Simple peanut chutney

Dedicating this post to all bachelor readers :)
Ingredients:
Fresh coconut - 1 cup
Ginger n garlic - each 1 piece (equal size)
Dry Roasted  peanuts - 1 handful
Dried red chillies - 4 nos
Fresh tamarind - 1 small piece
Salt to taste

Grind all the ingredients into fine paste - add very little water.Best combination for dosa / idli / variety rices...

Quick tomato gravy / தக்காளி தொக்கு

I woke up late on one lazy morning and my hubby was hurrying up to work. I dont want to send him empty stomach (he hate cereals...) and quickly prepared this side dish for dosa. mmmm.... he was very happy and had one extra dosa! As usual very simple recipe.

Ingredients:
Cooking oil - 2 tbs
Mustard seeds + urad dal - 1/2 tbs
Curry leaves - 5 nos
Onion - 1
Tomato - 1
Ginger - small piece
Fresh coconut - 5 tbs
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Grind onion, tomato, ginger together into a fine paste and keep aside.
2. In a pan heat 2 tbs oil, add mustard seeds + urad, curry leaves and grinded paste @ 30 sec interval. Saute the tomato paste at medium flame (to set down the green smell).
3. In the meantime grind the fresh coconut to a fine paste. add this to tomato paste and stir for 30 sec.
4. Add salt + one cup of water & stir well.
5. Close the pan with a lid and let the gravy cook for 10 mins in medium flame.
6. Sprinkle chopped cilantro (optional) n serve hot with dosa/idli/chappathi.

Healthy rava idli (ரவா இட்லி)/ Semolina-vegetable steamed cake

Rava idli - one of my hubby's favourite. I would say its a healthy breakfast especially for kids.For those who doesnt under the term idli , dont miss to click the link.

Ingredients:
To saute:
1. Rava/semolina - 1 1/2 cups (this holds good for 2 people)
2. Cooking oil - 1 tbs
3. Perungayam / Hing / Asafoetida - pinch
4. Mustard seeds + urad dal - 1/2 tbs
5. Green chilli - 2 nos - finely chopped
6. Ginger - small piece - finely chopped
7. Curry leaves - 6 nos
8. Peanuts / Cashew nuts - 1/2 handful (optional)
To cook:
1. Yogurt / Curd - 1 cup
2. Baking powder - a pinch
3. Grated carrot - 1/2 cup (you can use ur choice of grated vegetables cabbage, chopped - half cooked brocolli or cauliflower) - make sure vegetables quantity doesnt exceed 1/2 of the quantity of semolina.
4. Cilantro - chopped
5. Salt and water - as required
To Garnish
1. Sliced tomato
2. Chopped cilantro

Method:
1. Heat cooking oil in a pan, add mustard seeds + urad dal, hing, nuts, curry leaves, chilli, ginger one by one (dont change this order). Once the nuts are golden brown add rava / semolina and saute till nice aroma comes. Allow this to cool down.
2. Batter preparation- To the sauted rava add all the ingredients mentioned under To cook together, mix and keep this batter aside for 30-40 mins. If required add water while soaking. Make sure no excess liquid remains on top. Beat the batter well after 30 mins.

3. Grease the idli plate with a drop of cooking oil, place the garnishing and pour the idli batter into the mould (as shown above). Cook the idli in steam for 10 - 15 mins (Rava idli takes bit more time to get cook).
4. Serve hot with chuttney / sambar / idli podi. Enjoy!!!!

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.

Easy sambhar / Quick indian lentil stew

At times when i do late cooking this recipe immediately flashes in my mind bcoz the cooking + preparation time is 20 mins only.
We call this as Idli sambhar. Quick Moong daal recipe (south indian paasi paruppu sambhar) goes well with Idli / Dosa / Ven Pongal / Cooked rice.

