Brownie

This is a nice typical  Brownie recipe which is dense yet moist with a cracked crust.

The quality of chocolate used determines and taste of this.

Semi sweet chocolate or chips - 1 cup

butter - 1/2 cup or 1 stick

sugar - 1 cup

cocoa powder unsweetened - 2 tbsp

vanilla extract - 1 tsp

Eggs - 3

All purpose flour - 3/4 cup

salt - a pinch

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Butter an 8 or 9 inch square or rectangle pan.

First we need to melt chocolate and butter together.

Take a bowl and melt in over a pot with simmering water(double boiling)

Then, add sugar and cocoa powder to it and mix well.

Just use a wire whisk to mix everything. 

Now add vanilla extract.

Add eggs one at a time and mix well.

Add a pinch of salt and fold in the flour.

[optionally you can add nuts or more chocolate chips at this time]

Pour into the pan and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes.

For the brownie, when we check for doneness it should come out with a few crumbs, not a clean one as in a cake.

Let it cool and cut into pieces and enjoy..

Meat Ball Curry

This is a nice side dish for Chapathi, Appam etc. Kids might also like it.

For the meat balls:

Any ground meat - 1 lb
onion - 1 small
ginger - 1/4 inch piece
garlic - 1 cloves
garam masala - 1/2 tsp
salt to taste

For the sauce:

onion - 1 large
tomato -2
ginger - 1/2 inch piece
garlic - 2 cloves
fenugreek seeds/saunf - 1/2 tsp
turmeric powder -1/2 tsp
chilli powder - 1 tsp
coriander - 2 tsp
garam masala - 1 tsp
salt to taste

First make the meat balls.
For that take the ingredients listed for the meat balls in a bowl, mix them together with gentle hands.
Make small balls out of it.
Heat a pan with 2 or 3 tsp of oil in medium low flame.
Slowly drop in all the meat balls.
Let it cook through, turn the meats balls in between.
Take them out and keep when they are done.[It should be ready in in 5 to 8 minutes]

Then in the same pan add a tsp of oil,add some fenugreek seeds.

Saute ginger, garlic, onion well.

Add turmeric, chilli,coriander, garam masala powders and salt.

Saute well and add tomatoes. 

Let that also become nice and mushy.

[At this point you can grind them together if you want a smoother consistency for the gravy]

Add enough water as your wish , not to make the gravy too watery.

Let it heat up.

Add the meat balls and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

Done.

Blueberry Cake

This is a kind of pound cake with blueberries in it. Can be called blueberry bread too.

Ingredients:

Blueberry - 1 cup

All purpose flour - 1 &1/2 cup

Eggs - 2

Butter - 1 stick (1/2 cup)

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Baking powder - 1tsp

Milk - 1/2 cup

Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

salt a pinch

Preheat oven to 350F.

Butter a loaf pan or a 8 or 9 inch baking pan.

Beat butter and sugar until fluffy.

Add eggs and beat nicely.

Mix in vanilla extract.

Mix together flour,baking powder and salt in a seperate bowl.

Blend this flour mix and milk  into the other batter in two or three additions.

Slowly fold in the blueberries.(smaller blueberries will be good ;as it wont sink much to the bottom of the cake)

Pour into pan and bake for about 50 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.

Done.

You can enjoy as it is or with a scoop of ice cream.

Pepper Chicken Masala

Chicken - 2 lbs
onion - 3
tomato - 1
ginger and garlic paste(or crushed) - 2 tbsp
garam masala - 1 tsp
pepper powder - 2 to 3 tsp
soya sauce - 2 tsp
coriander leaves - about quarter cup chopped.
oil
mustard
salt

Heat oil in a pan. Splutter mustard.
Add crushed ginger and garlic and saute.
Now add chopped onion , saute very well, then add tomatoes, saute that also well.
Add garam masala , saute for a couple of minutes.
Now add chicken and saute in high flame for 2 minutes.
Add pepper powder and soya sauce and salt , mix well.
Pour half a cup of water ,mix and let it cook in medium low flame for about 15 minutes.
Uncover the pan and  add chopped coriander leaves and let it cook for a couple of minutes until its nice and thick, mixing in between a few times.
Done.

