Thursday, January 26, 2017

Kerala style Deep Fried Masala Papad/ Kerala Papada Boli



Papada boli is a crispy, crunchy deep fried snack which can be enjoyed along evening tea. This is a traditional snack item which can be easily found in the local tea stalls or hotels throughout Kerala. This is neatly stacked in the glass cupboards of small tea stalls all over Kerala.
As I grew up in Andhra, I used to love the snacks of Kerala and always I used to have them whenever I visited my native. When our close relatives used to visit us from Kerala, I remember asking them to bring this boli which were my all time favorite snack. Though it got crushed in the package, I loved it in any form.
In this, a rice batter with all the spices is mixed and the papads are dipped in the spiced batter which is then deep fried till crisp.



I never thought that I will try making this at home and even if I make this, it won’t be so crisp as we get in the hotels, but I tried, made it and got it all crisp, crunch and tastier. Just soaking the rice and all the other things are done within minutes. Try this out and let me know.


Ingredients:
  1. Papad- 10 nos
  2. Raw Rice- 1 cup
  3. Cumin Seeds- 1 tsp
  4. Sesame Seeds- 2 tbsp
  5. Salt- as required
  6. Turmeric Powder- 1 tsp
  7. Asafoetida Powder- ½ tsp
  8. Oil- required to fry
Method:

  1. Wash and soak the rice for about 2- 3 hours and grind the soaked rice to a fine smooth paste, using the small amount of water.
  2. Pour this into a bowl and add the cumin seeds, sesame seeds, asafoetida powder, turmeric powder, and salt. Mix and make a batter of pouring consistency (slightly thinner than dosa batter).
  3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a deep frying pot, dip each papad in the rice batter and deep fry till golden brown on both the sides. Remember to fry one papad at a time, depending on the frying pot.
  4. Drain on a kitchen towel and store in airtight container when cooled.
  5. Note:
  6. The batter should be not so thick and not so thin. The papad should be coated well on both sides.
  7. Fry the papad in a low- medium flame on one side and then the other side or else the middle won’t get cooked properly.



Saturday, January 21, 2017

Chicken Enchiladas


Enchilada is a corn tortilla, filled with a stuffing of meat or vegetables and covered with chili sauce and cheese. These enchiladas can be stuffed with meat, cheese or vegetables.
I heard a lot about these enchiladas. Once when I was googling something, I stumbled upon these enchiladas which I thought will make a perfect dinner. Kids are definitely going to love this as this dish contains loads of cheese. For the calorie conscious persons (like my husband), this can be made without adding any cheese and bake it as we make the normal enchiladas. Then too this tastes good.


In most of the recipes, they were adding enchilada red sauce or green sauce. We get it ready-made in stores, but I made the sauce at home and we can store the remaining sauce if any left in the refrigerator. You can make the tortillas at home, as I had leftover tortillas, I thought of finishing it off.
These enchiladas have turned out perfect. The whole process of preparing looks prolonged, but if everything is kept ready then it is so easy. Make the sauce before and store. Just try this out and you will definitely love it.
Ingredients:
For the Enchiladas:
  1. Corn Tortillas- 12 nos
  2. Boneless Chicken- 250 gms
  3. Oil- 1 tbsp
  4. Onions (chopped)- 2 nos
  5. Red Bell Peppers (chopped)- 1 no
  6. Salt- as required
  7. Pepper- 1 tsp
  8. Mozzarella Cheese- 1 Cup
  9. Parmesan Cheese- 1 Cup
Method:
  1. Sprinkle boneless chicken with the required amount of salt and pepper and cook till soft and tender. Remove the chicken pieces to a platter and shred the cooked chicken by hand into small pieces. Keep this aside.
  2. Heat oil in a saucepan and stir fry the chopped onions till light brown in color. Add the chopped bell peppers along with onions and saute for about a minute.
  3. Add the shredded chicken pieces and saute well. Remove this aside.
  4. For assembling the enchiladas:
  5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  6. Cook all the tortillas for about a minute in a skillet. This will soften the tortillas.
  7. Grease the pan in which enchiladas are baked, using oil.
  8. On each tortilla, spread 2 tablespoons of prepared enchilada sauce and place a tbsp of chicken mixture in the middle of the tortillas and sprinkle some parmesan cheese.
  9. Roll the tortilla with the filling and arrange this in the greased pan with the seam side down.
  10. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and arrange them in the pan. Cover it with the remaining enchilada sauce and at last top with mozzarella cheese.
  11. Bake for about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling. Serve this warm and enjoy.


For the Enchilada sauce:
  1. Tomatoes (chopped)- 2 Cups
  2. Water- ½ Cup
  3. All Purpose Flour- 3 tbsps
  4. Red Chilli powder- 1 tbsp
  5. Cumin Powder- 1 tsp
  6. Oil- 2 tbsp
  7. Oregano- 1 tbsp
  8. Salt- as required
  9. Pepper- 1 tsp
  10. In Powder- 1 tsp
  11. Sugar- a pinch
  12. Garlic Powder- 1 tsp
Method:
  1. Heat oil in a pan and add all the ingredients except tomatoes in hot oil and stir well.
  2. Add the chopped tomatoes along with water and let this boil and simmer for about 15 minutes. Puree the sauce using a blender and when cool store it in an air tight bottle in the refrigerator. Use as needed.

Bubbling Hot Enchilada Sauce




Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies


We love anything made out of oats and my daughter will fall head over heels for these cookies as this contains all of her favorite ingredients like the chocolate chips, raisins and most importantly oats. She loves homemade granola bars, which I made earlier and always asks me to make batches as soon as they get over.


