Cucumber Kichadi

Ingredients:

Cucumber Kichadi

Cucumber - 1 diced
Curd - 1 cup
To grind
Coconut - 1/2 cup
Green chillies - 2
Cumin seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
salt

Cook the cucumber, when it is done temper it and add the ground paste. When you get the required consistency
switch off the stove. Once the mixture cools add fresh  curd.

Amla (Gooseberry) Pickle

Ingredients :

Gooseberry - 50 average-sized
To Fry:
Red chillies - 7
Mustard - 2 teaspoonful
Fenugreek seeds - 2 teaspoonful
Asafoetida powder - 2 teaspoonful
Gingelly oil - 2 tablespoonful

Method:
Steam boil the gooseberries. Fry everything except the gooseberries in gingelly oil and add salt to taste. Let it cool and powder them.Add the powdered mixture to the steam boiled amla and store it preferably in a glass bottle.

This pickle is considered to be a good appetizer.

Oily Eggplant

Ingredients

10 to 12 very small Eggplants
coriander seeds - 2 tablespoons
Channa dal - 1 tablespoon
Redchilli - 3
Asafoetida
Turmeric
Salt to taste

Vatha Kolambu

Vatha Kolambu

Vatha Kolambu

Ingredients:

Sunda Vathal - a handful
Tamarind Water - 3 cups
mustard seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
cumin seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
Channa dal - 1 spoon
fenugreek seeds - 3/4 spoon
Sambhar Powder - 2 spoons
Curry Leaves
Asafoetida- a pinch
Vellam - a small piece
salt to taste
Cooking Oil

Method:
Fry sunda vathal in oil and keep it separate. Sunda Vathal ought to be added to the curry only a few minutes before having it.

Fry mustard seeds, cumin seeds , channa dal, fenugreek seeds, when they splutter add curry leaves. Add two spoons of sambhar powder  and fry till they lose their raw smell and turn brown. then add the tamarind water and allow it to boil. Add a pinch of asafoetida and vellam and salt to taste. The curry will be watery in consistency now. Allow it to boil till it becomes slightly thick. Then add fried sunda vathal when you are ready to serve.

Egg Omelete

Ingredients:
Egg - 2
Onion - 1
Shredded coconut - 1 tbspoon
water - 1 teaspoon ( to make the omelete fluffy)
pepper and salt to taste

Method:

Mix all of the above in a bowl and beat it for 1 min.

Pour oil in a flat pan and when the oil is ready pour the egg batter into it. Let it cook on both sides. Serve it with tomato ketchup.

Curry Jack Theeyal

Ingredients:

2 cups - curry jack cut into small pieces



Method:

Heat a pan. Roast cumin seeds, pepper corns and red chilli, when the raw smell goes off add the grated coconut and fry till golden brown.

Allow it to cool and then grind it to a fine paste.

Fry chopped onions and chopped curry jack in a tablespoon of oil. After 2 min add tamarind water. When they are semi cooked add the ground mixture and salt. When oil starts coming out turn off the stove. Garnish it with chopped curry leaves.

Red Chilli Chutney

Ingredients:
Coconut -1/2 cup
Roasted Red chillies - 3
Curry leaves
Garlic - 2 pods
Salt to taste

Method:

Grind all of the above ingredients in an mixer to a fine paste.

Tempering:

Temper the above with mustard seeds,black split urad dal, chopped shallots and curry leaves.

Gooseberry Thuvaiyal

Gooseberry is Nellikai in Tamil and Amla in Hindi
Ingredients:
Amla (normal size)- 2
Coconut - 1/2 cup

cumin seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
ginger - one inch piece
garlic - 1 to 2 pods
green chillies - 2
curry leaves - a sprig
salt to taste

Method:
Cut the Nellikai into small pieces. Need not include the seed.


Grind all of  the above ingredients with the Nellikai pieces to get tasty Nellikai Thuvaiyal.

It is best eaten with hot plain rice.

Vadai Aviyal

Ingredients :

Channa dal - 1/2 cup

Toor Dal - 1/2 cup

red chillies - 3

Onion - 1 big

Green chillies - 1

Curry leaves - 2 sprig
Cooking oil - as needed

Soak the following for 2 hours

Channa dal - 1/2 cup
Toor Dal - 1/2 cup
red chillies - 3

To grind
Coconut - 1/2 cup
Green chilli - 1
pinch of turmeric powder


After 2 hrs grind it coarsely, add finely chopped onions, green chillies, curry leaves and salt to taste.
Make it into flat shapes and fry it in hot oil.

Break the fried vadas into four pieces. Grind the coconut green chilli and turmeric in the mixie and add it to the vadas.

Temper it with mustard seeds and curry leaves.

Decoction / Potion / Kashayam in Tamil

Ingredients:

coriander seeds -  one handful
cumin seeds - two teaspoonful
Lamiaceae leaves - few smashed
Water - 750 ml
Palm jaggery -  to taste

Method:

Boil the above ingredients for 5 minutes.
The decoction mixed in milk can be given to children at least once a day instead of making them accustomed to coffee and tea.

This therapeutic decoction treat ailments related to indigestion, gas formation and flatulence.

