My weekend at Udumalpet.

Had been home last weekend , and enjoyed everything that my mom cooked for me. Started with Idli and groundnut chutney went on with araichu vecha sambar, vepam poo vathal(neem flower vathal), avaraikai poriyal, lemon rasam for lunch. Dosa and vendaikai kulambu (this is a special gravy my mom makes for dosas/idli) for dinner. Next day had idli and chicken gravy for breakfast, Fish fry and chichken kulambu for lunch.

This weekend I bought puttu maker and idiyappam maker. In next blogs I will post recipes for sides dishes for idiyappam and puttu. These are my favorite and believe its good for health as its just steamed. 

Masala bread - My Mom's recipe

I never used to eat bread when I was a kid, but except for this masala bread which my mom makes for evening snacks , which I used to eat before I leave for tuitions in the evening. Just the thought and flavor of that masala bread is mouth watering. This is a good one for snacks. The masala that we are going to make is very similar to coconut chutney.

Ingredients:

Coconut- grated 1 cup
Green chillies- 3-4 (based on your spice level).
turmeric- 1 pinch
salt to taste
saunf /Fennel - 1/2 spoon.
Chutney dhal - 1 spoon.

Bread slices
Oil/ghee to toast the bread

Method:
Grind all the above ingredients (coconut, green chilies, turmeric,salt,saunf,chutney dhal) to a paste with water.

transfer this to a wide plate and mix water so that the consistency is good for basting the bread slices. Now heat the tawa with a drop of oil, dip the bread slices in the masala on both sides and place it on the tawa and put oil/ghee around the bread slices and toast the bread slice on both sides until it is brown and masala is cooked.

Note: Quickly dip the bread in the masala. More you dip the bread will become soggy.

Serve this hot , it is a good snack for the evening.

Mixed sprouts gravy

I used to make this for my lunch box, easy to make and we also get all nutrients. I buy this mixed sprouts from the super market, we can also make this at home. I am lazy to make this ;-) so I buy it from out. You can also use fresh/frozen peas in place of mixed sprouts.

Ingredients:
Mixed Sprouts/ just peas - 2 cups
Onion - 2 (finely chopped)
Tomato - 2 (finely chopped)
chillies - 1 or 2 (Optional as we will add chilli powder as well)
giner/garlic paste- 1 spoon
Chilli powder- 1/2 spoon
Corriander powder- 2 spoons.
Coconut milk powder- 2 table spoons.
salt to taste
corriander
Oil
mustard - 1 tsp

Method:

Heat oil in a pan and add mustards , when the mustard starts cracking add the green chillies and onions and fry until the onions brown, add ginger/garlic paste and tomatoes, when the tomatoes are cooked add the sprouts/peas , add the chilli powder, coriander powder, salt and water and pressure cook for 2 whistles. When pressure goes down, open add the 2 spoons of coconut milk powder and chopped corriander. Boil it for some time and switch off.

This goes well with rice/dosa/idli/chapathi

Paneer capsicum sandwich

This would be good for breakfast or evening snacks.

Ingredients:
Paneer - grated (2 cups)
Capsicum- 1 big (cut into small peices)
Onion- 1 finely chopped
Green chilly - 2 (chopped) (you can avoid or reduce this).
Red chilly flakes- 1 spoon (adjust it to your spice level)
Pepper  - 1 spoon
Salt to taste
Pizza seasoning (optional).
Oil (I used Olive Oil).

Method:
Heat Oil in a pan and add the green chillies and fry for a minute and add the onions and fry until they are brown. Add the red chilli flakes and fry, add the capsicum and fry for a while, when it is fried add the pepper and salt (Pizza seasoning if you prefer- I add it). And finally add the grated paneer and fry until the paneer is brown.

You can use this Panner Capsicum stuffing for your sandwich.

Easy Egg fried rice - On demand from Sneha

I used to make this egg fried rice for my lunch box, when i have left over rice in fridge/ or sometimes I cook rice fresh and when there are no vegetables in my fridge. This is very very quick and easy. This recipe servers for 2 people.

