Ravva Laddu

When I was a kid, this used to be my favorite laddu...And there used to be a little store where I would walk with my brother hen I was too young to go by myself and later by myself and get one of these laddus. I had no idea that you could make them at home, until one day!!! My mom surprised me with these laddus....I was sooo happy...Those uncomplicated days of childhood.

Today, finally I introduced to to my kids and was very anxious, to see if they will like it ....I am a happy mom today....they love them too :)

Sooji Laddu (Semolina balls with dried nuts)

Ravva Laddu

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup Sooji
2.  1 tablespoon each of cashew pieces, sliced almonds, raisins,poppy seeds (optional)
3. 2 tablespoons desiccated coconut coarse powder
4. 2 teaspoons ghee
5. 2 cardamom pods crushed
6. 1/4 cup each of milk, sugar (of more 

In a pan heat the ghee and fry the dry fruits/nuts along with the cardamom for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add the sooji and fry until it starts getting brown. Add the sugar and mix well. Add coconut and stir well. Cut the heat the add the milk and stir well. Put it on a plate and wait for 1-2 minutes. Take a handful in a palm and scrunch it up into a tight ball. Serve/ Enjoy

Chicken Shawarma

Shawarma is one of my favorite dishes. The first time I had it, I had no idea what it was great. This chicken shawarma recipe is su super easy and great to eat

Chicken Shawarma (Chicken roasted in spices and pan seared)

Chicken Shawarma

Ingredients:

1. 2 chicken breasts
2. 1 tablespoon olive oil
3. 1 teaspoon each of cumin, paprika, garam masala, finely chopped garlic
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of turmeric, cayenne , black pepper and salt
5. 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Cut the chicken into 1 inch pieces and marinate for atleast 1 hr.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and cook for 20 minutes. Let cool.

Cut the pieces into 1 ch thick, long pieces. 

Heat a pan and spray with cooking spray. Fry the chicken pieces until they get a nice crust. Add some sliced onions if you like. Serve with pita bread, hummus and Tatziki

Chicken salad without Celery

when I was new to the US, I loved, loved loved celery. I have never eaten any vegetables which has a salty taste to it. When we order hot wings, I would eat more celery (+ ranch of course) then the wings. But now I do not want them. Not in my soup not in my salad. So...my chicken salad is made without celery and with loads of carrots. It was great. I am going to make more of it

Chicken salad without Celery 

Chicken Salad

Chicken salad sandwich

Ingredients:

1. 1 chicken breast cooked and cut into 1 cm cubes (about 2 cups)
2. 1/3 cup olive oil mayo
3. 1 medium large carrot shredded
4. 1/4 cup peas
5. 1/4 cup finely chopped onions
6. 1/2 teaspoon salt, fresh ground black pepper
7. 1 tablespoon boar's head delicatessen style mustard or your fav mustard

Mix everything together and put it in the fridge until ready to use. Serve with crackers or bread as a sandwich

Chettinad fish curry

I do not like fish curry, but this curry was so super delicious I had to have a second serving. It was great. Thats it. You need to try it

Chettinad Fish curry (Fish in coconut based gravy)

Chettinad fish curry

Ingredients:

1. 3 fish fillets (preferably white fish)
2. 1 tablespoon oil
3. 2 cups tamarind juice from a small golf ball sized tamarind
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, turmeric, chilli powder, coriander powder, mustard seeds
5. Few curry leaves

Ingredients for grinding:

1. 1 teaspoon each of coriander seeds, fennel seeds, 
2. 1/2 teaspoon each of poppy seeds, methi seeds
3. 1 teaspoon oil
4. 1 cup chopped onions
5. 1 large tomato
6. 2 large garlic pods
7. 1/2 inch ginger peeled
8. 1 heaped tablespoon dessicated coconut

Ingredients to marinate the fish

1. 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
2. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, garlic powder, black pepper

Cut the fish fillets into 1 inch cubes and marinate it with the ingredients in marinate

In a pan heat 1 teaspoon oil and fry fennel, coriander and methi seeds for 1 minute. Add the onions and and ginger garlic and fry till onions become tender. Add cococnut and mix. Add tomatoes and stir well. Let it cool and add poppy seeds and grind it to a paste . Add about 1/2 cup water wile grinding.

In a pan heat the tablespoon oil and fry the fish pieces 3-4 minutes on each side and drain and set aside.

Add a little bit more oil and add the mustard seeds and curry leaves and fry till they start to splutter. Add the ground paste and the spices and salt and tamarind juice and bring to a rolling boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add fish and simmer for 10 more minute till oil separates. Garnish with cilantro and serve with hot steamed rice

Cuban Dinner

I was looking for shredded meat recipes and I found the recipe I wanted to try. And yum yum yum...the dinner was white rice, Cuban black beans and Cuban shredded lamb

Shreded Lamb (Spiced pan seared shredded lamb)

rice, black beans and shredded lamb

Cuban Shredded Lamb

Ingredients for marinade:

1. 1 lb lamb
2. 1 teaspoon each of salt, cumin powder, coriander powder, garlic powder
3. 1/2 teaspoon paprika
4. 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Ingredients for shredded lamb:

1. 1 tablespoon oil
2. 2 big or 3 medium garlic pods chopped
3. 1 medium small onion sliced
4. 1 bell pepper of your fav color  sliced
5. 1 large tomato sliced

Marinate the meat overnight. Either slow cook the meat until tender or cook in pressure cooker for 6-7 whistles with 1/8 cup water and tomatoes.

Once the meat cools shred it. In a pan heat 1/2 the oil and fry the onions and bell pepper for 2-3. minutes. Drain and set aside. Add the rest of the oil and add the meat and garlic and fry on medium high heat for 5-7 minutes. Mix with the onions and bell pepper and serve

Cuban Black Beans

Ingredients:

1. 1 can black beans washed and drained
2. 1/4 cup each of finely chopped onions, green bell pepper
3. 1 tablespoon oil
4. 2 garlic pods chopped fine
5. 1 chicken bouillon
6. 1/2 teaspoon each of (salt if needed), paprika, cumin powder, coriander powder, oregano
7. 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, brown sugar

In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions and bell pepper for few minutes. Add garlic and fry for a minute. Add the rest of the ingredients and 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes and serve

Chaat with Beans

So...I wanted to eat chaat with the Kachori I made. But I had no garbanzo beans, so I had to improvise. And improvise I did with pink beans, and boy oh boy the chaat was great.

I think I like the beans chaat more than the regular chick peas chaat

Aloo Chaat with Beans (Potatoes and Beans cooked in spices)

Chaat with beans

Kachori Chaat

Ingredients: 

1. 1 can pink beans rinsed and drained
2. 1/2 cup onions finely chopped + some extra for garnish
3. 1 medium large potato boiled, peeled and chopped into 1 cm cubes
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of chilli powder, salt, turmeric, cumin, coriander powder, grated ginger (optional)
5. 1 heaped teaspoon chaat masala
6. 1 tablespoon oil

In a pan heat the oil and fry the cumin till they start to splutter. Add the onions and fry till they become translucent. Ad the ginger if using and the potatoes and fry for a few minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients + 1/4 cup water, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add a little bit more water if it gets too dry. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy as is or over Kachori and sweet yogurt

Khasta Kachori

Long ago when I was a new bride with limited cooking experience, Manjula's Kitchen saved many of my evenings where I was missing the street food from back home. She taught me many recipes and the proper way of making them.

The Kachori I made today, I never thought they will puff up like they did the first time I made them. I was soooo happy. And even yesterday they puffed up so nicely and delicious. My kids liked them too, so....I will be maaing kachoris more often

Khasta Kachori (Deep fried puffs with spicy lentil stuffing)

Khasta Kachori

Kachori with moong filling

Ingredients for dough:

1. 11/2 cup all purpose flour
2. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, carom seeds
3. 2 tablespoons oil
4. chilled water as needed

Ingredients for Filling:

1. 1/2 cup yellow moong dal
2. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, chilli flakes, fennel seeds
3. 1 teaspoon each of grated ginger or ginger powder, coriander seeds
4. 2 teaspoons oil
5. Warm water 2 tablespoons

Mix the all purpose flour with all the ingredients except water. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time and mix till the dough comes together. Cover and set aside for 20 minutes.

Grind the fennel seeds and coriander seeds just a tad, until they break a little. Take them out and set aside. Grind the monng dal to almost powder. Heat oil in a pan and fry the moon dal powder, coriander and fennel seeds and ginger till the dal becomes golden brown and you start getting nice aroma. Mix all the other ingredients and set it aside to cool.

