Herbal Recipe: Vallara Keerai Thugaiyal / Thuvaiyal

‘Vallara Keerai’ – known by botonical name  Centella asiatica and Brahmi in Hindi is known for its brain-boosting abilities, as claimed by the ‘Ayurveda’ and ‘Siddha’ traditional medicines of India, in practice for over thousands of years. 

Consuming this once a week in our diet, helps us improve our memory power. This is much required for all especially to school-going children and college students. Also to aged, those who lose their memory.

Ingredients

• Vallarai Keerai: 1 bunch
• Ulutham parupu/Urad dhaal: 2 karandi / 2 rounded spatula
• Kashmiri Red chilly: use 6 nos; IF normal red chillies; use 3 nos
• Green Chillies: 2, split into halves
• Milagu/ Black pepper: 1 tspn
• Venthayam/ Methi seeds: 1 tspn
• Hing/ Perungayam: 1/2 tspn
• Ginger/ Inji: 2 inches, roughly diced
• Turmeric powder: 1/2 tspn
• Tamarind/ a gooseberry size/nellikai size
• Salt: as req
• Oil: to saute the contents     

Method

1. Heat a kadai, add oil, add urad dhal, red chillies, green chillies, pepper, methi seeds. Fry them til they turn golden colour.

 2. Add the plucked, washed Vallara Keerai to it. Add ginger and saute for 2 mins.

3. Add turmeric powder, tamarind and saute for another 1 to 1.5 mins.

4. Rest them under fan for sometime, take them into your blender/mixie jar. Add required salt and perungayam/hing and coarsely grind them by adding less than 1/4 tumbler of water.

Vallara Keerai Thugaiyal Is Ready!!

Rava Dosai - In 2 easy steps [A special video inside]

Restaurant look, style and taste at home always appetites you. This is one such recipe, loved by all!! Why waiting?? Just in 2 simple steps, your favourite and tasty Rava Dosai will be chewed in your mouth!!

What are the 2 steps?????

1. Rava Dosa Batter
2. Tempering Batter

Rava Dosa Batter:

• Roasted Rava/ Sooji: 1 cup
• Maida: 1 cup
• Rice Flour / arisi maavu: 1 cup
• Thick Curd: 1 small cup
• Salt: as req
• Hing/ Perungayam: 1/4 tspn
• Crushed Pepper: 1 tspn
• Coriander leaves/ Kothamalli: very finely chopped for garnishing the batter
• Water: As required for pouring consistency [not to be thick as idly batter]

Tempering Batter:

• Oil: 2 tspn
• Jeeragam/ Cumin Seeds: 1/2 tspn
• Green Chillies: 1 or 2; very finely chopped
• Curry leaves/kariveppilai: a strand, chopped
• Grated Ginger: 1/2 tspn

Add ONs:

 If you wish you can temper Cashews in ghee and add it.

You can add grated coconut, grated carrot [if required, add directly to the batter, no need of sauting it. ]

For ONION RAVA, add finely chopped onions to the batter and make it.

Method

1. Add all the ingredients except water and salt mentioned under "Rava Dosa Batter" Mix well. Mixing in hand gives you more taste. Then, Slowly add water and make sure no lumps are formed. After reaching the consistency and batter level, add salt.

2. Heat 2 tspn of oil in a pan and temper everything mentioned under "Tempering Batter". Once tempered, add them to the batter.  Let the batter rest for 1 hour. After an hour, you will see water in the top and the flour mix as sediments at the bottom. This is quite natural, so mix it well.

3. Heat a tawa, grease/spread a little oil in it. Each time when you pour this, you need to mix the batter very well. Dont use your ladle/spatula/karandi for pouring this batter, USE A SMALL TUMBLER. Pour the batter in a spiral manner, add oil to its corner and flip it once done on one side, let it cook on the other side, then remove it from the tawa and serve hot with any chutney, sambar or podi.

WATCH THIS VIDEO "HOW TO POUR THE BATTER SPIRALLY?"

