Carrot Cashew Milk shake

INGREDIENTS

Carrot – 3, peel off the skin

Milk – 2 cups

Sugar – 3 table spoons

Butter – 1 teaspoon

Cashew nut – 6 nos

METHOD

1. Soak cashew nuts in warm water for 30 minutes.

2. Boil the carrots until it is soft. Grind carrots and cashews to a smooth paste.

3. Heat butter in a pan and fry the ground paste until the raw smell goes off.

4. Boil the milk with sugar. Add the carrot cashew paste to the milk.

5. Stir continuously in low flame for 10 minutes.

6. Allow it to cool and refrigerate it.

7. Serve chill.

A Simple Chicken Rice

Ingredients

White Rice – 2 cups

Butter – 1 table spoon

Ginger – 1 inch piece,crushed

Garlic – 2, crushed

Maggi or Knorr Chicken cubes – 2 cubes

Sesame Oil – 2 table spoons (optional)

Salt – to taste

Pandan Leaves – a few, tied into a knot

Water – 4 cups

Cloves - 2

Method

1. Wash and drain the rice. Put in rice cooker.

2. Heat the butter and shallow fry the crushed ginger and garlic.

3. Add chicken cubes, water, fried ginger-garlic, salt and pandan leaves to the rice cooker.

4. Turn on the rice cooker and let it cook.

5. When the rice cooker shuts off, remove the lid and sit for about 10 minutes.

6. Top it up with butter or sesame oil.

7. Serve hot rice with chicken roast.

8. Garnish with 2 cloves and pandan leaf.

Notes – Choose the water level according to how well you want the rice to be cooked and the type of rice you use. You need not use basmati rice as white rice also gives a good flavor. You can replace chicken cubes with chicken stock as well.

Fish Ularthiyathu/Roasted Fish

This is a variety dish unlike the usual fish fry and fish curry.
I had this dish from a small hotel at Aluva, Kerala and they call it as "Meen Ularthiyathu". Its so tasty and we liked this very much. The chef however shared the recipe with me and here I'am sharing it for you!!

INGREDIENTS

King Fish – 1 kg

Onion – 2, sliced

Ginger – 1 ½ inch piece, sliced

Garlic – 5, sliced

Green Chillies – 3 nos

Curry leaves -  a few

Tomato – 1, chopped

Chilli powder – 1 table spoon

Turmeric powder – 1 tea spoon

Fish masala - 1 table spoon

Pepper powder – ½ tea spoon

Lemon juice – 2 table spoon

Salt – as required

Oil – as required

METHOD

Marinate sliced fish pieces with turmeric powder and salt. Keep for 30 minutes. Shallow fry fish pieces. Remove the bones of the fried fish pieces.

Heat oil in a pan and saute onions with ginger, garlic and curry leaves. Add all the powders and saute well. Add chopped tomatoes and salt. Cover the pan until tomatoes are soft. Add the fish pieces and toss gently until the masala coats well in the fish pieces. Finally add the lemon juice. Serve this as a side dish for rice or roti.

Dry Prawns Pickle

INGREDIENTS

Dry prawns – 250g

Ginger – 1 ½ inch piece

Garlic – 4

Red chillies – 3

Curry leaves – a few

Kashmiri chilli powder – 1 table spoon or to your spice level

Turmeric powder – ½ tea spoon

Vinegar – 2 table spoons

Salt – as required

Sesame Oil – 3 table spoons 

METHOD

Wash the prawns well and boil with a little turmeric powder for 5 minutes. Drain it and shallow fry in a table spoon of oil. Keep it aside. Heat 1 table spoon oil in a pan and add ginger, garlic and chillies to it. Reduce the flame to medium and saute until the raw smell goes. Add curry leaves and saute again. Simmer the flame and add chilli powder, turmeric powder and mix well. Add salt and then vinegar. Transfer the pickle to a container and pour the remaining oil on the top of the pickle. Keep it for a few days for the flavor to set. Enjoy your pickle!!

Chicken Mayo Sandwich

Here, I haven't mentioned the measurements of the ingredients. You may add according to the number of sandwiches you need. Enjoy the sandwich with any hot soup!!!

Ingredients
Chicken 
Focaccia bread
Salt
Pepper powder
Veggies
Mayonnaise

METHOD
Boil the chicken until it gets cooked. Chop the chicken. Add mayonnaise to the shredded chicken. Add pepper powder and salt and mix well. Refrigerate the mix. Stuff the Focaccia bread with chicken mayo and veggies.

Notes
I used boneless chicken breast and veggies - tomato, lettuce and cucumber. You can add more veggies according to your choice.

Easy Vegetable Pulav

Ingredients

Basmati Rice – 2 cups

Ginger – 1 inch piece, chopped

Garlic – 2, chopped

Carrots, Beans – 1 cup, cut into small pieces

Green peas – a handful

Green chillies - 2

Turmeric powder – a pinch

Pepper powder – ½ tea spoon

Salt – as required

Lemon juice -  1 table spoon

Ghee – 2 table spoons

Raisins – a few (optional)

Cashew nuts – a few (optional)

Coriander/Mint leaves – a few, to garnish

METHOD

Wash and soak basmati rice for 30 minutes. Drain and keep aside.

Heat 1 table spoon ghee in a pan and fry cashews and raisins. Add the vegetables, green chillies and chopped ginger garlic. Add turmeric powder, pepper powder and salt. Cover and cook until vegetables are half cooked.

