Coconut Chammandi and an Award.

Coconut chammandi is nothing but a very thick coconut chutney. I love this simple recipe and hope you do too. Chammandi is very popular is Kerala and is mostly served with Rice dosas. It is also had as a side-dish with rice.

Before I head to the recipe, I would like to share the great news that I have been nominated for an award by 2 fellow bloggers. The most lovable Ria and lovable Dolon, are the people behind this. Thankz a bundle Ria and Dolon. Much appreciated.

The Kreativ Blogger award comes with some rules:-

1. You must thank the person who has given you the award.

2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

3. Link to the person who has nominated you for the award.

4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.

5. Nominate 7 other Kreativ Bloggers.

6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.

7. Leave a comment on which of the blogs to let them know they have been nominated

So, here I go with the 7 things people find interesting about me:

1) I'm not a morning person. I hate waking up early. I don't nap at noon, but I sleep so soundly at night that even if someone carries me away at night I won't know it:)
2) I'm a chatterbox and I had an apt job as a Radio Jockey and program producer :)
3) I'm a hardcore romantic at heart and love romantic films and books which make my tummy tingle and my heart sing. Ask me my favorite read and movie. I'll, definitely, be lying if I say it's not "Gone with the wind".
4) I love the soft breeze running through my hair during a slow dusk walk.
5) I love to travel( well, who doesn't?). I Wish I could travel around the whole world and experience different cultures. My dream destination before I got married was Switzerland, and my wonderful hubby surprised me with a trip there on our first anniversary. I've done quite a lot of country hopping- Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Holland, France and UAE. Looking forward to many more. I don't have A dream destination anymore. Why? Because, now, it's become dream destinationS (plural). I want to visit Greece, Egypt, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, China and Mauritius/ Maldives.
6)I'm crazy about perfumes, handbags, footwear and jewellery.
7) I'm a chocoholic and would kill for some good Biryani. I'm also a coconut addict.


My 7 nominees are:
Yasmeen
Shabs
Mahimaa
Suparna
Rush
Poornima
Aruna

Now, to the recipe:
Ingredients:

• Grated coconut- 1-1/2 cups
• Peanuts- 2 tbspn
• Chana dal- 2 tbspns
• Urad dal - 2 tspns
• Curry leaves - 12-15 leaves
• Dry red chillies -3
• Tamarind - gooseberry sized piece.
• Shallots- 4-5
• Salt - to taste
• Hing - a pinch
• Oil- 2 tspns

Directions:

• Heat 1 tspn of oil in a pan and add hing.
• Then add the peanuts, chana dal and urad dal and saute till light brown. Transfer this to another bowl and set aside.
• In the same pan, add the second tspn of oil and add red chillies, curry leaves, shallots and salt and saute till the onions are soft and the curry leaves let out a good fragrance( takes about 4-5 mins.
• Let all the fried ingredients cool
• In the mean time, put the tamarind in 1/4 cup of hot water and extract the juice. Save this tamarind juice.Remove the left over pulp and discard.
• Grind all the ingredients to a very a coarse paste. Do not add extra water. (as you can see in the pic.)

Luv 'n' luc'
Smitha

Oven-baked Tandoori Chicken

I'm going straight to the recipe today.

Ingredients:( serves 3-4)

• Skinless chicken legs - 10
• Tandoori chicken masala - 3 tspns ( click here for recipe)
• Chilli powder - 1 tspn
• Kashmiri chilli powder - 1 tspn
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tspn
• Salt- to taste
• Ginger-garlic paste - 3 tspns
• Lemon juice - 2 tspns
• Yoghurt - 2 tbspns(or greek yogurt- 1 tbspn)
• Beetroot( beets) juice - 3 tbspns ( optional )
• Oil - 2 tspns

Directions:

• Place 2 tbspns of yoghurt in a tea-strainer and let it stand for 20 mins. This helps the whey water to drip away from the curd and leaves you with a thick yoghurt. Throw the water away and use the strained curs in the marinade. For those of you who have greek yoghurt, you can omit this first step.
• Mix all the ingredients together and marinate the chicken for about 2-3 hours or best overnight.( the beetroot juice is a natural source of color and is used to add more color to the chicken. I use it to avoid using artificial color )
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F( 177 C).
• Then place a pan on medium heat. Roast the chicken in the dry pan for about 3 minutes.This is called searing. Turn the chicken over to the next side and roast for 3 mins.( we do this for the masala not to taste raw ).
• Transfer the drumsticks to a baking tray lined with alumium foil .
• Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes in the centre rack of the oven.
• Then turn the chicken legs over to the next side and bake again for 15 mins.
• Remove chicken from oven and cover chicken with additional foil( this is done to avoid it from drying out)
• Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees F( 260 C)
• When the oven reaches 500 F, remove the covering foil of the chicken and bake it on the top most rack of the oven for 5-6 mins. (till the chicken gets a nice char on it) .
• Serve with onions and lemon.

