Ingredients
Set -1
Chillis - 2 nos.
Black pepper - 1 spoon
Cumin seeds - 1 spoon
Channa dhal - 1 spoon
Corriander seeds - 1 spoon
2-3 pods of garlic
Set - 2
Coconut - 2 tablespoons
Tomato - 1 medium sized
Set - 3
Garlic - 10-15 pods ( depending on the pungency)
Shallots - 10-15
Tamarind - lemon sized
Sambhar powder - 2 tea spoons
Turmeric powder - 1 tea spoon
Mustard Seeds
Channa dhal
Curry leaves
Asafoetida
Gingely oil
Handful of groundnuts (optional)
Jaggery - a small spoon
Salt to taste
Method
Gently fry the ingredients in set 1 . Add a little water grind them into a paste. Grind the ingredients in set - 2 without frying into a paste and keep both these aside. Soak the tamarind in water and make a thick extract out of it.
In a pan add some oil and crackle the mustard seeds . Add cury leaves, Channa dhal and the groundnuts and fry them for a bit. Add the garlic , small onions and fry them for a bit. Add some water for the garlic to get cooked. Once the garlic is cooked, add the tamarind water, sambhar powder, turmeric powder, salt,asafoetida and cook till the raw smell of tamarind goes. Now add both the pastes , required salt and let it cook together till the raw smell of the tomato, coconut and the paste goes. If the consistency is too thin, mix a tablespoon of rice floor in a couple of spoons of water and add to the gravy. This thickens it a bit. Bring everything to a boil and this is ready to be served with hot rice or dhosas!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Rasavaangi
Rasavangi
This is a nice and simple variation of the normal tamarind based gravy that finds its way in a everyday South Indian cooking. It goes well with rice . And tastes the best with fresh hot dosas.
Ingredients
Chickpeas - Channa - 1 cup. Soaked overnight and pressure cooked.
Brinjal - 2 chopped into medium sized cubes.
Asafoetida
Mustard seeds
Curry leaves
Tamarind.
Gingely oil
Salt to taste.
Shallots (small onions) - Optional
To grind
Channa dhal
Corriander seeds
Red chillies
Coconut ( optional )
Method
In a pan, with a little oil fry the corriander seeds, chillies and channa dhal till they turn brown .Make sure you keep stirring them continuosly lest they get burnt. Cool it , Grind and keep aside.
Add some oil in the pan, crack the mustard seeds, and add the curry leaves, asafetedia. Add the onions at this stage if you are adding them and fry till they are golden brown. Add the brinjal and fry them till they are cooked i.e the color of the skin changes. Add the tamarind water and bring it to a boil till the kacha smell of tamarind goes off. Now add the ground mixture and bring it to a boil. In the end add the boiled chickpeas and bring the whole thing to a boil. Garnish with corriander leaves and it is ready to be served.
P.S -
- You can add freshly grated coconut to it if you like the taste. This method is healthier than using coconut as a ground paste.
- It is a fairly thick dish and be careful with the water. You can mix a spoon of any flour ( corn or rice) in water and mix with the gravy. This thickens it.
- The brinjal can be replaced with any other vegetable like bitter guard.
Bon Appetit !
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Receipe 23: Murukku / Mullu Murukku / Magizhamboo
Thanks to my chitti for passing on this receipe.. I am planning to try it this weekend!
What you need?
Le Method:
5. Adding more or less of butter determines how soft the murukku will be. Too much butter will make the dough to dissolve in oil and murukku will loose it's crispiness.
What you need?
Kadalai paruppu - 1 cup
Payaththam paruppu - 1 cup
Rice flour - 2 cups (store-bought will do)
Payaththam paruppu - 1 cup
Rice flour - 2 cups (store-bought will do)
Salt
Chilli powder
Asafoetida
Butter about 60 grams, or, if you buy quarter-kg packet, take one-fourth of it.
Oil to fry
Seeragam seeds - a couple of tsps (optional)
Asafoetida
Butter about 60 grams, or, if you buy quarter-kg packet, take one-fourth of it.
Oil to fry
Seeragam seeds - a couple of tsps (optional)
Frying pan
Murukku kozhal with star-shaped hole(s).
Murukku kozhal with star-shaped hole(s).
Le Method:
Roast the kadalai paruppu and payaththam paruppu separately till light brown.
Kadalai paruppu takes longer to roast and that is why it needs to be roasted separately.
Kadalai paruppu takes longer to roast and that is why it needs to be roasted separately.
Grind them into fine powder. Can be ground separately or together.
Mix 2 cups of rice flour with 1 cup of this paruppu flour.
Add butter to this mix. Don't melt the butter, the heat from our hands is enough to soften it and to get it to mix with the flour.
Add seeragam seeds if you like the taste and flavour of fried seeragam. It is also good for digestion.
Dissolve salt, chilli powder and asafoetida in about half a cup of water.
Heat oil in the frying pan.
As the oil is getting heated, add the spiced-up water to the flour and make it into dough. More fresh water can be added as needed to make the dough.
If you are making in large quantity, dough should be made in instalments so that the flour doesn't sit soaked in water for a long time. Murukku will come out darker in colour if the dough is let sitting for a long time.
Everything is ready to start the frying. Put the dough into the murukku press and press it into the hot oil, deep fry it and enjoy!
NOTE:
There are many variantions that can be attempted depending on individual preferences.
1. Instead of frying and grinding the paruppus, kadalai maavu (store-bought) can be used. This will come in handy if time is a constraint. Fresh-ground paruppu flour always tastes better.
2. Kadalai paruppu can be completely eliminated and replaced with payaththam paruppu.
3. Instead of using equal quantities of the 2 paruppus, you can reduce or increase one of them and adjust the other.
4. If butter is not readily available, ghee can be used, but, butter provides the softness to murukku especially for aging teeth. Ghee doesn't do this.5. Adding more or less of butter determines how soft the murukku will be. Too much butter will make the dough to dissolve in oil and murukku will loose it's crispiness.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Paruppu Usili
Paruppu usili is one of the dishes that ensured that the TamBrahms got their share of proteins in their regular meals. It is a combination of lentils and vegetables cooked to perfection and served as an accompaniment to hot rice and some kozhambhu.
Ingredients
Procedure
Soak the dhals in about 2 cups of water ( double the quantity of the dhals) along with the chillies and a pich of asafoetida for about an hour. Do not soak it too much as it will become a gooey mass and will not give a coarse texture ground. Try breaking the dhal with your hand and if it breaks then it is soaked enough. Remove the excess water from the dhals and grind it into a coarse paste in the mixture. Add a little salt to this mixture, make small balls out of it and steam them for about ten minutes in the Idly cooker. Cool it after it is cooked and scramble them into small pieces with the hand . You can even put it back in the mixture to break them.
Heat some oil in a kadai. Add mustard, curry leaves, asafoetida and let it crackle. Add the vegetable and cook it till the vegetable is done. Add the dhal mixture to it and mix it throoughly. Check for chilli and salt and add plain chilli powder if required. Cook everything for about 5 -7 minutes and the paruppu usili is ready to serve
It is generally served with a kozhambhu that does not have dhal in it lest one gets gastric problems. It goes well with Mor Kozhambhu, Vatha kozhambhu and rasam. But the simplest and the best way to eat it is with steaming hot rice and a dollop of ghee added to it
Variations
Ingredients
- Channa dhal ( kadala paruppu) 1/2 cup
- Toor Dhal - 1/2 cup
- Red Chillis - 6-8
- Choice of vegetable - Any vegetable of your choice. The traditional ones are beans, split beans ( kothavaranga) , banana flower ( vazhapoo) .
