Javarisi Vathal/ Sabudhana Fries/ Sago Fryiums

Summer holidays back home always used to be a huge fun with this activity in each household. Doing this brought me a back a lot of reminiscence of my childhood summer days. We were asked to guard the terrace from crows and squirrels who would nibble off the vathal. But no one could save it from us kids nibbling it.

Let us see how it is made.
Things we need

• Sabhudana/ Javarisi/ sago = 1/2 kg
• Green chilles - 12 (as needed)
• Asafoetida
• Salt
• Lemon
• Plastic sheets/ big white cotton cloth
• Lots of sun

Soak the Sabhudana overnight. The next day pressure cook in (in cooker) with 2 times of water.

Then once its cooked, check the consistency. It should be like a coarse dosa batter. If its thick you can add water. Be watchful about not adding too much water. Add salt, well ground green chillies and lemon juice. 

On a clean piece of cloth/ plastic, take a ladle full of the batter and pour it on the sheet and flatten it. 

Allow it to sun dry for a day or two. Once it is dry, it stands out usually. 

It is so yummy to taste the batter and a half dried vathal.

Once they are completely dry, fry them in oil. A very unstoppable snack with soup or any South Indian rice dishes.

Cocunut channa dal Chutnney / Coconut and lentil dipping sauce

I got this recipe from Mom. I ran out of roasted channa dal (pottu kadalai - tamil)
So this can be done very easily and it tastes really good.

Things needed

• Coconut  - 1 cup grated
• Green chilles - 2
• Channa dal - 3 to 4 spoons
• Asafoetida
• Salt
• Oil
• Mustard seeds
• Curry leaves

Soak the channa dal for 10 mins. Then in half spoon  oil, jus fry them little bit. Then grind them along with coconut, green chillies and salt.

For seasoning, fry mustard seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves.

This is very amazong with roasted hot dosa, idlis.

Aloo Shimla/ Potato Green Pepper Stir Fry

A post after a long Sabbatical. I never got a chance to cook, so I waited till I could to post something.
This is a my Sri's (my DH) all time favorite. He loves the crunchy green peppers. He took me to a very local pubjabi dhaba in Bangalore where he had once tasted this dish. He wanted a similar replica of the same. So here goes my trial and its quite easy.

Things we need

Potatoes - 4 medium ones
Green Pepper/ Capsicum (any colored) -  2
Onions - 2
Cumin Seeds - a spoon
Coriander seeds - coarsely ground
Ginger paste - a little
Turmeric - 1/2 spoon
Aamchur (Dry Mango powder) - 1 spoon
Chilli Powder- 1 spoon
Garam Masala - 1/2 spoon
Sugar - to sprinkle
Coriander leaves- finely chopped to garnish
Salt
Oil - 2 tbs

Julienne the vegetables.(Cut the veggies vertically into not so thin size). Have the potatoes in a bowl with water to prevent them from getting black due to oxidation. In a wide pan, heat oil, add cumin seeds, when it sputters add onions, ginger paste, potatoes and stir fry for 5 mins. then add turmeric powder, chili powder salt. Cover and allow it to cook. Now add, garam masala, aamchur powder, sugar, stir well, Once the potatoes are done,  add the green pepper. I love them crisp, hence I take it off the stove immediately. Garnish with coriander leaves.
A little raw taste of the green pepper is very delectable.

Its wonderful with chapatti or parathas or as a side dish with rice.

Kurryamadhu Podi /Poriyal Powder/ Vegetable flavoring / Subzi powder

This powder is very handy. Trust me, it boosts up the taste and kinda of use it for all powder.

Things we need

Channa Dal - 3 tbs
Corriander seeds - 2 tbs
Red Chillies - 8
Asafoetida

Dry roast all these and grind them coarsely.

 To make any curry, heat up a wok/kadai, add oil, mustard seeds, once its sputters, add the veggie (Brinjal, Raw banana (vazaikai), potato, Colocasia (sezpan kizangu), etc. Add salt and turmeric powder to this. Allow the veggie to cook. When its almost cooked, add this powder cover and cook for a couple more minutes.
Its done. Podi thuviya Kurryamadhu .

When we are making Pulippu kootu or even sambar, just mix 2 spoons of this powder to the cooked dal and allow it to boil.  It compliments to the taste.

