Potato omelette

A humble omelette sans pomp and show. Like the old saying that the best gifts come in little packages.

Only basic ingredients, yet it serves a fulfilling serving!

What I used

1. Oil/butter: 3 tablespoons
2. Grated onion (1), grated potato (1 cup)
3. Salt: to taste
4. Chilli: 1
5. Curry leaves: few
6. Beaten eggs: 3

How I made it

1. In a frying pan, saute the onion and grated potatoes with some salt, chilli and the curry leaves till the potatoes have cooked.
2. Spread the contents across the pan and pour the beaten eggs over it.
3. Once the eggs harden, slide it out onto a plate and turn the omelette the other side up back into the pan, as in a Spanish omelette, to cook the other side.

This was best served hot, with garlic bread :D :D

Classic French toast

I love bread.. just not the regular sliced ones we get in the supermarket!! My kind are the ones that are a bit overbaked with a slight but obvious taste of the overbaked crust. So as a rule, I rarely buy the supermarket sliced breads.

One can't underestimate the ease with which bread can result in a fast turnaround of breakfast. I first had French toast as a child when my mother made it as a Friday breakfast and I hated it. Was never a fan of fried bread throughout my childhood. When the necessity arises, there is a greater tendency to pacify oneself with the availability deemed as the new "in" thing.

On one such uncanny day, with an already preset disposition to eggs and the presence of some bread, I decided to make the French toast for breakfast. This was also due to the keen desire to avoid some good bread from going stale. And secretly I don't prefer to waste food for the sake of the starving children across the world.

So French toast is really easy to make, though I must warn you, it is a bit oily.



What I used

1. Butter/oil: enough for shallow frying (around half cup for 4 slices of bread)
2. Eggs: 2
3. Sugar: depending on the sweetness needed (I used 3 tablespoons)
4. Bread: 4 slices
5. Cinnamon/sugar powder: for sprinkling (optional)

How I made it

1. In a bowl, beat the eggs and sugar well and soak each bread slice for about 30 seconds.
2. Heat the butter/oil in a pan and fry the egg-soaked bread slices till they brown on each side.

Land the toast on a plate lined with tissue/blotting paper to get rid of the excess oil. Serve with a sprinkle of cinnamon or sugar powder.

This a perfect breakfast with a hot cup of coffee or cardamom tea :D :D

Beef cutlets

The day I made beef roast was the same day I decided to try the beef cutlets, not because of any particular reason other than the sheer availability of beef. 

More importantly, it was a treat that I had planned for my friends and colleagues. I made this inspired by the beef cutlets we used to buy from the food court in our office building. The kind of cutlets with more substance than just a heavy filling of potatoes. This was rich and spicy beef cutlets. 4 pm was awaited eagerly so we could rush upstairs to the food court and grab 2 cutlets before it was all over. 

That's when I decided I must make these yummy cutlets for a treat :D :D

Since the recipe has a lot to do with the beef roast, I suggest you go though the ingredients and method I have mentioned for the beef roast, then follow the below steps:

What I used (extra ingredients not mentioned in the recipe for beef roast)

1. Eggs: 3
2. Bread crumbs: 2 cups
3. Oil: for deep frying

How I made it

1. To make cutlets, grind the beef roast in a mixer and make small flattened patties. 
2. Dip each patty in egg wash and coat with bread crumbs. 
3. Repeat the process of egg wash, bread crumbs once again for really crisp crust.
4. Deep fry in hot oil to get spicy crispy beef cutlets.

Beef cutlets and hot coffee is a to-die-for evening snacks.

But of course, if you can't wait till evening, just make it any time and have it with anything or even better idea, don't wait for a combo, simply munch on it as soon as it off the stove :D :D

Beef roast

A beef roast was long overdue. The reason for delay being the time it took  me to get motivated enough to hunt for a place that sold good beef. And then, of course, the necessity to cook something that cannot be substituted with anything other than beef :D :D

Though I like beef roast and other forms of beef, am not very particular about it. The point is am not crazy enough about beef to take the time to go purchase it like I would do for vegetables and fish.

There are some really good stuffs to be made with beef and when I decided to make this beef roast for a few friends, it was just the excuse I needed :D :D

What I used

1. Beef: ½ kg
2. Diced shallots (10), ginger (1.5 inch), Garlic (6 cloves)
3. Roasted cloves (6) cardamom (6) and pepper corn (1 teaspoon), perumjeerakam - fennel seeds (1 teaspoon)
4. Salt to taste
5. Garam masala: 2 teaspoons
6. Meat masala: 2 tablespoons
7. Cinnamon powder: 1 teaspoon

In a mixer, grind all ingredients from points 2-4 and make a coarse paste. Then, in a pressure cooker, add the cleaned beef cut into small cubes along with the ground paste made above with the mentioned spice powders and cook till 4 whistles. The beef cooks in its own stock, so no need to add water unless you need gravy.

For the second phase, following ingredients are needed:

1. Coconut oil: 1/2 cup
2. Mustard seeds: 1 teaspoon
3. Curry leaves: 10 leaves
4. Grated onion (1), carrot (1), Capsicum (1)
5. Corriander leaves: a fistful
6. Salt and pepper: to taste

How I made it

1. In hot pan, splutter the mustard seeds and curry leaves in hot oil and sauté the vegetables with some salt and pepper. Capsicum, carrot and coriander are optional. I used it as I find adding vegetables reduces the heaviness of consuming beef.
2. Once the vegetables are half done, add the cooked beef with its stock and mix everything well. Adjust the masalas and salt as per need at this point and cook on medium flame till the stock reduces and the beef is dry. You can decide how dry you want and adjust accordingly. I cooked the beef with pan open to speed up the process of reduction. Once the stock is reduced or fully absorbed, turn off the fame and let it rest. You can see that the beef would have become a bit drier after resting.
   PS: for really crispy beef roast, continue the roasting till the beef turns black with occasional stirring. It might take 2 hours or so for it to turn this hard and black. It would be totally worth it and I must warn you it is very unhealthy but so god damn tasty that you should try it occasionally. Human body can handle the bad stuff once in a while ;D

A lot of alcoholic beverage fans find in beef roast the perfection of combination that renders their brand irresistible. While for the others, beef roast is a must have with appam, rice, chappathi, porotta, idiappam, you name it and beef goes with it all.

