neer dosa with mutton sukka

March 30th was THE DAY, India vs Pakistan,I am not much of a cricket fan but definitely a fan of India Pakistan match. We were invited by the Navaratna family to watch the match. We called them navaratna family because they own a restaurant 'Navaratna', the best vegetarian hotel in Riffa( I was paid by Amit Shetty to say that:)

We just could not miss this one,exciting cricket match and Ratna aunty's amazing food. Aunty had made Neer dosa and spicy mutton sukka.This is an authentic Mangalorean dish. The video below shows how to make neer dosa( in tulu neer means water)

This particular dosa was made when Sachin Tendulkar got out( what a pity)

This is  the cast iron tava used to make Neer dosa, you can also use flat non stick pan. This cast iron tava is used only for neer dosa,like exclusively. I was always warned by mom not to use the tava for anything else BUT neer dosa(it was like a rule). Mom also told me to keep the tava oiled all the time even while not using, or my neer dosa might get stuck to it the next time I use it. I was literally scared of it, very high maintenance tava:)

Ingredients for neer dosa:
1 cup rice (dosa rice, here in Bahrain we don't get dosa rice so we use basmati rice,it works just as well)
2tbsp grated coconut(optional)
salt to taste

Method:
* Wash and soak rice in water for 3 hours.

* Grind rice with coconut till smooth, the consistency of the batter should be like water hence the name neer dosa(water dosa). You will know that the batter has the right consistency when it does not form a thick layer on the back of the spoon(look at the picture below)

Ratna Aunty's Yummy Neer dosa with spicy mutton sukka. Thank you aunty:)

And not to forget the exciting match along with Ganesh uncles amazing commentary and predictions. 

trifle pudding

I think the first time I had good trifle pudding was at my friend Mubinas house. Thats when I planned to try it out. This recipe has'nt been taken from any particular chef, just combination of few recipes. In this particular recipe I used Chocolate cake for the base, but I usually prefer basic sponge cake and milk cake. You can bake you own cake or use store bought cake. I  used Betty Crocker cake mix .
The mango has been sliced thinly by Ratna aunty(credit goes to her), I don't have good knife skills:)

Ingredients
500grms  basic cake
fresh fruits of your choice, you can also use tinned fruits or tinned pineapple
 4 tbsp sugar syrup or the liquid from the tinned  fruits
1 packet jelly powder (I have used raspberry flavor, its your choice)
custard made out of half liter milk
whipped cream (made from 200ml whipping cream)
fruits of your choice to decorate

Method

* Prepare jelly by following the instruction on the packet and keep it in the fridge.

* In a see through bowl put one layer of cake cut to cubes, soak the cake with sugar syrup. Put jelly for the second layer(I have cut the jelly to cubes)

* Third layer is custard spread it evenly, and the fourth layer is whipped cream, you can just spoon the cream on the custard but i have put the cream into the piping bag and using a star nozzle piped it on the custard. The trifle pudding looks good if you pipe the cream

* The finally layer is decorating the trifle pudding with fresh or tinned fruits.

* Trifle pudding is a very fresh and light dessert.

Strawberry covered in chocolate

Feb 14th was my daughter's 2nd birthday, we had arranged for a small party and since it was Valentines day too, the theme was red. I decided to make Strawberry coated in chocolate, perfect for Valentines day.
This particular recipes is very simple and was again stolen from Laura Vitales Kitchen.

Ingredeints

20 strawberry (washed and dried)
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
2 tsp vegetable oil

Method

* Wash the strawberry and let it dry completely.

* In a heatproof bowl put semi sweet chocolate chips(you can also use milk chocolate chips and bitter chocolate chips) the add 2 tsp of vegetable oil(vegetable oil is used to get a glaze on the strawberries)

* Melt the chocolate chips on a double boiler(double boiling - a large pan containing hot water, into which other smaller pans are set in order to cook food at low heat). Keep stirring the chocolate chips and oil till all the chips are melted, keep stirring constantly to avoid scorching the chocolate sauce.

* Remove from double boiler and get ready to dip the strawberries in the sauce. 

* Prepare a tray lined with parchment paper to place the strawberry after dipping them in the sauce.

* Take one strawberry ,hold it by its leaves and dip it in the chocolate sauce. Cover 3/4 th of the strawberries with chocolate sauce and place it on the parchment paper. Do the same to all the strawberries.

* Let the strawberries set in room  temperature for 5 minutes, then keep it in the fridge for 20 mins.

* Place the strawberries on a nice tray. Ready to be served:)

herb de provence'

During my college days, I used to go to a restaurant with my friend Vidhya, the name of the restaurant was Cassapicola, it served European cuisine. This was our favorite place to hangout ,we used to plan this day and saw through it that we did not have breakfast that morning . Even though we had just 200 rupees in our pocket we used to share one Italian Potato salad, one chicken casserole and end it with profitrole served with vanilla ice cream topped with hot chocolate sauce. We used to get high on Casapiccola food and laugh like crazy.

They also served one of my favorite dish, it was named 'Casapicola mixed grill'. Grilled chicken and sausage in mushroom sauce served with mashed potato ,salad and garlic bread. Herb de provence' comes almost close to Casapicola mixed grill.

This particular recipe has been stolen from 'foodwishes.com'. The original recipes uses only Mushroom but i have added red and green bell peppers too, and the foodwishes chef uses balsamic vinegar for mushroom sauce which I have replaced  it with little bit of soya sauce, reason being we Indians don't use balsamic vinegar in our everyday cooking and I did not want to buy one whole bottle of balsamic vinegar, because believe me this is once in six months dish for me(my husband likes Indian food). The foodwishes chef also mentioned that he will be using balsamic vinegar to give color to the mushroom sauce. So I figured no harm in using soya sauce ,and it tasted good too.

Herb de Provence' is actually a mixture of 8 or more different kinds of dried herbs, you will get it in any supermarket in the dried herb section along with all the parsley, oregano, rosemary.......

Ingredients 
Print this recipe

• 2 boneless, chicken breasts
• 2 cups chicken stock(I made stock using maggie chicken cube )
• 2 cloves garlic mashed
• black pepper to taste
• salt to taste
• 1 tblsp herbs de provence
• 3 tblsp olive oil
• 3 tblsp unsalted butter
• 2 cups sliced button mushroon
• 1/2 green bell pepper
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 2tsp soya sauce
• 1 tbsp all purpose flour

Method
* Marinate chicken breast in olive oil ,garlic, herb de provence and pepper(do not add salt, it will pull out all the liquid in the chicken),put the marinated chicken in a zip loc bag and marinate for 4 hours(I marinated it overnight)

* Before frying the marinated chicken, put some salt. In a non stick pan add butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil and fry the chicken breast on medium heat , four minutes on each side.Remove the fried chicken and place it on a plate and keep it aside.

* In the same pan add sliced button mushroom and 1/2 tsp salt and fry it on medium heat till it turns brown. Now put in 1 tbsp of flour and fry the mushroom for over 5 minutes till the raw taste of flour goes.Add green and red bell peppers and fry for a minute. now add in the chicken stock and soya sauce. Put in the fried chicken breast and let it cook for few more minutes till the sauce thickens. Adjust salt at this point.

How to assemble:
Place chicken breast on the serving plate, pour mushroom sauce on top and serve it with mashed potato and buttered vegetables.