Green Channa Masala

Green Channa Dry Kootu

Ingredients:
1 Cup Green Channa Pealed
1 Small Tomato (diced)
1 Medium Onion(diced)
1/2 cup grated coconut
1 tbsp Sambar powder
1 tsp Jeera
1 tsp urad dhal
couple of dry red chilli
1 sprig of curry leaves
1 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Add Jeera,  Urad dhal, dry red chilli, curry leaves and onion. When the onion is translucent add the sambar powder and salt to taste. Now add the tomato and saute until the tomato is soft.

After this add the green channa and close the lid and cook for 5-10 minutes on medium flame(add water to this if necessary so that the mix does not burn). Adjust salt as necessary. Add the grated coconut and mix and let it cook for 5 more minutes.

Yummy Green Channa(kondakadalai) dry kootu is ready. Goes well with Chapathi and also as a side dish for rice.

Badam Halwa

Ingredients:
1 cup Almond
1 cup Sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp Ghee

Method:

Soak the almond over night or drop it in boiling water and the outer skin is peel right off the almond. Now add the 1/2 cup of milk 1 tsp at a time and grind into a coarse paste.

Now in a wide non-stick pan take the 1/2 cup of water and add the 1 cup of sugar. Mix until the sugar blends in. Now add the coarsely ground almond paste and keep stirring on medium heat(remember to keep stirring else the almond will burn).


When the almond has thickened enough that it looks like the picture below(almost the consistency of rava kesari), remove from heat and let it cool.

Serve as it is in bowls or make into bite size balls and Enjoy!!

Boondi Ladoo

Ingredients:

1 cup besan flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup water for sugar syrup
2 tbsp cashew nuts
1 tsp ghee
water for besan mix

Bring the sugar and water to boil and keep boiling it until the mixture forms a half thread consistency. Now mix the gram flour with water(this should be added 1 tbsp at a time) to make a smooth batter without any lumps. The batter consistency should be that of a dosa batter.

In a pan heat ghee and fry the cashew nuts till slightly brown. Remove and keep aside. I have used cashews, but raisins or almonds are also popularly added to the laddoo.

You will need a spoon which has holes in it, usually used in the Indian households during deep frying like the one shown below.

Heat oil in a deep bottom pan. When the oil is hot, hold the spoon on top of the oil and slowly add the batter into the oil to form little drops of boondi. Fry them until the sizzling sound stops and the boondis are slightly colored. Remove and put it directly into the sugar syrup.

Repeat making the boondi and dropping it into the sugar syrup until all the besan batter is finished.

Now add cardamom powder and fried cashews into the boondi sugar mix. Spread this mixture on a aluminum foil or a wide pan.

When its warm enough to handle by hand(Remember not to let them cool off completely because you'll not be able to form any shape with it at room temperature), make the mix into little balls and let the laddoo sit until it comes to room temperatur

Enjoy Boondi Ladoo and share with Family and Friends!!

Thenkuzhal Murukku

This one is from my mother-in-law.

Ingredients:

4 cups rice flour
1 cup roasted and ground urad dhal
1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
2 Tbsp Butter(microwave to liquid consistency)
Salt to taste
1.5 cup water
Oil for frying

Traditionally this is made from grinding the rice flour and then mixing it with roasted and ground urad dhal. I have skipped both this steps and used store bought rice flour and urad dhal flour. I slightly dry roasted store bought urad dal flour until it gave out a nice aroma and very little change in color.


Microwave the butter to liquid consistency( it takes 30 seconds in mine). Also heat the cup of water for a minute in the microwave.

In a wide bowl, add the rice flour, urad dhal flour, cumin seeds and salt to taste. Mix once.  Add the butter and mix well. Now add the water 1 tbsp at a time and mix until it is the consistency of a chapati like dough. (Check the salt at each step and add more if needed).

Now heat oil in a deep bottom kadai. Once the oil is hot(the dough should raise up when dropped into the oil). Fill the murukku press with the prepared dough, with the thenkuzhal murukku plate(This will be the one with 3 small holes or 5-6 small holes) . Squeeze the dough into a aluminum foil or parchment paper to make a murukku shape.

Drop this murukku in the hot oil and fry till the oil stops bubbling turning the murukku at regular intervals. When it turns very light brown color remove and place on a tissue paper.

Enjoy your Thenkuzhal Murukku

Ribbon Pakoda

This one is from my friend Jeyanthi. She made and shared the recipe when I was at her house last week.

1 Cup Rice Flour
1/2 Cup Besan Flour
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
1/2 tsp Seasme Seeds
1 tsp Chilli powder
Salt to taste
1 Tbsp Butter(microwave to liquid consistency)
1 cup water
Oil for frying

Microwave the butter to liquid consistency( it takes 30 seconds in mine). Also heat the cup of water for a minute in the microwave.

In a wide bowl, add the rice flour, besan flour, cumin seeds, seaseme seeds, chilli powder and salt to taste. Mix once.  Add the butter and mix well. Now add the water 1 tbsp at a time and mix until it is the consistency of a chapati like dough.

Now heat oil in a deep bottom kadai. Once the oil is hot(the dough should raise up when dropped into the oil). Fill the murukku press with the prepared dough, with the ribbon pakoda plate. Squeeze the dough into the oil into 4-5 inch strips.

Fry till it is crisp and turns light brown color. Remove and place on a tissue paper. The ribbon pakodda will become a golden brown color after a few minutes(remember the pakoda will gain color after it is removed from the oil).

Enjoy your snack anytime of the day!!

Meen Kozhambu - Fish Curry

Yummy Fish Curry.

Ingredients:

2lb Fish of your choice cut into small pieces.
4-5 Shallots
1 medium Tomato
3 garlic pods
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp sambhar powder
Juice of tamarind(1 lemon ball size, soaked and squeezed)
1/2 tsp methi seeds(venthayam)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 Sprig Curry leaves
1 tsp oil
Salt to taste

Method:

Season the fish with turmeric, keep for 5 mins and rinse the fish thoroughly and keep aside. 

Grid together 3 shallots, tomato and garlic and keep aside. Chop the remaining 2 shallots and keep aside. In a wide bottomed pan heat oil and add methi seeds and cumin seeds. Add chopped shallots and curry leaves. fry for a minute. Then add turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, sambhar powder and salt to taste.

Now add the ground masala and also the tamarind juice and mix well. Adjust the salt according to taste. Now add the fish pieces and cook for 10 minutes on medium until the fish is cooked and the curry thickens.

Enjoy with white rice or Idlis.

The red drink!!

I was watching the Dr Oz show a few days back and thats how this red drink came about. The drink recipe calls for 1 beet,  1 carrot, 1 apple and parsley blended together. I did replace parsley with cilantro. When I finished the final recipe was not sweet enough and tasted exactly like a health drink would.

So I experimented a little more. I filtered the pulp, added a table spoon of agave nectar and a dash of lemon juice and voila...the health drink transformed itself into a drink that can worthy competition with any over the counter drink.

Try it!!

PS: Dr Oz site says that : "This delicious juice combination contains a surprise longevity-boosting secret ingredient – beets! This super food dilates vessels so your blood flows easily, and it’s high in iron, which fights anemia "