Paneer fritters

A simple and easy paneer recipe for kids. I know Paneer is the all time favourite food of kids . so definitely this is a worth trying item.
This can be packed in lunch box or snack box and can send it to school to surprise your little ones

Recipe

Paneer -1 pkt (200 gm)
Maida + Red chilli + tomato ketchup + Green chilli sauce + salt + garlic paste - enough to make a medium
thick batter.
Bread crumbs - enough to roll on
Cut the paneer to cubes , roll on batter and then on bread crumbs and deep fry in hot oil. Serve with sauce or ketchup.

Pulses Dosa with Tomato chutney

We have heard about different types of Dosa. We use different types of grains like rice, wheat, ragi, soya etc for making dosas. This is a special dosa made out of sprouted pulses alone and I was really doubtful about how it will come out. Just tried it once and it is soft at the same time yummy and healthy too.

As you know pulses supply the same amount of calories as cereals and in terms of the protein content it is twice the protein content as that of cereals and hence is an excellent aid for boosting the metabolism and thereby weight loss. More above the nutrient content is also rich. So its worth trying as it gives lot of health benefits.

Here is the recipe

Green gram -1/2 cup
Black chana -1/2 cup
Flax seeds -1/4 cup
Horse gram -1/2 cup

You can add more varieties of spices available in ur kitchen as per your taste.

Urad dhaal - 1/2 cup

Soak all these together with few methi seeds and allow them to sprout.
Grind them together to a smooth batter along with some poha, say a handful. I have added the left over dosa/idli batter also to allow better fermentation and not to make it sour.If you dont have left over batter add 2-3 tbspn of raw rice also while grinding.

Make the dosas as usual. Tastes even much better if added ghee or drizzled oil over top.

Recipe for Tomato chutney
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tomato -1 medium
Onion -1 big
Red chillies -6
Garlic -4 cloves
Salt as required
Saute everything dry in a kadai and grind to a smooth paste . Pour a table spoon of oil over the chutney after grinding.

Patriotic Cake - Butter scotch flavoured ( No offense please)

This is just a tri colour cake in tribute to our National flag. No other offense or indiscipline towards our Patriotism. Made this on a Republic day as everywhere people roam around in tri - colours, make recipes with tricolours. This one I made using a cake. On cutting this cake also instead of one many tri colurs are got... Jai Hind.

Am glad to share this as I won the recipe/photograph competition  (First Prize ) for this cake anc picture.Here is the recipe for this:

Butterscotch flavoured one with milkmaid and butter with glazed icing. 
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Cake Flour -2 1/4 cup
Butter -150 gm
Milkmaid- 1 tin

Egg -4 nos
Milk -1 1/4 cup
Baking powder -1 1/4 tspn
Butterscotch essence/flavour -2 tspn
Salt -1/2 tspn
Food colour -1 tspn each of Orange red/ Keasaricolour and green

Beat together butter (at room temperature) and milkmaid till smooth and fluffy. Beat eggs in milk and add the flavouring to it. Seive together flour, baking powder and salt. Slowly mix the flour mixture to Butter milkmaid mixture. Pour in milk -egg mixture slowly. Mix everything well and seperate in three bowls. Add the kesari colour to 1 bowl and green colour to another one 1 tspn each. The third one is colourless
Preheat the oven at 180 deg celsius and bake the middle layer first for 15 min. and followed by the other layers. Allow them to cool before setting .

For glazed icing:
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Icing sugar -200 gm
Butter 1 tbspn
Warm water -2 tbspn
Mix butter with icing sugar and add warm water to get a glaze. spread it on the middle layer first and arrange the other layers.

This cake as such is of medium sweetness but the glaze icing in between gives the perfect sweet tasteness required. You can add 1 1/4 cup of sugar if milkmaid is not available..

Small onion Bonda (ulli vada)

Yummy yummy yummy.. Thats the only word by which I can express the taste of this snack

                        My Hot platter of Small onion Bonda with hot milk tea.