Ingredients:

-to saute

1. Cooking oil - 4 tbs
2. Mustard seeds + urad daal (white lentil) - 1 tbs
3. Jeera / Cumin seeds - 1 tbs
4. Curry leaves - 4 nos
5. Hing / Asafeotida - pinch

- to cook

1. Moong daal / Pasiparuppu - 1/2 cup
2. Toovar daal / Red gram - 1/4 cup
3. Big brown onion - 1/2 finely chopped
4. Tomato - 3/4 finely chopped
5. Cilantro - 1/2 handful (washed and chopped)
6. Turmeric powder - pinch
7. Red chilli powder - 1/2 tbs
8. Green chili - 1/2 (splited)
9. Salt to taste

Method :

1. Wash Moong daal + Toovar daal in a pressure cooker and strain the water. To this add all the ingredients under to cook + pour water till the ingredients gets immersed and mix well.
2. Heat oil in a small pan and add all the ingredients under to saute one by one at 15 sec interval and add the saute to the pressure cooker.
3. Close the pressure cooker and cook for 4 whistles. Open the cooker lid after the gas goes off. Thats it. Serve hot with Idli / Dosa / Rice.

Indian spicy vegetable noodles (Chinese Schezwan style)

This is a medium spicy recipe suitable for both breakfast and dinner.

Ingredients:

-to cook
1. Plain noodles - 1 pocket
2. Carrot - 1 finely chopped
3. Frozen peas - 1 cup (choose ur choice vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage, mushroom etc)
(wash all the vegetables together and cook in microwave for 5 mins in one cup of water)
4. Lemon - 1/2
5. Salt to taste

-to grind
1. Garlic clove - 1
2. Red chilli - 1 big
(grind these ingredients with 1/4 cup of water and keep it aside)

-to saute
1. Mustard seeds + urad dal (white lentil) - 1 tbs (optional )
2. Brown onion - 1/2 finely chopped
3. Tomato - 1/2 finely chopped
4. Turmeric powder - pinch
5. Cooking oil - 4 tbs

Method:

1. Heat oil in a big pan, add mustard seeds + urad dal. Once it splatters add chopped onion and cook till it is transparent. Then add tomato and cook till it is smashed. Add turmeric powder at this stage and saute for a minute.
2. Add the garlic-chilli paste to this and cook till the green smell of garlic goes off.
3. Add the cooked vegetables and saute for 5 mins. Add 1 1/2 cups of water + salt to the vegetables and bring it to boil (for 1 pocket noodles : 1 1/2 cups of water). Then drop the uncooked noodles into it, mix well.
4. Cook the noodles for 15 mins then sqeeze a lemon over it, remove from fire.
Serve hot with tomato ketchup.

Dosa / Indian pancake

Dosa - Fabulous indian breakfast!!!! Most popular Indian breakfast/Dinner recipe available everywhere in south india. Goes well with sambar or any chutney.

Ingredients:

1. Idli rice / preboiled rice / long grain rice - 5 1/2 cups
2. Skinned urad daal (black lentil) - 1 1/2 cups
3. Methi / Fenugreek seeds - 4 tbs
4. Salt 3 tbs
5. Ghee / cooking oil


Method:

To prepare the batter

1. Soak rice +skinned urad bean + methi seeds overnight.
2. Next day, wash the mixture 2-3 times and drain the water. Grind the washed rice to a smooth consistent batter (if the blender is small, grind in batches). For 2 handful of rice mixture add one cup of water. Test the batter with fingers, you should feel the creamed urad daal. Grind till that consistency.
3. Add salt to the batter and mix well. Left the batter to ferment overnight. If you are living in a cold place, warm the oven for 10 mins and keep the batter inside the oven with a plate at the bottom (1st pic in 2nd row).
4. The fermented batter will be a pale yellow color (2nd pic in 2nd row).

This batter can be kept in fridge upto 15 days. Just before preparing dosa take out the batter from fridge.

To prepare dosa

1. Before preparing dosa each time, mix the batter well from bottom with a ladle.
2. Spread a ladle full of batter into thin circles on a preheated skillet. Then sprinkle some oil / ghee onto it. Cook till the dosa is golden brown and remove from fire.
3. Serve hot with sambhar or chutneys.