Ingredients:
Cooked rice- 4 cups.
Eggs - 3 or 4
Onion - 1 big (finely chopped)
Green chillies - 5-6 (depends on your spice level , also we are adding pepper so check out the number of chillies) (chopped into thin rounds)
ginger garlic paste - 1 spoon
garam masala - 1 tsp
Soya sauce - 1 spoon (optionl)
Pepper - 1 spoon
Oil
Salt to taste.

Method:
Heat oil in a pan and fry the green chillies and Onions and add the ginger/garlic paste and fry well. Then add the eggs and mix it well, to make scrambled egg, add salt and pepper, add soya sauce if desired. Once the eggs are cooked add the rice and mix well, until the rice is heated.

Note: This is made when there is no veggies, but if you plan to make it a day before, you can add spring Onions, capsicum, carrots to this which will enhance the taste and color :).

Methi Poha (vendhaiya keerai Aval)

I love methi in any form. So i tried to add methi to Poha and it turned out to be good, So here is the recipe.

Ingredients:
Methi - 2 bunches
Poha/Aval- 3- cups (thick Poha)
Onion- 1 big (chopped)
green chillies- 2 (slit)
corriander
mustard- 1 tsp
Uradh dhal - 1 spoon
Channa dhal - 1 spoon
chilli powder - 1 spoon
turmeric- 1 tsp
Oil , a small qty of ghee also (Ghee and methi goes well)
Salt to taste
Lemon juice- 1spoon.

Method: 
     Soak poha/Aval in water for 10 minutes (until they are semi soft), if its over soaked it will become mushy. So remove it from water promptly and keep it aside

    Remove only the leaves from the methi bunch,wash and chop it. Add oil and bit of ghee in pan and when heated add mustard , when it starts cracking add the dhals and when it browns add green chillies and onions , fry onions until they are brown, add turmeric and after a minute add the methi , salt, chilli powder(according to your spice level). fry the methi well until it is brown and well cooked. Add the poha/Aval and mix well . Add a spoon of lemon juice and coriander and mix well until the poha is mixed well with methi and is heated and we are done.

Menthi Kura Pachadi (Chutney with fresh Fenugreek leaves)

This recipe if from my room mates mom (Andra). I love this chutney which her mom use to prepare and send. She makes bottles and bottles of this pachadi and send and we use to finish it in a week. I made this pachadi for the first time with 2 bunches of methi and then we loved it so much that next time I made it with 10 bunches and we finished it in a month ;-)
Here is the recipe for this andra chutney which goes well with rice, dosa
Ingredients:
Methi - 2 bunches
red chillies- 6-10 (based on the spice level)
tamarind- 1 small lemon size.
methi seeds- 1 spoon
uradh dhal - 2 spoons
mustard - 1 spoon
oil
salt to taste

Method:
Remove only the leaves from methi bunch , and wash it. Add oil in deep pan , and when hot add mustard, uradh dhal and methi seeds. when they brown, add the red chillies and when the red chillies brown add the methi leaves and salt and close it. The qty will just shrink in 2 mins, then keep mixing it, when the leaves are completely brown and cooked , switch off and make a well out the methi leaves in the pan, put the tamarind and cover it.and leave it to cool. and then add salt and grind this into a paste (not so fine).

Note: For storing this pachadi for a few days, again add oil (more) in a pan and add this ground pachadi and keep mixing it, if required add more chilli powder.

This goes well with hot rice and ghee.

Pachai Rasam (rasam made without boiling/heating)

This is one of my favorite recipes, my grand mom loved this rasam and liked to have it with hot rice and coconut chutney (getti chutney). I follow the same :) . You can make this in no time and yet would be a very tasty rasam.

Ingredients
Small onions/Shallots - 2-3
Curry leaves
corriander leaves
tomato - 1 big
green chillies- 2-3 (depends on your spice level)
Tamarind - 1 small lemon size
Salt to taste

Soak the tamarind  in drinking water (use only drinking water for this rasam as we are not going to boil it). Peel , clean and crush the small onions, cut the tomatoes, green chillies, curry leaves and coriander leaves. All all these to the vessel containing the tamarind and mix it all together with your hand, crush all together , so the juice of onion, tomato, curry leaves, corriander leaves, and green chillies gets mixed. add required salt and mix, and add enough water. This is Pachai rasam. Have it with hot rice.

