Crunchy Jelaibi

Ingredients:

1 cup Maida

1 tsp level baking powder

(sieve both maida and baking powder  so that they mix in well together)
2 pinch yellow food colour
3 cups sugar
1 ½ glass water
cold water to mix

Method:

1. Make the sugar syrup, let it cool completely, it should be thick, only then the jalaibi will get it’s taste.

 
Mix the flour, with the food colour and mix it with COLD water, it will start turning very sticky like a glue, keep mixing strongly with a whisker till the batter is very creamy but not runny.

2. You can use the icing set which is used for cakes and fix the tinniest nozzle on it as when you drop the batter in the oil it will raise in size so better use the smallest one, now heat the oil, fill in the icing device, and go round round with it dropping it in the oil and make the form of jelabi  or use  a plastic sheet and make it like a cone and fill it with batter and make a thin hole in the nob and use it .

3. Don’t fry too long you will feel as the colour changes to a light brownish orange, take it out and put it directly in the syrup BUT take it immediately out after 4-5 seconds!! If it stays long it will become very soggy, to have it crunchy you have to hurry, place them on a grill so that the extra syrup runs out, don’t cover them they will stay crunchy 100% !!!

Now enjoy crispy Jelaibis  :)

Ice Coffee

This is very yummy chilling coffee for all coffee lovers . I love to have this in hot summer whenever I have a feel to have coffee :) . usually Ice coffee is done with ice cream, but this recipe is without ice cream , its light and yummy. 

Ingredients:


Boiled Milk - One cup
Sugar- 1 teaspoon
Instant coffee powder - 1 teaspoon
Milk chocolate - 3 inch piece ( I prefer using galaxy choclate or diary milk)
Ice cubes - handful

Method:


Mix all the ingredients together and beat in the mixi for 3 minutes and serve cold .


Yummy chilled coffee :) for a hot day.

Ladys Finger Kara Kolambu

This is a yummy curry apt for plain white rice. I made this with ladys finger but also it tastes good adding brinjal or drumstick or potato .

Ingredients:

Ladys Finger - 250 gms  wash and cut into one inch pieces

Fresh coconut scrapped : 1/2 cup

Onion  - Slice onion roughly

Tomato - 2 ripe medium size tomatoes chopped roughly

Sambar powder- any good brand one tablespoon

Tumeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Hing -1/4 teaspoon

One lime size tamarind - make into a juice for 1/2 cup

Garlic- 6 cloves sliced

Jaggary or white sugar - 1/4 spoon

Mustard seeds - 1/4 spoon

Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 spoon

Whole red chillies- 3

Curry leaves

Salt to taste

Oil as required, I prefer gingelly oil for this curry as it enhances the taste

   

Method:

1. In a kadai heat 2 tablespoons oil and add the onions , garlic and fry well with a stream of curry leaves and once the onions are fried add the tomatoes and fry well till the raw smell goes off and then finally add the sambar powder , 1/4 teaspoon tumeric powder and fresh coconut and toss for 2 minutes and then grind to a fine paste.

2. In a kadai add little oil and fry the ladys finger in slow fire for 7 minutes and once done remove and keep aside.

3. In the same kadai, add oil  and once hot add mustard seeds, then fenugreek seeds, curry leaves and pinch  of hing powder, and then add the tamarind juice and cook it along with little water and once the raw smell of tamarind goes away, then add the fried ladys finger and then add the grinded gravy with little water, add salt and cook till the gravy becomes thick and then remove and garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve it  with hot steaming rice.

Karela Salad

A quick and easy Yummy salad with karela , it is a must salad in Srilankan food. I learnt this from my Srilankan friends and it is worth trying.

Ingredients:

Karela  : 2 nos washed and thinly sliced in round shape

Tomato : 1 sliced thin

Onion : thinly sliced round

Lemon Juice : 4 tablespoons  

Black Pepper Powder : 1/2 teaspoon

Tumeric Powder  : 1/4 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Oil for frying

Method:

Mix tumeric powder and salt with the sliced karela and marinate it for 10 minutes and then deep fry it in little oil until very crispy like chips, but to avoid oil , I microwaved the karela to a crispy texture with one teaspoon of oil.

Now mix the fried karela, onion rings, tomato, pepper powder, lemon juice and   salt and serve with hot white rice accompanied by vegetarian curries.  

Saucy Baked Chicken

Was wondering what to cook for dinner and once decided to make chicken, I grabbed the Fauzia's recipe which I had been longing to do and eyed for long time :) . I couldnt resist to eat it once I made it it looked fabulous and smelled superb and tasted the best and this is the best ever baked chicken  by me :), a big hug and thank you to Fauzia. A must try easy recipe.

