Green Coconut Chicken

I was searching for some curry recipes with chicken drumsticks but ended up making baked drumsticks and they were awesome. I served them with rice and vermicelli pilaf and steamed broccoli and soya seeds (from the edamame)
The green in this green coconut chicken is cilantro

Green Coconut Chicken (Baked Chicken drumsticks with cilantro and coconut)

Ingredients:

1. 6 chicken drumsticks skin removed
2. 1/4 cup dessicated coconut dry roasted
3. 1 cup semi-packed cilantro
4. 1/2 teaspoon cumin
5. 1 tablespoon plain yogurt
6. 1 teaspoon salt
7. 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Marinate the chicken with salt and pepper for 10 minutes. Meanwhile make a smooth paste with the rest of the ingredients and marinate in the fridge for 3-4 hours. Let it come to room temperature for 30 minutes(Leave it on the counter)
Bake at 375 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until the chicken drumsticks get cooked through.
Serve with rice vermicelli pulao and brocolli and soya beans

Instant Sweet Potato Pancakes

There are recipes for Southern Pancakes with Sweet Potatoes from scratch but my instant pancakes with instant sweet potato puree are equally amazing and super fast. Some of the recipes says that "once you taste these sweet potato pancakes you won't go back to the original" and its absolutely true. And its also very good idea to incorporate some fiber into pancakes

Instant Sweet Potato Pancakes (Pancakes with instant pancake mix and sweet potato puree)

Sweet Potato Pancake

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups Aunt Jemima Buttermilk pancake mix
2. 1 Gerber Stage 3 baby food- Sweet Potato Puree
3. 11/2 cup water
4. Butter for cooking

Mix the pancake mix with sweet potato puree and mix water little by little. See that the batter is not too thin. Heat a griddle and pour some batter and drizzle with 1/2 teaspoon butter around it. Cover and let fry for 3-4 minutes. Turn and drizzle with bitter and cut an X in the middle and let it cook for 3-4 minutes. Serve hot with Mrs. ButterWorth's sugar free Pancake syrup.

Have a hearty breakfast

Shrimp Po Boy sandwich

Once upon a time we went to San Francisco and the one food I was blown away was San Francisco Sour Dough bread. I read so many things about it and when I ate it, it was very delicious and another I read San Francisco was famous for was the crab sandwich and when I had it I was not disappointed.
                       Anyway, the reason why I am reminiscing about those sandwiches is, its all about the ingredients and since I am not getting any fresh crab lately, I got shrimp and I made a delicious Po-Boy Sandwich with it. It is basically a sub made of fried shrimp. So here is the recipe

Po Boy Sandwich (French bread sandwich stuffed with fried shrimp)

Po Boy

Ingredients for fried shrimp:

1. 1 lb medium shrimp/ prawn shelled, and deviened
2. 1 egg beaten
3. 3/4 cup milk
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, ground
5. thyme, ground oregano
6. 1/2 teaspoon salt, fresh ground pepper
7. 3/4 cup each of yellow corn meal, all purpose flour
8. Oil for deep frying
9. Extra salt and pepper for sprinkling

Mix the egg and milk with all the ingredients of #4. Marinade the shrimp in it for atleast 30 minutes. Mix the flour, yellow corn meal and salt and pepper. heat the oil and add the shrimp to the dry mix and press a bit so that the ingredients stick to it. Fry the shrimp in hot oil for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt and pepper

Ingredients for the sandwich:

1. 6 inch French bread sliced in the middle (I used sesame seed burger buns) 
2.  Chopped Lettuce
3. 1 medium large beef steak tomato sliced thin
4. 1 medium small red onion sliced thin and soaked in( 1/4 cup vinegar, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1 green chilly chopped) for 15-20 minutes
5. Mayonnaise
6. Sweet relish
7. Pickle slices
8. hot sauce
9. Potato chips on the side

To assemble the sandwich, toast the bread with a little butter and smother with about 1/2-3/4 teaspoon Mayo on both side. Add lettuce, relish, onions, fried shrimp,(drizzle with some hot sauce with desired) tomatoes. Serve with chips

Andhra Bhindi Khatta with Poppy Seed Cauliflower

Bhindi Khatta or Bendakaaya Pulusu from the Andhra region is a very delicious recipe and the way is a little different from how my mom usually used to make the Okra Khatta. I was introducted to this Andhra style of sour okra gravy by my mother-in-law and it is yummy.
                   I made Poppy seed cauliflower to go with it. This recipe is from Oprah.com and it is very good. I hope you will try these and enjoy them as much as me and my family did

Khaskhas Gobi (Cauliflower dry curry with poppy seeds)

Khaskhas Gobi

Ingredients:

1. 1 medium sized cauflower cut into florets (about 3-4 cups)
2. 2 tablespoon(s) black or white poppy seeds (see Tips & Techniques)
3. 6 small dried hot red chiles,(3 stemmed, seeded, and broken into pieces, and 3 or 4 whole)
4. 1/2 teaspoon(s) ground turmeric
5. 1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
6. 1/2 teaspoon(s) sugar
7. 3 tablespoon(s) mustard oil
8. 1/2 teaspoon(s) Kalonji (nigella) seeds

In a medium bowl, combine turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and sugar; add cauliflower and toss until evenly coated. Set aside.  

