Broad beans is one of my most favorite vegetable, but it is very rare to find it here in Brunei. Today when i saw this vegetable in market, i planned to prepare it in the way my husband’s aunt used to prepare. She makes this rich creamy curry in delicious way. So I called her and double checked the method before starts preparing it. Lets see how to prepare it. 

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups Broad beans, chopped

2 Onions, finely chopped

2  Tomatoes, chopped

1 teaspoon Ginger Garlic paste

1 cup coconut milk

1 teaspoon Cumin-Fennel powder

1 teaspoon Red chilly powder

A pinch of Turmeric powder

1 Green chilly

1 sprig Curry leaves

1 bay leaf, 1 small cinnamon stick, 1 star anise, 1 cardamom, 1 clove

Salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

Add cumin-fennel powder to coconut milk, mix well and keep it aside.

Heat oil in a kadai. Add bay leaf, cinnamon stick, star anise, cardamom, clove.  Add chopped onion and saute till it turns golden brown. Then add green chilly and curry leaves.

Add chopped tomatoes and ginger garlic paste. Cook till the raw smell of ginger garlic paste goes off. Then chopped broad beans, red chilly powder, turmeric powder and salt goes it. Mix well and cook for a min.

Add coconut milk (mixed with cumin-fennel powder) and mix well. Close the pan and simmer for 5 min on low flame.

Remove from heat and serve curry hot with rice.

Egg thokku ia a spicy, thick gravy usually prepared  in most of the Tamil homes, with some little variations. It is a best accompaniment for plain rice and roti. Boiled eggs are coated well with rich blend of roasted whole spices and sauted onion-tomato gravy. Usually egg thokku is prepared with chicken eggs. But for a change, today i tried it with Quail eggs. It came out really super tasty and spicy.. Today let us see how to prepare this quail egg thokku.

INGREDIENTS:

10 quail eggs

1 onion chopped

Few curry leaves

3 to 5 green chilly

1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste

1 chopped tomato

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

1/2 teaspoon red chilly powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

1/2 teaspoon coriander powder

Salt to taste

Oil

TO ROAST & GRIND:

FIRST SET:

3 cloves

1 star anise

1 cardamom

1 small cinnamon stick

1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds

1/4 teaspoon coriander seeds

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns

SECOND SET:

1 sliced onion

1 chopped tomato

Oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

Hard boil the quail eggs. Remove the shells and slit the eggs slightly on the side to make sure the masala can get into the egg. Don’t over slit the eggs, otherwise the yolks will come out while cooking.

Heat the pan and add all the whole spices and roast for a min. Transfer to blender.

Then add 1/2 tablespoon oil and heat it. Add sliced onion and chopped tomato, saute for a min and transfer to blender. Blend the roasted spices & onion-tomato to a smooth paste. Set aside.

Then in the same pan, add 1 tablespoon of oil. Add chopped onion, curry leaves & green chilly till the onion turns translucent.

Then ginger-garlic paste, salt goes in. Saute till the raw smell goes off. Add chopped tomato and saute till it mashes well.

Add turmeric powder, red chilly powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and cook for a min.

Then add the blended paste and mix well. Sprinkle little water if needed. Don’t add too much water. Thokku should be really thick.

When the oil oozes out from gravy, add boiled quail eggs. Mix and close the pan for a min. Add chopped coriander leaves and remove from heat.

Serve hot with plain rice or Roti.

Tomato rice is a popular south indian delight. In Tamil, it is called as “Thakkali Saadham”. It is the ideal choice for every south indian mom, for their kid’s lunch box, as it can be prepared in less time with very handy ingredients. Everyone prepares this with little variations. Here I have come up with my own style, which is very delicious and flavourful. It goes excellent with onion raita or potato fry or egg omelette.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup rice

2 onions, sliced

3 tomatoes, chopped

1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste

2 big red chilly

1 tablespoon red chilly powder

1 teaspoon cumin – fennel powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1 teaspoon garam masala

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

6 to 7 pudina leaves

1 bay leaf

2 cloves

1 star anise

2 cardamom

2 small sticks cinnamon

½ cup coconut milk

2 cups water

Oil

Salt to taste

INGREDIENTS:

Wash and soak the rice in water for half an hour. Set aside

In a kadai, add oil. When heated, add bay leaf, cloves, star anise, cardamom, cinnamon. Then add in onion and salt. Saute till the onion turns translucent. Add ginger garlic paste and red chilly. Cook till it mashes well.

