Garlic bread (short cut)

 Here the local 'Garden farm market' sells these rolls in a much lesser price (say, 4 big rolls for a dollar - '2010 ). Moreover one cannot pass by that aisle ignoring those fresh rolls. So whenever we go to that shop I will stock up some rolls in various shapes and flavors. While trying to utilize the left over rolls, I found an interesting garlic bread recipe all over the web.  Though Baguette (French bread) is highly recommended for this recipe, this too works fine for me. Try and enjoy!

Ingredients:

Bread rolls / French bread - 1/2 foot long
unsalted butter - 2 tbsp (or more)
powdered dry garlic - 1 tsp
Italian seasoning (dried) - 1 tsp
salt - to taste

We can use fresh garlic also. But microwave / cook the garlic before mashing to avoid a strong odor. Nowadays I prefer garlic powder for this recipe.  If needed mix some olive oil to butter to get a healthier version.

Method:

Cut the bread diagonally and make thick long slices.
(If using fresh garlic, microwave the fresh garlic cloves with a tsp of water and mash well).
Soften the butter and mix the garlic powder, Italian herbs, salt and mix well.
Coat both sides of the bread slice with this mixture.
Preheat oven to 350 deg C.
Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil.
Spray some oil.
Place the bread slices and bake till the crust turns golden / mildly crispy in outside (8-10 minutes approximately).
Garlic bread is ready!

Serving suggestion:

Serve warm as snack or sides with pizza, pasta.

Amaranth stem sambar (keerai thandu sambar).

If you are a person insisting on a 'no waste kitchen', then here is a recipe. Amaranth is a tasty green included in most of the Asian cuisines. In my home town, the keerai (greens) vendor, generally  the local farmer's wife, would bring many kinds of fresh greens early morning in a big basket. If we want to buy amaranth, then she would give it like a whole plant only, as they harvest that greens like that. Also we can get very young and tender amaranths by the name 'MuLai keerai' (முளை கீரை ) in cute little bunches . MuLai keerai can be used completely without rejecting the stems, but the stem of the normal amaranth are thicker. While buying the bigger amaranth plants, mom would make a stir fry using the leaves one day and save the stems for the sambar or any curry the next day. The stems can be refrigerated for a week and used in many dishes. I like the way we utilize everything from that beautiful amaranth plant.

other names: Chinese spinach stem sambar/ red spinach stem dhal/ Keerai thandu sambar

Amaranth (thandu keerai / thandankeerai - Tamil). Amaranth is a kind of greens like spinach, but with more medicinal value. Some tribes claim that it increases the life span , if consumed regularly. Click to read more from Wikipedia.

keerai thandu sambar

Ingredients:

Amaranth stem (chopped) - 1 cup
tamarind - small gooseberry size
tomato - 1
sambar powder - 2 tsp
oil / ghee - 1 tsp
curry leaf - 1 sprig
shallot - 2
cilantro - few
mustard - 1/2 tsp
fenugreek / methi seed - 1/2 tsp
cumin - 1/2 tsp

To pressure cook:

thuvaram paruppu (thoor dhal/red gram)- 1/2 cup
water - 2 cup
turmeric - 1/2 tsp
asafoetida (hing) - a pinch
onion - 1/2
garlic - 4 cloves

Method:

Wash and soak the dhal for 30 minutes. Discard the water.
Pressure cook the dhal with 2 cups of water, hing, turmeric powder, garlic, onion for 3 whistles. Switch off and wait for the pressure to reduce. Take out and mash the dhal with 1/2 tsp cumin.

Soak the tamarind in 1/2 cup water and extract juice (thrice).

Peel the skin of Amaranth stem, if any. Chop the stem into 1 inch pieces and keep aside. Heat a tsp oil in a wok and slide in mustard, fenugreek. After the mustard crackles, put the curry leaves and chopped shallot. Then goes  the finely chopped tomato and cook till it gets mushy.
Add the chopped amaranth stem and stir for 10 seconds.
Then add the tamarind extract and let it come to a boil. Heat till the raw smell vanishes (5 minutes). Add the mashed dhal to boiling tamarind. Put the sambar powder and bring it to a boil again.
Add required salt, finely chopped cilantro and switch off.
Amaranth stem sambar is ready!

Serving suggestion:

Makes 4 generous servings.
Serve over hot rice or as side dish with idly, dosa, venn pongal etc.

Potato spicy curry (Urulai kilangu kara curry)

It is an extremely spicy hot curry popular among Indians. Potato curry won't need much of an intro to any Indian. Every mom would have a recipe of their own for this simple dish. It is a Tamil tradition to make this curry along with sambar rice for vegetarian guests. Also the urulai kilangu kara curry is a must during festive days and weddings. Almost an year back, I read an interview with a Tirunelveli chef in a Tamil magazine about his proficiency in this curry. Though I too do the same way, I like the way the chef explained it.  Hope you all enjoy it.

Potato spicy curry / Urulai kizhangu kaara curry.

Ingredients:

Potato -  4 (big)
(Red potato in USA tastes more like Indian potatoes)
tomato - 2 (optional)
Red Onion - 1 (100 gm)
Fennel Seeds - 1/2 tbsp
ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Red Chilly Powder - 1 tbsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala Powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp
cinnamon - 1 inch
curry leaf - 1 sprig
Coriander Leaves to garnish - as required

Method:

Wash the potatoes and put them in enough water. Bring to boil and cook covered till the potatoes are soft.
Peel and chop the potatoes into big chunks. Mash a few pieces. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a wok. Add fennel seeds, cinnamon. As the fennel turns red , add the chopped onion, curry leaf and fry till it becomes golden.
Then add the ginger garlic paste and stir for 5 seconds.
Then add the chopped tomatoes and saute till oil starts showing up.

Add required salt, chilly powder, coriander powder, Turmeric powder, Garam masala powder with handful of water and cook for 1 minute.

Then add the cubed potatoes and mix well till the masala gets absorbed by the potato and the curry becomes semi-dry. Sprinkle more chilli powder if needed, as this curry should be very hot and spicy.

Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves.

Spicy Potato curry is ready!

Serving Suggestions:

Serves 4 people.
Serve as side dish for chapathi, Sambar rice, rasam rice,coconut rice, curd rice etc.

Note:

If you are not using tomato here, then sprinkle a few drops of lemon juice after switching off.

Karuppatti aappam

Karuppatti - palm jaggery / panai vellam. Palm jaggery is a kind of sweetener used in South India. In my native place, palm jaggery extraction is a well known cottage industry. It is used in preparing many Indian medicines especially the Tamil medicines and healthy food. When mixed with tamarind extract and dry ginger, it is believed to treat UTI and kidney stones. It is also believed to be a healthy and less calorific sugar for everyone. From the root to the top, the whole tree can be used for one purpose or another. Some of the useful things we get from palm tree are, palm root (panan kilangu), thavun (germinating seed), panan kuruthu (tender edible leaves), fuel from leaves and trunk, strong wood for construction, neera / pathaneer (palmira juice), palm leaf fan and some crafts, nongu/nungu (unripe palm fruit), a very sweet palm fruit and of course the palm jaggery also. The best part is this tree won't need much irrigation or attention, so it can be cultivated in hot arid conditions also. As the whole tree serves the humans in many ways, they call it as karpaga virutcham (a mythical tree that can give whatever we wish for). The coffee made with this karipotti, will taste great even without milk. Because of lesser awareness and negligence the palmyra trees are fast vanishing from our farms. Moreover the Tamilnadu government's policies on palm products,  export,  license etc made this farming extremely difficult, which ultimately resulted in high price tags on this otherwise cheaper palm jaggery.

