Chilli Beef

This next dish is again a Kerala specialty. Traditionally (when my mom or hubby used to cook them) this is a dry dish and made in coconut oil. However I have opted for vegetable oil. Furthermore I have added onions and bell peppers. Potatoes or tender coconut pieces can also be added to enrich this dish. This dish can be served with either roti or plain rice.

Ingredients

• 250 gms Sliced Beef
• 1 tbsp. Chilli Powder
• 1 tsp. Turmeric Powder
• 1 tsp. Ginger Garlic Paste
• 1 tsp. Pepper Powder
• 1 tsp. garam masala
• 1 Green Chilli split
• 1 onion medium cubed
• 1 bell pepper cubed
• Coriander Leaves
• Curry Leaves
• 1-2 tbsp. Veg Oil
• Salt to Taste

In a pressure cooker, add beef, salt, pepper powder, chilli, turmeric, garam masala powder and ginger garlic paste. Add 1 cup of water and cook for about 2-3 whistles.

Dry roast coriander powder in a non-stick pan for about 2-4 seconds and set aside.

To the same non-stick pan, add veg oil, add onions, 1 tsp. ginger garlic paste, curry leaves and green chilli and sauté till slightly translucent. Set aside. Add the beef mixture and mix completely. Bring to a boil on a high flame. Check for salt. Add onion mix, coriander powder and bell peppers. Cover and Cook till you get your preferred consistency.

Remove from flame and garnish with coriander leaves.

Rose Swirl Cake

This next cake was a valentine special that I had baked. The actual cake is a strawberry based cake, but since my hubby isn’t exactly a strawberry fan so I swapped them with raspberry. Otherwise this is a pretty easy chocolate & vanilla cake (at least the baking part). The tricky part is the icing & decoration which did take some time. But the patience does pay off, because with a simple butter cream frosting, this is one moist & delicious cake.

Ingredients

For the Vanilla Cake

• 1/8  cup unsalted butter ( 28.4 gms)
• ½  cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 2 drops of raspberry essence
• Pinch of salt
• ¼  cup + 1 Tablespoons milk
• 2 egg whites

Lightly grease pans a 9 inch round pan and line bottom with parchment paper.

Pre heat oven to 350˚F (175˚C).

With the standing mixer/ hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add the vanilla & raspberry essence and beat for a minute. Add the flour mixture alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with flour. Stir until just combined.

In another bowl beat the egg whites until foamy and fold into the flour and mixture. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool on wire racks completely. Flip the cake and divide into 2 layers.

 For the Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup  cocoa powder (85 gms)
• 2/3 cup of Luke warm water (153 ml)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cups superfine sugar
• 1 1/4  cups all-purpose flour
• ¼  teaspoon of salt
•  1 teaspoon of baking powder
•  1 teaspoon of vanilla

Place the cocoa powder in a small bowl and gradually add the warm water; Set aside.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

Grease a 9 inch round cake pan and line with baking parchment.

Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F).

In a bowl, mix sugar and eggs until light and foamy with a hand mixer. Fold in the cocoa mixture. Fold in the flour and combine. Pour the mixture into the pan. Bake for about 50-55 minutes. Check with a toothpick. Leave to cool in the pan for a few minutes then turn out and cool completely on a wire rack.

Cut the cake into 2 layers if you wish and fill with the frosting.

Butter cream frosting

• 2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 6-8 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar, sifted
• ½ tsp. table salt
• 1 tbsp. vanilla essence
• 8 tbsp. milk

Beat butter for a few minutes with a mixer on medium speed. Add 6 cups of powdered sugar gradually and turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so you don’t get a cloud of sugar everywhere) until the sugar has completely mixed with the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla essence, salt, and 4 tablespoons of milk and beat for about 5 minutes.

Note: If the frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add remaining sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add remaining milk at a time.

Fill the cake with the frosting. And with Tip # 1 M (large) pipe the roses.

I had added few drops of raspberry essence to the frosting to get the lovely pink colour.

