Payatham Paruppu Payasam

Ingredients :
Green gram dal (Moongh Dal) - 3/4 cup
Water - 1 1/2 cups
Jaggery (powered) - 1- 1 1/2 cups
Cardamoms - 4-5
A few cashewnuts broken into pieces
Milk - 1 1/2 cups
A few raisons
Small piece coconut, cut into tiny pieces - 1
Ghee - 1 tbsp
A pinch of cooking camphor (opt)

Method :
1. Boil dal to a light brown colour. Remove, cool : wash.
2. Add water, set to boil. When Dal has cooked, mash thoroughly.
3. Add jaggery and continue to cook till jaggery has dissolved.
4. Add milk, boil further for 2-3 minutes, remove from fire.
5. heat ghee, fry cashew nut pieces, coconut pieces and raisons, each separately. Add cardamom powder, along with camphor, mix all of it.

Varations :
1. This payasam can be prepared with coconut milk also. For this, use gratings of half the coconut and if desired 1/2 cup milk as well.
2. Take out first milk, then second, and third milk.
3. Add to the dal the third milk (add some water if the quantity is not sufficient), set to boil, when done, mash thoroughly.
4. Add second milk and jaggery, cook till done.
5. Add first milk, boil just once and remove from fire.
6. Add ordinary milk and garnish as before.

Sevai Kheer

Ingredients
1 litre milk
1/2 cup fine vermicelli broken to 1" bits
1 tsp. ghee
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. cardamom powder
15-20 strands of saffron, crushed in 1 tsp. hot milk
10 almonds, blanched and thinly slivered
10 pistachios, unsalted, thinly slivered

Method
Heat ghee in a heavy deep pan.
Add broken vermicelli, stir till lightly roasted.
Add hot milk, stir gently to bring to a boil.
Reduce heat allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
Add sugar, stir till dissolved.
Add cardamom, saffron, cardamom, almonds and pistachios.
Mix and take off fire.
Serve hot and wholesome.

Paruppu podi

Ingredients
1cup roasted gram dal (pottu kadalai in tamil)
½ cup gram dal (chana dal)
½ cup sesame seed
3-4 dry red chillies
1tbsp cumin
Desiccated coconut (optional)
2pinch asafoetida
Salt to taste.

Method
Roast the dals, sesame seeds, chillies and cumin separately till golden brown and aroma rises. After cooling grind all the ingredients together to make powder. This podi is served first with ghee and rice.

Vendakkai sambar

Ingredients
1cup medium cut okra
½ cup medium cut onions
1cup thoor dal
1cup tamarind water
1cup tomato puree
1tsp dhaniya powder (coriander)
½ tsp turmeric powder
1-2 tsp sambar powder
Chopped fresh cilantro
Salt and water as per requirement.

For tempering
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds
Asafoetida
Red chillies
Curry leaves
2tsp oil or ghee
Method
Fry the okra in 2 tsp oil in a pan for 10 –13 min till it gets soft. Keep separately. In a saucepan add tamarind water, turmeric and salt and bring to boil. Now add the okra, onions, sambar powder and dhaniya powder and let it cook for another 10 minutes.
Add tomato puree to this and again it should come to a boil. Finally add pressure-cooked and mashed dal and stir together. Add water if the sambar gets too thick. That depends on how you want the sambar to be. Temper with given ingredients and add cilantro. A small tip. As soon as you temper, cover the sambar or rasam with a lid. This will keep the aroma trapped inside the dish and will later fill the whole house with mind blowing aroma.

Sorakai Pal kootu

Ingredients
1cup chopped sorakai (bottle gourd)
½ cup cooked chana dal
½ cup coconut
Green chillies
1tsp pepper powder
½ cup milk
½ tsp turmeric
Salt
For tempering
Mustard seeds
Cumin seeds
Curry leaves
Red chillies
Oil
Method

Pressure-cook the dal and sorakai together. Only 2 whistles in the pressure cooker. It should not get over cooked. Grind coconut and green chillies along with pepper. Add the coconut mix to the sorakai and dal. Also add salt and turmeric and bring to boil. When the coconut gets cooked completely, remove from heat, add milk and stir gently. If your dal and sorakai has got cooked more. In a separate saucepan cook the coconut mixture and later add the dal and sorakai. This way you would not over cook the sorakai.
Temper it with the given ingredients.

