Cabbage Kari (Poriyal)

My little bro is a great cook too... I guess its in our gene :)... and this is a recipe I borrowed from him... He makes the world's best "Muttaikos (cabbage) Kari" .... It reminds me of our days in the B city... where he used to cook for me... "tomato sambar and cabbage kari "... and till date... I ask him to make this combo whenever we meet ....This is so simple to make... yet I mess it up all the time... and he makes it with great ease...

Ingredients

2 cups of chopped cabbage
1/4 cup of grean peas
1/4 cup of grated coconut
2 red chilli
1tsp of mustard seeds
1tsp of channa dal
1tsp of urad dal
1 tsp of oil
A pinch of Hing (Asafoetida, kayam)
A pinch of turmeric powder
Curry leaves
Salt to taste

Method

In a Pan add a little water, salt and turmeric powder. Then add the cabbage and cook this until the cabbage is done. ( You can also microwave this for 2 - 3 minutes). In another pan heat oil and then add the mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add the red chilli, channa and urad dal, hing, green peas and curry leaves. Add the cooked cabbage and toss for another 2 minutes. Remove from the flame and add the grated coconut.... Its really that simple....

Tricks: Do not add a lot of water, this will get the cabbage soggy.... If you add too little water, it might burn... So add little by little...

Paruppu Payasam

Yet another simple yet delicious recipe... Feels nostalgic, Komu Paati used to make paruppu paayasam very often when I was a kid...I still remember licking my cups and the banana leaves (during festive occasions) ....I just love it... I would have tried this a zillion times... until recently ... when I found Coconut milk was the secret ingredient....

Ingredients

4 tbsp of Moong Dal
2 tbsp Channa Dal
1/2 cup of Jaggery (Powdered)
1 Cup Milk
1 tsp of ghee
1/2 cup Coconut Milk
Elaichi Powder
Chopped Nuts and Raisins for garnish

Method

Heat a tsp of ghee in a pan and roast the cashews and raisins (or nuts) and keep aside. In this add the moong dal and channa dal and fry for 2 minutes. Pressure cook the dal. In the pan, heat the jaggery in 1/2 cup of water until it dissolves. Strain this to remove any sediments in the jaggery. Place this on medium flame again and add the dal and mix well. Remove from heat and add the milk and coconut milk. Add elaichi and garnish with the roasted nuts.

Yummy lickalicious Paruppu Payasam ready.... You will definitely lick the bowl :) !!!!

Tricks: Do not add milk and jaggery together and heat. The milk might curdle at times.
Paati also used to fry a little grated coconut and use it for garnish.

Vegetable Fried Rice

I have always wondered how a Vege fried rice could be served as a FAST FOOD... I just couldn't believe it is so quick, easy and simple to make...

Mr.B loves the fast food style Fried Rice, I borrowed this recipe from him and gave him a sweet surprise on our anniversary... He was floored... and he had this for lunch, dinner and guess what... he asked me to make for lunch the next day too ... ;)

Needless to say... this was my first attempt... and I seem to have mastered it... hehehe...

Ingredients
1 cooked cup of rice
3/4 cup of chopped cabbage
1/2 cup of finely chopped carrots
1/2 cup finely chopped green beans (or peas)
4 stalks of green onions chopped
1 tbsp of oil
1 tsp of pepper powder
1tsp of soy sauce
Salt to taste


Method

In a pan heat the oil, Add the cabbage, and beans and saute for 2 minutes. Add the carrots and green onions and saute for another minute. Add the pepper powder and salt and soy sauce. Finally add the cooked rice and mix everything well. Remove from flame, garnish with some green onions and serve hot.

This just takes less than 5 minutes to make. It definitely is faaaaaaaast...& Yummmmmmyyy !!!... Try this and you will never buy fried rice from a fast food joint anymore... ;)

Tricks : To cook 1 cup of rice - Boil 2 cups of water and add a tsp of vinegar. The rice will never stick if you add vinegar when you cook the rice. Also, cook until the rice is 90% done and then strain the excess liquid. Cool off the rice by spreading it in a big sheet or a plate.

I am a hard core vege... but for you non-veg lovers...
Add some scrambled eggs to this... n tadaaa...its Egg fried rice !!!
Add some grilled chicken pieces ..... n tadaaa... its Chicken fried rice !!!

Kadai Paneer

This again was something I tried for the first time... and it turned out really well... The freshly ground garam masala made a world of difference. This is so aromatic and gives a special touch to the kadai paneer.

Ingredients

1 cup of paneer, cut into bigger cubes
1 onion, chopped
1 cup green & red capsicums, chopped
2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 cup tomato puree ( or 1tbsp tomato paste)
1 tbsp ghee or butter
1 bay leaf
Fresh coriander leaves, chopped


For fresh garam masala
2 green cardamoms
2 cloves
1/2 tsp of pepper corns
1 tsp of corriander seeds
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 cinnamon stick

Method:

In a pan, dry roast all the spices in low flame and grind this into a powder. Heat ghee in a pan, add 1/2 tsp of fennel seeds , bay leaf and ginger-garlic paste. Stir-fry till the moisture evaporates. Also add red chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric,and tomato puree and stir-fry until they change color and the ghee separates from the masala . Add chopped onions and saute until brown. Then add paneer cubes, capsicum & salt and fry until the paneer is light brown.

