Soft Chapathi and Green gram curry

Chapathi / roti is the staple food of North Indians .It is served as a main course meal with many healthy side dishes like dhal , kuruma etc.Making soft chapathi is really a great art. I envy those people who make chapthies that tear like a soft cotton. Because I was always bad at making chapathies .I tried adding curd, milk, bananas and even baking soda.But my chapathies were so stiff like pappads till I get the advice of Purva Desai of Purvas Daawat on the art of kneading the dough.It was much helpful.
In addition I googled and came out with a Gujarathis' technique on flattening the chapthi.They divide a chapathi dough into two pieces and roll one over another to get a layered texture.
Nowadays my chapthies are coming out as soft as a bread and I am sharing the secrets I got.

Ingredients:
wheat flour - 2 cups
salt - a pinch
olive oil- 3 tbsp
water - 3/4 cup (varies)

other Items needed :
roti rolling pin,
a flat clean surface
a wet clean towel
thick dosa tawa (Always use a separate tawa for roti/ chapathi making.Otherwise you may not be getting dosa easily. ),
a spatula
A wide shallow vessel, .
a small piece of cloth rolled into a ball shape to press the chapathi.

Method:
Mix wheat flour with salt well.(buy the whole wheat flour in any Indian grocery store).
Add water little by little and knead a soft ball.
Beat it and knead for 2 minutes.
If you touch the dough , it should not stick to the fingers.This is the consistency.
Then coat the dough ball with little oil. Keep it inside the vessel. (Cover with cling wrap (or)
Take a clean towel, soak it in water and squeeze all the water.
Cover the top of the vessel with the wet towel ).
Keep the set up for 1 hour.
Then divide the dough in to equal portions of the size of a big lemon.
Take one ball, divide it into two portion.
Roll each one into smooth balls.
Keep some wheat flour in a wide bowl.
Dip the ball in flour and flatten it using the rolling pin to make thin circular chapathies.
Heat the tawa , and place the uncooked chapthi over it.
Sprinkle few drops of oil on chapati.
Flip it immediately and gently press once with the ball shaped cloth (or spatula) uniformly.
After 1 minute take out the chapathi and store it in closed vessel like a casserole / hot box.
The steam produced by the hot chapthies inside the vessel makes the chapathies more soft.
Serve hot with any curry / subzi.
Makes 10 chapathies.

Green Gram curry:

Ingredients:
Whole green gram - 1 cup
tomato - 1
red onion - 1/2
Garlic - 3 pearls
ginger - 1 inch
cilantro - a handful
mint leaf - a handful
chilli powder - 1 tsp
coriander powder -1 tsp
channa masala mix (or)
any Biryani masala - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
salt - to taste
oil- 1 tbsp

Method:
soak the green gram in water overnight (or) 12 hours and let it germinate.
Cook the sprouted green gram in boiling water for 5 minutes.
Grind onion, ginger, garlic , cilantro and mint leaf together.
Heat oil in a kadai
Add fennel seeds and let it turn red.
Then goes the ground mixture.
Stir fry the mixture till the raw smell goes.
Add the chopped tomatoes and cook it.
Then add all the powders given along with cooked green gram and salt.
Cook it and mash a little to get a thick curry.
Green gram curry is ready.

Serving suggestions:
Garnish the curry with chopped raw onion and Serve it hot with soft chapathi/ roti.

Update (Dec 7, 2010):

 Recently I started adding luke warm water instead  of cold water  while kneading the dough.  By adding warm water, we can avoid adding oil to knead the dough. Make the dough as said above and it can be used to make chapathi immediately. Take a small ball out of the dough , dip it in dry wheat flour and start rolling out into thin circles. It will give very soft chapathis. 

 (The left over dough should be coated with a little oil and wrap with cling wrap / plastic cover and kept in fridge for further use.  we can make this dough in morning / night and keep refrigerated for next time use also).

Hash brown Burger and a cute award!

As a change one fine day we wished to have a different lunch and we sacrificed our staple food i.e., RICE.So I browsed quickly through my freezer and came out with this handy "hash brown potato patties ", which is the main ingredient to make this burger. Then I proceeded with this vegetarian Burger with an Indian touch. Packed this in aluminium foil as his lunch pack.

