Vanocka - Using Oats and Wheat flour

As always this was our Christmas challenge and the most exciting one to do. I loved doing this bread and was really a big challenge. I never tried baking this type of bread earlier. I tried this recipe twice , since for the first time , it didn't turn out well. This time i tried this recipe " Vanocka " with a creative idea of baking it healthier. My hubby is very keen about his health , so had to take care of each ingredient to be used. Find the below ingredients to have a delicious and healthier bread.

Ingredients :

Wheat flour - 2 cups + 1/4 cup

Oil - 1/4 cup

Egg yolks - 2

Oats - 1 cup

Vanilla - 1 tsp

Yeast - 21/2 tbsp

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Lukewarm Milk - 3/4 cup

Lukewarm water - 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp

Sugar - 1/4 cup

Egg - 1 ( beaten )

Preparation :

• In 1/4 cup lukewarm water , add 1 tbsp of sugar and yeast and stir together and let it rest for 5 mins or until the yeast is dissolved.
• In a bowl , put flour , oats , sugar , salt , vanilla , egg yolks , oil , yeast mixture , milk.
• Combine well and knead by hand for 2 to 3 mins

• Make the braids and make sure to prick in the bread using toothpick. you can follow the Braid making using the following link ( adapted from youtube ) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpJiECBCgCc

• Brush the top with egg wash ( egg ( beaten ) + 2 tbsp water ).
• Bake for 35 mins @ 180'C , for the last 20 mins cover the top of the bread with aluminium foil in order to avoid the bread to get burnt.

Kaara Chutney for Paniyaram & Dosa

I prepared this chutney recipe for Kaara Paniyaram , to compensate with the spicyness and for the best combination. It goes well with Soft Idly's , Paniyaram and Dosa's.

Ingredients :
Onion - 1
Tomatoes - 2
Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup
Garlic - 5
Dry Red chilies - 5
Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
Chana dal - 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Salt - as required
Oil - 1 tbsp

For Tempering:
Sesame oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp

Preparation :

• Heat oil in a pan , saute dry red chilies , garlic , coriander seeds , chana dal , cumin seeds for a minute.
• Then add onion , tomatoes , coriander leaves and saute them until onion and tomatoes are well cooked.
• Take them off from flame and cool down the mixture.
• Heat oil in a pan , add the tempering ingredients and pour in  the ground paste.
• Allow them to cook for 3 to 4 mins or until the mixture leaves oil in all the sides.
• Serve with Spicy paniyaram , any Dosa varieties, Idly.

Beans Paruppu Poriyal

Always we used to prepare simple Beans poriyal , this time I wanna try with a twist adding Paruppu to it and give it a try. This goes well with any Puzhi Kozhumbu or Sambar.

Ingredients :
Beans - 1 cup ( chopped and boiled )
Grated coconut - 2 to 3 tbsp ( Optional )
Salt - as required
Chana dal - 1/4 cup ( Soaked for 1/2 hour )
Garlic - 3 to 4 ( Smashed )
Onion - 1
Curry leaves - few
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp

For tempering :
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Dry red chili - 2
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Preparation :

• Heat oil in a pan , add all the tempering ingredients and saute them.
• Add curry leaves , onion and saute for a minute and then add the smashed garlic and give it a stir.
• Drain the chana dal , grind coarsely and add it to the pan.
• This will take some time to cook ( about 2 to 3 mins ). When the mixture becomes dry , add the cooked beans and season with salt , grated coconut , pepper powder and cook for another minute.
• Serve them with any type of Puzhi Kuzhambu or Sambar.

Banana Muffins - Using Wheat flour

I have already shown many baking dish using Banana's , this being my favorite and delicious. Usually the muffins are made using all purpose flour , I have tried this recipe using whole wheat flour and without sugar , since I wanna the sweetness from the Banana's alone. Check for the below simple ingredients and have a delicious Muffins.

Ingredients :
Bananas - 3 ( smashed )
Wheat flour - 1 1/2 cup
Butter - For applying the Muffin tray
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Honey - 1 tbsp or you can substitute with 1/4 cup brown sugar
Eggs - 2 ( Beaten )
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Note :
Apply some butter into each Muffin hole.

Preparation :

• Combine beaten eggs , smashed banana , honey together in a bowl and keep them aside.
• Mix all the dry ingredients together.
• Add vanilla essence into the Banana mixture.
• Pour the batter into the muffin tray and bake for 18 to 20 mins @ 375'c
• Insert the toothpick to check if it is cooked well.
• Cool them for 10 mins and then remove them from the tray.

Cornmeal Donuts

Donuts are loved by all to have anytime. We have tasted Donuts in many different flavors. But today I have done Donuts using Cornmeal which is more healthier. We have been given challenge for performing a Cornbread , so I just wanna a try a Donut using a Cornmeal. This really had a good taste and turned out well. My hubby and my kid just loved it.

Ingredients :
All purpose flour - 1/3 cup
Cornmeal - 2/3 cup
Eggs - 1 ( Lightly Beaten )
Lemon juice - 2 tsp
Baking powder - 3/4 tsp
Baking soda - 3/4 tsp
Curd - 3/4 cup
Salt - a pinch
Oil - 1 tbsp
Brown sugar - 3 tbsp
Butter - for applying the donut base ( @ room temperature )

Preparation :

• Preheat oven to 180'C and proceed with the below steps.
• Apply some butter in the Donut base.
• Combine all the dry ingredient together and keep them separately
• In a separate bowl , add all the wet ingredients except butter.
• Make a small hole in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients little by little to for a dough.
• Fill in this mixture into the pipping bag and and pour into the donut maker.
• Allow them to bake for 4 to 5 mins for mini donuts or until 10 mins.