Ingredients:

Small onion -1 cup .( If small use as whole and if large split into two pieces)

Besan flour - Enough for a batter

Red chilli powder -1 pinch

Curry leaves -chopped - a few

Hing - a pinch

Salt - as required

Oil for frying

Make a batter of besan flour, hings, red chilli powder, curry leaves and hing. Roll the onion on batter and fry. Serve hot.

Egg Bonda

Egg bhajji or also known as egg bonda is a favourite delicacy in our place. We elders and kids are in our family equally love to have this. Once in a while forget about the calories and pamper your taste buds in a minimal way with such great and tastier snacks. 

Imagine how awesome it will be to have this with a hot cup of black coffee on a rainy day.. Craving?? me too. ;)

Ingredients required

Egg boiled and de shelled - 3 nos ( or as required)

Besan flour, Red chilli powder, salt and a pinch of hing - as required for a thick batter.

Cut the egg into two halves. Coat the batter over it and fry in hot oil. Serve as such for better taste or can have with any chutneys or sauces.

Paneer Fried Rice

One more Awseome dish from Paneer family.. Paneer fried rice is my son's favourite as it is easy to chew, and easily digestible, very light to tummy.

Please see the recipe for making Fried rice in my easiest chinese album.  Only difference is I added Paneer instead of veg or non veg.

Bittergourd without the bitterness

This is my innovative recipe using Bittergourd. Tried making this and was surprised to see all in my family finishing the plate with the same speed as when we serve other sabjis.
Without compromising on the nutrional and medicinal values of  bittergourd we can cook this vegetable in some different ways still making it an yummiest one. I will share few of my innovative recipes using bittergourd here

This is a very easy to make. .

Ingredient required

Carrot -1
Beetroot -1
Big onion -1
Bitter courd -2
Chop all the vegetables to fine bits. Can add a potato also (for potato lovers)
Slit green chillies - 4-5 nos
A pinch of turmeric
Curry leaves - few
Salt and oil as required

Very few ingredients and little masalas na?? Yes.. and am sure this is going to rock your table. And Bitter gourd will be the next preferred item in your list.

Method.

In a pan heat some oil. Add the bittergourd first and saute for few seconds or till it is soft.

(Remember if you chop it to fine bits the dish will be done very easily. Or if you want to chop it bigger then cook all of them together in little water for few minutes and after evaporating the water completely saute in oil.)
Later add the other vegetables one by one. Please note add onion in the last after adding and sauting beetroot and carrot or else it will burn and give a blackish appearance. Finally add green chillies and curry leaves. Add salt and a pinch of turmeric now. Saute for few more seconds till everything is cooked well. Serve with Rice.

Pachadi (raw mango)

Pachadi is another traditional Kerala Cuisine. I have a craving for all the traditional Kerala dishes and hence how can I avoid making this. But I need to wait till the next mango season to make this once again :((
Generally Pachadi is made using sour curd. but as the taste of raw mango itself is sour there is no need to add curd to this.

This is how I make this. 

Raw mango -1 big
Should be green completely inside also to get the real colour. I have got a half ripened  mango for making this, though sour and hence got a slight yellow colour in the picture I clicked.

Grated coconut -1 cup
Jeera seeds -1/4 tspn
Green chillies -5 nos
one or two small onions -optional
Grind all these into smooth paste
Once it is a paste add 1 tspn of mustard seeds and press once the mixer to break the seeds along with coconut. No need to grind it.

Cook the chopped raw mango with some salt and green chillies. Mash it nicely to a paste. Once it is done add the grinded coconut mix to this . Saute till raw smell is gone. Adjust the level of salt. In a pan heat some oil, crack a few mustard seeds (generally this is not done as its already added along with coconut. but to add a colourful look we can add this too ), also add few curry leaves, dry chillies and pour it on top of pachadi.

Paneer Pakodas

Very easy and simple Recipe for making Paneer pakodas. Excellent snack box recipe for kids.

Ingredients required are:

Gram flour , salt, a pinch of hing and red chilli powder  to make a thick batter.
Can add chopped small onions, green chillies etc to the batter if interested. 

Method:

Cut the paneer into desired shapes. Long strips or cubes. Mix in batter and fry in oil. Serve with tomato sauce.

