DEVAKOTTAI SAMAYAL ARAI

Along the south coast of India, coconut trees grow in abundance. Inspired by this, I’m naming this dish South Coast Chicken Curry , as it is made with rich, thick coconut milk. You can prepare this curry using coconut oil for an authentic coastal flavor, or ghee (clarified butter) if you prefer a deeper, more aromatic taste. Ingredients needed : Chicken - 1 lb, cut into pieces Onion - 2 medium sized or half a pound, finely chopped Ginger - 1 inch piece, peel the skin and finely chopped (roughly 1 1/2 tsp minced) Garlic -  2 medium sized cloves, finely chopped (roughly 1 1/2 tsp minced) Green chillies - 4, slit and deseeded Coconut milk - 1 cup thick milk and and 1/2 cup 2nd milk Potatoes - 1 small, peeled and diced Curry leaves - 1 sprig Ghee - 2 tbsp Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp Garam Masala powder - 1 tsp ( homemade masala powder ) Salt - as per taste Cumin Seeds - 1 1/2 tbsp Preparation Method: In a thick-bottomed pan, heat the ghee. Add the onions and fry until they turn light ...

Badam Halwa.....:) yummm When I think about weddings, the first thing that comes to my mind is the badam halwa served at lunch on the day of the wedding.   When I close my eyes, I can still feel the coarse texture and the melt-in-the-mouth consistency of the halwa. It was a delicacy in those days, eagerly awaited whenever we attended a wedding—along with my other favorite, cassatta ice cream. Now, let’s learn how to make that nostalgic Badam Halwa. You will need a few simple ingredients {cooking time - 12 minutes} Almond flour - 2 cups Sweetened condensed milk - 1 cup Sugar - 1/2 cup [This is mildly sweet; add up to ¾ cup more if you prefer extra sweetness] Saffron strands - a few soaked in 1 tbsp of warm milk Clarified butter / Ghee - 4 tbsp Method In a thick-bottomed wide pan, add 1 tablespoon of ghee and lightly roast the almond flour over a low flame. Add the sugar, condensed milk, and saffron milk to the roasted almond flour. The mixture will thicken very quickly, as w...

A steaming bowl of soup provides immediate warmth and a deep sense of nourishment that perfectly complements a cold night. I am here today with the perfect soup recipe! Recipe Card (serves 3 people) Fennel Bulb- 1 medium sized bulb ( washed and roughly cut into cubes) ( save the delicate dill-like fronds(grassy part) for garnishing ) Small red potatoes - 4 nos (peeled and cubed) Garlic pods - 3 large cloves (peeled ) Unsalted butter - 1 tbsp Salt 1 tsp Crushed peppercorns- 1 1/2 tsp Now we will make this soup in 4 easy steps 😊 Step 1: Heat a saucepan, and add in the butter. After the butter melts, add the garlic and the fennel bulb cubes and sauté for 2 minutes.  Step 2: Add the potatoes, salt and pepper along with 2 cups of water and cook until the anise cubes are tender.  Step 3: With the help of an immersion blender , blend to get as creamy texture. Please note that I have not added any broth.  Step 4: Garnish with the saved fronds and serve hot with a slice of sourd...

On the occasion of Vinayaga Chathurthi, I wanted to share the recipe for making Poorana Kozhukkattai with three different fillings, 2 sweet and 1 savory. Let's get started. For the outer layer: Rice flour - 1 cup Boiling water - 1 and 1/2 cups to 2 cups Salt - 1/2 tsp Ghee - 1 tsp Ingredients for Filling # 1 - Chana dal Sweet filling  Chana Dal - 1/2 cup (soaked for 2 hours in 1 cup of water and pressure cook until soft) Jaggery powder - 1/4 cup (You can add little more jaggery if you wish) Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp Water - 1 tsp Cashew nuts - 2 tbsp broken pieces Ghee - 1 tbsp Ingredients for  Filling #2- Moong Dal Savoury filling Yellow moong dal - 1/4 cup, soaked for 10 minutes and pressure cooked  Grated coconut - 2 tbsp Green chillies - 2 medium finely chopped Cumin seeds Mustard seeds curry leaves a few Oil - 1 tsp Asafoetida - 1 pinch salt as per taste Ingredients for  Filling #3 - Moong Dal Sweet filling  Yellow Moong Dal - 1/4 cup, soaked for 10 minutes...

Today I am here with a yummy cookie recipe. You can try this recipe while your kids are at home during this summer vacation. This is a perfect tea time snack or a travel snack.  Recipe Card (Makes about 40 cookies) All purpose flour - 1 cup Powdered sugar - 1/2 cup Ghee - 1/2 cup melted Baking powder, one pinch Note 1. Add 1/3 cup sugar to a blender and powder it or use half cup powdered sugar 2. Ghee substitute - 1/4 cup Melted butter + 1 tablespoon milk + 3 teaspoon milk if needed (I used this substitute for this recipe) 3. If you add just the ghee, the cookies will be soft. But if you add milk, it will become hard.  In a bowl add the ghee and the powdered sugar and cream it well until you get peaks like in the picture below.                                                   Now add the flour and make a dough. If it is hard to form the dough, add ...

