Rice noodles different ways | Kukskitchen

Any rice based food is close to my heart, being a keralan :). I luv rice noodles and frequently try to add it to my menu. Last week I went to a south asian shop with my neighbour P. She introduced me to this new brand of rice noodles called 'Niru'. I used it this morning for my breakfast and it gave me the silkiest smoothest rice noodles ever. We all loved and ate to our hearts content.

Presented is my easy recipe for rice noodles and its keralan style.

Chicken peralan | Curried chicken stir fry | Kukskitchen

A traditional Keralan chicken peralan gives an earthy touch to your meal with fresh ingredients made in a simple way. It goes well with Ghee rice, yougurt and pappadam. The recipe is one that my friend from college Serin hand wrote for me. It has been one of my favourite chicken recipes ever since.

Fish fry marinade | Kukskitchen

There are various recipes to marinate a piece of fish to be fried. I present here two very easy fish marinade recipes. The amount of spices is calculated for 200g of fish. For those with a a high fiery threshold, I suggest doubling the red chilli powder/ paste. :) I use kashmiri chilli when I have it in stock as it gives ur fish fry such a beautiful vibrant colour. If using ordinary chilli powder, use half the amount pls.

Recipe 1

Ingredients

Kashmiri chilli powder  - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves to taste
Salt to taste

Recipe 1

Kovakka thoran featuring Ivy gourd | Kukskitchen

Thoran and me? Everybody knows a syrian christian from mid kerala CANNOT make a good thoran. It is a fact. That is unless she gets help from her south kerala thoran specialist friend. In my case it was my dear friend Surya. Sorry dear if over time my modifications have spoiled ur gorgeous recipe.


Presented is a recipe for kovakka thoran.

Kadalakkari - featuring chickpea and coconut l Kukskitchen

Fancy a quick chana curry to accompany ur puttu or batura or even a lazy-FZ porotta-evening? Here is the perfect recipe for u. It is quick and easy and uses store-cupboard-ingredients. 

Ingredients

1 - Chana / Kadala /chick pea - cooked - 200g 

2 - Coconut grated - 1/2 cup or less according to ur taste

     Meat or chicken masala - 2 tsp

     Salt to taste

3 - Curry leaves - only if u have them in stock

4 - Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

5 - Oil - 2 tbsp

6 - Coconut milk powder - 2 tsp

     Hot water - 3 tbsp

Method

- Grind (2) with 2 tbsp of cooked chana and enough water to a smooth paste.

- If using dried chana, cook pre-soaked chana in enough water and salt in a pressure cooker for 20 minutes after first whistle.

- Heat a oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and wait till they splutter. 

- Add curry leaves (if u have them).

- Add the ground paste and saute for a few minutes.

- Now add cooked chana and let it simmer for 3-4 minutes. 

- Mix coconut milk powder in hot water till no lumps and add this to the curry.

- Let it simmer for another 3-4 minutes.

- Your curry is ready to serve. 

Fish hearts | Spicy Fish Cutlets | Indian fish cakes | Kukskitchen

Any one bought the wrong kinda white tasteless fish and did not know what to do with it? Well I have done it many a times and each time it turns in to something different. This time I thought I will try an east-west combo, not really a fish cutlet but may be more like a fish cake. The shape gives it the name - fish hearts. My valentine cookie cutter came in handy.

Theeyal - a spicy aubergine curry with onions, tamarind and coconut | Kukskitchen

Ingredients:

1. Aubergine - 300g / 2-3 cups
    Shallots/ onions - 1/2 cup
    Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
    Green chilli - 2
    Curry leaves - 2- 3 sprigs
    salt
2. Grated coconut - 1 cup
    shallots/onion - 1/2 cup
    curry leaves - 2- 3 sprigs
3. Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
    Coriander powder - 2 tsp
    Chilly powder - 2 tsp
4. Tamarind paste - 2 tbsp
5. Red chilli - 2
    Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
    Oil - 2 tbsp

Method:

- Cook aubergine cut in to medium chunks in enough water and rest of ingredients of (1) till soft.
- Meanwhile dry roast (2) till coconut turns brown shaking the pan constantly to get an even colour. 
- Dessicated coconut is faster to get roasted. :)
- Mix (3) in to the pan and stir for another minute over low heat. 
- Grind this coconut mix to a coarse paste with as little water as permitted by ur blender.
- Once your aubergine is cooked add the coconut paste together with tamarind to it and let it boil.
- Add final tadka by adding dried chilli and mustard seeds to hot oil. Once the mustard seeds start to splutter, remove from heat and tip it over to ur theeyal.

