PODI FOR STUFFING

This podi is mainly for veg. stuffing like Ennai kathirikkai, Okra(Lady's finger) curry, baby potato curry, stuffed carrot curry and goes on. You can prepare this and have it stored in an air tight box.

Ingredients

Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urud dal - 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 10 seeds
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Red chillies - 5

Method

1. Heat a pan without oil and fry all the above ingredients.
2. Allow it to cool and grind it well. Neither coarse nor fine powder.

PORUCHA KUZHAMBU

Serving Size 2 or 3

Porucha kuzhambu is very famous in our Tanjore and Nagai district(Tamil nadu) especially from vegetarian families. If maapillai (son-in-law) comes to their home for lunch, the lunch won't be complete without porucha kuzhambu. It is simple and tasty dish. It is also a gas/electricity consuming recipe.

 

Ingredients

Brinjal - 1
Drumstick - 1
Chopped Cluster beans/ Kothavarangai - 1/4 cup
Moong Dal - 2 tbs
Water - 1/2 cup
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Sambar powder - 1 tsp
Dry coconut powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Onion vathal/ vangaya vadam - 1 tbs
Salt - as required
Oil - 2 tsp

Method

1. Soak moong dal overnight or pressure cook with two extra whistles from usual.
2. Chop brinjal, cluster beans and drumsticks into small pieces.
3. Add the chopped vegetables, moong dal, cumin powder, sambar powder and water  in a vessel and place inside a pressure cooker. Allow whistles as same as cooking for plain rice.
4. Remove from the cooker, add salt and coconut powder..
5. Heat oil in a small pan and add onion vathal to it for seasoning. Once it pops, add it to the kuzhambu.
6. If you feel it is too thick, add little water.
7. Porucha kuzhambu is ready now and serve with plain rice.

VEGETABLE KORMA

Serving size - 2 or 3

Ingredients

Cinnamon - 1/2 no
Cloves - 2
Brinji leaf - 1/2
Onion - 1/2 cup
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbs
Tomato - 1/2
Beans (chopped) - 1/2 cup
Carrot - 1
Potato - 1/2
Cauliflower - 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Sambar powder - 1 tsp
Green chilly - 1
coconut paste - 2 or 3 tbs( as per your taste)
Salt - as required

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan, add cinnamon, cloves and brinji leaf once the oil is hot.
2. Add onion, green chilly and ginger garlic paste, fry until it gets golden color and then add tomato.
3. Fry tomato until it gets soft, then add vegetables one by one in the above order and fry for 2 mins.
4. Add turmeric powder ,sambar powder and salt with little water.
5. Once the vegetables are cooked, add a cup of water and bring it to boil.
6. Add coconut paste and allow it to boil for 2 minutes.
7. Korma is ready and serve it with Idiyappam, chappathi or any main dish.

MASALA PORI/ MASALA PUFFED RICE

This is my husband's favorite snack.  I make this quiet often and store it in a air tight box. It is also a low calorie snack and good for health. Kids will like this snack as this is less spicy.

Ingredients

Pori/ puffed rice - 8 cups
Sesame oil - 2 - 3 tbs
Curry leaves - 1 sping
Garlic - 4  gloves
Ground nut - 1 1/2 tbs
Dahlia/ Pottukadalai - 2 tbs
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Hing powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt - as required

Method

1. Heat oil in a large pan, add ground nut, curry leaves and garlic. 
2. Once the raw smell goes from garlic, add dahlia, hing powder, salt, turmeric powder and red chilli powder.
3. Fry all those for 2 to 4 seconds and add puffed rice. Then mix it well.
4. Masala pori is ready now. Serve it with chopped red onions or garnish it with green sweet & sour chutney. 

I'm sending this to Nithu's Kitchen Event

Healthy Food for Healthy Kids - Event Announcement for October-November

COCONUT THUVAYAL

 

Ingredients

Coconut - 1 cup
Red chillies - 15
Urad dhal - 2 tbs
Tamarind -1/2 to 1 inch
Salt - as required
Oil - 2 or 3 tsp

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan, fry urad dhal and red chillies until they turn golden brown. Keep it aside and allow it to cool for sometime.
2. Slightly fry coconut and tamarind in the same pan without oil. Don't over fry as it will spoil the taste of the thuvayal.
3. Grind urad dhal, red chillies and salt coarsely, then add coconut and tamarind with little water.
4. Thuvayal is ready now. Its consistency should be solid.

BRINJAL CHUTNEY

Serving size : 1 or 2

Ingredients

Brinjal - 1
Red Onion - 1/4
Small Tomato - 1/2
Green chillies - 2
Tamarind juice - 2 tbs
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - 3 or 4
Cilantro - 1 tbs
Oil - 1 tbs
Salt - as required

Method

1. Heat 1/2 tsp of oil in a pan and fry brinjal until it gets soft. Keep it aside for cool.
2. Grind the raw onions, tomatoes and green chillies into fine paste. Also grind brinjals seperately.
3. Heat remaining oil in a pan and seasoning with mustard seeds, once it gets pop, add curry leaves and brinjal paste.
4. After a minute, add onions, tomatoes, chillies paste, salt and tamarind juice into the pan and fry until the raw smell goes. If you feel chutney is too thick, add little water.
5. Finally, garnish it with cilantro. Serve with Idli, dosa, chappathi and so on.

