Moong, Tuvar dal and Tinda Aloo curry

Hello,

I will share with you recipe for moong and tuvar dal and tinda aloo curry. 

Moong and Tuvar dal

Moong dal - 1/2 cup
Tuvar dal - 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Green chilly -1
ginger - 1 tsp
Red chilly - 2
Ghee - 1 tsp
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Hing - a pinch
salt as required

Method of Preparation

Wash and soak moong and tuvar dal together for about 20 minutes. In pressure cooker add turmeric and 4 cups of water till 2 whistles.  Remove from stove. In a small pan pour ghee add jeera, red chilly and little hing. Allow the jeera to splutter. Add ginger and green chilly. Pour this tadka into the cooked dal.  Adjust consistency of the dal by adding 1/2 cup of hot water. Serve hot with phulka.

Tinda and aloo curry

Aloo - 1

Tinda - 5 to 6

Capsicum - 1

Onion - 1

coriander leaves - 2 tsp

Fry and crush

Coriander - 2 tsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Pepper - 1/4 tsp

turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Method of Preparation

Wash and peel potato and cut into big cubes. Cut and deseed tinda and capsicum, cut into cubes. Peel and chop onion into big cubes. 

Dry roast coriander seeds, jeera and pepper. crush using mortar and piston to a coarse powder. Keep aside.

In a wok add sunflower oil and 1/4 tsp jeera. Allow jeera to release aroma. Now add onion and fry, add potato and turmeric powder. Stir well. After 3 minutes add tinda. Add salt. Stirring occasionally allow potato and tinda to cook into crispy golden brown in medium flame. Add crushed spices.  Add chopped capsicum and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with phulka as a side dish. 

Sevai(rice noodles)

Hello,

For dinner I made rice sevai. A tiffin which need lot of manual work! But the end result is worth all the effort taken.

Sevai (Rice noodles)

Ponni rice/ Dopi rice/Idly rice - 3 cups
salt as required
Water for grinding rice
Gingelly oil - 2 tbsp

Method of Preparation

Wash and soak ponni boiled rice for about 4 to 5 hours. Drain water grind in grinder to a smooth batter adding enough water and salt. Use a rubber spatula to take batter in a vessel. In a thick bottom kadai pour gingelly oil and pour the entire batter, add water if required. Keep stirring till the batter becomes thick. Off the stove make even sized balls/kozhakattai out of the cooked batter. Steam it using either idly vessel or a steamer. Wash  clean and apply little oil in the sevai nazhi. Use tongs to take kozhakattai from the steamer and put in the sevai nazhi, Press it immediately and spread the sevai into a flat plate. Do the same till all the steamed kozhakattai is over. 

In a heated pan pout gingelly oil add mustard seeds let it pop up, now add urad dal and chana dal and two red dry chillies.  Use a clean scissor to cut the sevai into small pieces and put in the kadai and mix well. Serve with coconut chutney/ sambhar/morukuttan

Variation

When you make the tadka add 1/2 tsp turmeric and put the sevai in it.Finally garnish with chopped coriander leaves and 2 tbsp lemon juice. Its lemon sevai

When you make tadka add 1/2 cup of grated coconut and roast till golden brown and put sevai into it. It become coconut sevai!

Add few chopped vegetables and you can make vegetables sevai too. 

You can make sevai for breakfast or for dinner. I am sure your kids will love the whole process of making sevai, I remember how my children used to help me making sevai when they where very young! Its fun filled family activity.

Vegetable Kurma for Poori/Roti

Good Morning friends,

Today I will share with you a gravy which goes along with parotta, poori and roti. I am sure your children and family will love the mild spices in Kurma .