Grilled Chicken in Mushroom Pepper Sauce, Mashed Potatoes & Veggies

This is one of my Friday Specials. The name maybe long and all however I can assure you that this is a real simple dish which can be made with the least of efforts. You can always grill the chicken with Barbeque sauce or any sauce of your choice. In my case I have kept the chicken simple and have gone for a homemade pepper sauce with mushroom. When added with the mashed potato this dish really blended well.

Ingredients

• 4 Chicken Breast
• Veggies of your choice (I used baby corn, carrots, French beans and cucumber)

Mashed Potatoes

• 4 Potatoes medium  cut into cubes
• Garlic salt/salt
• 3 tbsp. milk
• 1 tbsp. unsalted butter softened/ melted
• 3 tbsp. fresh cream

Mushroom Pepper Sauce

• 250 gms mushroom chopped
• 2 Chicken stock cube
• 1 ½ cups of water (can be replaced with chicken stock also)
• 1 tbsp. corn flour/starch mixed in ¼ cup of water
• 1 ½ tbsp. Pepper corn crushed/ pepper powder
• 2-3 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce

Mashed Potatoes: In a pot, boil the potatoes with a little salt until cooked. (Check with a fork). In a bowl, place the potatoes and mash them with a fork/masher. In a non-stick pan, add butter, garlic salt and cream and stir nicely for about a minute. Add it to the mashed potatoes and mix nicely. Add milk and again mix it. If you want your mixture to be rich and creamy… go ahead and add little more melted butter and cream. Close the bowl and keep warm.

Veggies: Put your choice of veggies in a pot of boiling water with a pinch of salt. Cook for about 10 minutes. You still need the crunchiness. Remove from heat and drain them and set aside.

Chicken: Season the chicken with salt and pepper and grill until cooked.

Mushroom Pepper sauce: In a pan, add water and stock cubes and bring to boil. Add crushed pepper corn and Worcestershire sauce. Mix well.  Add mushroom and cook for about 5-8 minutes. Add corn flour water and mix until the sauce is thick. Cover and set aside.

Potato Stew

Stew or Ishtu (like we Keralite’s call it) is something which is often served with ‘Appams’ and for sadhya’s (feast) in Kerala.  Well the traditional recipe doesn’t call for spice, but over here I have tried them and it came out well. This is something I make once in a while. My favourite combo with this is the appam. While I would go with the use of coconut oil for this dish, use of vegetable oil is also fine. Also if you want to try something different, you can swap salt with veg stock cubes.

Ingredients

• 4 Medium -Potatoes cubed
• 2 tbsp. Coconut Oil
• 1 (inch) Cinnamon stick
• 3 Cloves
• 2 Cardamom pods
• 1 (inch) Ginger – finely chopped
• 2- 3 Green chillies split
• 1 Large onion
• Curry leaves- 1 sprig
• Coconut Milk- ¾  Cup (thick)
• Vegetable stock cubes- 1Cubes/ salt

Heat the oil in a pressure cooker. Sauté the spices for 1 minute.

Add onions, ginger, green chillies, curry leaves and sauté for a minute.

Add potatoes and sauté for 5- 10 seconds. Add the stock cubes and stir well. Check for salt (cubes have salt in them).  Pour in 1 ½ cups of water and pressure cook for about 3-4 whistles.  Once the pressure settles down, smash the potatoes a little bit with back of your spoon/ladle. Boil in a high flame and add coconut milk and stir for a minute. If you want more coconuty taste, you can add ¼ cup more.

Remove from heat; cover and let set the curry for about 5 minutes.

Transfer to a serving dish.

(You can add carrots, green peas and beans for a variety)

Enjoy!!!

Kerala Beef Roast

This curry accompanied with some warm parottas (recipe already posted) is an all-time favourite combo for me. Once again I grew up on this combo & so being in love with this I decided to try out this one too. While the one my mom used to make used to be real spicy, over here I have toned it down. The tastiest beef roast I have tried out till date happens to be the one my hubby used to make. However being the lazy bum that he is now I hardly get them these days. This dish is cooked in the pressure cooker which makes it easier & faster to cook. This dish can be served with plain rice/ roti, pulao. But the best combo would be porotta.

