Chakka adai

Growing up, the meals we had during summer always revolved around chakka (jackfruit), muringakka (drumstick) and mangoes. If there was muringakka sambar one day, the next day it was muringakka molagoottal, then chakkakkuru (jackfruit seed) thoran, chakka molagushyam, chakka this, muringakka that....so much so that my brother and I used to silently wish that those trees would somehow miraculously stop bearing any more fruit.
It's true that you don't realise the value of something when you have it in abundance. Now whenever I visit my parents I come back laden with the very same things that I once said I couldn't take any more of.......
Chakka adai is something I didn't dislike as a child, but neither was I overly enamoured by it. A recent visit to my parents' made me rediscover this dish and yeah, I did bring back some ripe jackfruit so that I could make this at home.

What you need:
Raw rice - 1 cup
Jackfruit - 6 slices (is that what it is called??? or is it just pieces???)
Salt - a pinch
Jaggery - a small piece (optional)

Wash and soak rice in plenty of water for 2 hours.
Drain and then grind along with all the other ingredients to a smooth batter of pourable consistency.
Heat a dosa pan. Pour a ladle of batter...spread it into a circle....pour a few drops of oil/ghee on it and cook for a minute/until the bottom turns golden brown. Flip over and cook for a minute.

Serve hot.
This dosa does not need any accompaniment...tastes great hot off the stove.

Note:

• The jackfruit should be really, really ripe.
• Increase, decrease or totally do away with the jaggery depending on the sweetness of the jackfruit.

Experience in action

Look at those efficient hands spreading the batter deftly and in perfect circles......the dosas that he made were nothing less than a pure delight to savour.

Crisp and delicious!!!

These pics were taken during my father's Shastiabdapoorthy (60th b'day) a couple of months back. The caterer was really, really good....if any of you are looking for a caterer(Kerala Iyer food), I highly recommend Akshaya Caterers of Palakkad.

This is my final entry to Srivalli's Dosa Mela.

Happy Vishu

Our Vishu Sadya

Here's wishing you all a very happy Vishu....

Verum arisi adai

Minimum preparation and almost no fuss is exactly how I would describe my cooking style. I am not the kind to toil over the stove all day long and endure the "It-tastes-OK" type of comments
with a martyr-like smile.....If I have toiled in the kitchen and put something on the table, then you better be lavish with your words(read you better tell me it is GOOD!!!)
The dosas that Iam going to talk about today are just my kind of dish - need almost no prep....except for the grinding of course.....no fermenting, no soaking and grinding separately....infact, it uses just three ingredients.....yet, the end-product is guaranteed to satisfy.

What you need:

Parboiled rice - 1cup
Fresh grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Salt - to taste

Wash and soak the rice in plenty of water for 4 to 6 hours. Drain and grind to a smooth batter adding as much water as needed. The batter should be runny.....like rava dosa batter.
Mix in the grated coconut and salt.
Heat a dosa pan....pour a ladleful of batter in a circle....even it out with the ladle...pour a few drops of oil over it if you'd like....cook for a few minutes, turn over, cook for a minute....and
serve hot with coconut chutney/tomato chutney/sambar. My personal favourite is mango thokku along with this.
There, does dosa making get any simpler than that???

Notes:

• You can use raw rice instead of parboiled, but the dosas are much softer when u use parboiled rice.
• The coconut can be ground along with the batter but biting into little bits of grated coconut as you eat the dosa is what gives this a unique taste. I have also seen some people sprinkle the grated coconut over the dosa immediately after pouring the batter into the pan.

This dosa too goes to Srivalli's Dosa Mela.
Check out my other entries to the mela - tomato dosa ( no fermenting), vegetable dosa (no fermenting) and masala dosa (scroll halfway down the post to see the recipe)

Summer goodies #1 - Ela vadam

"Unbearably hot" is an understatement when it comes to describing Chennai summers. The bright sun blazing its way through the thick curtains in your bedroom lets you know in no uncertain terms that summer is here to stay whether you like it or not. When your sweat glands produce just about as much sweat as the water you consume plus some more, you know there's no escape. You have to brace yourself for the next few months and make the best of it.
Nature does have its own ways to help you cope...there are all those luscious fruits that line the shelves of your grocer.....the juice stalls that are constanly busy this time of the year....mangoes from different parts of India - some sweet, some with a hint of tanginess....that is the silver lining behind the cloud.
Summer is also the season when most of the seasonal produce is preserved in different forms for use during the rest of the year. Pickles, vathals and vadams are made and stored and enjoyed all round the year.
There's two ways to putting a vadam on your plate.....
1. Go to a store. Find your favourite vadam. Bring it back home. Fry in oil and that's it.
2. Wake up at an ungodly hour.....the said hour for me was 5.45....not so ungodly for many, but hey, I like my beauty sleep. Hurry up and make the vadams before that little girl wakes up and comes in and demands that anything that's not 2 years old should be relegated to the outer bounds of your attention. Make vadam. Dry it in the sun for days until it is ready for use and then fry them in oil.
No prizes for guessing which method Iam going to talk about here.
Yeah, yeah...call me crazy...but there's just something about all that hot sun that made me want to try this out from scratch. This is my first attempt at making vadams. It takes up quite a bit of your time...so make sure you do this when you're sure there aren't going to be any interruptions.
Alright, let's put on our aprons....and start making vadams.

