Steam rice cakes - Puttu with home made flour

I haven't blogged in a long time i don't remember how long too.But one thing is that i miss blogging so much for not only the recipes but the whole process cooking, editing pictures and posts, and lastly i miss the links the blog world gave me.I have made some really good friends through blogging and i would want to continue to do so.

Toor dal rasam| Parupu rasam

I love rasam i think all south(and north) indians love it.Its just a healthy tasty side dish to go with your steamed rice and any spicy stir fried veg dish or non veg dish would compliment it like magic.

Usually I have always mad rasam with pepper, garlic and cumin seeds thats the basic mix for rasam but this time I wanted to add some dal and it turned out so good...i was taken back to those childhood days when i loved the thaali meals my dad used to pick from woodlands hotel in karama on days my mom wouldn't be able to cook.

South indian style Boondi ladoo and Boondi spicy mixture|Diwali sweets and snacks

I had tried these ladoos long ago and was waiting to post them for some special occasion but then I dropped my laptop and now I lost the precious Diwali post i had so lovingly prepared.Us bloggers I don't know if we take more pleasure in cooking something, clicking it or eating it.I tell my DH whether its any occasion or festival, i need to make something because my blog needs a special recipe.How many agree with me??

Appams and Velam Appam - Lacy pancakes with jaggery

 Appams make festival special breakfasts and dinners. They make a good combination with easy stews and curries.I make them often because its easy to store in the refrigerator for daily morning breakfasts too.

These appams just have jaggery sprinkled over it but you have to take my word that it takes the plain ones to totally different level with just that speck of sweet sprinkled over it.The ones you see below are plain appams.

To make the basic appam batter you need


Raw rice/pacha arisi 3 cups
Idli rice/boiled rice 1 cup
Cooked rice one hand full or half a cup
Urad dal/ulundhu half cup
Grated coconut half cup
Coconut water (optional) of one coconut
Appa soda/baking soda a generous pinch
Salt 1 tsp or more


- Soak all of the above rices and dals together for 2 hours, now grind into a smooth batter in a blender adding the remaining ingredients.Add salt and a pinch of baking soda and stir well.
- Allow this batter to ferment for 8-10 hours.

To make the plain appams:

• Once the batter is fermented, check the consistency of the batter it has to be a little more runny than dosa batter.If its too runny it may stick to your kadhai/vessel.
• Heat the kadhai use a nonstick one if you want to reduce the hassles of sticking appams.Cover with a lid.
• Pour 1 large ladle of the batter to the centre of the kadhai and swirl the kadhai so it coats the sides of the vessel cover and cook until the centre is done for 2-3 mins on a medium flame.
• Repeat for all the batter as required.

To make the vellam appams :

• Same procedure as above just sprinkle scraped jaggery/ vellam to the centre of the appam cover and cook same way as plain ones.

Serve hot appams with chicken Chettinad curry, chicken stew or vegetable kurma or egg kurma or just plain milk or coconut milk.
Vellam appams are good to go as they are.

Some tips to get the appams right :

- If your vessel is nonstick then the appam will leave the sides once its cooked and the sides are crispy if not then pour some oil in the vessel you're about to use to make the appams over night.In the morning drain the oil, wipe the vessel with a kitchen towel rub a cut onion and then pour the appams.Hopefully it won't stick then and will be smooth making them.

- Instead of jaggery you can use palm jaggery or karupukatti too tastes good too.


Sending this to Lets Cook for Christmas @ Just not the cakes, Favorite Recipes:Christmas, Christmas Recipes

Appams and Velam Appam - Lacy pancakes with jaggery

 Appams make festival special breakfasts and dinners. They make a good combination with easy stews and curries.I make them often because its easy to store in the refrigerator for daily morning breakfasts too.

Paal Kozhukattai

All of you must have seen the blog world being flooded with kozhukattai recipes.I made these super easy ones on Sunday for breakfast because like I said even the TV was overflowing with Lord Ganesha's favourite snack.You can make this as a healthy payasam and an after school snack for kids.

Ganesh Chathurthi/Ganpathi takes me to Mumbai, these 10 days, Mumbai's streets just glow literally with the beautiful mandaps and the even more beautiful Ganpathis in all sizes.

