Kuzhi Paniyaram.

I feel like having some kuzhi paniyaram right now. Just the thought of it makes me want it. :). One of my top favorites and not S's [for a change ;)]. This paniyaram is a traditional chettinadu tiffin item usually had with milagai chutney.

Kuzhi Paniyaram, though simple and easy to make , is time consuming if you are cooking for many people [ read >2]. My mom when she makes this, moves the stove to the floor from the kitchen slab, sits down and makes them patiently for me, my sis and dad.And each of us would gobble up more than 20-30 paniyarams. :)

Kuzhi Paniyaram

Ingredients

Dosai batter - 4 cups
Fenugreek powder - 1/2 Tbspn
Oil - as required
You also need a kuzhi paniyaram pan like the one in the picture to make this.

Method

Mix dosa batter and fenugreek powder well. Heat the paniyram pan. Add a 2-3 drops of oil in each of the holes. When the oil is warm, take a ladle full of batter and drop into each hole until its 3/4 full. Do not fill the paniyaram up-to the brim, you will find it difficult to turn the paniyarams over later.The flame needs to be medium-low to make sure the paniyarams are cooked inside as well.After a couple of minutes once the bottom of paniyaram browns, using a  wooden skewer turn the paniyaram over to cook the other side. Once both sides are done transfer to a plate. Serve warm with tasty milagai chutney.

Notes

You many also heat a tbsp of oil in a pan, add in some mustard, jeera, chopped onions , curry leaves, green chili and saute them for  a few minutes . Pour this tempering into the dosa batter with methi/fenugreek powder and mix well to get a more flavorful batter for the paniyarams.


Print this Post

Continue Reading >>

Vegetable Pulao

Vegetable pulao is a quick and simple stir fry of veggies which is then pressure cooked along with rice. As simple as that. If you like very simple flavors without too much drama in them , this is for you. I am not a big fan of vegetable pulao, but S likes this very much. Also a quick lunch box preparation menu.

Vegetable Pulao

Ingredients

 Serves - 2
 Spice Level - Mild
 
Fresh/Frozen peas - 1/2 cup
Carrot - 2 chopped well
Potato - 1 large, chopped into small pieces
Cauliflower - 5 large florets, chopped into small pieces
Green chilli - 4, slit lengthwise
Ginger-garlic [GG] paste 1 Tbsp
Onion - 1 Large , chopped finely
Bay leaf - 1
cloves - 2
Cinnamon - 1 inch stick - 1
Oil - 2 Tbsp
Salt - as per taste
Basmati rice - 1.5 cups soaked in water for 10 minutes and drained.
Water - 2.25 cups


Method

Heat a kadai with oil. Add bay-leaf, cloves , cinnamon. Let it roast. Add onions, GG paste,and green chilli. Saute till the onions are done.Add the veggies now and saute well. After 2-3 minutes,add salt and stir. Continues sauteing until the veggies are half done. Now add in the rice and stir for a minute or two.Switch off flame.

Empty the rice and veggies into the pressure cooker. Add 2.25 cups of water. Add enough salt into the cooker vessel and mix well. You should be able to taste the salt a  tiny bit more than the normal salt taste needed. That is the right amount.

Pressure cook for 12-15 minutes. Serve with a nice roasted eggplant/potato curry and raitha. :)


Print this Post

Continue Reading >>

Onion Chutney

I was to leave for Switzerland that week and was busy emptying up my vegetables stored in the fridge :). On the night we were to leave I was left only with onions and some coconut. I was googling for onion chutney and saw this recipe and made it immediately. This is a spicy Andhra chutney that went super well with Idlis. :)

Onion Chutney

Ingredients

Recipe Reference - Adapted from Cooking with Pedatha

Spice Level - Quite Spicy
Serves - 4

Onions - 3 Large , roughly chopped
Dry Red chilli - 6
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Thick Tamarind juice - 2 Tbsp
Grated Coconut - 2 Tbsp
Jeera - 1 Tbsp
Urad dal - 1 Tbsp
Fenugreek - 1 Tspn
Mustard - 1 Tbsp
Hing - a pinch
Salt - as per taste
Oil - 2 Tbsp

To temper

Oil - 1 Tbspn
Curry Leaves - 1 Sprig
Mustard - 1 Tspn

Method

Heat oil in a pan. Add hing, mustard seeds,jeera,urad dal and fenugreek and let it roast. Add the dry red chillies and saute until it turns a dark shade. Now throw in the onions and ginger and saute till they are done well. Add in the grated coconut , saute for a minute and switch off flame.