LEMON IDIYAPPAM

 

 

Ingredients

Idiyappam - 1 bowl
Lemon - 1/4 or Lime - 1/2
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Hing powder - a pinch
Urud dhal - 1/4 tsp
Bengal gram - 1/4 tsp (optional)
Ground nut - 1 tbs (optional)
Red chillies - 3
Curry leaves - 5
Cilantro - 3 tbs
Oil - 1 tbs
Salt - as required

Method

1. Sprinkle little water on the idiyappam to get wet.
2. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, once it pops up, add hing powder, ground nuts, bengal gram, curry leaves, urud dal, red chillies and finally add turmeric powder then off the stove.
3. Add lemon juice and salt into the pan and add idiyappam too. Then mix it well. Garnish it with cilantro.
4. Lemon idiyappam is ready now. Serve it with any chutney or thuvayal or as it is.

PLAIN IDIYAPPAM

Serving size - 3

Ingredients

Rice flour / Idiyappam flour- 2 cups
Hot Water - 2 1/2 cups
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 2 tbs

Method 

Mixing with hot water

Before steaming

After Steaming

Add caption

 

1. Add oil and salt in the boiling water.
2. Apply oil in the idly plate and heat the idly cooker or large vessel with 1 or 1 1/2 cups of water.
3. In a large bowl, add rice flour and water. Mix it well with wooden spatula and make a soft dough.
4. Take a small ball from the dough and put it in the idiyappam maker / iddiyappa acchu, then press it in the idly plate.
5. Keep idly plate in the idly cooker and allow it for 3 or 4 minutes to cook. Remove it from the idly plate and transfer it to the plate or any other vessel. 
6. Serve this plain idiyappam with paya, kuruma, any curries, sodhi or sweetened coconut milk.

PEERKANGAI THUVAYAL

Ingredients

Peerkangai/ chinese okra - 1/2 cup
Urud dal - 1/2 tbs
red chillies - 4-5
Tamarind - a tamarind seed size
Hing powder - a pinch
Oil - 2 tbs
salt - as required

Method

1. Heat 1 tbs oil in a pan and fry urud dal and red chillies until urud dal gets slight brownish color, then keep it aside. Don't make chillies black. It should be in the red color only.
2. Heat another 1 tbs of oil in a pan and fry peerkangai, tamarind and hing powder until peerkangai gets cook.
3. Grind red chillies and urud dal with salt, then grind peerkangai , tamarind and hing powder.
4. Thuvayal is ready now. we can serve it with white rice, curd rice, idly or dosa.

AVUL / POHA IDLY AND DOSA

 

Ingredients

Parboiled Rice - 2 cups
Avul/ Poha - 1 cup
Urud dhal - 1 cup
Fenugreek seeds - 2 tsp

Method

1. Soak rice & avul seperately, then urud dal & fenugreek together overnight.
2. Remove all of them from water and grind rice & avul with water into slightly coarse paste and urud dal & fenugreek with water into fine paste. 
3. Mix both the pastes and salt thoroughly. Allow this to ferment for atleast 7 hours. Batter is ready now. It should be neither too liquid nor too solid. 
4. You can use this batter for Idly as well as dosa. Serve it with sambar / chutneys/ podi.

OATS DOSA

 

Ingredients

Powdered Oats  - 1 cup
Ravai - 1/2 cup
Water - 4 1/2 cups
Butter milk - 1/4 cup
Cilantro -  1/4 cup
Green chillies - 4 or 5
carrot shredded - 2 tbs
Jeera - 1/4 tsp
Salt - as required

Method

1. Grind the raw oats in the mixie and transfer into a large bowl.
2. Add all the ingredients except oil.
3.  Batter should be thin. Then only you can make crispy dosas.
4. Allow it to soak for 3 to 4 hours or atleast 15 to 20 minutes.
5. Heat the dosa pan, add few drops of oil and rub it with paper towel. Then pour one or 2 large spoons of batter on the pan.
6. Cook both sides until it gets cook and crisp.
7. Serve it with carrot chutney or any another side dish as you wish.

Note:

If you want more crisp like paper, add half more cup of water.

FISH FRY/ MEEN VARUVAL

Ingredients

Fish - 30 pieces (3 inches)
Red chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
Shallots / sambar onion - 8
Garlic gloves - 5
Tamarind juice - 5 tbs
Salt as required
Oil - as required for fry.

Method

1. Drain water from the fishes.
2. For masala, grind all the ingredients except fishes and oil. It should not be watery. 
3. Apply masala on all the fish pieces, then close the vessel and don't disturb it for half an hour to one hour. 
4. After an hour, heat the pan with 1 tsp of sesame oil, place the masala coated fish pieces on the pan, again add 1 or 2 tsp of oil and fry them until two sides gets cooked. Both the sides should be in brown color.
5. Do all the pieces like that and serve it with any rice.

