Pasta with peas and bacon

| Rekha Vengalil
I was using the white back ground after a while. I love to work on white background. I feel it enhances the food better and you really don’t need to use more props. Keeping it simple and elegant.
Give me a bowl of pasta any time of the day and you see me happily gobbling it way and if its white sauce, more better.  Of the few pasta recipes that I treasure, this is one my favorite and trust me I am addicted to these. 
 
It’s easy to whip up, but please make sure that, once you add the egg-cream mixture to the pasta; do not overheat or cook for too long else egg will start to scramble.  And yes you can use any pasta of your choice.
 

You need –

  • Fusilli – 2 cups
  • Frozen peas – 1/2 cup
  • Streaky bacon – 100 grams, chopped
  • Parmesan cheese – 1/4 cup
  • fresh basil – finely chopped, 1 tablespoon (plus extra if you want to garnish)
  • Dried Italian herbs – 1/4 teaspoon
  • Whipping cream – 1/2 cup
  • Egg – 1
  • Olive oil – 2 teaspoon
  • Salt and pepper to taste
 

How to-

Heat oil in a pan and add the Bacon. Cook until crisp and drain on a kitchen towel. Set aside.

In a sauce pan bring water to boil and add the peas. Cook till tender. drain and set aside. In mixing bowl , whisk together the egg, cream, Parmesan cheese and herbs. Add the cooked peas and mix well.

Cook the pasta as per the packet instructions or until al dente. Drain well and turn to the pan. Add the cream mixture and over a low heat and warm through, gently stirring. Season with salt and pepper.

Turn off the heat and add the bacon, basil and mix gently  and serve immediately.

 

Brussels sprouts and pink radish stir fry

| Rekha Vengalil
 Here goes one more from a stir-fried veggie lover.
 
 Try and keep it as crunchy as possible and not over cooking your veggies.  You may alter the spices to suit your taste. 
 
Sending the above pictures for Colour Me Pink of The Colour Me Photography Challenge Series by The Humpty Dumpty Kitchen
You need –
  • Brussels sprouts – 6-7, quartered
  • Pink radish – 1 cup, thinly sliced
  • Bell pepper – 1, cut into strips
  • Onion – 1 medium, finely chopped
  • Garlic – 1 clove, minced
  • Cumin seeds – 1/4 teaspoon
  • Coriander powder – 1/2 teaspoon
  • Ground Cumin – 1/4 teaspoon
  • Chili powder – 1/2 teaspoon
  • Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon
  • Salt – to taste
  • Lemon juice – 2 teaspoons
  • Coriander leaves to garnish
How to-

Heat oil in pan. Add the cumin seeds; soon they start to sizzle add the garlic and stir briefly. Tip the onions in cook till golden. Add the Brussels sprout and mix well. Cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add the spice powders, salt; saute for another 5 minutes or till they are cooked through but crispy, making sure not over cook. Add the bell pepper, radish and lemon juice and saute for a minute. 

Turn off the heat and serve as a filling for Tacos or serve them with rice and curry.

 

Kozhi Varuval / Chettinad pepper chicken

| Rekha Vengalil
This spicy and so flavorful dish is from Chettinad, Tamilnadu, south of India. Chettinad is famous for their use of spices and very aromatic dishes. If you would like to read more of then click here . 
 
I am an absolute lover of Chettinad cuisine and this being one of my favorite. I love this with my rice and rasam. Please adjust the quantity of pepper and green chili to suit your taste and I would also recon to use freshly ground pepper. I have used store brought tomato paste but if using whole tomato then make sure to cook till mushy before you add the chicken. 
 

You need –

  • Chicken – 750 grams , cleaned and cut into bite size pieces
  • Shallots – finely chopped, 1 cup
  • Green chili – 1, slit length-wise
  • Ginger and garlic paste – 1 tablespoon each
  • Tomato paste – 2.5 teaspoon
  • Freshly ground pepper (coarsely) – 3 teaspoons
  • Coriander powder – 1 tablespoon
  • Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon
  • Fennel powder – 1/4 teaspoon
  • Garam masala – 1/2 teaspoon
  • Curry leaves – 2 twigs
  • Oil – 1 tablespoon or as required
  • Salt to taste
 

How to –

Heat oil in a pan and add the finely chopped shallots. Cook till translucent. Add in the ginger-garlic paste, green chili and continue to cook till the raw smell of ginger-garlic is gone and the onions turn golden brown.

