Samaikalam Vanga

Add Pepper To Adai Batter

2012-01-13T05:23:00.000-08:00

Add one and a half tsp peppercorns while grinding adai batter to have a different taste.

Soy Pepper Masala

2011-11-07T01:52:00.002-08:00

I have always wanted to do something spicy with soya chunks and my sister gave me this idea which aptly suited for phulkas, dosas etc. if you eat the chunks the spicy juice is what you will taste and not the bland soya flavor. Give it a try!

Ingredients

1. Small soya chunks - 2 cups
2. Onion -2
3. Tomatoes -3
4. Ginger garlic paste 2 tsp
5. Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
6. Chilli powder - 2 tsp
7. Coriander powder - 1 tsp
8. Cumin seeds - 1.5 tsp
9. Pepper- 1.5 tsp
10.Oil for sauteeing
11.Cinnamon stick-1,fennel seeds -1/2 tsp
12.Curry leaves .
13.Salt as per requirement.

Recipe:
Soak soy chunks in the hot water for 15 minutes.squeeze out the water from soy chunks and again wash it in normal water . squeeze out the water from soy chunks keep it aside. soak cumin seeds and pepper and grind it together.

Heat a oil in a kadai and put cinnamon ,fennel seeds. saute onion for 5 minutes. add ginger garlic paste.Add tomatoes after few minutes. Add salt and then chilli powder,coriander powder and turmeric powder.

After the raw smell goes add some water. Few minutes later add the soy chunks and let it boil for some time.Now add the ground cumin and pepper paste. Let it get boiled for few minutes and garnish it with curry leaves.

Serve hot with phulkas, dosas etc.
I am submitting this recipe to Vardhini's Kitchen 's
Dish it Out - Soy and Tomatoes event

Paruppu Adai

2011-09-14T23:55:00.001-07:00

Paruppu Adai

This is one dish we all in our family enjoy eating. we will sit around the table to break the dosas into chunks while chatting. one will prepare the dosas and others will make chunks from these dosas. My grand mom will tell the stories about her mom preparing this dish. It will be fun watching her.

Now whenever I prepare this dish those memories will bring a smile to my face.

Ingredients
1.Boiled rice – 2 cups soaked
2.Tur dhall – ¾ cup
3.Mustard Seeds 1 tsp
4.Urid dhall – 1 tsp
5.Red Chillies – 6 -7
6.Garlic - 15 to 20 pods
7.Salt as per requirement
8.Turmeric powder ½ tsp
9.Oil 2 tbsp
10.Curry leaves

Method:
Soak boiled rice and grind it into batter . while grinding add salt. Prepare dosas from this batter and keep it aside. Let the dosas get cooled and break all the dosas into small chunks. Keep it aside.
While preparing dosas cook tur dhall with turmeric powder. Heat a big pan or wok and add oil . Put mustard seeds, urid dhall, red chillies, garlic and curry leaves . Let all the ingredients turn golden brown then add the cooked tur dhall .
Add salt and let it boil for sometimes then add the dosa chunks into the dhall and mix well. Blend all the dosa chunks into the dhall well. Let it get heated for few more minutes. Serve hot.

I am submitting this to Vardhini's Herbs and Flowers event

Pudina In Samabar

2011-08-11T19:57:00.000-07:00

Add pudina leaves while sauteeing onion for sambar for different flavor!

Sandwich

2011-07-01T07:29:00.000-07:00

Carrot Paneer Sandwich
This sandwich is well received for breakfast time at our home.
I submit this sandwich for Srivalli's " Sandwich Mela".

Ingredients:

For the stuffing:

1. Carrot 2 grated
2. Green chillies - 2 finely chopped
3. Onion -1 finely chopped
3. Paneer - crumbled
4. salt as per requirement
5. Oil for sauteeing
6. Bread slices.

Method:
Heat oil in a wok and add onion. saute it for few minutes.Add green chillies and carrot .Let it get cooked for few minutes. Add salt. After few minutes add crumbled paneer.Stuffing is ready.

Chutney:

1. Pudina leaves 1 bunch
2. Green chilly -1
3. Salt - a pinch

Method:
Grind the above ingredients into a paste.Add water if the paste is too thick.

Butter one side of the bread and apply chutney to another side of the bread. Do like this for the rest of the bread slices.keep the stuffing between the chutney sided bread slices.
Toast the bread in the Toaster and serve hot with Tomato Sauce.

Ginger Capsicum Dosai

2011-05-03T20:41:00.000-07:00

Tired of ordinary masala dosai? Try this Ginger Capsicum peas masala dosai.Its Sangeetha's Restaurant Special. Sambar or coconut chutney is a good
accompaniment.

Ingredients.

Dosa batter for dosas

For the masala,

Mustard seeds,urad dhal, curry leaves
1.Capsicum big size-2
2.peas - 1/2 cup
2.Onion Medium size -3
3.Tomato -4
4.Ginger 2 inches Crushed
5.Chilli powder - 2 tsp
5.turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
6.salt as per requirement
7.oil for sauteeing

Preparation of masala

Heat oil in a pan. add mustard seeds,urad dhall. after the mustard seeds split add onions and saute it. add ginger and tomato after 2 minutes. let tomatoes get cooked.Add peas and let it get cooked for few minutes. Then add chilli powder, salt, turmeric powder. add capsicum aarfter the raw smell of chilli powder goes. let the capsicum get cooked.

prepare dosai in the tawa .After both sides are cooked put the masala in the center of the dosai and fold it.
Serve with chutney or sambar.

Add ginger to rasam!

2011-03-22T05:38:00.000-07:00

Add 1/2 inch of crushed ginger while preparing rasam.It will taste different.This is my friend gayathri's tip!