 

Vegetable Kurma

Ingredients

Potato - 2
Carrot - 3
Beans - 20
Garlic - 3 pod
Ginger - a big piece
Green chilly - 4
onion - 1
tomato - 1
Ghee- 1 tbsp
coriander leaves - 1/2 tsp(chopped)

Cinnamon stick - 1 small piece
Clove - 2
Saunf/fennel - 1 tsp
bay leaf - 1/2 or 1 leaf
jeera - 1/4 tsp
elachi - 4 to 5
badi elachi - 1
star anise - 1
khus khus - 1/2 tsp

coconut - 1/2 cup

Method of Preparation

* In a heated pan fry cinnamon stick, clove, khus khus, saunf,bay leaf, jeera, elachi, badi elachi, star anise till all the spices release it aroma. Pound to a coarse powder in mortar and piston.

*Wash peel and chop vegetables like potato, carrot onion, garlic and cut into big cubes. Trim the edges of beans and cut into small pieces. 

* make a coarse paste of onion, garlic, green chilly, ginger.

* make a fine paste of coconut and keep aside.

* chop tomato into very small pieces. 

* steam potato, carrot and beans just for one whistle in pressure cooker.

Pour ghee in the same pan in which you fried the spices. Make sure you use a big pan! Add onion paste, add 1/2 cup water and allow the onion to cook extremely well in ghee, saute and make sure ghee separates from onion masala. Now add chopped tomatoes, fry further.  When the tomatoes are well cooked add cooked potato, carrot and beans. Mix well with the onion masala.Now add a cup of water and coconut paste. Allow everything to boil together. Finally add coarsely powdered fresh spices and garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Taste great with parotta, poori and roti. 

Aviyal

Hello,

Let me share with you a very simple but a very delicious dish which goes along with roti, rice and adai! wonder what is that magical dish - AVIYAL.

Mythology - Invention of aviyal.

Source - Wikipedia

 It is supposed to have been invented by Bhima (one of the 

Pandava brothers) during their exile. According to the legend, 

when Ballav (Bhima's name during this time) assumed his 

duties as the cook in the kitchen of Virata, he did not know how

to cook. One of the first things he did was to chop up many 

different vegetables, boil them together and top the dish with 

grated coconut. There are mythological variations. Bheema is 

said to have prepared Avial, when there were unexpected 

guests for King Virata and he needed to serve meals for them. 

There was no sufficient vegetables to cook any single recipe 

for side dish, so Bheema used what ever available vegetables 

to make a new dish, which came to know as Avial.

Another narrative version relates to the attempt made by Kauravas to kill Bhima. After poisoning Bhima, Kauravas tied Bhima and threw him to water. Kauravas also communicated that they saw Bhima drowning in water. With the completion of the days of mourning, a funeral feast was planned and preparation were underway. Unexpectedly, Bhima emerged from the water, rescued by the Nagas. With this, preparations for the feast was cancelled. However, Bhima was unhappy with this decision, and decided to mix all of the vegetables to prepare a new dish, that later became popular as Avial..

Great its wonderful to know there really exists a beautiful story behind this dish!

Aviyal 

Ingredients

Drum sticks - 2

raw banana - 1

carrot - 2

beans - 10

payar - 10

brinjal - 2

mango - 1

yam (chenna) - a small piece (100 grms)

mathan - a small piece 

elavan - a small piece

kanni vellarikka - a small piece

Coconut - 1/2 cup

curd - 1/2 cup

salt as required

curry leaves - a few

green chilly - 6

jeera - 1 tsp

Method of Preparation

* Cut, peel and chop chenna into very thin 2 inch long pieces. Add little salt and stem it. Keep aside.

*Wash peel  mathan, elavan, kanni vellarikka and cut into 2 inch long thin pieces. Cut rest of the vegetables like brinjal, drum stick, beans, payar etc also into 2 inch long pieces. 

* Grind coconut, jeera, green chilly, curry leaves into coarse paste by adding very less water. 

* whisk curd .

* In a thick bottom pan pour water add drum sticks, salt and turmeric. Cook till soft. Now add rest of the vegetables and cook till all veggies are tender. Add chenna to it, now add coconut paste, mix well, add whisked curd, and allow it to cook for about 5 minutes. Adjust salt. Off the stove pour raw coconut oil on top and serve with your roti, adai or rice.

Note : Those who wish to make aviyal as a side dish can avoid adding curd and can steam vegetables.

