Urad Dhal Vadas

We cannot imagine a festival without Vadas right!! My mom always says that we have to make that can be fried on festival days...it is a norm according to her (she keeps telling me ella pandigaikum yennai vechi yedavadhu pannu ....is a statement that I hear from her all the time!)...my son is a big fan of vadas....I must say he has taken a liking to anything that is fried!! I was talking to him about the menu that I was going to prepare for the Tamil New Year and the only thing that he picked from the list I gave him was vada and started asking me everyday till I made it for him.... that is the long story short about the vadas...Is there a rhyme or reason to make it??........!!

As I sit on my couch writing about this...feel like making it today too since it is starting to rain.....

Ingredients: ( You get about 20 Vadas)
1 Cup Urad Dhal

3/4th Teaspoon Salt

1 1/2  Green Chilly

1 Inch Ginger

1/2 Tsp Whole Pepper (optional)

Curry Leaves

Cilantro

Pinch of Turmeric

Oil for frying

Soak the Urad Dhal for an hour. Do not over soak it ...will take more oil while frying the vadas. Grind the Dhal with green chilly and ginger. Do not add the salt while grinding the batter...it makes the batter to get watery. So always add it after grinding it. You can also grind it and refrigerate in an air tight container to be used for the next day...especially when you whipping up a meal for a big party this comes in handy.

After grinding the dhal. Add the turmeric, curry leaves, salt and cilantro. I did not add the pepper since my son will find it difficult to eat it...you may add it if you want.

Keep your palm scooped up. Put a little bit of water. Place a ball of the batter on your palm and make a whole in the middle (it is a norm to make a whole in the vadas but I guess it is more for making it cook well inside!). Immerse them in the hot oil. Take them out when they are cooked.

The yummy vadas are ready to be served.

Creamy Vegetable Kurma

I made this last Sunday, the day after the Tamil Get Together....I had left overs from Saturday's cooking and we had that for lunch and I was not very keen on cooking...just wanted to laze around the house, browse and watch TV...I was also tired after the long Saturday!! So decided to whip up a simple meal yet a delicious one.  I had bought red potatoes and wanted to make something with that....first decided on making potato kurma but later changed it to veggie kurma. I love any type of kurma...I guess thats because I love the creaminess of the coconut milk..any dish with a touch of coconut milk tastes awesome...it is a strenuous job back home - breaking the coconuts, grate them and take milk out of it....but here it is so easy - just open the can and it is ready to be used.....voila!!

3 Medium  Potatoes Cubed
2 Big Carrots Cubed
15 Beans Diced
1 Inch Cinnamon Stick
3 Cardomom
3/4th Tin Coconut Milk
5 Green Chillies
1 Small onion Cut into small pieces
1 Inch Ginger Piece
3 Spoons Dry Coconut
6 to 8 Whole Cashews
1 Tsp Coriander Powder
Oil
1 Tsp Zeera
Salt to taste

As usual I microwaved the vegetables (except onion)! Take a little oil in a pan add the zeera, cinnamon, cardomom and one finely cut green chilly. Add the onion and saute till turns lightly brown. Add the veggies and let it cook.
In the meantime, grind the remaining chillies with ginger, cashew and dry coconut. Add this to the veggies and let it boil for couple of more minutes.
Add the salt, coriander powder and the coconut milk and let it simmer till it thickens a little.
Garnish it with cilantro after it cools down. It goes well with rice and roti.

Carrot Halwa and the Tamil Gettogether!

We have a great Indian community in our locality...and good number of tamilians too. We generally have couple of gettogether conducted by the Tamil speaking Desi's. Each time couple of families join together and host it. This time it was us. I joined along with couple of my friends and hosted it. We felt it was more or less like a wedding!! So much organizing went into this....we started talking about it couple of months ago!! So much prep work goes into it - like deciding on the date (set for April 24, 2010), venue, sending evite, deciding the menu for the pot luck and what not.....It was fun organizing it. We had a good turn out for the event - close to 90 people (including kids)!! My son a two year old was too excited about it and kept asking me about Tamil Gettogether!! He saw me preparing the invitation and I told him that it was the evite for the gettogether....the next time he saw it (probably couple of weeks later)...he said "tamin gettogether" that's how he pronounces the word "tamil"...it was really surprising to note that he could recollect it just by seeing the image on it!!

