Red n Hot Chicken

Red n Hot Chicken

Now this one again from Jilsy’s special creations is a treat for all chicken lovers out there. Chilly and pepper definitely makes it really hot and the Lea and Perrins sauce gives a nice sour flavor. It happens to be a real easy to make yummy to taste recipe. Guys if you love experimenting in kitchen then definitely you have got to try this…Got a hubby who complains or kids who yell and wail?…just try this recipe on them and definitely you are gona make them happy and hale.

 Ingredients

1.      Chicken                       650g

2.      Chilly powder             1 tbsp

3.      Pepper powder            1 tbsp

4.      Ginger-garlic paste      1 ½ tbsp

5.      Lea and Perrins sauce 1 tbsp

6.      Egg white                    1 no

7.      Breadcrumbs               100g

8.      Salt                              to taste

9.      Water                          50 ml

10.  Oil for frying     

         

Method

1.      Marinate chicken pieces using ingredients 2-5 and keep aside for 1 hour.

2.      Cook the marinated chicken pieces in 50 ml of water and keep aside to cool.

3.      Add beaten egg white to cooked chicken pieces and mix well.

4.      Then add breadcrumbs to the above and coat well.

5.      Deep fry the chicken pieces in hot oil.

6.      Serve hot with butter chapatti and vegetable salad.

                                                                                                                        Serves 5

Nutritional Information:

1 serving of Red n Hot chicken approximately gives 37.8 g of protein, 11.06 g of fat, 20.7 g of carbohydrates, 329.7  KCals of energy, 36.9 mg of calcium and 0.44 mg of iron.

Carrot Halwa

Carrot Halwa

This recipe can otherwise be named Heaven! The goodness of carrot and the richness of ghee just make me irrevocably in love with it. But I do remind you friends, it is a bit high on the calorie side and I don’t ask you to make it a habit to have it. So let’s just say, enjoy making and having this one on one of your special occasions to make it a sweet and memorable experience just like the halwa itself.

Ingredients:

1.      Carrot              200g

2.      Milk                 1 cup

3.      Sugar               1 cup

4.      Cardamom      ½ tsp

5.      Ghee                ¼ cup

6.      Cashew nuts    10g

Method:

1.      Mince carrots uniformly using a mixer or food processor.

2.      Saute the minced carrots in ghee for 5 mins till the carrots are half cooked. Cooking it in a pan/kadai with a closed lid is preferable.

3.      Powder sugar along with cardamom.

4.      Add milk little by little and keep stirring.

5.      When all the milk has been added allow the carrots to get completely cooked.

6.      Now add the powdered sugar and keep swirling the mixture in the pan.

7.      Allow the mixture to boil until it stops sticking to the pan.

8.      Remove from fire and transfer to a greased container.

9.      Garnish with roasted cahew nuts.

Note: Goes well with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Ohh yeah!

Yield: 1 cup

Nutritional Information:

1 cup of Carrot Halwa gives 11.5g of protein, 72.5g of fats, 62.1g of carbohydrates, 1225 KCals of energy, 473.6 mg of calcium and 3.95mg of iron.

Tomato – Chat Dosa with Mint chutney

Tomato – Chat Dosa with Mint chutney

Dosa is every South Indian’s favorite and it is a dish that can never go out of our list because there are innumerable ways of making a dosa or rather making a dosa tasty. I see stalls budding up in every corner of the city that serve extraordinary combinations of dosas. That does explain the level to which we Keralites adore them. And indeed it is an awesome dish that goes well with any flavor that it is combined with. So, here I am making a humble contribution to the never ending list of dosas. And by the way do not miss the mint chutney…the combo is just yum!

Ingredients

1.      Dosa batter                   as required

2.      Onion                          30g

3.      Tomato                        70g

4.      Salt                              to taste

5.      Tomato Ketchup         2 tbsp

6.      Pepper powder             ½ tsp

7.      Chat Masala                 ½ tsp/dosa

8.      Coriander leaves         1 tbsp/dosa

9.      Oil/Butter                    as required

Method of preparation of dosa batter:

Wash and soak 30g of black gram dal, 90 g of raw rice, 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds and 1 tbsp of parboiled rice in water for 8 hrs. After 8 hrs of soaking grind them after draining off the water to make a smooth batter. Add salt and mix well and keep overnight for fermentation.

Preparation of Dosa:

1.      In a pan heat 1 tsp butter and then add chopped onions along with salt. When the onions turn transparent add chopped tomatoes and black pepper powder and sauté till the tomato gets cooked and mashed. Now add tomato ketchup and blend it in with the mixture. Remove from fire and keep aside.

