SCHEZWAN NOODLES

I tried this one after watching a cookery show.I prepared this for my hubby’s lunch box.It was very tasty.

Ingredients :

• VEGETABLES (CARROT , CAPSICUM , POTATO AND BEANS) – Cut  into thin strips of 1 inch length.
• Plain white noodles – 1/2 packet or 1 cup ( if its a big one)( adjust the amount of noodles based on the quantity of veggies)
• Big onion -  1 no (chop into thin strips of 1 inch length)
• Ajinomotto – 1/2 tsp
• Soya sauce – 1 tsp
• Tomato sauce – 1 tsp
• Salt – as needed.

For Schezwan sauce :

• Red chillies – 4 nos
• Garlic – 4 flakes
• Ginger – 1 inch piece (Replace ginger & garlic with G&G paste of 1 tsp)
• Tomato sauce – 1tsp
• Chilli sauce – 1 tsp
• Vinegar – 2 tsp ( Add according to ur taste buds )

Spring onions /coriander leaves – to garnish
Method :

• Refer here for “ Basic noodles preparation “.Keep the prepared noodles aside.
• For sauce , grind all the items given under “ sauce ingredients “ to make a smooth paste by adding vinegar.Set apart.
• In a wide mouthed kadai , add the onions and fry for a minute.Then add the veggies.Fry till they become soft.
• Cover cook for sometime.Add 2-3  tsp of schezwan sauce and fry till its raw smell goes off.
• Then add the plain noodles , tomato sauce , soya sauce , Ajinomotto & required salt .
• Toss it well.Garnish & serve hot !!

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Adhirasam Recipe With tips and tricks - How To Make Adhirasam

Adhirasam recipe with step by step pictures and tips, tricks for troubleshooting if Adhirasam breaks or becomes hard or crispy. Adirasam (Ariselu in Telugu) is a deep fried Indian sweet made with rice flour and jaggery. 

My MIL is an expert in making Adhirasam.In my apartment , all my neighbours used to call her for guidance during Diwali. I learnt this recipe from her and posting for you all. For making soft adhirasam rice flour, jaggery syrup consistency is very important. My MIL always uses home made rice flour for making this sweet. Recently I found a recipe with store bought rice flour. I will try and post it soon. Do refer the”Notes”section for tips and tricks! 

I am happily sharing this post to celebrate my blog anniversary. I thank you all for your encouragement and support ! 

Adhirasam recipe

How to adhirasam sweet recipe with step by step pictures

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Sweet

Serves: 10

Prep time: 20 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 40 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

Raw rice - 1 cup or Homemade rice flour – 2 cups Grated jaggery - 3/4 cup Water - 1/3 cup Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp Black/white sesame seeds - 1/2 tsp Dry ginger powder - 1/4 tsp ( optional) Cooking oil - to deep fry

HOW TO MAKE ADHIRASAM - METHOD

For homemade rice flour,wash and soak the raw rice for 2 hours. Spread in a paper and let it dry for 10 minutes. Grind the rice little coarsely (It should look fine in texture but when you touch it, it should be slightly coarse. By making this way,adhirasam will get a good texture like in shops) in batches. Sieve and set aside.Rice flour is ready. For syrup, powder the jaggery and add little water just to cover it (Beginners add 1:2 ratio of water and jaggery). Keep it on the flame and melt it. Drain the impurities using a metal strainer. Keep the syrup on the medium flame. Let it boil for sometime. Take little water in a plate and pour a drop of syrup. The syrup should not dissolve. U’ll be able to gather the syrup and make a soft ball out of the syrup. This is called rollover (uruttu padham in tamil ) consistency. Add the cardamom powder. Switch off the flame . Take the rice flour in a wide mouthed bowl.Add sesame seeds(if using). Make a dent in the center and set aside. Pour the syrup into the rice flour. Add little by little and mix the flour to make a smooth dough, soft, pliable and goey. It will harden as time proceeds. Some syrup may remain unused. All the syrup may not be necessary. If you add more syrup, adhirasam breaks in oil. So be careful while adding the syrup. Dough should be slightly semi solid in consistency. Do not make it hard. Adhirasam will become chewy. Transfer the dough to an air tight container after it cools down. Let it ferment for one or two days. Do not refrigerate the dough. Keep in room temperature. The next day or third day take the dough and make small lemon sized balls.Take a thick polythene sheet /Banana leaf and grease with oil/ghee. Pat it with your fingers to make a small poori. Thickness should be like poori. Some people make a hole in the middle just like medu vada. It helps for uniform cooking. But My MIL doesn't do it. So I too follow her.  In the mean time heat oil in a kadai to deep fry. Put a pinch of dough and check it rises to the top immediately. Drop one adhirasam. As soon as you put the adhirasam in hot oil, it will bulge and becomes golden brown in the bottom. You should flip it over immediately. Let the other side cook for 1 or 2 seconds till the bubbles cease and then take it out by draining the excess oil. Its cooking is similar to deep frying poori. If you fry for long time, adhirasam will become crispy and break like murukku.    Keep the flame in medium high /Medium for even cooking. Do not deep fry more than one at a time.After taking out from the oil keep the adhirasam in between two round shaped ladles and press it well on all the sides. The excess oil gets drained out. Keep in a tissue paper. Remove once it becomes warm and stack it one over the other. This helps to keep the adhirasam soft the next day.  Stack the adhirasams and store in an air tight container.

