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March 31, 2010

DAL SUKKA | MOONG DAL SUKHI RECIPE

Yesterday I tried this dal sukka from Mallika badrinath’s Kurma varieties book.It was very nice..We all liked it..My hubby had this with chapathi , My doter savored this with dosa and me with curd rice..This dal tasted best for everything.If u’ve got bored by making the same Veg / Aloo kurmas , I would say this dal sukka is a nice replacement.Healthy and Easy too..Try this and let me know ..
DAL SUKKA

Ingredients:
 1 cup - 250ml
  • Moong dal – 1/4 cup
  • Big onion – 2nos (chopped finely)
  • Ginger ,Garlic – A few pieces or u can use G &G paste of 1 tsp
  • Green chilly – 1 no (long one) (adjust)
  • Jeera /cumin seeds – 1/4 tsp
  • Red chilly powder –1/2 tsp
  • Coriander powder – 1 tsp
  • Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
  • Salt & water – As needed
  • Oil – 1 tbsp
  • Coriander leaves – to garnish
  • Lemon Juice – A few drops
Method :
  • Grind ginger , garlic and green chilly to a paste and set aside.
  • Take a broad kadai ( i did it in the cooker base directly).Add a tbsp of oil and add  the paste to it.saute for sometime and then add the onion julienne's.
  • Saute till it turns transparent.
  • Then add all the powders and mix well.Do not add water ..All the masala get cooked in the oil itself.A nice aroma wafts around.
  • Now add the moong dal and fry for a minute.
  • Add the water , required salt and close the cooker .
  • Cook till the moong dal gets cooked.I kept for one whistle.
  • Now open the cooker and mash the dal a little with ladle.
  • Roast the jeera in little oil and add it to the cooked dal.
  • Add few drops of lime juice and mix well.
  • Garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve with chapathi , curd rice. dosa/idly and ENJOY !!
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March 27, 2010

Indian Samosa Recipe - Bakery Style Samosa Recipe

I am a big fan of bakery style Indian samosa recipe. Whenever I visit chat shops /Bakeries or Cinema theaters, I have this samosa without fail. I really wanted to try triangular shaped cripsy samosas for a long time. After seeing this post ,I got the confidence to prepare samosa recipe at home.Thanks a lot sailu for giving clear step by step pics. I tried my own by making slight changes in the actual recipe.It came out very well. I just relished it with tomato sauce. So I am posting this delectable samosa recipe for you all and for my future reference .
Bakery style Indian samosa recipe

Ingredients 
1 cup  200ml

For samosa dough :
  • Maida – 1 cup
  • Rava / Semolina – 1 tsp
  • Ice cold water – As required
  • Salt – As needed.
  • Baking soda – a pinch (optional)
  • Jeera – 1/2 tsp
For samosa stuffing :
  • Potato – 4 nos (Boiled and mashed)
  • Green peas – 1/2 cup (cooked)
  • Big onion – 2 nos (finely chopped)
  • Ginger & garlic paste -  1 tsp
  • Red chilly powder – 1 tsp
  • Coriander powder – 1.5 tsp
  • Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
  • Garam masala powder – 1/2 tsp
  • Coriander leaves – a few (chopped )
  • Lemon juice – a few drops
  • Salt – As required.
  • Oil – 2 tbsp
Method :
  • Knead the dough with the above said ingredients and keep it closed with a wet cloth for 20 mins.
  • Prepare the stuffing by keeping  a kadai with oil.
  • Add the onions, G& G paste and saute well till raw smell disappears.
  • Then add the spices given in the same order and mix well.
  • Finally add the crumbled potato pieces and green peas.
  • Add the required salt and mix well to become a whole mass.
  • Add water if necessary.Switch off the flame and add the lemon juice & coriander leaves.Remove the stuffing and set aside.
  • Take the dough and make small balls of equal size.
  • Shape it as given here and fill the stuffing.
  • Make the samosas and deep fry both sides till golden brown.
Enjoy with tomato ketchup / sauce.

