Grandma's Chicken Samosa

This is one of my childhood favourite. This was my Grandma's version of chicken samosa.

When I came out of India, I found almost similar snack,the Empanada in Latin American restaurants.

Ingredients:

dough:

wheat flour/atta - 1 cup

water -about 1/2 cup

salt

filling:

Chicken - 1/2 lb or any ground meat as well

onion - 1 small

tomato-1 small

ginger and garlic minced - 1/2 tsp

turmeric powder -1/4 tsp

chilli powder-1/4 tsp

garam masala powder-1/2 tsp

salt

And oil for frying

Method:

Make dough as for poori and keep.

Cook chicken with a little salt,turmeric powder and chilli powder.

Then cut them into small cubes and chop onion and tomato.

Saute onion, ginger garlic paste followed by tomato.

Add garam masala powder and salt.

Now add the chicken pieces and saute for a minute.

Filling is ready.

Take the dough and make small balls.

Roll it out and keep about 2 tbsp of filling in one half side

Brush water at the side of the rolled out dough and fold over the other half and press gently.

Take a fork and press along the joined side.

Repeat with all dough balls.

Heat oil and fry them golden brown.

Crab Cake

Crab cake is an American dish with crab meat.

I came across this from my trips to my friend's house in Baltimore,Maryland state where it is famous for.

Later in other states I found it in the restaurant menu as the Maryland crab cakes.

Below is my version of it.

Ingredients:

crab meat/imitation crab meat - 1/2 lb

celery - 2 stalks

red jalapeno pepper - 1 or 2

small onion - 3 or 4

mayonnaise - 2 tbsp

egg - 1

bread crumbs - 1/2 to 1 cup

chilli powder -1/2 tsp

turmeric powder -1/4 tsp

salt to taste

Method:

Flake up the crab meat. If you are using imitation crab meat put in blender or food processor and chop it up.

Real crab meat will obviously taste more good.

Cook the crab meat with turmeric powder and salt and may be a little water.It should be dried when cooked.

Remove seeds from jalapeno and finely chop it and onion and celery.

Mix crab meat and all other ingredients and make patties.

It will be little tender type. If patty is not forming well mix in more bread crumbs.

Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Then shallow fry them and enjoy.

Use it in burger or as accompaniment to any dish.

Naan - No Egg, No Yeast

There are many recipes which I have come across for the north Indian Naan bread.

Here I'm giving a very simple recipe.

This will give you of course soft naan, but if you look for the restaurant type puffiness its different recipe.

I will post that later. But this one is good to start with.

Ingredients:

Bread Flour or All Purpose flour - 3 cups[I used bread flour]

Baking powder - 1 tsp

salt - 1 tsp

sugar - 1 tsp

Milk - 1 and 1/2 cup warm

oil - 3 tbsp

Method:

Combine flour,baking powder,salt,sugar and mix well.

Make a well in the middle and pour milk and oil.

Slowly mix together and make a soft dough.

Knead for a while. It will be a sticky dough.

Cover and let it rest for 1/2 an hour.

Put you oven to broil.

If you have a pizza stone its the best, other wise a baking sheet or even the broiler pan upside down will work.

Place it in the oven where the broiler is[check where the red hot iron bars are, it will be either in the bottom or top]

We need a very high temperature for naan, so need to keep it near that.

Mine is a gas oven and its in the bottom. So I keep the pan on the oven floor inside.

Now make balls like the size of 2 chappathi balls.

Roll it out nice and thin, or stretch it with hand.

Now put it in the sheet or pan inside the oven.

After 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Brown spots will appear.

Turn it over for another 1 minute.

You should keep an eye on them.

Take it out and brush with butter.

Enjoy with your favourite side dish.

You can add garlic or chopped cilantro if you wish to the rolled out naans.

Fish Cutlet

Ingredients:

Fish -1/2 lb

potato - 2 medium

onion - 1/2

ginger & garlic -1/4 tsp each

turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

chilli powder -1/4 tsp

cumin powder -1/4 tsp

egg -1

bread crumbs-around 1 cup

salt to taste

oil

Method:

Cook fish with a little turmeric and salt.

Remove bones if any and crumble lightly.

Boil potatoes with a little turmeric and salt.

Mash them and keep.

Heat 1 tsp oil, add onion,ginger, garlic and saute.

