Red Rice Sweet Puttu

Ingredients:

Red rice puttu mix - 1/2 cup
Scraped coconut - 4 teaspoon
Ghee - 4 teaspoon
Sugar - 6 teaspoon
Salt - as needed

Procedure:

• Take the puttu mix in a vessel; sprinkle salt mixed water and blend well so that no small balls are formed.

• Take the puttu vessel; fill it alternately with coconut and puttu mix.

 

• Cover the vessel after filling with ingredients; place the vessel over the cooker (where normally you place the weight) and allow it to cook it full steam for almost 5 minutes.
• Then shift the puttu to a vessel, add ghee and sugar and mix well.

• Again shift the puttu to the puttu vessel; press well and place it over a plate.

Note:

• Same procedure of cooking for white puttu.
• Elaichi powder and cashewnuts can be added, as per need.
• This procedure is the same as kuzhaiputtu..in Kerala they use oconut shells for making puttu..this vessel is used and it is in the shape of coconut shell.
• When eaten with banana, the taste gets enriched.
• Instead of ghee, gingely oil / sesame oil can be added, as it is cure for menstrual pains and good for the girls at the time of attaining puberty.

Venpongal

Ingredients:

Raw rice - 1 1/2 cup
Moong dal yellow - 1/2 cup
Pepper - 4 teaspoon
Cumin - 2 teaspoon
Scraped ginger - 3 teaspoon
ghee - 1/2 cup
Asafoetida powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Cashew nuts - as needed
Curry leaves - as needed
Salt - as needeed

Procedure:

• Add 6 cups of water to the rice and place it on the stove.
• Roast the moong dal, add asafoetida and boil it for almost 10 minutes.
• When the rice takes the shape of saadham, add moongdal, salt and stir well.
• Add 1 spoon of scraped ginger.
• Simmer the flame, close the vessel; keep stirring now and then.
• When the water quantity gets reduced and when pongal is in 3/4th process of cooking, place a pan on the stove..add 3 teaspoons of ghee..when it gets heated season with crushed pepper, cumin, curry leaves, remaining ginger...add this to the pongal and stir well.
• When pongal gets cooked very softly and gets sticky...add the remaining ghee, stir well.
• Garnish with ghee roasted cashewnuts.

Note:

• While using cooker, all the ingredients can be added at the same time..excluding seasoning items ..
• This method is tastier compared to the cooker method; moreover, the quantity of pongal is more.
• Green chili can be added while rice gets cooked, if preferred.
• To get real good taste, this much ghee is needed; but from health point of view, it is good to reduce the quantity of ghee.

Moong Dal / Paasiparuppu Sambar (For Idli)

Ingredients:

Moong dal / Paasiparuppu - 1 cup
Small onions - 8
Tomato -2
Green chili - 2
Turmeric powder-1/2 teaspoon
Oil, Salt - as needed

To be powdered:

Red chili - 3
Corriander seeds - 3 tablespoon
Fenugreek - 1/4 teaspoon

For seasoning:

Oil, Mustard seeds, fenugreek, cumin, red chili - 1, asafoetida, curry leaves

Procedure:

• Add turmeric powder to moongdal; pressure cook.
• Dry roast all the things to be powdered, and make a powder.
• Season the items mentioned, add long sliced onions, green chilli, finely chopped tomato and saute well.
• Add moong dal, powdered items and allow it to boil.
• When it boils well, switch off the stove.

 Note:

Can be taken with rice; but for idli it is a very exclusive combination.

Leant from: Mrs. Padma, my mother

Spicy Oily Broad Beans Poriyal

One of the special dishes for vegetarians..

While making this poriyal I was wondering ..Can broad beans be cooked this much spicy?!

