Loaded Masala Oats

Ingredients:

1. Oats - 4 tbsp
2. garlic - 2 cloves crushed and chopped 
3. Mixed vegetable - 1 cup ( i used mushroom,amaranthus ,carrots,tomato,peas,onion,spring onion)
4. Water - 1 cup
5. chicken or vegetable bullion cube - 1
6. Corriander seeds - 1/2 tsp
7. cumin seeds - 1 pinch
8. black pepper - 1/4 tsp
9. fennel seeds - 1/4 tsp
10. salt - to taste
11. olive oil - 1 tbsp

Method:
place the oats on a flat plate and microwave for 1 minute to toast it or dry roast in a pan until toasted.
in a sauce pan add the olive oil and garlic and saute for a minute .
Add vegetable mix and saute until the vegetables get some color and start frying slightly.
add the bullion cube and water and bring to a boil .
once the water is boiling well reduce to a simmer and add the toasted oats.
cook for 3-5 minutes until the oats are cooked and just a little bit of water is remaining.
Serve hot with a squeeze of lime (if you do not add tomatoes) garnish with cilantro.
You can have it as breakfast /lunch/dinner

Indo Chinese Fried Chicken

Ingredients:

1. Chicken - 1 kg (use broiler chicken)
2. Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsp
3. Chilly powder - 2 tbsp
4. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
5. Vinegar - 2 tbsp
6. Soysauce - 4 tbsp (increase or decrease to taste depending on how salty the soysauce you use is)
7. cornflour - 3 tbsp
8. pepper powder - 1 tsp
9. curry leaves - 5 springs
10. Oil - 1 cup to fry

Method:

Add the chilly,turmeric,pepper powder , ginger garlic paste, soysauce and vinegar into a container .
Add in the chicken pieces and mix well.
Keep aside for an hour or up to 3-4 hours.
When ready to fry , heat oil to medium heat .
Add the cornflour to the marinated chicken and mix well.
Shallow fry the chicken pieces in hot oil with curry leaves - fry in batches and dont crowd the pan .

This helps the chicken stay crispy on th eoutside and moist on the inside.

Garnish with sliced Onion and Lemon.Serve hot as a snack or with rice/roti

Cornflakes Nanachathu

Imprinting is a term used to describe bonds that form biologically. An example would be young ducks following the mother hen: whatever the duckling sees moving within a few hours after they hatch, they follow, they will not imprint and follow anything they see before the critical period window or after the critical period.

As human beings we follow a somewhat similar behavior.That explains why there is  always a special place in our hearts for our childhood friends,food that we ate as kids, memories of the first movie we went to...All our first's always have a special place in our heart's. Now moving on to more important topics. Kellogg's Cornflakes holds that special place in my heart when it comes to breakfast cereals.There have been countless others through the years..but none could take the place of plain old Cornflakes.


















You can use cornflakes in many ways, here is a quick and easy evening snack which is one of my favorites. You only need 3 ingredients and if you have grated fresh coconut on hand, then it takes less than a minute to put it together.

Ingredients:

1. Cornflakes - 2 cups
2. Grated fresh coconut - 1 cup
3. Sugar - 4 tbsp ( add more or less to taste)

Method:
Add all ingredients to a bowl, crush gently with your hands. Enjoy!

Batoora with pancake mix

Pancake mix is a very versatile ingredient that can be used in a wide variety or recipes.You can use pancake mix for making waffles, crepes, as a batter coating to fry fish, meat, onion rings etc.You can use it in pie crusts, baking cookies, add to cake batter , use it for making Gulab Jamuns and even make the Indian bread Batoora.

















Ingredients:

1. Pancake mix - 2 cups (Use a mix that says just add water)
2. Water OR Milk - enough to make a tight dough
3. Oil - to deep fry

Method:
Add Water/Milk to the pancake mix and combine to form a smooth dough.
Knead it for five minutes and form into a ball and smear with oil and let it rest for 10 minutes.
Heat oil in a frying pan to medium high.
Form lime sized balls out of the dough and roll into 1/4 inch thick circles( like for poori)
Deep fry in hot oil and drain on paper towel.
Serve with chickpeas curry or any meat or vegetable stew.