Note :

You can add your preferred topppings on the Donuts , such as Lemon zest sugar coating , Chocolate Iced coating , plane sugar syrup with caster sugar coating, Cinnamon sugar.

Banana Raisins Cornbread

As every month we used to perform some tasks given by Swathi , this month we were challenged to do Cornbread. So I wanna try this recipe with dry fruit and gave it a short. Cornmeal is nothing but Maize flour. Cornmeal does not contain gluten , so it makes safe cooking ingredient and also Corn meal also benefits your health by boosting your iron intake.

Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 11/4 cup
Cornmeal - 3/4 cup

Banana ( Smashed ) - 1
Brown sugar - 1/3 cup
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Eggs - 2
Milk - 3/4 cup
Oil - 1/4 cup
Black Raisins - 1 cup

Preparation:

• Heat oven to 180'c , apply oil on the pan.
• In a large bowl, stir flour, cornmeal, sugar,baking powder, salt until combined well.
• Add eggs, milk & oil, smashed banana and beat with a spoon until they are combined well.
• Add the required  dry fruits and fold into the batter. Note : you can use any combination of dry fruits or even fresh fruits ( ie. Cranberry , Blueberry etc )
• Bake for 25 to 35 mins or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm.

Mutton kozhumbu - Traditional Way

This is a traditional kozhumbu. I learnt this recipe from my MIL and also my husband loves this a lot. The main ingredient is the kozhumbu powder which gives the traditional flavour out of it. You can check my Kozhumbu milagai thool or powder.

Ingredients :
Mutton - 1/2 kg
Kozhumbu milagai powder - 2 tbsp
red chili powder + Coriander powder - 2 tsp + 2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Onion - 1
Tomato - 1
Curry leaves - few
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon - 1"
Salt - as required
Oil - as required

Ground paste :
Coconut - 2 tbsp
Gram dal - 2 tsp
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp

Preparation :

• Heat oil in a pan , add fennel seeds , cinnamon , curry leaves , Onion and saute for 2 mins.
• Add ginger garlic paste , cook until raw smell disappears.
• Now add the mutton and continue to cook for 2 to 3 mins until it becomes pale color.
• Add the dry masala powders and combine well with mutton.
• Tomatoes can be added at this stage and make sure the masala's do not get burnt.
• once the tomatoes are smashed well , add little water and ground paste and bring it to a boil and then close the lid. Bring for 4 to 5 whistles or until the mutton becomes tender.
• Serve hot with Rice or Chapathi.

Chocolate Chunk cookies

Ingredients :
All purpose flour - 100 gm
Plain Chocolate - 300 gm
Milm chocolate - 100 gm
Brown Sugar - 100 gm
Butter - 85 gm ( @ room temperature )
Peanut butter - 100 gm
Egg - 1
Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp
Roasted Salted peanuts - 100 gm

Preparation :

• Preheat oven to 180'C
• Roughly chop the plain chocolate ( 200 gm ) and milk chocolate and keep them separately.
• Break the remaining plain chocolate and put in the bowl and melt them using double boiler ( ie. boil water and keep the chocolate bowl on top of this and melt the chocolate ). 
• Now stir the chocolate until melted , then add sugar , butter , peanut butter , egg and vanilla extract. Mix them well.
• Add the flour , milk chocolate chunks , salted nuts and halt the plain chocolate chunks.
• You can check it with a spoon , the mixture should drop from spoon.
• Place on the butter paper or parchment paper with each spoonful of this mixture  and bake for 10 to 12 mins. 
• Allow the cookies to cool down , to get the crunchiness of the cookies.

Wheat Pav Bhaji Masala

Ingredients :
Wheat Pav - 6
Pav Bhajji masala - 3 tbsp
Cauliflower - 1 cup
Carrots - 2
French Beans - 1/2 cup
Cabbage - 1 cup
Green peas - 1/2 cup
Butter - 4 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsp
Chopped Capsicum - 2
Boiled potatoes - 2 ( Smashed )
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cloves - 2
Lemon juice - 2 tsp
Dry mango powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as required
Onion ( Chopped ) - 3
Asafoetida - a pinch
Tomatoes - 3
Green chilies - 3
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp

Preparation :

• Boil and grind vegetables and keep them aside.
• Heat butter in a pan , add cumin seeds , cloves , asafoetida , ginger garlic paste and continue to saute with Onion.
• Then add finely chopped capsicum and cook until the onion becomes translucent.
• Go ahead add tomatoes and cook until they are smashed well.
• Add all dry powders and salt once the tomatoes are cooked well.
• Cook until the oil separates or till 10 mins.
• Add the ground vegetables and continue to cook for another 10 mins.
• Then add smashed potatoes and cook for 5 mins.
• Remove from flame and add lemon juice after 10 mins.
• Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with Toasted Pav with butter.

Healthy Mixed Grains Roti - Finger Millet(Ragi), Cornmeal(Solam),Pearl Millet(Kambu)

Nowadays everybody are more concern about health, so wanna try this roti using different healthy grains. This can be served for breakfast or dinner along with any chutney.

