Warm White Chocolate Gateaux

Ingredients:

• Egg 2
• Salt a pinch
• Sugar 1 cup
• Butter 1/2 cup
• Flour 1 1/4 cup
• Milk 5 to 6 Tbsp
• Baking pdr 1 Tsp
• Vanilla essence 2 Tsp
• Nuts - handful of assorted
• White chocolate 150 g(Melted)

Preheat the oven to 350 deg F(180 deg C). Sieve flour, baking pdr and salt. In a bowl beat butter and sugar till it becomes creamy and fluffy. Slowly add egg and vanilla essence into the butter and beat well. Then add flour and milk alternately starting and ending with flour. Melt the white chocolate for 2 mins and pour it into the flour. Add chopped nuts into this. Mix it well using a spatula. Bake it for 45 to 50 mins.

[Recipe Courtesy: Tony Toms]

Chicken Biriyani

Ingredients:

• For chicken
• Chicken 1 kg
• Onion sliced 4 big
• Crushed chilly 8 to 10
• Crushed ginger 1 big piece
• Crushed garlic 5 to 10 pods
• Chopped corriander leaves 1/2 cup
• Chopped mint leaves 1/4 cup
• Poppy seeds 1 Tsp
• Garam masala 3 Tsp
• Tomato 2 big
• Curd 1 cup
• Oil as rqd
  

For rice:

• Rice 1 kg(4 cups)
• Water 7 1/2 to 8
• Lime juice of 1 lime
• Cinnamon 1 big piece
• Elaichi 1 to 2
• Cloves 2 to 3
• Ghee as rqd
• Salt

For Garnishing:

• Cashews 1/2 cup
• Raisins 1/2 cup
• Fried onion as rqd
• Rose water 1 to 2 Tbsp
• Pinch of garam masala
• Corriander leaves
• Mint leaves

Crush chilly, garlic and ginger. Grind the poppy seeds and keep it aside. Saute the half of the sliced onion in oil. When it turns brown, add the crushed ingredients. Saute well and add the chopped tomato, grounded poppy seeds and curd. Reduce the heat and add the chicken, salt and 1/2 cup of water. Combine well and add 1/2 of the corriander and mint leaves. Cook it in low flame. When the gravy becomes dry, remove it from heat.

Fry the rest of the onion in oil until it turns golden brown. Fry the nuts and raisins in the same oil and keep it aside.

Wash the rice and drain it for 10 to 15 mins. Add 1 tbsp of ghee, juice of half a lime, crushed whole spices and salt into water and boil it well. At the same time, saute the rice in a little ghee. When it starts to crack, pour the boiling water into the rice. Cover it and cook well. When it becomes void of moisture content, remove the rice and keep it aside.

For layering:
Add some fried onions, corriander leaves, mint leaves and garam masala on the top of the chicken. Add the rice and spread it with a spoon. Sprinkle little rose water and add nuts, raisins and fried onion. Repeat the same process. Arrange the top most layer with rice and garnish it with fried onion, rasin, nuts and rose water. Cover it and cook it in low flame for 5 to 10 mins.

Mutta Curry

Ingredients:

• Egg 6
• Onion 3
• Tomato 3
• Garlic 2 pods
• Green chilly 1
• Garlic 1 med piece
• Coconut milk 1 cup
• Corriander leaves 1/4 cup
• Corriander pdr 3 Tsp
• Turmeric pdr 1/2 Tsp
• Chilly pdr 1 1/2 Tsp
• Garam masala 1 Tsp
• Cumin seeds 1/2 Tsp
• Water 2 1/2 cup
• Salt
• Oil

Grind together chilly pdr, corriander pdr, turmeric pdr, garam masala, ginger and garlic and keep it aside. Grind the tomato and keep it aside. Heat oil in a kadai and add cumin seeds. When it splutters, add sliced onion and splitted chilly and saute it well. When it turns brown colour, add the grounded masala and roast it well. When oil starts separating, pour the grounded tomato into this. Saute it well. Then add water and rqd amount of salt and boil it well. Add the splitted egg and boil it for 15 mins in low flame. When the gravy starts to thicken, pour the thick coconut milk and corriander leaves. Combine it well and remove it from fire.
[Courtesy: Lakshmi Nair]

Ayala (Mackerel) Mappas

Ingredients:

