Adai

Adai is a popular breakfast in South India. It is very simple to prepare and very healthy.

Ingredients

Boiled Rice - 1 cup
Raw rice - 1/2 cup
Toor dal - 1/4 cup
Moong dal - 1/4 cup
Chana dal - 1/8 cup
Pepper powder -  2-3 pinches
Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
Dry red chili - 1
Salt as per taste
Oil (I use canola oil)
Coconut gratings - 1 tbsp
Curry leaves chopped - 1 sprig
Coriander leaves chopped - 1 tbsp

Recipe

1)Soak the chana dal, urad dal, moong dal, and rice in a large bowl with water. Allow to soak for 5- 6 hours.
2)Grind the dal, rice, salt and red chili with adequate water to make them into a coarse paste.
3)Once done stir in cumin seeds, coconut gratings, curry leaves, coriander leaves and pepper powder.Note (there is no fermenting involved with the adai batter).
4))Heat the griddle so it is just hot,now reduce the flame to medium heat.Pour 1 tsp oil around the griddle and fill the ladle with dosa batter.Gently pour

the the batter onto the center of the pan.Now begin spreading the batter with the back of the ladle in circular motion out to the edge of the pan.
5)Spread oil all over the surface and around the edges of the dosa.
6)After the upper surface begins to look cooked with no soft and runny surface,flip the dosa.Allow to cook for 40-50 secs after flipping the dosa.
7)Fold it in half and then serve hot with the chutney of your choice.

Tips

1)Adai is good when you serve it hot.

 

Onion Pakora

Pakora is a fried snack (fritter) found across South Asia.

Ingredients

1) Besan flour - 2 cups
2) Salt as per taste
3) Red chili powder - 1/4 tsp
4) Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
5) Onion sliced thinly - 1
6) Rice flour - 2 tbsp
7) Cilantro chopped - 2 tbsp
8) Curry leaves chopped - 1 sprig
9) Water
10) Oil for deep fry

Recipe

1) In a large bowl combine the first nine ingredients and mix nicely.
2) Then sprinkle water little by little and make it into a very thick batter with not much of water. Heat 1 tbsp of oil and add this to the batter.
3) In a large saucepan or a deep skillet, heat 2 inches of oil over medium heat until very hot (375°).
4) Spread the batter with a spoon or hand and deep fry them to golden brown.
5) Drain the pakora on paper towels and serve hot. 

 Tips

1) Goes well with mint chutney or tomato ketchup.

2) Is a great snack for evening with a hot cup of tea.

Hot and Sour Soup

Food historians tell us the history of soup is probably as old as the history of cooking. One of the first types of soups can be dated to about 6,000 BC. Commercial soup became popular with the invention of canning in the 19th century, and today a great variety of canned and dried soups are on the market, yet freshly made soups get those taste buds sizzling.

Ingredients

Vegetable Stock/Chicken Stock - 3 cups
Sesame Seed Oil - 1 Spoon
Ajinamoto (Optional) -
Salt as per taste
Soy Sauce - 2 tbsp
Rice vinegar - 1 tbsp
Red chili paste/Red chili paste -
Pepper - 1 pinch
Sugar - 1/4 spoon
Vegetables sliced thin - (Mushroom, Carrot, Snow peas, Spring onion)
Ginger
Firm Tofu
Corn flour

Recipe

1)We can make our own stock (Vegetable Stock Recipe) or use store brought ones.
2)Combine Vegetable stock, Soy sauce, Rice Vinegar, Vegetables, Red chili sauce, Ginger, Pepper, Sugar, Spring onions, Ajinamoto in a deep bottom vessel and bring to a nice boil.
3)Remove the froth which is formed while boiling the soup.
4)Add the Sesame Seed oil and Tofu once the vegetables has come to a nice boil.
5)Mix corn flour with water and then pour the mixture to the soup slowly making sure to stir continuously.Once done switch off the stove.
6)Top this with few freshly chopped Spring Onions.

Vegetable Stock

Stock is a flavored water preparation. It forms the basis of many dishes, particularly soups and sauces.Nowadays usually conveniently conjured up by adding water to a commercial preparation (the term stock cube is not recorded until as recently as the 1960s; American English still prefers the more refined-sounding bouillon cube, which dates from the 1930s), stock is traditionally the product of a pot kept constantly simmering on the hob, to which odds and ends of meat, bones vegetables, etc. are added from time to time to keep up a continuous stock for flavoury broth as a basis for soups, stews, sauces. Let us see an Indian version of the stock which is simple yet delicious.

Ingredients

Pepper - 1 tbsp

Star Aniseed's - 2
Black cardamom - 2
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon sticks - 1 inch
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Whole coriander seeds - 1 tsp
Bay leaves - 1
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Vegetables chopped - (Cauliflower, Cabbage, Celery, Spring onions, Carrots)
Coriander stems
Onion chopped - 1
Garlic chopped - 3
Green chili chopped - 1
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Salt as per taste
Water

Recipe

1)Combine all the ingredients in a stockpot large enough to contain the ingredients and water to cover all the vegetables.
2)Turn the stove to a high temperature, and bring the stock to a quick simmer. Once the water has begun to boil, turn the stove down to low. Allow the vegetables to simmer for an hour and then switch of the stove.
3)Strain your stock through a fine mesh.

