Vegetable Fried rice

In our house fried rice is a quick meal any time of the day, sometimes we eat it for breakfast/brunch on weekends and in very busy days it satisfies us at dinner time. Fried rice is my family favorite way of eating rice and vegetables.

This recipe is very easy to make as the ingredients are simply stir fried for few mins, that not only retains their crunch but also their nutrition. Cooking with a medley of colored vegetables gives a great color and an immense flavor to the dish. For me,the more variety of veggies, the better it taste.

I love broccoli and started to introduce it to my kids. I am glad, my Elder one loved it, I have to work little more with my younger one.

Ingredients-

• cups cooked rice (cooled to room temp)
• 1 small onions cut length wise (optional)
• 1 carrot cut in an angle
• 1 stalk celery  cut at angle
• 1 Red bell pepper cut in strips
• 1 cup shredded cabbage
• 1 cup broccoli florets washed and cut
• 10 sugar snap peas cut in half
• green onions chopped to an angle
• garlic cloves finely minced
• eggs
• Salt and pepper according to taste
• 2 tbsps sesame oil
• 4 dry red chilies or to taste ( for todays recipe, my DH wants to have extra spicy, so I put in mix of dry red chilies and thai green chilies)
• 1/4cup Soya sauce
• Note- You can substitute frozen vegetables instead of fresh

Vegetable Fried rice ingredients

Directions-

1. Heat the  wok or a wide skillet to smoking hot, add oil and sauté red chilies(if using green chilies, good time to add them to), garlic for few seconds
2. Add onions, white part of green onions, carrots, bell pepper, celery and sauté them for 2 mins on high heat with constant stirring.
3. If the pan is wide enough to push the vegetables to a side do so (if not, remove the veggies to another plate) and in the middle of the pan, crack eggs and make a quick scrambled egg and mix well with all the veggies ( make sure the veggies are not over cooked, we want to retain the crunch)
4. Add broccoli, sugar snaps, sauté them for 2 mins.
5. Add cooked, cooled rice, pepper (if needed) and mix well. Add soya sauce and stir-fry rice till everything is mixed well. Adjust the taste if needed.
6. Garnish with spring onions and serve warm.

Vegetable Fried rice (Indo- Chinese fried rice)

chicken-65

Chicken 65 is a spicy, deep-fried chicken dish popular in South India as an entree, or quick snack.

There are many stories for how the name came out, I heared that it is simply the 65^th item on the menu, not sure of how true it is though. If we keep the question of how the name came about , the taste is certainly delectable to all non-veg lovers.

I call this, the Indian version of chicken nuggets.

I don’t stock Azinomotto in my pantry because of its controversies. Instead, I use the regular salt.

Let’s whip up this ever popular comforting food.

Ingredients -

• Chicken – 1 lb( Boneless chicken cut in to small pieces, I always use thigh portion as it is juicy and soft, one can use the breast piece  )
• 2 tsp Corn Flour
• 1tbsp All purpose (maida) flour
• 1 Egg
• 1 tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
• 1 tsp Garam Masala
• 1 tbsp salt
• 2 tbsp Red Chili Powder
• 1/2 tsp Red Food Colour
• 2 tsp Vinegar
• Curd (Yogurt) – 1/2 to 3/4 cups
• Oil – For Deep Frying
• 5 Green Chilies slit length wise
• Curry Leaves – 20
• Lemon juice – 4 tbl spoon
• 2 dry red chilies
• 1 tbsp ginger finely chopped
• 1 tbsp Garlic chopped
• 1 stalk of green onions

