Background:
I love parathas. Specially when I don’t make them. 
After a hectic Saturday filled with friends and family, I was not keen on standing in the kitchen for a long time. Scanning my shelf that contained cook books, I extracted Mallika Badrinath’s 100 Tiffin ideas. Thumbing through the chappathi section I saw this recipe for Masala chappathi that involved a lot of different spice powders mixed in with wheat flour and made into a dough with milk and thick curds. Intrigued I set out to make my version of these masala chappathis.
Following a nudge from Srivalli of Cooking 4 all seasons, I would like to submit this as an entry for the Roti Mela event she is hosting.
Stuff you will need:
2 cups - whole wheat atta (Whole wheat flour or Durum wheat flour)
Paratha masala - 2 tsp (Available in Indian groceries. Can be substituted with a mix of cumin/coriander/red chili/sea salt powders.)
Kasuri methi - 2 tsp (Dried and crushed fenugreek leaves)
Ghee - 3 tsp
Salt - to taste
Sugar - to taste
Thick curds - 1/2 cup
Warm Milk - 1/2 cup
How to make it?
To the atta, add the dry ingredients and the ghee. Work the flour till the ghee is all mixed in. Now add the curds and the milk and knead till you have a firm soft dough. Rest covered for 30 minutes. Knead again and let rest till ready to roll out the dough.
When ready, make equal sized balls of the dough (I get approx 8 - 10 for the measure of atta I use). Using a rolling pin and a flat surface, roll out the dough using a scoop of atta to flour the surface if the dough sticks. The key is to roll out the dough in a circle and get it as thin as possible. Once done, transfer to a heated flat pan and cook on medium high heat constantly turning the chappathi till both sides are well cooked. Store in a casserole to keep warm till ready to eat.
Serves two
Special notes:
I only add ghee while making the dough. Some people like to make the dough sans ghee but smear ghee once the chappathi is done. Both works well. These can be had with pickle and curds or with dhal as my husband prefers it.
Tags: Masala Chappathi, Methi, Paratha, Roti
Background:
I usually make this when I am tired of pulav and other varieties of mixed rice (think lemon, puliogare, coconut, biriyani or bisi bele baath). The reason I love this is because I make it infrequently and it is a very versatile dish lending itself to immense customization.
I called it vegetable rice because that is all it is - vegetables and rice.
Stuff you will need:
Rice - 1 cup (I use sona masoori)
Tomatoes - 5 small - chopped to fine pieces
Onion - 1 medium - Chopped to fine pieces
Ginger - 1/2 inch cube - chopped fine
Green chillies - 3 slit and halved
curry leaves - 2 sprigs - chopped roughly
Garlic - 2 pods - chopped fine
Carrots - 2 medium - chopped fine
Green pepper - 1 medium - chopped fine
Green peas - A handful
Oil - 1 tbsp
Cumin - 1 tsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Asafoetida - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1 tsp
How to make it?
Pressure cook rice with 2.5 glasses of water for 3 whistles and set aside to cool. In a shallow wok, heat oil. Add mustard. When it pops add cumin, asafoetida and turmeric. When cumin browns add ginger, garlic, chillies and curry leaves. Saute a bit and add onions. Saute till pink and add tomatoes. Cover and cook till tomatoes are formless. Add rest of the vegetables and cook till all moisture is absorbed into the vegetables and the mixture looks kind of dry. Turn of heat and set aside.
Now fluff the rice cooked earlier such that grains are separate. Now, slowly add the rice to the cooked vegetable mixture taking care not to make the rice grains mushy. The finished product should be reddish yellow, rice looking whole dotted with vegetables.
Serves two.
Special Notes:
Try this basic recipe with different types of firm vegetables to get different flavors and tastes. This does not require masala powder but one can try and experiment by using other spices.
Tags: Rice, Vegetables
Background:
Molagai thokku was my dad’s favorite relish. Ever. Even as he struggled with diet restrictions following hospitalization and a low sodium diet, My mom’s mom created a molagai thokku minus the salt with plenty of jaggery. Appa loved it and would devour it creamy thayir sadham.
So, when Amma spied a bag full of lush green serrano peppers I had bought from our local farmer’s market, she asked me if I would like the thokku. I was all for it and she made the prep as I watched on.
What better way to usher in Mother’s day than a shared cooking experience?
Stuff you will need:
Serrano peppers - 1lb
Salt to taste
Asafoetida - 1 tsp
Gingelly (Sesame) oil - 2 tbsp
Tamarind - lump the size of a small lemon
Mustard - 1 tsp
Urad dhal - 2 tsp
Jaggery - A ball the size of a small lemon
How to make it?
In a non stick pan or wok, heat a bit of the gingelly oil and temper mustard, urad dhal till reddish brown. Add asafoetida and the chillies and the tamarind. Saute till color of peppers turn a dull green. Set aside. When cool, add salt and grind to a fine paste.
