Drums of Spice

As the name suggests,for this recipe a lot of spice is involved.And these spice do not increase the level of hotness but gives more flavour and aroma to the dish.One more thing, a tandoor is required for the making of  this chicken.I used an electric tandoor.

Ingredients:

1 kg chicken drums

1 tsp fennel seed powder(sombu/perunjeeragam)

1 tsp cumin powder(jeeragam)

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
4 tsp ginger garlic paste

400 ml hung curd

chili powder as desired

salt to taste.

2 tbs oil.

Method:

1.Combine all the ingredients except the chicken and form into a paste.

2.Now add the chicken pieces and evenly mix them so they are fully covered with the paste.

3.Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

4.Cook in the tandoor till the chicken is tender and they are browned.

5.Serve with mint chutney.

Quail Gravy

Everyone loves quail at home.So we have it often at our place.This is one recipe that my mother in law makes often and we just drool over it!

Ingredients:

5 quail
3 tomatoes chopped
3 big onions chopped
ginger garlic paste 2 tsp
chili powder 3 tsp
salt to taste
2 tsp khus khus seeds
4 tbs oil
half a cup of water
Cilantro for garnishing.

Method:

1.Combine ginger garlic paste,chili powder and salt and form a paste.
2.To this add the washed and cleaned quails and marinate them for at least half an hour.
3.In a deep pan,heat oil.
4.Add the onions and saute them till they are translucent.
5.Now add the chopped tomatoes and fry them till they are thoroughly cooked.
6.Add the marinated quails and mix them with the onion mixture for few minutes.
7.Add half a cup of water to the quails,cover the pan and cook for around fifteen minutes on medium flame.
8.Grind the khus khus seed with little water in a mixer grinder and add them to the quails.
9.Keep the quail gravy on high flame till the excess water gets evaporated.
10.Garnish with cilantro leaves.
11.Enjoy!

Karee Vadai

Got this recipe from  a blog 'Taste of pearl city'.Made it at home and it was delicious.Thank you Umm Maymoonah for this dish!!
Blog URL:http://tasteofpearlcity.blogspot.in/

Karee Vadai (Meat and Lentil Fritter) My Guest Post on Cooking Varieties

This recipe is my guest post on Cooking Varieties.  Actually I was supposed to do this long back ago with any recipe using Winter Squash, since it was really just the time we moved to India, I couldn't make it.  Ms.Wan was really kind and patience with me, I really appreciate that.
Finally when I was ready to do the post, it was just a couple of days before Ramadhan, so I decided to make some Iftar related recipes, so this kari vadai (meat and lentil fritters).  Thank you Ms.Wan for giving me this wonderful opportunity.

Kari Vadai is nothing but fritters made with fritters and lentils.  I have used here Chana dhal which is nothing but yellow split pea.  You can find this in any Indian grocery stores.  This is something which we have for our Iftar with Kanji (Soup).  This vadai can be prepared with uncooked meat also, but I cooked the meat and then used for fritters, since it reduces the cooking time for vadai, aslo you don't have to worry whether the inside is cooked or not and your oil doesn't get spoiled with all the meat fat. Hope you all enjoy this recipe

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Make 15 to 20 vadai's

Ingredients:
Chana dhal (Yellow Split Pea) - 150 g
Boneless lamb- 150 g
Onion- 1 small sized finely chopped
Ginger garlic paste- 2 tsp
Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
Fennel seeds- 1 tsp
Chilli powder- 1 tsp
Garam masala- 1 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves- 1 tbsp finely chopped
Lemon juice- 1/2 tbsp
Salt as required
Oil for frying

Method:
Soak the chana dhal in water for 2 hours.  Finely chop the lamb pieces and marinate with turmeric, lemon juice, salt and 1/2 tsp of garam masala.  Add oil in a pan, add the meat pieces  and cook  until the meat is completed cooked.   Now grind the chana dhal by adding very little water into a thick coarse paste.  Once the dhal looks coarsely ground, add the meat and grind it again.  Meat should also look like coarse pieces in the dhal.  Now add the spices, salt, onion, chopped coriander leaves and ginger garlic paste.  Mix it well.  Heat oil in a pan to shallow fry, once the oil is hot enough to fry, make patties out of the mixture and drop it in hot oil, keep the flame in medium and cook it on both sides until it looks golden brown in colour.  Serve the hot vadai's with green chutney.


Note:
 To check the oil is hot enough, drop a small amount of mixture in the oil, if it comes bubbling up immediately then the oil is ready to fry.
Also if your mixture doen't hold well and it's too crumbly, add some gramflour or all purpose flour to hold the mixture.

Coconut Pudding

Ingredients
• ½ cup tender coconut bits(optional)
• Vegetable oil for greasing a deep glass dish 
• 400ml Coconut Milk

• 6 tablespoons corn flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• ½ cup condensed milk
• chopped nuts
• A small pinch of salt

Preparation

1. Grease a dish and set aside. In a small bowl, stir together ½ cup Coconut Milk and corn flour until smooth.
2. In a medium non-stick saucepan, combine the remaining coconut milk, the condensed milk and sugar. Stir over medium heat until sugar has dissolved.
3. Add the corn flour and coconut milk mixture slowly into saucepan, while whisking continuously. Now stir in the vanilla essence, tender coconut bits and salt. Cook while whisking vigorously (do not allow to boil), until mixture is very thick and pulls away from the sides of the pan. This should take 4-6 minutes.
4. Pour the mixture into the greased dish and spread evenly. Let it cool briefly, then cover with plastic wrap/aluminium foil and chill until set, for at least 1 hour.
5.Cut the chilled coconut pudding into desired pieces and sprinkle each with chopped nuts.
6. Enjoy! 

