May 28, 2014

Kovil Puliyotharai

    I am a huge fan of all tangy dishes. At the same time, i don't like simple tamarind rice eventhough its tangy. But when its come to kovil puliyodharai or puliyogare, am again a huge fan for its aroma not for its tangy nature. In my current location, i couldn't find temple who offers puliyogare so was badly missing that for past 8 months. Being a food blogger do you think i can survive by missing it ??!! Noway ! Searched it in google and Prepared finally. Now its for your views.


PULIKACHAL:
Tamarind Syrup 2 cups
Bengal Gram 1 spoon
Urad Dhall 1 1/2 spoon
Turmeric 1/4 spoon
Gingelly Oil 3 spoons
Red Chilly 2 Nos.
Curry Leaf 1 Twigs
Peanuts 5 to 6 Nos.
Cashew 5 to 6 Nos.
Gingelly Oil 3 spoons
Jaggery 1 spoon
Mustard 1/2 spoon
Salt To Taste

PULIYOTHARAI POWDER:
Channa Dhall 1 tblsp
Sessame Seeds 1 spoon
Urad Dhall 1 tblsp
Dhaniya 1 1/2 tblsp
Red chilly 6 Nos.
Pepper 1 spoon

Cooked Rice 1 1/2 cup

METHOD:
    Take heavy bottomed pan, heat 3 spoons of gingelly oil. Add mustard, once splutters, add curry leaf and red chilly, do a saute, then add channa dhall, urad dhall, Peanut and cashew, when all turns to golden brown color, now pour in 2 cups of tamarind syrup by adding turmeric powder, jaggery and half of the salt as per your taste. Mix well. Simmer it until it comes to thick paste consistency. Now "Pulikachal" is ready !

    Now take another pan. Dry roast the ingredients one by one listed under "Puliyotharai Powder". Allow it to cool. Once done, grind it coarsely. Now we'll see how to prepare Puliyotharai/Tamarind Rice

    Take wide pan, add cooked rice. Now add the pulikachal, mix well until the color of the rice turns brown color. Adjust with salt parallely. Once done, add 1 1/2 spoon of puliyotharai powder, give soft stir which should not break the rice shape. Now all done. Its time to taste with some pappad.

Note: Excess "Pulikachal" and "Puliyotharai Powder" can be refrigerated.

♬ Sangeetha♡Nambi ♬

May 19, 2014

Soft Idly

    You all think, why am posting such simple recipe ! Eventhough its very simple, most of the people will not get the softness while preparing it. Fine,according to me, the most evergreen meaning for south indian recipe is one and only IDLY. You can find this dish in most of all south indian functions. I can very well bet you, this is the most easiest recipe if you have batter in hand. Idly can be prepared even by an amateur cooks. But if they know about the secret of "Softness" i can say even amateur cook can be treated as expert cook. Now lets see about the preparation method.

ALL YOU NEED:
Idly rice 2 cups
Urad Dhall 1/2 cup
Fenugreek 1/4 tsp
Water As required
Salt To Taste
METHOD:
    Soak idly rice and Urad dhall + Fenugreek in a separate bowl for 3 to 4 hours. Once done, take the urad dhall + Fenugreek, wash it with cold water and put the whole mixture in grinder and add some water in between so that grinder will not get tighten/struck while grinding. Allow it to grind until it become soft and fluffy. Now take out the urad dhall and place it in a large bowl and cover it with lid immediately.

    Now take the soaked rice bowl and wash it well and drain the water. Add the rice in the grinder (its not required to clean the grinder perfectly after grining the urad dhall). Add good amount of water and grind it until it reach the slight coarse consistency. Once done, replace the rice flour to the urad dhall batter and mix well by adding required salt. Take care, the mixed batter should fit only the 3/4th portion of the vessel. Because after fermentation it occupies the whole portion of the vessel.

