Masala Egg Fry

Masala Egg fry is a simple and quick recipe that could be put together in minutes. It’s slightly similar to the Egg roast recipe, except we use very less ingredients in it. It consist of hard-boiled egg fried with some mild Indian spices. 

So let’s get started.

INGREDIENTS

3 boiled eggs

2 tbsp cooking oil

½ tsp mustard seeds

½ tsp saunf/fennel seeds

5-6 curry leaves

salt - as per taste

1 tsp red chilli powder

½ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp gram masala powder

Method

1. Boil and peel the eggs, cut into two halves lengthwise.

2. Heat oil in a pan, crackle the mustard seeds add saunf / fennel seeds along with curry leaves and fry for few minutes.

3. When the onions have turned soft and cooked; reduce the flame and add chilli powder, turmeric powder, gram masala powder and salt. Mix well and fry for a minute.

4. Now add the eggs, stir well such the eggs are completely coated with the masala and let it fry for 2 minutes in a medium flame.

5. Now turn off the flame, transfer it to a serving dish.

This can be served with roti’s and rice.

Kerala style Kale and Mushroom Thoran / Kale and Mushroom stir fry with coconut(Kerala style)

Kale is a popular vegetable, a member of the cabbage family It is related to cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and brussels sprouts. Kale, like other leafy greens, is very high in antioxidants. This includes beta-carotene, vitamin C, as well as various flavonoids and polyphenols. Kale is much higher in vitamin C than most other vegetables, containing about 4.5 times much as spinach. Kale Can Help Lower Cholesterol, Which May Reduce The Risk of Heart Disease. Kale is one of the world’s best sources of vitamin K, with a single raw cup containing almost 7 times the recommended daily amount. Kale is actually loaded with compounds that are believed to have protective effects against cancer. Kale is very high in beta carotene, an antioxidant that the body can turn into vitamin A.

I had heard from my aunt in US that she makes thoran with kale and it turns out quite delicious. The other day went I went for grocery shopping I picked up some fresh kale. I decided to make kale thoran with some mushrooms. This is a very simple recipe that can be made up in few minutes and will be definitely a winner in your dining table.

Here you go…. Kale thoran with mushrooms. Do try it and share your comments….

Ingredients:

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds, crushed slightly to bring out the flavor

1 small clove of garlic, chopped fine (optional)

About 4 cups finely shredded Kale

1 cup mushrooms, chopped into small cubes

1/4 tsp pepper powder

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp salt or per taste

1/2 cup freshly grated coconut

Method:

Take a medium size wok or a large skillet and heat the coconut oil in it. When hot lower heat to medium and add the mustard seeds. When they start spluttering, add the crushed cumin seeds and the garlic. Sauté for about 30 seconds and chopped mushrooms. Cook in in medium flame till the water evaporates completely. Now add the greens, stir fry for a minute and add turmeric powder, pepper powder and the salt. Cover and steam for about 1 minute. Open the lid and add the grated coconut and stir well for another minute or until completely dry. Turn the heat off.

Serve hot with rice/roti.

Carrot Thoran Kerala Style - Carrot Stir Fry

On our today’s menu we have a very basic and simple recipe that goes well with steamed rice. Thoran is a coconut based vegetable Keralite dish. Thoran is a predominant menu item for a sadhya along with other dishes. The chopped vegetable is mixed together with grated coconut, mustard seeds, curry leaves and turmeric powder and briefly stirred on a pan over a very hot fire.

Today we will be making a thoran out of carrot, a favorite vegetable of many. This vegetable is highly packed with all the essential nutrients.

Here you go….Do try it and share your comments….

Ingredients:

Carrot, grated - 2 cup

Coconut oil / any cooking oil – 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds  -  1/4 tsp

Onion chopped- ½ cup

Green chilies chopped- 2 nos

Garlic chopped – 1 tsp

Curry leaves- few

Cumin powder  -  1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder  - 1/4 tsp

Salt to taste

Grated coconut  -   ¾ cup

Method:

Wash the Carrot and peel and grated it. Combine together grated carrot, cumin powder, turmeric powder and salt to taste in a mixing bowl. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, let it splutter. Now add onion, green chilies, garlic, curry leaves and fry for 2 minutes. Then add the prepared carrot and sauté for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat and cook with lid on for few minutes or until it is almost done. Remove the lid and add grated coconut and mix well. Cook for 2 minutes.  This thoran can be served with rice.

