Kari Dosa/Minced Mutton Dosa

This is one of the very famous dishes in my home town Madurai. My uncle recently had shared with me the recipe of Sangam Hotels Kari Dosa in facebook. Atlast I tried it at home and it was so tasty with simple ingredients.

Ingredients:

1. Minced Mutton (Kothukari) - 1/2 kg
2. Eggs - 4 (beaten with little salt)
3. Big onion - 2 finely chopped
4. Tomatoes - 2 finely chopped
5. Chilli powder - 1tsp
6. Garam masala (I used my homemade kuzhambu masala) - 1 and 1/2tsp
7. Ginger garlic paste - 2tsp
8. Coriander leaves -few
9. Salt - as needed
10. Sesame oil - 2tbsp

To dry roast and grind to a paste:

• Red chilli - 6 (original recipe calls for 8. I reduced it as per my taste. Its up to you)
• Coconut grated - 6tsp
• Coriander seeds - 4tsp
• Peppercorns -2 tsp
• Curry leaves few

Method:

1. Dry roast the ingredients under 'To dry roast and grind to a paste' column and grind to a paste with little water.

2. In a pressure cooker, heat oil, add curry leaves , fry onions till translucent. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute till raw smell leaves.

3. Add the tomatoes and saute till raw smell leaves. Add the spice powders,salt and saute for 2 mins. Now add the ground paste with little water and saute.

4. Add the washed minced meat and stir to combine well. Add little water if needed. Close the cooker and pressure cook till the meat is cooked well. It took 1 whistle in high flame and 10 minutes in simmer for me.

5. Once the pressure releases, simmer it uncovered for the water to evaporate.Garnish with coriander leaves.

6. Mix well 1 time finally and transfer it to a bowl. Add the beaten eggs and combine well.

7. Heat dosa pan, pour ladle full of dosa batter. Do not spread too much. Let it be thick like oothapam. Pour the mutton mixture in center and spread lightly with spoon and drizzle oil in sides. 

8. Flip over after slightly browned and cook for 2 to 3 minutes till well cooked. Serve hot!!.

Notes:

1. The above measure yielded 10 dosas for me.

2. In the original recipe they had used a pan for cooking mutton but I went with pressure cooking as I felt it less time consuming. You can try pan method also.

3. Do not add too much water to cook mutton.

4. Flip over the dosa carefully. Once flipped over keep in low medium and drizzle some oil and wait 2 to 3 minutes for it to cook and set properly. Otherwise the eggs and dosa batter will be uncooked.

5. This surely makes a filling breakfast and 2 will be more than enough for a single person :).

Eggless ThumbPrint Jam Cookies

When I saw these cookies while surfing the net I was so tempted to try it out. They were super cute to look at. I saw few versions with wheat flour but as I am trying cookies for first time I thought it safer to start with maida itself. I referred here for the recipe and they turned out to be a super hit. I just loved the buttery, crispy cookies topped with jam and icing sugar. You can make this for Christmas.

Ingredients:

• Maida - 2 and 2/3 cups
• Salt - 1/4tsp
• Unsalted butter - 1cup
• Powdered sugar - 1 cup
• Butter milk - 1/3 cup
• Vanilla essence - 2tsp
• Icing sugar - as required for dusting
• Jam - 4 to 5 tbs for filling

Method:

1. Cream sugar and butter till fluffy. Add in the vanilla and buttermilk and mix well. (I missed taking the pic when vanilla and buttermilk was added).

2. In a separate bowl mix the salt and flour. Now add this mixture to the butter mixture and gather to a dough slowly. Do not knead just gather.

       

3. Refrigerate this for 1 hour.
4. Take it out after 1 hr. Roll into small balls and make an indent in the roll with a blunt rod (I used an old pen). Line it in a baking tray lined with butter paper.

5. Preheat oven to 175deg C. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
6. Meanwhile prepare the diluted jam by double boiling method. Take some jam in a small bowl and take some water in a pan. Place the bowl inside the pan and heat the pan. Constantly stir so that the jam is diluted to a slightly dropping consistency.

7. Once the cookies are done transfer them to a plate and while they are still warm fill the dent with diluted jam so that it sticks well. Dust with icing sugar. Cool and store in airtight container.

