Mutta (Egg) Thoran

Ingredients:

• Egg 2
• Onion 1 med chopped
• Chilly 2 to 3 chopped
• Coconut 3 to 4 tbsp grated
• Turmeric pdr 1/4 tsp
• Corriander leaves 2 tbsp
• Curry leaves
• Salt
• Oil

Beat the egg and keep it aside. Grind together coconut, chilly and turmeric pdr. Heat oil in a kadai and add chopped onion, grounded coconut, salt and saute it well. Add the beaten egg, corriander leaves, curry leaves and scramble it.

The snap from this post is one of my final entry to the Magnificent Click Contest 2009.

Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

• Unsalted Butter (at room temperature) 1 cup
• Icing sugar 1/2 to 3/4 cup
• All Purpose Flour 1 3/4 cup
• Vanilla 1 tbsp

Pre heat the oven to 275 degree F. Grease the baking sheet with butter and flour. Beat the butter and sugar well till it becomes smooth and creamy. Add vanilla into it. At low speed, gradually add the flour and mix well. Roll the dough into 1/2 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut with cookie cutters. Place it on a lightly greased baking tray or sheets.Bake it for 40 minutes.

Courtesy: Foodnetwork

This is my entry to the

Hearts For St.Valentine's Day Contest.

Chakkapazham (Jackfruit) Puttu

Ingredients:

• Jackfruit 10 to 15 pieces(chula)
• Rice flour 2 cup
• Coconut 1/2 grated
• Water as rqd
• Salt as rqd

Chop the jackfruit into small pieces. Mix together required amount of water and salt. Sprinkle this salt water slowly over the rice flour and mix well. Continue this process till the flour becomes wet and smooth. Do not use too much water. (The perfect stage to stop the process is to take a handful of wet flour in the hand, just press it and open the fist. If the flour remain as a solid chunk without breaking or splitting apart, you can stop the process.) Add little grated coconut into the prepared flour and mix well. (To make soft puttu, just grind the wet flour in a mixer.)

For preparing puttu, put a layer of grated coconut into the puttu kutti (puttu maker) followed by the chopped jackfrut pieces and rice flour and then again a layer of jackfruit and finally a layer of grated coconut. Steam it fo 5 to 8 minutes until the steam passes from the top of the puttu kutti. Serve it hot.

Tuna-Ritz Cracker Sandwich

Ingredients:

• Tuna 1 tin
• Low fat ritz crackers 10 to 15
• Low fat mayyonaise 2 to 3 tsp
• Onion 1 small chopped
• Roasted Almonds 1/4 cup
• Pepper pdr 3/4 tsp
• Salt 1/4 tsp

Squeeze out the water from the tuna. Mix together the canned tuna, chopped onion, pepper pdr, chopped roasted almonds, little salt and mayonnaise well. Spread it on the ritz crackers.

The snap from this post is one of my final entry to the Magnificent Click Contest 2009.

Salad

Ingredients:

• Onion 1 medium
• Tomato 1/4 cup
• Cucumber 1/4 cup
• Corriander leaves
• Curd 1 to 2 cup
• Water
• Salt

Clean, wash and cut the vegetables. Add salt, chopped corriander leaves, curd and little water into vegetables. Mix well.

Kung Pao Chicken

Ingredients:

• Boneless chicken 1/2 kg
• Egg white 1 (optional)
• Cornflour 2 1/2 tsp
• Ginger 1 tsp crushed
• Garlic 1 tsp crushed
• Dry chilly 5 to 6
• Spring onion 1 cup
• Sugar 1/2 tsp
• Red chilly paste 1 tsp
• Dark Soy Sauce 2 tbsp
• Sherry(Cooking Wine)1 tbsp
• Vinegar 1 tsp
• Pepper pdr 1 tbsp
• Peanuts(unsalted) 1/2 cup

Clean, wash and cut chicken into medium pieces. Marinate it with salt, beaten egg white, pepper pdr and 1/2 tsp of cornflour for 15 to 30 minutes. Add the rest of the cornflour to 2 tbsp of water and keep it aside.

Heat oil in a kadai and fry the marinated chicken in medium flame. Keep it aside. Heat oil in another pan and fry the peanuts well.

