PALAK CHICKPEAS CURRY

There are so many side dishes for chappathi. This dish with the combination of keerai, potato and chick peas is the best accompaniment for chappathi.

கீரை கொண்டகடலை கூட்டு

Ingredients:

Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Finely chopped Onion-3
Finely chopped tomato- 250 gm
Finely chopped palak- 2 cups
Soaked and cooked chick peas- 1 cup
Mashed potato- 200 gms
Salt to taste
Oil- 5 tbsp
Turmeric powder- half sp

Grind the following to a slightly coarse paste:

Shredded ginger- 1 tsp, mint- 15 leaves, green chillies-10, fennel seeds- 2 tsp, coriander leaves- a handful

Procedure:

Heat a pan and pour the oil.
Add the mustard seeds and when they splutter add the onion and fry them to golden brown.
Now add the ground paste and fry for a few minutes.
Then add the tomatoes with the turmeric powder and fry well until they are mashed well and the oil floats on the surface.
Add 2 cups of water with the chick peas.
Boil them for some minutes with enough salt.
Then add the palak and boil until they are cooked but still in green colour.
Finally add the mashed potato and cook the curry on slow fire for a few minutes.
The delicious palak chickpeas curry is ready now to serve!!

GARLIC RASAM

There are so many rasam varieties we always make at home like pepper rasam, cumin rasam, paruppu rasam, mysore rasam etc. There are special rasam varieties also like pineapple rasam, vaazhaithandu rasam, mint rasam etc. Here I am going to give a simple but delicious rasam which is very easy to make and a good companion for hot rice with melted ghee.

பூண்டு ரசம்

Ingredients:

Tamarind- a big lime size

Small Garlic flakes-8 [crushed]

Coarsely ground cumin- 1 tsp

Coarsely ground peppercorns- 1 tsp

Turmeric powder- half sp

Salt to taste

Gingelly oil- 1 tbsp

Finely chopped coriander-2 tbsp

Curry leaves- a few

Big ripe tomato-1[cut into big cubes]

Slit green chilli-2

Sambar podi- hlf sp

Mustard seeds- 1 tsp

Asafoetida- a small peiece

Procedure:

Soak the tamarind in 3 cups of hot water for half an hour and then extract its juice.

Take a bowl and add the powders, salt, coriander, curry leaves, garlic, tomato and the green chillies in it.

Crush them with the fingers nicely.

Add the tamarind extract and mix well.

Add more water according to the consistency.

Heat a pan and pour the oil.

Add the asafoetida and fry a little.

Then add the mustard seeds and when they splutter pour the rasam mixture.

Allow it to boil well for 2 minutes.

The garic rasam is ready to serve now.

DRUMSTICK LEAVES PONGAL:

There are so many varieties in pongal like milaku pongal, kalyana pongal, rava pongal, aval pongal etc. But, adding keerai varieties like palak, murungaikeerai, and mulaikkeerai to the pongal always enhance the taste tremendously. Especially drumstick leaves happen to give a delicious taste with tamarind and a little spices as side ingredients. Hope every one likes this.

முருங்கைக்கீரை பொங்கல்

Ingredients:

Raw rice- 2 cups
Drumstick leaves- 2 cups
Thuar dal- quarter cup
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder- half sp
Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Black gram- 1 tsp
Asafoetida- half sp
Curry leaves- a few
Tamarind- a small lime size
Gingelly oil- 3 tbsp
Ghee- 1 tbsp

Fry the following ingredients to golden brown and then powder them finely:

Red chillies-8, Bengal gram- 1 tbsp, fenugreek seeds- half sp

Procedure:

Soak the tamarind in a cup of water for half an hour and then extract its juice.
Pressure cook the rice and the dal with 10 cups of water.
Heat a big pan and pour the gingelly oil.
Add the mustards seeds and when they splutter, add the curry leaves, black gram and the asafoetida.
Fry them for a second and then pour the tamarind extract.
Allow it to boil.
Add the drumstick leaves with salt.
When the extract begins to thicken, reduce the fire to low.
Sprinkle the fried powder and mix well.
Cook for a few seconds.
Add the cooked rice to this mixture with enough salt and the ghee.
Mix well and cook for a few seconds.
The delicious drumstick leaves pongal is ready to serve!!

