Aval Upma (Poha Upma)

     It was a lazy evening & I wished to have something easily prepared. I spotted poha(Aval) and decided it would be the best power-packed and easily doable tiffin. An easy to make recipe with whatever vegetables available at hand. Tastes good and filling even without vegetables too. With poha as the base, many different quick tangy tiffin varieties can be tried out - lemon poha, tamarind poha, sweet poha with coconut & sugar and so long as one's creativity travels.

Prep Time: 15 mins || Cook Time: 20 mins || Serves: 3-4 ||  Category: Tiffin/Breakfast  

Ingredients:
1. Aval (Poha) - 200gms
2. Oil - 2tbsp
3. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
4. Bengal Gram - 2 tsp
5. Green chillies - 1 tsp finely chopped
6. Ginger - 1 tsp finely chopped
7. Onion - 1 
8. Carrot - 50 gms 
9. Beans - 50 gms 
10. Salt - as required
11. Asafoetida - 1 tsp
12. Lemon - 1

Method:
1.  Wash and chop all the vegetables finely. Wash poha (aval) in water twice and drain completely. Soak with little water for about 10 mins. In a pan, heat oil & add mustard seeds. once they splutter, followed with bengal gram and then chilly, ginger. Add the chopped onion and saute for 2 mins or until transparent in colour. 

2. When the onions are transparent (way before they turn out golden brown), add chopped carrot and beans and give a quick stir. Cook closed for about 5 mins.

3. Add hing & salt and mix well. Cook for 2 mins with occasional stirring.

4. When the vegetables have cooked well, switch off the flame and add the soaked poha. (By now, poha would have absorbed all the water, we had added for soaking.) Mix well with the vegetables, adding the juice of a lemon. Adjust salt as required.

Suggestions:

• Use only thick variety of poha, as the thin variety would loose its form when soaked and stirred.
• For a quick fix version of a light evening tiffin, to the soaked and drained poha, add grated coconut and sugar as desired and mix well. A yummy uncooked tiffin is ready in a jiffy.
• As I did not get green chillies in the market, I used serrano chillies instead of normal green chillies.
• Can fry and add groundnuts for a crunchy bite.

Can garnish with grated coconut and coriander leaves.

Strawberry Jam

     It has been my longtime wish to prepare some fruit jam at home. About more than a decade back, we had tried making jam at home with some brand's Ready-to-make Jam sachet. I guess it was Kissan spreadmaker or something. Making a jam at home was thought to be something very complicated or close to impossible thing those days :)  
     A good factor of trying it at home is that we can make it with fresh fruits; adding no chemical preservatives & above all without gelatin or other such ingredients which might otherwise be present in some store bought Jams.
     Above all these is that accomplished feel :P of having made it from scratch at home !!!

     I have used Pectin, a natural preservative which is found in large quantities in Pears, apples, guavas, quince, plums, gooseberries, oranges, and other citrus fruits. Adding pectin is to maintain natural glossiness in colour and give a rich texture to jams or jellies which would otherwise be simply sweet juices. Adding pectin allows us to cook jam in a much shorter time and preserve the fresh flavour of the fruit.

Prep Time: 10 mins || Cook Time: 35 mins || Yields: 250gm ||  Category: Jam   

Ingredients:
1. Strawberries - 150gm (finely chopped)
2. Apple - 1 medium sized
3. Lemon - 1 small
4. Sugar - 100 gm

Method:
1. Hull the strawberries (remove the top most crown or green stem from the fruit). Grind a medium sized un-peeled apple with little water and Extract juice from its pulp.

2. Transfer the extracted apple juice to a pan & boil it for 3-5 mins along with a spoon of sugar and lemon juice. (This process is done to extract pectin from apple).

3. Add the finely chopped strawberries to the pectin and stir well. Cook until it becomes little frothy.

4. At this stage add sugar and stir till it dissolves.Cook for about 5 mins in medium flame.

5. After the pectin has blended well with the strawberry pulp, the colour of the paste will turn into glossy and dark in colour.Keep stirring until it reduces in volume.

6.  Keep a plate in the freezer for 5 mins and take it out. To check for the right consistency of the jam, pour a little jam on the plate and wipe down the jam with a finger. It should be sticky and should not move back when the plate is tilted. For a double check, move a larger portion of the jam with the laddle towards one side. It should move as a sticky whole mass revealing the base of the pan for a few seconds. At this stage, switch off the flame and cool down the jam.

