Gongura thokku with Pulicha Keerai(Sorrel leaves)

Like I had mentioned in my earlier post, finding different types of (familiar)greens in the place I live, is extremely difficult. But a bigger uphill task, for me, is making my husband eat it!

Last week, I found a small bunch of Pulicha keerai/gongura/sorrel greens at the neighborhood Indian store. Although I bought it thinking it was something else(I thought I was picking the pack of mint but mistakenly picked the pack of greens that was lying next to it), I was so glad I bought it. Pulicha keerai was made at home atleast once in two weeks in the form of masiyal or gongura thokku. Though we do get the Udipi Gongura thokku, its not the same as amma’s (no, not the brand!)homemade gongura thokku. Another thing that comes to mind when I think of Gongura thokku is Tirupathi(No,no the prasadam is still laddu). Every time we went to Tirupathi, a meal at Bhima’s was a must(like so many other devotees, I guess 🙂 ). And my dad especially looked for those little bottles of gongura thokku and gun powder(Andhra’s version of the hot and spicy paruppu podi) and devoured them under my mom’s stare!

When I wondered what I could do with the bunch of keerai, my mom suggested the thokku. The surprising part was my hubby ate it with relish…no complaints, no cringing but more spoonfuls. This thokku can be refrigerated in an air-tight container for upto a week and tastes as fresh.

Pulicha/gongura/sorrel greens-1 small bunch(about 3 cups of leaves)

channa dal-3 tsps

coriander seeds/dhania-3 tsps

fenugreek seeds/vendhayam-1/4 tsp

red chillies-4-5 nos.

garlic, chopped-3 cloves

salt to taste

oil-1 tbsp

Heat 1/2 tsp oil in a pan. Saute channa dal,dhania, fenugreek and red chillies till they turn golden. Remove from pan and allow it to cool down. Saute the greens till they wilt and reduce to almost 1/2 of its original volume. Allow the greens to cool down. Grind all the sauteed ingredients.

Heat rest of the oil and saute the garlic. Now add the ground greens+chillies+dal mixture. Season with salt and saute for 4-5 minutes.

Serve with hot rice, idlis or dosas and you will be surprised how the most finicky eater would eat this dish with delight!

Barotta-The south Indian Bread

Paratha/Parantha is the world famous bread that comes from Northern India. South India’s answer to this amazing dish is the equally delish Barotta(or as I call it-Parotta). As a kid, I used to look forward to the evenings when I came back from school to have a steaming, hot Parotta. Days when my mom packed idlis/curd rice for lunch, I knew something extra special awaited in the evening. My guess is that was her way of making up for packing such a vapid lunch! Later came the Parotta kurma of Saravana Bhavan. Although I consider this great, I came know through friends that the barottas served in கையேந்தி பவன் (road side eatery) were simply superb.

So here I was sitting one Sunday, after having had curd rice and pickle for the past two meals, wondering how I could make up for serving(and eating) such a bland, boring meal that it struck me-Parottas, of course! There are many sub-versions of this already yummy dish-my mom makes a version of it called Ceylone Parotta with eggs while I know one of the most-sought after dish at my MIL’s kitchen is the kothu parotta(minced parotta with vegetables although the traditional version is made with meat). Now coming back to my parottas-they turned out rather well considering how easily I had made mine(watch the video below to see catch my point-a la MichealMadanaKamaRaj)!

To make 12 parottas my way:

Maida(cream of wheat)-1.5 cups

salt-to taste

oil-3 tbsps

water-1 cup

Combine all the above ingredients and knead into a smooth dough. Allow the dough to rest for about 30 mins. Divide the dough into 12 equal sized balls. I have two ways of rolling them out:

1. Roll out the ball into thin rotis using a rolling pin. Spread 1tsp oil on the roti and start folding them from one edge like a fan(fold one end, starting at the edge underneath fold over till you reach the other end).Now roll the linear fan into a circle with the loose end tucked into the center. Roll this out (about 1/2 inch thick-don’t panic if you dont see layers yet). Cook on medium flame till golden on both sides. Once done, push the parotta together from either sides to fluff them up and bring out the layers.

