ONION PAKODA / CRISPY ONION FRITTERS

INGREDIENTS

Onion - 2 roughly sliced 
Gram Flour - 1/2 cup
Rice Flour - 3 - 4 table spoons
Asafoetida/Hing - 1/4 teaspoon
Chilli powder -1 teaspoons or to taste
Green chilli - 1 chopped
Jeera - 1/2 teaspoon crushed
Ginger grated - 1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaf - 1/2 table spoon roughly chopped 
Salt to taste
Oil - for deep frying

METHOD

In a bowl add chopped onion and all other ingredients except oil.Sprinkle very little  water and mix well.The consistency should not be watery/soggy ,it should be a dry mixture for pakoda's to turn out crispy.Keep it aside for 15 minutes.By this time water from onion also will ooze out.Mix well again.Heat oil in a pan, when the oil is hot drop the pakoda mixture little by little, fry in medium flame until golden brown. Serve hot.

CARROT CABBAGE THORAN / CARROT CABBAGE STIR FRY WITH COCONUT

INGREDIENTS

Cabbage finely chopped - 1 cup
Carrot finely chopped - 1 cup
Green chilies - 2 to 3 sliced
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Urad dal - 1/4 teaspoon
Coconut grated -1/4 to 1/2 cup
Curry leaves - 1 stalk
Salt - to taste
Oil

METHOD

Heat oil in a pan. Splutter mustard seeds and urad dal. Add curry leaves and green chilies fry for few seconds. Add chopped cabbage and carrot, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of water. Cover and cook in low flame till it gets soft and cooked.Keep stirring in between so that it does not get burned and stick to the bottom.Once its cooked add grated coconut mix well. Saute for 2 more minutes. Switch off the flame. Serve hot with rice.

GULAB JAMUN

Recipe adapted from: Showmethecurry.com
Makes 10 - 12 gulab jamuns

INGREDIENTS

Milk Powder – 1/2 cup
All Purpose Flour – 2 tablespoons
Yogurt – 1 tablespoon
Ghee – 1 tablespoon
Baking Soda – 1/4 teaspoon
Water – 2 cups
Sugar – 2 cups
Rose essence - few drops (optional)
Crushed cardamom  – 1/2 teaspoon 
Saffron – few strands
Oil – for deep frying

METHOD 

Make syrup by taking sugar, water, cardamom, rose essence and saffron in a pan. Bring it to a boil then simmer for a few minutes. Switch of the stove and keep aside. Make sure the syrup is warm while adding the balls. For making the dumplings mix milk powder, all purpose flour, ghee, baking powder with yogurt. Add yogurt little by little and keep mixing to make a smooth dough. Let it rest for few minutes.

Mean while heat oil in a pan .Make small sized balls out of the dough. It should be smooth and should not have any cracks otherwise it ll break while frying. Drop a small piece of dough in to the oil and see if it is hot enough. If it sits at the bottom for few seconds and rise up then the oil is ready. Add balls to the oil and deep fry till dark golden on all sides. Drain on a paper towel. Keep the syrup on stove again bring it to a quick boil. Add the fried dumplings in to the syrup. Turn off the flame .Before serving let it rest for an hour so that the dumplings get soaked in sugar syrup well. Serve hot or cold.

Note: The original recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of yogurt. But when i added 2 tablespoons of yogurt the dough became watery and i had to add more milk powder and all purpose flour to bring it back to a thick dough. I think it was because different yogurts will have different consistency. I have mentioned only 1 tablespoons of yogurt in my ingredients list. Add yogurt little by little while making the dough if needed add more. Dough should be smooth and not watery, like chapathi dough.

MORU CURRY (SEASONED YOGURT CURRY)

INGREDIENTS

Yogurt/Buttermilk - 2 cups
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Green chilli - 2 to 3
Cumin seed - 1/2 teaspoon
Dry red chilli - 2
Shallots - 4 to 5 sliced
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Fenugreek seeds - a pinch
Curry leaf - 1 stalk
Water - 1/2 to 1 cup
Salt to taste
Oil

METHOD

Beat yogurt with water with out any lumps. Grind coconut, cumin and green chilies together, keep aside. Heat 1/2 tablespoon oil in a pan add mustard seeds and fenugreek let it splutter. To this add curry leaves, sliced shallots and red chilli and turmeric powder saute for few seconds. Add ground coconut mixture and saute everything together for 2 minutes. Add yogurt and salt, stir well. Lower the flame and stir continuously. Cook for 5 minutes. Do not let it boil else it will curdle. Remove from flame. Serve with plain rice and some Thoran /Mezhukkupuatti

Note: If you are using butter milk no need to add water. If you are using yogurt instead then beat it well with enough water to get buttermilk consistency.You can increase or decrease the amount of water according to the thickness of curry you need. I used yogurt for this recipe.

