Ellu Podi for Idli Dosa Rice is a traditional Tamil style recipe. Black sesame works better than white sesame seeds unfortunately at my place I get only white sesame seeds. We roast all the ingredients separately and spread on a plate or a newspaper to cool down. Then grind and enjoy. I stored this up to 4 weeks shelf life, max 4 weeks we complete it 😀 never been than 4 weeks after 😜. But one of my friends store this podi in zip locks in the freezer. It stays fresh for upto 4 months in the freezer.

For picnics or trips always we go with usual rice varieties, instead you can try this for some trips. Hope you will give this a try and let me know how it turns out for you.

Ingredients

• Sesame seeds - 1 cup
• whole white urad dal - 1 cup
• A handful of curry leaves
• Red chilies - 8
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Salt as per taste
• Gingelly oil - 2 tsp
• Asafoetida - 1 tsp

Method

1. Heat a pan, add a teaspoon of oil and roast the sesame seeds until they are aromatic. Set aside to cool.
2. In the same pan add in a teaspoon of oil and add whole white urad dal. Roast until the dal turns color. Set aside to cool.
3. In the same pan, dry roast the cumin seeds, curry leaves and red chilies. Wait for the curry leaves to dry.
4. Spread all the ingredients on a news paper and let it cool completely.
5. Grind it along with salt and asafoetida to coarse powder. Store it in air tight container.

Roast the sesame seeds and urad dal

Dry roast all the spices

Allow it to cool completely

Continue reading

Share:

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."

— Marcus Tullius Cicero

Basil Tomato Chutney is perfectly blend with spicy and tangy. It's a great way to use up excess tomatoes from your garden, and the basil adds a whole new layer of freshness.This goes great with Idly or dosa or rice.

 
Hope you will give this a try and let me know how it turns out for you.

Ingredients

• Tomatoes - 2
• A handful of fresh basil leaves
• Tamarind - small piece
• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Channa dal - 1 tbsp
• Garlic - 6 - 8 pods
• Dry Red Chili - 6 - 8
• Tamarind a small piece
• Salt as per taste

Method 

1. Heat oil, fry channa dal, chillies and garlic till brown.
2. Add tomatoes and cook till half mushy.
3. Add in tamarind, salt and mix well.
4. Add in basil and mix well.
5. Cool this and grind to a paste.
6. Transfer to bowl and serve.

My kitchen garden

Heat oil, fry channa dal, chillies and garlic till brown

Cool this and grind to a paste

Ready to serve

Continue reading

Share:

Lemon pickle - Elumichai urukai stored in jaadi at mom's home always unforgettable. Now a days we get so many brands of pickles in stores, it tastes good but still mom, grandma pickles are always the best I say. Specially on summer holidays this is one major task of my mom, aunty and grandma. They prepared huge quantity also it lasts longer more than one year. Today I'm shaing the lemon pickle recipe.

For this lockdown time, I bought lemons and refrigirated sqeezed juices in a glass bottle  and cut the lemons to make as pickle.

Ingredients

For marination:

• Lemons - 10 
• Green Chili - 5 (optional)
• Salt as required (Rock salt is best)

For grinding:

• Mustard seeds - 1 tbsp
• Fenugreek seeds - 1 tbsp
• Dry roast the above 2 ingredients and grind with blender without add water.

For tempering and mixing:

• Mustard seeds - 1 tbsp
• Redchilli powder - 4 tbsp
• Asafoetida - 1/2 tbsp
• Gingelly oil - 100 gm

Instructions

For marination:

1. First wash lemon and dry thoroughly.
2. Cut and squeeze juice from lemons  and cut into 4 to 6 pieces. 
3. Cut green chili into 2 pieces.
4. Take this in a porcelain or clay or glass container.
5. Add salt and toss well.
6. Cover it with a white cotton cloth.
7.  Everyday open and toss well, if possible keep it under direct sunlight for 3 - 5 days.

