Kozhukatai (Modhaks)

Make kozhukatais for this Ganesh Chaturthi (Sept 1, 2011)

To make the flour ready

Soak 1 kg Raw Rice for 20 minutes, spread them out in linen for sometime to drain excess water and grind them into fine powder.
Sieve and keep aside.

Take water in 1:1 ratio of flour and boil it in a big vessel.
once it boils, add 2 table spoons gingeli oil and a pinch of salt.
Simmer and mix the flour slowly little by little into the boiling water without forming lumps.
Once the flour mixes well remove from fire and keep it tightly closed.
The flour showld be soft and non-sticky and must be able to mould into any shape.
Keep aside.

For sweet stuffing

1 cup grated coconut
1 cup jaggery
2 cardamoms

Mix the jaggery and coconut together and saute in pan till the jaggery melts and coats the coconut well.
Remove it from stove once it becomes non-sticky.
Add crushed cardamoms.
Keep aside.

For salt stuffing

1 cup black gram dhal (urad dhal)
1 cup bengal gram dha
3 - 4 green chillies
Salt

Soak the dhal for half an hour and grind into coarse poste without adding water. just sprinkle water so that it forms a non-sticky paste. Add salt.
Keep it in idli plates and bake for 10 minutes.
crush it loosely like bread crumbs.
heat oil in pan, splutter mustard and curry leaves.
Add the crushed dhal mixture and saute for few minutes and keep aside.

To make the kozhukatai

Make cups out of the baked flour and stuff the sweet or salted stuffing into it and close it.
To get the cups easily without sticking into hands, keep some gingeli oil beside and keep touching it with the hand.
Make different shapes for salt ans sweet for easy identification later.
Keep in idli plates and bake for 10 minutes.
Tasty kozhukatais are ready.

Kozhukatai upma

The salt kozhukatai can be made into a upma too.
Make small balls size of grapes out of the baked flour and bake in idli plate for ten minutes.
Heat oil in pan, put the salt stuffing into it and fry well.
Add the baked balls mix with the stuffing and saute for few more minutes.
Upma is ready.

Easy Pizza

Before cooking:

After cooking:

Ingredients:

2 Pizza base
1 onion chopped finely
2 tomatoes chopped finely
1 capsicum chopped finely
5 button mushrooms chopped (optional.. add anything else u like too!)
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp tomato sauce
butter
grated mozarella cheese as reqd

Method:

1. Put chopped tomatoes, onion, and capsicum (and whatever else you have added) in a bowl,

add 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper and microwave with closed lid for 2 - 3 minutes
2. Take pizza base and spread butter on each side and place on the grill stand
3. Spread tomato sauce on top and sprinkle some cheese
4. Spread the microwaved vegetables over it evenly and add more cheese as much as u like
5. put the oven in grill mode and grill for 5 minutes or till cheese melts

A very tasty pizza is ready to eat!!!

Tomato chutney

Ingredients:

1/2 kg tomatoes grind to a paste
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander seed powder (dhania)
6 curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
salt as reqd

For seasoning:
Fry 1 tsp cumin seeds and 1 tsp fenugeek seeds in little oil and grind to powder
1 tbsp gingely oil
1 tsp asafoetida

Method:

1. Heat cooking oil in pan and splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves
2. Add chilli powder in oil and as soon as it froathes, add the tomato paste
3. Add salt, turmeric powder and coriander seed powder mix well and open cook in medium flame till oil settles in sides
4. Add gingely oil to it in one side and add asafoetida and ground powderin the oil and mix well and stop.

Hot chutney is ready to be served with anything.. even bread!

