Spinach & Egg Stir-fry / ஸ்பினாச்-முட்டை பொரியல்

Ingredients

Spinach - 1 bunch (Cleaned, washed and chopped)

Egg-1

Sliced onions-2tablespoons

Green chilly-2

Red chilly-1

Garlic-2 cloves

Cumin seeds-1/2teaspoon

Sugar- a pinch

Salt

Oil

Method

Gather all the ingredinets.

Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds and let them splutter. Then add in the red chilly-onion-green chilly-chopped garlic and sauté for a while.

Add in the chopped spinach, sprinkle some water and sugar.

Cook for 2-3 minutes on medium low heat. Spinach gets cooked very fast, so don't over cook it. 

Add  enough salt and then the egg.

Mix it well and continue cooking for 2 more minutes on low heat. 

Quick and tasty stir-fry is ready. It goes well with all the rice dishes and roti.

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Quick and Easy Onion Curry / வெங்காய வதக்கல்

Ingredients

Onion -1 (big)

Chilly powder-/2 teaspoon (adjust to taste)

Cumin seeds-1/2teaspoon

Salt

Oil 

Method

Chop the onion finely.

Heat oil in a pan, add the cumin seeds and let them sizzle. Then add the chopped onions.

Add enough salt and sauté the onion on medium flame.

Once the onion is browned slightly, add the chilly powder and give a quick stir.

And its all done..transfer it to the serving bowl and enjoy!

It goes well with roti/paratha or hot steaming white rice with a teaspoon of sesame oil. 

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Brinjal Stir fry / Katharikkai Poriyal

Ingredients

Small purple Brinjals-6 

Onion - 1

Toamto-1

Few curry leaves

Green chilly-1

Grated Coconut-1tablespoon

Sambar powder -2teaspoons

Turmeric powder-1/4teaspoon

Mustard seeds-1/2teaspoon

Channa dal & Urad dal - a teaspoon each

Sugar-1/2teaspoon

Oil

Salt

Method

Slice the onion ,  green chilly and tomato.

1. Slice the brinjals and immerse them in water till use.

2. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, let them crackle. Add the channa dal & urad dal, fry until they turn golden in color. Then add the sliced onion-green chilly and tomato along with curry leaves.

3. Sauté them for 2-3 minutes, then add the sliced brinjals. Add the turmeric, sambar powders and required salt. 

4. Add 1/4 cup of water and cook till the brinjals become tender. Carefully stir it once in a while without breaking the brinjals, add additional water if needed.
5. Add the grated coconut and sugar. Give it a quick mix and remove it from the stove.
6. Delicious brinjal stir fry is ready.

Tastes great with rice. You can have it as a side dish or mix it with rice. 

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Wheat Rava Pongal /கோதுமை ரவை பொங்கல்

This is venpongal recipe..instead of rice, I have used wheat rava/ cracked wheat/ godumai ravai.
Ingredients
Wheat Rava-3/4cup
Moong dal -1/4cup
Cashew nuts - few
Few curry leaves
Pepper corns-8(adjust to taste)
Cumin seeds-1teaspoon
Green chilly -1
Ghee-2 tablespoons
Salt
Method
1. Dry roast the moong dal until it emanates a nice aroma.
2. Combine tha roasted dal and wheat rava in a small pressure cooker.
3. Add  3 cups of water and pressure cook it for 3 whistles.

5. Heat a table spoon of ghee in a small pan, add the cashews and fry them golden brown. Then add crushed pepper corns and cumin seeds, slit green chilly.  Fry them for 30 seconds. 

6. Add the tempering to the pongal and mix it well. 

Add another tablespoon of ghee on the pongal and serve hot. 

Enjoy healthy wheat pongal with your choice of chutney - sambar or Gotsu. We had it with brinjal-potato gotsu.

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Kalkandu Pongal / Sugar Candy pongal

Ingredients

Raw rice -1/2cup

Moong dal - 2 tablespoons

Kalkandu/Sugar candy - 1/4cup

Sugar -1/4 cup 

(Adding sugar is optional, you can make it only with kalkandu, in that case add 1/2 cup of sugar candy or adjust to your taste.)

Elaichi-2

Cashews and raisins - handful 

Milk-1/4cup 

Ghee - 3 tablespoons

Method

1.Wash and soak the rice for half an hour.