Note

Always use processed rice flour to make adhirasam. /store bought flour makes the adhirasam hard & chewy. The processed flour should be slightly wet. Should not be dry. To make processed rice flour, soak raw rice in water for 2 hrs. Drain the water & spread the rice in a paper or cloth for 5 minutes.Now grind the rice to make a slightly coarse powder. Sieve & repeat the same process & use this rice flour to make adhirasam. Based on the texture of rice flour, it absorbs jaggery syrup. The more fine, the less it takes. To get the texture of adhirasam like we get in shops, make the rice flour slightly coarse. i.e It should look like a fine powder but when you touch it will be very slightly coarse. The consistency of syrup is very important. It should be a loose, soft ball. It wont dissolve in water at the same time it should not be tight as a hard ball. U will able to gather the syrup and when you take the syrup in your fingers, it will slide. The total time to reach the consistency will be within 5-7 minutes in high flame. The color of adhirasam depends upon the color of jaggery you use. Some jaggery may be light yellow in color. So its better if you buy Paagu vellam which would be in golden yellow to get a nice color . The quantity of syrup may vary based on the quality of rice flour. So add carefully. If you add excess syrup, adhirasam will break or disperse in oil. If you add less syrup, it may turn hard n chewy.  If adhirasam breaks in oil, either the quantity of jaggery is more or the dough is too slimy. In that case, add little wheat flour, mix it well and try again OR if you have reserved homemade rice flour,  you can add very little to it. Adding more makes the adhirasam hard.  Adhirasam dough can be preserved for 10 days. No need to even refrigerate if you make it perfect. If you feel you’ve added excess syrup to the dough and if its too sticky, you can add little Maida or wheat flour to bring non sticky consistency. Maximum 1 tbsp can be added and not more than that. Suppose if the dough is very hard, you can sprinkle little milk and if necessary add little jaggery syrup to make a soft pliable dough . If the adhirasam becomes crispy or hard, you can steam in idli plate for few minutes to soften it.  If you wish to serve it hot, keep the adhirasam in an idli plate and steam for few seconds to make it soft and hot. Please do not fry again. Last but not the least, don’t deep fry the adhirasams for longer time because it may become a murukku ;)

          Once again I thank all my blogger friends & readers for taking my blog all this way. I need all your encouragement and support for all my future endeavours :) . I thank you all with this virtual treat of adhirasam. 

Technorati Tags: Adhirasam recipe,Adhirasam,Adhirasam step by step,athirasam,athirasam tips,athirasam sweet,ariselu,ariselu recipe,adhirasam,adhirasam recipe

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A SHORT BREAK !!

Hello friends ,

I am going to my native place tomorrow for 15 days..Will catch u all in 2010.

Wish u all a very happy & prosperous new year ..I’ll surely comment on all ur yummy preparations whenever i get a chance to browse..

Thanku friends , Take care..Bye

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BITTERGOURD PODI - KAKARAKAYA PODI KURA

I always prepare pitlai with bitter gourd. For a change i wanted to try some varieties like bittergourd podi ,curry etc. At last I got the recipe for podi from a blog. Sorry friends ,i dont remember the blog name exactly.The dish was named as “Malathi chandur’s kakarakaya podi “..I did some changes according to our taste buds and tried. My hubby who hates Bittergourd likes to have this podi with plain rice.It doesn’t taste much bitter .Thanks to Mrs .Malathi chandur, a cookery expert & writer of many telugu novels for this yummy recipe.