I wasn't very familiar with Hindu festivals until i came back to India from Dubai, My friends took me to Ganpathi mandaps in my first ever year and I was awestruck at the amount of effort people put in during these 10 days.

Coming back to this recipe, my mom used to make this as an evening snack for me and my sister when we were in college.Things our moms (and now us) do to make the kids eat!These are probably the easiest and oil free kozhukattais(well almost).

Preparation time - 1 hour
Makes about 30 small sized kozhukattais

You need

To make the kozhukattais

Rice 1 cup
Water 1 and half cup
Ghee/butter 1 tsp
Sugar 2 tsp
Salt a pinch

• Heat the water in a deep vessel, once it boils add sugar, salt, ghee and then add the rice flour stir vigorously to avoid lumps.
• Covered and Keep this aside for 10 minutes.
• Grease hands with some butter or ghee and roll the dough into small gooseberry sized balls.

To make the paal
Jaggery half cup grated + 1 cup water
Milk 1 cup (or more if you like)
Water 2 cup
Rice flour 2 tsp
Pinch of cardamom powder
Grated coconut 2 tablespoons

• Heat about 2 cups of water in a vessel, add the rice balls into this.
• Once the balls rise to the top it means they are cooked,add a pinch of cardamom powder to this.
• Add the cooled down jaggery syrup and let this boil for about 5 minutes.
• Sprinkle 2 tsp of rice flour.Let this simmer for another 5minutes.
• Turn off the heat.
• Add the grated coconut to the kozhukattais before serving.

Yummy healthy paal kozhukattais are ready.They taste lovely both hot and cold!

Notes :

- The ratio of water to rice flour worked perfectly for me, i used some ready made brand idiyappam flour.

- Add more jaggery or sugar to the paal to make it less or more sweet for your tastes.

- 1 cup of rice flour will make about 35-40 small sized kozhukattais.

- When you drop the rice balls into the water it will sink down and raise to the top only once its done so its an easy tip to find out they are done.

- I cooled the jaggery syrup before adding it to the paal I've heard it can break the milk.

Variations : 

- You can make the paal with coconut milk too.I made it with normal milk.

- Add fried nuts and dry fruit and give it a payasam finish too!

Sending this to Kids Delight Potluck party, Sweet Celebration, Tribute to my mom , Cook with white @ Merry Tummy

Paal Kozhukattai

All of you must have seen the blog world being flooded with kozhukattai recipes.I made these super easy ones on Sunday for breakfast because like I said even the TV was overflowing with Lord Ganesha's favourite snack.You can make this as a healthy payasam and an after school snack for kids.

Onam Guest post - Mathanum Payarum

I was wondering why I didn't think of this last year maybe i was shy to ask people to make guest posts for me.But no its a great way to interact and also make new friends.Even though we are geographically neighbours we don't celebrate Onam. After seeing all the pictures of yummy Onam sadya dishes I thought i must have a post for Onam.So I thought of asking a keralite friend.So Rafeeda it was.She's a sweet girl maybe we've passed each other by on some street in the UAE years ago now she's a working mother of two pretty girls, a home maker and a blogger, who knew then we'd be friends through blogging.Rafeeda blogs at The Big Sweet Tooth like many of you are familiar with.

So today Rafeeda obliged at such short notice by sending me this lovely dish of Pumpkin and cow beans/Mathanum and payyarum - an Onam delicacy.

Wishing all my friends A Joyous Onam :) 

Lets see what Rafeeda has to say now :

Hello everybody…

Working on a guest post, is always a hassle for me. I don’t know why, it kinds of hits my confidence to a certain level.  When you work on your own blog, you don’t have anybody to please but when it’s a guest post, you have to ensure that the host is happy, isn’t it? My host for the day, Princy asked me for a guest post, and I literally gasped, “me?” Seriously, I am so bad at preparing vegetarian fare especially that needs to be served with rice. It’s very rarely that my curries turn out well and I have blogged about it. Otherwise, I take quite time to reach the exact taste that my umma tries to bring. Since Princy asked, I quickly pulled out my drafts and lunged through it to see if there was any sadhya vegetarian fare that I could give. I emailed her whether this would be fine, and she replied back saying she would take anything from me! So sweet of her… J

