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