Egg and Mayo Sandwich

Other super simple sandwich is the Egg and Mayo one. If you are someone who loves eggs in any form, then this is a must try recipe. With just a few ingredients these sandwiches can stay moist for a couple of hours finding a perfect place in the picnic basket.

Ingredients
Bread slices
Eggs: 2
Mayonnaise: 5 table spoons
Chilli garlic sauce (Optional): 1 teaspoon
Pepper: 1 teaspoon
Salt

Firstly, hard boil the eggs. Peel off the shell and chop up the white and yellow. Add the mayo, salt, pepper and the chilli garlic sauce. Scoop this filling and spread it between the slices. Cut into triangles and serve.

Grilled veggie Sandwiches with an Indian twist

Sandwiches are scrumptious, super filling and the most popular on the go food. Perfect to pack for kids lunch or work place or even a family picnic. This sandwich can ensure the intake of all the needed veggie nutrition for all the kiddos or the fussy husbands in a fancy way.

Ingredients
Bread Slices
Tomato Ketchup

Vegetables
Potatoes: 3 small (finely cubed )
Onions: 1/2 of the big sized ones (finely chopped)
Corn nibblets: 2 table spoon
Green Chilies: 2-3 (sliced)
Tomatoes: 1 medium (chopped)
Green Bell Pepper (Capsicum): 1/2 chopped
Cabbage: a quarter (chopped )

Spices
Jeera: 1 teaspoon
Chili powder: 2 teaspoon
Turmeric Powder: 1 teaspoon
Chicken masala: 1 table spoon( or Any other masala f your choice)
Ginger Garlic Paste: 1 teaspoon
Chat Masala: 2 teaspoon
Pepper: 1/2 teaspoon
Oil: 2 tablespoon
Salt

Heat some oil in a pan, splutter the jeera, add ginger garlic paste, green chilies, onions and saute. Add a pinch of salt which will fasten the cooking of the onions. Now add the potatoes, turmeric, chili, chicken masala, pepper and saute well. Cover it and let the potatoes cook. Once they are soft, add rest of the vegetables and saute. Using a masher crush up all the vegetables. Add the chat masala and mix well to make the filling. You could also add chopped up coriander for some added flavor (The choice of vegetables in the filling can be altered to your preference).

Spread some ketchup on one slice and scoop the filling onto the other one. Press it down and grill it or toast it up in the sandwich maker.

Mango Cream Treat

If you are already bogged down with the summer heat, make something simple this season with its king bearing fruit, the mango. Its quick, its easy, its kid friendly and the best of all, its delicious….

Ingredients (Right for 2)

Ripe mango: 1 Big (cut up)
Cool Whip/Heavy whipping cream: 9-10 table spoons
Sugar (Depending on the sweetness of the mango): 5 table spoon
Ice cubes: 2

Begin with blending the cut mango pieces with the sugar and ice cubes in your regular mixer. If you are using cool whip, fold (Gentle mix) this pulp slowly into the cream. If you are using Heavy whipping cream, you can blend cream, mango, sugar, ice cubes all together to finally get custard like consistency. Also add finely cut mango pieces for a bite. Decorate it with some cream or anything colorful of your choice like strawberries or chocolate chips. Keep it covered in the freezer for 20-30 minutes and voila… your easy breezy mango treat is ready.

Nadan Kallumakkai / Mussels Fry

The popularity of the non- vegetarian delicacies from the Muslim households of North Kerala not only grows rapidly, but continues to delight the palates with its simple yet unique combination of zestful flavors. The fiery kallummakai fry is a star among the pack, wonderful as starters or just as an accompaniment for the “thanni”( slang for alcohol ) parties.

Kallumakkai commonly known as Mussels belongs to the shell fish family. The whole experience of buying the fresh ones with shell and cleaning it can get quite tedious. A thorough rinse in water and removal of "the beard" (the dirt sticking to the shells) is suggested. Mussel shells usually open by themselves when boiled in water, revealing the cooked soft parts. For the detailed cleaning process click here - Mussel Cleaning.

