New Year Greetings

Hi everyone!

I know all of you are getting ready to welcome 2014 and the countdown has already started. I wanted to try out a cake recipe for Christmas itself.  But I was a little bit busy and couldn’t make it happen. For this New Year, I wanted to post something that I made myself instead of posting some image from elsewhere to convey my greetings.

All my efforts made me happy today. Yes,  for the first time I tried my hands in making cake and it came out really well. The sponginess and softness of my Chocolate Pista Cake can be visualized in the pic! I know everyone is busy preparing  for the celebrations and short listing the resolutions! So, I don’t want to disturb you a lot on this day. So I’ll share the recipe sometime later.

Have a great 2014! May all your wishes & goals come true this New Year!!!

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Chettinad Crab Masala | Chettinadu Nandu Masala | செட்டிநாடு நண்டு மசாலா | Nandu Pepper Masala

Chettinad Crab Masala | Chettinadu Nandu Masala | செட்டிநாடு நண்டு மசாலா | Nandu Pepper Masala is a peppery gravy and is very good for those suffering from cold. This spicy gravy can be served with steamed rice, idli or dosa. Ofcourse, eating a crab with its shell needs some skills and those with experience can win the show. But if you haven’t eaten crabs this way before, you need not  panic on seeing the hard shells as it will be easy to break. The yummy flesh inside is worth all the trouble. Whenever we eat  non-vegetarian dishes, we feel full for the entire day but crab dishes will increase our metabolic fire and so, we feel hungry after an hour. 

Usually crabs will be fleshier during no moon day and it is good to plan for this recipe during that period. Very interesting gravy, every crab lover should try out this recipe!

Here we go for the recipe.

Ingredients:

• Crab – ½ Kg
• Big onion (finely chopped) – 1 No.
• Tomato (finely chopped) – 2 to 3 Nos
• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
• Salt to taste

To grind:

• Coconut – ½ cup
• Green chillies – 2 to 3 Nos
• Pepper – 1 tbsp
• Garlic – 15 pods
• Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
• Khus khus – 1 tsp

For seasoning:

• Oil – 2 tbsp
• Cinnamon – 1” stick
• Kal paasi – small piece
• Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
• Curry leaves – few

Method:

1. Clean crab by removing the shell and wash it thoroughly in running water. Cut in halves or quarters depending on the size of the crab.
2. Grind all the ingredients given under “To grind” by adding little water, into a thick paste.
3. In a wide bottomed kadai, pour oil and season with the ingredients given “For seasoning”.
4. Add onion and fry till it becomes golden brown colour. Then add tomatoes and sauté until they get mashed well.
5. Now add the ground masala and sauté for 2 minutes, then add crab and sauté until the masala gets coated well over the crab. Add turmeric powder, salt and a cup of water. Close it with a lid and cook until done by stirring in between. It will take 15 to 20 minutes to cook.

The spicy, peppery crab masala | chettinad Crab Masala is ready to eat! Today I have prepared Nandu Masala with Koduva Meen Fry and had a great lunch today!

Note:

• The quantity of chillies added should be decided based on one’s spice level and also the spiciness of the chillies.

To view Chettinad Crab Masala recipe in Tamil, click http://ranisarusuvai.blogspot.in/2014/06/blog-post.html

Tags: Nandu masala recipe, Chettinadu style nandu masala, crab masala recipe, how to prepare crab masala in Chettinad style?, nandu pepper masala, crab pepper gravy, peppery crab masala

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Easy Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambu | Lentil Balls Gravy

Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambu | Chettinad Style Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambu | Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambu is an interesting gravy with tangy, spicy taste suits the best for hot steamed rice. Everybody will go away on seeing “Paruppu urundai kuzhambu” recipe b’cos it involves so many steps. But I will come out with my secret recipe so that you can prepare this dish as simple as Kara Kuzhambu. The method I follow here does not require the paruppu urundai to be steamed or fried.  Since we don’t fry these balls, we can say this is a low calorie version of making paruppu urundai kuzhambu. With little patience and by following the steps meticulously , this kuzhambu will definitely  have a place in your regular menu. But don’t get panic on seeing the list of ingredients.

