Easy Vegetable Macaroni/ Pasta

Pasta/Macaroni – 1 cup (I used the bent shaped macaroni)

Onion (sliced) – 1

Peas – ¼ cup

Carrot (cubed) – 1

Mayonnaise – 2 tbsp

Pepper powder – ¼ tsp (use it as per your spice level)

Chili flakes – ½ tsp

Garlic (minced) - 3

Salt to taste

Extra-virgin Olive Oil

Preparation:

Cook the macaroni/pasta according to the package instructions. Drain the excess water.

Heat the oil in a wok/pan over medium heat. Add the chili flakes and sauté it for a few seconds. Add the minced garlic and sliced onion and sauté until it turns light brown. Add peas and carrot into it and sauté it for 5 min.

Add the cooked macaroni, pepper powder and mayonnaise into it and mix well. Serve it hot.

Cook’s Notes:

1. While cooking add a little salt and a tsp. of oil, which will make the pasta non-sticky.

Chettinad Chicken Curry

Ingredients:

Chicken – 1 kg (cut into medium sized pieces-makes 12-14 pieces)

Sliced Onion – 2

Tomato – 3

Turmeric powder – 1 tsp

Kashmiri Chili powder – 1 tsp

Chopped Ginger – 1 tsp

Chopped Garlic – 1tsp

Curd – 3 tsp

Curry leaves – a few

Oil

Water as required

To fry and grind:

Red chilies – 6-8

Jeera – 1 tsp

Fennel Seeds/Perinjeerakam – 1 tsp

Poppy Seeds – 2 tsp

Cardomom – 5

Clove – 4

Cinnamon – 1 inch piece

Coriander seeds – 1- ½ tsp

Grated Coconut – 1 cup

Preparation:

Marinate the chicken pieces with curd, turmeric powder and salt and keep it aside for atleast 1 hr. If you are in a hurry, refrigerate the mixture for atleast 45 min.

Heat oil in a pan and add the ingredients given under the section ‘To fry and grind’ in the same order. Finally add grated coconut and fry it until golden brown. Grind it into a smooth paste with ½ cup water when the mixture cools off.

Heat oil in a kadai and then add ginger and garlic, and sauté it for a minute. Then add sliced onion and sauté it until it turns golden brown. Add curry leaves and the ground paste, stir it for 2 minutes. Add chili powder and salt mix it well and then add sliced tomato. Cover the kadai and cook for 5 minutes. Add the marinated chicken, again cover and cook for 30-35 minutes. Add water, only if required(I didn’t add water).

Uncover the kadai and cook until the gravy gets thick and the desired consistency.

Serve it hot with Roti/Rice.

Pazham Pori/ Ethakka Appam/Banana Fritters

Pazham Pori is a popular Kerala snack made with Nendrapazham/Ethapazham. The list of recipes which we can make with Nendrapazham is endless J Pazham Pori won’t taste good with any other type of banana. The preparation is quite simple and the result is mouthwatering.

Ingredients:

Nendrapazham/Ripe Banana – 4(the more ripe it is, the better)

Maida/All Purpose Flour – 1 cup

Rice powder – 2 tsp (to make the coating crispier)

Sugar – 4 tsp(adjust it according to the sweetness of banana)

Turmeric powder – a pinch

Salt - a pinch

Baking powder - a pinch(optional – I didn’t use it)

Water - to prepare the batter

Coconut Oil for frying

Preparation:

Peel the skin off and slice the banana lengthwise into 4 pieces, or you can also cut the banana into 2 halves and then slice it lengthwise. Mix all the remaining ingredients except oil to make the batter. The batter should be smooth without lumps and should have a medium consistency.

Heat the oil in a wok/frying pan. Dip the banana pieces in the batter and slide it into the oil. Fry both sides until it is crispy. Serve hot with a cup of tea.

Unniyappam/ Small Rice Cakes in Kerala Style

Unniyappam, a very popular sweet snack needs no introduction among Keralites. It is made in a special mould called unniyappa chatti, which gives it that particular shape.

Makes 35-40 appams

Ingredients:

Raw Rice Powder – ½ kg/500 gms

Jaggery/sharkara – 300 gms(slightly more than ¼ kg)

Palayankodan Pazham(ripe)  - 3

Black Sesame – 3 tsp

Coconut bits/ Thenga kothu – 5-6 tbsp

Cardomom powder – ¾ tsp

Water – for making a medium thick batter

Salt a pinch

Ghee/Coconut Oil for frying

Preparation:

Melt jaggery with 1 cup water and strain it to remove the impurities. Fry the sesame seeds in a pan(without oil) and wash it very well. Fry the coconut bits/thenga kothu as well and keep it aside. Puree the bananas in the mixie.

Mix all the ingredients except Oil/ghee to make a thick batter. Add water if necessary. Mix it very well with hands. Batter consistency must be almost like idli batter. Keep the batter overnight or a minimum of 6 hrs.

Heat Unniyappa chatti and fill Oil/ghee in each mould. Pour the batter upto ¾ th level. Fry it in medium heat and flip it to the other side when one side is cooked. Remove it from heat when both sides are golden brown. Drain it on a paper towel and serve warm.

Veggie Wheat Dosa/ Vegetable Gothambu Dosa/Nutritious Dosa

Wheat/Gothambu dosa is an easy nutritious breakfast that can be prepared in a short time. When vegetables are mixed with that, it adds up the nutritional value.

Serves – 2

Preparation time – 15 minutes

Ingredients:

Wheat flour/Atta – 1 cup

Onion – 1(small)

Carrot – 1 (small)

Ginger (finely chopped) – a small piece

Green chilies (finely chopped) – 2

Coriander leaves (finely chopped) – 2 strands

Salt to taste

Water to prepare the batter

Ghee/Oil to sprinkle

Preparation:

Prepare the batter by mixing all the ingredients except ghee/oil with required water. Heat the tawa/pan pour a spoon (tawi) full of batter and spread evenly. Sprinkle a little ghee/oil on the top. Cook both the sides for 2 minutes. Serve it with Nadan coconut chammanthi.