Rice Fryms

This is my mom's Traditional recipe. She is always an expert in making a new dish out of scratch. This one is an 'always seen ' item in my mom's Kitchen. Before the rainy season arrives she will make this , dry under sun and keep it in store ( in the glass bottles) and we as kids always used to ask her to fry this with as side dish for rice.
My Son also love this now and in that way am sure this will become any child's favourite.
Another main plus point with this dish is the ingredients required .. This is made using the left over rice( you an make this with freshly cooked rice also)  and a few spices that are already available in your kitchen any time. So whenever you have free time you can make this in your own home. the only difficulty is in drying this under the sun. So be ready to make this when you have plenty of sunlight available ie; during summer :))

Ingredients

Cooked Rice , Red chilli powder, Jeera seeds ,Asafoetida and Salt

The quantity depends on the quantity of cooked rice you take.

If you are using the left over rice of many days ,Keep it in fridge daily and when it comes to a large quantity you can make this.
Procedure:
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In a kadai heat the rice. Evaporate till dry. Add Red Chilli powder, Jeera seeds, Hing and salt as required and saute till it forms a lump. Keep on stirring to avoid charring.

Now when it is cooled grind it in a mixer to a thick paste. Using a spring hopper ( sevanazhi) squeeze it out through the 'murukku' stencil , to the desired shape on a flat plate with a cloth spread on it. Always remember to use Satin or silk cloth. dont use paper or cotton cloth as this will stick on to the fryms when dried and is unhealthy.

Now dry these in sunlight for 2-3 days or till it is breaking off easily from the cloth. Fry in hot oil and serve. We have it with rice. and it tastes excellent.

Vazhakka bhaji

Raw banana bhaji. This can be made as an evening snack or Kids snack box recipe. Its very difficult to make the kids eat raw banana. So in this way this is a difference. 

Ingredients
Raw Banana - 1 no cut into Thin long slices.
Gram flour  -enough to make a thick batter.
Red Chilli powder, salt , a pinch of hing to add on to the batter

Make a thick batter using the gram flour and dip the banana slices on it and fry. To add on the crispiness/crunchiness you can make a variation by rolling the pieces on bread crumbs and fry in hot oil. serve with Tomato ketchup

This is surely a nice evening Snack to be served with hot tea

Macroni Fritters

This is going to be yet another lunch/snack box recipe for kids. Kids would love to have macroni and pastas. so why dont you prepare it in a different way.

Recipe:


Macroni -1/2 cup.

Boil Macroni in water or pressure cook for 1 whistle with salt added. Strain and wash in cold water (2 times) Allow the water to drain. Make a batter of maida ( for vegeterians) or egg white ( for non veg lovers) with chilli sauce, salt, tomato ketchup (1/4 tspn) and soya sauce (1/4 tspn) . Mix well and roll over bread crumps and fry in hot oil

Vanilla wheat cake

Vanilla flavored pastry cake made using wheat flour and chopped almonds with apple green icing and grated chocolates
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 Recipe :

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Wheat flour - 180 gms
Sugar (powdered) 180 gms
Eggs -4 nos
Butter melted to room temperature -100 gms
Vanilla essence -2 tspns
Baking powder -1 tspn
Chopped almonds and tuti fruiti - as per ur taste

For icing
-----------
( can follow the instruction on the pack for making cream) OR
Icing sugar 100 gms
butter-50 gms
Vanilla essence -1 tspn ( I used strawbery flavour for icing)
Food colour of ur choice - a pinch
Milk to make it pourable consistency

Method
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Sieve flour, sugar and baking powder.
Beat the egg white separately in a bowl until it becomes thick cream like texture.Beat the egg yolk in another bowl till it starts foaming. add butter to this and beat again so that it will become a thick texture. Now add essence and beat again. slowly add wheat flour and keep on mixing till there is no lumps seen.Mix chopped almonds and tuti fruiti

grease the tray and springle some chopped almonds on to the plate. Pour the cake mixture. keep it on preheated oven (180 deg) and bake for 35-40 min or till the knife inserted comes out clean..
Allow the cake to cool
For Icing
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Mix Icing sugar with butter. beat thoroughly . Add essence, and milk and make it to a pourable consistency.Pour it over the cake when cake is cooled. Allow the icing to set (approximately 1/2 hr)

Decorate with grated chocolates- white and dark . Decorate as per your imagination :-D

Garlic Chutney

Ofcourse yes the inspiration is from a movie called Salt and pepper. Wanted to try that at home and it was super ...super ..... super .... yumm..