Ingredients

• ¾ kg Beef  cleaned and cut into cubes
• 1 tbsp. black pepper powder
• 1 tsp. Turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp. Red chilli powder
• 3-4 tbsp. Coriander Powder
• 1-2 tomatoes finely chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 ½ tbsp.  ginger chopped
• 1 ½ tbsp. garam masala
• 2 onions medium finely chopped
• 4 green chillies split (less or more)
• 9 No.s Pearl onions (Cheriya ulli) crushed
• ¼- ½ cup grated coconut slightly fried (without oil)
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• Coriander leaves to garnish
• Coconut Oil
• Salt to taste

Marinate the beef with garam masala, turmeric powder and pepper powder for about 10-20 minutes.

In a pressure cooker, add marinated beef, ginger, garlic and a little bit of pepper powder and salt if required and 1 ½ cup of water. Cook for about 4 whistles. Remove from heat.

In a non- stick pan, add oil and sauté onions and crushed pearl onions till translucent. Add green chillies and curry leaves sauté. Add chilli powder, coriander powder and ¼ tsp. turmeric powder. Saute for a while. Add tomatoes and cook till its done. At this time you can open the cooker and check the beef.

Once the tomatoes are done, add the beef along with the leftover water in the cooker; cover and cook for about 15 minutes. Once the gravy thickens, add fried grated coconut. And cook for 5 minutes more on a low flame. Check for salt. Remove from heat and garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve with porotta and yumm.. yummm !!!!

Kerala Porotta

This is again from my mom’s kitchen. One of my ever time favourite – this is usually served with beef curry back at home. Usually I have shied away from trying this plain flour (maida) based Indian bread, thinking that it’s not an easy make (hence most of the time I have stuck with either the restaurant or frozen ones).  However after trying this out I figured out that it isn’t exactly that hard to make these Porottas. Other than the beef accompaniment, this dish goes well with any spicy gravy dish.

Ingredients

• 2 cups plain flour
• ¼ cup Whole Wheat Flour /Atta
• 1 Eggs
• ½ cup Milk
• A pinch of baking powder
• 1 tsp. Sugar
• Salt as required
• Oil/Dalda/ghee as required

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and knead the dough together. Set aside for an hour, covered with a wet muslin cloth.

Divide the dough into small balls. Take a portion and apply some oil on it. Oil the work area where you are going to roll the dough. Roll out completely as thin as possible and brush oil on the entire top.

Slowly lift one of the ends, stretch it a bit and fold it in a zigzag manner and create layers.

Stretch a little bit and slowly rotate to form a spiral shape with the ends tucked in the centre.

Repeat the above procedure for each portion and keep it aside.
Heat a pan until medium hot. Roll out each portion in to medium thickness. Do not add ant flour.

Cook for 1 or 2 minutes, turning frequently, until small brown patches are formed on both sides.

Once done, use both hands and pat on the sides of the porotta to get the layers.

Keep it in an air tight container. 

Easy Fried Rice

This is something that I make whenever I am short on both time & ingredients – easy to make and doesn’t even take that much time to cook. For vegetarians, you can add your choice of veggies like bell peppers, corn, asparagus, and zucchini. And yes for egg lovers, you can add scrambled eggs with a pinch of pepper and salt. I have used chicken stock cubes in this recipe. You can also substitute it with salt or veg stock cube. This dish can be savoured by the diet conscious folks as I haven’t used either oil or butter in this. I had few leftover chicken breasts and ended up making a real simple chicken fried rice.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of basmati rice (soaked in water for 30 minutes)
• 3 cloves, 2 cardamom pods, 1 small cinnamon bark
• 1 ½ chicken stock cube
• 1 cup beans chopped into small pieces or diagonally cut
• ½ cup carrots finely chopped
• ¼ cup frozen peas thawed
• 4 cups of water
• 2 scrambled eggs (Optional)
• 1 ½ chicken breast cut in to small pieces and cooked in 1 tbsp. of oil (optional)

In a non-stick deep bottom pan, add water and chicken stock cubes. Add rice, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and veggies. Cover and cook for about 15-20 minutes till the rice is perfectly cooked.

