Thanks to Sai for introducing this dish to me.

Prep Time

45 min – 1 hour (a bit steep for a weekday)

Serving

Serves 5

Ingredients

•  Bread – 1  loaf
• Oil – Enough to fry bread
• Sugar – 150 gms
• Cream- Spray Can

Preparation Steps

  1) Slice bread as a triangle or into small squares as illustrated

  2) Fry the bread in oil (although usage of ghee is traditional, best to stick to oil as ghee is heavy in cholesterol). Leave the fried bread in kitchen tissue to drain any excess oil

  3) Add sugar to a pan and add water. Wait till the syrup is of a string like consistency. To test take some syrup between thumb and index finger

4) Soak the fried bread in the sugar syrup. Set aside it for 15 mins

5) Garnish with Cream, Cashews and serve hot or cold tastes grand both ways!

Sakkara Pongal

Belates pongal wishes to all…I celebrated mine with the taste of sweetness…here is the recipe for chakkara (tamil for sugar) pongal

Preparation time

45 mins

Serving

Serves 6

Ingredients

 Rice – 4 cups

Jaggery – 200gms

Milk – 1.5 pints

Moong Dal – 1/2 cup (optional)

Saffron – couple of strands

Cashews – 10 finely chopped

Raisins – 10

Ghee – 7-8 tsp

Water

Preparation Steps

1) In a pan add 200gms of jaggery and 200ml of water. (Break the jaggery into smaller pieces before tossing it into the pan). Wait till it becomes gooey. Take care to ensure its still liquidy and does not become a paste. Usually this takes 10-15 mins. Ensure you set the gas at low.

2) In another pan as a parallel activty, roast rice and moong dal with ghee

3) After 2 mins of roasting, add milk  (1 pint) and cook the rice with milk until it gets crunchy. Add a spoon for ghee every 10 mins. Do this for about 30 mins again the gas should be set at low

4) Now add the jaggery to the rice pan. Constantly stir while adding the jaggery. Stiring ensures you blend the flavours

5) Add another 1/2 pint of milk and stir till the rice is now completely cooked.  Add saffron

6)Fry cashews and raisins in  ghee. Ensure you add the raisings after the cashews as raisins tend to cook faster. Take off the gas when golden brown

7) Garnish the dish with cashews and you have a winning dish there…yum!

This Ganesh Chathurthi, I dedcided to get a bit adventurous and I made modaks. It was quite simple as long as you had the time for it.

Prep Time

60 mins

Serving

Serves 4 as a snack

Ingredients

Rice Flour – 200 gms

Coconut – 1 grated

Jaggery – 150 gms

A pinch of salt

Oil – 5 tsp

Cinnamon Powder – 2 tsp

One Steamer

Preparation Steps

1. Rice Flour to preparared by soaking raw rice in water for an hour. Draining the water and drying it, grinding it to make the flour.  Easier method is to use store bought rice flour. There will definitely be a difference in the taste but if you plan to consume it on the same day, rice flour that is store bought is definitely a sensible decision

2. To 200 gms of rice flour add 120 ml of water and the pinch of salt. Add couple of tsp of oil while preparing the dough

3. Roll the dough to medium sized balls. 

4. To the jagerry add water and filter the impurities in it. Heat the jaggery in low flame to form a gluey paste. To this add the grated coconut. Stir till a dough like paste is formed. Add 2 tsp of cinnamon powder to this.

5.  Transform the balls into cups by pressing them in. Look at the pictures to understand how this is done. Add some of the cocunut- jaggery paste and seal the cups

6. Steam in a idli or rice cooker. Prepare the containers in the steamers by greasing them in oil before placing the modaks

7. Once steaming is done for 7-10 mins, serve the snack…Yummy!

Parupu Usili

Paruppu Usili is a dish that I never wanted to try for many reasons. First, it’s a dish I thought was too complicated to get right and two, the taste would be no where close to what my mom could make. Well, I proved myself wrong on two counts.

