Aviyal (Mixed veggie curry).

This is a famous dish of kerala . I call this as Kerala aviyal because TamilNadu Aviyal is a bit different and we should add mango , tamarind and tomato instead of curd. Moreover kerala aviyal has more coconut masala than the Tamilnadu version. I will narrate the other pattern soon.
I used canned coconut milk. It was so thick , so i used just a tablespoon of it.
If you are extracting milk then use 3 tbsp of shredded coconut to get milk.


vegetables:
Unripe banana (choose Indian banana) - 1
Baby brinjal / small eggplant - 3
Drumstick - 1
Red onion - 1
carrot -1
green peas - 1/4 cup
potato / yam (senai kilangu in tamil) - 100 gms

(cut the drumstick into 1.5 inch pieces. Peel and cut banana , potato and carrot like 1.5 inch french fry pieces.Cut the brinjal into 1.5 inch long french fry pieces.chop the onion coarsely.
Banana , drumstick , red onion and brinjal are a must in an aviyal . You can add or substitute any vegetables like cluster beans, green beans, pumpkin , winter melon, etc.
Cauliflower , cabbage , broccoli , celery and beetroot do not go along with the recipe.)

Masala:
shredded coconut - 3 tbsp
green chilli - 4
cumin seeds- 1 tsp
(Grind all of the above coarsely).

Other ingredients:
Indian yogurt / curd - 1 cup
coconut milk (from can)- 1 tbsp
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 as narrated .
Take a deep pan with lid. Add all the veggies with 2 cups of water.Add 1tbsp thick coconut milk. DO NOT add salt now. Cook all the veggies completely (but not too soft). Now add salt.
Add the masala and mix well.
After 5 minutes add the curd and check for salt.Now switch off the flame immediately after adding curd.
Heat a separate pan with oil and splutter the mustard seeds. Add the remaining shredded coconut, curry leaves and fry till it becomes golden in color.
Add this to the cooked veggies and serve hot .

Serving suggestions:
Makes 500 ml of aviyal (nearly 2.5 cups).
It can be served with sambar rice , rasam rice , roti , chapathi .
More suitable with Adai or Rasam on steamed rice.

Vegetable Kuruma.

This is a kind of vegetable kuruma prepared in Tirunelveli hotels and parotta stalls.
It has a unique flavor as the kuruma is made with a different masala and curd.It goes fine with parotta. It can be made in bulk for a week and stored in fridge for serving with chapathi at night.


Ingredients:
Cauliflower - 100 gms (1/4 flower)
Beans - 100 gms (25 number)
carrot - 1
potato - 2 (medium size)
tomato - 1
Red onion - 2 (medium size)
green chillies - 4
coriander leaves - a handful.
mint leaves - few
curry leaves - few
curd - 1/2 cup
besan flour - 2 tsp
shredded coconut - 2 tbsp
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
red chilli powder - 1 tbsp
turmeric powder - a pinch
curry masala powder / channa masala powder - 1 tsp
salt - to taste
olive oil - 1 tbsp
cardamom - 2
cloves - 2
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
bay leaf - 1
ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp

Method:
Grind ginger and garlic together.
Grind shredded coconut ,cardamom, cloves, cumin seeds and 1 onion together.
Grind again together  with curd, besan flour keep aside.
Cut cauliflower into big pieces.
peel and cut other vegetables in to big pieces.
Heat oil in a pan. fry some fennel seeds and bay leaf.
Add the chopped onion, green chillies ,curry leaves, cilantro and mint leaves. After the onion turns golden brown , add ginger garlic paste and saute well.
Now add all the vegetables, salt and mix well.
Add 2 cups of water, chilli powder, turmeric powder , curry masal powder and stir well.
close the lid and cook all the vegetables to tender.Add the coconut masala and let it boil it gives a nice flavor.
Boil for few more minutes in low flame , close and Switch off.
Serving suggestions:
serve hot with parathas or roti or naan .
Makes 4 cups of vegetable kuruma and serves 8 people.

Home made Syrup for digestion.

People in India consume some home made syrups for digestion problems.
They drink this syrup before bedtime once in a week.
This is one of the few kashayams (syrups) used in TamilNadu for getting gas relief.
This is the simplest among various syrups . Pregnant women should not drink this.

Ingredients:
Garlic - 7 pearls
Dry ginger powder - 1 tbsp
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Black pepper - 1 tsp
coriander seeds - 2 tbsp
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Jaggery - 100 gms
water - 3 cups (600 ml)

Method:
Except jaggery grind all the ingredients given above with little water.
Boil the given amount of water with jaggery and add the herbal paste made.
Stir occasionally and boil everything until the liquid gets reduced to 2 cups.
Now cool the syrup and strain the clear syrup out of it.
Drink it at night (one hour after dinner) to get rid of digestion problems.
serves 2 people.

Milagu saadam

Milagu saadam is the Tamil equivalent of Black pepper fried rice. (saadam means cooked rice and Milagu means Black pepper). Milagu saadam is a special dish usually prepared in the Lord Shiva Temple (Nellaiyappar kovil)of Tirunelveli , TN , India as Pooja offering . It is easy to make and tastes wonderful. Stick to the recipe and DO NOT USE ready made PEPPER POWDER to make this dish. USE WHOLE PEPPER ONLY. Because whole pepper has a wonderful aroma.
Usually people serve 'Paruppu podi saadam' in the beginning of a feast. Instead of it Milagu saadam can also be served before serving sambar rice in a vegetarian dinner. Milagu saadam is good for digestion.

Ingredients:
Rice (Jeeraga samba / kali Jeera rice) - 1 cup
Black pepper (whole) - 1 tbsp
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp.
salt - 3/4 tsp
Olive oil - 1 tsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
cashew nut - 5
curry leaves - 2 sprig

Method:
Heat oil in pan . Fry mustard , cumin and pepper corn till the mustard seeds start to crackle.Put off fire and fry 1 brig of curry leaves in that heat.
Let them cool . Crush them in a small jar of the mixie /blender.
Add some salt (1/2 tsp ) to this powder.
Cook 1 cup rice with little salt (1/4 tsp) and 2 cups water.
Care should be taken so that the cooked rice is firm and all the grains remain separate.
Heat 1 tsp ghee in a pan. Roast the cashews in ghee . Switch off flame. Add 1 brig curry leaves to the same pan . Garnish the rice with this.
Mix the crushed pepper mixture with the rice thoroughly.
Do not break the rice while stirring.
Pepper fried rice is ready.

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot with 'vada kari' (a spicy stew prepared with fried lentil balls) or aviyal ( boiled mixed-veggie side dish) and appalam.

Red Capsicum Chutney

Ingredients
Red capsicum - (400 gms) deseeded and chopped
Dry red chillies - 4
garlic - 2 pearls
mustard seeds - 1 tsp
cumin - 1/4 tsp
curry leaves - 1 brig
olive oil - 1 tbsp
tamarind - cherry fruit size
salt to taste
Tomato - 1 (optional)

Method:
Heat olive oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add the cumin and fry a few seconds. Add a couple of curry leaves.
Add dry red chillies and fry for a few seconds.
Take them out.
In the same oil fry the chopped red capsicum . Add chopped tomato also , if you want more quantity.
Add the tamarind to it , sprinkle some water and close it with a lid.
Cook the capsicum till it becomes tender.
Once all fried ingredients are cool, grind with garlic and salt to taste .
No need to temper this chutney at the end.

Serving suggestions:
Serve with hot fluffy idly or chapathi or dosa.
It can be used as a sandwich spreading too.

Butter milk stew

'More' is the tamil word for Buttermilk .So 'More kulambu' means a stew prepared with Buttermilk.Originally people prepare this stew with churned buttermilk. But I make it with thick yogurt and it tastes great.This kulambu is a must if you prepare a traditional TamilNadu style lunch. More-kulambu should be served over steamed rice , after serving sambar and vathak kulambu. I will narrate the order of serving various curries in a typical Tamil Nadu style soon.

