Paruppu Boli (dhal stuffed sweet parathas)

Boli is a south Indian sweet similar to a sweet stuffed paratha.
I got introduced to this boli in the train journeys from Chennai to Tirunelveli. The total traveling time may consume around 12 to 14 hours. Usually we board the train in the late evening and will reach Tirunelveli for breakfast:)
But before an hour to reach the destination, we have to halt in a station called 'vanchi Maniyachi' . It is the memorial spot for the Indian freedom fighter Mr. Vanchi Nathan. The train usually stops there for nearly 20 minutes , as it is a jucnction and also to get signal. But it will be a good time for the street vendors to sell their homely Boli, vadai ,Murukku, coffee, tea and Idly. The famous dishes are Murukku and boli.You know what, this stop will be my long waited one to get my favorite 'Boli'. I love to finish off my breakfast there with these yummy bolis alone. One more place famous for boli is Kadamboor in that area. My taste buds always crave to taste and compare them in different places. The differences I found were, the Maniyachi Bolis are thinner and made with sesame oil, while in other places they use ghee on the thicker version of boli.
Still it gives a native taste and I love it very much. I tried it last month and it came out very well.   Here is the recipe and you can try it this weekend:)


Paruppu Boli/ Maniyachi Boli / Sweet paratha.

outer layer:
All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
baking soda - a pinch
salt - a pinch
Sesame oil - 1/2 cup

Mix the flour, salt , baking soda, Turmeric powder and mix well.
Add water little by little to get a thick chapathi dough like consistency.
Coat it with little sesame oil and cover it with a wet cloth.
Leave it for 4 - 6 hours . Mom used to make this dough in the morning and use it in the evening by 3 pm, so that we could have it with tea.(This setting time makes the dough very flexible and manageable. In the mean time prepare the stuffing or pooranam).
After that divide the whole dough into 15 equal portions.
Shape them in to balls. Keep aside.

stuffing:
Channa dhal (Bengal gram) - 1 cup
Jaggery - 3/4 cup
cardamom - 3
shredded coconut - 1/4 cup

Soak the dhal for 2 hours. cook the channa dhal completely and drain water.
(We can use the water to make rasam / soup).
Mash the dhal to fine paste using a mixie / a spatula.
Heat 1/4 cup water and dissolve the jaggery in it. Then filter any dust / sand present.
Mix the jaggery solution with mashed dhal and heat it in a wok.
Add coconut and powdered cardamom now.
Let it loose all the moisture and become a thick mass.
Switch off stove and let it cool.
Divide it in to 15 equal size balls.

Method:
Take one 'all purpose flour ball'.Apply oil to it. Using a rolling pin flatten it to a circle. Do not use flour to spread the circle. Instead apply oil generously to spread it.
Take one 'stuffing ball'. Place it on the center of the circle.
Now fold it with the covering dough closely , so that no stuffing can be seen from outside.
Now again apply some oil and carefully spread it to a thin circular shape (approximate diameter should be 5 - 6 inch). Don't worry if you see some pooranam from inside in this stage, as it will become fine after frying.
Heat a dosa tawa. Evenly apply sesame oil on the tawa .Reduce flame and fry the bolis on both sides till we see some brown dots all over.
Again increase the heat, apply oil, reduce heat and fry the bolis in lesser heat.
Take out and store in a container.
Like wise proceed with the rest of the dough.
Paruppu Boli is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve as dessert or evening snack.
Makes 15 Bolis .
The leftover boli (if any) can be wrapped in ziplock covers and kept refrigerated for a week.

Note:
Like wise we can make numerous verieties of sweet stuffed bolis like, coconut boli , date fruit boli, sesame boli, fruits boli, ghee boli, Jeera boli (boli soaked in sugar solution) etc. I have tasted some varieties in the sweet stalls of KK nagar , Chennai,India :) . You can experiment any thing with it and will become a fan of bolis soon:)

Sending this boli to Purva's Holi haii ! event.

Vangi Badth (Eggplant rice)

Vangi badth (Eggplant rice) is a Karnataka special. It needs a special powder called 'Vangi badth powder' and if you have it handy , then it is a very easy job.
I prepare this powder in a small batch and keep it refrigerated for further use.
It can be served as a complete meal , as we do not need any side dish or curry. It tastes great with appalam or potato chips.


Vangi badth powder: (Just enough to serve 2 people once)
Coriander Seeds - 1 tbsp
Channa dhall - 1 tbsp
Red chillies - 2
Cardamom - 1
Cloves - 2
Cashews / almond - 2
Coconut - 2 tbsp
cumin - 1/2 tsp



Vangi Badth / Brinjal rice / egg plant rice / kathirikkai satham

Ingredients:
Rice - 1 cup
Brinjal - 200 gms
onion - 1
tamarind - 1 inch
mustard - 1/2 tsp
curry leaf - 1 brig
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
ghee - 1 tsp
salt - to taste
olive oil - 1 tsp

Method :
1. Heat a wok with 1 tsp oil. Roast the ingredients given for the vangi badth powder, till the channa dhal turns red.
Grind it to a coarse powder using a mixer.

2. Soak the tamarind in 1/4 cup water. Extract the juice out of it.

3. Cook the rice with little salt and 2 cups of water (twice the quantity of rice).
Spread the rice and cool it a little.

4. Heat another tsp oil in the wok. Add mustard seed and let it splutter.
Then add chopped onion , curry leaf and saute till it becomes tender. Then add the brinjal and turmeric powder , fry a little. Sprinkle the tamarind juice and cook it covered. After it gets cooked , add the vangi badth powder and check for salt.

5. Mix it with the cooked rice. If desired mix 1 tsp of ghee .Reheat and serve hot.

Vangi badth is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serves as main course meal for 2 people.
Potato chips or Appalam / pappadam can be served as side dish.

Elephant Yam - stir fry

Indian yam stir fry / Senai kilangu pirattal / Suran fry
Hope almost all the regions of India will have a cuisine with this yam.
Fresh yams are a kind of itchy . so carefully chop off its skin by applying tamarind juice in your hands before and after cleaning it. I used the 'frozen surans' which we get in Indian stores.
My mom used to fry wide pieces of senai kilangu (yam) , just like a fish fry and I adore it a lot:) We call it as 'vegetarian fish fry' in my dad's house.(I will post that recipe too , if I see any fresh yam).
But this recipe does not require any deep frying , still maintains a great taste. This 'senai kilangu pirattal' recipe is also from my mom's kitchen notes.
I am sure this is a quick fix recipe to grab the attention of the guests.




Ingredients:
Yam - 200 gms
Onion - 1
Tamarind extract - 1 tsp
Fennel seeds (sombu)- 1/2 tsp
olive oil - 3 tbsp
curry leaf - 1 brig
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
salt - to taste

Directions:
Clean the yam by removing the skin and washing it in water.
Chop the yam into medium size cubes.
(Or , if frozen suran is used , then just keep it in a colander and show in running water to defrost it.)
Chop the onion.
Heat oil in a wok, add fennel seeds and let it become red. Add the curry leaves.
Then goes the onion and fry till it becomes tender.
Now add the chopped yam with turmeric powder, salt , and stir fry it.
Reduce the flame to minimum .
Add the tamarind extract and close the wok tightly with a lid.
Stir it occasionally.
After the yam gets cooked add the red chilli powder and garam masala and fry it for few minutes.
Senai kilangu pirattal is ready.

Serving suggestions:
It can be served as side dish with any sambar / more kulambu on plain rice.

Note:
We can add the red chilli powder along with yam also, but doing so will emit spicy vapors that no one can stand. So I prefer to add red chilli powder, minutes before switching off.

Beautiful awards:
I felt honored and touched when my friends Malar of Kitchen Tantra , Madhu of Madhu's food journal, Vinolia of Akal's saapadu and Varsha of Will-o-the-wisp hugged me with this award.
Thanks and hugs to all of u there.
I would like to pass this award to all in this blogosphere. So everybody please feel free to embrace each other with this lovely award. Enjoy!