    Once mixing it, let it sit for overnight or for 10 to 11 hours to get fermented. Proof of well fermentation are, you can see some small bubbles on top of the batter and the batter will be raised. Now to prepare idly, take idly pan, grease the moulds with oil. Take a laddle of batter and pour it in each mould of idly pan. Steam it for 15 mins in medium flame. Once after 15 mins, open the lid, leave it for 2 mins and take out using a spoon and serve hot with chutney or sambar.

Note: Mom will say, if we soak urad dhall in cold waer, the urad dhall batter yield will be more.

♬ Sangeetha♡Nambi ♬

May 14, 2014

Veg Momos

    Very loooooooong back i have tried this recipe in my office food court. Then after i didn't get chance to taste it. Even i completely forget this. But suddenly one day my friend tried this and gave it to me for tasting. Then i realized it been decades (!) since i tasted it. So last week googled the recipe and finally tried this successfully at home. Now its for your views here.

ALL YOU NEED:
Maida 1 cup
Water To Knead
Salt To Taste
Oil 1 spoon
For Stuffing:
Chopped Capsicum 3 spoons
Grated Cabbage 1/4 cup
Chopped beans 1/4 cup
Chopped Garlic 1 spoon
Grated Carrot 1/4 cup
Pepper Powder Pinch
Spring Onion 2 spoons
Salt To taste
Oil 1 spoon

METHOD:
    Knead maida flour by adding all the ingredients under "All You Need". Let it rest for a while. Meantime, heat a spoon of oil, add chopped garlic, add all the veggies - Cabbage, Carrot and Beans. Saute by adding pepper powder and required salt. As a final touch, add chopped capsicum and spring onion, just do a tossing and switch of the flame. Let it cool down.

    Now take the kneaded maida flour. Make it as small round balls and roll it as poori shape. Take a spoon of sauted stuffing and gather all the edges and seal it to form the momos shape. Now place it idly pan/steamer for to steam for 5 to 6 mins. Once done, take out and serve hot with tomato ketchup.

♬ Sangeetha♡Nambi ♬

May 10, 2014

Quinoa Spinach Chapathi

    Few days back i bought a frozen "Quinoa Spinach Tikki" which was tempting me to buy that. As soon as i back from shopping, i was so eager to taste. But i didnt liked the taste personally. I was totally fed up. Still, i don't feel like wasting it. Suddenly i got an idea to add in all dough/ batter. From then on, am adding it while making poori, chapathi, dosa etc. etc. :) now thought of sharing it to you all.


ALL YOU NEED:
Wheat Flour 2 cups
Quinoa Spinach Tikkis 3 Nos.
Water To Knead
Salt To Taste
Oil 2 spoons


METHOD:
    Knead wheat flour with all the ingredients under "All You Need" except oil. Make it as soft chapathi dough. Add a spoon of oil, at the end of the kneading and allow it to sit for 30 minutes. After 30 mins, make it as small round shaped balls and roll it using rolling pin and heat a tawa, add a spoon of oil, place the rolled chapathi dough and toss it on both sides. Serve hot with raitha or any curry.

♬ Sangeetha♡Nambi ♬

May 6, 2014

Appalam Kootu

    This was one of my BIG most favorite dish among my mom's preparation. The best part of this was, i love the appalam/pappad which was completely soaked in the bengal gram kootu. Whenever my mom prepares this dish, am the only person who takes empty all the soaked appalam and leave it as plain bengal gram kootu :P But some point of time, dont know why she stopped preparing (may be am eating all the appalam without leaving it for others :P) But, after loooooooooong gap me somehow recollected the recipe and prepared it for our lunch time and now its for your views.


