Monday, August 31, 2009
KADAI BHENDI | KADAI BHINDI RECIPE
I learnt this recipe from Vah chef’s video and tried this for first time, the outcome was very nice. I made one or two changes to suit my taste . The main draw back is,too much usage of oil!! Though I tried to use less than I saw in the video,deep frying the Bhendi is too much for me. One can just fry with less oil in kadai itself,but deep frying really made its stickiness Zero. Its your choice! Goes well with roties and variety rice too!
Ingredients:
| Bhendi/ladies finger/vendaikai | 20-25 nos |
| Onion | 2 medium sized,chopped |
| Tomato | 2 big sized,chopped |
| Capsicum | 1 big sized,cubed |
| Ginger garlic paste | 2 tsp |
| Turmeric | 1/ 4 tsp |
| Dhaniya powder/coriander powder | 3 tsp |
| Red chili powder | 1 tsp |
| Garam masala powder (optional) | 1/2 tsp |
| Green chilies | 2-4 nos. |
| Cashewnut | 10- 12 nos..,grind to paste |
| Chopped coriander leaves | 1/4 cup |
| Curry leaves(optional) | A sprig |
| Coriander seeds (crushed coarsely) | 1 tsp |
| Salt | as needed |
To Temper:
| Whole garam masala (optional) | As needed |
| Jeera | 2 tsp |
| Oil | 3 tblsp (or as per ur wish) |
Method:
- Wash,clean the ladies fingers and pat dry and cut them into bite size pieces.
- Deep fry them in oil,if desired, or fry them with little oil in a kadai, without changing the green of the vegetable,but the stickiness should not be there.
- Heat a broad pan with oil,add the tempering items,followed by the crushed coriander seeds.
- Immediately add the onions and fry till just transparent.
- Add ginger garlic paste and fry till raw smell goes off.
- Add the chopped tomatoes,with little salt to make it get soft faster.
- Add turmeric,garam masala ,red chili and coriander powders and mix well and fry till tomatoes gets mashed up.
- Add then add cashew nut paste and fry for a min till oil separates.
- Add the capsicum and fry in medium flame for a minute.
- Add the deep fried ladies fingers and salt if needed and sprinkle little water or as the way you want,if you want a gravy kind,add more water or milk and if you want semi dry,just sprinkle little water.
- Just cook for 2 minutes in medium flame and stir well and cook covered again for another 2 mins.
- And finally add more coriander leaves to garnish( I dint had sadly,so I dint add,dont search in the pics)!!.Serve hot to taste the best,with roties or with pulav of your choice!!
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Wednesday, August 26, 2009
ADAI
We also call it as “orappu adai”(spicy-hot adai). My mom’s sister’s(periyamma) place is very much famous for Adai . That place is famous for guests….I mean,always somebody will be visiting their home
.If no body is there,neighborhood friends/relatives atleast will come over for lunch/dinner. Its basically a village,so almost the area have more of their relatives only. so the house will always in a festive mood
.
And if somebody visits their place,if they come to know,they will soak for Adai! But trust me they make the best Adais . May be thats what they call “graamathu kaimanam”. When we were kids,we long to go there for vacation,you know,those greeneries where ever we look,a house by itself is like a marriage hall,innocent people….and the most important reason is the “bore set”…which gushes water for the garden and we used to go and take bath…We think that as a mini waterfall and used to enjoy a lot. We used to take bath for hours and hours…I will be mostly accompanied by my cousin Priya,my close friend those days she too is of my same age so we used to be thick friends,you know. All those days are full of laughter,happiness and we never close our mouth…
.
My mom makes equally tasty Adai,which I am still struggling to get. My MIL makes a slightly different version,but some how,I love this one a lot…She just makes perfect tasting Adais, crispy and soft too(mean not hard),with lots of shallots/small onions..She never makes Adai,if there’s no stock of shallots/small onions. And also she makes thick,how an Adai is meant to be. We always grind rice and dhal separately, dhal being ground coarsely. As far as I know,if we grind rice and dhal together,and a bit smooth and make it thin then its called adai dosai…. But we all like the Adai version better. You can see a beautiful Adai dosai here.
