Merry Christmas and happy new year 2010

Thank you for a year of blessing, of new friends made, hearts reaching out across continents, and time to come visit me. I have loved every minute!

In the coming new year we continue to grow in our friendship, and meet often in front of these screens with more exciting receipies and more yum dishes to share and enjoy.

Wish you all a happy merry christmas
and
happy and fabulous and prosperous new year 2010.

Happy cooking and take care,
Sumy Sunil

Payaru dosa…

I’ve tried this receipe for the first time in my life and I’m happy that it came out very well and my DH liked it very well.

I found the payaru koottan still not finished by my family. I don’t wanna to throw it away either. If I reheat it and serve it the next day, I know for sure my kids don’t touch it or my DH will return a frown look.

So to relish my creative juice, I grinded the payaru koottan and mixed it with plain rice dough.

I poured this payaru rice dough in a nonstick pan as a dosa. Pour little oil on top of the dosa to get nice and crispy.

Enjoy this with coconut chutney/tomato chutney.

Payaru koottaan/gravy

Ingredients:
• Payaru – 2 cup
• Onions – 1
• Tomato - 2
• 1 tbsp – mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp- cooking oil
• green chilly/ dry red chilli – 1-2 slitted
• 1 pinch of turmeric powder
• 2 tbsp of malli powder
• ½ tbsp of chilli powder
• Coconut – ½ portion
• 1 tbsp jeerakham seeds
• Salt to taste

Method of preparation:

Soak the Payaru seeds in water overnight ( 8 hours). Wash it thoroughly with fresh water the next day and pressure cooker it with a pinch of salt.

Grind the grated coconut with jeerakham and 1 green chilli.



In a kadai, pour some cooking oil and splutter some mustard seeds, kadala paruppu, jeerakham, urud dhal seeds. When it becomes golden brown, add chopped onions, slitted green chillies and lotsa of curry leaves and stir fry it till it becomes light brown. To this, add a pinch of turmeric powder, salt, chilli powder, malli powder and sauté it till the raw smell is gone. To this add the cooked kondakaddalla and coconut paste. Add some water to make it in a gravy form and allow it to boil. Add salt to taste.



Enjoy the curry with plain rice/Ari puttu/Ragi Puttu.

Idili uppuma

What do you do with the leftover idili that you would have prepared for breakfast/dinner? Don’t throw it off. Refrigerate it and it can be used to prepare yummy uppuma.



Here we go with the ingredients

1. Idillies
2. Onions – 1
3. 1 tbsp – mustard seeds
4. 1 tbsp- cooking oil
5. green chilly/ dry red chilli – 1-2 slitted
6. 1 pinch of turmeric powder
7. 1 tbsp jeerakham seeds
8. 2 tbsp idili podi/paruppu podi
9. Salt to taste
10. groundnuts

Method of preparation:


Powder the idillies with the hand. Make sure no lumps are formed.

In a kadai, pour some cooking oil and splutter some mustard seeds, kadala paruppu, jeerakham, urud dhal seeds and groundnuts. When it becomes golden brown, add chopped onions, broken dry red chillies and lotsa of curry leaves and stir fry it till it becomes light brown. To this, add a pinch of turmeric powder, idili podi and salt to taste. To this add the powdered idilli and mix it well and allow it to warm.


You may also add chopped beans and carrot to this.

Kondakadala kuttan/curry

Ingredients:
• Kondakadalla – 2 cup
• Onions – 1
• Tomato - 2
• 1 tbsp – mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp- cooking oil
• green chilly/ dry red chilli – 1-2 slitted
• 1 pinch of turmeric powder
• 2 tbsp of malli powder
• ½ tbsp of chilli powder
• Coconut – ½ portion
• 1 tbsp jeerakham seeds
• Salt to taste

Method of preparation:

Soak the kondakaddalla seeds in water overnight ( 8 hours). Wash it thoroughly with fresh water the next day and pressure cooker it with a pinch of salt.

Grind the grated coconut with jeerakham and 1 green chilli.

