Prawn Kozhambu

Prawn Kozhambu:

Prawn is a common name, used particularly in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Commonwealth nations, for large swimming crustaceans or shrimp, especially those with commercial significance in the seafood industry. Shrimp that fall in this category often belong to the suborder Dendrobranchiata. In North America, the term is used less frequently, typically for freshwater shrimp.

The Indian prawn  is one of the major commercial prawn species of the world. It is found in the Indo-West Pacific from eastern and south-eastern Africa, through India, Malaysia and Indonesia to southern China and northern Australia.The Indian prawn is commonly called as Jhinga, Chingri, Sungat in Hindi and Marathi respectively. It is called as Eraa in Tamilnadu. It is called as Chemeen in kerala. It is called "Royya" in Telugu. 

Traditionally the shrimp are exported as head-on, headless, tail-on or frozen in blocks. The profit can be increased by value-addition to the shrimp in the form of shrimp pickles, cutlets, battered, ready-to-cook, etc. Prawns are an excellent source of high-quality protein and several important vitamins and minerals that support your good health. Prawns are low in calories and contain no carbohydrates. Although the cholesterol content of prawns is significant, these shellfish also contain heart-healthy, omega-3 fatty acids.Now I am going to explain the procedure to cook Prawn Kozhambu.

                                 Prawn Kozhambu recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Indian  |  Recipe Category: Lunch
Prep Time:5 mins    |  Cook time: 10 mins     |  Serves:2

Ingredients

Prawns - 1 kg

Onions - 2 big sized

Tomatoes - 2 big sized

Garlic - 4 small pieces

Turmeric powder - 1/2tsp

Chilly powder (Dhaniya powder mixed)- 1 tsp

Garam masala - 1/2 tsp (optional)

Garlic - 4 cloves

Sombhu/ Fennel - 1/2 tbsp

Salt - needed

Coriander leaves - few

Curry leaves - 1 strand 

Oil - 2 tbsp

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                                                                  To Temper:

Mustard - 1/4 tsp

Cumin - 1/4 tsp

Red chilly - 1 no

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 Method:

• First wash the prawns and remove the head and tail parts. Also clean up the black thread like spine of the prawns. Wash them with 1/4 tsp turmeric powder and set aside.Meantime grind the onions and ginger in a mixie. Also mash the garlic and fennel together in a mortar and set aside.
  
• Take a pan add oil, splutter the ingredients in the temper table. When the ingredients splutter add curry leaves.Add the mashed garlic fennel paste and saute well. Now add the ground onion paste and mix well. Add salt and turmeric powder and mix well until it forms a non sticky paste texture. 
  
• Now grind the tomatoes and add the paste and mix well.Add the powders, salt and mix well. You can add 1 sliced green chilly and saute well.
  
• Add 1cup water and mix well and allow it to boil. Cook well by lid closed. Add the chopped coriander leaves.
  
• When the gravy is boiling well add the prawns and mix well. Cook with lid closed untill oil starts separating from the kozhambu.
  
• Enjoy the Prawn Kozhambu with Rice.!!!

Banana - Pineapple Pancakes

Banana Pineapple Pancakes:

The banana is an edible fruit, botanically a berry, produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus Musa. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called plantains. The fruit is variable in size, color and firmness, but is usually elongated and curved, with soft flesh rich in starch covered with a rind which may be green, yellow, red, purple, or brown when ripe. The fruits grow in clusters hanging from the top of the plant. 
Farmers in Southeast Asia and Papua New Guinea first domesticated bananas. 
Bananas are an excellent source of vitamin B6 and contain moderate amounts of vitamin C, manganese and dietary fiber.

A pancake is a flat cake, often thin, and round, prepared from a starch-based batter that may also contain eggs, milk and butter and cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or frying pan, often with oil or butter. In Britain, pancakes are often unleavened, and resemble a crêpe. In North America, a raising agent is used (typically baking powder). 

