MANGALORE PRAWN CURRY / YETTI GASSI

Nostalgia : A sentiment or a wistful yearning for the happiness felt in a former time ,place or situation.

Nostalgia is always connected deeply to food memories…atleast in my case. Every dish I cook on a special day or in a special mood definitely has some emotions behind it. I did my graduation from St’Agnes college, Mangalore. So many beautiful memories are still alive and kicking in my mind around Mangalore.The carnivorous me was unlucky to be living in a vegetarian hostel. So every Sunday was looked forward for that restaurant visit to relish the non vegetarian delicacies I was missing throughout the week. Mangalore Prawn curry was one of those favorites of mine. I could order it only on Sunday with a full pocket money status. Today I am cooking Yetti Gassi for lunch and my mind is wondering around the giggles and innocence of my friends. I am so glad that many of us are living in the same city now and are able to get together once in a while.

Recipe of Mangalore Prawn curry /Yetti Gassi.

serves 3 to 4

cooking time 20 minutes

level : Medium difficulty

Spicy

Ingredients

Mangalore special prawn curry.

Spicy and delicious !

Recipe

Ingredients Marinate 500 gms cleaned prawns in turmeric powder and 1/2 tsp black pepper powder,salt

Spice powders

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 tsp coriander seeds

10 dried red chillies ..

(less spicy ones…or remove the seeds inside )

masala paste

5 cloves chopped garlic,

1 inch chopped ginger

one big tomato chopped

1 teaspoon spoon tamarind paste

2 table spoons coconut oil

1/2 tsp black mustard seeds

3 green chillies slit

10 curry leaves

one big onion finely chopped

1 cup thick coconut milk

3 table spoons coconut paste ground in mixie using a little water

salt to taste

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steps in cooking .

Watch my video which shows the entire cooking procedure. Click on the link herehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlUmz-pihYE&t=69s

How to make Yetti Gassi /Mangalore prawn curry.

1. Marinate prawns in salt,turmeric powder and 1/4 tsp black pepper powder.
2. Heat 1 table spoon oil in a kadai and fry cumin ,coriander seeds and redchillies.
3. Add a little water into the 2. mixture and grind to a smooth paste.4.Add chopped onions,tomatoes,garlic and ginger to the mixer along with the ground paste in the above step.
4. Heat 2 table spoon in a wok/kadai and add slit green chillies to it. Now add the ground wet masala 3. into the oil. Add tamarind paste to it. check the salt a.
5. Now add the marinated prawns into the kadai .Mix well and check the salt.
6. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes
7. Now add coconut paste to it and cook for a minute.
8. Add coconut milk and mix well. Once the curry comes to a boil, simmer for another 5 minutes.
9. Tempering: Curry is ready . Now heat one tsp oil in a small pan and add mustard seeds to it. Let it crackle and add curry leaves.Add this entire thing to the curry .Mix well and enjoy.Serve with White rice , akki roti or roti .

Karimeen fry/Pearlspot fry.The easiest recipe ever.

A scene from my north Malabar home at 11.30 am.

Meen Kittiya? (Did you get some fresh fish for lunch?) _ A usual dialogue in the household repeated every afternoon .

Karimeen /Pearlspot fry. An absolute favorite of seafoodies!

The mother or the person responsible for kitchen eagerly waits for the fish delivery like a daily ritual. Without fish, how can our staple diet of rice, veggies, fish curry/fry be complete? We coastal people are absolutely in love with seafood and we are seriously committed to our relationship with it. We are ready to take those extra efforts of cleaning and cooking the fish at any cost.I was born and brought up in Payyanur, Kannur district ,Kerala. Marrying a defense officer had lead to spending my life in almost the entire country . I am grateful for the exposures to the food culture every state had offered me .I loved their regional cuisines and food cultures too. But fish and rice stayed with me like a forever love.

Food is not rational.Food is culture,habit,craving and identity.

Fish curry or fry is like a deep sentiment for me than just a dish. Have you noticed how strongly food memories influence our emotions?! My heart is like a slave to flavors. Good food can lift my spirit even from darkest moods. There is no better experience than a well cooked home meal. So here I am sharing the simplest fish fry recipe for the people who wants to fry fish quickly in their kitchen. I used pearlspot/karimeen in this recipe. But any fish can be cooked using the same recipe.

Recipe for Karimeen fry

Ingradients

karimeen or any fish fillet : 2 pieces

shallots : 6 nos

garlic : 5

curry leaves : 2 strands

ginger : 1 inch piece

turmeric powder : 1/4 teaspoon

kashmiri red chilli powder : 1 teaspoon

lemon juice : 1 table spoon

salt to taste

oil : for frying the fish on tawa : 3 table spoons

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STEPS OF COOKING IN THE GALLERY

Method:

grind chopped ginger,garlic and curry leaves in a mixie . Add red chilli powder, turmeric ,salt and lemon juice into the ground paste. Marinate the fish in this paste for 30 minutes . Shallow fry the marinated fish on tawa.

Fish fry is quickly ready in your kitchen. Enjoy!You can watch my Youtube video on this recipe here! Do watch , cook and have fun!!!

Kerala Karimeen Pollichathu (Pearl Spot )Seafood special.

I’ve got friends from almost all the states of India and I had been asked this one question by most of them who were planning to visit Kerala, ” Sari, tell me one sea food delicacy which should never be missed out while tasting Kerala cuisine” . My answer was and will always be ” Karimeen Pollichathu”. This dish is prepared using Pearl spot fish ,marinated and then covered in banana leaf and baked on hot plate/tawa. Once you open the banana leaf after cooking process, the tasty juices run through your fingers leaving a heavenly aroma. Recently, one of my best friends had visited Kerala. He also had a great time in Kerala but this one thing he told me helped me in observing my own state’s food industry practices. According to him, there is no breakfast served after 10.30 am. In fact, eating out at Breakfast has not become a part of Kerala culture.His statement made me wonder why Kerala is not serving breakfast even after owning the maximum number of breakfast items in the country. Lunch and dinner is served lavishly. I told him that may be the place he visited did not have many breakfast joints and a generalized opinion about it may not be correct. My home town ,Payyanur has many breakfast serving restaurants. Bombay Hotel is the best of all of them.