Ingredients:
Thick curd (Desi Yogurt) - 1 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

white pumpkin / winter melon - 200 gms
(Or) any vegetable like brinjaal , fried Okra - 200 gms
(or) masal vadai - 7

Ginger - 2 inch
green chilli - 2
Bengal gram / channa dhal - 1 tbsp
rice - 1 tbsp
salt - to taste
oil - 1 tsp
mustard - 1/2 tsp
Dry red chilli - 2
curry leaves - 1 brig
water - 2 cups

Method:
soak channa dhal and rice for 30 minutes.
Grind ginger , green chillies , rice and channa dhal to a fine paste and keep aside.
Heat 2 cups of water in a cooking pan and add the white pumpkin pieces .Add turmeric and salt to it.
Close the lid and cook the white pumpkin.After the white pumpkin gets cooked , add the masala paste and stir continuously till the raw smell disappears.SWITCH OFF THE STOVE.
Beat the curd and add it to the boiling veggies.
Heat oil in a pan.
Crackle some mustard seeds and add chopped dry red chillies with curry leaves.Add this tempering to the above.Garnish with chopped cilantro.
Yummy Buttermilk curry is ready.

Serving Suggestions:
Serves 4 people. Serve over steamed rice.
Potato fry is a good side dish for More Kulambu.

sesame chutney

Tamil translation for sesame chutney is 'Ellu thovaiyal' or 'Yellu thovayal'.
I use black sesame seeds to make this chutney.It should not be watery like coconut chutney.After grinding , you should be able to make a ball out of it. That is the perfect consistency.

Ingredients:
Sesame - 2 tbsp
shredded coconut - 1 tbsp
Dry Red chillies - 4
garlic - 1 pearl
cumin - 1/4 tsp
salt - 1/2 tsp
Tamarind - 1 inch
curry leaves - 1 brig
olive oil - 1 tsp

Method:
Dry roast the sesame seeds , till they start splutter. Take care not to char them.
Add 1 tsp olive oil in the pan and roast the dry red chillies.
Using a small jar in mixie / blender , grind all the items together after they become cool .
Add a little water only. You will get a lemon size ball of sesame chutney.

Serving suggestions:
It can be served as a side dish with any 'variety rice' like lemon rice , coconut rice or tamarind rice.
This chutney stays good for 2 days (without refrigerator) , if you roast all the given items and make chutney.

Lemon Rice

Ingredients:
Rice - 1 1/4 cup (200 g)
Lemon - 1 /2 small (3 tbsp fresh juice)
Mustard - 1 tsp
Bengal gram (channa dhal)- 2 tbsp
Dry red chilli - 2
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
curry leaves - 1 sprig
Sesame oil - 2 tbsp
salt - to taste

photo updated from Jan 2016 

Mixing the lemon rice in wok

lemon rice with paruppu thogayal in lunch box

Method:
Rinse and cook the rice. Cook the rice in a grainy finish (not mushy). Let it cool a bit, by spreading it on a plate.
Heat oil in a pan . Add mustard and as soon as it starts crackle, add channa dal. Let the channa dal get mild red.
Add curry leaves and cut dry chillies.
Switch off stove.
In a  separate bowl, squeeze a lemon and discard seeds .
Add the juice to the fried items in the pan.
Add salt and turmeric powder.
Cool the rice a little and mix it with the items in the pan.
Lemon rice is ready.

Serving suggestions:
Serves 2 people as lunch or travel food.
Serve with Sesame chutney , coconut chutney or Black gram chutney.
This lemon rice will not get spoiled , if prepared without touching by hands or adding water at the end. It stays good for 2 days even outside the refrigerator.
Many people in India prefer to pack this for a road side trip or long train journey.
Best side dishes for lemon rice are potato fry or boiled egg stuffed with masala or masal vadai and also a piece of lemon pickle or a tbsp of thick coconut thogaiyal.

Vatral kulambu

Vathal kulambu, vaTral kulambu, vathakkulambu, vatha kuzhambu
Vathak kulambu or vatral kulambu is a spicy curry prepared in South India. Vatral means a some sun dried veggie or evaporated stew. In hotels they serve this curry over steamed rice , after the sambar rice. Though it is very common, only a few people do it in a graceful manner. From my childhood the chef inside me was searching for those wonderful people and luckily i found her in Missouri,USA.Yes , she is my friend Archana's mom 'Nalini aunty' and she taught me to do this vatral Kulambu.She is a great dietician and excellent home maker.I admire her a lot.I came across her vathak kulambu while we went to the lake of Ozark and I became addicted to it.She came to my house and taught me how to do this mouth watering vathak kulambu.I tried my best to present it in her way.She taught me with eggplant and drumstick.But here I am replacing the vegetables with Manathakkali vatral. Vathal/ vatral means a sundried vegetable.
The Botanical name of this berry is 'Solanum nigrum. Manathakkali is called 'Black NightShade' in English. In Hindi its called 'Makoy' or 'Manathakkali'. In Telugu its called 'Kamanchi Chettu'.

Ingredients
Manathakkali vatral - 2 tbsp
sesame oil- 2 tbsp
Tamarind - 1 small lemon size
chilli powder- 1 tsp
coriander powder- 2 tsp
sambar powder- 1 tsp
turmeric powder - a pinch
asafoetida- a pinch
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
fenugreek seed- 1/4 tsp
curry leaves - 1 brig
chopped Red onion or shallot - 3 tbsp.
Garlic - 5 pearls
salt - to taste
jaggery - 1 tsp

Method:
Extract juice from tamarind.
Heat oil in a pan , crackle mustard seeds and add cumin seeds , fenugreek / methi seeds, curry leaves and kulambu vathal .Take care not to char the items.
Immediately add asafoetida powder ,chopped red onion, curry leaves , garlic pearls and fry till the onion becomes golden brown.
Add chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder , sambar powder and saute for 10 seconds.
Now introduce the tamarind extract and salt.
Let it boil and becomes a thick gravy.
Add a small piece of jaggery (10 gms) and switch off flame.

Serving suggestions:
Makes 250 ml of Vatha kulambu.
It can be served as a side dish for rice, chapathi and curd rice.
Goes fine with hot rice and pappad.
Manathakkali vathal is capable of curing ulcers.
So if used as a medicinal food , add freshly ground black pepper instead of chilli powder.
This can be preserved even outside refrigerator for 3 - 4 days(If oil is used liberally and handled with hygiene).
So this can be used for picnics and tour food packages.
This kulambu can be prepared and saved in fridge for a month.

Ribbon Pakoda

Basically I love home made snacks instead of buying them. Now it is rainy and cold outside. My Indian taste buds started craving for a spicy and crispy snack . The end result is Ribbon Pakoda or Oolai pakoda (in Tamil).
This is the first time i have ever prepared it and it became a wonderful snack for this weekend. I have given the original recipe here but I replaced butter by adding 2 tsp of ordinary cooking oil.
Try this recipe and tell me how it came out.



Ingredients:
Rice flour - 2 cups
Besan flour - 1 cup
asafoetida - 1 pinch
Red chilli powder - 2 tsp
salt - 2 tsp
oil - 500 ml
curry masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Butter - 1 tbsp

Method:
Mix salt with one cup water.
Add chilli powder, asafoetida, curry/ garam masal powder , rice flour and besan flour thoroughly.
Then add salt water little by little and make a dough like chapathi dough.
Now coat it with softened butter and mix well.
Heat a pan with oil.
Fit the ribbon pakoda maker in the "Murukku maker" and squeeze long strands of dough into hot oil.
After all the bubbles get settled, turn it using a spatula .Take out the golden brown ribbon / oolaai pakoda and drain oil using a tissue paper.
Generally it will not consume oil.

