Tomato Rice:(Country Style)

Thakkali Saadham.

Ingredients:

Raw rice 1 cup
Green chilies 3 fienly chopped
Garlic 6 cloves fienly chopped & minced
Onion 1 medium fienly chopped
Toamtoes 6 (country ones) finely chopped
Salt
Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
Chili powder 1-1 1/2 spoon
Chana dal 1 spoon
Urad dal 1 spoon
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Curry leaves few
Mustard seeds 1/2 spoon
Sesame oil few spoons.

Method:

Cook rice with salt and a spoon of oil in it. When they are doen, spread them in a wide tray and set under fan....to get well seperated and stiff rice.

In a handi/kadai/wok. Heat oil. Add mustards, asafoetida, chana urad and curry leaves to it. Let them crackle well.

Now add chilies, let the crack too.

Followed by garlic and onion, wait tillthey are fragrant.

Now add toamtoes, salt, pinch of turmeric and chili powder. Cover and cook. When the toamtoes turn pulpy and oil shows up on sides...remove from heat.

Now stir-in rice and mix them well. Now pack this rice in a dispaly dish.

Best travel dish! Serve warm or at room temeprature.

Potato Bajji:

Ingredients:

Potatoes 1-2 sliced thinly
Gram Flour 1 cup(besan)
Salt
Soda 1 pinch
Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
Chili powder 1 spoon
Coriander seeds powder 1/2 spoon
Garam masala 1/4 spoon
Oil for deep frying.

Method:

In a bwol, bring all the ingredients togather except oil, and potatoes. Make a thin running consistency batter.

Now heat up the oil. Dip each slice of potato in the batter, let it coat very thinly. Remove the excess dripping.

Deep fry in oil till golden to reddish color. Fry few at a time. Maintain stove over medium heat. Lave the fried ones over kitchen tissues for a while.

Serve warm with toamto ketchup.

Three Layered Sorbet:

Layered Sorbet.(my way)

Ingredients:

Mangoes 3-4 ripe, pulpy & large
Raspberries 2 cups(fresh/frozen)
Vanilla/butter pecan ice cream 1 cup
Sugar syrup freshly prepared 1-2 cup
3 Glass bowls - 3 different sizes.

Method:

Remove pith and skin the mangoes, puree them. Mix with enough sugar syrup.

Blend raspberries with sugar syrup and set aside aw well.

Now pour this mango puree into the largest bowl(no:1) till the bowl is 3/4 th full.

Now gently immerse the second medium sized bowl(from the back) and push the mango puree to the trim. Freeze this set up.

When they got well freezed. Tap gently and remove the medium sized bowl. I used watm water...to remove tho'.

Now to this mango bowl, gently add raspberry puree too. 3/4 th way, now use smallest bowl/cup. Like the same way. Push till rim. Freeze.

When they are frozen, remove the bowl and fill the area with vanila ice cream.

Freeze them! Then topple upside down, slice and serve chilled.

Rice Noodles n Fried Shrimps:

Fiery Hot Shrimps in Rice Noodles.(my way)

Ingredients:

Shrimps with tail fins on (25)
Rice Noodles 300 grams
Dry red chilies 10-15(grated into flakes)
Lemon juice from 1 fruit
Salt
Turmeric powder 1 pinch(optional)
Garlic 1 whole head - finely chopped
Scallion 1 finley chopped
Toamto 1 large - puree
Sesame oil 1/4 cup
Green onions roughly chopped.

Method:

In a crock pot, boil water. Immerse noodles and cook for 5-7 minutes. Then decant the water. Now again wash this noodles with cold running water. Maybe place the noodles in a colander and use running tap water. Hold them without water dripping! Set aside.

Meanwhile...marianate shrimps with salt, turmeric, chili falkes and lemon juice for 20 minutes least.

In a wide heavy bottomed skillet, heat oil. Add fienly chopped garlic and fry till they are fragrant.

Followed by scallions, fry till they are fragrant as well.

Now add tomato puree, continue frying till they loose their water content.

Now stir-in shrimps, stir-fry till they are crisp and done completely.

