Urulaikizhangu (Potato) Masala

Pressurecook two potatoes.

Cool, peel and mash them.

Mix two cups of water, 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder and 1 1/2 tsp salt. Keep aside.

Potatoes should be mashed and a few pieces can be left as small pieces to provide texture to the dish.

Heat 2 tsp of any veg oil. Crackle in quick succession, 1 tsp mustard, 1 tsp urad dal and 1 tsp channa dal. When the dals are golden, put in 7-8 curry leaves, 1 inch piece of ginger sliced into thin strips, 3 green chillis slit lengthwise and 2 medium sized onions, sliced.

Saute well till onions are transparent (not brown). Pour in the potato mixture. Let it come to boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for five minutes till all are blended.

Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot with Dosas (for masala dosa) or with puris (for Puri-kizhangu).

Easy Chicken Masala

For making chicken masal from 1/2 kg Chicken.

Cut the chicken into medium pieces. Wash and drain.

Apply a paste of

1 tsp chilli powder

2 tsp coriander powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp salt

Shallow fry the following ingredients adding them to the pan in the same order, in 2 tsp of oil in a pan.

(a) 1tsp pepper corns, 1 tsp Aniseeds, 1 inch piece cinnamon, 2 cloves

(b) 10 cloves of garlic and 2 medium onions, sliced

(c) 3 medium sized tomatoes cut into pieces+ 1 tsp salt

Saute all the above till the tomatoes are done. Cool and grind into a paste.

Apply this on the marinating chicken and mix well.

Cook the mixture in a pressure cooker till it is done.

Take it off the heat, bring down the pressure and open the lid. Simmer for five minutes on low heat, with the lid open. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

With almost no oil, this is a healthy variation of the Indian chicken curry.

Fish Fry

For frying 4 medium slices of fish (king fish):

Mix the following:

2 tsp of chilli powder

1 tsp of coriander powder

1/2 tsp of turmeric powder

Salt to taste

2 tsp of vinegar (or 1 tsp of thick tamarind juice or juice of half lemon)


Clean, wash and dry fish slices and apply the above paste on both sides of the fillets. Keep aside to marinate for sometime.


**You can add this paste for a variation. It makes the fish fry without giving off 'fishy' smell.

(Optional) Grind to a paste: A handful of small (sambar) onions 1 tsp Jeera (cumminseed) 1 Tablespoon of coconut gratings (or 3 cloves of garlic and 1/4 inch piece of ginger) . Add to the above spice mix.


**You can use the lemon pepper ready spice mix available in USA. Just apply it on both sides (checking for salt to your taste), spray cooking oil on both sides and grill the fish. Totally oil free method of preparing any fish! (Shown in the picture)

Marinate for 1-2 hours.

To use less oil, follow this method to fry the fish.(Usually people deepfry fish.)


Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a non-stick flatbottomed pan. When hot, slide in the pieces of fish onto the oil and cover with a lid. Keep on high heat for for 2 minutes. Remove the lid, turn over the pieces and cook again for 2 minutes on high heat, with the lid again in place. Remove lid and turn the pieces gently over again to brown them further (one minute).

When golden brown, keep it on a paper towel for the excess oil to be absorbed.

Masala Fish Fry

A different version of the masala which is a recipe from our Keralite relatives and tastes awesome!
Use a tbsp of thick tamarind water to grind the following into a wet paste.
Grind together:
Coconut Gratings 2 tablespoon
Aniseeds (saunf, sombu) 2 tsp
Garlic 3 pieces
Ginger 1/2 inch piece, peeled
Chilli Powder  2 tsp
Turmeric Powder 1 tsp
Salt 1 tsp
Apply the paste on the washed and cleaned fish (for 1/4 kg slices). fry using the method given above.



Microwave Fish Fry
 If you want a still healthier option, cook it in a microwave oven for three minutes and later brown it on a skillet with less oil (one or two tsp, just enough to provide the fried look).

Adai-Our family's special recipe

The usual adai you eat in the hotels is different from this one.

Wash and soak 1 cup of parboiled (idli rice) rice separately. Wash and soak in water, 1/3 cup of Channa Dal, 1/3 cup of Tur Dal, 1/3 cup of Moong Dal and 1 tsp of Urad dal, in another vessel.