Add crushed ginger, garlic and splitted dry chilly into the same oil and stir it for 30 seconds. Then add fried chicken, chopped spring onion, sugar, soy sauce, chilly paste, sherry and vinegar. Mix well and stir it continously for 1 minute. Add required amount of salt, pepper pdr and cornflour. When it thickens, add fried peanuts.

Courtesy : Vanitha

Vazhuthananga (Brinjal) Theeyal

Ingredients:

• Vazhuthananga (Brinjal)1 cup
• Coconut 1/2 grated
• Dry chilly 5 to 6
• Shallots 4 to 5
• Garlic 4 to 5
• Chilly 3 to 4
• Tamarind paste 2 tbsp
• Turmeric pdr 1/2 tsp
• Corriander pdr 1 tsp
• Chilly pdr 2 tsp
• Sugar 1/4 tsp
• Curry leaves
• Mustard
• Water
• Salt
• Oil

Clean and cut vazhuthananga into med pieces. Add sliced shallots, green chilly, curry leaves, salt and water into vazhuthananga and cook well. Keep it aside.

Roast together grated coconut, finely sliced shallots, garlic, dry chilly and curry leaves well till it turns golden brown colour. [Grate the coconut evenly. If you feel that the pieces are not even, grind it once in a mixer or blender to get even pieces. This is to help the grated coconut roast evenly.] Reduce the heat and add chilly, turmeric and corriander pdr into the roasted coconut and mix well. Stir it for 5 minutes. Grind it well into a thick paste without adding water.

Add this grounded paste and tamarind juice or paste into cooked vegetable and mix well. Boil it for few minutes. Add sugar into it and stir well. Remove it from heat. Season it with mustard, shallots and curry leaves.

Unakkameen (Salted Dry Fish) Chamanthi

Ingredients:

• Unakkameen ( small dry fish) 5 to 7
• Coconut 1 cup grated
• Green chilly 3 to 4
• Shallots 3 to 4
• Oil

Soak fish in water for 20 to 30 min. Clean it well. Deep fry it in oil. Grind together fried fish and all other ingredients. Do not over grind.

Moru Ulathiyathu

Ingredients:

• Buttermilk 2 to 3 cup
• Onion 1 med chopped
• Ginger 1Tsp chopped
• Garlic 1 Tsp chopped
• Turmeric pdr 1/4 tsp
• Chilly pdr 1 pinch
• Green chilly 4 to 5
• Fenugreek seeds
• Mustard seeds
• Cumin seeds
• Curry leaves
• Salt
• Oil

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When it starts spluttering, add cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves, chopped onion, garlic, ginger, chilly and salt. Saute well. When it turns brown, reduce the heat and add turmeric and chilly pdr. Add buttermilk and mix well. Stir it well in low flame for another 5 min. Remove from fire.

Mushroom Kurma

Ingredients:

• Mushroom 1/4 kg
• Onion 1 med
• Tomato 1
• Ginger 1 big piece
• Garlic 6 pods
• Chilly 5 to 6
• Turmeric pdr 1/4 tsp
• Chilly pdr 1/2 tsp
• Corriander pdr
• Garam masala 1/2 tsp
• Corriander leaves 2 tsp
• Coconut milk 1 cup
• Lime juice 1/2 tsp
• Mustard
• Salt
• Oil

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When it starts spluttering, add onion, ginger, chilly, garlic, tomato and salt. Saute well and add chilly, turmeric, corriander and garam masala pdr. Mix well and add mushroom. Reduce the heat and cook well. Add thick coconut milk and lime juice. Remove from fire and garnish it with corriander leaves.

Bilimbi (Chilumbikka) Juice

Ingredients:

• Bilimbi (Chilumbikka) 1 cup
• Sugar 3/4 to 1 cup
• Water as rqd
• Orange peel 2 to 3 pieces

Clean and wash the chilumbikka. Cut it into medium pieces. Transfer it into a pressure cooker and add water. Pressure cook it and mash it well using a spoon. Take the pulp through a sieve. Add sugar into water and melt it well. Stir it continously and make sugar syrup. After cooling down add it into fruit pulp and mix well. Pressure cook the orange peel and remove the inner white part. Grind the peel well and add into the fruit pulp. Mix well. Transfer this mix into an air tight bottle and refrigerate it. Prepare the juice by adding required amount of water with fruit syrup.