Chilly Fried Rice with Peanuts & Veggies





I prepared this chilly fried rice with inspirations from Chinese, Thai and Schezwan cuisine. Though the title boasts of many ingredients, this is a simple preparation.....hope you will try and enjoy this!


the recipe

Long grain cooked rice – to serve 8

Chopped or julienned vegetables

Cabbage – ½ cup
Carrot – 1 or 2
Celery – 3 stalks
Spring onion bulb – 4
Capsicum – 1
Onion – 1

Ginger paste – 1 tbsp
Garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Chilly flakes – 2 tsp
Soya sauce – 3 tbsp
Tomato sauce – 1, 2 or 3 tbsp
Sugar – 2 tsp
Salt – to taste
Veg Oil – 3 – 4 tbsp
Vegetable stock or water – ½ cup
Peanuts, roasted & slightly crushed – 5 tbsp
Spring onion shoot chopped – 4 shoots

the method
Heat oil in a wok or wide pan. Add the vegetables and onion and stir well in high heat. The vegetables should remain crispy and partially cooked. Add the crushed peanuts (Put the peanuts in a grinder jar and grind the roasted peanuts for 2-3 seconds). Stir for a while and add the ginger garlic paste. Stir till the raw smell is gone. Add the chilly flakes. Add soya sauce and sugar and stir briskly for 10 seconds. Add adequate salt for the vegetables & rice. Make space in the middle of the pan and pour the vegetable stock. Add the cooked rice in one shot. Mix all the ingredients. Add the tomato sauce. Toss the rice well. Sprinkle the spring onion shoot. Serve hot with tomato sauce or a side dish. We had this with Prawn Ball Curry (recipe to be posted soon).

Vegetable Stew – Kerala Style (without coconut milk)






Vegetable stew has a prominent place in a Malayalee breakfast. It goes well with appam (hoppers), idiyappam (string hoppers) or chappati. You can have this vegetable stew with puttu (steamed rice cake) or whatever you like.

When I mentioned a Kerala style, I wanted to imply that stew of any kind in Kerala is usually prepared with oodles of coconut milk . Since we are in the age of busy lifestyle, grating coconut and extracting milk is a tedious task. Though coconut milk or coconut powder is readily available in the market, I wanted to create something that comes in even more handy. Therefore this vegetable stew is gravied with milk, a dash of rice flour for thickening and a pinch of sugar to bring in the sweet taste which the coconut milk would have added to the stew. This is a quickie recipe which can be prepared in about 30 minutes.

the recipe

potato – 2
carrot – 3
beans – 12
oil – 1 tbsp
onion – 1
green chilly -1 or 2
garam masala – ¼ tsp
salt – ½ tsp

for seasoning

oil – 1 tbsp
ghee or butter (optional) – ½ tsp
onion – 1
curry leaf – 1 sprig
cinnamon – ¼ inch piece
cloves – 3
cardamom – 4 medium sized

other ingredients

milk – ½ cup
rice flour – 1 -1 ½ tbsp
sugar – a pinch
raisins, fried – 4 tbsp
cashew nut or almonds, julienned – 2 tbsp
pepper powder (white or black) – ½ tsp
turmeric powder – 1/8 tsp
salt to taste




the method

In a pressure cooker add 1 tbsp oil and sauté 1 chopped onion and green chilly. When the onions turn translucent, add the chopped vegetables and salt. Saute for two minutes. Add garam masala and stir for few second. Add 1 ½ cup water and pressure cook the vegetable for 2 whistle (as per Indian standard pressure cooker). Turn off heat.

In another pan, heat the oil and ghee. Add chopped onion and curry leaves. Add the whole spices, turmeric and stir well. Add the cooked vegetables. Bring it to boil. Mix the rice flour in 4-5 tbsp water at room temperature. Pour it into the stew and stir. Make sure that the rice solution does not form lumps. In medium heat keep stirring and bring it to boil. Add sugar. Turn to low heat and add milk. Check salt. When bubbles are seen at the side of the pan, turn off heat (overboiling will curdle the milk). Add the fried raisins and almonds. Serve hot as you please.

Soya Chunk Pulao



Soya Chunk pulao is a one pot meal for any time of the day. It is quick to prepare and very tasty. The only accompaniment you need is a salad.

the recipe

Basmati Rice (long or short grain)  – 1 ½ cup (around 600 – 700 gms)
Cinnamon   - ½ inch piece
Cloves – 3
Green cardamom – 4
Black cardamom  (optional ) – 2
Oil – 2 tbsp
Water – 3 cup

Soya chunks – 200 gms

ingredients for the green paste

Green chilly – 2 or 3 (adjust to taste)
Coriander leaves – 1 ½ cup
Mint leaves – 1 cup
Garlic – 10 – 12 cloves
Ginger – 1 inch piece

Grind all the ingredients into a fine paste.

other ingredients

Oil – 2 tbsp
Onion – 2
Garam masala – 1 ½ tsp
Turmeric – ½ tsp
Chilly powder – ¾  tsp
Pepper powder – ½ tsp
Tomato – 2
Carrot, chopped- 1
Curd – 4 tbsp
Salt to taste
Raisins and cashewnuts, fried – as much as you need
Ghee (optional) – 2 tbsp





the method

Wash the rice 3 – 4 times. Drain the water and keep it aside for about 15 minutes. This is to slightly dry the rice.

In a heavy bottom pan, add 2 tbsp oil and the whole spices. When the spices stop sizzling, add the rice. Use a wooden spatula and fry till the rice turn translucent. Keep it aside.

Soak the soya chunks in adequate hot water (boiling hot) for 15 minutes. Squeeze the water from soya chunks and wash it in fresh water. Keep it aside.

