Chicken/Mutton Thoran

Yeah, the combo of 'Chicken' and 'Thoran' sounds a bit strange because in traditional kerala cuisine, a 'Thoran' means stir fried vegetables with coconut. And It is a compulsory accompaniment with any typical Kerala meals. This recipe is dedicated to my wonderful mom who is no more with me. I learned most of the cooking from my mom who was an excellent cook. She used to make each and every dish very special in her own creative way. This is her very special dish which she used to make with Chicken/Mutton meat served with Rice and Chicken/Mutton bone curry. When I was a kid, I used to literally bury those 'juicy, rich with bone marrow' bones inside the rice served because both my naughty brothers had this habit of finishing off my portion first and then indulge in their portion of curry served with a "Sis, I really don't know how your curry vanished, and now you dare not touch mine" expression, which they still continue to practice whenever we get together... ;-) This weekend, I prepared this Chicken Thoran for my dad and my li'l girl. I felt really nice when they certified that it tasted exactly like my mom's Chicken Thoran... So here is the recipe of my mom's very special Chicken/Mutton Thoran. All non-veg coconut-lovers out here, I am sure you all will love it. So it's worth a try. All non-veg coconut-haters, you can still give it a try because coconut taste is not felt much in this dish... ;-)

Ingredients

Chicken (preferably flesh) - 1/2 Kg, cut into small cubes
Coconut - 1.5 cup, grated
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Small onion - 1 cup, cut into two
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red chilly powder - 2 tbsp
Ginger-garlic paste - 1.5 tbsp
Curry leaves - as required

For seasoning

Small onion - 6, sliced
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - as required (I use about a tbsp of it)
Red chillies - 4, cut into two
Cooking oil (my mom uses coconut oil for that flavor) - as required (use a bit more)
Curry leaves - as required

Method

1. Wash chicken thoroughly with 1 tsp turmeric powder (apart from the qty mentioned in the ingredients list). My mom uses turmeric powder to wash chicken to remove that raw flesh smell.
2. Cook chicken with adequate amount of water, onions, chilly pdr, turmeric pdr, ginger-garlic paste in low flame in an open vessel until the chicken is properly cooked. Add curry leaves at the end and let it cook for sometime until the flavor mixes well with the chicken. (we don't use pressure cooker for this dish).
3. In the meantime, while the chicken is getting cooked, prepare the coconut masala by coarsely grinding coconut and cumin seeds in a mixer.
4. Add the coconut mix into the chicken and cook it for about 10 minutes until the water content is completely absorbed and the raw smell of coconut is gone. Keep this aside.
5. Heat oil in a deep frying pan and add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add urad dal and leave it until it turns light brown (do not let it burn, so simmer the stove).
6. Next add the sliced onions, red chillies, and curry leaves. Fry lightly until the onions turn soft and translucent.
7. Finally add the cooked chicken into the pan. Stir around to combine and saute it for about 10-15 minutes until you get a fried coconut smell.
8. Remove from the fire and garnish it with a few fresh curry leaves. Serve warm as a side dish with rice or rotis/chappathis.

As I have mentioned earlier, this is an accompaniment with my mom's special chicken/mutton bone curry. I am yet to try that one. So my dear foodie buddies, you don't have to wait for long. Will be trying out during one of these weekends. So keep watching this space for the bone curry recipe as well...;-)

Magic Cubes Potato with Capsicum

Does it look like a bowl of fresh fruit salad to you? Yeah, it does to me too ;) So I struggled to bring a 'Curry' look to it and stuck some red chillies for the second and third pic I took, but it looked too made up, so I conveniently chopped off that part... ;)
Yes, this is yet another experiment which I did today...This recipe is dedicated to all working spinsters and bachelors because this consumes less time, less effort and truly incredible!

Before you start, there is a pre-requisite to prepare this dish. :) You should have 'Maggi Magic Cubes Vegetarian Masala' handy. It comes in a pack of 10 cubes for Rs. 25. Not a bad deal, right? ;)

Magic Cubes Potato with Capsicum Recipe



Ingredients
Potato - 1 large, cubed
Onion - 1 large, diced
Tomato - 2 medium, chopped
Capsicum - 1/2 cup / 1 small, diced
Red Chilly - 4, chopped
Maggi Magic Cubes - 2
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Refined Oil / Cooking Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Salt - one pinch

Note: Magic cubes already have salt in it, so add more salt at the end only if it is required.

Method

1. Heat oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds and let it splutter.
2. Add onion, red chillies, curry leaves and saute for a minute.
3. Lower the flame and add ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder, chilly powder, chopped tomato and potato, one pinch of salt (not more) and saute it well.
4. Pour adequate amount of water and cook it covered on low flame for 10 minutes.
5. At the end add Maggi Magic Cubes and capsicum and cook it covered for another 5 minutes until the gravy becomes thick.
6. Turn off the stove and serve it hot with roti / chappathi / dosa.

