Paneer tikka tacos

        After coming to USA, I started to explore all type of cusines. One thing which is close to Indian food and taste is mexican. They serve tacos,burritos and quesadillas. My favorite is tacos (both soft and hard tacos). Tacos are made of corn or flour. They topped it with meat or beans also but with onion,sour cream,lettuce and spicy sauces which will satisfy our Indian taste buds. I like to create a indian version of it which can be eaten by any Indian food loving person. In Indian version, I choose roti, as it is prepared often in our homes. To get well with it, I made paneer tikka masala which is the apt combination for roti. To merge both together i applied mint yogurt chutney to give a kick to this dish.

Ingredients:

Paneer marination ingredients:

Paneer cubed - 150 gms 

Curd/yogurt - 1/2 cup

Coriander powder/தனியா தூள் - 1 tbsp

Kashmiri Chili powder / காஸ்மீரி மிளகாய் தூள் - 1 tsp

Salt /உப்பு - Required

Turmeric powder/ மஞ்சள் தூள் - little/சிறிது

Garam masala/கரம் மசாலா - 1 1/2 tsp

Jeera powder/ சீரக தூள் - 1 tsp

Mint yogurt chutney:

Mint/புதினா - 1 cup

Coriander leaves/கொத்தமல்லி தழை - 1 cup

Green chili/ பச்சை மிளகாய் - 1

Ginger/ இஞ்சி - 3 small pieces

Jeera powder/சீரக தூள் -1/4 tsp

Chaat masala/சாட் மசாலா - 1/4 tsp

Salt - as required

Water - little

Paneer tikka masala Ingredients:

Oil -2 tbsp

Jeera / சீரகம் - 1 tsp

Onion / வெங்காயம் - 1/2 finely chopped

Tomato/தக்காளி - 2 big

Ginger garlic paste/இஞ்சி பூண்டு விழுது- 1 tsp

Salt/உப்பு -as required

Chili powder - 1 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder/தனியா தூள் - 1 tsp 

Turmeric powder/மஞ்சள் தூள் - 1 tsp

Color capsicum - 1/2 cup

Big onion-1/2 cubed

Kasuri methi/உளர்ந்த வெந்தய இலை - 1 tsp

Garam masala - very little

Coriander leaves- few

Recipe:

Step 1 : Paneer marination:

1.Add all the ingredients under marination section,mix well and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Step 2: Mint yogurt chutney

1.Prepare hung curd by tying the regular curd in muslin or cotton cloth and hang it to drain all the water.

2.Grind the other ingredients in the mint chutney section and add it to hung curd .( Add little water if needed).

Step 3: Paneer tikka tacos preparation

1.In a kadai, add 2 tbsp oil and add jeera to splutter.

2.Then add finely chopped onion and to that add ginger garlic paste. After Sautéing  for few minutes,add grinded tomatoes to onion and cook till oil separates.

3.Once oil separates,add marinated paneer  ,capsicum and onion to the mix and cook for 7-8 minutes.

4.Finally add crushed kasuri methi,garam masala and coriander leaves. Mix and switch off flames.

Step 4: Prepare phulka/roti/chappathi

1. Prepare chappathi without oil and finally add oil on top .

Step 5: Final preparation 

1. Before serving,place chappathi on a plate,on top spread thick mint yogurt chutney( Else it will runny while eating). Place the paneer tikka tacos on top and finally place raw onion or vinegar soaked onion on top and garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

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Adai

                                       My mom used to prepare this adai when i was in hometown,but she used to prepare it as dosai instead of adai. Recently my mind was thinking to prepare some different variety of dosa. I have tried pesarattu, tomato dosa,mysore masala dosa,utthapam, but i havent tried an adai. So finally i decided a date and prepared this adai for dinner. I prepared three variations of adai in this adai batter, each has its own taste. I prepared kara chutney and coconut chutney for this adai. The small piece of adai dipped in kara chutney and then coconut chutney,taste yummier than other combination. Initially, I hestitate to prepare this because adai will be too thick and along with dhal,it will be so heavy and family members may get angry on me( Because my husband and my son don't like idli,uttapam varieties) But after preparing this adai with slight variation ,they love this adai.


