Priya's Sourashtrian Kitchen

Hot Pepper Soup (Miri - Jeera Amti)

2010-10-30T12:36:00.000-07:00

As I caught cold, I was asking for a remedy from my mom and she gave me the recipe for Pepper soup (Milagu Rasam). Its a quick fix and a natural remedy for cold.

Ingredients:

1. Black Pepper - 1 tsp
2. Cumin Seeds - 1/4 tsp
3. Curry leaves - 5
4. Tamarind - 1 small pulp
5. Red chilli - 1
6. Garlic - 1 pod, crushed
7. Salt

Direction:

1. In a pan, fry black pepper, cumin seeds and curry leaves for a couple of minutes without oil.

2. Let it cool and grind it to a coarse powder.

3. Boil 3 cups of water and add the powder, salt, red chilli, garlic, tamarind pulp(directly) and let it boil for 2 minutes.

This soup can be served alone or with rice. Both works great.

Mutter Paneer (Paneer Peas Masala)

2010-10-22T14:24:00.000-07:00

I prepared mutter paneer from one of my recipe books. My main motto was to take a nice picture because we had a sunny afternoon, and it inspired me to get out of the couch and cook. But when I finished cooking, it started to become dark unusually. I was so disappointed, but tried to take pictures with available natural light. I got a couple of good ones, I hope.

Ingredients:

Green Peas (fresh or frozen) - 1 cup
Paneer (cottage cheese - Indian style) - 250 g
Red onion - 1 (chopped finely)
Tomato - 2 (chopped finely)
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Cashew nut paste - 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
Salt

Direction:

1. Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan and place paneer cubes in a single layer on it. Fry till it turns into golden brown color and set aside.

2. Heat oil and ghee in the pan, add onion and fry till it turns golden brown color.

3. Add ginger garlic paste, tomato, chilli powder, daniya powder, turmeric powder salt and fry till the raw flavor has left.

4. Add peas and simmer for 5 minutes or until it becomes soft.

5. Add paneer cubes, cashew nut paste and stir for a couple of minutes.

6. Finally add garam masala powder and cumin powder along with 1/2 cup of water and stir for 2 minutes on medium heat. Keep an eye on the consistency of the gravy. Adjust it by adding water or heating for some more time.

Pattani Sundal ( Green Peas Stir-Fry)

2010-10-22T12:43:00.000-07:00

Very known, and well favored stir-fry for all ages and suitable for one of the Navrathri eves.

Ingredients:

1. Green peas - 1 cup
2. Channa daal, Urad daal - 1/2 tsp
3. Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
4. Green chillies - 2
5. Coconut (shredded) - 3 tsp
6. Oil - 1 tsp
7. Asafoetida - a pinch
8. Curry leaves - 1 strand
9. Cilantro - 2 tsp
10. Salt

Direction:

1. Soak beans for 8 hrs and cook in pressure cooker with salt for 3 whistles.

2. Grind green chillies and shredded coconut in a mixer grinder into a coarse powder.

3. Heat oil in a pan, and do tadka with mustard seeds, asafoetida powder, channa daal, urad daal, curry leaves and add the tadka to the beans.

4. Garnish the beans with the coarse powder of chillies and coconut and also with chopped cilantro.

Foto Feast

2010-10-19T21:31:00.001-07:00

There are some times, I want to just experiment with my camera, some lonely moments with food items. But not much importance on the recipe or the kind of food itself. So I thought of allotting a page for such experiments, the Foto Feast.

In this part of Foto Feast, I made Vermicelli Payasam with instant mix for Navrathri Pooja. The pictures may not be those of my bests, but still I'm learning.

Sweet Sundal (Sweet Black Eyed Beans)

2010-10-12T19:41:00.000-07:00

Another bean stir-fry for one of the Navrathri Eve. This sweet one is a little different from the usual beans and also a quick-fix. Kids would love this sweet stir-fry.

Ingredients:

1. Black-eyed Beans - 1 cup
2. Jaggery - 1 cup
3. Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
4. Salt - a pinch

Direction:

1. Soak the beans overnight and cook in pressure cooker with a pinch of salt for 3 whistles.

2. In half a cup of water, dissove the jaggery and bring it into a paste like consistency by heating it for a couple of minutes.

3. Add the drained beans to the jaggery paste and garnish with cardamom powder.

Kadalai Paruppu Sundal (Channa Daal Stir-Fry)

2010-10-11T20:06:00.000-07:00

Channa Daal Stir-Fry is suitable for devoting to Lord Vinayaka. Its a very healthy and quick-fix snack too.

Ingredients:

1. Channa daal - 1 cup
2. Oil - 2 tsp
3. Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
4. Curry leaves - 5
5. Urad daal - 1/4 tsp
6. Red chillies - 3
7. Asafoetida - a pinch
8. Salt
9. Cilantro - 2 tsp, chopped
10. Grated coconut - 3 tsp

Direction:

1. Cook channa daal in a pressure cooker with salt for 3 whistles.

2. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, curry leaves, urad daal, red chillies, and asafoetida.

3. Add the drained channa daal to the tadka and garnish with cilantro and grated coconut.

Kondai kadalai Sundal (Garbanzo Beans Stir-fry)

2010-10-08T19:21:00.000-07:00

After a long break, I really wanted to post something in my blog. As now is the time for Navarathri special, I decided to post recipes for the prasadams for all nine auspicious days.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1. Garbanzo beans - 1 cup
2. Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
3. Split urad daal - 1/2 tsp
4. Coriander seeds - 1/2 tsp
5. Channa daal - 1 tsp
6. Dried Shredded Coconut - 1/4 cup
7. Asafoetida powder - 1/4 tsp
8. Red Chillies - 5
9. Curry leaves - 1 strand
10. Oil - 1 tsp
11. Salt

Direction:

1. Soak beans overnight and cook it in a pressure cooker along with salt for 3 whistles.

2. In a pan, heat oil and add channa daal, daniya seeds, 3 red chillies and coconut. Fry for a minute and grind it to a coarse powder.

3. Heat oil again in the pan, add urad daal, mustard seeds, red chillies, curry leaves, asafoetida powder and fry. Add this tadka to the cooked beans along with the coarsly ground powder and stir nicely.

Carrot Dessert (Carrot Halwa)

2009-12-03T15:23:00.000-08:00

This makes a very impressive dinner party dessert. It is best served warm, with fresh cream if desired, and can be made well in advance because it freezes very well. Serves 4-6.

