Thakkali kurma

Actually this kurma has to be prepared by grinding coconut pieces with fennel seeds and cashews ( optional ). Also u need to season with garam masala stuff but i used garam masala powder instead of that.
Just tried doing with coconut milk powder and it came out so well.....A Change.

INGREDIENTS :

Onions - 2 small ( Chop it lengthwise )
Tomato - 1 Big ( Chop it lengthwise )
Green chilies - 2 ( Slitted )
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
Coconut milk powder - 2 tablespoons
Salt to taste
Coriander Leaves to garnish

PROCEDURE:

1. Heat oil in a kadai, season with fennel seeds and add chopped onions and fry till translucent.
2. Add Ginger Garlic Paste and fry till raw smell goes.
3. Then add  the chopped tomatoes and fry till they are mushy.
4. Add Turmeric powder , Red chili powder , Coriander Powder and Salt and fry for 2 mins.
5. Add one cup of water and let this cook for 5 mins.
6. Then mix 2 tablespoons of coconut milk powder in one cup of water and pour this to the above and bring to a boil.
7. Once ready, garnish with Coriander Leaves.
8. Serve it hot with idiyappam, dosa,chapati or rice.

Manathakkali Vathal Kuzhambu

Actually this is one version of preparing this kuzhambu which is easy and simple.

INGREDIENTS :

Manathakkali Vathal - 1 tbspn
Tamarind – lemon size
Garlic pods – 10
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
Sambar powder – 1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder – ¼ teaspoon
Sesame oil - 2 tbspn
Salt to taste
Curry leaves – 10 to 12

PROCEDURE:

1. Soak the tamarind ball in one cup of hot water for 15 mins.
2. Squeeze out the juice and make it for 2cups of tamarind extract and keep aside.
3. Heat the oil in a kadai, add mustard and when it splutters add the fenugreek seeds ( Keep the flame to very low while adding fenugreek seeds )
4.Saute it until the fenugreek seeds become light golden brown.
5. Add garlic pods and manathakkali vathal to the above and saute for a min.
6. Add curry leaves and fry.
7. Add turmeric powder, sambar powder and salt to taste. Fry for a min.
8. Now add tamarind juice and Stir well.
9. On a medium flame, allow it to boil until oil floats on top and the kuzhambu becomes thick.

Instead of adding the vathal along with garlic u can separately fry them in ghee and add the fried vathal to the
kuzhambu in the end.

Finally serve with hot rice and of course add a dollop of ghee to that. How can i miss that...yeah papad or chips or appalam....excellent combo!

Chettinad Egg Gravy

This weekend i wanted to try some Chettinad dish so end up cooking this gravy.....n u know Chettinad delicacies are simply superb....loved this gravy...spicy one.

INGREDIENTS:

Boiled eggs - 4
Big onion - 1 ( finely chopped )
Green chilly - 1 ( slitted )
Tomato - 1 ( finely chopped )
Ginger-1 inch size ( finely chopped )
Garlic - 10 pods ( finely chopped )
Chili powder  - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tablespoon
Garam masala powder-1 tsp
Curry leaves - 10
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves to garnish

Gravy Masala: ( Grind the below ingredients to make a paste )
Shredded Coconut -  3 tablespoon
Fennel seeds-1 tsp
Cumin seeds-1 tsp
Poppy seeds -1 tsp

PROCEDURE:

1. Boil the eggs, remove the outer shell and slit into half and keep it aside.
2. Heat oil in a kadai, season with fennel seeds, then add chopped onions, green chilly and curry leaves and saute for few mins.
3.Now add the finely chopped ginger garlic to the same and saute for 3 mins.
4. Once this is done, add the finely chopped tomato pieces and fry until it get cooked.
5. Now add all the powder stuffs ( Chili, coriander and garam masala ), salt and saute well.
6. Then add 2 cups of water to the above and let it boil for 10 mins until the gravy gets thicken.
7. Finally add the gravy masala paste along with a cup of water. Bring it to a boil for 5 mins.
8. Without this the gravy is not complete...yeah boiled eggs....add them to the thick gravy and cook for 3 to 5 mins.
9. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with rice, chapatis or frozen paratha....hmmm....yummy...

Soya Chunks Curry

Also known as soya meat or textured vegetable protein.It is quick to cook, with a protein content equal to that of the meat it is replacing, and contains no fat.
The recipe which i have given below would be little spicy, if u want u can reduce the quantity of spices.