Okay, let me come back to pearl spot. Karimeen is largely found in the back waters of Kerala and Karimeen pollichathu is a christian delicacy. With time, the recipe has been absorbed into every family and has become an integral part of Kerala cuisine.I thank god for letting me live next to  this beautiful back water area. My home town is blesses with a part of river, sea and back waters. So the choices i get to for picking a fish for lunch is lavish.  🙂
Ingredients
Pearl spot fish/Karimeen – 3 nos
turmeric powder – 1 tsp
Red chilli powder – 1 tbsp
Black pepper powder – 1 tsp
Green chillies chopped – 1 tbsp
garlic finely chopped – 2 tbsp
ginger finely chopped – 2 tbsp
Small onions – finely chopped – 2 cups
tomatoes finely chopped – 1 cup
Curry leaves – 3 strands
Lemon juice – 2 tbsp
salt – to taste

Method
1. Clean the fish and make incisions on it using a sharp knife. Marinate the fish in some turmeric powder,red chilli powder, black pepper ,lemon juice and salt for at least an hour.
2. Shallow fry the marinated fish on hot plate /tawa for few seconds. Take care not to break the skin of the fish while frying.Keep aside.
3. Add some oil in a kadai . Fry the onions, finely chopped ginger,garlic, green chillies and tomatoes in it.Add some turmeric,red chilli and pepper powders and saute for 2 minutes.
4. Take a banana leaf ,big enough to cover a single fish with it as shown in the pic. Spread some sauted masala,step 3, in the middle of the leaf.Now place the half-cooked fish on top of this masala. Now again spread some more masala on top of the fish. Cover the fish with the banana leaf . Use thread to tie a knot around the cover. 🙂
5. Heat a tawa and add 2 tbsp oil . Now place the covered fish on top and cook on low flame for 10 to 12 minutes or until the leaf turns light brown.
6. Turn the side and cook on the other side of the fish using the same procedure.
7. Serve hot as a starter or with rice, roti and any kind of breads. Enjoyyy!

Shaam Savera

The name of this dish simply means “dark evening and bright morning” in hindi. If you look at the color combination ,You can make some sense out of it. It’s basically a palak coated paneer Kofta served in a bed of red tomato gravy. It’s quite a different dish you can serve for your distinguished guests. Other than making koftas and cutting them into two equal parts, there’s not much of technicality involved in the cooking process.
I was too excited to see the result and was enjoying the curiosity this dish brought to my guest’s mind.

Cuisine : Indian
Source : Sanjeev Kapoor
Serves : 6
Ingredients
Palak leaves/spinach : 1 kg
Paneer : 250 gms
garam masala : 2 pinches
garlic : 6 single pieces crushed
red chilli powder : 1 tspn
Besan/ chick pea flour : 1 tbspn
corn flour : for rolling the kababs in it ( use enough to roll in a flat plate )
For gravy
Tomatos : 5 big
Green chillies : 2
Ginger garlic paste : 1 tspn
cumin powder : 1 tspn
Fresh cream : 2 tbspn

Method
1. Wash the spinach leaves in running water thoroughly. Now add them to boiling water for 5 minutes. Take them out and wash again in ice-cold water.Now chop them roughly.
2. Add 2 tbspn oil in a kadai and add crushed garlic into it. Now add red chilli powder ,besan and salt . Saute for few seconds and then add the chopped spinach leaves. Mix thoroughly. Leave it for cooling.Squeeze out all the water using your clean hands. 🙂
3. Crush the paneer/Cottage cheese with your hands and add some garam masalas in to it. Now make small balls of paneer using your hands.
4. To make koftas, spread some palak onto your palm and place a paneer ball on top. Now cover with palak and press gently to make a ball. Refer the pic below to understand this procedure.

5. Now roll the koftas in cornflour in a flat plate.          6. Deep fry these koftas in hot oil and after cooling,cut into two equal parts
                             

1. Now arrange them in the bed of tomato gravy before seving.
   For gravy
2. Grind tomatoes in a mixie to form a paste.
3. Heat some oil in a small pan and add crushed garlic to it. Add red chilli powder and cumin powder and saute for few seconds. Now add the tomato juice into it and mix well. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes. You may add some fresh cream to get a richer gravy.

Note
1. Incase your koftas are breaking while you deep fry them, add more cornflour , by rolling it once again in cornflour.You may even add some more besan in the palak mix too.

Vishu Sadya ( Scrumptious vegetarian spread of Kerala)

I asked my children to look into the mirror and say what they saw there. My 7 yr old younger one Aaru, very carefully looked into the mirror and said, “Mom, I can see my nose”. Elder one did not answer as he was trying to figure out the complicated answer which his mom is expecting to hear. He knew very well that ‘face” is not the expected answer as it’s the simplest answer any one could guess. Mom needs some more and what’s that???? Aaru’s innocent answer amused me but I had to give them the correct answer myself. The situation where I asked them this question was at Vishukkani, the first sight arranged by the” lady of the house” for the rest of the family members. Mirror is one of the most essential part of Vishukkani as it symbolizes one’s role in making his own future. It tells us that ‘You are the one who make or break your own future”. The message is truly and highly valuable and that’s what I was trying to convey to my kids through the question “What do you see in the mirror?”

At Vishukkani, every basic and luxurious need of yours is displayed like food items,gold,silver money and good clothes. I wonder why we are not adding I-phones also to this list. 😉 Vishukkani has to be seen between 4 and 6 AM and is generally arranged by grand mother or mother.While seeing the vishukkani ,you pray for a prosperous new year ahead. Elders gift you with money or goodies and you touch their feet and seek for blessings.My husband just loves this tradition as that’s the only day I touch his feet as he is the eldest of our nuclear family. 😛 🙂 Next comes the scrumptious meal ,Vishu Sadya which I prepared for my family. Sadya is served on banana leaf and no cutleries are used to eat the meal. You are supposed to enjoy the meal with your beautiful hands. 🙂

Planning to surprise your family with Kerala vegeterian dishes or even Sadya? Then my other posts on Sambar , Avial , Koottu curry, Pachadi, Parippu curry,Puli inji and Payasam will do the magic for you!

