Chicken Keema Curry (Minced chicken)

Ingredients:

Minced chicken: 250 gm
Cooking oil: 3 tsp.
Bay leaf: 1
Green cardamom seeds: 2 cardamom
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp.
Cloves: 2
Onion (chopped): 1
Ginger-garlic paste: 2 tsp.
Green chilli (chopped): 1
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp.
Red chilli powder: 1/2 tsp.
Cumin powder: 1/2 tsp.
Coriander powder: 1/2 tsp.
A pinch of asafoetida
Milk: 1/2 cup
Tomato (chopped): 1
Salt to taste
Sugar: 1 tsp.
Lemon juice: 1 tsp.

1. Heat oil and add bay leaf, cumin, cardamom seeds and cloves. When they splutter, add the chopped onions and fry until they are transparent.
2. Add the ginger-garlic paste and green chilli. After 30 seconds add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and asafoetida. Mix everything well and let cook for about 2 minutes.
3. Add the milk and mix well. Let cook for about 2 more minutes and add the tomatoes and salt. Let cook till the tomatoes are soft and mushy.
4. Add sugar and lemon juice, stir and add the chicken. Mix well and cook for about 2 minutes. 
5. Add half a cup of water, mix and cover for 15 minutes on medium flame. Remove cover, cook for another 2-3 minutes and turn off the flame. Serve hot.

Goan Egg Vindaloo

Vindaloo is usually made with beef or pork, but in our family we don't eat either of this, so I made this Goan Vindaloo with eggs and it turned out to be wonderful.

Ingredients:

Boiled eggs: 4

Cooking oil: 3 tsp.

Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp.

Cinnamon stick: 1/2 inch

Onion (chopped): 1

Ginger-garlic paste: 2 tsp.

Green chilli (chopped): 1

Red chilli powder: 1/2 tsp.

Salt to taste

Tomato puree of one tomato

Lemon juice: 1 tsp.

Sugar: 1 tsp.

Garam masala: 1 tsp.

1. Heat oil and crackle cumin seeds. Add the cinnamon and add chopped onions after a few seconds. Add the ginger-garlic paste when the onions are transparent and sauté for a while.
2. Add the tomato puree and green chillis. Add salt, red chilli powder, garam masala and mix everything well. Let cook for about 5-7 minutes.
3. Add the lemon juice and sugar and stir. Add half a cup of water to the pan and cover. Let cook on medium flame for 10 minutes. Remove cover and add boiled eggs, stir well and turn off the flame. Serve hot !!

Roasted Egg Pulusu

Ingredients:

Boiled eggs: 4
Cooking oil: 5 tsp.
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp.
Garlic (grated): 4 cloves
Red chilli powder: 1 tsp.
Salt to taste
Garam masala: 1/2 tsp.
Lemon juice: 1 tsp.
Fenugreek seeds: 1/2 tsp.
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp.
Curry leaves: a few
Onion (chopped): 1
Green chilli (chopped): 1
Tomato (chopped): 1
Coriander powder: 1/2 tsp.
Cumin powder: 1/2 tsp.
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp.
Tamarind: 1 tsp.

1. Heat 3 tsp. oil in a pan and add half the mustard seeds. When they crackle, add the garlic and mix well.
2. After half a minute, add the halved eggs to the pan. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp. red chilli powder and garam masala on the halved eggs. Let fry the eggs with garlic and the masala on a very low flame for about 15 minutes. 
3. By the time, we prepare the curry. Heat the remaining oil in another pan and add the other half of mustard seeds, cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds. When they crackle, add the curry leaves and stir for a bit.
4. Add the chopped onions and fry until they are transparent. Add green chilli and tomato and add salt. Mix well and let cook until the tomatoes are soft and mushy.
5. Add coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder and the remaining red chilli powder and mix well. Let cook for another minute.
6. Add tamarind and mix well and again cook for half a minute. By this time the eggs are fried too with a nice aroma and flavour of garlic clinging to them. Add the lemon juice to the pan where the eggs are being fried and give a good stir and turn off the flame. 
7. Add these fried eggs to the prepared masala and stir. Turn off the flame and cover for 5 minutes. Remove cover and serve hot !!

Coriander Poha

Ingredients:

Poha (flattened rice): 2 cups
Cooking oil: 4 tsp.
Potatoes (finely chopped): 2
Pao bhaji masala: 1 tsp.
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp.
Curry leaves: 1 few
Onions (chopped): 1
Green chilli (chopped): 1
Ginger (grated): 1 inch
Coriander leaves: a bunch
Tamarind: 1/2 tsp.
Salt to taste
Red chilli powder: 1/2 tsp.

1. Soak poha in water to make it completely wet and drain all water and keep aside.
2. Heat oil and add the potatoes. Add pao bhaji masala and mix well to coat all the potatoes. Let cook on medium flame until the potatoes are cooked completely. Drain from oil and take out the potatoes.
3. Heat the same oil and add mustard seeds and curry leaves. When they splutter, add the onions and fry until transparent.
4. Add green chilli, ginger and half the coriander and mix well. Let cook for a minute.
5. Add tamarind, salt, red chilli powder and mix everything well. Add in the potatoes after half a minute and give a stir. 
6. Add the poha, mix everything well and turn off the flame after a minute. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

Goan Egg Curry

Ingredients:

Boiled Eggs: 4
Dessicated coconut: 3 tsp.
Tamarind: 1 tsp.
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp.
Garlic: 5 cloves, chopped
Whole red chilli: 1
Cooking oil: 3 tsp.
Onion (chopped): 1
Tomato (chopped): 1
Salt to taste
Coriander powder: 1/2 tsp.
Cumin powder: 1/2 tsp.

