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Background:
We recently joined a local farm and bring home a lot of greens of which I have no idea what to make of. The typical keerai kootu I make usually just has spinach in it. Following a recipe that a woman at the farm had given, these stir fried greens with a hint of sesame were a hit with K. As for me, I am yet to develop a taste for Olive Oil.
Stuff you will need:
Greens - Chopped roughly
Sea Salt - to taste
Olive Oil (EVOO) - Enough to coat bottom of pan
Ginger 1 inch cube - chopped fine or shredded
Garlic 2 pods - Crushed
Sesame seeds 1 tsp - toasted
How to make it?
Set a shallow wide pan on the stove at medium-high heat, add enough olive oil to coat the bottom. As the oil heats, add the ginger and garlic. Saute till brown, add the greens and toss around till coated with oil. As they wilt they reduce and cook (about 2-3 minutes). Turn heat off sprinkle salt and sesame seeds and toss to spread evenly.
Serve warm with a side of bread.
Special notes:
Add just enough oil to coat the bottom. Remember the greens will wilt to 1/4 their original volume. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan ahead of time. This recipe works with any of the huge leafy greens.
Background:
Adai or Adai Dosai as K likes to call it is a staple in our home. Unlike Dosai that required using a grinder to make the batter and enough time to let it ferment, this crepe is made in half a day. Its healthier and provides ample scope for improvisation.
Stuff you will need:
(soaked for 3-4 hours)
1 cup par boiled rice.
1/3 cup whole urad
1/3 cup whole moong
1/3 cup mix of thuvar and channa dhal
1/3 cup beans like rajma (optional)
6 red chillies
4 green chillies
1/4 inch ginger (optional0
Curry leaves (optional0
Asafoetida 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Gingelly oil
1/4 coconut made into thin pieces
Method:
Grind all ingredients in a grinder with water to a medium fine texture. On a tawa add a few drops of gingelly oil and spread using tissue. Pour the batter and spread into a circle. Make a hole in the center and additional ones around it if necessary. Add drops of gingelly oil along the periphery and in the holes made and cook till crisp at edges. Turn over and cook till done. Remove and stack in a warm container.
Serve hot with aviyal, molagai podi or jaggery.
Notes:
Optionally one can add murunga keerai (drumstick leaves) or other greens in the batter before making adais. The texture of the batter has to be thicker than dosa batter.
Background:
This is K and I’s favorite sides for roti/chappathi. In its simplest form it is a mix of all possible vegetables simmered in a tomato base. Sometimes, I like to dress it up with grated panneer. With or without panneer, this is one dish that everybody who has tasted seems to like.
Stuff you will need:
(Chopped finely)
Cauliflower - split into florets
Potato - 2 small or 1 big chopped
Carrots - 2 small or 1 big chopped
Green peppers - 1 big - chopped
Green peas - 1 small cup
Corn - 1 small cup
Ginger - 1 inch cube chopped fine
Garlic - 2-3 pods chopped fine
Green chillies - 3 slit and halved
Onion - 1 big or 2 medium chopped fine
Tomatoes - 6-7 small or 5 big chopped fine
Fried panneer - 5-10 pieces (optional)
Coriander - 1/2 bunch chopped.
Oil + Ghee - 2 tbsp
Panch puran - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Hing - 1/2 tsp
Kitchen King Masala - 1 tsp
Kasoori Methi - 1 tsp
How to make it?
Heat oil in kadai. When hot, add panch puran. When it pops add kasoori methi, hing, turmeric, kitchen king masala, ginger, garlic and saute. Then add onions and saute till translucent. Add chopped tomatoes and salt. Mix and cook covered till oil separates. Add rest of veggies and water as needed and cover cooked till done well. Turn every once in a while. Add fried panneer at this stage and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Turn heat off and garnish with chopped coriander.
Serve hot with rotis.
Notes:
If you want to make it creamy, add cream/milk when cooking.
Background:
Kai Muruku evokes memories of weddings in the family. This crispy rice treat is hard to make and the hallmark of a good tam-bram chef is his/her ability to handcraft these tasty morsels. I grew up watching Amma make Kai Murukku and Seedai for Krishna Jayanthi. In the recent past, I have relied on Grand Snacks to satisfy this craving. In the past month when visiting my sister Amma indulged her by making murukkus at home.
Stuff you will need:
Good quality rice soaked for a few hours, dried, ground and sieved to yield silky smooth flour. (I cup)
Urad dhal - roasted to a golden brown, ground, sieved to yield a smooth flour. (1 tbsp aka karandi)
Butter: 1 stick (1/4 lb)
Jeera/Cumin seeds: 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Asafoetida 1/2 tsp
Canola oil to fry.
How to make it?