Gobi Palak

Ingredients:
Cauliflower - 1 large
Spinach - 3 bunches
Green chillies - 5
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Dhania powder - 1 tsp
Tomatoes - 2
Big onions - 2
Garlic - 7 flakes
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/4 tsp
Grated fresh coconut - 2 tblsp
Cashewnuts - 10
Poppy seeds - 1 tsp (soaked in hot water)
Coriander leaves - 1 small bunch
Curry leaves - 15
Oil - for frying
Milk - 1/2 cup
Fresh cream - 2 tblsp
Grated cheese - 1 tblsp

Method:
1. Wash cauliflower and cut into small flowerets.
2. Heat water in a broad vessel. When it starts boiling, add cauliflower pieces (gobi) with little salt and turmeric powder.
3. Switch off the stove and close with lid.
4. After few minutes, drain the water completely, dry up over a towel and deep fry cauliflower till crisp and golden. Keep aside.

For Masala:
1. Peel garlic, dice tomatoes and cut onions finely.
2. Wash and chop palak finely.
3. Heat little oil, fry slit green chillies and palak in medium flame.
4. When moisture is evaporated completely, remove from fire. Allow to cool and grind it along with grated coconut, cashew, poppy seeds, coriander leaves and curry leaves.
5. Heat rest of the oil in a broad kadai. Add cumin seeds, garlic and then onion.
6. Fry till golden. Add 1 tsp sugar, tomatoes, dhania powder, garam masala powder and chilli powder.
7. Stir for a minute and pour the ground paste and salt. Add water if necessary.
8. Boil for a few minutes, add milk and mix well.
9. Just before removing from fire, mix deep fried cauliflower. Sprinkle grated cheese on top. Serve with finely cut onions and lemon pieces.

Sugar Coated Cashew Nuts

Ingredients:
Whole Cashews - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 1/4 cup
Water - 3/4 cup
Rice flour - 1 tsp
Milk - 2 tsp
Cardamom powder - little
Ghee - 1 tsp

Method:
1. Dry roast cashew nuts in reduced flame, taking caution not to discolour it. Alternatively keep it in hot oven at lowest temperature for 10 minutes to dry it properly.
2. Heat sugar, water together and stir till it is dissolved.
3. Add milk and boil briskly. Milk helps in separating dirt from sugar.
4. Remove dirt which comes on top using a spoon. This is a must to obtain white coated cashews.
5. When one string consistency is reached, remove from fire.
6. Add roasted cashews and keep stirring till it becomes thick.
7. Using a perforated ladle take cashews alone and keep it in a separate vessel.
8. Sprinkle a pinch of rice flour on top of cashews.
9. Heat remaining sugar by adding little more water till it reaches thick string consistency.
10. Remove from fire and allow to cool for a while. Stirring constantly, pour it on top of cashews in the other vessel, little by little, gently stirring the cashews to coat on all the sides.
11. Sprinkle little rice flour when it is still warm on top of cashews. This helps to retain white colour on cashews.
12. Repeat the process 4-5 times till cashews are thickly coated.
13. While doing final coat add cardamom powder and ghee to the syrup after removing from fire. Ghee gives good shine to the final product.
14. Allow the cashews to cool thoroughly by spreading over a broad plate and then pack it in air tight container.

Gul Gul

Ingredients:
Wheat flour - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Thick Coconut extract - just enough to mix dough
Ghee - 1 tblsp (for dough)
Cardamom powder - little
Oil and Ghee together - for deep frying
Cashewnuts - 2 tblsp (finely chopped and fried in ghee)
Kesar colour - little

Method:
1. Sieve wheat flour through fine mesh sieve.
2. Add a pinch of salt, ghee, cardamom powder, kesar colour and blend well.
3. Sprinkle coconut extract little by little and knead to a stiff dough.
4. Knead well till it becomes soft and pliable.
5. Keep closed under wet cloth for 30 minutes.
6. Make small marble sized balls out of the dough.
7. Roll it out into very thin chappathis. Roll it as thin as possible.
8. Keep little fried nuts lengthwise at one end and roll up like a mat tightly.
9. Deep fry in hot oil till crisp.
10. Meanwhile add 1/2 cup water to sugar and boil till it reaches half string consistency.
11. Switch off stove and dip deep fried gulgul in the hot syrup.
12. Take it out and arrange on a flat plate.

Rassogolla

Ingredients

1 litre: Milk
300 gm: Sugar
05 ml: Lemon juice
3 drops: Rose essence
1 litre: Water

Method
1.For the preparation, heat the sugar and the water in a deep pan and bring to a boil.
2.Boil the milk. Add the lemon juice and curdle the milk. Remove from fire and strain through a muslin cloth.
3.Hold under running water or dip in a bowl of cold water for 1 minute. Squeeze out the excess water.
4.Knead till very smooth. Make balls of desired size.
5.Now place the cheese balls in boiling syrup and cook for 15 minutes.
6.Switch off the flame and let the dumplings stand in the liquid until cool.
7.Chill for a minimum of 2 hours.
8.Mix in the essence before serving.

