PAZHAM PORI/ ETHAKKA APPAM/BANANA FRITTERS

This is a famous kerala snack.

INGREDIENTS

Ripe kerala banana (ethapazham/nendra pazham ) - 4
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 tbsp (add more for more sweetness)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Jeera crushed - 1 tsp
water - 1 1/2 to 2 cups
Pinch of salt
Oil for deep frying

METHOD
Make a thick batter of all purpose flour , jeera and sugar by adding enough water .Slice banana in to thin pieces .Dip the banana pieces in the batter.Coat banana pieces well with the batter.Deep fry in oil.Drain the excess oil.


I am sending this to kalyani's (from sizzling taste buds) event Holi Fest Colourful Palette 

MY FIRST AWARDS

Hello every one i am super excited and honored that Reshmi of Noel collections have shared these two awards with me!!!!!

          

I dont have words to say how happy i am ..I was waiting for my classes to get over today so that i can tell you guys about this..Thank you so much Reshmi for considering me for this award.


 The rules for accepting this award are:

1. Add the awards to your blog.
2. Thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog.
3. Share 7 completely random pieces of information about yourself.
4. Include this set of rules.
5. Forward this award to your fellow bloggers and inform them with a comment on each of their blogs.

Now 7 random things about me

1.Apart from cooking i love music..i always go to bed listening to songs.

2.I am a hard core shopaholic!!!

3.I love my blog..

4.I love collecting cookbooks,but i have not cooked most of the recipes from them..i like to flip        through the pages and drool over the colorful photos in them.

5.I am very scared of dogs. 

6.Black is my favorite color ..

7.I like travelling and trying out different cuisines.

Now coming to the 5th rule of this award ..I am sharing this with the following bloggers

Manju    of      Manjuseatingdelights

Pushpa  of      Taste as you cook

Julie      of      Erivum puliyumm

Rasi      of      Vegetarian Food and Me

Revathi  of      kaarasaaram

sonali    of      Onlyfishrecipes

Followfoodie  of   followfoodie

ADA PRADHAMAN

Hello every one..yesterday me and husband was talking about vishu and realized we r already in the end of march and there is only one month to go for vishu. How time flies , last year this time my mom was with me here in Houston. hmmm..I miss her.Which made me think about the amazing sadhya she made last year and suddenly i got this craving for ada pradhaman .I couldn't wait till this vishu to make it ..So i decided to make ada pradhaman yesterday itself ..Luckily i had all ingredients in my pantry (thanks to my habit of stocking every thing).For all those who dont know what exactly ada pradhaman is ,its a kind of payasam which we keralites usually make during festivals like onam and vishu..Its a combination of ada(rice flakes), jaggery and coconut milk.I love this dish so much that i don hav words to express how much i love it..U give ada pradhaman to me at any time of the day and i can have it till the last drop :)..So here goes the recipe for my favorite dish.

Ingredients
1.Ada - 1 cup (i used store bought packet ada)
2.Jaggery - 1/2 cup (u can adjust this according to the sweetness u want)
3.Thin coconut milk - 2 cups
4.Thick coconut milk - 1 cup
5.Cumin seeds - 1tsp (crushed)
   Dry ginger (chukku) powder - 1 tsp
   Cardamom - 3-4 (crushed)
6.Cashew nut - 2 tbsp
   Raisin - 1 tbsp
   Small cut coconut slices - 2 - 3 tbsp
7.Ghee - 2- 3tbsp

Method
Boil ada in 3 cups of water ,till its soft .Strain ada in cold water and keep it aside.This will remove the stickiness of ada.Melt jaggery in 3-4 tbsp of water.Strain jaggery and keep aside.Mix jaggery ,1 tbsp ghee and cooked ada in a pan ,cook it on low flame till it thickens and ada gets nicely combined with jaggery. Now add thin coconut milk.let it cook for some time.When it comes to a boil add thick coconut milk, cook for 3 - 4 minutes stir well in between.Add number 5 ingredients just before removing from flame. In another pan heat 2 tbsp ghee ,fry number 6 ingredients till golden brown.finally add this to the pradhaman.Serve hot
NOTE:Ada pradhaman will thicken itself after some time ,so if you want its consistancy to be more watery  add more thin coconut milk while cooking.

