Thuvaram paruppu masiyal/Toor dal gravy with Masala Egg

We enjoyed this paruppu masiyal with masala egg over the weekend.This is one of those simple yet comfort food. Masala egg recipe is from my sweet SIL's blog, fusion of life.It came out really good.Hope you all enjoy as much as we did.

Ingredients
-------------

Toor dal : 1/2 cup
Vendhyam/fenugreek seeds : 1 tsp
Turmeric powder : 1/4 tsp
Dry Red chillies : 5
Green chillies : 5 (slit)
Curry leaves : few springs
Tomato : 2 (chopped)
Tamarind : small lemon size ball
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds : 1/2 tsp
Perungayam/ asafoedita : 1 pinch
salt : as needed

Method
---------

1. Pressure cook toor dal, fenugreek and turmeric powder with just enough water for more than 4 whistles. Mash cooked toor dal mixture well and keep it aside.
2.In a pan, heat oil and fry mustard seeds, asafoedita and dry red chiiles.Now add chopped tomatoes and slit green chilles.Saute well until tomatoes are cooked enough.
3.Now add tamarind water to the pan and bring it to a boil.
4.Now add mashed toor dal mix to the pan and add salt and water as needed.
5.Garnish with chopped coriander or curry leaves.I used curry leaves as I prefer them.

We enjoyed this with hot rice and masala egg.

Recipe Source for masiyal :Vikatan

Paruppu Masiyal

Masala Egg

Happy New Year and Banana Payasam

Happy Happy New Year to all Foodies out there.
I know I am surprised too, how time flies by.I have been out of blogging for a while now and so much things have happened in my life in the mean time.But I haven't stopped cooking though!.Now I am at a better position (I Hope) to continue my passion.So decided I will try my level best to post at least one recipe per week (one of my 2011 resolution :) ).

So my first recipe to share this year would be Banana Payasam, a famous dessert from Kerala.



Ingredients

Nenthra pazham : 2 ( well riped)
Jagarry/Sarkarai : 1 cup (grated)
Coconut milk : 1 can
Cashew nuts, golden raisins : as needed
Cardamom/Elakkai : 2 numbers
Ghee : 2 tbsp
Javvarisi/Sabudhana - 1 handful
Water - as needed

Method
---------------


1. In a pan, heat ghee and saute sliced bananas until they are almost darkish brown.Mash them well with a fork and keep aside.

2. In a pan boil javvarisi about 2 cups of water.

3.Once it is cooked enough, add shredded jaggery and mix well.If needed add water just enough.Make sure there is no lumps are there.

4.Reduce the flame and add coconut milk and mix well.At this point do little taste test and if needed add more jaggery.

5.Finally add the mashed banana and mix well.Bring this to a boil and switch of the heat.

6.Fry Cashews, raisin and cardamom in ghee and pour over the payasam for garnish.

Pepper Chicken/Milagu Kozhi

One of my fav. dish and kids love it too, if i make it less spicy..:D

Ingredients

Chicken - 2 lbs (cut in to small pieces)
Onion - 1- 1 1/2 (chopped fine)
Green chillies - 4 (chopped fine)
Curry leaves - a few
Dania/Coriander powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Black Pepper Powder - 3 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Salt - as needed
Cashews - 6-8
Raisins - 10
Oil - 4 tbsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp (optional)

Method

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat oil and fry green chillies,curry leaves and then add onion.Fry till the onion is golden brown and then add gg paste.Fry till the raw smell vanishes and add turmeric,dania powder.Fry well, now add the cleaned chicken pieces.On medium high heat, add the black pepper powder and mix everything well.(Do not add any water)Cover and cook it for about 15 minutes.(Stir the dish every now and then to avoid burning)Now remove the lid and cook uncovered till the chicken is cooked through and masala is sticking to each and every chicken pieces.YUM..Now add fried cashews and raisins for garnish.Serve hot with rice or roti.

Potato Fry/ Urulai Varuval

I'm a big fan of Chef Damodaran(Jeya TV).This is one of his recipe with variation.He mixed all the raw ingredients and mix it with boiled potatoes and then fried it in oil.As that method took too much oil , i adapted this less oil version.this is kinda Kadai dish version,where you have to slow cook till masala is well coated.Very tasty and goes well with curd rice.


