Idli

If you are grinding in a wet grinder this is the proportion:

Parboiled idli rice: 4 cups and  meals rice 1 cup (soaked for 3 hours separately after washing the rice 2 times)

Urad Dal : 1 cup (Take the dal 2 hours after soaking the rice and methi seeds. Wash 3 times and soak just for 1 hour in 3 cups of water. Don't wash again. Use this water for grinding)

Vendhayam (Methi) seeds (optional): 1 tsp. (soaked for 3 hours in a bowl separately, after washing thrice)

Method:

Drain the urad dal and vendhayam. Save the water for use while grinding. Put in the dal and vendhayam together and start the grinding process. Add the water now and then and grind till it is light fluffy. It should take about 20  minutes to incorporate enough air for soft idlis.

Rest the grinder for 15 minutes. Wash rice thoroughly again. Grind it in the machine adding water and mixing with spatula from the top now and then, till it is of a smooth but slightly grainy consistency. You can add half cup cooked rice or half cup washed aval with the riceat first for softer idlis.

Mix the two pastes together with 1 tablespoons of salt. Wash the grinder with 1 cup of water and add this too. The batter should be of easily pouring consistency slightly thinner than cake batter.

Leave it to ferment which should take 5-7 hours in a warm climate. Keep it in the fridge after it had risen. Stir well before use. Make idlis using the idli moulds and steam for 7-10 minutes.

If you are using a mixer:

For 3 cups of parboiled rice, use 1 cup of urad dal.

Venn Pongal

Take 3/4 cup raw rice and 1/4 cup of split greengram (payathamparuppu). Wash it well. Add 3 cups of water and a tsp of salt (or to taste). Pressurecook it for 10 minutes.



Let it cool. Heat 2 tsp of ghee in a kadai. Put in 1 tsp of crushed pepper and 1 tsp jeera. When it splutters add 1/2 inch piece of ginger chopped into pieces, a few curry leaves and 1 inch piece of coconut chopped into very small pieces (coconut optional). Pour it into the cooked rice and mix well.



Serve hot. Pongal is usually accompanied by medhu vadai , sambar and coconut chutney.

Onion curd raitha

Ingredients:

1 medium onion

1 cup thick fresh curd or plain yogurt

1 tsp salt

1 green chilli

1 tsp chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)

Method:

Cut one onion into thin slices. Slit a green chilli lengthwise. Mix these with a tsp of salt and keep covered till serving.

Just before serving, drain the excess water from the onion. Add a cup of thick fresh curd (or plain yogurt) and mix well. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves (optional).

Time management in cooking an elaborate Indian Non-veg Dinner/Lunch

• Our menu is:
  Mutton Biryani
  Mutton Kozhambu
  Chicken Fry
  Curd Rice
  Onion Curd Pachadi
• Potato Chips (You can buy the readymade chips)

Method:

• Wash and marinate the chicken for chicken fry.
  
• Set the cooker with mutton as per the recipe for mutton kozhambu in the bottom vessel, mutton for biryani in the middle vessel and rice for curd rice in the top vessel. Pressure cook for 20 minutes as per mutton kozhambu recipe.
• This time is used for preparing the other items on the menu.
  Prepare the seasoning for curd rice and pour it in a vessel, to be used for curd rice as per recipe.
  
• When mutton is cooked and steam is let off, mash the rice for curd rice. Keep aside and when it is cooler, add the seasoning and mash some more without lumps. Mix the fresh and thick curd when it is cool.
• Start cooking the chicken in the pressure cooker as per chicken fry recipe. Use the back burner for this.

Now, to use the front burners:

• Start cooking the biryani on one front stove, using the top stock of the mutton for the biryani.
  
  
• The mutton and some stock would be left in the vessel. Use this for mutton kozhambu using the other front stove for this.
  
  
• When these two items are cooking and left to simmer, put them on the back burner. Now use the time for finishing curd rice preparation.
• Chicken would be ready by now and you can start the finishing process in the meantime on the front burner. The mutton for biryani can be cooked on the other front burner.
  

If you cook this way, you can finish cooking all the items managing time optimally. It needs a juggling act but with practice you would get used to planning and preparing everything in the right sequence.

You can serve bread or chappathi, as the first course, if you want to impress your guests with one more item in the menu. Biryani and curd rice are served after this first course. Chicken fry, mutton kozhambu, onion raitha and potato chips are the side dishes.

Masal Vadai

Masal Vadai:

Channa Dal 1 cup (soaked for one hour and washed)

garlics 2 cloves

ginger 1/2 inch piece

soaked red chillies 2 (or more if you like it hotter) or 1 tsp of red chilli powder

Sombu (aniseeds) 1tsp

salt to taste

Grind the above in a mixie using the whipper button. It takes just a minute to grind it coarsely.
Now mix the following ingredients:

chopped Curry leaves 1tsp
chopped green chilli 1 (optional)
chopped coriander leaves
1 chopped onion

Mix well. Make small balls and keep on a plate

Heat oil for deep frying. When it is hot, lower the heat.

