Prawns in Coconut Milk Curry / Eral Thengai Pal Curry

Today am gonna share one of my MIL's recipe which I just love to the extreme, yes, it tastes very delicious, y not delicious when it's cooked with full of coconut milk that is simmered to get the best taste out of it. Guys, do it once, u'll fall in love with this curry. She also makes the same curry with goat brain, prawns and cauliflower. Vegetarians may try this dish with cauliflower as I've already tasted all the versions and each one has it's own flavour. I love to have with rice but u may also have it with roti, but keep in mind to add red chilli powder if the want the curry to be spicy. For this measurement u'll get a mild curry. This time I's in a bit hurry, so clicked all the pics in a rush..Njoy ppl..

How To Make Prawns in Coconut Milk Curry

Prep Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2 to 3 | Cuisine : Indian
Author : Shanavi | Copyright : www.kitchensecretsandsnippets.com

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Ingredients:

1. Prawns/Shrimp - 250 gms, cleaned - de-veined
2. Shallots - 5 to 8 nos, depends on the size
3. Green chillies - 2 nos, slit -open
4. Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
5. Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp
6. Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
7. Salt - to taste
8. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
9. Lemon juice - 1 tsp 
10. Oil - 1 1/2 tsp
11. Curry leaves -  a sprig
12. Coriander leaves - a handful
13. Coconut Milk

               a) Third milk - 1/4 cup

               b) Second milk - 1/3 cup

               c) First milk - 3/4 cup

Method:

•  Add a pinch of salt and lemon juice to the cleaned prawns and marinate for 10 minutes.
•  Finely slice the shallots and crush it after u chop the shallots. Slit open the green chillies.
• Heat the oil in a sauce pan , add the finely sliced n crushed onions to the hot oil and fry until it turns translucent. Throw in the curry leaves as well.
• Add the ginger garlic paste , fry well until it is fried well. Then add in the red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and fry well for 30 secs in medium low flame, take care not to burn the masala.
• Now add in the third coconut milk to the seasoned ingredients and keep the flame as low as possible. Add the required salt as well.
• Simmer the gravy for 3 minutes. Later add in the second coconut milk to the gravy and combine well.
• As usual simmer the gravy for 5 minutes on a very low flame, at any point do not increase the heat as it will curdle the coconut milk.
• Later add in the first coconut milk , mix well to combine. Again simmer the curry for 6 minutes on a very low flame.
• By now, the curry might have been slightly thick, add the marinated prawns around this stage , combine well and let the curry simmer again for 5 minutes on a very low flame. Add the coriander leaves at last, mix well and switch off the stove.

Notes:

• First of all, the curry has to cooked only on simmer mode, at any point of time do not raise the flame/heat, it will definitely spoil the dish and the curry will definitely curdle.
• This curry alone takes at the least 20 minutes to make, so plan accordingly.
• Do NOT DUMP ALL the 3 MILK at once, u should follow the exact method to get the perfect curry, believe me it taste so good.
• Though the end result might looks slightly curdle, like in the pic, it is not. This is the correct texture one should look for while making this curry. 

Cheers,
Shanavi

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Coconut Kozhukattai / Thengai Kozhukattai

Coconut Kozhukattai / Thengai Kozhukattai : Steamed rice flour dumplings with freshly shredded coconut and jaggery inside as the filling.

How To Make Coconut Kozhukattai

Prep Time : 15-20 mins | Cooking Time : 12 mins | Serves : 3 to 4 | Cuisine : Indian

Author : Shanavi | Copyright : www.kitchensecretsandsnippets.com

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Ingredients:

1. Rice flour - 1 cup
2. Water - as needed ( might need from 1 1/4 cups to 2 cups, depends on the rice flour)
3. Salt - to taste
4. Oil - 1 tsp + to grease the palm 

For the filling / Poornam :

1. Shredded fresh coconut - 3/4 cup
2. Jaggery - 1/3 cup, powdered , add acc to taste
3. Cardamom powder - a pinch
4. Salt - a pinch

 Method:

For the filling :

• Add the jaggery to pan with little bit of water just enough to cover and dissolve it on medium low flame. When it is fully dissolved, filter the syrup to remove the sand or any impurities.
• Transfer the syrup back to the sauce pan and give it a boil. Throw in the fresh coconut , keep on stirring until the water is gone and becomes semi dry. Add the cardamom powder, a tsp of ghee and mix well. Switch off the heat and transfer the contents to a bowl. Let it cool for few minutes.
• Divide the filling into marble sized round one's on a tray.

