Happy New Year

A Very Happy New Year to all my Blog readers, Mail Subscribers, Facebook followers, Twitter followers, Google+ followers & Networked blog followers    !!!                                              

Salted Butter Biscuits

Salted Butter Biscuits

Tasty and crispy biscuits, goes well with tea / coffee … Basic recipe from Teatime favorites - The Kitchen Library by Brian Binns !!

Makes: 22 – 30

Everything for this recipe must be cold so that the butter is distributed in tiny particles throughout the dough.

Ingredients

350 g / 12 0z plain flour (maida)

½ teaspoon salt 

25 g butter + 175 g butter, chilled and cut into 5 mm (1/4 – inch) dice

6 tablespoon cold water

Method

Sift flour and salt into a bowl and  first rub in 25 g butter. Then add diced chilled butter and rub in until the   mixture resembles breadcrumbs. First sprinkle  3 tablespoon water and make a dough. Add remaining water to make a smooth dough. Turn onto a floured surface and shape into a flat disc. Wrap in cling film and chill for 1 hour.

Preheat oven (OTG) at 425 *F or 220 *C. Grease a baking dish / tray with 1 teaspoon butter / oil and keep aside.

When ready to roll out,  allow the dough to come back to room temperature. Flour a large work surface well and roll the dough out to about 5 mm / ¼ - inch thick.

Make biscuits with the help of a  biscuit cutter or with the help of an inverted lid.

 Leave enough space (1/2 - inch) between each biscuit  and bake for 25 - 30 minutes in 2 batches (bake 12 biscuits at a time – depending upon the size of the baking tray) or until they turn light golden  in color.

Remove from the oven  and keep aside to cool for 20 minutes  and store in an airtight container.

Onion Bhajis

Onion  Bhajis

An  easy and tasty deep fried snack, made of sliced onions and gram flour batter. Serve as a starter or with tea / coffee. A super quick deep fried snack in Indian cuisine !!! No added egg, baking powder, tikka masala …

Makes: 12 onion bhajis

Main Ingredients

2 onions, finely sliced

200 ml oil (to deep fry)

For gram flour batter:

½ cup (Indian standard measuring cup of 100 ml / 4 oz) gram flour (besan / kadala maav / chone pitti)

1 teaspoon rice flour (adding rice flour will make additional crispness)

½ teaspoon red chilli powder

¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

2 pinches hing (asafoetida – it’s good for digestion)

2 teaspoon chopped coriander leaves (optional) or a mix of mint and coriander leaves

¼ cup (3 tablespoon water / 50 ml) water

½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)

Method

In a bowl, mix all the batter ingredients together and make a batter with 1- 3 tablespoon water. First add 2 tablespoon water. Later adjust with remaining water.  Batter should not be too watery. It should be medium thick. Add sliced onions and mix well. Keep aside this bhaji  batter for 15 minutes.

Heat oil in a frying pan / karahi.  Reduce heat to medium and drop teaspoons (or use small spoon which shape like ice cream scoop to get evenly round shape ) of the bhaji batter (6 - 7 onion bhajis  at a time – depending upon the size of pan) and fry till golden color on both the sides.

Drain and place on kitchen towel to absorb excess oil.

Serve hot as an evening snack with Tomato ketchup or coconut chutney or serve as a starter or as a side dish with Indian breads.

Coconut Chutney (4th recipe)

Coconut Chutney 4^th recipe

Chutney or Tambeli is a  popular side dish in South Indian cuisine. It's best  with dosa / idli / vada / pongal .

.

Serves: 2 – 3

Ingredients

1 cup (75 g – 5 tablespoons) grated coconut

1 green chilli(small size), chopped or 1 red chilli or ½ teaspoon red chilli powder

½ - inch piece ginger, chopped

½ teaspoon coriander powder

3 curry leaves

3 shallots chuvannulli, roughly chopped

½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)

2 tablespoon water

Method

Transfer all the ingredients into a small mixer bowl and make a smooth paste with 2 tablespoon water. Finally, adjust the consistency of the chutney with extra 50 ml (1/4 cup) water if required. Or serve as thick chutney.

For seasoning:

2 teaspoon oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

¼ teaspoon jeera cumin seeds

2 shallots, finely sliced

4 curry leaves

Method

Heat oil in a tadka pan or a small pan. Add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add jeera , curry leaves and sliced shallots.  Fry on a low heat for 2 – 4 minutes until fragrant and crisp. Pour this seasoning over chutney and serve with dosa / idli / vada / pongal ..

