Wednesday, July 28, 2010

STIR FRIED SPAGHETTI

WITH VEGETABLES

Spaghetti

             I usually buy the ready-made pasta sauce for my kid, then once I thought of trying pasta the same way I make my fried rice. I love the vegetable hakka noodles in the restaurants, This one some how satisfies my craving for that veg.noodles Raised Eyebrow.

Ingredients :
Spaghetti(I used whole meal) 100 gms
Cabbage,julienned 1/2 cup
carrot,julienned 1/2 of a carrot
capsicum 1/2 of a medium sized
Spring onion 2-3 sprigs
Ground black pepper 1  tsp
Soy sauce 1/2 tsp
Olive oil 2 tblsp
Salt & water As needed

fork and pasta

Method:
  1. Cook the spaghetti as per the instructions given in the pack(Boil the spaghetti with a tsp of oil and required salt,till soft.I prefer soaking the pasta before cooking,to make it get cooked very soon.Drain water and wash it in cold water to prevent sticking together)
    whole meal spaghetti cooking cooked
  2. Chop the spring onion white part and green part separately.
  3. Heat a broad pan with olive oil,first add the white part of the spring onion,fry till transparent.
  4. Then add the carrot,cabbage and capsicum one after other,frying each for a minute or two.
    spring onnion carrot cabbage,capsicum
  5. Lastly add the pepper and sauce,salt as required and then the green part of the spring onion.
    pepper powder,spring onion and sauce noodles
  6. Add the cooked pasta and stir/toss well so that the veggies get mixed with the pasta evenly. Garnish with spring onion and serve hot!

Spaghetti

Notes:

  • Use your choice of pasta,you can replace black pepper with white pepper,omit onion soya sauce and add finely chopped garlic in the beginning. You can try adding Italian seasonings too..

Friday, July 23, 2010

DAL FRY

TADKA DAL - WITH TOOR DAL
Dal fry with aloo gobi mutter fry
       My favourite dish in North Indian cuisine! Whenever I get a chance to go to a North Indian restaurant,my order
will be Dal fry with steamed rice and kadai paneer…. My ever green combo! Today I just felt like making this at home
and here’s the recipe…Thanks to Sangeeta for the recipe!

Ingredients:

Toor dal (thuvaram paruppu) 1/2 cup
Tomato 1 no.
Ginger 1/2 inch piece
Turmeric 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida A pinch
Green chillies 2 nos.
Kasuri methi A generous pinch
Salt As needed
To temper:
Ghee 1 tblsp
Jeera 2 tsp
Red chilli powder 3/4 tsp
Lemon Juice to squeeze on top before serving.
Dal fry
METHOD:
  1. Pressure cook dal(add just enough water) with a drop of ghee,ginger,asafoetida and turmeric for 5-6 whistles.( I soak the dal,cook in low flame after first whistle).
    Cooked dal
  2. After done,just mash it little without making too gooey.
  3. Heat a kadai with ghee and temper with half of the jeera (I added ginger at this stage)and add the chopped tomato,salt,fry till soft and add little water and let it boil for 2 minutes.
    Tadka tomatoes and chillies softend tomatoes
  4. Add the cooked dal and boil for two more minutes and add kasuri methi leaves(soak in hot water before adding)at this stage.
    Add dal Kasuri methi final stage
  5. At last add heat a tsp of ghee and add the remaining jeera and switch off the flame and then add the red chilli powder. Immediately add it to the dal on the top.(you can add little water immediately to prevent it burning).
  6. Enjoy with steamed basmati rice preferably with any kind of subzi as accompaniment. Dont forget to squeeze lemon as it gives a nice zing to dal!
Dal fry with aloo gobi mutter subzi and rice
NOTES:(Variations)
  • I have used toor dal,you can also substitute with moong dal(pasi paruppu) or combination of  moong,toor and channa dals.
  • You can replace ginger with garlic or with ginger garlic paste for variation.
  • You can temper coriander powder and garam masala powder along with red chilli powder.
  • I never make dal fry when I am out of lemons,I like the lemon squeeze the best in it ;)

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

IDLY

HOW TO MAKE SOFT IDLIES

Idly with sambhar,idly milagai podi and red chutney.

