Grilled Butterfly Prawns

I never enjoy my food when i eat using a fork and knife. It just doesnt taste as good as when you eat using your fingers and ofcourse the last yummy lick to your fingers...dont you love to get your fingers dirty. This dish lets you dig in with both your hands and watch your guests/family enjoying every second of it.

Ingredients
Prawns - With shell and tail intact (500 gm)
butter - 1/2 cup
red chilli paste - 2 tbsp
ginger/garlic paste - 1 tbsp

Method:
Cut out the head of the prawns. Now with a sharp edged knife, make a small incision which runs against the length of the prawn. Do not make the incision too deep as it would then cut the prawns into two halves, which we obviously wouldnt want.

When the incision reaches the tail, make the cut a little deeper and you will find that the prawn automatically opens up easily. With the help of the knife, make smaller cuts on the incision so that they open up further.

Wash and pat dry the prawns. Now marinate the prawns with ginger garlic paste, lemon juice and salt to taste. Leave the prawns to marinate for 15 mts to an hour.
Note: In case you are using salted butter, adjust salt levels accordingly. Ideally i marinate the prawns and pop it in the oven just before im serving. That way, im sure the prawns are nice and piping hot. It doesnt taste as good when its cold.
Now mix the butter with the red chilli paste.Apply this mixture to the insides of the prawns. Arrange the prawns on a baking tray. Drizzle some olive oil over the prawns and let it grill in a preheated oven for 15 mts at 180C.

Serve immediately.

P.S: This is another one of my dearTholsieAmma's recipes

Egg Roast

This is a family favourite and my mom just whizzes this up, when there is nothing interesting for dinner.. Ive also been following her footsteps religiously ;)

Boil and shell eggs(4), make 4 tiny slits on the egg. Cut 1 big onion into thin slices, also chop some ginger into juliennes. In a frying pan, add some oil and add the onions and ginger and some curry leaves. when the onions are nicely brown, add coriander powder(1 tbsp), chilli powder (1 tbsp), turmeric powder (a pinch), some salt. when the oil starts to separate from the mixture, add the eggs. Coat the eggs lightly with the masala mixture and let it fry for around 5 mts or so. Take it out from the heat and serve the eggs roast with chappati's or rice. I had made rice and some boring daal, so served the eggs with it :)

Easy Breezy Crab Curry

Ive learnt this recipe from one of my most adorable person here in South Africa - Tholsieamma. She calls me her daughter-in-law :) Last time we went to their place, she painstakingly cleaned the crabs and cooked it.. Her recipe was so simple and the taste so delicious that i wanted to try it out immediately. But unfortunately for me, having never cooked crab before i was skeptical. The other day i found some nice frozen crabs which were cut into decent pieces. Atleast no tension of prying apart the claws and wondering which side to cut !!

One of the hints amma told me while cleaning/cutting the pieces is that you must cover the piece in a kitchen towel and then give it a nice whack to break it. Else the shell splinters and can also enter your eye. Thankfully for me i didnot have to struggle with the crabs i got, cos they were nicely cut and only had to give it a few cuts here and there. Lots of small talk now lets crawl to the recipe.:)

Clean and wash the crab. Marinate the crab with ginger/garlic paste and red chilli paste for 15 mts. In some oil/ghee, fry the crab pieces with some curry leaves, till the crab pieces turn pink.Remove and set aside.

To the same pan, add some more oil/ghee and add diced onions(1 big) and fry till golden. Add some cumin/jeera powder(1/4 tbsp), red chilli powder(2 tbsp), coriander powder(1 tbsp) and fry till the raw smell goes. Now, add a can of tomato puree or you could make a paste of tomatoes(1 big) which have been added to briskly boiling water and then have their skin removed and ground to a nice puree. i prefer the second version, as it adds more flavour to the curry. Once the oil starts separating from the onion/tomato puree mix, add tamarind paste (1 tbsp) 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and then add the fried crab pieces to it. Season with salt and allow to simmer with the lid closed, for 10-15 minutes till the gravy thickens. If you wish to thicken the gravy further, add some more coconut milk/cream just before you take it off the heat.

Serve hot with rice/chappatis

Strawberry Cheesecake

Strawberry cheese cake served with a nice dollop of vanilla icecream and fresh strawberry.