A less spicy & Quick Chicken curry for Rice varieties / Indian breads / Hoppers / String hoppers ...

A less spicy & Quick Chicken Curry for Rice varieties / Indian breads / Hoppers / String hoppers ..

Serves : 3

Ingredients

For the chicken:

500 g chicken ( Wash and clean chicken. Drain out water thoroughly. Marinate with 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover and keep aside for 15 minutes ).

Other ingredients

1 tablespoon oil

1 onion (1 big or 2 small size), finely sliced

1 - inch ginger , finely chopped

8 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 spring curry leaves or 6 curry leaves

1 well ripe tomato (1 big or 2 small size), cut into ½ - inch cubes

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

3/4 teaspoon red chilli powder

1 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder

Marinated chicken pieces

3/4 teaspoon salt ( or to taste )

1 cup water / 200 ml (or ¾ to 1 cup water, please measure in Indian standard measuring cup of 200 ml / 8 oz capacity)

Method

Dilute red chilli powder, turmeric powder and coriander powder in 2 tablespoon water and keep aside (spice mix).

Heat oil in a pan / karahi on a medium heat.  Add finely sliced onions and fry till golden color. Add  chopped ginger, garlic and curry leaves and shallow fry for 4 - 5 minutes.

Add cubed tomato and stir well for 2  minutes.

Add diluted turmeric - red chilli powder - coriander powder and saute for 2 - 3 minutes on a low heat or until the raw smell goes and well combined with other ingredients.

Add  marinated chicken pieces, salt  to taste and 3/4  - 1 cup water. Cover with a lid and cook on a low heat for 30 minutes or until done / chicken pieces well cooked and gravy slightly thickens. Serve with rice / chapati / appam / bread …

How to make Spring Roll Wrapper?

How to make Spring Roll Wrapper ?

Spring rolls (veg or non veg filling) are one of the most popular snack in Chinese cuisine. These are delicious dipped in sweet  - sour sauce or plum sauce. Here’s recipe of how to make homemade spring roll wrapper. Recipe from Family Cook Book by  Parragon Books, Bristol !!

Makes: 12 wrappers

Ingredients

120 g / 4 oz plain flour (or 1 cup / 200 ml)

1 egg, beaten

3 tablespoon cold water

Method

To prepare the wrappers, to sift the flour into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the beaten egg and about 1 tablespoon cold water. Begin beating with a wooden spoon, gradually drawing in the flour from the outside to make a smooth dough. Add extra 1 – 2 tablespoon water if necessary.

Knead the dough until it is elastic and pliable. Place in a covered bowl and chill for  about 4 hours or overnight (This recipe step is very important).

When ready to roll out,  allow the dough to come back to room temperature. Flour a large work surface well and roll the dough out to about 5 mm / ¼ - inch thick.

Cut the dough into 12 equal portions  and then roll each piece into a large square about 15 cm / 6 inches. The dough should be very thin. Cover  with a damp cloth while preparing the filling (any filling of your choice, veg or non veg).

Lay out wrappers on a clean work surface  with a  point of each wrapper facing you. Brush the edges  lightly with  the beaten egg.

Divide the filling  among all 12 wrappers, placing it just above the front point. Fold over the sides like an envelop. Then fold over the nearest point until the filling is completely covered. Roll up as for a Swiss Roll. Press all the edges to seal well.

Heat  250 ml oil in a wok on a medium heat and deep fry  spring rolls until golden color on both the sides (4 spring rolls at a time – depending upon the size of the wok / pan). Maintain the heat between low to medium. Do not fry on high heat. It will get brown color immediately and inside portion won't cook properly. Drain out from oil and place on a kitchen towel to absorb extra oil. Serve with sweet – sour sauce / tomato ketchup.

Mixed Dal Vada with Sabudana (Sago)

Mixed  Dal  Vada  with Sabudana (Sago). (A crispy deep fried evening snack, made of mixed dals, sago and spices !!! )

Makes: 10 - 12

Ingredients

1/3 cup / (Indian standard measuring cup of 80 ml / 6 ml / 3 oz capacity) channa dal (Bengal gram dal)

1/3 cup tur dal

1/3 cup urad dal

2 tablespoon sabudana  (sago)(soak in ½ cup water for two  hours  and squeeze out water)

1 - inch piece ginger, finely chopped

2 green chillies (1 big size or 2 small size),  finely chopped

6 curry leaves, finely chopped

5 shallots (chuvannuli / sambar onion) finely chopped or 2 tablespoon finely sliced onion

2 pinches asafoetida (hing)

3/4 teaspoon salt ( or to taste )

200 ml oil for frying

Method

Wash and soak dals in water for 2 hours.