Ingredients :
Ragi or Finger millet - 1 cup
Cornmeal or Sola Maavu - 1 cup
Pearl millet or Kambu - 1 cup
Carrot ( Grated ) - 1/4 cup
Onion -  2
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp
Salt - as required
Oil - as required
Green chilies - 2
Curry leaves - few finally chopped

Preparation :

• Combine all the flours along with required about of salt together in a bowl.
• Add the chopped onion , green chilies , curry leaves , grated carrot to the flour.
• Using required amount of water mix the above ingredients to form a dough.
• Now take a plastic sheet or banana leaf and place a small piece of the mixture.
• If this sticks , apply some oil on the banana leaf and then spread the dough using hand into a roti.
• Heat dosa tawa and place this roti and flip over both sides until cooked well.
• Serve this hot with coconut chutney or hot onion tomato chutney or Tomato Ginger Chutney

Plum Cake without Oven - Using Pressure cooker

Christmas is nearing and wanna try this cake. Kids would love to have such cakes. This tastes so yummy and delicious. 

Ingredients :
All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Spice mix - 1 tsp
Butter - 125 gms
Caster sugar - 1 cup
Eggs - 3
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Caramel color - 1 tsp
Dates - 25 gms
Toasted almonds - 25 gms
Candied orange peel - 25 gms
Tuity fruity - 25 gms
Raisins - 25 gms
Colored Tuity fruity - 25 gms
Cashewnuts - as required for garnish
Plum - as required for garnish

Preparation :
1. In a bowl , sieve all purpose flour , baking powder , spice mix. Keep them aside.
2. In a separate bowl , add butter , sugar and beat them using a beater until it becomes soft.
3. Next add one by one eggs and beat them well until all the mixture becomes soft and fluffy.
4. Add vanilla essence , caramel color to this mixture and mix them well.
5. Now add dates , toasted almonds , candied orange peel , Tuity fruity , raisins , colored tuity fruity and combine them well.
6. Now combine the dry ingredient with wet ingredient. Fold them well or use hands so that they mix completely well.
7. Apply butter in the baking pan and dust with all purpose flour. Pour the cake batter into this.
8. Dust the cashews and plums separetely. Arrange them on top of the cake batter before baking.
9. Preheat the oven to 200'c for 10 mins. Firstly bake the cake for 10 mins in 200'c and then lower the temperature to 180'c and bake for 30 to 40 mins or until the cake is done.

Garlic Curry ( Poondu Kozhumbu )

I used to prepare this recipe as we do it for normal puzhikozhumbu. But my mom used to prepare it a different way and that was so delicious to taste. So I decided to learn that from her and wanna give it a shot. This really tastes good with a peppery touch.

Ingredients :
Garlic - 1/2 cup
Tamarind - small lemon size
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Shallots - 6 to 7
Curry leaves - few
Kozhumbu thool or chili powder - 2 tsp
Coconut - 2 tbsp
Oil - 2 tsp
Onion - 1
Tomato - 1 ( chopped roughly )

For Tempering :
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 3 tbsp ( Preferred Gingely oil )
Manathakkali seeds - 5 to 6 ( Optional ) or Pepper - 1/4 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp

Preparation :

• Heat oil in a pan , add pepper , cumin seeds , shallots and saute them until nice aroma comes. Then add the coconut and just saute for another minute and switch off the flame.
• Blend them into fine paste.
• Heat oil in a pan and add the tempering ingredients. Saute them for a minute.
• Add chopped onion , curry leaves , garlic and saute them until the garlic turns slight brown color.
• Add tomatoes and cook them for a minute. Add the tamarind juice ( extracted from the tamarind ) and  add red chili powder.
• Once it comes to a boil , add the ground paste and cook them for 5 mins.
• Serve hot with white rice.

Hariyali Chicken Roast

Ingredients :
Chicken - 500 gms
Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup
Salt - as required
Oil - as required
White Sesame seeds - 2 tbsp
Tamarind juice - 1 tbsp
Green chilies - 2 to 3 ( or depending on your taste )
Curd - 1/4 cup
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Preparation :

• Blend coriander leaves , sesame seeds , pepper , green chilies , cumin seeds  along with thick curd into a fine paste.
• Marinate chicken with tamarind juice , salt and the ground paste for minimum 1 hour.
• Heat oil in a grill pan , once it becomes hot , place the chicken pieces one by one and cook them util the chicken is cooked well.
• Now on a preheated oven , keep the chicken for about 5 mins to maintain or get the crunchy layer outside with a roasted flavor.

Nei Kadalai Urandai

This is one such recipe i prepared for my family during Diwali with very simple ingredients and steps to be followed. Everyone of us loved it a lot. I am sure that all the kids would love it.

Ingredients :
Roasted peanuts - 1 cup
Powdered sugar -  1 cup
Ghee - as required
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Preparation :

• Grind the roasted peanuts into fine powder.
• Heat little ghee in a pan , saute the ground powder for about 2 to 3 mins.
• Remove from flame and add the cardamom powder , powdered sugar to this mixture.
• Add ghee little by little and make balls out of it like we prepare the Rava Ladoo  .