Ingredients:

Idli rice - 1 cup
Raw rice - 1 cup
Toor dhal - 1 tbsp
Urad dhal -  1 tbsp
Moong dhal - 1 tbsp
Channa dhal - 2 tbsp
Red chilli -  5
Hing - a pinch
Curry leaves - 3 tbsp
Salt - as per taste
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Small onion - 5
Drum stick leaves - 1/4 cup(optional)

Recipe:

* Soak rice,dhal,curry leaves and red chilli for 4 hrs.
* Chop small onion into small pieces.

1.Grind all the ingredients along with jeera ,hing,salt and very little water. Grind it into coarse paste. Add onion, 2 minutes before stopping the mixie/grinder.The onion should not be smashed completely and also should not be in thick pieces.The adai batter should be little bit thick . Add drumstick leaves and mix well.
2.Take a thick wide tava,heat it in slow flame and  sprinkle some oil on top. Take a big scoop full of adai batter , pour it in center of the tava and slowly spread out . Spread out for 1/2 inch thickness.
3.Make 3 or 4 holes on adai and sprinkle some oil on holes and around adai. Cook in slow flame for 3 minutes.
4.Once the adai turn brown downside,turn it to other side. Once again sprinkle some oil on holes and around adai.Cook till the adai is crispy and slightly brown in color.

         Serve hot with coconut or kara chutney.

Note:

* While serving kids, u can pour little water to the batter and make it thin and prepare dosa instead of thick adai.( i love that taste too). For spicy lovers, we can sprinkle some idli milagai podi on top and sprinkle some chopped onion and cilantro and serve.
* To make adai more crispier and brown, add butter finally, to toast both side.

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Stir fried egg noodles with vegetables and sesame seed

                                         I have been to few Chinese restaurants. I am big fan of brown rice fried rice and chow mien noodles.The blanched vegetables combined with sauces gives a different taste to normal fried rice and noodles. Crunchy vegetables and perfect cooked rice and noodles is awesome. We always used to order spicy for any type of  Chinese dish.(Even after that ,we used to mix chili sauce to make it extra spicy) I haven't tried or thought of trying it in home.But finally,i decided to give a try but prepare it in my own way. I prepare this dish using egg noodles,blanched vegetables and sauces.

Ingredients:
Egg noodles -  1 packet
Onion - 1 big
Garlic - 5 cloves
Ginger - 1 " piece
Vegetables - 2 cup( Brocoli,carrot,beans,green pepper)
Spring onion - 3 tbsp
Sesame seed - 2 tbsp
Olive oil - 3 tbsp
Chilli sauce - 2 tbsp
Soy sauce - 1 1/2 tbsp
Tomato sauce - 2 tbsp

Recipe:
* Chop carrot,beans and green pepper lengthwise.
* Chop onion legthwise.
* Chop garlic and ginger into very fine pieces.
* Dry roast sesame seed and keep it in a bowl.

1.Take a big vessel and pour water(enough water to cook noodles) in it. Add 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp olive oil and bring it to boil.Once it is boiled, add egg noodles. Cover and cook for 10 minutes(Cook as  per instruction given in packet).Once it is cooked ,drain the water and wash it with cold water and drain again. Transfer it to a bowl.
2.Take a big vessel,again pour water in it and add salt. Bring it to boil. Once it is boiled,add chopped vegetables and cook uncover. Just cook for 3 minutes and drain water and keep it in a plate.
3.Take a wok,add olive or sesame oil. Once it is hot,add chopped garlic and ginger. Fry it and add onion.Fry till the onion is cooked and still crunchy. Now add all vegetables and sauces. Mix well and add enough salt. Stir well and cook for 2 minutes. Now add cooked egg noodles. Stir and mix well. Finally add chopped green onion and roasted sesame seed. Give a toss and serve it in a plate along with ketchup and chili sauce.

