Nellikkai / Gooseberry Pickle

Ingredients needed : 

• Gooseberry / Nellikkai - 20 -25
• Curry Leaves 
• Salt
• Chili powder
• Mustard seeds powder
• Methi seeds powder
• Hing powder
• Turmeric powder
• Sesame oil

Method : 

Wash gooseberry and then wipe it in clean towel and then slit gooseberry on the lines . 

Heat a kadai and dry roast  mustard seeds then roast the methi seeds ...and allow it to cool well and then powder it .

In the same kadai add the sesame oil and heat it for few minutes add gooseberry + curry leaves and fry for few mins to this add salt + turmeric powder + chili powder + hing powder +methi powder + mustard seeds powder mix it well and cook it for few mins. till the gooseberry becomes tender ...make sure you don't over cook it once done allow it to cool completely and then store it in glass bottle...Gooseberry pickle is ready .

Morkuzhambu

You can make morkuzhambu with Lady's finger: Trim the edges and chop it lengthwise and fry it separately and add at last  ..If using white pumplin : peel skin and boil it and then add it at last, if making with Pakoda  Medhu Vadai or  Aama Vadai make it and the add it to kuzhambu

Ingredients needed :

• Okra - 6 or 7
• Vada 
• Curry leaves - 1 string
• Coriander leaves - little
• Thick Curd  - 2 cups
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp.
• Salt
• Green chili - 1
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp.
• Jeera - 1/4 tsp.
• Urid dhal - 1/2 tsp.
• Hing powder - little
• Oil - 2 tsp. (Coconut oil Preferred)

To grind : 

• Raw rice - little
• Grated Coconut  - 1/2
• Green chili - 2 or 3 
• Dhaniya / Coriander seeds - little
• Jeera 

Method : 

    

            Soak the given ingredients in "To grind" list for few mins and then drain excess water if any and then grind it to a coarse paste ..

In a bowl add thick sour curd + turmeric powder + Hing powder + grinded paste and mix it well ..Heat a kadai / pan add oil + Mustard seeds + urid dhal + jeera + curry leaves + lady's finger  or Cook white pumpkin and keep it aside ...in the same pan add mixed curd and in slow flame cook it for few mins. it will start to boil and will come rising up then switch off the flame ...don't stir it immediately allow it to cool ...then add the cooked lady's finger or white pumpkin or pakodas along with tempered ingredients + salt and mix it and garnish with coriander leaves ...and you can heat it just before serving ..

Pongal Festival Recipes

Day 1 Bhogi Festival : 

         The first day, Bhogi is celebrated in honour of Lord Indira. On this day all the houses are cleaned and decorated with kolams and they throw away all the old things in the house into a fire made of wood. In tamil it is said as " Palayana kazhithal puthuyana puguthal".


The recipes made on bhogi day are as follows , generally on festival days we don't use Onions and garlic and Rasam is not made on all the 3 days of pongal. 


I made Morkuzhambu and Potato Curry. 

These three are must on Bhogi festival. : 

• Aama Vadai 
• PasiParuppu Payasam  or  Paruppu Payasam
• Purnam Poli    or   Thengai Poli

Day 2 : Pongal Pandigai :

The second Day, Surya Pongal is dedicated to the Sun God.It is the day actually the celebration begins and it is also the first day of the Tamil month "Thai Maasam".

On this day these items are done:

• Chakkarai Pongal
• Ven pongal
• Ulundu Vadai / Medhu Vadai

Day 3 : Kanu Pandigai / Mattu Pongal : 

The third day of Pongal is dedicated to cattle and is called as Mattu Pongal.

On this day Women offer prayers for the wellbeing of their brothers.The woman perform the ritual before bathing in the morning, they assemble in the courtyard and in the turmeric plant leaf they place the riceballs of Red, Yellow, white, (Rice is mixed with kumkum, manjal, curd respectively and made into small balls.) Sweet pongal, sugarcane and pray for the house and family of their brothers should Prosper.