After an hour or two (when the rice and dals are soft), wash them again. Take the rice, 3 dried red chillies, 1 tsp of aniseeds, 1 clove and 1 inch piece of cinnamon and grind in a mixer until it is a coarse paste. Now put in the washed dal also into the mixer and grind them all till the mix is still coarse but a little finer than before.

Add salt to taste, 1 very finely chopped onion, 1 tb sp of chopped coriander leaves and a few curry leaves, chopped finely. Blend well with enough water to make it a pouring consistency (like for rava Dosa).

Heat a dosa tava (flat pan) with a tsp of oil coated on the surface to medium heat. Pour a ladle ful of the batter into a circle, starting from the edge so that it flows into the centre and forms a dosa. Fill in the in-between spaces also with the batter. Pour a tsp of oil around the edges. Lower the heat and cook till it is done on one side (about two minutes) and turn it over. Turn the heat to medium again. Cook till the other side is also done. Now one adai is ready and the pan will be heated for the next one.

The adai will be golden in colour, thin and crisp. Serve hot with any coconut or green chutney or table butter.

Mutton Kozhambu

Mutton Korma

• 
  
  Take 1/2 kg of mutton , cut into 1 inch pieces. Wash it thoroughly in running water and drain it.
• Apply 1 tsp of chilli powder, 2 tsp of coriander powder and 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder and salt to taste.
• Let it marinate for half an hour.
• Cook it in a pressure cooker with 2 cups of water, 1 sliced onion, 1 chopped tomato and 1/2 inch piece of ginger for 20 minutes.
• Cool it. In the meantime, heat a pan with 2 tsp of oil. Put in one piece of cinnamon, 2 pieces of cloves and 1 tsp of aniseeds, powdered coarsely. In quick succession, put in a few curry leaves, 6 cloves of crushed garlic, 1 finely chopped onion (Tip-use Madras sambar onion for this, if available) and saute well till golden brown.
• Add one chopped tomato (country tomato, if available) and fry till oil separates. (Tip- Add 1/2 tsp of salt here to soften the tomato and it will get cooked into a paste soon).
• Now pour the cooked mutton into the pan and let it come to boil. Simmer it till it is thicker.
• Grind 1/4 cup of coconut (If coconut is not available, substitute 2 tbsp of dessicated coconut or another 2 tsp of fried gram), 2 tsp of fried gram and 1 tsp of aniseeds to a fine paste with very litle water.
• Add it to the simmering gravy and stir well till it is absorbed into the gravy. Simmer for 5 more minutes on low heat and take it off the heat.
• Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with rotis or rice.

Variation from our hometown:

Mutton Kozhambu

Measurement of all ingredients as above. Tamarind will be an additional ingredient.
Pressurecook the mutton with turmeric powder, 1 cup of peeled shallot (sambar onion), 1 chopped country tomato and 1 inch piece of crushed ginger. Cool and add the juice of half lemon-sized tamarind and salt to taste. Keep aside.
Heat 2 tsp of oil. Put in 1 tsp of crushed aniseed, 1 piece of star anise and 1/2 tsp of 'kadal paasi' (optional).
Keep stirring on low heat while you do the next steps in cooking.
Put in a few curry leaves. Add 6 cloves of chopped garlic and 1/2 chopped onion. Stir and add 2 tsp of chilli powder and 2 tsp of coriander powder. Add the cooked mutton mix with the stock and bring it to boil. You can add vegetables like brinjal, drumstick, potatoes or radish (all cut into medium sized pieces) and let it simmer on medium heat, till the veggies are cooked. Stir now and then and keep the vessle covered with a small part uncovered for the steam to escape.
Add a paste of 2 inch piece of coconut (optional), 3 tsp of fried gram, 1 tsp of aniseeds, 1 clove and 1/2 inch piece of cinnamon. Bring it to boil on medium heat, stirring it for about 3 minutes and take it off the heat when it starts to boil. Serve hot with rice.

Another variation. Potato Mutton Masala

In the mutton korma recipe above, add half cup of washed channa dal when you cook the mutton in the pressure cooker. 

Again add two peeled, washed, and cubed potatoesto the cooked mutton when the pressure cooker cools and proceed with the cooking. This variation is good for making korma in larger quantity with less mutton.