So go ahead and give it a try! I feel potato tastes the best with capsicum and I truly loved it!!! :)

Egg Roast/Egg Masala

Egg curry always complements my 'Non-Veg Lacking' dinner/lunch during my weekends in Bangalore. Most of my Sunday dinners are either with my friend Sowmya if I am in Bangalore or in Kerala . So this weekend, for a change, I decided to cook dinner at home for both of us. I just had 30 minutes left to go before she arrived... So I quickly made this curry for chappathi and this is my mom's simple recipe which I always follow with less masala and yet spicy! ;)

Thanks a ton to you sweetie for arranging this so well, especially the tomato flower!!! :)

Egg Roast/Egg Masala Recipe
Serving Size: 2
Cooking Time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients
Eggs - 2
Onion - 2 Large, finely chopped
Garlic cloves - 2, finely chopped
Tomato - 1 Large, finely chopped
Green chillies - 1 large or 2 medium, sliced
Red chilly powder - 1/4 - 1/2 tbsp, depending on the spice level
Coriander powder - 1/2 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Garam masala - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp

For tempering
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - a few

Method

1. Boil the eggs for 10 - 12 minutes. Remove the shells, slice each egg into two and keep it aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds and let it splutter.
3. Add onion, garlic, green chillies and curry leaves. Saute until onion turns translucent.
4. Add chopped tomatoes, stir well. Add salt (tip from my mom - add salt in the beginning itself for tender vegetables for a super-fast cooking) and let it cook for 2-3 minutes, stir occasionally.
5. Add turmeric powder, coriander pdr, and chilly powder (in the same order as the chilly powder tends to get burnt very fast), fry it until the raw smell goes off.
6. Add adequate amount of water for the gravy, add garam masala and cook for 2 minutes until it forms a thick gravy.
7. Add the boiled eggs into this curry and turn off the stove.

This goes well with rice, chappathi, appam, dosa,...the list goes on ;)

Tips: You can also add capsicum and boiled cubed potatoes to make it even more delicious. But I like it plain without any add-ons. ;)

Eggless Easy Nutella Pancake

Ask about cravings! My cravings for authentic pancakes started right from my childhood days whenever I see those in cookery shows, but never got to try one until last week ;) Yes, I found out an authentic French pancake counter at the Oasis Mall in Bangalore. It is an open counter, after placing the order, I eagerly waited to see how they made. Watching me standing over there, the cook said politely, "Ma'm, please have your seat, we will serve it at your table", shamelessly I continued to stand there with a smile. Before he could ask, I explained, "I just want to see how you make that thin pancake..." With a proud smile, he started making that yummy pancake and patiently clarified all my recipe queries after I promised that I have no plans to start a pancake shop... ;) And I post recipes only if I try and I tried it today...It's truly worth it, so give it a shot... :D

Ingredients
Maida /all purpose flour - 1 cup
Milk - 2 - 2.5 cups depending on the consistency
Nutella (Hazelnut cocoa spread) - as required, to spread

Method

1. Mix maida and milk together until you get a smooth batter (meaning, lumps-free batter).
2. Heat a non-stick tawa, when the tawa is hot, pour one spoonful of batter and spread it to make a thin paper dosa.
3. Cook it on low flame for a few seconds (do not flip to the other side).
4. Turn off the stove and spread Nutella evenly on the top of dosa.
   
5. Fold it inwardly from all the four sides.
6. Flip it to the other side and line the pancake with a knife or a spatula to form squares as shown in the picture.
7. Transfer it to a plate and serve it with a dollop of fresh vanilla ice-cream.

South Indian Capsicum Rice

Yes, I totally agree, there is no such thing called 'South Indian Capsicum Rice'. But you should also understand that when you are too lazy and indecisive about your Sunday lunch and when you are left with just some capsicums, onions and tomatoes, you will naturally end up trying something new and posting it on your blog if you have one... ;-)
Capsicum is extensively used in Italian, Chinese, Mexican and American cuisine. This recipe does not belong to any of this category because most of the ingredients I have used here are very much South Indian. ;-) Hence the name 'South Indian Capsicum Rice'.


