Happy Diwali !!!!

I WISH EVERYONE HAPPY AND A PROSPEROUS DIWALI !!!!

Rava Kesari

Kaju Katli

Gulab Jamun

Rava Ladoo

Rava Kesari

Rawa kesari has been a favourite for me since I tried it for the first time in Chennai way long ago!!! So this dish automatically turned out to be my selection for this Diwali. I have considerably reduced the content of sugar here. But if you like your sweets real sweet, then you better dump in more sugar.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Semolina/Rava
• ¼ cup + 3 tbsp.
• 2 cups of water
• ¾ cup sugar
• A pinch of food colouring
• 3-4 cardamom pods crushed
• 6-7 cashewnut broken
• 3-5 sultanas

In a pan add water and boil it.

Grease a plate with a little bit of ghee and keep it aside. I used my cookie sheet.

In another non-stick pan, add ghee and add semolina and fry on a low flame until slightly browned. Add boiling water and mix well and cook until the rava is properly cooked through. This will take around 3-4 minutes.

Add sugar, crushed cardamom pods and food colouring and mix. The mixture will loosen a little bit. But after a while you will notice that it won’t stick to the pan. Remove from flame.

In another pan, add 3 tbsp. ghee and fry cashew nuts and sultanas. Transfer this to the mixture and mix well.

Spread the mixture to the greased plate. Let sit for about 10-15 minutes. Cut into your desired shape.

Thattukada Chicken

This next dish is actually that of a Chicken 65, however when my hubby carried out the guinea pig test, the first thing that popped up in his mind was the thattukada (small eateries along the streets). Hence the name – Thattukada Chicken!! My earlier attempts of this recipe were done minus the rice flour. Rice flour tends to give this dish more crispiness. Stick with boneless cubes of chicken if you want to gobble them up with less interference.

Ingredients

Marination

• 500 gms chicken (cut into small pieces)
• 1 tbsp. ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp. pepper powder
• 1 tsp. chilli powder
• 3 tbsp. Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1 tsp. garam masala powder
• ¼ tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tsp. coriander powder
• 1 tbsp. lime juice
• 2 tbsp. rice flour
• 1 tbsp. corn flour
• 1 egg
• Salt to taste

Other ingredients

• 5-6 green chillies julienned
• 2 sprigs of curry leaves
• 1 tbsp. red chilli flakes
• Oil to deep fry

Marinate the chicken for 2 hours or more.

Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the chicken by batches until slightly deep brown in colour. I fried them in 4 batches. Do not overcrowd the pan otherwise you will bring down the temperature of the oil. 

Drain the fried chicken pieces on a paper towel. In a pan, add 1 tbsp. oil (you can use the oil which was used for frying). Add green chilles and sauté till they are done. Add curry leaves, red chilli flakes and sauté for a while. Add the fired chicken and mix well.

Juice some lime juice on top of the dish and serve hot. YYUUUUMMMYY!!!

Dum Aloo

This next dish came up in my list to try out after tasting it over at a friend’s place & loved the creamy texture of the curry. I have tweaked this dish & it has come a cross between the original dish & my mom’s vegetable korma curry. But I can assure you that the creamy texture has still been retained over here. Usually baby potatoes are used in cooking this dish, but you can try this with regular potatoes too. This curry is best tasted when served with plain rice/pulao/roti.

Ingredients

• 10-12 baby potatoes
• 2 large onion finely sliced & divided
• 1 tsp. ginger garlic paste
• 3-4 cardamom pods
• 1 tsp. fennel seeds
• 1 tsp. chilli powder
• 1/4  tsp. chilli powder
• 1 tsp. coriander powder
• 1 tsp. garam masala powder
• 3-4 green chillies
• 1 veg stock cube/ salt to taste
• 1-2 small tomatoes chopped
• 2 tbsp. veg oil
• 1/2 cup yogurt beaten + 1 tbsp. cream
• Coriander leaves to garnish

Boil the potatoes and peel off the skin.  Heat 1 tbsp. oil and fry the potatoes till slightly browned on both sides. Set aside.