ALL YOU NEED:
Soaked Bengal Gram 1 cup
Diced Potato 1/2 cup
Chopped Onion 1 No.
Chopped Tomato 1 No.
Turmeric Powder Pinch
Green Chilly 2 Nos.
Pappad 3 Nos.
Ginger 1/4 inch
Water 1 cup
Salt To taste
To Temper:
Coriander Leaf 2 Twigs
Curry Leaf 1 Twig
Cumin Seeds 1/2 spoon
Red Chilly 1 No.
Mustard 1 spoon
Oil 2 spoons

METHOD:
    Pressure cook all the ingredients under "All you Need"(except pappad) for about 3 to 4 whistles. Once the pressure releases, heat of spoon of oil in a pan. Add mustard and then cumin seeds. Now add chopped curry leaf, coriander leaf and red chilly (Optional), saute it well. Now pour the pressure coked items and let it get oil for 5 to 6 mins in medium flame and adjust the salt if required. Once done, put off the flame. Just a 10 mins efore your meal add the roken pappa/appalam, give hard stir and serve hot.

Note: You can also add grated coconut during your tempering.

♬ Sangeetha♡Nambi ♬

May 2, 2014

Semiya Kheer

    Can you think of any kheer/payasam without ghee ?! This is one among them. All time, infact till now, i was bit sceptical to try any dishes with Semiya/Vermicelli and Rava/Sooji. Yes, for sure it will end up as disaster mission. Actually this is my second try. Click here for traditional version. This version is very simple without any garnishing work. Its very easy and at the same time aroma and taste will be like yum yum ! Do try this and let me know your comments. With this note, i would like to convey this is my 3000th post..... Hurrrrrrraaaaayyyyyyy !


ALL YOU NEED:
Roasted Semiya 1 cup
Thick Milk 2 cups
Mixed Nuts 1/2 cup
Cardamom 1 No.
Sugar To Taste


METHOD:
    Take heave bottomed pan. Heat 2 cups of milk along with sugar and cardamom. Let it boil well, until it become much thicker. Now add on all the nuts and stir well. Let it boil for 5 mins. Now add roasted semiya, put the flame in simmer. Stir it well. Since we are using thick milk, keep an eye on milk i.e. it should not get burnt. Let it be in flame, until the semiya gets cooked. Once done, adjust with salt if required and transfer to serving bowl and enjoy !
♬ Sangeetha♡Nambi ♬

May 28, 2014

Kovil Puliyotharai

    I am a huge fan of all tangy dishes. At the same time, i don't like simple tamarind rice eventhough its tangy. But when its come to kovil puliyodharai or puliyogare, am again a huge fan for its aroma not for its tangy nature. In my current location, i couldn't find temple who offers puliyogare so was badly missing that for past 8 months. Being a food blogger do you think i can survive by missing it ??!! Noway ! Searched it in google and Prepared finally. Now its for your views.


PULIKACHAL:
Tamarind Syrup 2 cups
Bengal Gram 1 spoon
Urad Dhall 1 1/2 spoon
Turmeric 1/4 spoon
Gingelly Oil 3 spoons
Red Chilly 2 Nos.
Curry Leaf 1 Twigs
Peanuts 5 to 6 Nos.
Cashew 5 to 6 Nos.
Gingelly Oil 3 spoons
Jaggery 1 spoon
Mustard 1/2 spoon
Salt To Taste

PULIYOTHARAI POWDER:
Channa Dhall 1 tblsp
Sessame Seeds 1 spoon
Urad Dhall 1 tblsp
Dhaniya 1 1/2 tblsp
Red chilly 6 Nos.
Pepper 1 spoon

Cooked Rice 1 1/2 cup

METHOD:
    Take heavy bottomed pan, heat 3 spoons of gingelly oil. Add mustard, once splutters, add curry leaf and red chilly, do a saute, then add channa dhall, urad dhall, Peanut and cashew, when all turns to golden brown color, now pour in 2 cups of tamarind syrup by adding turmeric powder, jaggery and half of the salt as per your taste. Mix well. Simmer it until it comes to thick paste consistency. Now "Pulikachal" is ready !

    Now take another pan. Dry roast the ingredients one by one listed under "Puliyotharai Powder". Allow it to cool. Once done, grind it coarsely. Now we'll see how to prepare Puliyotharai/Tamarind Rice

    Take wide pan, add cooked rice. Now add the pulikachal, mix well until the color of the rice turns brown color. Adjust with salt parallely. Once done, add 1 1/2 spoon of puliyotharai powder, give soft stir which should not break the rice shape. Now all done. Its time to taste with some pappad.

