Nan Khatai

 Flour (maida) - 3 and 1/2 cups (You can also use 3 cups maida with 1/2 cup sooji rawa)

Sugar(ground in a mixie) - 1 cup 

Butter (use margarine if you can) - 1 cup 

Soda Bi Carbonate (baking soda) - half tea spoon (about 3 grams)

Salt - A pinch (to taste)

Mix flour, baking soda and salt.

Take margarine (butter) in a vessel and cream it with a wooden spoon till soft and fluffy.

Add the powdered sugar and cream it well. 

Add the flour mixed with baking soda and salt, little by little and mix gently to make a dough. The dough will be difficult to keep together, it is normal that it will keep falling apart.

Divide into small balls with your palms and flatten slightly to get a cookie shape. 

Keep arranged on a baking tray and bake at 180 degrees celcius for 15 minutes.

If you can see inside the oven, make sure the cookies are not becoming brown in colour. It has to be just off-white in colour.

Remove from oven, keep to cool. It will become hard and ready to eat after cooling. 

Enjoy tasty nan-khatais!!

Chicken Varutha Curry

This one was made by me for a party at home. It is a mix of south and north Indian styles of cooking.
Chicken varutha curry
Chicken pieces- 500gm boneless, cut into small pieces. Marinate the chicken with chilli powder, pepper powder, ginger & garlic paste, lime juice and salt. Keep it covered in the fridge for atleast one hour. (Meats should be kept in the fridge after marinating, it will protect the meat from bacteria and also help in the marination process itself).
Meanwhile, get these things ready for the gravy:
Onions 3 large, finely chopped
Tomatoes 3 large ripe, chopped
Ginger & garlic paste or both finely chopped
One green chilli chopped
One capsicum small size, de-seeded, chopped
Whole garam masala (2 to 3 pieces each of karuva patta (cinnamon), grampoo (cloves), elakka (cardamom). If you have only garam masala powder, use it as shown in the instructions below.
Chilli, coriander, pepper, turmeric powders (be careful to use less chilli if using pepper powder)
coriander leaves, chopped
Oil for frying, and salt to taste.
Method:
In a kadai (deep pan or call it a cheenichatti), heat some oil (about 3 tablespoons) and when hot, put the chicken pieces and stir fry till light brown in colour. Keep aside
In the same kadai, if there is not enough oil, add 2 more table spoons of oil. When hot, add whole garam masala.
Immediately add ginger, garlic, green chilli and onions.
On medium to high heat, stir fry till brown in colour. The more brown you make it, the better the gravy. So be patient and keep stirring to avoid catching at the bottom of the pan.
When brown in colour and the onion has reduced to half it's quantity, add chilli powder, turmeric pd and coriander pd. Fry till the raw smell goes off.
Add tomatoes and fry till the gravy becomes thick. Add some hot water to it and bring to a boil. Add salt and adjust thickness of gravy with water as required.
Add the fried chicken to it, add coriander leaves, cover with lid. Reduce flame to sim and keep for 10 minutes.
Serve hot with your choice of rice , chapathi, naan, paratha etc. Ideal dish for all of these.. Try it.. it is a successful recipe, which everyone liked when I served!!

Yummy Veg Biriyani - with egg

Hi all,

This is a blog about a biriyanis i made last day .. thought of sharing with u all.. all the way is a simple, humble, crispy,spicyyyyy biriyanii.. this is surely gonna make u irresistable as well as mouth watery... so lets begin guys,

This is the egg biryani I made today. It is basically a vegetable biryani, and I just put boiled eggs in the end. Recipe is simple..

First keep some rice boiled till it is almost cooked (90% boiled aayaal mathi). Chop any choice of vegetables and boil in water with salt. Keep aside. (I used one packet of mixed veg frozen :) )

Stir fry chopped onions, (3 pieces elakka(cardamom), 3 graampoo, karuva patta(no english for tat)), little ginger garlic, one green chilli, till brown in colour. Then add some chilli powder, turmeric, pepper, fry for 2 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes and a little water and cook till it becomes a thick gravy. Add boiled veg and mix well. If you have mint leaves (pudina), it will be perfect> Extra salt and spice is needed, it is also for the rice.

Take a deep vessel, keep on low fire, we used pressure cooker.. first put one spoon ghee, when it melts, put one layer gravy, then one layer rice, again gravy, then rice. Close tightly and keep on very low flame. I kept dosa pan on medium flame and kept the cooker on top of that, so it will never catch rice at the bottom. Keep for 10 to 15 minutes. Open, mix gently with a large spoon without mashing the rice. Put cut pieces of boiled eggs and mix well.

Eat well with salad and naranga achaar(lime pickle)!!!

now enjoi the nice yummy juicy biriyani !! :D ..

bon apetitee

love,

Captain Cook