Happy Easter everyone !
Hope everybody is doing good at the respective places that you are at. We are doing fine too. Before you start asking if I made it today, the answer is No, I didn't. This time we had a very minimalistic Easter celebration. Just because we have the groceries for the next two weeks stocked up, due to lock down, we didn't want to use it all up in a day. But, wanted to celebrate it in a simple way with so much thanksgiving for all that we have for today.
This cake reminded me of how simple things can also be made more special. With minimal ingredients this cake was made to happen in a matter of an hour or less, but was very yum and appreciated far better than the cakes that would have involved too much effort. You don't have to make things complicated or put in extra efforts to make it special. Simple things can also make it to your memories. Such was this year's Easter. No potlucks or family visits or get togethers but still it shall be in our memories with the simple menu and a lot of catch up with family and friends over video chats :).
I have a little Chicken fan here. He loves it in any form...soups, appetizers, main dishes, curry etc. Since we had started cutting down on fried stuff, cutlets have made a rare appearance on our menu. But this lil guy's fantasy for having cutlets having seen it in TV, made me make some cutlets with his own favorite thing, chicken.
I have no clue how these disappeared in minutes time. They were super crisp on the outside and flavourful inside. They made a perfect snack time for us. You could also serve it as sides with meals or may be stuff it in burgers too.
Weddings/ special occasions , Xmas / Easter ..... Or even a normal Sunday breakfast gets so special when you have these Appams paired with a stew. We usually make a large batch of it and have it for breakfast and tea. I sometimes have it for lunch/ dinner too :) . I just don't mind having it at anytime of the day because my craving for Appam is that strong :).
The memories of X'mas and Easter from my childhood days include of having Appam and stew as breakfast on X'mas /Easter morning. I still remember coming back home after the midnight mass and having it as a midnight snack before going to bed to catch up on 2-3 hours of sleep. It used to taste heavenly, esp. if we have given up non-veg during lent.
When we made it, we just couldn't stop ourselves from having it even after we had it stomach full. Such was the level of craving we had for this mutton stew. Even now when I am writing it down, I can feel my mouth about to overflow.
When I was a kid, Maundy Thursday had always been so eventful. In the small township that I was brought up, there was a small church but every special event would be made memorable with the involvement of all in some way or the other. On Maundy Thursday, at our home, we would be assigned some clean up work while mummy would be busy preparing the Pesaha Appam.
In the evening, after the mass, a huge gang of family friends would go to each others house to break the bread as per tradition. Now this gang being a big one, by the time we would be done with a visit of every house, it would be midnight and we would all be so full. It was so much fun to be a part of that gang with so many friends. After, moving out of that township, every Pesaha / Maundy Thursday reminds me of those years.
Cutlets have been consistently on our menu for special occasions. Every Christmas and Easter also calls in for its preparation. This Easter we were in the middle of relocating and settling down that we hardly got a chance to cook at home - oh wait we didn't have an apartment then :). Well, since one chance of having cutlets had been dropped, we made it for tea yesterday.
These crispy little cutlets have always been a guest pleaser. Well, it has to be. Served with onion salad during meals or tomato sauce for snacks or as an appetizer these perfectly blend in and can be had any time of the day. Unlike meat cutlets, fish cutlet is easy to make, due to less cook time for fish. That is another reason why you should try it :).
