Sweet and Sour Prawns

Ingredients

Prawns -250 gm or half pound (approx 20- 25 medium sized prawns)
Onion - 1 medium, cubed
Carrot - 1 medium, cubed
Tomato - 1 medium
Bell Pepper / Capsicum - 1/2
Pineapple pieces - 1/4 cup (optional)
Tomato sauce - 2-3 Tbsp
Vinegar - 1 tsp
Sugar - 2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil 

Marination

Egg - 1
Corn flour/ corn startch 1-tsp
All purpose flour / Maida - 1 tsp
Ajinomotto - a pinch
Water - 2 Tbsp
Salt 
Pepper - 1 tsp

How I made it

1. Whisk one egg and add the corn starch, all purpose flour , ajinomotto , water, salt and pepper. Marinate the prawns in this mixture for and hour and then fry them. Try not to overcook the prawns as they might turn rubbery. Also, later on we add the prawns to the vegetable stir fry and cook them again.

2. Heat some oil in a pan and add the onion, carrots, bell pepper, and saute for 3 - 4 minutes. To this, add the pineapple and tomato. Saute till the tomatoes turn soft.

3. Add the tomato sauce, sugar and salt and cook for another minute.

4. Add the fried prawns and combine well. You can add some pepper powder too if you like it spicy.

5. Turn off the stove and add 1 tsp vinegar and mix well. Serve hot.

Simple Pasta and Vegetable Salad

On a diet and tummy growling for food? Try this basic and healthy salad recipe and make your tummy happy with comparatively less calorie intake. The vegetable and pasta measurements can be totally altered to you liking.

Ingredients

Pasta (penne, farfalle/bow tie, spiral) any small sized pasta - 1/2 cup

Vegetables ( 3 to 4 cups)

Broccoli - small florets

Carrots - cubed

Cucumber - cubed

Cauliflower - cubed

Lettuce

Onions, Cherry tomatoes, Cabbage , Olives or any vegetable of your choice

Vinaigrette 

Extra virgin olive oil - 2 Tbsp

Red wine vinegar - 1 tsp

Garlic - 2 cloves finely chopped

Salt

Pepper

Dried Oregano, Basil - 1 tsp each

How I made it

1. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package. Drain the pasta and rinse in cold water.

2. Blanch (briefly boil and then plunge into cold running water) the broccoli and cauliflower florets.

3. Cut the vegetables into bite sized pieces.

4. Prepare the dressing by whisking together the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, oregano, basil, salt and pepper.

5. Combine the cooked pasta, the vinaigrette and the vegetables together and mix well till everything is evenly coated with the dressing.

6. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Meen Curry / Fish Curry with Coconut Powder

Fish curry is a favorite for many, back home in Kerala. Different variations of the fish curry can be found across the state. This is best when served with rice or Kappa (tapioca) curry. Most of the varieties include coconut in some form - grated, powdered or  roasted. I am sharing a simple recipe using coconut powder. 

Recipe Source - Amma
Time - 1 hour

Ingredients

Fish - 1 lb cut into cubes 
Onions -1 cut lengthwise
Tomato - 1/2 medium
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Dried red chilies -  2 nos
Coconut oil 
Salt

To make the curry paste 

Tamarind - a small piece
Garlic - 3 cloves
Ginger - 1" piece
Red chilly powder -1 Tbsp
Coriander powder - 2 Tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Fish curry masala - 2 Tbsp
Maggie coconut powder - 1 sachet

How I Made it

1.Grind all the ingredients to make the curry paste and keep aside.

2. Heat oil in a meen chatty /earthen ware (if u have) or a pan and splutter mustard seeds. Add the sliced onions and saute for a minute and then add the red chilies.

3. Add the sliced tomatoes and curry leaves and combine well.

4. After the tomatoes have turned soft, add the curry paste and water and allow it to come to a boil. There should be enough gravy to cover the fish pieces .

5. Add the fish pieces and cover and cook on a medium flame for 10 minutes. 

6. Open and check if the fish has cooked well. Cook for a few more minutes on a low flame to reduce the gravy. 

Beef Pepper Fry

Beef pepper fry

Ingredients

Beef - 1 kg cut into large chunks
Onions - 4 big ones
Soya sauce - 2 Tbsp
Green chilly - 5 to 10 nos depending on spice level
Freshly crushed pepper - 3 to 5 Tbsp
Water
Oil - 5 Tbsp
Salt 

How I make it

1. Add 2 cups of water to the beef and pressure cook it. We need some beef stock to remain in the cooker.
2. Take out the chunks of beef and cut them into small pieces.
3. Heat the oil in a pan and saute the onions till they are slightly brown. 

4. To the saute'd onions, add the beef stock and cook for a minute or two.

5. Add the beef 

6. Add the soy sauce and cook for 5 minutes

7. Finally add the freshly ground pepper and the green chilies. Make sure the flavor of the pepper dominate.

Oven Fried Chicken

Who doesn't love fried chicken? This healthier version is an easy dish to make on a lazy day.

Ingredients

Chicken - 4 nos.( Thighs, legs or breast ). I used thighs today.
Bread Crumbs - 2 cups
Eggs - 2
Salt - to taste
Pepper - 1-2 tsp
Parmesan Cheese - 1 tsp
Olive oil cooking spray
Seasonings (all or any combination)
Garlic Powder
Dried Oregano
Parsley Flakes
Chilly Flakes

How I baked it

1. Preheat the oven to 370F.

2. Beat the eggs and add a pinch of salt and pepper to it.

3. Prepare the Bread crumb mixture. If u are using Italian style bread crumbs, it is sufficient that you add salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese to it. Adding the garlic powder enhances the flavor.

Additionally, you can add any combination of seasonings.

4. Now get an assembly line ready - the egg mixture, the seasoned bread crumbs and the baking tray.

5. Dip each chicken piece first in the egg mixture, coat all the sides with the bread crumbs and shake the excess bread crumbs before placing on the baking tray.

6. Spray the chicken pieces with the cooking spray.

7. Place the tray on the middle rack and bake at 370F for 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on the size and number of chicken pieces. Keep turning the chicken every 15 minutes to evenly brown all sides.

Tips

Adding small cubes of butter on the chicken pieces towards the end of the baking .

7 Cups

When I got married and moved to the US, my cooking experience was almost null to the extend even my dad commented that i could only cook "water". My amma, the best cook in the world came up  with a plan and wrote me a book herself which had most of the recipes that we make at home. So when i decided to write the blog, I thought why not start off with a simple recipe from that book itself, which amma used to make when i was a kid. The recipe is 7 CUPS and it got the name because only 7 cups of ingredients are used in this. This is a variation of a Burfi and can even be called 7 Cup Besan Burfi .

Ingredients

Scraped coconut - 1 cup
Ghee / Clarified Butter - 1 cup
Milk - 1 cup
Besan / Chickpea Flour - 1 cup
Sugar - 3 cups
So, when you add up the quantities you get the recipe name itself.

Method

Mix all the ingredients together in a non stick or a heavy bottom saucepan and cook in a medium flame.

Stir continuously until the mixture starts leaving the sides of the pan and becomes like a dough.

Brush ghee onto a plate and transfer the mixture to it.
Smoothen the surface to quarter an inch thick.

Allow the mixture to cool for 20 minutes and then cut into any shape u like or even roll them up.
Cool to room temperature and store in airtight containers.