Beetroot greens poriyal

Some years back, when I saw these fresh bunches of beets for the first time in a farmers' market, it became my center of attraction. Personally I think this beetroot is a gorgeous vegetable and I like all those who say 'YES' to this cutie. Mostly no one in my dad's house likes it , except for my Annapazham paatti, who was a great story teller in our native village. Rarely she visits our home and I would be eagerly waiting for her timeless tales. Whenever we start having this fry, she would say the same like me 'Most gorgeous vegetable in the world' and no wonder all the kids would start finishing that fry in no time.

Ok, we all know to cook a beetroot in our own way. But I have never used its greens till I landed in this country. My hometown which was known for its hot weather even in the winters could not supply me the beetroot with its leaves . But except for these fancy vegetables (English vegetables we say), that region is blessed with a lot of vegetation like brinjal, tiny tomatoes, chillies, turmeric,dhal, paddy fields and all the native Indian vegetables can be got fresh there.
(Yeah, I can never call it heat and dust. Such is the power of your home..right!)

So coming back to the fry. Without knowing the recipe , I had many doubts on that taste. Even I sent queries to my favorite cookery show hostess , Mrs. Revathy Shanmugam , if it is edible:) May be she was busy, so couldn't get the reply till my greens were fresh. So I just prepared a stir fry of its leaves (leaves alone, not the stem) along with a small beetroot. (Look at that cute bunch!).

It was amazing and I served it to my hubby saying the same words of that granny. No wonder he too started liking the beetroot. Touch of an Angel..huh:)

Fresh bunch of beetroot with greens.

Beetroot greens stir fried with a beetroot.

Ingredients: (for two people)
Beetroot greens - 1 bunch (15 leaves)
Beetroot - 1 (150 gm)
Shallot / red onion (chopped) - 1/2 cup
garlic - 5 cloves
shredded coconut - 1/4 cup
mustard - 1/2 tsp
oil (sesame / coconut oil) - 1 tbsp
cumin - 1/2 tsp
dry red chilly - 2

Method:
Pluck the leaves and young stem alone. Discard the tougher stalk. Remove the skin of beetroot.

Wash and clean the greens, beetroot. Chop them separately.
(Beets should be chopped into small cubes of 1/2 inch).

Heat oil / ghee in a wok. Add the mustard seeds and let it splutter.
Chop the onion, garlic, chillies, curry leaf (optional) finely and add to the wok.
Stir till onion turns soft.

Add the finely chopped beetroot and cook closed with a handful of water for 5 minutes.
Open the lid. Let all the moisture dries up.

Now add the finely chopped greens and stir fry till the greens get cooked.

Add salt, cumin and fry a bit. After the poriyal looks very loose without any moisture, switch off.
Then put the freshly shredded coconut.

Beetroot keerai poriyal is ready!

Serving suggestions:
The perfect combination can be with sambar rice ,vatral kuzhambu rice etc.

Thengai bun ( Coconut bun)

Thengai means Coconut. A popular stuffed bread available in the bakeries of Tirunelveli , Tuticorin (TN, India) and other places South to it. Usually they stuff the bread with sweetened coconut, raisins, cashews, cherries and left over fruit cake some times.

This is one of the snacks we usually buy in my father's house for evening tea. I love the way my mother used to keep a snack every evening while we return home from school. She was so dedicated and caring in such a way that at least she would buy some goodies from the nearby bakery for us:) When I told my hubby of those fond memories after marriage, he started bringing me my sweet breads when he comes to pick me up from the University, so that I won't starve till I reach home...hi..hi. Those were the touching moments , he waiting to pick me up after work and myself feeling embarrassed to do so. That was the most sweet bread any one can get..right!

So whenever we talk of our home town's specialties , this bun will make a great topic for us. We both are crazy for this but I never know a recipe to try it. So I tried a version myself with the pizza base and it came out fantastic. May be a bread dough can also work here. I don't know the exact recipe for that bread, but this gives me the exact taste and no wonder we enjoyed it to the core:)

Here is that special thengai bun for you all!

Thengai bun before slicing.


Sliced thengai bun , ready to eat:)

Ingredients:
Pizza base (or) bread dough - enough to make a medium size pizza.
butter - 1 tsp
egg white - 1 tbsp
water - 1 tsp

For stuffing:
Sweetened coconut - 1 1/2 cup
(I used store bought one. But we can make it at home by stirring 1 1/4 cup coconut with 1/4 cup sugar till it becomes dry).
raisins - 10
cashew - 10
cherry - 5 (halved)
cardamom powder - 1/8 tsp

Method:
Preheat the oven to 425 deg F.

Divide the dough into two equal portions.
Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Grease it with butter (1/2 tsp).

Mix all the stuffing items. Let them cool, if we prepared the sweetened coconut at home.

Take one ball of the dough. Flatten it a circle of 1 inch thickness and almost 1/2 feet dia.
Place it on the sheet. Spread the stuffing uniformly.

Make a similar circle with the other half and cover the stuffing.
Gently fold the edges without any opening there.
Coat a 1/2 tsp butter over the top.

Make a few slits at the top to make vent.

Mix the egg with water and coat the top (Egg wash).
Egg wash makes the bread shiny and more brown and it is purely optional.

Place it in oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes or till the top starts turning red.

Take out and slice it (into 4 or 5 pieces) after cooling a little.

Thengai bun is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve as dessert or snack.
I like it instead of regular pizza for dinner:)

Variations:

I won't use egg wash (don't wanna waste that yellow portion...hi..hi). A coat of butter / ghee will give a shiny brown top. Broiling will make it more gorgeous.
Some bakeries add scrambled fruit cake (that goes as waste or less priced snack), to this stuffing and make it like a less coconuty bun. That will also be tasty.

Idly Podi (flavorful version)

Idly podi - A kind of 'spicy hot' powder prepared in South Indian house hold and stocked up for a quick side dish for Idly. Usually it is mixed with sesame oil while serving. Otherwise, the host will serve the podi along with idly. The guest is expected to make a small indentation in the center of the (heaped) podi to allow the host to pour some sesame oil in it. Then the guest can mix it with the oil using the index finger and start tasting the idly by dipping it in 'podi ennai' (podi mixed with oil).

I have seen many people mixing the oil and podi in a separate bowl before serving. This too holds good.

There are many ways to prepare a Idly podi. I am describing a more flavorful method adopted in my house. This is my mom's version. But after marriage I started adding tamarind to it as per my hubby's grandma's method. I think adding tamarind is a deep South trend and it makes the podi more tasty and versatile (see my tips below for other uses of podi).

The ingredients for 'Idly podi' dry roasted and kept to cool.

Idly podi stocked up and presented along with sesame oil.

To make 1/4 kg Idly podi (approx):
Ingredients:
Channa dhal (Kadalai paruppu)- 100 gm (1/2 cup)
Urad dhal (black gram) - 100 gm (1/2 cup)
Dry red chilly - approximately 20 to 25 numbers
(I used Indian long dry red chillies )
(Reduce chillies if you need a lesser spicy version)
Curry leaf - 2 sprig
Tamarind - 2 inch (optional)
salt - to taste (untreated sea salt is best here)
garlic - 4 cloves
Asafoetida (hing / Perunkaayam) - 2 pinch

Method:
Heat a wok and dry roast the curry leaves till they turn crispy. Keep aside.

