Jackfruit Seed Stir Fry/Chakkakuru Mezhukkupuratti

Jackfruits are always my favourite.The flavour and the taste is uncomparable with any other fruits.At earlier days people never wasted any vegetable and tried using each and every edible part of the vegetable/fruit in some dishes.When we were young, my dad used to get a whole jackfruit when he visits Panruti (a place famous for the jackfruit in TamilNadu).My mother reserves all the jackfruit seeds.She use to toast it directly on the flame and serve us as an evening snack.She  also added it in chicken gravies,chicken stir fries,etc.This jackfruit seed can also be stir fried along with the potatoes.I love to have this stir fry with curd rice

 

For the recipe please click READ MORE below:

Dal-Baati (Rajasthani Special)

Dhal-Baati-Churma is a famous trio of the rajasthani Cuisine.I was teaching S a chapter in her GK which described the famous dishes of all the states in India.I was virtually explaining her about the dishes.Luckily at our township there are people from all states..So I thought about posting the authentic dishes from other states of India too..

I approached Shobha of our block to do a guest post for my blog.With no hesitance she accepted my request.I was so thrilled and much delighted when she said Yes.With all Josh I attacked her home the next day evening with one of my another friend.she gave a very much detailed explanation of how to make and eat dhaal baati....she made very delicious baatis.Thank u so much dear ..

Dal baati is a famous Rajasthani dish that is rich and nutritious.It is usually served during special occasions.They can be stored for more than two days.Baati is actually dipped in ghee!!!!before eating!!Baati is a wheat ball which has a hard outer crust but inside it is very softer.They are cooked in gas oven(traditionally cooked in firewood or kandas),dipped/stuffed with more of ghee,crushed ,mixed with dal and eaten...baatis can also be stuffed with some other fillings too!!When I served to my kids the elder was relating it to the tennis ball!!one could eat only 1 baati at a time.It is a very rich dish and a single baati with rich lentils will make ur tummy full!!!

Please press READ MORE for the recipe..

Dedicate this post to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose! Vemicelli(Semiya) Payasam

Today(23 rd January) is Subhash chandra Bose's Birthday.He is the only freedom fighter whose birthday I remember till now!!(Of course since Oct 2 is a holiday I remember Gandhi's Bday!!!but not for his deeds!!)I adore him so much that at my young ages I wanna become Netaji..I was crazy about him and I started collecting all his pictures and stories that appeared in magazines and daily newspaper.For my daughter S's first fancy dress competition I dressed up as netaji..I don't have any one specific reason to point out my worship towards Netaji...Been born to a strict follower of Netaji (I meant my lovable dad here)I had been brought up by hearing all stories related to Netaji from my grandfathers and dad.I am also happy(and of course proud!!) to mention that my great grandfather(Mom's side) left to singapore to join his army..and he was one of the proud soldier at Netaji's army..

Unlike other prominent leaders of Indian freedom struggle,Netaji strongly believed that an armed rebellion was necessary to wrest independence from the British.His famous words"Jai Hind" and "Give my blood,I will give you freedom"are still echoing!!

Even today the death of Subashji is a big puzzle.But I have a different story on it..I heard from my grandpa that he was put into prison in India by some of the prominent Indian leaders who were on the other side of the freedom struggle!!to take in the credit of acquiring to themself.But in reality British got scared of Indian Army and ran away!!So I personally feel that the freedom that we enjoy now is the one obtained by the great leader Subash Chandra Bose... 
An update:Happened to watch a discussion at Thanithi news channel about netaji's death..for more click the link below

http://www.techsatish.net/2013/01/new-news-on-subhash-chandra-bose-tnl.html?m=1

This post of Semiya Payasam is dedicated to my beloved leader Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose..

For the recipe please press READ MORE below..

Rava-Semiya Mixed Upma

Upma had helped at most of the occasions when there was sudden visit of guests during the morning peak time..I don't prefer rava but except me all others at my home love hot rava upma..I love semiya...Hence I always end up at making a mixture of rava and semiya upma..It tastes different from the normal rava upma and normal semiya upma...Everyone at home now started loving this mixture upma than the separate ones...It goes very well with coconut chutney..

