Daily Archives: July 23, 2014

Thayir Vadai

Preparation Time : 1 1/2 hour soaking time + 30 minutes

Cooking Time : 5-6 minutes for each batch of vadais deep fried

Serving : 6 to 8 members

Description

Thayir vadai . This is a typical South Indian style thayir vadai recipe . Initially when ever I made thayir vadais at home it never used to taste like the ones we get in hotels ( especially the ones we get in annapoorna hotel and Krishna sweets in Coimbatore . ) the curd used to always be a bit curdled like texture after some time . Once my hubby’s niece sabeena shared a secret about how to get the curd like in hotels . Gave it a try and it was pitch perfect . From then on I am religiously following this recipe . A few weeks back I was fortunate enough to attend a cooking work shop conducted by master chef 3 winner ripu dhaman handa . He was making a chat dish and suddenly he asked if any one knew what BALLA was ?? All of us in the class including the North Indians were like *#€¥!?#%*^>€$* ??? He showed us an ulunthu vadai and we all shouted out loud in a chorus VADAIS . In punjabi vadais are called BALLA . That was news to me as I thought ulunthu vadais are known as wada through out north India . In spite of the diversity in culture and language each indian state has the similarity in food with different names proves the unity we share as Indians .

Ingredients for ulunthu vadai

Ingredients	Quantity
Urad Dal / Ulunthu paruppu	1 cup
Oil	for deep frying
Onions finely chopped	1/4 Cup
Ginger finely grated	1 teaspoon
Curry leaves finely chopped	6-8
Green chillies finely chopped	2
Salt	to taste

Method for vadai

Wash and soak urad dal for 1.5 hours. Strain the water. Grind urad dal to a smooth paste in a grinder by sprinkling water little by little.
It took 15 minutes to grind 1 cup of urad dal. Use very very little water. Grind it till urad dal turns soft and fluffy.
Add salt, finely chopped onions, ginger, curry leaves and green chillies to the dough and mix well.Heat oil in a Kadai to deep fry.
Take a plastic cover or banana leaf. Moisten your hand with water. Take a lemon size dough and place it in the plastic cover. ( At times when i have guests at home , i use my doughnut cutter and make perfect same shaped and sized vadais )
Flatten the dough and pierce a big hole in the centre of dough using your finger.Slide the dough carefully into oil.
Fry till vada turns golden brown on both sides , takes about 2-3 minutes .
Drain and Remove excess oil by placing the vadai in paper towels and set aside .

Ingredients for the curd mixture

Ingredients	Quantity
Thick curd	3 cups
Cashew nuts	8
Coconut grated	1/4 cup
Poppy seeds	1 teaspoon
Green chilly	1
Salt	to taste

Method for the curd mixture

Grind coconut , green chilly , cashew nuts and poppy seeds together to a smooth paste .
Blend this paste with the curd adding salt to taste . Taste and adjust and set aside .

How to proceed

Soak the fried vadais in warm salted water for 5-8 seconds .
Drain and drop them into the curd mixture And set aside .

Ingredients to temper

Ingredients	Quantity
Oil	1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds	1/2 teaspoon
Curry laces	6

Method to temper

Heat oil . Add mustard seeds . Once they crackle add the curry leaves .
Remove from heat . Cool completely and pour over the soaking thayir vadais .

Ingredients to garnish

Ingredients	Quantity
Carrot grated	1 small
Coriander leaves chopped	few
Kara boondhi	1/4 cup

Method to garnish

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves , grated carrots and kara boondhi .
Serve at room temperature or chill and enjoy .

