Sunday, February 21, 2010

Jackfruit Muffins/Chakkappazham Cupcakes

Make the dough by following the recipe for chakka kumbil : 1 1/2 cup (use half of the suggested in the above recipe )
Milk : 1/4 cup
Olive Oil : 1/4 cup
Beaten Egg : 1
Broken Cashew Nuts : A few
All Purpose Flour : 3 tbsp
Raisins : a few
Baking Powder : 1tsp

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Preparation:

  • Add milk, oil, and beaten egg together. Pour this mixture to the dough and make it into the consistency of the dosa dough. Mix it well with the flour, cashews and raisins. Add baking powder also.
  • Grease muffin tray. Pour a tbsp of dough to each muffin cup.
  • Preheat the oven to 350 and bake for 25 minutes or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Unakka Meen Chammanthi/Dry Fish Chammanthi

Dried Fish of Any Kind : 5 pcs. or as needed.
Fried Thinly Sliced Shallots : 1/2 cup
Fried Dry Red Chilies : To taste or about 10
Fried Coconut : 1/2 cup
Fried Curry Leaves :  a generous portion
Enough oil to fry
Red Chili Powder (optional) : 1/4 tsp

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Preparation:

  • Clean and dry fish with a paper towel. Fry it in oil. Drain it on a paper towel.  Let it cool.
  • Transfer all the above ingredients to a mixer and blend it well.
  • A bit of lightly roasted red chili powder can be added to the mixer while mixing.

Tips:

It can be stored in an air tight glass container  in the refrigerator for weeks for later use.

It is better to brown the coconut than shallow fry it.

Chakka Kumbil / Steamed Jackfruit Cakes

Varattiya Chakka or Jackfruit Steamed : 1 1/4 cup.
Jaggery Syrup : 1 cup
Coconut Grated : 1 cup
Roasted Rice Flour : 1 1/4 cup
Roasted Corn Meal*  : 1/4 cup
Cardamom Powdered : 3
Cumin Seeds : 1/4 tsp
Bay Leaves( if not shape it into small balls in your palm)

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 Preparation:

  • Make the dough. First add jaggery syrup or molasses, varattiya chakka, crushed spices, and slowly add flour mixture while stirring it well with a spoon.
  • The consistency should not be too thick or thin. It should be in between. (See the picture above)
  • Shape each bay leaf into a cone, and fill it with the dough.
  • Steam cook this in a suitable steamer for about 20 minutes or till it is done.

Tips:

  • *Rava can be substituted for corn meal.
  • If no bay leaves available, shape it into small balls using your palm, and steam it. It will be good.

Cherupayar Payasam

Cherupayar or Moong dal : 1/2 cup
Water : As needed
Jaggery Syrup or Molasses : 1/2 cup
Powdered Cardamom : 1 tsp
Chukku Powder : 1 tsp
Fried Coconut Bits : a few
Fried Cashews and Raisins : a few
Ghee : 2 tsp

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Preparation:

  • Roast the cherupayar or dal till it starts to show a slight color change, when cooled, wash and drain. Pressure cook it with sufficient water. It should not be overcooked.
  • In some ghee, fry the coconut, cashews, and raisins and set aside.
  • Add jaggery to the cooked dal, then cardamom, chukku, nuts and coconuts. Add some melted ghee to enhance the taste.  Enjoy!

Tomato and Garlic Rasam

Rasam Mix  : 2 tbsp
One Red Tomato Chopped
Garlic Pods Thinly Sliced : 3
Water : 1 1/2 cup
Oil : 1 tbsp
Mustard Seeds : a few
Pearl Onions Chopped : a few
Curry Leaves : a few

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Preparation:

  • Pour oil into a Kadai, when it is heated through crack mustard seeds.  Add curry leaves and thinly sliced pearl onions and brown it.  Add garlic and sauté for few minutes.
  • Add tomatoes and stir till it is cooked.
  • Bring the rasam powder and add it to this mixture and sauté for a few minutes till the raw smell disappears, and pour water to it. Let it cook on slow heat for another 10 to 15 minutes. Serve it with rice and yumm..