Ingredients:

For making Urundai:

• Channa dhal (Kadalai Paruppu) – 1 Cup
• Toor dhal – ½ cup
• Red chillies – 2 Nos
• Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
• Shallots (finely chopped)-6 to 8 Nos
• Green chilly (finely chopped)– 1 No
• Garlic – 2 pods (optional)
• Asafoetida – 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder – a pinch
• Coriander leaves (chopped) – 2 tbsp
• Curry leaves(chopped) – 1 tbsp
• Coconut gratings – 2 tbsp
• Salt to taste

For making Kuzhambu/Gravy:       

• Tamarind – 1 big lemon size ball
• Red chilly powder – 3 tsp
• Coriander powder – 3 tsp
• Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
• Tomato – 1 No ( medium size)
• Shallots – 5 nos
• Green chilly (slitted) – 2 Nos
• Salt for gravy

For seasoning:

• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Bay leaf – 1
• Cinnamon stick – 1 piece
• Kadal paasi – 1 piece
• Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
• Curry leaves - few

Method:

1. Soak both dhals together for about 2 hours.
2. Soak tamarind in a cup of water,  squeeze out the pulp and keep it ready.
3. After 2 hours, drain the dhals and grind it coarsely along with fennel seeds, red chillies  and garlic and transfer the contents to the mixing bowl.
4. With the ground mixture, add finely chopped onion, green chillies, asafoetida, turmeric powder, coconut gratings, curry leaves, coriander leaves, salt required for urundai and mix everything well.
5. Make lemon sized balls out of this mixture and keep it aside.
6. In the mean time,  pour oil in a broad vessel or a flat-bottomed kadai and season with the ingredients given “For seasoning”.
7. Add shallots and green chillies, sauté for a while. Add tomato and cook until it gets mashed well.
8. Then add tamarind pulp, all masala powders and required salt (only for gravy). Finally, add one more cup of water and close with a lid and  bring it to a boil.
9. When the raw smell of masala goes off, open the lid and add ½ cup of water again so that the gravy is watery.
10. Now add  paruppu urundai | lentil balls gently into the gravy by spreading them over. Don’t overcrowd them in a single place. Close it with a lid. After 5 minutes , open the lid and gently, turn the balls to the other side without breaking them. At this time, the balls will be half-cooked. Again close the lid and cook for 5 more minutes. When the balls are completely cooked, they will float in the gravy. At this point,  cook for about 5 to 10 minutes  in simmer and then switch off. Now the gravy will also become thicker in consistency.

Your tangy, spicy Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambu is ready to serve with hot steamed rice.  It can be served with any vegetable stir fry or kootu or even with appalam! It is also tasty with idlies and dosas!!

Note:

• Before adding the balls, the gravy  should be made thin by adding enough water, otherwise the balls will not get cooked. The gravy will become thick when the balls are done.
• Don’t stir immediately after adding the balls into the gravy.
• Care must be taken while adding salt because salt is added in two stages.

Tags: Paruppu urundai kuzhambu recipe, lentil balls gravy, easy method of making paruppu urundai kuzhambu, dhal kofta gravy, chettinad paruppu urundai kuzhambu, mixed dhals kofta gravy recipe, how to make paruppu urundai kuzhambu without frying/ steaming?

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X-mas Greetings

Hi everyone!

There’s no you and me on Christmas Day, It’s just us!

Merry Christmas!!!

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Winner in Millet Mania Contest

This post is to share the happiest moment with you all!

My  recipe for Ragi Sweet Crispies has got selected in the Millet Mania e-Recipe contest conducted by Chips to Cherries.

At this moment, I want to convey my heartiest thanks to Mrs. Uma Raghavan of Chips to Cherries for providing this wonderful opportunity to participate in "Millet Mania contest". I am very much happy and delighted to be selected as the winner in this contest for my Ragi Crispies recipe. It is a great inspiration for me to come out with more nutritious recipes. I truly appreciate the efforts of the organizers to keep the health spirit alive!