Drain out water completely and grind dals together in a mixer to a rough paste (Batter should be thick in consistency ). Do not add water when grinding.

Transfer this dal mixture to another container and mix with other ingredients (sabudana (without water), chopped green chilli, curry leaves, ginger and shallots). Prepare vada immediately. Divide dal mixture into 10 equal portions. Make round balls and and flatten into round shape (or make dough nut shape).

Heat oil in a kadai / frying pan. Reduce heat to medium and fry dal vadas in batches ( 4 at a time ) till light golden color on both the sides.

Serve with coconut chutney or tomato ketchup. It’s a tasty evening snack with tea / coffee.

Anzac Biscuits

Anzac Biscuits

Anzac biscuits are delicious biscuits in Australia and New Zealand. These biscuits are  made of flour, coconut, golden syrup, rolled oats and unsalted butter. Recipe from ‘’ A step by step guide to Breads, Cakes & Slices”.

Makes: 26 Anzac biscuits

Ingredients

Please measure all the ingredients in  standard measuring cup of 250 ml capacity and use same measuring cup to measure flour, sugar, oats and desiccated coconut.

1 cup plain flour (maida)

2/3 cup sugar

 1 cup rolled oats

1 cup desiccated coconut

125 g unsalted butter

¼ cup golden syrup or honey or treacle

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (cooking soda)

1 tablespoon boiling water

Method

Preheat oven (OTG) to moderate heat at 180 * C or 350 * F. Line a 32 x 28 cm biscuit tray / baking tray with baking paper (butter paper).

Sift flour and sugar into large mixing bowl. Add oats and coconut; make a well in the centre.

Combine butter and golden syrup in small pan. Stir over low heat until butter has melted and mixture is smooth; remove from heat. Dissolve soda in boiling water; add immediately to butter mixture. It will foam up instantly. Add butter mixture to dry ingredients. Using a wooden spoon, stir until well combined.

Drop one level tablespoon of mixture at a time onto prepared tray. Flatten gently with fingers, allowing room for spreading (leave 1- inch gap between each biscuit). Bake for 20 minutes or until just browned.

Remove from oven, transfer to wire rack to cool. Store biscuits in an airtight container for upto 3 days.

Challas for Cutlet / Biryani

Challas for Cutlet & Biryani (Challas or Onion Salad is popular in Kerala cuisine. Best with veg or non veg  cutlets and as a side dish with biryanis. Indian Coffee House in  Kerala serves this type of onion salad with cutlets. A very easy salad preparation with minimum ingredients. Here’s the recipe !!!)

Here's the recipe of Baked Vegetable Cutlets

Here's the recipe of Baked Potato Balls

Here's the recipe of Deep fried vegetable cutlets

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1  big onion (I big size or 2 small size)

1 cup / 200 ml water

1 teaspoon vinegar

1 small green chilli, remove seeds and chop very fine or cut with kitchen scissor

1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

Method

Cut onion into very thin slices and separate each layer.

Soak sliced onions in 1 cup water for 15 minutes. Squeeze out water (This recipe step is very important to make challas).

Finally mix onion with vinegar, salt and finely chopped green chilli. Consume after half an hour. Then onion will absorb all the flavors and it will become soft too. Serve with cutlet / biryani …

Vanilla Currant Twist or a Tea Cake

Vanilla Currant Twist or a Tea Cake (Recipe from ‘’ A step by step guide to Cakes, Biscuits & Slices’’ !!)

Makes:  one 26 cm cake

Please use standard measuring cup  of 250 ml capacity to measure all the ingredients

Ingredients

1 cup self-rising flour

½ cup plain flour

30 g unsalted butter, chopped

¼ cup caster sugar

¼ cup currants / sultanas / raisins

1 egg

2 tablespoon milk

1 ½ teaspoon  vanilla essence

1 teaspoon extra milk

Icing sugar, for decoration

Method

Preheat oven (OTG) at 180 * C or 350 * F.

Brush a 26 x 8 x 4.5 cm bar tin with melted butter or oil. Line base and two sides with paper; grease paper.

Sift flours into large mixing bowl, add chopped butter and sugar.