Mix the rice flour, urad flour, jeera, asafoetida, salt and butter with just enough water to make a pliable dough. Taking a portion of the dough use index, ring fingers and thumb to twirl the muruku into shape as shown. Make about 10 murukkus on a clean sheet of paper or thin muslin cloth.
Heat oil in a shallow pan. When oil is hot enough, use a flat ladle (dosa thiruppi) to slide the muruku into hot oil. Murukkus can be fried in batches depending on size of pan. Turn every once in a while till the murukkus are slightly brown and drain and remove to a tissue lined container.
Stores well in a cool airtight container.
Notes:
Rice flour can be used in place of soaked, dried, ground rice. The quality differs obviously but it also takes out a chunk of the time consuming process. Making murukkus take time and practice. Do not skimp on butter or try replacing with ghee. This will not give the nice crispy texture to the murukku.
Background:
Growing up the standard evening tiffin in our home used to be the ubiquitous dosai with molahai podi. Chutneys and sambar were for when we had guests or when we were guests at other peoples’ homes. Having said that I never realized there would be a day when the common dosai mohalai podi would become exotic. This weekend with Amma at home, I made her prepare a batch that would see me through the end of the year. Refered by some as molagai podi or gun powder, this potent spice, lentil mix is drool worthy as a paste with oil or sprinkled over home made thayir or curds.
Stuff you will need:
Urad dhal - 1 cup
Channa dhal - 1/2 cup
White sesame seeds - A handful
Jaggery or brown sugar - 1 tbsp
Red chillies - 10-12
Asafoetida - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tsp
How to make it?
In a shallow pan, add a couple of drops of oil and roast the urad dhal, channa dhal separately. Set aside. Dry roast sesame seeds, set aside. Add few more drops of oil, add asafoetida, then red chillies and roast. Set aside. When all ingredients are roasted and cooled, dry grind the mix with salt and jaggery or brown sugar to a medium fine mixture. Store airtight.
Serve as a side to idlis/dosas mixed with gingelly oil.
Special notes:
The jaggery/brown sugar and sesame seeds are optional. White sesame seeds and be replaced with black ones. The color changes but the taste is more or less the same.
Background:
Puran poli is one of my all time favorite sweets. It is one of those dishes that are made occasionally when people visit or for festivals though nothing specific comes to mind. For me it is a labor of love. Mixing, measuring, grinding and patting it in shape. Amma pours her love into it when she does make it. With just over a week before she left for home, I made my request for polis and she obliged. As always. Like moms do.
Stuff you will need:
For the Puran (filling)
Channa dhal 1 cup - steamed till cooked but not mushy. Should crumble to touch.
Powdered jaggery or brown sugar - 1 cup
Shredded coconut - 1/4 cup
Cardamom - 1 tsp
For the shell
Maida - 1 cup
Gingelly Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Turmeric - a pinch
How to make it?
Grind together the cooled, cooked, crumbled channa dhal, jaggery and coconut to a smooth paste. Mix powdered cardamom. Set aside. Make a dough of the maida with salt, turmeric and water. Add oil to make it a loose stretchy dough. This is important as it needs to be loose and stretchy to make the poli later. Set aside for a few hours.
When dough is rested, make equal parts of dough and the filling. On a flat surface, use a non stick sheet (vazha ilai or ziploc bag) and spread the dough to the size of a small puri. Place the puran ball on it.
Cover the ball with the dough.
Pat to make a flat circular poli.
Remove to hot tawa.
Cook on both sides with a couple of drops of ghee till crispy and browned.
Remove and cool on plate.
Serve hot or cold with a dollop of butter or ghee.
Makes 18 - 20 polis depending on size.
Special notes:
Do not skimp on oil when making dough. A tight dough will cause cracks in poli and will not allow for proper coverage. Puran made with brown sugar instead of jaggery tastes milder.
Background:
Every time we are in the mood for a simple home made snack that can put store brought chaklis to shame, K and I beg my amma to make this for us. Called thenkuzhal in tamil it is a mix of urad dhal flour and rice flour laced with a hint of asafoetida in it and deep fried. A cousin of the more famous chaklis this is not hot and goes well with the afternoon tea or coffee.
Stuff you will need:
A chakli press
Rice flour - 3 parts
Urad flour - 1 part
Asafoetia - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
Ghee or butter - 2 tbsp
Oil to fry (I use canola)
How to make it?
Knead a tight dough of urad dhal, rice flour, salt, cumin seeds, asafoetida, butter and water. Make the dough just before you are ready to fry to ensure thenkuzhal that takes in minimal oil.
Make balls the size of a fist and Using the chakli press pictured below, press the dough to extrude into thin noodles into the hot oil. Once the thenkuzhal swims to the surface of the oil, turn occasionally till a golden brown. Remove to a tissue lined plate or vessel.
