Curd Kuzhambu

Ingredients:-

• Thick curd (sour) - 2 cups
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Oil - 2 tsp
• Mustard and cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp each
• Red chillies - 2 nos
• Asafoetida Powder - 1 pinch
• Curry and coriander leaves
• Salt to taste

To grind:-

• Grated coconuts 1/4 cup
• Green chillies - 5 nos
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Pepper - 1/2 tsp
• Roasted grams - 1 tbsp
• Onion Big - 1 no
• Coriander seeds - 1 1/2 tsp

Preparation:-

• Add water, turmeric powder and salt to the above paste in a pan and boil it till the raw smell goes out.
• Then add beaten curd and keep it in a flame to one boil. In another pan add oil and fry mustard seeds, cumin seeds, red chillies with Asafoetida Powder.
• When the seeds starts spluttering add this to the curd kuzhambu.
• Garnish it with curry and coriander leaves.
• Now the curd kuzhambu is ready to serve.

Flavor tips:-

To get the best taste out of this dish, thick curd must be used. Boiled vegetables of your own choice like chow chow or white pumkin cubes may be added.

Fried lady's finger can also be added. This dish mixed in white rice will go well with potato onion curry as side dish.

In tamil it is called MORE KUZHAMBU.

Paal Payasam (Sweet milk poridge)

Ingredients:-
Milk - 1 ltr
Basmathi rice - 50 gms
Sugar - 1 cup
Cashewnut - 1 tbsp
Almonds - 1 tbsp
Raisins - 1 tbsp
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Ghee - 1 tbsp

Preparation:-

Wash the rice, add a cup of water, place it in a pressure cooker. After a whistle, cook this under low flame for 15 minutes. Mash the rice with a ladle, add milk, keep it in a low flame by stirring non-stop. When the mixture thickens and turns slight yellowish in color (this stage comes in 20 minutes) , add sugar and keep stirring for another 10 minutes. In another pan, fry the finely chopped cashews , almonds and raisins separately in ghee. Add this to the Payasam. When done, add Cardamom powder and serve hot.

Ah, the mouth watering payasam is ready. This is my daughter's favorite dish.

Peas Butter Masala

Ingredients:-

• Peas(shelled) - 1 cup
• Onion - 3
• Tomato - 5
• Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Coriander powder - 2 tsp
• Chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp
• Fenugreek & Cumin seeds
• (roasted and powdered) - 1/2 tsp
• Butter 1 tbsp
• Cloves and cardamom - 3 each
• Fresh cream (optional) - 1 tbsp
• Salt to taste

Preparation:-

Grind the Onions and tomatoes into fine paste. Heat butter in a pan and fry the spices, then add the onion and tomato paste and fry well till the ghee separates. To this, add the ginger garlic paste, chilli powder, Coriander power and salt. Saute for few minutes, sprinkle water now and then (so that it doesn't get burnt). Add a cup of water with the peas and cook till the peas are done. Finally add the powdered cumin & fenugreek with a tsp of ghee and mix well. Dot with fresh cream.

Serve hot with chappatti or puri.

Dry fruits&nuts halwa

Ingredients:-

• Figs - 10 to 15
• Cashewnut - 10
• Almonds - 10
• Pista - 10
• Raisins - 1 tbsp
• Black dates - 10
• Sugar - 1/2 cup
• Ghee - 1/2 cup

Preparation:-
Wash and soak all the nuts and fruits in water for 1/2 hour.
Peel the almonds skin and grind everything into a smooth paste (use the soaked water for grinding.
Heat a pan, add little ghee and pour the mixture into it.
Stir well and when the moisture dries up add sugar. Mix well, add ghee little by little, till halwa consistency obtained. When ready, convert the content into a bowl coated with ghee.

This instant halwa is very easy to cook and very very tasty indeed.

Peas Pulav

Ingredients:-
Basmathi Rice - 1 cup
Green peas (shelled) - 1 cup
Small onions - 1/2 cup
Coconut milk - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Refined oil - 1 tbsp
Bay leaf - 1
Cardamon and cloves - 2 each
Salt to taste
Sugar - 1 tsp (optional)

To Grind:-
Small onions - 10 nos
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Green chillies - 5 nos
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup

Preparation:-

• Wash and soak the rice for 10 minutes.
• In a pressure cooker take ghee and oil and heat it.
• Then add the cardamon, cloves and bay leaf and saute it for 1 minute.
• Add the onions and saute till it turns golden brown.
• Then, add the peas and grinded paste and cook them in a low flame till the raw smell goes out and a nice flavour reaches your nose.
• To this, add the coconut milk, water with enough salt and sugar and mix it thoroughly.
• When the mixture starts boiling, add the rice into it.
• Cover the cooker with lid and pressure cook for 10 to 15 minutes in a low flame.

