Kozhi Rasam

Kozhi(koli) - Chicken ; Rasam - Indian soup.

Rasam made of non veg items is not a common one. But this kind of rasam is prepared in Tamilnadu villages. They generally use a small chicken weighing 1/4 kg for a big family. But for a small family, just use the ribs or the drumsticks in the regular chicken. I prepared this during last winter and it was so good with piping hot rice.
It is a good remedy for body aches, cold, cough and for convalescent period.

Ingredients:
Chicken (with bones)- 100 gm
water - 5 cups
Tomato - 3 (200 gm)
turmeric - 1/4 tsp
salt - to taste
curry leaf - 1 sprig
cilantro - few leaves
dry red chilly - 2
mustard - 1/2 tsp
fenugreek - 1/2 tsp
oil - 1 tbsp
asafoetida / hing - 1 pinch

To coarsely grind:

garlic - 5 pieces
black pepper - 1 tbsp
cumin - 1 tbsp

Method:
Choose a very tender small chicken portion with bones.Wash it with water. Cut it into small pieces and smash the bones with the back side of the butcher's knife.
(Generally they used to crush the pieces in a big mortar).

Put the chicken, salt in a large vessel. Add enough water (5 cups) to cover it. Add the finely chopped tomato, turmeric and cook covered till done. (We can pressure cook it too).

Heat a wok with a tbsp of oil. Add methi, mustard seeds and let the mustard crackle. Put a pinch of hing and curry leaves, dry red chillies. Then add the crushed garlic,pepper, cumin and stir well for 20 seconds.

Pour the cooked chicken along with that soup and bring it to a boil. Garnish with finely chopped cilantro and switch off. Close tightly and let all the flavor remains intact.

Chicken rasam is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve with piping hot rice and fried chicken or egg.
It can also be served as soup.

Paal kozhukkattai (Type 2)

Paal kolukkattai is a famous payasam / kheer in my home town. I have never seen it being served in any restaurant. so I guess it is a regional dessert. It can be made using white sugar or jaggery. Click to see my milky white paal kolukkattai. The whiter one is more popular and made of cow's milk. But the jaggery based one has more native flavor and made with coconut milk.This version is my hubby's most favorite and he started asking me once more on seeing this :)

Paal kolukattai in jaggery and coconut milk payasam.

For kozhukkattai:

Rice flour - 3/4 cup
hot water - 1/2 cup
salt - a pinch

To make kolukkattai:

Bring 1/4 cup water to boil along with a pinch of salt.
Add this to the rice flour slowly till it reaches chapati dough consistency.

Divide the dough into two equal portions.
Make small balls of 1/2 inch diameter from one half of dough and elongated spheres of 1 inch length (Hemispherical cylinder) from another half.
Lets call them both as 'kolukkattai'. (While preparing big batches, they place the kolukkattai over a new wet cotton cloth spread on a large plate called thambalam and cover with the same cloth).

Bring 2 cups of water to boil and add handful of the kolukkattai to it.
Add them in smaller batches with some interval, otherwise all will get dissolved.
Wait till all the dumplings get cooked and water gets reduced to the minimum.

For payasam base:

Jaggery (crushed) - 3/4 cup
coconut - 1/2 (or) 1.5 cup extract
ghee - 1 tsp
cashew - 4
almond - 2
raisin - 10
cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
shredded coconut - 2 tbsp

Method:

Shred the coconut and add 1/2 cup warm water to it. Squeeze the milk. repeat the same thrice to get all the coconut milk. Keep aside.
Add 2 cups of water to the jaggery and bring it to a boil.
Remove any dirt by filter. Pour this to the prepared kolukkattai and bring to a boil.
Now switch off and add the coconut milk, cardamom powder.

Fry the nuts, raisin in ghee and pour over the payasam. Decorate with freshly shredded coconut.

Paal kolukkattai payasam is ready.

Serving suggestions:

serve warm as dessert.

Brinjal puli pachadi

Katharikkai - Brinjal / eggplant , puli - tamarind , pachadi - less cooked curry / salad.
other names: Sutta kathirikkai puli mandi, eggplant tamarind chutney.