Add chopped tomatoes and cook till it mashes. Add in pudina and all spice powders. Cook till the raw smell goes off. When it is cooked well, switch off the flame.

Heat the rice cooker and layer the prepared masala paste on the bottom. Then add in coconut milk and water required to cook the rice. Adjust salt and the spices, add if any required. Close the cooker and allow it to boil. When it comes to single boil, add in soaked rice and close the cooker. Cook till the rice is cooked and fluffy.

Transfer to serving plate and serve warm along with potato fries.

Thai green curry chicken is an another classic recipe from Thai cuisine. Whenever I go to Thai restaurants, either green curry or red curry or yellow curry must be in my order. Usually chicken is added to these curries. But here I experimented the recipe with prawns. It came out excellenttt… Try this recipe once and I’m sure that you will be addicted to this.

INGREDIENTS:

200 gms prawns, de-veined & cleaned

3 tablespoons Thai green curry paste

250 ml coconut milk (1st + 2nd extract)

2 Thai long red chilly

¼ cup frozen peas

2 brinjal, cut into small pieces

5 baby corns, slit into two

1 pandan leaf

4 kaffir lime leaves

1 tablespoon palm sugar

Salt to taste

Oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

Heat oil in a pan and add baby corns and brinjal. Saute for a min and take out. Set aside.

Add 2 tablespoons oil and add green curry paste. Saute well till the raw smell disappears and oil oozes from edges. Now add coconut milk and keep the flame medium.

When it comes to single boil, add long red chilies, frozen peas, sauted corns & brinjal. Close the pan and cook for a min.

Then add in prawns, pandan leaf, kaffir lime leaf, Salt, palm sugar. Mix well for 10 more min or until the oil floats on top.

Switch off the flame & serve hot with plain rice.

Bitter gourd was the only veggie that i used to hate to the core. I think not only for me, but for most people, this is on hate list. While i was staying in hostels, i used to skip the meal whenever they serve bitter gourd curry as side dish. But now a days, i started to include this in my regular diet, because of this health benefits.. pls don’t ask me why i didn’t realize this before itself 😆

Okay lets see how to prepare the crispy bitter gourd fry now.

INGREDIENTS:

4 to 5 midhi pavakkai (baby bitter gourd) or 1 big bitter gourd

1 tablespoon Corn flour

1½ tablespoons Rice flour

1½ tablespoons Chickpea flour (besan)

1 teaspoon Red chilly powder

A pinch of Turmeric powder

½ teaspoon Cumin-fennel powder

½ teaspoon Coriander powder

1 teaspoon Fennel seeds

Salt

Water to sprinkle

INSTRUCTIONS:

Wash bitter gourd and trim the ends. Thinly slice the bitter gourd and put it in the warm water along with little turmeric powder for about 10 minutes. Then drain the water and keep the pavakkai aside.

In a bowl, add all the ingredients except pavakkai and water. Now add the sliced bitter gourd and mix gently using hands. Moisture in the bitter gourd is enough for mixing. If it is too dry, just sprinkle little water. Let it marinate for about 15 min.

Heat oil and deep fry the marinated bitter gourd until they are golden brown. Drain on paper towel and serve hot.

NOTES:

If you make this large quantity, you can store it in an air-tight container and just reheat in oven before you serve.

I think i have given enough intro about Thai food and my love on thai food, on my previous post “Thai Green Curry paste”. Thai green curry noodles is an another classic recipe which is prepared using the green curry paste. Lets see how to prepare it.

