Paruppu soup / Chettinad dal soup / Indian lentil stew

Famous soup recipe of karaikudi. Can be eaten as conventional soups by adding salt & pepper. Can be served for hot steamed rice also. In case of serving with rice, any spicy side dish could be the best combination. Healthy recipe and a good appetizer.


Ingredients:

1. Ghee - 1 1/2 tbs
2. Cooking oil - 2 tbs
3. Bay leaves - 1
4. Cinnamon stick - 2 small
5. Mustard seeds + urad daal (white lentil) - 1 tbs
6. Jeera / Cumin seeds - 1/2tbs
7. Curry leaves - 5 nos
8. Turmeric powder - pinch
9. Big brown onion - 1/2 sliced
10. Tomato - 1 sliced
11. Splited green chilies - 3 nos
12. Tuvar daal / red gram - 1 handful
13. Moong daal / splited pigeon peas - 1 handful
14. Cilantro / coriander leaves - 1/2 handful (need not chop)
15. Salt to taste

Method:

1. Wash the daal (lentil) & Soak in water for 20 mins.
2. Heat oil + ghee in a pressure cooker and add the ingredient nos from 3 to 8 together and wait till mustard seeds pops.
3. Add chopped onion + green chilies and cook till onion is trasparent. Now add tomato & saute for a min. The tomato need not get smashed.
4. Strain water completely from daal and add it into the pressure cooker. Saute well the daal in medium flame for 7 - 9 min. Stir consiously for every 2 mins. Now add the cilantro.
5. Add 3 1/2 cups of water + salt. The soup should be very watery before cooking. After the daal gets cooked, the soup will come to a eatable consistency.
6. Close the cooker lid with whistle and cook in medium flame for excatly 10 mins. The cooker need not whistle. Switch off the stove and remove from fire.
7. Open the cooker lid after the pressure goes off and sprinkle some more cilantro leaves and boil in medium flame for 2 mins.
Thats it. Delicious soup ready. Serve hot.

Vellapoondu pulikulambhu (பூண்டு புளி குழம்பு) / Garlic sour gravy

Goes well with hot steamed rice.

Ingredients:

Main ingredient
Garlic pods - 8 to 10 nos

1. Cooking oil - 2 tbs
2. Gingelly oil / Sesame oil - 3 tbs
3. Mustard seeds + urad daal (white lentil) - 2 tbs
4. Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tbs
5. Curry leaves - 4 tbs
6. Big brown onion - 1/2 chopped or small onions - 10 nos chopped
7. Tomato - 1 chopped
8. Tamarind juice - 3/4 cup
9. Red chilli powder - 2 tbs
10. Coriander powder - 2 tbs
11. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tbs
12. Salt to taste

Method:

1. Heat sesame and cooking oil in a pan and add mustard seeds + fenugreek seeds. Once mustard pops, add curry leaves.
2. After few sec add chopped onion & garlic pods and cook till onion is transparent.
3. Add tomato and cook till its smashed.
4. Add tamarind juice, chilli powder, coriander powder, salt, 2 1/2 cups of water together and mix well.
5. Cook till the gravy gets thicken.
Serve hot with hot steamed rice. Pappad could be the best combination for this.

Tip:- If u dont like sour taste, use 1/2 cup of tamarind juice.
Cooking the dish completely in sesame oil will enhance the taste.

Rava kesari / Suji halwa

Kesari - tooks place in almost all the indian festivals. Easy to prepare indian sweet.

Click here for the recipe. Just replace vermicelli by semolina / rava. Others measurements and procedure are same.

Egg Biryani

My hubby's favorite, hope the readers also will try the recipe and enjoy.

