100th post- Egg Spinach Thoran

Simple and healthy egg with spinach thoran, ppl who doesn’t love to have spinach alone, can try this one with eggs, its really tasty, when I made it for first time, even we were in doubt, but hubby was truly happy.

Ingredients:

1. Spinach- 200 gms, cleaned well and chopped very fine
2. Egg- 3
3. Onion- 1 small, thinly chopped
4. Green chillies- 2 slit
5. Grated coconut- 2 tablespoon
6. Mustard seeds- 1/2 teaspoon
7. Red chilly powder- 1 teaspoon
8. Turmeric powder- 1/2 teaspoon
9. Pepper powder- 1/4 teaspoon
10. Salt- 1-2 teaspoon
11. Oil- 1 tablespoon
12. Curry leaves- 8-10

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan ,splutter mustard seeds
2. Add onions, green chillies, saute till soft.
3. Add curry leaves, turmeric powder,red chilly powder and saute for a min.
4. Add the cut spinach ,salt and 1/4 cup water and cook.
5. Meanwhile coarse grind the grated coconut.
6. Add the grated coconut to the cooked spinach, mix well
7. Break in the eggs and mix well, so that egg is spread all over.
8. Test for the salt requirements and add more if required.
9. Sprinkle pepper powder and remove from fire
10. Serve hot.

Enjoy the egg spinach thoran as a side dish with rice. It seriously good. Happy cooking!

Chicken Thoran

Chicken enriched with coconut serves as a good side dish with rice/Rotis. The real star here is the coconut gravy! May sound a bit weird, but we just loved this dish.

Ingredients:

1. Boneless chicken cut into small cubes- 1 cup
2. Grated coconut- 3/4 cup
3. Onion- 1 medium, very thinly sliced
4. Pepper powder- 1/2 teaspoon
5. Red chilly powder- 1 teaspoon
6. Turmeric powder- 1/2 teaspoon
7. Dried red chilly- 2
8. Chicken masala- 1/2 teaspoon
9. Salt- 1-2 teaspoon, as required
10. Mustard seeds- 1/2 teaspoon
11. Curry leaves- 8-10
12. Oil- 1 1/2 tablespoon

Method:

1. Cook the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper with 1/4 cup water, and water is absorbed completely.
2. Coarse grind coconut,chilly powder,turmeric powder,chicken masala, 5 curry leaves,keep aside
3. Heat oil in a pan,splutter mustard seeds, red chillies.
4. Add the thinly sliced onions and saute till soft.
5. Add the  curry leaves, cooked chicken and mix well.
6. Add the coarse ground coconut mixture along with salt and mix well.
7. Cover and cook in low flame for 3-5 mins, till the mix becomes thick.
8. Remove from fire,serve hot with rice or rotis.

The chicken bites along with crunchy coconut bites add more taste to the dish, Please have a try.

One pot Chicken Biriyani

One pot chicken biriyani or bachelors chicken biriyani is the simplest of all biriyanis! Well it can be called as chicken pulao, suits better than biriyani! 

Ingredients:

1. Chicken-1/4kg,cut into pieces
2. Basmati Rice- 1 cup
3. Onion- 2 large, thinly sliced
4. Ginger garlic paste- 2 teaspoon
5. Red chilly powder- 1 1/2 teaspoon
6. Turmeric powder- 1/2 teaspoon
7. Pepper powder- 1/2 teaspoon
8. Coriander powder- 1/2 teaspoon
9. Salt- 2 teaspoon, as required
10. Bay leaves- 2-4
11. Cardamom pods- 2
12. Cloves-2
13. Cinnamon stick- 2 inch piece
14. Pepper,whole-2-4
15. Cumin seeds- 1/4 teaspoon
16. Ghee-1/4 cup
17. Raisins,cashew- for garnishing
18. Water- 1 1/2 cups

Method:

1. Wash drain and keep rice aside.
2. Heat half of the ghee in a pan. 
3. Add ingredients 9-13 and saute till aroma fills in air.
4. Add ginger garlic paste and saute till raw smell fades away
5. Keep 1/2 onion aside and add remaining to the pan with spices and saute till golden brown.
6. When they are done, keep them to a side in pan and lower the heat.
7. Pour in the ingredients 4-7 and heat them.
8. Mix the spice and onion well.
9. Pour in remaining ghee and add the chicken pieces, and fry them till they become firm.
10. Add the drained rice, and mix well.
11. Add water,salt and mix well.Check for salt,spice requirements and add more if required.
12. Cover and cook in low flame till rice is done. 
13. There may be some water at the bottom, open the lid and move gently with a fork to let the water escape and evaporate.
14. Fry remaining onion, cashews,raisins in ghee and garnish!

