Storm In My Kitchen

Mint Chutney Grind to a fine puree with a little water two bunches of mint leaves, half a bunch of coriander leaves, two green chillies (or more as per your spice level) salt to taste sugar one teaspoon and 10 - 12 garlic flakes. Add as little water as possible while grinding. Transfer to a bowl and squeeze the juice of half a lime Serve with bhajiyas, kebabs or make sandwiches with butter and bread This chutney will last atleast two weeks in the fridge with the flavour increasing as time passes Use 1/4th of a coconut which also enhances the taste, but it will not keep for a very long time

Mango Jam 3kg mangoes peeled (use pulpy tasty mangoes. Keep two firm mangoes aside and chop them into small cubes, the rest grind to a pulp) 1 kg sugar (more or less depending on tw sweetness of the mangoes and your taste) A few cinnamon sticks In a deep pan, pour the mango puree and boil n medium heat, when the puree starts boiling, add the sugar......keep stirring and when the sugar melts, turn the heat low....and keep stirring....the jam should not get caught atthe bottom..... the cinnamon can be broken into pieces or it can be ground to a powder....when the jam starts becoming translucent add the cinnamon and keep stirring....then add the chopped mango pieces....and stir again......and keep stirring...... When the jam becomes thick and slightly transparent switch off the gas.....keep in mind that the jam will thicken further on cooling Put it into clean dry bottles after cooling overnight This jam has to be stored in the fridge, as there are no preservatives.....

Desicated Coconut Cake For the cake recipe 200 gm sugar 300 gm butter 5 eggs or equal 300 gm weight 250 gm dessicated coconut 150 gm flour A few drops of vanilla essence 3/4th tsp of baking powder 1/4th tsp of baking soda Heat the oven to 180 degrees and prepare a baking dish lining with butter and dust with flour In a bowl, beat the sugar and butter until creamy, then add the eggs one at a time till incorporated, add the vanilla essence, then the dessicated coconut and the baking powder and baking soda...lastly sift the flour and add. Mix all ingredients nicely, empty into the prepared baking dish and bake in the oven for approx 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean This is a yumy cake on its own.....Christmas time increase the dessicated coconut to 350 gms and bake the cake for a slightly longer time so that it's not very spongy...after the cake is cooled, feed it with brandy for about 10 days

Stuffed pancakes Whip two eggs, a cup of milk, a cup and half of flour salt and pepper to taste...... this is the pancake batter  Heat a nonstick pan, grease with a bit of butter...pour the batter and cook on medium heat for 30 seconds, turn the flame down and flip the pancake....on one half of the pancake, add a bit of chopped chicken, green chillies, onions, mixed capsicum, tomatoes bacon/ham/salami, pinch of salt and pepper and top with grated cheese.....fold the pancake and cook on each side till the cheese melts Serve hot

Accidental Marble Cake For the cake One cup butter, 1 and quarter cup sugar, 3 eggs.....I put them in the big jar of my mixer/grinder .....pulse it till incorporated......add some vanilla essence, a level tsp of baking powder and 1/4th tsp of baking soda...... pulse again.....add two cups of flour.....and grind......pls do this step in batches....it does heat up the mixer jar.....and then I felt like the cake was looking too dull so I took out some chocolate chips to add...and I threw them into the mixer.....then I buttered and floured my baking tins......and when I got back to the batter, the chocolate chips had begun to melt.....so I hurriedly poured the batter into the tins and off they went to a preheated oven.....180 degrees and baked till a skewer inserted came out clean

Beetroot salad  Boil beetroot with salt. Heat oil in a pan add quarter tsp cumin, kalonji, fennel seeds and chilli flakes....then add in the beetroot and toss, cover and let cook for a minute so that flavours mingle.... squeeze lime juice over and serve hot

