Tamilnadu Lunch Menu 1- South Indian Lunch Menu Ideas

                        

Last week my in-laws were here .We spent 5 beautiful days together.I prepared these dishes for lunch.Generally we have thogayals for lunch.So i prepared Ridge Gourd thogayal , Gooseberry – curd pachadi , Puli keerai ,Broad Beans sambar , Carrot – beans poriyal,Urad dal Vada , Papad & milk kheer .I am sending this post to my SIL's  "Show wat u cook for Guests" event.

PULI KEERAI

Let me start from Puli keerai.Hope u can find out from the dishes.I normally prepare keerai kadaiyal.For a change , i tried puli keerai by asking my mom.It was very tasty when had with plain rice & ghee.So here comes the ingredients & method of preparation.

Ingredients

• Arai Keerai / Mulai keerai –2 cups (chopped)
• Tamarind – a small gooseberry size
• Red chilly – 2-3 nos
• Salt & water – As needed.

To season

• Ghee – 2 tsp
• Mustard seeds – 1/ 2 tsp
• Urad dal – 1/2 tsp

Method:

• Remove & Wash the leaves and cook it along with tamarind & red chilly.
• Let it cool & then grind with salt to make a smooth paste.
• Do the seasoning.Serve with plain rice & ghee !!

RIDGE GOURD THOGAYAL

Ingredients

• Ridge gourd – 1 no (medium size)
• Tamarind – Medium gooseberry size
• Red chilly – 5 nos
• Urad dal – 1 tbsp
• Hing – 2 pinches
• Salt & water – As needed.
• Oil – As needed

Method :

• Heat a kadai with a tsp of oil and roast urad dal , red chilly & hing.Set aside.
• Soak tamarind in little warm water and keep aside.
• Peel the skin of ridge gourd using a peeler and cut into small pieces.
• Heat the kadai with a tbsp of oil and saute the ridge gourd pieces till its completely cooked.May take 10 mins in medium flame.
• Let it cool . Finally grind everything to make a smooth paste.
• Serve with plain rice and sesame oil.

CARROT– BEANS PORIYAL

Ingredients

• Carrot – 2 nos
• Beans – 10 nos
• Moong dal – 2 tsp
• Sambar powder – 1 tsp
• Grated coconut – 2 tbsp
• Salt & water – as needed.

To season :

• Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Urad dal – 1/2 tsp
• Jeera – 1/4 tsp
• Curry leaves – A sprig

 Method

• Wash & cut carrot , beans into small pieces.
• In a vessel take the veggies along with moong dal , Sambar powder & Salt.
• Add the required amount of water and cook it.Take care the moong dal should not become mushy.It should be just blossomed.
• Once its cooked well , remove & cool.Drain the excess water if any ( I usually add that water to sambar )
• Heat a kadai with a tsp of oil and do the seasoning.Finally add the cooked veggies and toss well.
• Add the grated coconut and mix well. Saute for 5 mins & remove.
• Serve as an accompaniment for Sambhar / Rasam & Curd rice.

BROAD BEANS SAMBAR / AVARAKKAI SAMBAR

Ingredients

• Broad Beans / Avarakkai – 10 nos (cut into two)
• Toor Dal – 1/3 cup
• Tamarind – Big gooseberry size
• Home made Sambar Powder –  2 tsp (Refer at the end of this post)
• Sambar onions / Shallots – 10 nos
• Green chilly – 3 nos (slit cut)
• Tomato – 1 no ( finely cut)
• Curry leaves – a sprig
• Hing /asafetida – 3- 4 pinches
• Salt & water – As needed.

