A LOT CAN HAPPEN OVER COFFEE!!! ;-( ;-(

If someone asks me if I am a tea gal or coffee gal, I would scream at the top of my voice..or rather I 'used to' scream as a response...Coffee was a pleasure drink for me..Especially those days at hostel..I used to wake up at 3 a.m. on exam days and straightaway drink an instant coffee...I used to drink around 7-8 coffees per day...yeah dats a bitter fact ;-( ;-(

Now it seems as if my habit has taken its toll on me...I was sitting in class one day, and suddenly I felt heavy palpitation, accompanied with shortness of breath..I was taken to a private hospital in Cochin straightaway, and the usual procedures of cardiology like ECG, ECHO test etc followed...MY GOD!!! I don't wanna remember those bitter moments again...The reason??? OVER INTAKE OF CAFFEINE!!!! I could not believe it...How would I survive without my daily dose of coffee??? I felt as if the sky had fallen upon me...But as they say, health always comes first...So, had to substitute my coffee routine with juices!!! Life post coffee stoppage was not so cool, and I had  lot of withdrawal symptoms too...But it is necessary to care one's heart physically too, rather than mentally as we always do...So, watchout people...Take coffee only in a minimal amount to avoid future hospital visits like me... ;-(

 But the effect of coffee on our health also depends on our body nature, which means it is not necessary that every person should get affected by it...Those are not affected, thumbs up to u guys..I strongly miss being you!!! :-D

Chicken Roast with cornflour!!

Next session about the biggest weaknesses of mine of all time…chicken!!! I am a true patron of yummy food, and given options, I would always go for some dish with chicken…J…so an experiment with chicken, adding a pinch of cornflour…..Cornflour makes the chicken soft and fluffy after frying.

Ingredients

Cornflour

Chicken- 250 gms

Onion-2

Tomato-1

Ginger-garlic paste- 4 teaspoons

Green chillie- 4-5 in number

Turmeric powder- half teaspoon

Chillie powder- 2 teaspoons

Pepper pwder- 2 teaspoons

Garam masala poder- Half teaspoon

Milk- half a bowl.

Coriander leaves- as required(optional)

Procedure

Marinate chicken pieces with salt and pepper for 1 hour.

Make a thick cornflour mixture with water and deep fry the chicken pieces after dipping them in the cornflour mixture.

Add oil in a pan. Saute onion, ginger-garlic paste, tomato and green chillies till golden brown.

Add turmeric powder, chillie powder, pepper powder, and garam masala powder  into the mixture and fry till dark brown.

Add the chicken pieces into the pan, and after adding a bowl of water, allow it to boil.

As the gravy gets thick, add the milk into it and again cook for 2-3 minutes.

Garnish with coriander leaves.

Best Buddies for Chicken roast

Chapathi, Parathas, pulav, friedrice, almost everything……………even dosas!!! Yeah..I mean it….Have you ever tasted dosas with chicken?? It is a fab combination!! J

Good Reviews..

Spicy

Takes less time for preparation compared to other chicken dishes.

Bad reviews..

Nothing till now J

PRAWN FRY WITH ONION!!

Hogging on sea food is a pleasure for me…And when it comes to prawns, I go speechless…The experience is totally out of the world!!! So, here we go, the simplest, and tastiest prawn dish…….prawn fry with onions!!!

Ingredients

Prawns-250 gm

Small Onion- 8-10 in number

Green chillie-4-6 in number

Chillie powder- 1teaspoon

Turmeric powder-  1 tespoon

Procedure

1. Take a bowl and add the prawns, salt, small onion, green chillie, chillie powder, turmeric power and add water into the mixture and boil for 10 minutes. 
2. While the water begins to drain completely, add 1 teaspoon of oil and fry the mixture for 2-3 minutes.

Best Buddies for prawn fry with onions

Prawn fry mainly goes with kerala rice. It is also a good combination with friedrice.

Good reviews..

1. Simple procedure
2. Takes hardly 15 minutes for preparation.
3. The small onions can be put as such into the mixture. We need not waste time by cutting it into small pieces. They will eventually get along once cooked.

Bad Reviews..

Hmmm……..Currently nothing in my mind to yell bad about it…This stuff can be a real darling for all seafood lovers…

MEAT CUTLET!!!

Guess what…………you unexpectedly got a one day off from office. The absence of preplanning, and your husby has got this important meeting at office, you are left all alone at home……..now wait a sec…You can work for hours together to make this particular stuff, and offer them when your darling husby gets home in the evening…yeah………..its snacking time….and we are gonna indulge in making MEAT CUTLET to beat the day!!!!

Ingredients

Meat- ¼ kg.

Onion-2

Green chillie-6

Potato-4

Tomato-2

Chillie powder- 2 teaspoons.

