Beetroot thoran/poriyal

A nice dry sidedish to go with plain rice...


Ingredients:
• chopped pieces of beetroot
• Onions – 1
• 1 tbsp – mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp- cooking oil
. dry peanut - 10-15 pieces
• green chilly/ dry red chilli – 1-2 slitted
• 1 pinch of turmeric powder
• ½ tbsp of chilli powder
• Salt to taste

Method of preparation:



In a kadai, pour some cooking oil and splutter some mustard seeds, kadala paruppu, jeerakham, urud dhal seeds. When it becomes golden brown, add chopped onions, slitted green chillies, peanuts and lotsa of curry leaves and stir fry it till it becomes light brown. To this, add chopped pieces of beetroot and a pinch of turmeric powder, salt, chilli powder and mix it thoroughly and allow it to cook. Sprinkle little water if you feel it is dry and requires some more cooking.

Egg Curry/Motta kuttan

Easy and requires less time for preparation....

Ingredients:
1. Boiled eggs – 4 (depending on the requirement)
2. Onions – 2
3. Tomato – 2
4. 1 tbsp – mustard seeds
5. 1 tbsp- cooking oil
6. green chilly – 1-2 slitted
7. 1 pinch of turmeric powder
8. ½ tbsp of garam masala powder
9. ginger garlic paste

Method of preparation:

Boil eggs separately.

In a kadai, pour some cooking oil and splutter some mustard seeds, kadala paruppu, jeerakham, urud dhal seeds. When it becomes golden brown, add ginger garlic paste and sauté it till its raw smell is gone. Add chopped onions, slitted green chillies and stir fry it till it becomes light brown. To this, add the finely chopped tomatoes and cook it till it becomes soggy. Add turmeric powder, salt, garam masala and pour little water if you want it in gravy form. Allow it to cook till it boils. To this add the boiled egg cut into halves. Pour the gravy on top of the eggs.

(Sorry for the poor picture, actually the gravy was red in color..it looks dull in here..there was no proper lighting i believe ..)

Enjoy this yummy sidedish with chappathi/plain

Egg burji/Egg podimas

Any recipe which can be prepared in a minute or two is one and only egg burji.

Mix 2-3 egg, finely chopped onions, salt to taste, curry leaves, 2 pinch of turmeric powder (optional), 1-2 chopped green chilli and 1 tbsp pepper powder in a big bowl very well.

In a heated tawa, pour the above mix and stir it with a spatula continuously till the egg is done.

Avarakkaya (Flattened beans) poriyal/thoran

Here is another vegetable side dish to be prepared for lunch/dinner.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp of mustard seeds
• cooking oil – 1 tbsp
• 1 tbsp – uzhundhu dhal seeds
• 1 tbsp – kadala paruppu
• chopped Avarakkaya (Flattened beans)
• salt to taste
• 2 pinch of turmeric powder
• curry leaves
• 1 – finely chopped onion
• 1- finely chopped tomatoes
• 1-2 green chillies slited
• 1-2 dry red chilli

Method of preparation:

• Mix well all the chopped Avarakkaya, finely chopped onions and tomatoes, green chilli, turmeric powder, salt, to taste, curry leaves in a big bowl.
• In a heavy bottom pan, pour out some cooking oil and throw the above mixed stuff.
• Sprinkle some water over the veggies and close it with a lid and allow it to cook. Frequently, give it a stir.
For seasoning:
• In another pan, heat little cooking oil and splutter the mustard seeds, urud dhal seeds, kadala paruppu, dry broken red chilli, curry leaves and fry it till it changes to light brown color.
• Pour out the seasoning to the cooked veggies and mix it well.

Kovakkaya poriyal/thoran

To talk about this kovakkaya (I don't know what this is called in English), I've never seen this one till I came to Chennai 9 (at the age of 23 or so)!!! It was initially hard for me to digest the fact that people cook whatever they say it is a vegetable...

Some say that this veggie is good for people suffering from hypertension..Not sure about this..

so lets get rocking here once again...with the ingredients.....

Ingredients:

1. 1 tbsp of mustard seeds
2. cooking oil – 1 tbsp
3. 1 tbsp – uzhundhu dhal seeds
4. 1 tbsp – kadala paruppu
5. chopped kovakkaya
6. salt to taste
7. 2 pinch of turmeric powder
8. curry leaves
9. 1 – finely chopped onion
10. 1- finely chopped tomatoes
11. 1-2 green chillies slited
12. 1-2 dry red chilli

Method of preparation:

1. In a heavy bottom pan, heat the cooking oil and splutter the mustard seeds, urud dhal seeds, kadala paruppu, dry broken red chilli and fry it till it changes to light brown color.
2. To this add the finely chopped onions and tomatoes and mix and continue to fry it till it becomes nice and glossy and soggy.
3. To this, add green chilli, turmeric powder, salt to taste and later the chopped kovakkaya and mix it well.
4. Sprinkle some water over the veggies and close it with a lid and allow it to cook. Frequently, give it a stir.


The veg now become glossy, soggy and yum to taste.

