The Taste Island

    Kalladka tea known as KT is a popular tea in Mangalore. Its a 3 layer tea served at Kalladka, a village in Karnataka. We can easily prepare this at home. Ingredients: Milk - 1 1/2 cup Water - 1 cup Sugar - 4 tbsp Tea powder - 2 tsp Preparation: Boil milk. Add sugar. Stir continuously till the 1 1/2 cup milk is reduced to 1 cup or 1 1/4 cup.  Boil water. Add tea powder to it. Let it boil till it reduces to 1/2 cup or 3/4 th cup. The black tea must be very dark. Strain and keep aside. Froth the milk. Take a glass and fill half of it with milk. Then transfer the froth from top of the frothed milk to the glass. Make sure that the froth entirely cover the top of milk. Then slowly pour the black tea with the help of a spoon. The black tea will form a layer between milk and milk froth. Layered Kalladka tea is ready. Mix with a spoon before drinking. Notes: Both black tea and milk must be hot while preparing this. This tea cannot be made with...

    Parippu vada is a traditional south Indian snack. Its a famous deep fried snack which is crunchy, spicy and yummy. We usually have it with tea. Hope you will try this one. Ingredients: Chana Dal - 3/4 cup Toor Dal - 1/2 cup Ginger - medium 1 inch piece Green chilli - 5 Dry red chilli - 5 Small onion/shallotts - 10 - 15 medium sized Asafoetida powder/hing - 1/4 tsp Curry leaves - 2 sprigs Salt to taste Oil for frying Preparation: Wash and soak both the dal for 2 to 3 hrs. After soaking drain it and keep aside. Take a mixer grinder and crush small onion, green chilli, dried red chilli and curry leaves. Dont make it in paste form. Just crush so that we can easily combine it. Add asafoetida powder to this crushed mixture and combine well. Take 2 tbsp of soaked dal and keep aside. Grind rest of the dal into a coarse paste. Make sure that you dont grind it too much. Mix the onion mixture with dal mixture. Add salt and mix well. Heat oil in a pan....

    Carrot and dates cake is a super moist and healthy cake. Its easy to bake too. The addition of caramel gives a nice color to the cake. Hope you all will like this one. Ingredients: All purpose flour/Maida - 1 cup Sugar - 2/3 cup Egg - 2 Vanilla essence - 1 tsp Baking soda - 3/4 tsp Oil - 1/2 cup Milk - 2 tbsp Dates chopped - 1 cup Grated carrot - 1 cup Cashews chopped - 2 tbsp Almonds chopped - 2 tbsp salt - a pinch For caramel: Granulated sugar - 1/2 cup Water - 1/4 cup Preparation: Deseed the dates, chop it and keep aside. Peel the carrots and wash it. Grate it and keep aside. Sift the flour twice along with baking soda and salt. Keep aside. Heat a pan and add sugar to it. Wait for sugar to dissolve and caramelize. Swirl the pan in between. When it turns golden brown color, switch off the flame and add 1/4 cup of warm or hot water and mix well. Be cautious while preparing caramel because it will be very hot and may cause burns. switch...

   Chicken ghee roast is a classic south Indian recipe.You will find this dish in every mangalore restaurants. This is a combination of marinated chicken cooked in ghee along with spices. I have made my own variations to this recipe. Ingredients: Chicken - 400 gm Big onion - 1 big sliced Garlic - 4 small sliced Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsp Lemon juice/Vinegar - 2 tbsp Tamarind paste - 1/2 tbsp (optional) Sugar/ Jaggery - 2 tbsp Dry red chilly - 2 Cardamom - 1 Cinnamon - 1 big Clove - 2 Fennel seeds - 1 pinch Turmeric powder - 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder - 1 tbsp Pepper powder - 1 tbsp Garam masala powder - 1 tbsp Curry leaves - 2 sprigs Ghee - 2 tbsp Salt to taste Preparation: Clean and cut the chicken pieces into small pieces. Marinate it with turmeric powder, pepper powder, chilli powder, garam masala powder, ginger garlic paste, salt and vinegar. Keep it aside for 30 mins. Take a pan and heat ghee. Add cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, fennel s...

