Exquisite Corner

'Exquisite' means of such beauty or delicacy as to arouse intense delight .A food that's creative, thoughtfully prepared, beautifully presented and easy to eat makes it absolutely delicious.On this corner,I have tried to recollect the spicy memories and food that I have enjoyed, a delicacy that still persist on the corner of my heart.Hope you too will enjoy it. Bon Appetit !

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Saturday, March 10, 2012

Soya Chunks - Roasted 'n' Grinded



Ingredients

  1. Soya chunks - 100 gms
  2. Shallots(small onion) - 10-15 No:s(Crushed)
  3. Garlic - 2 cloves(Crushed)
  4. Ginger - half a small one(Crushed)
  5. Crushed chilly - 2 tablespoons
  6. Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon
  7. Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
  8. Pepper powder - 1 teapoon
  9. Salt - to taste
  10. Onion - 1big(sliced)
  11. Coconut oil
  12. Curry leaves
  13. Whole red chilly - 2 No:s
  14. Mustard seeds

To roast and grind

  • Coconut - 1 cup(grated)
  • Shallots - 3 No:s
  • Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
  • Coriander powder - 1/4 tsp
 
How to make
 
       Soak the soya chunks for about an hour. Squeese well the soya chunks while removing from water.Marinate the soya chunks with ingredients 2 - 8. Keep aside for 20 mins. Pressure cook the marinated soya chunks with 1 cup of water and salt. Cook for 2 -3 whistles. If there is excess water in it after cooking, cook in low flame till it dries out. Take a bottom heavy pan. Heat tbspn cocnut oil in a wok. Add whole red chilly,splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves . Now add onion and saute till they become translucent. Add the cooked soya and saute well. Fry in low flame till the soya turns golden brown in color.(You can have this at this stage, also. It tastes good.)
 
        In the meantime, roast the coconut and shallots in a wok till the coconut turns brown in color. Remove from flame and add chilly powder & coriander powder.Grind the roasted mixture and add this mixed with water to the fried soya chunks. Add salt to taste(Be careful while adding salt as you have added salt while pressure cooking soya.). Bring the curry to boil. Cook in low flame so that the masala is well mixed with the soyachunks. Serve hot with chapathi or rice.



Thursday, March 1, 2012

Egg Bhurji


Ingredients
  1. Egg - 2 No:s
  2. Green peas - 1/4 cup(frozen)
  3. Onion - 1 , finely chopped
  4. Tomato - 1 big, finely chopped
  5. Green chillies - 2 , finely chopped
  6. Turmeric powder - 2 pinch
  7. Chilly powder - 1/4 tsp
  8. Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp
  9. Coconut oil – 1 tbsp
  10. Mustard seeds
  11. Whole red chilly – 1 No:
  12. Salt to taste.

How to make

Heat oil in a wok. Add red chilly, splutter mustard seeds. Add onion and sauté till they become translucent. Add green chillies and tomato. Saute till the tomato turns mushy. Add green peas , chilly powder  and turmeric powder and sauté till the raw smell leaves. Now add the beaten eggs and salt to taste. Scramble the egg well till they are separated and well cooked.

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Vegetable Biriyani - Malabar style



Ingredients 
  1. Basmati Rice - 2 cups
  2. Onion - 1 big
  3. Ginger - 1 inch size
  4. Garlic - 4 pods
  5. Green chillies - 2 No:s
  6. Tomato - 1 big(sliced)
  7. Potatoes - 2 medium size, cubed
  8. Carrots - 2 medium size, cubed
  9. Green peas - 1/4 cup(frozen)
  10. Cauliflower florets - 1/2 cup
  11. Cabbage - 1/4 cup, sliced
  12. beans - 1/2 cup, cut into 1 inch size
  13. garam masala - 1/2 tsp
  14. red chilly powder - 1/4 tsp
  15. Coriander powder - 1/4 tsp
  16. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
  17. Cloves - 3 No:s
  18. Cinnamon stick - 1 inch in size
  19. Cardamom - 2 No:s
  20. Whole black pepper corns - 1/2 tsp
  21. Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
  22. Yogurt - 1 tbsp
  23. Water - 3 cups
  24. Biriyani essence - 1tsp diluted in 1 tbsp water.
  25. Oil - 1 tbsp
  26. Ghee - 2 tsp

For garnishing

Fired Raisins, Cashewnuts and onions

How to make

Clean and soak the rice for 20 mins. Heat ghee in pressure cooker, splutter cumin seeds. Add rice and fry for 1- 2 mins. Add cloves, cinnamon,cardamom, black pepper corns, turmeric powder and salt (2 pinches). Cook for 3 whistles. Remove from fire.

Chop 2-5 ingredients finely. Heat oil in a wok and add the chopped ingredients. Saute till the onions are translusant. Add tomato and cook till they are mushy. Now add the carrots and potatoes and cook till they are 80 % done(Sprinkle water if required to cook the carrots and potatoes). Now add cauliflower florets,cabbage, beans and green peas. Cover and cook till all the vegies are done. Add salt to taste, garam masala, red chilly powder, coriander powder and mix well. Add yogurt and stir well. Remove from fire.

Take a bottom heavy pan. Layer the cooked vegetable masala. Over that layer the cooked rice. Sprinkle biriyani essence.  Repeat the layering processes. Garnish with fried cashews, raisins and onions.  Now cover the pan with aluminum foil. Cover with lid and cook in low flame for 15 mins. Serve hot with raita,pickle and pappad. Enjoy !!!

Note: You choose the vegetables as per your taste.

