Idiyappam / Sevai (Rice String Hoppers)

Idiyappam or string hoppers or sevai  is a low calorie, stomach friendly dish since it is a steamed one. This is a famous breakfast recipe among the people of Kerala, Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu. This is very safe for babies, older and convalescent people. Whenever we go to the doctor for fever, diarrhea or vomiting, his list includes idiyappam next to idli. So every mom should know the art of making this delicious idiyappam.

Idiyappam can be made with different flours and when it is combined with other ingredients, make varieties of idiyappam , sweet, savoury and so many. Today I am going to post the simple idiyappam recipe. I’ll post the other varieties in due course.

Ingredients:

• Idiyappam flour – 1 cup
• Water – 1 ½ cups
• Gingelly oil – 1 tbsp
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. Sieve idiyappam flour well . Transfer this flour into a large bowl and ½ tsp salt with this flour and mix well. Keep it aside.
2. Bring water to rolling boil. Add gingelly oil to water and pour this boiled water to the rice flour slowly, stirring the flour with a ladle. Stop adding water when the dough becomes smooth.
3. Quickly knead the dough well with a ladle itself and put this hot dough in the kitchen press (idiyappam press) and close the kitchen press. Press and swirl the idiyappam press on a greased idli plate in circular fashion so that the rice strings fall over smoothly.
4. Place this idli plate in a idli maker with steaming water. Cook this for 10 minutes.

Lovely idiyappam is ready to serve. Today I prepared Thengaippaal sodhi (தேங்காய்ப்பால் சொதி) using coconut milk as side dish for idiyappam. This is very easy to prepare and is a yummy combo!

Note:

• If you use plain raw rice flour for making idiyappam, slightly dry fry the flour without changing the colour.
• Only the hot dough is easy to squeeze out into strings. So, don’t prepare the dough at a stretch, do it in batches.
• Add correct amount of water. If water added is less, it will be very hard to press. If you add excess water, then strings will not be formed.

Tags: Idiyappam recipe, sevai recipe, Plain idiyappam, Rice string hoppers, arisi idiyappam

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Karuveppilai Sadam/ Karuveppilai Rice (Curry Leaves Rice)

Karuveppilai Rice/ Karuveppilai Sadam is one of the rice variety we can make with curry leaves. Karuveppilai or curry leaves is a nutrient dense herb, which has many medicinal values. This ingredient  is a must for the most of South Indian recipes like  Sambar, Rasam, Poriyal, Kootu, etc which will never get completed without these leaves. These leaves add flavor and taste to all the dishes and so it is used mainly for seasoning. But most of us throw it away while eating and when we use these leaves for  making rice, there is no possibility of avoiding these curry leaves. So, this Karuveppilai rice/ Karuveppilai Sadam  is a better way to include this herb in our regular diet to get the benefits of this ingredient.

Ingredients:

• Cooked rice – 1 ½ cup

To roast & Grind:

• Oil – 2 tsp
• Curry leaves – 1 cup
• Jeera – 1 tsp
• Red chillies – 4 Nos.
• Dhaniya – 1 tbsp
• Toor dhal – 1 tbsp
• Pepper corns – ½ tsp
• Grated coconut – 2 tbsp
• Tamarind – small gooseberry size

For seasoning:

• Ghee or oil – 2 tbsp
• Mustard – 1 tsp
• Jeera – ½ tsp
• Red chilli – 1 No.
• Hing – ½ tsp
• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
• Salt to taste
• Fried cashew nuts for garnishing

Method:

1. First roast curry leaves in a tsp of oil till it becomes crispy without changing its colour. Remove and keep it aside.
2. In the same kadai, add the balance oil and roast all the other things given under “roast and grind” except tamarind.
3. Grind all the above items with tamarind and little salt to a coarse powder.
4. In a pan, add ghee/oil and season the items given under “ seasoning”. Then add turmeric powder and the curry leaves powder and sauté for few seconds.
5. Now add the cooked rice and required salt and give a nice stir so that everything gets mixed well.
6. Garnish it with fried cashew nuts.

Karuveppilai sadam is ready! This can be served with any vadam/papad or chips. This is an ideal lunch box recipe. Kids will love to have this because of its lovely green colour. Try it & enjoy!!

Note:

Care should be taken while grinding curry leaves, otherwise the green colour will be lost.

Technorati Tags: Kariveppilai sadam, curry leaves rice recipe, how to prepare karuveppilai podi sadam, kariveppilai podi rice, curry leaves podi rice recipe, curry leaves powder rice, karuveppilai rice

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Seppankizhangu Roast (Colocasia/ Taro Root/ Arbi Fry)

Preparation time :20 minutes     

Cooking time : 20 minutes

Serves 3 

Difficulty : Medium

Seppankizhangu  in Tamil is known as Colocasia or Taro root in English and Arbi in Hindi.  My son loves to have any fry/roast for his lunch menu, especially for sambar or dhal rice. This combo definitely wins everybody’s heart . This seppankizhangu roast tops every other deep fry item but I had not known about it for a long time because I was not familiar with this vegetable and  it had not been tried at our home.  I tasted this vegetable for the first time in Mor Kuzhambu at my friend’s house and it was not that much interesting. When I tasted this vegetable as a roast in some of the marriages and I was very impressed and thought that it was a trade mark secret of marriage cooks. Some two years back, I tried making this roast at home,  knowing my son’s interest in deep fry items. It came out very well and from then, it has become a favourite of everyone who tasted this dish.

