Recipes

RECIPE INDEX

Appetizers & Snacks

• Sabudana Vada & Thalipeeth
• Veg Kulchara
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Breads

• Palak Chapati
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Salads

• Mango Salsa

Soups

• Pineapple Rasam
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• Pulikuzh & MorKuzh
• Rava Dosa
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• Radish Paratha
• Chocolate Sheet Cake

Chutneys & Dips

• Hummus
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• Tahini Sauce
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• Tomato Thokku

Curries/Sides

• Vegetable Manchurian
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• Corn Gobi in coconut milk gravy
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• Mirch ka salan
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Rice Varieties

• Chicken Biryani
• Dum Biryani
• Puli Sundal
• Pudhina Rice
• Tomato Pulao
• Cauliflower Pulao
• Mushroom Pulao
• Bisibelabaath
• Vegetable Biryani

Pasta

• Penne in Alfredo Sauce

Drinks

• Nannari Sherbet
• Hot Chocolate
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• Watermelon Cocktail

Cakes Cookies and Muffins

• Chocolate-PB Cookies
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• Ice cream cake
• Strawberry Torte
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• Quick Ice cream muffins
• Raisin Rocks
• Nankhatai

Desserts & Sweets

• Carrot Phirni
• Bottlegourd Kheer
• Almond-Cashew-Choco Barfi
• Coconut Pannacotta
• Watermelon Pudding
• Cracked Wheat Payasam
• Marshmallows
• Shahi Tukre
• Thirunelveli Halwa
• Basundi
• Carrot Kheer
• Puran Poli
• Mango Jelly
• Pal Kozhukattai
• Thirvatharai Kali

Gyoza-Japanese dumplings

I had been away from cooking and blogging for a long time.There are so many things that kept me away from you all.The summer is at its peak now so I hate to be in the kitchen.Lately,I got assigned myself to various jobs so I'm kinda busy these days.For the next few weeks,I will be travelling a lot for my admission proceedings and so I will not be able to catch up with you buddies regularly.

This is my first attempt in  Japanese cooking.I researched a lot in the internet for a vegeterian Japanese recipe.Finally,I settled with 'Gyoza'-a japanese style pot-stickers..Its actually called 'Jiaozi' in China and 'Mandu' in Korea.For the filling,I made a simple cabbage stir fry with sesame seeds.Since this is my first attempt,I made only a small batch.

You will need :

For the gyoza sheets,

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup warm water

For the filling,

1/2 cup chopped cabbage

1/2 cup onion

1/4 tsp chopped ginger

1/4 tsp chopped garlic

1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp soya sauce

1/2 tsp chilli vineger

1 tsp sesame seeds

salt

pepper

For the dipping sauce,

2 tbsp soya sauce

2 tbsp vinegar

1 tsp chopped green onions

Mix the flour and water using the chop sticks.When it comes together as dough,knead well for 5 mins or until its smooth and elastic.Cover it with a damp cloth and let it sit for about 30 mins.

Heat oil in a pan,fry onion,ginger and garlic till transculent.Add cabbage and fry for a min.Add the rest of the seasonings and mix well.Allow to cool.

Roll the dough to a thick log and cut into 1 inch equal portions.Roll each portion into a thin,uniform,circular discs.

Take a rolled out disc and place a spoonful of the filling in the center.

Fold them like a semi-circle and press it gently on the center.

Pleat the edges as shown in the picture.

Repeat it with the rest of the sheets and filling.

In a pan,heat a tsp of sesame oil and place the dumplings without overlapping them.Let it brown a bit.Flip it and pour 1/2 cup of water and cover immediately.Allow it to cook until the dumpling looks shiny and cooked.

Mix all the ingredients under the dipping sauce.Serve this sauce for the dumplings.

I liked the dumplings with this sesame flavored cabbage filling.But I can't handle the sauce.. I would rather prefer these dumplings with tomato sauce.