Uppittu

Ingredients

1cup: Semolina (Rava)
¼ cup: Sliced Potato
½ cup: Sliced Onion
½ tsp: Grated ginger
3tbs: Grated fresh coconut
Chopped coriander leaves
1 tsp: Sugar
2 tsp: Ghee
Salt to taste

For Seasoning
2 tbs: Peanuts
1 tsp: Mustard seeds
1 tsp: Black gram (urad dal)
1 tsp: Red dry chilli
¼ tsp: Turmeric powder
A pinch: Asafoetida
Curry leaves few
3 tbs: Oil


Method
1.Heat a pan and slightly roast rava in a low flame. Keep aside and allow it to cool.
2.Heat 3 tbs of oil and add the seasoning ingredients except turmeric powder and asafoetida.
3.When the mustard splutter, add turmeric and asafoetida and sauté well.
4.Add the onions and fry till it soft. Then add potato fry for few minutes. Add 11/2cup of water, salt to taste and bring to boil. Cover and cook the potato.
5.When it is done, mix grated ginger and sugar. Turn heat to low flame.
6.Add roasted rava little by little. Keep stirring while adding, so that there will not be any lumps.
7.Close the lid and cook for few minutes.
8.Garnish with coriander leaves and grated coconut.
9.Sprinkle ghee over it and serve hot.

Carrot vadai

Ingrediants

1.Grated carrot-1cup

2.Thur dhal -1cup

3.Garam masala powder-1tsp

4.Cilantra leaves

5.Curry leaves

6.Green chillies-5

7.Big onion -1

8.Chilli powder-1tsp

9. Salt

10.Hing-a pinch
Method of Preparation :

1.Soak the thur dhal in water for 30min and half grind it without adding water.

2.Don't grind it to a smooth paste,then vada will not be crispy.

3. Add grated carrot , chopped onion,curry leaves,cilantra,green chillies,
salt,hing,chilli &garam masala powder to grinded dhal.

4.Mix thoroughly and make out small vadas.

5.Fry the vadas in oil.

Bhindi Paratha

Ingredients
250 grams ladies finger
1/2 tbsp jeera
1 tbsp chilli powder
1/2 garma masala
Salt to taste
100 gms onion
250 grams of wheat flour

Method
Take a Pan, put oil and saute jeera.
Fry bhendi and onion, add chilli powder, garam masala powder.
Take a big bowl put wheat flour, salt and the bendi mixture.
Mix gradually, and keep it aside for 1 hour.
Make small balls of it and roll them and roast them on a tava.
Serve with dals or vegetable gravy.

Bhindi Masala

Ingredients:
500 gms/1.10 lb okra/bhindi
3 onions, chopped long thinly
5 green Chillies
1 inch ginger
10 flakes garlic
4 tomatoes ripe red
2 tsp mango powder
3 tbsp Oil
3 tsp garam Masala
2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp Coriander powder
Salt as required
coriander leaves

Method:
1. Half grind garlic, ginger, chillies, coriander leaves, check it do not grind to paste.
2. Add salt, little oil, coriander powder, mango powder, garam masala and turmeric powder in to the mixture and keep it aside.
3. Slit the bhindis from the center and cut potatoes in round shapes and make deep cuts on them.
4. Now fill bhindis with all the prepared mixture and on the potatoes.
5. Heat oil in a wide pan add onions, stir and then slide bhindis and potatoes gently in the pan.
6. Stir it gently so that the masala does not come out. Keep it on slow fire and cover it with lid, let it cook till the bhindis have become dark green in color and almost cooked.
Now add finely chopped tomatoes. Again cover it with the lid and cook it on slow fire till the tomatoes almost disappear.
Serve with hot chappatis/phulkas

Bhindi Curry

Ingredients

10 chopped Bhindi
1 chopped Onion
2 Green Pepper of medium hot (depends on taste)
1/2 inch Ginger
Salt (depends on taste)
1/2 tsp Oil
Little Jeera, and Mustard seeds

Method:

Make a paste of Green Pepper, Ginger, and salt. Keep it ready to add in the curry later.
Take oil in pan and heat it. Put Mustard seeds and Jeera, after a few seconds add Onions and bhindi and keep fry until Bhendi get soft. If required then add 1/2 tsp oil extra and let it to fry.
Add Paste of Green pepper, Ginger and salt and fry it for a few more minutes. If required, then add grated copra. Now, it is ready to serve hot Bhindi curry alongwith Chappati or Rice.

