Raw Banana powder( podi)

You would have eaten  bajji, chips ... made from raw banana.
Now I shall share with you the recipe of raw banana powder.( in Tamil we call it as Vazhaikkai podi)

We need :

green Raw banana--1.
urad dhal----3 tea spoons.
red chillies --2 or 3 as per your taste.
salt to taste.
asafoetida quarter tea spoon.
oil  --1 tea spoon 

Preparing Instructions :

Cut the banana into two halves. Put them into a vessel and add water till the bananas are immersed .
Then boil it. Let the bananas be just cooked . Take care to see that they are not over cooked. Just press the tip of a spoon in the cooked banana. The spoon should be able to just pierce through it. That is the right time to remove from the stove. Take out the bananas from the water and cool, it down. Then peel. Smash it a little with your hands or a spoon and keep aside.

Now fry , urad dhal, red chillies, asafoetida  in oil till they are golden brown . Then cool it. Put all the fried items in a mixie jar. add salt. powder it . Now add the smashed banana into the mixture and grind it using the whipper button for just a few seconds. 

Banana Powder is ready. This goes well with steaming rice. You can add a little gingelly oil while mixing with rice to have a great taste . Oil will also avoid stickiness.

 P.S :When preparing this recipe keep in mind

To prevent the podi from becoming  a sticky ball 
you should not over cook the banana  or over run the  mixie after adding the smashed banana. 
 
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Oats Laddu

Oats - We are all aware of its health benefits. I normally make Oats uppuma, kichadi and even porridge. 
Today I tried Oats laddu, just like Rava laddu. It turned out so good. let me share the recipe with you.

To make Oats Laddu all we need is

Oats--1 cup.
Sugar--1/4 cup or according to your taste.
cardamom--1 or 2.
cashews a little.
ghee 6 tea spoons.

Preparing Instructions

First dry roast the oats till it turns brown. when oats gets roasted a nice aroma will be in the air. Then you can remove from fire and let it cool. .
 Make  the sugar and the cardamom to a fine powder in the mixi.. Then add the roasted oats and grind that  also into a fine powder. Mix both the powders .

Heat a little  ghee. Roast the cut cashews and add to the powder.
Now heat the rest of the ghee. when it is really hot pour it in the powder. mix it well  with a ladle..

Now you can make little laddus using your palm. Take care that you do not burn your hands. You can always wait till the flour gets cooled a little .

Pearl Millet Kichadi

Pearl Millet is a millet which is very good for diabetic patients. It has a low glycemic index.  But cooking Pearl Millet  takes a little longer time than usual .  To make cooking easy we can use broken Pearl Millet. We get it here in chennai Pearl Millet in broken form ( Pearl Millet Rava).

If you don't get as rava, you can break the millet  into rava . Wash the millet with water and immediately put into the mixi jar and run the mixi for a few minutes. You will get the millet as rava.( you need not soak)

Let us prepare Kichadi with this Pearl Millet ( broken).

You need :

1. Pearl Millet ( Broken)--- 1 cup.
2. Potato (optional) ---1 cut into pieces.
3. Carrot---1
4. Green peas----a little.
5. Onion---- 1
6. Green chillies---1 or 2 (as you require)
7. Tomato--1 
8. Mustard seeds--1 tea spoon.
9. Urad dhal---1 tea spoon.
10. Curry leaves---a little.
11. Salt ---- as required.
12. Oil---1 spoon for Garnishing.

Cooking Instructions :

Cut the onion and all other vegetables into pieces.

Add oil to a frying pan and heat. When it is hot, add the mustard seeds,  urad dhal. when it  splashes, add the cut onion, green chillies, cut tomatoes. curry leaves and all other vegetables. let it get fried for a few minutes. Then add the broken millets , keep frying for 2 or 3 minutes. Then transfer the contents to a vessel to be cooked in the cooker.  Add three and a half  cups of water( 3 cups for the millet and 1/2 cup for the vegetables) and add the required salt.Mix well  and pressure cook , for five or six whistles.Put off the gas.

When the cooker is cooled down , remove the millet kichadi from the cooker. Mix well , Serve it hot with chutney or sambhar. This goes well even with curd.

Yam Masiyal ( Pidi Karunai Kizangu Masiyal)

What can we do with yam? 