Last month I got a pack of Gur, (a Bangladeshi palm sugar made from date palm) from an Indian grocery stores. It resembles the South Indian palm jaggery, but the one I am talking about tastes more like a caramel syrup. Apart from eating it raw as snack, I prepared some palm jaggery aappam and started drenching in those memories:)

Here are some links on palm trees.
news , uses,

Karuppatti appam served with coconut milk.

Palm jaggery is prepared by pouring hot (pathaneer) palm syrup in coconut shells.

Gur, I got in Indian stores.

Appam making pan.

Vellai appam batter and karupatti appam batter.

Appam batter after fermentation.

I have already posted the recipe for a traditional karuppatti aappam when I started blogging. But I didn't have any images then. Click here to see the recipe.

Here is an alternative / short cut method to prepare aappam using left over dosa batter.

Ingredients:

Sour dosa batter - 1 cup
rice flour - 1 cup
shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
yeast - 1 tsp
(optional if you don't have it. But yeast makes the aappam tasty)
salt - 1/2 tsp,
baking soda - 1/4 tsp.
Palm jaggery / Karupatti (in tamil)- 1/2 (150 gms)

Preparation:

Grind the coconut and add it to the dosa batter, rice flour, yeast, salt and add very little water to make a thick batter. Keep it closed and place in a warm place for 6-8 hours or Let it ferment overnight.
( I make this batter at night by 9 pm and leave it inside the oven (warm but turned off). The next day morning when I take it out my kitchen will be filled with a nice aroma).

There will be bubbles on the surface and the batter would have risen and become more watery.
Now take 1/2 - 1 cup of water and add the palm jaggery . Heat it until the jaggery gets dissolved.Allow it to cool. Then take the top layer jaggery solution leaving behind the sandy bottom.
Add this mixture to the aappam batter. Add the baking soda, mix well  and now we are ready to make aappam.

Method:

We may need a special aappam pan for this. But can also be done with a curved bottom non stick pan, with lid.
Heat the aappam pan and wipe a drop of coconut oil all over the pan by using a clean cloth.
Check the thickness of aappam batter now. It should be have a thin consistency than that of dosa batter.If not so add some water.
Pour a big ladle over the pan and shake the pan in a circular motion so that the flour spreads and expands along the edges, so that the aappam is thick at the center and very thin along the sides. (The cooked batter forms a layer of 'lace' around the thicker center portion). Cover tightly, reduce flame and let it cook in it's own steam. (I wait to hear a mild "dropping/ cracking" sound of water) .Now we can be sure that the aapam is cooked.Open the lid.Then by using a dosa spatula gently take out the aapam.

Aappam is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Extract some coconut milk. First place the hot aappam on the dinner plate and drizzle a few tsp of white sugar over it. Then pour a ladle of coconut milk over it.
Enjoy the karuppatti aappam soaked in coconut milk.

Makes nearly 15 number of aapam.
We can store the rest of the aapam batter in fridge and use it later if you dont need this much number of aapams.
If you don't have palm jaggery , then skip that step and prepare white aappam without any sweetener, which can be served with any spicy kuruma.

Spinach sambar

A simple sambar recipe that helps me to include greens in one form or other:)

Amaranth (thandu keerai - Tamil) or any kind of spinach can be used to make this healthy sambar. Taking greens is a must for all, that too more important for those with non-veg diet. Greens have the capacity to keep our intestines healthy and clean apart from their vitamin benefits. So a non veg day should be followed by a day full of fibrous diet and keerai is a must then. We can see the fish meals accompanied with spinach in many Indian houses, but not with chicken or lamb. So the next day would be a keerai day:) This is a common dish in some parts of Tamilnadu, India.

Ingredients:

Amaranth (or) spinach leaves- 2 handful
tamarind - small gooseberry size
tomato - 1
sambar powder - 2 tsp
oil - 1 tsp
curry leaf - 1 sprig
cilantro - few
mustard - 1/2 tsp
fenugreek - 1/2 tsp
cumin - 1/2 tsp

To pressure cook:

thuvaram paruppu (thoor dhal/red gram)- 1/2 cup

water - 2 cup
turmeric - 1/2 tsp
asafoetida (hing) - a pinch
onion - 1/2
garlic - 4 cloves

Method:

Pressure cook the dhal with 2 cups of water, hing, turmeric powder, garlic, onion.
Soak the tamarind in 1/2 cup water and extract juice (thrice).
Finely chop the spinach and keep aside.
Heat a tsp oil in a wok and slide in mustard, fenugreek. After the mustard crackles, add the finely chopped tomato and cook till it gets mushy.
Then add the chopped spinach and stir for less than a minute.
Add the tamarind extract and let it come to a boil. Heat till the raw smell vanishes (5 minutes). Mash the cooked dhal with a tsp of cumin and add it to boiling tamarind. Put the sambar powder and bring it to a boil.
Add required salt, finely chopped cilantro and switch off.
Spinach sambar is ready!

Serving suggestion:

Makes 4 generous servings.
Serve over hot rice or as side dish with idly, dosa, venn pongal etc.

Vazhaikkai roast

This roasted plantain is one my favorite. For the first time I tasted it long back from my friend Usha's tiffin box. Then I learned that it was prepared by her sister . Just like most us, I too have the habit of formulating the recipe after tasting a good food. So I kept that taste in mind and prepared it for my mom. From then on it became a regular in our house and we call it as a best alternative for fish fry:)

Ingredients:
unripe banana - 2
oil - 2 tbsp

To grind:

onion - 1/4
garlic - 2 cloves
fennel - 1 tsp
garam masal powder - 1/2 tsp
red chilly powder - 1 tbsp
turmeric - a big pinch
salt - to taste
besan flour or maida flour- 1 tsp

Method:

Cut and remove the head and tail of unripe raw banana. Peel a thin layer of skin from plantain (optional).
Bring to boil enough water to immerse the plantain.
Cook the bananas completely.
Check by piercing a sharp knife and see if it gets through without much effort.
Switch off. Let it cool. Cut it into 3/4 an inch thick rounds.

Grind the ingredients mentioned above to a fine paste.
Apply this paste all over the plantain pieces. Keep aside.
Heat a flat pan and apply a thin coating of oil (few drops).
Then place all the pieces flat.
Reduce flame. Sprinkle 1 tbsp oil over the pieces.
Let them cook for few minutes (2 minutes) and flip once. Again sprinkle a tbsp of oil all over. Cook till they get dark red color.

Take out and enjoy.

Serving suggestions:

Makes a good side dish with curd rice or any 'dhal / sambar over rice'.

Makes an attractive party food.

Simple breakfast - Aval /poha

Here is a very simple and common breakfast using Aval (Tamil). Aval is called beaten rice or Indian rice flakes (English) or poha (Hindi). Even before the Kellogs finds its way to Tamilnadu, many women find their solace in this 'no-cook breakfast' and I am one among them :) All you need is a few tbsp of freshly shredded coconut, sugar and optionally a banana along with this poha.
Hope many won't need a recipe for this. But just recording it for people like me:)

Aval - mix and enjoy!

Ingredients:

thick poha - 1 cup
sugar - 2 tbsp (for each plate)
freshly shredded coconut - 2 tbsp (for each plate)
banana - 1 (for each plate)

Method:

Wash and soak the poha (see note), till its soft. Drain the excess water and keep aside.
 Mix with sugar, banana, shredded coconut  and enjoy!
 We can serve the sugar, poha, coconut and banana separately for adults.
Mix everything and make small balls for children, so that they enjoy well.
The ripe banana should be placed along the side and the guest has to mash the banana, mix everything and devour.

