Cooking Is Easy

Tomato rasam made with instant homemade rasam powder ; my Kerala style tomato rasam recip e is so easy to make at home. You don't need to roast the spices for the rasam powder and it can be made instantly.  So no more store-bought rasam powders, and this rasam recipe has ginger and garlic and a whole lot of spices. I am quite surprised that I have not shared rasam with you; and I thought, I will share my favorite rasam recipe with you.  The best part is you dont need any ready made rasam powder; you can simply make it while the tomatoes are simmering away. Instant rasam mix; but then you might be a bit lazy to roast the spices...or you thought that I might ask you to do so? So, again here is an easy rasam with instant rasam mix and that too without any roasting....we are using fresh ingredients here and the spices too. I guess, bachelors will benefit more and young cooks; try my version and you will enjoy with hot steaming white rice. My husband, Home...

Crazy cake  or " crazy wacky cake"  or " wacky cake"  is also known as  depression cake (war cake).   It is said that this moist and very chocolatey cake was developed sometime back in 1920 and became very popular during the Great Depression Era; the reason why it was so popular was that, it does not have eggs, butter, or even milk (these were scarce and expensive in the depression era)....Oh! yes, that makes it vegan too. Plus you dont need a bowl to mix this cake! If you would like to read more about depression cake; do head over to Wikipedia . So let's get a bit crazy! I mean lets make "crazy cake" .. no eggs, no butter, no milk ....and ofcourse no bowl! Just an hour after I made the cake; I came to click pictures and found the cake like this....yes! my kids loved it. Let's Bake. Step by Step Method: I used a 9 x 8 rectangular glass pan, add in flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt. Mix well with a spo...

Pepper chicken aka kurumulaku chicken is an easy and quick Kerala style chicken dry roast. Nadan pepper chicken is the perfect side dish with rice. I was having a bad cough and "kurumulaku kapp" gave me some relief and that is when I thought of making my grandmothers pepper chicken. Freshly grounded whole black pepper does lift your spirits. This dry pepper roast chicken is a bit spicy; reduce a little to suit your taste. I like to use bone-in-chicken rather than boneless to make "nadan" dishes. I started using my old iron kadai because though they are heavy; I found food is cooked fast on iron kadai and onions brown pretty fast too.  Roasting meat especially this chicken was done so fast that I think; I will use more of my old battered iron kadai, if your mom or grandmom has it...dust it off! Easy step by step pictures Serves: 3-4 Marinate chicken with lemon juice, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp pepper powder, and salt. Keep this as...

Chembu varuthathu or taro root chips is an easy fried snack. Taro root is sliced thinly and deep fried in oil, just the way you fry Kerala style banana chips . A quick and easy snack to munch with tea or coffee; I made this as an after school snacks for my kids. Chembu or taro root is a common root vegetable and curries like chembu asthram   and chembu ularthiyathu   are commonly made with this root vegetable. My grandmother and amma used to make this chips and I also started making whenever chembu is available. Its very easy to make, and I hope you will try it. If you use coconut oil for frying; then I assure you will get that authentic traditional nutty flavor, though other oils do fine too. Using a mandoline slicer helps in getting thin and even slices. Adding salt water when the chips are almost fried; gives it a salty taste, so try not to skip it. Easy Step by Step Method: Serves 2 I used just half kg taro root; if you plan to make in bulk and store, then...

Nadan ayila varuthathu is pan roasted mackerel with just one tsp of coconut oil on a seasoned cast iron skillet is my version of skinny Kerala style fish fry (meen varuthathu). Ofcourse, you can fry fish in a pool of oil, but sometimes it is nice to cook healthy and oil free ....almost oil free. We attended a wedding in our native place, Kottayam; you know how Indian weddings are ..big-fat-weddings! three days of enjoyment-food-fun.  Back at Calicut, the next day Homey wanted ayila fry! so, I thought of making with very little oil on the cast iron skillet which my cousin, Sneha sent. I should say that I am glad that I decided to make; it was so yummy and guilt free! (well, after the lavish wedding feast; we need to loose those extra "wedding" pounds). We both thoroughly enjoyed my version of skinny pan roasted fish with hot steaming rice. Try, making this for lunch sometime or when you plan to go in for a diet. Just before serving, I squeezed half lem...