 

For the recipe please press READ MORE below...

 

Punjabi Chole ( Made in an authentic way with homemade masala!!)

Punjabi Chole is a spicy and tangy dark curry which is rich on proteins and high on fibre .It can be had with crispy Baturas/Roti ....But I had it Wheat Naans.Both went on deliciously well!!Punjabi Chole is a famous north Indian Punjabi dish...I usually make  chole with the readymade chana masala that are sold by the famous brands...Suddenly remembered my childhood punjabi friend whose mom used to serve us delicious baturas with Punjabi Chole...So I wanted to try making those authentic chole that are made using homemade channa masala powders!!

 

Immediately I googled and found the authentic way of preparing the chole.I exactly followed the method explained by Anita and it turned out too well..Thank U Anita for sharing the recipe..

Kara Chutney(Saravana Bhavan Style)



 

 

 

 

The one that I like at Saravana Bhavan is the chutneys that they serve along with Idly/Dosa.I had been missing saravana bhavan since I shifted to Tuticorin.But luckily an year back Saravana bhavan opened a branch(they should have heard my prayers;-) ) at Punnai Nagar(1/2 an hour drive from Tuticorin).This place is the native village of the owner of Saravana Bhavan group...Apart from it he had also built a nice (and also neat!!) Perumal temple nearby which always offers some type of prasadam to all the devotees ..It is also nearer to Tiruchendhur...Sometimes, on weekends we make a drive to this hotel ....of course, to taste the chutney!!On that particular day there was very less people at the restaurant ...being a regular customer to this restaurant I requested the  recipe of the red chutney from the chef who came out for a break!!!He was in great thought whether to tell or not..May be I was lucky on that day he gave a quick n brief procedure of this chutney!!!I returned back home and made it the very next day(or else I will forget the recipe)and to my surprise it tasted the same..From then on No saravana Bhavan visits!!!

 

This chutney goes well with hot steamed Idlies and Dosa.It gives a colourful combination when it is served with Idly along with white chutney(coconut),green Chutney(mint) and red chutney(Kara chutney)..Of course u can teach the colours to ur playschool kid!!

 

For the recipe please press READ MORE below..

 

Bombay Chutney- Thoor Dhal Version

My mother used to make this as a side dish for Idly and Dosa.Some have it with poori too.When she is running short of dhal or time she makes this very quickly.It tastes very yummy.It can also be called instant sambhar.Though it is named as chutney the consistency will be similar to sambar.I don't know why it is named as bombay Chutney.Whatever the reason may be it tastes very yummy with thin dosais..There is another type where they add besan flour and make the same sambhar.Bombay Chutney-Besan flour version will be posted soon

 

For the recipe please press READ MORE below...

Pongal Kuzhambu

This is a dish that is very easy to prepare and tastes heavenly with the simple cooked rice...It is usually prepared during pongal when fresh lentils and vegetables arrive at the market.There are various methods of cooking this dish..The one that I had mentioned is the one that my mom makes specially during pongal.She also repeats making it often after pongal as we love this kuzhambu..

 

This dish specially calls  for 5/7 types of vegetables.Each vegetable gives a special taste to the dish.The remaining kuzhambu we keep it overnight and it tastes still more tastier, when it is heated again...Sunda Pongal kuzhambu tastes excellent with a simple appalam...

 

For the recipe please press READ MORE below...

 

My 100th Post...Sakkarai Pongal...Iniya Pongal Nal Vazthukkal

 

அனைவருக்கும் எனது இனிய

 

பொங்கல்

 

 நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள் 

 

 



 

 

 

Wishing all the readers a very happy Pongal..This is the only festival at our parents home which they celebrate every year very grandly..The scenario is very different at my inlaws house!!I would love to recall my days where we celebrated pongal with such a huge happiness.This festival had been always very close to my heart and I really miss such a celebrations after my dad's demise..