Pondicherry style chicken gravy

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 20 to 25 minutes

Serving : 4 members

Description

Pondicherry style chicken gravy . This dish very own to the sunshine union territory of Pondicherry was brought by Bharathi rathi , for the recipe swap get together on the first anniversary of sauté , fry n bake but she had made it with mutton . Having so much of work to do for the anniversary celebration , this recipe was not written on the file of recipes I distributed that day , nor did i take a picture and I didn’t get to taste it as well because it was cleanly wiped of before I could start my lunch . So I made it again with chicken , when I had my boy Afzar come home two days before eid ul azha . It was a very aromatic delicious gravy and liked the fact that there was no coconut or nuts used to thicken the gravy .this home style classic is a true union of taste and incomparable flavour that shows the varied cuisine of our country . I first got to meet Bharathi in the gym and it took nearly a

Week for us to start talking to each other . Once we started now there is no stopping as we talk for hours and hours in person and over the phone nearly every day and we are the best of buddies . When sauté , fry n bake was 299 likes , she asked one of her friends to give a like just for the sake of the little joy that I get and is the best critic of sauté, fry n bake . Bharathi was the last person to come for the get together but she has to be excused as she had to come along with her three month old baby boy . Her elder boy Shri maan was like “why did you leave me and go to Hazeena aunties house ??” that evening after he was back from school . I pop up with utter joy every time I get to see Shri maan with his huge round shy , blushing eyes :-)) .

Ingredients for step 1

Ingredients	Quantity
Small onions	one hand
Tomatoes	2 big chopped
Cumin seeds	1 teaspoon
Cinnamon	1 inch piece
Cardamom	1
Cloves	2
Fennel seeds	1 teaspoon
Ginger	1 inch piece
Garlic	6 flakes
Dry red chillies	6
Oil	1 1/2 tablespoons

Method for step 1

Heat oil and fry each mentioned above ingredient until it gets roasted and let’s out its aroma separately .
Cool completely and grind together.

Ingredients for step 2

Ingredients	Quantity
Chicken / mutton	1/2 kg ,
Ginger paste	1/4 teaspoon
Garlic paste	1/4 teaspoon
Salt	to taste

Method for step 2

Mix all the above ingredients together and cook until the meat is cooked along with little water .

Ingredients for step 3

Ingredients	Quantity
Oil	2 to 3 tablespoons
Fennel seeds	1 teaspoon
Curry leaves	1 string
Bay leaf	1
Curry masala powder	2 tablespoons or coriander powder

Method for step 3

Heat oil in a non stick kadai . Add curry leaves , fennel seeds and bay leaf .
Top with the curry masala powder and the ground masala paste . Fry until oil floats on top .
Add the boiled meat with the water and mix well . Bring to boil . Simmer until oil separates and serve hot .

Note

Can add potatoes and green peas with the meat and make a gravy for chapathis or any rotis .
The water added can be adjusted according to the gravy consistency you want it to be , running or semi thick .
Vegetarians can do the same by substituting potatoes , green peas or any other veggie of your choice .

Raw mango juice

Preparation Time : 10 minutes

Cooking Time : 10 minutes

Serving : 4 to 6 members

Description

Aam panna, its brilliant coolness and thirst slaking qualities helps replenish all the energy lost in the sweltering heat. Refreshes you like no other drink. Happy summer folks…

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Raw Green Mango	1 peeled and chopped
Dry roasted cumin seed powder	1 teaspoon
Red chilli Powder	1/2 teaspoon
chopped fresh Mint Leaves	1 tablespoon
Salt	1 teaspoon
Sugar	7 teaspoons
Black salt	a pinch
Ice cubes	12
Ice water	2 cups

Method

Pressure cook the peeled and chopped raw mango with 2 cups of water for one whistle . Cool completely .
Grind into a smooth puree . Add cumin seed powder, red chili powder, sugar, black salt and salt and mix well . Add the finely chopped mint leaves and whisk again.
To this mixture add chilled water and ice cubes and stir thoroughly. Taste and adjust . Your refreshing Aam panna drink is now ready.
You may now serve the green mango juice .

