Kheema Masala

One of my favorite items lately is kheema masala. These days I am craving for something spicy and something which can be done in a jiffy. Even thinking about this is making me hungry right now. I picked this up from my mom.

Ingredients:
Kheema: 500 grams from chicken or mutton (I used chicken)
Onion: 1 big, chopped
Tomato: 1 big, chopped
Green Chili: 3, chopped
Cilantro/Coriander: hanful
Ginger& garlic paste: 1 tbsp
Oil: 2 tbsp

Masala:
Coriander powder: 1 tsp
Cumin powder: 1/2 tsp
Garam masala: 1 tsp
Salt: according to taste
Red chili powder: 1 tsp

Method:

• Heat oil in a pan and add the chopped onions and green chilies. Fry until translucent. 
• Now add the ginger & garlic paste and fry for a min. 
• Now add the kheema and chopped tomato and keep cooking until everything is cooked. Here, you can also add half a cup of water if you want the kheema to be a little gray type. 
• Once kheema is cooked add everything under 'Masala'. 
• Check for salt, add coriander leaves and switch off the stove. 

Notes:
1. You can also add potatoes or green peas while cooking the kheema. This will increase the quantity of the kheema if you have some unexpected guests.

Serving Suggestions:
This goes very well with naan or even rice.

Chettinad Shrimp Masala (Eral Masala)

Prawns have always been my favorite non-veg item. Its unfortunate that never lived near waters to get fresh supply of prawns as often as I would have liked to have. I am talking about childhood days and years spent in India.
Now we get what ever we want, fresh/frozen/cleaned/uncleaned/ bla. However, no matter how many times I try, the taste we get in India is never the same. I wonder if its because of the spice brand we use or the water or the prawns. Anyway, here is the recipe for Chettinad Eral Masala. The taste is as close to as one can expect in an authentic Chettinad kitchen.

Ingredients:
Prawns: 250 grams/ 1/2 lb (cleaned) I used fresh shrimp, you can use frozen also.
Onions: 1 big or 2 small
Ginger garlic paste: 1/2 tsp
Garlic pods: 4 big or 8 small
Tomato: 1 ripe, chopped
Chili Powder: 1 tsp or according to taste
Turmeric powder: 1 pinch
Salt
Coriander leaves: handful
Lemon Juice: 2 tbsp
Cinnamon: 1 inch piece
Curry leaves: 1 string
Oil: 2 tbsp

Marination:
Marinate the shrimp with chili powder, turmeric powder, salt, lemon juice and ginger&garlic paste and set aside in the fridge for an hour.

Method:

• Heat oil in a pan and add cinnamon stick, curry leaves followed by chopped onions. 
• When onions turn translucent, add tomatoes and let the tomatoes cook until they become mushy. 
• Now add the shrimp and saute for a min. You will see the water coming out. Now, cover the dish and let the shrimp cook on medium flame. After cooking, check for salt.
• You can switch off the stove and garnish with coriander leaves.

Note:

• Do not over cook the shrimp as this would make them hard.
• If you are using frozen shrimp, make sure to defrost it before you marinate it.

Minced Chicken (Kheema) with veggies

After I finished my 12th standard, my sister and I started living in a working woman's hostel while I was perusing my graduation and my sister her post graduation. Like most other hostels, never was a day when tasty food is served. So when ever we used to visit my parents, my mom used to pack kheema with roti/pooris. They used to stay good for at least 24 hours and we used to devour them after reaching the hostel. This is the recipe picked up from her from those times. The below measurements would serve 4.

 Ingredients:
Chicken/mutton kheema: 1 lb (or 1/2 kg)
Frozen veggies: 1 cup (mine had beans, carrot, peas and corn)
Potato: 1 large, pealed and chopped
Onion: 1 medium chopped
Ginger & garlic paste: 1 tbsp
Salt: According to taste
Oil: 4 tsp
Red chili powder: 1 tbsp
Garam Masala: 1 tsp
Coriander powder: 1 tsp
Cumin Powder: 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon stick: 1 inch piece
Cloves: 4
Coriander leaves: handful, coarsely chopped

Method:

• Heat 2 tsp of oil in a pan and add cinnamon stick and cloves. Then add the onions.
• While the  onions are frying, heat 2 tsp of oil in another pan and fry the chopped potatoes.
• When the potatoes are cooked, add the frozen veggies and fry some more. Make sure that there is no water left in the veggies. switch off the stove and keep these fried veggies aside.
• Once the onion's are fried properly, add salt and red chili powder. Stir and add the ginger garlic paste. 
• Once the ginger garlic paste is cooked, add the chicken/mutton kheem. Fry until it is completely cooked. Stir once in a while. 
• Once the kheema is cooked, add the garam masala, coriander powder and cumin powder. Stir and check if all the spices are according to your liking. 
• Now add the fried veggies along with coriander leaves, stir once and switch off the stove.