Punjabi Raw Mango Pickle - Raw mango pieces smeared with Indian spices

This is my 100th post!!! I am too excited and wanted this to be very special. So I decided this post should be a recipe that had got me lots of kudos!. My Punjabi Mango pickle has been a favorite one for most of our family and friends…..So here I am gonna share this recipe with my readers. I hope you will surely love this Authentic Punjabi mango pickle.

As the summer season has already started and everyone is busy making pickles or should be!!! The yearly stock of mango pickle would be high on the to-do list for most of us.

I had already posted the Raw Mango pickle –Kerala style. So this year I want to share my specialty  Punjabi mango pickle, The spice blend in Punjabi mango pickle is slightly different from the regular mango pickle .The spices are slightly crushed, the addition of kalonji(nigella seeds) and ajwain gives it a wonderful taste and flavor.

Here you go….Do try it and share your comments….

Ingredients:

3 kgs Raw Mango

250 grams Fenugreek Seeds

150 grams Mustard Seeds

250 grams Fennel Seeds

4 tsp Nigella Seeds / Kalonji

3 tsp Carom Seeds / Ajwain

3 tbsp Peppercorns

8 tbsp Red Chilli powder

7 tsp Turmeric Powder

3 tsp Asafoetida

300 grams Salt

1 litre Mustard Oil

Method:

1. Dry the whole spices for a day in bright sunlight to remove the moisture.
2. Coarsely crush mustard, fennel and fenugreek seeds.
3. Kalonji and ajwain should be added whole, so no need to crush or grind them.
4. Wash and wipe mangoes with a cloth napkin.
5. Heat mustard oil to smoking point and then let it come to room temperature.
6. Chop raw mangoes into medium or small size pieces as per your liking.
7. In a big and wide bowl add the crushed spices and all the powdered spices along with the chopped mango pieces.
8. Mix well and keep it covered for a day.
9. Next day cover the bowl with a muslin cloth and keep in sunlight for few hours.
10. Also keep the storage jar in sunlight for a day and dry it completely, now transfer the mango pickle to this jar after a day.
11. Add the mustard oil in the jar, the oil should be at least 1 inch above the pickle level.
12. Cover the jar with the lid and let it mature for a week before start using.

This delicious Mango Pickle stays fresh till it lasts:)

Broccoli and Mushroom Soup

Today was a sunny day and as the day turned to dusk it started to rain and got colder. To make myself warm I had to whip up a soup. I have been sharing some classic recipes in the past few weeks that, while not glamorous, are just solid recipes for every-day dishes. I had broccoli and mushroom in my refrigerator and so I turned them into a creamy delicious soup. Beyond being incredibly delicious, this soup is ready to eat in just about 20 minutes. The real beauty of this soup is that you can walk in to the kitchen, throw together just a few ingredients and then walk out with a bowl of delicious soup in minutes.

This Broccoli and mushroom soup is not just a simple soup to make but it’s also comforting and nutritious too.

Here you go….Do try it and share your comments….

Ingredients:

Fresh mushrooms – 1½cup sliced (I used button mushrooms)

Broccoli – 1 cup(chopped medium-small size)

Chicken broth – 1 ½ cups

Onion – ½ cup chopped

Dried thyme – ¼ tsp

Butter - 3 tbsp

All-purpose flour - 3 tbsp

salt - ¼ tsp

Ground black pepper - ¼ tsp

Cream – ½ cup

Method:

In a large heavy saucepan, cook mushrooms in the broth with chopped broccoli, onion and thyme until tender, about 10 to 15 minutes.

In blender or food processor, puree the mixture, leaving some chunks of vegetable in it. Set aside.

In the saucepan, melt the butter, whisk in the flour until smooth. Add the salt, pepper, cream and vegetable puree.

Stirring constantly, bring soup to a boil and cook until thickened.

Adjust seasonings to taste.

Serve hot.