Red capsicum thoran/poriyal

I got a pack of green capsicum from market. I forgot about it. It was hiding itself from me..LOL...and after a week or so, i was wondering why my DH has got red capsicum from the market....I was scratching my head when i get to realise what is the reality..My green capsicum has ripened!!!..Before it changes to some other color, i thought i do something about it and ended up doing a side dish with it...ROFL...

The result was more picturesque..with red, rose and green.....


Ingredients:

1. Chopped Red capsicum - a pack (3-4)
2. Chopped onions - 1
3. Chopped tomatoes - 1
4. slit green chillies - 1/2
5. Curry leaves
6. Mustard seeds, jeeram seeds, urudhu dal seeds, kadala paruppu for seasoning

Method of preparation:

1. In a kadai, splutter 1 tbsp mustard seed, 1 tbsp uzhudu dhal seed, 1 tbsp of kadala paruppu.

2. Add chopped onions , chopped tomatoes, slitted green chilies and fry it until they are done/ soggy.

3. Add curry leaves and stir fry, a pinch of turmeric powder, 1/2 tbsp of chilli powder and mix it well.

4. Add the chopped capsicum to it and saute it too. Sprinkle some water and close the lid and allow it to cook for some time. Occasionally, give a stir.

5. When it is done 3/4th, add 1/2 tbsp of garam masala and mix it well and allow it to cook.

You can enjoy this side dish with chappathi, plain hot rice.

Murunghiya Cheera Thoran/ Drumstick leaf poriyal

Cleaning and picking murunghiya cheera requires lots of time and patience. My whole family helps me out in picking these leaves from its stick, though the whole place gets messed up with its sticks and some leaves being spread the whole place. But the end of it, it is teamwork and lotsa of fun and of course, talking of its nutrition value, it is good and increases the heamoglobin content...

So lets plunge into the ingredients right away

1. cleaned murunghiya cheera
2. grated coconut (optional)
3. pearl onions - 1 cup
4. salt to taste
5. turmeric powder - 1/2 tbsp
6. green chillies 1-2 slited into half
7. red dry chilli - 1-2

Method of preparation:

1. In a kadai, pour 1 tbsp oil and splutter 1 tbsp mustard seed, 1 tbsp uzhudu dhal seed, 1 tbsp of kadala paruppu and few coursely grounded groundnuts (optional). Sim the burner so that these seeds do not get charred.

2.Add chopped pearl onions, slit 2 green chilies, 2-3 red chilly and saute it till the onions gets that beautiful golden color. Add curry leaves and stir fry.

3. Add the murunghiya leaves to it. Sprinkle salt to taste and turmeric powder and mix it well and close it with a lid. Frequently, using spatula, just mix it so that the bottom portion of the pan comes to the top.

4. When it becomes dark green color, taste a piece of the leaf and check whether it is cooked fully.

5. Sprinke some grated cocunut on the top and mix it well and close the lid and cook for 1-2 mintues more.

Tandoori Chicken - Microwave cooking

I was lamenting about the microwave that we got very recently. yep..I went for couple of microwave cooking class and the trainer showed me this dish.

I tried as soon as i got back home. It came out well.

Ingredients:

Chicken - 1/2 kg
1 tbsp cooking oil
1/2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tbsp chilli powder
1 tbsp garam masala powder
1 tbsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp curd
1 tbsp pepper
Little soyasauce
Food color (optional)
Maida for binding
1 tbsp salt

Method of preparation:

Mix all the ingredients mentioned above and marinate for 1-2 hours.

Smear some oil on top of the pieces and in convention mode, preheat the oven to 180 degree C for 20 mintues and then when the beep sound comes, load the oven with chicken and cook for another 20 mintues. After 10 mintues, turn over the chicken piece.


It came out nice and crispy…I garnished with capsicum.

My daughter said that it will tastes better if you have squeezed some lemon juice on top of it..yeah..i forgot...She is a definitely a critic...i have to watchout.

Soya chunk Masala curry

How to make soya chunk Masala curry:

Ingredients:

Soya chunk - 200 grams
4-5 ripe tomatoes chopped
1-2 onions
1 tbsp cooking oil
1 tbsp mustard seeds
few cloves, cinnamon, somphu
1/2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tbsp chilli powder
1 tbsp garam masala powder
salt to taste
coriander leaves
curry leaves

Method of preparation:
Soak soya chunks in boiling water for 20- 30 mintues. Then drain the water and wash it with cold water. Then squeeze out the water from the chunks thoroughly and keep it aside.


In a kadai, heat 1 tbsp of cooking oil and splutter some mustard seeds, add cloves, cinnamon, and sauté it till fragrant. Add the ginger garlic paste to this and sauté it till the raw smell leaves. Add chopped onions, curry leaves and salt to taste and let it get fried till light golden brown.
Add chopped tomatoes to this and let it cook till it becomes soggy and fragrant. Add 1 tbsp of chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala and mix it well. To this add the soaked soya chunks and mix it well and cook till it is done.
Garnish it with corriander leaves.

