Jade Chicken Soup

Ingredients:
Boneless skinless chicken - 50 gms
Egg whites - 2 or 3 (based on individual liking)
Spinach leaves - 1 handful(can use any odorless, used ponnanganni keerai (green copper dwarf leaves))
Cornstarch - 1-2 tablespoons (as thick required)
Garlic paste - 1 tablespoon
White or black pepper powder - 1 -2 teaspoon (as spicy required)
Salt  to taste
Oil - 2 tablespoons

Method:

Boil a cup of water, when it boils, add spinach. Cook it for 2 minutes, and keep it closed for 10 minutes.

Once it is cool, drain water, blend it as a paste and keep aside.

Chop chicken to small pieces. Saute it with little oil, 1/2 tablespoon of garlic and salt to taste.

Cook it for 10-15 mins, until the water oozes dries up.

Allow it cool and shred it to pieces.

Beat egg whites and keep it aside.

Mix cornstarch in 2 tablespoons of water and keep aside.

Heat a wok with little oil. Add rest of the garlic paste, and shredded chicken and saute it for 2 minutes.

Add spinach paste, salt and pepper powder. Saute it until raw smell goes off.

Add 3 cups of water and bring it to a boil.

Reduce flame and add dissolved cornstarch, carefully stirring it.

Depending on the thickness you require, can adjust the cornstarch.

Cook for 5 more minutes and then add beaten egg whites little by little.

Mix it with ladle, so eggs would be into pieces.

Garnish with pepper powder and serve hot.


Variations:
Can add vegetables like sauted carrot, lettuce, etc.

Chopped spinach can be added instead of making it paste. Kids might not like it;-)

Chicken stock can be used instead of water.

Bubble tea pearls

Circuit breaker leads to create all recipes at home. Bubble tea shops closed, so found a way to do it at home. Check the recipe in the below video:

Used Sago pearls to make it easy and quick. Can also made more chewy with tapoica flour. Will share that recipe soon.

Jigardhanda

Jigardhanda is a famous drink, a delicacy originated from Madurai, Tamilnadu. Many think that it is made from crushed idli, but the main ingredient is Badam pisin or Almond gum.

Badam pisin or Almond gum is the natural edible gum obtained from almond trees. It's the best ingredient to keep our body cool. Good healing for stomach ulcers or burn. We can get it from provision stores, looks like small brown rocks.

Adding nannari (Indian sarasaparilla) syrup makes it a coolant to escape from hot summer days. It is obtained from the roots of nannari plant. Also, it is a blood purifier and good home remedy for constipation and urinary infection.

Try this healthy drink on a hot day to avoid dehydration. Check out my simple version of the recipe.

Ingredients:
Badam pisin - 1/2 tablespoon or 5-6 small pieces
Nannari syrup - 6-8 tablespoons(adjust accordingly for the sweetness)
Milk khoa - 3 -4 tablespoons (sweetened or unsweetened)
Milk - 3 cups, boiled and chilled

Method:

Wash the gum rocks and soak it in water overnight. Place it in big cup as shown in the picture below. It will expand drastically.

Drain excess water and crush big lumps gently with hand or a spoon.

Mix the crushed gum, khoa, syrup and chilled milk.

No sugar is needed as nannari syrup is sweetened. Adjust accordingly to your taste.

Serve it cold and relish it.

Note: Can do some variations for a different taste, like adding almond or cashew paste. Few add vanilla icecream to have a creamy texture.

Preparation time : 5 minutes
Serves 3 persons

Tom Yum Prawn Soup

Tom Yum or Tom Yam soup - name derived from two thai words, 'Tom' refers boiling process and 'Yum' or 'Yam' refers to the spicy and sour flavours. Feels good to have it on a rainy day or when we are having a severe cold and headache ;-)

Thailand's signature dish which is widely prepared with variety of variations. But still, the main ingredients remain lemongrass, galangal, kaffir leaves. It was proven that these ingredients along with cumin and grachai helps in reducing Cancer risk. These form the main ingredients of Thai cuisine, so you can try thai dishes often to boost your immune system.