Ingredients:

Carrots - 3 pounds 5 ounces

Ghee - 10 tbsp

Milk - 2 1/2 cups

Evaporated milk or khoya - 3/4 cup

Cardomoms - 10

Sugar - 8 -10 tbsp

To decorate:

1/4 cup pistachios, chopped (I have used grated almonds and saffron strands)

Direction:

Khoya (Evaporated Milk):

Bring 3.75 cups milk to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan, watching the milk carefully so that it doesnt burn. Reduce the heat and boil for 35-40 mins, stirring occasionally. The milk should reduce to a quarter of its volume, and when completely cooked should resemble a sticky dough.

1. Rinse, peel and grate the carrots.

2. Heat the ghee in a large, heavy saucepan.

3. Add the grated carrots to the ghee and stir-fry for 15-20 mins or until the moisture from the carrots has evaporated and the carrots have darkened in colour.

4. Add the milk, evaporated milk, cardamoms and sugar to the carrot mix and continue to stir fry for a further 35-40 mins until it is rich brownish red colour.

5. Transfer the carrot mix to a large shallow dish.

6. Decorate with pistachios and serve at once.

Buttered Chicken

2009-11-24T10:50:00.000-08:00

A simple and mouth-watering dish with a lovely thick sauce, this makes an impressive centerpiece for a dinner party. Serves 4-6.

Ingredients:

Sweet butter - 7 tbsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Medium onions - 2, finely chopped
Ginger - 1 tsp, finely chopped
Garam masala - 2 tsp
Coriander powder - 2 tsp
Chili powder - 1 tsp
Black cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Crushed garlic - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Whole green cardamom - 3
Whole black peppercorns - 3
Unsweetened yogurt - 2/3 cup
Tomato paste - 2 tbsp
Skinless chicken pieces - 8
Water - 2/3 cups
Whole bay leaves - 2
Light cream - 2/3 cup

To garnish:

Cilantro leaves - 3 tbsp
Green chillies - 2, chopped.

Direction:

1. Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and saute until golden brown, stirring. Reduce the heat.

2. Crush the fresh ginger and place in a bowl. Add the garam masala, coriander powder, ginger, chili powder, black cumin seeds, garlic, salt, cardamoms, and black peppercorns and blend. Add the yogurt and tomato paste and stir to combine.

3. Add the chicken pieces to the yogurt and spice mixture and mix to coat well.

4. Add the chicken to the onions in the skillet and stir-fry vigorously, making semi-circular movements, for 5-7 minutes.

5. Add water and the bay leaves to the mixture and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

6. Add the cream and cook for another 10-15 minutes.

7. Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves and chopped chillies and serve hot.

I'm back!! :)

2009-11-23T16:43:00.000-08:00

Hello friends,

Hope you all have been doing great there!!

I utilised my long break to learn a lot of things including some good recipes. So I thought I should share it with all my blogging friends here.

I'll be seeing you all in your blogs soon...

Thanks for all your support even when I was not around! Your support only helps me to continue my blogging! :)

Taking a break !!

2009-05-06T20:09:00.000-07:00

When I came across a lot of my blogging friends who were taking breaks, I thought I wouldn't do it, and I would somehow try to be in touch the with blogging world. But here I am, taking a break!! :(

Life is getting a little busy and I'm not able to sqeeze a little time for blogging. So after trying for some weeks, I finally decided to take a break.

This doesn't mean I'll not be visiting you guys, I will visit and give comments to you as much as possible, but not very frequently. Also, I'll not be posting my recipes often too. I'll try to post atleast once a week and comment all your wonderful posts.

Meanwhile you guys have a wonderful time cooking and blogging!! :)

Tomato Kurma (Thakkali Kuruma)

2009-05-01T15:00:00.000-07:00

Tomato kurma is one of South Indians' favourite side dish. Here goes my version of it:

Ingredients:

Large onion - 1

Tomato (Roma) - 4

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Oil - 4 tbsp

Grated coconut - 1 cup

Kuskus - 1 tbsp

Roasted split channa (pottu kadalai) - 2 tsp

Salt

Curry leaves - one spring

To grind:

Ginger - 1 small piece

Garlic - 3 pods

Green chillies - 2 (adjust according to your taste)

Cinnamon - 1

Clove -1

Fennel seeds - 1/4 tsp

Cilantro - 2 tsp

Direction:

1. Chop onion and tomato finely. Grind the ingredients given under 'to grind' and keep separately. Also grind roasted split channa, coconut and kuskus and keep aside.

2. Heat oil in a pan, add onion and turmeric powder. Cook till it turns golden colour.

3. Add the ground mix (ginger, garlic, etc) and fry till the raw flavour has left. Then add tomatoes with salt and cook till the tomatoes are completely done. (Takes about 20 minutes).

4. Then add coconut ground mix with enough water and chopped curry leaves. Stir it for 5 minutes under medium flame and remove from flame.

5. Tomato kurma can be served with roti/idli/dosa.

Grape Juice (Dhratchai Saaru)

2009-04-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

I had a bunch of grapes in my fridge for a long time and decided to prepare juice out of it. This recipe is nothing special, just a basic.

Ingredients:

Grapes - a bunch (app. 1/2 lb)
Sugar - 1/2 cup

Direction:

1. Wash the grapes.

2. Blend it with sugar (do not add water)

3. Filter it to remove the skin.

4. Serve it cold with a couple of ice cubes on it.

It goes to 15 minute cooking by Mahimaa and RD for Summer hosted by AnuSriram.

Soy Beans Kurma (Edamame)

2009-04-23T15:00:00.000-07:00

When I saw Lima beans curry at Usha's blog, I knew it was a must-try. So I gave it a try today and turned out great. I have replaced lima with Soy beans (edamame), nonetheless to say it has tons of proteins! :D Also adjusted the amount of ingredients according to my taste.

Ingredients:

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Onion - 1/2
Tomato - 1
Coriander powder(dhaniya) - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder(jeera) - 1/2 tsp
Soy beans - 1 1/2 cups (I used frozen)
Salt
Oil
Chopped cilantro - 2 tbsp

To Grind:

Green chillies -2
Ginger - 1 small piece
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Cinnamon - 1
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp

Direction:

1. Chop onion and tomato finely. Grind the ingredients given under "to grind" to a smooth paste with a little water.

2. In a pan, heat oil and add mustard and cumin seeds.

3. When they start to splutter, add chopped onion and fry till it becomes golden brown. Add chopped tomato and fry till is becomes soft.

4. Add the soy beans with cumin powder, coriander powder and salt. Cook covered till it becomes soft.

5. Now add the ground paste and cook for 5 more minutes covered. Add a little water if required.

6. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with roti/rice.