In India ,Pancakes prepared using a north Indian cooking style are known as cheela. Sweet cheela are made using sugar or jaggery with a wheat flour-based batter. North Indian salty pancakes are made using batter prepared from gram flour or green gram paste (moong daal) and are sometimes garnished with paneer, a cottage-style cheese. Dosa, appam, neer dosa and uttapam are pancakes made in a south Indian cooking style. They are prepared by fermenting rice batter and split-skinned urad bean (black lentil) blended with water. Meetha pooda – sweet pancakes often eaten with pickles and chutney – are a common breakfast food item in the Punjab. Most of the pitha in Assam are types of pancakes served on occasions such as Bihu festivals. The Bengali semi-sweet pancake pati-shapta is stuffed with grated coconut or thickened milk. In Western India, the multi-grain thalipeeth is popular. In Goa, a traditional crêpe-like pancake known as alebele or alle belle is eaten at tea-time. It is usually filled with jaggery and coconut. In Eastern India, malpuas are sometimes prepared in form of pancakes.

Now we are going to see a simple kids friendly Banana Pancake.

                            Banana Pineapple Pancake recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Indian  |  Recipe Category: Breakfast
Prep Time:10 mins    |  Cook time: 5 mins     |  Serves:2

Ingredients

Banana - 1 no

Wheat flour - 1 cup

Sugar / Jaggery - 1 tbsp (depends on banana sweetness)

Pineapple - 1/4 cup

Salt - 1 pinch

Oil - 1 tbsp

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 Method:

• First chop the bananas and mash them with a fork into a fine paste.
  
• In a bowl mix flour, sugar and salt and banana paste and mix well.

• Mix with water and make it into a fine smooth  batter. The batter should not drip of  the spoon when dipped in batter and lifted up.

• Now heat a non stick tawa. Meantime chop the pineapple into fine pieces and set aside.

• Now pour 1 laddle of batter on the tawa and top up with fine pineapple pieces. Again pour 1/2 laddle of batter on the pienapple pieces. This is to create a pineapple stuffing in the pancake.

• Turn the pancake on the tawa and cook it well. Add oil on the sides.

• Pancakes are ready to be served. Kids will like it a lot.!!

Vegetable Biriyani

Vegetable Biryani:

Biryani  is a mixed rice dish from the Indian Subcontinent. It is made with spices, rice and meat or vegetables.The origin of biryani is uncertain. In North India, it is traditionally associated with the Mughlai cuisine of Delhi and the Awadhi cuisine of Lucknow; in South India, it is traditionally associated with the Hyderabadi cuisine.The word "biryani" is derived from Persian language. One theory is that it originates from "birinj", the Persian word for rice. Another theory is that it derives from "biryan" or "beriyan" (to fry or roast).

According to Pratibha Karan, the biryani is of South Indian origin, derived from pilaf varieties brought to India by the Muslim traders and rulers. She speculates that the pulao was an army dish in medieval India: the armies, unable to cook elaborate meals, would prepare a one-pot dish where they cooked rice with whichever meat was available.The only diffrence between Pulao and Biryani is the amount of spices added.

There are two basic types of biryani: pakki ("cooked") and kacchi ("raw"). In pakki biryani, the cooked meat and cooked rice are layered. In the kacchi biryani, raw marinated meat is layered with raw rice before being cooked together.

Now I am going to cook Vegetable Biryani, one of my fav dish. The same procedure can be used to cook any type of biryani , like, cauliflower biryani, potato biriyani etc etc.

                                  Vegetable Biryani recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Indian |  Recipe Category: Lunch
Prep Time:15 mins    |  Cook time: 30mins     |  Serves: 3

Ingredients

Rice(Basmati or seeraga samba) - 2 cups

Potatoes - 3nos

Cauliflower - 5 florets

Capsicum - 1/2 no

Onions-2 chopped

Tomato - 2nos chopped

Ginger Garlic paste - 2 tbsp

Ginger - 1 small piece

Spices - as needed

Red chilly powder - 3/4 tbsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Garam masala - 1/2 tsp

Mint leaves - 1 handfull

Coriander leaves - 1 handfull

Curd - 1/2 cup

Milk - 1/4 cup

Saffron - 3 threads

Warm milk- 2 tsp

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 Method:

• First wash the rice well and soak  in water and keep it aside. Mix curd and milk and keep aside.
  

• Cut the vegetables and keep it aside.
  

• Chop the onions vertically and the tomatoes finely. Grind the ginger and garlic to a fine paste ( if u want to store it in fridge grind it with 1/2 tsp oil)
• Chop the mint leaves and coriander leaves.
  