Ingredients
Rice - 2 cups
Water - 4 cups
Capsicum - 2 medium sized, diced
Tomato - 2 big or 3 medium sized, chopped
Onion - 3 large, diced
Garlic - 3 cloves, chopped
Green chillies - 5 (according to the spice level)
Turmeric pdr - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste

For tempering
Split black gram /urad dal/uzhunnu parippu - 1 tsp
Chana dal / bengal gram / kadala parippu - 1 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Cinnamon stick - 1"
Curry leaves - a few

For garnishing
Chopped coriander leaves - as required

Method

1. Cook rice in 4 cups of water. Keep it aside.
   
2. Heat oil in a frying pan for tempering and add the ingredients in the order given. Saute it well.
3. Add chopped onion, chillies and garlic to it. Fry till onion turns light brown in color.
4. Add tomatoes, salt and turmeric pdr.
5. Saute it well until the raw smell goes off.
6. Add diced capsicum and saute (do not over cook capsicum because the color turns to light brown and it becomes soggy).
7. Turn off the stove.
8. Add this masala into the cooked rice and mix it well.
9. Garnish with coriander leaves.
   

Your hot, steamy capsicum rice is ready! It goes well with papad and raita.

Tips: You can omit tomato, green chillies and turmeric pdr and instead, add freshly ground peppercorns, red chillies, and roasted grated coconut (add at the end). This will give altogether a different taste and flavor which is neither South Indian nor Chinese and to make it more interesting, you can name it as 'Pepper-Capsicum Rice' ;-) This idea popped up in my mind while writing this recipe. :-)

Andhra Special Dal (Pappu) Curry

Andhra cuisine is very well known for its hot, tangy, spicy kick it has in each dish. And my all time favorite is Andhra meal which generally comes with pappu, podi, pachadi, veg side dish, aavakaaya, and tomato or onion chutney served on a fresh plantain leaf. I tasted this yummy dal in a small restaurant called Swagatham aka Andhra Mess outside my office campus and I must shamefully admit that my mouth starts watering whenever I think of the meal they serve ;-) Those who all work at Manyata Tech park, Bangalore or atleast in the nearest vicinity should try this place. Trust me, you will just love it... I assume this is how they prepare that pappu and it came out really well when I tried at home... It is really quick, yummy and healthy :-)



Pappu Curry
Cooking time: Less than 30 minutes

Ingredients
Toor Dal (Kandi Pappu) - 1 cup
Green Amarnath leaves - 3/4 bunch
Green Chiliies - 9-10 large
Diced Big Onion - 1 big or two medium sized
Garlic Flakes - 5
Tomatoes - 3 big
Asafoedita - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric pdr - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as required

For Seasoning
Chopped onion - 1
Chopped coriander leaves - one handful
Mustard seeds and Urad dal (Split black gram) - as required
Red chillies - 2
Oil - as required
Curry leaves - as required

Method

1. Put all the first list of ingredients in a pressure cooker except for salt and asafoetida with some water.
2. Pressure cook until you get 4 whistles.
3. Open the cooker lid and add adequate amount of salt.
4. For seasoning, heat a pan and add mustard and urad dal.
5. Add curry leaves, coriander leaves, red chillies, onion, saute well until onion turns translucent.
6. Pour this into the pressure cooker and bring it to boil.

Note: Consistency should be thick for this dal curry.

This is the best form of dal I have ever had. Thanks a ton Andhra Mess!!! :)
Hope you all liked this 'Spicy-tangy' post of mine ;)

Oatmeal Soup

Ever had an Oatmeal soup? Does it sound boring? This novel idea flashed in my mind when I started disliking my usual breakfast which is one warm bowl of oatmeal with milk, honey and some assorted cut fruits. My oats-filled-mornings continued to be in this combination. That was one hectic Monday, I got back home totally exhausted and had absolutely no energy left to cook. I opened my overly stuffed refrigerator and decided to make good use of those neglected, half dead vegetables which I bought the previous evening...The idea of having boiled vegetables at that late hour of the evening made me feel nauseous. So I decided to make soup out of it. Since I did not have vegetable stock to add consistency to the soup, I decided to add the secret healthy ingredient Oats ;) and there you go...

Oatmeal Soup Recipe
Serving Size: 1
Cooking Time: Less than 15 minutes

Ingredients
Oats (any good brand available in the market, I used Kellogg's Heart to Heart Oats) - 1 tbsp
Garlic cloves - 2-3 medium sized, finely ground
Pepper powder - as per your spice level. I used 2 tsps.
Finely chopped cabbage, carrot, beans, capsicum (optional) - one handful
Finely chopped coriander leaves to add at the end.


Note: You can also use corn, broccoli, spring onions to enhance the taste.

Method

1. Add adequate amount of water into a pan and bring it to boil.
2. Add garlic paste, chopped vegetables and salt into the pan and cook it for sometime until the raw smell of garlic goes off (do not over cook vegetables).
3. Add oats into it and cook it for 10 minutes.
4. Add chopped coriander leaves and pepper powder at the end and turn off the stove.

Your spicy, healthy soup is ready....I had this for dinner ;-) and it was quite filling.