Puli Molavu.

                                                                         

This is a very unique dish in our hometown, which is always served as a side dish along with neychore(gheerice), mutton or chicken curry, paruppu(moong dhal), pappadam and thayir pachadi(raita). The rice is served in a white ceramic plate, and these side dishes are served in small individual ceramic soup bowls called "thanni pinganam" and the  big pappadam  will cover the  whole rice plate. The combined aroma of these different dishes is defnitely out of this world.


Ingredients:

1 cup mango
1 cup cucumber
1/2 cup eggplans
1/2 cup papaya optional
1 big lemon
1/2 cup tamarind water
2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp sambar powder

Ingredients for dry roast
4 whole red chilli
1 1/2 tbsp coriander seeds
1/4 tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp whole jeera
1/4 tsp fenugreek seed
1/4 inch cinnamon stick(optional)

Ingredients for tempering
1 tsp mustard seeds
few sprigs of curry leaves
5 or 6  dried whole red chilli
2 tbsp finely chopped shallots or red onion
2 tbsp oil


Method:
Peel and cut all the vegetables into small cubes. Cut lemon and eggplants with their skins. In a pot add all the cut vegetables, turmeric powder,  chilli powder, salt to taste and 1 cup of water and  cook  till the vegetables are  3/4 th done. Now add the tamarind water and let it cook for another 10 minutes. Dry roast the ingredients and grind it to a coarse powder. Add this as well as the sambar powder to the cooked vegetables and simmer it for 5 minutes.Turn off the stove. Heat a pan and add 2 tbsps oil, add the mustard and let it pop, then add red chilli, curry leaf and the shallots and fry till golden brown. Pour this over the vegetables and its ready to be served.

 

 

Barbequed chicken pizza

        It was my daughter's 12th birthday last weekend and she celebrated with few of her friends from school. The girls created thier own pizzas with their favourite toppings.They were so excited and really enjoyed  doing it. This topping is my daughters own creation and it tasted really good. You can make this base at home and ask your kids to create their own pizza. They'll really love it!

Ingredients for the dough:

1 cup milk

1 tbsp butter

2 cups plus 1 cup all pupose flour

1 tbsp granulated sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp rapid rise dry yeast or ative dry yeast.

Method for base:

Heat milk and butter in the microvawe until very warm. Let it sit for 1-2 minutes and stir gently with a spoon to distribute the heat evenly. It should be luke warm.

Add 2 cups flour,sugar,salt and yeast and mix it nicely. Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the milk mixture and mix it well. Then add the remaining flour 1/4 cup at a time and knead the dough well. You should get a smooth dough. Place this in a large greased bowl and cover loosely with a plastic wrap. Let  it rise in warm place until doubled in size, one or one and a half hours. Punch down the dough to get the air bubbles out and divide it in half. Roll out to desired thickness. Top it with your favourite toppings.

Ingredients for Toppings:

2 cups precooked shredded chicken( precook it with salt and pepper)

1/2 cup sliced onions and sliced tomatoes(optional)

1 cup ketchup

1/4 cup barbeque sauce

1 tsp garlic  powder

2 cups grated cheddar and mozerella mixed cheese.

First mix ketchup and bbq sauce with garlic powder. Spread this sauce evenly over the pizza base. Sprinkle the chicken evenly and finally sprinkle the cheese  over it. Preheat the oven to 410 degrees and bake it for 15 minutes or until cheese is golden brown. You can make 2 small pizza's or 1 large pizza with these ingredients.

Cutlet

    This is one of our family's favourite tea time snacks.This can be made with chicken, mutton, fish or vegetables. If you are using non-veg, precook the meat by adding a little bit of salt and turmeric and shred the meat from the bones. Enjoy your cutlets with a hot cup of tea.

Ingredients:

1 cup mixed vegetables or precooked shredded meat (chicken or mutton or fish)

1/2 tsp red chili powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/4 tsp garam masala

1 tbsp fennel powder

1 tsp black pepper powder

1/2 cup finely chopped onions

1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves

2 tbsp chopped curry leaves

2 1/2 cups boiled and mashed potatoes

1 cup bread crumbs for coating

3 beaten eggs

salt to taste

oil for deep frying

Method:

Heat 3 tbsp of oil in a pan and add the onion and cook till it is transparent. Then add the ginger-garlic paste and cook for a minute and then add chili powder, turmeric powder, fennel powder, garam masala and black pepper powder and mix well. After a minute, add the finely chopped mixed vegetables (i.e.carrots, beans, cabbage, cauliflower, etc.) or the shredded meat and saute it well until it coated by the masalas. Add the coriander leaves and curry leaves and check for salt. Remove from the fire and once the mixture is cooled down, add the mashed potatoes and mix it well using your hands. Check for salt at this stage as well, so that if you need more salt you can add it. Make sure you mix it evenly.