Again heat the wok. Add the urad dhal and dry roast till we get a nice aroma with the dhal turning mild red. Take it out immediately.

Now start roasting the channa dhal, garlic, tamarind and take it out as the dhal turns mild red.

Now add the salt, red chillies. Dry roast till the chillies loose all the moisture and becomes crispy. Add the hing and switch off immediately.
(Adding the salt with red chillies prevent us to get the hot flavors. Otherwise we may start sneezing. So roast the chillies at the end along with salt).

Put the roasted chillies along with the others above and let them cool completely.

After they get cooled, grind them to a medium fine powder using a coffee grinder / mixer. Store in air tight container (even at room temperature). Holds good for more than a month or two.

Idly podi is ready!

Serving suggestions / tips:
Take a tbsp of podi, mix well with enough sesame oil / ghee and serve as side dish with Idly or dosai.
The fresh podi tastes more always. So prepare them in small batches according to need.
Idly coated with this 'podi-ennai' (podi+oil) tastes great and makes a good packed lunch for long journey. It won't get spoiled for a day.
The podi can also be mixed with cooked rice and a drop of ghee as main course meal.
We can use this podi in making side dishes like poriyal also.

Mutton kheema curry

I am sure many of you will love to get a grand breakfast on festive days or Sundays. In my hometown, they prepare many delicacies like liver curry (eeral kuzhambu), mutton kuruma , paya (goat leg kuruma) etc along with idly / dosa to honor the guests. I have seen the grannies starting to slow cook the goat leg even before the dawn. Mostly the Sons in law are always lucky there to enjoy such a nice feast. Anyway we ladies have to struggle in the kitchen even on the festivals.

Though I prefer to make a mutton kuruma for idly for my guests, I don't like the long hours, the mutton takes to get cooked. So I prefer to make liver kuzhambu or the mutton kheema, which gets cooked in 30 minutes (without pressure cooking).

So here is that simple , yet delicious mutton kheema curry.

Ingredients:
Minced mutton (kheema)- 1 lb
onion - 1 big (or) shallot - 15
curry leaf - 2 sprig
ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsp
Tomato - 2 (big)
mint, cilantro - a handful each
coconut milk - 2 cup (from 1/2 coconut)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
garam masal powder - 1 tbsp
red chilly powder - 1 tbsp
coriander powder - 3 tsp
Sesame oil - 1/4 cup
Fennel seed - 1 tsp
cinnamon - 2 inch

Method:
Buy a well minced mutton kheema. Wash and clean once. Remove the sediments , if present.(If we cannot get the minced meat, then we can grind the boneless mutton in a mixer instead).

Heat oil in a wok. Add the fennel, cinnamon and let it get red.

Then add the finely chopped onion, curry leaf and fry till the onion becomes golden brown.

Next put the ginger garlic paste and cook till raw smell vanishes (30 seconds).

Then add the finely chopped tomato and saute till oil separates.

Add the cleaned minced meat fry for some time, till we see the fat changes color. Add all the powders said above, add some water to cover the meat.

Cover and cook till the meat gets cooked. Wait till we see oil starts separating, if we need a thick curry. (we can use it as such if needed).

Pour the coconut milk and adjust the salt, water .

Switch off. Mutton kheema curry is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve as side dish with idly, dosa, chapathi, ghee rice, biryani etc.
Serves 5 people.

Porikadalai laddu

Here is a sweet that we can prepare in a jiffy!

Other names: Pottu kadalai ladoo, maladu, nei laddu, nei urundai, dalia ladoo.



Ingredients:
Puffed channa dhal - 1 cup
sugar - 1 cup
(sugar : dhal = 1:1 ratio)
ghee - 1 cup
cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
cashew nut - 10
raisin - 10

Method:
Dry grind the puffed channa dhal and sugar to a fine powder.
Mix the cardamom powder with it.

Heat a tsp of ghee and fry the cashews, raisins. Mix it with the powdered dhal.

Melt the ghee.

Mix it with the powdered dhal little by little and make small key-lime size balls while it is hot. (Melt the ghee then and there while preparing the ladoo).

Pottu kadalai ladoo is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve as snack.
It can be stored in air tight container for a week.
Makes 12 ladoos (approx).

Alternative method:
I made this ladoo for a quick snack and changed the recipe by reducing the ghee. But the traditional method explained above tastes better than my healthy version. Anyway if you need some snack with less ghee follow mine:).

Here I have added only 1 tbsp ghee. Replaced the ghee by very little milk, as the addition of milk with sugar makes it easy.

But this ladoo won't last long in room temperature, because of the addition of milk.

Ulunthu vadai

When I was searching something else in my blog I found out that I am missing one of the most cherished delicacies of India, the 'Ulunthu Vadai'. Then only I realized the old picture remaining in my draft for a very long time.

Ulunthu vadai is a kind of spicy snack available in India along with hot tea or coffee.

Now it is the time to recollect something behind this recipe for my younger brother, who always looks for my nostalgic anecdotes:) It is my mom's most favorite snack and she used to prepare it along with coffee whenever we have a guest. She used to cut a small piece of banana leaf from our garden and use it as the surface to flatten the vadai. Very rarely I have seen her using a well washed empty milk sachet (Aavin milk cover) to flatten the vadai. But vadai made over a banana leaf is always a pleasant sight to me:)

My grandmas' cousin (Sulochana Achi) taught me to do it with just one hand, without any base to flatten the dough. I find it much useful after practice and thanks to her, everyone in my family loves my vadai. I love the way my father in law appreciates my vadai. After marriage I planted some plantain trees in our backyard just for leaves and tried my best to serve the meals over banana leaf for my in laws, who absolutely love the native food.

Along with the most favored food comes the best memories too. Right!

Hot crispy urid dal vadai served with chutney. Save some for thayir vadai:)

Vadai mavu (batter)

Vadai batter - Urid dhal soaked and ground to a fine paste.

Ingredients: (For 12 small size vadai)
Urid dhal - 1 cup (200 gm)
Oil (peanut oil / corn oil) - 200 ml
Shallot / red onion (chopped) - 1/2 cup
green chilly - 2 (finely chopped)
cumin - 1/4 tsp
whole black pepper - 1 tbsp + 1 tsp
curry leaf - 1 sprig
Ginger - 1 tsp (finely chopped) -> (I don't add it)

Method:
Wash the urid dhal twice thoroughly. Soak the urid dhal in cold water for 1 to 1 1/2  hours. Grind it to a fine paste with very little water. The final consistency should be like the above photo. Imagine the consistency of soften butter to get the correct batter(vadai mavu).

Add the required salt + 1 tsp black pepper and grind again for a while.

Pour the batter to a mixing bowl. Taste and adjust the salt now.
Mix the finely chopped onion, green chilly, curry leaf , whole pepper, cumin with the batter.

Heat the oil in a wok. Wait till it reaches the hottest point. Reduce the flame to medium.

Wet a plastic sheet or banana leaf (small square). Take a small ball of batter , place it on the sheet, gently flatten it and make a small hole at the center.

Deep fry the vadai in medium heat till it gets the golden red color.

Drain the oil , take out and place on kitchen towel / multi holed basin to drain excess oil.