For the outer layer :

•  Take the rice flour in a wide bowl. In a sauce pan boil the water (as needed) with enough salt, oil and bring them to a boil.
• Add this boiling water little by little to the rice flour and using a back side of a wooden ladle, mix it thoroughly. Add the water until u feel it's enough to get a soft dough.
• Cover the bowl for a minute. Later grease ur palm and start kneading the dough , forming a soft dough. Cover the dough with the damp cloth else the dough son becomes dry on it's outside.

Making Kozhukattai :

• Grease both the palms, pinch a small lemon sized dough and start flattening the dough from inside to outside in circles. This way, u'll be able to get a evenly thick circle. Place the filling in the middle and bring all the edges to the middle and just press it to look like as modakam, like as shown here.
• Add an inch level of water to the idli maker (bottom pan) , keep on medium flame. In the mean time, grease the idli plates and place the modakam / kozhukattai one by one ad keep inside the idli maker. Cover and cook for 10 to 12 minutes on medium flame.
• Open the idli maker , take out the idli plates, rest for 5 minutes, then remove the modakam and serve cold for Neivedyam.

Cheers,
Shanavi

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Eggless Butterless Mango Cake / Mango Cake

I've recently joined a group for baking called Home Bakers Challenge started by Priya of PVR, the first challenge was pizza, which is my family's fav but unfortunately I's not able to be a part of that month's challenge, still I regret for that. This time I's keen on participating , yet again had some problems as this month's challenge is Mango Chocolate Marble cake, in my house nobody likes chocolate cake and pattern cakes. This month's host is Sangee didi  and she had put forth a nice challenge as well. So I had to make the cake simple, plain and hence made a yummy mango cake which is egg less and butter less..It tasted really really yum, guys check out this recipe if you happen to be a mango lover..

How To Make Egg-less Butter-less Mango cake

Prep Time : 5 to 7 mins | Cooking Time : 25-30 mins | Serves : 2 to 3 | Cuisine : International

Author : Spicytreats | Copyright : www.kitchensecretsandsnippets.com

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Ingredients 

1. All Purpose flour - 1 cup
2. Baking powder - 3/4 tsp
3. Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp
4. Salt - 1/8 tsp
5. Sugar - 1/2 cup
6. Oil - 5 tbsp
7. Mango - one medium sized ripe mango
8. Milk - 2 tbsp
9. Buttermilk or Yogurt - 2 tbsp
10. Nuts - mix of roasted nuts to sprinkle on top

Method

• Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit and Grease & line the pan with parchment paper. 
• Cube the mangoes and grind them fine to get fresh mango pulp and keep aside in a bowl. If u use store-bought, ad 1/2 cup of mango pulp for this measurement.
• To the mango pulp, combine sugar, oil, milk, yogurt, buttermilk and mix well.
• In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder & salt mix and now add this flour mixture to the mango-milk mixture and mix until everything combine well. 
• Then pour the batter on the already prepared baking pan  and tap the pan to level it evenly, top it with roasted nuts and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Notes:

•  Reduce the quantity of sugar if u use store-bought mango pulp.
• This cake din't rise much so no worries, just check the bake for perfect baking, like golden brown on top and the tooth pick inserted in the middle should come out clean without any batter sticking on to it.

Cheers,
Shanavi

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Prawn Masala Using Curry Leaves / Karuvepillai Eral Masala

Today am gonna share one of my favourite recipe with favourite ingredient, which is Prawn/Shrimp. The list might seem long, but it is very simple to make. Trust me, there is one marination part, grinding part and as usual chopping part of onions/tomatoes. This tastes extremely delicious that sea food lovers like me, will finish it in a jiffy. I tell you, there will be only a HINT of curry leaves flavour, that no one can predict the addition of curry leaves in this recipe. U may also use coconut oil for an extraordinary taste. Slurp. Take a look at my preparation , give this recipe a try.

