Chettinad chicken curry Ingredients: Chicken 1.

5 lb - cleaned and cut into medium sixed pieces to marinate - 1 tsp chilli powder, 1 pinch of turmeric and some salt 2 medium size onions 8 garlic cloves 1 inch ginger 1 medium size tomato chopped few sprigs of curry leaves To roast and grind: 1 inch cinnamon 4 cloves 8 red chillies 2 tblsp coriander seeds 1 tsp black pepper 1 tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp fennel seeds 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds 2 tsp shredded coconut Method: Clean the chicken pieces and marinate them by adding the chilli powder, turmeric for atleast 30 mins.Cut 1 onion into small pieces, peel the garlic and ginger.Fry these in a pan and grind them to a smooth paste.Roast all the spices without oil, finally add the coconut and grind them together to a smooth paste Chop the remaining 1 onion and the tomatoes. Take 3 tsp of oil in a pan and add the curry leaves, chopped onion and fry well. To this add the onion-ginger-garlic paste and fry till the raw smell leaves. Now add the roasted spice paste and fry well.To this add the chopped tomatoes, 1/2 tsp of turmeric and fry well till the oil leaves the sides of the pan.Now add the chicken pieces and stir well so the masala coats the chicken well. Add salt and check for the spice level. Add 1/2 cup of water and close tightly with a lid.Reduce the heat to medium and allow it cook for 10 - 15 mins. Add 1/2 cup of chopped coriander leaves and mix well before switching of the stove. Chettinad Chicken Fry: Ingredients Chicken - 1/2 kg For Marination: red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp lemon juice - 1sp For frying red chillies - 4-5 cinnamon - 1 inch piece cloves - 2 nos fennel seeds/sombhu - 1tsp chopped garlic - 2 tsp chopped ginger - 1tsp 1 medium onion finely chopped few curry leaves salt to taste Method: Wash and marinate the chicken pieces with chilli powder , turmeric, ginger garlic paste,salt and lemon juice for atleast 1/2 an hour or overnight. In wide pan heat few tblsp of oil. Add cinnamon, cloves, curryleaves, sombhu and redchillies to the hot oil. Give it a stir for a minute and add the chopped onions, garlic and ginger. Fry till translucent. Now add the marinated chicken pieces, stir well, add 1/2 cup of water and close with a tight lid. Cook in medium flame for 10 mins. Open the lid, stir well , check for salt and cook till the water is absorbed(approx 10 more mins). Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Special Note:-Alternatively you can cook the marinated chicken first by adding them to a pot of boiling water along with cinnamon, cloves for about 6-7 mins.Strain well and reserve the liquid for making soup. Then follow the above process by adding little amount of water. Both method works well. Egg Fry / Muttai Varuval Ingredients: 4 eggs 1tsp chilli powder 2 cloves garlic , chopped few curry leaves/curry leaves powder salt and oil as per taste Method. Hard boil the eggs and make cut into two equal halves.

