Soft and Spongy Rava Idly alongside Pirandai Chutney- Without adding Baking Soda

Hey buddies!! Bored with regular Idlies and Chutnies??!! Here it is... Softy spongy Rava Idly with damn healthy Pirandai Chutney!!

Rava Idly with damn healthy Pirandai Chutney!!

Pirandai Chutney Ingredients:

1. Tomato: 1 big
2. Coconut: 1 half - shredded
3. Tamarind: 1 small gooseberry size
4. Urad daal/ulutham paruppu: 2 tspn
5. Pirandai [Botonical name – Cissus quandrangularis, English: Edible Stemmed Vine, Tamil: pirandai/ perandai, Telugu: nalleru, Hindi: hadjod]: as shown in pic
6. Asafoetida/Hing/Perungayam: 1/2 tspn
7. Coriander leaves/kothamalli: a few as shown in pic
8. Curry Leaves/ karuveppilai: a few as shown in pic
9. Oil- 3 tspn
10. Salt: as req

Pirandai Chutney METHOD:

1. Wash well the pirandai, cut the 4 corner stems of pirandai and chop them as shown in pic. Apply some oil in hands to avoid itchy feel given while handling perandai. [avoid leaves in pirandai stems].
2. Heat a pan/kadai, add 3 tspns of oil. Once the oil is heated, add the chopped pirandai and saute well for 3-5 mins in medium flame. The color will change and raw smell of pirandai will go off.
3. After the pirandai is well sauted, strain the pirandai alone from kadai and keep it aside.
4. In the left over oil, add urad daal and fry it until it turns golden..dont fire it up..
5. Once the urad daal turned golden color, add the sliced tomato, shredded coconut, perungayam/hing, curry leaves, coriander leaves, tamarind, salt req for chutney and mix all together well. Add the previously cooked pirandai to this and saute well. Until the tomato turns mushy. [this will take 5-7 mins in medium flame]
6. Turn off the flame and allow them to cool under a fan.
7. Once it turns to warm or to room temperature, grind the contents semi-coarsely to form a chutney consistency. CHUTNEY'S WONT BE A SMOOTH PASTE.
8. Pirandai Chutney is ready!!

RAVA IDLY INGRDIENTS:

1. Roasted Rava/sooji: 1 medium size tumbler
2. Curd/Yogurt: 1 medium size tumbler. [1:1 proportion ; rava and curd]
3. Carrot: 1 Grated
4. Coriander Leaves: Handful: chopped
5. Ginger: 1 inch piece; shredded [to temper]
6. Green Chilly: 1 finely chopped [to temper]
7. Oil: 2 tspn [to temper]
8. Mustard seeds/kadugu: 1/4 tspn [to temper]
9. Urad dhaal/ulutham parupu: 1/2 tspn [to temper]
10. Hing/Perungayam/asafoetida: 1/4 tspn [to temper]
11. Fruit Salt: 1/2 tspn [instead of baking soda, but this is healthy; i used Eno]
12. Salt: as per taste
13. Water: to form the batter [add water carefully since curd is added, the batter should be neither thin nor thick, exactly like idly batter]

RAVA IDLY METHOD:

1. GRATE CARROT, CHOP CORIANDER, GINGER, GREEN CHILLY

2. HEAT OIL IN A KADAI AND TEMPER INGREDIENTS MENTIONED IN [TO TEMPER] AND ADD THEM IN A BIG SIZE BOWL.

3. ADD ROASTED RAVA TO THE TEMPERED ITEMS IN THE BOWL. 

4. ADD CURD.

5. ADD GRATED CARROT

6. ADD CHOPPED CORIANDER LEAVES

7. ADD SALT

8. MIX WELL USING A SPATULA.

9. USE ENO REGULAR FRUIT SALT INSTEAD OF BAKING SODA.

10. ADD 1/2 TSPN OF ENO FRUIT SALT.

11. YOU CAN SEE THE BUBBLES COMING AFTER ADDING ENO [THIS GIVES SOFTNESS]

12. MIX ALL THOROUGHLY. LET IT
MARINADE FOR 30 MINS.

13. GREASE THE IDLY PLATE WITH GHEE/OIL

14. FILL THE MOULDS WITH RAVA IDLY BATTER AND STEAM FOR 15-20 MINS.

RAVA IDLY WITH PIRANDAI CHUTNEY IS READY!