Ingredients:

1 chicken, without skin, cut into 8 or 10 pieces
2 tbsp oil
3 tbsp tomato paste (if your tomato paste is of a good bright coloured type, then first use 2 tbsp and check how the colour looks when blended with the rest of the ingredients...if you find you need more you can then add as necessary)
1 medium red onion chopped
1 heaped tsp ginger garlic paste
2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp whole cumin
2 tsp salt
2 TBsp tandoori masala
1 big mug plain yoghurt, full
2 green chillis (add more if you want it spicier)
1 bunch coriander, with sticks (not just the leaves)
Juice of 2 lemon (if ur lemons are very juicy then use just the juice of 1)

Method:

Clean and wash, then drain the chicken and set aside in a bowl.

Put ALL the other ingredients into a blender. Blend everything together until smooth. If you find the colour is not as vibrant as you would like, add a tsp of tandoori masala and a little more tomato paste, and blend again. Then pour over the chicken. Cover and refrigerate, let it marinate preferably for about 2-4 hours, but up to overnight is fine.

Pour everything into a glass pyrex baking dish, cover with foil. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C. Place your baking dish on the center rack and bake for 30-35mins. 

(At this point your whole house will have the most appetising aroma. So be warned, tummies will growl!) :D

Remove dish, open the foil and turn the pieces over. Baste them with some of the liquid, just scoop with a spoon n drizzle over the pieces to keep them moist. Replace foil and put the dish back in the oven. Bake for another 30-35mins.

Finally remove the dish from the oven and discard the foil. Turn the pieces over once more and baste again with the sauce just to retain moisture, then put the tray back into the oven (without the foil this time) for about 10 mins or so just to give the pieces a nice colour. (If you have a grill in the oven, turn it on at this point to give the chicken a fantastic finish).

Once ready, remove and cover loosely with the foil until time of serving so the heat is retained.

Serving options: This dish can be served  with many different things in the past, but the best accompaniment in my opinion is fries, some sort of bread like naan or pita or parathas, chappatis and a fresh salad and an icy cold drink.


Enjoy cooking and eating this fabulous Chicken:) 

Rava Laddo

This is the recipe of my sweetest grandma who is an excellent cook and this is the most frequently wanted and made sweet in my house which I learnt to master it from her. This is very easy to make in less than 20 minutes .

Ingredients:

White Rava (Sooji ) : One cup

Cashew nuts : broken a handful

Raisins: Handful

Almonds and pistachios Crused handful (Optional)

Hot Milk : 1/4 cup

Sugar : 3/4 cup

Cardamon Powder : 1/4 teaspoon

Fresh coconut Grated : 1/4 cup

Ghee : 1/4 cup or 4 tablespoons

Method:

1. In a kadai add ghee when hot add cashew nuts, raisins and other nuts you prefer and once light brown add the fresh coconut and fry in very slow heat for 5 minutes and then add the rava and roast it in very slow fire for 7 minutes  and be careful not to brown the rava and once the rava is roasted, add sugar and mix well for 5 minutes in slow fire , add cardamon powder and then add the milk and mix well and immediately switch off from fire .

2. Start making ladoos when warm itself, if you feel too dry to make ladoos add little milk, grease hands with ghee and make the ladoos in the sizes you wish.

Note: if you wish you can add a pinch of food colour of your choice to make it more colourful and add it in little water or milk and add to the mixture while mixing on heat. 

Quick & Easy Coconut Rice

This is a quick and easy recipe which I always prefer for a lunch box and very yummy when accompanied by potato fry or cauliflower fry. 

Ingredients:

Rice: two cups boiled and dont make it soggy and should be in the tempo for friedrice

Fresh Coconut scraped : one cup

Mustard seeds: 1/4 teaspoon

Split channa dhal: 1 teaspoon

Split Urad dhal:  1 teaspoon

Garlic: 6 cloves chopped or sliced

Cashew nuts : 6 nos broken into two (Optional)

Whole red chilies: 5 nos broken into two

Asafoetida powder: 1/4 spoon

Curry leaves

Salt to taste 

Cooking Oil: 2 tablespoons

Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

1. Heat oil in a kadai, add mustard seeds and then urad dhal, channa dhal, chashew and when it changes colour, add the garlic and fry for a minute and add the red chilies and curry leaves and asafoetida powder  and coconut and fry well for 2 minutes and dont burn the coconut to brown colour and add enough salt and rice and mix well.

2. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Enjoy yummy yummy coconut rice with potato fry:)