My husband told me to prepare mint lemon juice after having this in a juice corner. I googled the recipe and found it very simple. I tried immediately and we loved it. Its a refreshing , coolant for summer. Do try this,u’ll like it.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup - 200ml
Name
Quantity
Mint leaves
1/4 cup
Lime juice
1 tbsp ( adjust)
Water
1 cup
Salt
As needed
Sugar
A pinch
Pepper powder
1/4 tsp (optional)
METHOD
Remove the mint leaves from the stem and wash it well. Now grind it along with lime juice to make a smooth paste by adding required water. Drain the juice and add more water. Add the required salt.Sprinkle pepper powder on top and serve chill!!
NOTE
If u wish to make a sweet juice, add a tsp of sugar for the above mentioned recipe.
U can add more mint leaves if u want a strong flavor of mint in the juice.Also adjust the lime juice accordingly.
I’ve used pepper powder but its purely optional. It doesn’t blend with the juice . It just floats on top but it doesn’t spoil the taste.So its ur choice of adding it.
I wanted to try Kerala style vegetable stew recipe for a long time and I finally got it from my neighbor. A big thanks to Mrs.Prema .This recipe was a super hit @home. We loved it. It was very simple to prepare , flavorful and delicious to relish with aapam. My husband loved this combo. What else I need to share this recipe in my space. Its really a good side dish for appam and idiyappam.
Now add the water and salt to cook the vegetables. Close the kadai with a lid and allow the veggies to cook completely. Meanwhile , add little warm water to the grated coconut and grind in the mixie. Extract the thick milk from it. Set aside. After the vegetables are cooked , add the coconut milk,pepper powder and boil for few seconds. Remove the kadai from stove and add the boiled milk if the stew is very thick. Stir well & transfer the stew into a serving bowl and add the raw pinched curry leaves. Close it with a lid to retain the aroma.
Enjoy !
NOTE
Coconut oil gives the flavor to this stew. So please don’t substitute it with cooking oil.
If u feel the gravy is very thick , u can add milk at any time even during serving. Also adjust the salt accordingly.
You can cook the vegetables in thin coconut milk instead of water.
Enjoy Appam with this delicious vegetable stew and have a yummy breakfast !
Puli sadam/Tamarind rice/Puliyodharai is loved by all. Its one of the best lunch box recipes.Ideal for travel. You can prepare this pulikachal ( Tamarind rice paste) in advance and store it for weeks in fridge. With papad or vadam as side dish, it tastes divine!!
I would say my MIL makes the best puliodharai which I’ve tasted so far. Its taste would be equivalent to temple puliogare (Kovil puliyodharai) but I would say its our home style version ;). We are a big fan of her tamarind rice recipe. Yesterday we made this for our trip to Tirupathi. It was very flavorful and tasty. Though there are many varieties of pulikachal recipes in this blogosphere, I wanted to share my version. I’ve tried to give the step by step pictures for beginners & bachelors.Thanks a to ton to my MIL for teaching me this wonderful keeper recipe.Please have a look at the “Points to remember “ section before proceeding.I have shared some useful tips on how to make perfect tamarind rice learning from my MIL :) Lets see how to make Pulikachal & Puli sadam/ Tamarind rice at home following these simple steps and video.
INGREDIENTS FOR PULIYOGARE PASTE
Tamarind – Lemon size
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves – 2 sprigs
Hing / Asafetida – 1/4 tsp
Salt – As needed
Powdered Jaggery – 1 tsp
Water – 3 cups
To temper:
Cooking oil – 3 tbsp
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
Urad dal –1 tsp
Channa dal – 2 tbsp
Red chillies – 10 nos (pinched..refer the picture)
Hing – 2 pinches.
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
To roast and grind:
Methi seeds – 1/2 tsp
Chana dal – 1 tbsp
Red chilly – 1 no
METHOD
Soak tamarind in 2 cups of hot water for 20 mins . Extract the tamarind juice using 2 cups of water. Set aside. Pinch red chillies and keep it ready for tempering. In the video, I have used 5 red chillies for roasting and 5 for tempering.