Another sweet thing is Gita at Gita's kitchen has passed me a cute Chocoholic Award.
Thanks a lot Gita for this yummy award:).
I am much delighted to pass on this award to
Sireesha at mom's recipes for her cute Deepavali sweets.
Purva at Purva's daawat for her chocolate cake
soma at e-curry for her orange flavored chocolate farfel
Congrats Sireesha, Purva and Soma!

Here is the recipe for Hash brown Burger.

Ingredients:
Burger buns - 4
Hash brown poatao patties (frozen) - 2
green chilli - 1
Green bell pepper - 1/2
Red onion - 1 (medium size)
shredded cheese - 1 tbsp
besan flour - 1 tbsp
ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
cilantro & mint leaf puree - 1 tsp
tomato-1
Tomato sauce - 3 tbsp
olive oil - 2 tsp

Method:
Heat a tawa , spread a pinch of butter/ oil and toast all the buns both sides. Keep aside.
Microwave the hash brown potato patties for 2 minutes and scramble them.
chop the onion , green chillies, tomato ,bell pepper and mix it with the scrambled potato.
Add ginger garlic paste,cheese, salt, cilantro - mint puree, Tomato sauce , besan flour and mix well.
Divide it into 4 eaual portions and make 4 balls.
Heat a tawa . Spread 1 tsp olive oil over the tawa.
Place one ball over the tawa and spread it to 1 inch thick patty.
Cook it both sides ,now your burger patties are ready.


Burger arrangement:
Place the one burger patty inside each toasted burger bun.
Mix some chopped green pepper, red onion with tomato sauce and introduce it as a layer between one side of patty and burger.
Decorate it with lettuce leaves.


Serving suggestions:
If you want to pack the burger for lunch then wrap it with silver foil after it gets cool (otherwise burger becomes soggy)and place inside container.
approximate calories in 2 such burgers = 450.
Serve hot with french fries , hot sauce and a chocolate drink. (yes, I am chocoholic).chocolate is made of cocoa .cocoa has a lot of antioxidants and helps us to get rid of depression , avoid premature aging of skin and to retain good health. So Guys lets all go chocoholic:)

Paruppu usili

Deepawali is around the corner and if you guys are looking for some special vegetarian dish , then you can try this paruppu usili.
This is a side dish prepared by Brahmins of TamilNadu , India.
If you start preparing this Paruppu usili, then you will definitely prepare this dish atleast once in a month. My hubby and myself love this dish very much with More-Kulambu , rice and Madras appalam.
Try this and tell me how it turned out.
Happy Deepawali!



Paruppu Usili.

Ingredients
string beans / cluster beans / ordinary green beans/Ivy gourd (kovakkai) - 250 gms (cut pieces - 2 cups).
Red gram / Thoor dhal - 1/2 cup
Bengal gram / channa dhal - 1/4 cup
Dry red chillies - 4
asafoetida powder / hing - 1/4 tsp
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
salt - 1 tsp
curry leaves - 1 sprig
oil - 1 tbsp
mustard seeds for tempering
shredded coconut - 1 tbsp
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
chopped onion - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste


Usili Idlies:
Soak the thoor dhal with channa dhal overnight or for 3 hours in warm water.
Grind this to a coarse paste with 2 broken dried red chillies, 1/4 tsp of asafoetida powder, pinch of turmeric powder, 1 tsp salt and a few curry leaves with little water.
Steam this paste in an idli-steamer or a regular steamer for 10-15 minutes until the lentil paste is cooked.(Like Idly..see image).
Remove the cooked dhal to a bowl once cooled and scramble them into small pieces. Keep aside.

Method:
Heat a pan with 1 tbsp oil, and put in the scrambled usili. Stir them around on medium flame till golden and slightly crispy. This will take around 5-7 minutes. Keep this aside.
In the same pan, take 1 tsp oil, crackle the mustard seeds, add the broken red chilli pieces with onion. Once they get fried , add the chopped kovakkai .Then add some water , put a lid and cook it .After the Ivy gourd becomes tender add salt to taste, stir around for 2 minutes.
Add the stir fried usili and stir together for 2 minutes until they have come together. check for salt.
Finally add shredded coconut and cumin seeds, Then put off stove.

serving suggestions:
Serve hot with More-Kulambu or Karakulambu and rice .

Note:
You can make double the amount of usili Idlies and store them in freezer for the next time .