Add Idli batter to have a soft dosas or bhajjis!

2010-12-05T21:45:00.000-08:00

If you add one or two ladle full of idli batter to bhajji mix or rava dosa ,or
cornmeal dosas, you will get soft bhajjis,dosas.

Brocolli Paneer Fry

2010-09-18T01:03:00.000-07:00

This recipe was given to me by my friend Shruthi who is an Aerobics Instructor. She saw it on T.V . Its really very simple to prepare. This recipe goes under 2-in-1 for Brocolli.

Ingredients

1.Brocolli 2 florets
2.paneer 200 gms grated
3.cumin seeds 2 tsp
4.pepper 2 tsp
5.garlic pods 8-10
6.salt to taste
7.Olive oil or any refined oil for sauteeing.

Method
Grind pepper,garlic,cumin seeds together. Heat oil in a wok and put the ground things in the oil. Then put brocolli florets into the wok and stir fry. Add salt.Let the florets get cooked. After some time put the grated paneer and stir. let the water from paneer get evaporated. fry till paneer and brocolli is roasted enough.Have it as a evening snack.

Broccoli Soup

2010-07-16T06:37:00.000-07:00

I saw this recipe in Life Mojo website. It was so simple and delicious. I have tweaked a little bit.. I used coriander leaves instead of celery. that's it. I have another recipe using the "broccoli",so I am going t put this in 2 in 1 category. Do try this.

Ingredients
1. 1 cup broccoli, cut into small florets
2. 1/2 cup onion, thinly sliced
3. large clove garlic (lahsun), chopped
4. 1/2 cup carrots, thinly sliced
5. 2 tbsp chopped celery (ajmud)
6. 1 tbsp alphabet pasta or stellini (or any small pasta)
7. 1 tbsp butter
8. salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Method
1.Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion, garlic, carrots and celery and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes.
2.Add the broccoli, pasta, salt and 2.5 cups of hot water and simmer till the pasta has cooked (approx. 5 to 7 minutes).
3.Add pepper and mix well. You can just grind it to have a smooth consistency.
4.Serve hot.

To make papaya even more tastier..

2010-07-04T21:30:00.001-07:00

To make papaya fruit even more tastier just sprinkle a pinch of pepper powder and toss. It will be delicious.

Vegetable Uthappam

2010-06-24T20:29:00.001-07:00

I knew about onion uthappam, but this veg uthappam takes the crown.It is very colour full and tasty. Do try it!

Ingredients

1.Onion finely chopped-2
2.Carrots grated -2
3.Beans finely chopped -200 gms
4.green chillies finely chopped -4
5.curry leaves

Heat oil in a wok and sauté onion. Then put green chillies, beans, carrot, curry leaves and let it cook for 10 more minutes. Then put these in the dosa batter. Heat dosa tawa and pour the a ladle full of batter. Pour oil lightly on the sides of the dosa. Close the dosa with a lid for a minute or two. Then flip the dosa . keep it in flame till the other side is cooked. Serve hot with coconut chutney and sambar.

To make potato fry more tastier...

2010-06-24T06:38:00.000-07:00

Grind pepper,jeera,garlic together and add it to the potato fry. This will taste different.

To dissolve the salt completely!

2010-03-28T23:51:00.000-07:00

To avoid lumps of salt in any batter, pour a teaspoon of water on top of the salt in the batter. It will dissolve the salt completely.

Add pudina leaves in kurma for a new flavor and taste

2009-11-04T08:48:00.000-08:00

This is a small tip which will enhance the taste of the dish in a better way. Just add some fresh pudina leaves in kurma,curries etc while sauteing onions to get a new flavor and taste. believe me you will be surprised at the taste.

Raw rice with Long Grained or Basmati Rice

2009-02-23T08:41:00.000-08:00

Its been a long time since I posted some recipes or tips. I got this very nice tip which I am sure will help you in the most needed time.

You can add raw rice with basmati rice while preparing vegetable biriyani if you are short on Basmati rice. Trust me! whole biriyani will taste as if it has been prepared in Basmati rice.

Oats Bread Sandwich

2008-09-12T22:55:00.000-07:00

This recipe is one of my favorite. I saw this recipe in a magazine supplement.Tried it and loved it! This will be very filling even if you have only two sandwiches.

Ingredients
Oats – ½ cup
Pudina ,coriander leaves – a bunch
Green chilies -2
Tomato -2
Potato boiled and mashed -2
Onion – 3
Green peas boiled - ¼ cup
Carrot grated –1
Chili powder – ½ spoon
Garam masala ½ spoon
Salt as per the requirement

Method

Soak oats in boiled water for 10 minutes. In a wok heat oil and sauté onion, green chilies, tomato , carrot. After 2 to 3 minutes put the mashed potatoes ,peas ,chili powder , garam masala , oats , salt. Sauté it for 5 more minutes. Garnish with pudina and coriander leaves.
Toast the bread. Keep the filling between two bread slices and serve hot with Tomato sauce.

This is my entry to suganya's JFI – Whole Grains event.

Siru ma Laddu/Besan Laddu

2008-08-10T23:01:00.000-07:00

I was very eager to prepare a sweet in our new microwave oven. So when I turned the book which was given with the Oven,I saw this simple recipe and decided it to try. Because this same laddoo will take more than 5 hours to prepare in my Mom's place.of course that day we didn't have microwave. Moving the gas stove to a more spacious hall and starting the work and all .... It will be a memorable experience for every diwali ..(only for diwali my mom,grand mom,grand father and all will be doing it..). So I prepared this laddoo and it had the same taste as my mom prepared.