I have served this with plain rice and sambar for dinner and for the next days lunch, I used the left overs to make some pita-wrap with kheema, some hummus, pickles, tomatoes and lettuce. It made a great lunch with some simple salad.

Below is a small 2 tier Diaper cake I made for a good friend of mine for her Baby Shower. The theme was green and I had a bit of trouble location diapers with green design.

Simple Chicken Pot Pie (Veggie version too)

This is yet again another easy, yet tasteful and nutritious recipes. There are many ways to make this pie but I prefer the below way because its easier to make it this way. I know. My bad, but what can I possibly do when I am pressed for time?
Anyway, the below measurements would yield 1 pie which 2 adults can comfortably share. I am going to give the chicken and the veggie version too. Look at the bottom of recipe for vegetable version. I served this for dinner.

Ingredients
Cream of chicken : 1/2 can (or 5 oz, I used campbells)
Chicken broth: 3/8 cup ( 1/2+1/8 cup)
Pie shell: 1 shell and 1 crust to seal the pie (I used Pillsbury)
Frozen veggeis: 3/4 cup (thawed)
Chicken: 1 big breast (chopped into 1 inch pieces)
All purpose Flour (APF): 1 1/2 tbsp
Aluminum pie liner: 1

Method:

•  Preheat the oven to 400 D F.
• Clean the chicken cubes and boil in hot water until cooked. Should take under 10 mins.Drain after cooking.
  
• Mix the APF with chicken broth. Then mix in the cream of chicken, veggies and cooked chicken chunks. The mixture would be somewhat thick.
• In a 9 inch pan or any oven safe dish, line in the aluminum pie liner. Place the pie shell in the liner and fill it with the mixture.
• Seal the shell with the top crust and make small vent-holes with a sharp knife for the steam to escape. 
• Bake for 35 minutes and check if the crust is golden brown. If not, bake for another 5 mins. 

Enjoy! 
Below is the picture I had taken near my front porch. The snow is melting and skies are blue. I just love looking at the icicles. Hope you liked it too.

Vegetarian version:
Replace the cream of chicken with cream of vegetable and chicken broth with vegetable broth. Use additional veggies of 3/4 cup in place of chicken. The rest of the recipe and method is same.

Fish/Meen Kuzhambu (Chettinad Style)

I got this recipe from Solai's True Chettinad Kitchen. I must say, I am really thankful that I found her website, for, Chettinad recipes is my hubby's favorite. Anyway, it came out really good and we enjoyed it immensely. Her recipe advised us to use the head or tail of the fish but I could find neither, so, I used salmon fillets. You can visit her website (link attached above) or get the recipe from here, I followed her recipe to the T.
My mom use to make fish kuzhambu and we used to have it with sambar and fish fry.

I am also sending this entry to Akila's Dish name starting with F event.

Ingredients:
Fish: 12 medium pieces (boneless so that its easier to eat)
Onion: 1 medium, chopped
Tomato: 1 chopped
Garlic Flakes: 7 large or 15 small
Chili powder: 1 tsp
Coriander powder: 2 tbsp
Curry leaves: 1 string
Fennel seeds: 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds: 1/2 tsp
Oil: 2 tbsp
Tamarind paste: 2 tbsp soaked in 3 cups of water

For marinade:
Chilly powder-1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder-1/2 teaspoon
Lemon juice-1 teaspoon
Salt-1 teaspoon
Marinade the fish pieces with the above 4 ingredients and leave it it fridge for 2 hours.

Method:

• Heat oil in a pan and add fennel and fenugreek seeds followed by curry leaves, garlic and onion.
• Fry them for 2 minutes and add tomato pieces and fry for 2 more mins and add tamarind water.
• Now add coriander powder and a little salt and get the gravy to boil and reduce the flame. After 10-12 minutes the gravy will reduce to half. (you can also add more chili powder at this stage for extra spicy curry).
• Gently add the fish pieces and increase the flame and cook for 5 mins or until the pieces are properly cooked. 
• Check for salt and switch off the stove. Server after a couple of hours so that the juices are fully soaked into the fish pieces.

Chicken fry...without oil!

Can we even call it a fry if we do not use oil? Not so sure but who is going to be a word-police here eh? So, let me use the word, Chicken Fry :)
I started off this process hoping to make tandoori chicken in my oven (not the traditional tandoor). But I realized that I hardly have any Kissan Tandoori powder left. That's how this new chicken fry was born; all the ingredients are my guess work :). Most of the ingredients are commonly available in any Asian home.