Garlic Chutney with Soft dosas .....

Ingredients for garlic chutney:

Grated Coconut -1 cup

Garlic -3 cloves
small onion -3 nos
ginger 1 small piece
dry chillies -5
curry leaves-3-4 leaves
salt , oil and mustard as reqd
In a small kadai heat some oil and saute for 2- 3 secs onion, garlic, ginger ,dry chillies and curry leaves (no need to chop as we are grinding it anyways).
Grind it with coconut and reqd amt of salt in a mixer. Crack some mustard seeds in oil and pour it over the chutney. 

Believe me this is really yummy and am sure you would love to make this very often..

Pazham varatii ( Banana in Jaggerry)

This is a sweet dish that can be made easily. I saw it on a Television cookery show. Tried this out of my own imaginations and here is the recipe

Ripe banana -2 nos big ( I have used the Nenthran variety of Banana which is also called Kerala Banana)
Ghee -2 tspn
Jaggery - 1 ball medium sized grated
Elaichi powder -1 pinch
Jeera powder- 1 pinch

Grate the jaggery and melt in little water and strain to remove the dirt and impurities. Cut the banana to small cubes and roast it in melted ghee. Add the jaggery mix to this and mix till it thickens. Add elaichi and jeera powder and mix again.

You can also add chopped nuts or badam or modify the recipe as per your own imaginations.

Mutton soup

Soups are everyone's favourite. From now on wards you need not go to a restaurant to taste the soup. you can make this at your own comfort at home.

Recipe : I used an approximate measurement for this.. u can modify according to ur taste .
Mutton bones and meat - 3-4 pieces 
Pepper powder - 3 tspns ( u can use white pepper to get a whitish shade to the soup. I used black pepper powder here)

Crushed whole pepper- 1 tspn
garlic crushed -5-6 cloves
ginger chopped finely -1 inch size
Salt as per taste.
curry leaves and dhaniya leaves -few to add flavour

Boil all the above ingredients in a pressure cooker with some water (1 to 1 1/2 cup) and salt for 4-5 whistles.

For the soup:
strain the liquid and chop the meat pieces finely.Add this pieces to the strained soup. In a pan add some oil ( I used vegetable oil) , saute 2-3 chopped garlic, 2 beans finely chopped ,quarter portion of carrot finely chopped, 1 green chilly finely chopped, and 1/2 portion of big onion very thinly chopped. once the raw smell of the vegetable is gone pour the strained soup solution to the pan. once it start boiling add 1 tspn of corn flour mixed in 1 cup of water to this.. Let it boil for sometime. Once it start thickening remove from the fire ... Serve hot and enjoyyyyyy.

Peanut Ladoos

Cracked Peanut with grated coconut and a mix of cashew nuts gives this a nice flavour. To add on the taste this is made in milk maid. But you can also try it in Sugar syrup and milk.
This is how I made it -

Ground nut - 1 cup roasted and cracked in a mixer
Grated coconut -1/2 cup

Rava - 2 tspn roasted   
Milk maid - 1 tin (200 ml)
Milk -1/2 cup
Raisins and cashew nuts roasted ( as per your taste)
Sugar -2 tspn



Roasted the grated coconut in ghee, added roasted rava & cracked ground nut,sauted the whole till it gave a nice aroma..Then added milkmaid .Pour milk little by little (just to wet the whole mixture) added sugar too. You can adjust the quantity of sugar according to 

the amount of milkmaid u use.Put off the flame. Add raisins and cashewnuts to this. In the meanwhile also roasted 2-3 tbspn of grated coconut in another pan till the moisture is gone. Make ladoos out of the roasted mixture(coconut/groundnut ) when it is warm.roll it on the roasted coconut in another pan.

