Kitchen Corner-Try It

Potato and carrot stew goes well with appam, idiyappam and chapatis. This is a simple and delicious recipe which is somewhat similar to the Kerala potato ishtu. It is potatoes cooked in a thick creamy coconut sauce. It has a mild and delicate flavor and is less spicy. Ingredients Potatoes- 3 medium Carrots -  2 medium Onion-      1 Green Chilly- 3 Ginger-  1 inch thick Fennel seeds- 3/4 tsp Turmeric powder- 1/2tsp Thick Coconut milk- 1 cup Mustard Seeds- 1/2 tsp Dry Red chilly- 1 Curry leaves Salt to taste oil Chop potatoes and carrots into one inch thick pieces and onions into thin slices. Mix potatoes, onion, carrot,green chilly, ginger, fennel seed powder, turmeric, salt and one cup of water and cook till vegetables are soft. Stir in thick coconut milk and allow to simmer for a minute. In a seperate pan heat oil and add mustard seeds and when it crackles add red chilly and curry leaves and fry. Add this to the stew and serve warm with appams or idiyappa

Delicious coconut balls is a true relish for sweet lovers. It has the rich flavor of coconut and cardamon. Easy to prepare sweet it hardly takes 10 minutes to put together. It is best when served warm and fresh. One of my friend loves it as a chilled  dessert. Here is the recipe. Ingredients Shredded Coconut- 2 cups Sweet Condensed milk- 1 cup Milk- 1/2 cup Sugar - if you need extra sweetness Cardamon powder- 1/2 tsp Ghee- 2 tsp Cashew nuts chopped- 2 tsp Sweetened coconut powder- 1/4 cup Heat a heavy bottom pan and add ghee and coconut. Roast them for a few seconds till there is a slight change in color. Do not allow the coconut to change color to brown. Add in half cup of milk and allow to cook. Now add in the condensed milk and cardamon and stir well. From a loose mass the mixture will get thick and form a single mass. Continuously stir in till the mixture leaves the edges of the pan. Spread it on a greased tray and allow to cool a bit or till it is safe to handle. m

Kerala Chicken Curry Spicy chicken curry is a great accompaniment with rice, appam, or chapati. This chicken curry is an old comfort food recipe, simple and straight forward and you will never go wrong with this. It is a simple, easy chicken curry but tastes delicious. The flavor of earthy spices, onion tomato- masala, and coconut milk all melding into one another, to make rich and aromatic chicken curry. This home-style chicken was the first chicken curry that mom taught me. My mom is my food hero, and sometimes she got this wildly experimenting streak which drives my dad crazy, but I enjoy it the most. So let me call this home style, standardized regular curry, which she makes every Sunday. Now when I’m feeling extra nostalgic for homey taste, I make this chicken curry.  It goes well with almost anything-naans, chapatis, ghee rice, fried rice, or with freshly baked bread.   Coconut milk adds flavor and a touch of sweetness to the curry. If you like, you can add sliced coc

Carrot rice is another flavorful one pot quick meal. This is a simple but delicious rice similar to the pulao. Carrot and rice was cooked together. You can also cook them separate , make the masala and finally blend like the fried rice. What attracted me to this rice is its simplicity and unique aroma. Ingredients Basmathi Rice-2 cup Carrot grated- 1 1/2 cup Water- 4 1/3 cup Onion chopped- 1 medium Green Chilly- 4 Ginger- 1 inch thick Bay leaf - 1 Cinnamon- 1 inch thick Clove- 2 Cardamon-2 Fennel Seeds- a pinch Cashew nuts- 6-7 lemon juice - a few drops salt to taste Oil/ghee Heat oil/ghee in a pressure pan and add in the whole garam masala and saute till a nice aroma comes and add cashew nuts and fry till golden brown. Add onions , green chilly,salt and ginger and saute till it becomes golden brown. Add in the grated carrot and stir fry. Add rice and allow the masalas and oil to get coated and finally add water and when it starts to boil close the lid. After the

Spicy Baby Potato Fry Simple potato fry is a great side dish with rice and hot rasam. Potatoes with a perfectly crispy golden crust and tender, buttery inside is how we want our potatoes. Added to this is an explosion of flavor that you can't stop eating. there are days when I want to spend as little time as possible in the kitchen. Crispy potatoes with rice and rasam are absolute comfort food. Potatoes are a versatile vegetable and come in handy whenever you want to whip up a quick meal. For me, this is an all-rounder and can be served for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Next time when you have friends coming over serve these with homemade dip as a starter. Your friends are going to love it. The chilly powder, tandoori masala and fennel add great flavor. Cornstarch and flour make it crispy. Even my kid who is a picky eater could be enticed into eating crispy baby potatoes. You can also add onions, garlic and bell peppers and make it according to your taste preference. Th

