Saturday, December 12, 2015

Baked Banana Pudding


If you are not in a mood of a very sweet pudding, but you really crave to have something to satisfy your sweet tooth then this one is just for you. No addition of sugar, this pudding goes for the natural sweetness of bananas and dates. Yes I have drizzled a little bit of sweetened condensed milk on top but that's totally up to you, either you can increase its amount for more sweetness or you can totally omit it too. And must admit, this pudding is really easy to prepare, just blend everything together and bake! Droolsss  marks its third anniversary today with this dessert. 
Ingredients
2 ripe bananas
4 ripe dates-pitted
1 cup full fat coconut milk
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
4-5 Tbsp sweetened condensed milk

Method

  • Preheat oven to 175 degree Celsius.
  • Blend all the ingredients except condensed milk until smooth.
  • Pour the batter into a glass baking tray or you can even divide the batter into 4- 5 ramekins.
  • Bake for 30-40 minutes until the pudding turns golden brown on top.
  • Drizzle the condensed milk on top of the pudding.
  • Chill and serve.

Monday, November 23, 2015

Ulli chammanthi



Ingredients
 1 cup shallots; peeled and washed
2 tsp red chilli powder(use kashmiri for the bright colour) or 4-5 whole dry red chillies
a tiny ball of tamarind
3 Tbsp coconut oil
salt to taste

Method
  • Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Roast the shallots in it for 2- 3minutes.
  • Reduce the flame and add the chilli powder. Roast for a few seconds(take care not to burn the chilli powder). If you are using whole red chillies you can roast them along with the shallots.
  • Allow this to cool to room temperature.
  • Coarsely grind this along with the tamarind and salt, adding only 2 tsp of water.(The chammanthi should be thick).
  • Transfer the chammanthi onto a serving bowl and drizzle the remaining coconut oil on top.
  • Serve this chammanthi with idli or dosa.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Chicken Mulakittathu

Ingredients
500 gm chicken, cut into small pieces
2 tsp chopped ginger
2 tsp chopped garlic
2 green chillies sliced
2 sprigs curry leaves
2 tomatoes chopped
1 big onion chopped
3 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1 cup water
1 tsp vinegar
salt to taste
For tempering
1 Tbsp coconut oil
2 cloves
1" cinnamon stick
1 cardamom
1/2 star anise3 dry whole chillies, broken into pieces
1 sprig curry leaves
2 shallots sliced





Method

  • Put the chicken along with all the ingredients(excluding the ingredients under tempering) into a pan(preferably an earthen pot(manchatti)).
  • Mix everything well and cook on a low flame until the chicken is cooked, gravy thickens slightly and oil is seen to float on top. Remove from heat and keep aside
  • For the tempering, heat oil in a separate pan.Add the whole spices, curry leaves and sliced shallots.
  • Fry until the onions turn golden brown.
  • Now pour this over the prepared chicken curry and cover the pot immediately so that the aroma lingers in the curry. Let it remain covered for 10 minutes.
  • Open, mix well and serve delicious chicken mulakittathu with steamed rice, dosa or chappathi.



Recipe adapted from here

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Paneer Barfi






Ingredients
250 grams grated paneer
200 ml condensed milk
1 tablespoon milk powder
2 pinches cardamom powder
A pinch of salt
Pistachios for garnishing

Method

  • Soak paneer in hot water for 10 minutes.
  • Drain and squeeze water from paneer completely.
  • Place it in a grinder, pulse it and keep aside.
  • In a bowl, mix well all the above ingredients.
  • Pour the above mixture in a non stick pan and stir on low flame until it starts leaving the sides of the pan.
  • Pour it into a greased plate and allow it to cool down.
  • Cut into squares and garnish with pistachios.



Monday, October 12, 2015

Chicken Ghee Roast



An exotic chicken dish from Mangalore.


Ingredients
1 kg chicken
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup yoghurt
1 tsp turmeric powder
8 whole red chillies
20 whole kashmiri chillies
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp peppercorns
12- 16 garlic flakes
tamarind soaked in 3 tbsp water(cherry size) and juice should be extracted
ghee as required
2 tsp sugar
few curry leaves
2 Tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Method
  • Marinate the chicken with yoghurt, salt, turmeric powder and lemon juice. Allow this to marinate in the refrigerator for atleast 4 hours.
  • Roast the whole chillies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorns and fenugreek seeds until they darken slightly. Grind this along with the tamarind extract and garlic into a thick and fine paste. You can add little water to ease the grinding.
  • In a pan heat ghee, approximately 3-4 Tbsp. Add the marinated chicken and cook till the chicken is almost cooked. Transfer the chicken along with the gravy(i.e. the water that oozes out from the chicken during the cooking)into another bowl.
  • In the same pan heat some more ghee and add the grinded masala paste to it. Fry the paste in the ghee until the raw smell of the masala goes and oil starts to leave from the masala.
  • Add the cooked chicken along with the gravy into the fried masala. Check and adjust salt as required.Roast the chicken in the masala well until the masala dries up and the chicken is roasted well.
  • Add sugar and mix well. Add curry leaves and chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot.