My personal combo is red rice, pulissery, achinga payar mezhukkupuratti and beef roast with some lime pickle.

That, my friends, is my perfect lunch!

Dates and peanut laddoo

The chances of some scintillating events unfolding by chance ... is what happened the day I made dates laddoos :D :D

It was my last week at my job of 8 years and as my farewell to the Firm that gifted me some noteworthy memories, it was my tribute to my friends and colleagues with some me-made culinary art. I prefer DIY gifts these days coz of the personal touch :D. Crossed fingers and a pounding heart loomed over my ecstatic halo of excited anxiety, I was gonna make them in a larger proportion.

As I stepped into the supermarket hoping for inspiration from the arrays decked with packets of possible ingredients, my eyes fell on the shelf with dates and then that MOMENT ensued :D :D My big moment that led to what I have shared below.

Some days feel like they are meant to have been in a certain way. It makes me wonder if there is indeed a pre-destiny. Over the years, I have replaced the blind religious belief handed down over generations to one that believes that we make our own destiny, or at least that our decisions play a vital role in shaping our castles of dreams. The Universe is full of surprises and I have concluded that there are more than "YESes" and "NOs". :D :D

As surprising as was the making of these little rounds of joy, I got some amazing pics during the photoshoot that I was proud of to show off.

I was way over the moon!

What I used

1. Deseeded dates: 500 grams
2. Toasted non-salted peanuts: ½ cup (optional)
3. Ghee: 1 tablespoon
4. Jaggery: ¼ cup
5. Ginger: 2 inches
6. Cardamom: 8 pods
7. Pepper powder: 3/4 teaspoon
8. Water: 3 tablespoons
9. Toasted sesame seeds and almonds for garnish (optional)

How I made it

1. Grind the dates and peanuts separately in a mixer. I did not powder the peanuts to retain some crunch in the laddoo. In a hot pan, heat half the ghee and cook the dates for a few minutes stirring continuously. To this add the peanuts and mix well and take it off stove.
   PS: you can add other dry fruits instead of peanuts. If no cruch needed, just use deseeded dates
2. In a separate pan, boil the jaggery with some water, ginger, cardamom and pepper powder till it becomes viscous. Strain most of this juice into the dates and peanut mix and mix well. To the rest of the reduced jaggery, add the almonds that will be used for garnish.
3. Once the mix cools down, grease you hands and a plate with some ghee and make laddoos of the desired shape and size. Jaggery coated almonds can be used as garnish. Also toasted sesame seeds can be used as topping.

I was tasting this thoughout the making process that by the time it was all over and I had a full laddoo, I was so full I skipped dinner that day :D :D

This was the quickest sweet dish I had made in a while :D :D

Potato scrambled eggs

It was 9:00 am... a Sunday... a very lazy Sunday. The kind of lazy where one wakes up from bed only to go sprawl on the living room couch. Nowhere to rush to, no timeline to keep up, no commitments to follow through. Such days are WOW to wake up to knowing the day is all mine. :D 

Such lazy days are the days too when going to a store is a big NA NA and where my creativity springs up to keep me all cozy. Bill Gates was so right when he said a lazy man finds the easiest way to finish a task. So around 10:00 am, when my lazy sprawl was getting uncomfortable with the muscle fatigue of staying in a position far too long, I crawled off the bean bag and gave it a reassuring glance to say "I will be back soon dear". Then got my home-ground coffee and decided to have breakfast.

There was an onion, corriander and curry leaves, a few potatoes and that was it. A very silent and polite but obvious swear almost escaped my disappointed demeanor. What was I supposed to make with that???

Why not a Spanish omelette I thought. It had been a while since I made them. When I opened the fridge, what I saw made my heart sink. There was only 1 egg! :-( ;-( 

And my pan needed at least 3 eggs to make one on a day of ingredient drought. Then it happened like the troll where one is about to flip an omelette and ended up with scrambled eggs, with some alterations in my case. 

As I boiled the potatoes and was estimating how to lay the pan so I could still make a Spanish omelette, I suddenly got too bored making a plan and then thought how about potato scrambled eggs. And despite the skepticism, I moved ahead and had a very filling breakfast :D :D

What I used

1. Coconut oil: 3 tablespoons
2. Boiled and coarsely crushed potatoes: 1 cup
3. Chopped onion: 1
4. Salt: to taste
5. Pepper powder: 1/2 teaspoon
6. Curry leaves: few
7. Chopped corriander leaves: 1/2 cup
8.  Eggs: 2 (I used one, but 2 would be better)

How I made it

1. Heat oil in a pan, saute the onions with salt and pepper and add the curry leaves, corriander leaves and crushed potatoes 
2. Mix the contents well and add the eggs with continuous scrambling till the eggs turn crispy

I was so hungry with all the planning and change of plans that I didn't have the patience to click more pics of this dish :D :D It was all over in a jiffy for me. It was also the moment I basked in the perfection of an egg-potato marriage.

This is a light and filling breakfast for those who don't wanna go heavy.

Have this with a slice of garlic bread and it should just be fine! :D :D

Chicken samosa

Despite the severe curfew on some of our favorite pasttimes, one of the best happenings that sprung from my mom's retirement was the daily snacks she would prepare for my sis and me with the evening tea :D :D. After her retirement, it was exciting to rush home from school for the sole reason that there would be something new and tasty for lunch :D :D

A couple of months ago, I was reminded of the samosas she would make, the one foiled in pastry sheets, which isn't common in Trivandrum. I checked out a few confectioneries here to no avail.