Ingredients:

To cook

1. Basmathi / sona masoori rice - 2 cups (soak rice in water as the first step of preparing the dish)
2. Big brown onion - 1 (sliced thin)
3. Tomato - 1 (sliced thin)
4. Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbs
5. Salt to taste

To marinate

1. Curd / yogurt - 6 tbs
2. Coriander / Cilantro - 1 handful (washed and finely chopped)
3. Mint - 1 handful (washed and finely chopped)
4. Garam masala - 1 1/2 tbs
5. Red chili powder + coriander powder - 1 1/2 tbs each (or) any chicken masala powder - 3 tbs
6. Salt - 1/2 tbs
7. Eggs - hard boiled - 3 nos

- mix all the ingredients mentioned above with hand and marinate the unshelled egg in it for 15 mins. Slit slightly on the sides of the egg before marinating.

To saute

1. Cooking oil - 7 tbs
2. Jeera / cumin seeds - 1/2 tbs
3. Sombu / Saunf - 1/2 tbs
4. Mustard seeds + urad dal (white lentil) - 1 tbs
5. Curry leaves - 5 nos

Method:

1. Wash the soaked rice 2-3 times and drain water completely and keep this aside.
2. Heat 4 tbs oil in a pressure cooker and add the ingredients mentioned under to saute one by one in 30 sec interval. Add chopped onion and cook till its transparent. Add chopped tomato and saute well. Now add ginger garlic paste and saute till the green smell of it goes off and it blends with tomato.
3. Remove eggs from marination and keep it aside. Add the marination paste to tomato and cook it in medium flame for 15 mins.
4. In the meantime, heat remaining oil in another pan and add the rice. Saute it well it the rice turns golden brown. Add this to tomao paste in the cooker. Add salt, add 4 cups of water (for 1 cups of rice add 2 cups of water. not more than that) and Mix well. Place the eggs on top of it and close the cooker lid without whistle.
5. Wait till gas comes out of the vent, then put the whistle. Cook the biryani in medium flame for 15 mins. No need to wait till the cooker whistles. Switch off the stove.
Serve hot with Raitha.

Arachuvitta sambhar (அரச்சுவிட்ட சாம்பார்) / Sambhar with coconut garnishing

This is one more version of sambhar (indian vegetable lentil stew). I learned this recipe from my friend. Thanks to my friend V... The dish is simple to cook. Can go well with hot steamed rice, Idli, Dosa. If this dish is prepared in a thick consistency, then its a tastier combination for paratha and chappathi.

Ingredients:

to cook

1. Thuvaram paruppu / tuvar dal - 3/4 cup
2.Turmeric powder - pinch
3. Tomato - 1 (do not cut the tomato, squeeze with hand while adding to the dish)
4. Big brown onion - 1 roughly chopped
5. Any vegetable of ur choice (optional)
6. Cilantro / coriander leaves - 1/2 handful
7. Tamarind juice - 1/4 cup
8. Sambhar powder - 3 tbs
9. Salt to taste

to grind (grind with 1/4 cup of water into a fine paste)

1. Fresh coconut - 1/2 cup
2. Jeera / cumin seeds - 3/4 tbs
3. Saunf - 3/4 tbs
4. Dried red chili - 3 nos
5. Garlic pods - 2 nos

to saute

1. Cooking oil - 2 tbs
2. Mustard seeds + urad dal (white lentil) - 1/2 tbs
3. Hing / Asafoetida - pinch
4. Curry leaves - 4 nos

Method:

1. Wash and cook tuvar dal in a pressure cooker with 2 cups of water & for 2 whistles. Keep this aside.
2. Once the gas goes off open the cooker lid and add all the ingredients mentioned under to cook and the grinded paste (mentioned under to grind) + 1/2 cup of water. Mix well, check salt and cook again in the same pressure cooker for 4 whistles.
3. Heat oil in a small pan, add mustard seeds + urad dal, hing, curry leaves. Saute for a minute and garnish the recipe with this.

Serve hot with rice or paratha or chappathi.

Frozen Okra

Okra - favaourite vegetables for kids. Few days back when i was cooking a frozen okra pack clicked this fume coated power green vegetable. Looks like okras went for a walk in a foggy morning... !!!