2.      Heat oil on a griddle or ‘dosa thava’. When hot, pour half cup of fermented batter on the griddle. Spread evenly to form a circle and cook one side smearing oil or butter.

3.      On the open side of the dosa smear 1 tbsp of the tomato mix evenly.

4.      Now sprinkle chopped coriander leaves and chat masala over it.

5.      Turn the dosa over on the griddle and cook the tomato smeared side well. Fold it when it is done and serve hot with mint chutney.

Mint chutney:

Ingredients for mint chutney:

·         Pudina or Mint Leaves            2 tbsp (finely chopped)

·         Coconut Scrapings                  ½ cup

·         Ginger                                     ½ tsp (chopped)

·         Curd                                        2 tbsp

·         Salt                                          to taste

Blend all the above ingredients well in a mixer or food processor to get smooth tasty chutney.

Nutritional Information

One medium sized dosa gives 3.09 g of protein, 5.3g of fat, 18.9 g of carbohydrates, 135.2 KCals of energy, 32.1 mg of calcium and 0.57 mg of iron.

Gulab Jamun

Gulab Jamun

Source: www.indianfoodforever.com

Who doesn’t love gulab jamun? It definitely ranks high as one of the best Indian sweets ever!  Ready to make mixes for it are available in market in various brands, but still trying the real recipe out at your home is definitely a challenge. How could we miss it then? A bit of practice and a little patience is all you need to create your own jamuns…so all the crazy cooks out there, do try it out!

Ingredients:

1.      Milk powder               200g

2.      Maida                          100g

3.      Baking Soda               ½ tsp

4.      Butter                          2 tbsp

5.      Milk                             ¼ cup

6.      Sugar                           400g

7.      Oil                               for frying

Method

1. Make the dough by combining the milk powder, Baking powder and butter. Add just enough whole milk to make a medium-hard dough. Divide the dough into 18-20 portions. Make balls by gently rolling each portion between your palms into a smooth ball. Place the balls on a plate. Cover with a damp yet dry kitchen towel.

2.       Heat the oil on high and then lower the heat to medium. Slip in the balls into the hot oil from the side of the pan, one by one. They will sink to the bottom of the pan, but do not try to move them. Instead, gently shake the pan to keep the balls from browning on just one side. After about 5 mins, the balls will rise to the surface. The Gulab Jamuns should rise slowly to the top if the temperature is just right. Now they must be gently and constantly agitated to ensure even browning on all sides.

3.       If the temperature of the oil is too high then the gulab jamuns will tend to break. So adjust the temperature to ensure that the gulab jamuns do not break or cook too quickly.

4.       The balls must be fried very slowly under medium temperatures. This will ensure complete cooking from inside and even browning.

Sugar Syrup

·         The syrup should be made earlier and kept warm. To make the hot sugar syrup add mix the 2 cups of sugar to 1 cup of water. Add 4-5 cardamom pods, slightly crushed for taste. Mix with a spoon and then heat at medium heat for 5-10 minutes until sugar is all dissolved in water. Do not overheat, that will caramelize the sugar.

·         Transfer this hot syrup into a serving dish. Keep warm on stove. Add the fried gulab jamuns directly into the warm syrup. Leave gulab jamun balls in sugar syrup overnight for best results. They can be served warm or at room temperature.

Yield: 20 nos.

 Nutritional Information

1 serving (2 nos.) of Gulab Jamun gives 2.26 g of protein, 4 g of fat, 48.7 g of carbohydrates, 239.3 KCals of energy, 49.1 mg of calcium and 0.4 mg of iron.

Spicy toasts

Spicy toasts

This easy- spicy recipe is from Jilsy’s special creations list. Sometimes wonderful tastes come out of little experiments done with whatever you have got in hand. In a home scientist’s language you could call it ‘utilization of available resources’. J The punch of chat masala with the invincible taste of sweet tomato sauce…now that’s what you call a treat to your taste buds.

Ingredients

1.      Bread slices                 3 nos

2.      Egg                              1 no

3.      Chilly powder             1 tsp

4.      Butter                          2 tbsp

5.      Chaat masala               1 tsp

6.      Salt                              to taste

Method

1. Cut the bread into rectangular strips
2.   Beat the egg  and add chilly powder and salt
3.    Dip each bread stick in the egg mixture
4.  Heat a pan and add butter. When the butter is hot, toast each bread until it turns light golden brown on each side.
5. On top of the toasted bread, sprinkle chaat masala and serve hot with sweet tomato sauce.