Add 2.5 teaspoons of ground pepper (reserve 1/2 teaspoon for the last) , coriander powder, turmeric powder, fennel powder and cook till the oil start to separate. Add the tomato paste (add a tablespoon of water if the mixture too dry), salt to taste and  cook briefly for a few seconds. Add the chicken pieces and mix well to coat. Add about 1/4 cup water and curry leaves; cover and cook till done.

Uncover, continue to cook till the gravy is almost dry and stirring continuously .  Now sprinkle the remaining 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper and garam masala and mix well.

Turn off the heat and serve hot with rice and curry.



 

Coconut chutney – Kerala style

| Rekha Vengalil


You need –

  • Fresh grated coconut – 1 cup
  • green chili- 1
  • Small piece ginger
  • salt to taste
  • Oil – 2 teaspoon (I use coconut oil)
  • Mustard seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
  • dried chili – 1
  • curry leaves – 5-6
 

How to –

In a blender, blend together the coconut, green chili, ginger to a smooth paste adding just enough water. Transfer to a serving bowl and add salt; mix well.

Heat oil in a small sauce pan, add the mustard seeds. Once they start to pop add the dried chili and curry leaves.Turn of the heat and add this to the chutney and stir.

Serve immediately with dosa or idili. or refrigerate.for later use.

 

Cherupayar curry

| Rekha Vengalil
Kerala’s mung dal/ green gram curry  is preferred with Puttu (steamed ground rice breakfast dish of Kerala , a combo made in heaven according to my hubby. Well for me the two are sure my favorites but not the combo. I like my puttu with banana and sugar and the later with rice. But being true to my roots, I do like to savor puttu with the curry once in a while.
 

You need –

  • Mung bean – 1/3 cups
  • grated coconut – 1/3 cup
  • Coconut milk – 1/4 cup
  • cumin seed – 1/4 teaspoon
  • Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon
  • green chilies – 1-2, slit length-wise
  • Shallots – 3-4, finely sliced
  • Mustard seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
  • dried chili – 1
  • curry leaves – 1 stwig
  • coconut oil – 1 tablespoon
  • salt to taste
 

How to –

In a blender, put the grated coconut, cumin seeds and whiz to a fine paste; adding just enough water. Set aside.


In pressure cooker, cook the payar/mung been with green chili, turmeric powder and add water a required. Once done, uncover and keep the heat over medium heat.Stir the coconut paste, salt and cook for 4-5 minutes. Add the coconut milk, (add water to adjust the consistency of the curry if need be) few curry leaves; bring to a gentle simmer and turn off the heat. 

In a small pan, heat the oil. add the mustards seed and once they start to pop add the curry leaves and dried chili. Sauté briefly. Add the chopped shallots and cook till golden brown. Turn off the heat and add this to the curry and mix well.

Serve hot with Puttu , rice or roti.

 

 

Blog anniversary and Red velvet cupcakes

| Rekha Vengalil
Quite amazed on how time flies, Yes I can’t believe my Foodolicious Pictured turns one today.  A journey that has been so exciting in every way; from cooking, collecting props, photography or cracking my brains on the intro I had to pen for each post. In a nutshell I have been recording some joyous moments of my life…  
 
 
And this journey would not be complete without your support. Thank you for all those wonderful comments and feedback.
 
On that note I made some Red velvet cupcakes to celebrate (finally! It has been on my to-do list for sometime now).  A recipe from browneyedbaker.com and we are so loving the cake; they have turned out to so light and fluffy. 
 

You need :

For the Cupcakes:

  • unsalted butter – 60 grams, at room temperature
  • Caster sugar – 3/4 cups
  • Egg – 1, room temperature
  • unsweetened cocoa powder – 2½ tablespoons 
  • Red  gel food coloring – 2 tablespoons 
  • Vanilla extract – ½ teaspoon 
  • Buttermilk – ½ cup 
  • All-purpose flour – 1 cup
  • salt – ½ teaspoon 
  • baking soda – ½ teaspoon 
  • distilled white vinegar – 1½ teaspoons

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • Butter – 115 grams, at room temperature
  • Cream cheese 115 grams, at room temperature
  • Icing  sugar – 2½ cups 
  • Vanilla essence – 1 teaspoon
 How to –

Preheat oven to 180 C. Line muffin tins with paper cupcake/muffin liners.

Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter, gradually add the sugar and beat till light and fluffy. Turn the mixer to high and add the egg. Beat till well combined.

On medium-high speed, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to high and add the egg. Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.

In a small bowl, mix together the coco powder, vanilla essence and food color. Add this mixture gradually to the batter. Scrape down the sides of the bowl  and mix over medium speed till well combined and the batter is colored equally.

