Maavu Urundai - Moong dal Ladoo

This year Diwali is special because it falls on a Saturday. My husband  and my little girl will be home for celebrations. It does not feel like Diwali here I guess. We love to celebrate Diwali with fireworks. I need to figure out if there are any Diwali fireworks here somewhere. Last year we had just moved and we did not know a lot of people here. This year we do have few friends and I am making whole bunch of sweets and snacks to share with them.

This Ladoo is an authentic chettinad dish and its very easy to make. My mom  used to make this when we were kids.

This  sweet is made of split green gram dal and powdered sugar and little ghee. It Can be done in an hour without much preparation.

Preparation Time:10 min

Making time:40 min

Yields:30 laddos

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup Split green gram dal/Pasiparuppu
• 1 1/2 cup Sugar.
• 5 tsp Ghee (use more if required).

Method:

• Roast the green gram dal for 10 min or until raw smell goes off.
• Cool it before grinding .
• Grind it in Mixer until its fine .

• Seive it and if there is a big quantity left over grind the left overs again and seive it.
• Grind the sugar to a fine powder.
• Seive it as well.

• Mix the ground sugar with the dal mixture.

• Heat the ghee in a large vessel . When it starts to smoke switch the heat off.
• Add the sugar, dal flour mixture to the ghee and mix well.
• There should not be any lumps. If there are any lumps break them.

• Take a handful of the mixture and make a ladoo by shaping it into a ball.
• Enjoy it with your friends and family.

Note:

• Use a fine seive so that ladoo is not coarse.
• If you are not able to shape the ladoo add some more ghee (don't use too much).

Check sweets like  kaju katli,rock candy rice,Apple halwa

Linking it to 

           

             

                             

                         

                                     

                             

Gayathris event and sahasra page

Kaju katli/Cashew burfi

Last year I made Badam Burfi for Diwali. This year i wanted to make my husband's favorite Kaju Katli. We usually buy Kaju Katli from Indian grocery stores. I brought some cashews on sale and wanted to try this. I have made Kaju Katli twice in the past, once they came out very hard. This is very easy recipe but you have to be very cautious while making this dish. This dish is high in cholesterol but you can have it once in a while. Its diwali, time to celebrate.

Preparation time: 5 min.
Cooking time: 10 min.
Yields: 30 small thick katlis.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Cashews
• 1 cup sugar.
• 5 tbsp water.
• Ghee for greasing the plate.

Method:

• Bring the cashews to room temperature.
• Grind the cashwes to a smooth powder.
• Pause during grinding and make sure that you grind the cashews to a fine powder and not a paste.
• Add sugar and 5 tbsp water to a heavy non-stick pan .

• In medium heat let the sugar melt in water .
• Add the powdered cashews once all the sugar melts .
• Mix well and make sure that there are no lumps.

• Continue stirring the cashews, if you don't it will stick to the pan.
• When the cashew paste thickens and starts folding in at the sides ( like halwa ) take a small portion and roll it into a ball
• If you can roll a ball without sticking, you have the right consistency.
• Keep a greased plate ready and pour the cashew mixture to it.

• Let it cool down for 10-15 mins.
• If the mixture is hard add little milk (This reduces the shelf life though).
• Once cooled cut the katli into a shape of your choice.
• Kaju Katli is ready to be shared with friends and family.

Note:

• The cashew powder needs to fine and not coarse.
• When grinding the cashews take small pauses to prevent cashews turning into a paste.
• Check the correct consistency of the cashew paste by rolling into a small ball.

Check sweet like rock candy rice,moong dal ladoo,apple halwa

Linking it to


Soumya and paris page
            
               
                          

Lets cook for christmas

Thenkuzhal Murukku - Chettinad style Murukku

The name Thenkuzhal means that this snack is "honey like". Usually I get the flour from my Mom or my Mother-in -Law to make this murukku.This time I did not have the flour, so I decided to make it from scratch. It came out very well and my family loved it.

This is very easy to make snack and its nutritious too. Rice and Urad dal flour are used to make this dish. You can add coconut oil /ghee while kneading  to make it extra yummy.

