Kalyana Rasam

We have all been to Tamil wedding at one point in our lives right? Have you noticed the rasam they serve is always tasty? Well, we had our annual Diwali Party at my house last weekend. It was a cold evening, and I decided to make rasam as an appetizer, hot and soothing for the cold weather. My mom guided me every step of the way in making rasam for 45 people. And it was a hit! Everyone loved it.

Ingredients(for 4 servings)

Tamarind, a small gooseberry size
3 Tomatoes
1 Tablespoon toor dal
Salt, to taste
2 sprigs of fresh curry leaves
1 pinch asafoetida

For Masala:

1 teaspoon ghee
2 teaspoon coriander seeds
2 teaspoon toor dal
1 teaspoon peppercorn
1 dried red chili
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

For seasoning

1 teaspoon ghee
1 teaspoon mustard seeds

Method:

1. Soak tamarind in 1/2 cup water and extract juice.
2. Pressure cook toor dal with 1/4 teaspoon oil and 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder. Mash it well and keep aside.
3. Heat ghee in a small pan and roast all the ingredients except cumin seeds to golden brown and raw smell leaves. Cool and grind everything along with cumin seeds to a fine powder. Cumin should not be roasted. Keep aside.

4. pour tamarind extract in a medium saucepan. Add 1 chopped tomato, curry leaves, salt, asafoetida and 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder.

5. Puree 2 tomatoes in a mixer.

6. Add the pureed tomato to the saucepan, stir and cook on a medium flame. bring it to a boil and simmer till the smell of tamarind leaves and the mixture thickens.

7. Add 2 cups of water to the mashed dal. Pour it into the saucepan. Check for salt and thickness and add more water if required. Cook for a couple minutes until the rasam froths all around. Remove from stove.
8. Temper mustard seeds in ghee and pour on the rasam. Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro. Serve as a drink or with hot rice.

Peas Pulav

My neighbor's daughter who  goes to the same school as my son was visiting home for Diwali last weekend. I had a busy Sunday morning cooking some dishes for both. I made paneer butter masala, peas pulav and sambar for them. You know how much kids love to get home cooked meals anytime. Peas pulav is one of the quickest and easiest rice dishes one can make.

Ingredients:

1 Cup basmati rice, soaked for 20 minutes
1/2 Cup frozen sweet peas
2 Cups water
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 green chili,slit
1 Tablespoon ghee
1 teaspoon oil
1/2 inch cinnamon stick
1 clove
1 green cardamom
1/2 teaspoon pepper powder(optional)
salt to taste

Method:

1. Heat ghee and oil in a pan on medium heat. Add the spices except pepper powder.

2. Add slit green chili if you are using and sliced onion. Cook till translucent.

3. Add frozen peas and cook for 2 minutes. Add salt, pepper and 2 cups water.

4. Bring water to boil. Check for salt. Drain rice and gently add to boiling water.  Check for salt and add more if required. Cover and cook till all water is absorbed and rice is done, about 10 minutes.

5. Remove from stove and serve with any curry.

Note:

1.The longer the rice is soaked the grainier it is when cooked, also it takes less time to cook. I soaked the rice over night, and the pulav was very fluffy and tasty.
2. Equal ratio of water and coconut milk can be used(1+1)

Idly Batter

Over the years I have heard various recipes and methods to make the perfect idly batter. The trick is in the amount of time taken to grind the ingredients and the temperature for fermentation. In tropical places the batter rises and ferments quickly, but places where it is not always warm it is tricky. I think I have mastered the art of making the perfect batter. My idlies are the best in town, if I must say so myself! They are so soft and spongy. My daughter is so spoiled by them that she refuses to take idly back to college, she doesn't like to freeze them and re-heat em. She says they are to be eaten hot straight from the stove. I agree with her, though, idly topped with milagai podi and oil mixture are the best eaten the next day.. Yummy!

Ingredients:

4 Cups idly rice
1 1/8 Cup whole white Urad dal
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 Cup beaten rice(Poha)

Method:

1. Soak rice in water for 4 hours. Soak urad dal and fenugreek seeds together for 3 hours.
2. Drain water from the urad dal. Grind smooth using limited water in a wet grinder. Adding salt dilutes the batter a bit so you don't use much water. Grind for at least 45 minutes. Soak poha in water for 20 minutes while urad is in the grinder. Remove the batter into a container(steel or glass). The batter should be smooth and fluffy.
3. Add poha to the grinder and grind for a couple minutes. Drain water from the rice and add it to the grinder, adding enough water for the rice to move freely in the grinder. Grind to smooth paste. Remove batter to the same container that has urad batter. Add salt to the batter as required. Mix well until both batters are well blended.
4. Cover the container with a lid and place it in a warm place until it rises and is fermented. In places with high altitude or where it is colder, pre-heat the oven at 200*F, turn the oven off, place the batter inside the oven and turn the oven light on. Leave the batter in the oven for 8 hours or until the batter rises and is fermented.
Remove from oven when the batter is ready. Add 1 tablespoon oil to the batter and mix well. Make yummy idly and serve hot with chutney, sambar or milagai podi.