 

I love to brief about how we celebrated pongal when we were young..The celebration mood just breezes out a week before pongal.When we were school goers we used to get excited about the new clothes and also about a week holiday for schools!!

 

VenPongal

 

 

I remember the days at my college life where we use to eat pongal for breakfast and find hard to control our sleep at the boring lecturing hours.From then on till now if I have pongal it will make me to sleep.I tried deleting the ghee and other rich parts..still it is always a bothai marunthu for me...So I hardly make it even though HH loves to have it!!

 

Pongal festival being nearing I thought of posting the main VenPongal recipe.Pongal,Ulunthu Vada with   Brinjal Kotsu n Coconut chutney makes a grand and great breakfast.At most of the south Indian hotels Pongal is always accompanied by Ulunthu vada.

 

During pongal they make kai Kari Kootu and this goes very well with pongal. I love this combination too.At hotels they use dalda and I mostly avoid eating pongal outside

 

For the recipe pls press READ MORE below..

Grandma's Cough Syrup

The weather here at Tuticorin was not so terrible as that of the ones prevailing at North India.But still the change in the weather had affected us a lot.Added to it was the Wayanad trip.Dry Cough,severe cold were giving me hell a lot of problem.As usual took pills for the dry cough but it gave me a lot of side effects than the remedy.I got bugged of taking medicines.Additionally I passed on my cold and cough to all the members of my beautiful family.

 

Last week my grandma came home to visit us.She saw all of us taking loads of cetrizine for cold.And the worst thing is there was no effect at all.She then advised to stop the medicine and made immediately a Kashayam..Luckily we had all the herbs grown at our balcony garden.

 

Just took 2 doses of it and by evening I was completely relieved of my 10 days old cold and cough.The syrup that is being explained here is for the severe cold and conjection problems.For some it might not work but definitely will not give any negative side effects.

I now have the habit of making it whenever i feel my kids would catch cold and cough

 

For the recipe please press READ MORE below

Ragi Poori/Finger Millet Poori

When my kids were small(When they were not aware of all other types of food)their regular food was ragi Porridge.But when they grow big they don't prefer ragi.But I wanted to include ragi in their regular food.Ragi is a very good source of calcium,iron,protein and vitamins.It is an excellent source of calcium for growing children which is essential for strengthening of the bones.

Kids love to have Poori.I love to give them ragi/finger millet.So combining both the desires and made Ragi Poori.My younger one Y just loved having it describing it as brown poori!!

The taste was good.I made Rotis for us with the same dough.Any  sidedish that is little hot n spicy will go well with this rotis n Pooris

For the recipe please press READ MORE below..

Ambur Chicken Biriyani/Dum Biriyani (Sunday Special)

This is a very HOT post.Most of my friends had been asking me to post a non-veg biriyani recipe.I was lazy enough to cook the biriyani...I cooked it this morning and just loved the way it had turned out.I could not resist from posting the recipe.I didn't take any special efforts too to bring in some props for the photo session.I felt Biriyani itself is special and it doesn't need extra photo buildups!;-)

 

Briyani-s are always special.S and Y's  school is closed for winter vacation till Pongal.It's always nice to spend time with kids.Today we had invited newly married couple to our home for lunch .Since it was vacation I thought of serving them an elaborate lunch and also I had ample time at preparing the dishes!!

 

I was breaking up my small brain for the menu list!!Atlast I thought of making chicken biriyani..There are various styles of preparing the biriyani.Being a native of vellore which is few km from Ambur...I am great fan of Ambur biriyani..Star Biriyani Hotel at Ambur serves very delicious biriyani.There are slight additions and deletions that has to be done when compared to the pressure cooked biriyani.

I googled for the ambur biriyani and got a video which described the preparation of the biriyani.I just followed it ..The recipe is explained by the owner of the star Biriyani Hotel-Ambur.

http://www.istream.com/tv/watch/224934/Suvai-Payanam-EP-84-Complete

 

They had explained for mutton.As my kids don't take mutton I had replaced it with chicken.