Dry roast the moong dal until it emanates a nice aroma. 

Combine the rice and roasted dal in a pressure cooker. Add 2 cups of water and cook for 3 whistles.

Open the cooker after the pressure has gone, add the milk and mash the pongal. 

2 & 3. Add the kalkandu and sugar, and put the cooker back on the stove. 

4. Keep the heat low and stir the pongal adding 2 tablespoons of ghee in 2 intervals.

5. Fry the cashews and raisins in the remaining tablespoon of ghee.

6. Add the roasted cashew-raisin and powdered elaichi to the pongal and mix everything nicely.

Kalkandu Pongal / Sugar Candy Pongal is ready. Enjoy warm or cold. 

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Pongal Vaazthukkal / Happy Makar Sankranthi

Wish You All a Very Happy Pongal / Makar Sankranthi! 

Am very grateful to all the support you are giving to my little blog dear friends. Its been 5 long years I have started blogging. Yup.. the first post was published on 13th of January 2010. Today I look back the journey I have been through in this blogosphere..its just amazing! Learnt a lot and got many friends and well-wishers. Thanks a ton to all of you! :)

My days and nights are busy with my sweet little daughter 'Laya'...planning to update this blog on a regular basis hereafter, if she permits! ;) :) 

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Happy New Year 2015!

Wish You a Very Happy New Year 2015! 

May this bring happiness, health and wealth to you & your family! 

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Diwali Wishes..

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Taking a break..

 I am traveling to India this week and will be back in the end of September. See you then with some interesting posts. Thanks for the support friends!

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Easy Chutney for Idly & Dosa

Ingredients

Onion(big)-1

Tomato(big)-1

Green chilly-3 (adjust to taste)

Roasted peanuts- one fist full

Tamarind- tiny piece

Oil 

Salt

Method

Chop the onion and tomato into big chunks.

Heat oil in a pan, add the onion-green chilly, sauté them for 2-3 minutes on medium heat. 

Then add the tomato and sauté until it becomes soft.

Add the roasted peanuts and tamarind. Fry for a minute and put off the stove. Let it cool, then grind it into a fine chutney.

No need to add water, the tomatoes we added will do the job.

This is a quick and easy chutney..an inviting variation from regular "red chilly-channa dal or urad dal combo" in our house. It tastes great with idli as well as dosa.

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Cabbage & Wheat flour Adai

Ingredients

Wheat flour-1cup

Chopped onion-1/4cups

Chopped green chillies-3 (adjust to taste)

Chopped cilantro-2tablespoons

Grated coconut-1tablespoon

Salt

Water

Oil 

to saute 

Oil-1teaspoon

Cumin seeds-1/2teaspoon

Chopped cabbage-1/4cup

Method

Heat a teaspoon of oil, add the cumin seeds and let them splutter. 

Add the cabbage and sauté for 2-3minutes.

Let it cool down completely. 

Combine wheat flour-chopped onion-chopped green chillies-chopped cilantro-sauted cabbage-salt-grated coconut in a bowl. 

Add water to make a thick batter. The consistency should be thicker than the regular dosa batter.
Heat a griddle, make thick dosa with the mixed batter.
Drizzle oil and let it cook on one side, flip it and cook the other side as well.
Serve hot with your choice of side dish.

Any kind of pickle,  plain yogurt or coconut chutney will be a perfect side for this adai. Can have as such too..which is what obviously I did! ;) :). As I was in a hurry to make the dinner, I just sautéed the cabbage on the griddle itself! It makes the process faster. 

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Vendaikkai Poriyal/Okra Stir-fry/Ladies Finger Stir-fry

This is a quick and delicious stir-fry. I posted it long back, but now the pictures are missing in that post. Thought of updating the recipe with fresh pictures. :)

Ingredients

Vendaikkai/Okra/Ladies finger - 20

Chilly powder-2teaspoon(adjust to taste)

Mustard seed-1/2teaspoon

Salt

Oil

To Mince

Coconut-2tablespoons

Cumin seeds-1teaspoon

Onion-1

Method

Wash and pat-dry the okra/Vendaikkai. Trim the edges, slit them into 4 pieces.

Mince the items in a food processor/mixie to a coarse paste. 

Heat oil in a wide pan, temper with mustard seeds. 