Note:

We may need 1/2 cup poha for 1 person.
Thick or thin poha can be used for this recipe.
Thick poha will need 1 hour to soak, while the thin poha will soak in 5 minutes.
But the most healthy one is the red thick poha (sivappu samba aval).
Makes a very healthy breakfast.
Some times it can be served as a quick and mild dinner also.

Anchovy fish curry

Nethili meen kulambu (meaning - anchovy fish curry) is a heart healthy dish preferred by those who can't take fatty fishes like king fish. Anchovies are recommended for their property to reduce bad fat. In villages, they won't temper this kind of meen kulambu. I like the taste of small fishes like sardines (salai meen) ,anchovies (nethili) better than the larger varieties. Chinese people, who know the medicinal value of these fishes, buy the anchovies in dried form to prepare soup. Enjoy!

Nethili meen kulambu waiting in the dining table:)

Items required: (To make 4 cups of thick gravy)
Anchovy - 1 lb (or)1/2 kg
sesame oil - 2 tbsp
mustard seeds- 1 tsp
fenugreek seeds (methi)- 1/2 tsp
Tamarind - 1 small lemon size
Red chilly powder -1 tbsp
coriander powder- 3 tbsp
turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
tomato - 2
green chillies - 2
curry leaves- 2 sprigs.

To grind:

shredded coconut - 3/4 cup
shallot - 8
cumin seeds - 1 tsp

How to clean the anchovy fish?

First put all the fishes in a basin of water and rinse the anchovies to remove any sand or impurities.
Then remove or retain the head as per taste. (If you are frying them, then the head will taste great, for this curry we can remove them. But I prefer to keep the head on). Cut and remove the tail. Slit gently in the boneless stomach side and remove the (greenish) digestive tract.
Wash once again.
Apply little turmeric powder over the fish and keep aside.
Anchovies are ready for cooking now:)

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 a thick bottom 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 the finely chopped tomato and saute till becomes mushy.
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 cleaned anchovies.
cover the vessel and simmer the heat.
Cook it in very little flame for 15 minutes.
DO NOT stir the curry after adding the fish, otherwise you may end up with broken pieces.
Then put off fire. If needed garnish with chopped green chillies and curry leaves.

Note:

Serve hot with rice, chapathi or Idly or dosai .
We may not need any side dish if we are adding more anchovies.
The left over meen kulambu will taste heavenly the next day along with idly for breakfast.

FYI:
I have read somewhere that this idly and fish curry combination is the most favorite for Tamilnadu's former  Chief Minister (MGR), (late) Mr. M.G.Ramachandran :) Recently I started watching his movies and found them very stylish and lively. Never thought I would enjoy them like this:)

Pomegranate Ice cream

Valentine's day is for flowers and cakes and ice cream. I prepared Gulabjamun and Turkey biryani as a special treat for hubby. As I have posted the recipes for above earlier, I thought of giving out some healthy as well as a romantic post during this day. How about some sparkling ruby red pomegranates in your ice cream? Here is an ice cream made of pomegranate. Enjoy! Happy Valentine's day!

Pomegranate fruit split open. Always buy pomegranates that weigh heavy.

The pomegranate juice is extracted now.

Pomegranate ice cream before freezing.

Pomegranate ice cream.

Ingredients:

pomegranate - 2 (big)
sugar - 2 tbsp
condensed milk (sweetened 14 oz can) - 1 1/4 can
whipped topping (8 oz pack) - 2
rose essence - 3 drops

Method:

Wash the pomegranate. Slit it and open. Carefully gather the plump seeds in a bowl. Keep a handful of them aside for garnishing. Apply 2 tbsp sugar and squeeze the juice out of it by hand. Don't use mixer or blender, as it will grind the hard seeds also. Remove the seeds. If necessary apply a tsp of sugar to the left over seeds and extract as much juice as possible.
We may need a cup of pomegranate juice.

In a mixing bowl add the condensed milk, rose essence, 3/4 of the juice and fold in the whipped topping. Transfer to a lidded container suitable for freezing.
Add the left over pomegranate juice little by little to give a swirl effect. Keep frozen for nearly 4 hours.
Garnish with some un-squeezed pomegranate before serving.

Pomegranate ice cream is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Makes nearly 15 big scoops.
This ice cream will be very fluffy and easy to handle.

Note:

1 large scoop will be less than 100 K cal.
We can use bottled pomegranate juice also, but I will recommend the freshly squeezed ones only to get the fluffy ice cream.
The hard seeds that we get (after extracting the juice) can be dried and used in cooking.
The hard skin of the pomegranate can be dried and powdered for medicinal purposes.
I formulated this pomegranate ice cream recipe after some iterations.
In USA the season for pomegranates is during October November and December.

Bottlegourd koottu

This is the recipe for a koottu (side dish) I make with bottlegourd. Any watery vegetable like white pumpkin, ridge gourd can also be used.

suraikkai koottu

Ingredients:

Bottlegourd (suraikkai) - 300 gms
channa dhal - 1/2 cup

To grind:

shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
green chillies - 3
cumin - 1 tsp

To temper:

Mustard seed - 1/2 tsp
sesame oil - 1 tsp
curry leaf - 1 sprig
onion - 2 tbsp

Method:

Wash the channa dhal and cook it with some water.
Peel the skin of the bottle gourd. Chop it into small cubes. Donot discard the seeds. Tender seeds tastes good.
Grind the items given and keep aside.
After the dhal is almost cooked add the chopped bottle gourd and cook covered. As soon as it is cooked add salt and the ground masala.
Heat oil in another wok and let the mustard splutter. Then add the curry leaf, finely chopped onion and let them wilt. Pour this over the cooked curry.
Check for salt and switch off.
Bottle gourd koottu is ready!

Serving suggesetion:

Makes more than 4 or 5 servings.
Serve as side dish with any rice or roti.

Note:

*Normally a small bottle gourd will weigh more than 1/2 kg. But we may get a lot of koottu by this recipe. So cut 3/4 th of the bottlegourd and make the koottu and use the other portion to make pachadi or sambar.
*Fresh Bottle gourd salad or semi cooked one (pachadi) has the property to reduce body fat. I am not sure of this fact, but they believe so in Tamilnadu villages.

Sweet potato ladoo

Sweet potato is otherwise called sweet yam in some places. The Tamil meaning or translation is Seeni kilangu or sarkarai valli kizhangu.
The Indian sweet yams are more sweeter,flavorful, fibrous and starchy. We can distinguish them by their irregular shape and mild pink skin. They come as white or yellow yam depending on the inner color. We can use all kinds of sweet yam in this recipe.

My mom used to simply boil these yams during their peak availability and it is a guilt free snack too. But can we just satisfy ourselves with that natural yam? So one day she made some sweet balls out of it and the whole family started demanding her for this instead of the plain cooked yam:) But I like the boiled yam better than this ladoo, while as usual hubby dear started liking this one and now I have to make a few ladoos for him:)

Sweet potato ladoo along with some boiled ones.

Ingredients:

Sweet potato / Indian sweet yam - 1/2 lb
Freshly shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
sugar - 3 tbsp

Method:

Scrub and wash the yam to remove the sand.
Pressure cook or boil them in water.
If pressure cooking, halve the yam and cook them in 2 cups of water. After getting a whistle , reduce the flame and cook it in medium flame for 5 minutes. Then release the pressure and take it out.
Check by piercing a knife. It should pass freely.
Let it cool and remove the outer skin.
Mash the yam with hand and mix with coconut and sugar.
Shape into tennis ball size laddu (balls) and serve as snack.

Seeni kilangu ladoo is ready!

Kheema kuruma for poori

Weekend breakfasts are always a special in many houses. Hubby dear likes to start his weekends very early in the morning with his Netflix movies and will expect something nice to eat:) Here is a visual treat of the poori and kothu curry kuzhambu I prepared:)

Mutton kheema curry with poori.