Ingredients:
| Raw rice,Idly rice | 1 cup each |
| Channa dal/Kadalai paruppu | 1/2 cup |
| Toor dal/thuvaram paruppu | 1/4 cup |
| Urad dal/uluntham paruppu | 1 fist full |
| Moong dal/paasi paruppu | 1 fist full |
| Small onions/shallots,chopped | 3/4 cup |
| Coriander leaves chopped | 4-5 tblsp |
| curry leaves | 2 sprigs |
| Asafetida | 1/4 tsp |
| Red chillies | 15 nos. |
| Salt | to taste |
Method:
- Soak rice and dhal separately for 2 hrs. First grind rice with red chillies to rava consistency.
- Then grind dhal coarsely,lastly add asafetida,salt and mix well and set aside.
- Just before making adai,add the onions,coriander,curry leaves and mix well.The batter should be thicker than our idly dosa batter.
- Heat the tawa and spread little oil and spread the batter as thick adais,make a small hole in the middle and again pour little oil around. Let it get cooked for sometime.
- Turn over the adai and cook the other side too till golden brown.
- These adais are crispy outside and soft from inside and has an awesome texture as we grind it coarsely. Enjoy with your favorite chutney or avial which is said to be the perfect combo!
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Wednesday, August 19, 2009
PUFFING ROTI,DIRECT FLAME METHOD
This is actually a special post for my SIL,who requested to post this
.
I don’t know about you all,but I learnt this puffing in direct flame very recently when I saw my friend S making,when we visited her place once.Before that I knew puffing a roti,but in tawa itself. That procedure is comparatively more than this. When we saw her making right from making dough till puffing,myself and the other friend,both of us were awed,that is that so simple,she made it look like so simple,that we dint get scared to try ,but we were very eager to try and see. We did tried and we now get a good result,for sure
. I dont know if I am exactly following her,but sure I learnt puffing and we are satisfied with the outcome. All the credit goes to Sangeeta!
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As clicking the roti when it puffs in direct flame was quite challenging and definitely needs a tripod and all those accessories to click that frame! So I cant do justice to the picture,but I thought of sharing video,which will be helpful for the beginners. But the video too is took in my mobile so it is bit grainy.But sure decent enough to understand!
Ingredients:
I made 12 medium sized rotis
| Pillsbury aata | 1 leveled cup |
| Salt | As needed |
| Water | 1/2 cup ,minus 2-3 tblsp |
Method:
- Make dough by mixing water gradually to the flour(with salt),gather it with your fingers and make it a single mass,no need to knead hard.
- Let it rest for 10-15 min(Keep closed) ,then again knead the dough to make it smooth.The dough should be soft and pliable,not hard.And not sticky also,if you do it right,then the dough wont stick to ur hand now.
- Make 12 equal sized balls out of the dough.
- Roll into thin circles,not too thick.The size should be smaller,this makes the roti to fit into the flame,and puff easily.
- Heat the tawa,keep in medium high flame and put the roti.Wait till small bubbles form and turn within few seconds,dont let it brown.
- Let the other side gets cooked and gets golden brown spots,now turn again and using a tong,take the roti and put over the flame directly(High flame).The side which we dint browned too much should be under the flame.
- Wait till it puffs and take it out and brush it with ghee/oil,if desired.
And your soft roties are ready,this willstay soft for hours for sure!!
Videos:
Notes:
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And now Event time!!
Glad to send the following entries for the event
- Baby Corn Korma
- Whole green gram dal
- Brinjal Curry
- Dal Makhani
- Butter paneer masala
- Cauliflower peas korma
- Tomato gravy
And don’t forget to send in your entries too,for my event going on
!!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
OATS SAVORY PORRIDGE
This is a perfect break fast to kick start a day,healthy and a spicy,tasty,flavourful one.This recipe is actually originated by idea of Prathiba’s savory oats porridge,I tried recently her version and liked it so much!
As a kid I have tasted noanbu kanji,from our sweet Muslim neighbor friends ,very flavorful and healthy one…Its made of raw rice and fenu greek seeds,with lots of garlic,veggies,coconut milk and flavored with fennel and coriander too! They make this Kanji for ending their fasting .
We too make and call it as vendhaya kanji and its very healthy,as it contains fenugreek seeds,garlic and coconut milk. It cures stomach/mouth ulcers ,we don't add fennel though!
So this oats porridge is fusion of the above two.