Shama Nagarajan of Easy2cook recipes has passed me 'blogging with purpose' award. I am telling myself, to focus with some purpose :)


Sriharivatsan of Enthaligai and Divz of yum world have passed me all the above awards. I am speechless.
Thanks Shama, Divz and Sriharivatsan.

Moreover, Divz of yum world has made me feel elated with her Jewel of a friend award. Thanks dear for showing me this much love and friendship.

cabbage dhal curry

This is a very simple curry , good for a mild lunch. I use green gram dhal for this curry, but many choose Toor dhal (Red gram) instead. Basically I prefer this kind of vegetable dominated curries to mix with the rice, so that I can reduce my rice intake:)
There is no need to temper this curry , but the choice depends on the individual. The taste will be bland as there is no tomato or tamarind, but it can be paired perfectly with a spicy fry.



Muttaikose paasi paruppu kulambu / cabbage green gram dhal curry:

Ingredients:
Cabbage - 200 gms
green gram dhal - 1/2 cup
green chilli - 2
salt - as required
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
garlic - 3 pods
ginger - 1 inch
cumin - 1/2 tsp

Directions:
Wash and soak the green gram dhal (siru paruppu / paasi paruppu in Tamil) for 30 minutes.
Start Cooking it in 2 cups of water with turmeric powder.
Finely chop the cabbage , garlic , ginger and green chilli.
After the dhal gets half cooked, add the chopped vegetables.
Cook them without closing the lid. Because green gram dhal has the property to form froth and overflow , if covered and cooked.
After the dhal is cooked to a mushy state, switch off the flame.
Add salt, cumin seeds and mash gently without crushing the cabbage.
Cabbage dhal curry is ready.
No need to temper it.

Serving diections:
The above said quantity is good for 3 people, if served like sambar on plain rice.

Ridge Gourd Peel chutney

Usually we make curries out of Ridge gourd . But many of us will not be aware of making a chutney with its peels. This is one of the signature dishes of my mom.
It pairs well with rice or chapathi.
I am sure ridge gourd is such a yummy vegetable when cooked with dhal. But have you ever noticed the resulting quantity of the curry? If we miscalculate the end product and buy the same quantity as of any other vegetable, then we will face a challenge in distributing the curry. Oh! yes, the curry will shrink a lot after losing its moisture in cooking. So if we generally buy one lb of any vegetable , then we should double the quantity while buying this ridge gourd.
How come we throw away such a succulent peel like this? So if you are planning to make ridge gourd curry next time, then don't throw away the peels. Just save them for a yummy chutney.
Here is the recipe!

Peerkankai thol chutney:


Ingredients:
Ridge gourd - 1
Dry Red chilli - 4
curry leaf - 1 sprig
tamarind - small gooseberry size
salt - to taste
urid dhal - 1 tsp
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
garlic - 1 clove



Method:
Wash and clean the ridge gourd.
Peel and save the outer skin , discarding the veins in the ridge.
Chop the skin coarsely.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a kadai.
Add all the above ingredients except salt, garlic and cumin .
saute them till the peels become tender (or) edges turn mild brown.
Then switch off the stove and cool it completely.
Then add salt, garlic ,cumin and grind to a fine paste.
Ridge gourd chutney is ready.

Serving suggestions:
Goes fine with chapathi, dosa or any rice meal.

Sweet Bonda

This is not a common sweet, but a unique dish from south TamilNadu's tea stalls.I had this sweet in my childhood days in Tirunelveli. People in that area have it with tea just like a cake, because of its lesser sweet nature.
Almost all the tea stalls / coffee shops in Tirunelveli and Tuticorin sell this sweet Bonda. They call it as 'cake ' as well as 'Muttai kose'. Muttai kose means cabbage in English. This sweet bonda resembles the shape of a cabbage and hence the name. (You can see some spiky layers around it after frying... My bonda did'nt give any outer layers.)
 One of my blogger friends asked for the recipe. My mom and her friends used to do it as a evening snack at home and I can recall the flavorful recipe now. I am posting it so that everyone may find it interesting.
Here is the recipe for Sweet Bonda.

Ingredients
All purpose flour (maida) - 2 cup
sugar- 3/4 cup
Baking soda - 1 tsp
salt - 1/4 tsp
water - just enough to knead the dough
Oil - for deep frying

Method:
Sieve AP flour with salt and baking soda twice.
(Always use newer baking soda).
Mix sugar to it mix very well in a dry state.
Then add water little by little and mix well.
The dough should not be too thick, it can be of consistency between ulunthu (urid dhal) vadai batter and chapathi dough. Cover it with wet towel and let it rest for 10 minutes.
Make big balls (in the size of a big lemon / small orange) with wet hands. Drop the balls into hot oil and fry them in medium heat till the outside becomes brown.
Sweet bonda is ready!
Serve with hot tea .

Methi leaf - Tamarind curry

Puli kulambu or Tamarind curry is a basic curry served with rice in South India. These kind of tamarind based spicy curries are the comfort food for many people in Madras.
Last week , I got a fresh bunch of methi leaves and long green brinjals. So made this curry immediately and it tasted great with rice. May be it is my innovation with methi leaf and tamarind curry. It tasted like vatha-Kulambu..no bitterness.
Here goes the recipe.



(Methi leaf tamarind curry / Venthaya keerai Puli kulambu / fenugreek leaf stew)

Ingredients:
Methi leaf (only leaves) - 1 cup / 2 handful
tamarind - a key lime size
Eggplant / brinjal - 100 gms (2)
garlic - 5 pods
shredded coconut - 1 tbsp
red onion - 1/2
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
mustard - 1/2 tsp
fenugreek seeds- 1/2 tsp
curry leaves - 1 brig
gingelly oil - 1 tbsp
asafoetida - 1 pinch
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
coriander powder - 2 tsp
turmeric powder - 1 pinch
water - 2 cups
salt - 2 tsp

Method:
Chop the eggplant into small pieces.
Grind coconut, onion and cumin seeds with little water.
Heat oil in a pan. Extract juice from the tamarind.
Crackle mustard seeds , add fenugreek seeds , curry leaves and asafoetida.
Add the chopped methi leaves and fry till you get a nice smell.
Now add the brinjal pieces, peeled garlic, tamarind paste , 2 cups water , chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, salt and close tightly with a lid.
After the vegetables are cooked add the coconut - onion paste and switch off after it starts boiling.

Serving suggestions:
Makes 2 cups of venthaya keerai Puli kulambu.
It can be served for 5 people.
Serve hot with steamed rice and and any vegetable side dish or with egg omelet.

A humble request.

Dear Friends ,
I came to know that many of the Catholic Churches in USA are collecting grocery items for the food pantry . I have never seen a concept like this before. But I think it is a good mission during this recession period. They request the people to come and leave the new grocery items in the church every Sunday. They distribute the collected items to the needy.
If you are interested , please inquire the nearby RC Church and help them in their mission. You can just google 'Catholic church , zip code' and find their address , phone number.
The most needed items are Cereals,oats, canned - soup, tuna, fruits,vegetables, peanut butter, jelly, coffee,milk powder, cake mix, oil, biscuits, dry fruits, sugar, All purpose flour etc.
Even a single pack of cereal can help a family .
Please kindly bring new and unopened grocery items with valid shelf life.
Why don't we think of the needy atleast once in a month?
This is my personal request and not an advertisement from any organisation.
If you feel it appropriate , then please pass on this word to those who want to help others.
Lets spread the happiness through our blogs.
Thanks a lot,
VikiXavier.


Matthew 25: 35-40 "‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’
"Whatsoever you do for the least of My people,
That you do unto Me"

Green beans koottu

Green beans is the most common vegetable that is available in all seasons globally.
Just another koottu (boiled lentil based side-dish) for the people who long to have a variation for the beans fry .