In a kadai, pour some cooking oil and splutter some mustard seeds, kadala paruppu, jeerakham, urud dhal seeds. When it becomes golden brown, add chopped onions, slitted green chillies and lotsa of curry leaves and stir fry it till it becomes light brown. To this, add a pinch of turmeric powder, salt, chilli powder, malli powder and sauté it till the raw smell is gone. To this add the cooked kondakaddalla and coconut paste. Add some water to make it in a gravy form and allow it to boil. Add salt to taste.


Enjoy the curry with plain rice/Ari Puttu/Ragi Puttu.

Beetroot thoran/poriyal

A nice dry sidedish to go with plain rice...


Ingredients:
• chopped pieces of beetroot
• Onions – 1
• 1 tbsp – mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp- cooking oil
. dry peanut - 10-15 pieces
• green chilly/ dry red chilli – 1-2 slitted
• 1 pinch of turmeric powder
• ½ tbsp of chilli powder
• Salt to taste

Method of preparation:



In a kadai, pour some cooking oil and splutter some mustard seeds, kadala paruppu, jeerakham, urud dhal seeds. When it becomes golden brown, add chopped onions, slitted green chillies, peanuts and lotsa of curry leaves and stir fry it till it becomes light brown. To this, add chopped pieces of beetroot and a pinch of turmeric powder, salt, chilli powder and mix it thoroughly and allow it to cook. Sprinkle little water if you feel it is dry and requires some more cooking.

Egg Curry/Motta kuttan

Easy and requires less time for preparation....

Ingredients:
1. Boiled eggs – 4 (depending on the requirement)
2. Onions – 2
3. Tomato – 2
4. 1 tbsp – mustard seeds
5. 1 tbsp- cooking oil
6. green chilly – 1-2 slitted
7. 1 pinch of turmeric powder
8. ½ tbsp of garam masala powder
9. ginger garlic paste

Method of preparation:

Boil eggs separately.

In a kadai, pour some cooking oil and splutter some mustard seeds, kadala paruppu, jeerakham, urud dhal seeds. When it becomes golden brown, add ginger garlic paste and sauté it till its raw smell is gone. Add chopped onions, slitted green chillies and stir fry it till it becomes light brown. To this, add the finely chopped tomatoes and cook it till it becomes soggy. Add turmeric powder, salt, garam masala and pour little water if you want it in gravy form. Allow it to cook till it boils. To this add the boiled egg cut into halves. Pour the gravy on top of the eggs.

(Sorry for the poor picture, actually the gravy was red in color..it looks dull in here..there was no proper lighting i believe ..)

Enjoy this yummy sidedish with chappathi/plain

Masala peanuts…on a rainy day!!!!

First of all, sorry guys…had been off from the blogland for quiet sometime because of my tight schedule in my project…second…there is restrictions in accessing net from work as I’m fortunately/unfortunately in a project which has strict policy from accessing net…so you guys may not get a menu from me on a daily basis..i will try to post atleast on weekends….I do cook you know and take pictures of those….so…there will be some interesting posts infrequently from my end…so watchout…

And offlate, It has been raining in Chennai for past few days....as part of “karthika deepam” …...and I thought of enjoying my hot tea with something spicy….....so…here I go with a spicy and crispy masala peanut…


Ingredients:

1 cup of raw groundnut
2 tbsp of kadala maavu(gram flour)
½ tbsp of pepper powder
½ tbsp of chilli powder
A pinch of Asafoetida powder
Salt to taste
1 pinch of food color (optional…I’ve not added as it was not available at home..it gives a nice and red color coating)


Method of preparation:

1. Wash the raw groundnut with water and keep it aside
2. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients mentioned above and to it add the washed groundnut. Mix them well so that a uniform coat is formed on the wet peanuts
3. Microwave the above for 3-4 minutes. Stir it once after 2 mintues..



Enjoy with your evening tea…

Besibellabath/Sambhar rice

This mixed rice is something I dread when I was a little child. It was really spicy then.