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Mixed Vegetable Chutney | Cabbage-Capsicum-Spring Onion Chutney

Mixed vegetable chutney can be prepared very easily with leftover veggies. But the secret in making yummy chutney lies in selecting specific combination of  vegetables in  specific  proportions. We can add those vegetables which our kids normally don’t like to eat but the challenge is to hide those flavours so that your kids don’t find out the ingredients you have added. So it is purely in our hands to prepare either a  chutney or a medicine! It is always better to follow some tested proportions while making vegetable chutney.

Today, I have tested the chutney with capsicum, cabbage & spring onion and this spicy chutney  tasted great with hot idlis. Immediately, I want to share the recipe for the same so that you can also enjoy!

Ingredients:

• Cabbage ( finely chopeed) – ¼ cup
• Capsicum  (finely chopped)– ¼ cup
• Spring onion (green part- chopped) – ¼ cup
• Spring onion (bulbs & white part) – ¼ cup
• Tomato  (chopped ) – ¼ cup
• Red  chillies – 3 Nos
• Green chillies – 2 Nos
• Coconut (grated) – 2 tbsp
• Tamarind – 2 pods
• Gingelly oil – 2 tbsp
• Mustard – 1 tsp
• Urad dhal – 2 tbsp
• Asafoetida  - ½ tsp
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. In a kadai, pour gingelly oil and temper with mustard and urad dhal.
2. When urad becomes golden brown, add red chillies, green chillies and asafoetida and sauté well.
3. Add spring onion bulbs and sauté well.
4. Add finely chopped cabbage and sauté till the raw smell of cabbage goes off and colour of the cabbage turns to light brown.
5. Then add capsicum and sauté until the raw smell of capsicum goes off.
6. Add tomatoes and sauté till the skin of the tomatoes get wilted.
7. Then add coconut and spring onion(green part) and sauté well till you get a nice aroma.
8. Allow the contents to cool.
9. Grind the ingredients along with salt and tamarind and transfer the contents to a serving bowl.

Your spicy, capsicum-cabbage chutney is ready to be served with hot steaming idlies or crispy dosas! You can also have this chutney for sambar rice, curd rice, etc.

Note:

• Normally I don’t do tempering once again. If you want, you can temper with mustard and curry leaves in a tsp of oil.

Tags: Vegetable chutney, How to prepare chutney using vegetables?, Mixed vegetable chutney recipe, Left over veggies chutney, How to use left over veggies for making chutney?, Side dish for idli/dosa, Chutney recipe for hot idlies, spicy chutney recipe for idli/dosa, Capsicum-cabbage-spring onion chutney recipe

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Thiruvathirai Kali | Thiruvathira Kali

Thiruvathirai is a festival of Lord Shiva and is celebrated in the Tamil month “Markazhi” which spans from mid-December to mid-January, on the day of Thiruvathira Nakshathra.  It is also known as Arudhra Dharshan. It is believed that on this day, Lord Shiva is incarnated in the form of Lord Nataraja and  celebrated for a week in the famous Natarajar temple in Chidambaram, Tamilnadu.

In kerala also, they celebrate this festival one among their traditional festivals, like Vishu and Onam. On this day, the women in Kerala perform a dance called “Thiruvathira Kali” for the folk songs called “Thiruvathira Paattu”.

On this day,  special Neivedyam  called “Thiruvathirai Kali”  along  with a special kootu called “7 Curry Kootu or Thalagam”  are prepared for offering to Lord Shiva. 

Here we go for the recipe of making Thiruvathiral Kali. Thiruvathirai kali can be prepared following different methods. My grandma used to make it in Uruli made of Brass (வெண்கல உருளி) and the taste, I have no words to say. She maintained that vessel only for making kali, mysorepa, halwa, burfi etc. Today, we are in the world of pressure cookers and non-stick cookwares. So, I will explain the method of preparing kali using pressure cooker.