Wheat flour Biscuits - Using Pressure cooker

I love eating cookies. So I tried this one , since my hubby is always keen about health , so I gave it a try with Wheat flour. Usually they use the white sugar , but I have tried with brown sugar which gave a nice color to the biscuit texture.

This dish was adapted from Yaman Agarwal

Ingredients :
Wheat Flour - 1/2 cup
Brown sugar - 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp
Butter - 1/4 cup ( cut into cubes , make sure they are cold )
Salt - a pinch
Milk - 2 tbsp
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp

Preparation :

• Preheat the cooker in low flame.
• Combine wheat flour , brown sugar , salt , baking powder in a bowl.
• Add the cold butter cubes and combine them with the above mixture with fingers.
• once they are combined well , they should look like crumble texture , go ahead and add the milk and form a dough.
• Keep this dough in refrigerator for 10 to 15 mins.
• Sprinkle some wheat flour on the plane surface and keep the dough and using the rolling pin roll the dough into flat one.
• Using the cookie cutter or just the knife to shape the cookies.
• Place these biscuits in the greased cake pan into the pressure cooker.
• Bake these biscuits on a low flame for about 20 to 25 mins.
• Once the Biscuits are ready from cooker , take them out and allow it to cool down for 10 mins to get the crunchiness of the biscuits.

Dates cake with Raisins & Tuity Fruity Filling - Using cooker

I love to bake cakes with different fillings. This time I tried the dates cake with raisins and tuity fruity fillings. Each and every bite was sooooo delicious and everyone in my family loved it. I tried this with Wheat flour instead of All purpose flour , I gave it a shot and that really turned out so well.

Ingredients :
Wheat flour - 1 cup
Brown sugar - 1/2 cup
Dates - 1/2 cup
Tuity fruity + Raisins - 1/2 cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1/4 cup
Ripe Banana - 1
Vanilla Essence - 1/2 tsp
Milk - 5 to 6 tbsp

Note: Heat the cooker for 5 mins in low flame and then start the preparation.

Preparation :

• Firstly combine Oil , smashed banana ,vanilla essence , brown sugar together and keep them aside.
• Sieve wheat flour , baking powder , baking soda in a bowl and add them with wet ingredients along with milk until it forms a smooth texture.
• Add the remaining ingredients and combine them well ( by keeping some dates separately.
• Pour this mixture into the cake pan and bake for 35 to 40 mins.

Cabbage Thoran - Cabbage Stir Fry

I learnt this particular recipe from my MIL. This goes well with any puzhi Kuzhambu or Sambar.
Very simple steps to be followed with simple ingredients.

Ingredients :
Cabbage - 1 cup
Green Chilies - 1 or 2
Boiled moong dal - 1/4 cup(do not cook completely as we do it for sambar, should be separate by itself )
Onion - 1
Coconut ( Shredded ) - 2 to 3 tbsp
Salt - as required

For tempering :
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Urad dal- 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - few

Preparation :

• Heat oil in a pan , add the tempering ingredients and saute them for few mins.
• Add onion , green chilies and give it a quick stir. Go ahead and add the cabbage and cook until they softened.
• Add boiled moong dal and combine them well. When cabbage is cooked , finally add the shredded coconut and ready to be served.

Note :

You can use coconut oil instead of normal vegetable oil. That gives the perfect taste.

Egg kheema Quiche - using Wheat flour crust

Earlier I made Quiche using normal pie crust ( made of all purpose flour ) , but I wanted to try something healthier than the normal ones. I used the crust made of wheat flour and substituted butter with vegetable oil. My hubby is always conscious about health , so wanna try something new for him which turned out really well.

Ingredients :
Wheat flour - 1 cup
Oil - 1/4 cup
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Baking powder - 1/4 tsp
Milk - 1 tbsp
Cold Water - 2 to 4 tbsp

Preparation :

• Combine all dry ingredients together.
• Add oil and mix them well by combining them using only fingers.
• Once the oil is combined well with the flour , add cold water little by little and form a dough..
• Then wrap the dough using cling flim wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

For rolling the dough and placing on the Pie Dish , please refer : http://abhis-recipes.blogspot.in/2015/10/chicken-tofu-quiche.html 

Egg Kheema filling :

Eggs - 3 ( Beaten )

Green chili - 1

Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Onion - 2

Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tbsp

Tomato puree - 2

Capsicum - 3 tbsp

Tofu scrapping - 1/4 cup
Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp

Chicken Masala - 1/2 tsp

Salt - as required

Oil - as required

Preparation :

• Heat oil in a pan , add onion , green chili and saute until translucent. Add ginger garlic paste and all the other dry masala powders.
• Add tomato puree and saute till the oil separated from all sides.
• Finally add beaten egg and combine them well. Adjust with required salt.
• Keep the capsicum and Tofu scrapping for assembling the Quiche.

Filling Custard :

Thick Milk – 1 cup

Egg – 2

Red chili powder – 1 tsp

White pepper powder – ½ tsp

Salt – as required

Preparation of Custard :

Combine all the ingredients and whisk them until all the ingredients are completely dissolved.

Assembling Quiche :
Spread the Tofu scrapping on the pie crust and spread them evenly.
Then fill in with the Egg kheema filling and cover it with the custard and spread the capsicum and bake for 25 mins.