     Store the jam in air-tight container and keep refrigerated until and after every use. The jam should keep well for 10-15 days. (or may be even more, but it used to get over within 6 or 7 days :P at my home. So i do not have an idea how far it lasts :P )

Urad Dal Chutney

      At the time when I was so much craving for a chutney for Dosa, I realized that there were no onions; was running out of tomatoes & also green chilly :D Actually speaking, there were no proper ingredients for any conventional coconut chutney / coriander/onion/ tomato chutneys.  Unable to get off my Chutney mania, as the dosas were so good, I was thinking of a possibility with the available ingredients..
     So, I had to yield to this simple Chutney with roasted Urad dal. Though I have tasted only a tangy version of this as Urad dal thogayal, I decided to test it out as a chutney, with no other option left out :P

Prep Time: 10 mins || Cook Time: 5 mins || Serves: 3 ||  Category: Chutney/Side-dish  

Ingredients:
1. Urad dal - 2 tbsp
2. Dry red chillies - 3 or 4
3. Grated coconut - 4 tbsp
4. Oil - 2tbsp
5. Tamarind - as required
6. Asafoetida - a pinch
7. Salt - as required
8. Mustard seeds - 1tsp
9. Curry leaves -  a sprig

Method:
1. Heat a pan with a tbsp of oil and roast the urad dal & red chillies till golden brown & cool down for 2-3 mins.

2. Transfer the roasted ingredients to a mixie jar and grind along with salt, asafoetida & tamarind (I used a little readymade tamarind pulp instead of the normal tamarind). Temper with mustard and curry leaves in hot oil.

      A simple mild chutney apt for dosa/idli is ready. 

Keerai Molakootal

     Molakootal is an authentic healthy recipe from Kerala. There can be many variants tried with the base idea of this recipe. This extremely easy to make gravy finds its way into our kitchen atleast once in every week.  Any tangy thogayal or pickle serves as a best accompaniment for this dish. 
     Whenever this dish is made, we also make a rasam for the next course :P (after having this molakootal with rice). As molakootal is a bit thicker in consistency, our taste buds long for an immediate course with something little spicy & in more of a liquid form. For rasam, we have molakootal as the side-dish. With this two course meal itself, one would feel tummy full.. 

Prep Time: 10 mins || Cook Time: 35 mins || Serves: 4 ||  Category: Sambar/Gravy   

Ingredients:
1. Spinach - 250 gms
2. Turmeric Powder - 2 tsp
3. Cumin Seeds - 3tsp
4. Dry red chillies - 3 or 4
5. Grated coconut - 3 tbsp 
6. Boiled toor dal - 1 cup
7. Salt - as required
8. Oil - 1 tbsp
9. Mustard seeds - 2tsp
10. Asafoetida - a pinch

Method:
1. Wash and dry the spinach leaves & chop them finely. In a pan, heat about 2 cups of water and add turmeric powder to it.

2. When the water boils, add the chopped spinach.

3. Grind red chillies, cumin seeds & grated coconut with little water, to a paste.

4. Mash the boiled toor dal. cook spinach for about 5 mins until it reduces in volume.

5. At this point, add the ground paste, mix well and cook in medium flame for about 3-4 mins.

6. Lastly add the mashed toor dal, hing & salt and mix well. Switch off the flame after 2 mins. Temper with mustard.

Suggestions:

• Number of red chillies can be adjusted as required.
• Tastes too good with arikeerai/mulaikeerai or any suitable green in the place of spinach. (I tried with spinach as other variety of greens are not available here).
• This can also be done with either Banana Stem (Vaazhaithandu) or with a mix of country vegetables (yam, broad bean - avaraikkai, raw banana, brinjal, chayote-chow chow) or english vegetables (carrot/beans/potato).
• 2 tsp of urad dal can be included when grinding coconut, cumin seeds, red chillies. This would give a thicker consistency and better binding to the gravy.

This mild lentil + green gravy will go well with rice/rotis.
Serve keerai molakootal for rice with any tangy thogayal or with any spicy pickle.