Ingredients:

Broad Beans (Avaraikkaai) - 200 gms
Small onion - around 15
Tomato - 1
Garlic - 2 cloves
Corriander powder - 2 tablespoon
Red chili powder - 3 teaspoon
Oil - 1/4 cup
Seasoning - Mustard seeds, Urad dal, cumin, curry leaves
Salt - as needed

Procedure:

• Add oil for seasoning to a frying pan; season with mustard seeds, urad dal, cumin and curry leaves.
• Add finely chopped onions and saute well till they get golden brown.
• Add finely chopped tomato and saute well.
• Add the remaining oil to the pan and let it get heated for a while.
• Add finely chopped broad beans and saute well till the raw smell goes off.
• Add red chili powder, corriander powder, salt and saute well.
• Add little water and cover the pan; keep sauting in between.
• When the broad beans get cooked well, add crushed garlic and saute well.

Learnt from: Mrs.Manickavalli Alagappan, friend

Coconut Thuvaiyal

Ingredients:

Scraped coconut - 3/4 cup
Black Urad dal - 4 tablespoon
Tamarind - 3/4 of a small lemon size
Red chili - 10
Salt - as needed

Procedure:

• Roast urad dal till it gets brown and set aside.
• Add red chili and roast for a while and set aside.
• Add coconut and roast till it gets light brown.
• Take all these items in a mixer jar; add salt and soaked tamarind and grind to a coarse paste adding little water.

Note:

• If you need it little dry, do not add water.
• To enrich the taste, add onion vadagam that is used for seasoning towards the end of the grinding process.
• If ammi is used for grinding, the thuvaiyal tastes very good.

Mutton Biriyani - Aluminium Foil Dhum

Ingredents:

Mutton - 300 gms
Biriyani rice / Basmathi rice / Seeraka samba raice - 1 1/2 cup
Big onion - 2
Small onion - 4
Green chili - 4
Tomato - 2
Ginger garlic paste - 4 teaspoon
Finely chopped pudina - 3 handful
Finely chopped corriander - 2 handful

Red chili powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Corriander powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Garam masala powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Curd - 1 teaspoon / Lemon juice - 1/2 teaspoon

Butter - 3/4 teasoom
Oil - 4 to 5 tablespoon
Salt - as needed

Seasoning:

Cinnamon - 4 pieces
Cloves - 4
Biriyani leaves - 3
Annaasi bud - 1

How to remove fat layers from mutton?

In India we get fatless tender mutton, but not so easy in Riyadh. If you want to remove the existing fat in mutton, follow these steps. However, if you prefer it with fat, just wash the mutton and use.

• Cut the mutton to medium size pieces.
• Add 2 teaspons wheat flour, 1 teaspoon turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon oil - blend well and set aside for half an hour.
• After 30 minutes, if you wash the pieces, you will see the fat content slipping off

 (If you give wheat flour and turmeric powder bath to chicken, it too will lose its fat and raw smell.) 

Seasoning and Sauting:

• Add butter to the pan and when it starts melting, add oil.
• Season the mentioned ingredients.
• Add long sliced onions and salt; saute well.
• When the oil gets separated, add ginger garlic paste and saute till the oil gets separated.
• Add long sliced green chili, small pieces of tomato and saute; if the pan is covered for a while tomatoes get softly cooked.
• Add red chili powder, corriander powder, turmeric powder - saute well.
• When the oil gets separated, add pudina and corriander leaves - saute well.
• Add crushed small onions - saute well.

After adding each ingredient, saute well till the oil gets separated - this is the important step for biriyani's special taste.

How to cook the mutton using pressure cooker?

• Divide the sauted masla to two parts.
• Set aside one part; add the second part to the water squeezed  mutton pieces, add needed salt, add fresh water; pressure cook till the mutton gets 3/4th cooked.
• (Do not add biriyani leaves to the cooker; set them aside with the other half of the masala.)
• After the steam calms down, remove the mutton pieces separately.
• Measure the remaining water.

How to get the rice ready?

• Clean the rice and then drain the water and set aside for 5 minutes.

How to set the Dhum?