Add turmeric,chilli and cumin powder.

Add fish and potatoes and mix well.

check for salt.

Beat and egg in a dish. In another dish place the bread crumbs.

Now take spoonful of the fish mixture and make a ball applying light pressure.

Make it into which ever shape you like to.

Dip in egg and then roll in bread crumbs.

Repeat until all mixture is used up.

You can keep this in refrigerator and fry and serve it hot later.

For frying; heat a pan and add some oil.

You need oil only to shallow fry them. Everything is cooked inside, we just need to crisp the outer layer.

Drain the oil and serve.

Asparagus Thoran

Asparagus is a vegetable which is a good source of protein,fiber, Vitamin A,C,E,K, folate and a lot more. South Indian version of thoran or poriyal does work for this vegetable.

Ingredients:

asparagus - 1 bunch

onion - 1/2

garlic - 2 cloves

green chilli - 1

turmeric powder -1/4 tsp

coconut grated - 1/4 cup

oil

mustard -1/2 tsp

jeera - 1/2 tsp

salt to taste

Method:

Take a stem of asparagus and bent it , it will break in one point. Take the part towards the end.

Discard the other part which is towards the stem. This is tougher if u cook it. Repeat for all.

And chop into small rounds.chop onion,garlic and green chilli also into small pieces.

Heat oil, splutter mustard and jeera.

Add green chilli,onion and garlic and saute for a minute.

Add asparagus, turmeric powder and salt.

Add 1/2 to 1 cup of water.

When its cooked and water has dried add coconut grated and mix for a minute.

Done.

Beans mezhukkuperatti or beans stir fry

Ingredients:

Beans - 1/2 lb

onion - 1/2

green chilli - 1 or 2

coconut pieces - about 1 tbsp [small pieces cut from the coconut flesh]

turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

oil - 2tsp

mustard - 1/2 tsp

salt to taste

Method:

Clean and slice beans,onion and green chilli.

Heat oil in a wide pan. Splutter mustard.

Add the coconut pieces and fry until browned.

Add green chilli,onion, beans and saute for a minute.

Now add in turmeric powder and salt.

Cover and let it cook in very low flame for 10 minutes.

Stir in between and check for doneness.

Then open lid and fry for another 5 minutes.

Done.

Strawberry jam

Strawberry is a lovely fruit with its rich vibrant colour and is a good source of vitamin C, fiber,folate, potassium and manganese.

Strawberries dipped in chocolate is one of our family favourite.

Its season now for this fruit in this region where we live. SO we went for some strawberry picking in a farm.

And since we got lot of them i decided to make some jam out of it. Here are those farm fresh ones we picked.

Ingredients:

strawberry - 5 cups sliced

sugar - 1 cup

pectin - 2 tsp pectin

[Strawberry is a fruit very low in pectin, so we need some for making the jam consistency. You can use any brand. Follow the package instructions on how much to use.]

Method:

Wash and slice the strawberries.

After that I blend them smooth. If you like chunkier consistency you can just mash them fork.

Mix sugar and pectin and keep.

Bring prepared strawberries to boil.

Add sugar and pectin mix and keep stirring for 1-2 minutes.

Return to a full boil and remove from heat.

Pour into containers and cool.

Refrigerate after 24 hours.

Enjoy!

Cake - Strawberry Delight

I made this cake for my husband's birthday. Its a time taking one, but will yield results :-)This is a strawberry flavoured chocolate cake with strawberry cream and whipped cream frosting.

Steps:

1) make chocolate cake.

2) infuse strawberry flavour

3) make whipped cream

4) make strawberry cream

5) assemble and decorate

1) make chocolate cake

Ingredients:

All purpose flour/Maida - 2 1/2 cups
baking soda - 2 tsp
salt - a pinch
cocoa powder - 1/2 cup
sugar - 1 3/4 cup
butter or vegetable shortening - 2/3 cup
eggs - 2
vanilla extract - 1 tsp
buttermilk - 1 cup
hot water - 1 cup

Method:

In this recipe everything goes into one bowl, so its pretty easy at the same time a very nice rich chocolate cake.

Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 13 * 9 cake dish.

In a bowl take sugar and cocoa powder and whisk them together well.

To this add flour,baking soda and salt and mix well.