2. Roll out the ball into thin rotis using a rolling pin. Spread 1 tsp oil at the center of the roti and make a well(hole). Stretch the hole from either sides elongating the roti simultaneoulsy till the roti tears into two ends making one long thin rope-like structure. Now swirl the long rope into a circle, flatten it out and roll it out(1/2 inch thick). Cook till golden on both sides and push the parotta together from either sides to fluff them up and bring out the layers.

Serve hot with onion, tomato raita and vegetable kurma.

Need I say how sa(u)ssy the combo looks! 🙂

P.S: Thanks M for talking about your wonderful parottas(over the sambar vadais, pooris,butter masal dosais etc), it reminded me about the posting my parotta recipe! 🙂

Thakkali/Tomato thokku

Every time my mom and I embarked on an overnight journey, foods that were packed included rotis/idlis and the thakkali thokku(spicy pickled tomato concentrate). The reson for this was these lasted long in the hot Indian summery days. And they tasted just as fresh and tasty all along. This wonderful thokku was also served at home as an accompaniment for thoor dal pulav and other breakfast dishes.

For me, this dish is special ‘coz this was one of the first dishes I ever cooked for my hubby and his ex-collegues when I visited him and got some great compliments. So recently when our friends and we decided to go to a nice little state park for a long weekend, I offered to make the thakkali thokku. And it was no different this time-while one got reminded of  her paati’s(grandmom) thokku, another got reminded of home sweet home in Hyderabad! What better compliment for one’s food than reviving fond ole memories :). This is one dish you cannot go wrong with.

Beautiful,summery tomatoes washed and ready to be cooked

For 2 servings:

tomatoes(medium, chopped/pureed)-3 nos

(Pureeing the tomatoes gives a smoother thokku than when chopped which leaves little lumps)

kashmiri red chilli powder-2.5 tsp

salt-3/4 tsp

mustard seeds-1 tsp

fenugreek seeds-1/4 tsp

sesame oil/gingely oil-1 tbsp

In a hot pan, saute the mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds till they mustard seeds pop and the fenugreek seeds give a wonderful aroma(don’t let them burn!). Cool and grind to a fine powder.

Heat oil in the pan and add the tomato puree. Saute on medium high for 5 mins till the puree thickens and leaves the sides of the pan. Add salt and chilli powder and cover. Cook for a couple of minutes on low heat till you see oil emerge around the mixture. Stir in the mustard-fenugreek powder and turn off the heat immediately. Serve with idlis, dosas or even rotis.

Tomato thokku ready to take a hike! No really..we went to a state park:)

Paruppu Usilli

I know, I know…google it and you would find thousands of recipes for this dish but this recipe comes as a request from a dear friend. She hails from the Sundara Telungu(in Tamil) desam and had never heard of the dish till I introduced it to her. This dish is special but common, tasty but healthy(S, reassure P that though it is tasty, it is good for you too!), simple but tedious..yes it is out very own Paradoxical paruppu usilli!

To each their own is one saying that is especially applicable to cooking. The same dish can be prepared umpteen number of ways. I believe every individual lends a part of their personality to their cooking and that reflects in their food. Although most people make paruppu usilli the same way, differences do exist, some due to differences in taste palettes and some due to health reasons and time constraints. For example, my ammamma used both toor and channa dal for the usilli while my mom uses only toor daal as she believes channa daal is bad for the stomach and my aunt adds ginger to help in digestion but ‘ups’ chilli level a few notches. My MIL even has a recipe for avasara(quick/instant) paruppu usilli!

I do mine as per my liking, sometimes with channa dal and sometimes without, sometimes a little more hotter than the rest of the times and sometimes the actual way and sometimes the avasara way. The following is the recipe I followed when I served my friend the usilli.

Toor daal-3/4 cup

channa dal-handful

red chillies-3 nos

salt-to taste

vegetables like beans/avarakkai(broad beans)/karamani(long beans), chopped-2 cups

For tempering:

mustard seeds-1 tsp

curry leaves-5-6 nos

hing-a pinch

red chillies-1 no

oil-a few drops

Soak the daals and the red chillies for 2-3 hours in lukewarm water. Grind into a fine paste with little water and salt. Divide the mixture into 5-6 equal parts and steam cook in idli plates. Allow them to cool down. In a mixer, grind the steamed lentil cakes on pulse setting (pulsing it a couple of times will do the trick). This makes the usilli get the perfect texture. This can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days in a air-tight container.