    Kerala style meen pollichath is a well known traditional spicy dish. This specialty of this dish is that it is prepared in banana leaf wrap. I used aluminium foil because banana leaf was not available when I prepared this. This is an easy and simple fish recipe. Hope you all will try this. Ingredients: For marination: Fish - 1 big Kashmiri chilli powder - 1 tsp Turmeric powder - 1 tsp Pepper powder - 1 tsp Lemon juice- 1 tbsp Salt to taste For masala: Shallots/small onion (sliced) - 6 big sized Garlic - 2 Ginger - 1 small size Green chilli - 1 Pepper corns - 1/2 tsp Tomato - 1/2 of big one Kashmiri chilli powder - 1 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Curry leaves - 2 sprigs Salt to taste oil as needed Preparation: Clean and wash the fish properly. Make cuts on both sides of the fish so that masala can be absorbed well. Mix together chilly powder, turmeric powder, salt, pepper powder and lemon juice. Marinate the fish with this mixture and k...

    Fish curry is one of the all time favorite among most of the keralite families. Its low in cholesterol compared to the one made with coconut milk. The curry tastes better the next day. Here goes the recipe... Ingredients: Fish – 250 gm, cut into medium sized pieces Mustard seeds – 1 tsp Fenugreek - 1 tsp Ginger (Finely chopped)– 1½ tbsp Garlic (Finely chopped) - 1 or 2 small Small onion – 3 big sliced Kashmiri chili powder – 2 tbsp Turmeric powder – 1/2 tbsp Pepper powder - 1/4 tbsp Cocum/kudampuli – 4 or 5 small pieces (Washed and soaked in water) Dried red chilli - 2 Curry leaves - 2 sprigs Coconut oil Water - 3 small cup Salt to taste Preparation: Take an earthen pot of medium size.   Heat oil in it. Add chopped ginger, garlic shallots and curry leaves. Saute it for 5 mins. Add turmeric powder and chilly powder and saute it till it raw smell goes. Keep in low flame while adding powders. Add soaked cocum along with water,...

    Gulab Jamun is a sweet commonly made in India. Hot Gulab jamun with chilled vanilla ice cream is simply mouth-watering . You must try it once.... Ingredients: Gulab jamun mix - 1 cup Warm Milk - 1/4 cup Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp Chopped Pistachios - 2tsp Chopped Almonds - 1tsp Sugar - 2 cups Cardamom - 1/2 tsp Saffron - 1    pinch Water -    1 cup Rose Water - 1 tsp Pure Ghee/Oil Vanilla ice cream - 2 scoops Preparation: Add gulab jamun mix into a bowl. Add warm milk into it to make the dough. Add the finely cardamom powder, chopped pistachios and chopped almonds. After kneading the dough leave it for 15 mins to set. Make small balls with the dough. Make sure that the balls are smooth without any cracks. Heat the ghee/oil in a deep pan and cook the jamun balls until it turns golden brown. Take the jamuns and leave it on tissue paper. Make the sugar syrup by boiling sugar, water, saffron, cardamom and rose water. Soak ...

    Fish cutlet is very popular. Its tasty and easy to prepare. It can be a delicious snack with tea or as a side dish for lunch or dinner. Serves best with tomato sauce/ketchup.  Ingredients: Fish - 1/2 kg Potato - 2 medium sized Onion(Finely chopped)  - 2 medium sized Green chillies(Finely chopped)  - 3 Coriander leaves(Finely chopped)  - 2 sprigs Ginger(Finely chopped) - 2 tbsp Garlic(Finely chopped) - 2 tbsp Bread crumbs - 1 cup Turmeric powder - 1 tsp Garam masala powder - 2 tsp Egg - 2 Oil Salt to taste Preparation: Boil the potatoes. Peel off the skin, mash it well and keep aside. Cook the cleaned fish pieces along with enough water, salt and turmeric powder. Remove thorns from the cooked fish and cut the fish into small pieces. Heat 3 tsp of oil in a pan. Add finely chopped onion, green chillies, ginger, garlic, coriander leaves and saute it until onion turns golden brown. You may add pepper powder instea...