Source here.

Even if you don't get fresh ones, go for dried bottled spices. My variation of tom yum soup below:

Ingredients:
Prawns - 10-12 nos
Tomatoes - 2 sliced
Galangal (Thai ginger) - 1 inch piece, sliced
Kaffir leaves (Lime leaves) - 8-10 leaves
Lemon grass - 2 stalks, sliced into small pieces
Lemon - 1 (extract juice)
Thai chilies (Green/Red) - 4 nos each (Thai red chilies will be damn hot, so I use a mix, adjust accordingly for spice level)
Button Mushrooms - 4-5 (optional), sliced
Oyster or Fish sauce - 1/2 tablespoon (optional)
Chicken stock cubes - 2 (I used Knorr ones)
Coriander leaves few for garnishing
Salt to taste
Water - 4 cups


Method:

Peel, devein and wash the prawns and keep aside.

Boil water in a large pan. Add chicken stock cubes and mix well until it dissolves.

Then add galangal, lemon grass, kaffir leaves, tomatoes, chilies and bring it to a boil.

Add prawns, mushrooms and cook for 3-5 minutes, depending on the size of the prawns.

Once prawns are cooked, add oyster sauce and mix well.

Taste and add salt as oyster sauce has salt in it.

Switch off the flame, add lemon juice and mix well.

Garnish with coriander leaves and enjoy it hot.

Note: If it is too spicy, adjust adding more lemon's juice.


Cooking time 15-20 minutes
Serves 4 people

Mutton Biriyani

It's always a good feeling to eat or cook Biriyani. One dish can go wrong even if a garlic pod is more :D. Had a privilege of having my hubby's Periyappa (80+) and Periamma (70+) for 2 weeks at our home. Her biriyani was always Best with the same taste, every time we visited them. Made her cook for us and got the inputs from her, to fine tune the taste of biriyani. Thanks to her and so far, for the past 2 years, its error-free biriyani with the same taste every time 👍👍.

A little bit of variation will always be there initially, because of the spices we use, after series of trials, you can get it corrected in course of time;-)

Here you go for the recipe......

Ingredients:
Mutton - 1/2 kg (we get sheep meat only)
Seeragasamba rice - 4 cups (Used double deer brand)
Garlic - 1 1/2 whole (used China garlic. If using Indian garlic, use 2 whole garlic
Ginger - 1/2 inch size
Onions - 3-4 depending on large/medium sized
Green chilies - 8-10, depending on the size n spice
Tomatoes - 1 big sized
Mint leaves - 1 bunch
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Coriander leaves - few
Bay leaf - 2
Cinnamon stick - 1/2 inch sticks - 2 nos
Cardamom - 3 nos
Cloves - 5-6 nos
Fennel seeds (Sombhu/Saunf) - 1 teaspoon
Red chili powder - 1/2 to 1 tablespoon (depending on required spice level)
Ghee/butter - 2 tablespoons
Cooking oil - 3 tablespoons
Salt to taste

For cooking mutton:
We get sheep meat here, so need to cook it separately as it is little hard. Normally I will pressure cook it for 8 - 10 whistles, with the below ingredients. Do not cook it fully, as it would be cooked again with rice, so adjust the cooking time accordingly.

Bay leaf  -1
Cinnamon stick - 1/4 inch stick
Cardamom -1
Cloves - 2
Fennel seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tablespoon
Chilli powder - 1/2 tablespoon
Curd - 1/2 cup
Water -1 cup

Method:
Wash mutton, cut into small pieces and pressure cook as above.

Once it is cooked, separate the mutton pieces and cooked water. We would be adding this too with the biriyani later.

Cut onions into thin slices. Slit green chilies. Slice tomatoes.

Wash mint leaves thoroughly and keep the leaves separately.

Make a coarse paste of ginger and garlic without water.

Wash and soak water in 2 cups of water for 15 mins. Water used for soaking is also counted, so measure it for soaking.

Note : Rice and water is always 1:2 ratio. If you are soaking for more than 15 mins, then the ratio is 1:1.5.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Once it is hot add bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cardamom, cloves and fennel seeds. Saute for a minute.