For tempering and mixing:

1.  Add red chili powder to the marination and toss well and leave for 10 mins.
2.  Heat oil in a pan add mustard let it splutter.
3.  Add marinated lemons to the pan. 
4. Add asafoetida and grinded powder under "For grinding". Saute it for a min.
5. Switch off the flame and let it cool down, then transfer to urukai jaadi (glass or porcelain container).

Toss well by adding salt and leave it for 3 - 5 days

Add red chili powder

Add mutard seeds in oil

Add marinated lemons

Dry roast mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds

Add grinded mixture

Mix and saute well for 1 min

Store it

Continue reading

Share:

Its March!!! Hope many of you know about the Day light saving, the first week after the timings change, its bit tough to handle specially you have school going toddlers.

How to cope with daylight savings time?

• Early to bed
• Morning walk as regular routine
• Enjoy the longer evenings
• Dont be a potato Couch 
• Reduce screen time
  

These are the best I'm following. The first week is our challenge, the next week we'll be fine. So coming back to our recipe, as a lazy mom I wake up at 6.30 am and check my refrigerator, thank god I found my favorite vegetable Ridge Gourd (Peerkangai). I got an idea instead of cooking 2 different vegetables, why don't cook on 2 dishes using single vegetable 💡😀. So here is the output you can see in my post. I cleaned and removed the skin and make chutney and inside part I make kootu. Sound awesome na, I feel proud myself today 😎

In Today's post, you can see Ridge Gourd Thogayal recipe, I'll upload in one or two days the kootu recipe, because my calendar is already full today and tomorrow. But I want to share this idea so that immediate uploading one recipe.

Ingredients

• Ridge gourd / peerkangai - 1
• Channa dal - 2 tbsp
• Dry Red chilies - 4
• Garlic  - 4 pods
• Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
• Tamarind paste - 1 tbsp  
• Sesame Oil - 1 tbsp
• Salt as taste

Instructions

1. Peel or cut the skin part of the Peerkangai after cleaned vegetable. Keep aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add in the chana dal. Fry till golden color. 
3. Add peerkangai skin and saute for 5 minutes, you can see it turns soft.
4. Add garlic, coconut, red chili. Saute for a minute.
5. Grind the mixture with salt and tamarind paste to slightly coarse paste. DO NOT add water, if required add drop by drop.
6. Serve with rice and ghee or Idly dosas.

Heat oil in a pan and add in the chana dal. Fry till golden color.

Add peerkangai skin and saute for 5 minutes

Add garlic, coconut, red chili

Grind and serve

Continue reading

Share:

Malabar Spinach we called as Pasalai keerai in Tamil. Its a leafy greens and packed with iron, calcium, vitamin K, folic acid, omega-3 fatty acids and rich in antioxidants.Specially for pregnancy time and kids its more healthy. This recipe is one of my family style to make it tasty and goes better with rice and add gingelly oil. Also its good with Roti, dosas too.

Ingredients

• Pasalai Keera / Malabar Spinach - 1 bundle
• Onions -1
• Green chili - 4
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Garlic pods - 4 
• Oil - 1 tsp
• Salt to taste

Method

1. Wash and drain the greens on a colander.
   Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan. Add the drained greens and saute it. Keep aside and let it cool down.
2. Add onions, garlic, green chilies and cumin seeds and saut it for 2 mins. 
3. Remove to a plate and let it cool down.
4. Add salt and grind to a smooth paste. 
5. Now add the sauted greens and grind it coarsely.
6. Seasoning is optional. 

Clean the greens

Heat oil in the pan

Add spinach into pan and saute it

Saute it

Saute onions, chili, garlic and cumins

Saute for 2 mins

Grind it smoothly

Grind it smoothly

Add greens and grind coarsely

Continue reading

Share:

Ingredients needed

Chopped pumpkin (parangikai) - 2 cups
Mustard -1 tsp
Urad dal - 2 tbsp
Red chillies - 3
Whole pepper -4
Tamarind - small piece
Curry leaves - little

Method

Heat a tbsp of oil and saute pumpkin till soft. Keep aside.

