New Year Wishes

Dear Friends & Readers,

Wishing you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year 2014!!!! My sincere thanks to all those who encouraged and motivated me so far through their likes & comments!

Regards,

Poornimaporchelvan

Matar Paneer Masala / Paneer Peas Masala

Paneer Peas Masala is a rich, creamy and popular dish from North India. Try this; I am sure everyone in your family will like this, especially your kids! 

Tandoori Chicken Legs / Tandoori Chicken

Tandoori chicken is a tasty and popular dish from India.  This mouthwatering starter is a sure hit for parties (of course, for non - vegetarians).  Try this out and enjoy!

Ingredients:

Chicken legs  / Drumsticks - 10

For marinating:

Ginger-garlic paste - 1½ tsp
Turmeric powder - ½ tsp
Red chilli Powder - 1½ tsp
Corriander powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - ¾ tsp
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Yogurt - 2 to 3 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Red food colour - a pinch (optional)
Lemon juice - 1½ tbsp 

Kasuri methi - a big pinch
Oil - 1 tbsp

For basting / brushing:
Extra virgin olive oil or Butter

Directions:

Clean the chicken legs and make slits on each piece.  Rub it with salt and 1 tbsp lemon juice; Keep aside for ½ an hour. 

Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies Recipe / Sugar Cookies - Christmas Cookies

Wish you all very Happy Christmas!!!!

Here is my Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies for December month's Home Baker's Challenge. This recipe is adapted from food network.  

This is a perfect sweet treat to celebrate Christmas; we all especially my kids love these delicious snack!  

Thanks to Priya Suresh for starting the group and Priya Ranjit for hosting this month's challenge. To know more about Home Baker's Challenge click here.

This is my second recipe from Christmas bakes; special thanks to Priya Ranjit  for suggesting yummy recipes.

Yield - 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

Unsalted Butter – 1 cup
Granulated sugar - 1 cup (powdered)
Eggs – 2
Vanilla essence – 2 tsp
All-purpose flour – 3 cups
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Salt – 1 tsp
Sprinkles - For decorating

Directions:

In large bowl, beat butter and sugar on medium speed with beater until creamy.  Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.

Jewish Challah Bread / Three Strand Braided Challah

Hi friends, here is Jewish Challah Bread for December month's Home Baker's Challenge.

This month Priya Ranjit of Cook Like Priya is hosting the event and she has selected Christmas Bakes as the theme for this challenge. Though she had suggested recipes of cookies, breads and cakes, this Challah Bread was the one which attracted me a lot! 

Preparing bread at home was quite interesting and every one liked it as well. Even beginners can try this without second thought. This recipe is adapted from thekitchn.  This is a Jewish yeast - risen egg bread, traditionally eaten by Jews on Shabbat, on ceremonial occasions, new year, Christmas and other festivals. 

It is often braided for a beautiful presentation and sprinkled with sesame or poppy seeds for special touch. 

Thanks to Priya Suresh for starting the group and also for hosting this month's challenge. To know more about Home Baker's Challenge click here.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour / Maida - 4 to 4 ½ cups
Warm water - 1 cup (250 ml)
Granulated sugar -¼ cup
Oil - ¼ cup, plus more for greasing the bowl
Active dry yeast - 2 tsp / Instant yeast - 2 ½ tsp
Salt - 2 tsp
Eggs - 2
Egg yolk - 1 (reserve the white for the egg wash)
Poppy or sesame seeds - for sprinkling

Directions:

In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast, little sugar and warm water;  allow it to stay until frothy for about 5 minutes.  This means yeast is active and ready to use.

Long Beans Poriyal / Stir Fry -South Indian Style

This is a simple and tasty, garlic flavored stir fry / poriyal made with long beans.  This South Indian dish is a best accompaniment for rice with sambar, rasam or curd.

Long bean is a very good source of fibre and also very high in folates, B12, vitamin A and C. 

I got this recipe from my friend Rekha; try this and give your feed back.

Ingredients:

Long beans - 250 grams
Onion - 1 (finely chopped)
Garlic - 2 to 3 (crushed)
Red chilli powder - ½ to 1 tsp (adjust according to your taste)
Salt - to taste 

Grated coconut - 1 to 2 tbsp

For Seasoning:
Oil - 2 to 3 tsp
Fennel seeds - ½ tsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dhal - ½ tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Directions:

Wash and chop the long beans into  bite sized pieces.  Keep aside.

Rajasthani Lapsi (with Jaggery) / Broken Wheat Sweet

Here is a special recipe on my 175th post; this is also my first post to the International Food Challenge, administered by Saraswathi Tharagaram and Shobana Sekar.