Whenever needed, heat oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds. Once it splutters, add the hing, curry leaves and red chilles. Add the vegetable of your choice (or should I say what’s available) and salt. Cover and cook. Once the vegetables are done, add the paruppu usilli, stir well and serve with rice.

P.S: For avasara usilli, cook the vegetables and then add 2 heaped tbsps of readymade paruppu podi(daal powder that is used as an accompaniment) and mix well so that the vegetables get coated with the paruppu podi. This turns out great and is done in a jiffy!

Vegetable Stew or ‘ishtoo’

It has been a while since I blogged. I have been basking in the wonderfully pleasant sunny days. I am a sucker for sunny days(not the unbearably hot ones) who loathes temperatures below 20 F. I have been ‘soakin up the sun’ and enjoying sometime off from daily chores. Although I never really stopped cooking, I have slowed down on the clicking-pictures-after-every -meal-is-prepared part! My better half got a little bitter about flashing 😉 the camera during each meal. So I decided to let him enjoy respite from the camera! Time has come for my camera to re emerge from its little sojourn. What better dish to start with than the vegetable stew.

My wonderful mallu friends introduced me to this great tasting dish. There was just one hitch..I didn’t know it was The Vegetable Stew till I was all grown up. As a kid, I heard amma refer to it as ‘isht00’ and I assumed it was a dish by itself! Later when I went to ‘Malgudi Days'(a wonderful restaurant in Savera group of hotels)and was served ‘ishtoo’ with aapam, when the menu said the dish was Aapam with vegetable stew, I realized ‘ishtoo’ was actually VEGETABLE STEW! Now, for all those who have serious doubts about my aptitude levels, ditch the thought and read on for the recipe!!

The name ‘ishtoo’ however stuck on and now even my hubby calls it so! Is it just me or do you too think that it sounds like it originated from ‘ishtam‘ (like)? What better a name for a tasty dish that is so ‘endearing’!

Green chillies, slit lengthwise-2 nos

ginger, chopped-1/2 inch

vegetables(potatoes,carrots,beans), diced-1/2 cup

coconut milk-1 cup

curry leaves-7-8 nos

turmeric-a pinch

mustard seeds-1 tsp

salt-as per taste

water-1/2 cup

oil-a few drops(use coconut oil for that extra Zing)

In a pressure cooker, heat oil and crackle the mustard seeds. Add the green chillies, curry leaves and ginger. Saute for a few seconds. Now add the vegetables and turmeric followed by the coconut milk aand water. Season with salt. Cover and cook for 1 whistle. Serve hot with aapam, idiappam or rice.

Phataphat Chatpata Chaat-Aloo tikki Channa

Last weekend we had been to a friend’s place. Apart from the amazing fun we had watching movies, I happened to taste THE BEST Aloo tikki Channa(recipe from here) evah! She is one of the best self-taught cooks I have come across. And she never ceases to amaze me with her diverse and delicious menus. Visiting her home means a treat for our taste buds. The last time the menu featured chaat! I don’t even have to tell you what that means to me and my chaat  cravings!

A week later, with the memory of her heavenly dish lingering in my mind, I decided to try it with the ready made potato patties that were remaining in the freezer. I have these patties lying in my freezer almost year round as they make great back up-pack up lunches! Using these patties makes life much easier without having to fry the tikkis and make a great quick fix for a chaat craving or a wonderful impromptu evening snack for guests.

For 4 servings:

Potato patties-4 nos

Garbanzo beans/ channa(soaked and cooked)-1.5 cups

onions(medium, chopped)-1 no

tomato(medium, chopped)-1 no.

cilantro-5-6 sprigs

chole masala-2 tsps

kashmiri red chilli powder-1/4 tsp

chaat masala-1-2 tsps

mint chutney-2 tsps

tamarind chutney(I use the Maggi Tomato Chatpata Sauce!)-2 tsps

sev(optional)-1/4 cup

salt-to taste

oil-1/4 tsp

Heat oil in a pan. Saute the 1/4 of the chopped onions till translucent. Add 1/4 of the chopped tomatoes and saute till cooked. Now add the chole masala, red chilli powder and salt. Add some water, cover and cook on medium flame for 3-5 mins. Now, add the drained garbanzo beans and mix well. If the chole is very dry, add some water and allow it to cook(covered) for another 5 mins. Uncover and mash the channa a little before turning off the stove.

