DEVAKOTTAI SAMAYAL ARAI

I made this dish for dinner tonight and thought of sharing the recipe with you.  First let's make the pesto sauce I used - (serves 2 people) Fresh Basil leaves - 1/2 cup Pecans - 1/4 cup Peppercorns - 7 to 8 nos. Garlic cloves - 3 small (peeled and crashed) Salt - 1/4 tsp Olive Oil - 2 tbsp In a blender, add the pecans, peppercorns and salt and powder them using pulse mode. Then add the basil leaves, garlic and the olive oil and grind to a coarse paste. Keep it aside. Ingredients for the main dish: Serves 2 people Uncooked pasta (any type) - 2 cups Shrimp - 10 nos. (shelled and deveined) Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Chilli powder 1/2 tsp Salt - as needed Cherry Tomatoes - 10 nos. cut into halves *Cook the pasta to 'al dente', by adding a tsp of olive oil and salt as needed.  *In a pan, heat a tsp of cooking oil and the shrimp, salt, turmeric powder and the chilli powder and saute the shrimp and cover and cook for 5 minutes.  *Add the ground pesto sauce and saute for 2 minute...

Fathers Day Special Mini Cake!!! Do you want to celebrate Father's Day and you haven't baked a cake yet?? Then you are at the right place, because I am going to share a recipe of an easy to bake mini cake with just the ingredients you might have ready at home.  I have used two 10 oz ramekins to bake these mini cakes, but you can use any baking dish of your choice.  Gather the following ingredients ( makes 2 mini cakes) (Prep time 5 minutes, Bake time 12 minutes) All purpose flour - 1/3 cup Light brown sugar - 3 tbsp Banana - 1 ripe mashed Pecans - 8 halves, chop 6 halves and save the remaining 2 for topping Unsalted butter - 1 tbsp, melted Yogurt - 2 tbsp Baking powder - 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract - 1/4 tsp Preheat oven to 350 F, I have used air fryer option in the oven. Prepare the baking bowls or the ramekins with cooking spray, dust with some all purpose flour and keep aside.  In a bowl, add the mashed banana, yogurt, brown sugar, melted butter and vanilla extract and mix...

I am back with a recipe to make healthy laddoo without adding sugar or jaggery. Dear ones who are diabetic, can also eat this laddoo without any guilt. Yes! Yes!! You need (makes 12 laddoos) Almonds - 1/2 cup Cashew nuts - 1/4 cup Walnuts / Pecans - 1/4 cup ( I used Pecans about 17 halves) Lotus seeds - 1/2 cup  White Sesame seeds - 2 tbsp Dates - 1/2 cup or 10 to 12 pieces depending on the size, deseeded and roughly chopped  Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp Ghee - 1 tbsp In a pan, dry roast each nut and lotus seed seperately, because each nut has a different roasting time. Allow them to cool down. In a food processor, add all the roasted ingredients except the dates and ghee. Grind into a moderately fine powder. Then add the chopped dates and grind it until well blended with the nut mixture.  Transfer this mixture into a bowl and mix well. Grease your hands with a little ghee and start making balls.  The nutritious bites / laddoos are ready to serve. Consume 1 laddoo per d...

This is a yummy and healthy snack / breakfast dish made with sweet potato. One of my favorite dishes! You need a very few ingredients. Sweet Potato - 1 large Onion - 1/4 cup chopped Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp Green chillies - 2 small, deseeded and finely chopped Ginger - 1/2 inch, peeled and finely chopped or crushed Curry leaves - a few, washed and torn to pieces Asafoetida - 1 pinch Oil - 1 tsp Salt - as per taste Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp First wash and cut the sweet potato and steam in a steamer for 7 minutes. Then allow it to cool down and peel off the skin, mash and keep aside.                                                        Now, in a skillet, heat the oil and add the mustard seeds. After it crackles, add the green chillies, ginger and curry leaves and  saute for a minute. Now add the onion, turmeric powder and required salt and saute...

