Kappa Vevichathu (Mashed Tapioca)

Ingredients:

          Tapioca                              --   ½ kg
          Turmeric Powder          --   ½ tsp             
          Shallots                              --   1 large    
          Green Chillies                  --   4-5
          Cumin Seeds                    --   ½ tsp
          Red Chillies                      --   2
          Mustard seeds                --   ½ tsp
          Curry Leaves                  --   1 spring
          Oil                                        --   2 tbsp
          Salt                                      --   to taste

Preparation of Kappa:

         Peel the tapioca and cut into medium size pieces.

         Take 5 – 6 cups of water in a large vessel. Add salt and turmeric powder. Once it boils, add the tapioca and let it cook until tender. Drain the water and keep aside.

      

         Grind shallots, green chillies, cumin seeds with salt. Heat oil in a pan and splutter the mustard seeds and add the red chillies. Fry for half a minute and then add the ground mixture.

    

         Add the curry leaves and then add the cooked tapioca. Optionally you can also add cooked black chick peas, moong dal etc.

        Mix well and serve hot with fish curry or chilly chammanthi.

Parippu Vada (Masala vada)

This is AJ’s all time favorite. This is a crispy and crunchy tea time snack. Anyone can keep on munching this at any time of the day. In Kerala you can see this available in all chaaya kada / thattu kada (tea shops) and in every train. Every other week, during my travel from Kochi to Calicut and the way back, I never missed the parippu vada from the Shornur Station.

Ingredients:

         Toor dal                  --    ¾ cups
         Channa Dal            --    ½ cup
         Asafoetida             --    a pinch
        Green chillies         --   4 –5
        Onion                        --    ½ of a medium sized
        Ginger                      --   1 inch piece
        Curry leaves         --   1 spring
        Oil                              --    to fry
        Salt                            --    to taste

Preparation of Parippu Vada: 

         Soak both the dals together in water for two hours. Strain the water and pulse the dals in the mixer. It should be ground into a course mixture.

     
        

          Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

    

        Heat oil in a deep pan. Make small round shaped vadas and deep fry. Remove them from oil when brown and drain on a tissue paper. Serve hot.

Kadhai Gosht – A North Indian Mutton Curry – Borrowed Recipe

This is another wonderful recipe from Shab’s cuisine with slight modifications from my side.  Really loved this one and will definitely follow this again.

Ingredients:

          Mutton                                    --   1 kg
          Onion                                       --   3 medium size
          Yogurt                                    --   5 tbsp
          Garam Masala                    --   2 tsp
          Ginger Garlic Paste           --   2 tbsp
          Tomatoes                              --   2 large
          Green chillies                       --   5-6   
          Turmeric Powder              --   1/2 tsp
          Chilly Powder                     --   2 tsp
         Coriander Powder             --   2 tsp
         Cumin seeds                          --   1 tsp 
         Cardamom                            --   4 no 
         Cloves                                     --    5 no
         Cinnamon stick                   --   2 inch piece
         Coriander leaves                --   2 cups chopped

 

Preparation of  Kadhai Gosht:

Wash mutton pieces and drain well. Marinate the meat with the onions chopped into tiny pieces/grated, yogurt, ginger garlic paste and garam masala. Refrigerate it in a container with lid for over night.

Bring the marinated meat to room temperature before cooking.

      

In a pressure cooker, heat oil. Add cardamom, cinnamon and cloves and sauté for few seconds till it leaves aroma.  Add in the chopped tomatoes and green chillies. Sauté until the tomatoes are squishy.

   

Add salt, chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder  and cumin seeds and stir fry for few minutes.

Add in the marinated meat and sauté for 10 minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally.

Add ¾ cup water, stir well and pressure cook till done. Adjust the salt if required. If required, add water and let it dry as per required gravy. Since we already sautéed meat for sometime, it would take less pressure cooking time. So don’t forget to check in between for doneness.

    

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice or chapathi.

Spicy Dahi Murg

I was searching for a different kind of chicken curry and I found this @ Shab’s place. I loved the recipe and the name she had given to this J Though she has warned about the risk of getting this correct, I could come up with  a yummy dish. I am not sure if mine was the same as what her mom prepared. But we liked this version. Thanks to Shab’s mom for the wonderful recipe.

Ingredients:

        Chicken                                            --   2 lb (approximately 1 kg)

    For marinade:

        Chilli powder                                --   2 tsp
        Coriander powder                     --   4 tsp
        Greek yogurt or  thick curd   --   6 tbsp
        Lemon juice                                  --   1 tbsp
        Salt                                                   --   to taste

    Others:

        Onion                                               --   1 medium size
        Ginger                                             --   1 inch
       Garlic                                               --   7 large cloves
       Oil                                                      --   3 tbsp
       Cumin seeds                                  --   1 tsp
       Cardamom                                    --   3
       Cloves                                              --   5
       Cinnamon stick                            --   2 inch piece
       Coriander leaves                         --   ½ cup(loosely packed) chopped
       Tomato                                            --   1 medium size

Preparation of  Dahi Murg:

        Mix all the ingredients for the marinade and apply it to the chicken.Mix well. Cover and leave it in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours.

