Soraikkai(Bottlegourd) kadalaiparupu Kootu

When I was looking for a different recipe for soraikai(Bottlegourd/Dhudhi) from my usual kootu recipe, I came across this really nice recipe in google video in the jaya tv cookery show suvayo suvai. Click here for the video. I'm going to make a note of that recipe here.....The variation I have made is to reduce the qty of coconut paste used. I just added a tbsp of coconut paste as against the 1/2 cup coconut paste in the recipe...
Ingredients:
1.Soraikai/Bottleguard- 2 cups
2.Channa dhal- 1/2 cup (soaked in water for half hour)
3.Onion- finely chopped- 1/2
4.Tomato-finely chopped- 1/2
5.Ginger/Garlic paste- 1 tbsp
6.Chilly powder- 1 tsp
7.Turmeric powder- 1 tsp
8.Dhania powder- 2 tbsp
9.Green chilly- 1 or 2 slit lengthwise
10.Curry leaves
11.Salt
12.Hing or Asafoetida- 1 tsp
13. coconut - 2 tbsp (grind it with some water to get the paste)
For Tempering:
oil
Mustard seeds-1 tbsp
Jeera seeds- 1 tsp
Red chilly- 1 or 2
Curry leaves- a few
Method:
Add ingredients 1 to 12 in a pressure cooker. Add some water until the veggies are immersed and pressure cook for 3 whistles and then reduce the flame and cook for 5 more mins. Once the pressure is released, open the pressure cooker and mash the veggies slightly with a ladle. Then in a wok heat the oil and add the tempering items and when the mustard splutter, add the veggies from the pressure cooker and cook for 2-3 mins. Then add the coconut paste and cook for another 2 mins and garnish with curry leaves , coriander leaves & serve with rice or roti.
My recipe for kootu usually doesn't have onion, tomato & garlic, but trust me this new way of making kootu was delicious and not to mention healthy too.

Ghee rice

This is a very simple & easy to make rice item that can be done in a jiffy in the morning to pack for lunch. Some call this as Brinji rice too. This goes well with some nice spicy channa masala or any Kurma. Though this looks plain, trust me it tastes soooo rich & tasty
So here goes my recipe....
Ingredients:
Basmathi rice- 1 cup
Coconut milk-1 cup
Water-1/2 cup (I use 1:1.5 as ratio for rice to water,
so took 1 cup coconut milk and 1/2 cup water)
Onion(thin sliced lengthwise)- 1
ginger/garlic paste- 1 tbsp
salt to taste
Ghee- 3 tbsp
Green chilly- 3

For tempering
cloves-2
cinnamon- 1 big stick
bay leaf
cardamom- 2
star anise- 2


Method:
Heat ghee/oil in a skillet add the whole masala(mentioned above) for tempering. when the nice aroma of the spices come add the green chilly, ginger/garlic paste & onion and saute' it. Sprinkle some salt to help the onions get cooked faster. make sure the onions don't turn brown as this will change the color of the rice. Now wash the rice and add to this and saute' for a min. Then transfer this to a rice cooker and add salt to taste, coconut milk and water and cook. Before serving add another spoon of ghee. ...This is ghee rice so you cannot avoid the ghee part unfortunately :)
Ghee rice is ready! See I told u it's real easy...isn't it?Do try it and let me know how it turns out.
This is my entry to Srivalli's Rice mela.

Based on the valuable suggestion received from Srivalli, I'm also sending my already posted old entry 'Poha' to the Rice mela event. Thanks Srivalli for the encouragement.

