Paruppu Rasam

Paruppu Rasam
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One of our comfort foods...Rasam!!! This rasam has a nice twist and was a delicacy in my pattima house and it is best had with dry chicken or muton gravy...

Ingredients
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toor dhal - 3/4 cup
small onions- 10
garlic - 5 cloves
curry leaves - few
green chilli - 1
Turmeric powder - 1 pinch
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Tomatoes - 2
Tamarind water - 1/2 cup
mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Pepper- 1 tsp
Cumin - 1 tsp



In cooker, take all the above ingredients toor dhal to asafoetida with water.

Cook for 4-5 whistles.

Open cooker.Add crushed tomato -2 and 1/2 cup tamarind water.Let it boil.

Heat oil in a pan.Add mustard seeds,curry leaves,onions,ground mixture
 of(Pepper,cumin ,3 flakes garlic),2 red chillies and saute it.

Add to dhal mixture and garnish with coriander leaves.

Palak (Spinach) Chicken

A great way to make the kids to eat Spinach!!!

Ingredients:

Spinach leaves - 1 bunch

Ginger and garlic paste- 1 tbsp

Bayleaves - 2

Black peppercorns - 1/4 tsp

Onion- 1 finely chopped

Green chilli -1
Tomatoes - 4 
2 tsp curry powder*
Salt - to taste
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Yogurt - 3 tbsp
Chicken - 1/2 kg (Preferably Boneless)

Method:

Cook the spinach without water in a covered pan for five minutes on low heat. Grind it in mixie along with the green chilli and set aside.

Heat oil.Add bayleaves,peppercorns and fry for 2 minutes.Now add the onions and fry till onions turn light brown.Add the chopped tomatoes and ginger and garlic paste.saute for five more minutes.Add curry powder,salt,chilli powder and cook.

Add spinach puree and some water.Add yogurt 1 tbsp at a time and simmer for 5 mins.

Now add chicken and cook till it is done.Serve with naan or chapathi.

*Ps: 

1.Add less spice if cooking for kids.They will love this healthy gravy.

2.Curry powder - to make 1/2 cup of curry powder - 1/2 cup coriander seeds,4 tbsp cumin seeds, 2 tbsp fennel seeds, 1 tsp fenugreek seeds, 4 red chillies, curry leaves

Fish pulao

I really like fish and I really like all kinds of variety rice.I tried to put them together..bam...i got the fish pulao..hehe..and it tasted really very good! Must try!

Ingredients:

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Tilapia fish fillets - 3 or 1 can tuna (u can add any fish u want..without bones..i used tilapia)

Basmati rice - 3 rice cooker cups.

Onion-2

Oil- 4 tbsp

Garlic - 8 pods

Ginger - 1 inch

Green chillies - 4

Red chilli powder - 1/2 sp

Coriander powder - 1/2 sp

Cumin powder - 1/2 sp

Pepper powder - 1/2 sp

Shredded coconut - 4 tbsp

Salt.

Method:

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Add some salt and Cook the basmati rice with 4 1/2 cups water. Ratio of rice to water is 1:1 1/2.

Open the lid and keep it in a wide pan and cool the rice.

Heat oil in a wide pan.add very finely chopped ginger,garlic and green chillies.Add finely chopped onion.stir for few minutes.Add the red chilli powder,coriander powder,cumin and pepper powder.Add salt.Cook them well in oil.Never add water.If you feel it is dry,add oil.Add coconut and stir for few minutes.Now add diced fillet and salt.Stir well and the fish will break and mix with the masala.Cook really well (15-20 minutes)till it becomes brown..kinda roasted...Now add the rice and stir well till all the lumps in the rice breaks and it mixes well..Adjust salt and serve hot! Serve with the egg curry..the recipe is given in this blog!!!

Poha

This is a new dish for me.Think it is a famous north indian dish.But when I tried it,I really liked it a lot.Poha is avul in tamil.We don't have many avul dishes in south india.This is a great dish to try!

Ingredients:

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1 cup beaten rice (poha) (avul)

1/4 cup crushed groundnuts

1/4 cup grated or scraped coconut

1/4 cup coriander leaves

1 stalk curryleaves chopped

1/4 tsp sugar

salt to taste

5-6 green chillies

1 tsp lime juice

1 1/2 tbsp oil

2 onions chopped

1 can chopped potatoes.

1/2 tsp each cumin & mustard seeds.