Add green chilies and onions. Saute it until onions turn golden brown.

Add ginger garlic paste, curry leaves and tomatoes and saute it until the raw smell goes off.

Once it is done, add the cooked mutton, chili powder, salt to taste and saute well for 2 minutes.

Then add mint leaves, mix it and cook for 5 minutes. Then add soaked rice without water and ghee and mix well.

Add 8 cups (soaked water + cooked mutton water + plain water) of water, coriander leaves and mix well.

Check salt and spice levels before closing the lid. Pressure cook for 2 whistles and switch off stove.

Wait until the pressure releases completely. Once opened, mix it well with the ladle stick, so the rice won't break.

Enjoy it hot with raitha.


Cooking time 45 minutes.
Serves 6 persons.

Javarisi Vadai (Sabudana/Sago Fritters)

Javarisi / Sago / Sabudana is rich in carbohydrates, with little source of proteins and minerals. This is the main ingredient taken during fasting in the form of desserts or as a whole meal, which gives instant energy. This is not the vadai prepared during fasting. Try this fritters for an evening snack.

Ingredients:
Javarisi / Sago / Sabudana - 1 cup (Medium sized, size of pepper corns)
Idli / Dosa batter - 1 cup (click here for batter recipe)
Onions - 1 big, finely chopped
Green chillies - 1 or 2 as spicy required
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Ginger - 1/4 inch piece
Coriander leaves - few
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Asafoetida (Hing/Perungayam) powder - a pinch
Wheat flour - 1 - 2 tablespoons for binding
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

Method:

Wash sago and add to batter with cumin seeds, asafoetida, salt to taste, a cup of water. Mix it well and leave it for 2 hours.

Once the sago is soft, add chopped onions, green chilies, curry leaves, coriander leaves and ginger paste. Mix it well.

If it is watery, add wheat flour and make it to a thick paste. Add little salt if required. Leave it for 15 mins. Deep fry the batter into any desired shape u like.

Turn over both sides and once it turns golden brown, keep them on kitchen towel to remove excess oil.

Serve hot with any chutney and enjoy.

Note: Add/adjust water amount if sago gets soaked and water dries out.


Preparation time : 2.5 hours (including soaking time)
Serves for 4 persons.

Karivepillai urugai / Curry leaves pickle

Curry leaves are anti-diabetic, antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic and hepatic-protective (capability to protect liver from damage) properties. They have the ability to control diarrhea, gastrointestinal problems such as indigestion, excessive acid secretion, peptic ulcers, dysentery, diabetes and an unhealthy cholesterol balance. Many think that it gives flavor to the food and discard them.

Source here

So to consume it completely, try this yummy pickle....

Ingredients:

Curry leaves - 40 sprigs

Black gram (Ulundu/Urad dal) - 1/2 tablespoon

Split chickpeas (Kadalai paruppu/Chana dal) - 1/2 tablepsoon

Fenugreek (Vendhayam/Methi seeds) - 1 teaspoon

Mustard - 2 teaspoons

Long Dry Red Chilies - 4 (adjust according to spice level)

Coriander seeds - 1 teaspoon

Tamarind - a small lemon size

Salt to taste

Asafoetida (Hing/Perungayam) powder - a pinch

Oil - 2 tablespoons

Method:

Wash curry leaves, remove leaves and pat them dry.

Soak tamarind in 1/4 cup of warm water.

Heat pan, add few drops of oil and fry curry leaves until they are crispy. Keep them aside and allow it to cool.

Dry roast urad dal, channa dal, dry chilies, Fenugreek, 1 teaspoon of mustard, coriander seeds, for 2-3 minutes, until they are golden brown and keep aside. 

Once it is cool,  add these to a mixer and grind to a paste(sprinkle little water if required). 

Tempering:

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds once it is hot. 

Once it splutters, add tamarind extract.

When it starts to boil, add the grind paste and salt to taste.

Keep stirring until it becomes  thick and oil oozes out.

Delicious curry leaves pickle is ready. Can be served with hot rice, idli or dosa.

