Intimidated by the road side shops, I made...

When I was working back in India, I used to take my office bus for commutation. Most of time I fall asleep in my return journey. But, the few time I was awake, I was intimidated by the road side biriyani shops. They have a very big vessel (Anda in Tamil) and they will prepare mostly Egg biriyani, which would taste divine, I was told.



I wanted to try Egg Biriyani at home but the option was ruled out when I was in India. But here, I tried it. I couldn't compare the taste because I have not tasted the shop biriyani. However, I can say at least, it looked like the one served in shops. Here is the recipe

Ingredients:

4 Boiled Eggs
1 cup Basmati Rice
1 tsp biryani masala pdr
1 tsp black cumin or regular cumin
1 tbspn Butter
1 tbsp Ginger garlic paste
4 chopped Green Chillies
1 cup mint
1 tbsp oil
1 large Onions
2 cup Plain Yogurt
Salt to taste
2 bay leaves
2-3 cloves
2 cinnamon stick
few cashews

To marinate the Egg:

1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 egg
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp besan flour

Method:

Add oil in a pan. Add the Bayleaf,cloves and cinnamon. Add some black or regular cumin seeds and onion.

Saute them and add the salt.

Add cashew nuts. Saute.

Add green chillies, coriander leaves and mint.

Add ginger garlic paste and mix well.

Add 1 cup of curd and biriyani masala powder (50g) and mix well.

Add water (2 cups) and add 1 cup of rice.

Check for seasoning and if all fine then cover it with lid and allow it to cook in a medium flame.

Meanwhile prepare the marination for the eggs (OPTIONAL) - I have prepared both ways and I liked when it is not marinated. So the choice is yours.

In a bowl, add chilli powder, ginger garlic paste,coriander powder,cumin powder, basan flour and mix well.

Add egg white to this mixture. Mix well and coat the boiled eggs with this marination.

In a pan, add butter and shallow fry these marinated eggs.

When the rice is done, mix this egg with the rice carefully.

If you want you can add orange color to the rice.

Garnish it with some coriander leaves and serve hot with raita or any side dish of your choice.

Read More

Spicy Indian Omelet - Its HOT!

If you are an omelet lover, you really enjoy this recipe. This very love for omelet made me start 101 omelet recipes. I was reading a cookbook, the other day for Vietnamese recipes. Though most of them required meat, the book had a great deal of luring recipes. In the Indian section, I found this spicy omelet recipe. Really spicy! I would suggest you to prepare the omelet the same way, without altering the spice level. It tasted great! If you are a spice lover then you ought to try this.OK, enough of praising, lets go to the details.



Ingredients: (Makes 3 to 4 omelets)


2 Eggs
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup chopped tomatoes
1 tsp of chilli powder
1 tsp of cumin powder
1 tsp of coriander powder
1 tsp of pepper powder
1 finely chopped green chilli
Salt to taste
1 tbsp of milk
few strands of cilantro to garnish



Method:

Beat the eggs along with the milk. This makes your omelet fluffy!

Take a scoop of the beaten egg and pour it in the pan.

Immediately sprinkle onions, green chillies and tomatoes.

Add the spices and cook it in Sim flame.

Finally garnish it with cilantro!

You can eat them with bread for your breakfast or for your snack time.

Be sure to have a glass of water with you, if you are not used to highly spicy recipes.

Read More

Vegetable Omelet

There was a problem viewing my vegetable omelet which was posted previously, so I am re posting it for the 101 Omelet series event.

Ingredients for vegetable omelet:

2 Eggs
1 cup of mixed vegetables, which includes grated carrot, onions, tomatoes,mushrooms or any of your favourite vegetable
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1 tsp oil
1 green chilli finely chopped



Method:

Beat the eggs with yellow in high for 2 min and in low for 1 min.

Add the vegetables, green chillies and salt and mix well.

In a non stick pan, add oil and take a scoop of this beaten egg and pour it in the center.