Karuveppilai Podi

     I make karuveppilai podi every week. But there are a couple of reasons for such a high regularity in frequency though. Here, Curry leaves are available in the supermarket only for few days in a week. And they are costly too. Even if we pay the price, it is very hard to keep it in reserve in good condition, till the next stock arrives.
    I would say that buying curry leaves demands a very good skill, which comes by default to us, the Chennaites. We have to dig our head into the store's refrigerator and go for a typical Indianish sorting activity of the ziplock packs, to get the one containing the freshest leaves.

     Every gobble of this podi with rice or idly, sets the film rolling to a flashback of my vegetable purchase at Chennai, where I get some vegetables with the only final intention of picking up huge amounts of karuveppilai for free !!! :D Golden days:)

Prep Time:  20 mins || Cook Time: 5 mins || Category: Ready Mix powder

Ingredients:

1. Curry Leaves - 1 cup

2. Dry red chillies - 2

3. Urad dal - 2 tbsp

4. Bengal Gram (Kadalai paruppu) - 1 & 1/2 tbsp

5. Pepper - 1 tsp

6. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

7. Oil - 2 tsp

8. Salt - as required

Method:
1. Wash and dry the curry leaves in a clean towel. Once the leaves have dried, roast them in a pan without oil. Roast the other ingredients in oil until golden brown.

2. Cool the roasted ingredients. Grind the dal mixture into a coarse powder and keep aside in a bowl.

3. Grind the roasted curry leaves coarsely. Then add the dal powder on top of the curry leaves powder and desired quantity of salt and blend on low speed for about less than a minute, to ensure even mixing of the dals with curry leaves.

Store the powder in an air-tight container. Keep refrigerated until and after every use. This will keep it good for about 5 to 6 days.

Enjoy it with hot rice topped with gingelly oil or for idly or dosa.

Vendaikkai Poduthool (Lady's finger poriyal)

     This time it is a simple side-dish with a vegetable which many of us love. It is lady's finger poduthool. And that is how my paati and everyone at home calls a lady's finger poriyal :) Everytime I cook this dish, it reminds me of my good old days, where i used to happily take away those pieces of hard-to-cut lady's fingers and run around the house, sticking them on the walls as the eyes and nose of an imaginary face. When I am found to be more troublesome with this activity, my grandma cuts open the most ripe lady's fingers and collects its pearls and gives me to eat.

     
     As a kid, when i refuse to eat this vegetable (as by default most kids do :P ), many voices will come from different corners of the house telling "Vendaikkai saapdu.. Maths la 100 marks edukkalam.." meaning "Eat lady's finger... You will score a 100 in Maths.." :D :D :D

If it is during the time of exams, undoubtedly I oblige to it and be a good kid :P

     Playing with this vegetable had been a very great fun as a kid or until the time came for me to start cooking on my own. Only then i realized how messy its gum is :D

But after a couple of trials and errors, now I cook it to a non sticky form :)

Prep Time: 5 mins || Cook Time: 30 mins || Category: Side-dish

Ingredients:

1. Lady's finger - 250 gms

2. Bengal Gram (Kadalai Paruppu) - 1 tbsp

3. Cumin Seed (Jeera) - 1/2 tbsp

4. Mustard - 1 tsp

5. Oil - 1 tbsp

6. Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

7. Chilli Powder - 2 tsp

8. Salt - as needed

9. Grated Coconut (Optional) - 2 tbsp

10. Asafoetida (Hing) - 1 tsp

Method: 

1. Heat a pan with oil and add mustard.When it splutters, add bengal gram followed by cumin seeds. After they turn brown, add the cut lady's finger, turmeric powder, chilli powder and give a stir.

2. Cook covered for 5 minutes. Add salt and asafoetida followed by a round of stirring. Keep covered for 3-5 mins.

3. Now the colour would have turned from its raw green to a glossy green. Add the grated coconut; stir and cook opened for about 5-7 mins and then switch off the flame.

There we go !!! Non-sticky lady's finger poriyal is ready.

Suggestions:

• Wash the Lady's finger and leave them in a colander for 5 mins to drain the water. Cut them uniformly into thin pieces. This is to ensure even and faster cooking.
• Initially cook with closed lid. Once it is cooked, take off the lid and cook open.
• Give occasional stirs when cooking open. Add little oil, if required and stir. This will help in getting the lady's finger non-sticky.
• Adding coconut is optional.
• Can also add sambar powder instead of plain chilli powder to get more spiciness.

I had it for lunch with araichu vita sambar & hot rice.. And also for dinner along with rotis !!