Lauki Kofta / Sorakai curry/ squash in a creamy gravy

As I scan the Indian grocery store, I used often wonder what to do with this vegetable. Thanks to my friend Sulbha, I was able to come up with this dish. Its rich & yummy.

Things we need

For the lauki balls

Lauki / Soraikai - peeled & grated - 3 cups

Besan / Chickpea flour - 1 cup

Salt

Cashews

Red Chilli powder

Turmeric powder

Ginger minced

Dry Mango powder

Corriander leaves chopped.

Oil to fry

Extract the water from the grated lauki & mix all of the above ingredients & lastly the besan four. Add enough to make small balls of it. Fry them in oil like a vada till they are golden brown & keep it aside.

For the gravy

Onions - 1/2 well chopped

Tomato - 2 pureed with 2 green chillies

Little ginger (or) Ginger garlic paste

Poppy seeds - 1 spoon soaked in water

Cashew - 5/6

Whole garam masala - Cardamon 1, cloves 2, cumin 1/4 spoon, corriander seeds 1/4 spoon, black pepper 4 , a very small pinch of nutmeg, 1 pinch cinnamon powder.

Cumin seeds - 1/2 spoon

Red chilli powder

Garam masala powder - 1/4 spoon

Turmeric powder

Dried Kasturi Methi

Milk / cream

Oil

Salt

In a kadai, take a little oil. When its hot fry the whole garam masala & the chopped onions. Take them out & grind them well with the soaked poppy seeds & cashew.

Then in the kadai, take a little oil. When hot add cumin seeds, ginger, then the tomato puree. Allow them cook well till the raw smell is gone. Add the Onion paste ,red chilli powder, turmeric powder, the garam masala powder & salt. Allow it to boil well. Now add the Kofta balls. & then add a little milk/ cream & crushed kasturi methi.

Kofta Curry is done. Its goes well with Chapatti, roti or naan , Veg pulav.

Have a wonderful meal..

Mixed Vegatable Soup

I had been wanting to try out a mixed vegetable soup for a while. I just thought about a couple of ingredients & information bagage from my mom, I could arrive at this recipe

Things we need

Broccoli - 3-5 heads

Cauliflower - 3-5 heads

Onion - 1/2 well sliced

Corn fennels - 1/2 spoon

Green peas - 1 spoon

Beans - 3 0r 4 cut into midium pieces

Carrots - 1 cubed

Grated ginger

1/2 spoon butter / olive oil

Salt

Pinch of dried Oregano & Basil for flavour (optional)

Crushed Pepper

1/4 Tbs of Corn flour

Procedure

In a vessel, take some butter. When it is hot, add the onions & saute till they are translucent, then add ginger & fry well. Then add all the vegetables & salt & saute well. Cover the vessel with a lid. Stir them often. Add crushed pepper & add about a cup of water. Close & allow it to boil for 15 to 20 mins. Then add the dry basil & oregano. Add 1/4 spoon butter to this & allow it to cook for 5 minutes & switch off.

I like the soup watery. If you want a little thicker consistency, dissolve the corn powder in nomal water, add it to the soup & bring it to boil.

Soup can be served in a bread bowl & with just some bread or a baguette.

Bon Apétit.

Akkara Adisal - Rice, Jaggery & Ghee Pudding

This is one dish, I always loved preparing. I made this dish on Thiru aadipuram, which is andal's(Godha devi's) b'day. She loved Lord Krishna . Anything with Ghee is really delightful to eat.

Things we need

Rice- 2 cups

Milk - 6 cups

Jaggery- 5 cups (well grated)

Ghee - 1 cup

Cashews - a handful

Raisins - a handful

Saffron Strands

Jaadikai (Nutmeg) - a little grated

Cardamon - powdered

How to make

Wash the rice & add the milk to the rice & pressure cook it. Once done, Mash it well & keep it aside.

Then in a thick bottomed vessel, add around 1 1/2 cups of water & add the jaggery & allow it to boil. The jaggery will dissove completely & will start to thicken. Take a drop of the boiling jaggery & drop it into a cup of water. The jaggery shouldn't melt & it should go to the bottom of the cup like a ball. When you see so, the pagam is done (the consistency is perfect).

Add the boiled & mashed rice to this & mix it well. Allow it t boil a bit. In a kadai add a little ghee, fry the cashews, raisins, the nutmeg & add it to the dish. Then in a small cup, take 4 or 5 strands of saffron & soak them in milk &then crush them till they dissolve & give out color. Add this & the cardamon powder to the dish & mix them well.

Finally add the remaining ghee & mix well. The ghee is a key thing in this dish so do add enough to render it tastier.

(In the picture it looks a little thick in consistency, as I liked it that way,but, it has to be a a little semi solid in consistency for the real Akkara adisal)

Its done. It is an easy dish. Enjoy the delicious Akkara Adisal.