This will automatically spread into a round or some amoebic shape.

Now, add pepper and allow it to cook.

When one side is cooked, turn and cook the other side of the omelet.

Ta-da! Vegetable Omelet is ready and Serve hot!

Read More

Did you know your husband cooks?

If I had known my husband can cook this Kothu parotta so very well, I would have definitely prepared this and sent to MBP street food hosted by Sia. I never knew my husband could cook! Poor me! He had been hiding this great secret of his from me for a long time now (we know each other for more than 5yrs). Innocent me! With this note I have to tell you how I caught him as a chef. I must say a decent chef, for a person who doesn't even move his plate after eating. I know! My mil has pampered him in this regard.

It was a week back and I had some usual problems with my health. I was feeling very tired and slept at around 5PM in the evening. I had a great dream. I was strolling with my best friend near my house(in India) and to mention, I was in my 10th std in my dream. Good old days! Miss them!.Back to my dream. We had a tiff and she was consoling me. Suddenly, I must say, these things happen only in dreams, we saw a street shop and he was preparing...of course Kothu parotta.

Though we generally do not like the ambiance, the aroma lured us into the shop and obviously we were drooling. The waiter, instead of asking what we wanted to eat was yelling 'Get up! Its 8.00PM. Time to Eat! You can sleep after that.' and that too in my husbands voice. lol!

By now, all know that my sleep got disturbed and I was sitting with a plate full of Kothu Parotta prepared by my loving husband. Though I was very happy, I couldn't tolerate the fact that he messed up my kitchen. Yes! the Kothu Parotta tasted Divine. But my kitchen!omg! was a mess. I spent 30 mts cleaning it. But, it was a sweet surprise. I have requested him to give surprises like this, even if it takes my time to clean up after he is done with his surprises.



Now coming to the recipe (My husband's version of Egg Kothu Parotta).



Ingredients (Serves 2)

4 Parotta (It can be homemade or frozen)
2 Eggs
1 finely chopped onion
2 finely chopped green chillies
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Method:

Cook the Parotta. If Frozen parotta is used, then heat it and cook it before preparing this recipe.

Cut the parotta into small pieces. They need not be even, but need to be small.

In a pan, add oil and saute the onions till they turn light brown.

Now add the green chillies and half the salt.

Add the eggs and mix well.

Add little pepper.

When the egg is half cooked ,add the cut parotta and mix well.

Now check for salt and if needed add some.

While mixing, use a spatula to do a repeated pounding so that the egg,parotta and the onions mix well.

Serve hot with any of your favourite side dish. I loved it without any.

Note: The Kothu parotta made in streets, will have some more spices and also a sauce to it. Since it is a home made version, we had to cut on these spices and sauce, mainly because my husband did not know where I kept them in my kitchen ;)

You can also do chicken kothu parotta, meat kothu parotta, the same way and adding more spices to the recipe.

I hope every married women would have had an experience like this. Sharing can be fun. Did you know your husband cooks? Waiting to hear your stories.

Read More

Calling all Food Bloggers for 'The 101 Recipe Series'

When I was browsing through for omelet recipes, I came across a few which was really new to me. With our creativity we can do wonders in cooking. Before this, I knew only 2 ways of preparing omelet. One is with egg white alone and the other with vegetables. But going through these varieties like French omelet,Spanish and Mexican omelet etc made me realise that there are more varieties of omelet to be discovered.

Here is a challenge to our creativity!101 omelet recipes! I hope this will be fun and a treat for all the egg lovers. Not only omelet, we can use our creativity to any recipe and make it a new one.

For the mere sake of fun and more fun, I am starting a new event called 101 recipe series. As of now there is no time limit for this event. Here are the rules.

1. I will be announcing the recipe/food for which we need to derive 101 different ways of preparation.

2. There is no time limit as of now, the first 101 recipes which are unique will be consolidated and presented as 'The 101 Recipes'.