This curry goes to WYF:Sidedish hosted by EC.

I guess Tulip Festival is going on at Skagit valley now. I miss that beautiful sight of uniform, colorful flowers. I thought I could share a picture with my friends who haven't visited this wonderful valley.

Btw, this picture was clicked by Sriram. I just love this queen orange tulip standing head up among her yellow subjects!! :D

Thanks dears and have a wonderful weekend! :)

Carrot Stir Fry (Carrot Poriyal)

2009-04-19T19:40:00.000-07:00

After posting some sweets, I thought I should post something simple. This carrot fry is simple and goes well with rice as a side dish. In great feasts like marriage feast, they would serve it in a corner ;) as one of side dishes. Its good for health, good in taste and good in simplicity too! :)

Ingredients:

Carrots - 2
Onion - 1/2
Green chilli - 1
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - 5
Curry masala powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Grated coconut - 1 tbsp (optional)
Chopped cilantro - 2 tsp
Salt
Oil

Direction:

1. Grate carrots, chop onion and slit green chilli.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they start to pop up, add curry leaves and green chilli.

3. After a few seconds, add chopped onion and fry till it becomes soft.

4. Add grated carrots along with salt and fry till it becomes soft. It takes about 5 minutes.

5. Garnish with either curry masala powder OR grated coconut and chopped cilantro.

A lovely award :-)

2009-04-17T10:12:00.000-07:00

Two wonderful chefs, Varunavi and Pooja shared this lovely award with me saying very kind words about my blog. Thank you so much ladies, I'm really touched and feel honoured. :)

This award comes with the following rules:

1) Add the logo of the award to your blog.

2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you.

3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs (Only if you like).

4) Add links to those blogs on your blog.

5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blog.

I would like to share this award with more than 7 friends by cheating ;)

And these chefs don't need introduction because they are some sweethearts of all the bloggers :D

Deepa Hari
Sangeetha
Dhanya
Mangala Bhat
Lavanya
Anu Sriram
Anu
Usha
Asha
Sanghi
Priya
A & N
Mahimaa
Varsha
Trupti
Vicky
Prathiba
Mona
Aruna
Poornima
Phanitha
Ramya Vijaykumar
Divya Vikram
Homecooked oriyafood
Madhuram
Shama
Subhie Arun
Malar
Vibaas
Vidhas
Vani
Premy
Alka
Uma
Madhu of Ruchii
Srikar's Kitchen
aquadaze
Sharmilee
Maria
Neha
Nithya Praveen
Hema (Adlak)
Hema (Simply spices)
Sriharivatsan
Kumudha
Lavi
Priti
Preety
Rachel
Keerthana
Madhumathi
SriLekha
Meenal Metha
Deesha

Akal's Sappadu

I hope I haven't left any of my lovely blogging buddies. I love all your blogs and enjoy reading your posts. So I request you to accept this award! :)

Thanks for all your encouraging words and awards! I don't think I would put so much effort in my blog without your lovely comments! :)

Update:

My close-to-heart buddies Sangeetha & Dhanya shared another wonderful award with me. Thank you so much dears, I really feel inspired to blog with more purposes! :)

Happy cooking and happy blogging...!!

Happy Tamil New Year (Virothi) with Rava Kesari :-)

2009-04-14T18:26:00.000-07:00

என் நண்பர்கள் அனைவருக்கும் இனிய புத்தாண்டு நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள். இந்த வருடம் அனைவருக்கும் நற்செய்திகளுடன் மகிழ்ச்சியாகவும் ஆரோக்கியமாகவும் அமைய இறைவனிடம் பிரார்த்திக்கிறேன்.

So for all my blogging friends and visitors, I pray to God for good health and happiness in this auspicious day of the new year. Have a blasting new year friends! :)

As for today's post, I wanted to start this new year with a sweet, so went for a simple one, Rava Kesari (Semolina Sweet).

Ingredients:

Rava (Semolina) - 1 cup
Sugar - 1.5 cups
Water - 3 cups
Ghee - 2 or 3 tsp
Cashew nuts - 5 or 6
Raisins - 10
Grated almonds - 1 tsp
Cardomom powder - a pinch

Direction:

1. In a tsp of ghee, fry rava till it turns golden color and keep aside.

2. In a tsp of ghee, fry cashew nuts and add to the rava.

3. In a large pan, boil water and add rava (with cashews) slowly while stirring the water continuously.

4. After a couple of minutes, add sugar and cardomom. Keep stirring continuouly until it becomes thick and consistent in nature.

5. Garnish with raisins, almonds. If desired, add a pinch of saffron strands.

Peanut Ladoo (Kadalai Unto)

2009-04-10T18:52:00.000-07:00

Peanuts are a rich source of protein (roughly 30 grams per cup after roasting). Peanuts are a good source of niacin and thus contribute to brain health, brain circulation and blood flow.(Source: Wikipedia). Peanut ladoo (kadalai urundai) is a tasty snack which is prepared under 10 minutes. When we were kids, it would be finished in a single day if my mom prepared it. :D

Ingredients:

Peanut (Ground nut) - 1 cup
Jaggery - 1/2 cup

Direction:

1. Dry-roast peanuts in a large pan until they turn golden brown. The raw smell shouldn't be there. Otherwise it doesn't taste good .

2. Skin them. (For beginners: An easy way to skin: Take peanuts in a large plate and gently rub the nuts with both hands. The skins would come away very easily. Now blow away the skins into the sink.)

3. In a blender, grind the nuts for just 5 seconds. Now add jaggery and grind it coarsely (5 - 10 sec).

4. Remove into a plate and make small-sized firm balls.

Tamarind Rice (Puliyodarai)

2009-04-08T15:00:00.000-07:00

I tried this recipe from Mahimaa which she originally prepared from IndusLadies. This recipe substitutes red chillies with ground pepper which gives it a very good flavour. I have made some changes to the amount they have presented to match my taste. It serves two.

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup
Tamarind - 1 big pulp (a medium lemon sized)
Oil - 4 tsp

Channa daal (Yello split lentils) - 1 tsp

Urad daal (White split lentils) - 1 tsp

Cumin seeds (Jeera) - 1 tsp
Methi (Fenugreek) seeds - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Cashew nuts - 5 or 6

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Freshly ground pepper - 3/4 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 spring
Salt

Direction:

1. Cook rice with 2 cups of water, 1/4 tsp of haldi and 2 tsp oil so that the grains
are separate. Cool by spreading on a big plate.