In the same wok, add the remaining oil and heat. Add the ground chilli paste, jaggery and saute on low-medium heat till the oil separates out.
Remove from heat and let cool. Store in an air tight container. Keeps a couple of months in the fridge.
Special Notes:
Use Jalapeno peppers for a milder tasting relish.
Tags: Chillies, Relish, Serrano peppers
Background:
Making sevai the traditional way is a labor of love, not to be taken by the faint of heart. Ok! I kid. It definitely is a laborious process but the end product is so dadgum good that it makes the pain worthwhile. Amma makes this every time we have guests visiting. Finely made sevai serves as a benchmark of the kind of esteem the host holds you at.
More than just being a food item, Sevai in my eyes represents the epitome of motherhood. The love, the patience, the hard work and at the end of it all no visible traces that it existed at all.
So, inspired by this, here is my tribute to the person who I hold dearest in my heart - Amma.
Stuff you will need:
2 cups parboiled/idli rice - soaked overnight.
Salt to taste
Idli steamer
Seva nazhi or extruder.
How to make it?
Grind the soaked parboiled rice using a traditional grinder to a soft batter. Mix the salt in when almost done grinding. The consistency should be that of dosa maavu. Pour it and it should fall easily.
In the idli plates, smear oil or spray with cooking spray. Ladle out the batter in the cups and steam on high for about 7 - 10 minutes. Lower flame, remove idli plates and scoop out the steamed batter. These should look like small idlis sunken in the middle. Pop four such idlis into the extruder and turn to get silky soft thin rice noodles. Remove and cool. Repeat the process till batter is done.
Using the sevai as base, separate into as many heaps as required and make puli sevai (mix puliogare), lemon sevai (prepare as you would for lemon rice), coconut sevai (as done for coconut rice) or serve just as is with mor kuzhambu and pappadom as a side.
Serves four.
Special notes:
Sevai is just a base like rice. Use your imagination to come up with new varieties like masala sevai, cumin pepper sevai, thayir sevai etc.
Background:
Mor koozhu or Mor kali always reminds me of my dad’s grandmom (Periamma paati as we called her). I had the good fortune to have heard tons of mythological stories from her, have my hair braided with flowers and in general get to know the grandmom who gave me my grandmom. In her last years when she would often visit us, she would ask my mom to make this for her. She loved the sour taste of the buttermilk and the crunchy seasoning that also included mor milagai fried in oil. Savory, not definitely health food but a cup of which has the uncanny ability to transport me to the agraharams of yore.
Stuff you will need:
Rice flour - 2 cups
Butter milk - 1 cup
Salt to taste
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dhal - 2 tsp
Asafoetida - 1 tsp
Mor milagai (deep fried) or red chillies - 5
Curry leaves - 1 sprig washed and chopped
Gingelly oil - 1 tbsp
How to make it?
In a broad vessel mix rice flour, salt and buttermilk to a nice pouring consistency. Add water if you have to. In a frying pan, heat gingelly oil and season mustard till it bursts, add urad dhal, curry leaves, asafoetida, red chillies or mor milagai and saute. Now pour the rice batter and turn slowly till oil is absorbed. On medium heat turn every so often till the mixture solidifies and does not stick to the pan. Cover and cook on low heat for five minutes till rice flour is completely cooked.
It is OK to stop at this stage and serve hot. Or continue to turn and heat on low medium heat and add some more oil till the mixture drys up and crumbles into tiny balls.
Serves four as a snack
Special Notes:
Definitely a snack that is high on oil and has no nutritive value but definitely ranks high on the taste scale. Typically made as a palaharam in the good old days.
Tags: Mor kali, Mor koozhu, Snack
Background:
Looking for healthier alternatives from the regular coconut chutney that is a side to most of the ‘tiffin’ I make, I discovered ‘peanut’ chutney when one of our friends visited. From then on, it is a standard fixture in my house with dosas and as a spicy spread on bread.
Stuff you will need:
Peanuts aka Groundnuts aka nala kadalai - 2 handfuls
Dry red chillies - 2 - 3 depending on taste
1 pinch asafoetida
Marble sized ball of tamarind
Salt to taste
How to make it?
In a small pan roast peanuts till they start popping. Add red chillies and saute for a min before turning heat off. Let cool and grind with water, tamarind, salt, asafoetida and the chillies. Depending on taste, make it a smooth chutney or leave it a little coarse. Enjoy as a side to dosa, idli or as a spread on bread or like hummus on a pita bread.
Serves two
Special notes:
Optionally one may season the chutney with mustard seeds tempered in oil.
Tags: Chutney, Groundnuts, Kadalai, Peanut butter, Peanuts
Background:
I make this when I am tired of the regular varieties of upma that cannot handle masala all that well. This is also a good way to use leftover pasta. This recipe is versatile and lends itself to many variations.