For the potluck my friend and myself decided to make "carrot halwa"...it is not just with bunch of carrots but around 3 kgs of carrots..Couple of our friends suggested that we get hold of a food processor to grate it..I was a bit reluctant about going ahead with the mammoth task but somehow convinced myself that I would be able to do it. I was all along scared about grating so many carrots...but agreed to make it with the strength my friend gave me!!

I started out on this venture couple of days ahead of the "D day" since I had other things that needed to be taken care of. We were planning for "Jodi Porutham (Made for Each Other)" contests for couples and I wanted to be free from the kitchen on that day to take care of other things.

Items needed for making the halwa -

This is the measure to make smaller quantities-
3 Cups of Grated Carrots
1 1/2 Cups of Milk (You may use whole milk too)
1 1/2 to 1 3/4th Cups of Sugar
1/2 Cup Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese (this is closer to the khova we get back home)
2 Tbspn Ghee
2 Tbpsn chopped nuts - cashew, almonds, raisins

Pour the milk over the grated carrots. Microwave the carrots first for 10 minutes. Then again do it for anotherr 10 minutes (increase the minutes based on the power of the microwave). Back home they pressure cook the carrots upto one whistle (you may do it the way you want!).

Take a heavy bottomed pan. Add the carrots and the sugar. Cook till the milk and the sugar are completely absorbed. This was the first time I tried making carrot halwa by adding ricotta...these days I have a liking towards ricotta cheese and want to try more dishes with it (like pasta filled with ricotta....will do it soon).
Add the ricotta cheese when it is still in the semi solid state. This ricotta adds the taste to the carrot halwa...makes it nice and wholesome. Some opt for adding almond paste too (if you are adding almond paste make sure you add it upfront along with the sugar so that the raw taste of the almond does not stay).

When the milk and sugar are absorbed from the halwa ..just add a Tbspn of ghee to prevent it from sticking on the bottom. This halwa does not need ghee that is a plus point right!!

Add the ghee and keep it for couple of more minutes. The halwa is ready to be served!!

Everyone loved the halwa that we prepared. Not just the halwa....all the food that the ladies prepared were yummy. Since we were running around taking care of things "as a host would normally do (athithi devo bhava)" we could not enjoy the food as much as we always do...generally all our friends will get to sit around a big table, chat and eat.... But we were happy that everyone who came to the gettogether enjoyed the food , the games and the party was a great success. We were happy that everyone enjoyed the evening hosted by us!! We had a swell time too.......Looking forward to the next gettogether this summer which would be an outside event !!

Badam Kheer

I love the payasam which is jaggery based and hence keep making it all the time. I do not think twice about making Akkaravadisal. For this year's Tamil Varushapirappu I choose to diagress from making akkaravadisal and decided to make something different. I started to think of the different options available - "Semiya Payasam" was a big NO...then thought of making "Pal Payasam"  - I was not happy with that either...you may wonder "anyway she is not going to taste it ..so why bother".you know it should sound rich and delicious (I am even bored of hearing the same old stuff - nan varusha pirappuku semiya payasam pannen)..so finally decided on Badam Kheer. I had made this couple of years ago and totally forgot the way of preparing it.. so I called my perima to find the recipe...she is the one I resort to for any doubts related to cooking.

Ingredients -

4 Cups of milk
1/2 Cup Almonds (about 50)
3/4th to 1 Cup Sugar (as per your taste)
Few Strands of Saffron

Slivered Almonds for garnishing

Sara Paruppu (I guess this is called chironji)

Soak the almonds in boiling water for an hour or so. Always soak it in boiling water as it helps in peeling of the skin easily from almonds.

Grind it into a smooth paste.

Take a heavy bottom pan and add the sugar with very little water. Let the sugar dissolve well.

Turn on the gas after the sugarr gets completely dissolved.

After 5 minutes add the Almond paste.

Allow it to boil till the raw taste of badam is completely gone.

Add the milk and allow it to boil...simmer the gas and allow the milk to thicken....my husband told me that this made the kheer taste richer. It is not necessary to make it too thick...you may turn off the gas earlier too before it starts thickening (but it should not be too liquidy though).

He enjoyed the kheer. I also gave it to my friends who came home ...they enjoyed it too...

Take a teaspoon of ghee and add the slivered almonds and sara paruppu.

Add it to the kheer.

It does not take a lot of time.........and it is good to serve this during festivals and get togethers. This can be served hot or cold.....it tastes good either way!

இனிய தமிழ் புத்தாண்டு நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள் - விக்ருதி

A warm wish to all my friends and relatives on the occasion of Tamil New Year's day!!