Usage of Seeraga Samba Rice (Instead of basmathi-which is slow in digestion),lower spice quantity ,no green chillies  is the speciality of this Ambur biriyani.It doesn't cause any indigestion problems!!

 

 

For the recipe please press READ MORE

 

Mini Podi Idly

As always Podi is HH's most favourite item.He is satisfied with a simple idly podi and Curd.Whereas I am the other way round.I don't like Idly podi for Idly.I need a spicy gravy.My kids are like their dad. I don't  take much effort at cooking a sidedish for idlies.

 

Earlier I had posted a recipe Idly Podi Uppuma.The one presented here is a slightly different version of the podi uppuma..It is very easy to pack for travel.It stays good for 1 day.Kids will definitely love it when minimal amount of podi is added to the idly.

No need of making any side dish...

 

Enjoy the Mini Podi idly

 

Beetroot-Radish leaves Poriyal/Stir fry

While returning back from wayanad through Ooty we bought fresh beetroots and radish with the leaves.It was so fresh..Just loved the colours of the leaves.They are very rich in minerals and vitamins.We get these root vegetables along with the leaves at tuticorin too.But they are always dull in look.On contrary the ones from ooty was just colourful..

 

So mixed up all the leaves of beetroot,red radish,white radish,turnip and made a nice stir fry.Carrot leaves are very bitter and hence i didn't include it in the fry.My kids who are very apprehensive at taking greenies just loved this stir fry as it was colourful with the addition of the pink beetroot leaves

 

For the recipe please press READ MORE below

Ginger Garlic Rice(Inji Poondu Satham)

After the travel everyone at home are at the advent of cold ad cough.I didn't have stamina to cook much..I wanted something hot and hence ended up  making this rice.To mention specifically this rice is a bland one and those who need very spicy food will not like this.It is very easy to make and also can be done within minutes when you run shortage of vegetables.Have it with any hot chutney,pickle,chicken curry..Then you will appreciate the flavour of the dish.

 

This rice goes very well the chicken kurma or with the vegetable kurma.It can be had only when it is hot.So make it hot and have it when u are running short of time and vegetables!!

 

My kids just love this rice and they love to have it with pappad.

 

For the recipe please press READ MORE below...

Travelogue-Wayanad

"The world is like a book and those who don't travel read only a page"--St.Augustine

"Travel brings power and love back into your life"--Rumi

 

We love to travel...Definitely it brings in more of love and bonding to the family.With the hectic work schedules and routines we usually take a break to charge up our battery.Most of the trips are unplanned.Being nearer to Kerala we always adore the beauty of the state..It had been named aptly as God's Own country..We wanted to take a 3 day trip and so planned to go to Wayanad..North eastern part of Kerala.
For more.. please PRESS READ MORE below

Doodh Peda (3 minute microwave)-Milk Fudge

CooknDine wishes its readers "A very Happy and prosperous New Year 2013".

 

I am not into much of celebrating the new year...This special post is for all my blog readers.I had been recieving calls from my readers asking me to post a new year special post.So this post is specially for u readers.....

 

I wonder at people who wait till the new year to make resolutions..Infact if they want something in them to get changed they can start doing it at the moment itself..why should they wait till the new year to come...???

 

According to me new year is yet another day...with a paid holiday from work!!I had come across people who take resolutions on the first day of the year and forget it after few days itself...As I was brought up by my parents who were atheists..I never consider jan 1 as a special day??!!!These are all my thoughts on the new year celebrations and not imposing anything on you dear readers!!

 

My blog readers insisted me to post a easy sweet recipe for the newyear..Tirattipaal being a biggest hit among most of them I thought of trying another recipe with the condensed milk!!

 

Milk Pedas!!! That too a cooked within 3 minutes..Interesting right!!I usually don't like to be at kitchen for looonng hours...This dish is as usual easy to make...and very delicious to eat!!!

 

For the recipe please press READ MORE..