Note: Excess "Pulikachal" and "Puliyotharai Powder" can be refrigerated.

♬ Sangeetha♡Nambi ♬

May 19, 2014

Soft Idly

    You all think, why am posting such simple recipe ! Eventhough its very simple, most of the people will not get the softness while preparing it. Fine,according to me, the most evergreen meaning for south indian recipe is one and only IDLY. You can find this dish in most of all south indian functions. I can very well bet you, this is the most easiest recipe if you have batter in hand. Idly can be prepared even by an amateur cooks. But if they know about the secret of "Softness" i can say even amateur cook can be treated as expert cook. Now lets see about the preparation method.

ALL YOU NEED:
Idly rice 2 cups
Urad Dhall 1/2 cup
Fenugreek 1/4 tsp
Water As required
Salt To Taste
METHOD:
    Soak idly rice and Urad dhall + Fenugreek in a separate bowl for 3 to 4 hours. Once done, take the urad dhall + Fenugreek, wash it with cold water and put the whole mixture in grinder and add some water in between so that grinder will not get tighten/struck while grinding. Allow it to grind until it become soft and fluffy. Now take out the urad dhall and place it in a large bowl and cover it with lid immediately.

    Now take the soaked rice bowl and wash it well and drain the water. Add the rice in the grinder (its not required to clean the grinder perfectly after grining the urad dhall). Add good amount of water and grind it until it reach the slight coarse consistency. Once done, replace the rice flour to the urad dhall batter and mix well by adding required salt. Take care, the mixed batter should fit only the 3/4th portion of the vessel. Because after fermentation it occupies the whole portion of the vessel.

    Once mixing it, let it sit for overnight or for 10 to 11 hours to get fermented. Proof of well fermentation are, you can see some small bubbles on top of the batter and the batter will be raised. Now to prepare idly, take idly pan, grease the moulds with oil. Take a laddle of batter and pour it in each mould of idly pan. Steam it for 15 mins in medium flame. Once after 15 mins, open the lid, leave it for 2 mins and take out using a spoon and serve hot with chutney or sambar.

Note: Mom will say, if we soak urad dhall in cold waer, the urad dhall batter yield will be more.

♬ Sangeetha♡Nambi ♬

May 14, 2014

Veg Momos

    Very loooooooong back i have tried this recipe in my office food court. Then after i didn't get chance to taste it. Even i completely forget this. But suddenly one day my friend tried this and gave it to me for tasting. Then i realized it been decades (!) since i tasted it. So last week googled the recipe and finally tried this successfully at home. Now its for your views here.

ALL YOU NEED:
Maida 1 cup
Water To Knead
Salt To Taste
Oil 1 spoon
For Stuffing:
Chopped Capsicum 3 spoons
Grated Cabbage 1/4 cup
Chopped beans 1/4 cup
Chopped Garlic 1 spoon
Grated Carrot 1/4 cup
Pepper Powder Pinch
Spring Onion 2 spoons
Salt To taste
Oil 1 spoon

METHOD:
    Knead maida flour by adding all the ingredients under "All You Need". Let it rest for a while. Meantime, heat a spoon of oil, add chopped garlic, add all the veggies - Cabbage, Carrot and Beans. Saute by adding pepper powder and required salt. As a final touch, add chopped capsicum and spring onion, just do a tossing and switch of the flame. Let it cool down.

    Now take the kneaded maida flour. Make it as small round balls and roll it as poori shape. Take a spoon of sauted stuffing and gather all the edges and seal it to form the momos shape. Now place it idly pan/steamer for to steam for 5 to 6 mins. Once done, take out and serve hot with tomato ketchup.