Prepare and enjoy a delicious meal that includes Inippu (Sweet), Thuvarppu (Tangy), Pulippu (Sour), Uppu (Salty), Kasappu (Bitter) and Urappu (Chilly).

Will update with the photo of what I prepare in another couple of days..

(Perumalkku Thalisamika (Neivediyam for Perumal) - I had kept it on the kitchen counter space)

The lunch prepared on the occasion of Tamil New Year - April 2010 "Vikruthi"

Hope you all enjoyed a sumptuous lunch too.....

Morekuyambu (click on the link)

Lemon Satruamudhu (Lemon rasam)

Capsicum Usili (click on the link)
(follow theBeans Usili recipe substitute with Capsicum)

Vazhaikai Karamadu (Raw Banana fry)

Ashgourd Poricha Kootu (White Pumpkin Kootu)

Cucumber Carrot Salad

Mangai Vella Pachadi

Badam Kheer (click on the link)

Urad Dhal Vadai

Will post the recipe for the items in another couple of days!!

We are all ready to eat....photo taken at the table

Papdi Chaat

I had this for the first time at a restaurant called Kalga Kafe. It was our favourite Indian Restaurant. We use to frequent this atleast once a week....All the items were made from scratch...He had very few items to choose from but each had a touch of its own....Simple recipes with elegant home made touch. I heard that this restaurant has been closed down!! Hope it comes up again in near future!!

Since then I have been looking for this appetizer in all the Indian Restaurants I visited but never found this on their menu..... :(....
Hence, after so many years I ventured to make this at home. When I went to the Indian stores last week for weekly grocery shopping found Papdi hence bought it. It brought me back the fond memories of our visits to "Kalga". I got the Papdi without thinking twice. I tried to recreate it and was an instant hit!! I loved the papdi chaat...........hence wanted to post the recipe. I will be making it more often!! Probably the next time I will try to make my own papdi too.......

Ingredients:

4 Handsfull Papdi Store bought (serving for 2)
1 medium sized Boiled Potato
1 Boiled Cup Chick Peas
1/2 Tsp Red Chilly Powder
Tamarind Chutney
Green Chutney
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Beaten Curd
Sev for garnishing
Chopped Cilantro for garnishing

Cook the Potato as a whole and make small bits of them.
Combine the potatoes and the boiled chick peas.
Add Salt and Red Chilly powder and mix it well.
Arrange the Papdi on a plate.
Spread the potato - chick pea mixture.
Spread the Cilantro Chutney over them.
Add the Curd. Spread the Tamarind chutney. Top again with little bit of curd and some spread of Cilantro Chutney.
Garnish it with sev and chopped cilantro.
Enjoy the papdi chaat.

(Click here for viewing the recipe for Tamarind and Cilantro Chutneys)

Twin Chutneys

I came up with the name for coriander (cilantro) chutney and tamarind chutney because they go hand in hand. They are almost used together while making chaat items...hence the name - "Twin Chutneys"!!. Everytime I make these chutneys  I always feel the  Cilantro chutney and the tamarind chutney tastes differently and does not taste the way I expect it to be and hence I keep improvising on it every time to get the authentic taste . This time I was quite satisfied with the result hence wanted to post it.

I think you will also agree that these are quintessential items for having with Indian Chaat or Snacks.

Tamarind Chutney:

Lemon Sized Tamarind soaked in warm water
1/2 Tsp Red chilli Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Cube Jaggery
1/2 Tsp finely grated ginger
1/2 tsp Pepper
1/2 tsp Cumin Powder

Squeeze out the tamarind.
Take the tamarind water in a vessel and dissolve the Jaggery. Place this tamarind jaggery mixture on the stove. Let it boil for 5 to 10 minutes till the raw smell of the jaggery and tamarind goes off. It need not get t0o thickened.
Add the Salt, Red Chilly Powder and the Ginger.
Add the pepper and cumin powder and turn off the gas after couple of minutes.

Cilantro (Coriander) Chutney

1/2 bunch Cilantro
2 - 3 Tbspn Grated Mango
3 - 4 Tsp Lemon Juice
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Cumin
1 Green Chilly

First grate the mango, chillies along with cumin. After these are grinded add the cilantro. Grind it well.
Add Salt and lemon juice. Cilantro Chutney is ready to be served.

The Tamarind Chutney and Cilantro Chutney are ready to used while making bhel, papdi's,... as a side for samosas or as a topping for dahi vada. You may store it in the refrigerator for a week.

