Ani’s Kids Recipe,South Indian samayal & Tips!

Just to share with you………..

We all are aware of Malai Kofta which is a very famous recipe. This kofta is made upof mixed vegetables. recently I heard from one of my friend that they make Kofta’s using bottle guard(surrakkai) ,cabbage etc. Cabbage is easily availabe vegetable in all seasons so letz try this Cabbage kofta. I don’t follow any hard and fast rules in making gravy for this kofta. Once I made gravy in southindian style(replace paruppu uruandai with cabbage uruandai in paruppu urandi kozhumbu) and anothertime I made north Indian style kofta gravy. This Kofta goes well in all types of gravies. Here I am not mentioning the gravy since you can add this balls into your very special gravies.

Cabbage Kofta

Ingredients

1. Cabbage – 2 cups (finely chopped (like finely chopped onion for vada’s))
2. Channadal/kadalaparuppu – 1 cup
3. green chilli – 2 (finely chopped)
4. jeera/cumin seed – 1/2 tsp
5. salt – little
6. Red chilli powder – 1/2 tsp
7. Besan/Kadala mavu – little (may be 2 tsps )

 Preparation

1. Pressure cook channa dhal  with 1 to 1 1/2 cups of water. It should be cooked well. If you mash it with hand, it should get mashed well.  Once it is cooked well drain the water from it. Keep that drained water to use while making gravy.
2. Cook the cabbage well with little water. Once it is cooked well drain the excess water and keep for future use in gravy.
3. Now take the drained channa dal,drained cabbage and to this add finely chopped green chilli,red chiili powder,little cumin seeds(black cumin seeds will be good) and salt as needed.
4. Now add little Besan/gram flour . This will act as binding agent.
5. Mix all the ingredients well and knead and make small balls out of it.
6. Deep fry the balls in Oil.

Just to share with you…..

I know some of us don’t like poodu because of its smell but I am a very great fan of garlic. My favourite picke is garlic pickle. I intake poondu in terms of pickle,chutney,gravy,poondu sadam etc.  Since my hubby don’t like poondu I stopped cooking it often. Rarely I used to cook for my self. I can say I have forgotten few recipes since I have not cooking all those. But Recently I have made this curry two times . He liked it a lot. Though he didn’t eat garlic in the curry but he is now a great fan of that curry. Hope people who don’t like garlic also loves this curry. I have heard people saying garlic as poodu,poondu, velanga poodu etc . There might be lot more names also.

Poondu kolumbu

Ingredients:

1. Garlic pods (peeled) – 1 cup
2. Gingily oil – 2 tsp
3. Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
4. Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
5. Asafoetida powder/Perunkayam – a pinch
6. Curry leaves – a strand
7. Tamarind  – small lemon size
8. Salt – as required

Dry roast and grind the following into fine paste

1. Black peppercorns – 1 tsp
2. Coriander seeds – 1 tsp
3. Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
4. channa dal – 1tsp>
5. Toor dal – 1 tsp>
6. Urad dal - 1/2  tsp
7. Red chillies – 3

Preparation

1. Mean time ,extract tamarind juice by adding 2 cups of water to the tamarind.

2. When the garlic turns light brown, add the tamarind juice and bring it to  boil.

3. While it’s boiling, add the asafoetida powder, turmeric powder and salt. This should be in stove for atleast 5 mins.

4. After a couple of minutes add the grinded paste and mix well.

5. Allow the content to boil for atleast 10 minutes at low heat. The content will start thickening.

6. Finally turn of the heat and add the remaining half tablespoon of gingily oil for an extra flavor.

7. Garnish with corriander leaves if you want. Got well with hot rice.

Tips

If you have added more water and the gravy is not thickening then in that case you can add a tablespoon of besan flour /kadala mava and whisk it in half cup water and pour it in the gravy and stir well. This will thicken the gravy in no time. For any type of gravy you can use this as a thickening agent.

Just to share with you…..

My daughter loves pancakes a lot especially from IHOP. Sometimes she used to ask me in odd times. So I started making pancakes using the recipe I got in net. I came good but can’t be compared with IHOP ‘s Pancakes.