Breakfast: Aval Upma/ Poha Upma

Another "few minutes recipe" for you all!! Aval Upma is a tasty dish made in minutes!! "Bachelor's Special"

INGREDIENTS:

• Aval/ Poha: 200 gms [2 can eat]; wash it 3 times with cooking water. Then pour water until it immerses and soak for 5 mins. Then drain the rest of the water completely and keep ready the soaked Aval.
• Onion: 1 big, chopped.
• Green chilly: 1 or 2, finely chopped.
• Ginger: 1 inch, peeled, washed and chopped/shredded
• Mustard seeds/kadugu, Urad dhal/ulutham paruppu, curry leaves/kariveppilai: to temper
• Oil: to temper
• Lemon juice: 2-3 drops
• Turmeric powder: 1/2 tspn
• Salt: as req
• Hing/ perungayam: 1/4 tspn

 

METHOD:

• Heat a kadai/pan, add oil and temper with Mustard seeds, Urad dhal, curry leaves.

• Add finely chopped green chilly, and fry in oil.

• Add chopped onion and ginger together; saute till onion turn translucent.

• Add req salt and turmeric powder. Saute for 30 seconds. Turn the flame to LOW.

• Now add the drained soaked aval and mix well slowly in LOW flame itself. Lastly add the lemon drops and mix well again and serve hot. Garnish with coriander leaves if you wish.

Tasty Aval Upma is ready!!

Bisebela Bath: In easy 4 steps

A famous dish from Karnataka has come to serve your tummy with awesome and classy ingredients, in just 4 easy steps!!

 It’s a kind of sambar variety, that adds some magic to the default taste and makes it more yummy.

There are many varieties and variations of ingredients used for this sambar in and around, but so far this particular recipe, ingredients and measurement gave the best taste and got me many many appreciations from my dears!!

So pleaseeeeeeeeeeee don’t miss it and enjoy your bisebela bath with your loved ones!!

Tasty Bisebela bath in 4 easy steps:

·         Rice & Dhall

·         Bisebela bath special powder

·         Chopped Vegetables

·         Tamarind and Tomato extract

RICE AND DHALL: [Toor dhal/thuvaram paruppu, asafetida/perungayam and rice]

·         3/4 th : 2 is the ratio—where 3/4^th is toor dhal and 2 is rice. Wash and soak rice and dhal together for 15 mins and pressure cook it with 1/2 tspn turmeric powder, straightly on cooker for 4 whistles. NO NEED TO ADD SALT.

BISEBELA BATH SPECIAL POWDER: [roast and grind with 1 tspn of oil]

• Coriander seeds/dhaniya: 2 handfull 
• urad dhal: 2 tspn; 
• jeeragam/cumin seeds: 1 tspn; 
• black pepper/milagu: 1 tspn;
• methi seeds/venthayam: 1tspn; 
• kashmiri mirch/kashmiri red less hot chilly: 4-5nos; 
• regular red chilly: 2 nos; 
• pattai/cinnamon: 3 medium pieces; 
• shredded coconut: 1 small cup

CHOPPED VEGETABLES: [I prefer only small or big onion and tomato/ you can also add other sambar veggies]

·         Onions: 3-4 big size ; chopped [or] small onions/ shallots: 150 gms / 1 small bowl ; washed and peeled.

·         Tomato: 3  medium ; chopped

“If you are using other veggies like beans, carrot, small onions/shallots, brinjal/kathirikkai, pumpkin/parangikkai/manjal-poosani, drumstick/murungaikkai etc, reduce the onion to 1 [big size]. Don’t reduce the no. of tomato.”

TAMARIND AND TOMATO EXTRACT:[gooseberry/nellikai sized tamarind and 2 big tomatoes]

·         Soak a gooseberry sized tamarind in 3 tumblers hot water and extract its juice.

·         Either, using hands, extract the tomatoes by adding a tumbler of water or make the tomatoes into paste using mixie and mix the paste in 2 tumblers of water and keep them ready.

OTHER INGREDIENTS:

·         Gingelly oil: 4-5 tbspn

·         Ghee: 4-5 tspn [if u like ghee, you can add more as per your taste]

·         Turmeric powder: 1/2 tspn

·         Regular sambar powder: 1.5 tspn

·         Salt: as required

·         Mustard seeds/ kadugu: to temper

·         Curry Leaves: a few; for tempering and for garnishing.

·         Coriander leaves: a few for garnishing.

METHOD:

1.       Keep the above 4 basic things ready.

2.       YOU NEED TOTALLY 2 TO 2.5 LITRES OF THIS SAMBAR. SO MAKE IT ACCORDINGLY. My measurements would give you 1.5 litres or so. For the rest you need to dilute accordingly. This sambar should not be very thick. It should be in a diluted state only. 2 to 2.5 litres of this sambar is enough for given rice.

