Thakkali Dosai /Tomato Dosa

This is a quick and easy version of instant dosa. You can make dosa immediately after grinding the batter, no fermentation required.
Ingredients 
Boiled rice / Idli rice -11/2cups
Raw rice / Basmati rice -1/2cup
Tomato -2
Red chillies-5 (adjust to your taste)
Small piece of Ginger
Few curry leaves & Cilantro
Hing/Asafoetida -1/4teaspoon
Salt

Method
Wash and soak the rices for 2-3 hours.
Grind it with tomatoes and red chilli. No need to add water, as we are adding tomatoes. If required sprinkle little water.
Add the  curry leaves -cilantro-ginger-and hing. Grind it again. Batter should be a coarse consistency, don't grind it too smooth.

Add enough salt to the batter and adjust the consistency as dosa batter. Heat a griddle and make dosa.  Spicy and delicious dosa is ready. Enjoy it with coconut chutney and kara chutney. 

I prepared tomato - egg dosa  with the same batter. Its very simple, just break an egg on the dosa and spread it uniformly on the dosa. Sprinkle some oil, flip it once its done on one side. Transfer it to the plate after 10-15seconds.Enjoy it with your choice of chutney.

Note : THIS DOSA SHOULD BE CONSUMED HOT. IT BECOMES DRY WHEN COOLS DOWN. SO PLAN ACCORDINGLY AND ENJOY! ;) :)

Recipe Inspiration : Here

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Shakarpara/ Shankarpali/ Kalakalaa

In Maharastra & Gujarat this snack is very famously known as "Shakarpara/ Shankarpali/". Recently I learnt this recipe from one of my friend's mom here. Aunty was kind enough to explain me the steps in this recipe and cleared my silly doubts very well. Thanks very much for the recipe aunty! :)

I love this snack/sweet(?!), we always used to buy it from shops. In Tamilnadu this snack is called "kalakalaa or sweet maida biscuit". Sometimes we tried making this at home, but what ever we make, will have a different taste as the store-bought one's. ;) :)

Ingredients
Milk - 1cup
Sugar-1cup
Ghee/Clarified butter -3/4cup
All purpose flour / Maida - as required
Oil-to deep fry

Method 
Measure the milk,sugar,ghee anf flour in the same / identical cups.
Mix the milk, sugar and ghee. Start adding all purpose flour little by little and keep on mixing it till the mixture forms a non-sticky mass.

After that add flour a tablespoon at a time, and knead it into a soft dough.

21/2cups to 3 cups of flour will be utilized to get the dough as in picture 5(in the above collage). Keep it aside in an airtight box for half an hour.

Make 4 equal balls out of the dough, roll it into 1/4" thick disks. Cut it into small pieces using a knife or a pizza cutter. Meanwhile, heat oil on low medium heat.
Fry the pieces, till they turn golden in colour. [Don't try to adjust the flame every now and then, keep a uniform low medium heat.]

 

Crisp and crunch Shakarpara/Shankarpali/Kalakalaa is ready. You can keep it in airtight container. It stays good for weeks in room temperature.  

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Idli Upma (version 2) & Idli podi

I have already posted a recipe for idli upma here. But this is little bit different than that one. With this I am giving a simple and tasty recipe for Idli podi/chutney powder as well.

Ingredients
Idli -4 (left over idli will be fine)
Onion(small)-1
Few curry leaves
Green Chilly -2 (adjust to your taste)
Mustard Seed-1/2teaspoon 
Urad dhal -11/2 teaspoon
gingelly  oil - 1tablespoon
Salt - 1/8teaspoon
Idli podi - 2 tablespoons

Method
Cut the idlies into small pieces (or crumble them..which ever is you are convenient with! :)) and keep it aside.
Chop the onion and green chilly into thin stripes.
Heat oil in a pan, make the tempering with mustard seeds, followed by urad dhal and curry leaves.
Add the onion-g.chilli along with little salt, fry till they become transparent.
Now add in the idli-powder and give it a quick mix. 

Add the idli pieces and toss it well.

Cook for a minute and put off the flame.

