Priya's Sourashtrian Kitchen: March 2009

Simple Potato Fry (Urulai Kilangu Poriyal)

Monday, March 30, 2009

This is a very simple fry for potato lovers without any hassles involved. You can go for this fry if you have potato at home. Goes well with any rice varieties.

This potato fry is on its way to Cooking for Kids - Potato Event hosted by Deepa initiated by Sharmi.

Ingredients:

Potato - 2 or 3
Onion - 1/2
Red chilli - 1
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Channa daal - 1/2 tsp
Urad daal (split) - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 5 or 6
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt
Chopped cilantro - 2 tsp

Direction:

1. Pressure cook potatoes with 2 cups of water (about 3-4 whistles). After the pressure is realeased, skin the potatoes and break them into small bite-sized pieces.

2. In a large pan, heat oil and do thadka with mustard seeds, curry leaves, channa daal, urad daal and then add red chilli.

3. Add chopped onion and fry till it turns golden brown.

3. Add potatoes with turmeric powder and salt and fry for a couple of minutes.

4. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Posted in Side Dish by Priya Sriram | 41 comments

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Potato Fritters

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Potato fritters is the snack idea given by mom when I asked her for any potato snack for kids and the recipe courtesy goes to her too. It was yummy and crispy and I'm sure kids would love it too, if moms don't mind a little oil while frying. ;)

This entry is dedicated to Cooking for kids - Potato Event hosted by Deepa initiated by Sharmi.

Ingredients:

Potatoes - 4
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
Chilli-chicken powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Egg - 1
Salt - 1/2 tsp (adjust to your taste)
Oil - for frying.

Direction:

1. Cut the potatoes into finger-like pieces. Soak the pieces into boiling water for 2-3 minutes and remove them and dry pat with a napkin.

2. In a mixing bowl, add all ingredients (except oil) along with potatoes and mix well. Keep it aside for 1/2 hour.

3. Heat oil in a pan, and after its become hot enough, add the potato fingers to it and fry till they become golden brown. Remove from oil and keep them on a dry napkin to remove the extra oil.

4. Serve immediately, otherwise it wouldn't be crispy after a long time.

Posted in Snacks by Priya Sriram | 36 comments

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Mega Click Contest 2009 Award

Thursday, March 26, 2009

For the first time in my life, I have been awarded for a Photography Event. I am honoured to receive the third place for the Mega Click Contest conducted by Gayathri. I would like to thank all my visitors and friends for their support and love for me. As such I'm not a great photographer, I've just started learning photography, especially Food photography. So this award really means a lot to me and I will preserve it for the rest of my life. It is really encouraging and inspiring me to learn a lot more and do better with my photography skills. I would also like to thank my husband for being my greatestest inspiration. :)

The Chakili picture which won me the prize! :)

Posted in Photography by Priya Sriram | 32 comments

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Idli/Dosa Powder (Dhiguda Bhurugo)

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Idli/Dosa powder is an accompaniment powder which is prepared with Curry leaves as a main ingredient. This is a Sourashtrian recipe which is unique and has the wonderful taste and aroma of curry leaves.

About the picture above, I did not intend to get a reflection in that. It was an accident, in this case, a sweet one. I finished taking innumerous pictures of podi, finally cleaned the table and kept the spoons in a corner to dispose the podi off. But on the second notice, it looked very pretty from that angle. So without disturbing anything else, I clicked some more pictures. That's why it has a lot of messy things around. The "so-called" filtered pictures are below...

Well, let's come to the recipe part of it... :)

Ingredients:

Channa daal - 1 1/2 tsp

Urad daal - 1 1/2 tsp
Red chillies - 12 (adjust to your taste)
Roasted channa daal - 1 cup
Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1 tsp
Black pepper - 1 tsp
Dried curry leaves - 3 cups
Salt - 1 tbsp (adjust to your taste)

Direction:

1. Fry each ingredient (except salt) separately in a pan, without oil for a couple of minutes each (or until it leaves aroma or until it changes in color a little). Do not burn.

2. In a blender, grind them together coarsely as seen in the pictures.

3. Store the podi in a tight container. Can be used for months.

4. This podi can be served with a tsp of oil with Idlis or sprinkled on dosa and served. The key point is the aroma should be preserved.

This is my entry to Colors Of Taste - Powders: Podi's as an Accompaniment hosted by Smitha.

Posted in Powders by Priya Sriram | 31 comments

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Tomato Chutney (Thakkali Chaguno)

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Tomato chutney is another favourite dip loved by Tamilians. Its prepared with Tomato and onion as main ingredients.

