Naadan Fish Cutlet

Naadan style Fish Cutlet is a very delicious dish you can never stop with one. This is the naadan style of preparing fish cutlet at my In-laws place. But to say, it tastes yum with a cup of hot coffee and tea. This cutlet makes an easy and tasty appetizer for all occasions. Have a great evening friends :)

Ingredients:

Mackerel fish - 3 nos (boiled and bones removed)

Onions - 2 large (chopped)

Garlic - 4 pods (chopped)

Green chillies - 3 nos (chopped)

Curry leaves - handful

Potatoes - 5 nos (peeled, boiled and mashed)

Turmeric powder - ¼ tsp

Red chilli powder - ¼ tsp

Black pepper powder - 2 tbsp

Coriander powder - 1 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Oil - 2 tbsp

For frying:

Oil - for deep/shallow frying

Egg - 2 nos (beaten)

Bread crumbs - 1 cup

Boiling fish:

In a pan add the cleaned fish, 3 - 4 curry leaves, 2 pods of garlic, one small piece of ginger, 1 green chilli, pinch of turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt and enough water for the fish to cook. Once the fish is cooked, remove the bones from the fish and keep aside.

Preparation:

- Boil fish as mentioned and keep aside.

- Peel, boil and mash the potatoes with a pinch of salt and keep aside.

- Pour oil in a kadai and saute onions, garlic, green chillies, curry leaves till onions turn translucent.

- Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, pepper powder, coriander powder and fry till raw smell goes.

- Add the fish to this mixture and saute for a minute. Switch off flame and keep aside the mixture to cool.

- When cooled, add the mixture to the mashed potatoes and mix well with hand. Add salt at this stage. Make cutlet patties in different shapes and sizes and keep aside.

- Roll each cutlet patty in beaten egg, in bread crumbs and deep fry or shallow fry in oil.

- Serve hot with tomato hot and sweet sauce or green chutney.

Note:

- King fish, Tuna fish is also used to make fish cutlets. I used Mackerel fish for this recipe.

- Check spice and salt as per taste.

Beef Roast (Christmas Special Recipe)

Wishing you and your family health, happiness, peace and prosperity this holiday season and in the coming New Year. Let the magic of Christmas fill your heart all year long. May your Christmas sparkle and shine. Celebrate this holiday like a child. Have a great Christmas:)

Beef Roast is a special dry recipe cooked in Malabar served with rice, pathiri or appam. There is different ways to prepare this recipe. This is my style of Beef Roast and I am sure my friends and family will love. This is specially cooked during Christmas but in my home this dish is prepared once in a week default. My hubby loves this dish and can have this three to four times in a day :) :)

Ingredients:

Beef - ½ kg (cut to small cube pieces)

Onions - 1 nos (chopped)

Onions - 5 nos (cut to thin slices)

Ginger & Garlic paste - 1 tsp each

Turmeric powder - ½ tsp

Kashmiri red chilli powder - 1 tbsp

Corriender powder - 2 tsp

Meat masala powder - 2 tsp

Vinegar - 2 tbsp

Cumin powder - ½ tsp

Fenugreek powder - ¼ tsp

Curry leaves - 2 strings + 5 strings

Cardamom - 4 nos (powdered)

Cloves - 4 nos (powdered)

Cinnamon stick - 2 pieces (powdered)

Star anise - 2 nos (powdered)

Salt - to taste

Water - 2 tbsp

Coconut slivers(thengakottu) - ½ of one coconut

Coconut Oil - 8 to10 tbsp

Preparation:

- Marinate cut and cleaned beef with chopped onion, ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, corriender powder, meat masala, vinegar, cumin powder, fenugreek powder, curry leaves, cardamom powder, clove powder, cinnamon powder, star anise powder, salt, handful of thenga kottu and salt for at least ½ hour.

- Pressure cook the marinated beef masala for at least 7-8 whistles. Once done let the beef cool in the pressure cooker.

- Meanwhile fry the balance thenga kottu in one tsp of oil till brown and keep aside.

- Pour oil in a kadai and fry the sliced onions till golden brown in color. Add the 5 strings of curry leaves to the browned onions and fry for 2 minutes.

- Now add the cooked beef and fry well till beef is brown and roasted well on low to medium flame.

- Garnish with fried thenga kottu and lime slices.

- Serve hot with rice and kachiya moru, pathiri or appam.

Note:

- Spice and salt can be adjusted as per taste.

- I have used about 10 tbsp of oil in this recipe to get the roasted taste.

Pork Curry (Christmas/Easter Dishes)

Pork is prepared mainly in Coorg and Goa. It is a delicacy in both states. There are different ways to prepare Pork curry. This is my recipe and a curry which is very easy to prepare for Christmas or Easter. This is a dish prepared specially for couple of my friends who loves pork recipes. Enjoy holidays !!!!