Village style chicken curry

Hi friends , as the weather is getting cooler and cooler our taste buds will start craving for more spicy foods.Here is a spicy Tamilnadu style chicken to satisfy ourselves.
There is an interesting story too. Men in my native place have the habit of having 'oil bath' (apply gingelly oil on head and body, have a massage and take a herbal shampoo shower) on Saturdays . While they are taking bath the women will lit up their stoves and cook chicken curry to start a wonderful weekend.As of now there were no stores selling chicken, so they reared the hen and rooster in their backyard and used them to produce egg and meat. They cooked the chicken in many ways so that it gives complete nutrition for their family. In olden days people had a different life style and they were able to eat and relish ghee chickens. But now we live in an era of less human labor so I have tweaked the older version by adding some oil with ghee:)
Just try this for your weekend and tell me how it turned out.

village style Milagu kozhi varuval / Pepper chicken- (country style) / kiramathu milagu kozhi.
Ingredients:
whole chicken - 600 gms (take 1/2 of it vertically)
turmeric powder - 1 tsp

To marinate:
curd - 1/2 cup
salt - to taste
coriander powder - 1 tsp
chilli powder- 1 tsp
(if you want a mild red color in the curry , otherwise add 1 tsp pepper powder.)
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

To fry:
curry leaves - 2 brig
tomato - 1
shallot onion (sambar onion) - 10
cilantro - a handful
ghee - 3 tbsp
(But I added ...ghee- 1 tbsp + olive oil- 1 tbsp + gingelly oil - 1 tbsp)

To grind:
Pepper corn - 2 tsp
cumin seeds - 2 tsp
shallot onion - 5
ginger - 2 inch
garlic - 4 pods
coriander seeds- 2 tsp
cloves- 4
cardamom- 2
cinnamon - 1 inch

Method:
Wash the chicken with 1 tsp turmeric powder and water.Remove the skin (or keep the skin if you like a more native taste).cut the whole chicken in to big pieces.
Marinate it with turmeric, chilli powder (or) pepper powder, coriander powder, curd and salt.Keep it aside.
In little oil roast every thing given to grind together and grind them in to a fine paste.
You will definitely need a thick bottom vessel with lid to prepare this 'milagu kozhi varuval'.Then only we will get a more crispy fry with less oil.
Heat ghee / oil mixture in the thick bottom vessel.
Add fennel seeds and add chopped onion. saute the onion till it becomes golden brown.
Now add the ground masala and stir continously till oil gets separated.
Now add chopped tomato and minced cilantro and let them cook.
Add the marinated chicken pieces and saute well.
Add 2 cups of water and close the lid.
Cook it for 30 minutes with occasional stirring.
Cook the chicken till the oil separates out and the curry becomes thick and oil gets separated.
Add curry leaves and 1/2 tsp pepper powder and switch off stove.
Country style Tamilnadu 'Milagu kozhi varuval' (Tamilnadu style pepper chicken) is ready to serve.

serving suggestions:
serve 'country style chicken' with steamed rice and sambar.
Also suitable with roti / naan / chapathi.
Enjoy.


COOLEST BLOG AWARD

This is my first award from Gita at Gita's Kitchen. Thank you very much Gita for passing me this award.

The rules of the award are: Put the logo on your blog. Add a link to the person who awarded you. Nominate 10 other blogs Add links to those blogs on yours, and leave a message for your nominees on their blogs. I am happy to pass on this award to my fellow blogger friends.

Ammupatty's Thoughts
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Kitchen Truths
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CONGRATULATIONS !
(PS:How to display this award.?
Here is the procedure.
Just right click and save the butterfly award image in my blog to your desktop.If you are in blogspot, just add a side tab in the right side of template and upload the image. Otherwise you open the original template you are using and upload this photo to it. )

Kerala Avial (II)

My friend Mrs.Priya Anand gave me the recipe to do this kerala Aviyal.
Before hand I was trying a different version .I used to add coconut milk and do some tempering at the end. Then , I learnt that Keralites do not temper their aviyal. So I tried it this way and it tastes awesome.

