Bread Barfi

August 24, is Raksha Bandhan - Raksha means protection and bandhan means bond. It is a day to celebrate the relationship between brothers and sisters and predominantly celebrated by the North Indian community. It is celebrated on a full moon day in the month of Shravan (tamil month= Aani). Sisters ties the rakhee,a string of assorted designs,on the wrist of their brothers. Sisters feed their brothers sweets and brothers in return offer gifts to their sisters, promising to care for their sisters....For more write-up on Raksha Bandhan,you may look up at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raksha_Bandhan

Since I am married to one, I would like to ensure that my children, Varsha and Kiren follows the tradition and I decided to make something sweet - bread barfi. I am attaching the original version and the version I made.

Not forgetting, I am dedicating this barfi to my brother, Vikniswaran Murugain, who is so near yet so far away on business trip....we catch up this weekend, ok....

original recipe
2cups of soft breadcrumbs
1 cup of milk
1 grated coconut
1 cup of sugar
4tbs of oil
pink color as required
2-3 drops of rose essence
8-10 chopped cashnew nuts

Method
Soak bread crumbs in milk for about 10 minutes.
Combine coconut and sugar, stir over a low fire till the sugar melts.
Add the soaked breadcrumbs and stir till well mixed (for about 5 to 7 minutes).
Add oil and continue stirring till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan.
Add coloring, essence and cashewnuts and mix well till the color is evenly blended.
Turn the mixture onto a greased tray and spread it evenly.
Allow it to cool and then cut into desired shapes.
Makes 22 pieces (2"x1").

my way....

2 pieces of bread - cut into small cubes
1 cup of milk
4-6tbs of ghee
2 cups of dry coconut/dessicated coconut
1 cup of sugar
a handful of raisins
drop of green color
1tsp of essence vanilla.

method - as above

Bread Pancake

I tried this savory pancake for dinner to accompany my chicken keema. and it turn out very nice. my son loved it as it is - delicious he says....my daughter says it looks too healthy for her and dad just enjoyed.... Thanks Treatntrick for sharing...sorry though I made a little alteration to suit the tastebuds of the house....

Bread Pancake.
source : http://treatntrick.blogspot.com/

Ingredients

6 slices of bread cut into small cubes
2 onions chopped
2 tomatoes chopped ( I omitted this)
1 tsp of ginger minced
4 chillies finely chopped ( I omit this too)
a handful of chopped coriander leaves
1 1/4 cup of all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup of water
salt to taste
oil
1/4 red capsicum - chopped finely - this I add.
Method

Place flour, salt and bread into a bowl. Add water gradually and mix well.
All other ingredients except oil. Stir well till well combined.
Heat and grease a pan.
Pour a few spoons of batter and spread round.
Cook on both sides, drizzle oil if needed.
Serve hot with sauce/chutney...

Indian Style Mix Vegetables

Indian Style Mix Vegetables
source : my own

Ingredients
1/2 bowl of cauliflowers
1/2 bowl of carrots - cut into julienne
1/4 bowl of red capsicum - cut into juliene
1 tsp of ginger garlic paste
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1 red onions - chopped finely
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
water
salt to taste
vegetable oil
ghee
chopped coriander leaves

Method

Wash and cut vegetables accordingly.
Heat a pan with some oil just nice to coat the vegetables.
Once hot add in cumin seeds, once it starts to crackle, add in the vegetables and cook for 5-6 mins ensuring there are well coated with the cumn seeds and oil.
Remove from the pan and put aside.
Heat ghee, once hot, fry onions till brown and soft.
Add in the chilli, turmeric and coriander powders and salt to taste, fry for a few seconds, do not burn them.
Add in the vegetables, stir fry well, add enough water and cooked till all the water are dried up.
Serve with chopped coriander leaves.

note : you can add in french beans and potatoes to the combination of vegetables....
Enjoy.

Chicken Keema

Emm today is a medley of food combination a little of this and that. I had wanted to try out keema, an Indian/Pakistani dish. Keema is actually minced meat and normally the main ingredient will be mutton/lamb/beef.

As both my kids and husband are not mutton/lamb lovers, I opted to try out with minced chicken, hence Chicken Keema. I was made to understand that many versions of keema existed, some with grean peas and some with potatoes, sometimes with both in. So I thought of making something authentic served the net as usual and found a hyderabad cuisine. Lets look at it.