Ingredients

Baby Potatoes - 10
Onion - 1 (chopped fine)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chilli powder - 2 tsp
Coriander powder - 3 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Fennel seed/Perunjeeragam powder - 1/2tsp
Salt - as needed
Curry leaves - a few
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Lemon juice - 1/2 tsp (Original recipe asks for tamarind juice)
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp

Method

Boil and peel the skin off the potatoes.If the baby potatoes little big, you can cut them into pieces.If not, leave them like that.In a pan heat oil and splutter mustard seeds.then add chopped onion and curry leaves.Once the onion is slightly brown, add ginger garlic paste and fry till raw smell goes.Then add salt and all the masala powders.Fry till the raw smell goes away and add lemon juice & little water (abt 3 tbsp) and cook the masala really well.Now add the boiled potatoes and slightly mix it with the masala.Don't mix it too much otherwise the potatoes will mash up.Under low heat, cook this till masala is well coated to the potatoes.Serve hot with rice or roti.





I also tried Egg curry from Vahrevah chef and came out really good.A must try..

A request for AFAM

Hi Friends,

I have a request regarding AFAM, I lost the list of future hosts while playing around with the new template.Please be kind enough to let me know who will be the future hosts of AFAM So i can put it in the blog.I am also requesting others who are interested in hosting the event, to send the email.

Thanks
Maheswari

Paruppu Usili

Ingredients

Channa dal - 1/4 up
Toor dal - 1/4 cup
Red chillies - 6
Jeera - 1/4 tsp
Beans - 2 cups (fresh,chopped)
Curry leaves - as needed
Salt - as needed
Oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Asafoedita - a pinch

Method

Soak both Channa and toor dals along with red chillies for about 30 minutes.Chop the green beans and cook them in the microwave with little salt.Now grind the dal mixture with jeera,salt,asafoetida very coarsely.In a pan, heat oil and fry mustard seeds,urad dal and curry leaves.Now add the grounded dal mixture and let it cook untilit becomes small crumbles.Now add cooked beans to this and let it cook until everything comes together and cooked through.Serve this with rice.




I made Beetroot usili the same way.Below is the picture.

Poori - Kizhangu

Poori

Ingredients

Atta/Wheat flour - 4 cups
Salt - as needed
Water - as needed (warm)
Sooji/Rava - 3 tbsp
Oil - for deep frying

Method

Mix and knead all the ingredients very well.Let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes.Roll into small pooris and fry it in hot oil.Serve hot with potato masala.



Poori kizhangu

Ingredients

Potato - 4 (medium sized, boiled and slightly mashed by hand)
Onion - 2 (sliced)
Green chillies - 4 (slit lengthwise)
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Asafoedita/Perngayam - 1 pinch
Curry leaves - a few
Oil - 3 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds/Perunjeeragam - 1 tsp (slightly crushed)
Ginger - 1/2 tsp (grated)(optional)


Method

Boil potatoes and mash slightly with hands.In a pan, heat oil and fry mustard,urad,fennel seeds,curry leaves and then add green chillies,grated ginger (optional)onion until onion is slightly gold brown.Now add turmeric powder and mix very well.Add 1/2 cup to 1 cup water and salt and let it come to a boil.Then add boiled potato and pinch of asafoetida and let the gravy boil and switch off when the gravy is thick enough.Serve hot with poories.

Chicken Kootu

This yummy dish uses chicken and sambhar powder.Yeap..i know totally different.We loved the taste and aroma of this dish.This was the first dish i cooked in our new kitchen..:).

Ingredients

Chicken - 2 lbs(cut into small pieces)
Onion - 2 (medium sized,finely chopped)
Small onion - 10 (sliced,optional)
Tomato - 1 (large, finely chopped)
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsp
Sambhar powder - 1 tbsp
Coriander powder - 4 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - as needed
Vendhyam/fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - few springs
Oil - as needed
Salt - as needed
Chopped redonion - for garnish


Method

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat oil and fry mustard seeds,urad dal,fenugreek,curry leaves.Now add chopped small onion and big onion and fry until they are golden brown.Now add chopped tomato and then add gg paste and fry until raw smell goes away.Now add all the spice powders and fry until every comes together in to a thick gravy.Now add cut chicken pieces and mix well.Add salt and let it cook.Add very little water if necessary.This dish should be thick and garnish it wiith chopped red onion just before serving.

Potato Curry

This dish goes well with chappathi,poori and idiyappam.I like this one particularly when paired with road side shop's "kutti" dosai.