In to the same pan, add 1 tbsp. oil and add cardamom pods and fennel seeds, sauté for a second or two, add cashew nuts, sauté for a while. Add onions and sauté till transparent. Add ginger garlic paste sauté. Add green chillies. Add chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander and garam masala powder. Stir until the raw smell goes off. Add tomatoes and veg stock cube or salt. Cook until they are done. Remove from flame and set aside to cool. Grind them into a fine paste.

In to the same pan, add the paste and bring to boil. Add beaten curd mixed with cream little by little and mix well. Add the potatoes and add ¾ cup warm water. Cover and cook for about 5-8 minutes. Open the lid and stir and bring to a boil. Check for salt.

 Remove from flame and garnish with coriander leaves.

Cashewnut Chicken

This next curry is courtesy of a dear friend’s (Fazil) mom. Though no name was given for this dish I have christened it as Cashew Nut Chicken Curry. While I have stuck with the same ingredients that was provided to me, I have made my regular tweaks here & there (like originally the recipe doesn’t call for marinating the chicken while I have marinated in my version). This dish is a rich & creamy gravy dish & is tasted best when served with roti/ plain rice.

Ingredients :-

Marination

• 1 kg Chicken
• 1 tbsp. Ginger-garlic paste
• 1 tsp. chilli powder
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tsp. lime juice
• 1 tbsp. yogurt
• Few curry leaves
• Salt

For the paste

• 1 tbsp. coconut oil/veg oil
• 1 onion large finely sliced
• 4-6 green chillies
• 1 tsp. ginger garlic paste
• 1 ½ tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tsp. coriander powder
• 1 tsp. garam masala powder
• 1 tomato large finely chopped

Other ingredients

• ¼ cup grated coconut
• 10-12 cashewnut
• Coriander leaves to garnish

For seasoning

• 2 green chillies cut into fine pieces
• Few curry leaves
• 5-6 cashew nuts
• 1 tsp. oil

Marinate the chicken for at least 2 hours.

Grind cashew and coconut with 4-5 tbsp. water to a fine paste.

In a pan, add oil and sauté the onions. Add ginger garlic paste and sauté for a minute or two. Add green chillies.  When they are cooked, add turmeric, coriander and garama masala powder. Saute for a minute or two. Add tomatoes along with salt. Cook till tomatoes are done. Remove from flame and set aside to cool. Grind to a fine paste.

In the same pan, add 1 tbsp. oil and add chicken and stir for a while. Add the grounded onion paste. Add ½ cup water cover and cook for about 20 minutes.

Add the cashew coconut paste and ½- ¾ cup of warm water. You can also add 1 tbsp. fresh cream at this stage. Cover and cook for about 8-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan; add green chillies and sauté for a while. Add cashew nuts and curry leaves. Pour this on top of the curry.

One yummy curry I must say!!!!

Hyderabadi dum Biriyani

All this while being in Hyderabad, it was kind of an eventuality that I would end up trying this next dish. Since Bakrid was also round the corner, I finally ended up making the Hyderabadi Dum Biriyani. Though the famous dum variant over here is the mutton version, I decided to go for the chicken. This is a relatively easy dish to prepare & the only major time consumption would be for the marinating time for the chicken (I kept it for about 4 hours, however if you are quite the impatient one then 90 minutes should also do). Best tasted when served with raita, pickle & papad.

