My Kitchen Experiments

Cucumber Buttermilk / Vellari Neer More

2013-05-16T01:35:00.003+05:30

Cucumber is the one which makes an entry to my home when summer comes. Slicing it into four and sprinkling salt, red chilli powder is my way of eating it. If it is too tender, I eat it as such.

I make cucumber buttermilk often at home during summer and I use only tender cucumbers. When a reader requested to post summer drinks, I prepared this buttermilk last week. But I didn't have the tender cucumber by time of preparing it. So, I used the cucumber which were about to become fruit. There was no difference in taste, but additionally I ended up in filtering it out to remove seeds as it was not tender. I kept on hold to post this recipe, Since I was not satisfied with the pictures. Badly, I didn't have any other recipes to post today and this cucumber buttermilk made an entry here.

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: <15 minutes
Cooking Time: Nil
Serves: 2-4 persons

Ingredients:

Cucumber - 1 cup, skin removed and sliced
Plain yogurt / Curd - 2 cups
Cold water - 2-3 cups
Ginger - 2 inch length piece, sliced
Curry leaves - 4 strings, roughly torn
Asafoetida - a big pinch
Salt - to taste

Method:

1) In a deep vessel, mix curd and water. Churn it using whisk / hand blender / Mathu. Keep it aside.
2) Take sliced cucumber and ginger in a mixer / food processor and make a smooth paste. Coarse paste is fine too if you are not able to blend it smooth.

3) Add this to the butter milk and mix well. If you find seeds, then filter it to discard seeds.
4) Add asafoetida, salt and curry leaves. Mix well again.

5) Pour in glasses and serve chill.

Notes:
1) Increase or decrease the water and salt quantity as per your preference.
2) You can also do seasoning for this buttermilk. Since I prepare it often, I skip the seasoning to avoid oil to the healthy drink.
3) If you use tender cucumber(Baby Cucumber), grind it without removing skin and directly mix it with buttermilk and consume. No need to filter it out unless you find seeds.

Spinach Paneer Kofta Gravy

2013-05-14T01:34:00.002+05:30

Did you get a chance to see Tofu and pea curry from my blog which I had tried out from Anjum Anand's I love curry? If yes, then you would be knowing about my craziness about that book. Almost all vegetarian recipes had been tried out by me from that book and all were success. Among all, I have posted Spicy Andhra chicken curry, Tofu and Pea curry and Paneer bruschetta. Another recipe from her book is today's recipe-Spinach Paneer Kofta Gravy.

It is a good and another way to eat spinach. The original recipe uses deep fried koftas and to make it more healthier, I used shallow fried koftas. Also, instead of grinding the spinach as said in the book, I chopped it very finely, squeezed out the extra juice after blanching it (I used this juice in gravy again) and then mixed it with paneer to make koftas. Try it out and say your opinion.

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4 people

Ingredients:

For Spinach Paneer Koftas:

Spinach leaves - 200 grams, finely chopped
Cottage cheese / Paneer - 200 grams, crumbled or grated
Corn flour - 2 tablespoons
Salt - a pinch
Oil - for shallow frying or deep frying

For Gravy / For Tomato Sauce:

Tomatoes - 2 nos, large size, sliced
Ginger - 1 inch length
Garlic - 3 medium size cloves
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Onion - 1 no, large size, sliced
Cashew nuts - 50 grams
Turmeric - 1/2 teaspoon
Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Coriander powder - 1 tablespoon
Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Garam masala - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt -to taste
Water - 2 cups
Butter / Cream / Yogurt - 2 tablespoons (Optional)

Method:

For Spinach Paneer Koftas:

1) Wash Spinach leaves well and blanch it. Once it is cooled down, squeeze out the excess water from it.
2) Add paneer, corn flour and a pinch of salt. Mix well.

3) Make 1 and 1/2 inch round sized balls. Keep aside.
4) Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a pan or kadai. Shallow fry all the koftas. You can also deep fry them.

5) When the koftas turn golden brown, transfer to a plate covered with kitchen towel. Keep it aside till the gravy is ready.

For the Gravy / For Tomato Sauce:

1) Heat oil in a pan. When it is hot, add cumin seeds. Allow it to splutter.
2) Add sliced onion. Saute it till it becomes soft and turned brown.
3) Add chopped ginger and garlic. Saute for 1 minute.

4) Add tomatoes and continue sauteing till the tomatoes turned soft and mushy.
5) Add red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala, turmeric powder and salt. Mix well. Cook till the raw smell of masala goes off.

6) Finally add roasted cashews and allow this mixture to cool for a while.
7) Once the mixture is cooled down, put it in a mixer / food processor and make a fine paste. Add squeezed out the juice from spinach to help grinding.
8) Bring back this paste to the same pan along with 2 cups of water. Mix well and bring it to boil. Turn the flame to medium for 10 minutes once the gravy starts boiling
9) When the gravy comes to single cream consistency, add the koftas and cook again for 5-7 minutes.
10) Garnish with double cream/ yogurt/ butter and serve with rice or naan.

Notes:
1) Instead of koftas, you can also add cooked lima beans to the gravy.
2) I used baby spinach and I finely chopped them before blanching it. So, it was easy for me to make koftas with paneer. If you are not able to make koftas, add more corn flour. You can also microwave the spinach and mush it slightly before adding it to paneer.
3) You can also deep fry the koftas. But make sure the blot off the excess oil after deep frying. It tends to absorb more oil.
4) Original recipe called for ricotta cheese and I substituted it with paneer.

Eggless Coffee and Chocolate Cupcake

2013-05-12T01:22:00.000+05:30

Yesterday was my cousin's birthday. We make an order for special cake and arrange a party every time to celebrate it. This time, for a change, We visited the orphanage nearby and spent time with the kids over there. Felt over filled by heart and we decided to visit there for all special occasions and whenever time permits.

I wanted to post something special for his birthday. But I got stuck up with few personal work and unable to spend time to prepare a special recipe. So, posting a simple, easy and moist egg less coffee and chocolate cupcake recipe which I adapted from here. I prepared these cupcakes for him when he visited home last time and I thought it is the correct time to post it now for him. Now, off to the recipe.

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Makes: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

For Cupcakes:

All purpose flour / Plain flour / Maida - 1 and 1/2 cups
Cocoa powder - 1/4 cup, unsweetened
Granulated Sugar - 1 cup
Baking soda - 1 teaspoon
Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
Brewed coffee - 1 cup
White vinegar - 1 tablespoon (see notes)
Vanilla extract - 2 teaspoons
Olive oil - 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons

For Frosting:

Butter - 1/4 cup
Cocoa powder - 1/4 cup, unsweetened
Icing sugar / Powdered sugar - 1 cup
Milk - 3 tablespoons (see notes)
Vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon

Method:

For Cupcakes:

1) Preheat the oven to 176C (350F). Line the cupcake tray with cupcake liners. Keep it aside.
2) In a large mixing bowl, take the brewed coffee. Add vinegar, vanilla extract and olive oil. Mix well.
3) Mix all the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, sugar and salt) in an another separate bowl. Add this dry ingredients to the coffee mixer.

