Spicy Spanish Omelette

 

Recipe adapted from here

Spicy version of Spanish Omelette...
Ingredients:
Potatoes-2-3
Eggs-5-6
Onion-1, sliced lengthwise
Chilly powder-1/2 tsp (optional)
Green chilly-2, finely chopped(optional)
Olive oil for frying

Method:
Peel potaoes and slice them into medium strips(approx. 1/4" thick and 2" length).
Peel and chop the onion into 1/4" pieces. Mix potatoes together with red chilly powder in a bowl. Add salt and mix well.
Heat olive oil in a large non stick pan and place potatoes and evenly spread them on the pan.When it is half cooked add onions and fry them by stirring in between. Keep aside.
Crack the eggs into a  bowl and and nicely beat them. Add the cooked/fried potato onion mixture, chopped green chilly and mix carefully with a fork or spoon. 
Heat 1-2 tbsp of oil in a large non stick frying pan. Pour the egg potato onion mixture and carefully spread the mixture. When it has slightly browned on the bottom carefully flip the omelette. The process is bit challenging and to avoid spill, slide the omelette into a flat plate, then carefully place the frying pan over it. Quickly flip the omelette so that the uncooked side of the omelette would now face down the frying pan. Cook it for 3-4 min. Make sure the egg is well cooked inside of the omelette.Slice the omelette and serve warm.

Carrot Pickle

Ingredients:
Carrots-4-5, medium sized
Green chilly-10
Ginger-1 " piece, sliced lengthwise
Garlic-8-10 cloves, sliced lengthwise
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Powdered/ crushed fenugreek (ഉലുവ)-1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds-1 tsp
Curry leaves-2 sprigs
Asafoetida (കായം)-1 pinch
Vinegar-1 tbsp
Salt
Any vegetable oil- 1 tbsp


Method:

1. Clean and peel carrots.Cut  them into  long and thin strips. Slice ginger and garlic and green chilly.
2. Warm up a pan and pour oil, splutter fenugreek, mustards followed by curry leaves. Add ginger, garlic and green chillies, saute till their raw smell has gone. Add turmeric powder, stir in carrots and saute until the carrots are soft. Reduce the flame and add a pinch of asafoetida, salt and vinegar. Mix everything together and turn off the flame. Let it cool and pack it in a glass jar with an air-tight lid. Pickle will be ready to use within 2-3 days

You can refrigerate it up to 1 month.

Shrimp/ Prawns Pollichathu (ചെമ്മീന്‍ പൊള്ളിച്ചത് )

This recipe makes a real spicy shrimp pollichathu with a distinct feel of green chillies...
Ingredients:
for marinating shrimp----
Cleaned shrimps-30
turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
Chilly powder-1 tsp
All purpose flour-1 tsp
Salt
for the gravy----
Small onions-1/2 cup or Big onion-1, thinly sliced
Green chillies-8
Ginger and garlic-2 tsp, chopped
Tomato-1, chopped
Coriander powder-1/2 tsp
Pepper powder-1/2 tsp
Cumin powder (ജീരകം പൊടിച്ചത് )-1/4 tsp  
Curry leaves- 2 sprig
Thick coconut milk- 2tsp
Salt
Oil
Plantain leaf/ Aluminum foil

Method:
Marinate shrimps with the ingredients listed. Shallow fry both sides in oil and keep aside. Heat oil in a pan and saute onions,green chillies, ginger and garlic. Add coriander, cumin and pepper powders, saute for 5 min and add tomatoes. Saute until oil starts to appear and pour thick coconut milk dissolved in 1/4 cup of water. Boil off the excess water and stir until the gravy is thick. Transfer half of the gravy into a plantain leaf/ aluminum foil, spread the fried shrimp over that finally spread the rest of the gravy and top with curry leaves. Fold the four sides of the leaf/foil to make a parcel. Preheat the oven to 300F and bake both sides of the parcel for 10-15  min. Transfer into a plate and serve hot with rice or chapathi.
Tips: Reduce the number of green chillies to adjust spiciness.

Frosting stuffed strawberries

Recipe adapted from bettycrocker.com    
What you need:
-Fresh strawberries
-Any frosting of your choice (I used Pillsburry easy frost vanila dream)
-Icing bag and frosting tip
Method:
Rinse strawberries in water and pat them dry. Hull the berries using a knife and cut the bottom portion of each so they can stand. Fill the strawberries with frosting and top with raisins, nuts or blueberry. Keep in refrigerator and is best served within 2-3 hours.

Tips: If you don't have icing bag, fill the frosting into one corner of a small plastic bag, twist the top of the bag right above the frosting. Make an opening by snipping off the corner. Squeeze in the frosting into the hulled strawberries.