To Season:

• Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Fenugreek Seeds – 1/4 tsp
• Curry leaves – a  few.
• Red chilly - 1 no
• Coriander leaves – To garnish

Method:

• In a Pressure cooker take toor dal with a pinch of turmeric powder and a drop of oil .Add the cut broad beans pieces to it with required water..Cook for 1 –2 whistle till the dal turns mushy.Mash it with a ladle.Set aside.
• Soak Tamarind in warm water for 15 mins and extract the juice from it.
• Peel the sambar onions and Slit cut the green chilly into two.
• Heat a kadai with oil and splutter the mustard seeds &  fenugreek seeds & pinched red chilli.Then add the sambar onions, Green chillies & curry leaves and tomato pieces.Saute well.
• Then add the tamarind extract , Sambar powder , a pinch of turmeric powder , 3 pinches of hing & few curry leaves.
• Cover & let it boil till the onions get cooked.Nice aroma arises.
• Finally add the cooked toor dal along with broad beans and let it boil for another 5 mins.
• Remove & Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with plain rice & ghee !!

URAD DAL VADA

U can refer here for the recipe & preparation.I added a tsp of toor dal & a tsp of raw rice while soaking a cup of urad dal. Remaining the same as given there.

MILK KHEER

U can find the actual recipe in this blog .I just added 2 pinches of cardamom powder.Else the same procedure.It was very tasty & rich. Thanks a lot Jeyashri .

SAMBAR POWDER RECIPE

• Coriander seeds – 1/4 kg
• Red chilly – 1/4 kg
• Fenugreek seeds – 50 gms
• Toor dal – 50 gms
• Channa dal – 50 gms
• Pepper corns – 50 gms
• Jeera – 2 tbsp
• Turmeric powder – 50 gms

Bye for now

Technorati Tags: Lunch menus,Tamilnadu lunch menu,South indian lunch recipes,lunch menu ideas,lunch ideas

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Sodhi Recipe - Tirunelveli Sodhi Kuzhambu,Ginger Pachadi Recipe

Sodhi recipe is the most popular kuzhambu recipe in Tirunelveli. As my mom is basically from Nellai district, she makes authentic Tirunelveli recipes very well. This Sodhi Kuzhambu is one of the signature dishes of her. Usually Sodhi is prepared only when we have special guests at home, especially for newly married couples. So it is called as “Maapillai sodhi”. Its completely made out of coconut milk and its a bit time consuming process too.

The best side dish for sodhi is ginger pachadi/ Inji pachadi which helps in easy digestion of coconut milk. So if you plan to make this , don’t forget to prepare ginger pachadi. Also we make raw banana chips to munch out. Potato fry and Chips are served as side dish. Some people make sodhi kulambu as side dish for appam and idiyappam just like Kerala vegetable stew. But we usually mix it with rice and enjoy. Lets see how to make Tirunelveli special Sodhi at home :)

 

Sodhi kuzhambu

Sodhi kuzhambu / Tirunelveli Sodhi Recipe and Ginger pachadi recipe for rice

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Gravies

Serves: Serves 3

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 30 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 200ml Coconut – 1 no (My mom says 1/2 coconut for 1 person.) Drum stick – 1 no (cut into finger size) Potato – 1 no (cube cut) Carrot, Beans - 1/2 cup ( Chopped,Optional) Green chillies – 3 nos (slit cut) Garlic – 1 bulb or less Small onions – 10 nos (peel the skin ) Ginger – 1 inch size (finely chopped ) Warm Water – 4 cups Cooked Moong Dal – 1/3 cup Lemon – 1/2 no Salt – Less than the required amount To grind Green chillies – 3 nos Salt – a little (just to retain the color of chilly)

METHOD

Pressure cook moong dal, mash well & set aside. Grate the coconut or slice out pieces using the back of a ladle or knife. Add 1 cup of warm water..Grind it,squeeze and take the first milk. Keep it aside. Then add 1 cup of warm water and again repeat the same process to take the second milk.Set aside. Finally add the remaining 2 cup of water & take the third milk. Grind green chillies adding salt using little water to a paste (salt is used to prevent blackening of chillies). Heat a kadai with 1 tbsp of oil and saute small onions,ginger, garlic and green chillies. Take the third coconut milk in a wide bowl and add vegetables. Boil till vegetables are cooked well. It takes nearly 10 minutes. Once the veggies are cooked , add the second milk along with the ground chilly & cooked moong dal & sauteed onion mixture. Let it boil well for 5-10 mins and becomes thick. Lastly add the third milk and boil for another 5 mins. Switch off the flame & leave it for half an hour. Then add the lime juice and mix well. Mix with hot rice, enjoy with ginger pachadi & chips. Enjoy !

