Vermicelli/Semiya upma (Serves 3)

Ingredients

1. Semiya/vermicelli 1 cup
2. Carrot 1, peeled and finely chopped
3. Green beans 10 nos, chopped
4. Onion ½ cup, chopped
5. Ginger ½ inch piece, chopped
6. Green chilly 2 nos, finely chopped
7. Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
8. Peanuts ¼ cup
9. Dry red chilly 2 nos
10. Mustard seeds ½ tsp
11. Curry leaves a few
12. Salt as needed
13. Oil 1 TBSP
14. Hot Water 2 cups

Preparation

• In a deep pan, at medium heat roast the semiya/vermicelli for 3-4 minutes until just browned. Set this aside to cool.
• In the same pan, add oil and splutter mustard seeds and dry red chilly.
• Follow up with ginger, green chilly and curry leaves and sauté till aromatic.
• Next add the onions, carrot, green beans and peanuts. Saute for 5 minutes.
• Now add the turmeric powder, roasted semiya/vermicelli and add 2 cups hot water, keep stirring until semiya is cooked and all water has evaporated.
• Serve warm with pappad…

Cheers!!!
Suji

Quick and Simple Chetttinad chicken biriyani (Serves 4)

Here is a quick and simple chettinad style chicken biriyani, hope you all will like it …

Ingredients

1. Chicken bone in ½ kg, cut to medium pieces
2. Basmati rice 2 cups
3. Onion 1 big, thinly sliced
4. Ginger ½ inch piece
    Garlic 3 cloves
    Green chilly 3 nos
5. Tomato 1 medium, chopped
6. Cloves 5
    Cardamom 1
    Cinnamon 1 stick
7. Grated coconut 2 TBSP
    Red chilly powder ½ tsp
    Coriander powder ½ tsp
    Garam masala ½ tsp
8. Turmeric powder ½ tsp
    Red chilly powder ½ tsp
    Cumin powder ¼ tsp
    Fennel powder ½ tsp
9. Mint leaves a few stalks, chopped
10. Salt as needed
11. Oil 1 TBSP
12. Ghee 1 TBSP
13. Water 5 cups

Preparation

• Clean and cut the chicken to medium pieces.
• Wash and soak the basmati rice for 20 minutes.
• Crush together ingredients numbered 4 and set aside.
• Meanwhile, in a pan dry roast ingredients numbered 7 to a golden brown color, cool and grind to a smooth paste. Set aside.
• In a wide mouth pan, heat oil and saute onions till golden brown color. Add ingredients numbered 6 and sauté for 1 minute or till aromatic. Now add ingredients numbered 4 and 8, mix well and saute for 6 minutes. Now add the ground coconut masala and mix well to combine.
• Next add the chicken pieces and incorporate well with the masala and cook for 5 minutes. Add tomato, mint leaves and salt. Mix and add 5 cups of water and cook till boiling.
• Drain water from the rice and add to the pan, mix and add 1 TBSP ghee. Close with a lid and cook at medium high heat for 12 minutes. Switch off flame and keep covered for another 15 minutes.
• Fluff the biriyani with a spatula and serve with raita and pappad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers!!!
Suji

Rava Onion Dosa (Makes ~8 dosas)

Ingredients

1. Roasted rice flour 1 cup
    Rava/sooji ½ cup
    Maida ½ cup
    Salt as needed
2. Shallots 3 nos, finely chopped
    Green chilly 2 small, finely chopped
    Ginger ½ inch piece, finely chopped
    Black pepper corns ¼ tsp, crushed
    Curry leaves a few, chopped
3. Water ~2 ½ cups
4. Oil

Preparation

• Mix together ingredients numbered 1 in a bowl and add water. Make a batter with this without any lumps. The batter should be watery and flowing. Add more water if required.
• Add the ingredients numbered 2 and mix well. Set aside for 10 minutes.
• Now heat a tawa at medium high heat.
• When its hot, spread a ladlefull of batter on the tawa starting from the ends to the center as this cannot be spread like ordinary dosa. Drizzle oil and allow to cook for 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Flip and cook for 2 more minutes on the other side.
• Transfer to a plate and serve with sambar or chutney.

