PALAK PULAO

Ingredients :
Palak .. a handful
Coriander leaves .. 2 tablespoons
Green chilly .. 1
Badam .. 4 nos.
Kashmirilal .. 1/4 ..1/2 tspn
Garam masala..1/4 tspn
Jeera /cumin powder.. 1/4 tspn
Turmeric pdr.. 1/4 tspn
Ginger garlic paste .. 1 tspn
Pattai/cinnamon ..1  cloves..3  cardamom . 1 star..1 bayleaf..1
Onion..  1 funely chopped
Tomato..1 finely chopped
Rice ..1 cup
Water.. 1 3/4 cups
Roasted cashew fr garnishing

PREPARATION :
1.  Soak 1 cup basmati rice after washing for 15 mins
2. Grind handful of palak, green chilly 1 no. and badam 4 nos. Into a fine paste by adding little water.
3. Finely chop onions and tomatoes.
4. In a kadai roast few cashews in a spoon of ghee and keep it aside.
5. To the left out ghee add a tablespoonful of refined oil and splutter cinnamon cloves cardamom star and bay leaf .
Then add onions and saute till it becomes slightly brown. Then add finely chopped tomatoes and 1 tspn ginger garlic paste and stir for 2 mins . Then add the palak mix paste,1 tspn cumin pdr,1/2 tspn Kashmirilal, 1/4 tspn garam masala pdr,1/4 tspn turmeric pdr and stir till water s absorbed.
Then add the soaked rice after draining the water and stir for a minute.
In a pressure cooker pour 1 3/4 cups of water and add tge required salt for the pulao and add the contents in the kadai .Mix well and close with lid. When the steam comes open the cooker and stir once again and close andbputvtge weight valve and SIMMER THE STOVE FOR EXACTLY 5 MINS and switch off the stove. You can open after 12 mins and mix well softly without breaking the rice and garnish with roasted cashew.
Important:The method of cooking here is direct and no vessel is kept. This s faster. You wont get the whistle so stritctly watch the time and switch off in 5 mins.

Posted via Blogaway

Bread veg cutlet

SNACK VARIETIES : BREAD VEG CUTLET

THINGS REQUIRED : for 18 to 20 cutlets of the size shown in the pic.

Bread crums (you get this in stores or you can dry bread in microwave oven and powder it and keep)

corn flour 2 tablespoonful, bread half loaf to three fourths, peas half cup, beans 10nos finely chopped, carrot 2 nos. finely chopped, 2 medium size potato , 2 medium sized onions finely chopped, kashmiri chilli powder 1 spn, everest garam masala powder 1 spn., salt, green chillies 3 nos. oil for frying.

METHOD :

1. Wash and cook peas, beans and carrot with required salt and without water in a separate bowl in the pressure cooker.  Above this wash and cut potatoes and add little salt and  water and keep in a separate bowl and close the cooker with lid..  After steam comes, put the weight valve and switch off after 6 mins. Dont ve to simmer the stove.

2.  Peel the potatoes and mash it well and keep it aside.

3.  Drain water from the cooked vegetables and keep the water separate.

4. Heat little oil in a kadai and spluter half tspn jeera, and add finely chopped green chillies and finely chopped onions.

5.  When it becomes slightly brown add the cooked vegetables, salt if needed, one tspn kashmiri chilli pdr and 1tspn garam masala pdr and stir for 2 mins and transfer it into a bowl.  Allow it to cool.

6.  Mix the mashed potatoes to the above.

7.  Make small balls and keep aside.

8.  Sprinkle the water (if you ve the drained vegetable water you can use) on the bread and make it in to a non sticky dough.  Take care when adding water. Dont ve to remove the brown part from the bread. This dough preparation can be done even before you prepare the vegetable mix   for good results.

9.  Add water (if you still have the vegetable water you can use it here) and little salt to the corn flour and make it in to a light consistency.  It should not be too thick nor too watery consistency.

10.  Spread bread crums in a plate (you may add now and then to avoid wastage).

11.  Take a medium lemon sized bread dough and make a cone like shape to stuff the veg ball (like how you do for thengai poorana kozhukatttai) and keep the veg ball inside and close it and roll into a ball shape, flatten it on palm and dip it in cornflour and then put in bread crums plate and see to it that bread crums is all over the cutlet.

12. Prepare 5 at a time.

13. Deep fry in oil till golden brown comes.

14.  You can even shallow fry if you want. 

15.  Eat the tasty cutlet with hot and sweet sauce.

(For additional taste, you can grind 1or 2 green chilly with little salt and mix it with potato or bread dough and prepare if you want it little more spicy)

IDLI / DOSAI MILAGAI PODI

THINGS REQUIRED :
 Red chillies - 1 cupful, salt - required qty, asafoetida (katti perungayam) - 3 katti, kadugu - 1 spn., uluthamparupu (urad dhal) - little less than half cup, bengalgram dhal (kadala paruppu) - little less than half cup, gingelly oil - 1 1/2 spn,


PREPARATION :
1.  In a spoon of gingelly oil roast 3 katti of perungayam , 1 cup of red chillies (long chilli is good for this) after tearing each chilly into 2 pieces along with the required salt (kal uppu is preferred).  Always roast chillies in small flame for good colour. Transfer this separately into a tray.
2.  In the same kadai, pour half spoon of gingelly oil splutter 1 spn. of kadugu and then add urad dhal and bengalgram dhal and roast it to red colour. See to it that you  do not roast it to black or nearly black.  
3.  First powder roasted chillies, asafoetida and salt.  Transfer it separately.
4.  Coarsely powder the roasted dhal mix and add it to the powdered chilly.  Mix well.
5.  Store in a closed container after sometime.