Avarakkai and potato curry

Avarakkai and potato curry

Ingredients

Avarakkai - 250 grms
Potato - 2
Ginger - a piece
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Saunf - 1/2 tsp
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
cinnamon stick - 1 small stick
Jeera powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Chilly powder - 1 tsp
Salt - as required

Sunflower oil - 2 tsp


Method of Preparation

Wash and trim avarakkai and slit into thin long pieces. Wash and peel potato and cut into thin slices. Wash and peel ginger cut into thin slices. Keep aside. 

In a heated pan pour sunflower oil add jeera, saunf and cinnamon stick. Allow the spices to release aroma, now add ginger, potato and turmeric powder. Let it cook for a while add avrakkai to it and mix well. Close the pan and allow potato and avarakkai to cook well, if required sprinkle little water for faster cooking. When the potato becomes well cooked and soft add jeera powder, coriander powder and chilly powder. Add salt and mix well. Allow the fresh masalas to mix well with potato and avarakkai. serve as a side dish with phulka. 


If you like the taste of mustard oil and crushed mustard use it in this dish, I like the pungent taste of mustard. 

Mustard oil - 1 tsp(Optional)
crushed mustard - 1 tsp

If you are using mustard oil instead of sunflower oil add mustard oil and add crushed mustard along with other masalas. The taste of this dish is just devine! I am a big fan of mustard and sarson ka saag. 

Masala Dosa with Chutney - Best South Indian breakfast

Hello, 

I know few of the south Indian snacks are liked world over by foodies. Like Upma winning the best breakfast and Masala dosa in the list of must try food from India. Here you go. The tasty yummy and delicious Masala Dosa.

 

Ingredients

Dosa batter - 3 cups (I use Idly batter for making dosa the next day, add more water and make the batter pouring consistency. I have previously shared Idly batter recipe in March 8th post. If you like fenugreek seeds you can soak 1 tbsp and grind to a smooth paste and add to dosa batter. I avoid adding fenugreek in idly batter as I want extremely spongy idly!)




For Potato Masala

Ingredients

Potato - 3
green chilly - 2
ginger - 1 small piece
oil for frying - 2 tsp
mustard seeds - 1 tsp
urad dal - 1/2 tsp
channa dal - 1 tsp
curry leaves - a few
coriander leaves - 1 tsp

Ghee/gingly oil for making dosa.

Method of Preparation

* Wash, cut and cook potato in pressure cooker for 3 whistles.Peel the potatoes and smash into small chunks. Do not smash to a smooth paste! You should get small chunks of potato in your mouth when you eat masala filling. 

* Chop onion, green chilly,ginger, coriander leaves into small pieces. Wash and keep curry leaves ready.

* In a heated pan pour oil add mustard seeds, allow it to crackle, add urad dal, channa dal let it become golden brown. Now add chipped green chilly and ginger followed by onion, Saute for a while. Add smashed potato chunks, turmeric, salt and allow the masala to become little thick. Add coriander leaves and curry leaves. Mix well. Adjust salt. 

(Do not add water as we are going to fill this masala into dosa)

Now we should make crispy dosa. Pour a ladle full of dosa batter and spread it using the same ladle to a thin circular dosa. Allow it to cook now pour a little ghee or gingelly oil. Turn the other way. Cook well. Again turn the dosa, take a ladle full of potato masala, keep it almost in the middle of the crispy dosa. Close the dosa into half. Serve hot with coconut chutney or tomato chutney. If you like you can just sprinkle a little molagai podi inside the dosa before filling masala. Its optional, but taste really delicious. Make masala dosa s breakfast or for dinner. It always is our all time favorite South Indian tiffin.