When I say yam, Iam talking about the small yam  and not the elephant yam. This type of yam sometimes  turns itchy for your skin and tongue , even after cooking . Fresh from the soil , yam creates an itchy sensation.To avoid this irritating effect of yam, it can be cooked after 4 or 5 days from the date of purchase.
Now let us see how to make this yam masiyal  , a typical south indian dish.

We need :

1. Yam -- 2 or 3 pieces.
2. green chillies -2 or 3 ( as per your taste)
3. lemon--1
4. salt to taste.
5. sugar 1 or 2 spoon fulls.
6. coconut grates (optional)
7. mustard seeds to garnish.
8. oil 2 tea spoons.
9. curry leaves a little.

Preparing Instructions :

Cut the green chillies into fine pieces. 

Keep the yam in a cooker  and cook for two or three whistles. After the cooker is cooled down, remove the yam. Peel and  smash . Take care to see that cooked yam is not smashed too much.

Heat the pan on the stove. Add oil. After it is hot, add the mustard . When it splashes, add the cut green chillies, curry leaves and the cooked yam. Add the required salt   and stir it for a few seconds. Then add the sugar and mix it well . Now remove from fire and then  squeeze half a lemon in this. Taste it. If need be you can add more juice/salt/sugar. 
You can also add coconut grates if you wish to.

Your masiyal is ready.  Serve it hot.Your near and dear  ones are sure to say ' Wow ' after tasting this.

PODI

Let me collect all podi recipes here.

Onion Podi
Garlic Podi
Dosa Podi

Dosa podi with Flax Seeds.

There is wide spread talk that Flax seeds are good for health. It contains Omega3 fatty acids and  fibre .
We can use  this Flax seeds in our cooking to take advantage of its nutrient contents.

Let us see how to make this Dosa podi using this seeds.

We need :

1. Red Chillies  --- a handful/ as per your taste.
2. Urad dhal ----1 small Tumbler.
3. Flax Seeds --1/4 tumbler.
4. Salt --To Taste.
5. Asafoetida ---- a little.
6. oil ---2 teaspoons.

Cooking instructions:

Heat the frying pan and add the flax seeds. It will pop. Fry it to pop for a while. Then remove from fire .
Now add oil to the pan,heat it. Fry the urad dhal, red chillies , and asafoetida . When the dhal turns red, remove from fire and allow it to cool.

Add all the fried items into a mixi jar along with salt. Powder the contents. Let it be a little coarse.
Texture does make a difference even in taste.

Serve it with hot idlis or dosas . Enjoy the taste.
Let me have a feed back so that i would know if I have to improve my cooking, as well as writing.

Dhal Chutney(Paruppu Thuvaiyal)

This is a common South Indian dish, to be more precise, it is a Tamilandu dish . This dish is very easy to prepare but very nutritious.

You need :

1. Thuvar Dhal( Sambar Dhal)---1 tumbler.
2. Red chillies--- 2 or 3.
3. Black pepper ----3 or 4.
4. coconut grates ---1 spoon (optional)
5. garlic -one clove.
6. Asafoetida---a little.
7. salt ---to taste

Cooking Instructions:

Heat the pan. Leaving coconut grates  and salt add everything in the heated pan. No need to put oil. Fry them.
When the dhal turns red remove from fire. After it gets cooled down put them in a mixi . Add salt and coconut grates . Grind them into nice powder. Then add water little by little and keep grinding. You can see the mixture turning into a fine paste. Remove from the mixi jar into your serving dish.

Serve with hot rice.This goes well with ' Vatha Kuzambhu ' again a familiar South Indian dish. If you like to add oil, you can add when mixing with rice and eat. Add gingelly oil to taste great.

PS :

Sometimes while grinding , when we add water, there are chances that the paste turning watery. Need not panic. Forget about it for sometime( may be half an hour) and carry on with other chores. After sometime the thuvaiyal is sure to  become a paste. 
This tip is from my own experience.

Barnyard Millet Pongal.

Barnyard millet contains, protien, iron, fibre in higher quantitites than in our normal rice. 
Let us see how to make pongal with this millet.

