Chinna Vengayam Arachu Vitta Sambhar (Video inside)

 

Methi Idly Upma

Yes, its an easy dish! Though the base of this recipe is from suryavamsam film :)😂😂, I have added some flavors to it, to make it more yummy. 

Bachelor friendly recipe, a lazy morning breakfast, easy dish, really loved by all!

INGREDIENTS

Idly or Left over idly: 10-12 nos.

Onion: 2 big nos, finely chopped

Kasuri Methi: 2 tspns, crushed

Sambar powder: 1 tspn

Green chilly: 2 finely chopped

Turmeric powder: 1/4 tspn

Salt: as required for upma, remember idly already contains salt

Oil: to saute

Hing: a generous pinch.

Mustard seeds amd broken urad dhall: to temper

Fried cashews: to garnish

METHOD

Crumble the idlies finely and keep it ready. Heat a pan/kadai, add oil and splutter tempering items.

Add the finely chopped onions, and green chillies. Saite well till roast.

Add turmeric powder, sambar powder and hing/perungayam, saute well and add required salt for upma.

Add the cushed kasuri methi leaves to it and saute for few seconds and add the crumbled idly, mix well and saute in medium flame. Stir it well as it may stick to pan, if its a nonstick pan, no issues.

After 5-7 mins of sauting the upma, top some fried cashews if you like.

Methi Idly Upma Is Ready!

Rasmalai - Easiest way

Yummy and tasty Rasmalai!

INGREDIENTS

1. Paneer- 200 (ready-made paneer) check date for assuring freshness. [I used aavin paneer]

2. Sugar- 200 gms for sugar syrup and 250 gms for milk sauce

3. Maida and corn starch- 2 tspn each

4. Milkmaid- 200 ml

5. Boiled milk- 2 tumbler

6. Saffron- 5 strands, soaked in 5 tspn of milk

7. Crushed nuts(pistachios, almonds and cashews)- 5 tspn 

METHOD

Cut paneer into cubes and grind them in a mixie.

Transfer the ground paneer to a plate add 2 tspn of cornstarch and maida. Knead them well to form a dough.

Take small portions, roll them into balls and gently press in your palm to make it flatten.

 

Make sugar syrup with 200 gms of water, once it boils, place the flattened malai carefully. Simmer it completely and close with a lid. Let the malai gets cooked for 6 mins. You can see it getting doubled in size.

 

Turn off the flame and rest it aside.

In a sauce pan, add 2 tumbler of boiled milk- and 200 ml of milkmaid. Mix well. Add 3 tspn of crushed nuts, soaked saffron milk aand let it boil for 5 mins. 

Take a serving bowl, take out malais from sugar syrup, gently squeeze out excess syrup by pressing it using 2 spoons on either sides of malai pedas. Then place it in the serving bowl, pour the milk sauce on it, garnish with the rest of crushed nuts.

Paneer Tikka

Herbal Recipe: Mullu Murungai Dosai

"A very tasty and healthy recipe! Yes, mullu murngai keerai has great great health benefits; it cures cold, cough and fever. Best for uterus related issues. Natural treatment!"

There is a tamil saying called "UNAVE MARUNTHU", which our ancestors followed and lived very strong and healthy. This is one such rare recipe, but still worthy one!! Here is its method!

Recipe Courtesy: Seetha Amma

Take the fresh mullu murungai leaves, remove the center stem from each leaves carefully.

[Removing stem: just fold the leaf to the either sides of the stem, carefully pluck the center stem tip and tear it towards the end; the leaf separates into two]. 

Add the leaves to a mixie jar, add some water and extract its juice.

Filter the extract and keep it ready. In a mortar-pestle, dry grind a tspn of cumin and pepper.

Take required dosa batter, add the mullu murungai extract, a pinch of salt [for mullu murungai paste, remember that the batter is already salted], hing and pepper-cumin powder to it.

Mix well.

Heat a tawa, pour this mullu murungai dosa batter and spread to form a dosa.  Close with the lid for few mins. Flip and cook both sides by adding oil to its corner. Eat while its hot to attain the benefits of the herb.

"Mullu Murungai Dosai is ready, serve hot"

Iyengar Puliyodharai

INGREDIENTS

Cooked Rice- 300gms / as required

Iyengar Pulikaichal - as required [click the link to know the recipe for iyengar pulikaichal]

Powdered hing /thool perungayam: a generous pinch

Salt: as required for rice[remember salt is for pulikaichal only, add little for rice.]

Fresh curry leaves- a few

Turmeric powder: a pinch

To Temper

Oil, mustard seeds and urad dhaal, peanuts.

"As far iyengar puliyodharai is concerned, each time when you mix the paste with rice, you have to temper freshly"

METHOD

Take a big bowl / basin, add the cooked white rice, powdered hing, salt, fresh curry leaves, turmeric powder and Iyengar Pulikaichal . Mix well and serve!

Iyengar Puliyodharai is ready!!

