Paneer - Indian Cheese - Home Made

Paneer, the most common Indian cheese is a protein rich food. It is made by curdling boiled milk by lemon juice and from there on, the making of paneer differs from state to state /for each variety of food.



The one I made is the common way of paneer-making, ideal for dishes like Paneer tikka, Kadai Paneer, Palak Paneer and Paneer Butter masala.

Fresh made paneer will sure give a great taste to the dish.



Ingredients:-
Whole Milk - 2 cups
Lemon Juice - 1 Tbsp
Muslin Cloth / Cheese Cloth

Heat the milk.
Once milk is boiled, set stove on low and add half Table spoon of lemon juice , stir.
If you dont see the milk seperating into solid lumps(cheese) and a thin greenish liquid (whey) , you can add some more lemon juice.
Wait till milk curdles, stir till the whole of the milk is sepearted into cheese and whey. This might take a couple of minutes.
Strain the cheese from the whey.
(Do not discard the whey, it helds the nutrient. Whey contains protein, this water could be used for cooking. )
Use a clean cloth / muslin cloth / cheese cloth, if nothing at all is available you can try using a thick paper tissue as well.
Hung the cheese tied in muslin cloth for about an hour.
(If paper tissue is used, Strain the liquid out of cheese and change the paper tissue couple of times to take out maximum moisture before it is set for an hour, else paper becomes very very soggy and sticks to paneer).
Wrap the paneer in clean cloth/tissue, carefully place a heavy weight on top of it. It can be a pan fully filled with water.
Set it for minimum 3-4 hours.
Once set, it could be cut into cubes or required shape and used. Else refrigerate.

H E L P !

Dear Blog pals,

Lend me a helping handddddd...I am relatively new to the blog world so need your help to crack down some things. Is there a problem in using customised templates? Somehow, the available templates in blog was not so much pleasing either I hated the colors or for their clumsiness so I went ahead and downloaded a better looking template.

My previous template was not working for some of the widgets. The html when added just dont work hence I switched over to the current one. This seems to have been working better but again when I try to add widgets like Link Within, it does not work.

I know issues are with the template because all of these things work fine with my other blog that is having a standard blogger template.

Hufff...I am tired of changing templates.. Have u faced similar troubles? Or is it best to switch back to Standard blogger template??

Chow Chow Kootu / Chayote in coconut gravy

Chayote also known as chow chow or Bangalore Kathirikkai is considered a squash variety. It will be light green in color and pear shaped. I generally peel the skin and use.

The cooked chayote will taste close to Bottle Guard.

I love chayote when its cooked soft and tender. It is a very comforting food. This kootu is mild and pleasing to our taste buds and very apt when you want to give spicy curries a rest. The combo of coconut+cumin+green chilli gives a wonderful taste. This goes as a perfect side dish for Rotis.



Many people cook this kootu with moong dal, But I had gotten used to cooking it as a plain gravy with the grounded spices.

Ingredients:-
Chayote - 1
Moong Dal (Opt) - 1 Tbsp
Grated Coconut - 1 Tbsp
Green Chilli - 3-4 depending on the hotness
Cumin - 1 sp
Roasted Gram - 1 sp

Rice flour - 1 or 2 sp (If required)

Wash, peel skin and chop chayote to small cubes.
Grind coconut, chilli, cumin and roasted gram with little water.
Pressure cook with little water. (Can cook it with moong dal).
Add ground paste with cooked chayote, add salt, cook for 5-6 minutes.
If it is not thick enough, add 1 sp of rice flour mixed in few tablespoons of water. Cook for few mins till done. Serve hot with Rotis.

Capsicum Subzi

Colorful subzi with Avocado Rotis..

Ingredients:-
Capsicum - 1 Big
Tomato - 2 (Med sized)
Onion - 2 (Med sized)
Green Peas - 1/2 cup
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 sp
Garam masala powder - 1 sp
Cumin Coriander powder - 2 sp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 sp
Salt
Coriander - few leaves
Butter/oil

In 1 Tbsp of butter/oil, saute the onions till translucent. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute.
Add chopped tomatoes , saute for few minutes.
Add the spice powders, give a good mix and add capsicum and green peas.
(Add little water if required)
Cover and cook, add salt when vegetables are partly cooked.
Cook closed till done.
Garnish with coriander.
Serve hot with Rotis.