Heat the potato patties as per directions. Sprinkle chaat masala on each side of the pattie and cut them in half. Place 2 pieces of patties in a bowl. Cover the patties with a generous serving of the chole. Now, sprinkle a little of the chopped onions, tomatoes and cilantro. Drizzle some tamarind and mint chutneys on top. Garnish with some sev.

Aloo tikki channa served in a bowl

It sure can’t top what we had at V’s place but it was good enough to deal with my chaat yearning!

P.S: If you don’t have tamaring sauce/chutney, boil some jaggery with water. Add some amchur and chaat masala. Let the mixture thicken up. This works well too.

Low-Cal banana nut mini muffins

Now, that title is a mouthful! Weekends are always days of waking up late, eating brunches and lunners (No I didn’t make that up, the word exists!) and lots of ‘norukku theeni'(snacks)! This weekend was no different.

There was a VERY ripe banana lying around and I wanted to make use of it for breakfast that day, you ask how? Banana Nut muffins, of course. The only hitch-there was no butter,brown sugar,walnuts or egg substitutes at home. I knew that the only way I was going to pull this off was by making a low-cal version of it with what was available at home-oil,milk,sugar and almonds. Although I was skeptical about the end result from the word ‘Go'(after all, isn’t banana nut muffin supposed to be RICH in calories), I decided I had to try it. The result actually surprised me. The muffins turned out quite light and fluffy.

A healthy and delicious breakfast for a bright Sunday morning

To make 9 muffins

ripe banana-1
oil-1/4 cup
sugar-1/4 cup
milk-1/4 cup
vanilla extract-1/2 tsp
flour-1 cup
baking powder-1/2 tsp
baking soda-1/4 tsp
salt-1/4 tsp
slivered almonds-1/4 cup

In a large bowl mash the bananas.Add oil, sugar, milk and vanilla and mix well. In another bowl mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until combined . Fold in the nuts. The resulting batter will be quite stiff. Pour the batter into oiled muffin tins. Fill upto 2/3rds of a tin. Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes.

The end result had the same wonderful aroma as that of ‘PazhamPori'(banana fritters)!

Served with a steaming cup of chocolate malt drink

Start a lazzzzy weekend with these yummy little fellas!

Palak Corn Pulav

Greens were a must at lunch in India. They were served as kootu, poriyal or masiyal(cooked greens mashed with garlic and salt). I didn’t realize how much they had become a part of my palette until I started living by myself. And here the only green that looked familiar was Spinach. Although I tried cooking others like collard, tulip greens etc, I couldn’t get myself to like them as much as I liked spinach. So I made lots of spinach kootu. And then I got married. My husband stays away from anything that spells KOOTU! So how could I get him to eat spinach other than palak paneer and in Italian dishes? My mom suggested this recipe and it sounded good. I have been making this for a while and he not only eats it without a frown but actually ends the dinner with a “nalla saapad”(good dinner!) comment! Can’t get any better than that, right?

An artsy Palak Pulav 🙂

Basmati Rice-1 cup

spinach-1 cup

corn-1/2 cup

onions(medium size, sliced)-1 no

tomatoes(medium size, chopped)-1 no

green chillies-2 nos

ginger-garlic paste-2 tsps

cinnamon-1 inch stick

cloves-2 nos

bay leaf-2 nos

cardamom-2 nos

oil-1 tbsp

turmeric-1/2 tsp

salt-as required

water-1.75 cups

Soak the rice in water for 1/2 hr. Cook spinach and a green chilli in 1/4 cup water till tender. Cool and grind this into a smooth paste and keep aside. Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add the whole spices followed by the green chilli, onions and ginger-garlic paste. Adding the ginger-garlic paste directly to the oil makes its burn faster, so add it after the onion goes in. Saute till the onions turn translucent and the raw smell of the ginger-garlic paste vanishes. Now add the corn nibblets and then the basmati rice. Saute till grains of rice appear to stick together. Now add the spinach puree, turmeric and salt. Add 1.5 cups of water and pressure cook (I keep it for 3 whistles)till the rice is done. Serve with onion/tomato raita.The sweet corn nibblets give a good bite to the steaming pulav.

