading (  Can be prepared by adding pepper,salt and onion powder to All purpose flour)
Baking tray lined with aluminum foil

Method

 

Preheat the oven to 350F

Mix red-chilly powder,pepper and salt together

On the tray line up the washed and dried chicken and sprinkle the spices . Flip the pieces and do the same.

Let this go into oven for 10 minutes

Let the pieces cool down.

On a plate sprinkle a thick layer of seasoned flour.You may add bread crumbs if you wanted chicken to be more crispier.

Roll one chicken piece at a time on the flour and place it on the baking tray.Continue with other pieces as well.

After all the pieces are lined up on the foil, spray it with oil.

Let this go to oven at 300F and stay for 10 more minutes .

Take out and flip the pieces and again to oven for 10 more minutes.

Spicy Fried chicken in ready.

 

Chettinad Mushroom Curry

  

This is my mother's recipe and we always love it . It goes with rice,rotis and dosa.

Ingredients

1 lb Mushrooms ( Remove Stems)

1 Medium sized onion (Gently grinded)

1 tomato (Finely cut)

1/4 Teaspoon Fennel Seeds

1/2 teaspoon  Ginger and Garlic Paste

2 Green Chillies

Few Curry Leaves

3/4 Teaspoon Red chilly Powder.

1 Teaspoon Coriander powder.

Coriander leaves for garnishing

To Grind :

1/3 cup of paste from 

1 handful of scraped coconut.

1 tea spoon of poppy seeds

1 tea spoon of Cumin seeds.

 Method:

 

Heat the pan and fry the fennel seeds . Then add curry leaves and ginger garlic paste.

Add the onion and fry till the raw smell leaves .

The ad tomato and stir it till it becomes mushy.

Add the red chilly powder,coriander powder,turmeric powder and fry it for 5 minutes.

Add mushroom and stir it for 2 minutes.

Add the grinded mixture and stir it for another 3 minutes

Close the pan with lid and let this cook on medium heat for 5 minutes.

Garnish with coriander leaves and ready to serve. 

 

Pineapple Kesari

 Kesari is southindians favourite sweet . Mixing pineapple to kesari makes it double yummy with tangy touch and awesome flavour . I specially like the aroma .

Ingredients

1 Cup Rava / Semoline 
1 Cup Sugar (I prefer medium sweet , can use 1.5 cups if you wish it to be more sweeter)
1 Cup finely chopped Pineapple (Can also whip it twice in blender if you don't like the chunks)
1 pinch orange/yellow food color
3 cups water
1/4 cup Ghee
10 cashew-nuts

Method

Take a pan and pour in the ghee ( on Medium heat).
Boil water with food color parallel y.
Put the cashew-nuts and rava together and fry it till cashews turn golden brown ( we can easily check the golden brown consistency with cashews . So frying rava and cashews together prevents over frying rava).
Now add the pineapple and stir it continously till a nice pineapple flavor come out . It may take about 5 minutes.
Add boiled water slowly ( Better to use a vessel with handle so that you can be safe)
Now stir very well till there are no lumps.
Close the pan with a lid for 5 minutes.
Open the lid and rava is cooked well with nice consistency.
To this add sugar slowly. Now again the consistency becomes loose .
keep stirring by adding more ghee if required.
After about 3-4 minutes you will get nice semi solid consistency . At this stage switch off the stove
Yummy Pineapple Kesari is ready.

Note

I did  not use cardamom as it may dominate the nice pineapple flavor

 
  

 

 

 

 

Chocolate Chip Muffins

 

Today i had a lengthy afternoon and was feeling bored . Then i decided to cook something tasty but easy to make. Yes muffins are very easy to prepare . It just took me 30 minutes . 

Ingredients:

 

Wet ingredients:

 

1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter 

2 Eggs

2/3 Cup Milk

1 1/2  teaspoons of Vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients:

 

2 Cups All Purpose Flour

3/4 Cup Granulated white sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons of Baking Powder

A pinch of Salt

1 Cup of Chocolate chips(of any kind)

Preparation Method:

 

Preheat Oven to 375 Degrees F and place the oven rack in the center.

Take the muffin tray and place the paper liners in each cup.
In a bowl whisk the egg for 50 counts and add other wet ingredients and whisk together.
Sieve all the dry ingredients except chocolate chips and place the mixture in a bowl.
Stir in the chocolate chips in to the dry ingredients.
Now using a spatula fold in the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients till every thing is well combined . Please do not over mix this as muffins would go hard.Evenly fill the muffin cups with the prepared batter .
Place in oven for 20 minutes . Test the muffins with a tooth pick and if it come out clean , your muffins are ready.
Let is cool down for 10 minutes and they are ready to serve.