www.malli.in , Chennai’s Comprehensive Gourmet Guide

My Son’s 1^st Birthday Party was a huge hit, thanks to www.malli.in …..With less than a week’s time for Sanjay’s 1^st Birthday, I was frantically searching for Birthday Planners, Banquet halls, Decorators, Cakes, takeaway gifts when I accidentally stumbled upon this website and Life became simple all of a sudden….

An absolutely comprehensive guide with loads of information on Restaurants, Caterers, Party Planners, Florists, DJs, Bartenders and even recipes, “malli” becomes your one stop search engine for food in Chennai. I was completely stunned with the amount of information “malli” has to offer.

Are you looking for a particular type of Cheese and do not know where to buy it….. Malli gives a list of stores where you get different food items…  Tired of reading the same old stories on Kollywood and Bollywood actors, try the “Spotlight” section and get to know the real heroes behind that yummy dinner you relished in the Taj last time. From Cooking classes to the latest updates on new deals and events in Chennai, malli gives you all you need to make your life simple and easy in Chennai.

So, Beat the Heat and don’t run around clueless for anything….. After all, everything is just there in one place for you to choose what you want.

Vegetable Adai

A slight variation to our usual Adai…. A simple, delicious and a must try dish….

Ingredients

Rice - 1 cup

Toor Dal - ½ cup

Urad Dal - ¼ cup

Dried Red Chillies - 5

Asafoetida / Hing - 1 tsp

Curd - 1 - 2 tbsp

Onion - 1

Carrot - 1

Beans - 3 to 4

Cabbage (Grated) - ¼ cup

Curry Leaves - a few

Coriander leaves - a few

Salt - to taste

Method

1. Soak the rice and dals for about an hour.
2. After an hour, drain the rice and the pulses and grind coarsely with Red Chillies, Hing and salt.
3. The vegetables can be grated or finely chopped or ground. I ground the vegetables coarsely.
4. Add the vegetables and curry leaves and coriander to the Rice and Dal mixture.
5. Add the curd to the batter.
6. If the batter is very thick , add ¼ cup of water.
7. Pour a ladle of batter on the pan and spread like a dosa.
8. Cook on Low Flame till both sides become golden brown.
9. Serve with Butter and Jaggery or Kara Chutney.

Kung Pao Fish

The Valentine’s day dinner at the Hotel Le Royal Meridien this year will definitely be a memorable evening for both of us. The Candle-lit tables with heart-shaped arrangements of bright red roses everywhere with lovely music and delicious food made it a perfect date. But there was one dish amongst a huge buffet spread that made us go for it again and again, " Kung Pao Yee". Being a curious cook, I just had to walk to the Chef and ask for the recipe and he immediately gave a hand-written note of the recipe. Now, I share it with you.

Ingredients

Fish [ boneless] - 500 gm ; cubed or sliced.

Spring Onions - ½ cup(finely chopped)

Celery - ½ cup(finely chopped)

Capsicum - 1 (cut into medium sized pieces)

Ginger - 1 tsp. (finely chopped)

Garlic - 1 tsp.(finely chopped)

Chilli Paste - 2 - 3 tbsp (adjust according to your spice level)

Soya sauce - 2 tsp.

Vinegar - 2 tsp.

Dried Red Chillies - a few

Fried Cashew nuts - a handful.

To Marinate the Fish.

Egg - 1

Flour - 1 tsp.

Corn Flour - 1 tsp.(optional).

Fish Fry Masala/ Chilli Powder - 2-3 tbsp.

Aji-no-motto - 1 or 2 tsp.

Sugar - 1 tsp or less. ( just a pinch of sugar would do).

Salt - to taste.

　

Method

1. Marinate the fish after adding all the Ingredients mentioned for 30 - 45 min.
2. After the Fish is marinated, deep fry the fish cubes, pat excess oil and keep it aside.
3. Heat the wok and add 2 tbsp of oil.
4. Add the chopped celery, shallots, capsicum, red chillies, ginger, garlic and sauté.
5. Ad the Chilli paste, soya sauce, salt, aijinomotto, sugar, vinegar and saute.
6. Add the Fried Fish and Cashews and saute again for 2 minutes.
7. Serve and eat Hot.

Note : This dish could also be made with tofu or paneer or chicken.

Learn from my mistakes!

• Do not marinate the Fish for a very long time. The Fish could become rough. The moisture of the fish should be retained.
• Adding a lot of soya sauce makes the dish bitter or sour.Dont overcook the vegetables.

Okra Subji

My husband like many others has a serious " I hate Vegetables" Syndrome and I always end up trying different ways to camouflage the vegetables to a more appealing form for him to even consider tasting. So, when he said "You should definitely add this recipe to your blog", I knew I had hit the mark.

Okra/Lady’s Finger/Vendaikkai was fed to us in kilos as children by my father saying " 100 in Maths Guaranteed!". Now, I cannot assure you if you will really top your mathematics exam by eating a bowl of okra. But it is definitely a common household vegetable loved by many in India. As a variation to our usual vendaikkai poriyal or pachadi, this yummy, creamy subji tastes excellent with Rotis or hot rice.

Ingredients

Okra - 12-15 nos.

Onions - 2

Tomato - 1

Chilli Powder - 2 tsp.

Garam masala - 1 tsp.

Oil - ½ cup

Green Chillies - 1 or 2.

Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp.

Cinnamon - 1 little piece.