Pudhina Chicken with Fried Rice Marinate chicken pieces with little salt, turmeric, chilli, garlic, pepper powders and bit of vinegar....keep aside for an hour or more in the fridge  Heat oil, add the chicken and fry a minute on either side add sliced onions.. cover and cook, when chicken is half done add paste of few mint leaves and tomatoes, a tablespoon of tomato ketchup and a tsp of soya sauce.... adjust th e salt if necessary and cook till done. Served with fried rice For the rice Wash and soak the rice for 15 to 20 minutes....then drain the water and dry out Heat oil, add three pieces each of cardamom, clove, cinnamon, bay leaves, small piece of star anise and a tsp of jeera...add a tablespoon of ginger garlic paste and fry.....add a finely sliced onion....add the rice and fry till the rice pops a bit....then add double the quantity of water...cover and cook till rice is done

Sevaiyya Heat a tablespoon of ghee, add two handsfull of fine brown sevaiyya and fry a bit....then add a pinch of cardamom powder and sugar according to how sweet you like it, add a glassfull of milk and cook till almost dry....toast some almond slivers, melon seeds and charoli and sprinkle over.....enjoy warm or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream

Chicken Stew Heat oil, add two bay leaves and three pieces each of cloves cardamn, peppercorns, cinnamon and one whole staranise....add ginger garic paste and fry a minute..... add quarter kg chicken and 5 to 6 mushrooms cut in half and fry till slightly brown, add one chopped potato and 2 cups chicken stock and cook till potatoes are half done......add a handful each of vegetables like cauliflower, lauki, carrots, peas, turnips, and cook till chicken and vegetables are done, add more stock if needed..... add one cup thick coconut milk and a few chopped mint leaves.......serve hot with appams or bread

Cabbage Butter Fry This is my favourite way of having cabbage  Steam the cabbage..heat butter add the cabbage, salt and some fresh cracked pepper......fry a bit.. Serve hot  I had it my mum's mango pickle and chapatis

Coconut Juice I have really no idea what the real name of this drink is.....the first and only time I had it was when I had gone to meet my hubby's grandparents the day after my engagement.....that taste has lingered and been imprinted forever.....I have been really busy, but when I saw this month's competition, I knew this is what I had to submit.......this is my rendition of that drink Tender  coconut with malai....the sweeter the coconut, the better..... remove the water from the coconut...... scrape out the tender coconut taking care that you don't scrape the skin....in the blender, grind the coconut with sugar (only if needed), adding the coconut water to get a smooth paste.....mix this paste with the rest of the water and strain it......chill it then pour into tall glasses and serve

Assorted veggies Assorted veggies like broccoli, carrots, bell peppers (red, yellow, orange) snap peas, onion, tomato and few cloves of garlic Heat oil, add the garlic when slightly browned, add the veggies and the chowmein miracle masala, toss, add salt to taste and cover and cook just till the tomatoes are done about 5 minutes

Ginger Orange Cake Scrape the rind of two big oranges. Heat the oven to 180 degrees, prepare a baking dish by buttering and dusting with flour Cream 100 gms butter with 150 gms sugar, add a few drops of vanilla essence then add two eggs and mix nicely...... then squeeze the juice one orange, add a tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp of baking soda....whip nicely.... add 250 gms flour and the orange rind leaving a tablespoon aside for garnish....add finely chopped candied ginger...mix till incorporated but do not overmix Bake in the preheated oven for approx 45 mins or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean For the glaze In a pan squeeze and strain out the other orange, add half a cup sugar.....boil till the mixture reaches a two thread consistency stirring constantly so that it doesn't stick.... take off the flame and add 30 ml of ginger liqueur, stir till the mixture is smooth putting back on a low flame if required When the cake is warm and the glaze slightly cooled

Onam Sadya Of all the things there, I made the inji puli, inji thayir, cabbage toran, red bhaji toran, beans toran, olan, kalan, errisery, aviyal, sambar, rasam, buttermilk, kheer and unni-appam I will update the post for the recipe for all the dishes, starting off with the unni-appam For unni-appam Wash and soak one cup raw rice for atleast 4 hours or overnight, grind with coconut, cardamom jaggery and overripe banana to a thick consistency Heat the appam pan and pour ghee in the wells, drop a tablespoon full of the batter into each well when the ghee is hot, turn down the heat and fry till brown then turn over and fry a minute more. Semiya kheer Heat ghee, add the crushed semiya, add crushed almonds and cashews, fry nicely, add sugar and milk, let it boil till the milk is slightly reduced, add cardamom powder and take off the flame Inji puli (shortcut method) Chop ginger and green chilli into tiny pieces, heat oil and fry the ginger and chilli pieces, when it starts to get brown,