Toss the noodles now and give a quick twist. Let the oil coat well and the noodle get really well blent in it.

Add green onions as well.

Serve warm as a main dish.

Vazhai Poo Kootu:

Plantain flower Kootu.

Ingredients:

Plantain flower 1
Thoor/ Moong/ chana dal 1/4 cup
Green chilies 3 finely chopped
Onion 1 finely chopped
Garlic 6 cloves chopped
Ginger 2" peeled and chopped
Tomatoes 1-2 fienly chopped
Salt
Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
Chili powder 1/2 spoon
Mustar seeds 1/4 spoon
Cumin seeds 1/2 spoon
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Curry leaves few
Oil few spoons
Cilantro leaves few to garnish.

Method:

Cook any one of the dal(thuvar/moong/chana dal) in a pressure cooker.

Remove the bracts of the flower. Remove its male stamen and transluscent pith as well. Then chop them roughly and leave in cold water until told.

Maybe add salt or lemon juice to this water to avoid discoloring.

Maybe add salt and few spoons of oil in it. Cook till soft and set aside.

In a large wok/handi, heat oil. Add chilies, let it crackle well.

Then add ginger and garlic, fry real good...till its raw odour leaves.

Add onions and salt. Fry till onions turn to golden color.

Now add tomatoes, cover and cook. Once tomatoes wilt, stir-in finely chopped flower.

Fry for few minutes, maybe till the vegetables coats oil. Add cooked dal(lentils).

Cover and cook over medium heat.

When the vegetable is done soft and much of the moisture is absorbed, remove from heat.

Heat oil, in a seperate pan...add mustards, cumin, asafoetida and curry leaves to it.

Allow it to crackle well. Now run this seasoning over the 'kootu' prepared above.

Garnish with finely chopped cilantro leaves.

Serve warm as a side dish for South Indian Meals or as a subzi for chappathi/roti.

Chicken-Peanut-Mango Curry:(Thai Style)

Ingredients:

Chicken (boneles, skinless & cubed)1 cup
Peanuts 1 cup (toasted, skinned and pureed)
Mango 1 large(skinned, pith removed & cubed)
Red peppers 2 fienly chopped
Green peppers 2 fienly chopped
Chicken stock 1 cup
Penang red curry paste 1 spoon
Fish sauce 1 spoon
Turmeric powder 1 pinch
Coconut milk thick 1 cup
Jaggery 1 spoon
Peanuts toasted 2 spoons
Peanut oil 1 tale spoon
Lime leaves 2
Lemon stalk 1
Cilnatro leaves few
Red chili powder 1/4 spoon.

Method:

In a heavy bottomed crock pot, heat oil. Add chicken and saute for few minutes.

Add chicken stock to it, cover and cook till the meat is tender.

Now toss lime leaves, lemon stalk, salt,peppers, turmeric, red curry paste, jaggery, peanuts puree and coconut milk/cream to it. Cover and cook over medium heat.

When the curry consistency is acheived....add mango cubes, clantro, penuts and chili powder on the top.

Serve warm as a side dish to jasmine rice.

Thai Eggplant Dahl:

Brinjal Dal.

Ingredients:

Thai Eggplants/Green eggplans 6-10
Thoor Dal 1 cup
Salt
Turmeric pinch
Green chilies 3 fienly chopped
Onion 1 small finely chopped
Garlic 6 clovs fienly chopped
Tomato 1 large chopped
Cumin seeds 1 spoon
Asafoetida 1 pinch
Oil few spoons
Cilantro leaves few.

Method:

In a pressure cooker, cook thoor dalt with salt and pinch of turemric in it.

When they are doen soft and tender, set them aside.

Make two deep slits in the eggplants and leave them in water until told.

In a wide crock pot, heat oil. Add cumin and asafoetida to it. Wait till they crackle up.

Add chilies, garlic and onion. Saute for few minutes. Add salt too.

Now stir-in eggplants, tomatoes and cooked thoor dal to it. Cover and cook on medium heat.

When the eggplants are soft and tender, remove from heat.