 All you need :

1. Barnyard Millet --1 cup'
2. moong dhal ---1/4 cup.
3. pepper -1 tea spoon.
4. jeera ----1 tea spoon.
5. ghee 1 tea spoon.
6. cashew a little.
7. ginger a small piece( finely cut)
8. curry leaves a little.
9. salt to taste.

preparing instructions:

Fry the moong dhal a little. keep aside. Wash the millet with water and  mix with fried dhal. Pour three cups of water.Place this in the cooker and cook till you get   3 or 4 whistles.  Then remove  the cooker from heat.and allow it to cool.
Remove the cooked rice from the cooker.Mix the cooked rice and dhal a little. Add the required salt. If you feel like adding water, you can do so. But please add hot water.  Keep aside.

Now heat the ghee in a fryinng pan,. Add Pepper, jeera cashews and fry them till they turn red. Now add the ginger pieces and curry leaves and add this garnish to the pongal.

serve this pongal hot, with chutney. 

P.S. This barnyard millet increases in quantity when cooked and  so take care of the quantity while cooking.  Even  if we eat a little we have a sense of fullness.

Now don't forget to give me a feed back.

Coconut chutney ( thuvaiyal)

This is a chutney variety you can find in a south Indian home .
 

All you need to prepare this is

1. coconut grates .
2. urad dhal-- 3 teaspoons.
3. Red Chillies-- 2 or 3 pieces ( as per your taste)
4. Asafoetida  a little.
5. tamarind-- size of a small lemon.
6. salt to taste
7. oil-- one teaspoon.

Preparing Instructions:

Heat the oil in the pan. When it is hot add the asafoetida, urad dhal, red chillies and fry them till they are golden brown. Add all these fried items  and salt  in a mixi jar and grind them to a fine powder.

when they are powdered finely, add the coconut grates, tamarind, a little water and grind them to a paste. Your Coconut chutney is ready to eat. 

Serve it with hot rice . Mix it with hot rice and enjoy the taste.

PS: When you add water take care to see that you don't add too much. Then it will become too watery .

Kodo Millet Uppuma ( Varagu )

There is much talk about the millets these days,as they carry more health benfits.

I prepared uppuma with Kodo Millet.Let me share the recipe....

All we need is

1. Kodo Millet ----1 cup.
2. One onion cut into fine pieces.
3. Green chillies cut into fine pieces.
4. Mustard ------1 spoon.
5. Urad dhal------1 spoon.
6. asafoetida-----little.
7. oil ----onespoon.
8. salt to taste.
9. curry leaves a little.

Preparing instructions 

Heat the oil in a  fry pan. When it is hot add the asfoetida, mustard and urad dhal. When the dhal turns golden brown add the cut onions, chillies,and curry leaves.when they get fried, add about two and a half cups of water. Then add salt. When the water gets to boil add the kodo millet and stir. Then lower the fire and close it with a lid. stir it now and then.

The millet will get cooked in ten or fifteen minutes. Remove from fire and serve it hot.

 
Chilly Ginger chutney  goes well with this. Enjoy the uppuma  and don't forget to give a feed back.

Bitter Gourd Roast.

If only bittergourd tastes.... sweet .........can you imagine the happiness in your kids face?
Then here is the recipe.......Prepare and taste it.

All you need is 

 

1. Bitter Gourd  ------1/4 kg.
2. tamarind-------------size of a lemon.
3. turmeric powder----1/4 teaspoon.
4. sambar podi----------2 or 3 tea spoons (as per your taste)
5. salt -------------------as required..
6. oil --------------------2 or 3 teaspoons.
7. mustard seeds (optional)---1 teaspoon.
8. sugar/ artificial sweetener-----3 teaspoons.

cooking instructions:

Cut the bittergourds into thin slices and keep aside. Now take the juice from the tamarind. Let it be not too watery .

Pour a little oil in a pan and heat it. Now add the cut  bitter gourd and shallow fry for a few minutes. Now add the tamarind juice , add the turmeric powder, sambar powder, salt and stir . Close it with a lid and bring the gas to sim. Now and then stir and check if the bitter gourd is cooked. When it is cooked, taste and if necessary add the ingredients. Then remove the lid.

When all the water is evaporated , and the bitter gourd does not stick to the pan add the sugar. Fry just for a few minutes. If needed you can add more sugar.

Remove from fire.Serve .

You can mix  with plain rice and eat  . Also it gives very good company for curd rice.

