Chicken 65

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken- 500gm (Cut into small pieces. use boneless chicken if needed)
Ginger - 2" piece (Cut into small pieces)
Green chilli- 3 to 4(slit)
Curry leaves - 1 handsfull( 3 or 4 sprigs)
Oil- enough to deep fry the chicken
Butter - 2 tbsp
Tomato ketchup - 3 tbsp
Sugar - 1/2 tsp

Initial marination:
Lime juice - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste

For marinating:
Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Red food colour(optional)
Yoghurt - 1 tbsp
Tomato paste - 2 tsp ( If you do not have tomato paste, boil a tomato till its skin cracks. Cool it, peel off the skin and smash it. This becomes tomato paste)


DIRECTIONS:

1. First marinate the chicken with lime juice, turmeric and salt. Set aside for 10 mins.
2. Next, make a paste of the ingredients mentioned for marinating. Take half of this mix and marinate the chicken with it. Leave it for another 30 mins.
3. Deep fry the chicken. Make sure the chicken is cooked well.
4. In a pan, heat butter and 2 tbsp oil(oil used to deep fry the chicken).
5. Add the ginger, green chillies and curry leaves. Saute till the raw smell of the ginger goes off.
6. To it add the remaining half of the marinade. Cook for a minute.
7. Add the fried chicken pieces and cook for a 2 minutes.
8. Next, add the sugar and tomato ketchup. Mix well for another minute.
9. Adjust the salt and your chicken 65 is ready to be served!

Kerala style Baked chicken

INGREDIENTS:

Whole chicken - 1.2 lbs ( I used cornish chicken. It's a small chicken and sufficient for two people)
Lime juice - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp (reduce it according to your needs)
Coriander powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Pepper- 1/2 tsp
Yoghurt - 1 tbsp
Vegetable Oil - 4 tbsp
Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1. Marinate the chicken with lime juice and salt.
2. In a bowl, mix the remaining ingredients and rub it on the chicken. You can leave the skin on or take it off. In the picture, the chicken is baked with the skin on.
3. If marinade is too dry, add 1 or 2 tbsp of water.
4. Marinate it for minimum 15 mins. the longer the better.
5. Preheat oven to 375 deg F.
6. Grease the baking pan and place the chicken with breast side on top. Thisis because, it takes longer for the breast meat to cook.
7. Bake this side for 45 mins, then turn over the chicken and bake for another 20 mins.
8. After that, bake again for 15 mins with breast side up. Baking time may vary depending on the weight, so make sure that the chicken is cooked properly before you pop it out.
9. Also during baking, try basting the chicken with a little butter or with the juices that run out of the chicken. This will keep the skin moist.
10. As an added attraction, you can try filling the cavity with boiled eggs or steamed veggies!

Easy Appam (Rice Pancake)

This recipe is very simple and very very unlikely to fail. I have tried a lot of appam recipies that failed one after the other. But this one is a hit. It can never go wrong and does not have any complicated procedure. So go ahead and try and enjoy your appam!

INGREDIENTS:

Basmati rice - 1 cup
Boiled rice - 1 cup
Coconut milk- 1 cup (If you are lazy to grate the coconut and then take the milk, try using the coconut milk powder. Dissolve 4 to 5 tbsp of coconut milk powder in 1 cup of warm water)
Yeast - 1 tsp
Sugar - 2 tsp for grinding + some more before making it
Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1. Soak basmati rice in water for 3 hours.
2. Drain off the water and grind the raw rice in a blender by pouring required amount of coconut milk. Be careful not to pour the whole coconut milk. Sometimes, 1 cup of coconut milk will not be needed.
3. This should be done properly. Try to avoid tiny bits of rice in the batter.
4. Once this is done, add the cooked rice and pulse it. Pour coconut milk if necessary as the batter will thicken after putting the boiled rice.
5. Now add the yeast and sugar and pulse again.
6. Check for the batter consistency. Adjust it with the coconut milk.
7. Place the batter in the oven and turn on the oven light. This way the oven will be slightly warm which will help the batter to rise quickly.
8. Usually, it takes less than 4 hours for the batter to rise.
9. Adjust the salt and sugar before making the appam.

This batter makes 10 appams.

