The Curry Season

Madurai chicken kuzhambu

noreply@blogger.com (Vaishnavi) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 09:47:00 +0000

Preparation time:10 mins
Makes 2 servings
Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Chicken - 1/2 kg
Shallots- 1 cup
Red chilly - 2
Green chilly - 4
Tomato- 2
Ginger Garlic paste- 3 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves- few
Salt
Oil

To Grind:

Red chilly- 8
Coriander seeds- 11/2 tsp
Pepper - 1 tsp
Cashewnuts - 10
Grated Cocunut - 1/2 cup

Procedure:
1.Heat oil in a pressure cooker or pan and add curry leaves, red chilly and finely chopped onion.
2.Saute till onions are translucent., then add ginger-garlic paste and tomato.
3.Saute for few minutes , now add chicken pieces, turmeric powder and green chilly.
4.Add enough water, salt and the grinded paste.
5.Allow it to cook for 4 whistles if used a pressure cooker.

Serve hot with plain rice, biryani or idli / dosa.

Chicken Biriyani

noreply@blogger.com (Vaishnavi) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 09:43:00 +0000

Preparation time: 30 mins
Makes 2 servings
Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients:
Chicken pieces - 1/2 kg
Biryani rice - 1 cup
Ginger- garlic paste - 2 tsp
Tomato - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1/2 cup
Bay leaf- 2
Cinnamon - 1/2 inch
Cloves- 4
Cardamom - 3
Cocunut milk - 1/2 cup
Lemon - 1
Salt
Ghee

To grind :
Green chilly - 10
Ginger - 1 inch
Garlic- 3 pods

To marinate:
Curd - 4 tsp
Garam masala- 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Ginger - garlic paste - 1 tsp
Salt

Procedure:

Marniate the chicken for half an hour.
Soak rice for half an hour.
Heat ghee in a pan, add bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom.
Fry until a nice aroma comes.
Now add onions and fry until translucent.
Now add the grinded paste and saute for some time.
Add the chicken pieces along with marinated mixture.
When the chicken is half done, add tomato, cilantro and mint leaves.Mix well.
Now add the rice, cocunut milk and water.
Adjust the salt and add lemon juice.Cook till its done.

Serve hot with Onion raitha and Chicken Curry.

Note:
1.If you are using an electric cooker, Follow the procedure till step 8, (Allow the chicken to cook fully)and then transfer the contents of pan to cooker and follow the other steps.
2.You can also grind the chilly and ginger-garlic paste seperately, so that you need not grind it once again for marination.
3.The rice used in this recipe is seeraga sambha .You can also use basmathi rice, if the mentioned variety is not available.
4.If you are using a pressure cooker, don't wait for the chicken to cook, keep it for 4 whistles and simmer for 10 mins.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Divya) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 04:25:00 +0000

We have this routine Friday evenings movie time at my BFF's place, its become so important for us that we try to avoid any other plans that might come up on that day. Five of us usually (sometimes the count increases to even ten) get together for the awesomest tea ever..So its become a ritual to have some appetizer or munchies for this evening..I get inspired on these days to make a dish as I have the guinea pigs ready for my experiment and thus this cake was made on Friday. We had to bid farewell to two families that friday and so it was even more special and had to be done right :) My oven and my ingredients didn't let me down this time and the output as you can see was as expected !! Below is the recipe for you to boost your confidence in baking.

Preparation Time: 15 mins
Makes about 15 slices and many gulped even before the actual dessert time.
Cooking Time: 1hr and 10 mins

Ingredients:

Butter - 1/2 cup or 1stick of butter
1 and 1/3 cups of Brown sugar
Pineapple slices - I got a tin from the grocery store here you can also try to use fresh pineapple - 9 slices
2 and 2/3 cups of All purpose flour
2 cups Sugar
2/3 cup Shortening
3 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1 and 1/3 cups Milk
2 Eggs

Procedure:

Heat oven to 350 F. I used a Rectangle deep dish baking pan (you can use even a square pan), Melt butter and spread it on the pan. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over the butter. Arrange pineapple slices over brown sugar.
In a bowl, beat the remaining ingredients with electric mixer if you have or a hand mixer or even a beater for about a minute scraping the bowl constantly. Beat even faster for about 3 minutes. The batter should be mixed well and you can pour the batter over the pineapple slices on the baking pan.
Bake for about 50 - 55 minutes or till toothpick when inserted comes out clean. Immediately place a heatproof plate of about the same size as the pan over it, turn plate and pan over. Leave pan over cake a few minutes so that even the brown sugar mixture is on top, remove pan. The cake would be upside down now, the pineapple slices on top.