It was time to create what I wanted! And I love that feeling where what you need isn't available and you gotta custom make it :D :D. For me, it was only a matter of reaching the heights of "wanting" to leave my comfortable premises and get the stuff. Surprisingly what led me to make these samosas wasn't my craving. It was while deciding on a menu of snacks to treat my friends and colleagues that I decided "why not some chicken samosas!" :D :D

And here they are :D :D

What I used

1. Coconut oil : ¼ cup for the filiing and enough oil for deep frying
2. Mustard seeds: ½ teaspoon
3. Diced onion: 2
4. Ginger-garlic paste: 1 teaspoon
5. Salt: to taste
6. Turmeric powder, pepper powder and garam masala: ½ teaspoon each
7. Grated carrots: ½ cup
8. Capsicum: 1
9. Chillies: as per need
10. Chicken: 250 grams
11. Pastry sheets: as per need

How I made it

1. In pan, heat oil, splutter the mustard seeds and saute the onion adding some salt. When onions soften, add the spice powders and cook till the raw smell goes. Add the carrot, capsicum and chillies adjusting the salt as needed till the veggies are almost done. Then goes in the minced chicken and cook with continuous mixing till the chicken is done. This is the filling
2. Take the elongated pastry sheet to wrap the samosa into a triangle and deep fry in hot oil till they brown on either side

These crispy triangles of joy are delicious with sweet and spicy tomato ketchup :D :D

  

Couple it with  a hot cup of cardamom tea or coffee to have an evening that makes you smile in your armchair watching that serene sun go down the horizon :D :D

Maggie chicken curry

It was funny how today morning I decided to make a chicken curry with the less than half kilo of chicken available in my freezer.

Like always, I had a recipe in mind when I started cooking. Today, the plan was to make a tomato chicken curry and I started accordingly. La la la… :D :D it was until I got the masalas mixed up and ended up making what I decided to call the Maggie chicken curry :D :D. There is a reason why I chose this name.

So when the garam masala jar and the cinnamon jar got mixed, uff!!! It was a disaster, is what I thought. But… the resulting curry tasted as if it was a chicken curry made with Maggi noodles tastemaker, only that there was no tastemaker :D :D

Cinnamon powder was the key!

Now the excitement of having saved the curry clubbed with the discovery of a possible secret of the tastemaker, this was a winner for me :D :D

What I used

1. Coconut oil: ½ cup
2. Mustard seeds: 1 teaspoon
3. Curry leaves: as many as you want
4. Sliced onion: 1
5. Cardamom: 4 pods
6. Cloves: 4
7. Salt: as per need
8. Diced potatoes and carrots: 1 each - optional
9. 3 tomatoes pureed with ¼ teaspoon salt and garam masala
10. Cinnamon powder: 3 teaspoons
11. Garam masala: 2 teaspoons
12. Pepper powder: 1 teaspoon
13. Chillies (kaanthari): 5 depending on how spicy the curry should be
14. Chicken: 400 grams
15. Coconut milk: ½ cup-1 cup depending on how much gravy needed

How I made it:

I made this in a mud pot coz that was the only free pot that day

1. Heat the oil, splutter the mustard seeds with the curry leaves, cloves and cardamom and saute the onions till soft
2. Required salt goes in along with the carrots, potato and chillies
3. You can skip the carrots and potato. I added it coz there was so less chicken and 3 hungry tummies to feed. So volume was a necessity ;-) So it’s not necessary to add veggies
4. Once the veggies have mingled well, in goes the cinnamon powder, garam masala and pepper powder and cook for 3 minutes
   PS: There was a panic akin to the realization that I married a cinnamon instead of garam masala (UFFF!!!!) and the whole pot smelling like cinnamon buns instead of the tomatoey chicken curry that I had so envisioned – you can completely ignore the panic part coz you already know you are making Maggie chicken
5. Then add the tomato puree and mix everything well with half a cup of water
6. When the contents start to boil, add in the chicken pieces, coconut milk and cook with the pot covered for about 40 minutes till the chicken is well-cooked

This really tasted like Maggi and like Maggi noodles, the smells fades after a while. Then it becomes really spicy. It tasted very good with rice and am sure it would be wonderful with just about anything that any chicken curry is a combo with :D :D

Fried potato wedges

Ya, okay so health well-wishers advise that fried food is bad for health. 

So just take few big bites and be done with it quickly ;D

Win-win scenario ;D

What I used

1. Potato wedges: as much as you need. I used 2 medium-sized potatoes
2. Oil for deep frying
3. Salt and pepper: 1/4 teaspoon each (optional)

How I made it

1. Fry the potato wedges in hot oil for about 10 minutes till they are soft and spread it out on tissue or blotting paper to absorb excess oil
2. While the wedges are still hot, sprinkle salt and pepper

Since potato wedges are thick, they won't be very crunchy. Take note though that they are very filling.

Perfect as an evening snack! :D :D

Spinach fried rice

The story of this fried rice began on a sunny Sunday when my friend and I had decided to go for the afternoon matinee show. 

Like most lazy Sundays when we are so lazy we even skip church, we waited till we were really hungry to decide whether to light our stove or to luncheon in the finesse of a restaurant nearby. As we pondered over this in the backdrop of a humming TV playing a god-knows-which movie and enlightening overselves with the happening of our friends' and acquaintances and everyone else's worlds on Facebook, it suddenly dawned on us that our own world was turning dizzy. 

We would have had to rush right away if we had to have lunch from outside to make it to the movie on time. On the other hand, if we cooked, there would be ample time to take our own sweet time to unfoil our agenda. It didn't take long to decide on the next course of action. 

As my eyes fell on the plush wine color of the spinach leaves (which looked like they were putting out their head-like leaves to make eye contact with me) that I had bought just the day before, the freshness tickled my senses and it took only a few seconds to decide what would be a quick lunch ;D ;D

What I used

1. Fried and cooked basmati rice: 5 cups
2. Cooking oil: 1/2 cup
3. Diced onion, carrots, capsicum: 1 cup each
4. Salt: to taste
5. Chopped spinach: 2 cups
6. Green chillies: 2
7. Pepper powder: 2 teaspoons

How I made it 

1. In a pan, heat the oil and saute the vegetables and chopped chillies with some salt till they soften. This takes about 15-20 minutes.
   PS: to save time, pre-boiled vegetables can be used as well 
2. Add the pepper powder followed by the rice and mix well gently.

