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.