A must have podi in the kitchen for me

Pori Urundai

Things we need
Puffed rice- 4 cups
Jaggery - 1 cup
Cardamom Powder
Dry ginger powder - a little
Rice flour to make balls

Dissolve the jaggery in 1/2 glass of water and allow it to boil. After 2 mins, when the jaggery is dissolved, drain it into another vessel till the residue is left in the Kadai. wash them off. Most of the jeggery we buy contains some sediments of mud.

Add cardamon powder and dry ginger powder and boil it till we get the right consistency. For that, have a small cup of water beside. Once the jaggery syrup to the water. The jaggery will sink like a stone and not dissolve. And if you are able to make a small ball with it, its done.
Now add the jaggery syrup to the puffed rice, when its warm make small balls out of it with the help of rice flour and little ghee.

Store in an air tight container.

Enjoy!

Manoharam / Sweetish crunchy Jaggery snack

I am blogging after quite a break. Well busy cooking ;-) and lazy to sit and pen down. So no excuses. It was fun cooking. I was revisiting some of  my recipes and relishing them. So I promise there are more interesting and unique recipes to come. I've done them all and clicked away pics and I should post them soon.

This is a sweet dish I did during the Karthigai. Way back in November. It came out very yummy. I ate this recently at grandsweets Chennai. I was always enchanted by this sweet and that pushed me to try this out.
This dish is sweet and crunchy
Here goes the recipe

Things we need

Rice - 5 cups
Urad dal - 1 cup
Salt - very little
Butter - 4 spoons (solid state)
Oil - for deep frying
Jeera - a little

Jaggery
Cardamom
Dry Ginger powder - 1 spoon
Rice flour - 2 spoons

The achu or the Murukku maker.

Wash and drain both of these, strain, drain, and dry them. Have them ground into a powder from the "machine " (as it is called in India)
Else just take rice flour and urad dal flour in the same proportion.
Sieve them well.

Now in a big bowl, take butter, add salt, jeera, whisk them well. Don not add too much salt, remember it is a sweet dish. In one part of the bowl, mix and make dough with water. I am prescribing this method as it would prevent browing of the murukku. If we knead the whole flour into dough, the last murukkus will come out in very dark color.

Now, Press them into the Achu or the murukku maker. Use this mould plate.

Then deep fry them. This is called Thenkozhal. Keep it in a dry container and allow it to cool. Break them into pieces.

Now the manoharam part.
Measure the thenkuzal in cups. For every cup of Thenkuzal take 3/4 th of a cup of Jaggery.

How to make the paagu
Melt the jaggery in a thick bottom vessel. When its dissolved drain the jaggery in another bowl to get rid of the sediments at the bottom. Now allow it to boil and thicken to form the paagu.  To test this. Add a drop of the jaggery in a bowl of water. it should be a thick ball that sinks at the bottom of the vessel and not dissolve. Thats the consisteny we need to attain for Paagu.

Now add the paagu to the broken Thenkozhal.and mix until all of it is covered with the jaggery.When it is okie for you to touch, make it into small balls and store. If not just leave it at just the mix. Its yummy.

Kadalai Urundai/ Mallatai Urundai/ Peanut balls

Things we need
Peanuts - 1/4 kg
Jaggery - 200 gm
Cardamom Powder
Dry ginger powder - a little
Water to make balls

Dry roast the groundnut and remove the skin and slightly crush it so that it will break into two halves. (You can also use readily available roasted peanuts). Allow it to cool down.


Dissolve the jaggery in 1/2 glass of water and allow it to boil. After 2 mins, when the jaggery is dissolved, drain it into another vessel till the residue is left in the Kadai. wash them off.  Most of the jeggery we buy contains some sediments of mud. 

Now boil it till we get the right consistency. For that, have a small cup of water beside. Once the jaggery syrup to the water. The jaggery will sink like a stone and not dissolve. And if you are able to make a small ball with it, its  done.

Add the syrup to the roasted peanuts. Mix well. Have a little water  and beside. Make small balls with it.

That is all. Peanut balls are done.

Katrikai Thugayal/ Eggplant or Brinjal paste

Eggplant is one of my favourite vegetable. Its a good source of potassium and have known to have helped in treating high BP. Its one of the very tasty and simple dishes.