Enjoy the recipe. please give me a feed back.

Methi Mango Pickle

If you feel like having pickle instantly this one will be of that kind. It will not take much time to prepare.

You Need

1. Mango cut into pieces.
2. Red Chillies as per your taste.
3. Methi seeds 1 tea spoon.
4. salt 
5. Asafoetida 
6. Mustard seeds alittle. 
7. oil 4 or 5 tablespoons.

 Cooking instructions:

Cut the mango into fine pieces. Keep it aside. Heat one tablespoon of oil in a pan. Add the asafoetida and the methi seeds.Fry them till golden brown. Remove from fire. Take care to see that the methi seeds don't get burnt.  Take the red chillies as per your taste .Fry them a little. Powder all the fried items with salt  in a mixi . Grind them to a fine powder.

Heat all the remaining oil in the pan. Splash the mustard seeds and add the cut mangoes. Also add the fried powder . Stir the pickle for a few seconds. The mangoes need not get cooked. Remove from fire. After it gets cooled you can store it in the referigerator.

You can take this pickle with curd rice immediately, but it tastes great when it is tasted the next day.

P.S: 
Take care to see that the methi seeds don't get burnt. The burnt methi seeds will give a sour taste to the pickle.

Enjoy this pickle with curd rice.

If I get a feed back I will be happy.

Sliced Mango Pickle( Mango Thokku)

Let us see  how to make sliced mango pickle. In Tamil it is called as Mango thokku. A mouth watering pickle you can find invariably in almost all homes in Tamilnadu during the mango season.

To Prepare this  we need 

1. Raw Mango  1 or 2 .
2. chilly powder to your taste.
3. turmeric powder 2 teaspoons.
4. asafoetida  a little.
5. mustard seeds 2 teaspoons.
6. methi seeds 1 teaspoon.
7. salt to taste.
8. gingelly  oil   4 tablespoons.

Peel the mangoes with a peeler and slice the mangoes  as seen in the picture above. Pour some oil in the pan and heat it. Add the asafoetida powder, and mustard . As the mustard gets splashed add the sliced mangoes . Add the required salt and turmeric powder to the mangoes and with the help of a ladle turn the mangoes. Then lower the heat by bringing the gas to sim . Close the pan with a plate .Let the mangoes be cooked. Don't forget to turn the mangoes upside down now and then. 

The mangoes will get cooked well . You can see the fried mangoes turning to almost a paste like consistency. Now add the chilly powder and the rest of the oil. Keep in slow flame for a little while as you keep stirring the mangoes.

Fry the methi  seeds and powder it. Add this powder to the pickle. This will give a good flavour to the pickle and also it acts as a preservative. Now you can remove the pickle from fire.

Let the pickle cool down. Store it in glass bottle. If need be you can also referigerate.

This goes well with curd rice.

Onion Mango Salad.

This preparation is not such a common dish. It is an exclusive preparation in my maternal home. Here I share this recipe . As the name tells, we don't need to do any cooking. Just mix everything and enjoy it .

All you need is 

1. Mango cut into fine pieces.
2. One onion cut into fine pieces.
3. Turmeric powder quarter tea spoon.
4. Sambar Powder  one tea spoon.
5. Salt to taste.
6. Sugar  one tea spoon.

Instructions to prepare :

Take a bowl . Add all the ingredients .Sprinkle a little water and mix it with a ladle. Taste and if needed you can add more of any ingredient.You need not worry about how salt, sugar, mango will go together. Just give a try. I can assure you that this dish will find a place in your dining table on a regular basis. This will give a good company for  curd rice.

Go ahead and enjoy. But please don't forget to give me a feed back.

Chilly Tamarind

This is a mouth watering South Indian, to be more specific,  a dish enjoyed by Tamilians. Iam not sure whether this  dish is prepared  in any other state .

To prepare this dish we need :

1. Tamarind-----size of a big lemon.
2. Green chillies a handful. ( I have taken here 100 grams)
3. Salt to taste.
4. Jaggery a little
5. oil--- one tea spoon.

Pour the oil in a frying pan and fry the green chillies . It would look like as shown in the picture.

Let it cool down. Then put these fried green chillies, tamarind, salt in a mixi jar  and grind it to a fine paste. Then add the jaggery and run the mixi for a few seconds. Need not add water.

