India trip 2022

 For most of us India trip means enjoying a lot of our childhood favorite foods in restaurants. We went there after 4 years. We were there during mid May and June. I suggest my friends not to travel there during summer as that's the hottest time in India. It's definitely not suitable for travel , if this is your first visit. But we know that and still chose that time as it was suitable for my hubby's work schedule and for me it was the perfect time as it was school holidays in India. During school holidays only Indians celebrate some family functions, tours etc also we can meet the family easily. Other times it's always busy there in my view.

 That summer felt like cool simla for us, with that much pampering and love showered by our friends and family there.  This is the first time I met my brother's son Bala and I got excited to see him. It is hard to describe my joy , when he came to me as soon as we met in the airport. He hugged me and with me and my hubby during our whole stay there, as if he knows us forever. He is such a loving cute baby and I have never seen anyone clinging to me like this after Shakthi. My sister inlaw Gowri prepared a lot of delicious Nagercoil foods for us. Some of our most favorites are her Ada payasam, paruppu sambar, okra fry and her passion to cook along with her busy schedule.  Here is a glimpse of our culinary journey in India along with some favorite clicks.

I prepared Rava laddoo for our travel and bought some pretzels, along with almost 5 lbs of chocolate as gift ☺️ 

Guava and kodukkapuli fruits

Indian mangoes are lip smacking delicious during summer. We had mangoes on all days there.

Lunch in a hotel in Puliayampatti near St.Anthony's church 

We got lot of 'Country hen eggs' as gift from my friend Sandhya amma and my chithi

I prepared a lot of omelettes there for us all.

Nattu kozhi biriyani - On most occasions, Hubby and myself bought one biriyani and 2 parottas and shared with each other.

Chennai Ashoknagar Anjappar 's Nattukoli biriyani and Nethili fish fry for lunch one day.

Poori and ghee roast in Adayar Ananda Bhavan near Guduvanchery . Breakfast along the way to Velankanni

Yummy Vegetarian meal we enjoyed in Mayiladuthurai

The rooms were really good in the 'Golden Sand hotel' in Velankanni

Golden sand hotel

Dinner in Velankanni church's restaurant. Dosa, sambar, chutney and fish fry. 

Their parking and Kerala restaurant are really good and classy.

Velankanni

Velankanni Shrine

Chicken biriyani and Fish fry in Kerala restaurant of Golden sand hotel was soooo yummy !

We had a lot of fish during this trip ☺️

salted spicy Green mango for travel

Mangosteen aand lychee on the way to Tirunelveli from Velankanni via ECR road

We tasted coconut sprouts for the first time and it was amazing. We paid Rs 200 for a sprout.

Snacks we bought : Athirasam, murukku, kaisutral murukku, mixture, butter murukku.

Manthi biriyani from 'Italian cuisine restaurant' of Tirunelveli. 

Naval palam / Jamuns we had in Tirunelveli.

Panankilangu (palmyra sprouts / tender roots) my favorite.

Myfather inlaw bought these yummy snacks as per my wish from Palayamkottai market: nungu, pathaneer, athirasam, thattai, onion vadai, paniyaram, murukku. These are all my most favorite ancient snacks of Tamilnadu. My hubby got his favorites too...mysore pak, laddu too.

We got pathaneer, panankilanku, karupatti on almost all days there ☺️

There is one tea shop near Mupanthal kavalkinaru (address). Our driver suggested it as one of the best if you are traveling from Tirunelveli to Trivandrum. They had prepared all the snacks like vadai, susiyam, tea with so much care that everything tasted like homemade. Their service was also very good. Don't miss it. 

The mutton bone kulambu and koottu I prepared in my inlaw's house.

Tirunelveli style mutton koottu

Aa fish stall near my inlaws' house in Tirunelveli, that's where we used to buy fish on alternate days.

Mari anna's daughter birthday dinner

Biriyani prepared by Mari anna's brother in law.

We went to Tiruchendur for our friend's daughter earring ceremony

Chicken biriyani, kothu parotta (also mutton sukka not in pic), we all had in hotel Prabhu in Tirunelveli Junction. That's my appa's as well as mama's favorite restaurant. Appa used to buy us parotta from there long back. 

Veg biriyani, cauliflower fry I made for my friend's gathering in Chennai.

Our vegetable shopping in chennai. Hubby bought me Vazhai thandu (banana stem) , drumstick, okra, avarakai as soon as we stepped in Chennai, as they are some of my favorite vegetables.

