Another year older...HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

My baby turned a year older today. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY"! Years fly by and I still remember the first cry, first tooth, first step, first word......... and many other first's. Little Mr. Personality was always energetic, enthusiastic, inquisitive and a big social person. At times, I thought it was dangerous for him to be too social- (worrying he would let the cat out of the Bag)! A voracious reader of fiction books, a budding percussionist and a master of silly faces is quite a joy to be around with. I was recently going through family albums and it was a trip down memory lane. Although the memories are always carried with us, the picture brought life to many growing stages. All the passing years, the changes and the challenges, feels like it's hard to catch up and they grow up too soon.

This time of the year is always crazy but we try to put aside our daily schedules, Christmas activities and make this day a very special one.

Since last year, his birthday celebration has been a week prior to the actual birthdate in order to make it convenient for all his friends. Although, the birthday boy is not a big fan of cake, I was determined to bake a football theme cake for my die hard "Steelers" fan. With the amount of time I had, I was debating between home made or store bought cake.

So, I brain-stormed a few thoughts before going to bed the previous night & the next morning I baked a cake before heading for work. On my way back, I picked up decorating supplies and after dinner, spent a few hours & managed to finish it. I had initially planned on a design which I realized was a little complicated & this was the final result.

The cake was made with store bought yellow cake mix and I used store bought vanilla frosting. While icing details on the cake, I realized home made icing with confectioners sugar would have been a better choice. Store bought frosting is perfect for spreading or sandwiching the cake. Using fondant would have made the details look neater but it has never been a favorite, especially with the birthday boy!

I used a very thin layer of icing which controlled the sweetness.

Pepper Chicken

Ingredients:

6 chicken thighs, with bone cut into bite size pieces
2 medium onions, sliced
2 medium tomato, chopped
2 tsp ginger paste
2 tsp garlic paste
3 green cardamom
3 cloves
1"cinnamon
2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
3 tsp pepper powder
1/4 cup coriander leaves
oil
salt to taste


How it's made:

In a bowl, take 2 tsp of pepper powder, salt & marinate to the chicken for 30 mins. In a pan heat oil, add green cardamom, cloves & cinnamon. (I grind the spices in a coffee grinder & add to oil). Then add onions & fry until light brown. Add ginger garlic paste. Fry for a minute. Add tomatoes & salt. Cook until the sauce looks mushy. Add chicken, coriander powder & chilli powder. Cover & cook until chicken is almost done. Lastly add remaining pepper powder & coriander leaves.

Serves : 6

Whole Green Mung Rice

I had sprouted green mung hoping to make a raw salad but with the cold weather, I changed my mind. Although I'm not a big fan of rice, pipping hot food feels good with the cold weather. I had a few sprigs of curry leaves that were wilting away in the refrigerator and had to use them before they dried up and hence this recipe was created.

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked white rice ( I use sona masoori)
1 cup sprouted whole green mung
1 3/4 cup water
3 sprig curry leaves
3 green chillies
1"ginger
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp garam masala powder
handful chopped coriander leaves
1 tsp lemon juice
salt to taste
1/2 grated carrot (optional)
oil


How it's made:

Wash and soak rice for 20 minutes. Grind curry leaves, green chillies & ginger to a fine paste with a tsp or two of water. Set aside.
In a heavy bottom pan (I used pressure cooker pan), heat oil. Add onions & fry until translucent. Add ground masala & fry for about 5 minutes. Add rice, water, mung, salt, coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala, lemon juice, coriander leaves & grated carrot. Boil. Adjust salt & pressure cook for 3 whistles or 10 minutes on medium high flame.

Serves: 2-3

Note: Basmati rice can be substiuted for sona masoori.
          Rice cooker can be used instead of pressure cooker. 

Kori Sukka (Chicken Sukka/ Chicken with coconut)

This recipe is well known in Bunt community. Made with fresh grated coconut & fresh ground spices, most restaurants in Mangalore and neighboring towns like Udupi, Manipal, Kundapur serve excellent chicken sukka. Paired with par-boiled rice, brown/white rice & at times with dosa also, it's a perfect weekend meal. Amma (my Mother) used 2 different varieties of red chillies for this dish - Harekala/ Guddi Mirsang which is about an 1" long and very spicy and Byadgi which was milder. I stick to byadgi  in my cooking since I don't tolerate heat very well.

Ingredients:

3 lbs chicken, bone in cut into small pieces
8 red chillies (byadgi), roasted
Marble size tamarind
2 tbsp coriander seeds (heaped), roasted
1/2 tsp methi (Fenugreek seeds), roasted
1/4 tsp black pepper corns, roasted
2 + 1 medium onions, chopped
1 1/2 cup fresh grated coconut, you can go up to 2 cups
1 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
5-6 cloves garlic
8-10 curry leaves
salt to taste
oil

How it's made:

Grind red chillies, tamarind, coriander seeds, methi & black pepper corns with little water to a paste. In a wide pan, cook chicken with ground spice paste & 2 onions.
Grind 1/4 cup coconut, 1 tsp jeera & garlic cloves until well blend.
In the meantime, in a separate frying pan, heat oil. Add 1 chopped onion & curry leaves & fry until golden brown and crisp.
Once chicken is almost cooked, uncover lid & try to let all the liquid evaporate. Add coconut paste & the remaining grated coconut. Stir well & let it heat through. Add fried onions to the chicken & give one last stir.


Serves : 6