Keema
source : http://hubpages.com/hub/Hyderabadi-Keema by skyfire

Ingredients:

1 lbs Lamb Mince
1/2 cup yogurt
4 tablespoon oil
1 Boiled Egg
2 Chopped Onion
1 Chopped ginger
1 tablespoon garlic paste
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1/2 cup chopped tomato
1/2 cup Chopped Coriander Leaves
1 tablespoon garam Masala
1 tablespoon red chili powder
1 tablespoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon green chili paste
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
Salt as per taste

Method
In a bowl, add salt, yogurt, turmeric powder, garlic paste and mix it well with the mince chicken/mutton/lamb. Marinate for an hour or so.

In a frying pan, add 4 tablespoon of oil in it. Add garam masala and allow it to crackle. Also add chopped onions and let it heat till onions change color to slightly brown. Now add chopped ginger, coriander powder, red chili powder, green chili paste into pan and let it cook for 2 minutes. Again if you don’t want to make it too spicy then either skip green chili paste or add 1/2 tablespoon of green chili paste. ( I skipped the green paste)

Add chopped tomatoes and let it cook till fat leaves masala. Tomato can also be skipped if anyone wants to but it adds to the original recipe taste so if possible add it. Now add marinated lamb mince into the pan. Let it cook till you see the thick gravy. Add slice of boiled egg before you serve in plate.When it comes to serving add coriander leaves and serve it with lukmi, puri or roti. You can even flavor this dish with traditional charcoal seasoning

I skipped the charcoal part and I serve them with rice instead.

Chili Chicken

Chilli Chicken (Kori Kempu Bezule)
source:The best of Indian Cooking-a selection of recipes from the Taj Group of Hotels

a simple and easy to cook dish...

8 chicken breast fillets
1 tsp of tumeric powder
salt to tast
1 tbsp garlic paste
3 green chillies
oil for deep frying
10 curry leaves
4 tbsp of natural yogurt

Batter
4 tbsp corn flour
2 tbsp superfine flour
salt
2 eggs
1.5 tbsp red chiili paste (I used chilli powder)
1 tbsp of freshly chopped coriander.

Method

Remove the skin and cut chicken breasts into 15mm wide strips. Place in a shallow dish, sprinkle with turmeric powder and salt and cover with garlic paste and then set aside for 3o mins.
Heat the oil in a pan until moderately hot. Coat the chicken in the prepared batter and place in the hot oil. Fry till golden and crispy. The remove with a slotted spoon. Next heat a fresh pan, add the curry leaves, chillies yoghurt and chicken and toss until the yogurt has evaporated. Adjust seasonings to taste and transfer to a serving dish.

To make a batter: sift the cornflour, flour and a little salt into a mixing bowl. Break in the eggs,add the chilli, coriander and just sufficient cold water to produce a thick batter. Mix well.

Kaduku Eral (Mustard Prawns)

I tried out this recipe and another called Chilly Chicken from a book that was a gift to my by my hubby when we got married - "The best of Indian Cooking - a selection of recipes from the Taj Group of Hotels". I had loaned this and another titled "Vegetarian Cooking by Lalita Ahmed" to a friend. So these books missed the packing and since there are light weight, I decided to bring them to Doha to try more of the recipes from these books.


Kaduku Eral - Mustard Prawns
source:The best of Indian Cooking-a selection of recipes from the Taj Group of Hotels

600gms of prawns
1 large onions
2 tomatotes
4 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp of oil
1 tsp of mustard seeds
1 heaped tbsp of chilli powder
salt to taste
chopped coriander leaves

Method

Shell, devein the prawns, then wash under running water and pat dry and set aside.
Chop finely onions, tomatoes and garlic.
Heat oil in a pan until very hot, then add the mustard seeds and curry leaves.
When they start to crackle, immediately add onion and garlicand saute until softened. Next add tomatoes and cook for 4 -5 minutes, then add the chilli powder and stir well.
Lower the heat and add the prawns. Cookfor 10-12minutes, stirring frequently then season with salt to taste.
To serve transfer to a large plate nd garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Chicken Varuval (Dry Masala Chicken)

there are many ways of doing this chicken varuval... some fry the chicken before hand, some steam and then lightly fry. and this is how my mum - Madam Rajeswary, does her chicken varuval...