Chicken Biriyani

Ingredients:

To marinate for 1 hour:
500 g chicken cut into pieces,
2 tbsp thick fresh curd,  1 tbsp ginger garlic paste,
1 tsp red chilli powder,
1 tsp salt
Grind together:
3 cloves,
2 cardamoms,
1 inch cinnamon stick,
2 inch ginger,
10 cloves garlic,
a small bunch of coriander leaves
For seasoning:
1 tsp cumin seeds,
2 cloves,
1 inch cinnamon stick,
1 big bay leaf,
3 green chillies
Others:
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
Salt as reqd
2 big onions thinly chopped
1 tomato finely chopped
1 1/2 cup rice
1 cup coconut milk
2 cup water
Garnish:
Mint leaves and cashews fried in butter

Cooking Method:
1. Heat oil in pan, and splutter the seasonings.
2. Add the ground paste and saute for 1 min
3. Add chopped onions and tomatoes and fry well
4. Add turmeric powder, coriander powder and red chilli powder and saute for 1 min
5. Add marinated chicken and required salt and saute for 5 mins
6. Add coconut milk and bring to boil
7. Transfer the contents to an electric rice cooker and add rice and water and cook till done
(if you use pressure cooker, the ingredients can be fried in that itself and then covered with lid and cook for 3 whistles)
8. Garnish and serve with raita

Sakkarai Pongal

This is a special sweet rice made every year on Thai Pongal Day - The Harvest festival of Tamil Nadu, India. It falls in Mid-January usually on January 14th, when the farmers make their first harvest of the year. This dish is usually done in pots and boiled but since most of us live in cities, it is not possible to make it the traditional way nowadays. The easier procedure follows.
Pongal usually tastes great with raw rice. However in case you don't have raw rice, parboiled rice can also be used, but avoid other varieties of rice.

Ingredients:
Raw rice -  1 cup
Green gram dhal - 1 tbsp
Jaggery (crushed/grated/powdered) - 2 cup
Milk - 1 cup
Water - 4 cups
Ghee - 1/4 cup
Cashew - 10 (break into small size)
Raisins - 20
Cardamom - 1 (peel the skin and crush the inner part)

Method:
1. Boil rice and dhal together with 4 cups of water in a pressure cooker till it is extra soft. DO NOT ADD ANY SALT
2. Take a big frying pan and boil 1 cup milk in it.
3. Once the milk boils, add the cooked rice to it and mix well. Add 2 cup powdered jaggery to it and mix well. Cook till all jaggery melts and is absorbed by the rice. The mixture must be in a thick porridge consistency. (it will thicken rapidly once it cools down). Remove it from flame.
4. Take 1 table spoon of ghee in a pan ans fry cashews and raisins in it. Add it to the rice mixture. Add crushed cardamom and the remaining ghee and mix well.

Tasty yummy mouth watering sakkarai pogal is ready to eat.

Carrot rice

Ingredients:

1 big carrot grated
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp cumin and mustard seeds
A pinch turmeric powder
Salt to taste
1/3 cup rice (i always use par boiled rice for all my recipes)
1 cup water
1/2 tbsp oil

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pessure cooker and splutter mustard and cumin seeds.
2. Add the grated carrots, garam masala, turmeric powder, salt and saute well for few minutes.
3. Add washed rice and water in 1:3 proportion and close the lid and pressure cook till the rice is soft and well cooked.

Mashed drumstick

Kids dont know to eat drum stick. They end up in discarding them half way through. Kids will sure love this easy and lipsmaking drumstick mash and eat it a lot more than what they might eat if served with the peel.

Ingredients:

4 long fleshy drumsticks
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp pepper powder
salt as required
A pinch of asafoetida
Oil for seasoning

Method:

1. Boil the drumstick with salt till it is too soft and breaks on touching.
2. Remove the flesh and seeds and keep them together in a bowl.
3. Heat little oil in a pan and splutter mustard and cumin seeds. Add the cooked flesh and seedsof drumstick and add pepper powder in it and saute for a minute in low flame.
4. Add a pinch of asafoetida, sprinkle water and let it cook til the water gets absorbed.
5. Serve as side dish or mix with rice and serve.

Kids corner!!

Kids dont eat what we eat, some dont even eat what they are supposed to eat.. My 2.5 year old son is a visible example to me when it comes to "most picky eaters" or even "non eaters"(lol). For parents who are worried about how to make your kids eat, or what food they will like, or even new mothers who are not sure how to wean their babies, I have some nutritious as well as delicious recipes which the kids will certainly like.
To be sure, i have tested most of my recipes on 10 different picky eaters (all my nieces and nephews) from 1.5 year old to 10 year old all who have likings for different foods, and my recipes really worked on them (and on my son too, who usually hides in his tent or starts screaming whenever the word "food" is mentioned LOL. He actually started eating food now!) So i guess this will help your kids too!