Reduce the speed of the mixer to low and add half the butter milk followed by half the flour. Mix well till well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the remaining butter milk and followed by the flour and mix over high speed till smooth. 

Add the vinegar and continue to beat for another 3 minutes until well combined and smooth.

Divide the batter equally into the lined paper cupcake/muffin liners and bake for 20-25 minutes or when toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Cool the cakes for 10 minutes and then place the cupcakes on a cooling rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting –

In a beater beat the cheese ,butter and vanilla essence till light and fluffy. Add the sugar gradually and beat well till the frosting is light and fluffy.

 

Butternut squash and carrot soup

| Rekha Vengalil
My daughter has become a soupaholic these days and wants it most days for dinner. Pumpkin seems to be her favorite and I am making the most of this new like.  
 
Combining different veggies which seem to have worked as well. So the other day I made this delicious soup with squash and carrots. This is an easy to prepare recipe. I have used coconut cream and it tasted great but you can use heavy cream instead.
 


You need –

  • Butternut squash – 250 grams, skin off and cubed
  • Carrot – 1, cubed
  • Onion – 1, sliced
  • Garlic – 2 cloves
  • Vegetable stock – 500 mls
  • Butter – 1 tablespoon
  • Coconut cream – 1/4 cup
  • salt and pepper

How to-

Heat oil in large sauce pan and add the onions, garlic. Cook till soft. Add in the squash and carrots. Cook for a minute.

Add the vegetable stock and cook for about 30-35 minutes or until carrots and squash are soft. Just before turning off the heat add the coconut cream. stir well and turn off the heat.

In a blender or food processor, blend the soup until smooth. If the soup is too thick, add a bit of hot water to adjust the consistency.

Season with salt, pepper and serve.

 

Chemmeen/Prawn curry with coconut milk

| Rekha Vengalil
 

I got this recipe from a Malayalam magazine when I went home last year and took a year to make it. Ah nothing new and very me :-).

The prawns are cooked in creamy, tangy and spicy sauce. A very authentic Keralan recipe. I have altered the recipe a bit and adjusted the quantity of spices as well.  Serve this with rice or just as I love too with bread.

You need –

  • Prawns – 500 grams, cleaned
  • Thick coconut milk – 1 cup
  • Thin coconut milk – 1/2 cup
  • Onion – 1 large, finely chopped
  • Tomato – 1, chopped
  • Tamarind pulp – 1 tablespoon, soaked in 1/4 cups of water
  • Ginger & garlic paste – 2 teaspoons
  • Green chilies – 2 slit lengthwise
  • Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon
  • Coriander powder – 1 tablespoon
  • chili powder – 1 teaspoon or as per taste
  • Curry leaves – 2 twigs
  • Coconut oil – 1 tablespoon
  • Crushed pepper – ½ teaspoon

whole spices

  1. Cinnamon – 1 small stick
  2. Clove – 1
  3. Cardamom – 2
  4. Star anise – 1 small
  5. Bay leaf – 1/2
How to –

Heat oil in skillet/pan, add the whole spices and fry till fragrant. Tip the onion, green chilies, curry leaves, ginger and garlic paste and cook till the onions turns golden. 

Add the coriander, chili and turmeric powder: cook for a minute or till oil start to separate. Add the chopped tomato with little water , salt to taste and cook till mushy. Add the tamarind water (Strain the tamarind water with sieve and discard the seeds) and  the thin coconut milk and cook till the gravy is thick.

Add the cleaned prawns and cook till done. Add the thick coconut milk, pepper powder; mix and turn off the heat. Please do not boil after you add the thick coconut milk.

Serve hot with rice or bread.

 

Shallot and broccoli thoran

| Rekha Vengalil
You need –
  • Broccoli – 1, cut into really small florets
  • Shallots – finely sliced, 1/2 cup
  • Green chili – 1
  • Grated coconut – 1/2 cup
  • Turmeric power – ¼ teaspoon
  • Curry leaves – 1 springs
  • Dry red chili- 1
  • Mustard seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
  • Oil – 2 teaspoons (I used coconut oil)
  • Salt to taste
 How to –

Heat oil in a skillet, add the mustard seeds. Once they start to crackle add the red chili, green chili and curry leaves.

Add the Turmeric powder and stir briefly for few seconds. Now add the Shallots, Broccoli, salt and stir well. Cover and let it cook for 4-5  minutes done making sure not to over cook. Add the grated coconut and stir fry for a minute.

Turn off the heat. Serve hot with rice and curry.