Serve hot with cucumber onion raita. Simple dinner/lunch is ready to be served. Happy cooking,happy eating.

Chicken dry fry

Simple chicken fry which can be served as a starter/appetiser as well as with ghee rice,rice,rotis. Simple spicy and yummy!

Ingredients:

1. Chicken- 1/2 kg, any piece can be used, I used leg part
2. Chilly powder- 2 teaspoon
3. Pepper powder- 1 teaspoon
4. Turmeric powder- 1/4 teaspoon
5. Coriander powder- 1 teaspoon
6. Ginger garlic paste- 2 teaspoon
7. Lime juice- 2 teaspoon
8. Salt-1-2 teaspoon,depending on requirement
9. Oil- 2 tablespoon

Method:

1. Make small slits in the chicken pieces with fork.
2. Mix all the other spice ingredients together in a bowl
3. Add chicken pieces to the marinade and marinate thoroughly
4. Keep aside for min 30 mins.
5. Heat oil in pan
6. Fry the chicken pieces till they turn dark brown on all sides.
7. Serves hot with onions/ lemon

Spice level can be adjusted to match ones requirement. An apt starter for all non veg/chicken lovers.

Kadhai Paneer

Healthy vegetarian side dish, but if you are a weight watcher, beware of paneer!

Serves-2/3

Ingredients:

1. Paneer,cubed-1 cup
2. Onion-1 large,sliced
3. Tomato- 1 medium,sliced
4. Capsicum- 1,cubed
5. Garlic- 2 pods,crushed
6. Ginger- 1 inch,crushed
7. Red chilly powder- 1 teaspoon
8. Turmeric powder- a pinch
9. Coriander powder- 1 teaspoon
10. Salt-1 1/2 teaspoon or as required
11. Oil- 1 tablespoon
12. Water- 1/2 cup
13. Coriander leaves for garnishing

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry the paneer cubes
2. Drain and keep aside
3. To the same pan, add chilly powder,turmeric powder,coriander powder and heat for a min.
4. To this add crushed garlic and ginger, saute till raw smell goes
5. Add chopped onions and saute till they turn light
6. Add tomatoes, cover and cook till tender.
7. Allow them to cool for a while.
8. Coarse grind them in  a mixer with 1/2 cup water and keep aside
9. To the former pan add cubed capsicum and saute for a while.
10. Add the ground paste,salt and mix well.
11. Test for the spice requirements
12. Add the fried paneer cubes, cover and cook till gravy thickens.
13. Garnish with coriander leaves

Serve in a Kadhai(Indian style pot) to get a restaurant touch! If you love biting onions, then you can omit grinding them. A very good side dish for roti/chapati/naan/rice.b Serve hot!

Chicken potato roll

A very easy and interesting snack. So simple to make and yet yummy!!! I guess lazybones will love this dish a lot.

Ingredients:

1. Long bun- 4
2. Minced chicken-1 cup
3. Potato cut into cubes- 2
4. Onion- 1/2 thinly sliced
5. Mustard seeds- 1 teaspoon
6. Salt-1 teaspoon
7. Pepper powder- 2 teaspoon
8. Water- 1/2 cup
9. Oil- 1 teaspoon

Method:

1. Pressure cook the chicken and potato with 1 teaspoon salt and pepper powder for 1 whistle.
2. Mash well the potato and chicken.
3. Heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds.
4. Saute onion in the oil.
5. Add the mashed mix,remaining pepper powder to the pan and mix well.
6. Stuff the split long buns with the mix.
7. Microwave for 1 min.