Using fingertips, rub butter into flour for 2 minutes or until the mixture is a fine, crumbly texture.

Add currants, stir. Add combined egg, milk and essence to bowl, stir to form a soft, stick dough.

Turn the mixture into a lightly floured surface, knead quickly 1 minute or until smooth.

Form dough into a 50 cm long log. Fold log in half an twist.

Place twist in prepared tin, brush the surface with the extra milk. Bake for 40 minutes or until skewer comes out clean when inserted in centre. Invert twist onto wire rack to cool.

Dust the twist with sifted icing sugar just before serving.

Storage Time : This cake is best eaten on the day it is made.

Golden Triangle (Delicious biscuits / cookies)

Golden Triangles (Delicious biscuits / cookies). Recipe from ‘’ A step by step guide to cakes, biscuits and slices by  Color Library Books !!

Makes: 40 golden biscuits / cookies

Tips - Please use standard measuring of 250 ml capacity. Decorate with sifted icing sugar, if desired. Replace  golden syrup with honey, if preferred. Use finely chopped raisins or sultanas instead of currants.

Ingredients

125 g unsalted butter (soft butter @ room temperature)

2 tablespoon caster sugar

2 tablespoon golden syrup (golden syrup available @ Nuts N’ Spices in Chennai)

½ cup currants / raisins

½ cup rolled oats

½  cup all purpose flour

½ cup rice flour

Method

Brush  two 32 x 28 cm biscuit trays with melted butter or oil.

Using an electrical beater, beat butter, sugar and golden syrup in a small mixing bowl until light and creamy.

Transfer mixture to large mixing bowl bowl; add currants and oats. Using a metal spoon, stir until combined.  Add sifted flour, stir until well blended.

Roll this mixture into log shape, 30 cm long. Press log into triangular shape using a butter paper. Cover and  refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm. Then it will be very easy to make thin slices.

Heat oven (OTG) to moderate 180 * C or 350 * F. Cut log into 6 mm slices. Place slices onto prepared trays. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes or until light golden color. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve as a snack.

Pepper Chicken

Pepper Chicken

A tasty dry curry in Kerala cuisine, made of cooked chicken and  spices. Excellent side dish with  rotis / Kerala parota / pulao / rice / or serve as a starter.

1st stage

Ingredients

For the chicken:

600 g chicken pieces (net weight after cleaning), cut into medium size

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

½ teaspoon salt

Wash and clean chicken pieces. Drain out water thoroughly. In a bowl, marinate chicken pieces evenly with turmeric powder and salt. Cover and keep aside for half an hour.

Other ingredients for the soup:

3 cloves

3 cardamom

1 cinnamon stick

¾ teaspoon red chilli powder

12 – 14 shallots (chuvannulli / small onion), chopped

1 teaspoon chopped ginger

10 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon vinegar

1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

3 cups / 600 ml water

Method

In a wide bowl, boil marinated chicken pieces with spice paste, shallots (ulli), garlic, ginger, vinegar, salt to taste (first add 3/4 teaspoon and check the taste) and water (up to the level of chicken pieces), Cover with a lid and boil on a medium to low heat for 20 -  25 minutes until the water (stock) has reduced to about 2 cups / well cooked. Strain this  soup through a clean iron sieve and use for Chicken soup / any gravy dishes / to cook rice …

Here's the recipe Curried Chicken Soup !!

Here's the recipe of Rice cooked in Chicken stock !!

2nd stage

Pepper Chicken

Serves: 3

Ingredients

1 tablespoon oil

1 onion (1 big or 2 small size), finely sliced

8 cloves garlic, chopped

½ - inch piece ginger, chopped

6 – 8 curry leaves

2 green chillies, slit lengthwise

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon pepper powder (3/4 to 1 teaspoon)

Cooked  chicken

½ teaspoon salt

Method

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan. Add finely sliced onions and fry on a low to medium heat until golden color and crisp.

Add chopped garlic, ginger, curry leaves  and slit green chillies. Saute well and fry for 4 – 5 minutes or until fragrant.

Add turmeric powder and  stir well for 1 – 2 minutes.

Add pepper powder (3/4 to 1 teaspoon) and mix well.

Add cooked chicken pieces and adjust salt to taste. Mix all the ingredients well. Cover with a lid and cook on a low heat for 10 minutes or until chicken pieces well combined with all the spices (do not add water / soup while cooking). Serve as side dish with Parotta / Rotis / Rice / Pulao / Brown bread …