Ladoos are ready to serve. Decorate with tuti-fruitis

Banana Stem Thoran

There are different ways in which we can cook the Banana stem. I have tried making a thoran out of this vegetable. Recipe is same as that of any thoran .Please check my veggies label for the detailed recipe on how to prepare thoran. 

Methi- Malai Paneer

Methi Malai Chicken I have prepared recieved a wide round of applaud from friends who tried it at their home. This is another version of methi malai with Paneer

Ingredients:
Paneer -200gm cut to cubes
Kasur Methi -2tbspn soaked in warm water

Onion -1 big
Garlic- 2cloves
Ginger - 1 small chopped nicely
Malai (home made) 1 cup
Cooking Butter -1 tbspn
Sugar - 1/2 tspn
Chilly powder -1 tspn
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tspn
Gharam masala -1/4 tspn
Veg masala 2 tspn
Mustard and jeera -a pinch each

Salt and oil as required.
Method
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Shallow fry paneer cubes in oil and keep aside .In a seperate pan pour some oil splutter some mustards & jeera, add onion , garlic, and ginger one after the other.
When the onion is almost golden brown add chilli powder, turmeric powder, vegetable masala and gharam masala. saute the masalas in oil. Now add the soaked methi and saute again till the masalas get coated over methi. Now add paneer . Sprinkle salt over this mixture. Mix everything.Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes. Now add butter to this and when it is melted add malai and sugar. cook on a low flame for further 2-3 min. garnish and serve.

Ginger Chicken

This is a very spicy dish that I made out of my own imaginations. there are so many ways in which we can make non veg items.. Hai na? .. well thats so cool..and I am one such a person who always love to do my own crazy imaginations and bring about twists :))))

Ingredients
3/4 kg chicken (cut into small pieces)
2 chopped onion

3 big pieces of ginger .Remember to grate the ginger than chopiing
Garlice cloved - of 1 pod
Curry leaves -few
Fenugreek seeds -1/4spn
Salt to taste

1 tsp soy sauce
1 tspn garlic sauce
1 tspn tomato sauce
1 tbsp vinegar
3 tbsp corn flour
Oil for frying

For marinating
..................
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp garlic paste
2 tspn ginger paste
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp gram masala powder
1/2 tspn turmeric powder
1 tspn pepper powder
Salt

Method
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Marinate chicken for 1-2 hour in refrigerator.
Now mix corn flour on the whole chicken mixture and fry the chicken in required amount of oil. before frying aadd 1 tspn of grated ginger to the oil so that the chicken pieces absorb the flavour very well
heat some oil in another pan , add fenugreek seeds and add onion, saute for 3-4 minutes on a low flame.
Add grated ginger and garlic saute for few seconds, add soya sauce,garlic sauce and tomato sauce. Add vineager.

Cook for 2-3 minutes and add fried chicken pieces , Saute till the mixture coats the chicken nicely.
Cook till the chicken is done. Add half a cup of water. You can have a little gravy if you want or can make it dry according to your taste
Remove from fire once chicken is done and then put some grated ginger pieces and fried curry leaves on top.

Paneer manjurian

Once again its a manjurian with Paneer. This time I havent fried the paneer. Recipe is similar to the other manjurian recipes. Only the major ingredient is different.

Mushroom Manjurian in gravy

The recipe is similar to the Gobi manjurian -gravy recipe I have posted in Easiest Chinese Label. Please check.

Here you can either fry the Mushrooms or can add as such..

Gobi Manjurian with gravy - Restaurant style

Finally I could also make Gobi manjurian with gravy. I have not added food colour to this if you want that reddish colour can add a pinch of kesar food colour to the gobies while frying

Recipe:

Gobi/Cauliflower - 1 flower
Remove the florets one by one and dip in boiled water with salt for few minutes to kill the worms. Dipping in boiled water helps its partial cooking and thereby saving the cooking time.