How To Make Prawn Masala With Curry leaves

Prep Time : 30-60 mins | Cooking Time : 15 mins | Serves : 3 to 4 | Cuisine : Indian

Author : Shanavi | Copyright : www.kitchensecretsandsnippets.com

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 Ingredients:

1. Onion - 3/4 cup, finely chopped
2. Tomato - 1/2 cup, chopped
3. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
4. Turmeric powder - a pinch
5. Red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp, used  kashmiri red chilli powder
6. Coriander powder - 3/4 tsp 
7. Salt - to taste
8. Curry leaves - a sprig 
9. Fresh green/red chillies - 2 nos.
10. Oil - 2 tsp

For marination :

1. Prawns/Eral/Shrimp - 1/2 kg, cleaned and de-veined
2. Lemon juice - 1 1/2 tsp
3. Turmeric powder - a pinch
4. Red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
5. Fennel seed powder - 1/2 tsp
6. Salt - a pinch
7. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp 
8. Coriander leaves - a handful

Dry roast :

1. Cinnamon - small piece
2. Cloves - 1 no.
3. Cardamom - 1 no.
4. Bay leaves - 1 no.  

To grind:

1. Coconut - 1/3 to 1/2 cup, acc to ur preference
2. Curry leaves - 2 sprigs, around 1/2 cup, loosely packed
3. Dry roasted whole garam masala spices from above

  Instructions:

• Marinate the cleaned prawns with ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, fennel seed powder, salt and lemon juice. Mix well to combine and let it rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

•  Dry roast the whole garam masala one by one until it gets hot to the touch and let it cool for a minute and grind it with coconut and curry leaves to a fine paste. Keep aside.
•  Heat a kadai with 2 tsp of oil and fry the onion until it sweats and turns transparent. Add in the ginger garlic paste and  fry well for another one minute. Add in the chopped tomatoes, green chillies, curry leaves, salt (remember the marinated shrimp already has some salt) and mix well wwith the masala. Cover the kadai and cook for 2 minutes on medium low flame so that the tomato breaks and gets cooked with the masala.
• Now add in the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder and stir together the contents for a minute .
• It's time to add the ground paste , so add the ground paste to the masala and combine well. Add little water  to the mixie jar to wash out the remainings of the ground paste and add to the masala.
• Cover and cook the contents for 2 to 3 minutes on medium low flame until it reaches the gravy consistency also the raw smell of the curry leaves fades away.
• Finally dump in the marinated prawns, combine well with the gravy. Do not stir often. Cook the prawns for exactly 4 to 5 minutes, by now the gravy would have released the oil on the surface and the prawns would have cooked to perfection. Throw in the coriander leaves, mix well , rest for a minute and serve the curry hot with rice/roti's.

Notes:

• Do not add more than 2 sprigs (longer sprigs) for the quantity mentioned here, else it will be over powering of curry leaves.
• The cooking time of prawns totally depends on the size of the prawns u r using, usually bigger shrimp/prawns will take 4 to 5 minutes and the eral/small one's takes little less time to get cooked to perfection.
• Do not cook the prawns more than 5 minutes as it will turn rubbery.
• U may skip dry roasting the whole spices and add the garam masala powder instead.

Cheers,
Shanavi 

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Peanut Kozhukattai / Verkadalai Kozhukattai

 Peanut Kozhukattai / Verkadalai Kozhukattai : Steamed rice flour dumplings with peanut and jaggery inside as the filling.

How To Make Peanut Kozhukattai

Prep Time : 15-20 mins | Cooking Time : 12 mins | Serves : 3 to 4 | Cuisine : Indian

Author : Shanavi | Copyright : www.kitchensecretsandsnippets.com

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Ingredients:

1. Rice flour - 1 cup
2. Water - as needed ( might need from 1 1/4 cups to 2 cups, depends on the rice flour)
3. Salt - to taste
4. Oil - 1 tsp + to grease the palm

For the filling / Poornam :

1. Peanuts / Verkadalai (dry) - 1/2 cup
2. Shredded fresh coconut - 1/4 cup
3. Jaggery - 1/2 cup, powdered , add acc to taste
4. Cardamom powder - a pinch
5. Salt - a pinch

Method:

For the filling :

• Dry roast the peanuts on a low flame until it turns golden and crispy, about 5 minutes. Rest the peanuts on a plate to cool for 2 to 3 minutes. Then remove the skin.
• Add the peanuts to a mixer jar and give a whip . Now add the powdered jaggery, a pinch of salt and again give a whip. Throw in the fresh coconut , grind the whole mixture for few seconds so that it grinds and becomes slightly coarse. Remove the jar and transfer the peanut mixture to a bowl. 
• Add the cardamom powder, mix well with the poornam. The filling will be slightly wet. Keep aside and get ready with the outer cover preparations.

For the outer layer :

•  Take the rice flour in a wide bowl. In a sauce pan boil the water (as needed) with enough salt, oil and bring them to a boil.
• Add this boiling water little by little to the rice flour and using a back side of a wooden ladle, mix it thoroughly. Add the water until u feel it's enough to get a soft dough.
• Cover the bowl for a minute. Later grease ur palm and start kneading the dough , forming a soft dough. Cover the dough with the damp cloth else the dough son becomes dry on it's outside.

