One of my favorite snacks, needless to say the one that i miss the most after coming to USA. My sister send me this recipe as a healthy snack for kids. This snack is full of vegetables and kids love it. The only unhealthy part is that it is a deep fried dish, but at times taste beats health.
My many thanks to sister, i can now make it any time and if i make it u know its gonna be easy...
Here is the recipe...

1,2 big Potato(baked and smashed)
1 cup vegetables (carrots,peas,corn, etc)(baked and diced)
You can use the microwave to bake the vegetables or u can buy the mix veg bag from freezer section and just bake them.
1 medium onion chopped
1tsp ginger paste
1/2 tsp garlic paste
salt & pepper to taste
1 egg beaten
bread crumbs for coating (You can buy them at walmart, or u can make them at home,take a slice of bread and microwave it for 45 secs, and then put them in a freezer bag and pound them)

First saute the onions in a pot adding a tbsp of oil. Once the onions turn pale, add the vegetables and also the ginger and garlic paste. Add salt and pepper. Saute for about 5 minutes and then add the mashed potatoes. Saute for about 5 more minutes and let them cool. Once cool, make small balls of the vegetable mix and press it as patties and coat it with egg and place in bread crumbs, so it get coated(C picture below). Deep fry in oil and u get crunchy vegetable cutlets.
Enjoy...

Fried Rice with Soya Sauce

Very Easy and tasty rice. You can make it at the last moment if you get to know that u got company. Here goes the recipe for a family of 4.

2 cups Basmati Rice.
3 cups hot boiling water
1tbsp butter
2 tbsp spices (cardamom,cloves,cinnamon sticks, bay leaves,etc.. )
Cashew nuts and raisins to garnish
1-2 tbsp soya sauce
salt to taste.

Wash and Drain the rice for about half an hour. In a big pot, add the ghee and saute the spices. Meanwhile in another pot keep the water on stove, so you have boiling water to add to the rice. Once you can smell the aroma of spices, add the rice and fry it for some time, (till it crackles). Add the boiling water to rice and add salt and soya sauce and cover the pot and let the rice cook. You can open in about 10 mts to give it a stir. This rice gets cooked fast, so its a good idea to be on watch. You may add a few drops of lime juice, it helps the rice from being apart and not sticking to each other. Once the water is all gone off the stove and remove the pot from the stove. Its a good idea to transfer the rice to another pot , or else the rice at the bottom may be burnt. In the meantime, take a tsp of butter and saute the cashews and raisins and add it to the top of the rice. And there you go, you have a tasty rice.
Enjoy...

Roasted Whole Chicken

Hmmm....delicious recipe for chicken lovers..One of the easiest recipes to make. Just should know how to deal with whole chicken. I have never worked with a whole chicken, i always buy cleaned chicken, easy does it. So this time i got the whole clean chicken. Even then u got to take the skin off, but its pretty easy... So heres the recipe..
For marinating chicken:
2-3tbsp ginger garlic paste
salt to taste
2tbsp lime juice
1 tsp chilly powder
1/2 tsp turmeric pwd
1tsp coriander pwd
1tbsp chicken masala

mix all the the above ingredients and apply to the chicken. Make sure you clean the inside of the chicken and put the marinate mix inside the chicken. Marinate for 24 hrs. Put the oven to broil at 375F . And put the chicken in for an hour. If you want to have your chicken brown on both sides, u can try to turn it at half an hour. But u r sure to have a tasty roasted chicken...
Enjoy...

Dal Curry with Coconut Milk

Dal (Split Pigeon Peas) is the most common curry of indian cuisine and the easiest to make. Trust me, any one can make it. It does come in a lot of variety. I'll just mention the two ways i make dal. So here goes the ingredients reqd. for making dal for serving size of 2. You need a pressure cooker to make dal..

1/2 cup toor dal
1/4 cup chopped onion (1/4 of a medium sized onion chopped)
1 cup coconut milk
some mustard seeds
salt for taste
1/4 tsp turmeric pwd
3-4 dry red chillies (opt, can substitute with 1/4 chilly powder)
1-2 split green chillies (i mean the small chillies and not jalapeños) (opt)
some cumin seeds(opt)
some curry leaves(opt)

Wash the dal and put them in a pressure cooker. Add enough water to cover them and approximately 1/4 inch above them. (some people add double the quantity of water, i normally go by this measure). Pressure cook for 3 whistles, but to be safe i let 5 whistles to come, so i dont have to take my chances. Smash the dal with a potato masher or with any serving spoon. Now in another pan add a tsp of oil and splutter the mustard seeds. Add onion , chillies,cumin seeds, curry leaves and saute till onion is pale. Now add salt, turmeric pwd and chilly pwd (if u r using them instead of chillies). Add about 1/2 cup of water and bring to a boil. Now add the smashed dal and stir. Add the coconut milk and bring to a boil. You have a tasty dal to go with rice or chappathi. This is one way. The other easier way is to skip out the coconut milk part. In doing so just increase the amount of dal, so that u get a thick curry. Enjoy...