Corn flour, maida , garlic paste. salt are made into a thick batter . The quantity depends ont eh size of the cauliflower you are going to cook.
Dip the florets one by one in the batter and deep fry it and keep aside to strain oil on a bloating or tissue paper.

For the gravy

Onion -2 nos cut into cubes
Capsicum -1 medium  cut into cubes
Garlic - 15 nos ( garlic is required in extra  quantities to get that taste)
Ginger -1 inch grated
Green chillies -4 nos chopped

soya sauce -1 tspn
Green chilli sauce -1 tspn
Oregano - 1/2 tspn
( I use oregano and soya sauce instead of Ajinomotto to get that flavour of Chinese cuisine)
Salt as required
corn flour -2 tspn

In a kadai heat some oil saute the vegetables one by one. Add the fried gobies too. Add the sauces and oregano after this. Saute everything very well. Mix the corn flour in 2 cups of water and dilute. Add this to the vegetables. Allow it to boil and the gravy become thick. Add a pinch of sugar on top. Garnish with chopped spring onions and Serve with roti.

Remember to take care while adding salt as the sauces you add contain salt to some level.

Idiyappam ( Rice noodles)

You can use store bought ready made rice flour.I used Double horse brand appam/idiappam flour here.

Rice flour and water in ratio 1 :2 ( sometimes u may require 1:2 & 1/2 also)



Boil the water with reqd amount of salt and 1 tbspn oil. when the water starts bubbling, reduce the flame and add flour slowly .Keep on stirring continuously to avoid formation of lumps. Once the mix thickens remove from flame.or else it will get cooked .continue stirring by giving up -down strokes. keep it for some time till it becomes affordable hot . make small balls and put it in string hopper. pierce through it to a steamer mould and steam cook till done. serves best with non veg gravies. For vegetarians this goes well with veg stew and kurma.

Pepper garlic boondi raita

Very simple and easy to make and yet tastier too.

Curd - 1 packet
Onion -1 chopped
Carrot -1 chopped
Green chillies -3 nos chopped
garlic -2 big cloves chopped thin
Crushed pepper -1 tspn
Boondhi ( ready made) - 2 tbspn

Mix all the vegetables in curd with salt. Sprinkle crushed pepper on top. Add boondhi at the time of serving. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. This tastes really yummy.

Fish Masala

Yummy Fish masala is always my favourite. I have used seer fish in making this the recipe is as follows

Seer fish -1/2 kg
Tomato -2 big
Onion-2 big
Garlic -5 cloves if big  10 cloves if small
Ginger -1 inch sliced
curry leaves
salt and oil as required
For curry masala:
Turmeric powder - 1 tspn
Red chilli powder - 2 tspn
Coriander powder -3 tspn
Tamarind Juice - 1 cup rich
Can add tomato paste also if needed that extra tanginess.
Fish masala - 1 tspn ( any brand)

Marinate fish using required turmeric powder, red chilly powder, ginger garlic paste and salt for 1/2 hr. 

In a kadai heat some oil, crack mustard seeds, methi seeds, saute onion, garlic, ginger and curry leaves. Add the masalas for the curry one by one and saute. Add extra oil if it is too dry. The masala shouldnt charr or else the taste will be different. Finally add tomatos. Add tamarind juice and salt. Allow it to boil. Add the fish pieces slowly. Cook till done. Sprinkle fish masala on top. Cover for few second. Serve with Rice.

Jam Roll

This is the easiest jam roll that we can make out of our normal Sandwich bread. Try this and certainly your kids would love it.

For this you need the longer loaf Sandwich bread that is readily available in market.To get an attractive appearance use either mixed fruit jam or strawberry jam as filling.

Here is the method how we do this.

Take a long load bread cut the edges and roll it on a chappathi plate with the rolling pin. This will seal the gaps in between the bread and also will make it thinner. Roll to maximum length you can. Spread 1 tspn of butter and 1 tspn of mixed fruit /strawberry jam on top. Spread evenly and now roll from one side to another.  Cut into small cubes or use as such . If using the smaller loaf bread pin the roll using a tooth pick .