Chicken Tofu Quiche

Preparing Quiche has three different steps to be followed. Need to prepare the pie crust , filling ( can be vegetarian or non vegetarian , I preferred to have Chicken stuff ) , and finally the custard. Once all the three steps are done , we can finally assemble the Quiche .

Let us first start preparing the crust. Below are the ingredients to prepare the pie Crust.

Ingredients for Pie Crust

All purpose flour – 2/3 cup

Butter – 1/3 cup , cut into small cubes ( maintained in cold temperature )

Salt – a pinch

Cold water – 1 tbsp

Preparation :

• Combine the dry ingredients ( All purpose flour , salt ) together.
• Add the butter cubes and mix them well by combining them using only fingers.
• Once the butter is combined well with the flour , add cold water little by little and form a dough.
• Then wrap the dough using cling flim wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Note : I used the zip lock bag for air tight.

Rolling the Dough :

• Dust the surface with  flour and start rolling into 9 inch circle ( extra 1 inch is required , so that it will be easy to place on the Pie mould )

• Place the rolled dough on the pie mould and remove the excess dough.
• Prick the pie crust surface with fork , so that the dough would not raise while baking.

• Preheat oven to 190’c and bake for 10 mins until light brown and keep them aside to cool.

For the Filling :

Chicken - 1/4 cup

Tofu - 4 tbsp ( chopped into cubes )

Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp

Chicken kabab masala - 1 tsp

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

Curd - 2 tbsp

Salt - as required

Capsicum - 1 tbsp

Onion - 1

Oil - as required

Preparation :

1. Marinate the chicken for 15 mins with curd , red chili powder , ginger garlic paste , salt , chicken kabab masala , pepper powder.

2. Then tawa fry the chicken until it is done 3/4th.

3. In the same marination use tofu and tawa fry them.

4. Heat oil in a pan , add onion , capsicum , finally add chicken , tofu and give it a quick stir.

5. Keep them aside for assembling the Quiche. 

Filling Custard :

Fresh cream – 1 cup

Egg – 1

Red chili powder – 1 tsp

White pepper powder – ½ tsp

Salt – as required

Preparation of Custard :

Combine all the ingredients and whisk them until all the ingredients are completely dissolved.

Remaining Ingredient :

Cheese – as required ( I used Milky mist Cheese slices and give it a try.. It turned out so well )

Preparing Quiche :

Grate the cheese on the pie crust and spread them evenly.

Then fill in with the chicken tofu filling and cover it with the custard.

Finally top it with grated cheese and bake for 25 mins.

Easy Idli powder

Ingredients:
Broken black gram - 3 tsp
Bengal gram - 3 tsp
Dry chilli - 10
Sesame seeds - 1 tsp
Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste

Method:
1. Dry roast broken black gram until turn golden brown and keep aside.
2. In the same pan dry roast Bengal gram until turns brown and keep aside.
3. Next dry roast sesame seeds and dry chilli until sesame seeds changes color and keep aside.
4. Coarse grind all the above ingredients with salt and serve.

Chicken Cooking Tips

Tenderness 

• In order to maintain the tenderness and juiciness in the chicken , use moderate heat while cooking.
• High temperatures toughen the protein , squeeze out juices , causing excessive shrinkage.
• Marinate chicken for grilling and tandoori recipes. It helps to tenderize the meat.

Cooking Method :

• Chicken can be cooked covered on low flame without pressure cooking. If the chicken is big , say 1 kg , it will be better to pressure cook it to 2 whistles.
• Do not over cook chicken. It tends to get hard and chewy.
• Never start cooking or marinating frozen chicken. Let it thaw at room temperature.
• Do not cook chicken with bones in non stick pan as bones ruin non stick coatings.
• Do not wash the frozen chicken again at the time of cooking.

General cooking :

• Always wash mince in a strainer and not in a pan. Squeeze well to remove all water.
• It is better to grind the mince once in a mixer to give it a sticky consistence so that the Kebabs or seekhs bind well and do not scatter while cooking.
• Do not add garlic to very hot oil ; it turns brown and loses most of its flavour.

Easy Chicken Tikka - without Oven

Ingredients :
Chicken - 500 gms

Marination 1:
Lemon juice - 2 tbsp
Salt - as required
Kashmiri red chili powder - 11/2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Black pepper - 1/2 tsp

Marination 2:
Yogurt - 1 cup
Fresh Cream - 2 tbsp
Cornflour - 2 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Kasoori methi - 1 tbsp
Tandoori masala - 3/4 tsp
Black salt ( Optional ) - 1/4 tsp
Chaat masala - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Red chili powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - as required
Oil - 2 tsp

Basting 
Butter ( room temperature ) - 2 tbsp

Preparation :
1. Marinate the chicken in 1st marination for 1/2 hour
2. Combine all the ingredients of 2nd marination and coat them well with the 1st marination chicken. Marinate this chicken for minimum 3 to 4 hours or overnight.
3. Heat oil in a pan , and place chicken pieces one by one and pan fry each chicken pieces until it is cooked.
4. Baste with butter when the chicken becomes dry.

Easy Homemade Chicken Tikka masala

This is the most popular dish in the restaurant that we order all the time. Its not so difficult to make the Tikka Masala at home. I prepared here with some of the easy steps of this recipe. The gravy is creamy & spicy. This is usually served with Naan Roti and Chappathi.