Taste and if needed you can add more of any of the ingredients and grind it to a fine paste. This has got a long shelf life. If need be you can referigerate.

 A very good combination for curd rice and also for rice uppuma. Enjoy this recipe and ofcourse don't forget to give me a feed back.

Kanchipuram Idli

Let us learn how to prepare Kanchipuram Idlis 

We need 

To Soak

1. Idly Rice (Boiled Rice)--1 cup
2. Raw Rice                  ----1/2 cup
3. Urad dal                   ----- 1 cup.
4. methi seeds             ------1 spoon.

To add to the flour

1. Mustard----1 spoon
2. Broken Urad dal -----1 spoon.
3. Gram Dal     ---------1 spoon.
4. Pepper     -----------1 spoon
5. cumin seeds----------1 spoon
6. pepper powder ----- a little.
7. cashews --------little.
8. gingelly oil -----1 sppon.
9. ghee a little.
10. coriander leaves
11. curry leaves
12. ginger  1 small piece finely cut.
13. Baking powder  a pinch.
14. Salt to taste.

Cooking  Instructions:

First soak the rice varities and urad dal  for four or five hours. I soaked the rice and dal separately  and grinded them separately. Take care to grind the rice varieties  coarsely. Do not grind them fine. Now grind the urad dal as you do it for normal idli.  Mix the flour.Add salt to this flour and mix them well . Allow the flour  to ferment ( approximately 8 hours).

Then, heat the pan, add the oil, Splash the mustard seeds, urad dal,  gram dal, pepper, cumin seeds,. When the dal turns red add the ginger pieces, coriander, curry leaves . Now add this to the flour. You can add the pinch of baking powder now if you opt.Fry the  cashews in ghee and add it to the flour. Don't forget to add the pepper powder.

Now pour this in normal idli plates or you can use small cups as idli moulds and bake them.
Serve it with coconut chutney .

Don't forget to give me a feed back.

Chilly Garlic chutney.

This chutney is a side idsh for idly, dosa etc......  The taste will be amazing. At the same time it protects your heart too.

We need

1. Peeled garlic a handful 
2. Red chillies as per your taste.
3. tamarind  a small gooseberry size 
4. salt to taste.
5. oil half a teaspoon.

Pour the half teaspoon oil in a pan and heat it.  When the oil is hot, add the chillies and fry. When it is fried ,keep the chillies aside. Put off the stove and then add the peeled garlic to the hot pan. Fry a little and then keep that aside. Now  grind the fried chillies, salt  in a mixie. after it is powdered add the tamrind and then grind again. when the mixture is fully blend add the lightly fried garlic and run the mixie. when it turns into a paste, store it in a glass jar or a stainless steel  jar.As we don't add water , it has got along shelf life. If need be you can even store it in a referigerator.

Take care to see that the quantitiy of chillies are more than the garlic. Only then the chutney will not be sticky.

Serve it with Idly,Dosa ..... Enjoy the taste .

Don't forget to give me a feedback

Saravana Bhavan sambhar.;

I came across this sambar recipe in ' balhanuman'blog. I tried it out . That was extremely good. Let me share the recipe.

Let us see how to prepare.

Pressure  cook .

Toor dal 1/2 cup.
Tomato --1 
Onion---1 or 2.

Put all the above ingredients in a pressure cooker  and allow three or four whistles , so that  the ingredients get  fully cooked.  Smash the cooked, dhal, onion and tomato  and keep it aside.

Grind

Fried gram (Pottu kadalai)--1 spoon.
grated coconut                ---- 1 spoon.
Sambhar powder ----to your taste.
Turmeric Powder-----1/4  spoon.
Tomato     -------1.

Grind the fried gram, coconut, sambhar powder, turmeric powder to a fine powder and then add the tomato (cut it.) and grind the mixture to a fine paste. keep it aside.

Garnish:

Oil a little.
Mustard a little.
Cumin seeds (jeera) a little.
Methi seeds a little.
Curry leaves.
cut 1 onion to pieces.