Notes: Make sure the batter is watery, if batter gets thick adjust with more water.
Instead of tawa you can make the dosas on an electric griddle too. Set at 350 F and make dosas (I used one here).

Cheers!!!
Suji

Chettinad chicken dry–Restaurant style

Chicken ½ kg, cut to medium size pieces
Whole pepper corns 5-6 nos
Red onion 1 medium, cubed
Green chilly 1 no, slit
Ginger garlic paste 1 TBSP
Turmeric powder 1 tsp
Red chilly powder 1 tsp, I used a mixture of Kashmiri and extra hot chilly powder
Coriander powder ¼ tsp
Garam masala ¼ tsp
Dry red chilly 2 nos
Salt as needed
Oil 2 TBSP

For the chettinad masala paste

Grated coconut ½ cup
Garam masala 1 tsp
Tomato paste 1 TBSP

In a pan, roast the coconut till dry and add the garam masala. Saute for about 4-5 minutes. Allow to cool and grind to a smooth paste with tomato paste adding little water as needed. Set aside.

Preparation

In a deep bottomed pan, add 2 TBSP oil along with the peppercorns. Once oil is hot enough add the cubed onions and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add the slit green chilly, dry red chilly and salt. Mix well and sauté for a few more minutes. Now add ginger garlic paste and cook till an aroma develops. Add the turmeric powder, mix well to combine and cook for 5 minutes at low flame. Add the chicken pieces and mix to coat with the masala. Cook covered for 5-10 minutes at medium flame. Open lid and add the red chilly powder, sauté for another 2 minutes and cook covered for 5 minutes. Next add the ground chettinad paste and mix well to combine. Add little water, about 3-4 TBSP and cook again covered for 5-10 minutes. Open lid and add coriander powder and garam masala. Cook uncovered until masala thickens. Remove from fire and garnish with coriander leaves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers!!!
Suji

Masala dosa

If you ask any Indian especially from the South to name a food item that they would like to have right now, a large chunk of response would invariably include “Masala dosa”. It has always been a delicacy for North Indians, an essentiality for the South Indians and a puzzle for the rest of the world. This king of breakfast or any time munch for that matter has an enviable stature in Indian culinary landscape….

Idli rice 4 cups
Sona masoori rice 2 cups
Urad dal/Uzhunnu 1 cup
Fenugreek seeds ½ tsp
Salt as needed

Preparation

Wash and soak idli rice + sona masoori rice + fenugreek seeds for at least 8 hours.

Wash and soak the urad dal/uzhunnu separately for about 2 hours prior to grinding.

Grind the soaked rice using a wet grinder to a batter adding enough water (Alternately you can grind the batter in a blender). Transfer to a bowl and do the same with urad dal/uzhunnu and mix with the rice batter. Combine both the batter well and keep covered in a warm place to ferment for at least 16 hours. In the US, during winter season it may be a challenging task to get the batter fermented well. These are a few tips you can follow during these times:

Preheat oven to 200 F, switch off oven and place the container with the batter inside and leave for 8 hours or overnight. Keep the light switched on in the oven (if available). Keeping it near a heater vent also seem to help in fermentation.

For the potato masala

Potato 1 big, cut to cubes (I used russet potatoes)
Red onion 1 small, thinly sliced
Green chilly 1 no, slit
Ginger 1 tsp, chopped
Turmeric powder ½ tsp
Curry leaves 1 sprig
Cashew nuts 1 TBSP
Salt as needed
Oil 1 tsp

Preparation

Cook the cubed potatoes with water and salt. Once the potatoes are soft, switch off flame and drain excess water. Set this aside.

Heat oil in a pan and add the sliced onions and sauté until translucent. Next add green chilly, ginger, curry leaves, cashew nuts and salt. Cook this for a few minutes and add the turmeric powder. Mix well and add the cooked potatoes. Combine with the onion mixture and mash the potatoes slightly with the spatula. Do not mash them completely. Adjust salt and remove from flame. Set aside.