Things we need
Eggplant - Big one
Urad dal - 3 spoons
Red chillies - 4
Tamarind Paste - 1 spoon
Salt
Hing/ Asafoetida

Now the little tricky part in this is the cooking of the Brinjal.
Traditionally, the brinjal has to be brushed with oil and Its actually smoked or burnt on stove top.
I tried out using a traditonal oven as well as a toaster oven. The toaster oven consumes less power and time. say 20 mins. So just brush it with oil and keep it in the oven at 350 degree. The skin would be burnt to almost black. Take it out and allow it cool a bit, then peel out the skin and mash the brinjal a bit with your fingers.
If you've a stove top/gas  burner, brush oil, leave it on the stand and allow it to burn & keep changing sides until the entire brinjal is well burnt & coooked inside

Now with a little oil, roast the urad dal until light brown, red chillies, asafoetida . Then grind the tamarind paste and salt well then add the dal and just grind it coarsly. finally add this to the mashed brinjal and mix well.

That is all. Just mix it with hot rice with little bit of ghee or gingely oil.
It is so yummy.

Mangalooru Bonda

This is a left over..makeover recipe. If you are on diet. do not read further. 
But its okie to indulge a bit on this spicy bonda once in a while.
The main ingredient in this is sour butter milk. Which get accumulated in our houses pretty often. 


Things we need


Thick Sour yogurt - 3/4 cup
Maida / all Purpose flour  - 1 cup
Rice flour - 1/4 cup
Rava (optional) for lil extra crispiness- 2 tbs
Green chillies - 3 chopped  
Cilantro / Coriander leaves - chopped
Baking soda - a small pinch
Salt


(the green chillies and coriander can be ground to a paste and added too)


Mix all the ingredients into a thick paste. The batter should be thick. The more watery it is, the more oil, it would absorb. 


Heat Oil in a kadai or a wok,  when hot, make small lemon sized balls with the batter and fry them until golden brown. Serve hot with coconut chutney or tomato ketchup.


Chopped onions added to the batter will add flavor too.

Murukku/Chakkili

This is a very popular snack of south India. It can be made quite easily.

Things we need


Rice Flour - 1 cup
Urad flour - 1/4 cup ( Roast the urad dal and grind them to a fine powder.)
Unsalted Butter - 2 tbs
Hing - a Pinch
Sesame seeds 1 tbs
Warm Water - 2 cups (to knead the dough)
Salt
Red Chili powder - 2 tbs
Curry leaves
Oil to fry

In a mixing bowl, melt the butter, add salt, hing, sesame seeds, red chili powder and mix well. Then add the the rice flour and the urad dal flour. Add warm water and knead in into a dough like the one prepared for chapatti.In a wok, heat the oil. Take a small amount of the dough into the murukku maker and when the oil is hot you can just make small rounds on the oil carefully. Or you can just do it on the spatula and then add it t the oil. Fry until golden brown. Once all the murukkus are done, fry the curry leaves and add in the box where murukkus are stored. Allow it to cool and store in an air tight container.

Do not close the box immediately after making the murukkus, as they would sweat and not be crispy.

Creamy Sweet Corn Soup

I love the sweet corn soup in the restaurants. Loved this recipe
Things we need


Unsalted Butter - 3 tbs
Corn kernels - 2 cup
Red Onion 1/2
Ginger 1/2 inch Piece
Green Chilies 3
Carrot - 1 cubed
Salt
Fresh ground Pepper

Pressure cook the corn with the green chilies and ginger.
Once it is done, take out and discard the ginger and the chilies.  Reserve some of the corn kernels and puree the rest in a blender. In a casserole, add butter, when hot, add the onions and saute until translucent.Add the carrots and saute until soft. Stir in the pureed corn. allow it to a boil. Add salt. Then add some milk as per the desired consistency. Add the pepper

Garnish with cilantro.  Some drops of lemon juice shall add a tangy flavor too. Serve Hot with a Toasted Sandwich.

Poosanikai pulippu kootu/ Tangy Ash gourd or winter melon curry

This dish is made out of a squash so its easy on digestion and can be had with Chapatti as well as rice.