Notes:

1. If you are using salted butter, skip salt.

2. You can even add jam before baking. But make sure to add little so that it does not ooze out while baking.

3. You can even make the dent using your thumb. But it may not be the perfect shape.

4. These cookies brown at the bottom and remain white at the top.

5. You can even top with nutella or chocolate cream or any of your favourite cream.

6. Do not knead the dough.

7. I baked these in 4 batches. I got more than 100 cookies.

8. The cookies will be soft once you remove them from oven but will turn crispy once cooled. Do not overbake.

Paneer Butter Masala - Close to Restaurant Taste

I finally got the perfect recipe for paneer butter masala. I always like panner butter masala and butter chicken masala. I have tried many versions from the net but never was satisfied. Even the ones using milk did not give me a satisfactory result. Then last week my sister in law Sangeetha told me this recipe and it turned out just perfect. Thanks to her for giving me such a keeper recipe.

Ingredients:

1.  Paneer - 1pkt (200gms)
2. Butter - 2tblsp
3. Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp (adjust according to spicyness. I used homemade)
4. Kuzhambu masala thool - 1/2 tsp
5. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
6. Fresh cream - 1tbsp
7. Honey - 1/4 tsp (optional)
8. Dried and crushed kasoori methi leaves - 2 generous pinches
9. Salt - as needed

To saute and grind:

1. Big onion - 1 chopped
2. Tomatoes - 4 small sized chopped
3. Cashews - 10no.s 

Method:

1. Heat kadai, add a tsp of oil and saute the onions, tomatoes and cashews till the tomatoes turn mushy like a thokku consistency.

2. Cool and grind to a smooth paste.

3. Melt butter in kadai, add the ginger garlic paste and saute till raw smell leaves.

4. Now add the ground paste with little water and simmer for about 5 to 7 minutes till raw smell leaves.

5. Add the masala powders, salt and little water and simmer for 2 minutes. Now add the cubed paneer, fresh cream and stir. Let the paneer cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

6. Dry roast the dried kasoori methi leaves, crush them and add 2 generous pinches. Dry roasting adds an enhanced flavour. Add in honey if needed.

7. Garnish with fresh cream and serve!

Notes:

1. Always choose red ripe tomatoes. It gives the color to the dish. I added 4 small tomatoes. Adjust according to tomato size.

2. You can add 1/4 tsp of garam masala too. I added kuzhambu masala thool for extra flvour. Its up to you.

3. Fresh cream gives a nice creamy consistency and enhanced taste.

Eggless French toast with Caramalized Apples

I saw this dish in Kitchen Superstar show in Vijay TV and wanted to try it out. I had all the required ingredients so made it at last. Its a very simple dish to make as a breakfast. I followed the eggless french toast recipe from Raks Kitchen and for the caramelized apples I referred here and it turned out to be good.

For the French toast:

1. Bread slices - 6
2. Custard powder (vanilla flavoured) - 2tbslp
3. Sugar - 2tblsp
4. Milk - 1/2 cup
5. Butter - as required to toast

• Mix the custard powder and sugar without lumps with boiled milk in a wide bowl.
• Dip the bread slices in it on both sides and toast both sides in non stick pan with butter. Do not dip for long time as bread gets soggy. React fast. I just dusted powdered sugar after toasting.

                                           

For the Caramelized Apples:

1. Apple - 1/2

2.  Unsalted butter - 1/2 tbsp

3. Granulated sugar - 11/4 tbsp

4. Lemon juice - 1/4 tsp

5.  Honey - 1 tbsp

• Peel the apple. Chop into small pieces. Its up to you to cube them or chop them. I prefer this way.
• Keep flame in low medium and melt butter and sugar till bubbly. (takes about less than a minute)
• Add the chopped apple and cook. Dont turn flame to high. Add in the honey. Cook in the same heat till apples are soft. Add lemon juice. Cook for about 2 minutes. Caramelized apples are ready!!.

Pepper Egg Masala/Muttai Milagu Masala

 

This is my 3rd post with eggs. As already mentioned in my previous posts, I love eggs. I purchased a small book named Muttai Samayal (Recipes with Egg). I saw this recipe in that book and it was very simple and I always love pepper flavour. So wanted to give it a try. And the result was awesome.