Preparation time: 10 min.
Making time: 2 hrs.
Yields: 30 murukku.

Vendaikaai Mandi - Tangy Okra Curry

Mandi (மண்டி) is a curry dish unique to Chettinad. You will a find a version of this dish in every chettinad household. The beauty of this dish is that it can made with a lot of vegetables e.g Potatoes, White Channa, Egg plant and Okra. Vendaikaai (Okra) Mandi (வெண்டைக்காய் மண்டி) is the most famous of the lot. I made this delicious curry for lunch the other day. This dish uses only green chili's for heat, no masala powder is used. Here is the recipe

Preparation time: 10 min
Cooking time: 30-40 min.
Serves: 2

Pepper Chicken Fry - Kozhi Milagu Varuval

Chettinad cuisine is renowned for Non-Veg dishes.There are many delicious non-veg varieties like  chicken pepper gravy, Kozhi Milagu Varuval,Mutton kola urundai and the list goes on..
          People all over the world remember chettinad with its non-veg dishes. Being from chettinad never made me a meat eater,i am a hard core veggie. Before marriage i used to run away from the place where chicken is getting cleaned and is cooked.Mom used to cook for me first, before making chicken.Now things changed ,after marriage or its after my kid started eating chicken.I cook pepper chicken fry for them once in a while.

Summa Kuzhambu- Chettinad Delicacy

Summa Kuzhambu (சும்மா குழம்பு ) in tamil literally means gravy made out of no veggies or just like that you can make this gravy. You will find this dish only in a Chettinad Kitchen.

This  gravy is very easy to digest. In Chettinad you will see this gravy being fed to women after child birth and even sick people.

Me and my dad love this gravy and I used to beg my mom often to make this gravy when I was little. This is my Father-in-law's all time favorites. When I mentioned about my food blog, he asked me to publish this recipe. So this is going to be your favorite too . I made this gravy as a side for Dosa couple of days ago and I wanted to share it with you.

Preparation time: 5 min
Cooking Time: 10-15 min
Serves: 2-3

Carrot and Apple Halwa

This past week my daughter went apple picking with her school mates. She brought home 10 apples. Half of them were rotten and she was kinda sad. To cheer her up I made Carrot and Apple Halwa. She loves desserts and she was so happy that I made this for her. I saw this in kamala's recipes.I tweaked little and Here is the product.

Preparation Time: 5 min
Cooking time: 40 min
Serves: 3

Banana Flower- Vaazhaipoo Vada Guest post in Pooja blog

When I started this blog, I looked for some support. Pooja was very kind and 

accommodating. I thank her very much for this great opportunity. Pooja has a 

wonderful cooking website "Daily Swad Sugandh". I love her recipes a lot and I 

have tried quite a few of them, one among them is babycorn-cashew-curry. It was super tasty and yummy. I hope you guys also enjoy her recipes.Go ahead and find my post in pooja's site.
                   

Cleaning banana flower:

• Remove the banana cover one by one and remove the stem and cut it in to small pieces.

• Preparing the vada and frying it.

Vada ready to serve.

Check other simple urad dal vada here

Beetroot chutney

Beetroot is a wonderful vegetable which increases blood flow and it contains beta carotine. That said its really difficult to get my daughter to eat beetroot. I have to come up with creative ways to include beets in different recipes. My mom used to make beetroot chutney and I remember that we used to like it. I made this chutney and to my amazement my daughter asked for a second helping.
I am pretty sure that your kids would love this too.

Preparation time:5 min
Cooking time:10 min
Serves:2-3

Rice Kuli Paniyaram | Chettinad Style Paniyaram

     Kuli paniyaram a tasty  and different breakfast item served in Tamilnadu.Its special in Chettinad too.Making of batter is similar to making idli batter.That said ,if you have Indian wet grinder its very simple to make kuli paniyaram.Kids love sweet paniyaram made with jaggery,adults like savory paniyaram with varamilagai chutney.You don't need to prepare separate batter for sweet and savory version, use the same batter to prepare both.