In the mean time, beat the eggs in a bowl and keep it aside. Pour the bread crumbs in a plate and keep it beside the eggs.

Now take a scoop of this mixture in your hand and roll it into a ball. Flatten the ball lightly and dip it into the beaten eggs (coat well) and then dip into the bread crumbs (coat well). Preapare all the cutlets and keep them aside.

Heat enough oil in a deep pan or kadai. Make sure that the heat  is medium high. Drop the cutlets one by one carefully into the oil. Deep fry the cutlets until they are golden brown. Drain the excess oil on a paper towel. Finally, garnish a plate with sliced onion, slit green chilies, lemon wedges and serve this hot as an appetizer.

Nombu Kanji

      

During the Holy month of Ramadan, we fast from dusk till dawn. After the sunset we break our fast with dates and  a cup of water or juice followed by kanji which is like soup. Every household makes different varieties of kanji each day. This is a meal in itself, so you can make this any time of the year. The recipe I am posting here is from my mom and it is my kids’ favourite too. For vegetarians, you can replace the chicken with one cup of mixed vegetables and add 1 vegetable stock cube.

1st group of ingredients:

1 cup basmati or raw rice

3 green chilies

1/2   tbsp ginger-garlic paste

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped tomatoes

5 cups water

salt to taste

Ingredients for gravy:

3 to 4 chicken pieces with bones

1/2 cup sliced onion

1/2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

1/2 tsp red chili powder

1/2 tsp fennel powder

1/2 tsp coriander powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

salt to taste

Ingredients for tempering:

1 tbsp sliced shallots or finely chopped onion

 A few sprigs of curry leaves

1 tbsp ghee + 1 tbsp oil

1 cup of coconut milk to add towards the end

1/2 cup finely chopped coriander leaves

Method:

Wash the rice and place the first group of ingredients in a pressure cooker and cook well. Once the pressure is down, churn the rice nicely with the spoon and keep it aside.

Heat oil in a different pot; add cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Add onion and sauté it well. Once the onion is golden brown, add the ginger-garlic paste and sauté for a couple of minutes and add the chicken. Brown the chicken for a couple of minutes and add chili powder, fennel powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder. Check for salt and cook till the chicken is fully cooked. Remove the meat from the bones and discard the bones. Shred the meat in the blender slightly. Add the chicken along with the gravy to the rice mixture and allow it to boil vigorously stirring regularly.  Now add coconut milk and remove from heat after 5 minutes.

Heat 1 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp ghee in a pan. Add sliced shallots or finely chopped onion and curry leaves. Once the onions are nice and brown, pour it over the rice mixture. The kanji should be of pouring consistency. Enjoy this hot with samosa, cutlet, vadai or any kind of freshly fried snacks.

Srilankan green beans curry

         I had this dish in Srilankan airways, when I was flying to India to attend my cousin's wedding in 2000.They served this curry with white rice and yellow fish curry. I liked the taste of it. So after returning back, I searched the internet and got the recipe, it had the similar taste when I made. So give it a try!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups  fresh or frozen green beans(cut into 1 1/2 inches long)

1/2 cup sliced onion

3 slit green chillies

1 cup thick coconut milk(I prefer Maggi coconut milk powder, so that you can adjust the thickness)

1 tsp chilli powder

1/4 tsp fennel or sounf powder

1 1/2 tsp coriander powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

salt to taste

For tempering:

1/2 tsp black mustard seed

1/4 tsp urad dal

few sprigs curry leaves

4 tbsp oil

Method:

Heat the oil. Add mustard, urad dal and curry leaves. After mustard pops, add sliced onion and green chillies and cook till the onion is slightly brown. Add the beans and saute well. Add 1/2 cup of water and salt;cover the pot and cook the beans well. Once the beans are soft, add chilli powder, fennel powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and coconut milk and let it cook on high flame for another 5 minutes with the lid open.Serve this hot with roti or rice.

