(Keerai Kadainjathu) - Fresh Greens Mashed

(Keerai Kadainjathu) - Fresh Greens Mashed

Figured it is time I made some contribution to the Green Blog Project after enthusiastically declaring that I wanted to participate but you see my garden was not cooperating, the plants are still growing and no harvest to be made anytime soon. But I had plenty of greens (thandu keerai) ready to be picked and thought they would make a great entry for the GBP. I eagerly look forward to these tasty fresh greens (Amaranthus) every summer. The ones I have here are all green and they grow comfortably among the other plants. Pick out the bad leaves and put them in salted water for about 20 minutes to clean them. I have the recipe for the most simple of keerai preparations, use the leaves and stem they are after all thandu keerai. The tender stems can be used but discard the ones that are too thick, they are stringy.



There is a also a plant quiz in there to spice it up.


Ingredients

1. 2 1/2 cups of roughly chopped greens (thandu keerai)
2. 1/2 onion diced
3. 3 slit green chillies
4. 1/4 tsp cumin powder, freshly ground black pepper
5. seasoning, cumin mustard
6. 1/4 tsp and few drops of ghee

Method
1. In a pressure cooker or pan, heat the oil and ghee and add the seasonings
2. Add the onion and saute till translucent
3. Add the green chillies and the cumin powder and some fresh ground black pepper
4. Add the greens and salt and mix well. (don't add any extra water)
5. Close the lid for one whistle.
6. Mash the greens with a mathu or using the back of a laddle.




Serve with rice.

I like to do this in the cooker because I feel it preserves all the nutrients without getting them evaporated.

Pudalangai/Snakegourd kootu

Pudalangai/Snakegourd kootu

Ingredients

Moong dal-1/2 cup
Pudalangai/Snakegourd -1/2 cup chopped
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Green chillies-2
Onion - 1 medium sized chopped

For tadka
Ghee - 2tsp
Jeera-1/2tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2tsp
urad dal-1/2tsp
Curry leaves


Method

Cook moong dal in a pressure cooker for 1 whistle.Now, add chopped pudalangai,slit green chillies,chopped onion,salt, turmeric powder and pressure cook again for 1 whistle.Do the tadka and add that to the cooked dal mix.

Chow Chow (Bangalore Kathirikai) Poricha Kuzhambu

Chow Chow (Bangalore Kathirikai) Poricha Kuzhambu

Ingredients:

Chow Chow – 1 No
Green Gram Dhal – ½ cup
Coconut gratings – 1 tablespoon
Jeera – ½ teaspoon
Green chilli – 1
Sambar powder – 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder – a pinch
Salt – ½ teaspoon
Oil – 1 teaspoon
Mustard – ½ teaspoon
Curry leaves – few

Method:

Cook green gram dhal along with a pinch of turmeric powder till soft.

Remove the skin from chow chow and cut into small pieces. Put it in a vessel and add just enough water to cover the vegetable. Add sambar powder, turmeric and salt and cook till the vegetables are soft. Add the cooked dhal. Allow to boil.

Grind coconut, green chilli and jeera to a fine paste. Add this to the vegetable and mix well. If the kuzhambu is too thick, add little water and make semi liquid. Season it with mustard and curry leaves.

Note: You can also add a small onion chopped finely while seasoning.

You can make the above Kootu using snakegourd (Pudalangai) instead of chow chow. Chow chow is also called as "Chayote".

Keerai Kootu

Keerai Kootu

Ingredients:

Keerai- 1 bunch - (You can use any greens)
Green Gram dhal – ½ cup
Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Onion – 1/2 chopped finely
Sambar powder- 1 tsp
Turmeric powder- ½ tsp
Coconut gratings – 1 tablespoon
Jeera – 1 tsp
Oil- 2 tsp
Salt – ½ teaspoon

Method:

Cook green gram dhal till soft. Remove the roots and wash the keerai thoroughly. Chop the keerai finely. Place the chopped keerai in a thick bottomed vessel. Add salt, sambar powder and turmeric powder. Close it with a lid. Cook the keerai in slow flame. No need to add water since the keerai will cook in its own water content. When the keerai is cooked, add cooked dhal mashed nicely. Grind coconut and jeera to a paste and add this also to the keerai. Add little water and make semi liquid. Allow to boil. Season it with mustard and chopped onion finely fried.

The Lean Veggie - Thengai paal kootu

The Lean Veggie - Thengai paal kootu

If i were to make a list of my mom's best recipes, this is surely number 1. There are days when I am tired of north indian and south indian food, but not in a mood for pizzas and sandwiches. This dish perfectly fits the bill then. The rich flavor comes not from a big pile of spices, but simply from ginger, fresh coconut milk, and cilantro. This recipe allows the flavor of all the veggies to shine through without getting overpowered by the gravy. Serve it with pulao, or fresh basmathi rice, or phulkas or idiappam. I made some instant sevai, but it is not the best accompaniment. The kootu is so flavorful, you need a bland side dish to go well with it.