2. Soak tamarind in 1 ½ cups of warm water. Take the puree out of it and add 1/4 tsp of haldi and 1/2 tsp of salt to it.

3. In a large pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds, curry leaves, channa daal, urad daal, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida, turmeric powder (1/2 tsp) and cashew nuts.

4. Add tamarind puree with salt and turmeric powder.

5. Boil till the liquid reduces to half and has a sauce like consistency.

6. Remove from flame and add freshly ground pepper. Now add this sauce to the cooled rice. It would taste better if served after 1 or 2 hours. Good when served immediately too.

Thank you Mahimaa, for introducing this wonderful recipe, we liked it a lot. :)

This puliyodarai is my entry to the CFK-Rice event hosted by Trupti initiated by Sharmi.

Chocolate Water Cake

2009-04-05T12:00:00.000-07:00

Its baking time!! :D I never had the guts to bake cakes ever. But managed to bake before just for Sriram's Birthday. So again, when I came across a lot of blogs with wonderful cakes around, I really was inspired to bake again. So I gathered up all my courage to try again. And, here it goes, my successful (hopefully) story of baking a chocolate cake.

Ingredients:

Sugar - 2 cups
Shortening - 1/2 cup
Cocoa - 1/2 cup
Eggs - 2 to 3
Cold water - 1/2 cup
All purppse flour - 2 cups
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Soda - 1 tsp
Vanilla extract- 1 tsp
Boiling water - 1 cup

Direction:

1. In a mixing bowl, mix sugar, shortening & coco and beat well with a fork till they become a nice mixture.

2. Add eggs and 1/2 cup of cold water and beat well with a egg beater.

3. Add flour, soda, salt and vanilla extract and beat well again. Then add a cup of boiling water and beat well.

4. Pour the dough into a baking pan and bake it for 40 minutes at 350 degrees in an oven.

And voila... here goes the chocolate water cake... :) This cake will set up to 7 days and still be moist.

This chocolate-water cake is on its way to For the Love of Chocolate event hosted by Poornima.

Mango Lassi

2009-04-02T16:30:00.000-07:00

After having a delicious mango lassi from Saravana Bhavan, I wanted to try it myself. :D So bought these two gorgeous mangoes for the first time and tried it. So you can give me the verdict if it was a success after looking at the lassi pictures. :)

Ingredients:

Mango - 1 (or) Mango puree - 1 cup
Yogurt - 2 cups
Sugar - 1/2 cup (I like it sweeter :D )
Cardamam - a pinch

Direction:

1. Skin the mango and cut into small cubes.

2. Blend all the ingredients together in a blender/mixer. If you want you can add some ice cubes and blend too.

3. Serve it with a couple of ice cubes on top of it. Whip cream would sound great too. :)

Mango lassi is my entry to RD FOR SUMMER event hosted by AnuSriram.

Simple Potato Fry (Urulai Kilangu Poriyal)

2009-03-30T20:07:00.001-07:00

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.

Potato Fritters

2009-03-28T10:50:00.000-07:00

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.

Mega Click Contest 2009 Award

2009-03-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

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! :)

Idli/Dosa Powder (Dhiguda Bhurugo)

2009-03-25T15:30:00.000-07:00

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.

Tomato Chutney (Thakkali Chaguno)

2009-03-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

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. :)

Idli and Paruppu Sambar (Ukkudum, Thor bela Sambar)

2009-03-21T16:00:00.000-07:00

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.

Semolina Ladoo (Rava Laddoo)

2009-03-17T19:20:00.000-07:00

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.

MCC 2009

2009-03-11T12:27:00.000-07:00

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 Salad

Chakili

Potato Masala

Banana Heart

Sambar Powder

Wheat Dosa with Veg. Sambar

2009-03-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

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! :)

Chakili (Murukku)

2009-03-06T12:17:00.000-08:00

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. ;)

Banana Salad (Panja Amirtham)

2009-03-02T16:31:00.000-08:00

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

Direction:

1. Chop the bananas into thin slices.

2. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients along with chopped bananas.

3. Panjaamirtham can be served as a dessert or as an evening snack.

Garlic & Pepper Curry (Kolgor)

2009-02-28T19:27:00.000-08:00

Poondu-Milagu kulambu is a traditional Tamil recipe, but this one is different from Tamil and a Sourashtrian one. All the Sourashtrian people love this recipe and they prepare it in special occasions.

Ingredients:

Garlic pods - 10 - 13
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Black Pepper - 3/4 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Red chillies - 2 or 3
Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
Grated coconut - 2 tsp
Salt
Asafoetida - a pinch
Oil - 3 tbsp
Tamarind puree - 1 1/2 cups

For seasoning:
Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - 5

Direction:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add black pepper, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and red chillies. When they start to pop up, add garlic pods and chopped ginger and fry for for a few seconds.

2. When garlic pods turn into slight brown, add grated coconut, salt and asafoetida powder and fry for a few seconds and remove from flame.

3. Cool it down and grind it into a smooth paste using a processor with enough water.

4. Add tamarind puree to the blended paste.

5. Now heat oil for seasoning and add mustard seeds and curry leaves. When they start to pop up, add the mixed-up curry to the pan and add a little water if necessary to bring it to the curry-like consistency. Add salt if necessary.

6. Boil the curry until oil from it separates. It takes about 10 minutes.

7. Poondu-milagu kulambu can be served with hot-rice with a tsp of ghee and pappadam.

My First Awards

2009-02-26T13:43:00.000-08:00

My dear friend Mangala of Recipes 24X7 was kind enough to pass me on these awards. Mangala, I am really touched and encouraged by these awards.

Thank you very much dear! I promise to be a jewel of a friend and try to be a good chef. :)

I would like to pass these awards on to my best friend Deepa of Simple Home Cooking who inspired me to start my own blog and introduced me to a whole new blogging world. She is also an important part of my life and deserves these awards most.

I would also like to pass these awards to another best friend Sangeetha of Chila kurippugal. She has started her blog just now. And being the one who actually tasted all her delicious dishes, I'm sure she is going to be totally successful. Sangeetha and Deepu, you deserve these more than me! :)

I would also like to pass these on to Lavanya of Vividha Ruchulu who is an amazing cook herself. Keep it up girl! :)

Simple Potato Masala (Urulai Kilangu Masaal)

2009-02-19T14:00:00.000-08:00

I named it "Simple" because it is so simple to prepare with no grinding involved. Whenever we don't feel like cooking something elaborately, we can always have this option for chapathi. My mom used to make it all the time and now I prepare it once in a while. :)

Ingredients:

Potatoes - 2 or 3
Onion (medium) - 1/2
Tomato - 1
Green chilli - 1
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Besan flour - 2 tbsp
Curry masala powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt
Oil

Direction:

1. Pressure cook the potatoes, mash them and keep aside.

2. Heat oil in a pan, and add mustard seeds. When they start to splutter, add chopped onion and green chilli and fry till onion turns golden brown.

