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