Brinjal Garlic Roasted Bharta spread foil on a baking sheet, preheat oven to 180 degrees Use the big variety bharta brinjal and chop into big pieces add to the baking sheet. Add a chopped onion, a big pod or two of garlic, a tomato, whole dry red chillies as per your spice level, a handful of peanuts, turmeric powder, cumin powder and salt. Drizzle olive oil over the vegetable and mix nicely. In crease oven temperature to 200 degrees and bake for 15 minutes. Check the vegetable, stir and add a bit of water if needed,bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool a bit and grind coarsely. Put it in a bowl and garnish with mint leaves. It taste lovely with chapatis, bread or even as a dip

Birthday Cake Cake (this recipe is from a Martha Stewart website and the cake came to perfection....if you google Martha Stewart pastel cake, it available online...I used half the recipe with a smaller cake tin... hence lesser layers) 6 1/2 cups/789 g cake flour (not self rising), sifted 3 tablespoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt 2 1/4 cups/500 ml whole milk 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups plus 4 tablespoons/395 g unsalted butter, room temperature 2 1/2 cups/490 g granulated sugar 10 large egg whites A few drops of each of food colour of your choice Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease six 8-inch round cake pans, and line the bottoms with parchment. If you don't have six pans (understandably so) use as many as you have, and plan to wash them between baking cake layers. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Combine milk and vanilla. Beat butter with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. With the mixer running

Chicken and cheese bites Chicken mince half kg An onion finely chopped Four cloves garlic finely chopped Chilli flakes a big fat pinch (depending on your spice level) Salt and pepper Mixed dried herbs a tablespoon Mini cheese cubes or 1 cm cheese cubes Preheat your oven to 160 degrees Mix all the ingredients except the cheese together. Form balls of the mince and flatten, add a cheese cube in the centre and seal and form a ball again Brush a cupcake pan with oil and put the chicken balls in brush the chicken meatballs with oil and bake for 20 minutes. Serve hot

Red bhaji with mushrooms   Heat oil add some mustard for tempering... When the mustard crackles add a fat pinch of chilli flakes and some crushed garlic.... Add an onion and 5 mushrooms (finely sliced) fry for half a minute.....add the finely chopped lal bhaji and cover and cook for 5 min....add a chopped tomato and cook till the tomato is mushy and the water dries up... Have with roti or rice

Dosa batter vegetable fritters 1 onion, green chilli, carrot, cabbage, red, yellow and orange peppers, French beans, salt, pepper, mint leaves and ginger Chop all finely or put everything in the chopper. Add all the chopped vegetables to the dosa batter.  Add saly and pepper to taste. And deep fry or shallow fry Serve hot with ketchup

Chicken Roast Make slits and marinate a whole skinned chicken with a cup of curd, a tablespoon or two(depending on how spicy you would like it) of Kashmiri chilli powder, a tablespoon of cumin powder, a tsp of garam masala, half a tsp of pepper powder, two tablespoons of finely chopped mint leaves and salt to taste..... atleast an hour or over night in the fridge Chop into one inch pieces three s mall potatoes, five to six French beans, one and half carrot, a quarter piece each of red, yellow and orange bell peppers, one fourth of a small cauliflower, a whole head of garlic and a tomato. Clean a big onion and keep it whole Preheat your oven at 200 degrees Use the big aluminium foil and arrange it on a baking tray....pinch the corners up and make like a bowl or you can use a big aluminium tray or a large baking dish Remove the chicken from the marinade and place it in the centre of your baking dish and put the whole onion in the chicken cavity. Then toss all the vegetables in t