Add two tsp of oil in a non stick pan. Add the chopped garlic and curry leaves to the hot oil, stir for a minute. Reduce the flame to medium and add the chilli powder and salt. Stir for a minute and add 1/2 cup of water, and let it boil. Now add the eggs, cut side down and cook till all the water evaporates. Turn the eggs gently, so that the masala is coated well on all sides. Serve with any mixed rice. Pepper Rasam. Ingredients: 3 cups of tamarind juice by soaking and squeezing lime size tamarind in water (or) 2 tsp tamarind pulp dissolved in 4 cups of water. 2 tsp pepper powder 2 tsp jeera powder 1 tsp turmeric powder 4 cloves garlic smashed and roughly chopped 1 medium size tomato 1/cup chopped coriander/cilantro leaves salt as needed For tempering: 1 tsp mustard 1 tsp jeera seeds 1 red chilly a pinch of hing few curry leaves Method: Take the tamarind juice in vessel.Add all the powders, garlic and salt to it. Squeeze the tomatoes by your hand and mix with the liquid well.Check for salt and spice level.Add the coriander leaves and keep aside. Take a kadhai or sauce pot and add 2 tsp of oil. To this add the tempering ingredients one by one.When the mustard pops add the tamarind juice mixture to it. Pepper-Jeera Powder If you are making rasam regularly then its better to make the pepper -jeera powder at the ratio of 1:2 at home.Make it a coarse powder.Add a tblsp of this powder instead of adding the pepper and jeera powder seperatly Rasam powder : 5 red chillies 1/4 cup of coriander seeds 1/2 cup of pepper 1 cup of jeera 2 tblsp of chana dhal 2 tblsp of toor dhal Dry roast all the above spices, till you get a nice aroma, grind them into a coarse powder, store in an airtight container.Add 1 tsp of this powder to the above rasam along with the other powders mentioned in the recipe.The Rasam becomes even more spicy and it greatly enhances the taste. Fish Cutlets Ingredients: 2 small cans/packets of Tuna. 1 large potato or 2 medium size potatoes 1/2 medium size onion chopped very finely 1 tsp chilli powder 1/2 tsp garam masala 2 tsp ginger garlic paste 1/2 tsp turmeric 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro some curry leaves finly chopped (op) 2 tsp lemon juice 2 tsp maida dissoved in 1/2 cup of water 1 cup bread crumbs Oil for frying. Method: First boil the potatoes in microwave.Wash in water, poke it with a fork or knife in 2 -3 places and the cook in high for 5 mins or you can cook it in pressure cooker for 3 whistles.Remove the skin when cooled. Next open the tuna packets or can, discard the liquid transfer it to a microwavable dish and cook covered for 5 mins.(cover and cook , otherwise the fish will splatter) When the fish and potatoes are cooled mix them together and mash well without any lumps. To this add all the other ingredients except the maida and bread crumbs. Mix well and check for salt and spice level.Make small lemon sized balls out of it. Heat the oil in a kadai for deep frying.Spread the bread crumbs in a plate. Take one ball dip in the maida liquid,flatten the ball and then roll over the bread crumbs.The bread crumbs should coat all sides of the cutlet. Drop it in the hot oil and deep fry. Continue with other balls.

Place them in paper towel to drain excess oil before transfering to a serving tray. Note: The maida liquid should be watery rather than like a paste.Most cutlet receipe call for egg white for binding, but maida water works well for me.If you are short of flour , you can also use besan flour to make this liquid, that too works just fine.Its just used for the bread crumbs to stick well. Do not add water to the fish-potato mixture at any point.Always use unsalted plain bread crumbs. Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambhu/Lentil dumplings in spiced tamarind sauce Ingredients: 1 cup Toor dhal 1 medium onion finly chopped 1 tblsp chopped coriander leaves 2 red chilies 1/4 tsp sombhu/fennel seeds 1/2 tsp jeera seeds Method. Soak the dhal in water for 2-3 hours Roast the red chillies, sombhu and jeera in a medium flame for few minutes. Add them to the soaked dhal and grind coarsly. Make sure its not watery. To the grinded dhal add choped onion, garlic , salt and coriander leaves. Make it into lime sized balls and the steam it using the idli plates for 10 mins. Cool the dumplings. For kuzhambhu: Ingredients 1 medium onion 5-6 garlic cloves 1/2 inch ginger finely chopped 2 medium tomatoes lemon sized tamarind ball soaked in water or 2 tsp of thick tamarind paste soaked in 1/4 cup water. To Grind: 2 tsp coriander seeds 10 red chillies 1/2 tsp jeera 1/4 tsp sombhu/fennel Dry fry all the above in a pan and grind it to a powder. Alternatively you can also add water and grind it to a paste. For Tempering Mustard - 1/2 tsp fenugreek /vendhaiyam - 1/2 tsp few curry leaves Method: Chop the onion garlic and ginger, and tomatoes keep aside. Add a few tblsp of oil and add the tempering ingredients.When the mustard pop add the chopped onion garlic and ginger and fry well. Add the tomatoes when the onion is golden brown. When the tomatoes turn into a pulp add the tamarind water, salt , the grinded masala and turmeric powder.Add 3 cups of water and allow it boil for 10 mins. Now add the steamed lentil balls /urundai's and allow it to boil for another 7-8 mins. Allow it to rest for atleast one hour before serving.The sauce thickens as it cools. If the sauce is watery break one or two dumplings and dissolve in the sauce. Ragi Semiya Uppuma Ingredients: Ragi Semiya - 200gm packet. 1 medium onion 2 green chillies 1 medium tomato 4 pods of garlic 1 tsp of lemon juice(optional) For tempering: mustard - 1tsp urad dhal 1 tsp channa dhal - 1tsp few curry leaves

Method Dip the semiya in a large bowl of water for 2 mins. Drain the water completly and place in an idli tray and steam it for 10 mins.(exactly as we do for Idli's)Remove to a plate and allow to cool. Finly chop the onion, green chillies, garlic and tomato In a wide skillet/pan add 2 tsp of oil and when its hot add the tempering ingredients. When the mustard splutters add the chopped onion , green chillies and garlic and fry till its cooked well. Now add the tomatoes and fry till its mushy. Add salt as per taste. Now add the cooked ragi semiya/vermicelli and stir well till its evenly coated with the masala. Reduce the flame to low and cook covered for 2 mins. Add a tsp of lemon juice and mix well (Optional) Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Semiya Kichadi Ingredients: 1 cup Semiya/Vermicelli 1 large onion 4 pods of garlic 1inch ginger 2 green chillies handful of mint (optional) 1 cup mixed vegetables (carrots, peas, beans, potatoes) oil and salt to taste. Method. Dice the vegetables to small cubes Crush the garlic and ginger. Slit the green chillies and thinly slice the onions Roast the semiya/vermicelli in about a tblsp of oil under medium flame, till slightly brown.Keep aside In the same pan add 2 tblsp of oil. Add the crushed garlic and ginger, sliced onions, green chillies,mint and curry leaves. Saute till the onions wilt and turn translucent. Add the chopped veggies and salt. Stir well for about 3 mins. Now add 1 1/2 (one and half) cup of water and close with a lid. When the water starts to boil add the roasted vermicelli and cook till all the water is absorbed. Semiya/Vermicelli Uppuma Ingredients: 1 cup Semiya 1 green chilli 1 medium size onion, sliced thin 1 tsp mustard 1 tsp urad dhal 1 tsp channa dhal few curry leaves Method: Add 1 tsp of oil in a pan and roast the vermicelli to light golden colour. Add 2 tsp of oil in a pan and add the mustard, uraddhal , channadhal and curry leaves. When the mustard pops add the Onions and green chillies and fry till translucent. Now add 1 1/2 cups (one and a half)of water, salt to taste, a pinch of turmeric and cover the pan with a lid. When the water comes to a boil add the roasted vermicelli and cook for few minutes till the water is absorbed.Garnish with few sprigs of cilantro. Black eyed peas kulambhu with drumsticks and egg Ingredients: 1 cup black eyed peas(dried or fresh frozen) 10 pieces of drumsticks 10 small onions or 1 medium sized onion sliced thinly 1 medium sized tomato chopped finely 3 garlic cloves sliced thinlly Juice of lemon sized tamarind soaked in 1 cup water. 