Chicken Tikka

                         One of the best, simple and easy dishes to include in your barbeque menu

Ingredients:

2  lbs  cubed boneless chicken breast or thigh
1  cup  yogurt
1 tbsp  tandoori masala or chikken tikka masala (I used Shan chicken tikka masala)
2 tsp lemon juice.
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp jeera powder
1 tsp coriander powder
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
2 tbsp oil
salt to taste
ghee for basting

Method:
Marinate the chicken with all the above ingredients except ghee, for about 2 hours in the refrigerator.
If you are using wooden skewers, soak them in water for atleast half an hour before you grill. 
Thread the chicken pieces in the skewers and place it on your preheated outdoor grill. Baste ghee all over the chicken pieces while it is cooking. It is ready to eat in less than half an hour. Serve it on a platter.Enjoy!

Sarkarai pongal

    Sarkarai pongal is a sweet dish made out of rice, moong dal and jaggery. Traditionally, our neighbours in Nagercoil send this to us every year during Pongal and we all love it.

Ingredients:
1 cup- raw rice
a fistful of moong dal
1 1/2 cups- dark jaggery
3 cups- water
1 cup- milk
2 cardamom
1 clove
a pinch of ground nutmeg
1/2 cup ghee
1 tbsp -broken cashew

Method:
Dry roast the rice and dal for  a couple of minutes and wash them well.
In a pot add the rice , dal and water.
Bring them to a boil, cover the pot and reduce the flame. Let it cook for 15 minutes .
Once the rice is soft, add milk and the powdered jaggery and mix well.
Heat ghee in a pan and add cashew and fry till golden brown. Pour this over the rice mixture.
Finally, add the crushed cardamom, cloves and nutmeg . Stir well and serve hot.

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.