Festive biriyani

Ingredients :

• Basmathi rice - 1 cup
• Onions - 2 diced
• Fresh thick curds - 1 / 2 cup
• Salt - as required
• Mixed diced vegetables - 2 cups
• Chopped coriander leaves - 3 tbl. sps.
• Green chillies - 3
• Coriander powder - 1 / 2 sp
• Cumin powder - 1 / 2 sp
• Garam masala powder - 1 / 2 sp
• Black pepper powder - 1 / 2 sp
• Ginger garlic paste - 1 / 4 sp
• Tomatoes - 2 diced
• Ghee and oil - as required

Method :

Wash and soak the rice for 20 minutes. Boil in water till half cooked. Then drain water completely, and allow it to cool. Beat curds and mix coriander powder, cimin powder, slit green chillies, pepper powder, ginger garlic paste, garam masala powder and coriander leaves.Keep aside for 25 minutes. Then heat ghee and oil together and fry onions, tomatoes and then other vegetables. Sprinkle little  water and allow the vegetables to cook till soft. Mix in, marinated curds, salt and cooked rice. Reduce flame and keep under dhum till moisture is absorbed. [ or bake in  hot oven for 10 minutes covered with foil.

Pooshinikkai mor kootu

This dish is extremely cooling especially in the summer. The flavour of a well cooked crunchy ash gourd [ pooshinikkai ] is delicious when served as a vegetable in a gravy.

Ingredients :

• Ash gourd [ pooshinikkai ] - 1 / 2 k. g. [ remove the outer skin and cut into cubes ]
• Drumstick - 1 [ cut into 1 / 2 inch lenth pieces ]
• Fresh curds - 2 cups [ beaten in 1 / 2 cup water ]
• Asafoetida - 1 / 4 tsp
• Salt -  as required
• Turmeric powder - 1 / 2 tsp
• Curry leaves -  little

For seasoning :

• Mustard seeds - 1 / 2 tsp
• Coconut oil - 2 tbl. sps.

Grind together :

• Fresh grated coconut - 1 1 / 2 cup
• Green chillies - 4 to 5
• Rice powder - 2 tsp

Method :

Cut the ash gourd and drumstick together and boiled in water in kadai adding salt, and turmeric, till it becomes soft and done. Blend rice powder, green chillies and coconut into a fine paste. Add this paste and beaten curds to the cooked vegetable and stir over a low flame for 3 minutes until it comes to boil. Remove from the gas. Heat coconut oil in a pan and pop the mustard seeds, add to the vegetable. Garnish with  fresh curry leaves.

A . B . C. Halwa [ apple, banana, carrot halwa ]

Ingredients :

• Grated apple - 1 cup [ without skin ]
• Mashed banana - 1 cup
• Grated carrot - 1 cup
• Fresh grated coconut - 1 cup
• Milk powder - 1 / 2 cup
• [ or ] Milk - 1 cup
• Fresh ghee - 1 / 2 cup
• Sugar - 2 cup
• Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
• Any foood colour - few drops
• Mixed nuts - 1 / 4 cup

Method :

Grind coconut and milk. Mix all the ingredients together except ghee. Keep on stirring till the apple banana pieces are cooked and the halwa becomes one mass. Then add ghee, cardamom powder. [ add little food colour, and a few drops essence while stirring ]  Remove from the gas and garnish with nuts of your choise.
Your tasty a. b. c. halwa ready to serve.

Idli sandwich

Ingredients :

• Idli batter - 1 bowl
• Green chutney - 2 tbl. sps.
• Sweet chutney - 2 tbl. sps.
• Onion, tomato chutney - 3 tbl. sps.
• Tomato sauce - 2 tbl. sps.
• Seasame oil - 2 tbl. sps.
• Small dish - 2 to 3

Method :

Keep cooker on gas, pour little water inside the cooker. Keep one small cup along with water inside the cooker. Then grease the dish plate with little oil.  Then pour little idli batter first. Pour green chutney on the top and again pour little idli batter, then sweet chutney or tomato sauce, again idli batter for 1 inch thickness. Steam till it is  cooked. [ approximately ] 15 minutes. Cut into triangle and serve hot. Your yummy idli sandwich is ready to eat.