Remove from heat and add cooked chicken and scrambles eggs if using.

Ta- da… Now how easy was that.. Simple yet tasty!!!!!!!

Bhatura

I was introduced to the bhatura a long time ago & recently got a chance to get reacquainted with this thanks to Shwetha bhabhi. I have made some tweaks to this & to my luck the end product was sanctioned by the husband too. I had served this along with butter chicken & the combo was really mouth-watering. Otherwise this one can also go along with the traditional chole (chickpea curry) or any other gravy dish.  

Ingredients

• 1 cups of plain flour
• 3/4 cups whole wheat flour + extra for dusting
• salt (to taste)
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt
• Oil (for frying)
• Luke Warm water to knead the dough

In a bowl, mix flour, salt, sugar and baking powder. Add yogurt and warm water and knead into soft dough. Cover and keep in a dark place for about 4 hours to rise.

Knead the dough again and divide into small balls. Roll out into a small disc.

In a pan, heat the oil. It should be HOT. Now drop the disc and fry till puffed up on both sides for about 4 seconds on each side. They cook pretty fast.

Drain on a paper towel and serve hot.

MY combo was bhatura and butter chicken …Yuummyyyy!!!!!!

Butter Chicken

This next dish is an all-time crowd pleaser. This one is quite identical to the Paneer Butter Masala that I have earlier posted. The only thing different here is that I have gone a little light on the butter content. As with the paneer variant, this butter chicken goes well with almost everything from rice to the regular Indian breads. This time I have gone with the bhatura (recipe soon to be posted) & the combo was every bit sumptuous!!!

Ingredients

• 1.5 kg chicken
• 2 tbsp. Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1 tbsp. garam masala powder
• 1 tbsp. ginger garlic paste
• 2 tbsp. veg oil
• 2 onions large finely chopped
• 3-4 tomatoes large finely chopped
• 1/3 cup cashew nuts
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 3 clove
• 3 cardamom
• 1 cinnamon bark
• 2 tbsp. ginger garlic paste
• 2 tbsp. chilli powder
• 2 tbsp. kashmiri chilli powder
• 1 tbsp. garam masala powder
• 3-5 tbsp. kasoori methi leaves
• 3-4 tbsp. honey
• Heavy cream and coriander leaves to garnish

Marinate the chicken with salt, garam masala powder, Kashmiri chilli powder and ginger garlic paste for at least ½ an hour.

In a deep bottom non- stick pan, add clove, cardamom and cinnamon sticks. Fry for a minute. Add chopped onions and sauté till translucent. Add cashew nuts and sauté. Add chopped tomatoes. Cover and cook till tomatoes are done. Cool the mixture and grind them to a fine paste by adding ½ cup of water.

Into the same pan add butter and 1 tbsp. veg oil. Add chilli powder, Kashmiri chilli powder, garam masala and sauté for a minute on a low flame. Add ginger garlic paste and sauté. Add chicken and mix completely. Add the paste and mix nicely. Add a little salt and kasoori methi leaves. Add 1 cup of water; cover and cook for about 20-25 minutes. Check in between because the gravy might stick to the bottom.

Add honey and mix nicely. Cook for about 10 more minutes and add a little more kasoori methi leaves.(I like its taste).

Remove from heat and garnish with cream and coriander leaves.

No Bake Key Lime Pie

This pie was something I had during my US days and I instantly fell in love with this dessert. The topping in the actual version was meringue but I had opted to omit this. I have also ditched the baking procedure involved in actual pie. So instead of a baked crust, you will be having biscuit crumbs in my version – job made easy!!! The titular lime was not available so I have gone with lemon here. The tanginess of the lemon & the sweetness of the pie give this dessert the perfect blend. You can opt for either lemons or oranges just in case you are unable to get hold of lime. This is an easy pie to make & once you get hold of it, you will definitely get addicted in making more of them.