Ingredients:

Pork - 800 gms (cut to cube size with fat)

Small onions - 1 cup (sliced)

Green chillies - 3 nos (slit into half)

Garlic - 1 tbsp (chopped)

Ginger - 1 tbsp (chopped)

Kashmiri red chilli powder - 2 tsp

Turmeric powder - ½ tsp

Curry leaves - 1 string

Mustard seeds - ½ tsp

Oil - 1 tsp

Water - 1-2 cup

Salt - to taste

Spices to grind together:

Dry red chillies - 4 nos

Coriander seeds - 2 tsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Vinegar - 3 tsp

Black pepper corns - 1 tsp

Preparation :

- Heat oil in a cooker, splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves.

- Add onions, ginger, garlic, green chillies and saute for a minute.  

- Add the grind paste and saute for a minute. Now add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and saute well.

- Toss the cut and cleaned pork to the masala and mix well.

- Pour water, add salt and let the pork get cooked for 8 - 10 whistle.

- Once done, cook for another 3 minutes on low flame for the gravy to slightly thicken.  

- Delicious pork curry is ready to serve.

- Serve with rice, chapathi or even with bread.

Date Cake (Christmas Special Cake)

Date Cake is a delicious and mouth watering cake which is simple and easy to prepare. This cake becomes very moist the next day when it is covered. This recipe was made by our grand parents and i prepared this during Christmas time. I beleive this recipe is between us not less than 40 years and every one would have tried this cake atleast once. This is one of my favourite cake during any time of the year. So yummy and cannot resist with one serving :)

Ingredients:

Dates - 20 nos (seedless)

Egg - 2 nos

Milk - ½ cup + ¾ cup

Sugar (powdered) - 1 cup

All purpose flour - 1 cup

Baking soda / Baking powder - 1 tsp

Cooking oil / Cooking Butter - ½ cup

Almonds - 20 nos (chopped)

Salt - ¼ tsp

Butter - 2 tbsp (to grease the baking pan)

Preparation:

- Soak dates in warm water for 10 - 15 minutes, remove the seeds and keep aside.

- Once done, soak the seedless dates in ½ cup warm water for atleast 4 - 5 hours.

- Meanwhile, powder the sugar, melt the butter, beat the egg well and keep aside.

- Grind the soaked dates, ¾ cup warm milk, powdered sugar, beaten eggs and salt to a smooth paste. Remove the mixture to a mixing bowl.

- Now add butter, baking soda and beat well. Keep adding all purpose flour little by little while beating the mixture till smooth and fluffy.

- Once done add chopped almonds and mix well.

- Grease the baking pan and pour the cake mix for the delicious date cake to be cooked.

- Place the cake tray in a microwave convection mode at 180 degrees for 50 - 60 minutes or till done.

- Once done, let cool, decorate and enjoy your yummy Date cake with ice cream or plain for Christmas.

Note:

- I used cooking oil instead of cooking butter. Its upon taste and how moist you want your cake.

- This cake can be cooked with or without egg.

- This is a recipe I tried from a blog with slight variations.

- Any dry fruits can be added to the cake, I just used chopped almonds.

Stir Fried Chicken

Stir fried Chicken is very quick and easy to make, with plenty of flavour and healthy vegetables. Use boneless, skinless chicken thighs for maximum flavor and better browning and cooking. This is my version of cooking stir fried chicken.

Ingredients:

Chicken - 450 gms

Onions - 1 large (cut to cube pieces)

Carrots - 3 nos (julienne pieces)

Capsicum - 1 large (julienne pieces)

Garlic - 8 pods (julienne pieces)

Green chillies - 4 nos (slit into half)

Black pepper powder - 2 tsp

Soya sauce - 3 tsp

Tomato sauce - 2 tbsp

Chilli sauce - 2 tbsp

Sugar - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Sesame oil - 3 tbsp

Preparation:

- Boil chicken with salt, pepper and keep aside. Once cooled, shred the chicken to finger strip pieces.

- Boil carrot and keep aside.

- Heat oil in a kadai, add garlic, onions, green chillies, capsicum and saute well till onions and capsicum turn translucent. Once done add the boiled carrot, chicken pieces, black pepper powder and mix well.

- Now add soya sauce, tomato sauce, chilli sauce and saute well for 2-3 minutes.

- Check for salt at this stage and add if needed. Add sugar and mix well.

- Let cook on high flame for another 2 minutes stirring continuously.

- Serve hot with any variant of Fried Rice.

