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.




 

Turkey Burgers

Ground Turkey - 1 lb
onion - 1 chopped
garlic and ginger - 1 tbsp finely chopped or paste
cheese - 1/2 cup grated (any of your choice, I used cheddar here)
bread crumbs- 1/2 cup
egg -1
garam masala -1/2 tsp
pepper powder -1/4tsp
salt to taste

Mix all the ingredients well.
Divide and shape them into patties. This quantity makes about 6.
Leave it to set for 1/2 an hour in the refrigerator.
Heat a pan. Drizzle a couple of teaspoons of oil.
Place the patties and cook for 5 to 7 minutes in medium low heat.
Flip and cook for another 5 minutes.
Serve it with your favourite bun and toppings.
Enjoy.

 

Cheese Mushroom

button mushrooms - 10 to 12
cheese of your choice - 1 cup grated ( I used mozzarella and parmesan mixed)
chilli powder -1/4 tsp
pepper powder - 1/4 tsp
garam masala -1/4 tsp
salt to taste

Clean the mushroom. Remove the stems and keep the mushroom upside down.
Mix the cheese with the spices.
If you wish, you can chop up the removed stems; saute it in a little oil along with a chopped garlic and add along with the cheese.
Fill in the mushroom cup with the cheese mix.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Line them in a greased  baking tray.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Done



 

Chicken Thengapalil Vattichathu / Chicken reduced in coconut milk

Its a chicken semi gravy made with coconut milk. I made it in the earth earthen pot to make it taste more good. It will be nice if you make it  in a batch which will finish in one time. Re heating and serving may be avoided as it has coconut milk reduced and will alter the taste.


chicken - 1/2 kg
onion - 1 or small onion - 10 to 15
ginger - 1 inch
garlic - 4 or 5

coconut milk - 1st milk - 1/2 cup, 2nd milk - 2 cups

turmeric powder -1/2 tsp
chilli powder - 1 tsp
coriander powder - 2 tsp
garam masala - 1/2 tsp
cumin powder -1/2 t
oil
mustard
curry leaves
coriander leaves

Heat oil in a pan. Splutter mustard. Add curry leaves.
Add chopped onion, finely chopped ginger and garlic and saute well.
Now add turmeric, chilli, coriander, garam masala and cumin powders and saute for a few minutes.
Add chicken and mix nicely for 3 to 4 minutes.
Pour the 2nd coconut milk and cook the chicken in medium low flame.
When the chicken is cooked and very less gravy is remaining add the 1st coconut milk.Mix well and heat in low flame for 2 minutes. Switch it off and garnish with coriander leaves. Leave it closed for a couple more minutes before you serve. Done.

Muringa Ila curry, Drumstick leaves curry

As many know drumsticks and its leaves has a lot of nutrients in it. It is especially
good for the nutritional  requirements of kids and nursing mothers. It contains proteins, vitamins and minerals.
It has lot of medicinal qualities. It helps to reduce swelling and pain of arthritis and rheumatism and boost immune system.
Below is a mild coconut based curry recipe from Kerala which goes well with rice.



Muringa Ila/drumstick leaves - 1 cup
coconut -1/2 cup
green chilli - 1or 2
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
garlic - 1 or 2

oil
mustard
dry red chilli - 2

Wash and clean the leaves nicely.We don't need the stem, only leaves.
Grind together coconut,cumin,green chilli and garlic.
Heat a tbsp of oil, splutter mustard, add dry red chilli.
Add drumstick leaves and saute for a couple of minutes.
Add ground paste, salt and some water.
Boil for a few minutes and switch it off.
Done.

Rasgulla

When I was small I remember eating rasgulla's from a can.
I think that's how south Indians first had a taste of this sweet from Bengal or Odisha.
There are different variations in making them. This is relatively an easy way to make it.




Ingredients

milk - 1 ltr
lime juice - 1 to 2 tbp
sugar- 2 cups
water - 4 cups

Boil milk.
Add lime juice little by little and keep mixing it gently.
The milk will curdle and greenish water can be seen separating.
Stop adding lime juice at this point.
Strain it into a kitchen towel or cheese cloth with a sieve below it.
Wash it under cool running water.
Now squeeze it together and tie it and hang it for an hour.




After that take it and knead it.
Make small balls out of it. You should not see any cracks on the balls.

Boil water with sugar and add the balls into it. They will expand, so keep a wide pan.
Let it cook for 10 to 15 minutes until it becomes fluffy.
Or you can keep in pressure pan and cook it for a whistle.




Cool then and keep it in refrigerator for a couple of hours and enjoy.

For the Picky Eaters Out there.

Moms will have a tough time feeding the picky eaters.. Kids love variety , colours, shapes etc.. So at my home these are some tricks to put in the vegetables without any fight. Dont panic seeing the colours.. Its all from the vegetables..
You can puree the vegetables and add them to dosas,chapathis and rice. A few of them I will add below. You can try out any combination coming into your imagination.


Green Dosa

Dosa batter &
Green leaves of any kind.

Clean and rough chop the greens. Saute in a pan for a couple of minutes with a pinch of salt and turmeric. You dont have to add any oil.
Grind it well and mix into the dosa batter. Make dosas and serve!!!

Beetroot Chapathi

Atta
Beetroot

Clean and cut beetroot into cubes. Cook it by adding water and a pinch of salt and turmeric.
Grind them and add it to atta. Knead chapathi dough as usual; adding more water if required.
Roll out and make chapathis as usual. Enjoy with your favourite curry.

Beetroot rice

Rice - 1 cup
Beetroot - 1 medium size
curry powder - 1 tsp
garam masala - 1/2 tsp
curry leaves
coriander leaves
mustard
salt
oil


Clean and cut the beetroot into cubes and cook them with a little water.
In a pressure cooker, add a little oil, splutter mustard and curry leaves.
Add the beetroot puree, curry powder and garam masala and saute for a couple of minutes.
Add washed and soaked rice. Add about 2 1/2 to 3 cups of water and salt.
Pressure cook till rice is done. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
Ready!!!

Fish Molee

Fish Molee is another favourite dish from Kerala made in a coconut milk sauce.



It is the same as stew preparation, except that fish is the main ingredient.
Chicken stew recipe is already in the blog.
Just substitute chicken with fish and reduce the cooking time as fish cooks faster.

Delicious fish molee will be ready.