4) Mix just until all the ingredients come together without any lumps.
5) Pour this batter to the prepared cupcake tray equally.
6) Bake it in the middle rack of the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until the skewer inserted in to it comes out clean.

7) Remove from oven and let it cool for 5 minutes and then transfer the cupcakes to the wiring rack to cool completely.
8) Once cooled down, apply the frosting and enjoy well.

For frosting:

1) Whisk the butter until it reaches the creamy consistency.
2) Add cocoa powder and mix again till it reaches smooth consistency.
3) Start with icing sugar, add icing sugar and milk or vanilla alternatively, stirring after each addition until the consistency you required.
4) Scoop the frosting to the piping bag with the desired nozzle shape.
5) Squeeze out the frosting to make a design.

Notes:
1) If you don't get vinegar, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to it.
2) To prepare coffee, add 1 or 2 teaspoons of instant coffee powder(I used Nescafe) to a cup of hot water and allow it to cool to room temperature. If you don't like the coffee flavor, use same quantity of plain drinking water to make this cupcakes.
3) The milk quantity mentioned for frosting can be increased or decreased as per the consistency you required. It the frosting is too thick, add more milk or if the frosting is too runny, add more icing sugar.

Seem Paal / Junnu Paalu

2013-05-10T01:54:00.002+05:30

We call this milk as Junnu paalu at home. Seempaal or Kadambu paal are the other names for this milk which is rich in protein and nutrients. It is prepared using cow's first milk, i.e, the first few days milk of cow after delivering a calf. It looks thicker than than the milk which we get regularly. It also looks yellowish in colour.

Here in my native, we buy fresh cow's milk and the milkman brings it daily morning and evening. Few weeks before, he brought seem paal asked me if I could buy it. My mind went back to my childhood memories which made me to say "Yes" and bought 2 litres of it. It is been ages since I tasted this and also getting a seempaal in chennai is like once in a blue moon. so, I made use of the oppurtunity I got. :-) The taste of seempaal is liked by only few but if you like it, you never forget the taste even if you happened to eat it only once.

We usually make seempaal in two ways, one is simply boiling it in a sauce pan and the other one is prepared by steam cooking. I like (also showed here) the seempal prepared using the first method which is very easy and quick. The later one additionally uses regular milk, jaggery and dry ginger powder which is steam cooked to get a flan like texture. This is usually served as dessert in my home.

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: <5 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 4 persons

Ingredients:

Cow's first milk / Colostrum milk - 1 litre (see notes)
Sugar / Jaggery - 1/4 cup
Green Cardamom - 3 nos, crushed

Method:
1) Filter and pour the milk to a large sauce pan.
2) Boil it in medium flame.
3) In 3-5 minutes, you can see the foam that forms on top of the milk. At this time, stir well using a ladle.

4) In few seconds, you can see the milk starts coagulating and separates whey from it. It also looks like a curdled milk.
5) Add sugar now. Increase or decrease the sugar as per your taste.
6) Add crushed cardamom. You can also add 1/4 teaspoon of cardamom powder instead of crushed whole cardamom.

7) Continue cooking for few more minutes and turn the flame off.
8) Pour in bowls and serve warm or chill. It can be served with or without whey.

Notes:
1) Cows first milk here, refers to the milk produced after delivering a calf. Usually, this milk is collected for first 3 to 7 days.
2) If you add jaggery the texture of the milk slightly changes.

Vetrilai Poondu Sadam / Betel Leaves and Garlic Rice

2013-05-07T23:50:00.001+05:30

Betel leaves(Vetrilai or vethalai in vernacular language) are associated with rituals, festivals and functions in India. Till last year, I thought betel leaves are only used for those purpose only. But when My sister's would-be visited our home, he said about betel leaves dosa what his periamma prepared on that day for breakfast. For the first time, I heard about some recipe using betel leaves. He also said some health benefits of it. I inspired by his words and with extra curious, checked about the recipes using betel leaves over web and surprised to see a few.

I found few recipes from Kaarasaram Reva's site. She had explained about betel leaves and also its Ayurveda health benefits. Thanks Karasaram Reva for wonderful recipes. I have tried couple of them and yet to try the green gold, the juice which uses betel leaves. First recipe using betel leaves is a rice recipe with garlic. With freshly ground masala, it really tasted unique and gave distinct flavor which I have not tasted before. Off to the recipe now...

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes + 20 minutes to cook rice
Serves: 2 persons

Ingredients:

For Masala:

Black sesame seeds - 1 teaspoon
Black pepper seeds - 1 teaspoon
Dry ginger / Sukku - 1/2 teaspoon
Dried Red chillies - 3
Dry Turmeric / Turmeric stick / Virali manjal - 1 inch length piece

For Rice:

Seeraga samba Rice / Basmati rice - 1 cup
Water - 2 cups +1 tablespoon
Gingelly oil - 2 tablespoons
Fennel seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Cinnamon sticks - 1 inch length piece
Curry leaves - 1 string
Betel leaves - 4 nos, finely chopped and stalk removed
Garlic cloves - 6 big cloves
Salt - to taste

Method:

For Masala:

1) Dry roast all the ingredients given under "For Masala". Allow it to cool to room temperature.

2) Make a powder of it once it is cooled down. Keep it aside.

For Rice:

1) Wash the rice well 2 or 3 times using water. Soak it for 30 minutes.
2) Drain the water and cook it with 2 cups of water. Once done, fluff it using fork and transfer to a wide plate and allow it to cool.

3) Heat oil in a pan. Add fennel seeds and cinnamon stick when it is hot. Let it slightly brown in colour.
4) Add curry leaves followed by garlic. Cook the garlic till it becomes soft.
5) Add cooked and cooled rice and reduce the flame to low. Add chopped betel leaves.
6) Add ground masala that we prepared already. Add salt.

7) Gently mix and sprinkle one tablespoon of water. Cover it using a lid and cook it for 5 minutes. Make sure not to burn it.
8) Open the lid and mix well. Turn the flame off.

Notes:
1) I used 1/4 cup of Oru poondu (Pearl Garlic). You can also use more garlic. I prepared once using 1/2 cup of garlic.
2) Increase or decrease dried red chillies as per personal preference.
3) Use only Gingely oil and freshly ground masala for perfect taste.
4) Use only mid range betel leaves. It should not be too young and too matured

Muskmelon Juice / Mulam Pazham Juice

2013-05-04T00:22:00.001+05:30

Musk melon was introduced to me only when I moved to my Aunt's home, Chennai. During summer, I happened to see this fruit in markets and asked her about it. She said it is 'Kirni' and bought one. She prepared a drink using it without blending it. She just scooped out the flesh and added cold water and sugar. She gave me a glass of it which I never tasted before. It was mild, creamy and chill. Also, she said it is available only during summer days. It is called as Muskmelon or Cantaloupe in English and Mulam pazham or Kirni pazham in tamil.