Note: Can be stored in fridge for 10 days, if it lasts ;-) and consumed.

Preparation time : 20 minutes

Makes a cup of pickle

Singapore's Pepper Crab

Pepper crab is one of Singapore's delicacy. Very tasty and yummy, that I started to follow this method for cooking crabs. Below is my version of the recipe, check it out!

Ingredients:
Srilankan crabs - 2 (This type of crabs are filled with flesh and tasty to eat)
Garlic - 5-6 pods, finely chopped
Onions - 2 medium sized, sliced into pieces
Pepper - 3-4 tablespoons, crushed coarsely (Adjust according to spice level)
Oyster sauce - 3 tablespoons, (Adjust according to spice level)
Light Soya sauce - 2 tablespoons, (Adjust according to spice level)
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Coriander leaves - a small bunch
Egg - 2 (seperate yolk, only white is needed)
Butter - 1 tablespoon
Oil - 2 tablespoons
Salt to taste


Method:
De-shell the crabs and wash thoroughly. Normally, I get it cut n clean from the market itself, so easy to wash at home.

Crack the crab claws with a pestle, gently, so that it can absorb the spices, when they are cooked.

Heat oil and butter in a pressure cooker.

Once it is hot, add chopped garlic, crushed pepper, curry leaves and crabs, saute well for 5 minutes.

Crabs will start turning orange in colour.

Then add oyster sauce, soya sauce and stir well. Sauces have salt added to them, so taste it and add more salt if needed.

Add half a cup of water and pressure cook for 3 whistles. Switch off and allow the pressure to settle.

Meanwhile, beat egg whites with 2 tablespoons of water and keep it aside.

Then open the lid, heat in high flame, add onions and saute well, until they are transparent.

Simmer the flame, move the crabs aside in the pan, and add egg whites to the gravy and mix well.

Once egg starts cooking, mix well and saute with the crabs.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Note: Can keep aside some crushed pepper, and add at the end with onions.

Preparation time 30 minutes.
Serves 2-3 persons.

Vazhakai Podimas (Plantain/Raw banana fry)

Plantains are rich in vitamin A than bananas, also a powerful antioxidant. Very easy to cook vegetable. Check out the recipe below.

Ingredients:
Plantain - 1
Small onions - 4-5 nos.
Chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves - few
Asafoetida powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tablepsoon


Method:
Peel the plantains, wash and chop into small cubes. Chop onions too and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Add chopped plantains and saute well.

Add in asafoetida powder, turmeric powder, chilli and coriander powders and saute well.

Then add chopped onions, curry leaves and salt to taste.

Keep sauteing for 10-12 minutes, until it is cooked well.

Serve hot with sambhar or curd rice.

Preparation Time : 12-15 minutes
Serves 2 -3 persons.

Payatham Maavu Laddu / Mung dhall Laddu / Nei Urundai

Season's greetings and Deepavali wishes to all the readers!!!

Mung dhall is very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol. Good source of Dietary Fiber, Protein, etc. Sprouted beans are too healthy for those who watch on weight.

This laddu is very easy and simple to make, but too tasty. 


Ingredients:
Powdered Passi Paruppu/ Mung dhall/ Green gram - 2 cups
Powdered Sugar - 2 cups (can lessen to 1 1/2 cups based on the type of sugar used, brown or white)
Melted Ghee - 1/4 to 1/3 cup
Cashew nuts (broken into small pieces) - 1-2 tablespoons
Cardamom - 3-4 (powder the seeds)

Method:
Sieve the powder, dry roast it on a low flame, in a clean non stick pan, until the raw smell goes off. Powder slightly changes to golden brown, then switch and allow it to cool.

Sieve the powdered sugar, cardamom powder and add it to it.

Heat 1-2 tablespoons of ghee and fry the cashew nuts to golden brown, and add to it.

Add ghee in smaller amounts and mix well, until you can make small balls of laddu.

Preparation time: 30-40 minutes
Makes 20-25 small lemon sized laddus.


Note: 
To prepare the mung dhall powder at home, dry roast the seeds, cool it, grind it to a fine powder and sieve it.

