French beans fry (Beans Mezhkvarty)

Ingredients

French beans, steamed   1 cup

Green chillies, slit            4-5

Coconut, 1” thin slices    8-9

Onions, sliced                 1 medium

Turmeric powder            ½ tspn

Seasoning

mustard seeds                ½ tspn

Redchillies                      3

Urad dal                         1 tspn

Curry leaves

coconut oil                     3 tbspn

Salt  as per requirement

Method

Steam the french beans with a little salt, destring and chop into 1 inch pieces

Heat coconut oil in kadai and saute seasoning ingredients

Add slit green chillies and onions and fry till golden brown

Add turmeric powder and the chopped beans and saute

Adjust salt and cook for 3-5 minutes with lid covered.

Garnish with thin 1 inch coconut slices and stir gently

Chinese Noodles

    

Ingredients

Hakka Noodles                       Single pack

Cabbage, shredded                 ½ cup

Carrots, diced                         ½ cup 

French beans, chopped           ½ cup

Spring onions, chopped          ½ cup

Green chillies, finely chopped 5-6

Garlic, finely chopped                        6-8 flakes

Chilli flakes                             1 tspn

Soya sauce                              3-4 tbspn

Green chilli sauce                    2 tbspn

Vinegar                                   1 tbspn

Pepper powder                        1 tspn

MSG (Ajinomoto)                   1 tspn (optional)

Method

Cook noodles in boiling water with a little oil and salt

Strain the noodles, drizzle olive oil and keep aside

Ready all the chopped vegetables and sauces required

Heat oil in an iron kadai or wok (not teflon coated)

Add 2 tbspn of oil until it smokes

Add finely chopped green chillies and garlic and stir

Add all the shredded and diced vegetables one after the other and keep on stirring/tossing to prevent them from burning

Now add the noodles, chilli sauce, soy sauce and vinegar and continue tossing

Add MSG (optional), chilli flakes and some pepper powder

Transfer the contents into serving bowl or plate

Garnish it with finely chopped greens of spring onions

Serve with manchuria/schezwan gravy or tomato sauce

Vermecilli Upma Semolina

Ingredients

Vermicelli                    3 cup

Chopped Onions         ½ medium size

Ginger, finely chopped1 inch

Green chillies, slit        5-6

Cashew nuts, roasted  6-8

Chopped coriander     few strings

Seasoning

Mustard seeds                         1 tspn

Red chillies (optional) 2

Urad dal                      ½  tspn

Channa Dal                 1 tspn

Ground nuts                1 tbspn

Curry leaves                1 stalk

Oil                               3 tbspn

Method

Heat oil in kadai

Add seasoning ingredients and roast

Add onions, ginger and slit green chillies and sauté

Add the vermicelli and roast until it turns slightly white (or use roasted vermicelli)

Pour 3 ½ cups of boiling water and add salt and cook in simmer

Stir occasionally to prevent it from sticking

Once done, garnish with roasted cashewnuts  and chopped coriander

Serve with sauce, pickle or tomato chutney

Sardines in tamarind and tomato gravy (Matthi Pulimolg kutaan)

Ingredients

Sardines                      8 whole

Onions, diced              1 medium

Tomatoes, diced          1 large

Turmeric                      ½ tspn

Chilli powder              1 tbspn

Green chillies, slit        3-4

Ginger, chopped         1 inch

Tamarind juice            lemon size

Coconut oil                 1 tbspn

Crushed Pepper corns ½ tspn

Salt for taste

Curry leaves

Method

Marinate the sardines in salt, turmeric and red chilly powder for 10 min

Pour the tamarind juice into an earthen vessel (if possible), add chopped onions, tomatoes, ginger and green chillies and ring it to boil

Add a pinch of turmeric, a tspn of redchilli powder and ½ tspn of salt and cook until the onions and tomatoes are soft

Add the marinated fish pieces and allow the fish to cook in the sauce by reducing heat to a simmer

Once the fish is cooked, drizzle some coconut oil and add fresh curry leaves

Sprinkle some crushed peppercorn and serve with hot rice

Sardine Fry (Matthi Porichadha)