These oatmeal cookies have turned right by which I mean soft, chewy and perfectly baked which are loaded with the generous amount of chocolate chips and also raisins. Kids will hang around these cookie jars till it gets over and will demand more.
Old fashioned oats have a lot of health benefits including low cholesterol and reducing certain diseases. They are nutritious food that can easily be incorporated into your daily diet. Include oats in your life and feel healthy.



This cookie recipe is a no-fail dish and do not overbake them. Just try this out and everybody will love this.
Ingredients:
  1. Butter-6 tbsps
  2. Sugar- ¾ Cups
  3. All-purpose Flour- ⅓ Cup
  4. Whole Wheat Flour- ⅓ cup
  5. Baking soda- ¾ tsp
  6. Oats- 1 ½ Cups
  7. Salt- a pinch
  8. Egg- 1 no
  9. Vanilla Extract- 1 tsp
  10. Raisins- ½ Cup
  11. Chocolate Chips- ½ Cup
Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 350º. Beat butter and sugar till creamy and fluffy.
  2. In a bowl, combine all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking soda, oats, and salt.
  3. Combine the butter mixture with the dry ingredients, and add egg, vanilla, and raisins. Fold in chocolate chips. Mix well and spoon.
  4. Scoop out small amounts on the parchment paper. Bake for 15 minutes, until tops are dry to the touch are cookies become brown



Monday, January 9, 2017

Arabian Delights- Chocodates with Almonds



These choco dates with almonds are a real surprise for me when I first tasted these at my brother’s place. They were simply amazing, cute little adorable sweet treats. Yes, you heard it right, they are delicious to eat and cute to see.


I was overjoyed to see these chocodates in a  middle east grocery near us.Today’s post is a monthly challenge, that started last month. This time, we have to make a dish using dates. As soon as I saw dates, these Arabian delights came to my mind and I made them.


These make perfect gifts for kids and can be made at any time. Everybody will love these cute treats. With just 3 ingredients, we can create magic.Kids will love to eat this and also to make this. My daughter helped me in almost everything. Just try this out and you will love this with just one bite.


Ingredients:
  1. Dates- 15 nos
  2. Roasted Almonds- 15 nos
  3. Melted chocolate- ½ Cup
Method:

  1. Using a small serrated knife, pit all the dates.
  2. Place an almond inside the dates and squish it back together. Repeat with remaining almonds and dates.
  3. Dip these almond stuffed dates in chocolate and place it on an aluminum foil. Keep this in refrigerator till set and enjoy an amazing combination of chocolate, dates, and almonds.





Sunday, January 8, 2017

Paalaada/ Soft Rice Crepes with Kerala Chicken Stew

Paalaada is one of the specialty dishes of Kerala. This is one of the softest crepes, which is as thin as a paper and just melts in your mouth. This is very simple and easy to make that requires no fermentation,  like dosa or appam.
My mom used to make these but instead of rice, she uses maida. In a WhatsApp group, one of my friend’s mentioned about this and so I got the recipe from her and here it is today in my blog. A perfect breakfast on a weekend, so that everyone can enjoy it with each bite. You can have these for dinner as well as when guests are at your place. You can have this paalaada along with any spicy curry/ stew. I made the chicken stew to go along with this paalaada, which is our all time favorite.


My mom’s chicken stew is to die for. Thin and thick coconut milk is added to chunks of chicken and potato pieces which is seasoned with spices. A perfect delicacy with appams, idiyappam and so on. Everybody has their own version of this stew. This is a very popular traditional breakfast dish and a much favored one. We can add our choice of veggies to this chicken stew.
Ingredients:
For Paalaada
  1. Rice- 2 cups
  2. Water- 1 cup
  3. Eggs- 2 nos
  4. Coconut Milk- 1 ½  cup (thick)
  5. Salt- to taste
Method
  1. Soak the rice for at least 3 hours.Grind the rice into a fine paste with water as needed. Do not exceed the total quantity of water mentioned in the recipe.
  2. Add eggs and coconut milk to the mixer and blend everything together. Add any remaining water to the batter.
  3. The consistency that you need is really very watery.Add Salt as needed. Your batter is now ready to be prepared.
  4. Heat a  skillet at slightly higher than medium flame.When the skillet is hot, pour a ladleful of batter (a little less than 1/4 cup) into the skillet and immediately rotate the ladle to spread the batter.
  5. Wait for 30-40 seconds until the sides of the paalaada start to come off the pan. Paalaada is now ready to be folded into any shape you need.


Chicken Stew:
Ingredients:
  1. Chicken- 250 gms
  2. Potatoes- 2 nos
  3. Ginger (crushed)- 1 tbsp
  4. Garlic (crushed)- 1 tbsp
  5. Oil- 1 tbsp
  6. Cinnamon, Cloves, Cardamom, Star Anise- 1 tsp
  7. Curry Leaves- few
  8. Whole black Peppers- 1 tbsp
  9. Onions- 2 nos
  10. Green Chillies (slitted)- 3 nos
  11. Coconut Milk- 1 ½ Cups (thin milk)
  12. Coconut Milk- ¾ Cup (thick)
Method:

  1. Heat oil in a pan and saute the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and star anise for about a minute.
  2. Add the whole black peppers, sliced onions, green chillies, and curry leaves. Stir well till it becomes translucent. Add the ginger and garlic, saute till the raw smell disappears.
  3. Add the cubed potatoes and chicken. Mix well along with salt. Cook this by adding thin coconut milk on a low flame.
  4. When the potatoes and chicken get cooked, add the thick coconut milk and switch off the flame, adjust the salt and enjoy hot, steaming chicken stew with paalada.





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