Quick Chicken Balls

 

Chicken snacks are loved by both, kids and adults. This dish is easy and quick to prepare and can be served as a snack on a rainy evening. 

We need:

• 100 gm Boneless chicken 

• 1 medium Potato 

• 1 tsp Chilli powder 

• 1 pinch of garam masala

• Salt to taste

• Oil to fry

Preparation:

• Boil the potato, peel and mash well.

• Wash, cut the chicken in to small pieces and run in small mixer jar for a minute.

• Mix the minced chicken, mashed potato, salt, chilli powder and garam masala.

• Mix well. Wash hands and apply oil on the palm. Roll the above mixture in to small balls.

• Take shallow tava and add oil. When the oil is medium hot, slip in the chicken balls. 

• Fry them well, rolling on all sides. Alternatively deep fry the balls if in a hurry.

• Serve with mint chutney or ketchup on a rainy evening.

Note: Separate the chicken from bones to get boneless chicken. Increase the chicken and potato if more chicken balls are required. If the mixture is soggy, add a spoon of corn floor/maida. 

Golden Sambar

We need:

• Quarter kg pumpkin 

• Pinch of turmeric powder

• 1 tsp sambar powder

For seasoning:

• 1 tsp oil

• Mustard seeds

• 1 broken chilli

• Little hing

• Curry leaves

Method:

1. Wash the pumpkin, peel and cut in to pieces.

1. Boil in cooker till 3 whistles or for 5 minutes with turmeric.

1. Once the cooker is cooled, mash the pumpkin well with a ladle. Keep aside.

1. Heat the oil in thick bottomed vessel, when hot add mustard, hing, chilli and curry leaves.

1. Now add mashed pumpkin. Add water and adjust the consistency. Add salt and sambar powder.

1. Check the taste. Serve with rice. 

1. To accompany with chapathi/poori make it thick (adding less water).

Pepper Chicken Dhaba Style

 

Quick to cook without much preparation this dish tastes good with fried curry leaves, garlic and onion. Serves as a side dish as well as starter.

We need

1/2 kg chicken

2 sprigs of curry leaves

15 cloves of garlic 

1 big onion 

1 small tomato

2 green chillies

1 tbsp pepper powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp lemon juice

Clean and drain the chicken. Cut garlic, onion, tomato and chillies finely.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a nonstick pan. Add curry leaves. 

One by one add green chillies, garlic, onion and tomato. After 2 minutes add chicken, 1 tsp of rock salt  and turmeric powder,  give a good mix, close the lid. Let the chicken simmer in its own juice. After five minutes or so, add a few tbsps of water if needed and add half tbsp pepper powder. 

Let the chicken cook till the gravy dries up. Stir in between to avoid burning. Once the chicken is cooked well and water is dried, raise the heat. Keep stirring till the chicken browns lightly. Put off the heat, check the taste. If need need add powdered salt. Squeeze half a lime and 1/2 tbsp pepper powder. Mix well. Serve.

Note: Increase or decrease the pepper as per your taste. Freshly ground pepper always tastes good.

OMURICE

 A boring rainy evening can be turned tasty with Homo Rice. Use any vegetable available readily with the afternoon's left over rice. Increase the rice, eggs and vegetable as per your needs. Kids love this new tasty rice and ask for more. Add shredded chicken for extra taste. Substitute butter with oil. 

We need

2 cups cooked rice

2 eggs

1 cup Shredded carrot/cabbage/capsicum/onion shoots

10 clove garlic minced

2 green chillies finely chopped

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp soya sauce

1 tsp vinegar

1 tsp pepper powder

Separate the egg white and yolks carefully.

Mix the the egg yolk with cooked and cooled rice. Keep aside.

Heat butter in a non-stick pan, add garlic, saute for a minute, add chillies and shredded vegetables of your preference one by one.