Vegetable Pakoda

This last Friday evening I wanted to make a quick snack to serve with tea when my hubby dear got back from work......Onion pakoda was what came to my mind immediately..just to create a variation to that, I decided to make vegetable pakoda using just corn flour and a little maida.......this was done in about 20 mins.......real quick...and to my surprise it turned out sooooooooo well just like the crispy pakodas we get in India......so here goes the vegetable pakoda recipe.....enjoy with a cup of tea/coffee.
Ingredients:
Vegetables chopped- 2 cups (I used thinly sliced red onions, cabbage & cauliflower)
Corn flour- 4 or 5 tbsps
All purpose flour- 1 tbsp
baking soda- 1/2 tsp
chopped ginger- 1 tbsp
chilli powder-1 tbsp
salt to taste
curry leaves
cilantro leaves- 2 tbsp (chopped)
Green chilly- 1 or 2 chopped
Hing - a pinch
Oil
water to sprinkle
Method:
Put all the cut veggies in a bowl. Add all the above mentioned ingredients to it and sprinkle some water little by little to mix it(just enough water to help the flour and spices stick to the veggies).....it should not be diluted or too thin like baji flour.....in the meantime heat oil in a pan to deep fry the pakodas and add 1 tbsp of that hot oil to this pakoda flour mix(this makes the pakoda crispier).....once the oil is hot put in the pakodas slowly and when u drop it into the oil make sure you separate them with ur fingers so the pakodas will turn out crispier....keep in medium flame and cook until the pakodas turn light brown and crispy...Drain it in a paper towel and then serve hot.

Pav Bhaji

Pav Bhaji is one of the most famous chaat items known to south indians.....I have always enjoyed watching the way they mash the bhaji usually outside the chaat shops on a big tawa and add some butter to it while serving.......lip smacking ah?.....I learnt the authentic recipe for Pav Bhaji from one of my roomies in Tampa, a girl from Bombay and it sure is the best recipe I have come across till now......pretty simple and a good change too from the usual rice varieties when u invite some people over ....I usually get the whole wheat dinner rolls or whole wheat hamburger buns for the Pav from the regular American grocery store and u can vary the proportion of potato as per ur taste,though it is usually made with potatoes, I just add half or 1 potato and add more of other veggies such as carrots, cauliflower .....soo here is the recipe for Pav bhaji..Enjoy!
Ingredients:
Potatoes- 1 big
carrots- 2
Gobi- 1 or 2 cups of florets
Green pepper (capsicum) - 1 big
frozen green peas- 1 small cup
Onion- 1 big
Tomato - 1 big
Tomato paste- 1 tbsp (optional)
Ginger & garlic paste or grated- 2 tsp
green chilly- very finely chopped-2
Red chilly powder- 1 tsp
Turmeric poweder- 1/2 tsp
Pav Bhaji masala powder(Any brand, I usually use EVEREST or BADSHAH)- 2 tbsp
Butter
Oil
Salt to taste
Cilantro leaves
For tempering:
Butter & oil -1 tbsp
Cumin seeds- 1 tbsp
Method:

Peel the skin of potato & carrot, dice them, add to a pressure cooker along with cauliflower florets, 2 tbsp of the cut onion & green pepper, a pinch of turmeric powder, a pinch of salt & hing(I add hing to everything specially when using potatoes it is a must). Just adding a piece of onion & green pepper while cooking the veggies will give a nice flavor to the bhaji. Pressure cook this for 4-5 whistles or until the veggies get cooked really well. Open the pressure cooker when ready & mash the vegetables with a potato masher &keep it aside.
Heat oil/butter in a skillet and season with cumin seeds. Then add finely chopped onion, ginger/garlic paste & green chilly and sauté until the raw smell of ginger/garlic goes away. Now goes the finely chopped tomatoes and tomato paste. I add tomato paste to get the texture & color. But if u don't have tomato paste you could used an extra tomato instead. Now goes the mashed veggies, finely chopped green pepper, green peas, salt to taste, red chilly powder, & 11/2 tbsp of Pav bhaji masala. Add 1 tsp of butter(if u wish ) at the this point too. Cook this for 2-3 mins. Add the other half tbsp of Pav bhaji masala powder at the end before turning off the flame. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with toasted Pav(toasted with butter), finely chopped onions and a piece of lemon.

Coconut Burfi

Happy Diwali!