Enjoy this spicy veg curry with par boiled rice. Yummmm!

Cheers
Sherin 

Erisseri with butternut squash and adzuki beans

When onam is around the corner, any keralan turns a veggie eater. And I'm no exception. What's coking today? Yes Erisseri. Erisseri is one dish that excites you each time you eat it. It is definitely the taste of home for me. 

Black forest cake | Keralan cake | Kukskitchen

A piece of the soft black forest cake is one that no one can resist. In the city where I was born and brought up in, there was a bakery/ bakers called M. They made the softest black forest cakes ever and their cake for christmas or birthday was such a pleasure to have, one had to pre-order as such was it's popularity. Not sure if the bakers still exist or if they make their world-famous-in-the capital city-cakes any more.


Presented is my take on the classic which gives best results each time.


The base for my black forest cake is 'devil's food cake'. Now, where I got this recipe! Got it from a book I borrowed from my first supervising consultant Dr JF at my first job. It was a small cooking booklet of 'Vanitha', a fortnightly malayalam magazine in India. :) It tasted like the black forest cake I tasted from M. Made a few changes and added a frosting and here is the result.

Appam | Rice and coconut pancakes | Vellayappam | Kukskitchen

അപ്പങ്ങള്‍ എമ്പാടും ഒറ്റയ്ക്ക് ചുട്ടമ്മായി, അമ്മായി ചുട്ടതു മരുമോളുക്കായ്‌  :)

Long gone are the days when you had to make a 'thari kurukku', have the best roasted rice flour and then wait and pray for the appam batter to rise. Not only is it easy and quicker to prepare, it is infallible and produces the softest yet crispy-frilled appams ever.

Appam, a popular South Indian delicacy, is a unique and versatile dish that tempts the taste buds with its soft, fluffy texture and slightly tangy flavor. Made from fermented rice batter, coconut milk, and a touch of yeast, appam is cooked in a special curved pan called an appachatti. The pan's curvature creates a thin, lacy edge while maintaining a thick, spongy center. Appam pairs perfectly with a range of accompaniments, from coconut chutney and vegetable stew to spicy curries. Its lightness and delicate taste make it a delightful choice for breakfast, brunch, or even as a satisfying snack. Indulge in the irresistible charm of appam and embark on a gastronomic journey to South India's culinary wonders.

From this recipe / batter I usually get 12-15 appams.

Vindaloo pork - featuring dry red chillies l Kukskitchen

Vindaloo is a traditional goan recipe, the adaptations of which you can find in any Indian restaurant in the uk. It is amazing how very few resemble each other in taste or form.


Here is what wiki says about vindaloo. The name Vindaloo is derived from the Portuguese dish "Carne de Vinha d' Alhos", which is a dish of meat, usually pork, with wine and garlic. The Portuguese dish was modified by the substitution of vinegar (usually palm vinegar) for the red wine and the addition of red Kashmiri chillies with additional spices to evolve into Vindaloo.


My dear mum used to make a lip-smacking vindaloo pork which I make quite often. That is not the recipe I plan to put in front of you today. This recipe I got from 'Kottayam Rotary Club Cookbook' which I borrowed from my dear friend and former colleague. She will be amazed to see this coz I was speaking to her only a few hours ago.


Here you go.