Ingredients:
Chicken: 1 lb (close to 1/2 kg), skinless and boneless, I used chicken breast
Yogurt: 2 tbsp
Coriander powder: 1 tsp
Cumin Powder: 1 tsp
Red Chili powder: 1 tsp
Ginger Garlic paste: 1 tbsp
Salt: according to taste
Food Color: 1 pinch

Note: I actually used garlic seasoning and excluded salt. For extra favorite flavor, use what ever you like :)

Method:
Cut the chicken pieces in to desired size and marinate with all the ingredients. Keep it in fridge for at least 2 to 3 hours.

Preheat the oven to 450 F. In a baking tray, line all the chicken pieces. Keep the chicken in the oven for 15 minutes. Then, remove from the oven and turn the chicken pieces so that the other side of the piece also gets properly roasted. Return to the oven and cook for another 15 minutes. Now remove and turn the pieces again. Cook for another 15 minutes. So, in total you cooked for 45 minutes. But now, the chicken would have cooked to perfection.

Chicken Fry

The laziness in me hit new low today. So I made Pepper Rasam and Chicken Fry. My husband absolutely loves the chicken fry which is made this way! This is simple and it tastes great. If you are on time crunch like me, try this method. You will not be disappointed.

Chicken: 1 lb (just over 1/2 kg)
Red Chili Powder: 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder: 1/4 tsp
Salt: According to taste
Ginger Garlic paste: 1 tbsp
Yogurt/curd: 2 tbsp
Pepper Powder: 1/4 tsp
Oil for shallow frying, about 3 tbsp

Method:
Wash the bite sized chicken pieces and marinate everything together (with the exception of oil) for 1-2 hours. IF in summer, leave the marinade in fridge.
Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry until chicken gets cooked. Do not add any water. After chicken is cooked, the color would start to turn. This is when chicken fry is ready to be served!

Prawns (Shrimp) Fry

Weekends are my favorite...I should make a correction; I like those weekends when I get to spend with my husband. Off late we have been going to cottage and there, all we do is relax! Isn't that great! So, in the evenings I make this yummy prawns fry which goes great with beer/wine, a game of cards and.., many more games of cards! If you are using froze prawns, it hardly takes 10 minutes to make this!

Prawns (fresh or frozen): 1 lb
Onion: 1, small, finely chopped
Tomato: 1 small, chopped
Ginger and garlic paste: 1 tsp
Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp
Red chili powder: 1 tsp
Salt
Garam masala: 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder: 1/2 tsp
Fresh cilantro: handful

Method:

• Heat oi in a pan and saute onions until translucent. 
• Now add salt, chili powder, turmeric powder and coriander powder. Fry for a minute and add ginger & garlic paste.
• Add tomatoes and cook them on medium flame.
• At this point, add the prawns. If you are using frozen prawns, within 5 mins you can switch off the stove. If you are using fresh, sprinkle some water and cook until the prawns are well done. 
• Switch off the stove and add garam masala and cilantro.

Nandu Kulambu- Crab Curry

Winter is early this year. I think it wants to make it up for the last year. I wanted to welcome Fall with fall colors; with a zesty, spicy curry. So, Nandu kulambu it is! I never tasted this before getting married. Somehow, I never liked the look of it. After getting married I learnt that my husband loves this. So, I picked this recipe from my mother in law. After making this for hubby many times, even I started liking the taste! And need less to say, my husband absolutely loves this!

Ingredients:

Crabs: cooked/frozen, 2 lb
Ginger & garlic paste: 1 tbsp

Coconut, grated/grinded- 3 tbsp
Onion- 1 large

Tomato- 1 large

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

Tamarind paste- 1/2 tsp
Chili Powder- 1 tsp (use more for extra spice)
Coriander Powder- 1 tsp

Salt- 1tsp
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Cilantro: hand full

Dry roast and fine grind the below
Fennel (saunf) - 1/2 tsp
Black pepper- 1/2 tsp
Cumin- 1/2 tsp

Method:

• I used frozen crabs, so this step was not necessary for me. But if you are using fresh crabs, I would suggest that you fry the crabs in a tbsp of oil with a little turmeric to get rid of the smell and keep these aside. 
• Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a dish. Add mustard seeds and when they pop, add the chopped onions and fry until translucent.Add ginger garlic paste and roast for a minute.
• Then add tomatoes and fry until the tomatoes cook. Now add the powder you have grinded, coriander powder, chili powder and salt.
• Now add the coconut paste and tamarind paste.
• Now add the crab and cook in medium flame. You can add a cup of water now.
• When it gets completely cooked, garnish with cilantro.