Nadan Kozhi Curry

Ingredients:

1. skinless Chicken - 1/2 of 1 chicken cut into medium small pieces with bones
2. Onion - 2 medium chopped
3. Garlic - 8 cloves chopped
4. Ginger - 1 inch piece chopped
5. Green chillies - 2 slit
6. curry leaves - 2 springs
7. Kashmiri Chilly powder - 2 tbsp
8. Coriander powder - 2 tbsp
9. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
10. Vinegar - 2 tbsp (you can use 1 large tomato instead if you prefer)
11. Oil - 2 tbsp
12. Coconut Milk - 1.5 cups
13. Meat Masala - 1 tbsp (cardamom,cloves,fennel,cinnamon, pepper crushed together)

Method:
Wash and drain chicken pieces and keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan and add in the onion,ginger,garlic,green chillies and curry leaves and saute until the onion starts turning light brown.
Add in chilly,coriander,turmeric powders and meat masala and stir fry on a medium low flame until raw smell is gone.
Add in the chicken pieces, salt to taste and vinegar and mix well.
Cover and cook until the chicken is cooked through. Stir in between.
There is no need to add water ,the chicken will give out enough water and the curry tastes better when extra water is not added.
Pour in the coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Taste for salt, sour and spice.
Add salt, vinegar , pepper powder/slit green chillies to adjust.
Serve with Rice or Roti.This curry goes well with Kappa, appam , poori , idiappam etc.

Chicken and Vegetable Eggdrop soup

Sweet corn chicken soup is one of my favorite soups from an Indo chinese restaurant.The canned creamed sweet corn that you get here in the US is really sweet that the end result tends to be on the sweet side.SO instead of using sweet corn I have used vegetables here.

Ingredients:

1. Chicken Breast - 1 piece
2. Lime Juice - 1 tsp
3. Crushed black pepper - 1/2 tsp
4. Eggs - 1 whole
5. Chicken Stock - 3 cups (I used 3 herb-ox chicken bullion cubes dissolved in 3 cups of warm water)
6. thinly sliced vegetables - 1/2 cup (I used mushrooms ,baby corn ,carrots ,celery, shallots)
7. Corn flour - 3 tbsp dissolved in 1/4 cup water
8. Oil/butter - 1 tbsp
9. Soy sauce - to taste

Method:
In a pan place the chicken breast and add the lime juice and black pepper and salt to taste , pour in 1/2 cup water and cover the pan .Turn the flame on and let the chicken poach in the water for 15 minutes , turn it around every 5 minutes so that it cooks evenly.Remove the chicken from pan and keep aside to cool.
To the same pan add the 1 tbsp oil or butter and the chopped vegetables and saute until it is soft .
Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a boil .
Simmer for 10 minutes until the vegetables are cooked.
Meanwhile shred the poached chicken breast using 2 forks into thin long pieces and keep aside.
Break and beat the egg in a saucer until it is fluffy.
Bring flame to high and get the soup to a rolling boil.
Slowly pour  the beaten egg into the hot soup in a thin stream while stirring continuously in a circular motion- the egg protein cooks on contact with the hot liquid and forms strings that give the typical egg drop look.
Keep the soup boiling and pour in 3/4'th of the cornflour liquid and boil until it starts thickening.
If you like it thicker add the rest of the cornflour liquid.
Add the shredded chicken pieces and simmer for a minute .
Serve hot with chilly and soy sauce.

Beef Masala

Ingredients:

1. Beef - 2 lb cut into 1 inch cube(I used beef shank which is a tough cut of meat with some fat in it that can hold up to some long cooking time)
2. Onion - 1 large chopped
3. Tomato - 1 large chopped
4. Green chillies - 2 slit
5. Ginger - 1 inch piece chopped
6. Garlic - 8 cloves chopped
7. Curry leaves - 2 springs
8. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
9. Vinegar - 1 tbsp
10. Oil - 2 tbsp
11. Meat masala - 4 tbsp (I used Eastern meat masala - it contains all the spices including coriander,chilly,turmeric,pepper etc)

Method:
Add the meat, turmeric powder, salt to taste ,ginger, garlic,green chillies and vinegar to a pan and cover and cook until the meat is 3/4'th cooked (About 15 minutes)Keep this aside.The beef will give out enough water ,but if you feel it is getting dry add just enough water to keep it moist.
Heat oil in a frying pan and saute the curry leaves , onion and tomatoes.
Add in the Meat masala and stir fry until it is mixed well.
Add the cooked beef along with any gravy into the frying pan and mix well.
Cover and cook until the beef is tender(about 15 minutes) and the gravy is thick.
Serve with Rice , chappathi ,puttu , appam etc.