You don't need to serve the cake. People will be running towards the cake because of the aroma once you take it out. Yummmmm !!!

Notes :

The number of pineapple slices on the cake will change depending on the size of the pan.
Make sure not to let the cake get over burnt. If you know about the heat in the oven, chk within 40 -45 minutes too.

Spicy Orange juice

noreply@blogger.com (Vaishnavi) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 02:46:00 +0000

Preparation time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

Orange - 2
Ginger - 1/4 inch piece
Sugar (optional)
Ice cubes(optional)

Procedure:

1.Peel the oranges and discard the white part.
2.Blend all the ingredients in a blender.

Serve Chilled.

Note :
If you a citrus juicer, make orange juice seperately and mix with ginger juice.

Desi Grilled Sandwich

noreply@blogger.com (Vaishnavi) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 02:42:00 +0000

Preparation time:15 mins
Makes 2 servings
Cooking time :3 min

Ingredients:

Cucumber - 1
Tomato - 1
Onion -1
Capsicum -1
Butter - 2 tsp
Red chutney- 3 tsp
Chat masala - 1/4 tsp
Thick wholegrain Bread Slice - 4
Salt

Procedure:

1.Cut cucumber,onion and tomato into round shapes.
2.Chop capsicum finely.
3.Apply butter on a bread slice and place cucumber, onion, tomato and capsicum.
4.Sprinkle chat masala and salt.
5.Apply red chutney on another slice of bread and place it over the vegetables with chutney side facing inwards.
6.Place this in a preheated iron grill, close and cook until crisp.
Serve hot with Orange juice.

Red Chutney

Ingredients:

Onion - 1 small
Tomato - 2 small
Garlic - 1 pod
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
cilantro
Oil

Procedure:

1.Fry the above ingredients in oil , allow to cool and grind with little water.

Note :
Chutney can be stored in airtight container for a week.

Moong waffle

noreply@blogger.com (Vaishnavi) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 03:17:00 +0000

Preparation time:3-4hrs
Makes 8
Cooking time: 15 mins (each)

Ingredients:

Moong dal- 1cup
Green chilly- 4
Ginger- 1 inch piece
Cumin seeds-1/2 tsp
Rice flour - 3 tsp
Oil
Salt

Procedure:

1.Soak the dal for 3 to 4 hours.
2.Grind moong dal, ginger and green chilly. Add the other ingredients to the mixture, except oil.
3.Spray oil over preheated wafle iron.
4.Pour the mix onto the hot iron.Cook till crisp.
5.Sprinkle chat masala.
Serve hot with chutney or tomato sauce.

Note:
If you dont have waffle iron , dosa can be made in pan.

Pomegranate Orange punch

noreply@blogger.com (Vaishnavi) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 03:01:00 +0000

Preparation time: 15 mins

Ingredients:
Pomegranate-2
Orange - 3
Sugar (optional)
Ice cubes(optional)

Procedure:
1.Peel the oranges and discard the white part.
2.Cut the pomegranate and scoop the seeds.
3.Blend all the ingredients in a blender.
Serve Chilled.

Note :
If you have a citrus juicer , make orange juice seperately and mix with pomegranate juice.
Dilute with water, if needed.

Egg Puffs

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 06:22:00 +0000

Puffs : the very thought of it makes me my eyes pop. Egg puffs are one of the things I worried about missing , when i moved to US. I always thought puffs are the secret recipes of our Indian bakeries. Imagine my delight, when i saw the golden crisp vegetable puff my friend made one day. :) Bless her and the recipe sites which helped me make my own puffs thereafter.
Its a very simple recipe if we get those puff-pastry sheets.