I am sending this to rasi's event I'M THE STAR @VEG FOOD AND ME

CILANTRO CHICKEN CURRY

This is one of my favorite chicken curry.It has strong taste of cilantro which i love..Its very easy to make ,u don have to stand near the stove stirring which i hate to do..this is done all in pressure cooker..Usually when guests come over and i plan to make some chicken dish, i make sure that i add some cream ,nuts paste or coconut milk to make the curry more creamier ..I hav this weird idea that goes in my head that unless i add some of these to the curry it won be rich and good ..But this is one such curry which doesn't need any of those extra fittings but does taste really good.

Ingredients
Chicken - 1 kg (cut to medium sized cubes)
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Garlic - 5 cloves finely chopped
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Onion - 1 large chopped finely
Tomato - 2 medium chopped
Kasmiri chilli powder - 1 tbsp (according to taste)
Coriander powder - 2 tsp
Cilantro - 1 cup chopped
Oil -4 tbsp
salt to taste

Method
Heat oil in a pressure cooker .Add fennel seeds ,let it splutter.Add chopped garlic and ginger saute.To this add finely chopped Onion saute for 1 minute .Add tomato to this saute for another 1 minute.Add all the dry powders fry till raw smell goes away.Add chicken pieces, pour 1/2  to 1 cup water .If you want curry to be less thick add water accordingly.Finally add salt and coriander leaves to the cooker .Cover and pressure cook the chicken for one whistle on high flame.Turn off the stove and leave it on the stove itself .Open only when all the pressure has been released from the cooker.

I am sending this to  julie's (erivum puliyum) on going event ''EP series: herb and spices-cilantro leaves and cumin'

KARIMEEN POLLICHATHU

1.karimeen -2
2.Chilli powder - 2 tsp
   turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
   lemon juice - 1 tbsp
   salt - to taste
3.oil as needed
4.Shallots - 1/2 cup chopped
   ginger & garlic crushed - 1 tbsp each
   curry leaf chopped - 1 tbsp
   green chilli crushed - 1 tsp
   red chilli paste - 1/2 tbsp (according to spice level needed, you can reduce the amount
                                              as we are already adding green chilli and chilli powder)

   Tomato - 1 medium finely chopped
   Lemon juice - 1/2 tsp
   Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Source - vanitha magazine

METHOD
Clean fish ,cut slashes on fish using knife.
Marinate fish in number 2 ingredients for 15 minutes.
Heat oil in a pan,fry number 4 ingredients ,remove from flame and keep it aside.
Cover marinated fish with the above sauteed mixture ,wrap it in banana leaf as shown in the picture
Add 2 to 3 tbsp oil on a pan,keep the banana leaf wrapped fish on the pan cook covered on low flame for 20 minutes turning the fish in between.
   

CHEERA THORAN (SPINACH STIR FRY)

Spinach - 1 bunch

Mustard seed - 1 tsp

Raw rice - 1tsp

Garlic clove - 2

Urad dal- 1tbsp

Dry red chilli - 2 - 3

Grated coconut - 1/4 cup 

Salt to taste

Oil

Heat oil in a pan.Add mustard seed let it splutter ,then add dry red chilli,raw rice,urad dal and crushed garlic.Add chopped spinach ,sprinkle 2 tbsp water along with salt ,cover and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.Add grated coconut ,cook till all water evaporates.

BRINJAL COCONUT MASALA

Easiest recipe ever..I try to spend less time in kitchen these days ..As i have told u in my last post ..i have started doing my masters now its difficult to find time cooking hi fi dishes which takes lot of time..So i prefer easy recipes and try to get out of kitchen as fast as possible..So i reserve my elaborate cooking to weekends :) This is one such recipe for people who work or study and dont have much time to spend in kitchen.This masala goes well with rice / chapathi.

Ingredients

Brinjal - 1 long

Onion - 1 medium

Coconut - 4 tbsp

Tomato-1

Ginger- garlic paste- 1 tbsp

coriander powder - 1/2 tbsp

chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Oil
Salt to taste

Method

Cut brinjal in to small cubes and keep aside.Grind onion ,tomato, coconut ,ginger-garlic paste,coriander power,chilli powder to smooth paste.Heat oil in a pan ..Add the ground paste .Saute till golden brown.Add brinjal pieces along with salt.Cover and cook in medium flame.No water needed.Keep stirring every few minutes to avoid burning of the masala.