Soak the poppy seeds in 2-3 tablespoons water for 15 minutes. Combine with 2-3 red chillies and grind to a smooth paste.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add cauliflower and stir-fry 4 to 6 minutes, until begins to brown in spots; Drain and set aside.

Okra Khatta

Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, add Kalonji and whole chilies. Stir-fry 15 seconds, then add poppy seed paste. Stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes, until fragrant; stir in cauliflower until cauliflower is coated. Add 1/4 cup water; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring once or twice, until cauliflower is just tender and sauce is absorbed. Sereve with rice and Andhra Bendakaaya Pulusu or my mom's Okra Khatta 

Andhra Bhindi Khatta (Savoury Okra Gravy)

Andhra Bhindi Khatta

Ingredients:

1. 1/2-3/4 lb okra/bendakaya, wash, pat dry and cut into 1 1/2″ pieces
2. 1 small onion finely chopped
3. 1 tomato finely chopped
4. 2 green chillis, slit lengthwise
5. Few curry leaves
6. 1/2 teaspoon each of red chilli pwd, coriander pwd, brown sugar, cumin, methi seeds, mustard seeds, ginger-garlic paste
7. 1/4 tsp turmeric pwd
8. Thick Juice from  small lemon sized tamarind
9. salt to taste
10. coriander leaves for garnish (optional)
11. 1 tablespoon oil

 Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin, mustard seeds and fry for a minute. Add methi and curry leaves and broken dried red chillies and fry for a minute.  Add the chopped onions and green chillis and saute for a minute. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for one more minute. Add okra and fry on medium high for 5-7 minutes. Stir occasionaly. Add tomatoes and cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add all the spices and stir to combine. Add the tamarind juice along with 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat and cover with lid. Let it cook for 8-10 mts till the gravy thickens slightly. Garnish with cilantro chopped roughly and serve

Marsala fish curry with Chicken flavored Pilaf

Today being Sunday, its time for some special dishes. It has been a long time that I made any fish curry and hubby dear got some fish yesterday. It was Sierra and I don't know if I had eaten it before. This fish has only bones in the center, so its pretty easy to eat (if you are as picky as me about picking each bone) and its easy to feed the kids also
                Anyway, I made this fish curry with marsala wine with Thai flavoring and it was delicious. I made Chicken flavored rice and vermicelli pilaf, (pulao, palao, fried rice . flavored rice) to go with it and everybody enjoyed it. So here is the recipe

Marsala Fish Curry (Sierra fish in marsala and coconut flavored gravy)

Marsala fish curry

Ingredients:

1. 1 medium sized sierra fish cut into 3/4 inch steaks
2. 1 medium onion sliced thin
3. 2 medium tomatoes sliced
4. 1/4 cup marsala wine
5. 2 tablespoons each of oil, worsteshire sauce, peanut butter ( peanut powder)
6. 1/2-3/4 cup coconut milk
7. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, red chilly powder, turmeric, cumin powder, coriander powder, ginger-garlic paste
8. 1 big green chilly or 3 thai green chilly sliced
9. Generous amount of fresh cilantro cut into 2 inch stalks

In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions till tender. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a couple of minutes. Add tomatoes and all the spices and cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add fish and fry on each side for 3 minutes. Add all the other ingredients except cilantro, cover and cook for 10-15 minutes. Turn the fish midway. Garnish with cilantro before taking off the heat. Serve hot with Chicken flavored pilaf

Chicken Flavored Pilaf (Flavored rice and vermicelli cooked in chicken stock)

Chicken flavored rice pilaf

Fish and rice plate

Ingredients:

1. 1-1/2 cup basmati rice
2. 1/2 cup vermicelli
3. 1/2 teaspoon each of grated garlic, butter, red chilly flakes
4. 1/2 tablespoon oil
5. 1 carrot grated
6. 1/2 cup french cut green beans
7. 1/4 cup white corn (optional)
8. 3 cups chicken stock
9. salt to taste