   Dancing tea is a layered milk tea in which we can clearly view the different layers in a glass. The three main layers are milk froth, black tea and milk. These layers wont mix even if we swirl the glass. You have to mix it with a spoon. Have you ever seen or tasted a dancing tea. I tried it first from Salkara restaurant. From then I have been trying to prepare this special tea at home and finally it happened. After lots of trials and failures I found the perfect recipe for making this. Ingredients: Milk - 1 1/2 cup Water - 1 cup Sugar - 4 tbsp Tea powder - 2 tsp Preparation: Boil milk. Stir continuously till the 1 1/2 cup milk is reduced to 1 cup or 1 1/4 cup.  Boil water. Add sugar and tea powder to it. Let it boil till it reduces to 1/2 cup or 3/4 th cup. The black tea must be very dark. Strain and keep aside. Froth the milk. Take a glass and fill half of it with black tea. Then transfer the froth from top of the frothed milk to the glass. Mak...

    Easy pressure cooker vegetable pulao is an easy recipe for making tasty vegetable pulao. This is prepared by cooking rice with spices and vegetables. This is a complete healthy Indian meal. Ingredients: Basmati rice - 1 cup Cinnamon - 1 medium sized Cardamom - 1 Clove - 2 Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp Pepper powder - 1 tsp Chopped big onion - 1/2 cup Vegetables (chopped) - 1/2 cup Water - 1 3/4 cup Ghee/ oil - 2 tbsp Cashews (optional) Raisins (optional)  Salt to taste Preparation: Wash and soak basmati rice for 20 to 30 mins. Later drain it and keep aside. Heat ghee or oil in a cooker. Add Cardamom, Clove and cinnamon and roast it for 1 min. Add chopped onion and saute for 5 mins. Add ginger garlic paste and saute till raw smell goes. Add chopped vegetables and pepper powder. Saute for 5 minutes. Add drained rice and saute for 2 mins. Add 1 3/4 cup of water and enough salt. Mix well and let it boil. Once its starts boiling close the...

  Gothambu nurukku payasam is very easy to make. The sweetness and color of the payasam depends upon the ingredients added for sweetness. You can add jaggery, brown sugar or normal sugar. In this recipe I used brown sugar. I have used milk in this recipe instead of coconut milk. So this one actually a very easy recipe. Ingredients: Broken wheat/ Gothambu nurukku - 1 cup Brown sugar - 1 cup Condensed milk- 1/2 cup Powdered cumin/jeerakam - 2 tsp Powdered cardamom - 1 tsp (optional) Milk - 1 1/2 cup Cashews - as needed Kismis - as needed Ghee - 2 tbsp Water - 4 cup Preparation: Wash the gothambu nurukku very well and drain the water. Take a pan and add ghee to it. Fry the kismis and cashew separately and keep aside. Add drained gothambu nurukku to it and roast for about 5 mins and keep aside. Take a big vessel and add roasted gothambu nurukku to it. Add water, condensed milk and brown sugar to it. Combine well and let it boil. Stir continuously. Once got...

    Dragon chicken is a tasty chicken dish which is made from fried chicken strips mixed in tangy and spicy sauce. You will fall in love with this simple dish once you try this. Ingredients: Boneless chicken - 250 gm Egg - 1 Cashews - 10 Capsicum - 1/2 of 1 big Big onion - 1/4 of 1 big Carrot - 1/2 of 1 big Spring onion - 2 Dry red chillies - 4 Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsp Chilli paste -1+ 1 tbsp Soy sauce - 2 + 2 tbsp Tomato ketchup - 4 tbsp or as needed Pepper powder - 1+ 1 tsp Sugar - 4 tbsp Corn flour - 5 tbsp or as needed Salt to taste Preparation: Clean the chicken and cut it into thin strips. Take a bowl and mix together 1 tbsp chilli sauce, egg, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp pepper powder, 5 tbsp corn flour and enough salt. Add the chicken strips to this mixture and make sure that each strip is coated well. Add enough corn flour if needed to make the mixture thick. Marinate the chicken for about 20 mins. Roast the cashews and keep aside. Hea...

Learn how to make wine at home. This is a simple recipe and do not use any harmful preservatives. You will definitely enjoy drinking something made by yourself. Ingredients: Fresh Black grapes - 2 kg Sugar - 1 kg + 500 gm Wheat - 250 gm Boiled water - 4 Litre Yeast - 1 tbsp   Preparation: Clean the grapes and wheat separately. Leave it to dry. Crush the grapes in a food processor. Sterilize a ceramic container by pouring hot water up to the brim and leave it for 5 min.   Put the crushed grapes, luke warm water, wheat, yeast and 750 gm sugar in to it. Do not fill it up to the brim. Stir with a clean and dry wooden spoon. Close the container with the lid and properly seal it using a packaging tape to ensure that it is 100% air tight. Keep the container in a cool dry place. Daily stir the contents with a dry wooden spoon and seal it afterwards. Repeat this procedure for 20 days. After 20 days open the container and stir well using the wooden s...