Ingredients:

1. pork - 1 kg

2. skin of dry red chillies - 30, believe me the final product is only medium hot.
    ginger paste - 2 tsp
    garlic paste - 1 tsp
    mustard - 1 tsp
    fenugreek - 1/2 tsp
    cumin - 1/2 tsp

3. onions - 2 large

4. tomatoes - 3 medium

5. vinegar - 2 tbsp
    sugar - 1/2 tsp

6. oil - 4 tbsp

7. salt to taste

8. hot water - 1 cup

Method:

• get the skin of 30 red chillies and discard the seeds. I added the seeds to my crushed chilli spice pot to use later. It might be wise to use a pair of disposable gloves while handling chillies if you have sensitive skin.
• grind (2) with little water
• saute onions in oil till golden brown
• add tomatoes and ground masala paste and saute well for 6-8 mts.
• add pork chunks to this with salt and mix well so that the masala sticks to the meat, before adding hot water.
• I pressure cooked the meat for 20mts after the first whistle, but you can always cook the meat on hob which might take up to 45 mts.
• once cooked, remove from fire and add sugar dissolved in vinegar.
• This makes a curry with enough gravy to spare. If you like dry vindaloo try leaving the pot on hob on low flame sautéing occasionally till the gravy thickens and dries out. Use salt carefully if you are doing this. Either way the taste is great and is brilliant with chapati, naan, appam or kerala parotta.

Let me help you with my recipe for naan and appam.


Hope you enjoy making and eating this!

Cheers
Sherin

how I do it: Biriyani masala

There are umpteen number of biriyani masala recipes according to region and even household.

Over these last few years that I've been cooking biriyani, I have tried a few mixes and here is the one that I have finally ended up with.

Yield: 2 tbsp

1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp shahjeera
4 cloves
1 cardamom pod
1 inch cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp nutmeg powder
1 whole mace

I dry roast them for a few minutes to release their oils and till gorgeous aroma reaches your nose, let them cool down and grind them on the mill attachment on my food processor.

Please share your biriyani masala mixes here as well dearies.

Hyderabadi Mutton dum biriyani | Kukskitchen

I frequently try new biriyani recipes, I know adding pounds is what they do, but they taste so yum. Who doesn't like biriyani, rite? Anyway, hyderabadi biriyani is one that is very popular as you know. This I hope can still be called hyderabadi biriyani, coz I've been changing it each time. Apologies if you think I've ruined the classic. Here you go.

Banana muffin in home made paper cup - featuring sultanas/raisins and tea!! | Kukskitchen

At work in Sheffield Teaching Hospital( I trained there), there was a private company selling yummy muffins in a rustic paper cup. I was waiting for a good muffin recipe to experiment my own paper cups.

It was the final day of a leadership course, when all of us had to choose a topic and do a presentation on it. My fellow attendees selected topics like 'obesity in kids', 'my research' etc.  I proudly chose to give a talk on Kerala, my state in India and topped it up with a recipe handout and snapshot of keralan chicken biriyani. Feeling very special myself (you know the feeling when you feel so good about urself, what ever else the others think? Yes, I had that moment), there comes another girl with a recipe to banana cake her nan used to bake. I knew it would have been yummy and she knew it too. We were divided up in to groups and she was in another group so I didnot get the recipe.

I came home and started searching for a yummy banana cake recipe. Low and behold I saw a recipe by the one and only comfort-food-queen Nigella Lawson. I knew this was it. I made a few alterations to suit my taste and cooked it for my dear friend Pravija and her daughter Riya. Here is the recipe I used.

Chocolate pudding featuring condensed milk and cream | Kukskitchen

Who doesn't know 'Magic oven' and its pretty and confident host Lekshmi Nair. I am a huge fan. Haven't managed to acquire her cookbooks yet, but managed to photocopy one from one of my friends who owned it. This recipe was telecasted in her tv show and my lovely sis-in-law R got the recipe for me.

Keralan cauliflower bhaji featuring gramflour

Growing up as a kid, us three kids had a very good appetite. My mum knew this and used to make a variety of snacks together with routine food. Cauliflower bhaji was a favourite especially between me and my sister. My sister S when she went to college made her own alterations to it. When I started cooking on my own I added a few more ingredients and here is the current recipe that I use.