Note: Idly batter can be used to make dosa too.

Hope you also perfect your idly batter with this recipe!

Masala Dosa

The early childhood memory I have of Masala Dosa is having it for breakfast on weekends.  Every Sunday morning my father would get take out from the local restaurant. He always bought puri and potato masala, Pongal and Masala Dosa all wrapped in Banana leaf and news paper. Oh the smell of banana leaf on the piping hot food! I cant help salivating just thinking about it.

Ingredients:

For Dosa:

Dosa batter
oil for dosa

Filling:
2 Tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon channa dal
1 pinch asafoetida
2 green chili, chopped
1/4 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 medium onion, sliced
1 tomato, chopped
2 boiled potato, mashed
1 carrot, boiled and chopped
1 Tablespoon green peas(fresh or frozen)
salt to taste

Other ingredients:

Milagai podi(dosa powder) to sprinkle on dosa
1/4 Cup green chutney
1 Tablespoon garlic chutney(optional)

Method for Filling:

1. Heat oil in a pan on medium flame. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, channa dal. When they splutter add  asafoetida, green chili, and ginger.
2. Add sliced onion and cook till translucent. Add turmeric powder and red chili powder and stir.
3. Add tomato and cook for 3 minutes. Add the vegetables, salt and a little water.  Mix well, cover and cook on medium flame for a 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from stove and keep aside.

For Dosa:

1. Heat a griddle on medium flame. Pour 2 ladles of dosa batter in the middle of the hot griddle and spread evenly with the back of the ladle to a thin crepe. Drizzle 1 teaspoon oil around the dosa. Sprinkle some milagai podi on the oil over the batter. Cover with a lid.

2. When the batter looks cooked(about 2 minutes), spread the chutney(mix the two together) on the dosa with a spoon. Spread a tablespoon of potato masala on one side of the dosa.

Fold the half without the masala over the half with masala. Gently slide the dosa to a plate.

Serve hot with a chutney of your choice and sambar.

Kastha Kachori

Over Navarathri I had this amazing snack over at my friend's. wanna guess what it was? Khasta Kachori chat. It is a crispy fried dough(puri) filled with mung dal, crispy and flaky on the outside, hollow on the inside. These can be eaten as is or like a chaat. Well, I got the recipe from my favorite author, Tarla Dalal and made it over the weekend when I had my friend and her in-laws for tea. It was an instant hit with my guests.


Ingredients:

For the dough

2 Cups all purpose flour
salt to taste
1/4 Cup melted ghee

For the Filling:

1/2 Cup yellow mung dal, soaked for 2 hours and drained
2 Tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida
1 teaspoon ginger-green chili paste
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
salt to taste
1 Tablespoon dried mango powder(amchur)
2 Tablespoon besan (bengal gram flour)
Oil for frying

For Chaat:

3 Cups of yogurt, whisked
1/4 Cup boiled and diced potato
1/2 Cup boiled chick peas or mung beans
4 Tablespoon green chutney
5 Tablespoon sweet chutney
chili powder for sprinkling
cumin seed powder for sprinkling
1 Cup sev

Method:

For the Dough:

1. Combine all the ingredients for dough in a large bowl. Mix well, add water as required and knead to make a semi-soft dough. Cover with a damp towel and set aside for 15 minutes

For the Filling:

1. Grind the mung dal in a food processor or mixer to a coarse mixture. Keep aside.

2. Heat oil in a broad pan and add fennel seed. when the fennel crackle add asafoetida and the coarse mung. Mix well and cook on medium flame for a minute.

3. Add ginger-green chili paste, dry mango powder, chili powder, garam masala, salt, and besan ; cook on medium flame fro 5 minutes or till the mixture is lightly browned. Remove from stove and allow to cool.

For the Kachori:

1. Divide the dough in to 12 equal portions.

2. Roll out a ball of dough into a 3" diameter circle. Place a spoonful of dal filling in the center.

3. Bring together all the sides, seal tightly and press it lightly.

4. Roll the filled dough lightly to a 2 1/2" diameter circle. Roll out the remaining dough into kachoris. Keep aside.

5. Heat oil for frying in a broad pan on a medium flame. Deep fry 3 kachoris at a time on a slow flame for 8 minutes, turning them in between till they turn golden brown. Drain on a paper towel. Repeat until all kachoris are fried.

