Friday, November 13, 2009

Rasam Powder

Fresh home made rasam powder gives good aroma and tastes great. Its better to prepare at home and save it instead of ready made one. Previously i used to follow my momz steps to prepare a rasam. And never ever get even a border marks in it from my hubby. My mom used to grind the tomatoes, chillies, garlic, peppercorns, cummin seeds,and coriander seeds with a shallot and pour it to the tamarind juice and prepare the rasam. So by seeing this and grown, at first I too tried this method and failed in it. Then I skipped to the rasam powder given by my SIL. By surprise it came out well. After that using only easy way out rasam power



Ingredients:

Coriander seeds - 2 cups
Black peppercorns - 1/2 cup
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Toor dhal - 1 tbsp + 1 tsp
Channa dhal - 1 tbsp + 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
Dry Red chillies - 10 nos
Curryleaves - 1 hand full

Method:

1. Remove the stalks in the chillies and dry roast till they puff up slightly

2. Dry roast coriander seeds, channa dhal, toor dhal one by one till turns golden.

3. Finally, dry roast peppercorns, cummin seeds and fenugreek seeds till the pepper begins crackling with excitement with the curry leaves.

4. Let them cool and grind in coarse powder and stored in air-tight container. It holds good for months.

Kollu (Horse gram) Rasam



Kollu Rasam is very nutritious and delicious for the cold weather. Since winter is started I added rasam in my daily menu. When I was a kid I remember my grandapa used to come to our home for my mom's rasam. Its default in my momz lunch menu. And my sister for very long time only had rasam sadam for lunch. Sometimes she used to say becoz of that only she can maintain her structure like trisha.... (haha fun part). Lets start our main part....


As I have stated previously in my sprouted kollu sundal, drain and save the Kollu water from boiling the kollu.

Ingredients:

Kollu Water - 1 1/2 cups
Rasam Powder - 1 tbsp + 1 tsp
Tomato - 1 (small)
Garlic pod - 3 (crushed)
Tamarind - lime size
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - 4
Coriander leaves - for garnishing
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
Dry Red Chilly - 2
Hing - 1 pinch
Salt

Method:

1. Soak tamarind in water and then extract its juice for a cup and mix it with the drained kollu water.

2. In a kadai add the chopped tomato, rasa powder, garlic and salt to the extract juice.

3. Cook them for about 10-15 mins. Don’t allow them to boil

4. Meanwhile heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds to splutter, add the dry red chillies and curry leaves.

5. Before turn off the heat once the form appears pour the seasonings over the rasam and add some coriander leaves for aroma.

TIPS: Can even add some black pepper powder to the rasam before serving. peppercorns have good medicinal valued for cold

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Curry Leaves Podi


I had lots of (2 large zip lock bags)dry curry leaves which sent by my MIL. For a long time I don't know what to do with this much of curry leaves even after given some of them to my SIL and friends.... And one day my hubby picked curry leaves podi packs from Indian grocery, a light sparked that time. Stopped him and prepared it at my home itself. He was surprised to see the podi.

Its simple to prepare and mouth watering with hot idlies/rice. Even the aroma is good to sense.

Ingredients:

Dry Curry leaves - 2 cups
Urad dal - 2 1/2 tbsp
Peppercorns - 1 tbsp
Cummin Seeds - 2 tsp
Red chillies - 5 - 7
Salt

Method:

1. Dry roast the peppercorns, red chillies, cumin seeds and urad dal

2. Slightly dry roast curry leaves. Let keep them aside to cool

3. Grind everything along with salt in slightly coarse

4. Put it immediately in a air tightened box

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Sprouted Kollu Sundal

In Tamil, horse gram (kollu, கொள்ளு) is normally used to feed horses, though it is also commonly used in Tamil dishes, including kollu porial, kollu avial, kollu sambar, and kollu rasam. In traditional ayurvedic cuisine, horse gram is considered a food with medicinal qualities for suffering from jaundice or water retention, and as part of a weight loss diet. It is considered helpful for iron deficiencies, and is considered helpful for maintaining body temperature in the winter season.

Very recently I started using of it after had a kollu dosa at my SIL house. Even my hubby found of idlies in this. Since started taking sprouted grams in all possible sort of menus as sambar, sundal, and salad... it turns out even well and delicious


Ingredients
Sprouted horse grams - 1 cup
Onion - 1/4 chopped
Lemon juice - 1tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/4tsp
Urad dal - 1/4tsp
Dry red chillies - 2nos
Curry leaves - 5nos
Grated Coconut - 1 tsp(if desired)
Salt
hing - 1 pinch
Oil for seasoning

Method
1. 1 cup of Kollu add 1 cup of water and some salt and a dash of hing and pressure cook it

2. When it is pressure cooked, drain and save the water, you may add it to your rasam or Dal or sambar

3. In a Kadai, add little oil add all the seasonings when sputters add curry leaves and drained kollu and stir

4, Finally add fresh grated coconut (this is Optional, depends on how much you like it) along with everything, stir once and serve

TIPS TO SPROUT:

Soak 1 cup of kollu in water. Soak it overnight or for 8-12 hrs. Drain and rinse water 2 times with water. You can tie it in a wet thin cloth. Let it rest for another day, wet the cloth if it is dry till the sprouts have grown.

