Easy Chicken Soup

If you need a break from the heavy food, prepare a pot of chicken soup on your stove and serve it with warm dinner rolls. A bowl of chicken soup will sooth a sore throat and a welcome meal on a cold day!

Ingredients

Chicken - 1 whole
Onion - 1 big
Green chillies (optional) - 3
Carrots
Celery
Curry leavesCilantro leaves
Bay leaf
Cumin powder
Pepper powder
Salt

Method

Place the Chicken in a pan and add enough water (you can use chicken broth + water) and add the vegetables (carrots and celery). Add enough salt, turmeric powder and cumin powder.

Cover and simmer for 30 - 40 minutes or until chicken is done and vegetables are tender.

Take the chicken and remove the bones and cut into small pieces and add the chicken back to the soup.

In a pan, add 3-4 tsp of oil and saute the onions, green chillies and curry leaves. When the onion becomes translucent, add the soup with the vegetables and chicken. Garnish the soup with cilantro leaves.

Serve in a bowl, then sprinkle black pepper over the top. Enjoy!

Shrimp Biriyani

Biriyani is a rice dish cooked with a combination of spices and cooked with some meat.  It is usually an elaborate process to cook biriyani with chicken or lamb. But, when it is shrimp Biriyani, the rice dish can be prepared in 30 minutes. This is an easy recipe for Shrimp Biriyani and it goes well with Fish Fry. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Shrimp (Peeled and Deveined) - 1 pound
Basumathi Rice - 2 cups
Onion - 1 big
Tomatoes - 2
Green chillies - 3
Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Ginger paste - 1 tsp
Yogurt - 3 tbsp
Salt
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Bay leaf
Mint
Cilantro leaves

To Grind
Cinnamon - 2"
Cloves - 5
Cardamom - 4
Star Anise - 2
Marati Mokku - 2

For marinating Shrimp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Method

Marinate the shrimp with salt, turmeric powder and chilli powder for 30 minutes. Soak the Basumathi rice in water for 30 minutes.

In a pan, heat 3-4 tbsp of butter and when the butter melts, add the chopped onions, mint and cilantro leaves.  Add the ground biriyani spices (ingredients under to grind) and saute the onions for 2-3 minutes.  Add the garlic and ginger paste and saute until the onion becomes translucent.  Add the marinated Shrimp and saute the shrimp for 3-5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, green chillies, salt, turmeric powder and chilli powder.  Let the tomatoes blend well with the onion and Shrimp mixture. 

Set the flame to medium and add the rice and stir until the rice is coated with the butter-onion mixture. Add 31/2 - 4 cups of water and cover the pan with a lid and let the rice cook well.

Switch off the stove when the water is absorbed by the rice and the rice is cooked well.

Enjoy!

Easy sour cream pound cake

This is an easy and quick recipe for a super moist delicious pound cake.You can use fresh or frozen strawberries for the cake topping. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Cake Mix - 1
Sour cream - 1 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Oil - 2/3 cup
Eggs - 4
Vanilla - 2 tsp

Method

Preheat oven to 350 deg. Grease a Bundt pan and set aside. Combine the cake mix, sour cream, sugar and oil in a large bowl and mix gently using a mixer at medium speed.

Add eggs one at a time until mixed thoroughly.  Add the vanilla essence and pour the batter into the bundt pan.

Bake at 350 deg for 45-50 minutes or until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes before inverting the cake. Enjoy!