Kadalai paruppu chutney/Thogaiyal

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One of the quick and easy recipe, which goes well with any rice variety. Its a must with sambar rice(bisi bela bath) or any kozhambhu(tamarind gravy) rice at my grandma's place. Checkout the recipe here.

Ingredients:

Split chickpeas (Kadalai paruppu/Channa dal) - 3 tablespoons
Grated coconut - 4-5 tablespoons
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Cry red chilies - 4-5 (add accordingly to your spice level)
Tamarind - a small piece
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 teaspoon

For tempering:
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Black gram (Urad Dal / Uzhunthu) - 1/2 tablespoon
Curry leaves - few
Asafoetida - a pinch


Method:
Heat pan, add oil, fry chana dal, dry chillies, cumin seeds for 2-3 minutes, until they are golden brown and keep aside. 

Once it is cool,  add these to a mixer, with grated coconut, tamarind, salt and grind to a paste(sprinkle little water if required). 


Tempering:
Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds once it is hot. Once it splitters, add urad dal, asafoetida and curry leaves.

Fry them until dal turns golden brown. Add it to the chutney and mix well.

Delicious chutney is ready. Can be served with any rice variety.

Goes well with sambhar rice. A picture to drool ;-)

Avocado Milkshake

Avocados are the first transitional food for babies, when they switch to solid intake. They like the smooth and velvety texture. Of late, I have become calorie conscious, so try this healthy milk shake. Before that check out the benefits of Avocado:

There are some amazing avocado benefits for your health. If you would like to lose weight, improve your skin and lower your risk of many life-threatening diseases, here’s why it’s worth eating more of this extremely healthy fruit.

Courtesy: Healthiest foods

Ingredients:
Ripe Avocado - 1
Fresh Milk - 150 ml (More or less depending on thickness)
Palm sugar - 2 tablespoons (More or less depending on sweetness u require)

Note : Can use low fat milk too, but its less creamy compared to fresh milk. Alter honey with sugar if u want even lesser calories.


Method:
Peel skin and discard the seed inside.

Blend the avocado and sugar together.

Add milk in small portions to make it a smooth creamy shake.

Enjoy every sip of it ;)


Note: Chill milk and avocado, if you like to have it cold. Adding ice cubes will spoil the creamy texture.


Preparation time: 5 minutes
Makes 2-3 glasses

Sweet Maida Appam for Karthikai Deepam

Karthikai Deepam is a festival of lights celebrated in the month of Karthikai(Tamil calendar month which usually falls in November/December) on the full moon day. Celebrated mainly in South India especially, state of Tamilnadu.

Every home is lit with rows of oil-lit mud lamps(Agal Vilakku). For more information, check out here.

We usually clean our house and in the evening, draw rangoli/kolam in front of our houses, decorate it with colour powder or flowers and lit lamps. Special offerings will be prepared for God and worship is done. So this time I made Sweet maida appam and it came out well.

These lamps were lit in our pooja(worship) room. Need to make sure, Thatchu wont hurt her hands, so lit lamps only where she cannot access;)

This dish needs a paniyaram pan for preparing, check the picture here.


Now to the recipe....

Ingredients:
All purpose flour/Maida - 1 cup
Semolina (Rawa/Sooji) - 1/4 cup
Jaggery (Vellam) - 1 cup, powdered
Cardamom powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Cashews - 10-12
Raisins - 10-12
Ghee - 2-3 tablespoons
Oil - 1-2 tablespoon, for brushing
Baking powder - 1/4 teaspoon (optional)

Method:
Dissolve powdered jaggery in 1/2 cup of warm water. Filter it to remove the impurities.

Add flour and semolina and make it a thick batter. Add little water if required.

Roast cashews and raisins in ghee and add to it.

Add cardamom powder and mix it well.

Baking powder can be added along with flour or if you don't want to use it, leave the batter aside for 2-3 hours before preparing.

Heat paniyaram pan and brush oil. Add batter to the moulds and fry both sides, until they are dark brown.

Simple dish to make. Serve hot.


