Amaranth Kootu / Keerai Kootu

Amaranth leaves, which are called as "Mulai Keerai" in Tamil seem to be rarely available here. I really miss all the green leafy vegetables like Siru Keerai, Manathakkali Keerai, Ponnanganni Keerai, etc., So, whenever I see these nutritious greens in the Indian stores, I grab atleast two bunches. Eating greens at least twice a week keeps us healthy and young and they fight against various diseases. In my childhood, my mom used to make two vegetables in a meal in the middle of her hectic schedule too. Out of that, Mulai Keerai Masiyal or Murungai Keerai curry or any other green varieties would definitely be there. I was fortunate to taste all these healthy greens frequently when  I was young whereas I could not get those right now except few varieties..

Amaranth / Mulai Keerai gives a wonderful flavour while cooking and its highly nutritious. We can do Masiyal, simple dal, curry or any other variety out of these tasty, healthy leaves. This time, I tried Keerai Kootu for a change and i added few cooked dal in my process. You can avoid the cooked dal while making this kootu and its optional. Generally while making this kootu, they don't add cooked dal but i added some to make it more healthy for my kids. Without dal too, it tastes excellent with the grounded paste.

Ingredients

Amaranth Leaves / Mulai Keerai / Thandu Keerai - 1 Big Bunch

Cooked Toor Dal Paste - 2 tbsp

Hing - 1 Dash

Salt - As Required

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Sugar - 1 pinch

For the Grounded Paste :

Fresh Coconut Flakes - 1/2 cup

Cumin Seeds / Jeera - 1 tsp

Green chillies - 2 Medium or 1 Big

Ginger - 1 tiny square

For Tempering / Tadka :

Oil - 2 tsp

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Jeera / Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Urad Dal / Ulutham Paruppu - 1 tsp

Kadalai Paruppu / Channa Dal - 1 tsp

Dry Red Chillies - 1 big

Procedure :

• Wash the Amaranth Leaves / Mulai Keerai and chop them. Meantime, grind the ingredients for the grounded paste and keep it ready.
• In a vessel, add all the chopped green leaves, turmeric powder, hing, pinch of sugar and some water and allow them to cook thoroughly on medium heat.
• Cook the toor dal / kandhi pappu / Thuvaram paruppu in a separate cooker and keep it ready too...
• When the amaranth leaves / toor dal is completely cooked, add the toor dal into the Keerai. Add some salt and the grounded paste into the vessel and allow them to cook for another 4-5 minutes/
• Finally add tadka into the keerai kootu and serve this healthy side dish in your thali or meals.

Semiya Payasam / Vermicelli Payasam

Semiya Payasam / Vermicelli Payasam in one of the favourites in my family. Though we all mostly make this sweet during festivals and special occasions, the preparation itself makes a normal day so special.!! Semiya Payasam is made by roasting the vermicelli with ghee, slowly cooked and simmered in milk and sugar, flavoured with crushed cardamom powder and little saffron and garnished with ghee roasted cashew nuts. It tastes heavenly if made using whole milk. As the process is simpler, its easy to make a normal day into a very special day....Its all in our hands!!! Have a beautiful day with a cup of sweet semiya payasam.

Ingredients

Semiya / Vermicelli - 1 cups

Milk - 4-5 cups ( Used 2% Milk )

Sugar - 3/4 th of a cup

Cardamom Powder - 1 tsp

Saffron - 1 pinch ( Optional )

Ghee - 2 tsp

Cashew nuts - 8-10 ghee roasted

Method

• In a kadai / cooking vessel, add a tsp of ghee and roast the cashew nuts first and keep them aside. Then add another tsp of ghee and roast the vermicelli till it turns golden colour.
• When you get a nice aroma, add enough water to cook the vermicelli.
• When its well cooked, add milk,saffron and sugar and allow them to cook for another 5-6 minutes.
• Don't forget to stir the payasam once a while.
• Add cardamom powder and roasted cashew nuts to the Payasam.
• You can have this Payasam either warm or chilled.
• Finally add the roasted cashew nuts to the Payasam and enjoy.

Tips / Note

Vermicelli payasam thickens after a while as the vermicelli absorbs most of the milk. Also, it gets thickened when its refrigerated. So, just before serving add warm milk to the Payasam and mix them well and serve.

You can add roasted raisins to the Payasam along with cashew nuts.

Sorakkai Paratha / Dhoodhi Paratha / Lauki Paratha



Garam Dhoodhi parathas with a side of Methi Kadi and some onion

Bottle gourd which is called as "Dhoodhi" or "Lauki" in Hindi and "Sorakkai" in Tamil and "Sorakaya " in Telugu, has more water content, fills the stomach and easy for digestion. As it has very less calories, its ideal for weight reduction too. We can make Dal, Payasam / Kheer, Kootu, etc using this vegetable. But when i first tasted this Dhoodhi Paratha few years before, I liked it very much. This paratha was first introduced by a Gujarati aunty who helped us in our kitchen after my delivery. Till today, I have been following many of her recipes in my kitchen and the dishes always remind me of her cooking, taste and kindness..

Ingredients

Bottle gourd / Sorakkai - 1 Medium

Wheat Flour - 5 cups

Oil - 1 tbsp

Salt - To Taste

Green Chillies - 2 Medium

Omum / Ajwain Seeds - 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1.5 tsp

Coriander Powder - 3-4 tsp

Fennel Seeds/Sombhu - 2 tsp ( crushed into powder ).

Method

• Peel the skin of the Bottle Gourd and grate them carefully.
• Knead the dough by mixing all the ingredients as mentioned above without adding water. Make sure that the paratha dough is bit tight and its always better to prepare the paratha dough few minutes before making the Parathas.
• Make lemon size ball and spread it into a big round using a chapati roller. While making the paratha, if required just flip the sides with wheat flour or maida flour which in turn makes the process easier.
• Cook the parathas on a heated kadai/pan on both sides. Apply little ghee or oil over the parathas after its done and serve hot with any of your favourite side dish.
• Generally we love to have a side of Kadi and some tangy tomato pickle on its side at our home. Trust me, parathas taste very good with a side of Kadi or raita.

Tips/Variations 

• If the peeled skin of the Bottle Gourd is thin and fresh, preserve those for making a very tasty pachidi/thogayal.
• Instead of using coriander powder, crush the coriander seeds and fennel seeds / somfu coarsely and add that freshly grounded powder while making the dough. This fresh powder gives an unique taste to the Parathas for sure. ( As told by my friend ). 

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.