Fennel - 1 tsp.

Fresh cream - 2 tbsp.

Coriander leaves - to garnish

salt - to taste.

Method

1. Cut the Okra to medium size pieces. ( approx. 3 pieces an okra)
2. Sauté 1 chopped onion and tomato until golden brown and grind to make a coarse paste.
3. Add 1 tsp. of oil to a bowl, 1 tsp. of chilli powder and 1 tsp. of salt add mix well .
4. *Add the okras to the mixture, mix well and microwave covered for 3 minutes.
5. Heat a non stick pan or kadai with the remaining oil. Add the spices(cinnamon, fennel), the remaining finely chopped onions, slit green chillies and ginger garlic paste and sauté.
6. Once the onions turn golden brown, add the onion-tomato paste and sauté. Add the chilli powder, garam masala and the okras and mix well.
7. Add some water and required salt and cook covered for 5 minutes. Since the okra is almost cooked in the microwave, it wont take a long time to cook. Once the gravy thickens, add the fresh cream and stir for a few minutes and the dish is done.
8. Garnish with coriander leaves on top.

*Tip : I usually microwave the vegetables(covered) for a few minutes while making poriyal or kootu or any subjis. This saves both gas and time and keeps the nutrients of the vegetables intact. The belief that the taste of the vegetables is lost if you microwave them separately is absolutely false .

Carrot Cake

When I was working in Satyam, one of my friend gave me this piece of Carrot Cake and said that I should try it since it was her mom’s Signature dish. I loved the cake for it was light, spongy and had a very unique taste. I had promised to bake it for a very long time but the time was never right. Rather I should say I didn’t have the confidence to reproduce that delicious piece of cake I ate long ago. Finally I came across quite a simple recipe in one of the cookbooks I received as a birthday gift and I knew it was time I fulfilled the promise I made long back… So here’s to you Anju for sharing your mom’s yummy carrot cake and to Dums and Viju for gifting me that very handy cookbook.

　



Ingredients

• Flour - 2 cups
• Carrot (Grated) - 2.5 to 3 cups
• Eggs - 3
• Butter - 1 cup ( 1 ½ cups oil can also be used instead of butter)
• Cinnamon powder - 2 tsp.
• Ginger powder - 1 tsp (optional)
• Castor Sugar - 2 cups
• Vanilla - 1 tsp.
• salt - 1 tsp.
• Baking Soda - 2 tsp.

Method

1. Mix the Flour, Cinnamon Powder, Ginger, Baking soda and salt together.
2. Beat the Butter with Castor sugar and Vanilla essence till you attain a fluffy consistency.
3. Add the grated carrot to the butter mixture and beat well. We do not want lumps of carrot in the mixture.
4. Now, Gradually add the mixture to the flour little by little and mix well.
5. You can add chopped nuts like walnut or almonds to the mixture if you wish.
6. Preheat the oven to 160° C
7. Bake in a greased pan for about 30 to 40 min or till a knife inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
8. Cool the cake on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then turn the cake on a turntable or plate.
9. Serve a slice of the cake with cream …. Happy eating!!!!

Tips :

Remove the butter from the refrigerator atleast 1 to 2 hours before baking to bring it to room temperature. Don’t melt the butter in the oven or a pan.

Do not overbake the cake and lose the moist and sponginess of the cake.

My Desi Fried Chicken

Our entire family is a great fan of the Kentucky Fried Chicken(KFC). The hype about "Find the secret Ingredients in the KFC chicken" made me create a Desi version of the KFC. The taste is pretty close and I didn’t use a lot of Ingredients. My Desi chicken became quite a hit in my family. According to me, the secret lies in the cooking of the chicken, the surface should be crispy and golden brown but the meat inside should be succulent and juicy. Mouth watering …. Isn’t it???

Ingredients

Chicken pieces(leg or wings or breast) - 4
Flour - 4 tbsp
Egg - 1
Ground Pepper - 1 tbsp.
Parsley - 1 tsp.
Chilli flakes - 1 tsp.
salt - 1 to 2 tsp.
Chicken fry masala - 2 to 3 tbsp (Ahh...Blame the Indian palate!!! cant do without masala..) spices
Chicken soup cube - 1 (optional)
Ajinomotto - 1 pinch (optional)
Oil to fry

Method

1. Mix the spices(Pepper, chilli flakes, Parsley, chicken masala),chicken soup cube and salt.
2. Marinate it for about 30 - 45 min. pierce with a fork on the chicken pieces to help the masala seep in.
3. Beat the egg in a bowl. You can also add 1 to 2 tsp. of milk to the egg if you prefer.
4. Spread the flour in a plate.
5. Heat oil in a pan .Don’t overheat the oil since it will lead to quicker burning of the surface leading to undercooked chicken inside.

tip : there's an old method that says if you drop a piece of bread in the oil, it should turn to golden brown color in 60 seconds but I just drop in a little piece of flour in the oil. If it rises to the to the top then the oil is ready to fry.

6. Take a chicken piece , dip it in the egg mixture and then roll it in the flour.
7. Repeat the process to get a thick coating. So it goes like

           egg --> flour ---> egg --> flour

8. Place it in the oil and deep fry in low flame. It takes almost 8 - 10 minutes to cook.
9. Keep turning the chicken in the oil to get a uniform golden brown color . Remove from the oil and pat with a tissue paper or kitchen towel and remove excess oil. Serve hot with Ketchup.