Press the balls of dough loosely into vada shape and slide into the oil.

Add as many vadas as could be fried in the given amount of oil.

Increase the heat and fry on medium heat till they are cooked on one side.

Turn them over and cook on the other side till they are golden brown.

Take them out with the holed ladle and drain the oil.

Serve hot.

You can use a handful each of channa dal, moong dal and tur dal in the above recipe and name it 'paruppu vadai.' You can substitute heeng (asofoetida) for sombu to make it differently flavoured.

Medhu Vadai

Soak 1 cup of urad dal in water,( after washing it thoroughly) till soft (about 1-2 hours). Wash in water 3 times. Drain and grind the dal in a mixie, adding a few drops of water now and then to make into a fine paste. Put in a pinch of asofoetida and 1 tsp of salt and mix well. Finely chop 1 green chilli and 1 inch piece of peeled ginger (or grind in a mixie). Chop 1 tbsp of coriander leaves and a few curry leaves. Mix all with the dough. You can add finely chopped onion too, if you like the taste.

Heat vegetable oil in a thick bottomed kadai(wok), enough to deep fry.

Wet your hands. (This helps the dough not to stick onto your hand). Take a lemon sized portion of the dough and flatten it on one palm. Make a hole in the centre. Slide this vadai into the hot oil gently. (Take care not to splash the hot oil by dropping the dough from a height! Your hand should go as near the pan as possible without toughing the hot pan or oil). Make 2 or more vadais like this (as much as the oil holds) and fry them on medium heat. Turn them gently with a holed ladle and continue frying. Let them cook for a few more minutes till the vadais are golden and crisp. Drain the oil using the holed ladle and place them on a paper towel.

Serve hot with coconut chutney.

Vegetable cutlet

2 large potatoes cooked, peeled and mashed

1 tbsp of boiled green peas

1 tbsp of grated carrot

2 green chilli (or 1 tsp chilli powder)and 1/2 inch piece of ginger, chopped finely

1 tbsp of coriander leaves, chopped finely.

2 tsp of salt (or to taste)

Mix all the above ingredients together, make into lemon sized balls, flatten them and keep ready.

For coating:

Mix 2 tbsp of cornflour, 1 tsp pepper and 1/2 tsp salt. Make a thin batter with 2 tbsp of water

(Alternate batter is to mix 1 beaten egg instead of cornflour-it tastes yummier!)

Dip the balls of cutlets in this batter, coating them all around.

Keep ready a plateful of breadcrumbs (or powdered corn flakes, if you want less oily cutlets).

Roll the batter-coated cutlet pieces in the crumbs gently and deep-fry the cutlets in vegetable oil on medium heat till golden in colour (about 2-3 minutes).

Serve hot with tomato sauce and a few pieces of onions, carrot, tomato and cucumber on the side.

Chicken Korma

Ingredients in the order of cooking:

1/2 kilo chicken

1 onion, sliced into pieces,
1 tomato chopped
1 1/2 tsp of chilli powder
2 tsp of coriander powder
1 tsp of turmeric powder

2 tsp of oil
1 piece of cinnamon
1 piece of clove
2 tsp of aniseeds
curry leaves
5 cloves of garlic+ 1 onion, both chopped fine
1/2 tsp of chilli powder
1 tsp of coriander powder
1 finely chopped tomato
2 tsp of salt

1 tbsp of grated coconut or dessicated coconut (optional)
3 tsp of fried gram (pottukadalai)
tsp of aniseeds
1 tsp of pepper
1 tsp of cumminseeds
1 clove
1 small piece of cinnamon
2 tsp chopped coriander leaves (Cilantro)


Wash and drain 1/2 kilo chicken, cut into medium pieces. Cook it with 1 onion, sliced into pieces, 1 tomato chopped, 1 1/2 tsp of chilli powder, 2 tsp of coriander powder and 1 tsp of turmeric pwder and 2 cups of water, in a pressure cooker for 7-10 minutes.

Heat 2 tsp of oil in a heavy bottomed pan and put in 1 piece of cinnamon, 1 piece of clove and 1/2 tsp of aniseeds. Add a few curry leaves and in quick succession, 5 cloves of garlic and 1 onion, both chopped finely. Saute for five minutes on medium flame till golden and add 1/2 tsp of chilli powder and 1 tsp of coriander powder. Saute and add 1 finely chopped tomato and 2 tsp of salt. Fry on low flame, till it is mashed and oil separates.

Pour in the cooked chicken along with the water and bring to boil. Let it simmer till the raw slell goes off.

Grind 1 tbsp of grated coconut, (If coconut is not available, substitute dessicated coconut -or you can skip it altogether, adding another tsp of fried gram instead) 3 tsp of fried gram (pottukadalai) and 1 tsp of aniseeds, 1 tsp of pepper, 1 tsp of cumminseeds, 1 clove and 1 small piece of cinnamon finely in the mixie using a little water.