Ingredients:
White pumkin - 100 gms
Yellow pumkin - 100 gms
1-Raw banana (vazhakai)
1-Potato
1-Podalangai (snake gourd)
1-carrot
chenai - 100 gms (Indian yam)( I have not seen it at the grocery, frozen is available though- you can skip)
10 strings beans
1 drumstick
2 cups-yogurt (thick should not be watery)
1 cup-coconut
green chillies 6-8 (as per taste)
curry leaves (karugapalai)
coconut oil-2 tablespoon
turmeric
salt

Method:
Cut all the vegetable in one and a half inch long thin strips (like finger chips) Add pumpkin as per required quantity after putting all the other vegetables depending on how much you need. Boil the vegetables with turmeric and salt. When the vegetables are almost cooked drain out the excess water. Add the yogurt and let it come to a boil so that the yogurt is mixed well with the vegetables. Mix carefully as the vegetables may break. Grind the coconut and chillies to a fine paste. You can add the water from the boiled vegetables and grind to a thick paste. Do not add too much water. Add this paste bring it to a boil. Turn off the gas and add curry leave and coconut oil and mix well.

Serving suggestions:
Serve with rice , rasam and papadam.It can also be served with chapathi , naan , adai etc.

Sodhi

Sodhi is one of the unique and popular dishes in Tirunelveli.Sodhi is otherwise called Thengaipal kulambu / coconut milk stew. Sothi is a delicious gravy made of coconut milk and vegetables. This is served at marriage feasts, especially during the Maruveedu (return marriage) ceremony which takes place the day after a marriage.
Sodhi is a heavy dish so it is generally consumed as lunch only.
I used a thick coconut milk from can. But if you wish to extract the coconut milk then you may need 1/2 of a big coconut.Extract milk three times and keep the first thick milk separate and add it in the last step. Mix the 2 nd and 3 rd extracts and use it to cook the vegetables.
Stick to the recipe to get the perfect 'sodhi'.
(source - my Rukmani aunty)

Ingredients:
Coconut milk (canned) - 4 tbsp
Ginger grated - 2 inch.
Moong Dhal -1/2 cup
Garlic - 2 pods.
Lime/lemon juice - 1/2 (2 tbsp)
Carrots - 1 cut in long slices (50 gms)
Drum Stick - 1 (100 gms)
potato, - 1 cut in cubes (100 gms)
Onion - 1 cut in large cubes
Cabbage - 1/4 of a medium sized cabbaged cut in large pieces. (100 gms)

To grind:
Grated coconut - 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
Green chilies - 2-3 (depends on how spicy you want it)

Method:
Cook the moong dhal with garlic in water.
If it is 3/4 th cooked , add all the vegetables and cook it till the dhal becomes mushy.
Take the 2 tbsp of thick coconut milk from the can and dilute it in water to make one can and add it to the boiling vegetables.
(If you are extracting milk, then you may need 1/2 big coconut to do the entire dish.)
Grind the ingredients of the ground mixture.
When the vegetables are tender add the ground mixture and 1/2 can of coconut milk and let it cook for some time.
Now add the remaining thick coconut milk (2 tbsp).
Crush the ginger and extract juice .
Just before you switch off the stove add the ginger juice and cook for a minute and take it off the stove
When Sodhi cools down add salt and lemon juice and temper with mustard and curry leaves. (some people do not temper it).

Serving suggestions:
Makes nearly 700 ml 'sodhi'.Serves 4 people. Serve it over cooked rice.
It should be served more generously like buttermilk so that it runs out of rice.
Do not heat the sodhi as it will give a bitter taste. So try to serve it with piping hot rice. Ginger chutney, sembu (arbi root) fry are suitable side dishes.

Ginger chutney

Last saturday I prepared this Ginger chutney as side dish for 'sodhi' (a coconut milk stew) and rice.I will post the recipe for 'sodhi' soon.

Ingredients:
Ginger - 50 gms (peeled and cut ..a handful)
Tamarind - a small strawberry size
Coriander seeds - 1/2 tsp
Red chilly - 4
Grated Coconut - 2 tbsp
cooking oil - 2 tbsp
salt - 1/2 tsp (to taste)
jaggery - 1 tsp (crushed)

Method:
Heat 1 tsp of oil in a paan and saute the ginger till it turns brown
Fry the red chilly, Coriander seeds and coconut gratings separately
Grind the ginger along with the items that were fried separately , salt and jaggery.
Heat the remaining oil temper mustard seeds and add the mixture.
saute the mixture till it becomes thick.

Serving suggestions:
It is otherwise called Ginger pachadi / ginger thokku / ginger chutney. This is good for digestion. It can be served with sodhi with rice , chapathi , idly, dosa etc.