1 tsp chilli powder 2 tsp coriander powder 1/2 tsp turmeric powder. 1 tsp curry leaves powder (op) 1/2 tsp fenugreek powder (op) 2 boiled eggs for tempering: 1 tsp mustard 2 tsp urad dhal 1 tsp channa dhal 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds few curry leaves

Method: Add 2 tsp of oil in a thick bottomed vessel, when the oil is hot add all the tempering ingredients. when the mustard pops add garlic and curry leaves, to this add onions and fry well. When the onions are tranlucent add the tomotoes and fry well. To this add the black eyed peas , turmeric, chilli powder, coriander powder salt and fry till oil seperated.Now add the drumstick pieces and mix well. To this add the tamarind juice , check the taste for salt and karam.close it with a lid and allow it to boil for 1o mins or until the kulambhu becomed thick. Make slits on the boiled egg and add to the kulambhu at this stage and add the curry leaves powder, fenygreek powder mix well and boil for 2 mins and switch of the stove. The kulambhu should rest atleast for an hour before its served. Chilli Garlic Mushrooms Ingredients: 1 pack white button mushrooms, cut into quarters 1 medium onion sliced 1 medium green bell pepper sliced 3 medium garlic chopped a very small piece of ginger chopped 1 tsp tomato ketchup 1 tsp chili powder 3 tblsp light soy sauce 1 tblsp corn powder dissolved in 3 tblsp water 1 tblsp lime juice 1/2 cup spring onion chopped Method: Cut mushrooms into halves. Cut capsicums into halves, remove the seeds and cut into thin strips Drain and keep aside. In a pan add 2 tblsp of olive oil Add the onion ,garlic and ginger and fry till translucent Add capsicums and mushrooms. Add salt. Stir fry till vegetables are tender crisp. Add chili powder tomato ketchup and cup water. Simmer till almost dry Add soy sauce and Lime juice. Mix corn flour with water and add. Bring to a boil, simmer for 1 minute. Sprinkle with spring onion ,give it a toss and switch off the stove. Serve hot with roti's , noodles or fried rice Lamb/Mutton Soup and Pepper fry Ingredients: 4 pieces of lamb/Mutton Chops 4 galic cloves, finely chopped 1 inch piece of finely chopped/grated 1 small onion finely chopped 1 small tomato 1/2 tsp of turmeric 1 tsp of coarse pepper powder 1 tsp of coarse jeera powder salt as per taste for tempering 1 tsp of sombu/fennel seeds 1/4 inch cinnamon stick 2 cloves Method. In a pressure cooker add the meat, onion , tomato, garlic , ginger, turmeric, pepper , jeera and salt.Add 3 cups of water and mix well. Pressure cook for 4-5 whistles. When the pressure subsides, remove the meat from the soup and keep aside. In a small tempering pan add a tsp of oil and all the tempering ingredients when the oil is hot.Pour this over the soup and bring it a boil . Add a handful of chopped coriander leaves. Serve with hot rice. Lamb /Mutton Pepper fry. Ingredients: 4 piece of lamb chops cooked as said above. (reserve 1/2 cup of meat stock before tempering the soup) 1 small onion finely chopped 1 tsp ginger garlic paste or ginger and garlic finely minced 1/2 tsp of chilli powder. 1 tsp of coarse black pepper