- Mustard seeds
- Curry leaves
- Asataefodia - a pinch
- Turmeric powder
- Salt to taste
Procedure
Soak the dhals in about 2 cups of water ( double the quantity of the dhals) along with the chillies and a pich of asafoetida for about an hour. Do not soak it too much as it will become a gooey mass and will not give a coarse texture ground. Try breaking the dhal with your hand and if it breaks then it is soaked enough. Remove the excess water from the dhals and grind it into a coarse paste in the mixture. Add a little salt to this mixture, make small balls out of it and steam them for about ten minutes in the Idly cooker. Cool it after it is cooked and scramble them into small pieces with the hand . You can even put it back in the mixture to break them.
Heat some oil in a kadai. Add mustard, curry leaves, asafoetida and let it crackle. Add the vegetable and cook it till the vegetable is done. Add the dhal mixture to it and mix it throoughly. Check for chilli and salt and add plain chilli powder if required. Cook everything for about 5 -7 minutes and the paruppu usili is ready to serve
It is generally served with a kozhambhu that does not have dhal in it lest one gets gastric problems. It goes well with Mor Kozhambhu, Vatha kozhambhu and rasam. But the simplest and the best way to eat it is with steaming hot rice and a dollop of ghee added to it
Variations
- One can experiment with the vegetables that go with the usili. Capcicum, cabbage, brocolli, carrot and the list is endless. Even a mixture of these vegetables would be good.
- Before adding the vegetables, you can also add some ginger, garlic, onions and tomato. Dhal with this will make an interesting side dish for rotis, phulkas , dhosas etc. You can even add a bring a thick paste of tamarind to boil, if you do not like it very dry.
- Can retain some of the dhal after it is ground and before steamed. Add a finely chopped onion , green chilies, curry leaves, some saunf (optional) , ginger and garlic (optional) , corn flour / rice flour if the mixture is too watery. Fry them into small masala vadas.
- The dhal be refrigerated and can make usili in a jiffy on a later date. When making upma with vermicelli, rava, puffed rice (aval) or if there is left over rice, you can add the to it and let it cook along with the main ingredient. Tastes different and would make a whole meal in itself.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Receipe 22: Vathakozhambu
I tried this almost 3 months back.. it came out pretty well except it turned out to be a bit too sweet. I tried it with sweet potatoes.. and when i added sugar..it turned out to be more sweet! sigh. I would not say it is very simple to make this. It requires some patience and calm mind :P and soon you will be conjurin' up delicious vathakozhambu..!
What you need?
Vegetables (Choose one from the list)
Sweet potatoes
Lady's Finger
Onion
Drum Stick
Red Pumpkin
Brinjal
If you go for either lady's finger or brinjal, you need to fry them before adding it to the vathakozhambu. For the rest of the vegetables, boil them and keep aside.
You also need-
Channa dal - 1/2 spoon
Urud dal - 1/2 spoon
Toor dal - 1/2 spoon
Tamarind - Lemon size
Mustard
Salt
Asofetida
Curry Leaves
Jaggery/Sugar
Corn flour/Rice flour
Red chillies - 3 or 4
Gingelly oil
Turmeric powder
Sambar powder
Le Method:
Don't forget to first cook the vegetable and have it ready. Next soak the tamarind in nice hot water for a few minutes. Since tamarind water is the main source for vathakozhambu, soak it in about 2 tumblers of water. Filter and keep the tamarind water aside.
Heat 4 or 5 teaspoons of oil in a kadai and add mustard, red chillies, asofetida and all the 3 dal's and fry them slightly till pale golden brown. It is safe to fry them in low flame. We don't want to crack burnt black dals in our mouth! Add the cooked vegetables to this mixture and start stirring.
Pour the tamarind water to the kadai. (Pour it in low flame, else you will land up choking and gasping for fresh air!).
Next, add some turmeric powder and one spoon of sambar powder to it. Also add curry leaves and salt taste and bring it to boil.
Note: If you feel that it is very 'liquidy', add some corn flour/rice flour to it. It will make it nice and thick.
As a last step, add a little jaggery/sugar. Do not add loads of it.. else you will land up with a sweet kozhambu.
Phew! We have made it!
What you need?
Vegetables (Choose one from the list)
Sweet potatoes
Lady's Finger
Onion
Drum Stick
Red Pumpkin
Brinjal
If you go for either lady's finger or brinjal, you need to fry them before adding it to the vathakozhambu. For the rest of the vegetables, boil them and keep aside.
You also need-
Channa dal - 1/2 spoon
Urud dal - 1/2 spoon
Toor dal - 1/2 spoon
Tamarind - Lemon size
Mustard
Salt
Asofetida
Curry Leaves
Jaggery/Sugar
Corn flour/Rice flour
Red chillies - 3 or 4
Gingelly oil
Turmeric powder
Sambar powder
Le Method:
Don't forget to first cook the vegetable and have it ready. Next soak the tamarind in nice hot water for a few minutes. Since tamarind water is the main source for vathakozhambu, soak it in about 2 tumblers of water. Filter and keep the tamarind water aside.
Heat 4 or 5 teaspoons of oil in a kadai and add mustard, red chillies, asofetida and all the 3 dal's and fry them slightly till pale golden brown. It is safe to fry them in low flame. We don't want to crack burnt black dals in our mouth! Add the cooked vegetables to this mixture and start stirring.
Pour the tamarind water to the kadai. (Pour it in low flame, else you will land up choking and gasping for fresh air!).
Next, add some turmeric powder and one spoon of sambar powder to it. Also add curry leaves and salt taste and bring it to boil.
Note: If you feel that it is very 'liquidy', add some corn flour/rice flour to it. It will make it nice and thick.
As a last step, add a little jaggery/sugar. Do not add loads of it.. else you will land up with a sweet kozhambu.
Phew! We have made it!
Receipe 21: Avial
I had meant to blog this receipe for a looong time! So finally learnt to make it. I go every monday to mallu mess near my office for lunch just for the great avial they conjure. Pongal also has adai avial sometimes.. I like their avial but the adai sucks there. I will soon blog the receipe for adai. It is damn simple to make. So lets get on with the making of avial.
What you need?
Vegetables ( get whatever is available from this list)
Taro Root (Chepankizhangu)
potatoes
yam
sweet potaotoes
vazhakai (plantain/ raw banana)
white pumpkin
drum stick
carrot
beans
green peas
Cook the vegetables well and have them ready.
Coconut- 1
Jeera - 2 spoons
Green chillies - 2
Red chilli - 1
Salt
Slightly sour curd - 2 tumblers (Make sure its thick)
Le Method:
Grate the coconut and grind it along with jeera and chillies in a mixie. Add this grounded mixture to the curd. Add the boiled vegetables to this. ( Do not add the vegetables along with the water you had used to cook it. Drain them.). Add some curry leaves and heat it in low flame.
Do not boil it. Add some salt to taste. Garnish it with coriander leaves.
Finally add 2 or 3 teaspoons of coconut oil to the avial. Thats it. As simple as that!
What you need?
Vegetables ( get whatever is available from this list)
Taro Root (Chepankizhangu)
potatoes
yam
sweet potaotoes
vazhakai (plantain/ raw banana)
white pumpkin
drum stick
carrot
beans
green peas
Cook the vegetables well and have them ready.
Coconut- 1
Jeera - 2 spoons
Green chillies - 2
Red chilli - 1
Salt
Slightly sour curd - 2 tumblers (Make sure its thick)
Le Method:
Grate the coconut and grind it along with jeera and chillies in a mixie. Add this grounded mixture to the curd. Add the boiled vegetables to this. ( Do not add the vegetables along with the water you had used to cook it. Drain them.). Add some curry leaves and heat it in low flame.
Do not boil it. Add some salt to taste. Garnish it with coriander leaves.
Finally add 2 or 3 teaspoons of coconut oil to the avial. Thats it. As simple as that!
