Simple and easy, tasty vatha kuzhambu

Ingredients :

• Sambhar onion [ small onion ] - 1 cup [ peeled ]
• Tamarind paste - 1 table spoon
• Salt - as per taste
• Turmeric powder - 1 / 2 sp
• Red chillie powder - 1 sp
• Jaggery - 1/ 2 sp
• Curry leaves - little
• Mustard seeds - 1 sp
• Seasame oil [ til oil ] - 2 to 3 table sp

For grinding :

• Big onion [ medium size ] - 3 [ cut into big cubes ]
• Red tomatoes - 3 [ small in size ] [ cut into big pieces ]
• Fenugreek seeds [ vendayam ] - 1 / 2 sp
• Sambhar powder - 1 1 / 2 sp

{ fry all these ingredients in 1 sp of oil and grind in mixer, to a  fine paste. ]


Method :

Take one deep bottom vessel or kadai. Keep on the gas, pour 2 table spoons of oil to that add mustard seeds, along with curry leaves. When it spultered add small onions to that, fry for 5 mints, then add tamarind paste to that. Mix well and pour enough water, salt, turmeric, red chillie powder, jaggery and allow to boil for 10 mints. When the onion becomes soft mix the ground masala to that, and cheak the salt. Boil in lower flame.When the kuzhambu gets ready remove from the gas. Serve with steamed rice,  fried potato curry  and papad.

Paruppu adai

Ingredients:

• Rice - 4 cups [ cleaned ]
• Red gram dal - 1 to 1 1/2 cup [ cleaned ]
• Bengal gram dal - 1/2 cup [ cleaned ]
• Whole black gram dal - 1/2 cup [ cleaned ]
• whole green gram dal - 1/2 cup [ cleaned ]
• Green chillies - 4 to 5
• Red chillies - 3 to 4
• Black pepper - 1 sp
• Salt - as required
• Asafoetida - 1 / 4 sp
• Curry leaves - little
• Cooking oil - 1 / 2 cup [ for roasting ]

Method:
Soak rice and dal in water for 2 hours. Then wash again, drain water and grind coarsely adding all the other ingredients given above, except oil. The batter should be slightly thicker than dosa batter. Then grease tava and heat. Pour one ladle of the adai batter in the centre of the tava and spread in a rotating manner with the same ladle to give the right thickness and a proper round shape. Pour one teaspoon til oil around the edges. After a few seconds with a sharp edged spoon gently turn over the adai to the other side. In 2 or 3 places make small holes. Pour one teaspoon of oil in and around. When the adai is crisp and golden in colour, remove from the tava. Serve hot with avial, thogayal, milakai podi, jaggery.


                                               2. Ulundu adai [ Black gram adai ]

Ingredients:

• Rice - 4 cups
• Black gram [ whole ] - 1 to 1 1/2 cup
• Red gram dal - 1 cup
• Green chillies - 4 to 5
• Red chillies - 3 to 4
• Curry leaves - little
• Asfoetida - 1/4 sp
• Salt - as per taste
• Cooking oil - 1/2 cup

Method:
Soak rice and red gram dal in water for an hour. Add black gram, drain water grind coarsely with other ingredients except oil. Make adais as described in type 1. Serve hot with any chutneys, curd, pickles, jaggery, morekuzhambu, as also home made butter.

                                                         3. Kollu adai [Horse gram adai]

Ingredients:

• Rice - 4 cups [ cleaned ]
• Red gram dal - 1 cup [ cleaned ]
• Horse gram [ kollu ] - 1 / 2 cup [ cleaned ]
• Green chillies - 4 to 5
• Red chillies - 3 to 4
• Asafoetida - 1 / 2 sp
• Curry leaves - little
• Salt - as per taste
• Til oil - 1/2 cup [ for shallow frying ]

Method:
Dry fry horse gram lightly. Wash and soak the top 3 items together in water for an hour. Mean time, you may soak the kollu for just 15 minutes before grinding. Drain the water and use it for grinding. Prepare the batter and adai in the usual way and serve preferably hot with sambhar, and onion chutney.