After tasting and liking the taste, I started drinking it daily at my office canteen during summer days and ask for orange coloured one before I order. I love the orange coloured muskmelon a lot. To prepare a muskmelon juice for my blog, I searched for the orange coloured muskmelon in the market, but I didn't get one. So, I compromised myself with the white one to prepare this juice.

Before buying it, just smell the fruit and also see if it has stem. If you sense its smell and find the stem is not attached to it, then the fruit is ripe and ready to prepare juice. This is the tip from my aunt which she told me ten years before. :-)

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 3 persons

Ingredients:

Musk melon / Cantaloupe / Mulam Pazham / Kirni Pazham - 1 no, medium size
Sugar - 3 tablespoons
Water / Milk - 1 cup, boiled and chilled
Green Cardamom - 2 nos, optional

Method:

1) Wash and wipe the musk melon. Cut into two halves. scrap out the seeds first. Then, using a spoon scoop out the flesh part. I got about 2 cups of flesh from one musk melon.
2) Put this flesh to a blender/Juicer.

3) Add sugar and cardamom(If using). Blend it for few seconds.
4) Add milk or water and blend again for 1 minute.
5) Serve immediately if you use milk. If you have added water, then store in refrigerator till ready to serve.

Note:
1) Drink the juice immediately if you have added milk to it. Otherwise it gives slight bitter taste.
2) Addition of cardamom is optional. My Parents-in-law like the juice with cardamom, so I added it.

Papaya Juice / Pappali Pazha Juice

2013-05-02T23:09:00.001+05:30

There is a general opinion that papaya is not suitable for summer. This is considered as one of fruits that
generates heat inside the body. but this is not true. Believe me, ripe papaya is good for health but it has to be consumed in correct quantity. It is good to have once in a week. It is also good to heal the stomach ulcer and helps easy digestion. Papaya fruit gives skin glow, prevents heart attack by reducing the cholesterol level.

I prepared this juice using the papaya with red color flesh. I used to get only yellow flesh papaya in Chennai and when I saw this red colored flesh papaya here in my native, tempted to make juice and click. I am posting it under this week's beverages series since I don't have any other recipes at hand as of now.

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 3

Ingredients:

Ripe Papaya - 3 cups, skin peeled and de-seeded
Cold water - 1 cup
Sugar - 3 tablespoons
Ice cubes - as required, optional

Method:

1) Cut the papaya in lengthwise. Remove the seeds using spoon. Using the same spoon, scoop out the flesh from it. This way you can easily separate flesh from skin. I got 3 cups of flesh from one large papaya.

2) Put the flesh in a blender/juicer.
3) Add sugar and blend it for 1-2 minutes.

4) Add water and blend again for 10-20 seconds.
5) Pour in glasses and serve chill with ice cubes.

Notes:
1) Use only ripe papaya to make this juice.
2) Adjust the sugar quantity based on your taste buds.

Chikku Milkshake / Sapota Milkshake

2013-05-01T23:51:00.002+05:30

Your guess after seeing the picture is correct. Today's drink is chikku milkshake. To get thick and creamy milkshake, I added only one cup of milk for a cup of chikku in a 1:1 proportion. However the consistency differs based on One's personal preference. You can additionally add milk or ice cream.

Even though I haven't added ice cream to it, this milkshake has rich texture and taste. Also, You can drink this milkshake daily.

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 1 person

Ingredients:

Ripe Chikku / Sapota - 1 cup, skin peeled, de-seeded and sliced
Milk - 1 cup, boiled and cooled to room temperature
Sugar - 2 teaspoons

Method:

1) Peel the skin of the chikku and slice them.

2) Put these slices to the mixer. Add sugar.
3) Blend it for 1-2 minutes or till the chikku becomes mushy.
4) Add milk. Blend it again for another 1 minute.

5) Pour in glasses and serve immediately.

Notes:
1) You can also add ice cream to this drink.

Grape Juice

2013-04-30T23:16:00.001+05:30

Second recipe of this week is grape juice. I go for seedless variety when it comes to grapes. but my mom always buys black grapes with seeds and says it is healthier than the seedless one.

I feel bored to eat grapes with seeds. So, whenever she buys grapes with seeds, I make this juice to discard seeds and prepare it without ice cubes and water. Today, I prepared it for blog and hence added ice cubes.

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: <10 minutes
Serves: 3 persons

Ingredients:

Black grapes - 1/2 kg, with seeds or without seeds
Sugar - 2 tablespoons
Water - 1 cup
Ice cubes - 9 nos

Method:

1) Pluck the grapes from its stem. Wash it well.
2) Transfer the grapes to the blender/juicer.

3) Add sugar to it. Blend it for 2-3 minutes.
4) Add water and blend it again for a second.

5) Filter it using a strainer.
6) Pour this juice to 3 glasses. Add ice cubes and serve immediately.

Notes:
1) Addition of water is optional. Most of the time, I prepare this juice without adding water.
2) The grapes I used are very sweet. So I added only 2 tablespoons of sugar. Adjust the sugar quantity based on the taste of grapes.
3) If you are not serving immediately, keep the juice in refrigerator until ready to serve. Add ice cubes just before serving.

Tender Coconut Palm Sugar Cooler / Elaneer Panakarkandu Panam

2013-04-29T21:50:00.003+05:30

Summer is peak here now and I am getting few emails to post some summer drinks to cool our body. So, this week I am planning to post only beverages to beat the heat.

My first recipe for this week is tender coconut palm sugar cooler. I got this recipe from aval vikadan, a tamil monthly magazine. Usually, We drink fresh tender coconut as it is. After reading about this simple drink from that book, I tried once and found it to be a different one. It gives some unique taste and also it is very simple to make. By adding palm sugar to it, you grab all the heath benefits from tender coconut water and palm sugar.

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: <10 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients:
Tender coconut water - 2 cups (from 2 small tender coconuts)
Tender coconut flesh - 1/2 cup, chopped
Palm Sugar / Panakarkandu - 1 tablespoon

Method:

1) Pour filtered tender coconut water in a large bowl.

2) Make a powder of palm sugar using a mixer or coffee grinder.
3) Add the powdered palm sugar to the tender coconut water. Mix using a spoon till it dissolves.

4) Add chopped coconut flesh to it. Mix again.
5) Refrigerate till it is ready to serve. Mix well before serving.

Notes:

1) Change the Palm sugar quantity based your taste buds.

Pasi Paruppu Payasam / Moong Dal Kheer

2013-04-26T21:56:00.001+05:30

For Chitra Pournami (Full Moon Day that comes in the tamil month of Chithirai), Mom makes some special dish at home. Every time, she makes either semiya payasam or sago payasam. Sometimes she mixs both. This time, I asked her to prepare paruppu payasam for a change and she accepted to prepare it. When she entered the kitchen, my mom's colleague came home to seek some personal help. I asked her to sit with her colleague and continued to prepare the payasam on my way. Yes. Mom's way of preparing this payasam is different. She doesn't add milk, doesn't disolve Jaggery in water and adds grated coconut.

