Kandi Pachidi / Andhra style Kandi Pachidi / Toor Dal Chutney

In Tamilnadu, they make Paruppu Thogayal out of toor dal ( Thuvaram Paruppu ) and the regular combo my mom made generally at home was Paruppu Thogayal with Jeera Rasam and a curry. Especially when we take head bath with Sesame Oil, we were given this combo with a side small potato golden curry. Only to enjoy this combo, many days I agreed to take oil bath.!!! 

In Andhra, they call this thogayal as "Kandhi Pachidi" with a small twist in its flavours. My husband used to talk more about this Kandhi Pachidi and its his alltime favourite pachidi. Well, its a typical andhra delight loaded with tons of Protein. I made this Kandhi Pachidi by following his Mom's recipe. With a dash of melted ghee in hot rice and few urad dal appalams/papads, its a divine combination to taste on a cold rainy day!!! Only the texture determines the exact taste of this Pachidi, which should be coarsely grounded but not a fine smooth paste.

Ingredients

Toor Dal ( Kandhi Pappu / Thuvaram Paruppu ) - 1 Cup
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Urad Dal - 1 tsp
Dry Red Chilies - 4 to 5
Garlic Pods - 4
Tamarind - Tiny Pinch ( Blueberry Size )
Oil - 3 tsp
Salt - To Taste
Jaggery - A tiny piece.
Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash
For Tadka / Seasoning
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Curry Leaves - 1 stem
Oil - 1 tsp

Method 

• Roast the toor dal in a frying pan with no oil until you notice an excellent aroma. Toor dal would turn into a light golden colour after roasting.
• Wash the toor dal in running water and immediately drain them and keep aside.
• In the pan, add oil first. When its heated, add the crushed garlic pods, cumin seeds, urad dal, dry red chillies and fry them for 2 minutes.
• Grind them together along with the drained toor dal along with required amount of salt, Hing, Jaggery and tamarind and make a coarse paste. 
• In the tempering / tadka pan, add mustard seeds and curry leaves into the heated oil. When they start sputtering, pour the tempered mix over the coarsely grounded Kandi Pachidi. 
• Enjoy this delightful pachidi with hot rice and papads.

Methi Aloo Subzi / Methi Aloo Curry / Fenugreek Leaves Potato Curry

Methi aloo is an amazing accompaniment to rotis and you can never see any leftovers for sure. If you are a methi ( fenugreek ) lover, you would definitely enjoy the taste of this subzi. Slight bitterness of methi blends with the aromatic spices gives a fabulous taste with potatoes. Taking out the fenugreek leaves from the stem looks like a cumbersome process but you can make it fun while doing that  job along with kids or watching your favourite show in the television. Other than this, it takes just couple of minutes to prepare this yummy side dish.

Ingredients

Fresh Fenugreek leaves - 4 cups
Potato - 4 Medium
Red Onion  - 1/2
Green Chillies - 3 Medium
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
Cumin Coriander Powder - 3 tsp
Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp
Salt - As required
Sugar - One pinch
Oil - 1/2 tbsp
Ajwain Seeds ( Omam ) - 2 tsp
Garlic Pods - 3

Method

• While taking out the fenugreek leaves from its stem, cook the potatoes simultaneously and keep them ready after peeling off its skin. Wash  and clean the fenugreek leaves to get rid off any sand or dust in them.
• Cut the onion, green chillies and garlic pods finely and keep them ready.
• In the cooking pan, add oil first. When its heated, add ajwain ( omam ) into the oil. Add the shredded garlic first into the pan. Fry them for a minute and add red onion pieces and shredded green chili into it.
• Fry them till the onion gets translucent. Add the cleaned fenugreek leaves into the pan now. 
• Mix them well and add little bit of water for the methi leaves to cook nicely. Close the lid and allow the methi leaves to cook for 2-3 minutes.
• When they are cooked, fry them for a minute on high flame to get rid off excess water content if any. 
• Finally add the cooked and peeled potatoes along with salt and a pinch of sugar into the pan. 
• Fry the methi aloo till they blend together well and get fried enough.
• Enjoy with hot rotis with a side of curd raita and a spicy pickle.

Tips / Suggestions 
Cook the subzi on a medium flame only.
Care should be taken while adding water to cook methi leaves. In fact, I sprinkled enough water on its top
and cooked carefully as the methi gets mushy while getting cooked.