Once the vegetables have fried a bit, little by little add the rice mixed with yolk, tossing the pan and now and then. Increased the heat and keep mixing the rice. At this stage the rice coated with the egg yolk cooks. After 3-4 minutes of tossing, add soya sauce, vinegar and pepper powder and continue tossing. Check the taste. Serve hot with Pepper Chicken

Take a pan, add little oil, when hot add the egg whites, stir well. Add a bit of salt and pepper for taste. Stir well, put off heat. After a minute stir well to make egg whites into small bits. Add this to the homo rice before serving. 

Seemebadane Sukka/Chow Chow/Chayote

Seemebadane Sukka/Chow Chow/Chayote

May be seemebadane kai is the most disliked/undercooked vegetable. It is called chow chow in some parts of Karnataka and Chayote in English which hardy anybody uses. The tender seemebadane cooked into a simple dish actually tastes soooo good. Just poke your nail at the bottom of the seemebadane to check whether it is tender before buying.

You need

1-2 tender seemebadane (medium size)

1 onion sliced thinly

1-2 green chillies slit

1 tbsp or more grated coconut

Little mustard and curry leaves

Salt to taste

·     Wash the seemebadane, trim the head and tail,  slit into two, discard the seed and slice the seemebadane into small pieces.

·     Heat oil in a thick bottomed/nonstick pan. When hot, add mustard, when they splutter add curry leaves, add sliced onions, fry for a minute, add slit chillies.

·     After a minute add sliced seemebadane. Add salt and coconut. Mix well. Cook for 3-4 minutes closing the lid. If needed add 2-3 tbsp water.

·     If the seemebadane is tender it cooks within 4-5 minutes.

·     Check the taste after 4 minutes, add lime and chopped coriander if you wish. Put off the stove and serve with chapathi or rice.

Capsicum Sukka

Capsicum Sukka

Easiest and fastest way to cook capsicum with only three things that are readily available in the kitchen. Goes well with the chapathi. Increase or decrease the number of capsicums, it just tastes the same.

You need

2-3 capsicums sliced thinly

1 onion sliced thinly

1-2 green chillies slit

Salt to taste

·     Wash the capsicums, slit into two, discard the seeds and slice the capsicums into thin slices.

·     Heat oil in a thick bottomed/nonstick pan. When hot, add sliced onions, fry for a minute, add slit chillies.

·     After a minute add sliced capsicums and salt. Mix well. Close the lid and let it cook in slow fire.

·     Check the taste after 4 minutes, add lime and chopped coriander if you wish. Put off the stove when capsicum is still a bit crunchy which tastes good.

·     Serve with chapathi or rice.

Macaroons

 

We need

 

1 egg white

75 gm cashew nuts cut into small pieces

175 gm finely powdered sugar

1/2 tsp cardamom powder

 

Let's start

Preheat the oven at 120 C

Take a big glass or steel bowl and carefully separate the egg white from yellow.

Begin whipping egg white  slowly till it becomes  foamy and frothy. Increase the speed till the egg white becomes stiff. (Test: when the whisk is lifted the peaks should not drop).

 

Add sugar spoon by spoon into the stiff egg white. Keep whisking/whipping. [Takes a bit of time. Be patient].

 

Fold in the cashew nut pieces delicately little by little. Don’t mix vigorously. Finally add cardamom powder. Fold it gently.

 

Line parchment paper on a baking tray and drop spoonfuls of batter on leaving sufficient space in between. (10-11 macaroons). Place the baking tray in preheated oven and bake

 

for 20-30 minutes or till the macroons turn light brown.

Let them cool completely and enjoy with hot cup of coffe.

Note: Any yolk (or yellow part) or oil if mixes up with white will keep the white from getting stiff. Hence, wash the whipper/whisk and bowl with hot water before you start the recipe. Add the sugar only after egg white has beaten to a foamy stiff stage.

Can also bake the macaroons in microwave in convention mode. It will take around 15 minutes. Please refer users guide of microwave for correct timing and heating.