This was a no-big-deal, really quick fried rice that was mind blowing with tomato ketchup :D :D

On any regular day, this would be amazing with any curry :D :D

Corriander scrambled eggs

One day, it was too sunny to go out... and those days are common here no doubt... So it goes without saying that the lunch had to be made with what was available. I did have a bunch of corriander leaves. The question was what I could do with a bunch of corriander leaves. 

Ah! Corriander scrambled eggs of course! :D :D

What I used

1. Cooking oil: 1/4 cup
2. Shallots/diced onion: 1/2 cup
3. Salt: to taste
4. Chillies: 2
5. Garlic: 2 cloves
6. Chopped corriander leaves: 1 cup
7. Eggs: 2
8. Lemon juice: 1 tablespoon

How I made it

1. In a pan, saute the shallots, green chillies and garlic in hot oil till the shallots are soft
2. Add the required salt
3. Next goes in the corriander leaves. Cook till the leaves wilt and add the eggs and stirr well to ensure they are well scrambled to fine pieces. This doesn't take long
4. Serve with a drizzle of lime juice

A last-minute side dish or even as breakfast, this suffices :D :D

Boiled vegetable quick-toss salad

I read somewhere and believe that our cravings have a lot to do with what we need. 

Let's take the simple example of water. Sometimes, no matter how many varieties of drinks are on spread, water is what one needs. At other times, like on the tropical hot afternoons, it's a glass of sambharam or salted lime juice that does the quenching better. So it's no wonder when on some days, veggies steal the show. 

On such days, a bowl of salad is enough :D

What I used

1. Butter: 2 tablespoons
2. Garlic: 6-8 cloves
3. Boiled and diced carrots: 1/2 cup; broccoli: 2 cups; french beans: 2 cups
4. Salt: as per need
5. Pepper: as per need (optional)

How I made it

PS: Ensure the vegetables are boiled with enough salt 

1. In a pan, fry the garlic in melted butter and add all the boiled vegetable and toss well so as to butter coat every piece. Adust salt and pepper as needed and that's it!

Salads are refreshing isn't it?

After a routine of consuming starch and red meat, when one feels the need to detox, salads do wonders to make you feel refreshed with no added weight :D :D

Egg curry

Egg, as I have often said is a necessity for me. My last-minute saviour!

Most of my cooking trials are based on dishes that I have tasted and my culinary journey began with an attempt to recreate that blissful sojourn. It clearly underlines the fact that epic tastes create lasting impressions. More and more people want to experience that. I believe that's what a splendid idea is. That more people want to replicate it.

In this case, for the egg curry, my source of taste that I am still in the process of trying to recreate is the egg curry of the appam-egg curry combo from a chayakada (tea shop) near Caritas Hospital in Kottayam. As a child, I was a frequent visitor to that hospital and I was bribed into going there with the promise of a lime juice with ice cubes and of course the appam-egg curry that I so dearly loved <3 <3

I don't remember the name of that tea shop and don't know if it is still there. Because I don't visit hospitals that much now thankfully :D :D  So whenever egg curry pops up in a menu, I order it with the constant hope that it has that long-ago taste that lingers in my memory. Such a lasting impact from a chayakada chef! 

Do not be mistaken that the recipe am listing here is a replica of the aforesaid dish. This is different but really good and anyone can try it :D :D

PS: When I manage to replicate that chayakada taste, which will be soon coz I got some hint about how he/she might have made it, that will be here! ;D ;D

What I used

1. Vegetable/coconut oil: 1/4 cup
2. Cardamom (2 pods) cinnamon (1-inch), cloves (2): optional
3. Mustard seeds: 1/2 teaspoon
4. Curry leaves (optional): ~8-10 leaves 
5. Finely sliced onions: 1 cup
6. Diced ripe tomatoes: 1/2 cup
7. Salt: to taste
8. Meat masala: 2 tablespoons
9. Pepper powder: 1/2 teaspoon
10. Chillies: 2 - change according to the heat required
11. Coconut milk: 1/2 cup
12. Boiled eggs cut into halves: 2

How I made it

1. If you are using cardamom, cinnamon and cloves, add it into the hot oil at the beginning itself so the oil becomes flavoursome
2. Then splutter mustard seeds with few curry leaves and saute the onions with some salt on low flame till the onions have melted
   PS:You have to be patient here. Coz when the onions melt is when it gets a sweet taste. This mix of sweetness with the spices we are going to add is what gives it a to-die-for flavour
3. Add the tomatoes and chillies at this stage. When the tomatoes wilt and get mushy, add salt, meat masala and pepper powder
4. When the content is aromatic, add the coconut milk and some water for the gravy. Water is to be added based on how thick you want the gravy to be
5. When then gravy comes to a boil, add the boiled eggs ensuring it is coated with the gravy
6. Set aside for a few minutes and serve hot

This curry is very simple to make and we had it with chappathi :D :D

It goes well with rice and appam, bread too :D :D ..

Like I say, you can decide your own combo. What works for you work for you and that's good enough :D :D

Rajma beans fried rice

Rajma beans!

The first time I heard about them was from my ex-boyfriend who was from Delhi. That was years ago! Am not sure if it was common in Kerala back then coz I wasn't that into food then. But I certainly didn't come across them in my diet at that time.

So recently when I went grocery shopping and came across these little pebble beans, I thought it would serve as a good option to stock up. Obviously it was going to come in handy.

