Safna's Cook Book

This is a special fry with fish coated by a perfect combination of masala. In my home, my mom used to make a chutney with shallots, fried dry chilli, tamarind, curry leaves,salt and coconut oil. You won't believe this, that was the best chutney I ever had in my life. Even now also whenever I go home, I tell her to make this magic chutney. So I thought of combining this magic chutney ingredient with fish and it came out well. Try out this !! Ingredients Mackerel / Ayala - 5 nos Chilli powder - 2 tbsp Turmeric powder - 1 tsp Lemon juice - 1 tsp Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp Shallots - 1 cup (finely chopped) Tamarind pulp - 2 tbsp Chilli flakes - 1 tbsp Salt - to taste Coconut oil - for frying Curry leaves - 1 sprig Preparation Clean the fish by keeping the head and making cuts , so that the masala gets into the fish fastly. Marinate fish using chilli powder, turmeric powder, lemon juice, salt, ginger-garlic paste and set it aside for 1 hour. Heat oil i...

First I would like to thank my best friend Anusua chatterjee (anu) for teaching me the basic lessons of fondant decorations.You can find beautiful and amazing cakes on her fb page  @chatterjee.cakes . This is a two tiered chocolate cake with chocolate frosting covered with purple and pink fondant.The fondant I used here is a store bought one that is available for purchase at Baking stores, large grocery shops. You can also order it online from any Ecommerce websites or cake decorating suppliers.I had posted chocolate cake recipe which you can view in this link  http://safnascookbook.blogspot.in/2015/02/chocolate-truffle-cake.html   Next step is to cover this chocolate cake with purple fondant.I had used purple color sugar paste or you can mix purple gel color in white sugar paste and knead it into your fondant. Knead the sugar paste until soft.Dust the fondant mat with cornstarch often to prevent sticking as you are kneading and rolling.Use fondant rollin...

Ingredients Chicken - 250 g Oil - For frying Coriander leaves - For garnishing For marination Soya sauce - 1 1/2 tsp Red chilli sauce - 2 tsp Egg - 1 Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp Corn flour - 3 tbsp Maida - 3 tbsp Salt - to taste Ginger-garlic paste - 2 tbsp For Seasoning Onion - 1 (cubed) Garlic - 1 tbsp (chopped) Ginger - 1/2 tsp Capsicum - 1/2 cup (cubed) Green chillies - 2 (slit) Spring onion - 1 sprig (chopped) Tomato sauce - 2 tbsp Sugar - 1/2 tsp Soya sauce - 1 tbsp Preparation Marinate the chicken with ingredients under marination and keep this for at least 1 hour or 2 hours is best. Deep fry the chicken pieces and drain on a kitchen tissue. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and add garlic, ginger. After one minute, add onion, capsicum, Green chillies, spring onion. Fry till they become soft for about a minute. Pour all sauces, sugar and let the sauces  bubble up well. Add the fried chicken pieces, mix well and saute for 2 ...

Ingredients Potatoes - 6 nos French beans - 5 nos (finely chopped) Green peas - 1/2 cup Carrot - 1 medium (finely chopped) Sweet corn - 1/2 cup Onion - 2 nos (finely chopped) Green chillies - 1-2 (finely chopped) Ginger - garlic paste - 1 tbsp Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Garam masala - 1 tsp Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp( chopped) All purpose flour - 2 tbsp Bread crumbs - 1 cup Salt - to taste Oil - for frying Preparation Boil the potatoes and mash it.Keep this aside. Steam the vegetables by using a steamer. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. After few seconds, add ginger - garlic paste, onion, green chillies. Saute this for 2 minutes. Add  all powders and saute till the raw smell goes. Add steamed vegetables, salt and mix it well. Take mashed potatoes in a deep bowl.Add the vegetable mixture, coriander leaves and mix well. In another small bowl, take 2 tbsp of maida an...

Ingredients Samba Broken wheat - 350 g (2 cups) Coconut - 3 nos Jaggery - 500 g Cardamom - 4 pods or 1/2 tsp Cashew nuts - 50 g Ghee - 3 tbsp Preparation Melt  jaggery with 1/2 cup water and filter it to remove impurities.Keep this aside. Grind coconut in three stages.Remove the thick coconut milk out of it.This is first milk. Second milk can be removed by grinding the coconut with 1 cup of water. Again grind that coconut with 2 cups of water and remove the third milk. Mix cleaned broken wheat with third stage milk and pressure cook for 5 whistles. Transfer this to a thick bottomed kadai and add the second milk, melted jaggery, cardamom powder. Let this cook over medium heat till the consistency becomes thick stirring continuously. Add the thick milk and mix well. Do not boil the payasam too much after adding the first milk. Switch off the flame. Heat 3 tbsp of ghee and saute the cashews until it turns golden brown.Add this to payasam. Serve this warm or c...

Ingredients Spaghetti - 200 g Onion - 1 small(finely chopped) Garlic - 5 cloves (finely sliced) Soya sauce - 1 tsp Tomato sauce - 1 1/2 tbsp Chilli flakes - 1/2 tsp Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp Olive oil - 1 tbsp Salt - to taste Spring onion - For garnishing Preparation   Cook the spaghetti in salted boiling water, drain well and keep this aside. Heat oil in a thick-bottomed pan and add garlic. Cook this until soft but not brown. Add chopped onion and saute for 2 minutes. Add chilli flakes,  pepper powder, soya sauce and tomato sauce. Adjust salt as per taste and add cooked spaghetti. Toss well for 2 minutes. Garnish with spring onion.

Yam fry / chena fry is a spicy masala coated  fry that tastes so delicious and irresistible. This dish is my family favourite and I have learned it from my mother-in-law, who is a great cook.Very easy to make with few ingredients & everyone must try this out. Ingredients Yam / chena  - 500 g Red chilli powder - 2 tbsp Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp Hing - a pinch cumin seed powder - a pinch Salt - to taste Curry leaves - 10 nos Oil - For frying Preparation Cut the yam into desired shapes but not too big. Add all masala powders into the yam and keep it aside for 1 hour. Heat oil in a pan and add curry leaves. Add the marinated yam to this and shallow-fry for about 10-15 minutes, saute occasionally. It has to be golden brown with cooked inside. Remove from heat and serve hot with rice.