Chilli Beef is a spicy dish. It can be made with or without gravy. Here is the recipe for Chilli beef    without gravy. It serves best with rice. Ingredients: Beef - 500 gm Onion (finely chopped) - 2 medium sized Lime juice - 4tsp Corn flour - 4 tbsp Dried red chillies - 2 Chilli powder - 1 tsp Chilli flakes - 2 tsp Pepper powder - 1 tsp Ginger (finely chopped) - 2 tsp Garlic (finely choped) - 2tsp Oil Preparation: Cut the beef into thin strips and wash it and keep aside. Marinate the beef pieces with Chilli powder, 2 tsp oil and salt. Keep it for 30 min. Dilute the corn flour with enough water. Add this mixture to the marinated beef and mix well. Heat oil in a deep pan. Deep fry the beef pieces until it becomes dark brown. Keep the fried beef on tissues to remove excess oil. Heat oil in a pan. Add dried red chillies and chilli flakes. After 2 min add chopped onions, ginger and garlic. Saute it for few minutes till they becomes golden col...

 Meen Peera is usually made with small fish like Netholi / Anchovy. It can be made with slightly bigger ones like mathi/chaala/sardine fish. Its cooked with freshly made coconut paste. Ingredients: Netholi - 250 gm Grated coconut - 1/4 to 1/2 cup Green chilli - 2 Big onion - 1/2 of bigger one (chopped) Turmeric powder - 1 tsp Kudampuli (Cocum) - a small piece Salt to taste Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Coconut oil - 2 tbsp Curry leaves - 1 or 2 sprigs Preparation: Clean and wash Netholi properly. Coarse grind grated coconut, green chillies, chopped onion, turmeric powder. Add this coconut paste to the cleaned fish along with ginger garlic paste and salt. Mix well. Add a small piece of kudampuli into it along with enough water for cooking the fish. Mix well. Keep on low flame. Cover the pan and cook util the fish is cooked and becomes soft. Remove from flame. Take a pan and heat some coconut oil. Splutter mustard seeds and add curr...

    Pesaha paal is made on maunday thursday. We have it along with pesaha appam. Pesaha paal have 2 varieties. One is brown and other is white. It depends on various regions and their traditions. This recipe is for brown pesaha paalu. If you want to make white pesaha paalu you can use this same recipe and replace jaggery with sugar. Ingredients: Rice flour - 3 to 5 tbsp Jaggery/ Brown sugar -180 g or according to your taste Thick coconut milk - from 1 coconut Thin coconut milk - rest after making thick one Cardamom powder - to taste Cumin powder - 1/4 tsp optional Chukku powder - 1/4 tsp optional Preparation: Melt jaggery by adding little water to it. Strain it and keep aside. If you are using brown sugar instead of jaggery you can directly add it while boiling thin coconut milk. In a glass mix desired rice flour with a little thin coconut milk and keep aside. Take a pot and pour thin milk and melted jaggery into it. Boil it. Add the rice flour mix into ...

    Kalathappam/Pesaha appam or Inri appam is made by christians on Maunday thursday. This type of  pesaha appam is usually made in Angamaly side, which is served on the night along with pesaha paal. This appam consist of lots of coconut pieces and shallots. This is a tasty appam but we make it only on maunday thursday. Ingredients: Raw rice - 2 cups Urad dal - 1/4 cup Small onion/ shallots - as needed Coconut pieces - as needed Cumin (powdered/whole) -1/2 tsp Salt as needed Water Oil Preparation: Soak raw rice and urad dal for 2 hours. Wash well and drain. Grind soaked rice and urad dal to smooth paste by adding a little water. Transfer it to a bowl and keep  aside. Heat a pan, add some oil and fry the coconut pieces it it becomes light brown in color. Take it and add it to rice urad dal mixture. Fry chopped small onions in the same oil till it turns golden brown. Take it and combine it with the mixture. Add enough salt and powdered or whole...

