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.