What you need:
Raw rice - 1 cup
Parboiled rice - 1 cup
Salt - to taste
Green chilli - 2 or to taste (remember, we just want a hint of spiciness here...not a super spicy vadam that would require its own side dish)
Black sesame seeds - 1 tsp, soaked in water for ten minutes

You also need an ela vadam stand and vadam plates.

Grind the rice to a smooth paste adding just as little water as needed. Add salt and leave it covered overnight. Next morning, grind the green chillies to a smooth paste. Add a little bit of the rice batter to the chillies while grinding so that it blends in smoothly and then mix it in with the rest of the batter. Drain the sesame seeds of water and add to the batter. Check for salt and add more if needed. The batter should not be very runny. It should be of pourable consistency.Heat some water in an idli cooker. Grease the vadam plates. Pour a small amount of batter on the plate and spread it into a circle. It should not be spread too thick or too thin. If you spread it too thick, the vadam does not turn out well when fried and if it is too thin, you won't be able to take it off the plate without tearing it.Stack the plates on the vadam stand and steam in the idli cooker for 3-4 minutes.When the vadam is cooked, it changes colour and becomes shiny.
Remove the plates from the cooker. Let it cool for a few seconds....and then ease one end of the vadam out with a knife.
Pull out the vadam carefully without tearing it and transfer it to a plastic sheet.
Follow these steps until all the batter is used up. You should have about 35 vadams if you follow this recipe.If you have the luxury of some open space with lots of sunshine, dry the vadams there. If not, don't worry...these vadams dry quite well even under the fan. It should dry completely in one or two days, depending on the intensity of sunlight.
Once dried, fry them in hot oil and serve with rice.

Chickpeas vada

Parippu vada is a popular tea-time snack in Kerala.....and can be found in most small local restaurants in the evening. During my hostel days, I have washed down several of these with cups of severely watered down tea. My recipe for parippu vada can be found here.

What I have here is a variation that I tried....and the results of which we enjoyed.

What you need:

Chickpeas - 1 cup, soaked in water for 6-8 hrs
Onion - 1, finely chopped
Carrot - 1, grated
Garlic - 3 cloves, chopped fine
curry leaves - a few, chopped
Green chilli - 2 or 3, minced
Asafoetida - a little
Salt - to taste
Oil - for deep frying

Grind the chick peas without adding any water to a coarse paste.If there are some whole chickpeas even after grinding, it's perfectly fine.
Add all the other ingredients to this and mix well. Alternately, you can also add the other ingredients into the blender and turn it once so it is well mixed.
Heat oil in a kadai.
Shape the chickpea batter into small balls, flatten them between your palms and drop a few of these gently into the oil.
Fry until the vada turns crisp and golden brown....make sure you turn it over a couple of times so that both the sides get cooked well. Also take care to see that you don't overheat the oil 'coz then the inside doesn't get cooked thoroughly.
Remove....drain excess oil using a paper towel and serve hot with ketchup or mint chutney.

A closer look.......

Check out this and other amazing entries to Waiter There's Something in my Soup at Jeanne's round-up.

Paneer Pulav

Rice is a staple in any South Indian household....and there are several ways in which it is cooked and eaten. Sometimes, however, you just crave for a rice that does not overshadow your other dishes....something that just gently blends in with the rest of the menu, a dish that is fragrant and delicious...but not overpoweringly so....
Here's one such recipe....

What you need:
Basmati rice - 1 cup (Soak in plenty of water for 1 hour and then drain and keep aside)
Paneer pieces - 1/2 cup
Water - 2 1/4 cups
ghee - 2 tsp
Salt
Star anise - 1
Clove - 4
Cinnamon - a small piece
Cardamom - 4 pods
Garlic - 2 pods, peeled and minced
Onion - 1, chopped fine
Green chilli - 1, minced

Powder the spices (anise,clove,cinnamon and cardamom) coarsely and transfer them to a large microwaveable bowl. Add a tsp of ghee to it and heat for 1 minute and 30 seconds on high.
Now add the chopped onion, garlic and green chillies and heat for 2 minutes or until the onion turns a nice brown. Stir in the rice and the remaining ghee. Microwave for 1 minute.
Add water and cook at 850 watts for 8 minutes. Add paneer pieces. Then lower the power to 650 watts and cook for another 3 minutes and 30 seconds.
Let it stand for a few minutes before serving with any raita/curry of your choice.

Paneer pulav served with baby bittergourd fry and cucumber raita.

I discovered baby bittergourds recently on a trip to the vegetable market....and I must say I love them. They are nice to look at, but to me, the best part is that there's no chopping/prepping involved. Just wash them and throw them into a kadai....with some salt, oil and red chilli powder. Stir once in a while until it is crisp and brown. Now, that's easy, isn't it???

This is my entry to Srivalli's MEC-Rice.
The baby bittergourd fry goes to Pooja's Veggie of the Week event.