Chicken Fry

Ingredients are given in red colouring as the recipe goes.

Take 1/2 kilo of chicken cut into medium sized pieces. Trim and throw away skin and the accompanying fatty portions.

Wash the chicken two times and drain it at once. (Cooking Tip-Always wash meat one or two times in running water and don't let it soak in water as meat absorbs water and retains it).

Pwder 1 inch piece of cinnamon, 2 cloves, 1 tsp of pepper, 1 tsp of cummin seeds and 1 tsp of aniseeds. Grind 2 onions (cut into pieces), 6 cloves of garlic, 1 inch piece of ginger, 1 tomato-quartered and a few sprigs of coriander leaves. Mix both these with 1 tsp chilli powder, 3 tsp Dhania powder, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and salt to taste.

Apply it onto the chicken and let it marinate for 2-3 hours.

Pressure cook it for 10 minutes. Let it cool. Or you can cook it in the microwave oven, covered.

Healthier version without oil:

Put it into a heavy boottomed pan (or use the pressure pan if you had used one) and let it reduce to a thick gravy and the oil separates. (Tip-If the chicken is already over cooked, take out the pieces and keep them in a dish. You can add the pieces to the pan when the gravy is thicker and almost done.)

For kids, tastier version:-)
Take out the chicken pieces and fry them lightly in any veg based-oil and add them to the gravy when it is thick. To make it healthier you can roast them in an oven with a spray of oil and then add them to the dish.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Serve hot with rice or rotis.

Vegetable Biryani

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice 1 cup, cleaned in water and soaked for 15 minutes

Beans, cut into 1/2 inch pieces 1/4 cup
Carrot, diced 1/4 cup
Green Peas, shelled 1/4 cup

Ginger and garlic, ground to a fine paste 2 tsp

Green chillis, slit 2

Coriander leaves, chopped 1/4 cup
Mint Leaves, chopped 1/4 cup

Cinnamon, 1 inch piece
cardamom, 2
Cloves, 2
Bay Leaf, 1

curd: 1/4 cup
Juice of half a lemon
Tomato 1, slit into 4 pieces
Onion, sliced into thin pieces, 1

cashewnuts,to garnish, 4-5 pices roasted

oil or ghee, 2 tbsp
Method:

Heat oil in a flat bottomed non stick vessel which has a wellfitting lid. Fry the onions to a golden brown colour, drain and keep aside for garnish along with the cashewnuts.

In the same oil put in the dry spices of cinnamon cardamom, bayleaf and cloves.

After 10 seconds, put in the coriander leaves and mint leaves, along with slit green chillis.

Then add the ginger garlic paste and fry till oil separates.

Now add the vegetables, curd, lemon juice and tomato. Saute on high heat till water evaporates.

Add the washed and drained rice and mix gently with a wooden ladle. Add 2 cups of boiling water, salt to taste, (a tsp of chilli powder if you like a spicier version).

Cover with the lid and when it is boiling bring down the heat and simmer till the rice is cooked, turning it gently once or twice to help it cook uniformly well.

Spread in a serving dish, garnish with cashew, fried onion and corander leaves.

Serve hot with Onion pachadi (sliced onions mixed with a cup of curds and salt to taste).

Curd Rice, Making curds

How to prepare curds at home (for beginners):


For setting curds, warm milk slightly and pour into a earthern or ceramic bowl. Mix in a tsp of plain yoghurt, stir with a spoon, cover and keep in a warm place to ferment into curds. If you live in very cold regions you can keep this inside a hotpack vessel. Or cover it with a teacosy. The idea is to keep it warm enough to ferment. When it is solidly set, keep it inside the fridge. Now you can start making curds the next day onwards using a tsp of the curds you made with yoghurt at first. Remember to make it a routine to set curds when you boil milk for coffee in the morning. This way you have a constant supply of curds to be eaten with your South Indian Meal (or even to make Raitha with a North Indian Meal). Curds is very good for health as a source of calcium in your daily meals. The helpful bacteria in the curds (Yes, there are bacteria which are friendly and live in your stomach all the time!) helps digest your meals properly. Milk might not suit some people but curds overcomes this disadvantage as it is actually predigested in the fermentation process. It is the Indian equivalent of yoghurt, which can be prepared at home.