• Take a heavy-bottomed vessel; (Non -stick vessel is equally good) add 1/2 teaspoon oil and roast the rice for a minute and set it aside.
• Along with the water taken from the cooker measure 3 cups of water and add to the vessel.
• When it boils well, add rice, mutton and remaining masala and stir well.
• Add salt as needed.
• Add curd or lemon juice.
• When the water gets reduced to half its level, spread aluminium foil over the vessel and cover it.  

• If needed, remove the aluminium fol in between and saute well and again cover.
• Biriyani will be ready within 7 - 10 minutes.

Note:

• If  elaichi  is preferred, it can be added while seasoning.
• Ingredients giving medium spicy taste are mentioned here; if it is preferred hot and spicy, more green chilis and red chili powder can be added.

Learnt from: Took hints from so many people, tried most of them and followed a mushakkal style

Oil Brinjal gravy / Enney katharikkaay kuzhambu

Ingredients:

Brinjal - 8
Onion - 1
Tomato - 1
Garlic - 4 cloves
Cumin - 1/2 teaspoon
Thick tamarind pulp - 1/2 cup
Red chili powder - 2 teaspoon
Corriander powder - 3 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Scraped coconut - 3/4 cup
For seasoning: Mustard seed, Urad dal, Fenugreek, Cumin, Curryleaves
Oil - 1/4 cup
Salt - as needed

Procedure:

• Slit the brinjals at he tip.
• Add 1 teaspoon oil to the pan and season mstard seeds, urad dal, fenugreek, cumin and curry leaves.
• Add long sliced onions and garlic; saute well.
• Cut tomato into small pieces, add to the pan and saute well.
• Add the remaining oil to the pan; add brinjals and saute well till they get brown colour.
• Add little water to the tamarind pulp ; add red chili powder, corriander powder, turmeric powder and salt and pour this mixto the pan and cover it.
• Grind coconut and cummin to a nice paste.
• After the brinjals get cooked well, add coconut cumin paste and switch off the stove when it comes to a boil.

. Learnt from: Mrs. Padma, my mother

Methi Chicken Franks Masala

Ingredients:

Chicken Franks - 4
Onion - 1
Tomato - 1
Green chili - 2
Methi leaves(stem-removed) - handful
Red chili powder - 3 teaspoon
Corriander powder - 2 teaspoon
Turmric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Garam masala powder - 1 teaspoon
Scraped coconut - 4 tablespoon
Oil, Salt - as needed
Curry leaves, Corriander leaves - as needed
Spring onion - to garnish

Procedure:

• Cut the chicken franks to round shaped small pieces.
• Add oil to the pan and fry the chicken franks pieces. (shallow fry) till they change colour; they will get puffed up; set them aside.

• Add more oil, if needed; saute long sliced onions and green chilies.
• When they change colour, add ginger garlic paste and saute well.
• Add chopped tomatoes, curry leaves and corriander leaves and saute well.
• Add red chili powder, corriander poder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder and salt and stir well.
• Add little water and cover the pan.
• Add coconut paste when the masala gets cooked and stir well.
• In a small pan / seasoning pan, add 1 teaspoon of oil and add methi leaves and fry well till they get crispy. When fried, the methi leaves will give a special flavour. However, if you wish you can add methi without frying.
• Add chicken franks, saute for 2 minutes and fry.

Note:

• It is a suitable combination for white rice, rice with rasam, dal, sambar and chappathi.
• The same recipe can be tried with chicken sausage too.

Learnt from: Self-trial

Cauliflower Egg Podimaas

Ingredients:

Cauliflower - small - 1
Onion - 2
Green chili - 4
Egg -2
Pepper powder - 3 teaspoon
Salt, oil - as needed

Procedure:

• Cut the cauliflower into small pieces and immerse in salted hot water for 15 minutes.
• Add oil to the frying pan; add finely chopped onions and green chili and saute well.
• When they get golden brown, add the water-drained cauliflower, salt and saute well.
• When it gets fried well, and changes colour, add two eggs and mix well.
• When the egg is cooked, add pepper powder; after 2 minutes swtich of the stove.