The Kappa (Tapioca) story continues..Thoran/poriyal from Kappa

How to make Kappa thoran:

1. The plain boiled kappa is mashed.
2. In a kadai, pour 1 tbsp of cooking oil. when it gets heated, splutter some mustard seeds, urudhu daal seeds, kadalai paruppu seeds till it turns slight brown.
3. Add the chopped onions, chopped ginger pieces and garlic pieces, curry leaves and salt to taste and let it get fried till light golden brown.
4. Add chilli powder/green chillies at this stage and let it also get deep fried.
5. After this, add the smashed kappa to this and mix it throughly. Garnish it with corriander leaves.

Cheera thoran/ keerai poriyal

How to make cheera thoran/keerai poriyal:

Chop/cut the cheera/keerai/leafy green plant into small piece. Wash well with water before chopping. If possible, after chopping too. Cook it by sprinkling water when water gets dried. Add salt to taste and pinch of turmeric powder. Stir it often till it is done.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a kadai, add 1 tbsp mustard seed, few uzhudu dhal seed, few kadala paruppu. Sim the burner so that these seeds do not get charred. When the seeds change the color to light brown, add 2-3 red chilly or green chilly, 2 onions chopped and fry it until they are slightly golden. Add curry leaves and stir fry. Add this seasoning to the above cooked cheera/keerai/leafy green plant.

Enjoy it with curd rice...

Meen varuthadu thakkali chutneyill/ Fish fry bathed in Tomato chutney!!!

Don't get intimidated by the title...LOL...

I usually apply the regular powders on the fry piece and just end up doing a vanilla fish fry ...My family got fed up with the same taste and same aroma..Hence i thought i will try something different this time with a touch of tomato chutney...Thought let me give it a shot...it came out well too..

Ingredients:
1. Tomato chutney
2. Cleaned Fish pieces
3. chilly powder
4. Salt
5. Corainder powder

Method of preparation:

1. Apply all the ingredients to the cleaned fish pieces and marinate for say 1/2 hour to 1 hour.
2. In a heavy bottom kadai, pour cooking oil and allow it to heat.
3. When it becomes hot, throw the marinated fish pieces. Turn it around after the bottom is done so that it is cooked all over.



Emh!!! My son comes running to the kitchen the moment the smell haunts the whole house..."Amma, give me chicken, chicken,...ummh!!! "..I go "It is not chicken, it is fish"...He comes back.."give me chicken, chicken".."Aiyo, fish"..."Ammey, give me chicken, AMMEY"...Me : "OK, your chicken"...he hardly knows the difference between chicken and fish..anything non-vegetarian is chicken for him..LOL

Dry Chicken/ Chicken ularthiyathu….

Sunday as usual is a non-vegetarian day. I thought I would do it in a different manner..Not the usual chicken curry which, I believe, my family got fed up with the same color, same taste, same aroma..same same…. This time, I thought i will do chicken minus the gravy.


Here is how I did:



1. Cleaned the chicken with lotsa of water. 2-3 rounds. Then one round with 1tbsp of salt and turmeric powder to kill the germs.
2. Then to the cleaned chicken, add 1 tbsp of salt, 1 tbsp of turmeric powder, 1 tbsp of chilli powder, 2 tbsp of coriander seed powder and mix it well and thoroughly and keep it aside.
3. Chop 1-2 onions, 2 ripe tomatoes, ½ inch of ginger piece chopped into small pieces and crushed , 3-5 garlic pieces chopped and crushed. Lotsa of curry leaves.
4. In a Kadai, pour some cooking oil and to it add some sombhu seeds and let it to simmer, then add the crushed garlic and ginger pieces and let it fry till nice aroma covers the whole kitchen, add 1- 2 bay leaves and let it fry too. Add chopped onions and let it fry till light brown, add chopped onions and let it fry too.
5. To the above, add the marinated chicken and stir it well for some time and close with the lid after simming the burner down.
6. Frequently, stir the chicken and just sprinkle some water if it has become dry at the bottom.
7. When it almost done, add 1 tbsp of gram masala/chicken masala powder to it and mix it thoroughly and let it cook for 5 mintues.
8. Garnish with curry leaves/coriander leaves.



One can enjoy this with Chappathi/plain rice/curd rice. Yummy……..

Meen varuthathu/Plain Fish fry

Clean the fish thoroughly with lotsa of water. Then clean with 1 tbsp of salt and 1 tbsp of turmeric powder. Keep it aside for 5 mintues and once again wash the fish thoroughly with water. I use gallons and gallons of water to clean fish till the last dirt is removed.

Fish fry masala:

Mix 1 tbsp of turmeric powder, 2 tbsp of chilly powder, 3 tbsp of coriander seed powder (malli powder) and 1 ½ tbsp of salt. Mix these powder’s well.

How to prepare fish fry:

Apply this powder onto the cleaned fish all over. Keep aside for sometime to marinate.

In a frying pan, pour enough quantity of oil. Put these masala applied fish onto the hot oil. Simmer the burner otherwise the skin get charred and hard. Then after sometime, turn the fish to the other side. Remove once it is done.

It tastes yum with curd rice, plain rice. Enjoy…Meen varuthathu….

I just can't stop clicking these lovely, picturesque fish fries...yummy and delicious