Pakarkay theeyal/ Bitter gourd gravy

Bitter gourd is one of the few veggies my DH hates! If I make Pulikuzhambu once in a blue moon he will have it. Bitter gourd fry is always not permitted. As a result I buy this veggie rarely. When I bought it this time, i saw the paakarkay theeyal recipe in Chitra's blog. Tried it a few days back, and it was a big it. This is slightly different from the puli kuzhambu and tasted awesome.

Ingredients
Bitter gourd -2
Onion-1
Green chilly-1
Turmeric powder-1/4teaspoon
Tomato-1
Few Curry leaves
Sugar-1/2teaspoon

To roast & grind
Grated Coconut-3tablespoons
Small onions/shallots -5
Red chillies-7
Coriander seeds-1teaspoon
Cumin seeds-1teaspoon
Pepper corns-7
Raw rice-1teaspoon
Urad dhal-1teaspoon
Tamarind-one gooseberry size

Method
Heat oil in a pan and add raw rice and urad dhal and fry till they turn golden colour. Then add coriander & cumin seeds, pepper corns and fry for a minute. Add in the shallots,redchillies, tamarind,coconut and fry on medium heat till everything turns brown colour.

Let it cool and grind it to a smooth paste.
Slice the bitter gourds-onion-g.chilles into thin slices.

Heat oil in a kadai, make the tempering with mustard seeds, followed by onions-g.chilly, curry leaves. Add turmeric powder, fry till the onions become transparent, add the bitter gourd slices.
Close the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes. Then add the chopped tomato, cook till it becomes mushy. Mix the masala paste with enough water and add it with enough salt.
Cook it covered for 7-8 minutes, then open the pan, cook it on low heat till the oil oozes out from the gravy.
Add the sugar and switch off the stove. Pakarkay theeyal is ready to enjoy! It goes well with hot steaming rice as well as dosa and idly.

Read More

Vazhakkay Eriseri/ Plantain Fry with roasted coconut

I tasted this in a friend's house. The very next day I wanted to try this out as 2 plantains were sleeping in my fridge for a long time. To my bad luck, I was running out of couple of other main ingredients(green chillies and fresh coconut) for the recipe. But was not having the patience to go to the store and getting things. So just proceeded with the alternatives and guess what?? It turned out to be really tasty. I know this may not be the proper "eriseri" but still it tastes awesome. :)

Ingredients
Raw Plantain -2
Red chillies-3
Coconut -1cup
Cumin Seeds-1teaspoon
Mustard seeds-1/2teaspon
Urad dhal-1teaspoon
Curry leaves
Pepper Powder-1teaspoon
Turmeric Powder-1/4teaspoon
Salt
Oil
Method
Peel the skin and chop the plantains into small pieces. Keep them in water till you use them.
Combine the plantains,pepper and turmeric powder,salt with enough water and cook till the veggie becomes soft but not mushy.
Grind 1/2cup of coconut with red chillies and cumin to a coarse powder.

Heat oil(preferably coconut oil) in a pan,make the tempering with mustard seeds-urad dhal and currry leaves. Then add the coconut+cumin+chilli powder, cook for a minute or two.

Drain the excess water(if any) from the plantain and add it..
In a separate pan, roast the remaining coconut till it becomes brown. Add the roasted coconut to the plantains and mix well.
Cook on low heat for a minute and switch off the stove.

Vazhakkay eriseri is ready! It goes well with all rice varieties.

Sending the following recipes to "Healing foods -Banana" event started by Siri and hosted in Krithi's Kitchen.
1.Plantain Eriseri
2.Banana-Walnut Cake
3.Pazha kachayam

Read More

My Article in Aval Vikatan

Dear Friends, Am happy to share the news that my article about Carlsbad Flowerfields is featured in the latest issue(published last Monday in India) of Aval Vikatan, a famous tamil magazine from the Vikatan Groups.

The Flower Fields is a beautiful place with lot of fun filled activities. If you live around LA, this is a must see place. With the Pacific breeze, colourful flowers and a big outlet mall, am sure you can spend a whole day here. They are open for 3 months in the Spring, so don't miss it in the next season!

