Macaroni and Paneer (Indian Cheese) with Spinach

I was very curious and excited to try this macaroni dish where paneer (Indian cheese) is used instead of the usual cheddar cheese. This is a must try recipe for paneer lovers. Addition of spinach and parmesan cheese make the dish heavenly.
Recipe Courtesy: Lisa's Kitchen

Beetroot Kichadi / Pachadi (Beetroot in Coconut n Yogurt Gravy)

Beetroot is one of the varieties of beet rich in antioxidants and other nutrients. This kichadi is a traditional Kerala side dish served during sadya (feast). Beetroot is cooked in a coconut gravy and yogurt is added towards the end. To my surprise my four year old son also tried the dish as he was excited to change the color of his rice to pink!
 Recipe Courtesy: Suja's Kitchen Corner-Try It

Malabar Style Stuffed Chicken / Cornish Hen for Thanksgiving (Kozhi Nirachathu)

 

Hope you all had a great thanksgiving day! I found this twin pack of two small cornish hen at the grocery store and decided to go chicken instead of turkey this time for a Kerala style thanksgiving. Malabar is a coastal region of Southern India which forms the northern part of Kerala. It is in the Calicut district (now Kozhikode) of Malabar that Vasco da Gama once landed in his quest for spices, opening up a new spice trade route to India (rest is history!). It is fascinating to think that the same region was Christopher Columbus' original destination when he accidently discovered the Americas (and rest is history!). Oh yeah, I'm getting addicted to Wikipedia these days. :) Anyways, coming back to Malabar cuisine, the region has its own style of a rich culinary tradition. This stuffed chicken is one of their specialties where chicken is stuffed with hard boiled eggs and roasted onion masala. This was my first attempt and it was indeed a culinary delight.

Recipe Courtesy: My Treasure...My Pleasure

Konkani Ivy Gourd Cashew Nut Stir-fry (Tendli Bibbe Upkari)

Tendli Bibbe Upkari is a popular Konkani side dish served with rice for special occasions like weddings, pujas etc. Traditionally tender cashew nuts are used for the dish. Since tender cashew nuts are not available, I used cashew nuts soaked in warm water as explained in the recipe. I loved it. I'm sure tender cashew nuts must be giving a different flavor to this dish.
Recipe Courtesy: Arch's The Yum Factor

Broccoli Potato Sabzi / Stir-fry

Broccoli is a vegetable rich in nutritional and medicinal values. It makes a good combination with potato for stir-frying. This combo could be served as a side dish with rice or roti.
Recipe Courtesy: iCookiPost

Paneer Butter Masala (Paneer Makhani / Paneer Makhanwala)

 

This is a delicious paneer dish where paneer is cooked in a tomato-butter-cream gravy. I assume paneer butter masala, makhani and makhanwala are all the same dish. The word 'makhan' means butter or cream. Note that butter is made from cream of milk (raw, pasteurized or fermented). Whatever the name is, the dish goes well with any Indian bread. I used store bought low fat paneer this time and it started breaking up while cooking :(
Recipe Courtesy: Fun and Food Blog

Fish Curry in Tamarind Gravy (Andhra Chepala Pulusu)

There are innumerable ways for making fish curry. This is Andhra style fish curry where fish is cooked in tamarind gravy. This is somewhat similar to Kerala fish curry where gambooge (Malabar tamarind or kudampuli) is used as souring agent. If your taste buds are senstive enough you could feel the taste difference between the two curries.
Recipe Courtesy: Kalyani's Kitchen

Chicken Mappas (Chicken in Coconut Milk Gravy)

This is a Kerala style chicken curry where chicken is cooked in coconut milk gravy. It could be served as side dish with appam, chappathi or rice.
Recipe Courtesy: Marias Menu

Asparagus Thoran (Asparagus Coconut Stir-fry)

Asparagus is a vegetable with lots of nutritional and medicinal properties. As usual I started cooking with this vegetable with a thoran recipe. It turned out to be a delicious and nutritious side dish with rice.
Recipe Courtesy: Look Who's Cooking Too

Vanilla Bean Custard

My husband works in the food industry and he gets occasional treats from suppliers at work. The other day he brought home a bottle of pure vanilla extract and some vanilla beans. I have seen chefs cooking with vanilla beans on Food Network and used to wonder how it would taste like. I couldn't wait to try it out and  found this simple custard recipe on Martha Stewart's website. I could smell the fresh aroma of the beans while cooking and it was fun experience. One vanilla bean could be replaced with two teaspoons of vanilla extract in the recipe.
Recipe Courtesy: Marthastewart.com