Friday, February 19, 2010

Baked Lamb Loin Chops

Lamb Loin Chops  : 4
Ginger Paste : 1 tsp
Garlic Paste : 1 tsp
1/2 of an Onion Thinly Sliced, divided
Curry Leaves : A few
Turmeric Powder : 1/4 tsp
coriander powder : 1 tsp
Garam Masala : 1/2 tsp
Cayenne Pepper : 1 tsp
Black Pepper Powder : 1 tsp
Cardamom Crushed
One Clove Powdered
Olive Oil : 1 tbsp
Lemon Juice : 1/2 of a lemon

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Preparation

  1. Make a paste of olive oil, lemon juice, salt, cayenne pepper, coriander, black pepper, garam masala and nicely coat the lamb chops with it. To this add  garlic and ginger paste,  crushed cardamom and clove and the onions. Mix all together and let it sit in the refrigerator for 4 hours. The longer the better for the flavors to absorb.
  2. Preheat oven to 400 and coat the pan with olive oil and put the rest of the onions at the bottom and lay the chops on the bed of onions. Add any remaining marinade to this as well.  Cook it in the oven for about 2o minutes. Afterwards turn the oven mode to broiler and cook both sides for another 10 minutes, looking in between to see that it doesn’t get burned.
  3. If it requires more cooking, turn the oven down to 400 and cook for another few minutes till it is well done.

Tips:

  1. In this recipe, the meat was well cooked, and even browned a bit.

Nadan Aviyal or Mixed Vegetable Curry

Serves : 4 to 5

To Pressure Cook:
Runner Beans : 2 cups
Tindora thinly sliced lengthwise  or Kovakka : 1 cup
Carrot thinly sliced lengthwise : 1/2 cup
Fresh Green Peas : 1/4 cup
Taro or Chembu : 1/2  cup or 3 Taros washed and sliced
Pearl Onions Sliced Lengthwise : 4 or 5
Fresh Curry Leaves : a few
Green Sour Mango Slices : Few pieces
Salt : 1 tsp or to taste
Water : 1/2 cup or as needed

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To be ground:
Fresh grated coconut : 3/4 cup
Cumin seeds : 1 tsp
Green Chilies : 3 or 4
Turmeric : 1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves : A few
To Season:
Coconut Oil :  1 tbsp divided
Sliced pearl onions : a few
Curry leaves : a few
Mustard Seeds :  a few
Preparation

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  1. Pressure cook all the vegetables with 1/2 cup of water for a few minutes. Make sure to add all in the ‘to pressure cook’ list together. Total pressure cooking time for this preparation was about 11 minutes without a whistle . Do not let the vegetables over cook or become soggy.  Take it off the heat  before the first whistle blows and allow it to rest.
  2. Coarsely ground all the ingredients mentioned above and set aside.
  3. In a kadai or ‘Cheena Chatti’, add half a tbsp of oil, splutter mustard seeds, add onions and curry leaves and brown them.
  4. Into this add the grounded paste and sauté for  a few seconds till the raw smell disappears. 
  5. Now add all the cooked vegetables and gently stir it all together.  Drizzle some coconut oil over it and gently mix.  Turn off the heat. Check to see if the salt is sufficient.

Tips:

  1. For a better presentation the vegetables should be cut with same length and width about 1 1/2” length pieces, as pictured above.
  2. Add the vegetables in layers, making sure that the one takes more time to cook goes at the bottom.
  3. If available pieces of raw plantain  and yam may also be added.

Coconut Dry Roasted Chickpea or Thenga Varutharacha kadala curry

 

Step 1.

Ingredients:
Chickpea : 1/2 cup
Tomato : 1
Curry Leaves : a few
Salt : 1/2 tsp

  • Soak the chickpeas or garbanzo beans in enough water overnight or for 5 to 6 hours. Pressure cook it with enough water, one chopped tomato,  curry leaves, and salt.

Step 2

Ingredients:
Grated fresh coconut : 1/2 cup
Coconut Oil : 1tbsp
Cumin Seeds : 1/4 tsp
Turmeric Powder : 1/4 tsp
Red Chili Powder : 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder : 1 tbsp
Garam Masala : 1 tsp
Chopped Ginger :  a small piece
Chopped Garlic : 2
Water : As needed
  • To one tbsp of oil heated add chopped garlic and ginger and brown it, remove from the oil and set aside.
  • In the remaining oil fry the coconut till it reaches a golden brown color, add the remaining ingredients to this and fry for a minute on low heat till a nice aroma spreads in the air.
  • Spread this on a plate and let it cool, add the already roasted garlic and ginger and make a fine paste of it using a little bit of water, just enough to make a paste. Set it aside.

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Step 3

Ingredients:
Shallots or pearl onions : 1/2 cup
Mustard Seeds : 1/2 tsp
Green Chilies Slit : 2
Curry Leaves : a few
Oil : 1 tbsp
  • Using the same kadai, add one tbsp of oil, crack mustard seeds, and caramelize the onions along with rest of the curry leaves and green chilies.
  • Add the coconut paste to it, any remaining water from the chickpea, which can be used to wash out the remains of coconut paste from the blender. Add this water to the mixture.
  • Now add the cooked garbanzo beans or chickpeas and let it sit on the stove top for few minutes on low heat, till all the flavors and nicely blended in.
  • Serve with white rice. For Puttu this recipe is not recommended. It will soon be posted!

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