When done, serve hot with onion raithas or vegetable kurma.

Potato Masala

Ingredients:-

• Boiled potato - 1/4 kg (smashed)
• Onions - 3 nos (cut into long thin slices)
• Tomato - 2 nos (chopped into small cubes)
• Green chillies - 4 or 5
• Turmeric power - 1/2 tsp
• Musturd, Urid dhal - 1/2 tsp each
• Refined Oil - 1 tbsp
• Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp chopped
• Salt to taste
• Water - 1 cup.

Preparation:-

• In a microwave bowl add musturd and urid dhal with one tsp of oil and cook in a micro medium high for 3 minutes. (cover the bowl half while cooking).
• When done, add the chopped onions, green chillies and tomatoes with one tbsp of oil to the bowl and cook them in a micro high for 4 minutes. (without covering the bowl and stir it in between once).
• Finally, add the smashed potatoes, turmeric power, salt, water and cook at micro high for 5 minutes.
• As a final touch, add coriander leaves and serve after 3 minutes.

As this potato masala is cooked in a unconventional way, it retains the flavour and goes well with chappathi and puri.

Bread & Nuts kozhukattai

Ingredients:

• Bread slices - 5
• Cashewnuts - 15
• Almonds - 10
• Dry grapes - 1 tbsp
• Black dates - 4 to 5 (seed removed !)
• Sugar - 1 tbsp (to be powdered)
• Ghee - 1 1/2 tbsp.

Preparation:

• Cut the bread edges and put it in a blender to make them crumbs.
• Roast cashews and almonds in ghee and grind coarsely.
• Slightly fry the grapes and dates in ghee and also grind to make them bits and pieces.
• Mix all the grinded ingredients with sugar and bread crumbs.
• Heat a tbsp of ghee and pour it over the mixture and mix well. (use hands to mix well (:-)
• Make them into a desired shapes (like kozhukattai )

See, this is a instant dish and here there is no steaming business. Indeed it is very tasty and rich diet, especially for kids

Carrot Halwa

Ingredients:

• Grated Carrot - 3 cups;
• Milk - 11/2 cups;
• Sugar 11/2 cups;
• Ghee - 2 tbsp;
• Cashewnut - 10 to 12;
• Badam - 10 to 12;
• Pista - 10.

Preparation:

• Saute the grated carrots in a two teaspoons of ghee for a few minutes.
• Add milk to this and pressure cook it until one whistle.
• Put the resultant mixture in thick bottom pan and saute till it thickens.
• Then add sugar and mix well till we get the halwa consistency.
• While doing the above process, add ghee now and then.
• Stir well till the ghee separates.
• Finally, give a finishing touch to the halwa with the roasted nuts.
• Wow, that is the colorful carrot halwa that absorb your kids like a magnet.

(to get the fine taste and flavour, use Delhi carrot)

Vadai Curry

Ingredients:
Bengal gram dhal - 1 cup;
Onions - 2(finely chopped);
Onions - 4 (cut into long thin slices);
Garlic - 2( separate the pods and peel);
Tomatoes - 4 0r 5;
Cashewnuts - 10 or 15;
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp;
Sugar - 1 tsp;
Salt to taste.

For Grinding:
Onion - 1;
Red chillies - 5;
Green chillies - 4;
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece;
Garlic - 5 flakes( finely chopped);
Cardamom - 2;
Cloves - 3;
Chutney gram - 1 tbsp;
Aniseed - 1/2 tsp.



Preparation:

• Wash and soak the dhal for atleast two hours. Drain and grind it coarsely with enough salt.
• Mix the finely chopped onions.
• Heat oil in a pan, and drop the dough into small rounds and deep fry.
• Remove the vadas when it turns into golden brown ( do not fry the vadas to deep brown) and keep it aside.

For the gravy:

• Blanch the tomatoes in hot water, remove the skin and make it into a smooth paste.
• Heat 3 tbsps of oil in a pan and fry the garlic and the onion.
• When it turns to golden brown in colour, add the ground mixture, and fry it till the oil separates from it.
• Now add the tomato puree and fry till a good smell comes out.
• Add three cups of water with turmeric powder, and enough salt and sugar.
• When the water starts boiling add the fried vadas and let it boil for a few minutes.
• If the water is not sufficient, add little more water, otherwise the vadas absorb the water and the gravy becomes very thick.
• When the gravy is thick and is of flowing consistency, remove from fire.
• Convert into the serving bowl.
• Add the cashewnuts soaked in water( the taste would be different);
• Garnish with finely chopped coriander.