While praying the God, They tell these lines. :

காக்காய்ப்பிடி வைத்தேன்; கனுப்பிடி வைத்தேன்;காக்காயகளுக்கெல்லாம் கல்யாணம், .காக்காய்களின் கூட்டம் போல எங்கள் குடும்பமும் எல்லோரும் ஒர்றுமையாக வாழ வேண்டும்.

On this day we make Mixed rice / Kalanda sadam :

• Paal Payasam
• Lemon Rice
• Coconut Rice
• Puliyodarai
• Curd rice
• Aviyal
• Ulundu Vadai / Medhu Vadai 

Karakuzhambu - Hotel style

              Saw this recipe here have already tried it lot of times ..you can make it with brinjal + onions and once with brinjal + onions + drumstick . Both ways taste Yummy. Goes excellent with rice and potato curry. If you get round brinjal the recipe will taste better and if using it you can just slit the brinjal into four cuts and add it as whole brinjal and make it ...I have used the long brinjal 

Ingredients needed : 

1. Brinjal - 5 or 6
2. Big Onion - 1
3. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp. 
4. Tamarind juice - 1 cup
5. Tomato - 1

To temper : 

1. Oil - Gingelly oil (preferred) 
2. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp.
3. Urid dhal - 1/2 tsp.
4. Methi seeds - 1/4 tsp.
5. Curry leaves - 1 string
6. Hing powder - little

To Grind : 

• Tomato - 1 
• Chana dhal - 2 tbsp. 
• Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp. 
• Jeera - 1/2 tsp.
• Grated coconut - 1 cup
• Small onion - 10 
• Sambhar powder 

Method: 

              Fry the ingredients given under "to grind" in one tsp. oil and allow it to cool well. Chop tomato roughly and take it in mixie and add sambhar powder to this add the fried ingredients and grind it into smooth paste ... if needed add little water and set aside. 

Chop brinjal and soak it in a bowl of water + little salt to avoid change in colour ..Peel the skin of onions and chop it lengthwise and chop tomatoes and keep it ready. Soak tamarind in bowl of water and extract juice . 

Heat a kadai add gingelly oil + mustard seeds + urid dhal + methi seeds + hing + big onions + salt + hing powder + turmeric powder  and cook it for few minutes to this add chopped tomatoes and then add chopped brinjal and cook it for few more minutes, if using drumstick add it at this stage to this add tamarind water and allow it to boil well then add the grounded paste + water and cook it till raw smell goes .

once done serve it hot with rice and potato curry.

Erriseri

Ingredients needed :

• Yam -1 cup
• Raw banana -1
• Tamarind extract - little
• Salt
• Oil - Coconut oil (preferred) 
• Mustard seeds
• Urid dhal
• Curry leaves
• Turmeric powder

To grind :

• Whole urad dhal
• Grated coconut
• Dried red chili
• Coriander seeds
• Jeera
• Whole black Pepper 

Dry roast ingredients given under "to grind" and grind it into smooth paste

Method : 

                         Clean , peel the skin and chop yam and raw banana into cubes and soak it in bowl of water in order to avoid change in colour. Heat a kadai + oil + mustard seeds + urid dhal + curry leaves + tamarind juice little + water+ add chopped yam +raw banana + turmeric powder and allow it cook well till almost done to this add the grinded paste and cook for few mins.

You can have it with rice or even can use it as side dish . 

Onion Chili Pakoda

Bajji milagai

Ingredients needed : 

• Gram flour - 1 cup
• Rice flour - little
• Onion - 2
• Bajji Milagai / Chili - 1
• Chili powder - 1/2 tsp.
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp.
• Hing powder - little
• Salt - little
• Oil - for deep frying 

Method : 

              Chop onions and bajji milagai  lengthwise . In a bowl add besan flour + salt + chili powder + turmeric powder  + hing and mix it well to this add chopped onions + bajji milagai  and mix it again and set aside for few minutes 

Heat kadai add oil for deep frying ..take the bajji flour mix and by now water would have oozed out from onion and made the bajji mix bit sticky ...now sprinkle rice flour and mix it well (if needed sprinkle little water) and take the batter little by little and drop it in hot oil and deep fry till done . 