Hasselback Potatoes

Hasselbacks the Swedish version of baked potatoes are basically part-sliced potatoes which are rubbed with oil and seasonings and then baked.They make a  pretty impressive presentation and the crisp outsides and tender insides make them a delight in the taste department too.

Even though they look kind of complicated the only time consuming part with Hasselback potatoes is cutting the potatoes.Select even shaped Oval Potatoes for best results. If you find it difficult to hold them stable while cutting you can slice a thin piece off the bottom of the potato. Then lay them flat on a surface and then cut them into thin slices 2/3'rds of the way down leaving them intact at the base.

The cooking time depends on the size of the potatoes you choose.I used Medium sized Potatoes and had to bake them for and hour and 15 minutes in a 425 degree Oven to get them perfect.

Ingredients:

1. Potatoes - 4  (select oval shaped medium size potatoes and scrub them clean since the skin will be kept on)
2. Olive oil - 2 tbsp
3. Butter - 2 tbsp
4. garlic cloves - 2 thinly sliced
5. Salt and pepper - to taste

Method:
Scrub,wash and dry the potatoes with a paper towel.
Cut them into thin slices 2/3'rd of the way leaving the base intact.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking tray with aluminum foil.
Brush the potatoes with olive oil  and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Insert  thin slices of garlic into the potato slices and arrange the potatoes on the baking sheet .
Bake in  the oven for 50- 75 minutes or until the potatoes turn crispy and the inside is soft.
Baste the potatoes with Butter halfway through the bake time.
Serve with Grilled meat or Fish .

Kozhi Roast

Ingredients:

1. Chicken - 2 lb(1 kg) cut into big pieces (I used chicken drumsticks and left them whole)
2. Onion - 4 thinly sliced
3. Garlic - 10 cloves
4. Ginger - 1 inch piece
5. Chilly powder - 3 tsp
6. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
7. crushed Pepper - 1/2 tsp
8. Soy sauce - 3 tbsp (optional , using Soy sauce gives the gravy the dark brown color)
9. Vinegar - 2 tbsp
10. curry leaves - 2 springs
11. Oil - 1/2 cup

Method:
Make a paste of 1 tsp chilly powder , turmeric powder,1 tbsp vinegar and salt to taste and apply to the chicken pieces and keep aside for 30 minutes or few hours.
Make a paste of the Garlic,ginger,soy sauce and 2 tsp chilly powder using a blender adding few tsp of water if needed. Keep this paste aside.
Heat oil in a frying pan and fry the chicken pieces until they are light brown on the outside. The chicken does not have to get cooked , we are only browning the outside.Remove the chicken pieces from oil and keep aside.
Add the sliced onions into the oil and fry until it turns light brown.Remove with a slotted spoon and keep it along with the fried chicken pieces.
In the same pan check how much oil you have .Keep 2 tbsp in the pan and pour off the rest of the oil.
Add the curry leaves and ground ginger-garlic-chilly paste and pepper powder into the oil and stir fry until the raw smell is gone and the oil starts separating from the masala.
Pour in 1 cup of water and bring to a boil.
Add in the fried chicken and onions and mix well.
Cover and cook until the chicken is cooked and the gravy is thick.
Add more salt & Vinegar to taste.
The soy sauce and browned onions gives this gravy a dark color without being too spicy.
Goes well with rice, bread,Roti , appam etc.