Directions-

1. Wash and cut chicken into ½ inch pieces.
2. To the chicken add yogurt , salt, ginger garlic paste, black pepper, salt and mix well. Leave aside for 20 min.
3. Add corn flour and all purpose flour, mix well and leave aside for 10 minutes.
4. Break egg into the chicken and mix (Caution: Do not whip the egg, just mix it.)
5. Heat oil in a frying pan  and fry the chicken in batches (while frying do not over crowd). Immediately after adding chicken reduce heat and fry for 3-4 minutes. ( don’t over fry, 5 minutes is more than enough to cook the chicken).
6. Keep the fried chicken aside.
7. In a wide skillet, heat 1 tbsp oil, add Jeera (cumin) and one red chili, add ginger and stir fry in low heat for 15 seconds.Add chopped garlic and stir fry to light brown, add curry leaves stir and add chopped green  chili.
8. Add black pepper powder, cumin and chili powder stir (remove from heat time to time to prevent burn out)
   Add vinegar , keep stirring. Taste the sauce and add required salt to taste. ( The chicken already has some salt)
   add red color mixed in 1 tbsp water, stir and add 3 tbsp water or more to make a thick sauce. ( The sauce consistency should be such that after mixing the chicken, it should not be too dry or too sticky and fluid.)
9. Stir the sauce well and with heat, add the chicken and mix well under low heat so that the sauce is well coated. Remove from heat and keep mixing.
10. The water in sauce will percolate into the chicken to some extent. So wait for some time to assess if you need more heating to drive some extra moisture out.
11. Garnish with chopped green onions and lemon juice ( optional)
12. Eat as a starter, snack or with roti, rice.
13. NOTE: Dont over fry chicken. This size of the pieces should be tender within 3 minutes and one can eat straight after frying. Unnecessary frying will make the chicken hard and  dry.

You can fry excess amount of chicken and store in deep fridge for future use, not only for this also for all kinds of Indo-Chinese chicken dishes.
Add as much chili as you want. The red color is a traditional addition to dish and has nothing to do with the taste. But without the red color, no one will recognize it as chicken 65

chicken-65

Banana nut bread big size for adults and mini for my kid

Today, we had banana nut bread for break fast which is very healthy, unbelievably simple to make and absolutely moist and delicious. Earlier, I posted a banana nut muffin recipe that comes in a much cuter packs but this is the healthiest and tastes awesome.

Adding walnuts (high in omega 3) to this bread gives a very nice crunch and taste. You have to try it, to believe it.

I made 2 breads, bigger one for my DH and me and the mini version for my kid who loved and wanted in his lunch box.

Good idea as a break fast or evening snack.

I am considering this recipe under 30 min, since the prep time is less than 30 min and you can stick it in the oven until it is done.

healthy Banana nut bread with honey

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour ( use the 100 % stone ground whole wheat flour, it is the right flour to use, do not try with the wheat or atta flour that we use to make roti or chapathi)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup mashed bananas (3 large bananas mashed)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, beat oil and honey together. Add eggs, and mix well.
3. Stir in mashed bananas and vanilla. Stir in flour and salt. Add baking soda to hot water, stir to mix, and then add to batter.
4. 

   Banana nut bread batter

5. Blend in chopped nuts. Spread batter into a greased 9×5 inch loaf pan.
6. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 1/2 hour before slicing.

Our break fast- healthy Banana nut bread

Grill Cheese sandwich with french fries

As the name says it all, grill cheese sandwich is a simple treat made up of two slices of bread with cheese melted in between. The sandwich may be grilled for a fancier look, but, it is mostly pan fried. Any type of cheese and any type of bread will do.The grilled cheese sandwich is obviously served hot; however its ungrilled counterpart, the cheese sandwich, can be served cold. Often simply a sandwich made from simple bread (sometimes buttered) with cheese set between, the cheese sandwich is a tasty alternative.

Due to its superior melting factor, American cheese is the most popular cheese chosen for a grilled cheese sandwich. Cheddar and Swiss take second and third places. But don’t follow the crowd, follow your taste.

This is one my son favorite breakfast item.

Ingredients-

• 2 slices of Sandwich bread
• 1 American cheese slice (use your choice of cheese)
• 1 tsp of unsalted butter

Directions-

1. Spread butter evenly on one side of each piece of bread.
2. Place American cheese slice(s) on the side without butter. This gets the cheese slice between the 2 breads
3. Heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat and place the sandwich with the butter-side out.
4. Cook the sandwich for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until golden and the cheese is melted. Serve hot.