Cooking time: 20 minutes
Makes 15-20 appams

Nandu(Crab) Masala

Well, it’s been a long time .... quite few reasons for not blogging ... My desktop and laptop, both were down since Thatchu showed all her love towards them :) We cannot blame her alone, as we kept them on reach for her.

Anyway, we got a new laptop now and I am blogging here with a special recipe, Crab masala.

For me, cooking crab is too simple than any other non-vegetarian, as it requires less preparation and cooks quickly too. But eating it takes quite a long, but taste is divine :) It has become our favourite and especially for Thatchu too. Once she starts she can't even wait for a moment for us to remove the flesh from the shell ... she loves it.

Mixed the recipes I learnt from my Mom and friend, to our taste. And here you go with it.....


Ingredients:
Crab - 1 (I used King size, weighing 1.5 kg)
Big onion - 1, finely chopped
Curry leaves - few
Cinnamon stick - 1, i inch size
Bay leaf - 1-2
Cardamom - 2
Cloves - 3-4
Oil - 2-3 tablespoons
Salt to taste

For masala paste:
Small onions - 8-10
Tomatoes - 2, medium sized
Pepper - 1.5 tablespoons (Add more for spicy)
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tablespoon
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tablespoon
Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup
Garlic - 5 pods
Ginger - 1 inch size
Green chillies - 2

Method:

Cut the crab into pieces, body and big claws separately and wash them.

Put a crack on the claws so that it will be easy for breaking and also the masala gets into it.

Grind all masala ingredients except tomatoes into a fine paste. Add little water if required.

Make tomatoes into a coarse paste and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pressure pan. Once it is hot, add bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and fry for a minute.

Add chopped onions, curry leaves and ground paste without tomatoes and fry until the raw smell of it goes off.

Once it is done, add the tomato paste and cook for 10 minutes.

Then add 2 cups of water, salt to taste and crab and mix well until the curry stick to all the pieces.

Pressure cook it for 2or3 (based on the type of crab, if they are soft shelled ones, then 1 whistle is sufficient) whistles.

Simmer the stove and once pressure is released, open the lid and cook until the gravy thickens.

Mostly all crabs turn orange colour, which indicates that they are cooked.

Serve hot with rice or chappathi.


Serves 2-3 persons.
Cooking time - 30 minutes.

Molaga Bajji

Love the molaga bajji available in Marina beach or Trade fair in Chennai. Aroma will be so inviting that you cannot resist when you go there.

Ingredients:
Big Green chillies - 10
Besan (Split Chickpeas) flour - 1 1/2 cup
Rice flour - 1 tablespoon
Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

Method:
Mix besan flour, rice flour, red chilli powder, salt and water to a thick batter.

Slit the chillies and remove the seeds.

Heat oil in a pan until it is ready for deep frying.

Dip the chillies in the batter and deep-fry in oil.

Fry all sides until they are golden brown.

Drain excess oil with a kitchen towel.

Serve hot with coconut chutney or sauce.


Few more pictures for you to drool ;)

Cooking time : 20 minutes
Serves 5 persons.

Crispy Promfret fry (Vavval meen varuval)

I never tried this fish, but it has become one of my favourite now. Hubby's friend recommended this and it was very tasty. Try it out.


Ingredients:
Promfret fish (Vavval meen) - 2, medium sized
Chilli powder - 2 tablespoons
Coriander powder - 1 tablespoon
Cumin powder - 1/2 teaspoon (optional)
Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
Lemon juice - 1 tablespoon
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tablespoon
Curry leaves - few
Salt to taste
Oil as required for shallow frying.


Method:
Mix chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, lemon juice, ginger garlic paste, curry leaves, salt to taste and 1 tablespoon of oil.

Sprinkle little water to make it a thick paste.

Clean fish and apply this paste evenly on all sides and marinate for 2-3 hours.

Heat a flat pan, apply little oil.

Once it is hot, shallow-fry the fish both sides until they are crispy. 

Few drops of oil can be added while frying, if you feel it is too dry.

Serve hot with sambhar or rasam rice.


