Kari urundai kuzhambu

Everybody will have one special dish to get things done from ur beloved ones. One such dish for me is kari urundai kuzhambu, that's my hubby first fav dish in his list. It taste great with rice & rotis. This is real south indian traditional dish, where most of us dont prefer to do in this busy life. Try this & share ur opinion :)

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Ingredients :

1. Kheema - 400 gms
2. Cashews - 13 nos
3. Salt to taste
4. Cinnamon stick
5. Cloves - 3 nos
6. Cardomom - 2 nos
7. Onion - 2 nos
8. Riped Tomato - 1 large or 2 small
9. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
10. Chilly powder - 2 tsp (adjust according to ur spice level)
11. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
12. Coconut paste (I used 1/2 coconut)
13. Corriander leaves

Directions to cook :

• # Grind the kheema along with the salt.
  
• # Make small kheema balls resembling like a golf ball & stuff one cashew in the middle & keep it aside.
  


• # Heat oil in the heavy bottomed pan, add cinnamon, cloves, cardomom and onion.


• # Saute them for few mins till onion turns golden brown, add ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder.


• # Add tomatos, chilly powder & salt to taste.


• # Now arrange the khemma balls inside. Cover & cook for 15 mins, till kheema becomes tender.



• # Add coconut paste & cook for further 10 min.


• # Garnish with corriander leaves.

Enjoy this kuzhambu with rice & rotis.

TIPS :

1. While making the kheema balls, gently round them. It becomes harder if u compress them tooo much.


2. When u insert the toothpick inside the kheema & if it comes out clean, which means it is cooked & add the coconut paste.

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Marzipan roses

Cake decorating is another interesting subject. I personally feel experience is the key for the perfection. As a beginner, I tried making roses using marzipan, gum paste & with fondant which looks pretty decent.

Baking and decorating the cake r equally important. Marzipan are used to cover the cake as well as making attractive flowers and fruits for decorating over the cake. It taste yummy & looks pretty when used with different food colors.

Ingredients :

1. Powdered cashew nuts or almonds - 1/4 cup
2. Milk powder - 1/4 cup
3. Icing sugar - 1/2 cup
4. Almond essence - 2 drops (when prepared with almonds only)
5. A little egg white or condensed milk to mix

Method :

Combine the first 4 ingredients and add enough condensed milk (or egg white) to make a soft dough.

Roses to decorate

STEP 1 : Make a cone from a small ball. This is the base.

STEP 2 : Make small balls for the petals.

STEP 3 : Roll them to a small circle or oval. Either thick or thin.


STEP 4 : Wrap them arround the cone.


STEP 5 : Wrap all the petals arround the cone overlapping each other.



STEP 6 : Can wrap any number of petals. Depends on size of rose required.

Enjoy !

TIPS :

1. Dont make sticky dough.

2. Use edible food colors.

3. Try to make thin petals. Thick petals r preferred to decorate it as a single rose over the cake.

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Chinese Vegetable cum Egg fried rice

Chinese cuisine are becoming popular nowdays. We can see n number of chinese restaurants all around. The main speciality is that they cook according to the country spice & taste.

Fried rice is my hubby fav rice. This is very simple to cook & tasty to eat. Especially during the busy days, this dish is handy. The only time consuming in this dish, is cutting the vegetables evenly and equally. But its really worth !!!!

I like adding scrambled eggs in the final stage of my fried rice, which not only enhances the taste but also the flavour. Those who dont want to add eggs, just ignore that step. Few of them like adding tomato sauce, garlic sauce to this, but this version is only with few ingredients. It taste like real chinese fried rice.

Ingredients :

1. Basmati rice - 1 cup
2. Vegetables - 1 cup (carrot, beans, capsicum)
3. Green chilly - 3 nos ( adjust according to ur spice level)
4. Ajinomoto - a pinch
5. Soya sauce - 1/4 tsp
6. Olive oil - 3 tbsp
7. Salt to taste
8. Spring onions to garnish.

Directions to cook :

• $ Cook the basmati rice & allow them to cool nicely( I spread them in the plate)
  
• $ Heat oil in the heavy bottomed pan, add ajinomoto, green chillies and vegetables expect capsicum & fry them this half cooked.
  
• $ Now add the capsicum & cook for further 3 min.
  
• $ Add soya sauce & salt.
  
• $ Add the cooked rice & mix them nicely without any lumps.
  
• $ In a separate pan, prepare the scrambled eggs with pepper & salt.
  
• $ Now, mix the scrambled eggs & cook for 2 more min.
  
• $ Finally garnish them with spring onions.

Serve them with dry or semi-dry gravys.

Tips :

• 1. Dont overcook the vegetables. It should be little crunchy. (cook 3/4th)


• 2. Instead of eggs, we can also add cooked shredded chicken pcs or any of ur non-veg varieties.


• 3. Try to avoid cooking this dish, if capsicum is out of stock.


• 4. If the fried rice is not spicy, add pepper powder before serving.

Enjoy & share ur experience after u taste this :)

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