Ingredients
Besan flour-1 cup
sugar powdered - 3/4 cup
ghee-1/3 cup
Elaichi powder -1/4 tsp

Method:
In a microwave safe bowl, add the flour and ghee and mix well.Microwave on HIGH for 3 minutes,stirring after every one minute.Reduce the power to 70% and microwave for another minute stirring once after 30 seconds.Remove and let the mixture cool completely.Add the cardomom powder and sugar and mix well. Shape into laddoos.

I Would like to thank ramya from Sena's Rasoi for giving me BFF gold Card.

The following rules apply to this award:
1. Only 5 people are allowed to receive this award
2. 4 of them followers of your blog.
3. One has to be new to your blog and live in another part of the world.
4. You must link back to who ever gave you the award.

I would like to forward this award to Vegetable Platter,Jayashree,Richa,Bhags.

And for the new one to my blog is a_and_n

Congratualtions all!!

I came to know about an event called sweet series - Chikki and Laddu through fellow blogger uma. Thanks uma for informing me.
This is my entry to sweet series - Chikki and Laddu

Sweet Bread Bonda!

2008-07-31T21:54:00.000-07:00

I was browsing through the book called "30 types of bread recipes" from
"Aval Vikatan". When I saw this recipe I knew my daughter will love this. yes... my daughter loved these bondas! Its really easy to prepare too if you have all the things with you.

Ingredients

1.sweet bread 6 slices (edges removed)
2.sugar 2 tbsps
3.elaichi powder 1/2 spoon
4.nuts - as per your taste
5.oil - to deep fry

Method:
soak the bread slices in water and immediately remove it from the water.Then mash the bread in to a dough form.Add sugar, elaichi powder,nuts to the dough.make balls from the dough and keep aside. Heat oil in a pan and put the balls and deep fry.

Got Another Award!!!!

2008-07-21T23:54:00.000-07:00

Here is one more award which I got from LG. Thank you very much to you for giving me this award.

I would like to Pass this award to

Nags of Edible Garden
Indosungod of Daily Musings
Padmaja of Spicy Andhra
Kajal of Kajal's
Seena of Simple and Delicious

My First Award!!

2008-07-17T01:35:00.000-07:00

I was so surprised when I received my first award. Unfortunately I came to know about this award after some time only, since I took some absence from Blogging....This really is a boost to me.

"Yum Blog Award" .This award was started by Roopa who says that....

"Yummy blog award is the award given to the blog with most yummy recipes/photos"

Thank you very much shubha for giving me this award. I Dedicate this award to my sister Ramya who helps me in every way she could and to my sweet daughter Pavithra.

As per the rule..I should share my favorite four desserts and pass this award to four other fellow bloggers... As shubha said,this is a very tough job..

Fav Desserts..

Rasagulla- I love Mouth watering rasagullas...

ButterScotch Ice cream- Even if I have cold I simply cannot resist this ice cream.

Aavin Milk sweet- This is really a very good sweet which I like very much.

Badam Halwa- This halwa has a unique taste and I love it.

As for passing on the award....

I would like to give this award to:

Lakshmi of Taste Of Mysore

Cynthia of Tastes Like Home

Jayashree of My Experiments with food

Suma Gandlur of Veggie Platter

Rules for the ‘Yummy Blog’ award Receiver :

1. The person who receives the award should display the "Yummy Blog!" logo on their blog and also the meaning of the award which is "Yummy blog award is the award given to the blog with most yummy recipes/photos".

2. The receiver should also quote their favorite yummy dessert(s) that they have ever prepared/eaten.

3. Also the receiver should pass on the award to four other bloggers whose blog they find "yummy" and let them know about the rules.

Summer Splash -Water Melon Juice!!

2008-07-15T06:36:00.000-07:00

I saw this summer splash event from "From the Kitchen" and I just have the apt recipe for the event.Fresh WaterMelon Juice with a hint of spice is my entry to this Chill event.

Ingredient

Water Melon- 2 cups
Ginger 1/2 inch piece
salt - 1/4 tsp
sugar - 2 tsp

Remove the seeds from the melon and blend the above Ingredients. Keep in fridge for half an hour and serve chilled.

To enhance the taste of Rasam!

2008-07-14T22:38:00.000-07:00

To enhance the taste of Rasam, temper using ghee instead of oil. This gives you a taste which you will never forget!Try it out!

To make Idli Upma Tastier!!

2008-06-16T05:24:00.000-07:00

Keep the left over Idlies in the fridge for some time and make upma from that. Upma will be crunchy. The taste will be enhanced If you use Idli Milagai podi Instead of redchillies. Try it Out!!!

While cutting Yam..

2008-04-16T23:38:00.000-07:00

When you are cutting yam,rub the tamarind into your hands.So that hands wont get irritated.

Masala Dosai

2008-04-08T21:41:00.000-07:00

As I saw the dosa mela event I knew what to post for this event. I just got hold of this new recipe from my neighbour again which gave a new taste to dosais.

Ingredients for the masala paste:
Onion – 2
Red chillies – 5
Garlic pods – 6 to 7
Salt – as per the requirement

Ingredients for the potato masala:
Onion – 2
Green chillies – 2
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Potato - 5 to 6 boiled and smashed
Cinnamon sticks -2
fennel seeds -1 tsp
Salt – as per the requirement

Method:
For the dosa batter:
For dosa batter soak ¾ cup of urad dhall and 5 cups of raw rice separately for 3 to 4 hours and grind it. Let it get fermented overnight.

For the masala paste:
Grind onion ,red chillies, garlic pods and salt together and keep it aside.