To make curd rice, first cook 1 cup of rice in 3 cups of water for more time than you cook for ordinary rice, say 10 minutes of pressure cooking instead of the 6 minutes needed for ordinary rice.

Take out the rice and in a vessel mash it when it is still hot with a broad spoon. Add a teaspoon of salt and mash further. Add cold water, about half a cup, to make it a soft, to a paste-like consistency.

To season:

Heat a tsp of cooking oil in a small pan. Splutter a tsp of mustard, 2 green chillis-slit lengthwise, a few curryleaves and a few slivers of ginger. Add a pinch of asofaetida after taking it off the heat. Pour this into the rice paste and mix well.

When rice is cool, add a big cup of thick fresh curd and mix well. There should be no lumps.

Add a few pieces of carrot and cucumber, cut into small cubes to garnish the rice. You can add seedless fresh green or black grapes too for special occasions.

Now curd rice is ready!

Semiya Payasam

Payasam

There are lots of sweet dishes prepared under this name. Payasam in TamilNadu meals is somewhat similar to the 'kheer' in North India.

Basically, you add sugar or jaggery to well-cooked rice or dal or any pasta, (usually cooked in milk or coconut milk for added rich taste). Let it blend into the payasam on slow heat. Then garnish it with pieces of nuts and dry fruits fried in ghee.

So the recipe is limited only to your imagination. All the recipes that appear here are what I have evolved from my mother's recipes and improved over time with tips from various people.

You can make Semiya payasam in a jiffy. Here is the recipe:

Semiya (vermicili- Thin sticks of pasta) 1/2 cup, broken into small pieces (or you can use the ready made Bambino broken semiya)

Sugar 1 cup

Milk 1 litre

cardamom powder 1/2 tsp

Ghee to roast the semiya

Cashewnuts and raisins (broken and roasted )

Method:

Mix 1 tsp of ghee with the semiya in a microwave vessel. Cook on high for 1 minute to roast it slightly.

Mix half the hot milk with it and cook further for 6 minutes or till the semiya is tender.

Add the sugar and cook till it is dissolved.

Add the rest of the milk and cook till it is thick.

Flavour with cardamom powder

Garnish with roasted cashewnuts and raisins.

Alternatively you can add milkmaid at the end instead of boiling the milk. Adjust the amount of sugar for this.

For semiya you could substitute sabudhana. You can cook rice or puffed rice (poha) also instead of semiya. You can use channa dal or moong dal too. In case you use dals, add jaggery instead of sugar, and coocnut milk instead of ordinary milk, to make it more delicious and differntly flavoured.

Preparing a Meal for Two

Our menu is this:

Rice

Drumstick sambar

Tomato Rasam

Potato kari

Cabbage Poriyal

Curds

How to start your cooking:

Rice: Two cups (or one cup if you eat very little rice)

Tur Dal : 1 cup

Moong Dal:1/4 cup

Vegetables:
One drumstick, two tomatoes, a handful of small sambar onions, one big onion, 1/4 kg of cabbage, 1/4 kg of potatoes, 3 green chillis, 1 tsp of coconut(optional) Curry leaves, coriander leaves

Setting the Pressure cooker:
First you have to set the pressure cooker. Before you do it, soak the tamarind in a small vessel with enough water.

Wash the rice, add two and a half cups of water for each cup of rice you use. Keep in the bottom container.

Next wash the tur dal and add 3 cups of water, a pinch of turmeric powder, half tsp of jeer(cumminseeds) and a tsp of oil (for the dal not to overflow the vessel). Keep this in the middle container of the cooker set.

Next place washed potatoes on the top container (without water).

Pour water in the pressure cooker till the trivet at the bottom is covered in three centimetres of water.

Slide the cooker vessels set of three containers prepared as above, into the cooker. Cover the pressure cooker, put the weight on and when it whistles twice, reduce the heat to minimum. Wait for 8 minutes and switch off the heat. When you wait for this;

Prepare the Vegetables:

Wash all the vegetables. Shred cabbage into fine pieces. Peel sambar onions and slit them lengthwise, if they are big. Slit two green chillis. Chop the tomatoes and onion. Cut the drumstick (or any other sambar vegetable) into one and a half inch pieces.