I have selected this traditional sweet of Rajasthan for this challenge. This yummy sweet is easy to make with simple ingredients and a perfect choice for nivedhyam / prasadham that can be prepared in a short time. 

The combination of wheat with jaggery and ghee gives a nice rich taste and moist texture to the this dish.  Try and enjoy this sweet with your family and friends.

A big thanks to Manjula Bharath of Desi Fiesta for hosting this month's challenge and for introducing us to a wide variety of delicious food from Rajasthani Cuisine.  To know more about international Food Challenge click here.

Ingredients:

Broken Wheat – ½ cup
Jaggery – ½ cup
Cardamom powder- 1 tsp
Water – 2 cups
Ghee- 2 to 3 tbsp
Cashew nuts - 10
Raisins - 1 to 2 tsp  

Directions:

Roast the cashews and raisins with ghee in a separate pan and keep aside (reserve some for garnishing).

Cabbage Egg Poriyal / Cabbage Egg Stir Fry (fry) - Indian Style

This cabbage egg poriyal / stir fry is an dry preparation flavored with spices makes a delightful accompaniment to any South Indian main course.

You can also use this as a stuffing for chapathi rolls and sandwich too.



Ingredients:

Egg – 3 to 4

Cabbage - 3 cups(shredded) 

Onions - 1 medium, finely chopped 

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp 

Red Chili Powder - ½ tsp adjust according to your taste) 

Pepper powder - ½ tsp

Garam masala powder - ¼ tsp (optional) 

Salt – to taste 

Cilantro – 1 tbsp(finely chopped) 

For Seasoning:

Oil – 1 Tbsp

Fennel seeds - ¼ tsp

Cumin seeds - ½ tsp

Directions:

Break eggs in a bowl and beat it thoroughly; keep aside.

Heat oil in a wide kadai; season it with cumin seeds and fennel seeds.

Red Capsicum Chutney / Red Bell Pepper Chutney (Coconut Free!!!!)

Here is a delicious, healthy chutney that goes well with South Indian breakfast varieties, such as Idli, Dosa and Uttappam; suitable as an accompaniment for chapathi, as well!

Red capsicum is a low calorie vegetable, rich in vitamins & minerals especially vitamin A, B6, C and Magnesium, normally included in salads and noodles.

Here I have tried it for spicy South Indian chutney; of course, the taste was awesome! Every one in my family enjoyed the taste.  Do try this and post your feedback.

Serves - 3 to 4 people

Ingredients:

Red Capsicum - 1

Onion -1
Tomato – 2
Garlic - 5 to 6 cloves (peeled)
Red chillies - 3 to 4
Channa dhal – 2 tsp
Tamarind – little
Asafoetida (perungayam) – a pinch
Salt - as required

For Seasoning:

Oil – as required
Mustard - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Directions:

Chop onion, tomato and red capsicum into bite sized pieces.

Heat oil in a pan; add channa dhal.

Walk Through Memory Lane (WTML) Event Announcement with a Give Away for December - 2013

Hello Friends,

I am happy and excited to announce this first event that I am hosting in my blog. Gayathri's “Walk Through Memory Lane” event [WTML is a wonderful event organized by Gayathri's cookspot, an amazing blog with innovative recipes] is being hosted at Poornima's cookbook throughout this month. 

For this event, I invite you all to share recipes that are associated with the forthcoming occasions of Christmas and New year to cherish this period of celebration. 

A special thanks to Gayathri for giving me the opportunity to host this event in my blog.

Rules for the WTML event:

Event Runs from Dec1st to Dec 31st.

While posting the recipe please give a link to Poornima Cookbook's page and Gayathri's Announcement page. It is mandatory.

Usage of logo is optional. This will be useful to spread the word. 

Curry Leaves Powder / Karuvepillai Idli Podi / கருவேப்பில்லை பொடி

Wow...Poornima's Cook Book has reached 2,00,000 page hits today!!!! Thanks to all my friends and followers of the blog. It is your encouragement through likes and comments that keeps me going!

To celebrate this occasion I want to share my mom's recipe which is one of my favorite. Though my mom used to prepare variety of chutneys, I always prefer to have podi as an extra side dish!

This Curry leaves podi is a healthy variation to the usual Idli milagai podi. Most of us have the habit of throwing the curry leaves from the dishes and not eat them; here is a way of including this iron rich green leaf in our daily routine.

Ingredients:

Curry leaves - 3 cups
Urad dhal -  ¾ cup
Channa dhal -  ½ cup
Red chillies -  8 to 10
Asafoetida(Powder) - ½ tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tsp

Directions:

Wash and drain the curry leaves; spreading them in a newspaper or cloth and allow to dry in shade.