4. Puzhungal arisi adai [Boiled rice adai]

Ingredients:

• Boiled rice - 4 cups [ cleaned ]
• Fresh coconut - 1 cup [ grated or chopped ]
• salt - as per taste
• Cooking oil - 1/2 cup

Method:
Wash and soak rice in hot water over night. Drain the water the next day and grind into slightly coarse, thick batter, adding water as and when necessary. It is preferable to set the batter aside covered with a lid for a day. Next day add coconut and salt to the batter and mix. Heat a tava on a medium fire. Grease it with oil with the help of clean cloth. Then place 1 or 2 handfuls of the batter on it and spread it quickly into a round, even, flatten thick adai by hand often dipping it in cold water kept handy. For people trying it for the first time, this may be difficult, therefore the batter can be loosened a little by adding a small quantity of  water and a ladle can be used to make adai. Pour 2 to 3 teaspoon full of oil along the edge and also some over the central portion. When shallow fried, turn it over and fry the other side adding some oil along the edge. Remove and serve hot with butter, chutney or podi.

Note:
Since boiled rice is heavy and sticky for grinding in the mixer-grinder, it may get heated quickly. So switch it off at frequent intervals and allow it to cool. This adai can be made on the same day as the batter is made but it becomes a little tough although the taste is good.

Kalan [ kerala recipe ]

Ingredients:

• Elephant yam [ senai kilangu ] - 1/4 kg. [ wash, peel the skin and cut into big cubes ]
• Raw banana [ nantherangai ] - 2 [ peel the skin and cut into big cubes ]
• Curd - 3 cups [ well beaten ]
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 sp
• Salt - as required
• Curry leaves - little
• Fresh grated coconut - 1 1/2 cup
• Green chillies - 3 to 4
• Red dry chillie - 1
• Cummin seeds - 1/4 sp

For seasoning:

• Coconut oil - 1 tbl sp
• Mustard seeds - 1 sp
• Red chili - 1
• Curry leaves - little

Method:
Cook the vegetables till tender, with just enough water adding turmeric powder. Grind together finely grated coconut, green chillies, red chili, cumin seeds to a fine paste. Add salt and ground masala to the vegetables, boil for another 5 mints. Add well beaten curd and curry leaves. When it comes to boil remove from the gas. Season the ingredients [ given under seasoning.]
Serve hot with rice and papads or other accompaniments like kootu, thoran, poriyal, usili etc.


                                                            

Type -2

Ingredients:

• Raw banana - 2
• Red chili powder - 1 / 4 sp
• Turmeric powder - 1 / 2 sp
• Coarsely crushed pepper - little
• Cumin seeds 1 / 4 sp
• Mustard seeds - 1 / 4 sp
• Red chillies - 2
• Curry leaves - little
• Grated fresh coconut - 2 table sps.
• Coriander leaves - little
• Oil - for frying
• Salt - as required
• Fresh thick curds - 1/2 cup

Method:
Peel outer skin from banana and cut into an inch squares. Dip in water till required. Then heat oil in pan, put mustard seeds, cumin, pepper, broken red chillies, curry leaves and then banana pieces. Fry for few minutes, add turmeric powder, salt and mix well. Add curds and reduce flame. Cook till dry and banana becomes soft. Fry coconut till it turns golden brown in coconut oil and add to kalan just before removing from gas.Your tasty easy kalan is ready to serve.

Olan [ kerala recipe ]

Ingredients:

• Red pumpkin - 1/4 kg. [cut into rectangular pieces after removing the skin and seeds]
• Colocasia [seppankilangu ] - 3 to 4 [ cut into thin round pieces ]
• Green payaru - 50 gms. [ cut into1/2 inch lenth ]
• Whole green gram - 1 hand full [ soak for 1 hour ]
• Green chillies - 2 [ slit lengthwise ]
• Coconut milk - 2 cups
• Curry leaves - little
• Coconut oil - 2 table sp

Method:
Wash the pumpkin, peel the skin, remove the seeds and cut into rectangular pieces. In the same way wash and remove the skin of colocasia and make thin round pieces. Cut the green payaru into 1/2 inch pieces. Soak the whole green gram [ muzu pacha payaru] for an hour and pressure cook adding enough water and keep aside. Then add 1 cup of coconut milk with 1 cup of water to the vegetables. Add curry leaves, salt, slit green chillies and boil till the vegetables are well cooked. Add the cooked whole green gram, mix well and boil for 5 more mins. Check for salt. In the end add the remaining coconut milk, 2 tablespoon coconut oil, and mix well. Remove from the gas before it starts boiling.Your mouth watering easy dish is ready for serving. This dish can be made without adding coconut milk also [use regular cold milk instead of coconut milk]. Serve as a side dish for rice, sambhar, rasam, morkuzhambu, etc.