Carrot Halwa / Gajar Ka Halwa

 

 

I have been trying to blog the recipe of Carrot Halwa and Carrot Badam Kheer since a year. Somehow it was not getting included due to two main reasons. First the sweet might get over before I take a picture or the picture taken might be extremely bad to upload. But this time, I managed to get a decent picture of Carrot Halwa. Every time I make the sweets, I try to tell myself not to eat more than few bites. Oh, its really difficult to resist the temptation though.!!!

Ingredients

Grated Carrot - 7 Cups

Ricotta Cheese / Kova / Mawa - 1 Cup

Sugar - 3 Cups

Melted Butter / Ghee - 1/2 cup ( As Required )

Roasted Cashewnuts - To Garnish

Dry Grapes - To Garnish

Cardamom Powder - 2 tsp

Thick Milk - 2 Cups

 

Method

Peel the carrot skin and grate them nicely and make 7 cups of grated carrot ready.

 

In a round thick bottomed vessel, cook them in milk on medium heat till they get cooked fully. You would notice the change in its texture and colour once its cooked thoroughly.

 

Add powdered sugar into the pan and mix them well. Add the cardamom powder and 1 tbsp. of ghee into the pan. Cook them on medium heat and stir constantly.

 

When the sugar syrup completely blends with the cooked carrot, add the mawa / kova or ricotta cheese into the cooking vessel now. Mix them well and slowly add the remaining ghee at regular intervals. When the carrot halwa solidifies little bit, garnish with ghee roasted cashew nuts and dry grapes and enjoy.

 

Japanese Sushi / Sushi / Homemade Sushi

Initially I got introduced to this Japanese Sushi by my husband, he was emphasizing more about this Sushi. I did not give that much importance as I already knew his special liking towards all Asian food. In fact, I used to tease him that he would have definitely got married to a nice Chinese or Japanese girl if we were not married. !!! I did not like this Sushi a bit at first sight in Las Vegas, thought something was made out of left over rice. After tasting a Sushi roll, no change in my feelings at all. It was too cold and could not feel that taste of the inside veggies too. It was too cold and sour. Knowing that its a healthy option for me, ( as it requires zero oil ) my mind was constantly thinking how should I like this Sushi. How could I make it better to satisfy my tongue. Here comes the Magic Man, my husband. He understood what i exactly felt about the Sushi.

He made the Veggie Sushi at home with no deviations in the preparation process. His Vegetable Sushi came out extremely well and we all loved it. Seriously, I loved those Sushi Rolls. It was not too cold for me, all Sushi Rolls were made at room temperature and I could enjoy the taste of the veggies individually. With a slice of pickled ginger and a tiny bit of Wasabi on its top took us to heights. As we were exhausting the Sushi plate faster, he had to keep up his making speed. Finally, he was fortunate to enjoy 2 Sushi rolls only.!!! This recipe is totally my husband's and the process is also defined by him. Credit or criticism directly goes to him. Feel free to prepare and pass on your valuable comments to him. 

Mmmm...I could hear your questions. Why can't we make an Indian Sushi ? Yes, I am planning to slowly murder the Sushi with my hands in the next coming weeks and will blog my results. Friends who enjoy the authentic Japanese Sushi, kindly forgive me for this trial process. I cannot control my imagination wings.

Ingredients 

As Shown in the Picture.

Sushi Rice - 1.5 Cups
Rice Vinegar - 2 tbsp
Roasted Sesame Seeds - 3 tsp
Lite Soya Sauce - As Required
Wasabi Sauce - As Required
Pickled Ginger - As Required
Avocado - 1 ( Sliced as shown in the picture )
Carrot - 1 Medium ( Sliced as shown in the picture )
Cucumber - 1/2 Medium ( Sliced as shown in the picture )
Dried and Roasted Seaweed Sheets ( Nori ) - As Required.
Salt - 3/4 tsp
Sugar - 1.5 tsp
Rice Vinegar - 3 tbsp

Preparation 

Cook the Sushi Rice first. Add 2 cups of water for 1.5 cups of Rice. In a small cup, add 3 tbsp of Rice Vinegar, 1.5 tsp of Sugar and 3/4 tsp of salt. Stir the mixture till the sugar and salt dissolve in rice vinegar. Gently pour the rice vinegar mix into the cooked rice and mix thoroughly. Rice texture and taste mainly determines the taste of the Sushi. 