Ingredients -

* 2 cups of chopped vegetables - beans, carrots, cauliflower, peas, zucchini squash, lima beans(any combination and proportion works)

* 1 peeled chopped potato

* 1/2 cup chopped tomato

* 1/2 cup sliced onion

* 1 tbsp chopped ginger

* 5 curry leaves finely chopped

* 1 tsp cumin seeds

* 1/2 can coconut milk (try to avoid the lite milk varieties)

* 3 tbsp finely chopped cilantro

* 2 green chillies slit lengthwise

* 1/4 tsp turmeric powder

* 1 pinch hing

* 1/2 tsp chilli powder

Method -

Try to use a pressure pan for quick cooking. If a pressure pan is not available, use a big saucepan with a well fitting lid.

1) Heat the pressure pan and add 2 tsp oil. While waiting for the oil to heat, perform step 2

2) Finely slice the onions, chop ginger, curry leaves, green chillies and tomatoes3) Add jeera to the oil, take care not to let it burn, and add the ingredients from step 2

4) Stir fry for 5 minutes

5) Add all the veggies, turmeric powder, chilli powder and stir fry for 5 minutes

6) Add enough water to cover all the veggies, close the lid of the pressure pan, add the weight and cook till you hear two whistles. Immediately turn the heat off. After 5 minutes, place the pressure pan on a cool surface. This is important to make sure the vegetables do not get over cooked. If using a saucepan, simply place a lid and cook till the vegetables are done

7) Open the pan, and add salt and the coconut milk and heat through. Make sure that you do not boil the curry, as the coconut milk's flabor gets altered if over heated. Check the taste and add more salt, chilli powder and a pinch of sugar if needed

8) Garnish with the chopped cilantro

Yellow Pumpkin Curry/Poosanikai Curry

Yellow Pumpkin Curry/Poosanikai Curry

You can use yellow pumpkin or yellow squash to make this curry.

Ingredients:
Yellow Pumpkin – 1 medium slice
Channa Dal / Kadala paruppu – 1/2 cup
Onion – 1 small
Green chilly – 2 to 3
Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida a pinch

To grind
Grated coconut – 3 to 4 tbsps
Fennel – 1/4 tsp

Seasoning
Mustard
Red chilly – 1
Curry leaves few

Method:
1. Pressure cook the channa dal with enough water, turmeric and asafoetida. (Dont over cook the dal )
2. Chop the pumpkin into small cubes. Grind the coconut with fennel.
3. Heat little oil in pan, pop mustard , cumin, red chilly , few curry leaves. Add the chopped onion and fry until soft.
4. Add the chopped pumpkin cubes, slited green chilly, little water and cover it and cook u

Red Pumpkin Pal kootu/Poosinikai kootu

Red Pumpkin Pal kootu/Poosinikai kootu

Ingredients:

Red pumpkin - 500 gm

Coconut - 1/2 cup

Red chillies - 1

Curry leaves

Milk- 50 ml

Jeera - 2 ts

Bengal gram dhal - 25gm

Broken Moong dhal - 25 gm

turmeric powder - 1ts

Mustard seeds - 2ts

urad dhal - 2ts

Oil - 2ts

Salt

Method :

Peel the skin of the pumpkin and chopped it into thin pieces.Pressure cook the pumpkin with moong dhal and bengal gram dhal , turmeric powder by adding little water to it. Grind the coconut, jeera, red chillies and 1ts of raw rice. (Rice is to thicken the gravy).

Mix the mixture with the cooked pumpkin.Add salt and 1 ts sugar.Cook it for a minute.Now add milk and keep it in the flame for some seconds.Season the mustard seeds and urad dhal in the oil.Pour it on the kootu.Add curry leaves.Serve with rice/ chappathi.

Cabbage Kootu

Cabbage Kootu

This cabbage kootu is very special in Tamilnadu.Every vegetarian family will have this kootu alteast ones in a week.It a sidedish.It will be good will rice,roti & puri also.But,lazy cooks like me can use this kootuas main dish for rice.It will be ready within 20mts.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb Caggage
1 cup Chana dal (boiled)
1 tsp Cumin seeds
3 Green chilles
1 Medium size onion
1 Medium size tomato
1/2 cup Shedded coconut
Oil
Salt for taste

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oil in a kadai splutter some cumin seeds.

2. Add the chopped onion & cillies fry till golden brown.Add the chopped tomato,turmeric powder & salt & cook for4-5mts.

3. Add the cabbage & cook for 6-7 mts.

4. Then, add the chana dal & transfer the cabbage in to the pressure cooker & cook till 1whistle.

5. Open the cooker & added the shedded coconut & cook for next 5-6mts.

6. Cabbage kootu is ready serve hot with rice,roti & puri.

Peerkangai Kootu (Ridge Gourd Kootu)

Peerkangai Kootu (Ridge Gourd Kootu)

Ingredients:

2 Medium size Ridge Gourd
1/2cup Moong dal
1/4cup Thoor dal
1 Medium size Onion
1 Medium size Tomato
2 Green chillis
1/2tsp Cumin seeds
1tsp Coriander powder
1/2tsp Chilli powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1/4tsp Turmind concentrate
Oil
salt for taste


Method:

1. First fry the moong dal in a pressure pan for 5-6 mts & add the thoor dal combine both & pour 1 glass of water & pressure in to 1 whistle.