Ingredients :
Chicken tikka - 1 cup ( http://abhis-recipes.blogspot.in/2015/10/easy-chicken-tikka-without-oven.html )
Onion ( paste ) - 2
Tomato puree - 2
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala  - 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Cardamom - 2
Cinnamon - 1"
Salt - as required
Oil - as required
Ghee - 1 tbsp

Preparation :
1. Heat oil , add the spices ( Cardamom , Cinnamon ), add onion paste and saute for sometime till it changes its color.
2. Add Ginger - Garlic paste and stir till the raw smell disappears.
3. Then we can add the tomato puree to it and stir till it leaves oil from the sides.
4. Add the remaining marinade mixture of the Chicken Tikka recipe to this.
5. It forms a gravy texture. Add turmeric , Coriander powder , red chilly powder , Garam Masala powder .
6. You can also add chat masala to increase the flavor a bit.
7. Finally add the Chicken Tikka pieces to the gravy and add 1 Tbsp of ghee and combine well.
8. Garnish with coriander leaves and Serve hot with Naan or Roti.

Macaroni with South Indian flavour

Ingredients :
Macaroni - 1 cup ( Boil macaroni as per instruction given in the pack )
Tomato Puree - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
Star anise - 1
Cinnamon - 1/2"
Curry leaves ( Finely chopped ) - 2 tsp
Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Mutton Masala - 1 tsp
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Oil - as required
Salt - as required

Preparation :
1. Heat oil in a pan , add dry spices , curry leaves , onion and saute for 2 mins.
2. Once the onion becomes translucent , add ginger garlic paste , and continue to saute.
3. Now add all the dry masala powder's and add little water to cook for a while.
4. When oil separated , add tomato puree and allow it to cook for 2 to 3 mins .
5. Go ahead and add the Macaroni and combine them well. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Sambar Powder - Instant ( Homemade )

Ingredients :
Thoor Dal - 1 tsp
Chana dal - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
Coriander seeds - 2 tsp
Dry red chili - 5
Curry leaves - few
Turmeric powder - 2 tsp

For preparing this sambar powder , we need to dry roast the above ingredients one by one and blend them. This step is followed to remove the moisture content.

Preparation :
1. Firstly dry roast thoor dal , chana dal , urad dal and keep them aside.
2. The dry roast fenugreek seeds until golden brown and add it to the above mixture.
3. Then dry roast the remaining ingredients separately and add it to the above mixture.
4. After the moisture content is removed , blend them is dry mixer jar and keep them in air tight container. This can be used for 15 days.

Drumstick ( Murungakkai ) Vathal Kozhumbu

This recipe is prepared using sambar powder. You can prepare the sambar powder using this link - http://abhis-recipes.blogspot.in/2015/10/sambar-powder-instant-homemade.html
Once the sambar powder is ready this dish can be prepared soon.

Ingredients :
Drumstick - 1 or 2 ( cut into 1" )
Sambar powder - 2 tsp
Tamarind juice - extracted from lemon size tamarind
Curry leaves - few
Sesame Oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
Shallots ( chopped ) - 1/4 cup
Salt - as required

Preparation:
1. Heat oil in a pan , add mustard seeds , once it starts to splutter , add fenugreek seeds , curry leaves ans saute for a minute.
2. Add shallots and cook until the it transparent in color.
3. Go ahead and add drumsticks and saute for 2 minutes.
4. Pour the tamarind juice and required amount of water and allow it to cook for 10 to 12 mins or until the drumstick is cooked well.
5. Add sambar powder , salt. Aftre adding the sambar powder , not required to cook for more time , since the ingredients are already dry roasted.
6. Allow it to cook for sometime or when it comes for a boil. Switch off from the flame and serve hot with rice.

Eggplant Roast ( Baigan Roast )

Ingredients :
Eggplant - 1
Coriander seeds - 2 tbsp
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
Chana Dal - 2 tsp
Cardamom - 1
Cloves - 2
Sambar powder or Kozhumbu powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - as required
Garlic paste - 2 tsp
Oil - as required

Preparation :
1. Dry roast coriander seeds , pepper , cumin seeds , fennel seeds , chana dal , cardamom , cloves.
2. Blend dry roast ingredients along with remaining ingredients except oil.
3. Marinate the sliced eggplant with the ground paste for 10 mins.
4. Fry the eggplant until cooked on both sides.

Wheat flour Murukku

Ingredients :
Wheat flour - 2 cups
Rice flour - 2 cup
Gram flour - 1 cup
Red chili powder - 2 tsp
Sesame seeds - 1 tsp
Ajwain - 1 tsp
Salt - as required
Oil - as required for deep frying
Asafoetida - a pinch

Preparation :
1. Mix all the ingredients into a bowl , add water to make a dough.
2. Place a little dough inside the murukku maker and prepare murukku in desired shapes.

Carrot Uthappam

Ingredients :
Dosa batter - 1 cup
Carrot ( Shredded ) - 1/4 cup
Onion - 1/4 cup
Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp
Oil - as required

Preparation 1:
1. Combine carrot , onion , coriander leaves in a bowl and keep them separately.

Preparation 2:
1. Pour a laddle of dosa batter in the tawa , immediately add the shredded carrot - onion mixture on top of the dosa and pour in required amount of oil and allow it to cook on both sides.
2. Serve with coconut chutney and Onion tomato chutney.