Pour water in the pressure cooker and add basmati rice with a little salt and lemon juice. Switch off the fire immediately after the first whistle. Open the cooker once the pressure goes out completely. Now add the veggies and mix well. Pour the remaining ghee on to the top of the pulav. Garnish with coriander/mint leaves.

Notes

Pulav does not require spices like cardamom, cinnamon stick or cloves. Usually these spices are used for vegetable biryani.
You can add more vegetables according to your choice. I did not use onions also as I want to make my pulav very simple.

I have used frozen green peas, as it saves cooking time.

I did not add turmeric powder to the rice as I don’t like rice to be yellow in colour.

Chicken Curry

Ingredients

Chicken – 1 kg

Onion – 2, sliced

Ginger – 1 ½ inch, finely sliced

Garlic – 4, finely sliced

Green chillies – 3

Tomato – 1,chopped

Turmeric Powder – ½ tea spoon

Chilli powder – 1 table spoon

Coriander powder – 2 table spoons

Garam Masala – 1 tea spoon

Chicken Masala – 1 table spoon

Fennel seeds – ½ tea spoon

Pepper Powder – 1 tea spoon

Light coconut milk – 2 cups

Thick coconut milk – 1 cup

Salt – as required

Water – as required

Oil - as required

Mustard seeds – ½ tea spoon

Curry leaves - a few

Dry chilli – 1

Shallots – 3 nos, finely sliced

METHOD

Heat oil in a pan and add onions. Saute till it turns brown. Add ginger and garlic and fry for a minute. Add all the powders and fennel seeds and saute well. Add chopped tomato to it and add salt. Cover the pan and cook until the tomatoes are soft. Allow the mixture to cool. Grind to a smooth paste by adding sufficient water.

Heat the same pan and add ground masala paste and let it boil for 5 minutes. Add water if the masala is thick. Add chicken pieces and mix well. Cover the pan and cook in low flame for 15 min. Check the salt at this stage. Add light coconut milk and cook until the chicken pieces are soft. Finally add thick coconut milk and mix well. Switch off the fire.

Fry mustard seeds, dry chilli, curry leaves and shallots and pour on the top of the chicken curry. Delicious chicken curry is ready!! This dish goes well with white rice, vegetable pulau and roti. 

Mutton Masala

Mutton – 1 kg

Ingredients for marinating

Turmeric powder – 1 tea spoon

Coriander powder – 2 table spoons

Meat Masala – 2 table spoons

Garam Masala – 1 tea spoon

Pepper powder – 1 tea spoon

Ginger – 2 inch piece, chopped

Garlic – 5 cloves, chopped

Curry leaves- a few

Salt – as required

Water -  1 cup

For cooking

shallots – 15 nos

Tomato – 1

Curry leaves – a few

Cardamom – 3

Cinnamon stick – 1 small piece

Chilli flakes/Crushed chilli – 1 table spoon

Salt – as required

Oil – as required

 METHOD

Wash and clean the mutton. Marinate mutton with all the ingredients listed. Keep marinated mutton for 30 minutes. Pressure cook the mutton for 6-8 whistles and cook in low flame for 10 minutes.

Heat oil in a pan and fry shallots, curry leaves, cardamom and cinnamon stick. Add chopped tomatoes to it and saute well. Add the cooked mutton and let it boil for 5 minutes. Now add crushed chilli to it. Let the mutton cook for 5 more minutes. Switch off the fire when you get thick gravy. Serve hot with rice or roti.

Raw Mango Salad

I always wanted to try Thai mango salad recipe whenever I dine in at Bali-Thai Restaurant. I have seen a few Thai recipes, however I did not like many of the ingredients like Shrimp powder, peanuts etc etc.

So I thought of trying a simple mango salad by my own. It will be a perfect salad for this hot weather.

INGREDIENTS

Raw Mango – 2

Cucumber – 1

Shallots – 3 nos

Chillies – 1 no

Cherry Tomatoes – a few nos

Fish Sauce – 1 table spoon (optional)

Sugar – ½ tea spoon (optional)

Salt – a pinch

Crushed Chilli – 1 tea spoon

Lime Juice – a table spoon 

METHOD 

1) Shred the mangoes and cucumber to long thin strips. Finely slice the shallots.

2) Combine fish sauce and sugar in a small bowl and mix together with shredded mango-cucumber.

3) Add all other ingredients except cherry tomatoes to mango – cucumber and mix well.

4) Now add cut cherry tomatoes.
5) Garnish with one cherry tomato on the top.

Delicious Falooda

Ingredients

Milk – 1 cup

Sugar – 1 tea spoon

Basil seeds/Sabja seeds/Tukmaria – 1 table spoon

Falooda Sev/Vermicelli – 1 table spoon

Rose Syrup – 2 table spoons

Vanilla Ice cream – 2 scoops

METHOD

Boil milk with sugar and allow it to cool. Chill it in the refrigerator.

Boil some water and cook vermicelli for 5 minutes.

Drain the cooked vermicelli and rinse in cold water.

Soak sabja seeds in cold water for 10 minutes and drain them.

Take a glass and add rose syrup, then sabja seeds.

Add vermicelli and pour chilled milk slowly to it.

Now you can see some Sabja seeds floating on the top.

Add a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Top the falooda with dry fruits and chopped nuts.