Kathirikkai Vathakkal (Brinjal Fry)

RECIPE:

• Pour 2 tsp of oil in a hot kadai
• Temper with cumin seeds and mustards and curry leaves
• Saute chopped onion (1/4) until transparent
• Add salt per taste and little turmeric powder
• Add 10 cut brinjals (egg plant) and suate until they turn tender
• Add 1/2 sp chilly powder and stir well
• When the raw smell subsides, sprinkle 1sp water and cover and cook on medium flame
• Stir occasionally and sprinkle water as and when needed
• When oil oozes out and brinjals are well cooked turn off the stove
• Serve with Rasam / Sambar / Yogurt

Vaazhakkai Podimas (Plantain Podimas)

Recipe:

• Steam cook Plantain (raw babana / vaazhakkai / valakkai) for 15 min with jacket on
• Remove the jacket and grate or mash it
• In a hot pan, add 1 Tbsp oil and season with mustard seeds, urad dhal, chana dhal, curry leaves
• Add 1 green chilly slit into 2 halves, 1/4 medium size onion chopped and saute until onions turn transparent
• Add salt per taste and 1/4sp turmeric powder
• Add the grated banana and fry for 2 mins
• Garnish with cilantro and serve hot
• It goes well with curd / rasam /sambar

Rava Kesari

• In a hot non stick pan, add 5Tbsp of ghee and slightly roast nuts (pecans, cashews, almonds) and golden raisins
• When the raisins bulge, add 1/2 cup of rava (semolina) and roast until the rava turns very light brown
• Reduce the flame
• Add 1/2 cup of sugar and mix well
• Add 1.25 cups of milk (or water) and stir with no lumps
• Add a pinch of salt (very very little)
• Taste test the mix and add more sugar if needed
• Optional: Add little food color or Kesari powder or Safron color. I didnt have one so didnt add Today. :-
• Keep stirring in medium heat until all moisture evaporates
• Add a pinch of cardomom powder (optional) and stir well
• When it gets to the right consistency (it should not stick to the vessel and look kinda like a soft dough) turn of the flame and mold to any shape
• Serve hot or cold

Vegetable Cutlet

RECIPE:
Makes about 8 small size cutlets

• Boil 1 potato and grate it. Make sure the potato is dry
• Steam cook 1 cup of mixed diced vegetables (Peas, carrot, beans etc)
• Coarse grind the vegetables. The pieces should be little bigger size. And again the veges must be as dry as possible
• In a non stick pan, add very little oil and season with cumin seeds
• Add little ginger-garlic paste and saute
• Reduce the heat and add 1/2 sp chilly powder, 1/2 coriander powder and salt per taste
• Fry the mix for a min and add the dry veges (squeeze out the water if any)
• Saute until the veges mix well with the spices
• Add a handful of cilantro and fry till the leaves wilt
• Transfer the dry veg content to the bowl of grated potato
• Mix them well and make balls. If you feel any moisture, add very little bread crumbs to absorb it
• In a bowl beat 1 egg white with pepper
• If you avoid eggs, use maida (all purpose flour) and little water to make a thin paste to coat the vege balls
• In a separate plate put some bread crumbs
• Quickly dip the ball into the egg mix(or maida mix) and roll it in the bread crumbs so the balls are well coated with the bread crumbs
• As you roll the balls in the crumbs, flatten them to the shape you want
• After you coat all the balls, deep fry or shallow fry with liberal oil in a pan of oil in medium flame
• When the cutlets turn golden brown on both sides, take them out and place on a tissue to absorb the excess oil
• Serve with Ketchup

Egg Briyani - Kadai Style

• Wash and Soak 1 cup of Basmati rice in 1 cup of water for about 30 mins
• In a hot non stick pan, pour 2sp olive oil (any oil) and temper with 4 cloves, 1 inch cinnamon, bay leaves, 2 cardomom
• Add long slices of 1/2 medium size red onion and saute until light brown
• Add a pinch of salt and 1Tbsp ginger garlic paste, 1 green chilly slit in the middle and saute
• Add all vegetables ( carrots, peas, beans etc) and saute until tender
• Add 5 mint stems (just the leaves) and 1/4 cup cilantro and stir until the leaves wilt
• Add any briyani masala powder (1 Tbsp) and fry for less than a min
• Add 1 sp of curd and mix
• Add 10 salted & fried cashews
• Add 1.25 cup of water and check for salt and add more salt if needed
• Now add the soaked rice without draining
• Mix well and cover and cook in medium flame
• After about 10 mins, you can see craters in the pan. Now reduce the flame to the min possible and slow cook for another 10 mins
• Garnish and serve with boiled eggs
• Alternatively, you can dip the boiled eggs in besan, chilly powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, egg white mixture and fry for a min in butter and mix in the briyani

Drumstick Curry (Murungaikai Masaal Kulambu)