    Pesaha appam or Inri appam is made by christians on Maunday thursday. This whitish pesaha appam is served on the night along with pesaha paal. Appam and paal is prepared with extra care and caution. Usually the eldest family member cut this and serve it to the other members of the family. Ingredients: Raw rice - 1 cup Uzhunnu/Urad - 1/2 cup Grated coconut - 3/4 cup  Garlic - 1  Shallots (small onion) - 5 to 7 Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp Salt as needed Preparation: Wash well rice and urad dal. Soak it for 2 hours. Grind Coconut, small onion, garlic and cumin powder until everything is combined well. Add little water as needed for grinding. Grind soaked rice and urad dal into a smooth paste by adding a little water. Mix rice and urad mixture with coconut mixture, water and enough salt. Be careful while adding water. The consistency of the batter must be thick as idli batter. Grease a pan with some oil and pour this batter to it. Place a cross ma...

    Vatteppam is a simple steamed rice cake made with rice, coconut, yeast, cardamom and sugar. This is an easy way to make vatteppam as you dont have to do other usual processes like kappi kaachal. Ingredients: Raw rice - 1 cup Grated coconut - 1/2 cup Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp Instant Yeast - 1/2 tsp Cooked rice 2 tbsp Sugar as needed Water as needed Preparation: Soak the rice for at least 4 hours. After that was well and drain. Grind together rice, grated coconut, cardamom powder, sugar and cooked rice by adding little water.  The consistency of the batter should be thick. Transfer the batter to a bowl and let it ferment for 4 - 6 hrs. When the batter has risen, pour enough batter into a plate and cook in a steamer for about 15 to 20 mins. Allow it to cool down before cutting. Notes: You may use rice flour instead of raw rice. In this recipe I used Idli rice. You may garnish the vatteppam befoer steaming with cashews or raisins.

Do you have some fresh prawns with you. Then just try how to make a yummy prawn biriyani using this simple recipe. Ingredients: Basmati rice - 2 cup Fresh Prawns(Shrimp) - 400 gms Green peas - 1 cup Onions - 5 medium sized Tomato - 3 Lemon juice - 2 tsp Red chilly powder - 2tsp Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp Ginger garlic paste - 3 tbsp Cinnamon(break into small pieces) - 2 Cardamom - 3 Cloves - 2 Coriander leaves - 2 sprigs Cashew nut - 10 Oil - 4 tbsp Water - 6 cups Salt to taste Preparation: Wash the rice and soak it in warm water for 30 mins. Drain the soaked rice and keep it aside. Clean the prawns and marinate it with salt, turmeric powder, lemon juice. Keep it for 10 mins. Finely chop the onions and tomatoes. Heat oil in a pan. Add cinnamon, cloves and cardamom into it and fry it for 5 mins. Add the chopped onion and saute until it becomes golden brown. Add ginger garlic paste and heat it for 2 mins. Then add garam masala powder, turm...

 Dalgona coffee is a whipped coffee drink, the viral drink everyone is making during coronavirus. Lets see how to make this simple whipped coffee at home. Ingredients: Instant coffee grains - 2 tbsp Hot water - 2 tbsp Sugar - 2 tbsp Milk (hot / cold) - as needed Preparation: Take a bowl and mix coffee, sugar and water. Take a whisk and blend it till it becomes light, fluffy and creamy. Take a glass and fill 3/4 th of it  with milk. Top it with the whipped coffee cream and enjoy. Notes: Using manual whisk may take more time for making this mix creamy. Hand blender will make this fast and easy.

Kerala style duck roast is a spicy and popular dish. Fried duck with gravy is so tempting. Try this recipe and enjoy.... Ingredients: Duck - 1/2 kg Garam masala powder - 2 tsp Turmeric powder - 1 tbsp Chilli powder - 1 tsp Pepper powder - 1 tsp Coriander powder - 1 tsp Onion(finely chopped) - 3 medium sized Curry leaves - 2 sprigs Dried red chillies - 3 Ginger paste - 2 tsp Garlic paste - 2 tsp Salt to taste Water Oil   Preparation: Clean and cut the duck into 4 pieces. Marinate the duck pieces with enough salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder, 1 tsp garam masala powder and 1 tsp of oil. Keep it for 30 min. Heat oil in a deep frying pan and fry the duck pieces until its cooked well and turns slight brown. Keep the fried pieces aside. Heat oil in a pan. Add dried red chillies and heat it for 1 min. Saute chopped onions, curry leaves, ginger paste and garlic paste until the onions becomes translucent. After five min add 1 tsp garam masala powder, c...