Pepper-2 teaspoons

Greanpeas-1 bowl.

Ginger-garlic paste-3 teaspoons

Garam masala powder-1 teaspoon

Carrot, beetroot-1 each, both cut into small pieces.

Egg white- from 1 egg

Bread crumbs- As required

Procedure

1. Add salt to the meat and boil in a pressure cooker. Grind it in a mixie to form the so called ‘minced meat’.
2. Boil the potatoes and smash them up.
3. Boil the carrot and beetroot and keep aside.
4. Fry oil in a pan and saut onion , green chillie and ginger-garlic paste.
5. Add tomato cut into small pieces, along with chillie powder and pepper and stir until golden brown.
6. Add the smashed potatoes , boiled carrot&beetroot, and green peas into the pan and mix well.
7. Add the minced meat ,garam masala and salt into the pan and mix well.
8. Cover the mixture for 2-3 minutes and let it cook.
9. Make the above mixture into desired shapes, and roll them in egg white and later in bread crumbs, and deep fry.

Best Buddies for cutlet…

Since it is a snack, a few drops of tomato ketchup is sufficient. It also goes well with something sour, like a salad( with lemon juice or vinegar added to it).

Something Good about it…..

Best time killer …nothing else :-D

Bad Review

1.                The process is really hectic, and seizes our precious time.
2.        The number of ingredients is also large in number and the procedure is also a bit tedious.

So I always prefer cutlets from the bakeries, rather  than dedicating my whole day for its preparation.

PLAIN VEG PULAV

Pulav has been a favourite of Indians since ages. It can be considered as a friedrice in Indian style, prepared by adding a pinge of all Indian flavours. Accordingly, the classification goes wide for pulav, ranging from masala pulav, to simple plain pulav. So always starting from the bottom, Let us go for a simple plain pulav this time.

Ingredients

1.    Basmati rice (1 cup)

2.    Biryani essence(optional)

3.    Carrot- 1 and a half, beans – 7-8 nos

4.    Ginger, garlic, small onion(As per requirement)

5.    Coriander leaves.

Procedure

1. Boil Basmati rice and keep aside after draining water. You can add a few drops of Biryani essence into the water while boiling the rice, but this step is optional.
2. Fry the carrots and beans till half cooked and keep aside.
3. Grind ginger, garlic, and small onion into a thick paste.
4. Put oil in a pan, and add the paste obtained in Step no.3 and fry till light brown.
5. Add the carrot and beans(already fried) into it and mix well.
6. Add the cooked rice into the mixture, and garnish with coriander leaves.
7. Cover the pan and allow to cook for 2 minutes.

Best Buddies for plain pulav

This is a pulav in kerala style and since the pulav is simple we opt for heavy curries like chicken gravy, beef roast, or gobi and paneer dishes for the vegetarians. A simple salad and pickle will not go well with this pulav since they do not have much flavor in it.

Good reviews..

Simple to make and can be opted even to serve to guests if accompanied by a good gravy.

A bit of caution..

Add sufficient ginger, garlic and small onion and this paste is rather the most important part since it alone adds the whole flavor to the pulav.

Paneer Masala!!!

My first post…..A bit tensed, but also excited. Let this be a new beginning for me!!!

So, to keep things simple let us start with something easy…something quite common…something which both the carnivores as well as the veggies can hog on…………yes…….A simple paneer masala!!!

Ingredients:

    Paneer cubes (250 ml)

    Chillie powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder,and                 pepper powder.

    Onion(1 and a half), tomato(1), ginger & garlic(as required).

    Milk

    Coriander leaves

     Procedure

1.       Grind onion, ginger, garlic, and tomato together and keep aside.
2.       Fry paneer cubes in oil until golden brown.
3.   Put some oil in a pan, and add the grinded paste from step 1 and fry till it reaches brown, with constant stirring.
4.   Add into the mixture chillie powder, pepper powder, turmeric powder and garam masala powder  and mix well.
5.   Add fried paneer pieces into the mixture and mix well.
6.       Add 1-2 cups of water, salt and allow it to boil.
7.   When it starts getting concentrated, add 1 cup of milk into it and boil.
8.   Garnish with coriander leaves.

   Best buddies for Paneer Masala..

          So you have just made a piping hot paneer masala…..It goes well with parathas, roti, naan, friedrice, pulav etc.

   Some Good Reviews..

1.      Paneer is a tasty product and it can be considered as a ‘chickensubstitute’ for the veggies.
2.     Preparation time is less than 30 minutes if executed with planning.

   A bit of Caution…

     The quality of the paneer that we buy from market cannot be depended fully and the curry may turn sour if the paneer is not good enough. So always be careful in buying paneer made  from branded companies  when you go to a store.

   Well that’s all about my first dish…..I’ll be continuing with some exotic dishes very soon…