Thanks to Aval Vikatan team,Thanks to my family and friends who wished me through phone and mails.

:))))))))

You can see some more photos of the Flower fields in the album.

Carlsbad Flower fields

Thanks!

Read More

Potato Podimas

Ingredients
Potato-2 (medium size~200grams)
Onion-1
Green Chilli-2
Few curry leaves and Cilantro
Hing-2pinches
Turmeric powder-1/4teaspoon
Mustard Seeds-1/2teaspoon
Cumin Seeds-1/2teaspoon
Channa dhal-1teaspoon
Urad dhal-1teaspoon
Salt
Oil

Method
Boil the potatoes with enough salt in a pressure cooker for 2 whistles. Peel them and keep aside.
Chop the onions & green chillies finely.
Heat oil in a kadai,add the mustard seeds,let them pop, then add hing,cumin seeds followed by channa dhal and urad dhal. Fry till they turn golden colour.
Add the onions-g.chilli-curry leaves and turmeric powder. Add little salt and fry till the onions become transparent.

Mash the potatoes coarsely and add it..
Mix everything to gather, fry on low heat for 2-3 minutes, add in the cilantro.
Potato podimas is ready to serve.
Can have this as a side dish for roti's as well as rice.You can use this as stuffing for masala dosa.

Read More

Puliyodharai / Tamarind Rice

Ingredients
One (big) lemon sized Tamarind
Onion-1
Garlic- 1 bulb(roughly 12 cloves)
Round Red chillies-15
(adjust to your spice level &variety of the chilly.Can decrease the number if using long red chillies)
Methi seeds-1teaspoon
Curry leaves-2 springs
Mustard seeds-11/2teaspoons
Cnanna dhal-1tablespoon
Urad dhal-1tablespoon
Roasted peanuts-1 fistful
Turmeric powder-1/2teaspoon
Sugar-11/2teaspoons
Salt-2teaspoons
Oil-1/4cup
*Cooked rice-5cups

Method
Cook the rice well in advance.
Soak the tamarind in 3 cups of water for an hour, extract the juice and keep aside.
Roast the methi seeds on low heat till you get a nice aroma. Cool them and grind it to a fine powder.
Chop the onions and garlic. Break the red chillies.

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and let them pop-up. Then add channa dhal-urad dhal and peanuts. Fry them till they turn golden colour.

Add the onions-garlic-redchillies-curry leaves, turmeric powder. Sauté them till the onions become transparent.

Add the tamarind juice, enough salt.

Let it boil nicely.
Cook the tamarind mix well till it oozes out oil. Finally add the methi seed powder & sugar,mix it well and switch-off the stove.
Puliyodharai mix is ready once its cooled completely. You can store it in a clean airtight container and store it for week in room temperature,can refrigerate it for 2-3 weeks.[if planning for a long term use, avoid the onions. I always make this for the trips and finish it off in one time.]
Mix the rice and puliyodharai mix.
This will be a perfect lunch for picnics and trips. You can keep it for 2 days. *I cooked 21/2 cups of Basmathi rice. The tamarind mix in the last but one photo was enough for that quantity.

This rice tastes divine with raw coconut(yes, raw coconut pieces - தேங்காய்த் துண்டுகள் :) ) or with paruppu chutney/coriander chutney/mint chutney. The chutnies should be thick and preferably made with roasted coconut(if using). Even any chips will be enough with this rice.

Read More

Pav Bhaji Buns/ Dinner rolls

I saw the recipe of Pav Buns at Vardhini's kitchen, suddenly baked these this evening! :) Buns came out so nice. Thought of storing them and make pav-baji tomorrow, but we had it with evening tea and almost finished them! :)

I just followed her recipe except the amount of sugar. As a sweet lover, I wanted the buns to be little sweet, hence added some more sugar. You can see her recipe here.