Naadan Egg/Mutta Curry

Egg Curry is a normal dish prepared in every home in India. There are different variants of preparing this curry in different parts of Kerala too. I have prepared a Naadan Egg Curry with a slight twist which I prepare at home for breakfast and dinner. This is a very simple recipe with extra taste which can be prepared not more than half hour. This is specially served on Christmas or Easter or Sundays after church for breakfast with hot Appams.

Ingredients:

Egg - 5 nos (boiled and cut to half)

Onions - 2 large (sliced or chopped)

Green chillies - 3 nos (chopped)

Garlic paste - ½ tsp

tomato - 1 large (sliced)

Turmeric powder - ½ tsp

Red chilli powder - ½ tsp

Corriender powder - 3 tsp

Garam masala powder - ½ tsp

Black pepper powder - 1 tsp

curry leaves - 4 string

Thick coconut milk - 1 cup

Water - ½ cup

Oil - 3 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Preparation:

- Boil 5 eggs, peel the shell, cut into half and keep aside. Take the yellow yolk of one egg, smash and keep aside.

- In a kadai, heat oil and add onions and curry leaves. Saute for 2 minutes. Now add the green chillies, garlic paste and saute till onions turn translucent.

- Add turmeric powder, corriender powder, red chilli powder and fry till raw smell goes.

- Now add the sliced tomatoes and saute till tomatoes turn mushy.

- Add thick coconut milk, pepper powder, salt, water and let boil for 4 minutes with lid on.

- Once done, add the mashed egg yolk and mix well.

- Now add the cut eggs and mix the curry without breaking the eggs. Let boil for another minute and off flame.

- Garnish with curry leaves and serve with hot Appams or Chapatis for breakfast or dinner.

Kerala Vellayappam/Palappam

Today we will know how to cook our famous Kerala Special Palappam or Vellayappam. I am from Kannur and we call this Vellayappam, and from Kottayam (hubbies side) it is called Palappam. There are so many variants of appams in Kerala. They call it Palappam, Vellayappam, Kallappam and even just Appam. I think palappam is prepared adding coconut milk and vellayappam is prepared adding grated coconut. Confusing isn't it ? Same here… :)

This is how my mummy makes Vellayappam and what i am giving you friends. This is her way of preparing Vellayappam, that is what we call it at home. Vellayappam and Palappam is cooked in a appachatti. Whatever, this appam tastes really delicious and yummy with chicken stew, vegetable stew, kadala curry, fish molly and naadan egg curry.

Ingredients:

Raw rice or Pachari - 2 cup

Grated coconut - ½ cup

Cooked rice - ½ cup

Yeast - ½ tsp

Salt - to taste

Coconut water - ½ glass

Sugar - 1 tbsp

Water - to dilute the thick batter (approx 1 cup)

Preparation:

- Soak raw rice in the water for about 6-7 hours.

- Mix sugar in the coconut water and set aside till you grind the batter.

- Add grated coconut, cooked rice to the raw soaked rice and grind to a smooth batter. Once done, add the yeast, coconut water with sugar and set aside for the batter to ferment till next day.

- Next day, once the batter is fermented and bubbles shows up, mix well adding water to dilute the thick batter and salt to taste. The batter is ready to cook tasty vellayappam in our very own appachatti.

Note:

- Adding sugar and coconut water or coconut milk is optional.

- Make sure to dilute the batter well to get thin appams. You can dilute the batter with water or coconut water or coconut milk as per choice.

Special Chicken Fry (Christmas/Easter Dishes)

Special Chicken Fry is a delicious side dish we can serve on Christmas/Easter day or even on a daily basis. Chicken is marinated in spices and rested to absorb the flavour to enhance the taste. This is a special fry I prepare at home and my family loves this recipe. This fry dish is a “Me Style” recipe cooked and served hot or cold among friends. This recipe is for sure going to be the star on your family table. Enjoy food and life :)

Ingredients:

Chicken drumsticks - 2 nos

Turmeric powder - ½ tsp

Kashmiri chilli powder - 2 tsp

Garam masala - ½ tsp

Salt - to taste

Olive Oil - 3 - 4 tbsp

Curry leaves - 2 string

Lime - half of one

Oil - for deep frying

Preparation:

- Cut, clean and keep the chicken drumsticks aside.

- Make a paste of turmeric, chilli, garam masala, salt, oil and keep aside (No water is used for this paste). Apply this paste on the drumsticks and keep to rest for at least 20 minutes.

- Heat oil in a kadai, fry curry leaves for a minute and keep aside. Deep fry the masala coated drumsticks in the oil for 5 minutes till golden brown in color.

- Serve hot garnished with the fried curry leaves and cut lime.

Note:

- Coat a thick layer of masala to the drumsticks and let rest for 20 minutes for great taste.

- I used olive oil for making the paste. You can use any oil as per choice.