Bitter guard & Brinjal rice

On a cold night, after a tiresome day when you enter your home after work how will you feel when a piping hot bowl of flavorful rice with papads and pickles are presented before you ? Simply heaven right? My lovely mother showed me the heaven yesterday by her heartfelt love and this wonderful dish.

This can be categorized under a quick meal as she said it took less than 10 mins of prep work and the entire process took around 20 mins. Here comes the simple recipe! 

Ingredients:

Raw / Basmati rice – 1 cup

Water – 2.5 cupsBig onion – 1 (chopped)

Tomato small ones – 2 (chopped)

Bitter guard – 1/4 cup (chopped)

Brinjal – 1/2 cup (chopped)Ginger Garlic paste – 1 T

Green chillies (slit lengthwise) – 4 nos

Turmeric – a pinch

Salt – as per taste

Peanut oil – 3 T 

How to make it?

Wash the rice and add the 2.5 cups of water. Place the rice with water in the cooker and without closing the lid keep it on stove top with medium flame. Chop up all veggies and heat oil in the kadai. Once it is hot add the ginger garlic paste and fry them till golden brown. Now add the onions and fry them till they turn pink. Add the tomatoes and cook for 2 more mniutes. Now add the bitter guard and brinjal along with turmeric and cook till the brinjal starts wilting. By this time the water with rice in the cooker will be hot enough. Add this veggie mix to it along with required salt, mix well, close the cooker lid and put on the weight. Cook for 3-4 whistles (depends on your cooker).

Serve piping hot with papad and pickles. You can have it with your favorite raita too.

Amma made a delicious curry with Nethili dry fish.  Believe me, bitter guard never tasted as good as in this rice!

Maavilaku – For RCI Tamil Festival foods

I am back with full energy after some difficult time at home. Yes, my kids were not well and was held up with them since a few days. Now things were in place, started doing my favorite things. And whats the most favorite thing ? Ofcourse blogging  

Maavilaku is one of an important item in Tamil festivals. It is offered for Lord Muruga and Goddess Paarvathi in different occasions. But it is the key item during “Kaarthigai Deepam” a festival for Lord Muruga celebrated during the Kaarthigai month. We all love this maavu with fresh coconut slices.

Ingredients:
1 cup raw rice soaked overnight
6 nos pepper
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup grated jaggery
1/2 cup water
2 pods of cardamom
4 T Ghee
a strand of cotton

Fresh coconut slices to serve

How to make it?
Drain the soaked rice and spread it in a cotton cloth and let it dry for half an hour. The rice grains should not be wet but still moist. Take the rice, pepper, salt and grind it to a fine powder in a mixie. Boil jaggery with water till all the jaggery is dissolved. Take the vessel from the stove and strain it in a colander to remove any dirt. Take the strained liquid in a thick bottom vessel and boil again in low flame. Every now and then dip a spoon into the boiling liquid and drop it in a plate filled with water. If the liquid stands as a ball without getting dissoved immediately take the vessel from the stove and add the rice mixture to it. Add the cardomom pods after powdering them to this mixture. Mix well and again place the vessel on the stove top and mix until the entire mass does not stick to the vessel. Now its done and switch off the stove. Let the mass cool thoroughly.

How is it offered ?
Shape the cooled dough like a bun and press a deep hole in the center half way through. It should resemble a big bowl. (as shown in the pciture). Melt the ghee and fill the hole. Make a wick out of the
cotton and place it in the hole. Lit the wick and place near the lamp in the pooja room.

 

How to eat it?
Make thin slices of fresh coconut. Take a big marble size of the

dough and stick it to the coconut slice.

You can do it on bite sized pieces of coconut too as shown in the pic. Start munching I contribute this for RCI Tamil Festival foods conducted by VCuisice fame Viji!

Chennai bloggers meet…

Meeting the people whom we interact thru blogs everyday is such a wonderful thing! Yes, we almost share our everyday kitchen events. For Indian households Kitchen plays a major role in personal life. When I read my fellow bloggers post I feel I am with them in their kitchen. When Lakshmi of the “The Yum blog” opted for such a meet (meet of all the Chennai food bloggers) I could not control my excitement and I said a bis YES immediately. Since you have read Lakshmi’s post on this let me fill in the gaps. I was the one joined them last due to some dragging personal work. But did not have any difficulty in guessing them when I met.
For first few minutes I could only smile and once my excitement pacified I could not stop chatting. Both Lakshmi and Srivalli were amazing women with their bubbling energy. We could not end up as initially I planned for 2 hours meet within myself but have to struggle hard to end up the conversation. Sharing so many things (most of them are common) in the end I felt both of them close to my heart.

