Tomato Rasam.

Ingredients
Ripe tomatoes - 2
Tamarind extract - 2 teaspoon.
(from a gooseberry size ball of tamarind)
Red chillies - 2
black pepper - 1 teaspoon
cumin seed- 1/2 tsp
garlic - 3 pearls.
turmeric- a pinch
asafoetida - a pinch.
Fenugreek seeds (methi seeds) - 1/4 tsp
mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
curry leaves - 1 brig
chopped coriander leaves - 1 tsp
water - 2 cups
jaggery - very small piece (1 tsp, if crushed)
salt - 1 tsp
oil (ghee)- 1 tbsp.

Method:
Add hot water to the tamarind and extract the juice. Keep it aside.
Chop the tomatoes finely.
coarsely grind the pepper, garlic and cumin seeds. Mix turmeric and asafoetida with it and keep aside.
In a pan add little oil/ ghee and put mustard seeds , methi seeds.
After hearing the crackling sound of mustard seeds add red chillies and curry leaves.
Immediately add the ground mixture to the pan and fry for 30 seconds.
Add tomatoes and stir it till the tomato gets half cooked.
Add the tamarind extract and the jaggery.
Add 2 cups of water
Switch off the flame as you see white bubbles or some froth gathering above.
Do not allow the Rasam to boil.
After switching off the flame , add salt and chopped coriander leaves.
Serving suggestions:
Makes 1/2 litre of Tomato Rasam.
Serve hot with rice after Sambar rice.
It can be served like clear soup after filtering (after dinner). It helps in digestion.

Note:
We can totally avoid that tamarind part , instead add juice from 1/4 lemon after switching off the flame.

Aapam (made by grinding rice)

 rice - 2 cup
cooked rice - 1/2 cup

urid dhal - 2tsp,
fenugreek (venthayam) seeds - 1/4 tsp.
salt - 1/4 teaspoon.
coconut milk or tender coconut water - 1/2 cup.
yeast - 1 teaspoon.
baking soda - 1/4 tsp.


Method:
Soak rice,urid dal and fenugreek seeds for 5 hours.Then add the cooked rice and grind in an "Indian Grinder" or "Indian mixie" to a fine paste. It should be like thick idly batter.
Add coconut milk/tender coconut water, salt and yeast to the batter.
Keep it closed and place in a warm place for 6 hours. I used to make this batter at night by 9 pm and leave inside oven (turn off oven) and in 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 will have risen.

Before making appam add the baking soda and mix well. If needed add some water to get a runny liquid stage.

Now 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 in the more thin in consistency than that of dosa batter.If not so add some coconut milk or water.
Pour onto griddle, heated medium to low, to form thick pancakes about 4 inches across. Then Shake the pan in a circular motion so that the flour spreads and expands along the edges.(If batter is too thick and does not spread, add a little more milk or water ). The cooked batter forms a layer of 'lace' around the thicker center portion. It is then covered and cooked in it's own steam over gentle heat.I used to wait to hear a dropping sound of water(condensation of steam) .Now we can be sure that the aapam is cooked.Then by using a dosa spatula (dosa karandi) gently take out the aapam.

Serving suggestions:
Aapam goes fine with coconut milk.Take coconut milk 1/2 can and dilute it with equal amount of water.Spread 1 teaspoon sugar over aapam and add 2 tablespoon coconut milk over the aapam. Enjoy your aapam.
We get nearly 15 number of aapam. You can store the rest of the aapam batter in fridge and use it later if you dont need this much number of aapams.
Aappam can also be served with egg curry or chicken curry or channa dhal curry or  kadala curry or  sambar.

Aappam (Using rice flour) - perfect recipe

Traditionally these pancakes are cooked in a small wok shaped mud pan. Luckily we have non stick aapam pans now.The pan is swirled so that the cooked batter forms a layer of 'lace' around the thicker center portion. Its also called Lace aapam or palappam.It is then covered and cooked in it's own steam over gentle heat. Since most of us do not have access to grinders as in India , try this method of using rice flour instead of grinding the rice.

Appam is one of the delicacies made on Christmas or Easter morning.

 I personally like this recipe very much. I think this is my very own recipe for aappam. I use left over dosa batter to make aappam, by adding rice flour and yeast to it.
I am sure this recipe will give a  100% perfect aappam.

Fermented aappam mavu.

Ingredients:
rice flour - 2 cups.
rice flour - 1 tablespoon
tender coconut water- 1/2 cup (optional)
fresh grated coconut- 1/2 cup
yeast - 2 teaspoon
sugar - 2 tablespoons
urid dal - 2tsp,

salt - 1/4 tsp,
baking soda - 1/4 tsp. (optional : add just before making aapam)

For serving with aapam:
Sugar - 2 tsp for 1 aapam.
coconut milk - 1 cup,


Method:
Mix 1 tablespoon rice flour with 3/4 cup water and cook on stove until thick. Then allow it to cool.

Soak  urad dhal for 1 hour and grind with 1/2 cup shredded coconut to a fine paste.

In a large bowl, mix the cooked rice flour, rice flour, urid dal  paste,salt, tender coconut water, yeast, sugar to form a batter of thick pouring consistency (like idly batter consistency).

Keep it closed and place in a warm place for 6 hours. I used to make this batter at night by 9 pm and leave inside oven (turn off oven) and in 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.

Now add the baking soda and mix well.

Now 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 in the more thin in consistency than that of dosa batter.If not so add some coconut milk or water.
 Pour 2 ladles of batter,keep heat at medium to low.
Then Shake the pan in a circular motion so that the flour spreads and expands along the edges.(If batter is too thick and does not spread, add a little more milk or water to the batter for the next aapams ). The cooked batter forms a layer of 'lace' around the thicker center portion. It is then covered and cooked in it's own steam over gentle heat.
I wait to hear a dripping sound of water(condensation of steam) .Now we can be sure that the aapam is cooked.Then by using a dosa spatula or spoon gently take out the aapam.


Serving suggestions:
Aapam goes fine with coconut milk.Take coconut milk 1/2 can and dilute it with equal amount of water.Spread 2 teaspoon sugar over aapam and add 4 tablespoon coconut milk over the aapam. Enjoy your aapam.

We get nearly 15 number of aapam. If you dont need this much number of aapams you can store the left out aapam batter in fridge and use it later.

Aappam can also be served with egg curry or chicken curry or channa dhal curry or even sambar.

Note:
Instead of cooked rice flour + urid dal + coconut paste,   we can simply use 1 cup of left over dosa batter and coconut paste alone, for an easy version.