Chicken Sofia (2 Steps)

That might sound crazy for a name.. but sometimes people at home pop up with anything they can think of. I just didn't want to spoil the originality :-)

This is a two step, simple chicken recipe that anyone can try.. 

What's needed?

• 1/2 Kg of Chicken
• 5 Chilies (grind them in a mixer)
• 100 grams of fresh cream
• 150 grams of curd
• Salt to taste

What's to be done?

Step 1- Mix Chicken, Fresh cream, Curd and Salt along with ground Chilies and marinate for an hour (You can refrigerate it). 

Marinated Chicken

Step 2- Drop the mixture in to a Cooker after an hour and cook till 2 whistles. Shift the dish in to a pan and cook (simmer down) till the water lever comes down. The dish is ready!!

Chicken Sofia

Happy Cooking!!!

Pepper Kidney and Mushroom (Mutton based)

 Another easy to make, 2 step process- dish... A combo of Veggie and Non-veg.

Whats Needed?

• 250 Grams of Kidney
• 200 Grams of Mushroom
• 1 Big onion
• 1 Tsp of ginger and garlic paste
• 1 Tsp of pepper
• 2 Tbs of Oil
• 1/2 cup of water
• Salt to taste
• A bit of curry leaves

What's to be done?

• Use 2 table spoons of oil in a cooker and drop in the chopped onion. Add ginger- garlic paste and saute for a while. Then, add kidney, salt and pepper and pour 1/2 a cup of water and close the lid. Leave it for 2 whistles.
• Once its done, open the lid and shift everything in to a pan. Simmer down and add mushrooms. Well, Mushrooms get very quickly and easily cooked so as soon as you drop them in, close the lid and wait only for 2 mins or max 3 mins. Open the lid, add some curry leaves and the dish is ready!! :-)

Bird's Nest

Eating birds nest can sound a little creepy.. but this one is super tasty! :-)

It might look a little tiresome and difficult, but it sure is not. Well, we just took some time off thinking on how it can be presented. The brain went crazy and this is the result. 

What's Needed?

• 100 grams of Capsicum, carrot and beans
• 1 big potato
• 100 grams of Maggie noodles`(Rs.5 Pack)
• Peanuts (A tiny pack)
• Bread crumbs of 3 slices (put three slices in the mixer)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp Chili powder
• 1 tsp Garam Masala
• 1 tsp cornflour mixed in one cup of water
• 2 tbs of oil and oil to deep fry
• 100 grams of vermicelli (Semiya)

What's to be done?

Step 1- Chop Carrot, beans and capsicum and saute on a pan with 2 tbs of oil. Add Salt, Chilli powder and Garam Masala and close the lid for 5 mins. 

Veggie mix

Step 2- Boil Potato using a cooker and peel off the skin. Now smash it and mix it with the cooked vegetables. Add bread crumps and mix well. If salt is not enough, you can add some more at this point. 

Boil noodles (without the masala) in a separate pan and mix it too. 

Mixture to be made in to shapes

Step 3- Keep the Cornflour mix ready and start making tiny cup shapes with the batter. Dip at once in to the cornflour mix and then sprinkle some Vermicelli or roll on it . Cornflour acts more like an adhesive which helps the nest from breaking while deep frying it. It also helps vermicelli (Semiya) stay in place. It would look something like this before deep frying it. 

Before frying

Step 4- Place some peanuts on the top to make them look like eggs. The dish is ready!!

Bird's Nest

We got a little bit cranky and came up with these....

Boiled egg on a big nest!

Big nest with boiled eggs

Thats boiled Broccoli as the bonsai and the nest. The brown portion at the bottom is made of chocolate...

Nest on the top of a tree

Happy coooooking!!!

Vengaya Kari (Mutton Based)

A simple Tamil, "South Side" dish, mostly prepared in Madurai..

I thought a step by step process with pics would give a better understanding. 

Whats needed?

• 1/2 Kg of Chopped Mutton
• 8 Medium sized Onions
• 6 Dried Chilies
• 2 Tbls Oil
• Salt to Taste
• 1.5 Cups of Water

What's to be done?

Step 1- Heat 2 tablespoon of Oil in a cooker and drop in the dried Chilies.

Step-1

Step 2- Now drop in the chopped Onions as well. 8 sure does seem too much in number and it can get too tiring chopping them all, but trust me, its worth the taste... 

Saute till it turns from "this" to "this" :-)

Step-2

Step 3- Put the mutton inside and add some salt to taste (You can add more later if it does not seem enough. But never add too much of it in the first shot, its kinda tough to bring it down). Pour 1.5 cups of water. Close the lid and wait for 3 Whistles. I think it depends a bit on the cooker as to how many whistles it would take for the meat to get cooked.

Step-3

 Step 4- After 3 whistles, take the lid off and check.You can also check on the salt content and add more if needed. It would most likely look a little watery- something like this.

Step-4

Step 5- Simmer down and let it settle. It would take about 5 to 10 mins for the water to reduce. Once its done, Your dish is ready!!

Vengaya Kari 

*Serves 5 people (Hardcore meat eaters! ;-))

Chicken Banga

Chicken Banga is a 2 step, easy to make dish that anyone can try at home..

Chicken Banga

What's needed?

• 1/2 Kg Chicken
• 2 Cups of Coconut Milk
• 4 Medium sized Tomatoes
• 2 Tbls Red chilly powder
• 1 Cup curd
• 2 Tbls cooking oil

What's to be done?

• Heat oil in a cooker and drop all the above ingredients in to it. Wait for two whistles and then switch down the stove.
• The dish is ready but it would look a little watery. To make it thicker, keep the lid of the cooker open, simmer down and heat for some more time. when its ready--> Serve hot!  :-)