Easy chicken roast

               This is a very easy to follow recipe. Just throw everything in and you'll get a very tasty gravy in about half an hour. 

Ingredients for marinade:

1 whole chicken cut into desired pieces

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp ginger and garlic paste 

1 tsp lemon juice

salt to taste

Ingredients for gravy:

1 cup sliced onion

1 cup chopped tomatoes

4 slit green chilli

1 tbsp sliced garlic

1 tsp julienned ginger

few sprigs of curry leaves

1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves

2 tsp chilli powder

2 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp cumin powder

1 tbsp fennel powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1 inch cinnamon , 3 crushed cardamom,3 cloves

1/2 cup yogurt

salt to taste

1/2 cup oil

Method:

Clean the chicken and marinate for 10 to15 minutes.Heat oil, add the chicken and brown this for 10 minutes on high heat.Then add all the remaining ingredients and cook  covered for another 10 minutes and remove the lid and cook on medium heat till the gravy thickens to the desired consistency.Serve this with roti, dosa or ghee rice.

                                                      

Okra Theeyal

This is a typical kerala dish made with roasted coconut.If you have a clay pot(Manchatti), try to use that, because that really enhances the taste of this curry. I'm posting this for all my vegetarian friends, who call this Bindi masala. So friends, here is the Okra Theeyal that you requested.Go ahead and try it.

Ingredients for dry roast:

3/4th cup desicated dry coconut or 1 cup fresh grated coconut

1/2 cup sliced onion

4 or 5 dried red chilli

1 tbsp coriander seed

1 tsp whole cumin

1/2 tsp whole pepper corn

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

few sprigs of curry leaves

Ingredients for tempering:

1 tsp whole cumin

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/2  tsp fenugreek seeds

few sprigs of curry leaves

2  halved dried red chilli

Other Ingredients:

1/2 cup chopped tomatoes

a marble size tamarind or 1/4 cup tamarind extract

1 lb okra (ladies finger)-cut into 1" pieces

1/2 cup sliced onion

1/2 tsp sugar or 1/2 tsp jaggery

Method:

Take a kadai or a heavy bottom pan and add all the ingredients for dry roast. Roast till the coconut turns into a nice golden brown color. Cool this off completely and grind it along with tomatoes and tamarind  to a paste(not very smooth).

In another pan, add 2 tbsp oil and add all the ingredients for tempering. Once the mustard pops, add the onion and okra and fry this for 5 minutes.Then add the ground masalas and salt to taste. Let this cook until the okra is soft. Just before removing from heat, add 1/2 tsp of sugar or jaggery. Enjoy this with white rice or roti.

Madras Chicken Biryani

Biryani.....If you ask me which is the best biryani? I'll right away, without any hesitation say its my moms. The flavour and the taste is very unique, thats because she puts her whole heart and love into it while she makes it. I'll give you my moms recipe in my future posts. So coming back to the madras biryani; I enjoyed this first time at a wedding house in chennai. It is an urdu muslims wedding and the aroma  of the mutton biryani just filled the whole dinning hall, that triggered our hunger. I was so eager to learn it. To my surprise the week after that, my father in laws friend invited us for lunch to their house, and they made biryani which has the similar taste. I was so happy that I got the recipe and tried it out right away. Thanks to Sheriff uncles wife for sharing her recipe. It is very simple and easy to make. Last weekend, in UK, I cooked the same for my husbands cousin and for my sister .They really loved it.

Ingredients: 

 2 ½ lb chicken cleaned and cut into desired pieces.

4 cups  basmati rice

1/2 cup ghee+1/2 cup oil  for cooking chicken gravy

3 cups finely sliced onions

2 cups  chopped tomatoes

1 cup chopped mint

1 cup chopped coriander leaves

1/2 cup ginger garlic paste

4 inch stick cinnamon(I prefer the flaky ones not the hard bark)

3 cloves

3 cardamom crushed slightly

1 and 1/2  tbsp red chilli powder

3/4  tsp turmeric powder

1 cup yogurt

10 green chillies

3 tbsp lemon or lime juice

a teaspoon of vinegar to add when you cook the rice

½ cup coconut milk or regular milk  mixed with a pinch of  yellow or orange food colouring

2 tbsp ghee to drizzle towards the end over the rice

Method:

Heat ghee & oil mixture; add cinnamon, cloves and crushed cardamom. Cook for a minute. Add mint and coriander. Cook this for another minute. Then add onions and cook till it is lightly brown. Add tomatoes. When the tomatoes are soft, add ginger garlic  paste. Cook this for  2 minutes. Now add red chilli powder and turmeric powder and the chicken. Cook this till the chicken is  3/4th cooked. Add green chillies ,lemon juice and yogurt. Cook for another 15 mintues.