Now I love to have a big serving of it in one sitting..such a yummy fab delicious dish…with lotsa of veggies in it…nice and glossy…

Ingredients:

1. Vegetables – Drumstick, brinjal, carrot, cauliflower, potato, long beans, green peas (1 of each)
2. finely chopped onions - 2
3. finely chopped tomatoes – 2
4. Soaked rice – 2 cup
5. Sambhar paruppu – 1 cup
6. Asafodiea powder – ½ tbsp
7. malli (coriander ) seeds – 1 tbsp
8. jeerakham seeds – 1 tbsp
9. dry red chilli – 1-2
10. turmeric powder – a pinch
11. salt to taste
12. 1 handful of grated coconut/coppara

Method of preparation:

1. Soak the rice and sambhar paruppu (already washed) in 7 cup of water for 10-15 mintues
2. in a kadai, fry deeply the grated coconut/coppara, coriander seeds,red dry chilli, jeerakham seeds, Asafodiea powder, 1-2 pearl onions, 1 strand of curry leaves with little oil.
3. Grind the above mix and keep it aside
4. in a deep bottom kadai, pour some oil and fry the chopped vegetables mentioned above with little salt and pinch of turmeric powder.
5. Add the ground paste to the above fried vegetables and just cook for 5 minutes
6. Now in a pressure cooker, mix the soaked rice and sambhar paruppu with the water to the above mix and cook it till 3 whistles.

It should come out like a nice, over cooked rice….something like sticky sticky consistency.


Mix the whole stuff well and garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Adjust the salt after tasting it.

Enjoy with pappadam/pappad, mixture, potato chips.....

Ven (No..Yellow) Pongal

Ven pongal is something special dish in Tamil nadu. One get this dish as a prasadam in many temple after the drashan. It tastes like ambrosia.

In my home, I prepare this for the breakfast mostly once in a week.

So let us go first with the ingredients:

1. Rice – 1 cup
2. Pongal paruppu/Seruparuppu/deskinned pasiparruppu – ¾ to 1 cup
3. salt to taste
4. ghee for seasoning
5. pepper seeds – 1 tbsp
6. jeerakam seeds – 1 tbsp
7. green chilli – 1-2 slitted
8. curry leaves

Method of preparation:

1. Mix the washed rice and pongal paruppu and add salt to taste and 1 pinch of turmeric powder (optional) to give a nice yellow colour and add 3 and ½ cup of water to it. Pressure cook it till 3 whistles.


For seasoning:
• In a pan, heat little ghee and splutter the pepper seeds, jeerakham seeds, dry broken red chilli/green chilli and curry leaves.

Pour out the seasoning to the cooked rice/pongal and mix it well.



Enjoy this with cocunut chutney and sambhar.

Kariveppalla/Curry leaf chutney

First to talk about the importance of curry leaves…it is rich in calcium…good for health…for hair growth etc etc….

My front yard has a big curry plant/tree…and once it is blooms, the whole front yard gets a spread of this plant…


Ingredients:

• 1 /2 tbsp of mustard seeds
• cooking oil – 1 tbsp
• 1 tbsp – uzhundhu dhal seeds
• 1 tbsp – kadala paruppu
• salt to taste
• 1 small piece of tamarind
• Handful of curry leaves
• 1 – finely chopped onion
• 1- finely chopped tomatoes
• 1-2 green chillies slited
• 1-2 dry red chilli

Method of preparation:

• In a heavy bottom pan, pour out some cooking oil and throw all the above ingredients and fry it till it becomes dry.
• Grind it very well with little water.

For seasoning:
• In a pan, heat little cooking oil and splutter the mustard seeds and dry broken red chilli

Pour out the seasoning to the above ground curry leaf paste and mix it well.



Enjoy this with hot hot idli, dosa...

If you mix it with plain rice, it becomes the kariveppalla rice..(another mixed rice)...

Egg burji/Egg podimas

Any recipe which can be prepared in a minute or two is one and only egg burji.

Mix 2-3 egg, finely chopped onions, salt to taste, curry leaves, 2 pinch of turmeric powder (optional), 1-2 chopped green chilli and 1 tbsp pepper powder in a big bowl very well.

In a heated tawa, pour the above mix and stir it with a spatula continuously till the egg is done.

