Chicken Masala Pockets

Toady i made these delicious fried pockets filling with spicy chicken dry masala to enjoy a beautiful and lovely evening...

Ingredients

1. Maida/APF - 2 cups 
2. Salt - as needed
3. Water - as needed
4. Oil - for deep frying

For the filling

1. Chicken Boneless -250 gms
2. Turmeric powder - 1/4 Tsp + 1/2 Tsp
3. Red Chilly powder - 1 Tsp + 3 Tsp (according to taste)
4. Pepper powder - 2 -3 Tsp (according to taste)
5. Onion (Finely chopped)- 2 medium
6. Green chilly chopped - 3
7. Ginger-garlic paste - 2 Tsp
8. Fennel seeds - 1/2 Tsp
9. Garam Masala - 1/2 Tsp
10. Salt - to taste
11. Oil - 2 - 3 Tbsp

Preparation

It would be better if we make the filling first and keep it to cool.

Filling Preparation

• Cook chicken in a  kadai by adding 1/4 Tsp turmeric ,1 Tsp red chilly powder and salt with sufficient amount of water.Let it cook on a low flame till the meat is soft and all the water is absorbed. Cool it down and crush the cooked chicken in a chopper/food processor and keep aside.
• Heat 3 Tbsp of oil in a pan, add finely chopped onion and saute till onion turns pink to light brown . Add ginger-garlic paste and green chilly. Saute till the raw smells leaves.
• Now add 1/ Tsp turmeric powder, 3 Tsp red chilly powder, and and pepper powder . Saute for 2-4 minutes.
• Now add crushed chicken,garam masala and fennel seeds to it. Saute till the masala becomes dry and the colour changes to dark brown. Allow this to cool down well before filling.

For the pockets 

• Make a dough of the maida, salt and water. Keep it as you do for poori's or chapathi's. The dough shouldn't be too soft.
• Keep it covered for 10 minutes and pinch out balls as you do for chapathi/poori.
• Flatten them using a rolling pin. Fill in the prepared masala, as shown in the pics.

• Cover and seal all the sides properly, cut it using a pizza cutter or a knife or any cutter shapes you have.

• Deep fry them on both the sides until golden brown.

• Serve hot with ketchup or just as it is with your evening tea/ coffee. Chicken Masala Pockets ready... Enjoy!!!

Note

• If you wish you can use only wheat flour for making the dough or may use half maida and half wheat flour.

Paneer Kathi Wraps - My Guest Post For Rafee

Doing a guest post for blogger who happens to be a very very special virtual friend  is rather more happy , celebrating than interesting.So this is also a proud moment for me of being a A Guest at Rafeeda of The Big Sweet Tooth. My friendship with her all happened through her happy and inspiring comments on my blog..I know you all might have got the same experience.She is a very warm and wonderful person.I really wonders at this young age how she manages all the work as wife, mother, as home maker and of course blogger. She takes her time to leave her valuable comments in each blogger's space she visits. I was amazed by the way she writes and understand each quotes from Quran, or any other, and she connects each with our emotions and daily life... when i read those, it leaves a thought in my mind..It is a pleasure to know you Rafee and i am glad to do this guest post and thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.

And today as her guest i have prepared Paneer Wraps, which is a hit at home now.....a lovely recipe.....a very mild but a very filling snack you can call it. 

Please hop over to Rafee's space for the full recipe

Chicken Roll | A Snack Recipe

Whenever i see others posting this recipe , i feel very tempted. Before when i used to see them displayed in bakery's i used to think how are they folding and filling inside it. They used to be really perfect to see and very tasty. I feel this kind of rolls are tastily made in Kerala (:D). I used to also buy and have it at home , my kids just love those.So they were like when is our home chef going to try these. So when all things were ready in my kitchen, i made and surprised my family and they were very happy. I served them for tea and got vanished just like that....i saw them licking the sauce later and they said "while making these you should make lots...hehhee....". I was satisfied...it is a very good snack for parties and small get together's... I enjoyed , hope you will also enjoy these..
A delicious starter that can be served for small or even big get togethers...

