Simple Chicken Biriyani

Ingredients:

• Rice 2 cups
• Ghee 4 Tbsp
• Chicken 700 gm 
• Boiling water 3½ cup
• Lemon juice 1 Tsp
• Crushed garlic 2 Tbsp
• Crushed ginger 2 Tbsp
• Crushed green chilly 10 
• Sliced onion 4
• Turmeric pdr ½ Tsp
• Kashmiri chilly pdr 1 Tsp
• Tomato sauce 1 Tbsp
• Curd 1½ Tbsp
• Coriander leaves 1 handful
• Mint leaves 1 handful
• Garam masala 1 Tsp
• Fried onion 1 small
• Cashew nuts 15
• Kismis 15
• Salt

Wash and soak the rice for 15 mins and drain it. Heat ghee in a biriyani pot and add crushed ginger, garlic and green chilly. Brown it for a few mins and add the sliced onion. Saute it till it becomes transluscent. Reduce the heat and add turmeric pdr, chilly pdr, salt, tomato sauce, garam masala and curd into onion and saute it well. Then add ¾th of the chopped coriander leaves and mint into the above mixture along with sliced chicken and cook. Simultaneously, boil 3½ cup of water in another pan. When the chicken is half cooked, put the drained rice into this and mix it slowly. Pour the boiling water and lemon juice into rice. Cover and cook it in low flame. Remove it from fire and garnish it with kismis, cashews and fried onion.

[Recipe courtesy: Magic Oven, Lakshmi Nair]

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Kozhi Varuthathu

Ingredients:

For Marinating :

• Chicken 1/4 kg
• Kashmiri chilly pdr 1 Tbsp
• Garam masala 1/4 Tsp
• Turmeric pdr 1/4 Tsp
• Pepper pdr 1 Tsp
• Rice flour 2 Tsp
• Vinegar 1 Tbsp
• Water
• Salt

Combine all the powders into a thick paste using vinegar and little water. Marinate the chicken with this and keep it aside for 1 to 2 hrs. Heat oil in a kadai and fry it well. (Heat oil well and reduce the flame after putting the chicken. Cover it and fry well).

For frying:

• Sliced onion 1 big
• Crushed garlic 10 pods
• Sliced green chilly 2 to 3
• Curry leaves one handful

Combine all the ingredients and fry it in the same oil we used for frying the chicken. Transfer it onto a tissue. Then mix it with the fried chicken and serve it hot with rice or roti.

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Chocolate Brownie

Ingredients:

• Butter 50g
• Dark chocolate 75g
• Cocoa pdr 10g
• Maida 40g
• Sugar 150 g
• Egg 2
• Wanuts 25g
• Cashew nuts 50g
• Vanilla essence 5 ml

Preheat the oven to 180 deg C. Melt butter and chocolate together and keep it aside. Combine maida and cocoa pdr. Mix it with crushed cashew and walnuts. Beat sugar and egg till it becomes fluffy and pour the melted chocolate-butter mixture into this. Slowly add the flour and vanilla essence and mix well. Transfer this batter into a greased pan and bake it for 30 mins at 180 deg C.

[Recipe courtesy: Vanitha]

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Snow White Cake

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour 250 gm
• Vanilla essence 2 Tsp
• Pwd sugar 250 gm
• Baking pdr 2 Tsp
• Milk 1/2 cup
• Butter 250 gm
• Egg white of 4 eggs

Preheat the oven to 160 deg C. Mix flour and baking pdr and sieve it twice. Combine butter and powdered sugar till it becomes creamy. Then add the egg whites into this and beat well. Alternately, add flour and milk (beginning and ending with flour) into egg white and mix it using a wooden spoon. Finally mix the vanilla essence, pour the batter into a greased pan and bake it for 40 mins at 160 deg C. (It took 53 mins for me.) Transfer it to a wire rack and cool it.

[Recipe courtesy: Vanitha magazine]

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Matha Ila (Pumpkin leaf) Thoran

Ingredients:

• Pumpkin leaves 10
• Kanthari mulaku 5
• Turmeric pdr 1/4 Tsp
• Mustard seeds
• Coconut 1 cup
• Curry leaves
• Shallots 3
• Water
• Oil

Clean the leaves and slice it thinly. Crush coconut, shallots, chilly and turmeric pdr. Heat oil in a kadai and splutter mustard seeds. Then add sliced shallots and curry leaves. Saute it and add the crushed coconut and required amount of salt. Finally place the sliced leaves into it and combine well. Sprinkle little water over the leaves and cook it.

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Crunchy Chicken Bites

Ingredients:

For marination:

• Boneless chicken 1/4 kg
• Ginger paste 1/2 Tsp
• Garlic paste 1/2 Tsp
• Pepper pdr 1 Tsp
• Lime juice 2 Tsp
• Salt

Clean and cut chicken into medium pieces. Marinate it with ginger- garlic paste, pepper pdr, lime juice and salt for 1/2 to 1 hr. Then, microwave it in high power for 2 to 4 mins. Keep it aside and cool it.

For frying:

• Crushed cornflakes 2 cup
• All purpose flour 1 cup
• Pepper pdr 1 Tsp
• Egg 1
• Salt
• Oil

Crush the cornflakes and keep it aside. Mix salt, all purpose flour and pepper pdr well. First roll the cooked chicken pieces in flour mixture, then dip it in beaten egg and roll it in crushed cornflakes. Heat oil in a kadai and fry it. Since it was cooked before, we do not need to fry it for a longer period. Serve it with tomato ketchup or garlic sauce.

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Pavakka Achar

Ingredients:

• Bittergourd 3
• Green chilly 8 to 10
• Sliced garlic 10 pods
• Sliced ginger 1 1/2 Tbsp
• Turmeic powder a pinch
• Curry leaves one handful
• Fenugeek seeds 1/2 Tsp
• Mustard seeds 1 Tsp
• Gingely / veg oil 
• Vinegar 1/2 cup
• Water 1/2 cup
• Salt

Clean and cut bittergourd into lengthwise pieces. Mix it with little salt and vinegar and keep it aside for 1 hr or more. Squeeze it and keep it aside (the above procedure helps to decrease the bitterness). Heat oil in a kadai and add mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds. When it splutters, add curry leaves, sliced ginger, garlic and green chilly. Saute it for few mins and add a pinch of turmeric pdr and salt. Pour water and vinegar into this and boil it well. Reduce the flame and place the bittergourd, mix it and remove it from fire. 

(You can increase or decrease the amount of chilly and vinegar accoding to your taste).

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