Tamarind juice a little.( you can dilute it )
salt to your taste.
You can add any vegetable of your choice.( Pearl onions, sambhar onions, drumstick,,etc,,,,)

Cooking Instructions :

Pour oil in a pan. Heat it. Add the Mustard seeds, cumin, methi seeds.( methi seeds tend to  burn black  quickly.) Take care to see that the methi seeds turn Only red. When red, add the cut onions. Pour the diluted tamarind juice. Add the cut vegetable  and cook in low fire for a few minutes. Then add the smashed dhal-tomato-onion combo and the ground paste in the sambhar. Add salt. Bring it to a boil.
Taste it. If need be add some more salt/ sambhar powder.Take care to boil it for a few minutes only.otherwise, you will end up with kothsu, and not sambhar.

When it reaches the required consistency, remove from fire. add coriander leaves on top .

Your tasty Sambhar is ready.This sambhar will go well with idly, dosa pongal.......

Here  is a secret to make your  sambhar yummy. Just serve it with lots of  love and affection.
That does wonders . Trust me.

Sweet Bitter Gourd Gravy (Paagarkai pitla in Tamil)

Bitter gourd can be turned into a sweet dish with a little effort. Let us see how to make the bitter gourd taste sweet.

For that all we need :

1.  Bitter Gourd  1/4 kilo.
2. Tamarind  (size of a small lemon).
3. Turmeric Powder 1/4 tea spoon .
4. Sambar Podi  to your taste.
5. Grated coconut  2 teaspoons.
6. Salt to taste.
7. Powdered jaggery 2 to 3 teaspoons.
8. Oil to fry and garnish.
9. Mustard  to garnish.
curry leaves and coriander a little.

To fry and  grind:

Asafoetida a little.
Dhaniya   2 teaspoons.
Bengal gram dhal( Channa dhal)  2 tea spoons
Raw rice  2 tea spoons.
Red Chillies  2 or 3

Cut the bittergourds into small pieces.
  
Pour oil in pan. Heat it. Fry the asafoetida and then fry the rice,dhal, dhaniya and red chillies  till they are golden brown. Put all these fried ingredients along with grated coconut  in a mixie  jar, powder it , add water  and  grind to a paste. The paste should not be very fine or smooth. Let it be  a little coarse , so that the consistency of the gravy will be good. Otherwise it will become  very thick and sticky.

soak the tamarind in water  and extract  the juice.. Let the juice be a little watery

Now, heat a little oil in the pan. add mustard seeds. Let it pop. Then add the curry leaves and the cut bitter gourds. Fry a little. Then add the tamarind juice . Add salt,turmeric powder, sambhar powder. Keep in mind the red chillies you have ground , when you add sambhar powder.

Let the bittergourds  get cooked. After that  add the  ground paste to the bittergourd.  When the mixture starts boiling , add the jaggery. After the jaggery get dissolved , remove from fire. If you keep the gravy on fire for a long time  it might get thickened to a paste. The consistency should be like  sambhar.
Taste the  gravy. If need be ,you can add sambhar powder/ salt/ jaggery.

Serve it Hot. This goes well  with rice.

Don't forget to  serve it with lots of love and affection. 
Iam sure that will make a world of difference in taste .

Tomato Dosa

When I was just roaming around the net, I came across this tomato dosa recipe written by Mrs. GeethaSambasivam.The recipe  sounded interesting. When I tried this with a little changes here and there, it came out good. Let me share this with you.

All we need is

1. Raw rice 1 cup.

2. Idli rice ( boiled rice)-----  1 cup.

3.Urad dhal-------  Half a cup.

4. Toor dhal( sambhar dhal)------Half a cup.

5. Tomatoes 3 or 4

6 Green chillies----3 

7. ginger  a small piece.

8. salt to taste.

9. Oil to prepare dosa.


Soak the rice, dhal for four hours. Then grind them  in a grinder or a mixie. when the grinding is half way through add the chillies, ginger, tomatoes .You can grind the tomatoes with or without peeling the skin. For peeling the skin of the tomatoes,leave the tomatoes for a few minutes in hot water. Then you can peel the skin. 

I did not peel it. It did not make a difference in taste or texture.Unpeeled tomatoes  would be good for our excretory system . 

When it is fully ground ,you can add salt and prepare dosas immediately.

When preparing dosas, let us use,  health friendly   iron  dosa  pans .
Avoid   Non-Stick cook wares.

I should thank Mrs. Geetha Sambasivam for being instrumental to my revised wonderful recipe.

Image courtesy---google.