Carrot-Kiwi Juice

Fresh juice are my favorites. Everyday morning me and my hubby have one glass of fresh juice before anything else. This is a variant of usual fruit and vegetable juice we decided to make

Ingredients:

Carrot 4

Kiwi Peeled 5

Celery 1 stalk

Sugar 1tsp

Gives about 4 medium sized glass of juice. The slight tangyness of kiwi and sweetness of carrot adds amazing taste to the juice.

Here's to exceptional fresh juice!! :D

Guacamole Papdi chat

I had given up on potato sometime ago, which made it very difficult for me to have any chats. My hubby came up with amazing and yummy variation of papdi chat for me.

Ingredients:

Cilantro chutney/pesto
Mint and garlic chutney
Sweet Dates chutney
Guacamole
Onion cut to pieces
Papdi
Tomatoes cut to pieces
Sev

Yummy Papdi chat ready!!

The Kale Saga

Recently my husband has gone Kale crazy. He loves anything with Kale. So when his appetite didn't seem to be satisfied with normal Kale koottu (kale & dal) kind of things, I turned to modifying existing recipes to appease his kale hunger. The result is Kale soup, Kale adai and Kale thepla.

I didn' t take any pic of the kale soup but did take loads of the adai and thepla. 

Kale Soup:

Ingredient:
Kale 3 cups (cut)
Carrot 2 
Mushroom 4
Yellow Onion 1/2
Brussels Sprouts 7-8
Olive Oil 1tsp
Moong Dal 1tsp
Black Pepper
Salt

Procedure:

Warm oil in deep bottomed vessel and saute onion & mushroom until onion is translucent. Then add carrot & Brussels sprouts and saute for 15 secs. Then add kale and moong dal and saute until the water in kale starts leaving. Then pressure cook everything for 20 minutes (or until u hear 2-3whistles). 

Now open the cooker and add and pepper and salt to taste and bring it to a boil.

Serve Hot

PS:
After adding salt and pepper, u can also blend it to get the smooth soup texture (I and my hubby like to eat it as veggies) and then bring to boil and serve.

Kale Adai:

Ingredients:

Channa Dal - 1/2 cup

Rice - 1/2cup

Toor dal - 1/4 cup

Urad Dal - a handful or less

red chillies - 3

Ginger - 1 inch

Salt to taste

Kale - 1 bundle (3 cups in case of chopped)

Optional:

Onion - 1/4 finely chopped

Curry leaves

Asafoetida - a pinch

Coconut - 4ts

Prep:

Soak all the dals and rice overnight (though 4-5 hours should be enough)

Procedure:

Grind the soaked ingredients together in to a coarse batter along with ginger, red chilies and salt. If you wish to grind the Kale added along with other ingredients, else cut kale in to tiny pieces (very tiny) and add it to the batter.

If u r going to add onion to the batter, then grind kale with other ingredients while making the batter.

Now heat a griddle, add 3-4 drops of oil in the griddle. When the griddle is hot, pour a laddle of  the batter and spread it. Make a hole in the middle and pour a drop of oil in the hole (so that the adai comes crispy). Turn the adai after 1minute and wait until both sides are golden brown.

Serve hot.

(Kale adai tastes best with avial etc).

Kale Thepla:

Preparation time:30 mins
Servings: 3

Recipe:
Wheat flour 3 cups
Kale 2 cups (cut)
Yellow Onion 1/2
Green Chili 2 (thai)
Ginger 1/2inch
Garlic 2cloves
Turmeric powder 1/2tsp
Some cumin (Jeera) seeds, asafoetida, salt to taste

Warm oil in deep bottomed pan. And add some cumin seeds and let it splutter. Add green chili, shredded ginger & garlic and turmeric and let it cook until a nice aroma rises (takes about 10secs). Now add onion to the mixture and saute until the onion turns translucent. Add the cut kale and saute for 1min or until the water starts to leave. Remove from heat

Take wheat flour and add a pinch of asafoetida and salt (to taste),Now add the above mixture to wheat flour and mix very well. Just sprinkle water to the flour as and when required and knead the flour until you a nice smooth dough like shown in the picture. (Keep tasting for salt and chilli, if needed add more chilli)

 Now make small balls of dough and then flatten them to the size of a pancake (Tip: touch up with little amount of wheat flour to make the flattening easier).

Heat a flat bottomed pancake pan (girdle) and add a drop or two of oil to it and wait until the pan heats up. Now bake the flattened dough, by turning sides every 10 secs until thepla is cooked.

Serve hot with some butter and raitha!! :D

Rava Idli

Kozhukattai

Brown Rice dosa & Idli

This is very simple and healthy recipe. Substituting raw rice with 2 cups of brown rice & 1.5 cups of idli rice and 1 cup of urad dal soaked for 4-5 hours along with fenugreek seeds and grinded: coarsely for idli and smoothly for dosa (Salt added to taste). Let the batter stand overnight to ferment. Batter ready to make idli and dosa

Brown rice Dosa

Brown rice idli

Rava Kesari

Molaga Bajji

Veggie Wrap

Sweet potato Halwa (SaKaravellikazhngu)

My favorite sweet, only for main reason that it had pretty less sweet content. I am not a sweet tooth person at all. its also very easy to make.