• Now comes the important step, for the kaaram I have grinded this paste consisting of coriander seeds, red chillies, 1/2 tomato and half ginger.  This is the paste which I am going to add for the flavour, if U wish u can skip it and add the Chilly powder and Dhaniya powder as per ur taste.
  
• Now take a cooker  and pour ghee and when the ghee is hot add the spices( 1cardamon, 1 black cardamon, 1 bay leaf, 1 small pattai, 1 javithri bud, 1 star anise, 4 cloves ) and saute well.
  
  
  
• Now add the onions and ginger garlic paste and saute well. Till the onions turn transluscent.Add the mint leaves too.
  
• Now add the tomatoes and mint -coriander leaves and saute well. Then add the chopped vegetables and saute well.
  
• Now add the powders and mix well and allow it to get cooked untill oil appears to get separated.
  
• Meanwhile whisk the curd and add the saffron strands soaked in 2 tsp warm milk to the curd and let it wait.Then add the whisked curd to it and make it to a boil. Add Salt when it forms into a gravy consistency and check the taste. It should be a point more as it needs  to support the rice. Now add required water and make it boil well. Water level should be enough for the half boiled rice and the chicken. Water is generally 1:1 ratio for uncooked basmati rice and 1:1/2 for half cooked basmati rice.
  
  
  
• Now the gravy will form into a kurma consistency gravy.Add the rice to it and mix well. Now close the cooker lid. Open after 3 mins and mix it well. Again close the lid and leave it. Repeat the same untill all the gravy has been mixed well with the rice.Now Simmer the flame to minimum and place the whistle.(dum style) You will not hear whistle sound in this process.
  
• Now open the lid after 20mins and mix the biryani well and serve it. Garnish with coriander leaves and ghee (optional). Raitha or egg roast serves as a best combo.
• 

Prawn Dry Roast

Prawn Dry Roast:

Prawn is a common name, used particularly in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Commonwealth nations, for large swimming crustaceans or shrimp, especially those with commercial significance in the seafood industry. Shrimp that fall in this category often belong to the suborder Dendrobranchiata. In North America, the term is used less frequently, typically for freshwater shrimp.

The Indian prawn  is one of the major commercial prawn species of the world. It is found in the Indo-West Pacific from eastern and south-eastern Africa, through India, Malaysia and Indonesia to southern China and northern Australia.The Indian prawn is commonly called as Jhinga, Chingri, Sungat in Hindi and Marathi respectively. It is called as Eraa in Tamilnadu. It is called as Chemeen in kerala. It is called "Royya" in Telugu. 

Traditionally the shrimp are exported as head-on, headless, tail-on or frozen in blocks. The profit can be increased by value-addition to the shrimp in the form of shrimp pickles, cutlets, battered, ready-to-cook, etc. Prawns are an excellent source of high-quality protein and several important vitamins and minerals that support your good health. Prawns are low in calories and contain no carbohydrates. Although the cholesterol content of prawns is significant, these shellfish also contain heart-healthy, omega-3 fatty acids.Now I am going to explain the procedure to fry Prawns.

                                   Prawn Dry Roast recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Indian  |  Recipe Category: Lunch
Prep Time:10 mins    |  Cook time: 10 mins     |  Serves:2

Ingredients

Prawns - 1 kg

Onions - 2 big sized

Tomatoes - 2 big sized

Ginger Garlic paste - 1.5 tbsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2tsp

Chilly powder (Dhaniya powder mixed)- 1 tsp

Garam masala - 1/2 tsp

Salt - needed

Coriander leaves - few

Curry leaves - 1 strand 

Oil - 2 tbsp

_________________________________________________________________________________

                                                                  To Temper:

Mustard - 1/4 tsp

Cumin - 1/4 tsp

Red chilly - 1 no

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 Method:

• First wash the prawns and remove the head and tail parts. Also clean up the black thread like spine of the prawns. Wash them with 1/4 tsp turmeric powder and set aside.Meantime grind the onions in a mixie. If you dont have ginger garlic paste, grind 4 garlic cloves and 1 /2 lemon sized ginger with the onions.
  
• Take a pan add oil, splutter the ingredients in the temper table.
  
• When the ingredients splutter add curry leaves and the ground onion paste and mix well. Add salt and turmeric powder, ginger garlic paste(if not grinding) and mix well until it forms a non sticky paste texture. 
  
