Ulundu vadai – Urad dal fritters

Showing off is part of every child and looks like is part of every adult too! And we just wait for opportunities. Last Sunday we had a guest of a 60 year old man along with his 28 year old son. There were my Father’s friend’s relative. As soon as they entered in and after comfortably seated my father introduced all of us to him one by one. As soon as my younger daughter is introduced se asked back their names politely and did a big namaskaram too by which they were way too impressed. They didn’t expect this from a 3.5 year old little girl. But they didn’t know whats the objective of this phew!

She had just joined a classical music class and would have hardly attend a couple of sessions. She had byhearted the first couple of swarams in the sarali varisai and she suddenly said to the guest that she knows singing and would like to sing for them. They were very pleased and said yes. She started her “Sa Re ga ma…” and the old man was taken aback. Might be he was expecting a “Bah Bah black sheep” or a “Twinkle twinkle…” but not this for sure.

After this then came the elder one to demonstrate his keyboard playing skills (mind you, he too has attended just a couple of sessions). By this time they were exhausted I suppose. And the final one came from my Appa. He went in and took 2 slices of the caramelized fig cake (recipe soon) and started showing off my baking skills. I couldn’t hide my laughter and went inside the kitchen to make some tea for them.

Later as they left myself and my sis could not stop laughing for a long time on this “Family Showing Off” session ! Looked like the old man enjoyed everything. Thanks he didn’t feel offended. So now coming to the recipe of the day….

One more vadai recipe but this time its not made in the same week as the previous one. I actually made it for Meeta’s Monthly mingle high tea but missed posting it.

Every South Indian household will know this recipe and everybody has their own ways. But basic ingredients never vary. Any feast made in the poorest family to the richest will include these vadai along with a payasam. That actually rounds up any big feast.

Ingredients : (makes 20 small vadai)

Husked whole urad dal – 1 cup

Onion chopped – 1/2 cup

Green chilled chopped – 1 T spoon

Salt to taste

How to make it ?

Soak the urad dal for half an hour. Grind it in a stone grinder by sprinkling very little water until you get a fluffy batter. Try to sure as much less water as possible. If grinding in a mixie make sure you leave the mixie to cools down whenever you observe the jar is hot. Add the salt in the last few laps of grinding. The right consistency is if you drop a spoon full of batter in a bowl of water the batter should float.

Take the batter in a bowl and mix in the chopped onions and green chillies. Heat the peanut oil in a thick bottomed kadai until smoking hot. Drop spoon full of the batter and deep fry till golden. Don’t leave it for long else the outer layer will get burnt. Removed the ones with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. Serve hot with a cuppa!

Keerai Vadai – Dal fritters with greens

Its raining cats and dogs in this part oft he world. The monsoon rains made us crave enough and suddenly hit us hard with heavy downpours. As there was not much disturbance to everyday life still the weekend makes cravings for hot deep fried food. A bunch of ponnanganni greens which was originally planned for a kootu were forced to morph into these crispy vadais. They turned to be fabulous. I know, greens when deep fried looses all their good qualities but forgive me for this occasional indulgence
Keerai vadai can include any greens but high-water content ones are not recommended. Thse ponnaganni greens were perfect for vadais. Jumping on to the recipe…
Ingredients:
Ponankanni greens (leaves only, washed and pat dried tightly packed) – 1 cup
Chana dal – 1/2 cup
Toor dal – 1/4 cup
Dry red chillies – 3
Sombu – 1/2 tea spoon
Peanut oil for deep frying – 1-2 cups
Salt to taste

How to make it ?
Soak the dals in water for half an hour. In the sumeet style mixie grind a dd the sombu and salt and red chillies and grind it coarsely. Add the dals coarsely. Do it in pulses else it would soon become mushy. 5-4 pulses would do. Now take out the mixture and add the greens. Do not shop the l leaves as they might taste bitter.