Note:
* We can also add zucchini,,mushroom and cauliflower.
* We can also use normal noodles to prepare this dish.
* Don't over cook the vegetables, crunchy vegetables give good taste to this dish.
* Those who don't like sesame seed,can avoid it.
* Don't add more soy sauce. It will give bitter taste to the dish.

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Thayir semiya

                                  Kids love this dish,as it is not spicy and also it has creamy texture. Kids loves noodles, but feeding same noodles again and again,make them feel bored. So i used to prepare atta noodles, spaghetti,veg noodles,egg noodles. Recently i added new dish to it, that is thayir semiya. First my son hesitate to have (Thinking it as normal curd rice)but after 2 or 3 feed,he loves the taste. Even me and my husband love it. Generous amount of curd have to be added to make more tastier.


Ingredients:

Vermicelli/semiya - 1 cup
Curd - 1 1/2 cup
Green chilli - 3 no
Mustard seed - 1 tsp
Broken urad dhal - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 2 tbsp
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp
Cashew - 7 no
Salt - 1 1/2 tsp

Recipe:
* Boil 3 cups of water and add little salt to it and boil it. Once it boils, add vermicelli and cook for 5 to 10 minutes.
* Chop green chilli lengthwise.
* Broke cashew into half and fry it in ghee and keep aside.
                 
                                In a kadai,add oil. When it is warm, add mustard seed and broken urad dhal.Once mustard splatter, add green chilli and curry leaves. Fry for a while. Add cooked vermicelli , thick curd,salt and coriander leaves.If needed add little milk and mix well. Finally add fried cashew and serve it hot or cold.

Note:
* I cooked vermicelli separately because it gives a different taste.
* Also add fried raisin to thayir semiya,if needed.

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Nombu kanji

               This is one of my unforgettable dish ,which i had during my childhood days.My neighbour muslim patti used to send me this nombu kanji along with yummy masala vada without fail every two days once during ramadan month. Me and my brother used to have it hot hot with vadas. Till i was in india, i used to get it every year without fail. After coming US, i missed it. I got the recipe from my muslim friend and tried it. It came out perfect .


Ingredients:

Basmati rice - 1 cup
Pasiparuppu - 1/2 cup ( moong dhal)
Onion - 1 big
Carrot - 2
Beans - 7 no
Green peas - 1/4 cup
Green chilli - 3 no
Pattai - 1 " piece
Kirambu - 2 no ( cloves)
Ginger - 1 " piece
Garlic - 4 no
Putina - 1/2 cup (Mint leaves)
Kothamalli - 1/2 cup  (clantro)
Tomato - 1 big
Salt - 2 tbsp
Water - 5 1/2 cup

Recipe:

* Chop onion lengthwise.
* Chop tomato into lengthwise pieces.
* Chop mint and coriander leaves.
* Smash garlic and ginger using hand grinder or ammi kal.
* Chop all vegetables in big pieces.
* Soak rice and dhal for 15 minutes.

1. In a cooker, add enough oil and warm it up. Add pattai and kirambu,fry for awhile.
2.Add onion,green chilli,smashed ginger and garlic. Fry till onion is translucent.
3.Add tomato,mint,coriander leaves,chopped carrot and beans, green peas.Give a good stir.
4. Now add soaked rice and dhal. Add enough salt and water. Give a stir and taste for salt. If salt needed, add now and stir it.
5.Close the cooker lid and leave it for 3 or 4 whistle.After 4 whistle, open the lid and check the consistency. It is should me semi solid.Some used to have in liquid form and some like to have it in little thick consistency.If the kanji is not smashed well, smash it with spatula. Serve hot with vada or bonda.

Note:

 * This is vegetarian version, non vegetarian can add chicken keema to it.
 * This is similar to veg biryani but only thing is we don't add any masala powder to it.