• Now grind the tomatoes and add the paste and mix well.
  
• When it turns to halwa consistency add the powders and mix well. Check for the salt. Saute it for 5mins and then add the prawns to it.
  
• Saute well by lid closed, the prawn will leave water and this is enough to get cooked. Just sprinkle one handfull water if required.
  
• When the prawns have turned colour to the same as ur gravy, open the lid and keep mixing with a laddle until it becomes dry. U need to keep mixing else it will start to get burnt in the base. If you prefer gravy switch off flame at this step.
  
• Add the coriander leaves and keep mixing it until it becomes dry and is roasted well. The gravy will disappear completely. 
  
• Enjoy the Prawn Dry Roast!!!
  

Pumpkin Halwa

Pumpkin Halwa:

A pumpkin is a cultivar of the squash plant, most commonly of Cucurbita pepo, that is round, with smooth, slightly ribbed skin and deep yellow to orange coloration. The thick shell contains the seeds and pulp.

Pumpkins, like other squash, are native to North America. Pumpkins are widely grown for commercial use, and are used both in food and recreation. Pumpkin pie, for instance, is a traditional part of Thanksgiving meals in the United States, although commercially canned pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie fillings are usually made from different kinds of winter squash than the pumpkins frequently carved as jack-o'-lanterns for decoration around Halloween.

The color of pumpkins is derived from the orange pigments abundant in them. The main nutrients are lutein and both alpha and beta carotene, the latter of which generates vitamin A in the body.

Pumpkins vary greatly in shape, size and colors. Giant pumpkins generally weigh 4–6 kg with the largest capable of reaching a weight of over 25 kg. Golden-nugget pumpkins are flat, smaller and feature sweet creamy orange color flesh.

It is one of the very low calorie vegetables.Pumpkin is a storehouse of many anti-oxidant vitamins such as vitamin-A, vitamin-C and vitamin-E. It is also an excellent source of many natural poly-phenolic flavonoid compounds such as a, ß carotenes, cryptoxanthin, lutein and zea-xanthin. Carotenes convert into vitamin A inside the body.The fruit is a good source of B-complex group of vitamins like folates, niacin, vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), thiamin and pantothenic acid.It is also rich source of minerals like copper, calcium, potassium and phosphorus.Pumpkin seeds indeed are an excellent source of dietary fiber and mono-unsaturated fatty acids, which are good for heart health.

Now I am going to prepare a Halwa using this yellow pumpkin.

                                                  Pumpkin Halwa recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Indian  |  Recipe Category: Sweet
Prep Time:10 mins    |  Cook time: 15 mins     |  Serves:2

Ingredients

Yellow pumpkin grated  - 1.5 cups

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Ghee - 4 tbsp

Condensed milk - 1 tbsp (optional)

Salt - 1 pinch

Cardamon powder - 1/4 tsp

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 Method:

• First peel the skin of the pumpkin and grate it finely.
  
• Now take a strainer and strain the grated pumpkin by pressing ur hands on the strainer. Now take a non stick pan and saute the grated pumpkin until the raw smell goes off.
  
• Now when the smell is off completely, sprinkle water and allow it to get cooked well with lid closed. Later when its cooked ,Add sugar to it and mix well. Add 1 tbsp ghee now. Sugar depends on the sweetness of the pumpkin and your sweet tooth.
  
• Keep mixing well on all sides, now add 1 tbsp condensed milk and mix well. Add the elaichi powder and salt and mix well. Adding ghee roasted cashews, raisins is your wish at this stage.
  
• Keep adding ghee slowly so that it curdles into a dough without sticking the walls of the pan. When its into a soft dough switch of the flame and transfer it to a greased cup.
  
• Garnish with nuts and enjoy the Halwa!!! Store it in a box without placing ur hands in the halwa. It will remain good for 4 to 5 days.

Soft Chappati

Soft Chappati:

Chapati is an unleavened flatbread (also known as roti) from Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. It is a common staple in South Asia as well as amongst South Asian expatriates throughout the world. Versions of the dish are also found in Central Asia and the Horn of Africa, with the laobing flatbread serving as a local variation in China. 