In a thick bottomed kadai heat peanut oil till 2 inches deep until smoking point. Take the dough in table spoon and drop it in ot oil. Fry till they turn golden and remove with a slotted spoon. Drain them on a kitchen towel and serve warm with a cup of masala chai

Sit by your window sill and enjoy the rain drops chattering with the vadai and chai !
This is my entry to MLLA-17 hosted by dear Sra originally found by Susan

Gulab Jamun for ICC October

When Srivalli announced that October month’s challenge for ICC is Gulab jamun, I was more than happy. Because I had Indo’s Gulab Jamun already in the list. In the history of my family we have been using ready mix only for years to make these delicious melt in your mouth jamuns. I was thrilled by the step-by-step explanation provided by Indo and had marked it right away for Diwali.

Everything went as per plan. I have one doubt on me making a mistake. When I mixed the yogurt and baking soda I think I have not kneaded into th dough uniformly and hence few of my jamuns were fluffy and soft and few turned to be slightly rubbery. But on the whole they tasted very creamy and kovaish and my elder one literally lived on it almost a week after Diwali. I am so happy and next time when I do I shall watch out the baking soda. Thanks Srivalli for the challenge and Indo for the fool proof recipe!

Gulab Jamun from Indo

Ingredients

Whole milk – 4 litres
Maida (all purpose flour) – 1/2 kg
Curd (yogurt) – 1 tbsp
Baking soda – 1 tsp
Sugar – 2 litres
Lemon – 1/2

Ghee – 2 cups for deep frying.

Method

To Make Khova

In a wide mouthed heavy bottom pan add the milk and heat it in a medium flame (add a couple of stainless steel spoons into the milk to avoid burning)Reduce the milk for 3-4 hours till the milk solidifies and becomes thick.Whip together yogurt and baking soda

 

To the khova add the flour and yogurt mixture and knead till it forms a pliant dough. (make sure not to add too much flour, just enough flour to make the khova pliant)

Make 3/4 inch diameter balls and set aside

Prepare sugar syrup

In a pan add the sugar and just enough water to cover the sugar. Heat till it comes to a boil.

Squeeze the half of the lemon (this is to avoid sugar crystals). Set aside.

Deep frying the Jamuns

Heat the ghee and deep fry the balls, adding a few at a time till golden brown.

Cool the balls and soak them in the sugar syrup.

Let sit for a few hours.

Normally ghee is recommended for frying the jamuns, but regular cooking oil can also be used. But I used ghee for a great favor! After all it’s for the festival

Sweet Corn Kichidi with spicy Kurma

I was going merry on the frequency I blog nowadays. As Jai and Bee have reserved the next announcement for CLICK only in December I come here to check my blog clicks and wonder why there were very less.

Stupid me without having any post in good frequency lots of regular readers that I have lost in the recent past. Have a much of drafts ready and I hope to post them in a line.

I had bought some sweet corn from the regular vegetable shop sometime back. We usually boil them with some salt and snack on it otherwise it would go in to this crispy adai. But this time after making this sprout kichidi I was in a kichidi spree. I sliced off the corn kernels and with a little butter and fragrant basmati rice they turned into a creamy kichidi which when served with a spicy kurma was a real treat! You can as well make it with as a weeknight dinner with just some pickle on the side too.

Now getting on to the recipe….

Corn Kichidi

Ingredients:

Basmati rice – 1 cup

See corn kernels – 1 cup

Bay leaf slightly crushed – 1/2

Cloves with head removed – 2

Cinnamon – 1 inch stick (break into tiny pieces)

Onion thinly sliced – 1

Ginger grated – 1 tea spoon

Green chillies- 2 vertically slit

Peanut Oil – 2 T spoon

Butter melted / ghee – 1 tea spoon

Salt – as per taste

Water – 2.5 cups

How to make it ?

To removed the kernels from the cob. hold the corn vertically head side up and with a sharp thin knife slice the slides from upside to downwards. Let the slicing be deep enough otherwise it would shave just halves of the kernels.