Fettuccine Pasta in Peanut Sauce

The inspiration to make the recipe was from our visit to noodles and company a month ago!! My husband had ordered Pasta with Indonesian style peanut sauce...I am not a great fan of all these spaghetti kind of noodles and hence went for my favorite penne pasta. But I tasted what he had and you know it tasted like our gun powder ...I guess that was from the sesame and red chilly powder in it. I wanted to try it at home some time. I make Pasta varities since it turns out easier to pack it for his lunch.

I made this with the things I had at home. It may miss one or more of items than what may go into it...but still tasted good. I have heard the cayenne pepper is normally used in Thai cooking but I did not have it with me hence substituted that with red chillies (paprika)....

Ingredients ( serves around 6):

1/2 Pack Fettuccine Pasta
2 Cups Broccoli Florets
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 Pack Organic Tofu
Few Tsp Olive Oil

For the Sauce:

Unsalted Roasted Peanuts Handfull (with no skin)
1 Tsp Sesame Seeds
3 Red Chillies
2 TBSPN Butter at room temperature (you may skip it...I always love to mix cheese or butter to my pasta)
1 Tbspn Lemon juice
1 Inch Piece Ginger
Salt to taste

Dry roast the sesame seeds and red chillies separately.
If the peanuts you are using is not a roasted one then you may roast it in the microwave before grinding it.
Grind together Peanuts, Sesame seeds, Red Chillies and Ginger.
Add the butter and salt to the Peanut sauce.

Marinate the tofu in olive oil for an hour.
Pre-heat the oven to 350 Deg F.
Bake the Tofu till it starts getting golden say about 45 minutes to an hour.

Cook the Pasta as mentioned in the package (make sure to add salt....I keep forgetting to add it)
Take Olive Oil in a pan
Add the veggies but do not make it too soggy. Take it out of the pan.
Take some sesame oil.
Add the pasta and the peanut sauce. Cook it for 5 to 10 minutes. Since all the ingredients used have been roasted before making the sauce you need not cook it for a long time with pasta.
Add more salt if needed.
I learnt one thing about adding veggies to pasta. If you are adding the veggies while making the pasta and serving it later...they kind of get soggy especially when using sauces like marinara, alfredo etc. Hence,  add the vegetables and tofu just before serving by way of topping it. It stays fresh, crisp and tastes better.

Take Pasta in the plate and the veggies and tofu. ...drizzle few drops of sesame oil....heat it and serve!!

Mango Kesar Milk Shake

This year Mid West (atleast the place where we live) has had pleasant Winter...we are having good spring weather than the past couple of years...with temperature going up to 70 in first of week of April...great..but they say it is mainly due to the El Nino effect....what ever currently we are enjoying good weather!!

So to celebrate spring I made this. In general I do not like the mangoes sold at Walmart they are not so good compared to what we get at the Indian stores...but I saw some mangoes that looked like alphonso and it did mention a name similar to that...I came across the same variety as Sams too....hence bought it.

The temperature went to 70 one of the days last week. Also I got new set of glasses for a good deal...I thought that was the best day to enjoy mango kesar milk shake in my newly bought glassware and also welcome spring!!

2 Ripe Mangoes
3 Glass Cold Milk
2 TBSPN sugar
Few Strands of Saffron (optional)
Whipped cream and grape (optional) for decorating

Peel the skin off the mangoes. Take the pulp from the mangoes. Reserve some mango tit bits to be added in the shake.
Add milk, mango pulp and cold milk in the blender and grind it well.
Take few spoons of milk and warm it in the microwave. Add the saffron strands to it and nicely smoothen it with your fingers. Add this to the milk shake.
Pour it in a glass and few mango tit bits. It tastes good to get a bite of mango while drinking.
Top it with the whipped cream and a grape. Refrigerate the remaining.
Refresh yourself with a glass of mango kesar milk shake after a good walk!!

Minestrone Soup

My friend was the reason behind trying this one. During one of our phone conversations she mentioned about the recipe and informed that she makes the stock and stores it for a week and it helps in making soups whenever needed. Hence, last week I got leeks during my visit to Walmart...was not even sure whether I will be making this though!! I started the prep work for making the soup ....telepathy a call from the same friend who inspired me to try the soup. Hence, I made this chatting with her over the phone... it was pretty useful to get the doubts cleared then and there...she told me the process and I made it ..of course we chatted about "myraid things". ranging from whether their project would get extended till end of May to tips on getting free passes to the zoo's and museums in Chicago ...The process of telling the recipe triggered her taste buds to have the soup...and she was saying that she does not have all the ingredients to make it and she has to wait until Sunday to make this

She then asked me did you buy celery...I said "No"... then she asked me do you have "fresh fennel"...the answer was again a big "NO"...still it did not deter me from trying it and I went ahead and prepared the soup with the ingredients I had. It was not bad after all...it turned out good.