Beans koottu (side dish):
Green beans - 1/4 kg
green gram dhal - 1/2 cup
salt - to taste
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
asafoetida - a pinch
To fry and grind:
oil - 1/2 tsp
Coriander seed - 1 tbsp
cumin seed - 1/2 tsp
pepper - 1/2 tsp
red chilly - 3
coconut - 2 tbsp
To temper:
oil - 1 tsp
mustard - 1/4 tsp
Bengal gram / channa dhal - 1 tbsp
chopped onion - 1 tbsp
Red chilly - 1
garlic - 1
curry leaf - brig

Method:

1.Wash and soak the moong dhal (green gram dhal for 1/2 an hour).
Clean and chop the beans into small pieces.
Half cook the dhal. Add the chopped green beans, asafoetida, turmeric and cook completely.

2.Heat 1/2 tsp oil in a pan. Fry all the items given.
Let it cool. Then grind it with little water into a thick paste.
Add this masala to the cooked beans and let it come to a boil.
Add salt to taste.

3.Heat oil in a pan. Add the channa dhal and mustard.
After the mustard seeds Crackle , add the chopped onion, chopped garlic, curry leaf, red chilli and fry till the onion becomes red.
Mix it with the boiling koottu and switch off flame.

Green beans koottu is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Yields a lot of koottu. Serves 6 people.
Serve as side dish with any rice / roti.

Idly Uppuma (scrambled Idly)

Here is a quiz for you my friends:)
1.What will you do if you have a lot of left over Idlies?
2.What will you do if your 'Jasmine like Idlies' turned out into hard rocks due to improper batter?
3.How can you feed Idlies to a kid who hates it like anything?
The most probable answer to all the above questions will be an easy but delectable dish called 'Idly Uppuma'.

I got introduced to this Idly Uppuma by my Rukmani aunt. She cooks everything with a lot of care and passion. She insisted me to use Sesame oil for this Idly Uppuma and then I found that the oil gives a unique taste to the dish.
I will reveal her lovely vegetarian dishes in course of time.
Here goes the recipe.

Idly Uppuma / Idli Upma:



Ingredients:
Idli - 6
Urid dhal - 1 tbsp
mustard seed - 1/2 tsp
curry leaf - 1 brig
Onion (chopped)- 1 cup
Green chilly - 3
sesame oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp for 4 Idlies

Method:
While calculating the number of Idlies required, just minus one Idly per head.
Because we have to add a handful of onion for every 3 Idly we use and that will increase the volume of the end product.
Scramble the Idlies with your hand into small pieces. Keep aside.
Heat oil in a wok.
Add urad dhal and mustard seeds.Let the mustard seed crackle.
Then add the chopped onion, finely chopped green chilly, curry leaves and salt.
Saute well till the onion becomes transparent.
Add the scrambled idlies and stir well.
Switch off the stove after a minute.
Idly Uppuma is ready.

Serving Suggestions:
Serve as dinner / breakfast with 'Idly podi' or any chutney of your choice.
The Picture shows Idly Upma served with onion chutney.
Serves 2 adults.

Some sweet memories:
My hubby told me that he became a fan of this Idly uppuma after seeing this dish in a movie called 'Surya Vamsam' (a Tamil Movie). In that movie , the heroin (Ms.Devayani) and the hero (hubby's favorite actor - Mr.SarathKumar) prefer to serve this Idly uppuma for an unexpected guest as a quick fix meal . Actually that is a touching scene in the movie to show the hospitality of the couple even in the midst of poverty. Whenever I prepare this Idly Uppuma , I make fun of this scene to see his blushing smile:)

Yasmeen of health nut has passed me a sweet note . See the picture below. Thanks Yasmeen.You are so sweet dear !!

Potato roast

First I should admit that , this potato roast may be a well known recipe for many. Because the simple but elegant potato curry could be the first for any beginner.
Who can deny a hearty serving of roasted potatoes along with the piping hot sambar and rice?
While browsing through my blog , I found that some potato roast is missing and immediately started posting this recipe.
I modified the well known original version with some marination (just like any non-veg roast).
(The original version do not call for any curd or marination. But doing so enhances the flavor)
We can enjoy each step in this cooking process , because of its flavor:)
I prefer to do this roast in a heavy iron wok ('Irumbu chatti' in Tamil). If we cannot find such a robust wok, we can get satisfied with a thick bottomed non stick vessel. Use the Indian store-bought potato for this dish. Because we cannot be sure of the original touch with other potatoes. If you know any other variety of potato that tastes like Indian potato, kindly let me know.



Ingredients:
Potato - 4 (1/4 kg)
onion - 1 (chopped 1 cup)
Turmeric - a pinch
curd - 1/2 cup
Red chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Olive oil - 3 tbsp
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaf - 1 brig
cilantro , mint - a handful
salt - to taste.
Dry roast and grind:
Cinnamom - a bit
cumin - 1/2 tsp
fennel seed (sombu) - 1 tsp
cloves - 2
coriander seeds - 1 tbsp

Method:
Scrub and peel the potato skin. Wash and clean it.
Cut each potato into 4 - 6 big pieces.
Dry roast and grind the items given. This is the masala powder.
Mix curd, salt, Red chilly powder, turmeric , ginger garlic paste, prepared masala powder and marinate it for an hour or more.
Heat oil in a thick bottom vessel.
Fry the fennel seeds to red color.
Add the chopped onion, cilantro, mint leaf, curry leaf and fry for a while.
As the onion turns transparent , add the marinated potato mixture.
Stir well. Reduce the flame, cover it and cook with occasional stirring.
This roast should be cooked in very low flame.. Do not hasten the process, as it may char the dish.
If the curry starts sticking to the bottom, sprinkle little water and then cook it covered.
The masala will be slowly absorbed by the potato while the outer side becoming crispy.
Using a spatula gently check if the potatoes are done. Then check for salt .
Potato roast is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Mostly people serve it as a side dish for sambar & rice or rasam & rice.
Goes fine with roti also.
The consistency should be like a dry curry.
Serves four.

Bottle gourd - curd curry (surai kaai thayir pachadi)

Bottle gourd is a popular Indian vegetable .Village people believe that it has some property to reduce our body fat.
The Tamil meaning of Bottle gourd is surai kaai. Koottu means a watery side dish .

Bottle gourd is a watery vegetable and tastes somewhat similar to white pumpkin or cucumber. Mostly it is used in making sambar , dhal or a watery side dish called koottu . The most common way is to cook it with Thoor dhal or green gram dhal.
Cooking it with Curd belongs to South TamilNadu cuisine.

In Tamil nadu a grand vegetarian feast should be served on a Banana leaf (gently cut with its tip). The rice must be accompanied by a koottu (watery side dish), a poriyal (cooked and tempered vegetables with shredded coconut) , a varuval (deep or shallow fried vegetable ), a curry (a spicy side dish with some dry gravy), sambar (dhal based stew), vatha kulambu (tamarind based stew), more kulambu (curd based stew), rasam (a soup poured on rice.. good for digestion), Payasam (a rice or vermicelli based sweet ) and at last the Buttermilk on rice. The other dishes are a an appalam, vadai , some sweet. Oh , my God ...What an elaborate lunch menu .Isn't it?.Believe me , we people cannot take every day like this . But the very thought makes us nostalgic. Right?

Just because of my love for our native cuisines , I am eagerly collecting as many recipes as possible . And this curd based recipe is my favorite koottu .




Surai kaai Thayir pachadi koottu / bottle gourd - yogurt curry.

Ingredients:
Bottle gourd - 1/2 kg (1 small)
curd - 1/2 cup
onion - 1 (small)
olive oil - 1 tbsp
mustard seeds - 1 tsp
curry leaves - 1 brig
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
salt - to taste.
To grind:
ginger - 1 inch
green chilli - 3
channa dhal - 2 tbsp
shredded coconut - 2 tbsp
cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp

Method:
Soak the channa dhal for 30 minutes.
Peel the skin of the bottle gourd. Chop it into small cubes. Donot discard the seeds. Tender seeds tastes good.
Heat 1 cup of water and add the chopped bottle gourd, salt, turmeric powder and cook it .
Grind together the items given .
Pour the ground masala to the cooked bottle gourd.
Let it come to boil.
Now add the curd and switch off flame. Check for salt.
Heat oil in a separate pan. Add the mustard seeds , after it crackles , add the chopped onion, curry leaves and fry till the onion becomes red.
Add this tempering to the cooked bottle gourd.
Mix well.
Bottle gourd thayir koottu is ready.