Ingredients:

• Raw rice (Ponni) – 1 cup
• Moong dhal (Paasi paruppu) – ¼ cup
• Water – 2 ½ cups
• Jaggery – 1 cup
• Coconut gratings – 2 to 3 tbsp
• Cardamom powder – 1 tsp
• Ghee – 3 tbsp
• Cashew nuts – as required

Method:

1. Dry fry rice in a kadai in simmer till the rice becomes light brown in colour, transfer it to a plate  and let it cool.
2. In the same kadai, dry fry moong dhal until you get nice aroma. Allow it to cool.
3. Grind fried rice and dhal in a mixie to a coarse powder.
4. Melt jaggery in a cup of water and filter the impurities.
5. In a pressure pan, add 2 ½ cups of water and bring it to boil.
6. When it boils, add the rice-dhal powder, mix everything, close it with a lid and cook until done. (in my cooker, I leave for 3 whistles)
7. In the mean time, fry the cashew nuts in a tsp of ghee and keep it aside.
8. When the pressure subsides, open the cooker, add the filtered jaggery syrup, cardamom powder, coconut gratings,  fried cashew nuts and remaining ghee and give a stir. Cook in simmer until everything gets blended nicely.

Thiruvathirai Kali is ready for Pooja!

Note:

• The measurement for jaggery can be increased if you want more sweet. My measurement will give you a mild sweet kali.
• Rice and dhal should be powdered coarsely in rava form.

Tags: Thiruvathirai kali recipe, Thiruvathirai kali in a pressure cooker, Easy Thiruvathirai kali recipe, Arudra Darshan recipe, Arudhra Darisanam Recipe, Thirvathirai kali and Thalagam, Kali with ezhu kari kootu, Neivedhyam for Lord Shiva, Thiruvathirai Neivedhyam Recipe, Festival recipe, Pooja recipe, methods of preparing Thiruvathira Kali, How to prepare Thiruvathirai Kali in a pressure cooker?

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Finger Millet Sweet Crispies | Ragi Sweet Crispies | Kezhvaragu Inippu Thattai

Finger Millet Sweet Crispies |Ragi sweet crispies | Kezhvaragu Inippu Thattai is a crispy sweet made with finger millet | ragi flour. I have coined this recipe with a motive to encourage kids to eat  ragi. I have sent this recipe  to  Malligai Magal   and already  got  published in the magazine. The ingredients used in this recipe are  (a) fried gram powder – rich in protein, (b)sesame seeds  – rich in vitamins & minerals and (c)jaggery –rich in iron which are naturally good for everyone. When these healthy ingredients combined with calcium & iron rich ragi, it is needless to say it is a recipe for preparing healthy crispies! So this healthy dish is not only for kids but also for elders, those  with sweet tooth. The crispies prepared can be stored in an air tight container for a week, if you find anything left out! I am sure everyone will like the taste of it and the dish will get vanished in no time.

Let us go for the recipe!

Ingredients:

• Ragi flour – 1 cup
• Fried gram powder (Porikadalai Powder) – ½ cup
• Jaggery – ½ cup
• Coconut gratings – 2 tbsp
• White Sesame seeds (Til seeds) – 2 tbsp
• Cardamom powder – 1 tsp
• Oil – for deep frying

Method:

1. In a heavy bottomed kadai, dry roast ragi flour until you get nice aroma and allow  it to cool.
2. Sieve  ragi flour and fried gram powder together and transfer the sieved flour to a large mixing bowl.
3. In the mean time, melt jaggery in half cup of water and filter the impurities. Heat jaggery syrup in a kadai until it reaches bubble consistency and allow it to cool.
4. Add sesame seeds, coconut gratings, cardamom powder to the sieved flour and mix well. Add jaggery syrup little by little, mixing the flour together thereby forming a stiff dough as we do for Poori.
5. Divide the dough into equal small  lemon sized balls. Grease a plastic sheet/ zip lock bag with oil. Place a ball on the greased sheet, flatten the ball by pressing  with your fingers into very thin, flat disc (like thattai). Prick it with fork on both sides and transfer this to a large plate. Repeat the same for the rest of the balls and keep it aside.
6. In a wide bottomed pan, add required oil for deep frying and heat the oil. When the oil is hot, turn the heat to simmer, gently drop the crispies, some 3 to 4, depending on the size of the kadai. Fry them in simmer, by turning the crispies both sides until done i.e the bubbles from the crispies subside completely.
7.  Remove the crispies from the oil and place them on a paper towel to remove excess oil.
8. Allow them to cool and store in an air container.

Your healthy finger millet crispies are ready to serve! Enjoy eating healthy snack made of millets!!

