Happy Tamil New Year ,

May this wish brings all the happiness we ask,
May this wish makes us all healthy and energetic again
May this wish  grant us all peace and
May this year and all the years to come
make us praise God's love towards us
Wishing all a very happy and prosperous Tamil New Year.

(click to see image source.Thanks.)

Love,
Viki

Tomato chutney

Normally the red color chutnies we see in any average Indian food has to be very spicy. That too the street foods in Chennai offers its customers the spiciest chutnies along with idly, dosa etc. But when we go to some vegetarian restaurants like Saravana bhavan, we can get less spicy foods. I tried this tomato chutney just like Saravana bhavan with their mild sweetness and tangy taste. I made this tomato chutney with vegetable kara paniyaram (recipe: yet to publish) as breakfast.

Tomato chutney with vegetable kuli paniyaram.

Ingredients:
Tomato - 3
red onion - 1
dry red chilly - 4
garlic - 4 cloves
channa dal - 1 tbsp
shredded coconut - 1 tbsp
cumin - 1/2 tsp
tamarind - a small piece
salt - to taste
jaggery - 1 tsp
To temper:
curry leaf - few
mustard - 1/2 tsp
urad dal - 1/2 tsp
hing - pinch
coconut oil - 1 tsp

Method:
Cook the tomatoes with 1 cup water, till it is completely cooked.
Add the tamarind and let it cool.
Heat oil in a wok. Fry the channa dal till it turns mild red. Then add the sliced onion, garlic and saute till onion turns golden red. Switch off. Let it cool.
Grind everything together to a thick chutney form.
Heat oil in another wok. Add mustard and urad dal. Let the mustard splutter. Add curry leaves, hing.
Pour the fried tempering over the chutney. Mix well and serve.

Serving suggestion:
Serve as side dish with any tiffin (a light meal - British Indian word) like idly, dosa, uthappam, karapaniyaram.

Chicken koftha

Other names: Chicken meat balls , chicken kofta, chicken kheema balls, baked chicken meat balls, chicken kola urundai.
Deep fried meat balls (mutton / chicken kheema) is called kola urundai in Tamilnadu, India. Instead of frying I have baked it, as it seems quick for me. If we are following my recipe below, then baked koftha will definitely taste similar to deep fried version. If you want a deep fried kola urundai, then click to see my mutton meat ball recipe. I used chicken thigh kheema in this recipe. Chicken kheema can be bought from any halal meat shop. Kheema / minced chicken can also be made at home by grinding the chicken meat in mixer. For more tips on kheema meat and kebabs, please see my chicken sheek kebab recipe.

Chicken koftha / chicken meat balls.

Instead of baking we can deep fry them too.

Chicken kola urundai after baking. Keep them covered to retain the moisture and juicy texture.

Ingredients:
minced chicken - 1 lb
Onions - 1
green chillies - 2
lettuce -  2 or 3 leaves (optional)
cilantro - a handful
mint leaf - a handful
minced garlic - 1 tbsp
dry ginger powder - 1 tsp
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Puffed channa dhal (dalia) - 1 cup
(powder the puffed channa dhal)
Salt to taste
Oil - 4 tbsp

To powder:
dry red chilly - 2
coriander seeds - 2 tbsp
Black pepper- 1/2 tsp
fennel seed, kali jeera - 1 tsp each
cloves, cardamom - 2
cinnamon - 1 inch 
cumin - 1 tsp
garam masal powder - 1 tsp (optional)

Method:

While the mixer / blender is dry, powder the puffed channa dhal (dhalia)and keep aside (besan flour can be dry roasted and used as substitute for puffed channa dal powder).
Grind the items given above to a medium fine powder.
Put the chicken kheema in a large mixing bowl.
Finely chop the onion,lettuce, chilly, cilantro, mint using a vegetable chopper (saves time).
Add ginger powder, turmeric powder, puffed channa dal powder,finely chopped onion, chilly, lettuce, cilantro and mint, salt.
Knead well to get a thick minced meat dough.(If needed add some bread crumbs to get the consistency enough to make meat balls).
Make small lemon size balls by adding oil.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and grease its surface.
set the oven to 350 deg f.
Place the meat balls and bake for 12 minutes one side. Flip and bake again for 12- 15 minutes or till completely cooked.
The kheema kofta can be deep fried too (in medium heat).
Fry or bake till it turns golden red color.
Chicken kofta is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Serve as side dish with rice or as snack.

Note:
1 pound chicken kheema with all the above ingredients will give around 28 - 30 kofthas.
 Adding lettuce will give very juicy kebabs. Finely chopped onion and cilantro can be used in more quantities as substitute for lettuce.

Hi !