So on that Saturday morning when I decided it was going to be home-made lunch, it was going to be my version of a rajma fried rice :D :D

What I used

1. Vegetable oil: 3 tablespoons
2. Cooked rajma beans: 1.5 cups - retain the stock remaining after cooking the rajma beans
3. Finely diced medium-sized onion: 1
4. Diced carrots (optional): 1
5. Chillies (any chillies): use based on how much of heat needed
6. Garam masala: 1 teaspoon
7. Chilli powder (optional): 1 teaspoon
8. Salt: to taste
9. Jaggery: 1 teaspoon
10. Garlic: 2 cloves
11. Basmati rice: 1.5 cups
12. Cinnamon stick: 1 inch
13. Butter: 1/ tablespoon
14. Curry leaves (optional): 2 sprigs
15. Water: enough to cook the rice - for 1 cup basmati rice, add 2 cups of water. To be on the safe side, check the softness of rice and add water accordingly

How I made it

1. In a pan, heat the butter and 1/2 teaspoon oil and when it's hot, add the washed basmati rice with cinnamon stick and fry the rice. Keep aside
   PS:No need to brown the rice. It is fried enough when the grains are all separated from each other
2. Simultaneously in another pan, heat the remaining oil and splutter some mustard seeds, followed by sauteeing of onion with some chillies and salt
3. When the onions have wilted, add in the carrots and cook with pan covered till carrots are soft
4. Sprinkle in the garam masala, chilli powder and jaggery with the beans and mix everything well
5. Add the curry leaves and fried rice with the rajma stock adding enough water to coer the contents
6. Keep the pan covered and cook till the rice is done
   PS: take care of the amount of water being added as too much water can make the rice gooey. There should only just be enough water for rice to cook fully. For this, check the softness of the rice in between and add water accordingly. It's not as difficult as you might have just felt reading this
7. Keep the contents covered for sometime for everything to mingle well and serve hot... or cold :D Whatever way you feel like :D :D

When I made this, it came out a tad bit too spicy for me. So I had this with some cold yoghurt and it was heaven! 

At least try it once. It's worth it! :D :D

Chicken cutlet

Cutlets.. the good old cutlets!

The very mention of it brings forth the epitome of sensuousness to its heights. The perfect amalgamation of hotness so hot, sweetness so sweet, spice so spicy, crisp so crunchy that you can almost hear the crunch of that glorious bite before you are hit with the two-pronged ecstasy of the sweetness of the melted onions and the fire of the chillies. Such a hot combo!.. 

It wont stop at one bite... will it? ;D You just need more ... and more... 

And then... one more bite... :D :D

What I used

1. Vegetable oil: 2 tablespoons
2. Finely diced onion and shallots: 1 cup
3. Ginger-garlic paste: 1 tablespoon
4. Salt: to taste
5. Finely diced carrots: 1/2 cup
6. Garam masala: 1.5 teaspoon
7. Meat masala: 2 tablespoons
8. Chopped green chillies: 2
9. Minced chicken: 250 grams
10. Potatoes boiled with salt and mashed: 1/2 cup
11. Eggs: 2 or as needed to coat all the patties
12. Bread crumbs: as needed
13. Oil for deep frying

How I made it

1. In a skillet, heat the oil and saute onion shallot mix on low flame with some salt till they become really soft and have wilted fully
2. Add the ginger-garlic paste, chillies and carrots and cook on medium flame till the carrots are half done
3. Then add the masalas and cook again on low flame till the raw smell is gone
4. Add the minced chicken and cook really well. This will take sometime as the chicken cooks in its stock
5. Cook on medium flame keeping the skillet covered till all the stock has evaporated and the content is dry
6. Allow the mixture to cool,add the mashed potatoes, mixing everything really well
7. Then make firm patties of the desired shape
8. Dip them in the well-beaten eggs first and then coat it with bread crumbs. This process can be repeated once more for crispier cutlets
9. Heat enough oil on medium flame in a frying pan for deep frying and fry the cutlet patties till they are golden brown on each side
10. Excess oil can be blotted off using tissue or blotting paper

It's a fine snack on its own

Yet, it is equally good as a side dish with rice, fried rice, biriyani and chapatthis too. And if you are on a roll, stuff it between 2 breads or bun and it becomes a sandwich! Roll a chappathi or some flat bread over it and these can be wraps too ;D :D. You can also crumble them into a salad

Plenty of ways to have them, one better than the other

Enjoy!

Aval (flattened rice) nanachhathu

Come evening and we are drawn towards tea and snacks. Else it is as if something is greatly amiss. This is all the more a must when returning from schools and colleges and even being at workplace is no exception to simply go and have a hot cup of tea or coffee and a crispy crunchy bite of that something special. This snack is often awaited for like the surprise of the day. Such is the anticipation! :D :D

Aval (flattened rice) nanachathu is an old-time favorite akin to black and white movies. That is how long it has been in existence. A very filling snack with the goodness of fresh coconut :D :D It is so easy to prepare and is perfect to be seen with on an evening snack array :D :D

What I used

1. Crispy dried aval: 2 cups
2. Freshly grated coconut: 1 cup
3. Sugar or jaggery: 1/2 cup
4. Cardamom pods: 5 (optional)

How I made it

1. In a bowl, mix all the above ingredients well such that the aval soaks in the moisture of the freshly grated coconut and softens. 
2. Keep the mixture for about half an hour before the war cry is hurled ;D

Too simple isn't it? ;D

Pressure cooked brown payar

Sometimes the easiest preparations come from street eateries. Serving a large bunch of people at the blink of an eye is no trivial skill

When one is in a hurry, one has to innovate. It is in such instances, especially the 2 hours before office time hunger pangs, that I seek lunch quickies. There won't be time to saute vegetables on low flame till they reach the right texture and the condiments get enough time to release their flavors. NO way! These are the ideal instances with ample time to chase perfection. But we live in the real world. So, we make our own perfection!