Serving suggestions:
Makes nearly 8 big rounds of ribbon pakoda.
Serve hot as evening snack along with tea / coffee.
After cooling they can be stored in air tight containers and will last for 2 weeks.(But will vanish soon as no one control themselves on seeing them ..ha .ha)

Murungakkai Puli kulambu

I think this is a kind of 'kara-kulambu' or spicy curry prepared in Tirunelveli, Tamilnadu, India.
I learnt this recipe from my mom .we had a very large drumstick tree in our backyard and my mom used to present cartloads of drumsticks to whoever asked her.Moreover she used to make delicious curries with the drumstick and its leaves.During those days we mock at our mom for making Murungakkai curry frequently.But after coming to USA, I realize the true value of those veggies on seeing their prices in Indian stores.

Ingredients:
Drumstick - 1
Small eggplant - 1
Tamarind extract - 2 tsp
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
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:
Cut drumstick into 2 inch pieces and slit each piece into two.
Cut the eggplant into small pieces.
Grind coconut, onion and cumin seeds with little water.
Heat oil in a pan.
Crackle mustard seeds , add fenugreek seeds , curry leaves and asafoetida.
Add the cut vegetables, 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 500 ml of Puli kulambu.
It can be served for 5 people.
Serve hot with steamed rice and and any vegetable side dish or with egg omlete.

Onion - Tomato Chutney

The figure shows Adai served with onion-tomato chutney.

Ingredients:
Red / yellow onion - 1 medium size
Roma tomato -2
urid dhal (black gram) - 1 tbsp
Dried Red chilli - 4
tamarind - 2 inch

mustard seeds - 1 tsp
curry leaves - 1 brig
oil - 2 tsp
Salt - tsp

Method:
Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan.
Fry the urid dhal to red color.Keep aside.
In the same oil fry the red chillies and keep aside.
Add 1 tsp oil , fry the chopped onion to golden brown , keep aside.
In the remaining oil, crackle the mustard seeds and fry the curry leaves with chopped tomatoes.
cook the tomato with very little water. Switch of flame. Add the tamarind and mix everything. Let them cool.
Grind them in an Indian mixer or blender with 1 tsp salt.
Spicy , red oinion-Tomato chutney is ready.

Serving suggestions:
Serve as side dish with Idly , dosa or Adai.
Best side dish for adai.

Sesame Mothagam

After posting my recipe for mothagam (sweet rice mass) , I got an excellent recipe from my friend Mrs.Kalpana Murugesan. She is very good at cooking and hosting parties and I adore her recipes a lot.
Here is her yummy recipe.

Ingredients for pooranam (sweet filling):
jaggery- 1 cup
ground nut - 1/2 cup
sesame seeds- 1/2 cup
shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
Dahlia splits - 2 tbsp
cardamom- 4
raisins- 10
cashews-10

Ingredients for rice covering:
rice flour - 2 cups
Salt - a pinch
ghee/oil- 2 tbsp
Hot water - 1 cup

Pooranam preparation:
Dry roast the sesame seeds and ground nuts separately and coarsely crush them in a blender along with jaggery.
Now add the shredded coconut and crushed cardamom.
Fry the cashews and raisins in ghee and add it to the mixture.
Mix well and make lemon size balls out of it and keep aside.

Mothagam preparation:
Heat a frying pan and dry roast the rice flour until it looses all the moisture and becomes loose.
Add water,ghee/oil , salt to the flour and mix well to get a chapthi dough (bread / pizza dough).
Now take a small ball of rice dough, flatten it in your palm.
Put one sweet pooranam ball over the rice disc and start covering it inside the rice dough.
The rice coating should be thin.Make the shape of a coconut with kudumi.
Now arrange the mothagams/ kozhukattai on a idly baking tray and steam it like idly for 10 minutes.

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot / cold as dessert or snack.

Soft dosai

This is a softer version of dosa with very little oil.The other version is a crispy dosa called murugal dosa or paper roast dosa. Normally all the families in South India prefer to make this dosa for breakfast and dinner.This dosa can be prepared some time before we occupy the dinning table and stored in hot boxes. In Madras many restaurants call this dosa as kal dosai or set dosai and serve them as a pair along with "ketti chutney" (thick coconut chutney).
Ingredients: Idly rice - 3 cups black gram dhal - 1 cup fenugreek seeds - 1 tbsp salt - 3 1/2 tsp (1 tsp for a cup of rice and 1/2 tsp for a cup of black gram) baking soda - 1/2 tsp (optional if you want a very soft dosai) Sesame oil - 50 ml (This measurement is for those who use Indian Mixer . If you use an Indian grinder take 3 1/2 cup Idly rice and 1 cup urad dhal, 1 tbsp fenugreek / methi seeds)
Batter preparation: Soak rice separately for 5 hours. Dhal and fenugreek seeds need to be soaked together for about 3 hours. After that grind dhal till it becomes smooth. Add ice cold water while grinding to get soft idly. Rice should be ground separately.Do not add lot of water. The batter should be thick like softened butter. Add salt and the mix dhal with the rice mixture . Store this in a large vessel so that there is enough space for batter to rise. Grinding and storing of batter should be done the previous day, preferably in the night so that the batter would be ready the next day. The batter should be allowed to ferment for about 15 – 18 hours. I usually keep it inside the oven to get warmth.The next day, mix the batter well and it can be used to make idly or dosa. Generally people prepare Idly with the first day batter and the remaining batter can be used to make dosa. Moreover dosa comes out very well if the batter is more fermented. we can add a dash of yeast to the freshly ground batter to enhance fermentation of the batter.The remaining batter can be preserved in tight containers in refrigerator.
Dosa preparation
Heat a dosa tawa (non stick or iron).Drizzle 2 drops of sesame oil over the pan.
Using a clean cloth or wooden spatula rub the oil uniformly over the tawa.
Add baking soda and mix the batter well.Take a ladle (A ladle is a type of spoon used to serve soup or other liquids) of batter and pour it gently over the tawa and do not spread it or press it.Reduce the flame to medium heat.
After a minute turn over the dosa. After 30 seconds take out the dosa .
Again increase the flame, apply oil and repeat the above process to make a set of dosas.  
updated photos: (May 2013) 
Xav presented me this beautiful and handy electric griddle. I was eying on this during Thanks giving sale by walmart. He know my passion for kitchen gadgets and vessels:) Surprisingly there was no rush in the walmart we went and got this one for $5. Love this superb gift!

Flip and cook both sides of dosa, don't press it. Let it be soft and spongy.

soft dosai with bubbles allover .

I am happy to make dosai in the new electric griddle we bought on Thanksgiving day from walmart.

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot with Coconut chutney , sambar or any spicy kuruma.I have shown tomato kuruma along with set dosai.
Makes 25 - 30 dosa.

Approximate calories:
1 small home made dosa (8-9 inch dia) = 100 kcal

Chettinad chicken curry

This is a kind of chicken fry with some thick gravy .It has an unbeatable flavour and taste.
The chettinadu chicken varies from other kind of chicken curries by its spicy taste and some of the masalas used fo grinding.
Here is the perfect chettinadu chicken.

Ingredients:

chicken - 2 lb(a whole chicken cut into big pieces)

To chop
Small onions - 20 (100 gm)
Tomato -2
green chilli - 4 split lengthwise
coriander leaves- 1 handful
curry leaf - 2 sprig
curd - 1/2 cup

To grind # 1
ginger - 2 inch
garlic- 1 full

To grind # 2
Poppy seeds- 1 tbsp
coriander seeds - 3 tbsp
Red chilli - 3
Black pepper - 2 tbsp
cumin seeds- 1 tbsp
fennel seeds- 1 tbsp
cinnamon - 1 inch
cardamom -5
cloves -4
grated coconut - 2 tbsp

To temper:
Fennel seeds / sombu - 1 tbsp
star aniseed - 1
cinnamon- 1 inch
curry leaves - 3 sprig
sesame oil - 1/2 cup

Powders required:
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Red Chilli powder- 2 tbsp


salt - 3 tsp (to taste)

To Garnish:
Whole lemon - 1 (sliced to decorate)


Method:
Remove the skin and Wash the chicken in running water and cut it in to big pieces.
Wash again with 1 tsp turmeric powder.
Drain water.
Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, lemon juice, coriander powder, salt , curd and marignate for 1 hour in room temperature or overnight inside fridge.

grind the ginger garlic paste and keep aside.

