Vazhakkai poriyal, paruppu keerai, kovakkai poriyal!

Lunch today: Raw banana poriyal (Plantain poriyal), Greens with dal, gherkin fry, pepper rasam, potato chips, ginger pickle, salt and water;))))))) Will post the recipes. We make them with minimal ingredients but with maximal taste;))))) Ok excuse me now pals, I am burping after a heavy meal :-p

Recipe Update:-
Vazhakkai Seeraka(jeera) kari:
Microwave chopped plantain (raw banana) for 3-5 mins. Heat oil, splutter the mustard and then add curry leaves, and pounded garlic cloves (3-5), some chopped onion, the plantain pieces, salt, turmeric, red chilli powder 1tsp, cumin powder 1tsp and fry till it is done.

Paruppu Keerai (greens with dhal):
Pressure cook 1/2 cup tuvar dhal, 1 chopped onion, 1 chopped tomato, 2 slit green chillies, 1 tsp jeera and 1/4 tsp turmeric powder. To this add cleaned greens (keerai) along with 1tsp sambhar(sambar) powder, 1 tsp red chilli powder and cook till done. Temper with mustard and curry leaves.

Gherkin (kovakkai) semi fry:
Heat oil, splutter the mustard seeds and then add curry leaves, then the thinly sliced gherkins(kovakkai), salt, turmeric powder and cover and cook in the simmer mode till done. Next add 1 tsp of red chilli powder and fry. A semi fry should do to keep the vital nutrients intact.

Kodi Vedupu and Capsicum sambhar

Yesterday we (Deepa and me) made 'kodi vedupu' and Capsicum sambhar. Yummilicious dishes! I even told Sailu yesterday and I can guess that her mouth began watering instantaneously;)))) She told me to post the recipes and this post is for her (no, please dont thank me for it Sailu;)

Kodi Vepudu

Ingredients

* Chicken 1 kg, boneless, cut into 1-inch cubes.
* Onion 500 gms, diced
* Tomato 200 gms, chopped
* Ginger garlic paste 3 teaspoon
* Peppercorns 1 teaspoon, crushed
* Curry leaves 2 sprigs
* Turmeric powder ½ teaspoon
* Chilli powder ½ teaspoon
* Coriander powder 3 teaspoon
* Cinnamon 2-inch piece
* Cardamoms 5
* Cloves 4
* Oil 3 tablespoons
* Cashews 25 gms
* Salt to taste



Method

* Heat the oil and add the cinnamon,cardamom, cloves and the onions and fry till they turn brown.
* Add the ginger, garlic paste, tomatoes, turmeric powder, coriander powder and chilli powder and cook for three minutes.
* Add the chicken cubes and add water enough for cooking.
* Cook till the chicken is tender and the water has dried.
* Add curry leaves, cashews and pepper powder and cook for two minutes and then serve hot.

Capsicum Sambar

Capsicum 1/4 kg.

Heat 2 teaspoons of oil and add 1 tsp mustard seeds.When the mustard splatters

add 1/2 fenugreek seeds and 1/4 tsp asafoetida. Add the capsicum pieces and fry lightly.Add 2 cups of water and allow it to boil.Add 1 teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 teaspoon sambar powder and tamarind juice(amount vary to taste). Heat until the raw smell of tamarind is gone.Then add 1 cup boiled toor dal(paste) and heat until it mixes uniformly.Add a teaspoon of curry masala powder.

Onions, radish, potato, green peas,drumstick, pearl onions, okra, eggplant, pumpkin, chowchow...any of these veggies could be used

Gooseberry (Amla) Rasam

While out on one of my house visits, I saw a cart full of fresh gooseberries (Amla) on the roadsie. Very tempting I should say, so I stopped my vehicle and enquired the vendor how much was a kilo. "30 bucks", he said. Not bad, for a heavy monsoon season. I got myself half a kg and wanted to make pickle out of it. But, heck, everyone makes gooseberry pickles, so I wanted to do something different. The next logical step is to Google for gooseberry (Amla) recipes. Viva la Google! I came across a site which spoke of gooseberry rasam and gooseberry jam. Ok it shall be gooseberry rasam I said to myself and set about preparing it.

Here is the recipe for it:
Gooseberry Rasam

Ingredients: Gooseberries 100 grams, moong dal 2 tablespoons, ginger and green Chilli paste 2 teaspoons, medium sized tomatoes 2, turmeric ½ teaspoon, mustard ½ teaspoon, cooking oil ½ teaspoon, asafoetida 1 pinch, curry leaves, salt 1 teaspoon.

Method: Add half litre of water to a vessel along with the turmeric, ginger and chilli paste, salt and the cut tomatoes and bring the mixture to a boil. Pressure cook the gooseberries and the moong dal in 2 cups water.

Mash the gooseberries and dal, de-seed the gooseberries and add the mash to the simmering rasam. Once the mixture comes to a boil, season with mustard and curry leaves.

Gosh, the rasam tasted superb and my mom and aunt loved the thing (coz my mom says amla is good for the health) but the colour....dang and double dang, jeez, the colour of the rasam was so dark that it was unappetising. I made this for lunch and by night the rasam had turned a deep dark colour. Is there a way to change the colour to something more appealing? Suggestions please!

The making of a great Parantha

Paranthas

Ingredients:
maida 1/2 kg
milk 100 ml
salt to taste
vanaspathi 2tsp
egg 1 no.
sugar 1/2 tsp

First mix all the ingredients except the maida in a bowl and then add the maida to the mixture little by little and knead into a dough using no water( use very little if you must ). keep aside the dough for 1/2 hr for it to get soft.after that flip the dough on a smooth surface using oil. the flipping helps the dough gets spread out instead of rolling them with a pin. After flipping gather the ends of teh dough and fold it like the frills of a curtain and then shape into a roll and keep aside for 15 mins and then shape with the hands into a pancake shape and heat it on the tava.Then beat with the palms when cooked.