Vellore mullu kathrikai from one of our friend's farm. I cooked this red snapper Fish curry and brinjal poriyal and had it along with our friends. I cooked some dishes like 'neyar viruppam' for my whole neighborhood friends and we too got so many yummy treats from them. 

'The best gifts are always handmade with love'. My friend Jaya's talented daughter Bala painted this as gift for me.

Lunch I prepared for Anand family: Sambar, egg, avarakai poriyal, rasam,dal etc

Another party for our friends in neighborhood. I prepared chicken curry. Just like old times I . walked with my friend Jothi akka to the nearby chicken shop and bought fresh chicken and we all ate together. This is one of my most happy memories there.

Very glad to meet our friendly neighborhood butcher.

cooking with and for friends is always happy for me

Our kitchen , happy memories with lots of friends and family

Homemade foods starts getting tasty after few days of continuous hotel food. So I started preparing everything aat home. Dosai for dinner 

chithi's crispy ulunthu vadai, our favorite

Peanuts from another friend Velu sir's farm

whenever possible my hubby stopped the upcoming vegetable vendors and got me every veggie I liked. 

We visited and attended mass in the famous St.Thomas Mount church near our house

Wearing flowers everyday is my number one agenda and ranks top most in my 'India trip to do' list. Hubby will sit in the front verandah in his favorite couch and watch out for flowers, veggie, fruits along with working in his computer ☺️

I was excited to prepare some garland for our neighborhood Vinayagar along with my friend's family

 Trivandrum

My thambi and Gowri took us to some nice sightseeing in Kerala. I wanted to see a palace there...some palace....so they took us to this most amazing palace 'Kuthiramalika'

Lulu mall

Peacock in thambi's backyard . We gave her some lemon rice :)

 On the way back home.....

We had lunch in hotel Chitra in Marthandam, which is also very good. 

Snacks gifted by my thambi for us to take home to USA.

We stayed in a nice hotel in Trivandrum before departure, as it was so closer to airport.

Veg meals I had in Hotel kingsway

Chicken biriyani for my hubby dear

'Vaango restaurant' in New Delhi airport.  Ghee roast we had in the middle of the night before boarding Air India flight to USA. Don't forget to eat before boarding. That's really an useful tip if you are new to travel.

Back to everyday life in USA. Lemon rice and carrot fry  - lunch box ☺️

Things we bought / gifts for us from India.

Along with these a lot of night wear, churidar, some sarees also I got.

Hot and spicy Oats pepper Pongal

ஓட்ஸ் மிளகு பொங்கல் . Spicy oats for breakfast is always welcomed in many houses. I prepare this quick and easy breakfast for us often. I cooked the old fashioned oats and green gram in Instant pot. After releasing the pressure I would garnish it with spices as usual like how we do the ordinary ven pongal. But we can make it using any kind of oats and we can do the tempering before pressure cooking too. Anyways the pongal tastes amazing. Here is my version of the oats Pongal recipe. 

Hot and spicy Oats pepper Pongal with coconut chutney

Oats pongal made in Instant pot

Ingredients: (2 servings)
Oats - 1 1/4 cup
pink / white salt - 1/2 tsp (to taste)
(we can use rolled oats, quick or old fashioned or steel cut oats)
Moong dal - 1/4 cup
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
asafoetida (hing) - a pinch
ghee - 1 tsp (or sesame oil)
black pepper - 1 tsp
crushed black pepper - 1 tsp
curry leaf - 1 sprig
cumin - 1/2 tsp
cashew nuts -3 (break into tiny pieces)
ginger - 1 inch 

Method:

Pressure cook together green gram (moong dal), oats, 2 cups water, salt, turmeric powder, hing in instant pot (electric cooker) for 2 minutes. Or in regular pressure cooker for 2 whistles.

To temper: In a small wok, heat 1 tsp ghee. Add whole black pepper , cumin, cashew and wait till cashew turns golden. Then add minced ginger, curry leaf. Pour it over the cooked items and give it a stir.

Sprinkle crushed black pepper for taste. Enjoy piping hot pepper oats pongal with coconut chutney or sambar.

Hot and spicy pepper pongal is ready !

Serving suggestion:

Serve as breakfast or any meal.

Makes 2 generous servings.

Instant pot (electric cooker) version:

Start the recipe with tempering. Then add water and all the items mentioned for pressure cooking.

Pongal gets cooked in 2 min pressure cook setting.