Chop the items given.


In a deep pan, heat the oil and add the items given for temper.
When they stop spluttering, add the sliced onions and fry till they are light brown.
Add the ginger garlic paste and fry for another 2-3 minutes.
Now add the tomatoes, green chillies, mint leaves and cilantro. stir well to mix all the ingredients. Cook till oil separates.

If needed add some more sesame oil or ghee.

Add the chicken, cover and cook in very low flame for 5 minutes.

Dry roast (To grind # 2)the poppy, coriander, cumin and fennel seeds, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and coconut for 3-4 minutes. Remove from flame and allow to cool. Grind the mixture into a coarse paste.

Add it to chicken and cook till it is tender.

Garnish with minced coriander leaves and serve along with sliced lemon.

Serving suggestions:
This can be comfortably served for 8 people.
Time taken: 30 minutes for preparation and 1 hour for cooking.
Can be served with white bread,chapathi, naan, patotta, Biryani, coconut milk rice.

Chicken Gravy

You will need the following to prepare this chicken gravy:

Chicken (with bone) - 1/2 kg (1 lb)
salt - to taste / 2 tsp
water - 2 cups
oil - 2 tbsp
Fennel seed (sombu) - 1 tsp

To chop separately:
Red onion - 2
Roma tomato / vine tomato - 100 gms
curry leaves - 1 brig
cilantro - 1 handful
mint leaves - 1 handful

Masala 1:
shredded coconut - 2 tbsp
Shallot onion - 5
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Masala 2:
Ginger - 2 inch
garlic - 4 pearls

curry masala powder:
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
cardamom - 2
cloves - 2
cinnamon - 1 inch
Black pepper - 1 tsp



Powders :
Red chilli powder - 1 tbsp
coriander powder - 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Method:
Wash and clean the chicken pieces in running water.Apply some turmeric powder and keep aside.Dry grind the items given in curry masala powder.
Grind shredded coconut , cumin seeds, onion and keep aside.
Grind ginger garlic paste and keep aside.
Heat 2 tbsp of cooking oil in a deep pan and add 1 tsp fennel seeds (sombu).
After it turns red , add the chopped onion and fry till it becomes golden brown.
(If you are using yellow onion , then fry till it becomes tender ,as it can never get a good color.)
Add the ginger garlic paste and stir it well for 30 seconds.
Then add the chopped tomato, green chilli, cilantro , mint leaves, curry leaves and cook till they becomes mushy.
Now introduce the chicken pieces and stir it for 2 minutes along with the powders and dry masala.
Add some salt and a cup of water and close the lid for 5 minutes.
Then cook the chicken till it becomes tender (simply in a tightly closed vessel).
After it gets cooked , add the coconut masala and cook till the raw smell changes.
Check for salt and the tenderness of chicken and put off fire.
The gravy should not be too thick or too liquid .

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot as side dish with Naan , paratha ,chapathi ,steamed rice or white bread.
Serves 6 people.

French toast

Whenever i feel a bit lazy to prepare my hubby's lunch pack, i prefer doing this toast for him.Even today i remember my school days ,when my mom used to pack this delicious toast for my lunch.We call it as vanishing French toast because the toast will attract every one around you and you may end up with an empty box as soon as you open it.  
Ingredients:
Bread - 8 slices
Milk- 1 cup egg - 1
sugar- 3 tbsp
butter - 1 tbsp  
Method: Beat together egg, milk and sugar to a batter. Heat a pan or dosa tawa and spread a little butter. Dip a slice of bread in the egg+milk mixture. Don't soak the bread more than a second.(otherwise the toast becomes soggy) Fry till golden brown on both sides. Sprinkle some maple sauce and serve hot as breakfast. It can be packed as lunch too.
Approx. calories: (3 slices)
White bread 3 = 70 x 3 = 210
Sugar 3 tsp = 15 x 3 = 45 zero calorie sweetener - 1 pack = 0
egg (brown medium size) 1 = 70
butter 1/2 tsp = 18 (1 tbsp = 3 tsp = 100)
oil 1/2 tsp = 20 (1 tbsp = 120)
2 % milk 50 ml = 37 (1 ml = 0.729)  
TOTAL = 400 cal

Ennai Kathirikkai kulambu (fried eggplant curry)

This kulambu is my mom's favorite dish.


Ingredients:
Small brinjal- 6
Tamarind- 1 gooseberry size
onion (chopped)- 1 cup
chilli powder - 1tsp
coriander powder - 2 tsp
turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
shredded coconut - 2 tbsp
feugreek (methi seed)-1 tsp
mustard seeds- 1tsp
curry leaves - 1 brig
sesame oil - 1 tbsp
sambar powder - 1 tbsp

Brinjal fry:
Remove the stem and bracts of brinjal.Wash it thoroughly in running water.
slit half way the brinjals from the stem portion.Do four cuts like this.
Mix 1 tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp coriander powder and 1 tsp salt with little water.
stuff the brinjals with this curry paste.
Fry them in 4 tbsp sesame oil, till the skin of brinjal turns a bit brown color.
Keep the fried brinjals aside.

curry preparation:
Extract the juice from tamarind.
Add the chilli powder, coriander powder, salt and turmeric powder to the tamarind extract.
use the same oil in the frying pan.Add mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds.
After the mustard gets cracked add curry leaves and half of the chopped onion.
saute them till the onion turns golden brown.
Then add the tamarind extract mixture.
Let it boil for 10 minutes.
Grind the coconut , cumin seeds and remaining onion into a fine paste.
Put this paste into the boiling tamarind extract.
After the raw smell of coconut-onion mixture is gone, add the fried brinjals.
Check for salt and put off fire immediately after the curry starts boiling.

Serving suggestions:
Serves for 4 to 5 people.
Serve hot with rice after dhal rice and before Rasam rice.

Lemon Rasam

Ingredients:
Lemon - 1
water- 4 cups
salt- 1 tsp
turmeric powder - a pinch
asafoetida- 1 pinch
Black pepper- 1 tsp
cumin seed- 1 tsp
garlic - 4 pearls
coriander seeds- 1 tsp
oil- 1/2 tsp
mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp
methi seeds- 1/4 tsp
curry leaves- 1 brig
cilantro- a handful
red chilli- 2


Method:
First dry roast the pepper,cumin seeds, coriander seeds till we get a nice aroma.
Then grind them with garlic to a coarse mixture.
Extract juice from lemon .Add salt and water and keep aside.
Heat oil in a kadai.Crackle the mustard seeds and add fenugreek seeds.
Then goes the red chillies and curry leaves.
Immdiately add the pepper garlic mixture and saute a little.
Sprinkle some asafoetida and turmeric powder.
Then add the finely chopped tomatoes and saute them till the tomatoes are half cooked.
Now switch off the stove and add the lemon juice.
Do not heat the rasam after adding lemon juice, because heating gives a bitter taste to rasam.

Picnic Tomato chutney:

To grind:
Tomato - 1 lb
red chilli powder - 1 tbsp
tamarind - 1 small gooseberry size
dry ginger powder - 1/2 tsp
turmeric - 1 pinch
asafoetida - 1 pinch
salt - 1 tsp
coriander powder - 1 tbsp

To Temper:
Garlic - 10 pearls
mustard seed - 1/2 tsp
fenugreek - 1/4 tsp
asafoetida - 1 pinch
curry leaves- 2 brigs
Red chilli(small bulky-Andhra chilli)- 3
sesame oil / cooking oil - 3 tbsp

Method:
Grind all the given items and make puree.
Heat oil in a deep frying pan.
Crackle the mustard , add fenugreek, asafoetida, red chillies.
Then goes the garlic and curry leaves.
After sauting the garlic for a while , carefully add the tomato puree.
Reduce flame after 5 minutes and let the puree becomes a thick gravy in low fire.
Put off flame after oil oozes out of the chutney.
cool it and store in refrigerator for a month.