Strawberry milkshake

Healthy recipe, more suitable for kids.

Ingrediants:

1. Strawberry
2. Fresh milk
3. Powdered sugar

Method:

1. Remove the stem and wash strawberry.
2. Put it inside a blender / mixi and pour milk till the fruit gets immersed. Add 2 tbs powdered sugar (for 3 strawberry's 1 tbs of sugar). Grind well and serve as a dessert.

Ribbon pakoda

South indian snack recipe in the shape of ribbon. Crispy and medium spicy. This dish very famous in my hometown karaikudi. Quick and easy to prepare.

Ingredients:

1. Rice flour - 1 cup
2. Kadalai mavu / Gram flour / Besan flour - 1/2 cup
3. Perungayam / Hing /Asafoetida - 2 pinch
4. Butter - 1/2 tbs
5. Red chilli powder - 1 1/2 tbs (adjust as per ur choice)
6. Salt to taste
7. Cooking oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Add all the ingredients together except oil and make a soft dough out of it by sprinkling water.
2. Heat oil in a pan for deep frying. Take a small ball of dough and sqeeze it using a idiyappam press (use ribbon pakoda mould instead of idiyappam mould) into the oil for deep frying. Flip and cook the pokada for 2 mins on each side (the cooking time is totally 4 mins only). Remove from oil and store on a tissue paper to remove excess oil sticking to it.
3. Complete the remaining dough in the same way in batches.
Serve hot.

Aval laddoo / Poha laddoo / Flattened rice laddoo

Laddoo is a common sweet recipe of india prepared to celebrate festivals. It can be made of basen flour (gram flour), Semolina (sooji). This version is made of poha (flattened rice) and its very crispy inside like wafers. Very simple to prepare.

Ingredients:

1. Aval / Poha /Flattened rice - 2 cups
2. Powdered sugar - 1/2 cup (the recipe requires very less sugar even 1/4 cup is also enough)
3. Dry graphes - roughly 1 handful
4. Ghee - 3 tbs
5. Hot milk - 5 tbs

Method:

1. Heat 2 tbs of ghee in a pan and add 2 cups of poha. Saute till it turns golden brown colour. Coarsely powder the sauted poha using a mixer or blender. Keep this aside.
2. Heat 1 tbs of ghee and saute the dry fruit. Add this to powdered poha.
3. Add sugar and hot milk to poha and mix well. Make small balls out of this when the mixture is hot. Cool down the laddoo and serve. Tip:- Arrange the laddoo in a air tight container and can be kept in the fridge upto 10 days. In that case before serving, heat for 10 sec.

Vegetable pulav

Medium spicy steamed rice recipe. I was thinking that this recipe is hard to prepare so i was ordering it from hotels. One day tried just like that and it was good. The preparation time takes 15 mins and cooking time is 20 mins.

Ingredients:

To cook

1. Basmathi rice - 1 1/2 cups (soak the rice in water for 30 mins. Do soak the rice as the first step of preparing the dish)
2. Carrot - 3 nos chopped into lengthy pieces
3. Frozen peas - 1 cup
4. Spring onion - 4 nos chopped into lengthy pieces
(choose your choice of vegetables - cauliflower, mushroom etc.,)
5. Salt to taste

To saute

1. Bay leave - 2 nos
2. Cinnamon - 3 small pieces
3. Sombhu / Saunf - 1/2 tbs
4. Jeera - 1/2 tbs
5. Mustard seeds + urad daal (white lentil) - 1/2 tbs
6. Curry leaves - 3 nos
7. Big brown onion - 1 finely chopped
8. Coriander leaves / Cilantro - 1/2 handful finely chopped
9. Mint leaves - 1/2 handful finely chopped
8. Cooking oil - 4 tbs