Ingredients

Potato-3 medium sized , peeled and chopped in quaters.
Onion-1 finely sliced
Green chillies-3 (slit)
Chilly powder-1tsp
Turmeric powder-1/2tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp ( or you can use whole garam masalas)
Oil-2tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dal- 12/tsp,
curry leaves - a few
Salt - as needed

Method

Heat oil in the pressure cooker and fry mustard seeds,urad dal, curry leaves,green chillies.Add sliced onions.Fry till onions are golden brown.Now add potatoes and add turmeric powder,chilly powder and salt.Pour little water and Pressure cook for about 1 whistle.After 1 whistle, open the cooker and add garam masala powder and let it boil for few minutes.Serve hot chappathi,poori or idiyappam.

Muttai/Egg Kootu

Before writing the recipe, i have to tell you about my dear friend S, who i known for about 3 years.We speak to each other almost everyday over the phone and our main topic will either kids or food.If i don't get to speak her a day, the day will a dull one, i must say.She is a fantastic cook and i get my inspiration from her.We don't meet that often, may be once or twice in a month.But whenever i meet her, i make sure she cooks her authentic south indian dishes for me..:D.This recipe is from her, actually from her mom's maid back in india.My son was licking the plate even after he finished eating...:)

Ingredients

Egg - 4 (hard boiled,halved)
Onion - 1 (chopped fine)
Tomato - 1 - 2 (medium sized, chopped fine)
Ginger Garlic paste - 2tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Tumeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder - 3 tsp
Green chillies - 3 (chopped fine)
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 3 tsp
Curry leaves, coriander leaves - as needed
Salt

Method

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat oil and fry mustard seeds,urad dal,fenugreek seeds and curry leaves.Now add chopped onion and green chillies.Fry till they are almost golden brown.Then add tomato and saute till ii is almost well cooked.Now add ginger garlic paste and 3 tsp of coriander powder and fry till raw smell completely gone.In the mean time mix red chilli powder and turmeric powder in 1 tbsp of water.After masala is almost cooked , add this red chilli-tumeric paste and cook till raw smell is gone and everything comes together.Finally add hard boiled egg and mix carefully.Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.Serve hot with roti or rice.

Vendaikkai Puzhicurry/Fried Okra in Coconut-tamarind based curry

Hey all,
I'm back after long time and hoping to blog regularly from here onwards. Finally got some ideas to keep my toddler girl busy while i am experimenting over the kitchen.It took almost 1 year for me and rest of the family to adjust to her routine..:D.Everything revolves around her, her nap time, her play time, her tantrums etc.Anyways got idea of few things she like to make her super busy , if i need some time for cooking.

Vendaikkai Puzhi curry is a favourite dish of my dear S.His mom makes this every week with different vegetables.This dish is made with fried vendaikkai/okra and coconut-tamarind gravy.You can subsitute okra with drumsticks,brinjals,cucumber,or all veggies together.


Ingredient

Vendaikkai/okra - 10 no.s (cut into half)
Coconut - 1/2 cup (shredded)
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Garlic - 1 small pod
Whole red chillies - 8-10 no.s
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Tamarind - 1 lemon size ( soak it in 1 1/2cups of water and extract the juice)
Salt - as needed
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/24tsp
Curry leaves - a few

For frying Okra

Okra - as mentioned above
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - 2 pinches
Red chilli powder - 1/4tsp
Turmeric powder - 2 pinches

Method

Grind coconut,garlic,jeera,red chillies and turmeric powder into a fine paste.In pan heat 2 tbsp of oil and fry vendaikkai/okra.Add salt,turmeric and red chilli powder and fry till they are somewhat crispy.In another pan, heat tamarind extract with grinded coconut paste and salt.*At this point, add little water if you want).Let this boil till raw smell goes and gravy thickens.Now add fried okra into this and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.Finally for tadka, heat 1 tbsp of oil, fry mustard seeds,fenugreek seeds,curry leaves and pour this into the gravy.Serve it hot with rice.




Vendaikkai Puzhi Curry



Rice served with Cucumber/Vellarikkai Puzhi Curry and Vazhakkai Thoran

Amma's Special Chicken curry

This is my amma's chicken curry and it never goes wrong.She sometimes makes two dishes out of it.Just before adding the tadka she will take out some of the cooked chicken pieces with just little juice and put it in the freezer for about 15 minutes or so.And the deep fry them..voila..Chicken fry ready..!