Avarakkaya (Flattened beans) poriyal/thoran

Here is another vegetable side dish to be prepared for lunch/dinner.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp of mustard seeds
• cooking oil – 1 tbsp
• 1 tbsp – uzhundhu dhal seeds
• 1 tbsp – kadala paruppu
• chopped Avarakkaya (Flattened beans)
• salt to taste
• 2 pinch of turmeric powder
• curry leaves
• 1 – finely chopped onion
• 1- finely chopped tomatoes
• 1-2 green chillies slited
• 1-2 dry red chilli

Method of preparation:

• Mix well all the chopped Avarakkaya, finely chopped onions and tomatoes, green chilli, turmeric powder, salt, to taste, curry leaves in a big bowl.
• In a heavy bottom pan, pour out some cooking oil and throw the above mixed stuff.
• Sprinkle some water over the veggies and close it with a lid and allow it to cook. Frequently, give it a stir.
For seasoning:
• In another pan, heat little cooking oil and splutter the mustard seeds, urud dhal seeds, kadala paruppu, dry broken red chilli, curry leaves and fry it till it changes to light brown color.
• Pour out the seasoning to the cooked veggies and mix it well.

Kovakkaya poriyal/thoran

To talk about this kovakkaya (I don't know what this is called in English), I've never seen this one till I came to Chennai 9 (at the age of 23 or so)!!! It was initially hard for me to digest the fact that people cook whatever they say it is a vegetable...

Some say that this veggie is good for people suffering from hypertension..Not sure about this..

so lets get rocking here once again...with the ingredients.....

Ingredients:

1. 1 tbsp of mustard seeds
2. cooking oil – 1 tbsp
3. 1 tbsp – uzhundhu dhal seeds
4. 1 tbsp – kadala paruppu
5. chopped kovakkaya
6. salt to taste
7. 2 pinch of turmeric powder
8. curry leaves
9. 1 – finely chopped onion
10. 1- finely chopped tomatoes
11. 1-2 green chillies slited
12. 1-2 dry red chilli

Method of preparation:

1. In a heavy bottom pan, heat the cooking oil and splutter the mustard seeds, urud dhal seeds, kadala paruppu, dry broken red chilli and fry it till it changes to light brown color.
2. To this add the finely chopped onions and tomatoes and mix and continue to fry it till it becomes nice and glossy and soggy.
3. To this, add green chilli, turmeric powder, salt to taste and later the chopped kovakkaya and mix it well.
4. Sprinkle some water over the veggies and close it with a lid and allow it to cook. Frequently, give it a stir.


The veg now become glossy, soggy and yum to taste.

Red capsicum thoran/poriyal

I got a pack of green capsicum from market. I forgot about it. It was hiding itself from me..LOL...and after a week or so, i was wondering why my DH has got red capsicum from the market....I was scratching my head when i get to realise what is the reality..My green capsicum has ripened!!!..Before it changes to some other color, i thought i do something about it and ended up doing a side dish with it...ROFL...

The result was more picturesque..with red, rose and green.....


Ingredients:

1. Chopped Red capsicum - a pack (3-4)
2. Chopped onions - 1
3. Chopped tomatoes - 1
4. slit green chillies - 1/2
5. Curry leaves
6. Mustard seeds, jeeram seeds, urudhu dal seeds, kadala paruppu for seasoning

Method of preparation:

1. In a kadai, splutter 1 tbsp mustard seed, 1 tbsp uzhudu dhal seed, 1 tbsp of kadala paruppu.

2. Add chopped onions , chopped tomatoes, slitted green chilies and fry it until they are done/ soggy.

3. Add curry leaves and stir fry, a pinch of turmeric powder, 1/2 tbsp of chilli powder and mix it well.

4. Add the chopped capsicum to it and saute it too. Sprinkle some water and close the lid and allow it to cook for some time. Occasionally, give a stir.

5. When it is done 3/4th, add 1/2 tbsp of garam masala and mix it well and allow it to cook.

You can enjoy this side dish with chappathi, plain hot rice.

Dosa with cocunut chutney/lady's finger sambhar - Vendakhaiya sambar - Another couple

Any part of South Indian if you visit, the typical breakfast that one get in any house, restuarant or road side shop...(thattu kada...)...is the one and only plain dosa/dosa roast/ ghee roast/ triangle dosa ...it is comes in all variety and flavour (Dosa kept in the form of Pyramid ..it is folded into a cone shape ...my son loves the presentation)..........