• Heat oil in a pan
• Temper with cumin seeds and curry leaves
• Saute drumstick pieces well until the raw smell goes
• Saute onions (1/2 medium) until light brown
• Add 2 Tomatoes and saute until oil oozes out
• Add 1sp chilly powder and 2sp coriander powder
• Add 1/2 sp turmeric powder & salt per taste
• Add 2 cups of water and cover and cook for 10 mins
• Grind 5 1-inch coconut pieces along with 1/4 sp kasakasa, 2 cloves, 1/2inch cinnamon, 1sp sugar and mix with the curry
• Cook for another 8 mins, do not cover the pan
• Garnish with cilantro

Tomato Soup

Tamil is having a cold. It just occured to me why not try some soup Today henceforth. Voila..I tried this following a recipe I noted down sometime back from a cooking show. Tamil says, "It tastes just like in the restaurants". I am very happy to present the delicious Tomato Soup recipe here..

RECIPE:

• Pour 1sp oil /butter in a hot pan
• Add 1 2p jeera (cumin seeds) and let it splutter
• Add 3 garlic pods, 1/4 medium sized onion (chopped) and saute until brown
• optional: Saute any vegetable like peas, carrot, bell pepper, celery etc (I didnt add any this time though)
• Add 1 Tomato chopped and saute until oil oozes out
• Add salt, pepper powder to taste
• Transfer to a blender and blend smoothly
• Drain in a strainer and add 1/2 cup water
• Adjust salt & pepper
• In a hot pan, add butter/oil and add 1/2sp All purpose flour (maida) and stir with no lumps
• Stir until the flour turns brown and add the soup mix little by little carefully to avoid any further lumps
• Let it come to a boil. U can add water to ur desired consistency at this stage.
• Optionally you can add food color or Kesari powder ( I didnt)
• When it is almost done, optionally add cream (I didnt )
• Season with more pepper and garnish with cilantro, croutons etc
• Serve hot with soup crackers

Mushroom Mattar Gravy

Shrimp Curry

Aloo Masala

Also called Urulai kilangu Kalyana Varuval. Goes well with Sambar, Rasam or Curd.
The procedure is the same as Valaikai varuval. Use boiled potatoes. This is my mom's recipe.

Kuli Paniyaram

• Heat 2tbsp of oil in a pan and temper it with 1tsp of mustard seeds, 1tsp of cumin seeds, 1 spring of chopped curry leaves, 3 chopped red chillies, a pinch of hing
• Toss in a handfull of thinly sliced onion (pearl onions taste better) and saute until translucent
• Now add the contents to the dosa batter and adjust salt
• In the kuli paniyaram pan (as seen in the pic) grease the cups and heat it for few mins like you heat the dosa tava
• The vessel is ready when a few drops of water when sprinkled sizzle and disappear
• Now fill each cup with 1/2 tsp of oil and pour the batter in a spoon to fill the cup half way
• Do not over pour as the paniyarams need room to expand and puff up
• Cover the vessel with a tight lid and cook on medium flame for 2 to 4 mins
• When the top of the paniyaram appears half cooked, with a spoon or a steel rod, flip the paniyarams upside down one by one
• The underside of the paniyaram should be golden brown by now
• Remove the lid and cook for couple more mins
• Paniyarams are ready to serve.
• Serve hot with chutney and sambar

Paper Roast

ChoCho Poriyal (Chayote)

For those who wonder what chocho or chayote is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christophine
Recipe:

• Dry roast 1 sp chana dal and 1/4 sp fennel seeds (sombu) and fine grind to a powder
• Oil + mustard seeds + curry leaves + onions + 3 chayotes chopped -> fry until tender
• Add chilly powder + turmeric powder + salt per taste
• Add little water , cover and cook
• When the vegetabe is 3/4th cooked add the chana powder
• Mix and cover and cook until the raw smell goes off and the veg is cooked well
• You can add warm water as and when needed to prevent charring

Vegetable Pulav

Oil+cloves+cinnamon+cardamom+bay leaves+(ginger, garlic, cilantro) paste + green chillies + onions + mint leaves + cilantro leaves + tomato + very little coriander pdr + turmeric + pepper pdr + optionally any pulav or briyani masala pdr + all vegetables -> saute until vegs are slightly tender. Turn off the stove. Add 1 sp of yogurt. Transfer the mixture to a rice cooker along with soaked rice. add water and cook.

Rava Dosa in 5 mins

I made this Today and Gosh! It tasted so good. Unfortunately my camera ran out of battery. Shall update with a picture the next time I make this again.
Now for the recipe (serves 4 small paper thin crispy dosas):
Ingredients:
Rava 1/2 cup
Rice Flour - 1/2 cup
Maida - 1/4 cup
Salt per taste
Pepper whole abt 10 or powder - 1/2 sp
Cumin seeds - 1/4 sp
Green chily - 1 finely chopped

Mix all the above with water and make the batter very watery.
And ferment it for 'zero' minutes. ;) Thats right, zero minutes.
The batter is voila..READY!

