All in one dal /Palak dal/Spinach dal

Palak is a very healthy green which has all the good for a healthy body .Mainly it is  iron rich and has more dietery fiber like other green leaves.It has more vitamin A good for eyesight and prevents oral and lung cavities cancers.It has more vitamin k which is good for bone strengthening activity .Fresh greens has good amount of vitamin B and Vitamin C .For more details about the health benefits of this green vegetable click here.

Whenever i buy palak i used to do this dal because my husband likes this much .This has all the nutrition you want for a day and its very tasty too .So dig in ...

Check for other sidedish recipes like Paneerbuttermasala,Mushroomgravy,Rajmamasala.

Preparation time:15 min(cooking the dal+clean the palak)
Cooking time:20 min
Serves:4 -5

Paal kozhukattai/Rice dumplings in Jaggery/Guest post

Today I am very very happy because I am doing a guest post in a very popular blog. The blog owner is very  generous and encourages new bloggers by giving them an opportunity. She is none other than priya of Priyasversatile recipes.I love Priya's recipes .she is very innovative and she is an expert in baking cakes.I like her rajma murukku recipe and eggless carrotcake  very much . Do visit her space and enjoy her recipes ..
 Couple of months ago i was going through her blog and I saw that she had a co-blogger do a guest post. She did it to encourage and offer support new bloggers. I requested her about doing a guest post and she said OK, no questions asked. I told her that i will give my very best ..I guess she liked my post . The recipe that I chose is a chettinad speciality pal kozhukattai done the easy way. Pal kozhukattai is rice dumpling in jaggery syrup and coconut .This is the easy method because traditional method takes time .

A brief introduction  about this recipe.

I grew up in Karaikudi a relatively well known town in the chettinad region of Tamilnadu. Chettinad region boasts of palatial houses and chettinad food is famous world over renowned for the uses of aromatic spices.There are a few dessert dishes unique to chettinad and paal kozhukattai is one among them.

This is my mom's recipe.She used to grind the rice dough by soaking the rice and grinding it in wet grinder. When we were kids during holidays my mom used engage us a little by asking us to shape the kozhukattai. We used to have lots of fun with the dough.

I thought of making this the traditional way but was a little skeptical because of the complexity. Also I was a little worried that my daughter would use this as substitute for her play-doh.
So I did it the easy way and got it done in no time.

Don't forget to check paal kozhukattai recipe here .

Preparation of dough

preparation of kolukattai

Chettinad Chicken|Spicy Chicken Curry

     Chettinad Chicken- Kozhi curry is a authentic chicken preparation made in southern parts of tamilnadu called chettinad.This is usually the spicy chicken preparations of any chicken recipes, but its authentic and most tastiest chicken recipe ever.
    This is my mom's version of the spicy chettinad chicken curry.This Chicken curry is less fat, i mean no heavy cream ,butter and it comes in less work category -one of the easy chicken curry you will ever make.
Tip :The more the curry simmers and cooks in low fire ,the chicken absorbs all the spice.
    Usually chicken dishes in south India gets lots of garlic and spices to aids easy digestion and takeoff  the smell of fresh meat.Especially turmeric to kill of the bacteria in chicken.This chettinad chicken also is special because it has the wonderful flavors of gingelly oil.Gingelly oil cools your body in warmer temperatures even though you eat this chicken curry at summers.

Serving suggestions of Chettinad chicken:
  With chapathi,roti,rice and also a best party pleaser

Check other chicken recipes like chili chicken fry,Pepper chicken gravy

                                         Chettinad Chicken|Spicy Chicken Curry

                            Spicy Chettinad Chicken Curry

 Cuisine: Indian Category:Sides Serves:3-4 Prep time:40 minutes Cook time:40 minutes Total time:1 hour 20 minutes



Ingredients:

• 1 pound chicken(around 500 grams)/kozhi.
• 1 tsp turmeric powder/manjal thool.
• salt as required.
• 1 tbsp gingelly oil/nalla ennai.

Roast and grind:

• 5 red chili/vara milagai.
• 1 1/2 tbsp fennel seeds/sombu.
• 1 1/2 tbsp jeera/Cumin seeds/jeeragam.
• 1 tbsp black pepper/milagu.
• 1 tsp kaskas/Poppy seeds/kasa kasa.
• 5 garlic pods/poondu.
• 1 large onion/vengayam.
• 2-3 tbsp grated coconut/thengai.

Marination:

• roast and ground paste/varuthu arachathu.
• 2 tbsp curd/thayir.
• 3 tbsp gingelly oil/nalla ennai.

Marination for chettinad chicken:

• Cut onion and garlic in to big pieces.
• Add oil to saute pan and saute onion and garlic until onion is translucent.
• Keep it aside.
• Add oil again and saute fennel,jeera,pepper.
• Add red chili,poppy seeds as well and saute it.
• Finally add grated coconut after switching off the flame.
• Cool of the sauted ingredients completely and grind it to smooth paste.
• Clean the chicken with turmeric and water and cut chicken to required shape (not too large).
• Add ground paste ,3 tbsp gingelly oil ,curd and marinate the chicken atleast for half an hour or overnight.

Cooking the chettinad chicken:

• Heat the saute pan and add the marinated chicken and cook them in low fire until the chicken cooks(around 30 min).

• By that time chicken should be cooked thorough it has got all of the masala flavour.
• Enjoy chettinad chicken with roti ,Rice,chapathi ...

Note:

• Cook the chicken in low fire so chicken gets the spices.
• Marinate them the previous night and cook it the next day morning if you have frozen chicken at hand.
• Using of gingelly oil is purely optional but it gives much more taste and reduces the heat chicken gives.
• Reduce the red chili level according to your taste buds..

Linking it to Amrita's Page  and Gayathri's page

shrutisrasoi  and Pari's Event

Recipe revisiting :Recipe and picture updated on 3/1/2015

Christmas Cake | Instant Cake Recipe | Plum Cake | No Alcohol Cake

     I was searching for Christmas cake recipes to use my tangerines lying on the fridge .After I saw this recipe I could not take my eyes off it  and wanted to try this.When i thought of making the cake,was  little skeptical about the recipe. I reduced the size by half and made it .After making i was really worried why haven't i made a big batch.My dear ones loved it  and the cake was over the very next day.After eating the cake i felt like i was eating i remembered the bakery style plum cake covered in butter paper.

Mushroom gravy

Mushrooms are everybody's favorite.When I used to work, I used to buy mushroom gravy for my family during my visits.This mushroom gravy can be served with roti, chappathis. Kids will definitely have some more bite of roti's with this gravy .My daughter is no exception , she loves it.

Preparation time:10 min
Cooking time:20 min (saute +gravy)
Serves:2-3