Ingredients:

Lamb kheema - 150 gm
tomato - 2 (50 gm)
Potato - 3 (200 gm)
Red onion- 1 (5o gm)
curry leaves- 1 sprig
cilantro- 1 handful
mint leaves - 1 handful
cooking oil- 2 tbsp
chilli powder - 1 tbsp
coriander powder - 2 tbsp
sakthi garam masal powder - 1 tsp
green chilli- 2
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
cinnamon- 1 inch
fennel seeds - 1 tsp
Bay leaf (brinji) - 2
coconut milk - 1/2 cup

Method:

Wash the meat and keep aside.
Take a thick bottom vessel with tight lid.
Heat the oil and add fennel, cinnamon. After they start getting red, add the chopped onion and saute till it get golden brown. Then put the ginger garlic paste and cook till the raw smell vanishes.
Then add the finely chopped tomato, curry leaf, cilantro, mint, green chillies and saute till oil oozes out.
Peel the potato and cut it into small cubes. Put the potato and meat in that wok and saute well.
Add 2 cups of water , turmeric, garam masala and all powders.Cover tightly and cook for 15 minutes. Check if the meat and potato are cooked well. Then add salt and coconut milk. Bring to a boil and switch off.
The curry should be between thick and thin consistency, so that it pairs well with poori.
Kheema kurma is ready!

Serving suggestions:

This will be enough for 4 people.
Serve as side dish with puri / poori, chapathi , idly , dosa , parotta etc.

Note:

*The calorie need of men and women are different. Men need more calories than women.So calculate and serve accordingly.
*Lamb meat is very good for health during winter.
*As poori itself being a heavy breakfast, we may not need much fatty side dish. We may need as little as 150 gm of kheema and it will be difficult to buy that quantity, So while preparing any other kheema dishes, reserve some in freezer for this kuruma.
*Vegetarians can add scrambled paneer instead of meat in this kuruma.

Mutton koftha (kola urundai)

Kola urundai (Tamil)  can be equated to 'deep fried meat balls'. Mutton kola urundai is more famous in Tamilnadu than the chicken counterpart. Nowadays we are conveniently getting kheema from the shops but some decades ago, they used  to grind the lamb meat at home in ammi (grinding stone). That will yield a very soft kofta with crispy crust. After getting adapted to that taste, mom used to grind the already minced meat in the mixie to get a very spongy kola urundai. We can use the minced meat directly also. But I have explained my mom's method , as my younger brother is eagerly looking for this recipe:)

Ingredients:
Minced lamb meat - 250 gms
(kothu kari / mutton kheema)
ginger - 1 inch
garlic - 4 pods (optional)
onion - 1
turmeric - 1/4 tsp
garam masala powder - 1 tsp (optional)
fennel - 1 tbsp
cinnamon - 1 inch
red chilly powder - 1 tbsp
green chilly - 2
curry leaf - 1 sprig
cilantro - a handful
mint leaf - few

others:

Puffed channa dhal - 1 cup
(pottu kadalai / pori kadalai)
oil - to deep fry

Method:
Place a fresh cloth over colander. Wash the meat and drain water in a colander till there is no water. A fresh cloth over colander can remove all the water without wastage. But some people say they can use the meat directly, which is also correct if you can get clean meat.

Grind the puffed channa dhal to a fine powder, when the mixer is dry.
Grind the minced meat in a mixie along with ginger, garlic, fennel and salt to a very fine stage without any water.
Chop the onion, green chilly, cilantro, mint, curry leaf to a very fine stage.

Mix the ground meat and chopped items with red chilly powder, turmeric powder, garam masal powder. Add the powdered dhal little by little to get a soft dough like consistency.

Take a small lemon size ball and shape neatly. Deep fry in hot oil.
Take out and serve hot.

Serving suggestions:

Serve as snack or side dish with rice.
In my home town, they make 'yelumbu kulambu' (a thin curry with lamb ribs) and  rice along with this kofta during festive days.
Yields 20 kofthas (approximately).

Note:

Some suggest to use the minced meat directly without grinding to a fine stage, that is also correct. But I have given my mom's method here.
We can make chicken koftha also like this.
Vegetarians can use the drumstick (murungakkai) 's inner flesh instead of meat, which will be equally tasty.
Chicken kheema can be used directly without washing and grinding. But lamb meat needs more care.
Fry a ball and check for salt and adjust the taste.

An award:
When I was about to publish this post, I received a beautiful award from Ambreen of 'Simply Sweet 'n' Savory'. Thank you dear. I am honored.

Her post is on Koftay salan and it is much perfectly prepared and cooked in the curry itself. I have never tried like this, as I simply drop the fried meat balls in the gravy. It has come out nicely for her. I thought it would be apt to mention her's here. Hope you all like her method too.

I am sharing this award with all those who visit this post. Enjoy!

Brinjal whole fry

This is a very simple recipe I tried after preparing the stuffed masala egg. I thought of replacing the eggs with eggplant and the result was awesome. We can serve it along with ghee rice, as the masala we get at the end will be very tasty to go with anything. Try this and enjoy.

Stuffed brinjal fry.

Ingredients:

Brinjal (small)- 6
oil - 1/4 cup
(sesame oil or EVOO)
onion - 2
ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
salt - little

Stuffing / Filling:

Garam masala - 1 tsp
(I used sakthi biryani masala powder)
chilly powder - 1 tbsp
coriander powder - 3 tsp
salt - to taste
turmeric powder - a pinch
lemon juice - 1 tbsp (optional)

Method:

Slit the brinjal longitudinally without completely splitting.
Mix the filling with a tbsp of water and stuff inside the brinjal.
Keep the remaining masala aside.

Heat oil in a thick bottom wok.
Place the brinjals and let them fry for a minute. Turn and do the same for a minute.
In the mean time, chop the onions into thin long pieces and add to the frying brinjals.
Add ginger garlic paste, little salt and left over masalas to that. Close tightly and cook well in low heat. Stir gently once in a while.

Nearly after 15 minutes, we can see the oil separating from the brinjal masala.
Switch off.

Stuffed brinjal fry is ready.

Serving suggestions:

Serve as side dish with chapthi, roti or any paratha.
Makes a great combo with ghee rice or coconut milk rice.
Also tastes good with curd rice.

Spinach rice (Keerai saatham)

Spinach and Asian food are inseparable. I am sure each Indian lunch box can tell a different recipe for this humble spinach. I mix rice and the spinach to make a kind of 'variety rice'.  I like this recipe very much because of its simplicity and lesser time consumption.  Here goes the recipe.

Keerai saatham served with cauliflower  stir fry.

Ingredients:

Rice - 3/4 cup
Any greens / Spinach - 1 small bunch.
(Any keerai like thandu keerai, mulai keerai, muringa keerai, pasali keerai,ponnan kanni keerai, arakeerai, sirukeerai etc)
Green chilly - 2
onion - 1/2 cup
garlic - 2 cloves
cumin - 1/2 tsp
shredded coconut - 2 tbsp (optional)
mustard - 1/2 tsp
sesame oil - 1 tsp
ghee - 1/2 tsp (optional)
salt - to taste

Rice:

Take the rice lesser than we normally consume, as the spinach makes a good filler in this recipe.
Bring to boil some 3 cups of water. Wash and add the rice to the boiling water. Put a pinch of salt and reduce the flame. Let it cook. After the rice gets cooked, strain and remove the water.
Keep the cooked rice aside. We can cook the rice in pressure cooker or rice cooker also. But I prefer the above method to prepare any 'variety rice', as it will yield very separate grains.