Cool and blend with the tamarind juice and little bit of water. Transfer to the serving bowl.Add salt and mix well.

Heat oil in a tadka ladle, add mustard, let it splutter and add curry leaves. Switch off flame. Pour this tempering over the chutney. Mix well.Serve with idlis/dosai :)


Print this Post

Continue Reading >>

Vengaya-Poondu Kuzhambu/Onion-garlic Kuzhambu

Many a times I get bored with the dal based sambar and long for kara kuzhambu. Especially when I make some poriyal/paruppu usili or dal based sides I long for this one. So here is the recipe of a spicy vengayam-poondu [Onion-garlic] Kara Kuzhambu. I made some modifications to my basic chettinadu kara kuzhambu recipe and it turned out very yum. :)


Vengaya Poondu Kara Kuzhambu

Ingredients

Serves - 3
Spice Level - quite spicy

Small onion/shallots/sambar onion - 15
Garlic cloves - 15
Tomato - 1 chopped into small pieces
Tamarind - 1 big lemon sized ball
Curry leaves - 2 sprig
Mustard seeds - 1 Tspn
Sambar/Kuzhmabu powder - 3 Tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn
Salt - as per taste.
Fenugreek - 1 tspn
Jeera - 1 tspn
Hing - 1/2 Tspn
Oil - 4 tbspn

To roast and grind

Oil - 1 tspn
Cumin/Jeera - 1 Tspn
Coriander seeds - 1 Tbspn
Dry Red chilli - 3
Khus Khus - 1 Tspn
Coconut grated - 2 Tbspn


Method


Firstly heat a kadai with 1 tsp oil and roast the ingredients in the same order as given under "To roast and grind". Cool it and blend with little water to a fine paste and keep aside.

Extract thick tamarind juice out of the tamarind piece, add 2.5 cups of water to the extract. Add 3 Tbsp of sambar/Kuzhambu powder to the tamarind-water mix and dissolve well and keep aside.

Now heat a pan with 4 Tbsp oil. Add hing, mustard - let it roast. Add cumin seeds, fenugreek and let it roast. Add curry leaves, shallots and garlic and saute well till the shallots and garlic are cooked well. The raw smell of the garlic has to vanish and shallots must turn pink.Now add the chopped tomatoes, a pinch of salt and turmeric powder and let the tomatoes get cooked well.Once the tomatoes are mashed well, add the tamarind-water-powder solution to the kadai , add remaining salt, the ground paste and mix well. Add more salt/kuzhambu powder if needed at this stage. Close the kadai with a lid, move flame to low and let it boil in low heat. Once the kuzhmabu thickens, or is reduced to 1/3rd of initial quantity , or when the oil starts floating on top, remove from flame. This will take 15-20 minutes.Be patient.

Serve with hot steamed rice and some poriyal of your choice. A very satisfying lunch indeed. :)



Print this Post

Continue Reading >>

Potato Masala - South Indian Style

I don't mind saying it over and over again, potato is my most favorite vegetable. So whenever I spot a different potato recipe I must try it, though this recipe is not a different one :). Potato masala is a very typical South Indian dish made in almost all South Indian homes, and it tastes so yummy when had with rasam rice. Rasam, Rice and Potato masala, most Tamilians long for this combination once in a while.Absolutely easy one to prepare, the above combination can be prepared in 30 minutes to rustle up a scrumptious meal

 Potato Masala

Ingredients

Serves - 4
Spice Level - Moderately Spicy

Potatoes -  5 Large ones, peeled and chopped into medium sized pieces
Tomato - 1 Large, chopped
Onion - 2 Large, chopped finely,
Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 Tspn
Curry leaves - 2 Sprig
Turmeric powder - 1/2 Tspn
Sambar/Kuzhambu powder - 3 Tbspn
Salt - as per taste
Mustard - 1 Tspn
Jeera - 1 Tspn
Oil - 2 Tbspn
Water - 3/4 cup


Method

Heat a pressure cooker with oil. Add mustard,jeera and let it roast. Add curry leaves,onions,ginger-garlic paste and saute well, till onions are done. Add the chopped tomatoes,turmeric and salt.Stir/Saute well until the  tomatoes are cooked and are soft and mashed.Add in sambar powder and saute for 2 more minutes. Now add in the potato pieces and wrap well with the masala.Saute for 2-3 minutes. Add 3/4 cup water at this stage , and close the pressure cooker with its lid and pressure cook for two whistles. I keep the flame at high, once the first whistle is let out I move the flame to low, and wait for 3 more minutes and switch off. Adjust pressure cooking time accordingly such that the potato shouldn't get mashed, but it needs to be cooked to the correct extent.

