Seeralam

Seeralam is a recipe new to me and this recipe I adapted from regional television show couple of weeks back.
The recipe sounds quiet easy and innovative,so I tried it with small quantity,it came out so delicious and filling but it needs to be served hot.Its a  perfect evening snack option along with a cup of tea.Try this yummy snack and enjoy,lets move on to the recipe.....................................

Basic Information

Soaking time ~ 2-3 hours
Preparation time ~15 minutes

Cooking time ~ 30 minutes

Serves ~ 2

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Raw rice/pacharisi	1/4 cup
Toor dhal	3/4 cup
Coconut grated	4 tbs
Red chilly	2-3
Idly Milagai Podi	1-2 tbs
Curry leaves/karivepillai	few leaves
Coriander leaves/kothamalli	for garnishing
Salt	11/4 tsp
Oil	1 tbs+1 tsp for greasing

For the tempering

Ingredient	Quantity
Mustard seeds/kadugu	1/2 tsp
Urad dhal/uluthamparppu	1 tsp
Asafoetida/perungayam	a pinch

Method

• Soak the rice and dhal together for 2- 3 hours and grind it along with red chilly,2 tbs of grated coconut and salt to a coarse paste.Adjust the consistency of the batter if it is too thick,should be like a idly batter.

• Grease the idly plate with oil and pour the batter on each mould and steam for 10-12 minutes or till a tooth pick comes out clean.

• Remove the idlys from the mould after it comes to warm and cut into small pieces and keep it aside.

• Heat a pan with oil and crackle the mustard seeds and urad dhal,add the asafoetida and curry leaves.Add in the cubed idly pieces and fry it for couple of minutes.

• Now add the idly milagai powder and give it a mix.Finally add the remaining grated coconut and chopped coriander leaves,mix it well.

• Serve it warm.

Enjoy.............................................

• Instead of cutting into cubes,it can be crumbled and made.
• The quantity of idly podi can be increased or decreased according to personal preference..

This recipe is off  to Cook Book Challenge #10 July week 3.

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Puli Inji/Inji Curry - Ginger In Tamarind Sauce

Today's recipe for the final day of blogging Marathon #42 under the theme South Indian Thali recipe is Puli Inji.
Puli Inji is a typical Kerala dish which is slightly tangy and sweet with the flavor of ginger,served on Sadhya menu as an accompaniment.
This recipe I note down from a Kerala friend and tried it for the first time.It came out so delicious and I scaled down the measurement and made it with 1/2 cup of grated ginger as I tried it for first time.
In the original recipe finely chopped ginger is used but as I wanted  the consistency to be smooth I used the grated ginger.Now off to the recipe..........................................

Basic Information

Preparation time ~ 10 minutes
Cooking time ~ 20 minutes
Makes ~ 3/4 cup

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Ginger/inji(grated)	3/4 cup
Green Chilly/pachamilgai	5-6(chopped)
Tamarind/puli	small lemon size
Jaggery/vellam	11/2-2 tbs
Oil	3 tbs
Red chilly powder/milagai podi	1 tsp
Mustard seeds/kadugu	1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds/vendayam	1/8 tsp
Curry leaves/karivepillai	few leaves
Salt	3/4- 1tsp

Method

Wash and peel the ginger skin and grate in a grater,soak the tamarind 1/2 cup of water and extract it,keep it aside.
Heat pan with oil and crackle the mustard and fenugreek seeds,add in the curry leaves.Add the grated ginger and green chilly and saute it for 2-3 minutes in a medium flame.Add in the red chilly power and cook it for another couple of minutes.

At this stage add the tamarind extract,let it boil till the raw smell goes off.Once the mixture becomes thick add the jaggery and cook it for another couple of minutes and put off the flame.

Store it in a glass jar after its cool down completely.

 Enjoy....................................................

• Remove the fibres in the ginger while grating.
• The consistency of the puli inji is personal preference,it can be made slightly thick or dry consistency.After cooling it becomes thick.
• Oil should float to maintain the shelf life so be generous with the oil.
• It can be stored in the refrigerator for a month and use a dry clean spoon.
• The amount of green chilly can be increased or decreased according to personal preference.