For the potato masala:
Heat oil in a kadai and put cinnamon sticks, fennel seeds,onion,green chillies and sauté it. Then put turmeric powder and salt. after some time put the potato and toss it.

Heat tava and pour a ladle of dosa batter and make dosa thinly. After the dosa is cooked then apply the masala paste all over the dosa then put the potato masala.No need to turn over the dosa as it is thinly made.Serve hot with chutney and sambar.

This is my entry to dosa mela by srivalli of Cooking 4 all Season

For a Spicy Mozambi juice!!!!!

2008-03-28T03:00:00.000-07:00

Add half spoon of jeera powder and salt along with sugar in mozambi juice.This will give you a new spicy taste!!!!!

Potato Bhath

2008-03-12T21:34:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe from my neighbour..when sia announced ode to potato event,I immediately thought of this recipe as my entry.

Ingredients

Potato –5 to 6 (Big)
Basmati Rice – 2 Cups
Urad dhal – 1 tsp
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
curry leaves
To Roast:
Dhania – 2 to 3 Tbsp
Coconut freshly grated- ½ cup
Channa dhal – 1 tsp
Red chillies – 5 to 6
Cinnamon sticks 2 to 3
Cloves – 2to 3
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Asafetida – ¼ tsp
Oil to fry.

Boil the rice and keep it aside.Boil the potatoes and cut it into cubes. Roast all ingredients given above and grind it without using water. Keep it aside. Heat oil in a wok. Temper it with mustard seeds and urad dhall,curry leaves .Then put the ground powder and salt. then put the boiled potatoes. let it mix well with the masala.then add rice and serve hot.

Kathrikai (Brinjal) Bajji

2008-03-04T01:20:00.000-08:00

I have seen so many events which had brinjal as the main component! but unfortunately I couldn't participate in those events! As I saw pooja's 'Vegetable of the week' I saw an opportunity to post our favorite kathrikai bajji!

I really dont know how this dish got this name.Its not like all deep fried bajjis.Its not at all in the bajji family itself!!!!!

Ingredients

Brinjal – ½ kg -chopped
Onion – 3 chopped
Tomato – ½ kg – chopped
Red chillies – 5 to 6
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Oil – 1 tbsp
Salt – as per the requirement

Method
This is a very nice dish which I learnt from my MIL.

Heat oil in a cooker. Put onion ,red chillies ,brinjal and tomatoes. Add enough water to cook. Then pressure cook it. It should be cooked very well. Drain the excess water.Add salt.Then smash the brinjal thoroughly and serve hot with dosais.

This is my entry to the 'Vegetable of the week'

Pongal and Sambar

2008-02-17T23:59:00.000-08:00

Pongal is a breakfast which every one will love to have in South India. This will be in the menu of every restaurant for breakfast !!!This is also healthy since it contains pepper,cumin seeds,ghee,cashew etc…

This is my entry to WBB- Healthy Eats!

Ingredients
1. Raw rice
2. Moong dhal
3. Pepper
4. Salt
5. Cumin seeds
6. Ghee
7. Oil
8. Curry leaves
9. Asafetida
10. Broken cashew nuts

Boil rice and dhall separately. then combine dhall and rice together. Add salt. Heat oil and ghee in a wok. temper it with cumin seeds, pepper,asafetida ,curry leaves,cashew nuts.

We can have chutney,sambar,brinjal gothsu as the side dish for this delicious pongal.I have a recipe which is very nice with this pongal. That is a Sambar without toor dhal.

Ingredients

Onion – chopped
Tomato – chopped
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
Curry leaves
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Chilli powder – 1 tsp
Coriander seeds – a fistful
Roasted gram – a fistful
Salt

Heat oil in a pan. Temper it with mustard seeds and fennel seeds. Put onion and sauté it for 2 minutes. Then put tomatoes and sauté it. Add turmeric powder,chilli powder,salt and water. Let it boil for few more minutes.

Grind coriander seeds and roasted gram into a smooth powder without adding water in a mixie. Then make it into a paste by adding water so that lumps will not be made when added into the sambar. Put the paste into the sambar and let it boil for few more minutes.Tasty sambar for pongal is ready!!!!!

This is a very typical south Indian breakfast which is healthy too!!!!!!

Pudi

2008-02-02T23:09:00.001-08:00

This is a favorite dish for one of my friends. my mom will do this frequently. there are some recipes which will come generation to generation.... this is one of the recipe that comes into that category. try it out!!!!!!!

Ingredients

Channa dhal- 2 cups
Raw rice – 3 cups
Garlic – 10 to 15 pods
Red chillies – 5 to 6
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Cumin seeds – 2 to 3 tsps
Onion – 3 to 4 chopped
Coconut – ½ cup freshly grated
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Urad dhall – 2 tsp
Curry leaves
Oil for tempering.

Method:
Soak channa dhal and rice together for two hours. grind the rice and dhall with garlic, red chillies, cumin seeds and salt.after grinding put the chopped onion and freshly grated coconut in the batter. Then pour the batter in idli plates and cook for 20 to 25 minutes.Cool the idlis. Then smash the idlis and keep it aside. Heat oil in a pan. Then put mustard seeds and urid dhall and curry leaves.After the urad dhall becomes golden brown put the smashed idlis in the pan and toss it.
Pudi is ready to eat. The more the oil the more the taste of this dish.if the oil is less pudi will be dry.

If Urid dhall vadai batter is watery.....

2008-01-23T09:04:00.000-08:00

If urid dhall vadai batter is too watery just keep it in fridge for 1 or 2 hours.
The batter will be ready to make vadas. Do not let it come to room temperature as it will become watery again.

For Idlies to be more soft !!!