Avocado Chappathi

Avocados have the highest fiber content of any fruit - including 75% insoluble and 25% soluble fiber. And it possess richest nutrients, check out avocado nutrition value here

For quite some time I wanted to try Avocado chappathi, but was in a dilemma. Finally decided to try it when I saw it in some blog, forgot which one. So here it is, avocado chappathi full full of nutrients.

Ingredients:-
Ripe Avocado - 1
Wheat Flour
Salt
Water

Choose a ripe avocado, scoop and add to the wheat flour, add salt and water and make the chappathi dough the same way u do.
Make chappathis in the usual way.
Depending on the amount of avocado you add, the chappathis will have a mild green color and the avocado taste.

** To ripen the avocado, you can put it in a brown paper bag / wrap it in news paper and keep outside for a day or two. More better if an apple/tomato is kept along with it.

Oats Cutlet - Who doesnt love cutlets?

I was speaking with my cousin this morning and she passed on a recipe for Oats Cutlet, she tried it from here. I was excited and all set to try it today and it was amazing. I made it hot n spicy and it was over within minutes. Yummy it was ! Made very few variations.
Thank You Brindha for the recipe..We had a great snack today :)


Ingredients:-
Oats - 1/2 cup
Roasted gram Powdered - 1/4 cup
Chopped Onions and Boiled vegetables (Potato,carrot,beans etc) - 1/2 cup or more
Salt
Red Chilli powder - 1 sp
Cumin powder - 1 sp
Ginger garlic paste. - 1 sp
Chopped Green chillis - 1 or 2
Cilantro - few
Bread crumbs - To roll the cutlet.
(I did not have bread crumbs , I used a combination of corn flour+oats to roll the cutlet)
Oil - To shallow fry

Powder the roasted gram. (One can substitute gram flour, but it suits more for deep fry and in shallow frying it leaves a raw taste which many reduce the spicyness)
Saute onions slightly add to boiled veggies of your choice. (Potato very much helps the binding), Add all the other ingredients to thick dough. add minimum water if required.
Make patties, Roll in bread crumbs and shallow fry.
Serve hot with Ketchup.

New Template

Hiiiiii dear pals,

Had some issues with my previous template..Used to love it :( but consistently throwing some errors. So switched to yet another simple nice template.

Do share your comments/feedback about it.

Lovely Blog award

Hurrayyyyyyyyy ! I got an award.. This is my first award in the foodie world. :)

Nothing can make you more happy than a word of praise or genuine appreciation. Isnt it? Atleast for me, it is enough to boost me up :)


I am very happy to receive this lovely blog award from Pavithra, the one who is in the process of making Kitchen Revolutions ;) Or thats how I kid about her. Thank You Pavi.. Also like to extend my
Congrats to Vrindha, Pooja, Kitty, Pinky for their awards..

They say it has to be passed on to another 10 bloggers who deserve..

I would like to share this with sowmya, Madhuram, Raaga, Cilantro, Meera,
Kalai, Varsha, Hari Chandana, Shilpa , Lata Raja Many of these bloggers are in the blog world for quite long and am sure they would have come across this award, still I would like to share it with them. Those are few of the blogs I really enjoy !

Bisibelabath - I love this dish..

Yet another One-Dish-Meal post for today.Weekend I was feeling too lazy to cook an elaborate lunch, Dal,Sambar,Curry so ended up doing this simple satisfying delicious Bisibela bath. It was ready in 30 mins, a whole some meal .


My aunt is the real bisibela bath queen, love the version she makes. Ever since we are very fond of this rice. Based on choice some people make it little grainy , I prefer it totally mushy like pongal ;) So its just your choice, do not get apprehended with the pics :)

This does not take more than 1 sp oil that is taken for grinding the masalas. Ghee is optional.