A balancing act

In primary school, we learn that we need to eat right to become strong and healthy. We are told that the three major components of a balanced meal are carbohydrates, proteins and fat.
Our ancestors were not nutritionists or dietitians....but they seem to have known all this ages ago. Thea first meal that a South Indian child is fed is a mixture of rice(carbs),and tuar dal(protein) mixed with a generous dollop of ghee(fat). Add in some veggies and you have a complete balanced meal. Idli, dosa, pongal, dal-roti....think of most of your everyday meals and you'll realise that you don't have to reach further than your pantry to create a healthy, balanced, wholesome meal for your family.
Here are two such recipes.......

Vegetable dosa

What you need:

Besan - 1 cup
Maida - 1/4 cup
Rice flour - 1/4 cup
Salt
Carrot - 1, grated
Green chilli - 1, minced
Corriander leaves - a handful, chopped
Tomato - 1, chopped fine
Onion - 1, chopped

Mix besan, maida, rice flour and salt with enough water to form a batter of pourable consistency. Add in all the other ingredients.
Heat a dosa pan or griddle. Pour a ladleful of batter on it. Pour it thick like you would for an uttapam. Drizzle some oil over it. When the bottom is golden brown, flip over, and cook on a low flame until done.
This dosa is a complete meal by itself. It does not really require a chutney or any accompaniment. A little bit of yogurt on the side would complement it well.

Now let's move on to another dosa that features on pretty much all South Indian menus.....the mighty masala dosa. To date, I don't think I've met anyone who doesn't like the humble dosa in this avatar. The best masala dosa that I've had is served at Annapoorna in Coimbatore..... there's just something in it that makes you want to go back again and again.
Here's how I make it:

What you need:

For the batter

Par-boiled rice - 3 cups
Urad dal - 1.5 cups
Poha/rice flakes - a handful
Fenugreek seeds - 1 heaped tsp
Salt

Soak rice and fenugreek seeds for 8-10 hours in plenty of water. About ten minutes before grinding add in the poha to this to soak.
Soak urad dal separately for 30 minutes.
Grind urad dal and rice separately and then mix together with enough salt. Leave it to ferment overnight. The next morning, stir the batter well and add some water, if necessary, to get a batter of pourable consistency.

For the masala

Potatoes - 3 medium sized, boiled, peeled and mashed
Onion - 1 large, chopped fine
Curry leaves - 1 sprig, chopped
Ginger - a small pieces, chopped
Green chilli - 1, chopped
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt

Heat a tsp of oil. Add some urad dal and mustard seeds to it. When the seeds pop, add the ginger, chilli, onion and curry leaves. Fry until onions turn pink.
Now add the mashed potatoes, turmeric powder and salt. If necessary add a little bit of water. Stir and cook until the masala thickens. At this point, you can stir in some lemon juice if you'd like to.

To make masala dosas:

Heat a dosa pan. Spread a ladleful of batter on it. Make sure that you spread it thin if you like crisp dosas. Drizzle some oil over it.When the bottom of the dosa turns golden brown, take a few tsps of the masala and spread it over one half of the dosa.Close it with the other half and serve hot off the tawa with chutney and sambar.

Notes:
Do not soak the urad dal for more than 30 minutes. Grind it with cold water or just pop the soaked dal into the fridge and grind it when you are ready to. This gives you creamier urad batter and makes idlis and dosas softer.
You can also add a cup of cooked left-over rice while grinding the batter.

Both dosas go to WBB-Balanced Breakfast Meal which is being hosted by Mansi Desai and to Srivalli's Dosa Mela.

Tomato dosa and manga koottan

To make tomato dosa, you need:

Raw rice - 1 cup
Tuar dal - 1/4 cup
Tomato - 3 large, ripe ones
Tamarind - a gooseberry sized ball
Red chilli - 3
Salt

Soak rice and tuar dal for 2 hours in plenty of water. Add the tamarind and red chilli to this and let it soak for another 10 minutes. Drain the water. Add cut tomatoes, salt and grind everything together to a smooth batter. If necessary, add some more water at this stage to get a batter of pourable consistency.
Now, heat a dosa pan. Spread a ladleful of batter in a circle. Add a little bit of oil over it....and let it cook until the bottom is crisp and brown. Flip over and cook for a few seconds.
Remove and serve hot with any chutney of your choice.
In the pic, I have served it with manga koottan.

To make manga koottan, you need:

Raw mango - a small one, chopped into large pieces.

Drumstick - 1, chopped into finger length pieces

Ash gourd - 1 cup, chopped into medium sized pieces

Fresh grated coconut - 3/4 cup

Green chillies - 2 or 3

Salt

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Grind coconut and green chillies into a smooth paste and keep aside. Cook chopped mango, drumstick and gourd in a pan by adding enough water, salt and turmeric powder. Once the veggies are cooked, add the ground paste to it. Let it boil. Remove from heat. Season a tsp of coconut oil with mustard seeds, urad dal and a few sprigs of curry leaves. Once the mustard seeds pop, pour this over the koottan.

Notes:

• This dosa does not need fermenting. It can be made crisp or soft as you prefer...tastes good either way.
• For the koottan, if the mangoes are not very sour, add in some sour curd....and if the mango is too sour, use only 3/4th of it.
• The recipe is from Mallika Badrinath's book and has been adapted to suit my palate.