A little introduction – my name is Rafeeda, who blogs at “The Big Sweet Tooth”. A working mother, with two daughters, I take cooking as a stress buster to relieve me from the pressures of a working life. Princy’s is one of the blogs that I regularly visit for some mouthwatering fare and constantly keep commenting as well. During our interactions, I have learned that she was an ex-UAEite and my posts keep poking on her nostalgic memories. While blogging, I have come across so many fellow bloggers who have been in UAE during their school days, who are able to connect to what I write. That is what keeps me blogging, as I love the personal connections.

Moving to the recipe… one of the afternoon dishes that umma makes and I become really flat crazy about is her “Mathanum Payarum” – Pumpkin with Cowpea Beans. Something that I just recently learned from her… There’s nothing much complicated about the dish but still I love to keep pestering umma for her recipes. While trying to make this, umma let out a very sarcastic comment, that  I cannot make a proper curry for afternoon despite having two kids. I still don’t think I am old to learn, am I?? Hehe… when she wanted to teach me, I was not interested but now that I am, she is not willing. Hmm…  I guess without much talking, I will go direct to this simple recipe which tastes just out of the world, for me… J

Mathanum Payarum – Pumpkin with Cowpea Beans

Serves 4

Recipe courtesy: My umma

Ingredients:

1 cup red cowpea beans, soaked in water overnight

500 gm pumpkin, peeled and chopped into large pieces

½ tsp turmeric powder

¾ tsp chilli powder (increase for spiciness)

Salt to taste

For grinding:

¼ cup grated coconut

2 shallots, peeled

2 cloves garlic

½ tsp fennel seeds

¼ tsp cumin seeds

2 green chillis

For tempering:

1 tsp coconut oil

¼ tsp mustard seeds

Method:

• Wash the cowpea beans well and place into a pressure cooker.
•  Add the chopped pumpkin, pour water just till leveled, not too much. Add in the turmeric and red chilli powder along with salt. Pressure cook for three whistles and then leave it on simmer for around 30 minutes. Switch off and allow the pressure to go by itself.
• Meanwhile, grind all the “for grinding” ingredients till smooth. Open the cooker lid, add in the ground ingredients and mix well. You will see that the pumpkin is all mashed up and coated over the cow pea beans. Cook on low flame till just warm.
• Heat up the oil in a little saucepan and splutter the mustard seeds. Dump it into mathanum payarum and mix well. 
• Serve as side for rice and any curry! I love to eat it as is… J

Thank you so much Princy for this opportunity. I sincerely hope that you love this post. Wishing all the readers of Spicy Foood a very Happy Onam… J

 Thank you Rafeeda for the lovely touch of Onam  Kerala here :)

Onam Guest post - Mathanum Payarum

I was wondering why I didn't think of this last year maybe i was shy to ask people to make guest posts for me.But no its a great way to interact and also make new friends.Even though we are geographically neighbours we don't celebrate Onam. After seeing all the pictures of yummy Onam sadya dishes I thought i must have a post for Onam.So I thought of asking a keralite friend.So Rafeeda it was.She's a sweet girl maybe we've passed each other by on some street in the UAE years ago now she's a working mother of two pretty girls, a home maker and a blogger, who knew then we'd be friends through blogging.Rafeeda blogs at The Big Sweet Tooth like many of you are familiar with.

So today Rafeeda obliged at such short notice by sending me this lovely dish of Pumpkin and cow beans/Mathanum and payyarum - an Onam delicacy.

Wishing all my friends A Joyous Onam :) 

Chick peas/kadala curry - South indian style

I love chick peas especially for my chapatis.But some time back my good friend gave me this recipe then I fell in love with it because its a two in one goes well with rice and chapatis or even dosas and the south indian delicacy puttu.

Chick peas are a big favourite in our home and DH used to ask me to make this curry many times but I had that mental block that it wouldn't taste good with rice but i was wrong.But I can tell you that the black chick peas work better in this curry than the white ones.Not to forget that they are healthy and protein packed food.like my LM is studying in school - Pulses are body building foods.