Preparing the masala dosa

Mix the fermented batter well using a ladle and add enough salt. The batter will be thick hence dilute adding water to a semi viscous pouring consistency. Heat a non stick tawa at medium high heat. Pour a ladle full of the dosa batter and spread it in a circular motion to get a thin round shape (refer pictures). Cook this for 2-3 minutes; you will start to see the bottom turn light brown. Now reduce flame to low and add 2-3 TBSP of the potato masala to the center of the dosa. Fold the dosa from both the sides and transfer onto a serving plate. Always remember that the single most important points in making a good dosa are properly fermented batter and optimum heat on the tawa.  Enjoy hot with coconut chutney and sambar…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers!!!
Suji

Tomato rice/ Thakkali sadam (Serves 2)

Behold one of the easiest and tastiest vegetarian one-pot rice preparations. There are many versions to prepare this delicious tomato rice and here is how I roll ! I have used fresh tomatoes and hence the lighter color. If you are a fan of bright red color rice, you may very well  use tomato puree or tomato paste. I always prefer freshly cut tomatoes to preserved ones which tastes much better and feels more natural ! Enjoy!!!

Basmati/ any kind of long grain rice 1 ½ cups
Tomato 3 medium, finely chopped
Red onion 1 medium, finely chopped
Green chilly 1 no, finely chopped
Garlic 2 pods, julienned
Ginger 1 inch piece, julienned
Red chilly powder 1 heaping tsp
Cumin seeds ½ tsp
Roasted pistachios and cashew nuts ¼ cup each
Coriander leaves to garnish
Ghee/Oil 1 TBSP
Salt as needed

Preparation

Wash and soak the rice for about 30 minutes. Drain and cook the rice to the right consistency (it should not be mushy). I generally bring lot of water to rolling boil and then add rice and cook for about 8-10 minutes and drain excess water. Set aside.

Heat Ghee/oil in a deep pan and add cumin seeds. Once they start to crackle, add ginger, garlic and green chilly. Sauté for 2 minutes and add the chopped onions. Sauté this until a golden brown color is developed. Now add the finely chopped tomatoes and mix well. Cook this for about 5 minutes at medium heat. Next add salt and red chilly powder. Combine well with the mixture and cook this until the tomatoes are mushy and formed to a thick paste like consistency. Switch off flame and add the rice. Combine well until no white rice grains are visible. Switch the heat back on at low heat and add the nuts. Mix well to combine and keep stirring for 5 minutes. Remove from flame and garnish with coriander leaves. Enjoy with pappad, pickle and yogurt.

Notes: If you like, sprinkle some lime juice and give a good mix before serving.

Cheers!!!
Suji

Tamarind rice/ Puliyodharai (Serves 4)

This is an easy recipe for the traditional tamarind rice which I came across recently. There are regional differences in the preparation of this tangy rice preparation. This can be made using left over rice and makes a  great picnic meal. So guys out there gear up with the backpack and ready set go...!!!

White Rice or basmati rice 2 cups cooked and cooled
Chana dal 1 TBSP
Urad dal 1 TBSP
Chilly powder 1 to 1 ½  tsp
Turmeric powder ¼ tsp
Cumin seeds 1tsp
Green chillies 2 nos, chopped
Asafetida 2 pinches
Curry leaves 1 sprig
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Peanuts 2 TBSP or around 10 nos
Tamarind paste 3-4 TBSP
Oil 1 TBSP
Salt as needed

Preparation

Heat oil in a pan, and splutter mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Add chana dal and urad dal. Let it become light brown in color. Now add chilly powder and turmeric powder and stir well. Next add the curry leaves followed by peanuts. Let it brown and then add green chillies and asafetida. Sauté well and add the tamarind paste (If you are using the regular tamarind soak it in the water for some time and extract the juice without any seed and pulp). Add salt and stir well for some time and wait for the mixture to boil and become thick. At this stage add the cooked rice and mix thoroughly. Make sure the rice is not getting mashed. Delicious tamarind rice is to ready to eat.

