Pongal and Sambar

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

      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!!!!!!!
I am reposting this for gayathri's  Walk Through Memory Lane which is hosted by Nithu.

Ingredients
Channa dhal- 2 cupsRaw 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.....

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 !!!

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

Dhavanai Idli

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 !

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

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

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!

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

Urundai Kuzhambu

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.