Ingredients

For Pancakes

1. Maida/All Purpose Flour - 2 cups
2. Egg - 1
3. Salt- as needed
4. Water - as needed

For the filling

1. Chicken Boneless -250 gms
2. Turmeric powder - 1/4 Tsp + 1/2 Tsp
3. Red Chilly powder - 1 Tsp + 3 Tsp (according to taste)
4. Pepper powder - 2 -3 Tsp (according to taste)
5. Onion (Finely chopped)- 2 medium
6. Green chilli chopped - 3
7. Ginger-garlic paste - 2 Tsp
8. Fennel seeds - 1/2 Tsp
9. Garam Masala - 1/2 Tsp
10. Salt - to taste
11. Oil - 2 - 3 Tbsp

For Coating

1. Bread crumbs - as needed
2. Egg beaten - 2 or 3
3. Maida - as needed (for the sealing and coating batter)
4. Water - to make a paste

Preparation

Making filling

• Cook chicken in a  kadai by adding 1/4 Tsp turmeric & 1 Tsp red chilly powder and salt with sufficient amount of water.Let it cook on a low flame till the meat is soft and all the water is absorbed. Cool it down and crush the cooked chicken in a chopper/food processor and keep aside.
• Heat 3 Tbsp of oil in a pan, add finely chopped onion and saute till onion turns pink to light brown . Add ginger-garlic paste and green chilly. Saute till the raw smells leaves.
• Now add 1/ Tsp turmeric powder, 3 Tsp red chilly powder, and and pepper powder . Saute for 2-4 minutes.
• Now add crushed chicken,garam masala and fennel seeds to it. Saute till the masala becomes dry and the colour changes to dark brown. Allow this to cool down well before filling.

Making Pancakes

• Make a thin batter as for making a usual pancake batter. 
• Heat a non-stick frying pan or tawa and make pancakes.

Making the rolls

• Take  a pancake. Place 1 Tbsp of the filling and fold from the sides and roll it.
• Stick the sides with the maida paste made with maida and water. Arrange all the rolls.
• Dip each rolls in the beaten eggs, and roll in the bread crumbs very carefully. 
• Heat oil for deep frying and when hot, make the flame to medium.
• Now deep fry each of the rolls to golden brown.
• Serve hot with tomato ketchup or any dip you wish.

Notes

• Do not make the pancake batter too loose, as later they might become hard.
• Adjust pepper powder accordingly for the masala filling.
• Make sure the masala is cool enough.
• Seal the sides proper;y, otherwise there is a chance for the masala to pop out.

Mothagam | Vinayaka Chathurthi Recipe

Happy Vinayaka Chathurthi

Ganesha Chaturthi is the Hindu festival celebrated in honour of the god Ganesha,the god of beginnings and wisdom.The festival, also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi. The festival lasts for 10 days, ending on Ananta Chaturdashi.

The main sweet dish during the festival is the modak, a dumpling made from rice flour with a stuffing of fresh grated coconut, jaggery, dry fruits and some other condiments. It is either steam-cooked or fried.I am making this for the first as for Ganesh chathurthi...Here goes the recipe.

Ingredients

1. Rice flour (Ready made idiyappam flour/ pathiri podi )-1 Cup [I used double horse brand]
2. Sesame oil / Ellannai  - 2 Tsp
3. Boiling Water   -  As needed
4. Salt   -  As needed

For Coconut Pooranam

1. Coconut  -  2 Cups
2. Jaggery   -  1 cup 
3. Elachi/Cardamom - 4

 

 

Preparation

• For the dough, add sesame oil to the dough. Add salt to boiling water and mix well using a wooden spatula. Make a smooth and soft dough. Keep covered.

• You can make equal sized balls and keep covered. 
• For the thenga pooranam, place grated coconut jaggery and elachi powder in a pan, with little of water. Cook on medium flame until, it starts leaving the sides of pan, switch off the flame. Keep it to cool and make poornam balls.

• Meanwhile, boil water in a steamer.
• Make small cups out of the dough,  place the poornam inside the dough and shape it as shown in the figure.

• Repeat and finish the kozhukattais and keep covered until steaming.  
• Arrange the mothagams on the steaming plate and cook for 20 - 25 minutes. Or until they are cooked. When cooked you will see that the mothagams are a little shiny on the outside.

 

 

Sweet Banana Rotti ~ Pazham Gothamba Rotti

Oh i am back from Kerala , after a small vacation... The weather there was so so lovely and moody... The rain was so beautiful ( I miss rains after being relocated to Bangalore)...I had a few posts in my drafts ... so let me start with those....
Usually when you hear the name 'ROTTI', the picture that will come to your mind is the 'ROTI'S'  we make. All of us make different kind of rotti's and innovate our own recipes. We usually make savory rottis, adding chopped onions, green chillies and curry leaves. Today i am sharing , a sweet version of the whole wheat rotti's using Kerala plantains . This was something i made , when my kids were small and they used to love this . I serve it with ghee and sugar for tea,  when they are back from school. So recently when here was ripe plantain's i made it again for tea and they were like, mummy we still remember the taste and smell of this rotti. So i thought , why don't i share it with my bloggers.. so here goes  the recipe.