Potatoes buying strategy
Always pick the potatoes where you can see the potato skin layers rolled up/kind of peeled. They basically have couple of layers of outer skin. Most of the times they will look muddy. They are the fresh potatoes.
Lemon buying strategy
Got this tip from from my grandmother...
Sometimes we realize that the lemons we get are very sour. So how do you avoid gettin' the sour lemons!?
Make sure the lemons are nice and round. There must not be any tiny bulb like projections in the lemon. They are the ones that tastes sour!
Sometimes we realize that the lemons we get are very sour. So how do you avoid gettin' the sour lemons!?
Make sure the lemons are nice and round. There must not be any tiny bulb like projections in the lemon. They are the ones that tastes sour!
Receipe 20: Coconut Rice (Thenga Saadam)
Like mango rice, this is also very simple to make and one of the yummy tasting mixed rice varieties. If you have ever been to Adyar grand sweets in Besant nagar, they give this in the "olai bowl" in the afternoon with crushed appalam. (Its free ofcourse). I have actually been there many times just to get this. Used to get 2 or 3 bowls to take home and eat.. !! Miss that a lot!
What you need?
Coconut
Channa Dal - 1 spoon
Urud Dal - 1 spoon
red chillies
curry leaves
green chillies
cashews
mustard
gingelly oil
Asofetida
Le Method:
Grate the coconut and fry till pale golden brown with one or 2 spoons of oil. Take 2 spoons of gingelly oil and heat it. Add the mustard, channa and urud dal, asofetida, chillies, curry leaves. Add this to the fried coconut. Fry some cashews in ghee (optional but recommended :D).
Finally add this mixture to the hot boiled rice. Add some salt to taste. Garnish it with coriander leaves (finely cut).
Tastes yummiest with appalam.
What you need?
Coconut
Channa Dal - 1 spoon
Urud Dal - 1 spoon
red chillies
curry leaves
green chillies
cashews
mustard
gingelly oil
Asofetida
Le Method:
Grate the coconut and fry till pale golden brown with one or 2 spoons of oil. Take 2 spoons of gingelly oil and heat it. Add the mustard, channa and urud dal, asofetida, chillies, curry leaves. Add this to the fried coconut. Fry some cashews in ghee (optional but recommended :D).
Finally add this mixture to the hot boiled rice. Add some salt to taste. Garnish it with coriander leaves (finely cut).
Tastes yummiest with appalam.
Receipe 19: Raw Mango rice
Its a seasonal receipe.. but when in season, a must try!
What you need?
Raw Mango
Salt
Turmeric Powder
Asofetida Powder
Mustard
Urud Dal - 1 spoon
Curry leaves
Coriander leaves
chillies -1
Cashews (Optional)
Le Method:
Grate the mangoes and keep it aside. Heat some oil in the pan and add the mustard, urud dal, asofetida and turmeric powder. Add some green chillies and curry leaves.
Add this to the grated mango. Mix it.
Finally add this to hot boiled rice. Add some salt to taste and chilli powder if you want. Mix it well and garnish it with coriander leaves.
What you need?
Raw Mango
Salt
Turmeric Powder
Asofetida Powder
Mustard
Urud Dal - 1 spoon
Curry leaves
Coriander leaves
chillies -1
Cashews (Optional)
Le Method:
Grate the mangoes and keep it aside. Heat some oil in the pan and add the mustard, urud dal, asofetida and turmeric powder. Add some green chillies and curry leaves.
Add this to the grated mango. Mix it.
Finally add this to hot boiled rice. Add some salt to taste and chilli powder if you want. Mix it well and garnish it with coriander leaves.
Measurements for Sakkarai Pongal
I have already blogged the receipe for sakkarai pongal. But it was not complete and i had not mentioned the proper measures.
Raw rice - 1 tumbler
Moong dal - Quarter tumbler
Channa Dal - 2 spoons
So when you combine the measure of all this (1 + 1/4 + 2 spoons = approx 1&1/2 tumbler)
you get one and half tumbler of dals and rice. You need to take the same amount of jaggery (one and half tumbler)
Also make sure that the rice and dal is cooked well before you add it into jaggery. This is because nothing will get cooked (boiled) in jaggery.
When you boil the rice and dal with water..instead of boiling them in water, you can cook them in half water - half milk.
You can also add grated coconut for enriching the taste.
Raw rice - 1 tumbler
Moong dal - Quarter tumbler
Channa Dal - 2 spoons
So when you combine the measure of all this (1 + 1/4 + 2 spoons = approx 1&1/2 tumbler)
you get one and half tumbler of dals and rice. You need to take the same amount of jaggery (one and half tumbler)
Also make sure that the rice and dal is cooked well before you add it into jaggery. This is because nothing will get cooked (boiled) in jaggery.
When you boil the rice and dal with water..instead of boiling them in water, you can cook them in half water - half milk.
You can also add grated coconut for enriching the taste.
Receipe 18: Curry Leaves Thokku (Karuvepalai Thokku)
This dish makes an awesome side dish for curd rice. You can use it with dosas and idlis also mix it with hot rice and ghee with appalam. :)
What you need?
Curry leaves
Tamarind - in a size of lemon..
Gingelly oil
Mustard
Turmeric Powder
Fenugreek powder (Vendiyam)
Asofetida powder
Salt
Le Method:
Wash the curry leaves and let it dry nicely. Soak the tamarind in hot water for sometime. Squeeze it to get the tamarind water. Add the curry leaves to this tamarind water and grind it nicely in a mixie.
Heat about 2 teaspoons of gingelly oil (not sunflower oil) and add the mustard, fenugreek, asofetida, turmeric powder. Add the grounded curry leaves mixture to this and start mixing it slowly. Keep the flame in sim. Make sure you don't burn it. Add the chilli powder (depends on how spicy you want) and salt to taste.. Mix it well and turn off the gas.
Viola!
Note: You can follow the same procedure for making onion/capsicum/tomato thokku.
What you need?
Curry leaves
Tamarind - in a size of lemon..
Gingelly oil
Mustard
Turmeric Powder
Fenugreek powder (Vendiyam)
Asofetida powder
Salt
Le Method:
Wash the curry leaves and let it dry nicely. Soak the tamarind in hot water for sometime. Squeeze it to get the tamarind water. Add the curry leaves to this tamarind water and grind it nicely in a mixie.
Heat about 2 teaspoons of gingelly oil (not sunflower oil) and add the mustard, fenugreek, asofetida, turmeric powder. Add the grounded curry leaves mixture to this and start mixing it slowly. Keep the flame in sim. Make sure you don't burn it. Add the chilli powder (depends on how spicy you want) and salt to taste.. Mix it well and turn off the gas.
Viola!
Note: You can follow the same procedure for making onion/capsicum/tomato thokku.
Receipe 17: Mor Kozhambu
This receipe is what i got from my paati and probably the tamilnadu style. I did get to know how the mallus make it. I am particularly a big fan of mor Kozhambu that my ex-roommate Devika used to get from palakkad. It used to be amazingly yum and refreshing.. The mallu way of making is the same except that they don't use the dal that i have mentioned in this receipe and add ulli (small onions).
What you need?
Coconut - half
Ginger (a small piece)
Green Chilly - 1
Red chilli - 1
Kadalai Paruppu (Channa Dal) - 1 Spoon
Toor Dal - 1 Spoon
Jeera - 1 Spoon
Mustard
Curry Leaves
Coconut Oil - 1 or 2 spoons
Turmeric powder
Sour Curd - 2 tumblers
Coriander
Salt to taste
Asofetida
and...
one of the following vegetables
Ladies Finger ( I love this combination)
Cut the ladies finger and fry it in a pan with 2 teaspoon of oil with a little salt.
Drum Stick
Brinjal (the green ones)
Carrot
White Pumpkin
For all these vegetables, you need to cut and boil it.