VARIETY PICKLES : GINGER THOKU

GINGER THOKU :


Things required :  Ginger 1 cup, tamarind - 1 medium lemon sized tamarind (soaked in hot water - less than 1/4 tumbler), salt, red chillies - 3 nos., jaggery (vellam) - 2 tablespoonful, oil - 4 tablespnful, turmeric powder - little.


PREPARATION :


1. Remove the skin of ginger and finely chop it.
2.  Grind the chopped ginger with soaked tamarind along with its water, salt, 3 nos., jaggery,  red chillies and make it into a fine paste.
3.  Heat oil in a thick bottomed kadai and transfer the paste and add 1/4 tspn turmeric powder.  Mix well till the excess water is absorbed and oil starts to come out.
4.  Taste  and add salt or some more jaggery if required.
This tastes really good.  Can be used as a pickle or eaten with  chapathi or any other south indian tiffin.

VARIETY RASAM : 6. JEERAGA RASAM

JEERAGA RASAM : METHOD :1


Ingredients :  Tamarind - 1 medium lemon size, salt, curry leaves, sambhar powder - 2 tspn, katti perungayam - 1 katti, jeeragam - 1 tablespoon, tur dhal (thuvaram paruppu) - 1 spoon, ghee little to splutter kadugu and curry leaves.


Preparation :


1.  Soak tamarind in hot water and take the puree.  Or use tamarind as it is.  
2.  Add salt, 1 katti perungayam, 2 tspn of sambhar powder and curry leaves and mix well.  For this rasam, we dont add tomato.
3.  Boil it for 5 to 7 mins.
4.  Make a paste of 1 tbspn of jeeragam and 1 tspn tur dhal in little water and add it to the boiling rasam.  Add more water to the required level. Altogether 4 tumblers of rasam can be made for this measurement.  So check when adding water to avoid it becoming more watery and less tasty.
5.  Switch off when yellow froth appears on top.  Do not boil it.
6.  Splutter 1/2 spn of kadugu and little curry leaves in 1 spn of ghee and garnish rasam.  No need to add coriander leaves or cooked tur dhal water for this rasam.


METHOD :2.


Upto point 3 said above is the same.
4.  Add 1 tspn of tur dhal to the rasam in the beginning itself when boiling.
5.  After it boils for 6.7 mins, add the required amt of water and allow the yellow froth to appear on top and do not boil.
6.  Coarsely powder jeeragam and 5 nos. of pepper and splutter it along with kadugu and curryleaves in 1 tspn of ghee and transfer it to the prepared rasam

SNACK VARIETIES - BREAD BONDA

BREAD BONDA :
Things needed :  potato, onion, green chillies, bread.
How to prepare :
1. you can make this out of left out potato onion curry.  Or you make potato onion masala with green chillies.
2.  Take a bread slice.  It is yummy with sweet bread even.  So use any bread which is available with you.
3.  Slightly dip the bread slice in water and immediately squeeze out water by pressing it inbetween two palms.
4.  Keep the masala in the centre and just press the bread slice and roll it on hand closing on all sides.
5.  Keep all the balls ready and then deep fry in medium flame.

TIFFIN VARIETIES : ARISI UPMA (RICE UPMA)

ARISI UPMA 


Things required :    Raw rice - 1 tumbler, water - 2 tumblers, red chillies - 3 nos., kadugu, ulutham paruppu, katti perungayam - 2 katti (break it into tiny pieces), salt - 1 1/2 tablespoonful, coconut scrap - 2 tablespoon.


PREPARATION :


1.  Take one tumbler of raw rice.  Fill upto the blade level in mixie jar and run the mixie (not continuously).  Check each time to see if rice is broken uniformly.  Break into rava (not v fine rava like bombay rava).  Dont ve to sieve it.  You can use it as it is.  Measure and keep it.
2.  In a kadai, pour 1 1/2 tbspn of refined oil or nallennai (i prefer this) and when it is hot splutter kadugu, perungayam, then add red chillies - 3 nos. (break it into 2 or 3 pieces), then ulutham paruppu.  When it turns red, pour 2 tumblers of water (for each tumbler of rava - flat topped).
3.  Add required salt.
4.  When it boils, add coconut scrap - 2 tbspn (you can add more also.  This gives taste and softness to the upma).
5.  Then add the upma rava sprinkling it fast and stirring simultaneously to avoid lump formation.
6.  When almost all the water is absorbed, transfer the upma to a vessel and pressure cook in a cooker with the lid on the vessel (must).  When steam comes, put the weight valve and switch off the stove after 8 mins.
7.  After 15 mins, open and stir with the dosa karandi to get a tasty upma. 
Adding a spoon of pure coconut oil to this will add more taste to this arisi upma.