Dear readers and friends,
I am on a short blog break.
Hope to write again soon!
Wishing all a happy, healthy, peaceful, prosperous and Blessed Easter.
Enjoy blogging and blog hopping,
Take care,
Love,
Viki

Radish spicy fry

Normally radish is cooked as stir fry in Indian cuisines. I wanted to give it a make-over and here is a spicy fry.

Red radish in a bag.

Radish spicy fry.

Ingredients:
Radish - 250 gm
onion - 1
oil - 2 tbsp
red chilly powder - 1 tsp
fennel seed - 1 tsp
curry masala powder - 1/2 tsp
salt - to taste

Method:
Peel the radish if necessary. Rinse well. Finely chop onion and radish.
Heat oil in a wok, add fennel.
As soon as fennel gets red, add chopped onion. Fry till it gets soft.
Then add radish, fry in high heat till moisture goes off.
Then add salt, chilly powder, garam masala, 1 tbsp water, stir and cook covered in low flame (10 minutes).
Stir well and take out.
Radish fry is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve as side dish with chapati or rice.

Coconut cookies

For each petal on the shamrock 
This brings a wish your way  
Good health, good luck, and happiness 
For today and every day. 
May your blessings outnumber 
The shamrocks that grow, 
May St.Patrick pray for us all,
Happy St.Patrick's day! 


Glitters123.com | Saint Patricks Day |

I am seeing green everywhere around St.Patrick's day. A week ahead, I too made some cookies to honor St.Patrick. I didn't add any green color to my cookies, but served them on green color cupcake liners:)  Here is some coconut cookies to celebrate St.Patrick's day. 

This cookie should be a bit chewy inside as well as crispy on outside.

Reference: I tried Martha's coconut cookies and made some alterations according to my taste.

Instead of coloring the cookies, I served them on green cupcake liners:)

Coconut cookies for St.Patrick's day!

Cool the baked cookies in a wire rack. 

Ingredients:
Dry shredded coconut - 1 1/2 cups for powdering  + 1/4 cup for coating
white sugar - 3/4 cup
brown sugar - 1/2 cup
salt - 1/2 tsp
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
unsalted butter - 1/2 cup (1 stick)
egg - 1
vanilla extract - 1 tsp

cardamom powder - 1 tsp (heaped)
All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 deg F.
Set aside 1/4 cup coconut in a plate for coating the cookies.
Grind the coconut in a mixer to a fine stage (by pulsing) along with sugar, salt.
Add cold butter, egg, vanilla extract , cardamom and process till smooth.
Sift the flour with baking powder twice.
Keep the flour in a large mixing bowl and add the prepared coconut.
Mix well.
Using a tablespoon as measure, scoop out 1 ball of dough.
Slightly roll it to a ball and flatten it mildly.
Dip it in coconut we kept on the plate.
Arrange 2 inch apart in baking sheets (as this cookies will puff up).
Bake until light golden brown color appears on bottom edges.
It took 13-15 minutes for me.
Always keep watching this from the second batch, as it gets brown quickly.
Cool for 1 minute, transfer to wire rack, let cool completely.
Store in airtight containers.
Stays fresh for a week.

Serving suggestions:
Makes 33 cookies of 2 inch dia.
Serve as dessert or snack.

Note:
Prepare this dough and keep refrigerated for 2 weeks, so that we can make fresh cookies whenever we want.
Sweetened dry coconut can also be used instead of dry coconut flakes


Glitters123.com | Saint Patricks Day |

Pomegranate strawberry jam

I made this Pomegranate strawberry preserve / jam recently. At first my plan was to use pomegranate alone, but then it came to my mind that pomegranate on its own has very less pectin, so I added strawberry to get the thickness. I have not gone for canning for this but kept it in fridge for a month. I haven't used any preservative or pectin, so it can be called a refrigerator jam:) This has become our new favorite jam. Hope you all like this beautiful delicious jam.

Instead of regular wheat bread I spread this jam on burger buns on the first day...yummy:)

Ingredients:
Pomegranate - 1
strawberry - 10
sugar - 1 cup
corn starch - 1 tbsp

Method:
Chop the cleaned strawberries into tiny pieces.
Choose seedless pomegranate. Peel the pomegranate and take out the pomegranate arils (edible seeds).
Cook the strawberry and pomegranate arils in 1 cup water, till strawberry gets cooked completely.
Let the pomegranate retain its shape (no mashing).
Add sugar and bring it to 1 string consistency.
Dissolve the cornstarch in 2 tbsp jam (separately) and pour back to the boiling jam.
It will start thickening. Stir in low flame till it gets little difficult to stir.
Switch off. Let cool.
Pour into cleaned sterilized glass bottle. Cool completely and store in fridge.

Serving suggestions:
Makes a spread on breads.
Also a good topping for ice-creams:)

Note:
I kept this in fridge for about a month and it stayed good.
Always use a clean dry spoon.
Store bought pectin can also be used instead of strawberry and corn starch.