GINGER PACHADI / INJI PACHADI

Ginger pachadi recipe

Inji pachadi - Best side dish for sodhi

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Side dish

Serves: Serves 2

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 10 Minutes

Total time: 20 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

Ginger – 2 big finger size Coriander seeds – 2 tsp Red chilly – 1 no (adjust) Tamarind – small berry size Jaggery – Small gooseberry size (i like it sweetish, so adjust acc. to ur taste) Salt – a pinch To temper n saute Coconut Oil  or cooking oil – 1 tbsp Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp Urad dal – 1/4 tsp Small onions – 6 nos (finely chopped) Red chilly - 1 no (pinch into two)

METHOD

Chop the ginger finely and set aside. Heat a kadai with oil saute the ginger , coriander seeds and red chilly till nice aroma arises. Grind it with little salt to a smooth paste. Heat the kadai with a tsp of oil and season with mustard seeds, urad dal .Then saute small onions & red chilly.. Soak the tamarind in warm water and extract the juice. Add the ginger paste with tamarind water and boil for 5 mins.Then add the jaggery to it. Allow to boil until it reaches pachadi consistency. Serve with sodhi ..

Enjoy sodhi with ginger pachadi,chips and  potato poriyal !

Technorati Tags: Sodhi kuzhambu recipe,Tirunelveli sodhi kuzhambu,Sothi kuzhambu,Sodhi kuzhambu,Tirunelveli lunch menu

Very good recipes Tags: Coconut milk recipes, Coconut milk gravy, Side dish for rice, Lunch recipes, Lunch menu

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Sutta Kathirikai Chutney - Brinjal Chutney For Idli, Dosa

My mom makes this chutney for Idli.I tried last week with some slight changes.My husband who hates brinjal loved this chutney a lot.Thanks to my mom. Please adjust the spice level as per ur taste.

My mom's recipe

Ingredients

• Brinjal – 1 no (Medium size)
• Cooking Oil – 1 tbsp
• Red chilly – 5- 6 nos
• Urad dal - 1 tbsp
• Mustard seeds – 1.5 tsp
• Tamarind – 1 big seed
• Hing – a pinch
• Salt  & water – As needed

To temper:

• Coconut oil – 2 tsp
• Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp
• Urad dal – 1/2 tsp
• Hing /Asafetida – A pinch

Method:

• I used MW for roasting / burning  the brinjal.Slit cut the brinjal into 4 pieces and brush with oil.
• MW high for 3-5 mins.(adjust acc to ur MW , I kept for 5 mins.)
• The skin will come out easily and the brinjal gets cooked.U can do the same on stove top in low to medium flame.Let it cool.Then remove the skin and set aside.
• Heat a kadai with a little oil and roast the mustard , red chillies with urad dal and hing.
• Grind the brinjal, redchillies ,hing and tamarind along with salt and little water.
• Finally add the roasted urad dal  and  mustard seeds ..coarse grind it.Add water if necessary.[Be sure the brinjal gets mashed completely.Only the urad dal should be coarse].Temper it at the end.
• Serve with idli/Dosa by mixing with Sesame /Gingely oil.

TIPS
The same chutney can be had with rice by grinding with  1/2 tsp of pepper and 3 flakes of garlic along with the above said ingredients.Serve it topped with ghee!!