Serving suggestions:
Great combo for chapathi, dosa, curd rice, dhal rice, Idly, Adai .
It can be made for a picnic lunch pack and lasts for atleast 3 days without cooler.

Horse gram chutney / Kollu thovaiyal

Horse gram is always used in Indian cooking to increase the fibre content in the food.
It is believed that horse gram acts as a vital element in reducing body fat.

cabbage rice with kollu chutney and sweet potato chips  (updated in 2017Aug)

Ingredients:
Horse gram/ Kollu - 1/4 cup
red chillies - 2
shredded coconut- 1 tbsp
tamarind - 1 inch piece
salt - 1/4 tsp (to taste)
curry leaves - 1 sprig
cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
garlic - 1 pearl.

Method:
Spread the kollu in a large plate and carefully look through (sort out) to remove any impurities like stone or husk. (I prefer doing this in free time in day light and will save it in a bottle).
Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and fry Kollu (in low heat) to golden brown color. It may pop, so be careful.
Then in the same pan roast the red chillies and coconut separately to almost crispy state.
After they get cool, grind every thing in Indian mixer or any blender without water for 20 seconds.
Then add very little water and grind coarsely to get a thick chutney.

serving suggestions:
Goes fine with Rasam saadham (Rice mixed with Rasam),tamarind rice, lemon rice, urid dhal rice and coconut rice.
Tastes good for 24 hours at room temperature (travel food) without refrigerator.

Maida Burfi

Ingredients:
2 cup maida (all purpose flour)
3 cups sugar
3 tbsp ghee
2 drops of rose essence
5 drops of red food color

Method:
Heat a pan and dry roast maida till it looses all the moisture and smells good.Do not make it brown.
Make a sugar syrup with 1 cup water to one thread consistency.
Put off fire .Add maida, essence, ghee and food color.Heat and stir well continuously till it starts leaving the sides of the vessel.
Transfer to a greased tray and cut into required size.

Serving suggestions:
Can be served as a dessert.
Makes 2 lb burfi .(nearly 40 pieces).

Mothagam / Kolukkatai

This is the sweet prepared specially for vinayagar chathurthi.

Ingredients:
channa dhal- 2 cup
jaggery- 2 cup
shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
cardamom- 4
raisins- 10
cashews-10
rice flour - 2 cups
Salt - a pinch
ghee/oil- 2 tbsp

Pooranam preparation:
cook the channa dhal (kadalai paruppu) to 3/4 boiled stage.
After letting the dhal cool, mash it in blender/ mixie .
Add 1/4 cup water to the crushed jaggery and heat it, so that the jaggery dissolves completely.
Using a strainer, filter the jaggery solution leaving behind the sediments.
Add the jaggery solution to the crushed dhal and start heating it with frequent stirring.
Now add the shredded coconut and crushed cardamom.
Fry the cashews and raisins in ghee and add it to the mixture.
Stir the sweet mixture till it becomes manageable.
Now make lemon size balls out of it and keep aside.

Mothagam preparation:
Take the rice flour in a pan.
Roast it in a dry pan to loose all the moisture.
Add water,ghee/oil , salt to the flour so that it becomes like a thick dosa batter.
Now heat the mixture in very low flame and stir continuously, till we get a thick transparent rice dough.
Take off heat and let it cool.
Now take a small ball of rice dough, flatten it in your palm.
Put one sweet pooranam ball over the rice disc and start covering it inside the rice dough.
The rice coating should be thin.Make the shape of a coconut with kudumi.
Now arrange the mothagams/ kozhukattai on a idly baking tray and steam it like idly for 10 minutes.

Makes 25 mothagams.

Note:
The softness of the kolukkattai depends on the consistency of the rice flour after cooking it.It should be a bit thicker than urid dhal vadai mavu and looser than chapathi dough.Adjust the water to get the consistency. Afterwards coat a little water on the palm and spread the dough .Then fill it with sweet core.
After steaming the kolukkattai, protect them inside a vessel and cover it tightly with a lid while they are hot.Don't place them outside. I am sure you will get a soft kolukkattai.

* If you can't cook the rice flour in a pan, try microwaving it till the flour turns to a dough.

*always apply little oil on your palm and make the outer rice flour cover for mothagam. Then only the kolukkattai won't get bursts / split after cooking.

Number:
For 11 mothakam, we may need 3/4 cup flour and equal amount of pooranam (1/2 cup kadalai paruppu + little jaggery+ coconut).

Mutton Kulambu

Ingredients:
Goat meat (with bones)- 1 lb
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
water - 2 cups

Masala 1:
ginger- 2 inch
garlic-5 pearls
cloves-4
cardamom- 2
cinnamon- 1 inch
fennel seeds - 1 tsp
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
pepper - 1 tsp

Grind ginger,garlic,cinnamon, cloves, cardamom,fennel seeds, cumin seeds and black pepper to a fine paste.

Masala 2:
tomato -2 (100 gms)
shredded coconut - 1 tbsp
cashews - 5
poppy seeds- 1 tbsp
coriander seeds - 1 tbsp

In a pan dry roast poppy seeds ,coriander seeds, cashews and keep aside.
Add 1 tsp oil and fry chopped tomatoes.Then grind poppy seeds, shredded coconut, cashews, tomato to a fine paste

other items:
brinji leaves -2
Red onion- 2
curry leaves- 1 brig
cilantro- 1 handful
mint leaves - 1 handful
cooking oil- 3 tsp
chilli powder - 1 tbsp
green chilli- 3
coconut milk - 1 tbsp
potato - 3 (1/2 lb)

Method:
choose goat meat from breast with ribs to make soupy kulambu.
Wash the meat and cut it in to big pieces.Add water , turmeric, 1 spoon of Masala 1 and 1 chopped onion to the meat.
Pressure cook them for 1 whistle and then reduce the flame to minimum. Let it remain in less flame for 10 minutes.Open the pressure cooker after it becomes cool.
In a kadai , heat 2 tsp cooking oil.Add 1/2 tsp fennel seeds and after it turns red add brinji leaves,curry leaves, chopped onion, green chillies, cilantro and mint leaves one by one .
Add the remaining ginger garlic paste and saute for a while.
Peel and cut the potatoes in to big chunks.Saute the potato , add the Masala 2 and stir it for 5 minutes.
Add chilli powder,turmeric powder and saute again. Add a cup of water.close the lid and cook till the potatoes get soften.
Add the cooked mutton, salt and coconut milk.
Check for salt and take off heat as soon as the curry starts boiling.
Serve hot with rice or Biryani or fried rice or chapathi or any bread.
Chicken 65 and onion raitha can be a best side dish.

Muttai parotta / Kothu parotta

Muttai parotta or kothu barotta is a yummy main course prepared in many road side parotta shops of TamilNadu. Kothu parotta means scramble parotta or kheema parotta.
Some five years back, when we got married we started our life in Nesapakkam in Madras.(I don't call Madras as Chennai.)
Ok, back to the story. Xav used to buy this kothu parotta from a small hotel in Nesapakkam atleast twice a month . I accompany him to that hotel ,just to see how the chef makes the kothu parotta. They use a very big dosa tawa and do the scrambling of parotta with two big spatulas. It gives a funny sound and i admire it very much.
Moreover , they pack the kothu parotta in banana leaf and it imparts a wonderful aroma to the kothu parotta.After coming to USA, whenever we crave for the native tastes , i make this Muttai parotta in my kitchen with frozen parottas or maida chapathis /naan or even left over wheat chapathis. I always save a cup of Mutton chalna/ kuruma to make this muttai parotta. This Kothu parotta holds good for packed lunch too.