I know that you are drooling while looking into the Sadya pic. Not your fault mate. It’s very natural and continue drooling. I am not gonna tell anyone. 😉 Sadya is an elaborate vegetarian spread with many dishes and desserts called payasam. Coconut ,coconut milk,and curry leaves play a big role in the cooking procedure.I belong to North Kerala,Malabar and we don’t mind having fish and chicken along with Sadya. Every dish has got a specific place in the banana leaf and it also has a scientific explanation. The banana leaf symbolizes a human body and every dish’s nutrients for each part of the body decides where on the leaf it has to be served.

The Sadya includes sarkkara uppery,uppery,mango pickle, pappadam, koottu curry,thoran, avial,sambar ,olan,pachadi,kitchadi,kaalan,puli inji,erissery,rasam, butter milk, banana and payasams. Payasams are of many kind but here I’ve served parippu pradhaman and pal ada payasam.I’ve tried to cover as many dishes as possible by me but there are many more which I wish to cover in the coming years.Kaara appam/Unniyappam and achappam/rose cookies are the sweet snacks prepared on Vishu. They are served in the brass uruli along with the Sadya for you to see. Please have a look dear!The Sadya dish’s recipes are included in my blog under kerala vegetarian dishes and on searching you can find them. And that’s me in my traditional kerala saree which is a 2-piece saree called Mundu and Veshti. 😉 🙂

Planning to surprise your family with Kerala vegeterian dishes or even Sadya? Then my other posts on Sambar , Avial , Koottu curry, Pachadi, Parippu curry,Puli inji and Payasam will do the magic for you!

Avial ( Mixed vegetable in yogurt and ground coconut)

Mythology behind this dish
It is supposed to have been invented by Bhima (one of the Pandava brothers) during their exile. According to the legend, when Ballav (Bhima’s name during this time) assumed his duties as the cook in the kitchen of Virata, he did not know how to cook. One of the first things he did was to chop up many different vegetables, boil them together and top the dish with grated coconut. There are mythological variations. Bheema is said to have prepared Avial, when there were unexpected guests for King Virata and he needed to serve meals for them. There was no sufficient vegetables to cook any single recipe for side dish, so Bheema used what ever available vegetables to make a new dish, which came to know as Avial.

Another narrative version relates to the attempt made by Kauravas to kill Bhima. After poisoning Bhima, Kauravas tied Bhima and threw him to water. Kauravas also communicated that they saw Bhima drowning in water. With the completion of the days of mourning, a funeral feast was planned and preparation were underway. Unexpectedly, Bhima emerged from the water, rescued by the Nagas. With this, preparations for the feast was cancelled. However, Bhima was unhappy with this decision, and decided to mix all of the vegetables to prepare a new dish, that later became popular as Avial. Another myth that in the kingdom of thiruvithankor in Kerala there was a great fest held by the king. Every one in the kingdom came to eat so there was a shortage of curry to be served. But in the kitchen also stocks were less so when the king visited the kitchen he found that a lot of vegetables were wasted when they were peeled . The king ordered the cook to make a curry with this along with some other ingredients so Avial was born. -Wikipedia.

Avial is an essential part of Kerala sadya, vegeterian feast. North keralites even add a piece of bitter gourd into this dish and wonderfuly cover up the bitterness with other ingredients. The final taste of Avial is just heavenly.
My plate with Avial as a side dish is added here. 🙂

Planning to surprise your family with Kerala vegeterian dishes or even Sadya? Then my other posts on Sambar , Avial , Koottu curry, Pachadi, Parippu curry,Puli inji and Payasam will do the magic for you!

How to cook Avial?
Ingredients
Raw plantain – 1
elephant foot vegetable/yam – few pieces
carrot – 1 french beans – 10 nos
Drum sticks – 2 nos
Ash gourd pieces – 100 gms
bitter gourd – 2 finger shaped pieces only
sour curd – 1 cup
freshly grated coconut – 1 cup
cumin seeds – 1 tsp
green chillies – 2
coconut oil – 2 tbsp
curry leaves – 2 strands
turmeric powder – one pinch
salt – to taste
garlic – 2 to 3 pods (optional)
Method
1. Cook all the veggies together in a big pan/kadai after adding one cup water ,turmeric powder and salt .Grind coconut,green chillies and cumin to a coarse paste using curd and keep aside.
2. Once the veggies are cooked, make a dip in the middle as shown in the pic and add bruised garlic to it. Boil for 2 minutes.
3. Now add the coconut paste into the dip and slowly mix it with the boiled vceggies using a spoon. Make sure the coconut paste is mixed very well with the veggies.Check the sourness. If you need more, add more curd.Cook for 2 to 3 minutes with stirring occassionaly.
4. Switch off the flame and pour coconut oil ( preferably virgin oil) on top of the avial which is ready now. Add curry leaves. Mix gently and leave it covered for another few minutes for the aroma to set in.
Serve with rice and sambar.

Planning to surprise your family with Kerala vegeterian dishes or even Sadya? Then my other posts on Sambar , Avial , Koottu curry, Pachadi, Parippu curry,Puli inji and Payasam will do the magic for you!

Golden fried prawns.

Today my mind is so blank and I don’t know what to write about these delicious prawns. Just one thing to say, ‘ Eat them straight out of the pan”.

These prawns are excellent starters for your evening get togethers. But do not fry and leave it for eating afterwards as they tend to get soggy soon. 🙂

Cooking time      10 minutes
party snack
serves                 3
Ingredients

Prawns  – 350 gms
Egg white – 2
sugar – one pinch
salt – to taste
oil – 1 tspn for batter , and for deep frying too
cornflour – 1 tbspn
Maida/all purpose flour – 3 tbspn
Baking pdr – one pinch
Method
Mix all the ingredints in a large bowl and beat it for 5 minutes using a whisker or fork.Leave the batter in the fridge for 10 minutes. Dip the prawns one by one in the batter and deep fry in the hot oil in a kadai.Serve super hot with red chilly sauce.
Need more easy prawns recipes? Check out here Prawns

More awesome sea food recipes can be found in this blog.

Sambar Varutharachathu ( With added aroma of roasted coconut )

Sambar is the most famous vegetable gravy of South India. I ‘ve tasted many different flavours of this one dish from different parts of the country. If it’s spicy ,tangy and slightly thick in Kerala, Karanataka has a mild sweet taste to it. Tamil Sambar tastes entirely different and Andhra Sambar is the spiciest. How ever differently it is flavoured, people just love it. I’ve met people from other states who thinks that Sambar , rice and Idli are the only food people eat in South India. Well, I would say, Sambar is so popular all over the country that it has reached every single state and people love it.And that’s what makes it so famous for people to think that this is the only food southies eat. (Lol) I would want other endless dishes of Kerala cuisine (veg &Non veg) also to reach the food lovers of this world.