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the butter and oil and fry the garlic for a minute. Add rice and vermicelli and fry till they start to get brown. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the vegetables, stir to combine and simmer till the rice and vermicelli get cooked. About 6-8 minutes. Serve hot

Stuffed Karela

Most people don't like bitter melon or bitter gourd for obvious reasons but , and I have already said this before, if you know how to cook it, it will be the most delicious dish you would ever eat. There are different ways to cook this vegetable and different house holds have various ways to removing the bitternewss of the vegetable. So here is my way of cooking it and it is one of the most delectable dishes I make

Bhara Karela (Bitter gourd stuffed with onion and peanuts)

Bharwan Karela

Ingredients:

1. 4 karela or bitter gourd scraped and cut into 1-11/2 inch pieces
2. small lime sized tamarind soaked in 1/4 cup water
3. 1/4teaspoon turmeric
4. 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
5. Oil for shallow frying (about 2 tablespoons)

Ingredients for the stuffing:

1. 1 medium red onion peeled and chopped
2. 1 inch fresh ginger
3. 2 tablespoons Peanut Powder divided
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, turmeric, chilly powder, cumin powder, coriander powder

Pressure cook the karela pieces along with tamarind water and turmeric for one whistle. Open the cooker and let the pieces cool a bit
In a microwave safe bowl, microwave on hight the onion along with ginger and salt and turmeric for 2 minutes. Grind to a paste.
Mix the onion paste with the remaining ingredients for the stuffing
Fill the karela pieces with the stuffing and lay it in a single layer in a heated pan with 1 tablespoon oil. Cover and fry on medium high for 5 minutes. Carefully turn the pieces and sprinkle any remaining stuffing and some sesame seeds.FRy for 5 more minutes. Repeat for 4-5 more times. Add oil if needed. Serve at room temperature with rice and Ambada Dal

Shikampuri Kabab

Shikampuri Kabab...the first time I ate it I was sooooooooo amazed as to how the yogurt got in the middle of the meat. This is true Hyderabadi dish cause I never heard of let alone eat it before we moved to Hyderabad. I am pretty sure it will also be made in Lucknow yet another city in India which has high Muslim population.
                            Shikampuri means "belly full" so technically this is a Shami Kabab which has its belly full with Yogurt and its amazing. So here it is for your palatable pleasure from my kitchen.

Shikampuri Shami Kabab (Pan fried meat patty stuffed with spicy yogurt)

Shikampuri Shami Kabab

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb boneless lamb trimmed of fat
2. 1/2 cup chana dal
3. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, chilly powder, turmeric, coriander powder, ginger-garlic paste, garam masala
4. Oil for shallow frying

Yogurt Stuffing:

1. 1 cup whole milk plain yogurt
2. 1/3 cup finely chopped red onions
3. 1 green chilly finely chopped
4. 1 tablespoon each of finely chopped mint, cilantro
5. 1/4-1/3 teaspoon salt



Shikampuri Kabab Filling

Squeeze as much water as possible from the yogurt i.e put it in 2-3 kitchen towels and put it in a sieve and put some weight on it so that water gets squeezed. Mix all the other ingredients of the yogurt stuffing to it with a light hand and set aside.

Soak the Chana dal in water for 15-20 minutes. In a pressure cooker add all the ingredients for the shami except oil and cook for 2 whistles with just a tablespoon of water. Let it cool and coarse grind. Divide this meat mixture into 9 parts and take each part into your hand. Divide the yogurt mixture into 9 parts and place one part into the center of the meat patty and close.

Heat a griddle and place a patty on it and drizzle oil on the edges. Fry till you get a nice dark crust. Serve as is as a snack or with white rice and khatti dal or with bagara khana

Tindora Pyaz wala

These days I am a little busy and hubby dear went to the Indian stores to shop for me and he picked up all those vegetables which are available pre-cut in the frozen section, and which just consume so much of my time when I try to cut them into pieces. But anyway, he got me dondakaaya, bendakaaya, chikudukaaya, gooru chikudu kaaya (I am just writing them in Telugu, cause they rhyme :)   )
                    Today I made a curry with Dondakaaya i.e Ivy Gourd or Tindora or Ghiloda in Gujrati. This dry curry recipe calls for halving the Ivy gourd vertically and then slitting them. Thats all. No cutting into smaller pieces then that. And this curry is awesome and I served it with Sambar or Khatti Dal . So enjoy!!!