Pressure cooker Beef Biriyani

Ingredients:

1. Basmati rice - 2 cups
2. Beef - 2 lb cut into large pieces
3. Curd - 3/4 cup
4. Water - 2 cups
5. Whole spices - 4 cardamom,2 cloves,1 bay leaf,1/2 inch cinnamon stick ,5 whole peppercorns
6. Onion - 2 medium large sliced thin
7. Tomato - 1 large sliced thin
8. Ginger - 1 inch piece crushed to coarse paste
9. Garlic - 1 pod crushed to coarse paste
10. Green chillies - 7
11. turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
12. coriander leaves - 1 cup chopped
13. Mint leaves - 1/4 cup
14. salt to taste
15. Ghee - 3 tbsp
16. Biryani masala - 1 tbsp (crush together cloves,cinnamon,cardamon,Fennel)

Method:
Marinate the Beef with 1/2 cup curd , and 1/2 of the crushed Ginger and garlic plus 2 slit Green chillies and turmeric powder.Add salt to taste and keep aside for 30 minutes.
Soak the Basmati rice for 20 minutes while the meat is marinating - drain and keep aside.
Heat Ghee in a pressure cooker and add the whole spices and  saute for a few secs.
Add sliced onions and saute until they start turning color about 8 minutes.
Add the remaining ginger and garlic and saute until raw smell is gone.
Add in the marinated meat and stir fry for 5 minutes.
Add the chopped tomatoes and saute until tomatoes are cooked.Add in the biriyani masala and remaining curd and the mint and coriander leaves and stir well.
Add in 2 cups of water and salt to taste and bring to a boil.
Add the drained Basmati rice and cover the cooker.
Once the steam starts forming put the weight on and keep on flame for 4 minutes (2 -3 whistles).
Turn the flame off and leave the cooker undisturbed for 25 minutes.By then the pressure would have released .Open the cooker and serve the biriyani hot with Salad, pickle and chutney

NOTE : The Beef we get in US takes very little time to cook.Adjust cooking times according to the type of meat you use.If you are using Goat meat you will have to precook the meat for 30 minutes (until it is 3/4'th done) before adding rice and pressure cooking.

Easy Fish Biriyani

Ingredients:

1. King fish/Seer fish/Nenmeen/Aikoora  steaks - 2 lb (You can use any meaty fish instead)
2. Chilly powder - 1 tbsp
3. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
4. salt - to taste
5. pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
6. vinegar/lime juice - 1 tbsp(to taste)
7. ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
8. Basmati rice - 2 cups(I use coffee mugs to measure)
9. Boiling water - 4 cups
10. Cardamom - 3
11. Cinnamon - 1 inch piece
12. Whole black pepper - 1/2 tsp
13. cloves - 3
14. bay leaf - 2
15. Ghee - 3 tbsp
16. Ginger - 1 inch piece
17. Garlic - 1 pod
18. Green chillies - 8
19. Onion - 4 thinly sliced
20. Tomato - 3 medium thinly sliced
21. Yogurt - 1/2 cup
22. Mint leaves - 5 stems
23. Cilantro/corriander leaves - 1 bunch
24. Oil - 1/2 cup (to fry the fish)
25. Rasins and cashews - to garnish

Method:
Make a coarse paste of ginger,garlic and green chillies and keep aside.
Marinate the fish steaks with a mixture of chilly powder, turmeric powder,pepper powder, gingergarlic paste,vinegar and salt .Let it marinate for up to 3 hours.
Wash and drain the basmati rice and add it to the boiling water along with the whole spices(cardamom,cloves,cinnamon,pepper&bay leaves) and Ghee.Add salt to taste.Cook the rice by absorption method and keep aside.
Heat oil in a non stick pan and shallow fry the fish steaks slightly - Do not fry until it is browned ,just a good sear is enough (about 7 minutes total).Keep the fish pieces aside.
In the same oil saute the ginger/garlic chilly paste until raw smell is gone.
Add in the sliced onions and saute until it is soft and wilted.
Add in the tomatoes and fry until it is cooked.Add in chopped mint and corriander leaves and stir fry for a minute.Add in the curd and mix well.
Slide the fried fish pieces into this pan and mix gently so that the fish pieces are coated with the gravy.
Cover and cook for 15 minutes.
Heat the Oven to 350 degreed F.
In an oven safe dish add a layer of rice followed by a layer of fish masala followed by a layer or rice and so on until the whole mixture is used up.
Cover and bake for 30 minutes.Garnish with fried cashews and rasins.
Serve with boiled egg, Raita and pickle.