This goes to AWED-JAPANESE guest hosted by Lavi of HomeCookRecipes and intiated by DK of CulinaryBazzar.

Carrot Phirni and my Click-Spring/Autmun entry..

We love carrots.We make sure that there is always a batch of carrots lying inside the fridge.I love experimenting with carrots.Carrot phirni is a frequenter in our home.I add carrots for the lovely hue and flavor it renders to the phirni...Carrot phirni is my sistor's favourite dessert..This rich and creamy carrot phirni is sure to win your hearts too..So give it a try..

Today,I couldn't take the step-by-step pictures..the kitchen was like complete mess :( 

I'm sorry about that friends..But I'm so desperate to share this yummy dessert recipe with you all...So here it comes..

You will need :

2 Table spoon basmati rice,soaked in water for half an hour

1/4 Kg of carrots,peeled and boiled 

1/2 litre of milk

1/2 cup of Sugar

A pinch of saffron

chopped cashew nuts,fried in ghee

chopped pistachios

1/8 tsp of Cardamom powder

Soak the saffron in warm milk.

Drain the soaked rice and with very little water grind the rice and the boiled carrots together to a smooth paste.

Bring the milk to boil.Add the rice-carrot paste and sugar.Keep stirring.

Simmer and cook for 6-8 mins or until the phirni gets thickned.

Add the saffron milk,cardamom powder and cashews.Mix well.

Pour them in a tiny earthern pots(if you could get these) and sprinkle some pistachios.Place a silver or gold warq(optional)..Serve chilled!

I 'm sending this off to Sanghi's FIL-Carrot event.This phirni is dedicated to my loving sistor who is very fond of this dessert.

Also sending this to Srivalli's Mithai Mela event..

Madhuram's Mango Halwa - I made this very very yummy Mango Halwa in microwave..I used the pulp of 'Senthuram' Mangoes,for their nice orange color.The halwa turned out so well..It was like the Naturo's Mango jelly that we get in India..I'm sure I will make this quite often..Thanks ,Madhuram!

Bunches of Carrots

The above pic is  my entry to Jugalbandi's CLICK-Spring/Autumn event.I think this is quite appropriate for this month's theme...I clicked these carrots from a vendor's cart.

Puli Koozhu & Mor Koozhu/Kali..

Mor Koozhu/Mor Kali

Puli Koozhu /Puli Kali

Puli(Tamarind) koozhu(pronounced 'Koolu') and Mor(Buttermilk) koozhu are also known by various other names like Rice flour upma or Kali or AmruthaPalam.These are often made in the rural side of TamilNadu...Both my grandmas make these often .Don't get decieved by the messy look of the kali..It really tastes divine!The tanginess of the buttermilk/tamarind with the perfect 'tempering' makes this kali/koozhu incredibly yummy..I love the Puli(tamarind) Koozhu better than the butter milk one..My grandma makes this by soaking the par-boiled rice for an hour and then grinding them to smooth paste.But this needs some forethought and some extra effort know?!

I could see that there are people like me who wants to make this kali/koozhu in jiffy.I'm posting the short-cut method too..

Long back ,my college senior and friend,Ajay Kumar shared with me this Quick-Mor Kali recipe.He lives in Singapore with a bunch other guys and doing his Masters in NTU,S'pore.He is the chief cook at their home and I always wonder how he manages to cook without a mixer/grinder..His cooking sans onion& garlic...But these limitations,doesn't prevents him from making the best tasting food..His roomies always show thumbs ups for the food prepared by him..Ajay is not only a good cook but also a great writer..Check him out at Tantalizing Thoughts.

Quick-Mor Kali /Mor Koozhu :

You will need :

1 Cup Rice flour

2 Cups buttermilk

3 red chillies

1 tsp mustard

1/2 tbsp channa dal

1 tsp urad dal

10 curry leaves

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp oil

A pinch of Hing

In a heavy bottom vessel,mix rice flour,salt and buttermilk to form a homogenous mixture.