Chocolate dipped strawberries with sprinkles

What you need:
Strawberries(large ripe and red)- 25-30
Chocolate chips (I used Dolci frutta hard chocolate shell)-8oz
Decorating Sprinkles
Wax paper or foil -1(13"X9")
Method:
Wash strawberries under cold water, drain and dry them completely with a paper towel.
Line a baking tray with wax paper/foil
Microwave the chips until fully melted, stir with a spoon.
Hold the green stem of the strawberry (or you can use a toothpick) and dip one half or three fourth of a strawberry in the melted chocolate. Drip off the excess chocolate. Place them on a wax paper/foil  and sprinkle them with decorating sprinkles.  Repeat the same process. Allow them to set at room temperature for 10 min.Best served within 8-10hours.

Tips:
1) If you want to cover the strawberries completely with sprinkles, place the sprinkles in a bowl and roll the chocolate covered strawberries.

2) If you are using regular chocolate chips, use  double boiling method to melt them. Place the chocolate chips in a glass bowl. Boil  water in a sauce pan and place the glass bowl with the chips to melt the chips (the glass bowl should not touch the water). Add 1tbsp of vegetable shortening and stir until the chocolate mixture become smooth.
3) You can try the recipe with any fruits of your interest.
Recipe adapted from the Doci Frutta package instructions and here  

Pazham Parippu Payasam/ Moong Dal -Banana-Payasam/പഴം പരിപ്പ് പായസം

Recipe courtesy: My friend Biji Thomas
Ingredients:
Moong Dal (ചെറുപയര്‍ പരിപ്പ്)- 1 cup
Jaggery (ശര്‍ക്കര) -300 gm
Banana- 1 large nicely ripen, finely chopped
Dates- 10 (optional) , finely chopped
Thin/diluted  Coconut milk- 2-3 cups
Thick coconut milk- 1 cup
Fried coconut tidbits, cashew nuts, raisins- 2-3 tsp of each (fried in melted butter/ghee)
Cardamom-1-2 (powdered/crushed)
Dry ginger powder (ചുക്ക്  പൊടിച്ചത്)-1 pinch
Melted butter/ghee for frying

Method:

Wash moong dal and drain. Pressure cook it with 2 cups of water until it has completely mashed (or try mashing with a spoon). Mean while melt  jaggery in 1-2 cups of water, keep it for sometime to settle and filter. Add this to the mashed moong dal and mix well with medium heat on. Now add thin coconut milk, chopped banana and dates. Stir continuously until it gets the correct consistency. Then turn off the flame, pour thick coconut milk, powdered/crushed cardamom, dry ginger powder and mix well. Finally top with fried cashews, coconut tidbits and raisins. Serve either hot or cold.

Tips:

Adjust the amount of jaggery according to your taste.

The payasam tends to get thicken upon standing so adjust the consistency accordingly.

Prawns-drumstick-mango curry (ചെമ്മീന്‍-മുരിങ്ങക്ക-മാങ്ങ കറി)

Ingredients:

1. Shrimp/Prawns (ചെമ്മീന്‍)-20-25 nos, medium
2. Drumstick- 2-3, cut into 3" pieces
3. Raw mango- 1 small or 1/2 of a big one
4. Green chilly-3-4, sliced lengthwise
5. Ginger -1 cm piece, finely sliced
6. Garlic-1 clove, finely sliced
7. Curry leaves- few
8. Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp

For grinding:
Grated coconut-3/4 cup
Coriander powder-1 tsp
Shallots-2

For seasoning:
Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp
Shallots-2-3, finely sliced
Dry red chilly-1
Curry leaves-few
Oil


Method:
Remove the thick skin of mango and cut into medium pieces.
Clean prawns/shrimp and keep aside.
Combine the ingredients 2-8 with 1 cup of water and cook covered. Add shrimp, salt and cook until the shrimp is ready. Meanwhile grind the ingredients listed in 1/2 cup of water to a fine paste. Simmer the flame and mix this coconut paste with shrimp-mango-drumstick mixture. Warm slowly until the raw smell of coconut is gone. Check the consistency of the curry (If it is thick add 1/2 cup of thin coconut milk). Finally for seasoning heat oil in another pan, splutter mustards, add curry leaves followed by shallots, dry red chilly and add this over the curry. Serve the curry with rice.

Tips:
Adjust the amount of mango depending on its sourness
You can grind  two more green chillies to make the curry more spicy

Mango-Carrot pickle

Mango pickles are so special that they make you drool..... This recipe is a combination of tangy mangoes and crunchy carrots for a mouthwatering pickle.
Receipe courtesy: my mother

Ingredients:
Raw Mango-1, medium sized
Carrots-4-5
Green chilly-10
Ginger-1 " piece, sliced lengthwise
Garlic-8-10 cloves, sliced lengthwise
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Powdered/ crushed fenugreek (ഉലുവ)-1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds-1 tsp
Curry leaves-2 sprigs
Asafoetida (കായം)-1 pinch
Vinegar-1 tbsp
Salt
Any vegetable oil- 1 tbsp


Method:

1.  Remove the thick skin of mango and clean carrots.Cut both of them into equally sized long and thin strips. Slice ginger and garlic. Chop each green chilly into two.
2. Warm up a pan and pour oil, splutter fenugreek, mustards followed by curry leaves. Add ginger and saute for 2 min. Afterwards add garlic, green chillies and carrots. Saute until the carrots are slightly soft (make sure carrots are still crunchy inside). Add turmeric powder, a pinch of asafoetida, salt and vinegar. Now simmer the flame and add mangoes. Stir for 2-3 minutes and turn off the flame. 