Note: Coconut chutney (getti chutney) is a good combination for this. One additional tip is , after making the coconut chutney (as it is getti chutney you would not add the water from  mixy jar to the chutney) , instead add the water into the pachai rasam, it will taste good.

Some you would hesitate to have raw stuff like onion, tomato, curry leaves, corriander leaves. You can boil this rasam and enjoy it, it will not change the taste much.

Milagai Chutney (red chilly chutney) for Idli/Dosa - On demand from Sathya Akka

This is one of my favorite chutney from childhood. Below is a rough idea of how to make this chutney as the ingredients can be adjusted to ones taste.

Ingredients:
Curry leaves- 1 cup
small onions/shallots- 2-3
Garlic- 3
Red chillies- 6-10
Tamarind - size of a small gooseberry/ or even lesser depends on your taste. (washed and soaked in water)
Salt to taste

For seasoning:
gingly Oil
mustard
uradh dhal
channa dhal
curry leaves

Grind all the ingredients to smooth paste adding water. Then transfer it to a cup and season it with the ingredients mentioned.

Note: You can increase/decrease ingredients based on how you would prefer.

Instant Paruppupodi

I had been to a shop by name Spice and Route in Mantri Mall , I just fell in love with the place, it has all spices fresh , ground spices, the aroma in the air inside the shop is just irresistible. Every time I visit Manthri mall I visit this shop. First time I went I bought red chilli flakes and garlics. The second time I visited I got garlic powder and red chilli powder :) .
So this how I got garlic powder and red chilli flakes which would  be the ingredients of the instant paruppu podi

Ingredients:
Chutney dhal - 1 cup (pottu kadalai)
Jeera powder - 1 spoon
Garlic powder - 1 spoon
Red chilli flakes/powder - 1-1.5 spoons (based on your spice level)
Salt to taste.

Grind all the above to fine powder, the instant Paruppu Podi is ready. You can increase / decrease the quantity of the jeera, garlic, chilli as per your taste.

If you are making it in small quantity which will be finished in one meal you can add fresh curry leaves when you grind, or if you have curry leaves powder you can add that one.

Peerkangai Paal kootu - (Ridge Gourd cooked in milk)- recipe posted on demand from Vaish

You can try this recipe, this is very tasty kootu/curry which my mom makes, goes well with rice and you can try this with chapathi also. My mom scrapes off the outer portion/skin of the ridge gourd and makes a chutney out of it and that is yummm... So basically the entire ridge gourd is used up.

Ingriedients:
Ridge Gourd- 1
Onion- 1 medium size onion chopped
Garlic- 2 pods chopped
curry leaves
chilli powder
turmeric powder
salt to taste
milk - 1 cup (boiled cow milk).
for seasoning- oil, mustard, uradh dhal, channa dhal

Method:
           Scrape the outer part/skin of the ridge gourd , trim the edges and cut into small cubes. In a pan add 2 2 spoons of oil and heat it, add mustard and when it starts cracking add the uradh dhal and channa dhal. when dhal is fried add the curry leaves, garlic and onions and fry until the onion is cooked.And then add the ridge gourd salt, 1/2 tsp turmeric, chilli powder as required and stir it for 2 mins. Then add little water and close the pan tight so the ridge gourd gets cooked. Open the pan and when the ridge gourd is cooked add 1 cup of milk and boil it till the gravy thickens and switch off.

Chicken gravy -light and goes well with rice

Today I made this chicken gravy and had it with rice, quick and easy to make. The ingredients seems to be long list but I believe should be available in every one's kitchen except for coconut milk powder , which I use for convenience. You can substitute with fresh coconut milk or grind fresh grated coconut along with the ginger garlic paste which I have asked to grind

Ingredients:
Chicken - 500 gms (cleaned and cut into pieces)
green chillies - 2
Red chillies 3- 4
chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
pepper power - 1/2 tsp
corriander powder- 2 spoons
Garam masala- 1 tsp
coriander leaves - 1 cup chopped
Onions- 1 big onion finely chopped
Ginger - 1 inch
garlic- 4-5 pods
Saunf- 1 tsp
Coconut milk powder - 2 tbsp
Oil- 2-3 tbspns
mustard seeds - 1 tsp
tomato - 1 (chopped)
turmeric - 1/4 tsp
curry leaves
Salt to taste.