Srivalli is a cool person and her attitude (managing 3 kids and remaining so cool) really made me check mine after getting home. She must be loving her parents like anything as every second line quoted either her father or mother.

Lakshmi is a big bubble of energy with her sweet smile always, gave me so many surprises learning classical dance 12 years, working for a non-profit organization as a volunteer, running her own software startup..and what not! For such a kiddo these were too much! I simply fallen for her sweet smile anyway!

Please read thru Lakshmi’s and Srivalli’s post on the same. Photos were present only of Lakshmi’s post!

N.B: To explain more on the comments written by Srivalli :

I have my humble OTG placed under a table in the corner of our living room to which the kids can never reach. As mentioned several times before I used to do my baking trials late in night after everybody have slept. One night I was under the table checking the doneness of the cake I was baking and when I came out my father who had awaken at that time almost stumbled upon me. Scared he was when I suddenly came out from under the table was commenting ” who was bothering here for you to bake cakes in odd times”. This particualr comment made both Srivalli and Lakshmi laugh for few minutes!

Pregnancy kashayams

For both my pregnancies my mother was very keen in my diet. During the first one I was staying with my mother but for the second one I was in my own home. But she never missed to give me these kashayams everyday night. As she stayed nearby she would make sure to send the kashayam everynight and I have to take it before sleep. Since every kashayam is a treat to your tastebuds and you can experience the nice

changes it brings within you to ease up the pregnancy diffculties I have never said a NO for them. This is a pracitce in North coastal Tamilnadu

(Cuddalore) in every household. Starting from the day one of 7th month of the pregnancy these kashayams will be given.The ingredients are simple and is part of every kitchen.
The following kashayams will be given every night before sleep to the pregnant woman. Since there are 6+1 types of kashayams the cycle will be

repeated till the baby is delivered. All kashayams should be filtered before serving.

Day 1:
1 teaspoon Jeera
2 inch x 2 inch block of palm jaggery (karupatti in Tamil)
2 cups of water

Dry roast the jeeragam in a wide skillet. Once the auroma comes add the water and palm jaggery block. Let it simmer and reduce to 1/2 cup.

Switch off the stove and serve it warm.

Day 2:
1 teaspoon Methi seeds
2 inch x 2 inch block of palm jaggery (karupatti in Tamil)
2 cups of water

Dry roast the Methi seeds in a wide skillet. Once the auroma comes add the water and palm jaggery block. Let it simmer and reduce to 1/2 cup.

Switch off the stove and serve it warm.

Day 3:
4 stems of Curry leaves (remove the leaves and use the stems alone. Each stem should be 10 inch in size)
2 inch x 2 inch block of palm jaggery (karupatti in Tamil)
2 cups of water

Add the water and palm jaggery block along with the water and curry leaf stems in a wide skillet. Let it simmer and reduce to 1/2 cup. Switch off

the stove and serve it warm.

Day 4:
4 stems of Drumstick leaves (remove the leaves and use the stems alone. Each stem should be 10 inch in size)
2 inch x 2 inch block of palm jaggery (karupatti in Tamil)
2 cups of water

Add the water and palm jaggery block along with the water and drumstick leaf stems in a wide skillet. Let it simmer and reduce to 1/2 cup. Switch

off the stove and serve it warm.

Day 5:
1 teaspoon Somb
2 inch x 2 inch block of palm jaggery (karupatti in Tamil)
2 cups of water

Dry roast the Somb in a wide skillet. Once the auroma comes add the water and palm jaggery block. Let it simmer and reduce to 1/2 cup. Switch

off the stove and serve it warm.

Day 6:
1/2 inch piece of  dry ginger (sukku in Tamil) crushed slightly
2 inch x 2 inch block of palm jaggery (karupatti in Tamil)
2 cups of water

Add the crushed dry ginger piece with the water and pal jaggery in a wide skillet. Let it simmer and reduce to 1/2 cup. Switch off the stove and serve it warm.