Peerkangkai / Ridge gourd / Luffa Chutney

Chutney.. ?? with Ridge gourd??? Ahhhh..... :P
This is how i reacted when i first heard about this recipe. Many of us know indian poriyal recipes with this vegetable. But how come chutney.... that too beyond the green smell of this vegetable??? Actually the nice aroma after cooking ridge gourd is awesome. Direct substitute for tomato but even creamy and tastier than tomato. Above all very simple to cook.
More suitable for Idli / Dosa.

Ingredients:

1. Peerkangai / Ridge gourd / Luffa - 1
2. Kadalai paruppu / Splited peas - roughly 1 handful
3. Red chilli - 2 nos (big)
4. Big brown onion - 1/2 roughly chopped
5. Cooking oil - 1 tbs
6. Salt to taste
Method

1. Wash the ridge gourd and peel off the skin. Cut into smal pieces roughly.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add kadalai paruppu /splited peas first. Once it is golden brown, add all other ingredients. Cook till ridge gourd is smashed then remove from fire.
3. Let the sauted mix cool for sometime then add salt and grind well in a mixie/blender.
4. If u like do the seasoning with mustard seeds.

Tip - Remove seeds if any while cutting the ridge gourd.
I have added some mint also while grinding the chutney. The aroma was still nice.

Idiyappam - Coconut kurma / Rice Noodles - Coconut gravy

Idiyappam is a popular dinner/breakfast recipe in southern parts of india especially in tamilnadu & kerala. Its nothing but a steamed rice flour twigs. The dish is very soft and more apt for children.

For Idiyappam:

Ingredients
1. Rice flour - 2 cups
2. Salt - pinch
3. Lukewarm water (moderately hot) - 1/2 cup

Method
1. Add salt to rice flour and mix well.
2. Add the water slowly and blend till soft dough is formed. Keep it aside.
3. Heat 4 cups of water in idli cooker and bring it to boil. Meantime grease the idli plates with oil. Once the water boils minimize the flame so that water remains in boiling hot but not boiling.
4. Put the dough in idiyappam maker (See below) and press gently and pull circles on the idli plate.

5. Close the cooker lid. After 10 mins check whether idiyappam is cooked by pressing a portion. Then remove from fire.

For Coconut kurma:

Idiyappam goes well with 4 diff side dishes.
1. Just sprinkle sugar, gingelly oil and grated coconut over idiyappam. Mix well and serve hot.
2. Boil 2 cups of coconut milk with 1/2 cup sugar and a pinch of cardamom powder. This is a good medicine for ulcer (paati vaithiyam) and other intestine problems. Just pour this milk over idiyappam and serve (like cereals :) )
3. Sothi - Indian liquid gravy recipe popular in tamilnadu.
4. Coconut kurma - follows....

Ingredients

-to grind
1. Coconut - 10 nos (small pieces) or grated coconut - 1/2 cup
2. Sombu / Saunf - 1 tbs
3. Jeera / seeragam - 1 tbs
4. Red chili - 3 nos
5. Garlic - 1 clove (optional)

-to cook
1. Coconut oil - 2 tbs
2. Cooking oil - 2 tbs
3. Mustard seeds + urad dal (white lentil) - 1 tbs
4. Big brown onion - 1/4 (finely chopped)
5. Tomato - 1/2 (finely chopped)
6. Green chili - 1 (sliced)
7. Pasi paruppu / Moong dal / green gram - 4 tbs
8. Salt to taste
9. Cilantro - few (washed and chopped) - optional

Method
1. Wash and cook the pasi paruppu / moong dal in 1 cup of water and smash it. Keep this aside.
2. Grind everthing under -to grind
3. Heat the cooking oil in a pan and add mustard seeds + urad dal. Once mustard seeds splatters add onion + green chili and saute till onion is transparent. Add tomato and cook till its smashed. Then add the grinded paste + smashed moong dal. Add salt and blend this mixture.
4. When the mixture starts boiling add salt and cilantro. Cook for 7 more minutes.
5. Switch off the stove and sprinkle the coconut oil over it. Serve hot.