Which reminds me of an instance which happened long way back...(Flash back)

We were in pondicherry to attend a friend's marriage and we reached pondicherry early evening after a long car travel from chennai and we were all exhausted and were waiting to grab something in the restuarant...as usual my DH ordered plain dosa for my DChildren. The server brought the dosa and placed it in front of my son. He studied the plate. And "Enda acchey, sambhar dosadey mozhil uzhalladu?...njaan plain dosa elley choichadu...sambhar venda acchey"...(Why daddy,why Sambhar is on the top of the dosa? I asked only for "PLAIN" dosa, i don't want sambhar)...The manager was observing this conversation....He called the server and questioned him "Avunga "PLAIN" dosa thaney kettangha...ne en sambhar pottu konduvanthey..poyi "PLAIN" dosa konduva "...(He asked only for plain dosa...why did you pour sambhar on top of it...go bring another plain dosa)..The server brought another plate of just "PLAIN" dosa......HAHAHA... We had a hearty laugh and he became the whole attraction in the restuarant....all the Servers stood around our table to have a peek at my son..What a brainy chap!!!!

So back to our ingredients section:

You can see the ingredients of cocunut chutney here


You can see how a podi dosa is made here. A plain dosa is one minus the podi (the powder that i had spread on top of the dosa).

For Lady's finger (Vendakhaiya) sambhar, you may follow the same procedure given here Only difference is replace mango slices and drumstick with lady's finger. If you still need the method, i'll try and post it seperately.

Chappathi and Dhal curry - A fabulous couple

Most of the time, our family dinner comprises of Chappathi and a gravy to go with it and of course, some other dry vegetarian side dish.

But chappathi always goes yum with Dhal...If you go to any parts of North India, you get this combo in any restuarant, home, dhabba....

My husband loves it..He is happy when this couple is prepared for any time of the day/ any course for that matter..So easy to make and simply uncomplicated.."why complicate life?"...that is my motto....

OK !! Enough of rattling and back to business...

Ingredients:

1. 2 cup of dhal (Sambhar paruppu)
2. 1-2 slit green chilli
3. mustard seeds, jeeram seeds for seasoning
4. salt to taste
5. 1/2 tbsp of turmeric powder
6. lots of curry leaves
7. corainder leaves for seasoning
8. Ghee
9. 1- chopped tomato
10. onions - 1 cup

Method of preparation of dhal gravy:

1. Cook the dhal in the pressure cooker till 2-3 whistles.
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a kadai, splutter 1 tbsp mustard seed, add chopped onions and tomatoes, slit 2 green chilies and fry it until they are done.
3. Add curry leaves and stir fry.
4. Add turmeric powder to this and throw in the cooked dhal and add salt to our requirement.
5. Mix well and when it gets boiled, add 1/2 tbsp of ghee (optional)
6. Remove from the stove and garnish with coriander leaves

Emh!!! the aroma fills the stomach too.....

Chappathi:

1. To one cup of wheat flour, add little by little water (add 1 tbsp of milk too and a pinch of salt - though optional) and knead to a not-so-tough consistency. It should not be sticky nor watery.
2. Take a small ball out of the dough.
3. Sprinkle some dry wheat flour on the slab, press down this small ball and flatten it using a chappathi roller to a thin sheet.
4. In a preheated tawa, greese some oil/ghee (optional). Slip this thin sheet on to the top and allow it to cook for 1/2 minute. Then turn over and cook the other side for another 1/2 minute. Toss around and press at various places so that it bulges out.

Nice and hot chappathi is ready..


So C'mon lets grab the chappathi and enjoy with dhal.

Mixed vegetable fried rice - A fusion

It's a fusion between mixed vegetable rice and fried rice..It is my own receipe so beware...LOL..I think it is a confusion, rather...throwed in all the items that i got in my hand and there we go once again...