Let it be on the stove for few minutes and then serve hot. Be generous with oil and urad dhal which enhances the taste of this simple dish into a tasty meal. ;)

 

Idli podi / Chutney Powder
Ingredients
Channa dhal-1/4cup
Urad dhal -1/4cup
Red chilly- 10 (adjust to your spice level)
Sesame seeds -1 tablespoon
Vellam/ Jaggery/ Gudd -a small piece
Hing/Asafoetida - 1/4teaspoon
Salt

Dry roast the dhals  separately on medium heat, till a nice aroma comes.

Then roast the sesame seeds on low heat. They will start spluttering, by then remove them from the pan and keep it aside. 

Switch off the flame, and add the red chillies to the pan. They will get roasted by the heat in the pan. Take them out after a minute and add in the hing powder. 

Then remove the pan from the stove, let all the items cool down. 

Once cooled down, grind them  with enough salt to a coarse powder. Tasty and aromatic idli podi / chutney powder is ready. Mix it  with gingelly oil/coconut oil/ghee or even with any cooking oil. Tastes great with idli and dosa.

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Corn Flakes Chivda / Corn Flakes Mixture

 

I tasted this chivda in a friend's house.  After coming home googled for the recipe and to my wonder most of the recipes called for deep frying the corn flakes. So called the friend's mom and Aunty told me, deep frying is not required and she told me the recipe. So, here is a quick and healthy as well as delicious version of Corn flakes chivda.

Ingredients

Corn Flakes - 3 cups [I used Kellogg's (Original) Corn Flakes]

Hand full of roasted peanuts

Roasted gram /Pottu kadalai - 1tablespoon

Few Cashews and Raisins

Few Curry Leaves

Turmeric powder -1/8teaspoon

Chilli powder- 1teaspoon(adjust to your spice level)

Fennel seeds-1/2teaspoon (optional)

Sugar-1teaspoon

Salt

Oil- 1 to 2 tablespoons

Method

Heat oil in a wide skillet, add in the fennel seeds and let them splutter.

Then add the roasted peanuts, cashews,roasted gram dal (pottu kadalai) along with the curry leaves. Fry on medium heat till the nuts turn golden in colour.

Reduce the heat to low, add in the chilli powder-turmeric powder-sugar and salt, mix it well till the raw smell from the powders are gone.
Now add the corn flakes and  toss it well, switch off the flame.
Crunchy and delicious chivda is ready to munch!

Its a guilt free snack and tastes great! You can use the frosted flakes instead of corn flakes, in that case, avoid adding sugar.

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Pongal Greetings / Sankaranthi Wishes..

Wishing a Very Happy Pongal / Sankaranthi Everyone!

Two little blogs of mine are successfully completing three years today!

Friends/Readers/Fellow Bloggers,  My Heartfelt Thanks with a sweet from my home town to all of You!... for all your support, comments and encouragements!

Thank You!

Here are some recipes for Pongal

Ven Pongal 

Healthy Pongal

Ulunthu vadai/Methu vadai

Pongal Kuzhambu / 7 kaai kuzhambu 

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Tangy Capsicum Curry

 

Ingredients

Capsicum -2

Onion -1

Cumin seeds-1/2teaspoon

Oil

Salt

To make the spice paste

Tomato-2

Red chilly powder-1 teaspoon (adjust to your taste)

Coriander powder- 1teaspoon

Garam masala powder -1/2teaspoon

Turmeric powder- 1/4teaspoon

Dry Mango powder -1 teaspoon ( Can be replaced with lemon juice or Tamarind paste)

Sesame seeds- 1tablespoon

Sugar-1/2teaspoon

Salt

Oil

Method

Coarsely mash the sesame seeds in mortar & pestle and keep it aside.

Heat oil in a kadai, add the chopped tomatoes and cook till they become soft. Then add in the turmeric-chilli-coriander- garam masala -amchur (dry mango) powders along with the sugar,salt and sesame seeds. 

Cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring it occasionally to avoid burning. Then let it cool completely.

[I saw the recipe for this masala here and prepared the masala and stored it in Fridge.]

 

Now let's proceed to the capsicum curry.

Chop the onion and capsicum into big chunks. Heat oil in a wide pan, and add the cumin seeds, let them splutter.

Then add in the onion-capsicum chunks. 