2. Cut the ridge gourd into round pieces & add the pieces,green chilli,turmeric powder,coriander powder,chill powder & salt to the dal & cook the dal till ridge gourd becomes soft.

3. Then,in a kadai heat the oil & put the cumin seeds & let them splutter.Add the chopped onion
& fry till golden brown & add the chopped tomato cook for 6-7 mts.

4. Now,add the dal to the kadai & cook for 10 mts i medium heat.Kutu is ready.

5. Serve the kutu with rice,roti & puri.

Tips:The dal should be half cooked.If it is over cooked it will become garvy not kootu.

Kushka – Spicy Rice cooked in coconut milk

Kushka – Spicy Rice cooked in coconut milk

This rice is similar to Biryani, popular rice of Tamilnadu muslims. Great for parties. Both veg & non veg people can enjoy this. One major difference between this and biryani is , this rice is cooked in coconut milk and some use tomato and others not. So you can also prepare this without tomato.

Ingredients
Basmati Rice – 2 cups
Sliced Onion – 1
Chopped Tomato – 2
Slited Green Chilly – 3 (indian green chilly)
Coconut Milk – 1 cup
Water – 4 cups

Ginger / garlic paste – 2 tsps
Bay leaf – 2
Cardamom – 3
Cloves – 3 to 4
Cinnamon – 1 inch
Star anise – 1 (optional)

Chopped Cilantro a handful
Chopped Mint few

Ghee – 2 tbsps, oil – 2 tsps
Lime juice – 1 or 2 tsps

Method
1. Heat oil and ghee in a pan , saute bay leaf, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and star anise.
2. Add the sliced onion and fry until brown. Add the ginger garlic paste and the slited green chilly and saute for few more mins.
3. Add the chopped tomato and cook until the tomato is well done. Add the cilantro and mint leaves.
4. Wash the rice well and add it to the masala and fry for two mins, add the coconut milk and saute it for further few mins.
5. Finally add 4 cups of water, salt and lime juice, mix everything together and cover it with a lid and cook until the rice is done.
Serve with raitha or any spicy curry.

Pasipparuppu Sadam - Lentil Rice

Pasipparuppu Sadam - Lentil Rice

When you are in a hurry, you can prepare this one in no time. Dal and rice blend in nicely giving rise to wonderful taste. It is a one-pot wonder and a high protein meal too.


Ingredients

Basmathi Rice - 1 cup
Moong Dal - 1/2 cup
Onion (small size) - 1 chopped
Garlic - 7 cloves chopped
Green Chillies - 6
Red Chillies - 5
Tomato - 2 chopped
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
Butter or Ghee - 1 or 2 tblspn
Salt to taste

For Tempering

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Urid Dal - 1 tsp
Curry Leaves - few
Cumin/Seeraham Seeds - 1 tsp
Fennel/Sombu Seeds- 1 tsp

Directions:

1. Pour oil in a pan/cooker and add mustard seeds. Let it crackle and add urid dal, and curry leaves.
2. Add cumin, fennel, and chilles one by one and allow it to fry in the same oil. [careful not to burn the cumin seeds, otherwise it goes bitter]
   
3. Saute onion and garlic till they become light golden brown.
4. Add chopped tomatoes, turmeric, butter, and salt to the mixture and cook until oil floats on the surface and then add moong dal and cook for 5 minutes.
5. Add rice and 3 cups of water and cook until it is done.

Note: Dry roast moong dal (without oil) to a light golden color and soak it for 10 minutes in hot water before cooking. It will lead to soft dal texture, nice aroma and taste. You can add ghee while serving it instead of cooking with it. To get even richer paruppu sadam, add 1/2 a cup of coconut milk while cooking the dal. My mom adds scrapped coconut at the last stage. Yummy :-)

Arisim Paruppu Satham

Arisim Paruppu Satham

I hadn't planned on blogging about Arisim Paruppu Satham again, as I had blogged about it earlier, but this one is slightly different but most of all it was cooked by my mother. She does not tend to add the mandatory Chicken Masala Powder that seem to be ever present in my recipes. I am slowly learning to avoid using them, and the dishes taste much fresher without them. I lean more favorably towards using Sambhar Powder (ingredients and method coming soon) because it is prepared by my ammayi with the freshest ingredients. I always have some in stock and did not have make it myself so far by did get the recipe from ammayi who even today supplies it for my mom and aunt.