INGREDIENTS :

Soya chunks - 2 cups
Onion - 1
Ginger - garlic paste - 1 tsp
Tomato - 1
Green Chilly - 1
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil
Coriander leaves to garnish

PROCEDURE:

1. Soak the soya chunks in hot water for 30 mins.
2. Using a colander, drain the water and also u can use ur hand to squeeze the excess water.
3. Chop the soya chunks into 2 or 4 pieces.
4. Heat oil in a kadai, season with fennel seeds and then add the chopped onions and green chilies.
    Saute for few mins.
5. Add the ginger-garlic paste, saute for 2 mins and the add the chopped tomato and fry for few mins.
6. Then add the turmeric, red chilly, coriander powder and stir along with adding salt.
7. Add one cup of water and let it boil for few mins.
8. When the curry turns thick, add the garam masala and chopped soya chunks and stir it for few mins.
9. If required, add 1/4 cup of water and cover and cook for 5 - 10 mins.
10. Finally garnish with coriander leaves and serve it hot with chapatis or frozen paratha.

Yellow Pumpkin Sabzi

This is again one of my mom's delicacy. I really like having this sabzi for chapati....goes well. Just try it.

INGREDIENTS:

Yellow Pumpkin - 300 grams
Boiled Potato - 1 small (optional )
Onion - 1 (chopped )
Green chilies - 2 (slitted )
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1/2 tbspn
Salt to taste

PROCEDURE:

1. Remove the seeds and peel off the skin of pumpkin.
2. Wash and cut into big pieces
3. Heat oil in a kadai, season with fenugreek seeds ( keep the flame to very low while doing this ).
4. Then add the chopped onions and green chilies and saute for 2 mins.
5. Add the turmeric powder, pumpkin pieces and salt and cook for 5 mins.
6. Once cooked add the potato pieces and saute for 2 mins.
7. Pumpkin sabzi is ready to be served with chapatis.

Kara Sev

These days my son is very fond of eating snacks. And he liked the karasev which was from India.
So i thought of preparing karasev unfortunately i didn't have the karasev slotted spoon but used the muruku maker to do so. It came out well that while preparing itself both the heroes were busy munching it.

INGREDIENTS:

Besan - 2 cups
Rice Flour - 1/2 cup
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Chilly powder or Pepper powder -  1 1/2 tsp
Hing - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Karasev Masala:

Poppy seeds - 1 tsp
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cloves - 2 to 3
Cardamoms - 2
Cinnamon - 1/2 inch stick.

PROCEDURE:

1. Grind all the ingredients mentioned under the karasev masala section. Make it a fine paste.
2. Take a big bowl and pour in all the ingredients  including the karasev masala paste. Add just enough water to make a stiff dough. Cover and keep aside. ( If the dough is not covered then it gets dried )

3. Heat oil in a kadai. Take a handful of batter and holding a slotted spoon over the hot oil, quickly rub the batter. The batter will fall into the hot oil in 1 inch pieces. When the oil is 3/4 full of sev, stir fry till they turn golden brown in colour.
                                             OR
Place a lump of dough in Muruku Maker. Pipe out directly to the hot oil, stir fry till they turn golden brown in colour.
4. Remove from the oil, transfer it to a kitchen towel so that the extra oil gets absorbed.              
5. Once you are done with all batter , let the sevs prepared cool down and finally store it in an airtight container.

Mushroom Pepper Fry

I had browsed and gathered few facts about Mushrooms. Please read on...

Mushrooms contain about 80 to 90 percent water, and are very low in calories . They have very little sodium and fat, and 8 to 10 percent of the dry weight is fiber. Hence, they are an ideal food for persons following a weight management program or a diet for hypertensives.

Also mushrooms are an excellent source of potassium, a mineral that helps lower elevated blood pressure and reduces the risk of stroke. One serving of mushrooms also provides about 20 to 40 percent of the daily value of copper, a mineral that has cardioprotective properties.

Mushrooms are a rich source of riboflavin, niacin, and selenium. Selenium is an antioxidant that works with vitamin E to protect cells from the damaging effects of free radicals

The latest findings show that white button mushrooms can reduce the risk of breast cancer and prostate cancer. An extract of white button mushrooms decreased cell proliferation and decreased tumor size in a dose-dependent manner.

Here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS :

White Button Mushrooms - 15 to 20
Green chilies - 2 ( (chopped)
Onion - 1 (finely chopped )
Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Salt to taste

PROCEDURE:

1. Finely chop the onion and the mushrooms.
2. Heat oil in a kadai and add the chopped onion and green chilies and saute for 2 mins.
3. Then add the chopped mushrooms to it and cook on a low flame for 3 - 5 mins.
4. Once it turns dry, put in the pepper powder and salt. And keep stirring for a min and remove from flame.
    Garnish with a little lemon juice ( optional ) and serve.
    This really goes well with frozen paratha, chapati n rice.