Here comes the recipe :

Ingredients :

• Bitter gourd – 1 no
• Tamarind –a gooseberry size
• Red chilly – 5-7 nos
• Coriander seeds – 1 tsp
• Urad dal – 1 tbsp
• Chana dal – 1 tbsp
• Grated Coconut – 1 tsp
• Big onion – 1 no ( small sized, finely chopped )
• Asafetida /Hing – a pinch.
• Salt – As needed
• Cooking oil – 2 tbsp

Method :

• Chop the bitter gourd into very small pieces ( chop as small as possible ).
• Add the required salt and mix well.Keep aside  for 30 mins and squeeze the water that comes out from the bitter gourd.(this helps to remove its bitterness. ). For people who like its bitter taste can keep it for just 10 mins and proceed further.
• Take the tamarind and pinch into very small pieces.In a kadai, dry roast the tamarind pieces till it becomes dry.  Remove in a plate.
• Heat 1/2 tbsp oil in the same kadai and saute the chopped onion till transparent. Add grated coconut, mix well and switch off the flame. Grind to a dry coarse powder adding roasted tamarind without adding water. Remove in a plate. 
• In the same kadai ( no need to add oil), roast urad dal , channa dal , coriander seeds along with red chillies and hing. Cool and powder it fine or coarsely. Keep it seperately. 
• Add 1.5 tbsp of oil in the kadai and saute the finely chopped bitter gourd pieces till it gets cooked.
• Once its cooked add the coarse ground powder and the coconut mixture to it. Mix well and check for salt.

Yummy podi is ready to be mixed with plain rice topped by sesame oil.

Note :
Here i have coarse ground everything.If u wish u can grind it to a fine powder.

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Kanchipuram Idli Recipe - Kancheepuram Kovil Idli Recipe

Kanchipuram Idli is one of the most popular South Indian Idli recipe that is originated from Tamilnadu - Kanchipuram Varadaraja Perumal temple's madapalli. This idli is served as temple prasadam. Its a world famous idli. Recently I tried this Iyengar style idli recipe from " The Hindu" food safari section. 3 different recipes were given there from the temple and hotels of Kancheepuram. Every time I used to follow my cook book recipe for making Kancheepuram Idli which I have mentioned below as recipe 2. This time I tried Kanjeevaram Varadaraja perumal temple recipe ( Koil idli). It came out really well. 

We loved its taste.

The specialty of this idli lies in steaming it using “Mandharai leaves” . But I used banana leaves here. I steamed the idli in a big tumbler lined with banana leaf. Normally the cooking time of idli takes 2 hours as they make in kudalai ( a hollow bamboo rod). So Its also known as kudalai idli and Kovil idli. But I used pressure cooker to steam idli. Also the consistency of batter should be slightly coarse and thick to get the above texture in the picture. 

Remember one thing, you should eat it hot. Otherwise idli will become slightly hard when warm. If  you grind it too smooth, it will resemble our usual idli but it comes out very soft even after it cools down. This idli tastes the best with coconut chutney and idli podi. I’ve had this with sambar too. But I feel coconut chutney is the best side dish. My husband loves this idli a lot. With the pleasant aroma of steamed banana leaves, it tastes delicious & very soft .

Try it and let me know how it tasted. Lets see how to prepare Kanchipuram idli using two different recipes.

Kanchipuram Idli Recipe

How to make Kanchipuram idli - 2 recipes shared here

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Breakfast

Serves:4

Prep time: 16H(with fermentation)

Cook time: 20 Min

Total time: 16H20Min

INGREDIENTS
1 cup - 250ml

Recipe 1 – Temple version Raw rice / Pacharisi – 2 cups Urad dal – 1 cup Methi seeds – 1/2 tsp Ghee – 1/4 cup Cumin seeds – 2 tsp Pepper corns – 1.5 tsp Dry ginger powder – 1/2 tsp Curry leaves - few Asafetida/Hing – 1/2 tsp Salt & water – As needed Recipe 2 – Cookbook version Par Boiled rice / idli rice – 1/2 cup Raw rice – 1/2 cup Urad dal – 1/2 cup Pepper corns – 1/2 tsp Jeera – 1/2 tsp Ghee – 2 tbsp Sesame / Gingely oil – 2 tbsp Hing / Asafetida – 1/2 tsp Curry leaves – a few Dry ginger / Sukku – 1/2 inch piece (crushed) (optional ) (you can use powder too) Salt – as required.

