Methi dal

Remember the methi sprouts that LG & I planted that made an appearance in this post? Well, the methi has grown splendidly and with some of it, I made this dal for lunch.

What you need:
Moong dal - 3/4 cup
Methi leaves - 1 cup, washed and finely chopped
Salt
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Onion - 1, finely chopped
Green chilli - 2 or 3, minced
Garlic - 4 cloves, minced
Tomato - 2 large juicy ones, chopped
Ghee - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Add two cups of water to the moong dal. Add methi leaves, salt and turmeric powder. Cook in the pressure cooker till one whistle, reduce the flame and cook for another five minutes.
In a pan, heat the oil and ghee. Add cumin seeds When the seeds sputter, add the chopped garlic, green chillies and onions. Fry on a low flame until they start to brown. Add chopped tomatoes and fry till soft and mushy. Pour the cooked dal over this. Add some water if needed and let it boil for 5-8 minutes.
Serve with rice or roti.

Dulce De Leche

I just made dulce de leche(pronounced duel-say-day-lay-che)......and ate quite a few spoonfuls before sitting down to do this post. I can't believe that something that tastes so good is so easy to make. When I saw Divya's post on Dulce de leche, I knew that this is something I would try out. Only thing is, her statement about the possible danger of can burst had me scared. So I did some googling and found that the principles of physics say that there is absolutely no way for an air tight can to burst under pressure. Armed with this knowledge, I ventured to make this.

What you need:
Condensed milk - 1 tin (I used Nestle Milkmaid)
Pressure cooker
Water - enough to cover the condensed milk tin and then some more

This is so simple, I feel silly typing out a recipe. Just immerse the can in plenty of water. Close the pressure cooker. When you see steam escaping from the vent, put on the weight. Wait till one whistle. Then turn the heat to low and let it cook for 30-35 minutes. Switch off heat. Once the steam has escaped, remove the tin from the cooker. It will still be very, very hot.....so be careful. Now comes the T.O.U.G.H.E.S.T part......you have to wait until it cools down to room temperature and that is a lo..........ng wait.

Once it cools down, open the can.....and enjoy by the spoonfuls.

Gujarati dal from Sukham Ayu

This month's Indian Cooking Challenge is to make Gujarati dal from Sukham Ayu - an award winning Ayurvedic cook book written by the talented duo - Pratiba & Jigyasa.

What you need:
Tuar dal - 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Yam - 8-10 small(1") sized pieces
Drumstick - 2, cut into pieces
Groundnuts - a handful
Dhania powder - 1 tsp
Tamarind - a gooseberry sized piece soaked in water
Dates - 4, pitted and halved
Jaggery - a small piece
Garam masala - 1/4 tsp
Green chilli - 1, slit into two
Corriander leaves - for garnishing
Salt

For tempering:
Ghee - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli - 1
Curry leaves - a few

Soak dal in 2 cups of water for 30 minutes. Cook it in a pressure cooker until soft. Mash it well and transfer to a thick bottomed kadai. Add all the other ingredients except garam masala and corriander. Add a cup of water and mix well. Cook on low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. By this time, both the yam and drumsticks will be well cooked.
Heat ghee in a kadai. Add all the tempering ingredients. When the mustard seeds pop, pour this over the dal and let it simmer for five minutes. Switch off the heat. Sprinkle garam masala and corriander leaves on top.

What I think of the dish:
This is a very simple, yet flavorful dish. Despite using familiar ingredients, the taste of this dal is something that was quite new to me. The dal tends to thicken as it cooks and later as it cools. So do keep this in mind and add sufficient water in the initial stages.

Tomato soup

I started this blogging marathon with a soup and today, on the last day of the marathon, I have another bowl of soup to serve.
My daughter, like many other kids her age, often gets cold and cough. When she falls ill, she refuses to eat rice. At these times, soup comes to the rescue. Lentils, vegetables, even a little bit of rice.....all these can be added to make a healthy soup. The soup that I have made today is a basic one that includes some vegetables. The vegetables can be changed according to your choice.

What you need:
1 large, juicy tomato
1 small carrot
Cabbage - a few large pieces
Pepper corns - to taste
Salt

Microwave the tomato, carrot and cabbage for 5 minutes or until well cooked. Let it cool. Add peppercorns and salt. Blend till smooth. I usually do not strain my soups or remove the skin of the tomatoes. You can do that if you choose to. Also, the soup I serve for my daughter is thicker in consistency than what I would make for myself because I feel that it is easier for her to drink and less messy.
Warm the soup up and serve topped with some butter or a dollop of cream.

