Zarah's Kitchen

Ingredients Tomato - 8 to 10 Sugar - 2 cups ( I have used a 240 ml cup) Lemon juice - 1 tbsp Cloves -3 How to make Wash and pat dry the tomatoes In a deep bottomed pan/kadai add sufficient water and allow it to boil cut a x mark in the bottom of the tomatoes .Boil till the skin of tomatoes begins to peel ( approx 10min) Peel the skin off and chop it roughly . Blend it to a smooth puree. In a thick bottomed pan ,add the tomato puree .Keep a medium flame and start stirring. When it starts to thicken a bit add the sugar and whole cloves Keep on stirring till it starts to thicken.Once its thickened remove the cloves and add the lemon juice Switch off the flame and allow it to cool . Store it in a air tight bottle Notes Jam taste well if Bangalore tomatoes are used Try out Pineapple jam

Cabbage thoran

Ingredients Cabbage grated - 3 cups split Urad dal - 2 tsp Coconut oil - 1 tbsp Small onion sliced - 1 tbsp Green chilli -1 Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp salt Coconut - 2 tbsp Cumin seeds - 1 tsp Curry leaves Method In a pan , heat the oil . When the oil heats up add the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds splutter add the urad dal and curry leaves Add the sliced small onion and saute. Cut the green chilli and add it to the onion . Now add the grated cabbage and saute it till it is cooked. When it is half cooked add the required amount of salt to the thoran. Keep on sauting In a mixie jar take the coconut , cumin seeds and turmeric powder . Grind it coarsely . Add it to the thoran and mix well. If you want you can grind coarsely a green chilli also . Switch off the flame once it is cooked . Serve it with rice Notes Try out

Banana halwa

Ingredients Robusta banana -4 Maida-8 tbsp Water -3 1/2 cups Sugar - 3/4 cup Oil - 1/2 cup Cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece Cashew Ghee Salt - a pinch How to prepare Peel the skin of the banana and chop into small pieces. The banana should be ripe In a thick bottomed pan add the chopped banana and add 1.5 cups of water. Cover and cook it well till the bananas are smashed well. Now add the sugar and a piece of cinnamon . Mix it well till the sugar is melted Now add the maida milk , a pinch of salt and start stiring .Keep the pan at low flame Once it starts thickening add the oil little by little . Keep on stiring. Remove the cinnamon stick and discard it In a plate coat some ghee and add some cashew bits. Once the halwa starts removing from the sides of the pan , transfer it to the prepared plate . Allow it to cool . Once its done cut to smaller pieces and serve . Even you can refrigerate it and serve

Plum cake - Christmas special (with egg)

Ingredients Red wine - 1.5 cups Mixed dry fruits - 3 cups Maida/ all purpose flour - 2 cup Sugar - 1 cup+2tsp Softened butter - 1 cup Egg -4 Baking soda - 1 tsp Baking powder - 1 1/4 tsp vanilla essence - 2 tsp Orange zest - 3 tbsp Cardamon -2 cinnamon - 1/4 inch piece cloves -1 Dry ginger-1`/4 inch Hot water Sugar - 1/2 cup Method 1.Soak the dry fruits along with the wine in a glass bottle for minimum 2 weeks Mix it with a dry spoon once in two days 2. Take a dry mixie jar and powder the cardamon , cinnamon , cloves and dry ginger to a powder 3.Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C) for 10 to 12 min. Grease the cake tin ( 9inch and 8 inch) and line it with a wax paper or parchment paper 4.In a pan add ½ cup sugar and 1 ½ tbsp hot water. Mix till it is dissolved. 5.After it gets dissolved ,switch on the flame and allow it to boil, the colour will change to yellow and turn to brown .Switch off . Add 1 tbsp of hot water.Allow it to cool 6....

Gooseberry pickle /Amla pickle/ nellikai pickle

Hi all, Gooseberry is a fruit which is very good for our hair, eyes, skin etc. Even though there are several Pickles available this pickle has a unique taste. When I was young, my mom's mom used to prepare in big glass bottle and sent it for me. Some even put the gooseberry in brine solution for soaking. My grandma's method is that. But in this fast world we can't wait for so long time. So I have steamed it to speed up the softening of gooseberry. Ingredients Gooseberry / nellikai/ amla- 12 Sesame oil-3 tbsp Garlic -12 pods Green chilli (chopped) -1 tbsp Curry leaves Chilli powder - 2 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder - 1 tbsp Turmeric powder - 1 tsp Asafoetida powder/ hing - 1/4 tsp Fenugreek powder- 1/4 tsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp Dry red chilli - 2 Vinegar - 4 tbsp Water - 1 cup Salt Method Clean the gooseberry and pat dry with a kitchen towel. Steam the gooseberries / Amla for 7 min. Switch o...