Srivalli at Cooking For all Seasons is hosting a dosa mela to celebrate her viewer stats reaching the one lakh mark. This dosa is my entry to her event.

Arusuvai friendship chain

This post has been a work in progress for a very long time. First, the courier guys messed up....for some weird reason they returned the package that Nirmala sent me and told her that I "don't exist".Hello, there people of the wonderful courier world.....I've got news for you, buddies....Do you think this blog just writes itself???
Luckily for me, it turned out that Nirmala and I live not too far from each other...so she had the package hand delivered to me by her brother.....and I cooked something with it almost immediately, but was a little busy travelling...and so didn't get around to posting until now.
Alright, so let's get talking about the secret ingredient that Nirmala sent me. It smelt wonderful....Nirmala's letter said it was her amma's special recipe....I could make out that it had a LOT of dhania in it.....I tasted a little bit of it.....and mailed N a few of my guesses. The second or third one turned out to be right and I knew that what I had was nothing other than rasam podi. So, what did I make with it???
The first thing I did was to make the very obvious.......RASAM, of course. Here's a pic.....no recipe, 'coz Iam sure every South Indian household has it's own way of making rasam.......and mine's no different from the millions of other recipes out there....The rasam tasted wholesome and good....we drank it as a soup and my daughter ate it mixed with rice.
What I did next is spice up some arbi(cheppankizhangu) roast with rasam powder. First, I microwaved the cheppankizhangu until it was cooked through, but not mushy and removed the skin. Then, I heated some oil, threw some mustard seeds and urad dal into it. When the seeds popped, I added the cooked arbi, some salt and the rasam powder....left it at low heat, stirring occasionally, until it turned light brown and crispy.

E for......

Jayasree who writes the lovely blog Experiments in Kailas Kitchen sprung me a surprise this morning by rating my blog Excellent.
Thank you, Jaya....... I did a little dancing-for-joy in my chair...so that should tell you how happy I am.
There are several wonderful blogs out there which deserve this rating, but the one that I would like to pass this on to is Jugalbandi. I absolutely love the amazing photos that Jai & Bee post and Bee's writing style is inimitable.

Chundal

What you need:
Chick peas/Garbanzo beans/Kabuli channa- 1 cup, soaked in plenty of water overnight
Salt
Fresh grated coconut - 1/4 cup
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp

Add salt and cook the chick peas in a pressure cooker until three whistles. Drain excess water and set aside.
Heat the oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds to it. When the seeds pop, add in the chick peas....stir for a few minutes. Mix in the grated coconut and switch off the heat.
There....it doesn't get any easier than that, does it???
This is a dish that I make often for my daughter who absolutely loves it. So Iam sending this to Vanamala's Kids Food Festival.

Notes:

• You can grind green chillies along with the coconut and then add it to the channa. I don't do it when I make it exclusively for my daughter 'coz it turns out to be too spicy.
• Fresh curry leaves can be used to garnish the chundal.
  
• You can squeeze in some fresh lemon juice for added taste.
  

This, that and the other

These days my cooking is governed more by what's there in the fridge than by planning and method......A little bit of this, a little bit of that, throw in some of that green leaf that's hidden at the back of the fridge...that's how most of my recipes(if u can call them that) would read these days. And that's pretty much how this dish was born. The soy beans that I tried to sprout and then hurriedly threw into the refrigerator when I had to make a sudden out-of-town-trip would never have seen the light of day if not for this dish.

Here's what I used:

Soy beans - 1/2 cup, soaked in plenty of water overnight
Whole masoor dal - 3/4 cup, soaked for a few hours
Onion - 1 large, chopped
Green chilli - 2 or 3
Tomato - 2, chopped
Garam masala - 3/4 tsp or to taste
Salt
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Jeera - 1/2 tsp

Cook masoor dal and soy beans in a pressure cooker. Make sure you add sufficient water and salt. Once it is cooked through, set it aside without draining off the excess water.
Heat some oil. Add jeera to it and let it roast for a few seconds. Stir in the chopped green chillies, onions and turmeric powder. Saute until onions start turning brown. Add in the tomatoes...cook until mushy. Now add the cooked dal and beans, garam masala and some more salt if you feel it is necessary.
Let it boil for a few minutes. Garnish with fresh chopped corriander leaves.
Serve hot with rotis.

Chenakkari (Elephant yam coated with a spice mix)

Mr. Chena(elephant yam) is a rough 'n tough guy. His hard brown exterior warns you that he will brook no nonsense. The skin that makes you itch is designed to keep you from discovering that he has a heart of goodness. If you persist and make him yield to the charm of your spices you will discover someone that's good enough to eat.....

What you need:
Elephant yam - a small one
Salt
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

To make the spice mix:
Corriander seeds (dhania) - 2 tsp
Channa dal - 2 tsp
Red chilli - 2 (adjust according to taste)
Heat half a tsp of oil and roast all three ingredients until reddish brown. Let it cool and then powder. This powder keeps well for several days. You can make a large quantity and store it in an air tight container for later use.

To make chenakkari:
Remove the skin from the yam.....chop it into small pieces and wash well in several changes of water.
Add some water and pressure cook along with the salt and turmeric powder until two whistles. The yam should be well cooked but not mushy.
Drain excess water and keep aside.
Heat a tsp of oil in a kadai. Season with mustard seeds, urad dal and channa dal. When the mustard seeds pop, add in the cooked yam and spice mix. Stir well until all the yam pieces are coated with the spice mix.
Serve with rice or roti.