Technorati Tags: Brinjal chutney for idli,dosa,brinjal chutney recipe,side dish for idli,sutta kathrikai chutney recipe,sutta kathrikai chutney,kathrikai chutney

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Easy Veg Sandwich Recipe - How To Make Simple Indian Bread Sandwich

My neighbor shared this easy veg sandwich recipe to me. Method of preparation and tastes reminds the most popular Bombay sandwich to me. But the recipe of green chutney and sandwich masala is different. I have just used chat masala here. Its a very quick sandwich recipe which I make most often for Sendhil's morning breakfast in weekdays. But I use whole wheat bread and do not apply tomato ketchup as he doesn't like it.The one you watch in the video is made for me. For Raksha, I make the same sandwich by skipping tomato and adding grated cheese.You can even grill or toast it with butter if making for kids. This sandwich can be customized according to our preferences.Its the green chutney that makes everyone eat this sandwich without any complaints ;)Green chutney recipe can be prepared as per your liking by adding more green chillies, skipping ginger etc. Lets see how to make this easy and simple veg sandwich recipe with step by step pictures and video !

Easy Veg Sandwich Recipe - Simple Indian bread sandwich

How to make easy and simple veg sandwich recipe using green chutney, tomato ketchup and vegetables

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Sandwich Recipes

Serves: Serves 2

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cook time: 5 Minutes

Total time: 10 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

For Sandwich White bread – 10 slices Carrot – 1 nos (Grated ) Butter or olive oil – 1 – 2 tbsp Tomato ketchup /Sauce – 2 tbsp (adjust ) Green Chutney - As needed Tomato - 2 to 3 nos Cucumber – 1 - 2 no ( Sliced) Chat Masala – 1 tsp For Green Chutney Green chilly – 2 nos Coriander leaves – 1/2 cup Mint leaves - 2 tbsp span itemprop="ingredients">Ginger – 1/2 inch Garlic cloves – 2 nos Chat masala – 1/4 to 1/2 tsp Salt & water – as needed Lemon juice – a few drops Sugar – a pinch ( optional)

METHOD

Grind all the ingredients given under “ For Green Chutney”to a smooth paste adding enough water.Transfer to a bowl. Set aside.              Take 3 bread slices ( milk bread or whole wheat bread).Trim the edges.    Apply green chutney on one slice, tomato ketchup on the second and butter or olive oil in the third slice. Spread the grated carrot over the chutney slice, sliced cucumber on the ketchup one and tomato, onion on the buttered slice.Sprinkle chat masala powder or red chilli powder over each slice.Cover it by keeping one over the other. Arrange in your desired order. Serve immediately, enjoy !    Enjoy !

Enjoy this easy, yummy sandwich recipe for your breakfast or dinner !

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3 Simple Side Dish For Chapathi/ Roti - Potato Capsicum Curry, Tomato Gravy, Sweet Powder

I wanted to send some side dishes something different from I usually make, for our sweet blogger friend Viki’s event.. So I’ve given three distinct side dish recipes namely Potato capsicum curry, tomato gravy and sweet coconut powder with sugar, fried gram dal that goes very well with chapathi/roti. All these 3 side dishes are very easy and simple to make. Do give a shot !

POTATO – CAPSICUM CURRY 

I learnt this from my friend Shalini. Normally I dont make dry curries for chapati.My husband likes to have gravies more than dry curries..So I was a little hesitant to do this. But my friend was telling for a long time.. At last I tried yesterday along with an easy tomato gravy for safer side. But we liked it very much. I will make it more often.Thanks to Shalini.. This can be made in a jiffy.. It took just 20 mins to finish including the cutting part.

Ingredients :

• Potato – 2 nos (Cut into finger size)
• Capsicum – 1/2 no (-do-)
• Big onion – 2 nos
• Channa masala – 1 tsp (I used a local brand )
• Pepper powder – 1/2 tsp (optional, I used )
• Salt – as needed.
• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp
• Water – Very little .

Method :

• Cut the above said veggies and set aside.
• Heat a kadai with oil and add  mustard seeds.
• Once it splutters, add the chopped  potato, capsicum & onion.
• Saute till they are half cooked.
• Then add the channa masala powder , salt & pepper powder. Mix it well and saute for a minute.
• Sprinkle little water and cover cook it for 2 mins.
• Open the lid and mix well (Take care it should not get burnt )
• Sprinkle some more water if necessary.
• Cover cook till its done.

Remove & serve hot with chapathi.