Wednesday, October 07, 2015

Parippu Vada


Ingredients
200 gm parippu/toor dal (You can use chana dal too)
4 green chillies
1 small piece ginger
few curry leaves
20 small onion/shallots
Oil for deep frying

Method
  • Soak the dal for one hour in water. Then drain the water and coarsely grind the dal along with the ginger, curry leaves, green chillies and half of the shallots.Do not add water while grinding.
  • Slice the remaining shallots very finely and add it to the grinded dal mixture. Add enough salt too and mix well.
  • Take little amount of the grinded mixture in your hands and shape into flat vadas.
  • Deep fry the vadas in hot oil until brown and crispy on both sides. Drain onto a paper napkin to absorb excess oil.
  • Serve hot parippu vadas with tea. Enjoy:))


Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Tandoori Roti


Don't have a tandoor? Make it on a tawa or rack:) Here's how you can do it...
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup yoghurt
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1  1/2 tablespoon olive oil
A pinch of baking soda
Water to bind and knead
Salt as required

 Method
  • Add all the ingredients except water in a bowl
  • Add water gradually and knead to a soft dough.
  • Divide the dough into equal sized balls .
  • Let the dough rest for 15-20 minutes
  • On a rolling board,flatten a dough ball and dust some wheat flour on top of that.
  •  Roll into medium sized chapati or roti (don't roll very thin).
  • Take a fire proof wire rack and place it on a low to medium flame.
  • Place the roti on the rack,when bubbles appear on top,flip the roti,you will notice few brown black spots on the roti.
  • Flip again and you can see the second side getting cooked.
  • Repeat the flip until the roti gets cooked on both the sides.
  • Transfer the roti to a basket and spread some butter or ghee on top of the roti.
  • Serve hot with curry of your choice.


Tuesday, September 08, 2015

Amma's Mutton Curry

My mom's signature mutton curry. No other mutton curry can be relished by us more than this! Truly lipsmacking!

Ingredients
1 kg mutton, cleaned and cut to small pieces
1/2 kg onion, sliced thin
2 tsp ginger paste
2 1/2 tsp garlic paste
3-4 garlic cloves
5 green chillies , grinded to a paste
1/2 kg shallots sliced
2 big tomatoes, chopped
3 Tbsp coconut oil
3 Tbsp sesame oil
3/4 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp coriander powder
2 tsp mutton masala(eastern brand)
2 1/2 tsp black pepper powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder

salt as required
few curry leaves
2 tsp chopped coriander leaves
Method

  • Pressure cook the mutton along with sliced shallots, 1 tsp ginger paste, garlic cloves, salt and 1/4 tsp turmeric powder until the cooker gives off two whistles(if the mutton is tender, one whistle will do). Allow the cooker to cool and the steam go off by itself.
  • Heat a pan, add the coconut oil and sesame oil. Add ginger paste, garlic paste and green chilli paste. Saute well until the raw smell goes off.
  • Add the sliced onions and saute until onions turns golden brown.
  • Reduce the flame and add turmeric powder, coriander powder, mutton masala powder and salt(Remember to adjust salt accordingly as we have already added salt to the mutton). Stir fry until oil starts to layer on the top.
  • Now add the chopped tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes are fully mashed up and oil starts to be seen on the masala. This will take some time, more the tomatoes get cooked, more tasty the curry turns out to be.
  • Add the cooked mutton along with the stock to this and cook until the the gravy becomes dry. Let it cook on a low flame for about 25 minutes(keep stirring in between), until the mutton curry becomes dark in colour.
  • Finally add the curry leaves, chopped coriander leaves and garam masala powder. Mix well and serve.

