Kollu Sprouts Kuruma

Makes about 2 cups of Kuruma

• Mix the following and Pressure cook them for 5 whistles

          1/2 cup of Kollu Sprouts
          1.5 cups of water
          1/2 of a Medium Size Onion (Chopped)
          4    Garlic pods
         1/4 tsp Shredded Ginger
         1 Tomato (Chopped)
         3 Green Chillies (Slit Lengthwise)
         1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder
         2 tsp of Oil

• While it cooks, Grind 2 tbsp of Grated Coconut and 1/4 tsp of Sombu to a fine paste and set aside. You may add very little water.
• Once the Kollu is cooked, mash the contents a little and set it aside
• In a pan add 3 tsp of Oil. When it is hot enough, add 1 Pattai, 3 Cloves and few Curry leaves
• Add 1/2 cup of Water
• Add 1 tsp Red Chilly Powder, 2 tsp of Dhania (Coriander) Powder and 1/2 tsp of Salt
• Bring them to a boil (May take about 5 minutes)
• Pour the mashed Kollu mixture into this and bring it to a boil again
• Now add the Coconut Paste to the Kollu Gravy
• Taste test for salt and spice (But the given quantity of ingredients would be near perfect. :-) )
• Bring the Kuruma to a boil (May take about 5 to 7 minutes)
• Aromatic, delicious and Nutritious Kollu Sprouts Kuruma is ready! 
• Garnish with Cilantro and Serve hot with Idli, Dosa, Chapati or Plain Rice
• If you have Kollu Sprouts ready, you can get this Kuruma to the table in just under 25 minutes.
• You may also use Kollu in place of Kollu Sprouts. (Just that Sprouts add a good touch to the pallette and health) If you are not using sprouts, you have to cook the Kollu for additional whistles as Kollu takes time to cook if not presoaked.

Sprouts Sadham (Kollu Sprouts Rice)

Offlate, I am into this Sprouts Frenzy. ROFL!
I Sprouted Kollu but felt very lazy to make the Tedious Kollu Chutney.
Sameway, Soaked rice for Pesarattu but DH declared he is not crazy about Pesarattu!
(I will get him to eat after few days. That is a different story. ;-) )
I just cooked both these abandoned dearies, and seasoned them.. and thus born this dish:
Sprouts Sadham (name courtesy: My Dear Son. ;-) )

Ingredients:

1/2 cup soaked Rice
1/4 cup Kollu Sprouts
1 Tbsp Moong Sprouts
1.5 cups Water
1/4 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 Garlic Pod

Pressure Cook for 5 whistles

Seasoning:
4 tsp of Oil+ 1 tsp of Mustard Seeds + Hing + 8 Curry Leaves + 3 Red Chillies + 1 Garlic Pod + 2 Pearl Onions + pinch of Turmeric Powder + Rice + Salt
fry for 5 mins.

Have as is or with Rasam.

Walnut Chutney

A novel chutney! Tastes like Peanut Chutney.
One day it was just a random talk with 2 of my good friends and the topic of Walnuts popped up. We joked about making it into a chutney. But the topic brewed silently in the mind and soon enough within days took shape.. Yeah why not, why stop with joking? why not take action boldly? Whats the big deal.. just a few walnuts.. So I tried with basic ingredients and the outcome was incredibly delicious. Introducing to you.. The Walnut Chutney! 

Simplest Chutney of all... No frying.. nothing. Just toss them all in the Mixie and grind. Seasoning is optional.
Besides, Walnut is packed with Nutrition, helps lower Bad Cholesterol, Great vitamin E source, And rich in Omega-3 fatty acids. Read more about the Goodness of Walnuts here.

Coming to the recipe, I tried this ratio and it came out perfect.
Feel free to play with the ratio to suit your taste buds.
The below ratio will yield about 3/4 cup of Chutney. 

Grind the following with little water:

2 handful of Walnuts (about 20 nuts)
2 Red Chillies
2 garlic pods
1/8th spoon of salt (or as per taste)

Then season it with 1 tsp of oil, 1 Red Chilly, 4 Curry leaves, 1/2 tsp of Mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp Urad dhal, 1/2 tsp of Chana dhal, a pinch of Hing.

My Dear Husband suggests adding a little bit of tamarind to the recipe . :-) He is a great critic. ;-)
Let me do so next time and shall update the outcome to you folks.

