Adai

Adai is made of lentils and rice. It is usually prepared for breakfast and is  healthier than dosa. It is very simple to prepare . It goes well with all chutneys......

Ingredients 

Raw rice -1/2 cup
Idly rice -1/4 cup
Toor Dal-1/4 cup
Channa Dal -1/4 cup
Mysore dal-1/4 cup
Moong Dal-1/4 cup
Red chillies- 3nos
Green Chillies - 2nos
Curry Leaves a spring
Coconut - a handful grated
Small onions 50 gms
Jeera Seeds - 1tsp

Peppercorn- 1tsp
Ginger -1tsp chopped
Asafoetida - a pinch

Method

Soak rice and dal together for 4 hours.

Grind it coarsely along with red chillies, ginger and salt. The batter should not be thick nor watery. 

Add asafoetida, finely chopped onions, green chillies, curry leaves, grated coconut, jeera, peppercorns to the batter. 

Heat a dosa tawa and pour a ladle of batter and spread it in circular motion. Add a tsp of oil around it. Let it gets nice colour.

Then flip it over to the other side and drizzle a tsp of oil around the adai.

After both sides are cooked remove  and serve it hot

Unniappam

Ingredients needed

Rice flour - 2 cup
Jaggery -200 gms
Banana - 2(medium size)
Cardamom - 3 nos
Coconut bits -5 tbsp
Roasted Sesame seeds - 1/2 tsp
Oil  and Ghee to fry

Preperation 

Lightly roast the rice flour .

Fry the coconut pieces in oil .

Add one cup of water to the jaggery and boil it .. strain and cool it .

Blend the bananas to a smooth paste and mix with the rice flour ,coconut pieces,sesame seeds,cardamon and jaggery syrup.

The consistency of the batter should not be too thin nor too thick, so adjust accordingly.

Heat a paniyaram pan, add a tsp of oil + 1/2 tsp of ghee in each hole of the  paniyaram pan.

When the oil + ghee becomes hot, reduce the flame to low and fill the holes with the batter. (fill only up to 3/4 th of the hole). Now cook  in medium flame.

When the bottom starts  browning, flip it over to the other side with a fork or a skewer.

Let the other side get cooked until golden brown. Once cooked, remove and drain on a paper tissue.

Enjoy.

Chocolate Brownie

Chocolate Brownie

Ingredients

Butter                - 230 gms

Chocolate dark - 450 gms

Brown Sugar     - 215 gms

Sugar                 - 200 gms

Egg                    - 06 nos

Salt                    - 02 gms

Flour                 - 130 gms

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). 

To protect the chocolate from direct heat, melt it and the butter in a heatproof bowl set over a small pot of simmering water, stirring constantly. When the chocolate and butter have melted, whisk until smooth. 

While the chocolate mixture cools slightly, whisk together the flour and salt. Beat the eggs, sugar and add to the chocolate and mix thoroughly. Stir in the flour mixture until incorporated. 

Pour batter into a lightly oiled and floured  pan. Bake for exactly 25 minutes. 

Kozhi Vellai Khorma

Ingredients

 

Chicken – 1/2 kg

Onion – 1 nos chopped

Garlic cloves – 3 sliced

Coriander powder – 1/2 tsp

Lemon – 1 nos

Coriander leaves  – 2 spring

Salt to taste

 

For Grinding

 

Coconut – 100 gms

Green chillies – 3 nos

Fennel seeds - 2tsp

Poppy Seeds - 1tsp

Cashew nuts – 25 gms

 

For Tempering

 

Oil – 2 tsp

Cinnamon  – 3 small pieces

Cardamom – 1

Cloves- 3nos

Star anise  – 1

Fennel seeds – 1/2 tsp

Preparation

 

Wash the chicken .Heat a kadai with 1 tsp oil and add the chicken and fry till colour changes .

 

 Add 1 cup water and little salt and cook till the meat turns tender.And Keep it aside.

Heat a tsp of oil in a kadai and fry the greenchilles .In a mixer add all the ingredients under grinding with the fried chilli and ground to a fine paste using enough water.

Heat oil in a kadai and add the ingredients under tempering and fry for a min.

Add the onions and garlic and cook till the onion loses its colour.

 

Now add the cooked chicken and grounded masala with enough water  and mix well.

 

Add required salt(remember we have added salt while cooking the chicken)  and coriander powder mix well.Allow it to boil for 10 mins and simmer it for 2 more mins and switch off

 

Chettinad Liver pepper Fry

Ingredients

Liver-250 Gms (cut into very small pieces)
 small onions-100 gms
Chopped tomato-1
Chopped garlic-2
Ginger Garlic paste-1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Chili powder -1tsp

corriander powder-2teaspoon
Freshly ground pepper-1 teaspoon

oil -3 tsp

For seasoning

Cinnamon-2 small pieces

cardamon-2 nos

cloves -4 nos
Fennel seeds-1 tsp
Curry leaf-little

Procedure

Heat oil in a pan add the seasoning items

 Add onions sauté it till it turn translucent

Then tomatoes, ginger, garlic paste one by one and cook in medium flame.

 Now add the small liver pieces and sauté till they turn white.

 Now add turmeric powder and a cup of water. Keep the flame in medium. Cook for 5 minutes .

 Then add chili powder,corriander powder and the salt . 

Add little water

 When the curry turns to your desired consistency add the pepper powder. Mix well. Cook for 2 more minutes.

 cook till the oil separates. 

