Amma’s special…

It all began in a google search (sigh! the same old story) and I stumbled upon Mahanandi some one and half years back. I was sick at that time for months which made my taste buds numb. I started trying out recipes from Mahanandi and the first one is “Baby potatoes in chilli tamarind sauce”. It made my tastebuds back to life and the interest in searching for recipes and trying out them at home brought me out of my sick mood. Slowly my health came back to normal as I started eating well. From Indira’s food blog list I got in to Sia, Sra, Jai and Bee, Ammupatti’s thoughts, Asha, Mathy, Sailu, Archana (Spicyana), Sandeepa, Inji Pennu, Anjali, Jyothsna, Meeta, Raaga, Sig, Neivedyam, LivetoCook etc. These were the people whose blogs were visited regularly. I never seen the comment link (dumbo me) for the first six months as even though I used to read their posts never bothered to comment. Once I accidentally clicked on the comment link in Mahanandi and thenI started posting comment.

There were so many reasons for every foodie to start their own blog and mine should be the funniest one. I was so crazy about Indira and when I posted my first comment on her web page the link asked for a url and I immediately registered one (a random thought about the name and the title) and completed the comment.

The next day I entered into the settings page of my blog and slowly started setting it up with the theme I liked and wrote the About page. It all happened on May 9th and I posted two recipes on the same day. I did not have any photographs (even till now haven’t posted any). My first and second posts are still virgin as I did not have a single comment for it till date

Then in the month of June JFI Jackfruit was announced and I posted my entry. Bee was the first one to comment in my blog and Sia the next when I left a comment in the dining hall.

And then burst out my interest for baking. I bought my simple OTG and started trying out several recipes of cakes, cookies etc.

Now I am a regular reader of my favorite buddies along with the above list Srivalli, Suganya, Kamini, Lakshmi, Rachel, Lavi, Kamalika, Bharathy, Namratha, Nags, Sunita, Bhags, Arundhathi, Renuka, Kamala etc.

Every single comment, every little increase in the page hits, every reply to my mails (was not able to post my comment in few sites and hence used to send mails to them) had made great changes in my life. The food blog world has influenced my life by relieving my stress, making me to eat properly (none of my freinds would ever believe that I would be a foodie as I am such a fussy and poor eater). Apart from all of these my love to my Amma has increased several times as I started recording her recipes here. She was so happy when there is a place in which her siblings and coming generation could find her talents.

Bee turned to be truly inspirational for my amateur CLICKs. Thanks dear!

And the series I started “I hate Bitter gourd; You love Bitter gourd” is the only new thing from my side.

And Thanks to every single soul for making such a difference in my life. A simple celebration of my blog’s first anniversary with a rose milk payasam (recipe to be posted soon).

Last week I found I am nearing the 100 post count and thats the reason for my racing to reach the target on this day. And now Sra and Bhags u know the reason And this is my 100th post!
I will be blogging until I can!

This is one among the must-try dishes in my list and finally I could make an entry for “Think Spice” event this moth. The recipe is very forgiving and because of the climate and the hurrying, messing-up me, I cannot make mounds of dough though the hot weather left the dough bit flowy.

When mixing up as I add the first egg the dough was still sticky and thick and I was wonderfg when will it turn to be “shiny and soft”. But the second egg made all the change.
Instead of Vannila I added cardamom just to peep in to this month’s Think Spice event but it made a wonderful change and the cream puffs were a hit among the kids. My fussy elder one galloped 2 at a stretch and was waiting near the oven for the next batch to get ready.

Adapted from David Lebovitz’s Creampuff

Ingredients:
All purpose flour / Maida - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 2 Table spoon (I increased the quantity for the kids)
Freshly ground cardamom - 1/2 tea spoon
Water - 1/2 cup
Butter - 3 T spoon
Salt - 1 pinch
Eggs - 2

How to make it?
In the saucepan boil the water, sugar, salt and butter until the butter is melted fully. Add the powdered cardamom and the flour all at once and mix thoroughly with a spoon. The dough will become a creamy thing coming into a ball without sticking to the pan. Add one egg at a time Now with an electric beater or a spoon beat after each addition until its thick and shiny.