2008-01-05T21:22:00.001-08:00

If you cook Idlies in pressure cooker,close the lid without gasket.Idlies will be more soft!!

Dhavanai Idli

2007-12-29T03:37:00.000-08:00

This is the dish when you eat once you wont forget the taste of it! Just try it!

Ingredients

Urad dal – ½ cup
Channa dal-½ cup
Toor dal -½ cup
Raw rice -1½ cup
For tempering
Mustard seeds -1 tsp
Urad dal – 1 tsp
Curry leaves
Coconut ½ cup freshly grated
Ginger finely chopped.

Method:
Total Dal quantity should be equal to rice quantity. Soak toor dal,channa dal together and urad dal and rice separately for 2 hours.

Grind the toor dal,channa dal first and rice second. Grind the urad dal lastly. Then mix all the batter together . add salt to the batter. Leave it overnight to ferment.

Heat oil in a kadai then add mustard seeds,urad dal,curry leaves, ginger and coconut . sauté it for few minutes. Add the sautéed things to the batter.Grease all the tumblers in oil. Then pour the batter in the tumblers and let it cook for 20 to 25 minutes in steam.

Allow it cool for some time then with a knife or spoon take the idlis from the tumblers and cut it into pieces. Serve hot with tomato chutney!

Potato Masala !

2007-12-11T20:18:00.000-08:00

If you want to have potato masala (for poori) as a gravy just grind roasted gram with water into a paste and add it to the masala. Quantity wise you will have more masala too!

Tomato Chutney for Adai

2007-12-09T23:53:00.000-08:00

Usually we will have avial, or some other chutney for adai. But this chutney will beat all.Try it out!This comes under 2 –in- 1 section for tomato.

Ingredients

Tomato – ripen 3 or 4
Garilic pods – 3 or 4
Red chillies - 2 or 3
Coconut freshly grated – ½ cup
Salt –as required

Method:
Grind all the ingredients given above. This is a great combination for adai.
Since garlic is put freshly in this chutney, Just be sure to have a pepper mint when you have this in morning.

you can temper it with mustard seeds if you want!

Tomato Soup

2007-11-13T00:56:00.000-08:00

Seeing Vegan Ventures event in Suganya's Tasty Palettes , I thought this is the perfect oppurtunity for me to post this recipe. I got this recipe from my neighbour Lalitha who also has given so many recipes which are yet to be posted. I thank her for giving me so many recipes which are a great hit in my house.

This is my entry for Vegan Ventures.

Ingredients
Tomatoes -10 to 12
Cloves -3 to 4
Cinnamon – 2 sticks
Red chilli powder ¼ tsp or pepper powder as per requirement
Salt
Garlic- 4 to 5 pods

Method:
Dunk the tomatoes in hot water and peel. Grind the blanched tomatoes,cloves,cinnamon,garlic pods together . keep a broad pan in the stove and pur the ground tomatoes in it. Add 2 glassess of water. Put red chilli powder and salt.If you dont want red chilli powder then add pepper powder while serving.let it boil till the aroma of the soup comes. Then mix the corn flour in the water and pour it in the soup and let it boil for few minutes. Add finely chopped coriander leaves and serve hot.

I decided to put this recipe in 2 in 1 category also b'coz I have another Tomato based recipe which will be posted soon.

Use Chilli powder instead of Red chillies!

2007-10-27T10:52:00.000-07:00

Use Chilli powder instead of red chillies in Adai batter. The taste will be different!

Urundai Kuzhambu

2007-10-09T06:24:00.000-07:00

This recipe is again a favorite of all members in my family!!! Actually this recipe is done by my Husband's aunty !she knows we love this recipe and she home delivered this to us! So here it is!!!!

Ingredients for the Balls
1.Channa dhal
2.Cumin seeds- 2 tsp
3.green chillies – 2
4.Garlic pods – 10
5. Onion – 2 finely chopped
6.Freshly grated coconut – ¼ cup
7.Salt

Soak channa dhal for 1 hour. Grind channa dhal with cumin seeds, garlic pods, coconut and salt. add chopped onion, green chillies to the ground dhal. Make balls and keep it aside.

Ingredients for the kuzhambu (Gravy)
1.Onion – 1 finely chopped
2.Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
3.Tamarind extract – ½ cup
4.Red chilli powder – 1 ½ tsp
5.Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
6.Curry leaves
7.Oil
8.Salt
9.Water 3- 4 cups

In a pan heat oil and put mustard seeds, after tempering mustard seeds add onion ,curry leaves and sauté well.Then add red chilli powder, turmeric powder after sometime add the tamarind extract , water and let it boil till it get thick. Add salt .You can add extra water if tamarind extract is too sour. Then add the balls to the gravy and let it cook for 20 to 25 minutes.No need to steam cook the balls. This will be very nice to have with white rice.

PS: Care should be taken so that gravy doesn't get dried up.you can add water and let to boil if there is no enough gravy.

If Tomato chutney gets too hot!!

2007-09-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

If your Tomato chutney gets too hot by the chillies then add a quarter tsp of sugar to it. The chutney will taste better.

Pudalangai puttu/Snake gourd puttu

2007-08-25T00:18:00.000-07:00

This recipe is loved by every one in my family!! when sunitha announced this month's event I thought of all dishes which has cumin as major spice and this dish instantly came to my mind.

Ingredients
1. Snake gourd -4
2. Onion -3
3. Red Chillies -4
4. Cumin seeds – 2 tsp
5. Garlic – 15 pods
6. Salt – as per the requirement
7. Channa dhal – ¾ cup
8. Curry leaves
9. Oil – as per the requirement

Method
Soak the channa dhal for one hour. Grind the channa dhal with cumin seeds ,red chillies ,garlic pods and salt .
Chop the onions, snake gourd . Heat oil in a pan and sauté onion and curry leaves. After sometime put the snake gourd and sauté thoroughly. No need to put salt in this since salt has already been put in the channa dhal paste. Then put the ground paste and let it cook in medium flame. Oil can be poured generously to enhance the taste while sautéing.

