Sweet Toffees

Ingredients

Sugar -1 cup
Salted butter -1 cup
Crushed roasted nuts – ½ cup
Chocolate chips(optional) – 1 cup

Preparation

Melt sugar and butter in medium flame.
Stir slowly with a wooden spoon.
When it turns amber in colour, spread
on a butter paper and sprinkle
crushed roasted nuts.
Draw squares on the toffee
with a knife to break into desired shape.
Store air-tight.

Can add semi –sweet chocolate chips on the toffee
before cooling and spread it .

Sweet Rice( pachoru)

This recipe may be known to everyone.
I just wanted to share it .
A nostalgia that connects to the nercha
Of our Tripunitura st. Mary’s feast.
Tamuku nercha or pachoru nercha (payasa choru).
After long hours of service on the feast day,
A dollop of pachoru was an instant energy
Packed with sweetness helped us to walk back home.


Rice -3cups
Coconut grated -1cup
Milk -1cup
Jaggery (molasses) -1 ½ cup
Cardamom powder -1tsp
Clarified butter(ghee) -1tsp
Thinly sliced coconut -1tsp

Preparation

Cook rice. When it is well cooked, add milk and
Grated coconut. Stir continuously. In quarter glass of water
melt and strain jaggery(molasses). Pour this syrup into
the rice mixture. Stir till it is almost dry. Turn off the flame.
Fry thinly sliced coconut and add to this sweet rice.
Sprinkle powdered cardamom and serve cold.





One of my friends wo visit me daily. Three squirrels,two pigeons
and two bulbuls are regulars. Morning 7 ‘o’ clock is breakfast time
for them. Sharp 6.30 a.m the bulbuls will be calling for me.
Others will be impatiently walking up and down for
fresh water and food.

Thank You for the birds that sing,
Thank You ,God,……….

Easy Prawn Biriyani

Prawns -1 cup
Onions -2
Green chilli -3
Ginger -3inch
Garlic -7
Chilli powder -1 tsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Corriander leaves -3 tbsp
Mint leaves – 2 tbsp
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
Curd -1 cup

Oil to fry
Ghee -2tbsp optional
Bay leaves -1
Cardamom -10
Cinnamon sticks -1 tbsp
Cloves - 6
Cashew nuts -10
Raisins -1 tbsp
Biriyani rice -3 cups

Preparation

Keep a vessel on low flame. Pour oil ,bay leaves
And half of the given cloves ,cardamom and cinnamon.
Pour enough water and put thoroughly washed rice.
When the rice is ¾ cooked drain the water.
When you break a single rice , you can see a
White spot in the middle. That is where you have
to stop cooking.

In a wok sauté the remaining cardamom, cinnamon,cloves,
Cashew and raisins , scoop it out and fry thinly sliced onions.
Keep aside fried onions and remaining oil separately to use later.

Make a fine paste of ginger and garlic.Chop finely mint and coriander leaves.
In the wok add 2 tbsp of the remaining oil and 1tbsp ghee, half
of the fried onions, spices and nuts.
Mix in it chopped mint and coriander leaves,
ginger ,garlic paste, turmeric and chilli powder,lime juice and curd,
salt and prawns. Top it with cooked rice, remaining fried
onions, spices and nuts.
Pour on this , 2 tbsp of oil and 1 tbsp of ghee.
Cover it with a lid and keep on
low flame for about 8 minutes.
See that the gravy has not dried out fully.
Serve it with fresh salad in curd ,lime pickles and papad.

Butter Cookies (Nankatai)

Diwali is a festival of lights and sweets.
This Nankatai will surely add a distinct flavour to your
Diwali this year.
Many times my friends call up and ask for some easy recipes;
Here is an easy one…..

Ingredients

Flour (maida) – 1 ½ cups
Unsalted butter - 1 cup
Sugar _ 1 cup
Crushed Cardamom - ½ tsp
Pistachios to garnish

Preparation

Powder sugar and keep aside.
Take out butter from the fridge.
See that the butter does not melt.
As the butter reaches the correct
temperature to kneed with the flour,
mix well all the ingredients
into a smooth dough.
Roll this into small lemon size balls.
Press these balls gently one by one
in your palm; do not press it flat.
Keep a pista piece on each cookie.