Vegetable Lasagna

Finally i found a lasagna recipe to experiment and voila it was good.. Ok one warning, this recipe has egg in it, so if you dont eat egg, dont read further, or if you like go ahead and try it without egg..may be it'll turn out good..
Lasagna is an italian dish made with lasagna (a kind of pasta),cheese(a lot of it), sauce(pasta sauce) and vegetables (as in this case). There are different varieties of lasagna, like chicken lasagna, meat lasagna,etc..To start with i thought vegetable would be the safest..So here goes the recipe.

1 tbsp Oil (preferable olive oil)
1 Onion
1 Red/Green bell pepper
1 Carrot
2 container(15oz each) Ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8oz)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
2 jars (1lb) pasta sauce (i used Ragu old world style pasta sauce )
12 uncooked lasagna noodles

Preheat oven to 375F. Thinly slice onion, pepper and carrots. In a skillet heat oil and cook onion,bell pepper and carrots, stirring occasionally for abt 5 mts. In another bowl combine ricotta cheese, 1 cup mozarella cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese and the eggs.

In a 13*9 baking dish spread 1 cup of pasta sauce, layer 4 lasagna noodles, then 1 cup pasta sauce, 1/2 of cheese mix and 1/2 of vegetables. Repeat the above. Top with remaining noodles and 2 cup sauce.

Cover with al foil and bake for an hour. Remove foil, sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake uncovered for 10 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Heat the reserved sauce and serve it with lasagna...

Lasagna is a grt dish to make when you have people coming over.With this recipe you get 12 servings, so if you are making it for a small family then you can cover all ur meals for atleast 2 days with one lasagna..Enjoy...

Chocolate Chip Cookie

As i mentioned earlier in my sugar cookie recipe, the cookie that i love most is the chocolate chip cookie. I tried 3 different recipes and this by far is the one that i liked. Its crispy on the sides and soft in the middle. Exactly as any cookie would be. With this recipe, you get more than 50 cookies. So start baking. .. And enjoy it as it melts in your mouth.

21/4 cup all purpose flour
1tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar (if you r interested in baking, its a good idea to have a carton of brown sugar as most of the recipes calls in for it)
1tsp vanilla extract (i guess its ok to leave this )
1-2 cups chocolate chips (the actual recipe called in for 2 cups, i put 1 cup and still each cookie has more than 5 chips in it, so it actually depends on how sweet or chocolaty you want the cookies to be)
1 cup chopped nuts (optional, but i would highly recommend putting pecans , as it gave the cookies a crunchy taste)

Preheat oven to 375F. Add baking soda and salt to the flour and mix thoroughly. If you buy white lily self rising flour , they already have baking soda and salt mixed in it, so u need not add it. So pls check your all purpose flour ingredients. Soften butter(microwave would be a good choice) and add sugar,brown sugar and vanilla in a large bowl. Now beat in eggs. Gradually add the flour mix and mix well. Finally stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
Take a baking pan, place a cookie sheet (i usually go for non stick al foil). Take a tablespoon and drop the cookie mix(c pic below) in the pan about an inch and half apart. Bake for about 8-10 minutes or until its lightly brown(c pic below). Remove from pan and let it cool on a wire rack /tissue paper. There you go, your own chocolate chip cookies. And dont think you r making 50-60 cookies, so it will last a long time...I can bet you that it wont last more a week..You just cant stop eating ...Enjoy...

Nadan Kozhi Curry / Chicken Curry

All Keralites know what a nadan kozhy curry is. Here is a easy enough recipe to make the same. I tried it and everyone home like it. The picture shows medium size chicken pieces. I would suggest you go for smaller pieces. And another thing, i forgot to put curry leaves.Oops..
2lbs Chicken (0r 1kg) I used a pack of boneless chicken breast.
1-2 medium onion
2tbsp ginger paste /chopped
1/2 tbsp garlic paste/ chopped
4 green chillies slit lengthwise
1/4-1/2 tsp turmeric pwd
1/2 - 1 tsp chilly powder
2 tbsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup coconut milk(canned)
2tsp lime juice
a few curry leaves
3tbsp oil
11/2 tsp garam masala (1tsp cumin seeds, 1/2 tsp aniseeds, 5 cloves, 2 cardomom, 1" cinnamon powdered)

First clean the chicken, cut it to small pieces(the smaller the piece its better) and marinate it with 1tbsp salt and lime juice for half an hour. As usual with any chicken dish, the more time you marinate the more tasty it would be. Now make a paste of coriander,chilly and turmeric powder . Take a pan and add the oil. Add the chopped onion,ginger, garlic and chillies and saute. Once the onion is lightly brown, add the spice paste and saute for a minute. Now add the marinated chicken and fry for about 6-7 minutes. Add 2 cups of water and allow the chicken to cook. It takes about 1/2 and hour for the chicken to be done. Now add thick coconut milk and garam masala and curry leaves. And let the chicken cook in it for some more time, till you have a thick gravy. The curry is not too spicy, but has just the right taste . It goes grt with chappathis and bread and also with rice. Add more coconut milk if you need more gravy.