This is my entry for 'Think Spice -Cumin'

Bread with Coconut milk!

2007-08-17T10:19:00.000-07:00

This one is again a favorite of mine which was intoduced by my grand father. This recipe can be done in a short time.

Ingredients
1. Bread 10 slices
2. Coconut milk – 2 cups
3. Sugar as per the requirement

Method
Cut the bread slices into pieces. Pour the coconut milk and add sugar. Keep refrigerated for fifteen minutes and serve! It will taste delicious.

Baby Corn Manchurian

2007-07-31T11:11:00.000-07:00

We all know about Gobi manchurian... this one is really different! check it out! my friend asked about this.. so this recipe.

Ingredients

1. Baby corn –slitted
2. All purpose flour (Maida)-1 fistful
3. Rice flour -1 fistful
4. Corm flour – 2 fistfuls
5. lime juice -2 tsp
6. soya sauce – 2 tsp
7. salt – as per requirement
8. sugar- ½ tsp
9. green bell pepper – 1
10.onion -1 finely chopped
11. ginger garlic-chilli(1) paste

Method

Mix maida, rice flour, corn flour, salt,sugar,lime juice, soya sauce and baby corn well. Just sprinkle water to bind the ingredients . then deep fry the baby corn till it turns golden brown. Keep it aside.
You can have it as dry Manchurian also.

For the gravy
Heat oil in a wok and sauté onion, ginger – garlic-chilli paste. Add capsicum, soya sauce 1 tsp and again sauté for 2 minutes. Add salt and fried baby corn .Then add some water. Mix corn flour in water and add to the above.

Kadalai Paruppu Adai /Thavalai Adai

2007-07-26T09:55:00.000-07:00

Kadalai paruppu adai or thavalai adai is a favorite one in my mom's place! if you do not want to prepare adai one by one then this is the one you will be looking for!

Ingredients
1. gram dhall -1 ½ cups
2. raw rice – 2 cups
3. salt
For tempering
1. mustard seeds
2. urad dhall
3. asafetida – ¼ tsp
4. curry leaves
5. red chilies -3 or 4
6. cashew nuts – broken(optional)
7. pepper corns – 1 tsp
8. cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Method
Soak dhall and rice together for 2 hours. Wash and grind it into a not so smooth batter. Add salt while grinding.
Heat oil in a kadai and put mustard seeds. Let it splutter. Add urad dhall, red chilies, pepper corns, cumin seeds, asafetida , curry leaves, cashew nuts . wait till all the ingredients get golden brown in color.mix all the ingredients in the ground batter. Then heat the pressure cooker and pour oil in it. Let the oil gets heated and pour all the batter in the cooker and close the cooker. Let it cook for 25 to 30 minutes. Then serve hot. Sugar is a good accompaniment for this dish.Do not put weight in the cooker.

7 facts about me!

2007-07-21T05:02:00.000-07:00

I was quite surprised when tagged by Laavanya and suganya!Actually I liked to read all other's meme...got to know about others a lot.This is my meme!

1. I am a voracious reader though I started reading books in my UG course! My dear friend prabha introduced me to books. I just love to read anything!

2. I am a coffee lover ! How I came through my pregnancy time without coffee is really a puzzle to me .

3. I love spending time with my daughter pavithra ! she brings so much of happiness and laughter in our lives!

4. I like to go to functions and visit all the friends and family members otherwise where you can see all your relatives at once ??.

5. Suganya and I are not only classmates ,we did some programmes for (All India Radio) AIR for some days during our PG course!

6. I believe in hard work. Whatever you want to achieve hard work will surely help you to achieve it.

7. I will not be easily discouraged. I believe in “you can win”.

I am tagging cynthia,ramya .Please write about you only if you are interested!!

Podi Dosai

2007-07-17T20:15:00.000-07:00

This type of dosai was introduced to me by my grandpa.if you do not want to prepare ordinary dosai then try this type..

Ingredients
Dosai batter
Onion – 2 finely chopped
Green chilies -2 chopped
Milagai podi – as per requirement
Oil – as per requirement

Method
Sauté onion, green chilies. Then mix it with the dosai batter. Heat the tawa and pour a ladleful of batter. Then sprinkle milagai podi on top of the dosai. Put oil on side of the dosai. Turn over the dosai after it turns golden brown. Then take the dosai from the tawa after the other side also gets cooked. Repeat the same for the remaining batter. Serve hot podi dosai with coconut chutney. Dosai can be served as it is also.

Re Heat Idlies in microwave oven!

2007-07-11T02:00:00.000-07:00

You have left over idlies??? dont want to make idli upma too? Then soak the idlies in water and put it in microwave idli plates.. then set the oven to high power (100%) and set the time to one minute or one and half minute. you will get idlies as soft as the freshly made idlies!!

Maggi Vegetable Noodle!!

2007-07-06T10:17:00.000-07:00

We all know maggi noodles which is the most favorite for the children and elders too. This Noodles is the favorite of my friends in college. whenever I take it to college it will get over in the first hour itself. My friend asked me to post this recipe. So I have .