After it cooled, add 2 tablespoons warm water and mix.

Knead the dough for 1 minute and divide it into 12 parts. With your palm and fingers make it into 3 inch disks with the middle being  a little more thicker than the edges. Add a teaspoon of filling and close the edges into a dumpling and set aside for a few minutes.

Heat the oil for deep frying. With you path flatten the filled balls into 3 inch disks again making sure there are no holes. Add a tiny piece of dough and it should come to the surface slowly. Add a few kachoris and fry for 5-6 minutes until they become golden brown. Drain, let cool for a bit and serve as is with sweet yogurt, tamarind and date chutney and mint chutney

Sweet Yougurt toping

Mix about 1/2 cup plain yogurt with 11/2 tablespoons of sugar and beat well. Serve on top of sev puri or Kachori

chana dal Gosht

Chana dal gosht is a very yummy curry when you are craving something warm in your tummy

Chana Dal Gosht (Lamb cooked with Yellow split beans)

Chana Dal Gosht

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb lamb cut into pieces
2. 1 cup chana dal
3. 1 medium large onion sliced
4. 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
5. 2 medium tomatoes
6. 1 teaspoon each of salt, chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala, sugar

Soak the dal in water for atleast an hour. Marinate the lamb with all the spices

In a pressure cooker heat the oil and fry the onions till they start turning brown. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute. Add lamb and stir well. Add tomatoes and cook for 3 whistles. Let the steam escape, open the cooker and add chana dal and add 1/4 cup water and cook for 2 more whistles. Let the steam escape and open the cooker and simmer till the gravy thickens to your liking. Garnish with cilantro and serve with rice or roti

Methi gosht pulao

Today, I got a bunch of fresh methi and was going to make Methi Gosht but instead I made Methi Gosht Pulao but if you want to make a vegetarian version just skip the lamb. The pulao is super delicious.

Methi Pulao (Rice cooked with Fenugreek seeds)

Methi Pulao

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups fresh methi leaves washed
2. 2 cups basmati rice
3. 1 medium onion sliced
4. 2 tablespoons oil
5. 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
6. 1/4 cup green peas
7. 1 cup coconut milk
8. 1 bay leaf
9. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, fennel seeds
10. 2 cardamom 
11. 3/4 teaspoon salt
12. 2 green chillies
13. 21/2 cups water
14. 1 cup lamb chopped into very small pieces (optional)

In a pan heat the oil and add the bay leaves, cumin, fennel seeds and cardamom and fry for a minute. Add the onions and fry till they start becoming dark brown. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute. Add meat if using and fry for 3-4 minutes. Add green chillies and fry for a minute. Add peas and fenugreek seeds and stir. Add the coconut milk and water and salt and bring to a boil. Add the rice and lower the heat and cook for 20 minute or until the rice is cooked. Garnish with fried cashews if desired and serve

Kerala Chicken Curry with Quinoa Wheat Roti

Chicken curry is something of which you would find a million variations of. Here are a few. I can assure you that each and every one of the recipes here have a different taste, The newest recipe I have here is great again and it paired well with Quinoa Wheat Roti I made

Chicken Drumsticks curry with Aubergine
Malai Chicken curry
Basic Chicken Curry
Green Coconut Chicken Dry
Konkani Chicken curry
Kerala Chicken Curry (Chicken in spicy coconut gravy)

Kerala Chicken Curry

Quinoa Wheat Roti

Ingredients for Roasting:

1. 1 Bay leaf
2. 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
3. 6-7 black pepper corn
4. 1 inch cinnamon stick
5. 3 cloves

Ingredients for Tempering:

1. 1 teaspoon oil
2. 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
3. few dried red chillies
4. few curry leaves

Ingredients for the curry:

1. 1 lb chicken breast or your fav cuts of chicken
2.  2 tablespoons oil
3. 1 medium large onion sliced
4. 1 heaped tea spoon ginger garlic paste
5. 1 cup coconut milk
6. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
7. 1 teaspoon or less salt
8. 1 teaspoon chilli powder

Dry roast the ingredients for dry roasting and set aside to cool. Grind into powder

In a pressure cooker heat the oil and fry the onions till they start turning brown. Add the chicken pieces and fry them for 5 minutes. Add all the other ingredients and also the dry roasted powder stir well and close the cooker and cook for 3 whistles. 

