Beans tortilla rolls (Makes~24)

Ingredients

1. Fat-free (vegetarian) refried beans 16 oz can
2. Cream cheese 4 oz
3. Salsa (storebought) ¼ cup
4. Kashmiri chilly powder ½ tsp
5. Cumin powder ¼ tsp
6. Green onions 2 stalks, chopped finely
7. Mexican cheese blend ½ cup, shredded
8. 6-inch flour tortillas 12 nos

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine refried beans, cream cheese, salsa, chilly powder, cumin, green onions and 1/2 cup shredded cheese. Mix thoroughly to combine.
• Lay a tortilla on a work surface. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the mixture in a thin line from the bottom of the tortilla towards the middle.. Be careful not to use too much!  Tightly roll the tortilla from the bottom (the filling will spread out and will hold the tortilla together). Place the rolls seam-side down on the baking sheet. Repeat for the remaining tortillas.
• When the rolls are assembled, brush the tops lightly with oil and sprinkle them with a bit of salt. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until crisp and browned. Serve warm with salsa..

Adapted from here.

Cheers!!!
Suji

Peruvian style roasted chicken (Serves 4)

Super bowl is just in two days. This year we wanted to try something different with chicken, than making the traditional buffalo wings, and that’s when this recipe came to my mind. We first had Peruvian style chicken in Maryland while visiting a friend and oh my my, fell in love with it. It was juicy, slightly tangy and roasted to perfection and was fingerlickingly delicious. So I researched a lot and finally put together the ingredients which I found close to the one we had in Maryland and here you have it. This is a keeper and hope you all enjoy it as much as we did. Food is as important as the Super bowl match itself, so friends hope you all will have a fun and foodelicious Super bowl experience ahead..

Ingredients

1. Chicken drumettes 10 nos
2. Roasted cumin powder 1 TBSP
3. Paprika 1 TBSP
4. Black pepper powder ¾ tsp
5. Garlic 4 large cloves, finely chopped
6. Olive/canola oil 1 tsp
7. Salt ¾ tsp or as needed
8. White wine vinegar 2 TBSP
9. Lemon 1 medium, sliced
10. Yellow onions 1 medium, sliced thick
11. Yellow bell pepper 1 no, cut to chunks
12. Cooking oil spray

Directions

• In a small bowl, mix together paprika, cumin powder, black pepper powder, salt, garlic, vinegar and oil to make a paste. Reserve 1 TBSP for using with onions and rub the remaining onto the chicken drumettes evenly. Let it stand for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Place onions in a large bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons of the paste
• Place the chicken drumettes into a oven safe dish sprayed with oil, then cover with onions, peppers and lemon.
• Bake this for about an hour, basting occasionally with pan juices or turning the chicken twice in between, until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are very tender.
• Remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes before serving.
• Serve over rice and a salad..

Cheers!!!
Suji

Shish Taook/Lebanese chicken kebabs (Serves 5)

Ingredients

1. Boneless chicken ½ kg, cut to bite size pieces
2. Paprika powder 1 tsp
    Salt as needed
    Ginger garlic paste 1 tsp
    Yogurt 6 TBSP
    White pepper powder 1 tsp
    Fresh Oregano/Thyme 1 tsp, finely chopped (you can also use dried)
    Crushed cumin seeds ½ tsp
    Lemon juice 2 TBSP
    Tomato ketchup/Tomato paste 2 TBSP
3. Red onion 1 medium, cut to cubes
    Green pepper 1 medium, cut to cubes
    Olive oil 1 TBSP
4. Skewers (if you are using wooden skewers, soak them in cold water for 30 minutes before grilling/baking)

Method

• Clean and cut chicken in cubes.
• Make a marinade with ingredients number2 and apply well onto the cubed chicken and leave for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven at 375 F.
• Mix the cubed onions and green peppers with olive oil, salt and pepper.
• Thread the marinated chicken, red onions and green peppers onto skewers and place on a lined, greased baking tray.
• Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes or GRILL till done.
• Serve with Baba ghanouj/ Lebanese garlic sauce.

Cheers!!!
Suji

Kozhi Ada (Makes ~18-20)

Hello friends, hope you all had a great Thanks giving!!!It was busy here with family visiting and black friday shopping and all. Also we are going to India for a month and had to do a lots of packing and shopping for the same. I will try to update the blog as much as I can and hope you all have a great holiday season ahead.