Note:

• The spice mix can be used with other veggies like brinjal and bell pepper.
• Cleaning the yam can make your skin itch. It's nothing to worry about, though......it will subside in a short while.
  

Keera masial

My earliest memories associated with keerai (spinach) has to do with my grandma sprinkling seeds around our coconut trees and then sprinkling water over them thrice a day until we could see tiny leaves emerge from the soil. These soon grew bigger and produced the best tasting keerai I've ever known in my life. Infact, for a long time I believed that red keerai tastes the best...well, actually I still do think so....
The other varieties of keerai simply do not match up to the unique taste of the red keerai which grows rampantly in Kerala households. That said, I must also say that I have never seen as great a variety of keerai as there is in Tamilnadu. Pretty much anything and everything green is a keerai here...A visit to the local market usually finds me coming back home with a keerai that was hitherto unknown to me.
Keera masial is a very easy to make dish that lets you imbibe the goodness of the green without adding any ingredients that overpower the senses.

Here's what you need:

Spinach - any variety, 1 bunch cleaned and chopped fine.
Salt
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli - 1
Oil - 1 tsp

Take the spinach in a microwaveable bowl. Add a little bit of water to it and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool. Once cool, mash it with a wooden mathu(masher) or give it just one turn in a mixie. Be careful not to blend it into a smooth paste, though.
Heat the oil for a minute in a microwave safe container. Add the urad dal, red chilli and mustard seeds to it, cover and heat for another minute or until the seeds pop. If you are not comfortable doing this in the microwave, use a stove instead. Pour this seasoning over the mashed keerai and mix well.

This is my entry to Srivalli's MEC Greens.

The dill saga continues.......

Left with a still large bunch of dill leaves after making a chutney out of it, I decided that the only way to use up a sizeable amount of it is to use it in a biriyani.

Here's the recipe......

Dill leaves - 1 cup, washed and chopped
Onion - 1 large, chopped
Tomato - 2 ripe ones, chopped
Green chilli - 2
Ginger - a small piece, chopped
Garlic - 4 pods, chopped
Cloves - 4
Mixed vegetables - 1 cup (I used potato, beans and carrot)
Soya beans - 1/4 cup, soaked overnight
Cardamom - 4 pods
Star anise - 2
Cinnamon - a small piece
Oil - to shallow fry
Turmeric powder
Salt
Rice - 1 cup

Wash the rice and soak it for 10 - 15 minutes in water. Drain and set aside.
Heat some oil in a kadai. Add the spices to it and fry for a few seconds. Then add in the onion, ginger, garlic, and tomatoes. Once the onions are browned and the tomato turns mushy add the dill leaves and stir for a few minutes until the leaves are semi-cooked. Remove and set aside. Once this cools down, grind it to a fine paste.
Heat a tsp of oil and fry the ground paste in it for a few minutes. Then add the turmeric powder, salt, soya beans and veggies. Stir until the veggies are well coated with the mixture. Add the rice to this and pressure cook until two whistles.
Njoy hot with raita and papad.

Notes:

• I used ponni raw rice in this recipe....and so used 2.5 cups of water for 1 cup of rice. If u use basmati, reduce the water to 1.5 cups.
  

Dill leaves chutney

Dill is a herb that I hadn't even heard of until a few months back. When I started looking for iron rich recipes and food sources, dill topped the list on most of the sites and books that I read.Since then, I've been looking for this herb. Yesterday I found a bunch of fresh dill leaves at the local grocery store. They told me that it is soya keerai or the leaves of the soy plant. Even as they assured me that it was not dill, a picture that I'd seen on google images was on the back of my mind and I decided I'd pick it up anyways.Turns out I was right....

Fresh dill leaves

Now that I had dill on hand, I realised I didn't even know what it tasted like...or what I could cook with it. I chewed on a few leaves thoughtfully, trying to figure out what it tasted like and what I could make with it. It does have a really sharp, tangy taste...for today, I decided to grind it into a chutney.

What you need:

A handful of washed dill leaves
One ripe tomato
Roasted gram dal - 4 tsp
Salt
Coconut - 1/4 cup

Grind all the ingredients together until smooth. Remove into a serving dish. Heat some oil and tamper mustard seeds and urad dal in it. Pour this seasoning over the chutney.


Notes:

• Dill does have a very sharp taste....do not use more than a handful or you'll end up with something that tastes way too strong to be eaten.
• I've thrown in pretty much what I wanted to into the chutney. Feel free to do the same. Experiment with different ingredients. Next time, Iam planning to add in some onions to the mix.....and maybe some jaggery too.
• Haven't used chillies in this 'coz I felt the taste combined with the tanginess of the dill would be just too overpowering.
  