3. Add chopped tomato and turmeric powder and fry till tomatoes are soft. Add 1 cup of water and bring it to a boil.

5. Add besan flour, curry masala powder and fry for a couple of minutes. Then add the mashed potatoes, salt and enough water to bring it to consistency.

6. Boil the masala for 5 minutes. This potato masala can be served with roti or naan.

Simple Potato Masala is my entry to CFK-Potato hosted by Deepa, initiated by Sharmi.

Spinach Curry (Bhajji Kutkiri)

2009-02-17T17:35:00.000-08:00

Keerai (spinach) Kootu is a very common yet healthy side dish for rice varieties. It can be prepared with variety of spinaches (available in South India). But in US, such varieties are not available. So I ended up with this spinach. It can be used as side dish for adults or directly mixed with cooked rice and given to kids.

Ingredients:

Spinach - 1 bunch
Onion - 1/2
Red (or) green chilli - 1 or 2
Cooked Thor daal (or) Uncooked yellow Moong daal - 1/2 cup
Salt
For seasoning:
Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - 5
For garnishing:
Grated coconut - 2 tbsp

Direction:

1. Clean and pick the spinach leaves.

2. In a pressure cooker, cook spinach, chopped onion, cooked thor daal (or) yellow moong daal, salt, red chilli along with 1 cup of water (3 whistles should do).

3. Season mustard seeds and curry leaves in oil in a separate pan.

4. After the pressure has gone, open the pressure cooker and add the tadka and garnish with grated coconut.

Mango Rice (Kachamba bhath)

2009-02-15T19:00:00.001-08:00

Manga Saadham is an option when I feel too lazy to cook. If the sourness in taste is not desirable, then the same recipe can be used for coconut rice except that the coconut shouldn't be fried, it should be added to rice directly.

Ingredients:

Mango (grated) - 1 cup
Rice - 1 cup
For seasoning:
Oil - 3 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - 5
Channa daal, urad daal - 1/2 tsp each
Green chillies - 2
Asafoetida - a pinch
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Grated coconut - 2 tbsp
Cilantro (chopped) - 2 tsp

Direction:

1. Cook the rice with 2 cups of water and keep aside.

2. In a pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds. When it starts popping, add curry leaves, channa daal, urad daal and slit green chillies and fry for a minute.

3. Add the grated mango, asafoetida, turmeric powder and salt and cook till the mango becomes soft.

4. Remove it from flame and add the cooked rice with the mango mix. Garnish with coconut and chopped cilantro.

5. Mango rice can be served with pappadam or raitha.

Moong Daal & Rajma Masala

2009-02-05T14:36:00.000-08:00

This is a rajma masala recipe with some of my twists. I added Moong Daal because I wanted to experiment the taste. I guess it was a success because Sriram had an extra chapathi with it. :) It can also be prepared with either rajma or moong daal separately.

Ingredients:

Green Moong daal - 1/2 cup

Rajma (Red kidney beans) - 1/2 cup

Onion (medium) - 1/2

Tomatoes - 2

Ghee & Oil - 1 tbsp each

Cinnamon - 1

Cumin seeds (Jeera) - 1/2 tsp

Fenugreek seeds (Methi) - 1/2 tsp

Ginger & Garlic paste - 1 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp

Jeera (cumin) powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt

Direction:

1. Soak both beans together in water for 7 hours. Then pressure cook it with 1.5 cups water and keep aside.

2. Chop tomatoes and onion finely. Heat oil and ghee in a large pan, and add cinnamon, cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds.

3. After a few seconds, add chopped onion and fry till it becomes golden brown. Then add ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw flavour has left.

4. Add chopped tomatoes, red chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, salt and stir till tomatoes are cooked.

5. Then add the cooked beans with the liquid in it. Also add cumin powder and garam masala powder and cook for 5 minutes.

6. Moong daal and rajma masala can be served with rice, roti or naan.

Milk Kolukkattai (Dhootum Dhoulo)

2009-02-04T13:56:00.000-08:00

Paal (Milk) Kolukkattai is a very simple sweet snack prepared in Tamil Nadu. Very suitable for children of any age, adults love it too. Its prepared with rice blended and cooked in milk along with coconut and sugar.

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup
Coconut (grated) - 2 cups (I add so much because I love the taste of coconut, it can be reduced to 1 cup also)
Rice flour - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1 or 2 tsp (increase if you want it sweeter)
Milk - 2 cups
Water - 2 cups
Salt - a pinch

Direction:

1. Soak rice in water for 2 hours. Then blend it coarsely with a very little water and 1/4 tsp of salt.

2. Add grated coconut and rice flour to the batter. If desired, you can add 1/4 cup of finely chopped coconut.

2. Mix everything nicely for a dough-like consistency. Then in a large pan, heat 2 cups of milk and 2 cups of water together.

3. When the milk starts boiling, add sugar and a pinch of salt to the milk and mix well. Then make small firm balls of the dough and put it in the milk.

4. With a stirrer, stir the balls softly for every 2 minutes so that it won't stick to the pan. When the milk starts to thicken, check if the kolukkattai is done with a toothpick. (It takes app. 10 minutes).

5. The milk kolukkattai can be served hot with the remaining milk. The amount given here serves 2.

Apple Candle

2009-01-30T12:28:00.000-08:00

Apple or Candle?

When I saw there was an event going on on Food photography, I should say I was pretty excited. First I thought there would be great photographers around, and I'm just a starter in cooking and photography. But I couldn't keep myself from doing it, just thought "let's give it a try". I kept thinking about all the vegetables and fruits in Red. It was revolving around my head like butterflies. :) Also, I wanted to do something creative. So finally gathered up my thoughts and took an apple and made it a candle. My husband is very much interested in photography and he has taken beautiful photos of scenaries. I guess I got these tiny little thoughts and interests from him. Let's wait and see how many great photos gather around for the round-up!! :)

The Apple Candle goes to the Click - January (Red) event hosted by Jugalbandi.

Black Beans Curry

2009-01-29T15:28:00.001-08:00

I had a lot of black beans and wanted to prepare some curry for chapati with it. Usually I prepare sundal with it, for that matter with all the beans. With curry in mind, I added all the masala powders I had. Turned out to be good.

