Crispy Fried Bell Pepper / Capsicum

I forget where I got this recipe from. But since I looove bell pepper/ capsicum, I decided to make it when I came across it. It is a dry dish and so was extra-excited seeing this.

Difficulty level: Medium
Preparation time: 10 min+ 1 hr. for marinating
Cooking time: 45-50 min
Makes: 4- 5 servings

Ingredients:


Bell pepper/ capsicum: 2 big
Chick pea flour (besan): 1 cup
Ginger-garlic paste: 1 tbsp
Oil: 1 tbsp+ for deep frying
Garam masala: 3/4 tsp
Pepper powder: 3/4 tsp
Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder: 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Water: 4-5 tbsp
Onion: 2  big, grated

Cut the bell peppers into 1" square pieces. Make a thick paste with the chickpea flour and ginger-garlic paste, adding enough water. Add in the pieces of bell peppers and mix well. Leave it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hr.

Deep fry the pieces of bell peppers like you would make a pakoda and keep aside. Add 1 tbsp oil from the same oil to a skillet. Fry the grated onion until golden brown. Keep some aside to garnish. To the rest of the onion, add red chilli powder, turmeric powder, black pepper powder, garam masala and salt. Add 2 tbsp water and cook the masala. Now put the fried bell pepper pieces and mix well, taking care not to break them. Add a little water, cover and cook for 2 min. Stir-fry until the water evaporates completely.

Garnish and serve hot with parathas.

Egg curry

I have friends asking me to post a recipe for an egg curry, and here it is.

Difficulty level: Easy

Preparation time: 15 min

Cooking time: 15 min

Makes: 2- 3 servings

Ingredients:

Eggs: 3, boiled and scored

Onion: 1 small, thinly sliced

Oil: 2 tbsp

Shredded coconut: 2 tbsp

Ginger-garlic paste: 1 tbsp

Egg masala powder: 2 tbsp

Curry leaves: leaves of 1 sprig

Cumin: 1 tsp

Heat 1 tbsp oil and saute cumin, shredded coconut, onion & ginger-garlic paste, until it turns light brown. Add the egg masala powder and curry leaves. Continue to saute until the raw taste of the masala is gone. Grind to a fine paste after cooling.

Heat 1 tbsp oil and add the eggs. Saute for a while, until the outer portion is light brown. Keep aside and cut in halves.  To the same oil, add the ground paste along with 1/2 cup water. Bring to boil, and slowly slide the eggs (cut in half) into the skillet, taking care not to break it. Allow to simmer for 2 min. Garnish and serve warm.

It goes well with rice, chapathi, naan, vellayappam or nool puttu.

Tomato curry

This is my version of a dish that I used to love as a student. My friend, Bindu, used to share this with me for lunch. We were very close and used to be together pretty much all the time. I had contact with her until a few years ago, but now I don't know where she is but every time I make this dish, I think of her and the great times we used to have.

I forget when I tried to make this dish for the first time, but it continues to be a favourite dish of mine. Some of my friends here too like it and I used to make it for them when they were not feeling well.

Difficulty level: Easy
Preparation time: 10 min
Cooking time: 20 min
Makes: 5-6 servings

Ingredients:


Tomato: 3 medium, cut into tiny pieces
Onion:1 small, cut into thin slices
Ginger- garlic paste: 2 tsp
Oil: 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp
Meat masala: 3 tbsp
Coriander powder: 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder: 1/2 tsp
Green chillies; 3, cut in half length-wise
Curry leaves: 1 sprig
Salt: to taste

Heat the oil and saute the onion and ginger-garlic paste, until the onions turn light brown. Add the dry spice powders and saute for 2 min. Add the leaves of a sprig of curry leaves and saute well. Add the green chillies and tomato pieces and saute. Add a cup of water, cover and cook for 10 min. Remove the lid and allow excess water to evaporate until it gets to the desired consistency.

Serve hot with vellayappam, noolputtu, chapathi or naan. I like it with rice, though.

Grilled chicken

When we grill in our house, the menu is usually, grilled paneer (posted separately), grilled corn and grilled chicken. Talk about a balanced meal!!!! It is just that different people eat different things. Can we claim a balanced meal if it is balanced across the family!!!!

Just like I mentioned in the 'Grilled Paneer Skewers', note that I used Patak's Tandoori paste (Mild, spicy ginger and garlic flavor) this time. When we were in Chicago, I used to have a few options in Tandoori pastes and I think there was another brand I liked better. It was a Deep brand but I forget the full details.

Difficulty level: Easy

Preparation time: 10 min + 1 day min. to marinate

Grilling time: 15- 20 min, depending on the grill

Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients:

Chicken breast: 8 tenderloins(about 500 gms)

Yoghurt: 1/2 cup

Tandoori paste: 3 tbsp

Hot sauce: 3/4 tsp

Salt: 1/4 tsp

Water: 1/8 cup

Cooking oil spray

Put all the spices and water into a ziploc bag along with chicken pieces. Close the bag and mix it really well. Leave it in the refrigerator for atleast 1 day.