All those who want to do this from scratch, we really commend your patience. However the cleaned ones are easily available in most Chinese supermarkets at the seafood aisle.

Ingredients

Mussels: 1 packet
Red Pearl Onion/Cheriya Ulli: 6-7
Green Chillies: 2
Chopped Ginger: 1 teaspoon
Garlic: 2 pods (finely chopped)
Curry Leaves: 2 sprigs
Turmeric powder: 1 teaspoon
Red Chili powder: 2-3 teaspoon (depending on your spice level)
Your favorite brand of Chicken/Fish masala: 3 teaspoon
Pepper: 1 teaspoon
Salt as required
Lemon juice: 1/2 lemon squeezed
Oil to fry

Begin with marinating the mussels with salt, pepper, turmeric powder, chili powder, chicken or fish masala and lemon juice. Let this sit for half hour minimum for the spices to blend well. More we keep the marinated mussels better the taste.

Meanwhile slice the red pearl onions. Now heat the oil in a pan, add the chopped ginger, garlic, slit green chillies and curry leaves and saute them. Once the onions turn golden and crispy, add the marinated mussels and stir. Cook it on medium heat until all the water (if any) is dried up and the mussels start to coat in the masala, getting crisp.

Serve hot.

Kozhakatta or Steamed rice dumplings

Steamed rice dumplings, both sweet and the spicy ones complimenting each other can truly be a tasty treat. This popular item not only adds itself to the snack list, but can also be a perfect breakfast combo for a relaxed Sunday. The sweet kozhakatta, slightly modified to a tomb-like face are also called as Modaks, Lord Ganesha’s favorite.

Kozhakatta with a sweet filling / Modaks

Ingredients
Dough
Rice Flour: 1 cup
Hot Water: 1/2 cup
Salt: a pinch

Filling
Jaggery: 3 Blocks (grated)
Cardamom: 2 pods (powdered with little sugar)
Ghee: 1 teaspoon
Grated Coconut: 1/2 cup

Begin by mixing the rice flour, salt and hot water to make a soft dough as you would for making chappathis. Roll out smaller balls and keep aside. Meanwhile mix the grated coconut, grated jaggery, ghee and powdered cardamom to make the filling.

Slightly oil your palm, press the rolled out ball individually and make a pocket for the filling. Close the pocket with the edges and roll it back into a ball. The easiest way to steam these are in the Idli steam cooker. It is usually ready in 15-20 mins. Once cooled down, serve them as a whole or cut in half.

Kozhakatta with a spicy twist.

Ingredients
Dough
Rice Flour: 1 cup
Hot Water : 1/2 cup
Salt: a pinch

Varavu/Seasoning
Red onion: 1/4 the American size big red onion (finely chopped)
Mustard seeds (Kadugu): 1 teaspoon
Urad dal /uzhunnu parippu: 1 teaspoon
Dried red chillies: 2-3
Curry leaves: 2 sprigs
Grated coconut: 2 table spoon
Oi : 1 table spoon

Begin by mixing the rice flour, salt and hot water to make a soft dough. Roll out the dough into small balls and steam them in the Idli cooker till well done. Once cooled down, cut the steamed rice balls into smaller pieces. Heat oil in a pan, splutter the mustard seeds, urad dal. Now add the chopped onions, red chillies, curry leaves, grated coconut and saute it. Now add the cut up dumplings and adjust with little more salt and mix well.

Serve hot.

Sukhiyan

Sukhiyan which literally in Malayalam means something that gives sukham (comfort and joy) is a sweet explosion indeed. This popular and delicious snack from Kerala doesn’t call for a special reason to be made; something sweet to make up a fight or just a teatime bite.