Method:

Carefully clean the greens and put them in a broad vessel. Wash thrice or more times to remove all dirt. Drain water and chop finely.
Heat oil in a wok. Let the mustard crackle. Then add the chopped onion, chilly, garlic and fry till the onion becomes soft.
Then add the finely chopped greens and stir fry. Don't close the vessel. Sprinkle a little water if necessary. After it gets cooked and almost dry (in 5 minutes), Switch off, add the salt, shredded coconut and cumin seeds. Mix this with the cooked rice along with a tsp of ghee.
Mix well and serve.

Serving suggestion:

This can be prepared for lunch box. Don't add coconut during hot weather in packed foods.
Serve with any spicy side dish like brinjal fry or cauliflower fry.
Serves 2.

Peanut chutney

Peanut chutney is a famous chutney among South Indians. Some call it as 'sivappu chatney' or 'kara chutney' that means 'red or hot chutney'. My dad loves this very much and after a long time I made it along with idly. It has to be made with more dry red chillies and tamarind to make it super hot. Here goes the recipe.

Groundnut chutney.

Ingredients:

peanut - 1/2 cup
shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
dry red chillies - 10
tamarind - an amla size
salt - to taste

To temper:

oil - 1 tsp
mustard - 1/2 tsp
urid dhal - 1/2 tsp
curry leaf- 1 sprig

Method:

Dry roast the peanut and let it cool.
(If using roasted peanuts, then skip the above step).
Remove its skin by gently rubbing. Keep aside.
Now add a drop of oil in a wok and roast the dry red chillies till they smell good and turns crispy.
Grind all items given in ingredient list along with the roasted peanut and fried chillies.
Add some water (less than 1 cup) to get a thick and somewhat runny consistency.
Again heat a tsp of oil in a wok and crackle the mustard seeds, immediately add the urad dhal and curry leaves. Fry till the dhal turns red, pour over the prepared chutney.

Verkadalai chutney is ready!

Serving suggestion:

Makes a great combo with idly or dosai.
Serves 4.

Other info:

As some are allergic or hesitant to peanut, don't try this chutney for a get-together.
Some get giddiness , if they take lot of peanut. In that case give them a chunk of jaggery  immediately. May be it is a home remedy for people who can't take much peanut.

Reposts for events

I am re-posting the following fried snacks for Radhika's Deep fried snacks event.

1.Thengai paal murukku.

2.Masaal vadai.


3.Vazhai kaai bajji.

Who won't love a plate of deep fried snacks in this cold weather? Hope she gets a lot of entries. Happy hosting dear!

Thavil vadai

Thavil vadai is an unique kind of vadai in Tamilnadu.  Some people call it as thaval vadai or thavala vadai ,aiming to describe the shape of that vadai (thavil - a musical instrument). This is how we explain in our house, if any one know the proper meaning of the title please let me know:) Moreover this vadai should be made with many lentils and rice, which makes the recipe more interesting.

Recipe source: amma.
Also inspired by :  Subbu's kitchen and Kitchen queen. Thank you friends!

Ingredients:

Channa dhal (Bengal gram)- 1/2 cup
black gram (ulunthu / urid dhal) - 1/2 cup
Red gram / thuvaram paruppu / thoor dhal - 1/4 cup
Rice - 1/4 cup
dry red chillies - 3
ginger - 1 inch
shredded coconut - 2 tbsp
asafoetida / hing - a pinch
salt - to taste
oil - to deep fry

tempering / tadka:

Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Curry leaves- 1 sprig
cilantro - a handful

Method:

wash and clean the dhal and rice, Soak the urad dhal separately and others together for 2 hours or till soft.
Grind the urad dhal to fluffy stage, without  water.If needed add a tbsp of water. Then take  it out. Grind the other dhals and rice without water to a thick and coarse batter along with other ingredients except oil and coconut. Mix with urad dhal batter.
Heat a tsp of oil in a wok and add mustard seeds. As they crackle add the chopped cilantro, curry leaves and pour over the batter. Add the shredded coconut .
Take a lemon size ball of the batter and flatten it slightly. Deep fry it in oil by flipping both sides in medium heat. Don't  fry it in high heat. Give ample time to let it cook completely. As soon as the vadai turns mild red , drain oil and take out.

Thavil vadai is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve hot with coconut or cilantro(malli) chutney.

Amla Jamun

Amla - Indian gooseberry - Periya nellikkai (Tamil).
Here is a quick and  healthy dessert  using the Indian gooseberry.  This is my mom's recipe and she used to prepare some jam varieties also using amla. I used frozen amla, which we get in Indian grocery stores. Keep them handy to satisfy that sugar cravings:)

Ingredients:

Amla - 15
crushed jaggery - 1 cup
water - 1cup
honey - few tbsp

Method:

Bring one cup water to boil. Add the amla and cook well.
In the same time bring 1/4 cup water to boil in a separate vessel and dissolve the jaggery. Filter and remove the impurities.
Add the jaggery solution to the cooked amla and start heating till it becomes very thick syrup. Put off fire and let it cool.
Then add a few tbsp of honey and preserve in a clean dry container.
This can be kept for 6 months if refrigerated.

Serving:

Amla jamun makes a healthy dessert.
This sweet tastes great the next day only, as it may take a few hours for the bitterness to change.

Tips:

*There is another variety of gooseberry also, which will be smaller in size and tastes very sour. My mom used to make a jam out of it. For that jam, Mom would add sugar instead of jaggery and that 'nellikkai jam' would taste incredibly great.
*We can totally avoid the jaggery and add honey to the cooked amla to get a healthy amla jamun. But I have not tried it yet.

Mushroom biriyani

I have an endless love with biryanis and this is a vegetarian version, which I tried recently.  I prepared this one day for hubby's lunch when I wanted to pack something nice for him. Hope you all like this mushroom biryani.

Vegetables:

Mushroom - 10 numbers
(Use button mushrooms only)
fresh green peas - 1/2 cup .

Ingredients:

Basmathi rice - 1 1/2 cups
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red onion - 1 (chopped 1/2 cup)
Lemon - 1
red chilly powder - 1 tbsp
Biryani masala powder - 1 tsp
(I used sakthi biryani masala)
ghee - 1 tbsp (to add at the end)

To temper:

Bay leaves - 1
cinnamom stick - 1 inch
cardamom (crushed) - 2
cloves - 2
Any cooking oil - 3 tbsp
cashew nuts -5
raisins- 10.
salt - to taste

Masala 1:

Tomato puree - from 1 tomato

Masala 2:

cilantro- 10 stems
mint leaf -1 handful.

Masala 3:

Ginger - 1 inch
Garlic - 2 cloves

Preparation:

Wash and clean the mushrooms. Cut each mushroom into thin oval slices.
Wash the green peas / sweet peas and keep aside.
(Defreeze the green peas by putting it in water, if frozen).

Wash the rice. Add more water than required and bring it to boil. Reduce flame, add salt and cook it to stiff grainy consistency. Then drain all the water using a colander. Keep the rice aside.

Grind all the pastes separately.

Chop onion and keep aside.

Method:

Heat oil in a flat bottom vessel.
Add cinnamon stick,cardamom ,cloves, bay leaf , cashew, raisin.

Then goes the chopped onion .

Fry it till golden brown and add the ginger garlic paste and stir well till the raw smell goes.

Now add the tomato paste and cook till the oil oozes out of it. Add all the powders given.

Then add the cilantro , mint paste, red chilly powder,biryani masala powder, salt and cook till the oil start oozing out. Now put the vegetables and cook till the mushrooms are done.This will take 5 minutes only.

Now add the cooked rice and squeeze some lime juice over.

Sprinkle the ghee and close the vessel.
Heat the vessel in very mild flame for 10 minutes. Switch off!

Mix well now and serve.