Prep Time

40-60 Mins

Cooking Time

20 Mins

Serving

Serves 4 as an accompaniment to Rice

Ingredients

• Beans (Cluster or Normal) 750 gms or Banana Flower 1#
• Toor Dal – 100gms/ 1 ½ cup
• Urad/ Urid Dal 2 tsp
• Mustard Seeds 1 tsp
• Cumin Seeds 1 tsp
• Dried Red Chillies 3# 
• Oil 5 tsp
• Finely Chopped Coriander (Cilantro) for garnishing
• Finely Chopped Curry leaves for garnishing
• 1/4 tsp red chilli powder
• Salt – 1 tsp
• Turmeric – a pinch
• Asafetida – a pinch

 Preparation Steps

1. Soak the toor dal in water for an hour before cooking
2. Finely Chop the beans [or, separate the florets if you are using banana flower  and remove the stamen alone and then finely chop the flower]
3. Boil the beans a bit if it is too crunchy
4. Grind the soaked toor dal will salt the dried chillies and asafetida [grind till you have a coarse paste]
5. Roll the paste into small balls and steam it for 10 mins
6. Remove the steamed balls and break them by hand to form a coarse powder
7. Add2 tsp of oil in a pan – Add mustard, urid dal, cumin seeds, curry leaves and wait till the mustard sputters
8. Add the toor dal powder and the beans – sauté till golden brown
9. Cool and garnish with Coriander – serve with Rice and Rasam – yummy!

 Possible Alterations

You can add a squeeze of lemon if you are found of a tangy taste. You can have the parupu usili plain without any vegetable too.

Mini Samosas

Samosas

I had this mental block that samosas were quite difficult to make. The first try suprisingly turned out to be a fruitful attempt. I am against the preparation of samosas with pastry sheets as they do not give the authentic taste.  

Prep Time  

1 hour (preparations can reduce this to as little as 25 mins)  

Accompaniments  

• Mint Sauce, Green Chutney,  Zeera Sauce , Hot Chilli Sauce
• With Garma Garam Chai

Serving  

Hard to say as the more you make the more people eat  

Ingredients  

•  Maida – 150 gms
•  Ajwain Seeds
•  Salt
•  Ground/ Pounded Chilli Powder
•  Water
•  Amchoor or dried mango powder
•  Turmeric Powder

Preparation Steps  

1 Boil the potatoes and peel them once boiled. Remember to add a pinch of turmeric and salt to taste before boiling  

2 Mash the peeled and boiled potatoes  

3 Add 2 tsp of chilli powder, 1/2 tsp of amchoor powder to the potatoes and mix well.  Add green chillies and cooked peas if you prefer to. Roll them into medium sized balls of say 5-7 cms spherical dia  

4 Take 150 gms of  maida and add 2 tsp of oil and 50 ml of water and mix well. Make a soft dough. Make tiny balls of the dough and roll them with a rolling pin. To avoid the maida sticking to the surface, sprinkle maida powder on the work table and on the dough before and while rolling. Sprinkle ajwain seeds while pressing/ rolling  

5 Cut  the circle in 2 halves. Place one of the potato balls in the semi-circle and moisten the edges of the circle with water. Stick the edges and make marking with a fork/knife  

6 Fry the samosa in a deep pan with vegetable oil  

7 Garnish with Amchoor Powder  

There you go samosas that easy

Bread Upma

Bread Upma is a common dish prepared at homes to use up the bread that is about to expire! The upma/ the end product is so tasty that you will rarely want to eat plain bread after that. So dont tell me that I did not warn you.

Prep Time

15 mins

Serving

Serves 3-4 people for a lunch/ dinner

Accompaniment

Hot – Chilli and Tomato sauce

Ingredients
Large Onion 1-2#
Urad/ Urid Dal 2 tsp
Mustard Seeds 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds 1 tsp
Green Chillies 3# finely chopped
Oil (preferably Olive Oil) 1-2 tsp
Curry Leaves
Chilli Powder
Haldi Powder
Peanuts
One loaf/pack of bread
Salt to taste

Preparation Steps

1 Finely Chop the onions and set aside

2 Grind the bread in a blender to provide a fine powder. You may choose to retain or remove crumbs

3 To a pan add 1 tsp of oil and add the urid/urad dal, cumin seeds, peanuts, mustard seeds, the green chillies can be added to this or may be added to the onions that has been set aside. Add the curry leaves.

Once the mustard has started sputtering add to the onions and saute till golden brown

4 Add the ground bread and a pinch of haldi, salt and chilli powder

5 Mix Well and saute until the mixture is cooked

6 Garnish with Coriander leaves and serve hot

Do let me know how you liked it !

Onion Raitha

Not all raithas taste the same. Here’s the recipe to make one that tastes just great!