Yummy hot pakodas are ready . 

Easy spinach Lasagna

 
Ingredients:

• Butter - 2 tbsp
• Spinach - 1 full box (from Costco)
• Goat cheese 
• Italian seasoning - as required - optional
• salt - as required
• Pasta sauce - I used one full bottle and I think it was mushroom based sauce
• Lasagna sheets - no bake sheets from Walmart (Great value brand)
• water - 1.5 to 2 cups
• Shredded cheese (Mozeralla,  Parmesan - experiment cheese here as per your choice)

Preparation:
Spinach-cheese mixture:
In a wide pan, add 2 tbsp butter. Once it melts, add garlic finely chopped. Saute it for few seconds, and then add spinach (I used one full box) and continue saute. Add salt as required and sprinkle as much as Italian seasoning as you want to it. Once spinach is cooked, add goat cheese and mix it well with spinach. Goat cheese should become more like a white sauce and get well mixed with spinach. At this point, switch off your stove and move the pan off from heat.

Pasta sauce:
Mix Pasta sauce with 1.5 cups of water (I used one full bottle of Pasta sauce).

In a baking pan, spread good amount of pasta sauce mixture. Remember, we are using the no bake Lasagna sheets. So we need to maintain the lil too much watery consistency with the pasta sauce to allow the sheets to get cooked well. Now layer the lasagna sheets above the pasta sauce. Top it with the spinach cheese mix. Sprinkle some Parmesan-Mozeralla shredded cheese (or the 4 cheese mixture). Now again goes the pasta sauce, lasagna sheets, spinach mixture and cheese sprinkles. Keep repeating this as much as you want your layers to be. Top with shredded cheese finally. Double wrap the baking pan with some foil sheets. Make sure it is tightly sealed.

Preheat over to 425 degrees. Once the oven sets in the right temperature, bake the lasagna for a good 60 minutes or till it passes the clean fork test. Let it sit for 10 minutes before serving. Yummy yummm easy spinach Lasagna is all ready for tasting :)

Mixed Vegetable Curry

Intredients needed :

• Cauliflower 
• Potato - 2
• Carrots , beans , capsicum - 1 cup
• Onion -2
• Tomato -1
• Fennel seeds - little
• Shahi jeera - little
• Turmeric powder -1/2 tsp.
• Dhaniya powder - 1 tsp.
• Jeera powder - 1 tsp.
• Chili powder - 1 tsp.
• Garam masal powder - little
• Salt
• Oil

Method :

               Clean and chop potatoes, carrot , beans, capsicum, onions lengthwise and set aside. clean and chop Cauliflower florets and keep it ready. 

                         Heat pan add water + little salt + turmeric powder and allow it to boil well then add cauliflower florets and parboil it ..in same way boil potatoes too ... in a cup mix dhaniya powder + jeera powder + chili powder. 

Heat a nonstick pan / kadai and add little oil + little mixed powder + potatoes and fry till done ..same way fry cauliflower florets and keep it aside .. add little oil + jeera + fennel seeds + shahi jeera allow it to splutter and add onions + salt as required + garam masala powder and fry till done to this add fried potatoes + fried cauliflower and mix it well and cook it for few minutes ..

Have tried the same curry twice once did it with potatoes , cauliflower , carrot chopped lengthwise ... next time I tried making it with mixed vegetables potatoes , cauliflower , carrot , beans , capsicum chopped in cubes ...

