Tri colour halwa

 

Pav Bhaji

 

Cheesy Garlic bread

Thin crust plain pizza

Ingredients:

 

Pizza bread

Maida: 1 cup

yeast: 1 tablespoon'

Olive oil ; 1 table spoon

Water 1/2 cup or as much required.

sugar: 1 tsp

Salt: 1 tsp

Pizza sauce

Tomato : 2

Onion: 1 (chopped)

garlic: 1tsp (copped)

Oregano+thyme+parsley: 1 table spoon

\Chilli flakes : 1 tsp

salt: as taste

sugar: 1 tsp

Pizza toppings

Cheese : 1/2 cup ( grated)

Preparation

Pizza sauce,

1. Blanche 2 big tomato, puree them

2. In a pan pour in olive oil.

3. Put onion and garlic and stir till soft.

4. Pour in the tomato puree and let it boil till the raw smell goes.

5.Put the rest of the sauce ingredients and stir till thick and keep aside for cooling.

Pizza base/bread:

1. In a 3 tablespoons of Luke warm water put the yeast and mix well

2. in another bowl mix the dry ingredients.

3. add yeast to this mixture and add Luke warm water to knead into a dough.

4. Knead well till the dough is all fluffy and soft..

5. Butter the pizza pan and layer it with thin layer of flour and line the soft dough across it for the pizza base, spread olive oil over it.

6. keep aside for an hour for the dough to rise.

Pizza

1.Once done, spread the pizza sauce and proffered toppings( not the cheese) over the dough

2. preheat the oven.

3. Set the pizza timer to 25 min at 250 degree C (450 F)

4 Cook the pizza for 15 min and then take it out to spread cheese.This step is to avoid the cheese from getting burnt.

5. cook for the remaining time 

TADA! Yummy pizza done! 

Doraemon's Dora cakes

My daughter loves Doraemon cartoon. As Doraemon loves Dora cake, she too loves Dora cakes as well. So here is Doraemon's favorite Dora cake!

INGREDIENTS

8 SERVINGS

All purpose flour   2 cups
Milk                  1 3⁄4 cups
Caster sugar        3⁄4 cup
Vanilla essence 1 tsp
Egg 1 number
Dairy milk or any chocolate   1




PREPARATION STEPS

1 Mix in egg vanilla essence caster sugar and milk in one bowl.
2 Sieve all purpose flour in another bowl. ( in case using maida, please add 1 tsp baking powder and a pinch of baking soda to it. )
3 Slowly add in this mixture to the egg mixture and mix well till there is no lump formation.
4 In a hot tava or a pan, pour 1/4rth of a scooped spoon or a ladle of the mixture. The ideal size of a Dora cake is inner palm size.
5 Once bubble starts to form, its time to flip. Be careful while doing so.
6 Cook for around a minute. Move it to a plate.
7 Continue doing this till all the mixture is over.
8 Boil water in a vessel and place another vessel over it to cream the chocolate.
9 Spread the chocolate cream on a pancake and place the other over it. Do the same for the rest and refrigerate for the chocolate to solidify.
10
Serve half cur or as a whole! Yummy Dora Cakes ready! Don't forget to share it with Doraemon!
Kids would love this.

Khandvi rolls

Ingredients
Gram flour:  1/2 cup
Butter milk: 1 cup
Salt: to taste
Turmeric powder:  1/4rth tsp

Garnish:
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Sesame seeds or sil: 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds or jeera: 1/2 tsp
Corriander leaves: 1 tsp chopped
Curry leaves: 2 strandgreen chilly: 2 chopped
Coconut: 4 tblsp scrapped
Oil: 2 tblsp

Procedure
Seive the gram flour. Mix it with the rest of the main ingredients. Heat the mixture in a kadai on medium flame through continuous stiring till about the mixture becomes thick, paste like. On a steel place, spread oil and put in a spoonful of the mixture. With the back of the spoon spread it all over and try making an even coat. Keep aside for it to cool for a good 5 minutes. With the help of a cake knife or any delicate knife cut strips. Then delicately roll each strip and place on the serving plate.
In a vessel, heat oil. Put mustard seeds, sesame seeds and jeera. Wait for it to pop. When done add gren chilly and then xurry leaves.
Garnish the kandvi rolls with coconut shreds and corriander leaves. Top it with the mustard sesame garnish. Serve!.

Banana strawberry shake

Ingredients
Plantain banana: 2
Robust banana: 1
Stawberry icecream: 3 scoops
Tonned Milk: 500ml
Sugar: 3 tblsp

Method
Put in all the ingredients in a juicer and blend it in for a minute or two. Add drops of vanilla essense if required.
Add a cube or two of ice and serve on a hot day.  Healthy and yummy!