Andhra Style Brinjal Fry / Brinjal Stir Fry in Indian Spices

Brinjal /baingan, also called by names like aubergine and eggplant in the western world; this purple fleshy vegetable is a versatile thing and fun to cook with. Brinjal, is a very low calorie vegetable and has healthy nutrition profile. The peel or skin (deep blue/purple) of brinjal has significant amounts of phenolic flavonoid, an anti-oxidants that has potential health effects against cancer, aging, inflammation, and neurological diseases. It contains good amounts of essential B-complex vitamins. Further, this vegetable is an excellent source of minerals like manganese, copper, iron and potassium.

This vegetable can be cooked in many different ways. Today we are going to do an Andhra style Brinjal fry. This tastes yummy and goes well with Rice and Dhal/ Sambhar.

Ingredients:

Brinjal / baingan - 250 grams

Red chili powder - ½ tbspn

Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Mustard - ½ tspn

Cumin- ½ tspn

Pinch of  Hing

Turmeric powder – ¼ tspn

garlic – 4 to 5 Cloves chopped

Coriander Powder – 1 tbspn

Salt to taste

Oil – 2 or 3 tbsp.

Method:

Wash the Brinjals, cut them into medium size cubes and keep them aside in water.

Heat oil in a wide pan, add cumin, mustard, and allow them to splutter. Now add chopped garlic, sauté till garlic turns slightly brown.

Add the brinjal, turmeric powder, hing and salt and mix well, reduce the heat and allow them to cook with lid on. After some 3 to 4 mins add chilli powder, turmeric powder & Coriander powder toss on a medium flame, till they are cooked.

Add curry leaves and stir everything well. Cover and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on a low flame.

Serve hot with rice.

Restaurant Style Chilli Chicken / Chilli chicken recipe

Chicken is one meat that is a favoriterea of all beyond belief! When cooked, it can be presented in many guises. Sauté it, fry it, toss it, bake it, steam it – eat it the way you want to. Chilli chicken is one of the most popular Indo-Chinese style chicken appetizer or starter that is served in Chinese restaurants across the globe. Vegetarian alternates to this are chilli paneer, chilli mushroom, chilli gobi(cauliflower) and tofu chilli… Boneless chicken (fillets or cubes) are marinated in soya sauce, chilli sauce and pepper. Then deep fried and then seasoned in sauces. It’s spicy, it’s got a crunch from the flour coating over the chicken and the capsicum, and it’s really quite delicious.

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken 500 grams

Red chilli crushed – 1 tspn

Onion – 1 medium, big cubes

Green Bell Pepper/Capsicum – 1 medium, big cubes

Oil 2 tablespoons

Garlic chopped 5-6 cloves

Ginger chopped one-inch pieces

Tomato ketchup – 2 tbspns

Soya Sauce – 2 tbspns

Chilli sauce – 2 tbspns

Salt to taste

Cornflour/ corn starch – 1 tbspn

Egg 2

Spring onion greens 2-3

Method:

Cut the boneless chicken into one to one and a half inch sized pieces. Heat oil in a pan, add chopped garlic, ginger, onion & capsicum and sauté for two minutes. Add tomato ketchup, soya sauce, half of the chilli sauce and mix. Add one cup of water and mix.

Once the mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat and let it simmer for five to ten minutes. Meanwhile take chicken pieces in a bowl. Add salt, remaining chilli sauce, cornstarch, half of the crushed red chillies and mix.

Add a whole egg and mix. Heat sufficient oil in a wok and deep-fry the chicken pieces taking care that they do not overcook. Fry on high heat for two to three minutes for colour only.

Drain onto an absorbent paper. Add salt and the remaining crushed red chillies to the sauce and stir. Add cornstarch blended in water. Cook, stirring continuously, till the sauce thickens.

Arrange the fried chicken pieces on a serving plate. Beat one egg. Remove the sauce from heat and add the beaten egg slowly in one flow. Mix gently and pour over the fried chicken pieces.

Garnish with spring onion greens and serve hot as an appetizer or main dish with fried rice, Schezwan fried rice, Hakka noodles or Schezwan noodles.

Recipe Source: SanjeevKapoor.com!!!