Maybe it is brain's adaptation to quickly come up with solutions to stay alive for its own sake ;D Because if it was left to me, I will just opt for the ideal scenario. So I guess my brain got me this idea for its own good

The brown payar, because it can be stored dry, is a permanent fixture in my pantry. And there are many preparations in which it stars like the brown payar thoran

I made the following recipe for lunch on a day when I really could not spare much time in kitchen, but I was so famished I needed something immediately

What I used

1. Washed brown payar: 1 cup
   It cooks easily if it has been soaked overnight
2. Finely chopped ginger and garlic: 1 teaspoon each
   It is also enough to throw in only garlic cloves sliced in half
3. Any chilli (based on how much heat you want): 2 green chillies is what I used
4. Salt: to taste
5. Coarsely sliced shallots: 4-5
   Half an onion is also good enough
6. Water: enough too cook 
7. (Optional) Mustard seeds: 1/2 teaspoon, vegetable oil:1 tablespoon, curry leaves: a sprig

How I made it

1. Add all the above (except the last optional set) into a small pressure cooker, with enough water to submerge the ingredients
2. Cook on medium flame till you hear 4 whistles
3. Turn off the flame and let the contents cook in the steam. This might take about half an hour
4. When you open the lid, if the water has not evaporated, transfer the contents to a hot frying pan and cook till the water evaporates. This stock is very nutritious, so refrain from draining it away
5. This is semi-solid and hence suffices as a side dish for a meal
6. If you can spare 3 minutes more, splutter the mustard seeds and curry leaves and add to the curry just made and mix well or add the contents of the pressure cooker to this tadka and then cook. Either way is fine
   I add curry leaves to whichever dish possible because its presence signifies my taste of Indianess 

I am crazy about all forms of brown payar and usually share it with rice, pulissery and fish fry. I have tried this with chappathy also under compelling circumstances and it was not bad

Christmas chicken curry

Christmas is a special time of the year! We await it with great anticipation even if there is nothing to do other than church and a feast that day... Time of joy and acceptance and sharing.. all goody goodies :D :D The perfect day of the year!

And my Christmas chicken curry has nothing to do with Christmas! I named this so for the divine reason that I used all the remaining goodies in my fridge, which by themselves weren't voluminous enough to make solo curries, thereby showing togetherness and the peace of inclusivity :D :D How truly immaculate!

PS: If I made you feel divine, am glad to have reignited the Holy Spirit within you, but please please DON'T get all pious with it and eat this in Church. Feel free to have it in the sanctity of elsewhere

What I used
The good part of this dish is that it is made just like a regular chicken curry except that I used vegetables. I have shared the recipe of Spicy chicken curry before. I followed the same method here

1. All the ingredients from the spicy chicken curry
2. Diced carrots: 2
3. Diced Padavalanga (snakegourd): 1 cup
4. Lady's finger cut into 1/2 inch pieces: 2
5. Yardlong beans cut into 1/2 inch pieces: 2

How I made it

Method follows the same sequence as the Spicy chicken curry. The additional step is to add all the above vegetables along with the chicken so they cook in the chicken gravy... and that's it!

The day I made it, I had freshly baked raisin bread from a confectionery close by. It made a really good Sunday brunch

Like chicken curry, it goes with everything, rice, chappthi, bread, idiappam, palappam, kallappam, porotta, pidi, patthiri, dosa, ada and anything you can think of :D :D

PS: In case you are wondering if this will taste like sambar with all the vegetables, well no... it tastes just like chicken curry but with lot more vegetables ;D

Soya chunk stirred fry

With great pleasure I announce that cooking is fun and if you look at it, it's more than just tossing this and that together to create something to gulp down to stifle the pangs of hunger. If that's what cooking is to you, I would say you are yet to discover the beauty of your creation. Nevertheless, it's not too late for a change ;D 

That's the best part of life isn't it? You can always choose to be different when you wish to :D :D

Who knew making food can be soo sooo soooo transforming... the feel of the vegetables, the poultry, the slices of steak, the boiled ovals that are eggs, the aroma of the herbs and spices, the magically mouth watering effect of the dish as it changes from individuals in different bottles and racks to an accomplished team called the "meal" that people just can't get enough of because they are all soooooo good together :D :D

How a dish becomes an example of a teamwork of ingredients that blended and mixed and churned and tossed and transformed together to achieve a common goal!

So next time you cook, you are not just cooking, you are leading a team ;D 

And you... you changed too didn't you? 

You chose the ingredients, cleaned them, prepped them, decided on the how muchs and whats of each one, you raised and reduced the heat as per need, keeping a mindful watch on the timing. 

C'mon you transformed an unrelenting onion that makes people who deal with it raw cry into a soft, sweet, melty pliable ballerina by plunging it into hot oil! The onion would never have known how sweet she could be if it wasn't for your discretion and faith! :D :D  

You have cut your fingers, and worked bandaged, was the frontline of the oil splutter to finally transform each one to be delicious together. You emerged a Team Lead! 

So everyone who cooks, the Masterchefs of your own kitchens.. Congrats on being amazing leaders!! 

Now back to the topic here... soya chunks :D :D These are my substitutes for beef :D :D Especially when am all sentimental about the fact that the concerned animals bid adieu against their will to get me beef (and because the all the meat markets in Trivandrum are not at walkable distance from my house)

But then fact is fact, we are all parts of an active food chain. So bless the food and all the people involved in getting that food to us and RE:LISH it so the life that was taken wasn't in vain :D :D It lives on through us :D :D Gotta justify our deeds shouldn't we :D Amen!