Things we need
Poosanikai - Washed, skin peeled and cubed
Channa Dal = 1/2 cup
Tamarind Paste - 3 spoons
Turmeric powder - 1/4 spoon
Whole Channa Dal (Garbanzo Beans) - 1/4 cup
Salt


For masala
Channa Dal - 1 spoon
Coriander seeds - 1 spoon
Red Chilli - 3
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Grated Coconut - 1 spoon


For Seasoning
Ghee
Mustard seeds
Urad Dal
Peanuts
Curry Leaves

Pressure cook the 1/2 cup channa dal with little turmeric

You can soak the garbanzo bean overnight & pressure cook it along with the channa dal. Else You can get the canned one.

Take a cup of water add tamarind paste, salt and cook the pumpkin till it is soft. Do not add too much water.
In a skillet,  take 1/2 spoon oil, add red chillies, channa dal, coriander seeds, asafoetida and coconut. Allow it to cool and grind them well.
Add this ground masala to the pumpkin and allow it to boil . Then add the cooked channa dal to it. Allow it to thicken.

Now the seasoning. In a skillet, add a little ghee. When its hot, add the mustard seeds and allow it to spurt, then add the urad dal and the peanuts. Roast until brown then add the curry leaves and a pinch of asafoetida.
Add this to the kootu.

Serve hot with Chapatti or Rice.

Cabbage Usili/ Cabbage lentil curry/ Cabbage Archu kalaral

I thank Lavanya Balaji for this dish. I never knew we can make cabbage usili.  It was simple and much easier than the other veggies.

Ingredients

Toor dal : 1/2 cup

Channa dal : 1/2 cup

Red Chilli : 2

Salt to taste

Turmeric

Mustard seeds

Curry Leaves

Urad dal : 1/4 spoon

Oil

Asafoetida : a pinch

Cabbage - Well chopped

Place the cabbage in a microwave bowl  with a lid, sprinkle little water  and microwave for 7 minutes.

Soak Toor dal, Channa dal for half an hour. Then, grind them coarsly with minimum water after adding salt, red chilli , asafoetida.

Heat 6 spoons of oil in a skillet. When it fumes, add mustard, allow it to spurt and then udad dal, curry leaves roast until the dal is golden brown add the dal mix and turmeric stir thoroughly, close the skillet with a plate and allow it to cook . The mixture separates well like sundal. Add the cooked cabbage to this and mix well. 

That is all to it. This dish takes just 15 minutes including the time taken to cut the cabbage. 

As always I love this with Rasam 

Mint Rice/ Pudina Sadam/ Mint pulav/ Pudina bath

I suddenly fell in love with mint. The taste and aroma was  just too irresistible, I had a couple of dishes lined up that were flavored with mint or should I say bathed in mint.

So this one goes to one of the captivating culinary herbs.

Things we need


Mint - 1 bunch  (wash and have the leaves plucked)
Green chillies - 4
Shredded coconut - 2 spoons
Onion - 1 chopped
Grated ginger - 1 spoon
Cloves - 4
Cardamon - 2
Bay Leaf - 1
Aniseed - 1 flower
Cinnamon powder - 2 pinches
Cashews
Cilantro - chopped (for garnishing)
Basmati rice - 1 1/2 cup
Salt
Oil - 1 1/2 spoon
Ghee - 1 spoon

How to make it
Cook the rice in a electric rice cooker with 3 cups water. Once the rice is cooked, transfer it onto a big plate so that it becomes a little less hot sp that the rice won't be sticky.

Grind a paste of mint leaves, green chillies and the coconut.

In a spoon of ghee, fry the cashews and keep them aside.

Have the oil heated up in a big skillet then add the bay leaf, Cinnamon powder, cardamon and aniseed. When they begin to spurt, add the onions and saute well.  Add the ginger paste and saute for a minute. Add the mint paste and fry till the color changes. Be watchful not to burn it. Turn off the stove and mix this masala with the cooked rice and salt.  Garnish it with chopped cilantro leaves and the fried cashews.

I just loved to have this with some potato chips and some cucumber raitha.

Pudina Paratha/ Mint paratha/Mint wheat flat bread

My Muse, mint...continues to linger its effect one me..


In this post I am posting how my trial worked. well it had 2 outcomes, both of them were  great.