Note:

• It is a suitable dish for making bread sandwiches, rice wih rasam and chappathi.
• The more oil you add, the tastier it gets.

Learnt from: Mrs. Padma Ram, my friend

Tomato Dal Pachadi

Ingredients:

Tomato - 3
Boiled dal - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1
Green chili - 2
Garlic - 2 cloves
Scraped coconut - 2 tablespoon
Red chili powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Cumin - 1/4 teaspoon
For seasoning - Mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves
Salt, oil - as needed

Procedure:

• Add oil to a frying pan and season mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves.
• Add long sliced onions and saute well.
• Add long sliced green chili and garlic and saute well.
• Cut the tomatoes to small pieces and add; saute well.
• When they are fried well, add the boiled dal and mix well.
• Add salt and chili powder, little water and cover the pan.
• After 5 minutes, add coconut+jeera / cumin paste and stir well.
• Allow it to come to a boil, and switch off the stove.

Note:

•  It is a good combination to mix with rice, suiable side dish for sambar rice and chappathi.
• Add more chili powder, if you need it very spicy.

Ghee Rice

Ingredents:

Raw rice / Basmathi rice - 1 cup
Ghee - 4 tablespoon
Onion - 1
Green chili - 4
Finely chopped ginger - 1 teaspoon
Finely chopped garlic - 1 teaspoon
Finely chopped corriander + pudina -1 tablsepoon
Cinnamon - 3pieces
Cloves - 3
Cashewnut - as needed
Salt - as needed

Procedure:

• Rinse the rice in water and drain the water.
• Add ghee to the pan and when it gets heated, add cinnamon and cloves.
• Add long sliced onions and green chilis.
• Add rice and saute for a minute.
• Add two cups of water, salt and cover the pan.
• When it boils well, simmer the flame.
• When the rice is cooked three-fourth, add pudina and corriander and stir well.
• When the rice is fully boiled, add roasted cashewnuts.

Note:

If you wish you can add

• coconut mlk, reducing the quantity of water.
• crushed cardamon / elaichi

Learnt from: Mrs. Shoba Mohan, my friend

Greengram Spicy Paniyaram

Ingrediens:

Greengram - 3/4 cup
Sour Idli/Dosa batter - 1 cup
Finely chopped onion - as needed
Finely chopped greenchili - 1 teaspoon
Coconut small pieces - as needed
Ginger - a smalll cube
Mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves, asafoetida - for seasoning
Oil, salt - as needed

Procedure:

• Soak the greengram for almost 2 hours.
• Add salt and ginger to the greengram and grind to a thick batter.
• Add the idli batter, salt to this greengram batter and blend well.
• Season mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves and asafoetida.
• Add greenchili and onion and saute well.
• Add the seasoned items and coonut pieces to the bater and blend well.
• Make paniyaram using the paniyaram pan.

Note:

• If the idli batter is not sour enough, add sour buttermilk.
• If you need it very spicy, add greenchili while grinding.

Learnt from:

While making Pesarette, tried to make this dish.

Oil Brinjal Masala

Ingredients:

Brinjal - 8
Onion - 1
Tomato - 1
Garlic - 4 cloves
Scraped coconut - 4 teaspoon
Roasted skin-removed groundnut - 1/3 cup
Sesame / Ellu (white / black) - 3 teaspoon
Corriander seeds - 4 teaspoon
Red chili powder - 3 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
Watery tamarind pulp - 1/4 cup
Oil - 1/3 cup
Salt - as needed

Procedure:

• Remove the stems of the brinjal and make slits lengthwise. (If the brinjals are bigger, cut them into medium size pieces.)
• Roast sesame / ellu  and coriander seeds separately without oil.
• Add groundnut, coconut and grind well.
• Add sauted onion and tomato, little water to this and grind to a paste.