Fried bread and dragon dip

Ingrediends

Dragon dip

Milkmaid:1/2cup
Egg:1
Dragon fruit:1

Fried bread

Oil: to fry

Bread: 5 breads cut in triangle

Proceedure
Run the dragon fruit in mixer. Add it to the milkmaid and 1egg. Beat the mixture for 2 minutes. Cook it at medium flame for 5 minutes till the dip becomes thick. 

Heat oil smoking hot put in triangled bread into it and fry. Serve it with fried bread.

Chatpata fruit salad

Ingredients
Kiwi: 2
Pomegrenate: 1
Plantain banana:1
Small banana:2
Papaya:1/2
Sugar: 1/2 cup
Chat masala:1 tblsp
Pepper: 1/4th tsp

Preperation
Cut all fruits into small cubes. Take out all pomegranate seeds all into a big bowl. Powder the sugar and all it, chat masala and pepper into the fruits. Mix well and serve.

Gajar Halwa

Ingredients:

Indian red carrots: 1 kg
Sugar 1 to 2 bowls
Khova/mava: 100g
Elaichi: 6 to 7
Ghee: 4 to 5 tblspoons

Preperation:
Grate carrots to thin shreds. in a deep vessel, preferably a large pressure cooker as you need lots of room to stir, pour in ghee and stir fry the grated carrots till the raw smell of the carrots are gone. Then add in crushed khova and sugar with crushed elaichi seeds. Mix in very well till it reaches its thick consistency. It will take around half an hour for the halwa to reach its desired consistency. You can garnish it with sliced almonds and pistachios if desired. Serve hot. 

Puliogere

Ingredients:

PULIOGERE PASTE

Puliogere powder:3-4 tblsp
Tamarind paste: 1 bowl
Jaggery: 1 bowl (crushed)
Dry coconut: 1/2 cup (powdered)
salt: to taste

Tampering: 
urud dal: 1 tsp
chana dal:1tsp
peanuts nut: 1 cup(roasted)
curry leaves: 2 strands
oil: 5 tblspoons

Cooked rice: as much required.
[1 tblspn puliogere paste would be enough for 2 bowls of rice in case required, can add more].

Preparation:
Simmer the tamarind paste to become thick. Add jaggery and stir for it to melt. As it melts, add salt and puliogere powder and mix well. This will turn it into a thick pulpy form.Off the flame and add dry coconut powder. Mix well. In another pan, heat oil and put in all the dals. When they turn brown add roasted peanuts and curry leaves. add this to the paste and mix well. You can keep this paste for more than a week.

Take in cooked rice and 1 to 2 tblspn of puliogere paste and mix well. add salt if required and chopped coriander leaves if preferred.
N.B-> jeera rice or basmathi rice is best suited for it but here in the picture i used picture i have used boiled rice.

ALTERATION:

Powder thick Poha/Aval. Wash the powdered poha. keep aside for it to fluff up. Mix in lemon juice and salt into it with chopped corriander leaves. In a vessel, heat oil, pop in a tsp of mustards and jeera. Put in some chopped onions saute till soft add a tblsp of puliogere paste mix well add the fluffed up poha/ aval powder. mix well. Serve.

KAPPA or tapicoca

Ingredients:
Tapioca: 1 kg
garlic pods: 5 pods
turmeric powder: 1/4rth tsp
salt: to taste
coconut: 1/2 bowl
mustard seeds; 1 tsp
curry leaves: 1 stem
oil: 1 tblsp
Procedure:
De-skin, Cut and clean tapioca. In a pressure cooker add tapioca, turmeric powder, garlic and salt with required amount of water. Pressure cook till 3 whistles. Wait for the pressure to go. When done. drain the water into a cup and keep aside. Mash the tapioca. Add the drained water, bit by bit to make sure the tapioca is moist. It is fine if the tapioca seems water at this stage. Add in coconut . Meanwhile in a small vessel heat oil. add mustard and curry leaves. add it to the tapioca. Mix well and serve. It is a typical Kerala dish. KAPPA!

Bitter guard crisps

Ingredients:
2 bitter guards: cut into circles 
red chilly powder: 1 tsp
turmeric powder:1 tsp
garam masala: 1 tsp
salt: to taste
corn flour/rice flour: 3 tablespoon ( pref. corn flour)
oil : to deep fry
Proceedures:
Wash the cut bitter guard rings. Add in the red chilly powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder and salt . Mix well. After which only, add corn flour or rice flour to coat each rings dryly.it should seem dry coated. deep fry each rings in smoking hot oil and yummy bitter guard crisps are ready. It's yum as a  side dish with rice. 