Mulai Keerai Mor Kootu

Healthy and tasty MOR KOOTU

INGREDIENTS:

1. Mulai Keerai: 1 kattu/ bunch [ cut the root alone and finely chop both the leaves and stem]
2. Salt: as req
3. Turmeric Powder: 1/4 tspn
4. Hing/ Perungayam/ Asafoetida: 1/2 tspn
5. Tomatoes: 2 nos. cubed
6. Coconut oil: 2 tspn[to garnish at last]

TO GRIND:

1. Soaked toor daal/thuvaram paruppu: 3 tspn
2. Jeeragam/ Cumin seeds: 2 tspn
3. Red chilly: 1 no.
4. Coconut: 1 half [oru moodi] grated.
5. Water: as req for the paste.

TEMPERING IS NOT NEEDED FOR ANY MOR-KOOTU VARIETIES AND AVIAL

METHOD:

1. Wash thoroughly until the mud goes off from keerai.
2. In a pan/kadai, put the washed keerai add sufficient water until keerai gets soaked.
3. Add turmeric powder, salt, tomatoes, hing/asafoetida and mix well along with keerai and water.
4. Let this mixture cook for 10 mins in medium flame. [once this is cooked, using a spatula/masher, mash the contents slightly to gel each other]
5. Meanwhile, add all the ingredients mentioned in "to grind" to a mixie and grind as a semi-smooth paste [not fully coarse].
6. Add this paste to already cooking keerai and let it give 1 boil and turn off.
7. On top of the prepared keerai mor kootu, add 2 tspns of edible coconut oil and mix well [add only after turning off the flame].
8. Keerai Mor-Kootu is ready to serve.
9. You can have it as a side dish for any rice, chapathis etc.. You can mix this with plain white rice and consume it for a complete lunch. Very Very Healthy. Try it pals!!

Aalo Gravy Rice- Lunch Box Special

Yummy aalo gravy flavored rice

A very very easy and tasty dish. If the ingredients are ready, the dish is just 10-15 mins.

LUNCH BOX SPECIAL

INGREDIENTS:

1. Potato: 2 nos. medium size [chop into 2 inch cubes]
2. Onion- 1 big
3. Tomato- 3 medium
4. Coriander Leaves: a small cup/ or a hand-full 
5. Mint Leaves/ pudina: hand-full
6. Ginger Garlic Paste- 1 tspn
7. Top quality Basmati Rice: 1 medium size tumbler
8. Water: 1 and 1/4th of the tumbler or 1 and 1/2 of the tumbler [if aged/old rice- add 1 and 1/2 tumbler of water]
9. Oil- 3 tbspns
10. Ghee- 2 tspns
11. Salt: as required
12. Sugar: a pinch [tastemaker]
13. Bay Leaf [brinji ilai]: 1 crushed
14. Cloves, Cardamom[kraambu, yelakkai]: 2 pcs each
15. Cinnamon[pattai or lavangapattai]: 1 stick; break into pieces
16. Star Anise[annaasi poo / annasi mokku]: 1 piece
17. Fennel seeds [sombu]: 1/2 tspn
18. Cumin seeds [jeeragam]: 1/2 tspn

MASALA POWDERS:

1. Coriander powder: 1/2 tspn
2. Jeera Powder: 1/2 tspn
3. Chilly Powder: 1/2 tspn to 1 tspn [as per ur taste]
4. Garam Masala: 1 tspn
5. Biriyanai Masala: 1 tspn
6. Turmeric powder: 1/4 tspn

METHOD:

