Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Happy New Year 2014 :)

Wishing you all and your family a very very Happy and Prosperous New Year :)



Sunday, December 29, 2013

Millagai Bajji

Millagai bajji is a favorite evening time snack for many of us. It goes very well with hot tea. In these winter days, spicy and hot millagai bajji will be too good, to make us feel warm. Also a cup of hot tea with it makes it so special for a winter time evening snack.



If the bajji millagai is in normal size we can use as it is. But those which I got here were big and it was hard to use it whole, by dipping in the batter and deep frying it. So I sliced the bajji millagai into 2 pieces.



Ingredients:

Bajii millagai - 3 to 5
Besan/Bengal gram flour - 1 cup
Rice flour - 1/2 cup
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Hing -  a pinch
Baking powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - for deep frying




Method:

1) In a bowl, make the bajji batter, by adding all ingredients (besan, rice flour, chilli powder, hing, baking powder and salt).



2) Add water little by little and make a batter that is not too thick or too watery. It should be in a pouring consistency.



3) Slice the bajji millagai into 2 halves if it is very big. (Those, which I got here were big) Else you can use it as a whole, without slicing it.



4) In a pan, pour oil for deep frying. Let it become hot. Then dip the sliced bajji millagai in the batter and leave it slowly in the hot oil.



5) Deep fry for about 3 to 4 mins. Once it changes to nice golden color and gets well cooked, take it out from oil.



Spicy and hot millagai bajji is ready to go with hot tea.


A bite of spicy millagai bajji and a sip of hot tea along with a magazine....wow!!!


Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Eggless Coconut Macaroon

Many of us might have tasted these macaroons, from bakery. But making our own macaroons is something that gives us immense pleasure and tastes even more delicious and also hygienic.



This is very simple and hardly takes 30 mins for making these macaroons. Kids love these macaroons and even grown ups love to taste these macaroons.



Ingredients:

Sweetened Coconut Flakes - 2 1/2 cups
Sweetened Condensed Milk - 3/4 cup
Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp
Milk - 1 tbsp
Roasted Rava - 2 tbsp
Salt - a pinch



Method:

1) Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2) In a bowl, take the condensed milk.



3) Add a pinch of salt, vanilla essence, rava and milk to it. Mix it well.



4) To it, add the coconut flakes and mix well. See that, it is not watery. Else adjust it, by adding little more rava. It should be in the consistency as shown in the below picture, once mixed.





5) In a cookie tray, line a parchment or wax paper. (Avoid using aluminium foil, as it is hard to remove the macaroons from the sheet. I used foil and it was little hard to remove) Using a scoop, scoop it on the parchment paper, little apart from each other. Else use a spoon to scoop it.



6) Place it in the oven and bake it for about 15 mins. After 15 mins, take it out and let it cool.



7) Leave for about 10 to 15 mins and then remove from the sheet. Else it looks to be sticky.



Delicious and mouth watering eggless coconut macaroons are ready to taste.



Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Podi Vazhakkai Poriyal (Spicy Plantain Poriyal)

With plantain we try fritters/bhajji, Vazhakkai poriyal or Vazhakkai puttu. But this is a very different, simple and delicious poriyal by adding ground roasted powder to this plantain. It tastes great with sambar and also goes very well with curd rice too.



Ingredients:

Plantain/Raw Banana - 2
Tamarind water - 1/4 cup (very thin)
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste



For ground powder:

Bengal gram - 1 tbsp
Urad dal - 1 tbsp
Corriander seeds/Dhania - 1 tbsp
Red chilli - 2 or 3

Method:

1) In a pan, dry roast all ingredients for making ground powder.



2) Once it cools, make a coarse powder of it.

3) Then peel off the plantain skin and cut to small cubes. (Cut the plantain once you are ready to cook, else it will become dark)

4) Then in a pan, add the oil. Once it is hot, add the mustard seeds. Let it splutter and add the urad dal. Then add the cut plantain.



5) Saute it for few mins. Then add tamarind water and turmeric powder. Also add salt to it and let it cook. (do not add too much of tamarind water, as it will be so tangy and gets over cooked)



6) Once it is almost done, about 3/4 cooked, add the ground powder to it and mix it very well.



7) Let it cook about for a minute and your spicy plantain poriyal is ready now.



Tasty podi vazhakkai is ready to go with sambar or even with curd rice.


Monday, September 9, 2013

Basundi

Basundi is one my favorite dessert.  Also most of yours favorite too. Its very easy to make with very few ingredients, but takes little bit time.