Serving suggestions:
Serve as side dish with plain rice or rice and sambar or with chapathi.

Omelet

Omelet / Omelette / Muttai adai.

Just a very simple egg omelet. This is my mom's method. I love to make it with coconut oil only.As its flavor will fill the entire house with grace.
This oil is my secret ingredient for a successful omelet. But nowadays my health conscious brain dictates me to use olive oil instead:( Still the omelet stays good.
In my dad's house we prefer to have it with fish curry and plain steamed rice.

Ingredients:
Egg - 1
Red onion (finely chopped) - 2 tbsp
green chilli (finely chopped)- 1
Black pepper - 1/4 tsp
coconut oil - 1 tbsp (any oil)
salt- 1/8 tsp
cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp

Method:
Take a bowl and fork.
Break and pour the egg in to the bowl.
Chop the onion and green chilly very finely.
Add salt and cumin seeds to the egg and beat well.
Now add the chopped onion and chilly. Beat till the egg doubles its volume:)
Heat a tbsp of coconut oil in a pancake pan / dosa tawa / chapathi tawa . (I keep the omelet pan as separate and donot use it for other cooking. As it will emit an unwanted smell while cooking other recipes).
Pour the well beaten egg on the pan.
Reduce heat. Flip the omelet. Be more attentive, so that the omelet do not get charred.
Take it out.
Place on a serving saucer. sprinkle some freshly ground pepper over the omelet.
Egg omelet is ready !

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot either as breakfast or as side dish.

Sweet memories:
My 'packi anna - periyamma' and 'cook - Gnanamani' call it as Muttai adai in pure Tamil.

Parotta

The parotta , I am narrating here is entirely different from the North Indian parathas and frozen malaysian poratta.

Poratta or parotta , they tell in Tamilnadu and kerala is made of maida (All purpose flour). while the parathas of north India are made of whole wheat. The street side stalls in TamilNadu and kerala serve this parotta with a side dish called salna. Actually they call the parottas as 'veechu parotta'. That means the chef uses a style to spread the dough into a thin chapathi by swinging it in air. 'salna' means a watery gravy with few pieces of chicken or completely vegetarian. This parotta and salna combo is an unbeatable one .It has the potency to tempt even a strict diet conscious person. My weaker soul always craves for those parottas :(
Last week I got tempted a lot by Varsha and chams parottas. But the frozen parotta we get here cannot satisfy my crazy instincts. So I decided to make it my own in a different method.
Long time ago I learned to make this parotta from a cookery show in SunTV . A chef from a star hotel demonstrated this version to make parottas easily. We will get parottas of larger diameters and this can be a fool proof method for a novice like me . May be we can call this as the 'parotta for dummies'.

We may need:
Maida / All purpose flour - 2 1/2 cup
Rice flour - 1 tbsp
water - as per requirement
salt - 1 tsp
baking powder - 1/2 tsp
sesame oil - 1/2 cup
(The parotta stalls in Tirunelveli do not use ghee / butter).

A flat surface like clean kitchen counter top.
Rolling pin.
plastic sheets - 20
(I cut and used the plastic sheets used for filing. we can clean, preserve and use the plastic sheets given with frozen parotta also).

Method:
Mix Maida with salt and baking powder.
Then add water little by little to get a chapathi dough consistency.
Then add 3 tbsp oil to the dough and knead well.
Knead for 5 minutes with beating and punching to get a silky smooth dough.
Cover it with a cling wrap or wet towel and leave it for 4 hours in the room temperature.
Then divide the flour in to 10 equal size balls.
In a small bowl, mix the rice flour with 2 tbsp of sesame oil to get a ghee like paste.

Step 1:


Take one dough ball,apply some oil to it and flatten it on a clean kitchen top .
Flatten it till it tries to tear off. No need to get a smooth circle.
But a very thin disc should be achieved.
(Do not try to take it with hands, just flatten it to a big circle.)
Take a little rice flour + oil mix and apply it smoothly over the flattened disc.
The rice flour gives a flaky texture and also prevents the layers from sticking with one another.

step 2


Using a knife , slit the disc into long ribbon like strips.
Fold every strip once in a longitudinal manner like a paper. (see figure).

step 3


Apply little oil on a plastic sheet . Make concentric circles using all the folded ribbons to get the shape as shown.

step 4

Place another plastic sheet above the dough . No need to apply oil now. Press it gently with a rolling pin to get a perfect circle.


step 5

Make all the 10 parottas as described in the leisure time. keep them frozen in a freezer.

step 6


If you want to fry them immediately, then no need to freeze.
Heat a dosa tava. Apply a little oil over the surface.
Remove the top plastic sheet. Peel off the parotta . Place it on the hot tava.
Flip it again and again to get it cooked evenly.
Take out and serve hot.
Parotta is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Place all the cooked parottas one above other.
Using both the hands , pat them on the sides , to get a loose flaky texture.
Serve hot with any gravy or salna along with raitha.
Makes 10 bigger size parottas.
Increase the flour quantity to get more parottas.

Note: Even though the all purpose flour parottas are not that great for health, these home made ones will surely outwit the store bought 'ghee loaded frozen parottas'.
Try these 'southern style Parottas' and lemme know how it comes out.
You may be interested in 'scrambled parotta / Muttai kothu parotta' too.

From my friend.

Just now I got a sweet surprise from my very best friend
Malar of Kitchen Tantra.


I thank with all my heart to the blogger world and my friends like this who make my every single day a worthy one.
Thanks Malar for these wonderful moments and for your heartfelt friendship.
Actually through you I am seeing the world with a new brighter perspective and thanks for being my friend dear.

Channa Pulao

I prepared this Channa pulao for hubby's lunch box. Though it seems a lengthy process, a little preparation in advance will help us to cook fast. I guess the channa in the pulao will help to reduce the carbohydrate proportion in our lunch:) Even without coconut milk and ghee , this channa pulao will taste great. But I have narrated the complete recipe. The option is yours:)
Lets go to the recipe .

Channa pulav / kondakadalai satham / chickpea rice:




Ingredients:

Basmati Rice - 3/4 cup
White Channa - 3/4 cup
Coconut milk from 3 tbsp shredded cococnut with water - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1 (small)
Garlic - 3 pods
olive Oil - 2 tbsp
coriander leaves - a handful
mint leaf - a handful
Ghee - 1/2 teaspoon.
Fry and Grind:
Cinnamon - 1 inch piece
Cardamoms - 1
Cloves - 3
Onion (chopped) - 1 small
Red chillies - 10 Nos.
Tomato - 1 (big)
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Garlic - 2 pods
ginger - 1 inch

Method:
1.Soak the white Channa overnight (10 hours). Pressure cook the Channa completely up to 5 whistles . I reduce the heat after a whistle and cook it in mild flame for 12 minutes. Just hate to wake up my neighbors with my cooker whistle:)

2.soak the Basmathi rice in water for 30 minutes. Drain the water completely.

3.Heat 1tbsp olive oil in a wok. Add everything given to roast and grind except tomato.
After the onions become tender, add the chopped tomato. Sprinkle a little water and cook the tomatoes to tender.
Cool them completely and grind into a fine paste in a mixie/ blender.

4.Again heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok. fry the chopped onion to golden brown. Add chopped garlic, cilantro and mint leaves.
After a while put the ground masala and cook till the raw smell goes. check for salt. The salt should be perfect now. This is the 'masala for channa pulav'.

5. Take 3 tbsp of shredded coconut and extract milk from it using 1/2 cup of water.(OR) Dissolve 1 tbsp store bought coconut milk in 1/2 cup water.

6. Take a heavy bottom vessel with lid. Pour 1 cup water and bring to boil.
Add the soaked rice , little salt.

7. Then add the coconut milk, prepared channa pulav masala and let it boil.
Then reduce the flame to minimum and close it with a tight lid. cook it for 20 minutes.
(OR) Transfer everything to a pressure cooker. After a whistle switch off the flame and open after the pressure is gone.

Channa pulav is ready.