Ingredients :
Rice - 1 Cup
Tur Dal – 1/2 Cup (Half of Rice quantity)
Vegetables (Beans / carrot / Shallots or Onions / Drumstick ...) - 2 cups
Boiled Peanuts (Opt) - 1/2 cup (I love peanuts in this dish)
Tamarind - big lemon sized. Extract juice. (OR) Tamarind pulp - 1 sp
Salt
Ghee - 2 sp

To fry in 1 sp oil and Grind to paste:
Dhaniya – 3 Sp.
Channa dal – 1 1/2 Sp
Grated Cocunut - 3 Sp
Red chilli - 6-8 (Per choice)
Methi - 1 sp
Pepper - 1/2 sp
Curry Leaves - Few springs
Saunf,Cumin - 1/2 sp

-Wash well and cook Rice along with Dal and veggies/peanuts till mushy.
(Use minimum 1:5 Rice:water proportion. I used 1:6). Again as I mentioned, this could be made less mushy too. But I prefer it totally mushy.
When u see the cooked mixture too watery, let it not cheat you, it will solidify too fast on litte boiling or when it gets cold. So have no fear.

Fry in 1 sp oil and Grind the mentioned ingredients adding some water. I have added tamarind pulp while grinding hence the color, else will be quite lighter.


Once rice is cooked, add the ground mixture and Tamarind pulp (if not added already). Add salt.
Boil for 5-7 few minutes till they blend well.
Add ghee for extra flavour.
Serve hot with Bhoondi raitha.

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You can also use coconut oil while frying the masala ingredients and then grind the mixture, that way giving some added coconut taste.
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Potato Dry Subzi

I equally like both dry and gravy subzi made with Potato. Both are yummy...

Ingredients:-
Potato - 3
Tomato - 2
Onion - 2
Red chilli powder - 1 sp
Cumin Coriander - 1 sp
Salt
Oil

To Temper:-
Mustard - 1 sp
Cumin - 1 sp
Saunf (opt) - 1 sp

In little oil, temper the ingredients, add chopped onions and saute till translucent, add chopped tomatoes and close cook till done. (add little water if it sticks to bottom).
Add cubed tomatoes and cover cook till done.
Half way thru, add salt and other spices.
Cook till done.
Serve hot with Roti/Poori.

Easy Vegetable Rice - Quick Quick real Quick

This is a quick one dish meal recipe when I am not in mood to stretch efforts for a vegetable Biriyani .Also No grinding masalas as like Pulao and stuff. I say this is quick if you have frozen cut vegetables :) else cutting vegetables for veg rice is really time consuming task :)

(Now, am back again with utilising 'sambar powder' :) To retierate again it has the hidden but ever satisfying spices such as Dhaniya,Channa Dal,Methi in right proportions.. You can check the sambar powder recipe here ) Have no apprehensions about adding sambar powder in this rice, this will NOT taste just like sambar rice ;)


Ingredients :-
Normal Rice / Basmati Rice - 1 cup
Vegetables (Beans/Carrot/Onion/Peas/Corn) - 2 cups
Sambar powder - 2 full sp
Garam Masala powder - 1 sp
Cumin Coriander powder - 1 sp
Curd - 1 Tbsp
Salt
Oil/Butter/Ghee - 2-3 sp

In little butter/ghee/oil, saute the vegetables, add little water and cook closed.
Once they are partly done, add masala powders,curd,salt, give a good mix.
(Curd helps binding the masala together and boosts up the taste)
Add the whole mixture to rice, add enough water and cook till done.
Serve hot with Raitha.

Tomato Dosa

Tomato Dosa - Colorful and Flavourful..


I was instantly impressed when I first saw tomato dosa in Pavithras recipe. I tried it today and it was really refreshing to have a flavoured dosa :)

A big hug and thanks to the Dosa queen for sharing this recipe. :) I have made few variations to suit my taste..

You can serve it as CONE DOSA :)



Note:-
- This dosa is best eaten while hot as its made only with rice.
-Though ideally this dosa needs to be done from outer to inner, some tavas really dont suit this style. For instance the authentic iron tava that we get in India will be quite hollow towards centre with raised sides. These are ideal to make outer-inner dosas. But unusually my pan here is little raised in the centre and slanting bit down towards edges ;) so when I try outer-inner, all batter still goes towards edges leaving centre empty. So depending upon your pan, use a method that suits.