Capsicum Pulao

Ingredients:
2cups Rice (Uncooked)
1/4cup Yellow bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 cup mixed vegetables
1/4cup Red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/4cup Green bell pepper, finely chopped
1/4 cup Chopped scallions(green onion)
1 tbsp Lemon juice
2 tbsp Oil or ghee
3 cups water
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Heat kadai with oil or ghee, add salt and all three bell peppers,green onions, mixed vegetables and simmer till peppers are soft. Then add the lemon juice,rice and mix well.
2. Add the above mixture to the rice and add 3 cups of water and Cook.

Serve hot with curry & raita.

Beans Pulao

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups long grain rice
1/2 cup beans boiled
1 tbsp. broken cashews
1 tbsp. soft small raisins
4 green chillies slit
1 tbsp. coriander finely chopped
2 onions cut into strips
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
3-4 pinches asafoetida
2 cloves
2 bayleaves
2 cardamoms
1" cinnamon
4-5 black peppers
3 tbsp. ghee or oil
1/2 tsp. garam masala
salt to taste
lemon to taste

Method
Wash and soak rice in salted water for 30 minutes.
Heat oil, fry onions till crisp. Drain.
Fry cashews till light brown, drain, keep aside.
Add cumin seeds to remaining oil, allow to splutter.
Add asafoetida, cloves, bayleaves, cardamoms, cinnamon, peppers, stir.
Add green chillies, drained rice, stir gently till well coated. Add raisins.
Add 6 cups water, bring to a boil. Simmer covered till 3/4 done.
Add more water if required.
Add beans, fried cashew, onions (save some for garnish), garam masala, salt and
lemon to taste.
Stir gently with a spatula. Cover and finish off cooking till all water evaporates.
Garnish with coriander and some saved fried onions.
Serve hot with kadhi or a spicy curry.

Vegetable Pulao

Ingredients
3 cups of rice, boiled
A bunch of coriander leaves.
3-4 green chillies.
2 tsp of coconut, shredded
3 medium onions,sliced fine.
1/2 an onion, chopped.
A few sticks of cinammon, a few
cardommom seeds, a few cloves.
1 1/2 tsp red chilli powder.
salt to taste.
2 flakes garlic.
1 inch piece ginger.
Ghee or melted butter for frying.
1 cup of cauliflower flowerets.
Some mixed frozen vegetables like beans, carrots and green peas.
3 tsbp ghee(clarified butter)

Method
Grind together the 1/2 onion, coconut, garlic, ginger and coriander in the blender, to make a smooth paste.
Keep aside.
Fry the onions in a the ghee or melted butter.
Also add the cloves, cinnamon and cardommom.
When onions are browned properly, add the red chilli powder and fry for 30-45 seconds.
Now add all the vegetables,including the cauliflower and sprinkle some water on it.
Keep covered and cook on a low flame till the vegetables are cooked.
This might take approximately 15-20 minutes.
Keep sprinkling water periodically to speeden up the process, but do not add excess water as it will ruin the pulao.
When the vegetables are done, transfer the vegeables to a big mixing dish, add all the boiled rice, salt to taste and the blended masala.
Mix thoroughly and then heat it either in a microwave or on low heat on the cooking range.It is heated again to let the salt spread across the dish.
Serve with Raita.

Egg Balls

Ingredients
4 egg (separate egg yolk & white)
milk 1-1/2 ltr.
sugar 1 cup
cardamom (optional)

Method
Take a non-stick deep casserole or Kadhai
Boil milk to 3/4 of the quantity.
While the milk is boiling, beat the egg white till frothy.
When you find the milk has reached to 3/4 of the quantity add sugar, cardamom.
Take a tablespoon of egg white froth and leave it to the boiling milk, go on doing till the froth is over.
Simultaneously keep on turning the froth that has been dropped in the milk.
Now beat the egg yolk slightly and pour the same in the milk (this helps to thicken the milk).
Let this cook for 5 more minutes and then cool it down. Keep it in the freezer.
This recipe if cooked properly gives you the taste of Ras Malai.

Egg Khima

Ingredients
6 eggs
1 small diced onion
1/2 teaspoon garlic
1/4 ginger
1 small diced tomato
1 green chilly

Method
Heat oil in pan and add onion, saute it til turns brown
Then add tomato, ginger, garlic and green chill cook it well for minute or so
Then add eggs one at time and stir the mixture on medium heat until egg is cooked.
Once the eggs are cooked add some salt and pepper for seasoning
Continue to break to egg in to kernel like particles.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with bread and hot sauce.
Hope you enjoy your egg khima

Egg Toast

Ingredients
2 eggs
1/2 glass milk
Sugar 2.5-3 table sps
Bread

Directions:
1. Beat the eggs,milk and sugar.
2. Dip bread in the mixture.
3. Take a frying pan and fry the bread soaked in egg until golden brown.
4. Take off fire and serve it hot.