Tip: If u r a sour taste lover sprinkle some lemon juice on the kurma before serving.

Other: Such a delicious recipe but have to strive a bit. When compared to the taste worth taking pain.

Quick breakfast - Bread kurma / Bread with indian sour sauce

Bread kurma - Its a half spicy and half sour recipe. French toast (Bread soaked in sugared milk and toasted) was the only recipe I know using bread during my early stages of cooking. Me and my hubby hate to have sweet dishes for break fast but not ready to give up eating breads. One day this combination stricked me when i was cooking puri masal. I tried it one day and found 'its yummmmy'. Since then this recipe becomes our all time favourite and proud to say its my invention ;)

Ingredients:

1. Cooking oil - 1 tbs
2. Mustard seeds + urad daal (white lentil) - 1 tbs
3. Brown onion - 1/2 finely chopped
4. Tomato - 1/2 finely chopped
5. Green chili - 1 (cutted vertically)
6. Gram flour / Besan flour - 1/2 cup or roughly 1/4 handful
7. Salt to taste
8. Lemon - 1/2

Method

1. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds + urad daal. Once it started splattering add green chili. After 30 sec add chopped onion, cook it till it is transparent. Add tomatos and cook till it gets smashed.
2. Meantime dissolve the gram flour in 2 cups of water and filter it to remove lumps. Add this filtered water to the cooked onion-tomato. Add salt to taste. Bring this mix to complete boil. Bubbling would be the apt word. Consiously stir the mixture in every 5 mins. You will see the mixture gets thicken within 15 mins. Once it is thickened squeeze the lemon over it and mix once again and remove from fire.
Serve hot with toasted hot bread.

Tomato Chutney / Indian Tomato sauce / Thakkali chutney

Chutney - Indian sauce recipe goes well with Idli / Dosa.

Ingredients:

1. ½ brown onion ( roughly chopped)
2. 1 Tomato (roughly chopped)
3. Garlic - 1 clove
4. Small piece of ginger
5. 1 tbs Split peas (channa daal or kadalai paruppu)
6. 2 Red chilies (milagai vathal)
7. Handful of Cilantro
8. Tamarind - 2 Chickpea sized balls
9. Cocunut small piece or ½ cup grated coconut
10. ½ tbs oil

- Method

1. Heat 1/4 tbs oil in a pan and fry the split peas. Once it is cooked add all the ingredients except coconut. Cook the mix in medium heat until the tomatos get mashed.

2. Remove the mixture from fire and allow it to cool completely. Once it is cooled grind well with coconut.

3. For seasoning, heat 1/4 tbs of oil and split mustard seeds in it.Spicy tomato chutney is ready!!!

Easy Rava dosa (Diet version) / Semolina indian pan cake

Rava dosa is traditional indian pan cake made from soaked Rava / Semolina. Usually lot of curd / butter milk will be used to prepare this dish. This version is completely curdless.

Ingredients:

1. One cup Rava / Semolina

2. ½ tbs cumin seeds

3. ½ tbs pepper corns

4. ½ Brown onion (finely chopped)

-Method

1. Soak all the ingredients except onion in equal measure of water for 30 - 45 mins or even more. If you like add 1 tbs of curd.

2. After 45 mins add salt and roughly grind (2 - 3 mins) the mixture. If the dough is very tight add more water while griding until the batter comes to the consistency shown below.

3. Add the chopped onion and mix well. Heat a non stick pan and pour the batter in a random fashion. Do not touch the pan to spread the batter. Just splash the batter from little above the hot pan. Springle some oil in all the sides. Flip the dosa after 2- 3 mins. Cook for one more minute and remove.

Serve hot with Coconut chutney or spicy sauces.

Tip:- Store the excess batter in fridge and use. More the soak time more the recipe is tastier and crunchy.