Note:
Time taken to cook the channa pulao - 1 hour.
Actually we can cook the channa and prepare this masala in advance to make our job easy. Both will stay good for 1 day if refrigerated.
I dissolved 1 tbsp coconut milk in 1/2 cup water to get the coconut milk.
Immediately after cooking , the pulao may seem to have some excess gravy .
But that gravy will be absorbed by the rice in 30 minutes to one hour completely after switching off the flame.
We need not waste the left over water from cooked channa. I used it to prepare the rice.
Sprinkle and mix the ghee before serving.

Serving suggestions:
The above said quantity will be more than enough for 2 adults.
Serve it hot with boiled egg and Carrot-onion raitha.

A sweet award

Today morning my friend Malar of Kitchen Tantra surprised me with a lovely award called 'Good chat friends award'. Thanks Malar for considering me to this award.



I would like to pass this award to 5 of my friends.
It is really a difficult job to eliminate any one, as everybody of you qualify for this lovely award. Lets spread a good chat by our blogging .

Premy's Cake

Usha Nandhini

Chitra

SriHarivatsan

saraswathy Balakrishnan

Congrats and Happy blogging friends!

Awards and Events

Bunch of awards

Circle of friends , Emerald award and Blogging for purpose award

I am Malar's Friend

Good chat friends award

Sweet blogger

Lemonade award

Yum Yum blog award

Best blogger friends award

Showers of awards

award time

Inspiration award

Chocoholic award

Good job award

Coolest blog award

Events:

Donate food


Thanks giving


Seven

Erisseri (vegetable curry)

Erisseri belongs to Kerala. It is an yummy side dish served during all the feasts in kerala and south Tamil Nadu. The yam I am referring here is the 'Indian Yam' which is a root/ tuber otherwise called Elephant foot yam / suran (Hindi) / senai kilangu (Tamil).
It is not the same yam as we see in USA. Here they are calling a root similar to sweet potato as yam.
Yam is available in all seasons in India. Even a small grocery shop in Chennai will sell it. A matured yam will weigh nearly 4 kgs or more. So in India they cut and sell the yam . This vegetable will not rot for a month or two, if kept uncut.
We should be careful in cleaning a fresh yam , as it may cause itching to the hands. To avoid any itching, apply tamarind juice to your hands after cutting this vegetable.
We can buy frozen yam from the 'Indian stores' in USA . So we need not worry about this cleaning or itching , but surely we miss the fresh flavor.
Here is the recipe for Erisseri. Hope you all like it:)



Ingredients:
Yam - 150 gms
Raw banana - 1
turmeric - 1/4 tsp
salt - to taste
coconut oil - 1 tbsp
mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
curry leaf - 1 brig
To grind:
shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
whole black pepper - 1 tbsp

Method:
Cut the yam and banana into small cubes.
Cook it with 1 cup of water , turmeric powder and salt.
Grind the items given to a fine paste.
After the vegetables get cooked, slightly mash them with the ladle and add the masala paste.
Saute them in low flame till the curry becomes thicker.
Heat oil in a wok, splutter the mustard seeds .
Add curry leaves and 1 tbsp shredded coconut to the cracked mustard . Saute well till the coconut turns brown .
Mix it with the curry.
(Traditionally they add a tbsp of hot coconut oil after switching off the flame. )
Erissery is ready.

Serving suggestions:
It can be served as side dish with plain steamed rice, chapathi or sambar rice.
Note:
The consistency should be like a semi solid curry. The coconut masala should be more visible than the vegetables. People who do not like coconut can reduce it to 1/4 cup instead of 1/2 cup.

Kale leaf curry

I have been watching this kale leaf bunch in every grocery store in USA for a long time . But my desi brain couldn't even identify it as a keerai (greens). I assumed it as a kind of cabbage:)
Never dared to take it home as hubby hates trying new greens:)
Then heard of its nutritional value from my friend Malar of Kitchen Tantra.
She has a vast knowledge about the rare greens. This leaf has a lot of vitamin K and good for women. Thanks for the info Malar. Then I started cooking it like our very native paruppu keerai (dhal and spinach).. I don't know any recipe for this. It tastes heavenly. Besides we need not depend on our Indian store spinach alone.That's amazing right:)



Ingredients:
Kale leaf - 3/4 lb
Thoor dhal - 1/4 cup
Onion - 1
Dry red chilly - 2
cumin seed - few
mustard seed - 1/2 tsp
salt - to taste
turmeric powder - a pinch
asafoetida - a pinch
olive oil - 1 tbsp

Method:
Wash the kale leaf by placing it in a big mixing bowl.
Remove the thicker vains and chop into big pieces. vegetables chopped into tiny pieces may loose their water-soluble vitamins easily.
Pressure cook thoor dhal with 1 cup water, little turmeric powder, asafoetida and mash it .
Heat olive oil in a non stick wok.
Add mustard seeds. Once they get cracked , add the chopped onion, dry red chilli and saute well.
After the onion gets semi cooked add the chopped kale leaves and stir well.
Add a cup of water and close the lid.
Let the greens cook (but not 100%). It will get cooked in 5 minutes.
Open the lid , add salt, cumin seeds and cooked dhal.
Mix well and let it come to boil.
Switch off flame.
Kale leaf curry is ready.

Serving suggestions:
Serve as side dish with steamed rice or roti / chapathi.
Makes two cups of curry.
1 cup chopped kale leaf gives 36 calories.(citation: The daily plate )
We can add the calories for the olive oil, lentil and onion to calculate the calorie consumed.

Pesarattu (Green gram dosai)

Pesarattu is a special breakfast cum dinner served in Andhra restaurants.
Being born and brought up in a southern most part of India , I have never heard of Pesarattu till I moved to Madras.
One fine morning I tasted the Pesarattu made by my Sakuntala Athai (Aunt) and became a fan of Pesarattu.
Most of her recipes were new to me .Then only I understood that the Madras families surely will have a touch of the Andhra cuisines and that's really delectable.


Ingredients:
Green gram - 1 1/2 cup
Rice - 1 tbsp
onion - chopped 1 cup
green chilly - 3
ginger - 1 inch
cumin seed - 1/2 tsp
curry leaf - 1 brig
sesame oil - 1 tsp per pesarattu.

Method:
Soak green gram with 1 tbsp rice overnight (or 8 hours).
Grind green chilly, ginger, with the soaked dhal and rice to a paste like dosa batter.
Add salt, chopped onion , curry leaf and cumin seeds .
Heat a dosa girdle . Pour a ladle of batter and flatten it to a thin crepe dosa.
Sprinkle little sesame oil over the pesarattu.
Flip over and let it cook both sides.
Pesarattu is ready.

Serving suggestions:
In some Andhra restaurants , they place a spoon of rava uppuma inside the Pesarattu and fold it like masala dosai.
The suitable side dishes can be red capsicum chutney or green chilly chutney or tomato chutney or vada curry .
Makes 20 Pesarattu.

If minimal oil is used then this is good for a less calorie diet .

Green chilly chutney (less spicy)

When I planned to make the Andhra 's Pesarattu , the side dish sparked in my mind was their special green chilly chutney. Green chilly chutney is loved by the people of North Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. I remember a version of green chilly chutney but it calls for a lot of Indian green chilly without Jaggery.
At the same time while browsing through Jaishree's Ruchi , I got a green chilly pickle recipe.
Then I got an idea to add Jaggery to the chutney. My friend Prathiba from Bangalore told me to substitute Jalapeno peppers for half of the green chilly. I didn't have any Jalapeno pepper so I used a big green bell pepper to reduce the spice of chilly.
The result is the following "Less spicy green chilly chutney". The flavor reminds me of Andhra restaurant chutney , but with less spice.
If you want more spice , then go for 5 Jalapeno peppers instead of a bell pepper. No need to temper the chutney.