2-step-vanjara meen fry, seer fish

This is my Mother-in-law's "easy to cook tasty to eat" recipe. Though i dont eat fish i am tempted to include this recipe as all people praise her on this dish.

Ingredients:
Seer fish - 10 slices
Chilli powder - 1/2 tbsp
Rice flour - 1 tbsp
Salt - as required
Oil - to deep fry
Optional - turmeric powder - a pinch

The 2 step Method:
1. Mix chilli powder, rice flour and salt (turmeric powdre if using) to the fish slices and marinate for 2 hours. (DON'T REFRIGERATE)
2. Deep fry the slices in low flame till the fish is well cooked and crispy.

Serve it with anything or eat it as a main dish too.

Capsicum paneer STEP BY STEP

Here is a very tasty and attractive dish, made with paneer or tofu and tri colour capsicums as the major ingredients. Sometimes this dish is also called as Kadai Paneer in India where only green capsicum is used and soya sauce is avoided.. The three capsicum varieties and soya sauce makes this a mixed cuisine dish. It can be taken as side dish for any item, or if you like it, just savour it as a salad too...

Ingredients:

green, Yellow and red capsicum 1 each

2 big onions

2 big tomatoes

Also need:

200 grams diced paneer or tofu

2 tsp cumin powder

1 tbsp pepper powder

2 tsp coriander powder (dhania)

(If you dont have any of these powders just dry roast a tsp of each seed and crush them into fine powder)

1 tbsp soya sauce

Salt to taste

Oil to fry

A full bunch of fresh coriander leaves

Method:

1. heat oil in pan, fry onions with salt added to it. (be careful with qtty of salt used as the soya sauce also contains salt in it)

2. Add the capsicums and saute for 3 minutes

3. Add tomatoes and saute for another 3 minutes

4. Add cumin, pepper and coriander powder and mix well

5. Add soy sauce and mix well, close lid and simmer for 5 minutes

6. Add paneer/tofu cubes mix well and simmer with closed lid on medium flame for another 3 minutes.

7. Mix well once, add finely chopped coriander leaves and remove from flame. (i have used little coriander leaves as i am using tri colour capsicum, if you use only green capsicum add more leaves to it along with some raw onions and raw tomatoes both chopped finely, while removing from flame.)

Ladiesfinger fry/Okra

who doesnt love ladies finger!! and if it is made crispy too!!!

Ingredients

250 g ladies finger (chop very thinly with no more then 2 mm a piece)
salt as needed
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp cumin powder (if you have it at home)
oil to fry

Method

1. heat oil and add the ladies finger, salt, chilli powder and cumin powder mix well and simmer stove and cook with lid closed for 2 minutes
2. open the lid mix well once, check if you need extra oil and add if needed, bring flame to medium and let the l'finger cook by itself. check out once in 3 minutes to stir once so that it doesnt catch to the pan
3. once your desired crispiness is obtained (which may take some 10 minutes atleast so be patient and dont stop it half cooked) remove from flame and eat it as you like
(i love it with hot plain rice and ghee)

Tomato chicken

for those who love the flavour of tangy tomato..

Ingredients

200 g chicken cut into cubes
1 big onion chopped finely
1 big tomato chopped finely
1 tsp cumin seeds
3-4 cloves
1 inch cinnamon stick
1 tsp pepper corns
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
salt to taste
oil to fry
2 tbsp water
1 strand curry leaves

Method

1. Fry "without oil" cumin, cloves, cinnamon and pepper corns and crush into a fine powder
2. Heat oil in a frying pan splutter curry leaves and add onions and ginger garlic paste and saute for 5 minutes
3. Add tomatoes and saute for another 3 minutes
4. Add the ground powder, turmeric, chilli powder and saute for 1 minute
5. Add chicken pieces and salt and fry for 3-4 minutes
6. Add water and simmer the stove and cook with closed lid till chicken is well cooked
7. Remove lid and fry til the water is absorbed.
8. Serve with rice/roti.