So ever since i made this curry a few months ago, it turns up every week on Tuesdays when we have a complete vegetarian menu.

You need

Chick peas(black tastes better for this curry) 1 cup (soaked over night)
Coconut oil 1 tsp
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves 2 sprigs
Tamarind a small goose berry size soaked in a half a cup of hot water
Salt to taste


For the gravy 

Oil 1 tsp
Onion 1 large
Tomato 1 medium
Coconut 2 tablespoon
Ginger 1 tsp
Dhaniya powder 1 tsp
Chilli powder 1/2 tsp

- In a hot pan, add oil and the above ingredients fry well and turn the heat off.Now add the dhaniya powder and chilli powder and let this mixture cool.
- After the mixture cools, add it to a blender and grind first without water and then adding a little water to grind into a smooth paste.
- Pressure cook the soaked chick peas with a little salt and keep aside.
- In a pan, heat coconut oil add the mustard seeds allow to pop and then add curry leaves.
- Add the ground paste and let it come to a boil.Now add the tamarind water and let it boil.
- Add the cooked chick peas and cook until the chick peas absorb the masala well.
- You can add a little water as required to make the curry a little runny.

I serve hot kadala curry with steamed rice, keerai kootu and papads or goes really well with puttu(south indian steamed rice cakes) or dosa and even chapatis.Enjoy a yummy finger licking good lunch :)

Sending this to SIC @ Nivedhanam and Anu's healthy Kitchen, Dish it out - Onions and chillies 

Chick peas/kadala curry - South indian style

I love chick peas especially for my chapatis.But some time back my good friend gave me this recipe then I fell in love with it because its a two in one goes well with rice and chapatis or even dosas and the south indian delicacy puttu.

Enna Kathrikai Kuzhambu/Fried brinjals in a tangy spicy gravy

I usually make this curry when I have plenty of time to spend in the kitchen because as yummy as this is it is a slightly lengthy process to make this curry.I never heard of this until a relative mentioned this - it is pretty famous here in the south especially happens to be an accompaniment to our favourite biryanis :) 

My DH kept telling me how my MIL used to make it really wonderfully but I had no clue how it would or should taste.Then i saw Sanjeev Kapoor make it on his show long time back.This is my own tried version of the dish.My DH said it tasted pretty good and almost close to some professional biryani maker who is his benchmark to this dish.

You need 

Small sized brinjals 4 (leave the stems and make + shaped slit from the bottom side going to the top but should be in one piece)

Baby onions/Onions 6-8 or small medium

Ginger garlic paste 1 tsp

Tamarind a small lemon sized ball soaked in half cup of water 

Curry leaves 2 sprigs

Mustard seeds 1 tsp

Oil 3-4 tablespoons

Vinegar 1 tsp

Sambar powder 1 tsp

 Salt to taste

Toast and grind to a fine powder the following

Coriander seeds 2 tsp

Fenugreek/methi/vendhayam seeds 1/4 tsp

Pepper corns 1/2 tsp

Dried Red chilli 2

Cumin 1/4 tsp

Fennel seeds1/2 tsp

Coconut grated 3 tblsp

•  Stuff the ground powder into the slits of the brinjal and keep aside. 
• Heat oil in a pan, fry the stuffed brinjals until tender. Remove onto tissue paper. 

• In the same oil(pan), add mustard seeds and curry leaves. Add onions and fry well. Next add the ginger garlic paste and tomatoes and fry until all is mashed well.
• Add the remaining ground powder(you will have left over after stuffing the brinjals) and fry well. Then add thick tamarind water and let the spices cook in this water. Add the sambar powder and salt now.
• Now add the fried brinjals and let all of this cook well until masalas coat the brinjals. 
• Add a tsp of vinegar at the end. You can add some water to get the gravy a little more loose consistency but not much because this gravy has to be tangy so don't reduce the tamarind water.

Serve hot ennai kathrikai kuzhambu with steamed rice or chicken biryani.

