Kitchen Corner-Try It

Pepper chicken is extremely flavorful chicken with a spicy peppery taste. It is a simple dish with little ingredients which can be put together quickly. The only spice used here is pepper but you can also add garam masala. What I love in this chicken is its simplicity but at the same time it has a wonderful taste and enticing flavors of pepper,ginger,garlic and curry leaves. Ingredients Chicken - 1 lb ( Here I have used boneless chicken) Onion chopped- 1large Ginger- 2 inch thick piece Garlic- 8-10 cloves Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp Pepper powder- 1 1/3 tsp ( adjust according to taste) Whole pepper- 1/2 tsp Clove- 3 Curry leaves oil salt to taste lemon juice- 1 1/2 tsp Coriander leaves Heat oil in a pan and add cloves and whole pepper and slightly roast. Now add ginger, garlic and curry leaves and fry till there is a nice aroma. Add onions and when slightly brown add turmeric powder and chicken. Stir fry in medium flame for two minutes. Add pepper powder and

The color and flavor of beets is unique and I love the ruby red color which it imparts to this dish. Beetroot sambar was very common in my grandmothers kitchen and we children used to go crazy with its color when we dip it with idlis.This is a quick and easy sambar and is literally a one pot cooking. It can be served as a side dish for idlis, dosa or rice. Ingredients Toor Dal/sambar parippu- 1/2 cup Onion sliced-1 medium Beet root- 1 large Potato- 1 medium Carrot- 1 Tomato- 1 Drum sticks- 3 or 4 pieces (you can add any veggies of your choice) Tamarind one lemon sized Chilly powder- 1 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp Coriander powder- 3 tsp Fenugreek powder- 1/3 tsp Asafoetida- 1/3 tsp Mustard seeds Dry red chilly- 2 Curry leaves Coriander leaves Salt to taste Oil Wash Toor dal/sambar parippu and cook with enough water in pressure cooker. After 3-4 whistles remove the lid and mash the dal. Add in the veggies and sliced onion and salt. Add one more

This is a delicious and easy  fried rice made with fish. It is a healthy and quick lunch box fix. This is inspired by a Thai fish rice which I read in a magazine. The original recipe makes use of salted fish and chicken to make fried rice. But here I have used only fish (unsalted).The first time I tried this recipe I used stir fry method to cook fish and the result was somewhat scrambled fish. So to avoid it I  marinated the fish and fried it before combining with rice. You can also add carrots, cabbage,bok choy or any veggies of your choice. Ingredients Fish Boneless- 3/4 lb (I used King Fish) Cooked Rice- 3 cups Onion - 1 medium Spring onions - a little Capsicum - 1 cup Celery- 1/2 cup Soya sauce- 2 tsp Fish sauce- a few drops(optional) Chilly sauce- 1 tsp Oyster sauce- 1/2 tsp ( optional) Carrot- 1 small Ginger- 1inch thick Garlic- 3-4  pepper powder- 1/2  tsp corn starch- 1 tsp oil Cut fish into small pieces. Marinate it for 10 minutes with soya sauce and h

Pazham Pori-Ethapazham pori Pazham Pori or Ethapazham pori is a popular tea time snack of Kerala. It can be easily found in thattukadas/chayakadas in Kerala. Have you ever been to a chayakada before? They are tea stalls found in the nook and corner of Kerala. In the olden days these stalls were the hub of the village or small communities and people used to gather morning and evening for tea, newspaper or radio news discussions. My grandmother always used to complain that my grandfather never used to drink morning tea at home. He always used to walk to the corner tea stall to drink tea, listen to the news and chat with friends..mostly discuss politics :) Chayakadas serve tea, morning breakfast, and fitters. Pazham pori made with ripe sweet plantain is a favorite among the visitors or customers. Gone are the days of glory for these humble tea stalls but not the delicious and colorful fitters that adored their glass shelf containers. They still look mouth-watering. It is so yum

Chemmeen Varattiyathu is a popular sea food delicacy of Kerala. It is not fried prawns but gravy with is almost semi-dry. It is a great side dish for rice. It has the enticing flavors of garam masala and coconut oil and curry leaves. It is spicy, peppery and a bit tangy due to the use of  Malabar tamarind or kudampuli. You can substitute kudampuli with  tomatoes or lemon juice. You can also add coconut pieces in the recipes  which adds to a sweet crunch along with the prawns. Try this easy recipe and let me know how it turned out for you :) Happy Cooking! Cooking time- 20 minutes Recipe Type-Side dish Cuisine: Kerala/Indian Ingredients Prawns- 1 lb Shallots chopped- 1 cup Ginger and garlic paste- 2 tsp Chilly powder - 1 1/2 tsp Pepper powder-1/2 tsp Coriander powder- 2 tsp Turmeric powder- 1/3 tsp Garam masala- 3/4 tsp fenugreek powder- 1/3 tsp Malabar Tamarind/kudampuli- 2-3 pieces  Fennel powder- 1/2 tsp (optional) curry leaves Coconut pieces( Optional) C