The word chapat  in Hindi means "to slap", and the traditional method of forming rounds of thin dough is by slapping the dough between the wetted palms of the hands. With each slap, the round of dough is rotated. Chapati is noted in Ain-i-Akbari, a 16th-century document, by Mughal Emperor, Akbar’s vizier, Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak.Chapatis are one of the most common forms in which wheat, the staple of northern and western India, is consumed. The carbonized wheat grains discovered at the excavations at Mohenjo-Daro are of a similar variety to an endemic species of wheat still to be found in India today. The Indus Valley is known to be one of the ancestral lands of cultivated wheat.

Chapati sizes (diameter and thickness) vary from region to region and kitchen to kitchen. In Gujarat, for example, the chapati is called a 'rotli' and can be as thin as tissue paper. Chapatis made in domestic kitchens are usually not larger than 6–7 inches in diameter since the 'tava' on which they are made comes in sizes that fit comfortably on a domestic stove top. Tavas were traditionally made of unglazed earthenware, but are now typically made from metal. 

In most parts of India, there is a distinction made between a 'chapati' and its layered version, the 'paratha'. 'Parathas' are either made layered by spreading with ghee or oil folding and rolling out again into a disc, or else have a filling, such as spinach, dal (lentils) cooked radish, or potato. Parathas are mostly made using all-purpose flour instead of whole wheat flour. There is a newer version called 'Tandoori Roti' which is thick like the Paratha- and made using wholewheat flour.

Now we are going to check out how to make soft chappathi's at home.

.

                                      Soft Chappathi recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Indian  |  Recipe Category: Lunch/Dinner
Prep Time:30 mins    |  Cook time: 10 mins     |  Serves:2

Ingredients

Wheat flour - 1 cup

Salt - needed

Sugar - 1/4 tsp

Milk - 3 tbsp

Oil - 3 tbsp

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 Method:

• First take the flour in a cup and mix salt and sugar with it well. Add 1 tbsp oil and mix well. Now the flour will look as bread crumbs. Now add the milk and mix well, sprinkle water and mix it into a soft dough.Milk will yield soft chapathi's.
  
• Now keep it aside for maximum 30 mins. Beat the dough well with ur hands on the table or chopping board. The more you beat the dough will be soft. Bang it on the bowl  softly and mix well with your hands.Now roll it into a tube shaped dough and split it into small sized balls.

• Now using a rolling pin roll each ball into a small square on a flat surface.

• Now heat a tawa and when its hot add the chappati to the tawa. Turn it on both sides, it will rise up, press the places of the chappati where it rises with a tissue paper .

• When its cooked and fluffed on both sides, Its ready to be served.

Egg Fried Rice

Egg Fried Rice:

Egg is a food product produced from poultry that is used as both an ingredient and a main dish for baked foods. Eggs have a hard shell of calcium carbonate enclosing a liquid white, a single yolk (or an occasional double yolk) and an air cell. The white or albumen is a clear liquid that turns to an opaque white when cooked or beaten. The yolk is orange to yellow in color, and becomes pale yellow when cooked to a solid form. The air cell increases in size as the egg ages and begins to lose moisture, thus decreasing in quality. Eggs can be cooked by boiling, poaching, frying, microwaving, or baking and they are one of the most common ingredients used for a variety of recipes. 

Now I am going to cook a very quick and easy receipe with egg, Egg Fried Rice. Which is very common lunch box receipe as well as favourite among kids.

                                                 Egg Fried Rice recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Indian  |  Recipe Category: Lunch
Prep Time:10 mins    |  Cook time: 10 mins     |  Serves:2

Ingredients

Cooked Rice - 2 cups

Capsicum - 1no

Spring onions - 3 strands

Eggs - 4

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt - needed

Coriander leaves - few

Curry leaves - 1 strand (optional)

Oil - 1 tbsp

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 Method:

• First cook the rice and keep aside. Chop the capsicum and spring onions finely. Take a pan and add oil, saute the vegetables well with turmeric powder and half of the salt.
• 
• Now break the egg and add it to the vegetables and mix it well. Add the salt and scramble it well. Add the coriander leaves and curry leaves.
• 
• Now add the remaining salt and saute well, add the cooked rice and mix well. Saute it for 5mins and add the coarsely ground pepper and again saute it for 4mins and switch off the flame.
  
• Serve it hot !!!