Heat the grill to high heat. Spray cooking oil generously over the part of the grill where you plan to cook on (Be careful that you don't burn your eyebrows!). Put the chicken on the grill. Let it sear on one side, turn them over and sear the other side. Be patient. If you try turning them over early, they will just break apart. If the chicken is thick,you may want to reduce heat and cook for sometime so as to make sure the chicken is cooked through. My husband usually likes his chicken a bit well done (charred) so he leaves it on the grill a bit longer than needed. If you like a less charred chicken, you will need to make sure that it is cooked through using a thermometer. I would not recommend you eating undercooked chicken!! 

Remove when done and serve hot with cilantro chutney.

Plantain Fritters(പഴം പൊരി )

You would be thinking what is wrong with me to post a recipe which everyone knows. But then I remember what my husband told me once. A recipe that feels easy to me may not be that easy for someone else. He thinks it is my "sacred" duty to impart the knowledge of even the simplest dish for the sake of novices such as he.

I would also like to share the joy of eating this tasty dish with my friends and neighbors in the US who have never had it before.

When selecting plantains for this, make sure you buy ripe ones (soft to touch).  Don't worry about the looks, it the feel that matters. At the same time, make sure it is not over-ripe or it will fall apart when you fry them. 

Difficulty level: Easy

Preparation time: 10 min

Cooking time: 20-25 min

Makes: 24 fritters

Ingredients:

Plantains: 2, sliced length-wise into 2" length, 1/2" thick pieces

Besan ( chickpea flour): 1 cup

Oil: to deep fry

Using enough water, make a slightly thick batter (the batter should be thick enough to coat the plantain pieces) . Dip the plantain pieces and deep fry in hot oil. Serve warm.

Sunshine pudding

This is a recipe I got from a cooking show on TV. It looked pretty and inviting that I wanted to try it.

This is made in 4 layers. Here, I used some whipped cream to garnish, but you could follow the method below to make a stiff batter to garnish if you are serving the whole pudding.

Difficulty level: Medium
Preparation time: 10 min + 5-6 hrs
Cooking time15 min
Makes: 12-13 servings

Ingredients:


Layers 1 & 3: Milk: 3 cups
Condensed milk: 400 gms
Vanilla extract/essence: 1 tsp
Agar-agar(china grass): 10 gms, soaked in 1/2 cup water

Layer 2: Glucose biscuit: 200 gms, crushed
Butter; 40 gms
Sugar: 2 tbsp
Dried apricot: 50 gms
Dried figs: 50 gms
Dried dates: 50 gms
Sugar:1/2 cup
Water: 3/4 cup

Layer 4: Orange juice: 1/2 cup
Agar- agar(china grass): 2 gms, soaked in 1/4 cup water
Sugar(optional), if the orange juice is not sweet enough

Garnish: Egg whites: of 2 eggs
Icing sugar/ powdered sugar/ confectioner's sugar: 2 tbsp

For layer 2: Preheat the oven to 325 degree F. Mix the butter, coarsely powdered or crushed biscuit and sugar, to look like bread crumbs. Bake this for 10 min. In the meantime, heat the dry fruits ( chopped into tiny pieces) with sugar and water. Cook until it gets candied.

For layer 1 & 3: Mix the condensed milk and milk together and heat. Melt the agar- agar until clear and add to the milk mixture.

To assemble the pudding, ladle 1/3 of the milk mixture to the bottom of a dish 9x7x2.5 inches ( 11 cups or 2.6 L). Add the baked/ roasted biscuit mix as the next layer. The candied dry fruits form the next layer. Top this with the rest of the milk mixture. Allow to set until firm (2- 3 hrs).

Layer 4: Melt the agar- agar until the strands disappear completely. Add the orange juice and allow the whole mixture to get warm. Pour this over the set pudding and transfer to the refrigerator. Allow to set until firm (about 2-3 hrs).

Garnish: Beat the egg whites and icing sugar until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a piping bag (or ziploc bag with a small cut to the corner, to pipe it) and decorate.

Chicken Dosa (Chicken Crepes)

On a call recently, my mom raved about a Chicken Chettinad Dosa that she and my aunt had recently. Apparently they loved it. I knew I did not have the ingredients for a Chettinad dish, and so decided to make just the Chicken Dosa.

I cooked the chicken with some turmeric powder and salt, so that all the flavour can seep deep into the meat. You can use this filling to make sandwiches, parathas or cutlets, if in excess.

Difficulty level: Medium
Preparation time: 20 min
Cooking time: 20 min
Makes: 12- 13 dosas

Ingredients:


Dosa batter: to make 13 dosas
Chicken: 500 gms, cooked and minced
Oil: 1 1/2 tbsp
Onion: 1 medium, thinly sliced
Cumin: 1/2 tsp
Ginger-garlic paste: 1 tbsp
Meat masala: 5 heaped tsp
Salt to taste
Cilantro, chopped: 2 tbsp

Heat the oil and saute onions and ginger-garlic paste until it turns light brown. Add the cumin, meat masala and saute until the raw taste is gone. Add the minced chicken and salt, if needed. Add about 3/4 cup and chopped cilantro. Continue stirring until the excess water has evaporated and the chicken mix is thick (like the masala inside the masala dosa).

Make dosas and keep a spoonful of the chicken mix and fold it, like a masala dosa.

It goes well with Ulli (Onion) chammandhi , cilantro/mint chutney and sambar.