Bhindi 65

INGREDIENTS:

Bhindi/ Ladies Finger/ Okra - 250 gms

Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

turmeric powder - a pinch

aam powder - 1/2 tsp

garam masala - 1/2 tsp

gram flour / Besan flour - 2 tblspn

salt - as per taste

Oil - to fry the bhindis

PREPARATION:

1. Slit bhindi lengthwise and clean wash them and wipe them with kitchen tissues.

2. Slice them vertically into 4 pieces and again I cut them into bite size pieces , you can also choose to cut them finger size.

3. Sprinkle all the spices one by one on the sliced okra.

4.Gently mix them so they get uniformly mixed up with the okra.

Now add besan flour to it and mix them. Do not add water to it at any point.

5. Keep it aside for 10 to 15 minutes.

6. Heat oil in a kadai , in medium flame fry those bhindis until they turn golden brown and crispy.

Chettinadu Era Varuval

INGREDIENTS:

Shrimps - 500 gms

Onion - 1 big size chopped finely

Red Chilli Powder - 1.5 tsp

Garam masala - 1/2 tsp

Chicken masala powder - 1 tblspn (optional)

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Lemon juice - from half squeezed lemon

For Grinding :

Fennel seeds/Sombu - 1.5 tsp

Grated coconut - 2 tsp

Tomato - 1 chopped

Green Chillies - 3 to 4 based on spiciness level

Ginger - 2 inch piece

Garlic - 5 to 6 pods

PREPARATION:

1. Clean the shrimps well and marinate them with the chilli powder, turmeric powder ,little salt and lemon juice and keep it aside for 20 minutes. Add little ginger garlic and chilli paste too in this stage.

2.  Grind all the ingredients given in "For grinding" into a fine paste and keep it ready.

3.Heat oil in a pan , saute the onions along with curry  leaves until they turn traslucent.

4. Now add the grind paste into it and saute until the raw smell goes off.

5.Now add the garam masala and the chicken masala to it and saute well.

6.Once it thickens, add the marinated shrimps into it and fry well . Close the pan with the lid for few minutes. Need not add water to this as it leaves out water by itself.

7. You can fry it until oil leaves from sides or it browns itself to a thick gravy.

8. Serve hot with rice or roti.

Shrimps Tempura (Era Bajji)

INGREDIENTS:

Jumbo Shrimps - 15 to 20 in number

All purpose flour - 1 tablespoon

Rice flour - 1 tblspn

Gram Flour - 1 tblspn

Chilli powder - 1.5 teaspoon

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Ginger garlic + green chillies paste - 1 tsp

Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp

Lemon Juice - half lemon squeezed into the mixture

Curd - 1 tbsp

egg - 1 beaten 

salt - to taste

Oil - to deep fry

PREPARATION:

1. Clean the shrimps well and then on a large bowl , add all ingredients except oil and make a mixture. Now add the shrimps into it.

2. Mix all to blend well on the shrimps and set it aside for 30 minutes.

3. Heat the oil in a kadai in medium falme and fry the marinated shrimps until they turn golden brown on both the sides.

4. Hot Shrimp bajjis can be enjoyed with Mayo or Ranch!

Butter Naan

INGREDIENTS:

Maida - 2 cups (for 8 naans)

Milk - 1/2 Cup

Water - 1/2 cup

Salt - to taste

Baking Soda - 1 tsp

Oil - little in the end of making dough.

Butter - to apply on naan

PREPARATION:

1.  In a large bowl , add maida , little salt to taste and baking soda, add the milk and water little by little kneading it to a soft dough , check for water level so that it doesnt go too soft and sticky.

2. Jus like chapathi dough, knead it well adding little oil and if too watery add extra maida to it and bring it into a soft and smooth dough.

3. Keep it aside for 5 to 6 hours to ferment.

When making the naan , jus like rolling the chapathi , you can roll it a little bit thicker than chapathi and keep the oven in Broil mode.

  Each naan takes a few second says 1 to 3 minutes to puff up on each side... turn it on both sides and puff up but without getting browned.

After  a naan is ready , apply butter over it when hot and if you prefer you can crush some garlics in butter and apply it over them for garlic naans! The naan turned out real soft inside.

Serve it hot with any dishes , We had it with Akbhari Paneer.

Akbhari Paneer

INGREDIENTS:

For Paneer Cubes :

Paneer Blocks - 10 cubes 
Kova - 1 cup
Maida - 2 tbsp to make a paste with water

For the Gravy :

Tomatoes - 4 
Cashesw Nut - handful
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 2tsp
Coriander Powder - 3 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Curd - 2 tbsp

Oil - to deep fry the maida dipped Paneer.