 

Roast them on high heat for a few minutes, then add in the spice paste.

Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of water, check the salt(remember, the spice paste has salt! :) ) and cook on medium flame.

 

Once the water has evaporated, the tangy capsicum masala is ready! The capsicum should be crunchy, and should not be overcooked. 

You can make the spice paste well in advance and cook this curry just under 10 minutes. It pairs well with roti's as well as rice.

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Rava Kesari / Sooji ka Halwa

 Let me start this new year with a sweet recipe! :)

This is a quick and easy dessert, without any fancy ingredients.  you can fix it within half an hour. Instead of serving it in a bowl, you can cut it into squares, garnish with cashew and raisin, sure its a crowd pleaser! :)))

Ingredients
Rava/Sooji - 3/4cup
Sugar - 11/2 cups
Ghee -1/4cup
Kesari colour / food colour - few drops
Elaichi-3
Cloves(optional)-2
Few Raisins and Cashew

Method

Heat  a tablespoon of ghee in a wide pan. Fry the cloves-cashews-raisins, and keep them aside. In the same pan, add the rava and roast it till you get a nice aroma.

Powder the elaichi and keep it aside.

Meanwhile, start heating 11/2cups water in a separate burner. Once the water starts boiling, add in the food colour and mix it well.

Now reduce the heat on the roasting rava, and add the boiling water to it. (Be careful, the content will start bubbling vigorously) and mix it continuously.
Rava will absorb all the water added, mix it for a minutes and add the sugar.

Kesari will become watery once you add the sugar, keep stirring for a few minutes and start adding ghee, one tablespoon at a time. By the time you complete the 3 tablespoon of ghee, kesari would have become a non-sticky mass  and will start leaving the pan.


Add the elaichi powder and put-off the flame. [You can add the fried cashew-clove-raisin to the kesari, give it a quick mix, and done! Delicious rava kesari is ready.]

Since I was taking this to a friend's place, I poured the kesari on a greased plate, and levelled it. After a minute, marked the lines on the kesari and placed cashew & raisin on each square. Once the kesari cools down completely, you can cut it with the help of the lines marked already.

