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.

How to make Rava Idlis when you have almost run out of rava

Latha's rava idli recipe had me drooling and ready to grease my idli plates. I've been waiting for god-knows-how-long to find the perfect rava idli recipe....and I tell you, this is it!!! Now, I had all the ingredients on hand except rava....I had just about a quarter cup of this main ingredient. So I packed hubby off to the store to get me some. So what if it was a lazy Sunday evening and he really didn't want to get off the bean bag? Well, it was going to be rava idli or no dinner.....that threat had the desired effect. Only thing is, instead of getting me rava he ended up getting idli rava.....and he blames the store for this....says they don't label stuff properly.......aaaaaarrrrgghhh....MEN!!!

Neways, there was no changing my mind....nothing would come between me and a plateful of fluffy idlis. Latha's recipe is perfect. I've got to thank her for sharing this. I followed it to the t ....except that I used 1/4 cup of rava and 3/4 of idli rava.....the rest of it exactly as she has detailed here.
The idlis turned out soft, fluffy....and I don't know how but they were this wonderful shade that's somewhere between cream and the lightest of yellow.
I do have pics to show, but like I've said in many of my previous posts, it's going to be a while before I upload those.
Iam sending Asha of Foodies Hope a serving of these idlis for her RCI - Karnataka event.

Pic updated..........FINALLY!!!

Janmashtami treats

Lord Krishna was my first love. Nope, Iam not kidding...when most other kids were content with bowing their heads before the lord to seek his blessings before exams, I could be found hugging a mini-statue of his and making grand proclamations of my plans to marry him and none other than him. A streak of atheism during my high school days made sure that I did not become wife no. 16,001. Past high school, I got over my atheism and chose a middle path....neither extreme belief nor total disbelief.

Celebrating Krishna's birthday has always been something that I've enjoyed mostly because of the food. This year I tried my hand at making uppu cheedai and vella cheedai for the first time. Here's a peek at what I made to celebrate His birthday.

Uppu Cheedai

Raw rice flour - 1 cup
Urad flour - 1/4 cup
Jeera - 1.5 tsp
Pepper - coarsely crushed,3/4 tsp
Water
Salt
Butter - 3 or 4 tbsp, softened
Oil - for deep frying

Dry roast both the flours if you are using store bought flour. Mix the flours, jeera, pepper, butter and salt with enough water to form a stiff, firm dough. Shape this into small balls and spread on a newspaper for a few minutes so that it becomes just a little bit dry. Heat oil and gently drop into it a few cheedais at a time. Fry until the cheedai turns reddish brown. Drain oil and store in an air tight container.
I've often been told that cheedai, if not prepared properly will result in disastrous explosions. Expecting nothing short of tiny blasts, I stood a safe distance away from the kadai and dropped a few cheedais in...but luckily for me...there were no explosions...not even a tiny one....and the cheedais turned out quite crisp and brown.


Vella cheedai

Raw rice flour - 1/2 cup
Urad flour - 1 tsp
Jaggery - 1/4 cup
Water - 1 cup
Cardamom powder - a little

Boil water in a pan. Add jaggery to this. When it melts completely, add the two flours, cardamom powder and stir well until it comes together into a smooth dough.
Let it cool for a bit and then shape it into balls. Deep fry a handful at a time in hot oil. Remove when dark brown, drain oil and store in an air tight container.

Neyyappam

Raw rice - 1 cup
Jaggery - 3/4 cup
Cardamom powder - 3/4 tsp
Ripe banana - 1
Ghee - a little

Soak the rice in plenty of water for about two hours. Grind it using as little water as possible to a fine paste. To this, add the rest of the ingredients and grind again until everything is well mixed. Some people swear by certain kinds of banana to get soft appams..I've tried several kinds and found that if you make sure that the batter is ground really well, it doesn't matter which kind u use. Set the batter aside for an hour or two.

Season your appakarai(an aebelskiver pan can be used) with a few drops of ghee( I use a non-stick appakarai...so I use just about a drop or two of ghee in each hollow). Fill about three-fourths of each hollow with the batter. Enjoy the sizzling sound and the delicious aroma that will wrap you up in a loving embrace. When the under side is done to a delicious brown flip it around so the top gets cooked too. Remove....let it cool just a little bit and store. Repeat this process until all the batter is used up.

This is my entry to Latha's Janmashtami event.
Iam also sending a plateful of appam to JFI Banana hosted this month by Mandira of Ahaar
All three snacks are a huge favourite at home....which makes it a perfect entry to the WYF Snack event hosted by Hima.

Simple Okra subji

Ladies finger/okra is said to be good for the brain. As a child I remember being told that I would grow up to be super intelligent if i ate plenty of this pretty green veggie. I don't know if I achieved the promised end result, but I did eat plenty of okra as a child and I still do so now as an adult.
This is a simple yet delicious dry curry that goes well with roti/puri.

What you need:
Ladies finger/okra - choose small, tender ones that can be cooked whole.
Onion - minced
Garam masala
Salt
Turmeric powder
Cumin seeds

Wash and wipe dry the okra. Make a small slit upto the middle of each one. Stuff some garam masala into the okra using the back of a spoon or a knife and set aside.
If you do not find baby okra.....use normal okra....just cut it into two halves and then make a slit in each half and proceed.
Heat a little oil/ghee in a pan. Add the cumin seeds. When they sputter, add the onions and fry until golden brown. Now add the okra, turmeric powder, salt and any remaining garam masala. Stir well. Cover and cook until done.
Serve hot with roti, puri or rice.