Place kachori on a serving dish. Make a hole in the center of each kachori. Spoon a few boiled potato, boiled mung beans or chick peas. Top it with a Tablespoon of beaten yogurt and 2 teaspoon sweet chutney and green chutney.  Sprinkle a little cumin powder and chili powder and 2 tablespoon sev over it.

Whole wheat dosa(crepe)

I was too lazy to cook a whole meal last night. I decided to make something quick and light. My mom used to make a quick snack with wheat flour batter. Its called wheat dosa or crepe. It is usually eaten for breakfast in India. It is made with a mixture of wheat flour, rice flour and all purpose flour made into a batter. It tastes delicious with an kind of chutney. But, I like it best with milagai podi(dosa powder). Kids can make this with little supervision. It would be a great mid-night snack for teens!

Ingredients:

For the Batter:

1/2 Cup whole wheat flour
1/4 Cup rice flour
1/8 Cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 Cup sour plain yogurt
water
salt to taste
oil to make the crepes

For Tempering:

1 teaspoon mustard seed
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 green chili, chopped
2-3 curry leaves
oil to temper


Method:

1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. 

                                                                

2. Mix the yogurt with water and add to the the bowl to make a batter that is not too thick or too thin.

                                                                  

3. Heat 2 teaspoon oil in a small pan, temper mustard and cumin seeds. Add chili and curry leaves when mustard splutters. Stir into the batter. Set the batter aside for 10 minutes

3. Heat a griddle to medium heat. When the griddle is hot (test by sprinkling little water). Pour a ladle
of batter around the center of the griddle. Do not spread with the ladle. Instead, just pour it around to make a thin crepe. Cover with a lid and cook for 3 minutes. Gently flip the crepe over with a spatula and cook the other side for a few minutes.

 

 

4. Slide on a plate. Continue making crepes with the remaining batter.

5.Serve with a chutney or milagai podi.

                                              

Mushroom Biriyani

I am really excited today. Getting the house in order and setting my mom's room. You may wonder why! She's coming back from India tomorrow! I was looking in my refrigerator last night and guess what, I found..2 packages of mushrooms, Baby Bella and Chanterelles.  My mom doesn't eat mushrooms, but I love them in all sizes and shapes. Well I can't use them much with my mom around, so I cooked the mushroom and soy nuggets(meal maker) with aromatic basmati rice in coconut milk.. oh the smell of rice and  coconut milk!

Ingredients:

1 Cup Basmati rice, soaked in water for 20 minutes
2 Tablespoon olive oil
2 bay leaves
1 medium onion, sliced thin
1 green chili, sliced
1 Cup sliced mushroom
1/4 Cup soy nuggets(meal maker), rinsed soaked in hot water
salt to taste
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 Cup coconut milk
1 Cup water

Masala:

1/2 inch cinnamon stick
2 cloves
1 cardamom
1 star anise
1 mace
1/4 spoon poppy seed
1/4 spoon fennel seed
2 green chili

Method:

1. Pound the ingredients for masala in a mortar or blend together in a mixer. Keep aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan. Add bay leaves and 1/4 teaspoon fennel seed.
3. Add the ground masala and saute for a minute.
4. Add sliced onion and chili. Saute till translucent.
5. Squeeze out the water from the soy nuggets, add to the pan and saute for 3 minutes.
6. Add mushroom and saute till all moisture leaves, about 5 minutes.

Paneer Bhurji

Who doesn't love Paneer? Also known as Indian cottage cheese, paneer  is a very good source of protein. It can be cooked in many ways, sauteed, grilled, sandwiched and much more. My son loves paneer in any way. Paneer bhurji looks like scrambled egg. It could be a breakfast dish or used as stuffing for paratha or eaten as a side dish.

Ingredients:

1 Cup paneer, crumbled
1 Tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 Medium onion, chopped
1 Medium tomato, chopped
2-3 green chili, chopped
1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon cumin-coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
salt to taste

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds. When it splutters add onion, green chili and ginger-garlic paste. Saute till onion is cooked and the raw smell leaves. Add tomato and cook for 5 minutes.

2. Add turmeric, red chili powder, coriander-cumin powder, garam masala and salt. Saute for couple minutes.

3. Add crumbled paneer to the pan. Mix gently and cook for 5 minutes until everything is blended well.

4. Serve with toast or roti.

Notes: Paneer can be substituted with crumbled tofu.