Chettinad Chicken Varuval Dry Recipe

This is the first post after my chettinad visit. Have handful of chettinad recipes got from our relations @ karaikudi. Their recipes are really Wonderful which is cooked in chettinad style. Happy that I got these wonderful collection of chettinad recipes from our close relations. Will Post one by one.

This is chettinad special chicken dry recipe. Here aromatic spices are dry roasted, ground together and added at last to get a nice aroma of spices which is very well coated to obtain a spicy and tasty dry chicken. Let me share this delicious chettinad dish with you all.

Ingredients:

To Marinate :

1. Chicken - 1/2 kg or 500 gms
2. Coriander Powder - 2 tsp
3. Chilly Powder - 2 tsp
4. Turmeric Powder - 2 tsp
5. Lemon - 1/2
6. Salt as per requirement

To Roast and Grind:

1. Coriander seeds - 2 tbsp
2. Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp
3. Fennel seeds - 1tbsp
4. Dry Red Chilly - 4 nos
5. Whole Black pepper - 1 tbsp
6. Cinnamon Stick - 2 nos
7. Cloves - 2 nos
8. Cardamom - 2 nos
9. Stone Flower/ Kalpasi - 4 nos
10. Mace / Jathibathri - 1/2 spear
11. Grated Coconut - 2 tbsp

To Saute :

1. Oil for Cooking
2. Big Onion - 1 Big size
3. Bay leaf - 1 no
4. Tomato Chopped - 2 tbsp
5. Ginger Garlic Paste - 2 tbsp
6. Green Chilly - 2 nos
7. Curry Leaves
8. Coriander leaves

Click the Image and zoom you will get clear enlarged stepwise pictures

Cooking Method:

First clean the chicken thoroughly with turmeric and marinate with the Ingredients listed under 'To Marinate'. Marinate for atleast 1 hour before cooking.

Dry roast the Ingredients listed under 'To Roast and Grind' without adding Oil. Roast the Coriander and Dry Red Chilly separately and roast all other Ingredients altogether. Keep the stove in simmer and roast. Do not let it burnt as the nice aroma will be lost if it is burnt. So be careful while Roasting.

Let all the roasted Ingredients be cool down for a while

In a kadai add Oil and Roast the Coconut separately till it becomes dry and light brown in colour. 

First Grind all the roasted spices in a mixer grinder and add roasted coconut along with it and Grind everything together to form a coarse powder. Keep it aside.

Add Oil in a kadai, add Bay leaf, Onion, Green chilly, curry leaves, Ginger Garlic Paste. Saute till it becomes brown. Then add Tomato and saute till it becomes Mushy. Now add the Marinated Chicken Pieces and saute nicely. Add less salt, remember that we have added salt for Marinating, so pls adjust accordingly. Close the lid of the Kadai without adding water to it. Keep in medium flame and cook. The chicken itself leaves Water and cooked well.

Now the Chicken has cooked Well. If there is water remaining reduce it by keeping in high flame. Its time to add the Spice Powder as a final Main Ingredient. Add the Grounded Masala Powder along with the cooked chicken and saute nicely till it coats nicely with the Chicken. Now you can smell the nice aroma of the roasted chettinad spice powder. Finally Garnish with enough Coriander leaves. 

The spicy Chettinad style Chicken Varuval dry recipe is now ready and it goes well with any type of Rice as a side.

Notes :

No need to add Water to cook the chicken. when chicken is cooked without water it will give a good taste.
Adjust the grounded spice powder according to your spiciness and if it is left over you can store it in refrigerator for future use.

Yummy Veggie Omelette / Besan Cheela Recipe

This Veggie Omelette is our all time favourite whenever we visit any restaurant. Every time when I order for this Veg Omelette, I think of still I haven't posted this yummy recipe in my Article. So last time when I had this Veggie Omelette in our regular restaurant, I have decided to Post this recipe as soon as possible and now I am here to share with you.

Ingredients:

1. Besan / Gram flour - 1 Cup
2. Wheat Flour - 1/4 cup
3. Curd - 2 tsp 
4. Butter - 1 tsp (optional) 
5. Carrot grated - 1 tbsp
6. Beans finely Chopped - 1 tbsp
7. Cabbage - 1 tbsp
8. Capsicum - 1 tbsp
9. Big Onion - 1 tbsp
10. Tomato finely Chopped - 1 tbsp
11. Green Chilly - 2 nos
12. Pepper coarsely grounded - 2 tsp
13. Chilly Powder - 2 tsp
14. Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
15. Turmeric Powder - 2 tsp
16. Hing - 1 pinch
17. Curry Leaves - 1 sprig
18. Coriander Leaves as needed
19. Water - 1/2 Cup approx
20. Salt as per taste

Take a bowl add curd, water, chilly powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, Hing, butter, besan and wheat flour. Mix everything well without forming any lumps. 
Then add all the Veggies, onion, tomato, curry n coriander leaves to this mixture and mix well with laddle. 
The Batter consistency should be slightly thick enough to make these veg omelette. 
Finally add salt and check the salt content before you pour in the Dosa pan. As soon as you prepared the batter you can make Omelette. No need to wait.