Ingredients:
1. 1 chopped carrot
2. 2 chopped onions
3. few beans
4. ginger and garlic - small pieces
5. somphu, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, badam – few of each
6. turmeric powder – ½ tbsp
7. chilli powder – ½ tbsp
8. garam masala powder – 1 tbsp
9. cooking oil - 1 tbsp
10. soaked 1 cup of rice for ½ hour

Method of preparation:

In a heavy bottom kadai, heat 1-2 tbsp of cooking oil and splutter some somphu seeds. After that add cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, badam and fry it till fragrant.
Add chopped ginger pieces and garlic pieces/ ginger garlic paste and sauté till the raw smell leaves.
Add all the chopped onions and fry it till it becomes brown color.
Add all the chopped veggies to it and sauté it.
Add chilli powder/gram masala powder and lotsa of curry leaves and turmeric powder and salt to taste and mix it well and allow it to cook for sometime.
Now add the soaked rice with 2 glass of water and mix the whole contents well and pressure cook it till 3 whistles.



Garnish it with coriander leaves (if available)…

It came out very well. It looked colorful and tasted yum...

Uzhundu vadai

Here is another one snack to be prepared on a rainy day and enjoy with a hot simmering cuppa of Tea..Emh..The uzhundu vada...

How to make this yum vada..here is the method of preparation:

soak 1 cup of uzhundu dhal (black gram) for minimum of 1 hour. Grind it with no water/little water.

To this dough, add chopped onion, green chilli, pepper seeds, salt to taste, curry leaves, a small piece of ginger chopped into fine granules. Also one can add little rava to get that crispiness.

Apply water on your palm and take a small amount of the above mix and press it and put a hole in the center and throw it gently into a kadai with simmering hot.

Allow it to fry deeply and gently turn it over to the other side. Once it has become golden brown and crispy, remove it from the kadai...and

there you go...the hot and crispy uzhundu vada..

One can enjoy with cocunut chutney.

Cocunut chutney

Ingredients :

1. 1/2 cup grated cocunut
2. 2-3 green chilli
3. onion -1
4. salt to taste

Grind all the ingredients mentioned above in a mixie with required water.

In a kadai, after the oil gets hot, splutter some mustard seeds, jeeram seeds, curry leaves, 2-3 broken dry red chilly. When done, pour it over the cocunut grind.

Voila, chutney ready.

Enjoy it with Idli, Dosa, Bajji, Uzhundu vada...

Molagha (Green pepper) bajji

During rainy season/ for that matter whenever there is a downpour, I would love to have a hot cuppa of Tea with Bajji/vada....and enjoy the rain with it...What an awesome idea !!!

So these few days Chennai has been experiencing some showers...and i prepared this for the family..Emh..they loved it and it disappeared the moment i filled the plates...


So ingredients:

1. Gram powder
2. chilli powder
3. food color (optional)
4. Salt to taste
5. aseofodia - a pinch
6. turmeric powder - 1/2 tbsp

Mix all the ingredients and add little water to bring it into a thick consistency

Slice open the green pepper into two halves.

Smear or dip the sliced green pepper into the dough and put it in a kadai filled with hot oil. Allow it to deep fry and turn over to cook the other side.

Nice crispy and crunchy molagha bajji..Enjoy with cocunut chutney...

Butter biscuit - Microwave cooking

This is the first biscuit i have tried in my life..and of course, with my new microwave oven.

Ingredients:

1 cup of maida
1 tbsp of ragi powder
1/2 cup of butter
3/4 cup of powdered sugar
1 tbsp of vanilla essence
Curshed cashewnut/walnut/badam (optional)



(before baking)
Method of preparation:

Melt the butter in microwave mode for 1 minute.

Mix maida with melted butter and mix it well. Then add powdered sugar and mix it well with hand. Add the vanilla essence (or any essence you have at home). I felt that my butter addition was little bit more so i added 1 tbsp of ragi powder (optional). mix it well for sometime and keep it in refrigerator for 1/2 hour.

(Yummy cashewnut biscuit)
After taking from refrigerator, mix it well for somemore time and make it into small balls and press it down.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180DC. Keep these biscuits into the oven after you hear the beep. Increase the timing to 20 mintues.

Voila..yommy crunchy crispy biscuits.


I just embedded couple of cashewnuts and badam on top of the plain dough for decoration.



My children loved it. This was a surprise for my children....they were very hungry when they came back from school..and they finished off the plate after 2-3 grabs...