Ingredients

1. Wheat Flour - 2 cups
2. Kerala plantain / Kerala banana - 4 nos (was about 1/4 Kg)
3. Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
4. Cardamom powder - 1/4 Tsp
5. Salt - a pinch
6. Sugar - optional (I did not use)
7. Water - as needed
8. Ghee - as needed

Preparation

• Peel and mash the bananas using a blender or a wooden spoon.
• In a bowl mix all the ingredients except ghee, using water into a thick batter. Check the taste of the batter, if sweetness is less, you can add sugar.

• Heat a pan/tawa on a medium flame, drizzle little ghee, now pour a ladle of batter and spread it using your hand (if not just spread using the bottom of the spoon). Cover with a lid. Let it cook for 3 minutes.
• Open the lid and drizzle oil on the sides and flip to cook the other. When you see light brown spots on top, stop cooking and transfer it to a serving plate, drizzle some generous amount of ghee...and Serve hot. (Tastes best) .

Notes

• The batter shouldn't be too thick nor too loose, should be spreadable.
• Add sugar only if the banana is less sweet.
• Should be eaten when it is warm.
• While serving you can drizzle ghee and sprinkle little sugar.

Linking this to Dish it out event hosted by Hasna of Kachuss Delights ; originally hosted by Vardhini of Cooks Joy"

Unnakkaya - A Malabar Ramadan Snack and My 150th post

With this post today,A Bowl Of Curry completes it's 150th post here.It was a journey with lots of interactions,friendships and   learning experience through valuable comments .I would love to thank each of my fellow foodies out there,for their valuable response and support !

It is Ramadan period, a holy month for Muslims all over the world.As all of you know it is the time when they fast and pray each day and break their fast in the evening. Each Iftar day they make delicious snacks, juices, and rice and much more.Each one differ in taste and preparation from one another.

Malabar cuisine is known for their rich,flavourful and exotic in all senses.Being from Malabar, i have tasted many for their recipes and have shared some of them like Chatti Pathiri,Kakkarotti , Pazham Nirachathu , Arikadukka . Today i am sharing one of the famous and a perfect snack from Thalassery, which will melt in your mouth from the first bite, "Unnakkaya". The name and shape of the snack represents elongated "Cotton Pods". When we think of preparation feel it is a long process, but i would say even a bachelor who loves cooking can give it a try. The steamed plantain is filled with mixture lightly sauted coconut , sugar, scrambled egg, elachi powder in ghee called "Pandam" and deep fried in oil. If you don't like or use eggs you can avoid eggs and make it pure vegetarian. Over to the recipe... 

Ingredients

1. Ripe plantains /Nenthrapazham - 5 
2. Grated coconut - 1 cup
3. Sugar - 3 Tbsp or as needed
4. Raisins -  2 Tbsp
5. Almonds /badam  roughly chopped - 4 Tbsp (You can also use cashew nuts)
6. Cardamom powder - 1 Tsp
7. Egg - 1
8. Salt - a tiny pinch
9. Ghee - 1 Tbsp
10. Oil - for deep frying

  Preparation

• Cut each of the bananas into half and also the stems at both the ends. Steam the bananas in a steamer until cooked soft. You can even microwave the bananas and cook. BUT DO NOT OVERCOOK THEM as later it becomes mushy and wont be able to roll it tight .
• After cooling it, peel off the skin and cut into half and remove the black seed thread.
• Now mash it using a wooden spoon or with your hand into a very smooth dough without any lumps. Keep aside.
• Beat egg with a teaspoon of sugar, 1/4 tsp cardamom powder and salt. Keep aside.
• Heat a tsp oil in a nonstick pan and scramble egg. Keep aside.
• Now heat ghee, fry the raisins, let it puff up , remove from heat and keep aside.
• Add grated coconut and saute for 5 minutes till the moisture is absorbed.
• Add sugar, cardamom powder, raisins, scrambled egg and almonds. Remove from heat and keep aside to cool.
• Grease your palm and take little banana mixture, about a lemon size and flatten it with your thumb, place a 2 tsp of the filling inside., seal the edges and roll into cylindrical shape with elongated edges. Shape the remaining the same way.
• Heat oil in a kadai/deep bottomed pan for deep frying. Deep fry each of them into golden . Fry both the sides.
• Drain on paper towel and serve them hot.