Bihari Aloo Dum (Baby Potato in Yogurt n Masala Gravy)

Dum Aloo is popular dish in North India with regional variations in preparation. This time I tried the Bihari version. Here cooked baby potatoes are skinned and fried in oil/ghee and then cooked in a tomato-yogurt gravy along with spices. This could be served as side dish rice or roti.
Recipe Courtesy: Aipi's US Masala

Varutharacha Kadala Curry (Chickpea Curry in Roasted Coconut Gravy)

This is Kerala style chick pea curry where the gravy consists of roasted coconut and other spices. Traditionally served with puttu (steamed rice flour), this versatile curry could be served with rice, appam, idiyappam or any type of Indian bread.
Recipe Courtesy: Yummy O Yummy

Pavakka Chammanthi (Bitter Gourd Coconut Chutney)

I don't want to miss any bitter gourd recipes that I see in the blogs and this chutney is one among them. This bitter gourd-coconut-tamarind chutney is only mildly bitter and is mildly sour at the same time. I loved the nuttiness of roasted chana dal and it was a hit at home. It could be served with rice, idli or dosa.
Recipe Courtesy: Kairali Sisters' Pazham Pappadam Payasam

Brussels Sprout Cherupayar Thoran (Brussels Sprout Moong Dal Stir-fry)

This is the first time I'm cooking with Brussels sprouts. I thought cooking them with moong dal is a safe way to start since I don't know how they taste. These mini cabbages taste very similar to cabbage and the combo with moong dal turned out to be great.
Recipe Courtesy: Sarah's Vazhayila

Muringakka Theeyal (Drumstick in Roasted Coconut Gravy)

This is another theeyal recipe from Kerala. Here drumstick is cooked in a roasted coconut-spices gravy. It is usually served as side dish with rice.
Recipe Courtesy: Ente Pachakasala

Goat Liver Fry (Mutton Liver Fry)

This is the first time I'm cooking with goat liver. This is the Kerala style liver fry preparation. Marinated liver is cooked at low heat and then shallow fried with onion and spices. Slow cooking at low heat is preferred to avoid the liver pieces from becoming rubbery. In India and some other Asian countries goat meat is also called as mutton. I learned something new here :) - a mature sheep's meat is usually called mutton while meat of young sheep (lamb) is called lamb.
Recipe Courtesy: Shn's Mishmash

Padavalanga Thoran (Snake Gourd Coconut Stir-fry)

This is an easy thoran recipe with snake gourd. Smaller the size of chopped snake gourd, better the taste.

Recipe Courtesy: Pachakam.com

Baingan Bharta (Roasted Mashed Eggplant / Brinjal)

Baingan Bharta is a Punjabi dish popular in North India. Eggplant is roasted, de-skinned, mashed and then cooked with tomato, onion and spices to make this delicious side dish. It could be served with both rice and roti.
Recipe Courtesy: Pavani's Cook's Hideout

Andhra Style Tindora / Ivy Gourd Stir-fry (Dondakaya Vepudu)

There are different variations of dondakaya vepudu recipes. This is a very simple recipe which uses chana dal and urad dal to make a crunchy stir-fry.
Recipe Courtesy: Akshayapaatram

Chakka Kozhukatta (Steamed Rice Dumpling with Jackfruit Halva / Jam)

When my in-laws visited us they brought some delicious chakkavaratti (jackfruit halva/jam) from home. Ever since then I've been experimenting with them for various snacks. Kozhukatta (Kozhukattai or Modak) is a sweet dumpling popular in India where the shell is made of rice flour and the filling is usually made with jaggery and grated coconut.  Here for chakka kozhukkatta, I used rice flour for the shell and chakkavaratti n coconut for the filling. My husband loves this kozhukatta which his grandmother used to make during his summer vacation visits.

This is another version of chakka kozhukatta where the shell is made with rice flour n chakkavaratti and the filling with jaggery n coconut.
Recipe Courtesy: My Treasure...My Pleasure

Macaroni and Cheese (Stove top version)

This time I tried the stove top version of Mac n Cheese. Previously I had posted the baked version. The stove top version is much more easier and I didn't find much difference between them except for the added taste of bubbly cheese and bread crumb topping of the baked version.
Recipe Courtesy: allrecipes.com

Creamy Tomato Curry

This is a very simple curry which calls for the addition of milk towards the end to make it creamy. It could be served as a side dish with rice or roti. I served it with idli and dosa too.
Recipe Courtesy: Trendy Relish