Ulunthu vadai is ready!

Serving suggestions;
Serve with coconut chutney along with hot coffee or tea in the evening.
Also makes a good side dish with Idly, Venn pongal, sarkarai pongal etc.

Tips for a perfect ulunthu vadai:
Making ulunthu vadai is always a challenge for many. So I insist on the following points whenever any one asks me.

1.Always use unsplit, whole skinless urid dhal for making vada and idly. (If we are using split dhal with skin then increase the amount of dhal while soaking. But we can't get more fluffy batter with them).

2.It is better to soak the dhal inside fridge. The purpose is to prevent fermentation of urid dhal, as leaving the batter in hot weather results in little fermentation, which makes the vadai absorb more oil while frying. So I always soak it inside fridge.

3.The batter can be prepared 2 days earlier, but should be kept inside fridge till we add onion and fry.

4.Never add more water to grind the batter. The vadai batter made using Indian grinder yields more number of vadai than that of the Indian mixer made. Most days I use mixie to prepare my batter, sometimes my Ultra grinder (after 2014).

5.If the vadai batter becomes little watery,add a tbsp or more of rice flour. But it will reduce the taste. So leave the watery batter overnight in fridge to remove the excess water.

6.The vadai should be crispy in the outer layer and soft at the inside. So fry it in medium heat. Never allow the oil till smoking point.

7. Always use a thick iron wok to deep fry the vadai, it helps in uniform cooking . This is done to avoid the batter uncooked in the center of the vadai.

A day with Butter fish !

Hope many of you know my passion to cook sea food. So I look for an opportunity to buy newer and cuter fish varieties whenever I visit a nearby Asian market.
Last time I saw a pack of fresh 'butter fish' at a great deal. Believe me, I got some 6 fishes in that pack for just $3. Suddenly I grabbed it and started planning something gorgeous. I couldn't think of anything beyond my usual curry and fry. But wished to make it a post for the fish-lovers out there:)

Do you know the fish curry tastes amazing the next day and it will make a great pair with idly? So the next time if you make meen kulambu,  make some extra servings. Ok:)

I prepared a fish curry with 2 fishes and did a 'full fish fry' using the remaining four fishes. The result was awesome and it reminded me of the 'Besant Nagar beach' (Chennai, India) style fish fry. Here are some pictures and recipes to enjoy:)

Translation: Butter fish -> Karapudi meen , kuthippu (Tamil).

Yes buddies! We had a superb fish meal on that day and the next day breakfast was a memorable one too:)

Have a beautiful week ahead!

Deal of the day:)

Fishes marinated in masala and lime juice.
(Mmmm...shall I fry 4 fishes or the whole lot? Ok. Lets make some gravy too).


Fishes getting deep fried.


Full fish fry arranged for lunch:)

Ingredients:
Butter fish (whole)- 4
Oil to deep fry - 200 ml

lemon - 1/2
salt - to taste (approximately 1 tsp)
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
coiander powder - 3 tsp
black pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
tumeric powder- 1/2 tsp (for coating the fish)

Cleaning the fish:
Wash the fish and remove all the fins and scales by a sharp knife.
Make a small longitudinal slit under the jaw and remove the inner parts.
Remove the mouth and gills (red flower like part inside the jaw).
Apply little turmeric powder over the fish and keep aside.

Make small slits in slanting manner (2 or 3) on both sides of the fish.

Method:
Squeeze lemon and mix all the masalas given above except the fish and oil.
(Lemon makes the fish stiff , removes bad odor and discourages breaking of fish while frying).

Apply this mixture all over the fish and dab some masala inside the fish too. Marinate it for 1 hour .
Heat oil in a broad pan. Reduce the flame to medium. Put the pieces one or two at a time and fry both sides crispy. Do this in low flame for a long time, so that the masala inside the fish also gets cooked up.
Drain and take out the fried fishes.

Full fish fry is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot with rice and Meen Kulambu (Fish curry).
It also goes fine with rasam or paruppu kulambu, with rice.

Meen Kulambu :

The other two fishes were made into a curry along with boiled eggs.

Fish curry Preparation:
(To make 3 cups of thick gravy)

Items required:
Butter fish - 2 (300 gm)
sesame oil - 2 tbsp
mustard seeds- 1 tsp
fenugreek seeds- 1/2 tsp
Tamarind - 1 small lemon size
Red chilly powder -1.5 tsp
coriander powder- 3 tsp
turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
tomato - 2
green chillies - 2
curry leaves- 2 sprigs.

To grind:
shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
shallot - 8
cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Cleaning the fish:
Wash the fish and remove all the fins and scales by a knife.
Make a small longitudinal slit under the jaw and remove the inner parts.
Remove the mouth and gills (red flower like part inside the jaw).
Then slice it into big chunks. Try to use the head portion, which will add extra oiliness and add to the taste of the curry. Wash again.
Apply little turmeric powder over the fish and keep aside.

Curry preparation:
Extract juice from tamarind and add chilli powder, coriander powder, pinch of turmeric powder, salt and mix well.Keep aside.

Heat the sesame oil in vessel. (Fish curry prepared in earthen vessel tastes good).Add mustard and fenugreek seeds. After the mustard seeds crackle add the curry leaves .

Then add chopped tomato and saute till oil separates.
Add tamarind juice mixture and let it boil for 5 minutes.
Then add the finely ground coconut-onion paste.
Immediately after this starts boiling add the fish pieces.
cover the vessel and simmer the heat.

Keep the curry gets cooked in simmer heat for 15 minutes.
DO NOT stir the curry after adding the fish, otherwise you may end up with broken pieces.
Then put off fire.Garnish with chopped green chillies and curry leaves.

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot with rice , chapathi or Idly or dosai .
Deep fried fish, omelet ,ripe mango are good side dishes along with meen kuzhambu and rice.

Stromboli (Veg)

Last year we had the 'stromboli' for the first time in a restaurant in Philadelphia. Click to read more on stromboli and its origin. On that day the options were minimum as we prefer vegetarian foods only during travel:) So while browsing through the menu this was very catchy and we enjoyed every bit of this spicy hot roll. I don't know what made me crazy for this stromboli, whether the tiresome travel or that unbearable hunger....whatever it may be, I became addicted to this :) From then on, I wished to create one myself and had tips from here and here. Thank you buddies!

To my surprise the process was very easy and I am sure any one can make a great dinner with this simple recipe. Wish to make this stromboli more often:)

Ingredients:
Pizza dough - to make a medium size pizza

Filling:
Spinach - 3 cups (chopped)
kale leaf or any other green- 2 cups (chopped)
red bell pepper- 1/2 cup
olives - 5
olive oil - 1 tbsp
garlic - 2 (crushed)
red chilly flakes - 1 tsp
salt - 1/8 tsp
mozzarella chesse - 1/2 cup

Heat oil in a wok. Fry the garlic and chilly flakes lightly. Now add the chopped vegetables and greens except olives. saute them with salt till they loose the moisture.

Let them cool. Add the cheese, chopped olives . The filling is ready.

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 deg F.

Divide the dough into two. Take one and flatten the pizza dough to 3/4inch thick rectangle / oval shape.

Grease an aluminum foil and place the base. Spread the above filling leaving 1 cm gap in all the edges.