The recipe today is one of my favorite snacks from the malabar and I was eating this all the time during my visits to kerala for the past couple of years. We were craving it here and I had to make it and am sure once you do it, this is will be a regular in your household too. Its simple and easy to prepare and if you fry it right, will stay for a long time at room temperature. Enjoy!!!

Ingredients

1. Boneless chicken ½ kg, cut to bite size pieces
2. Red chilly powder 1 TBSP
    Turmeric powder ½ tsp
    Fennel seed powder ½ tsp
    Garam masala ½ tsp
3. Red onion 1 medium, thinly sliced
4. All purpose flour/maida 2 cups
5. Oil 2 TBSP plus more for frying
6. Salt as needed
7. Roasted rice flour ¼ cup
8. Water as needed to make the dough

Preparation

• Clean the chicken well and pressure cook for 1 whistle along with enough salt and ingredients numbered 2. Allow the pressure to release and open lid, cook until all liquid evaporates from the chicken at low heat. Once cooled, mince the chicken using a blender and set aside.
• Now in a deep pan, add 2 TBSP oil and saute thinly sliced onions until brown color.
• Add the minced chicken and mix well. Saute this at medium low heat for about 30 minutes. By then it will attain a crispy texture. Remove from flame and allow to cool.
• Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, add the all purpose flour/maida, enough salt, 1 TBSP oil and mix well. Slowly add water and make a smooth dough like you do for chappathis.
• Divide the dough into lime size balls. Dust each ball in rice flour and roll out into thin rounds. Now using a cookie cutter or sharp edged lid, cut out round shaped pooris. Stuff one end with 1 TBSP of the prepared chicken mix and fold the other end. Using a fork pinch the edges to lock the sides. Repeat the process with rest of the dough and chicken mix.
• Heat oil for frying and when it is hot, add the adas one by one and make sure not to over crowd and fry on medium low heat till golden brown. Keep in mind, if the heat is too high, the outside will get cooked but not the inside, and if its too low heat, the whole ada will be a soggy oily mess. You need to keep patience to get crispy and super crunchy all the way through. If fried well, it stays outside for a good period of 2-3 weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers!!!
Suji

Al Faham Chicken/Arabian grilled chicken (Serves 4)–Ramadan Special

Ingredients

1. Chicken thighs/drumsticks 4 pieces, skin removed
2. Red onion 1 small
    Ginger 1 inch piece
    Garlic 6 cloves
    Green chilly 4 small
    Tomato 1 small
3. Greek yogurt 1 cup (if using regular yogurt, hung it in a cheese cloth for 30 minutes to     remove all water content)
    Lemon juice 2 TBSP
    Arabian masala (recipe follows) 3 tsp, heaping
    Salt, pepper as needed
    Olive oil 2 tsp

Recipe for Arabian masala:

1. Cumin seeds ½ cup
2. Fennel seeds ½ cup
3. Cinnamon stick 3 two inch sticks
4. Whole coriander seeds ½ cup
5. Whole pepper corns ¼ cup
6. Dry red chilly 6-8 nos (use according to your spice preference)
7. Turmeric powder 2 TBSP

Dry roast everything except turmeric powder at medium low flame for 10 minutes. Cool completely and blend to a fine powder along with turmeric powder. Store in an air tight container. This recipes makes about a cup of the masala.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preparation

• Clean and make silts on the chicken pieces.
• Blend together ingredients numbered 2 to a smooth paste. Transfer to a mixing bowl.
• Add yogurt, lemon juice, Arabian masala, salt, pepper and olive oil. Mix well to combine.
• Now add the chicken and incorporate well with the marinade. Keep in refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
• Preheat oven to 450 F.
• Place the marinated chicken onto a foiled tray and bake for 30 minutes. Change the oven mode to BROIL and cook for 1 minute. Immediately remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
• Alternately you can use a grill to cook the chicken.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers!!!
Suji

Kerala appam/Palappam/Vellayappam (Makes 18-20)

Ingredients

1. Basmati rice/ any kind of long grain white rice 2 cups
2. Sweetened coconut flakes* ¾ cup
3. Cooked rice a fistful
4. Active dry yeast ½ tsp
5. Sugar 1 TBSP
6. Milk ¼ cup
7. Salt a few pinches

*Instead of sweetened coconut flakes, you can use regular grated coconut, but make sure you add about 2 tsps of sugar while grinding.