Check out the blogging marathon page for my fellow bloggers participating in Blogging Marathon #42 here.
Also this recipe is off  to Cook Book Challenge #10 July week 2.

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Vazhaikkai Kara Curry/Raw Banana Curry/Vazhakkai Curry

Under the theme South Indian Thali dishes today I am sharing a spicy raw banana curry from Tamilnadu.
I have already shared raw banana fry with onion,tomato and chilly,garlic here and here.But today's recipe is my grand mom's signature recipe and uses coconut paste.This fry goes very well with sambar, rasam and curd rice also with variety rice.Off to the recipe....................................

Basic Information

Preparation Time ~ 10 minutes
Cooking Time ~ 20 minutes
Serves ~ 3-4

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Raw banana/vazhakkai	2(medium size)
Coconut(grated)	2 tbs
Garlic/poondu	2 cloves
Dried red chilly/varamilgai	4-5
Shallots/chinna vengayam	2
Cumin seeds/jeeragam	1/2 tsp
Black pepper/milagu	1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds/sombu	1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder	1/4 tsp
Curry leaves/karivepillai	few  leaves
Salt	1 tsp
Oil	2 tbs

For the tempering

Ingredient	Quantity
Mustard seeds/kadugu	1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds/sombu	1/8 tsp
Asafoetida/perungayam	a pinch

Method

Peel the skin of the raw banana and slice into small pieces,put it in water to prevent browning.
Grind the red chilly,coconut,garlic,shallots,fennel,cumin and black pepper to a fine paste with little water and keep it aside.

In a bowl take the raw banana pieces and to this add the ground paste,turmeric powder, and salt.Mix it well and keep it aside for 10 minutes.

Heat a pan with oil and crackle the mustard and fennel seeds,add in the asfaoetida and toast the curry leaves.Add in the raw banana mixture and saute it for couple of minutes.Rinse the mixie jar with 1/2 cup of water and add it to the raw banana.Mix it well and cook it covered in a medium flame.Meanwhile stir it for couple of times to prevent burning.

Cook it till the raw banana becomes soft,remove the lid and cook it for another 3-4 minutes till it is golden brown.

Raw banana fry is ready.

Enjoy.........................................................

• Here I sliced the raw banana,it can be chopped into cubes and made.
• I used the kashmiri red chilly,so I used 3,if its a regular red chilly you can adjust accordingly.
• This curry can be made without onon and garlic also.

Check out the blogging marathon page for my fellow bloggers participating in Blogging Marathon #42 here.

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Vankaya Kothimeera Kura and Tamatar Pappu - Simple Andhra Meals Recipe

We are starting with the second week of Blogging Marathon #42 and for this week I chose the South Indian Meal Dishes.
Today's state is Andhra and I am sharing you a simple dhal with tomato and brinjal/eggplant curry with  flavorful coriander paste.
The brinjal/eggplant curry can be served as an accompaniment or can be mixed along with the white rice.The recipe I noted from one of my close friend.As I always try new eggplant recipes,this one caught my attention and tried it.It came out so delicious and enjoyed it a lot,lets move on to the recipe........................

                                             
                                   Tomato Dhal/Tamatar Pappu

Basic Information

Preparation Time ~ 5 minutes
Cooking Time ~ 20 minutes
Serves ~ 3

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Toor dhal/thuvaram paruppu	1/2 cup
Onion(finely chopped)	1(medium size)
Tomato(finely chopped)	3(large size)
Garlic/poondu(chopped)	3 fat cloves
Green chilly/pachamilagai	4-5(slit)
Turmeric powder	1/4 tsp
Tamarind/puli(optional)	small gooseberry size
Curry leaves/karivepillai	few leaves
Salt	1 1/4tsp
Oil	2 tsp
Ghee/nei	1 tsp

For the tempering

Ingredient	Quantity
Mustard seeds/kadugu	1/2 tsp
Urad dhal/uluthamparppu	1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds/jeeragam	1/4 tsp
Asafoetida/perungayam	a pinch
Dried red chilly/varamilagai	2(broken)

Method

• Pressure cook the dhal for 3-4 whistles in a medium flame.Soak the tamarind in 1/4 cup of water and extract it.