Ingredients:

Black beans - 1 cup
Onion (small) - 1
Tomato - 2
Green chillies - 2
Cardamom - 2
Bay leaves - 2
Cinnamon - 2
Curry leaves - 5
Ginger - 1 inch
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Chopped cilantro - 2 tbsp
Salt

Direction:

1. Soak the beans overnight and pressure cook it with 2 cups of water and keep aside.

2. In a pan, heat 6tsp of oil and add cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves and curry leaves. Then add green chillies, grated ginger and chopped onion.

2. After onion has become golden brown color, add chopped tomatoes and all the spice powders with salt.

3. After 10 minutes of continuous stirring and boiling, add cooked beans with the liquid.

4. Boil the curry for 5 minutes and garnish with chopped cilantro.

5. Black beans curry can be served with chapathi or naan.

Chicken Rice (Kozhi Biryani)

2009-01-26T17:47:00.000-08:00

Chicken Biryani is one of India's favourite non-veg dishes. There are a lot of ways to prepare it out of which I know some. This recipe is one of the basic ones my mom taught.

Ingredients:

Chicken - 1 lb
Basmati rice - 1 cup
Onion (small) - 1
Tomato (small) - 2
Green chillies - 2
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Ghee - 2 tsp
Cardamom - 2
Cinnamon - 2
Cloves - 2
Bay leaves - 2
Cilantro (chopped) - 1 cup
Mint leaves - 1 cup
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt

Direction:

1. Cut chicken into small pieces, wash and keep aside. Wash basmati rice and soak in water for half an hour. Chop onion and tomato finely.

2. In a pressure cooker, heat ghee and add cinnamon, cardomom, cloves and bay leaves. After a few seconds, add chopped onion and fry till golden brown.

3. Then add ginger-garlic paste and fry till the raw flavour has left.

4. Add chopped tomatoes, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt and fry till tomatoes are soft.

5. Add mint leaves and chopped cilantro and mix up well.

6. Dry chicken pieces well and keep in the pan and mix up well. When the colour of chicken pieces change a little bit into pale colour (takes 5-6 minutes), pour 1.5 cups of water and cover the cooker lid and keep the flame in high.

7. After 3-4 whistles, switch off the flame and do not open the lid until all the pressure is off.

8. Then open the lid and add dried rice (without water) and cover and cook just for five minutes in medium flame.

9. Chicken biryani can be served with onion raitha or cucumber raitha.

Chicken Biryani is my entry to the event "Harvest: The Festival of Rice" hosted by Sudeshna.

Cilantro Dips (Ambat Chaguno)

2009-01-24T20:19:00.000-08:00

Kothamalli Chutney (in Tamil) is one of the most common side dishes for Idlis or Dosa in Tamil Nadu. This recipe is one of my mom's famous simple recipes. :)

Ingredients:

1. Cilantro (cleaned) - 1 bunch
2. Urad daal - 1 tsp
3. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
4. Ginger (chopped) - 1 tsp
5. Red chillies - 2 (increase according to your taste)
6. Salt
7. Oil

Direction:

1. In a pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil and add urad daal, cumin seeds, red chillies and chopped ginger.

2. After a few seconds, add the chopped cilantro and mix well for 4 minutes.

3. Remove from flame, cool it and blend it with salt and a little water (1/4 cup).

4. Again, heat 1 tbsp of oil in the pan and add the chutney to the pan and fry nicely for 5 minutes.

5. Kothamalli chutney is one of the best side dishes for idli or dosa.

Coriander Dips is my entry to the Chutney/Dip Mania" Event @ Mane Adige hosted by Ramya.

Cabbage Curry (Muttagose Poriyal)

2009-01-24T17:09:00.001-08:00

The steam cooked Cabbage Curry is good for health in many ways. It is very simple to prepare and can be used as a side dish with any rice variety.

Ingredients:

Cabbage (small) - 1

Onion (small) - 1
Mustard - 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves - 6 or 7

Green chillies - 2

White lentils(urad daal) - 1/2 tsp
Yellow lentils (Channa daal) - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Cilantro (chopped) - 2 tsp

Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Salt
Oil

Direction:

1. Finely chop cabbage and onion.

2. Steam cook chopped cabbage in an electric rice cooker until it becomes soft.

3. In a pan, heat 6 tsp of oil and add mustard seeds, curry leaves, channa daal, urad daal, green chillies and chopped onion and fry until onion becomes soft.

4. Add the cooked cabbage to the pan and add turmeric powder and salt. Mix the cabbage in the pan nicely to make the flavours settle in.

5. After 5 minutes, garnish with coconut and cilantro and the dish is ready to serve with rice.

Cabbage Curry is my entry to the event Fresh Produce of the Month hosted by Simona.

Potato Peas Curry (Pattani Kurma)

2009-01-24T16:05:00.000-08:00

Pattani Kurma is one of my favourite side-dishes for chapathi/parota. This is a Tamil-based recipe. The amount presented here serves four.

Ingredients:

Potato - 3 or 4
Green peas - 1 cup
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup

Fennel seeds - 1 tsp

Cashew nuts - 5
Curry leaves - 7

Bay leaves - 2

Cinnamon - 2

Cloves - 2
Onion - 1
Tomato - 2
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Coriander leaves - for garnishing
Salt
Oil

Direction:

1. Soak peas overnight. Pressure cook it with potato (3 whistles should do).

2. Blend coconut, cashew nuts and fennel seeds with water nicely and keep aside.

3. In a large pan, heat oil and add cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves and curry leaves.

4. Add chopped onion and fry till it turns golden brown. Then add ginger-garlic paste and fry till the raw flavour has left.

5. Add chopped tomato and turmeric powder. Then add the boiled potatoes and peas.

6. Add salt, red-chilli powder and coriander powder with 1/2 cup water and boil for 5 minutes.

7. Now add the blended coconut mix and boil the kurma in medium flame.

8. After 5-7 minutes, garnish with coriander leaves and the kurma is ready to serve with roti or parota.

This is my entry to CFK-Potato hosted by Deepa, initiated by Sharmi.

Yogurt Curry (Dhai amti)

2009-01-23T12:43:00.000-08:00

Mor kulambu is a curry prepared with yogurt and some spices. I have fusioned it with my mom's recipe and another Tamil recipe. I like both the recipes originally but when fusioned, gave a whole different taste. So posting my own fusion here.

I'm sending this entry to the event Food In Colors - Yellow hosted by Sunshinemom.