HOW TO MAKE KANCHIPURAM IDLI - METHOD

RECIPE – 1 (TEMPLE VERSION FROM THE HINDU) Soak rice , dal and methi seeds together for 4-5 hours. Grind them to a slightly coarse paste adding salt & required water. The batter should be thick. Allow it to ferment for 12 hrs or overnight. The next day morning add jeera, pepper corns, ghee, hing and curry leaves. Mix well. Grease a tumbler with oil and line it with banana leaf . Pour the batter, fill it. Add water till half of the pressure cooker base and keep the tumbler inside it. Close it with a lid. Steam it for 30 minutes to 1 hour. check it with the back of a spoon. If it comes out clean, idli is done.. Enjoy hot idli with coconut chutney !! RECIPE – 2 ( from cookbook) Soak the dal and rice together for 2-3 hours. Wash , drain the water and grind . Please don't add more water to grind.The batter should be thick and little coarse. After grinding the batter add salt , hing and mix well. Allow the batter to ferment overnight. The next day morning add crushed pepper , jeera , dry ginger powder , curry leaves , Ghee and sesame oil to the batter and mix well. If u feel the batter is too thick, add a ladleful of water to it. Do not  disturb the batter for 30 mins- 1 hour. After 1 hour , place the banana leaf on the idly plate and pour the batter.               Steam it for 15 to 30 mins.Once its done ,prick the idly with the backside of spoon and see whether the idlI is non sticky . At this stage the idli is cooked well.                Remove and serve hot with coconut chutney !

Note

• As per the original recipe, the batter should be ground till coarse(rava consistency). But most of the time I grind the batter smooth. U 'll get a really soft idli !! My family likes that way. 

Technorati Tags: kanchipuram idli,kanchipuram idli recipe,idli varieties,breakfast recipes,kanchipuram temple idli recipe,kanchipuram temple idli,kovil idli,kanchipuram idli recipe in tamil,kanchi idli,kancheepuram idli recipe,The Hindu recipes,Hindu food safari recipe

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CHAYOTE CHUTNEY/CHOW CHOW THOGAYAL-THOGAYAL RECIPES

I tried this thogayal from a cookbook. A very tasty thogayal that goes well with plain rice topped with sesame oil.

Ingredients 

• Chayote / Chow chow – 1 no( medium size)
• Tamarind – Small gooseberry size
• Red chilly – 3-4 nos
• Urad dal – 1 tsp
• Channa dal – 1 tsp
• Hing / Asafetida – 1 pinch.
• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Salt & water – As needed.

Method :

• Heat a kadai with a tbsp of oil and add red chilly, urad , channa dal and hing.
• Roast till the dals turn golden brown.Set aside.
• Peel off the skin of chayote and chop finely.Saute and cook till soft.
• Let it cool down and then grind everything with tamarind ,salt and water.
• Serve with plain rice & sesame oil..

 

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EASY VEGETABLE PULAO / VEG PULAO RECIPE

I don’t remember the source for this recipe but its really an easy to make,delicious rice variety.I usually prepare this for my husband’s lunch box .Tastes great with simple onion raita..So here we go ,

Ingredients :

• Basmati rice – 1/2 cup
• Water –  1 cup (Little less than 1 cup for fluffy rice)
• Carrot , beans , peas and potato – 1 cup (chopped )
• Green chilly - 2 nos (slit cut )
• Ginger – 1 inch size (Chopped finely )
• Garlic – 5 flakes( –do-) OR use ginger. garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Big onion –1 no (-do-)
• Cinnamon – a small stick
• Cloves – 2 nos
• Cardamom – 1 no
• Bay leaf – A small leaf
• Jeera – 1/4 tsp (optional)
• Oil – 2 tbsp
• Ghee – 2 tsp 
• Roasted cashew – to garnish

Method :

• Wash and chop all the veggies and set aside.
• Wash and soak the rice in required water.(i soaked for 30 mins)Do not drain the water.
• In a broad kadai , add oil , jeera and the spices in the same order.
• Add the ginger , garlic pieces ..saute well and then add the finely chopped onions,  slit green chillies.Saute till it becomes transparent.
• Finally add the chopped vegetables and the required salt.
• Mix well and add the rice with soaked water.(the water should be 1 cup )
• Transfer everything into a cooker and add 2 tsp of ghee to it.
• Cover and Cook for 1 whistle.