Start cooking:

Poriyal:
Keep the cabbage in the microwave, or steam it, with half a cup of water till done. When it is hald done stir in half tsp of salt and a pinch of turmeric.

Keep a pan on the stove. Put in a tsp of oil. Put in half tsp mustard, half tsp of urad dal and hald tsp of channa dal. When they turn brown, lower the heat and put in a few curry leaves and a red chilli (or green chilli, if the vegetable is red in colour, like carrot) slit in the middle. Stir for 10 seconds and add the chopped big onion. Saute till transparent and add the cooked vegetable (here, cabbage) along with any leftover water from cooking it. Stir fry till the water is absorbed. Check for salt and add if you need more. Stir in a tsp of grated coconut and take it off the heat.
Cabbage Poriyal is ready.

Getting the pressure-cooked items ready:

By now pressure cooker would have cooled. Remove the vent weight and open the cooker. Take the containers ot. Put the potatoes under cold water to cool them enough. Peel them, cut them into small cubes and keep aside.

Take the Tur dal and pour the exces water on top and a tsp of the cooked dal into a small vessel for use in the preparation of Rasam. Mash the rest of the dal for using in sambar.

Take the rice vessel out. Spoon it into a microwave dish, spread with a fork and let it cool. (Otherwise the rice would stick to each other in the hot steel vessel.) You can reheat it in the microwave at the time of eating.

Alternate choice is to cook the rice just before mealtime. Then you can use it straight from the cooker vessel. You can do this when you have guests and you use the cooker later at the end of preapring all the dishes, to prepare only rice in large quntity. For a small family meal, you need not use the pressure cooker twice.

Sambar:

Squeeze the tamarind in the water and strain it through your hand to keep only the juice. Add some more water and squeeze the juice out fully.

Pour one fourth of it into the rasam vessel. Keep aside for preparing rasam.

Add the mashed tur dal to the rest of the tamarind water and mix well.

Heat a pan with 2 tsp of cooking oil. Splutter half tsp mustard, half tsp urad dal, half tsp cumminseeds, a pinch of asofoetida, a sprig of curry leaves in quick succession.

Put in the slit green chillis, chopped sambar onions, 1 tsp red chilli powder (or 2 tsp sambar powder, if you have it), 3 tsp dhania powder and saute for a minute on low heat. Add one chopped tomato and a tsp of salt. Saute well on low heat;the tomato would get mashed with salt.
Add two cups of water and when it boils add the cut drumstick pieces (or any other vegetable like brinjal, carrot or broad beans). Keep on high heat till the vegetable is half cooked and the raw smell goes off.

Now add the tamarind+tur dal mix with enough water into the pan. Check for salt and add if needed. When it starts to boil, simmer it till the vegetable is cooked and the sambar is ready. Take it off heat and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

Rasam:

Take the rasam vessel and add a tomato to it. Squeeze it into the rasam waterbase. Add a pinch of turmeric and salt as needed. Keep aside.

Grind 1 tsp of pepper and 1 tsp of cumminseeds coarsely. Adda single clove of chopped garlic.

Heat 3/4 of oil in a small pan. Splutter half tsp of mustard , a slit green chilli (or red chilli), a pinch of asofoetida and a sprig of curry leaves in this. Pour in the rasam water into this. Let it come to boil.

Put the ground pepper mixture and a few chopped coriander leaves in the serving bowl. When rasam starts to boil take it off the heat and pour into the serving bowl. Rasam is ready.

Potato Curry:

Sprinkle 1 tsp of chilli powder, 1tsp of coriander powder, a pinch of turmeric and 1 tsp of salt on to the cooled and chopped potatoes.

Heat a pan with 2 tsp of oil. Splutter 1 tsp of mustard and a few curry leaves. Lower the heat. Put in a pinch of asofoetida. Now add the prepared potato pieces. Slowly saute the mixture over medium heat till the pieces are roasted, turning them once every few minutes. Take it off the heat when golden brown.

Now all the items in our menu are done. Of course you have set the curds the previous night as per the instructions in the last post.

If you want you can fry some appalams too to make it a special meal. If you add payasam and vadai and a pachadi to the menu, it becomes a feast!

Our South Indian Meal is ready!