Papaya thoran

Papaya is a fruit which I never had to buy during my childhood. It is something that grew in our backyard....something that we made when the tree bore plenty of fruit or when there were no veggies left in the refrigerator.
Raw papayas were put to good use and turned into delicious thoran, olan or milagootal. Ripe papayas were cut up and eaten as is.
What I have for you today is papaya thoran. Dig in!!!
What you need:
Papaya - 1, medium sized, chopped into pieces
Salt
Fresh scraped coconut - 1/2 cup
Urad dal -1/2 tsp
mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp

Cook papaya in a pressure cooker until whistle or microwave on high for about 6 minutes or until well cooked. It should still be firm and not mushy.
Heat the oil in a wok. Add the urad dal and mustard seeds. When the seeds pop, add the cooked papaya, salt and grated coconut. Stir well for a few minutes.
Serve hot with rice.

Note :

• Do not use ripe papayas in this recipe.
• An unripe papaya that is just beginning to ripen is the best as it imparts a certain sweetness to the dish and gives it a different taste. If u don't have that, use an unripe green papaya.
• Instead of using just coconut, u can grind a green chilli along with the coconut and add that to the thoran. These days, I've minimised the spiciness of my dishes 'coz my daughter eats whatever we eat and does not like it if a dish is too spicy.

This is my entry to AFAM hosted this month by Nags......
Nags I cooked this today just so I could send this in for your event as I'd said I would send something ur way.

Putting leftover chapatis to good use

I had company for dinner last night and ended up cooking way too many chapatis. Not wanting to eat the same thing this morning, i just decided to bring it to the table in a new avatar.


Heat some oil. Season it with urad dal, mustard seeds and some cumin seeds. Once the seeds start popping, throw in some chopped onion, ginger, green chillies and curry leaves. When the onion is browned, add some tomatoes and stir fry for a few minutes. Add turmeric powder and salt. Tear the chapatis into pieces. Add this into the pan and stir around for a few minutes until everything gets mixed well. Garnish with freshly chopped corrainder leaves.

Njoy!!!

A traditional Kerala duo- the uruli and chattukam

A traditional uruli - this one can hold enough payasam for 2,000 people

With an uruli so big can the chattukam(stirrer) be left behind???

Bubbling palada pradhaman

Godambu payasam

Koorka mezhukkupuratti

I was always under the impression that Koorka is available, cooked and relished only in Kerala. So, imagine my surprise when I found heaps of Koorka at the Koyambedu market, which by the way, happens to be South Asia's largest fresh produce market!!!
It looked like I was the only person interested in buying this veggie, though.....the price was cheap and I came back home and set to work on the koorka almost immediately.
Now, cleaning the koorka and removing its skin is no easy task....but the end result is almost always rewarding enough.
Wash the koorka in plenty of water several times. It is usually very muddy and it will take several changes of water before you can clean it. Use a scraper to remove the skin. My mother used to put the koorka in a sack , wet it with water and then beat it on the ground to remove the skin. I don't have the luxury of space to do that. So I use the scraper, even though it is much more time consuming.
Once you've removed the skin, wash it again. If the koorka is small enough, use it as is...if not, cut into small pieces. Pressure cook it with enough water along with salt and turmeric powder until about 3 or 4 whistles. Once the steam settles down, drain the excess water and set aside.
Heat some coconut oil in a kadai.......transfer the koorka to this and stir fry for a few minutes so that the koorka turns slightly brownish and crisp.
This veggie has a unique taste of its own and does not need any other ingredient to make it more flavorsome.
Serve hot with rice and any koottan of your choice.

After some googling, I found out that koorka is called chinese potato in English.
I did take pics of the dish, but it is very blurred...so am not posting it here.
This is my first entry to RCI-Kerala hosted by Jyotsna of Curry bazaar.

How to make glue aka disaster in the kitchen

Take grated beetroot in a microwaveable bowl. Add sugar, milk and ghee. Oh....don't forget the cardamom powder. Set the timer for as long as your manufacturers' cookbook asks you to. Take the dish out at the said time. Look at it, and think...What does this manufacturer know...I definitely know better than him/her...this just doesn't look done enough. Set the timer for a few more minutes. Don't even peep into the microwave to see what's happening. Remove.....think to yourself...yes this is it....didn't i say i knew better than that cook book author??? Let it cool.....Oops!!! I didn't realise it would become a "little" hard once it cools down.
Serve it with a smile to hubby dear.....Doesn't he know he really needs to exercise those jaws once in a while???

Microwave samba rava idli & Onion chutney

Samba Rava Idli

Feeling pretty bored with the usual rava idli, I decided to try the same recipe using samba wheat rava instead of sooji. I enjoyed the result of this experiment.

Here’s what you need:

Samba Rava – 1 cup
Green chilli – 1, minced
Ginger - a small piece, chopped
Curry leaves – a few sprigs
Corriander – a little, chopped
Carrot – 1, grated
Gingely oil – 6 tsp
Oil – 1 tsp
Urad dal – ½ tsp
Chana dal – ½ tsp
Sour curd
Salt

Take the samba rava in a microwaveable dish. Spread it evenly and m/w for 2 minutes.

Remove it to a broad vessel and let it cool.

Heat 1 tsp of oil in a microwaveable bowl. Add the urad dal, chana dal, green chilli, ginger, curry leaves, coriander and carrot to it. Microwave on high power for 2 minutes. Stir well and microwave again for another minute.

Add this to the samba rava.