Ingredients:

brinjal - 1 (100 gm)
green chilly - 2
curry leaf - 1 sprig
shallot - 3
asafoetida / hing - a pinch
red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
cumin - few seeds
salt - to taste
tamarind - 3 inch strip

Method:

Wash the brinjal and pat dry. Apply few drops of sesame oil allover the brinjal and rub well. Pierce a metal skewer (vadai kambi) into the brinjal and start broiling it over medium flame. (In olden days they place these brinjals over hot charcoal, after cooking rice and let them get broiled themselves).

After sometime we may see the skin of the brinjal getting char and it will start smelling great. It will take around 5 minutes in low heat to get it cooked completely. I broiled chinese eggplant, that was long and slender.

Place it over a plate and let it cool. Then peel and discard the skin. Mash the brinjal coarsely with hand. Chop the onion, chilly, curry leaf and add them to the brinjal. Extract the tamarind juice with very little water and pour it to the mixture. Add all the powders, salt, cumin and mix well.

Brinjal puli pachadi is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve as side dish with any rice.
The tamarind taste and spice level should be dominating in this pachadi.

Roasted cashew (Indian style)

Some years ago, there were myths about these innocent cashews and weight conscious people stayed away from them. Gone are those days and now everyone recommends them to stay fit:). Anyways if you are more particular about weight loss, then roast the cashews in oven without butter or oil. But recently I prepared this Indian style spicy roasted cashews for our road trip. This is how my mom used to do occasionally and I am glad that we found a good snack for the weekends. Should I say, Xav likes it very much and he has promised me that he will avoid store-bought snacks (!).

Ingredients:

Cashews(raw and whole) - 20
ghee / butter - 1 tbsp
salt - to taste
pepper - 1/2 tsp
red chilly powder - 1/4 tsp
garam masala powder - 1/8 tsp (optional)

Method:

Heat the ghee and fry the cashews in very low flame. It will take almost 5 minutes in that low heat. Switch off and take out the nuts. Drain the excess butter using a paper towel.
(If you need to roast more cashews, then add another tbsp of ghee and fry them 20 by 20. Don't crowd them).
Wipe the wok and put the cashews, salt, pepper, chilly powder, garam masala and mix well. Let them cool completely.
After cooling the nuts will turn more crispy.
Store in an air tight container.

Serving suggestions:

Serve with coffee or tea as snack.

Facts:
Consume them moderately. Cashews can be roasted in oven also.
Oven fried cashews (5) with less salt can be consumed 30 minutes before meal to achieve the satiety factor.
Microwaving the cashews: It may take less than 3 minutes to get it roasted.
Oven: Spread 2 cups of cashews over a cookie sheet, in single layer. Temperature 375 deg F and time 15 - 20 minutes with constant stirring. Coat them with a tbsp of butter and salt before taking out.

Kashmiri Dum Aloo

Dum aloo is a famous Indian dish available in almost every Indian restaurant. The baby potatoes soaking in that sauce looks so beautiful and I absolutely enjoy preparing this cute curry:) The regular dum aloo has a spicy finish while the Kashmiri version should be on the sweeter side (as per my knowledge).  Originally, they deep fry the potatoes and slow cook them in the gravy overnight. But I did a less calories version on my own to get closer to that restaurant taste. Try this and enjoy:)

Aloo - potato.

Dum / dham / tham - Anything (biryani, vegetables, non veg) closed tightly and cooked in its own vapor in low heat for hours to get a much flavorful and juicy food.

Dum aloo served.

Baby potatoes getting par boiled.

Ingredients:

Baby potato - 15 (1 lb)
bay leaf - 2
oil / butter - 2 tbsp
Tomato puree - 1/2 cup
ginger powder - 1/2 tsp
garlic - 3 cloves
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Plain Indian yogurt (thick) - 1/2 cup
dry methi leaves - 1 tbsp

To dry roast:

Cardamom - 3
cloves- 4
cinnamon - 1 inch
nutmeg - a tiny shaving
shahi jeera - 1/4 tsp
cumin - 1/2 tsp
fennel - 1 tbsp
dry red chilly - 6
coriander seed - 2 tbsp

For gravy:

cashew(soaked) - 10
almond(soaked) - 5
raisin - 10
dates - 2
mint leaf - 1 sprig
cilantro - 2 sprig
milk - 1 cup

Method:

Soak the nuts, dry fruits in warm milk for 4 hours or overnight (in water).

Choose very small potatoes or buy a baby potato pack.Wash the potatoes.
Put them in boiling water and cook for just 5 minutes (1/2 boil).
Put in cold water and gently peel the skin using a knife.
Then make a few holes all over the potatoes using a fork.