Grilled cheese sandwich goes excellent with potato chips or French fries.

French fries

This is a Kids all time favorite and a great evening snack on cool days.

Ingredients-

• 3 large potatoes cut into strips (russet potatoes are recommended, but i used the red potatoes, came out great)
• Oil for deep frying
• ¼ tsp Salt
• ½ tsp chili powder

French fries

Directions-

1. Cut the potatoes into strips and soak the potato strips in cold water for at least .30 min at room temperature.(Soaking is key—this removes the starch, keeps the potatoes from sticking together, and eliminates the sugars that prevent the potatoes from achieving maximum crispness.) Drain well and pat dry with paper towels.
2. Heat oil in wide pan and fry the potato strips in hot oil until golden brown and tender.
3. Drain the homemade french fries on paper towels then keep warm in the oven while frying remaining batches.
4. Take out all the French fries and season with salt and chili powder. ( alternatively,  you can use fresh ground black pepper also)

Go ahead, make some at home, and munch on them without feeling guilty.

Spicy French Fries with Cheese sandwich

Boondi laddu

Hope every one had a safe and happy diwali.  We went to temple and they gave sparkles to all kids (both my elder and yonger got them). My elder son had so much fun with them, while my younger son is hesitent to touch them, my eldest took the pleasure of having all the sparkles. I made rangoli with color sand and decorated my house with lighting and enjoyed food with family and friends.  so, altogether we had a memorable day..

I made my all time favorite sweet Boondi laddoo. I remember my early days in US, when I used to crave for this laddo and I cannot find it anywhere. One fine day, my friend and I started to collect the recipe by calling so many friends and  relatives and all we hear is, no… we don’t know!! and ‘ohh..my..it is tough to make’..kind of words. Anyway, we got this recipe from my friend relative and from then we been doing it. Don’t be skeptic, all it needs is another person you can chit chat with, I called my neighbor to chit chat with me while doing this.

Ingredients-

• 3 cups Besan (Senagapindi / Gram flour)
• 3 cups sugar
• 4 cups water
• 1 tbsp cardamom
• 20 cashew nuts
• 15- 20 raisins
• Pinch of  edible camphor
• 2 tbsp Ghee (clarified butter)
• oil for deep frying

Boondi laddu

Directions-

1. Take besan (senagapindi) flour and add 2 cups of water to it. Make a thick paste (this will prevent lumps) to this thick paste, add 2 cups of water to make it to a dosa batter consistency
2. Another quick check is, pour 1 tbsp of batter onto the boondi ladle, the batter should drip immediately with out much effort.
3. Heat a heavy bottom vessel and prepare sugar syrup by adding 1 cup of water to 3 cups of sugar.
4. Let the sugar melt on low heat (since we are working with 3 cups of flour, by the time all the flour is done, our syrup will be ready. If you are working with less amount of flour, you can make this syrup ahead)
   Heat oil In a deep bottom pan. The oil should be hot enough. When you drop a small drop of batter in the oil, it should immediately bubble up. Note-The oil temperature is also an important aspect to make perfect boondi. If the temperature of the oil reduces the boondi will stick together. The boond’is should cook and come up separately.
5. Take the boondi ladle(perforated ladle) and pour a ladle of batter and make boondi. Fry them for ½ min and take them into a bowl. To see if the boondi is perfectly cooked for laddus, press one in between your finger. It should get squeezed in, instead of cracking and breaking into pieces.
6. Following the above step, make boondi with all the batter.
7. The consistency of syrup is the key point (this is the reason why many are reluctant to try this sweet), here are few ways you can identify the right consistency-

• Take a small bowl with 2 tbsp water. Add 3 drops of sugar syrup into the bowl of water, the sugar syrup should come together to form a soft ball.
• Take a wooden spoon and dip into sugar syrup (just dip it, to coat the spoon), raise the spoon to your eye level and pour the syrup, the last drop of the syrup should form a single string when dripping down.
• Take a wooden spoon and dip into sugar syrup (just dip it, to coat the spoon), carefully take the syrup between your thumb and index finger. Now, stretch it little and see if you can get a single string.