Do take a look at my fellow marathoners' kitchens....Srivalli,
Azeema, Bhagi, Champa, Gayathri Anand, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Kamalika, Meena, Mina, Padma,  Pavani,PJ, Priya Mahadevan, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu, Rujuta, Santosh, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi, Smitha, Sowmya, Suma, Usha, Veena

Onion tomato sandwich

The good thing about a sandwich is that it is so easy to put together....it gets done within a matter of minutes, and you can be as creative as you want to be with the filling. Most kids don't seem to mind eating veggies as long as they are sandwiched between two slices of bread, slathered with butter and drizzled with ketchup.
This is a very simple sandwich that makes use of ingredients which are commonly available in an Indian kitchen.

What you need:
Bread - 12 slices
Onion - 2, finely chopped
Tomato - 3 large juicy ones, chopped fine
Ginger - a small piece, julienned
Garlic - 4 cloves, chopped fine
Salt
Sugar - a little
Red chilli powder/sambar powder - to taste
Corriander leaves - chopped, a handful
Oil/butter - 3 tsp
Butter - for spreading on bread
Heat oil in a pan. Add the onion and cook on low heat, stirring occasionally until they start to brown. Add ginger, garlic and tomatoes. Add salt, sugar, chilli/sambar powder. Mix well. Cover and let it cook until the tomatoes are soft and mushy. Remove the lid and heat till all the moisture evaporates.
To prepare the sandwich:
Spread butter on the bread slices. Spread some filling between two slices of bread and toast it in a sandwich maker.
Serve with ketchup on the side.
Do take a look at my fellow marathoners' kitchens....Srivalli,
Azeema, Bhagi, Champa, Gayathri Anand, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Kamalika, Meena, Mina, Padma,  Pavani,PJ, Priya Mahadevan, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu, Rujuta, Santosh, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi, Smitha, Sowmya, Suma, Usha, Veena

Thoppi dosa/Cap dosa/Cone dosa

Very often when we make variations in the shape or the colour of a dish that is normally served, children show an interest in eating it. This dosa is one such variation. Have you noticed how, in some restaurants, hot, crispy dosas are brought to the table, shaped like a cone? As a child, the cone used to remind me of a cap, and I have always called it thoppi(cap) dosa. Yesterday, I tried replicating the shape at home, and found that it is quite easy to do.

What you need:
Dosa batter
A non stick dosa griddle
Two wooden spatulas

How to make it:
Pour a ladle of batter on the hot griddle. Spread it into a thin circle. Let this cook on low heat until well browned and crisp. Do not turn over.

Holding down the dosa with one spatula, use the other one to make a cut from the center of the dosa to one end.

Fold this as shown in the pic below.

Now roll the other side over this to form a cone. Place the crisp cone on a plate and serve it hot with chutney/sambar/molaga podi.

Do take a look at my fellow marathoners' kitchens....Srivalli,
Azeema, Bhagi, Champa, Gayathri Anand, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Kamalika, Meena, Mina, Padma,  Pavani,PJ, Priya Mahadevan, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu, Rujuta, Santosh, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi, Smitha, Sowmya, Suma, Usha, Veena

Fun weekend activity with kids

I love gardening. I think I get this trait from my father, who in turn seems to have got it from both his parents. This doesn't mean that I have a thriving garden....I only have a few plants in my balcony and I try and do my best with those plants. That, however, doesn't stop me from wanting more plants or admiring people who are avid gardeners. I am trying to inculcate this love for plants in my daughter. Two days back, I told her that she could grow some plants all by herself. She soaked a handful of methi seeds in enough water to cover them and left them like that for a day. The next day, with a little help from me, she drained the water and emptied the seeds into a wet cloth. We left it loosely covered overnight. This morning, she opened it and was very excited to see that the seeds had sprouted.

After popping a few into her mouth, she was ready to plant them. We dug the soil and my daughter was thrilled to discover earthworms in the soil. It is only a few days back that I read her a story which explains how important earthworms are to make the soil fertile. She was very happy we had plenty of earthworms in the mud and that they would make the soil good enough for her seeds.
She did all the planting herself - she sprinkled the sprouts on the freshly dug soil, covered it up with some more soil and then sprinkled some water over the seeds.