    This is a healthy breakfast compared to cereals or any other processed food.. When you get bored of eating idly ,dosa daily make kuli paniyaram for a change. You can also serve the sweet paniyaram as a dessert in parties with nuts added to the middle.Its simple,healthy and very different.Lets see how i made sweet paniyaram and savory paniyaram.

                                             Rice Kuli paniyaram

                       

 Cuisine: Indian  Category:Breakfast  Serves:6   Prep time:5 hours+30 minutes Cook time:30-40 minutes Total Time:13 hours

Savory Paniyaram:

Ingredients:

• 2 Medium Onions.
• 2 Green chilies.
• 1 handfull coriander leaves.
• Salt as required (add little bcz its already added in dough).
• 2 tbsp grated coconut.
• Oil for tempering.

Soak and grind:

• 3 cups Idly  rice.
• 1 cup Raw rice.
• 1/2 cup Urad dal.
• 1/4 tbsp Fenugreek seeds.
• 3 tbsp Sabudana ( ஜவ்வரிசி ).
• Salt as required.

To Temper:

• 1 tbsp Mustard seeds.
• 1 tbsp Urad dal .
• Few curry leaves / Curry leaves powder.

Method:

• Soak the rice, Fenugreek seeds, Sabudana, Urad dal seperately.
• Grind it like Idly batter (Add fenugreek seeds first and add urad dal and grind it for 20 min, Grind rice  seperately for 20 min ,grind the Sabudana in a mixer, Mix all of them with  required salt).
• Leave the batter outside for fermenting ovenight wil be best.
• The batter should be thick like idly batter to make fluffy paniyaram.
• Finely Chop the Onions and Chilis.
• Temper the oil with  items "to temper" urad dal,mustard seeds.
• Add Onion, Green chilis and saute till onions turn translucent.
• Add coconut to tava after switching off the flame and saute it for a minute.
• Mix the sauted items to the fermented batter and add little salt, if required.
• Finely chop the coriander leaves and add to the batter.

• Mix the batter well.
• Heat the Kuli Paniyaram Kadai/pan , add  oil to fill half of the mould.
• Pour the dough into the mould carefully wihtout spilling on the sides.Use of small ladle helps in this case.
• Close it with lid so the bottom and upper side cook,if there is little raw batter on top dont worry we are going to flip and cook the paniyaram again.
• Flip and cook until they are crispy.

• Savory kuli paniayram is ready.Serve it hot with chutney of your choice.We enjoyed it with varamilagai chutney.

Note:

• Add a little more oil to the mould to make it more crispy and tasty.
• The dough should be thick otherwise it is difficult to flip the paniyaram.
• Onions are optional, if you don't like you can skip it.
• For how to grind the dough refer here.
• Use wooden stick/skweres to turn the paniyaram.

Sweet Paniyaram:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of Jaggery
• 1 cup of Paniyaram Batter
• Prepare the dough the same way as above(i used a cup of dough after grinding).

Method:

• Ferment the dough without adding any salt.After grinding the batter separate in two bowls and add salt to one fro making savory paniyaram.
• Grate the Jaggery and remove the impurities by adding little water.
• Add filtered Jaggery to the batter.
• Mix it really well.Don't add too much water to jaggery the batter will become thin so its difficult to flip them.
• Heat the Kuzhi Paniyaram Kadai.
• Add oil to the mould and Pour the batter in .Cover it until the sides are cooked,easy for you to turn the paniayaram.
• Flip over after a minute.
• When both sides are brown take it out.
• Sweet kuli paniyaram is ready to be served.

Note:

• Dough has to be thick do not add too much water to Jaggery.
• You can add nuts of your choice for sweet kli paniyaram. (Cashews, Pistachio, Almonds).
• For how to grind the dough refer here.

Check other chettinad specials like Vellai paniyaram,Bananaflower vada

Pictures updated  while recipe revisiting  on 6/2/2015

BCAM" - Breast Cancer Awareness Month Fund Raising EVENT (Start and End Date) - Oct 1st to Nov 15st

Hello Friends,

We are feeling proud to announce this useful fund raising event to bring awareness among many people and also to help people who are already diagnosed and need help with regards to the cost of the treatment.