Click the Image and zoom you will get clear enlarged stepwise pictures

Now spread this veg omelette batter in dosa pan slowly like an omelette. The flame should be simmer. After spreading batter sprinkle the Coarsely ground pepper powder on it and drizzle oil over it. Then increase the flame to medium. Flip the Omelette to other side and cook patiently. It takes some more time to cook. 

Now your yummy Veggie Omelette is ready n you can have it such or with Coconut chutney which goes well with this Veggie Omelette.

Notes:

The batter should not be thin. If it is thin the besan will not be cooked and it will be sticky. So be careful at this Point of making the batter. 
It must not be too thick also, as the omelette will be hard and the omelette may differ in taste.
The Vegetables added is purely depends on your choice. Do not dump with more Vegetables.

Falooda with Ice cream

        Falooda - Refreshing Cold Beverage - Sweet Dessert 

Falooda is equally popular all over India specially in Delhi and Mumbai. Its not only delicious but also a very cooling dessert for this Hot summers as sabja seeds  are cooling in nature. You need to plan some elements like soaking sabja seeds and boiling-chilling milk ahead of time while making falooda. But all the effort is worth when you enjoy a glass of falooda. And yet making homemade falooda is also economical and Organic.

Here I have also added a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top just like we get at falooda stalls. Hence you can call it falooda with ice cream. Falooda comes in between category of beverage and dessert. But I prefer to call it as a dessert. This is little heavy if you consider it as a beverage. And most important that you have to eat 80% falooda with spoon so I call it a dessert.

Health Benefits of Sabja / Basil Seeds :
These seeds acts as coolant to lower body heat that’s why as one of the important ingredients in summer for a number of cool drinks such as falooda, rooh afza, nimbu pani and sherbet. It aids in digestion cleaning our digestive system.

Ingredients:

1. Chilled milk - 1 Cup (200 ml)
2. Sugar - 2 tbsp
3. Basil / Sabja Seeds- 1 tbsp
4. Falooda Sev / Roasted Vermicelli - 2 tbsp
5. Rose Syrup - 2 tsp
6. Ice Cream - 2 Scoops
7. Pistachios - few Chopped for Garnishing
8. Rose Petals - few for Garnishing (optional)

Directions to make Falooda:

Soak sabja seeds in water. Within sometime time of soaking, the seeds gets immersed in water and start rising up. 

Click the Image and zoom you will get clear enlarged stepwise pictures

Meanwhile take milk and sugar in the pan. Let it come to a boil on medium heat. And then lower the heat and let it simmer for 5-7 minutes. Then chill it in the refrigerator. Milk becomes little thick.

Cook Vermicelli in a pan with some water as needed. After it gets cooked pour some cold water into the vessel and drain the cooked vermicelli through a juice Filter so that the cooked vermicelli is not sticky and is separated. Keep it aside.

Be ready with the Ingredients. We have to add each Ingredient layer by layer. Take a glass. First add the soaked Sabja seeds, then cooked vermicelli, next rose syrup, then add chilled milk. The rose syrup is combined with milk and gives you the pleasant pink colour. The next important ingredient is a scoop of ice cream. You can add any flavour of your choice. At present I have Vanilla Ice cream in my home, So I added it. Finally Garnish with Chopped Pistachios and Rose Petals. Serve immediately.

Notes:

You can adjust the sugar according to your taste.

Rose petals are purely optional. Its just for Garnishing to have a pleasant look. You can skip it.

Egg kheema Masala - Restaurant Style

Egg Kheema Masala is a delicious side dish compared to other Egg gravies. It is prepared with whole spice powders in restaurant style. Here the boiled eggs are sliced and cooked in thick onion and tomato based gravy infused with aromatic spices and cashew paste. This is one of the best flavourful egg gravy that pairs greatly with Kulcha, Naan, Rotis and Chapatis.

Ingredients:

1. Eggs - 4 nos
2. Big Onions - 1 large
3. Tomato - 2 nos
4. Cashew nuts - 50 gms
5. Red Chilli Powder - 2 tbsp
6. Coriander Powder - 1 tbsp
7. Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
8. Garam masala Powder - 1 tsp
9. Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tbsp
10. Cinnamon stick - 1/2 inch
11. Cardamom - 1 no
12. Cloves - 2 nos
13. Bay leaf - 1 no
14. Oil - 2 tbsp
15. Salt as per taste

Cooking Method:

Boil the eggs along with some salt for about 10 mins. Peel the shell of the eggs and keep it aside.