Method:
Grind ginger, garlic , 2 red chillies, 2 green chillies, saunf, and 4-5 pieces of onions coarsely. In a pressure cooker add oil and when heated add mustard seeds. when the mustard seeds starts cracking add remaining 2 red chillies , curry leaves and fry, then add onions and fry until golden brown and add tomatoes and after a minute add the ginger /garlic/saunf mixture and fry until the raw smell is gone. Add turmeric,garam masala powders, coriander powder, chilli powder and pepper and add the chicken. Add 2 cups of water and add the coconut milk powder and mix well. Add salt and close the pressure cooker and cook for 2-3 whistles or until you think the chicken is done. Open the cooker when the pressure is released and let it boil for a while so the water evaporates. Add the chopped coriander. This chicken gravy is light and not thick. Adjust the spice levels as required.

Have this gravy with rice/dosa/idli.

Araichu vecha murungakai kulambu (Drumstick gravy- Typical of Tamil Nadu)

I like any araichu vecha kulambu(a gravy which requires frying and grinding some of the ingredients), these are typical of Tamil Nadu and goes well with rice/idli/dosas. And most araichu vecha kulambu will have coconut added to it. This drumstick kulambu I believe people outside of Tamil Nadu will also enjoy. I learnt this from my mom, but I am not sure if I can make it exactly like hers..she makes the best out of limited resources.
Ingredients:
 Drumstick - 2
 Coconut- grated coconut 1 cup
 red chilli powder - 1 spoon (less or more as again with your spice level)
 coriander powder - 2 spoons (double the amount of chilli powder)
 tamarind - 1 lemon size / gooseberry size depending on how tangy you want it.
 small onions/shallots - 10-15
 Jeera- 1 spoon.
Curry leaves- 10
Mustard- 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1/2 spoon for frying onions and 1-2 spoons for making the gravy.
salt to taste.

Method:
     Peels the onions and Heat oil(1/2 spoon)  in a pan and add Jeera , when it browns add onions and fry until the raw smells goes and they slightly turn brown. Now switch off. Let it cool and transfer into a mixer Jar and add chilly powder ,coriander powder, grated coconut. Add water and grind into a fine paste.Soak the tamarind in 1/2 cup of water.

Now heat oil in a pressure cooker and add mustard seeds , after they crack add curry leaves and the drum sticks (cut into 2 inch long pieces) and fry for 2 -3 minutes, then add this ground paste , add turmeric, salt.add  water little water- say 1/2 cup (dont add more as we will add tamarind water as well at the end). Close the pressure cooker and let it go for 1 whistle, so the drumstick is cooked just right and not too much.  After the pressure goes down open the cooker. Now add the tamarind pulp little, taste it and then add more if required. You can modify the consistency of the gravy as you wish, so add less water in the beginning. Let the gravy boil for some time after adding tamarind pulp and switch off.

Enjoy this gravy with rice/idli/dosa.

Groundnut chutney - from my mom

My mom used to make this ground nut chutney along with Crispy dosas or crispy paniyaram(this is a small crispy balls made with same dosa batter , also called as Paddu in kannada). My dad loves this chutney , and so do I. People who are calorie conscious can try it out once at-least to know this taste.and today I am going to make this .....

Ingredients:
 Ground nut - 1 cup (dried ground nuts)
 Red chillies - 3 - 4 (or depends on your spice level)
 Tamarind - small gooseberry size(you can reduce it if you do not like it tangy)
 Salt to taste
 For seasoning:
 Oil- 1/2 spoon
 Curry leaves
 mustard - 1/4 tsp
 Urad dhal- 1/2 tsp
  channa dhal- 1/2 tsp

Method:
         Dry fry the ground nuts in a pan until the skin peels off , keep turning it aroundor it will get burnt. Once the ground nuts are fried, cool them and crush them with you palm, so the skin comes out. Now separate the skin from the ground and grind together the ground nuts, tamarind, red chillies, salt with water. This chutney should not be thick, it should be little running consistency. Now heat a pan with  oil and add mustard, uradh dhal, channa dhal, when the dhal browns add the curry leaves and switch off the heat..Add this seasoning to the chutney and enjoy this with Idli /Dosa/Paniyarram.