Split Thatta Payir(Roasted Cow Peas)



Arisim Paruppu Saatham tastes out of this world when it is cooked with Split Thatta Payir. The whole Thatta Payir is first roasted and then split using Stone Grinder called Rai Kal. deccanheffalum of Cook's Cottage has a picutre and explaination of how the stone grinder works. The one used in our parts is slightly different and still used a lot by my grandma. ( I have to take a picture of it).



Ingredients
1. 1 Rice (Sona Masoori Rice) Water:Rice 2 ½ : 1
2. 1/2 Cup Roasted Split Thatta Payir
3. 1/2 Red Onion Chopped Roughly
4. 4 Pods Garlic Sliced
5. 1/4 inch piece ginger pounded
6. 3 Red Chillies Split and seeds removed
7. Seasonings - Curry leaves, Mustard
8. 1 tsp of Sambhar Powder
9. 1 tsp of turmeric powder
10. oil as required + ghee a little bit

To Powder
1. 1/2 Tbsp Corriander Powder
2. 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
3. 1 tsp Pepper
Microwave the above for about 10 secs and powder

Method
1. In a pressure cooker add the oil and ghee and when hot add the mustard seeds when it pops add the curry leaves
2. Add the garlic, saute for a few minutes add the ginger, red chillies saute a little bit and then add the onions and saute till translucent
3. Now add powdered mixture and the sambhar powder mix for a few minutes till good aroma comes
4. Add the Payar and mix well.
5. Add the required amount of water and when it starts to boil add the rice, salt mix and cook till about 1/2 cooked. Cover add the weight and cook till a whistle or about 8 minutes whichever comes first.

Serve with Puzhi Kuzhambu , Vadagam with a tsp of ghee over the rice.

Poondu satham / Garlic rice

This is a simple recipe but a very helpful postnatal diet. I had made this several times and found this as the easiest, yet a tasty way to include garlic in my postnatal diet. I found this recipe in a supplement of a tamil magazine.

Ingredients:

Cooked rice – 2 cups

Small onion- 1/2 cup

Garlic pods – 1 cup

Ginger- 1/4 inch piece

Roasted and ground black pepper- 1/2 tsp

Raosted and ground cumin seeds- 1 tsp

Method:

An important thing in making any mixed rice variety is that the rice has to be cooked well but must be separate grains. Normally this can be achieved by roasting the raw rice in little ghee before cooking or adding a little sesame oil while it is cooking. Once the rice is cooked, cool it well in a wide pan/ plate.

Cut the onions, garlic and ginger into fine pieces. Heat oil or ghee in a wide skillet, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds , dried chillies (3-4 numbers) and curry leaves. Add the onion, garlic and ginger pieces and fry them on low heat.Add pepper powder and cumin powder. Add salt to taste and mix the rice , turning off the heat.

SPECIAL TAMARIND RICE - TEMPLE STYLE(PULIOTHARAI)

SPECIAL TAMARIND RICE - TEMPLE STYLE(PULIOTHARAI)

This is very special really because i learnt this recipe from my mom with full care as i like this very much, it taste similar as temple prasatham(offering)...


INGREDIENTS:
Rice- 2 cups
Tamarind Extract - 2 tablespoon
Coriander Seeds- 2tsp
Fenugreek Seeds - 10 seeds
Sesame Seeds- 2tsp
Channa Dhal- 4tsp
Dried Red chilly- 5-6
Turmeric - 1tsp
Mustard little
Curry leaves - few
Hing - a pinch
Salt - As per Taste


















METHOD:

Boiled the rice and keep it aside till it become cool.

Fry Coriander seeds, Fenugreek seeds first in dry pan, later add sesame seeds lastly.

Once they are cool, grind finely.

In little oil fry peanuts, Channadhal, Red chillies and grind coarsely.

Now in oil, season the mustard, curry leaves, add hing, turmeric, tamarind extract, salt and let it boil for5minutes.

Then add the finely grinded powder and slowly boiled rice and mix evenly.

Once it gets mixed up, now add the coarsely added dhal powder.

Serve hot with chips...

Sambar Sadam

Sambar Sadam

Bisibelebath/ Sambar sadham requires lot of patience.. .Though I like this a lot, I feel lazy to do this often, as it needs chopping, roasting , grinding and lots of work.The only relief is you dont need to prepare any vegetable curry with this .. It goes well with raitha and chips. Last week when I saw bisibelehuli anna in Nanditha's blog, I wanted to make it and so here is what I made..