Le Method:
Grate the coconut and keep it aside. Soak ginger, green chillie,red chillie, jeera, mustard in some water for an hour. Then grind this soaked mixture and grated coconut in mixie. Add this to the sour curd. Add turmeric powder, finely cut coriander leaves, curry leaves and sprinkle asofetida.
Next heat the stove and slowly start mixing. Add the vegetable to this. When you see bubbles are starting to erupt, switch off. Make sure you keep the flame always in SIM mode when making this receipe.
Note: Never, ever, ever boil mor Kozhambu..
Finally after half an hour or so..add 2 teaspoons of coconut oil. It tastes awesome when you pour coconut oil wen its cold..so avoid pouring it as soon as you take it out from the stove. Don't forget to season it with mustards!
What you need?
Coconut - half
Ginger (a small piece)
Green Chilly - 1
Red chilli - 1
Kadalai Paruppu (Channa Dal) - 1 Spoon
Toor Dal - 1 Spoon
Jeera - 1 Spoon
Mustard
Curry Leaves
Coconut Oil - 1 or 2 spoons
Turmeric powder
Sour Curd - 2 tumblers
Coriander
Salt to taste
Asofetida
and...
one of the following vegetables
Ladies Finger ( I love this combination)
Cut the ladies finger and fry it in a pan with 2 teaspoon of oil with a little salt.
Drum Stick
Brinjal (the green ones)
Carrot
White Pumpkin
For all these vegetables, you need to cut and boil it.
Le Method:
Grate the coconut and keep it aside. Soak ginger, green chillie,red chillie, jeera, mustard in some water for an hour. Then grind this soaked mixture and grated coconut in mixie. Add this to the sour curd. Add turmeric powder, finely cut coriander leaves, curry leaves and sprinkle asofetida.
Next heat the stove and slowly start mixing. Add the vegetable to this. When you see bubbles are starting to erupt, switch off. Make sure you keep the flame always in SIM mode when making this receipe.
Note: Never, ever, ever boil mor Kozhambu..
Finally after half an hour or so..add 2 teaspoons of coconut oil. It tastes awesome when you pour coconut oil wen its cold..so avoid pouring it as soon as you take it out from the stove. Don't forget to season it with mustards!
Back ! ...
I know there has been a long hiatus. I wouldn't say i had been busy with work or violin or anything. Its cuz i was lazy. Really lazy!
Infact i did no cooking last 2 weeks or so and had comfortably shifted back to McD, pizza hut and Pongal..! But finally I am at Coimbatore..with paati..so got inspiration back.. lets see if it lasts longer this time..
2 weeks back, made an attempt to make cake with Sherin..it was a disaster. cough. Nevertless, we still relished it. There is no hard and fast rule cake should be in a circular shape..Ours was in a scrambled style..so we could have called it "Scrambled Cake".
Ah..!Let me stop digressing and get on with the target. I have Shwetha to help me reach the target as co-author! So that boosts my inspiration meter. so lets fetch the apron and start again.
Infact i did no cooking last 2 weeks or so and had comfortably shifted back to McD, pizza hut and Pongal..! But finally I am at Coimbatore..with paati..so got inspiration back.. lets see if it lasts longer this time..
2 weeks back, made an attempt to make cake with Sherin..it was a disaster. cough. Nevertless, we still relished it. There is no hard and fast rule cake should be in a circular shape..Ours was in a scrambled style..so we could have called it "Scrambled Cake".
Ah..!Let me stop digressing and get on with the target. I have Shwetha to help me reach the target as co-author! So that boosts my inspiration meter. so lets fetch the apron and start again.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Receipe 16: Sweet Pongal (Chakara Pongal)
What you need?
Raw Rice
Moong Dal (Half of Raw Rice)
Channa Dal (1 or 2 teaspoon)
Jaggery
Cardamom powder
Cashews
Le Method:
Separately fry rice, moong dal and channa dal. Mix everything together and keep it in the pressure cooker. If you add one glass of mixture of rice, moong dal and kadalai paruppu, double the amount of water. Let it cook.
Scrap the jaggery and make a jaggery syrup with water. Add this syrup to the cooked mixture of rice and dal. Stir it well. Add lot of ghee for the rich taste. Add cardamom powder and garnish with fried cashews.
Raw Rice
Moong Dal (Half of Raw Rice)
Channa Dal (1 or 2 teaspoon)
Jaggery
Cardamom powder
Cashews
Le Method:
Separately fry rice, moong dal and channa dal. Mix everything together and keep it in the pressure cooker. If you add one glass of mixture of rice, moong dal and kadalai paruppu, double the amount of water. Let it cook.
Scrap the jaggery and make a jaggery syrup with water. Add this syrup to the cooked mixture of rice and dal. Stir it well. Add lot of ghee for the rich taste. Add cardamom powder and garnish with fried cashews.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Receipe 15: Banana Toast
It is a very simple receipe and can be cooked in a few minutes.
What you need:
Bananas
Ghee
Cardomom powder
Sugar
Le Method:
Heat ghee. Cut the bananas into snall pieces and fry them. It should turn golden brown. Add the cardomom powder and sugar. Mix well and devour!
What you need:
Bananas
Ghee
Cardomom powder
Sugar
Le Method:
Heat ghee. Cut the bananas into snall pieces and fry them. It should turn golden brown. Add the cardomom powder and sugar. Mix well and devour!
Receipe 14: Curd Rice (Thayyir Saadam)
This receipe was bound to find a place in my blog sooner or later. All seasons..all time favorite.
What you need?
Boiled rice
milk
fresh curd
salt
finely cut ginger
green chillies
Asafoetida
Coriander leaves (finely chopped)
For Seasoning:
Mustard
Curry Leaves
Broken urud Dal
Le Method:
Make sure the cooked rice is not hot. Mash with hand and add thick milk. (Milk is optional)
Then,heat oil, add the seasonings and fry till golden brown. Add green chillies, curry leaves and
ginger, sauté for a minute and pour over the rice. Add curd, salt, asafoetida and mix well. Serve soon after mixing with curd. Garnish with coriander leaves.
What you need?
Boiled rice
milk
fresh curd
salt
finely cut ginger
green chillies
Asafoetida
Coriander leaves (finely chopped)
For Seasoning:
Mustard
Curry Leaves
Broken urud Dal
Le Method:
Make sure the cooked rice is not hot. Mash with hand and add thick milk. (Milk is optional)
Then,heat oil, add the seasonings and fry till golden brown. Add green chillies, curry leaves and
ginger, sauté for a minute and pour over the rice. Add curd, salt, asafoetida and mix well. Serve soon after mixing with curd. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Receipe 13: Brinjal Curry (Ennai Kathrikaai)
This is one great lip-smackin' dish..
What you need?
Brinjal
Oil
Channa Dal
Whole urud Dal
Red chillies
Asafoetida powder
Coriander powder
Curry leaves
Salt
Le Method:
Slit the brinjal into 4 with out separating the pieces and with the stalk on. Fry the different Dal's
with dry red chillies, coriander powder and some oil. Grind them. Add the asafoetida powder. Stuff this inside the slit brinjal's. Heat oil in a pan and roast this stuffed brinjals.
What you need?
Brinjal
Oil
Channa Dal
Whole urud Dal
Red chillies
Asafoetida powder
Coriander powder
Curry leaves
Salt
Le Method:
Slit the brinjal into 4 with out separating the pieces and with the stalk on. Fry the different Dal's
with dry red chillies, coriander powder and some oil. Grind them. Add the asafoetida powder. Stuff this inside the slit brinjal's. Heat oil in a pan and roast this stuffed brinjals.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Receipe 12: Paneer Dosa
Never heard of it? But trust me, it tastes heaven (Assuming you like fried paneer).
I first tasted this at a small shop called "Sabari Dosa Point" at Coimbatore (Nearly 10 years back)...
The taste still haunts me :D
What You Need?