Ingredients:
frozen Malaysian parotta- 3
Egg- 3
Kuruma- 1 cup (veg or Non-veg)
Red onion- 1 big
green chillies- 2
Tomato - 2
ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
non veg curry masala powder- 1 tsp
chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
pepper- 1 tsp
curry leaves- 2 brig
cilanro - handful
oil- 2 tbsp
salt - 1 tsp

Method:
First fry the parottas in dosa tawa as per instruction in the packet.
Or, Just make 6 thin chapathis out of maida flour/ all purpose flour/ wheat.
Tear off the parotta/chapathi into very small pieces.
Keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan, add fennel seeds(Perunjeeragam/sombu).
Add the chopped onions and saute a little.
Add ginger garlic paste and saute for 30 secs.
Now add the tomatoes and cook till it becomes soft.
Make some space in pan by moving all the fried items to a side.
Add the eggs, salt, chilli powder and stir it till the eggs get half cooked .
Then mix the egg with the onion and tomato and stir well.
Introduce the scrambled parotta and mix well.
Add curry masala powder, pepper powder, chopped cilantro,curry leaves and the kuruma after the egg gets cooked.
Serve hot with onion raitha.

Badam Katli

Badam katli

Ingredients:
Almond- 1 cup
milk- 1/4 cup
cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
sugar- 1 cup
ghee- 1 tsp

Method:
Soak the almonds for 4-6 hours OR overnight.
Peel off the skin of almond.
Grind it with milk to a fine paste.
Grease a thick bottom skillet with the ghee.
Pour the almond paste, cardamom powder and sugar.
Stir continuously till they form a lump and starts to leave the sides of the skillet.
Then take off heat.
Grease a working surface with ghee.
Using a greased rolling pin (chapathi kattai) , flatten it into a 1/8 inch thick one.
Then with a sharp knife , cut it into diamond shaped burfis.
Let it cool for some time.
Almond katli is ready to serve as dessert.

Besan flour ladoo.

It is the easiest of all sweets. Care should be taken to fry the besan flour with more ghee, otherwise the ladoo will have a mild bitter taste.But it will turn completely sweet the next day (24 hrs).
I took only 45 minutes for the entire preparation.
I tweaked the original recipe by roasting the bessan flour with 2 tbsp ghee and 3 tbsp corn oil. (afraid of ghee ..ha ha). Moreover while making the ladoo balls I used 1/4 cup of milk to get a good shape and to avoid more ghee.
But i am giving below the original recipe.

Ingredients:
Besan flour - 2 cups
powdered sugar- 2 1/2 cup
ghee -3/4 cup
cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
cashews- 15
raisin- 15

Method:
Heat a pan with ghee and roast the flour without lumps, till the raw smell vanishes.
Take off heat and add sugar, fried cashews, rasins and cardamom .
Mix well and make lemon size balls out of it.
Now the besan flour ladoo is ready to serve.
It can be stored in air tight containers for a week.
If you add milk , then you should start preserving them inside fridge after 2 days.

vellai poosanikkai thalar kootu

White pumpkin or Ash gourd or winter melon is the English translation for Thadiyangai or vellai poosanikkai or kalyana poosanikkai.
Thadiyangai is otherwise called thirushti poosanikai in Tamil.
Indians break this vegetable in streets to drive away evil eyes.But we can make wonderful thalar kootu out of it.Thalar koottu means a side dish in liquid state .
The credit goes to a restaurant called 'Mint leaf' in Jalan Tun Sambanthan , KL central, Malaysia.They serve this piping hot koottu with sambar rice.
When we were in Malaysia , We often visited this restaurant because of its traditonal Indian cooking , cleanliness and also because of this koottu.

kalyana pooshanikkai paruppu koottu.

Ingredients:
White pumpkin/ thadiyangai- 1 slice(1 lb)
channa dhal(kadalai paruppu)- 1/4 cup
Toor dhal - 1/4 cup
Red onion- 1/2
Ripe vine tomato -1
Shredded coconut- 1 tbsp
green chillies- 4
cumin seeds-1/4 tsp
Red chilly powder -1/2 tsp
coriander powder-1/2 tsp
turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
salt - as required.
mustard seeds-1/2 tsp
curry leaves- 1 brig
oil-1 tsp

Method:
Soak channa dhal and toor dhal with 2 cup water,asafoetida and turmeric powder for 15 minutes and pressure cook them in slow fire for 10 minutes after whistle.
Remove seeds and skin of white pumpkin.Chop it into small pieces.
Cook it with onion,tomato,chilli powder, salt in a closed vessel.
Now see the cooked dhal.You can find the toor dhal gets cooked fully but the channa dhal is half done.This is the right cosistency.
Drain and save the dhal water to make rasam.
Mash the dhal mildly without breaking channa dhal and add it to the cooked white pumpkin.
Grind the coconut, cumin seeds and green chillies.Add this mixture to the boiling curry.
In a separate pan, heat oil, crackle the mustard , add the curry leaves, urad dhal and garnish the curry/thadiyangai koottu.

Serving suggestions:
Can be served with chapathi,naan, rasam-rice etc.
Makes nearly 500 ml of thadiyangai thalar kootu.

Velankanni Fish fry

Velankanni is a pilgrimage place in TamilNadu.There is a famous Church for Mother Mary.Velankanni is situated along the sea shore and during the night time we can see a lot of stalls selling freshly caught fish fry .
Here is the recipe for that velankanni fish fry.

Ingredients:
Butter fish (unsliced)- 2 lb
lemon - 1
salt - 2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 3 tbsp
tumeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Red food color - 1/4 tsp (optional)


Method:
Choose small or medium size butter fish . If you cannot get fresh fish , then buy a frozen one.If you use a frozen fish, donot defreeze it in microwave oven.Otherwise fish will lose its flavor.Just take the fish from freezer and put it in luke warm water for 4 hours.Change the water frequently.
Then with a sharp knife cut the mouth portion and slit along the side for 2 inches. Carefully remove the parts inside and discard.
Remove the gills,scales,fins and tail.
It is always desirable to Use a separate cutting board for Non veg dishes.
Then wash the fish thoroughly with water.Then rub some turmeric powder all over the fish and wash it again.
Just make some small slits all over the flesh to facilitate frying.
Take a broad basin like vessel.Mix salt, lemon juice,chilli powder, red color , turmeric powder and mix well.
Apply this mixture all over the fish and dab some masala inside the fish too.Lemon makes the fish stiff , removes bad odor and discourages breaking of fish while frying.
Marinate it for 1 hour .
Heat oil in a pan , put the pieces one or two at a time and fry both sides crispy.

Tips:
You can marinate the fish and keep it in the cooler side of fridge(not freezer) and use it next day.Make some more masala if it is not sufficient.If lemon is not available then substitute it with tamarind extract or vinegar.

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot with rice and fish Kulambu.
Also goes fine with rasam saadham(saadham means rice), paruppu kulambu ,more kulambu and sambar .
suitable for parties.

Sura Puttu (Scrambled shark fry)

Sura means Shark fish in English. Puttu is equivalent to the word "scramble".So Sura Puttu can be translated as Scrambled shark fry.Right?
But by whatever name we call it,Sura puttu has a wonderful mouthwatering smell and a native taste.Whenever i see shark fish in any Asian food Market (not in sea or movie), i will get a great enthu.My mom cooks it with an authentic flavor and serve it as a side dish for Vaazhai meen kulambu and rice.vaazhai meen has a lot of thorny bones and only fish eating experts can eat it.Otherwise you may neeed some help to get rid of those tiny bones. But it gives a wonderful aroma to the meen kulambu.The preparation is slightly different from Madras sura puttu.You can try with salmon fish too.
All you need is just 20 minutes to make this wonderful sura puttu.