Wash the rice once in water, drain and reserve. Heat the oil and ghee in a thick bottomed skillet and once smoking add the cloves, cinnamon and bay leaf. Once they start sizzling add the green chillies, grated ginger and onions. Saute them till the onions turn brown on the edges. Add the corn kernels and saute till they are well coated with oil. Now add the drained rice and saute till they too are coated well with oil and start turning bright white. Add 2.5 cups of water and required salt. Adjust salt to your taste. Mix well cover and let it come to a rolling boil. Transfer the content to a vessel and pressure cook for 2 whistles.

Once the cooker cools down open the lid and fluff the cooked kichidi with a fork. It will be creamy and slightly mushy. If you want your kichidi to be separate reduce water to 2 cups and cook for 1 whistle.

Serve piping hot with a spicy kurma. Enjoy!

Arachuvitta Sambar for Idlis

Idli being a staple breakfast and dinner at home we never get tired of it (do I kid myself? every other day I complain) but not really on the idlis but on the side dish we make. The usual ones are the coconut chutney, tomato chutney, onion chutney or the humble idli milagai podi. Some time this very simple podi too can spike the more so plain idlis.

Occassionally atleast once in a week or two I make this arachuvita sambar to make idlis a celebration. I have not done justice regarding the photos as posting the sambar without idlis are totally bad. But will promise that I will update once I make it again. But the mini idlis or pieces of idli floating in a bowl full of this sambar and a drizzle of ghee is a definite treat that too for a Sunday morning.

After bathing and feeding the two kids and my late morning bath on a Sunday I would settle with this bowl full in the balcony with my favorite Tamil weekly. And that calls for a perfect weekend

The primary ingredient of this is the sambar onions or shallots and hence if that is not available please please do not substitute with the large onions. Wait till you get the little ones and make this. I can never give my word for the taste front if there is a substitution !

Ingredients :

Toor dal cooked – 1 Cup (If you have the water cooked along with it reserve it)

Tamarind – 1 small lime sized (soak it in 1 Cup of water)

Sambar onions/ shallots – 20 nos (peeled and washed)

Sambar powder – 1.5 teaspoon

Tomato chopped – 3/4 cup

Peanut oil – 3 T spoon

Coriander leaves for garnishing – 1 handful

For the paste :

Coriander seeds – 1 teaspoon

Coconut – Freshly grated 1/4 cup

Red chilly – 3 nos

How to make it ?

In a thick bottomed wide skillet heat 1.5 T spoon of peanut oil. Once it is smoking lower the flame to medium and add the shallots (don’t chop them unless they were more than of 1 inch size). Fry till the outer layer starts wilting and about to peel off. Now add the chopped toamtoes and saute till they become soft. Add the Sambar powder, cooked toor dal and enough water to make it to a desired consistency. It should be like a thick soup. Add salt to taste and cover and let it boil for 7-10 minutes. In the mean time squeeze the tamarind with the water and extract the pulp. Filter it using a colander and reserve the extract. When the dal mix was boiled for the said time add this extract and let it boil for another 5 minutes. In the mean time in a separate thick bottomed vessel heat the remaining peanut oil and when hot add the coriander seeds and fry till you get a nice aroma. Add the chilies and fry till they turn crisp. Add the coconut and fry till the coconut starts browning. Switch off the stove and let this cool. Take it in a stone grinder or a mixie and grind it to a coarse paste with very little water. Add spoon by spoon by listening to our mixie’s sounds.

When the sambar is boiled after adding the tamarind extract for 5 mins. add this round paste and mix well. Let this boil for 2-3 mins and add a handful of chopped coriander leaves and switch off the stove. Cover vessel immediately.