I used this opportunity to take pictures for both step wise and final. I prepared this payasam only for 3 members. Since my mom's colleague had also come, we shared it in 4 bowls and enjoyed it after offering to God. Wait, I can read your mind voice. You are wondering how I clicked these pictures when guest had come home. Am I right? I saved my share and clicked this picture when she left home.

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: <5 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 3

Ingredients:

Yello Split Moong Dal / Mung dal / Pasi paruppu - 3/4 cup
Jaggery - 3/4 cup
Milk - 3/4 cup, boiled
Green Cardamom - 3 nos, crushed
Ghee - 1 teaspoon
Cashewnut - 5 nos
Raisins - 5 nos
Water - 2 cups + 1/2 cup

Method:

1) Take a pan. Heat ghee. Roast cashew nuts and raisins. When cashew nuts turns brown and raisins become pulpy, transfer to a plate.

2) In the same pan, roast moong dal until it release nice aroma and changes in its colour.
3) Transfer the roasted moong dal to a pressure cooker. Add 2 cups of water and pressure cook it for 4-5 whistles.

4) Meanwhile, in another pan, heat jaggery, crushed cardamom along with 1/2 cup of water just until it dissolves.
5) When the steam releases from the pressure cooker, remove the lid and mash it well using a ladle.
6) Filter the dissolved jaggery water to remove impurities. Add this to the mashed moong dal. Mix well.

7) Allow this kheer to boil. When it is boiling turn the flame off and pour the milk.
8) Add roasted cashew nuts and raisins. Mix well.

9) Moong Dal Kheer is ready to serve.

Notes:
1) Increaase of decrease the jaggery quantity as per your taste.
2) Addition of milk is optional. To make a vegan version of it, skip the milk and roast the cashews in oil. Add the same quantity of water instead of milk.
3) Payasam consistency depends upon the water quantity you add. So, increase or decrease the water based on your preference.
4) Don't forget to add the milk only after you turned the flame off. Otherwise, It might get curdled.

Pasi Paruppu Puttu / Moong Dal Puttu

2013-04-24T19:13:00.000+05:30

As I said in my last post, I learnt many recipes from my grandma. I make her recipes on my own here at my home. If she comes here, I ask her to prepare few delicacies. She uses the same utensils, same ingredients and measurements what I use. But I don't know how her recipes alone taste heaven. Guess she has some secret with her hand :-). Fine, I'll come to today's recipe. It is also from my grandma. She prepares this recipe for breakfast or tiffin and sometimes as a mid morning snack.

It is a vegan, guilt free, protein rich recipe which can be enjoyed by everyone. If you have concern about coconut and sugar, do the following alternate. Skip the coconut and add palm sugar instead of white sugar.

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: <10 minutes
Soaking Time: 1 hour
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 2 persons

Ingredients:

Yellow Split Moong Dal / Mung Dal / Pasi Paruppu - 1 cup
Salt - a small pinch
Fresh coconut - 3 tablespoons, grated
Sugar - 3 tablespoons
Green Cardamom - 2 nos, crushed

Method:

1) Soak yellow moong dal for an hour.

2) After an hour, drain the water from it. Grind the moong dal to a fine paste without adding water. Transfer the paste to a bowl and add a pinch of salt. Mix well.

3) Take Idly pan and pour a ladle of batter to the idly moulds. Steam it for 10 minutes or until it gets cooked well.

4) Once it is cooked, transfer the steamed idlies to a bowl or plate.
5) Make a crumble of it.

6) Add sugar, grated coconut and cardamom. Mix well.
7) Serve it for breakfast or tiffin.

Notes:
1) Instead of sugar you can add palm sugar to this puttu. Instead of whole cardamoms, you can also use cardamom powder.
2) You can also soak moong for whole night. Make sure not to add more water while grinding. If you have added more water while grinding, sometimes, the moong dal idlies may become hard. If so, break the idlies into four and just pulse it using mixer to get crumble.
3) Increase or decrease the grated coconut and sugar quantity based on your taste.

Moong Dal Rava Dosa

2013-04-22T22:40:00.001+05:30

After four long years, I have gone to my grandma's place. I recollected my golden childhood days that I spent in farms next to her house. Every summer vacation, we visit her place and we play, play and play throughout the day in the ground next to the temple in that village. She comes to the ground and yells at us. Not for playing but for tasting(eating) the bhachanams(Sweets and snacks) she made. Those days are like festival days and she treats us with different types of foods for all the days we stay there.

With those wonderful memories, when we visited her this time, she prepared Moongdal Rava Dosa upon my request. She has been preparing it for ages. There are many recipes, I learnt from her and I have posted few already here. I promise that the other recipes will also follow in my space. Coming to today's recipe, She used yellow split moong dal. I usually use whole green moong dal for making this dosa. Both the recipes give distinct taste. Try both and follow the one which u like.

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Soaking Time: 1 hour
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4-5 Persons

Ingredients:

Yellow Split Moong Dal / Whole Green Moong Dal - 1 cup (see notes)
Rava / Semolina - 1 cup
Small onion / Shallots / Pearl onion - 3/4 cup, finely chopped
Green chilli - 2 nos, finely chopped
Ginger - 1 inch length, grated
Curry leaves - 2 strings, finely chopped
Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Asafoetida - a big pinch
Oil - 2 teaspoons + for making dosa
Salt - to taste

Method:

1) Soak moongdal and rava separately for an hour.
2) Meanwhile, chop onion, green chilli, ginger and curry leaves.
3) After an hour, drain the water from both. Reserve the water from rava. Grind moong dal to a smooth paste. If required, add only less quantity of water for grinding.

4) Transfer the ground moondal to a wide bowl. Add the drained rawa to the moongdal paste. Mix well. Now, slowly add water to this mixture and make the consistency like dosa batter.

5) Take a kadai or frying pan. Heat oil. When it is hot, add cumin seeds followed by asafoetida, chopped onion, green chilli, curry leaves and ginger. Saute till the onion becomes soft.
6) Add this sauteed ingredients to the batter. Add salt. Mix well.

7) Heat the dosa pan/tawa and spread some oil on the surface of it. (Oil is not required in case of non-stick pan). When you sprinkle water on the pan it raises a typical sound and the water disappears immediately. Its the right time to, pour a ladle of dosa batter. While spreading out the batter, gently spread the batter from the center towards the end of the pan in an uniform circular motion.
8) Apply less than half a teaspoon of oil on to the corners of the dosa.

9) After a minute, flip to other side and allow it to cook.
10) Serve hot with kara chuney and Idly powder.

Notes:
1) If you don't get time, instead of sauting the onion, directly add to the batter to make dosa.
2) If you are using whole green moong dal, soak it for 3-5 hours or over night.