In hot and humid climate ,
if you keep butter for long in
room temperature it melts and
you will have to add more flour.
which will make your cookies more hard.

Pre-heat oven at 180 degrees C for 10 minutes.
Place the nankatai in a pan; no need to grease the pan;
There shall be space between two cookies as it tends to
expand while baking.

Now, keep the pan with the butter cookies in the oven
for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, take out the pan and slowly overturn the
Cookies to cool.
Store the cookies air-tight in a cookie jar.

Cinnamon Chicken

Traditionally, all good recipes are passed on to the
new generations by mothers ; I learnt this wonderful
recipe from my mother in law; and my daughters
Leah and Merin keep up the tradition of making this
Cinnamon chicken in our family get-togethers .
Here, I am sharing this very personal recipe
to you, young ladies…

Ingredients

Chicken – 1 kg
Onions- 6 nos(big)
Potato – 5 nos (big)
Red chilli powder – 1 tbsp
Kashmiri chilli powder – 2 tbsp
Cinnamon powder - 1 ½ tbsp
Pepper powder – 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - ½ tsp
Lime juice - 1 tbsp
bread crumbs - 1 cup
Water - ½ glass
Oil to fry

Preparation

Marinate chicken previous day or for  an hour in chilli, cinnamon,
Pepper, turmeric salt and lime juice.

Take the chicken pieces from the marinate, roll in
bread crumbs and pan fry it on  both sides
for each side a minute.

Add half glass of water and pressure
cook the chicken in gravy for 20 minutes.
Separate chicken from
gravy and keep aside.
peel and slice onions and potatoes
in round shape.

Keep a wok on medium flame. Pour oil for deep
frying potatoes. Deep fry potato slices until
golden brown and keep aside. In the same wok,
remove excess oil and saute onions until
golden brown. In a non stick pan, pour 2 tbsp of oil
and fry chicken pieces to golden brown.

Now mix fried potatoes, onions,
chicken pieces and gravy into the pan.
Add sufficient salt to taste and keep on medium
flame till gravy thickens.

Serve hot with rice or chappatis.

Tips

1. Avoid over cooking chicken,
or else the chicken pieces will
lose its shape while frying.
2. Onions and potatoes should not be
sliced very thinly.

Glazed Chocolate Cake

This chocolate cake is the most loved and relished cake in our family!!
It is soft and yummy and I make it very often as it is in great demand during all seasons and occasions.

Ingredients:

Butter- 1 cup
Brown sugar- 1 ½ cups
White sugar- 2 ½ cups
Eggs- 4 nos
Flour (Maida) - 3 ½ cups
Dark Cocoa powder- 4 tbsp
Baking powder- 3 tsp
Salt- a pinch
Vanilla essence - 2 ½ tsp
Curd - 1cup

Ingredients for glazing the cake:

Chocolate chips- 1 cup (250 ml)
Instant coffee powder -1 tbsp
Water- ½ cup
Powdered sugar - 1 tbsp
Rum – 2 tbsp
Butter - 1 tbsp

Preparation

Powder white sugar and brown sugar in a grinder.
Take a bowl and mix this powdered sugar with butter
and beat till it becomes very smooth.
Separate egg whites from egg yolk; add egg yolks into the bowl
and mix well to make it fluffy and soft.
Beat the egg whites till it is stiff and frothy.
Add this to the bowl and blend gently.
Sift flour, cocoa and baking powder thrice.
Add the flour to the sugar, butter and egg mixture
spoon by spoon; make sure that you
mix the flour gently so that there are no lumps.
Pour the curd in between, in little amounts and
fold the mixture slowly. Repeat this many times
so that the air gets into the mixture.
Add vanilla essence and salt and mix well.