Laddle the sambar in a large soup bowl. Float mini idlis or pieces of idlis. Drizzle a spoon of melted ghee and enjoy with a spoon ! Slurp
This amount serves 3 very hungry people but at home where people drink a bowl full of sambar for just two idlis it would be enough for 2 persons having 4 idlis each

Murungai Poo Kootu – Drumstick blossom dal

Ah, should I really need to translate? I don’t have any non-indian readers. Very rarely one or two. But for unwritten blogging rules I shall stick to the translation
Cooking with blossoms is not a regular fair at home except for plantain flower. You can add this to make a list. Usually during the drumstick season when there is abundance of the blossoms in the tree the owners of the tree were very particular about preserving them for the vegetable. So we cannot simply shake the branches and collected the sheded flowers. But occasionally if there is a wind or a quick shower you can find lot of these flowers on the ground. Living in the city has stolen several luxuries from us and these drumstick blossoms were one among them.
Last week when my Sis visited a nearby temple found a drumstick tree (it’s really odd) near the pathway. As we had slight showers the night before she could find lots of the flowers on the ground. Since it’s within the temple premises the ground was clean and she quickly collected as much fresh blossoms as she could. As its said to be an aphrodisiac we are still hooked to it’s mildly sweet taste.
Amma makes a fantastic kootu and its years since we relished it. Mixing with hot steamed rice and dollop of ghee this is a filling meal.

Murungai Poo / Drumstick blossoms – resembles jasmine flower

Murungai Poo Kootu / Drumstick blossom kootu
Ingredients :
Drumstick flowers packed – 1 cup
Chana dal – 1/2 cup
Onion chopped – 1/4 cup
Mustard seeds + Urad dal for seasoning
Peanut oil – 1 teaspoon
Grated fresh coconut – 2-3 T spoon
Red chilli broken into pieces – 2
Salt to taste
Hing – 1 pinch

How to make it ?

Pressure cook chanadal with 3/4 cup of water in a pressure cooker for 1 whistle or you can boil it in stove top with more water until soft. Don’ make it mushy. In a thick bottomed pan tip the chanadal along with the remaining water inwhich it is cooked and add the onions and boil for 5-7 minutes. You will get a nice aroma of onions cooked. Wash several times with running water and drain the drumstick flowers in a colander. Add this to the boiling chanadal and onion mix. Let it cook for 4-5 mins. Add salt to taste. Add the grated coconut and boil for another minute and switch off the stove. Now in a separate vessel heat the peanut oil and when hot add the mustard seeds and urad dal. When the mustard seeds splutter add a pinch of hing and the broken red chillies and when you get a nice aroma (just count 10-15) tip it in the kootu. Garnish with curry leaves and serve warm with a dollop of ghee with steamed rice.

Moong sprouts kichidi

On a recent visit to the vegetable shop I picked up a pack of moong sprouts. After reading so many posts on sprouting legumes at home the lazy me bought this as I wanted to ty something immediately and do not want to wait till the moong dal sprout on its own in my kitchen.

Saying this I had some broken wheat at home lying around unused and I was afraid it might get insects. It did not since 4 months but just thought I can make a combo as I love broken wheat. None of them in the family likes broken wheat but I never fail stuffing them with upma or kichidi whenever I have a craving for the same. But this combo worked and people ate without complaints. Especially my brother loved it.

Moong sprouts kichidi
Ingredients :
Broken wheat (not the wheat rava) – 1 cup
Moong sprouts – 1 cup
Green chillies – 3 (stem and slit them vertically halfway through)
Clove – 1 (remove the head)
Cinnamon – 1/2 inch
Bay leaf – 1 (slightly crush with your fingers)
Peanut oil – 3 T
Onion thinly sliced – 1/2 cup
Turmeric – 1 pinch
Salt to taste
Water – 4 cups

How to make it ?
In the thick bottomed vessel heat the oil. When hot add the clove, cinnamon, bay leaf and when they start sizzling add the onions. Saute them till they turn soft. Add the green chillies and saute for a half a minute. Add the moong sprouts. Saute in high flame till the raw smell reduces around 2-3 mins. Now add the broken wheat and saute for another minute. Add the water, turmeric and salt. Check and adjust salt to your taste. Let the water come to a boil. No transfer this to a vessel and pressure cook for 3 to 4 whistles. Let the cooker cool down and serve the hot kichidi with some yogurt and pickle. a hearty simple weeknight meal

I missed to update about the kind awards given by Lavi! Thanks dear! You are a sweetie!

