BREAK TIME....!!

Hi friends,
i am taking a short break from blogging ..i have not been able to post anything regularly for some time now ..thot its time to take a break ..for whatever reason ..i hope to be back in scene sooon..shall miss all u dear friends ..
love deena

Prawns varattiyathu

This prawn varattiyathu or inji chemmeen is again one of my Mom's dishes & my husband's favourite..she makes it without fail every time her son-in-law visits her. I dont remember how many times i must've made this either with fresh or frozen prawns; but when i have the one that she makes, it tastes so much better ..i guess thats what mom's love is all about !

my mom prefers to call it inji chemmeen 'cos it uses more ginger than anything else..its very simple to make ..with minimum ingredients u might wonder 'oh thats all is it done?'



Ingredients:

1. prawns (cleaned & deveined) - 250 gms
2. chilly powder - 2 tsps
3. turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
4. salt to taste
5. ginger - 2 tbsp (finely chopped)
6. green chilly - 1 chopped
7. curry leaves - 7-8
8. coconut oil - 2 tsp

Method :

• cook prawns with 1/2 tsp chilly powder, turmeric powder & salt.
• Heat oil in a pan. throw in the ginger, green chillies & curry leaves.fry for a little while.
• Add remaining chilly powder & saute till the raw smell goes.
• now add prawns with the water (if any) & mix well. Fry for 2 more mts.
• spicy prawns r ready ..enjoy !
  

Chicken Biryani & my first MEME

....when i was newly wed i had small sheets of paper where i had written recipes for sambar, moru curry, cabbage thoran etc, from my mom. Along with all that i also had this Chicken Biryani recipe which i made quite often during those early of marriage 'cos there were very few things that i knew then..

For this you need :

1. chicken - 800 gms (cleaned & cut into big pieces)
2. onion (thinly sliced) - 4 med sized
3. oil - 4 tbsp
4. ginger - 2 inch piece
5. garlic - 10 cloves
6. green chillies - 5 -6
7. mint , coriander leaves - a handful each
8. poppy seeds - 1/4 cup (soaked in very little quantity of warm water)

Dry masalas:

1. coriander seeds - 2 tbsp
2. cardamom - 3 pods
3. cinnamon - 1 inch stick
4. cloves - 8
5. pepper corns - 10
6. fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
7. 1/2 of one nutmeg
8. mace

For Rice:

1. Basmati rice - 3 cups
2. water - 6 cups
3. ghee - 2 tbsp
4. cardamom - 3
5. cinnamon - 1 small stick
6. cloves - 3-4
7. bay leaf - 1
8. cashewnuts - 10
9. kishmish - 10

Method:
For rice:

• wash rice & drain. Heat ghee & fry cashewnuts till brown & keep aside. Fry kishmish & keep aside.


• In the same ghee throw in the whole spices .When they sizzle add drained rice & fry for some time till oil is well coated.


• Transfer to a microproof dish add 6 cups of water & salt. Cook till the rice is done.


• Fluff up the rice with a fork.

For chicken:

• Heat 2 tbsp oil. Fry onions till golden brown. keep aside.


• Powder all the dry masalas & keep aside.


• make a paste of ginger, garlic, green chillies & a separate paste of poppy seeds with water & keep them aside.


• Also make a paste of mint & coriander.


• Heat remaining 2 tbsp oil. Add ginger-garlic-green chillies paste .Fry for sometime .


• Add mint-coriander paste. Fry again.


• Add powdered dry masalas. fry again. do not let it burn.


• Now add chicken pieces & mix well. Also at this stage add poppy seeds paste & salt.


• Mix well . do not add water. let the chicken cook on med flame.


• Once cooked increase flame let the liquid evaporate though not completely. we need a thick gravy consistency.

For the biryani:

• In a large pot layer the bottom with half of cooked rice. sprinkle some fried onions. then half of the chicken.


• Repeat again. keep some rice to finish on top.


• Finally add the remaining fried onions on top of rice along with fried cashews & kishmish.


• Leave the pot closed until serving time.


• Before serving mix the biryani slowly so that rice is not broken .

my first MEME

I have been tagged by dear Archana for Meme..thanks Archana may be this will bring out some facts about me to all u friends in the blogworld..

My introduction to blogging was thru my dear college friend Maheswari of Beyond the Usual..once she sent us all a link to her blog..when i visited it i found it was a food blog & she has posted so many deadly recipes.i was bowled over . I immediately thot of starting one on my own but had no clue on how or where to start with ..that is when i started looking & learning things . finally got an idea on how to go about with it.
To start with my Meme

1. Since the reference to context is food i might as well start with it .I LOVE to cook, eat & serve good food. Almost every weekend i make something special & serve either just my family (which is me, my husband & our lil' 3 yr old son Aadil. ) or call friend's over. But my all-time favourite person whom i love to serve is my dear husband. he is an avid foodie & the look on his face when the food is nice is like a thousand gifts rolled into one to me.
2. i love to laugh ; sometimes it becomes a lil' too loud. I laugh for the silliest of things even on my own jokes !!
3. I am a hardcore romantic..!...Even at this age ( i am going to be 30 this oct), a romantic song, a nice weather , a romantic movie can put me into day dreaming ..!!
4. I can imitate people quite well. During our hostel days we used to have panchayat-like sittings where i wud be the showman showing events of the day in college..what fun it used to be ..
5. i am very moody ..being all these above mentioned ones i might suddenly out of the blue just switch off totally which becomes quite irritating for my husband ..
6. i am a moderatley good homemaker . i love to do up things in my home keep changing something or the other & i am quite organised..
7. & lastly , i love doing & learning all kinds of hand work . i do needle work, have done decoupage, painting a lil' & am going to try my hand in glass painting..

so that is my first meme..i wud like to tag hima, jyothi & musical. Please play only if u have the time & inclination.