Ingredients

For marination

•  1 kg chicken
• ¼ cup yogurt
• 4 tbsp. ginger garlic paste
• Chilli paste (5 green chillies)
• 2 tbsp. chilli powder
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 2 tsp. coriander powder
• 1 tbsp. lime juice
• Salt to taste
• 1/3 cup coriander and mint leaves chopped
• Garam masala powder (8 clove,4 cardamom,1 cinnamon stick,1 tsp. fennel seeds,1 tsp. peppercorn)

For cooking basmati Rice:

• 4 cup basmati rice
• 4 cardamom pods
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 tsp. fennel seeds
• 1 tsp. peppercorns
• 6 clove
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp. oil
• Salt to taste

Other ingredients

• 2 onion large- julienned
• 1 tbsp. ghee + 1 tsp. oil
• 2 tbsp. Luke warm milk
• Few threads of saffron/kesar
• Few coriander leaves chopped

Marinate the chicken for 4 hours or 1 ½ hours.

Cook the rice with lots of water and all the ingredients until half cooked. Strain the water and set aside.

Fry the onions on the ghee and oil and set aside. Add saffron thread to the milk.

In a deep bottom wide pan, add the chicken and ¼ th of the fried onion and 1 tbsp. oil and bring to boil for about 5 minutes. Add a layer of rice and then 1 tbsp. warm milk. And few coriander leaves and then again a layer of rice and fried onions and the balance warm milk. Cover the pot/pan with a tight lid. You can seal the edges of the pot with wheat dough or you can place a silver foil and close the lid.

Place the pan on a heated tawa and cook for about 20-25 minutes. Remove from the tawa and let set for about 10 minutes.

I served it with some pappad, raita and dates pickle 

Date Pickle

This is another recipe that was provided to me from Deepa aunty. This is a typical no fuss, north Kerala pickle.  The sweet spicy taste of this pickle just makes it more mouth-watering. Not much time is needed to make this pickle & only a handful if ingredients are required. I had served this one as a side along with my Dum biriyani.

Ingredients

• 1 cup dates finely chopped
• ¼ cup sultanas
• 4 tbsp. gingelly oil
• 2-3 tbsp. chilli powder
• 1/3  – ¼ cup vinegar
• Salt to taste
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 10-15 garlic pods
• 2 tsp. split mustard seeds (kadukku parippu)

Grind vinegar, chilli powder & salt together. Transfer to a bowl.

In a pan, add oil and fry dates and sultanas for about 3-4 minutes on a medium high flame. Remove & add to the bowl; add split mustard seed and sugar. In the same oil fry garlic pods and transfer to the bowl along with the oil. Mix completely. (You can add more sugar or chilli powder as you desire).

Kaju Katli

Ingredients

• 1 cup cashew
• ½ cup sugar
• 3 tbsp. water

Powder the cashew in the grinder finely.

Grease a plate with1 tsp. ghee and set aside.

In a non-stick pan, add sugar and water. Heat it in a medium high flame until the syrup thicken for about 3-4 minutes. Add the cashew powder and stir until the mixture thickens and boils for about 3 minutes. Transfer this mixture to the greased plate.

Now, take an aluminium foil or grease paper/parchment paper and place it on top of a cutting board. Grease it with some ghee. Grease a rolling pin also. Well, I used back of my cookie sheet and a parchment paper.

Now knead the mixture in to a soft dough. Of course the mixture will be hot. You have to knead it while it’s hot otherwise, the end result will be a crumbly katlis. I used my gloves. Or you can use two ziplock bags. Knead for a minute or two.

Place it on top of the foil/grease paper and roll the dough into a thin layer. Let it set for an hour. You can draw lines with a knife tip and cut diagonally for diamond shape or you can cut into square shape.

Rava Ladoo

Ingredients

• 1 cup rava (roasted)
• 1 cup sugar
• 3-4 cardamom pods
• 4 tsp. ghee
• 7-8 cashew broken
• 7-8 sultanas
• 5-7 tbsp. milk to sprinkle

Powder 1 cup sugar & cardamom pods finely and transfer to a bowl. Grind the roasted rava to a fine powder. Mix the rava with sugar and set aside.

In a pan, add ghee and fry the sultanas and cashew and transfer to the rava bowl. Sprinkle some milk and make balls out the mixture immediately. If you feel like its dry, sprinkle some milk and roll it tightly.