Mixed Vegetable Roti

2013-04-19T16:02:00.001+05:30

The folks at my household prefer to eat only chapathi or roti for dinner. My MIL prepares chapathi dough at 6 in the evening and keeps the kneaded dough idle for 1 and 1/2 hours for making roti/chapathi/parathas. She does it in a routine work everyday and if she happens to skip it, only then we go for other options like upma, dosa for dinner.

That was the day, when we returned home after a busy day out and opted to prepare an instant roti that doesn't require any side dish. Took some vegetables from the refrigerator, grated and mixed it with flour to prepare mixed vegetable roti. Though I have prepared this roti many times, It came out super good on that day. Also, I thought I can not wait for another day to prepare this tasty roti to click. So, I clicked the pictures on the same day in fluorescent light. This roti doesn't require any side dish but you can have it with pickle or curd. It is also a perfect food to pack for travelling.

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: 20-30 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Makes: 10-11 Roties

Ingredients:

Wheat flour / Atta - 2 cups + 1/4 cup for dusting
Carrot - 1/4 cup, grated
Beetroot - 1/4 cup, grated
Radish - 1/4 cup, grated
Cabbage - 1/4 cup, shredded
Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon, crushed
Red chilli powder - 1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt - to taste
Oil / Butter - 1 tablespoon + extra for making roties
Water - as required to make tight dough

Method:

1) Take all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl. First, mix everything without adding water.

2) Then, slowly add water and make a tight dough. Knead for 5 minutes.

3) Divide the dough into equal sized balls.
4) Roll each ball into a round disc using a rolling pin. Use wheat flour for dusting if required.
5) Heat skillet / tawa. When it is hot, place the round disc to the pan. Apply oil / butter coating using a brush.

6) After few seconds, when the colour of the roti turns slightly dark, turn to other side. Repeat this step for all roties.
7) Serve immediately. We had it with tomato pickle and curd.

Notes:
1) The vegetables added to the dough tend to release water and rolling of roties will be difficult if you keep the dough idle like we do it in the preparation of basic roti recipe. So, do not keep it idle and start preparing roties immediately after preparing the dough.
2) You can add any vegetables of your choice. Make sure to chop them finely before you add.
3) Add ginger garlic paste and finely chopped onion if you like.

Methi Thepla / Fenugreek Leaves Flat Bread

2013-04-17T15:27:00.000+05:30

I never knew that theplas are from Gujarat until I read an e-cookbook of North Indian recipe collection. After reading, I knew what were theplas and never tasted it. About a year ago, when my husband's colleagues arranged a small get together, one of his friends brought fried methi theplas. I tasted them for the first time and liked the taste of it. I finished 4 theplas in a go without any side dish. :-)

After that, I started to prepare methi thepla at home, whenever I find and buy fresh methi leaves from market. Theplas are easy to make and the one I posted here are prepared using skillet/tawa. You can also deep fry them.

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Idle Time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Makes: 10-14 theplas

Ingredients:

Wheat flour / Atta - 2 cups + 1/4 cups for dusting
Fresh methi leaves / Fresh fenugreek leaves - 1 and 1/2 cups, finely chopped
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tablespoon
Red chilli powder - 1 tablespoon
Coriander powder - 1 and 1/2 tablespoons
Salt - to taste
Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Thick curd / Yogurt - 1/2 cup
Water - as required to make dough

Method:

1) Pluck the fengreek leaves from stem and wash well. Chop them finely.
2) In a mixing bowl, add wheat flour, fenugreek leaves, red chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, salt and cumin seeds. Rub it using your finger tips first before adding Yogurt. The water content from methi leaves will be absorbed by flour this way.
3) Add yogurt now. Mix again for 1 minute.

4) Add water slowely till you make a tight dough. Knead for few minutes and keep aside 15 minutes.
5) After 15 minutes, divide the dough into equal sized balls.
6) Roll each ball into round disc with the help of flour and using a rolling pin.
7) Heat skillet / tawa and place the rolled thepla. Coat it with oil or butter.

8) After few seconds, turn to other side using spatula to cook the other side. Repeat this step to cook remaining theplas.
9) Serve hot with pickle, lemon wedges and slices of onion.

Notes:
1) Cumin seeds can be replaced with cumin powder.
2) Change the thickness of the theplas based on your preference. Since we had it immediately after preparing it, I rolled them as thin disc.

Spicy Oats Roti

2013-04-15T19:25:00.000+05:30

Another recipe from My e-cookbook collections. The recipe in the cook book was Spicy roti which used wheat flour and besan flour. At the time of preparation I didn't have besan, so replaced it with powdered oats. Remaining all procedures are same. You can also use carom seeds instead of cumin seeds.

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Idle Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Makes: 8 Rotis

Ingredients:

Wheat flour / Atta - 1 cup + 1/4 cup for dusting
Quick cooking Oats - 1 cup
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Coriander leaves - 3 strings, finely chopped
Water - As required to make the dough

Method:

1) In a dry mixer/ coffee grinder, take quick cooking oats and powder it.
2) In a mixing bowl, mix wheat flour, powdered oats, red chilli powder, oil, salt, cumin seeds and coriander leaves.

3) Slowly add water and make smooth and tight dough. Cover and keep aside for 30 minutes.
4) After 30 minutes, divide the dough into equal sized balls.
5) Roll each ball into round disc with the help of rolling pin. Use wheat flour for dusting.

6) Heat skillet / tawa. When it is hot, place the roti. Smear it using butter / oil. I didn't use any of these two.
7) Turn to other side after few seconds to cook the other side.

8) Serve immediately. We had it with Fresh green peas masala with lemon wedges.

Notes:
1) Use oil or butter to cook roti. I usually don't add oil while cooking roti, so I didn't add it.
2) Use maida or all purpose flour for dusting the rotis. This way you can avoid the white patches on the rotis to some extend.

Tomato Pickle

2013-04-14T23:22:00.000+05:30

Tomato pickle is my grandma's one of the signature recipes. She uses pure 'Nattu thakkali'(Organic sour tomatoes) for preparing it. It is a perfect condiment for all kind of recipes but goes very well with Dosa.

My mom got me few Kilos of fresh organic tomatoes from the nearest farm at good price and she asked me to prepare this pickle. Till now, I tried tomato pickle only with my grandma's live guidance and I didn't want to take the risk with huge quantity of tomatoes. So, I tried it with half Kg of tomatoes on my own to check the taste. It came out as expected and I made use of the remaining tomatoes later. Increase the recipe as per your requirement.

For large quantity of tomatoes, try using freshly ground red chilli powder and fenugreek seeds for perfect taste and aroma.

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 15-20 minutes
Makes: About 1 cup

Ingredients:

Tomato - 500 grams, firm and ripe
Tamarind - small blueberry size
Red chilli powder - 1 tablespoon
Gingelly Oil - 2 tablespoons
Mustard seeds and urad dal - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt - to taste
Asafoetida - a big pinch
Roasted Fenugreek powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Method:

1) Wash and wipe the tomatoes using kitchen towel.
2) Cut them into four pieces.
3) Put them in a mixer or grinder or food processor and blend it along with tamarind. Keep it aside.