Chettinad Poondu Kuzhambu

Ingredients 

small onion - 125 gms

Garlic - 50 gms

Tamarind - lemon  size - approximately 40 grams,

Sesame seed oil - 4 tbsp

Turmeric- 1/2 tsp

chilli powder - 1 tsp

corriander powder 2 tsp

Tomato - 2nos

Mustard seeds - 1tsp

Fenugreek  seeds- 1/2 tsp

Red chillies - 3nos

curry leaves - 1 spring

Hing - a pinch

Salt as required 

Preparation

Soak tamarind in hot water for 20 minutes.Then extract the juice (around 3 cups) and discard the pulp.

Peel the onions and garlic and cut it into half if it is big.

Heat sesame seed oil, add mustard seeds, when it splutters, add fenugreek seeds, hing and curry leaves.

Then add garlic and  onions and saute nicely for a few minutes.

Then add the tomatoes ,

Add masala powder, salt and tamarind water and bring it to boil.

Keep it in medium flame and cook till it thickens and oil separates.

Chettinad Meen Kozhambu

Ingredients

King fish -250 gms
Small onion -50 gms
Tomato -2nos 
Green chillies- 2 nos 
Garlic - 5 cloves
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Tamarind – 1 medium sized lemon 
Curry leaves – 1 spring
Mustard Oil – 2 tbsp

For seasoning: 
Mustard seeds - ½ tsp
Fenugreek seeds – ¼ tsp

To dry roast and grind:
Red chillies - 5nos
Coriander seeds - 2 tsp
Pepper -1tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2tsp
Fennel seeds – ¼ tsp
Coconut – 3 table spoon

Directions


Soak the tamarind in one cup of  water .  After sometime squeeze and extract the juice and keep it aside.

Marinate the fish with Turmeric powder and salt rest it for 30mins

In a panheat oil and season with mustard, Green chillies, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves.

Once it splutters, add chopped onion, tomato, minced garlic with little salt. Saute it until the tomato cooks 

After that add the dry roasted, ground spices, turmeric powder and tamarind water. Allow to boil till the raw smell goes; add fish, once the oil starts floating.

Simmer it for 15 mins 

Adjust the seasoning

Spinach and Sun dried Tomato Frittata

Ingredients

• 1/2 medium onion, chopped 
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 3 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Sun-dried tomatoes, about 2 Tbsp chopped
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 3 oz goat cheese

METHOD

1 Preheat oven to 250 degrees

2 Cook spinach in 1/4 cup of water in a covered saucepan until just wilted, a couple minutes. Drain water and set aside.

3 In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and Parmesan cheese. Add in chopped sun-dried tomatoes, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set aside.

4 Sauté onions in olive oil in an oven-proof, stick-free skillet, until translucent, about 4-5 minutes on medium heat. Add garlic and cook a minute further. Add cooked spinach and mix in with onions and garlic.

5 Spread out spinach mixture evenly on bottom of skillet. Pour egg mixture over spinach mixture. Use a spatula to lift up the spinach mixture along the sides of the pan to let egg mixture flow underneath.

 

6 Sprinkle bits of goat cheese over the top of the frittata mixture. When the mixture is about half set, put the whole pan in the oven. Bake for 13-15 minutes, until frittata is puffy and golden. Remove from oven with oven mitts and let cool for several minutes. 

Tuna and Macaroni Salad

Ingredients 


Macaroni boiled -2 cups
Sour cream-2tsp
Mayonnaise-4 tsp
Celery -1 stalk
onions-1/2  finely chopped
Tuna canned-1 nos
olive oil -2 tsp
salt -1 tsp
pepper-1/2 tsp
Black olives-2 tsp
cherry tomatoes-15 nos halved
Basil leaves-1 small bunch fine cut


Method

1. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain and cool.
2. Mix sour cream, mayonnaise, onion, celery, olives,cherry tomato, tuna, and salt and pepper into macaroni. 
3. finish with basil and serve cold

Home made Guacamole

Guacamole, a dip made from avocados, is originally from Mexico. 

The name is derived from two Aztec Nahuatl words – ahuacatl (avocado) and molli (sauce). The trick to perfect guacamole is using good, ripe avocados. Check for ripeness by gently pressing the outside of the avocado. If there is no give, the avocado is not ripe yet and will not taste good. If there is a little give, the avocado is ripe. If there is a lot of give, the avocado may be past ripe and not good. In this case, taste test first before using.

 

Perfect Guacamole Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes

All you really need for guacamole is ripe avocados and salt. After that, the next most important ingredient is lime juice (or lemon if you don't have lime). Then come the cilantro, chiles, onion, and tomato.

• 2 ripe avocados
• 1/2 red onion, finely chopped 
• 1-2  chilles, stems and seeds removed, minced
• 2 tablespoons cilantro (leaves and tender stems), finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon of fresh lime or lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• A dash of freshly grated black pepper
• 1 ripe tomato, seeds and pulp removed, chopped

METHOD

1 Cut avocados in half. Remove seed. Scoop out avacado from the peel, put in a mixing bowl. 

2 Using a fork, roughly mash the avocado. (Don't overdo it! The guacamole should be a little chunky.) Add the chopped onion, cilantro, lime or lemon, salt and pepper and mash some more. Chili peppers vary individually in their hotness. So, start with a half of one chili pepper and add to the guacamole to your desired degree of hotness. Be careful handling the peppers; wash your hands thoroughly after handling and do not touch your eyes or the area near your eyes with your hands for several hours.

Chilling tomatoes hurts their flavor, so don't chop the tomatoes or add to the guacamole until ready to serve.

Remember that much of this is done to taste because of the variability in the fresh ingredients. Start with this recipe and adjust to your taste.

3 Just before serving, chop the tomato, add to the guacamole and mix.