You can have this with pappad/potato chips or with yogurt.

Cheers!!!
Chitra

Restaurant style green peas masala (Serves 4)

An all time favorite dish which goes so well with any North and South Indian main course..We enjoy this best with rotis and appams and idiyappams. Here is our take on this simple yet delicious restaurant style green peas masala...

Dried green peas/pacha pattani 1 cup, soaked for atleast 6 hours
Red onions 1 medium, finely sliced,1 medium, finely chopped
Green chilly 2 nos
Ginger 1’ piece
Garlic 2 pods
Tomato puree from 1 medium tomato
Red chilly powder 1 tsp
Garam masala 1 tsp
Sugar a pinch
Salt as needed
Water ½ cup to 1 cup
Curry leaves a few
Oil 2 tsp + 1 tsp
Butter ½ tsp
Almond paste 1 TBSP (soak almonds for 30 minutes and grind to a smooth paste)

Preparation

In a pressure cooker, cook the soaked green peas to 2 whistles, allow the pressure to release itself. Open and drain the cooked peas and set aside.

Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan and sauté the onions till golden brown in color. Allow to cool. Grind this to a smooth paste. Mix this paste with 1 TBSP almond paste and set aside.

Grind the ginger, garlic and green chilly to a fine paste. Puree the tomato.

In another pan, heat 1 tsp oil, add the garam masala and cook for 30 seconds. Follow up with chopped onions and fry until they turn brown. Add ginger-garlic-green chilly paste and sauté till the raw smell goes off. Pour the tomato puree and cook for 4-5 minutes at medium heat. Now add the ground onion paste, mix well and cook until oil starts to separate. Next add the red chilly powder, salt and sugar. Give a good mix and add water. Mix well and add the cooked green peas. Cook this for 5-10 minutes. Throw in curry leaves and butter, remove from fire.

Cheers!!!
Suji

Kara Kuzhambu/Chilly gravy (Serves 6)

Here is a spicy, hot, firey side dish from the state of Tamil Nadu, India for all our spicy-food loving readers….Enjoy!!!!

Baby eggplant/ brinjals 4 nos, cut to quarters
Onion 2 med, chopped to small pieces
Garlic pods (optional) 5 nos
Tamarind pulp ½ cup
Curry leaves 2 sprigs
Mustard 1 tsp
Coconut paste/powdered pottukadalai (dahlia) (optional) 1 TBSP
Turmeric powder 1 ½ tsp
Coriander powder 1 TBSP
Salt to taste
Oil 2 tsp + more for frying
Sugar 1 tsp
Tomato 1 big, sliced

To grind

Urud dal/Bengal gram 2 TBSP
Mustard seeds ½ tsp
Cumin seeds ½ TBSP
Dry red chillies 4 nos
Black pepper (whole) ½ tsp
Chana dal ½ tsp

Dry roast the mixture and grind it to fine mixture by adding little water as needed.

Preparation

Heat oil for frying in a deep pan. When hot enough, fry the brinjal & garlic pods till the skin starts to turn brown. Drain onto a paper towel and set aside.

Heat 2 tsp oil in another pan and splutter mustard seeds, curry leaves and whole red chillies. Add onions and sauté till they are translucent. Now add salt, turmeric powder and coriander powder, sauté everything until raw smell goes off from the powders. Throw in the tomatoes and mix well to combine. Close with a lid and cook until tomatoes are soft and mushy and forms a paste. Add the tamarind juice, ground mixture and the fried brinjal and garlic. Mix well, check for salt and add sugar and coconut paste. Cook for another 3 more minutes and switch off the stove. Serve with piping hot rice and pappad..

Recipe courtsey : Bindu (Ammu’s SIL). Both of them are in Kerala now and kudos to Ammu for clicking pictures and sending the recipe..