Since the shelf life of the pickle is too low even though after refrigeration, consume it within 1-2 weeks.

Fried Corns

 It has been long since I posted some recipes to third kitchen. I was caught up with some stuff for my degree requirement and moreover not ready to get away from my indolence. 
Any way  finally I did give an attempt to crack that shell..... starting with a very easy "gap filler"--pan fried whole corns ..Yumm..

Ingredients and method:
Whole corns-2
Butter- melted -2 tsp
Salt
Lemon and Pepper powder-for sprinkling

Melt butter in a pan and fry the whole corns and sprinkle some salt. You can either swirl  the pan or turn the corns using a fork until all sides of the corn are light golden brown.
Stick in a pair of corn forks and serve by sprinkling with lemon-pepper powder (You can use any condiments/flavorings like garlic ,honey , paprika, according to your taste)

Enjoy!

Potato stir fry (ഉരുളക്കിഴങു മെഴുക്കുപുരട്ടി)

Ingredients:
Potato-3, medium
Chilly powder-1.5 tsp
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Curry leaves- 1 sprig
Salt
Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp
Oil
Method:
Clean potatoes. Cut them into thin long strips (like french fries). Rub with chilly powder, turmeric powder and salt. Heat oil in a wide non-stick pan, splutter mustard seeds, add curry leaves followed by potato strips. Toss in between. Fry until the potatoes are done.

Chilly Fish

Ingredients: (Preparation time 30-45 min)


-----for frying fish

• Fish fillets-3 (I used tilapia)
• Chilly powder-1/2 tsp
• All purpose flour-3 tsp
• Soy sauce-1 tsp
• Egg-1
• Salt

------for gravy

1. Onion-2, diced
2. Bell pepper-1, diced
3. Garlic-t tsp, finelly chopped
4. Ginger-1/2 tsp, finely chopped
5. Green chilly-2, sliced lengthwise
6. Chilly powder-1/2 tsp
7. Black pepper powder-1/2 tsp
8. Soy sauce-3 tsp
9. Tomato Ketchup- 2 tsp
10. Vinegar-1 tsp
11. All purpose flour(1/2 tsp) dissolved in 1 tbsp of water
12. Salt
13. Paprika powder-1/2 tsp (for color)
14. Spring onions-1/4 cup, chopped(for garnishing)

Method:
Cut fish into medium sized pieces.
Mix together chilly powder, flour, salt and make a thick batter with soy sauce and beaten egg (you may add roughly 1/2 of one beaten egg).Coat the fish pieces with this batter and shallow fry both sides in a wide pan (take care not to overcrowd). Once it is cooked removed pieces, add more oil and add chopped ginger, garlic and green chillies. Saute for 5 min and add onions. When onions are transparent stir in bell peppers and add fried fish followed by the remaining ingredients (6-13). Cover it and cook 5 more min. Open the lid stir carefully til the gravy is dry. Garnish with chopped spring onions.

Chicken Fry...Thattukada style

1. Chicken thighs-2
2. Kashmiri red chilli powder-1.5 tsp
3. Coriander powder-1 tsp
4. Chicken masala powder-3/4 tsp
5. Garam masala powder-1/2 tsp
6. Black pepper powder-1/2 tsp
7. Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
8. Ginger garlic paste- 1.5 tsp (or crushed ginger and garlic)
9. Rice flour-1tsp
10. Salt
11. Lemon juice
12. Oil for frying
13. Green chillies-3, sliced legthwise
14. Curry leaves-2 sprigs
15. Onion-1, thinly sliced

Method:
Clean chicken and make few gashes. Make a paste of the ingredients 2-10 in lemon juice and marinate the chicken pieces for 2 hours. Deep fry in oil until the sides are reddish brown. Remove the pieces from oil and keep in a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Fry  green chillies and curry leaves followed by onions in the remaining oil. Garnish with onion/lemon wedges and serve with fried green chillies, curry leaves and onions.

Fried Tilapia

 Ingredients:
Tilapia fillets-2
Chilly powder-1 tsp
Black pepper powder-1/2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste-1/2 tsp
Coriander powder-1/2 tsp
Salt
Oil for frying

Method:
Cut the fish fillet into medium pieces. Make a paste of all the ingredients in water and marinate the fish for 30 min. Fry both sides in oil until the pieces became light brown color. Serve with rice.