Whole Masoor Dal with Tuna Fry and Chapatis For the whole masoor In a pressure cooker, add 3/4th cup of whole masoor dal and wash nicely. Then add half tsp of turmeric powder, a tsp of chilli powder and a tsp of garam masala. Add a chopped onion, a tsp of ginger garlic paste, a chopped tomato and two green chillies and salt to taste.  When the dal is cooked, temper with a tablespoon of ghee and half tsp of cumin seeds. Serve with a dollop of ghee or with a little lime squeezed over it Tuna fish fry I used tinned tuna flakes for this....heat a pan, add the tinned tuna, add a large chopped onion and a tablespoon of fish fry masala.... fry nicely till all the water has dried up and the fish starts catching on the pan

Mango Fish Curry Can use fish like seer fish, king fish, mackerel, sardines or even prawns for this recipe I've used king fish for this Grind to a paste a little coconut, turmeric powder, chilli powder, ginger and coriander seeds Heat oil, add mustard seeds and a few fenugreek seeds, when the mustard sputters, add some curry leaves and a finely chopped onion...fry till the onion is light brown, add the paste and fry till the oil comes up, add water and salt, stir nicely. Reduce the flame to simmer then add the mango and fish pieces, cover and cook till the mango pieces are soft.

Nutella Oats Shortbread 100 gms unsalted butter Half a cup of brown sugar A few drops of vanilla essence 2 cups oats (ground to flour in the mixer) A tablespoon of flour Nutella to spread Cream the butter and sugar till fluffy..add the essence and the flour....bring together to form a dough, do not knead too much. Heat the oven to 170 degrees...then prepare your pie dish with a removable base and spread out the dough (I used a 9 inch pie dish) poke a few holes with a fork or skewer in the dough....bake for 20 mins. Then reduce the temperature to 120 spread Nutella on the pie and bake another 10 minutes Leave in the oven for about 10 minutes after baking time is over After that remove from oven and cut into 8 pieces with a sharp knife while it is warm. When cooled serve it with some toasted nuts or ice-cream.

Spring Onion Bhaji 4 bundles of spring onions, 4 big cloves of garlic, 3 dry red chilies broken into pieces, half tsp of asafoetida, quarter tsp of mustard and a tablespoon of oil....salt to taste Heat oil, add the mustard, when it cackles add the red chilies and garlic....fry a few seconds then add the hing and the onion leaves and salt...cover and let cook a couple of mins...... open the pan stir the leaves and cover again....when the leaves are slightly limp and the onion bulbs look translucent the vegetable is done.

Cauliflower Matki  2 handfuls of dry matki (moth beans or the brown moong beans) soaked and sprouted 1 cup of cauliflower florets 10 shallots or sambar onions 1 medium sized onion finely chopped 1 tomato finely chopped 2 tsp ginger garlic paste 1/2 tsp turmeric powder 1 tablespoon or more chilli powder 1 tsp cumin powder 1/2 tsp garam masala 1/2 tsp cumin seeds 1 tbsp oil Heat oil add cumin, then add finely chopped onion and ginger garlic paste. Fry a while, when the raw smell goes add turmeric, chilli and cumin powder. Bhuno with a little water till the oil comes up. Then add the sprouted matki. Cover and cook 5 minutes. Now add the cauliflower florets, shallots and salt. Cook covered for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook another two minutes till the tomato is done. Sprinkle garam masala, stir and cover for atleast 5 mins for the flavours to mingle. Serve hot. Goes well with chapatis or rice and dal

Fish Cutlets No potato, no breadcrumbs 1 king fish (about 15 inches) can also use shark, tuna or mackerel Whole spices 2 each of cinnamon, clove, cardamom and pepper Boil the fish with the spices and a glass of water. Drain all the water from the fish. Debone the fish and flake it. 3 onions 1 and half pods of garlic An inch big piece of ginger A handful of coriander leaves A handful of mint leaves 4 green gillies Chop all these ingredients finely Juice of two limes Salt to taste Jeera powder 1 tsp Garam masala 1 tsp 2 eggs Mix all the ingredients together and form cutlets and shallow fry in oil