Keep refrigerated for an hour. Pre-heat the oven and in a baking sheet place small mounds of the dough with 3 inches space in between. These tend to puff up nicely. And bake for 35 minutes. But here my OTG made a difference as the cream puffs turned to be puffy and golden just after 12 minutes. This might be due to the consistency of the dough (as there is a power cut and to my hurry I skipped the refrigerating part) as it spread into little pancakes rather than stand up in the mound shape as shown in the original recipe.
But all the way it turned to be yummy as it got finished off in minutes. I shall be making it again soon.

This is my entry for Think Spice - Cardamom hosted by lovelyEC.

Almost 2 years back I saw this recipe in Tarladalal’s weekly mail. I tried it and was a hit at home. My sis likes it very much. She had it as it is but I felt if served with a cup of curds it would be a filling meal. The pepper adding the zing to this paratha and onion to the crunchiness, yes they were truly adorable.

Ingredients:
Wheat flour - 1 cup
Salt - 1/4 tea spoon
Freshly ground black pepper - 1 tea spoon
Grated cheese - 1/4 cup
Onions chopped - 1/4 cup
Ghee for cooking the parathas
1/4 cup of water

How to make it?
Mix all the ingredients thoroughly except water. Add water 1 Table spoon at a time to form a pliable doung. Due to the onions the doung won’t be too smooth. Divide the dough into 6 equal sized balls. Roll them in to rotis. Heat a griddle or a tawa and cook the rotis on both side till golden brown with little ghee.

Serve warm with curds on the side.
This is my entry to Roti mela conducted be dear Srivalli.

Shall I make a bread with bell peppers ? Or shall I make sarson-ka-saag ? Shall I try a chutney ? After so many questions and confusions with keeping the humble bell pepper in hand the mini tartlet shells were peeping out of thier home and was asking “Its nearly a year since u got us ? Why you never dare to try anything with us ? “.

Then I decided and settled down for a bell pepper cheese tartlets. Not bad right ? And I dared to try just two (just two ??) and the measurements were all exact and the I was blessed yesterday with these warm, crisp, cheesy, flavored with bell pepper’s crunchiness with these tartlets.

I should bet that it took just 10 minutes to whip up this delicious snack and a definite kid pleaser. You can make them and pop them into the oven and prepare a tea and can find them ready when you are done with tea. It can be an excellent snack during tea time.
Now coming to the recipe :
Ingredients :
All purpose flour / Maida flour - 1/2 cup
Wheat flour - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1/4 tea spoon
Butter - 1/4 cup (cold)
Bell pepper - deseeded and chopped 1/2 cup
Grated cheese - 1/2 cup

How to make it?
Per-heat your oven.
Mix the maida and wheat flour along with the salt. Cut in the cold butter with your fingers in the flour mix and mix with your tip of your fingers till the mix resembles bread crumbs. Add 2 Table spoon of water and mix until the doung comes together. Add water is the mix is too dry 1 teaspoon at a time. Knead for 3-4 minutes and form 6 equal sized balls.
Take the chopped bell pepper and srpinkle some salt and mix well. You can crushed black pepper too if you want.
Take one ball of the dough and pat it on a plastic sheet to a circle that could fit in snugly inside your mini tart pan. Butter the mini tart pans and place the circle of doung inside it and with your fingers push it neatly inside to cover the shell till the top. Place a tea spoon full of chopped bell peppers and spread 1 tea spoon full of grated cheese over it. Repeat for the remaining dough. Thats it your tarts were ready to go into the oven. Bake the tarts for 10-12 minutes. My oven took this time. But please watch out and take them out when you see the edges start getting golden brown.

