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

Seer Fish Cutlets

Ingredients

Potatoes, Boiled, mashed       1 medium

Onions, chopped                     1 medium

Green chilles, finely chopped 4-5

Ginger, finely chopped           1 inch

Turmeric powder                     ½ tspn

Seer fish, boiled and deboned100 gm

Egg                                          1

Bread crumbs                          1 cup

Oil for shallow fry

Method

Saute onions in oil

Add finely chopped green chilles and ginger until the raw aroma evoprates

Add turmeric powder and the mashed potatoes, stir to mix well

Now add the seer fish that has been boiled, deboned by crumbling into small pieces

Saute to mix all the ingredients well and adjust the salt

Allow it to cool and then make cutlets of your desired shape

Dip the raw cutlets into a beaten egg  bowl

Coat the cutlet with bread crumbs

Shallow fry on a pan with 2-3 tbspn of oil

Fry both sides until golden rown and serve with sauce

Vegetable cutlets

Ingredients

Potatoes, Boiled, mashed       1 large

Onions, chopped                     1 medium

Carrot, grated                          2 tbspn

Corn, boiled                            1 tbspn

Peas, boiled                             1 tspn

Green chilles, finely chopped 4-5

Ginger, finely chopped           1 inch

Turmeric powder                     ½ tspn

Spring of coriander leaves

Egg                                          1

Bread crumbs                          1 cup

Oil for shallow fry

Method

Heat oil in kadai and saute onions

Add finely chopped green chilles and ginger until the raw aroma evoprates

Add turmeric powder, mashed potatoes and all the other vegetables

Saute to mix all the ingredients and adjust the salt

Allow it to cool and chopped coriander and then make cutlets of your desired shape

Dip the raw cutlets into a beaten egg

Coat the cutlet with bread crumbs

Shallow fry on a pan with 2-3 tbspn of oil

Fry both sides until golden rown

Serve hot with sauce