Aloo channa Dal Papad Kootu. Urulaikizangu Kadalai Paruppu Appala Kootu

This Particular recipe is one I tried from a Aval Vikatan, a tamil magazine.
It was realy tasty & real handy when we run out of vegetables.

Things we need:

Potato - 2 /3
Onions - 2 chopped
Channa dal - 1/2 a cup
Papad 2 / 3
Cocunut - 2 spoons (grind them well)
Saunf - 1/2 spoon
Green chilles - 3/4 well sliced
Turmeric Powder
Chilli powder
Corriander Leaves
Ginger - 1/2 spoon Grated
Cinnamon - a little
Cloves - 2 nos
Curry Leaves
Oil
salt

If need be One can use Garlic too

Pressure cook the potatoes. In the cooker you can also pressure cook Channa dal with turmeric, chilli powder & salt. Then Mash the potatoes well & add the cooked Channa dal along with it. Fry the papads & keep them aside.
In a Kadai, take a little oil, add cinnamon, cloves,saunf & onions. Then add curry leaves, green chillies, ginger (add the crushed garlic at this time if you are wanting to add). When they are cooked, add the potatoes + Channa dal mix. add a little water and salt. Then add the ground coconut. Mix them well. When done, add the papads and then garnish with Corriander leaves.
The dish is done. It is good with Rice.
(In the pic I did not add Corriander Leaves, as I didn't have any at that time. They were tasty too)

Panagam/ Panakam/ Jaggery Splash

This is a drink mostly given to us during Raama Navami. Along with Kosmari (Salad) and Neer Moor (Butter Milk).
I shall post reipes of all of them. They are very easy to make.
The main ingredient in this is Jaggery. This was used as a subtitute of Sugar. It has magnesium, potassium, iron & also sodium. Jaggery is known to relax our nerves espically to beat the summer.

Items needed
Water - 1 1/2 cup
Jaggery - have it powdered. Or slice it well using a sharp knife - half a cup
Dry ginger/ Sukku powder - 1/ spoon
Cardamom Powdered - a pinch
Lemon 1/2

Mix the jaggery completely in water. Drain it into another vessel to remove the sediments. Then add the dry ginger powder, cardamom, lemon.

This drink is very popluar to heal commoon cols & sore throat due the properties of ginger. One can also add a little bit of crushed pepper to spice it up.

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.