Calories:

Oats (quaker old fashioned) 1/2 c - 150 cal

ghee 1 tsp - 90 cal

moong dal 1/4 c - 120 cal

1 cashew - 9 cal

total (approx) = 612 /2 = 300 to 320 cal per person approximately.

🌷🌷🌷🎂Happy New Year🎂 🌷🌷🌷

Wishing all a Happy and prosperous New Year filled with blessings, health, wealth, wisdom, love and happiness ! 

Merry Christmas 🌷🌷🌷

Wishing all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷

Brinji

Brinji is a flavored rice popular in Chennai.  It is a cousin sister of the popular ghee rice, pulav, kuska, veg briyani and tomato rice. There are many kinds of rices in India with a garam masala flavor. The south Indian Ghee rice is prepared without tomato, while kuska is cooked with some soup (if it is non veg kuska). Brinji is something like 'vegetable briyani' minus the vegetables and coconut. As far as I know , Chennai people do not use much coconut milk or ghee in their cooking. So obviously brinji should be made with simple ingredients like a pack of store bought 'whole garam masala sachet', ginger garlic, onion, tomato etc. 

In Chennai, they usually serve this with onion raitha for breakfast cum lunch or dinner. But if served in weddings, they would serve this brinji as a tiny scoop along with a kurma and potato chips before serving the white rice for sambar. I prepare it very rarely, but we love it very much.Mostly I cook rice and sambar or some non veg curry during weekends. Nowadays my hubby dear always wants different and newer variety of foods, as we are all eating 100% home cooked meals since 2020. The following recipe is for 4.

Brinji rice with tandoori chicken and onion raitha

cook soy chunks in hot water

soak rice at room temp for 10 -15 mins

ingredients 

whole spices getting saute`ed

onion sauteed

adding ginger garlic paste

Ingredients:
Basmati rice - 2  1/2 cup (approx 500 gm or 1 lb)
peanut oil - 1/2 cup
Onion - 2 big (250 gm)

tomato - 2 big (300 gm)

green chili - 5

Soy chunks - 1 cup

Salt - to taste

curd - 1 cup 

cilantro , mint leaf - handful

Paste 1:
Ginger - 2 inch
garlic - 10 pearls

For tempering:

fennel - 1 tbsp

cinnamon - 2 inch , 

1 star aniseed, 

cashews - 5,

Sea weed (kalpaasi) - a small piece

a small chip of Nutmeg (jathikkai) 

1/4 of a mace (jaathi pathiri) 

raisin - 10 

bay leaf - 2 

cardamom - 4

cloves - 4.

Powders:

turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

coriander powder - 2 tsp

red chili powder - 1/2 tsp 

garam masala / briyani powder - 1 tsp

Method:

Wash and soak the rice for 15 minutes.  I recommend doing this while we start chopping the onion.

Keep aside the stuffs given under tempering in a bowl.

Peel and grind ginger garlic together.

Slice the onion lengthwise.

Chop tomato into big cubes and chili to long slices.

chop mint, cilantro.

Bring 3 cups of water to boil. Add soy chunks and cook it. Drain water and keep it handy.

Heat oil in a wide vessel (heavy bottomed).

Add the tempering items. 

As the fennel gets mild red, add onion and saute' till it gets mild pink (not brown). 

Add the ginger garlic paste.

Saute for 15 seconds and add chopped tomato, chili, mint, cilantro and cook well till oil separates.

Add curd, saute for a minute.

Add turmeric powder, coriander powder, red chili powder, garam masala / briyani powder, cooked soya chunks and cook covered for a minute.

Add the soaked rice and stir well.

Add required salt (I add 1/2 tsp per cup of rice).

Pour water until it covers the rice and an inch of water stands above. Stir gently to mix everything well.

Bring to a high boil. Let it simmer in low flame and wait till all water is almost absorbed. Don't stir.

Close the vessel with a tight lid. Cook at low flame for 10 minutes. 

Open and check if the rice is cooked,

Brinji rice is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Serve as main course meal (lunch or dinner) along with raitha.

This is a non spicy rice dish. So serve this with any curry of choice.

Happy Vijaya Dasami, Dussehra 🌷🌷🌷🌷

 Wishing all my readers Happy Navaratri and prosperous Vijaya Dasami !

அனைவருக்கும் எங்கள் மனமார்ந்த இனிய நவராத்திரி , தசரா , விஜயதசமி நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள்!