Mushroom biryani is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Garnish with chopped cilantro , mint leaves.
Serve mushroom peas biryani hot with onion raitha .

Note:

We can make this biryani without green peas also.
I used canned mushroom here. But the fresh one tastes great.
cooking time : 30 minutes.

Home made Popcorn

Popcorn, coke and an English movie are a must for most of us to start a nice weekend. In US, we can see a long queue standing near that 'red-box'es lending dvds. We are no exception to that golden rule and winters add more charm to the above combo:) We would bring home a pack of microwave popcorn also and I have never tried preparing the popcorn at home, as it is much easier to get it done in a microwave. But I really missed that turmeric flavored popcorns we get in Madras. So recently I started to make it at home to control the butter and taste according to our wish.It is a very old method only. My mom used to make this popcorn in an old unusable pressure cooker. But I have used a normal vessel with a glass-lid we generally use in cooking.

Ingredients:

corn - 1/4 cup
butter or oil - 2 tbsp (or) lesser
salt - 1 tsp (according to need)
(control the salt if using salted butter)
Turmeric - 1 tsp (optional)
A heavy bottom vessel with a tight lid.
A mitten to hold.

Method:

Melt the butter in the vessel. Mix turmeric, salt and corn with the butter.
Place the lid and start heating. Wait till we hear A SINGLE popping sound.
Immediately switch off and let it rest for a minute.
Again start heating (with lid closed). Hold the pot and start shaking as it starts popping. Do this in medium heat and shaking gently till the sound stops.

Homemade Popcorn is ready!

Tips:

*Adding some sugar (2 tbsp) instead of turmeric will yield a kettle corn taste.
*I have not tried with red chilly pepper powder, but have heard it also tastes great. But beware of the hot fumes, while using peppers.
*Always use an unwanted vessel, as it may be hard to clean, if got burned.
* We can make it with very less butter also.
*Don't open the vessel while popping.

Enjoy this homemade popcorn with your loved ones. 

Pongal greetings and reposts

Hope all are getting ready to celebrate Pongal. Pongal is called as Sankaranthi festival too. Pongal is a well known festival in India, where most of the families have some agricultural roots. In Tamilnadu, people from various religions invariably celebrate it without any hesitation. Every house will get a fresh coat of paint and cows are treated with dignity. Sugarcane, Turmeric and mango leaves decorate every door and people prepare the following recipes.

I am reposting my Sarkarai pongal recipe, aviyal and ven pongal recipes for Kurinji's Pongal event. Happy hosting dear!

1.Sarkarai Pongal

2.Venn Pongal

3.Pongal Aviyal:





World4art.com - Orkut Scraps, Graphics, & Comments

May this Pongal festival brings peace, good health, cheer, prosperity and every thing you wish for.
Happy Pongal!

Thengai paal murukku

 Thengai paal - coconut milk; murukku- an Indian snack.

This is a very common snack in my home town. Unlike the regular murukku, the thengai paal murukku requires very less butter. The flavor comes from freshly squeezed coconut milk. They shape it essentially like this. Whole green gram flour or urad dhal flour or puffed channa dhal flour are used along with rice flour.  I made this for Christmas. Actually getting this shape is a time taking process, so I prepared a few using this star murukku pattern and the rest in tri holed thenkulal pattern.

Thengai paal murukku

Ingredients:
Rice flour - 4 cups
(If you have a flour mill in your vicinity (just like Indian flour mills), then wash 4 cups of unboiled rice (pacharisi), drain the water, let the rice dry for a while and prepare flour. Otherwise we can use store bought flour also. But the ratio should be 4 : 1)
split urid dhal (Black gram) - 1 cup
coconut milk - from 1 coconut
coconut oil (or) butter - 2 tbsp
Cumin - 1 tbsp
sesame seeds - 2 tbsp
Hing (Asafoetida) - 1/8 tsp
Salt per taste
Water for mixing - (nearly 3 cups of water)
Oil - to deep fry (500 ml)

Coconut milk
1.Scrap the coconut and grind well. Add 1/2 cup luke warm water and extract the milk by filtering. Again add 1/2 cup warm water and extract milk. Do another time also. Use this milk to make murukku dough.
2. If using a coconut milk powder (I used Palmer brand), the prepare 1 cup thick milk and 1 cup thin milk.
3. If using canned coconut milk, go by the directions to get 1 cup thick milk and 1 cup thin milk.

Method:

Heat a wok and dry roast the urid dhal till it we get a nice flavor and starts to smell nice (do not make it turn red). (Always use split and white dhal. Roast the black gram dhal in small portions only).  Keep aside and let it cool. Then dry grind it to a fine powder using an Indian mixer.

In the same wok , dry roast the rice flour for about 10 minutes . When we touch it , we should feel it like river sand. Then let it cool.

Put both the flours in a large mixing bowl . Add cumin, sesame, asafoetida and butter. Mix well.

Dissolve the salt in some water. Mix this salt water along with coconut milk powder (or) just use fresh coconut milk + salt and add to the flour.Knead it to a soft chapathi dough consistency.

Now check salt and add more mixing with water,if necessary.

Fit a star pattern murukku mold and fill it with dough.

In the mean time heat the oil in a wide pan till smoking point. Then reduce flame.

Grease a few flat plates with oil and squeeze murukku in the above shape. Carefully slide them one by one into the hot oil. Do not crowd the oil, flip once after one side is done.

After the hissing sound and bubbles subdue, drain and remove the murukku. Place them on paper towel and store them in air tight containers after they get cool.

Coconut milk Murukku is ready!

Note:
Makes 15 big size murukku or 30 murukku of our palm diameter.
Can be served with tea or as a snack.
Adding some oil,/ butter will result in lesser oil absorption of murukku.
Pack the murukku in zip lock or plastic covers to prevent it getting less crispy (in humid areas).
If we are preparing more murukku, it is common to divide the flour into few parts and knead the dough just before squeezing.
Never allow the dough to sit in counter for a long time, as it will yield dark colored murukku.The dough can't be refrigerated too. So keep yourself free before starting to prepare murukku and don't stop the process in between.

I am tagged (in Tamil and English)

சமையல் தொடர்பதிவு

maragatham  புவனேஸ்வரி ராமநாதன் அவர்கள் எட்டு கேள்விகளுடனான இந்த தொடர்பதிவுக்கு அழைத்திருந்தார். அந்த எட்டு கேள்விகளும் அவற்றிற்கான விடைகள் இதோ:
ஆங்கிலம் மற்றும் தமிழில் தந்துள்ளேன்.

இயற்கை உணவுகளை சாப்பாட்டில் சேர்த்துக் கொள்வதுண்டா? இயற்கை உணவுப் பழக்கம் எந்த விதத்தில் உங்களுக்கு பயன் தருகிறது?
இல்லை.  அமெரிக்காவில்  இயற்கை உணவு (organic  food ) என்பது ஒரு ஆடம்பர பொருளாக, status  symbol  ஆக உள்ளது. நடுத்தர மக்கள் குழந்தைகளுக்காகவோ  அல்லது மருத்துவரின் பரிந்துரையாலோ மட்டுமே  இதை வாங்குகின்றனர். இயற்கை உணவு மட்டுமே உண்பதால் திடீரென வேறு உணவு உண்ணும் நிலை வந்தால் அதை நம் உடலால் தாங்க முடியாது.   உலகில் பல பேர் ஒரு வேளை  உணவு கூட  இல்லாமல்  தவிக்கும் பொழுது  ,  எனக்கு  இது போன்ற ஆடம்பர உணவில் ஆர்வம் இல்லை. இந்த பணத்தை  வேறு நல்ல செயல்களுக்கு உபயோகிப்பேன்.. 
  (இயற்கை உணவு என்பது இந்தியாவை பொறுத்த வரை சில ஆண்டுகள் முன்பு வரை சுலபமாக அனைவருக்கும் கிடைத்தது.  ஏன் என்றால் நாம் ரசாயன உரங்களை பசுமை புரட்சிக்கு  பின்பே உபயோகிக்க துவங்கினோம் .  இன்னமும் கிராமங்களில் இயற்கை முறையில் விளைந்த காய்கனிகள் ஒவ்வொரு வீட்டிலும் விளைகின்றன. ஆனால் அமெரிக்காவில் பல விதைகள் / செடிகள் ரசாயன மற்றும் மரபியல் வேறுபாடு செய்யப்பட்டே விளைகின்றன . வரி, patent ரைட், விளம்பரம்  என பல காரணங்களால் இயற்கை முறையில் விளைந்த பொருட்கள் மிகவும் விலை அதிகமாக உள்ளன. நாம் தரும் கொள்ளை விலை விவசாயிக்கு போவதில்லை, இடை தரகர்களே பயனடைகிறார்கள் ). 

