Monday, April 26, 2010

Coconut, Raw Mango Chutney

Ingredients:

Raw mango - 1 (Medium size)
Scraped coconut - 4 tablespoon
Groundnut - 3 tablespoon
Green chilli - 4
Red chilli - 1
Jeera powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt - as needed

Procedure:
  • Peel the skin of the mango and cut it into small cubes.
  • Roast the groundnut and puff the skin off.
  • Add mango, coconut, groundnut, green chilli, red chilli, jeera powder, salt, little water and grind well to make a fine paste.

Learnt from: Samaiyal Samaiyal. Vijay TV

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Potato Jackfruit Seed Masala

Ingredients:

Potato - 3
Jackfruit seeds - 25
Big onion - 2 (small) / 1(big)
Scraped coconut - 3 tablespoon
Red chilli powder - 2 teaspoon
Corriander powder - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Big jeera - 1 teaspoon
Oil - 4 tablespoon
Cinnamon - 2 small pieces
Cloves - 2
Garlic - 2 small cloves / 1 big clove
Chopped corriander leaves - 1 tablespoon
Procedure:
  • Boil and peel the skin of potatoes and the seeds. (Seeds must be half-cooked)
  • Add oil to the frying pan and season cinnamon and cloves
  • Add onion and fry till it gets golden brown colour.
  • Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and corriander powder and saute well.
  • Add little water.
  • Add potatoes and the seeds, mix and saute well.
  • Keep sauting at regular intervals.
  • When three-fourth of the cooking is done, add ground coconut and big jeera paste.
  • Crush the garlic clove, add and saute.
  • Till the mix gets dried up, keep sauting.
  • Add corriander leaves.

Learnt from: Mrs. Padma, my mother

Monday, April 19, 2010

Fried and Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:

Chicken - medium size pieces - 1/4 kg.,
Big onion - 2
Tomatoes - 2
Ginger garlic paste - 3 teaspoons
Green chilli - 3
Green corriander - for dressing

Oil - 100 ml.
Cinnamon - 2 small pieces
Cloves - 3
Red chilli powder - 3 teaspoon
Corriander powder - 3 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 2 teaspoon
Garam Masala powder - 3/4 teaspoon
Salt - As needed
Procedure:
 
Add turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste, 1 teaspoon red chilli powder, 1 teaspoon corriander powder, salt to the chicken pieces and marinate for half an hour.

Take oil in a frying pan. Add chicken pieces three by three and semi fry the pieces till they are half-cooked in medium heat. Don't leave the pieces in oil for a long time. Keep the pieces aside.
 

In the same oil, (if you feel the quantity of the oil is more, you can take away some oil ) add  cinnamon, cloves and add onions, salt and saute well. When it gets golden brown colour, add ginger garlic paste. Add red chilli powder, corriander powder, turmeric powder and some more salt. Then add tomaotoes and the chicken pieces. Add as much water as needed for cooking the chicken pieces. Close the pan while cooking. Now and then, stir the content. Just 5 minutes before the dish gets ready, add garam masala powder.

Please note:

The taste and colour will be good enough, if tomato is added raw along with the vegetables or meat.
If you want the dish as thick masala, switch off the stove little earlier.

Learnt from: Fenilda, my friend

Tomato Tamarind Kuzhambu / curry



Ingredients:

Tomatoes - 3 small / 2 big (Make a paste using the mixie)
Tamarind pulp - pulp taken from tamarind of the size of a small lemon
small onions - 15
Garlic - 10 cloves (each cut into 2 small pieces)
Red chilli Powder - 2 teaspoon
Corriander powder - 3 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt - as needed

For seasoning:

Oil (2 or 3 tablespoon) mustard seeds, urad dal, fenugreek, hing / asafoetida (kayam), red chilli pieces, curry leaves

Procedure:

Chop tomatoes into small pieces and grind them to make a pulp. Add tamarind pulp, red chilli powder, corriander powder, turmeric powder and salt. Kee a frying pan on the stove and add oil. When the oil gets medium heat, add mustard seeds, urad dal, fenugreek, hing, small onions, garlic and curry leaves and saute till it gets golden brown. Then add tomato and other ingredients and bring it to a boil. It has to boil nicely to take away the raw smell of the tomato pulp.

Learnt from: Shoba, my friend

An interest for cooking

I had thought cooking is a big issue till I started cooking. Infact, in the beginning stages I was rather confused. But, as time went on I felt that cooking is too simple a thing...rather simpler than what I feared. It is one of those things in life which seem tougher and tougher when you think about it, but gets simpler and simpler when you face / do in reality.

Gradually I understood that it is similar to the art of making new numbers by adding 0 to 9 in different combinations! It is a challenge of course, but a managable, an easier challenge!

Till I bade Good-bye to my sweet home (of course mother's place), I never ever thought about it as there was always some soul around to feed me..But once I got married this was thought as a big issue by my mother, and instead of me, she started getting nightmares. But my sisters-in-law and my mother-in.law and all others (except my mom) told me that it is a very easy task,...nothing to panic...I enjoyed again without learning anything in particular, but sort of knew the basic aspects.

Any person who is a lover of tasty food, will equally love cooking. But even today, I don't enjoy cooking much. But I am particular about the taste of the food, so I have gradually developed an interest in cooking.

I have created this blog, mainly to register whatever I have learnt and tried, so that I could refer to it whenever needed, and also to help my daughter, my grandchildren...(their luck or bad luck, I can't say) in the future if at all needed..