Murukku

Ingredients
Rice flour: 1 cup
Gram flour (Besan): 1/2 cup
Split black gram powder ( urud powder)=  1/4th cup
cumin seeds (Jeera): a pinch
Sesame seeds (Til): a pinch
water: as required
salt: to taste
Oil: to fry
Proceedure:
Sieve all 3 flours together. Dry roast them till the flour is cooked. it may take a while. Keppt the mixture aside for cooling. When cold, mix in the rest of the ingredients in which the water should be added enough to make the mixture into a tight dough. Put the dough into the mould and press in into the hot smoking oil. cook for at least 2 minutes for the murukku to be crispy. 
Yum murukku ready. 

Lemon Rice

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Ingredients:

Cooked rice: 1- 1.5 cups
Lemon: 1/2  (if want real tangy, then 1)
Onion:1 ( chopped)
Turmeric: 1/4 tsp
Salt: to taste
roasted peanuts: ( a handful)
oil: 2 tsp
mustard, curry leaves and dry chilly: ( for tampering.


Preparation:
                     Heat a vessel, pour in oil. When hot, add the tampering ingredients. Then add chopped onion and sauté for a minute or so and then add a pinch of turmeric and salt. Meanwhile, squeeze lemon juice. 

Make sure this onion mixture and rice have completely cooled down. Mix the onion mixture, lemon, rice, peanuts and coriander leaves( if you preffer) and serve. 

N.P-> You can avoided peanuts if not preferred. This makes a yum lunch to school for kids.

Soft fluffy Puri or Deep fried Indian wheat bread

Puri are originated in north India. But now it has reached every Indian household because of its yum taste and texture. Puris in other words are deep friend wheat bread that is similar to chappathis but the trick to its yum taste and balloon like fluffiness is in its dough and making.

Ingredients:

wheat flour: 1 cup
Water or milk : 1/4rth cup or as needed.
salt: as required
oil: to fry

Procedures:

In a vessel knead wheat flour milk/water and salt to form a tight dough. Here i used milk to give a yum rich flavor to the puris. Keep aside. In a deep vessel or kadai, heat oil till it about smoking point. partition the dough into small balls and roll each into semi thick (thicker than chappathi) sheets. Carefully put these sheets into the smoking oil and after a sec or so slightly press the puri frying in. This helps collect air in the puri thus making it fluffy. DO not allow the frying puri to push away the spoon. Turn it around and do the same. Drain it off oil and place it on a tissue so as to soak all the excess oil.

*-> here, the smoking oil not only helps to fluff up the puris but also avoids it from soaking excess oil and being soggy. 

Aval unda or Poha laddu or Sweetened rice flake balls

Rice flakes is just the flattened form of rice. In south India it forms a prominent part of the diet, especially the breakfast.There are many ways in which Poha or rice flakes can be confused. As individually it doesn't have a strong taste it can be easily blended with any flavors. In this recipe i have tried the sweetened version of it in such a manner that all the ingredients together compliment the taste of the dish.

Ingredients:

Flattened rice flakes (paper flat ones): 2 cups 
Powdered sugar: 1 1/2 cups
Grated coconut: 1/4rth cup
Vanilla essence: 2 drops

Procedure:

Roast the flattened rice flake for 5 minutes. Keep aside for cooling. Grind them into granules. Mix the rest of the ingredients to it.In case the mixture isn't sticky enough to roll, a few drops of water can be added to it. now, slowly roll them on your palms to make small balls of them and serve. I have used fresh grated coconut in this recipe therefore, the required moisture is released when mixed with powdered sugar.*-> please do note that if you do not prefer this level of sweetness, you can reduce the sugar level but make sure not to spoil the taste. 

Mackerel (aila) Fish biriyani

Usually, Fish biriyanis is made of King fish. Here, in this recipe, i innovated by substituting the King fish with a commonly consumed Mackerel ( aila, in malayalam) and making such alternation in the traditional recipe that the authentic flavor of the fish is maintained.
Its a very simple recipe, quick to make and yummy to eat.




Ingredients:

Masala:
Mackerel :  3 to 4
Onion: 2 (diced).
Tomatoe: 3 ( diced)
*Curd : 1 table spoon
Corriander powder: a pinch
Curry leaves: a stem.
red chilli powder: 1 tsp.
Turmeric powder: 1/4rth tsp.
salt: to taste.
Oil to fry ( shallow)

Rice:
Basmati rice: 2 cups
Onion: 1 sliced
Garam masala: 1/2 tsp
salt to taste
water: 4 cups.