Tips

1)Make a delicious vegetable stock by using the water from soaking Basmathi rice for 30 minutes.
2)Freezing stock in Ice cubes is a great way to store stock. Then take the frozen stock cubes and put them in a freezer bag and mark the date on the bag.
3)The vegetables are good for a cheese Omelet or just puree them and add in any sauce.

Apple Muffin

Muffin recipes first began to appear in print in the mid 18th century and quickly caught on. By the 19th century muffin men walked the streets of England at tea time to sell there muffins. They wore trays of English muffins on there heads and rang there bells to call customers to there wares.There are many varieties and flavors of muffins made with a specific ingredient such as blueberries, chocolate chips, cucumbers, raspberry, cinnamon, pumpkin, date, nut, lemon, banana, orange, peach, strawberry, boysenberry, almond, and carrot.I am sharing a simple and easy recipe of Apple muffin with you here

Ingredients

All purpose flour - 2 cups
Baking powder - 1 teaspoon
Baking soda - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
Butter - 1/2 cup
White sugar - 1 CUP
Eggs - 2
vanilla - 1 1/4 teaspoons
Chopped apples - 1 1/2 cups

Recipe

1)Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.Grease the muffin pan.
2)In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3)In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar and eggs until smooth. Mix in vanilla. Stir in apples, and gradually blend in the flour mixture.
4)Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pan after greasing the muffin cups to 3/4th level.
5)Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Allow to sit 5 minutes before removing muffins from pan. Cool on a wire rack.

Tips

1)Can use add 1 tsp. cinnamon and 1/2 tsp. nutmeg to the batter, if you like.
2)A special metal baking pan, sometimes referred to as a muffin tin, with 6 or 12 cup-shaped depressions. Most often this pan is made from aluminum.
3)If some muffin cups will remain empty during baking, put 2 to 3 tablespoons water in the unused muffin cups to keep the pan from warping.
4)Avoid over stirring when making muffins, do not stir or beat batter until it is smooth and lump free.Muffins will have large holes and a tough texture with overbeating.
5)To freeze muffins, wrap in foil, heavy-duty plastic wrap or freezer-wrap and press all the air from package; freeze for up to 3 months.
6)When muffins are done, remove them at once from the muffin tins so they don’t steam and soften.

Horse gram Rasam

Wishing All My Blogger Friends A Very Happy New Year !

Horse gram is a much neglected gram /lentil with a lot of medicinal value.The rich fiber content and the body heat generating property of horse gram helps in reducing the body fat in a fast mode.Let's see a recipe of Rasam with Horse gram, this is a very good remedy for colds coughs and running nose.

Ingredients

Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Curry Leaf - 1 sprig
Garlic peeled and chopped - 4 pearls
Tomato chopped  - 1
Water - 5-6 cups
Black pepper -  tbsp
Coriander powder - 2-3 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Horse gram - 2 cups 
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Tamarind - 1/2 Lemon size
salt as per taste
Cilantro optional
 

Recipe

1)Soak the horse gram overnight in water and pressure cook for 2 whistles.
2)Heat oil in a deep bottomed vessel,add mustard seeds,fenugreek seeds,cumin seeds.Once they splutter add asafoetida powder,curry leaves and garlic.
3)To this add tomato and cook for about 4-5 minutes in medium flame till the oil oozes out.
4)Then pour in water and add the coriander,Cumin and Black pepper powders.
5)Add horse gram,turmeric powder and tamarind paste.Allow to boil nicely for 10-12 minutes.
6)As soon as the rasam starts to boil,immediately switch off and add salt.Garnish with finely chopped cilantro.

 

 

Tips

 

1)When you pressure cook the horse gram,save the left over water from the cooked horse gram and use it to make rasam.
2)Goes well with plain rice.

Amla/Gooseberry/Nellikai Chutney

  Although about one inch in diameter,the Amla fruit has the same anti-scorbutic value as two oranges.Amla contains the highest amount of Vitamin C in natural form.It is used in Ayurveda as a heart tonic,aphrodisiac, antipyretic,anti-diabetic,cerebral and gastrointestinal toner.It raises the total protein level and helps maintaining body weight due to its richness in nutrients.Let's see a simple yet tasty chutney of Amla. 

Ingredients

Amla(Deseed and cut into small pieces) - 2 cups
Urud Dal - 2 tbsp
Salt as per taste
Red chilli(dry) - 2
Asofetida - 2 pinches
Curry leaves chopped - 3 sprigs
Oil - 1 tbsp

Recipe

1)Heat oil in a pan and add the urud dal,once they splutter add red chillis.
2)Mix in the chopped amla and cook for about 5-6 minutes.Sprinkle water if necessary.
3)Then add the curry leaves,asofetida and salt.Mix well for 2-3 minutes and switch of the stove.Allow to cool.
4)Blend nicely and serve a simple yet delicious chutney.
5)Goes well with rice,chapati,dosa.

Tips

1)Can also use the frozen Amla for this recipe.
2)Microwaving the amla for 4-5 minutes adding very little water will help cutting down some time.