Diwali and sweets are inseparable. So I made it a point to make one sweet atleast for this Diwali...Coconut burfi has always been one of my favorite sweet and I always asked my mom to make this for my b'day every year. So I called up my mom and asked her for the recipe and jumped right into it......With the 2 cups of frozen coconut used I got about 15 pieces of coconut burfi
Ingredients:
Shredded Coconut- 2 cups (I used frozen coconut)
sugar- 11/2 cups
Water- 3/4 cup
cardamom powder- 1 tsp
Roasted cashews- 1 tbsp
Ghee- 1 tsp

Add the sugar and water to a deep pan and heat it until the sugar syrup becomes thick and come to a one string consistency.(Simple way to check is to take a little bit of sugar syrup in the spatula, give it a few seconds to cool down, then touch it and try to pull it between two fingers. it should come like a string or thread). Then add the shredded thawed frozen coconut, cardamom powder and mix it to the sugar syrup. Cook it nicely until it thickens. It might take 10-15 mins. In the meantime, roast some broken cashews in a tbsp of ghee and add to the pan. Wait until it thickens nicely and it should leave the sides of the pan. At this point of time, transfer this to a plate greased with ghee. Flatten it with a spatula, then cut it into pieces with a clean knife. Wait until it cools down and then serve the coconut burfi.

Poha

Poha called Avil in Tamilnadu, is a quick tiffin item to make. Poha is basically pressed rice so it is definitely filled with carbs and I personally have always found it to be very filling even with small proportion. Poha in Tamilnadu is usually made with lemon (Lemon avil) or tamarind (Puli Avil). But when I was looking for the north indian recipe of poha on the internet, I came across the recipe of TS for corn poha. Click here for her recipe. Of course I made some modifications to it by incorporating our south indian tempering items, using regular onions and by adding some raisins along with the cashews and peanuts.
Ingredients:
Poha(thick)- 2 cups
Onion- 1
Green chilly- 2 or 3 finely chopped
Frozen Corn or green peas- 2 or 3 tbsp
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
salt
oil
Ghee- 1 tbsp
Asafoetida- pinch
lemon juice
coriander leaves

For Tempering:
Cumin seeds- 1 /2 tsp
Urad dhal- 1 tbsp
chana dhal- 1 tbsp
mustard seeds- 1 tbsp
curry leaves- few
cashews- few
peanuts- few
raisins- few


Add the cashews, peanuts and raisins to hot oil + 1/2 tbsp of ghee. when the cashews turn light brown add the other tempering items. When the mustard seeds splutter add the chopped onions + green chilly and saute until onion turns soft. In the meantime, wash the poha twice and drain the water & keep it aside.Now add the frozen corn or peas, turmeric, pinch of chilly powder, poha and salt to taste. Mix everything well and cook for 2-3 mins. Add a pinch of asafoetida, chopped coriander leaves, 1/2 tsp of ghee, squeeze some lemon juice and serve... I served it with some sev on top (I've heard that it is usually served with sev but this is optional of course)

Potato Stew

This is a traditional Keralite dish that is usually served with Appam, Idiyappam or Dosa. I prepared this today with some frozen idiyappam that I had in my freezer. It is absolutely a heavy, creamy and high calorie food...so save it for a special weekend when u want to treat ur tastebuds....if u look at the picture posted here u would know what I mean....and it sure was a treat for us....
Ingredients:
Potato- 2
Green chilly- finely chopped 2 or 3
Ginger- finely chopped (1 tbsp)
Onion- 1 finely chopped
Curry leaves- few
Green peas- 1/4 cup (optional)
Coconut milk- 1 can
salt
Coconut oil- 1 tsp

Method:
Saute' chopped onion, green chilly, curry leaves and ginger in some canola oil and fry till onion gets soft..make sure the onions do not turn brown....u can sprinkle some water and salt to help the onion get cooked fast and not turn brown....In the meantime, peel the skin of the potatoes and chop into cubes and microwave for 10 mins... take 1/4 cup of coconut milk from the can dilute it with some water and add it to cooked onion. Also add the cooked potato, frozen peas(optional) salt to taste and let this boil in the diluted coconut milk for 5-7 mins. Then add the rest of the thick coconut milk(without diluting it) from the can and cook for 2 mins. Add a tsp of coconut oil and serve hot with Appam or Idiyappam.