Simple Rasam / Gottu Rasam - With No Dal / Paruppu

 

Gottu Rasam is generally made without any dal and the process is quicker and simpler. Its spicy with a punch and could be given as a soup too..On any cold nights, this rasam would be perfect as it has a blend of all spices in it with the tangy tomato taste. I  and my husband love to have this rasam on a small ever silver tumbler just before meals. Its a heavenly food for the kids especially when they have running nose, stuffy nose or severe cold.

Ingredients

Tomato - 1 Big cut into tiny cubes

Tamarind Juice - 1/2 cup

Water - As required

Salt- To Taste

Hing/Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Sambar Powder - 2 tsp

Sugar - 1 pinch

Special Rasam Powder - 2 tbsp ( Made instantly for this Gottu Rasam )

Coriander Leaves shredded - 2 tbsp

Instant Rasam Powder :

Black Pepper Seeds - 2 tsp

Methi seeds / Fenugreek Seeds / Vendhayam - 1/4 tsp

Jeera / Cumin Seeds - 2 tsp

Coriander Seeds - 2 tbsp

Tempering / Tadka :

Ghee - 2 tsp

Oil - 2 tsp

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 pinch

Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp

Jeera / Cumin Seeds - 2 tsp

Curry Leaves - 1 small stem

Dry Red Chillies - 1 or 2 small

Procedure :

• Wash the tomato and cut it into tiny cubes and keep ready. Soak tamarind in warm water and make the tamarind juice ready.  Dry roast all the ingredients as mentioned above for making the instant rasam powder and grind them in a mixer grinder and keep the rasam powder ready.
• In a vessel, add tamarind juice, hing / asafoetida, turmeric powder, sambar powder, freshly made rasam powder, salt, sugar and little water and allow them to boil for 3-4 minutes. Then add the tomato pieces into it and let them get cooked with all the spices in it. Close the lid when the rasam is boiling as the taste and flavour would be retained.
• When you get a nice aroma, add desired amount of water into the vessel and reduce the flame to low.
• Once you see a thin layer of foam on top of the rasam, switch off the flame. Meantime, do the tempering process and pour them over the rasam.
• Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and enjoy a glass of this spicy, tangy hot rasam first.

Tips / Notes :

I don't add garlic to this Gottu Rasam as it might change the taste of the rasam. You can add if you like the taste of garlic in it.

Vendhaya Manga / Mendhiya Manga

Vendhaya Mangai / Mendhiya Mangai always reminds me of my father. Whenever my mom prepared a full fledged meal at our home, he never failed to make this small addition. Within few seconds, he would do some magic silently and a full cup of Vendhaya mangai would be ready. After having a wonderful meal at home, we always enjoyed our curd rice with his Vendhaya Mangai at the end. The recipe is also pretty simple.

Ingredients

Raw Mango - 1

Salt - To Taste

Red chili powder - 4 tsp

Vendhaya Powder / Methi Powder / Fenugreek Powder - 1/2 tsp

Oil - 4 tsp

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Mustard Seeds - 3 tsp

Curry Leaves - 4 or 5

Sesame Oil / Nallennai - 2 tsp

Method

Wash the Mango and cut it into small pieces as shown in the picture. Add the powders, salt to the mangai and shake it. Meantime, in a small kadai, put some oil and do the tempering process. Pour them over the mango pieces and mix them well. Leave it for couple of minutes and then enjoy this tiny pieces of mango with creamy fresh curd rice. Absolutely heavenly.!!!

Tips

Instead of adding the red chili powder and methi powder, you can make a fresh powder using dry red chillies and fenugreek seeds ( methi seeds ) and use them. It smells good and enhances the taste.

Tamil New Year 2012 - Tamil Varusha Pirappu

Iniya Tamizh Puthandu Nal Vaazhthukkal to all my dear blogger friends...

Tamil New Year also called as "Chithirai Thirunal / Varusha Pirappu " falls on the first day of the Tamil month "Chithirai". This festival is widely celebrated by all tamils around the world and it falls during mid April every year. People wish each other by telling "Iniya Tamizh Puthandu Vaazhthukkal" on this day. They prepare many festive foods on this special occasion using neem flowers, mango, jack fruit and other fresh harvest and offer their prayers to the God. They decorate their houses with mango leaves and fresh flowers, put large rangoli in front of their houses during the festival. This festival is marked by the famous Chithirai feast in all the homes and the usage of the fresh Harvest signifies the growth and prosperity. In the festive food, different types of taste like sweet, salt, spice, bitter, sour would be included in the dishes they make.

This year is named as "Nandana" and it falls on 13th April, 2012. We celebrated Varusha Pirappu at our home in a grand way and offered our prayers to God, made an elaborate feast and enjoyed with our friends.  To all my friends, once again wishing you all a very happy tamil new year.