Preparation Time : 45 mins ( to thaw )
Cooking Time : 20 mins
Makes 12

Ingredients:

Puff Pastry Sheets(Frozen) - 1 packet ( it has 2 sheets )
Eggs - 6
Onion - 1 medium, sliced thinly lengthwise
Tomato - ¼ cup or 1 small, chopped
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Chicken masala powder - 1 tsp or egg masala powder
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Cilantro - 1 cup, chopped
Salt
Oil

Procedure :

Thaw the puff pastry sheets for about 45 minutes or as per the instructions on the carton.
Pre-heat oven at 400o F.
Hard boil the eggs and keep it aside.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a kadai and saute onion to pink.
Add the tomato and let it cook.
Now add turmeric and rest of the masala powders - chilli powder, garam masala, coriander powder, cumin powder and chicken masala powder.
Adjust Salt.
Give it a good mix and let the masala powders cook for about 5 mins.
The End result should be nicely cooked-brown semi-gravy.
Garnish with chopped cilantro and let this cool for about 5 -10 mins while you peel the shell of the eggs.
Slice the eggs into halves.
Cut the thawed pastry sheets into squares, big enough to wrap the egg. The sheets are roll-able like chapathi dough.
Take a piece, Keep a spoon of the onion gravy, half of the egg on one side of the sheet and fold the other half over it.
Or you can keep the gravy and egg in the centre of the square and bring the corners to the centre.
The other option is folding the sheet diagonally.
Either of the above ways, make sure you press the folding sides to one another to wrap it fully.
Prepare the same way for rest of the sheet.
Keep them in a baking pan and keep it in pre-heated oven for 15 mins.
Take it out after 15 mins and cut it in to halves, to serve.

Crispy hot egg puffs are ready to relish. Serve with Ketchup :)

Notes :

Before keeping the puff in oven, you may brush it with egg yolk. This gives a nice golden brown shade to the puff.
You can alternate the filling with vegetables, mushroom , channa etc instead of egg, as desired.
You get puff pastry sheets in any of the departmental stores in frozen food section. 1 packet has 2 sheets. folded into 3 strips. The strips can be cut into half and used for 12 puffs. These sheets are like chapati dough, we can roll it according to the requirement.
If making veggie or any other filling puffs, you may cut the strips into 3 and roll it accordingly. Egg need more space thus we cut the sheet-strips into half.
Do not roll too much; a very thin sheet might get burnt in the oven. The sheets need to be considerably thick. (experience speaking ;) )

Pavakkai Puli kozhambu / Vathakuzhambu

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 02:14:00 +0000

Vathakuzhambu is traditionally made with vattrals or dried veggies like sundakkai etc. But this recipe could also be made with everyday vegetables like bitter-gourd, brinjal, garlic, okra etc. Puli kozhambu's usually tastes great on the second or third days :)

Preparation Time : 10 mins
Cooking Time : 30-40 mins
Makes - 4 servings

Ingredients:

Bitter Gourd - 1, de-seeded & sliced into thin rounds.
Onion - 1 medium, sliced
Tomato - 1, chopped
Tamarind - 1 medium gooseberry size.
Green Chillies - 3, slit
Dry Red chilli - 2
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
Rice Flour - 1 tbsp
Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Sambar powder - 2 tsp or Vathakozhambu powder - 2 tsp
Salt
Oil or Gingelly oil (optional)
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig

Procedure :

Soak the tamarind in 2 cups of warm water.
Sprinkle salt on the sliced bitter gourd and leave it for about 5-10 minutes. Then squeeze the water out. This will reduce the bitterness.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and fry the bittergourd to brown color.
Remove it and keep aside.
In the same oil, add the mustard seeds to splutter.
Now add fennel seeds, dry red chilli and curry leaves.
Add asafoetida, fry onion to pink color.
Now add chopped tomatoes followed by turmeric, chilli powder, coriander powder and sambar powder (or vathakuzhambu powder).
Adjust salt.
Saute these well till it comes to a thick gravy consistency.
Now add the fried bitter gourd and mix well.
Pour in the tamarind juice.
Let this mixture come to a boil
Add water to the rice flour and make it into a thin paste.
Pour this into the kuzhambu and keep stirring continuously. Rice flour helps in thickening of the curry.
Reduce the heat to medium/sim, cover and let it cook for about 10-15 mins, till the curry comes to a thick consistency.
Top it off with a teaspoon of gingelly oil.