Serve hot with raita !!

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Karuveppilai Podi / Curry Leaves Powder Recipe

I learnt this podi recipe from my MIL..She makes the best thogayals and podis . We have this podi with idli/ dosa and  plain rice topped with sesame oil.. Its a healthy and delicious podi variety.

Ingredients :

• Curry leaves – 1 bunch (1 cup)
• Red chilly – 2-3 nos
• Pepper – 1 tsp
• Urad dal (round) – 2 tbsp ( or u can add 1 tbsp of urad and  1 tbsp of channa dal )
• Hing / Asafetida – 2 pinches
• Salt – to taste

Method :

• Heat a kadai with a tbsp of oil and add the red chilly, urad dal, pepper corns and hing.
• Roast till the dal changes to golden brown color.
• Transfer the roasted ingredients to a plate.switch off the flame.
• In the same hot kadai , add the curry leaves and toss it well.(fire off!!)
• Leave it for sometime.. the curry leaves become crispy.
• Finally grind everything to a fine /a bit coarse powder by adding the required salt. ( i always grind a bit coarse)

Serve with idly / dosa or mix with plain rice by adding sesame oil.

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Garlic Rice / Poondu Sadam - Leftover Rice Recipes

I learnt this from my neighbor.Yesterday when i was chatting with her , she told me about this garlic rice/ Poondu sadam . I tried on the same day .It was very tasty .I made it with the leftover rice I made for lunch.Its not necessary that the rice should be separate or grainy..Simple ingredients and can be made in jiffy.

Ingredients :
 1cup - 200ml

• Rice – 1/2 cup
• Garlic  bulbs -  2 nos (Peel the skin and crush the whole ones just with a ladle)
• Small Onions – 10 nos (finely chopped ) ( replace with 1 big onion, finely chopped)
• Green chilly – 2 nos (slit cut)
• Salt – as needed.
• Coconut oil or ghee - 1 tbsp

To temper:

• Cooking oil – 2 tbsp
• Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Urad dal – 1 tsp
• Red chilly – 1 no (pinched into two)
• Curry leaves – a few.

Method :

• Pressure cook the rice and set aside.
• In a kadai , add 2 tbsp of oil and temper with mustard , urad dal and red chilly and curry leaves.
• Then add the crushed garlic , small onions, green chillies and saute till garlic turne golden brown.
• Finally add everything to the cooked rice and mix well by adding salt.
• Add a tbsp of coconut oil / ghee and serve hot !!

No side dish is required.If desired ,have with pickle..

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Sponge Dosa Recipe Without Urad dal - Fermentation Method

I learnt this  sponge dosa recipe from my neighbor.Whenever I run short of idli rice / Puzhungal arisi or urad dal , I make this sponge dosa without urad dal. The ingredients and the method are a bit different from the usual poha dosa  aval dosai. Usually sponge dosa batter is made using buttermilk and no fermentation is needed. You may also use cooked rice and prepare. But I ferment the batter at least for 8 hours.So you can prepare this dosa only by the next day. Try this soft sponge dosa recipe , Iam sure u will like it.

Ingredients :
1 cup - 200ml

• Raw rice – 1 cup (Sona masoori or dosa rice)
• Poha / Aval – 1/2 cup(heaped)
• Fenugreek seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Salt & water – As needed.
• Cooking soda/ baking soda - 2 pinch (optional)

Method :

• Wash and soak the rice , poha and methi seeds together for 2 hrs.
• Grind it to make a smooth batter by adding salt & water.
• U can grind it using mixie too.Use ice cold water if using mixie
• Keep the batter for 8 – 10 hrs to ferment.
• The next day ,  add baking soda if you are using and mix the batter well. Rest for 10 minutes and make dosas.
• U all know , this dosa is small in size .So do not spread the batter on the tawa. Make it a small circle.
• Apply oil around the dosa if desired.
• Then cover cook in medium flame and don’t flip the dosa.

Serve hot with Coconut or Tomato chutney !!
I served with tomato–mint chutney ..

NOTE : Addition of cooking soda is optional.But it helps to make the dosa more porous and soft. If you add cookings soda, rest the batter for 10 minutes before making the dosa. Do not forget.
For variations, you can soak 2 tbsp urad dal along with poha and grind the batter.

Technorati Tags: poha dosa,soft dosa,sponge dosa recipe,sponge dosa,aval dosai,super soft dosa,sponge dosa -fermentation method,breakfast recipes.

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