Cooking time : 15 minutes
Serves 2 persons

Macroni Vegetable soup

At last, successfully posted this recipe. More than me, my hubby would be happy ;)
This one I usually prepare when I dont want to eat rice. You can add any vegetables of your choice. Simple and quick for your lunch too.

Ingredients :
Macroni - 1 cup
Onion - 1, chopped
Garlic - 3 pods, finely chopped
Vegetables - 1 cup (Mix of carrots, beans, peas, fresh corn kernels, etc - I used beans, peas & corn kernels)
Butter - 1 teaspoon
Corn flour - 1 tablespoon (optional, if you want your soup to be thick)
Milk - 1 cup
Pepper powder - as spicy required
Coriander leaves/Spring onions - few, chopped for garnishing
Salt to taste

Method:
Boil macroni in 1-1/2 cups of water with salt and 1 teaspoon of cooking oil.

Cook for few minutes until they are soft. Drain the water and keep aside.

Heat butter in a pan. Add chopped garlic and onions and fry for 5 minutes.

Add the vegetables and saute for few minutes. Add 3 cups of water and bring it to boil.

Once they are cooked, add macroni, salt to taste. Dissolve corn flour in 1/4 cup of water and add to it.

Stir well and add milk to it. Heat for 5-10 minutes.

Garnish with coriander leaves, pepper powder and serve hot.

Note: Vegetable or Chicken broth can also be added instead of water.


Cooking time : 20-30 minutes
Serves 3 persons

Breaking my silence.........

Wanted to break this silence, since I will go mad if I won't.....

First thing, went to Changi temple and had a nice time there. It was Thai(first month in tamil calendar) 4th friday, and there were special poojas done to Sri Muthumariamman. I watched the entire abhishegam and listened to the bhajans. Somehow I love to see the abhishegam done to the dieties;) Prayed to god to give me strength for those I am going through and felt too divine.

I was feeding Thatchu and they were calling me for lunch, which was served. Was wondering how to eat with Thatchu on hand, since I didn't take the pram'. Received five star treatment ....... guess ..... they served me lunch on a table ;) I really like this culture in Singapore, especially, when we go with babies, they give high importance / preference to the mothers.

Here is the menu : Sweet Pongal, Rice gravy(Kuzh), Radish & drumstick sambhar,  Potato stir fry, Pumpkin kootu(curry), Bean curd gravy, Vada, Payasam, Rasam, Papad, Buttermilk. All served on a plaintain leaf.

Once I was done, one person helped me to remove my leaf and then went to the wash room. Again an elderly uncle, opened the tap for me to wash. All these time, Thatchu was awake with me, watching those poojas, listening to the bhajans, smiling at people around, allowing me to eat. She was not even 1% naughty. She slept on the way home, and gave me to time to post this :) Love my Thatchu:)

I take rest today and will meet you all with my recipes soon.... Wait for them... Have a nice weekend!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010!!!

Make a Smilebox invite

Apple Halwa

Hi friends, Howdy all?

Hmm... its been a while I have posted.... suddenly became too busy with Thaswika and Facebook;) These facebook games are making me crazy ;)

I hate apples, so tried to eat in a different way .... thought not to waste them. Only thing, select good red apples so that it will be sweet. One or two apples were green for me, so it was little bit sour. So moving on to the recipe........

Ingredients:

Apples - 5, red big ones

Sugar - 4-5 tablespoons (add more if you are sweet lovers;))

Cardamom powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Cashew nuts - few for garnishing

Ghee - 1/2 cup (Be generous if you love it;))

Method:

Peel, deseed the apples and cut into small cubes.

Mash them to a fine paste in a mixer without water.

Heat a non-stick pan and pour into it. Keep stirring for 30-40 minutes, until it becomes thick and cooked.

Once all water evaporates, add sugar, cardamom powder and mix well. Keep stirring for another 20 minutes, until it becomes thick.

Heat ghee in a small pan and fry cashews in it to golden brown.

Add the mixture to the halwa and stir well.

Tasty apple halwa is ready to serve.

Cooking time : 60-75 minutes

Serves 4-6 persons