Paneer cubes
Tomatoes
Onions
Garam Masala
Salt
Oil
Dosa Batter
Le Method:
Deep fry the paneer cubes and keep it aside.
Fry some cut onions and grind it with tomatoes and keep this gravy ready. You can add garlic if you want. Heat a little oil in a pan and pour the onion-tomato gravy. Let it boil. Do not pour a lot of water. It should be very thick. Add garam masala, salt. Add the paneer. Thats it.
Now make dosa and use this gravy as filling. We make masala dosas. Instead of masala, we use this paneer gravy here.
Ready for gobblin' away!
I first tasted this at a small shop called "Sabari Dosa Point" at Coimbatore (Nearly 10 years back)...
The taste still haunts me :D
What You Need?
Paneer cubes
Tomatoes
Onions
Garam Masala
Salt
Oil
Dosa Batter
Le Method:
Deep fry the paneer cubes and keep it aside.
Fry some cut onions and grind it with tomatoes and keep this gravy ready. You can add garlic if you want. Heat a little oil in a pan and pour the onion-tomato gravy. Let it boil. Do not pour a lot of water. It should be very thick. Add garam masala, salt. Add the paneer. Thats it.
Now make dosa and use this gravy as filling. We make masala dosas. Instead of masala, we use this paneer gravy here.
Ready for gobblin' away!
Receipe 11: Thattai
Been my fav savory snack for a long time.
It takes more patience to do this if you are planning to do it alone. Last week, it was a combined effort of 4. My paati did the major work, i "tattified" the thattais, Sherin fried it and my mom was doing both these tasks in turns.
What You Need?
Arisi Maavu ( Rice Flour)
Whole Urud Dal Flour
Butter
Kadalai Paruppu (Channa Dal)
Chilli powder(or Chilli Flakes)
salt Water
Curry Leaves
Le Method:
Step 1: Making of the Dough
First, soak some channa dal (not more than 2 hours). Drain the water and keep it aside.
The Rice flour and whole urud dal flour mixture in 4:1 ratio.
Take all these three and put in a bowl and make a dough. First mix it with few small lumps of butter and then use water to make the dough. Add the chilli powder, cut curry leaves and salt water and keep the dough ready.
Step 2:
Take a plastic paper and spread some oil on it. Rub your hands with some oil as well. Make small balls of the dough and flatten it. Use your palm to do it.
Deep fry it till you hear the crackling sound stop.
You are done.
It takes more patience to do this if you are planning to do it alone. Last week, it was a combined effort of 4. My paati did the major work, i "tattified" the thattais, Sherin fried it and my mom was doing both these tasks in turns.
What You Need?
Arisi Maavu ( Rice Flour)
Whole Urud Dal Flour
Butter
Kadalai Paruppu (Channa Dal)
Chilli powder(or Chilli Flakes)
salt Water
Curry Leaves
Le Method:
Step 1: Making of the Dough
First, soak some channa dal (not more than 2 hours). Drain the water and keep it aside.
The Rice flour and whole urud dal flour mixture in 4:1 ratio.
Take all these three and put in a bowl and make a dough. First mix it with few small lumps of butter and then use water to make the dough. Add the chilli powder, cut curry leaves and salt water and keep the dough ready.
Step 2:
Take a plastic paper and spread some oil on it. Rub your hands with some oil as well. Make small balls of the dough and flatten it. Use your palm to do it.
Deep fry it till you hear the crackling sound stop.
You are done.
Receipe 10: Coconut Burfi
Last weekend I had gone home (Coimbatore). Learnt this receipe from my paati.
It didn't turn out to be perfect (Culprit: ME). I delayed in pouring the mixture to the buttered plate and it hardened fast. So what happened? I didn't get the perfect shapes. But who cares about the shape as long as the taste is good! (I am going to try the receipe again soon to prove that i can get the shape right).. So lets start.
What You Need?
Coconut( Fresh and Grated)
Sugar (Same measure as grated coconut)
Elachi Powder
Broken and Fried Cashews
Le Method:
Heat a pan with water and pour the sugar in it. Let it melt. The water proportion depends. Start with less water and later if you feel you need more water to immerse the grated coconut, add.
Add eleachi powder and broken-fried cashews.
NOTE: Never boil the sugar and coconut together. It will harden in seconds and what more.. you don't want to break your teeth.
When you see that the sugar is melted, add the grated coconut and stir continuously. Keep doing it till the coconut mixes well with the sugar syrup and starts to slowly turn into a non-watery mass.
Take a flat plate, spread some butter on it and empty the mixture on this plate. Never let it cool for a long time. It will harden so much that it will again threaten your teeth. So just leave it in the plate for a minute and with a help of a knife cut it into nice squares. Tada.
It didn't turn out to be perfect (Culprit: ME). I delayed in pouring the mixture to the buttered plate and it hardened fast. So what happened? I didn't get the perfect shapes. But who cares about the shape as long as the taste is good! (I am going to try the receipe again soon to prove that i can get the shape right).. So lets start.
What You Need?
Coconut( Fresh and Grated)
Sugar (Same measure as grated coconut)
Elachi Powder
Broken and Fried Cashews
Le Method:
Heat a pan with water and pour the sugar in it. Let it melt. The water proportion depends. Start with less water and later if you feel you need more water to immerse the grated coconut, add.
Add eleachi powder and broken-fried cashews.
NOTE: Never boil the sugar and coconut together. It will harden in seconds and what more.. you don't want to break your teeth.
When you see that the sugar is melted, add the grated coconut and stir continuously. Keep doing it till the coconut mixes well with the sugar syrup and starts to slowly turn into a non-watery mass.
Take a flat plate, spread some butter on it and empty the mixture on this plate. Never let it cool for a long time. It will harden so much that it will again threaten your teeth. So just leave it in the plate for a minute and with a help of a knife cut it into nice squares. Tada.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Receipe 9: Veg Cutlet
A tasty and a..well.. not so healthy snack. But havin' it once in a while ain't gonna hurt.
What you need?
Potatoes
Peas
chilli flakes
corn flour
carrots/beetroot (optional)
onions(optional)
green chillies(optional)
bread (optional)
salt
oil
kitchen king
garam masala
Le Method:
Boil the potatoes and green peas and mash them nicely.
Add salt, garam masala, kitchen king, chilli flakes, green chillies and mix it with corn flour.
Mix it well and shape it. Deep fry. It's done!
Variations: You can add chopped onions, boiled carrots and grated beetroots if you want.
If you want it more crispy, you can mix it with bread crumbs. The downside of using bread crumbs is - It pulls in lot of oil.
Makes a great combo with tomato ketchup.
What you need?
Potatoes
Peas
chilli flakes
corn flour
carrots/beetroot (optional)
onions(optional)
green chillies(optional)
bread (optional)
salt
oil
kitchen king
garam masala
Le Method:
Boil the potatoes and green peas and mash them nicely.
Add salt, garam masala, kitchen king, chilli flakes, green chillies and mix it with corn flour.
Mix it well and shape it. Deep fry. It's done!
Variations: You can add chopped onions, boiled carrots and grated beetroots if you want.
If you want it more crispy, you can mix it with bread crumbs. The downside of using bread crumbs is - It pulls in lot of oil.
Makes a great combo with tomato ketchup.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Receipe 8: Spicy buttery Garlic Bread (Le version Indian)
This receipe is for all garlic bread lovers. It is very simple to make and not to say - tastes brilliant. You can make this for a quick brunch or a snack.
What you need?
Fresh milk/sanwich bread(sliced)
green chillies
onions
chilli flakes
garlic (cloves/powder)
butter (even ghee will do)
cheese (optional)
Le method:
Cut the onions and chillies into fine pieces. If you don't have garlic powder, cut the garlic cloves into small pieces.