This is for our home! :)
~~~
 This dessert was liked by many of the kids at the party, and hence linking this recipe to "Healthy food for healthy Kids" happening at Nithu's Kitchen. You can check the host line up for this event here.

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New Year Greetings!

Let the Flowers of Happiness Bloom in the Garden of Life!

Wish You All A Very Happy & Healthy 2013!

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Rasam

 

This is one of the easy and quickest rasam recipe without using Rasam powder. We enjoyed delicious Vada-Pav at a friend's place recently. Her Mom asked for the rasam recipe without rasam powder. Gald to share one of the day today South Indian recipe..this recipe is for you Aunty! :)

Ingredients

Tomato-2

Tamarind - small piece

Whole pepper corns-1teaspoon

Cumin seeds -1teaspoon 

Garlic-1clove

Sugar-1/4teaspoon

Salt

To temper 

Oil

Mustard seeds-1/2teaspoon

Red chilly-1

Few curry leaves & Cilantro

Hing(asafoetida) - 1/8teaspoon

Method

Wash and cut the tomatoes into big chunks.

Take them with tamarind and  a half cup of water in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave it for 4-5 minutes. (time may vary according to the microwave)

Let it cool completely and mash it nicely, and  take out only the juice.

Roast the cumin seeds and pepper corns on low heat for couple of minutes. Once they cool down, crush them along with a clove of garlic and keep it aside.

Heat a teaspoon of oil, make the tempering with mustard seeds,curry leaves,red chilly and hing.

 

Add the tomato-tamarind juice, add enough salt and let it cook for a few minutes. Rasam will start frothing, by then add the crushed pepper-cumin and garlic and 1/4 teaspoon of sugar. Put off the flame and add chopped cilantro. 

Quick and delicious rasam is ready! Serve with white rice or as a soup. 

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Peernkangai Chutney/Ridged Gourd Chutney

Ingredients
Peerkangai / Ridged gourd -1(small)
Channa dal-1tablespoon
Garlic-3cloves
Chopped Onion-3tablespoons
Red chilli -7(adjust to your taste)
Small piece of tamarind
Salt
Oil
To temper
Oil
Mustard seeds-1/2teaspoon
Urad dal-1/2teaspoon
Few curry leaves

Method
Peel the skin of the peerkangai (ridged gourd) and cut it into small pieces.
Heat oil in a pan, add the channa dal. Fry it till it becomes golden in colour, then add in the red chillies and onion, garlic & tamarind.
Fry till the onions become transparent, add the peerkangai (ridged gourd) and fry for 4-5minutes. (The veggie should be cooked) 
Let it cool.
Once cooled down completely, grind it with enough salt.( no water required for grinding) 
Heat little oil, make the tempering with mustard seeds-urad dal-curry leaves(which I didn't have by then) n pour it on the chutney.
Lightly sweet n delicious chutney is ready to serve with dosa/idli/white rice. 

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Spring Onion Paratha

Ingredients

Whole wheat flour/ Aata - 11/2cups

Chopped spring onion -1/4cup

Ajwain - 1 teaspoon

Green Chilly -1 (chopped)

Olive Oil - 1tablespoon

Salt 

Water-3/4cup

Method

Combine all the ingredients except water in a bowl.  Mix everything well with fingers and make the flour into crumbles.

Mix water little by little and make it into a soft dough. Coat it with oil and keep it in an airtight container for 15-20 minutes.

Make lemon sized balls out of the dough. Roll a ball into a circle, brush some olive oil, sprinkle some dry flour, fold as shown below.

You will get square shape parathas by folding this. This is just an option, you can do as normal roti/paratha as you always do. When I was googling, saw the recipe here, n this square shape really attracted me and followed the same. :)

Heat a griddle and cook the parathas by applying olive oil on both sides. Flaky and soft spring onion-ajwain paratha's are ready to serve. Enjoy it with your choice of Kurma/pickle/curd.

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Bottlegourd - Peanut Koottu

Ingredients
Tender Bottle-gourd -1
Roasted Peanut -1/4cup
Red chillies - 5 (adjust to your taste)
Salt

Method
Dry roast the peanuts and red chillies on low heat for a minute or two. This helps to grind them coarsely. Use mortar and pestle (or pulse it in a mixie jar) and make it into coarse powder.

Wash and chop the bottle gourd into small pieces. Add them in a pan, sprinkle a tablespoon of water, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Bottle gourd will release some water, so stir it in between and take care the veggie is not getting burnt.

Once the veggie is cooked, add the peanut-redchilli powder, mix it well. Tasty and delicious stir-fry without a drop of oil is ready! Enjoy it with rice or roti.

Recipe Source : Here

 ~~~

Sending this recipe to Bachelor's Feast event happening at Jaleelaa akkaa's Samaiyal attakaasam

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Kashmiri Pulao

This is a very mild and colourful pulao. It looks very pretty with the pomegranate, of course a party friendly dish. Serve this pulao with some spicy gravies like these.

Ingredients
Basmati Rice - 1cup
Milk - 1/2cup
Water -1 cup
Few raisins, cashew and almonds
Pomegranate seeds - 2 tablespoons
Onion-1
Green chilly-1
Frozen Green peas - 1/4cup 
Bay leaf-2
Cloves-2
Elaichi-1
Grated Ginger & garlic- 2teaspoons
Few Cinnamon Stick pieces
Ghee - 1teaspoon
Oil-1tablespoon
Salt

Method
Wash and soak the rice for half an hour.
Chop the onion into fine pieces. Slit the green chilly.
Coarsely chop the almonds and cashews.
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pressure cooker. Add the whole garam masala and let them splutter. Then add in the nuts and raisin. Fry them and add the grated ginger-garlic, followed by onion and green chilly pieces.
Sauté till the onions become transparent, then add the green peas with enough salt.

Cook for 2-3 minutes and add the soaked rice(after draining all the water).

Add 1/2 cup of milk and a cup of water..

Close the pressure cooker, cook on medium heat for 7 minutes and put off the flame. Open the cooker once the pressure has gone completely and add the ghee and pomegranate.

Fluff the rice gently, and serve hot with your choice of gravy..

We had it with the quick brinjal gravy posted earlier. :)

Recipe Inspiration : Here

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