Dry roast the items given. Grind them together with those mentioned above.

Heat 2 tbsp butter / oil in a wok and shallow fry the potatoes till they get a mild red color outside. Keep aside.

In the remaining oil (we won't get much left out, but it will be enough) add the bay leaves, crushed garlic and fry for a few seconds. Then add the tomato puree and fry for a minute. Immediately add the ground masala and bring to a boil. Then add the turmeric, beaten yogurt, salt and mix well.  Put the baby potatoes and reduce the flame. If needed add some milk. Slow cook it for 30 minutes and switch off.
Sprinkle some crushed methi leaves.

Dum aloo is ready!

Serving suggestion:

Serve as side dish with paratha, chapathi, jeera pulav or plain rice.

Kambu kolukkattai

Kambu - pearl millet (bajira - Hindi), kolukkattai / kozhukkattai - steamed sweet dumbling

Few generations ago this must have been a staple snack / breakfast among the village people of Tamilnadu. I have read about this in Tamil folk tales and tasted a few times.Then I tried to bring out that ancient snack and here goes the recipe :)

Ingredients:

Kambu - 1 cup
rice - 2 tbsp
coconut (shredded) - 1/2 cup (optional)
cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
jaggery (crushed) - 3/4 cup (or lesser)

Method:

Dry roast the kambu, rice till the kambu smells good.
Let it cool and powder it.
Add 1/2 cup water to jaggery and dissolve it by heating.
Filter and remove any impurities.
Pour the hot solution to a mixing bowl. Add the flour, cardamom powder and kambu flour. Mix well to get something like hard chapathi dough. Take a ball and press well inside the palm to get a rough oval shape. Grease an idly mold with very little sesame oil and place the dumplings. Cook in idly cooker for 5 minutes (full steam).

Kambu kolukkattai is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve hot / cold as healthy breakfast or snack.
Palm jaggery can also be used instead of the cane jaggery.

Potato bajji (Urulai kilangu bajji)

Bajji (Tamil) - Vegetable slices coated with spicy gram flour paste and deep fried. (Whereas in hindi , baji means a spicy curry served roti).

We can get this snack in almost all the tea shops of Tamilnadu, India. The valaikkai bajji prepared with unripe banana is more common and claimed as the standard version when served with thick coconut chutney (ketti chutney). But I have seen mom utilizing various vegetables like Potato, onion, cauliflower, unripe plantain (valaikkai), brinjal, unripe tomato, capsicum. Also bajji can be made using boiled egg, fish, bread, appalam (pappad). As it is a simple snack, that can be prepared within 10 minutes, bajji comes handy for me whenever we get surprise visitors, especially during winter evenings.

Memories :I will always remember the 'bajji treat' made by my friend Archana's mom....It was a pleasant surprise for us to see almost all the varieties of bajjis in one place, that too made in front of us , while we were enjoying her tea and waiting to roam(!) around that pool. Thank you Nalini aunty! whenever I make bajji, your treat goes as the main topic in our home :).

Urulai kilangu bajji served with tomato ketchup.

Ingredients (for 10 pieces) :

Potato (big and round) - 1
Besan flour (kadalai mavu) - 3/4 cup
dosa batter - 1/4 cup
(or) rice flour - 2 tbsp
salt - to taste
red chilly powder - 1 tbsp
hing (asafoetida)- 1/8 tsp
baking soda - 1/10 tsp
garlic - 2 pieces (finely ground)
red food color - a pinch (optional)
oil - to deep fry (200 ml)

Method:

Wash the potato, scrub and remove the skin. Slice it into thin (2mm approx) round pieces, using a knife and cutting board. Don't use a chips maker, if it has nonadjustable blades. We may need the slices to be more thick than the potato chips.

Mix all the above with 1/4 cup water to a thick batter. Add more water if needed, but keep the batter like idly batter ,otherwise the bajjis will absorb more oil.

Heat oil in a wok. As it gets smoky hot, reduce flame and keep in medium flame.

Dip the potato slices in the batter and put it on the hot oil. Flip and fry both sides. Drain oil and take out.

Potato bajji is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve hot as snack along with hot coffee or tea during rainy / winter season.
Coconut chutney or tomato ketchup are good side dishes for these fries.