Green chilli chutney / Less spicy chilly chutney/ Pachai milagai chutney

Ingredients:
Green Bell pepper - 1
Indian green chilly - 10
sesame seed - 1 tbsp
garlic - 2
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
tamarind - a big strawberry size
crushed Jaggery - 1 tbsp
salt - to taste

Method:
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a wok.
Chop the bell pepper. Do not chop the small green chilly.
Fry both with 1 tbsp sesame seeds . Cook them covered till the chilly turns pale brown.
Deseed and soak the tamarind.
Grind fried chilly, sesame seed, cumin seed, tamarind , salt, jaggery and garlic to a fine paste.
No need to garnish.
Green chilly chutney is ready!

Serving suggestions:
The above said quantity will be comfortably enough for 4 people.
Serve hot as side dish with idly, dosa, pesarattu , chapathi etc.

Rava Idly

Rava Idly / Semolina Idly is a kind of Idly served in TamilNadu restaurants. It is much easier to prepare and a delicacy to serve along with sambar or tomato chutney.
I tried making this Rava Idly many times and failed to get that fluffiness. I got something like uppuma:)
Then got the recipe from a old magazine. They insist on grinding urid dhal.Many people do not use urid dhal. But it gives a wonderful texture and it resembles much like original Idly.



Ingredients:
Rava - 2 1/2 cup
urid dhal - 1/2 cup
curd - 1/2 cup
water - 1 cup
To temper:
oil - 2 tbsp
cashew - 10
ginger - 1 inch
green chilli - 2
mustard - 1 tsp
channa dhal - 1 tbsp.
curry leaf - 1 brig
cilantro - a handful
salt - 1 1/2 tsp

Method:
Soak the urid dhal for 1 hour.
Dry roast the rava till you get a nice aroma.
Grind the urid dhal to a fine paste and mix it with the rava along with salt, curd and yeast.
I didn't have a sour curd, so I added a pinch of yeast to the batter for fermentation. There is no need to add yeast during summer. Do not add a lot of water.
The consistency should be like a pan cake mix / urid dhal vadai batter.
Keep it inside oven or any warm place and let it ferment for 8 hours.
Just before making idly, we need to add the tempering.
Chop the green chilli, cilantro, ginger and curry leaves.
Heat a pan with 1 tbsp oil .Add the channa dhal and mustard.
Let the mustard crackle.
Then add the cashews , chopped green chilli, cilantro, curry leaves and ginger.
Fry them for a while and mix it with the fermented batter.
Coat the idly vessel with little oil and pour the batter.
Steam cook the idly for 10 minutes (Do not put 'cooker-weight' if you are using a pressure cooker).
Take the idly vessel out , keep it out and scoop the Rava idly after 2 minutes .
Rava Idly is ready.

Serving suggestions:
We can microwave the idly before serving.
Serve Rava idly hot with tomato chutney or sambar.
Makes 14 fluffy Rava idly.

Rava Idly has black gram (Urid dhal) . So it goes to Legume affair hosted by Srivalli and Susan.

Adai Dosai

Adai dosai is a common breakfast / dinner item made in South Indian houses. we make it in many ways using many kind of lentils. The following recipe is an authentic one followed by people of Tirunelveli. My mom used to make it for saturday mornings. (Sundays were devoted to Poori). I don't even know when she would have got up or when she would have soaked them all..(Yes , it is the secret of mothers ). But those memories are really wonderful and the best part is , this was her favorite breakfast cum dinner.
I used to give her some appreciation by making my imperfect adais , after enjoying her crispy ones:) Later on those breakfast menus became dinner specials , paving way to oats and cereals.
Recently I enjoyed adai made by my friend Priya Anand and got inspired a lot again:)
She prepared it like a kerala adai and it was soo.... lovely. Will post that version also soon.
Hope this recipe brings many loving memories to you too guys:)

Adai dosai  served with coconut chutney.

Update (11- 25 - 2013)
Nowadays I make adai using my electric griddle (350 deg F or little lesser). This helps me make more adais in short time...also it will never char these lentil dosais. But we can make it just like dosa in dosa pan too. Both tastes good.

To grind:
Idly rice / any rice - 1cup

Raw rice (Basmati) - 1 cup
Thoor dhal - 1/4 cup
Channa dhal - 1/2 cup

Moong Dal - 1/2 cup
urid dhal  - 2 tbsp
Ginger - 1 inch
Dry red chilli - 5
Asafoetida - a pinch
Turmeric powder - a pinch

Cumin - 1 tsp
Salt - 2 tsp

To temper:

Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard - 1tsp
urid dhal - 1 tbsp
onion - 2 cup

Green chili - 2
cilantro - a handful
curry leaf - 1 sprig

Method:
Wash and soak the rice , thoor dhal, channa dhal, urid dhal for 6 hours.
I soaked it by 12 Noon and made it for dinner.
(If you plan to make adai for a special breakfast, then soak all the items told and keep it inside fridge overnight.
Otherwise soak the rice overnight and soak the dhals for just 2 hours in the norning.
Because while making adai , the dhals should not ferment. Moreover do not use fermented left over batter, as it is believed to be hazardous)
After 6 hours grind soaked items along with Red chilli, ginger, asafoetida, turmeric, cumin and salt like coarse dosa batter .

Tempering the batter :
Heat a pan with oil and add mustard, as it crackles, add urid dhal.
When urid dal starts to get red in color, then add the chopped onion , cilantro, curry leaves and fry till the onion becomes transparent.
Then add this tempering to adai dosa batter.
Heat a dosa pan and coat it with a little sesame oil.
(Thick traditional dosa tawas make crispy adais than the non stick tawas)
Then pour a ladle of batter and make thick dosas.

Make a hole in the center of the adai and add 1 tsp sesame oil or ghee around the adai and in the center hole.

Flip it. Wait to get adai cooked on both sides (almost 1 - 2 minute each side at medium heat).
Like wise make as many as required.
Adai dosai is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve adai hot with coconut chutney or aviyal or onion chutney.
Do not prepare it in batches before serving. Because cold adai does not taste great.
So start making adai , as soon as anyone sits in front of the dinner plate.

Note:  
The taste will be enhanced if we add a handful of drumstick leaves to the batter before making adai.

Sesame Ladoo

Sesame ladoo / Ell urundai is a kind of primordial Indian sweet . It is believed that , the people who extract oil (nallennai in tamil) from sesame seeds could have invented this amazing sweet. Actually they mix palm jaggery with the left over crushed sesame seeds after getting the oil .
We cannot get palm jaggery easily in USA , so here is a modern recipe for our store bought sesame seeds with ordinary jaggery:)




Ingredients:
Black Sesame seeds - 1 cup
Jaggery - 1/2 cup (grated)
cardamom - 2 pods (optional)

Method:
Sprinkle little water over black sesame seeds and dry roast it.
Sprinkling water avoids jumping of sesame seeds. Let it cool .
Then coarsly grind (just 2 pulse) the sesame seeds and cardamom in a mixer.
Heat the crushed jaggery with a spoon of water and make a thick liquid out of it.
Take care not to char the jaggery.
Then mix the crushed sesame seeds with jaggery and make lemon size balls.
Sesame ladoo is ready.

Good for a healthy dessert for underweight kids!

Cilantro rice

Kothamalli sadam / coriander rice / cilantro rice is a quick fix lunch box recipe. All that we need is just 20 minutes for the entire preparation .


Ingredients:
cilantro leaf - 2 handful
Rice - 1 cup
coriander seeds - 1 tsp
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Dry red chilli - 3
Tamarind - 2 inch
Tomato - 1
garlic - 1 pearl
oil - 2 tbsp
mustard seeds - 1 tsp
urid dhal - 1 tbsp

Method:
Pick the leaves from the cilantro bunch.Clean and wash the cilantro leaves.
Heat oil in a kadai. Add the urid dhal, coriander seeds and mustard seeds.
After the mustard gets cracked, add the dry red chilli and fry for a while.
Then take the chilli alone out , keep it aside.
Now add the cilantro leaves and chopped tomato to the hot oil and fry them till the tomato becomes mushy.
Then add the cumin seeds, tamarind , salt, garlic and mix them all. Then switch off the stove.
After it gets cooled , grind it in to a fine paste in a mixer/ blender.
Check for salt.
Cook the rice with twice the measure of water and a little salt.
After the rice gets cooled , add the cilantro masala and mix well.
Cilantro rice is ready.