Garnish with cilantro leaves.

Artichoke Dip:

Ingredients:

Artichokes firm, fresh 2
Cheese 200 grams
Whole Milk 100 ml
Salt pinch.

Method:

Remove the tough leaves and stalk.

Boil the artichokes hearts, maybe add a spoon full of lemon juice and pinch of salt tot his water.

When they are done soft and tender, chop them to desired size bits.

In a sauce pan, heat milk, add artichokes & cheese. Bring them to cheesy dip like consistency.

Serve warm as a dip for tortillas.

Asparagus Risotto:

Spring Risotto.

Ingredients:

Arborio Rice (Italian Rice) 1 cup
Asparagus 6-9(tough ends trimmed & cut in 2" bits)
Carrot finely chopped
Scallions 1-2 fienly chopped
Jalapenos 1 seeded & chopped
Red Bell pepper 1 sliced
Peppercorns 1 spoon - ground
Chicken Broth 2 cups
Salt to taste
Parmesan cheese freshly grated 1/2 cup
Olive oil few spoons
Parsley/basil to garnish.

Method:

Cook rice with chicken broth and pich of salt. When the rice is done, set aside.

In a wide skillet, add oil. Add all the above mentioned ingredients(except cheese and parsley) and stir-fry them.

When the veggies are done, stir-in rice. Let the oil coat the rice well. Let all ingredients coem togather.

Now add cheese and parsley too. Make upt he fishishing touch.

Serve warm as a main dish.

Mini Pizza

Mini Pizza:

Ingredients:

For Dough:

All purpose flour 1 cup
Salt
Baking soda 1/4 spoon
Baking powder 1/4 spoon
Sugar 2 spoons
Butter - melted few spoons
Dry yeast 2 spoons.

For Sauce:

Tomato sauce 1 table spoon
Salt
Italian herbs sesonning powders 2 spoon
Parsley falkes 1/2 spoon
Dry red chili flakes 1/2 spoon
Ground black pepper 1/4 spoon
Olive oil few spoons.

For toppings(as per choice)

Jalapenos
Black & green olives
Purple ONions
Tomatoes
Mushrooms
Zucchini
Cheese
Olive oil few spoons
Italian herbs sesonning powder 2 spoons.

Method:

For Dough:

In a wide bowl, add luke warm water. Add salt, sugar, butter and yeast. let this stand till they becoem foamy.

Now add flour, baking salt and soda to it. Knead them to soft, smooth fissure less dough. Cover with damp cloth. Let this sit for 7 hours. Maybe till it rises to 3 fold.

Make equal parts out of it. Knead them gently. Using a biscuit cutter, cut them into desired shapes. Set aside.

For Sauce:

In a sauce pan, heat oil. add all the above mentioned items and bring it to thick sauce to paste like consistency. Set aside.

For Mini Pizza:

Line the oven tray with aluminium foil. Run few spoons of olive oil.

Place the mini pizza with equal gap. Run 1 spoon of sauce on each of it. Spead tehm evenly. Now top with your desired topping. Run again few spoons of oil and herbs.

Bake them for 12-15 minutes over 350.

When they are almost done. Cheese it and rebake again till the cheese melts(another 4-6 minutes).

Serves good as a snack.

Shrimp Laksa:(Thai Style)

Shrimps n Rice Noodles Soup. Thai Coconut Shrimps Soup.

Ingredients:

Shrimps with shell/without shells 10
Coconut milk thin 4 cups
Vegetable stock 1 cup
Rice Noodles 75 grams
Red/ Green pepper 1 seeded & thinly sliced
Ginger 2" matchsticks
Scallions 1-2 sliced
Jaggery/brown sugar 1 spoon
Green onions few.

Method:

In a heavy bottomed crock pot, add all the ingredients mentioned above (except shrimps & green onions).

Bring them to boil and start slow cooking. Maybe till the noodles are doen soft.

Now add shrimps too and continue cooking. Mayeb about 7 minutes.

When the shrimps are done, garnish with green onions and serve warm.