Ingredients

Raw Rice- 2 cups
Thoor dal- 1 cup
Turmeric powder- ¼ tsp
Asafoetida- ¼ tsp
Peas- ½ cup
Shallots- ½ cup
Tomatoes-2 cut finely
Carrot -1 chopped into small pieces
Beans- 10 chopped finely
Potatoes-1 chopped into small pieces
Drumsticks- 1 cut into 3” pieces
Brinjal – 1 cut into cubes.
Chowchow- ¼ cup cut into cubes
Garlic- 6 cloves
Green chillies- 3
These are the main veggies. U can add any vegetable u want to this except beets and bittergourd.The more the vegetables the better the taste. I added bottlegourd too with this.
Sambar powder- 1 tsp(optional. As I use very little red chilies ,I add this for better colour.I use sakthi masala)
Tamarind – 1 small lemon sized.
Salt to taste
Ghee- 5 tsp
Coriander leaves- 3 tsp chopped

To roast and grind

Channa dal- 2 tsp
Thoor Dal – 1 tsp
Urad dal- 1 tsp
Coriander seeds- 3 tsp
Jeera- 1 ½ tsp
Pepper- ½ tsp
Fenugreek seeds- ½ tsp
Saunf/Aniseeds- ½ tsp
Curry leaves- a few
Red chillies- 3( the one I have is very spicy so I add little) or acc to taste
Cinnamon- 2 one inch pieces
Cloves- 5
Coconut- 3 to 4 tsp

Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan and add all the spices except coconut and fry for 2 minutes. Then add coconut finally and fry for a minute. Cool it and grind it to a fine paste by adding water.

For seasoning

Oil- 3 tsp
Mustard seeds- ½ tps
Broken urad dal- ¼ tsp
Fenugreek seeds- ¼ tsp
Curry leaves- a few

Method

Pressure cook the dal with turmeric powder and asafetida and set aside. Soak the tamarind in water and squeeze the juice.
In a cooker or big vessel, add 10 cups of water(1:5 ratio) . when it boils add the rice and the vegetables(from peas to green chillies). When the rice is ¾ th cooked. Add the dal and salt.mix properly and add the ground paste , tamarind juice, sambarpowder and ghee. Partly Cover and cook for a few minutes in reduced flame.Heat oil in another pan and add the seasonings one by one. Now add this to the rice. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with raita and papad/chips and ghee on top.
This bisi bela bhath should be in a slightly semisolid consistency than the normal rice.

Mixed Vegetable Bonda

Mixed Vegetable Bonda

Here is a simple vegetable with mixed vegetables. You can also use only potato to make potato bonda.

Ingredients
Potato , Beans, Carrot, Green peas – 3 cups chopped
Onion – 1/2 chopped
Green chilly – 3 to 4
Ginger/ garlic paste – 1/2 tsp
Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala – 1/4 tsp
Cilantro

Method
1. Wash and chop all the vegetables into equal sizes except green peas.
2. Heat little oil in a pan, add the chopped onion , green chilly and ginger garlic paste and fry until soft. Add turmeric powder.
3. Add the chopped vegetables and saute it until the vegetables become soft. Finally add the garam masala, cilantro and salt. Turn off the heat and let the vegetables cool. Mash it coarsley and make small balls.

For the batter.
Gram Flour / kadalai Mavu – 1 cup
Rice Flour – 1/4 cup
Red chilly powder – as per ur taste
Baking Soda a pinch (optional)
Salt

Mix all the ingredients together by adding enough water make a thick batter. Dip each vegetable balls in the batter and deep fry until brown and serve with coconut chutney or green chutney. Good tea time snack.
Makes 8 to 10 bondas.

Vazhakai Cutlet and Rose Milk

Vazhakai Cutlet and Rose Milk

Cutlet any time of the year ..No problem ..But esp during spring time ...Very very apt ..We used to always prepare aloo cutlets or vegetable cutlets....This time i decided to make something different from the usual ...Raw Banana Cutlet ..'Vazhakai "...Quite simple recipe .To go along with this I actually wanted to make strawberry milkshake , but i did not have strawberry at home ...So wht to do ????...Then thought why cant i prepare rose milk ...something similar ...
This would be my entry for
This cutlet has got few variations from the normal one .So here how it goes

Raw Materials Required
2 Raw Banana
1/2 Carrot Grated
1/3 Cup Green Peas
1/2 Cup Small Red Onion
1 tsp Chilli Powder
1 tsp Gram masala
Salt as per taste
Little Kotmali

Preparation Style
Boil the banana's in cooker and peel the skin .Smash the banana and add the onion,grated carrot , peas and all the masala's together .Add Salt and kotamali and mix it together and make small cutlets out of them .Then place them in the tava and allow it to cook .Turn both the sides until they reach dark brown color by adding few dops of oil .Serve it hot with pudhina chutney.

Rose Milk is very simple and easy to make .I just used 4 tsp of Rooh Afza and blended it with 2 glass of milk and added 2 tsp of sugar.

Hot Hot Cutlets and Cool Rose Milk ...Spring time at our place ....
Last week i had shared my new rose bud arrival at our place .This week it has taken life by few more additions ....Enjoy your spring .....

