Thenga Chammandi (Coconut Dry Chutney)

I loved to fall sick when i was a kid.  :P
The reasons being NO school for a day or two and the "kanji" and "chammandi" my mom would make for me.

This chutney with some hot "kanji" or rice is an absolute comfort food for me even today and it brings back a lot of memories.
 It is spicy, it is salty , it is sour ... and I love it!!
This goes well with some steaming hot rice and seasoned buttermilk (Moru curry)

Things you need

* Scraped Coconut  - 1 cup
* Shallots/pearl onion  - 10 nos
* Dry Red chilies  - 4 or 5 nos
* Curry Leaves   -  3
* Tamarind  -  The size of a gooseberry
* Salt to taste

Heat some coconut oil in a pan. Add shallots to hot oil and cook them till they are brown. When shallots are done add the redchillies and curry leaves and cook for a few seconds. Take it off the heat and let it cool down a bit. Now put this in a blender along with the tamarind and salt and blend it. Now add the scrapped coconut to the blended mix and blend them lightly.

Be careful about adding salt as the tamarind could be salted.

Moru curry (Seasoned Buttermilk) in 2 minutes

This a super easy curry and trust me... my 2 minutes claim is true...

This is the easiest way to make seasoned buttermilk and i learned it during my days before marriage when i used to stay with my friends in our small rented flat in Bangalore. It was so easy to make and it tasted so good that we would end up making it almost everyday.

Things you Need

*  Curd             -    2 cups
*  Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp
*  Dry red chili   -   5 or 6 nos
*  Mustard seeds  - 1 big pinch
*  Fenugreek seeds   -  1 pinch
*  Curry Leaves
*  Salt to taste

Lightly whisk the curd with enough salt. You may also add some water to bring it to the consistency that you like. 

Now heat some oil in a pan and splutter the mustard seeds followed by fenugreek seeds. In a low flame, add the red chilies and curry leaves and cook for a few seconds. Add some turmeric powder to this and take it out of the heat. 

Pour it on the whisked curd and give it a nice stir. 

Tada..... You are done!!!!! 

Now let it stand for an hour. By then it would have attained the right colour and texture. Stir well and serve.

It would be better if you keep stirring the curd while adding the hot ingredients as it would prevent the curd from separating. 

Extras :

You can add turmeric to the curd instead of adding it along with the chili and curry leaves.

You can also fry some shallots before adding the red chilies. 

Happy Independence day

Red pumpkin Erissery (Mathanga erissery)

I've been feeling a little undernourished lately :) So i decided to give the usual nonvegetarian dishes a skip and include a lot of veggies in my diet.

 But I really dunno how long can i stay away from meat as i am already craving for some chicken lolipops  :P


Well, I went grocery shopping and picked up some fresh carrots, pumpkin, turnips and methi leaves. The turnips and methi leaves are so new to me and i was searching for some nice ways of cooking them. I have finally got some interesting recipes which i would be posting here for you.


I will start with the pumpkin. Errisery is a traditional recipe from kerala which is made with pumpkin, black eyed red kidney beans (vanpayar) and coconut. It is made as part of "sadya" the festive food served for onam. This version of errisery is cooked without the beans.

Things you need

pumpkin            :         1 cup
(cooked and mashed)

Grated coconut  :         1/2 cup
dried red chillies :        4 nos
Tumeric powder
Cumin seeds       :  a pinch
Curry leaves       : Be generous
Coconut oil         : 3 spoonfull
Salt to taste


Cook the pumpkin pieces along with some salt and a pinch of turmeric in a pressure cooker with just enough water to cook them. Mash them once they are nicely cooked.

Grind the grated coconut with a pinch of turmeric powder, a pinch of cumin seeds and some water to make it a fine paste. Now add the coconut paste to the mashed pumpkin in the cooker. You can transfer the contents to a pan (i have used an earthen pot here) for furthet cooking if you want. Now cook it open in low heat for 10 minutes.


Heat 3 spoonsof pure coconut oil in a pan and add the chillies and curry leaves and cook it for a few seconds. Now add this to the cooked pumpkin and coconut and mix them.

CINNAMON BREAD PUDDING

This is one of the easiest pudding recipes you will ever find. But trust me.. its delicious.

I came across this recipe at a baking workshop i recently attended. The first time i tasted it, it got me hooked.  

 

Things you  need

• Bread Slices  -  4 nos
• Milk   - 1 cup
• eggs - 2 nos
• Sweetened condensed milk - 1/4 cup
• Sugar -  2 spoons
• Sultana Raisins- 10 gms
• Cinnamon powder
• vanilla extract
• Unsalted Butter 

 Whisk the eggs and combine the milk, condensed milk and sugar. Add half a teaspoon of vanilla extract to this mixture.

Grease the baking dish with butter. Cut the crust and spread some butter on both sides of the bread. Now arrange the bread slices in the baking dish. Add some sultanas and sprinkle some cinnamon. Repeat the layers till you have finished up all the bread. Pour the egg and milk mixture till the bread layers and covered. Let it stand for 5 minutes. Cover the baking dish with aluminium foil and bake it at 180 degree C in a preheated oven for 40 minutes or till the tip of a knife comes out clean.

Let it cool down to room temperature and refrigerate before serving to enjoy the fullest flavor.

About me and the Blog

I was always on the lookout for easy recipes thanks to my Job.. :) Slogging for more than 10 hours in office and the journey back home in the horrific Bangalore traffic leave me exhausted. And then I would still have this BIG task of cooking dinner left. That's when these quick recipes become a life saver.

In this blog i hope to share with you some of those easy and tasty recipes all tried and tested in my kitchen to help working women like me and all others who doesn't want to spend the entire day in the kitchen cooking and cleaning!!!!!!!!!

I will definitely post pictures of the dishes but please excuse me for the "not so attractive" pics as i really don't get time for the "garnishing" part. :(

Watch this space for some real smart recipes...