Ingredients:
Raw Rice - 1 Small cup
Medium sized tomatoes - 1 and half (can be more depending on taste preference)
Sour curd - 1 Tbsp (Opt, to give a sour taste)
Salt
Cumin - 1/2 sp
Red Chilli - 2 (This adds a bit of color to this dosa)
Green Chilli - 1 or 2
Chopped Ginger - 1 sp
Coriander/Curry leaves - few
Oil

Wash well soak raw rice for 3 - 4 hrs. As Pavithra has mentioned, it is advisable to soak in warm water.
Drain and grind along with Tomatoes, sour curd,red chilli,salt adding water as required.
Make a thin batter to get crisp dosas.
Add Cumin, chopped green chilli, coriander, curry leaves. Set aside for 20-30 mins. Add 1 sp of eno fruit salt just before making dosas.
Heat tava well, drizzle oil, pour the dosa from outer to inner , close cook for few seconds, flip and cook other side till crisp.

Serve hot. Spicy Onion chutney / peanut chutney. I love dosas best with sambar made in hotel style :)

You may also check out few dosa tips that I follow

Green soup :)

I really dont make soups often, but I love soups. Best advantage with it is, I can eat any sort of vegetable in soup form because I have the option of garnishing with so many herbs and spices and almost diminish the original taste of the vegetable still can intake the vegetable to 100% thereby getting all its nutrients ;)

So, sometimes when I try a whole new vegetable, safe way to go is soup and that's what I did when I got Broccoli for the first time :) Some Broccoli was left over and so combined it few others and made a greeny greeny soup ...


I used almost equal amount of each. Some florets of Broccoli, Few springs of cilantro , Few celery stalks, few spinach leaves slipped in boiling hot water with salt. Also added 4 pods of garlic and half an onion and an inch of ginger.


When they boiled enough, switch off and blend to purée. Garnish with dry herbs and pepper.
Drizzle a spoon of olive oil that gives a good glaze..Serve hot.

French Cut Beans fry

For very long time beans fry was alien to me. If I do something with beans, its either
Beans Paruppusili or Beans with coconut curry or simple tempering with half boiled beans.

But once I started making fry out of beans, I fell in love with it :)
So if any of you are like me, you can give this a try once..

I really make it more spicy adding more chilli powder. It goes hand in hand with sambar.




Ingredients:-

French cut beans - 2 cups
Oil - 1 Tbsp
Red Chilli powder - 3/4 sp
Sambar powder - 3/4 sp
Salt

Take a wide tava, add beans, add 2 Tbsp of water and cook closed.
(If frozen, need not add water)
Once they are half cooked, add salt and add a spoon of oil and saute for couple of minutes. Leave tava open.
Fry till fully done, add oil as required, finally add chilli powder/sambar powder, saute for couple of minutes.
Serve hot with rice or as side dish.

2 Minute Mor Kuzhambu

Now, I cannot call this a super-duper dish, but I love it for its simplicity (making wise and taste wise) :) I end up doing this when I really need some gravy but cant spend time. All is done in less than 5 minutes and it definitely tastes spicy and good.
You shall refer to the original recipe of Mor Kuzhambu / Coriander Mor Kuzhambu :)



Ingredients:-
Sour Curd - 1 cup
Tamarind - 1/2 sp (If curd is not sour)
Turmeric- A pinch Salt

To Temper:-
Mustard - 1 sp
Red Chilli - 4-5
Cumin - 1 sp
Urad dal - 1/2 sp
Channa dal - 1/2 sp

Beat the curd well (add tamarind pulp if it isn't sour) , a pinch of turmeric and set aside.
In little oil temper the ingredients, add curd and bring it to boil. Will not take more than 2 mins.
Switch off, add salt and give a mix. Serve hot with Rice or even like a raitha with spicy dishes.

Onion Chutney - Lipsmacking :)

Not few, there are loooooot of fans for my mom's onion chutney :) Now I am posting this as my friend Madhavi requested the recipe. This is undoubtedly my favourite of all chutneys that mom makes. This can more so be called "Thokku" as its preparation resembles that of 'Thokku' and also this is more spicy unlike usual chutneys and it goes good with rice too.

Ingredients:-
Onion - 2 (Big size)
Red Chilli - 6
Red Chilli powder - 1/2 sp
Jaggery - a small gooseberry size.
Tomato (Opt) - 1/2
Mustard - 1/2 sp
Oil - 3 - 4 Tbsp
Salt

Chop onions (Need not be chopped fine as it is to be grounded anyway)
In little oil, fry the onions for about 5 minutes, add red chillies and fry couple of minutes.
Grind this finely adding salt .
(It is optional to use 1/2 a tomato too , saute slightly and grind along with onions, it adds a bit of tangy taste, but I personally do not like tomatoes interfering in this chutney)
In a hot tava, add 2 spoons of oil, temper mustard and add the grouded paste, red chilli powder and saute.
(Essentially bit of red chilli powder is added to give a good color)
The grounded mixture is to be sauted for about 15 mins minimum, trick and taste to this recipe is being linenant in oil and sauteing for long time, so dont be stingy if you need the taste, add some more oil and keep sauteing until the chutney turns bright brown in color.
Finally add little jaggery, saute couple of minutes, switch off.
This frying is what gives a great taste to the chutney.
Enjoy with any kind of tiffin or with hot rice.