1. When the syrup is ready, add crushed cardamom powder and edible camphor ( nice aroma spreads all over your house). Cover the syrup with a lid so that it does not crystallize.
2. Heat ghee in a small pan and fry cashew nuts and raisins till golden brown.
3. Add boondi, cashews and raisins to the sugar syrup and mix them thoroughly. Let it cool little bit so that we can handle ( it should be atleast little warm, if it is too cold, it’s hard to make laddus).
4. Take handful of boondi’s and with our other hand press it hard. Now, make real tight fist so that the boondis can hold together. It surely needs practice don’t hesitate, do it and you’ll get it.

Enjoy these traditional home made boondi laddos.

Boondi laddu

Rava Laddu

Diwali reminds of crackers and sweets.  I remeber the days when i would go shopping with my dad to buy crackers for me and my brother. I count my sparkles 10 times or more to make sure, my brother has not taken them.  I love to go shopping with my dad, he used to talk about his work and he is extremely hilarious, i really miss those days.  When i go to India, i urge my dad to take me shopping with him.

Here is a sweet recipe for all my viewers.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fine Semolina aka  soojji (Bombai Rawa)
• 1 cup fine Sugar (if you have fine sugar like in US, don’t need to grind it. Other wise grind it)
• 1 cup Grated Fresh Coconut (frozen fresh shredded coconut also works good as long as it is thawed to room temp)
• 5 Cardamoms (open the pod and powder the seeds)
• small piece of Edible Camphor or Pachha Karpuram powdered (Optional)
• few Raisins
• few Cashew Nuts
• Ghee – 1tsp
• Milk For Binding Laddoos (I used ¼ cup)

Rava laddu ingredients (semolina / sooji, fresh shredded coconut, sugar, cardomom)

Ravva Laddoo

Directions-

1. Heat 1 tbsp of ghee in a pan and fry semolina on low flame with constant stirring or sauteing until you smell nice aroma from ravva. Take this into a wide dish.
2. Fry the grated coconut in the pan till dry.
3. In a wide dish, add fried semolina, fried grated coconut, sugar and mix them well.
4. Add powdered cardamom and camphor (optional) to the above mixture.
5. Heat 1 tsp of ghee in a pan and fry raisins, when fried they puff up, Take care not to over fry which would spoil the taste. Remove the raisins and fry cashew nut pieces in the same ghee till golden brown.
6. Add the fried raisins and cashew nut pieces to the semolina mixture and mix well.
7. Add small quantity of milk to the mixture and mix (1 tbsp of milk at a time).
8. Take a fistful of the wet mixture and make laddoos. Add milk in small quantities only as and when required. Note- If you add the milk all at once, the mixture would become soggy and you can’t make laddoos. Go little at a time.
9. Arrange laddoos in a plate side by side to dry and enjoy these mouth watering laddoos.

Ravva Laddoo

pesarapappu murukku (janthikallu)

As diwali is nearing by, I am busy in my kitchen making different snacks and sweets. I feel like I am cooking for some marathon.

No festival is complete with out savors and sweets. When it comes to savors, Murukulu or janthikallu are always on the top of the list for generations.

This is my great grandmother speciality recipe (my great grand mother who is a wonderful cook, sure has magic in her fingers, anything she makes is utterly finger licking) for making muruku. Instead of roasting the dal and powdering it, she pressure cooks dal and make these murukku that are irresistibly delicious and adored by every one. Best of all no butter or oil while kneading the dough, yet they come out hollow, crunchy and delicious.

A healthy evening snack.