As Rocky & Mayur from Food mad correctly said in their blog, Vada raha, South India has the largest variety of B’fast dishes in the country.I could see them enjoying the mouth-watering sea food and non veg varieties along with vegetarian dishes on my screen.I was happy about them finding out the flavourful delicious food and bringing it out to the public.
Here I’m making Sambar which has added aroma of roasted coconut in it. This is how Sambar is made in my place,Payyannur. Payyannur is a small beautiful coastal town with a lot to satisfy your food cravings. I wish I could take you there through my blog to give you a taste of it. I may not be able to cover up every dish in a single post and may take years to cover all of it. But I wish to make a beginning of it here.Stay tuned ! 🙂

Planning to surprise your family with Kerala vegeterian dishes or even Sadya? Then my other posts on Sambar , Avial , Koottu curry, Pachadi, Parippu curry,Puli inji and Payasam will do the magic for you!

Ingredients
Tuvar dal/Yellow lentils – Cooked and mashed – 1 cup
freshly grated coconut – 1 cup
Baby onions – 1/2 cup
tomato – 1
Potato – 1
Ladies finger – 10 nos
bringal – 1 small
Carrot – 1 small
drum sticks – 1 or 2
( Any veggie of your choice can be used but these are the traditional choice . Please avoid using cauliflower or capsicum in Sambar as I would say it spoils the whole show )
Mustard seeds- 1 tea spoon
Fenugreek seeds – 1/4 teaspoon
Whole red chillies – 1 or 2
Curry leaves – 3 strands
tamarind pulp – 2 table spoon
turmeric pdr – 1/2 teaspoon
Red chilly pdr – 1 table spoon
coriander powder – 2 table spoon
asafoetida one pinch
oil – 2 to 3 table spoon
Method
1.Add yellow lentils along with 2 to 3 cups of water, turmeric powder and a little salt in a cooker. Wait for 4 whistles. Once dal is cooked , mash it a little with the spoon.
2. In a small pan, heat 2 to 3 table spoon oil. Add fenugreek seeds and once the seeds turn brown quickly add half of the chopped onions. Once onions turn brown, add grated coconut to it and keep stirring till the coconut is deep dark brown. Now add all the masala powders to it and stir for another 3 minutes. Using whole masalas instead of powders will be a better option for better taste.
3. Now grind this roasted and fried masala to a fine paste in a mixie.
4. Add this masala into the nicely cut veggies in another pot/wok along with salt and tamarind pulp. Make sure the veggies are cooked well in this masala by adding required water and salt to taste.Add ladies finger and tomatoes to the pot only when potatoes are half-cooked as it will avoid over cooking of tender veggies.
5. Now add the mashed dal/lentils into this veggie masala and check for your preferred consistency.Use water to get the consistency you need.Add asafoetida at this stage and bring it to a boil. Cook on medium to low flame for 3 minutes stirring occasionally.
6. Sambar is ready. Now add some curry leaves and keep it covered.
7.Heat one table spoon oil in a small pan and add mustard seeds,whole ed chillies and curry leaves to it. Make sure that he mustards crack fully to release the amino acids present in them. Add this seasoning on top of the sambar.
Enjoy with rice, idly or Dosa.

Planning to surprise your family with Kerala vegeterian dishes or even Sadya? Then my other posts on Sambar , Avial , Koottu curry, Pachadi, Parippu curry,Puli inji and Payasam will do the magic for you!

Creamy Baked chicken breast -Only 3 steps

Even though I’m a complete Tea totaler, I have learned that meat looks best with Champagne in Food photography. 😉 jokes apart, I am gonna bake chicken breast in fresh cream and some assorted spices here. Enjoy!

Are you a chicken lover? Then check my other posts for Dragon chicken,  Chicken Xacuti, Restaurant style Butter chicken at home,Murgh Hirwa masala,Kerala chicken stew.

You may even like Grilled chicken recipes in different spices. Hyderabadi Dum chicken is from the Nizam’s cuisine.
Ingredients
Chicken breast – 1
lemon juice – few drops
fresh cream – 3 to 4 tbsp (Be generous for good results baby)
cinnamon powder – 2 pinch
Black pepper powder – 1 tsp
Kasuri methi/Dried fenu greek leaves – 3 pinches
salt – to taste
oil – 1 tbsp
1. Marinate the chicken in all the above mentioned ingredients for 4 hours.
2. Cover the marinated chicken in aluminium foil and bake in the Oven for 35 minutes or till the chicken is cooked well at 250 degree Celsius.
3. Open the foil and broil the cooked chicken for 5 minutes to get brown colour on the outer portion.

enjoy!
You may even like Grilled chicken recipes in different spices. Hyderabadi Dum chicken is from the Nizam’s cuisine.

Mushroom Chettinadu (Mushrooms in spicy gravy) South Indian

Today I am so happy and relaxed as i’ve learned quite a few things about blogging. Last few days, I’ve been struggling to learn the art of blogging .As a novice blogger, I was lost at many places,with no one around to ask help for. Most of the time, when I want to publish a post,my family is out for their work &school. I would feel terrible without help to solve the issue but Google always was beside me, helping me to find a way out.Love you Google! muah!!!
Today, I got some nice mushrooms in my kitchen. My friends have been asking me for some nice south Indian vegetarian recipes. So, i decided to make Chettinadu Mushroom masala for dinner.

My choosy teenager Adi also loved it. Well, that gives me a lot of confidence to post the recipe here.