Daal Makhani - Black Gram Dal

This dish was my favourite at restaurants. I wanted to learn it . Thanks to Sulbha Phanesekar, I could make this dish.

Things we need
Black Urad Dal - 1 cup
Rajma - - little less then 1/4 cup
Onions - finely chopped
Tomatoes - ground well
Ginger Paste (or ginger garlic paste)
Bay Leaf - 1
Cumin Seeds - 1 tbsp
Chilli Powder - 2 tbsp
Turmeric Powder - 1 tbsp
Garam Masala - 2 tbsp
Dried Kasturi methi leaves
Milk - 1/2 cup (or cream)
Butter - 3/4 of a stick (7 to 8 spoons )
Oil
Salt
Soak the urad dal & the rajma bean over night. Pressure cook for 3 whisltles . Drain the water from the cooked dal & keep it aside. Mash the dal well.
In a kadai take a little oil, when it is hot, add cumin seeds, bay leaf, then the onions. Fry them well. Add a little butter & ginger paste, tomatoes and fry them well till the raw smell goes away. Then add turmeric, chilli powder , garam masal powder & saute them. To this add the drained water we took from the dal, the remaining butter & allow it to boil. Add the cooked dal & salt to this& stir well. Cook in slow flame for almost 20 mins. If needed add a little water. It should be a semi solid. But don not add too much as we need to add milk.
When done, add the crushed & dried kasturi methi leaves & finally the milk (or even cream).
Its is very yummy with chapatti.

Vatha Kuzambu without tamarind

Things we need

Onions 1 1/2 Sliced well
Tomato 2
Coriander leaves
Sambar powder
Red chilli - 1 or 2
Channa dal 1/2 sppon
Urad dal 1/2 spoon
Peanut 1/2 spoon
Mustard seeds
Fenugreek Seeds
Oil
Asafoetida
Salt
Curry Leaves
How to make it
Grind the tomato & coriander leaves with salt. in a kadai, take some oil. Once it is heated up, add th emustard & allow it to spurt, and then the fenugreek seeds, red chilli, then the lentils (dals) & the peanuts. Fry them till they are brown, then add the curry leaves, onions, & fry them till they are transparent. Then add asafoetida, then some sambar powder. Just sauté it a bit. Then add the tomato coriander ground mix. Allow it to boil well. then turn it off.
Its a very easy dish. It tastes good with rice or pongal.

Ompodi – Chickpea sev

Things we need
Besan (Chickpea flour) 1 ½ cup
Rice flour ½ cup
2 spoond of ghee or butter
Omam (Ajwain) 2 spoons
Chilli powder
Asafoetida Hing
Salt
Curry Leaves
Oil to fry

Method
Soak the Ajwain in water for half an hour. Then grind it well & extract the juice off it.


In a convenient bowl, add ghee/ butter, salt, chilli powder, asafetida & mix them well. Then add both the flours& mix. The butter should be equally distributed on the flour. Then add the ajwain Juice & add water as & when necessary to knead it into dough. The dough's consistency should be very soft. It will be sticky.


Take the murukku maker & fit it with the ompodi plate. It has the smallest holes. Grease it a bit with oil. If the dough is too tight, it won't go through the holes. So make it accordingly. Fill the murukku maker with the dough.


In a kadai, take oil. When the oil is hot enough, press the murukku maker in a circle which will disperse the dough well into the oil.


Once they are done turn over the ompodi. Once they r a little brown, take them out & let the oil drain out on a tissue.


These become crispy & yummy.Once you are done with making all of them, fry some curry leaves & put it in the box where you store it. It adds to the flavour. A nice snack that one can seel with any age group. Its much easier too.

Mulli Paratha/ Mullangi paratha

This is an easy dish. Mulli is fibrous & good for health too.

We need

Mulli - 1 well grated

Green chillies - 4 Finely Chopped

Ginger - finely grated

Chilli Powder

Salt

Wheat flour

Water

Oil/ ghee

Take the grated mulli, add the green chillies, ginger & salt to it. Set it aside in an air tight box for 2 hours. (It doesn;t smell great if we keep it open). Then Squeeze the liquid out of the mulli. Make small balls of the mulli and keep it aside.

The water extracted from the mulli can be used to make the dough with the wheat flour. Or it can be made with normal water. Remember to add a little chilli powder & salt to the dough.

Now make small balls of the dough. Lay it & make a small chapatti. keep a little ball of the mulli in it. Pack it into a small stuffed ball & then roll it again with the rolling pin. Don't be too hard. Make it softly. In a skillet that is heated up a bit & toss the paratha. When done on one side, turn it on the other to get both the sides cooked well. Take it out and then add some ghee/oil on both the sides. It is served with curd (with a pinch of chaat masala, chilli powder & salt) and some pickle.