Thursday, September 03, 2015

Paneer Hyderabadi

Ingredients
200 gm paneer, cubed
1 big onion chopped
5-6 curry leaves
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp ghee
2 tbsp fresh cream
salt
oil

For Hyderabadi masala

1/2 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
2 tbsp peanuts
1/4 tsp sesame seeds
1/2 tsp poppy seeds
5-6 cashewnuts(soaked in water)
2 cloves
1 inch piece ginger
6 garlic cloves
2 whole dried red chillies

Method

  • Heat a pan and add oil.Fry the paneer cubes, few at a time and drain onto a paper napkin.
  • Heat little ghee in a saucepan. Add all the ingredients under hyderabadi masala and fry for some time. Once cooled grind into a smooth paste and keep aside.
  • In another pan heat heat remaining ghee. Add curry leaves and onion. Add salt and fry till onion turns golden in colour.
  • Add the grounded masala and all the remaining spice powders.
  • Add the milk, stir and allow this to boil for about 5 minutes on low heat.
  • Now add the fried paneer and lemon juice. Mix well.
  • Add fresh cream, mix well and cook for two minutes more and remove from heat. Serve hot with roti, chappathi, nan etc.

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Pazha Pradhaman




How about some pazha pradhaman for this Onam?

Ingredients
1kg very ripe banana(nenthra pazham)
500gm jaggery(heat the jaggery in 1 cup water until melted, Sieve and keep aside)
4-5 cups light coconut milk(dissolve 3tbsp coconut milk powder in 4-5 cups of water)
1 1/2 cup thick coconut milk(dissolve 3-4 tbsp coconut milk powder in 1 1/2 cup water)
5 Tbsp ghee
2 tsp coconut pieces(cut into small squares)

Method

  • Cut the bananas into 3-4 pieces and steam them in a steamer until cooked well.
  • Once cooled,remove the skin of the bananas and deseed the  bananas(split open each piece of banana and remove the black seed layer).
  • Mash the bananas well in a blender into a paste.
  • Heat 4 Tbsp ghee in a pan and saute the banana paste in the ghee for some time, approximately 5-6 minutes.
  • Now add the melted jaggery and allow it boil and thicken.
  • Then add the light coconut milk and let it cook in the coconut milk for about 7-8 minutes, or until a thick consistency is attained.
  • Now pour the thick coconut milk and mix well. Cook for a couple of minutes and then switch off the flame.
  • Heat 1 Tbsp ghee in a pan. Fry the coconut pieces in the ghee until golden brown and pour it over the prepared banana pradhaman. Delicious pazha pradhaman is ready to be served.


* You can pressure cook the bananas instead of cooking them in a steamer.
* Along with the coconut pieces some like to add fried cashewnuts and raisins too. You can add that too if you prefer to. As I do not prefer cashews and raisins in pradhaman I have not added here.

Friday, July 31, 2015

Goan Chicken Curry


Ingredients
Marinade
1 kg chicken, cut into small pieces(I used boneless)
1tsp salt
11/2 Tbsp ginger-garlic paste
2 Tbsp lemon juice

To be ground into a paste
4 red Kashmiri chillies
2 tsp cumin seeds
10 peppercorns
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 Tbsp coriander seeds
5 cloves
1 inch cinnamon

Other ingredients required
6 onions chopped fine
4 tomatoes chopped fine
4 green chillies, chopped fine
3 potatoes, small, peeled and cut into cubes
4 Tbsp oil
1/2 tsp hing powder(asafoetida)
3 Tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Method





  • Marinate the chicken pieces with the ingredients under marinade and keep aside.
  • Grind the ingredients that are to be ground into a fine paste by adding little water if required and keep aside.
  • Heat 2 Tbsp of oil in a pan and saute one chopped onion well.
  • Once the onion turns translucent add the marinated chicken to it and fry well until the chicken turns white in colour. Keep this aside.
  • In another pan heat the remaining oil and saute the remaining onions.
  • Once the onions start to turn golden add the chopped tomatoes and green chillies. Stir fry for a few minutes.
  • Now add the ground paste and fry for one to two minutes.
  • Add the chicken that was kept aside along with 2 cups of water,cubed potatoes and salt.
  • Mix well and cover and cook on low heat until the chicken and potatoes are well cooked and gravy thickens.
  • Finally add the asafoetida and chopped coriander leaves. Give a good mix and serve hot.

Recipe adapted from here

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Spicy Boneless fried chicken


Ingredients

1 kg boneless chicken- cubed
2 or 3 slit green chillies
few curry leaves
1 tbsp finely minced ginger
1 tbsp finely minced garlic
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 onion cut into large cubes
1/2 tsp black pepper powder
 coconut oil as required
1- 2 tbsp lemon juice

For the marinade
1 tbsp kashmiri chilly powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp chaat masala
1/2 tsp black pepper powder
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp corn flour
salt to taste

Method
  • Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients under marinade and marinate for atleast 2 hours in the refrigerator.
  • Heat oil and shallow fry the marinated chicken in batches until reddish brown in colour and keep aside.
  • Heat 1 tbsp coconut oil and throw in the minced ginger, garlic,green chillies and curry leaves  Saute for a minute and then toss in the fried chicken and mix well.
  • Add the tomato ketchup, onion and pepper powder and mix well. 
  • Remove from the heat and sprinkle the lemon juice, mix well and serve.