PREPARATION:

Making of Kova :

  Take 2 cups of milk in a heavy bottomed pan and in slow flame , keep stirring it for 15 to 20 minutes continuosly without getting browned.
 It crumbles itself to Kova. It is light;y sweet natured even without adding salt or sugar. Use it for stuffing.

Making of the paneer :

1.  Use the Readymade paneer or use home made Paneer .
2. Cut the paneer into thin square slices , take 1 cover it with a  tsp kova (stuffing) and close it with another thin block of paneer. Do the same for all the 10 cubes of paneer.
3. Make a mix of maida and water and form a paste.
4. Now Dip the stuffed paneer in maida paste and then fry them in oil and keep aside.

Below is the picture of the stuffed paneer with kova.

And a close look of a Fried Paneer :

Making of the Gravy :

1. Grind the tomatoes along with the cashew nuts and keep aside.
2. In a pan, pour little oil and temper with the cumin seeds, then pour in the grind mixture.
3. Add chilli powder, coriander powder and the garam masala and let the mixture boil in medium flame until raw smell goes off.
4. Keep cooking stirring occasionally until the oil floats on surface of the masala.
5. Now it is ready , take a paneer fried cube and pour the gravy over and enjoy.

If you prefer soaked in paneer , you can put them into the gravy and relish either way :)

  

Elladai

INGREDIENTS:


Idli Rice - 3 Cups soaked in water for 2 hours.
Gram Dhal ( Pottu Kadalai) - 1.5 cup
Channa dhal - 1 small cup soaked in water for 30 minutes.
Fennel seeds - 1 tbsp
garlic - 10 pods
Curry leaves - little
Red Chillies - 20 nos
sesame seeds - a fistful
Oil - to deep fry the elladais

PREPARATION:

1. First grind the red chillies along with the fennel seeds, now add the soaked rice and grind well with little salt for taste.It should not be too coarse , grind it to a soft mixture adding enough water.
2. Now , in a seperate jar, grind the gram dhal well and sieve it and keep it ready to be mixed with the grind rice batter.
3.  Chop curry leaves , also crush the garlic pods to be added to the dough.
4. Now in a mixing bowl add the rice batter with chillies and fennel seeds, add the sieved gram dhal powder to it, put in the chopped curry leaves, sesame seeds , crushed garlic pods and salt to taste.
5. Drain the soaked channa dhal and add to the mixed dough.
6. Finally the grind mixture should be in the chapathi dough consistency.
7. Now roll into lemon size balls each and take a ziplock cover or any plastic sheet, apply little oil and flatten the lemon size balls with your fingers or you can press them small lids if you prefer.
8. Meanwhile heat oil in medium flame ,and once flattened the elladais are ready to fry.

Deep fry until it turns brown , drain it and store them in a airtight container for crispiness!

SOYA KOFTA CURRY :

INGREDIENTS:
I used protein rich Soya chunks/meal maker for making the kofta, You can replace it with carrots, potatos and peas,paneer.

For the Koftas:
Soya Chunks / granules – 100 gms
Potato, boiled – 1
Paneer - 100gms grated
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Salt – to taste
All purpose flour – 4 to 5 tbsp
Oil – 4 tsp

For the Gravy:
Onion – 2
Tomatoes – 3
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Cardamom – 2
Cloves-1
Cinnamon – 1 inch stick
Red chilli powder – 2 tsp
Coriander powder – 3 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1/4 tsp
Amul Fresh Cream – 1 packet
Cashewnuts - a handful
Salt – to taste
Butter – to season
Sugar - 2 tsp

PREPARATION:

For the Koftas:

Heat 2 cups of water in a pan,when hot put the soya chunks in it and close the pan. Let it be for few
minutes and by now the chunks would have doubled in size.Now,squeeze out the excess water and grind it in
a mixie. To this add boiled mashed potato, little red chilli powder,boiled peas,grated paneer, salt and
mix well. Make small balls of this mixture,dust it in little maida flour and deep fry them for the kofta
balls or as an option use the kuzhipaniyaram pan and fry them until they are done and become brown in
colour(This way oil consumption would be less,so I used this option only).

For the gravy:

Heat a tsp of oil and add chopped onion and sauté till it turns transparent ,now add ginger, garlic paste
then cut tomatoes,add chilli powder, coriander powder and cumin powder and cook till the tomatoes turn
mushy. cool this mixture and grind them into coarse paste.
Now, heat 2 spoons of butter in a pan,season it with cardamom, cinnamon and clove,now add the grind
mixture and bring it to a boil. Add little water in case of it seems to be too thick or dry.Now, grind a
handful cashews soaked in little milk or warm water and add it to the boiling mixture, sim the stove and
add the amul fresh cream(Do not add in high as it may get curdled) . Finally add 2 tsp of Sugar to get
the mild sweetness in the kofta masala. Add the fried Koftas to this gravy and serve hot with naan
or chapathis.