Carrot Sago Kheer

Ingredients:

1 cup Finely grated Carrot

1/4 cup White Sago Pearl

3/4 cup Fine Sugar

11/2 cups Boiled Fresh milk

2 tbsp Condensed milk

2 tsp Cardamon powder

1/2 cup Water

4 tbsp Ghee

6-7 Cashew nuts (broken into small pcs)

2 tbsp Golden Raisins

Method:

• Clean and soak the sago pearls for 30 mins. Drain the water and keep aside.
• Now heat a thick bottom pan over medium low heat, add ghee and fry cashew nuts till golden. Drain and keep aside.
• Add the raisins and fry till they plump up well. Drain from ghee.
• To the same pan, add the grated carrot and fry on low flame for 5-7 mins.
• Then add the drained sago and water and bring to boil and cook till sago turns transparent.
• Now add the fresh milk and sugar and cook till it turns thick consistency.
• Then add the condensed milk and cardamon powder. Cook for another 2-3 mins and switch off the stove.
• Finally add the ghee roasted cashew nuts and raisins and stir to mix everything well.
• Serve the carrot sago kheer warm or chilled.

Prawn Sambal

Ingredients:

1/2 kg Tiger prawns

2 Onions (thickly sliced)

2 tbsp Thick Coconut Milk

4 tbsp Cooking oil

Salt to taste

For the Sambal:

20 Dry chillies

1 Onion

1 Tomato

10 Garlic 

1 small piece Ginger 

2 tbsp Vinegar

11/2 tbsp Sugar

1/2 tsp Belacan (dried shrimp paste)

Salt to taste

Method:

• Clean, shell, devein the prawns and keep aside.
• Cut the dry chillies into small pieces, discard the seeds and soak in warm water for 30 mins. Drain and keep aside.
• Grind all the ingredients given sambal together with soaked dry chillies into a fine paste.
• Heat oil in a wok and add the ground chilli paste and fry over medium low heat till raw smell leaves and oil separates to the top.
• Then add the sliced onions stir fry for few mins.
• Then add the cleaned prawns and fry for few mins till prawns are cooked.
• Now add coconut milk and stir fry for few mins and switch off the stove.
• Serve it hot with Pandan Nasi Lemak.

Pandan Nasi Lemak

Ingredients:

4 cups Long grain Basmati rice

7 Pandan leaves

1 big piece Ginger (Sliced)

4 cups Coconut milk

4 cups water

2 tbsp Coconut oil

11/2 tbsp Sugar

Salt to taste

Method:

• Separate the pandan leaves, wash clean and roughly chop it. Grind it coarsely together with 1 cup of water. Strain the pandan juice through a fine seive and keep aside.  
• Wash rice and soak it in water for 30 mins. Keep aside.
• Add the coconut milk to the pandan juice and add enough water to make it 8 cups.
• Now add the soaked drained rice, pandan coconut milk, sliced ginger, coconut oil, salt and sugar to a rice cooker. Cook till rice is fluffy. 
• Once ready, let it stand for 5 mins before serving. Fluff the rice with a fork.
• Serve the Nasi Lemak rice warm.

Spicy Fried Chicken

Ingredients:

1 kg Chicken drumstick and wings

2 tbsp Garlic ginger paste

1 Whole Egg

3 tbsp Corn Flour

1/2 tbsp Turmeric powder

1/2 tbsp Chicken masala

1 tbsp Chilli powder

1/4 tsp Garam masala

1/2 tbsp lime juice

salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

Method:

• Wash and clean the chicken wings.
• Place the chicken pieces in a large bowl, then add the all the ingredients except oil. Rub everything together with fingers to mix well.
• Marinate the chicken pieces in the marinade for atleast 2-3 hours in the refrigerator.
• Heat enough oil in a kadai over medium low heat. Fry the chicken pieces in batches till it is crispy and well browned.
• Drain in a kitchen towel and serve it pipping hot.

Banana Balls

Ingredients:

1/2 kg Self Raising Flour

1 Egg

3 tbsp Coarsely Grated Coconut

5 tbsp Palm Sugar (Gulam Melaka)

5 tbsp Fine Sugar

5 Large ripe Bananas

Salt to taste

1/4 cup Ghee or oil

Few tbsp boiled milk (optional)

Method:

• Smash the bananas well with a potato masher. Make sure there are no lumps.
• In a big bowl, add the mashed banana and the rest of the ingredients except ghee/oil. 
• Mix well to combine everything. Make sure the batter is not too thick or too thin. The consistency should be like idli/pancake batter.
• Few tbsp of boiled fresh milk can be added to adjust the consistency of the batter.
• Allow the batter to ferment for atleast 5-6 hours.
• To make the banana balls, heat the kuzhi paniyaram pan and drizzle few drops of ghee or oil into each whole.
• When it is hot, pour the batter into each hole and fill it to 3/4.
• Let it cook on medium low flame for 2-3 mins. Now using a tooth pick or paniyaram stick, turn the balls and cook for another 2 more minutes till it turns golden brown.
• Remove the balls from the pan. Again drizzle few drops of ghee into each hole and repeat with the rest of the batter.
• If you don't own a kuzhi panniyaram pan, not a problem, the batter can be made into small pancakes or dosas drizzled with a little ghee around it.
• Serve it hot with a good cuppa coffee.