Brownies

The other day my friend was talking about brownies..i have never made brownies before 'cos i thot i wudnt like its rich chocolatey taste..but finally made up my mind to give it a try...started looking into my set of books ..some of them either didnt apeal much or i was short of some ingredient. then i switched to the net started searching all those baking sites which i normally visit & also the bloggers that i visit. that is when i found these low fat brownies in Trupti's blog which she had tried out from another blog ..brownies & low fat ?? WOW ..that must be something ..it is low fat 'cos it uses applesauce instead of butter..but i made it with vegetable oil so mine is no longer in the low fat status but in either case it was the yummiest & most moist one i've ever had..Thanks Trupti for trying out such deadly recipes & posting them too..!!!


..since i was not sure of the outcome i made half of the mentioned measurements ; which unfortunately meant the quantity was soo less i had to keep 2 layers for the brownie to be actually seen in the photograph..!!

....i'm sure all those who love cakes r sure going to like this one..so go ahead & jump to Trupti's blog.

Brinjal vindaloo

I am not very fond of Brinjals, but i like it in two ways either as bharwan baingan or as this recently discovered vindaloo. This dish is my entry for JFI - Eggplant hosted by Sangeeta of ghar ka khana.
thanks sangeeta !!

recipe adapted from vanitha:



Ingredients:

1. small brinjals slit lengthwise like a cross without separating it from the base - 1/4 kg
2. ginger paste - 1/4 tsp
3. garlic paste - 1/4 tsp
4. chilly powder - 1 tbsp
5. mustard seed -1/2 tsp
6. fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
7. cumin seeds - 2 pinches
8. oil - 5 tsp
9. mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
10. onion (chopped) - 2 cups
11. turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
12. tomato (chopped) - 1 cup
13. vinegar - 2 tsp
14. salt to taste
15. ginger (chopped) - 1/4 tsp
16. garlic cloves (whole) - 4
17. sugar - 1/4 tsp
    .....phew quite a looong list ..!

Method:

• Grind ingredients 2 to 7 to a fine paste & keep aside.
• Heat oil. Add chopped onions till they turn brown.
• Now add turmeric then chopped tomtaoes & fry till oil separates.
• Add brinjals & mix till masala is well coated on the brinjals.
• add 1 tsp vinegar, salt & enough water for it to cook.mix well.
• Put the whole thing in a micro proof dish & microwave for about 8 mts , removing & stirring once in between.
• Put it back to the kadai & add ginger & garlic cloves.
• when gravy thickens add 1 tsp vinegar & sugar. Mix well & serve hot with rotis.
  

Lemon pound cake with buttercream icing

i have been having this utmost desire to do icing on a cake for quite a long time. First time when i tried without any reference it turned out to be a total disaster tho i still posted the cake 'cos the cake was too yummy to be deprived of the privilege to get posted. why blame the cake for the icing fault.
so this time i decided to go by following baking 911.com.In India we dont get that high fat content cream(whipped cream) that easily which can actually form peaks. Easily available ones r that of Amul which dont thicken when u beat them not enough to make icing .so i decided to go for the buttercream icing which required just butter , icing sugar, vaniila & lemon.Though it did require shortening i went ahead without it ...& the result is ..voila.!!here it is .. ...not bad for a beginner is it??


the cake as such was also quite good 'cos of the citrus flavour..the pic as u can see is taken in the fridge!!
here goes the recipe:

Ingredients:

1. 220 gms of butter (1/2 lb)
2. 1 cup of sugar
3. a pinch of salt
4. 1 tbsp vanilla extract
5. finely grated zest of 1 large lemon
6. 2 tsp of lemon juice
7. 2 cups of cake flour
8. 1 tsp baking powder
9. 1/4 cup milk

Method:

• Cream butter & sugar until soft.
• Add vanilla, lemon juice, lemon zest.
• Beat in 4 eggs one by one.
• Beat the fifth egg with the milk & keep aside.
• Sift flour & baking powder once.
• Add 1/3 rd ofthe flour mix to the butter egg mixture. Beat at low speed.
• Now add 1/2 of the egg milk mixture. Beat again.
• Add flour & milk mix alternatively five times starting & ending with flour.
• Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin. Bake at 375 degree F for about an hour.
• Let the cake cool completely.
  
  
  For buttercream icing:
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1/2 warm milk

1. Cream butter, sugar & vanilla.
2. Add cornstarch to milk & add to butter mixture beating all the while.First beat on low speed until well blended then on medium for 5 mts.

For decorating the cake i put the cooled cake in the refrigerator overnight. then turned it upside down. Sliced off the brown portion. Cut the cake horizontally into 2 .
Spread the icing liberally on one cake. Place the other half over it gently but firmly. Now cover the entire cake with the icing . You may sprinkle chocolate gratings as well.

......want to have a bite.!!