Check out the recipe for Pachamulaku Thengaa Chammanthi

Notes

• Do no overcook the bananas, it will become watery and will become difficult to hold.
• If you don't like or use eggs you can avoid eggs and make it pure vegetarian.

Check out for more Ramadan recipes

        

    

   

Peas Mutta Fry ~ A Kozhikode Street Food

  

I know the monsoon has started, and time has come to crave for Street Foods. Even though i love street food, served hot and spicy... but a BIG NO NO when it comes to oily foods... Once in a while i do enjoy having oily stuff... There will be a list of items mainly non veg dishes when it comes to Malabar, like Kallumakkai porichathu, parippu vada, pazham pori , ullivada.. and goes on.. Today i am sharing one of the famous street food that we get at Calicut beach...spicy Peas Mutta Fry. A very simple recipe with a very few ingredients. Cooked green peas with scrambled eggs sprinkled with pepper powder...and served hot.

Check out the recipe for Arikadukka, parippu vada, pazham pori

Ingredients

1. Green Peas / Pachapattani / Mattar - 1 cup (soaked for 6-8 hours)
2. Eggs - 4
3. Pepper powder - 2 Tsp
4. Onion finely chopped - 2 + 1
   
5. Green chilly chopped (round and not fine pieces) - 3
6. Ginger finely cut lengthwise - 1" piece
7. Carrot roughly chopped - 2 medium
8. Tomato finely chopped - 1
9. Butter / Coconut Oil/Oil - 1 to 2 Tbsp
10. Salt - as needed

 

Preparation

• Pressure cook green peas for just one whistle.(Do not cook it mushy). After 1 whistle release the pressure and , open and cook. 
• Heat oil in a kadai, add 2 onion s chopped, green chilly and ginger. Saute till onions are soft and pink. (a bit of crunchiness should be there for onions).
• Now add carrot chopped and tomato. Cook it covered.
• Add the cooked green peas with the water. Mix well.Add salt.
• Beat 3 eggs. Lower the flame and add the eggs. Mix properly and scramble the eggs. 
• Now you will see the water is fully absorbed. Mix well on high flame for a minute and remove from flame.
• Now add pepper powder and mix well.
• Serve hot with chopped onion and lime wedges. Enjoy!!!!

 

Sending this entry to Ahlan Ramadan –The Healthy Way 

Ariyunda - The Kerala Style

An authentic sweet from Kerala...i have seen, when i was a kid... in my house our maid used to make these. She used to first roast the rice in otturuli and then powder it in "ural & ulakka", a traditional mortar i would say, which is the bigger version of what we use nowadays for crushing spices and all. Nowthat we have mixer/grinder the preparation is very easy.After my marriage my amma used to prepare and send to three of her daughters every year.At home all love this.So here goes the recipe. 

Ingredients

1. Rice - 2 cups (Preferably Kerala Boiled Rice)
2. Crushed or powdered jaggery - 3/4 to 1 cup (add more if the jaggery is less sweet )
3. Grated coconut - 1 cup
4. Cardamom- 5 - 6 nos. (optional) (This will give a distinct flavor)

Preparation

• Heat a  pan and dry roast the rice on medium flame, until it pops up and turns golden brown. Keep it aside to cool for 5 minutes. (First roast 1 cup and then the remaining). 
• Grind the roasted rice using a mixer/ grinder to a fine powder, also add cardamom pods . Transfer it to a bowl.(Keep 1/4 cup aside for coating).
• Now add grated coconut and jaggery to the mixer and grind it for about 3-4 minutes.You will get a paste,to this add the powdered rice and combine well. Transfer the mixture to a plate.

• Shape them into small balls using hand.

• Dust each balls with the rice powder.
• Store in air tight containers.

Notes

• While making balls if the mixture is sticky, just smear a little ghee on your palm and then make the balls.
• If while making balls the mixture is breaking,tightly press and then shape it.
• Dusting is not necessary ,my mother used to do it.

Linking this to Priya of My Kitchen Odyssey event " Favourite recipes" and My Zesty Kitchen, Dish it Out – Kid Friendly Dishes, WTML June 2014 hosted By The Big Sweet Tooth event by Gayathri