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot with egg omelet or raitha . I prepared cauliflower fry as a side dish.

I would like to thank Varsha of will-O'-the-wisp for passing me this cute award.

Thank you Varsha.
I am glad to pass this award to sriharivatsan , Premy's cakes,
Chitra , Swapna and Shama .
Enjoy .

Pongal Aviyal.

Aviyal is a kind of side dish prepared in TamilNadu and kerala during auspicious times . Aviyal means vegetables cooked in water . It contains many vegetables and root vegetables without much oil.There are many varieties of aviyal .
One of such kind is the TamilNadu aviyal or kalyana (wedding) aviyal or Pongal aviyal. TamilNadu Aviyal is flavored with turmeric , mango , tamarind and tomato instead of curd, While kerala aviyal has more coconut and curd. But I will tell both are yummy in their own way . Since it is a Pongal season , I felt it more appropriate to present you guys this TamilNadu's special aviyal. There is an old saying that people should add all the vegetables (atleast one piece) on Pongal day, so that they will not get allergic to any vegetable throughout the year.
This is a 'must to serve' side dish in almost all functions of TamilNadu.
What is more pleasant than a wedding feast, in which all can sit together to have this aviyal with Sambar rice served in a banana leaf?

Recipe source:  My mom used to do this aviyal every year during pongal. I got this yummy recipe from my Jeyasri chithi.  Jeyashri chithi prepares lot of dishes like this. In her words ' add lot of native veggies for avial' . I follow this and it tastes very delicious. I love her recipes very much and practice them for my special days.  



vegetables:
Unripe banana (choose Indian banana) - 1
Baby brinjal / small eggplant - 3
Drumstick - 1
Red onion - 1
White pumkin - 100 gms
Tomato - 1
Yam (suran / senai kilangu) - 100 gms
Raw mango - 1/2
potato - 1
cluster beans - 100 gms
string beans - 100 gms

(Cauliflower , cabbage , broccoli , celery and beetroot do not go along with the recipe. Just use only native Indian vegetables.)

Masala:
fresh shredded coconut - 1 cup
green chilli - 4
shallot onion - 4 / 1 small red onion.
cumin seeds- 1 tsp
black pepper- 1 tsp
(Grind all of the above coarsely).

Other ingredients:
Channa dal - a handful
Tamarind extract - 1 tsp.
turmeric - 1/4 tsp
shredded coconut - 1 tbsp
coconut oil (or)any cooking oil - 1 tbsp
curry leaves - 1 brig
mustard seed - 1tsp
salt - to taste
water- 2 cups

Method:
Cut the vegetables in to big pieces .
Cook all the vegetables in water and turmeric powder. Add water just to immerse the vegetables. Add soaked channa dal.
After they become tender add salt and tamarind extract.
Then goes the coarsely ground masala and mix well. Bring it to boil.
check for salt.Now switch off the flame.
Heat a separate pan with coconut oil and splutter the mustard seeds. Add the remaining shredded coconut, curry leaves and run the 'thalippu' over the aviyal.
TamilNadu Pongal aviyal is ready.

Serving suggestions:
Makes 800 ml of aviyal (nearly 4 cups).
It can be served with sambar rice , rasam rice , roti , adai or chapathi .

Cranberry beans koottu

I am introduced to cranberry beans after coming to NJ only. While I was browsing through a chinese food market, I bumped on this lovely veggie that resembles much of an Indian butter beans. Before that I wanna share some memories on butter beans.
Butter beans is a famous , expensive but rare vegetable found in Tirunelveli / Tuticorin markets. Even in Madras I have not spotted this beans any where. We make a koottu (curry) out of it along with sambar rice. My Mom used to prepare it with Paruppu kulambu and I love those tongue tickling moments.
I applied the same formula with cranberry beans and the result was amazing. So in your next visit to any Asian food market look for this beans and enjoy this curry :)



cranberry beans / butter beans curry
Ingredients:
Cranberry beans/ butter beans - 1 lb
Shallot onion - 4
Shredded coconut - 2 tbsp
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
oil - 1 tsp
fennel seeds (sombu)- 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 brig
coriander powder - 2 tsp
red chilli powder - 1 tsp
turmeric powder - a pinch
tomato - 1 (chopped)
salt - to taste

Procedure:
Shell the cranberry beans , wash and clean the beans inside.
Bring to boil enough water and cook the beans to tender.
In a Indian mixer/ any blender grind the shallot, coconut and cumin seeds together to a coarse paste.
Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan. Add the fennel seeds and let it become red. Then goes the curry leaves.
Immediately add the cooked beans along with the remaining water.
Now add coriander powder, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt.
Slide in chopped tomatoes. Close the lid and cook for 5 minutes.
Then introduce the ground masala and keep stirring occasionally, till the koottu / curry becomes a gravy.
Butter beans/ cranberry beans koottu is ready.

Serving suggestions:
Makes nearly 600 ml of curry.
Serves 4 people .
Serve hot with chapathi, roti , vegetable pulav,or as side dish with sambar & rice.

Cranberry beans koottu goes to Legume affair hosted by Srivalli and Susan.
Also it will be seen in the Sunshine mom's FIC_ Yellow event.

Vegetable Biryani (Oven method)

Happy Pongal everybody . After a week , I come out with our very known dish 'vegetable Biryani'.Actually after posting the non veg biryani, one of my vegetarian friend ordered me for a delicious veg. biryani.... So I am dedicating it to her:)
Vegetable biryani always gives a great alternative to sambar and daal rice during the fasting season.
Some people prepare it in a rice cooker or a kadai. But if it comes for a pot luck or dinner , I prefer to prepare the vegetable Biryani in conventional oven.
Nothing more to say , but try this and tell me how it turned out.



Vegetables: Cauli flower - 5 big florets (pieces), green beans - 10 , carrot -1 , green peas - a handful , butter beans / cranberry beans - 1 cup
Ingredients:
Basmathi rice / Jeeraga samba raw rice - 3 cups
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red onion - 2 (medium size)
Tomato - 2
cilantro- 1 handful.
mint leaf -1 handful.
Ginger paste - 2 tsp
Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Fennel - 1 tsp
bay leaves - 2
star aniseed - 1,
cinnamom stick - 2 inch
cardamom - 2
cloves - 4
curd -1 cup,
ghee - 2 tbsp
olive oil - 3 tbsp
chilli powder - 2 tsp ,
green chillis - 5 (uncut).
Lemon - 1
cashew nuts -10
raisins- 10.
salt.
saffron color- 2 drops
rose essence-2 drops
milk - 2 tbsp

Marination:
wash and clean the vegetables. peel the skin of carrot and cut into long thin slices.
Cut the green beans in to long pieces. Pluck 5 -6 florets from the cauliflower.
Defreeze the green peas. Boil and cook the cranberry beans/ butter beans separately.
Put all the vegetables in a mixing bowl .
Add 2 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp garam masal powder, 1 tsp ginger paste, 1/2 tsp garlic paste, 1 cup curd,2 tsp salt and juice from 1/2 a lemon.
Marinate the vegetables for 2 hours or overnight in refrigerator.

Biryani gravy preparation:
Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a broad bottom vessel.
Add fennel ,star aniseed , cinnamon stick,cardamom ,cloves, bay leaf .
Then goes the chopped onion .
Fry it till golden brown and take half of it aside.
Now add the chopped tomato and cook till the oil oozes out of it.
Then add the remaining ginger garlic paste and stir well till the raw smell goes.
Fry it till the oil start oozing out. Now add the marinated vegetables and stir well.
No need to cook the vegetables (except butter beans seeds), as they will get cooked in the oven.

To cook rice:
wash the rice and soak it for 1/2 an hour.
Bring to boil some 10 cups of water.
Add the juice of half a lemon and 2 tsp salt.
Then add the soaked rice and 1/2 cook it (50% done).
Immediately drain water using a colander (sieve) and keep it aside.

For garnishing:
Roast the cashews and raisins in 1 tbsp ghee. keep aside.
Chop cilantro and mint leaves.