CHICKEN LOLLYPOP

INGREDIENTS

Chicken wings - 10 to 12
Corn flour - 2 tablespoons
All purpose flour - 1 tablespoon
Chilli powder - 2 teaspoons (optional ) add if u need more spice
Garlic chopped - 1 tablespoon
Ginger paste - 1/2 tablespoon
Chilli paste -1 tablespoon
Light soy sauce - 1 tablespoon
Vinegar - 1/2 table spoon
Egg - 1
Salt - to taste
Oil -  for deep frying

METHOD

Wash and cut chicken wings tip, remove the small bone from inside and pull down the meat to one end of the thick bone to make it in to a lollipop shape. In a bowl mix all the ingredients except chicken and oil in to a thick paste. Add chicken pieces to this and coat well. Marinate this for 2 to 3 hours in refrigerator. In a pan heat oil enough to  fry chicken. Deep fry chicken turning both sides until golden brown. Serve hot.

Note: If you want it to be less spicy you can avoid adding chilli powder as we have already added 1 table spoon of chilli paste.

CHATPATA GOBI (CAULIFLOWER MASALA)

INGREDIENTS

Cauliflower - 1/2 of one medium cauliflower(cut in to small chunks)
Onion - 1 chopped finely
Tomato - 1 chopped finely
Jeera - 1 teaspoon
Mustard seed - 1/2 teaspoon
Chilli powder - 1/2 tablespoon
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Fennel powder - 1 teaspoon
Chat masala - 1/2 teaspoon
Tomato ketchup - 1 tablespoon
Salt - to taste
Oil

METHOD

Heat oil in a pan. Splutter jeera. Add onion saute till golden brown. Add chopped tomato and saute till it becomes soft. Now add chilli, turmeric and fennel powder. Saute for 1 minute.Add tomato ketchup and salt mix well. Cook till oil starts to separate. Add cauliflower mix so that all cauliflower florets gets coated with the masala. Cover and cook till cauliflower becomes soft. If needed sprinkle some water. Keep stirring in between so that it does not get burnt and stick to the bottom of the pan. Before taking it out of the flame add chat masala.

PRAWNS BIRIYANI/ SHRIMP BIRIYANI

If you ask me out of all biriyani's which one i like the most it has to be prawns biriyani. It has been my favorite from child hood not just biriyani i like any thing which is made with prawns . This recipe was there in my drafts for a long time.. i think for about two years.. I am highly allergic to prawns now and cant even come close to it.. i know its sad not able to eat one of your favorite food. but better safe than sorry rite :)
I am not happy with how the picture came out ..it does not do justice to how good it tastes. i took it with digital camera that too at night in my kitchen. Anyways try and enjoy this wonderful dish.

Recipe adapted from: Vanitha Magazine

INGREDIENTS

For Rice:

Biriyani rice/Basmati rice - 3 cups
Ghee - 2 tablespoons
Cinnamon stick - 1" piece
clove - 5
cardamom - 4
Bay leaf - 1
Salt - to taste
Hot water - 6 cups

For Masala:

Oil - 1/4 cup
Onion - 3 large chopped
Tomato - 2 chopped
green chilli - 4 to 5 sliced
Garlic - 6 - 7 cloves chopped
salt - to taste
Chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Garam masala - 1/2 teaspoon
Coriander leaves chopped - 1 cup loosely packed
Yogurt - 1/4 cup
Shrimp/Prawns - 1/2 kilograms cleaned

For Garnishing:

Cashewnut - 2 tablespoons
Raisin  - 1 table spoon
Onion - 1 thinly sliced
Ghee - 1 table spoon

METHOD

Preparing the rice:

Soak rice in water for half an hour drain and keep aside .Heat ghee in a pan,fry cinnamon, cloves, cardamon and bay leaf. Add drained rice and fry for 5 minutes. Add salt and hot water to this cover and cook in low flame till the rice is done.

For masala:

Heat oil in a pan Add chopped garlic cloves, green chilli, onion and salt. Fry until onion turns golden brown. Add chopped tomato, chilli powder, garam masala and turmeric powder. Fry till oil starts to separate. Add prawns to this masala mix well. Add yogurt and chopped coriander leaves cook till prawns are cooked properly and all water content evaporates to get a thick masala.

For garnishing:

Heat 1 tablespoon ghee in a pan , first fry onion till its crisp and golden brown keep aside. Fry cashew nut and raisin separately in the left over ghee in low flame until it is roasted.. Be careful not to burn them .

For Layering:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Take a baking dish brush it with some oil, put a layer of masala in the bottom and spread rice on to p of this. In the same way layer rice and masala until it is finished. Top most layer should be of rice. Cover the baking dish with silver foil and bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes take out the biriyani dish and garnish it with fried onion, cashews and raisins. Serve hot with raita.