Yield: 9 no.s

Nutritional Information:

One serving (2 nos.) of Spicy Toast gives 1.8 g of protein, 5.17 g of fat, 5.18g of carbohydrates,  88.5 KCals of energy, 6.42mg of calcium and 0.28mg of iron.

Arrowroot Halwa

Arrowroot Halwa

This is a unique halwa which is one of the traditional desserts of Kerala. It is usually prepared during ‘Thiruvathira’ festival by women. On the day of ‘thiruvathira’ women of Kerala take up a peculiar type of fasting where they avoid any kind of rice dishes and non vegetarian food items.  Roots, tubers, wheat and fruits add to their day’s meal.  Arrowroot is indeed a good source of folates. And that becomes the very reason why arrowroot is included in this diet that women follow as it acts as a traditional medicinal food. Apart from its nutritive benefits it tastes really good and thus makes a good choice to treat your sweet tooth.

Ingredients

1.      Arrowroot powder      100g

2.      Jaggery                        100g

3.      Coconut scrapings       100g

4.      Cardamom                  1 tsp

5.      Ghee                            3 tsps

6.      Cashewnut                  50g

Method

1.      Mix arrowroot powder with enough water and let it rest for 2 hrs. Drain off the water carefully and repeat the process thrice.

2.      Dissolve jaggery by boiling, strain and keep aside.

3.      In ½ L water add the washed arrowroot powder and boil. Keep stirring continuously for 5 mins.

4.      Pour the dissolved jaggery to the above mix and stir well, till the mixture turns sticky.

5.      Add grated coconut, cardamom, 2 tsps of ghee and mix well.

6.      Remove from fire and transfer to a greased plate, flatten the mix with a spatula and allow to cool.

7.      When the mix cools down, cut into pieces and serve. Garnish with roasted cashew nuts.

Yield: 2 cups

Nutritional information:

1 cup of halwa gives 10.1g of protein, 60.9 g of fat, 107 g of carbohydrates, 797 kcal of energy, 67.5 mg of calcium and 11.4mg of iron.

Donuts

Donuts

Donuts…the name itself is a mouth watering stimulus. But preparing this spongy juicy snack wasn’t that easy for us in the beginning. Both of us being excellent foodies, have munched on real delicious donuts available in all good bakeries of Cochin city and therefore were heartbroken when our own donuts turned about to be a failure. We hunted down every possible recipe available on net, asked our chef friends…but still the result didn’t come up to our level of expectation. First we tried adding baking powder, but later we got the below mentioned recipe using dry yeast and trust me it actually is the best ever donut recipe. It did pave way to the materialization of our “dream donut”.

Try this one out for sure, but yes don’t make it a habit coz certain things can be enjoyed only when you get to have them rarely!!

Donuts:

Source: www.joyofbaking.com

Ingredients

1.      Maida                          295g
2.      Dry Yeast                    1 ½ tsp
3.      Butter(unsalted)          40g
4.      Salt                              ¼ tsp
5.      Vanilla essence            2 tsp
6.      Egg                              1 large
7.      Sugar                           35g
8.      Lukewarm milk           120 ml
9.      Oil for frying

Method:

1.      In a food processor blend ingredients 1 to 7. When it becomes a uniform mixture, slowly add lukewarm milk until it becomes a smooth dough.

2.      Cling wrap  the dough and keep aside for 1-2 hrs for it to rise.

3.      Sprinkle a little flour on a clean surface and roll out the dough to 1 inch uniform thickness.

4.      Using a donut cutter, cut out each donut and arrange them in a floured tray.

5.      Cover it with a  oil sprayed thin plastic cling film and let it rise for another 30-45 mins.

6.      Heat enough oil in a pan to deep fry the donuts. When the oil reaches around 180-190⁰C, put the donuts one by one and fry till golden brown on both sides.

7.      Remove from the oil, drain on a paper towel and serve glazed with sugar or chocolate sauce.

Note: During frying, try to maintain the heat between 180-190⁰C by switching to medium to low flame. Also for the donuts to puff up, prick slightly with a tooth pick while frying.

Yield: 10 nos.

Nutritional Information:

1 donut gives 4.14 g of protein, 9.5 g of fat, 25.8 g of carbohydrates, 205.6 KCals of energy, 24 mg of calcium and 0.9 mg of iron.