Heat a pressure cooker and add 2 tbsp oil. Saute the chopped onion till light brown. Add the turmeric, powder, garam masala, pepper powder and chilly powder. Stir for few seconds and add the tomatoes and carrot. Stir till the tomato turns soft. Pour the green paste. Stir well and add the curd. Stir in the cooked soya chunks and stir well for about a minute or till the soya is fully coated with the masala. Simmer for minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the rice and mix well. Add 3 cups water. Add salt. Add the fried raisins and cashewnuts. Pour the ghee. Close the cooker and cook till the 1 whistle blows. Turn off heat. Open the cooker after 20 minutes or when the pressure is fully released. Soya Chunk Pulao is ready. Serve with onion and tomato raita.



Chilly Tomato (Chinese)



Just before posting this recipe, I googled to check whether there is any similar dish already. After the googling I just felt I should a clue to the title. Because there are many other chilly and tomato combinations that is not Chinese.

Chilli tomato is like a chilly gobi or a chilly chicken which is very suitable for a side dish. The inspiration to prepare this recipe is from the fast food joints in Kochi that serve chilly tomato with parotta….. We had this with chapathi.

the recipe

Tomato – 3
Capsicum – 1
Green chilly – ½ or 1 small
Onion – 1 big
Chilly powder – ½ tsp

Pepper powder – 1/8 tsp
Soya sauce – 1 ½ tbsp
Tomato sauce – 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Sugar – 2 pinch
Oil – 2 tbsp

Garlic – 4 cloves

Method

Cut the tomato into half. Scoop out the seed and flesh in the inside and keep it in a bowl..
Cut the tomato into cubes and place it in another bowl.


Cut the onion, capsicum and chilly into juliennes. Chop the garlic.

Heat oil in a pan and the garlic, followed by onion and green chillies. Saute for about a minute and add the capsicum and the scooped out tomatoes. Saute for a minute. Add salt and chilly powder. Add the cubed tomato. Turn to high heat and sauté till the tomatoes are just cooked. Pour the soya sauce and sauté briskly. Add sugar immediately. Stir for about 5 seconds and add the tomato sauce. Add the pepper powder. Turn off heat. Serve hot with fried rice, noodles or chapathi.



Lemon Cake with Lemon Curd and Cream





The combination of lemon cake with lemon curd and cream is something to die for!

The idea of preparing a lemon cake is adapted from Food buzz while the lemon curd has been on my to do list for a long time and the cream is of course to give a balance to the extremely citrussy flavor in the cake and the L.Curd.

I got slightly lazy and impatient on the course of preparing this and it has reflected in the way the cream and the icing looks. And of course I have learnt a lot of lessons that should be taken care of while preparing lemon curd and storing it.

For the lemon curd I followed the recipe from Joy of Baking. I did not follow the recipe thoroughly and so I got to learn that the lemon curd has to be strained as soon as it is taken off heat . This is to get rid of any lumps, as well as to strain the zest of lemon which otherwise will increase the sourness of the lemon curd and gives a slight bitter taste as it sits, and it is also easy to pipe the lemon curd when there is no zest in it which is likely to get stuck in the nozzle…….Here is my slightly bad looking yet very tasty lemony cake.


Ingredients for the lemon cake

Flour – 2 cup (200 gms)
Eggs – 2
Baking powder – ½ tsp
Caster sugar – 2 cup
Vegetable oil – 1 cup
Vanilla Extract – ¾ tsp
Juice of 1 ½  lemon
Zest of one lemon

Method to prepare the cake

Preheat the oven at 180 C. Prepare a pan: butter the pan and dust it with flour. Tap out excess flour.

Sift together the flour and baking powder thrice. In a mixing bowl, place beat the eggs one at a time. Add the caster sugar in 3 to 4 steps at speed 1 and then beat the mix at high speed for about 4 minutes till it doubles in volume. Add the vanilla extract and mix well. Pour the oil little by little while still mixing.

Stir in the flour 2 tablespoons at a time and mix it with a wooden spatula. When half of the flour is used up add the flour, followed by a teaspoon of lemon juice. Repeat the process till the flour and lemon juice is over. Stir in the zest of lemon. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 180C for 25 – 30 minutes or till a toothpick/ skewer comes out clean.

Let the cake cool completely.

Ingredients for Lemon Curd

Egg – 1
Juice of one lemon
Zest of one lemon
Caster sugar – 50 gms
Butter – 1 tbsp

Place the egg in a pan and lightly beat it with a fork. Pour the lemon juice and add sugar. Mix well.

Prepare a double boiler (A pan with ½ to ¾ boiling water – once the water has started boiling turn to low heat).

Place the pan with the egg mix in the double boiler and mix well. When the egg mix begins to form the consistency of custard, add the zest of a lemon. Continue stirring till the mix gains a thick consistency (about 6-9 minutes). Strain it immediately and add the butter and mix well till the butter is melted. Let it cool completely. Place a cling film or plastic wrap on top of the lemon curd to prevent the formation of a thick layer. Place it in the refrigerator till use.

Other Ingredients

Whipped Cream – 1 cup
Few Cherries

Assembling the cake

Cut the cake into two. Spread the lemon curd, followed by cream. Place the other piece of cake and smother it with lemon curd as seen in the second picture. Spread the whipping cream in the cake evenly. Place few about 3-4 tablespoons of lemon curd in the icing tube (use a nozzle of your choice) and pipe out a preferred design. Place few cherries on top for a color contrast. Serve immediate or chill it and serve. I like the chilled one. Enjoy!!







the recipe goes to Sinful Delights by Vardhini

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