Making Kozhukattai :

• Divide the filling into marble sized one's on a tray. Grease both the palms, pinch a small lemon sized dough and start flattening the dough from inside to outside in circles. This way, u'll be able to get a evenly thick circle. Place the filling in the middle and bring all the edges to the middle and just press it to look like as modakam, like as shown here.
• Add an inch level of water to the idli maker (bottom pan) , keep on medium flame. In the mean time, grease the idli plates and place the modakam / kozhukattai one by one ad keep inside the idli maker. Cover and cook for 10 to 12 minutes on medium flame.
• Open the idli maker , take out the idli plates, rest for 5 minutes, then remove the modakam and serve cold for Neivedyam.

Cheers,
Shanavi

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Lemonade

Lemonade : A chilled refreshing drink for everyday, a must esp during the summer time. Slurp..
Happy Weekend guys. 

Lemonade : How To Make Lemonade

Cooling Time : 30 to 60 mins | Cooking Time : 5 mins | Serves : 3 to 4 | Cuisine : Indian

Author : Shanavi | Copyright : www.kitchensecretsandsnippets.com

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Ingredients :

1. Sugar - 1/3  to 1/2 cup, acc to taste
2. Water - 1/2 cup, for syrup
3. Cold water - 1 1/2 to 2 cups
4. Salt - a pinch
5. Lemons - 3 nos, ( bigger lemons like the one's we get in US)
6. Mint Sprigs - 2 nos.

** we need 1/2 cup of lemon juice , so use many lemons to get the 1/2 cup of filtered juice.

Method:

• Add the sugar, salt  and 1/2 cup water in a sauce pan and heat in a low flame until the sugar dissolves completely. This is nothing but simple syrup.
• Add the filtered lemon juice, simple syrup in a pitcher / juice can and mix thoroughly. Now add the cold water , mix again. Refrigerate until it is served. Pour the chilled lemonade in a tall glass, add ice, mint sprigs, lemon wedges and serve.

Linking this simple lemonade to Nayna's Let's cook with Citrus Fruits event. Check out her event page as well as her space for some exciting recipe..
 

Cheers,
Shanavi

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Goat Blood Poriyal

Today's post is only meant for hard core non - vegetarians, yes, for some this post may looks/sounds weird, I tell u, if u don't feel comfortable just skip this post. My mother cooks all organs of goat including this blood poriyal and my memories recollects remembering eating everything wrt goat , as we r a hard core mutton lover. 

Also, I's once the sick kid in my family and my family did everything they could to boost my weight, health by means of intakes, and so I remember eating everything right from brain fry, to paaya..But this is not the way my mom prepares it, though she adds fennel seeds, onion, channa dal, but the process of making is different. This is my first attempt of making blood poriyal..hope u guys like it.

                                                                 ** Click on the pic for better view

Blood Poriyal : How To Make Goat Blood Poriyal

Prep Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 15 mins | Serves : 3 to 4 | Cuisine : Indian

Author : Shanavi | Copyright : www.kitchensecretsandsnippets.com

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Ingredients:

1. Goat blood - 1 box
2. Ginger garlic paste - 1 1/2 tsp
3. Channa dal - 1/4 cup, soaked 
4. Onion - 2 medium sized onion, finely chopped
5. Green chillies - 1 no, finely chopped
6. Fennel Seed powder - 1/2 tsp
7. Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp
8. Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
9. Salt - a pinch
10. Curry leaves - a sprig
11. Oil - 2 tsp

Method:

• Add little bit of water, say about 1/4 cup of water to the coagulated blood and cook it separately for 5 minutes.
• Drain the water, rest for few minutes and then smash the cooked blood into pieces and keep aside.
• Heat a pan with2 tsp of oil and fry the onion until it sweats thoroughly. Next add in the ginger garlic paste and fry again for 2 minutes on medium flame until they are fried well.
• Next add in the green chillies, curry leaves and saute for a minute. Now add in the soaked channa dal to the seasoning mixture and saute well until it gets cooked thoroughly.
• Add in the fennel seed powder, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt ( a pinch, remember the blood already contains salt) to the mixture and fry well for 2 minutes until the raw smell is gone.
• Dump in the crumbled blood pieces and mix well to combine. Cover and simmer the mixture for another 2 to 3  minutes until it gets blend with the masala and the water is gone ( the blood will ooze out water)
• Switch off the fire when the blood poriyal becomes dry, but not so dry and serve hot.

