Beet stem Rasam

Ingredients:
Beet Stem - few
Channa dal - 1/2 cup
Garlic - 4 to 5 flakes
Ginger - small piece
Green chili -  4 slit length wise
Cilantro - handful
Cumin - 1/4 tsp
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Rasam Powder - 1tsp
Lemon juice - 1 tbs
Oil/Ghee - 2 tbs
Salt to taste

Preparation:

Soak dal in water for half an hour and pressure cook by adding 2 cups of water. Wash to beet root stem nicely and cut into  pieces. Heat ghee in a pan/kadai, add mustard, cumin when it splutters  add asafoetida, then garlic, ginger and green chili and saute it for few minutes. Add lemon juice (you can use tamarind pulp instead of lemon juice). Mash dal nicely and add to this followed by beetroot stem and bring it to boil, this stage you can add rasam powder and salt.   When its done remove from heat and serve with rice

Kozhy curry

Ingredients:
Chicken - 1/2 kg
Onion -2 small
Tomato -1 small
Ginger - small piece
Garlic - 10
Green chili -3
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Fennel - 1tbs
Black pepper - 1tbs
Milk - 1/2 cup (I used cow's milk)
Curry leaves - few
Salt to taste
Oil as required

Preparation:

Fry fennel and pepper corns in a pan, allow it to cool and grind it to fine powder. Wash the chicken and cut into pieces. Marinate the chicken pieces with the ground spice powder and turmeric powder for 20 minutes. Slice the onion and heat  oil in a pan, add curry leaves when it splutters, add the sliced onion and tomatoes and saute for a while, the add the ground paste of ginger, garlic and green chili, and saute until raw smell goes away. Now add the marinated chicken pieces cover with a lid and let it cook. When its done add milk,mix well and remove from heat.

Mango Payasam

Ingredients:
Milk - 3 cups
Rice - ¼  cup
Mango pulp - 1cup

Sugar - ½cup

Cardamom - few
Cashew - few
Ghee - 2tbs

Preparation:

Soak rice in water for 1 hour. Meanwhile fry the cashews in ghee and keep aside.

Take a blender add ¼ cup of milk and give 1 whisk. Then take a  pan add milk into in and bring it to boil, when it starts boiling add rice to the boiling milk and let it cook, reduce the heat and stir occasionally. When it starts to thicken add sugar and cardamom and keep stirring. Finally add the mango pulp mix well, remove from heat and garnish with cashew. Allow it to cool and serve.

Christmas Cake/ Kerala Plum Cake

                       

   

  
Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 2 cups

Butter - 1 ½  stick

Egg - 4 no's
Sugar - 1 cup
Baking powder - 2tsp
Cinnamon Powder - 1tsp
Cloves - 1tsp
Nutmeg - 1tsp
Ginger - 1tsp ( dry ginger powder)
Vanilla essence - 1tsp
Salt a pinch
Dry fruits and nuts (raisin, dates, cranberry, almond, walnuts) - 2 cups

For caramel

Sugar - ½ cup

Water - 1tbs

Preparation:

In medium heat, heat ½ cup cup of sugar with 1 tbsp of water and keep stirring until the color changes from light brown to dark brown.  Once the color becomes darker remove from heat and pour  water ¼ cup  and keep aside.

In a large bowl beat sugar and butter till smooth and add eggs, and beat until fluffy.  Sieve all purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Add cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg ginger powder and caramel and combine well.  Add vanilla essence and blend all the ingredients to get a smooth batter. Sprinkle 1 or 2 tsp flour over the  dry fruits and nuts and fold them into the batter lightly. Pour the batter into a greased baking pan.and bake at 350F. When its  done, remove the cake and keep it outside, and allow it cool, slice it and serve.

Spicy Prawn/Shrimp Fry

Ingredients:
Shrimp - 40 to 50
Onion - 1 large
Tomato - 1 deseed them
Ginger - small piece crushed
Garlic -  5 to 6 crushed
Green chili - 4 crushed
Pepper corns - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - ¼ tsp

Garam masala - ¼ tsp

Curry leaves- few
Salt to taste
Oil - 2tbs

Preparation:

Wash the shrimp nicely and marinate it with turmeric powder, pepper corns (powder them) garam masala and salt for 15 to 20 minutes. Heat 1tbs oil in pan and fry the shrimp and keep aside. In the same pan add another 1tbs of oil and saute the crushed ginger, garlic and green chili until raw smell goes away. Then add the chopped onion and tomato and fry. When it changes its color to light  brown add salt and the fried shrimp and mix well. Finally add the curry leaves and turn off the heat. 

Serve with steamed rice. 

Carrot Cake

Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 2 cups
Butter - 1
Egg - 4
Sugar - 2 cups
Carrot - 3 cups grated
Baking powder -2 tsp
Nutmeg powder - 1 ¼ tsp
Cinnamon powder - 1 ¼ tsp
Salt - a pinch

Preparation:

Sieve flour, baking powder, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder and salt and keep it aside. Take a large bowl add butter and sugar into it and beat till smooth with cake mixer. Then add eggs and beat until fluffy.  Finally add carrot and  mix well. Preheat the oven to 350 degree c. Pour the batter into a greased baking pan and bake. When it is done, remove cake from oven, and allow it to cool and serve..

Pappadam Thoran

Ingredients:
Pappadam 5 to 6
Garlic - 5 flakes
Ginger - small piece
Red chili - 3

Mustard seeds - ½ tsp

Cumin - ¼  tsp

Channa and Urad dal - ½ tsp

Curry leaves - few
Grated coconut - 2 tsp (optional)
Oil for frying
Salt a pinch

Preparation:

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the pappadam, drain and keep aside.  Take another pan, and heat 1 tsp oil and add  mustard seeds, when the mustard seeds pops, add urad dal, channa dal, cumin, red chili and curry  leaves and saute it, then add  crushed ginger and garlic and saute until raw smell goes away. Now add the  grated coconut and  pappadam ( make into small pieces with you hand ) mix well. Serve with steamed rice or kanji