EASY TOMATO GRAVY

This gravy is my own experimentation. I tried with some combinations & it came out very well. This gravy tastes good not only for chapati but also for idli, dosa.. Hope you all will try and leave a note to me :)

Ingredients 

• Ripe Tomato – 3 nos (I used small ones..Finely chopped )
• Big onion – 1 no (Slice cut )
• Salt & water – as needed
• Oil – 2 tsp

To grind :

• Coconut – 1 Pointer finger size piece
• Fried gram dal /Pottukadalai – 1 tsp
• Green chilly – 1 no (adjust , add more )
• Cinnamon /Pattai – 1 small stick
• Cloves – 2 nos
• Water – as needed.

To Temper :

• Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp
• Urad dal – 1/2 tsp
• Channa dal – 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves – a few

To garnish :

• Coriander leaves – a  few.

Method :

• Heat a kadai with oil and temper with ingredients given under “to temper “.
• Then add the onion slices & finely chopped tomato pieces.
• Saute well till the tomato becomes mushy.
• Add little water and cover cook till onions get cooked.
• In the mean time , grind all the ingredients given under “to grind” with water to make it a smooth paste .Set aside
• Once the onions get cooked , add the ground masala with required water.
• Add the salt and let the gravy boil for sometime and gets thicken.
• Finally garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot !!

FRIED GRAM DAL , COCONUT POWDER 

I learnt this from my MIL. I am sure Kids would love this to have with chapathi & poori. I too prepared this for my kid i.e. My husband ;). People with sweet tooth can surely give this a try. I used sugar here. If you wish , you can replace with jaggery. Both tastes good.

Ingredients:

• Fried gram dal /Pottu kadalai – 1 fistful
• Coconut – 1 finger size piece or 2 tsp of grated coconut
• Sugar – 2-3 tsp
• Cardamom – 1 no
  

Method :

• In  a mixie, add coconut, cardamom and fried gram.. Run it twice or thrice to make a powder.
• Finally add the sugar and run it once.
• Remove & serve !!

Have a nice weekend. Catch you all in my next post.

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Oats Kara Kozhukattai Recipe

My Belated Vinayakar chathurthi wishes to all ..Hope u all celebrated well by offering  kozhukattai & sundal ..Now coming to the post,
I always make oats dosa for my husband.Last week ,for a change i tried oats kozhukattai ..I got the recipe from a cookbook.I made some changes to the actual recipe and tried for breakfast..It was good.A good replacement for oats dosa and porridge .I am glad in sending this to EC’s WYF – Break fast event .

For 10 – 12 nos :
Ingredients :

• Quick Oats – 1/2 cup
• Red chilly – 2 nos (pinch into two )
• Curry leaves – a sprig
• Coconut pieces – a few (cut into very small pieces )
• Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Urad dal – 1 tsp
• Channa dal – 1 tsp
• Hing – 2 –3 pinches
• Salt & water – as needed
• Oil – 1 tsp

Method :

• Heat a kadai and dry roast the oats till nice aroma arises.. It may take 3-5 mins..
• Coarse grind (Run the mixie once r twice )the roasted oats and transfer into a bowl..
• In the kadai , add 1 tsp of oil and season with mustard seeds , urad dal , red chilly , curry leaves and a pinch of hing.
• Add the coconut pieces to it and fry for a minute.
• Mix the seasoned items with the ground oats along with the remaining hing.
• Add salt & water to knead like a chapatti dough.
• Then make small balls or ur desired shape to make kozhukattai and steam in idly pot for 8- 10 mins.

Hot & spicy oats kozhukattai is ready to serve !! Tastes the best when hot.
No side dish is required!!If needed , u can serve with coconut chutney !!

VARIATIONS :

• Instead of coarse grinding the oats , u can grind it to make a powder and prepare the same .
• If  u want, u can add equal amount of rice flour to the ground oats and make kozhukattai.