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March 19, 2010

SAGO PAYASAM / JAVVARISI PAYASAM WITH JAGGERY - PAYASAM RECIPES


(pics updated)
Hello everybody ,
How r u all ? Sorry for absconding these days .I had an unexpected trip to my native and i was there for the past one week.Some of my readers have asked me why i am not regular in my posts .Actually  i felt happy that there are some friends who visit my blog regularly and care for me..plz be around and encourage me.Hope I’ll try to be in par & will come out with nice recipes..
Now coming to this post , every friday i do vilakku pooja at home and i usually make AVAL or  RICE payasam .Today for a change, i tried javvarisi payasam with jaggery.I learnt this from my MIL.. It came out very well and tasted yum.. But i forgot to add cashews &  cloves..   ;)
 


INGREDIENTS
  • SAGO / JAVVARISI ( I used white big ones ie..maavu javvarisi ) – 1/4 cup
  • Powdered jaggery – 1/3 cup 
  • Cardamom – 2 nos (powdered)
  • Cashew – 2 nos (fried in ghee)
  • Cloves – 1 - 2 no ( fried in ghee)
  • Ghee – 2 tsp
  • Coconut milk – 1/4 cup
  • Milk & water – As needed
METHOD :
  • Take a kadai and add a tsp of ghee..Fry the cashews and cloves.set aside.
  • In the remaining ghee , fry the sabudana for 5-7 minutes in low flame till it puffs up slightly ..(  the size of the sabudana gets bigger and becomes crispy) .Do it in medium flame.Please make sure u don’t burn it..
  • Now cook the roasted sabudana with water till it turns transparent..Make sure the sabudana is not over cooked and turns mushy instead it should be visible & separate. When the sago cooks, the middle portion looks white. Take one and press it with finger. No need to wait for sabudana to become transparent. When its soft, switch off the flame. It will cook completely in the heat of water and becomes transparent.  
  • Then in a wide mouthed bowl take the powdered jaggery and add water to cover it.Melt the jaggery to make a syrup and allow it to boil till the raw smell disappears.
  • Add this syrup to the cooked sabudana and mix well.Let it boil for sometime..If you feel this mixture is very thick , add some water and boil it.Don’t add milk at this point becoz it will curdle.Always Milk should be added after removing from the flame.Then add the roasted cashews, cloves and cardamom powder.
  • Remove from fire and add the coconut milk.Add some boiled milk to make it watery / thin.
Enjoy !!


TIPS :
  • If u think, u have added more jaggery and if it is very sweetish , add milk to reduce the sweetness.. Coconut milk gives  a nice  flavor & texture to this payasam , so dont forget to add it at the end.
  • Please add milk or coconut milk only after switching off the flame otherwise payasam gives  a curdled look.



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March 8, 2010

Sweet Puttu Recipe / Arisi Vella Puttu Recipe – Maha Shivaratri Prasadam Recipes

Sweet-puttu-recipe

Sweet puttu also known as rice puttu / arisi vella puttu in Tamil is a popular South Indian Maha shivaratri prasadam recipe. We prepare this sweet puttu recipe mainly on ‘Maha shivaratri’. So we call this as Shivaratri puttu . This year 2022, Maha shivarathri falls on March 1sr. 

 Some people prepare this arisi vella puttu/Arisi puttu during Navaratri days too. This is made out of rice flour and jaggery. My mil makes home made rice flour to make this puttu. U can try with good quality store bought puttu flour/puttu maavu too. Here I have cooked the rice mixture twice to make soft puttu. Try this method & let me know how it turned out for you :)

Sweet-puttu-recipe


Sweet puttu recipe

Sweet puttu recipe


 Sweet puttu recipe for Maha Shivratri
Cuisine: Indian
Category: Sweet
Serves: 4
Prep time: 120 Minutes
Cook time: 20 Minutes
Total time: 140 Minutes


INGREDIENTS
1 cup - 250ml
To soak in water
  • Raw rice - 1 cup
  • Chana dal/Kadalai paruppu - 1/4 cup
For jaggery syrup
  • Grated jaggery - 1.25 cups
  • Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
  • Grated coconut - 1/4 cup
  • Water - as needed
  • Salt - A pinch
HOW TO MAKE ARISI PUTTU - METHOD