Appalam vathal kuzhambu

   
               Papad in tamarind sauce. This is rare unusual combination for a recipe. But very easy to prepare and very tasty also.

Ingredients :

• Medium sized appalam or papads - 2 to 3 [ make in to small pieces ]
• Small sambhar onions - 1 / 2 cup
• Tamarind paste - 2 table spoon
• Sambhar powder - 2 tsp
• Salt - as required
• Turmeric powder - 1 / 2 tsp
• Asafoetida -1 / 4 sp
• Jaggery - little
• Curry leaves - little
• Seasame oil - 5 table spoon

For the seasoning :
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Bengal gram dhal - 1 / 2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1 / 4 tsp

Method :

Tear the appalam into pieces. Take a deep bottom kadai, heat seasame oil and pop the mustard seeds. Add the methi seeds, and dhal and roast till it become golden brown in colour. Then add onions, appalam pieces and stir until they puff up. Add required water, tamarind paste, sambhar powder, salt, turmeric, jaggery, and asafoetida. Mix well and close with lid, and allow to boil for for 15 mintues in lower flame till the kuzhambu become thick. Remove from the gas and garnish with curry leaves. Serve hot with steamed rice. The kuzhambu can be stored in the fridge and used for few days.

Missi paratha

Ingredients :

• Bengal gram flour - 1 / 2 cup
• Wheat flour - 1 cup
• Soya flour - 1 / 4 cup [ optional ]
• Ginger , green chillies paste - 1 tsp.
• Salt - as required
• Oil for frying and for the dough - 3 tbl. sps.

Method :

Sift all the flours together. Mix salt, ginger chilli paste,  oil  and knead well using enough water  with  fingers tips and keep aside for 30 minutes.Roll out thick paratha using wheat flour for dusting. Heat a tawa and place paratha on top, cook on both sides using little oil for roasting. Serve hot with tomato chutney or any gravy.

Radish paneer paratha

Ingredients :

• Grated radish - 1 / 2 cup
• Grated onion - 2 tabl. sps.
• Grated paneer - 1 / 2 cup
• Green chillies - 2 [ finely chopped ]
• Ginger - 1 /4 inch [ finely chopped ]
• Garlic flakes - 2 [ chopped ]
• Salt - as required
• Turmeric powder - 1 / 2 tsp
• Red chilli powder - 1 1/ 2 sp
• Garam masala powder - 1 / 2 tsp
• Sugar - little
• Fresh coriander leaves - little
• Cumin seeds - 1 / 2 sp

[ take one kadai, heat oil and  add cumin seeds. Wait for 2 second, and then add chopped onion, ginger garlic and fry for some time till onion change into pink colour. Add grated radish in that, and fry for 5 minutes till its become dry. At that time mix grated paneer to that , along with salt, turmeric, red chilli, garam masala powder, and  sugar. Before removing add chopped coriander leaves. Your stuffing is ready. ]

Method :

Ingredients for paratha :

Wheat flour - 2 cups [ heaped ]
Water - enough to mix the dough
Salt - optional
Oil - 2 tsps
Take flour in a mixing bowl, sprinkle water gradually and kneed to a smoooth dough. Put and kneed the dough for atleast 10 to 15 times. Keep closed for 2 hours. After rolling out each paratha, apply little ghee or oil on top of it. Sprinkle little wheat flour on top. Roll like swiss roll and then made into a round ball.  Make medium sized balls from the dough. Flatten each ball and keep a table spoon of filling inside. Close and seal well all around. Press and dredge in wheat flour and roll out thick parathas. Heat tawa and fry these parathas using oil for both sides while frying. Serve hot with thick curd and pickles.

Variation :
Use thin butter milk [ strained] to mix dough for best taste. Nutritious chappathis can be made by using ' whey' water [ the liquid which separates while making paneer from milk] for mixing chappathi dough.