Tindora Pyaz wala ( Dry Ivy Gourd curry with Ground Onions and Spices)

Dondakaaya Ulli Kura

Ingredients:

1. About 20-25 Ivy Gourd ends cut, vertically cut into half and slit into2-3 pieces
2. 1 medium red onion
3. 1 inch ginger peeled
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, coriander powder, salt, turmeric, red chilly powder
5. 2-3 tablespoons oil
6. 1 green chilly slit

In a microwave safe bowl add the ivy gourd, half of the salt and turmeric and cover and microwave for 4 minutes. In a pan heat the oil. Grind the onion with ginger and cumin to a fine paste. Add it to the pan and fry till it starts to change color. Add the green chilly, remaining spices and stir to combine. Add the ivy gourd cover and cook for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally. Garnish with cilantro and serve

Italian green bean tomato and Sorrel with Shrimp

Sorrel or Gongura or Ambada is very expensive here in the US. Because they sell it by the pound and all you use are the leaves. And there is a recipe using the stems of these Sorrel plant, and I will make it and blog it sometime soon
              Anyway, today I am making the Gongura Royyala Pulusu (Sorrel leaves with shrimp) and I made a curry with Italian green beans or Italian broad beans and tomato. A real simple and real yummy dish. You can serve it with any Roti or Indian Bread

Italian Green bean curry (Simple Italian green beans and Tomato Curry)

Italian Green Beans with Tomato Curry

Ingredients:

1. 1 package frozen Italian Green or Broad beans (12 oz) thawed
2. 2 medium tomatoes quartered and sliced
3. 1 medium small onion sliced thin
4. 1 green chilly chopped
5. 1 tablespoon oil
6. 1/2-3/4 cup chicken stock (optional)
7. 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
8. 1/2 teaspoon chilly powder
9. 1/4 teaspoon turmeric

In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions till they start getting light brown. Add green chillies and tomatoes, cover and cook till they become tender. Add broad beans and cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, cover and cook for 15 minutesx or till desired tenderness. Simmer for a few more minutes without cover if there is excess water. garnish with cilantro and serve with white rice or roti

Gongura Royyala Pulusu (Sour Sorrel leaves Gravy with Shrimp)

Gongura Royyala Pulusu

Ingredients:

1. 1/4 lb small shrimp peeled and deveined
2. 2-3 packed cups of sorrel leaves
3. 1 tablespoon oil
4. 1/4 cup chopped onions
5. 1/4 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
6. 1 big garlic pod chopped
7. 1 green chilly chopped
8. 1/4 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, urad dal
9. 1/2 teaspoon each of chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric divided
10. Salt to taste
11. 2 dried red chillies broken
12. Few curry leaves

Pressure cook the Gongura or Ambada or Sorrel leaves with 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 turmeric and cook for 3-4 whistles. Let it cool and grind to a paste.
In a pan heat the oil and fry the cumin, mustard seeds and urad dal till cumin starts to splutter. Add onions and fry for few minutes. Add  garlic, green chillies and ginger-garlic paste and fry for a minute. Add shrimp and if you can get the shrimp heads (clean and add them now to the pot) and fry till they become pink. Add the spices and stir. Add the ground sorrel and 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Boil gently for 15 minutes or until raw smell dissapears. Garnish with cilantro if desired, give a taste test and add more salt if need be and serve with rice

Simple Okra Fry and Toor Dal with Vegetables

This is one of my all time favourite recipes because it is so easy and fast to make and delicious too. I was searching and searching for this recipe in my blog but looks like I forgot to write it
          You know sometimes you forget to log or blog those things which you do often.

This amazingly simple stirfry goes very well with Toor Dal with Vegetables 

Simple Okra Fry (Stir fried okra with spices)

Bhindi Fry

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb okra cut into ½ inch pieces
2. ½ teaspoon salt, chilly powder, turmeric, cumin
3. 1/2 teaspoon kalonji or onion seeds (optional)
4. 3 tablespoon oil
5. 1 tablespoon or more of peanut powder (recipe follows)

In a pan heat the oil and fry the cumin for a couple of minutes. Add kaloonji if using and fry for a couple of more minutes. Add okra cover and cook for 10 minutes and stir occasionally. Add all the other ingredient stir to combine, cover and cook for 5-10 more minutes or until desired doneness if achived. Serve with Toor Dal with Vegetables

Toor Dal with Veggies

Peanut Powder (Roasted peanut powder with spices)

Peanut Powder

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 cup skinless peanuts
2. 1/2 teaspoon cumin
3. 2 dried red chillies
4. 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Dry roast all the ingredients one by one and let them cool. Grind to powder and store in a air tight container and in the refrigerator for longer shelf life

This powder can be used to enhance the taste of any fry or stirfry. And is always best to have on hand

Another Okra Fry Recipe