Tips for making appam:

Once the appam chatti ( pan in which appam is made) is hot, pour about 4 to 5 tbsp of batter into the center of the chatti. Keep it on the stove for about 5 secs. Then take it and swirl it around to make the lace. Cover and cook till the sides leave the pan and the bottom of the appam have become light brown in colour.

Kappa Erachi (Beef and Yuca root)

INGREDIENTS:

Beef- 1 lb
Onion- 1(chopped)
Ginger- 1 1/2" (chopped)
Green chilly- 3(slit)
Coriander powder- 2 tsp
Chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Garam masala- 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves- 1 sprig
Salt to taste

For the Kappa:
Yuca root/Tapioca/Kappa- 1 (medium size)
Turmeric - a pinch
Curry leaves- 1 sprig
Salt to taste

For tempering:
Shallots- 5(crushed)
Garlic- 3 cloves(crushed)
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Chilly powder- 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 tsp
Garam masala- 1/2 tsp
Coconut oil- 3 tbsp

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a pressure cooker, add the turmeric, chilli, coriander and garam masala powder and roast it till its color changes slightly. This process adds more taste to the dish.
2. Now add the roasted powder with the beef and also the onions, ginger, green chillies and curry leaves. Mix well and set aside for 10 mins.
3. Transfer the meat to a pressure cooker and put on a medium flame. Note that, the pressure cooker should be just covered by its lid and not locked. This allows the water from the meat to ooze out. Once the water comes out, lock the lid and cook for almost 3 to 4 whistles or till the meat is done.
4. In the meanwhile, cut kappa into small pieces and cook it in another vessel with suffiicient water to cover it, a pinch of turmeric, curry leaves and salt. Cook it till it is almost done. This kappa will go into the pressure cooker and will be cooked for a whistle, so make sure that it is not overcooked at this stage.
5. Once the kappa is almost cooked, drain away the excess water.
6. Add the kappa to the cooked meat. If there is not enough water remaining after cooking the meat then add about 1/2 cup pf water. But usually, there will be enough water that came out of the meat to cook the kappa. Now mix well and pressure cook it for 1 or 2 whistles.
7. Check if both the kappa and meat is cooked well. Usually at this stage the kappa will be a bit overcooked. This is how I like the dish. However, if you wish not to overdo it, then, cook it for a whistle.
8. In a pan, heat 3 tbsp of coconut oil. Add the shallots and the garlic and sautee it till the raw smell of garlic goes.
9. Now add the powders and fry it for a while.
10. Transfer the meat and kappa mixture into this pan and mix well.
11. Adjust the salt and turn off the flame.


This dish goes well with steamed rice, chapathi and appam.

Meen Varathu Paalupizhinjathu (Fish fry in a thick coconut gravy)

INGREDIENTS:

Fish- 4 [Karimeen(Pearl spot)/Pomphret/ Tilapia or any small fish/]

For the gravy:
Garlic- 4
Ginger- 1" piece
Green Chilli- 5
Onion-2
Coriander powder- 2tsp
Chilli powder- 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Garam masala- 1/4 tsp
Thick coconut milk- 3/4 cup
Cardamom - 5
Peppercorn- 2
Curry leaves- 2 sprigs
Vinegar- 1 tbsp

For marination:
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Lime juice- 1 tsp
Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Clean the fish. Do not cut it because this dish calls for the whole fish.
2. Marinate the fish with the ingredients mentioned for marination and set aside for 15 mins.
3. Shallow fry each fish until it is cooked properly. Be careful not to break the fish especially if you are using fish fillet. After frying, arrange them on a serving platter.
4. In a pan, sautee the onions, ginger, garlic and green chillies. Continue till the onions turn golden brown in colour.
5. Add the curry leaves and fry for a minute
6. Now put in all the powders(coriander, turmeric,chilli and garam masala) and fry it till the raw smell of the masala goes. This should take anywhere between 2 to 4 mins.
7. Next add the thick coconut milk. Make sure that the flame is reduced so that the coconut milk does not boil.
8. Crush the cardamom and peppercorn and add it. Stir well so that the spices blends well witht he gravy.
9. Lastly, add the vinegar. Let the gravy boil for sometime but make sure not for long otherwise the coconut milk will split. The gravy should be thick and not watery.
10. Pour this gravy over the arranged fish. This dish tastes awesome when it sits for a while after making it.