When cooled remove the tarts by onverting the shells on a serving plate. Serve warm with tea or your favorite drink. This makes a great starter or snack. This is my entry for JFI - Bell Pepper hosted by lovely Pooja.

Black gram or Urad dal with the husk is not commonly used in our households. During my grandma’s days she used to buy them in bulk and soak them for idlis. Its tough to remove the skins after soaking and needed several washes. Amma had soaked a cup of these last week. I was surprised on seeing it and asked whats that for. She enthusiastically said “Another nice post for u’re blog”. I am thrilled to hear that she’s going to make a drumstick leaf kootu with that. A new combo for me but she said they used to have it during their childhood days.
Amma has almost become a foodie as she recollects old recipes for me these days. So nice of her
Coming to the recipe the urdal dal should ne soaked atleast 24 hours before cooking and cooked with the husk. The fresh murungai keerai and crunchy onions were a nice addition. I think istead of grated coconut if we could add a thick cup of coconut milk it would have been tastier.

Ingredients:
Black gram or Urad dal with husk - 1 cup (soaked for 24 hours and pressure cooked for 3 whistles in this way)
Fresh drumstick leaves - 1 cup
Onion - 1 medium sized chopped
Tomato - 1 small chopped
Peanut oil - 1 T spoon
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tea spoon
urad dal for taalipu - 1/2 tea spoon
Dry red chillies - 2 (split)
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Garlic - 1 pod
turmeric - 1 pinch
Grated coconut - 2 T spoon
How to make it?

Soak the back gram in water for 24 hours. Wash several times in water. Add 1/2 cup of water, a garlic pod, a pinch of turmeric and pressure cook for 3 whistles.

In a wide skillet heat the peanut oil and once hot add the mustard and 1/2 tea spoon of urad dal along with asafoetida. Once the seeds splutter add the cooked urad dal and the chopped onions and tomatoes. Add very little water (if required) so that everything is in a kootu consistency and cook till the onions are soft. Add salt as per taste. Now add the drumstick leaves and cook for another 10 minutes in low flame. Adjust salt if required at this stage. Add the grated coconut and switch off the stove.

Serve warm with rice and a pickle for a simple but nutritious meal. I served them with Indira’s tomato pickle.

Bitter gourd is a staple vegetable for appa (he eats it almost 3-4 times a week). It would be a simple saute with little chilli powder. But Amma makes sure we too eat it atleast once in a week. She makes several version to send this wonderful veggie inside us but this particular dish is always a hit. Even during our childhood days we never refused to eat it this way.

The onions add a balance to the bitterness and the tamarind tanginess makes it more interesting to eat it. Even though its made as a side dish I like to have it mixed with piping hot rice with a papad.

Ingredients :

Bitter gourd - 1 cup (seeds removed and chopped)

Onion - 1/2 cup (chopped)

Sambar podi / Chilli powder - 1 tea spoon

Turmeric - 1 pinch

Salt - 1/2 tea spoon (or as per taste)

Peanut oil - 1.5 T spoon

Tamarind - 1 gooseberry sized soaked in 1/4 cup of water

How to make it?

Squeeze the tamarind after 15-20 minutes of soaking and filter it. Reserve the extract. Heat the peanut oil in a thick bottomed vessel or a non-stick pan. Once it is hot add the chopped onions and saute till they turn pink. Add the chopped bitter gourd and saute for 10 minutes in low flame. Now add the sambar podi / chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt and the tamarind extract and mix well. Adjust salt at this stage. Keep cooking in low flame stirring often to ensure the curry is not stikcing to the pan. Let the entire mix be semi-dry. Switch off the stove and serve with hot piping rice.