Served with tomato raita-A little bit of green, yellow and red makes a....nice spread!

Pramaadhamaana Poricha Kootu(amazing vegetable-lentil stew)

Its a marathon of recipes today. I keep drafts on the blog and publish them later. Today I realized there were quite a few recipes in the drafts that I hadn’t published. Hence I am bombarding the blogichen with my recipes!

My MIL is one of the best cooks I have come across. A wonderful lady with whom I had the joy of growing up, once told me what makes food especially tasty is the love that goes into making it. I find that extra ‘special something’ in my MIL’s food. I still remember her making polis for me ‘coz I had mentioned that my ammamma (who had passed away) used to make it just for my sake. Every day I spent at her place after my wedding was a melange of some of the best dishes I have ever tasted. That’s when I knew how my husband got his high standard of food and that I had a loooong way to go to reach those standards!Phew!

This is one of her classic dishes which features regularly on our menu. Since Chennai has scotching summers, we make this dish with vegetables that have high water content during the sweltering months. I use snake gourd, bottle gourd, pumpkin or even chowchow(chayote squash) when I don’t find gourds at the Indian store.

Saadham, kootu, curry-veettu saapadu madhiri varuma!(Nothing like our home cooked food!)

Vegetables(you can use gourds and pumpkin at the same time)-2 cups

Moong dal-a handful

Urad dal-3 tsps

peppercorns-8-10 nos

red chillies-1 no

coconut powder-1/2 cup(If using freshly grated coconut-1/4 cup)

turmeric-1/2 tsp

salt to taste

For the tadka:

Mustard seeds-1 tsp

curry leaves-5-6

hing-a pinch

red chillies-1

oil-1/4 tsp

Cook  the vegetables and moong dal separately with some turmeric. I pressure cook them in two different vessels. Its cooked separately so that the dal can be mashed without mashing the vegetables.

Fry the urad dal, red chilli and peppercorn in a little oil till the urad dal is golden. Once cooled, grind this mixture with coconut and little water into a smooth paste.

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and let it crackle. Follow this with hing, curry leaves and red chilli. Now add the  vegetables and mashed moong dal. Bring this to a boil along with the coconut paste. Season with salt and serve hot with rice.

Served with plain rice and kathirikkai masaal(Stuffed eggplant)

Madras Milagaipodi(Idli/dosa accompaniment powder)

When ignorance was bliss, all the podis(powders) like idli milagai podi, sambar podi, rasam podi etc., that were used at home in day-to-day meals always seemed to come out of nowhere! But obviously it wasn’t so. Later, my mom or my MIL always made sure our podis’ supply was replenished every now and then. Those dabbas(storage bottles) sure seemed like akshayapatrams(An Indian Mythological vessel that kept filling itself with food magically)! But recently, we ran out of idli milagai podi(or milagai podi, I call chilli powder milagai thool!) and neither of these wonderful women could send anything immediately. That’s when I decided to make some by myself.

I know I make it sound like a big deal when it isn’t actually. Its a very easy and simple process and the icing on the cake is that it lasts for a couple of months at least. Since I have sometime on my hands at the moment I planned to make enough of it to last for the next few months. Since idlis and dosas are made not-so-often at my place, it will last that long.

A very 'magalamaana'(auspicious) color scheme of ingredients

channa dal-1.5 cups

urad dal-1.5 cups

curry leaves-a handful(~ 30-40 nos)

red chillies-20-25 nos.

hing-1.5 tsps

oil-a few drops

Heat a few drops of oil in a pan. Add the channa dal and saute till  a good aroma arises. Now add the urad dal. Since the channa dal takes a little longer to cook and get crispy, I add it first and allow it to crisp partially. Keep sauteing till both the dals turn golden and emanate a wonderful aroma. Allow the dals to cool down. In the same pan, saute the red chillies, curry leaves and hing in some oil. Saute till the red chillies and curry leaves are crispy and brittle. Once cooled, grind the red chillies, curry leaves and dals with salt to a smooth or coarse powder depending on your liking.

Served as an accompaniment for Adai(lentil pancake) with a generous serving of nalennai(gingely/sesame oil)