Things we need
Mint -  a bunch (Washed and leaves plucked)
Green chillies - 3 Well chopped
Salt
Ajwain / Til seeds /carom seeds/ Omam - 1 spoon
Wheat Flour - 2 cups
Gram flour - 1/2 cup
Ghee
Chaat Masala


Trial 1
Chop the mint leaves. Take the wheat flour, gram flour, salt, mint, green chillies and the carom seeds and knead it into a dough and set it aside for half an hour.


Make small ball of the dough and roll them out into parathas. Have a skillet ready and hot and place the paratha on it. Set the flame to a medium heat. Flip the paratha over on the other side and spread a little ghee. Do the same on both the sides. Browny on both sides, the paratha is ready to eat.
This one was great to make & it tasted yummy with just some pickle and curd.

Trial 2
Its a very slight variation. I did not mix the mint and chillies with the dough


Take the wheat flour, gram flour, salt and the carom seeds and knead it into a dough and set it aside for half an hour.


Make small ball of the dough and roll them out a bit. Do not make it too thin. At this stage, sprinkle some chopped mint and green chillies and roll the pin on top of it a bit. I also sprinkled a pinch of Chaat masala on it for a little different twist. 


Now make the paratha the same way but the side with mint, just be watchful that you don't burn the mint. That is all. 
The second method looked a lot like the ones served in restaurants. 

Veggie Pot Pie

Things we need
Pie crust - Store bought
Vegetable broth Pacific Natural Foods (can be homemade too) - 2 cups
Potatoes - 2 cubed/ julienned 
Carrots- 2 cubed
Green peas,Corn Fennels, Green beans, Zucchini, Broccoli - 4 cups 
Onions - 1/2 chopped
Butter - 2 spoons
Salt
Pepper
Grated cheese


Preheat the oven to 400 C .

Thaw the pie crust as per the package instructions. Place one sheet on a pie plate and make tiny holes with a fork. Bake it for 10 mins. 


Meanwhile, In a sauce pan, add butter and saute the onions and potatoes until golden brown. Then add the veggies, salt and pepper. Add the broth to this and allow the veggies to cook well.


On the pie crust laid on the plate, layer with half of the cheese. Now spoon in the cooked veggie mix.  Add the rest of the cheese on top and cover it with the other pie shell. Seal the pie crust and make small slits on top for the steam to escape. With an aluminum foil. cover the edges so that they don't get burnt. 

After 20 mins take out the aluminum foil.  Bake it for around 45 mins or till the pie is golden brown. 

Enjoy the Pie.....

Dahi Puri - Chaat

Things we need

The chutneys we are making for this can be refrigerated or frozen.


Green Chutney
Mint   1 cup
Green Chilli  2
Black pepper corns - 3 or 4
Onion 1/2
Tomato 1/2
Ginger - small piece
Lemon Juice - 1/2 lemons'
Salt
Chaat Masala - to taste
Coriander leaves (Optional)
Sugar - 2 pinches

Grind all these together to a paste.

Tamarind Chutney

Tamarind Paste - 3 tbs  (or extract the same from raw tamarind)
Jaggery - 1 1/2 cube or nearly 3/4 cup grated
Red chilli powder
Roasted cumin powder - 2 spoons
Roasted Fennel powder - 1 spoon
Black Salt
A little grated ginger

Take the tamarind paste in a bowl with 3/4 cup water, add the jaggery and allow it to melt. Then add the chilli, cumin, fennel powder, black salt, ginger. Allow it to boil well till it thickens.



Puris - Store bought
Thin Sev - 1 cup
Chopped Boiled potatoes 1/4 cup
Seeded & Chopped tomatoes 1/4 cup
Pre soaked & pressure cooked chickpeas 1/4 cup
Onion, chopped- 1/2 
Salt
Chaat masala
Red chilli powder
Yogurt - well beaten
Chopped Coriander leaves


Mix potatoes, onions & chickpeas along with little red chilli powder, chaat masala and salt. 
Make a hole in the puri, Stuff with the potato mix, tomatoes. Add the green & the tamarind  chutneys, the yogurt then sprinkle a little of chaat masala, red chilli powder, cilantro.
Garnish with Sev. 


Serve immediately after its made. 