We can use the same recipe for making urad dal muruku or janthikalu.

pesarapappu murukulu (janthikallu)

Ingredients-

• 1 cup Pesara pappu (moongdal)
• 3 cups RiceFlour
• 2 Tbsp sesame seeds (nuvvulu)
• 1 tsp salt  or to taste
• 1 tsp Red chili powder or as to taste

muruku process starting from left top

Directions-

1. Pressure cook, moong dal (pesara pappu) for 4 whistles.
2. Let all the pressure cool off. Open the cooker lid, If you have any left over water in moong dal, drain it into a bowl and save it for kneading.
3. Mash dal with a hand blender or a grinder, into a smooth paste.
4. To this smooth paste, add 3 cups rice flour, salt, sesame seeds and red chili powder. Mix it thoroughly until the mixture turns into a dry powder.
5. Add ¼ cup of warm water( heat water for 30 sec in micro wave or if you have left over water after pressure cooking dal, please use it. Don’t waste the protein!!) and knead the dough to get a soft ball. By the end of the kneading process, the dough should not stick to your hand. (if it is sticking to your hand, you added more water than required, just add little rice flour and adjust it.

If it is too dry to form a ball, just add little more water)

1. Divide the dough into batches so that each batch can be filled into the Muruku press.
2. Heat a wide heavy bottomed vessel with enough oil for deep frying. Take the muruku press and use the disc with a star hole or a medium round hole.
3. Fill the press with the dough and once the oil is hot, reduce to medium flame and using circular motion, press the muruku gun (press) to make good circles. While pressing the dough into the hot oil, you will find the oil froth up in bubbles which will eventually subside as the murukku turn to a golden shade. Remember the frying has to be done on medium flame to achieve that golden color and crispness.
4. While frying a batch of murukku, cover the rest of the dough to prevent it from forming a cake (dry layer)
5. TIP1- When the oil froth subsides down, take a fork and tap the murukku, you will feel the hardness of murukku when tapping, a quick way of knowing that they are well cooked.
6. TIP2-Since the dal is pressure cooked, these murukku will not get dark brown unlike the murukku or janthikallu we make with dry flour. If your murukku turns dark brown then you have over cooked it.
7. When the janthikalu turn a golden color, turn over to the other side and let it also cook to a golden brown. Use a slotted ladle to remove onto an absorbent paper and cool. Repeat the same process till the rest of the dough is done. Cool completely before storing in an air tight container.

pesarapappu murukku

Garellu

In my house, no festival is completed without garelu, pulihora and payasam. During the festive days, almost all the south Indian kitchens, back at home end up with more or less the same menu.

Ulli Garelu ( that’s how I love to call) are so crunchy and is packed with protein. we have so many protein based breakfast choices  like Idli, dosa, pesarattu, ragi dosa, sajja dosa, etc..

Ingredients-

• 1 cup whole urad dal (black gram dal, Minapappu)
• 2″ ginger chopped
• 6 green chillies chopped
• 1 big onion finely chopped
• 1 small bunch of coriander leaves chopped
• 1 big stalk of curry leaves (washed and chopped)
• 1 tbsp Cumin (Jeera) seeds
• salt to taste
• oil for deep frying

steps to make garelu / vada

Directions-

1. Soak whole urad dal in water (dal should soak completely in water) for 5-6 hours.
   Strain the water from the dal and grind the soaked dal to a paste in small batches sprinkling little water and salt (Dough for garelu should be very thick)
2. While grinding the dal, add ginger and green chillies to the grinder as well. (We don’t want our kids to accidentally bite a green chili or ginger)
3. After we grind all the dal to a smooth paste, add chopped onions, cumin seeds, curry leaves and coriander leaves to the batter and mix well.
4. Take a deep frying vessel and add enough oil for deep frying.
5. When the oil is hot(drop a piece of dough and the dough should immediately rise to the top), wet your hands with water and take a golf sized ball and flatten it into a vada on a wet paper towel or banana leaf or wax paper.
   Make a hole in the centre of the garelu so that it cooks evenly all over. (look at the above pics)
6. Slowly drop it into the hot oil carefully and fry it on both sides on medium heat to a golden brown color.
7. Serve hot with peanut or coconut chutney. This can go excellent with chicken curry or mutton curry as well.

Garellu with coconut chutney

Dosa with Peanut chutney

Dosa needs no introduction to any south Indian. This south Indian break fast recipe is leaping the boundaries and is being very popular around the world. Every child loves dosa in one or other form.