Sprouted Vendhaya (Methi) Kara Kulambu

Makes about 1 cup

• Sprout 1 Tbsp of Methi seeds. (To sprout, soak methi seeds overnight. Then drain the water and keep the seeds in a hot pack covered for 5 hrs. Sprinkle drops of water occasionally to keep the seeds moist. You will see them sprout happy and healthy.)
• In a hot pan, add 1/2 tsp of oil and roast the following: 3/4 tsp of pepper, 1 tsp of Urad dhal, 3 Red Chillies. 
• Grind the above along with 2 Tbsp of grated coconut, 1 inch Tamarind and some water into a fine semi liquid paste
• In a pressure cooker pan, add 2 tsp of oil, temper the oil with 1 tsp of mustard seeds, 1 spring of curry leaves, a pinch of hing, 6 garlic pods, 6 pearl onions and a pinch of turmeric powder
• Toss the Methi sprouts and give it a stir. Do not saute the methi for more than few seconds (it will turn very bitter)
• Add the ground masala and saute them all for 5 minutes or until the raw smell goes away
• Add 1 cup of water
• Mix them well and taste test for salt and spice. If you wish, Adjust the consistency by adding more water.. 
• Pressure cook the contents for one whistle
• Add 1/4 tsp of Jaggery to the hot curry
• Delicious and Nutritious Methi Kara Kolambu is ready in just few minutes. 

Carrot Poricha Kulambu (காரட் பொரிச்ச குழம்பு)

Makes about 3 cups.

• Pressure cook 1/8 cup of split moong dhal with 1/2 cup of water for 2 whistles and set this aside.
• In a cooker pan, heat 3 tsp of oil, saute 15 pearl onions, 15 garlic pods and 2 cups of cubed carrots (do not make the carrots into very small pieces as they may get mashed up.) one by one for 5 mins on medium flame.
• Add 1 cup of water, a pinch of turmeric, 1 tsp of salt and close the cooker with the weight on
• Pressure cook the contents for 1 whistle.
• In the meantime, in a hot pan, add 1/2 tsp of oil
• Add 2 tsp of chana dhal, 2 tsp of toor dhal, 1 tsp of urad dhal, 1/2 tsp of pepper, 1/2 tsp of rice, 4 red chillies and roast them all till the dhals change color and nice aroma comes. Do NOT burn or brown the dhals. (increase the pepper to 1tsp for a spicier version).
• Once they are well roasted, add 2 tbsp of grated coconut and roast for few seconds. Turn off the stove.
• Grind the contents into a fine paste. You may add little water while grinding.
• Mix the ground paste and the cooked Moong dhal adding 3/4 cup of water
• NOTE: you may add more water based on your preferred consistency
• Once the carrot is cooked for a whistle, in the same cooker, add this moong dhal-masala mix
• This is the time to adjust the consistency of the dish by adding more water if you wish. Also taste the kulambu and add more salt if you need. 
• Once you are satisfied with the taste, cover the cooker and pressure cook the contents for one whistle.
• Now season the kolambu: in a pan heat 1 tsp of oil, temper it with 1 tsp of mustard seeds. when the seeds splutter, add a pinch of hing, 1 spring of curry leaves. Pour this seasoning into the kolambu.
• Your delicious and nutritious Carrot Poricha Kulambu is ready to be served.
• Serve it hot with plain rice. If you make it less watery, it can be served as a kootu. 
• You may substitute or pair up carrot with vegetables like beans, radish, brinjal etc.
• You may also use whole moong dhal (pachai payaru) or even sprouted whole moong dhal in place of split moong dhal to make it more nutritious.

Ragi Sweet Puttu

Just another variation to the regular Puttu.
Ingredients (makes about 1 serving):
1/2 cup of Ragi
2 - 3 Tbsp of Water
1/4 tsp of Salt (or as per taste),
3 Tbsp of grated Coconut,
a pinch of Cardamom powder
1 tsp of Sugar.

Vege Rava Puttu

Delicious Healthy Puttu in just under 15 mins!
I have just added some variations to suit my family.
This is such a versatile recipe so feel free to play with your imagination!
Here is one such variation: Oats Savoury Puttu

All you need is a little imagination and a Puttu Kudam similar to this one below:

Ingredients (Quantity is for 1 serving as shown in pic)

1/2 cup of Rava (regular or samba)
1/4 cup of Grated Carrot & Grated Beetroot
Handful of Sprouted Moong Dhal
Any more vegetable of your choice  (let it be finely chopped/grated)
1/4 cup of finely chopped Onion
1/4 cup of fresh grated Coconut
A little less than 1/4 cup of water
3 finely chopped Green chillies
2 finely chopped curry leaves
Salt per taste (about 1/4 tsp )
Optional: 1/4 tsp of Flaxseeds