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups of Arrowroot biscuits  Crumbs
• 1 Stick of Softened Unsalted Butter
• ¼ cup of Granulated Sugar
• 1 14oz Can of Sweetened Condensed Milk
• ½ cup Fresh Lemon Juice
• Zest of 2 Lemon
• 1 cup whipped cream

In a large bowl mix together, crumbs, salt and sugar. The butter should be mixed throughout the crumbs. You can also melt the butter if you wish.

Press the mixture in a 9” tart pan with a removable bottom and set aside.

 In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the remaining ingredients accept the whipped cream. Pour into the prepared crust and set aside.

In the next step you can either spread the whipped cream on top or you can just make small blossoms using star tip and a pastry bags around the edges.

Refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving.

Aloo Methi (Potato and Fenugreek leaves)

This next dish is a basic dry potato based dish infused with one of my favourite leafy green veggies – Methi/Fenugreek leaves!! This dish may have a subtle bitterness to begin with, however once infused with the accompanying spices it turns out to a real tasty & quite healthy dish!!!!!

Ingredients

• 3 Potatoes medium finely chopped or cubed
• 1 cup Fenugreek leaves/Methi chopped
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 tsp. chilli powder
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 Veg stock cube/ salt
• 1 tbsp. Veg oil

Parboil the potatoes with a pinch of turmeric. Drain them and keep aside.

Heat a pan with 1 tbsp. of oil and add cumin seeds and let it splutter. Add chopped onions and sauté till translucent. Add chilli powder, turmeric powder and sauté for a while.

Add the boiled potatoes and fenugreek leaves/methi and mix completely.

Add ¼ cup water and mix. Cover and cook on low flame for 5 minutes.

(if u wish you can mash the potatoes with back of a spoon at this stage—optional)

Transfer to a bowl and serve it with Roti!!!!! 

Chicken Pot Pie

This next dish is a house favourite. Since this dish is quite rich in content I had decided to downsize the pie into small ramekins rather than the big dish in which the pie is usually baked (and my hubby wasn’t super thrilled with this). I have gone for butter to enrich the pastry part of this pie, but vegetable fat would also improve the texture. The proportion of the flour to butter/fat for the pastry portion should be 2:1. As for the crust portion, to ensure a soft and flaky crust go for the short crust pastry (I am posting the recipe for the same in this blog separately). When baked in a big dish, this will be quite the main course material for the whole family!!! 

Ingredients

• 1 ½ chicken breast finely cut into cubes
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 carrot chopped
• ¼ cup frozen peas thawed
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 3 tbsp. plain flour
• 1 chicken stock cube
• 1 cup water
• Salt and pepper for seasoning
• Parsley chopped
• 1 egg beaten

Ina deep bottom non-stick pan, add 1 tbsp. olive oil. Add chicken pieces and season with salt and pepper; cook for about 5 minutes. Add onions and carrots. Cover and cook for about 2-4 minutes.  Add butter and flour and mix nicely until the raw taste of the flour goes. Add the chicken stock cube and parsley; mix nicely. Let it cook for a minute or two. Add 1 cup water and peas and simmer for 15 minutes.

Optional: Here at this point you can 1 tsp. thyme and add ¼ cup heavy cream. I dint use it.

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Pour the mixture into ramekins or any small pie pan. Let it cool.

 Roll out the puff pastry onto a lightly floured board and using the bowl as a stick to the guide, cut the dough into the same shape as the bowl making sure it’s about 1 inch bigger so it will sides.

 Evenly distribute the filling between the bowls and using a pastry brush, brush the sides of the bowls with the egg wash and cover them with the puff pastry making sure to seal the sides against the bowl.

Brush the tops with egg wash. Make a little incision with a knife. Place the filled bowls on a baking sheet and cook in the preheated oven for about 20 to 25 minutes or until you get golden crust.