Tomato Chutney












Ingredients

Red ripe tomato - 2
baby onion - 10
Garlic - 1
ginger - a small piece
green chilly - 2
red chilly - 1
salt as required
channa dal - 1 tsp
curry leaves - a few
oil - 2 tsp


For tadka

oil - 1 tsp
mustard seed - 1/2 tsp

Method of Preparation

In a heated pan pour oil add channa dal roast it till golden brown, now add red chilly,  green chilly, ginger, garlic and saute. Add chopped tomato and onion.  Saute for a while, add curry leaves. Make sure all the vegetables are well cooked and don't have the raw smell. Grind to a coarse paste add 1/2 cup of water in a mixer.  In the same pan pour oil add mustard seed. Let the mustard crackle. Add the prepared tomato chutney and salt to it and allow it to cook further for about 5 to 10 minutes. Serve with Masala dosa. 

Variation : You can add 2 tbsp of freshly grated coconut to tomato chutney and grind. But make sure you finish the chutney the day you make it. 

In Bangalore we have a small joint called Vidyarthi Bhavan. I have seen them using boiled red rice for making dosa batter. It gives a special taste and bright colour to the dosa. Try it for variation.



Plain dosa with tomato chutney(another variety)

Ingredients

Dosa batter - 2 cups

Method of Preparation

Place the dosa tawa, use the traditional tawa rather than non stick.Take a ladle full of dosa batter and spread into thin dosa. Pour ghee or gingelly oil cook both sides and let the dosa become crispy.

crispy dosa. Methi is added only for dosa batter. When you grind urad dal make sure you soak and grind it adding just enough water. The batter will release air bubble once its done. Remove and grind rice once done add urad batter and grind together by adding salt. 

Now devide the batter into two parts. For idli separate for dosa separate. Allow both batter to ferment for about 6 hours.

I soak methi dana separately and grind it in mixer and add it only to dosa batter. For crispy mild flavoured dosa.

For tomato chutney

Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Green chilly - 4
Salt as required
Tomato - 1
Hing powder - 1 pinch
Ginger - a small piece

For tadka
sunflower oil - 1 tsp
mustard seed - 1/2 tsp

Method of Preparation

In a mixer grind coconut, green chilly, chopped ginger, tomato(cut into 8 pieces) hing powder and salt. Do not add water as tomato is very juicy and will make the chutney into pouring consistency. In a heated pan add sunflower oil and mustard let it splutter. Pour it on top of the prepared tomato chutney. Serve with freshly made crispy dosa.

Onion Uthappam

Ingredients 

Dosa batter- 3 cups (idly batter -3rd day)
Onion - 3
tomato - 1
green chilly -2
ginger - a big piece
curry leaves - 2 tbsp
salt a required
hing powder a pinch

Method of Preparation

* Keep the dosa batter outside the refrigerator.  If the batter is little sour the uthappam will be very tasty. By third day the idly batter will be really sour! 

* Chop onion, tomato, green chilly, ginger, curry leaves into very small piece. Mix well add salt and hing powder.

Keep dosa tawa in the stove. Heat and clean the surface using cut onion or little salt. Cleaning kitchen napkin. Pour a ladleful of dosa batter. Make a thick dosa. Sprinkle chopped vegetables. Allow the dosa to cook well. Pour gingelly oil and wait for the dosa to cook well,turn to the other side and close the doa with a lid. In a few minutes time you can remove the dosa from  tawa. Enjoy you dosa with green chutney, coconut chutney, sambar or molagaipodi.


I like to eat uthappam without any  side dish!! 

Tender coconut pudding - Summer cooler

Hello,

One more kids special. Tender coconut pudding. A very simple pudding which I am sure your kids will love. Make sure you stock china grass an algae for this special recipe. To read and understand facts about china grass please visit wikipedia. Link attached. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agar

Ingredients

Tender coconut juice - 150 ml

tender coconut meat (soft and shiny tender coconut from 3 tender coconuts) - 1 cup

chopped tender coconut pieces - 1/4 cup

china grass - 1 packet (8 gram)

condensed milk - 1 tin

whole cream milk - 1/2 litre

Method of Preparation

* Scoop the tender meat from tender coconut. (Keep two or three small pieces for chopping) Add 75 ml of tender coconut juice and make a fine smoothie using a mixer juicer or blender. Keep aside.

* Boil milk and mix condensed milk to it. Keep aside.

* Chop two or three small slices of tender coconut pieces into fine pieces. Keep it ready.