Serve hot with a cup of coffee. These winter days are seriously making me lazy so as to go for such simple n filling stuffs! A pretty good evening snack and also boxed lunch for kids.

Chocolate Cake



 Believe me, Its gonna be a sweet treat! I baked it on my birthday and my hubby just fell in total love with this! The chocolate icing makes it more sweet!

Ingredients:

1. Eggs-2
2. All purpose flour- 1 cup
3. Sugar - 1 cup
4. Cocoa powder(unsweetened)- 2 tablespoon
5. Vanilla essence(optional)- 1 teaspoon
6. Heavy whipped cream-1/4 Cup
7. Milk- 1/4 Cup
8. Almond for topping
9. Chocolate bar for topping

Ingredients for icing:

1. Heavy whipped cream- 1 cup
2. Dark chocolates- 2 bars(I used DARS)
3. Butter 1 tablespoon

Method:

1. Beat the eggs thoroughly with a scrambler till foamy. Hand scrambler as well as mixer can be used.
2. Put in the sugar and stir well. Beat the mixture well. For ease keep it in very low flame and stir till ribbon consistency.
3. Sieve and add the flour.
4. Similarly add the cocoa powder.
5. Add the baking powder.
6. Pour in the Vanilla essence(optional).
7. Add milk and 1/4 cup cream.
8. Beat the mixture well.The mix should me neither loose nor hard.Should attain fine consistency.
9. Cover the baking mould with paper or grease with butter.
10. Pour in the batter into the 8 inch baking mould
11. Preheat the oven to 180 C or 300 F.
12. Keep the mould at 180 C for 30-40 mins for baking
13. To check if the cake is baked properly, check with a skewer or toothpick. It would come clean if cooked fine.
14. Move onto a wire rack and cool.

To make Icing:

1. Melt the butter in a pan at low flame
2. Add the dark chocolate bars, stirring continuous dissolving them
3. Add 1 cup heavy whipped cream.
4. Reduce heat and keep on stirring till the mixture is thick.
5. Take out from fire and allow it to cool.
6. Refrigerate for 30 mins.

Applying icing on cake:

1. Cut the cake into half through the diameter.
2. Apply a layer of the chocolate icing on to the top and sandwich the cake cut off.
3. Pour the icing onto the top of the cake
4. Spread gently through sides and top using a icing spatula.
5. Add sliced almond on the icing.
6. Grate chocolate using and ordinary vegetable grater and scatter on the icing.
7. Refrigerate for 10 mins for the icing to set.

Chocolate cake is ready!!! Why waste money buying cake from shops, when you can put on your talents to make a sweet cake, whatever be the occasion.

Chinese Egg Fried Rice.

An easy to cook, delicious dish, liked by all... Here goes the recipe..

Serves-2

Ingredients:

1. Basmati Rice- 1 Cup
2. Onion- 1/4 cut into slices
3. Vegetables cut into small cubes-1 1/2 cups(carrot,cabbage,cauliflower,beans)
4. Tomato sauce-3 teaspoon
5. Chilli sauce-2 teaspoon
6. Soy sauce-1 teaspoon
7. Ginger-garlic paste- 1teaspoon
8. Cumin seeds- a pinch
9. Salt-as required
10. Pepper- as required
11. Turmeric powder-a pinch
12. Egg- 2
13. Oil-for frying
14. Water-2 cups

Method:

1. Cook the rice with 2 cups of water adding a little salt.
2. In the mean time, cut the veggies into small cubes. You can choose veggies of your likes.
3. Heat Oil in a pan.
4. Add cumin seed.
5. Add ginger garlic paste to it when it splutters. Mix well till the raw smell is gone. Add sliced onions and fry till golden brown.
6. Add the chopped veggies along with salt, turmeric powder and pepper powder.
7. Mix well on a low flame.
8. Add the sauces one by one. Mix well. Can add pepper powder to ones desire.Remove from fire and keep aside.
9. Now break the egg into pan n mix well adding pepper and salt on low flame.
10. Now add the veg mixture n egg onto cooked rice and mix thoroughly till the mix is spread all over.

Chinese Egg fried rice is ready
Veg fried rice can be made in similar way omitting the egg part
serve hot with Gobi Manchurian /sauce.