Gently roll and make a log shape . Place the log such that the seam faces down.


Make slits in the top using a sharp knife.


Spread some cheese (1 tbsp) over the stromboli. (Likewise prepare the next half dough too).

Bake for 15 minutes or till golden.



Take out, slice them into 6 inch pieces and serve hot.

Stromboli is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve as lunch / dinner with marinara sauce or tomato sauce.

Tips:
The fillings can be done in many ways with cooked meat, vegetables etc.
An egg wash over the stromboli before baking will yield a shiny crust. I didn't do the egg wash part.

Anchovy fish fry

If you are a great fan of sea food and belong to Chennai, then you won't need an introduction to this crispy starter, the deep fried anchovies (Nethili meen varuval). In Chennai (Madras), India the restaurants like Madurai Appu, Ponnusamy,Velu military hotel,Pandyas, Anjappar (the list goes on....)are known for their exotic non-veg menus. So don't miss a plate of these crispy anchovies if you get a chance.

I have seen some restaurants serving the full anchovy (with head , tail and small fins too) removing the tract. Believe me this kind will taste great. But I have to remove most of the parts because of my Xav:) He hates fish head and I love it ...weird huh:)So if you are like me, then use the whole fish.

Mostly I prefer non vegetarian buffets while visiting my favorite Indian restaurants. The power of the Indian starters like tandoori chicken , kebab, fish fry will be such that one cannot get satisfied with a single selection of starter:)
I know many of you are like me and so here is an attractive dish to satisfy our palates:)

Anchovy fish deep fried.

Ingredients:
Anchovy fish (nethili meen)- 1 lb
(1 kg will approximately yield 80 big size anchovies)
Salt - to taste (1 1/2 tsp)
Red chilly powder - 1 tbsp
cumin powder - 1tsp
coriander powder - 1tbsp
lemon juice / vinegar - 2 tbsp
rice flour - 2 tbsp (for crispiness)
Red food color - 1/10 tsp (optional)
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Oil to deep fry - 200 ml

How to clean anchovy fish?
Wash and clean the anchovies to remove any sand or impurities. Rinse it in large amount of water thrice to remove the sand, if bought fresh.

Then remove or retain the head as per taste. (If you are frying them, then the head will taste great). Cut and remove the tail. Slit gently in the boneless side to remove the (greenish) digestive tract.

Again rinse once. Apply 1 tsp turmeric powder and keep aside.

The anchovies are ready for cooking now.

Method:
Add all the powders, salt, food color, lemon juice and mix well.
Mix this with the cleaned anchovies and marinate for an hour.
We can fry them immediately also.

Heat oil in a pan.
Deep fry the fishes in small batches till crispy.
Anchovy fish fry is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve as starter or side dish with rasam / sambar / fish curry in rice.

Kothu keerai

Kothu keerai / poriyal - Finely chopped greens stir fried with shredded coconut.
Click to see the photos of various amaranth....I like this site very much:)

Amaranth is a leafy green used just like spinach in Indian cooking.In this recipe I have used red spinach which resembles more like an Indian amaranth (thandu keerai / thandankeerai)

Why the name 'Kothu keerai' instead of poriyal or thovaran?
It is the name mom used to say. There is one more common recipe called 'keerai kadanchathu or keerai masiyal' (mashed version) with these greens.I love the way she minced those thandankeerai (amaranth) or the arakeerai. she used to chop them finely by placing the leaves over a broad stone called ammi (stone mortar) using a sharp knife. May be she could have longed for a larger cutting board, I guess:)she would chop them so finely with great care and I believe that the cutting style itself renders more taste to the keerai. Anyways I am not that great at artistic chopping. still tried my best to create it the original way so that my brothers may recollect mom's cuisine through this.

Here is a snap to enjoy the fresh looking Red spinach.

Red spinach leaves cleaned and ready to cook.

Keerai poriyal with lot of freshly grated coconut.

Ingredients:
Thandan keerai (amaranth)/ red spinach - 1 bunch
Shallot / red onion (chopped) - 1/2 cup
garlic - 5 cloves
shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
mustard - 1/2 tsp
oil / ghee - 1 tbsp
cumin - 1/2 tsp
green chilly / dry red chilly - 2

Method:
Pluck the leaves and young stem alone. (We can use the matured stem in making sambar, so save them in fridge).

Wash and clean the greens in large amounts of water multiple times to remove all the dirt / sand. Chop it finely.

Heat oil / ghee in a wok. Add the mustard seeds and let it splutter.
Chop the onion, garlic, chillies, curry leaf (optional) finely and add to the wok.
Stir till onion turns soft.

Add the finely chopped greens and stir fry for some time. Sprinkle a handful of water and cook covered for 3-5 minutes.
Open the lid. Let all the moisture dries up.

Add salt, cumin and fry a bit. After the poriyal looks very loose without any moisture, switch off.
Then put the freshly shredded coconut.

Kothu keerai is ready!

Serving suggestions:
The perfect combination can be with sambar rice or curd rice.

Gobi channa masala

Gobi is the Hindi word for cauliflower and channa stands for chick peas.

Its my habit to include some protein in all the meals. So while making a simple cauliflower kuruma, I added the kondai kadalai (chick peas) and it turned out awesome.

Here goes a healthy side dish for chapathi.



Ingredients:
Chick peas / white channa - 1 cup
cauliflower (chopped) - 1 cup/200 gm
tomato - 2
Red onion - 1 (medium size)
green chillies - 4
coriander leaves - a handful.
mint leaves - few
curd - 1/2 cup
red chilli powder - 1 tbsp
turmeric powder - a pich
MTR channa masala powder - 1 tsp (optional)
(We can use any garam masala too)
salt - to taste
olive oil - 1 tbsp
bay leaf - 1
cinnamon - 1 inch

Method:
Soak channa dal overnight and cook it to tender in a pressure cooker for 5 whistles.
After getting the first whistle ,I reduce the flame to the minimum and heat the cooker for another 10 minutes to cook this dal.

(But in this curry I used 1 cup cooked channa from can).

Grind ginger and garlic together.

Chop and cook the tomatoes. saute the onion in 1 tsp oil and let them cool.
Grind cooked tomato, curd and onion together. keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Fry some cinnamon and bay leaf.

Add the green chillies, cilantro and mint leaves. Then put the ginger garlic paste and saute till raw smell goes. Then add all the powders mentioned above along with the ground masala and cook till oil starts showing up.

Next add the chopped cauliflower , salt and cook covered.

After the cauliflower gets cooked put the cooked channa and stir well.

Gobi channa is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Garnish with minced cilantro, freshly chopped onion and a few drops of lemon juice on top.
Goes well with parathas ,poori , roti and naan .
Makes 3-4 cups of gravy.

cabbage soup

Here is a healthy cabbage soup for the days which need a lighter meal. As usual I didn't add any cream but sauteed the cabbage in little butter and blended the vegetable in milk. The croutons are home made. I just cubed some bread slices, buttered them and placed in a hot oven to make the croutons.