1. Make a paste of coconut, tamarind, turmeric powder, 3 cloves garlic and the whole red chilli in a mixer and keep aside.
2. Peel the boiled eggs and make small cuts on the eggs and keep them aside.
3. Heat oil and add chopped onions and fry until they become transparent. Add the remaining garlic and mix and fry for about a minute.
4. Add the chopped tomato and salt. Let cook until the tomatoes are soft and mushy. Add coriander and cumin powder and mix well. Let cook for a minute.
5. Add the ground paste and mix well, let cook for another minute. Add a cup of water and cover. Let cook on medium flame for 10 minutes. 
6. Remove cover and add the boiled and peeled eggs. Mix well and cook for another 2 minutes. Turn off the flame and cover for another 10 minutes. Remove cover and serve hot. 

Making basic roti dough

I have shared so many recipes and foods on my blog, but because a lot of people have problems in doing some of the basics in kitchen, I decided to help by posting some basic things in the kitchen. Here's posting the dough-making method for basic chappatis and parathas.

Making food is an art. And a large part of Indian households consists of making chappatis. For making the perfect, round chappatis, you need to have a nicely done dough.

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour
Water as required

1. The first step is to make the dough in a wide vessel (but not a deep one), specially if you are a beginner or your dough and chappatis never turn out good. I usually make in a small vessel, like a bowl because I rarely make a lot of dough at once. 
2. Add the flour to the vessel you are making the dough in. I do not add anything at all, no salt and nothing else because the less salt we eat, it's better, and you really don't need that much salt. But if you are used to adding salt, try reducing the amount you add. 
3. Do not add any ghee/oil to the dough. Yes, it does make the task easy and makes the dough less sticky, but that's really not the right way of doing it. Also it is not really needed to consume those extra calories the ghee/oil has.
4. Now begin by slowly adding a little water to the flour and mix well. Begin adding more water, bit by bit and begin kneading when the dough is not too dry. I use one hand to knead and the other to hold my bowl; but you can use both hands too. 
5. Be careful not to add more water at any stage and add very patiently. When you have a big wide bowl, you can knead in parts and start keeping aside the parts which you did knead a bit. Repeat for all the dough.
6. Now you will have roughly kneaded dough in parts. Combine them all together and knead a little again. Now wet your hands just a bit (not adding water, just wetting hands) and pat the dough gently. It should not be sticky at this stage if you did the kneading adding little water. 
7. Now again press on the whole dough with knuckles and roll it, knead a bit more. Repeat this step if the dough is not soft and smooth enough at this stage. Do not repeat again after two times as adding more water (even with the bit of water on hands) can make the dough sticky and we clearly don't want that.
8. At this stage the dough must be ready and soft. When you poke a finger in the dough it must be soft and not hard and not feel sticky. (If it is sticky, unfortunately now you cannot make it really nice, but add a very little flour and try to balance and try not to add more water, not more than a bit). 
9. Transfer to an air tight container (if not covered, the upper layers of the dough will begin to dry out and that eventually will need to be trashed) and keep in the refrigerator. I refrigerate overnight and it makes all the difference. When I make chappatis or parathas from instantly made dough, they never come out as good as they do even if I refrigerate for 2 hours. 
10. Hoping this helps some. Happy kneading !!

Green Meen Kuzhambhu

Ingredients:

Fish: 200 gm (I used Salmon fish)
Cooking oil: 3 tsp.
Black peppercorns: 1 tsp.
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp.
Fenugreek seeds: 1/2 tsp.
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp.
Curry leaves: a few
Ginger-garlic paste: 3 tsp.
Salt to taste
Fenugreek powder: 1 tsp.
Lemon pickle: 1 tsp. (Use lemon juice if you don't have lemon pickle)
Onion (chopped): 1
Tomato (chopped): 1
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp.
Red chilli powder: 1/2 tsp.
Cumin powder: 1/2 tsp.
Coriander powder: 1/2 tsp.
Mint leaves: a handful
Tamarind: 1 tsp.
Coriander leaves: a handful

1. Wash the fish fillets and add little salt, fenugreek powder and the lemon pickle and mix well with the fish in a bowl and keep aside.
2. Heat oil and add peppercorns, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves. When they splutter, add the ginger-garlic paste and fry for 2 minutes.
3. Add the chopped onions and mix well. Fry until the onions are transparent. 
4. Add the tomato and add salt. Mix well and cook until the tomatoes are soft and mushy. Add turmeric, red chilli, coriander powder and cumin powder. Mix well and let cook for another minute.
5. Add the mint leaves and mix. Add the tamarind after half a minute and mix everything well. After about a minute, add the fish to the pan and mix well with the masala. Fry for about a minute. Do not fry for long time as fish tends to break easily. Remove the fillets from the masala and transfer to a bowl, leaving masala behind. 
6. Add a cup of water to the pan and mix well. Bring it to a boil of the desired consistency. Add the fried fish fillets, mix everything well and garnish with fresh coriander leaves. Serve hot with jeera rice.