3.       Take your regular sambar vessel/kadai. Heat it, add 3 tbspn gingelly oil and 2 tspn of ghee. Temper mustard seeds and curry leaves.

4.       Add chopped onions, sauté for 2 mins, add chopped tomatoes, sauté for 2 mins. Add turmeric powder. Add 1 tumbler of water to it and let it boil.

5.       After 2 mins, add the tamarind and tomato extract to it, Add salt [for entire dish, remember you have unsalted rice and dhal on the other side]. Add your regular sambar powder. And add the “bisebela bath special powder”. Keep about 2 spoons of this powder to sprinkle it lastly in rice.

6.       Let it boil for 5-7 mins or until the raw smell goes off.

7.       Add curry leaves and coriander leaves to garnish.

8.       Open the cooker that contains cooked rice and dhal, by this time pressure would’ve released. Mash the rice and dhall.

9.       Add this sambar little by little to the rice and dhal. Mix them well, rice and dhal must be hot, so it will absorb more sambar, so let it cool after mashing for 2-3 mins under fan. Then add sambar and mix them.

10.   At last, add the remaining measures of ghee and gingelly oil to it and mix well. Now add that 2 spoons bisebela bath special powder to this as mentioned in step 5. Serve hot with potato curry or appalam.

Tasty tasty Bisebela Bath is ready!!!

Kaju Veg Curry and Masala Chappathi

Bored with usual chappathis?? Make a Masala Chappathi and enjoy with a Kaju Veg Curry!!

Masala Chappathi:

Ingredients:

1. Atta flour / Kothumai maavu: 1 cup
2. Garam Masala, Chat masala, Kasuri Methi : each 1/4 tspn
3. Turmeric Powder:  1/4 tspn
4. Chilly powder: 1/4 tspn
5. Salt: as req
6. Oil: 4 tspn for dough and rest for making chapathi
7: Warm Water: 1/2 cup

Method:

1. Take a bowl and add all the ingredients except oil and water.

2. Start dry mixing the ingredients.

3. Add water little by little and knead to a coarse dough.

4. Add 2 tspn of oil at this stage; dip ur hands in warm water and start kneading the dough. Dip your hands in warm water each time when it dries and knead until you get a damn soft dough.

5. Add the rest 2 tspn oil; grease the dough and keep it covered and rest it for 20-30 mins. Pierce randomly in the dough using your wet fingers before covering it with a lid or wet cloth.

6. Roll balls from the dough, dust it in raw powder and roll them into rotis. Heat a tawa and place the chapathi, let it heat for 30 seconds, flip it over and cook for 30 seconds. You might see brown spots by this time. Now grease oil/ghee on either sides, cook the chapathi again on either sides until it is done well.  

Masala Chappathi is ready!!

Kaju Veg Curry:

This is a one pot one shot recipe

Ingredients: 

1. Carrot, Beans, Peas, Cauliflower, Potato: 1- bowl [diced all together]
2. Onion: 2 Medium, diced into 2 inch size
3. Bangalore Tomato: 3 medium [for puree]
4. Kaju/ cashews/ Mundhiri : 10-15 nos
5. Ginger-Garlic Paste: 1.5 tspn
6. Kasuri methi: 3 tspns
7. Red chilli powder: 1 tspn
8. Special Subzi Masala Powder: 2 tspn
9. Salt: to taste
10. Sugar: a pinch
11. Butter/ fresh cream: to glaze
12. Coriander Leaves: to garnish

To Temper:

1. Bay Leaf / Brinji ilai: 1
2. Cardamom / Elakkai: 1
3. Cinnamon and Cloves [pattai & Lavangam]: each 1 piece
4. Cumin seeds/ Jeeragam: 1/2 tspn
5. Ghee and Oil: Mix together 2 tbspn

Method:

1. Take a pan, place the whole tomatoes and cashews/kajus, pour water until they soak. Switch ON the flame. Let it boil until the tomato skin peels lightly and they turn soft. Switch off the flame; allow it cool and drain the water, grind the tomatoes and cashews to a smooth paste and keep it ready.