Once the cooker cools, open the lid, heat the cooker, give it a stir, and wait for the potato to form a thick gravy. Add more salt if needed at this stage and stir well. Once a nice thick gravy forms, switch off flame.

Server warm with hot steamed rice and rasam. Yum! :)



Print this Post

Continue Reading >>

Bread Upma

I had a packet of bread that had to be finished or it would get expired by then. So ended up making bread upma for dinner :). Easy one this is , ideal for breakfast though :).

Bread Upma

Ingredients

Serves - 2
Spice Level - Moderately Spicy

Bread slices - 10, cut into small squares
Onion - 2 Large , chopped finely
Tomato - 1 + 1/2, chopped
Green chilli - 4, chopped finely
curry leaves - 2 sprig
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 Tsp
Curry/chilli powder - 2 Tbspn
Turmeric - 1/2 Tspn
Salt - as per taste

Oil - 2 Tbspn
Mustard - 1 Tspn
Jeera - 1 Tspn


Method

Heat oil in a kadai. Add in mustard, let it splutter, add jeera - let it roast. Add curry leaves, chopped onion, green chilli, ginger-garlic paste and saute well until onions turn a shade of glossy pink. Add in tomato pieces, salt, and turmeric and saute it till the tomato pieces are cooked mad mashed well.Add the chilli powder now, and saute till the raw smell of powder vanishes. Add about 2 Tbs of water to the masala mix and  stir well. Add in the bread pieces now and mix well with the masala. Make sure all the bread pieces are wrapped well with the spices.Taste and see if more salt is required and add accordingly.Mix in the chopped coriander leaves, saute for a couple of more minutes. Switch off flame.

Serve this bread upma with a glass of orange juice for breakfast or as an evening snack. :)



Print this Post

Continue Reading >>

Beetroot Lentil Clear Soup

Whenever I cook beetroot I am reminded of my mom , who used to try various methods to push this vegetable into our stomach. ;). Beetroot poriyal/masala dint work, due to its inherent sweet taste. I somehow never like the sweet-spice combination in any kind of dish. It has to be either completely sweet or completely spicy. So then came the beetroot soup that my mom created. The color of the soup would be so inviting, and it would be a clear soup mixed with lentils , and it would taste good.
So this became a regular almost every weekend. On Saturdays around 11.00 am, we take a glass of this soup as an appetizer. Some times, I also mix this with rice and have it as a meal with some potato chips on the side.

Beetroot lentil Soup

Ingredients

Serves - makes about 4 glasses
Spice Level - Moderately Spicy

Beetroot - 2 , cut into medium sized pieces
Onion  - 1 Chopped well,
Tomato -1  Large, chopped well
Green chilli - 3-4, slit lengthwise
Curry Leaves - 2 Sprig
Toor dal - 1/3 Cup
Turmeric - 1/2 tspn
Jeera - 1 tspn
Water - 3 cups.

Method

Take a pressure cooker and dump all the ingredients. Pressure cook for 15 minutes. Switch off flame. Let the cooker cool. Once its cooled down, boil the soup, add the required salt. Add pepper powder if needed to increase spice level. Boil for 3-4 more minutes.

Pour in a glass and serve with beetroot piece topped on it. :). It cant get more simple than this . ;)


Print this Post

Continue Reading >>

Chettinadu Chicken Kuzhambu

Another brilliant chettinadu chicken item. Rice , Chicken Kuzhambu and chicken gravy for a Sunday lunch is a perfect setting.Cooking up a storm for Sunday lunches make me feel very good. And that too if its a non-vegetarian menu, I please myself and S to  the maximum extent possible.

