Apple & Cinnamon/Date & Carrot Cake

Ingredients

• Maida (refined wheat flour) - 1 cup
• Atta (whole wheat flour) - 1 cup
• Apple grated -2 cups
• Curd/yoghurt - 1 cup
• Oil - 1/2 cup
• Baking soda - 1 tsp
• Pinch of salt
• Sugar -1 cup (powdered finely)
• Cinnamon powder - 1 tsp

Method

1. Mix all above ingredients together and bake at 350 F for 15-20 mins.
2. You can make date and carrot cake by substituting the two cups of grated apple for one cup of seed less dates and one cup of carrot grated. Also you can add 1 tsp of vanilla essense when making the date and carrot cake.
3. The date and carrot cake comes out moist with no strong taste of carrot.

Paneer Kurma

Finally a vegetarian recipe! By popular demand, I thought I would start with paneer since most vegetarians I know love paneer. This is one of my mum's recipes. It's really easy and very tasty.

 

 

 

Ingredients

• Paneer - 250gms (cut into cubes)
• Garam masala -1/2 tsp
• Clove -1
• Curd - 3 tbsp
• Onion - 1 (chopped)
• Ginger Garlic paste - 1tsp
• Tomato - 1 (chopped)
• Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
• Raisins - 2 tsp
• Cashewnuts - 4
• Poppy seeds - 2 tsp
• Green chilly - 1 (sliced long)
• Thick coconut milk - 1 cup
• Coriander leaves - A few
• Oil -2tbsp
• Salt - To taste

Method

1. Marinate paneer in 3tbsp curds, 1/4 tsp garam masala, coriander leaves and salt.
2. Place a non-stick pan on the fire. Pour 2tbsp oil. When hot, add 1 clove.
3. Add onions and saute till transparent.
4. Add ginger- garlic paste and saute for a minute.
5. Then add chilly powder and chopped tomato. Fry till the tomato is well fried.
6. Add marinated paneer and mix well.
7. Let it boil for a few minutes.
8. Grind cashewnuts and poppy seeds. When well powdered, add raisins and a little water and grind well to form a paste.
9. Add ground paste to the boiling paneer.
10. Add 1 cup thick coconut milk. Mix well. Check taste and add salt as required. Do not over cook paneer, it should be soft not rubbery and also should not completely crumble.
11. Then add green chilly,chopped coriander and 1/4 tsp of garam masala to the paneer in the pan.
12. Cook for a few more minutes. Paneer kurma is ready!
13. Serve with parathas, chapathis or basmati rice.

Chicken Curry - Kerala Style

For a long time I have been looking for a good kerala chicken curry recipe, one which is simple, easy to replicate and also tasty. Finally I have managed to create one after combining a few recipes which I found online and adding my own creativity. This chicken curry is very tasty with kerala red rice or kerala parathas, though you can also eat it with appam,basmati rice or chapathi.

Ingredients

• Chicken- 1 Kg (cut int small pieces)
• Onions - 3  large (sliced)
• Potatoes - 2 ( cut into cubes)
• Garlic - 4 cloves (sliced)
• Ginger - 1" piece (sliced)
• Garlic paste - 2 tsp
• Ginger paste - 2 tsp
• Green chillies - 6 (halved)
• Corriander powder - 3 tbsp
• Chilly powder - 2 tbsp
• Turmeric powder - 3/4 tsp
• Garam masala - 1 tbsp
• Coconut milk  - 400 ml. can
• Fennel powder - 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves - few
• Coriander leaves - few
• Oil  - 3 tbsp
• Salt to taste

Method

1. Heat the oil in a non-stick pan, add the garlic and ginger, fry for few minutes. Then add the ginger and garlic paste.
2. Add the sliced onions, green chillies and saute till the onions are light brown.
3. Take a small bowl and add the turmeric powder, coriander powder, chilly powder, salt and mix well. Add little water to make a paste.
4. Add the paste to the onions and mix well. Fry for about ten minutes or till the oil separates. Be patient!
5. Add the chicken pieces and the potato cubes. Mix well with the onion masala and fry for a few minutes.
6. Add garam masala and fennel powder and fry for a few more minutes.
7. Add half can (200ml) of coconut milk and half glass of water to the chicken and potato mix.
8. Mix well and transfer to a pressure cooker.
9. Pressure cook, once whistle blows lower heat and cook for 7 minutes.
10. Open cooker, transfer contents back to non stick pan and add rest of coconut milk (200ml).
11. Boil for a few minutes and keep on gas till required consistency is achieved.
12. Add curry leaves and coriander leaves.
13. Chicken curry is ready to eat!