Ingredients
Coating Batter
All purpose Flour/Maida: 1 Cup
Water: 1/2 cup (Just enough to make semi liquidy batter)

Filling
Green gram (Whole moong dal/ Cherupayar) : 1 cup
Water: 1 cup (to pressure cook the green gram)
Jaggery: 3-4 blocks to be grated (depending on the required sweetness)
or Sugar: 1 cup (Alternative for those who don't like jaggery)
Grated coconut: 2 table spoon
Cardamom: 2 pods (powdered with a little sugar)
Salt: a pinch
Oil to deep fry

Begin with pressure cooking the green gram with just enough water to get it mashed up. Once cooked, add the grated jaggery and stir on low heat until thick. Add the coconut and the powdered cardamom and mix well to get a consistency of a dough to make balls of it. You can add a little ghee for additional flavor which is optional. Mix the maida with water and a little salt to make the batter. Dip and coat these green gram balls with the batter and fry until golden brown.

Happy eating!!!

Kappa and Meen

We decided to kick start our blogging experiment with the traditional favorite - Kappa and Meen (Tapioca with Fish Pulimolagu or moleshyam or mulaghittu style). Though Kappa (also commonly known as Yucca /Cassava/Maricheeni/Kolli) is an ordinary tubular root rich in starch, it churns out its exquisite flavor when paired with fish curry. Kappa is readily available in most Asian /Indian stores. In this recipe we have used Mathi (Sardines) for the fish curry in an effort to closely bring it to its most popular style as served in the toddy shops across Kerala. An additional compliment to this platter is the ulli chamanthi (Onion chutney).

Kappa

Ingredients: (Quantity based on a meal for two)
Yucca roots : 2-3 Medium sized
Salt: to taste
Turmeric: 1/2 teaspoon
Water: 1/2 cup (Just enough to cook it without getting burnt at the bottom)
Grated coconut: 1 tablespoon
Cumin seeds (Jeerakam): 1 teaspoon
Green Chillies: 2-3 (depending on the required spice level)
Red pearl onions (Cheriya ulli/Shallots): 3-4
Garlic Pods: 2 medium sized

Garnish(Varavu)
Oil: 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds: 1/2 teaspoon
Curry Leaves: 8-10 leaves
Dried red Chillies: 1-2

Peel off the tough brown skin of the yucca root with a knife. Chop up the inner white part into small pieces(does not have to be uniformly cut). Boil these pieces with turmeric and salt in little water. Check on them to see if they are mashing up which usually takes about 15 -20 mins. Meanwhile grind the coconut + cumin + green chillies + garlic + red onions into a coarse paste. Add this paste into the boiled yucca and mix well. Finally let the mustard seeds, red chillies, curry leaves splutter in oil and add it to the yucca. Stir up just before serving.
Fish Curry

Ingredients:
Tins of sardines in tomato and chilli: 1(one tin contains usually 4 fishes)
Red Pearl onions (Cheriya ulli/Shallots): 5-6 (sliced)
Green chilies: 3 (slit)
Garlic pods: 2 (finely chopped)
Ginger : 1 slice (finely chopped)
Curry leaves: 10 leaves
Tomato: 1/2 medium sized (sliced)
Tamarind paste: 1 1/2 teaspoon
Red chili powder: 1 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder: 1/2 teaspoon
Salt: to taste
Methi Seeds(Uluva): 1/2 teaspoon (optional)
Oil: 1 teaspoon

*Meen curry will taste best if it is cooked in a naadan Chatti (Earthen clay pot) the previous day as the flavors integrate sitting overnight.

Begin with sauteeing the methi seeds, red pearl onions, garlic, ginger, green chilies, curry leaves, red chili powder, turmeric powder in oil for few minutes. Add the tomato slices and tamarind water to it and let it simmer for a few minutes.Once the onions and tomatoes are cooked, add the sardines along with its base sauce.Cover the pot and let it cook for 10 mins on medium heat. Since sardines cook fast, make sure they are not overdone as they tend to break up. Finally taste and adjust the salt /spice /tartiness accordingly.

Ulli Chamanthi

Ingredients:
Red pearl onions (Cheriya ulli/Shallots): 6-7
Green Chillies: 2
Tamarind: 1/2 teaspoon
Oil: 1 teaspoon ( Coconut oil enhances the taste)
Salt to taste

Grind up all of the above ingredients to make the chutney.

Bon Apetite!!!!