Ingredients
Oil – 4 to 5 tbsp
freshly grated coconut – 1 cup
green cardmoms – 3 nos
cloves – 3 nos
poppy seeds – 2 tbsp
cashew nuts – 10 nos
whole red chillies – 3 ( upto u)
coriander seeds – 2 tbsp
fennel seeds- 1 tsp
cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Onion – 1 big
tomatoes – 1 medium size
Ginger – 1 inch( minced)
chopped garlic – 1 tsp
curry leaves- 1 strand
turmeric pdr – 1 pinch
salt – to taste
Mushrooms – 200 gm ( Cut into 4 equal piece)
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp

Soak cashew nuts and poppy seeds in water for 20 minutes.
First You have to make a dry roasted masala.
1. Add 2 tbsp oil in a pan. Add cardamoms and cloves into the oil.Add whole coriander,cumin seeds,fennel seeds,red chillies and freshly grated coconut into the pan and roast for 7 to 8 minutes on medium flame.
2. Transfer the above masala into a mixie along with cashew nuts ,ginger and poppy seeds. Grind to a fine smooth paste.Keep aside.
3.Add some oil in a wok/kadai. Add finely chopped onions and garlic and saute till golden brown. Add tomatoes, turmeric and some red chilli powder into the kadai. Saute for 2 minutes. Now add the roasted and ground masala into the kadai. Saute for 4 minutes. Add the washed and cut mushrooms and salt into it. Mix gently and saute on high flame for 3 minutes. Now on low flame ,cover and cook for 10 minutes.Stir occasionaly.
5.Add water for your preferred consistency. Once the gravy is nice brown and aromatic, switch off the flame.
4. In a small pan, heat one tsp of oil and add mustard seeds and curry leave into it . Pour it over the gravy as seasoning.
Enjoy hot with any type of breads or rice.

Shahi Paneer

Aarush, my younger son asked ” so mom, am i a prince?” .I just raised my eyebrows and looked at him in surprise. Then he explained, ” Mom, our hindi lesson has a character called Appukkuttan, a “shahi gaj ” which means royal elephant. If this dish is called Shahi paneer and it is made for me, then i should be a prince right? I loved the way he explained the whole story to me and the connection he made between his lesson and my food. I told him softly” Yeah baby, you are my prince.”
Okay, I’m back to the dish now. Shahi paneer is a Mughal dish cooked for royal blood.But these days, as we all think of ourselves as kings and queens of our own world,we have all the right to cook and eat this royal dish. 🙂 Let’s see how it’s prepared.

serves – 6
Prep time – 15 minutes
Ingredients
Paneer/ cottage cheese ( cut into cubes) – 350 gm
Cashew nut paste – 3 to 4 tbsp
Milk – 1 cup
Onion – 2 medium-sized
Tomato puree – 5 tbsp
Sugar – 1 tbsp
salt – to taste
ghee/ oil – 3 tbsp
Kasuri methi – 1 tsp ( Dried fenugreek leaves)
Kashmiri red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Green cardamom – 3
Black cardamom – 3
garam masala – 1 tsp
Ginger juliens – 2 tsp
Fresh cream – 1/2 cup (Optional)

Method
1. Cut the onion into big pieces and boil in 2 cups of water. Drain and grind to a fine paste using mixie . Keep aside.
2. Heat some oil/ghee in a wok/kadai . Add the cardamoms and then the onion paste into the hot ghee and saute for 2 minutes. Now add the ginger juliens and tomato puree into the kadai and saute well. Add the red chilli powder followed by garam masla and saute till the time oil starts seperating.Add cashew paste. Now add some milk to get your preferred consistency of gravy.Add sugar and salt according to your taste.Mix well.
3. Now add the paneer cubes into the gravy and mix gently with spoon.
4. If you need a thinner consistency, add more milk instead of water for best results.Once the gravy comes to a boil ,switch off the flame.
5. Add Kasuri methi on top of the gravy. You may add fresh cream also if you need a richer gravy.

Serve hot with Naans or Kulchas. Enjoy!!!
Tips
1. Grind cashew nuts using milk in a mixie.
2. Ginger juliens should be very thin. If you are finding it difficult, grind ginger with tomato.

Thanks for dropping in ! Let me know your opinion about this dish here .

Chettinadu spicy fish fry

Chettinad cuisine is one of the spiciest and the most aromatic in India. Chettinad cuisine is famous for its use of a variety of spices used in preparing mainly non-vegetarian food. The dishes are hot and pungent with freshly ground masalas.Today i’m going to fry my sheer fish in chettinadu masalas. It’s simple and delicious. I want every sea foodies out there to try this recipe. Trust me, it’s worth it!

My family just loved it! And I caught myself licking my fingers while tasting it 😉

Ingredients
Sheer fish ( Or any fleshy fish) – 8 pieces
Oil – for shallow frying
1. Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Red chilli pdr – 1 t tbsp
Coriander pdr – 1 tbsp
Lemon juice – of a big lemon
salt to taste
Marinate the fish for 30 minutes in the above mentioned ingredients.

2. Dry roast the ingredients listed below on a hot tawa until the colour of urad dal and chana dal turns brown. Roast on a medium flame and do not burn the masalas. If you burn the masala, that’s the end of the show! 🙂

Chana dal – 1 tbsp
Urad dal – 1 tbsp
Black pepper corns – 3/4 tbsp
mustard seeds – 1 tspn
Curry leaves – 2 strands
Salt – very little ( as u have marinated the fish with some amount of salt earlier)
After roasting, Powder the masala using a mixie .

3. Now roll the marinated fish pieces in the ground masala and leave aside for 5 minutes before shallow frying on a hot tawa.

4. Turn the sides of the fish and fry on medium and low heat alternatively till it’s cooked nicely. IT may take around 3 minutes to fry on one side.
ENJOYYYY HOT!

Tips
Urad dal/ Uzhunnu parippu/split black gram
Chana dal/ kadala parippu/split bengal gram

Pepper Prawns

These days i’m feasting myself on sea food as i’m worried about missing fresh sea food in Kashmir, where i’ll be living for the coming few years. Donna wanna feel miserable by the thought of letting the whole world feast on the prawns which were marked for me at their birth. So here i go !