This soya chunk stirred fry is really easy and a quick fix. The below recipe is for the dry version 

There is a gravy version too.. but that's for another day (I don't have the pics of soya curry .. that's why the delay .. shhhhh) ;D

What I used

1. Vegetable oil: 2 tablespoons
2. Mustard seeds: 1/2 teaspoon
3. Diced onions: 1/2 cup
4. Salt: to taste
5. Diced tomatoes: 2
6. Curry leaves: 1 sprig
7. Meat masala: 2 tablespoons
8. Pepper powder: 1/2 teaspoon
9. Green chillies: 2
10. Boiled and softened soya chunks with water squeezed out cut into comfy pieces: 2 cups

TIP: You can add ginger and garlic too if you like gingery garlicky flavor. It's yummy!
I didn't use it when I made the dish shown in the pic as I didn't have it that day

How I made it

1. Heat the oil, splutter the mustards and saute the onion with some salt
2. When onions are soft, add the tomatoes and mix till tomatoes melt
3. Add the meat masala and pepper powder and cook till the raw smell is gone. This should take about 5 minutes
4. Add a tablespoon of water so the contents mix well and then add the soya chunks, green chillies and curry leaves. Mix everything well till the soya chunks are coated with the masala mix
5. Keep the pan covered and cook for 10 minutes and serve after 10-15 minutes

Since this was made in jiffy on a working day for lunch, I had it with rice and it was so fulfilling (am not sure if it was because I was so hungry). But it was good

So I can say this goes well with rice and pickle. It should be just wow with chappathi as well. Do try it sometime and have it when you are really hungry. That way, I assure you that you won't be disappointed ;D Just kidding.. It's a good dish for a fast-paced day :D :D

Chicken chakkakuru mezhukkupuratti (Chicken stirred fry with jackfruit seeds)

Same old story... hungry... need something quick... don't wanna get out as it is damn sunny outside...
As always, a rumbling tummy is what drives me to take action on what to fuel myself with...

Of course there will always be hurdles when one is set out to make history :D :D But today I wasn't gonna let those hurdles tempt me to dial home delivery once again like the umpteen times as in the past (truth is I am fed up of dining out. Everything started tasting the same)

So yes.., am making my history today. With just chicken and chakkakuru (jackfruit seeds) in the pantry along with some spices, am making my version of a chicken mezhukkupuratti (stirred fry) ;D 

That's it!

What I used

1. Vegetable oil: 3 tablespoons
2. Mustard seeds: 1 teaspoon
3. Diced small onions: 2
4. Halved garlic cloves: 6
5. Salt: to taste
6. Curry leaves (optional): 1 sprig
7. Meat masala: 2 tablespoons
8. Turmeric powder: 1/4 teaspoon
9. Pepper powder: 1 teaspoon
10. Garam masala: 1/2 teaspoon
11. Cleaned and cut chicken pieces: 1/2 kg
12. Cleaned and sliced chakkakuru: 10
13. Water: as needed

How I made it

1. In a pan, heat the oil on medium flame and splutter the mustard seeds
2. Add the onions along with salt and saute well on low flame till onions soften
3. Next goes in the garlic and curry leaves. Continue cooking on low flame
4. Add the spice powders, mix well and cook on medium flame till the masala aroma is released
5. Add the chakkakuru and chicken and mix the contents thoroughly
6. Cook with the pan covered with occasional stirring
   PS: Since chicken releases its water content, a yummy gravy will form. It will help cook the meat and the chakkakuru well. Continue cooking till the gravy is reduced and the contents are semi-dry. If the gravy dries too quickly, add about a cup of water, mix contents well, cover the pan again and allow to cook till the gravy fully disappears and the dish is well cooked. The whole process takes about 40 minutes
7. Once the contents are semi-dry, turn off the flame and keep the pan covered for another 15 minutes before serving

TIP: This dish is really easy to make with very less ingredients barring the spices. But then again, you can make it with just 3 tablespoons of meat masala in case you don't want to use the remaining spices

It's that simple and is delicious with rice and chappathi :D :D  

Since this was made on a day with ingredient sparsity, I had this dish alone with rice. But it will be a fulfilling meal when clubbed with pulissery, long beans mezhukkupuratti and a pickle :D :D

Vegetable Spanish Omelette

Thank God for the chickens for without them how would I have gotten their eggs :D
Thank you chickens!! :D :D

Eggs are easy to prepare and readily available for me so long as I can drag myself to the store to purchase some... While scanning across the kitchen and fridge to refill my depletion list for next grocery shopping, finding eggs in the fridge is reassuring coz that means there is enough food and shopping can wait till there is a kitchen drought... Yeyyyy!!!

That's what eggs are for me :D My best food friend! :D :D

I came across the Spanish Omelette the first time from a show in TLC. It looked easy, tasty, and filling - meeting my most important expectations when having to make my own breakfast on a weekend when all I want to do is sleep and have breakfast appear magically. How I wish Hogwarts was real... Sigh!

So there on, I tried this enriched omelette many times with my own choice of ingredients of course, but this particular one baffled me! I loved it and wanted everyone around to have this!!! :D :D

What I used

1. Vegetable oil: 1/2 tablespoon
2. Butter (optional): 1/2 tablespoon
3. Diced/grated medium-sized potatoes boiled with salt till soft: 2
4. Diced large onion, yellow and red capsicum: 1 each
5. Garlic: 5 cloves
6. Chopped green chillies: 2
7. Salt: to taste
8. Pepper powder: 1/2 teaspoon
9. Eggs: 4
10. Curry leaves (optional): 5-6

How I made it

Note: The size of this omelette is dependent on the size of the pan as the contents need to be spread out filling the pan to get the egg to hold everything together. So size of the pan or baking tray (if planning to bake after pouring the eggs) is important

1. Heat a small frying pan on low flame and melt the butter with the vegetable oil
   PS: Ensure the sides of the pan till the top are well coated with oil so in the end, the omelette will slip out smoothly 
2. When oil is hot enough, turn to medium flame and saute the onion with salt till it gets really soft
3. Add the chopped capsicum, garlic (whole or chopped is fine), green chillies and continue the sauteing process till the capsicum glistens and is cooked 
4. Next goes in the potatoes and pepper powder. Mix everything well and adjust the salt if needed
   PS: Remember the potatoes were boiled with salt. So do a salt check after adding potatoes
5. Once all ingredients in the pan are well blended, spread it out across the pan
   PS: If it's a small pan, the pan would be full already. Otherwise spread it out
6. Beat the eggs really well and pour over the spread out contents in the pan and cook on low flame. Shake the pan well intermittently till the egg semi-hardens to ensure it seeps into all the crevices
7. On top, spread the curry leaves when the egg is still gooey and wait.... patiently till the egg is semisolid
8. Shake the pan gently to ensure the side of the omelette is not stuck to the pan. Then slide it onto a plate. The top wouldn't have been fully cooked since this is a thick omelette. To cook the top portion, slide the omelette upside down back to pan. To do this, place the pan upside down on the plate covering the omelette and turn the setup so the omelette is back in the pan top down
9. Cook on low flame for another 5 minutes and turn off the flame. Keep still for another 10  minutes and serve this omelette cake hot 

