Vada Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Urad Daal (Black Gram)
• 1 Onion, finely chopped
• 1 tsp Ginger
• 1 or 2 Green Chilies, finely chopped
• Salt to taste
• ¼ tsp Baking Soda

Method

• Pick, wash and soak Urad Dal for 3-4 hours.
• Make a smooth paste of the dal by grinding it in wet grinder. Make sure that you do not add too much water, because it should be a thick paste.
• Add onions, ginger, green chilies salt and baking powder to the paste, mix well and set aside for 5 minutes.
• Heat oil in a pan or kadhai and deep fry a spoonful of batter, till golden
• Serve with coconut chutney or sambhar as a snack. It can also serve as meal.

Tomato Rasam Recipe

Ingredients

• 3-4 tbsp Red Gram Daal
• 4 large Tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp Garlic Paste
• 1-inch piece of Ginger, finely chopped
• 21/2 cups Water
• 1tsp Garlic, grated
• 1 or 2 Green Chilies, finely chopped
• Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
• Salt, to taste
• chili or pepper powder, to taste.
• 1/2tsp Turmeric Powder
• 1tsp Mustard Seeds
• 1tsp Cumin Seeds
• 1-2 whole dried Red Chili, halved
• A pinch Asafetida
• Few Curry Leaves
• 2 tbsp Oil

Method

• Pick, wash and pressure cook the daal and keep side.
• Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, dried chili and asafetida.
• When mustard seeds start to splutter add garlic, ginger, tomatoes and green chilies.
• Add salt, chili & turmeric powder and a cup of water.
• Simmer for 5-6 minutes and add the cooked daal and 11/2 cup of water and bring to boil.
• Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves.

Sambar Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 Cup Tuvar Dal (Arhar Dal)
• 3 Red Chiles
• 3 Green Chiles
• 1/4 tsp Methi
• 1 tsp Sambhar powder
• Curry leaves, a few
• Hing (Asafetida), a small pinch
• Salt 1 tsp Salt (to taste)
• Cooking Oil
• 2 tsp Mustard
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric
• 1/4 tsp. Tamarind Paste
• 2 tsp. Vegetables (Drumstick, Green Pepper, Eggplant, Okra),
• Washed and diced

Method

• Cook thuvar dal and turmeric with extra water, on medium flame. Separate the two, and keep them aside.
• Cook the vegetables in thuvar dal water, and add turmeric and salt to this.
• After this is cooked, add tamarind paste.
• Heat some oil in a pan, splutter mustard, then add methi, red chilies, green chiies, curry leaves, asafetida , turmeric and sambhar powder and keep frying for a few minutes.
• Add this to the boiling vegetables.
• Add the thuvar dal and let it cook for a few more minutes.

Rice Puttu

Ingredients

• 1/2 Kg Raw Rice
• 1/2 grated Coconut
• Water to sprinkle
• Salt to taste

Method

• Soak rice in water for 4 hrs, then drain it and grind it to make fine powder.
• Roast the powder for 5 minutes. Stir it well, while heating. Keep it for cooling.
• Mix salt with water ant then sprinkle this to the powdered rice, just to make the powder wet.
• Put a handful of grated coconut in the puttukutty and then put rice powder till half then add another handful of grated coconut.
• This is done till the top. Close the lid steam it for 2 mts in cooker.
• Serve it with potato curry or ghee
• Serves five people.

Pesarattu(Moong Dal Dosa)

Ingredients

• 2 cups Whole Green Gram
• 1 Tsp Cumin Seeds
• 1/4” Ginger
• 2-4 Green Pepper
• Salt
• 1 Onion, chopped finely

Method

• Soak Moong Dhal for 3-4 hours.
• Grind the soaked moong Dhal with cumin seeds,ginger,salt and green peppers for 10-12mts.
• Make dosas like pancake sprinkling few chopped onions on top with little oil.
• Serve hot with coconut chutney.

Mor Kuzhambu

Ingredients

• 5 cups Buttermilk
• 4-5 Green Chilies, slit
• 1 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
• 2 tsp Coriander Seeds
• 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
• 2-3 tbsp Coconut, shredded
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
• 1 sprig of Curry Leaves
• Oil, for seasoning

Method

• Add 1/2 tsp of turmeric to the buttermilk and mix well.
• Add water if the buttermilk is too thick.
• Add salt and heat on a low flame till the buttermilk reaches room temperature.
• Take it from the fire and set aside. Roast in a little oil, one by one, the coconut, the remaining turmeric,jeera, coriander and green chillies.
• Blend to a smooth paste.
• Add this coconut paste to the warm buttermilk, put it back on the stove and heat for approximately 4-5 minutes.
• Season it with mustard seeds and curry leaves.

This dish cannot be re-heated on direct fire.

Masala Dosa

Ingredients

• 1½ cups Rice
• 1/2 cup Urad Dal
• Salt to taste
• 2 large Potatoes
• 1 medium Onion (chopped)
• 1/2 tsp Yellow Split Peas
• 1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric
• 1-2 green Chili
• 1 tbsp Oil

Method

• Separately soak rice and urad dal at least 6 hour or overnight in water.
• Grind to paste.
• Mix together, add salt with water to make batter.
• Leave in room temperature overnight.
• Mix onion and chilies to the thin batter.
• Heat pan or griddle with little ghee or oil.
• Spread the mix on pan in circular motion to make thin Dosa.
• Cook on both the sides, if desired.
• Heat oil. Add mustard seed, peas, onions and spice.
• Fry for about 5 minutes on medium heat or/until onions are turned into golden brown
• Add potatoes and mix and cook some more.
• Add filling inside Dosa and roll. Serve hot with Chutney.

Dry Fruit Kesari Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup dry fruits (chopped dates, raisins, cranberries and other nuts),
• 1/2 cup rava,
• 3 tbsp sugar,
• 2 tsp ghee,
• 1 pinch cardamom powder,
• 6 almonds,
• 1 cup water, and
• 3-4 drops food color optional (yellow, orange or red)

Method

• Stir-fry Rava with 1 tsp ghee on low flame till the smell of raw grain goes.
• Set it aside for later use.
• Sauté dry fruits for 5-10 seconds in a pan with 1 tbsp ghee on low flame
• Add water, sugar, cardamom powder and food color to them and increase heat to high flame.
• Add roasted rava to boiling water slowly and smoothen out any lumps and mix well.
• Reduce heat and keep stirring continuously till the mixture is cooked. One can know that the mixture is cooked when it starts coming off the pan easily.
• Grease a plate and pour 'kesari' into it.
• Let it cool and get set.
• Cut it into smaller pieces and garnish it with an almond.
• Kesari is now ready to be served.

Chakkai Chips

Ingredients:

Jackfruit cut into long pieces
Oil
Turmeric powder
Salt

Method:

1. Mix 3 tea spns salt, 1/2 tea spn turmeric with about 1 cup water and keep aside.
2. Heat oil and deep fry the jackfruit in it. When it is almost done, pour 1-2 tsp of the salt-turmeric water in it. Fry till completely done.