           For who knows  grinding and making idlies,this post may be silly,as its not a big deal for those who are used to it. But I have some friends and I know so many who have never made or seen some one making, and want to try out at home,for them its really a big big project for them. Even, before I started doing this regularly, I found it very complicated and took some time for getting the correct method of grinding and everything. But now its no big deal for me…Not only this,everything right from cooking, if we see from outside, or if we are just learners,it seems to be a big task and it will be looking more complicated,but if we do regularly, by practice, everything becomes so easy and perfect! Its all about experience… For me before marriage,I found all these grinding and mixing works found to be messy (especially the batter mixing process and washing the grinderSick)and I have told my mom many times that, In my life I would never do this, rather I will keep a servant to make all these messy things……and nowSighTongue 

            Hope I could cover the doubts we get,during this idly making process. All the experts out there,please dont waste your time :) this is purely for beginners! And if you have any doubt in this process,please feel free to write to me in the Email ID that you can find in my blogger profile! By posting this,I am not assuring that I am an expert in making Idlies, just posting what I know,How I do Nerd.

Ingredients :

Idly rice 3 cups
Whole urad dal (without skin)/Ulundhu 1/2 cup(adjust according to the quality)
Fenugreek seeds/vendhayam 1/2 tsp
Water as needed
Salt As needed (3 & 3/4 tsp)

 

இட்லி,இட்லி மிளகாய்  பொடி

Method:

  1. I got a request from one of my reader friend to show the measuring cups I use,so here is it, 1 cup holds 250 ml.
  2. 1cup,1/2 cup,1/3 cup,1/4 cup,1/8 cup
  3. Idly rice is parboiled rice,especially we use for idly(different from the parboiled eating rice),it looks shorter as shown in the picture.
  4. Wash and soak rice separately and urad dal + fenugreek seeds for  3 hrs at least.
  5. DSC_2297
    Soaked dal,வெள்ளை உளுத்தம் பருப்பு Soaked rice,இட்லி அரிசி
  6. I grind urad dal first,but my MIL says if ground in larger quantity,urad dal batter,if ground and kept first has tendency to become watery. But as I grind only 1/2 cup , I grind Urad dal first.(Its because,if we grind rice lastly,its easy to wash Tonguethe grinder )
  7. The following steps are only the water quantity and the time it took for the urad dal I have,so take it as a rough idea and use water accordingly and grind till you get a smooth batter!
  8. Drain water from urad dal and add half of the dal and start the grinder. Add 1/4 cup water. Then add the remaining dal and add 1/4 cup more and grind for 4-5 minutes. Stand near by and use the plastic spatula to wipe the dal ,ensure no dal or fenugreek seeds gets stuck to the side walls of the grinder container and remain un ground.
  9. DSC_2311 DSC_2317
  10. After 4-5 minutes,add 1/4 cup of water and grind for 15 minutes, for every 4 minutes or so add 1/8 cup of water.
  11. Total time for urad dal batter = 20 – 25 minutes approximately and total water = 1 & 1/2  to 1& 3/4 cups approximately(for 1/2 cup). (water quantity and the volume of the batter depends upon the quality if the urad dal,better the quality of the dal, it will get more water while grinding and becomes light and fluffy,still stiff and white in colour!) If your urad dal is not a good quality,the batter will become watery and it will not be white comparatively.
  12. By this time the batter will be having small small bubbles in it,light and fluffy.Transfer the ground urad dal batter to a big container,enough to hold the fermented batter.
  13. Now drain the water in the rice and add the rice little by little while your wet grinder is running(this is to avoid the grinder getting stuck because of over loading)
  14. Add 1/2 + 1/2 cup water in between while you add all the soaked rice little by little.
  15. Grind for 4-5 minutes and again make sure no whole rice remains un ground in the sides of the grinder container. Use the spatula.
  16. Add 1/2 more cup of water and grind till it is smooth or a little coarse(whichever consistency you prefer,I personally grind smoothly). Add more water if its needed. It takes about 25-30 mins approximately. Time may vary,check it out(as mine is 6 years old grinder and also the rice quantity depends).
  17. Rice batter
  18. Transfer this rice batter to the urad dal batter and add salt and mix well with your hands. Keep closed in a warm place for fermenting minimum of 12-14 hrs. I soak around 1.00 PM,grind around 4.00 PM and keep over night and make idly for the morning break fast…
  19. mixed batter fermented batter
  20. The next day morning it will be fermented and raised in quantity. A well fermented batter gives,soft and tasty Idlies.
  21. I have my Idly pot given by my MIL,its gives soft idlies which after getting cold too doesn't form a layer(dry)…
  22. before steaming after steaming
  23. My kid loves both my idly and the crispy dosa! Idly tastes best with Idly Podi.