• Add oil to a frying pan and place the brinjals.
• When the brinjal changes colour, add chopped garlic, ground pste, turmeric powder, salt and ad little water.

• Let the masala boil till the raw smell goes off.

• See to it that brinjals are not cooked too soft.
• When the masala thickens, switch off the stove.

Note:

• If you prefer a gravy, switch off the stove when the masala retains some water.
• When we prepare for our family, quantity of oil can be reduced.
• It is a perfect side-dish for biriyani, ghee rice and chappathi.

Learnt from: Mrs. Nalini Sadanand, my friend

Tomato Rasam

Ingredients:

Tomato - 2
Garlic - 3 cloves
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Watery tamarind pulp - 1/2 cup
Corriander, curry leaves - as needed
Salt - as needed
Cooked toor dal - 2 teaspoon

For dry grinding:

Pepper - 1 teaspoom
Cumin - 1/2 teaspoon
Corriander seeds - 1 tablespoon
Fenugreek - 1/4 teaspoon
Red chili - 2

For seasoning:

Oil
Mustard seeds
Urad dal
Cumin - 1/4 teaspoon
Fenugreek - 1/4 teaspoon
Red chili - 1
Asafoetida - 2 pinch

Procedure:

• Place the tomatoes in hot water for 10 minutes.
• Place the pan on the stove roast pepper, cumin, corriander seeds, red chili, fenugreek without adding oil.
• Dry grind these items in the mixer.
• Add tomato, cloves and just grind for a few seconds.
• Place this in a vessel; add tamarind pulp, salt, turmeric powder, cooked toor dal and curry leaves.
• Add oil to the pan and season mustard seeds, urad dal, cumin, fenugreek, asafoetida and red chili.
• Add the ground tomato mix to the pan and allow to boil.

• When it gets foamy add chopped corriander leaves, and shift to a vessel.
• It should not be allowed to boil too much; when it gets foamy switch off the stove.

Note:

• You can add 2 more tomaotes, totally avoiding tamarind.

Learnt from: Tips from here and there

Spicy Wheat Rotti

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 1 cup
Finely chopped small onion - 1/2 cup
Finely chopped green chili - 1 teaspoon
Red chili powder - 1 teaspoon
Corriander powder - 1 teaspoon
Finely chopped corriander leaves - as needed
Finely chopped curry leaves - as needed
Omam - 1/2 teaspoon
Oil, salt - as needed

Omam: English name: Bishop seeds / carom seeds / thymol seeds  Hindi name: Ajwain

Procedure:

• Take wheat flour in a broad vessel;  add salt and water and blend well.
• Add onion, greenchili, omam, redchili powder, corriander powder, corriander leaves and curry leaves; blend well and set aside for 10 minutes.
• See to it that the blend is norml in texture, neither too watery nor too tight.

• Make small balls as per your need.
• Smear oil around the balls.
• Place each ball inside a plastic cover and gently press to make rotti.

• Place dosa pan / chappathi pan on the stove and make the rottis.
• Apply oil and turn to both sides till it gets golden brown.

Note:

• More spices can be added pertaining to your taste to make the rotti spicy.
• To make it crispier, add little rava / sooji to the flour mix.
• We are supposed to use plaintain leaf for making rotti, however when it is not available, plastic cover helps.

Learnt from: Kitchen tips from a tamil magazine Snehidhi + my own ideas

Pepper Brinjal Chops

Ingredients:

Brinjal - medium size - 6
Small onion - 8
Garlic - 4 cloves
Scraped coconut -4 tablespoon
Pepper - 1 tablespoon
Corriander seeds - 2 tablespoon
Cumin - 1/2 tablespoon

Sauf / sombu - 1/2 tablespoon

Red chili - 2

Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
Oil - 5 tablespoon

Salt - as needed

Procedure:

•  Dry grind pepper, cumin, sauf, red chili, corriander seeds to a coarse powder.

• Add onions and scraped coconut,little water and grind to a paste.