Appam ( without yeast and without appam soda )

Ingredients :
For the batter
Par boiled rice - 1 cup
Raw rice - 1 cup
Urad dal - 2 1/2 tbsp
Aval ( Rice flakes ) - 1/2 cup
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
Salt - as required

For Serving :
Coconut milk added with required amount of sugar , pinch of cardamom powder.

Preparation :
1. Soak all the ingredients of " For the batter " except salt for 4 to 5 hourrs.
2. Make a batter out of this and allow it to ferment for 8 hours or overnight.
3. Using appam kadai , make appam and serve with coconut milk.

Sodhi ( Idiyappam side dish )

Ingredients :
Coconut milk - 1 cup
Onion - 1
Tomato - 1
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Corn flour - 2 tsp ( dissolved in water )
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Oil - 1 tbsp
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
Star anise - 1
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Green chilies - 2
Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp
Salt - as required

Preparation :
1. Heat oil in a pan , add fennel seeds , star anise , curry leaves , green chilies , onion  and saute till golden brown.
2. Add ginger garlic paste , saute until raw smell disappears. Go ahead with tomatoes , turmeric powder and saute until raw smell from turmeric powder leaves.
3. Add coconut milk. Immediately after adding coconut milk , it becomes curdle texture. In order to stop that , add the corn flour liquid as soon as you add the coconut milk.
4. Add coriander leaves and give it a quick stir and allow it to cook for 5 mins.
5. Switch off the flame , add the lemon juice and it is ready to be served.

Spicy chicken in cashew nut gravy

Ingredients :
Chicken - 500 gms
Onion paste - 1
Tomato puree - 2
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp  + 1 tsp
Cashew nuts - 10 to 15
Almonds - 5 to 6
Cardamom - 2
Cloves - 3
Bay leaf -1
Curd - 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves - 1 and 2 tbsp
Chicken masala - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Butter - 1 tbsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Red chili powder - 2 tsp
Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Preparation 1:
Soak almonds and cashew nuts in hot water for 10 mins. Remove the shell from almonds and make them a paste with little water.

Preparation 2 :
1. Marinate chicken with curd , turmeric powder , 1 tsp of ginger garlic paste for 20 mins.
2. Heat oil and butter in a pan , add dry spices , followed by onion paste and saute until raw smell disappears.
3. Add ginger garlic paste and continue to saute. Go ahead and add the marinated chicken and cover the lid , cook for 3 mins.
4. Once the oil is separated , add the dry masala powders and coat the chicken with all the dry masala's.
5. Add the tomato puree and cover the lid and cook for another 2 to 3 mins. Add coriander leaves and combine them well.
6. When oil is separated , finally add the cashew nut paste and allow them to cook for 5 mins.
7.  Garnish with remaining coriander leaves and serve hot with Roti , Tandoori roti.

Corn Fried Rice

Ingredients :
Basmati rice ( cooked ) - 1 cup
Boiled sweet corn - 1/2 cup
Carrot ( chopped ) - 1/4 cup
Garlic ( chopped ) - 1 tbsp
Onion ( Optional ) - 1
Peas or beans - 1/4 cup
Salt - as required
Oil - 1.5 tbsp
Spring Onion - 2 tbsp
Soy sauce - 1 tsp
White pepper powder - 1 tsp or as required

Preparation :
1. Heat oil in a pan , add garlic and saute until light brown.
2. I used onion , this is optional. Saute the onions for a minute.
3. Add all the vegetables and give it a quick stir. Add required salt.
4. Add cooked rice and combine well with all the vegetables. Season with pepper powder , and finally add the spring onion.



Note :
Boil 5 to 6 cups of water in a big pot , add 1 tbsp of oil and required salt for rice. Add rice once the water starts boiling. Cook them until they are done.

Sathu Maavu recipes for babies

This particular recipe is best suitable for babies. Its a very easy and healthy recipes for kids.

Ingredients :
Finger millet - 250 gms
Pearl millet - 50 gms
Green gram - 100 gms
Corn - 50 gms
Red rice - 50 gms
Cooking rice - 50 gms
Jowar - 50 gms
Wheat - 100 gms
Cashew nuts - 10 ( Optional )
Almonds - 25
Cardamom - 5 to 6
Black channa - 50 gms

Preparation :
1. Dry roast each ingredients separately and keep them in separate utensils once roasted until all the moisture is removed.
2. Grind them to a fine powder.

Note :
This can be used for babies , diabetics patients ,elder people.

Karuvepilla Chicken varuval

Ingredients :
Chicken - 400 gms
Curry leaves - 1/4 cup ( roasted )
Curd - 5 to 6 tbsp
Red chili powder - 2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Salt - as required
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Fennel powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp

Preparation :
1. Blend all the ingredients except chicken and oil.
2. Marinate the chicken with the ground paste for 1 hour.
3. Heat oil in pan , add fennel seeds , marinated chicken and cook until the chicken is done.

Pomegranate mint cooler

Ingredients :
Pomegranate - 1 cup
lemon juice - 2 tbsp
Mint leaves - 6 to 8 fresh
Roasted cumin powder (optional) - 1/4 tsp
Sugar - as required or use honey
Chill water - 2 cups

Preparation :
1. Blend all the ingredients together in a blender.
2. Strain the mixture in a juice strainer.
3. Add water to this mixture and adjust with required sugar.
4. Pour in glasses. garnish with mint leaves. Also add ice cubes or crushed ice for better taste.