Baking has always spelt disaster for me. I never ever follow the measurements given in a recipe and always end up with what cannot even closely be described as a "royal mess". Finding fresh strawberries the other day urged me to find a recipe in which to use them and so began the hunt for a great recipe. All search results pointed towards cheesecakes and i gave up, wise that i was from past experiences. As the strawberries were fast moving towards decay, i gave myself a now or never motivation and began. I found the following recipe on http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,196,152170-245199,00.html

1 3/4 c. fine graham cracker crumbs (about 20)1/4 c. finely chopped walnuts (opt.)1/2 c. butter, melted1/2 tsp. cinnamon

FILLING:
3 well-beaten eggs 1/2 c. sugar, 1/2 tsp. almond extract, 2 c. dairy sour cream ,2 (8 oz.) cream cheese, 2 tsp. vanilla,1/4 tsp. salt

GLAZE (opt.):
2 c. fresh strawberries
3/4 c. water
1/2 c. sugar

Make crust and press to sides and bottom of 9 inch springform pan. Sides should be 1 3/4 inches high.

FOR FILLING: Combine eggs, cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, vanilla, almond extract and salt. Beat until smooth. Blend in sour cream. Pour in crust. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or just until set. Chill thoroughly 4 to 5 hours. Filling will be soft.
GLAZE: Crush 1 cup strawberries. Add water and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Cook and stir until mixture is thick and clear. Cool room temperature. Halve remaining berries. Place atop chilled cheesecake. Pour glaze over. Chill 2 hours.
Serves 10.

As usual, i didnt follow the recipe exactly and made a few modifications and behold...surprise..surprise...it turned out well...

These were the modifications i made...

• I used marie biscuits to make the base. I put the biscuits in the grinder to get a smooth powder and then mixed this with the butter. Kept it on low flame till the butter melted and was well incorporated with the biscuit crumbs. This ensured that the base set well.
• I had purchased cottage cheese and not cream cheese. I also added some 250ml of cream to the mixture.
• The cake did not set well after 30 minutes, so i kept it in the oven for another 15 mts.
• Some recipes call for adding 1/4 tbsp of cornstarch to the glaze, to make it thick, but i avoided this as i felt it would change the taste of the glaze...
  

Tomato chutney

Lazy sunday mornings....before the depression of the pending monday morning blues finally settles on.. What better way to kickstart your day with steaming hot dosas and tomato chutney. Heres how you make the chutney..

chop 1 big onion, fry it in little oil till its nicely brown, add some coriander pwder (1/2 tbsp), chilli powder(1-2 tbsp), turmeric(a pinch) and some cumin(a pinch). Once the mixture is nicely cooked, add some 2-3 chopped tomatoes and add 1/2 tbsp sugar to balance the sourness....cook till the oil start seperating from the mixture and then add finely chopped coriander leaves.

Allow the mixture to cool, before grinding it to a nice smooth paste. Serve with hot crispy dosas.

Chicken Fry

This one is a sure FIRE hit for your parties(cos its also very hot ;) )... i didnt measure anything, just added everything according to judgement, so the quantities are just a rough guess.. do change according to ur liking

Ingredients:-
Chicken drumsticks

Marinade:
chilli powder 4-5 tsps (accordin to ur spice tolerance)
pepper corns 5-6
turmeric powder - 1/4 tbsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tbsp
coriander powder - 1 tbsp
soya sauce- 1 tbsp
vinegar - a small dash
ginger and garlic paste - 1/4 tbsp
salt to taste


Method

Make deep gashes on the drumsticks and rub it with some lemon juice. wash after 5 minutes and pat dry. Grind all the ingredients mentioned in the marinade without water and apply to the drumsticks. Keep for 4-5 hours.








Shallow fry these in some oil in a frying pan..cook covered for 10-15 mts, occassionally flipping the pieces, so that it gets fried evenly on all sides. Serve with mint chutney and lemon wedges.

Onam sadhya

ente onam sadhya.... pakshe ella kittilla.. :-(

sambhar, moru kuttan, beans thoran, kaya upperi, pazham, payasam........

putttu kadala

puttu, kadala, pinne oru glass kaapi.... !!!