Vazhakai Cutlet and Rose Milk

Vazhakai Cutlet and Rose Milk

Cutlet any time of the year ..No problem ..But esp during spring time ...Very very apt ..We used to always prepare aloo cutlets or vegetable cutlets....This time i decided to make something different from the usual ...Raw Banana Cutlet ..'Vazhakai "...Quite simple recipe .To go along with this I actually wanted to make strawberry milkshake , but i did not have strawberry at home ...So wht to do ????...Then thought why cant i prepare rose milk ...something similar ...
This would be my entry for
This cutlet has got few variations from the normal one .So here how it goes

Raw Materials Required
2 Raw Banana
1/2 Carrot Grated
1/3 Cup Green Peas
1/2 Cup Small Red Onion
1 tsp Chilli Powder
1 tsp Gram masala
Salt as per taste
Little Kotmali

Preparation Style
Boil the banana's in cooker and peel the skin .Smash the banana and add the onion,grated carrot , peas and all the masala's together .Add Salt and kotamali and mix it together and make small cutlets out of them .Then place them in the tava and allow it to cook .Turn both the sides until they reach dark brown color by adding few dops of oil .Serve it hot with pudhina chutney.

Rose Milk is very simple and easy to make .I just used 4 tsp of Rooh Afza and blended it with 2 glass of milk and added 2 tsp of sugar.

Hot Hot Cutlets and Cool Rose Milk ...Spring time at our place ....
Last week i had shared my new rose bud arrival at our place .This week it has taken life by few more additions ....Enjoy your spring .....

Venpongal Gotsu

Venpongal Gotsu

Another classic combination from the realms of Tamil Nadu courtesy of my dear MIL. My own mother used to make venpongal all the time, but I only really got hooked on it when I tasted my MIL's eggplant gotsu. My own mom will attest that the eggplant gotsu is very good as she got the recipe from my MIL even before I did! I digress, lets get back to venpongal. So I have done a post on venpongal earlier for the Pongal Festival, but that day I didn't have any eggplant so I served it up with sambar. The classic combination for venpongal is eggplant gotsu. Yummy eggplant and tomato stewed in a tamarind sauce with only a few lentils and spices to flavor it. I recommend making this gotsu next time you make venpongal, you'll be hooked I promise. This recipe is for four people.

Eggplant Gotsu
1 medium eggplant diced, 1 tomato diced, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp channa daal, 2 dried red chillies, a pinch of asafetida, 1 tbsp minced ginger, 1 medium green chili minced, a few curry leaves, 1 cup of tamarind juice (use a 1" ball of tamarind to extract the juice from), 1/2 tsp turmeric, salt, a little water

1. Splutter the mustard seeds in 2 tbsp of oil. Add the channa daal, asafetida, red chillies, and curry leaves and let the channa daal turn golden.
2. Add the ginger, green chilli, and turmeric.
3. Add the tomato and fry it a little. Add the eggplant.
4. Add the tamarind juice, and barely cover the eggplant with water. Add salt.
5. Let this simmer until it thickens.


Verdict: A repeat dish for sure.

Ven Pongal

Ven Pongal

Ingredients:
Raw rice - 2 cups
Green gram dhal - Half cup
2" piece of fresh ginger
one teaspoon jeera
one teaspoon pepper
Four tablespoon ghee
one spring of curry leaves
A pinch of asafotida

Method:

Wash the rice and dhal and add six cups water. Add grated ginger, salt and asafotida and pressure cook for three whistles. In a kadai, put four tablespoon ghee. When it is hot add cashew nuts, pepper and jeera crushed slightly, curry leaves and fry for a while. Add this to the cooked rice. Mix well.

Poori and potato masala

Poori and potato masala

In India, weekend breafasts would always be something extra special. One of them would be Poori masala. Wow...gone are those days. Just getting up and being served with hot food without even entering the kitchen. I wish I could rewind time.
But now,I still get the taste of the same poori masala except that I have to get up early (which I never like to do) and prepare things ahead of time.

I wish to share my story of how I made my first dough for poori. It was one of the first few days of my marriage when I wanted to impress my husband with my cooking. It was dinner time and I started to prepare the dough not knowing any measurements of flour and water. I kept on alternating flour and water to get the right consistency until I ended up in a quantity to feed a crowd.I kneaded the dough for 45 mins and my hands started to pain. Finally my husband came home to end my misery. We threw off everything and he prepared a new dough and fed me.
Did I mention ...My husband was the one who taught me everything about cooking. He fed me for one full month after our marriage and I faithfully took notes of what he did and here I am now....confidently posting my creations after 6 years of cooking experience.



Potato Masala
Ingredients:
Boiled potatoes- 4(medium size)
onion- 1 (medium,sliced)
tomato-1 (medium,chopped)
ginger- few bits
green chillies- 5(chopped)
turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
curry leaves
water
salt

Procedure:
Heat oil in kadai and splutter mustard seeds, urad dal and channa dal. Add onions,chillies,ginger,turmeric powder and curry leaves. Then put tomatoes and cook till soft. Now add mashed potatoes ,required salt and water. Bring to a boil. Serve with hot poori.


