Pepper 'n Spice

  Chicken can be cooked in different styles, but the traditional Indian one is the curry. Its flavors are augmented by the spices that are added.   The ingredients are... Chicken, boneless - 1 and 1/2 kg Onion - 2 large Ginger - 1/2 inch Garlic - 3 or 4 cloves Green chili - 2 Tomato -3 small Potato, peeled - 2 or 3 Salt - a pinch Pepper - a bit Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Garam masala - 1/2 tsp Coriander leaves - a few Method : Clean the chicken and chop into 1 inch pieces. Marinate with ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, salt, pepper and garam masala. Refrigerate overnight. Pressure cook the chicken with some water for a single whistle. Slice onion, ginger, garlic, chili and tomato into thin slices. Heat a deep-bottomed pan and throw in onion, garlic, ginger, chili and a splash of water. Saute for five minutes. Add in tomato. After a few minutes, toss in the spices; turmeric powder, salt, pepper and garam masala. Allow the spices to mingle with the onion melange. Add diced potato and

From my regular grocery store, I bought multi-grain dosa batter and emptied it into a tall glass jar.                Break an egg into a bowl and sprinkle salt and pepper. Or else add a twist to the taste by including your desired garam masala or noodle masala. Whisk.               Heat up a flat skillet, add a dollop of olive oil, add 2 tablespoons of multigrain dosa batter and spread it into a thin layer with the backside of the spoon.     Sprinkle a teaspoon of the spiced egg onto the pancake batter on the pan and allow it to cook on medium heat for about 3 minutes. Flip sides and let it cook again until crisp.    Serve hot with coconut chutney !

From the local fish shop, I bought half a kilogram of sardines. They are long and silvery. It seems they are called so, because they are aplenty near the Italian island of Sardinia.   The fishmonger removed the head of the fish and cut a slit through its belly. After I brought it home, I washed them well under running water and scooped out any extra flesh inside the cut. Then I marinated the fish with salt, turmeric powder, chili powder, ginger powder and ground pepper. Finally I dumped it in a closed glass jar in the freezer. The next day morning, I transferred it to the fridge so that it would defrost by dinner time. All that is required now is a flat skillet and a bit of olive oil. Pan fry the fish on both sides until they are evenly done. Now it is primed for eating, alongside rice or Indian bread (chapati) and salad .

  This is an uncomplicated variation to the traditional coconut chutney availed as a side dish for dosa, idli and vada.   Ingredients needed are fresh shredded coconut, a few shallots, 2 or 3 green chilies, a bit of turmeric powder and a smidgeon  of salt. The special touch is added by incorporating roasted, split chickpeas (commonly called bengal gram in India). Throw all of these into a blender jar and blitz until you get a smooth textured chutney. Mine turned out in a shade of pale green, I guess owing to the chilies added.

  Ever wondered how to make a quick and easy breakfast, especially when you have woken up late and your first meeting is in half an hour. I know, just enough time to freshen and change from your pajamas into work attire. Well, I have a solution! Prepare an onion omelette and embed it between two slices of bread and toast. This hardly takes 5 minutes, as the toaster will do the rest of the work.   You will need an egg, half an onion, a pinch of salt and pepper, a teeny bit of turmeric powder and a drop of olive oil. Break the egg into a small bowl and add the spices. Slice the onion into small, thin strips and drop into the bowl. Whisk for a few seconds.  Heat a flat skillet and drizzle oil. Let it spread evenly around the middle of the pan. Pour in the whisked egg. Allow it to cook for a few minutes and flip sides with a spatula. Let the now underside cook too. Turn off the heat. Your onion omelette is ready. Keep it inside two slices of multigrain bread and toa

Appam is fermented rice flour. I got a refrigerated batter from our local shop. The print on the cover advised to add a bit of salt, a pinch of baking soda, a splash of water and a quarter spoon of sugar. I added and mixed the batter so that the additives are consistently distributed and left it covered on the kitchen island overnight.            The batter bubbled up and almost overflowed out of the dish. I gave it a good stir and kept a skillet to heat up. Then added a dollop of olive oil, shook the pan to spread the oil and dropped 2 tablespoons full of the batter onto it. I covered the skillet with a glass lid.         The bottom half of the appam cooked in about 3 minutes on slow flame. After flipping, I covered the appam again with the lid and let it cook for another 3 minutes. Your delicious sweet appam is ready to be eaten!