Pearl millet candy (Kambu urundai)

This candy might have been the power bar / cereal bar for the farmers of  India before this commercial era. Not only Indian farmers, each and every working community all over the world would have had their own recipe before industrialization. While growing up I never cared much for these village recipes as they were readily available to me on daily basis. But after tasting all kinds of store bought power bars and realizing the benefits of home-cooking, I wanted to try my own using the traditional recipe. In my native we used to make a lot of this kind of candies / cereal bars using various combinations. These candies have loads of fiber and nutrition , hence they can be served as after work-out food, evening snack, break fast with milk, dessert etc. We can adjust and make them within 150 K Cal (each).

I have heard people calling it as Kambu kozhukkattai, but I tell it as kambu urundai (candy) as it is prepared without steaming.
Kambu - pearl millet (bajira - Hindi), kolukkattai / kozhukkattai - steamed sweet dumbling, urundai - ball (here it means candy).

Ingredients:

Kambu (bajira) - 1 cup
sesame - 1/4 cup
groundnut - 1/2 cup
dry ginger powder - 1/2 tsp
cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
jaggery - 1 cup
rice flour - 2 tbsp

Method:

Dry roast the kambu till it smells good and powder it.
(If we can't get whole kambu, then use the powdered version here after roasting).
Dry roast the sesame and groundnut separately.
Remove the skin of groundnut by scrubbing gently.
Coarsely grind the sesame and groundnut, so that groundnut remains as big pieces.
Melt the jaggery and remove any impurities. Bring it to rolling boil (2 string consistency).
Mix the powdered kambu, crushed sesame, crushed groundnut, dry ginger powder, cardamom powder and make small spherical balls (palm size). If needed add a tbsp rice flour to facilitate the rolling process.

Kambu urundai is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve just like protein bars
It can be had as healthy snack, after work-out meal, breakfast etc.

Batham palkova (Almond kova)

Other names: Almond milk halwa, Bathaam palkova, almond fudge.

I don't know , if there exists a sweet dish in this name. But it will be a good choice when we want to make something similar to almond halwa with very little almonds and lesser time. With all these sweet ingredients, we will definitely arrive at a wonderful result.  As expected, this newer sweet was so delicious and became our comfort zone for that weekend. Enjoy this sweet on a special occasion and let me know how it turned out:)

Batham paal kova.

Ingredients:

Almond - 15
milk - 1/2 cup
milk powder - 4 tbsp
Sweetened Condensed Milk – 1 can (14 oz / 396 gm)
Butter – 2 tbsp
cardamom powder - a pinch
Saffron – few strands

Method:

Bring 1 cup water to boil and put the almonds. Let them be in that heat till they swell and show wrinkles. Switch off and put them in cold water for 10 minutes. The skin will come off. (We can soak them overnight too). Peel the skin and grind them to a coarse paste along with the milk.

Now put everything above on a thick bottom wok and start heating in a medium flame. Stir continuously. Don't leave it unattended for a second. If necessary reduce the flame to the lowest. After 5 minutes bubbles will start appearing all over. It will be very hot, so take care. If doing in a big bulk, wear a gloves for safety.

Within 8 - 10 minutes, the kova will thicken and start leaving the sides. It is the best stage. If we want to make slices, then go ahead and stir for few more minutes. Add cardamom powder before switching off.
I wanted mine in halwa stage and so stopped there.

Almond kova is ready!

Another version: (updated 2011, Oct 25)

Almond - 1 1/4 cup
sweetened condensed milk - 300 gm (12 oz / 80 % of a 386 gm tin / 3/4 cup )
milk powder - 3/4 cup
(instead of condensed milk and milk powder we can use equal weight of sweetened milk khova - says the old recipe )
cardamom - 5
saffron - few strands
yellow color
ghee - 2 tbsp

Soak almond overnight. Remove skin and grind coarsely with 1/4 cup milk.
Fry the almond paste in ghee in medium heat for 10 minutes.
Add the milk khova and stir well. Do this in medium heat for another 10 minutes,
Add color, cardamom.
Garnish with finely chopped alomond, saffron.