Poori:
Ingredients:
Atta - 1 cup
salt- as reqired
water
oil- 1tsp

Procedure:
Mix all with required water until you get a nice soft & thick dough. Take out small balls of the dough and spread it using a rolling pin. Puri has to be a little thick than what we do for chappathi. Heat oil in kadai and deep fry pooris.

Rava Dosa

Rava Dosa

Rava dosa is a favourite recipe in our house. I make this once every two weeks. There are different versions in the measurements of riceflour, sooji and maida and I have tried many. Somehow I am comfortable with this version as it is quick and easy to make. It tastes delicious with sambar and chutney.This is my entry to Pavani's Weekend Breakfast Blogging Event .

Ingredients

Riceflour-1 cup
Rava or sooji- ½ cup
Maida- ¼ cup
Salt to taste

For seasoning

Mustard seeds- ¼ tsp
Green chillie-1 chopped finely
Pepper- a few
Curry leaves- a few
Ginger- a small piece chopped finely
Coriander leaves- a few chopped finely
Onion- ½ chopped finely
Oil and ghee

Method

Mix the rice flour, maida and rava and add water and salt to it. The batter should be watery and flowing. Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, when it splutters add onions and other ingredients .Fry for 2 minutes till the onion turns transparent. Add this to the rava batter.
Heat the tawa (the tawa should be very hot while u are pouring the batter) and take one ladleful of batter and spread on the tawa starting from the sides and finishing off in the middle as rava dosa cannot be spreaded like ordinary dosa. Drizzle ½ tsp of oil and ¼ tsp of ghee on the sides. When it becomes golden brown turn it over.

Serve hot with sambar.

Note:

Make sure the batter is very thin(thinner than the dosa batter). If the batter becomes thick after making few dosas add little water to it.

Some people use equal amts of rice flour and sooji too.

Indian Recipes

Tiffin - Light in-betweens-

Upma Kozhakattai with Thuvaiyal

Kuli Paniyaram with FriedGram Chutney

Tomato Onion Uthappam

Soft Idlis and Vada Kari

Adai and pudina chutney

Murugal Dosai

Appam and vegetable kurma

Kothu Parotta and Pachidi

RAVA IDLY

Ven Pongal

Rava Dosa

Poori and potato masala

Venpongal Gotsu

Vazhakai Cutlet and Rose Milk

Mixed Vegetable Bonda

Saadam vagaigal - Rice

Sambar Sadam

SPECIAL TAMARIND RICE - TEMPLE STYLE(PULIOTHARAI)

Poondu satham / Garlic rice

Arisim Paruppu Satham

Pasipparuppu Sadam - Lentil Rice

Kushka – Spicy Rice cooked in coconut milk

Kootu-Lentil based curry's or sauces-

Peerkangai Kootu (Ridge Gourd Kootu)

Cabbage Kootu

Red Pumpkin Pal kootu/Poosinikai kootu

Yellow Pumpkin Curry/Poosanikai Curry

The Lean Veggie - Thengai paal kootu

Keerai Kootu

Chow Chow (Bangalore Kathirikai) Poricha Kuzhambu

Pudalangai/Snakegourd kootu

(Keerai Kadainjathu) - Fresh Greens Mashed

RAVA IDLY

RAVA IDLY

I tried this dish many times from various sites that almost turned out into bad results. Finally when i was talking to my friend in phone recently got the recipe...It came out good .

INGREDIENTS:

Rava - 3/4 cup

Vermicelli(semiya) - 1cup

Carrot - few bits(optional)

Peas - 10 (optional)

Yoghurt - 2cup ( if you wish,you can use 1&half cup curd,1/2 water)

Baking soda - a pinch(optional)

Cashew - 5-6(break into two bits)

FOR SEASONING:

Mustard
Curry leaves
Jeera
ginger -few bits
Green chilly -1 big
Peppercorns - 5-6


METHOD:

First season the things given in seasoning list and add chopped carrot and peas.(tip:Use more oil)

Fry the whole things, then add Rava and then lastly Vermicelli.


When you feel the aroma, off the stove, once it get cool mix all the ingredients with yoghurt.

Mix nicely now add a pinch of baking soda,cashew,salt.

Pour in the Idly mould and stream it,Serve hot with any chutney.

Rava idly is good to have while it is hot,adding vegetable will increase our interest on the recipe than having plain one.

Kothu Parotta and Pachidi

Kothu Parotta & Pachidi

Yes...You might have guessed it right. Kothu parotta is my next post. With parottas and chalna in hand what better dish can I think of? So, here you go ...the recipe of my all time favorite.

Ingredients:

cooked parotta- 3

onion- 1

ginger garlic paste- 1tsp

tomato-1

green chillies-3

turmeric- 1/4 tsp

curry leaves

eggs-2

chalna- 1 cup

Procedure:

Heat oil in kadai and fry pattai and cloves. Then add onions, ginger garlic paste, chillies,turmeric & curry leaves.When the onion gets cooked add tomato. saute for sometime. Then add parotta and fry for a minute. Now add eggs,salt and pepper. Blend everything together. When the egg is almost done add chalna and break eveything into small pieces using two spatulas. Check for seasonings. Finally add corriander leaves.