Ingredients:

A - 250 gm cauliflower
B - 1 cup gramflour or plain flour
3 heaped tsp corn flour
1 tsp aniseed
1/2 tsp asafoetida (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asafoetida)
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup water or more according to taste.
Oil for deep frying or spray oil for grilling

For prep:

1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
enough water to cover the veg

Method:

- Prepare your cauliflower by separating them in to florets and soaking them in salt, turmeric powder and water for 1/2 an hour. Drain the water off before preparing batter.
- Prepare batter by mixing all the ingredients in (B). Make sure to break any lumps with fork or even better, your fingers (put on kitchen disposable gloves if you have sensitive skin. If your hand starts to 'burn', wash under running tap water immedietly, dry and apply oil to the affected area - grandma's tip)
- Dip each floret in the batter and deep fry till 'golden-brown' in colour. For you healthy ones out there, you can grill the veg. Dip in batter and place on baking tray and spray cooking oil on top, turn ar intervals, spraying oil on each turn. Grill for 15 minutes.
- Absorb excess oil on kitchen towel and serve hot to enjoy the crisp batter.
- The same recipe stands good for any veg of your choice. My other favourites include onion rings, potato, spinach, chilli ( yes, hot green chilli) capsicum, plaintain, the list goes on.

Turkish vermicelli squares | Kukskitchen

Hey friends


This is the easiest recipe ever with just a handfull of ingredients, very yummy too, which is obvious from the ingredients. I had some vermicelli left over and wanted to make a sweet to send to my brother S. I have had a similar shop bought sweet brought-in by one of my colleagues at work a long time ago, although did'nt know the recipe. Now whilst writing this I searched the web for any similar recipes, none exactly the same as I did. I suppose this recipe is my own then :)

Chicken and chorizo pilav | Kukskitchen

I luv chorizo sausages, it is something I found in one of the supermarkets. It has got a distinct taste and looks great on a plate too.


This recipe is inspired from James Martin 's recipe I found on bbcgoodfood website.

Braided bread rolls | Kukskitchen

This is a recipe that I wrote down from the hairy bikers. I love most of their recipes. See how you like it.

Chicken lollipops | Kukskitchen

Recipe for mathai's KFC ( that's what he calls them)

Ingredients:
Chicken wings
Spicy sauce
Flour (I use chip-shop batter/plain flour/maida)
Eggs
Bread crumbs

Fairy cakes for my son's nursery | Kukskitchen

Fairy cakes are  kids favourite any day. Here is a simple recipe for fairy cakes which gives you perfect results each time. For icing, wait for your cakes to cool down to room temp. Use 250g of milk chocolate. Break them into big chunks, put them in a freezer bag and microwave till soft (took me about 30 sec). Do not over-do. Keep checking every 10 sec. Cut the corner, 2-3 mm hole would be perfect, and use this to artistically decorate or drizzle like I did, on top of your cakes.

Sprinkle what ever you want on top before the chocolate hardens up. The whole cake- decor section of your supermarket is waiting for you.

Strawberry- blueberry-orange olympics special jelly | Kukskitchen

This is an ideal light dessert after a heavy main meal. We had it for our London Olympics opening ceremony barbecue.

The kids love it usually,I know mine gobbled it all up, and it adds a bit of colour to your table.

Naan in a pan {Yeast+Egg+Milk} I Kukskitchen

Naan in a pan - tray cloth courtesy my chechi S.

Keralan prawn biriyani | Quick and easy prawn curry biryani using microwave | Kukskitchen

Biriyani is a rice-based food with spices. I present my take on the keralan classic. My recipe is easy and quick to make and is right up the alley of you low-fat- freaks who want to enjoy South Indian cuisine.

Ingredients

For marination

500 g prawns (I use raw tiger prawns frozen or fresh)
1 tsp chilli powder (adjust according to fiery threshold)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste

Why am I here!

I said to myself a million times - blogging is not for me. And here I am opening my heart out to the world. Well, only the food-related part of it and I feel comfortable already. May be I should go ahead! We'll see what happens.


Welcome to my kitchen, let me warn you - I may sabotage your long awaited diet plan. Sorry!