Boil water in  pot, add salt , a tsp of vinegar and a tablespoon  of oil. When the water is boiling briskly, add the washed and soaked rice and cook till it is 3 /4 th done. Drain  out the water fully and pour this rice over the simmering gravy. Drizzle the coloured milk  and  2 tbsp of ghee over the rice. With the back of the ladle make some holes in the rice; this helps the rice to cook evenly.

Close the lid and cook on high heat for 2 or 3 minutes, then reduce the flame to medium and cook for another 8 minutes and lower the flame to the minimum and cook for another 20 minutes and turn off the heat. Do not open the lid for another 10 minutes. The rice will be perfectly done by this time.Mix the rice and the gravy well before serving. Enjoy your Biryani with nice onion raita and brinjal curry.

Desi Chilli Chicken

I call this dish Desi Chilli Chicken because this is not the usual Chinese Chilli Chicken. I learned this recipe from my mom, who got it from my sister-in-law's relative.This is a very simple dish, which has no onions or tomatoes. You can roll it in a roti as a wrap for easy travel. This is a no mess food and the kids will love it!

Ingredients:

1 lb (600 g) or 3 cups cubed chicken breast

For marinade:

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp ginger and garlic paste
salt to taste

For tempering:
1/2 tsp urad dal

1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
few sprigs curry leaves
5 whole dried red chilli

1 cup yogurt

1 tsp tandoori masala

Method:

Marinate chicken with chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder , ginger garlic paste and salt.

Heat 1/2 cup of oil in a pan and fry this chicken till lightly brown. Remove and keep it aside.

In the remaining oil add mustard, urad dal, curry leaves and red chilli. Once the mustard pops, add yogurt and the tandoori masala.When the yogurt has reduced in volume, add the fried chicken and cook for a while till all the masala is well coated to the chicken.

Paladai

 Paladai is a very thin crepe made out of rice. This looks similar to the skin of milk.That's where it derived its name from.This is a very popular dish among the muslim population of kanyakumari district.This can be served with any gravy, but I prefer it with nonvegetarian gravy. I want my vegetarian friends to try and enjoy this dish at home; so I omitted the egg when I made it today. But the traditional recipe has egg in it.

Ingredients:
1 cup Basmati rice, washed and soaked in hot tap water for half an hour
1/2  cup thick coconut milk
1 egg (I omitted this today, but the traditional recipe calls for it)
salt to taste


Method:

Grind the rice to a very fine batter (along with egg if you are adding one). Add coconut milk and salt.The batter should be very thin (the consistency of buttermilk). The batter does not need to be fermented. It should be made right away.

Heat a non stick frying pan, pour a ladle of batter and swirl it all around to thinly coat the edges and the middle of the pan. It will take only a minute to cook. Loosen the edges,lift the crepe off the pan and place it face down on a plate, smear a drop of ghee on the crepe and fold it into half and fold it again. It will look like a folded napkin. Serve this with thick chicken or mutton gravy. For vegetarians you can serve it with  spicy potato or mushroom gravy.

Aapam

This is a lacey crepe made out of fermented rice batter which is  very popular in Kerala and Tamilnadu. In Kerala they usually serve it with some kind of curry. In Tamil nadu it is  always eaten with thengapaal i.e.sweet coconut milk flavoured with a bit of cardamom powder. But I think the best combination is either vegetable stew or mutton stew and coconut milk; nothing can beat this taste.


Ingredients:

2 cups basmati or long grain rice

a fistful of cooked rice

1 cup water or coconut water

2 tsp urad dal

1/2 cup coconut milk

a pinch  baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

Method:

Wash and soak the rice and urad dal for an hour and grind it along with a cup of coconut water and  cooked rice to a smooth batter. Add coconut milk, baking soda, salt, sugar and mix it well using your hands.This will help the batter to ferment faster. Leave the batter at room temperature for  atleast 10 hours.

(Tips:To make it ferment faster, add 2 tbsp of nicely fermented dosa or idli batter to this and leave it near the heating vent. This way the batter will be ready in 3 hours.)