The convenience of an omelette is the recipe can be modified to include whatever is available and it would still be an omelette. But of all the Spanish omelettes I have tried, the above recipe was just too goood that I couldn't stop bragging. I must warn you this is really heavy.. a small slice made me feel like I had a huge meal :D :D

This is quite a filling breakfast. It can be had with garlic bread, fruit salad, green salad, plain toast or even by itself! The day I made this I planned to have it with a French toast, but the toast got over so quickly :D :D.... So I made a quick-toss pasta fruit salad mix to go with this

Don't hope to finish it alone. Have friends over to share this!!! :D :D

Achinga payar mezhukkupuratti - Long beans/Yardlong beans stirred fry

Home is where the heart is. The familiarity of what to expect might the solace that the comfort of home provides

Kuravilangad is my mother's hometown where I spent the first few years of my childhood. We had a joint family and our ancestral home was a buzz of young uncles, aunts, grandparents, cousins and lots of people who helped with the farms and fields. It was a festival everyday for the little me!

The farms and fields were active with a variety of crops and the harvest seasons were so full of activity. My! My! :D

While my grandfather managed the fields with the yields that had to go on sale, my grandmother and uncles had their own space to grow what they wanted. While ammachi used her space to grow veggies for the household, for my uncles, it was a means of earning their pocket money :D :D

The kitchen garden grew various veggies at various times of the year: kovakka, pavakka, achinga payar, brinjal, chillies, tomato, tamarind and so many more. So the dishes were a variety. There was never a question of being bored with a dish and no repetition of dishes the same day ;D Even if there were some unexpected guests, my ammachi and aunts had a tasty solution and the dining table was an array showcasing their kaipunyam ;-)

That familiarity was home for me for a long time :D :D Home sweet home!

Achinga payar is the long beans and whether it is thoran (with grated coconut)or mezhukkupuratti (stirred fry), it's damn easy to make. You don't even need spices to make it (though I use it when I have my own sweet time) and it's all ready in a jiffy :D :D

What I used

1. Oil: 1/4 cup
2. Mustard seeds: 1 teaspoon
3. Long beans (achinga payar) cut or broken into ~1-inch pieces: 350 grams
4. Diced large onion: 1
5. Meat masala (optional): 1/2 tablespoon
   PS: vegetarians, if you are particular about not using meat masala, can use a mix of 1/2 tablespoon of corriander powder, a dash of garam masala and a pinch of turmeric powder
6. Salt: to taste
7. Green chillies: 2
8. Curry leaves (optional): 1 sprig
9. Water: to sprinkle

How I made it

1. In a pan, heat the oil on medium heat and splutter the mustard seeds and a few curry leaves
2. Add the onion and saute well with some salt
   PS: for this dish, I preferred to use onions cut into half and then vertically slicing. No need to finely chop
3. Add the meat masala at this stage if you are using it and saute well till the raw smell is gone
4. Next goes in the long beans, green chillies and rest of the curry leaves and mix everything well. Sprinkle some water and cook on medium flame with pan covered for about 20 minutes with occasional mixing of contents
5. Once the fire is turned off, keep the pan covered for another 20 minutes before serving

The combo of this juicy stirred fry with brown rice, pulissery and beef roast is to die for! It's a feast on its own :D :D

The vegetarians out there, pair this up with rice, sambar and some pickle and I assure you you won't stop digging into your plate. It's so wow!

Semi-dry potato masala

After looong nap on a hot summer day, waking up to the realization that there is nothing to quieten the appetite is the stepping stone to pick up the phone to dial a home delivery

But then nothing on the takeaway menu was tempting enough, so decided to do with what was available in my kitchen. That's how I ended up with a late lunch of rice and a semi-dry potato curry

What I used

1. Half-boiled medium-sized potatoes: 2
2. Vegetable oil: 1/4 cup
3. Mustard seeds: 3/4 teaspoon
4. Diced  medium-sized onion: 1
5. Chopped ginger and garlic: 1 teaspoon each
6. Chopped tomatoes: 2
7. Salt: to taste
8. Green chillies: 2
9. Vegetable/meat masala: 1.5 tablespoons
10. Curry leaves: 1 sprig
11. Water/chicken stock/vegetable stock: as needed
12. Coconut milk (optional): 1/2 cup

How I made it

1. Heat the oil in a flat-bottomed pan on low flame. When the oil is hot enough, splutter the mustard seeds and saute the onion with the ginger-garlic and some salt for about 20 minutes till it becomes soft
2. Add the tomatoes, green chillies and curry leaves and continue cooking till the tomatoes turn mushy
3. Add the masala powder and required salt. Mix well and cook till the raw masala smell is gone ensuring it doesn't burn
4. Add the semi-boiled potatoes and mix well such that every potato piece is coated well 
5. Add enough water/stock to submerge the potatoes, at the same time ensuring it is just enough for a thick gravy. Meaning the gravy shouldn't get too watery
6. Keep the pan covered and allow it to cook on low heat for about 20 minutes with occasional stirring to mix the contents
7. Once the gravy has reduced, add the coconut milk and continue cooking till the gravy reduces again and the dish is semi-dry
8. Turn off the heat and keep the pan covered for another 20 minutes before serving
   PS: Do check the softness of the potatoes in between so they don't overcook and break apart

This goes really well with chappathi, bread, dosa, rice if one is in a spicy mode

You can literally just mix and match your combos as you like. There is no rule :D
If nothing else, just drizzle some lime juice and have this as is ;-)