Next add butter or shortening, eggs, butter milk and vanilla extract and start blending..

When it starts to get thick add 1 cup hot water and continue blending until mixed.

Dont overmix. It should not go beyond 2 minutes.

Pour into dish and bake for 30 to 35 minutes.

note: If you use butter, it will weigh the cake down. But if you use shortening it will help cake to rise. So for this cake my personal preference would be shortening. For a plain vanilla cake butter will give more taste and vice versa with shortening.

2) infuse strawberry flavour

Ingredients:

chocolate cake
strawberry flavoured JELL-O powder - 1 package
hot water - 1 cup
cold water - 1/4 cup

Method:

Add hot water to the jello powder and mix until dissolved.

Stir in cold water.

Carefully cut the cake into 2 layers.

Take a fork and poke the cake layers in 1 inch intervals all over it.

Take half of the jello mixture and pour into each layer.

Keep in refrigerator for 2 hours.

3) make whipped cream

Ingredients:

heavy whipping cream - 2 to 3 cups
vanilla extract - 1 tsp
sugar - 2 tbsp

Method:

Key to getting nice whipped cream is to start with everything cold, ingredients and the bowls for mixing.
Add whipping cream into a bowl.
Start whipping slowly until soft peak forms [That is when you lift the whisk it form peaks but falls off].
Now add sugar and continue whipping until thick peak forms [ That is when you lift the whisk peak stay on it nice and thick].
Do not over beat it. If you do so it will start curdling and will change yellowish and then you cannot use it.
Once done keep covered with a plastic wrap in refrigerator unit ready to frost.

4) make strawberry cream.

Ingredients:

fresh strawberries - 1 cup sliced

sour cream - 2/3 cup

sugar - 2/3 cup powdered

whipped cream - about 1 cup[take from the bowl resting in refrigerator]

Method:

This is an easy way for a quick cream.

Mash the strawberries and cook for 5 minutes and cool.

In a bowl add sour cream and sugar and mix well.

Mix in cooked strawberries and fold in whipped cream.

5) assemble and decorate

Ingredients:

strawberry flavoured chocolate cake

strawberry cream

whipped cream

fresh fruits sliced[you can use any of your choice, i have used strawberry and kiwi here]

Method:

Take one layer of cake and pour the strawberry cream and spread evenly.

Place the next layer of cake on top of it.

Frost the cake with whipped cream.

Just spread it all over with a butter knife.

If you have some cake decorating tools u can add more decorations as per your creativity.

I have just given a simple shell border.

Decorate with fresh fruits of top.

Enjoy!

Nadan Fish Curry (Kerala style)

Fish is a high in protein but low in fat. They are very good source of omega 3 fatty acids and one of the few natural food sources of Vitamin D.

For a person from Kerala the the picture of basic fish curry is the red fish curry which is simple; yet very tasty. This preparation does need Kashmiri chilli powder and kudampuli. Substituting these wont give you the same taste. Kashmiri chilli powder is milder than regular chilli powder but with a rich colour. Kudampuli or fish tamarind or Gambooge is an essential ingredient in fish loving kerala kitchens which has many medicinal values. Traditionally this curry is made in earthen pots.

Ingredients:

Fish - 1 lb (any fish with thick flesh preferred, here i have used salmon)

Shallots or small onion - 6 or 7

ginger - 1 inch piece

garlic - 5 or 6 big cloves

kudampuli - 2 or 3 pieces

turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

kashmiri chilli powder - 2 tbsp

salt to taste

curry leaves - 1 sprig

mustard - 1/2 tsp

fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp

oil - 2 tsp

Method:

Clean and cut fish into preferred size pieces. Finely chop small onions, ginger and garlic. Soak tamarind in some water.

Heat a pan add oil, followed by mustard, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves.

Add small onions and ginger and garlic and saute well.

Then add turmeric powder and kashmiri chilli powder and saute until the raw smell leaves.

Now add the soaked tamarind along with the water.

Add salt and 1 to 2 cups of water.

Let it boil well for 5 minutes.

Now add the fish pieces gently and cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Dont stir after this point.

Just take the pan and swirl it around if you want to.

Simmer the last 5 minutes.

Enjoy with rice or tapioca or any of your favourite combo.

( You can add 2tsp coriander powder to make it a bit more thicker)