Wash and the veggies and cut them as shown in the picture. Roast the Sesame seeds to golden brown. 

As we don't have the Sushi Mat right now, on the wooden cutting board, place the thick big Ziplog Bag. First place the Roasted Seaweed Sheet.

Spread the Sushi Rice now on top of the Seaweed Sheet uniformly. A thin layer of rice would be more than enough to make a Sushi. 

Place the cut veggies on one corner of the rice spread as shown in the picture. We placed 2 carrot sticks, 2 cucumber sticks, 3 slices of avocado. Don't stuff more than this as it would be difficult to roll the Sushi. 

Start rolling the Sushi from the veggie side towards the other side carefully. After you roll one round, gently press the roll and continue rolling. This will enable the Sushi to get into shape correctly and firmly.

After you roll completely, cut the Sushi rounds and arrange them on a serving plate in a way you desire. Sprinkle some roasted sesame seeds on all the Sushi and gently pour few teaspoons of Soya Sauce on top of the sushis and serve them with pickled ginger slices and a bit of wasabi sauce. Enjoy the Sushi platter with joy.

Apple Jam / Sweet Apple Jam

Since few weeks, bowls and bowls of fresh juicy red delicious apples showered by our neighbour were decorating our counter top beautifully. We have been eating those apples almost daily. But I really wish to make something out of those sweet apples like spicy thokku or Sweet Jam. I tried both and presenting you friends both the recipes.

Natural sweetness of the red delicious apples was quite enough for this jam. I added 2 cups of Sugar for almost 7 cups of crushed apple. Though the process got over after an hour, its much much simpler and does not need any high end efforts except grinding. Friends, i just grounded the apple pieces in my blender without any water than grating them. But its choice to make the jam with grated apples. Also, i did not peel the apple skin at all as it contains many nutrients.

Sweet Apple Jam 

Ingredients

Red Apples -- Around 10 Medium which could yield 7 cups of grated apples or crushed apples.
Sugar - 2 Cups
Lemon Juice - 1/4 cup
Nutmeg Powder - 1 tsp
Cinnamon Powder - 1/2 tsp ( Optional , I did not add )

Method 

• Wash all the apples thoroughly and cut them into medium squares. Carefully take out the middle part which contains the apple seeds.
• In the grinder, grind them coarsely or to a fine paste ( as you wish ) and keep it ready.
• In a thick bottomed vessel / pan, add all the ingredients and mix them well. Cook the jam on medium heat for about an hour.
• Stir the cooking jam inside the vessel at intervals. When it comes to a thick jam consistency, switch off the flame.
• Allow the jam to cool completely. Once its cooled, store the jam in an air tight container.
• Enjoy the apple jam with fresh baked sandwich breads.

7 Cup Cake / Seven Cup Cake / 7 Cup Burfi

Seven Cup Cake flashed in my mind when I was trying to make a very quick sweet for Diwali. It came out very well and got over first also as my kids loved this cake. At the end, almost i cut the cake into halves and distributed them in order to avoid fights between them. Though the whole world knows about this 7 cup cake, I am just blogging the recipe for future reference. 

Ingredients

Besan Flour / Channa Dal Flour / Kadalai Maavu / Senaga Pindi - 1 Cup

Powdered Sugar - 3 Cups

Melted Butter or Ghee - 1 Cup

Fresh Shredded Coconut - 1 Cup

Whole Milk - 1 Cup

Method

• In a thick bottomed pan, fry the besan flour on a medium flame until you get a nice aroma. 
• To that, add all other ingredients and stir them continuously so that no lumps are formed.
• When it comes to a thick consistency and leaves its sides,switch off the flame. 
• Pour them over a plate greased with ghee and spread uniformly. Once it cools down little bit and before it becomes hard, cut them into desired shapes.
• Once the plate completely cools down, take out the cake pieces carefully and store them in an airtight container.

Tips

• I prefer to make this sweet in a Non Stick Vessel as it comes out very easily and does not stick to the bottom. 
• Flame should be constantly maintained at a medium level and not too high.
• Take out the cake mix at the right point to get softy,spongy and tasty cake.