You can also use any filling of your choice/imagination to make it tastier. I have made one more using the potato masala filling. ( the picture below)

Poha Upma

One more very easier and tastiest recipe from my Kitchen.

Ingredients required are

Poha ( flaked Rice) - 1 cup
Vegetables like carrot, green peas, baby corn etc - 1 tspn each.. this is optional and you can add the variations according to your taste.
onion -1 medium chopped
green chillies -2 chopped                 
Urad dhaal -1 tspn
Mustard - 1 tspn
Cashew nuts and Kismis roasted in ghee - 1 tspn each
turmeric powder -a pinch
curry leaves- few

Methods
Wash the poha in running water in a strainer. If the flakes are thick enough dip it in drinking water for few seconds till it become soft. If the flakes are thinner washing in running water itself will make it softer. Allow it to strain till all the water is removed.

In a kadai heat some oil + ghee (optional) , add mustards, urad dhal, chopped onion, green chillies, curry leaves and other vegetables. Give it a stir for few seconds till soft. Now add turmeric powder and saute once again. Finally add the poha and mix very well. Drizzle a few drops of ghee on top. Cover and decorate with Kismis and Cashew nuts 

Vermicelli Upma

One more easiest and tastiest breakfast recipe from my side. I have used the readymade vermicelli packet for making this recipe

Vermicelli (not roasted ) - 1 cup
Carrot -1/2 chopped to bits
Green peas -2-3 tspn
Dry chilly, mustard, urad dhaal, curryleaves - for seasoning

In a thick bottom vessel boil excess amount of water. once it start boiling add required amount of salt and put the vermicelli onto it and stir. Switch off the flame. and leave it for 2 minutes. (if the strands of vermicelli is very thin not even 2 minutes is required. on to a strainer pour this water with vermicelli and show it unnder running, cold water. leave till all water is seperated from strainer.

In a kadai do the tadka using mustard, urad dhaal, dry chillies chopped onions ( small or big - 2 tspn) , curry leaves and add the vegetables . Add a pinch of turmeric also.Now put the vermicellin on to it. Mix well. Serve with sugar and banana (our favourite) or can be had with green chutney too 

Vegetable Stew

Vegetable Stew is a good combination dish with Appam and Parathas. 

Ingredients required are

Potato - 2 nos
Carrot -1 no
Beans- 6 nos
Garlic- 6 nos
Ginger -1 inch chopped
Green peas -1/2 cup
Onion- 1 big
green chillies -6 nos
curry leaves and dhaniya leaves -few

Crushed pepper powder -2 tspn
cinnamon stick -1/2 inch size-2 nos
cloves -3 nos
cardamom -2 nos
bay leaf (optional) -1 medium
Oil - generally coconut oil is used in Kerala to prepare this dish and it gives special taste to this dish. But if you dont like coconut oil, you can use sunflower oil too.
Coconut milk - thick -2 cups ( u can also use ready made coconut milk 200 gm)

chop the vegetables to fine bits. cook them seperately with salt and crushed pepper powder 

In a kadai heat some oil, add cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and bay leaf. Saute well. Add the cooked vegetables. Add some water if required to make it a loose gravy. Once it starts boiling add coconut milk (thick). Cover and cook on medium flame for few minutes. Adjust the level of salt and once  it is done pour some coconut oil/sunflower oil on top in a circular motions. Sprinkle some crushed pepper (optional and for only those who love it to be more spicier) and  chopped dhaniya and curry leaves. cover for some time. Serve hot.

Paav bhaji masala

Paav baji is a traditional delicay of North India. I do not know the conventional preparation of recipe for Paav bhaji but I have invented my own version of making a masala and this goes well with the taste of our palates.
Here is how I make this

Potato -2 nos chopped
Onion - 1 big chopped
Garlic and ginger -1 tspn each chopped
green chillies -1 tspn chopped
dhaniya leaves few and curry leaves also few

Pressure cook all these for 3-4 whistles with a pinch of turmeric, 1/2 tspn red chilli powder, 1/2 tspn coriander powder and 1/2 tspn gharam masala. Once it is done mash all these to thick coarse paste.