Prep Time

10 Mins

Serving

Serves 4 as an accompaniment to Biryani

Ingredients

• Large Onion 1#
• Urad/ Urid Dal 2 tsp
• Mustard Seeds 1 tsp
• Cumin Seeds 1 tsp
• Green Chillies 3# finely chopped
• Oil 1/2 tsp
• Roasted Urid/ Urad dal powder – 1 tsp
• Yoghurt/ Curd – 10 tsp
• Water 100 ml
• Finely Chopped Coriander for garnishing
• 1/4 tsp red chilli powder
• 1/4 tsp chaat masala
• Salt – 1 tsp

Preparation Steps

1 Finely Chop the onions and set aside

2 To a pan add 1 tsp of oil and add the urid/urad dal, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, the green chillies can be added to this or may be added to the onions that has been set aside

3 Once the mustard has started sputtering remove off the gas/stove/cooker and add to the onions

4 Add the Yoghurt and mix well, now add the uris/urad dal powder and salt to taste

5 Add the chilli and chaat masala to it

6 Add some water and mix well

7 Garnish with Coriander leaves and serve

Possible Alterations

You can fry the onions till golden brown instead of eating them raw (however i prefer the traditional one).

Urid/ Urad dal is not a must

Carrots and/or cucumber can be added to this – do not cook them!

Carrot Curry

A very typical carrot curry preparation has been elaborated below. Suggestions in terms of enhancements to this dish have also been mentioned! Do leave your comments 

Carrot is one of my favourite veggies for a reason! It’s a versatile vegetable that can be used in salads, sweet, curries, rice dishes and the list is endless! 

Prep Time   

15 Mins   

Ingredients   

• 3 Carrots
• Mustard Seeds – 2tsp
• Urad Dal – 2 tsp
• Oil – 1/2 tsp
• Green Chillies
• Salt
• a squeeze of lemon
• Fresh Coriander leaves

Serving   

Serves 2 as a salad   

Preparation Steps   

1 Add a ts of oil in a pan, 2tsp mustard seeds, 2 tsp urad/urid dal and wait till the mustard sputters   

2 Add the green chillies to this and take the pan off the stove/gas/cooker   

3 Grate carrots finely using a grater   

4 Add the seasoning that you just prepared to the carrot   

5 Add a squeeze of lemon and a salt to taste   

6 Mix them well & Garnish with Fresh coriander   

It tastes amazing! You can add cooked peppers and steamed gram dal to this and you will love it even more. Enjoy!

Therati Paal/ Khoa

I have had my mom prepare this often at home. It is a very simple recipe but like most dishes involves two main ingredients patience and the right timing in adding the ingredients.

Prep Time

45 mins

Serving

Difficult to be specific for a sweet dish

Ingredients

• Milk – 1 litre
• Carnations (Optional)
• Sugar – 50 gms
• Cardomom – 2 gms
• Saffron

Preparation Steps

1 Add the milk to a wide mouthed pan and keep stirring till it turns off-white. Use a non-stick vessel if possible considering the perils of washing it after cooking. Always cook in simmer

2 When the milk reduces to about 1/2 the original amount add sugar. The timing of adding the sugar is very critical if added too soon it will not let the milk thicken. When sugar has been added the mixture may get a bit watery but don’t lose hope ! Keep Stirring!

3 Finally the mixture arrives to the consistency of a Khoa

4 Take it off the gas/stove and garnish with cardamom and saffron

Serve hot when done or cold after refrigeration. Tastes great both ways!

Peanut/Verkadalai Sundal

Preparation Time

30 Mins (Including the time to boil the peanuts)

Serving

Serves 4 as a snack

Ingredients

• Peanuts – 75 gms
• Oil – tsp
• Salt – to taste
• Onions finely chopped – I use spring onions as they give a good colour combination
• Cumin Seeds – 2 tsp
• Mustard Seeds
• Chilli Powder
• Raw Mango – finely chopped
• Fresh Coriander
• Turmeric/ Haldi powder – 1 tsp
• Dried Red Chillies – 2 nos

Preparation Steps

1 Boil the peanuts in a pressure cooker adding salt to taste and the turmeric powder. Boil it such that its soft but does not break/ disintegrate

2 Add 2 tsp of oil to a pan and when hot add the cumin & mustard seeds and the red chillies

3 Add the onions when the mustard begins to sputter

4 Add a pinch of chilli powder. Saute till golden brown

5 Add the peanuts and mix well. Leave it on the stove for about 5-7 mins ocassionally tossing the mixture

6 Remove from heat and add the raw mangoes

7 Garnish with Coriander