Preparation

• Wash and soak the rice for about 6 hours. Drain water and grind into a smooth batter along with coconut, cooked rice and about 1 ½ cups of water. The batter should not be too thick or thin.
• Dissolve active dry yeast in 2 TBSP warm water and add to the batter, mix well and allow to ferment for at least 10 hours covered or until tripled in volume.
• Add the sugar, milk and salt and give a gentle mix only in one direction. Allow to sit undisturbed for 10 minutes. It will be foamy on the top by now. DO NOT MIX THE BATTER from now onwards.
• Meanwhile, keep an appa chatti/pan on the flame. when it is hot, pour one ladle of the foamy batter and immediately swirl the appam chatti/pan to make appams. Do not swirl more than once as it will make the sides thick. Close with lid and let it cook for 2 minutes or until the sides are lacy and brown. Transfer to a serving plate and repeat with rest of the batter.
• If the batter is not foamy after making few appams, leave it undisturbed for 10 minutes and then continue.

Notes: if you do not have an appam chatti, you can use a regular flat pan to make appams too.

Cheers!!!
Suji

Baba Ghanouj with home-made tahini (Serves 4)

Mediterranean cuisine is one of my favorite and baba ghanouj is something I will never say NO to. I simply love it. I have successfully recreated the “BEST” baba ghanouj I ever tasted at home and is sharing with you all. When we were in Louisiana, there was an “Al Basha” close to our house and Friday nights were a  treat as we order food from there. They serve the best baba ghanouj I ever had and I am happy that now I can make my favorite at home. I love making my own tahini as well as I  hate those store bought ones. Its very easy and you will love it even more…

Ingredients

1. Eggplant 2 medium sized
2. Homemade or store-bought tahini 3 TBSP (recipe below for home made version)
    Salt ¾ tsp or as u need
    Freshly squeezed lemon juice 3 tsp
    Garlic 2 cloves
    Chilly powder 3 pinches
    Olive oil 2 TBSP
    Parsley or cilantro leaves half a bunch, finely chopped (I used 1 TBSP dried parsley)

Preparation

Pre heat oven to 400 F.

• Wash and pat dry the eggplant and prick outside a few times using a fork. Place it on a baking tray lined with foil and roast in the pre heated oven for 30-40 minutes, until they are soft. We should be able to easily poke a fork or knife and should not meet any resistance, that’s when its cooked prefect. OR
• You can directly char the eggplants on direct flame of a gas burner turning them a few times until all skin is charred.
• Remove and let it cool a little bit.
• Either peel off the skin and chop into pieces or split open the eggplant into half and scrape out the pulp.
• Add this to a blender along with ingredients numbered 2 and blend to smooth.
• Transfer to a serving bowl and drizzle little more olive oil on top.
• Serve with pita bread, or chips or spread on a toast and enjoy.
• Notes: this can be stored in a refrigerator for up to a week.

Homemade tahini recipe: yields about 6 TBSPs

Ingredients

White sesame seeds ½ cup
Olive oil 2 TBSP
Salt as needed

Pre heat oven to 350 F.

Spread the sesame seeds on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake for 4 minutes. Take it out and mix with a spoon and respreads the seeds. Return to the oven and bake for another 5 minutes. Immediately transfer to another bowl for preventing from further cooking. Allow to cool a bit and transfer to a blender cup along with salt and olive oil. Blend till smooth. Add more oil if required. Store in an air tight container in the fridge for 2 weeks.