Iyengar Pulikaichal

"This is the typical iyengar pulikaichal, origins of Kanchipuram iyengars used to add dhaniya/coriander seeds to this recipe; but this is the world famous iyengar pulikaichal method"

 Take 250 gms of tamarind, soak in hot water for half and hour to 1 hour. Extract and keep it ready. The extract should measure half a litre.

Dry roast 2 tspns of fenugreek, heat oil and roast 20-25 red chillies and coarse grind them together.

 






Heat gingelly oil in a thick bottom pan/kadai, add mustard seeds, let it splutter. Add a small gooseberry sized katti perungayam / compounded asafoetida to it.

Pour the tamarind extract and let it boil. Add turmeric powder and the coarsely ground powder to it, add required salt, [ I added 6-8 tspns of salt, you may use it as per your taste]. Let it boil well, add 10 grams of jaggery, close with the lid and turn the flame to low-medium.

 

Added salt twice like this

 

Once attained thokku consistency, [surula varum], turn off the flame. 

Iyengar Pulikaichal is ready!!

Kashmiri Dum Aaloo

Kashmiri Dum Aaloo

INGREDIENTS

1. Baby Potatoes, boiled, peeled and lightly scratch them with fork on all sides: 200 gms (if normal potato, boil, peel and cut into chunks and scratch lightly on its sides)

2. Salt: to taste

3. Sugar: 2 pinches

4. Water: as required for the gravy

5. Oil: 2  tbspns

6. Butter: 2 blobs

FOR  PASTE- 1: [RAW PASTE]

Onions: 2 big [if small, take 8 to 10 shallots]

Tomatoes: 2 medium

Kashmiri red chilly: 2 nos

FOR PASTE- 2: [SAUTE AND GRIND PASTE]

Onions: 2 big 

Tomatoes: 2 medium

Kashmiri red chilly: 2 nos

Ginger: 2 inch size

Garlic: 4-5 cloves

Cashews: 5-7 nos 

Spice Powders:

Turmeric powder: 1 tspn

Coriander and cumin powder: each 2 tspns

Garam masala powder: 2 tspn

Kashmiri red chilly powder: 2 tspns + 1 tspn for sauting potatoes separately.

To Garnish

Kasuri Methi: a handfull

To Temper:

Bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, fennel seeds and jeera

METHOD

1. As said above, boil potatoes, peel them and lightly scratch them with fork on all sides.

Heat a kadai, add oil and add 1 tspn Kashmiri red chilly powder and turmeric powder and saute the potatoes till roast and keep them aside. Add 2 pinch salt to it while sauteing.

2. FOR  PASTE- 1: [RAW PASTE], smoothly grind all the ingredients mentioned under raw paste. Keep it in mind, RAW PASTE!!

3. FOR PASTE- 2: [SAUTE AND GRIND PASTE], heat a kadai [you can use the same kadai, in which u sauted potatoes], add oil, add every items mentioned under "saute and grind paste" and saute well and cool it completely. Grind as a smooth paste.

4. Add oil and then butter; put all the ingredients mentioned under 'to temper'. Saute for a min. Add the "SAUTE AND GRIND PASTE" first and saute for few mins, after 2 mins, add "RAW PASTE" saute well for 5 mins.

5. Add the crispy and roasted potatoes, mix well. Add required water for the gravy consistency.  Add salt for the entire dish and 2 pinch sugar. Close the kadai with a lid and cook for 10-15 mins in a medium flame.

6. Crush a handful of kasuri methi and garnish the gravy, close with a lid again and simmer completely the dish for 5 mins and then turn off.

Kashmiri Dum Aaloo is ready, serve hot !!

Herbal Recipe: Sukku Paal / DRY GINGER MILK

SUKKU PAAL

The most effective drink for gastritis / moochu pidippu / vaaivu pidippu / dhasai pidippu.Sukku paal stimulates us and makes us feel active. It lazes our laziness! Much much effective, especially elders when consuming it, would definitely feel healthy and get rid off of all the spasm kinda pains very easily without any side effects. As sugar isn't used, "sugar patients" can also consume it. I've added an alternative for sugar, called "karupatti"!

INGREDIENTS:

1. Sukku / dried ginger: 1 inch size

2. Karupatti / panamkarkandu : as required

3. Boiled and diluted milk : 1/2 to 3/4th tumbler

METHOD:

Step 1: Making sukku decoction

Using a mortar pestle, powder both- sukku and karupatti / panam karkandu. Heat 1 tumbler water, when it boils, add sukku and karuppati /panam karkandu powder to it. Let it boil well and reduce to its half. Filter it and keep the decoction ready.

sukku /dried ging

Karuppatti

Karuppatti and sukku gets boiled to form a decoction

Filtering sukku decoction

Sukku decoction is ready!

Step 2

Take the boiled and diluted milk in a tumbler, add this decoction as per your taste. 

Enjoy the healthy drink. Especially during winter!!