Kerala Style Beef Fry

me being a hindu and that too being born and brought up in bby,it was a taboo to eat beef. at our place mom only used to cook chicken and other sea-food. It was only when i moved to Joburg, tht i finally got the courage to make beef.
I didnt want to try any curry style, cos tht's how i usually make the chicken...this time i wanted to surprise hubby dear with my naadan(local) version of beef-chilly. he used to keep raving abt the beef dishes that u get in kerala(even hindus over there eat beef..no taboo...its a favourites amongst the mallus)
This is how i went abt it...with fingers crossed. Did turn out well...

Ingredients :-
beef- 500 gm(cut into small cubes)
2 large onions - thinly sliced
coconut silvers - 2 tbsp
ginger julieenes - 1 tbsp
green chillies - 4-5 sliced diagonally
garlic crushed - 1/2 tsp

For grinding
pepper - 4-5
chilli powder - 1/2 tbsp
coriander powder - 1 tbsp
curry leaves - 2 sprigs
turmeric powder - 1/4 tbsp
salt - to taste
cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp

Method:-
Cook the beef with some salt and turmeric powder and water....In some oil, fry the cumin seeds, when its done add the ginger and garlic.After some time, add the chillies and the curry leaves...when the chillies start to change color, add the onions & the cocunut silvers and fry them till theyre golden brown.
Meanwhile, grind, chilli, coriander and pepper but not too fine, so that u can bite into them and feel the heat ;) . add this to the fried onions once theyre properly browned.add the cooked beef and some of the broth to this mixture and let it fry. Fry the beef,till the color changes to a nice dark brown color.......njoy wid roti's or as a side-dish wid rice...

Do also check out LG's Bombay Beef Fry

Peas Pulao and Gobi Manchurian

There have been days when i hate the sight of my kitchen, forget entering into it..and some days, i cant wait to start cooking. On those rare occasions( rarely rare) occasions, i cant stop cooking...and its at times like those tht my food tastes better than ever.Last nite i had this urge to cook and unfortunately there wasnt
much in my refrigerator...a can of peas and cauliflower...tht's when i decided the menu for dinner, peas pulao(am not sure abt the differences betn pulao and biryani & not sure wat to call this) and gobi manchurian.

peas pulao

Ingredients:-
For grinding

cloves 4-5

cardamom 1

cinnamon 1 small stick

pepper corns 4-5

For masala

coriander & pudina leaves

onion 1 medium sized

tomatoes 1

peas 1 cup

rice 2 cups (basmati)

bayleaf 1

green chillies slit 1-2

salt to taste

water - 4 cups

Method:-
grind 4-5 cloves,cardamon,small stick of cinnamon and some pepper corns. keep this aside. also grind some coriander and pudina leaves
In some oil, fry a bayleaf and add the ground spices...once its flavours are released, add onions, ginger-garlic paste and green chillies. after the onions soften, add the coriander-mint paste and fry for some time till the raw smell goes. add tomatoes,salt and peas. add the soaked rice into this masala. Mix the rice well and
add water and pressure-cook for 2-whistles. keep it closed for some time, so that the rice will cook in its own steam...

gobi manchurian

Ingredients:
1 medium-sized cauliflower broken into florets

cooking oil to fry the florets

1 tbsp garlic& ginger, finely chopped

3-4 tbsp green chili, finely chopped(add more if u like it hot!!!)

½ tbsp corn flour mixed with 2 tbsp of water

Salt, to taste

2 tbsp Soya Sauce

1/4 tbsp chili sauce

2 cups of water

For the batter:

1/2 cup Corn Flour

¼ tsp red chili Powder

Salt to taste
Method:
Mix corn flour, red chili powder, salt and a little bit of water to form a batter. This batter shoule be thick enough to coat each cauliflower floret. Dip the florets in this batter and deep fry till golden brown. Set aside on paper-towels to drain the excess oil.Heat oil in a pan and chillies,ginger, garlic.fry till the raw smell goes and then add the chilli paste and the soya sauce. fry for a minute and then add water. Bring the water to a boil.
dissolve some corn-flour in water and add it to the boiling sauce, while continuously stirring so that no lumps are
formed. Once the sauce thickens, add the fried florets. let it cook in the sauce for 2-3 minutes. garnish with chopped spring onions.