Karuvadu kulambu/ Dried anchovies fish curry

Ingredients Karuvadu - Oil Mustard seeds Small onion/shallots Green chilli Turmeric powder Red chilli powder Kashmiri chilli powder Coriander powder Tomato Tamarind Salt Coconut grated Cumin seeds How to make Heat some water and add karuvadu to it .I have used nethili karuvadu. After 10 min of soaking , clean the karuvadu and set aside In a clay pot , add 1 tbsp of oil .Once the oil heats up , add the mustard seeds

Maida Halwa / Kozhikode Halwa

Ingredients Maida - 1 cup Sugar - 2 cup Coconut oil - 3/4 cup to 1 cups Food colour - a pinch Nuts Water - 5 cups + 1 cup Method Take 1 cup of maida in a wide deep bowl and add in 5 cups of water.Allow it to ferment for 15 to 20 hours. Take a thick bottomed pan and add 1 cup of water Add the required food colour to it. Allow it to boil. Now add 1 cup of sugar to it . Allow the sugar to melt Now add the coconut oil and mix it well. Now add the maida milk to it and start to stir continuously. After half hour it will start to thicken. Add coconut oil if you find it difficult to stir. Again stir continuously. Add half of chopped cashew nut . The halwa should leave the sides of the pan. This is the correct consistency .Take out the excess oil from the halwa. Take a plate and add chopped cashew to it. Add the hot halwa and level it. Once it is cooled cut it into pieces and serve For video on how to make

Khara biscuit / How to make masala biscuits

Ingredients Maida -1/2 cup Wheat flour - 3/4 cup Cornflour -2 tbsp Baking powder - 1 tsp Butter - 1/2 cup Turmeric powder- 1 tsp Pepper powder - 2 tsp Hing Salt Powdered Sugar -1 tsp Green chilli-4 Coriander leaves- 1/2 tbsp Curry leaves - 1 tbsp Mint leaves - 2 Ginger - 1 inch ( chopped) Curd- 2 tsp How to make Dry mix maida , wheat flour , corn flour ,baking powder, turmeric powder,pepper powder, hing , salt and sugar . Set aside In a mixie jar , add the green chilli , coriander leaves , curry leaves , mint leaves ,ginger and grind it to a coarse paste without adding water Beat the butter till fluffy with a whisk and add it to the dry mix Add the coarse paste and mix it gently with hand Add the curd and combine it well to form a dough Cover and keep it in fridge for about 45 min Preheat the oven at 200 c for 10 min.Grease a baking tray and place a parchment paper Divide the dough into two portions . Take one portion and roll it to a thin sheet ....

CALAMARI RINGS

Ingredients Squid - 250 g Chilli powder - 1 tsp Black pepper powder - 1 tsp Turmeric powder -1/2 tsp Salt - 1 tsp or to taste Corn flour/Maida - 1/2 cup Egg white - 2 Rice powder - 1 tbsp Bread crumbs Oil Method Cut squid into rings . Add lemon juice, turmeric powder, chilli powder, pepper powder and salt.Marinate for 15 min Dry mix corn flour / maida and rice powder. Drop the marinated squid to the dry mix. Remove all excess flour. Now drop the coated rings in beaten egg white .Let it coat in the bread crumbs Take the rings and drop it in oil carefully Crunchy , spicy rings are ready ...

GRAPE ICE PUNCH

Serves : 3 Preparation time - 15 min Ingredients Grapes - 500 g Sugar - 6 to 8 tbsp Ice cubes water - 2 cups Method Take 500 g of washed grapes in a bowl and add two cups of water to it. Boil it in a medium heat for 5 min. Add the sugar to the boiling mixture and continue cooking it for 10 min Switch off the flame and allow it to cool. Strain the juice and keep aside. Put the remaining in a mixie and pulse for a second. Dont pulse more as it will grind the seeds. Strain this and add to the previous mixture and cool it to room temperature In a serving glass arrange with ice upto to the top. Pour the juice to the ice topped glass.serve chill Note: Wash the grapes well with a little salt to remove the dirt and toxins.Soak in salted water for 15 to 30 minutes I have used a seeded grapes a...