Gulab Jamun

Since Vijayadashmi is around the corner I thought of making some festive sweets. As with most of my new trials, the first batch over here too flopped. Usually this is made of Mawa/Khoya (milk solids). I got this recipe from a friend & she had used milk powder. I stuck with her recipe with the exception that I used skimmed milk powder. However I would advise the use of full fat milk powder for better results. Use of skimmed milk tends to make the jamuns harder. This festive dessert is dedicated to my crazy cousin Aparna AKA ManguJ.

Ingredients

Jamun

• 1 cup milk powder
• 50 grams flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• Milk to knead the dough
• 1 tsp. Ghee (clarified butter)
• Oil for deep frying

Sugar Syrup

• 2 cups of water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. lime juice
• 2 tbsp. rose water (optional)
• 2 tsp. cardamom powder

Mix the sugar, water, lemon juice and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add cardamom powder and rose water, if using. Keep the syrup warm.

Mix all ingredients for the jamun and make soft dough. Set aside for 15-30 minutes covered with a damp cloth. This will help the dough from drying. 

Rub some ghee on your palm and divide the dough into small round balls. If you feel like the dough is hardened, add a little milk to reach the desired soft consistency but do not pour more milk. Or else it will lose its texture. And make sure there are no cracks on the balls.

Heat the oil until hot, and then reduce the flame, deep fry on very low flame till they are golden brown or slightly deep brown in colour. If the oil is too hot, the inside portion won’t be cooked properly. So keep it in a low flame.

Drain them and add to the hot syrup. Immerse them for at least 20 minutes or till it softens & absorb the syrup. You can serve it either hot with some Vanilla ice cream or cold with some garnishing using pistachios.

Red Blossom Cupcakes

This next dish was a result of one of my midnight madness. It’s a simple vanilla based cupcake with royal icing. My first attempt with the frosting went miserably wrong, however with help from my blog mates & a boost from the hubby I finally made a successful second batch.

Ingredients

Vanilla Cupcakes:-

• 143 gms or butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 ½ cups sifted flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla essence
• 1 cup + 3 tbsp. milk

 Preheat the oven to 350 ° F /175°C. Prepare cupcake trays, greased or lined with cupcakes cups.Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

In another bowl, cream together butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until well incorporated for about 5 minutes.

Add flour mixture to the mix alternately with milk, starting and ending with flour. Pour into prepared cupcakes tray. Bake 20-25 minutes or until the inserted tooth pick comes out clean. 

Let cool completely before of decorating.

Royal Icing

• 1 tbsp. lime juice
• 2 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 egg white

Make sure your bowl and mixer is completely dry. In a bowl, add egg white and beat until soft peak form. Add lime juice and powdered sugar and beat well until you get your desired consistency. If you want a loose consistency, add water (1 tsp.) at a time and mix.

 You can use this on cake, cookies, and cupcakes. DO not forget to cover the rest of the icing when using because it will lose its consistency when exposed to light. It will take at least 24 hours to set the icing. You can add colours to royal icing for decorations. I have used Tip# 3 & 129 For piping the flowers.

Appam

This next dish called the Pal-Appam (or just Appam) is a white lacy rice-cake with crispy brown edges. Back in Kerala this is a popular breakfast dish and is normally served with veg or meat stew. The thick coconut milk and the dash of sugar that is used to make this dish enriches the taste. I have stuck to traditions here with the use of yeast. I have gone with an egg roast (recipe already posted) to go along with this bunch of pal-appams. Also to be noted is that there is a special wrought iron wok which is to be used to cook these pal-appams.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of Rice flour + 2 tbsp.
• ¾ tsp. yeast
• 2 tbsp. sugar + ½ tsp.
• 2 ½ cup coconut milk
• 1 cup water
• A pinch of salt

In a bowl, add 2 tbsp. Luke warm water, ½ tsp. sugar and yeast & set aside to ferment. It should become double in size.