Egg Biriyani



Ingredients
Basmati Rice - 1 Cup
Eggs - 4 - Hardboiled and peeled
Onion - 1 Large, sliced thinly (lengthwise)
Green Chillies - 3 sliced
Tomato - 1/2 tomato chopped
Yogurt - 1/4 cup
Ginger - 1" chopped finely
Garlic - 4 cloves peeled and chopped finely
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Chicken Powder - 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves - chopped
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt

Method
1. Cook Basmati Rice - Soak the rice in water for 1/2 hour. add 1 1/4 water, drops of oil to cook and allow to cool

2. Make light slits on each side of the boiled egg (white side)

3. Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds, green chillies, onions, ginger and garlic salute until onions are golden brown

4. Add chopped tomatoes, salt, all the masala powders. Allow this to cook well into a mushy state

5. Mix yogurt with about a cup of water until smooth and add this to the gravy

6. Once this comes to a boil, add the eggs and let this simmer until the gravy thickens, about 10-15 mins.

7. Remove the eggs, keep aside and let the gravy continue to cook until it thickens a little more.

8. Mix the cooked rice with the gravy completely. Take care not to smush it.

9. In a oven-proof bowl add half the rice mixture, arrange the boiled eggs and top with the remaining rice mixture.

10. Cook this in a pre-heated oven at 350F for about 15 mins.

11. Garnish and serve.

Kadai Chicken



Ingredients:

1/2 lb Chicken(cut into medium size pieces)
2 Onion (medium size)
1 Tomato
1 tsp Chilli powder
2 tsp Coriander powder
11/2 tsp Ginger-garlic Paste
1/2 tsp Fennel
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
2 Cinnamon(medium size)
1/2 tsp Garam masala powder
4 Cloves
2 Bay leaves
1 tbsp Curd(optional)
1 tbsp Cumin seeds
Oil
Coriander leaves for garnishing
Salt for taste


Method:

1. Marinate the chicken with ginger-garlic paste,turmeric powder,garam masala & salt.

2. Pre-heat the oil in a pan & spultter fennel seeds, Cinnamon,Cloves & bay leaves.

3. Then, add the chopped onion & fry till golden brown & add chopped tomato now and cook the tomato till the oil comes seperate from onion & tomato.

4. And now, add the marinated chicken.Don't add water to the gravy & cook it for 10 to 15 minutes in medium heat.

5. Now,add the chilli powder & coriander powder & mix well with the chicken.

6. Garnish the chicken with the coriander leaves & keep the flame in low heat & close the pan for 5 minutes till the oil comes seperate from the chicken.

7. Serve the chicken with Rice,Roti,Puri & Paratha.

Chicken Vindaloo


Ingredients:

Chicken - 300 to 350 grams
Salt - to taste
Coriander leaves - 3 to 4 sprigs
Oil - 1 or 2 tbspn
For onion sauce:

Onion Sauce:
Onion - 1 (thinly sliced)
Vinegar - 2 tspn

Masala:
Peppercorns(black) - 1/2 tspn
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tspn
Garlic - 2 to 3 cloves
Ginger - a small piece
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn
Chili powder - 1/2 tspn
Coriander powder - 1 tspn
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tspn


Method:
For Onion Sauce: Heat Oil in a pan. Add thinly sliced Onions and fry till they are crispy and dark brown, but not burnt. Curry gets its dark color from the fried Onions. So take time to fry the Onion till they are nicely browned. Then blend this with Vinegar and water.

1. Grind and make a sauce of Peppercorns, Mustard seeds, Garlic, Ginger by adding enough water. Add Turmeric powder, Chili powder, Coriander powder, Garam masala powder and mix well.

2. Heat Oil in a pan. Add the ground sauce (from step 2) and heat for 2 to 3 minutes.

3. Add cut Chicken pieces, mix well with the sauce and fry till the chicken pieces are slightly white in color all the sides.

4. Then add Onion sauce and Salt. If necessary add some water too. Bring the curry to boil once.

5. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and cook for 25 minutes or till the chicken is cooked well.

6. Finally garnish with Coriander leaves and serve.

Stuffed Mushrooms


Ingredients:

Button/Crimini mushrooms - 10-15 no.

For Marination:

Yogurt/Curd - 1 tbsp
Olive oil/Vegetable oil - 2 tsp
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
Coriander powder - 2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Chaat Masala - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp (optional)

For the stuffing:

Mushroom stem - chop up all the mushroom stems
Onion - 2 tbsp (chopped finely)
Capsicum - 2 tbsp (chopped finely)
Cauliflower - 1/2 cup (grated)
Green chilli - 1 (chopped finely)
Garlic - 2 clove (grated)
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Chaat Masala - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Oil/Butter - 1 tsp
Grated Cheese - 1 tbsp (optional)

Method:

1. Clean the mushrooms with a towel and separate the stems from the caps.

2. Combine all the ingredients for marination and mix well. Add the mushrooms caps and coat with the marinade gently. Refrigerate for an hour.