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Kara kolukattai

This is my brother's favorite dish.My amma used to make this often .This will be default dish when my brother visit hometown. We make this dish during vinayagar chadurthi festival . We make sweet kolukattai and spicy kolukattai , but without adding onion .

Ingredients :

Raw rice - 1 cup
Idli rice - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1 big
Green chilli - 4 no
Curry leaves - 4 stem
Coriander leaves - 3 stem
Channa dhal - 2 tbsp
Mustard - 1 tbsp
salt - as per taste

Recipe:

*Grind both rice together with enough salt.The consistency should be slightly thick but not like idli batter and not watery.
*Chop onion and green chilli into pieces.
*Chop coriander and curry leaves.

In thick heavy bottom pan or non stick pan,add oil.When it is slightly hot,add mustard. Once mustard started to splatter, add channa dhal and curry leaves. Fry for awhile. Channa dhal should become crunchy. Now add onion and coriander leaves. Fry till onion get cooked. Now pour the rice batter slowly. Keep the stove flame medium while pouring. Using a spatulla,slowly stir it ,till it become hard and starts to cook.The batter will stick to the bottom of the pan,no problem.slowly stir it for 3 to 4 min. It is not necessary that it should be cooked fully ,as we are going to steam it. Once cooked,switch off the flame and transfer to a bowl.Take small portion of the dough and make it into cylindrical shape and place it into a plate.Once all are done.Take a idli pan or idli cooker and place slowly the kollukattai in idli thattu . Once placed ,close the idli pan lid and stem for 10 minutes. After 10 mintes, take a skewer or any sharp object and poke kollukattai. when removing the skewer from kollukattai,it should come out easily without any batter attached to skewer. Now Kollukattai is ready.

Note :
 *This dish go well with coconut chutney and raw onion chutney.
*This dish need patience because we need to stir it without taking hand,else lumps will be formed .
* When you feel difficulty to make shapes,wipe your hand with water and make shapes.

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Sutta kathirikai pachadi ( Smoked baingan raita)

I loveeeee kathirikai.I love to have it as poriyal,chutney,fry or any form. I love to try any new dish which relates to kathirikai. When I was searching for new recipes online,I came across this recipe which is appetizing. I tried it and had it with chappathi. It is yummy and diffrent than normal raita. We can say it as combination of chutney and curd.

Ingredients :

Big kathirikai(baingan or egg plant) - 2
Curd - 1 cup
Onion - 1 big( preferbly white onion)
Green chilli - 3
Coriander leaves - 3 stem
Curry leaves- 3 stem
Mustard seed - 1/2 tbsp
Broken urad dhal- 1 tsp
Red chilli- 2
Asafoetida - a pinch
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

Recipe:

* Coat kathirikai with little oil all over. Pierce the kathirikai in bamboo skewer or sharp object which wont melt in fire and place it directly on stove flame. Turn the skewer often ,so that kathirikai get roasted in all sides. Once the kathirikai is roasted well,drop it in water. So that it is easy to peel the skin. Smash it well.
* Chop onion and green chilli into very fine pieces.
* Beat the curd and keep it ready.
* Chop coriander and curry leaves.

Take a bowl,add smashed kathirikai,chopped green chilli,onion and coriander leaves.Mix well. Now add the curd and salt,Mix it well. Take a kadai,add oil and add mustard,broken urad dhal,hing ,red chilli,turmeric powder and curry leaves. Once mustard splatter and urad dhal become crunchy,add this tampering to the curd mix. Mix well. Raita is ready.

Note:

* Those who have electric stove,can bake kathirikai in oven.
* Those who don't like raw smell of kathirikai,can cook it while tampering and add to curd mixer.

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Masala egg noodles

After coming to US,i tried many type of noodles. Though each has its own flavour,i love maggie.My all time favorite. My husband by mistake bought maggie atta noodles while grocery shopping . My assumption so far is ,atta noodles wont taste good,but this spicy masala wheat noodles is tastier than normal maggie noodles.