Serve Hot with Rice and Appalam :)

Til wale Aloo Palak Sabzi

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 05:54:00 +0000

Tillwale Aloo palak , kinda sounds liek dilwale dulhaniya le jayenge ? I know ;) Till is Hindi for sesame seeds which adds a distinct flavour to this recipe. I got this recipe from Sanjeev Kapoor's site. Very easy and very Healthy accompaniment for Roti. :D

Preparation Time : 10 mins
Cooking Time : 20 mins in medium heat
Makes 3 servings

Ingredients:

Baby potatoes - 3 or 1 medium Potato
Spinach - 2 cups, chopped
Garlic - 3-4 pods, sliced into two
Onion - 1/2 cup, chopped
Green Chillies - 2-3, slit
Sesame seeds - 1.5 tsp, roasted
Cumin Seeds - 1.5 tsp
Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Yogurt - 2 tbsp

Procedure :

Wash the baby potatoes and chop them into medium size chunks with the skin on it. Do NOT peel the skin.
Dry roast the sesame seeds and keep it aside.
Heat oil in a kadai and fry jeera in it.
Add the sliced garlic, green chillies and onion.
Add a pinch of asafoetida and a pinch of salt.
Saute them well till onion turns light brown in color.
Now add the diced potatoes.
Give it a good mix, adding turmeric, chilli powder, coriander powder and cumin powder one by one in that order.
Cover and cook the potatoes for about 5 minutes.
Now add the chopped spinach to the kadai.
Adjust salt.
Saute the spinach well till it shrinks .
Cover and cook for another 4-5 minutes.
Add 2 tbsp of yogurt and mix well.
Let this cook for 2 minutes.
Garnish it with the roasted sesame seeds. Mix well.

Serve hot :)

Notes :

Do not add any water to the curry. Spinach has enough water to cook potatoes too. :)
Optionally you may boil the potatoes in prior and add it (or) microwave the chopped potatoes for about 4-5 mins and add to the kadai.
When yogurt is added, sabzi becomes little watery. Cook for 2 mins for the curry to come to a dry consistency.

Karuvepillai/Curry leaves kuzhambu

noreply@blogger.com (Vaishnavi) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 02:16:00 +0000

Preparation time: 5mins
Makes 2 servings
Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

To fry:
Red chilly - 7
Green chilly- 4
Onion - 1
Urad dal- 1 tsp
Ginger- 1" piece
Garlic - 1 pod
Cocunut - 2 tsp grated
Curry leaves -2 handful

Other :
Toor dal - 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Tamrind paste - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds- 1/4 tsp
Salt
Oil

Procedure:
1.Heat oil in a pan , add the ingredients under "To fry" .
2.Fry till golden brown, cool and grind to a paste.
3.Boil toor dal wid turmeric powder and asafotedia .Mash it.
4.Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and cumin seeds.
5.When they splutter, add the paste and saute till nice aroma comes out.
6.Now add tuvar dal, tamrind paste and salt.
7.Add enough water and boil for 2 mintues.

Serve hot with Steamed rice.

Sambhar

noreply@blogger.com (Vaishnavi) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:45:00 +0000

Pongal

noreply@blogger.com (Vaishnavi) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:43:00 +0000

Kadai Bhindi

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:48:00 +0000

Preparation Time : 15 mins
Cooking time : 20 mins
Serves 3

Ingredients :

Okra ( ladies finger ) - 20-25
Bell Pepper / Capsicum - 1/2 cup, chopped
Onion - 1 cup, chopped finely
Tomato - 2 medium, chopped
Green chilli - 2 nos. , chopped finely
Ginger garlic paste - 1.5 tsp
Coriander seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Chilli Powder -1 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1.5 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Amchur ( mango powder ) - 3/4 tsp
Curry Leaves - 3-4 nos.
Cilantro
Salt
Oil - 2 tbsp
Oil to deep fry.

