Eggless White Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients :

White Chocolate (chopped): ½ cup

Whipped Cream : ½ cup + ⅟ ₃ cup

Heat ⅟ ₃ cup cream and chocolate together in a pan, over low heat. Stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is completely smooth. Keep it aside and allow it to cool completely.

Whip the ½ cup of cream until it attains stiff peak consistency. Then, fold it into the cooled chocolate mixture. The mixture should be completely smooth and creamy. Transfer it into a bowl or small serving glasses. Cover and chill it for 2 hours.

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Beef Stew

Ingredients:

• Beef : 1 kg
• Potato : 1 big
• Carrot : 1 big
• Onion : 3 big
• Ginger : 1.5 Tbsp
• Green Chilly : 6 to 8
• Crushed Pepper : 2 Tsp
• Cardamom : 3
• Cloves : 3
• Cinnamon : 1 big piece
• Semi-thick Coconut Milk : 2 cup
• Thick Coconut Milk : 1 1/4 cup
• All Purpose Flour (Maida) : 2 Tsp
• Curry Leaves : few
• Salt : as required
• Coconut Oil : as required

Clean and cut the beef into small pieces. Then, cook it with salt, few curry leaves, crushed pepper and rest of the whole spices till it turns soft. Keep it aside. Cut the potato and carrot into small cubes and boil it. Heat coconut oil in a kadai or in a non-stick pan and saute the cubed onion, slitted chilly and curry leaves. When it becomes translucent, add the cooked beef, boiled vegetables, semi-thick coconut milk and required amount of salt into it and boil it in medium flame for few minutes. On another pan, saute 2 tsp of All Purpose Flour in coconut oil for a few minutes. Then, add a little water into it and make it into a paste.  Pour the thick coconut milk and flour paste and combine it with the beef. When the stew starts to thickens, remove it from fire. 

Serve it hot with appam, idiyappam or bread.

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Chicken Pakoda

Ingredients:

• Chicken : 250 gms (small pieces)
• Onion (sliced) : 1 med
• Green Chilly : 1 thinly sliced
• Chopped Ginger : 2 Tsp
• Coriander Leaves : 2 Tbsp (chopped)
• Curry Leaves : few (chopped)
• Besan Flour :1/2 to 3/4 cup
• Rice Flour : 2 Tbsp
• Chilly Powder : 2 Tsp
• Turmeric Powder : 1/2 Tsp
• Hing : a pinch
• Salt : as required
• Water : as required
• Oil : as required

Combine all the ingredients, except chicken pieces and oil, into a thick mixture by adding required amount of water. Then, add the chicken pieces into it and mix well. Keep it aside for a few minutes. Then, fry it in oil and serve it with hot coffee. 

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Pork Vindaloo

Ingredients:

• Pork : 1/2 kg
• Thinly sliced onion : 2 med
• Thinly sliced tomato : 2 small
• Sliced garlic : 1 Tbsp
• Sliced ginger : 1 Tbsp
• Vinegar : 2 Tbsp
• Sugar : 1/2 Tsp
• Salt : as required
• Oil : 3 Tbsp

For Masala :

• Kashmiri chilly powder : 1.5 Tbsp
• Garam Masala : 1 Tsp
• Ginger : 1 small piece
• Mustard seeds : 1/2 Tsp
• Fenugreek seeds : 1/4 Tsp
• Turmeric powder : 1/4 Tsp
• Vinegar : 1 Tbsp

Grind all the ingredients into a fine paste.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker, put onion and saute it. When it turns brown, add tomatoes and cook till oil starts to separate. Add the grounded paste into it and roast it well. When it is void of its' raw smell, put the pork pieces and mix it with the roasted masala. Put the sliced ginger, garlic, half cup water and required amount of salt into it. Cook it in medium flame for 30 mins. When it is fully cooked and the gravy turns thick, remove it from fire and add half tsp of sugar. 

This dish increases in taste as it ages. So, it would be good to prepare it couple of days before use.

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Pidiyum Kozhiyum, A traditional Kerala Christian food...

Ingredients :

For Pidi :

• Rice flour : 1 cup + 1 Tbsp
• Salt : as required
• Grated coconut : ¾ cup
• Crushed cumin seeds : ½ Tsp
• Crushed shallots : 5
• Curry leaves : few
• Water : 4 to 5 cups

Add salt, ¼ cup of grated coconut, crushed cumin seeds, crushed shallots and few curry leaves into the water and boil it. Then, pour the required amount of water into the rice flour and mix it well. Allow it to cool. Then, make it into a soft dough (same like kozhukatta or idiyappam dough). Add little coconut and required amount of salt at this point. Combine it well and make it into small balls. Keep it aside. 

Again, heat the rest of the water and when it starts boiling, add the above prepared rice balls, rest of the grated coconut, few curry leaves and salt  into it and cook well. Mix the 1 tbsp of rice flour with half cup of water. When the rice balls are fully cooked, pour the rice flour mix into it and make it thick. Remove it from fire. Serve it hot with yummy and spicy chicken curry.

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Lemon Frosted Lemon Cake

Ingredients:

• Unsalted butter : 1 cup
• Granulated sugar : 1 cup
• Vanilla essence : 1 Tsp
• Eggs : 4
• Zest of one large lemon
• All purpose flour : 2 cups
• Baking powder : 2 Tsp
• Salt : ¼ Tsp
• Fresh lemon juice : ¼ cup

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt twice. Beat the butter and sugar till it turns creamy and pale in colour. Then, add eggs one by one into this and beat well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add vanilla essence and lemon zest. Next, add the flour mixture and lemon juice alternatively into the egg mixture by 3 batches. Mix it till it turns creamy. Transfer the batter into a greased cake tin and bake it for 40 to 45 mins. Remove it from the oven and cool it completely.

For Frosting :

• Sifted icing sugar : 1 cup
• Fresh lemon juice : 2 to 4 Tbsp

For the frosting, mix the lemon juice with the sifted icing sugar. Pour this lemon glaze over the cooled cake and allow it to set properly.

(Note: I felt that the lemon glaze in the recipe was a bit tangy for our taste. So, add the lemon juice for the frosting according to your taste.)

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Fish Curry with Coconut Milk

Ingredients:

• Fish : ½ kg
• Onion : 1 
• Garlic : 2 Tbsp
• Ginger : 1 Tbsp
• Green chilly : 5
• Curry leaves 
• Chilly powder : 2 Tsp
• Turmeric pdr : ½ Tsp
• Coriander powder : ½ Tsp
• Thick coconut milk : 1 cup
• Semi-thick coconut milk : 1½ cup
• Kudampuli (Malabar tamarind, fish tamarind) : 2 pieces
• Dry chilly : 3
• Mustard seeds : 1 Tsp
• Fenugreek seeds : ¼ Tsp
• Shallots : few
• Coconut oil : 3 Tbsp
• Salt

Clean and cut the fish into medium pieces. Soak kudampuli in a little water and keep it aside. Put the fish into a chatti (clay pot) along with sliced onion, garlic, green chilly, curry leaves, chilly powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, 1 tbsp of oil and salt. Combine all the ingredients well and keep it aside for 15 minutes. Then, add the soaked kudampuli and semi-thick coconut milk and mix it. Cover and cook it in medium flame. Then, reduce the flame and pour the thick coconut milk. Heat it for a couple of minutes and remove it from fire. Heat coconut oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds. When it splutters, add sliced shallots, curry leaves and dry chilly. Saute it for a few minutes and pour it over the fish curry. Serve it with hot rice.

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