Nellore Kodi Pulusu (Chicken cooked in tamarind gravy)

This recipe i jotted down long back from a newspaper and tried it many times.The combination of chicken and tamarind is excellent and this curry is from a place called nellore in Andhra pradesh and is quite famous there.

Ingredients:-

Chicken 1 kg

Onion chopped 1

Tomato 1 (chopped into 4 pcs)

Turmeric 1/2 tsp

Juice of half lemon

Salt as per taste

Wash chicken.Add all the above ingredients.Mix well.Pour one glass of water and cook.Once the chicken is soft and there is still some water remaining switch of the stove and keep aside.

Make a fine paste of the following ingredients:-

Fresh coconut 1 tbsp

Ginger garlic paste 1 tbsp

Coriander powder 1 tsp

Garam masala 1/2 tsp

For seasoning

Onion 1 chopped

Green chillies silted 2

Cloves 2

Cinnamon 1'' 2pcs

Cardamom 2

Curd 1 tbsp

Tamarind small lemon size (extract juice from tamarind)

Method:-

Take oil in a pan,heat it and add cinnamon,cloves and cardamom.Once they crackle add onions and fry till brown in colour.Add green chillies and fry.

Add masala paste and fry till oil comes out.

Add curd and saute of 2-3 minutes.

Then add tamarind juice and let it boil for another 3-4 minutes.

Now pour in the boiled chicken along with water.

Cook on high flame for 10 minutes and then on low flame till it thickens into a gravy.

Serve hot with rice/dosa/parathas.

Eggless Cake With Milk Powder

Few days back i brought milk powder tin and made gulab jamuns but didn't get the jamuns properly and i didn't had courage to make them again.As milk powder was nearing expiry i remembered my neighbour used to bake cake with milk powder.I checked for the recipe in my book and got the below recipe.The cake was very soft and tasty.It had the taste of milk,dry fruits and vanilla and got over within a day of preparing it.

Ingredients:-

Plain flour 2 cups

Milk powder 1 cup (nestle)

Vanilla essence 1 tsp

Sugar 1 cup

Canola oil 1 cup (can be reduced to 3/4 cup)

Salt a pinch

Baking powder 1 tsp

Soda bicarbonate 1/2 tsp

Milk 1 cup

Tutty fruity 1/4 cup

Raisins few

Cashew few

Almonds few

Method:-

Mix all the dry ingredients.

Add dry fruits,oil and milk to the dry ingredients.

Mix thoroughly.

Line a baking tin with butter and sprinkle flour.

Pour the batter in the tin and bake in a preheated Microwave oven at 180 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until the sewer when inserted comes out clean.

Kheema Palak (Lamb mince and spinach)

Ingredients:-

Kheema (minced meat) 1/2kg

Palak chopped 1 bunch

Onions chopped 1

Green chillies slitted 2

Ginger garlic paste 1 1/2 tbsp

Cinnamon 1'' pc

Cloves 2

Red chilly powder 1 tbsp

Turmeric powder

Garam masala powder 1 tsp

Coriander powder 1 tbsp

Cumin powder 1 tsp

Salt as per taste

Oil 4 tbsp

Method:-

Take kheema in a kadai,add ginger garlic paste,Cinnamon,cloves,turmeric powder,1tbsp oil and salt.Keep it on a medium flame.

Let it cook till the water dries off.

In a another pan take oil.Add onions and green chillies.

Saute till pink in colour.

Add chopped palak,salt,garam masala,coriander powder and cumin powder.

Cook till all water dries and palak is cooked.

Now add the kheema and mix thoroughly.

Sprinkle 4-5 tbsp of water and cook until the curry dries.

Serve hot with parathas or rotis.

Chicken biryani

I have blogged about biryani before here.This is another type of biryani which i make quite often and this biryani calls for more ingredients.



Ingredients:-

Basmati Rice 1 kg (soaked for 30 minutes)

For marination

Chicken 1/2 kg
Fried Onions 2
Green chillies 3
Ginger garlic paste 2 tbsp
Curd 1 cup
Cloves 2
Cinnamon small pc 2
Mace/Javithri 2 pcs
Green cardamom 2
Black cardamom 2
Bay leaves 2
Pepper 10 (whole)
Shahi zeera/black cumin 1 tsp
Coriander powder 1 tbsp
Red chilly powder 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder 1 tsp
Juice of 1 lime
Coriander leaves few
Mint leaves few
Salt as per taste
Oil 6-7 tbsp

Marinate all the above for atleast an hour.I usually keep the marination for a night and make biryani the following day.