Ingredients:

Tomatoes - 4
Onion - 1
Red chillies - 4
Channa Daal - 2 tsp
Urad Daal - 2 tsp
Jeera (cumin) seeds - 1 tsp
Tamarind - 1 small pulp
Oil
Salt

Direction:

1. Chop tomatoes and onion. In a large pan, heat oil and add the daals and fry till turns golden brown.

2. Add red chillies, chopped onion and jeera and fry till onion turns golden brown.

3. Add chopped tomatoes, tamarind pulp and salt and fry till they get mashed up.

4. Remove from flame and cool it down.

5. Grind it to a smooth paste. Again heat 2 tbsp of oil and fry the paste in it for a few seconds.

6. It can be stored in fridge and used for a week.

I'm kind of rushing this to the FIL-Tomato event hosted by Sanghi. :)

Posted in Chutney by Priya Sriram | 21 comments

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Idli and Paruppu Sambar (Ukkudum, Thor bela Sambar)

Saturday, March 21, 2009

The idli is a savory cake popular throughout South India. The cakes are made by steaming a batter consisting of fermented white lentils (urad daal) and rice. Most often eaten at breakfast or as a snack, idlis are usually served in pairs with chutney, sambar, or other accompaniments.

Here I'm giving the basic recipe for preparing idlis (recipe from my mother-in-law) and sambar (recipe from my friend Swapna).

Idli Recipe:

Ingredients:

Idli Rice - 4 cups
White lentils (Urad daal) - 1.5 cups
Water
Salt

Direction:

1. Soak idli rice for 8 hours or overnight. Soak urad daal for 1 or 2 hours.

2. In a wet-grinder or mixer grinder, grind urad daal with very little water. You have to add 2-3 tsp of water for every 5 minutes. If you are using a wet-grinder, urad daal takes about 30 minutes to be completely done. It should be very nice and fluffy in texture.

3. Remove the urad-daal batter into a large pan and keep aside. Now grind the rice similarly, adding 2-3 tsp of water for every 5 minutes. It takes about 20 minutes for the rice to be done. It should be coarsely done in texture.

4. Remove the idli batter into the pan and mix with urad daal batter along with 2 tsp of salt. You should mix it with your hand for 5 minutes to get it fermented nicely.

5. In a oven, switch on the light and keep the vessel of batter in the oven overnight. It should be fermented by morning. It will look creamy in texture. With a stirrer, stir the batter nicely till it gets strong in texture. If required add 1/2 cup of water.

6. In a idli cooker plate, grease the moulds with ghee or a little oil and pour 1/2 cup of batter on it. Do the same with all the idli plates. Steam cook (with one cup of water in the cooker) for 5-7 minutes and switch off. Idlis are ready to be served hot with sambar.

Sambar Recipe:

Ingredients:

Thor Daal - 1/2 cup

Turmeric - 1/4 tsp

Oil

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - 5

Green chilli - 1

Onion- 1/2

Tomato - 1

Tamarind - 1 small pulp (soaked in 1 cup water and drained puree)

Idli Sambar powder - 1 tsp
MTR Sambar powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt

Grated coconut - 1 tbsp

Cilantro (chopped) - 2 tsp

Direction:

1. Pressure cook thor daal with turmeric powder and 1.5 cups water.

2. Heat oil and add mustard seeds, curry leaves, green chillies.

3. After a few seconds, add onion and fry for 2 minutes.

4. Add tomatoes and fry for 2 minutes. Then add 2 cup water and sambar powder, then cover and cook for few minutes.

5. Add daal, MTR powder, Tamarind puree and Salt and Boil for 10 minutes in medium high. If needed add water.

6. Garnish with coconut and cilantro leaves.

Posted in Breakfast by Priya Sriram | 31 comments

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Semolina Ladoo (Rava Laddoo)

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Semolina is the purified middlings of hard wheat used in making pasta; also, the coarse middlings used for breakfast cereals and puddings. Rava laddu is a sweet dish prepared with rava, ghee and sugar. Dry grapes and cashewnuts are added for exotic taste. This recipe is also from my mom who is a specialist in preparing sweets (especially Sourashtrian Sweets).

Ingredients:

Semolina (Rava) - 1 cup
Coconut (grated) - 3/4 cup
Ghee - 4 tbsp
Sugar - 1 1/2 cups
Milk - 4 tbsp
Cashews - 7 or 8
Cloves - 5
Dry grapes - 10
Cardomom powder - a pinch

Raisins - 2 tsp

Direction:

1. In a pan, heat 2 tbsp of ghee and add semolina and fry for 5 minutes app. (or) till it turns golden yellow colour. Pour it into a mixing bowl and keep aside.