Its a rare combination for me. When amma was soaking karamani (black-eyed beans) I was thinking about a kulambu but when she started chopping Knool khol/Kohlrabi together I was wondering whats this new combo?
But this turned to be yet another yummy side dish. Soaking the beans is the only prerequisite and otherwise its a jiffy one to make. When served with rice or roti this becomes an unusual yet nutritious combination.
Ingredients:
Knool khl / Kohlrabi - skinned and chopped to bite sized pieces 1 cup
Black eyed beans - soaked and cooked to fork tender 1 cup
Sambar podi - 1 tea spoon (substitute with 1/2 tea spoon chilli powder and 1/2 tea spoon coriander powder)
Salt - as per taste
Garlic - crushed 1 tea spoon
Peanut oil - 1 T spoon

How to make it?
In a thick bottomed skillet heat the peanu oil and once it is hot add the crushed garlic. Saute till they turn golden brown and add the cooked beans to this. Add the sambar podi, salt and saute till the raw smell of sambar podi goes off. Add the knool khol and add 1/4 cup of water and the salt. Mix well and cover and cook over medium heat till all the water evaporates. Open the lid and saute till the curry becomes dry. Switch off the stove and garnish with coriander leaves.

The garlic aids easy digestion of the beans and the knool kkh

Ven poosani or Ash gourd is my favorite vegetable. During childhood my grandmother used to forbid this wonderful veggie as she was afraid we might get cold when we eat this coolant veggie. But its a mandatory thing during the festival of Pongal. A mild sambar is cooked to mix with the pongal.
But Amma used to make these whenever we find it in the market. Yesterday I bought a small one home and today it turned to be a wonderful fragrant sambar. Since the heat in Chennai is scorching Amma is more keen on the dishes she makes and the veggies we take. So I shall post all of them under a category “Summer cooking” which would be helpful to people who choose their dishes according to the season.
This would be first in the series. This sambar does not use Sambar podit (Do u here it Bee ?) and thus very mild tasting. I should say there is much more ash gour pieces than the dal and onions in this. Let me come to the recipe now.

Ingredients:
Ash gourd - 3 cups (Skin peeled, inside seeds and flesh along with the seeds removed and cut into bite sized pieces)
Toor dal cooked - 1 cup
Green chillies - 3 (vertically slit half way)
Salt - 1 tea spoon
Tamarind - 1 gooseberry sized (soaked in 1/2 cup of water)
Onion - 1 (medium sized chopped)
Tomato - 1 (medium sized chopped)
Peanut oil - 2 T spoon

For Taalipu:
Peanut oil - 1 tea spoon
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tea spoon
Asfoetida - a pinch
Curry and Coriander leaves for garnishing

How to make it ?
In the thick bottomed wide skillet heat the peanut oil. Once hot add the onions and saute till they turn pink. Now add the toamtoes and saute till the skins come off. Add the ash gourd pieces and saute till they turn translucent. Now add the split green chillies and the cooked toor dal. Mix well and add 1/2 cup of water. No more water will be required as the ash gourd cooks will give out more liquid to dilute the sambar. Cook covered for 10 minutes in low flame or until the ash gourd is cooked. Add salt at this stage and adjust the salt if required. Switch off the stove. In another small skillet heat the oil for Taalipu and once hot add the mustard seeds and asafoetida. Once the seeds splutter add the curry leaves and pour this in to the sambar. Now add the coriander leaves to the samabr and cover the vessel. Let the flavors blend in for 15 minutes.
Serve hot with rice or Idlis.

Hot becomes the season. Everywhere everybody crib about the scorching heat. The frequent power cuts that too during peak times in the day make us crib a lot. The children roaming around with prickly heat are a real pathetic scene. But where else can we go escaping from the Soorya Bagawan ?
But yes there are ways to keep ourselves cool with what we eat and few healthy habits. Eating steamed food and preferring more coolant veggies like ash gourd, ridge gourd, cucumbers, snake gourd etc are a nice way. Drinking lots of fruit juices, butter milk, tender coconut etc are also nice way to drive away the heat.
When opting for steam cooked food this Neer urundai is another family favorite. I have seen several versions around in the blogosphere but let me also add to the content
Amma makes this often during the summer time as its a good evening snack as well as a light meal. Cooked with plain rice flour and crunchy onion and grated coconut this is a delight to have it anytime in the day. Its quite filling yet light on your stomach. Coming to the recipe.