Cheeyam ( Susiyam ) - Traditional Tamilnadu style

Ingredients :
Chana dal - 1 cup
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Coconut ( shredded or chopped ) - 1/2 cup ( I preferred roasted coconut )
Jaggery - 1 cup
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Water - as required
Salt - a pinch
Ghee - 1tbsp
Oil - for deep frying

Preparation :
1. Pressure cook chana dal with required amount of water.
2. Make jaggery syrup with 5 to 6 tbsp of water.
3. Now coarsely grind the chana dal and keep them aside.
4. Heat ghee in a pan , add chana dal , cardamom powder , salt , filtered jaggery syrup ( after removing the impurities ).
5. Finally add roasted coconut and make a dough.
6. In a separate bowl , add all purpose flour , pinch of salt and little water. Make a batter.
7. Make small balls of the poornam and dip in the batter. Deep fry the balls and serve.

Jaggery Pidi Kozhukattai

Ingredients :
Rice flour - 200 gm
Jaggery - 1 cup
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Water - 13/4 cup
Coconut slices - 1/2 cup ( slightly roasted ) ( optional )
Salt - a pinch

Preparation :
1. Melt jaggery in water and drain them from impurities. Add the filtered jaggery in a pan.
2. Add cardamom powder , cocnut slices , salt , rice flour and stir continuously in flame to make a dough.
3. Apply some ghee or sesame oil in hands and make small balls out of the dough when its still hot.
4. Cook the balls in steam

Masala Peanuts

Ingredients :
Peanuts - 1 cup
Rice flour - 2 tbsp
Besan - 3 tbsp
Maida - 1 tbsp
Water - as required
Salt - as required
Red chili powder - 2 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Oil - for deep frying

Preparation :
1. Take peanuts in a bowl , add all the ingrediuents except water.
2. Combine them well so that the peanuts are well coated.
3. Sprinkle water on the peanuts and start combining them well with fingers and make sure it is well coated and need not be like bajji batter.
4. Deep fry them in batch wise. Drain them in tissue paper for any excess oil.

Chicken Reshmi Kabab - Using direct gas ( without Oven )

Ingredients :
Boneless chicken - 400 gm
Curd - 1 cup
Ginger-garlic paste - 2 tbsp
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves ( chopped ) - 2 tbsp
Salt - as required
Fresh cream - 1 tbsp ( Optional )
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Cashew nuts - 6 to 7
Almonds - 6 to 7
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp

                                                           Roti Maker ( Downloaded from Google )


Preparation :
1. Soak cashew nuts and almonds in hot water for 10 mins.
2. Make a paste of this with little water. Keep them aside.
3. Combine curd , ginger garlic paste , lemon juice , fresh cream , red chili powder , pepper powder , turmeric powder , coriander leaves , salt , cashew nut
4. Add chicken to this mixture and add oil to it. Allow the chicken to marinate for 1 hour.
5. Then place the chicken in the chappathi maker and allow it to cook until the chicken is done.
6. If required apply some butter. This is an optional step.
7. Serve hot with some mint coriander chutney.

Murg Tangdi Kabab

This is my favorite recipe and my husband loves this a lot. I watched this in a TV show and tried to implement and came out really well.

Ingredients :
Chicken drumsticks - 3
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Red chili paste - 1 tsp
Chat masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as required
Lemon juice - 2 tsp

Tandoori Masala Ingredients :
Curd - 1 cup
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Red chili paste - 1 tbsp
Chat masala - 1 tsp
Black salt - 1 tsp
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Salt - as required
Garam Masala - - 1 tsp
Oil - 3 to 4 tbsp

For Garnish 
Green chutney

Preparation :
1. In a bowl , marinate chicken drumsticks with ginger garlic paste , red chili paste , chat masala , salt and lemon juice. Mix it well and keep it aside.
2. In a separate bowl , add curd , ginger garlic paste , red chili paste , chat masala, black salt , lemon juice , salt and garam masala. Mix it well.
3. Now mix the prepared paste with marinated chicken and keep it aside for minimum 3 hours. I prefer to keep it overnight.
4. Add some oil to the chicken and grill at 170'c preheated oven for about 15 mins.

Crispy Rava Dosa

Ingredients :
Semolina - 1 cup
Rice flour - 1/2 cup
All purpose flour - 1/4 cup
Onion - 2
Green chilies - 2
Ginger ( chopped ) - 1"
Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp
Curry leaves - 1 tbsp
Salt - as required
Oil - as required
Water - 11/2 to 2 cups
Cumin seeds ( half crushed ) - 1 tsp
Pepper ( half crushed ) - 1 tsp

Preparation :
1. Combine semolina,rice flour and all purpose with enough water to it and mix until no lumps are formed.
2. The batter should be thin enough. The consistency should be like butter milk.Keep this aside for 10-15 mins.
3. Add finely chopped onion,ginger,salt,green chili,coriander,curry leaves, cumin and pepper to it and give a proper mix.
4. Pour a ladle full of dosa batter from the outward base of the hot tawa in a circular motion to the centre.
5. Cook on medium flame for 1-2 mins and the increase the flame later and cook for another 2 mins until you see brown.
6. Serve it hot right from the pan and on to the plate with coconut chutney.