                                                    வாழ்க வளமுடன் ! 🌷Viki Xavier 🌷

Ragi protein drink

 Aadi month is famous for Ragi Kool(zh). Here is my version of ragi drink with protein. 

Ragi protein drink

Ingredients:

Ragi powder - 2 tsp

whole greengram powder - 1 tbsp

cardamom powder - a pinch

brown sugar - 2 tsp

shredded coconut - 1 tbsp

fat free milk - 1/2 cup (optional)

water - 2 1/2 cup

Method:

Dry roast the ragi, greengram powder together in a wok till it smells good (1 min).

Let cool for 5 minutes.

Add water + milk little by little and mix thoroughly.

Pour it into a saucepan (optional)

Start heating and mix to avoid sticking at bottom.

Add cardamom powder, sugar, coconut and mix well.

Serve hot as health drink.

Makes 3 cups.

Note:

In this recipe, I have added green gram powder (moong / paasi payaru). Instead we can dry roast whole urid dal or almond powder or peanut powder too. 

Perfect crunchy Plantain chips in Airfryer

Plantain chips and Kerala are much associated. Anyone who visits there would buy definitely buy these chips. There they fry the plantain slices in coconut oil and the elevates the chips to a whole new level.

I usually fry the chips in peanut oil or corn oil before buying the airfryer. Click to see my fried traditional plantain chips. 

I tried baking the chips in cookie sheets, but it takes much time and also the quality differs. But if you want to bake it more perfectly , use a copper wire basket. 

I used to have another airfryer (Bella brand) and it was good too. But we could do in small batches only. Recently we bought this Ninja foodie 6 in 1 indoor grill during Thanksgiving from Kohls. After that airfrying has become more easier because of that large surface area.  We donated our previous airfyer and started using the Ninja grill regularly. 

Instead of the regular mandalin  (see below my mom's grandmas's chips kattai, which I am keeping as treasure. It's made of palakattai - jackfruit tree wood, I heard), I have used cuisinart food processor slicer attachment.  This food processor comes really handy and saves much time and it's one of my most favorites. 

I won't say that the airfried chips tastes exactly the same as fried kerala chips, but still this tastes super crunchy and delicious. Nowadays we love and prefer airfrying better than deep fried ones :) 

Perfect crunchy plantain chips in airfryer

Slightly remove the skin of plantain

Plantain chips sliced in cuisinart food processor

Amma's Achi's bajji / chips slicing mandalin

 

Mix salt, oil , turmeric powder

Note how I arranged them in 2 layers. 

Chips made at 330 (tastes perfect but needs more color, so we slightly rise the heat)

Increase the heat to get crunchy perfect colored chips

Perfect crunchy plantain chips in airfryer

Repeat !

Ingredients:
Unripe plantain (long variety) - 1 or as per need
coconut oil or olive oil (any oil) - 1 tbsp
turmeric powder - 1 /2 tsp (optional)
salt - 1 tsp
(Red chilly powder - little for garninshing)


Method:
Peel the skin of plantain gently , leaving behind some thick skin on.  If using an adjustable type slicer, then set the screw to make medium thin to thick chips for plantain. Slice the plantains and keep handy.
In the mean time , preheat the airfryer . Set the temperature to 330 C and 10 minutes. 

Add salt, turmeric powder, oil to the sliced plantain and mix gently.
After the preheating is done , it will show 'ADD FOOD'. Then open the top and arrange the chips in single layer. After covering the entire tray, arrange another layer in zig zag fashion over the first layer. Never dump all chopped slices in a hurry. This may take some time, but still worth it.

Close the hood and wait till 3 minutes is left. Open and check. Toss using a tongs and increase to 345 C , to get a pretty color. 

Take out and gather the chips in a bowl (don't close it with lid).

Likewise repeat and airfry all the chips.
Put the chips in a container and sprinkle little salt and chilly powder. Shake and mix well.
Keep open to cool completely before putting the lid.
Store at room temperature.
Plantain chips is ready.


Serving suggestion:
Serve as snack or side dish with any rice.

Note:
The success of homemade chips (plantain or potato), lies in the following:
1. the thickness of the chips - For deep frying - medium thin to thick chips

                                            For Air frying - slice them thin (not wafer thin)
2. The quality of vegetable used. (fresh is the best). Yethan kaai (Plantain) is the best. Matured and little ripe is also good. We can see them at Aldi and many American grocery stores in USA.
3. Arrange the chips one by one in single layer and then arrange another layer over it. Do not crowd or dump on fryer basket (they will definitely stick with each other).