4) Heat oil in a wide thick bottom pan / kadai. Add mustard seeds and urad dal.
5) Once the mustard seeds splutter, carefully pour the tomato paste to the pan.

6) Let it cook for 3 minutes. Add red chilli powder and salt. Cook again for 2 minutes.
7) Cover using the lid and reduce the flame to low.
8) Continue cooking till the oil oozes out from the sides of the pan and you don't see any trace of water. It takes 10-15 minutes of time. Stir in between so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.

9) Add roasted fenugreek powder and asafoetida. Mix well and turn the flame off.
10) Allow to cool to room temperature and store in a dry container. Keep refrigerated for longer shelf life.

Notes:
1) Since the tomatoes I used tasted sour, I used only blueberry size tamarind. so, increase or decrease the tamarind quantity based on the sourness of the tomato.
2) If you don't have roasted fenugreek powder, substitute it with fenugreek seeds.
3) While cooking the tomato paste, it might splash/splutter. So keep covered and keep in low flame till it become thick.

Instant Amla Pickle

2013-04-10T23:37:00.000+05:30

This week's second recipe is Instant Amla Pickle. Traditional preparation of pickle uses more oil and salt for longer shelf life of the pickle. In a healthy point of view, we don't prefer salty and oily pickle in our meal as we include pickle every weekend and sometimes during weekdays for parathas. because of it, We prepare instant one frequently in smaller quantity with less oil and salt.

Since the baseline preparation for all almost the pickles is same, I do change only the main ingredient for different type of pickles. Here, I used amla as main ingredient and boiled it to get instant softness. You can boil it with water or steam it till they become soft. As I said before, I used less oil and salt. If you don't want to sacrifice the authentic look and taste of it, add more oil and salt.

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: <10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Makes: about 1 and 1/2 cups

Ingredients:
Amla / Indian gooseberry / Nellikkai - 10 nos, medium size
Dry red chilli - 6 nos
Fenugreek seeds - 1/8 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - a big pinch
Salt - to taste
Gingelly oil - 1 tablespoon
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Asafoetida - a big pinch

Method:
1) Heat water along with a pinch of salt and turmeric in a sauce pan. When it is boiling, add amla slowly. Let it be in rolling boil for 5 minutes. Turn the flame off. Drain the water and allow the amla to cool.

2) Meanwhile, dry roast red chilli and fenugreek seeds. Make a powder of it. Keep it aside.

3) Now, Cut into wedges once the amla reaches to room temperature.
4) Heat a pan with a tablespoon of oil. When it is hot,add asafoetida and mustard seeds. Allow it to splutter.
5) Add amla wedges. Mix well. Let it cook for 3-5 minutes in low flame.
6) Add powder of dry red chilli and fenugreek seeds that we prepared already. Add turmeric and salt. Remember, we added salt to the amla while boiling(in first step). So, add salt accordingly. Mix well.

7) Cook for 2-3 minutes and turn the flame off.
8) Cool to room temperature and store in a dry container. Keep refrigerated for longer shelf life.

Drumstick Thokku / Murungakkai Thokku

2013-04-08T20:30:00.000+05:30

My neighbour gave me few drumsticks which she picked from her backyard. They are big, tender and with full of flesh. Just after seeing that, I remember a recipe using drumsticks from Sashiga's place that I bookmarked a month before.

When I asked her what was the pickle from the picture(The picture was for Coconut sambol recipe and she clicked with drumstick pickle) she posted in her blog, she shared the recipe immediately. After trying her Instant lemon pickle recipe, I become fan of her pickle recipes. As a next recipe, I tried this thokku and it didn't go wrong. I tried it twice in a week time, one with onion and the other without onion. Both tasted good, but if you ask me, I give first preference to the pickle without onion. It paired well with idly, dosa, rice, roti and parathas. I tasted it with slice of bread too. :-) Overall, It is good recipe to try and taste.

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Makes: 1 and 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

Drumsticks - 5 nos, medium size
Shallots / Pearl onion / Small onion / Chinna vengayam - 1 cup
Oil - 3 tablespoons
Asafoetida - 1/8 the teaspoon
Red chilli powder - 1 tablespoon or as required
Salt - to taste
Turmeric powder - a big pinch
Roasted fenugreek powder - a big pinch
Tamarind - a lemon size ball, soaked in 3 tablespoons of warm water for 15 minutes

Method:

1) Choose tender and pulpy drumstick for preparing this thokku. Cut drumstick into 3 inch length pieces.
2) Wash and pressure cook it with a cup of water for 2 whistles. Once the steam suppresses from it, strain the water and cool the drumsticks to the room temperature.

3) Split the drumstick and scoop out the pulp of the drumstick along with seeds. Keep it aside.
4) Put the small onions in a mixer and just pulse it so that we can get coarse paste of it. Mix this with drumstick and keep aside.

5) Heat oil in pan. Add onion and drumstick mixture to it.
6) Fry for few minutes till the raw smell of onion goes off.
7) Add red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt. Mix well. Let it cook for 3 minutes.

8) Squeeze out the juice from the tamarind pulp. You get a thick tamarind paste.
9) Add this tamarind paste. Mix well. continue cooking till the oil oozes out from the sides of the pan. Make sure to stir at frequent interval to avoid burning.

10) At last, add roasted fenugreek powder and asafoetida. Turn the flame off.

Notes:
1) This thokku can also be prepared without onion. You can also remove seeds and prepare thokku without that.
2) This thokku tasted good when it is fresh. Since the drumsticks are pressure cooked, it has moisture which reduces the shelf life of it. Keep in refrigerator for longer shelf life.
3) I used only 3 tablespoon of oil. If you wish, you can add more oil for additional taste. Add mustard seeds for seasoning if you prefer.

Chocolate Truffles

2013-04-06T21:58:00.000+05:30

Believe me, I tasted chocolate truffles only before 8 years. Until then, I didn't know about truffles and thanks to TH for giving me a chance to taste it. He gifted me a box of assorted truffles which were very good and I liked the mint flavored one a lot. I wanted to try the same version at home and looked over web.

After searching few recipes, stuck with this basic one from Joy of Baking. I followed her video and made 13 truffles coated with cocoa powder, powdered sugar, chocolate chips and decorative sugar balls. Preparing a perfect chocolate truffles with various flavors and professional look is on my next to-do list. Hope I will be preparing it soon. :-)

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: <5 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Idle Time: 2-4 hours
Makes: 13-15 truffles

Ingredients:

For Truffles:

Semi sweet chocolate - 113 grams, finely chopped (I used 62% cocoa chocolate)
Heavy cream / Double cream - 1/4 cup
Unsalted butter - 1 tablespoon (Optional)

For Coating:

Powdered sugar - 2 tablespoons
Cocoa powder - 2 tablespoons
Chocolate chips - 2 tablespoons
Almond / Walnuts / Cashew nuts - 2 tablespoons
Decorative sugar balls - 2 tablespoons

Method:

1) Heat double cream along with butter in a small and heavy bottom sauce pan over medium heat.
2) When it is boiling, turn the flame off immediately and add chopped chocolate. Let it be for few minutes and stir it until it reaches smooth consistency.
3) This cream and chocolate mixture is called as ganache. Pour this ganache to a bowl. Alternately, you can take chocolate in a bowl and pour boiling heavy cream into it and mix well to get ganache.