Lime Sorbet:

Ingredients:

Lime 4
Sugar 1/4 cup
Mint to garnish.

Method:

Make a sugar syrup. To this syrup squeeze in lime juice. Scrape the lime rind too in it.

Freeze them for 2 hours.

Blend them quickly just before serving. Garnish with mint leaves and lime slices.

Salsa Verde:(Mexican Style)

Ingredients:

Tomatillos 6
Onion 1 small
Green peppers/jalapenos 3
Cucumber 1 small
Salt
Lime juice 1 spoon
Cilantro leaves few.

Method:

Chop 50% of tomatillos and cucumbers and set aside.

Blend all the remaining ingredients and 50% of cucumber and toamtillo togather in a food processor.

Now mix them togather.

Serve chilled with tortilla chips as an evenning snack.

Radish Greens Poriyal:

Ingredients:

Radish Greens 1 bunch
Chana dal 1 cup(soaked)
Garlic 8 pods chopped
Salt
Green chilies 3 chopped
Salt
Turemric 1/4 spoon
Coconut grated few spoons
Mustard seeds 1/4 spoon
Oil few psoons.

Method:

Trim the ends of greens and chop roughly and set aside.

In a pan, heat oil. Add mustard seeds and wait till it crackles.

Now add chilies and garlic and saute for 2 minutes.

Then add soaked chana dal and cook for 7 minutes.

Followed by salt, turmeric and greens. Cover and cook till they wilt.

Now remove cover and cook over medium heat untill the water content leaves the pan.

Serve warm as a side dish.

Masal Dosa - Version 1

Masal Dosai:

Ingredients:

Parboiled rice 1 cup
Raw rice 1 cup
Urad dal 1/2 cup
Fenugreek seeds 1 spoon
Salt
Soda
Sesame oil 1-2 spoons
Sesame oil for making dosa.

For Topping:

Onion 1 large fienly chopped
Green chilies 6 fienly chopped
Garlic 4 crushed
Potatoes 2 large skinned, boiled & mashed
Salt
Turmeric 1/4 spoon
Mustard seeds
Oil few spoons
Cilantro leaves few to garnish.

Method:

Mix all the above said ingredients except salt, soda and oil. Soak them in water for about 5 hours.

Wet grind them....to thin paste. Maybe with limited water.

Now add salt, soda dissolved in water and sesame oil.

Let it to ferment....maybe 7 hours.

Once the fermentation part is over.....the dosa batter is ready.

For Topping:

In a wide pan, heat oil. Crackle mustards and add chilies, onions, mashed potatoes, salt and turmeric powder. Let them blend really well and aromatic.

Garnish with cilantro leaves. Set aside.

For Masal Dosa:

Smear a spoon full of oil or ghee on a hot tawa. Take a table spoon full of batter and make a thin crepe. Maintain the stove on low flame only. Cover with lid.

Add few spoons of ghee or oil at the edges of the crepe. Now place a table spoon full of potatoe on the top. Maybe tap and spread them a little. Its not necessary to turn the dosa to the other side.

Serve warm along with chutney, sambar or korma.

Orange-Canta Punch:

Orange-Cantaloupe Slush.

Ingredients:

Cantaloupe 1 cup(skinned, cored & cubed)
Orange juice 1 cup(freshly squeezed)
Lime juice 2 spoons
Amretto 4-6 spoons
Sugar syrup/sugar to taste
Lime slices to garnish
Mint leaves to garnish
Cinnamon sticks powder to garnish
Cantaloupe cube 1 to garnish.

Method:

Blend first 5 ingredients togather in a blender to a smooth juice.

Garnish with last 4 ingredients mentioned above.

Serve chilled.

Cucumber Relish:

Ingredients:

Cucumber 1 peeled, cored & finely chopped
White onion 1 small finely chopped
Green peppers/red peppers 1 fienly chopped
Salt
Turmeric 1 pich(optional)
Sugar 1 pinch
Toasted mustard seeds/celery seeds 1/4 spoon.


Method:

Bring everything togather in a bowl. Let this sit for 2 hours in fridge.