Garlic Pepper Chicken

Ingredients:

1/2 kg Chicken (Cut into small pieces)

10 cloves of Garlic (peeled and halved)

1 Onion (Cut into wedges and separated)

1/2 Tomatoes (chopped)

6 Dry red chillies (Broken into small pieces)

4 strands of curry leaves

1 cinnamon stick

1 Bay leaf

2 whole Cardamom

3 cloves

1 Star anise

1 tbsp Fennel seeds

3 tbsp Whole black pepper

11/2 tsp turmeric powder

2 tbsp Chicken masala (Chicken curry powder)

1 tbsp garam masala

2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp Pure ghee

Salt to taste

To Grind:

8 Garlic

1 inch Ginger

2 Red Onions 

Method:

• Dry roast black peppercorns in a pan over low flame for few mins. Cool and grind into a coarse powder.
• Grind the garlic, ginger and red onions to a fine paste with little water.
• Heat oil in a wok, when hot add the small cut pieces of 4 dry red chillies and curry leaves. Fry till crisp and keep aside.
• Now add the whole garam masala (Bay leaf, Cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick and Star anise) to the pan and then 1 tsp fennel seeds. Fry for a min.
• When they splutter, add the remaining dry chillies and the grinded onion paste.
• Keep the flame medium low and add salt and fry till oil separates from the paste and the raw smell goes off.
• Now add the cleaned chicken and turmeric powder and cover the pan and let it cook for 15 mins.
• Then add the chicken masala and garlic slices. Stir everything together, cover the wok and cook for 5 mins under medium high flame.
• Now add chopped tomato and stir well to mix everything and cook for 5 more mins. 
• Add few strands of chopped coriander leaves and quartered onion wedges. Mix everything well and keep on low flame.
• Then add the grounded pepper powder and 1 tsp garam masala powder to the pan and stir well.
• Keep on low flame till oil separates from the masala.
• Then add the roasted dry chillies and curry leaves and mix well. Add the ghee and give a final stir and switch off the stove.
• Serve it hot garnished with chopped coriander leaves.

Spicy Potato Wedges

Ingredients:

3 Large potatoes

2 tbsp Cooking oil

2 tbsp Kashmiri Chilli powder

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

1 tbsp Black pepper

1 tsp Crushed dried Italian herbs

11/2 tbsp Red Chilli flakes

salt to taste

Method:

• Dry roast the black pepper in a pan over low flame, cool and grind it coarsely.
• Wash, clean the potatoes and pat it dry with kitchen towel and cut it into thin even size wedges.
• Place the potatoes in a large bowl and sprinkle the chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt over the potatoes and mix well to combine everything.
• Then add the grounded pepper powder, Italian herbs and chilli flakes. Toss well to mix everything.
• Heat oil in a good non stick pan over medium heat to shallow fry the potato wedges. Once the wedges are crispy and browned, flip it over and fry on the other side also.
• Once done, drain to a paper towel.
• Serve the spicy potato wedges with tomato ketchup or garlic mayonnaise.

Puran Poli

Ingredients:
For the outer covering:

11/2 cups Whole wheat flour

2 tbsp Ghee

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

Water to knead

A pinch of Salt

For the filling:

1 cup Channa dhal

1 cup grated jaggery

3/4 cup freshly grated coconut

1/2 tsp Cardamon powder

Method:

• Clean and soak the channa dhal for 3-4 hours. Then cook it till soft, drain and keep aside.
• For the outer covering, in a wide big bowl, sift the whole wheat flour. Add the turmeric powder, ghee and salt. Mix well. Then add enough water slowly and knead to form a very soft pliable dough.
• Apply a layer of oil over the dough and let it rest in an airtight container for about 1/2 an hour.
• Now for the filling, firstly add the grated jaggery to few tbsp of warm water. Stir well till it melts, strain and keep aside.
• Then grind the cooked channa dhal together with the grated coconut into a coarse paste.
• Now heat a non stick pan and add the strained jaggery water along with the channa dhal mixture and cardamon powder. Stir fry over very low flame till it becomes dry.
• While the filling is still warm, make small balls out of it and keep aside.
• Now pinch a small ball of dough and form a cup and place the filling mixture ball in the center and enclose it carefully.
• Grease both the hands with oil and take a banana leaf or plastic sheet. Place the dough ball on the sheet and try to spread it out using your fingers as thin as possible. Make sure the filling doesn't com out. You can do the same using a rolling pin.
• Now heat a tawa or nonstick pan on medium heat, place the rolled out poli on the tawa and cook it both sides till brown spots appear. Smear it with ghee.
• Serve the poli hot.