 

 Note:

While frying, it should be in the medium flame. If sometimes needs more heat, keep it in high flame otherwise maintain in the medium flame.

GINGER ONION CHUTNEY

I tried to make chutney in the restaurants.  It came out good. So that I would like to share this recipe.

Ingredients

Yellow onion - 1 chopped
Tomato - 1/2 chopped
Ginger - 2 inch
Cilantro - 2 -3 tbs
channa dal - 1 tbs
red chillies - 5
sugar - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 2- 3 tbs
salt - as required

seasoning

oil - 1 tsp
mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
curry leaves - 2-4 leaves

Method

1. Heat 1 tbs oil in a pan. Fry channa dal and red chillies. Then keep it aside.
2. Heat  remaining oil in the pan. Fry onion and ginger for 1 minute, then tomato and cilantro until tomato gets soften.
3. Allow them to cool. Grind channa dal and red chillies with salt finely. Then add the remaining fried stuffs and sugar with it and grind well.
4. Heat the oil of 1 tsp , then add mustard seeds. Once it gets burst, add curry leaves and finally add this seasoning to the grind chutney.
5. Serve this chutney with idly, dosa or with bread too.

EGG PORIYAL

 Egg poriyal i great for kids. You can also mix plain rice with it and serve to kids as well as adults who doesn't like spicy. It is also one of the healthy recipe.

Ingredients

Eggs - 2
Green chillies - 1
Water/ milk - 1tbs
Oil - 1/4 tsp for greasing
Onion - 1/4 cup finely chopped
Turmeric powder - a pinch
pepper powder - a pinch
salt - as required
Cilantro - small amount chopped


Method

1. Add all the ingredients except egg in a vessel and mix it well.
2. Break eggs and add in the mixture. Beat well.
3. Grease your pan using oil and heat it.
4. Add the mixture in the medium flame and scramble it.
5. Once it gets cooked and gets individual small pieces, off the stove.
6. If you want garnish it with cilantro.

RAVA KICHADI

Kichadi is our family's favorite one.  It is very healthy because we add veggies into it. We can also take this as evening tiffin too. It is very simple and quick recipe.

 Ingredients

Ravai - 1 cup
water - 2 cups
carrot - 1
potato - 1/2
tomato - 1/4 or 1/2 sliced
Onion - 1/2 cup thinly sliced
Green chillies - 5-7
Curry leaves - 1 bunch
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
coconut oil - 1 tsp
mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
oil for seasoning - 3 tbs


salt - as required

Method

1.  Roast ravai in the pan until it becomes slight brownish color and keep it aside.
2. For seasoning, heat oil in the pan and add mustard seeds. Once it gets splits, add curry leaves, onion and green chillies. Fry until onion becomes golden brown.
3. Add turmeric powder, carrot, potato and fry for 1 or 2 minutes. 
4. Add tomato slices and fry for less than half minute. 
5. Then add water and salt. Allow them to boil until the vegetables are cooked. 
6. Slowly add ravai into the boiled mixture and stir it without getting lumps.
7. It will get cook within 1 or 2 minutes and add coconut oil for aroma as well as taste.

 Kichadi is ready now and coconut chutney is the perfect combination for Kichadi, but you also serve it as plain or with any of your favorite chutney.

Note:

Don't over cook tomato. Don't fry ravai too much. Less oil will reduce the taste of the Kichadi.

EGG / FISH CURRY

Ingredients

Boiled Eggs - 5 or
Fish - 15- 20 medium pieces

Section 1

Shallots -8
Garlic pods- 2 or 3
Fennel powder - 2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tbs
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Tamarind water - 1 cup

Section 2

Onion - 1/2 cup
Tomato - 1/2 large
Mustard seeds or fennel seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 5
Oil - 6 tbs or more

Method

1. Grind all the ingredients in the section 1.
2. Seasoning and fry all the ingredients in the section 2.
3. Once tomato gets soft.. Add the grind paste. Fry it until raw smell goes out from curry. Add salt and tamarind water + water.
4. Allow it to boil until it comes thick. Then add the boiled eggs or fish with it. 
5. Finally serve it with Naan, roti, rice or any briyani.

PARUPPU PODI

It is one of the famous food items in the south India. It is very healthy and also tasty. We can give this to kids too. It contains much proteins. I love this podi from my childhood. My mom always use to made this specially for me. I have learned this from my mom.

Ingredients

Fried/roasted grams - 3/4 cup
Toor dal - 1 tbs (optional)
Red chillies - 10-12 number
Black pepper - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Garlic - 5pods
Salt - as required

Method

1. Without oil fry red chillies, garlic, toor dal, black pepper and salt in the pan.
2. Once it gets cool, grind all together and add fried grams to grind all those into fine powder.

Note

1. If you are going to use black pepper, reduce red chillies. 
2. You can use this podi with rice and ghee. It will be very good to eat. Also you can use this with idli and dosa too.  
3. You can store this in a air tight container for 3 to 4 months.