Now she is eagerly waiting to see the first few leaves and also to see what will be cooked with the leaves.
Do take a look at my fellow marathoners' kitchens....Srivalli,
Azeema, Bhagi, Champa, Gayathri Anand, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Kamalika, Meena, Mina, Padma,  Pavani,PJ, Priya Mahadevan, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu, Rujuta, Santosh, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi, Smitha, Sowmya, Suma, Usha, Veena

Ragi kanji

Ragi(finger millet) is a rich source of iron and something that should be included in the diet of not only children, but also adults. I usually add a handful of ragi flour while kneading the dough for chapati. I also frequently make this kanji as a breakfast drink. The hint of cardamom and the sweetness make it a favourite with kids.

What you need:
Ragi flour - 1 tsp, heaped
Water - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1.5 tsp(can be substituted with jaggery)
Cardamom powder - a pinch
Milk - 1 cup

Take the ragi flour in a vessel. Add sugar, cardamom powder and water. Mix well so there are no lumps. Keep this on low heat, stirring continuously until the mixture starts to thicken. Switch off heat and still stirring, add the milk little by little until well mixed.
Serve warm.
The measurements given above are enough to make one tall mug of ragi kanji.
On a different note, can someone give me tips on how to take reasonably good pics of liquids? Every time I click liquids, I end up with pics that look blah!!!
Do take a look at my fellow marathoners' kitchens....Srivalli,
Azeema, Bhagi, Champa, Gayathri Anand, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Kamalika, Meena, Mina, Padma,  Pavani,PJ, Priya Mahadevan, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu, Rujuta, Santosh, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi, Smitha, Sowmya, Suma, Usha, Veena

Vegetable macaroni

There are very few kids who do not like noodles or pasta. Adding veggies to the pasta makes it healthy, gives parents the satisfaction of giving their kids something good to eat and the kids are happy because they get to eat pasta. This is a very tasty, pasta treat with vegetables added to it.
What you need:
Macaroni - 1 cup
Tomato - 2, pureed
Onion - 1, chopped fine
Ginger - a fairly large piece, julienned
Garlic - 4 or 5 cloves
Carrot - 1, chopped into small pieces
Potato - 1, chopped into small pieces
Paneer - a few cubes
Salt
Kashmiri red chilli powder - to taste
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Water - 1.5 cups
Butter/ghee - 4 tsp
Corriander - chopped, for garnishing.


Heat ghee in the pressure cooker. Add ginger, garlic, onion and fry on low heat until the onions start to brown. Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and tomato puree. Mix well and let it boil until the raw smell goes away. Add the chopped vegetables,paneer, salt, a little sugar and mix well. Now add 1.5 cups of water and the macaroni. Stir well. Close the pressure cooker, but do not put on the weight. When you see steam starting to come out of the vent in full force, wait for two minutes and then turn the heat to low. Let it cook for 6-8 minutes. Switch off heat, open the lid and sprinkle finely chopped corriander leaves over the pasta. Mix well and serve hot.
Do take a look at my fellow marathoners' kitchens....Srivalli,
Azeema, Bhagi, Champa, Gayathri Anand, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Kamalika, Meena, Mina, Padma,  Pavani,PJ, Priya Mahadevan, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu, Rujuta, Santosh, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi, Smitha, Sowmya, Suma, Usha, Veena

Another blogging marathon

This year, I finally seem to have kicked off my tendency to let the blog take lo.....ng breaks. January started off with a blogging marathon, where I posted every day, and this month, me and some other blogger friends are doing a 7 day marathon. This time, the marathon is theme based and I have chosen to make Kid friendly recipes. The first dish that I will be sharing with you is a soup that kids will love for its colour and slight sweetness - Beetroot Soup.
This is also a great way to get veggies into a child's diet.

What you need:
Beetroot - 1 small
Onion - 1, chopped into large pieces
Ghee/butter - 1 tsp
Black pepper corns - 5 or 6
Salt

Heat ghee in a pan. Add the pepper corns and chopped onions to it and fry till the onions start to brown. Microwave the beet with skin for 7-8 minutes. Let it cool and then peel off the skin and dice it into large chunks. Transfer all the ingredients to a blender and blend till smooth.
Pour it back into the pan with a cup of water and let it boil.
Note: If you are serving this to adults, you might want to add some more spice in the form of more pepper corns or chillies.
Do take a look at my fellow marathoners' kitchens....Srivalli,
Azeema, Bhagi, Champa, Gayathri Anand, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Kamalika, Meena, Mina, Padma,  Pavani,PJ, Priya Mahadevan, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu, Rujuta, Santosh, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi, Smitha, Sowmya, Suma, Usha, Veena

From your blog to my kitchen - Strawberry sorbet

For the last 31 days, me and my fellow marathoners have posted one recipe a day. There were a few days in between that I missed, but on the whole it has been a good experience. The recipe that marks the end of this marathon is fittingly, a light, refreshing and beautifully colored sorbet. The recipe is from Rachel's blog. The only change I made is omitting the black pepper. The rest of it is the same.