Spicy Prawn Gravy

Regarding this recipe, it's one of the most favorite dish at home.We do cook prawns in different ways but we always come back to this one.It's tangy,spicy & mmm,a perfect recipe with lots of flavor!Do try and lemme know :).

 Ingredients:

1/2 kg prawns de-shelled and de-veined

3 tomatoes chopped finely.

1/2 kg shallots chopped or 3 big onions chopped.

(shallots give more flavor but if you are in a hurry use big onions)

1 tsp ginger garlic paste.

Few curry leaves

chili powder as desired

Salt to taste.

2-3 tbsp oil

Turmeric powder for washing the prawns.

Method.

1.Mix turmeric powder with the prawns and then wash them a couple of times.This helps to get rid of the prawns smell.

2.In a vessel add the prawns,chili powder and salt and marinate them for at least 15 minutes.

3.Heat oil in pan ,add the curry leaves and saute for a few seconds.

4.Now reduce the flame and add the ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell disappears.

5.Add the onions and fry for few minutes.

6.Now add the tomatoes and saute them till they are thoroughly cooked.

7.To this add the marinated prawns and fry for two to three minutes.

8.Add half a cup water,cover the pan with a lid and cook the prawns on slow flame till they are tender.

9.Remove the lid and on medium flame evaporate the excess water till the dish gets the gravy texture.

10.Now spicy prawn gravy is ready!

Fried ladies finger/bhindi/okra

This dish was introduced to me through my cousin.She has two teenage sons who are ardent lovers of crispy foods(I know most of us fall into that category ;)) So she hunts and tries out new recipes to satisfy them.Kids   usually hate veggies and to make them eat it, is so TOUGH! I know many of you would agree on that point.This fried ladies finger is something you mothers out there ought to cook for your kids for two main reasons.Number one its a yummy dish and number two its a vegetable,I mean kids eating a veggie that's a great achievement!

Ingredients:

1/4 kg ladies finger

2 tsp cornflour

11/2 tbs gram flour(besan flour)

chili powder as desired

salt to taste

2 tsp lemon juice

oil for frying.

Method:

1.Wash the okras and cut them diagonally.

2.In a vessel mix all ingredients except the ladies finger and oil and make a paste.

3.To this,add the ladies finger and mix them till the paste is evenly spread.

4.Deep fry in oil till they turn into golden brown.

note: Deep fry the okras in small batches otherwise they tend to stick together while frying. 

5.Crispy okras are ready to serve.

Thai saucy sardines.

 Sardines are rich in nutrients like selenium,B12,omega-3etc.Sardines are called "chala" in tamil.It is cheap compared to other fish and it is tasty too.Tried this recipe yesterday and my food critic acclaimed it was delicious!

Ingredients:

10 sardines cleaned.
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
3/4 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp crushed dry red chili
3/4 tsp pepper powder or according to your level of spiciness.
oil for shallow frying.
SAUCE
3 tbsp refined oil or olive oil
2 tsp butter
1 dried red chili crushed
1/4 cup coriander chopped
2 tbsp tomato sauce
3 tbsp lime juice
2 cloves garlic minces
1-2 tsp sugar.
salt to taste
METHOD:

1.In a bowl add the ginger garlic paste,turmeric powder,salt,chili,pepper powder,cornstarch and make  a paste.
2.Rub this paste on the sardines and keep aside for minimum half an hour.
3.In a pan heat oil and shallow fry the fish on both sides.Do not over fry it.
4.Remove the fish and keep it aside.
5.In a fresh pan,assemble all the ingredients and heat very briefly.Do not boil.Taste test for salt and sourness.
If too sour add a little more sugar.
6.On a serving plate arrange the fish and pour the sauce over it.(I ended up making double the given quantity for the sauce coz people at home just drool over sauce ;) but one to two tsp sauce is ample for a fish because this sauce is filled with flavor)

Quail Fry

Quail,the peasant's meat,  is also known in tamil as 'Kaadai'.It looks like a smaller version of "naatu Kohzi" or country chicken but tastes better.This quail fry is mouth watering dish and does not involve complicated steps..seriously I am not lying!.All it requires is marinating the quails and cooking them till they are tender.And quail doesn't use up much time to become tender.Give it a try..

Ingredients:

5 Quails
One tsp chili powder
one tbs lemon juice
two tsp ginger garlic paste
salt to taste
five tbs oil.

Method:

1.Clean the quails and cut into two           pieces,the body and the legs.
2.Assemble all the ingredients except the quails and oil and make a paste.Adjust spice and salt according to   your taste.
3.Now add the quails and make sure the paste is applied all over the quail.
4.Marinate for minimum one hour,longer the better because then you are giving plenty of time for the juice to seep in.
5.Heat oil in a large vessel,a non stick one is preferred.
6.Add the quails and stir.keep the flame in minimum.Close the vessel and cook the quail till tender.
7.Make sure to stir in between and if you find its dry drizzle some oil.