Day 7:
Lavang – 1 no with the head part removed (This kashayam alone will be given once in a month. On the seventh month it starts with 1 lavangh and it

is incresed as 2 nos by 8th and 3 by 9th.
2 inch x 2 inch block of palm jaggery (karupatti in Tamil)
2 cups of water

Dry roast the Lavang in a wide skillet. Once the auroma comes add the water and palm jaggery block. Let it simmer and reduce to 1/2 cup.

Switch off the stove and serve it warm.

These kashayams eases up urination and cures the edima especially in the lower limbs in the later months of pregnancy. These should be strictly had only after the start of seventh month.

Left over pitta bread dough ?

Today I tried the pita bread recipe from Jai and Bee. The recipe is fool proof and yes I got around 50% puff rate (Thats great with my OTG). But where did I gave up ? I have the basic model OTG and making around 12 pita breads would take a loooong time. For baking a single bread it took me around 10 minutes. I realized when I baked the second one. So for a sample round I baked five breads (For each one in the family) and what did I do with the rest ? I tried to make phulkas with the dough. Please don’t laugh but I did. Made thin Phulkas with the dough and toasted for 3 seconds in a hot tava turning only once. Then placed it on the stove top. Wow! The bread rose up wonderfully. I should say 70% puff rate! But the taste was simply wonderful. When I pretended to serve them as Phulkas to my father after tearing the first piece his eyebrows rose up. After tasting it he said “Excellent ultra soft Phulkas” (he didn’t realize the yeast in it).Yeah now you can make Phulkas with this whole wheat pita bread dough. Have it with u’re favorite gravy. The only condition is the gravy should be thick and not watery at all.
I served them with spicy mushroom curry.

Dates Pudding

Not everyday I could bake even though I love to. My family enjoys all the baking goodies I make, everybody at home will be busy all the time and I would not get a helping hand when I need. After a break of more than a week I baked this wonderful pudding. I should say its simply wonderful. Here is the recipe.

I made few changes to it. Added a handful of watermelon seeds to cover the top of it and give a nice look. It tasted good too. And I felt the pudding is rather sweet and hence skipped the sauce part.

Yet the warm pudding is an ultra soft and melt in the mouth kind and I would say its really the best way to send in so much of dates all together

Verkadalai Kuzhambu

Its the work front that beholded me from posting new recipes. Even though, I did some trials and took photos. Here is our family favorite recipe. The season of fresh groundnuts has started and veggie markets have big heaps of fresh groundnuts. I love the smell of fresh groundnuts with the touch of that’s of the soil in it. Also I love to munch on them while breaking the shells. The sweet milky taste of the tender groundnuts are a treat to your taste buds. Amma makes this delicious kuzhambu during this season. Its a medley of fresh ground nuts, brinjals and drumsticks. It can go well with hot rice but I would say the best combo is with Kezhvaragu kali (Ragi kali). And now comes the recipe…

Ingredients:
Freshly shelled groundnuts – 1 1/2 cups
Small brinjals  – 4 (cut into 4 length wise)
Drumsticks – 1 (cut into 2 ih pieces)
Tomato – 1 medium sized (chopped)
Shallots – 10
Garlic – 6 pods
Vadagam - 1 T spoon
Sambar podi – 4 T spoons
Turmeric powder – 1/2 teaspoon
Tamarind – 1 lemon sized ball soaked in 5 cups of water for 10 minutes
Salt as per taste
Groundnut oil – 4 T spoon

How to make it?
Squeeze the soaked tamarind in the water and remove the pulp. Add the sambar podi, turmeric powder, salt to the tamarind extract. Heat a wide skillet and add the ground nut oil to it. When it is hot add the vadagam. When it starts spluttering add the shallots and garlic to it and fry till both of them turn pink. Add the tomato and fry till it becomes mushy. Add the groundnuts to this and saute for 5 minutes till the raw smell of it goes off. Then add the cut brinjals and saute till they become tender. Now pour in the tamarind mix. Let it boil for 7-8 minutes. Now add the drumsticks to it. Boil till the veggies are cooked well. Check for the salt and adjust as per your taste. When the oil starts to appear on the top time to switch off the stove.

Leave it for 30 minutes for the flavors to blend in. Serve hot with rice and papad. This does not need any side dish at all.