2. Heat a cooker, add oil and ghee, once heated, add items mentioned in "To temper". Let them temper.

3. Add onion, saute for 2 mins, add ginger garlic paste: saute for 2 mins.

4. Add Tomato- Cashew puree and mix well. Add "special subzi masala powder", chilli powder, turmeric powder. Saute everything for 1 min.

5. Add the bowl of washed and diced veggies.

6. Add 1.5 tumbler of water, salt and a pinch of sugar. Mix everything well and check for salt. If its less, add extra accordingly, if u feel its more, take half a potato, wash and  dice them and add it to the curry. Also if you wish, you can add few drops of lemon [but I dont prefer it!]

7. Close the cooker with its lid, place its weight and leave a whistle.

8. Wait until pressure releases, open the lid.

9. Add kasuri methi leaves, coriander leaves, butter/fresh cream to glaze on it. Mix everything well. If its too watery, add a tspn of corn flour or rice flour to little water, mix well and add it to the dish and mix it well, cook for 3 mins in low flame and serve hot!

Kaju Veg Curry is ready!

Mushroom Biriyani

Hey Biriyani lovers!!! Here is a tempting Mushroom Biriyani in a restaurant style. Definitely you all wanted to taste it.. Have it dears..!!!

Ingredients and method are explained below pictorially

1. Soak top branded Basmati rice for 30 mins.

1.

2. ON the stove and keep in low flame for the entire process. In a pressure cooker, add equal cups of water. 1:1 proportion and add hand full of Mint leaves and coriander leaves, 3-cardamom/elakkai; 2 cloves/kraambu or lavangam; 1 piece pattai/cinnamon; 1/2 crushed bay leaf, a spoon of ghee.

2.

3. Drain the water and add the soaked basmati rice.

3.

 4. [i] Cook them in very low flame. Dont cook it till the entire water dries up, 1/4 portion of water should remain in the cooker. [ii] Using a fork mix and fluff at intervals.

4[i]

4[ii]

5. Meanwhile in another stove, place a kadai, add 2 tbspn of ghee and add

1. Cloves, Cardamom[kraambu, yelakkai]: 4 pcs each
2. Cinnamon[pattai or lavangapattai]: 1 stick; break into pieces
3. Star Anise[annaasi poo / annasi mokku]: 1 piece
4. Fennel seeds [sombu]: 1/2 tspn
5. Cumin seeds [jeeragam]: 1/2 tspn
6. Bay leaf: 1 or 2
7. Jaadhi pathri: 2 or 3 petals

5.

5.

6. Add 2 sliced big Onions and saute till transparent and add diced tomatoes and saute well for 3 mins.

6

6

7.  Special Masala Paste: Add 1/2 onion, 1/2 tomato, 5-7 garlic cloves, 1.5 inch ginger, 3-4 red chillies and grind it smoothly in a mixie to a paste.

7.

8. Add the special masala paste to the onion tomato curry, add the following special masala powders

1. Coriander powder: 1/2 tspn
2. Jeera Powder: 1/2 tspn
3. Chilly Powder: No need as we've added it in masala paste
4. Garam Masala: 1 tspn
5. Biriyanai Masala: 2-2.5 tspn
6. Turmeric powder: 1/4 tspn [these measures are for 1/2 kg basmati rice, if its 1 kg, double the measurements]

Add 3 tspns of curd.

8. Add the masala paste and powders

8.  Saute well

8. Add 3 tspn thick curd

9. Add some water to the mixie jar in which you made the paste and wash the left over paste with that water and add it to the rice which is getting cooked in a very low flame on the other side.

9.

10. [i] Keep the mushrooms ready by slicing it. 

[ii]Add mushrooms to the onion-tomato masala curry and saute well. Mushroom will start leaving its moisture content. 

[iii] Close the kadai with a lid and cook them for 3 mins in medium flame. It will get cooked with mushroom's water itself.

 [iv] After 3 mins, open the lid, and transfer the entire contents to the rice in cooker.

10 [i]

10[ii]

10[iii]

10 [iv]

11. Add SALT AND A PINCH OF SUGAR at this stage for the entire dish. Mix the mushroom curry and rice carefully, REMEMBER THAT COOKER MUST BE ONLY IN LOW FLAME THROUGH OUT THIS PROCESS. And close the cooker and place the weight on it. Pressure cook it for 12-15 mins on a complete low flame, it wont whistle at all. So dont worry about the whistle count.

11.