Click the Image and zoom you will get clear enlarged stepwise pictures

Grind Half of the Onion and keep another half for frying. Grind Onion, Green Chilli, Cinnamon, Clove and Fennel and Ginger Garlic in a mixer Grinder and keep it separately. Likewise grind the tomatoes separately and keep it aside.

Soak Cashew nuts in hot water for atleast 10 mins. Also grind it to a smooth paste and keep it aside. 

• In a heavy bottomed pan add oil, bay leaf, Onion. Fry until golden brown. Then add Ground onion paste and saute till raw smell leaves. Then add Tomato paste and saute it for 2 mins. 
• Add all the spice powders mix well, add water and close the lid for boiling.
• After few minutes open the lid and add the cashew paste and let it cook for 5 mins in medium flame on constant stirring. 

Click the Image and zoom you will get clear enlarged stepwise pictures

• Cut the boiled eggs into smaller pieces and add in the boiling curry along with the required amount of salt. 
• Cook for 5 minutes till the Masala gets nicely blended with the eggs. 
• Finally garnish with coriander leaves and switch of the stove.

Now your tasty side dish is absolutely ready with a tempting colour and look.

Notes:

Adjust the spices according to your serving quantity and flavour. 

Easy N Tasty Mint Dosa Recipe

This Mint Dosa recipe I got from our neighbour who is running a shop of grinding Idly Dosa Batter and selling to hotels. They are preparing this batter everyday and the demand of supply for this Mint dosa batter is in high peak. So I tried this recipe once and it was too good . I have included some more Ingredients to this Mint Dosa batter to make it more tastier and flavourful. Let me share this tasty Yummy Mint Dosa Recipe for U all.

Health Benefits of Mint:

The health benefits of mint include the following: Digestion: Mint is a great appetizer or palate cleanser, and it promotes digestion. Pudina is packed with antioxidants and phytonurients that can work wonders for your stomach. The menthol present in pudina helps the enzymes necessary for digestion. They relax the smooth muscles of the stomach, reducing the chances of indigestion and spasms. (Information from Google)

You can try my other Dosa Recipes:

Easy Red Jowar / Cholam / Sorghum Dosa
Horsegram / Kollu / Kulthi Dal Dosa Recipe
Bengaluru Special Kara Dosai Recipe

Ingredients:

1. Idly / Dosa Batter - 1/2 kg Batter
2. Mint Leaves - Fistful approximately
3. Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp 
4. Green Chilly - 4 nos
5. Ginger Chopped - 2 tbsp
6. Coconut grated - 1 tbsp (optional)
7. Big Onion Chopped finely
8. Salt as per taste

Directions to make Mint Dosa:

1. Be ready with the Ingredients. 
2. Add mint leaves, coriander leaves, ginger, coconut and green chilly into a mixer grinder and grind it to a fine paste by adding some water. Do not add more water.
3. Add this paste to the Dosa Batter and stir well so that it combines nicely with the Dosa Batter. The consistency should be correct as normal Dosa Batter after mixing the mint paste. 
4. You can make Dosa now itslef as soon as you mixed this paste. 
5. Pour a laddle full of batter on the Dosa pan and spread it gently. You can add some chopped onion on the dosa and sprinkle some oil over it.
6. Flip it to the other side softly. Wait until it becomes crispy.

Click the Image and zoom you will get clear enlarged stepwise pictures

Now a green colourful and healthy Dosa is ready and you can serve hot with coconut chutney or any other chutneys of your choice.

Notes:

1. For this mint dosa recipe everything you grind should be raw. No need to saute in oil. 
2. Coconut is just for flavour. You can make this Dosa without coconut also.
3. As soon as you mix the mint paste, within a day try to finish the batter. If it is refrigerated for the next day the flavour may change and the nice green colour is lost.

Aruppukottai Poondu Puli Kuzhambu / Garlic Tamarind Curry

This recipe I learnt from my in-laws home. They are Aruppukottai native so my mom in law often cook those dishes which are popular in those areas. Its quite an easy curry which can be done quickly. If you don't have any vegetables in your home at present, but you are in a situation to prepare some curry instantly and quickly, you can very well prefer this recipe which does not need any special spices or veggies for this, just with the available spices at your home you can prepare this curry. Let's see how to prepare...

Ingredients:

1. Garlic - 10 pods
2. Fenugreek seeds / Methi  - few
3. Tamarind pulp - 2 tbsp
4. Jaggery - 2 tsp
5. Curry leaves - 1 sprig
6. Coconut grated - 1 tbsp
7. Roasted Gram / Pottukadalai - 1 to 2 tsp
8. Small Onion Chopped - 1 to 2 tbsp
9. Sambar Powder - 1 tbsp
10. Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
11. Gingelly Oil - 1 tbsp
12. Salt as per taste
13. Coriander leaves for Garnishing

Cooking Method:

Be ready with the Ingredients. Soak the Tamarind in hot water for some time and extract pulp from it. Or you can use Tamarind Paste too. Cut the Garlic in to small pieces as shown in the below pic.