Chicken Varuval Amma's Way...

1 whole chicken - remove skin, cut into small bite size
4 tbs of ginger garlic paste
2 tomatoes - quatered
10 dry chilies - break into small pieces (can add more if prefer spicy)
2 whole onions - chopped finley
2 sprig curry leaves
*3 tsp of fennel seeds
*1 tsp of cumin seeds
*2 cardamons,
*2 aniseed
*3 cloves
*2 cinammon
2 tbs of red chilly powder
1 tsp of tumeric powder
3 clove of garlic - pound lightly
1 tsp of black pepper - grind coarsely
salt to taste
coriander leaves to garnish

Method

Mix well ginger/garlic paste and tumeric powder to the chicken pieces.
In a wok heat a little oil, once hot, add in chicken and tomatoes and mix well, cover and cook till done.
Do not add water to the chicken as the chicken will release water when its covered. Make sure to stir to avoid being burnt.
Once the chicken is well cooked and with little water, add curry powder and salt to taste, stir well. Reduce fire.
In a different work, heat oil, once hot, saute all those marked (*), fry till aromatic and starts to crack. Add in onions, dry chillies and curry leaves,fry the onions are soft, add this to the chicken mixture and mix well. Cook further till it is well coated and dry.
Add in the coarse pepper and garlic just and serve...

Amma's Briani Rice

I have not been updating for sometime although did try out a few dishes. Now that we are settled again in Doha, so it is time to update my blog again. Just before leaving Malaysia had a feast of food at my mum's. She made her special Briyani Rice and Chicken Varuval ie Dry Masala Chicken. I add on with 2 new dishes tried out from a recipe book which my hubby got it for me after our wedding.... I have tried a few of them which I will share later on. Now let us feast on the recipes....

Amma’s Briyani Rice

8 cups of basmathi rice or long grain rice
1 cup of evaporated milk
6 cups of water
A handful of cashew nuts – halved
A handful of raisins
A handful of rock sugar
Salt to season
2 large onions – chopped finely
2 tbs of ghee
2 cinnamons
2 star aniseeds
2 cardamoms
2 bay leafs

Method
1. Wash rice and soak for at least 1 hour. Drain dry.
2. Heat ghee in a wok. Once melted, sauté cinnamon, star aniseeds, cardamoms and bay leafs for a few minutes.
3. Next sauté onions till translucent and soft.
4. Fry cashew nuts about 1-2minutes, add raisins, stir fry for a more seconds, add rice and mix well.
5. In a rice cooker, boil both evaporated milk and water together with rock sugar and salt. Once boiling, add rice mixture into the water and cook till is done.
6. You may garnish with mint leaves and chopped coriander leaves.

note : water ratio should be based on the type of rice used. adjust accordingly.

Banana Muffins

Had a few bananas left and need to clear before going for a short holidays.
this is a simple and easy recipe to follow.

Banana Muffins
source : www.allrecipes.com

1 1/2 cup of all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 large bananas - mashed
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup butter melted

Method
1. Preheat oven 175C. coat muffin pans with non stick or use paper liners
2. sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. Combine bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter in a large bowl. Fold in flour mixture and mix until smooth. Scoop into muffin pans.
4. Bake in preheated oven. Bake mini muffins 10-15mins. Large for 25-30mins. Muffins will spring back when tapped.

Sweet Potato Doughnut @ Kuih Keria

Kuih keria or sweet potato doughnut is one of the many local tradisional snacks in Malaysia. It is usually served at breakfast as well at tea time. Its simple and yet delicious. I prefer coating the doughnuts with icing sugar instead of sugar syrup.


Ingredients

500gm of sweet potato( I used the purplish colored sweet potato)
1 cup of wheat flour
salt to tast
Icing sugar for dusting

Method

Wash the sweet potatoes and boil with some salt.
Once soft, remove from water and remove skin. Mashed it soft while still hot. Leave aside to cool.
Once cooled, mix together with flour, knead well.
Take a small portion, round it and make a hole in the centre.
Heat a wok. Fry the doughnuts till golden brown, remove and mix well with icing sugar.
Serve