Dragon Chicken

Ingredients:

1. Boneless chicken – 1 lb cut into cubes
2. Cornflour – 4 tbsp
3. Egg white – of 1 egg
4. Pepper powder –  1/2 tsp
5. Soy sauce – 2 tbsp + 1 tbsp
6. Vinegar - 1 tsp
7. Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
8. Bell pepper - 1/2 cup diced (I used green and red)
9. Onion - 1 diced
10. Tomato Ketchup - 1 tbsp
11. Oil - 1/2 cup
12. Spring Onion - 2 stalks
13. Crushed red pepper flakes - 1/2 tsp
14. Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp(optional)

Method:
Add the cornflour,egge white,pepper powder, 2 tbsp Soy sauce, vinegar and  Ginger garlic paste to the chicken pieces and marinate for 30 minutes.
Heat oil in a frying pan and fry the chicken pieces and keep aside.
Pour out most of the oil and keep about 1 tbsp in the pan and add in the diced onion, bell pepper and spring onion and saute for 2 minutes.
Add in chilly powder, 1 Tbsp Soy sauce ,tomato ketchup , crushed red pepper flakes and any remaining marinade from the chicken and stirfry for another 5 minutes.
Add in the chicken pieces and mix well.
Serve hot garnished with spring onion.
It goes well with Fried rice or as a snack with drinks.

Skillet Beef Kabob

Ingredients:

1. Beef - 1 lb cubed (I used Sirloin , you can substitute with any tender cut that is well marbled)
2. Shallots - 10 peeled
3. Lime juice - 1 tbsp
4. Sirracha sauce(chilly sauce) - 1 tsp
5. Honey - 1 tsp
6. Soy sauce - 4 tsp
7. crushed pepper - 1/2 tsp
8. garlic  powder - 1/2 tsp
9. Olive Oil - 3 tbsp
10. Italian seasoning - 1/2 tsp (dried oregano and thyme)
11. Dried pepper flakes - 1/2 tsp
12. Onion powder - 1/2 tsp

Method:
Soak bamboo skewers in water for 1 hour and keep aside.
Add all of the ingredients into a zip lock bag or a dish and mix well.
Refrigerate for couple of hours.
Thread the meat and shallots on the skewers.
Heat a large cast iron skillet(You need a large pan that can accommodate the length of the whole skewer , or use smaller skewers) on high and place the kabobs on it and cook/saute/grill .If it starts sticking to the pan you can add a bit of oil , but generally the fat in the meat and the olive oil in the marinade should be sufficient.

NOTE : What I did wrong here :) -  having the shallots at the end of the skewer made the kabobs look good , but it was a pain to grill them .The shallots being bigger than the meat pieces acted like a pillar and prevented the meat pieces from touching the skillet .I had to literally press each skewer down with a spatula to get it grilled.

Lemon Rice

Ingredients:

1. Cooked Basmati rice - 4 cups
2. Limes - 2
3. Green chillies - 4
4. Urud dal - 1 tbsp
5. Cashews - handfull
6. Peanuts - handfull
7. Oil - 2 tbsp
8. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
9. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
10. Curry leaves - 2 springs
11. Salt - to taste
12. Dry red chillies - 2 broken
13. Onion - 4 tbsp chopped

Method:

Add oil in a frying pan (large enough to hold all the ingredients) and heat it.
Add in the mustard seeds and when they splutter add the peanuts, cashews, dry red chillies, urud dal and stirfry until gloden brown.
Add in the curry leaves,green chillies, turmeric powder and chopped onion and saute for 2 minutes.Turn the flame off.
Add the cooked rice into the pan and Stir in salt to taste and sprinkle the limejuice.
Add a bit more lime juice than you think you need because the rice will absorb it and the tanginess will be reduced.