Stuff you will need:
1 cup pasta (penne/fusili/macaroni/shells) - boiled, drained
2 tsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
3 small tomatoes - finely diced
1 small onion - chopped fine
2 green chillies - slit
1 inch ginger cube - chopped fine
1 medium size carrot - chopped
1 small green pepper - chopped fine
Green peas - handful
Sweet corn - handful
Salt to taste
Small bunch of coriander - trimmed and chopped rough
How to make it?
In a non stick pan, heat the oil and add cumin seeds. When it browns, add ginger, green chillies and saute. Add onions and saute till translucent. Add tomatoes and cook till oil separates out. Add rest of the chopped veggies, salt and cover and cook till vegetables are cooked but not mushy. Now add the boiled and drained pasta and mix gently to evenly coat. Remove from heat and garnish with cut coriander. Serve hot.
Serves two
Special Notes:
Feel free to add garlic if liked and other vegetables like potato, red peppers, beans or eggplant. Also experiment with the spices to achieve different tasting upmas.
Background:
Poondu rasam is the somewhat distant cousin of the regular rasam I made. One that visited once in a blue moon. Being married to a person who’s definition of masala started with garlic, it is not easy to incorporate this pungent pod in most of my dishes. I would sneak it in sometimes in other stronger tasting side dishes. Rasam being the delicate soup it is was not one to mask the flavor of garlic rather the one to highlight it. On rare days when I felt the rebel in me peek out I made this.
Stuff you will need:
A marble sized ball of tamarind soaked and juice extracted
2 small tomatoes diced
1 green chilly slit
1 pod of garlic - crushed or finely diced
Salt to taste
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 pinch of asafoetida
1 handful thuvar dhal - cooked and mashed
1 tbsp ghee
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 handful coriander leaves chopped roughly
How to make it?
In a thick bottomed vessel add diced tomatoes, tamarind juice, salt, turmeric and asafoetida. Cook on medium heat till it starts frothing and raw smell of tamarind goes away. Add the cooked and mashed thuvar dhal and add water if volume is less. In another small pan heat the ghee and add mustard seeds till they start popping. Add the green chilly and the diced or crushed garlic. When done add this to the boiling rasam. Garnish with cut coriander and cover to lock in flavors.
Serve four
Special Notes:
This rasam does not call for rasam or sambar powder that is a staple of most paruppu rasams. However the green chilly may be substituted by 1 tsp of sambar powder.
Background:
Quick and easy. My favorite snack and at times dinner. Packs in goodness of colorful veggies and the crunch of desi sev and puris. Lends itself to infinite customization and can be made with as many or as less ingredients on hand.
Stuff you will need:
2 cups bhel mix or a combo of thin sev, murmura (pori) or even mixture
2 tbsp date/tamarind sauce (available at Indian stores)
2 tbsp mint or coriander chutney
1 tsp hot sauce
1 tsp chaat masala
2 carrots peeled and grated
2 handfuls sprouted whole moong
1 small onion peeled and chopped fine
1/2 inch ginger peeled and grated
1 green chilly chopped fine
2 medium tomatoes chopped fine
1 potato steamed and cubed
Coriander - chopped fine to garnish
Salted peanuts - a handful
How to make it?
In a large bowl combine all the chopped and grated veggies. Add the peanuts. Add the sauces and the chaat masala. Mix well. Add the 2 cups of bhel mix. Fold in. Mix well and serve garnished with chopped coriander.
Serves two
Special notes:
2 tbsps of thick yogurt may be added to give a different taste to the dish. Get creative by adding colorful peppers chopped well. Or pander to a sweet tooth by adding chopped apples or green apples.
Tags: Bhel Puri, Chaat, Everyday, Food, Healthy, Quick n Easy, Salad, Snack
Background:
Considering parupu usili is a favorite in our household and morkuzhambu is often spoken of in the same breath, it is only natural that I feel the need to record my way of making this no fuss side.
Stuff you will need:
Thick curds - 1 cup
Coconut gratings - 2 handfuls
Green chillies - 5
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Bengal gram dhal - 1 tsp pre soaked
Curry leaves - 1 sprig chopped
Salt to taste
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Oil to season
Okra or pumpkin: 10 pieces each about an inch long.
How to make it?
Grind coconut, green chillies, cumin seeds, soaked bengal gram dhal to a fine paste using little water. Beat the curds to fine consistency and mix the coconut paste in. Add salt. If adding okra, fry it in oil till brown and add it to the curd coconut mixture. If using pumpkin cook it in little water ahead of time and add to mixture. Now heat this concoction on low flame stirring occasionally till the sides start to bubble. Turn heat off and garnish with mustard seeds tempered in oil. Add curry leaves and mix in.
Serves four
Special Notes:
If too much of coconut is not desired using a little more of the bengal gram dhal while grinding the paste. Morkuzhambu can also be made without any vegetables. Goes well with hot rice and parupu usili.
Tags: Buttermilk, Food, Gravy, Side dish
