Vegetable Poli, Vegetable Paratha

The dish I am gonna explain below is my mom in law's specialty. This is pretty easy to make.

Vegetable Poli

Ingredients

For the dough

Maida Flour

Salt

Water

A little oil

For the stuffing

Carrots

Potato

Oil

Mustard

Onions finely chopped

Green Chillies

Salt

Preparation

Take ½ tumbler water, add salt and dissolve, add Maida flour and make dough. Add one spoon oil and make the dough little softer than a chappatti dough. Keep it aside for 2 hours. Pressure cook potato & carrot. Peel their skin and mash them very well. Take oil in Kadai, heat, add mustard, after it sputs add cut onions and till they are really soft. Then add the carrot, potato. Take salt, green chilli (3), grind in a mixie and add to the subzi. Add little water and cook till the masala gets solidified.

Take the maida dough, take a small ball, spread the same on a plate. Spread it in such a way that the center part of the dough has more dough than the corners. Put a small lump of masala on it, close the dough and press it out evenly to make it into a small paratha . Some of the masala might come out, Don’t worry, it enhances the taste if its done so.

Put the pressed dough on frying pan (dosa stone add a little oil around and cook the Poli on both sides by reversing. Its done.

Bon appétit !

Katrikai Gotsu

Katrikai Gotsu

This can be made in different ways. But this one is my mom's way of doing it. I love the smell & the taste of it & its very simple.
Ingredients
Big Brinjal
Oil

Mustard seeds - 1 spoon

Red Chillies (2)

Asafoetida - a pinch

Tamarind paste - 1 1/2 spoons.

Curry leaves

Sambar powder - 2 spoons

Salt

Preparation
The brinjal has to be roasted. The tradiational way of doing it is to apply oil on the brinjal & directly keep it on the flame & keep turning the brinjal until all the skin is burnt enough. Then peel off the skin.
I tried to use the conventional over to make it. Preheat the oven for 400 for 5 mins, then apply oil and keep it in the oven. Occasionally flip it. It took me half an hour to get it done. This may vary depending on the oven.

Dissolve the tamarind paste in 1 cup of water.
In a kadai take oil. When it is hot, add mustard seeds, red chillies, a pinch of asafetida, curry leaves, half a tea spoon of sambar powder. Roast it a bit until the raw smell is gone. Then add the tamarind extract & salt. Let it boil for some time. Then mash the brinjal and add it to the boiling mixture and bring it to a boil.

Its done. Garnish it with coriander leaves. Lovely to take it with upma kuzukatai & aruci upma.

Human Race.....what to say about it...

Apart from the usual recipes.......

I happened to watch a a movie "The Island" from the director Micheal Bay. The same guy who did Transformers, Armageddon, etc.

LIFE INSURANCE,,...What are we assured about..?

Eternity has always been man's dream. BUt at what cost? Are we ready for this kind of of assurance...May be we'l welcome it...but is this the right way to go?

It was quite an insight. I often used to think anout Us as humans being the dominant race among the other species that lodge the earth. The survival of the fittest is what we define "us" to be. As we royally proclaim to be the rightful owners of Earth. Thus we...the so called most evolved of all species, consider our existence to be of prime priority as opposed to all the others. We destroy a lot of things around us.

Our evolution has evolved so much that we are ready to recreate & destroy so much of ourselves for our own survival.

......I know the above statment doesn't quite make a lot of sense immediately....but sadly enough we are just being like tat.

I 've been quite scrappy about my thoughts......a must watch movie.

Rice Upma/ Aruci Upma

Rice Upma/ Aruci Upma

Ingredients

Rice - 2 tumblers

Urad Dal

Channa Dal

Mustard

Red Chilli

Salt

Asafoetida

Curry Leaves

Pepper

Cumin seeds

Water

Preparation

Take two tumblers of rice, wash and keep aside.

Take one handful each of Toor dall, Channa dal, pepper(10), cumin seed (1/2 spoon) and grind them in mixie lightly. Add washed rice and grind coarsly to just break the rice without making it into flour.

In a kadai, take 2 or 3 ladles of oil. Add mustard and after sputtering, add udad dhall(1 spoon), bengal gram (1 spoon), red chilli (2), asafoetida, curry leaves. Roast them till the dals are golden brown. Add salt and water. (Rice:water - 1:2 1/2)

When the contents in the kadai boil, add the ground items, mix thoroughly and let cook by keeping the heat in medium flame and finally simmer for 10 to 15 minutes (to get “Kandhal”). Remove from oven.

Yes its done. Its yummy when taken with cocconut chutnet or Katrikai Gotsu/ Brinjal Gotsu (similar ot baingan burta).

Another traditional recipefor us to relish.

Do Click on this for Katrikai Gotsu

Venn Pongal

Venn Pongal

Ingredients

Rice - 3 cups

Green gram dal - 3/4 cup

Pepper

Jeera

Salt

Asafoetida

Curry leaves

Ginger

Ghee

Take 3 cups of rice, ¾ cup of green gram dhall, wash them together, then add pepper (10), cumin seeds (1 spoon) and asafoetida and pressure cook them by adding 9.5 cups of water.

In a kadai heat 5 spoons of ghee and add cashew nuts (10), fry till it they are slightly brown & remove, add powdered pepper (10) and cumin seed(1/2 spoon), add curry leaves, minced ginger and then add the cooked rice and dhall, add salt, mix thoroughly and cook for 5 minutes and remove from stove.

A very yummy pongal is ready to eat. Conconut chutney goes very well with it. Also Vatha Kuzambu is good combination.

Vendaikai Thalar. (Bendi/ Okra Masala)

Vendaikai Thalar

Ingredients

Okra - 1/2 kg

Mustard Seeds

Toor Dal 1 1/2 cup

Channa Dal

Urad Dal

Peanuts

Red Chillies

Green Chillies

Ginger

Asafoetida

Turmeric Powder

Tamarind

Oil

Preparation

Pressure cook 1 cups of Toor dal. Keep it aside.

Take the tamarind, prepare the extract & keep it aside.

Cut Okra into small rounds.

Take little oil, when it's hot, add Mustard, when it spurts add Channa Dal, Urad Dal, Peanuts,

Red Chillies, Green Chillies, Ginger, Asafoetida.

Then add the cut okra, when its half cooked, add the tamarind extract. Allow it to cook fully, then add the cooked toor dal.

The peanuts add a special flavor to this dish. So do make sure to experience that.

That is all. A yummy dish is ready

Idli Sambar Recipe

Ingredients

Toor Dal - 1 cup

Green Gram less than 1/4 cup

Tomato - 2 chopped

Small Onions/Shallots - - cut into half

Ginger 1 chopped

Green chilli

Turmeric - 1/2 spoon

Chilli Powder 1/4 spoon

Sambar powder

Salt

Seasoning

Cumin Seeds (Jeera) = 1spoon

Asafoetida

Mustard

Curry leaves

Oil

Preparation

Soak the toor dal & green gram in hot water for half an hour.

In a cooker, add onions, tomato, green chillies, ginger, the dal, add little water, salt, chilli powder, sambar powder, turmeric powder. Pressure cook well upto 5 whistles.

When done. In a kadai, take oil, when its hot, add mustard seeds, when it spurts, add cumin seeds, asafotida & curry leaves.

Sambar is done. Its awesome with idli, dosa, vada. Yummy