What you need:
1 box of strawberries - about 15 in number
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Water - 1/2 cup
Lemon juice - 3 tsp

Combine sugar and water. Boil until the sugar dissolves completely. Let it cool.
Puree the strawberries and lemon juice in a blender, adding the sugar syrup in batches.
Freeze until firm.
Scoop out and enjoy!!!
Check out what my fellow marathoners Srivalli, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu,Gayatri,Monika, PJ, Azeema,Usha, Ayeesha,Veena, Soumya and Reva are cooking.

Molaga podi (Chutney powder)

Molaga podi or milagai podi is something that I make very often. I always have it handy and most mornings, it is the only accompaniment that is had with breakfast. Every home has its own version of this powder. Here is how I make mine.

What you need:
Urad dal - 1 cup
Chana dal - 1 cup
Asafoetida - a few small pieces
Sesame seeds - 2 tsp
Garlic - 8 cloves
Curry leaves - a few
Red chillies - 20

Heat a tsp of oil in a kadai. Roast urad dal and chana dal separately in it until reddish brown. Remove and spread on a large plate to cool.
In the same pan, add the asafoetida, curry leaves and garlic. Fry till leaves become crisp and the garlic is well roasted. Transfer this to the plate to cool.
Now roast the red chillies on low heat until their colour darkens. Transfer this also to the plate.
Finally, add the sesame seeds and roast till the seeds start to pop.
Once all the ingredients cool down, add salt and powder in a blender.
Store in an airtight container.
This goes well with idli and dosa.
Check out what my fellow marathoners Srivalli, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu,Gayatri,Monika, PJ, Azeema,Usha, Ayeesha,Veena, Soumya and Reva are cooking.

More plants from the back yard

My father is an avid gardener. There are several kinds of plants and trees that grow in the back yard of my parents' home. Here are some pics that I took during a recent visit.

This is the picture of a banana flower where the fruit is about to come out. In fact, the first fruits came out the day after I clicked this photo. This particular variety of banana goes by the name of robusta in Kerala and Morris in Tamilnadu.


These little red chillies are not very spicy and my mother uses these liberally in her cooking.
Isn't it wonderful to be able to walk to your back yard and pick out fresh vegetables and fruits for everyday use?
Check out what my fellow marathoners Srivalli, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu,Gayatri,Monika, PJ, Azeema,Usha, Ayeesha,Veena, Soumya and Reva are cooking.

Peas Rice - a quick one pot meal

The shops and market near the place I live in have a plentiful supply of fresh green peas during this time of the year. Once you shell the peas, having them handy in the fridge is a real blessing when you are trying to make something quickly.

What you need:
Rice - 1 cup
Green peas - 1 cup
Onion - 1, chopped fine
Cloves - 6
Cardamom - 5
Star anise - 3
Cinnamon - a small piece
Peppercorn - 8
Ghee - 3 tsp
Water - 3 cups
Salt

Powder the cardamom, clove, cinnamon, pepper and star anise in a blender. Heat ghee in a pressure cooker. Add the powdered spices and fry for a minute. Stir in the chopped onion and fry till brown. Add the green peas, rice and salt. Mix well and heat for a minute or two. Add water and cook till two whistles.

Serve hot with raita and chips/papad.
Check out what my fellow marathoners Srivalli, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu,Gayatri,Monika, PJ, Azeema,Usha, Ayeesha,Veena, Soumya and Reva are cooking.

Stuffed Idli

This is a variation of the humble idli which I tried recently and liked. The stuffing can be made using any ingredients that you like. Here is how I made mine.

What you need:
White chick peas - soaked in water overnight, cooked and drained - 1 cup
Onion - 1, chopped fine
Green chilli - 2 or 3
Red chilli powder - to taste
Salt
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Idli batter - as required

To make the stuffing:
Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. When the seeds pop, add green chillies and onion. Fry until onions start to turn pink. Add the chick peas, salt, and red chilli powder. Stir well and heat till there is no moisture.

To make idlis:
Grease the idli plates. Pour a little batter, add a heaped teaspoonful of stuffing, and cover with more batter. Steam for 10-12 minutes until done.