Enough said, lets move on to the recipe.! :)

 Chicken Kuzhmabu

 Ingredients


 Recipe Source - Adapted from solaiachiskitchen


 Serves - 3
 Spice Level - Moderately Spicy

 Chicken - 350 gms
 Small/Sambar Onions - 20, chopped lengthwise
 Garlic cloves - 20, minced well
 Ginger garlic paste- 2 Tspn
 Tomatoes - 2 small sized, chopped
 Chilli/Curry powder- 1 Tbspn
 Coriander powder-2 Tbspn

 To Temper

 Oil - 2 Tbspn
 Cloves - 2
 Bay-leaf - 1
 Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
 Fennel - 1 Tspn
 Jeera - 1 Tspn
 Curry leaves - 2 Sprigs
 Mint Leaves - half a handful

 To grind to a paste

 Coconut grated - 2 Tbspn
 Fennel - 1 Tspn
 Cashews - 5

To marinate Chicken

Curd-2 Tbspn
Turmeric powder-1 Tspn
Curry/Chilli powder-2 Tspn
Salt-2 Tspn
Ginger garlic paste-1 Tspn


Method

Firstly marinate the chicken with the items under "To marinate chicken" and keep aside for 1 hour.
Grind the items under "To grind to a paste" with little water to a smooth paste.

Once the chicken pieces are marinated well, start off with the following. Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a pressure cooker. Add the items under "To temper" one by one and roast well. Add onions, garlic and ginger-garlic paste and saute well.Add tomatoes pieces and saute well.Now add the curry and coriander powder and mix well. Saute for 1 more minute. Add the marinated chicken pieces and mix well with the masala. Saute for 2-3 more minutes. Now add about 2 cups of water and salt and stir well.Close the cooker and pressure cooked for 10 minutes. Start with high flame, and once the first whistle comes out, move the flame to low and cook for he remaining time. Let the cooker cool. Once the cooker cools, open the lid, add the ground paste, and let the kuzhmabu boil. Taste now to see if the salt-spice level is as per taste. If needed more , you can add them at this stage. Also if the gravy is thick now, add more water, or if its watery, let it boil until you get desired consistency. So once you get the desired consistency, switch off flame.

Serve this chettinadu chicken kuzhmabu with steamed white rice, and chicken gravy. :)



Print this Post

Continue Reading >>

Yellow Dal Tadka

Dal Tadka is a standard and comforting accompaniment to most Indian flat breads - naan, roti, pulka , kulcha. It is also served with chawal [Rice]. A staple food for most North Indians.Quite simple to make, but there are so many different variations to this preparation :). I have tried preparing dal tadka in many different ways and some time back landed on one lip-smacking method and that recipe has been a keeper.

Dal Tadka

Ingredients

Serves - 2
Spice Level - Moderately Spicy and flavorful

1. Toor Dal - 1/3 cup
2. Green chilli - 4, slit length-wise and cut in half
3. Jeera - 1 Tbsp
4. Tomato - 1 Large, chopped into small pieces
5. Turmeric - 1/2 Tsp
6. Water - 1.5 cups
7. Salt - as per taste

For Tempering

Mustard - 1 Tsp
Jeera - 1 Tsp
Kalonji/Nigella seeds - 1/2 Tsp [Must add, gives a nice flavor]
Dry Red chilli - 2
Oil - 1 Tbsp

Method

Add items 1-6 in a pressure cooker. Place the pressure cooker on flame and pressure cook for 15 minutes. Move the flame to low after the first whistle.Let the cooker cool off. Check for the desired consistency of the dal. If you want you can add more water and boil for a couple of minutes.Transfer the contents to a serving bowl. Add required salt and mix.

In a small pan, heat oil . Add mustard, let it splutter, add jeera , let it roast.Add the red chilli and let it turn a darker shade. Finally add kalonji and switch off flame. Pour this tempering over the dal.

Serve with rice/pulao or any Indian flat bread of your choice. As simple as that. :)



Print this Post

Continue Reading >>

Walnut Jam Lemon-zest Muffins

It has been a long time since I baked, and this walnut jam muffin has been on my mind for quite some time. Since we don't get fresh blueberries in India, the bakeries here use a blueberry preserve , or a blueberry shot. I love how these blueberry muffins when you take a bite into it, the jam just bursts into your mouth. :). Heaven!

I dint have blueberry jam, hence used the regular mixed fruit jam, along with some walnuts to make this. It worked out fine, S loved it and finished almost all the muffins I baked in a couple of days.Yes , in my home if you don't eat cookies/chocolates/pastries or must I say "anything sweet" fast, you just don't eat them at all  ;) .  Lucky for S, that I don't have much of a sweet tooth. :)

This recipe was also inspired after looking into William Sonomas Hazelnut-Strawberry jam muffins.
My friend N who blogs here [BTW you get some super baking recipes from her] introduced me to his recipes and they are awesome. :).

