Thattai

Ingredients

4 cups Rice flour

½ cup Urad dal powder

¼ cup Ghee

¼ cup Soaked Channa dal

½ tsp Sesame seeds

1 tbs Chilli Powder

½ tsp Asafoetida

Salt to Taste

Oil to fry

Preparation

In a bowl take the rice flour, urad dal powder, sesame seeds, channa dal, chilli powder, asafoetida, salt, ghee and mix it well.

Add little water and make thick dough.

Take a greased plastic sheet, place the small ball of dough on it and press to flat it.

In a separate pan, heat the oil for frying, drop the flattened dough in oil and deep fry it until it turns golden brown and crisp.

Likewise do the remaining dough.

Tasty Thattai is ready.

Store it in an airtight container.

(Note: While making Thattai, make small holes using a fork on the flattened dough to prevent puffing while frying)

Vengaya Kuzhambu

Ingredients:
25 Small Onion/Shallots peeled
1 Medium sized Tomato finely chopped
5 Garlic finely Chopped
2 cup thick Tamarind Juice (2 tbs Tamarind extract dissolved in 2 cup water)
2 tbs Sambar powder
1 tsp Mustard seeds
½ tsp Cumin seeds
½ tsp Fenugreek seeds
Few curry leaves
Salt to taste
1 tbs Oil

Preparation:

In a pan, heat oil, mustard, fenugreek, cumin curry leaves and sauté for few minutes.

Add garlic, onion and sauté till the onion turns light brown.  

Add tomatoes and sauté it for few minutes.

Add Sambar powder and sauté it for few minutes.

Add tamarind juice, salt and leave the pan uncovered in medium heat for 10 minutes.

When the curry thickens turn off the heat.  

Serve the curry with hot rice.

(Note: the flavor of the curry will be tastier if we use gingelly/sesame oil for making this curry)

Mutton Curry

Ingredients:
1 lb Mutton
1 large Onion chopped
2 medium sized Tomatoes diced
2 Green chillies cut in lengthwise
1 tbs Ginger Garlic paste
½ cup Tamarind juice
½ cup Coconut milk
2 tsp Chilli powder
2 tsp Coriander powder
½ tsp Turmeric powder
2 Bay leaves
1 Cinnamon stick
1 tsp Fennel seeds
Few Curry leaves L
Little Coriander finely chopped
2 tbs Oil
Salt to taste

Preparation:

Wash the Mutton and cut into small pieces.

Take the Mutton, ½ tsp turmeric powder in a pressure cooker and cook for 4 to 5 whistle.

In a heavy bottom pan, heat oil, add bay leaves, cinnamon stick, fennel seeds, curry leaves and sauté for few minutes.

Add the onion, green chillies and sauté till the onion turns light brown.  

Add ginger garlic paste, tomatoes and sauté it for few minutes.

Add the pressure cooked Mutton, tamarind juice, chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, salt one by one and sauté finely.

Add desired amount of water and cover the pan leave it in reduced heat for 10 minutes.

Add the coconut and boil it for few more minutes.

Turn off the heat and garnish the curry with coriander.

Mutton curry is ready to serve with rice.

Rava Laddu

Ingredients

2 Cup Semolina/Rava/Sooji, ½ cup Grated Coconut, 1 ½ cup powdered Sugar, ¼ cup Ghee, 10 Cashew nuts, 10 Raisins, ¼ tsp Cardamom Powder, ¼ cup Warm Milk.

Preparation

In a pan, add little ghee and roast the cashews and raisins until they turn golden brown colour and keep it aside.

Now add the grated coconut and roast it in a low flame for few minutes until they turn light brown colour and keep it aside.

Now add the rava and roast it in low flame for 4 – 5 minutes until they turn light brown colour.

In a bowl take the roasted rava, coconut, cashew, raisins, card mom powder, sugar, ghee and warm milk and mix it well.

When the mixture is warm enough, grease the hands with ghee and take small portions of the mixture and squeeze it form a small sized ball likewise do the same for the remaining mixture.

At first the laddu will be soft need not worry about that after a while they will harden.

Rava Laddu is ready and store it in an air tight container or refrigerate it.

Pori Urundai

Ingredients

5 cups Pori

1 cup Powdered Jaggery

¼ tsp Cardamom powder

Little water

Ghee

Preparation

In a pan, take jaggery along with required water just enough to immerse the jaggery and heat it until the jaggery is dissolved well and filter it to remove the impurities.

In a wide bottomed pan take the jaggery syrup and heat it to form a paagu/syrup (check it by dropping a little jaggery syrup in a cup of water the jaggery should form a small ball) remove it from stove.

In a separate bowl take the pori, cardamom powder , jaggery syrup and slowly mix it.

Now grease your hands with ghee and take small portions of the pori mixture and roll it into small balls.

Pori Urundai is ready.

(Note: Roll the pori mixture when it is hot otherwise the jaggery gets hardened makes hard to roll into ball)

Chicken Tandoori

  

Ingredients:

To make Tandoori:

1 lbs Boneless Skinless Chicken cut into medium sized pieces

½ cup Yogurt

1 tbs Ginger garlic paste

Little Kasthuri Methi
Pinch of Food colour

½ tsp Cumin powder

3- 4 tbs Oil

Salt to taste

To Garnish:

1 medium sized Onion finely chopped

2 Green chillies finely chopped

1 Lemon wedge

Preparation:

In a bowl take the chicken, add all the above ingredients and mix it well.