ஆனால் இயற்கை முறை விவசாயம் மட்டுமே அனைவரும் செய்து, அந்த organic உணவும் அனைவரும் வாங்கும் விலையில் இருந்தால் , நானும் மகிழ்ச்சியாக அதை உண்பேன். ஏன் எனில் இயற்கை விவசாயம் பூமிக்கு நன்மை தரும்:)

அன்றாடம் சரியான நேரத்தில் சாப்பிடுவீர்களா? அல்லது பசிக்கும் நேரத்தில் உண்பீர்களா?
பகலில்  சரியாக நேரத்தில் சாப்பிடுவேன். ஆனால் இரவில் என் கணவர் வந்த பின் அவருடன் சேர்ந்து சாப்பிட ஆசைபடுவேன். கணிபொறியாளர்களின் வித்தியாசமான வேலை பழக்கத்தால் என் இரவு உணவும் ஒரே நேரத்தில் அமையாது.

வலைப் பதிவில் சமையல் சம்பந்தமாக எழுதுவதற்கு யார் உங்களுக்கு தூண்டுகோலாக இருந்தார்கள்?
(அல்லது )
உங்களின் சமையலுக்கு வழிகாட்டி யார்?
என் அம்மாவே என் சமையல் குரு. அம்மா சமையல் கலை மட்டுமின்றி , மிகவும் குடும்பபாங்கான பாசமான பெண்மணி.  அவர்கள் ஒரு புது உணவை சாப்பிட நேர்ந்தால் , அதன் செய்முறையை அதன் சுவையை கொண்டே சொல்லி விடுவார்கள். எனக்கு அவ்வளவு திறமை கிடையாது. ஆனாலும் அம்மாவின் திறமைகளை காப்பி அடிப்பேன் சில நேரம :) ஆனால் தன பாரமபரியமான சமையல் குறிப்புகளை எப்போதும் மாற்றாமல் செய்வார்கள். அது எனக்கு ரொம்ப பிடிக்கும். இது இந்த கால கட்டத்துக்கு சிரமம் என்றாலும் அம்மாவை போல்  சமைக்கவே எனக்கு ஆசை.


புதியதாக ஏதாவது உணவுவகை முயற்சி செய்து பார்த்திருக்கிறீர்களா? அது சரியாக வரவில்லை என்றால் என்ன செய்வீர்கள்?
சரியாக வரவில்லை எனில் மிகவும் அமைதியாகி விடுவேன். கொஞ்சம் நேரம் ஓய்வு எடுத்து பின் வந்து அதை சரி செய்ய பார்ப்பேன். அப்போதும் சரி வரா விட்டால்,  பின் அதை உருமாற்றி  சாப்பிடும் பொருளாக மாற்றி விடுவேன்:) ஒரு பொழுதும் சாப்பிடும் பொருளை வீணாக்க மாட்டேன்.

உங்களது அன்றாட சமையலில் நீங்கள் கட்டாயம் தவிர்க்கும் சமையல் சம்பந்தமான பொருட்கள் ஏதாவது மூன்று?
*மது வகைகள்.
*பன்றி, மாடு மற்றும் எனக்கு பழக்கம் இல்லாத அசைவங்கள்.
*அஜினோமோட்டோ , .

தினப்படி சமையலில் நீங்கள் அடிக்கடி சேர்த்துக்கொள்ளும் சமையல் பொருட்கள் சில?
இந்திய உணவு தயாரிக்க 'சில' பொருட்கள் போதாது. 'பல '  தேவை. அவற்றுள் 'சில' இங்கே:)

*அரிசி,  உப்பு, கோதுமை, பருப்பு வகைகள், முட்டை  . 
*மஞ்சள், பூண்டு, தேங்காய் எண்ணெய், இஞ்சி, மிளகு, மிளகாய் , நல்லெண்ணை , பெருங்காயம், புளி, சர்க்கரை , பால் .
*கறிவேப்பிலை, புதினா, மல்லி இலை, வெங்காயம், தக்காளி.
*விடுமுறை நாட்களில் : மீன், கோழி.
இவை எப்போதும் வீட்டில் இருக்குமாறு பார்த்துக் கொள்வேன்:)

குடும்ப உறுப்பினர்கள் ஒன்றாக சேர்ந்து அமர்ந்து சாப்பிடுவதால் என்ன நன்மைகள் உண்டாகிறது?
எங்கள் வீட்டில் நானும் என் கணவரும் மட்டுமே.  அதனால் நான்  இரவு உணவையாவது என் கணவருடன் சேர்ந்து உண்ண ஆசை படுவேன். விடுமுறை நாட்களிலும்  இதை நாங்கள் ரொம்ப ஆர்வமாய் செய்வோம்.  சேர்ந்து உண்பது மிகவும் மன மகிழ்ச்சி தரும்.  அப்படி செய்வதால் ஒருவர் மற்றவரின் விருப்பங்கள், உணர்வுகளை புரிந்து கொள்ளலாம். 

உங்களுக்குப் பிடித்த உணவகத்தில் நீங்கள் விரும்பாத உணவு பரிமாறப்பட்டால் என்ன செய்வீர்கள்?
எனக்கு பிடித்த உணவை கேட்டு வாங்கி சாப்பிடுவேன், பிடிக்காததை நாசுக்காய் தவிர்ப்பேன். 
ஒரு வேளை உணவு கெட்டு போய் இருந்தால், என்னுடன் இருப்பவர்க்கு , செய்கை மூலம் அதை தொட வேண்டாம் என்று தெரிவிப்பேன்.
----------------------
Now in English:

1. What is your take on organic food , is it a big deal for you ?

No. Organic food is not a big deal for me. Generally organic foods are tasty but much expensive in USA and only the people with need go near that aisle in the departmental stores. My personal opinion on organic food is of two fold. I won't recommend expensive organic food unless otherwise stated by a physician. If used to it, we may end up allergic to the normal food in course of time. Moreover I can't appreciate pampering myself with such luxuries, when many out there really struggle for one meal a day. So I would rather donate that excess money to the needy, if I am that rich.
But as a woman hailing from a typical agricultural hometown, I know the benefits of organic farming. Organic farming is the only way to keep the soil fertile and it is not expensive to grow the vegetables with natural manure, (though the yield will be less in the beginning), but the price is more because of the middlemen. So if everyone practices organic farming , a fair trading and if that kind of food is affordable for every person, then I will also buy it.

2. Do you time your breakfast,lunch & dinner or eat when you are hungry ?

My breakfast and lunch will be regular. But I wait for my hubby to come home , so that we can have dinner together. (So the dinner time will depend on his work schedule).

3.Who inspired you to cook or bake?