Add little oil to a frying pan and fry the cut onions, chillies and garlic.
Heat the toasting pan, spread butter one one side of the bread and toast it. Take it out. Spread our mixture (onions, chillies n garlic). Finally sprinkle chilli flakes. Serve and relish.
You can add cheese if you don't mind the fat.
It is an Indianised version of garlic bread.
Simple right?
What you need?
Fresh milk/sanwich bread(sliced)
green chillies
onions
chilli flakes
garlic (cloves/powder)
butter (even ghee will do)
cheese (optional)
Le method:
Cut the onions and chillies into fine pieces. If you don't have garlic powder, cut the garlic cloves into small pieces.
Add little oil to a frying pan and fry the cut onions, chillies and garlic.
Heat the toasting pan, spread butter one one side of the bread and toast it. Take it out. Spread our mixture (onions, chillies n garlic). Finally sprinkle chilli flakes. Serve and relish.
You can add cheese if you don't mind the fat.
It is an Indianised version of garlic bread.
Simple right?
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Receipe 7: Paruppu Vada/Masala Vada
A very yummy snack. Very easy too!
What you need:
kadalai paruppu (Channa Dal)
Ulutam paruppu (Urud Dal)
Red chillies
Curry Leaves
Salt
Refined Oil
Onions
Le Method:
Soak the channa and urud dhal in water for 2 hours along with red chillies and curry leaves.
(Add chillies according to your taste.)
The proportion:
For one glass of channa dal, take a handful of urud dal (or slightly less than quarter a glass).
Note: Never soak it for more than 2 hours, else you won;t get crispy vadas
After 2 hours, grind it in a mixie.
Urud Dal basically gives cripness to the vada. You may choose not to add it also.
Add some salt to taste and then make it into vada shape in your hand and deep fry it in a frying pan with heated oil.
To make it more tasty, add cut onions (cut it very small) to the grinded mixture. You can also add coriander leaves if desired.
Serve with delicious coconut chutney.
What you need:
kadalai paruppu (Channa Dal)
Ulutam paruppu (Urud Dal)
Red chillies
Curry Leaves
Salt
Refined Oil
Onions
Le Method:
Soak the channa and urud dhal in water for 2 hours along with red chillies and curry leaves.
(Add chillies according to your taste.)
The proportion:
For one glass of channa dal, take a handful of urud dal (or slightly less than quarter a glass).
Note: Never soak it for more than 2 hours, else you won;t get crispy vadas
After 2 hours, grind it in a mixie.
Urud Dal basically gives cripness to the vada. You may choose not to add it also.
Add some salt to taste and then make it into vada shape in your hand and deep fry it in a frying pan with heated oil.
To make it more tasty, add cut onions (cut it very small) to the grinded mixture. You can also add coriander leaves if desired.
Serve with delicious coconut chutney.
Receipe 6: Malai Kofta
One more north Indian dish! Malai Kofta is typically a sweet dish.
Malai means cream. But if you would prefer it the non-sweet way, just don't add cream to the gravy, don't add paneer to the kofta and finally do not add dry grapes,cashews. This will reduce the sweetness and still will taste good.
This dish will take a considerable cooking time since deep frying is involved. But with some enthusiasm mixed with hunger, will make you conjuring up this dish pretty quick.
What You Need?
For the Kofta:
The sweet way:
Paneer
Potatoes
salt
cashews
dry grapes
corn flour
oil
and a Frying pan.
The not so sweet way:
Potatoes
Carrots
salt
Corn flour
oil
And you still need a frying pan.
For the Gravy:
The sweet way:
Tomatoes
Onion
Lots of cashews
paneer
salt
malai(fresh cream) [You can get this readymade in most of the super markets]
The not so sweet way:
Tomatoes
Onion
Garam Masala
Kitchen King
salt
Phew! That was quite a list!.. now the
Le Method:
Kofta Prep:
Sweet way:
Grate the paneer. Boil the potatoes nicely and mash it. It should almost be like a paste. Take a vessel and mix the paneer and potatoes together.Add a little salt. Use corn flour to knead all the contents. Most of the time you need not add water since the water in the boiled potatoes is more than enough for kneading it. If needed, you can sprinkle some water. But!! never add more water by mistake, since we are going to make balls out of this mixture and deep fry it.
Start making balls. There is no hard and fast rule it should be made in shape of a ball. I would go for a ball shape since its more easy to make for lazy people like me. You can let your creativity play here. For example, you can make it in the shape of a roll or flat cutlets. It is upto you! When you are making the balls/rolls, embed a cashew, few dry grapes in each kofta. Heat oil in a pan to deep fry it and well.. deep fry it!! Once you are done, keep it aside.
The not-so-sweet way:
The procedure is same as the "sweet way". Instead of paneer, add the carrots. Boil the carrots along with potatoes and mash both together with cornflour. cornflour acts like a tightening agent. You don't add any cashews or dry fruits in koftas here. Just make the balls/rolls and deep fry them.
Note: Boiled carrot will carry lot of water with it. Never add extra water to knead the mixture. You will be in a mess!
Let us move to the making of the gravy.
Gravy Prep:
Sweet way:
The trick is to minimize the amount of tomatoes here. Say if you add 2 onions, add half a tomato. So remember the 2:1/2 onion to tomato ratio if you are going to prepare the sweet gravy.
Like we make the other north Indian gravy, cut the onions, fry them a bit. Once it is cooled, blend it along with the tomatoes in a mixie. Keep this mixture aside. Next grind the grated paneer and cashews. Before grinding the cashews, fry it grind it. Blend the cashews and paneer separately. When grinding paneer, use milk instead of water to enhance the taste.
Finally, add everything (tomato-onion paste, grinded milky paneer, powdered cashews) into a frying pan with 2 spoons of heated oil. Let it boil for 3 minutes. Add some salt to taste. Last but not the least, pour the fresh cream to the gravy.
After you take the gravy aside, add the koftas. You can also garnish it with fried cashews and dry grapes. It is a very rich dish!
Voila. I know it is a pretty big process. But with some interest and patience coupled, you will do it easy enough.
The not-so-sweet way:
Use onions and tomatoes in the same ratio here. Fry the onions, grind it with tomatoes and keep it aside.
Heat some oil in a pan (2 spoons) and add this onion-tomato paste to it. Let it boil. Add salt, garam masala and kitchen king. Finally add the koftas.
This is a lot more easier to make and also consumes less time and your body also consumes less fat! :p
That is it! Now you know malai koftas are not rocket science!
Malai means cream. But if you would prefer it the non-sweet way, just don't add cream to the gravy, don't add paneer to the kofta and finally do not add dry grapes,cashews. This will reduce the sweetness and still will taste good.
This dish will take a considerable cooking time since deep frying is involved. But with some enthusiasm mixed with hunger, will make you conjuring up this dish pretty quick.
What You Need?
For the Kofta:
The sweet way:
Paneer
Potatoes
salt
cashews
dry grapes
corn flour
oil
and a Frying pan.
The not so sweet way:
Potatoes
Carrots
salt
Corn flour
oil
And you still need a frying pan.
For the Gravy:
The sweet way:
Tomatoes
Onion
Lots of cashews
paneer
salt
malai(fresh cream) [You can get this readymade in most of the super markets]
The not so sweet way:
Tomatoes
Onion
Garam Masala
Kitchen King
salt
Phew! That was quite a list!.. now the
Le Method:
Kofta Prep:
Sweet way:
Grate the paneer. Boil the potatoes nicely and mash it. It should almost be like a paste. Take a vessel and mix the paneer and potatoes together.Add a little salt. Use corn flour to knead all the contents. Most of the time you need not add water since the water in the boiled potatoes is more than enough for kneading it. If needed, you can sprinkle some water. But!! never add more water by mistake, since we are going to make balls out of this mixture and deep fry it.