We would like to sincerely thank each of our blogger friends to put this forward and as well as help with regards to the donation as well.

Here is list of all my blogger friends who are contributing their time and space for this event.

NOTE: Anyone who is interested in posting this event on their website/blog, please feel free to contact Anu at anu (dot) healthykitchen (at) gmail (dot) com

Anu Shoj of Anu'sHealthy Kitchen

Vardhini of Cooks Joy

Priya Suresh of Priya’s Versatile Recipes

Manjula of Desi Fiesta

Sangee of Spicy Treats

Nalini of Nalini’s Kitchen

Tanusree of Ma Niche

Priya Ranjit of Cook like Priya

Viji of Virunthu Unna Vaanga

And me Sathya Priya

We decided to donate to Susan G. Komen (http://ww5.komen.org/), which was created by Nancy G. Brinker in 1982 who is Susan G. Komen's sister. She is "Fulfilling the Promise" which she gave her sister when she was dying. That promise became Susan G. Komen for the cure and launched the global breast cancer movement. To know more about Susan G. Komen and the organization please visit the above link mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph.

We welcome all my friends to spend few moments here and if you feel its worth donating you can do so.

Here are the details as to how to donate:

 * You can either directly go to their website (http://ww5.komen.org/Donate/Donate.html) and donate in any method that which you are comfortable

* Or you can email Anu at anu (dot) healthykitchen (at) gmail (dot) com, and she will reply to your email and take it from there.

* Event Date Oct 1th - Nov 15th

* Please email me / leave a comment here, before/after you do the donation with the following details

- Your Name

- Your Email ID

- Your Blog/Website URL

- Amount You Wish/Did Donate (This is just to calculate how much we have collected at the end of this event, We are not concerned as to how much you would like to donate)

Note: If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at priyaculinary (dot)  (at) gmail (dot) com or leave a comment here at the end of this post

On the go, Anu at Anu's Healthy Kitchen will keep updating the list of persons who donate and at the end of the event we will also mention the amount we collected in total.

Yours friendly,

Priya.

Chilli -Vegetable kothu parotta

Parotta is a very famous street food in Tamil Nadu. In cities and small towns you will see road side stalls selling parotta for dinner. Parotta is made with all purpose flour (Maida) and Vanaspathi. In health aspects  its not so healthy ,but its one of the tastiest street foods you will ever have.

This chili parota recipe is a variation on the famous kothu parotta recipe. If you visit South Tamil Nadu make it a point to try kothu parotta. It will not be difficult to find the really popular shops, trust me.

This is a simple recipe and you can make it in no time. I used frozen parottas brought from the Indian grocery store.
         

Preparation time:10 min

Cooking time:15 min

Serves:2

Cauliflower Soup-Chettinad Style

This past week has been cold, rainy and down right dreary here. I guess it was a perfect time to have a soup for lunch. This soup is very nutritious, it has Veggies Dal and it tastes really good.

This is an easy way to get toddlers to eat their veggies. You can make this soup with any vegetable but we like it with cauliflower. Here is the recipe.

Tomato Pulav -Thakkali satham

All of us love the convenience of a one pot meal for a week day dinner. This is a one pot meal which can be done in no time. My mom used to make tomato masala rice for lunch during our school days. We used to leave out the tomatoes and just eat the rice. To make us eat the tomatoes she used to grind them and use the ground paste to prepare the masala.

This recipe is from my mother in law. She makes a killer tomato Pulav by using tomato puree and coconut. My hubby and my daughter love this dish a lot. This is an easy way to get kids to eat tomatoes. Trust me they will love it.

Preparation Time : 15 min

Cooking Time:20 min

Serves : 2 Adults

Toor Dal-Paruppu Chutney Chettinad Style

Toor Dal Chutney is a quick and easy side dish. I always remember my mom when I make this dish. This is one of my dad's favorite side dishes and my mom makes this often. This gravy has an unique flavor and you can have this with any South Indian breakfast items like Idly, Dosa or Upma. Here is the recipe.

