Roti \ Chappati Roll with Veggie Paneer Fry

Hi Friends....after a long break. !!!!! Summer vacation got over in homeland and back home.  Have so many traditional recipes in store to post...So you will be seeing those slowly in our blog this month.. Well, cooking has slowly started  at home here and made a quick chappathi \ roti roll for us on a lazy Friday night. It was delicious, filling, tastier with a side of greek yogurt cup. This time, I used the ready made chappathis available at our local Indian store

Lots of  home grown tomatoes, zucchinis, squash were given to us by our kind neighbours. To make use of those ones with some extra veggies and paneer , I decided to make this easier roll..

You can add any vegetables of your choice to this simple fry...With some mild seasoning, this veggie paneer fry is definitely a kids choice..for any time of the day.

Ingredients

Chappathi \ Roti -  Few

Olive Oil - 2 tbsp

Turmeric Powder - 2 teaspoon

Jeera ( Cumin) - 2 tsp

Garam Masala Powder - 1\2 tbsp

Red Chilli Powder - 1 teaspoon

Salt - To Taste

Sugar - a small pinch

Coriander Leaves  -  1 Handful

Vegetables

Tomato - 1

Potato - 1

Beans - 8 or 10 big ones

Carrot - 1 medium

Peas  - 1 Handful

Cauliflower -  12 small florets

White Onion - 1 Medium

Capsicum - 1\2  medium

Zucchini - 1 medium

Paneer Cubes - 15 to 20 medium cubes.

Procedure

1. Wash all the vegetables thoroughly and cut them into medium cubes and keep aside. Cut the panner into medium cubes and keep them ready.
2. On medium heat, add olive oil into the thick bottomed kadai. When oil gets heated up, add jeera first. When it sputters, then add onions, capsicum one by one and shallow fry them. Add turmeric powder and a pinch of sugar and little salt for them to cook quickly.
3. Slowly add all other veggies into the kadai and stir them nicely. Sprinkle some water and let them cook on low flame for few minutes.
4. After its cooked to a desired level, open the lid and all other seasoning powders to the kadai. Add required amount of salt to the mixture and stir the veggie mix thoroughly.
5. Add the paneer cubes into the kadai now and stir carefully without breaking the paneer cubes.
6. Keep the lid open and let the veggie paneer mix coated with the seasoned powders get fried on medium flame for few minutes.
7. Occasionally stir the contents so that they get fried uniformly.
8. After its done, switch off the flame. Garnish the dish with the crushed coriander leaves..Now the veggie paneer mix is ready.

9. Make a hot chappathi \ roti and keep 3-4 tbsp of the veggie paneer dish into the center of the chappathi, roll it perfectly and serve with a side of greek yogurt. A complete healthy meal is done very quickly with less efforts.

Variations

You can add any vegetables of your choice but not watery ones as they might spoil the fry.

Tips

Don't fry the paneer separately.  Add them to the veggie mix and coat them with the seasoning. Let the paneer get fried along with the veggies in the kadai itself.

Kalyana Gothsu / Gotsu / Gosthu

In many south indian marriages you could definitely taste a very unique side dish called "Kalyana Gothsu" which is generally served with idli,dosa and pongal varieties. My mom made this side dish for idli and it was very good. Just for a change, try to make this dish instead of idli sambar. Process is simpler and faster too...If you like this recipe, all the credits go to my mom.

Ingredients

Brinjal - 2 Medium

Carrot - 1 Small

Onion - 2 Small Size

Potato - 2 Medium

Green Chilli - 1 Big

Tomato - 1

Moong Dhal / Payatham Paruppu / Pesara Pappu - 3/4 Cup

Channa Dhal / Kadalai Paruppu / Senaga Pappu - 2 tbsp

Sambar Powder - 2 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Salt - To Taste

Tamarind Juice - 3 tbsp ( Thick Juice)

Kadalai Maavu / Besam Flour - 2 tsp

For tempering

Olive Oil - 2 tsp

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - 1 stem

Method

1. Soak both the dals together in one vessel for 5 minutes.
2. Wash and cut all the vegetables into small cubes and keep it ready.
3. In a small pressure pan or small pressure cooker, transfer the vegetables, green chilli,soaked dals into it.
4. Add turmeric powder, sambar powder, little salt and add enough water for the contents to get cooked.
5. Close the cooker and allow the contents to get cooked and switch off the cooker after 2 whistles.
6. After its cooled down, open the cooker and slightly mash the veggies and dals.
7. Add the tamarind juice extract into it first.
8. Add 2 tsp of besan flour / kadalai Maavu into a small cup and add little water and make a watery paste.
9. Add this watery besan paste and required amount of salt and water to the pressure cooker.
10. Allow the contents to be on medium flame for few minutes.
11. Meantime, finish the tempering process and pour them over the pressure cooker.
12. Now the Gothsu is totally ready to eat with idli, pongal or dosa varieties.

Tips

Try to add enough water along with tamarind extract and cook. Otherwise, it will look like a thick kootu. If its little watery, it would go well with the south indian tiffin.