Maggi Noodles 1 packet
Onion – 1
Tomato – 1
Carrot – ½ cup
Potato – ½ cup
Beans – ½ cup
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Salt – as per the requirement
Water – 2 cups for maggi and 1 cup for vegetables
Oil as per the requirement

Method
Heat the kadai and pour oil. Sauté the onion and tomato. After 2 minutes put the vegetables and sauté. Then put chilli powder and maggi Taste maker powder. After 2 minutes pour the water. Let the vegetables cook for some time. Then break the maggi noodles and put it in the kadai. Let it cook for some time.
Vegetable maggi noodles is ready!

While Melting Butter to make ghee!!!

2007-07-01T23:33:00.000-07:00

Wash the cooking butter in the water(just open the tap and show the friezed butter in water!!).It will not smell bad while melting.

To make adai crisper!!

2007-06-28T02:43:00.000-07:00

To make adai crisper and protein enhanced add soyachunks while grinding the adai batter!!

For quickly sauteing Onion and Tomato

2007-06-27T03:04:00.000-07:00

If you want to saute onion and tomato quickly then add salt while sauteing.They will be sauteed quickly!

Pepper Dhal

2007-06-25T03:04:00.000-07:00

Dhal is one of the basic ingredients in south indian cooking.Dhal has amino acids which is very good for health.There are so many ways to cook dhal like just tempering it with mustard seeds,green chillies for one and so on.. This recipe is again taught to me by my MIL which is a favorite in my family.

Ingredients

Toor dhall - ¾ cup
Onion -1 chopped
Tomato - 1 chopped
Salt
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Oil
Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp
Curry leaves

For grinding
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Black Pepper – 1 tsp
Garlic – 6 to 7 pods

Method:

Cook toor dhall with turmeric powder in pressure cooker. Heat pan and put oil in it. Put mustard seeds in oil. let it splutter. Then add chopped onion, curry leaves and sauté it. After one or two minutes add tomato.
After the tomatoes are sautéed then pour the dhall in the pan .then put the ground mixture into the pan. Then add salt .
Serve with hot rice or rotis!

For longer shelf life of Pickle!!!

2007-06-20T03:15:00.000-07:00

If you prepare pickle at home,grind and powder the mustard seeds and put it in the pickle.Pickle wont get spoiled for long time.

Idli with Thakali Kuzhambu!!

2007-06-15T00:21:00.000-07:00

Chutney,vadakari,sambar...... what are these ?? side dishes for idli, dosais...these are the ones i knew. But my MIL taught me Thakali kuzhambu which as soon as I had for the first time became my favorite one.It has all the spices ... which will taste very nice and very very easy to make too.

Ingredients
1. Onion – 2
2. Tomato -3
3. Cloves-2
4. cinnamon -2 small sticks
5. Bengal Gram –a fistful
6. Red chillies – 3
7. Coriander powder – 2 tsp
8. Pepper corn -3
9. fennel seeds -1 tsp
10. Cumin seeds-1 tsp
11. freshly grated coconut - ¼ cup
For tempering
12.oil
13. Mustard seeds
14. Curry leaves
15. chopped onion – ½
Method
Chop the onions, tomatoes . Heat the pan and put oil. Sauté all the things given in the ingredients list.Let it cool. Then put in the mixer and grind into a smooth paste.
Again heat oil in the pan and put mustard seeds. Let it splutter. Then put onion, green chillies,curry leaves and sauté. Then add the ground paste . Add water till you get the pouring consistency.let it boil for 10 to 15 minutes.
Serve hot with idlis or dosais!

This is my entry for WBB#12 Spice it up event!!!

Simple Baby Corn Masala

2007-06-11T06:55:00.000-07:00

There is baby corn manjurian which is apt for starters, fried rice etc.. but I thought a simple masala which can be used for rice and rotis will do.. so the simple baby corn masala!

Ingredients
Baby corn –cut into small pieces
Onion -2
Tomato
Ginger-Garlic Paste – 2 tsp
Chilli powder -2 tsp
Salt
oil
Method:
Heat oil in a kadai and sauté onion. Then put ginger-garlic paste. Sauté it till the raw smell goes. Then put tomato. After some time put chilli powder. Then put the baby corns . Then add salt.
After 10 or 15 minutes take it out and serve hot with sambar rice or rotis.

To Make paneer soft!

2007-06-08T03:04:00.000-07:00

After frying the paneer cubes, put it in water for some time.It will become soft .

Baby Corn Bajji

2007-06-06T06:22:00.000-07:00

I got inspired by suganya to do a 1-in-3 recipes.I thought of giving 2 in 1 recipes instead.when I searched the crisper I just had baby corns.. and an idea came just in time.yes! I am talking about baby corn bajji... which came very nicely too

Baby Corn Bajji
Ingredients
1.Baby corn
2.Besan flour -2 cups
3.Rice flour – ¼ cup
4.Chilli powder -2 tsp
5.salt – 1 tsp
6.soda bi carb – a pinch
7. water
Method
Mix besan,rice flour together. To that add salt,chilli powder,soda-bi- carb and mix well. Add water to this mixture and make it like idli batter (for consistency).Heat oil in a kadai. Then if the baby corns are tender just soak in the batter else slit the baby corn . put it in oil and fry till its golden brown in color.

For Softer Chapathis...

2007-06-01T23:42:00.000-07:00

To make chapathis even softer ,turn upside down the stack of chapathis in between. keep it in a closed container.

Enhance the Taste!!!!!

2007-06-01T00:24:00.000-07:00

Add a spoon of gingelly oil to Rava Upma after it has been cooked.It will enhance the taste.
(After switching off the stove!)

The Foodie Blog Roll !!!!!!

2007-06-01T00:20:00.000-07:00

I saw this foodie blog roll in HOT N'SWEET BOWL blog! which is a very nice idea to integrate all food blogs...

Those who want to take a look can go Here

Adai !

