Sunday, November 22, 2015

Thanksgiving recipes

I am sure American Thanksgiving would be a  new festival for some Indians. But still I am seeing all of us , immigrants enjoying that day in our own way.  The Indians who are great party lovers find this day very interesting. 
American Thanksgiving focuses on family get-together. So it starts a week before with grocery shopping for the family's big feast. Then the thanksgiving mass in Church, baked turkey, the carving of turkey, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, cranberry sauce, playing together, shopping and lots and lots of fun with family and friends comes along. Thanksgiving fun starts even a month before, with those stores announcing discount sales. People buy gifts for friends and family during this sales time.
When we were new here, I was observing all these festivities around me and really really wanted to make it our family tradition too in the coming years.  But I could see many Indians are not much of meat fans  .......(not me...'When in Rome, do as Romans do' is my policy :)...), so I have to mix Indian recipes with American tradition for our parties :).  This is the story behind my own Thanksgiving menu.
So if you have similar situations like me, you will  find the below list of recipes useful.
Happy Thanksgiving !

Thanks be to God, Happy Thanksgiving,
Visit my facebook page (Viki's Kitchen) too, to see my Thanksgiving menu album.
It is a colorful treat and I am sure you are all going to love that album.

Appetizer:
Paani poori
Chicken 65 
Anchovy fry
Fish cutlet
Milagai (capsicum) bajji
Thayir vadai 
Main course meal:
Kushka
Turkey curry (vaan kozhi kulambu)
Turkey biriyani(vaan koli biriyani)
Tamilnadu Muslim style chicken biriyani 
Easy Chicken biriyani in cooker 
Hyderabadi vegetable biriyani 
vegetable biriyani in cooker
Most popular (sides and main):
Whole baked chicken (oven roasted) 
Whole fried chicken
Egg curry
Full fish fry
Dessert:
Peach cobbler
Pistachio Kulfi icecream
Carrot cake
Gulab jamun 
Drink:
Lime juice

Friday, November 20, 2015

Potato ulunthu vadai

Potato ulunthu vadai, is not a traditional vadai, but I think this is a beautiful medley of potato and ulunthu created in my kitchen :) It tasted like ulunthu vadai, no one could say it has potato. But more crispy on the outside still soft inside...flavored with a touch of french fries :)

Whenever I grind for urid dal vadai, I grind more to share some vadai with any one of our friends, as South Indian Vadai is a  popular snack among Indians. Hot coffee or tea with this medhu vadai and chutney is Tamilnadu's signature dish.  On that evening, I had only a handful of vadai mavu (urid dal batter), just enough for us both. But I wanted to stretch it a bit. I used some boiled potatoes , which I had in fridge and the taste was more delicious. I am sure this is one of the best ways to increase the number of vadai. Also adding some vegetables like cabbage (cabbage vadai), also makes a large quantity of vadai using the same amount of urid dal. 
potato ulunthu vadai

Ingredients: (For 12 small size vadai)
cooked potato - 2 (mashed - 1 cup)
Vadai mavu / batter  - 1 cup
Oil (corn oil / canola) - 200 ml
Ginger - finely chopped - 2 tsp
salt - to taste
rice flour - 1 tbsp (optional)

Method:
First pressure cook or boil or microwave required potatoes. Mash / grate finely and knead to get a dough like stage. Add enough salt, chopped ginger.
Then add the ulunthu vadai batter we have as left over batter.
Mix well .If needed add a tbsp of rice flour to get a manageable batter.

Heat the oil in a wok. Reduce the flame to medium.

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

Deep fry the vadai in medium to low heat by flipping till it gets the golden red color. This vadai (unlike the urid dal vadai) gets red quickly. So fry in low heat.

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

Potato ulunthu vadai is ready!

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

Chow chow Paruppu koottu and peel thogayal

Chow chow / Bangalore Kathirikai / Chayote  A dal curry paruppu koottu with chow chow and a spicy chutney using it's peel (chow chow tho...