Ingredients:
Cabbage - 2 cups (chopped)
black pepper - 1 tsp
green chilly - 1
onion - 1
garlic - 3 cloves
cumin - 1/2 tsp
tomato - 1
Tomato sauce - 1 tbsp (optional)
olive oil / butter - 1 tbsp
milk - 1/4 cup or cream - 2 tbsp
crouton / sliced bread - 1 cup

Method:
Heat olive oil in a wok.
Put the garlic, cumin, pepper and fry till garlic welts.
Add the chopped onion , chilly and cabbage. Stir fry till cabbage gets half cooked.
Now put the chopped tomato and cook everything for 3 minutes (till the cabbage looses the raw flavor).
Let it cool completely. Grind it to a fine paste and bring it to boil.
Add salt to taste. Mix some tomato sauce to enhance the taste.
Fry some croutons in butter .
Add cream along with fried croutons before serving.

Cabbage soup is ready!

Kuzha puttu

Puttu - A breakfast item common in Kerala and Southern TamilNadu.Generally rice flour is steamed with shredded cocount and served with sugar / banana / spicy kadalai curry.

Kuzha puttu - A puttu resembling a pipe.

There are many ways to steam this puttu. We can use a simple cloth over hot steam or idly making plates or this special tool 'puttu kudam' for steaming the flour.
The most authentic and tasty variety of puttu is made by using the red rice flour (rose matta arisi or sivappu samba rice).

I used the store bought ready made red rice flour (double roasted). Instead we can roast the ordinary white rice also.Some people prepare the flour from scratch by soaking and dry grinding the rice.

Puttu maker in box along with the ingredients.
Recently I bought this puttu maker from an Indian store. Love it very much:)

Puttu kuzhal and puttu kudam with ingredients .
Puttu maker consists of 2 main parts: The puttu kuzhal (to fill the processed rice flour) and kudam (to fill water and generate steam).


Puttu served. The white coconut is the frozen shredded coconut and the darker one is what I got from fresh coconut:)

Ingredients:
(For 2 kuzha puttu)
Red rice flour - 1 cup
(If not readymade, roast it till we get a pleasant smell and the grains look very flowy)
salt - 1/4 tsp
Shredded coconut - 1/2 + 1/2 cup
(Coconut should be almost equal to that of rice flour.We can reduce it too, but we can't get the real taste.)

Method:
Fill the puttu kudam (the broader vessel) with water to its 3/4 th. Close the top with the given lid that has the nozzle.
Start heating it.

In the same time bring to boil 1/4 cup water along with the salt.

Place the roasted rice flour in a mixing bowl.
Slowly sprinkle the boiling water and mix well without any lumps.
The consistency should be such that we should be able to make a solid with the flour, but the solid should be breakable in to flour when touched gently.
Totally we should get a wet flour but not any lumpy.

Now mix 1/2 cup shredded coconut to it and mix well.

Take the puttu kuzhal. Fill the bottom with 2 tsp shredded coconut. Then put the prepared flour and fill half way very loosely. Again spread 2 tsp coconut and fill the pipe with prepared rice flour.

Now check if the steam starts hushing out of the puttu kudam.

Close the puttu kuzhal and fit it over the nozzle.Make some holes in the filled flour using the stick given.

Heat till we see steam out of the top of puttu maker.
Then continue heating for 5 minutes and switch off.

Carefully take out and serve immediately.

Kuzha puttu is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot with sugar and banana.
Other combination are channa masala (kadalai curry), green gram chundal etc.

Note:
Try to serve the puttu immediately otherwise it may turn hard. Reheating in microwave helps a bit.

Vazhaikai (plantain) curry

Vazhakai / valai kai means unripe banana / plantain. It is a practice of South Indians to make some spicy hot curry using unripe banana or potato along with the lesser spicy sambar and rice. Nevertheless to say this simple curry can brighten up an ordinary meal.

Unripe banana cubed with skin:


Vazhaikai curry:


Ingredients:
Unripe plantain - 2
onion (chopped) - 1/2 cup
tomato - 2
oil - 2 tbsp
fennel - 1/2 tsp
cilantro - a handful
ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
turmeric - 1/8 tsp
chilly powder - 1 tsp
coriander powder - 2 tsp
garam masal powder - 1/2 tsp
Tamarind - a gooseberry size

Method:
Wash and clean the banana. Scrub and remove the outer skin mildly. We can remove the skin completely but I prefer to keep the skin on.
Cut it into small cubes.

Extract tamarind juice using 1 cup water.
Cook the plantain in 1/2 tsp salt, 2 cup water , tamarind extract, turmeric powder.
Turn off heat when it is almost (90%) cooked. Drain the excess water.

Heat oil in a wok.Let the fennel get red.
Then fry onion to golden brown. Now add ginger garlic paste and fry till raw smell vanishes.Add the chopped tomato and fry till oil oozes.

Now add the cooked plantain , all the powders, salt to taste and cook till the masala smell turns good. Put off fire.

Garnish with chopped cilantro.
Valai kai masala curry is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve as side dish with any rice.

Repost for Nithu's Fruit event

I am re-posting the following recipes for Nithu Balas's "Think Beyond the Usual - Fruits" event.

Pineapple rasam:


Apple Rasam:



Kashmiri pulao:


Happy hosting Nithu!

Pancake

I prepared this pancake with the theme of poinsettia or kaleidoscope using cranberry jelly and palm fruit (artificially green colored one that we got in a nearby Asian store). The method and ingredients are very simple, made it just like a thick soft dosa using butter. I used Aunt Maple's pancake mix and prepared the pancakes. Served it with honey instead of the usual maple syrup. Hope you all like it.
Sending this to Priya's event : Pancakes

Hope it suits the event.

A simple crochet work:

This is the pillow / cushion cover I made recently. I did it by double crochet stitch in woolen yarn.
Yarn name: Red heart Burgungy (0376), 100% acrylic
care: machine wash.
Needle : crochet needle , size k (10)
stitch: single crochet at the base and double crochet all over.
Yarn used : nearly 4 oz / 100 gm

Happy weekend !

Paneer mattar masala

Paneer mattar masala is a curry with Indian cottage cheese and green peas. Paneer means Indian cheese and mattar stands for green peas. This is a lesser spicy curry of Indian vegetarian cuisine. Most common among North Indians and admired by all.

Long back I tasted it in 'DATA udipi hotel' in Nesapakkam, chennai along with parotta for the first time. After that, that restaurant became a regular for us while in that location. Eating out was not a common thing in my birthplace and so after marriage , Xav took me to many restaurants of Chennai. Even though not a big restaurant, it was the first that comforted me with chole poori and relieved my home sick feeling after marriage. They used to sell a kind of sweetened betel leaf named 'paan' and it was a lot of fun for me to take a piece of paan while going home. I have heard that those paan may spoil the teeth . So ask the pan maker to carefully prepare it without any lime (sunnambu) , otherwise we may end up with red mouth:)

Recently one day I prepared this curry for Xav's lunch along with chapathi and some curd rice. We absolutely love this dish with 'Indian store bought' frozen parotta too and remembered those great days.



Ingredients:
Paneer -100 gm (chopped 2 handful)
green peas (fresh / frozen) - 1 cup

For masala to grind:
oil - 1 tbsp
Tomato - 2
onion - 1 (big)
ginger - 2 inch
garlic - 5 cloves
cashew - 5
cinnamon - 2 inch


others:
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
garam masala powder - 1 tbsp
coriander powder - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp
salt - to taste
cilantro - a handful
dried methi leaves  - 1 tbsp
butter - 1  tbsp
cumin - 1 tsp

Method:
Heat oil in a wok. Chop the paneer into 1 inch size cubes. (Fry the chopped paneer till golden brown and keep aside - Optional).