In another pan heat 1 teaspoon oil and fry the ingredients for tempering. Open the cooker after the steam has escaped and add the tempering to the curry and simmer until you get the desired consistency to the gravy. Enjoy with rice or plain roti or quinoa roti

Ingredients for Quinoa Wheat Roti: 

1. 1/2 cup quinoa soaked in water overnight
2. 4 cups whole wheat flour
3. 1/2 teaspoon salt
4. oil for frying roti

Drain the Quinoa and add it to the flour and salt. Use about 11/2 cup water to get a firm dough. Apply oil to the palm of your hand and roll the dough with it and cover and set aside for 20 minutes. Dive the dough into 8-10 parts. Roll each ball on a floured surface about 6-8 inches in diameter. Heat a griddle and fry the roti 1-2 minutes on each side until dark spots start appearing. Apply some oil and fry for 30 more seconds and enjoy

Mediterranean green beans

So, there was the school picnic for the kids and we HAD to go, else there would be so many tears and flooding at home due to those tears. So my theme for the picnic was Mediterranean (No surprise there) and here is my elaborate menu.
1. Pita bread
2. Hummus
3. Sheek Kabab
4. Mediterranean roasted potatoes
5. Mediterranean green beans
6. Brownies for desert

But the green beans were my favorite this time. They take some time to cook but they were absolutely delicious. Do try them and let me know

Mediterranean Green Beans (Green beans slow cooked with tomatoes)

Mediterranean green beans

Ingredients:

1. 1 pound fresh green beans trimmed
2. 1 tablespoon olive oil
3. 3 big or 4-5 small garlic pods sliced thin
4. 1 large tomato chopped
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper
6. 1 teaspoon dried dill 

Boil water in a pan and boil the green beans for 2 minutes. Drain

Put a pan on the stove on the lowest heat setting. Add oil and the garlic to it. Add the drained green beans. Add the tomatoes and cook it for 40 minutes. Stir occasionally. Sprinkle salt, pepper and dill and enjoy

Roasted Broccoflower with fennel seeds

Broccoflower is one of those things I like, especially when they have all kinds of colored cauliflower one beside the other in the super market. So, the other day I got it and thus begins the search to make something with it. And I made this roasted broccoflower dish mainly because I had all the ingredients for it and it turned out great. They just flew off the roasting pan.

Roasted Broccoflower with fennel seeds

Roasted Broccoflower with fennel seeds

Ingredients:

1. 1 head broccoflower cut into florets
2. 1 anchovy can chopped fine
3. 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
4. 1 tablespoon olive oil (I used the oil in which the fish was packed)
5. 1/2 teaspoon salt if the fish oil has no salt
6. 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Pre heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Mash the mush with the oil and lemon juice and mix salt if using. Mix the broccoflower with the oil and the fennel seeds and roast for 40 minutes. Stir mid way. Enjoy

French toast roll ups

Lots going on around here these days...Last few weeks of school so the kids are having a ton of activities where the parents are expected/needed to be present. Otherwise there will be a humongous melt down. So , lot of running around the house, scrambling to get ready for those events and everything else .

Anyway, so...as usual getting bored with the usual breakfast makes me look for something new. And this breakfast is yummy delicious old breakfast in a new look. so...enjoy

French Toast Roll Ups

French toast roll ups

Ingredients:

1. 4-6 bread slices (white is best but I used wheat)
2. 1 egg beaten lightly
3. 1/4 cup milk
4. pinch salt
5. 1 teaspoon cinnamon + 1 tablespoon sugar
6. 1/4 cup cream cheese softened + 1/4 cup powdered sugar (optional cream cheese filling)
7. Butter for frying the french toast

Mix the cinnamon and sugar and set aside.

Beat the egg along with salt and milk

Roll the bread slices to about 1/8 inch thick. Add about a teaspoon of the cream cheese filling if you are using it else sprinkle the cinnamon sugar and roll the bread as tightly as possible.

Heat a griddle with some butter. Drip a french bread in the egg mixture and fry it on the griddle until golden brown. Sprinkle powdered sugar and serve with maple syrup or as is