INGREDIENTS:

1 package dried vegetarian noodles

½ cup chicken breast, cut into small pieces

3 tablespoons Thai Green Curry Paste

½ cup coconut milk,

½ cup shallots, sliced

1 teaspoon ginger, finely chopped

1 teaspoon garlic, finely chopped

3 to 5 green chilies, sliced

3 kaffir lime leaves

Salt to taste

Oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

Place noodles into boiling water and cook until tender. Drain and rinse under cold water. Set aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Add sliced shallots, chopped ginger, chopped garlic and green chilies. Saute till the onion turns translucent. Then add in chicken breast and cook till it is cooked well.

Add green curry paste and kaffir lime leaves. Saute till oil oozes out from edges. Then add in coconut milk and salt, mix well.

When it comes to single boil, add boiled noodles and mix well. Close the pan and reduce the flame to medium.

Cook until coconut milk is reduced and mixed well with noodles.

Transfer to serving plate and serve warm..

NOTES:

You can use shrimps instead of chicken.

This is the post that i was expecting for a long time. Thai cuisine is my most favourite next to Indian cuisine. May be that it due to the excessive use of coconut milk, just like my native cooking. When my husband took me to a Thai restaurant for the first time, i really didn’t like it. May be that was due to its complex flavour. But that time he said that i will addicted to it, if i have it for few more times. He was absolutely true.. After sometimes, i’m just addicted to it. Now whenever my husband asks me my choice of restaurant to go in the weekend, my answer would be always THAI…

I cannot list out my favourite thai dish, as everything is the best. So here i start with the famous dishes. So i chose to post very famous Green curry first. First i thought, it would be difficult to prepare this curry paste, as very complex flavours are in it. But to my surprise, it can be prepared very easily in few minutes with very simple ingredients, which makes the dish very tastier and healthier. Also i thought mine was very flavourful and tastier as i used the fresh ingredients.

Thai green curry paste is very versatile, as you can use this for curries, noodles, stir fries and soups. Also you can use shrimp or chicken or any veggies…

As some of the ingredients are new to Indians, i added the ingredients photo too..

INGREDIENTS:

4 shallots

5 green chilies, de-seeded

2 tablespoons sliced lemon grass

1 thumb sized piece of ginger or galangal

4 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon coriander stem or coriander roots

1 tablespoon coriander leaves

4 kaffir lime leaves. roughly chopped

1 small pandan leaf, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon white pepper

5 to 6 pudina leaves

1 tablespoon shrimp paste

1 tablespoon fish sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a pan, toast coriander seeds, cumin seeds and white pepper in medium flame until they releases the nice aroma.

Along with the toasted ingredients, take all other ingredients in a blender and blend to a smooth paste. Check for salt and spice.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

NOTES:

Traditionally galangal is used in green curry paste. But since i didn’t get it, i replaced it with ginger.

Pandan leaves and pudina are not usually added to prepare the green curry paste. I just added to get more greenish paste. You can leave it, if you don’t like it.

Salt act as a preservative. If you want to store it for long time, add more salt. But remember this when you are cooking and adjust salt accordingly.

I love to make roman bean curry very often, as it as an excellent side dish for chappathis. This bean was introduced to me by my Chithi, She usually send me kilos of varieties of beans from Madurai to me, on the previous day I travel to Brunei from Chennai. I pack those in a wet cloth and bring it to here.

But i felt very surprised, when I see this beans in KB tamu (market). It is not available all the time, but whenever I see this, I buy for sure. You can also use any other varieties of beans to make this recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups Roman beans

2 Onions, finely chopped

1 Tomato, chopped

1 tablespoon Ginger-garlic paste

1 teaspoon Cumin-Fennel powder

1 teaspoon Coriander powder

½ teaspoon Garam masala powder

1 Sprig Curry leaves

1 Bay leaf

1 Cardamom, crushed

2 Small sticks Cinnamon,

1 Star anise

2 Cloves

Salt to taste

Oil, as needed

2 cups Water or  as needed

TO GRIND:

1 cup Grated coconut

6 to 7 cashews

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

4 to 5 green chilies

INSTRUCTIONS:

Take the beans out by opening the outer covering and wash, soak the beans for 2 to 3 hrs.