Then fry the cashews, cinnamon, onion and fry till it becomes golden brown. Also add ginger garlic and fry for 1 minute. Let everything cool.

Cook tomato with 1 cup water till mushy. (I microwaved it for 3 minutes). Let it cool.

Grind the onion, cashew, spices, tomato together into a fine paste along with the water from cooked tomato.

Heat the wok and fry a bay leaf, cumin .

Add the ground paste, coriander powder, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masal powder, salt and bring it to a boil. Then add the green peas and cook completely. Reduce flame and cook covered for 10 minutes.

As the raw smell vanishes and oil starts showing up add the fried / chopped paneer and mix well.
Keep it in low flame for 5 minutes and switch off.

Garnish with finely chopped cilantro and kasuri methi.

Paneer mattar masala is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot with chapati or paratha.

Note:
No need to fry the paneer. It is optional only.
If needed add a tbsp of brown sugar to increase the taste.
I add one cooked potato to this dish to give more thickness to the curry.

Masala stuffed egg.

Really I was confused before posting this title, because I could not figure out the exact Tamil name for this recipe. As my culinary guru is my mom, I call the recipes by her nomenclature only. She used to present this item as 'keerina muttai masala', which means an egg slit gently and stuffed with some spicy masal:) . Also this is exactly how my Tuticorin aachi (my grandma) taught us this egg curry. I like the way my aachi calls this as keeri muttai :)
  I am not sure if many household out here practice the same name. Anyways this blog is to remember her , so I call it by the same, the 'keerina muttai'. Those were days when we used to make large number of boiled eggs for family parties. We have to be careful while preparing the hard-boiled egg as the whole dish relies on the appearance of the egg. Even though it is not a rocket science, I believe it need some skills. So I have shared my version to make perfect boiled eggs below. Feel free to share your tricks too.
This egg masal will be a perfect match with tomato rice (thakkali saatham), biryani etc. Try out and tell me how you devoured it:)



Ingredients:
Boiled egg - 2
red onion (finely chopped)- 2 tbsp per egg
Fennel - 1/4 tsp
oil - 1 tbsp
red chilly powder - 1/4 tsp
turmeric powder - a pinch
Garam masal powder - 1/4 tsp (optional)

How to boil the egg perfectly:
Take out the egg from fridge and keep outside for atleast 15 minutes.
Wash and clean the egg. Place it in a vessel, very gently, slowly and carefully. Because this is where we end up in broken egg.
Next fill the vessel with water, so that an inch of water remains above the egg.
Start heating the vessel in a slow fire till the water turns almost hot. The reason for slow cooking is to avoid cracking. Then increase the heat till we get bubbles.
Immediately reduce flame and cook in low flame for 10 minutes (12 minutes for very large eggs).(Never cook it in boiling water entirely, otherwise we may end up with rubbery eggs). Put off fire.
Then remove the hot water. Cool the eggs by pouring cold water and peel off the shell.
Hard boiled egg is ready!

Note:
Very fresh eggs are difficult to peel. But the ones near expiration are great.

Method:
Heat oil in a wok.
Add fennel and let it get red. Then add the onion and saute it till it gets soft.Then add salt, chilly powder, garam masal , turmeric powder and stir well. Immediately switch off. Take out the masala.

Slit the egg in once or twice without splitting it. Fill the masal inside and slowly roll the eggs in the wok to coat the remaining masala in the wok over the eggs.

Masala stuffed egg is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Serve as side dish with tomato rice, any biryani etc.

Pumpkin Poriyal

Happy St.Patrick's Day!

Yellow pumpkin is always a challenge in Indian cooking. Many a times we use it in sambar for that sweetness but making poriyal is something odd for many. But this pumpkin poriyal is a regular one in our house. Mom used to make it quite often. The addition of fennel in the poriyal makes it more flavorful.



Ingredients:
Ripe pumpkin - 1/2 kg
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
channa dhal - 2 tbsp
shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
green chilly - 3
Shallot / red onion - 1 cup (chopped)
curry leaf - 1 sprig
cumin - 1/4 tsp
oil - 1 tbsp
sugar - 1/2 tsp (optional)

Method:
Cook channa dhal and keep aside.

Wash and remove the skin of pumpkin.
Chop it into small cubes.

Heat oil in a wok. Add fennel seeds and let it get red.
Then add the chopped onion, green chilliew, curry leaf and stir for a while.
After the onion turns soft, add the chopped pumpkin, stir for a minute.

Add 1/2 cup water and cook covered.
After the pumpkin gets cooked add the cooked channa dhal, salt, cumin and shredded coconut.
Stir till all the moisture is gone. Take off the heat.

If the pumpkin is not sweet, add 1/2 tsp sugar at the end.

Pumpkin poriyal is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve as side dish for vatral kulambu / karakulambu over rice.

Song of the day:
I have planned to share some of my favorite songs along with my posts. If you wish click and enjoy. 'Eagle's wings' is one of the famous songs they sing in our church. This You tube album has the lyrics too. Enjoy!

Chettinad Chicken Biryani

Chetttinad is a region in Sivagangai district of TamilNadu, India. It is well known for its Chettinad cuisine, bungalows and Temples. The capital of the district is Karaikudi . Click to see some beautiful houses of Chettinad.

There are many variations in biryani preparation. Of which the Chettinad version is a more Indianised one. The masala in the biryani with pepper and corinader seeds makes a difference.

Can there be words to describe the flavor and taste of the authentic chettinad chicken biryani available in those Karaikudi / chettinad restaurants? Hubby and myself are glued to the chettinad cuisine and always look for opportunities to visit their restaurants. There is one near our house and they serve the best chicken biryani I have ever tasted. I tried many combination to arrive at their taste and thus got the below recipe for the famous spicy hot chettinad chicken biryani.

Dedicating this Chettinadu chicken biryani to my friend Sheeba Neal.


(Chettinad chicken biryani served with era(Shrimp) thokku and lemon wedges).

Ingredients:

Basmathi rice - 3 cups (600 gms)
Chicken (with bones and skin) - 1.5 lbs (almost equal to rice in weight)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red onion - 2 (200 gms)
Tomato - 3 (1/4 kg)
curd -1 cup
Ghee - 5 tbsp
cooking oil - 2 tbsp
curry leaf - 1 sprig (optional)
green chillies (uncut)- 3
Lemon (squeezed) - 2 tbsp
salt - to taste.
bay leaves - 2
star aniseed - 1
cinnamom stick - 3 inch

Masala 1:

Ginger - 3 inch
Garlic - 6 pearls
cumin - 1/2 tsp
Fennel - 1 tsp
black pepper (whole) - 1 tbsp
Dry red chillies - 5
corinader seeds - 2 tbsp
cardamom - 4
cloves - 6

Masala 2:

cilantro- 1 handful.
mint leaf -1 handful.
green chilly - 5

Method:

Wash the rice. Pour enough water to fully cover the rice along with 1 tsp salt , little turmeric powder, lemon juice and cook in boiling water for 2 minutes or till 25% cooked. Drain water completely and keep the rice aside.