Ingredients:
Shark fish - 2 pieces (1/2 lb)
shredded coconut - 1 tbsp
water - 1 cup
salt- 1 tsp
turmeric powder - 1tsp
green chillies- 3
Red onion- 1
garlic- 3 pieces
oil- 1 tbsp
cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp
mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp

Directions:
First wash the sura meen pieces under running water thoroughly.
Discard the head portion.
Bring to boil 1 cup of water.
Add salt , turmeric powder, garlic and the fish.
Close it with a lid and cook it for 5 minutes.
Then let it cool and remove the skin.Drain and store water.
Just separate the bone and keep aside.
You can use the bone and remaining fish water in making fish kulambu.
With your hands mash the fish and garlic.
In a pan add 1 tbsp of oil and let the mustard crackle.
Then add the chopped onion, green chillies, curry leaves and saute until the until the onion turns golden color.
Add the mashed shark pieces and scramble it to fine pieces.
Add enough salt.
After the fry becomes almost dry add cumin seeds and shredded coconut.

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot with piping hot rice and Fish curry.Also yummy with sambar or rasam rice.

Udipi sambar Powder

This is the sambar powder used to prepare the famous Udipi Hotel Sambar.The name originated from the Sambar served in the samabanthi Bojanam in the SriKrishna Temple of Udipi.

Ingredients:
Coriander seeds - 100 gms
Kashmiri red chillies- 100 gms
kuntoor short red chillies-75 gms
asafoetida - 1 small cube(1/2 tsp)
cumin- 1 tsp
Methi seeds(fenugreek)-1 tbsp
rice - 1 tsp
urid dhal-25 gms

Method:
Sun dry the red chillies.
Dry roast the coriander seeds , till it smells nice and turns crispy. Take it out and let cool.
Heat 1/2 tsp oil in a pan and just mix the chillies to get a roasted flavor.Keep aside.
Heat 1/4 tsp oil and fry the methi seeds to red color.Keep aside.
Then in another tsp of oil roast the urid dhal and rice.
After every thing gets cooled, grind them to a fine udipi sambar powder.

Directions:
To get the original Udipi sambar, add a tsp of crushed jaggery to the sambar at the final stage.
Adding ground coconut to the sambar makes it feel heavenly.

Spicy Sambar Powder.

Sambar Powder if prepared in home will do wonders . This home made sambar powder will definitely enhance the flavor of sambar.This sambar powder can successfully be used in making vatha kulambu also.I grind this sambar powder once in a month.This sambar podi is also called Karnataka sambar powder , as it contains cinnamon. You can leave cinnamon , if you hate the smell. But i add a little bit only and i love that karnataka sambar powder very much.

Ingredients:
coriander seeds - 1/2 cup
Long red chilies - 1/2 cup
Bengal gram-1/4 cup
Urid dhal- 1 tbsp
cumin seeds- 1 Tbsp.
pepper corn- 1 Tbsp.
mustard seeds-1/2 tsp
fenugreek seeds- 1/2 tsp
cinnamon- 1 /2 inch
clove- 1
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Asafoetida-1/4 tsp
curry leaves- 2 brig

Directions:
These ingredients should be roasted without oil separately .
It can be ground to a fine powder in the small jar of Indian mixie and stored in an air tight container.Makes 1/4 kg sambar powder.

Dhal chutney / Paruppu thovaiyal

Ingredients:
Thoor dhal / red gram - 1 tbsp
Bengal gram/channa dhal - 3 tbsp
red chillies - 4
shredded coconut- 1 tbsp
tamarind - 1/4 of the size of gooseberry.
salt - 1/4 tsp
curry leaves - 1 brig
cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
garlic - 1 pearl.

Method:
Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and fry channa dhal to golden brown color.
Then in the remaining oil roast the red chillies and coconut separately to almost crispy state.
After they get cool, grind every thing in Indian mixer or any blender without water for 20 seconds.
Then add very little water and grind coarsely to get a thick chutney.

serving suggestions:
Goes fine with tamarind rice, lemon rice, urid dhal rice and coconut rice.
Tastes good for 24 hours without refrigerator.
My mom always packs tamarind rice with this paruppu thovaiyal for picnics.

Urid dhal rice (Ulunthu Saadham)

Urid dhal rice or ulunthu saadham or ulunthan kanchi or Black gram rice is a simple protein rich main course meal served in southern villages of Tamil Nadu.
This is suggested as dinner for people with heart problems.

Ingredients:
Urid dhal (unsplit dhal with outer black skin)- 1/2 cup
Any Indian rice - 1/2 cup
water - 3 cups
salt - 1/4 tsp
Garlic - 10 pearls

Directions:
Wash and Soak the urid dhal for 6 hours.
Wash the rice.
Add the urid dhal , water, salt and garlic to the rice.
Pressure cook it for 3 whistles .
If you are cooking this without a pressure cooker then add salt after the Black gram gets cooked.


Serving suggestions:
Serves 2 people.Taste heavenly with a spoon of sesame oil (Nallennai) over each serving. It can be served as a simple main course meal for lunch or dinner.
serve hot with horse gram chutney (Kollu thuvaiyal) and Paruppu thovaiyal (Dhal chutney)

Thakkali pazha kuruma (Type 1)

Tomato kurma / tomato kuruma.
This is not so common, but tastes excellent and an attractive alternative to the usual (e.g., my tomato kuruma type 2).



Main Ingredient:
Ripe vine tomato - 4 (1 lb/ 500 gms)

To dry roast(without oil):
Kuskus (poppy seeds) - 1 tbsp
cashew - 6
cardamom- 2
cloves - 3
cinnamon - 1 inch long
Kadal paasi/sea weeds-1/2 tsp
coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
red chilli -1
Black pepper - 1/2 tsp

To roast with 1 tsp oil:
Red onion- 1/2
garlic cloves - 2
ginger - 1 inch
shredded coconut - 1 tbsp

Others:
Red onion- 1/2
green chillies- 4
turmeric powder - 1 pinch
curry leaves - 1 brig
cilantro - 1 tbsp (chopped)
Bay leaves - 2
Fennel seeds (perun jeeragam)- 1 tsp
cooking oil - 2 tbsp

Directions:
Bring to boil 2 cups of water.
Halve the tomatoes and boil them.
Peel off the skin and puree it.
In a frying pan dry roast all the ingredients given to do so.
Then add a tsp of oil and fry the onion, ginger, garlic and coconut.
cool all roasted/ fried items and grind them to a fine paste.
Cop the green chillies, onion, curry leaves and cilantro.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan.
Add the fennel seeds and after it becomes red, add bay leaves.
Then goes the onion, curry leaves, cilantro and green chillies.
After sauting them for a while add the finely ground masala.
Then add the tomato puree, turmeric powder and salt.
After the raw smell of tomato and masala turns in to a pleasant curry smell, turn off the stove.

Serving suggestions:
Makes 3 cups of Thakkali kuruma.
Serve as a dipping for Idly ,dosai, chapathi, roti or even with rice.

How to clean the banana flower?

Banana flower is otherwise called banana blossom or plantain flower or banana heart .The tamil name is Vaazhai poo (vaalai poo).In addition to the fruit, the flower of the banana plant is used in Southeast Asian, Tamil, Bengali and Kerala (India) cuisine, either served raw with dips or cooked in soups and curries.
Cleaning the banana blossom is a challenging task for every beginner.
So I am explaining it with images.



Wash the entire flower under running water.Apply some oil on your hands to avoid discoloration of skin.
Remove and discard the red bracts.
Gather all the small flowers inside. If not used they would have grown into individual sweet bananas.
You can peel up blossom to certain limit only, then leave the cone as it is.
carefully open each white blossom. You may see a plastic textured petal and a hard stamen. Just remove both.






Discard the above and collect the soft flowers.




Take 2 cups of water and mix 1 tablespoon of yogurt to it.
Immerse the cleaned banana flowers in to the solution.,
This is done to prevent the oxidation of the flower.
Chop the cleaned plantain flowers and the inner cone.
This chopped banana flower can be used to make curry, fry, vazhai poo vadai, soup etc.