Usili - Exotic Tiffin made with Rice and Lentils

I wonder how I forgot this simple yet deliciously different tiffin for so long. I am sure this is going to be regular at my home from now on ;)



Ingredients:-
Raw Rice - 1 cup
Moong Dal - 1/4 cup
Water - 4 cups
Salt

To Temper:-
Oil - 1 sp
Mustard - 1 sp
Hing - A pinch
Red Chilli - 3-4
Urad dal - 1 sp
Channa dal - 1 sp
Curry Leaves - few

Heat a tava. Once very hot, fry the raw rice couple of minutes till the color changes.
Switch off and just add the moong dal onto the rice. Set aside.
Boil 4 cups of water in a pan.
Temper the mentioned ingredients and add to boiling water.
Now add the Rice and dal to the boiling water, add salt, cook closed till done.
Serve hot with chutney.

Broccoli Soup - A no oil..no butter nutritional soup



This is an absolute healthy dish jam packed with nutrition :) with no oil no butter..
Check out the amazing nutrition facts for Broccoli



Ingredients:-
Broccoli florets - 1 cup
Onion - 1
Garlic pods - 3
Pepper
Salt
Herbs (Basil,Oregano)

Wash very well and cut broccoli to florets.
Boil enough water (to cook the broccoli) very well, adding a pinch of salt.
Add broccoli florets, chopped onion, chopped garlic and let the whole mixture boil.
Once broccoli is well cooked, add it to blender and blend it to fine paste.
Add a spoon of pepper, pinch of basil,oregano (or any herbs ) and serve hot.

** Can add a dash of butter/ghee to add flavour.

Eggless Delicious 'Melt-in-Mouth' Cookies

A very simple cookie. The use of corn flour makes it absolutely melt-in-your-mouth :)



Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 3/4 cup
Corn Flour - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Salt - A pinch
Butter - 3 Tbsp
Baking powder - 1/4 sp
Skimmed Milk - 2 Tbsp

Sieve all purpose flour,corn flour,salt, baking powder.
Use an electric/hand mixer, mix well sugar and butter.
Combine both and add enough milk for binding.
Pre heat the oven to 350'F
Use a rolling pin, roll the dough into a sheet and use a cookie cutter to cut it to desired shapes. Else roll them as balls and flatten them.
Dust baking tray with some all purpose flour.Place each cookies with 5cm distance to prevent sticking to each other during baking.
Bake it for 12 mins or till slightly brown. A toothpick inserted should come out clean.
Cool it for 15 mins.
(Above measurement gives about 8-10 cookies of size as shown in the picture.)

The inclusion of corn flour gives a real Melty taste. This tip could be used for several other recipes by substituting a little part of all purpose flour with corn flour.
Enjoy Baking !

This recipes goes as my entry to Madhuram's Eggless baking's Lowfat eggless baking event

Oatmeal-Raisins cookies - Yummy, Simple Low-Calorie snack

This takes less than 10 mins effort to prepare.. You can check out Oatmeal nutrition facts here



Ingredients:
Whole wheat flour - ¼ cup
Oats - ¾ cup
Raisins - ¼ cup
Sugar - ¼ cup
Baking powder - ½ tsp
Vanilla essence (opt) - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 Tbsp
Low fat / Skimmed/ Whole Milk - 2 Tbsp
Butter - 1 Tbsp (Can reduce this and add more milk)

Sieve and Knead all ingredients together.
Divide into balls and flatten them to desired size.
Grease the baking pan with oil/flour.
Bake at 375 F 15 mins or till done.
Allow to stand for 15 mts.

(Above measurement gives about 8-10 cookies of size as shown in the picture.)

Recipe adapted from here, applied few variations.