3. Once we get 101 different ways of preparing the dishthe round up will be posted and we will be up for the next 101 recipe series..

4. The first challenge is 101 Omelet recipes.

5. Post a Omelet recipe which is still not yet included in 101 recipe series, link back to this event and send me an email to letusallcook@gmail.com with subject '101 recipe series #1:Omelet' and the following details,

Name:
Recipe Name:
Recipe URL :

You can send in previously posted entries by re posting them and linking it back to the event.

6. I will be updating the omelet recipes immediately so that we can avoid duplication. So do check back this event page before preparing omelet for this event.

7.Not having a blog is no excuse to let you get away with your passion for cooking. Non-Bloggers don't worry, there are always ways to achieve your passion :) please do send me the recipe details as above to the mail given and I will post it in the round-up with your details.

Do let me know if there is any questions and ideas for making this event more fun.

Remember! the first 101 recipes are only counted so hurry up and send in your entries so that we can complete this 101 omelet recipes.


Few Tips for choosing Omelet Pan:

Omelet comes out best with a non-stick pan, preferably aluminum with a nonstick coating. It must have sloping rather than steep sides.

An 8-inch pan is good two egg omelet and a 10-inch pan for a five egg omelet. It depends on the egg size. If it is normal size eggs, the 10 inch pan can be used for 6 egg omelet. But this is when you directly break the eggs over the pan, but if you beat it separately, you can always use a scooping vessel and accommodate it correctly.