Pre heat the oven in 180 degrees for 10 minutes.
Take a large pan and grease it with butter and dust with flour.
Now , pour in the cake batter. Level the batter in the pan
by swirling it and then pat the pan gently to remove the trapped air .
Now bake it for 45 minutes at 180 degrees.
Take the pan out from the oven; insert a skewer in the center of the cake
and remove to check whether it has come out clean without
anything sticking on to it. Run a knife around the cake
and transfer the cake on to wire mesh to cool it.
You can glaze the cake when it is cool.
Glazing the cake
In a double boiler add water, coffee and sugar powder.
As it simmers, add chocolate chips and stir it till it melts and thickens.
Remove it from fire; and then add rum.
As it cools, blend in butter; now you can pour the glaze over the cake.

Tips

1. All the ingredients used in the preparation of the cake should be fresh and should be in room temperature.
2. Use only unsalted butter available in market. Do not use homemade butter as it contains more moisture.
3. Baking powder should be freshly purchased and used well within the expiry date.
4. While beating the egg white, add a drop of lime juice which helps them to hold their stiff peaks.
5. Medium tea cups are used for measurement in this recipe.

Travancore Fish Red Curry ( Meen Vevichathu )

Meen vevichathu is very much a southern Kerala
Christian dish , red and hot .
Our children call it meen red curry.

Among the Syrian christians of southern Kerala,
four days prior to the wedding day i.e if the wedding
is on a Sunday, four days before on Thursday, is the day for
kalunattal (the first pole is planted to make a pandal), moru kachal
(buttermilk curry), and meen vevikal. It is a small funtion when
elderly ladies of the family and neighbourhood assemble
in the kitchen and start cooking with their expert hands, which is
enhanced with a pinch of laughter, and a dash of gossip. The
outcome is a perfect meen vevichathu and moru kachiyathu
which are the indispensable dishes in a Christian sadhya.
Other items are kozhi curry,beef fry, fish fry, thoran ,
pachadi, avial ,poovan pazham and hot jeera water
on a hot summer after noon .
The wedding sadhya is complete.

Fish pieces - ½ kg
Chilli powder -3tbsp
Kashmere chilli powder-2tbsp
Turmeric powder -1tsp
Shallots -4tbsp
Garlic -2tbsp
Ginger grated -2tbsp
Fenugreek (methi) -1tbsp
Curry leaves -bunch
Kudampuli -6
Coconut oil -7tbsp
Earthenware(chatti)
Nothing in this recipe is optional.

Skin the fish and cut into medium pieces. Put some salt
and keep aside for 15 minutes; then wash and drain it.
(it is important to skin the fish, or else a white substance
from the skin, changes the colour and taste of the curry)
Seer fish (neymeen) is the most suitable fish for this curry.
Neymeen looks like tuna, but has white meat.

In a chutney grinder, put chilli powder turmeric powder,
1tbsp shallots (sambar onions), 1tspgarlic and a pinch
of salt. Grind it into a fine paste. Kashmere chilli is
not hot ,it just gives colour.

Cut finely shallots ,garlic, ginger and keep aside.
Wash curry leaves ; do not remove the stem.
Fry fenugreek (methi/ uluva) and powder it in
a pessel and mortar.

In a wok on low flame, pour 3 tbsp of coconut oil
and add the sliced shallots, garlic and ginger.
Stir till it turns golden brown.
Add 1 tbsp oil and then add chilli paste and
stir continuously, till oil comes out see that it
is not burnt. Mix the fish in chilli paste
with a lighter hand, and keep aside.

Keep a chatti on low flame, pour 3 tbsp of oil and
swirl the chatti So that oil is coated all around.
Now lay the curry leaves criss- cross,
in the chatti and keep on it washed and cut kudampuli pieces.
Again layer the fish pieces coated in chilli paste.
On the fish pieces keep again Kudampuli pieces,
and on top curry leaves. Pour water to immerse the
contents and keep on low flame till the oil floats.
Sprinkle the methi powder.

Now your favourite red fish curry is ready.
Serve it with rice.

During marriages, this chatti is kept on low flame every day,
And by the wedding day the whole gravy will be drunk by the
Fish pieces. Very little gravy will be left behind.

Meen vevichathu with kappa(tapioca) is the best combination
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