Here in this recipe, i’ve followed the simple Kerala style of cooking prawns using black pepper powder as the main spice ingredients.
Serves – 5
Preparation time – 10 minutes.
Ingredients
Prawns ( Dewained and washed) – 500 gm
Onion – 1 big Finely chopped
Curry leaves – 2 to 3 strands
Ginger minced – 1 tbsp
Garlic minced -2 tbsp
Black pepper powder – 2 tsp
Red chilli pdr – 1/2 tsp
Turmeric pdr – 1 tsp
Coriander pdr – 1 tbsp
Green chillies slit – 3 nos
Lemon juice – of 1 small lime
Salt – to taste
oIL – 3 to 4 tbsp
Method
1. Heat some oil in a pan and add finely chopped onions and garlic and saute till slight brown. Now add minced ginger in to it and saute for 2 minutes. Add turmeric pdr followed by black pepper pdr and saute very well on slow flame.
2. Now add red chilli pdr and coriander pdr and saute for another 1 minute.
3. Now it’s time for the prawns to go into the pan along with salt.Add curry leaves and green chillies now. Mix very well and cook with the lid closed for about a minute.
4. Open the lid and saute the whole masala along with prawns on high flame for some time. Make sure the prawns are cooked well and salted to taste.
5. Sprinkle the lemon juice drop by drop to your tangy taste.

ENJOYYY!
Your feedback is valuable for me ! 🙂

Ginger prawns

Friday night and party on! Try out partying with these extremely spicy yet mildly sweet ginger flavoured prawns. Party with Prawns!! Sounds so gud! 😉 By the way, it’s an easy to cook quick starter which can be cooked beautifully even by the “Not so good at cooking” types . Dedicated to my “party hard on terrace” friend. Hope u like it.

Ingredients
1.Onion – 1 medium-sized ( Grind to a fine paste in mixie)
Ginger juliens – 1 tbsp
ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp
Dewained washed prawns – 350 gm
sugar – 1 pinch(Optional)
Oil- 2 to 3 tbsp

*2. Red chillie paste – 1 tsp ( Boil and grind red chillies. Make sure they r not very spicy.)
Kashmiri red chilli pdr – 1 tsp
Black pepper pdr – 1/4 tsp
Tomato puree – 1 tbsp
tomato sauce/ ketch up – 1 tbsp
salt – to taste
Soya sauce – 1 tbsp

Method
1. Mix all the ingredients mentioned in number 2 *. Check the salt as soya sauce also cotains some amount of salt.
2. Heat some oil in a wok/kadai . Add the onion paste and saute for 2 minutes. Add ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell goes away.Add prawns to it and mix well for 2 minutes.Add some salt now.Now add the number 2 mix of ingredients which you have already prepared into the Wok.Mix very well.Add ginger juliens now.Cook on high heat for about 2 to 3 minutes until all the water content evaporates from the dish.Add a pinch of sugar now and mix well.Roast the dish on slow flame till the time it is completely dry and the prawns look roasted and fried.
3. Enjoy the spicy ginger prawns with your friends .  🙂
And let me know your feed back by your likes and comments here. 🙂

Crispy chilly honey potato (Restaurant style)

Hey friends, ever wondered the secret behind the crispy potato fingers served at restaurants?No big deal ya!
I’m gonna tell you that secret today. Keeping a secret safe with you always makes your heart feel heavier. And in my case, i’m already trying to lose weight. Can’t afford to make my mind also weigh more along with my body. That’s why i decided to share that secret with you. 😉

Serves 6

Prep time 20 mins
For making crispy potato fingers…..
Ingredients
Potato – 2 big
salt – to taste
All purpose flour/maida – 5 to 6 tbsp
cornflour- 5 to 6 tbsp
oil – for deep frying
1.In a flat plate, add maida, cornflour, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp oil. Mix gently with your fingers until the oil is mixed evenly with the flour.Keep aside.
2. Cut the potatoes into lond finger shapes.Boil some water in a pan. After switching of the flame, immerse these potato fingers in that water. Keep for not more than 4 minutes. Drain the water and throw some cool running water on the potato fingers. Drain again but let some moisture remain.
3. Mix these washed potatoes in the flour mixture. Refer to step 1 and the pic given below to see the mixed flour.

4. Deep fry the flour coated potatoes .Half cooking should be kept in mind as thee potatoes will again be re fried.

5. Mix maida, cornflour and salt into a semi watery batter. Once the half fried potatoes are cool enough, dip them into this batter and deep fry once more.Now, the colour of the potatoes should be golden brown as given in the pic below.

YOUR CRISPY POTATO FINGERS ARE READY.
Now, let’s go ahead and turn them into cripy chilli honey potato. For that, first we’ve to make a sauce for it.
For sauce
Ingredients
soya sauce – 1 tbsp
tomato sauce – 1 tbsp
Honey – 1 tbsp
salt – to taste
Green chillies chopped – 2
ginger garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Red chilly pdr- 1/2 tsp
Minced garlic – 1 tsp
Spring onions – 1 strand

1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add some chopped green chillies, ginger garlic auce, red chilly pdr, minced garlic. Saute for few seconds
2. Now add soya sauce and tomato sauce. Mix well in low heat.Add the thickener and mix well.
3. After switching off the flame, add 1 tbsp honey to it. Mix gently.Check the salt.
4. Sauce is ready. Be patient and allow the sauce to cool dow a bit .( Important )
5. Now add the fried crispy potato fingers which are already ready into the sauce and mix well.
6. Add chopped pring onions/ coriander leave and mix.
   
7. Serve hot as a starter. Enjoy! 🙂

Mutton Rogan Josh (Kashmiri)

Rogan Josh is an aromatic lamb dish of Persian origin which later became the signature dish of ” kASHMIRI CUISINE”.You must be wondering how i jumped from Hyderabad flavours to Kashmir cuisine abruptly. Just one reason behind it . and that is, i’m gonna be living in J&K for the next few years. This is a part of preparing my mind to accept and enjoy the region with its rich flavours. My hubby is already bribing me with Kashmiri silk and hand-made embroideries to accompany him to Jammu.He describes about the landscape , Saffron , Pure basmati rice and the beautiful cottage where we will be living for summer in the Summer capital , Srinagar.:)
I thought of doing my bit by cooking a Kashmiri dish to make my family ready to move to this beautiful place with a fresh mind .Rogan Josh means cooked in ghee or clarified butter at intense heat.