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...

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...

Bonjour mes amis, I am going to share a healthier version of vada curry. I have only steamed the vada , instead of deep frying in oil, like in the original recipe. There is a special ingredient , which is 'tender banana blossoms'. Please make sure you don't use the first few layers of the blossom. They will be thick and won't taste good.  For the curry: Onion - 1 large, finely chopped Garlic - 5 cloves, chopped Tomato - 1 medium, chopped Tamarind - 1 gooseberry size, soaked and pulp extracted Turmeric powder -1/4 tsp Coriander powder - 3 tbsp Chilli powder - 1/2 tbsp (or according to your spice tolerance level) Asafoetida(hing) - 1/4 tsp Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp Salt as per taste Curry leaves - a few Coriander leaves - few  For the dumplings: Banana blossom - tender pieces from the inner layers; deveined and chopped roughly Channa Dal - 2 tbsp Toor Dal - 4 tbsp Fennel seeds - 1/4 tsp Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp Dry red chillies - 2  Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Asafoetida powder ...

Hello readers Today I am here with yet another delicacy from my kitchen. I was bored to have the same old raw banana fry / vazhakkai chips / vaazhakkai varuval. So I tried this dish and here I am sharing the recipe with you all.  Recipe card   Raw Banana - 2 nos. Garlic - a few pods Asafoetida / hing / Perungayam - 1/8 tsp Chilli powder - 2 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp Tamarind paste - 2 tsp Salt - as per taste Cooking oil 1 tsp + 2 tbsp For the dry masala powder Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp  Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp Peppercorns - 1/2 tsp Dry coconut / Kopparai / fried grated coconut - 1 tbsp Dry fry all the above ingredients and grind to a coarse powder.  In a pot, heat 2 cups of water. Once it starts to boil, add the chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt, tamarind paste, hing and 1 tsp oil and let it boil for a minute.  Now cut the raw banana into 1/2 inch thick long slices like in the picture below.  Now, add these slices into the boiling mixture and cook for ...

I personally like eating Thai food and also I love the plating in the restaurants. They use half of a pineapple and fill the fried rice in it. But I have presented in a bowl 😊. I made this dish because of my sudden craving for it.  This dish can prepared within an hour, start to finish.  The measurements I have given serves 2 people. Basmati rice - 3/4th cup, washed and soaked for 10 minutes Shrimp - 10 (I have used frozen Argentinian wild shrimp) (Wash and marinate the shrimp with 1 tsp of red chilli powder, 1/4 turmeric powder , salt - to taste) Onion - 1 small chopped Spring Onion - few chopped Pineapple - 2 slices (cored and cut into pieces) Eggs - 2 (scrambled with a pinch of salt and pepper powder) Green bell pepper and  carrot - a 2 tbsp each (chopped) Ginger and Garlic - 1 tbsp each (finely chopped) Black Pepper powder- 2 tbsp Tomato sauce and Chilli sauce - 1 tsp each ( I dont like to add soya sauce because of its high sodium content. But if you want, you can us...

Rosemary is an aromatic shrub, which can be grown in your garden. Rosemary  leaves and oil have a lot of medicinal values. To learn more about the health benefits of Rosemary, please follow the link .  I have used fresh rosemary from my garden for this recipe. Rosemary chicken curry is definitely an incredibly flavorsome dish. This recipe will serve two people. Let us quickly grab all the ingredients needed to prepare this dish. Rosemary leaves - 1/4 cup washed Chicken (boneless and skinless) - 3/4 lb, washed and cut into medium sized pieces Onion - 2 large chopped into small pieces Ginger - 1 inch piece chopped into small pieces Tomato - 1 medium chopped into small pieces Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp for seasoning Cooking oil - 2 to 3  tbsp Masala powders    Red chilli powder - 1 tsp Coriander powder - 1 tsp Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp Salt  - 1 tsp Heat a 1 tsp oil in a pan and saute 1/2 of the  chopped onion, chopped ginger and the rosemary leaves. Cool the...

I am happy to share yet another recipe with Pearl Millet. I have used whole pearl millet for this recipe. It is high in fibre and amino acids and is naturally gluten free if consumed as a  whole millet instead of flour. Follow the link to learn more about the goodness of pearl millet.  Let's see how to make the batter for making this idli.  You will need Pearl millet - 1 cup Parboiled rice - 1/2 cup Raw rice / Sonamasoori rice - 1/2 cup Black gram / Urad dal - 1/2 cup Fenugreek / Methi seeds - 1/2 tsp Salt - 1 1/4 tsp Ina a bowl take the millet, rice, dal and methi seeds together, wash 2 to 3 times and soak them in enough water overnight. In the morning, make a thick batter (like idli batter) by grinding it in a wet grinder. Add the salt and mix well and let it ferment for 10 to 12 hours.  In the picture below, you can see the tiny bubbles in the batter, which means that the batter has fermented.  Now, heat a pan and pour a laddle of batter and spread it out, l...