Method:

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Wash poha till clean. Drain water sprinkle a handful of clear water and keep aside.

After 15 minutes loosen the poha gently, and break lumps with fingers. In a heavy saucepan, heat oil, add cumin and mustard seeds . Add onion, chillies and curry leaves. Stir and fry onions till tender and then add potatoes.Stir for 2-3 minutes.Take off fire.

Add poha and all other ingredients. Save some coconut and coriander leaves for garnishing. Mix very well. Adjust salt and lime as per taste.

Return to low flame till hot. Stir gently every now and then. Transfer to serving dish and garnish with coriander and coconut.

Bisi Bele Bhath

This is a very famous vegetarian rice dish.

Ingredients:

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Rice - 1 1/2 cups (rice cooker cup)

Toor dhal - 3/4 cup (ratio of rice to toordhal is 1:1/2)

Peas- 1/2 cup

Green Beans- 1/2 cup

Carrot - 2

Potato - 1

cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Asofoetida - 1/4 tsp

Ghee - 4 tbsp

Oinon - 1

Tamarind water - 1/2 cup (take tamarind in the size of a marble)

mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Coriander leaves - to garnish

Salt

To roast and grind:

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Roast the following ingredients in 1 spoon oil and then grind with water.

whole Red chilli - 6

Coriander seeds - 1 1/2 tsp

Fenugreek (vendayam) seeds - 1/4 tsp

Chana dhal - 1 tbsp

Urud dhal - 1/2 tsp

poppy seeds(kasa kasa) - 1 tbsp

Cinnamon stick - 2 inch piece

Cloves - 2

Shredded coconut - 1 1/2 tbsp

Method:

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Grind the masala and keep it aside.

Take rice,toor dhal,salt,turmeric powder,asofoetida,cumin seeds and the vegetables in a cooker.Add 6 cups of water and cook this for 3-4 whistles.

Heat 3 tbsp ghee in a pan.Add mustard seeds.Add onion and cook for a minute.Add the tamarind water and cook.Add the ground masala.Add some water and cook for a few minutes.Now add the cooked rice and dhal mixture and mix well.Adjust salt. At last,add 1 tbsp ghee and mix.Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot!

Egg Curry

This goes great with any type of biryanis and pulaos.

Ingredients:

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Boiled egg - 3

Garlic - 6 pods

Onion (big) - 1

Tomato - 2 medium

Cumin powder - 1 sp

Chilli powder - 1 sp

Coriander powder - 1 sp

turmeric powder - 1 sp

Oil - 4 tbsp

Method:

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Heat oil in a pan.Add finely chopped garlic. Cook it for a minute and add the onion.cook for few minutes and add chilli powder,coriander powder,turmeric powder and cook the masalas in oil for a few minutes.Now add the tomato and 1 cup of water.(You can also substitute with chicken stock).Add salt.Cook really well till the oil separates .Now cut the eggs into halves and add them and mix it gently for a minute and switch off.Serve Hot!

Vegetable Kurma

This is a very good side dish for chapathi . A great way of adding vegetables to our diet which is very healthy...

Ingredients:

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Potato - 2

Carrot - (big)2

Peas - 1 cup

green beans - 1 cup

Onion - 1

Tomato -2

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 sp

Cinnamon stick -1

Cardamom -2

Clove-2

Aniseed - 1

bayleaf -1

Green chilli - 2 (add more if you need more spice)

oil - 3 tbsp

milk-1 cup

To grind:

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Onion - 1/2 (if u have small onions add 6 of them..definitely better than big onion)

Coconut - 4 tbsp

kasakasa - 1 tsp

cashew -8

cumin - 1 tsp

fennel seeds - 1 tsp

whole peppercorns - 10

green chilli - 2

Coriander leaves - handful

Soak this in the mixie for at least half an hour and then add water and grind.

Method:

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Cut all the vegetables into small pieces.

Heat oil in the cooker.Add the whole spices(cinnamon,clove,cardamom,aniseed and bayleaf).Add

onion and green chillies.After it is cooked,add ginger garlic paste.cook for a few minutes.Add tomato and ground masala.Cook this really well till the oil seperates.Now add the vegetables and 1 cup water.Add salt.Cook for 3 whistles so that the vegetables would be soft and great to eat with chapathi.Switch off and let it stand for a few minutes.Open and add 1 cup of milk.Adjust salt.Serve hot with chapathi!!