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Matka Kulfi - Ice Cream Recipes

I still remember the days  i ran behind the Bombay kulfi walahs to buy mouth watering , 1 rupee , cone shaped kulfis..I  really crave for those kulfis now …Last month we had been to my native and there i tasted Matka kulfi ,  my hubby’s favourite..After tasting it, i got an idea to try my own.So I washed those matkas and took home ..I tried and Yes,I got the same taste..My husband was very happy when i prepared this for him..Generally, Kulfis are prepared using a combination of condensed, evaporated and whole Milk..But i prepared in a very simple way..Here is the recipe,

Ingredients

• Milk – 500 ml
• Sugar – 2 –3 tbsp (adjust )
• Cardamom powder – 3  - 4 pods (powdered )
• Saffron threads -  few
• Almonds and pistachios – Few (finely chopped )

Method

• Take the milk in a Microwave safe wide bowl  .The bowl should accommodate at least two litres of milk to avoid spill over.Please see to it..
• Microwave high for 10 minutes..Remove the bowl and stir well.If u want u can remove and collect the skin( paal aadai), blend it at the end to a paste and add to the milk ..But I mixed the skin as it is along with the milk..
• Microwave again till the milk is reduced to half in volume.. (My MW took nearly 25- 30 mins to complete the process....Adjust the timings according to urs..)
• Then add sugar, saffron threads and cardamom powder, mix it and MW high for 5 mins..Let the sugar dissolve well and boil…
• Finally add the chopped almonds and pistachios and mix well.
• Pour into the moulds and freeze it for a minimum of 6 hours..

I got these cute kulfi moulds from my SIL and i poured some mixture into these moulds to serve my kid and of course for me.. Eat immdiately after u take out from the freezer because it gets melted very soon ...

 
VARIATIONS

• The above process can be done using stove top method . Take the milk in a wide mouthed kadai and boil the milk till it is reduced to half in volume..
• Give a constant stir and simmer the flame to avoid the spill over..
• Then add sugar, cardamom powder and saffron threads..
• Mix well and boil till sugar dissolves completely..
• Finally garnish with chopped almonds and pistachios.

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Veg Pizza Recipe Using Instant Pizza Base

I’ve tasted homemade pizza at shalini’s house recently and i liked it very much.She taught me tawa method using readymade pizza base.But I tried in microwav in my own way.It tasted excellent , soft and flavorful.We all loved it.You can try on stovetop too.The mistake I made was, I bought normal low fat amul cheese..I dint buy mozarella cheese.I dint know there are varieties of cheese.So when you want to try this recipe, do use pizza cheese.It will give u the exact taste like Pizza hut.My parents came yesterday & i prepared this for them .They loved it a lot.

Ingredients :

• Pizza base – 1 no (medium sized )
• Tomato ketchup –1- 2 tbsp
• Tomato – 1 no ( cut into thin slices )
• Big Onion – 1 no (thin slices )
• Capsicum – 1/2 no (Small cube cut ) (i cut a little into slices and remaining into cubes )
• Green chilly – 1/2 no (finely chopped ) (if u get jalapeno,u can use it )
• Garlic – 5 flakes (finely chopped )
• Olive oil – 1 tbsp
• Butter – 1 tbsp
• Salt & pepper powder – a pinch (optional )
• Cheese – 1 small block .(Grated)

Method :

1. In  a  MW safe bowl, Add 2 tsp of olive oil .Take the sliced onions, capsicum and green chilly & garlic pieces..Mix it well. MW high for 1 minute to saute well.Take care, the color should not change.(My MW is of 700w output.Please adjust the timings according to urs)
2. Remove and set aside.. Take a MW plate and keep the base on it.
3. Apply butter on both the sides of pizza base and MW medium high for just 30 seconds..Please dont keep it more because the base will become hard.. (If u want , u can omit this step .just apply the butter on the base.)
4. Then , apply the tomato ketchup on one side of the base evenly..Apply more if u like..
5. Take the sautéed onion, capsicum mixture and spread it with tomato slices in ur desired order.. Grate the cheese and spread it all over the pizza..
6. Then pour 1 tsp of olive oil over the pizza and brush the sides too..
7. MW high for 2-3 mins and just leave it till the cheese melts..
8. Remove and sprinkle salt and pepper powder..Serve hot !!

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