Ingredients:

Yogurt - 1 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Green chillies - 2
Ginger - 1/2 inch
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Cashew nuts - 5
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Onion - 1/2
Red chillies - 2
Mustard - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - 5
Channa daal, Urad daal - 1/4 tsp each
Methi powder - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Cilantro - for garnishing
Salt
Oil

Direction:

1. In a blender, blend green chillies, ginger, grated coconut, cashew nuts and cumin seeds nicely.

2. In a pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds, channa daal urad daal, curry leaves, red chillies and onion.

3. When onion turns golden brown, add methi powder and asafoetida.

4. Now add the blended mix and yogurt with turmeric powder and let it boil for 5-7 minutes.

5. Garnish with cilantro and serve with rice and any side dish.

Lentils Dosa (Adai)

2009-01-22T16:26:00.000-08:00

Adai is a very favoured breakfast dish in Tamil Nadu. Its prepared with various daals and known for health. I hadn't prepared it for a long time because I didn't have my mom's recipe. I got it from her after starting my blog and here it goes.

Ingredients:

Channa daal - 1/4 cup
Urad daal - 1/4 cup
Thor daal - 1/2 cup
Normal rice - 1/2 cup
Idli rice - 1/2 cup
Green chillies or red chillies - 2
Grated coconut - 1/3 cup
Onion (medium) - 1
Tomato - 1
Ginger - 1 inch
Asafoetida - a pinch
Salt

Oil

Direction:

1. Soak all the lentils and rices together for 2 hours.

2. Blend all the ingredients along with the soaked rice and lentils using very little water.

3. Make the batter consistent enough to make dosa.

4. After two hours, heat the tawa and pour 1/4 cup of batter on it and spread it around. Add 1 tsp of oil around the dosa. Flip over and fry.

5. Adai can be served with Coconut chutney, Tomato chutney or dosa powder (podi).

Vegetable Sambar (Kailol Sambar)

2009-01-21T15:47:00.000-08:00

Vegetable Sambar is a famous dish in Southern India where no marriage feast would occur without it. I love sambar because of its simpleness in taste and preparation.

Ingredients:

Vegetables (cut) - 1 cup
Onion (finely chopped) - 1/2
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - 5
Tamarind puree - 1 1/2 cups
Thor daal - 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Sambar powder - 2 1/2 tsp
Grated coconut - 1/4 cup (optional)
Salt
Asafoetida
Oil

Direction:

1. Pressure cook thor daal along with 1 1/2 cups of water, turmeric powder, cut vegetables and 2 tsp oil (4 whistles should do).

2. In a pan, heat 5 tsp of oil and add mustard seeds, curry leaves and onion. Fry till onion becomes transparent. Remove from heat.

3. Add tamarind puree and the cooked vegetables and daal to the pan.

4. Add red chilli powder, sambar powder, salt and asafoetida.

5. Boil the sambar for 7-10 minutes. Garnish with grated coconut.

6. Vegetable Sambar can be served with rice and any side dish goes well with it.

Sambar Powder (Sambar Bhurugo)

2009-01-19T17:33:00.001-08:00

Sambar Powder is a main ingredient in a lot of curries we prepare. In a nutshell, its not possible to survive for us without sambar powder at our home. I was planning to post some more curries which have sambar powder as a main ingredient. So decided to post the recipe for Sambar powder first.

Ingredients:

Idli rice - 1/4 kg
Corriander seeds - 1/2 kg
Black pepper - 50 g
Jeera - 50 g
Methi - 25 g
Asafotida - 25 g
Whole turmeric - 50 g

Direction:

1. Fry each ingredient separately in a pan without oil for 3-5 minutes each.

2. After cooled down, blend them all together till the powder becomes very nice.

3. With Sambar Powder, a lot of South-Indian curries can be prepared.

I'm glad to participate with this entry in the event Colors of Taste - Powders hosted by Smitha.

Paneer Butter Masala

2009-01-17T20:16:00.001-08:00

Paneer Butter Masala is one of my favourite paneer recipes. Paneer is a healthy dish for kids with delicious taste. With this recipe we just add onion, tomato and butter with paneer cubes as main ingredients. So it takes about 30 minutes to prepare and serves four. For preparing Paneer at home, follow recipe from Deepa's Kitchen. This entry will go to the cooking for kids event hosted by Preety : Announcing Cooking for Kids Event -Milk

Ingredients:

Paneer - 200 g
Onion(big) - 1
Tomatoes - 3
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Coriander (dhaniya) powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Butter - 50 g
Milk - 2 tbsp
Salt

Direction:

1. Chop paneer into small cubes. In a little butter, fry paneer till it becomes golden brown.

2. Blend onion and tomatoes separately.

3. In a pan, add the rest of the butter and heat. When the butter melts a little, add blended onion paste and ginger-garlic paste and simmer the flame.

4. When the raw flavour has left, add red-chilli powder, coriander powder and tomato puree and boil the mix for 10 minutes.

5. Finally, add paneer cubes, garam masala and salt and boil for 5 minutes.

6. Remove it from flame and add 2 tbsp of milk and now the paneer butter masala is ready to serve.

7. Paneer butter masala can be served with roti and naan.

Tomato Curry (Thakkali amti)

2009-01-16T13:57:00.000-08:00

Tomato Curry (thakkali kulambu) is again one of my mother's simple recipes. Its prepared with tomato and some of the spices. Whenever I feel too lazy to cook, this recipe pops up in my mind and I complete the cooking done in half an hour.

Ingredients:

Tomatoes - 4
Onion - 1
Coconut - 1/4 cup
Roasted channa - 1 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Curry masala powder - 1.5 tsp
Coriander(daniya) powder - 1 tsp
Oil
Salt
For seasoning: mustard - 1/4 tsp, curry leaves - 5
Coriander leaves - 2 tsp

Direction:

1. Chop onion and tomatoes.

2. In a pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil. Add onion and fry till it becomes transparent. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry till the raw flavour has left.

3. Add tomatoes and fry till it is mashed up. Remove it from flame and cool it.

4. In a blender, add coconut, roasted channa daal, curry masala powder, coriander powder, salt and the cooled tomato-onion mix. Blend them nicely.

5. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan and add mustard and curry leaves.

6. Add the blended curry to the pan and boil it for 5-7 minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

7. Tomato curry can be served with rice, idli or dosa.

Vathal kulambu

2009-01-15T12:29:00.000-08:00

Vathal Kulambu is a famous south Indian dish. Its prepared with sundaikkai vatral also known as Solanum torvum (Turkey Berry). I know there are innumerous ways of preparing it. This is my mother's recipe which is very simple to prepare but has uncompromising taste. Sundaikkai vatral is available in Indian grocery stores.