Aloo Gobi fry is ready ..goes excellent with Chapathi and Fried rice 

7 kari kuzhambu / Mixed Vegetable Sambhar

This kuzhambu/Sambhar is made with combination of 5 or 7 winter vegetables along with Thiruvadirai kali on Thiruvadirai / Arudra darisanam . These are the vegetables used you can chose any vegetables as per your wish .

            Sweet potato, Plantain, Yam, Red Pumpkin, Broad beans/Avarakkai, Taro/Sepakizhangu, Mochai/Field beans . 

Ingredients needed : 

• Mixed Vegetables
• Cooked Toor dhal - 1 cup
• Tamarind juice 
• Salt 
• Oil
• Corainder leaves - to garnish
• Sambhar powder - Check the recp. below

To tempering : 

• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp.
• Urid dhal - 1/2 tsp.
• Methi seeds - 1/4 tsp.
• Curry leaves - 1 string
• Hing powder - 1/2 tsp.

To grind : 

• Dried red chili - 3 or 4 
• Dhaniya 
• Kadala paruppu 
• Whole Urad dhal
• Toor dhal 
• Turmeric powder
• Grated coconut

Dry fry all these ingredients under "To grind " and grind it by adding little water into a paste. 

Method:

           Clean and chop all the require vegetables and keep it ready . Soak Tamarind in water and extract juice and set aside . Pressure cook toor dhal . 

heat a kadai add oil + mustard seeds + urid dhal + methi seeds + curry leaves add vegetables + hing powder + salt and cook it for few minutes and then add the tamarind juice and allow it to boil well once done add the grinded paste and cook for few more minutes finally add the cooked dhal and cook till done . Switch off the flame and finally add coriander leaves . 

Goes well with kali . Check the recipe here

Thiruvadirai kali + Kuzhambu :

http://kaviskitchen.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/350th-post-thiruvadirai-kali-gayathris.html

Brinjal rice

Made few variations to Kavitha's Brinjal rice . 

Ingredients:

• Cooked rice - 2 cups
• Gongura pickle(Priya brand) - 2 tsp. 
• Brinjal - 6
• Small onions - 10
• Curry leaves - 1 string
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp.
• Urid dhal  - 1/2 tsp.
• Methi seeds - 1/4 tsp.
• Groundnuts - 10
• Cashews - 5
• Salt
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp.
• Gingelly Oil
• Chili powder - see recipe below

To grind :

• Dried red chili - 3
• Whole pepper 3
• Dhaniya seeds 
• Chana dhal / kadalai paruppu
• Whole urad dhal
• Grated coconut 

Method :

             Heat a kadai and dry fry ingredients given in to grind list and allow it cool and grind it into fine powder and set aside. Pressure cook rice and keep it ready . Peel skin of small onions and chop brinjal lengthwise and immerse it in bowl of water . 

Heat a kadai and add ginglley oil + mustard seeds + urid dhal + methi seeds + cashews+ groundnuts +  small onions + curry leaves and fry till done then add brinjal + salt and cook well to this add the grounded powder + turmeric powder and mix it well + gongura pickle + Salt and cook till done . 

Take a bowl and add the cooked rice to this add brinjal + onion mix and mix it well serve with Potato curry or chips 

Dates and Nuts Burfi

Ingredients :

• Dates - 20
• Cashew - 10
• Badam - 10
• Poppy seeds - little 
• Ghee - little
• Elachi powder (optional)

You can also add Figs, pista or any nuts..

Method :

             Chop dates roughly and grind it in mixer (use whip button) ...you will get coarse paste..chop badam , cashews ...take a pan add ghee and once hot add poppy seeds and fry for few minutes to this add ground dates and cook for few mins. to this add chopped nuts + elachi powder and mix it well and then switch off the flame ...and once it gets slight cool roll it in cylindrical shape and cover it with kitchen plastic wrap and keep it in fridge for 30 minutes. then cut it in circular shape and enjoy dates and nuts burfi ....Healthy sweet for kids .

Wishing all our friends and blog followers a very Happy New year 

Kavitha & Gayathri.