4) Keep this bowl in the refrigerator for 2 hours to 4 hours or till it becomes firm. This refrigeration time might vary based on the quality of the chocolate you use.
5) I kept for 4 hours. After 4 hours, scoop out the ganache using a tablespoon and roll to a ball immediately before it melts.
6) Coat these truffles in powdered sugar or cocoa powder or in chocolate chips.

7) Store again in a dry container or box and keep inside the fridge. Bring to room temperature when you serve.

Notes:
1) Use high quality chocolate for best truffles.
2) Add vanilla or other flavors as per your liking to this truffles.
3) You can also use bittersweet chocolate for making these truffles. I personally don't like bittersweet one and I prepared using bittersweet chocolate once and coated with sugar 3 or 4 times to eat it.

Athalakkai Puli Kulambu / Kaasara Kaaya Pulusu

2013-04-04T21:31:00.000+05:30

Athalakkai has many nutritional health benefits because of which I buy it whenever the season comes and where ever I see them.

Since Everyday market is next to my home, I buy vegetables once in two days. But I stock seasonal vegetables as they come to market only once in a year. but this athalakkai is exceptional. I buy them in smaller quantity each time and cook it on the same day I buy it. because this vegetable tend to burst out its seeds in nature and you can not store it for long time.

People who stay at chennai and fond of eating athalakkai can also get it in leading Pazhamudhir solai shops. They sell it during its season. If you don't know about athalakkai, click here to read about it and its health benefits.

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4 persons

Ingredients:

Athalakkai - 200 grams
Onion - 1 no, medium size, chopped
Tomato - 1 no, medium size, diced
Curry leaves - 1 string
Gingelly oil - 3 teaspoons
Mustard seeds and Urad dal - 1/2 teaspoon
Tamarind - 1 lemon size ball, soaked in a cup of warm water for 15 minutes
Water - 1 cup
Sambar masala - 1 and 1/2 tablespoons
Coriander powder - 1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt - to taste
Jaggery - 1 tablespoon
Rice flour - 1 teaspoon (optional)

Method:

1) Wash and trim both the corners of athalakkai. Keep it aside.
2) Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and urad dal when it is hot. Allow it to splutter.
3) Add onion and curry leaves. Saute till the onions become soft and translucent.
4) Add tomato. Cook till it becomes soft.

5) Add athalakkai now. Fry for a minute.
6) Add sambar masala, coriander powder, turmeric powder and salt. Mix well and let it cook for 1-2 minutes.
7) Squeeze out and extract juice from the tamarind pulp. Add this tamarind water to the pan. Add 1 cup water. mix well.

8) Allow this mixture to boil. When it is boiling, add the jaggery. If you are using rice flour, mix it with 1 tablespoon of water and add it to the kulambu. Cover the pan using lid and reduce the flame to low. Let it be for 7-10 minutes. This time might vary based on the consistency of the kulambu you required.

9) Check whether the athalakkai are cooked or not. Once it is done and the kulambu reached its consistency, add remaining teaspoon of oil and turn the flame off.
10) Serve it with hot steamed rice.

Notes:
1) Instead of fresh athalakkai, you can also use dried athalakki(vathal) to prepare this kulambu. If so, use only 1/4 cup of dried athalakkai and follow the same procedure.
2) Addition of jaggery and rice flour is optional. Rice flour is added to get thick gravy consistency.

Mooli Paratha / Radish Stuffed Flat Bread

2013-04-02T22:48:00.001+05:30

If the folks at home hate radish, then what is the best way to make them eat it? Just try paratha like this. Since the radish is sauteed here, no one feel the harsh taste of radish while eating this paratha. Even I don't like radish, but eat it only if it is prepared in this way.

The recipe is from the north Indian e-cook book which was sent by one of my friends during my first year of work. I don't remember which friend sent it. but a big thanks to him/her. I have tried many north Indian recipes from that e-book and posted few recipes from that book in this blog. I will be posting remaining recipes one by one from now on wards.

The original recipe from the cook book used fresh grated radish for making this paratha. I find it difficult to roll when I made using fresh radish. So, sauteed it for easy binding and rolling. It is your choice to use fresh or sauteed radish.

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Makes: 8 parathas

Ingredients:

For Dough:

Wheat flour/ Atta - 2 cups + extra for dusting
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 teaspoon
Butter / Oil - 2 tablespoons or as required for cooking parathas
Water - required to make dough

For Stuffing:

Radish -2 nos, large size, grated (yielded about 2 cups)
Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt - to taste
Oil - 2 teaspoons
Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Coriander leaves - 2 tablespoon (optional)

Method:

For Dough:

1) Take flour in a mixing bowl. Add salt.

2) Add water slowely and make soft dough.
3) Coat it with oil. Cover and keep aside for 10 minutes.

For Stuffing:

1) Grate the radish in a mixing bowl. Add salt and cover it using a lid. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes.
2) After 15 minutes, squeeze out the juice/water from the radish and keep it aside (You can also add this water to the flour to make dough. I usually do it. but it is a personal preference.)

3) Take a pan/kadai and heat oil. When it is hot, add cumin seeds. Allow it to splutter.
4) Add grated radish along with red chilli powder, turmeric powder and a pinch of salt. Remember we already added salt to radish before.

5) Cook it for few minutes. Add finely chopped coriander leaves if you are using it. Allow it to cool to room temperature.

For Making Parathas:

1) Divide the dough into 8 equal sized balls. Divide the stuffing into 8 equal parts.
2) Take one ball and roll it into a 3 inch round disc. Place the stuffing in the center of the round disc.

3) Bring together all the corners and seal it well.
4) Using some flour, roll this into a 5 inch round paratha.
5) Repeat the step for remaining dough balls.

6) Heat tawa/ pan / skillet. When it is hot, place the rolled paratha in the skillet.
7) Brush it with oil or butter. Turn it to other side after few seconds.
8) Serve immediately with raita or pickle.

Notes:
1) With the given measurement, I prepared 8 medium size parathas as shown in picture. However, you may vary this as per your preference. Make it smaller or bigger.

Kara Boondhi / Kara Boonthi

2013-03-31T22:49:00.000+05:30

I am not interested in buying snacks like mixer, sev and other savoury items from shops. I fear about the oil the shops use. because of this reason, I limit myself buying these kind of snacks from outside. But, I like to eat them along with tea or coffee, if it is prepared at home. So, I prepare these kind of snacks at home whenever time permits to accompany tea or coffee.