♬ Sangeetha♡Nambi ♬

May 10, 2014

Quinoa Spinach Chapathi

    Few days back i bought a frozen "Quinoa Spinach Tikki" which was tempting me to buy that. As soon as i back from shopping, i was so eager to taste. But i didnt liked the taste personally. I was totally fed up. Still, i don't feel like wasting it. Suddenly i got an idea to add in all dough/ batter. From then on, am adding it while making poori, chapathi, dosa etc. etc. :) now thought of sharing it to you all.


ALL YOU NEED:
Wheat Flour 2 cups
Quinoa Spinach Tikkis 3 Nos.
Water To Knead
Salt To Taste
Oil 2 spoons


METHOD:
    Knead wheat flour with all the ingredients under "All You Need" except oil. Make it as soft chapathi dough. Add a spoon of oil, at the end of the kneading and allow it to sit for 30 minutes. After 30 mins, make it as small round shaped balls and roll it using rolling pin and heat a tawa, add a spoon of oil, place the rolled chapathi dough and toss it on both sides. Serve hot with raitha or any curry.

♬ Sangeetha♡Nambi ♬

May 6, 2014

Appalam Kootu

    This was one of my BIG most favorite dish among my mom's preparation. The best part of this was, i love the appalam/pappad which was completely soaked in the bengal gram kootu. Whenever my mom prepares this dish, am the only person who takes empty all the soaked appalam and leave it as plain bengal gram kootu :P But some point of time, dont know why she stopped preparing (may be am eating all the appalam without leaving it for others :P) But, after loooooooooong gap me somehow recollected the recipe and prepared it for our lunch time and now its for your views.


ALL YOU NEED:
Soaked Bengal Gram 1 cup
Diced Potato 1/2 cup
Chopped Onion 1 No.
Chopped Tomato 1 No.
Turmeric Powder Pinch
Green Chilly 2 Nos.
Pappad 3 Nos.
Ginger 1/4 inch
Water 1 cup
Salt To taste
To Temper:
Coriander Leaf 2 Twigs
Curry Leaf 1 Twig
Cumin Seeds 1/2 spoon
Red Chilly 1 No.
Mustard 1 spoon
Oil 2 spoons

METHOD:
    Pressure cook all the ingredients under "All you Need"(except pappad) for about 3 to 4 whistles. Once the pressure releases, heat of spoon of oil in a pan. Add mustard and then cumin seeds. Now add chopped curry leaf, coriander leaf and red chilly (Optional), saute it well. Now pour the pressure coked items and let it get oil for 5 to 6 mins in medium flame and adjust the salt if required. Once done, put off the flame. Just a 10 mins efore your meal add the roken pappa/appalam, give hard stir and serve hot.

Note: You can also add grated coconut during your tempering.

♬ Sangeetha♡Nambi ♬

May 2, 2014

Semiya Kheer

    Can you think of any kheer/payasam without ghee ?! This is one among them. All time, infact till now, i was bit sceptical to try any dishes with Semiya/Vermicelli and Rava/Sooji. Yes, for sure it will end up as disaster mission. Actually this is my second try. Click here for traditional version. This version is very simple without any garnishing work. Its very easy and at the same time aroma and taste will be like yum yum ! Do try this and let me know your comments. With this note, i would like to convey this is my 3000th post..... Hurrrrrrraaaaayyyyyyy !


ALL YOU NEED:
Roasted Semiya 1 cup
Thick Milk 2 cups
Mixed Nuts 1/2 cup
Cardamom 1 No.
Sugar To Taste


METHOD:
    Take heave bottomed pan. Heat 2 cups of milk along with sugar and cardamom. Let it boil well, until it become much thicker. Now add on all the nuts and stir well. Let it boil for 5 mins. Now add roasted semiya, put the flame in simmer. Stir it well. Since we are using thick milk, keep an eye on milk i.e. it should not get burnt. Let it be in flame, until the semiya gets cooked. Once done, adjust with salt if required and transfer to serving bowl and enjoy !
♬ Sangeetha♡Nambi ♬