• To the cooked dhal add the onion,tomato,green chilly and salt.Pressure cook it for another 2 whistles.

• Once the pressure subsides give it a mix and add the tamarind water.Let it boil for 2 minutes.

• Meanwhile in a pan heat the oil and ghee,do the tempering with the given ingredients and add the chopped garlic,curry leaves.Fry it till golden and add it to the dhal mixture.Cook it for a minute and put off the flame.

Serve it with rice.

                                                
                          Vankaya Kothimeera Kura

Basic Information

Preparation Time ~ 10 minutes
Cooking Time ~ 15 minutes
Serves ~ 3

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Small round eggplant/kathirikkai	6-8
Coriander leaves/kothamalli	1 cup(loosely packed)
Green chilly/pachamilagai	2
Tamarind/puli	1/2 inch piece
Ginger/inji	1/2 inch piece
Turmeric powder	1/4 tsp
Coriander powder/dhaniya podi	1/2 tsp
Curry leaves/karivepillai	few leaves
Salt	1 1/4tsp
Oil	1 tbs
Coconut(grated)	2 tbs

For the tempering

Ingredient	Quantity
Mustard seeds/kadugu	1/2 tsp
Urad dhal/uluthamparppu	1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds/jeeragam	1/4 tsp
Asafoetida/perungayam	a pinch
Dried red chilly/varamilagai	2(broken)

Method

• Cut the eggplants to half,then slice each half to 4-5 pieces and put it in water to prevent browning.Grind the coriander leaves,green chilly,ginger,tamarind to a bit coarse paste,keep it aside.

• Heat a pan with oil and do the tempering with the ingredients and add the sliced eggplants.Saute it till it changes the color.

• Now add add the turmeric powder,salt to it and saute it for a while,now add the coriander paste and mix it well.Sprinkle little water if needed,cook it covered in a medium flame till the eggplants get tender and soft but not mushy.

• Add in the grated coconut and sprinkle the coriander powder and keep it in the flame for a minute and put off the flame.

Vankaya Kothimeera Kura is ready.

Serve it as an accompaniment or mix it with white rice.

Enjoy..............................................

Check out the blogging marathon page for my fellow bloggers participating in Blogging Marathon #42 here.

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Dhal Methi

After a rich and delicious mutton biriyani,today I am sharing you a simple and flavorful dhal recipe.I try to include greens in our diet at least weekly once.Methi aka fenugreek leaves I buy every other week and make either sambar or methi paratha.Recently I started making Karakulambhu aslo using this leaves.Here I used the pressure cooker to make thedhal in a jiffy.My mom adds a little tamarind water also for this dhal to make it slightly tangy taste.Now off to the recipe....................................

Basic Information

Preparation Time ~ 15 minutes
Cooking Time ~ 25 minutes
Serves ~ 2(generously)

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Fenugreek leaves/vendhayakeerai	1 cup
Toor dhal/thuvaram paruppu	1/2 cup
Onion(finely chopped)	1(medium size)
Tomato(finely chopped)	1(large size)
Garlic/poondu(chopped)	3 fat cloves
Green chilly/pachamilagai	4-5(slit)
Turmeric powder	1/4 tsp
Tamarind/puli(optional)	small gooseberry size
Curry leaves/karivepillai	few leaves
Salt	1 1/4tsp
Oil	2 tsp
Ghee/nei	1 tsp

For the tempering

Ingredient	Quantity
Mustard seeds/kadugu	1/2 tsp
Urad dhal/uluthamparppu	1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds/jeeragam	1/4 tsp
Asafoetida/perungayam	a pinch
Dried red chilly/varamilagai	1(broken)

Method

• Pressure cook the dhal for 3-4 whistles in a medium flame.Clean the methi leaves in water for 2-3 times to remove the soil particles.Soak the tamarind in 1/4 cup of water and extract it.

• To the cooked dhal add the methi leaves,onion,tomato,green chilly and salt.Pressure cook it for another 2 whistles.

• Once the pressure subsides give it a mix and add the tamarind water.Let it boil for 2 minutes.