Procedure

• Dry roast the rava on medium flame till you get nice aroma. Do not let the rava change color. 
• Transfer the rava to a mixing bowl. Let it cool down while you prep the rest of the ingredients.
• Chop/Grate the ones that need to be chopped/grated. :)
• Once the rava cools down a little, add little salt. Mix it up. Then sprinkle few drops of water on it and break down the lumps that form immediately. Repeat the process till you find the rava is damp all over. If you make a fist with the rava it should form a shape and when you let it go, it should crumble. That is the right consistency. Basically it should neither be soggy nor dry. I generally use a little less than 1/4 cup of water for 1/2 cup of rava.
• Add a handful of the grated coconut to the rava mix and stir once
• Now add the onions, green chillies, curry leaves and give them a good gentle mix
• Now add the grated carrot and the moong sprouts (and other veges if any, EXCEPT beets). Mix gently as before.
• OPTIONAL: Now is the time to (sneak) toss your Flaxseeds in, if you have fuzzy eaters at home. ;-)
• Lastly add the beetroot gratings and mix very gently. The reason why you add beets at the last is to avoid over stirring of the contents else you may end up with a RED mass (yet tasty).
• Taste the mix and adjust the salt/spice 
• Now load the puttu vessel with 1/3rd of the grated coconut. Shake the vessel so the contents level up
• Next fill half of the rava mix, and shake the vessel to evenly level up
• Layer it up with half of the remaining coconut gratings, shake it up as before
• Add the rest of the rava mix, shake it up as before
• Layer it up with the rest of the coconut gratings, shake it up as before
• Close the vessel
• Now put the vessel on the base of the puttu maker steam hole (or on the pressure cooker steam hole)
• In less than 3 mins, your puttu will be ready. Remove the vessel once you see steam coming through the top of the puttu vessel.
• With the puttu stick, push the puttu gently and there comes the delicious and healthy snack!

Oats Savoury Puttu

A little imagination and thus this dish - nothing but a fusion of the Oats Upma and the Rava Puttu !

Here, my dear oats plays the role of rava in the Veg Rava Puttu Recipe. ;-)

Oh by the way, I borrowed a step from my Oats Upma recipe. So this is how you make the Heavenly Healthy Oats Savoury Puttu in just under 15 mins:

Just soak 1/2 cup of rolled oats in 1/4 cup of water for 5 minutes. Then drain the water without squeezing/mashing the oats. Now you have got the damp oats that is ready to be steamed. Add little salt and little grated coconut to oats and gently mix it well. This coconut will help the oats to bind together to give the cylindrical shape to the puttu. Then follow the Vege Rava Puttu Recipe replacing oats in place of rava. Feel free to add coarsely ground peanuts or any nuts to the mix and steam the puttu! Enjoy this heart healthy breakfast with your sweetheart!

Oats CousCous Kichidi

Makes about 2 servings

The Marriage of Oats with CousCous.

What a lovely couple! They compliment and complete each other. ;-)

I was bored with the usual Oats Upma and set out on my adventure to make a match making for Mr.Oats.
What do I know.. there smiles Ms.CousCous. And thanks to my Dear Husband, he assured me that he will give his full support to this marriage (by eating the dish LOL) and that made me daring to go ahead with this proposal. ;-)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup - Rolled Oats 

1/4 cup - CousCous

1 cup - Diced FrozenVegetables (Peas, Carrots, Black eyed Peas )

1 tbsp - Flaxseeds

1/4 cup - Groundnuts

1/2 Medium Size Onion

3 Green Chillies

1/2 tsp Red Chilly Powder

1/2 tsp turmeric Powder

1 tsp of tamarind juice or lemon juice (optional) 

Usual tempering (seasoning/tadka) ingredients

Salt per taste

Procedure:

• Soak Rolled Oats in equal measure of water for about 5 minutes
• Add thrice the amt of water to Couscous and microwave it for 2 minutes and set aside (add very little salt while cooking if your couscous is not presalted)
• Steam the frozed vegetables for 3 mins in microwave steamer (again sprinkle little salt to the veges while steaming)
• In a pan, heat 2 tsp of oil, season it with few mustard seeds, urad dhal, curry leaves, 1 garlic pod, green chillies, few methi seeds (only if you intend to add tamarind juice), and hing
• Toss the groundnuts and roast it on low flame for few seconds
• Add the Onions and sprinkle it with little salt and saute till it turns transparent. (onions must remain crunchy)
• Add the steamed veges and saute for a minute
• Add turmeric powder,  red chilly powder, salt and give them a stir
• Drain the oats (save the water aside) and add it to the mix
• Saute them all for couple more mins on medium flame
• Add the cooked couscous (the fluffier the better. Make sure it is not mushy or too wet)
• Saute them all for 3 more minutes. Break any clusters of couscous while stirring.
• Sprinkle the flaxseeds, stir once
• Now taste test for salt, spice and adjust it accordingly
• Toss the saved oats water, stir once and cover the pan with a lid
• OPTIONAL: add a tsp of lemon juice or tamarind juice
• Simmer the stove and let the newly wed couple (Mr.Oats and Ms.CousCous) get to know each other at their privacy. ;-)
• They would come to an understanding in about 3 minutes and then you may turn off the stove. :-)
• Serve it hot with raita or as is.