Pecan Tarts is a perfect bite sized dessert with a flaky crust, sweet center  and an inviting aroma. Seems it is a small fancy version of the original pecan pie. It will be a perfect dessert for Christmas. This is made in two stages. First the crust and then the filling. Ingredients for the crust Flour- 1 cup Cream cheese- 1/3 cup Butter- 1/2 cup salt- a pinch Ingredients for filling Pecan - 1 cup Egg-1 flour- 2 tsp Sugar- 3/4cup Dark brown corn syrup- 3-4tsp Vanilla extract- 1 tsp salt- 1/3 tsp In a mixing ball beat butter and cream cheese till smooth.Mix in flour to form a dough. Do not knead too much. Just bring it into one mass and chill it in fridge for an hour. Spread the dough  with a rolling pin and cut out small circles. Press this down with your fingers into a greased muffin tin and keep ready. For the filling beat egg in a small bowl and mix in all the ingredients listed for filling. Carefully spoon in this mixture into the shells( about 3/4 of th

Capsicum Chicken/ Bell Pepper Chicken with Roasted Coconut Gravy Capsicum/ Bell pepper chicken is a spicy and delicious chicken curry with bell pepper and roasted coconut gravy. This colorful chicken curry is an old comfort food recipe. It has a delicious aroma and a peppery flavor, and it happens to please everyone at home. This is my mom's recipe, and I love recreating some of her recipes- yeah almost all of her recipes! She keeps things interesting, and some curries are a feast to the eye. Don't you think this curry looks impressive and colorful? I highly recommend different colored bell peppers- red, orange, yellow, and green, but you can choose the one you like. The addition of capsicum gives this chicken curry a wonderful flavor and goes well with naans, chapatis, ghee rice, fried rice, or with freshly baked bread. Bell pepper is crisp and tender, and are delightful bites. The dry roasting of coconut and spices will bring out the essential oil and makes it more a

Pineapple coconut cake is now my top favorite cake:) This is an easy and fragrant cake,sweet a little tangy,flavorful and buttery.If you like the combined flavor of pineapples and coconut you will surely love this. I have used sweetened pineapple in this recipe. You can use fresh pineapple with its juice which will make it even more flavorful. I did not add sugar as I have used sweetened pineapple, coconut and sweet condensed milk. You can add sugar as per your taste.It would be great with butter icing .  I used  whipped cream and pineapple rings and dusted with a little of confectionery sugar. Ingredients Flour- 1 1/4 cup Baking powder- 1 1/2 tsp Salt- 1/3 tsp Sweetened Coconut- 1/2 cup Sweetened Pineapple- 8 oz container Eggs- 3 Butter- 1/2 cup Vanilla essence- 1 tsp Condensed milk- 1/2 cup nutmeg powder- a pinch Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Prepare cake pan by greasing with butter and dusting with flour and set aside. Mix well the dry ingredients like flour,ba

This masala okra stir fry is inspired by the masala stuffed okra with I have been seeing around made by my fellow blogger's. But I was not patient enough to silt and fill in the stuffing and some got slitted  all the way through :(.I ended with this recipe which tasted equally nice:) Okra- 20-25 Onion- 1 medium Green chilly slit- 2 Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp Curry leaves oil hing - a pinch Masala Roasted peanut powder-2tsp Roasted Sesame seeds- 1 tsp Chilly powder- 1/2tsp Coriander powder- 1/2tsp Garam Masala- 1/2 tsp Salt a pinch Cut okra into desired shape. Heat one tsp of oil and add in the ingredients listed under masala and lightly roast it in low flame till the raw flavor disappears and set aside. Heat another two tsp of oil and add mustard seeds. Allow to splutter and add in green chilly, curry leaves and hing. Add onions and fry till golden brown and finally add okra and stir fry for two minutes. You can close with a lid for a few seconds and then conti

When it comes to my favorite North Indian recipes there is a long list but topping it would be the spicy roasted tandoori chicken.This is definitely the most loved recipe by all chicken lovers in India.This tandoori chicken  is  not cooked the traditional way but in the oven and to my happy surprise it came out well imparting some of the rich the flavors and taste of traditional Indian cooking. The original recipe I have taken from Sanjeev Kapoor show and have brought a little changes according to taste and to get it roasted in the oven. It tasted delicious but I was a bit sad that the beautiful gashes are not visible:( Ingredients Chicken legs 3 or 6 chicken drumsticks First marinade Kashmiri chili powder- 3/4 tsp Ginger- garlic paste- 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice-a few drops salt to taste Second marinade Kashmiri Chilly powder - 2 tsp Coriander powder- 1/2 tsp Gram flour- 3 tsp Ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp Clove- 3-4 Cinnamon- 1 stick cardamon-  3 nutmeg- a pi