Arrange the layers:
Take an aluminium foil baking tray. Clean it and spread half of the rice.
Then spread the prepared vegetable gravy over it .
Cover that with another layer of rice.
spread the chopped mint leaf, cilantro, uncut green chillies, fried onions, cashews and raisins.
Mix 2 drops of rose essence , saffron food color (or real saffron) with 2 tbsp milk.
sprinkle this mixture over the top layer of rice.
sprinkle 1 tbsp ghee over that.

In oven:
Now cover the tray with an aluminium foil.
Preheat the oven to 350 deg C and cook the biryani for 1 hour (or) more, till the rice is cooked completely. My biryani got ready in one hour.
Vegetable biryani is ready.

Serving suggestions:
Serve vegetable biryani hot with onion raitha .
Serves 6 people.

Vegetable Biryani goes to Sunshine mom's FIC_ Yellow event.

Shrimp curry (South Indian coastal region kulambu)

If any non vegetarian fan (like me) is asked to rate their favorite dish , then shrimp will definitely get a top score. To my surprise hubby never likes crab or shrimp (so I get a lion's share always :) . Love my man for his taste:)
Back to the shrimp curry, there are many ways to prepare the shrimp. Mostly we cook it exactly like a chicken curry or fry it like chicken 65. But the shrimp tastes great in whatever manner being cooked. (It tastes good if not cooked for a long time). Some American restaurants serve a half cooked cocktail shrimp and I love that taste too. I had it raw along with small gooseberry as a salad in Thailand and that was very lovely.
The recipe I narrate here traces its origin to the southern coastal region of Tamil Nadu. I got this charming recipe from a fish selling person (who regularly supplies fish to my father's house) and I love it because of its simplicity.
Here goes the recipe.




Ingredients:
Shrimp - 30 numbers
shredded coconut - 2 tbsp
cumin - 1/2 tsp
turmeric- a small bit
whole black Pepper - 2 tsp
coriander powder - 2 tbsp (not the seeds)
ginger - 1 inch
green chilli - 2 (split to half)
Chopped onion - 1 cup (1 number)
chopped tomato - 1 cup (2 number)
salt- to taste
oil - 1 tsp.
curry leaf - 2 brig

Method:
1.Wash srimp. Remove the veins and shell.Keep aside.
2.Bring to boil 1 cup of water in a vessel
Then add chopped onion and tomato .
3.Grind shredded coconut , cumin ,turmeric, black pepper, coriander powder
and ginger together.Add this mixture to the boiling onion-tomato .
4.Add the cleaned shrimp and cook covered in a low heat for 15 minutes.
5.Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan.
Fry fennel seeds (sombu) to red color then add the curry leaves and green chilli .
Now pour this tempering to the cooked shrimp kulambu. Check for salt.
The consistency should be watery like sambar.

Coastal region shrimp kulambu is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Makes nearly 3 cups of shrimp kulambu.
Serve hot with plain steamed rice.

Turkey Biryani

Turkey biryani has always been a fascinating dish for me since childhood. Most of the restaurants in Madras serve Turkey biryani only once in a week , because the turkey is a rare bird in India. This biryani has a vibrant flavor and taste.
Hubby being so delicate to taste new dishes, I waited  till I got a chance to prepare it for a dinner. I did this for a thanks giving day and Christmas function. Getting smaller portion of Turkey is a challenge here .  I was looking for a small portion of cut turkey. Finally succeeded in getting turkey wings from 'shop Rite' (Many other shops sell turkey as a whole bird ). It came out very tasty and we all enjoyed it very well. Here goes the recipe.

Hotel style Turkey biryani made with jeeraga samba rice.

Ingredients:
Basmathi rice / Jeeraga samba raw rice - 3 cups
Turkey wings - 2 lbs
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red onion - 2 (medium size)
Tomato - 2
cilantro- 1 handful.
mint leaf -1 handful.
Ginger paste - 2 tsp
Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Fennel - 1 tsp
bay leaves - 2
star aniseed - 1,
cinnamom stick - 2 inch
cardamom - 2
cloves - 4
curd -1 cup,
ghee - 2 tbsp
olive oil - 3 tbsp
chilli powder - 2 tsp ,
green chillis - 5 (uncut).
Lemon - 1
cashew nuts -10
raisins- 10.
salt.
saffron color- 2 drops
rose essence-2 drops
milk - 2 tbsp

Note:
The meat in the biryani always tastes plain . So if we want to make them more juicy and tasty we should marinate the chicken/ turkey or any meat the day before preparing the biryani (but not earlier than that).
Then place the marinated meat tightly packed inside the refrigerator (not freezer).

Marination:
wash and clean the turkey pieces.
Cut it in to big portions. Apply 1/4 tsp turmeric over it.
Marinate the turkey with 2 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp garam masal powder, 1 tsp ginger paste, 1/2 tsp garlic paste, 1 cup curd,
2 tsp salt and juice from 1/2 a lemon.
Keep it inside a Ziploc cover and place it inside a closed container . Keep it refrigerated .

Biryani gravy preparation:
Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a broad bottom vessel.
Add fennel ,star aniseed , cinnamon stick,cardamom ,cloves, bay leaf .
Then goes the chopped onion .
Fry it till golden brown and take half of it aside.
Now add the chopped tomato and cook till the oil oozes out of it.
Then add the remaining ginger garlic paste and stir well till the raw smell goes.
Now add the marinated turkey pieces and stir well. Fry it for some time.
Then pressure cook it for 4 whistles (or) keep in simmer for 5 minutes after 1 whistle.
Let all the pressure gets released and open the cooker. Check for salt. it should taste everything perfect.
Donot panic if you get some water added from steam. It will be sucked by the half cooked rice while slow cooking the biryani.

To cook rice:
wash the rice and soak it for 1/2 an hour.
Bring to boil some 10 cups of water.
Add the juice of half a lemon and 2 tsp salt.
Then add the soaked rice and 1/2 cook it (50% done).
Immediately drain water using a colander (sieve) and keep it aside.

For garnishing:
Roast the cashews and raisins in 1 tbsp ghee. keep aside.
Chop cilantro and mint leaves.

Arrange the layers:
Take an aluminium foil baking tray. Clean it and spread half of the rice.
Then spread the prepared turkey gravy over it .
Cover that with another layer of rice.
spread the chopped mint leaf, cilantro, uncut green chillies, fried onions, cashews and raisins.
Mix 2 drops of rose esssence , saffron food color (or real saffron) with 2 tbsp milk.
sprinkle this mixture over the top layer of rice.
sprinkle 1 tbsp ghee over that.

Dum or slow cooking:
Now cover the tray with an aluminium foil.
Preheat the oven to 350 deg C and cook the biryani for 1 hour (or) more, till the rice is cooked completely. My biryani got ready in 90 minutes.

Serving suggestions:
Serve turkey biryani hot with onion raitha and chicken gravy.
Serves 5 people.

Cranberry Sauce

Last month we bought a pack of cranberries, but just could not take that sour taste. So googled to find a dish with it and came across this famous 'cranberry sauce'.
We can substitute this home made sauce for jam as it resembles much like one.
These tiny red fruits are packed with a lot of nutrients and antioxidants. The fresh fruit is generally available from September to December.
But we can use frozen cranberries also to make this sauce.
Scientific researches are revealing the uses of cranberries and how it prevents aging .




Ingredients:
sugar - 1 cup (200 gms)
water - 1 cup
cranberries - 4 cups (12 oz pack)
black berries - 10
orange peel (grated) - 1 tsp
cinnamon- a dash
Raisins - a handful

Method:
Wash and clean the cranberries.
In a saucepan bring to a boil water and sugar, stirring to dissolve sugar.
Now add cranberries and boil again.
Then reduce flame and wait till the cranberries burst.
Now add all the other ingredients. Remove from heat. Cool completely at room temperature and then chill in refrigerator.
Cranberry sauce is ready.

Serving suggestions:
Can be served with bread like jam or as dessert or with any spicy food.

Note:
The Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools. So no need to add any thickening agent.
It will have a mild unnoticeable bitter taste as soon as prepared, but will become sweet after some time.