1/2 tsp of jeera powder Method: Heat a pan and add 2 tsp of oil.To this add the onion and fry till translucent. Add the ginger garlic paste and chilli powder, fry till the raw smell goes and oil leaves the sides of the pan.Now add the meat along with the pepper and jeera powder, stir well to be coated with the masala. Add the reserved liquid and close with a lid and cook for 10 mins or till all the water disappears. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves Masal Vadai Kuzhambhu For the Masala Vadai: Ingredients: 1 cup Channa dhal 1 green chili 1 tsp sombu/fennel seeds 1 medium onion curry leaves Method. Soak the channa dhal for atleast 3 hrs. Grind the dhal along with sombhu and salt, without adding water. The mixture should be coarse in texture. Slice the onion thinly and add to the dhal mixture. Add the finely chopped chilli and curry leaves. Mix well and make equal sized balls. Heat oil in a pot, flatten each ball and deep fry them in medium heat. Note: The vadai's should be thick and soft inside, not thin and crispy. For the Kuzhambhu Ingredients: Lemon sized tamarind 1 cup chopped onion 1 cup chopped tomato 1 green chilli 1 inch ginger finly chopped few curry leaves. 1 tsp mustard seeds 1 tsp urad dhal 1 tsp fenugreek seeds 11/2 tsp chilli powder 3 tsp coriander powder 1/2 tsp turmeric powder salt to taste Method Soak tamarind in 1 cup of water Extract the pulp completely and add 3 more cups of water to it. To the extract add all the dry powders and salt. Take 2 tblsp of oil in a wide bottomed pot. Add mustard, urad dhal, fenugreek, and curryleaves. When the mustard pops, add the thinly sliced onion, ginger, green chilli and fry till translucent. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook till mushy. To this add the tamarind mixture and close with a lid. let it boil for approximatly 10 mins or until the raw smell goes. Reduce the heat to minimum and add all the vadai's. Switch of the stove after 2 mins. Close with lid. Let it sit for an hour before serving Uzunthu Vadai For Pongal Ingredients: 1 cup Urad dhal soaked for a minimum 2 hrs 1 medium onion, 1 green chilli finely chopped 1 inch ginger finely chopped 1 tblsp rice powder ( adds to the crispiness) few curry leaves finely chopped Method: Gring the Urad dhal in a mixer, by adding water little at a time.If your mixer screams for water add some more. The right way to test if your dough is done is to drop a small ball of the dough in a cup of water. If the drop springs back immediatly to the surface, then you are done Another trick lies in the onion. Always thinly slice the onion, if you chop it finely, the onion oozes out water and the vadai will soak up oil.Add the sliced onion only when you are ready to fry the vadai's, the reason being the same as mentioned above.

Heat oil about an inch deep in a deep pan. The oil should be moderetly hot. Add all the other chopped ingredients like curry leaves, ginger, chillies and rice powder.Mix well. Take a lemon sixed ball in your hand , make a hole in the centre and drop it gently in the oil. Wet your fingers each time you make the vadai If you find the dough to be watery add little bit more of rice flour to thicken it. Alternatly you can also use a greased plastic sheet, or platain leaf to make the vadais. Fry on both sides till golden brown. Drain it on a paper towel. Black/Brown Channa Masala Ingredients: 1 1/2 cup dry brown Chana, 1/4 Tsp turmeric, salt, Paste: 2 onion, chopped and sauteed in a tbsp oil, grind it with 3 garlic, 1 1/2" chopped ginger. Liquid:1/2 cup Tomato sauce, (canned is fine too). I blanched 2 large tomatoes , peeled and made a paste. Spices:1 tbsp Coriander seeds powder, 1 tsp Cumin powder, 1 tsp Garam masla, 1/2 tsp or more chilli pd,1/2 tsp Dry Mango pd or Pomegranate seeds powder, (you can replace both of these tangy powders with 1 tbsp Lemon juice, add it at the end of cooking),1 tsp store bought Chana masala powder if you have it, always optional). Garnish:Cilantro, 1 tbsp butter, fresh onion cut into rings, few Tomato slices to serve. Method: Soak 1 1/2 cups of dry brown Chana in water overnight and drain the water the next day. Add 3 cups of fresh water to it along with 1/4 tsp turmeric and pressure cook until