Thanjavur Kadappa / Thanjavur Kadapa / Hotel Kadapa

In our hometown thanjavur, small hotels on road side used to give a mild yellow colour side dish as a side for Idly, dosas and it tasted very good. We used to fight for those small potatoes hiding in that gravy. That dish was called as Kadappa which was served only in Hotels. This would look like a watery spicy gravy with some small baby potatoes in it. Though I am a big fan of having Idlies with hotel sambar and chutney, I still like to have Idlies with this special Kadappa. Someone who does not like to have Idlies will definitely eat idlies with this special Kadappa dish. Though I make this kadappa dish at home nowadays, still the flavour and exact taste of those road side hotels do not even be compared to mine. Those were so unique.

Ingredients

Potatoes - 10 or 12 small

Onion - 1\2  cut into thin slices lengthwise

Moong Dal \ Payatham Paruppu \ Pesara Pappu  - 2 tbsp

Olive Oil - 2 tbsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Dry red chilli powder --- 1 tsp

Salt -- To Taste

Jeera - 1 tsp

Cinnamon Sticks \ Pattai - 2 medium

Lavang \ Cloves - 3 or 4

For Grinding

Fresh Coconut - 4 tbsp

Sombu \ Fennel Seeds -- 2 tsp

Garlic Pods - 5 or 6 big

Green chillies - 3 Big

Khus Khus - 2 tsp

Method

1. Wash the Moong Dal and cook it to a smooth paste in a pressure cooker. Add some water to the cooked dal and keep the Dal water ready.
2. Peel the skin of the potatoes and cook them either in microwave or on the stove.
3. Grind the ingredients as mentioned above and make a smooth creamy paste of the grounded mixture.
4. Cut the onions into thin slices. Keep all the masala ingredients ready on the side.
5. On medium heat, add olive oil first. When its heated, add jeera, cloves, cinnamon sticks to the heated oil. When its roasted, add thin slices of onion and turmeric powder to the Olive Oil.
6. Fry them well for a minute till the onion becomes translucent. Add the grounded paste to the kadai and fry them very well till the raw smell of the garlic completely goes off.
7. After that, add the Dal water to the kadai. Mix them well and add required amount of salt to the contents in the kadai.
8. Add a pinch of sugar too to the kadai. Add 1 tsp of red chilli powder to the kadai.
9. Close the lid and let the kadappa gravy comes to a boil. Then, add the cooked potatoes to the kadappa gravy.
10. Close the lid and let the kadappa gets cooked with potatoes for few minutes.
11. Switch off the heat then and let the kadappa settles down for few minutes.
12. Add a tsp of lemon juice to the kadappa and garnish with coriander leaves to the Kadappa.
13. Serve this yummy gravy to any south indian tiffin varieties or roti.

Tips

• As there is a slight difference between this Kadappa and a normal potato kuruma, don't make this Kadappa gravy in a thick or semi solid state. Make it little watery but with a good punch in its taste.
• You can add extra green chillies while preparing  the creamy paste for the gravy.   As we add the Dal water too, the spice level  might get lowered in the gravy. So, its better to add one or two green chillies extra before grinding the paste itself.

Mullangi Pachidi \ Mullangi Thogayal \ Radish Pachidi

Due to the strong and pungent taste of radish, many people do not like to see radish in their plates. But due to its high nutritional value, its wiser to include radish in our regular cooking. This mullangi thogayal \ mullangi pachidi is very tasty and made with fresh, juicy radish and other spices.

Ingredients

Fresh juicy Radish \ Mullangi - 1 Big one

Urad Dal \ Ulutham Paruppu \ Minna Pappu - 2 tsp

Olive Oil - 1 tbsp

Hing \ Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Dry Red Chillies - 4 or 5

Fenugreek seeds \ Menthilu \ Vendhayam - 5 or 6 seeds

Salt - To Taste

Tamarind - 1 small pinch

Jaggery - 1 tsp

For Tempering

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Urad Dal \ Ulutham Paruppu \ Minna Pappu - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - 4 or 5.

Method

Peel the mullangi skin and grate the Mullangi or cut it into small thin pieces. On a kadai, add oil first. When its heated, add Hing, urad dal, dry red chillies, tamarind, fenugreek seeds and fry them slightly on low heat till they get roasted. Take it out and transfer the contents into a mixer grinder. On the kadai, now add the mullangi pieces or grated mullangi and fry them in the same oil for few minutes till the mullangi cooks completely. After that, transfer them too to the mixer grinder. Add required amount of salt and little jaggery to the grinder and grind everything together to a coarse paste. After its done, transfer the Mullangi Chutney \ pachidi to a bowl. Finish the tempering process by adding the ingredients as mentioned. Pour the tempered oil and its contents over the chutney. Serve it with hot white rice with ghee or as a side for any south indian tiffin.

Simple Tomato Chutney \ Thakkali Chutney

With tomatoes, we can try out different varieties of chutney. One of the simplest variety of tomato chutney or pachidi is made only with the mix of tomatoes and green chillies. It goes very well with pongal, idly, dosa.. Its very easier to make with very less ingredients and the process is also quicker.