Crispy Fried Okra (Ladies Finger)

Ladies Finger or Okra is a vegetable rich in vitamins and minerals which has a lot of health benefits.
But many wont like to eat it because of its slimy texture. This deep fried recipe will definitely make you like it.

Okra - 1/2 lb or 250 gms
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
chilli powder - 1 tsp
garam masala - a pinch
curd - 1 tbsp ( if you have amchur powder add a tsp of that instead)
salt to taste

gram flour or besan flour - 1/4 cup
rice flour - 1/4 cup

oil for frying.

Slice okras lengthwise. (after washing dry them well)
To that add turmeric,chilli,garam masala powders, salt and curd.
Mix well by hand and leave it for 10 minutes.
Now add the gram flour and rice flour and mix it well.
Shake of excess flour and deep fry them.
Done.

Nadan Konju/Chemmen curry [Kerala Style Prawns curry]

Prawns - 1lb or 1/2 kg
small onion or shallots- a handful
tomato - 1
ginger and garlic - 1 tbsp crushed
kudam puli(kerala fish tamarind) - 2 pieces

fenugreek powder - 1/2 tsp
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
kashmiri chilli powder - 2 to 3 tsp
coriander powder - 1 to 2 tsp

curry leaves -  1 sprig
oil -  1 tbsp
mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Clean prawns and keep.
Heat oil. Splutter mustard. Add curry leaves.
Add small onions, followed by crushed ginger and garlic and saute for a minute.
Now add all powders and saute well until you get a roasted masala smell.
Add chopped tomatoes and saute for a minute.
Add the soaked kudam puli and 1 and a half cups of water and boil nicely.
Add the prawns and cook for 3 to 5 minutes.
To keep the prawns soft itself try not to overcook them.
Done.

Pan Cake

Another basic  from scratch recipe. Pan cakes are one of the kids favourite breakfast. As the name says its all the same ingredients as you make a cake , but different measures made in a pan.

All purpose flour - 1 cup
sugar - 2 tbsp
baking powder - 2 tsp
a small pinch of salt.

egg -1
butter - 2 tbsp
milk - 1 cup
vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp


Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt (all dry ingredients) in a bowl.
In another cup or bowl mix milk,egg and melted butter and vanilla essence(all wet ingredients).
Pour the wet into the dry ingredients and mix.
Do not over mix them, only until every thing is just mixed in, small lumpy mix is good.
Heat a pan in medium heat. Pour a ladle of batter. Flip when you see lot of bubbles. A few more seconds on the other side and done.
Serve with maple syrup, breakfast syrup or honey,fruits  and/or whipped cream as you wish.

This is the basic pancake. You can add blue berries or chocolate chips to the batter.

note: some flours absorb more water. If you feel its too thick and is hard to pour add a little more milk. But not more than 1/4 more cup for this quantity.

Variations :

Butter milk pancake :
Above one is a typical pancake, if you like to have a fluffier one, go for the butter milk pancakes, In that we will use butter milk and baking soda, instead of milk and baking powder. [ For the above quantity replace by 1 cup of butter milk and 1 tsp baking soda]

Healthier:
You can make it more healthy by adding half all purpose flour and half whole wheat flour.

Add chocolate chips or bananas or blueberries to the batter to make the respective pancakes.

Mac and Cheese

Mac and cheese is very easy to make from scratch. You don't need the box any more. Almost all kids love it. Below is the recipe for it.

Macaroni pasta(elbow pasta) - 1/2 lb ( you can actually use any small pasta)
butter - 2 tbsp.
all purpose flour - 2 tbsp
milk - 2 cups
cheddar cheese -  1 to 1 1/2 cups grated
salt and pepper

Boil water in a large pan with a little salt. Add the dry pasta and boil for about 10 minutes or until cooked. Drain and keep.

In a heavy bottom pan add 2 tbsp. of butter. Keep the flame low. When its melted add the flour and keep stirring until it slightly changes colour.

Keep stirring and slowly add milk and mix until nice and smooth. A whisk will do a better job.

Now bring the flame to medium and let it boil, stirring occasionally. After it boils, add grated cheese, salt and pepper,(cheese has salt so add very less). Once its nicely blended add the cooked pasta.
Mix it in and let it heat through for 2 minutes. Done.

You can add cooked chopped vegetables or chicken into it if desired.