BOILED RICE AAPPAM

There are so many varieties in making aappams. Appams can be prepared either with Boiled rice or raw rice. For fermenting the aappam batter, peopel use coconut water, yeast, and soda bicarbonate. Some people prepare kanji with a handful of semolina and add to the batter when it is cooled. Some people grind the batter, remove it and wash the grinder with a little water. They prepare kanji with this washed water and add to the aappam batter when it is cooled. In this way, the aappam will be very soft the next day. Coconut paste is also the best fermenting agent for soft aappams. This aappam recipe belongs to my mother as well as my mother- in- law. This is a very simple preparation but it is very tasty and very soft.
For accompaniment, my mother always prepares coconut milk flavoured with cardamom powder and sugar. My mother in law prepares coocnut milk and jaggery syrup seperately. I always prepare this coocnut milk with the jaggery syrup for the first day and for the second day I prepare either chciken kurma  or vadai curry.

புழுங்கலரிசி ஆப்பம்

Ingredients:

Boiled rice- 4 cups
black gram- a handful
fenugreek seeds- 1 sp
curd- half cup
cooked rice- 1 cup
soda bi carbonate- 1/4 sp
salt to taste

Procedure:

Soak the boiled rice and the black gram with the fenugreek seeds seperately.
Grind the black gram first to a fluffy texture.
Remove it and then grind the boiled rice to a fine batter.
At the last stage add the curd and the cooked rice and grind nicely.
It will be good if the cooked rice is one day old.
Add enough salt, mix well and allow the batter to ferment for at least 8 hours.
Before cooking, mix in the soda bi carbonate well and leave it for 30 minutes.
Then heat the aappam pan, pour a small cup of batter and spread it thinly at the corners and thick at the center.
Cover with a lid.
The fire should be medium.
when cooked , take away the aappam.
The dlicious spongy aappam is ready now! 

RAW BANANA 65

This is a very different and tasty curry and suitable as a side dish for any get together or a family party. I am often preparing this in my home. This babana 65 goes well with Sambar, Mor kuzhambu and Kuruma. Even with Nendhiran vazhaikkai, this tastes deliciously.

வாழைக்காய் 65

Ingredients:

Medium sized raw banana-6
Finely sliced onion-2
Finely chopped medium sized tomato-2
Small garlic flakes -2 tbsp
Curry leaves- a few
Chopped coriander- 2 tbsp
Chilli powder- 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder- half sp
Enough oil to fry and cook

Powder these ingredients finely:

Fennel seeds- 1 tsp, cloves-1, cinnamon- 1 small piece, cardamom-1, cumin seeds- a pinch, peppercorns-5

Procedure:

Cut the bananas in to ½ inch pieces and fry them in hot oil little by little until they are cooked.
They should be in white colour even after they are cooked and browning will spoil the taste.
Keep them on a paper kitchen towel.
Heat a pan and pour 3 tbsp of oil.
Add the sliced onion and cook them to golden brown.
Then add the tomato along with the garlic flakes, curry leaves and turmeric powder.
Cook the tomato until they are mashed well and the oil floats on the surface.
Add the coriander and fry for a minute.
Add the cooked banana pieces with the chilli powder and salt.
Cook the raw banana for a few minutes mixing well in intervals.
Sprinkle the ground powder, mix well and cook for a few minutes.
The delicious Raw banana 65 is ready now!

RIDGEGOURD MINT CHUTNEY:

I like to add ridge gourd either in sambar or in any kothsu varieties. But Chutneys with ridge gourd are always tasty. This ridge gourd mint chutney will be delicious with crisp doas.

பீர்க்கை புதினா சட்னி

Ingredients:

Chopped ridge gourd- 3 cups
Mint leaves- a handful
Shredded coconut- half cup
Red chillies-6
Tamarind- a small lime size
Salt to taste
Oil- 3 tbsp

Procedure:

Fry the vegetable along with the mint in the oil until the ridge gourd becomes soft.
Add the red chillies and the coconut and fry for a few minutes.
When cooled, grind them with the tamarind and salt to a coarse paste.
The delicious ridge gourd mint chutney is ready to serve!!

BENGAL GRAM KAARA BOLI

This kaara boli with lots of bengal gram in it tastes divinely with the accompaniment of all the vegetables nicely blended in it. Instead of oil, pure ghee enhances the flavour when cooking this boli. Drumstick leaves which are chopped finely can be mixed to get a very delicious taste!

கடலைப்பருப்பு கார போளி

Ingredients:

Plain flour- 1/2 kilo

Bengal gram- 1/4 kilo

Carrot-1

Radish [small]-1

Onion-1

Coriander chopped-4 tbsp

Shredded coconut- half cup

Chilli powder- 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Procedure:

Cook the bengal gram to soft a texture and mash finely.

Sieve the flour.

Shred the vegetables finely.

Mix all the ingredients with salt and make a smooth dough mixing in enough water.

Make chappathies and cook on a hot tawa on both sides.

The delicious bengal kaara boli is ready!