Pancakes

Ingredients:

1. All-purpose flour, stirred or sifted before measuring  – 2 cups
2. Baking powder  – 2 and half tsp
3. salt – 1/2 tsp
4. lightly beaten  egg – 1
5. Milk -1 1/2 cups
6. melted butter -2 tablespoons

Preparation:

1. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. In abowl, add egg and milk. Add to flour mixture, stirring  until smooth.
3. Then add the melted butter and mix well.
4. Cook on a hot, greased griddle, using about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake.
5. Cook until brown on one side and around edge; turn and brown the other side. 
6. This can be eaten with Honey.

Just to share with you…….

This is one of famous recipes in Tamil cuisine, which  I learnt after coming to US.  Chennai people will say about vadakari a lot .  I my place or my hubby’s place we have never heard about this recipe.  Though I heard this name in chennai I have never tried it there.  Two years back only I learnt this recipe from one of my friends Virshali . This goes well with Idli’s and Dosa’s . People used to say ,In hotels vadakari’s are made with left over vada , bajji like varieties what ever it is let us cook fresh vadakari. It comes little bit closer to parupu usali.

Vadakari

Ingredients

1. Channa dhal                   – 1 cup
2. sombu                            - 1/2 tsp
3. Onion                              - 1  big
4. Tomato                           -  1 (big size)
5. Green chillies                   -  2
6. Turmeric powder            - 1/2tsp
7. Chilli powder                   – 2tsp (  depends on your spicy level)
8. Garam masala                  - 1tsp
9. Curry leaves                    -  little
10. Ginger/ Garlic paste        - 1tsp
11. Cloves                               – 4
12. Cinnamon                        -1 small piece
13. Bay leaves                       – 1 big
14. Cumin seed                     – 1/2 tsp
15. Salt                                  - As per Taste

1. soak the channa dal for 1 hr and then  grind soaked channa dhal with sombu and  little salt  coarsely. Care should be taken so that it should not be fine paste.
2. Make vadas (shapes is not a problem) and fry this misture in oil . Don’t fry till it is crisp. If vada is cooked take out from oil.
3. Cool the vadas and when it is cool, scramble the vada into small pieces and keep aside.
4. Now in a pan, pour little oil. Splutter Cumin seeds,  , cinnamon, cloves, bayleavesand curry leaves.
5. Fry  chopped onions . Fry well then add the ginger-garlic paste and fry that well till raw smell goes away.
6. Add finely chopped tomato, and slited chillies along with above ingredients.
7. Add turmeric, red chilli powder, garam masala, salt to the mixture.
8. Add 1/2 cup of water, and cook for some time until a thokku consistency is got. (don’t add too much water it will spoil the taste)
9. Finely add the  scrambled vadas in the gravy.
10. Mix gently, keep on low flame forfew mins.
11. Garnish with corriander leaves .

Tips

For those who want to cut down the oil just pour the grinded channa dal mixure in the idli mould . Steam cook and the scramble it and keep aside so that you can add this to the gravy at the end.

Just to share with you……

Every body knows how to make beetroot poriyal. I made a slight variation on my own to this poriyal and made this dish.Beetroot Rice is one of the few vegetables which give the rice colr, flavor and subtle sweetness. I hate to peel out,grate or cut the  beetroot  because of the stain caused by it.  So I don’t cook it often but oneday somewhere I read that all food s (both vegetables and fruits) which are purple in color are very good for health.  So, I started cooking this veggie often. You can say as beetroot pulav also.

Beetroot rice

Ingredient

1. cooked rice – 2 cups (Basmathi is good. All the grains should seperate)
2. beetroot    – 1 cup ( grated or chopped finely)
3. frozen peas – 1/2 cup (optional)
4. onion -1 (small size chopped)
5. tomato -1 (small size chopped)
6. mustard – 1/4 tsp
7. curry leaves
8. oil – 2 tsp

For paste

1. garlic pod -1 (1 piece)
2. ginger – tablet size  (you can substitue ginger and garlic with 1/2 tsp of paste)
3. coconut – 2 tsp
4. green chilli – 2
5. corriander and mintleaves – 2 tsp each

Preparation

1. Heat little oil in the pan. Add mustard and let it splutter then add curry leaves.
2. Add chopped onion and tomato anfd fry well.
3. Add the grinded paste and fry well till the gingergarlic raw smell goes away.
4. Add the peas, beetroot (grate if for kids or cut for adults)grated or chopped finely and fry well.
5. To this add little salt just enough for the vegetable.
6. Add little water (we need dry curry at the end) or sprinkle at regular interval and cook the vegetable.
7. Once it is done add the cooked rice  sprinkle the needed salt and mix well so that everything gets blended well.