Puthandu Feast in our home : >>  White Rice, Kalathu Paruppu, Coconut Rice, Medhu Vadai, Potato Podimas, Beans Kadalai Paruppu Poriyal, Tomato Rasam, Mangai Murungai Sambar, Vathalkuzhambu, Mango Neem Flower Pachidi, Cucumber Kosambari, Aviyal, Shahi Gulab jamoon, Curd rice. ( Appalam and Payasam missing in photo!!).

Andhra Style Pappu Podi / Roasted Putnalu Pappu Powder / Pappula Podi

Spice Powders always give a nice kick during the start of any meal. At home, we generally have four to five spice powders and we never fail to pick one during our weekend special meals. Out of those, pappu podi is always liked by my kids. This version is a typical andhra style one which was introduced by my mother in law. If you really want to relish a spicy Andhra Style podi served in restaurants at home, try this version and store it in your kitchen for special occasions. You will love it with hot white rice and a spoon of ghee, I promise with a side of a papad.

Ingredients

Putnalu Pappu / Pottu Kadalai / Roasted Chickpeas / Dalia - 3 Cups

Dry Red Chillies - 12 to 14

Garlic Pods - 8 to 10 ( Optional )

Cumin Seeds - 1 tbsp

Dry Coconut Flakes - 3 tbsp

Salt - To Taste

Method

Dry roast all the ingredients in a frying pan and grind them into a powder using a mixer grinder. Consistency of this Pappu Podi should be between coarse and fine. Store it in a dry storage container which will stay for months.

Uses

1. Used as an accompaniment with Idli, Dosas.

2. Can be Mixed with hot white rice and ghee.

3. Used as a curry powder while making some special andhra curries.

4. Used for making instant chutneys.

Tomato Pickle / Thakkali Urugai / Thakkali Oorgai

Pickles , Thokku, chutney or any variety made out of tomatoes will get over quicker in my home due to its tangy taste which accompanies very well with any food items. ( Rice or Rotis ). Its really difficult to have a good meal without our favourite tangy, spicy tomato pickle bottle on the dining table. I already posted my version of making Tomato Pachidi / Tomato Thokku earlier ( My first Post !!). But I made a pickle version this time mainly to give it to my dear friend. It came out very well with good flavour and taste but unfortunately this pickle could not be delivered to her this time. Next time, it would surely satisfy their tongue and make me happy. This version is mainly suited for long travels.

Ingredients
Red Ripe Tomatoes - Around 25 medium
Sesame Oil - 3 tbsp
Oil - 1/2 Cup
Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash
Salt - To Taste
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Pickle Powder
Dry Red Chillies - Around 15 ( Very Spicy Ones)
Fenugreek Seeds / Vendhayam - 2 tsp
Coriander Seeds - 1 tsp

Method

Wash the tomatoes and dry them on a tissue paper or a plate. Cut them into tiny pieces and keep it ready. Meantime, dry roast the fenugreek seeds and dry red chillies in a frying pan and grind them into a fine powder. In a big frying pan / kadai, add all the chopped tomatoes and allow them to cook by covering the pan with a lid.  After a while, you might notice a semi gravy of tomatoes floating in the pan. Open the lid and add turmeric powder, pickle powder, salt, hing and some oil and stir them nicely. Keep the lid open and allow the tomato paste to thicken slowly. Though this process might take some time, the final outcome is going to be yummy. After the paste thickens like above, finally add the sesame oil to the tomato pickle. Mix them well and switch off the flame when you see the oil oozing out of the pickle from its side. The pickle should be cooled completely before transferring into a dry storage container.

Tips

Keep the cut tomato pieces under the sun for few hours before making the pickle. This enhances the taste of the pickle and lasts longer.

Variations

Adjust the spice level according to your taste buds by reducing the dry red chillies in the pickle powder.

Karadaiyan Nombu Adai / Karadayan Nombu Adai

Karadaiyan Nombu Adais are made in two different tastes. One variety is the sweet adai made with jaggery and the other variety is the salty one. Both tastes very good with a side of some fresh butter.

For both the Adais, soak the red karamani / red moth for 30 minutes and cook them separately and keep ready.

Sweet Adai Preparation :

Ingredients :

Rice Flour -  1 Cup

Rice Rava - 1 Cup

Crushed Jaggery - 1.5 Cups

Cardamom Powder - 1 tsp

Cooked karamani / Red moth - 1/2 cup

Fresh Coconut Flakes - 2 tbsp

Method

• In a big cooking pan, dry roast the rice rava and rice flour till you get a nice aroma. Add some water and allow the rice mix to get cooked to three fourth. Keep it ready.
• In a separate vessel, make the jaggery syrup. The Syrup need not be thick and its enough if the jaggery is completely dissolved. Add the cardamom powder, coconut flakes, cooked karamani seeds into the jaggery syrup and pour them over the rice mix.
• Mix them well without lumps and allow the sweet adai dough to cool for few minutes.
• Then, rub the hands with some ghee and make round adais using the cooled dough. Put a small round in the middle and complete making adais using the same process.
• Steam cook all these adais in a pressure cooker or in any other cooking pan.
• While steam cooking the adais, switch off the flame when the adais start sweating slightly which indicates that they are steam cooked perfectly.
• Transfer them into a flat plate or flat container. Continue the same process for the rest of the dough too...