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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Pol Rotti - A Srilankan dish


Ingredients

  1. Wheat flour - 1 cup
  2. Coconut - grated - 2 tbspn
  3. Salt to taste
  4. Water
  5. Oil

How to make

Mix well 1-3 ingredients and knead them to make a dough. Set aside for 20 minutes. Grease your hands with oil. Make lemon size balls out of the dough. Grease a steel plate with oil and press each balls over it to make thin round. Heat a tawa and place the rotti on it. Cook both sides well by pressing with a kitchen towel. Serve with vegetable stew / chicken curry/ raita.

Recipe source - Cookery show

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Apple Pie


Ingredients

To prepare stewed apple

  1. Apple - 1 No., sliced
  2. Lemon juice - of 1 lemon
  3. Water - 3/4  cup

For crust

  1. Biscuit - 2 tbspn,crushed
  2. Melted butter - 1 1/2 tbspn

For apple filling

  1. Biscuit - 2 tbspn,crushed
  2. Apple - Stewed
  3. Bread crumbs - 2tbspn
  4. Melted butter - 2 tbspn
  5. Sugar - 3 tspn
  6. Raisins - 5-6 No:s - soaked in 1/4 cup of water

For topping

  1. Oats - 2 tbspn
  2. Melted butter - 1 tbspn


How to make

To make stewed fruit - Boil water and lemon juice in a pan.Add apple and cook till soft. Keep aside. Grease  a cake pan with butter.

For crust - Mix the biscuit with the butter and press it to the bottom of the cake pan. Mix all the ingredients under apple filling and layer it on top of the biscuit - butter layer. Now mix the ingredients under toppings and layer it over the apple filling.

Heat the pressure cooker in high flame for 2 minutes. Place a plate in the cooker and place the cake pan over the plate, so that the pie doesn't get over burnt. Do not fill water in the pressure cooker. Cook for 30 minutes without putting the pressure cooker weight. After 30 minutes, remove from flame and keep aside for 1 minutes. Open the pressure cooker lid, take out the cake pan and transfer the apple pie to a plate. Slice it and serve warm.

If you are using an oven , then pre-heat the oven at 150 degree C[300 degree F] and bake for 20 minutes.

Recipe source- Tarla Dalal Apple Pie Recipe


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Egg Biriyani


Ingredients

  1. Basmati rice - 2 cups
  2. Eggs - 2 No:s,hard boiled
  3. Onion - 2 No:s,medium size,chopped
  4. Green chillies - 3 No:s,chopped
  5. Cinnamon- 1 inch length
  6. Cloves - 3-4
  7. Bay leaf - 1
  8. Cardamom - 2Nos
  9. Black pepper corns - 5- 6 No:s
  10. Tomato - 1 chopped
  11. Carrots - 2, chopped
  12. Chilly powder - 1 tspn
  13. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tspn (1/4  + 1/4)
  14. Garam masala - 1/4 tspn
  15. Salt to taste
  16. Ghee - 1 tspn
  17. Oil - 1tspn
  18. Water - 3 cups + 1/2 cup
  19. Biriyani essence - 2 drops

For seasoning

  1. Ghee - 1/2 tbspn
  2. Onion - 1 ,thinly sliced lengthwise
  3. Cashewnuts - 6-7 No:s
  4. Raisins - 6-7 No:s

How to make

     Heat ghee in a pressure cooker , add 5- 9 ingredients and saute till fragrent. Add choped onion(1) and green chillies(2 No:s) chopped and saute til the onion is translucent. Add cleaned rice, turmeric powder(1/4 tspn ) and saute for 3 minutes. Add chopped carrot,water and salt .Cook for 3 whistles. Open the pressure cooker when the pressure is fully released and spread the rice on a plate to cool.

      Meanwhile, heat oil in a wok / kadai, add the remaining onion and green chillies and saute till the onion is translucent. Add chopped tomato,chilly powder,turmeric powder and garam masala powder.Saute till the raw smell leaves. Add 1/2 cup water.Make slits on the hard boiled eggs using a knief. Add salt and eggs to the wok and saute well so that the masala is well coated on the egg. Now layer the egg masala in a biriyani dish. On top of it layer the cooked rice. Then again layer the egg masala  over rice. Cover it with the remaining rice.Cover with a lid and simmer for a few minutes.

    Fry the onion in ghee. Make sure the onion turns golden brown in color and set aside. Fry the cashewnuts till they get a golden brown color. Set aside. Fry the raisins. Add the fried ingredients to the biriyani and add biriyani essence and keep it covered for 5 minutes. Serve with raita.
Enjoy!!!


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Lemon Rasam


Ingredients

  1. Tomato - 1 ripe, chopped
  2. Green chillies - 2, chopped
  3. Ginger - 1/ inch size, crushed
  4. Garlic - 2 pods, crushed
  5. Tamarind juice - tamarind about the size of 1/2 a lemon
  6. Lemon juice - 1/2 of a lemon
  7. Chilly powder - 1/2 tspn
  8. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn
  9. Coriander powder - 1/4 tspn
  10. Pepper powder - 1/4 tspn
  11. Fenugreek powder - a pinch
  12. Asafoetida - 4 pinches
  13. Coriander leaves
  14. Whole red chilly - 2No:s
  15. Mustard seeds
  16. Curry leaves - 1 sprig
  17. Oil - 1 tspn
  18. Salt - to taste.
  19. Water - 1 1/2 cups

How to make

Heat oil in  a pan. Add whole red chillies, splutter mustard seeds, and add curry leaves. Now add chopped tomatoes and greeen chillies. When the tomatoes are well cooked, smash them. Add all the powders and saute till the raw smell leaves. Now add crushed ginger and garlic. Add in the tamarind juice. 1 1/2 cups of water a bring it to boil. Now add coriander leaves and salt to taste. Boil for few more minutes. Remove from flame and add lemon juice. Serve with rice.


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