Paani Puri/ Gol Gappa/ Puchka

Chaat is the ultimate snack in India. Every alley has a guy selling us that. It tastes different in different parts of India.
So here is my version of it. I got the puris at the desi grocery store. But one can make these too.
The green paani we make is spicy and its for the katta taste. The sweet chutney is made for the hint of sweetness

Things we need
Puris - Bought at the desi grocery store.

For the paani
Mint - 1 1/2 cup
Coriander leaves- 1 cup
Green chillies - 7
Coriander powder - 1 spoon
Roasted Cumin powder - 1 1/2 spoon
Tamarind paste - 4 spoons
Ginger - 1 small piece
Black pepper - 1/2 spoon
Lemon Juice - 1/4 cup
Paani puri Masala
Black salt - to taste
Salt

Grind all these together well and in a big bowl, add water to it. Be mindful not to add more it might dilute the taste. Add a little boondi to it.

Tamarind Chutney

Tamarind Paste - 3 tbs  (or extract the same from raw tamarind)
Jaggery - 1 1/2 cube or nearly 3/4 cup grated
Red chilli powder
Roasted cumin powder - 2 spoons
Roasted Fennel powder - 1 spoon
Black Salt
A little grated ginger

Take the tamarind paste in a bowl with 3/4 cup water, add the jaggery and allow it to melt. Then add the chilli, cumin, fennel powder, black salt, ginger. Allow it to boil well till it thickens.

For the stuffing
Potatoes - 2 boiled and mashed
Garbanzo beans or Whole green gram - soaked over night and pressure cooked
Onions - sliced well
Red chilli powder
Chaat masala
Salt

Mash all these ingredients together to make the stuffing.

Now break a bit of the poori, stuff it with the potato mixture, add a little sweet sauce to it. Then dip it in the green paani and directly to your mouth.
This should be consumed immediately after making it.
Enjoy hogging it....No one can eat just one....

Bhel Puri Chaat

This is an easy wonderful snack. If the chutneys are made, the other items are easy to gather.

Things we need

The chutneys we are making for this can be refrigerated or frozen.

Green Chutney
Mint   1 cup
Green Chilli  2
Black pepper corns - 3 or 4
Onion 1/2
Tomato 1/2
Ginger - small piece
Lemon Juice - 1/2 lemons'
Salt
Chaat Masala - to taste
Coriander leaves (Optional)
Sugar - 2 pinches

Grind all these together to a paste.

Tamarind Chutney


Tamarind Paste - 3 tbs  (or extract the same from raw tamarind)
Jaggery - 1 1/2 cube or nearly 3/4 cup grated
Red chilli powder
Roasted cumin powder - 2 spoons
Roasted Fennel powder - 1 spoon
Black Salt
A little grated ginger

Take the tamarind paste in a bowl with 3/4 cup water, add the jaggery and allow it to melt. Then add the chilli, cumin, fennel powder, black salt, ginger. Allow it to boil well till it thickens.

This chutney goes well with samosas, cutlets, pakodas, parathas, vada pav, Sandwiches, any chaat items like dahi puri, papdi chaat, Dahi vada.

The quantity Given below serves 2 to 3 people. One can alter the quantity according to taste.

Puffed rice - 2 cups
Thin sev - 1/2 cup
Crushed Puri or papdi chaat - a little
Chopped Boiled potatoes 1/4 cup
Chopped Cucumber 1/4 cup
Seeded & Chopped tomatoes 1/4 cup
Pre soaked & pressure cooked chickpeas 1/4 cup
Chopped raw mango - a little
Lemon Juice
Chopped Coriander leaves

Roast the puffed rice to make sure they are crispy. Mix all the above ingredients. Add a spoon each of the chutneys. And mix well. Serve immediately else it would become soggy.
You can try out any other veggies too.

Enjoy.

Paruppu Podi/ Dal Powder

This is a must have kitchen item in case we are so bored to cooked.


Things we need


Urad Dal    - 1/2 cup
Toor  Dal     - 1 cup
Moong  Dal  - 1 cup
Black Pepper - 1 1/2 spoons
Red chilli   - 2 or 3
Salt

Dry roast the chilli, black pepper and add asafoetida to it.. Roast the dals separately. Then grind both into a fine powder adding salt .
Its ready. Make hot rice, add ghee mix the powder with it. Serve hot with deep fried or roasted masala papad.

Its has a lot of  protein