I have also tasted this groundnut chutney with coconut added to it.. But I like this plain ground nut chutney...

Garlic fry - to eat with rice - Read this only if you like Garlic

I usually make this after a day full of consuming pulses or when ever I do not find vegetables in the fridge or woke up late and do not want to eat cafeteria food. You can take this for lunch but mind you, you should have mouth fresher right after your lunch :).

This below recipe serves just one :).

Ingredients

garlic- 10 pods
Curry leaves - 5 to 6 leaves
Oil/Ghee- 1- 2 spoons
Red chilli flakes/ Red chilli powder - 1 spoon or  based on your spice level
salt to taste.

Method:
        Crush / cut the garlic into very tiny pieces, I usually crush it. Wash and cut the curry leaves. Heat Oil/ghee or combination of the two in a pan and add curry leaves and then add the garlic and salt fry for 2 minutes , and then add the chilli flakes or chilli powder and switch off immediately (if you add chilli powder switch off and add , if chilli flakes you can add switch off, to avoid burning).

Add this to rice and have. for box you can mix it with rice and take it.

Coconut- raw mango chutney (Recipe from my friend's mom)

This is the same coconut chutney that we make by substituting tamarind with raw mango. This chutney goes well with hot rice and curd rice.

Ingredients:
      Coconut- 1/2 coconut grated
      shallots/pearl onions- 4 to 5 
      Green chillies -4 to 5 (depends on your spice level)
      raw mango - remove the skin and scrape half mango (you can reduce or increase the amount of raw mango based on how tangy you like it)
      salt as required.
      Chutney dhal (optional).
Method:
         Grind the above in a mixer with very less water so you get a thick chutney. Have this with hot rice or curd rice.

Vegetable Dosa

By the title you would think it is the usual dosa topped with vegetables, which even I am not so excited about. Dosa is the best and easy one when you think about something for breakfast or dinner during your weekdays for most of the south Indians. But I feel when we have this as our regular food, there should be some nutrients added to it. My mom used to give dosa/uthappam topped with carrots/onions which is a good way, but I do not really get excited about those vegetables on top of dosa. So I made a variation to this (grind the vegetables) , for 1 kg of dosa batter you could do the below

carrots - 2
onion- 1
green/red chillies - 6 -7 (or change this based on your spice level)
beans- 10-15
cabbage- small one (or say 10-15 leaves)
Channa dhal- 1 spoon.
salt as required  just for the vegetable(remember dosa batter will have salt in it)

Method: (This is the same method as porial)
     Cut the onion, chillies, carrots, beans and cabbage. heat oil in a pan and add the channa dhal, when it browns add the green/red chillies, fry it for a minute and add the carrot , beans and cook for 5 to 10 mins and add the cabbage and cook for 10 more minutes adding salt.

Now cool it and grind it (dont make it very fine paste ). Add this mixture into the dosa batter and make dosas. This will look and taste almost like Adai.

Another quick raw recipe with fresh grated coconut - again my grand mom's recipe

Required ingredients:
Fresh grated coconut- 1 cup
Curry leaves - 1 spoon chopped
Chilli powder - as required
salt- as required
garlic - 2- 3 cloves

Crush the garlic and add it to the fresh grated coconut, add the curry leaves, chilli powder and salt as required , and mix it well with your hand so that juice of garlic and curry leaves gets mixed well with coconut. And we are done.

Now mix this above coconut mixture with hot rice and ghee and enjoy. You can enjoy this only if you like coconut and garlic and mind you it is all raw not cooked.

A simple but very tasty way to eat idli- My grand mom's way to make us eat idlis

Required ingredients:
Oil/Ghee
Salt
Chilli powder
Heat equal amount of oil and ghee (if you are not conscious about calories then use only ghee), add required salt  and switch off heat and before pouring this on the idli add the chili powder when the oil/ghee is still hot, the chilli powder will bubble, and pour it on the hot idlis before the chilli powder gets burnt. and now eat idlis. I will eat extra idlis when I get this ghee/salt/chilli podwer mixture.