• Fish (Ayala)1/2 Kg
• Onion 2 big
• Garlic 5 to 6 pods
• Ginger 1 big piece
• Green chilly 5 to 6
• Thick coconut milk 1/2 cup
• Semi thick coconut milk 3/4 to 1 cup
• Corriander pdr 2 Tbsp
• Turmeric pdr 1/2 Tbsp
• Garam masala 1 Tbsp
• Vinegar 1 Tbsp
• Curry leaves
• Mustard
• Salt
• Oil

Cut the fish into medium pieces and keep it aside. Heat oil in a kadai and add mustard seeds. When it splutters, add the thinly sliced onion, ginger, garlic, green chilly and curry leaves. Saute it till it turns to a light brown colour. Mix corriander pdr, turmeric pdr and garam masala in little water and make a paste. Add this paste into the above sauted onion and roast the gravy till it turns to a dark colour. Pour the semi thick coconut milk and mix well. When it starts boiling, add the fish pieces. Reduce the heat and cook it. When it is completely cooked, add vinegar and thick coconut milk. Mix slowly and cook it for few min. Do not over boil. Garnish it with fresh curry leaves and tomato pieces.

Maladu...Happy Diwali !!!

Ingredients:

• Roasted Channa Dal 1 cup
• Ghee 1/4 to 1/2 cup
• Sugar 3/4 to 1 cup
• Cardamom 2 to 4
• Grind channa, sugar and cardamom separately. Mix it well. Melt the rqd amount of ghee and pour it into the channa mix. Combine it well and make it into lemon sized balls.

Nellikka (Gooseberry) Curry

Ingredients:

• Nellikka (Gooseberry) 10
• Chilly pdr 1Tbsp
• Jaggery 1 big piece
• Turmeric pdr 1/2 Tsp
• Tamarind lemon sized
• Fenugreek seeds 1/2 Tsp
• Urud Dal 2 Tsp
• Mustard seeds
• Dry chilly 2
• Curryleaves
• Salt
• Oil

Steam the nellikka and remove the seeds. Cut it into small pieces and keep it aside. Soak tamarind in a little water and seive the extract. Fry the urud dal without oil and powder it. Mix nelikka with salt, turmeric, chilly pdr and boil it with a little water. When it boils well, add the grated jaggery, tamarind juice and urud dal powder. Mix it well and remove it from fire. Season it with fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds,curry leaves and dry chilly.

Potato Vermicelli Surprise

Ingredients:

• Potato 2 to 3 big
• Garlic 3 to 5 pods
• Onion chopped 1/2 cup
• Spring onion 2 Tbsp
• Capsicum 2 Tbsp
• Celery 2 Tbsp
• Beans 1/4 cup
• Carrot 1/4 cup
• Cabbage 1/4 cup
• Pepper pdr as rqd
• Vermicelli 1 Cup
• Soy sauce 2 Tsp
• Egg 1
• Salt
• Oil

Cook the potato. Mash it with a wooden spoon and make it into lemon sized balls. Keep it aside. Heat oil in a kadai and add the crushed garlic. Saute it and add the chopped onion. When it turns brown, add the beans, carrot, cabbage, capsicum, celery, spring onion and rqd amount of salt and pepper pdr. Then add the soy sauce and combine it well. Allow this mix to cool. Then fill the above cooked potato balls with this mixture. Dip each potato balls in egg and roll it in vermicelli. Fry it well.

Koorka Irachi(Chinese potato & Beef ) Piralan

Ingredients:

• Beef 1 kg
• Koorkka 3 Cup
• Shallots 1 Cup
• Onion sliced 2
• Coconut pieces 1/2
• Ginger chopped 1 Tbsp
• Garlic chopped 2 Tbsp
• Corriander pdr 2 Tsp
• Turmeric pdr 1/2 Tsp
• Garam masala 1 Tsp
• Chilly pdr 1 Tsp
• Pepper pdr 1 Tsp
• Hot water 1/4 Cup
• Curry leaves
• Salt
• Oil

Cook beef and chinese potato separately with little salt and turmeric. Heat oil in a kadai and fry the coconut pieces, shallots, curry leaves and keep it aside. Saute the sliced onion, chopped ginger and garlic in the above oil. Then add little water into the powders (except garam masala pdr) and saute with the above ingredients. Add the cooked beef (along with gravy) and chinese potato. Mix it well. Pour hot water into this and cook it till it combines well. Before serving, add the fried coconut pieces, shallots and curry leaves into it.

[Courtesy: Vanitha, Recipe: Ammu]