Few weeks before, when I was talking with my MIL about preparing kara boondhi, she said that she has the perforated ladle which we use for making boondhi and she took it from the upper loft and gave it to me. I never knew that we had this ladle at home until my MIL gave it to me. Otherwise, I would have prepared some recipe using boondhi for last diwali. I know I can not wait till next diwali to prepare some recipes using it. What next? Got the recipe of kara boondhi from her and made use of the ladle immediately. Off to the recipe now...

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: <10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Makes: 2-3 cups (approximately)

Ingredients:

Gram flour / Besan flour / Kadalai maavu - 1 cup
Rice flour - 1/4 cup
Oil - for deep frying + 1 tablespoon
Peanuts - 1/4 cup, with skin
Curry leaves - 2 strings
Garlic - 8-10 nos, small size
Asafoetida - a big pinch
Red chilli powder - to taste
Salt - to taste

Method:

1) Sieve all the flours well and make sure there are no lumps. Then, In a mixing bowl, add besan flour, rice flour and salt.
2) Add water slowly and make a thick batter very similar to bajji batter. The batter should be thick at the same time it should be in a pourable consistency. Also, make sure not to form any lumps in the batter. Preparing batter is the important steps for making perfect shaped boondhis without any tail. So, be careful while adding water.

3) Heat oil in the heavy bottom kadai/pan. Meanwhile, get the perforated ladles for preparing kara boonthi. One is big with covered sides to make boondhi and another is to fry and transfer the boondhis from oil to a dry plate.
4) When the oil is hot and not smoking, just pour a pinch of batter and see it comes to the surface of the oil without any tail. If it forms the tail, add little more water. If it forms very thin or flat boondhis, then add 1 or 2 teaspoons of besan to the batter. Make sure not to form lumps while mixing the besan.
5) When the oil is ready and checked the batter consistency, place the big perforated ladle just above the oil and pour batter to it. Using another perforated ladle, just tap the big ladle so that round shapes boondhis fall into the oil. Don't hesitate to get help from others to do this job.

6) Fry till the 'shh' sound subsides or till the boondhis slightly turn darker in its colour. Transfer these boondhis to the kitchen towel to drain the excess oil.
7) Taste and see the boondhis are crispy. If not, increase the frying time. Repeat the step for rest of the batter. Make sure to fry boondhis with uniform colour in all the batches.
8) Take another pan and heat a tablespoon of oil.

9) Add peanuts, curry leaves, crushed garlic cloves and asafoetida when it is hot.
10) Fry till the curry leaves and garlic cloves become crispy.
11) Transfer this mixture to the kara boondhis. Add red chilli powder and salt. Mix well. Taste and adjust the spicy and salt level.
12) Store it in a air tight container. Before serving, mix well.

Notes:
1) Since I used slotted/perforated ladle which is only for making kara boondhis, I didn't wipe the batter every time after pouring the batter into it l. If you don't have one, you can also use the big slotted ladle and make sure to wipe the ladle every time when you pour the batter.
2) If you store this snack in air tight container, mix well before serving. Otherwise, the boondhis left in the bottom part taste salty.

Apple Oatmeal Walnut Cookies

2013-03-27T22:49:00.001+05:30

Joy the baker is the first cooking blog which I followed before I started my own blog and those days I had zero experience in baking. Her site is one of the great inspirations for me and I became a big fan of her cookies and cupcakes. Today's recipe is from her site, the Chewy apple cinnamon oatmeal and walnut cookies.

These cookies were not appealing when you look at it. because of this reason, it didn't attract me initially. Later, I tried it to use the leftover oats which has become wet (I sun dried it for 30 minutes and used it in this recipe) when I filled water into the container that placed next to the pantry. After baking, I tasted one when it is warm. Believe me, the taste was wonderful they become my favourite ones from her cookies list.

I enjoy the crunchy taste of walnut every time I eat it and love the flavor every time I bake it. I guarantee that it will become favourite cookies for you too, if you are a fan of chewy and crunchy type cookies.

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 10-13 minutes
Makes: 12 cookies

Ingredients:
Unsalted butter - 1/4 cup, softened
Granulated sugar - 1/4 cup
Brown sugar - 1/4 cup
Egg - 1 no, small
Vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon
All purpose flour / Maida / Plain flour - 1/2 cup
Quick cooking oats - 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons
Baking powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Baking soda - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
Cinnamon powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Nutmeg powder - a pinch
Walnuts - 1/2 cup, roughly chopped
Apple - 1 no, small size
Lemon juice - 1/2 teaspoon, freshly squeezed

Method:

1) Preheat the oven to 350F(176C) for 15 minutes. Line the baking tray with parchment paper.
2) Peel off the skin of apple and chop them finely. Mix it with lemon juice and set aside.
3) Take a wide mixing bowl and mix both the sugar and butter. Beat it using a whisk until it becomes creamy.

4) Add egg and continue beating. Add vanilla extract and beat until blended.
5) Add oats, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder and salt.

6) Mix slowly just until incorporated. Stir the walnuts and chopped apple at last.
7) Take a tablespoon sized dough and arrange them in the prepared baking tray with even intervals.
8) Bake it in the preheated oven for 10-13 minutes or until they are done.

9) Allow it to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes:
1) The recipe is halved here and these cookies are tasted good when served warm.
2) I like chewy type cookies and I baked it only for 10 minutes.
3) I added more walnuts for extra crunchiness.

Nellikkai Pachadi / Amla Raita

2013-03-25T22:07:00.000+05:30

Today's recipe is simple, cooling, easy to make amla raita(Indian gooseberry raitha/raita, Nellikkai thayir pachadi). It goes well with rice recipes. I personally love to eat it with roti and parathas. I really want to write more about my amla love and how we cultivate and get amlas from our farm. But, I feel very sleepy today with no reason and wanted to wind it up so that I can hit the bed quickly. So, with no further stories, here comes the recipe.

Basic Information:
Preparation and Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Makes: 1 cup

Ingredients:

Amla / Nellikkai / Indian Gooseberry - 4 nos, medium size
Coconut - 2 tablespoons, chopped
Green chillies - 2 nos
Yogurt / Curd - 1 cup (Use only fresh curd)
Salt - to taste
Oil - 2 teaspoons
Mustard seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
Asafoetida - a pinch
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Curry leaves - 1 string
Water - 1 cup

Method:

1) In a saucepan, boil 1 cup of water with salt and turmeric powder. When it is boiling add amlas and cook only for 3-5 minutes in full flame. Make sure not to over cook.
2) Once the amlas are cooked, allow it to cool to room temperature and chop them.

3) Add chopped amla, coconut cloves, green chillies to a mixer and make a coarse paste of it.
4) Take fresh curd in a bowl and beat it well for few seconds.

5) Add coarse amla coconut paste to this curd. Add salt. Mix well.
6) In a seasoning pan, heat oil and throw mustard seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves. Let it splutter.

7) Add this seasoning to the curd amla mixture.
8) Serve with any of your rice items.

Notes:
1) Use only fresh, sour less curd for making this raita for perfect taste.
2) You can also add finely chopped coriander leaves to this raita.