Procedure:

Wash the okra and pat them dry. Chop it into 1" pieces
You may either deep fry the okra or shallow fry with a little excess oil. Aim is to remove the stickiness.
Do not let it fry for long time, you have to retain the green color.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a kadai and fry cumin seeds.
Crush the coriander seeds in a mortar and add it to the kadai along with the curry leaves.
Add green chillies, chopped onion and a pinch of salt.
Saute for a couple of minutes and now add the ginger garlic paste.
Fry till the raw smell goes away; add the chopped tomatoes.
Add turmeric, chilli powder, coriander powder and cumin powder and Mix well.
Let this cook till the tomatoes are mashed up and the oil separates. (that's about 3-5 minutes)
Add the chopped bell pepper. Do not let this cook for a long time so that it remains crunchy.
Adjust salt as required.
After 5 minutes of cooking, add the fried okra. sprinkle the amchur powder and garam masala.
Give it a good mix and cover & cook for about 5 mins.
Switch off the stove and garnish it wit chopped cilantro.

Makes a great side dish for Roti. :)

Idli-Dosa Batter

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:37:00 +0000

Preparing the perfect idli/dosa batter comes with experience & lots of trial & errors :). Although there are several methods followed by people, here is the most common tested and suceeded way of preparing this batter.

Ingredients:

Par-Boiled Rice or idli Rice : 3 cups
Aval (Poha) or cooked rice : 1 cup
Whole Urad dal : 1 cup
Fenugreek seeds or Vendayam : 1 tsp

Procedure:

Wash and soak the rice for about 6-8 hrs or overnight.
Wash and soak the urad dal along with the fenugreek seeds for 2-4 hrs.
First grind the urad dal in the grinder to a smooth paste, adding water little by little. It usually takes about 20mins to half an hour.
Empty this into a fairly big container.
Now grind the soaked rice adding water.
When it is half way done, add the cooked rice or aval ( soaked for a minute ).
Add the rice batter to the urad dal batter in the vessel.
Mix it well with hands.
Cover & leave it to ferment overnight near a warm place.
The next day , add salt & give it a good mix. The batter is ready for use.

Notes :

The rate of fermentation depends on the temperature of the surrounding. I usually keep it in the oven ( unheated, switched off ).You may also leave it near the stove.
Store the batter in a large container which gives it room to ferment and rise up.
Its usually best for idli in the first two days & for dosa in the remaining days.
If the batter is refridgerated, keep it outside for 20 mins before using.

Mattar Paneer

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:46:00 +0000

Preparation Time : 15 mins
Cooking Time : 30 mins
Serves : 4

Ingredients :

Frozen Green Peas - 1 cup
Fried Paneer cubes - 1/2 cup
Green chilli - 2, finely chopped
Tomato - 2 , pureed
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Lime juice - 1.5tsp
Cilantro
Oil
Salt

To Grind :

Onion - 1 big, thinly sliced
Clove - 1
Cinnamon - 1"
Cardamom - 1
Cumin Seeds - 1tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Ginger-garlic paste - 1.5 tsp

Procedure:

Heat 1 tsp oil in a kadai and add the following - cumin seeds, clove, cinnamon, cardamom and onion.
Fry till onion becomes soft and turns pinkish brown. Add ginger garlic paste and saute till raw smell goes away.
Add turmeric, chilli powder & coriander powder at this point and fry for 2-3 mins.
Cool down this mixture and grind it with very little water.
Meanwhile microwave the peas for about 4 mins with little water.
Again heat oil in a kadai and add the green chillies.
Fry for a minute and now add the ground onion paste.
Saute this for couple of minutes and now add the tomato puree.
Mix well and let it cook till the oil oozes out. Stir it occasionally to avoid burning at the bottom.
Now add the cooked peas and give it a stir.
Pour in the curd , mix well. Adjust salt.
Add the garam masala and curry powder ( optional )
Add some water according to the required consistency.
Cover and cook for about 5 mins in medium flame.
Lastly add the fried paneer, mix gently and let this cook for about 3 mins.
Add lime juice and garnish with chopped cilantro.