Add salt and enough sour curd to make a batter of pourable consistency. It should not be too runny nor should it be too thick. I used about 2 cups of curd…..this quantity will vary, though, depending on the quality of the rava.

Add the gingely oil to this batter. Mix well and set aside for 2 hours.

Grease your microwave idli plates with a little oil or non-stick cooking spray. Pour the batter into the idli plates and microwave at 750 watts for 6 minutes.

Serve hot with coconut or onion chutney.

Onion chutney is really easy to make. There's no excuse for not making it.

Chop up 2 medium sized onions. Heat some oil in a microwaveable bowl. Saute the onions in that for 2 minutes. Add 1 red chilli to it and microwave again for 1 minute. Let it cool and then grind it along with a gooseberry sized ball of tamarind and some salt.

There, didn’t I say it was easy???

Rava idli served with onion chutney

Notes :

• The batter will thicken after you've set it aside for 2 hours. Mix in some more sour curd at this stage to get it to pourable consistency again.
• Samba rava can be replaced with regular sooji rava to make rava idlis.
• A lot of people usually complain that microwave idlis are not as soft as their steamed counterparts....here's a trick that'll help you keep them soft. Take the idli out of the idli plate while it is still hot and put it in a hot pan. The steam that condenses on top helps to keep the idlis soft. You can always reheat it if you are going to eat it later.
  
• As always, do remember that microwave powers vary…so you will need to find the time settings that work out best for you.

Njoy!!!

Rava idli is my entry to Srivalli's Microwave Easy Cooking event with a theme of Tiffin this month.
Onion chutney goes to Radhi's kitchen to be a part of JFI Onion.

(Wo)men and food

“Njan cinema director akumbol ninne ente padathile nayika akkam”
“Njan director akumbol ninne ente padathile naya akkam”

(Roughly translates as:

When I become a director, I will make you the heroine in my film.
When I become a director, I will make you the dog in the film.

If you know Malayalam, you can truly appreciate the humour in the words….it doesn’t sound quite as funny when translated into English.)

This was a conversation between a guy and my friend back when we were in school. Those days, eve teasing as far as I was concerned meant comment-adi (commenting) and ended up in us thinking of the smartest repartees that we could……and sharing them with our friends over the lunch break.

Of course, my college days helped me rethink my definition of eve teasing once I came into contact with the pinching, grabbing, touchy-feely types. To this day, I do not understand what pleasure a man gets from pinching the butt of an unwilling female.

The Mumbai molestation is a classic case where the power of the mob has overpowered the sensibilities of the individual. I think many of those involved are probably quiet people in their individual lives who wouldn’t dream of doing something like this. But in a group, their basest, most raw selves came out….

A group often hides the individual ‘coz when u are in a group, you often feel that nobody can see you……

Reminds me of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies…….Do you see the similarities???

There I go…..I’ve digressed so far from the recipe that I wanted to talk about today. But then, news like this often has that kind of effect on me…..

On days like that, I long for food that is soothing to the palate….not too spicy……just a delicate blend of familiar ingredients that taste good and fills the tummy up with a comforting warmth. Vegetable Kichdi is almost always the feel-good dish that I fall back on. It is a fuss free one pot dish that can be cooked entirely in the pressure cooker or by using the microwave. What I have here is the microwave version.

What you need:

Rice - 1 cup (I used ponni raw rice)
Masoor dal - 1/4 cup
Moong dal - 1/4 cup
Onion - 1, chopped
Tomato - 1, chopped
Green chilli - 1
Veggies - 1.5 cup(I used potato, bell pepper, carrot, and green peas)
Cloves - 4
Cardamom - 3
Oil - 2 tsp

Wash the rice and dal and then soak it in 5 glasses of water for 45 minutes.

Take 1/4 tsp of oil in a microwaveable dish. Add the cardamom and cloves to it and heat for 45 sec or until the aroma comes out.

Add the onion, green chilli, tomato to this and m/w for 3 minutes or until the onions brown well. Now stir in the chopped veggies and m/w for another 4 minutes.

Add the rice and dals to this along with the water in which it was soaked.

Cook on 750 watts for 10 minutes. Then lower the power to 650 watts and cook for another 10 minutes. While it is still hot, stir it well....the khichdi should be well cooked and a little mushy.......the grains of the rice should not be separate.

This is a whole meal in itself......does not need any accompaniment. If you'd like to, though, you can pair it with some fresh yogurt or kadhi

Note: Microwaves vary vastly as far as cooking times go.....you will need to experiment and find the right time settings on your microwave.

This goes to Srivalli for her MEC-Tiffin event.

Another year is drawing to a close.........
Every time we are at this juncture, Iam usually left wondering how fast the year has gone by. This year is no exception.
For the first time in my life, Iam actually going to make some new year resolutions.......and hopefully I will keep atleast a few of them.
I have discovered several wonderful blogs and talented bloggers this year. Here are a few dishes that made their way from these blogs to my kitchen.

Two things I absolutely love are yogurt and spinach. I have never actually tasted a dish that combines these two ingredients, though. So, when I saw Sagari's recipe for Dahi Palak, I knew I just had to try it out. I made no changes except for the quantities....just stuck to her original recipe.....The result was lip-smackingly delicious.