Dosa

Some Notes: 

  • You can only test the quality of urad dal by grinding it,so if the first time you dont get volume and the idly turns hard,next time just increase the quantity,for me I usually add double the amount mentioned if its not a good quality.(Add more water while grinding,even if it becomes bit more watery).
  • If the urad dal quality is not so good,You can soak either sago or aval/poha/rice flakes 1/4 cup,along with rice which makes idlies more softer. Also adding cooked rice while you grind rice makes idly softer.
  • Even if you buy a good quality urad dal,it will give you more volume only for 2-3 months,old dal won't give volume..
  • Cooking time of the idlies just differs,it depends on the size of the idly pot,approximately 8-12 minutes.. Mine is a tiny with only two plates,so it takes hardly 5 mins :)
  • Don’t stir the batter when you make idlies.
  • I make first two days idlies (after we keep in fridge,the batter raised will again shrink a bit in volume),and the remaining batter dosa,utappam or in paniyaram moulds…
  • The batter if you grind in proper way,will be light and frothy,which gives you a soft idly. If the batter itself is heavy,then you get idlies in harder side. That means you have to add more water in urad dal batter next time you grind.
  • Make sure to grind the rice batter not too watery.
  • This batter gives you nice idlies,dosas and utappams …

Thursday, July 8, 2010

BOTTLE GOURD KOOTU

SURAKKAI KOOTU
Surakkai kootu
              When ever I hear the name of this,it always remembers me a saying-if any one interferes and annoys when two people are talking and asks what are they talking,they say : “சொரக்காய் கூட்டுக்கு உப்பு பத்தல”.Big Grin. I dont know the story behind that,if anyone knows please do share ! I made this as per my MIL’s instructions when I was there. She usually makes dosa by grinding this along with rice. Comes out very soft,will blog surely in future.  My mom too makes two versions in this kootu. And I am a big fan of it too,recipes will sure blog in future. My mom adds sugar and makes this sweet. Also she makes a complicated dish with small small rice balls(as they make for paal kozhukattai),which is also a sweet version,it will be just awesome,really!!
Here’s my MIL’s salt version of the kootu. I was not able to concentrate on pictures,still managed to click some. Recipe is very very simple.
Ingredients:
Bottle gourd 1 no.
Salt & water As needed
To grind:
Coconut,grated 1/4 cup
Rice flour 1/2 tsp
To temper:
Oil 1 tsp
Mustard 3/4 tsp
Urad dal 1 tsp
Curry leaves 1 sprig
Red chillies 2-3 nos.
Method:
  1. Peel the skin and remove the centre soft portion of the veggie.
  2. Bottlegourd
  3. Chop them finely and boil it with little water(just to immerse) and salt and cook till done.
  4. Chopped finely  Just to immerse
  5. Grind the coconut with rice flour and water,to a smooth paste and add it to the cooked veggie.
  6. Added coconut and boiling
  7. Mix well and boil for 2 minutes and temper with the items given under the ‘To temper’ table. Enjoy as acoompaniment for rice.
  8. Kootu
Kootu
Is it not so simple? Happy

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