Milagu rasam

Up until a few days back, I had absolutely no intention of blogging about something as mundane as rasam. A question from my brother as to what went into the making of milagu rasam is what made me think that there are people out there who could use this recipe. Milagu rasam is usually made when someone at home suffers from cold or cough.....the pepper and cumin in it have curative properties and soothe the throat.

What you need:
Tamarind - a lemon sized amount, soaked in hot water and squeezed to extract pulp
Peppercorns - 3/4 tsp
Cumin seeds - 3/4 tsp
Ghee - 2 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Salt
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Heat a spoonful of ghee in a pan. Coarsely crush the cumin a pepper together using a pestle and mortar or in the blender. Fry this, along with the curry leaves,in ghee until aromatic and dark brown in colour.

Add tamarind extract to this. Add turmeric powder and salt. Let it boil until it is reduced to about 3/4th of the original quantity.

Add a cup of water and heat until it just starts to boil. Switch off heat. Heat a tsp of ghee in a small pan. Add some mustard seeds, broken red chillies and cumin seeds to it. When the seeds start to pop, pour it over the rasam.

Drink this hot or mix with hot rice.
Check out what my fellow marathoners Srivalli, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu,Gayatri,Monika, PJ, Azeema,Usha, Ayeesha,Veena, Soumya and Reva are cooking.

Revealed....

The first pic is that of a cardamom plant......


....and the second one is sandalwood.
Check out what my fellow marathoners Srivalli, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu,Gayatri,Monika, PJ, Azeema,Veena,Usha, Ayeesha,Veena, Soumya and Reva are cooking.

One more guess.....

Take a look at this plant and tell me what it is....

Guess

Can you guess what the plant in the foreground is???
Here is a closer look....

Semiya Puliyodharai

Sometimes, when I am in no mood to make anything elaborate or to eat out, this tiffin comes to the rescue. The ingredients are almost always available in any South Indian home and the time taken to make this is minimal.

What you need:
Vermicelli/semiya - 1 cup
Tamarind - a lemon sized ball, soaked in hot water for 15-20 minutes
Red chillies - 2 or 3
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Chana dal - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 3/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Salt
Peanuts - a few
Gingely oil - 5 tsp

Heat oil in a pan. Add the broken red chillies, urad dal, chana dal, curry leaves and peanuts. When the dals turns red, add the mustard seeds. Extract thick juice from the tamarind. Add enough water to this extract to make 3 cups of thin tamarind juice. Add this to the pan once the mustard seeds pop. Once it starts boiling, add salt and the vermicelli. Stir well and let it boil until the vermicelli is cooked and all the moisture evaporates.

Vendakka poduthuval

This is another easy stir fry which is a favourite at home.

What you need:
Ladies finger/okra - washed well, dried and cut into thin rounds
Salt
Oil
Sambar powder/red chilli powder
Rice flour - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds
Urad dal

Heat some oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and urad dal. When the seeds pop, add the chopped ladies finger, salt and sambar powder. Stir well, lower heat and cook until it turns soft and is no longer slimy. Sprinkle the rice flour over it. Stir well. Heat for another minute or two.
This goes well with rice or rotis.
I have not mentioned the quantity of ingredients used because it will vary depending on how many people you are making this for. The sambar powder and salt are to be added according to your taste.
Check out what my fellow marathoners Srivalli, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu,Monika, PJ, Azeema,Ayeesha,Veena, Soumya and Reva are cooking.
Am sending this to PJ who is hosting Complete My Thali,an event started by Jagruti, and themed on subji this month.

Pindi thoran

Vazhathandu or unni pindi (banana stem) is known for its health benefits. Rich in fibre, it is said to have stomach cleansing properties. I usually use it to make either pachadi or thoran. Thoran is nothing but a stir fry which is topped off with grated coconut.

What you need:
Banana stem - 1 medium sized
Red cow peas - 1/4 cup soaked in water overnight (optional)
Coconut - 1/4 cup, grated
Green chillies - 2 or 3
Salt
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
For seasoning:
Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp

Remove the outer pith from the banana stem. Cut it into thin circles and then into small pieces. Remove any fibre that you can see.
Cook it along with the cow peas in a pressure cooker until one whistle. Drain excess water and keep aside.
Heat the ingredients for the seasoning. When the mustard seeds pop, add the cooked vegetable. Add turmeric powder and salt. Heat thoroughly so that there is no trace of water. Grind the coconut and green chillies together without adding any water. Mix this into the thoran and stir well.
Check out what my fellow marathoners Srivalli, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu,Monika, PJ, Azeema,Ayeesha,Veena, Soumya and Reva are cooking.
Am sending this to PJ who is hosting Complete My Thali,an event started by Jagruti, and themed on subji this month.