Makes 15 - 20 thenkuzhals based on size.
Special Notes:
Adding more butter or ghee makes for a crispier thenkuzhal. If any dough is leftover, resist the temptation to make seedais out of it since they have a tendency to burst.
Background:
Poori Masala is my idea of comfort food. It perks up a gloomy day and in my mind brings back memories from my childhood of lazy Sunday afternoons lining up in the kitchen with my siblings for the next poori. It is reminiscent of the carefree nature of my youth. Of family time and leaning against appa as he sat satiated from a hearty meal.
Stuff you will need:
Whole wheat flour - 2 cups
Salt - to taste
Sugar - a pinch
Ghee - 3 tsps
Water - as needed
Extra flour
Rolling pin
Flat surface
Oil - Enough to fry
How to make it?
Add the sugar, salt and ghee to the whole wheat flour and mix with your hands till the ghee is dispersed well in the flour. Add water to knead the dough sparingly. You need a tight dough with minimal water to ensure the pooris are not soaking up oil when they fry. Another key is to make the dough and fry the pooris as soon as possible. Resting the dough causes the pooris to soak up oil too.
Heat oil in a shallow frying pan. When the oil is ready, make a small ball of the dough and on a clean flat surface use the rolling pin to roll out a small circle from the dough ball. Slide in oil and turn when it bubbles up and forms a fluffy ball. Remove from oil when golden and stack on a paper tissue lined vessel.
Serve hot with potato masala or even plain old tomato ketchup.
Makes 12 small pooris
Special Notes:
Pooris make excellent finger food. They are ideal for picnics and long journeys. They keep well and can be had with pickle for train journeys.
Background:
Poori in my home is always paired with Potato masala. To me this combination represents all that is good in life. This simple hearty dish is comfort food for the cold nights.
Stuff you will need:
Potatoes - 3 small boiled, peeled and mashed
Onion - 1 large cut into long pieces
Tomato - 1 small chopped
Ginger - Small cube diced
Green chillies - 3 slit
Curry leaves - 1 sprig chopped
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Turmeric - 1 pinch
Salt to taste
Oil - to temper
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dhal - 1 tsp
1 lime - juice squeezed
How to make it?
Boil the potatoes in the jackets, peel and mash. Set aside. In a shallow pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds, when they are ready to burst, add urad dhal. When urad starts to turn brown, add ginger and green chillies. Then add onions and saute till pink. Add the chopped tomato, cover and cook till done. Add the mashed potato and one cup of water. Stir and let simmer till the stew comes together. Turn heat off and squeeze the juice of one fresh lime.
Serve hot with pooris or rotis
Special Notes:
My husband and I like this masala a tad “liquidy” as we call it. My mom used to make it more like a dry curry. Either styles taste good. To make it dry, eliminate adding water along with the potatoes. Optionally to make it rich, when adding urad dhal, broken cashew may be added as well.
Background:
With Deepavali tomorrow, for the first time in seven years, I gave into the urge to make something sweet. Considering both K and I enjoy cashews a lot, it only made sense for me to make Kaju Kathli or Cashew Cake. After scouring the Internet for recipes that ranged from powdering the cashews and boiling it in a mix of sugar and water to grinding the cashew in milk and then boiling it in sugar syrup I decided to follow whatever seemed to make life easier for me. Even if I say so myself, I was proud I was able to make squares out of it.
Stuff you will need:
Cashews - Powdered - 1 cup
Sugar - 1/2 - 3/4 cup depending on taste
Water - 3/4 cup
Milk - 3 tbsp
Saffron - a few strands
Cardamom - 5 shelled and pounded
Ghee - 2 tsp to grease plate
How to make it?
Grind the cashew using a spice grinder into a fine powder till it makes about one cup. Set aside. In a shallow non stick pan, heat water and add the milk. When it starts bubbling, add the saffron strands and stir in the sugar. When the sugar syrup starts foaming and bubbling, add the cashew powder taking care to stir it in without forming lumps. On a medium heat, stir this mixture till it starts forming powdery trails around the outer edge and you can stir it without the mixture sticking to the bottom of the pan. At this point, mix the cardamom powder in and remove from heat.
On a greased plate, pour this mixture in and pat till it is of even thickness. Allow it to cool slightly before making squares or diamonds. When cool, separate and store in an air tight container.
Makes 30 pieces
Special Notes:
I used 3/4 cup sugar and thought it was too sugary for my taste. The next time I try this, I will definitely reduce the sugar to 1/2 cup. I am not sure if the high sugar content was what helped it become cake like instead of halwa. I highly recommend adjusting the sugar content to please individual palates.
Coating with silver varki is optional. I do not do it as I am not a big fan of varki.
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