Appam and vegetable kurma

Appam and vegetable kurma

Last weekend I wanted to make something special for breakfast. Also I had lots of beans and carrots fresh from my garden. So after much thinking, decided to make appam and vegetable kurma. This will be my entry for saffron trails weekend breakfast blog event.

Aappam:

Ingredients:

Rice (preferably raw rice) – 2 cups
Cooked white rice – ½ cup
Coconut milk – ½ cup
Shredded coconut – 2 tbsp
Baking soda – ½ tsp
Salt – as needed
Oil – as needed

Method:

Soak rice for 4hrs. Drain the water and grind rice along with the cooked white rice, shredded coconut and coconut milk. Add as much as water needed while grinding to obtain the consitency of dosa batter. Ferment overnight in a warm place. I preheat the oven to 350F for 3-5 min and keep the batter in the oven overnight. The next morning add baking powder and salt to the batter and beat well and let it rest for 1hr. Heat a small round bottomed kadai, wipe it with a tissue dipped in oil and pour a ladleful of batter in the middle. Life the kadai and rotate in a circular motion so that the batter coats the sides of the kadai. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the kadai and serve hot with kurma or egg curry. Traditionally back home, appams are served with sweetened thin coconut milk.

Note: A typical appam will be crisp and thin on the edges and soft, fluffy and thick at the base, i.e, the center.

Vegetable kurma:

Ingredients:

Beans (chopped) – ¼ cup
Carrot (chopped) – ¼ cup
Peas – ¼ cup
Potato (cubed) – 1
Onions (chopped) – 2
Tomato (chopped) – 1
Garam masala – 1 tsp
Lime – ½
Salt – 1 needed
Oil – 2 tbsp

Paste ingredients:
khus khus (soaked)– 1 tbsp
Ginger – 2 inch cube
Garlic – 4 cloves
Green chillies – 3
Coconut (fresh or frozen) – ½ cup

Method:

Grind all the paste ingredients with enough water. Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add chopped onions. Fry till the onions turn golden brown and add tomatoes. Once the tomatoes are cooked add the ground paste, garam masala and salt. Once the raw smell of the ground paste disappears, add the chopped vegetables, 1 cup of water and pressure cook for 1 whistle. Wait till the pressure subsides and then open the lid and squeeze half a lemon and serve hot with rice or roti or idli or dosa or appam (the list continues) .

Onion rawa dosa

Onion rawa dosa

I love dosa's in any form be it rice dosa, wheat dosa or rawa dosa. This weekend I was craving for dosa and decided to make rawa dosa as it does not take a lot of time.

Ingredients:

Rawa (fine) - 2 cups
Rice flour - 1/2 cup
Maida - 1/4 cup
Butter milk - 1 cup
Salt - as needed
Onions (chopped finely) - 1
Green chillies (chopped finely) - 2
Coriander leaves (chopped finely) - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - tsp
Split urad dal - 1 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Oil - as needed to make dosa's

the batter

Method:

Mix rawa, rice flour, maida, salt with buttermilk and add enough water to make a paste in the same consistency as dosa batter. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, split urad dal and jeera. Once the mustard starts to splutter add chopped onions and green chillies. Fry till the onions turn translucent and then remove from heat and let it cool. Once this has cooled add it to the batter along with the chopped coriander leaves and let it rest for 15-30min. Heat a dosa tawa (flat griddle) and make dosa's with this batter. It tastes best if a tsp of ghee is used for each dosa. Serve hot with chutney and sambar of choice. I served mine with coconut chutney and onion chutney.

Murugal Dosai

Murugal Dosai

Ingredients :
1. Raw rice 2 cups
2. Boiled rice 2 cups (Ukkada chawal)
3. Ural dal 1 cup flattened
4. Methi seeds 2 tsp.
5. 1 table spoon Aval (Poha) , Rice flakes
6. Oil or ghee for frying


Wash cleanly twice before and soak all the ingredients except methi and Poha together.
To retain the medicinal value of methi wash once and add just enough water keep it separately.
Before grinding soak poha .(Optional)
Soak the above ingredients for at least 4 to 6 hours .
Grind it in the grinder or mixer adding methi seeds poha etc till fine.
Add salt allow it to ferment for about 8-10 hours.

Method:
1. Take a non-stick tawa apply little oil and wipe it with a cloth or paper.
2. Mix the batter briskly adding some water. Batter should be little thinner
than idli batter.
3. Pour this on a tawa and immediately spread in the circular motion till thin then add ghee or oil say one to 2 tsp in the dosa and keep the stove on the medium fire.
5. After browning of dosa take out and serve.
6. Follow the same procedure for the next dosa.