Maanga inji (Mango ginger) pickle

I recently attended my school reunion. It has been 15 years since I passed out of school and though I am in touch with most of my friends through email,phone or facebook, I have not seen some of them for this entire period of 15 years. It was a lot of fun to see how much people have changed. One thing I noticed is that most of the girls seem to be pretty much the same except for weight gain, but the guys have changed in ways that have made them unrecognizable. Guys who once had a full crop of thick, black hair have now become almost completely bald......super thin guys now have paunches and no necks. Despite the physical changes, I noticed that our basic traits haven't changed much. If anything, people only seem to have become nicer. All in all, it was a fun meet.
I was in my hometown only for two days to attend this meet, but when I came back, my parents made sure I carried back some stuff that my father has been growing in the back yard. Kavathu is one of the vegetables I brought back.(Try as I might, I am not able to find out what it is called in English. If anyone knows, please do leave a comment) and I used it to make poduthuval(in this post) and thalagam (which is going to be my next post).
One of the other things I brought back with me is manga inji (mango ginger). Despite the name, this rhizome is related neither to ginger nor to mango. It belongs to the same family as turmeric. It looks like ginger but when cut, it smells like a raw mango. In a previous post, I have made a pickle using mango ginger, green peppercorns and lemon.
This time round, I wanted to try out a different pickle and this is what I did.

What you need:
Mango ginger - 1 cup, peeled and cut into small pieces
Red chilli powder - 2-3 tsp or to taste
Salt
Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
Gingely oil - 1/4 cup
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Add the red chilli powder, salt and asafoetida to the cut mango ginger. Mix well. Heat oil. Add mustard seeds to it. When the seeds pop, pour this over the mango ginger. Mix well. Store in a clean, dry, airtight container.
This pickle can be used immediately and goes well with rice.
Check out what my fellow marathoners Srivalli, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu,Monika, PJ, Azeema,Ayeesha,Soumya and Reva are cooking.

Now that you have told me

what it is that you dislike most about the cooking process, it is time for us to discuss what we really like about cooking. Why, in spite of not liking to chop, clean or garnish, do we still end up cooking?
For me, it is the satisfaction of getting food cooked just the way I like it and the sheer pleasure of inhaling the aroma of food being cooked.
Check out what my fellow marathoners Srivalli, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu,Monika, PJ, Azeema and Reva are cooking.

Kavathu avarakka poduthuval

On a recent visit to my parents' I came back with a whole lot of kavathu which my father had grown in the back yard. Not many people outside Kerala are familiar with this root vegetable.

It looks like a cross between yam and taro, doesn't it? It tastes quite different from those, though.
Kavathu is often paired with avarakkai to make a curry during the thiruvathira festival. Here, I have made a stir fry using it.

What you need:
Kavathu
Avarakkai (broad beans)
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 3/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Grated coconut - a little
Green chillies - a few
Salt

Wash kavathu in plenty of running water to remove all traces of soil. Scrape off the skin. Chop it into medium sized pieces. Cut broad beans into long pieces.
Heat some oil in a pan. Add urad dal and mustard seeds. When the seeds pop, lower the heat and add the kavathu, avarakkai, turmeric powder and salt. Add a little water and cover and cook until both the veggies are cooked well. You will need to stir in between to make sure the veggies don't burn and you may also have to add more water from time to time to ensure that it is well cooked.
Grind the coconut and green chillies without adding any water. Add this to the cooked vegetables. Stir well and serve with rice.
Check out what my fellow marathoners Srivalli, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu,Monika, PJ, Azeema and Reva are cooking.

What is it....

that you dislike most about cooking??? I am not talking about the after-cooking clean up which a lot of people seem to dislike, but the cooking process itself. For me, it is the garnish. I am absolutely willing to try out the most complicated recipe, but am often too lazy to chop up corrainder/curry leaves to dress it up or to do a tadka.
So, what is it that you wish to skip every time you cook?
Check out what my fellow marathoners Srivalli, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu,Monika, PJ, Azeema and Reva are cooking.

Puliyodharai - tamarind rice

I have always loved the puliyodharai that is handed out as prasadam in the temples of Tamilnadu. In fact, when we moved to Chennai, one of the things I really looked forward to is good puliyodharai. Unfortunately, most of the restaurants in Chennai don't serve this rice. They have it in their lunch menu, but if you ask for it, you'll find a sheepishly grinning waiter informing you that they only have sambar rice or some other variety rice. MTR ready mix puliyodharai powder does satisfy the craving every once in a while, but I find that I have to add more tamarind and more salt to the mix to suit our palate. This recipe is a simple one that I have come up with and fall back on whenever I need to make something in a hurry and don't want to spend a lot of time chopping vegetables.