Method:-

Take the marinated chicken in a deep and heavy bottom vessel.Press the chicken with spatula so that is even.Keep side.

Drain the soaked rice and keep aside.

Take 5 cups of water in a bowl.Put it on fire and add 2 tbsp oil and salt.Check the taste of water,if it is salty then the amount of salt added is right.

When water reaches boiling point,add the drained rice.

This is where care has to be taken that rice is not fully cooked.The rice for biryani should be half cooked.When the grains in the water start dancing check the rice.When the grain in taken between thumb and the second finger,if the grain is crushed then the rice is half cooked.Take the rice in a sieve and drain all the water.

Now spread rice on the top of chicken marination.Sprinkle fried onions,mint and coriander leaves.Lastly sprinkle saffron water.Food colour can be replaced with saffron.

Cover the vessel with a clean wet kitchen towel and place a tight lid over it.The steam should not escape.

Cook on high flame for 5 minutes and then on a low flame for 25 minutes.Don't open immediately,let is set for another 5-10 minutes.

Serve with mirch ka salan and raita of your choice.

My girl is getting impatient with my photo session.

PS:-The quantity of masala i have taken are according to our taste,if you want the biryani to be more spicy,masala can be increased.The masala i used are according to the taste buds of a 5 year old and 2 1/2 year old kid.

PS:-To get cripsy onions,sprinkle 1 tbsp of cornflour/rice flour to the sliced onions just before frying.

PS:-I added my recipe list to my blog

Dates and Apple Cake

Ingredients:-

Plain flour 1 cup

Sugar 1/2 cup

Fresh Dates 1/2 cup (can be altered)

Apples 2 chopped

Egg 1

Baking powder 1/2 tsp

Baking soda 1/2 tsp

Butter 1/4 cup

Salt a pinch

Demera sugar 2 tbsp

Method:-

1.Soak dates in warm water for 10 minutes and make a fine paste in the mixer.

2.Mix all the dry ingredients.

3.Beat egg until fluffy and add butter,mix thoroughly.

4.Slowly add egg and dates paste to the flour and mix thoroughly.

5.Add chopped apples and just mix it,don't over do as apples gets mashed in the batter.

6.Spoon the mixture into the tin (baking tin should be buttered and dusted with flour).

7.Sprinkle demara sugar and bake for 60 minutes at 200 degrees.

This cake retains moisture for about 3-4 days.It can be made eggless as well.I made both with egg and without egg and there is not much difference in the taste.

The combination of dates and the apple pieces are awesome.

Kandi Podi/Tur dal powder

Ingredients:-

Kandi pappu/Tur dal 1 cup

Endu mirapayaluDry red chillies 5-6 (can be altered according to taste)

Karivapaku/Dry curry leaves 10 leaves

Hing a pinch

Jelakara/Cumin 1 tsp

Uppu/Salt to taste

Method:-

Fry tur dal.Fry till nice aroma comes out and they are light brown in colour.

Then fry red chillies,curry leaves and hing.

Let all the ingredients cool.

Grind into a fine powder.

Serve with idly and dosa.I prefer eating this with hot rice and a dash of ghee.

Molaga Podi

Molaga podi is also know as idly karam and is a great accompaniment with dosa.Just add few drops of oil or ghee and eat it with dosa.This is my m-law recipe and doesn't calls for much ingredients and quite easy to make and can be stored for long.

Ingredients:-

Urad dal (Minapa pappu) ½ cup
Chana dal (Sanaga pappu) 1/2 cup
Dried red chillies 6
Hing a pinch
Oil 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Method:-

Dry roast urad dal and channa dal separately,taking care not to over or under fry.

Take tsp of oil and fry red chillies.Once cool.Mix all the ingredients and grind it in
a mixer.
Some prefer coarse and some prefer fine powder.I prefer coarse powder.