Chicken Fried Rice

Fried Rice is a great way to use up leftover bits of vegetables, meat and eggs in the refrigerator.You can use whatever veggies and meats you have on hand.
Some tips on making the perfect fried rice.
#1 - Always Use rice that has been cooked and refrigerated .Freshly cooked rice is moist , soft and sticky which is a big no for fried rice.
If you want to make fried rice and don’t happen to have day-old rice on hand, you can cook and cool the rice and only the proceed to make fried rice.
#2 - Instead of salt use Soy sauce to season the rice and vegetables.
#3 - Cook on high heat

Ingredients:

1. Cooked Basmati/Biriyani/Jasmine Rice - 3 cups
2. Bell pepper - 1/2 of a medium cut into small pieces(I used red)
3. Spring Onion - 1 bunch chopped
4. Onion - 1/2 chopped
5. Ginger - 1/2 tsp grated or crushed fine
6. Garlic - 4 cloves grated or crushed fine
7. Cabbage - 1/4 cup chopped
8. Carrots - 1/4 cup chopped
9. Beans - 1/4 cup chopped
10. celery - 1 stalk chopped fine (optional)
11. Eggs - 3
12. salt - to taste
13. Pepper - to taste
14. Soy sauce - to taste
15. Chicken breast - 1 whole
16. Sambal olek - 2 tbsp (optional)
17. Vinegar - 1/2 tsp
18. Oil - 3 tbsp

Method:
Add the whole boned-skinned chicken breast and the 2 tbsp of sambal olek/chilly sauce to a pan and add 2 tbsp of water and cover and cook until chicken is cooked (About 10 minutes).
Shred this chicken with 2 forks or cut into small cubes and keep aside.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a wide nonstick pan/wok and add in the ginger and garlic and stir fry until fragrant.
Add in the chopped onion and stir fry for a minute.
Add in the rest of the chopped vegetables and enough Soy sauce to taste and stir fry on high flame for a minute.
Push the vegetables to the side of the pan and add in the 1 tbsp oil to the pan.
Break in the eggs and sprinkle salt and pepper and scramble in the center of the pan until the eggs are cooked.
Stir in the veggies and add the cooked rice to the mixture and stir well.
Add more soy sauce to taste (until the salt is balanced) , add in the vinegar and few pinches of crushed pepper.
Add in the cubed/shredded chicken and mix well.Stir fry on a high flame stirring constantly until the rice is warmed through and turns toasty.
Serve hot.

Tomato Pepper Chicken

Ingredients:

1. Chicken - 2 pounds cut into small pieces (skinless but with bones)
2. Tomatoes - 4 sliced
3. Onions - 3 sliced thin
4. Pepper - 1 tbsp crushed
5. Green chilly - 3 slit
6. Chilly powder - 2 tbsp(mix of spicy and kashmiri chilly, if using spicy variety reduce accordingly )
7. Coriander powder - 2 tbsp
8. turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
9. Ginger - 1 inch piece chopped
10. Garlic - 1 pod (15-20 cloves)peeled and chopped
11. Curry leaves - 2 springs
12. meat masala - 1 tbsp (cardamom,fennel,cinnamon,cloves - crushed to a coarse powder)
13. Oil - 4 tbsp

Method:
Wash and drain the chicken and keep aside.
Heat oil in a frying pan and add in the sliced onions and salt to taste, fry until it is light brown.
Add in the crushed pepper, meat masala, coriander powder, chilly powder and turmeric powder and saute for 5 minutes on low flame.
Add in the tomatoes and curry leaves and saute until tomatoes are cooked and oil starts separating.
Add in the chicken pieces and salt to taste and stir well.
Cook covered on meduim flame for 15 minutes.
Remove lid and stir , add in the slit green chillies, if the chicken has too much gravy - cook it in an open pan until it thickens and the chicken is cooked through and the gravy is thick.
Serve with rice or Roti.