When you are ready to make aapams, add a pinch of baking soda again to the batter; it should be of pouring consistencey (little bit thicker than butter milk).

Heat a small nonstick frying pan and add a ladle full of batter, swirl it all around to coat the edges and the remaining batter will settle at the bottom of the pan. Close it with a lid and wait for 2 or 3 minutes.The stove should be on medium high heat in order to get that lacey browned edges.Open the lid and run a spatula around the edges and lift the appam, the center should be fluffy and soft and the edges should be crispy and brown.(You need to add a pinch of soda after every 3 or  4 appams, to get the center soft).The best combination to eat this with is stew (vegetable or meat) and sweet coconut milk.

Afghani Grilled Chicken

I got the inspiration  to make this from the chicken I ate in a local dhaba in Muscat, Oman. My cousins took us over there and we ordered varieties of kebabs and tikkas, served with hot Malabar barottas. I liked this particular chicken from their platter, which has no artificial colours or spices added to it . Believe me, this chicken tastes really good. It is tender, moist and  juicy.You should try this at least once. I hope you'll like it.

Ingredients

1st group ingredients

1 whole chicken (cut into half, clean and make deep slits on it)

1 cup vinegar

2 tbsp  ginger, garlic, green chilli paste

salt to taste

1 tsp sugar

2nd group ingredients

a fistful of almond (soak this for 10 minutes)

1 tbsp of whole black pepper corn

3 green chillies

1/2 inch cinnamon stick

2 cloves

1 cardamom

1/2 cup of fresh cream

ghee for basting

Method:

Apply the first group of ingredients to the chicken and let it soak and marinate in the vinegar for at least  3 hours in the refrigerator.

Grind the 2nd group of ingredients to a fine paste except cream and ghee.

Remove chicken from the fridge, discard just the vinegar and apply the 2nd group paste all over the chicken. Now apply the cream and it is ready for grilling.

Preheat your outdoor grill (I prefer outdoor grill, but you can also try your indoor grill) and place the chicken on the hot grill, cook on all sides over medium heat (patience is very important at this point). Baste the ghee while it is cooking and also towards the end. It'll take approximately 30 minutes to cook. Remove from the grill and let it rest for 5 minutes, then cut into desired pieces. Enjoy your Afghani grilled chicken with a nice hot butter Nan.

Paneer Manchurian

Whenever we go to Mayuri Indian cuisine we have to order this as an appetizer.The paneer is very soft and this is my daughters favourite dish from their menu. So I gave it a try and it came close to that, but she never agrees to that  .

1^st group Ingerdients:

2 cups  cubed paneer

2 to 3 tbsp cornstarch+1 tbsp rice flour

1tsp ginger paste

½ tsp garlic paste

2 tbsp soy sauce

1tsp chilli garlic sauce

1 egg white or 3 tbsp water if you omit egg white

Salt to taste

½ tsp sugar

2^nd group ingredients

½ cup  cubed onions

½ cup  cubed green bell peppers(capsicum)

3 or 4 chopped green chillies or jalapeno peppers

1 tsp chopped ginger

1 tsp chopped garlic

2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

2 tbsp chopped spring onions

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp chilli garlic sauce

Oil for deep frying and sauteing the vegetables

Method:

Mix the 1^st group of ingredients, except paneer and make a batter. (consistency should be like the dosa batter).

Dip the paneer cubes in this paste and deep fry till golden brown.Keep it aside.

Heat 3 Tbsp of oil in a wok. when it is hot, add the 2nd  group of ingredients, except coriander and spring onion and cook for a minute. Add soy sauce and chilli garlic sauce and  toss the  fried paneer. Sprinkle coriander leaves and spring onions . Serve this hot as an appetizer.