My mom is my inspiration. She was not only an expert cook but also a very graceful lady. One of her secrets in cooking is finding out the recipe while tasting a new food and make it at home. Though I am not talented like her I would like to follow her ideas:) But she would not alter the authentic recipes she got through generations. It is very difficult nowadays but I too wish to do the same:)

4. You try a new recipe and it does not turn out good,what will you do ?

The first reaction will be a BIG silence, then I put off the stove and take rest for some time. Then I will transform it to something edible but will never waste food.

5. Name three ingredients you consciously avoid or eliminate even when the recipe calls for it ?

Alcoholic beverages
pork, beef, any non veg that is not appetizing for me.
ajinomotto.

6. Name few things you have to use in most recipes ?

Well, Indian gourmet food needs a big list. I prefer to stock up my pantry / fridge with the following always:)
Rice, salt, wheat flour, lentils, egg.
Turmeric, garlic, coconut oil, ginger, black pepper,chillies, sesame oil, asafoetida, sugar, milk, tamarind.
curry leaf, cilantro, mint, onion, tomato, potato.
During weekends: Fish, chicken.

7. How important is eating meals together as a family to you?

Very  important . We are just two people in my house, hubby and myself. I love to have food with my husband. We eagerly wait for dinner and weekend meals to sit together and eat while sharing our whole day experience.
In general, by dining together we get to know each other well. We can understand the taste and preferences of our family. So it is a must for every house.

8.You do not like a particular dish at your favorite restaurant,what will you do ?

If it is not spoiled, I will silently order a different dish and finish off. If it is spoiled, I will signal those who are with me:). Mostly I will appreciate the dishes I like and never comment on those I don't.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are some other questions. You can have a choice too.

The second set of questions:

1)Are you a vegetarian, or have you thought about being one?

2) who inspired you to blog?

3) How do you celebrate Christmas?...or a favorite holiday of your choice?

4)Do you prefer to celebrate New Year's Eve with friends and/or family, or prefer to ring in the New Year quietly, and privately, at home?

5)If someone were to ask you to bring dessert to a party, what would you bring? Store bought, or homemade, and if you were to make homemade, what would you make?

6) How will you celebrate your next birthday?

7)Do you have a New Year's resolution-and will you be sticking to it?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am passing the questions to some of my friends. Please keep the game going:)
Cham
Jaleela
Asha
shama

Thanks! 

Kara sevu

Karam - spicy hot; sevu - fried noodle like crispies.

Chevu or sev is a very common spicy snack in the rural areas of Tamilnadu. We can get two versions of it. One belonging to the villages of Southern Tamilnadu, the very spicy HOT 'kovilpatti kara sevu' and the next one is called 'lala mittai shop's butter sevu'.
I prefer the  'spicy kara sev' better. It is a very simple recipe and won't demand much skills as we need for a murukku. My mom used to make them for us in a very spicy manner, which my elder brother exclaims as smoky HOT and I am sharing her recipe here. It is a ritual nowadays in our house to make some snacks before weekend, that too a must during winter:) I have to stock up a small batch for hubby's snack needs before he buys home whatever he sees.

Kara sev stacked.

Ingredients:

Besan flour (bengal gram flour) - 2 cup
rice flour - 1/4 cup
salt - as per need
oil - to deep fry

To grind:

dry red chillies - 6
ajwain (bishop's weed / omam) - 1 tsp
whole black pepper - 1 tsp
cumin - 1 tsp
garlic - 4 cloves

Utensils:

A murukku press.
A wide wok to deep fry.
slotted spatula

Method:

Grind the items in a blender to a medium coarse texture.
Mix that masala with the flours, add salt and 2 tbsp of hot oil.
(Adding hot oil reduces oil absorption while frying).
Add required water and knead into a soft chapathi dough consistency.
Fill the 'murukku press' with the prepared dough.
Heat the oil in a wok.
Press the dough in circular form as shown below.

Kara sev after frying.

Flip once and take out after the bubbles disappear.
Drain excess oil and place over paper towels.
Kara chev is ready!

Tips:

Perfectly prepared kara sev should not be oily.
Always keep the gram flour in refrigerator,this will result less oil absorption.
Add some hot oil while kneading the dough to get a crispier sev without much oil.

Serving suggestions:

Break it into long pieces.
Allow it to cool completely and store in air tight container.
Serve as snack with tea.

Event:
Though this kara sev contains very little ajwain (omam), it will have much flavor from ajwain.
So I am sending this kara sev to 'Cooking with seeds event - Ajwain' hosted by Kavita of 'seasoned and dressed' . The event is the brain child of 'Priya.' of  'Priya's easy and tasty recipes'. Happy hosting dear!

Rasmalai

Happy New year to all!
Here is a famous and delicious Indian dessert to welcome the New year.  Usually rasmalai is prepared from scratch.  But  I have used Gits ready made rasmalai mix here and explained the authentic method too.

The pack contains two sachets. One is for the chenna and the other contains nuts / thickeners to add to milk. Prepare chenna as per directions and make flat balls. Cook them in hot water (in LOW HEAT and kept open). In the same time prepare sugar syrup and immerse the cheese balls in it for 10 minutes.

Now start boiling the required quantity of milk in a broad vessel and add the contents of next sachet. Add the soaked rasgullas to the milk mixture and let it cool.Yields 16 rasmalai. Keep refrigerated overnight and serve chilled.

                    Authentic method:

Below is the traditional procedure I follow. The readymade version will not call for much effort, whereas this authentic procedure will yield more stiff and delicious rasmalais:)

                         Step 1

Ingredients:

Milk (full fat) - 1 litre (5 cups)
AP flour (maida) - 2 tsp
Lemon - 1
(or)vinegar - 2 tbsp
Sugar - 1 1/2 cup
Water - 1 cup
Rose essence - 3 drops
(or)cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Method:

Boil milk in a vessel.
Squeeze the lemon and mix 1/2 cup water to the juice.
Add the lemon juice / vinegar to the boiling milk and stir slowly.
Put off heat.
Now the milk gets curdled to form paneer (a cheese variety).

Place a cheese cloth / new white cloth over the strainer and pour the curdled milk.
Pour some cold water to remove the lemon's sourness.
Squeeze out all the water and make a bundle using the cloth. Place it on the strainer or hang over a kitchen sink to loose all the water content.
Let it remain in this position for 45 mins to 2 hours , depending upon the quantity.

The hard cheese we get is called chenna. We can buy it in Indian grocery stores also.

Now knead the chenna to make a smooth dough. Add flour and knead again.

Make small balls of equal size of 1.5 cm diameter approximately, flatten it slightly and keep aside.

In another vessel mix sugar and water in a saucepan and bring it to boil.

Once it starts boiling add the chenna balls and cook covered for 30 minutes (with lid partially open and in LOW HEAT).

The rasagulla will become double the size.

Drop one ball in cold water and if it sinks to the bottom , then it is cooked well.
If not so , then cook for another 5 minutes.

Switch off flame.

                    Step 2
Whole Milk - 1/2 liter
condensed milk - 4 tbsp
sugar - 6 tbsp
cardamom (powdered)- 5
pistachio - 5
Almond - 10
saffron - few strands

Soak the almond overnight and remove the skin. Grind it to a fine paste.
Bring the milk to a boil, add the almond paste. Switch off and add the cardamom powder, sugar, chopped pistachio and saffron.

Take the rasgulla from sugar syrup and immerse them in this milk sauce. Refrigerate overnight and serve chilled.

Serving suggestions:

Makes 20 rasmalai (approximately).
Place one rasmalai in a bowl along with a generous helping of milk sauce.
Serve as dessert.



*** world4art.com - Orkut New Year scraps, graphic and comments ! ***