Rava Kesari has always been one of my most favorite sweet. This soft melt in mouth dessert is much loved and  is  considered as an auspicious prasadam or a  halwa  and in several regions it is served along with breakfast. This is a quick and easy recipe. Ingredients Rava or Sooji- 1 cup Sugar- 1-11/2cup (best is double the amount of sooji) Water- 2 1/2 cups (or half water and half milk) Ghee- 1/2 cup Cardamon-6-8 few drops of food color Raisins- Cashew nuts In a heavy bottom pan heat one tsp of ghee and fry cashews till golden brown and raisins till they fluff and keep aside. Roast rava till it starts changing color to golden or till there is a nice aroma . Keep this aside. Bring water to boil and add food color and now add in the rava. Sprinkle and spread out evenly. At first it will look like lot of water. But will start to thicken in a minute. So at this stage mix well to avoid lumps and close lid just for a few seconds.Remove lid and  continuously

This is a Kerala style egg roast which is a popular breakfast side dish. It goes well with appam and idiyappam. It can also be served with naan and chapati's. It is spicy and delicious egg curry. Ingredients Egg- 4 Onions- 3 Tomato -1 Green chilly slit- 2 Ginger - 2 inch thick Garlic- 4-5 Curry leaves Garam Masala- 3/4 tsp Chilly powder- 1 tsp Turmeric powder- 1/3 tsp Pepper powder- 1/2 tsp Coriander powder- 2 tsp oil salt to taste Chop onions into thin slices, chop ginger and garlic and slice tomatoes. In a pan heat oil and saute ginger, garlic and green chilies.Add onion and salt and saute till it evenly fried and brown( not golden brown). Be patient here, onion should not get burned use only medium heat. Add tomatoes and saute till it get soft and cooked. Mix chili powder, garam masala turmeric,pepper and coriander powder with a little water( 3-4 tsp) and add into the onion tomato mixture. Fry till oil separates. Now pour in 1/2 cup of water and

Fried cake  is deep fried sweet dough and has a crispy outer and a soft bread like texture in the inside. sprinkle powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar while it is still warm. This is a perfect tea time snack. Ingredients All Purpose Flour- 2 cups Egg-2 ( I used three egg whites) Dry active yeast - 1 tsp Sugar- 1/2 cup Butter- 2 tsp Cardamon-   6-7 Nutmeg -1/4 tsp salt- a pinch thick coconut milk 1/4 cup( optional you may also use water) oil for frying Combine well all the dry ingredients flour,salt,cardamon and nutmeg and dry active yeast Beat egg yolk and white separately. Make sure the white are light and fluffy. Add sugar and beat well. Mix in the flour little by little to form a thick dough just like you do for chapati . Mix coconut milk---spoon in little by little only if  you feel that the dough needs a little more moister. Set this aside for at least  two hours. Roll the dough log shapes and tie it into a knot, or flatten and cut into desired shapes.Deep fry in

Chilly fish was an instant hit at home which I served with fried rice. This can be served as a starter too. It is definitely inspired by the Indo-Chinese version where the fish is deep fried and then added into a spicy chilly sauce. This is a quick and easy to make recipe. You can use any fish like King fish,Salmon,Grey sole or Cat fish. Ingredients To fry Fish boneless- 1 lb Soya sauce- 2 tsp Chilly powder- 1/2 tsp pepper powder-1/2 tsp salt to taste flour- 3 tsp corn flour- 2 tsp oil for frying For the sauce Soya sauce- 1 tsp Dark soya sauce- 1/2 tsp Oyster sauce- 1 tsp Chilli sauce- 2 tsp Stock or water - 1 cup Corn starch- 1 tsp Onion - 1 medium Bell pepper -1 or a combination of different colors Dry red chilly- 2 Garlic- 3 pods  Ginger- 1 inch thick Chopped green onions- a hand full Clean and cut fish into medium sized cubes and marinate it with soya sauce, chilly powder, pepper powder and a pinch of salt for 10 minutes. Make a thic

This is the first time that I prepared this aromatic yellow rice at home. This is a simple rice dish with a great blend of spices. The first time I read the recipe I felt it was closer to lemon rice, minus tangy taste. But when I made this I really enjoyed its delicate and unique flavor -the aroma of spices,roasted cumin and coconut. I added green peas quite generously ( gave a greenish yellow color to my rice) as my sunny boy loves it. It is just optional. Here comes the recipe. Ingredients Basmathi Rice- 2 cups Green peas- 1 cup Salt to taste Water- 4 1/2 cups Turmeric- 1/2 tsp Dry red chilly -2 Green Chilly-2 Onion- 1/2 an onion Cinnamon stick- 2 two inch piece Clove- 4-5 Cardamon- 3 Black Jeera- a pinch Cumin seeds- 1 tsp Hing- 1/3 tsp Ginger chopped- 11/2 tsp Dry coconut- 2 tsp Coriander leaves Ghee- 1/2 tsp Oil Cook rice in four and half cups of water along with green peas, salt till all the water is evaporated. Heat oil in a pan and add ginger and