Ingredients

Tomatoes - 3 Big one

Green chillies - 2 Big or 3 Medium

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Olive Oil - 2 tsp

Hing \ Asafoetida - 1 pinch

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Urad dal \ Ulutham paruppu\Minna Pappu - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - 2 or 3

Salt - To Taste

Nalla yennai \ Thill Oil \ Gingelly Oil - 1 tsp

Method

Wash and cut the tomatoes and green chillies. Grind them to a coarse paste in a mixer grinder. On a thick medium sized kadai, add olive oil first. When it gets heated, add Hing, mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves for tempering. Add a tsp of turmeric powder to the oil. Finally add the grounded paste and required amount of salt to the contents in the vessel. Mix them well and fry them on a low heat till the tomato chutney reduces to one third in its quantity. Then add the gingelly oil to the tomato chutney \ pachidi and mix it well. Switch off the heat. Serve this tangy and tasty tomato chutney for any south indian tiffin variety.

Asparagus Mor Kootu / Asparagus in Coconut Curd Gravy

"Vazhaithandu Mor kootu" ( Banana stem Mor kootu) is one of my favourite dishes and I was missing that very much in US. After I tasted asparagus in one of our friends house, I decided to substitute this asparagus in place of vazhaithandu ( Banana Stem). I tried this new recipe and an excellent, tasty Mor Kootu was the result.

Asparagus is very low in calories and very low in sodium. It has numerous vitamins and good source of dietary fiber too. Now we are buying Asparagus regularly for our food. In my next posts, i will post the other recipes of Asparagus which I tried at home.

Ingredients

Asparagus - 1 Bunch

Green Chillies - 2 Medium

Jeera - 1 tsp

Ginger - 1 small cube.

Coconut shredded - 1/2 cup

Fresh Curd - 1/2 cup

Salt - 2 tsp

For tadka

Asafoetida - 1 pinch.

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Urad Dal - 1 tsp

Channa Dal - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - 5 or 6

Red Chillies - 2 medium.

Method

• Steam or cook the asparagus with little salt.
• Grind the ingredients as given with little curd. Keep the remaining curd which is to be added later.
• Add the grinded paste into the steamed/cooked asparagus.
• Add some more salt to taste. When its thoroughly mixed, add the remaining curd also and simmer for a minute. Then, switch off the stove.
• Add the tadka into the asparagus gravy.
• This healthy sidedish can be served even as a raita ( by adding more fresh curd in the same process) with mixed rice at parties,get-togethers.

Aviyal - Steamed Vegetables in Coconut Yogurt Creamy Gravy

Aviyal is a delightful mix of all vegetables in a creamy yogurt sauce. Its a very traditional dish and mostly served in many marriages in South India. This has been one of my favourites since childhood and I very often make this at home too.Though i made this Aviyal many times, I cannot even come nearer to the version which my mom makes it till today.!!! Its very easy to make this Aviyal with an excellent taste and flavour and its equally easier to spoil the aviyal as well. To my knowledge, if the grinding mixture is of correct consistency and the vegetables are steamed to the right level, then the Aviyal is heavenly with any rice. If any of the things get wrong in the middle, then the aviyal will not be as expected. Also, i prefer to make aviyal with fresh curd only and not with sour curd. I have not added Drumsticks to the aviyal today as I don't have it at home. But drumsticks contribute more to the aviyal flavour. So, try to add atleast few drumsticks to the aviyal if you have it in abundance.

Ingredients
For Grinding
Fresh Thick Curd - 1 Cup
Fresh Coconut Flakes - 1\2 cup
Jeera - 2 tsp
Ginger - 1 Small square
Green chillies - 4 Medium
Vegetables
Carrot - 1 Medium
Potato - 3 Medium
Chow Chow - 1 Medium
Zuccini - 1 Big
Raw Banana - 1 Big
Brinjal - 2 Big
Broad Beans \ Avaraikai \ Chikkukai - 8 to 10
White Pumpkin - 1 Small portion
Tempering
Olive Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp
Curry Leaves - 1 stem
Turmeric Powder - 2 tsp
Method

1. Grind the ingredients as mentioned above into a smooth creamy paste. While grinding, add little curd only to the mixture and keep the remaining curd aside which can be added to the aviyal at the end.
2. Wash all the vegetables first and cut them into desired shapes equally. Let the pieces be not too small.
3. On a thick bottomed vessel, first place the hard vegetables at the bottom and place the other watery vegetables on top one by one.
4. Add little water and little salt into it and let the vegetables get cooked and steamed for few minutes.
5. After its cooked fully, add the grounded mixture and required amount of salt into the vessel and mix them well. Let the aviyal cook for another 2 minutes.
6. Then, add oil in a tempering pan and add the ingredients as mentioned above to the heated oil. When it sputters, pour them over the Aviyal.
7. Add the remaining curd \ yogurt into the aviyal, mix them well and switch off the heat.

Variations

You can add few drops of coconut oil to the aviyal at the end.

You can add any vegetables of your choice in the aviyal.

You can add more green chillies to make the aviyal more spicy.

Tips

Don't overcook the vegetables and make it more pasty.

Don't add sour curd \ yogurt into the aviyal which adds more sourness to the aviyal.