Add to the simmering korma and stir well with no lumps on a low flame. Add 1/4 cup of water used for washing out the mixie jar. Check for salt and add some(1/2 tsp or so), if needed. Simmer for a few minutes and take it off the heat. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with biryani, rice or rotis.

Mutton Biryani

Clean and wash 1/4 kg mutton cut into medium pieces. Pressure cook in 6 cups of water mixed with 1 tsp of turmeric, 1 medium onion diced, 1 medium tomato diced and 1/2 inch piece of ginger crushed. When the whistle sounds lower the heat and cook on pressure for 20 minutes as mutton takes that much time to cook. Take it off heat then and keep aside for the pressure to reduce.

When the mutton is cooking you can keep ready all the ingredients needed:

Whole Masala:

1 inch piece of cinnamon 2

cloves 3

Bay leaf 2

Pepper corns 1 tsp

Cumminseeds 1 tsp

To be ground into a fine paste:

2 inch piece of ginger cut into pieces

12 cloves of garlic

Method:

Wash and soak 2 cups of long grained rice in water for half an hour. (If you start these preparations after mutton has been set to cook, it will be fine.)

Slice 1 big onion into thin slices.

Chop and keep ready 1 tbsp each of coriander leaves and pudhina (mint)leaves.
Cut a tomato (round juicy variety is better rather than fleshy roma tomotoes) into 8 pieces.

Slit lengthwise 3 Green chillis.

1/2 tbsp of lemon juice and 1 tbsp of thick curds.

1 tsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

When mutton is taken off the heat, keep a big non-stick pot large enough to cook the biryani on the stove. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil (Mix ghee only if you want the tastier but not-so-healthy version) and fry the sliced onions to a golden brown colour. Drain and keep aside for use as garnish later.

Take 4 cups of water from the cooked mutton and keep aside.


In the same pot add another tbsp of oil. Put in the whole masala in the list above. When it crackles, put in the chopped coriander and pudhina. When it is fried, add the ground masala paste and slit green chillis, cook it further till the raw smell goes off.

Put in the chopped tomatoes, curds, turmeric, chilli powder and lemon juice and saute till oil starts separating.

Drain the soaked and washed rice. Add to the pot and fry till the water evaporates.

Measure 4 cups of the mutton stock and add it to the pot, (instead of water), to cook the rice. Add salt to taste and when it starts boiling, mix well and keep on low heat with the lid tightly covered. Stir now and then without breaking the grains.

In the meantime, prepare the mutton for Biryani:

Grind 1 tsp aniseeds, 1 clove, 1 inch cinnamon, 1 onion, 1 tomato and 4 cloves of garlic to a fine paste. In a kadai, heat 1 tbsp oil and fry this paste, along with 1 tsp chilli powder, 2 tsp dhania powder and 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, till oil separates. Now pour in the remaining mutton stock with the mutton pieces, adding salt to taste. Cook, stirring often, till oil separates and the gravy is coated on the mutton pieces. Keep aside.

Now back to the Biryani pot. It is almost done now. Sprinkle half the fried onions and the whole of the prepared mutton. Stir lightly and keep on 'dum' (dry heat) for 10 minutes. You can keep in the oven, or on the same pot on the stove, with lid tightly closed.

Serve hot, garnishing with the other half of fried onion slices. You can use boiled eggs, cashew and kismis (dry grapes) fried in ghee, etc., for garnishing, if you want the biryani to be richer in look and calories!

Serve hot with onion raitha (vengaya pachadi).

Mutton Gola Urundai-Fried kebab

This is a superb starter for a non-veg dinner.

Method:

Minced Goat Meat (Mutton) 1/4 kg. Wash, drain and keep in the fridge to drain the water further for 15 minutes.

Grind to a fine powder:

Red Chilis 4

aniseeds 2 tsp

Clove 1

Cinnamom stick 1/2 inch

Fried Gram (pottukadalai, porikadalai) 1/2 cup

Grind to a paste:

1 Medium sized Onion, chopped into big pieces

1/2 pod of garlic, peeled

1/2 inch piece of ginger

1/2 cup grated coconut

Method:

Take out the minced mutton from the fridge. Put it into the mixer to grind it into a paste, adding a pinch of turmeric and a tsp of coriander powder. Put in the ground paste and 1 and 1/2 tsp of salt (or to taste) and blend it in the mixie for a few seconds. Take it out and add the powdered masala and a tablespoon of finely chopped corainder leaves and curry leaves.

Mix well into a dough and roll them into small marble sized balls. Deep fry in vegetable oil on medium heat till golden brown, gently turning them to brown and cook evenly. Drain the oil and place them on paper towel to take the excess oil.

Serve hot as starters. In our house, they all disappear as soon as they are placed on the plate!