Start making balls. There is no hard and fast rule it should be made in shape of a ball. I would go for a ball shape since its more easy to make for lazy people like me. You can let your creativity play here. For example, you can make it in the shape of a roll or flat cutlets. It is upto you! When you are making the balls/rolls, embed a cashew, few dry grapes in each kofta. Heat oil in a pan to deep fry it and well.. deep fry it!! Once you are done, keep it aside.
The not-so-sweet way:
The procedure is same as the "sweet way". Instead of paneer, add the carrots. Boil the carrots along with potatoes and mash both together with cornflour. cornflour acts like a tightening agent. You don't add any cashews or dry fruits in koftas here. Just make the balls/rolls and deep fry them.
Note: Boiled carrot will carry lot of water with it. Never add extra water to knead the mixture. You will be in a mess!
Let us move to the making of the gravy.
Gravy Prep:
Sweet way:
The trick is to minimize the amount of tomatoes here. Say if you add 2 onions, add half a tomato. So remember the 2:1/2 onion to tomato ratio if you are going to prepare the sweet gravy.
Like we make the other north Indian gravy, cut the onions, fry them a bit. Once it is cooled, blend it along with the tomatoes in a mixie. Keep this mixture aside. Next grind the grated paneer and cashews. Before grinding the cashews, fry it grind it. Blend the cashews and paneer separately. When grinding paneer, use milk instead of water to enhance the taste.
Finally, add everything (tomato-onion paste, grinded milky paneer, powdered cashews) into a frying pan with 2 spoons of heated oil. Let it boil for 3 minutes. Add some salt to taste. Last but not the least, pour the fresh cream to the gravy.
After you take the gravy aside, add the koftas. You can also garnish it with fried cashews and dry grapes. It is a very rich dish!
Voila. I know it is a pretty big process. But with some interest and patience coupled, you will do it easy enough.
The not-so-sweet way:
Use onions and tomatoes in the same ratio here. Fry the onions, grind it with tomatoes and keep it aside.
Heat some oil in a pan (2 spoons) and add this onion-tomato paste to it. Let it boil. Add salt, garam masala and kitchen king. Finally add the koftas.
This is a lot more easier to make and also consumes less time and your body also consumes less fat! :p
That is it! Now you know malai koftas are not rocket science!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Receipe 5: Dry Cauliflower Florets
Let me admit, I made up this receipe name. :P
Yesterday i was planning to make gobi parathas..but when i was boiling the cauliflower,i couldn't help but admire the nice white florets. I didn't have the heart to mash it up for the paratha. So i came up with this receipe. By the way, I am sure this is healthy receipe coz it is not fried.
What you need!
A nice fresh cauliflower
Salt
Garam Masala
Kitchen King
Chilli Flakes ( If you dont have it, take the red chillies and extract the flakes from inside)
Some tomato sauce
Le Method:
Cut the cauliflower into nice florets and boil it in water. Add some salt to the water when boiling. It will help to kill any worms if they are hiding in our cauliflower. Boil it nicely..as in - till it gets cooked.
Drain the water. Heat a pan with a one spoon of oil. Add these boiled cauliflower to it. Add salt, garam masala, chilli flakes, kitchen king and mix it well.
Finally add the tomato ketchup.
Thats it! It tastes brilliant with chappati!
Yesterday i was planning to make gobi parathas..but when i was boiling the cauliflower,i couldn't help but admire the nice white florets. I didn't have the heart to mash it up for the paratha. So i came up with this receipe. By the way, I am sure this is healthy receipe coz it is not fried.
What you need!
A nice fresh cauliflower
Salt
Garam Masala
Kitchen King
Chilli Flakes ( If you dont have it, take the red chillies and extract the flakes from inside)
Some tomato sauce
Le Method:
Cut the cauliflower into nice florets and boil it in water. Add some salt to the water when boiling. It will help to kill any worms if they are hiding in our cauliflower. Boil it nicely..as in - till it gets cooked.
Drain the water. Heat a pan with a one spoon of oil. Add these boiled cauliflower to it. Add salt, garam masala, chilli flakes, kitchen king and mix it well.
Finally add the tomato ketchup.
Thats it! It tastes brilliant with chappati!
Receipe 4: Dum aloo/Aloo Dum/Kashmiri Dum Aloo
Well.. If you are wondering what is the difference between all these names, its none! The Kashmiri variant will have more sweet in it. Thats about it.
Most of the north indian gravy dishes are similar.. and it is no rocket science either. ! I will tell you how simple can cooking panner butter masala and malai kofta be!
Dum aloo is pretty simple to make. All you need is some patience and interest!
Here we go!
What you need!
Aloo
onions
tomato
green chillies
garlic (cloves/powder.. anything will do)
fresh curd (should not be sour)
curry leaves
garam masala
kitchen king
Oil
Plus -
A Mixie and lots of patience!
Le Method:
Part one: Making of the Yummy Gravy
Cut the onions. Don't trouble yourself to cut it into very small pieces. You have the mixie to help you do that. Cut the tomatos and peel the garlic if you are adding it as cloves. Heat some oil in the pan and add the cut onion to it. Add the garlic with it. Keep frying it till the onion turns slight brown.
Note: The main trick for the gravy to taste good lies in frying the onions. If you blend raw onions, it will taste disastrous. So getting back...
Once you have fried the onions, cool it. Never add hot stuff to mixie. !! I dunno why though!
When it is cooled, add the onions, garlic and tomatoes to the mixie and grind it into a nice paste. Add some water to grind it if needed. Most of the time the water in the tomatoes will do the trick. Our gravy is almost ready now. Keep it aside in a container.
Part two: Making of the ..well ..rest of the stuff
Cut the potatoes into small cubes. Not too small though!..
Heat some oil in the pan and deep fry the potatoes till it gets nice and crispy. Filter it and keep it aside.
Heat around one teaspoon of oil in a pan, add some curry leaves and a green chilli. (slit the chilly vertically). Also add garam masala and kitchen king to the oil. Pour the gravy on this and add some salt to taste. Let it cook for say 3-5 mins. Finally add the potatoes to it. Last but not the least, pour some curd on this gravy and mix it well.
The Kashmiri variant : Add cashews, dry grapes and cut apples and pineapples.
Tada.. done! It was not that difficult right!?
And don't forget to make some nice soft rotis!
Most of the north indian gravy dishes are similar.. and it is no rocket science either. ! I will tell you how simple can cooking panner butter masala and malai kofta be!
Dum aloo is pretty simple to make. All you need is some patience and interest!
Here we go!
What you need!
Aloo
onions
tomato
green chillies
garlic (cloves/powder.. anything will do)
fresh curd (should not be sour)
curry leaves
garam masala
kitchen king
Oil
Plus -
A Mixie and lots of patience!
Le Method:
Part one: Making of the Yummy Gravy
Cut the onions. Don't trouble yourself to cut it into very small pieces. You have the mixie to help you do that. Cut the tomatos and peel the garlic if you are adding it as cloves. Heat some oil in the pan and add the cut onion to it. Add the garlic with it. Keep frying it till the onion turns slight brown.
Note: The main trick for the gravy to taste good lies in frying the onions. If you blend raw onions, it will taste disastrous. So getting back...
Once you have fried the onions, cool it. Never add hot stuff to mixie. !! I dunno why though!
When it is cooled, add the onions, garlic and tomatoes to the mixie and grind it into a nice paste. Add some water to grind it if needed. Most of the time the water in the tomatoes will do the trick. Our gravy is almost ready now. Keep it aside in a container.
Part two: Making of the ..well ..rest of the stuff
Cut the potatoes into small cubes. Not too small though!..
Heat some oil in the pan and deep fry the potatoes till it gets nice and crispy. Filter it and keep it aside.