What you need:
Rice - 1 cup
Tamarind - a lemon sized ball soaked in hot water
Red chillies - 3 or 4, broken into pieces
Urad dal - 3/4 tsp
Chana dal - 3/4 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Methi seeds - 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida - a small piece
Curry leaves - a few sprigs
Groundnuts
Gingely oil - 3-4 tsps
Salt - to taste

Cook rice. Spread it on a plate and keep it aside to cool.
Heat oil in a pan. Add red chillies,urad dal, chana dal, methi seeds, asafoetida, curry leaves and mustard seeds. When the seeds pop, add the ground nuts and fry well. Extract thick juice from the soaked tamarind and pour this into the pan. Add turmeric powder, salt and stir well. Lower the heat and let it cook until most of the moisture has evaporated. Switch off the heat. Add the cooked rice and stir gently making sure that the tamarind paste coats all the rice.
Enjoy with fried appalam or vadam.
Check out what my fellow marathoners Srivalli, Priya Suresh, Monika, PJ, Azeema and Reva are cooking.

Vazhathandu(Banana stem) pachadi

A lot of people shy away from cooking vazhathandu at home simply because the prep work is time consuming. Well, chopping this vegetable up finely is definitely hard work, but given the fact that it has several health benefits, it is totally worth it.
To cut the thandu, slice it into thin circles. Then stack a few circles one on top of the other and cut them into thin vertical strips. Cut these again horizontally to get small pieces.
I usually cut it the previous night and refrigerate it. When refrigerating, you should cover the veggie with water and add a bit of tamarind or buttermilk to it to prevent discoloration. I also make sure that I refrigerate it in a microwave safe box so that the next morning, I only have to drain off excess water and pop it into the microwave. While it is getting cooked, I grind the ingredients for the pachadi and then, bringing it all together only takes a few minutes.

What you need :
Vazhathandu (banana stem) - 1 cup, chopped fine and cooked
Green chillies - 2 or 3
Coconut - 1/4 cup, grated
Salt
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Sour curd - 1 cup (Alternatively, you can use a gooseberry sized amount of tamarind)

Grind to a smooth paste green chillies, coconut, mustard and tamarind(if using).
Take the cooked vazhathandu in a pan. Add the ground paste and salt to it. Let it boil until the raw smell goes away and most of the moisture has evaporated. Switch off heat . Stir in the curd just before serving.

Note: If you are using tamarind, add fresh curd just before serving. If you add sour curd, the pachadi will be too sour.
Check out what my fellow marathoners Srivalli, Priya Suresh, Monika, PJ, Azeema and Reva are cooking.

Restaurant style Kadai Vegetables

A very happy 2011 to all of you, my dear readers. I am going to start this year off by running a blogging marathon along with Valli.
Let's kick start the marathon with Kadai Vegetable, a popular restaurant dish. This recipe,from a professional chef, was featured on a TV show.

What you need:
Carrot - 2, chopped
Potato - 1, large, peeled and diced
Beans - a few, chopped
Capsicum - 1, chopped fine
Onion - 1, chopped fine & 2 cut into large chunks
Tomato - 3, diced
Cardamom - a few pods
Cinnamon - a small piece
Salt
For masala powder:
Jeera/cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Saunf - 1 tsp
Dhania/corriander seeds - 1 tsp
Red chilli - 3 or to taste
Fenugreek - 1/4 tsp

Dry fry all the ingredients for the masala powder in a kadai. Let it cool and then powder. Keep aside.
Heat a little oil in a pan. Fry the finely chopped onions till pink. Add diced capsicum and fry on low heat till soft. Keep this aside.
In the same pan, add some more oil. Add cardamom, cinnamon. Add onions and fry till pink. Add a teaspoon of ginger-garlic paste. Add diced tomatoes and fry for a few minutes. Let it cool and then grind to a smooth paste.
Cook the diced vegetables with salt. Add the ground paste to the vegetables and boil well. Add the masala powder and boil for two minutes. Mix in the fried onions and capsicum. Stir well. Serve hot.
This goes to PJ who is hosting Complete My Thali, an event started by Jagruti and themed this month on sabji.