Click the Image and zoom you will get clear enlarged stepwise pictures

Take a heavy bottomed pan add gingelly oil, methi, fry it for just 1 sec and immediately add onion, garlic, curry leaves and saute it till it becomes light brown. 
Add Tamarind pulp, sambar and turmeric powder stir well, add some water and let it boil for few minutes. Close the lid for cooking.

Meanwhile grind the coconut and roasted gram to a fine paste. Add it to the pan along with salt and cook in medium flame for about 5 mins. Add jaggery and cook it for few minutes. Finally Garnish with coriander leaves.

Now we have prepared tasty Poondu Puli Kuzhambu quickly and can have it with Rice for lunch ...

Notes:

1. Home made Sambar powder is preferable
2. Do not add more coconut and roasted gram, as the taste may differ. Roasted gram is just for thickening the curry.

Traditional Malai Kulfi Recipe

Malai Kulfi is a delicious ice cream that everyone relishes during the Summer season. It is popularly found at beaches in India. Here I will bring you the original recipe of Malai Kulfi in this Article.

A sweet Indian ice-cream made from milk, sugar, cardamom and dry fruits. This is a best Indian dessert that kids love in hot summer days. Instead of buying ready made stuff which has artificial flavoring agent, follow this simple recipe and make kulfi at home with pure organic flavors.

I looked for many recipes in cookbooks as well as from google search. Many recipes call for condensed milk or cornstarch for making malai kulfi as a quick method. Although condensed milk will make your life easy, but those recipes were not convincing to me. Malai kulfi should have malai (heavy cream) in it, right? Otherwise you can’t call it malai kulfi, I would just call it a kulfi recipe. That is just my opinion.

There are so many different varieties and flavors of kulfi. The traditional ones are malai, kesar, pista, mango, elaichi etc. However nowadays you can find all innovative flavors in the dessert sections of restaurants. But still I am stick to the traditional way of making kulfi. Today I am giving you the kulfi recipe without using condensed milk that is by reducing the milk gradually and making creamy rabdi. Let me share a simplest recipe of making delicious & delightful Malai kulfi. 

Ingredients:

1. Full Cream Milk - 1 ltr
2. Powdered Sugar - 80 to 90 gms
3. Cashew nuts - 10 nos
4. Pistachios - 8 nos
5. Almond - 8 nos
6. Cardamom - 2 - 4 nos
7. Kesar / Saffron few (optional) 

This recipe takes around 2 hours for preparing . If you do this recipe separately it consumes large time. So while cooking your lunch or dinner you can do this recipe Parallely. 

Directions to make Malai Kulfi :

1. Take a heavy bottomed pan add the milk and boil it. Boil the milk till it reduces to 1/3 rd of the original quantity of the milk. It takes around 1 and 1/2 an hour approx to reduce the quantity of the milk.
2. Now in the 3rd pic you can notice the Malai formed on the milk and also on the sides of the pan. Scrap on the sides of the pan while the milk is getting reduced gradually.  
3. Be careful that the milk does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
4. Keep the stove in simmer and keep boiling to get a thick creamy Malai. 
5. Now the milk has reduced to 1/3 rd. See the 4th pic. The milk is somewhat thick now. Still we have make it creamy by adding Nuts to it.

Click the Image and zoom you will get clear enlarged stepwise pictures

Meanwhile while boiling the milk itself finely chop the almond, cashew and pistachio. Powder the cardamom. Be ready with the ingredients. 

1. Now add the powdered sugar to the thickened milk. Also add the chopped nuts and cardamom powder. Stir well and keep boiling in simmer till the milk becomes thick and the nuts become soft. 
2. In the last pics you can see a Malai in the Milk clearly and lumps of malai are formed and nuts are puffy. 
3. Now our creamy milk is ready to make Kulfi. Switch off the Stove. Keep the milk aside for cooling down.

1. After cooling down properly we have to freeze it for getting Kulfi. I have used popsicles mould for kulfi. You can use kulfi mould or simply any container for getting its shape. 
2. Pour in the mould and keep in freezer. After 1 hour take that mould from freezer and insert the ice cream sticks in to it. So that it will stick to kulfi in semi solid state. In liquid state you cannot insert the sticks. 
3. Keep in freezer for about 6 - 8 hrs (Ensure the exact freezing temperature). 

While removing Kulfi, keep the mould in vessel containing water for about 5 secs and remove the kulfi gently. 

If you are using simply any container. Pour the milk in conatiner and keep in freezer for 6 - 8 hrs. Use knife for removing the kulfi in to desired shape.

Enjoy the real flavour of Malai Kulfi with traditional touch!!!