Light Brioche Burger Buns

Adapted from Comme Ça restaurant in Los Angeles, via the New York Times

Makes 8    4 to 5-inch burger buns

3 tablespoons warm milk
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs(you can omit eggs and instead add 1/4th cup water)
3 cups bread flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Sesame seeds (optional)
1. In a glass measuring cup, combine one cup warm water, the milk, yeast and sugar. Let stand
until foamy, about five minutes. Meanwhile, beat one egg.
2. In a large bowl, whisk flours with salt. Add butter and rub into flour between your fingers,
making crumbs. Using a dough scraper, stir in yeast mixture and beaten egg until a dough forms.
Scrape dough onto clean, well-floured counter and knead, scooping dough up, slapping it on
counter and turning it, until smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. The dough will be on the sticky
side so it can be a bit messy, but keep in mind that the more flour you knead in, the tougher the
buns will get. Try to leave them tackier than you would a round loaf.
3. Shape dough into a ball and return it to bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a
warm place until doubled in bulk, one to two hours.
 4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using dough scraper, divide dough into 8 equal
parts. Gently roll each into a ball and arrange two to three inches apart on baking sheet. Cover
loosely with a piece of plastic wrap lightly coated in nonstick spray and let buns rise in a warm
place for one to two hours.
5. Set a large shallow pan of water on oven floor. Preheat oven to 400 degrees with rack in
center. Beat remaining egg with one tablespoon water and brush some on top of buns. Sprinkle
with sesame seeds, if using. Bake, turning sheet halfway through baking, until tops are golden
brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Gulab Jamun

This is our all time favourite dessert. I wanted to master the art of making this mouth-watering dessert. I tried buying those ready made mix, but it  either breaks apart or is very hard . So I browsed  through blogs, YouTube and tried many recipes , everything was a flop. Then I remembered eating this a long time back at a Bangladeshi friends house. So I quickly called her and got the recipe and tried it right away. Trust me, this recipe is "the perfect one" and you can't go wrong with it, if you follow this faithfully. Thanks to Bulu bhabi for sharing this  recipe. When my husband returned from work I surprised him with this and he said with a nod "mmm...not bad", that’s what he always says when he enjoys the food.


Ingredients

2 c nonfat dry milk powder

½ cup all-purpose flour

1 cup heavy cream

1 tsp baking powder 

      

For syrup:

3 cups sugar

6 cups water

Few drops rose essence

Oil for deep frying

Method:

Combine flour, milk powder and baking powder and mix well. Add whipping cream and knead it to soft dough. Roll it into marble size balls.

Heat oil in a deep pan on medium heat. Drop this ball and fry it evenly till golden brown. Drain it into a paper towel. Bring these to room temperature.

In another saucepan, add sugar and water and the essence and bring it to a boil. Drop these fried balls in the simmering syrup. And allow it to simmer for another 5 minutes, the balls will double in size. Switch off the stove and serve it after 2 hrs.

Pepper chicken

I like to thank my sister who lives in  UK for sharing this recipe.

Ingredients:-

1lb chicken
½ lb onion finely chopped
2 cups pureed tomatoes (preferably canned)


2 tsp pepperchicken masala (dryroast 2 tsp jeera, 1 tsp fennel seed, 1 tsp coriander seed, few cloves ,cardamom and cinnamon, 1/4 tsp mustard seeds and grind it along with 2 tsp whole pepper corn to a fine powder)


a few sprigs  of curry leaves
chopped coriander leaves
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

½ tsp each of jeera and pepper  pwd to sprinkle at the end


Method:

Heat oil, add onion and saute it till lightly brown. Then add ginger garlic paste, saute for 2 minutes; add chicken and ½ tsp turmeric pwd and 1 tsp chilli pwd.When the chicken is half cooked ,add tomato puree and let it cook fully. 10 mins before removing from fire, add the pepper chicken masalas, jeera pepper powder, chopped curry leaves and coriander leaves.

Paneer Burji

I got this paneer recipe from YouTube.I made some improvisation and it came out really good. I prepared this for my neighbours and they enjoyed it a lot.

First stage ingredients:

1 cup crumbled paneer

½ c onion

½ green bell pepper

½ tomato

2 tbsp cashew

½ c cream

1 tbsp ginger and garlic chopped

1 tsp tandoori masala

1 tsp red chilli pwd

1 tsp coriander pwd

1 tsp fennel pwd

1 tsp kasoori methi

second stage ingredients:

2 tbsp finely chopped onion

¼ tomato

2 green chilli

1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves

2 tbsp butter

Method:-

Heat oil, add all the above ingredients except paneer and cream. Saute it till the onions are

cooked and slightly brown. Switch of the stove and add cream to it. Cool this and grind this

to a fine paste. Store this in a container, u can use this for many other recipes.

Heat a pan with a tablespoon of butter; add finely chopped onions; add green

chillies ,tomatoes and let it cook for awhile ; add crumbled paneer and then the gravy

that we made already. Let it simmer for a while. Switch off the flame. Sprinkle chopped

coriander leaves and a small cube of butter and serve with bread or roti.