Ingredients:

Milk - 6 cups
Sugar - 2 1/2  to 3 cups(depends on your sweet buds)
Almonds - 6 (chopped)
Pistachios - 6 (chopped)
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Method:

1) Pour the milk in a pan, preferably wide and non-stick. Place the milk pan in low flame and keep on stirring it in equal intervals. Also put a ladle in the pan, so that the milk doesn't boil and spill out.



2) Let it boil until the milk reduces to 1/3 rd of it.



3)  Add the sugar to the milk and keep on stirring.



4) Once the sugar dissolves and the milk thickens switch it off and add cardamom powder and the chopped nuts. (Reserve few of them to use while serving)



Let it cool and serve it with few nuts on top.



Yummy and delicious basundi is ready to taste.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Drumstick Sambar for Rice (without Sambar Powder)

This is an instant sambar, that can be made without sambar powder. Just with the spices available at home, we can make this within minutes. It tastes delicious and goes very well with rice.



If you are running out of sambar powder or if you want to try different sambar, without the usual sambar taste, then this is for you. Try this and you will really love it.



Ingredients:

Drumstick - 2 (cut to small lengths)
Tomato - 2 (cut to cubes)
Tamarind - small lemon size
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Corriander powder/Dhania - 2 to 3 tsp
Hing/Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 2 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Corriander leaves/Cilantro - 5 to 6 sprigs
Oil - 2 tbsp

For grinding:

Coconut - 3 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Pearl onion/shallots - 3 to 5

Method:

1) Heat a pan and add cooking oil. Once hot, add mustard seeds. Let it splutter. Then add urad dal and curry leaves. Then add the cut vegetables drumstick and tomato. (you can add any vegetables like brinjal, lady's finger)



2) Saute if for about 3 to 5 mins and add all spice powders.



3) Saute it for 2 to 3 mins and once the oil seperates, add tamarind water. Also add salt to it. Let it boil.



4) Meanwhile make a ground paste with coconut, cumin and onions.



5) Once the vegetables are tender, add the coconut paste to it.



6) Let it boil for 2 mins. Garnish with corriander/cilantro leaves and delicious sambar is ready to go with hot rice.



Instant, yet delicious sambar is ready to taste.

Monday, July 1, 2013

Chukku Coffee (Dry Ginger Coffee)

Glad to be back in this blogging world. It was a very long break indeed. Due to some health conditions, I was little away from blogging. Now feeling very excited and happy to continue this. Thanks to all blogger friends and a special thanks to all my followers. Do support me by pouring your comments and visiting my space.

Chukku /dry ginger coffee is a very healthy drink for all. My mom used to make once in 2 weeks or atleast once in a month, as it is very good for health. In my childhood days I hesitate to drink this as it is very spicy and you can feel the spiciness in your throat. So my mom used to add milk with it and give. But nowadays I just have it without adding milk. You should not drink water for atleast 30 to 45 minutes after having this. They used sell this coffee in my hometown daily and that particular shop has daily customers even. They open it only during night hours. Having this often will keep you free from all stomach trouble like stomach upset, digestive problems etc. I make this coffee very often, as my hubby likes to have it frequently.



Ingredients:

Chukku/Dry ginger or dry ginger powder - 1 inch or1 tsp
Dhania/Corriander seeds - 2 tsp
Peppercorns - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Palm Jaggery/Panai vellam/Karuppati - sweetlime size (see below picture)



Method:

1) Place all except palm jaggery in a blender. If you are using dry ginger, also add that to it. (I used dry ginger powder)



2) Make a coarse powder of it.



3) In a pan, add 3 glass of water and add the palm jaggery and the powder.



4) Let it boil for about 5 to 7 minutes. You get a really great aroma when it boils.



5) Switch of the flame and let it cool for about 5 minutes, so that all particles settle down.



6) Distill it and have the coffee.



Healthy and spicy coffee is ready. You can have it as it is like black coffee or add some milk to it, if you feel thats too spicy for you or for your kids. Let it cool and have it then. Also add milk when it reaches room temperature, as it may curdle.



Note:

a) If you add milk, do not reheat it. It will get curdled. If you add milk, do not use the next day or next time.
b) You can have this for about 2 to 3 days and it won't go bad.
c) Try to have this during night time, before you go to sleep, so that it gets digested well.
d) Do not drink water for about 45 minutes after you have this.