  • Soak the raw rice/Maavu arisi in water for 2 hrs . Soak the chana dal in water for 2 hours. Drain the water and spread the rice on a news paper / cloth for 10 mins so that the excess water gets absorbed.
Shivarathri-puttu-step1
  • Grind the rice in a mixie or processer to make powder..(rice should be little moist ) .Sieve and again grind it to make a fine powder. Steam the rice flour for 15 minutes.
Shivarathri-puttu-step2
  • **If you use store bought rice flour , use puttu maavu for best results. If  you use that, you can start from the next step.. But you should add little water mixed with salt to make the flour a bit wet.
  • Grease the idli plate with oil and spread the finely ground rice flour. Steam it for 10 to 15 mins..
  • In the mean time take the soaked channa dal and pressure cook till it blossoms. Do not over cook the chana dal. Usually what we do is , we keep the chana dal in a bowl with water inside the idli pot and allow it to cook along with the rice flour.. By the time the rice flour gets ready , the chana dal will also get cooked and blossomed.
Shivarathi-puttu-step2
  • After 15 minutes, remove the flour and break the lumps by spreading in a plate. Sprinkle salted water.The quantity of water should be such that you should be able to make a ball with the flour.(Maavu pidikira padham varanum).Sieve it using puttu sieve (jalladai) or grind it once in mixie jar to remove the lumps.This is called Puttu maavu. 
  • Again spread the flour in idli plate and steam it for 10 minutes. Grind it once in mixie to break the lumps. Mix the cooked chana dal. ( I have steamed the rice flour twice to make super soft puttu. If  you don't want to follow this step, just steam it once and proceed)
  • Take the jaggery in a wide mouthed bowl and add little water just to cover it. Melt the jaggery and strain the impurities if any. Allow the jaggery to boil till it becomes frothy and thick. Add cardamom powder, mix well.
Sweet-puttu-recipe
  • Now mix the jaggery syrup to rice flour mixture .Mix well and  enjoy by adding a tsp of ghee !!
Shivarathi-puttu-step4



Note

  • Please keep in mind, you should steam the flour twice to get soft puttu. For storing puttu maavu,  steam the ground rice flour for 15 minutes, remove and grind it. Seive it and dry in sun and store in a box.Whenever you need puttu, you can steam it and proceed as given above.
  • The color of puttu depends on the color of jaggery. U can see the difference in color in my old & new pictures. Add more jaggery if you have sweet tooth.
  • Make sure you break all the lumps after u steam the rice flour. For safer side, grind the flour and sieve once. Then add chana dal and proceed.
  • The consistency of jaggery syrup should be thick else puttu will become a sticky paste.
  • Some people roast the rice flour before steaming. But we don’t do it. We steam the flour directly.
  • Add a tsp of ghee before serving, It adds a nice flavor !
Sweet-puttu-Shivratri-Prasad-recipe
Take care , catch u all in my next post !

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March 1, 2010

Kashmiri Pulav - Kashmiri Pulao Recipe With Fruits And Nuts

I tried this Kashmiri pulao recipe with fruits and nuts from Mrs.Mallika badrinath’s “Rice delights” cook book. I wanted to try this pulao after tasting in a restaurant . I wont say this one tasted exactly as I had in restaurant. But it was good and tasted unique with a mild sweet taste. We all liked it.
kashmiri pulao
A note to weight watchers :  Though this pulao is healthy with all fruits,veggies and nuts , its highly calorific!!! U can try this by avoiding paneer , butter & fresh cream. Replace fresh cream with condensed milk. This would be suitable for kids and slim people like me ;)).


Ingredients : ( 1 cup = 250ml)
  • Basmati rice – 1 cup
  • Water – 2 cups
  • Cooked Carrot – 2 nos (diced)
  • Cooked Peas – 1/4 cup
  • Pine apple  , Apple – 1 cup (diced )
  • Capsicum –1 no (diced )
  • Paneer cubes – a few
  • Saffron threads – a few (soak in 1 tbsp of warm milk )
  • Big onions – 2 nos (sliced )
  • Fresh cream – 2 tbsp
  • Butter – 1.5 tbsp
  • Sugar – 2 tsp ( if u want u can reduce the sugar by half)
  • Salt – as required
  • Rose water – 2 tsp
  • Cumin seeds – 1/4 tsp
  • Cloves & cardamom powder – 1/4 tsp (to get 1/4 tsp grind 3 cardamom seeds & 4 cloves together to make a powder )
  • Bay leaf – 1 no
  • Cashews, Almond and pista – 1 handful.
  • Dry grapes – 1 fistful
Method :
  • Cook the diced carrot and peas in a cooker and set aside.Take care they dont get over cooked.
  • Wash and soak  the rice in 2 cups of water for 30 mins.(if u want u can fry the rice in ghee before soaking ). Pressure cook the rice by adding a tsp of ghee and salt. Rice should be separate and grainy.
  • In a wide mouthed kadai , fry the onions till brown & crisp.Keep it aside.
  • Also deep fry the paneer cubes and keep it in hot water .
  • In a broad kadai take a tbsp of oil and add the bay leaf and cumin seeds.
  • Then add capsicum pieces and saute till it becomes soft.
  • Add the cooked peas , carrot , boiled rice , fresh cream , dry fruits , nuts ,sugar , saffron milk and required salt .
  • Toss it well..Before  switching off the flame add the rose water , fruit pieces , paneer cubes , cardamom & clove powder and butter.
  • Mix well and switch off the flame.
Serve hot with raita or any kurma of your choice.

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