Image shows the typical Indian style Plantain flower poriyal

wedding feast sambar

Sambar is the most common curry cooked in almost every house in South India. It is served with main course rice in almost all the South Indian marriages.The main ingredient of sambar is Toor dhal or Tuvaram paruppu or red gram lentil. Among Tamil people
there is an old saying - "Paruppu Illama Kalyanama?" which means Is there any marriage feast without red gram lentil?By this proverb we can understand the importance of sambar in Indian dishes.
I am narrating below the recipe for this famous "wedding feast sambar".


Ingredients:
To pressure cook:
Toor dhal/red gram lentil - 1/2 cup (100 gms)
water- 2 cups
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
asafoetida - 1/8 tsp
sesame oil- 1 drop
vegetables:
Tomato - 1
Unripe green mango - 1 very small (150 gms)
Drumstick - 1 (100 gms)
white Brinjal/Indian Egg plant- 2 (50 gms)
other items:
shallot onion- 50 gms/ 4 numbers(peel them but dont cut it)
Tamarind - small gooseberry size
cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp
cooking oil - 1 tbsp
ghee - 1 tbsp
curry leaves- 1 brig
cilantro/ coriander leaves (chopped)- 1 tbsp
mustard seeds-1/2 tsp
fenugreek -1/2 tsp
jaggery- 1 tsp (crushed)
salt - 1 tsp
sambar powder - 2 tbsp
Red chillies- 2

Method:
Soak the tamarind in 1 cup water for 20 minutes. Squeeze it and get the extract.
Wash and clean the Toor dal .soak it for 30 minutes.Pressure cook the items mentioned .
(If you do not have pressure cooker then boil 2 cups of water and add the dal, water,turmeric powder ,asafoetida and oil.Close it and cook till the dhal becomes soft.)
Then mash it coarsely along with cumin seeds.
In a separate pan, heat the cooking oil and add the peeled but uncut Shallot onions and saute it to golden bown.
Add it to the cut vegetables and add tamarind extract .Cook the vegetables with sambar powder and salt.
(If you dont have sambar powder , just add 1 tsp chilli powder, 2 tsp coriander powder.Even though it is not equal to sambar powder , but it will do fine.)
After the vegetables get cooked , add the mashed dhal .
In the frying pan add ghee , mustard , fenugreek. After the mustard crackles add curry leaves, red chillies and pour it to the dhal-veggie mixture.
As it starts boiling add the jaggery and put off fire.
Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot.

Serving suggestions:
makes 750 ml of sambar.
Serve with rice or dosa or chapathi.

Paruppu kulambu

Paruppu Kulambu is an another version of sambar.This is a less spicy lentil curry served with rice in southern villages of Tamilnadu and Kerala .I guess this curry was invented by our ancestors before sambar powder sachets made their route to villages.Even today this is the daily menu in most of the houses in my father's native place, Uvari .So we call it as "Uvari Paruppu kulambu".They use the vegetables grow in their kitchen garden to make paruppu kulambu.And it is the most yummiest sambar i have ever had.

INGREDIENTS:
To pressure cook:
Toor dhal (red gram/ pigeon pea) - 1 cup
shallot onion- 3
garlic- 3 pearls
green chilli - 5
asafoetida- 1/4 tsp
turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
sesame oil - 1 tsp
water 2 cups
vegetables to cook separately:
Indian Eggplant/brinjal (cut into big chunks)- 2 (small size)
Tomato - 1 (chopped)
drumstick(cut into 2 inch length pieces)- 1
Green unripe mango - 3 small pieces (optional)
You can substitute the brinjal ,mango and drumstick combo by white pumpkin/winter melon.
other items:
tamarind - 1 inch length.
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
oil - 1 tsp
mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
currry leaves - 1 brig
chopped onion - 1 tsp
salt - 1 1/2 tsp

Method:
Soak the toor dhal for 1/2 an hour.
Cook all the items given to pressure cook in a pressure cooker with weight for 5 whistles.
In another vessel add the tamarind extract and boil the other vegetables till tender.
Add salt to taste.
Mash the toor dhal with cumin seeds and add it to boiled vegetables.
Heat a pan with 1 tsp oil.
Add mustard seeds . After the mustard seeds crackle, add the chopped onions and curry leaves and fry them till they become crispy.
Immediately add this to the dhal mixture.
Put off fire as the curry just begins to boil.
Add a tbsp of shredded coconut to get the authentic taste.
Do not over heat the Paruppu kulambu, otherwise it will not taste good.

Serving suggestions:
serve hot with rice. Goes fine with Kerala's big red grain rice.
Any vegetarian fry or non vegeatarian fry can be served as side dish.

Sweet Pongal.

Sarkarai pongal or sweet pongal is a dish usually made during sankaranthi festival or on many auspicious days in India.

Ingredients:
Basmathi rice/Unboiled rice- 1 cup
green gram dhal- 1/2 cup
Jaggery (crushed)- 1 1/2 cup
Ghee (clarified butter) - 2 tbsp
water- 4 cups
2% milk - 2 cup
raisins - 10
cashew nuts - 10
cardamom - 3 (crushed)
ginger - 1 inch (chopped)

Method:
Wash the rice and dhal 2 times in water.
Add 4 cups of water and pressure cook it for 4 whistles.
Take out after the steam gets released.
Mash the rice and dhal .Keep aside.
Add 1/2 cup water to jaggery and boil it. Then filter the clear jaggery solution , leaving behind the sand.
Take a thick bottom vessel and boil the milk.
Add the mashed rice-dhal mixture and let it become thick .
Now slowly add the jaggery solution too.
In a frying pan heat the ghee and roast the cashews, raisins to golden color.
Garnish the sweet rice with this hot ghee, cashews and raisin.
Add chopped ginger and cardamom and serve hot.
If you add more ghee , this sweet pongal will be more tasty.

Serving suggestions:
Makes 4- 5 cups.
Mostly this sarkarai Pongal is done for poojas or festivals.It is served with ulunthu vadai in Hindu Temples as prasatham.

Fish curry

Fish curry or fish kulambu or Meen kulambu in Tamil is a yummy dish . This is my mom's version of fish curry. 

 I prepare it like a thick gravy. But the original version is a more liquidized one just like this recipe.

.Depending upon your taste you can add water to the tamarind paste before making curry.Today i tried the original version with king fish and you can see the picture too.

Items required:
Fish - 1 lb 
(choose any fish like Butter fish ,king fish,anchovy,salmon,catfish etc.Dont choose shell fishes for this preparation.)
thick bottom shallow vessel with a lid - 1
broad spoon -1
sesame oil - 1 tbsp
mustard seeds- 1 tsp
fenugreek seeds- 1/2 tsp
Tamarind - 1 gooseberry size
chilli powder -1 tbsp
coriander powder-2 tbsp
turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
tomato - 1
green chillies -2
curry leaves- 2 brigs.
To grind:
shredded coconut -2 tbsp
red onion(chopped)-1 cup
cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Method:
wash the fish and remove all the fins and scales by a knife.
Then slice it into big chunks.
Apply turmeric powder over the fish and keep aside.
Extract juice from tamarind and add chilli powder, coriander powder, pinch of turmeric powder, salt and mix well.
Heat the sesame oil in vessel .Add mustard and fenugreek seeds. After the nustard seeds crackle add the curry leaves .
Then add chopped tomato and saute it for 1 minute.
Add tamarind juice mixture and let it boil for 5 minutes.
Then add the finely ground coconut-onion paste.
Immediately after this starts boiling add the fish pieces.
cover the vessel and simmer the heat.
Keep the curry gets cooked in simmer heat for 15 minutes.
DO NOT stir the curry after adding the fish, otherwise you may end up with broken pieces.
Then put off fire.Garnish with chopped green chillies and curry leaves and serve hot with rice or chapathi or Idly or dosai .

Serving suggestions:
Serves 5 people.
Serve fried fish and ripe mango as side dish.
If there are only 2 people, just 1 lb of fish is enough.1/2 lb fish can be fried and the other half can be mada as curry.

Tamil meaning for fishes:
shark -pillai sura.
sardine - chalai.
anchovy-nethili
Butter fish- kuthippu,
king fish- seela / vanjiram

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