Ingredients


Chicken - 1 whole chicken (cut into medium size pieces)
Onion - 2 medium (chopped)
Small onion - 10 (chopped)
Ginger garlic paste - 3tbsp
Red chilli powder - 3tsp
Coriander powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2tsp
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Curry leaves - as needed
Oil - 6 tbsp
Salt - as needed

Method


Clean the chicken and keep it aside.In a pressure cooker, heat 3 tbsp of oil and fry sliced onion and small onions.Fry till they are medium dark in color (this gives the gravy dark color).Now add GG paste and fry till the raw smell goes.Now add the chicken pieces and salt.Saute for some time and add 1/4 cup of water and pressure cook for about 1 whistle.In a pan, heat 1 tsp of oil and roast chiili,coriander and turmeric powder and pour that into the chicken gravy.Let it boil for few minutes.In the mean time, in a pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil and fry mustard seeds and lots of curry leaves and pour that into the chicken curry.Serve it with rice/roti.

Adai in three ways

Adai,One of the healthiest breakfast item.We prefer having it on weekends.I make these yum adai extra special by adding shredded carrots or cabbage to the it.So here goes the recipe for making simple adai,carrot adai and cabbage adai.

Simple Adai

Ingredients

Rice - 1 1/2 cups
Whole red chillies - 10
Hing/Perumgayam - a pinch
Toor dal - 1/2 cup
Channa dal - 1/2 cup
Urad dal - 1/2 cup
Salt - as needed
Water - as needed


Method

Soak rice and red chillies together and rest of the dals together for about 2 1/2 hours.Grind them separately and coarsely in a mixer with just enough water.Mix both rice mix and dal mix together and add hing and salt to the batter.The batter should be thicker than the normal Dosa batter.If like, you can add chopped onion to the batter.Heat a tawa, and when it is hot enough start making adai dosas.Pour enough oil around the corners to get crispy edges.My mom used make three slits in the center of the adai(after it is turned over) and pour oil there also.Serve hot with Coconut chutney or avial.

For carrot adai,

Add shredded carrots (as needed) to the batter and mix well.Make Adai as mentioned above.Note : Don't add too much of carrots as it tends to sweeten the batter.

For Cabbage adai,

Add shredded cabbage ( as needed) to the batter and mix well.Make adai as mentioned above.

Adai




Carrot Adai

Varuthuaracha Muttai Kuzhambu/Egg in fried coconut gravy

Ingredients

Egg - 5 (boiled and shelled)
Onion - 1 (big, chopped fine)
Tomatoes - 2 (medium,chopped)
Ginger garlic paste - 2tsp
Coconut - 4tbsp
Pepper corns - 1tsp
Red chilli powder - 2tsp
Coriander powder - 1tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4tsp
Perumjeeragam/sounf - 1/2tsp
Cardamamom - 2
Cinnamon - 1 small piece
Cloves - 3
Curry leaves - a few
Oil - 6tbsp
Salt - as needed

Method
Boil and shell 5 eggs and keep aside.In a pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil and fry perumjeeragm,cardamom,cloves,cinnamon,curry leaves and then coconut.Fry till coconut is almost golden brown.Grind this into a smooth paste.In a heavy bottomed, heat 2 tbsp oil and fry onion till they are golden brown (if you want smooth paste, you can grind onion at this point).Add gg paste to this and fry till raw smell goes.Now add turmeric,red chilli and coriander powder.Fry well till raw smell goes away and then add chopped tomatoes.After tomatoes are cooked enough, add grounded coconut paste.At this point add abt 1/2 cup of water,salt and let it boil for some time.When the desired consistency is reached, lower the heat to medium low.Cut boiled eggs into halves and add these into the kuzhambu.Let the kuzhambu stay in heat for another 2-3 minutes (do not let the kuzhambu boil at this point) and switch off.Serve hot with rice.