Thursday, June 25, 2015

Idli Upma


Have some left over idlis? Then here's how you can turn them into another quick breakfast dish.

Ingredients
4-5 idlis
3-5 shallots sliced thin
1 green chilli chopped
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp urid dal
few curry leaves
1 tsp chopped coriander leaves
2 Tbsp oil
salt to taste

Method

  • Chop or crumble the idlis into small pieces and keep aside.
  • Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds
  • Once they begin to crackle add the urid dal and curry leaves.
  • Mix well and add the sliced shallots, green chilli and salt(add less salt as the idlis already have salt in them).
  • Fry until the shallots turn golden brown. 
  • Now tip in the chopped idilis to the fried onions and mix well.
  • Fry for 2-3 minutes until the idli pieces are well coated with the onion mixture.
  • Garnish with some finely chopped coriander leaves and serve hot.

Wednesday, June 03, 2015

Mangalorean Fried Squid



Ingredients
1/4 kg squid,cleaned,cut into rings
1 medium onion,finely sliced
2 teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon vinegar
Salt to taste
3-4 sprigs curry leaves
Coconut oil for frying

Method

  • In a bowl,add  chilli powder,cumin powder,turmeric powder,vinegar and salt.Mix the ingredients with water and make a paste.
  • Marinate the squid with the above masala and refrigerate for half an hour.
  • Heat a pan with 3-4 tablespoon coconut oil.
  • Sauté onion and curry leaves on medium flame and stir until the onion turns golden brown.
  • Turn up  the heat to high and carefully add the squid.
  • Stir on high flame for 1 - 2 minutes.
  • Turn-off the flame when the squid  turns opaque or white.(over cooking will make the squid rubbery).
  • Serve hot with rice.



Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Chembu Moru Curry





Ingredients
200 gms chembu/baby taro/arbi, peeled, washed and diced
1/4 cup grated coconut
2 cups yoghurt or buttermilk
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
3-4 green chillies,slit
few curry leaves
1/2 tsp mustard
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
2-3 whole red chillies
1 Tbsp coconut oil
salt to taste


Method


  • Cook the chembu with the turmeric powder, salt and green chillies.
  •  Grind the coconut with cumin seeds into a fine paste.
  • Add the yoghurt to the paste and blend again well.
  • Pour this to the cooked chembu and mix well. Allow this to come to boil on a low flame.
  • Switch off and keep aside.
  • For the seasoning, heat the coconut oil in a small pan, add the mustard seeds. Once the mustard crackles, add the red chillies, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves. Once the spluttering stops, pour this seasoning to the prepared chembu curry. Cover with a lid and keep this undisturbed for 5 minutes, so that the aroma lingers in the curry.
  • Open and mix well. Serve with steamed rice and a spicy side dish. Enjoy:)

Chocolate Mousse


Ingredients
150 grams mini marshmallows
50 grams soft butter
250 grams good dark chocolate,chopped
60 ml hot water
280 ml whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
                          
Method
  • Melt the marshmallows,butter,chocolate and hot water in a saucepan on medium flame.Stir in between.
  • Once the mixture is melted completely, turn off the flame and keep  aside.
  • Meanwhile,whip the whipping cream and vanilla extract until thick with the help of an electric beater.
  • Fold the whipping cream into the cooling chocolate mixture until smooth.
  • Pour into glasses or ramekins and refrigerate for few hours.


Recipe source:Nigella Lawson

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Prawns tomato roast



Ingredients
500 gms prawns, cleaned and deveined
a handful of shallots, sliced
1 Tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 large tomato chopped
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
lots of curry leaves
 3-4 Tbsp coconut oil
salt to taste

Method

  • Marinate the prawns with turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt.
  • In about 3 Tbsp of coconut oil saute the sliced shallots. Once it starts turning golden brown add the ginger-garlic paste and fry well until the raw smell is gone.
  • Add the kashmiri chilli powder and fry for a minute more.
  • Now add the tomatoes and mix well. Cover and cook for few minutes until the tomatoes turn mushy.
  • Once the tomatoes are fully mashed and oil layer starts to show from the sides, tip in the prawns. Mix well.
  • Add some curry leaves and let the prawns get cooked in the tomato gravy(don't add water, the prawns should get cooked in the juice of the tomatoes).
  • Fry well until the prawns are cooked, dark in colour and coated with the tomato masala.
  • Remove from heat and add some more curry leaves and drizzle 1 Tbsp of coconut oil on top and serve hot.