Serving suggestions:

Serve hot or cold as dessert.

Bittergourd curry

Translation : Pakarkkai - bittergourd / bitter melon.

In my childhood, the bittergourd we get nowadays were a hybrid and not available in local shops. We were buying a smaller version of them called 'mithi pagal':), those used to be very tiny and not bitter like the ones we get nowadays. Moreover that mithi pagal plant, root, fruits everything can be made into a juice and drank for obesity and diabetes. Then came the longer version and one day we saw them in our Vivekanandan uncle's house and were amazed at that yield. They were gathering them in big baskets and no one was there to buy them as they couldn't find a better way to cook them without that bitterness. Mom showed them a way using more oil and chilly powder and it was so excellent. Yes, my Mom used to make very good fried curries with this bittergourd and call it as pakarkkai varuval along with paruppu kulambu. At that time I have also consumed that but after I started cooking, I could neither take that bitter flavor nor add oil like my mom. So bittergourd became a rare commodity in my kitchen and I prepared it sometime ago and with chapathi for supper and packed it with lentil rice the next day. Anyways everybody liked it and I am just noting it down because of the way I added very minimal oil.

Myth: Bittergourd curry is a big no no in my native , while inviting guests:)

Ingredients:

Bitter gourd - 2 (150 gm)
tomato - 3 (100 gm)
onion - 1
salt - to taste
red chilly powder - 1 tbsp
garam masala powder - 1 tsp
oil - 1 tbsp
fennel - 1/2  tsp

Method:

Finely chop the vegetables. Remove the seeds of bittergourd.
Heat oil in a wok and add fennel. After they get red, add the sliced onion, curry leaves and fry till they wilt. Then put the tomato and cook till they get mushy.
Now add the bittergourd along with salt and other masala powders mentioned above.
Stir well and after a minute sprinkle a handful of water and cook covered till the bittergourd is cooked well.
Switch off.

Serving suggestions:

Serve with roti or any rice.
If you still find the bitterness unacceptable, then try adding a few drops of lemon or tamarind extract.

Thakkali kuruma (Type 2)

Meaning: Thakkali -  tomato, Kuruma - a kind of Indian stew served with rice, breakfast or roti.

Earlier I posted another version for tomato kuruma (type 1) long back and that was quite different from my usual. The kuruma recipe which I am narrating now is a common one in Tirunelveli and its kind of a quickie too. Whenever we got bored of the usual coconut chutney for idly , mom used to make this tomato kuruma. But nowadays idlies are becoming obsolete in most of our houses as we all want to wake up in front of that oats bowl or bread-omelet:) Lunch is the only time to have some rice and writing them and recording is the best way to remember my native kulambu names in these years:) Hubby dear prefers only veggie foods for his lunch box and for me this recipe comes handy only after my sambar:)

Ingredients:

Ripe tomato - 4 (250 gm)
Red onion- 1/2 cup
green chilly - 2
red chilly powder - 1 tbsp
coriander powder - 2 tbsp
ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
oil - 2 tbsp
fennel - 1 tsp
cinnamon - a small piece
Bay leaves - 2
curry leaf - 1 sprig

To grind:

shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
cumin - 1/2 tsp
fennel - 1 tsp

Method:

Choose country tomato (vine tomato, the juicier ones).
Finely chop the tomatoes and put in a lidded vessel.
Cook the tomato with required salt, 2 cups water, red chilly powder, coriander powder.
After the tomato gets cooked (15 minutes), mash with a ladle.
Heat another wok with a tsp of oil and fry the fennel, bay leaf and cinnamon for 10 seconds. Then add the chopped onion , green chillies, curry leaf till the onion gets golden brown. Then put the ginger garlic paste and stir well. Pour over the cooked tomato. Add the ground masala and bring it to a boil. Switch off.

Tomato kuruma is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Makes 4 cups of Thakkali kuruma.
Serve as a side dish for rice, Idly ,dosai or chapathi.
If served with rice, beans fry, appalam or omelet can be made as side dish.

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.