Pumpkin Milkshake

Pumpkin Milkshake

Unbelievable! Milkshake from a vegetable ! !Pumpkin milkshake tastes sooo good. Unless told, can't guess it is pumpkin milkshake! Good substitute for store bought juices.

You need

100 gm pumpkin, peeled and cut into small pieces
100 ml milk
100 ml or more water
1 tsp sugar
2 pods cardamom peeled

• Blend pumpkin pieces, sugar, little water and cardamom in a blender till smooth.
• Add milk and rest of the water, whisk a few times.
• Check the taste, add sugar and water if need be. Whisk again. 
• Chill for some time and serve. Tastes better when chilled.

Note: Not necessary that you adhere to the quantity given. When pumpkin is bought to cook, a piece of it can be used for milkshake. Can substitute honey instead of sugar. 

Fresh Pepper in Brine

Fresh Pepper in Brine

The black pepper which we use daily actually looks and tastes differently when it is fresh. I tasted this pickle while sharing lunch with collaagues at office. Since it tasted good and easy to prepare, caught hold of fresh pepper stalks in Mangalore. The fresh pepper stalks should be pickled as early as possible to retain its tastel.

You need

10 bunches of fresh green pepper

1 cup water (approx. 220 ml water)

A pinch of turmeric powder

Juice of 2 big lemons

1 tbsp Salt

·      Wash the pepper corns well. Drain them and gently wipe them with a clean towel. Spread them on a clean plate and leave for an hour so to dry well.

·      Cut the stalks into small pieces keeping the pepper in tact.

·      In a pan bring the water to boil, add turmeric and salt. Let it simmer for a few minutes. Let this brine mixture cool down.

·      When the brine water is cooled down add lime juice. Stir well and pour the brine into a sterilized bottle.

·      Put the peppercorns into the bottle. Make sure that pepper stalks are submerged in water completely.

·      Close the lid and store the bottle in a cool dry place. Pepper stalks are ready to use after a week. The green colour turns into brownish green.

·      Tastes well with curd rice. Keeps well in room temperature. No need to refrigerate it.

Raw Banana Kebab/Kele Kebab/Balekai Kebab

Raw Banana Kebab/Kele Kebab/Balekai Kebab

You need

2 green bananas

1 medium onion cut into small pieces

1 tsp bafat powder or any other curry powder

Curry leaves 1 twig

1 tsp cooking oil

1 tsp fresh coriander leaves cut into small (optional)

1/2 tsp lime juice (optional)

Salt to taste

                                                                       After steaming

                                                   

·     Wash the bananas and steam them in the cooker only for one whistle.

·     When the cooker is cooled down, take out the bananas, peel and cut into small cubes.

·     Heat a nonstick pan or kadai, add oil. When oil is hot add mustard seeds, curry leaves one by one.

·     Add onion, fry for 2-3 minutes, add cut banana piece, salt and bafat powder. Mix well, close the lid and cook for 3-4 minutes in low heat.

·     Add lime juice, sprinkle fresh coriander and put off the stove. Check the taste,  give a toss and serve with rice/roti.

Other recipes using Bafat powder

Tomato - Egg Burji
Drumstick Flowers Sambar (Nugge Hu)
Black Chana/Kadale Sukka (Whole Bengal gram or kale sane)

Beetroot – Tomato Salad

This colourful easy to prepare salad can be put together in a few minutes. Usually, who doesn’t like to eat beetroot subji, enjoy this salad immensely.lad.

You need

1 medium beetroot

1 big tomato cut into thin slices

1 big onion cut into thin slices

1 green chilli slit

Little coriander leaves (optional)

1 Salt to taste

½ tsp lime juice

·        Wash and steam the beetroot in cooker. Usually the beetroot cooks well when it is cooked for 10 minutes after the first whistle. When the cooker is cooled, open the lid, peel the beet root and cut into thin slices.

·       Add salt, slit chilli and onion slices to the beetroot and mix well.

·       Add tomato slices and toss well.

·       Just before serving add lime juice, check the taste, sprinkle coriander leaves and serve.