This entry goes to Maduram's Eggless cooking's Low Fat Eggless Baking Event

Chick peas Gravy / Channa Masala

Chick
Ingredients:

Channa / Garbanzo beans / Chickpeas - 2 cups
Tomato -2
Onion -2
Turmeric Powder - A pinch
Coriander powder - 2 - 3 sp
Channa masala / Garam Masala powder - 1 sp
Red chilli powder - 1 sp
Chopped Ginger Peices - 1 sp
Garlic - 3-5

Cumin - 1 sp
Saunf - 1 sp
Salt

Raw Masala Ingredients: -
Cinnamon - 1 med stick
Cardamom 4
Cloves - 4
Bay Leaf - 2


One can use raw masala ingredients or masala powder or combination of both.

-Soak the channa over night.
-Pressure cook channa till soft.
-In 2 sp of oil, Fry onions,garlic,ginger till onions are pink. Add tomatoes and cook till done.
(- Add water if the mass becomes too thick. Use up the water from the boiled channa till tomatoes are cooked well. )
- Let this cool for few minutes, once cooled, blend it to find gravy along with few of the boiled channa.
-In a tava, add 2 spoons of ghee/butter/oil, fry little cumin,saunf and add the grounded gravy.
- Add coriander powder, garam masala powder, chilli powder and salt.
- Mix in the boiled channa and let the whole mixture cook for 7-8 mins till channa is well absorbed.
-Garnish with coriander.

**Need not necessarily add some channa while blending. But this gives some thickness to the gravy and also makes the dish more gravy. Need not grind channa if you prefer more of solid channas in your dish.

Semolina Sweet Balls / Rava Laddoo - Simple and delicious

Yet another simple delicious sweet.



Ingredients:-
Rava - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 1/2 cup
Ghee - 3 Tbsp
Cardamom powder - 1 sp
Cashews - few (Fried in ghee)
Milk - 1 or 2 sp

Dry fry Rava till it turns pink and a nice aroma comes.
Grind to fine powder.
Grind sugar to fine powder (Do not grind rava and sugar together).
Mix finely powdered Rava,Sugar and cardamom powder and ghee fried cashews well.
In a Tava heat ghee, once its well heated, switch off and pour the hot ghee in Rava-Sugar mixture.
Start making laddoos out of it.
You can use little amount of milk in hand while shaping the laddoos to help binding.



Sambar Powder - Moms recipe

Few of my friends were asking for Sambar Powder recipe. Here it is, Mom's way of doing it.
I havent tried it myself, as always mom makes and give it for me till now.. :)

Ingredients:-
Varali Manjal/ Long Turmeric pieces - 50 gms
Dhaniya/Coriander seeds - 250 gms
Red Chilli - 250 gms
Methi - 100 gms
Channa Dal - 100 gms
Tur Dal - 100 gms

-Substitute turmeric powder if you cannot get the long pieces.
- Ideally mom will sun dry all the ingredients for one day and give it to mill and grind it to fine powder.
If thats not possible,
-Heat a tava very well, fry all the ingredients one by one seperately, just to give some heat to them. Grind to fine powder. Store in air tight container

Paruppusili - Mildly spiced lentils

Its quite a different and tasty south indian vegetable curry.

Vegetables are mildly steamed and sauted with spiced lentils. Goes great with spicy rice dishes.

I stick with my Moms recipe of using two kind of Dals. Some use three/four kinds too.



Ingredients:-
Vegetable (Banana Flower/ Beans / Capsicum ) - 1 cup

Channa Dal - 2 Tbsp
Tur Dal - 2 Tbsp
Red Chillis - 6-8
Red Chilli powder - 1 sp (Opt)
Hing - 1 sp
Salt

Wash well and soak the dals in water for couple of hours (minimum 1 hr).
Drain water and Grind it coarse in mixie along with Red chilli,Hing.
Sprinkle with few spoons of water steam it for one whistle.
Once cooked, drizzle some oil in hand and sieve the paruppusili into breadcrumb consistency (OR) give one more blend in mixie.
This could be stored in air tight boxes for a week.

Steam the vegetable of your choice, for one whistle.

In 2 spoons of oil, saute the paruppusili for couple of minutes.
(This will taste good if they are fried till they are mildly crispy. )
Add the steamed vegetable, add red chilli powder , salt and cook for 5-8 mins.
Serve hot with rice or as a side dish.