Ingredients:

• Seppankizhangu  - 15 Nos.
• Red chilli powder – 2 tsp
• Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
• Curry leaves few
• Crushed garlic – 2 pods
• Oil for deep frying
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. Cook seppankizhangu along with a tablespoon of salt and  turmeric powder with enough water until it gets cooked completely.
2. Cool it and peel off the skin. Cut this into small, thin round discs.
3. Pour oil in a deep bottomed kadai and fry seppankizhangu in batches in medium flame till it becomes golden brown in  colour and crispy enough.
4. Remove the excess oil from the same kadai, keeping a table spoon of it , add curry leaves and crushed garlic. Then add required salt, chilli powder, fry for just few seconds so that the raw smell of chilli powder goes off. Now add  fried seppankizhangu. Sauté well in simmer till everything gets mixed well, just for 2 minutes.

Your yummy seppankizhangu roast is ready to be served with sambar , rasam, curd or with any variety rice.

Note:

• Seppankizhangu should not be over cooked since it will become mushy and your roast will not be crispy.
• You can  also cook this kizhangu the previous day , slice it and store it in the refrigerator.

Tags: Seppankilangu roast, Seppankilangu fry, Cheppankizhangu roast, Cheppankizhangu fry, Seppankilangu chips, Seppankilangu spicy chips, Arbi fry

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Rasagulla (Bengali Sweet)

Rasagulla is a famous  Bengali sweet/desert and the method is very simple but I can’t guarantee the output. Because we need to follow the procedure carefully so that the correct texture of rasagullas  can be obtained. I heard lot of stories  from my friends about making rasagullas at home. I have tried it long before but I got the exact texture at the very first attempt. Today, being a special day, my husband’s birthday, I wanted to try it again to surprise my hubby. I recollected the recipe and started this venture with a little doubt but ended up with great result. This time also I got it right!. I thought of sharing this recipe immediately, so that it will be useful for our forthcoming festivals , especially for Diwali. My husband will also  have a look at this special sweet I have made on his B’day!

Ingredients:

• Milk (full fat) – 500  ml
• Lemon juice – 2 tbsp
• Sugar – 100 ml
• Water – 300 ml
• Cardamom powder – 1 tsp
• Ice cubes – few
• Pistachio for decoration 

Method:

1. .Boil milk and add lemon juice, stir the contents so that the milk curdles totally and the whey water gets separated.
2. Swich off and add the ice cubes and stir.
3. Drain the whey water using a clean muslin cloth  and rinse it under running water .
4. Gently press to remove the excess water from the paneer and hang it for 10 minutes.
5. Transfer the contents from the muslin cloth in a bowl and knead it gently for about 5 minutes.
6. Make it like a small ball. I got around 12 small balls out of ½ litre milk.
7. Place a kadai on stove, pour water, sugar and cardamom powder. When the sugar gets dissolved completely, strain the syrup using metal strainer.
8. Again heat the sugar syrup in a kadai/vessel, when it boils, gently drop the balls into the sugar syrup and boil in medium heat for about  2 minutes. Then simmer and close it with a lid , cook the balls for about 10 minutes, opening the lid now and then.
9. Now you will find the rasagullas become double in size. At this stage, switch off and refrigerate and serve the yummy rasagullas.

Note:

1. Kneading part plays an important role in getting porous rasagullas, so do this with enough patience.
2. Don’t overheat the sugar syrup, if you find that it is thick while straining you can add some water.
3. We can use whey water for curdling the milk which is the way the Bengalis use to curdle. This will also give soft rasagullas.

Tag: Bengali sweet, Bengali desert, Indian sweet, Indian desert, Diwali recipes, milk based sweet recipe, sugar syrup recipe.

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Pattaani Sundal (Dry Peas Sundal)

Preparation time :10 minutes     

Cooking time : 15 minutes

Serves 3 

Difficulty :  Easy

Pattani/ Dried peas sundal is a tasty sundal recipe. The recipe I followed here is a simple one and not the famous “Thengai Mangai Pattani Sundal”. I will post the recipe for Thengai mangai pattani sundal later.

This is a dry sundal variety and can be made during Navarathri festival too!

Ingredients:

• Dried peas – ½ cup
• Red chilli powder – ½ tsp
• Turmeric powder – a pinch
• Amchur powder – ½ tsp
• Grated coconut – 2 tbsp
• Garlic clove – 1 No.
• Salt to taste

For seasoning:

• Oil – 1 tsp
• Mustard – 1 tsp
• Jeera – ½ tsp
• Asafoetida – a pinch

Method:

Soak dried peas over night or for minimum 4 hours. Pressure cook peas for 2 whistles or until done. Grind coarsely coconut and garlic and keep aside. Pour oil in a kadai, season the items given for seasoning, transfer the cooked peas, add red chilli powder, turmeric powder  and required salt. Sauté well till all the moisture got absorbed. Now add coconut paste and amchur powder. Give a nice stir until everything blends well and switch off.

It can be served as a healthy evening snack or can be had as an accompaniment for sambar/rasam/curd rice.

Note:

If you prepare this sundal as Neivedyam for Navarathri pooja, skip using garlic.

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