AFAM

AFAM December is Hosted by Siri of Siri's Corner.You can see the announcement here.Another request to all of you, anybody interested in hosting AFAM in the future , please let me know.Thanks

Ginger Chicken

Ingredients

Chicken - 2 lbs
Ginger - 1 1/2 " piece
Onion - 3 (medium size)
Tomato - 4
Green chillies - 8
Jeera - 2tsp
Red chillipowder - 3 tsp
Coriander powder - 3 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1tsp
Bay leaf - 2
Cardamom - 4
Cinnamon - 2
Cloves - 4
Curry leaves,coriander leaves,mint leaves - as needed
Lemon - 1
Oil- as needed
Salt - as needed


Method

Clean and Cut the chicken.Marinate the chicken pieces with 1/2 tsp lemon juice and salt for 1/2 hr. Fry sliced onion in 3 tsp of oil until translucent and grind it with green chillies and jeera. In a heavy bottomed pan, heat 3 tsp of oil, fry bay leaf,cloves,cardamomcinnamom and then add grounded onion mixture.After few minutes, add grinded ginger to this and fry till raw smell goes away.Add salt and fry till oil separates.Now add turmeric,red chilli and coriander powders to this mix and fry for few more minutes.Finally add chopped tomatoes.Once tomatoes are well cooked ad the marinated chicken pieces and mix very well.Cover and cook it under medium heat.No need to add water.After chicken is well cooked, add the chopped mint,coriander and curry leaves to this and serve ot with rice/roti.

Hyderabadi chicken

Ingredients

Chicken - 2 lbs
Onion - 2
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Garam masala - 1/2tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Red chillies - 20
Yogurt - 1 cup
Cashew nuts - 10-15
Golden raisins - 10
Ghee - 2 tsp
Oil - as needed
Salt - as needed

Method

Clean chicken and make slits on each pieces, here and there.Slice onions lengthwise and cut red chillies into pieces.Add garam masala,pepper,turmeric power,ginger garlic paste,yogurt and salt to chicken pieces and marinate for about 1 hour.In a heavy bottomed pan, heat oil and fry red chillies and onions.Once the onions are golden brown add chicken to the pan.On medium heat cook chicken well.On half way, if needed, add water and cover the lid and cook untill chicken fully cooked and gravy is almost dry.Garnish with ghee fried cashews and raisins.

Sundal

Ingredients

Garbanzo beans - 1 (29oz can)
Oil-2tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Urad dal - 1tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Red chillies - 5-6
Coconut - 1/4 cup (shredded)
Salt - as needed
Curry leaves - as needed

Method

Drain and wash the canned garbanzo beans and keep it aside.In a pan heat oil and splutter mustard seeds,urad dal,red chillies,curry leaves.Now add beans to this and add salt,asfoedita.Mix everything together and saute for about 5 min.s.Careful not to over cook the beans.Switch off the heat and add the shredded coconut.Serve hot.

Easy Mathi/Sardine Curry

One of my fav fish dish in my college hostel...





Ingredients

Mathi/Sardine Fish - 10
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/4tsp
Small onion /shallot slices - 1/4cup
Ginger slices - 1tsp
Garlic pods/sliced - 6 (small)
Red Chilli powder - 1tbsp
Tamarind water - as needed (or you can use kodam puli)
Curry leaves
Salt - as needed

Method

Soak red chilli powder in little water.Fry mustard and fenugreek seeds in hot oil.Add onion slices to this and saute.Once it is almost sauted well, add ginger slices and fry.When this almost fried add the soaked red chilli powder and saute.Add sufficient water to this sauted masala and cook.Add garlic slices,curry leaves,salt and tamarind to this.Once the gravy is cooked well and raw smell of chilli powder is gone, the gravy thickens , plcae fish fish pieces slowly into the gravy and cook with lid half covered.Whenit starts to boil, remove the lid and cook it slowly until the gravy thickens.





Recipe source - K.M.Mathew

Chicken Deviled Fry

Got it from a cookbook, don't know why the name deviled fry.But when it comes taste of this dish there no DEVIL..tasted delicious.

Ingredients

Chicken - 2 lbs
Onion - 2
Coconut milk - 1 cup (made from coconut milk powder)
Red chillies - 7
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Vinegar - 3 tbsp
Clves - 5
Cinnamon - 1 piece
Cardamom - 3
Oil - as needed
Salt - as needed

Method

Cut onion into slices and red chillies into pieces.Marinate chicken pieces with half of the onion slices,red chillies,cardamom,cloves,cinnamon,turmeric powder,salt and vinegar for about 1 hour.In a thick bottomed pan,heat oil and fry second half of sliced onion until golden brown.Now add the marinated chicken mix to this and cook.Mix very well and coconut milk to this and let chicken cook.Cover and cook under medium low heat.Stir in between to avoid burning.Cook until chicken is fully cooked,gravy is all evaporated and the dish is crispy brown.Serve hot with roti/rice.