Salt Adai Preparation :

Ingredients

Rice Flour - 1 Cup

Rice Rava - 1 Cup

Salt - To Taste

Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Cooked Karamani - 1/2 Cup

Fresh Coconut Flakes - 2 tbsp

Grated Ginger - 1 tsp

Green chillies - 2 Medium ( cut into small squares )

Curry Leaves - 5 or 6

Oil - 2 tsp ( Just for tempering )

Method

• In a big cooking pan, dry roast the rice rava and rice flour together till you get a nice aroma and keep them separately.
• In the same pan, add oil first. When its heated, add Hing, mustard seeds, green chillies, grated ginger, curry leaves. When tempering is done, add the cooked karamani seeds along with fresh coconut flakes to the cooking pan. Add the dry roasted rice flour mix too into the kadai.
• Add 3.5 cups of water and required amount of salt. Close the lid and allow them cooked to three fourth.
• When its done, switch off the flame and let the dough cools down.
• When its cool enough to make adais, make salt adais following the same method we do and steam cook the salt adais too. 

Tips / Variations

Its always better to follow the old method of making rice flour while making these Karadaiyan Nombu Adais. Soak the raw rice in water for few minutes and dry the soaked rice in a thin muslin cloth. When its dried, make a coarse rice powder using a mixer grinder. If we make use of this special rice powder while making the adais, it would be softer and more tastier than using regular rice flour / rice rava.

For my convenience, I used the mix of Rice Flour and Rice Rava that are readily available. Somehow I like coarse adais than thick, pasty adais. So I combined Rice Rava with Rice Flour in my process. But you can alter this according to your taste buds. 

Sri Rama Navami

Sri Rama Navami is a Hindu festival celebrated on the birthday of Lord Rama. Rama who is the 7th Avatar of Lord Vishnu was born on Navami day in Ayodhya to King Dasaratha and Queen Kowsalya.

Grand celebrations would take place in many hindu temples especially on Badrachalam, Ayodhya and Rameshwaram which are the special places for Lord Rama.

On this auspicious day, many musical aradhanas would be performed and artists would sing various songs on Lord Rama and offer their prayers to him. Its believed to be good to listen to the Ramayana Story on that day. During my childhood, we used to visit some houses where they decorated Lord Rama. We sang many Thiyagarajar Kritis on Lord Rama and they offered us Panagam, Buttermilk and other homemade prasadams.

We generally make Panagam ( Jaggery water flavoured with cardamom powder, ginger powder and lime juice ) and Buttermilk flavoured with ginger, green chillies, coriander leaves and Hing. Along with that, we can offer some sundal or some other sweet to Lord Rama.

If we closely watch the Prasadams we make for every festival, they were nicely framed by our elders according to the weather conditions prevailed during that festival. Somehow, rama navami falls during summer in India and Buttermilk and Panagam are very suitable during this period. Hats off to our elders.

For Aval Sakkarai Pongal, please see the link as below :

Aval Sakkarai Pongal / Poha Sweet Pongal

Aval Sakkarai Pongal / Sakkarai Pongal using Poha

Aval Sakkarai Pongal is one of the quickest sweet that we could make during festivals. I made this tasty pongal for Rama Navami along with Panagam and Buttermilk. I always tend to make something out of Aval / Poha during regular days itself as it makes the process easier and quicker. Aval Tamarind Upma, Aval Payasam, Aval Curd item are some of  my own favorites.

Ingredients

Thick Aval / Poha - 1 Cup

Jaggery - 3/4 cup

Cardamom Powder / Elachi - 1 tsp

Pachai Karpooram - 1 small pinch

Cashew nuts - 2 tsp

Ghee - 3 tsp ( Add more if you like..)

Method

1. In a separate vessel, make the Jaggery syrup with little water. Drain the impurities or any dirt from the syrup and keep it ready. Consistency of the syrup should be neither watery nor thick. Should be in the middle form.
2. Wash the poha/aval and add it directly to the cooking pan/kadai. Add some water for the poha to get cooked. Close the lid and let the aval cook for 2-3 minutes.
3. When its cooked three fourth, add the jaggery syrup, cardamom powder, crushed pachai karpooram, ghee roasted cashew nuts and stir them well till it thickens.
4. Add ghee at the end and switch off the flame.
5. Flavorful sweet pongal is done within minutes and ready for prasadam.

Tips/Variations

Add good amount of ghee on top for kids which makes it more tasty...