Murukku for ICC September

Indian Cooking Challenge became a dear-to-the-heart event atleast for my family. Though I make all experiments with baking their interests are on indian snacks and desserts and my sister would always insist on me to try out all the goodies that my Grandma would make. Even though Amma knows quiet a bit of them I would say she’s not that much an expert on these snacks when compared to Grandma.

I remember when staying in hostel during college days my Grandma would make big bags full of murukku, athirasam, milagu vadai and rava laddoos. You won’t believe that I literally lived on these snacks when I am not ready to eat the food served in the hostel. Every moth this is a regular affair and as soon as the bag is done I will look forward for my next trip to home. This saga ended when lost my dearest Grandma at the end of my first year in college. Then as the need of the hour I got used to eat the hostel food ;(

Murukku hence is my all time favorite. My Grandfather had lost all his teeth at the age of 60 but had not lost the love of murukku. So when I was a kid I used to grind the murukku made at home in the “Ammi kallu”.

And one day he made a great innovation. Sorry if somebody felt this combo gross but I love it to the core. Yes he immersed a pieces of murukku in hot filter coffee and used to have the semi crisp murukku half soaked in the aromatic coffee. I am the only partner of crime for all his experiments and we both would enjoy murukku with coffee. I am still enjoying it with sweet memories of my dearest Thaatha.

So when Valli announced this month’s ICC is murukku no wonder that I am overwhelmed.

I made it (except I usd store bought rice flour as I made it only today i.e., the last day) and wow it had the exact taste of what my Grandma had made years ago. I have reserved a whole bunch to enjoy those melt in the mouth crisps with a hot cuppa Thanks a lot Valli !

Here is the recipe :
Jantikalu or Murukulu

Preparation Time : 20 – 30 mins
Cooking Time : 20 – 30 mins
Makes : app 250 kg of Muruku
Cuisine: Andhra & Tamil Nadu

Utensils needed:
Muruku /Chakli Press.
Kadai

Ingredients Needed:

Raw Rice – 4 cups
Urad Dal – 1 cup
Water – app 1/2 cup or more

For Seasoning

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Sesame seeds- 1 tsp
Asafetida/ Hing – 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Butter – 75 gms

Method to prepare:

Wash and drain the rice. Shade dry the Rice for 1/2 hr. Dry roast the Urad dal to light brown. Allow it to cool.
If you are using more quantity, you can get it ground in rice mil, else use your mixie to grind both Rice and Urad dal.

First grind rice into a fine flour, keep it aside. then grind the urad dal to fine powder.

In a wide vessel, take both the flours along with salt. Mix well. Add cumin, Sesame seeds to the flour, mix well.

Whether you use Asafetida powder or the solid ones, you got to mix it in water, make sure it is dissolved before adding to the flour. If its not dissolved properly, when deep frying the muruku, there are chances for the hing to burst our due to air bubbles.

Mix in the hing to the flour and finally add the butter. Gather everything well and you will get more of a crumbling mixture. Now slowly add water and knead a dough which is little more softer than the puri dough.

Heat a kadai with oil enough to deep fry. Once the oil is hot enough, simmer to low flame.

Take the Muruku Aachu, wash and wipe it clean. Then divide the dough into equal balls. Fill the Muruku maker with the dough. You can either press it directly over the flames or press over a paper and gently slide it down the hot oil. But since the quantity mentioned here is less, you can press it directly over the kadai.

Cook over medium flame, using a slotted spoon, turn it over to other side to ensure both sides turn golden colour. You will know by seeing the colour that its cooked. Remove to a kitchen paper and store it in a air tight container.