Sprinkle a tsp of the fresh garam masala powder and add 1/2 cup of water and cook until the gravy thickens. Adjust the seasoning if necessary. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with parathas or any pulao. This serves 3 - 4 people.

This is a finger licking recipe.... :)

Tomato Rasam

Amma's recipe for thakkali rasam... I simply love this... I can literally drink cups and cups and cups of this rasam...Pa says he never used to like rasam before marriage... But after mom made this for him, he can never finish a meal without this rasam...My little bro adores this rasam... I still remember the days he used to pack rasam saadam for lunch every single day... It is his all time favorite..Mom Passed this recipe on to me... and now... there is another victim... Mr.B... hahahaha...

Ingredients

2 chopped tomatoes
1 tsp of sambar powder
A small piece of tamarind
(or) 1/2 tsp of tamarind paste
1 small piece of asafoetida (hing)
1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
1/4 cup of toor dal
1 tsp of mustard seeds
1 tsp of jeera (cumin seeds)
1 tsp of Ghee
salt to taste
2 cups of water
Corriander and curry leaves for garnish

Method

Pressure Cook the toor dal, mash it and pour cup of water and mix well. Let this rest, so that the dal settles to the bottom and the dal water rises up. Soak the tamarind in half a cup of hot water for 5 minutes. Extract the tamarind puree to a pan (you can also use 1/2 tsp of tamarind paste). Add the chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder, sambar powder, hing & salt. Give this a good crush with your hand. Cook this mixture for 10 - 15 minutes, till it reduces to 1/3. Add the dal water and keep this on high flame. Bring this to a screaming boil and immediately remove from the flame.

Heat ghee in a small pan, and add the mustard seeds. Once they splutter add jeera , a pinch of hing, and curry leaves and pour it on the rasam. Garnish with corriander leaves.

This is YUMMMILICIOUS .... You can serve this as a soup, or serve it with steamed rice.... I even add this to my oats... this makes it 1000 times better than the mundane milk / butter milk serving...

Tricks: Only trick is to cook the initial mixture very well until it reduces. This really makes the rasam taste so yummy....And season with ghee... the aroma is mindblowing...

Chinna Vengaya Araichu Vitta Sambar

What do I say about this, guess Araichu Vitta sambar is more famous with the KIs ;)... Try this and you will never look at Sambar the same way ... heehee...

Ingredients

15 pearl onions (shallots)
1/2 cup toor dal
Tamarind (size of a golf ball)
1tsp of Sambar powder
1tsp of mustard seeds
1tsp fenugreek seeds (methi / vendayam)
salt to taste
2 tsp of oil
3 cups of water

For the paste
1/2 cup grated coconut
5 dry red chilles
1tsp of corriander seeds
1tsp of channa dal
curry leaves

Method

Pressure cook the toor dal in a cup of water. Soak the tamarind in half a cup of hot water for 10 minutes. Strain the tamarind puree and keep it aside. In a pan heat 1tsp of oil and fry red chillies, corriander seeds, channa dal, curry leaves and the coconut and fry until the coconut turns light golden brown. Be careful not to burn the coconut. Cool this and grind it into a smooth paste. Mix this paste with the cooked toor dal.

In the same pan, add a little oil and saute the shallots for 2 - 3 minutes. Add the tamarind puree, sambar powder, salt and 1/2 cup of water. Mix this together cook well for 10 - 15 minutes. The raw smell of tamarind should go away. The mixture should have now reduced to atleast 1/3. Now add the cooked toor dal and the ground masala mix to this. Add another cup of water and mix everything together and bring it to a boil. Taste this, you can add a lil salt if needed (This will cook for another 10 - 15 minutes).

Season the sambar with a little mustard & fenugreek seeds. You can also add dry red chillies, incase you want it to be more spicy. Garnish with corriander and curry leaves. Serve hot with steamed rice...

Yummy Araichu vitta chinna vengaya sambar ready !!!!

Tricks: Amma's little trick, she adds just one shallot with the grinding mixture, this adds a great aroma and taste to the sambar.

You can use any of these vegetables - drumsticks, raddish, pumpkin,bitter gourd, egg plant, potato etc...

As soon as you add the dal and masala, check for taste add a little salt or tamarind paste (do not add the tamarind puree at this point) if needed. If it is less spicy, you can season it with dry red chillies when you season it finally.

Sunday Samayal

This reminds me of my childhood... Every Sunday, yes every sunday... was made special with Amma's mouth watering Chinna Vengaya araichu vitta sambar, Thakkali rasam & Uralai kezhangu fry... Appa used to top this off with Aviyal... I havent had this combo for a long long long time... Thanks to Mr.B... We tried to recreate a bit of this... it was lickalicious....heeheehee...