Take all the ingredients in a blender, that are given under “to grind” and blend it to a coarse paste. Set aside.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cardamom, cloves, star anise. Stir for a minute.

Then add in chopped onion, ginger garlic paste and curry leaves. Cook till the onion turns translucent and the raw smell of ginger garlic paste goes off.

Add chopped tomato and saute till it mashes well. Then add in cumin fennel powder, coriander powder and garam masala. Cook till the raw smell goes off.

Add the soaked beans and salt. Mix well and cook for a min in  medium flame. Then add in grounded paste, mix well and cook for few minutes.

Add required water and pressure cook it for 2 whistles. Switch off the flame.

Once  the pressure releases, serve warm with hot chappathis and enjoy.

Though i like grapes very much, i rarely buy those because of the fear that it may contain pesticides.  I usually search for organic grapes, but it is very difficult to find.  This week, when our friend came to our home, they bought black grapes for us. I felt really lazy to eat grapes one by one. So i made juice out of it,  which tasted really excellent.

it is an excellent source of Vit A, C , B6 , many anti-oxidants and potassium. It lowers the cholesterol and protects from heart diseases.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups seedless black grapes

Juice from 1 lemon

3 to 4 tablespoons brown sugar

Water as needed

INSTRUCTIONS:

Take the fresh grapes in a bowl and rinse well. Drain and transfer the grapes to a blender.

Add little water and grind the grapes to a fine paste. Strain it through the metal strainer.

Take the strained pulp again in blender and add little water. Repeat the above procedure.

Add the lemon juice and sugar and mix well until the sugar dissolves completely.

Pour to serving glass and serve chilled.

NOTES:

Adding brown sugar is optional. You can also add normal sugar or even honey to make it as more healthier drink.

RELATED RECIPES:

Pomegranate Orange Juice

Pomegranate Juice

Watermelon Basil Juice

Mango Juice

Watermelon Mint juice

Curd rice is an integral part of south Indian cuisine. It is nothing but the combination of mashed rice with curd and then seasoned usually with chilly,ginger and curry leaves. But you can garnish with any of your choices like grated carrot, pomegranate pearls, raisins, grapes, cashews, grated raw mango or boondi. It is known as “Thayir Soru” or “Thayir Saadham” in Tamil.  It is an easy to make lunch box recipe and a great option for summer time. Making of this recipe is so flexible, as there is no exact measurement for rice and curd. We can add according to our preference. Add tempering the curd rice makes it more flavorful and pleasing.

RELATED RECIPES:

Kambu Thayir Saadham

Coriander Mint Pulav

Kuthiraivaali Sambar Saadham

Tahari Rice

Mushroom Rice

Kattu Soru

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup Raw rice

1½ cup Thick curd

¼ cup Warm milk

¼ cup Pomegranate pearls

3 tablespoons Grated carrot

Salt to taste

Water required to cook rice

TO TEMPER:

1 teaspoon Mustard seeds

½ teaspoon Ginger (finely chopped)

¾ teaspoon Urad dhal

1 Dry red chili

3 to 4 Curry leaves

4 Shallots (finely chopped)

A pinch of Hing

INSTRUCTION:

Pressure cook the rice for 3 to 4 whistles by adding required amount of water. Once the pressure releases, mash the cooked rice with the back of a spoon, when the rice is still warm.

When it is mashed well, add salt, warm milk, curd and mix well.

Heat oil in a tempering pan. Add chopped shallots and fry it till it turns brown. Then add in  mustard seeds, urad dhal, ginger, dry red chilly, curry leaves and hing one by one.

Now add this prepared tempering to the curd rice and mix well. Then add in grated carrot and pomegranate pearls, mix well.

Curd rice is ready to serve. .