Ingredients:

1/2 Onion
1/2 bunch leeks
3 Tomatoes
2 Carrots
1 Zucchini
3 Tbspn Rajma
3 Tbspn macaroni
2 Bay Leaf
1/2 Tsp Dried Parsley (you can use fresh ones)
1/2 Tsp Dried Basil (you may use fresh basil)
1/2 Tsp Fennel Powder
1 Tsp Pepper Powder
1 Tsp Olive oil
Salt to taste

Cut the vegetables into small pieces. Pressure cook the Rajma.
This was the first time I used leeks and when I cut it.... it smelled more or less like spring onions. Hence, when I went and looked for it in wikipedia it did say that it belonged to the family of onion and garlic!
Cut Carrot, leeks into small pieces and microwave them for few minutes (not until tender).
Reserve some carrots to be added to the soup.
Then take a heavy bottom pan and add these microwaved vegetables with enough water. You may add more water later. Cook for an hour. By now the vegetables would have cooked nicely. Then use a colander and to separate the vegetables from the stock. This stock can be preserved for a week or two.

Take a teaspoon of oil and add bay leaf.
Saute the Onion. Add the Carrots and  Zucchini. When they are half cooked add the tomatoes. After they are cooked add the boiled rajma and pasta to it.
Add salt, pepper, parsley (dried or fresh), fennel powder and basil (dried or fresh).
I did not have celery and fennel with me. You may add Celery while preparing stock and fresh fennel leaves while preparing the soup.
Add the stock and simmer it for half an hour.
The yummy minestrone soup is ready to be served....
Enjoy!!

Rotini Pasta with Cilantro Pesto

You may wonder did I read the title correctly...what is a cilantro pesto..I have not heard about it?? Yes the title is correct there is no typo....I made cilantro pesto...We had this during our trip to the UK. I loved it. Since then I have been contemplating on making it but did not know what needs to be added to the cilantro to make the pesto. It is almost 2 years since I visited UK but whenever I make pasta the cilantro pesto  always lingers at the back of my mind. These days I am trying to make my own sauce as much as possible since the store bought ones have garlic in it.

I have been searching for pine nuts for using it in the cilantro or basil pesto....but never found it in the stores. It looks like people have not even heard of it when I enquired in stores!! I found that funny!! One of the shop assistants told me "we will never carry such a thing as pine nuts in our store"...I guess the word pine made them feel it was not a food item!! No clue...

I decided to make the cilantro pesto without the pine nuts. You know what I choose instead the nutty, crunchy tastier "Almonds".

Last weekend I ventured to make the Rotini pasta with cilantro pesto. Though I ventured to make it....was skeptical till I finished and tasted it...kind of scared to as to how it will turn out!! Actually I asked my husband to have a taste of it and got the assurance that it did taste good before digging into it.

Ingredients for making it:

For the Pesto -

Cilantro - Handful
Almonds - 12
Olive Oil - 2 TBSPN
Parmesan Cheese
Pepper Powder
Salt to taste

For the Pasta -

Pasta of any kind 2 cups (I used Rotini)

Olive Oil

Pepper Powder

Salt to taste

Any veggies of your choice - Our family is a lover of veggies hence I added all the vegetables A to Z!! in alphebetical order ;) ...there it goes - A for  Asparagus, B for Brocolli, Cherry Tomatoes....Sweet Peppers and Z for Zucchini. Kind of sounds the way my son says A for Apple , B for Banana........

Blend the ingredients together - cilantro, almonds, parmesan cheese, olive oil, salt and pepper - keep it aside.

Cook the pasta the way you normally do by putting it in a boiling water with little bit of salt for 10 minutes - al dente.

I microwave the vegetables for 5 minutes. Take olive oil in a pan and saute the microwaved vegetables for few minutes (since they are already cooked you do not have to do it for a long time). Take it out of the pan and keep it aside.

Take a tsp of oil and add the cooked pasta in it and toss it for sometime. Now add the pesto and cook it for 5 to 10 minutes. Add the vegetables at the end.

The Pasta is ready to be served - retaining the Italianish taste with an Indian tinge to it.