2007-05-28T23:57:00.000-07:00

Adai is the favorite dish for everybody in my family. Nothing can beat the taste of adai! Give it a try !

Ingredients

Toor dhall - 1½ cups
Uncooked rice - 1½ cups
Red dry chillies - 4 or 5
Garlic - 8 to 10 pods
Cumin seeds – 2 to 3 tsps
Salt - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Onion - 2 finely chopped
Curry leaves
Oil

Method
Soak uncooked rice , toor dhal together for 2 hours . grind the rice and toor dhall .while grinding put the red chillies, cumin seeds, garlic pods, turmeric powder and salt. Grind a bit coarsely. Do not grind too smoothly.
Sauté onion and curry leaves. Mix the sautéed onion in the batter.
Heat the tawa and pour a ladle full of batter in it and make adai. Pour oil in the edges of the adai. Wait till it turns golden brown. Turn the adai and again wait till it gets cooked.

Tasty adai is ready to eat .
You can eat it as it is or with chutney ,tomato ketchup.

Aval Upma

2007-05-25T00:36:00.000-07:00

Hungry! want to prepare something quickly to eat ! try aval upma.. it is so easy to make. my MIL taught me this. i knew we can make aval payasam but not upma..

Ingredients:
Getti aval 4 cups
Onion- 2 sliced
Curry leaves
Turmeric powder ¼ tsp
Salt
Mustard seeds, Urad dhall for tempering
Oil

Method:
Soak aval in water for 15 minutes. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. after it splutters add urad dhall let it get brown in color then add onion and curry leaves.saute it. Put turmeric powder and salt.
Strain the soaked aval. It should not contain any water. Then add it to the sauted onion.

Aval upma is ready to eat!

Don't Add Salt at the beginning!!!

2007-05-23T23:40:00.000-07:00

Do not add salt while cooking vegetables in microwave at the beginning because it will never get cooked.(it will take all the water content from vegetables and the vegetables will become dry.)

For chat items!!

2007-05-21T06:43:00.000-07:00

Use white onions for bhel puri and chat items since its not as hot as other onions.and also remove the inside pulp of tomatoes for the same items because chat items will become watery if tomatoes are used as it is.

Rava Idli

2007-05-16T03:11:00.000-07:00

Tired of making ordinary idlis ?????? try this rava idli... its easy to make once you have all the ingredients together.

Ingredients
Rava -4 cups
Curd -2 cups
Milk - ½ cup
Green chillies-3
Mustard seeds -1 tsp
Cumin seeds-1 tsp
Black pepper-1 tsp
Ginger 1 inch piece cut into small pieces
Urad dhall 2 tsp
Cashew nuts broked
Curry leaves
Turmeric powder ½ tsp
Salt 2 tsp
Oil –for tempering

Roast rava in a pan for 10 to 15 minutes. Let it cool. Heat oil in a pan ,add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dhall, green chillies, ginger, cashew nuts , turmeric powder . fry these things in oil till urad dhall ,cashew nuts become brown in color.Keep it aside.

Mix the rava and the fried things together. Add salt. Let it cool.
Add curd and mix. if the batter is dry ,add milk and some water. Do not add too much water. The batter should be like idli flour consistency.if the curd is sour too much you can add another ½ cup of milk. So it wont be sour.

Pour the batter in the idli plates and cook for 25 to 30 minutes in idli cooker.
Serve hot with coconut or pudina chutney.
P.S you can add grated carrot at the top of the batter in idli plates.it will look great!

This is my entry for Nupur’s A-Z of Indian Vegetables

Peel garlic in a jiffy!

2007-05-14T23:31:00.000-07:00

Soak garlics in water for 15 to 20 minutes and you can peel the garlics easily!

Vegetable Biriyani

2007-04-23T09:49:00.000-07:00

To cook the same sambar,kootu,poriyal,Rasam daily!!!!!!!!! Oh! boring!

Vegetable Biriyani is an ideal lunch for sunday!!

Ingredients

Basmati rice-2 cups
Onion-3
Tomato-4
Green chillies-7 to 8 Slitted
Beans-1 cup
Potato- 2
Peas-1 cup
Carrot-1 cup
Pudina leaves-1 cup
Ginger- garlic paste
cloves-3
cinnamon-2
Chilli powder-1 table spoon
Turmeric powder 1/2 spoon
Salt according to the taste(app 2 to 3 table spoons)
oil-approximately 5 table spoons(pour to your need)
water -4 cups(2 cups for 1 cup rice)

Cooking Method

Wash Basmati rice and soak it for 15 minutes. cut the onions length wise.cut the vegtables. put the Pan and pour oil in it. after the oil is heated put cinnamon,cloves. let it fry for 1 minute then put pudina leaves. then add onion and green chillies and saute it. add ginger-garlic paste.let it fry for 2 minutes. then add tomatoes and saute it. Now add vegetables and let it saute it for some time. Add turmeric powder and Chilli powder. Add salt and 1 cup water for the vegetables to cook.let it boil for 10 minutes. Then add the rice and pour 4 cups of water.
Do not close the lid immediately.
let the water evaporate till the rice can be seen.then put the stove in medium flame and close the lid. After 15 minutes switch off the stove.serve it with onion or cucumber raitha!

Garam masala for gravies only

2007-04-18T21:31:00.000-07:00

Do not put garam masala powder for pulavs, biriyanis. it should be put only for gravies!

Softer rava idlis!

2007-04-18T02:52:00.000-07:00

Add some milk to rava idli batter to make idlis soft! it really works! try it out!

For salty dishes!

2007-02-14T05:14:00.000-08:00

To decrease the salt amount in a dish put some raw potatoes and boil it. the saltiness will be reduced