To grind

1. Ginger - 3 small pieces
2. Garlic - 3 small pieces equal to ginger
3. Green chilli - 2 nos

For seasoning

1. Ghee - 1 tbs
2. Dry graphes - 1 tbs
3. Cashew nuts - 1 tbs

Method:

1. Heat 3 tbs oil in a pan, add the ingredient nos 1 to 5 mentioned under To saute without any time interval. Wait till the mustard seeds pops. Add curry leaves and onion. Saute the ingredients till onion turns transparent. Add the grinded ingredients and saute till green smell of garlic goes off. Add the chopped mint and cilantro and saute for a min.
2. Add all the vegetables to sauted ingredients mentioned in the above step and mix thoroughly. Put this mixture into a cooker.
3. Wash the soaked rice and strain the water completely. Heat 1 tbs of oil in a pan and add the rice. Saute the rice till it turns porous. Add this sauted rice into the cooker. Add 3 cups of water (for 1 cup of rice : 2 cups of water) and salt to the rice & mix well from bottom.
4. Close the cooker lid without whistle. Once the gas comes out of the vent put the whistle and cook in medium flame for 10 mins. Switch off the stove.
5. Heat ghee in a pan and add dry fruits & cashews and season the recipe with this.

6. Serve hot with raitha or curd (yogurt) or potato chips.

Bread vadai / Spicy bread fry

What to do with excess leftover bread ??? Here comes a delicious masal vadai recipe.
An indian recipe using excess bread.

Ingredients:

1. Bread slices
2. Splited chick peas - roughly 1 handful (for 1 loaf of bread 2 handful of splited peas)
3. Big brown onion - 1 finely chopped
4. Green chilli - 4 nos (finely chopped)
5. Cumin seeds / Jeera - 1 tbs
6. Curry leaves - 5 nos finely chopped
7. Hot water - 3 cups
8. Salt to taste
9. Oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Soak the spilted peas in water for 45 mins.
2. Dip a bread slice into the hot water for 2 seconds (should not be more than 2 seconds) and slightly wring it, keep it aside. Similarly dip & wring all the bread slices.
3. Drain water completely from soaked splited peas and coarsely grind in a blender / mixie. Add it to the wringed bread slices.
4. Add all the remaining ingredients to the bread and mix well. Make into a soft dough.
5. Heat oil in a pan for deep frying. Make small balls out of the bread dough, flatten it and frying it. Flip the vadai till it is coated with a brown color in all the sides.
6. Store the fried vadai on a tissue paper to remove excess oil and serve hot with ketchup or chutney.

Chilli Gobi / Cauliflower kootu / Spicy Cauliflower

Whenever i buy cauliflower i was trying a portion of it to prepare a spicy side dish. I tried many recipes but only this dish grabbed our attention a lot. Tastes good, easy to cook. Goes well with sambhar rice, curd rice and rasam rice.

Ingredients:

1. Cauliflower - 1 - cut into small florets
2. Cooking oil - 4 tbs
3. Mustard seeds + urad daal (white lentil) - 1/2 tbs
4. Cumin seeds / Jeera - 1/2 tbs
5. Curry leaves - 4 nos
6. Dries red chillies - 4 nos (roughly broke into small pieces)
7. Big brown onion - 1/2 finely chopped
8. Tomato - 1 finely chopped
9. Kadalai paruppu /Splited channa daal / Splited peas - roughly 1 handful (soaked in water for 30 mins)
10.Turmeric powder - pinch
11. Coriander powder - 1/2 tbs (optional)
12. Red chilli powder - 1 tbs
13. Salt to taste
14. Coriander leaves for dressing

Method:

1. Soak the cauliflower florets in hot water for 10 mins, drain the water completely and keep it aside.
2. Heat cooking oil in a pan, add mustard seeds + urad daal, once it splatters add cumin seeds, then curry leaves. After 10 sec add dried red chilli and saute for 30 sec. Now add chopped onion and cook till its transparent. Add tomato and saute till its smashed. Drain water from soaked splited peas and add it to the tomato gravy, saute for a min. Add cauliflower, turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, salt and mix well. Close the pan with a lid and cook the cauliflower in medium flame.
3. Remove the lid after 20 mins and check whether peas get cooked. Else stir and close the lid. Once peas is cooked sprinkle cilantro leaves and remove from flame.
Serve hot with rice.