Add the turmeric powder , salt , curry leaves and hing as given above. (everything should be raw)
In a kadai , heat oil and roast the methi seeds till it crackles. Keep aside.
In the same kadai , roast channa dal and red chilly till golden brown.
Now powder the roasted methi seeds ,channa dal and red chilly to a coarse powder. Set aside. (just run the mixie twice or thrice quickly)
Heat the kadai with 2 tbsp of cooking oil or gingely oil and temper all the items in the same order.
Then add the tamarind extract and allow it to boil for 10-15 mins or till the mixture reduces to half. It depends on the flame you keep.
After it reduced to half add the powdered jaggery , ground powder and allow it to boil..
As soon as u add the powder , gravy starts to thicken and bubbles arise with a gala gala sound. Please watch the video below if you are interested. I hope most of you know this sound. This is for beginners & bachelors..My MIL says this is the important step to know the final stage of tamarind paste getting ready. So I thought of inserting a video here..
We call it salangai satham in tamil..Boil it for few seconds and switch off the flame..(Make sure the gravy is in semi solid consistency.Don’t allow it to boil much after adding the powder because the gravy would thicken and there would not be enough paste to mix in rice.. )
Allow it to cool down. Store in air tight container.
HOME MADE PULIKACHAL / PULIYOGARE PASTE IS READY..For the above measurements u can make 2-3 cups of tamarind rice for 5 people.
HOW TO MAKE TAMARIND RICE
INGREDIENTS
Cooked rice – 2 cups
Tamarind paste – As needed
Sesame oil – 3 tbsp ( use as needed)
METHOD
Pressure cook the rice in the ratio of 1:2 if u use basmati rice, We always use steamed rice or raw rice. So I add 2.5-3 cups of water. Add a tsp of oil in the rice before cooking to get the rice separate and fluffy.
Take the cooked plain rice in a wide plate or bowl and add sesame oil.Allow it to cool a little.
Add the puliogare paste little by little and mix well using a fork like ladle. Check for taste.Add more salt & oil if needed.
Enjoy with papad !!
POINTS TO REMEMBER
Raw curry leaves, hing and roasted methi seeds gives the flavor to puli sadham .So do not compromise in adding those ingredients. Please don’t forget to add raw curry leaves and hing in the tamarind extract as well as while tempering.That’s the important step.
My MIL sometimes reserve a tsp of the roasted powder and adds at the end on the plain rice before mixing the paste.She says this gives an additional flavour. But this step is purely optional.
Always make the paste minimum one day in advance because it takes time to get all the taste blends into it.
The shelf life of the paste is 1 week without refrigeration. U can keep it for two weeks provided you reheat it every 3 days by adding little water. If refrigerated it stays good for a month too..
The taste of tamarind paste increases day by day.
U can try adding coriander seeds while roasting the channa dal and red chilly. It gives an additional flavour.But some people may not like this.
Also add the roasted peanuts in the end before switching off the flame if u wish to use it. We don’t like peanuts in tamarind rice,so i’ve not added it..
After mixing the paste and rice check for salt , add more if necessary.Add more sesame oil if it looks dry.
If u feel its too spicy for u , add more sesame oil and little salt to reduce the spiciness. Here i’ve given measurements for mild spiciness.That would be enough..
If u love to have more spicy rice , then add 2 more red chillies while roasting and powder it along with methi seeds and channa dal. .
Also to reduce the tanginess in tamarind paste, just pinch and roast more red chillies and add it to the paste , mix well and add it to the rice after some time.
Please prepare the tamarind rice at least one hour before serving. We should give some setting time for the rice to absorb all the taste in the paste.
When you make it for lunch box or travel , use ladle to mix the rice and paste . Please don’t use your hands to mix it. Rice will spoil quickly.
Vadagam or vathal would be the best accompaniment for puli sadham. My mom makes a thogayal with fried gram dal /pottukadalai. I’ll post it soon. It goes well for tamarind & lemon rice.