2. With 1 tsp of ghee, fry cashew nuts (split) and cloves separately. Pour it to the mixing bowl.

3. Fry grated coconut (without oil/ghee) for a couple of minutes and add it to the mixing bowl.

4. Add all the other ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix nicely. Add the remaining ghee to the bowl.

5. Now, add 2 tsp of boiling milk to the mix and make moist enough to make firm balls. Start making balls, if its not firm enough, add some more milk (little by little) and check.

6. The amount shown here makes 12-13 ladoos.

Posted in Sweets by Priya Sriram | 39 comments

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MCC 2009

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

MCC 2009 is a Mega Click Contest hosted by Gayathri. When I came across this event, I thought I could give my contribution too. So I'm sending the following pictures which I tried to take with better concentration than other pictures. Hope it clicks!! :)

Banana Heart

Posted in Photography by Priya Sriram | 30 comments

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Wheat Dosa with Veg. Sambar

Monday, March 9, 2009

I got the idea and recipe for wheat dosa from my mother-in-law when Sriram wanted something with less carbohydrates and less-fat. So here goes the recipe for Wheat Dosa:

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 1 cup

Dosa batter (or) Rice flour - 1 cup (Dosa batter helps to put dosa on the tawa easily, even if its rice flour, it shouldn't be a problem with consistent water)

Onion - 1/2

Green chilli - 1

Curry leaves - 7

Oil

Salt

Direction:

1. In a mixing bowl, add wheat flour, dosa batter (or) rice flour with 1 cup of water and salt and mix well.

2. In a separate pan, heat oil and add curry leaves, chopped onion and green chilli and fry till the onion turns golden brown.

3. Then add the fried onion to the batter. Heat a large pan and pour 1/2 cup of the batter to the tawa and spread it around. Sprinkle 1 tsp of oil on the dosa.

4. After a couple of minutes, flip over the dosa and fry the other side too.

5. Now the wheat dosa is ready to be served.

Wheat dosa is my entry to the event JFI:Wheat hosted by Roma.

Ingredients for Vegetable Sambar:

Thor daal - 1 cup
Vegetables (desired, cut) - 1 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Tomato - 1
Onion - 1/2
Channa daal - 1 tsp
Urad daal - 1 tsp
Green chilli - 1
Jeera (cumin) seeds - 1 tsp
Coconut (grated) - 1/4 cup
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - 5
Salt

Direction:

1. Pressure cook thor daal and cut vegetables along with 1 cup of water and a pinch of turmeric powder.

2. Heat oil in a pan and fry onion and tomato till tomato dissolves and mashed up and keep aside.

3. Again heat oil in a pan and add channa daal, urad daal, green chilli and cumin seeds and fry for a few seconds.

4. Remove from heat and grind it nicely with grated coconut and enough water.

5. Now add the onion-tomato mix and the ground mix to the thor daal & vegetables.

6. Season it with mustard seeds and curry leaves. Boil the sambar for a few minutes and remove from heat.

7. Now the sambar is ready to be served with wheat dosa, dosa or idli. Goes well with rice too.

And now comes the special part! My lovely friends have showered me with the following awards. Dears, thanks for your lovely awards, I feel really delighted to receive them from you.

Deepu and Varunai awarded me this delightful "FRIENDS" award with the following words:

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement (? big word, lol). Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

I would like to pass these onto the following 8 friends:

1. Lavanya

2. Mangala

3. Anu

4. Sangeetha

5. Dhanya

6. Nithya

7. Varsha

8. Srilekha

Lavanya gives me the following lovely awards. Thank you so much dear! :)

Posted in Breakfast by Priya Sriram | 17 comments

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Chakili (Murukku)

Friday, March 6, 2009

Chakili, called as "Murukku" in Tamil, is South India's savoury snack believed to have originated from Manapparai, Tamil Nadu.

And this month's Click Event's theme is Wood. I had a wooden stirrer, wooden dining table and a plant in our apartment, so thought 'why not participate'? I have made this design on the stirrer with Murukku batter using murukku maker. I will definitely post the recipe for Murukku soon.

I'm sending the first picture to the Click event hosted by JugalBandi. Other picture is just an experiment. ;)

Posted in Photography by Priya Sriram | 23 comments

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Banana Salad (Panja Amirtham)

Monday, March 2, 2009

Panja (five) Amirtham (a dish eaten by Angels, atleast believed so in Tamil Nadu) is prepared with banana as a main ingredient with five other tasty ingredients and devoted to God during special occasions as a dessert. They refer any dish in extraordinary taste as Amirtham and I guess this simple dessert was named Amirtham with a good reason. :)

Ingredients:

Bananas (big)- 2 or 3
Sugar or Jaggery - 3 tsp (I used sugar, both are equally good in taste)
Grated Coconut - 2 tsp
Cut Dates - 2 (optional)
Honey - 1 tsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
Cardamom powder - a pinch