 Ingredients

Sardines                       4-5

Red chilly powder      1 ½  tbspn

Turmeric                      ½ tspn

Ginger garlic paste      1 tspn

Salt as per requirment

Method

Mix red chilly powder, turmeric, ginger garlic paste and salt into a thick paste

Coat the fish pieces into this paste and leave for a 15-20 min

Heat 2 tbspn oil in shallow pan

Fry fish pieces in medium heat

Turn over when one side is done to get a rich  brown crust

Serve hot

Chicken Biryani

Ingredients

Biryani/Jeera  Rice      2 cups

Chicken                       250 gms

Onions                         3 medium size

Chillies                        15        

Ginger garlic paste      2 tbspns

Coriander leaves         2 small bunches

Mint leaves                  4-5 stalks

Fennel seeds (Saunf)   1 tbspn

Poppy seeds (khus-khus)½ tbspn

Cardamom                  3

Cinnamon                    1 inch

Cloves                         2-3

Nutmeg                       1/6 of the nut

Bay leaf                       1

Turmeric                      ½ tspn

Chopped Tomatoes     4 medium size

Curd                            4-5 tbspns

Lemon juice                ½ lemon

Colour (sunset yellow) a pinch

Vanaspati/Dalda         5 tbspn

Cashewnut/rasins        6-7 each

Method

Dry roast fennel seeds, poppy seeds, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and powder.

Add green chillies, 2 stalks of mint leaves, ½ a bunch of coriander leaves to the above powder and blend to a paste

Marinate the chicken pieces with a tbspn of ginger garlic paste, curd, masala paste and some salt for 2-3 hours

Wash and soak the biryani rice

Heat 2 tbspn Vanaspati in a handi and caramelize handful of sliced onion and keep aside. Fry 6-7 cashewnut and rasins too and keep aside for garnishing.

Now sauté the remaining sliced onions in the oil until soft,

Add 1 tbspn ginger garlic paste to it and sauté until raw smell evaporates

Add ½ tspn turmeric and the chopped tomatoes and sauté

Now add the marinated chicken pieces and sauté for a while

Cook with the lid covered until meat is tender

Ensure that the gravy is not runny (let it evaporate)

Heat 2 tbspn vanaspati/dalda in cooking pot

Add 2 each of cardamom and cloves, ½ inch cinnamon stick and bay leaf

Transfer the strained rice into the pot and stir until the rice turns white

Add 4 cups of boiling water and cook with the lid covered

Once the rice is done, separate half the rice for gravy layering

Prepare a bowl of colored rice by soaking rice in a bowl of warm milk in a bowl with a pinch of sunset yellow colour and mix well

Finely chop 1 bunch of coriander leaves and 2 stalks of mint leaves for garnishing

Now spread the chicken & gravy evenly on half the fried rice, add a thin layer of colored rice, then garnish with chopped coriander and mint leave, sprinkle some lemon juice evenly.

Repeat this layering procedure once more and garnish with the caramelized onions and nuts.

Now place on low heat with lid for 10-15 minutes (place weight on lid to enable steaming under pressure-Dum cooking)

Serve hot with curd raita/ beetroot chutney

Rice Rotis ( Patthiri)

Ingredients

Rice Flour                   2 cups

Ghee/cooking oil         1 tspn

Salt                              As per required

Method

Add 1 tspn of ghee/cooking oil and required amount of salt to 3 cups of boiling water

Reduce the heat and add the rice flour gently and keep stirring until the rice flour is cooked

At this stage 1 tspn crushed fennel seeds, 1 tbspn of grated coconut and one small sized onion finely chopped can be added (optional)

Finely blend the rice lumps to ensure that excess water evaporates (cooked well)

Allow to cool by transferring the contents into a wide plate coated with ghee

Blend the lumps smoothly and make medium size balls (cover with a damp cloth to prevent drying)

Dab a plastic sheet with oil and flatten the rice flour balls into rotis

Heat tava and fry the rice rotis evenly until done (apply ghee/cooking oil)

Can be served with chicken gravy, aloo bhaji, or with ghee and sugar