Achari Chicken

This is one of my favorite recipes passed over by my Bihari friend.

Ingredients:

• Mutton/Chicken-1 kg
• Ginger garlic paste-2tsp
• Onions-1big chopped
• Tomato-2chopped
• Long green chillis- 2-3
• Curd-1/2cup
• Lime juice-2tsp
• Turmeric-1/4tsp
• Fenugreek seeds, Cumin seeds--1/4tsp each
• Mustard seeds, Fennel (saunf), Kalonji-1/2tsp each
• Dry red chillis-7-10 (depends up spice level)
• Mustard oil/any oil-4tbsp
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Dry roast fenugreek seeds, saunf, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, kalonji & mustard seeds & coarsely grind them. The recipe calls for coarse mix but I fine grinded them so that the spices do not show up in the gravy later.

• Heat oil in a pan & fry onions till translucent, then add long green chillies, red chilies & half of the spice mix sauté for 1mt & keep aside.

• Add little more oil in the same pan, heat & add ginger garlic paste, meat & turmeric & sauté for 1mt.Then add curd, tomato, salt, little water & the remaining spice mix, cover & cook till the meat is almost tender.

• Now add the onion mixture, mix well & cook on medium flame for about 4-5mts.Stir in limejuice & garnish with cilantro leaves.

Thai Green Curry

I love Thai food. I am not sure if its because its spicy or because its close what I call spicy. Anyway, here is my "renewed" version of Thai Green curry. It can be either veggie or non-veg (chicken). I invented this below version to suit both veg and non veg. Confused? Don’t be...you will know what I mean when you read the entire post :)

Ingredients:
Bell Peppers: 2
Mushrooms (optional): 1 cup
Zucchini: ½ (again…this is optional)
Beans: roughly chopped ½ a cup
Coconut milk: 1 can
Chicken (if non-veg): skinless, boneless 1 lb, cut into bite size pieces
Olive oil: 3 tbsp

For the green curry paste:
Onion: ¼, I dint have spring onion. If you have use 3 of them
Ginger: 3 inches
Garlic cloves: 4
Fresh Coriander: 1 cup
Coriander powder: 1 tsp
Cumin powder: 1 tsp
Pepper powder: 1 tsp
Green chil: 3
Lime juice: 1 tsp
Sea food sauce: 3 tbsp. If veggie version, try using hot sauce

Method:
• Blend all the ingredients in the green curry paste until fine with about ¼ cup of coconut milk.

• Heat a pan and add 1 ½ tbsp of olive oil. Then fry all the veggies until they are half done. This shouldn’t take more than 7 minutes on medium heat.
• If you are using chicken, add the remaining 1 ½ tbsp of olive oil in another pan and fry the chicken pieces until they are well done. Make sure you remove them from heat before it starts to brown.
• Now heat another pan and add the green curry paste and the rest of the coconut milk.

• When the paste comes to a boil, add salt and the veggies. Switch off the stove after 2 minutes if veggies version.

• For chicken version, add the chicken pieces to the veggies before switching off.
• Garnish with basil leaves.

That’s all! Easy eh? Serve hot with jasmine/basmati rice. This should serve 4.

Variations: Lemon Grass is an important part of any Thai curry. Include lemon grass (2 stalks) while grinding the green curry paste. I didnt include it because I didnt have it at home.

Suja's Varutharacha chicken curry

Thanks to Suja. I tried the chicken recipe which Suja has posted in her blog this evening. Oh I must say it was a partial success. Here is where you will find the original recipe. Its a great recipe, every one should try this at least once.


http://kichencorner.blogspot.com/2010/05/varutharacha-chicken-curry.html#comments

It took me about 2 hours to make this. I am not 100% sure if this is how long its supposed to take. Nevertheless, the aroma is worth a million bucks! No kidding!

But... I made a small mistake:(. Well it deserves to be called a blunder! I am so sorry Suja. What I did was, instead of marinating the chicken pieces in the ground spices powder, I made a paste of roasted onion, curry leaves and grated coconut and marinated the pieces with that! I realized this mistake after I marinated the chicken for 45 mins. Thanks to that stupid call centre agent who was troubling me for months now! (I should report him soon)
Anyway, at the prescribed time when I was supposed to add this paste, I added the ground masala. The taste was different from yours I guess. (Not to mention the color and consistency) :(

But believe me when I say, the taste is out of the world! Its lovely!

Mistakes do happen right; and when they do, we keep our chin high, pull up our socks and say 'better luck next time'.
I think this is what happens when we are too tired from a whole days work :) Its ok...Its a new recipe now!

Really the taste was good. Thanks Suja! By the way what is the meaning of "Varutharacha"?