Egg roast

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 15 -20 minutes

Serving : 4 members

Description

Egg roast . A dish that was and is always there on the dinning table spread on any occasion at home in my maternal grand mothers place . Grand pa ( periyatha ) has this habit of bringing home unexpected guests any time of the day .i still remember how much my grand ma would grumble but immediately head towards the kitchen to adjust and elaborate a better spread on the table . The first thing she does when in the kitchen would be , take eggs from the fridge and boil them and start chopping onions , resulting in an egg roast on the table . This would happen for any meal of the day . So this dish had no restriction of being on the table at all . At hubby’s place eggs are a big ” no , no ” as they consider it to be a high content fatty culprit . So for some time the mighty , nostalgic Egg roast had vanished from my menu . Last morning had my maternal uncle ( Shanu ) at my place for breakfast . My mind just rewinded bake and took me to the authentic spread of my grand mother . Wanting to rekindle those days in my uncle as he lives in Bangalore now and has no time to relax or to relish such authentic delicacies . Made a grand breakfast with a menu of our gods own country’s authentic dishes like puttu , kadala curry , iddiappam , naadan chicken curry , appam , stew and of course the mighty egg roast . These home style dishes that have lost their way did come as a revelation to my uncle and My mission was accomplished :-)) .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Boiled Eggs	4
Onions	4 (medium, finely sliced )
Small Tomatoes	3 blitzed to a puree
Garlic Ginger paste	1/4 teaspoon each
Turmeric Powder	1/4 teaspoon
Red Chilli Powder	1 teaspoon
Garam Masala	1/4 teaspoon
Green chillies	4 slit
Coriander powder	1 tablespoon
Cumin powder	1/2 teaspoon
Fennel powder	1/2 teaspoon
Salt	to taste
Coconut Oil	2 tablespoons
Coriander leaves	few chopped

Method

De – shell the boiled eggs . Make some slits over the eggs vertically and keep it aside .
Heat coconut oil in a pan and shallow fry the boiled egg turning it frequently for couple of minutes until they start to turn a very light brown and set aside.In the same pan, saute the chopped onions till it turns to translucent .
Add ginger and garlic paste , saute for a couple of minutes until the ginger garlic paste gets crisp . add green chilies and saute.
Add turmeric powder , red chilli powder , coriander powder , cumin powder and fennel powder . saute till the raw smell is gone.
Add blitzed tomato puree , salt to taste , and saute till oil separates from the pan.
Add garam masala and mix in well. Top with the fried eggs and toss it well making sure not to stir the mixture too hard as the eggs might crumble .
Cook it on a low heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat.garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve as side dish with Anything and everything .

No oil healthy salad

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 20 minutes to boil soya beans

Serving : 4 members

Description

No oil healthy dressing salad . I am on a DIET …. Every time I say this , I cheat myself to the core . A foodie like me just can’t stick on to healthy food habits . Two days back my best buddy gazeena sulu kunahamed had posted a picture of herself and Sindhu Krishna ( my other best buddy , we are a trio of three hard to pull apart best friends from school ) this picture was a recent picture taken on Sindhu’s visit to sulu’s place . Both of them looked OMG glamorously gorgeous and THIN . I just shook myself up and made up my mind to shed off some weight which has resulted me to try my hands on healthy dishes that taste good too . Healthy + good taste are two words that are far apart from one another . So , I am on a wild goose chase in search for real healthy tasty food . Mindful eating is clearly the buzz word for now . But that doesn’t mean having to grudgingly pile on austere , flavor- less food on your plate . this salad was a lip smacking healthy , nutritious and a delicious one That has ‘ eat me now ‘ written all over it . I licked the entire bowl myself that was hearty and filling . The creaminess of the almonds along with a nutty punch and the sweetness of dates made for a lovely combination enhancing the simplicity of the dish . This salad is uncomplicated and is ready in less than twenty minutes . This dish did make me realize that making healthy choices that count to swap a few ingredient combination results in refreshing and nutritious way to tickle your taste buds .

Ingredients for dressing

Ingredients	Quantity
Almonds	3
Pitted Dates	3
White sesame seeds	1 teaspoon
Boiled soya beans	1 teaspoon ( I use 1 tablespoon soya milk instead at times )
Ginger	a very small tiny bit ( 1/2 of 1/4 teaspoon grated )
Garlic	1 small flake
Salt	to taste
Water	just enough to grind ( when using milk avoid water )

Method for dressing

Grind all the ingredients together to a smooth paste and set aside .

Other Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Carrot	1 chopped
Red , green and yellow capsicum	1/4 of each chopped
Green Apple or red apple	1/4 chopped
Tomato	1/4 chopped
Chinese cabbage	1 leaf chopped

Method

Mix all the ingredients together . Add the ground dressing and toss well .Keep in the refrigerator and serve chill .