Ingredient:

Sweet potato 1
Sugar 3 spoons
butter (melted will also work) as needed
Dried grapes to garnish

Cardamom for flavoring (3)

Prep: 30 mins

Cooking time: 30 mins

Servings: 4

Method:

Pressure cook sweet potato in milk or water with a pinch of salt. (Salt is added to make the Halwa not very sweet). Once the pressure is released, peal the skin off SweetPotato and smash it such that a smooth paste is formed. 

Take a shallow flat bottomed vessel, and add sweet potato to it. Cook it until the water in it is vaporized (this is the longest process, takes about 15-20 mins). Now stir in 5 teaspoon of milk to it and cook for 5 mins.

Finally add butter and sugar (as per taste) and stir until the butter is completely melted and sugar is completely dissolved. Keep stirring until a nice aroma rises. (This takes about 5 mins)

Melt one spoon of butter or ghee, and once it is hot add dried grapes and cardamom, add it to halwa. (this is just for tempering or garnishing) 

The sweet potato halwa is ready for serving (best served when hot)!

Always the keep the heat very very very low and keep stirring often as halwas are liable to burn.

Enjoy ur hot yummy halwa

Mutter Paneer

Ingredients:

Peas (Mutter) - 2 cups

Paneer (cottage cheese cut in to cubes) - 1 cup

Onion (big one)- 1 

Tomato - 3

Ginger-Garlic Paste - 3 spoons

Jeera (cumin seeds) as needed

Garam Masala, Salt, Aamchur, Kichten King Vegetable Masala, red chilli powder, (haldi) Turmeric powder as per taste and needed.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 20-25 minutes

Servings: 5

Method: 

To salted water,add Paneer. Boil water until Paneer is soft to touch, then drain the excess water using a strainer.Leave the Paneer in teh strainer so that any remaining water will dribble out.

Add oil to a thick bottomed vessel and heat it. Add Jeera, to it and wait until it splutters. Then add, cut onion and ginger-garlic paste and saute until the onion turn translucent and the raw smell of ginger-garlic paste is gone. Now add the masalas, turmeric & chilli powder and saute for 10 secs. Add Peas to this mix and saute/cook in low flame until peas becomes soft to touch. Now add paneer, aamchur and salt. Stir and cook for 10 minutes at very low flame, then remove it from heat.

Garnish it with coriander to add aroma! Serve with hot chappathis or naans!!

ThenKuzhal Murukku

One of my fav snack and very easy to make. 

Ingredients:
1 cup of rice flour
2 spoons of udad flour
2 spoons of besan flour
salt as needed
a pinch of asafoetida
a spoon of butter
water to kneed
oil for frying

Prep Time: 10-15 minutes. But if u making it from scratch like making the rice flour atleast a day.

Cooking time: 20 minutes
Servings: 2

Method:
Sift all the flours together using sieve to get a fine smooth dough. Add salt as per taste and asafoetida, butter and kneed the flour in to nice dough of chapathi/pizza dough consistency. Heat oil and test the oil by adding small bit of the dough, if it raises immediately. Use the thenkuzhal maker to different shapes of thenkuzhal and add it to oil. Fry until golden hue appears. 

Serve yummy thenkuzhal as snack with tea or with pudina chutney!!

Tying Madisaar - Iyer style

I am going to go out of the usual recipe in this posting. I had a tough time finding a good site that detailed instructions regarding tying madisaar (Iyer style). So I thought of adding one post for that in this site


How to tie madisar Iyer style::

1) Grab and make a bundle on one end of the nine yards and keep it near the spinal cord and soothify the sari once around the body. (keep ur legs as aprat as possible in this step to give space for movement)
2) Bring the sari end in front of you, then grab a small portion and tie a knot just right off your navel.
3) Take the rest of the sari and pass it inbetween the legs and insert/tuck little bit at the back
4) And then soothify the sari in left hand direction once and then throw it over the right shoulder for pallu :)
madisar done..!! :D

Kasi Halwa

Simple yet most yummiest halwa made with just white pumpkin, sugar/jaggery and some milk... seasoned  with ghee & kismis 

Ingredient:

White pumpkin 1 (seeds and skin removed)

Milk 1/2 cup

Sugar 3 spoons

butter (melted will also work) as needed

Dried grapes to garnish

Cardamom for flavoring (3)

Prep: 30 mins

Cooking time: 30 mins

Servings: 4

Method:

Grate the pumpkin and keep it aside. In a shallow flat bottomed vessel, add pumpkin to it, and Cook it until the water in the pumpkin is vaporized (this is the longest process, takes about 15-20 mins). Now stir in milk to the pumpkin (not the full 1/2 cup, little by little), to it and cook it until the pumpkin becomes mushy and is well cooked. 