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Chicken Pulao | Easy Chicken Pulao Recipe

Chicken pulao is a delicious rice variety made with chicken. It  needs less ingredients compared to regular biryani  and is aromatic enough to attract everybody at home to your kitchen. Instead of making regular chicken biryani everytime, we can try this pulao once in a while for a change – particularly when we are bored of adding regular masala stuffs. This chicken pulao  when combined with spicy gravy and raita is surely no way inferior to our regular biryani. This chicken flavoured pulao  will definitely be loved by the kids and is a treat to foodaholics!

Try this quick & easy to make yummy chicken pulao at once!

Ingredients:

• Chicken – ½ kg
• Basmati rice – 2 cups
• Onions (finely chopped) – 2 Nos
• Green chillies slitted) – 3 Nos
• Ginger garlic paste – 1 tbsp
• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
• Garam masala powder – 1 tbsp
• Curd – 2 tbsp
• Mint leaves (chopped) – ½ cup
• Cilantro | coriander leaves(chopped) – 2 tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Oil – 2 to 3 tbsp
• Ghee – 1 tbsp

To grind:

• Coconut gratings – ½ cup
• Green chillies – 7 Nos
• Fennel seeds – 1 tbsp
• Khus khus – 1 tsp

For seasoning:

• Bay leaf – 1 No.
• Cinnamon – 1” piece
• Kalpaasi – 1 piece
• Star anise – 1 No
• Cloves (Lavang) – 4 Nos
• Cardamom (Elaichi) – 2 Nos
• Fennel seeds – 1 tsp

Method:

1. Clean chicken, wash thoroughly with water & turmeric  and cut into required size.
2. In a pressure pan, add oil and season with the items given “For Seasoning”.
3. Add chopped onions and sauté for a while, then add green chillies and ginger garlic paste, sauté till the raw smell goes off.
4. Add garam masala powder and turmeric powder, mix everything well, then add curd and sauté for a while.
5. Add chicken, mix everything and sauté for 5 minutes. Add ½ portion of mint leaves and cilantro, stir well. Add 1 cup of water and required salt. Stir well and close the lid. Pressure cook for 3 to 4 whistles.
6. Meanwhile, wash basmati rice , drain the water completely and keep it aside.
7. Also, grind the items given “To grind” in a mixie jar by adding a cup of water and squeeze out the milk from the ground paste using a colander. Keep it ready.
8. Now open the pressure pan, separate the chicken pieces and drain the gravy. Measure the gravy with the coconut milk prepared under step (7)  and make it 4 cups by adding  water, if needed so that  gravy+coconut milk +water =4 cups for 2 cups of rice and keep it aside.
9. In a separate pressure pan, add ghee, sauté rice along with the balance coriander, mint leaves and cooked chicken pieces.  
10. Then add gravy+coconut milk +water (4 cups) and  needed salt. You can check for spice also at this stage and you can add slitted green chillies  if needed. Stir well and close the lid. Wait for 1 whistle, then simmer the flame for 3 minutes. Open the cooker after releasing the pressure slowly. Then follow the same procedure as we have done for all other Biryani recipes.

Your delicious, hot, aromatic Chicken Pulao is ready to serve! I have served the pulao with spicy chicken masala!!

Note:

• You can add lemon juice at the end if you like tangy taste since I didn’t add tomatoes in this recipe.
• I have not used chilli powder at all in this recipe  but if you want you can add red chilli powder and minimize the green chillies used for grinding.
• Number of green chillies added should be decided based on one’s spice level and also considering the size and spiciness of chillies.

Tags: Chicken pulao recipe, Quick and easy chicken pulao, chicken rice recipe, Delicious chicken pulao recipe, Indian chicken pulao, Indian chicken rice varieties, easy to make chicken pulao, easy chicken pulao, spicy chicken pulao, Indian biryani varieties

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Chola Adai | Millet Adai Dosa | Adai Dosa Crepes with Sorghum

From the very first post of my Paruppu Adai  itself, you  might have judged me  that  I am a great fan of Adai! So I try varieties of adai once in a while even though my son doesn’t  like it. I have a long list to share with you in Adai dosa category itself and hence I created a separate category for this variety.   Today  I prepared the dish with the grain called “Sorghum | Jowar | Cholam”.  