Serve hot with Roti/Parantha or Pulav varieties. :)

Potato Poriyal - II

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:12:00 +0000

Preparation Time : 5 mins

Cooking Time : 20 mins

Ingredients:

Potato - 2 big, chopped
Onion - 1/2 cup, chopped finely
Green chilli - 1, chopped finely
Channa Dal - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Sambar Powder - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves
Oil
Salt

Procedure:

Heat oil in a kadai. Fry mustard , channa dal and curry leaves.
Saute Onion and green chillies with a pinch of turmeric and salt.
Add the chopped potatoes, saute well.
Add in the chilli powder, sambar powder and adjust the salt.
Cover and cook in medium heat for about 10 minutes with occasional sauteing.
Do not add any water.
Let the potato roast a little, this enhances the taste. but do not let it burn ;)

Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with any kind of Rice dish. Tastes great with Lemon Rice especially.

Lemon Rice

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:51:00 +0000

Preparation Time : 20 mins ( Cooking time for Rice )

Cooking Time : 7 mins

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup
Onion - 1/2 cup , chopped finely
Green Chillies - 2-3 , chopped
Lemon - 1/2
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Channa Dal - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Garlic Pods - 7-8 ( the more the better )
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig
Cashewnut (optional)
Oil
Salt

Procedure:

Cook the rice and cool it so the grains are separate.
Heat oil in a kadai and fry the garlic pods as a whole , to golden brown.
Remove the pods & keep it separate.
In the remaining hot oil, add mustard seeds, channa dal and curry leaves.
Saute the chopped onion and green chillies.
Add a pinch of asafoetida, turmeric powder and adjust salt as required.
Put in the fried garlic pods and mix.
Keep the heat in sim or lowest heat and add the lemon juice.
To this, add the cooked rice and mix well.
Adding fried cashews at this stage is optional. & ... we are done !!

Tastes like heaven when served with Potato Poriyal :)

Heavenly Combo - Lemon rice & Potato

Chakara Pongal

noreply@blogger.com (Divya) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:20:00 +0000

On the auspicious day of Pongal, celebrated as the "Harvest Festival" in Tamil Nadu, Chakara Pongal is a must-make dish for the festival. My husband is a big fan of any dish made with vellam(Jaggery) and as this is one easy-to-make food, I can make it in a jiffy. Here is the recipe for all the Jaggery lovers.

Preparation Time:20 mins ( rice and dal cooking time)

Cooking Time:20 mins

Ingredients:

Jaggery - 2 big pieces or 8 small pieces (We get jaggery here in a box with about 16 pieces or so)
Rice - 1 cup
Moong Dal - 1/3 cup
Ghee - as needed
Water - 1/2 cup
Cashews and Raisins - As needed

Procedure:

First wash the rice with water and keep it for 15 mins. Same with Moong dal too.
Pour water to the ratio of 2:1 rice and 1:1/3 ratio for moong dal.
Keep it in a pressure cook and electric cooker and let it get done.
While its near to getting done, boil water(1 cup) in a vessel. When it is boiling add Jaggery pieces and melt it. The jaggery should dissolve completely in the water and become of string consistency.
When the rice is done, mash it, and when the jaggery is also of the right texture, mix the rice-dal to the jaggery liquid.
Mix thoroughly. Add ghee to this as needed to get a better texture and taste.
Heat ghee in a small vessel, add cashews and raisins to this. When it tempers, add them to the final pongal.

Tips:

For those calorie conscious people, you can use brown sugar instead of jaggery too .