Ingredients :

Maggie atta noodles - 1 big
Onion - 1 big
Green chilli - 2 no
Green peas - 1/4 cup
Egg - 2
Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup
Salt - as per taste

Recipe:

* Chop onion and green chilli lengthwise.
* Take water in a pan and add salt ,little oil.Boil it.Once it comes to boiling point,add dry noodles.Cook till it is little hard but cooked. Don't overcook . After strain the water from noodles,spread the noodles in a plate and keep aside for 20 minutes.

In a kadai,add enough oil,mustard seed.Once splatter,add green chilli. Fry till green chilli skin slightly change color. Now add onion. Fry till it soft and crunchy.Now add masala powder in the packet and fry . Break two eggs and add directly to it. Stir till egg is cooked and coated with masala,if needed can add a pinch of turmeric powder to it.Add cooked green peas and little salt now.Fry for sometime and add cooked noodles.Slowly without breaking the noodles,stir it.Finally garnish with coriander leaves(optional).

Notes:

* Cooking noodles separately will remove the wax in the noodles.
*Spreading the noodles in a plates,makes the noodles to be separate and not stick to one another.
*Masala packet in maggie already contain small pieces of vegetables,so adding green peas is optional.

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Maravalli kizhangu poriyal(Tapioca curry)

In my childhood,i used to go to my periamma house in kerala for school leave.she use to make many yummy kerala speciality foods like avial,pineapple pachadi,appam..... one of my favourite dish is kanji with kappa(maravalli kizhangu) poriyal.It taste yummy.After my marriage,i came to know my husband like it a lot.After coming to US,intially we missed it because we dont know where it is available,later we came to know it is available in American supermarkets.My husband is more happier than me.so monthly once i used to prepare this dish.


Ingrediants:

Tapioca(maravalli kilangu) - 1 big
Onion-  2 no
Red chilli-5
channa dhal-2 tbsp
Mustard seed-1 tbsp
Broken urad dhal-1/2 tbsp
Hing-a pinch
Curry leaves-4 stem
coriander leaves-3 stem
Turmeric powder-1 tsp
Salt- as per taste
coconut-2 tbsp

Recipe:

* Chop Tapioca into half
* In pressure cooker pour enough water(Tapioca should submerge) ,place Tapioca inside and add turmeric powder and half amount of salt in it.
* Pressure cook for 3 to 4 whistle.Drain the water immediately and transfer Tapioca to another bowl.Else the longer the Tapioca in water,it makes it to become more soft and mussy.
* Peal the skin of Tapioca using knife and chop it into small small pieces.
* chop onion into small piece(not very small)

In kadai,add enough oil and add mustard ,broken urad dhal.When it splatters,add channa dhal ,curry leaves and red chilli.Fry till channa dhal is crispy.Now add hing.The aroma of hing will fill the kitchen.Now add onion.Fry till it is crunchy.(Crunchy onion and crispy channa dhal makes this dish more tastier).Add enough salt(remind,half amount salt is added while cooking Tapioca remaining salt can be added now).Add the boiled chopped Tapioca and give a stir.Once the onion mixer mixed with Tapioca add coconut (optional) and coriander leaves.Yummy tasty maravalli kizhangu poriyal ready.


Notes:
*You can serve this poriyal either with kanji or even for variety rice.
* when you are cooking kizhangu,it should not be cooked more.when it is cooked more than 5 whistle.The kizhangu will become soft and mixed with water leaving stem alone.
* Those who don't like chana dhal,can avoid it. But having maravalli kizhangu with crunchy onion and crispy channa dhal give a maja taste.
*The kizhangu should not be watery when adding to onion mixer because it make the dish to become mussy and look like potato masala which we prepare for puri.so when kizhangu is boiled,transfer it in another bowl and rest  it for atleast half an hour,so that it will be become dry.

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