Below is pic of Beans Paruppusili..

Vengaya Vathal Kuzhambu - Onion in spicy tamarind Gravy

Yummy and spicy.. Its my all time favourite.



Ingredients:-
Tamarind - Lemon sized
Onions - 2
Sambar powder - 2 sp
Salt
Oil - 1 Tbsp

To Temper:-
Mustard - 1 sp
Red Chilli - 2
Hing - 1/2 sp
Methi - 1 sp
Curry Leaves - few

Make thick pulp from tamarind for about 1 cup.
In a tava add a table spoon of oil, temper mustard, red chillis, hing, methi, curry leaves.
Once done, add the sambar powder to the oil. Saute 2-3 seconds.
Sambar powder is added as it has the extra spices in it)
The powder will get fried in the oil and immediately simmer and add finely chopped Onion. Saute till pink.
Add tamarind pulp.
Extract the tamarind again, as much as u can out of it adding water for about 2 cups more and add.
Let it boil. It will boil well enough and will come down to half its original size.
Add salt.
Serve hot with rice.


The spicy kuzhambu goes best with (any kind of) 'Paruppusili' as side dish. An ideal combo like Onion sambar and potato fry :)

Bahalabath - The yoghurt meal :)



Ingredients:-

Rice - 1/2 cup
Butter - 1 Tbsp (Opt)
Curd - 1/2 cup
Milk - 1/2 cup
Pineapple/Grapes
Salt
Temper:-
Curd Chillis - 10
Mustard - 1 sp
Curry Leaves
Urad Dal - 1 sp


Cook the rice mushy.
In little oil, temper the mentioned ingredients and add.
Add butter and mix well.
Once rice is cold, add milk and curd,salt to taste and mix well.
Garnish with your choice of fruits (Pine apple/Grapes/Raisins etc..)

Poha / Aval / Atukula Dosa



A simple , different and a healthy dosa..

Ingredients:-
Thick Poha - 1/4 cup
Raw Rice - 3/4 Cup
Sour Curd - 1 cup
Methi - 1 sp
Salt
Cooking Soda/Eno Fruit Salt - 1 sp



Mix poha, rice, methi, Wash well and soak for 4-6 hrs in sour curd.
Grind to fine paste. Add salt, beat well in hands and allow it to ferment for overnight/12 hrs.
Just before making dosas, add 1 sp of eno fruit salt. Mix well and make dosas.
One side boil itself will be enough. Can also cook both sides.
These dosas come out very soft and porous.
Serve hot with chutney.

Can also add green chilli/ginger/onion to the batter.
Recipe adapted from here. Few variations made.

Paniyaram from left over dosa batter

This needs a 'Kuzhi paniyaram' skillet which could be available (in USA) in the name of "Pan Cake Puff Skillet". Check out here.

This may not be compared to the original Paniyaram as the recipe is different for that. But its a great snack/tiffin made from leftover idli/dosa batter (Made with Idly rice, I am not sure if this will come good with batter made with Idly Rava.). This tastes best when batter is sour. Comes out real fluffy and tasty



Ingredients:-
Dosa Batter - 1 cuppChopped Green Chilli - 3 sp
Chopped Ginger - 3 sp
Chopped Onion - 1/2 cup
Cumin - 1 sp
Eno Fruit Salt - 1/2 sp

Grease the skillet with oil and heat.
Combine above ingredients together. Add baking soda/eno fruit salt, mix well.
Immediately Pour the batter in each hole.
Can cook covered / open for about 3-4 mins. (depending on the amount of oil you can use). If you use less amount of oil, close cook for couple of minutes for it to boil well.
Carefully flip the sides for it to cook both sides.
Serve hot with chutney.

Avocado Milkshake
















Check out the amazinggggg nutrition facts of avocado


Ingredients:
Ripe Avocado - 1
Milk - 1 cup
Honey/Sugar - 2 tsp
Cinnamon/Nutemeg powder - A pinch
Vanilla Essense (Opt) - few drops

Scoop the Avocado, Grind by adding milk.
Add sugar or Honey to taste.
Few drops of vanilla essence will shoot up the taste as avocado has a very mild taste.
Top it with little cinnamon/nutmeg powder.


One can also follow the frozen milk tip given in Apple-Carrot Smoothie to get a thick frothy foamy milkshake