Semiya Kesari

Kesari - an Indian fudge. Semiya / vermicelli - a kind of noodles / pasta.

Kesari is a dessert prepared along with breakfast during Indian festivals. The most common kesari is sooji or rava kesari, while there are some variations too.

Some years ago,  while buying a vermicelli pack I got a complimentary booklet with numerous recipes using semiya. Though it is a very small pamphlet to promote their product, all their recipes were accurate and it inspired me to collect cookbooks from that day. Here is one dish from my knowledge bank:)

Ingredients:

Semiya - 1 cup
(I used 200 gm MTR vermicelli)
sugar - 1.5 cup
water - 2.5 cup
ghee - 3 tbsp
cashew - 10
raisin - 10
cardamom - 4
orange(Kesari) food color - a small pinch

Method:

Gently crush the semiya into small bits.

Heat 1 tbsp ghee and fry the cashews till it gets golden color. Keep aside.
Then put the raisin and wait till it puffs up. Take out.

Add 2 tbsp ghee and roast the semiya till it turns golden.
Take the semiya and keep aside.

In the same pan bring the water to boil and add orange food color powder.
Add the vermicelli and reduce flame. Cook covered till it is completely done.
Add the sugar and wait till the water evaporates.
Now put the fried nuts, raisin, powdered cardamom and stir gently without mashing.
Switch off once it starts leaving the pan.

Semiya kesari is ready!

Serving suggestion:

Serve warm as dessert.
It can be served along with a scoop of vanilla ice cream too

Tips:

Substitute for orange food color - juice of carrot.

Happy New year,

Lets welcome the New year with joy,
with lots of prayers and well wishes,
May every day be filled
with happiness and peace,
May every face on earth live happily forever,
with all our needs satisfied,
May every life lives peacefully
with all our dreams come true,
May every child gets love and care,along
with all the toys they want:)
May God shower His abundant love on all of us,






Wishing you all a
beautiful, Prosperous and Blessed
Happy New Year and Happy blogging!
Love,
Viki.

Merry Christmas,

Wishing all my friends and readers a  Blessed Happy Christmas,
May all our dreams come true.

Nativity scene on Birth of Jesus Christ.

Our Christmas tree.

Christmas tradition: Cookies and snacks along with chocolate milk for Santa Clause. Cilantro for reindeer.

Fruit cake for Baby Jesus's Birthday, the Christmas,

Mixed vegetable pakoda

Pakoda / pakora / fritters. A pakoda is a deep fried spicy snack.

In Tamilnadu it is common to see the vendors making these crispy pakoras in front of their stalls to attract the crowd in the evening / night. They prepare the pakora's base batter in a big lot and would make various pakoras by dipping and frying the relevant items as per order. There are many variations in making pakora and the dominant ingredient gets the title (mint pakora, tea stall pakora, cashew pakora, onion pakoda etc.,).
Here is a different pakora with mixed vegetables. We can use almost any vegetable here and I am sure deep frying makes it delicious:) If preparing the pakora as tea time snack, I suggest making a little extra, as it makes a wonderful meal with rasam rice for dinner:)

Mixed vegetables I had.

Crispy mixed vegetable pakoda.

Important Ingredients:

Besan flour - 3/4 cup
(Bengal gram flour / kadalai mavu)
Rice flour - 1/4 cup
Red onion - 1 (big)
green chilli - 5
ginger - 2 inch
hing - 1/8 tsp
salt - to taste
curry leaves- 1 brig
cilantro - 1/4 bunch
mint leaf - a handful
cilantro - a handful
red chilli powder - 1 tsp
curry masala powder - 1 tsp
oil - to deep fry (250 ml)

Vegetables :

cabbage - 100 gm
carrot - 1
broccoli / cauliflower - 1 cup
potato - 1
French beans - 10
(Vegetables with more water content are not suitable for this recipe).

Method:

Cut the vegetables into thin slices of 2 inch length.
Chop the onion into thin slices.
Finely chop the green chilli, ginger, cilantro and mint leaves.
Mix the chopped veggies with the besan flour and rice flour.Add chilli powder, salt and garam masala powder.
Try to knead the flour without adding water.
Heat 2 tbsp oil and add it to the mixture. This makes the pakoda more crispy. Instead of oil we can add a few drops of water also.
The dough consistency should not be like chapathi dough. It should be like a mixture of moistened flour with veggies.
Heat oil in a kadai. Drop small pieces of mixture in to the hot oil. Reduce heat to medium so that the vegetable gets cooked evenly. Flip and fry to get crispy fritters.
Take them out and place over paper towels to remove excess oil.
Crispy mixed vegetable pakoda is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve hot as an evening snack or as side dish with any variety-rice.
Goes fine with curd rice , rasam or sambar rice

Inji mittai

Inji - fresh ginger ; mittai - candy.

This is a candy sold in almost all the bus stations in Tamilnadu. I have never seen any one preparing this at home, as it is easily available there. This inji mittai is helpful in digestion and boosts the energy level during travels. I couldn't get a recipe from anyone I know, so I formulated this recipe myself. I am not sure if this how they prepare the ginger candy commercially, but works for small batches. It tasted exactly like the vendor's and I am sure many of you will like it too.