Mango Puliseri

Ingredients:

Ripe Mango - 2
a pinch of turmeric powder
not too sour curd - 1 cup

To Grind:
Coconut - 3/4 cup
Green chillies - 3
Cumin seeds - 1/4 tea spoon

Method:
Cut the mango into big pieces and saute it in oil and add a little water and turmeric. Add the ground mixture to curd and add to the mangoes. Don't allow the mixture to boil. Temper it with mustard, split red chillies and curry leaves.

Sweet Rice Flakes

Ingredients:

Brown Rice Flakes - 1/4 g
Jaggery - 1/4 g
Water - 1 tbspoon
Cashews - 15 nos
ghee - 1 tbspoon

Method:

Heat a tablespoonful of water, put jaggery in it and stir it till it becomes gluey and thick. Roast clean rice flakes for 3 min and add it to the jaggery paste. Mix both rice flakes and jaggery thoroughly. Fry Cahewnut in ghee and add to it. Delicious Rice flakes sweet is ready to serve.

This sweet will have at least a week's shelf life without losing its taste and quality.
The max total material cost will be approx 30INR.

It is said that a single chunk of jaggery a day gets rid of your body toxins and purifies the blood. A quickly made home food ,it is good for school going kids as an evening snack.

Recipe Courtesy: R.NAGAM

Soya chunks fry

Soyachunks also known as meal maker is a high protein dish. With soya chunks you get the necessary protein and amino acid for the day.

Ingredients :

1 cup soya chunks.
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Red chilli powder - to taste
Salt to taste

Soak the soya chunks in warm water for 15 min. Clean it by squeezing out the excess water. Pour water again and do it 2 or 3 times.

Cut the soya chunks into small pieces. Mix it with turmeric, red chilli powder and salt and let it marinate for 10 min. Add a little oil( cooking oil) and fry it in a medium flame.

Keep it aside. Fry cashews and curry leaves and add to it.

Children love this dish.

Idli Dosa batter

These days many working women find it hectic to grind Idli batter. This is a simple enough method to do that.

Idli Rice - 4 cups + a pinch of methi seeds
Urad Dal - 1 cup + a pinch of methi seeds

Soak the rice and dal separately for two and a half hours.

After 2 and a half hours, wash the urad dal and put it in the grinder. Pour water now and then. Once it is ground wash the rice as well and add to it.

Take it out and pour it into two separate vessels. After 8 to 10 hrs you can add salt to taste and have tasty Idli or Dosa.

Mocha Curry

Ingredients:

Mocha Curry

1cup cooked Mocha

Onion - 1

Tomatoes -2

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbspoon

Milk - Half a cup

Corn Flower - 1 teaspoon

For Tempering

Mustard seeds

Cumin seeds

Curry leaves

whole red chilli split into two

Masalas:

Cumin powder

Red chilli powder

Corainder powder

pepper powder

Salt to taste

Method:

Pour oil in a Kadai, add mustard seeds, fennel seeds, when they splutter add chopped onions and fry till they become golden brown, then add ginger garlic paste, then add turmeric powder, after the raw smell disappears add chopped tomatoes and saute it. When it becomes mushy add all the masala powder then add salt to taste and then add the cooked mochas and let it cook for 3 minutes. Then add a teasppon of cornflower to half a cup of milk and pour into the kadi and let it cook for another 3 minutes. Finally Garnish with freshly cut cilantro and bell pepper.

Onion and Tomato Chutney

Ingredients:

Onions - 2

Tomatoes - 2

Sambhar powder - 2 teaspoons

Method:

Pour a tablespoon of oil in a vessel, put chopped onions and fry till it becomes translucent and then add chopped tomatoes. When it becomes soft and pulpy switch off the stove. Allow it to cool.

Grind it. Pour a teaspoon of oil, add mustard seeds, when it splutters add split red chilli, add curry leaves and then add ground mixture. Mix two teaspoonful of sambhar powder in 100 ml of water and add to it. Let it boil for a minute. Turn off the stove.

Tasty chutney is ready to serve with hot dosas.

Beans Thoran

Tender Beans - 200g

Onion - 1 big

For grinding

half a cup coconut

cumin seeds - 1/4 teaspoon

red chilli - 2 nos

Grind the above mixture coarsely.

Cut the beans and onions and cook it with little water. Add the above mixture to it.

and cook till dry.

Season it with mustard, small onions and curry leaves.

Tasty Beans Thoran is ready to eat with hot white rice.

Onion Theeyal

ngredients:

small onions - 12 nos

one large tomato

grated coconut - half a cup

cumin seeds - 1/4 teaspoon

black peppercorns - 1/4 teaspoon

whole red chilli - 2 nos

half a cup tamarind water.

curry leaves - one sprig

oil

salt to taste

Heat a pan. Roast cumin seeds, pepper corns and red chilli, when the raw smell goes off add the grated coconut and fry till golden brown.

Allow it to cool and then grind it to a fine paste.

Fry chopped onions and chopped tomatoes in a tablespoon of oil. After 2 min add tamarind water. When they are semi cooked add the ground mixture and salt. When oil starts coming out turn off the stove. Garnish it with chopped curry leaves.