Preparation:
In a deep vessel ( to prepare rice) heat oil. When hot, add sliced onion and saute till soft. Add garam masala and stir for a minute or so. Add rice and fry it on medium flame till the rice becomes more whitish colour. This makes sure the biriyani rice doesn't stick to one another. Add water with salt and let the mixture boil and reduce till just moist rice. When this happens, remove the vessel from the stove and cover it till the final stage.
Now for the fish. clean and cut the mackerels to thick slices. Marinate them with salt, red chilli powder( 1/2 tsp), turmeric powder, coriander powder and curd. Keep aside for say 15 min to the minimum. In a non stick pan shallow fry them till done. Keep aside. In a kadai, heat oil add onion and when done add tomato and saute till tomatoes are soft. When soft, add the remaining red chilli powder and salt. Stir for 1/2 a minute or so. Add the fried fish along with the masala and oil in the shallow fried pan. This enhances the flavor. Reduce the flame to minimum and cover the dish for 5 minutes. Now in a deep vessel, rub oil at the bottom and assemble the rice and the fish masala as layers. Heat the entire mixture for 5 minutes on low flame.


* it is heard that fish when mixed with any dairy product opens a chance for skin diseases as psorasis. Therefore, curd can be avoided if required. 

N.B-> in this dish i have not used garlic ginger or the traditional fry onion as garnish as i believe these flavors can spoil the authentic mackerel flavor. 

Nadan crab roast or Authentic Kerala crab roast

Crab is a very demanded sea food around the world. And so crab food is done is different ways and styles around different cultures. Here, i have prepared crab in a very authentically Kerala taste. In this dish the crab meat is cooked in its own juices and thereby keeping intact the genuine flavor of the crab.In short, if a crab lover try this dish once, they would crave it for ever!

Ingredients:
Crab: 4 medium sized ( cut and cleaned)
Onion: 2 medium (chopped)
Green chillies: 2 ( sliced)
Curry leaves: 2 stems
Ginger: 1 inch (chopped)
Red chilli powder: 1 tsp
turmeric powder: 1/4th spoon.
salt: to taste.
Oil ( pref. coconut oil) : 1 tablespoon.

Preparation:
Cut and clean the crab. Keep aside. Heat a kadai and when it smokes, put in oil. When oil has heated, add green chilies and saute till it turns white( this reduces the heat of the chilies). Then add chopped ginger and saute for a minute. Add curry leaves and when it is done popping, add onion and saute for a minute till the onion is cooked a bit. It needn't become transparent.  To this add red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt (salt must be used less than your taste because else the dish will end up salty). After sauteing it for a minute or so for the spices to cook, add the cut cleaned crab meat. And cover the dish on a medium flame for 10 to 15 minutes. Do not forget to keep checking the dish . By this time, the crab would be cooked in its own juices.

You can also garnish it with a few more fried curry leaves. Serve it with some hot rice and relish the authentic Kerala Crab roast.   

Bhaingan bartha

This is a north indian dish made of brinjal. When i heard about the recipe for the first time, i wondered how was this dish so popular as i always believed brinjal to be a blunt vegetable as in taste. But after preparing and tasting this recipe i relaized how other veggies and spices camouflaged its bluntness and flaunted its flavor to it's best. A dish from my favorites. 

Ingredients:
Brinjal: 1 huge ( dark violet one)
onion: 1 chopped
Tomato: 3 medium chopped
Ginger: 1 inch chopped
Garlic: 4 cloves mashed and chopped
green chilly: 2, sliced
jeera: a pinch
ainseeds: a pinch
corriander leaves: a small bunch
red chilli powder: 1 tspoon
turmeric powder: 1/4rth Tspoon
corriander powder: 1/2 tspoon
Garam masala: a pinch
Salt: to taste
Sugar: a pinch

Preparation:
On the direct flame, roast the brinjal till its charred. You can literally see ashes of the brinjal cover. Make sure all the sides of the brinjal are well charred. immediately after this, put the burnt brinjal in a deep vessel and cover it with lid. After this you can chop the vegetables by the time and when done, open the covered vessel and de-skin the brinjal and mash it well. In a kadai, heat oil and splutter jeera and ainseeds. When done add green chillies and saute till ti turns white ( this reduces the spice keeping the chilli flavor intact). Add ginger garlic and saute till the raw spell disappears. Add onion and cook till transparent. Add tomatoes ( you can reduce it to 2 if you don't enjoy tanginess) cook till done. Add all the spice along with salt and sugar. Saute for a minute and add mashed brinjal. Cover and keep for 3 to 4 minutes on minimum flame for everything to blend in. Garnish with corriader leaves and serve with chappathi.

N.B-> when done i pour a tspoon of ghee on this for flavour.