1. Wash and Soak the basmati rice in luke warm water for 15-20 mins.
2. Take a mixie jar, grind tomatoes, coriander leaves, and "masala powders" to a thick smooth paste without adding water.
3. Heat a cooker on stove, add ghee and oil.
4. Add ingredients from no: 13 to 18. Let them get saute in oil and ghee.
5. Add the sliced onion and saute until translucent.
6. Add ginger garlic paste and saute well until raw smell goes off.
7. Add the cubed potatoes and mix well. Add mint leaves and saute.
8. Add the tomato-coriander-masala powder paste and saute will until oil leaves the concoction. 
9. Simmer the flame.
10. Drain the soaked rice from water and add to the masala.
11. Add the mentioned quantity of water [as per proportion mentioned above]. And mix all together.
12. Keep the flame to medium, add salt and sugar as mentioned, mix thoroughly. 
13. Close the cooker lid. Wait until steam comes and place the whistle.
14. If its big cooker [5 litre and above], give 2 whistles, or 1 whistle and keep in sim for 5 mins and turn off.
15. If its small cooker [ 3 litre and below], give 3 whistles and turn off.
16. Open the cooker lid once the pressure is released.
17. Fluff the rice using fork/spatula without breaking and serve with any raitha! 
18. You may garnish with coriander-mint leaves if you wish!

Mutter /Peas Semi Gravy

Ingredients:

1. Mutter / green peas- 100 gms
2. Onion: 1 big- finely chopped
3. Tomato- 1 big- finely chopped
4. Oil/butter/ghee - To temper
5. Bay leaf/ brinji leaf- 1 
6. Jeera-1/4 tspn to temper
7. Special Subzi Masala Powder : 1 and 1/2 tspn [click on this link for SUBZI MASALA POWDER recipe]
8. Salt: to taste
9. Water: as per consistency

Method:

1. Cook the peas initially either in cooker method with 2 whistles or in open pot method by adding peas in boiling water [check often whether its cooked or not if doing in open pot method- normally it takes 10-12 mins hardly to get cooked in open pot method]. If its frozen peas, soak it in water for 5 -10 mins after taking it from freezer.
2. Heat a kadai/pan. Add a tspn of oil/butter/ghee, let it heat and add 1/4 tspn of jeeragam/cumin seeds. Let it split.
3. Crush the bay leaf and add to it.
4. Add the finely chopped onion and saute until it becomes translucent.
5. Add the finely chopped tomatoes and saute until it becomes very mushy.
6. Add Special Subzi Masala Powder and saute the gravy until the masala mix with the onion-tomato.
7. Add 3 tspns of water to the gravy .
8. Add the cooked peas/frozen peas to it. Mix it well. Add required salt.
9. Add 1/4th tumbler of water to it. Close kadai/pan with a lid. Simmer the flame and cook for 3-5 mins.
10. Hot and tasty Mutter semi gravy is ready to be served with rotis, puris, parathas, naan, dosa, etc.

Suggestions:

• You may add a pinch of sugar and turmeric powder while cooking the peas to retain its color.
• You may garnish the dish with fresh and finely chopped coriander leaves.
• Please use naatu thakkali for this dish. If using Bangalore tomato, use 2 big nos instead of 1.

Special Subzi Masala Powder

Spl. Subzi/ Sidedish masala powder!!

Ingredients:

1. Readymade Top Branded Coriander Powder/ dhaniya thool: 100 gms
2. Readymade Top Branded Jeera Powder/ jeeraga thool: 100 gms
3. Readymade Top Branded Garam masala: 100 gms
4. Readymade Top Branded Kasturi / Kasoori methi- 50 gms
5. Readymade Top Branded Red chilly Powder: 50 gms
6. Readymade Top Branded Turmeric powder: 5 tspns
7. Readymade Top Branded Aamchur/ dry mango powder: 5 tspns

Method:

1. Take a bowl and add all the ingredients except kasoori methi.
2. Mix them thoroughly.
3. Take the kasuri methi on your hands, crush them slightly and add them to the mixture.
4. Now mix everything once again along with the crushed kasuri methi,
5. Store it in a air tight container.
6. Your subzi masala powder is ready. You can just add this special powder to all your North Indian subzis / side dishes :)