Preparation time:5 min

Cooking time:10-15 min

Serves:3-4

Lentils- Adai dosa

Adai dosa is a very nutritious dish. This used be a weekend special when I grew up. I never liked Adai when I was a kid, but my mom forced me to eat it because it had lots of lentils. Once I grew up and went to college I started liking this dish more and more and now its one of my favorites.

Adai Aviyal is a very famous dish in Tamil restaurants. When you want  a little change from the same old Dosa recipes you can prepare Adai. Actually the making Adai batter is much easier than making Idly or Dosa Batter. Here is the recipe.

Preparation time:15 min

Cooking time:5 min (each dosa)

Serves:3-4 

Kalkandu Pongal | Rock Candy Rice | Indian Sweet Recipes

        Today is the start of Navarathiri week , I wanted to start this festival days with a sweet dish.Navrathri festival is celebrated in South Indian households with Golu, where they keep figures of gods on show/display. In temples gods are decorated too in different avatars/forms.

Brinjal Drumstick Tamarind gravy - Katharikkaai Murungaikaai Kuzhambu

We love Indian drumsticks. In our native village our house has a big drumstick tree. They are always in season. Drumsticks have always been a staple in our cooking. Drumsticks have a hard and fibrous outer skin and the flesh is on the inside. Hence you need to boil them or steam them to eat them. It could be a little difficult to eat for newbies.

Drumsticks have a very unique flavor. You can make wonderful gravy dishes with them. In this Gravy I combined drumsticks, eggplant and tamarind to make a Spicy & Tangy gravy. You can enjoy this Eggplant & Drumsticks gravy (கத்திரிக்காய்  முருங்கைகாய் குழம்பு) with hot rice. I found fresh drumsticks in our store ( a very rare occurrence) and I made this gravy for lunch. Here is the recipe

Preparation Time:5 min

Cooking Time:20-30 min

Serves:2

Urad Dal Fritters -Seeyam Chettinad Style

This is a Chettinad Special usually served in marriages and functions. Even though deep fried its very nutritious. The batter for this dish is similar to Vada batter. Its cooked like a fritter which makes it light. When I make Vada I usually keep Seeyam as Plan B. If the Vada batter gets too thin I use it to make Seeyam.
You can grind the batter in a regular blender or an Indian Mixer. You can make sweet Seeyam by stuffing with coconut and jaggery.

Preparation time:20 min

Cooking time:30 min

Serves:3-4

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Urad dal (Ulundam Paruppu) - Soaked for 2 hrs
• 1 tbsp Toor dal (Thuvaram Paruppu) - Soaked for 2 hrs
• Water needed for grinding.
• Salt as needed.
• Oil for frying.

To Temper:

• 1/2 tbsp Mustard seeds.
• 1/2 tbsp Urad dal.
• 1 small onion (very thinly sliced)

Method:

• Wash and soak the Urad Dal and Toor Dal for 2 -3 hrs .
• Grind in Wet grinder /Blender with less water. (Splash little bit of water when the grinder/blender not able to grind).

• Temper the oil with mustard seeds and urad dal .

• Add onions and saute them until translucent.
• Add this to the ground Urad dal  batter.
• Add required salt to the mixture.
• Make small balls or whatever shapes you like and deep fry them in oil until it changes color.
• Serve them as a snack or as an appetizer.

Note:

• Dont make the batter too runny(the fritter will absorb more oil)
• Wait until it changes color otherwise you feel it is still raw 
• Serve them hot to enjoy the crispness.

You Might be Intrested in Rice fritters,BananaFlower Vada,Vada sambar

       

Green gram dal and purple cabbage burrito

In my fridge you will always find corn tortillas. I use them to make tacos and burritos. I make veggie burritos by stuffing tortillas with fresh grilled veggies and black beans. Its a quick and healthy week day dinner.
I had some sprouted green gram dal left over and I used them instead of black beans in the burrito. It came out well. I wanted to share the recipe with you all..

Preparation time:5 min

Cooking time:10 min

Serves:1-2