Cheers!!!
Suji

Pepper chicken dry fry (Serves 4)

Here is an absolutely delicious chicken pepper dry fry that makes you want to eat more and more with every bite. I got this recipe from prassana chechi who is my close friend chitra’s cousin sister. She is an awesome cook and you will know that as soon as you make this yummy chicken dry fry. Thanks a lot chechi and I am look forwarding to try more recipes from you…Hope you all will enjoy making this…

Ingredients

1. Chicken ½ kg, cut to small pieces
2. Onion 1 big, half of it thinly sliced and other half cubed
    Ginger garlic paste 1 tsp
3. Black pepper powder 1 TBSP, heaped
    Red chilly powder ½ tsp
    Coriander powder 1 tsp
    Turmeric powder ¼ tsp
4. Tomato 1 small, chopped
5. Green chilly 3 nos, slit
6. Oil 2 tsp + 2 tsp
7. Salt as needed

Preparation

• Heat oil in a deep heavy bottomed pan and add ginger garlic paste. Saute till a nice aroma and add half of the thinly sliced onions along with salt. You can add some curry leaves if you prefer.
• Saute the onions until a golden brown color, about 8-10 minutes.
• Now reduce flame and add ingredients numbered 3, one by one. Mix well and cook for another 3 minutes or until raw smell from the spice powders goes off.
• Add tomato and cook till oil starts to separate.
• Switch off flame and add the chicken, Mix well to combine and keep aside for 15 minutes, so that the masalas will be well coated to the chicken pieces.
• After marination, turn the flame back on, and cook covered for 20 minutes or until the chicken pieces are tender. Stir occasionally. DO NOT ADD ANY WATER as liquid will ooze out from the chicken pieces.
• While the chicken is cooking, preheat oven to BROIL and keep a baking tray lined with aluminum foil ready.
• Switch off flame and transfer the curry to the baking sheet. Spray cooking oil on the chicken and broil for 5 minutes or until dry. Remove and keep aside.
• Heat the remaining 2 tsp oil in a pan and saute rest of cubed onions along with green chilly to a golden brown color. Adjust salt and add the broiled chicken pieces and mix well.
• Switch off flame and serve hot with any kind of rice preparations or rotis. These are great as appetizer too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers!!!
Suji

Fish parcels (Makes 10-12)

This tasty snack was something I used to munch atleast once a week during my vacation in India last year. What I have noticed is that, the local bakeries in cochin no longer sells, most of the old snacks like samosa, cutlets, puffs instead snacks from malabar like erachi pathiri, kozhi ada, aram number, ari pathiri etc have taken their places. The fish parcels were so yummy that I thought to give a try myself and I could make it pretty similar to what we get there. Hope you all will like them too…

Ingredients

For the dough:
1. Maida/All purpose flour 1 cup + more for dusting
2. Oil 1-2 TBSP
3. Salt as needed
4. Water

In a mixing bowl, combine together, maida/All purpose flour and salt. Add water little at a time and make a smooth dough as you do for chappathis. Keep covered for 15 minutes.

For the filling:
1. Any kind of fleshy fish ¼ kg (I used 2 Tilapia fillets)
    Salt as needed
    Turmeric powder ¼ tsp
    Black pepper powder ¼ tsp

Clean and cut the fish to small pieces. Cook fish with all other ingredients in a pan until completely dry. Slowly flake the fish using a fork and set aside.

2. Onion 1 small, finely chopped
    Ginger ½ inch piece, finely chopped
    Garlic 2 pods, finely chopped
    Green chilly 1 no, finely chopped
    Curry leaves a few, finely chopped
3. Red chilly powder ½ tsp
    Coriander powder ½ tsp
    Garam masala ½ tsp
4. Tamarind paste ½ tsp
5. Salt as needed
6. Oil 1 TBSP+ more for deep frying

Preparation

• In a non-stick pan, add oil and when hot add ingredients numbered 2 and saute until onions turn transparent.
• Now add ingredients numbered 3 and saute for another 3-4 minutes at medium heat or until raw smell from powders are all gone.
• Add the tamarind paste and salt. Mix well.
• Next add the cooked fish and mix well to combine. Cook this for 5 minutes (the mixture should be dry by now) and remove from flame. Set aside.
• Make lime sized balls out of the prepared dough. Now take each ball and dust with dry flour. Flatten between your palm and roll out into small rounds (like size of pooris). Place 1-2 TBSP of filling in the middle and fold from all sides like a parcel (refer to pictures). Continue making the parcels with all the dough balls.
• Now heat oil for deep frying and once hot slowly add the fish parcels and deep fry until golden brown in color. Make sure not to over crowd the oil and they enlarge in size while frying. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers!!!
Suji