Ven Pongal Rice 1 cup Split moong dal 1/2 cup For tempering Ghee 2 - 3 tablespoon Finely chopped ginger 1 tablespoon Cashews 6 - 7 roughly chopped 1 green chilli chopped Half a tsp of peppercorns Half tsp of cumin seeds Quarter tsp of mustard seeds A few curry leaves Water 1 1/2 cup Milk 1 1/2 cup Salt to taste Wash the rice and dal and soak for half hour In a pressure cooker, heat the ghee and add the mustard seeds, when they cackle, add the rest of the tempering ingredients and fry for a minute. Drain the water from the soaked rice and dal and add to the pressure cooker. Now add the salt milk and water. Cover and cook for 7 minutes on a low flame after the first whistle. It can be served with sambar or coconut cutney. Here I have paired it with Ginger Tamarind chutney

Pepperwater This pepperwater recipe belongs to my grandmum's family (mother's mother's side)....It's been passed down and it's one of the few things that I learned to prepare from my grandmum before she passed Dry roast and grind to a fine powder a tsp of pepper corn, 5 dry red chillies, half tsp each of methi, mustard and jeera seeds Extract the juice from a lemon sized ball of tamarind and set to boil along with the ground spices....When the raw smell of the tamrind is gone and you get a nice aroma from the pepperwater, switch off the flame and strain the pepperwater. Now put this back on the stove on a low flame, add salt to taste and add a finely chopped onion. When the onion becomes translucent give a tempering of mustard seeds, a quarter tsp of crushed pepper, a few curry leaves and a heaped tablespoon of finely chopped garlic.

Pasta with Vegetables and Chicken 300 gms pasta cook till 3/4th done in salt water One large chopped onion One garlic head chopped 2 tablespoon of garlic powder (incase you don't have this, increase the amount of garlic) One can of diced tomatoes (or 4 tomatoes chopped) 1 tablespoon of pasta seasoning or mixed dried herbs 300 gm boneless chicken chopped A cupful of chopped carrots, broccoli, snap peas Stock 500 ml Salt and pepper to taste 250 gms shredded mozzarella cheese Heat oil add the onion and garlic. Fry 30 seconds then add the chicken and saute till the chicken turns white add the rest of the ingredients except the pasta and cover and cook for about 7 minutes on medium heat....When the vegetables are done lower the flame add the pasta and cover another 5 mins then addin the cheese and mix nicely......Serve hot with garlic cheese bread or on its own

Coconut Rolls I saw a recipe online for coconut rolls that was very interesting....Very similar to cinnamon rolls.....So I searched some more online and tweaked a few recipes changed up the filling....And it was wonderful Warning in advance.....This dough will make about 40 to 45 rolls..... Something I did not realise because most recipes said 12 - 15.....Maybe I rolled my dough out too thin, but the more the merrier.....So I took half the rolls to a birthday party that I was  going to. For the dough 1 can of coconut milk (400 ml) 1 packet of dry ready to use yeast (11gms) 6 egg yolks 6 - 7 cups of flour (this depends of how how is needed) 2 cups of melted butter 3/4th cup fine sugar (or powdered sugar) Half a tsp salt (omit if using salted butter) Coconut essence a few drops (or vanilla + almond essence if you don't have coconut) For the filling Butter Brown sugar Desicated coconut 1 egg beaten to brush over the rolls before they go in the oven For the dough

Fried Chicken Breast with Garlic Mashed Potatoes For the Chicken Marinate 250 gm chicken breast with salt, a tsp of ginger garlic paste, a quarter tsp of turmeric, pinch of pepper, chilli sauce powder as per your spice level and half tsp garam masala Marinate atleast half an hour Shallow fry in a pan and squeeze lime juice after it's done For the Mashed Potatoes Boil 3 big potatoes until tender. Mash with a fork add a tsp of garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste, two cubes of soft cheese and a table spoon of chilli mayonnaise add a table spoon of milk and mix nicely Plate it all together with some steamed veggies or raw veggies as I have done