Method 1:

Ingredient:

very young fresh Ginger root - 150 gm
(Makes a paste of 3/4 cup)
sugar - 1 cup
water - 1/4 cup
cardamom - a pinch (optional)

Method:
Choose very young tender ginger, without any fiber. Scratch and remove the skin of ginger. Wash well to remove any impurities. Grind to a fine paste with 1/2 of the water mentioned above.
Bring remaining water and sugar to a boil and keep on heating till sugar solution gets the candy stage (2 string).
Add the ginger paste and cardamom powder. Stir well for 10 minutes or till it forms a mass and starts leaving the vessel holding the spatula.
Grease a plate with a 1/4 tsp ghee. Pour the ginger candy mixture and let cool for some time. Then draw lines and let cool completely. Break into squares as per the guidance lines and preserve in an air tight container.

Inji mittai is ready!

Method 2:

(If we cannot get the tender ginger, this method holds good)

Ingredients:

Fresh ginger - 150 gm
sugar - 1 cup
All purpose flour - 1 tbsp

Peel the ginger and extract juice with just 1/4 cup water. Discard the fiber.
Let the juice stand for 10 minutes. Discard the white residue.
Add the clear ginger juice to sugar and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and heat till it starts getting candy stage (2 string). Put the all purpose flour (maida) and stir vigorously to avoid lumps. Now the candy will start leaving the sides and starts crystallizing. Pour over a well greased plate and flatten to 1/2 inch thickness. Draw lines using a knife and let cool completely.
Break into squares and preserve in air tight container.

Inji mittai is ready!

Serving suggestion:

Taking a ginger candy after a heavy meal helps in digestion.
Good for people with giddiness.
Makes 20 small squares (1.5 inch).

Pepper chicken curry

Kozhi milagu kulambu - A chicken curry prepared with vibrant Indian black pepper masala. Pepper based curries called as milagu kulambu in Tamil may be one of the traditional masalas used in India before the arrival of chillies. Interestingly enough chillies made their route to India through Spanish and colonization, just 500 years ago only. Before reading this history, I had a different imagination because of the strong usage of chile peppers in India:)

Using black peppers in non vegetarian foods is highly recommended by elders in my town, as they believe that it can cure any food related allergies and a great cold remedy. Won't that be convincing enough to make a curry with black pepper:)

Ingredients:

Chicken - 1 lb
plain curd - 4 tbsp
dry ginger powder - 1 tsp
salt - to taste
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
fennel - 1 tsp
cinnamon - 2 inch
bay leaf - 1
Sesame oil - 1/4 cup (must)
Salt - to taste
Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Paste 1:

tomato - 3
onion - 1
garlic - 1 (full)
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok and fry the chopped onion,peeled garlic till it wilts. Then add the chopped tomato and cook till it gets mushy. Let cool and grind to a fine paste.

To dry roast and grind:

Whole black Pepper - 2 tbsp
Coriander seeds - 3 tbsp
cumin - 1 tsp
cardamom - 5
cloves - 4
cinnamon - 2 inch
fennel - 1 tsp
black cumin - 1/4 tsp
mace - a thin strip
nutmeg - a tiny scrapping

Method:

Choose red meat with some bones from chicken.
Wash and pat dry. Add a tsp of salt, curd, turmeric and let it marinate for an hour or two.

Dry roast the items mentioned (just a minute is enough...don't let any of them char, otherwise the taste will change). First powder them without water.

Heat oil in a wok and put fennel, cinnamon, bay leaf and curry leaves. Then add the marinated chicken pieces without the liquid. Fry till the color changes to white and chicken shrinks a little.

Then add the onion tomato paste, remaining marinated liquid and cook covered with required salt. Check if it is done. Now put the prepared masala powder, dry ginger powder and mix well. Cook covered in medium heat till oil separates.

Garnish with fresh curry leaves.

Serving suggestions:

Serve hot over rice along with a drop of ghee.
Also a very good side dish for chapati or rasam rice.

Note:

If tomato is not available, 1 cup of thick plain Indian yogurt can be added instead.
Traditionally dry red chillies are not added in this curry. But can be included if we want it more spicy..

Simple Beans poriyal (stir fry)

Flat beans is called as 'nattu beans' (Tamil) or 'country style beans' in India. It has more fiber than the French green beans (popularly known as 'Ooty beans'). The flavorful Flat beans are suitable for South Indian poriyals (stir fry) and easy to cook French beans for North Indian curries and baking.

Here is the most common way to prepare an Indian stir fry. Almost any vegetable can be made as poriyal by this method. Sure it is a basic Indian recipe for starters.

Flat beans.

Beans poriyal

Ingredients:

Flat or French beans - 1/2 lb (200 gm)
Red onion (chopped) - 1
shredded coconut - 2 tbsp
mustard - 1/2 tsp
urid dhal - 1 tsp
coconut oil - 2 tsp
curry leaf - 1 sprig
cumin - 1/2 tsp
Dry red chilly - 3

Method:

Wash and clean the beans in large amounts of water multiple times to remove all the dirt / sand. Drain water and chop it finely.

Heat oil in a wok. Add the mustard seeds, urid dhal and let mustard splutter.
Finely chop the onion, chillies, curry leaf (optional) and add to the wok.
Stir till onion turns soft.

Add the finely chopped beans and stir fry for 2 minutes. Sprinkle a handful of water and cook covered for 10 more minute in medium heat. (Ooty beans / French green beans takes lesser time to get cooked). Open the lid. Let all the moisture dries up. Check if the beans is cooked but firm.

Add salt, cumin and fry a bit. After the poriyal looks very loose without any moisture put the freshly shredded coconut and stir for few seconds. Switch off.

Simple beans poriyal is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Beans poriyal can be served as side dish with sambar rice , curd rice or rasam rice, chapati.