12. Keep a cup full of freshly chopped coriander and mint leaves ready. Open the cooker after pressure releases. Garnish the biriyani with freshly chopped coriander and mint leaves. Serve Hot with Onion raitha.!!

Yummiest Mushroom Biriyani is ready!!!

Sundaikkai Vathakkuzhambu

Vathal kuzhambu - Who ever dislikes it??!! Yummiest dish: All time favourite of most of the people!!!

INGREDIENTS: 

1. Sundaikkai vatral: half - hand full

2. Red Chillies: 3 nos; break into halves

3. Tamarind: 1 big gooseberry size, soak in 2 tumbler warm water and squeeze its extract.

4. Turmeric powder: 1/2 tspn

5. Powder asafoetida/ thool perungayam: 1 tspn

6. Gingelly Oil/ Nalennai: 1.5 - 2 kuzhi karandi [if small size karandi, add 3 kuzhi karandi of oil]

7. Kadugu/ Mustard seeds: to temper

8. Curry leaves: to garnish

9. Sambar powder: 2 tspn [I have home made one, you can use Eastern/MTR/aashirvaad sambar podi]

10. Salt: as req
11. Jaggery/ Vellam: a small bit

Method:

1. Heat a pan, add gingelly oil, let it heat; add mustard seeds, curry leaves, once spluttered, add red chillies sundakkai vatral. Fry them until they turn brownish-black.

2. Add the tamarind extract, turmeric powder, perungayam, salt, sambar powder, mix well and cook on high flame for 5 mins.

3. Add jaggery and cook for 7-10 mins in medium flame. You'll get wonderful aroma by the time it boils.

4. If its too watery, mix a tspn of rice flour/ arisi maavu in 5 tspn of water and add this diluted rice flour mix to the vathakkuzhambu and cook for 3-5 mins. The oil will leave the sides of the pan.
Turn off the flame and serve hot with rice!

Sundaikkai Vathakkuzhambu is ready!!!

Suggestions:

1. Instead of sundaikkai vatthal,manathakkali vatthal, appalam,and veggies like brinjal, small onion[alone], small onions-garlic combo, lady's finger, pumpkin, drumstick. If adding, veggies, after sauting in oil, add 1/2 tumbler of water and cook for 2 mins, then add tamarind puree.

There is another variety to do vathakkuzhambu, which I will post ASAP

2. You can also use Raw mango instead of above veggies and vathals-- when you use raw mango, reduce the amount of tamarind to small goose berry size.

Bachelor's Special: Easy Tomato Kuzhambu/ Thakkali Kuzhambu

"A - Few Minutes Recipe": This is an easy side dish for your idlys, dosas, upmas and etc. Since it is easy to prepare, I've dedicated it to my bachelor friends which they can find it useful and easy.. But it is a common dish for all. Easy to prepare and tasty to have it..!!  

I learnt the base of this from one of my relative [a very sweet granny/paati--my cousin's paati]! I then added few more ingredients to make it exotic!

Ingredients:

1. Tomato: 2 or 3 medium sized; finely chopped.

2. Oil: to temper

3. Kadugu/ Mustard seeds: few to temper

4. Curry leaves: few to temper

5. Salt: to taste

6. Hing/ perungayam: 1/4 tspn

7. Sambar Powder: 1/2 tspn - 1 tspn

8. Red chilly powder: 1/4 tspn

9. Turmeric powder: 1/4 tspn

10. Dhaniya podi/ Coriander powder: 1/4 tspn [optional]

Method:

1. Heat a kadai, add oil, once heated, add mustard seeds/ kadugu and wait until it splutters. Add curry leaves.

2. Add the chopped tomatoes and saute well, add turmeric powder, sambar powder, perungayam/hing, red chilly powder, dhaniya powder[optional], and saute well to a semi-thokku consistency, oil will start to leave the kadai. 

3. At this stage, add 3-4 tumblers of water, totally 500 ml of water. Add required salt. Let it boil in a medium flame. Close the kadai with a lid for 3-5 mins while it is boiling. Totally let it cook for 6-8 minutes. By this time it should reach the kuzhambu consistency.

4. If u prepare it too watery, add a 1/2 tspn of rice flour/ arisi maavu or corn flour to 5 tspns of water, mix well and add it to the dish and cook for few mins to get the consistency.

Thakkali Kuzhambu is ready!!