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April 30, 2012

Simple Potato Poriyal - Urulaikilangu poriyal recipe | Aloo Curry

ALOO PORIYAL

This is my mom’s style potato curry recipe. I make this twice a week for my daughter. She loves this curry a lot. Its very simple to prepare .Tastes the best with dal rice & rasam rice. I’ve given the quantity of chilly powder according to my doter’s taste. I make it less spicy. Please adjust as per your tastebuds .

INGREDIENTS
  1. Potato – 4 nos ( If medium sized)
  2. Big onion -  1 no (finely chopped )
  3. Ginger – 1/2 inch piece (-do-)
  4. Garlic cloves – 5  nos (-do-)
  5. Chilly powder – 1 tsp ( U can replace with sambar powder)
  6. Turmeric powder – 1/8 tsp
  7. Salt – As needed
  8. Curry leaves – a few
  9. Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp
  10. Urad dal – 1/4tsp
  11. Jeera – 1/4 tsp
  12. Cooking oil – 2 tbsp
  13. Coriander leaves – to garnish
  14. Lime juice – a few drops.

METHOD
  • Pressure cook potatoes with little turmeric powder.
  • Cut into bite sized pieces. In a kadai , heat oil and temper with mustard seeds , urad dal & jeera.
  • Add the finely chopped onions , ginger & garlic pieces , curry leaves and saute for few mins.
  • Then add the potato cubes , turmeric powder, chilly powder and salt.
  • Toss well for few minutes and finally garnish with coriander leaves. Switch off the flame and add a few drops of lime juice.Mix well and serve.
Serve with rice . It goes well with lemon rice too…


Note :My mom adds G&G paste. But we don’t like it. So I add pieces of G&G. If you want, you can add garam masala powder at the end to make it more flavourful. The same can be used as a stuffing for masala dosa, stuffed buns etc. It tastes good with roti..

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April 23, 2012

INSTANT RAW MANGO PICKLE RECIPE | மாங்காய் ஊறுகாய்


My mom makes this instant raw mango pickle for my dad . A very simple yet delicious pickle that goes well with curd rice & dal rice( paruppu sadam). I hope most of u make this kind of pickle at home Smile . A simple , easy to make pickle for beginners.Here comes the recipe..

INGREDIENTS
    • Raw mango – 1 no (medium size)
    • Red chilli powder – 1-1.5 tsp (adjust)
    • Hing / Asafetida – 2 pinches
    • Roasted & powdered methi seeds - 1/4 tsp (optional , I dont add)
    • Salt – As needed
    To temper(optional)
    • Sesame oil - 2 tsp
    • Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp
    • Urad dal – 1/2 tsp
    • Curry leaves -  few

    METHOD
    • Chop mango into very small pieces.Add salt and hing.
    • Mix well and allow to sit for 30 mins.. The mango and salt leaves water and it gets soaked well.
    • Now add the red chilli powder ,mix well..
    • Finally temper with the above said ingredients if desired.Usually I do it. But this step is completely optional as my mom don't do the tempering every time.

    NOTE
    1. My MIL also makes an instant version in which she mixes finely chopped green chillies & salt along with raw mango pieces . Keep it for 10 mins , mix well and enjoy.. This also tastes equally good as the above said pickle. Try this too.
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    April 9, 2012

    Hotel Idli Sambar Recipe | Tamil nadu Tiffin Sambar - Side Dish For Idli Dosa Pongal

    Hotel sambar

    I think most of you would have tried varieties of Tamil nadu hotel style idli sambar recipes at home. Even I too posted an idli sambar with toor dal long time back which learnt from my MIL. It tastes similar to the hotel ones. But I should say this is the exact recipe for restaurant style sambar. I got this recipe from Aval vikatan’s supplementary.

    Yesterday I tried this for my guests. My guests liked it so much, I was showered with compliments and they were asking for the recipe. Thanks to Mrs. Revathy shanmugam for this yummy hotel kind of recipe. It tastes mildly tangy with more of dal, less spicy and you can even drink this sambar.
     
    You can use this as basic Tiffin sambar recipe for making sambar vada,Mini idli sambar etc. It’s a great side dish for Idli, dosa recipes. My friend Jayarani gave me a tip recently. She told me to add pumpkin instead of jaggery and she also suggested me to use drumstick.

     Yes, as she told adding pumpkin gave a mild sweetness and drumstick gave a nice flavour. I have updated the recipe adding them. Do try this, I am sure you’ll get the exact taste as in most of the restaurants. It goes well with idli , dosa , Venpongal and vada

    Check out this recipe for another version of hotel sambar if interested.

    Check out my MINI IDLI SAMBAR RECIPE too.