Ingredients:
| Oats( I used Quaker easy cook) | 1/2 cup |
| Garlic | 6 – 10 flakes |
| Carrot chopped | 2 –3 tblsp |
| Tomato chopped | 3 tblsp |
| Green chilli ,Chopped | 1 no. |
| Fennel (optional)crush slightly | 1/4 tsp |
| Coriander leaves chopped | 2 tblsp |
| Salt | to taste |
| Coconut grated | 1/4 cup |
Method:
- Pressure cook everything with enough water(just add to cover the oats),except coconut in the above ingredients up to 2 whistles.
- Open the cooker and mash it well with a masher. Make sure you mash the garlic properly so that the flavor blends well.
- Extract milk from the coconut by grinding it with lukewarm water and squeeze out the milk.
- Add the extracted milk to the porridge and mix well and just heat a little and serve hot!! Smells great with garlic,fennel,coriander and tastes great with coconut milk!!! Enjoy hot!!
Sending this to EC’s WYF : Breakfast.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
PARUPPU URUNDAI KAARA KUZHAMBU
I love this kuzhambu,its a life saver for me when I made this after long time…after I got bored of sambhar and vathakuzhambu and the usual stuff I do for lunch…
This is a keeper,I took the urundai (kofta)recipe from Mallika Badhrinath’s cook book and gravy from Rani samayal cook book…. I have made this 4-5 times before,never failed… do try it and let me know![]()
Ingredients:
For urundai(kofta):
For approx 20 koftas
| Toor dal /thuvaram paruppu | 3/4cup |
| small onion/shallots,chopped | 3 tblsps |
| coconut grated(optional) | 1-2 tblsp |
| Red chillies | 4 nos. |
| saunf/fennel/soambu(optional) | 1/4 tsp |
| jeera | 1 tsp |
| chopped coriander leaves | 4 tblsp |
| Salt | To taste |
For Gravy:
| Tamarind/puli | 1 big gooseberry size |
| shallots/small onions,peeled | 1/2 cup |
| Garlic ,peeled | 10 flakes |
| Tomato | 1 small(chopped) |
| Sambar powder(refer sidebar),replace with redchilli,coriander powder | 4 – 5 tsps |
| Turmeric | 1/4 tsp |
| Jaggery (optional) | 1/4 tsp |
| Salt | To taste |
To grind:
| Coconut | 1/2 cup |
| onion(large) | 1 medium |
To temper:
| Sesame oil/cooking oil | 3 tblsp |
| fenugreek seeds/vendhayam | 1/4 tsp |
| Mustard | 1 tsp |
| Jeera | 1 tsp |
| curry leaves | 2 sprigs |
Method:
Koftas:
- Soak toor dal for 2 hrs,in a mixer,first grind jeera,fennel seeds(if desired),red chillies,coconut to a coarse powder.

- Then add the toor dal (soaked,water drained )and grind coarsely.(little bit finer then we grind for masala vada)(don’t add water)Add chopped onions,salt,coriander leaves and mix well.

- Make small balls out of the ground batter and steam it by placing in a greased idly plates and steam it for 10 to 12 minutes.
- Cool down a bit(but let it be still warm),and again shape tightly,to make it perfect shaped koftas.
For Gravy:
- Extract tamarind juice,keep a side,grind the coconut and onion for a fine paste,keep a side.
- Heat a kadai,with oil and add the tempering items under the table To temper.
- Add garlic,onion and fry till golden brown.Then add the chopped tomatoes and fry for a minute.
- Add the tamarind extract,sambar powder,turmeric and bring to boil and then add the ground coconut and onion paste.
- Add enough water and salt,jaggery(if desired) and boil for 10 mins,till the oil seperates and a thick consistency.(not too thick as the usual kara kuzhambu,this kofta kuzhambu should be a little thinner in consistency,not too thin too …but thinner than the usual kara kuzhambu)
- At last add the koftas and bring to boil and remove from fire. Serve hot with rice and ghee .
ADDING KOFTAS DIRECTLY WITHOUT STEAMING:
- Just grind the dals little more fine paste and make balls and keep ready,just skip steaming and add the kofta one by one after the 4h step.
- The gravy should boil ,then si mmer the flameand then only u should add the urndais one by one carefully.
- boil in medium flame until all the balls float on the top(6-8 mins approx),by this time it would have got cooked.
- Donot stir till this stage. simmer for 4 mins and the kuzhambu is ready!
Notes:
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