Ingredients:

1. Eggs – 3
2. Turmeric powder – 1/4tsp
3. Pepper powder – 1 1/2tsp
4. Salt – as needed

To saute and grind to a paste:

1. Peppercorns – 1/2tsp
2. Jeera – 1/2tsp
3. Ginger – 1 small piece
4. Garlic – 4 pearls
5. Big Onion – 1 roughly chopped
6. Tomato – 1 chopped
7. Cinnamon – 1 small piece
8. Fennel seeds – 1/4tsp
9. Coconut grated – 5tsp
10. Oil – 1tsp

To temper:

1. Oil – 3tsp
2. Mustard – 1/2 tsp
3. Curry leaves – few

Method:

1. Boil the eggs and remove the shell and make 4 or 5 slits on the eggs and set aside.

2. In kadai, add a tsp of oil and saute the ingredients under roast and grind column and grind them to a paste.

3. Heat 3tsp of oil in the kadai, temper with mustard and curry leaves. Add the ground paste and add turmeric powder, pepper powder and salt and saute till raw smell leaves in low flame.

4. Add the eggs and add little water (say 1/4cup) and toss the eggs well in the masala. Simmer and wait till the masala becomes somewhat thick.

Notes:

1. You can even cut the eggs in half.

2. Freshly ground pepper powder gives a nice flavour.

Vengaya Kulambu/ Onion gravy (using coconut)

 

This recipe is one of those which can be made in a jiffy and it just uses 5 ingredients!. Yet, it is such a flavourful and tasty gravy and I am sure you will love it. This is my mother in laws recipe and is my hubby’s favourite. It was his birthday on Sep 13th and he wanted me to make this for him. So, I thought I would blog this as well.

I made a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting for him following recipe from Gayathri’s cookbook blog. It came out really tasty. It was the first time I tried out my hand at frosting a cake and I found the result satisfactory.

Now lets get on with the gravy recipe. Here’s all you need:

Ingredients:

1. Small onion – 20 to 25 chopped
2. Coconut grated – 1/2 cup heaped
3. Chilli powder – 3tsp
4. Gingelly oil – 4tsp
5. Salt – as needed

Method:

1. Grind the coconut along with the chilli powder along with little water to a smooth paste.

2. Now heat pan, add the gingelly oil and the small onion and saute till translucent.

3. add the ground coconut paste along with some water (say 3/4cup) and mix well. Add salt.

4. Simmer the flame and let it boil till oil separates and gravy reaches a semi thick consistency. Switch off. Serve hot with rice!.

Notes:

This gravy is very simple but there are a few points to be noted to get the exact taste.

• Saute till the onions are translucent. Do not let the onions burn.
• Use only gingelly oil for this recipe. Any other oil would not taste good.
• Simmer and boil till oil separates and gravy becomes semi thick.
• I used homemade chilli powder. If using store bought you can reduce the quantity to 2 and 1/2 tsp as I feel they are more spicy.

Stir Fried Masala Eggs

 

I am a die hard fan of egg and love it in any form except rawand always love to try different egg recipes. I always wonder how egg alone tastes so good. This is one such lip smacking recipe which I got from the book “500 saiva asaiva samayal” (500 varieties of veg and non veg recipes) by Ms. Shanthi Thanigachalam.

This recipe is very easy and the taste was so good. Apologies if the pictures are not very clear. I didn't have my camera at that time so, shot it with my mobile.

Ingredients:

1. Eggs – 2
2. Coconut milk – 1/2 cup
3. Turmeric powder – 1/4tsp
4. Chilli powder –1/4tsp
5. Coriander powder – 1/4 tsp
6. Big onion – 1 finely chopped
7. Tomato – 2 small finely chopped
8. Green chillies – 1 chopped
9. Salt – as needed
10. Oil – 1tsp

To grind coarsely:

1. Peppercorns- 1/4tsp
2. Fennel seeds – 1/2tsp

 

Method:

1. Boil the eggs till cooked and cut each egg vertically into 4.

2. Grind the fennel and peppercorns to coarse powder.

3. Mix the fennel and pepper powder, chilli powder,turmeric and coriander powders,salt,green chilli with the coconut milk. Set aside.