Vegetable biriyani

Vegetable biriyani

you can easily prepare this with a pressure cooker in which you are used to fry foods directly, else you can fry everything in a pan and add to an electric rice cooker or to a vessel that you use inside a pressure cooker and make it...

ingredients

1 cup - basmati or regular rice
2 cup - water
1/2 cup - chopped french beans
1 big carrot - cut into small cubes or however you wish
1 capsicum - small pieces
few florets - cauliflower (optional but very tasty if added)
2 medium onions - chopped
1 tbsp - ginger garlic paste
1 bay leaf
3-4 cloves
1 inch cinnamon stick
2 cardamoms
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander powder(dhania)
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
oil to fry

Method
1. heat oil in pressure cooker and splutter dry spices
2. Add onion and saute for a minute and add ginger garlic paste and saute for 4 minutes
3. Add capsicum and saute for 2 minutes
4. Add the all the powder ingredients and saute for a minute
5. Add the vegetables, add salt and saute for 5 minutes
6. Add washed rice mix well and add water
7. check the content of salt by tasting the water : if the water is salty than mornal then it means that you have added correct amount of salt
8. close the lid and cook for three whistles or how you are used to at your cooker.
9. Serve with raita

Sambar

Sambar

hai, making sambar is very easy, if you know the basic trick. you can make any vegetable sambar with the same recipe. you just need to know which vegetables to  boil and add, and which vegetables to fry , add and boil along with the sambar. it is easy to set right this too..
just boil all water vegetables like radish, drumstick. chowchow, pumpkin, carrot, potatoes, elephant yam, etc and add with the sambar..
fry vegetables like capsicum, onions, ladies finger, spring onions, broad beans, etc in oil and then make sambar..
now lets see how to make sambar of any variety...
PS: you can make sambar without any vegtable too, with just onions..

Ingredients:
vegetables of choice (see above for ideas) (quantity as per your wish too) - optional
Onions big/small - optional if you are using other vegetables, else use them generously
2 tbsp - tamarind paste
2 cup - water
3/4 cup - boiled thoor dhal with 1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp - sambar powder (available in shops, cheap too.. anyways i wil soon post how to make homemade sambar powder)
         : if shop powder, use 1 tbsp, if homemade powder use 2 tbsp..
1/2 tsp - red chilli powder - optional if you want it spicy
1 tbsp - gingely oil for seasoning
1 tsp - mustard seeds
1 tsp - cumin seeds
1 strand curry leaves

Method:

1. heat gingely oil, splutter mustard n cumins, add curry leaves. Add onions and fry well.

2. Add fryable vegetables if using.. else skip this step

3. Add sambar powder and fry for 30 seconds

4. Add tamarind paste and water. Add salt bring to boil.

5. Add cooked vegetables if any.. in case you are using boiled vegetables, use less water in previous step and add the water used for boiling... it will enhance flavour..

6. Add cooked dhal and mix well. Boil for 5 minutes.

7. Simmer it closed for 15 minutes.

8. depending upon your desire of thickness of the sambar, remove from fire and serve with rice, idli, dosa, upma, vada, bonda, pongal, etc..

Cabbage curry

Ingredients:

250 grams cabbage, chopped
3 red chillies broken n seeds removed
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp asafoetida
salt to taste
1 tbsp grated fresh cononut (optional)
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp oil

method:

1. heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds and add red chillies.

2. Put the cabbage in it and saute in high flame for a minute

3. Add asafoetida, alt, turmetic powder and mix well and saute in high flame for 3 - 4 minutes.

4. Add water to cover the cabbage, bring it to boil, simmer and cook with lid closed.

5. once cabbage is 3/4th done, open lid and cook till remaining water evaporates, in high flame.
 (keep it 3/4th done else it wil be too soft, it tastes if its crunchy a bit)

6. Once all water evaporates, saute it for 3 more minutes, (optional, add grated coconuts, saute for 1 minute) and remove from flame.

This tastes yummy with any rice, can be eaten with hot plain rice nd ghee too, as cabbage rice, its so tasty.