Paruppu urundai kuzhambu [ dal koftas ]

Ingredients:

• Tuar dal - 1 cup
• Green chillies - 2 to 3
• Red dry chillies - - 2
• Salt - as per taste
• Rice flour - 1 tsp
• Coconut oil - 1 sp
• Asafoetida - a pinch
• Tamarind paste - 1 tbls. sp
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 sp
• Red chillie powder or
• sambhar powder - 1 1/ 2 sp

For seasoning:

• Coconut oil - 2 table spoon
• Mustard seeds - 1 sp
• Curry leaves - little

Method:
Wash and soak tuar dal in water for half an hour. Wash again and grind with green chillies, red chillies, salt, asafoetida to a fine paste. Mix rice flour, 1 sp of coconut oil  to that and make into round balls and keep aside. Then take one deep bottom vessel and place on the gas. Heat oil in vessel add mustard seeds, bits of curry leaves and saute till mustard seeds crackles, pour some water to that, add tamarind paste, salt, turmeric powder ,red chillie powder, and allow to boil. When the kuzhambu boils well, dip these dal koftas gently. Boil for 10 mints in low flame. When the urundais get boiled and begins to float, the kuzhambu gets ready. The kuahambu can be slightly watery as these urundais thickens the dish. A portion of these urundais [ 2 to 3 ] can also be mashed and added for thickening. Serve with hot rice and other accompaniment like curry, kootu, olan etc.

Vendhaya vendai sambhar

Ingredients:

• Ladies finger - 1/4 kg.
• Onion big - 2
• Thick tamarind extract - 2 to 3 tbl. sps
• Cooked tuar dal - 2 tbl. sps [ heaped ]
• Salt - as required
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 sp
• Jaggery - small lemon size [ optional ]
• Fresh grated coconut - 1 1/2 tbl. sp.

For seasoning:

• Oil - 1 tbl. sp.
• Mustard seeds - 1/4 sp
• Fenugreek - 1/4 sp
• Asafoetida - a pinch
• Curry leaves - little

Grind together:

• Red chillies - 10
• Fenugreek - 1 tsp
• Bengal gram dal - 1 tbl. sp.
• Garlic - 3 flakes
• Small onions - 4 [peeled]
• or big onion - 1/2

Fry the above spices in little oil and grind with 1 1/2 sps. of grated fresh coconut.

Method:
Peel and slice onions length wise. Cut ladies finger into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Then heat little oil and fry onions and ladies finger together for few minutes. Add diluted tamarind extract and cook till vegetable becomes soft. Then add mashed tur dal,salt, ground paste with enough water. Cook till raw smell goes and the gravy becomes thick. Fry the seasonings in oil and mix with sambhar, and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Note: When using fenugreek in any recipe do not over fry since it becomes bitter. Add at the end, after frying other spices.

Home made strawberry ice-cream

Ingredients:

• Whole cream milk - 1 litre
• G. M. S.- 2 1/2 sp
• C. M. C. - 1/4 sp
• Cornflour - 2 1/2 sp
• Sugar - 12 to 15 sps
• Fresh strawberries - 10
• Strawberry essence - few drops
• Pink color - 2 drops
• Fresh cream - 1/2 cup

For basement of icecream:
Take one deep bottom thick vessel. Then pour milk, g.m.s, t.m.c, cornflour, sugar and mix well. Keep on the gas in high flame and stir well till the base becomes thick. Then remove from the gas and allow it to cool. Then pour it in the airtight container or in aluminum vessel, close it and keep in freezer for 8 to 10 hours. This is the basement of  all icecreams.  [Meantime, take the fresh strawberries, cut into small pieces mix with 3 sps of sugar and heat it in high flame till it becomes soft and juicy. Keep aside].

Making strawberry icecream:
Remove from the freezer after 10 hours. Blend in a mixture along with adding fresh cream, essence, food color. Just press the whipper button in the blender for a second or two [otherwise it will turn buttery] Repeat the process two more times after one hour to get good results. Finely mix the fresh strawberries and spread a few on top.Transfer the contents in to an aluminum container or airtight thick plastic box. In the end keep for 3 hrs or till set [in the freezer] Enjoy your home made strawberry icecream.

The vessel inside the freezer should be kept over a plastic sheet.