Kashmiri Dum Aloo for Indian Cooking Challenge

The Indian Cooking Challenge set for us this month by Srivalli is Dum Aloo. I have tried several versions of this dish before, but haven't ever cooked it using the dum method of cooking which involves sealing the cooking pot tightly with flour paste and letting the curry cook in its own steam. The recipe sounded easy enough and I had all the ingredients on hand. I completed this challenge within days of Valli posting it.

What I think of the dish:
The dish looked fantastic. As far as the taste goes, while it was not bad, it doesn't have me singing praises of it either. I felt that the taste of fennel in it was overpowering despite using less than the amount suggested. In fact, I had to scrub my kadai several times to get rid of the smell. There was a bitterness in the dish that lingered in the mouth even after I finished eating.
A change that I made from the original recipe is removing the skin of the potatoes. Somehow, I just didn't find it appealing to leave the skin on.
Overall, I prefer the other versions of this dish that I've tried before and will stick to those from now on. I do like the idea of dum cooking, though, and might do that more often.

Tomato kurma

In my journey from culinary zero to culinary something, it is Mallika Badrinath's books that have helped me along. It is her simple and do-able recipes that helped me learn the A-B-Cs of cooking. One of the first books of hers that I got is 100 Vegetarian Gravies. A look at this post of mine will tell you how much I've used this book. Today, I tried out the tomato kurma recipe in this book. I am amazed by the simplicity of the recipe and by how good it tastes.
To make tomato kurma, you need:
Onion - 2, medium sized, chopped fine
Tomato - 3 large, chopped fine
Salt - to taste
Sugar - a little
Oil - 1 tbsp
Grind to a smooth paste:
Coconut - 1/4 cup
Cashewnut - 7 or 8
Dhania - 2 tsp
Green chilli - 2 (adjust to taste)
Red chilli -2 (adjust to taste)
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp

Heat oil in a kadai. Add the onions and fry until they start turning pink. Add chopped tomatoes and let it cook on a low flame till mushy and soft. Add salt and sugar. Stir in the ground masala. Add water if needed. Let it boil until the raw smell goes and the gravy thickens.

Serve hot with idli/dosa. I paired this with idiyappam.

Lentil soup

I can count on my fingers the number of times I have made soup since I started living in Chennai. The last three days have been unusually cool(for Chennai that is), windy and rainy.....and I felt that a bowl of soup would be the perfect thing to warm us up.
This is a very simple, yet creamy and hearty soup. There are no measurements because I just threw in a little bit of this and a little bit of that to come up with this.

What you need:
Moong dal(green gram dal)
Tomato
Garlic
Salt
Pepper
Turmeric powder
Corriander - to garnish

Take the moong dal, tomato and garlic in a pressure cooker. Add a little bit of turmeric powder, salt and plenty of water and cook till one whistle. Reduce the heat and cook for another 5-10 minutes. Once the steam escapes, allow it to cool down a bit, and then blend until smooth and creamy. Add some more water if needed. Pour it back into the pressure cooker and let it boil. Add crushed black pepper. Garnish with corriander. Serve hot.

Muringa ila vada (Drumstick leaves vada)

I live in a city where, during summer you can hear people(me included) groaning about the sweat and the heat, and when it rains, people start talking about how difficult the commute is and how horribly waterlogged the roads are.
I love the rains. I don't mind wading through muddy puddles or getting a little wet. As long as there are no old-I-will-give-you-free-advice types around, I let my daughter play about in puddles and walk in the rain without an umbrella. Mother nature never did me any harm when I was growing up and I am sure she will be just as benevolent with this generation.
Now, the rain sometimes makes me act uncharacteristically. While I love snacking, I very rarely bother to make snacks. However, the rain today had me craving for some hot, sweet, cardamom laden tea and a crisp snack. I soaked some dal to make parippu vada and then thought of adding drumstick leaves to it and turning it into muringa ila(drumstick leaf) vada. I am sure Google will tell me that someone else has had this wonderful brainwave before me, so I am not going to Google to find out if muringa ila has ever been added to vada before. Until I get a comment that tells me otherwise and breaks my bubble, I am going to be happy with "my" snack.

Here's what you need:
Tuar dal - 1 cup (washed and soaked in water for 30 minutes)
Red chillies - according to taste
Garlic - 7-8 cloves
Onion - 1 large, chopped finely
Drumstick leaves - a handful
Oil - for deep frying

Drain water from the dal. Add red chillies and garlic to it and grind coarsely without adding any water. Add the chopped onions, drumstick leaves and salt. Mix well. Take small amounts of the batter....shape it into a ball and flatten between your palms. Deep fry in hot oil until well browned on both sides.
Enjoy with a cup of tea.