* Break china grass into small pieces. Boil rest 75 ml of tender coconut juice in low flame add china grass to it. Allow china grass to dissolve completely and become translucent in tender coconut water. Off stove. 

The last step! In a designer bowl add tender coconut smoothie, boiled milk and condensed milk, dissolved china grass and blend. Now add chopped coconut pieces. Allow the mixture to cool down. Close with a lid and allow to set in the refrigerator for about 2 to 3 hours. Once set you can cut the pudding into desired shape and serve chilled. I like the white snowy  tender coconut pudding. I am sure your family will love this simple dessert. 

Paruppu Vada

Paruppu vada can be made as an evening snack. Its an integral part of any festival feast in Kerala. 


Paruppu Vada

Ingredients

Bengal gram/channa dal - 1 cup
white urad dal - 1/2 cup
tuvar dal - a handful
raw rice - a handful
green chilly - 4
curry leaves a few
ginger - a big piece
hing - 1/2 tsp
Oil - for frying



Method of Preparation

Wash and soak channa dal, tuvar dal, urad dal and rice together for about 2 hours. Drain water and grind to a coarse paste adding green chilly,curry leaves,ginger, hing and salt. 

Heat oil in a pan, when the heat is perfect make small vadas and deep fry till golden brown. You can tasty the crispiness of vada by gently patting on them. Use a perforated ladle and remove vadas into a kitchen napkin. Allow the excess oil to be absorbed. Serve hot.  You can soak a few paruppu vada in freshly made rasam and make rasa vada serve as evening snack. 

Variation : You can add small onions(chopped) and saunf and make masala paruppu vada. 

Sharkara Payasam

Hello,

HAPPY VISHU

Happy Vishu to all my readers. I was really busy yesterday so could not post Sharkara Payasam recipe. 

Ingredients

Rice - 1/2 cup (cooked with 2 cups of water)
liquid jaggery/jaggery - 1 cup 
elachi - 3
clove - 1
camphor - 1/2 piece
ghee - 3 tbsp

Method of Preparation

Wash and cook rice in 2 cups of water in pressure cooker. Melt jaggery adding a cup of water, strain and keep aside. I used liquid jaggery so I skipped this process. Crush elachi, one clove to coarse powder. Powder camphor and keep aside.  Heat and keep ghee ready.

In a thick vessel add cooked rice, smash it and add liquid/melted jaggery, elachi powder, camphor, ghee and cook in low flame so that all the water from melted jaggery get absorbed in rice and it becomes thick. When you see ghee getting separated from sharkara payasam off the stove. Serve hot as a dessert. 

Hyderabadi Dum Biriyani with Mirchi ke Salan

Hello,

Today I tried hyderabadi biryani and mirchi ke salan. My all time favorite. The recipe is very simple but require preparation time. 

Hyderabadi Dum Biryani

Basmathi rice - 1 cup
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
salt as required
potato - 2
onion- a few small onion(a handful)
tomato - 1
ginger - 1 tbsp
green chilly - 2
peas - 1/2 cup frozen/fresh

For grinding

elachi - 3
cinnamon - 1 small stick
bay laves - 2
star anise - 1
saunf - 1 tsp
jeera powder - 1 tsp
coconut - 2 y
coriander powder - 1 tsp
clove - 2
pudina leaves - a few
coriander leaves - 1 tsp

curd - 1/2 cup
saffron a few strands 

Method of Preparation

Wash and drain water from basmati rice, keep aside for 20 minutes. In a large vessel/pressure pan add water, rice, turmeric powder, salt and bay leaves and cook the rice. You can see the rice will bend and becomes soft. Off the stove drain the excess water. Keep aside.

In a small pan fry clove, elachi, star anise, saunf, cinnamon stick. Allow the aroma to release. In another pan saute chopped onion, ginger, garlic, green chilly and tomato in a little oil. In a mixer add all roasted whole spices, onion,ginger,green chilly, garlic, tomato, jeera powder, coriander powder, pudina, coriander leaves and coconut. Make a coarse paste. 

Pour a little ghee and saute chopped potatoes and carrots. Keep aside.