For masala 1, dry roast the coriander, cumin, fennel,black pepper, dry red chillies, cardamom, cloves and grind along with other items given.

For masala 2, grind together the items given to a fine paste.Keep aside.

Wash and clean the chicken pieces.(Don't remove the skin unless otherwise you need to, as it will give a nice flavor to the biryani).
Cut it in to big pieces. Apply 1/4 tsp turmeric over it.
Marinate the chicken with 2 tsp salt and 1 cup curd,

Heat 3 tbsp ghee + 2 tbsp cooking oil in a broad bottom vessel.
Add star aniseed , cinnamon stick, bay leaf. (Don't let them char).
Then goes the chopped onion, green chillies and curry leaf.
Add masala 1 and stir well till the raw smell goes (don't fry for long time as it will release pungent smell and it will make us sneeze).
Now add the chopped tomato and cook till the oil oozes out of it.
Also put the masala 2 and cook again till raw smell vanishes.

Now add the marinated chicken pieces and cook till oil starts oozing. (The real taste lies in that frying process).Check and add salt if needed.(We can't add salt hereafter). Chicken should be almost completely cooked now.

Add the rice (25% cooked) and stir well. Add water just enough to cover the rice. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tbsp ghee and Cover tightly with a lid.

Dum process:

Heat a thick iron tawa and place the biryani vessel over it.
Reduce the flame to the minimum and leave for 1 hour to get it completely cooked.

Chettinad chicken biryani is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve chicken biryani hot with onion raitha and egg curry or any gravy.
Serves 4 adults.
As it is a spicy-hot biryani version, they generally pair it up with curd rice and kheer.
Click to see my shrimp thokku recipe .

'Veggie delight' Sandwich.

I tried to make a version of the famous Subway sandwich. The taste was much closer to the original version and we enjoyed it very much. Anyway I should admit nothing can beat the original Subway sandwich:)



Ingredient:
Fresh French bread - 2
Onion (chopped) - 1 (medium)
black olives (sliced) - 5
Ripe tomato (chopped) - 1
pickled jalapeno - 8 slices
Sweet relish - 2 tbsp
(Sweet relish is a kind of sweet pickle)
lettuce (shredded) - 1 cup
shredded cheese - 4 tbsp
Sweet onion sauce - 4 tsp
(Instead I used : ranch dressing - 6 tbsp)
tomato sauce - 2 tbsp
butter - 1/2 tsp

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.
Slit the bread and open carefully without separating completely.

Divide the above vegetables into two and fill the bread.
Drizzle the tomato sauce (1 tbsp),sweet relish - (1 tbsp), shredded cheese (2 tbsp), ranch dressing (3 tbsp) and close the bread gently.

Coat the top of bread with butter.

Line the baking tray with aluminum foil.
Place the breads inside the oven.
Bake for 3 minutes. Broil for 1 minute.

Take out and serve hot.

Serving suggestions:
Serve as lunch or dinner with a drink and some baked sides or fries.

Fish fry (Tirunelveli style)

Fish market is one of the center of attraction for me always. While hubby gets satisfied with some chicken or the much hyped King fish (rarely), I fill my shopping bag with fresh and different fishes. Analyzing those heaps of fish and choosing gives me a kind of satisfaction. The strange thing is hubby gives priority to the beauty of the fish than anything else. So he loves just the dinner plate size slices of king fish or the cute Red snapper (sankara / romeo), butter fish (karapudi), silver pomfret (vaaval)etc. I just blindly allow him to choose 'cos I know that is the only way to make someone eat fish:)
This is the story behind my pomfret fish recipes and no wonder they taste amazing always.

Even though we all fry the fish in a more similar way, the masala added here makes a difference. While talking with my friend Gita , I found that she also follows the same recipe , which she got from her grandma who lived there years ago and that made us realize that this masal belongs to Tirunelveli. See how the simple masal makes us analyze the generations.I too wanted to post my home town version and so here is it for you to enjoy.



You are seeing the pomfret fish fry served with lemon wedges along with fish kulambu and crab masala, in out of focus:)

Ingredients:
Pomfret fish - 6 slices (1 lb)
salt - 2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
tumeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp

lemon - 1

To grind:
Shallot onion (sambar vengayam)- 4
Shredded coconut - 1/4 cup
cumin - 1/2 tsp

Oil (to deep fry) - 200 ml (1 cup)
(I used corn oil here).

Method:
Wash the fish and remove all the fins and scales by a knife.
Then slice it into thin slices (as shown in photo).

Apply little turmeric powder over the fish and keep aside.

Grind the onion, coconut and cumin to a fine paste.

Mix the ground masala with the powders and salt given above.
Squeeze 1/4 lemon to the masala if you need a crispier fish fry.
Otherwise don't add lemon juice now.Lemon makes the fish stiff , removes bad odor and discourages breaking of fish while frying.

Gently rub the masala over the fish slices(dab some masala inside the fish too)and marinate for 30 minutes.

Heat oil in a broad based wok .Put the pieces one or two at a time and fry both sides crispy.

Fish fry is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve as side dish with any rice. The suitable combinations are sambar rice , rasam rice or meen kulambu rice.

Vada curry

Vada curry is a very simple side dish available in the street side shops of TamilNadu , served along with 'set dosa' or any breakfast item.Mostly the day after diwali, we can see people preparing this vada curry with the left over paruppu vadai and vegetable kuruma. It is my younger brother's favorite too. Oh, yeah! if I didn't mention him here, I will get enough from him:) After having it in his teacher's house he started pestering us for this curry and we too tried our best after festive days without wasting the vadais:)

But Vada curry entered my life in full swing after marriage only. Hope some of my friends know our adventures while dating :) We treasure those memories a lot. After marriage Xav took me to all the restaurants and places he enjoyed during his bachelor days. I simply love the way he describe his entertainments like the frequent movies, late night dinners,the way he waited for my phone call or letter, funny stuff with friends etc. Slowly it became the habit for us to enjoy his favorite road-side food shops. Most of the Sundays we used to buy the breakfast (carry home pack) from a nearby shop (KK Nagar) along with his favorite News papers , magazines etc after attending the 7 Am mass. Nowadays I started making my own vada-curry, from scratch.

Enjoy with your loved ones:)



The short cut is to make use of the left over vadais and kuruma. But we can prepare it from scratch too. Click the links to get the complete method.

Ingredients:
Masal vadai - 6 (big size)
Vegetable kuruma (with lesser vegetables) - 2.5 cup
Fennel - 1/2 tsp
cinnamon - 1 inch
cilantro - a handful
mint leaf - a handful
curry leaf - 1 sprig
oil - 1 tbsp

Method:
Take the vadais and crush gently with hand to get small pieces.
Heat oil in a wok and add fennel, cinnamon , curry leaf.
Then add the crushed vadai pieces and fry a little.
Now add the kuruma and bring it to a boil.
Switch off and garnish with mint , cilantro etc.

Vada curry is ready!

Variations:
We can make the vada or dumplings by steaming also. Some time I do them over dosa tawa and its also worth the try. If you make the vada curry from scratch, then make small pakodas (fritters) instead of vada.