Cheers,
Shanavi

 

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Baked Papdi / Papri recipe

 Baked Papdi / Papri :  Papdi / Papri is nothing but mini puri's used in many chaat items. Generally they make mini puri and fry them in hot oil, just like any normal puri. To save some time , to cut down some calories, I've opted this baking version where the task is very simple for us. The main technique for the baking version is rolling the dough as thin as possible to get it crispy like chips. Will be using this papdi to make bhel puri and papdi chaat ..So stay tuned..

How To Make Baked Papdi

Prep Time : 20 mins | Baking Time : 10 mins | Serves : 2 | Cuisine : Indian

Author : Shanavi | Copyright : www.kitchensecretsandsnippets.com

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Ingredients:

1. Wheat flour / Aata - 1/2 cup
2. Ghee / oil - 1/2 tsp
3. Salt - to taste
4. Water - as needed

Method:

• Take the wheat flour in a bowl and add the ghee or oil. Mix with the flour thoroughly. Now add the salt and mix well.
• Slowly add the water little by little and make a firm dough, not soft dough. Cover and rest the dough for 10 to 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 200 deg C.
• Pinch a small lemon sized dough and roll into thin (really thin) roti. Using a cookie cutter , cut them to 1 1/2 " circles.
• Prick the circles with fork everywhere to stop them from getting puffed up during baking.
• Place the pricked circles in a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
• Remove the tray from the oven and let it cool until it comes down to room temperature. Stack them in the air-tight container and use as required. 

Cheers,
Shanavi

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Indian Style Macaroni with grilled vegetables

 Indian Style Macaroni : I make this very often for my brunch when I ran out of ideas what to make for the day. The main highlight of this dish is adding grilled vegetables, with hints of pav bhaji masala on every bite. Tastes delicious, try this once and share ur views.. Again this pic was taken almost 2 years ago and so this is from my drafts..

 

Macaroni : How To Make Indian Style Macaroni With Grilled Vegetables

Prep Time : 15 to 20 mins | Cooking Time : 5 to 7 mins | Serves : 3
Cuisine : Indian / International

Author : Shanavi | Copyright : www.kitchensecretsandsnippets.com

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Ingredients:

1. Macaroni - 1 cup  { I've used mixed like shell type n elbow macaroni }
2. Onion - 1/2 no. finely chopped
3. Tomato - 1 no, pureed
4. Garlic - 1/2 tsp, minced
5. Tomato paste - 2 tsp
6. Turmeric powder - a pinch
7. Kashmiri red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
8. Pav bhaji masala - 1/2 tsp, optional
9. Coriander powder - 1 tsp
10. Salt - to taste
11. Curry leaves - a sprig
12. Oil - 1 1/2 tsp

To marinate:

1. Veggie's of ur choice - 1 cup  { I've used Broccoli, Carrot, Beans }
2. Yogurt - 2 tbsp
3. Kashmiri red chilli powder -  1/2 tsp , add acc to ur taste
4. Turmeric powder - a pinch
5. Salt - to taste
6. Garam masala powder - a pinch
7. Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp

Method :

• Wash the veggie's , dry them. Cut the veggie's into big chunks or bite sized pieces. In a bowl add the yogurt, kasmiri red chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt, garam masala powder, ginger garlic paste, mix well to form a paste. Dump in the veggie's and mix well with the masala. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.
• Heat a dosa pan with very little oil and place the veggie's one by one. Grill the veggie's one by one until it is cooked thoroughly, flipping side to side. Take the cooked and grilled veggie's and gather them in a plate.
• Cook the macaroni according to the instructions given on the back side of it's cover. Make sure to cook for an extra 3 minutes to get a soft macaroni, not al dente.
• Heat the remaining oil in the same pan, fry the minced garlic for few seconds, then add the onions, saute for a minute until it sweats. Now add in the tomato puree and cook for another 2 minutes until the raw smell of the tomato is gone and the oil comes out.
• Add in the curry leaves, turmeric powder, kashmiri red chilli powder, pav bhaji masala powder and salt and combine well. Stir together the masala for 2 minutes.
• Now add the tomato paste, mix well with the masala. Cook the masala a little more seconds and add a tbsp of water to stop from burning the masala.
• Mix well, cook again for few seconds. Now dump in the grilled veggie's, and give them a nice toss. Stir in the cooked macaroni and give it a nice toss. Simmer the macaroni for a minute in low flame and serve warm.

Cheers,
Shanavi

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