In a pan, bring the water to a boil and add 2 tbsp. rice flour. When it thickens, set aside and allow cooling at room temperature.

In a bowl, mix rice flour, the thickened mixture and yeast and set aside for 6 hours for fermentation. The mixture will be double in size. Add the coconut milk & salt. Add sugar as well. Again set aside for 2 hours.

In an Appa Chatti (iron-wok), and brush slightly with coconut oil. Heat the chatti. Pour the batter into the centre of the chatti and just coat the side of the chatti by spreading the batter by rotating the chatti clock wise by your hand. This helps in thinning the edges. Cover and cook for 2 minutes over low flame.

You don’t have to turn or flip the appam. When the edges become brown, gently remove and serve hot.

Chicken Fry

This next side is an all-time favourite in my family. A great starter but this can also be served as a side with the main course. Easy and fast to cook - this is my second version of chicken fry. The earlier version has already been posted here.

Ingredients

• 500 gms chicken breast/ drumstick/wings
• 1 tbsp. chilli powder
• 3 tbsp. Kashmiri chilli powder
• ½ tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tsp. coriander powder
• 2 tsp. garam masala
• 1 tsp. peppercorn crushed
• 1 tbsp. ginger garlic paste
• 1 tbsp. lime juice
• 1 tsp. coconut oil/veg oil
• 1 stalk curry leaves
• Salt to taste
• Coconut Oil for shallow frying

Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients for about 1 hour or more. Discard the curry leaf and heat oil in a pan. When it’s hot, fry the chicken pieces until brown on both side.

Transfer to a serving dish and serve with a piece of lemon, tomatoes and onions. MMmmmmm… yummy!!!

Spicy Creamy Chicken

This is one of those feel good dishes which is prepared when I am really in the mood to cook. There are many variations for this dish, but this is my preferred version. This dish is somewhat similar to my chicken biriyani mix. You can go easy on the chilli powder. While this does take some time to cook, once done it’s assured to be a delicious & creamy affair. I have made this to go with capsicum paneer parathas (recipe already posted). Also goes well with plain rice/pulao/roti/batura.

Ingredients

For marination

• 1 kg Chicken
• 2 tbsp. Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1 tbsp. chilli powder
• 1 tbsp. lime juice
• 1 tbsp. ginger garlic paste
• ¼ tsp. turmeric powder
• Oil to fry

Marinate the chicken for 2 hours.

Gravy mix

• 1 tbsp.  veg oil (if required)
• 1 cinnamon bark
• 4 clove
• 2 cardamom pods
• 2 tomatoes finely sliced
• 1 tbsp. red chilli flakes
• 1 tbsp. chilli powder
• 1 tsp. garam masala
• 1 cup water to grind

Other ingredients

• 2 Onions julienned
• 1 tbsp. ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp. chilli powder
• 2 tbsp. Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1 ½ tsp. garam masala powder
• ¼ tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp. kasoori methi
• 2 tbsp. fresh cream
• Coriander leaves to garnish
• Salt to taste/ chicken stock cube

In a non-stick pan, add enough oil and shallow fry the chicken pieces till golden brown. (I fried them in batches. Do not overcrowd ur pan, or else you won’t get a crispy chicken pieces while frying).Set aside.

In the same pan, add clove, cinnamon, cardamom and sauté for a while. Add chilli powder and garam masala powder. Saute till the masala cooks for about 10 seconds. Add tomatoes. And chilli flakes. Cook till the tomatoes turn mushy. Grind them roughly in 1 cup of water. Set aside.

In the same pan, if required, add 1 tbsp. of veg oil. Add ginger garlic paste and sauté. Add turmeric powder and chilli powders. Saute for a minute or two. Add fried chicken pieces and kasoori methi, mix well. Add chicken stock cube or salt. Add the grounded mixture along with 1 cup of water. Cover and cook for about 20 minutes. Add fresh cream and bring to a boil. Remove from flame and garnish with coriander leaves.

I served it with capsicum paneer parathas.