4. Heat kadai, add 1/2tsp of oil and saute the onion until translucent keep it separate.

5. Again heat the same kadai, add the coconut milk mixture and tomato and keep covered with lid. Once it comes to a boil add the onion and eggs. Now keep in medium low flame and wait till a thick consistency is reached. Garnish with coriander leaves and switch off.

Serve hot!. We had it with briyani. It would taste good with roti also.

 

Coconut Chutney/White Chutney

 

I know this is a very simple recipe, yet wanted to post it as it will be useful for beginners. There will be numerous variations to this chutney but this is the one which I follow for white chutney..

Thanks to my friend Vanathi for the cute bowl!

Ingredients:

1. Coconut – grated from half of a coconut
2. Small onion – 5
3. Green chillies –2
4. Salt – as needed

To temper:

1. Mustard – 1/2 tsp
2. Urad dal – 1/2 tsp
3. Curry leaves - few

Method:

1. Grind coconut, onion , chilli and salt in mixie with little water to smooth paste. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

2. Temper with the items given under ‘To temper’ and add it to the paste. Chutney is ready!. Goes well with dosa/idli.

Coriander Seeds Chutney/Dhaniya Chutney

This one is a different type of chutney that I have tried. I got the recipe from the same cook book which my mother gave me and just reduced the spice level (please check notes). The result was an amazing chutney!. While making this my house was filled with a nice aroma and my husband came asking what I was cooking. But it was only a simple chutney.
I was also amazed by the numerous health benefits of these coriander seeds when I googled for it. You can find those here http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/coriander-seeds.html. To name a few, they are rich source of fiber, iron, calcium,zinc and many more minerals and also vitamin C and B complex vitamins. It also eases stomach ache. Recipe goes as follows.

Ingredients:

1. Coriander seeds – 3tsp
2. Urad dal – 1tsp
3. Red chilli (long variety) –6
4. Tamarind – 1 amla sized
5. Coconut scraped – 2 to 3 tbsp
6. Gingelly oil – 5tsp
7. Mustard – 1/2tsp
8. Curry leaves - few
9. Salt – as needed

Method:

1. Add 1 tsp of oil, and saute the urad dal,coriander seeds, chilli and tamarind till the urad dal turns slight brown and a nice aroma arises. Add coconut at last, saute for few seconds and switch off. Better to do all this in medium low flame. Let it cool.
2. Add everything in mixie with salt and little water and grind to a smooth paste.
3. Add remaining oil in kadai, temper with mustard and curry leaves and saute the ground paste till the raw smell leaves. Serve with idli/dosa!

Notes:

• The original recipe calls for 10 red chillies. Its upto you to adjust the spice level as per your taste.

Karuvepilai Kuzhambu/ Curry Leaves Gravy

 

This one is another recipe from the Aval Vikatan supplement. Its a very healthy gravy and it is mentioned that this gravy is healthy for eyes and stomach. It is also suited for new moms. See more benefits of curry leaves in this post. Lets get on to the recipe.

 

Ingredients:

1. Curry leaves – 1 cup
2. Toor Dal – 2tsp
3. Urad dal – 2tsp
4. Peppercorns – 2tsp
5. Ginger – 1small piece
6. Red chilli (I used long variety) – 2
7. Turmeric powder – 1 pinch
8. Tamarind – 1 lemon sized
9. Salt – as needed
10. Gingelly oil – 1 & 1/2tsp

To temper:

1. Gingelly oil – 2tbsp
2. Mustard – 1/2 tsp
3. Asafoetida – 2 pinches

Method:

1. Heat kadai, add 1&1/2tsp of gingelly oil and add the dals, ginger, chilli, pepper and curry leaves ( wash the leaves beforehand). Saute till the dals turn slightly brown. Cool and grind to a coarse paste with little water.

2. Heat kadai, add the items under ‘To temper’ column. Once mustard splutters, add the paste and saute for a while in low flame. Make sure it does not get stuck to the kadai. You can add little water.

3. Extract tamarind juice from the tamarind (you can soak it in hot water for 15 to 20 mins) and add it to the kadai.

4. Add salt, turmeric and wait till the gravy comes to boil well and switch off. Serve hot with rice!. Tastes and smells heavenly!