Luv 'n' luc'
Smitha

Spiced Buttermilk/ Sambaaram

There is no better way to beat the heat than with some cool buttermilk. Why would anyone want coke and pepsi with all the artificial stuff in it when there is simething all natural which can reduce your body tempreature as well as good for you. I like my buttermilk spiced with just ginger,salt and some bruised curry leaves. My husband likes it with some chopped green chillies as well. Do it any way you like. Stay healthy and happy.

Ingredients:

ButterMilk - 2 cups

Water - 2 cups

Salt - to taste

Curry leaves - scant 20-25 leaves (bruised with your hand)

Coursely mashed ginger - 1 inch piece

Chopped green chilli - 1 (optional)

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and let it rest for 30-45 mins in the refrigerator.

Serve cold.

Luv 'n' luc'
Smitha

Luscious Cherries

This is my entry for the Click event conducted by Jai and Bee. Theme : Bi-colour.

It's a simple one. But, I loved it and just wanted to join the fun :)

Luv 'n' luc'
Smitha

Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries or Finger Chips

Hey everyone, Hope all of you had a great weekend. First of all, my apologies for not making new posts and not catching up on many of your blog posts. I was caught up in something of high priority which kept me busy for a while. So...... Really sorry. Anyways, I'm back now.

Poor hubby dear started to feel a tingle in his throat as the july 4th weekend started. We women have a sixth sense right? So, I suspected it would become something worse than a tingle and cancelled all plans for the weekend.The photography crazy person that he is, he was adament on going to view the fireworks and he took these awesome clicks on saturday.
And Sunday, as I suspected, he came down with a throat infection, cough and fever. He is on the road to recovery now and all is well.

As he recovered , last Saturday , went to the movies. Saw Ice Age- Dawn of the Dinosaur. And in 3D. I've always been a fanatic of animated pics and I absolutely adore the Ice Age series. I mean who wouldn't? It's so much fun and shooo shweeet. Remember Monsters Inc., Ants, Lion King, Toys, Robots ..........and I can go on and on. It was so good to see Manny-the Mammoth have a family. Diego never failed to charm and Sid never failed to make me laugh. If you have not seen it as yet......you are missing something really nice.

Today's recipe is a very simple one. Sweet potato finger fries.
This is an inspiration from the recipe by Ellie krieger from foodnetwork. I have added my own touch to it by adding olive oil and cutting the sweet potatoes into very thin fingers.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled (2 medium potatoes)
1 tablespoon Olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more, to taste
Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 4oo degrees F.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Cut the potatoes lengthwise into 1/4-inch thick fingers, and toss with the oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
• Arrange the potatoes in a single layer on the baking sheet and bake until the "fries" are tender and crisp, about 18 minutes.
• Now reduce oven temperature to 250 degrees F and bake for another 15-20 mins.You will get nice crisp chips.
• Season with additional salt, to taste. Serve immediately.

Luv 'n' luc'
Smitha

GONE NUTS ABOUT COCONUT - CHICKEN CURRY MALABAR

Here we go, back to coconut.
Did you know that the early Spanish explorers called it coco, which means "monkey face" because the three indentations (eyes) on the hairy nut resembles the head and face of a monkey.Now, don't tell me that this post should have been titled differently :). Coconut is a rich source of vitamins, minerals and fiber and oh! .........fat and calories too.With that said, I am not going to harp on health benefits and disasters but I have to add that coconut has myriad medicinal properties as well. So, because I'm a coconut addict, I convince myself that the pros outweigh the cons and thus, anytime is coconaka time :)

This chicken curry goes well with rice or rotis.What's even better is, it takes hardly 20 minutes to fix.

INGREDIENTS(makes 3-4 servings)

• Chicken -1-1/2 lbs(cut into peices)
• Oil - 2 tbspns
• Onions- 1 large (sliced)
• Green chillies-2 nos.(slit)
• Tomatoes - 2 nos.
• Ginger- garlic paste - 1 tspn
• Coconut milk - 1/2 cup
• Chicken curry masala- 2 tbspns(available in Indian grocery stores)
• Coriander powder - 3 tspns
• Turmeic powder- 1/2 tspn
• Chilli powder - 1/2 tspn
• Salt - to taste
• Coriander leaves- to garnish

DIRECTIONS:

• Heat oil in a pan and saute slit green chillies in it.(be cautious of splutters).
• Add onions and saute till transparent.
• Add ginger-garlic paste and keep stirring it for about 4-5 mins.
• Now, add turmeric powder, coriander powder, chilli powder, chicken-curry masala and salt and saute.
• When the masala is well-fried, add chopped tomatoes and stir well.Add chicken and 5-6 tbspns of water . Cover and cook on low heat till chicken is done.
• Add coconut milk and stir well. Cover and cook for another 2-3 mins.
• Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with coriander leaves.

Luv 'n' luc'

Smitha