The cholam  has its ancient roots in India and in villages where  cholam was a regular staple food. They prepared  many dishes  using this grain, like  adai dosa, chola dosai, chola saadham  (Sorghum Rice), Chola Roti  (Sorghum Bread), Chola Dosa, etc. Now, the usage of millets  has faded away even in villages and many health experts try to bring awareness about the goodness of millets. Lots of forums and groups are promoting the usage of millets. The outcome of researches show that polished white rice which has higher glycemic index as compared to millets,  is the main cause for diabetic in many people in India. We can slowly inculcate the habit of including these millets in our regular diet so that the younger generation will also get accustomed to this forgotten diet.

Sorghum or Cholam is rich in magnesium, zinc and other phytonutrients. It is  good for people with celiac disease since it is gluten free. It has natural glucose leveling elements and good for diabetic people too. It aids metabolism and very good diet for people with the problems of constipation. So it is good to use this grain once in a while, in any form which your family likes.

Sometimes we may feel heavy when taking adai for dinner and my friends say that they usually avoid making this dish only for this reason even though they like the taste. My suggestion is whenever you plan to prepare adai for dinner, make it an early dinner (minimum 2 hours before going to bed)  and limit the quantity so that you can enjoy the food completely. 

Let’s move on to the recipe now. 

Ingredients:

Sorghum | Cholam – 1 cup

Urad dhal – ¼ cup

Toor dahl – ½ cup

Channa dhal  (kadalai paruppu)– ½ cup

Red chillies – 10 Nos.

Fennel seeds – 1 tbsp

Ginger – 1” piece

Onion (finely chopped) – ½ cup

Asafoetida – 1 tsp

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Curry leaves ( finely chopped) – 3 to 4 tbsp

Coconut gratings – 2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Oil to cook

Method:

Wash and soak sorghum  with urad dahl in water for about 3- 4 hours. Wash toor dhal and channa dhal together and soak them in water for an hour.

Grind soaked sorghum and urad along with red chillies, ginger piece, fennel seeds and coconut gratings to the stage before fine paste. Transfer this to a container.

Grind the soaked dhals coarsely and transfer this mixture to the same container.

Add all the balance ingredients except oil and mix it well to a thick idli batter consistency.

Heat a tawa. Pour a ladle full of batter and spread it circularly like a thin dosa.

Drizzle few drops of oil and close with the lid and cook in simmer.

After  3 minutes, open the lid and flip the adai to the other side and cook in simmer without lid for about 2 minutes.

The crispy, spicy, healthy chola adai is ready to be served. Today, I have served this adai with tangy “Katta Mitta Mango Thokku” and tastes yummy!  I’ll post the recipe for Katta Mitta Mango Thokku very soon.

Note:

• The adai will be crispy when it is hot with the above measurements. If you want adai dosa to remain soft after hours of cooking, you can increase the measurement of Urad dhal to ½ cup.
• I have shown the cholam in the pic since many people confuse cholam with makka cholam i.e. sorghum with corn!

Tags: Chola adai dosa recipe. Sorghum adai dosa recipe, How to use Millets in our regular diet?, Jowar adai recipe, Jowar adai dosa, how to use cholam for making adai?, Maize adai dosa recipe,  Gramathu chola adai recipe, Cholam adai recipe, Chola adai, Jowar adai, healthy chola adai dosa recipe, healthy millets recipe, healthy jowar recipes, healthy  cholam recipe, Gramathu virundhu- chola maavu adai dosa recipe, crispy chola adai recipe

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Poori Masala | Potato Masala for Poori | Poori Kizhangu Masala

Potato masala prepared with potato and onion  is the perfect accompaniment for Poori and hence it got the name “Poori Masala”. It is also called as Poori Kizhangu  or Poori Kizhangu Masala. We can relish the taste of Poori  to the core,  only when it is combined with this dish. The other side dishes will come only next to this. Whenever  I make Poori,  I  prepare this side dish. Sometimes I even drop the idea of making Poori, if  the ingredients for preparing Poori Masala are not on hand.