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot with sponge dosa, poori or chapati.

Vaaval meen kulambu

Meen kuzhambu - fish curry

Buying fish from market can be a very pleasant experience, if you seriously love seafood. In my hometown we prepare the fish kuzhambu in earthenware, which yields a native flavor. Nothing can beat a meen kulambu prepared in clay vessel. Love to remember the way hubby and myself searched for this earthenware vessel to make the fish curry in Madras:)

Before marriage I used to go with my Anna (elder brother) to buy fish. Even though anna is a physician, he loves to do grocery shopping (see, its in the genetics...hi..hi). So he would enjoy chatting with the vendor , but never bargains (I am good at bargaining though). He is crazy for crab and shrimp along with all the sea food. That's what makes me love him more. He likes my cuisines very much and always say lovely words about it to all he know....I am not sure , if I cook that good , but his encouragement makes me to do better:) There were days , when he would come home to taste my fish kulambu even at odd hours and drive back home. Even that slightest thought makes me feel home sick.....so, lets go to vaawal meen kulambu now:)

I prepared this curry using pomfret fish. We can use any fish for this recipe.

English names: silver pomfret fish / pompano fish
Tamil names: vaaval meen, vowval meen, vellai vawal meen.
others: Maanji in Tulu and Avoli in Malayalam.
Click to know about this fish.


Tips to buy good fish:
Always buy fish that looks and smells fresh.
It should be firm to touch.
The gills should be red and never pale.

Fresh pomfret fish washed and cleaned:



Fish kulambu:



Items required:
Fish - 1 lb
sesame oil - 2 tbsp
mustard seeds- 1 tsp
fenugreek seeds- 1/2 tsp
Tamarind - 1 small keylime size
Red chilly powder -1.5 tsp
coriander powder- 3 tsp
turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
tomato - 2
green chillies - 2
curry leaves- 2 sprigs.

To grind:
shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
shallot - 8
cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Method:
wash the fish and remove all the fins and scales by a knife.
Then slice it into big chunks.
Apply little turmeric powder over the fish and keep aside.

Extract juice from tamarind and add chilli powder, coriander powder, pinch of turmeric powder, salt and mix well.Keep aside.

Heat the sesame oil in vessel. (Fish curry prepared in earthen vessel tastes good).Add mustard and fenugreek seeds. After the mustard seeds crackle add the curry leaves .

Then add chopped tomato and saute till oil separates.
Add tamarind juice mixture and let it boil for 5 minutes.
Then add the finely ground coconut-onion paste.
Immediately after this starts boiling add the fish pieces.
cover the vessel and simmer the heat.

Keep the curry gets cooked in simmer heat for 15 minutes.
DO NOT stir the curry after adding the fish, otherwise you may end up with broken pieces.
Then put off fire.Garnish with chopped green chillies and curry leaves.

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot with rice , chapathi or Idly or dosai .
Deep fried fish, omelet ,ripe mango are good side dishes along with meen kuzhambu and rice.44

(Add a tsp of jaggery / brown sugar before switching off, for  a more subtle taste) 

Sweet bajji

Bajji is a deep fried Indian snack. It is generally prepared by dipping a slice of vegetable in besan / All purpose flour and deep fried in a wok. Mostly they are savory snacks except for a few.

Almost a month ago I prepared this sweet bajji for an evening snack. I used plantain fruit (Etham pazham / Nenthram palam in Tamil) , a wild variety of banana. I have tasted this kind of bajji in Trivandrum, but in a long shape (Pazham pori). But I didn't want to use a lot of oil. So I sliced the fruit horizontally and dipped in AP flour , then deep fried it in enough oil.But if we want a bajji like that of the Kerala one, then slice the plantain longitudinally into 1/4 inch pieces.

Got this recipe from Malabar spices. Thanks to the author, the result was exactly like what I used to get from Kerala.

Today I got a much useful thought from Katherine about time and good friends. Thanks dear. Just wanted to share this and hope you all like it.



Ingredients:
Ripe plantain (Nenthram pazham)- 1
All purpose flour / Maida - 1/2 cup
Rice flour - 1 tsp (optional)
Sugar - 1 tsp
Baking soda - a pinch
Salt - a pinch
Water - 3 tbsp (just enough to make a thick batter)
oil to deep fry - 200 ml (1 cup)

Method :
Peel and slice the banana into long slices / round slices of 1/4 inch thickness.

Mix all other items except oil to make a batter like thick idly batter.

Heat oil in a frying pan. Reduce to medium flame, so that there is no smoke.

Dip the banana slices one by one and carefully fry both sides till we get a beautiful golden brown color.

Don't overload the oil . fry 4 to 5 round bajjis in a course.

Gently strain the fried bajjis using a slotted spatula and remove excess oil by placing them on paper towels.

Vazhai pazha bajji is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve as snack along with tea.

Lotus root kuruma

If you belong to a village with a lake then you won't be surprised with this kuruma. Recently I got these roots labeled as waterlily root in an Asian store, so made this kuruma along with roti. It tasted just like plantain stem (vazhai thandu) but with some sweetness like yucca root (ezhu ilai kilangu / kappa).

Medicinal uses:
The property of the lily / lotus root is “cool.” It has a lot of fiber. Its consumption is supposed to benefit liver function and is said to strengthen the heart, spleen and stomach. Uncooked lotus root juice clears “heat” and stops all internal bleeding; cooked lotus root can “promote blood,” treat women for anemia from heavy menstruation and at the same time clear and improve energy. (click to read more here)

How to cook it?
Peel the outer skin and wash thoroughly.
Then cut it into rounds and wash again to remove any dirt.
Then slice it according to use.
Even the raw root can be used as salad or juice.
It will take nearly 10 minutes to cook a pound of root in water.
Some people make crispies out of the fine slices too.


Ingredients:
Lotus stem - 1 lb (3 stems)
Fennel - 1/2 tsp
coconut milk - from 1 cup shredded coconut
(I used 2 tbsp form the canned coconut milk)
coriander powder - 1 tbsp
onion - 1
tomato - 1 (optional)
curd (Indian yogurt) - 1/2 cup
oil - 2 tbsp

Masala to grind:
Cashew - 10 (optional)
cumin - 1/4 tsp
ginger - 1 inch
garlic - 3 pods
green chilly - 6
cardamom - 2
cloves - 2
cinnamon - 1/2 inch
mint leaf - 1 stem
cilantro - a handful

Method:
Peel and slice the lotus stem. (we can chop them into small cubes also, as it will give more taste).
Wash thoroughly to remove any dirt and place it in a vessel.

Pour water enough to immerse the sliced lotus stem.
Add 1 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp turmeric powder and cook covered for 15 minutes.

In the mean time heat a wok with 2 tbsp oil.
Add fennel and let it get red.

Now put the finely chopped onion and saute till it becomes golden brown.
Then add the finely chopped tomato and cook till oil separates.

After that pour the ground masala and cook till raw smell vanishes.
Gently add the cooked lotus stem along with the remaining water.

Mix the curd , coriander powder and add salt to taste.
As soon as the curry starts boiling add the coconut milk and switch off when it starts bubbling.

Louts stem curry is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve with roti or paratha or any pulao.

Song from 'Juno'