       Heat a large saucepan and add oil. Add cumin seeds along with other whole spices. When the aroma comes,add in chopped onion,little salt, ginger and garlic and fry until the onion starts to turn golden in colour.  Add in the chopped tomatoes and fry until they are squishy.

 

       Add in the marinated chicken and mix well. Cover and cook in low flame until the chicken is almost cooked and the gravy is very thick. Add some water if required. ie only if water doesn’t come out of the chicken. Add in the chopped coriander leaves and stir carefully. Cover and cook until done.

     Serve hot with chapathi, pathiri etc..

Chilly Mushroom

Mushrooms are a healthy and tasty substitute for meat lovers. They have lots of proteins and vitamins and no fat. As with meat, this is always tasty when they are more spicy.

Ingredients:

          Mushrooms                     --   200 gms
         Onion                                  --   ½ of a medium size
         Ginger Garlic  paste     --   1 tsp 
         Green Chillies                  --   4 – 5
         Capsicum                          --   ½ of a medium size 
         Soya Sauce                       --   1 tbsp
         Chilli Sauce                      --   1 tbsp 
         Tomato Sauce                --   2 tsp           
         Pepper Powder              --   2 tsp 
         Corn flour                         --   1 ½ tsp
         Spring Onion                   --    for garnishing (I did not have this) 
         Oil                                         --    as required
         Salt                                       --    to taste

Preparation of Chilly Mushroom:

        Heat oil in a pan and add the sliced onions, green chillies and ginger garlic paste. Saute until the onions are translucent.  Now add the mushrooms and diced capsicum and let them cook.

   

        Stir in the sauces and the pepper powder. Mix the corn flour in ½ cup of water. Add this to the mushroom gravy and let it slightly boil. Remove from fire and garnish with spring onions.

Prawns in Coconut Gravy

Ingredients:

        Prawns                                 --   ½ kg
       Drumsticks                          --    2 – 3 pieces ( Optional )
       Finely chopped onions   --   ½ cup
       Green chillies                      --   2 – 3
       Tomato                                  --   1 medium size
       Garlic                                      --   1 big clove
       Ginger                                     --   1 small piece
       Tamarind                              --    A small ball (walnut size) 
       Turmeric Powder              --   ¼ tsp
       Chilly Powder                     --   1 tbsp
       Coconut milk                       --   1 cup
       Mustard Seeds                    --   1 tsp
       Curry Leaves                       --   1 spring
       Oil                                             --   2 tbsp
       Salt                                           --   to taste

Preparation of Prawns Curry:
         Soak the tamarind ball in water.  Clean the prawns and keep it aside.
          
         Heat oil in a pan. Splutter the mustard seeds. Add the onions, tomato, green chillies, garlic and ginger. Fry until the onions and tomatoes are smashed. Add the turmeric powder, chilly powder and salt.
         
         Squeeze the tamarind and pour the juice into the pan. Once it starts boiling, add  prawns and the drumstick pieces.
           
        Add the coconut milk when the prawns are half cooked.
         
       Let the prawns get completed cooked. Garnish with curry leaves.
        
       Serve hot with rice / dosa / kappa puzhukku.
    

Next Review from CSN stores

Yeah.. this is the second time CSN stores chose me to do a review. Thanks to their marketing team :). last time, I got a few plates, cereal bowls, etc . They are really good and for sure, they are gonna cover my blog for quite some time. CSN stores is a continually growing online store and you can find everything from cheap bedroom furniture to fitness equipments to anything for any room in our sweet homes.

Do visit CSN stores and I am pretty sure you ll spend more than a day browsing there.

Banana Bread with Choco Chips n Nuts

Ingredients:

All purpose flour                    --    1 ½ cup

Baking powder                       --    1 tsp

Baking soda                             --    ½ tsp

Ripe Banana                            --    2

Eggs                                            --    2

Unsalted Butter                     --    ¼ cup

Powdered Sugar                   --    ¾ cup

Honey                                        --    4 tbsp

Vanilla Essence                     --    1 tsp

Cinnamon Powder               --    1 tsp

Chopped nuts                         --    ½ cup

Chocolate chips                    --    ½ cup

Preparation of Cake:

Prepare a 9” x 5” baking pan (I used an 8” x 4” pan and so you can see ears for my cake J) lined with butter and dusted with flour. Preheat the oven at 350 F.

Mix the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Sift the mix 4 -5 times.

Smash the bananas with a fork and keep aside.  

Beat the butter and sugar until they are well combined. Add the eggs one after the other, beating them until they are well combined.

 

Add honey, vanilla essence and the cinnamon powder. Beat to combine.

Add the flour mix spoon by spoon and keep on mixing. Make sure that the flour is mixed well in the mixture before adding the next set.

  

Fold in the smashed banana with a spatula. Then fold in the chopped nuts and the chocolate chips.

 

Bake in the preheated oven at 350 F for 35 – 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean from the center of the cake. Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes and the remove it on to a cooling rack and let it cool completely.