Ingredients:

• Potato – 2 Nos. (Medium)
• Big onion (chopped)  - 2 Nos.
• Green chillies (slitted into 4 ) – 5 to 6 Nos.
• Ginger (finely chopped) – 1” piece
• Tomato – 1 No.(small) or Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
• Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Bengal gram flour (Besan flour) – 2 tsp

For seasoning:

• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Mustard – 1 tsp
• Jeera  - 1 tsp
• Curry leaves - few

Method:

1. Boil the potatoes until soft, remove the skin and mash it coarsely. Keep it aside.
2. In a kadai, pour oil, season with ingredients given for seasoning.
3. Then add ginger, green chillies, sauté for a minute.
4. Add onion and sauté till it becomes transparent. Next add tomato , mashed potato and turmeric powder and mix everything.
5. Add ½ cup of water and required salt , mix everything. Cook  for  5 minutes.
6. Mix Bengal gram flour in ½  cup of water without lumps  and pour this over the potato mixture. Mix everything well and wait till the gram flour gets cooked and the gravy reaches the masala consistency.

Your Poori Masala is ready to be served with hot, fluffy Pooris! This can be relished especially during rainy days.

Note:

• I have added tomato in this recipe. If you like to add lemon juice instead of tomato, add at the end of the recipe.

Tags: Poori masala recipe, Poori Kizhangu recipe, How to prepare Poori Masala at Home?, How to prepare restaurant style Poori Masala?, Hotel style poori kizhangu recipe, Side dish for Roti/ Poori, Urulai Kizhangu Masala recipe,  Potato masala for poori,  Kizhangu Masala for Poori, Poori Kizhangu Masala recipe, Poorikkizhangu masala recipe, Poorikkizhangu recipe, urulai kizhangu masala for Poori

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Pomfret Fry | Chettinad Style Pomfret Fish Fry | Avoli Pollichathu

Pomfret Fish Fry | Vaaval Meen Fry | Avoli Pollichathu is an all time favourite for everyone at home. As Pomfret fish is versatile, we can add any masala we like and the fish fry will turn out accordingly. Normally in restaurants, I didn’t taste  any variations in fish fry masala except at GRT Grand where they prepared excellent  Pomfret fry.

In Tamil pomfret is known as “Vaaval Meen” and in Malayalam, “Avoli”. There are many varieties available in the market. I usually buy  silver pomfret or  white pomfret. Black pomfrets are also available.

Here I have used Chettinad Masala for frying the fish and I have no words to say, the fry turned out juicy with the full aroma of masala. So I wanted to share this recipe to everyone.

Ingredients:

• Pomfret fish – 500 gms
• Red chilli powder – 2 tbsp
• Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
• Tamarind juice (thick) – 1 tbsp
• Lemon juice – 1 tsp
• Salt to tatse
• Oil – to shallow fry

To grind:

• Garlic – 10 pods
• Pepper  – 1 tsp
• Fennel – ½ tsp

Method:

1. Select pomfret  fish,  each of which weighs about 200 to 250 gms. Cut the tail and fins. Make a small slit at the side and carefully remove the intestine and other wastes without affecting the shape of the fish. Clean the fish using water with turmeric and curd. Make 2 to 3 slits on the both sides of the fish.
2. Grind the ingredients given under “To grind” to a smooth paste by adding few drops of water.
3. In a plate, transfer the ground paste and mix with red chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt, tamarind juice and lemon juice and make a thick paste.
4. Apply this masala paste on the fish concentrating on the slits . This will help the masala to get absorbed into the fish. Marinate in the refrigerator for an hour.
5. In a non stick pan, add required oil for shallow frying the fish and heat.
6. When the oil is hot, fry the fish in simmer for about 5 minutes. Then carefully flip the fish to other side and cook for 5 minutes. Repeat again with both sides.

Your hot, spicy Pomfret Fry is ready to serve. This can be served as a side dish for hot steaming rice along with "Manchatti Meen Kuzhambu"!

Note:

• Care should be taken while cutting the fish so that the shape of the fish gets retained.
• Also, while cooking, the fish has to be flipped carefully without getting broken.

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