Ingredients:

Vathal – 2 table spoons
Tamarind puree – 1.5 cups
Channa daal, urad daal – ½ tsp each
Black pepper – ¾ tsp
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Ginger – a piece (1inch)
Garlic – 10 cloves (if small ones)
Asafoetida powder – a pinch
Grated coconut - 1/4 cup
Oil - 2 table spoons
Salt
For seasoning: Mustard, Curry leaves - 1/2 tsp

Direction:

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add channa daal and urad daal. After 5 seconds add black pepper and cumin seeds.

2. Add Ginger & Garlic and fry till it becomes golden brown. Add asafoetida, grated coconut and salt and fry for a couple of minutes.

3. Remove it from flame and cool it down for a while. Then blend it with enough water nicely.

4. Add the tamarind puree to the grinded mix.

5. Now heat 2 tsp of oil in a pan and fry vathal separately until it becomes black. Add 1/2 cup of water to it and boil. After the water has evaporated, add the vathal to the kulambu.

6. Season the kulambu with mustard and curry leaves. Now heat the kulambu until oil separates.

7. Vathal kulambu can be served with rice and pappadam.

Vathal kulambu is my entry to the event RCI: Chettinadu Vegetarian Cuisine hosted by Srimathi.

Recipes Index

2009-01-10T16:16:00.000-08:00

Curries for Rice

Garlic & Pepper Curry
Yogurt Curry
Vegetable Sambar
Tomato Curry
Vathal Kulambu

Curries for Rotis

Soy beans Curry
Simple Potato Masala
Moong daal & Rajma Masala
Chickpea Gravy
Black Beans Curry
Potato Peas Curry
Paneer Butter Masala

Side Dishes for Rice

Spinach Curry
Cabbage CurryPotato Fry
Carrot Stir Fry

Rice Varieties

Mango Rice
Chicken Rice
Tamarind Rice

Snacks/ Sweets

Milk-Kolukkattai
Ulundhu Vadai
Sweet Kolukkattai
Potato Fritters
Rava LaddooRava Kesari
Peanut Ladoo

Desserts/ Bakes

Banana Salad
Chocolate Water Cake

Breakfast

Lentils Dosa (Adai)
Idli and sambar
Wheat Dosa and veg sambar

Chutneys

Cilantro Dips
Tomato Chutney

Powders

Sambar Powder
Idli/Sambar powder

Drinks

Mango Lassi

Photography

Apple Candle
Chakili(Murukku)

Blogs I Visit

2009-01-10T15:59:00.000-08:00

A and N
Alka
Anu
AnuSriram
Deepa
Deesha
Dhanya
Harini
Hema
Lavanya
Madhu
Madhuram
Mahanandi
Mahimaa
Malar
Mangala
Maria
Mona
Nithya
Phanitha
Preety
Premy
Priti
Priya
Rachel
Ramya
Sagari
Sangeetha
Sanghi
SriLekha
Sudheshna
Trupti
Uma
Usha
Vani
Varsha
Varunavi
Vibaas

White Lentil Patties (Udeeth Vada)

2009-01-10T14:41:00.000-08:00

Udeeth Vada (called "Ulundu Vadai" in Tamil) is prepared with white lentils ground and deep fried in oil. These crispy patties are one of the best snacks for the evening. They can be served with rice as side-dish or even separately. Alternatively, they can be soaked in sambar (yellow-lentil soup) for "Sambar Vada" or in Dahi (yogurt) for "Dahi Vada" and served.
This entry will go to the event "Announcing My Legume Love Affair, Seventh Helping" hosted by Srivalli and My Legume Love Affair by Susan.

Ingredients:

White lentils (Urad daal) - 1 cup

Green chillies - 2 or 3

Ginger (grated) - 1 inch

Salt - As required

Rice flour - 1/4 cup

Asafoetida - a pinch

Cilantro(finely chopped) - 3-4 strands

Curry leaves(finely chopped) - 15 leaves

Onion(finely chopped) - 1 cup

Oil for deep frying

Water

Direction:

1. Soak urad daal for 1 hour in water.

2. Blend urad daal along with green chillies, ginger and salt. Use very little water while blending to keep the dough from becoming watery. Add only 2 teaspoons of water at a time to the dough until it becomes very smooth.

3. After blending, mix 2 teaspoons of rice flour to the dough and check the consistency (you should be able to make firm little balls). If required add more rice flour. Try not to make very dry.

4. Add asafoetida, cilantro, curry leaves and chopped onion.

5. Heat oil in a pan. When the oil has heated up, make small balls of the dough and pat them. Put them in the oil and deep fry them. Turn over and fry them again.

6. When the bubbles lessen and the vadas have become golden brown, they can be removed from oil and kept on a napkin.

7. Vadas can be served with Coconut chutney or Sambar.

Sweet Riceblends (Gullo Dhoulo)

2009-01-09T15:01:00.000-08:00

Sweet Riceblends is a very simple, yet tasty snack. It is called "Kolukattai" in Tamil. Its made with rice flour and jaggery steamed in the idli cooker. It can be served in the evening to kids. They would love it.

Ingredients:

Idli rice - 2 cups

Jaggery (powdered) - 1/2 cup

Water - 1.5 cups

Cardomom powder - a pinch

Coconut (grated) - 1/2 cup

Direction:

1. Fry the idli rice in a pan (without oil) for 3-4 minutes until rice turns to yellowish golden color.

2. Cool it and blend it coarsely.

3. Boil water and add powdered jaggery to the boiling water.

4. After the jaggery has completely dissolved in the water, mix 1 cup of powdered rice to it. Keep the mix aside for 1 hour.

5. Add coconut and cardomom powder to the mix. If the mix is very dry, add some more boiling water to bring consistency. If it is watery, add some rice flour to make it dough-like consistency to make balls. Its because the rice consistency would be different for each.

6. Make small balls of this mix and keep it in idli cooker for steam cooking.

7. After 5-6 minutes, check if the kolukattai is done with a toothpick. If not done, keep it in steam for some more minutes.

8. This sweet rice kolukattai can be served hot or cold.

Note:

Alternatively, it can also be cooked in electric rice cooker. Pour 1 cup water in the rice cooker pan and keep the vegetable cooking pan on top of it (it comes with the rice cooker when bought). Now keep the dough balls on the top pan and cover the lid until cooked.