Dosa is a crepe made from rice and Urad Dal (Black Lentils) batter. It is a typical dish in South Indian Cuisine, eaten for breakfast or dinner, and is rich in carbohydrates and Protein.

This is a basic batter recipe for plain dosa. The key of getting nice dosa is in fermenting the batter.

Ingredients-

• Urad dal – 1 cup
• Rice – 2 cups
• Fenugreek (Methi) seeds – 1 tbsp

Directions

1. Soak urad dal, rice and fenugreek seeds with sufficient water for 4 hours.
2. Grind this into smooth batter adding sufficient water.
3. Add the salt and allow the batter to ferment for atleast 8- 10 hours or overnight. (I cannot stress enough to let the dosa batter ferment to atlest 8 to 10 hrs, depending on the temperature)
4. Heat the tawa (or griddle), take a big spoonful of batter and put in the center of the pan, spread evenly (turning your hand into a round circle in clock wise or anti clock wise) until you get the required size of dosa.
5. Add a spoon of oil around the dosa and on top.
6. Once it starts turning brown, flip it onto the other side.
7. After a min take it out of pan and serve hot with coconut chutney or peanut chutney.

NOTE-

• I usually soak Urad dal and fenugreek seeds for 3 hrs, grind the mixture to a smooth paste and add rice flour (1:2 ratio) to the batter.
• Let this batter ferment over night or 8 to 10 hrs in a steel container which acts as a conductor of heat and helps the batter ferment.

Dosa with Peanut chutney

Soft Chapathi

Chapathi or Parathas are whole-wheat Indian flat-bread, a staple bread in north India. Parathas / chapathi can be made plain or stuffed with different fillings. Today, I am making a plain chapathi, easy to make and stay soft even for the next day.

Few years back, i used to buy different flours (quinova,  soya, millet, amaranth, crushed flaxseed, whole wheat etc) from an organic store and used to make healthy chapathi’s  for dinner. After having kids I’m being a bit lazy.  One of these days, i should make a stop at the local organic store and get in routine of making these mixed flour chapathi’s.

TIP to make soft chapathi or paratha or roti-

• when pan frying, donot flip them too many times. Flipping too many times makes the paratha hard. Same tip applies to Roti.
• Always heat tawa to  sizzling hot.
• Iron pan (tawa) is best suited for nice soft chapathi or paratha ( non stick pan works, unless when heated too many times  they release chemicals and the life of non stick pan reduces significantly)

My mom makes these chapathi’s in a breeze, it took a while for me to understand the tricks and now I am not a master, but I got better. You can make it too…practice..practice and more practice makes you better at each try.
Ingredients:
• 2 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 cup water (adjust as needed)
• Pinch of salt
• oil
• dry flour to roll

Directions-
1. In a bowl, mix the flour and salt. Add water and mix well until it forms soft dough (adjust the water as needed).
2. Knead the dough on a lightly greased surface. The dough should be very smooth and soft.
3. Set the dough aside and cover. Let the dough rest for at least ten minutes before rolling.
4. Heat the skillet on medium high. Note: An iron skillet works best.

5. Divide the dough into equal parts. Roll the dough into small circles. Spread about ½ tsp of oil and fold into half (now we get a half moon shape) put another ½ spoon of oil and fold from one edge of the half moon, we get a triangle.
6. Sprinkle the triangle with dry whole-wheat flour. Press it a little and start rolling on a clean surface with all sides almost equally rolled.
7. Place the chapathi over the skillet. When you see the color change and the paratha will puff in different places. Turn the chapathi over.
8. The chapathi should have golden-brown spots. Flip the paratha and lightly press the puffed areas of the chapathi with a spatula that will help chapathi to puff up more.
9. Flip again and press with the spatula making sure the paratha is golden-brown on both sides. ( try not to flip too many times, it will make paratha hard)
Serve this Chapathi (Paratha) with your favorite gravy vegetable (like Palak Paneer, Paneer butter masala) or gravy Non-Veg( like Chicken, Mutton).

These chapathi’s can be stored  in refrigerator  for a week.