Then add the okra pieces and sauté on medium heat.

 Once the veggie is half-way cooked, add the chilly powder-salt.

 Give it a quick stir, now add the coconut-cumin-onion paste.

 Toss it nicely till the raw smell of the onion has gone. Delicious stir fry is ready to serve.

Goes well with all kinds of rice and roti. 

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Freezing Coconut Paste

Coconut paste is used in lot of kurma varieties and kuzhambu varieties in South Indian cooking. Making the coconut paste in bulk and freezing it will be handy. I used the cute ice cube trays to freeze the coconut.
Ingredients
Whole coconut/Freshly grated coconut
Very little water
Method
Wash the ice cube trays and keep it ready.
Break the coconut, and using a sharp knife, take the coconut, chop into small pieces. (If using freshly grated coconut, you can skip this step)
Take the coconut in a mixer/food processor and pulse it for 3-4 times.
Now add little water and grind it into a fine paste.

Fill the ice cube trays with the ground coconut and freeze it for 4-5 hours. 

Take the frozen coconut cubes and store it in a zip-lock bags.

Use them as needed in sambar-puli kuzhambu or korma/kuruma.

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Methi Leaves Stir-fry/Vendhaya Keerai Poriyal

You might wonder cooking methi leaves alone will result in a bitter dish. But try this recipe, I bet you will love it. Its healthy, quick..more than that its delicious! :)
Ingredients
Methi leaves -1small bunch
Chopped onion-2tablespoons
Red chilies-2 (or) 3
Tomato-1 (small)
Grated coconut-1tablespoon
Mustard seed-1/2teaspoon
Channa dal & Urad dal-1/2teaspoon each
Sugar-1/4teaspoon
Salt
Oil
Method
Keep the onions-tomatoes-redchilly and other tempering ingredients ready.

Clean and wash methi leaves.

Heat the oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and let them pop-up. Add the channa & urad dal and fry till they turn golden.

Now add the chopped onion-broken red chillies and sauté for a minute. 

Meanwhile chop the methi leaves. (If the green is fresh and tender, you can use the stems of the methi too. I have added the stems as well.)

Add the chopped tomato and cook until its soft. Then add the methi leaves, sprinkle some water. Add the sugar and let it cook. 

Methi leaves get cooked fast, so add the coconut and enough salt to the stir-fry and put off the stove. 

Mix everything well and let the pan be on the stove for 2-3 minutes. By then stir fry would be dry and  ready. Enjoy it with your choice of rice dish or roti. 

I had it with Jeera rice and dhal. It tastes great with plain white rice or sambar rice, rasam rice. It will be perfect side for the roti too. 

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Soya Puli Kuzhambu/Mealmaker in Tamarind Gravy

Ingredients

Meal maker/Soya chunks - 20

Onion-1

Green chilly-1

Tomato-1

Garlic-10cloves

Few curry leaves

Turmeric powder-1/4teaspoon

Shakti Vatha kuzhambu podi-3teaspoons[can be replaced by 11/2teaspoons chili powder + 11/2teaspoons coriander powder]

Coconut milk powder-1tablespoon

Tamarind juice(thick) -1/4cup

Mustard seeds-1/2teaspoon

Methi seeds-10

Salt

Sugar-1/2teaspoon

Gingely oil - 1tablespoon

Method

Wash and put the soya chunks in boiling water, cook for 3 minutes. Drain them and squeeze out the water and keep it aside. 

Chop the onion and garlic cloves, green chilly and tomato into big chunks.

Heat gingely oil/nallennai in a pan, add the mustard seed and let them pop-up.

Add the methi seeds followed by the onion-garlic-g.chilly and curry leaves(which I didn't add). 

Saute for a while then add the soya chunks and cook for couple of minutes. 

Now add the chopped tomatoes, tamarind water, masala powder  and salt.

Let this boil nicely till the raw smell of the tamarind has gone. Then add the coconut milk powder and adjust the water according to the desired consistency.

Cook for one boil, reduce the heat to low, add the sugar and let the kuzhambu simmer for 4-5 minutes.

Tangy and delicious kuzhambu is ready. Soya chunks will absorb the tamarind juice and will be soft and yummy!

Enjoy the meal maker puli kuzhambu with piping hot rice.

Recipe inspiration : HERE

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