Marinate the chicken for 2 to 3 hours placing it in a plastic bag in refrigerator.

After 2 to 3 hours, preheat the oven 400 degree.

Spread the marinated chicken in a baking sheet and bake it in oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

In between check the chicken, if excess liquid collects in the baking tray, carefully discard the liquid and place the tray again in the oven and continue to cook the chicken.

After 30 minutes off the Oven let it stand for few more minutes.

Now remove the chicken from oven and transfer it in to a bowl and garnish with chopped onion and green chillies.

Yummy Tandoori chicken is ready.

Squeeze a lemon wedge over the chicken before eating.

(Note: Kasthuri Mesthi is dried Fenugreek leaves available in Indian Grocery)

Mini Idli

Ingredients

Idli Batter (Check the Idli recipe for making the batter)

Preparation:

To make mini idli's, we get mini idli plates in Indian stores.

Apply little oil to the mini idli plates.

Pour the batter in the mini dli plates.

Place the mini idli plates in Idli cooker or pressure cooker (don’t put the weight) and steam it for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes off the stove and let it stand for few minutes.

Hot Mini idli’s are ready to serve with sambar.

Idli – Dosai Milagai Podi

Ingredients:
1 cup Channa Dal
1 cup Urad Dal (Blackgram)
6 to 8 Red chillies (desired amount)
Few Curry Leaves
Few sprinkles of Asafoetida
Salt to taste

Preparation:
In a flat pan, take all the ingredients and dry roast it till the grams change colour and remove it from the pan and keep it aside to cool.
In a blender take all the roasted ingredients and grind it into a fine powder.
Tasty Idli – Dosai Milagai podi is ready.

Onion Dosai

Ingredients to make Dosai Batter:

3 cups Idli rice

1 cup Urad dal/Black gram

1 tbs Fenugreek seeds

Salt to taste Oil

1 large Onion finely chopped and fried in little oil.

Preparation:

Making the batter:

Wash the rice and urad dal well.

Soak the rice, black gram, fenugreek in water for 4 – 5 hrs.

(I used to soak them altogether).

In a blender, take the soaked ingredients in small batches and grind it into a fine batter.  

Add little water while grinding not much until we get a nice smooth batter.

Add salt to the batter. Keep it in airtight container for the whole night or 8-9 hrs for fermentation.

Usually have in mind to keep the batter in a large container because while fermenting the batter will raise.

 After the batter is fermented mix it well.

Making Onion Dosai:

Take nonstick skillet in a stove in medium-high heat.

Add a drop of oil to the skillet and spread the oil.

Now pour a ladle (1/4 cup) of batter onto the skillet gently with very little pressure swirl the ladle in circles to spread the batter very thin.

When the batter is fully spread, add a tsp. of oil all over the dosai.

Cook on medium-high heat till the bottom side of the dosai becomes light brown.

To get crispy, flip the dosai over and lightly brown the other side.

Flip it back, place the fried onion in the middle of the Dosai and roll it.

Onion Dosai is ready.

Serve with Coconut chutney/Tomato chutney/Sambar.

Masala Dosai

Ingredients to make Dosai Batter:

3 cups Idli rice

1 cup Urad dal/Black gram

1 tbs Fenugreek seeds

Salt to taste

Oil

Ingredients to make masala:

2 Large boiled and mashed Potatoes

1 medium Onion finely chopped

1 small Tomato finely chopped

2 Green chillies finely chopped

1 tsp Ginger Garlic paste

¼ tsp Turmeric powder

1 tsp Mustard seeds

1 tsp Urad dal

Few Curry leaves

Few Coriander leaves finely chopped

Salt to taste

1 tbs Oil

Preparation:

Making the batter:

Wash the rice and urad dal well.

Soak the rice, black gram, fenugreek in water for 4 – 5 hrs.

(I used to soak them altogether).

In a blender, take the soaked ingredients in small batches and grind it into a fine batter. 

Add little water while grinding not much until we get a nice smooth batter.

Add salt to the batter.

Keep it in airtight container for the whole night or 8-9 hrs for fermentation.

Usually have in mind to keep the batter in a large container because while fermenting the batter will raise.

After the batter is fermented mix it well.

Making the Masala:

In a shallow pan, heat oil, add mustard, urad dal, curry leaves, green chillies, onion, ginger garlic one by one and sauté finely until the onion changes to light brown.

Add the tomatoes and sauté it for few minutes.

Now add the potatoes, turmeric powder, salt, give a stir and leave it in reduced flame.

Give a constant stir and when the potatoes turn dry and brown turn off the flame.

Garnish with Coriander leaves.

Potato masala is ready for the Dosai.

Making Masala Dosai:

Take nonstick skillet in a stove in medium-high heat.

Add a drop of oil to the skillet and spread the oil.

Now pour a ladle (1/4 cup) of batter onto the skillet gently with very little pressure swirl the ladle in circles to spread the batter very thin.

When the batter is fully spread, add a tsp. of oil all over the dosai.

Cook on medium-high heat till the bottom side of the dosai becomes light brown.

To get crispy, flip the dosai over and lightly brown the other side.

Flip it back, place the masala in the middle of the Dosai and roll it.

Masala Dosai is ready.

Serve with Coconut chutney/Tomato chutney/Sambar.