Egg Coriander Curry

Makes about 4 servings.
You can make this with a silky texture or coarse.

• Hard boil 5 eggs, peel off the shell, slit them in halves and keep them aside. (I usually boil the eggs to about 18 mins on medium-high flame)
• While the eggs are boiling, dry roast 1 tsp of Dhania (Coriander seeds) for couple of mins on low flame. Stop roasting when the seeds begin to change color and give out a nice aroma. Do not brown them. Set this aside.
• In a pan heat 3 tsp of oil, add 1 big thinly sliced onion. Give it a stir and sprinkle some salt.
• Saute the Onions till it begins to brown
• Add 3 garlic pods, 1/2 inch of ginger to it and saute them all for another minute.
• Add 1 tbsp of grated Coconut (or dried powder) and fry for 1 more minute
• Add 1 big Tomato (nicely chopped) to the mix, Cover and cook it for few minutes till tomatoes are fully cooked. Stir occasionally.
• Transfer the pan contents to a blender. Allow it to cool. Then blend it along with 3 to 4 red chillies AND the roasted Coriander seeds. 
• Blend this to a fine paste. You may add little water while grinding.
• In a pan, heat 2 tsp of oil. If you want a silky gravy, skip the next step.
• If you want your gravy to have some texture, include this step: Season the oil with 1 tsp of mustard seeds. When seeds splutter, add 1 tsp of cumin seeds and 1 spring of curry leaves, few pods of garlic, and a handful of finely chopped onion. Saute them all till the onion turns brown.
• Add the ground paste and saute for a minute
• Add 1 tsp of cumin powder, 1 tsp of Paprika powder (for color). If you do not have paprika, you may add 1/2 tsp of regular red chilly powder.
• Saute them all till oil oozes out.
• Add 2 cups of water (adjust the water to your desired consistency) and bring the curry to a boil
• Now add the egg halves to the curry. Simmer the stove. Cover and cook for another 7 minutes
• Garnish the curry with cilantro leaves
• Delicious Egg Curry is ready to served. This goes well with Rice, Dosa, Idli or Chapathi!

Broccoli Paruppu Usili

This is my dear husband's all time favorite.
 A very healthy and different Usili. Feel free to substitute Broccoli with any vegetable.
Typical veges are Beans, Kothavarangai (Cluster Beans) but trust me and go wild with any vegetable that does not have more water content. You will be good. ;-)

To make about 5 cups of Paruppu Mixture:

• Soak the following in enough water overnight:

           1/3 cup of Moong dhal
           1/3 cup of Urad dhal
           1/3 cup of Chana dhal
           1/3 cup of Toor dhal
           5 Red Chillies

• The next day, grind them along with 2 Green Chillies, 1 tsp of Salt,  a pinch of Hing, a pinch of Turmeric powder to a coarse texture.
• Add little finely chopped Curry leaves, Cilantro, 1 Tbsp of Oil and mix them well with hand.
• Steam the mixture in idli pan for 10 mins
• Let the steamed mixture cool down a little
• Add 1 Tbsp of Oil and Crumble the mixture in the Mixie. Do not fine ground it though! Just one quick run in the Mixie would break down the lumps and you will end up with perfectly soft and delicious Usili mix as shown above.
• The given ingredient quantity would yeild about 5 cups of mixture. You may divide them into 5 portions and freeze them in individual ziplocks. The mixture stays fresh and would last for more than a Month!  

 To make the Usili:

• Thaw 1 cup of Usili Mixture that you prepared and freezed as mentioned above. (Leave the frozen packet in the fridge overnight. If you forgot to do that, just immerse the frozen packet in a bowl of hot water for few minutes to thaw the mixture)
• Steam the desired Vegetable (in this case Broccoli) for about 3 mins in Microwave. You may sprinkle some salt before steaming. Set the steamed vegetable aside.
• Heat a pan with 3 tsp of oil
• Temper the Oil with 1 tsp of Mustard seeds
• When the seeds splutter, add a spring of curry leaves and 2 Red Chillies
• Add the Steamed vegetables and fry it for 3 minutes
• Add the thawed Usili mix and fry for another 3 minutes so the oil coats the veges and dhal mix
• Now cover the pan and simmer the stove for another 7 minutes
• Soft and Delicious Usili is ready to be Served!
• Since you have the mix prepared beforehand, you can make any vegetable Usili in just under 15 minutes (ie) if you remembered to thaw the frozen angel. :-)