Now comes the entries for this 101 omelet series,

1. Vegetable Omelet from Art of cooking Indian food

2. Ham Omelet from Heart and Hearth.

3. Onion Omelet from Ramya's kitchen corner

4. Baked Mushroom Omelet from Priya Easy and Tasty Recipes

5.Potato Omelet from Priya Easy and Tasty Recipes

6.Aloo Gobi Omelet from alexisthetiny

7.French Bean omelet from teczcape - an escape to food

8.Carrot Omelet from Priya Easy and Tasty Recipes

9.Zucchini Omelet from Priya Easy and Tasty Recipes

10.Chicken chunks onion Omelet from Priya Easy and Tasty Recipes

11.Spicy Indian Omelet - Its HOT! from Art of cooking Indian food

12.Eggless Omelet from Myviews

13. Eggless (Maida) Omelet from EC

14.Omelet Dosa from Kitchen chronicles

15.Zucchini Omelet from Kitchen chronicles

16.Green Omelet from Dershana

17.Mixed Omelet from My Spicy Kitchen

18.Shrimp Omelet from Heart and Hearth

19.Mutton kofta omelet from Malar Gandhi

20.mutton kheem omelet from Malar Gandhi

21.Asparagus-Cheese Omlette from Malar Gandhi

22.celery omelet from Malar Gandhi

23.Plain english omelet from Malar Gandhi

24.cheese omelet from Malar Gandhi

25.mushroom omelet from Malar Gandhi

26.green tomato omelet from Malar Gandhi

27.country style omelet from Malar Gandhi

28.Beets Omelet from Priya Easy and Tasty Recipes

29.Bok choy Omelette from Priya Easy and Tasty Recipes

30.Hearty Omelet from Aarti

31.Mushroom Cream Omelet from Priya Easy and Tasty Recipes

32. Dal Omelet from easy2cook recipes

33.Spicy Ginger Omelet from easy2cook recipes

34.Nuts and Cheese Omelet from easy2cook recipes

35.Oregano Omlette from PG's Kitchen Stories

36.Tofu Onion Omelet from Priya Easy and Tasty Recipes

37.Vegetarian's Omelet from Kitchen Cronicles

38.Vegetarian Tofu Omelet from Priya Easy and Tasty Recipes

39.Garlic chives omelet from Priya Easy and Tasty Recipes

40.Greek sausages, sun dried tomatoes and onion omelette from Ivy

41.Mushrooms, feta, peppers and onions omelette from Ivy

42.Plain diet omelette from Ivy

43.Spinach Omelet from Gita

44.Cheese and Green onion Omelet from Debi Morris

45.Capsicum cheese Omelet from Shama of Easy2cookrecipes

46.Ratatouille Omelet from Contessa Stern

47.Put in everything omelet by Sudeshana

48.Asiago and Bell pepper Omelet by Caitlin

49.Oven Omelet by best kept recipes

50.100 Simple omelets - 1 page cookbook by Ramki

51,52,53.Spicy Tomato Omelet,Sprouted Omelet,Cauliflower omelet by Shama

54.Italian Frittatta by Raji

55.Vegetable Omelet by Shama

56. Spicy Omelet by Raji Karthik

Read More

Vegetarian delight - A Calcium rich recipe

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, "The average dietary intake of calcium by children and adolescents is well below the recommended levels of adequate intake." This can mean that these children will not develop their optimal bone mass, which can put them at risk of fractures and osteoporosis.

What is osteoporosis?: Osteoporosis is a disease in which bones become fragile and more likely to break. If not prevented or if left untreated, osteoporosis can progress painlessly until a bone breaks. These broken bones, also known as fractures, occur typically in the hip, spine, and wrist.

While women are four times more likely than men to develop the disease, men also suffer from osteoporosis. Reading these information from http://www.nof.org/osteoporosis/index.htm I was totally shocked. It all happens because of the calcium deficiency and so here is a calcium rich recipe.

I have used broccoli,cabbage,carrot,garlic,spinach,tomato,egg,black pepper,lettuce - These are calcium rich.

Ingredients: ( for 2 Person)

1/2 onion finely chopped
1 tomato finely chopped
1 carrot cut lengthwise
1/4 cup green peas (optional)
1/4 cup cabbage
1/4 cub spinach
1/4 cub lettuce
2-3 Garlic flakes finely chopped
1 Egg with yellow or 2 egg whites (Optional)
2 to 3 Roti (optional)
Salt to taste
1tsp of olive oil
1tsp coriander powder
2tsp pepper
1 cup water

Method:

In a Pan, add oil. Add the onions and saute. Add tomatoes and garlic. fry them for a min. Now add all the vegetables and 1 cup of water.

Half cook the vegetables. Add salt,coriander powder and pepper.

(optional) - In a tawa, do roti with wheat flour. Make it into pieces and put it in the cooking mixture. Try Missi roti -A Rajasthani food for this; it surely does add some flavour.

Add the eggs and mix well. Cook the mixture in a medium flame. Stir continuously so that the egg forms a coating with the vegetables and all the water is evaporated. This takes around 5 to 8 min. Serve hot.

Variations:

1.You can avoid egg and instead add yogurt.
2.You can avoid Roti and use it as a side dish for your main course.
3. You can mix this with pasta and prepare a vegie pasta delight too :)

Note: I am considering Egg as vegetarian, for those who don't use egg in their diet can replace it with yogurt.

I am sending this as an entry to beautiful bones event hosted by Susan.

Eat Healthy and Stay healthy !

Read More

Egg Fried Rice Recipe

Fried rice is a famous recipe from Chinese cuisine which has also taken its form Asian cuisine. Whenever we come across fried rice, the first type that comes to our mind or at least to my mind is vegetable fried rice. However, there are a different types of fried rice and they can be prepared in many different ways. I will share my way of preparing Egg fried rice. Why egg? Egg has lot of protein in it and is very good for health. You can also do chicken or any other fried rice using your creativity.

Did you know? (From WIKIPEDIA)

A boiled egg can be distinguished from a raw egg without breaking the shell by spinning it. A hard-boiled egg's contents are solid due to the de-naturation of the protein, allowing it to spin freely, while viscous dissipation in the liquid contents of a raw egg causes it to stop spinning within approximately three rotations.