Thanks to Vahchef for the wonderful recipe.
So, here is the recipe of the best lamb dish of the country tried out in my kitchen. Cook, share , eat & enjoy!
Ingredients
Mutton 500 g
Black cardamom 4 n
Cinnamon sticks (small) 4 pieces
Green cardamom 6 n
Mace 2 n
Cumin seeds ¼ ts
Saffron pinch
Kashmir Red chilly powder 1 ½ tb
Ginger powder 1/2 tb
Fennel seed powder ¼ tb
Salt
Hing pinch
Ghee 2 tb

1.Make a powder of cinnamon, maze, cumin seeds and green cardamom using a mixie or blender.
2. Heat ghee in a thick bottomed vessel . Add the meat into the heated ghee in slow flame.Add salt to taste., Cook the meat until it gets roasted to golden brow colour.
3. Take a bowl and add the hing first. Now add Kashmiri red chilli powder,dry ginger powder, fennel seed powder ,saffron and make a watery paste by adding some water.
4. Add this watery paste to the already roasted mutton.
5. Pour 3 glasses of water into the mutton and cook in slow flame for 1 hour. ( If you are in a hurry, u can even cook it in pressure cooker. 6 whistles., Once cooked , transfer it into a pan for further cooking for better taste)
6.Now add the garam masala powder (which you have already powdered in the first step) to the mutton and cook for another 30 minutes. Add some more water if necessary.
7. The more time time you cook on slow fire, the more tastier the Rogan Josh will be. Choice is yours.:)

 

Peas Pulav

Couple of months back, i was interacting with some cute little tiny tots at a function. One of them recited a lovely little poem on mattar (peas) to me. It goes like this.

” Mattar ki phali mein chaar the daane
Ek tha natkhat teen syane
Natkhat phali se nikalkar bhaaga
Chidiya ne choch maari tab woh jaga”

So this poem talks about the four peas in the pod. I like the naughty one which was running away from the pod to explore the world. But what to do? If i ilke it, i need to boil and cook it. Sorry dear, Somewhere you have to pay the fees for being so naughty!
Here’s the recipe of “peas pulao ” which i cooked using one cup of extremely naughty peas.Try out and enjoy. It’s a healthy lunch box item for your naughty sweethearts who goes to school.
Serves 2
prep time – 15 minutes
Ingredients
Fresh green peas – 1 cup
Basmati rice – 1/2 cup
ghee/oil – 2 to 3 tbsp
garlic crushed – 1 tbsp
green chillies – 1 slit
curd- 1/2 cup
red chilli powder – 1/2 tsp
garam masala/Pulao masala – 1 tspn
salt- to taste
onion- 1 small finely chopped
method
1. Boil green peas in 1/2 cup water and salt to taste in a paste on slow flame.
2. In half a cup of curd, mix red chill pdr and garam masala. keep aside.Cook 1/2 cup basmati rice in 1 cup water and keep aside.
3. Heat ghee/oil in a wok/kadai. Add star anise and green cardamom to the heated ghee. Add chopped onions and saute for 2 minutes.
4. Add crushed garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Add green chillies now and mix well
5. Now add the curd mixed with masala which is already kept aside into the wok. Mix well. Now add the cooked peas and saute for a minute.
6.Now goes in the cooked basmati rice.Mix gently. Check the salt. Cover and cook on slow flame for 2 to 3 minutes
7. Enjoy your peas pulao hot with cool raita.

Strawberry Panna Cotta

Whenever we had made a visit to Ice cream parlours, my boys had always preferred strawberry flavour the most. It is me who encourages them to try out other flavours also. Today i am in a mood to bring a smile on their faces by making Strawberry Panna Cotta, which is an Italian dessert made by blending thick cream and strawberry crush. It not only tastes divine but is a treat for your eyes too.Then i decided to follow Chef Sanjeev Kapoor’s recipe with a little twist here and there to add my own preferences. Panna Cotta should be considered one of the best party dishes for many reasons. The gelatine gives it a smooth mouth feel and a melt in the mouth texture. It is quick and easy to make and brings lots of compliments on your way.

Ingredients

Strawberry crush                             _ 1/2 cup

Fresh strawberries (chopped)         _ 4 (Optional)

Fresh cream                                    _ 2 cups

Milk                                                  _ I cup

Gelatine ( unflavoured                  _ 1 Tbsp

Sugar                                               _ 1/4 cup

Method ( Step by step)

1. Mix cream and milk and sugar in a pan and bring it to a boil.

2. Dissolve gelatine in a small cup of water and keep aside.

3.Transfer the boiled mixture to a bowl.

4. Add strawberry crush to the bowl and mix gently for a minute.

5.Add gelatine which is already soaked in water for few minutes by now to the mixture in the bowl. Mix it thoroughly with the mixture using a spoon or a beater.

6.Add the chopped strawberries to the mixture and mix it again.

7.Pour the mixture gently into small silicon moulds ( or simple glass bowls ) and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours.

8. Once the panna cotta is set, you can place a plate on top of  the moulds and turn upside down to take it out.

9. Leave the mould in boiling water for 4 to 5 seconds so that the desert comes out easily from the mould.

10. Garnish with whole or chopped strawberries and fresh cream.  ENJOYYY!!!!

3 step method Hyderabadi Dum ka Murg -Dum Chicken

3 step easy method. Go ahead and try ♥️♥️♥️♥️

Savour exotic with sari

Another Nizami delicasy. Promise you heaven on your tongue. Enjoy! 😉

You may even like Grilled chicken recipes in different spices. Hyderabadi Dum chicken is from the Nizam’s cuisine.
Serves 4
Cuisine Indian/Hyderabad
Preparation time 40 minutes
Ingredients
Chicken – 750 gm ( 8 pieces on bone)
ghee/oil – 1 1/2 tbsn
Bay leaves 3
Black pepper corns – 1 tb
Ginger -garlic-green chilli paste – 2 tbsp
Cashew nut paste – 3 tbsp
2 medium onions – sliced and deep fried.
yogurt – 1/2 cup
fresh cream – 1/4 cup
green cardamom pdr – 1/4 tsp
salt- to taste
Method
1. Heat ghee in a deep non stick pan.Add bay leaves and black pepper corns and saute for a minute.
2.Add chicken pieces and saute for 3 minutes.Add ginger-garlic-green chilli paste and saute for 3 minutes.
3.Add cashew nut paste, fried onion, salt , cardamom powder ,yogurt and cream…

View original post 90 more words

Shahi Paneer

check out for the best shahi paneer recipe 🙂

Mint Chicken-Coconut flavored Super easy party dish.