I am going to share the recipe of my homestyle mutton kuzhambu.  Ingredients Goat meat - 250 gms, cut, washed and marinated with little salt and turmeric powder Shallots (chinna vengayam) - about 10 pieces Ginger - 1 inch piece, peel the skin and chopped into small pieces Garlic - 5 cloves, peeled  Tomato - 1 medium size, cut into large pieces Coriander powder - 4 tbsp Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp Salt to taste Cooking oil - 2 tbsp ( I used Canola oil) Water - 1 1/2 cups Curry leaves - few Whole spices -  Cinnamon - 1 and 1/2 inch piece, cloves - 2, Bay leaf - 1,  black peppercorns - 1/2 tsp, fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp, whole red chillies - 3 medium  In a pressure pan, heat 1 tbsp oil. Then add the whole spices and fry until they crackle. Then add the shallots, garlic and ginger and saute well. Then add the tomatoes, salt, and turmeric powder and saute for 1 mintue and switch off the stove, Let this cool down and then grind it into a fine paste, by adding about 1/4 cup...

The weather is getting better and who will say NO to a refreshing chilled payasam... Let's get started.. Ingredients (Serves 5) Milk - 2 1/2 cups Water - 1/2 cup Saffron - few strands (optional) Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp Raw rice - 1 tsp Almonds - 10 nos Light brown sugar - 1/4 cup Ghee / clarified butter - 1 tbsp Nuts and raisins of your choice to garnish.  Soak the almonds, rice and the saffron strands in 1/2 cup of hot water for about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the skin from the almonds. Using a blender, grind the soaked almonds, saffron strands and the rice into a fine paste by adding 2 tbsp of the water that we used for soaking. Then add the remaining water into the blender, mix well and keep aside.  In a saucepan, heat the milk. Once bubbles start forming around the edges of the pan, pour the almond and rice mixture. From now on, you have to stir continuously to avoid burning at the bottom of the pan.  The mixture will start thickening. Now turn the heat to low and ad...

I am posting another recipe to make Ribbon Pakoda. Here, I am using more of chickpea flour than rice flour. If you want to try my other recipe, click this link . My family and friends liked this very much.  Ingredients :  Chickpea flour / Besan - 2 cups Rice flour - 1 cup Unsalted butter - 1 tbsp, softened Salt - 1/2 tsp per cup of flour Chilli powder - 3 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp Asafoetida - 1 tsp Water - 1 cup + 3 tbsp Optional - soak 1 tbsp of sesame seeds and 3 medium sized garlic pods in hot water for 30 minutes and grind it with a little water. Then extract the juice out of it and use it while making the dough.  Mix all the dry ingredients together and then incorporate the butter well with the flour mixture. Now add the water little by little and make a soft and sticky dough.  Now fill the Ribbon pakoda press with the dough. Heat a wide mouthed pan / wok and press it into the medium hot oil and fry until the sound subsides. Enjoy this yummy crunchy ribbon ...

In this day and age, everyone is looking for protein rich food and less carbs. I am presenting a quick and easy recipe of protein rich pan-seared shrimp. Webmd states that 100 grams of cooked shrimp contains 24 grams of protein. Click on the link to learn more nutrition facts about shrimps. You will need the following ingredients (this is one serving) Shrimp - 9 , shelled, deveined Red chilli powder - 3/4 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Salt - 1/2 tsp or as per your taste Lemon - 1 small Garlic - 1 pod, crushed Cooking oil - 1 tsp Fennel seeds - few Rice flour - 1 tsp In a bowl, add the cleaned shrimp, then add the salt, turmeric, chilli powder and marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour. I am not using the lemon juice for marination. Usually, if it is a non-acidic marinade, you can marinate from 15-20 minutes to 1 hour. But with acidic marinades like lemon juice or vinegar, you can marinate no longer than 30 minutes. Acidic marinades can start to cook the shrimp, leading to tough and mu...

  After a long time I am back with a bang with yet another chicken delicacy.  Ginger Chicken Dry recipe  ( makes 1 Serving / Cooking time 20 minutes) Chicken 100 gms/ 1/4 lb Fresh Ginger root - 1 inch piece peeled and grated  Onion - 1/2 cup chopped Green peppers - 1 tbsp finely chopped Curry leaves - a few leaves, torn Coriander powder - 1 tbsp Chilli powder - 1/2 tbsp Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp Biryani masala powder - 1 tsp (check my recipe here ) Salt to taste Plain Yogurt - 2 tbsp Cooking oil - 2 tbsp ( I use canola oil) Wash the chicken pieces and marinate with the yogurt, salt and turmeric powder. Leave it aside until you chop the onions and grate the ginger.  Heat a skillet and pour 2 tbsp of cooking oil. Add the curry leaves, chopped onion and sauté in medium flame. Now add the chicken and the ginger together. Sauté in medium fine until the chicken turns white.  Now add the coriander powder, chilli powder and the biryani masala powder, mix well and co...