Whisk 1/2 cup of curd. Keep saffron strands ready.

If you are using fresh peas cook it in water before adding to biryani, I have used frozen which can be directly added for cooking. 

In a microwavable bowl start layering the prepared basmati rice, a table spoon of curd,ground masala and vegetables. Keep layering till rice, curd, saffron, masala and vegetables are over. Cook in the oven for about 10 -15 minutes. Adjust salt.  Mix well before serving so that each grain of rice will have the delicious aroma of the freshly ground spices.

Mirchi ke salan

Green chilly - 5

ginger - 1 tsp

groundnut/peanut-a handful (fry in the oven for a minute)

til/sesame seed - 1 tbsp

coconut - 2 tbsp

ghee - 1 tsp

mustard seed - 1/2 tsp

coriander powder - 1/2 tsp

jeera powder - 1/2 ts

turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

curry leaves - a few

tamarind pulp - 1 tbsp

salt as required

Method of Preparation

In a mixer make a smooth paste out of fried peanut, sesame. ginger, coconut, and tamarind pulp. In a heated pan pour ghee add mustard seeds, allow it to splutter, add slit green chillies, curry leaves and saute for a while. Now add peanut coconut paste and mix well. Add 2 cups of water, turmeric, jeera, coriander powder and salt allow the ingredients to cook in slow flame.  Adjust salt. When the gravy thickens off the stove and serve as a side dish with dum biryani. 

Malai Paneer Kofta with Phulka

Hello.

For dinner I made Malai Paneer Kofta with pulka. Its a Rajasthani recipe. I love Rajasthani cuisine. Its versatile and rich in its tradition. 

Malai Paneer Kofta in rich creamy almond gravy

Ingredients

Paneer - 200 grms
potato - 2 (cooked and smashed)
tomato - 2
onion - 1
garlic - 2 pod
ginger - a small piece

Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
jeera powder - 1 tsp
coriander powder - 1 tsp
corn flour - 2 tbsp
garam masala - 1 tsp
fresh (chopped) coriander leaves - 1 tsp
Green chilly - 1 (finely chopped)



Clove - 2
cinnamon stick - 1 small piece
elachi - 3 crushed


almond - 1/2 cup (soaked in hot water and peeled)
Ghee - 2 tbsp
sunflower oil sufficient for frying kofta.

milk - 1/2 cup
milk cream - 2 tbsp(home made)
Kasuri methi - roasted and crushed(home made)

Method of Preparation

Cook and peel potatoes, smash and keep aside.
In a cup of water cook tomato, onion, garlic and ginger for about 5 minutes. Remove the water and grind to a fine smooth paste. Preserve the water.
Soak almond in hot water, peel and make a fine smooth paste.
Roast clove, elachi, cinnamon stick and make a coarse powder.
Scrabble paneer, add smashed potato, garam masala, jeera, coriander, red chilly powder, coriander leaves, green chilly and make a soft mixture. Divide into 12 equal portions and roll into medium sized balls. Dust with corn flour. Deep fry in oil and keep in kitchen towel. Allow the excess oil to be absorbed by the towel/paper napkin.
In a heated kadai pour ghee add crushed clove, elachi, cinnamon stick. Saute for a while now add tomato,onion, ginger and garlic puree. Add preserved water and allow the tomato and onion paste cook in ghee till ghee separates from the paste. To this add almond paste add 1 1/2 cups of water allow the gravy to thicken. Add milk allow the gravy to boil.  Add roasted and powdered kasuri methi.   Add prepared koftas just before serving.  Garnish with home made milk cream.The koftas are so soft and melt in your mouth. Enjoy your rich, creamy malai koftas with freshly made phulkas. 


Phulka

Ingredients

Atta/wheat flour - 2 cups
water for kneading

Method of Preparation

Knead atta using less water at a time. Make a soft dough. Keep aside for 20 minutes. Roll soft rotis with a rolling pin. Cook both sides in a heated tawa. Put directly in fire an allow the phulkas to puff. Remove and serve hot with home made ghee.