Peanut Rice

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:16:00 +0000

Preparation time: 20 mins (time to cook rice)
Makes 2 servings
Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup

Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Urad Dal - 1 tsp
Broken Peanuts - 1/2 tsp
Roasted Channa Dal - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric - 1 pinch
Oil
Salt
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig

To Grind :

Peanuts - 1/2 cup (roasted)
Sesame seeds - 1 tsp
Dry Red Chillies - 3-4
Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup

Procedure:

Cook Rice and let it cool so the grains are separated.
Roast the ingredients under 'To Grind' section and coarsely grind it.
Heat oil in kadai , add mustard, urad dal, channa dal , curry leaves and peanuts.
Roast it to golden brown and add a pinch of turmeric.
Adjust the salt.
Switch off the stove, add the ground mixture to this.
Add this to the cooled rice and mix well.
Tastes great with Papad :)

Chilli Gobi

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:31:00 +0000

This my version of simple Chilli Gobi, inspired from Rak's Kitchen. Tastes great for an evening snack or side dish for rice :)

Preparation time: 15mins
Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Cauliflower - 1 cup ( florets separated )
Corn flour - 4 tbsp
Besan flour - 1 tbsp
Curd - 2 tbsp
Cooking soda - a pinch (not more)
Chilli powder - 1-2 tsp
Ginger-Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Orange food color - a pinch
Salt
Oil - to deep Fry
Curry Leaves - a handful, chopped

Procedure:

Boil water with salt and put the cauliflower florets in it. Let be for 5 mins, covered.
Drain out the water.
In a bowl, add corn flour, besan, soda, salt, curd, chilli powder, turmeric, food color and ginger garlic paste. Mix it well to make a thick batter. Do NOT add water. :)
Add the cauliflower florets to the batter and mix well. Let it stand for sometime.
Meanwhile heat oil in a kadai to deep fry.
Fry the florets one by one in medium heat to golden brown.
Garnish with Lime juice, chopped curry leaves and sliced onion.

Capsicum-Peanut Curry

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:26:00 +0000

Preparation time: 10 mins
Makes 4 servings
Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Capsicum (Bell Pepper) - 1, diced
Onion - 1 medium sized, chopped finely
Tomato - 1, chopped
Chilly Powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Sambar Powder - 1 tsp
Ginger - 1/2 tsp, grated
Water
Salt
Cilantro

To Grind :

Peanuts - 1/4 cup
Dry Red Chillies - 6-7 nos.
Coriander seeds - 2 tsp
Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Channa dal - 1/2 tsp
Sesame seeds - 1 tsp
Cloves - 2 nos.

Tamarind - small gooseberry size
Jaggery - 1 small piece

Procedure:

Roast ingredients under 'to grind' section (except tamarind & jaggery) in a kadai with 1 tsp oil.
Let the mixture cool and grind it with tamarind and jaggery. Add water as required while grinding.
Heat oil in kadai, saute onion, ginger and the chopped bell pepper.
After 5 -7 mins, once the capsicum is half cooked, add the tomato and saute fr 3 mins. ( till it becomes soft )
Now add turmeric, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and sambar powder. Mix it well.
After 2 mins of sauteeing , add the ground peanut masala.
Add about 1/2 cup water. Adjust salt.
Heat in medium flame with constant stirring. You may add some more water if required.
Bring it to a slight boil. Keep stirring frequently else the peanut sauce sticks and burns at the bottom.
Cover and cook in low flame fr 3-4 minutes.
Garnish wd 1/2 tsp of coconut oil and cilantro.
Switch off the stove and sprinkle a dash of coconut oil on the curry.

Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve Hot with Roti/Parantha. :)

Moong Dal-Potato Curry

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:42:00 +0000

Preparation time: 10 mins
Makes 4 servings
Cooking time: 30mins

Ingredients:

Moong dal - 1/2 cup
Potato - 1 , chopped into medium sized pieces
Onion - 1 medium size , chopped
Tomato - 1
Green chilli - 1
Dry red chilli - 2
Garlic - 2 pods, chopped
Cumin Seeds - 1tsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder - 1.5 tsp
Sambar powder - 1 tsp
Cilantro
Water
Salt
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig

Procedure:

Soak moong dal in water for about 10 mins. Meanwhile chop the potato and keep ready.
Pressure cook moong dal and potato together.
Heat oil in a kadai , add mustard seeds & let it splutter.
To this add curry leaves, dry red chilli, garlic and onion to saute.
When onion are cooked, add green chilli and after a minute, add the chopped tomato.
Once tomato is mashed up, add turmeric, chilli powder and sambar powder.
Meanwhile mash the moong dal a little and add the contents to the kadai.
Add some salt and stir it well.
Pour a little water if the mixture is thick and let this come to boil.
Switch off the stove and sprinkle a dash of coconut oil on the curry.
Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Serve Hot with Roti/Parantha. :)

Tomato Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 06:34:00 +0000

Preparation time: 15 mins
Makes 4 servings
Cooking time: 45 mins to 1 hr

Ingredients:

Tomato - 4 nos
Celery - 1 piece , chopped
Carrot - 1 medium , chopped
Capsicum/Bell pepper - 1/2 , chopped
Onion - 1/2 , chopped finely
Garlic - 4 pods, chopped
Cumin Seeds - 1tsp
Pepper - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Basil Leaves - 1 spring
Vegetable Broth - 1/2 cup
Butter - 3 tbsp
Olive oil - 1 tbsp
Maida - 1 tsp
Water
Salt
Cilantro - 1 handful
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig

Procedure:

In a heavy-bottomed pan , heat 1 tbsp oil and 1 tsp butter.
Add cumin seeds followed by garlic and then onion to the pan and saute till onion turns pink
Sprinkle little salt to the above and now add the vegetables viz carrot, celery and bell pepper.
Let this cook for 5 mins. Do not let it brown.
Add the chopped tomato to the kadai and 1 tsp sugar ; give it a mix.
To this pour the vegetable broth and let cook in medium heat for about 10 mins.
The veggies would be cooked by now and tomato will be softened.
Now adjust the salt , add pepper and chopped basil leaves. Add some water if its very thick. Mix well and let this cook for another 5 mins or to a boil.
Blend this mixture in a blender. If using the indian mixie, let the mixture cool for about 15 mins , then blend it.
Strain this mixture and keep it aside.
Heat 2 tbsp butter in a kadai and add 1 tsp maida to it.
Keep sauteing this in a low flame, till it becomes golden brown. This is the thickening agent.
Add the strained liquid to the heated butter, giving it a continuous mix. Mixing is important else the maida might form lumps.
Let this come to a boil. Adding cream at this point is optional.

Hot Tomato Soup is ready to savored ... :)

Serve with bisque or crackers. Croutons or fried bread pieces are also a great accompaniment .

Lemon Rasam

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 04:50:00 +0000

Preparation time: 15 mins
Makes 3 servings
Cooking time: 3 mins

Ingredients:

Toor Dal - 1 tbsp
Lemon - 1/2
Tomato- 1 chopped finely.
Peppercorns - 1tbsp
Green Chillies - 2 nos
Cumin Seeds - 1tsp
Rasam powder - 1 tsp
Ginger - 1" piece
Asafoetida - a pinch
Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp
Water
Salt
Cilantro - 1 handful
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig

Procedure:

Cook toor dal with 1 cup of water. Mash it up and retain water.
Grind the peppercorns, 3/4 tsp of cumin seeds in a mortar & pestle or coarsely grind in a mixer.
Chop green chillies finely & crush it along with the ginger ; keep it aside.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a kadai and add mustard, 1/4 tsp of cumin seeds and curry leaves.
Add the tomatoes and saute till it becomes mushy.
To this add the crushed ginger-chilli & ground pepper-cumin mixture.
Saute it for a minute and now add the tamarind water.
To this add asafoetida , rasam powder and salt.
Add the toor dal water to it and add extra water as required.
Let this mixture boil for just about a minute. Do not let it boil too much.
Switch off the heat & add lemon juice to this, mix well.

Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves & serve hot with steamed rice. :)