Finally add butter and sugar (as per taste) and stir until the butter is completely melted and sugar is completely dissolved. Keep stirring until a nice aroma rises. (This takes about 5 mins)

Melt one spoon of butter or ghee, and once it is hot add dried grapes and cardamom, add it to halwa. (this is just for tempering or garnishing) 

The amazing kasi halwa is ready for serving (best served when hot)!

Eggless Chocolate cake

A very simple recipe. To one cup of all purpose flour, add 1 cup of sugar,  1ts of baking soda, 1ts of eno/fruit salt, 1/4 cup of powdered chocolate, 1/4 cup of vegetable oil and water. Beat it all together to make a smooth batter and then bake it at 350'F in a pre-heated oven for 40-45 mins. 

Eggplant roll

A simple recipe with eggplant. Make slices of Eggplant and bake/broil it , then make a  black eyed peas paste (with chili and salt to taste), toss some tomatoes, onions and capsicum in oil. Spread the paste on eggplant and add the tossed veggies and fold it. Yummy eggplant roll is ready

Making Ghee

Making ghee from butter is very simple. Take a thick bottomed kadai, and heat & melt butter in medium heat. Add some crystals of rock salt once all the butter is melted and when the butter begins to boil over add few fenugreek seeds to it and remove from heat. Once the ghee is cool, bottle it in a container. Personally I just love the aroma of a freshly made ghee.

Paserattu and Allum chutney

Paserattu:

It is very easy to make paserattu and it makes a very healthy tiffin or breakfast.

Ingredients:

(Sprouted) Green gram/moong dal - 3cups
Green chili - 6-8
Salt to taste

Prep:
Soak green gram/ moong dal overnight or until sprout.

Procedure:

Grind the soaked moong dal along with green chili and salt in to fine batter in a grinder or blender. Add enough water to bring it in to a thick consistency.

Now take one ladle of the batter and spread it on a heated tava/gridle just like dosa/crepe. Make sure to make it not very thin or thick. After a min turn the paserattu over to cook the other side. After 30s remove and serve it with chutney.


Allum Chutney:

Allum chutney is sweet and sour ginger chutney. It goes very well with the moong based paserattu.

Ingredients:
Ginger - 2 inches
Tamarind
Jaggery
Curry leaves - 5-6
Salt to taste

Procedure:


Cut ginger in to small pieces and saute it with 1ts of channa dal, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, a pinch of asafoetida, tamarind in 2ts of heated oil in a pan. Once the raw smell of the tamarind and ginger is gone, remove the pan from heat and let it cool.

Once cold add a little amount of jaggery to the mixture and grind it in to fine paste in a blender. Then boil this paste in a thick bottomed pan. Add salt to taste. Your allum chutney is ready.


Hope u enjoy this recipe!!

Morkootu

 

Morkootu, is my hubby's fav. It is very easy and really tasty.

Ingredients:
Channa Dal - 1 cup
Toor Dal - 1 cup
Rice - a handful
Green Chili - 5-6
Coconut - 1/2 cup
White Pumpkin
Salt to taste
Curd/Buttermilk - 2 cups

Prep Time:
Soak dal and rice for 1-2 hours

Recipe:
Grind soaked dal, rice and green chilies with shredded coconut in to a nice paste in a blender.

Cut pumpkin in to small pieces and then saute it in a kadai until pumpkin is cooked (should be soft and water). Now add the dal paste to the well cooked pumpkin and boil for 5-10 mins. Then add curd to the mixture and keep stirring. (Make sure that the curd does not start thinning/separating). Heat only for about 2-3 mins. Then remove from stove. Add salt to taste.

Temper it with mustard seeds, cumin seeds, red chili (1 or 2) and curry leaves.

Your yummy Morkootu is ready. Morkootu and beans Paruppu usuli form a great combo. Hope u enjoy this recipe.

Adai

Adai with chutney or sambar is one of my favorites. A lesser known cousin of dosa, adai is a very healthy and filling tiffin recipe of South India. 

Ingredients:

Channa Dal - 1/2 cup

Rice - 1/2cup

Toor dal - 1/4 cup

Urad Dal - a handful or less

Green chillies - 3 finely chopped

red chillies - 5

Ginger - 1 inch

Onion - 1/4 finely chopped

Curry leaves

Asafoetida - a pinch

Optional: coconut - 4ts

Salt to taste

Prep:

Soak all the dals and rice overnight (though 4-5 hours should be enough)

Procedure:

Grind the soaked ingredients together in to a coarse batter along with ginger, red chillies and salt. 

Now add onion, curry leaves, green chillis, coconut and asafoetida to the batter.

Now heat a griddle, add 3-4 drops of oil in the griddle. When the griddle is hot, pour a laddle of  the batter and spread it. Make a hole in the middle and pour a drop of oil in the hole (so that the adai comes crispy). Turn the adai after 1minute and wait until both sides are golden brown.

Adai can be had with tomato-onion chutney or jaggery or avial etc.