•  Cut each brinjal lengthwise to 6 pieces.
• Place a pan on the stove and add oil; when it gets heated up, add brinjal and chopped garlic.

• After it starts changing colour, add the paste, turmeric powder, curry leaves, salt and add a cup of water and stir.

• Don't cover the pan.
• Stir now and then.
• Take care while the gravy thickens.
• Take care that brinjals are not too softly cooked.

• When the moisture goes off completey and roasted well switch off the stove.

 Learnt from: Mrs. Padma, my mother

Paruppu Urundai kuzhambu + Pakkoda

Ingredients:

(For 2 persons)

For making balls:

Toor dal - 3/4 cup
Big onion 1 / small onion - 8
Ginger - a small piece
Garlic - 3 cloves
Green chili - 3
Red chili - 2
Garam masala powder - 1 teaspoon
Coconut scraped - 4 tablespoons
Chopped corriander leaves - as needed
Salt - as needed

For making gravy paste

Sombu / sauf - 1/2 tablespoon
Coconut scraped - 1/2 cup

For gravy - items to be sauted and mixed

Tomoto (big) - 1
Onion big - 1 / small onion - 8
Garlic - 3 cloves
Tamarind pulp - 1/4 cup
Red chili powder - 2 teaspoon
Corriander powder - 4 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
Salt - as needed

For seasoning

Cinnamon - 3 pieces
Cloves - 2
Sauf - 1/2 tablespoon
Mustard seeds, urad dal - as needed
Curry leaves, corriander leaves - as needed
Oil - as needed
Procedure:

Making Dal Mix for the balls

• Soak the toor dal for almost 3 hours.
• Finely chop an onion, green chillies and 3 garlic cloves.
• Add oil to the frying pan and saute chopped onion, green chili and garlic cloves and fry till it gets golden brown.
• Drain water from dal, and add garam masala powder, chopped ginger, 4 tablespoons of scraped coconut, red chili, salt and grind to a paste.
• Add the sauted items, chopped corriander leaves to the dal mix.
• Make small tight balls to the size of a small laddu.

How to make the gravy

• Add oil to the pan and saute mustard seeds, urad dal, cinnamon, cloves, sauf, curry leaves.
• Add long sliced onion, 3 garlic  cloves and tomato and saute well.
• Add tamarind pulp, turmeric powder, red chili powder, corriander powder and water and allow to boil well.
• When the raw smell goes off, add coconut sauf paste and boil the mixture well.
• When it gets foamy, as seen in the picture, simmer the flame and add the balls one by one and cover the pan with lid.

• After sometime, turn the balls very carefully.
• It will take almost 10 minutes for the balls to get fully cooked. 

• Add oil to the pan and when it gets heated, take small pieces of the remaining mix and deep fry to get pakkoda.

Note:

• Instead of 3/4 cup of toor dal, half the measure of toor dal and half the measure of channa dal / kadalai paruppu can be taken. 
• If the balls are made tightly and turned properly, there is no chance that they will break; however, if you are afraid they will break, you can cook the balls in idli vessel steam and then add to the gravy.

Learnt from: Mrs. Padma, my mother

Horsegram Porridge / Kollukanji

Ingredients:

(to make 2 cups of porridge)

Horsegram / Kollu -3 tablespoon
Moong dal  - 1 tablespoon
Garlic - 3 cloves
Scraped coconut - 1 tablespoon
Salt - as needed

Procedure:

Horsegram

Horsegram + Moongdal (roasted)

• Roast horsegram and moong dal separately and grind to a coarse powder.

• Shift this powder to a pressure cooker, add 3 cups of water, crushed garlic, salt and pressure cook for 10 minutes.
• When the porridge is ready, add scraped coconut.

Note:

• To make it tastier, add finely chopped small onions and green chilies.
• Horsegram and moong dal can be ground in the ratio 3:1 in larger quantity and the powder can be stored for future use.

Collected tips from here and there and tried in my own style