If a boiled egg is overcooked, a greenish ring sometimes appears around egg yolk. This is a manifestation of the iron and sulphur compounds in the egg. It can also occur when there is an abundance of iron in the cooking water. The green ring does not affect the egg's taste; overcooking, however, harms the quality of the protein (chilling the egg for a few minutes in cold water until the egg is completely cooled prevents the greenish "ring” from forming on the surface of the yolk).

Now coming to Egg fried rice,

Ingredients:

water
salt to taste
2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tbspn of chilli sauce
1 cup uncooked Basmati rice
1 tbspn vegetable oil /Olive oil (You can use ghee for rich taste instead of oil)
1/2 onion, finely chopped

1/4 cup of spring onions finely chopped
1/2 cup green peas

1/4 cup of green beans and carrot
2 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 cup of capsicum or 2 green chillies

Method:

In a big pot, add some oil and fry the rice for 1 min. Now add enough water (water level must be slightly more than the rice) , salt and cook the rice in medium flame.

In a pan, add oil, onions,spring onions, green chillies and fry them for 2 min. Now add the beans,carrot and peas and fry them for 2 min.

Now add little water, soy and chilly sauce and mix well. Allow the vegetables to cook.

Add the beaten eggs and scramble them while they cook. Add salt and pepper.

Mix the cooked rice with this mixture and add salt and pepper if needed.

Serve hot.

Read More

Bread/Egg/Onion/Potato Baji

Baji is a very famous Indian snack. It is similar to Pakoras but tastes entirely different. Checkout the pakora recipe here. This food is prepared in less than 10mts if you have all the ingredients. You can show your creativity in this food by making different kinds of baji. Some of my favourites are Onion, Egg, Potato,Bread,Plantain, Green Chillies. You can make even with Meat ( I am not sure, but what the heck ? you can try it and if it doesn't come out well, feed the bin).

Ingredients:

To make the Paste:

2 cups of Besan Flour (Gram flour)

1 tsp of red chilli powder

Salt to taste

1/4 tsp of baking powder

Oil to fry

Water to make the paste

You can have any one or all of the following to make your kind of baji

2 medium Potato sliced

1 plantain sliced

4 Bread pieces ( Remove the outer bread and cut into halves)

2 Egg (Boiled and Cut in Half ,with Yolk)

1 medium onion sliced in round shape

Method:

Add the gram flour, chilli powder , baking powder and salt in a bowl.

Mix well adding water so that it becomes a smooth paste.

The Paste must be semi solid (Not too loose)

Now dip the ingredient you want to make baji with and deep fry in oil.

Make sure that the ingredient i.e. potato or bread is covered with this paste properly so that the baji comes out tasty and puffy.

Do come back for my recipe on making stuffed Mirchi (Green Chilli) Baji which is the most famous baji variety in India. I will post the recipe asap.

Read More

Egg Dosa Recipe

Now a days, Egg is considered to be a vegetarian food and most of the doctors advice children to take egg in their diet. There are hundreds of ways we can eat egg and one of them is egg dosa. It is very simple and all you need is 2eggs and dosa dough. I will post the recipe for the dosa dough in my future posts. For now I assume that people know to prepare dosa dough.



Ingredients: ( for 4 egg dosas)

4 cups of dosa dough
2 Eggs
Pinch of Pepper
Oil

Method:

Beat the 2 eggs in a bowl for 30 seconds.

The same way as we prepare dosa, place 1 cup of dough on the non stick pana and spread it into a round shape. Pour some oil around the dosa.

Now pour required amount of egg on the center of the dosa and spread it, so that it covers the entire dosa. For this the easy way is to take the pan by its handle and rotate from left to right.

Add a pich of pepper to it and wait till the side is cooked.

Turn the dosa to the otherside and wait till it is cooked.

Take the dosa from the pan and serve hot with chutney,sambhar etc.

Happy Cooking!

Read More