Beef Curry with Potatoes

Ingredients:

1. Beef - 2 lbs
2. Green chillies - 3 slit
3. Vinegar - 2 tbsp
4. Garlic - 1 pod peeled and chopped
5. Ginger 1 inch piece chopped
6. Salt - to taste
7. Meat masala crushed - 1 tbsp (mixture of 3 cardamom, 3 cloves, 1/2 inch cinnamon,1/2 tsp fennel seeds, 1/2 tsp pepper)
8. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
9. Potato - 1 big peeled and cubed
10. Onion - 2 chopped
11. Tomatoes - 1 chopped
12. Coriander powder - 2 tbsp
13. chilly powder - 1 tbsp
14. Oil - 2 tbsp
15. Coconut milk - 1 cup (optional)

Method:
Add the beef,1 chopped onion,green chillies, meat masala, vineger, turmeric powder , salt to taste, ginger and garlic to a pan and mix well.
Cook this covered on medium for 15- 20 minutes without adding water.The meat will give out enough water , if you feel it is too dry add in 1/4 cup water and cook .
When the beef is 1/2 cooked add in the diced potatoes and continue cooking until the meat and potatoes are cooked.
At this point you can keep the meat in the refrigerator for up to a week , and make the curry at a later time.
Heat oil in a frying pan and add the rest of the chopped onions fry until slightly brown.
Add in the corriander and chilly powder and saute until raw smell is gone.
Add in the tomatoes and saute until tomatoes are cooked.
Add in the cooked beef and curry leaves and mix well.
Add 1/2 cup water or the coconut milk to the pan in wich you cooked the beef swirl it around and get all the bits of beef gravy and pour it into the beef mixture and bring to a simmer.
Serve with Rice, appam,chappathi , idiappam etc.

Thakkali Peera / Tomatoes with grated coconut

Ingredients:

1. Tomatoes - 5 cut into big slices (You can use ripe tomatoes or a mix of raw and ripe tomatoes)
2. Shallots - 5 sliced
3. Green chillies - 8 slit
4. Grated coconut - 1.5 cups
5. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
6. salt - to taste
7. Curry leaves - 2 springs

Method:
Mix all the ingredients together in a clay pot or a pan ,add half a cup of water and cook covered for 10 minutes.
Remove the lid and if there is too much gravy , simmer until the gravy is reduced.
Serve with rice and fish fry.

Kutti Appam / Podi Appam

This is a very easy Appam that tastes great and can be made with very little effort and quickly . You don't have to ferment the batter overnight  .
Ingredients:

1. Rice flour - 1 cup
2. Uppuma rava/Sooji - 1 cup
3. Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
4. Cooked rice - 1/2 cup
5. Sugar - 3 tbsp
6. Yeast - 1 tsp
7. Salt - to taste

Method:
Add the yeast into 1/2 cup of very warm water(not hot - it will kill the yeast) add a TBSP of sugar and stir and keep aside.
Grind together the grated coconut and cooked rice with 1/2 cup water.
Add the rice flour and sooji into a big container( the batter will raise to 2 times its volume)and add in the remaining sugar, ground coconut rice mixture , yeast water and mix well without forming lumps.
Add just enough water to get a thick idili/pancake consistency batter.
Keep this batter covered in a warm spot for 3 hours .
Add salt to taste and mix well.
Heat a pan and smear with a few drops of oil and pour in a ladle of batter like you would for pancakes or dosa and cook until you see holes on the top.Flip over and cook for an additional minute.
Serve with any stew .

Blackened Tilapia

Ingredients for the blackened seasoning rub can be mixed together and stored for later use.

1. Chilly powder - 2 tsp
2. paprika - 1.5 tbsp(you can use kashmiri chilly powder instead)
3. Garlic powder - 1 tablespoon
4. onion powder- 1 tablespoon
5. dried oregano - 1 teaspoon
6. dried thyme - 1 tsp
7. ground black pepper - 1 teaspoon
8. salt - 2 tsp
9. turmeric - 1/2 tsp

Ingredients for the blackened Tilapia recipe

1. Tilapia fillet - 3
2. Blackened seasoning - 3 tbsp
3. Vegetable oil or melted butter - 3 tsp
4. Lime - 1/2 of 1

Method:
Wash and dry the Tilapia fillet with a paper towel.
Lay them on a plate and squeeze some lime juice over it.
Spread the blackening seasoning on a plate and coat the fish pieces with it.
Heat Oil in a non stick pan until it is very hot.
add fillets and cook for 3 minutes per side.
 Remove from pan and serve.