Sending this to VFAM @ Nivedhanam and Priya VFAM

Enna Kathrikai Kuzhambu/Fried brinjals in a tangy spicy gravy

I usually make this curry when I have plenty of time to spend in the kitchen because as yummy as this is it is a slightly lengthy process to make this curry.I never heard of this until a relative mentioned this - it is pretty famous here in the south especially happens to be an accompaniment to our favourite biryanis :) 

Chettinad style Egg curry/kuzhambu

Its so difficult to wake up on weekends and to cook don't even ask.Thats when i thought of making this curry and my ghee rice with some ready made coconut milk powder.What a breeze of a lunch it was!

I saw this recipe at Jay's Tasty Appetite and i immediately wanted to try it out.The most difficult part in this meal would have been to squeeze some fresh coconut milk but since i used ready made powdered coconut milk it was simple.

You need

Hard boiled eggs 3
Baby onions 10 nos
Tomato 1 small
Tamarind 1 small lime sized ball
Coriander/dhaniya powder 1 tsp
Chilli powder 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Pepper corns 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste 1 tsp
Green chilli 1 slit
Garam masala whole - cloves, cardamom, cinnamon 2 each
Salt to taste

To temper

Oil 1 tablespoon
Curry leaves 1 sprig
Mustard seeds 1 tsp

• Heat pan add a little oil and roast the whole spices, pepper corns,cumin seeds and add the onions and fry well too.Once the onions are brown, add tomato and roast well.
• Turn off the heat and add the dhaniya powder and chilli powders.
• Let this cool and grind to a smooth paste.
• Heat oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds and curry leaves,Add ginger garlic paste and green chillies.
• Now add the ground onion masala paste and cook it well.
• Add the tamarind water and let the raw smells go away.
• Check for salt and add turmeric powder
• Add the hard boiled eggs.Pricking them with a fork will help some spices to get into the eggs.

• Serve hot with ghee rice or chapathis.

Chettinad style Egg curry/kuzhambu

Its so difficult to wake up on weekends and to cook don't even ask.Thats when i thought of making this curry and my ghee rice with some ready made coconut milk powder.What a breeze of a lunch it was!

Ghee Rice/Nei choru

I love this rice especially with some easy non vegetarian curry, it tastes superb and makes a magnificent treat for guests coming over!The only tedious part about this recipe would be extracting the coconut milk but we have alternatives now- tinned/canned coconut milk for the lazy ones :)
Wishing all my friends around the world - Eid Mubarak :)

I don't know why they call this ghee rice/nei choru because the coconut milk in it is so dominantly taking over all the flavours.In our home, we all prefer this to biryani as biryani is a little heavier but this ghee rice is flavourful and light as well.

 I just added the normal whole spices to this but you can make it as lavish as you want with dry fruits and even more ghee! I just like the simple coconut milk flavoured rice and the way it complements a simple coconut basede gravy ----- heavenly!

 

You need
Basmati rice 2 cups (soaked for half hour and drained)
Coconut milk(thick) 1 cup
Water 2 cups

To season the rice
Ghee 1 tablespoon + Oil 1-2 tsp
Whole spices - cardamom,cloves - 3-4 each ,star anise & cinnamon - 1-2 pieces each
Baby onions/sambar onions 10 nos sliced finely
Green chillies 2 nos slit length wise
Curry leaves 2-3 sprigs
Ginger garlic paste 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Turmeric power 1/2 tsp

•  Heat a nonstick vessel, add the ghee and oil and once hot, add the whole spices, baby onions, curry leaves, green chillies and saute well, take care to not burn the onions i feel it spoils the appearance of the rice.
• Add the basmati rice and saute it well until translucent in the oils.
• Now add the coconut milk and water required for the rice to cook.
• Add the turmeric and salt to taste and mix well.
• Cover and cook for 12-15 minutes until the rice puffs up.

• Serve hot with any spicy coconut based vegetarian gravy or chicken curry and raita.

Sending this to Show me your HITS -Rice , 30 minute meal mela, South Indian Cooking and Bachelor,s feast

Ghee Rice/Nei choru

I love this rice especially with some easy non vegetarian curry, it tastes superb and makes a magnificent treat for guests coming over!The only tedious part about this recipe would be extracting the coconut milk but we have alternatives now- tinned/canned coconut milk for the lazy ones :)
Wishing all my friends around the world - Eid Mubarak :)