 Walnut Jam Muffins

 
Ingredients


Serves - makes about 10 muffins


 All Purpose flour - 1.5 cups
 Castor sugar, white - 1/2 cup
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup butter milk
1 egg at room temp
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 Tsp of Kissan mixed fruit jam / muffin
1 Tbsp Lemon zest

Method

Preheat you oven to 180 deg C for 10 minutes. Line a muffin tray with muffin liners and keep aside.

Mix all the dry ingredients except sugar - flour, baking powder, baking soda,salt in bowl and give it a stir with a spatula. Take 2 tbspn of this flour and mix well the chopped walnuts. The walnuts are floured this way to make sure they spread evenly across the muffins and prevent from sinking to the bottom of the muffin.

Cream [mix with a spatula] the butter and sugar in a bowl until you get a creamy texture . Add egg, and mix well.Now add in the vanilla extract and stir. Add in the buttermilk and flour alternately and mix with the liquids, mix until the flour is moistened with the liquids. Don't over-mix. Add in chopped walnuts and lemon zest and give a quick stir.

Now spoon the muffin mixture and drop until 3/4 of the muffin liner is full. Drop a tsp of jam into the center of the mixture and poke it with the back of a spoon until the jam color just peeks from inside. Fill all the muffins this way. Bake at 180 deg C for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked into the center of the muffin.Once the muffins are done, get  the top rod alone of the oven heated [grill mode] and let it be for 3-5 minutes until the top of the muffin slightly browns.

Once done, cool the muffins in a wire rack for 30 minutes and then start gobbling. ;)



Print this Post

Continue Reading >>

Cabbage-Beans Parrupu Usili / Cabbage-beans-lentil crumbs stir fry

This is an absolutely yummy Iyer Aathu dish [Tam-Bram home]. A must in all their wedding lunch sessions.This preparation is a slightly tedious process, but worth it. :). Mom used to cook this quite often at home as it used to be one of my favorites.But she had her own name for this, and until some time back I always referred to this as "Vegetable Cola". Lol ;). This is traditionally made with beans, I added some grated cabbage too.

Cabbage-Beans Parrupu Usili

Ingredients

Serves - 4
Spice Level - Moderately Spicy

Grated Cabbage 1/3 cup
Beans - Finely chopped , 1/2 cup , steamed/boiled
Curry leaves - 2 Sprig
Mustard - 1 Tspn
Jeera - 1 Tsp
Hing - 1/4 Tsp
Oil - 3 Tbsp

1.Toor dal - 1 cup
2.Jeera - 1 Tbspn
3.Dry Red chilli - 5
4.Fennel - 1/2 Tsp
5.Turmeric - 1/2 Tsp

Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 Tspn


Method

Soak ingredients 1-4 for about 30-45 minutes in 1.5 cups of water. Drain the water and grind along with ginger-garlic paste and turmeric to an almost fine paste with maybe 1-2 Tbsp water.Divide the paste into 4-5 equal portions and steam them in an idli cooker for 5 minutes. I have a microwave idli steamer set and i use that to steam these. If you have one of them, use it and microwave on high for 8 minutes.Once they firm up like idlis, transfer them to a plate and cut each into quarters and let it cool. Maybe 5-10 minutes. Once cooled, pulse them up in your food processor until they crumble completely into extremely tiny particles resembling bread crumbs. This will take a few seconds in your mixie jar, maximum 3 short pulses.Make sure the steamed dal, has no water content, else when you use the food processor to crumble them it will become a paste again.Now the dal crumbs are ready.

Heat oil in  a kadai. Add hing,mustard, jeera and curry leaves. Let it roast. Add in the dal crumbs , salt and stir well. Let it be on flame for 7-10 minutes, keep stirring now and then. Now add in the boiled beans and grated cabbage, mix well. Let this get cooked for another five minutes. You can add more salt if needed at this time. Stir again. Switch off flame.

This goes very well with steamed white rice and kara-kuzhambu. :)


Notes

1. Many recipes suggest crumbling the steamed dal by hand as much as possible and then put it directly in the kadai to further crumble in heat.This method doesn't work out very well, and getting the dal to crumble over heat is difficult and takes a lot of time. So crumble it completely using a food processor.

2. To steam the ground dal, use a microwave idli steamer if you have one, works out much easier and faster and the steamed dal turn out dry the way we want it. So it requires max 5 minutes to cool down before you crumble them using your mixer-grinder.



Print this Post

Continue Reading >>