Heat around one teaspoon of oil in a pan, add some curry leaves and a green chilli. (slit the chilly vertically). Also add garam masala and kitchen king to the oil. Pour the gravy on this and add some salt to taste. Let it cook for say 3-5 mins. Finally add the potatoes to it. Last but not the least, pour some curd on this gravy and mix it well.
The Kashmiri variant : Add cashews, dry grapes and cut apples and pineapples.
Tada.. done! It was not that difficult right!?
And don't forget to make some nice soft rotis!
Receipe 3: Carrot Halwa
This new year, i was in a mood of having some sweet. But i was lazy too. So Carrot Halwa came to the rescue!
Carrot halwa's cooking time is hardly 15 mins (includin' grating of the carrot). I guess its a bit healthy than other sweets. So what are we waiting for! Lets start.
What you need!
Carrots (One big carrot serves one)
ghee
sugar
cashews
elachi
saffron (optional)
Le Method:
Step 1:
Grate the carrots. Once you are done grating, heat some ghee in a pan and start frying the grated carrots. Fry it till it gets cooked. Don't over fry it though. Alternate option is cooking it in a cooker. But the risk is it might get over-cooked. So frying in a pan with ghee is the safer and tastier option. It should get cooked within 5-7 mins. Keep it aside.
Step 2:
Make sugar syrup. Just boil some water and add sugar. The measure depends. The quantity must be just enough to submerge the grated and fried carrot. Instead of adding the carrot to the syrup, I would suggest adding the syrup to the carrot. This way, you can be sure that the quantity is right. After adding the sugar syrup to the carrot, mix it well and let it cook for around 5 mins. In the meanwhile add fried cashewnuts, powdered elachi and saffron if you have some.
Voila .. its ready to serve.. huh eat!
Note : You can also cook it with milk. Thats a variation.
Carrot halwa's cooking time is hardly 15 mins (includin' grating of the carrot). I guess its a bit healthy than other sweets. So what are we waiting for! Lets start.
What you need!
Carrots (One big carrot serves one)
ghee
sugar
cashews
elachi
saffron (optional)
Le Method:
Step 1:
Grate the carrots. Once you are done grating, heat some ghee in a pan and start frying the grated carrots. Fry it till it gets cooked. Don't over fry it though. Alternate option is cooking it in a cooker. But the risk is it might get over-cooked. So frying in a pan with ghee is the safer and tastier option. It should get cooked within 5-7 mins. Keep it aside.
Step 2:
Make sugar syrup. Just boil some water and add sugar. The measure depends. The quantity must be just enough to submerge the grated and fried carrot. Instead of adding the carrot to the syrup, I would suggest adding the syrup to the carrot. This way, you can be sure that the quantity is right. After adding the sugar syrup to the carrot, mix it well and let it cook for around 5 mins. In the meanwhile add fried cashewnuts, powdered elachi and saffron if you have some.
Voila .. its ready to serve.. huh eat!
Note : You can also cook it with milk. Thats a variation.
Receipe 2: Veg Pulav
Veg Pulav is one of the easiest dish to make.. and not to mention, it tastes terrific too!
The method is pretty simple. Cutting the vegetables is the only time-consuming factor in this.
So lets see what we need to make this delicious rice.
What you need?
Basmati Rice (Using normal rice won't hurt either.. but there will be slight downside in the taste)
Carrots
Beans
Onions
Peas (its not all seasonal.. but it enhances the taste anyday!)
cauliflower(optional)
curry leaves
cinnamon
cloves
green chillies
garam masala (Everest Brand is damn good)
Kitchen King (Everest again.. no i am not the Everest Brand ambassador)
Cashews (Optional)
Ghee to fry Cashews
Oil
Salt
And for the raita, you need
Curd
Le Method:
Step 1:
As i said, cutting the vegetables is what takes time in this receipe.
Cut the onions, carrots, beans and keep it aside. Pull out the peas from its cover if you have got peas.
If you want to add cauliflower, cut it taking its flowers separate and boil it in water for about 10 mins. (To kill the worms.. Caluliflower comes with a terrific collection of worms.. unless you are intersted to taste the worms, best is to kill them by boiling. Eating dead worms is better than live ones anyday! ahem!)
With this, our preparation comes to an end.
Step 2:
Heat a pan with some oil.. Just enough to fry the onions. When the oil gets heated up, add the onions, chillies,curry leaves, cloves and a bit of cinnamon. (Please don't add more than one green chilly if you don't want it spicy.) Once the onion turns a bit brown, add some salt to taste and add one teaspoon of garam masala and Kitchen king. If you want you can add those pulav masalas you get in market. But its not needed. Turn off the gas and keep this mixture aside.
Step 3:
Wash the rice. Now if you want to make fried rice, all you hav to do is to fry the rice before you cook it. You can fry it with some ghee. It will turn out delicious. But for pulav, we need the rice to be soft. So no fryin is required. The measure of rice-water is same as we cook the normal rice. The ratio for rice and water will be 1:2.
Then put the rice in the cooker and on top of it add the cut vegetables and the onion masala mixture. And let it cook.
Step 4:
Thats it! Its done. Its nothing but adding vegetables to our normal cooked rice. For garnishing you can add some fried cashews. If you are diet conscious, you can skip this.
Check the salt. Add more if you want. Incase it turns out to be more spicy than your liking, you can add salt to supress the spice.
Step 5:
Making of the raita.
Just add the cut onions to fresh curd. Add salt and garnish it with coriander leaves if you want.
Step 6:
Lets Eat!
The method is pretty simple. Cutting the vegetables is the only time-consuming factor in this.
So lets see what we need to make this delicious rice.
What you need?
Basmati Rice (Using normal rice won't hurt either.. but there will be slight downside in the taste)
Carrots
Beans
Onions
Peas (its not all seasonal.. but it enhances the taste anyday!)
cauliflower(optional)
curry leaves
cinnamon
cloves
green chillies
garam masala (Everest Brand is damn good)
Kitchen King (Everest again.. no i am not the Everest Brand ambassador)
Cashews (Optional)
Ghee to fry Cashews
Oil
Salt
And for the raita, you need
Curd
Le Method:
Step 1:
As i said, cutting the vegetables is what takes time in this receipe.
Cut the onions, carrots, beans and keep it aside. Pull out the peas from its cover if you have got peas.
If you want to add cauliflower, cut it taking its flowers separate and boil it in water for about 10 mins. (To kill the worms.. Caluliflower comes with a terrific collection of worms.. unless you are intersted to taste the worms, best is to kill them by boiling. Eating dead worms is better than live ones anyday! ahem!)
With this, our preparation comes to an end.
Step 2:
Heat a pan with some oil.. Just enough to fry the onions. When the oil gets heated up, add the onions, chillies,curry leaves, cloves and a bit of cinnamon. (Please don't add more than one green chilly if you don't want it spicy.) Once the onion turns a bit brown, add some salt to taste and add one teaspoon of garam masala and Kitchen king. If you want you can add those pulav masalas you get in market. But its not needed. Turn off the gas and keep this mixture aside.
Step 3:
Wash the rice. Now if you want to make fried rice, all you hav to do is to fry the rice before you cook it. You can fry it with some ghee. It will turn out delicious. But for pulav, we need the rice to be soft. So no fryin is required. The measure of rice-water is same as we cook the normal rice. The ratio for rice and water will be 1:2.
Then put the rice in the cooker and on top of it add the cut vegetables and the onion masala mixture. And let it cook.
Step 4:
Thats it! Its done. Its nothing but adding vegetables to our normal cooked rice. For garnishing you can add some fried cashews. If you are diet conscious, you can skip this.
Check the salt. Add more if you want. Incase it turns out to be more spicy than your liking, you can add salt to supress the spice.
Step 5:
Making of the raita.
Just add the cut onions to fresh curd. Add salt and garnish it with coriander leaves if you want.
Step 6:
Lets Eat!
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