Heat 2 tsp of oil in the same pan, add mustard seeds, when they sputter, add urad dal, red chillies, black pepper and curry leaves.

Saute till dal turns golden brown. Grind it along with cooked pumpkin, salt and tamarind.

Continue reading

Share:

Medicinal Use
Kathalai poo contains over 20 minerals, all of which are essential to the human body. The human body requires 22 amino acids for good health -- eight of which are called "essential" because the body cannot fabricate them. Aloe Vera contains all of these eight essential amino acids, and 11 of the 14 "secondary" amino acids. Aloe Vera has Vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B12, C and E. In India, Aloe vera is believed to help in sustaining youth, due to its positive effects on the skin. Hence it is called ghee kunvar or ghee kumaari.

Ingredients

Kathalai poo - 2 cups
Urad dhal - 2 tbs
Garlic- 3 pods
Green Chilly- 2
Tamarind- small ball
Salt - as required
Oil – 4 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dhal - 2tsp
Curry Leaves

Method

1. Clean Kathalai poo. Remove the unwanted parts.
2. Heat 1tsp oil and add urad dhal.
3. When it turns golden, add garlic, slit green chillies and kathalai poo.
4. Add salt and saute till the mixture becomes dry.
5. Add tamarind and 1/4cup water. When it starts boiling, switch flame to low and cover pan.
6. When it is fully cooked and little water remains, switch off flame. Allow it to cool.
7. Grind it to a smooth paste.
8. Heat oil and splutter mustard, urad dhal and curry leaves.
9. Add the paste and cook on low flame. Cover the pan because it splutters a lot.
10. When oil separates switch off flame and transfer thuvaiyal to a serving bowl.

Continue reading

Share:

தேவையான பொருட்கள்:

இருவாச்சி  இலை -  கையளவு 

உளுந்த பருப்பு – 10 g

மிளகாய் வத்தல் – 4

புளி - ஒரு நெல்லிகாய் அளவு
உப்பு - தேவையான அளவு

செய்முறை:

இருவாச்சி  இலையை எண்ணெயில் நன்றாக வதக்கவும். அதனுடன் உளுந்த பருப்பு, மிளகாய் வத்தல், புளி, உப்பு போட்டு வதக்கவும். நன்கு வதங்கிய பிறகு ஆற விட்டு அரைக்கவும். அரைத்த பின் தாளிக்கவும். இதை சாதத்துடனோ/சப்பாத்தி/இட்லி/தோசை உடன் சாப்பிடலாம்.

Health Benefits: http://paattivaithdhiyam.blogspot.in/2010/06/blog-post_1680.html
Botanical name: Jasminumsambacvar

Continue reading

Share:

Botanical Name: Cissus Quandrangularis

Health Benefits: Dehydration, Flatulence, Vomiting Sensation

Ingredients

• Adamant Creeper - 1 cup
• Whole black gram - 3 tsp
• Dry Chilli - 4
• Tamarind - small ball
• Asafoetida - pinch
• Salt - as per taste

Method

1. First cut the pirandai at each nodes and scrap the sharp edges.It could be an itchy or irritates the skin. Cut it into small pieces.
2. Heat pan with little oil and roast chilli, urad dal and asafoetida. In the same pan, add oil and saute the chopped pirandai well in medium flame till the color changes.
3. Cool down and first powder chilli, salt, tamarind, asafoetida into a coarse powder. Later add the sauted pirandai.
4. Grind coarsely. Add little water and grind again. Now it will be bit smooth to look.
5.  Finally add urad dal and grind to a coarse thick paste. 
6. Add salt and transfer to the serving bowl.

Continue reading

Share: