Garlic Bread with Cheese

  My version

Crispy yet soft slices of French loaf infused with garlic flavour, topped with cheese and herbs.. MmMmm.. :) As soon as you pop it into the oven, the garlicky, cheesy aroma will bring everyone in your house over to your kitchen.. As soon as it's done, make sure you grab a piece for yourself, 'coz even before you know, it's all going to disappear!! Its amazingly delicious, and make sure you serve it fresh and hot out of the oven.

Well, when I started typing this recipe, I realized that it's really hard to give exact measures of the ingredients. Well, I'll try to do my best to give an approximate measure, but, try using your logic to incorporate an appropriate measure.

Ingredients :
Fresh Baguette (Crusty French Loaf)	-		Large/Medium/Small loaf as per your requirement.
Mozzarella cheese	-		As required
Margarine or butter	-		for 1 large loaf - 1 tablespoon
Olive oil	-		1 tablespoon or more
Garlic	-		1 clove crushed into fine paste
Salt	-		to taste
Fresh Parsley	-		Finely chopped
Dried Oregano	-		1/2 teaspoon

I like Whole-wheat breads. So I've used whole wheat French loaf. You can also use loaf made with plain flour. If you do not want cheese, you can skip the cheese.

Preparation Method :

Pre-heat your oven. I only ignite the top burner, just to melt the cheese and maintain the softness of the bread. Diagonally slice the loaf into1 inch thick pieces. Use a serrated knife.  Finely chop fresh parsley. Blend in the margarine, garlic paste and some olive oil into a fine mix. Lay foil on a baking tray and place the bread slices. Brush the top of each slice with the garlic mix. If you are in a hurry, you can also use ready-made garlic paste instead of this mix. Top each slice with a generous amount of Mozzarella. Sprinkle on top the chopped parsley, salt and dried oregano. Drizzle some olive oil on top. Place into oven a little away from the flame. When you see the cheese bubbling and having golden brown burns on top, its ready. If you don't want it to brown you can remove as soon as it bubbles.  I like it brown and the bread delicately crisp. Believe me, it smells really tempting.  Serve it hot and quick. Kids are going to love you for this one! :)

Enjoy!! :)

Special Chicken Roast

 Shared Recipe

If there's one dish that I would no doubt include while I have guests home for lunch or dinner, is this Special Chicken Roast blended in a special mix of spices and herbs. This has been everyone's all time favourite and a recipe that has been asked for by every single person who has eaten this at our place.. I named this 'Special Chicken Roast' 'coz trust me, this is as special as it sounds. 

Well, my mother learnt this from one of her friends and she, from someone else, so I have absolutely no idea about its origin. Anyway, a BIG thanks to the inventor of this recipe. I had mentioned earlier that I do not blindly follow a recipe 100% and I bring in a touch of my own or innovations to anything I try. But, this is one dish which I follow cent percent the original recipe. It's an absolute perfect blend of ingredients and a very simple dish. Yes! Very Simple! :)

When my mom learnt this from her friend, she said it was called chicken 65. But, the real chicken 65 served in restaurants will in no way come any closer to this. So, I cannot agree to that name, and I cannot find an apt name to this dish, so let's call it the 'special chicken roast'. New names are most welcome. :)

Ingredients :
Chicken, medium pieces	-		1kg
Ginger	-		2 inch piece
Garlic	-		9-10 cloves
Egg	-		1 no.
Yogurt	-		3 tablespoons
Tomato ketchup	-		2 tablespoons
Soya sauce	-		1 tablespoon
Coriander powder	-		1 and 1/2 tablespoons
Chilli Powder	-		3/4 tablespoon
Salt	-		To taste.
Lemon juice	-		of half a lemon
Oil	-		1/2 cup
Green chilli	-		8 nos.
Curry leaves	-		1 cup
Coriander leaves	-		1 cup

I always try to make recipes as simple as I can, and try to incorporate an easy method. I like to finish my cooking as fast as I can, minimizing the steps involved. Therefore, I blend all the ingredients together. That's the only variation to the original recipe in this.

Preparation Method :

Clean and rinse the medium chicken pieces. Into a blender add the garlic, ginger, egg, yogurt, sauces, spice powders, salt and lemon juice and blend into a fine paste. Oh yes, there's one ingredient I omitted out from the original recipe and that's red food colour. You can add it, if you prefer having that red and spicy look to the chicken :) Marinate the chicken pieces well with this paste. Leave this in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. It's ok if you don't too. I usually skip it when I run out of time.. In a wok, pour in the oil. Gently squeeze out each chicken pieces and fry them in the oil. Squeezing out all the juice from the chicken pieces is an inevitable part of this recipe. We require the squeezed out juice, so save it for later. Turn the chicken pieces around when one side begins to brown. Drain them out onto a kitchen paper towel when the chicken pieces have browned perfectly. Make sure the chicken pieces do not dry out. They should brown and yet be slightly moist. Pour out a little more than half the oil, leaving almost 3 tablespoons of it back. In the same wok, add the chopped green chillies and sauté until you begin to choke :) Yes! I mean it. that's when you know that the chillies have released its oils. But, if you do not choke, doesn't mean you have to burn the chillies ;) just sauté it in the oil for a couple of seconds on medium heat and then add the curry leave. Do not hesitate to add a cup of curry leaves. This recipe requires the flavour of curry leaves. If members of your family do not like curry leaves, you can very well chop them finely. Sauté for a couple of seconds and add half the chopped coriander leaves and just a stir or two and quickly pour in the marinade. Keep roasting the marinade, until all the liquid evaporates and the oil begins to clear. Make sure this browns slightly. Add the fried chicken pieces and rest of the coriander leaves. stir until all the chicken pieces are coated well with the roasted marinade mixture. Bring down the flame to low, cover with a lid and warm up the chicken pieces for 5 minutes and turn off the flame. Allow it to sit for a couple of minutes. The more the chicken is left covered that way, the better it absorbs all the flavors. Try it, and trust me, it is really worth trying!  If you want it a little less spicy, use less spicy chillies, but, please do not compromise on the numbers. The chillies, curry leaves and coriander leaves are the flavors that stand out in this recipe.