Easy Hummus Recipe / Make your own Hummus

Hummus typically an Egyptian food dip or spread made from cooked, mashed chickpeas or other beans, blended with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic. Today, it is popular throughout the Middle East (including Turkey), North Africa (including Morocco), and in Middle Eastern cuisine around the globe. As an appetizer and dip, hummus is scooped with flat bread, such as pita. It is also served as an accompaniment to falafel, grilled chicken and fish.  It’s generally garnished with whole chick peas, a sprinkling of paprika and a drizzle of olive oil. Some of the other garnishes that goes with it are chopped tomato, cucumber, coriander, parsley, caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms.

Looking at the nutrition aspect home-made hummus is an excellent source of vitamin B6, manganese and dietary fiber. It is a good source of protein, vitamin C, folate, phosphorus, iron, zinc, copper and sodium.

I am personally a great fan of Hummus, it’s a great dip and quite easy to prepare. Here’s the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed ( 200 gms if using dried chickpeas, soaked it for 4 hrs and cook till its soft)

1 medium garlic clove, peeled and smashed

Juice of 1 medium lemon

1/4 cup roasted tahini

1/4 cup water, plus more as needed

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to serve

Salt to taste

Paprika for garnish

Method:

Place chickpeas, garlic, half of the lemon juice, tahini, water, olive oil, and a big pinch of salt in a food processor fitted with a blade attachment and process until smooth. If the hummus is too thick, add in more water, a tablespoon at a time, until the desired consistency is reached. Check Taste, adjust salt and lemon juice as needed. To serve, place in a bowl, make a small cavity of hummus like a swirl. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle some paprika.

Karamani mezhukkupuratti or Long Beans Stir Fry

Karamani or Yard long beans are a good source of protein, vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, iron, phosphorus, and potassium, and an excellent source for vitamin C, folate, magnesium and manganese. They are also rich in fiber.

Our today recipe is a simple stir fry and can be served with rice, Dhal/ Sambhar and also goes well with roti.

Ingredients:

Karamani or Long Beans - 1 cup(cut into 1½  inch pieces)

Fresh Coconut thin pieces – 2 tbspn

Onions – 1 medium ( sliced)

Red chillies flakes – ¼ tspn

Mustard seeds – ½ tsp

Curry leaves – 7 to 8 nos

Turmeric powder – ¼  tsp

Green chillies –  1 to 2 nos

Oil - 3 tsp

Salt - As reqd

Method:

Boil water with ½ tspn salt and add cut beans to it and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Have an ice bath ready and plunge the beans into it to stop cooking.

Heat oil in a pan. Crackle mustard seeds, add sliced onions, when it starts tp become brown add curry leaves, chilli flakes and green chilly.

To this mixture, add cooked long beans and mix well, Sauté well, close the lid and allow it to cook in a low to medium heat. Check and adjust salt accordingly. No need to add water. Stir occasionally. This should take 2 to 3 minutes.

Karamani or Long beans mezhukkupuratti is ready to be served. Serve hot with steamed rice and sambar/rasam or any rice variety.

Peanut Chutney / Groundnut Chutney

Groundnut is just another term for peanut. This protein rich peanut chutney is made quite often at our home for breakfast. Coconut and Peanuts make and awesome combination for Chutneys. Peanuts elevate a simple Coconut Chutney to the next level.

Ingredients:

Grated Coconut – 1 cup (fresh or frozen)

Dry Roasted Peanuts – a small handful

Red Chillies – 1 or 2 (Alter according to your spice tolerance)

Peeled Ginger – a small piece

Salt – to taste

Water – 1/4 cup

For Tempering:

Oil – 1 tsp

Mustard Seeds – 1/4 tsp

Sliced Shallots – 2

Curry Leaves – a small sprig

Method:

Grind coconut, peanuts, red chillies and ginger along with water to form a medium-thick paste.

If the paste is too thick, you can add a little more water. Season with salt( At our home we like it little thick)

You could also add tempering to it. I have not did it as I prefer it as it is.

Steps for tempering:

Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds. Throw in the shallots and curry leaves and quickly sauté for a few seconds. Pour the coconut-peanut paste into the pan. Stir everything and remove from heat.