Now for the action:

• In a hot wide griddle or dosa tawa, rub a cut onion for couple of times and spread a handful of chopped onions evenly on the surface
• Sprinkle the batter over the surface into a thin film by hand
• Turn the flame to medium heat and drizzle oil/ghee around & on the surface
• Allow the dosa to cook/brown for few mins
• Need not flip the dosa. But if your dosa is not thin enough, flip the dosa
• When the dosa is nice golden brown, serve as is or with chutney or any condiment of your choice
• Alternatively, you can pour the batter and swirl the tawa to coat a thin surface as you do for Aappam

Egg Kurma

Fish Fry - Salmon

Kali - Ragi Pudding

Ingredients:Ragi Powder - 3 cups
Water - 9 cups
Salt - 3 spoons + little more OR may be 4 spoons)
Oil - 4 to 5 spoons
Recipe:Pour 6 cups water in a big pan and heat in high (9)
Mix 3 cups of ragi + 3 cups of water in a bowl until lumps disappear.
Add salt to taste
If water is not enough, take 3/4 cup of boiling water from the pan and add to the bowl.
Now pour the ragi mix to the pan on stove
Continue to cook in the same high (9) until most of the water evaporates and batter thickens.Keep stirring
After it gets little thicker, sim the stove to 7 or so and keep stirring for 20 to 30 mins
Add few spoons of oil as and when required
When the kali becomes like jello and dark brown, the kali is done.

Tips: Use non stick for better result. Serve hot with scrambled egg and puli or meen kulambu. Or mix with yogurt , onions, green chillies - chill and serve as a Koozh or Porridge.

This is an all time favorite of my husband and mine.

Thai Basil EggPlant

Brinjal Peanut Masala

I remembered watching a cookery show sometime back and thought I would try that recipe. The dish turned out great. This is how I did:

• In little oil, fry 1 Tbsp peanuts & 1 Tbsp white sesame seeds separately. Fine grind this.
• In the same pan, fry Brinjals in oil and set aside. (you can deep fry or shallow fry. I shallow fried with little liberal oil)
• In the same oil, add mustard seeds, 1 tsp of jeera(cumin seeds)
• When spluttering stops, add curry leaves
• Add half green chily chopped and 1 red chilly
• Add 1 chopped Onion and fry until translucent (not brown)
• Add 1 Tbsp ginger-garlic paste, fry for few seconds
• Add 1 tsp turmeric powder and salt per taste
• Add 1 chopped Tomato and fry for a min and cover and cook until tomato is half cooked
• Add 1 Tbsp of coriander powder and 1 tsp of red chilly powder
• Add the fried brinjals and cover and cook until oil oozes out. Stir occasinally
• When the gravy is fully done, add the ground powder, mix and cover. Turn off the stove.
• Let the pot stay on the hot stove for 5 mins.
• Garnish with coriander leaves.
• Sit back and relax. Serve hot with rice or chapathi.

Vazhakkai Varuval

Cauliflower Pepper Fry

Oil+2 pattai+2 cloves+(3 pearl onions + 3 garlics -> paste) + (turmeric+garam masala+curry powder+fish fry powder -> each quarter spoon or even less) +half spoon chilly powder(aachi) + salt+ chopped cauliflower florets -> fry all until tender. No water at all. Finally spray pepper to taste.

Fruit Nut Muffin

Got to bake some stuff for my son's birthday..As part of the thought process, I was just randomly adding my son's favorites and it resulted in a great novel muffin. What shall I name it...Banana Raisin Date Nuts Muffin?...For now let me call it Fruit nut muffin. And by the way, do I still need to mention what are my ingredients? ;)
Shall soon translate my chicken scribblings into usable recipe. Meet ya soon.

Ok..Here you go:
Makes about 22 muffins
15 Dates
1/2 Banana mashed
1 cup Milk (I used 2% organic)
1 cup melted Butter (I may lessen this to 3/4th cup next time..just a thought)
3/4 cup Olive oil
1 cup Sugar
3 cups Maida
1 Egg lightly beaten
1 tsp Baking Soda
Golden Raisin 2 handfulls
Any array of Nuts (pecans, walnuts, cashews, almonds etc)

- Soak the dates in 1 cup of milk for 15 mins and coarse grind the dates alone.
- Save the Milk
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Mix Maida , Sugar, Soda in a bowl
- Pour Egg
- Add Mashed Banana
- Add Oil
- Add Milk
- Add Buttter
- Add Raisins
- Add Nuts if using
- Mix until all incorporate. Do not overdo.
- Bake for 24 to 25 mins

Enjoy!