3. Heat oil in a pan, add the onion, garlic, salt and saute for 2 mins. Add the vegetables and masalas and cook. At last add the lemon juice.

4. Preheat oven to 375 F.

5. Stuff the marinated mushrooms with the stuffing, place them on a baking tray

6. Bake for 15 mins and then 2 mins under the broiler.

TIP: Marination should not be watery and just brush it in the mushrooms else it will ooze water while baking.

Aloo Paratha



Ingredients:
Whole wheat flour - 2.5 cups + about quarter cup for dusting
Milk - half cup, lukewarm
Water - about 3/4 cup, lukewarm
For Filling:
Potatoes - 3 large or 4 medium
Onion - half, chopped finely
Ginger - 1 tsp, minced
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp, minced
Mint Leaves - 1 tbsp, minced (optional)
Chilli powder - 2 to 3 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp + enough to shallow-fry parathas

Method:
1) For the dough, first mix whole wheat flour and some salt. To this, gradually add lukewarm milk little by little and knead as you go and once that is used up, use the lukewarm water and make a soft, pliable dough. I normally end this with a tsp of oil and rub it over the dough. Let it sit aside for a few hours to rest.

2) Meanwhile, cook potatoes (I use a microwave, but a pressure cooker would work too) till soft. Peel and mash them to a smooth consistency.

3) Heat 2 tsp of oil in a pan and fry the chopped onions and ginger till golden. Now add the chopped coriander and mint leaves and saute for a minute or two extra. Add the masala powders & salt and after a minute of frying them, toss in the mashed potatoes. Fry this till it's well incorporated and completely dry. Allow this to cool, this ensures that the stuffing doesn't ooze out when rolling out the parathas.

(Alternately, you could skip the onions, ginger, mint and coriander leaves and just mix the masala powders and salt with the mashed potatoes and make a raw stuffing with no cooking - perfect when you are running short on time and tasty as well).

4) With the chapathi dough make equal sized smooth balls, about 2 inches in diameter. I got 12 with the above measurements. Roll the cooled, potato mixure into balls of the same size as the chapathi dough (2 inches in this case)

5) Roll out the dough ball into a small chapathi (about 4 to 5 inches in diameter) I usually make the edges a little thinner than the middle so it's more uniform when I fold it over - but that's just me... :) Place the potato ball in the middle and enclose it by folding the chapathi dough around it.

6) Dust in flour and place it back seam side down. Roll this out to a bigger paratha.

7) Heat a griddle on medium-high and fry the paratha on both sides.

Normally I flip over the first side in about 20 to 30 seconds and let the other side cook until it starts puffing up a bit, at which point, I brush the top with some oil and flip over. Pressing down gently on the chapathi ensures that it puffs up. Brush this side with some oil too before flipping over one last time. This does require a bit more oil than the usual chapathis.

8) Serve with some Yogurt and Pickle of choice. I spiced up the yogurt by adding half a teaspoon each of chilli powder and cumin powder alongwith salt to taste.

TIPS: If you cannot suff and roll and then make 2 very small chapathis...on top of one chapathi..keep the suffing and spread lightly...next top it with the other chapathi and cover/seal the two chapathis...so the stuffing do not come out...dust some flour and roll as thin as possible lightly and then cook on a tawa/griddle both sides.

Beetroot Leaves Thovayal


Ingredients
Beet leaves – 2 cups, chopped
Urad dal – 1 tbsp + 1 tsp
Red chillies – 3
Asafoetida – a pinch
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Tamarind paste – 1 tsp
Salt
Oil
Method
In a pan, heat oil, and roast 1 tbsp urad dal, red chillies, asafoetida. When dal turns golden brown, add chopped beet leaves and cook until soft. Cool and grind with tamarind and salt. Season with mustard seeds and urad dal. Serve with rice and a tsp of sesame oil.

Coconut Boli

Ingredients:

Grated Coconut – 1 cup
Jaggery – 2 cups
Split Channa Dal - 1/2 cup(cooked and mashed)
Cardamom – 1/2 tsp
Maida – 1 cup
Salt – a pinch
Water – little
Oil – as required

Method:

1. Add little salt to maida and add sufficient oil, water and prepare soft dough. keep this prepared 1 hour before.
2. Mix coconut, cooked split Channa Dal and jaggery and fry them in ghee to thicken.
3.Prepare medium sized balls with the grounded mixture after it cools down. Stuffing is ready.
6. Take a clean plastic sheet and grease it with oil.
7. Make small balls with the maida dough and keep each one in the leaf and flatten it a bit and keep the stuffing.
8. Properly close the maida and flatten again using hand. (just like thin poories but little small in size)
9. Cook them in a tawa adding ghee and oil. Cook until they are cooked on both sides.(like chappathi)

Coconut boli is ready.