Eezee curries

Eezee curries

The speciality of these curries is that all the curries are made with as simple procedure as possible not compromising on taste. Most recipe books and on the net gives some long methods to make curries that makes some think that the only way the vegetable will taste is by making it  like that. but no. all vegetables can be made as simpla as possible and yummy too. try these eezee curry recipes.

Chole masala

Chole masala

Have tou always made chole masala by boiling the chick peas, grinding masals, etc etc etc such a lenghty process... and bored of it? here is such a easy substitute of making delicious chole masala or channa masala, however you call it. this way, the masala sticks better with the chick peas too.

Ingredients:

200 grams chick peas (soaked overnight)
100 grams onions chopped well
100 grams onions grinded into paste
2 green chillies cut in two
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
150 grams tomatoes grinded into paste
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp garam masala
salt as reqd
2 tsp corn flour (optional as thickening agent in case your gravy is too thin after boiled)
coriander leaves to garnish


method:

(If you have pressure cooker at home in which you are used to fry directly you can fry in it, or else fry in a pan and later put the ingredients in a pressure cooker oe electric rice cooker)

1. Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add chopped onions, green chillies and ginger garlic paste and saute well.

2. Add onion paste and cook till smell is gone.

3. Add tomato paste, turmeric powder, chilli powder, garam masala and salt and cook till oil seperates.

4. Add the soaked chick peas saute for a minute, pour water to cover the peas and check for salt. The water must be salty.

5. Close the lid and pressure cook for 4 whistles.

6. Open the lid, if the gravy is thin, add corn flour mixed with little water and cook for 3 minutes till gravy thickens.

7. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

This way, all the masala and salt seeps in the chole and tastes better than when first boiling it and then adding masalas. this saves lot of time too.

Chicken 65

chicken 65

Are you a chicken lover? love chicken 65 but keep visiting hotels to taste them? hmm, here is the very easy recipe of 65. Just hop into a departmental store, buy some chicken 65 masala or chilli chicken masala and store it at home. it will come in handy. Now for the way to do it.

Ingredients:

200 g boneless chicken cubes
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 heaped tbsp chicken 65 masala or chilli chicken masala (no need to add salt the masala has enough salt and spice)

or you can use garam masala nad red chilli powder wwith salt instead but taste wont be as effective as the chicken 65 masala

2 tbsp fresh thick curds (optional but gives great rich taste)

Method:

1. Just mix all the ingredients together, marinate in fridge for an hour (No need to keep in freezer), or you can keep outside too for 2 hours.

2. take the chicken out, heat oil in pan enough for a shallow fry. put the chicken pieces along with masala if some paste is in the pan. Fry it in simmer mode till the chicken is done inside and crispy  outside. keep turning it once a minute so tat it doesnt stick in the pan.

yummy 65 is ready to eat. something irresistable.

Raita??

Hmm, are you new to the world of cooking? dont know to make raita?
its soooooooo simple.

1. chop onions finely, or grate it, which ever you feel like doing.
2. Add it to a cup of fresh curds.
3. Add required salt.

Tasty raita is ready to serve with fried rice, biriyanis, chapathis, parotas, paranthas, noodles and what more......

Egg rice in minutes

Hai,
are you lazy today to make a meals? here is a very simple dish which you can have with just onion raita or even plain.. only thing you havr to do is cook rice.

Egg rice

Ingredients:

2 cups boiled rice (any rice will taste good)
2 eggs
2 onions, grated
1 small tomato, finely chopped
1 capsicum (optional, thin slices)
4 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 small bay leaf
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
2 green chillies slit in two
1 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste

method:

1. heat oil, add cloves and cinnamon stick and let it splutter.
2. Add onions, ginger garlic paste and green chillies and saute for 2 minutes.
3. break the eggs in the onion and fry till the eggs are scrambled.
4. Add capsicum and saute for 2 minutes.(optional)
5. Add tomatoes and saute for another 2 minutes.
6. Now add turmeric powder and salt and saute for 2 minutes.
7. Add the cooked rice, mix well and simmer with lid closed for 3 minutes.

tasty egg rice is ready to eat with raita or just plain.