Chettinad kaara koli(kozhi) kulambhu / Chettinad spicy chicken gravy

Starting a sunday with a sumptuous breakfast 'Idli - chicken gravy' is delightful. Last sunday for no reason i woke up bit early and surprised my hubby with this breakfast combination. He didnt think of lunch till 2 00 o'clock afternoon ( :P).... In my hometown this chicken gravy is served for idiyappam (rice hoppers) or appam (bowl shapped indian pancake). Spicy recipe, Non veg lovers may like this taste very much.

Ingredients:

To saute

1. Cooking oil - 5 tbs
2. Mustard seeds + urad daal (white lentil) - 1/2 tbs
3. Cumin seeds / Jeera - 1/ tbs
4. Suanf / Sombu - 1/2 tbs
5. Curry leaves - 6 nos
6. Big brown onion - 1 finely chopped
7. Tomato - 1 finely chopped
8. Cilantro - 1/2 handful (finely chopped)
9. Mint - 1/2 handful (finely chopped)
10. Ginger galic paste - 1 1/2 tbs
11. Turmeric powder - pinch
12. Butter (optional) - 1 tbs

To cook

1. Chicken meat - 1/4 kg (cut into cube shapes, wash well and drain the water completely)
2. Any chicken masala powder or sambhar powder - 4 tbs or chili powder + coriander powder + garam masala powder - each 1 1/2 tbs
3. Salt to taste

Method:

1. In a pressure cooker, heat the cooking oil and add one by one the ingredient numbers 2 to 5 mentioned below to saute at 30 sec interval.
2. Add chopped onion and cook till it is transparent. Add the chopped tomatos and cook till its smashed. Add chopped cilantro, mint, ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder and chicken masala or sambhar powder or masala powder (ingredient no 2 of to cook )together and mix well with tomato gravy. Cook this gravy in medium flame for 5 mins. Now add the chicken pieces and salt, mix well so that tomato gravy coats the chicken. Cook the chicken in medium flame for 7 mins. Add butter and stir consiously.
3. Add 3 cups of water to the chicken, close the pressure cooker lid without cooker whistle. Cook in little higher flame than medium. Once the steam comes out of the vent put the cooker whistle and cook for 4 whistles. Serve hot with Idli / dosa / cooked rice / idiyappam / appam.

Tip:- In step 2, cooking the chicken in medium flame in the tomato gravy will increase the taste of the recipe. Becoz at that stage, chicken oozes out water and tomato gravy penetrates into the chicken.

Kara chutney / Bell pepper chutney

Colourful spicy chutney goes well with Idli / Dosa. Easy to prepare, more apt for dinner.

Ingredients:

1. Big brown onion - 1/2 roughly chopped
2. Tomato - 1 roughly chopped
3. Cilantro - 1/2 handful
4. Garlic pod - 1
5. Ginger - small piece equal to the garlic pod
6. Red chili - 2 nos
7. Bell pepper - 1 roughly chopped
8. Curry leaves - 4 nos
9. Salt to taste
10. Cooking oil - 2 tbs

Method:

1. Heat a pan and add all the ingredients except salt. Saute the mixture for 2 mins without adding oil. Then add 2 tbs of cooking oil and saute the mixture till the tomatos gets smashed. Add salt and remove from fire.
2. Cool down the sauted mixture for 10 mins. Put this in a blender / mixie and grind well. If u like season the recipe with mustard seeds else serve with hot idli / dosa.

Other: The bell pepper adds a nice aroma to the dish and offcourse very colourful.