Ingredients:
Par boiled rice - 2 cups (soaked for 3-4 hours)
Onion - 1 medium sized chopped finely
Grated coconut - 1/4 cup
Urad dal - 1 T spoon
Chana dal - 1 T spoon
Asafoetida - 2 pinches
Msutard - 1/2 tea spoon
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Coriander leaves - 1 T spoon
Red chillies - 2
Peanut oil - 2 T spoon

How to make it?
Drain the soaked rice and grind it to a smooth paste with very little water. A good tip to have a check on the water quantity is adding water in Table spoons one at a time whenever your grinder/mixie stuggles to revolve. Keep the
In the thick bottomed wide skillet heat the peanut oil. Once its hot add the mustard seeds and asafoetida. Once the seeds start splutter add the urad dal and chana dal. Saute till they turn golden brown. Add the curry leaves and split dry red chillies and saute till the chillies turn bright red. Add the grated coconut and saute for 10 seconds. Now put all the rice flour at once and stir well. Simmer the stove and keep stirring till the entire mix does not stick to the container. At this stage switch off the stove and let the mixture cool for 5 minutes. When it is still hot make small lemon sized balls out of the dough. Apply some oil to u’re palms while making this to avoid the dough getting sticked to u’re hands.
Now take the balls and spread it on a Idli plate/Idiappam plate and steam it for 10 minutes.

Serve warm with any chutney of your choice. You can have them on their own too!

When myself, Lakshmi and Srivalli met some months ago we could hardly part by the end of the day. And how would it be if some 10 of us meet ? I thought a day won’t be enough but somehow managed. You all would have read about it here, here and here and few more too. Let me not miss out narrating the most enchanting event in Chennai ;).

When Srivalli compiled a list of bloggers to meet my first surprise is to find Sra lives in Chennai. And so many girls around ? I am more than happy to meet them all. Lakshmi being the humble host published the menu too. We all opted one dish to bring for the potluck. I am more curious on the taste of the food we bring than the people as Sra’s father’s comments made me think so

But none of the lovely ones made me dissapointed. As they blog lovely recipes they cook them so deliciously and when they served it with utmost care during the meet that was simple heaven in the scorching hot Chennai now.

We started with Rachel’s olive oil bread and I have never tasted home made berad other than the hard pillows I have tried before. The first bite made me close my eyes. Its bursting with flavour and the spongy bread is a wonderful satarter. Rachel I was dreaming about this berad for the past 2 days

Kamini’s aloo tikkis were a treat when dipped in the red and green chutneys she made to send them inside. I had it on its own.

Sra being the louder participant she managed the humour and “make-us-feel-at-home” very well. She’s a lovely person as lovely as her paneer gravy. the spongy paneer cooked in a cashew gravy was a mouthful of treat when wrapped up in a piece fo the soft naans that Lakshmi made.

Arundhathi’s lace like idiappams when paired with sweet and sour mango kalan took me to the clouds. They wer eso very nice dear! And after very lobg time I tasted home made idiappams.

Dear SriValli made the enchanting Chana puloa with a raita. When she opened the container the aroma filled the entire room. Wonderful Valli!

Then we ended up with Laskmi’s creamy, chill curd rice studded with ruby red pomogranetes. A wonderful way to finish up the food.

Now coming to the dessert part there were upteen number of items. Jaysree’s Chakavaraty payasam was a sweet treat and Lavi’s spongy rasagulla’s were soft little pillows. I have never eaten such spongy ones before. Kamalika’s chakrai pongal is another authentic dish. I made some florentines (would post the recipe link soon) and am glad that everybody liked it.

Srivalli gave us coconut barfis and Arundhathi a wonderful banana bread to end up the show.

Bharathy and Renuka took lotsa efforts to meet us all.

To sum up lovely looking people, cooked lovely dishes and served them with the warmth of love and care. We need to meet again for longer time again !