In a kadai heat some oil, splutter some mustard, saunf ( perumjeerakam) , add the cooked vegetables , spinkle some chat masala and mix well.

For the paav bun - I sue the ready made paav buns available in market. Split into two half till retaining the joints and add butter in between, and on sides , roast the buns on tava (take care not to charr the butter) . Serve hot with the masala and a hot cup of tea.

Moru ( Curd) curry

A simple and easiest curry to made on lazy sundays. This is highly delicious and very comforting to the stomach. In my home this is the favourite one among the members and we love making this very often. This can be had with rice only and with beetroot thorna and green gram ( cherupayar ) dry sabji this is awesome.

Ingredients required are

Thick Curd -2 cups ( should not be sour) . If you are using home made curd hand the curd on a cotton cloth for few minutes to remove off the water content in it and you will get the thick curd for this.

Turmeric powder -a pinch
Hing/Asafoetida - less than a pinch
Salt as required
For the tadka
Mustard -1 tspn
Methi seeds -a pinch
small onions -2 chopped thin
dry chillies -3-4 nos
curry leaves - few

In a pan heat some oil and and do the tadka using the above ingredients. Add a pinch of turmeric to it.  Add hing also. Switch off the flame. Add the curd to this after few seconds but when the pan is still warm. Mix well. Can add some crushed pepper on top if you love it a bit spicy.

Hot and Sweet Egg

A difference from normal egg curry. Once in while you can pamper yourself with different tastes in cooking.

Eggs boiled and deshelled - 4 nos
Onion -2  nos chopped
Tomato - 2 nos chopped
Garlic -6 cloves chopped
Ginger -1 inch piece chopped
capsicum -1 small chopped
green chillies -4 nos chopped or slit.

turmeric powder -1 tspn
Red chilli powder -1& 1/2 tspn
Coriander powder - 1 big spoon
Chicken masala or  egg masala -2 tspn
tomato puree or paste -1 cup
tomato sauce - 1 tspn
chilli sauce -1 tspn

salt and oil as required.

In a pan heat some oil, splutter mustard seeds, jeera  ( less than a pinch) and saute onion, garlic, ginger, capsicum, chillies one after another. Add the masalas except sauces and saute till raw smell is gone. Add tomatoes now. Wait till water oozes out from tomato. add the sauces and saute. Add some more water ( as required for the gravy) . Adjust the amount of salt also. Once it satrts boiling add the egg. Scourge the egg with knife to make small incisions as this will help the masalas to penetrate deep into the egg.
Serve hot with rice/roti

Soya Fried Rice

One more kids lunch box recipe for vegeterians .

soya chunks  - 1 cup
Cook the soya chunks in excess water and once it is cooled squeeze out the water from the chunks. Put it in cool water for some time again repeat the squeezing procedure. Repeat this for few times till all the yellow colour liquid stops coming out of the chunk 

Other ingredients
Soya sauce, Tomato sauce, chopped garlic , white pepper powder, and salt

In a pan heat some oil add the garlic saute, add cooked chunks , and rice. mix well. Sprinkle some soya sauce, tomato sauce and white pepper on top. Mix well and serve. 

Easy Egg fried Rice in a minute for kids

Packing kid's tiffin is a head breaking task for all moms. I used to think everyday morning about what to pack on lunch box. and many times this was easier for me.

Boil any rice that you cook normally at home. This need not be Basmati quality always. I have used sonamasoori rice here.( a variety of rice available in our shops and is similar to jeera rice)

Ingredients required. 

Egg scrambles - of 1 egg

Small onion chopped - 3-4 nos

few sping onion chopped.

soya sauce -1 tspn

Tomato sauce or ketchup -1&1/2 tspn

White pepper powder -a pinch

This is how we can make this fried rice. 

In a non stick pan add some oil , saute the onion, add cooked rice. sprinkle some soya sauce, pepper powder and tomato ketchup saute well till completely mixed and raw smell of soya sauce is gone. Now add scrambled egg on top mix and serve. Garnish with Spring onion (optional and if your kid doesn't like to see green bits on it this can be avoided)