One Lovely Blog Award

 One lovely Blog Award
First of all , I would like to thank Anugya from Indiancurryshack.com           to consider me for this wonderful award. I feel extremely happy and motivated to continue with my work …This is the wonder recognition does to you! Anugya Sudan Oberoi is an inspiring food blogger ,who is blessed with amazing talent. Her super cool recipes will help any one create wonderful dishes from Pav Bhaji to Punjabi Tadka and much more in the kitchen.

7 things about me !!!

1. A simple soul who hates conspiracy and appreciates real people.
2. I love my family more than anything in the world .
3. Still believes in fairy tales and have no idea at what age I should stop doing it.
4. I like to be a listener more than a talker in social gatherings.It helps me observe and learn human nature and different behavioral patterns.
5. I want myself to be interested in tidying up my house myself rather than depending on maids. But I don’t think it’s easy.Always fails. 😦
6. I don’t like arguments and raised voices on silly stuff. Silence is so beautiful.
7. I love ethnic decor and gets inspired from brass and wooden artifacts.

1. Cooking is my love and stress buster of my life! 🙂

Now comes the  awesome bloggers I find inspirational !!!I absolutely love their work and passion for blogging !

1.Gloria plateituprecipes
2. Healthy food Blogger
3.Liz
4.Tasty eats Ronit Penso
5. Smiling notes
6.Linda Fernandes
7.Sudhir Suvarna
8.Anjali It’s all about food
9.Nandini GoanImports
10. Chithra’s healthy kitchen

Vishu Sadya ( Scrumptious vegetarian spread of Kerala)

An article on Vishu Sadya which describes about Sambar,Avial, Pulissery, Kaalan, Payasam.Rasam and many more…

Source: Vishu Sadya ( Scrumptious vegetarian spread of Kerala)

Mint Chicken-Coconut flavored Super easy party dish.

Being an Air force officer’s wife,I am pretty much used to presenting a decent layout of dishes on the dinner table in short notice. 16 years of my social life in Defense  has given me this confidence . My husband’s course mates from NDA , Colleagues, UNIT types, Station types and my own girl’s circle has given me ample opportunities to celebrate, enjoy good food and  great company. Love them all!
Like most of my Sundays, even today my hubby , in a relaxed tone, told me about the guest who will be reaching my home for lunch in just an hour and a half . I had already made some vegetarian lunch for my family. But that won’t be enough to welcome my guest warmly. So here I am scanning through my refrigerator to get a clue of what to cook !
Voila!!! I have some chicken in my freezer , grated coconut and a bunch of mint leaves . So I decided to cook up all these together with a little more spices. … I have seen some recipes of mint chicken in the net, but decided to cook up something unique . The dish turned out to be finger licking!Happy me!!!
Cuisine Indian
Serves 4
Preparation time 25 minutes
Marination time 15 minutes

Here’s the list of ingredients I used 
Chicken ( Cut into medium sized pieces) – 1 kg
Mint leave – One small bunch
Green chillies – 4
Lemon juice – 3 table spoons
Chilly powder – 1 tea spoon
Pepper powder – 1 tea spoon
Turmeric powder – One pinch
Coriander powder -One table spoon
Green cardamom powder – One tea spoon
Ginger garlic paste – 2 table spoon
Grated coconut – One fistful
Sliced onion – 1 big
Oil – 4 table spoon
salt -to taste
Curd – 2 table spoon

Are you a chicken lover? Then check my other posts for Dragon chicken,  Chicken Xacuti, Restaurant style Butter chicken at home,Murgh Hirwa masala,Kerala chicken stew.

You may even like Grilled chicken recipes in different spices. Hyderabadi Dum chicken is from the Nizam’s cuisine.

How I cooked
Marination
Marinate the clean chicken in one pinch turmeric, 2 table spoon curd and salt.
1. Grind washed mint leaves, green chillies, lemon juice, coconut together to a fine paste using mixie.
2. Heat Oil in a thick bottomed pan . Add sliced onions and saute till pink. Now add ginger garlic paste and saute for 2 minutes.Add turmeric, red chilly, coriander and pepper powders to the pan and saute for 3 minutes on medium heat.
3. Now add the marinated chicken and mix very well. Add some salt.Cover and cook for 4 minutes on slow flame.
4. Open the lid and add the ground coconut paste to the chicken. Mix thoroughly.. Add 1/2 cup water to the pan Bring the whole masala to boil for a minute and then cook on slow flame for 10 minutes. Once the chicken is cooked well, roast the chicken in the pan on high flame till the entire gravy thickens to a dark green colour.
5. Add elaichi powder and switch off the flame.Serve hot with Roti, naan or rice.
Note Please check the salt many times during cooking process to attain perfect balance.

Are you a chicken lover? Then check my other posts for Dragon chicken,  Chicken Xacuti, Restaurant style Butter chicken at home,Murgh Hirwa masala,Kerala chicken stew.

You may even like Grilled chicken recipes in different spices. Hyderabadi Dum chicken is from the Nizam’s cuisine.

Hyderabadi Mirch ka salan

Aristocratic Nizams always contributed to the development of the culinary art. Their dishes are richly endowed with nuts and assorted spices and cooked in pure ghee. Hyderabadi food has to be enjoy…

Source: Hyderabadi Mirch ka salan

Easy chettinadu fish fry -Mackerel (South Indian)

 

Ingredients
Mackerel ( Or any fleshy fish) – 8 pieces                        click here for Chettinadu sheer fish fry
Oil – for shallow frying
1. Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Red chilli pdr – 1 t tbsp
Coriander pdr – 1 tbsp
Lemon juice – of a big lemon
salt to taste
Marinate the fish for 30 minutes in the above mentioned ingredients.

2. Dry roast the ingredients listed below on a hot tawa until the color of urad dal and chana dal turns brown. Roast on a medium flame and do not burn the masalas. If you burn the masala, that’s the end of the show! 🙂

Chana dal – 1 tbsp
Urad dal – 1 tbsp
Black pepper corns – 3/4 tbsp
mustard seeds – 1 tspn
Curry leaves – 2 strands
Salt – very little ( as u have marinated the fish with some amount of salt earlier)
After roasting, Powder the masala using a mixie .

1.  Now roll the marinated fish pieces in the ground masala and leave aside for 5 minutes before shallow frying on a hot tawa.

Looking for more easy yet exotic fish ,prawns, crab recipes?click here