soft but not fully mashed. Add 1 tsp salt, keep aside. Save about a cup of water out in a separate bowl. In a pan, add a tbsp oil, saute 2 onion chopped until slightly golden. Add this to a blender along with 3 garlic, 1 1/2" fresh chopped ginger until smooth thickish paste with little water but not too much. Heat 2 tbsp oil, add ground onion paste and fry for 2 mins. Add Tomato sauce/pate stir fry for 5 mins until thick and leaves the sides of the pan. Grind a handful of cooked channa for thickening the sauce. Now, add all the spice powders, salt and cooked Chana and the channa paste with it's water. Simmer for 10 mins until sauce is thick, adjust the spices and add reserved chana water if needed to thin the sauce. Add 1/2 tbsp of butter, cilantro and mix well.5. Carrot Halwa Ingredients: 10 medium fresh carrots - shredded 2 cups of milk cashews and raisins- handful a pinch of salt 11/2 cup of sugar- can be adjusted few tsps of ghee. Method Add 3 tsps of ghee in a hot non stick pan. Fry the cashews and raisins to golden brown and keep them aside Add the shredded carrots to the remaining ghee in the pan and stir them for 10 mins till they shrink well Parallely boil the milk in a sauce pan. Add the boiled milk to the carrots, add a pinch of salt ,reduce the heat to medium and cook for 20 mins or until all the milk is absorbed. Now add the sugar and stir continuously till all the sugar gets absorbed. Stir in the cashews and raisins

chicken-biryani
Method 1. Soak basmati rice in water for 30 minutes. 2. Add salt, cardamom and cinnamon. 3. Grind ginger and garlic to make a paste. 4. Mix the paste with coriander and mint leaves. 5. Add coconut, cardamom paste, lemon juice and black pepper. 6. Mix it well. 7. Now add red chili powder, coriander powder and salt. 8. Cut chicken into pieces. 9. Marinate the chicken in this mixture. 10. Heat the oil and fry the chopped onions. 11. Add marinated chicken pieces. 12. Cook over medium flame till done. 13. Prepare a bed of parboiled rice in a pot. 14. Sprinkle the fried onions. 15. Put chicken pieces and cover it with rice. 16. Cover it properly and cook for 10 minutes.

17. Serve hot.

Ingredients 300 gms Basmati rice 600 gms Chicken 4 Cardamoms 6 Cinnamons 1 Ginger 3 Garlic flakes 2 Onions 10 gms Coriander leaves 10 gms Mint leaves 1 tsp Black pepper 1 tsp Coconut paste 2 tbsp Lemon juice 2 Cups parboiled rice Salt to taste Oil for frying Method 1. Put all the ingredients of the marinade in a bowl and mix well. 2. Add chicken pieces to it and leave for an hour. 3. Now boil water, add 1/2 of the whole garam masala, bay leaf, and rice in it. 4. Cook the rice until 3/4th is done, drain and keep it aside. 5. Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan and add remaining whole garam masala. 6. Allow it to crackle, add sliced onions and cook it till light golden brown. 7. Add 1 tsp of the remaining garam masala and all the remaining ingredients. 8. Cook for 5 minutes, combine marinated chicken with it. 9. Cook until chicken is tender. 10. Place alternate layers of chicken and rice. 11. Now sprinkle saffron, remaining garam masala powder and butter in between the layers and on the top. 12. Carefully end it with the rice layer topped with saffron & rose water. 13. Cover and seal it with an aluminum foil. Chicken Briyani Ingredients: 1 kg Chicken (pieces) 500 gm Basmati Rice (washed and soaked for 30 min) 4 tbsp Garam Masala (whole) 4 tsp Garam Masala Powder 50 gm Butter 4 tsp Garlic (chopped) 1 cup Onions (sliced) 4 tsp Ginger (chopped) 3 tsp Red Chili Powder 1 tbsp Coriander Powder 5 tbsp Oil 2 tsp Turmeric Powder 2 cup Curd (yogurt) 3/4 cup Tomato (chopped) 4 Bay Leaves For the marinade : 1-1/2 tsp Red Chili Powder 2 tsp Ginger (chopped) 2 tsp Garlic (chopped) 1 tsp Garam Masala Powder 1 tsp Turmeric Powder 1 cup Yoghurt Salt For garnishing: 1/2 gm Saffron (dissolved in 1/2 cup milk) 2 tbsp Rose Water