Give a try soaking this up in a cup of filter coffee

CLICK – HEIRLOOM

When I was in my 7th grade my amma underwent a surgery. I was not too matured to take care of my younger sister and brother and my amma needed my grandma’s assistance a lot as she was hospitalised then for 3 whole days. My Appa not so used to taking care of household work and kids left us in his friend’s house.

We used to visit my Amma in the hospital every day after school and come back to that Uncle’s house. Uncle S and Aunty were really nice people. But their eating habits are only not suiting us. Amma never fed us with yesterday’s food but here thats a regular affair. We three felt like fish out of water and the most affected was my little brother and he literally lived on biscuits and Boost for all three days. None of our tricks made him eat that food. On the fourth day amma was feeling better and my dearest Grandma took some time off and ran home to make a simple meal. She made a drumstick kuzhambu, fried some kanji vadagam and made rice and packed all and came back to the hospital. That day she made us come to the hospital during lunch time.

In the small hospital room she spread three little plates and served us this food. I literally cried when I ate the first morsel and that day I realized what food is to me in life. It appeared to be my “life” at that moment. I can never forget that meal and my Grandma’s love as after 3 sleepless nights she never bothered to take rest but just cook us this humble meal and serve it with love. We had never complained about anything on those three days but she had read our faces and made this. Every mother or grandmother shower their love by these deeds whose memories are etched to our minds until we die.

I tried to make this post for the Monthly Mingle but I missed. This click is my entry for this month’s <a href=”http://jugalbandi.info/2009/08/monthly-mingle-and-click-september-2009-heirloom/”> CLICK-HIERLOOM </a>.

I never thought Jai and Bee or such sentimental people but by choosing this theme they have kindled lovely memories. Thanks dears!

Truffle Truffle in a bowl

Truffles are my all time favorites but I get to eat them whenever my friends come back from USA. This is an old story now as Chennai has super markets who could sell all international brands. But how much ever I eat I never get enough of it. Now there is competition at home (my two kids) I thought its high time I try some at home so that everybody can eat to our heart’s fill.

I got some good quality dark chocolate in one of the super markets here and spared a large bar for this trial. I am first time tempering chocolate and all and I am so very fascinated to see the glossy, shiny and silky melted chocolate in my double-boiler set up. I used Amul fresh cream and all in all the truffles turned to be good. They were silky, stubborn enough to hold its shape when refrigerated and melt in your mouth when you bite. I made a puristic version and did not add even a nut. Everybody especially my kids loved it that way. I followed instructions from several blogs on tempering the chocolate but followed my own measurements. The original recipe from which I adapted is here.
Here is my recipe :

Chocolate Truffles :

Ingredients :
1/3 cup cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar

6 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped

2 tablespoons butter, very soft

How to make it ?

Combine the cream and invert sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat on the stove. Remove from heat and let it cool for 10 mins.

Meanwhile, place the chocolate in a bowl and set over a pot of simmering water. Do not let the bowl touch the surface of the water. Melt the chocolate for 5 – 7 mins. The chocolate will most likely not be fully melted yet and you will have to stir it – watch carefully or your chocolate will overheat and you will have to wait for it to cool down!

Touch and check if both the cream and chocolate were in same temperature. If you have a candy thermometer it should read 115 degrees. Strain if there appear to be lumps and you can’t break them up.

Pour the cream and chocolate into a tall, clear container. Use an immersion blender to blend the mixture until the ganache thickens and becomes pudding like. Add the butter and combine with the immersion blender. Alternatively, you can do all this in a food processor.

Pour the ganache into a container that will allow it to spread out to a thickness of about an inch (not a very large container). This will make it easier to scoop truffles.

Allow the ganache to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until firm, preferably overnight.

When you are ready to make truffles, use a small cookie dough scoop to scoop balls from the ganache (I use a measuring tablespoon). Place them on a tray so you can pop it in the refrigerator to chill if necessary.

Roll the truffles in dark cocoa powder and wrap them in foil.

Store the truffles in the refrigerator until serving time.