• Meanwhile in a pan heat the oil and ghee,do the tempering with the given ingredients and add the chopped garlic,curry leaves.Fry it till golden and add it to the dhal mixture.Cook it for a minute and put off the flame.

• Dhal Methi is ready.

Serve it with steamed rice and pappad or some veggie fry.

Enjoy.........................................................

• Addition of tamarind water is purely optional but it reduces the bitterness from the fenugreek leaves.
• Do not chop the fenugreek leaves otherwise it may be bitter.

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Mutton Biriyani - Pressure Cooker Method

Today's recipe is mutton biriyani using pressure cooker,though I make this recipe only for guest,never get a chance to click and post in my blog.Finally I made this one for our weekend lunch with the mutton which left after cooking for a get together.But I couldn't take nice picture as the day was so sunny and bright,will update the picture soon.The list of the ingredients will be more but the method is so simple I used seeraga samba rice to get a nice flavor and taste,it can be made with basmathi rice also.
Here I have shared the pictures of biriyani made with both basmathi rice and seeraga samba.The color of the basmathi rice biriyani is on the darker side since the red chilly powder was bit dark. Off to the recipe......................

Basic Information

Preparation Time ~ 20 minutes
Cooking Time ~ 50-60 minutes
Serves ~ 4

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Mutton(with bones)	1.5 lbs
Seeraga samba rice/basmathi	2 cups
Onion(finely sliced)	4 (medium size)
Tomato(finely chopped)	2 (medium size)
Ginger &Garlic paste	2 tbs
Green chilly/pachamilagai	4 -5(slit)
Yogurt/thayir/curd	1/4 cup
Mint leaves/pudina(chopped)	1/4 cup
Turmeric powder/manjal podi	1/4 tsp
Red chilly powder/milagai podi	1 tsp
Coriander powder/dhaniya podi	1 tsp
Curry leaves/karivepillai	1 sprig(optional)
Coriander leaves/kothamalli	3 tbs(chopped)
Lemon juice	2 tsp
Salt	21/2 tsp
Oil	3-4 tbs
Ghee/nei	1 tbs

For the tempering

Ingredient	Quantity
Cloves/lavangam	4-5
Cinnamon/pattai	2 inch
Bay leaf	2
Cumin seeds/jeeragam	1/2 tsp
Cardamom/ellaki	2
Star anise	1
Blackstone flower/kalpasi	2 petals

Method

Clean and cut the mutton pieces,soak the rice for 30 minutes.Heat a pressure cooker with oil and half the amount of ghee.Add the whole spices and do the tempering,add the sliced onions,green chillies and saute it with a pinch of salt for a minute.Add the mint leaves and half of the coriander leaves continue sauteing till the onion becomes transparent.

Add the ginger&garlic paste and saute it till the raw smell disappears.add the yogurt and saute it for a minute.Then goes in the chopped tomato and cook it until mushy.Add the mutton pieces and saute it till the color changes.

Add the spice powders,salt and give it a mix,add around 11/2-2 cups of water and close the lid and pressure cook it for 5-6 whistles in a medium flame.Once the pressure subsides remove the lid and drain the mutton stock.Meanwhile boil around 3 cups of plain water.

Add the soaked rice and saute it for a minute.Now add the measured mutton stock and hot water to make 4 cups of liquid (1:2 of rice and water).Add in lemon juice and the remaining ghee,coriander leaves.Cook it for 5 minutes then put the pressure cooker lid and cook it for a whistle.Then reduce the flame to low and cook it for 5 minutes,put off the flame.After the pressure subsides fluff it with a fork and transfer to a serving bowl.

Serve it with raita and chicken or mutton curry.

Enjoy........................................................

• The amount of spices given is for a medium spicier version.
• Addition of ghee makes the biriyani more flavorful and rich so don't skip it.
• The amount of water depends on the quality of rice used,I used 2 cups of water for 1 cup of rice
• If you are using basmathi rice,then use around 11/2-13/4 cups of water for a cup of rice .
• If the mutton doesn't cook after 4-5 whistles then cook it for another 2 whistles.
• For extra rich taste fried cashews can be added after the biriyani is done.

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