    Hotel idli sambar

    Hotel Idli Sambar Recipe


    Hotel Idli Sambar Recipe Hotel Idli Sambar Recipe - Restaurant style Tiffin Sambar Recipe
    Cuisine: Indian
    Category: Side dish
    Serves: Serves 4
    Prep time: 15 Minutes
    Cook time: 15 Minutes
    Total time: 30 Minutes


    INGREDIENTS
    1 cup - 250ml
    • Toor dal OR Moong dal – 1/3 cup
    • Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
    • Cooking Oil – A drop
    • Pumpkin – 4-6 pieces ( cube sized)
    • Drumstick – 1 no ( Chop into small pieces)
    • Vegetables ( Carrot & potato) – If needed.
    • Tamarind – 2 seeds (approx. small gooseberry size)
    To roast and grind
    • Cooking Oil - 1 tsp
    • Dhania / Coriander seeds – 1 tbsp
    • Chana dal – 2 tbsp
    • Red chillies – 6 nos
    • Methi seeds – 1/2 tsp
    To temper & saute
    • Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
    • Urad dal –1tsp
    • Jeera / cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp
    • Red chillies – 2 nos (pinched)
    • Curry leaves – a few
    • Asafetida/Hing – few pinches
    • Small onion - a cup
    • Tomato – 1- 2 nos
    • Sambar powder – 1/2 tsp
    • Coriander leaves – to garnish
    • Jaggery – 1 tsp ( Add if you don’t use pumpkin)
    • Ghee – 1 tbsp
    HOW TO MAKE HOTEL IDLI SAMBAR - METHOD
    • Soak tamarind in warm water for 20 minutes and take the extract. Set aside.
    • Peel the onions and chop the tomatoes. Pressure cook the dals with turmeric powder, pumpkin pieces and a drop of oil. Mash and set aside. Cook drumstick and other vegetables separately and set aside
    • In a kadai roast all the above said ingredients and make it a fine powder.
     

    • In the same kadai , add oil and temper all the items in the same order. Now add the sambar onions and saute till transparent. Then add the tomatoes ( crush it with your hands before adding , this makes the sauting process faster ) and required salt. Saute till tomatoes turn mushy and juicy. Add the tamarind extract , raw pinched curry leaves , hing, sambar powder and turmeric powder.
    • Allow to boil till the onions get cooked. Now add the mashed dal,cooked vegetables ( if using) and the ground powder. Mix well so that there are no lumps.
    • Boil for few minutes. It will thicken. Add more water if necessary. Switch off the flame add garnish with coriander leaves.
    • Last but not the least, don’t forget to add a tbsp of ghee & Cover it with a lid until you serve.. 
    Enjoy with idli, dosa and pongal!
    Note
    • U can use the combination of moong dal and toor dal in equal quantities and make this sambar.
    • Adding pumpkin gives a sweetness to the sambar. So no need to add jaggery or sugar. If you don’t add pumpkin use either jaggery or sugar while sambar boils.
    • Make this sambar atleast 3-4 hours before serving because all the tastes blends well. U can reheat it while serving.
    • For variations, you can add a tbsp of grated coconut while roasting the powder ingredients and powder them.
    • Tastes great the next day with full aroma !!

    ENJOY THIS SAMBAR WITH SOFT IDLIES.CRISPY DOSA & VEN PONGAL !!

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    April 4, 2012

    Bhakri Recipe & Masala Dal - Ajwain Paratha

    masala dal & bhakri
    I saw this in jaya tv’s “Anitha vin samayal”. I found it simple and healthy.I gave a try. It was excellent in taste. We loved it. I have made it thrice so far. Thanks to Mrs.Anitha kuppusamySmile .  She used ghee in the actual recipe but i used oil..Please go through the recipe.

    BHAKRI
    INGREDIENTS
    1 cup - 200ml
    • Wheat flour – 1 cup
    • Jeera – 1 tsp (OPTIONAL)
    • Ajwain – 1.5 tsp
    • Salt & water – As needed.
    • Oil – 1 tbsp ( She told to use 2 tbsp of ghee)
    METHOD
    • Take a broad bowl and mix all the ingredients given above.Knead well .
    • Make rotis and cook on tawa drizzling little ghee or oil around it.
    • Enjoy with masala dal or any kurma of ur choice !!

    MASALA DAL
    masala dal
    INGREDIENTS

     1 cup - 200ml
    • Toor dal –1/8 cup
    • Masoor dal – 1/8 cup
    • Moong dal – 1/8 cup
    • Channa dal – 1/8 cup
    • Black gram dal – 1/8 cup
    • Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
    • Salt & water- as redq
    To grind
    • Coriander seeds -  1 tbsp
    • Red chilly -  4 nos ( She told to use kashmiri red chilly for nice color.But i used normal ones)
    • Jeera / cumin seeds – 1 tsp
    • Ginger – one inch piece
    • Garlic – 7 – 8 cloves or (replace with ginger garlic paste)
    • Cinnamon – 1 small stick
    • Cloves -  3 nos
    • Pepper – 8 nos
    • Saunf – !/2 tsp (optional)
    • Water – as needed.
    To saute
    • Oil – 1tbsp
    • grated onion -  2 nos
    • tomato – 2 nos
    Coriander leaves – to garnish
    Method
    • Pressure cook all the dals together with little turmeric powder and a drop of oil.
    • Grind all the ingredients given under “ To grind” by adding little water to make a smooth paste.
    • Heat oil/ghee in a kadai and  add the items given under saute.Saute till the tomato mushes. Then add the ground paste and saute till the raw smell emanates.
    • Add the cooked and mashed dals and add enough water and salt.
    • Let it boil for sometime. Please keep the medium flame and cover the kadai while it boils otherwise it splashes everywhere.
    • Add water whenever needed. Allow it to boil for 5-10 mins.
    • Switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves
    Serve hot with rotis /Phulka or paratha !!.

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