Serve chilled.

Podalankai Paal Kootu.

Snake Gourd Olan. Ash Gourd Milk based Recipe.

Ingredients:

Snake gourd/Ash gourd 1 small (deseeded & chopped)
Thoor dal 1 cup (cooked)
Fresh coconut grated 1/4 cup
Green chilies 3-6
Milk 1 cup
Cumin seeds 1/2 spoon
Salt
Oil 2 spoons.

For sesonning:

Mustard seeds 1/4 spoon
Cumin seeds 1/4 spoon
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Curry leaves few
Oil few spoons.

Mehtod:

In a blender blend, cooked thoor dal, coconut, cumin, chilies and milk togather and set aside.

In a vessel, heat oil. Add the vegetable. Add salt, cover and cook over medium heat.

Let the vegetable get semi done with its own water content.

Now add th ethick wet-ground paste from the step 1. Cover and cook for few more minutes.

In a seperate handi, heat oil and toss th esesonning items and run this over prepared above 'olan'.

Treat this a side dish for South Indian Meals.

Pavakkai Pitlai:(Version 1 dry)

Bitter Gourd Pitlai.

Ingredients:

Bitter Gourds 1/4 kilo
Salt
Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
Chili powder 1 spoon
Jaggery 1 small gooseberry size
Tamarind paste 1/4 spoon
Coconut oil few spoons.

To be Toasted and Wet-Ground to Thick Paste:

Dry red chilies 6
Chana dal 1-2 spoons
Urad dal 1-2 spoons
Peppecorns 1-2 spoons
Cumin seeds 1 spoon
Coriander seeds 1-2 spoons
Coconut fresh/frozed 4 spoons

For Sesonning:

Mustard seeds 1/4 spoon
Cumin seeds 1/4 spoon
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Curry leaves few
Coconut oil few spoons.

Method:

Heat oil in a shallow pan. Stir-in sliced bitter gourds, salt, turemeric, chili, jaggery and tamarind paste to it.

Cover and cook till they are tender. Now add the toasted and wet-ground paste to it.

Cook over medium heat without cover, maybe till the oil shows up on sides and the veggie becomes dry and aromatic.

In a seperate pan, heat oil. Add the sesonning items one by one and wait till it crackles. Now run this sesonning over the dry pitlai made above.

Serve warm as a side dish to South Indian Meals.

Chicken Stock:

Preparing stock, broth, white sauce out of chicken is though time consuming. I prefer doing it on my own.

Ingredients:

Whole cornish hen/regular chicken(cut into 4 pieces)
Carrots 2-4 chopped into huge chunks
Celery 4-6 stalks chopped into huge chunks
Onions 2 quartered
Garlic 1 whole head(with/without skin) semi crushed
Ginger about 50 grams - peeled & roughly crushed
Cilantro leaves 1 bunch- root trimmed & roughly chopped
Parsley leaves 1/2 bunch - roots trimed & roughly chopped
Jalapenos 6-8 chopped
Wild rice 1 cup
Coriander seeds 1 table spoon
Peppercorns 1 table spoon
Cumin 4-6 spoons
Cinnamon sticks 1 large
Bay leaves dry 2 crumbled
Oil few spoons.

Method:

In a heavy bottomed crock pot, run few spoons of oil.

Add coriander seeds, cumin, pepper, cinnamon and bay leaves first.

Then followed by chicken pieces and all the remaining items. Saute for few minutes.

Add 2-3 jars of water, cover and cook. When the meat is tender. Remove from heat.

Filter this and store for further use. Very aromatic and challenging in taste.

Tomato Celery Juice:

Ingredients:

Tomatoes 2 large, juicy & farm fresh
Sugar as per taste
Salt 1 pinch
Celery sticks 2(without leaves)

Method:

Place the tomatoes in the luke warm water for 2-4 minutes and peel off its skin. But remember most of the vitamins lie very close to the skin.(So its optional step)

Remove the strong fibres from celery stalk and chop them roughly.

In a food processor bring all the ingredients togather and blend till smooth.

Filter them and serve chilled.