Pork Fry

INGREDIENTS:

Pork- 2 lbs
Garlic- 10 cloves(crushed)
Ginger- 2"piece(crushed)
Green chillies- 5(slit)
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Chilli powder- 1 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Pepper - 1 tsp
Salt to taste

For tempering:
Onion- 2(chopped)
Green chillies - 2(slit)
Curry leaves- 2 sprigs
Garam masala - 1 tsp + 1/2 tsp
Vinegar- 3 tbsp
Coconut oil


DIRECTIONS:

1. Clean and cut pork into small pieces.
2. Mix all the ingredients with the meat and set aside for 30 to 45 mins.
3. Now transfer the meat to a pressure cooker and put it on low flame. Place the lid on the pressure cooker. Do not lock the pressure cooker. The lid is simply placed on the top o the pressure cooker so that the steam does not escape.
4. Once the water starts oozing out from the meat, lock the pressure cooker with the lid and cook it for 2 whistles.
5. Check if the meat is done. If not, cook again keeping it open. The gravy should be thick by now.
6. Heat oil in a wok or frying pan.
7. Fry the chopped onion, green chillies and curry leaves. Allow the onions to caramelize.
8. Add the garam masala and fry for a minute or till the raw smell goes.
9. Now add the cooked pork and vinegar.
10. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp of garam masala.
11. Keep frying till the meat is well browned.

Easy Bitter gourd Fry (kaipakya/Kaipakka/Kaipakkai/Pavakka fry)

INGREDIENTS:

Bitter gourd- 2 small ones
Onion - half of a big onion(sliced)
Curry leaves- 1 sprig
Green chilly - 2(slit)
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Chilly powder - 3/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - enough or deep fry


DIRECTIONS:

1. Cut bitter gourd lengthwise and clean each half by scraping or cutting out the inside. After cleaning it, only the green part of the bittergourd will remain. Cut those into thin pieces.(Note that you should not cut it lengthwise)

2. Mix the bitter gourd with onion, curry leaves, green chillies, turmeric powder, chilly powder and salt. Set it aside for 15 mins.

3. Heat oil in a frying pan and deep fry it till it gets crisp and golden brown in colour.

4. Enjoy it with steamed rice.

Meen and Manga Curry (Fish with mango pieces)

INGREDIENTS:

For the curry:
Fish-1 lb (salmon/kingfish/tilapia)
Mango- Half of a raw mango(Adjust according to the sourness)
Onion- 1(thinly sliced)
Ginger- 1 1/2"(thinly sliced)
Green Chillies- 3(slitted)
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Chilly powder- 3/4 tsp
Coriander powder-1 tbsp
Curry leaves- 2 sprigs
Coconut oil- 3 tbsp
Thin coconut milk - 1 1/2 cup
Thick coconut milk - 3/4 cup
Vinegar-1 tbsp(or add according to the sourness needed)

For the tempering:
Shallots- 4(sliced)
Curry leaves- 1 sprig

DIRECTIONS:
1. Clean and cut into small pieces, about 2" inch size.
2. Cut the raw mango into long finger size pieces.
3. In a vessel(usually an earthen vessel), add the onions, ginger, green chillies, curry leaves, 1 tbsp coconut oil, salt and vinegar and mix well. Keep aside for 10 mins.
4. Next add the turmeric, chilly, coriander powder and the raw mango pieces to the onion mixture and mix well by using hand to rub the ingredients with the mango pieces. Set aside for 10 mins.
5. Now keep the vessel on fire and add the thin coconut milk. Adjust the salt according to your taste.
6. Once the mango pieces are almost cooked, add the fish pieces. Keep note that, fish does not take long to cook. So a window of 5 to 10 mins is sufficient.
7. After the fish pieces are cooked, add the thick coconut milk. Once the thick coconut milk is added, never boil or a long time. It is better to bring it to a boil once and the turn of the flame.
8. In another small pan, heat the remaining 2 tbsp of coconut oil. Add the shallots and the curry leaves and fry it till the shallots turn golden brown.
9. Pour this over the fish curry and mix well.
10. Enjoy this traditional fish curry with steamed rice.