Kerala Mashed Tapioca

Kappa Vevichathu / Puzhukku - My Version

Tapioca (Kappa/Kolli/Kizhangu/Poola/Cheeni) is a staple food of a common Keralite. Back in Kerala, Tapioca is called a poor man's food, but all malayalies regardless of how rich or poor, love it. Some have it plainly boiled and others have it combined with coconut and turmeric (like how we'll be making it now) and yet others combine meat with it. When boiled plainly, it's eaten with a chilli and tamarind chutney.. Mmmm.. I love it.. the added pleasure of a cup of black coffee and a rainy day.. :) I'll post the recipe of the chutney soon. When made the following way, vegetarians can eat it as it is. Non-veg Malayalies like it with Fish curry (refer to recipe) and it's a delicacy in Kerala.

If you notice, most dishes in Kerala have coconut added in them. Well, it is said that the name Kerala or Keralam derived from the Sanskrit word Kera, which means coconut. The land of coconuts :) You will see coconut trees in every nook and corner in Kerala. Maybe so, coconut or coconut oil is an inevitable part of Kerala cuisine.

Ingredients :
Tapioca / Kappa	-		1 kg
Grated fresh coconut	-		1 and 1/2 cups
Shallots (large)	-		5-6 nos.
Garlic	-		3-4 cloves
Green chillies	-		2 nos.
Cumin powder	-		1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder	-		1/4 teaspoon
For Tempering :
Coconut oil	-		1-2 tablespoon
Mustard seeds	-		1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaves	-		2 stem
Shallots	-		2-3 nos.
Dried red chilli	-		5-6 nos.
Water	-		1/3 cup
Salt	-		To taste.

Buying fresh tapioca may seem like a challenge. For me it did when I bought them the first few times. Pick the ones that aren't overly dried. If they still have the smell of soil on them, well and good. I pick small and medium sized ones and I've never gone wrong that way.

How to peal and clean tapioca :

Follow the picture below. Cut the top and bottom of the tapioca off. Then cut into two. Tapioca has two layers of skin. The top brown, thin layer and then a pink and white thick inner layer. We have to remove both. For that, make an incision through both the layers of the skin. Slowly peal the skin by separating it with the knife. If your tapioca isn't to dry it will come off easily and you will get a clean piece.

There'll still be lots of mud on the cleaned pieces so rinse it thoroughly until there's not even a speck of mud left.

Strain the water off and dice into small piece.

Dicing tapioca is not usually done on a cutting board. Gently strike with the knife and break it off. Go around until you get all the flesh out and you are left with the inner thick fibre. Throw away the fiber.

Preparation Method :

Into boiling water, throw in the diced tapioca. Do not add salt. Adding salt slows down the cooking process. Bring to a boil, close with a lid, bring down heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes. after 10 minutes check if its cooked. When you press with your finger it should be soft yet firm enough.   The cooking time of tapioca varies. So there's no hard and fast rule on the time. Once it is cooked, drain it and roughly rinse with water and leave to strain. Draining tapioca is essential. I learnt that from my mistake. The first time I made tapioca, I thought it was as easy as boiling tapioca, adding the ground coconut mixture to it and then tempering. So I didn't refer with anyone and I ended up with a pot full of bitter, inedible 'Mistake' ;) Thanks to my mom for telling me where exactly I went wrong :) It's good to learn from mistakes :) In northern Kerala they do not add coconut. But, I like this southern version better. Coarsely grind 1 cup coconut, the shallots, garlic, green chillies and fennel powder. In a wok, heat coconut oil. Crackle the mustard seeds. Throw in the shallots, curry leaves, dried red chilli and sauté for a minute. Add the ground coconut mixture. Adding this at this stage will allow the garlic and shallots to slightly cook. Add the 1/2 cup of grated coconut and add the turmeric powder. Some people add turmeric while grinding the coconut. But that's ok if your grinder is steel or glass. Mine is plastic and the turmeric leaves yellow stains. Combine everything together well and roast for 2 minutes on medium-low. Then pour in 1 and 1/2 cups of hot water, add salt to taste and allow to simmer on low heat for a minute. Then add the strained tapioca and combine well on low heat. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, occasionally stirring.  If you aren't using a non-stick pan, beware of it sticking onto the bottom of the pan. Once all the water has been absorbed and the tapioca has been coated well with the coconut mixture and the tapioca has heated up completely, turn off the flame. Cover with a lid, and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Your Kappa Vevichathu is ready :) Do not forget to leave your valuable feedback, results, comments, queries, suggestions or criticisms below!