Ingredients
All Purpose Flour-11/2cups
Instant Yeast-1/2 of a 7oz pack
Sugar-2tablespoons
Salt-1/2teaspoon
Milk -1/2kap+2tablespoons
Luke warm water-2tablespoons
Butter-11/2tablespoons
Oil-1teaspoon
Egg-1


Method
Add the yeast and a teaspoon of sugar to the luke warm water, mix well and keep undisturbed for 10 minutes. By this time the yeast solution will be frothy.

Heat the milk for a minute in Microwave, add the butter, and let it melt.(heat again for 30 seconds.)

Add the remaining sugar and salt to the milk+butter, stir well till they get dissolved. Let the milk to cool down a bit. Then add the yeast to the milk and mix it.

Add the flour little by litter and mix it. It will be very sticky. I added little more(May be couple of tablespoons) flour to work with.

Knead it like roti dough for 10 minutes and you will get a soft dough which won't even stick to your fingers.
Coat it with oil,cover it with clear wrap. Keep it in a warm place and let it rise for an hour.(I kept it for 11/2 hours)
Punch the dough and make 6 equal balls. Place them on a greased baking tray. Make sure that you leave some space in between the buns to raise.
After an hour the buns will rise nicely. Preheat the oven to 375F. Give a generous egg wash to the buns and bake for 20 minutes.
Soft and tasty buns are ready! Let it cool for some time and remove them from the pan. I was planning to make pav-bhaji, but could not resist! ;)

..... n enjoyed it with our evening tea!

:)))))))))))))

NB: I know am adding lot of snaps, but can't resist that! ;)

Read More

Mint Pulao

Ingredients - To Grind
Mint-1 small bunch
Cilantro-1 fistful
Green Chilly-1
Cloves-2
Cinnamon
Elaichi-1
Grated Coconut-1tablespoon

For tempering
Ghee- 1 tablespoon
Oil-2teaspoons
Few Almonds and Cashews (optional)
Cumin Seeds-1 teaspoon
Onion(medium size,finely chopped)-1

Basmathi Rice-1cup
Lemon juice-1tablespoon
Salt


Method
Wash and soak the rice for at least 20 minutes,drain the water and keep aside.
Clean and wash the mint and cilantro leaves. Grind the ingredients under "to grind" table with little water to a fine paste.
Heat oil +ghee in a pressure cooker. Make the tempering with cumin seeds,then add the onions and fry till it becomes nice brown colour.
Add the mint paste and lemon juice, fry on low heat till the oil oozes out.
Then add the rice, 11/2 cups of water. Cook for a whistle and switch off the flame.
Remove the cooker from stove top and let it cool.

Open the cooker, fluff the rice gently and serve. Any chips will be a nice accomplishment for this rice. You can add green peas with the pulao and garnish with a few roasted cashew nuts.

Makes a quick n tasty lunch box with some chips! :)

Sending recipe to Reva's "Royal Feast -Biriyani" event.

Read More

Brinjal-Drumstick-Potato kuzhambu

Ingredients
Five pieces of Drumstick,cut into 2" pieces.
One Brinjal
One small Potato
Onion-1
(Cut brinjal-potao-onion in same size chunks)
Green chilly-1
Few curry leaves and cilantro
Garlic-2 cloves
Tamarind juice-1/4cup
Chilli Powder-11/2teaspoons
Coriander Powder-1teaspoon
Mustard seeds-1/2teaspoon
Cumin seeds-1/2teaspoon
Sugar-1/2teaspoon
Salt
Oil

To Grind
Tomato-2
Grated Coconut -3tablespoons

Method
Heat oil in a kadai,make the tempering with mustard and cumin seeds.Let them crackle.
Add onion-g.chilli-garlic cloves-curry leaves and sauté them for 2 minutes.
Add in the veggies-tamarind juice-chilli powder-coriander powder and salt. Cook till the veggies are soft but firm.
Grind the tomatoes and coconut to a fine paste.
Add the coconut-tomato paste to the veggies.
Let it boil on medium heat till the kuzhambu thickens and oil oozes out.
Brinjal-Drumstick-Potato kuzhambu is ready to serve. Goes well with Rice and Dosai.

Read More