I have always thought of dal as something to be eaten with Parathas.......Meera's recipe that uses dal in a paratha had me reaching out for the rolling pin. I did make a couple of minor changes......left out some ingredients.......added a few others that i like.......the end-product was a wholesome, comforting meal.

Moong dal parathas served with dahi palak

Two other recipes that I tried and loved are Revathi's ragi idli and Seema's Mallige idli. I came across Revathi's recipe at the right time 'coz I am now trying to increase my daughter's iron intake. It tastes just like a good old regular idli but the ragi is definitely helping me out in my pursuit of higher haemoglobin levels.
Seema's Mallige idli is spot on.....it lives up to its name. The entire family loved the idlis........this is one recipe that I know Iam going to keep going back to over and over again.

Thank you, dear bloggers for sharing your wonderful recipes.......

Here's wishing all my blogger buddies a Fantastic New Year.

Iam spending a blissful week with my parents....eating good food, sleeping and catching up with old friends and relatives. The little girl(check out what she is up to here) is being fussed over by several people....and she is loving every single minute of it. I am loving it too...'coz that leaves me free to catch up on soooo many things.

Here are a few snaps from the ayyapan vilakku celebrated in my hometown on the 16th.

Pavakka(bittergourd) pitlai

You either like bitter gourd or you don't....there's no grey area between the two. I think this is partly because of the name......when there's "sweet"potatoes, "french" beans, "pearl" onions and other such nice sounding veggies, who on earth wants to eat something that proclaims itself to be a "bitter" gourd???
That's not to say that the bitter gourd is totally without its takers. I for one have always liked it. Pavakka (the Malayalam & Tamil name for bitter gourd) Pitlai is a wholesome, nutritious curry that incorporates a lot of flavours - it has the bitterness of pavakka, tanginess of tamarind, sweetness of coconut and spiciness of chillies....and of course it gets the power of proteins from tuar dal.

Here's what you need to make it:
Bitter gourd - 1 medium sized
Tamarind - lemon sized ball soaked in hot water for 15 minutes
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Tuar dal - 3/4 cup
Fresh grated coconut - 3/4 cup
Chana dal - 2 tsp
Red chilli - 2 (modify according to your level of spice tolerance)

For seasoning:
Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Split urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - a few sprigs

What to do:

• Cook tuar dal. Mash well and set aside.
• Heat a tsp of oil in a pan. Fry chana dal and red chillies in this. Add a pinch of asafoetida and switch off the heat. Once this cools, grind it to a smooth paste along with grated coconut.
• Extract the juice from tamarind. If you are using ready made tamarind extract, use about 3/4 tsp.
• Slice bitter gourd into thin round slices and deseed it.
• Cook bitter gourd slices in tamarind water to which turmeric powder and salt has been added.
• Once it is cooked, add the ground mixture to this. Boil for 4-5 minutes.
• Then add the cooked tuar dal. Mix well and heat for a minute or two. If you feel the curry is too thick at this stage, add a little bit of water.
• Heat a tsp of oil. Season it with mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves. Once the mustard seeds pop, pour this over the pitlai.
• Serve hot with rice, dosa or idli.

Dosa served with pitlai

Iam taking a bowlful of this pitlai over to Linda at Out of the Garden for JFI-Toor dal.

Edited to add: This also goes to Pooja for her Veggie of the Week event featuring bittergourd this week.

The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--
and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

-from Lewis Carroll's Walrus and the Carpenter-

It's time for us today to talk cabbage.....
My little girl loves cabbage.....in fact, any veggie that she doesn't know the name of is promptly named cabbage. If I serve her rice and cabbage on a plate I can be pretty sure that she'll do a better job than an industrial grade separator in separating the two and eating just the cabbage. Well, for now, Iam just happy that something is going into that little tummy of hers.

Cabbage milagoottal is a simple and nutritious dish that goes well with rice/rotis.

Here's what you need to make it:

Cabbage - 1 cup finely chopped

Tuar dal - 1/2 cup

Turmeric powder - a little
Salt

Grind together:

Fresh grated Coconut - 1/2 cup

Red chilli - 3 (adjust to your taste)

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

For seasoning:

Oil - 1 tsp

Mustard seeds

Urad dal

Curry leaves

How you make it:

Cook tuar dal with enough water. Mash and set aside.

Take the cabbage in a pan. Add some water, turmeric powder and salt to it and heat until the cabbage is cooked. Add the ground mixture to this. Stir well and boil for a few minutes until the raw smell is gone. Stir in the cooked tuar dal and heat for a minute or two.

Heat a tsp of oil(I use coconut oil). Add mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves to it. Wait until the seeds pop and then pour this over the milagoottal.

Njoy hot with rice or chapatis.

Variations:

Instead of tuar dal, you can use black eyed beans, or green peas or a mixture of either with tuar dal.

Carrots and potatoes can also be added along with cabbage.

This is my entry to JFI-Toor dal hosted by Linda of Out of the Garden.

Yay!!!
I finally have my broadband connection up and running...... and have uploaded some pics.
It's been over a month since I got broadband.....but then my ILs were visiting and I didn't have much time to post 'coz I was busy with them.
I have sworn never to even look at that S........L........O.............W Tata Indicom data card again.