Heat oil in a small fry pan, add mustard and hing.Let it splutter.Add red chillies ,channa dal ,urad dal and curry leaves.Fry until the lentils are golden..

Add this tempering along with oil to the rice/buttermilk mixture.

Place the heavy bottom vessel on flame and stir constantly for 10-12 mins.When you dip your fingers in water and touch the kali ,it should not be sticky.This is the right consistency of kali.You can turn off the heat at this point.

To have the authentic 'Grammathu'(Village) feel,serve in a leaf..I used a large teak leaf to serve.Place some fried mor-milagai(Buttermilk chillies,available in large Indian grocery stores) and 'Citron pickle' (Narthangai urugai)..

The whole procedure takes only 15 mins to make this dish..

So this goes to Mahimaa's 15-minutes cooking..

Puli Koozhu or Puli Kali :

You can make this kali by simply substituting buttermilk with tamarind water in the above method..But what I'm going to show now is the elaborate method.

Here we soak the rice and then grind it to make the kali.This yields much more yummy and aromatic kali..I love the kali made in this way better than the quick method!

You will need :

1 cup par-boiled rice

1 1/2 cup water,for soaking rice

1 1/2 cup,for tamarind juice

1 small lemon sized ball of tamarind 

1/2 tbsp channa dal

1 tsp urad dal

3 red chillies

1 tsp mustard

10 curry leaves

1 tbsp oil

A pinch of Hing

1 tsp salt

3/4 tsp turmeric powder

few drops of coconut oil

Soak par-boiled rice in 1.5 cups of water for 1 hour .Drain the rice and reserve 1/2 cup of the soaking water.Grind the rice with the 1/2 cup of water to a smooth paste.

Soak tamarind in 1.5 cups of water separately for 10 mins.Extract the tamarind juice from the pulp.Add the tamarind juice to the rice paste.

Add turmeric power,hing,salt.Stir well to form a lump free mixture.

Heat oil and fry mustard,red chillies,urad dal,channa dal and curry leaves.

Throw the tempering to the rice/tamarind mixture.Combine well.

Place this over medium flame and stir constantly for 10-12 mins.When you dip your fingers in water and touch the kali ,it should not be sticky.This is the right consistency of kali.You can turn off the heat at this point.

Though you can serve the kali as it is..my grandma always serve them as squares/diamonds.

Grease a tray/plate.Pour the kali and spread it evenly.

Don't forget to drizzle few drops of coconut oil over the bed of kali.This gives a very nice flavor to the kali.

Let it cool completely..

In our home,its made after dinner and allowed to cool at room temp for the whole night.The next morning,we slice them up into squares/diamonds and have them for our breakfast.

It tastes best with Idli-milagai podi and Garlic podi!

I sliced these kali when they are still hot..So it looks imperfect..

Here you can see the frim and perfectly sliced kali..

This is one dish which is always loved by everyone at our home!

I'm sure you too will love it soo much..So do try and tell me how it came..

Kali/Koozhu is orginated from the rural regions of Southern India..

So I'm sending these to Shama's 'Grammathu Kaimanam'  

I made Lisa's Mango Coconut Pancakes y'day.And it was super soft and spongy..The mango and cardamom flavors blended very well .I think I should have let it brown more..But the taste was great..The whole experience of making this pancake was fun..And eating them with my younger cousins were much more fun..They didn't even allowed me to click the pics..

They were all gone in few secs!

Thanks Lisa for the lovely recipe :)

Check out the recipe at her blog..

It goes to Tried & Tasted event hosted by Aparna which is originally started by Zlamuska.

When I saw Rak's Naan recipe (without yeast) I jumped in joy..I can't wait to try that..So I fixed her Naan recipe for dinner.The Naan turned out perfect..It was fluffy and soft.My sis devoured it ...I made Butter beans korma for the side..I don't have to depend on 'Yeast proofing' for making Naans anymore...Thanks,Raks :)

Have a happy weekend!