Button Idli Sambar aka Mini idli dipped in sambar

Ingredients:

For Button idlis:
Idli rice - 1 cup
Urad dal - 1 cup

Preparation:
Soak the rice and urad dal in separate bowls for 6-8 hours. Grind them in a mixie or stone grinder with little water, The batter should be slightly thicker than dosa batter. Mix and keep them in warm place to ferment for a minimum of 8 hours. Add salt once fermented. Spoon them into idli moulds that is greased with oil. Steam them for 10 mins or till done. Spoon them out once little cold. Or you can dip spoon in cold water and take hot idles out :).

For Sambar:
Toor dal - 1.5 cup
Shallots/sambar onions - 10 nos sliced thinly
Tomato - 1large chopped finely
Tamarind -a small lemon size soaked in 1/4 cup water
Potato - 1 medium cut into small cubes
Carrot - 1medium cut  into small cubes
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Sambar powder - 2 tsp ( I used eastern)
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Coriander leaves - half handful
Salt to taste
Oil

To roast & grind:
Coconut grated - 2.25 tbsp
Chana dal - 2 tbsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1.25 tsp
Red chilly - 3 nos
Curry leaves - 7 leaves
Asafoetida - a pinch

Preparation:

Roast all the ingredients on low flame (under the grind ingredients). Then grind them in grinder when cooled.

Meanwhile pressure toor dal in almost 3 cups water till done. Then mash them nicely with back of the spoon. Keeping the dal to further boil, add in the vegetables.

Meanwhile, in a pan add a tsp of oil and to this add mustard seeds. Once seeds splutter, add in the onions and sauté. Once light, add in tomato and add a bit salt for faster cooking. Cook till tomato gets smashed. Then add in the turmeric powder, sambar powder. Sauté till oil starts leaving sides.

Crush the tamarind in soaked water with fingers to remove the pulp from seeds. Then add the pulp paste to the dal mix. Now add the onion mix sautéd to the dal mixture. Stir. Finally add in the roasted powdered masala and stir nicely. Add salt per taste. The consistency of sambar should not be too thick. A little thin will be right. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Serving:
Serve in a bowl with mini idlis soaked in hot sambar.

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

BOMBAY BREAD TOAST/FRENCH TOAST/BREAD TOAST

Bombay Bread Toast

Ingredients:
Brown Bread - 5 nos
Egg - 2
Milk - 1/3 cup
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Cinnamon Powder - 1/4 tsp
Butter

Preparation:

Beat the egg till light and fluffy. Beat milk and sugar together and then pour into beaten egg and to this add cinnamon powder and beat further.

In a flat pan, rub fair amount of butter on it. Take bread the slices and dip in the mix. Dip the reverse side too. Place the dipped bread slice onto the buttered pan and cook on low flame till both sides are light brown in color. . Serve with fruits and honey. Best for breakfast or evening snacks ..

Can it get more helathier than this :) :)...

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

Notes
You can definitely use normal white bread instead of brown bread.

NAADAN CHICKEN CURRY



Naadan Chicken Curry (Kerala chicken curry)

Ingredients:

Chicken - 700 grams

Big Onion chopped/sliced - 3 medium

Tomato - 1 large sliced

Garlic - 8 cloves chopped finely

Ginger - 1/2 inch chopped finely

Corainder Powder - 2 tbsp

Chilli Powder - 1.5 tbsp

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Fenugreek powder - 1/4 tsp

Pepper Powder - 1/4 tsp

Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp

Water - 1/2 cup

Curry Leaves - a handful

Salt

Oil

Raw Masala:

Cinnamon Sticks - 2

Cloves - 2

Cardamom - 2

Star anise - 1

Red Chilli - 2

Preparation:

Cut chicken into small/medium pieces, clean well till you get clear water and keep aside to drain.

In a pan, add sufficient oil ( 4-5 tbsp). Once hot, add in the raw masalas and saute for a minute. Then add in the onions and saute till pale. Then add in the ginger, garlic and saute till you get the mix as light brown color. Once color has changed add in the masala powders and saute till oil start leaving the sides. Then add in the tomatoes and saute till tomatoes become soft and suple. Add in the curry leaves and salt and saute for 2 mins. Then add in chicken pieces and mix well with the sauted masalas. Cover and cook for 5 mins. Then add in the water and cover and cook till you get thick gravy. You can check salt in between. Excellent side dish for rice, chappati or any kerala

breakfast items.

Cheers,

Neetz ;)

POTATO KIBBEH

Potato Kibbeh

Potato kibbeh is basically a middle eastern dish with potato and carmellized onions sometimes stuffed with meat (chicken, lamb). I would prefer to make this dish veg and then serve with non-veg to go with it. I surely would make this several times as its very healthy and filling too.

Recipe Source : Discover Lebanon

Ingredients:
Potato - 1 large boiled and mashed ( roughly about 1 cup)
Wheat Bulgar - 1/2 cup
Garlic Powder - 2 tsp
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil - 2 -3 tbsp

Walnuts - 1 large handful
Onion - 1 medium chopped finely

Preparation:

Roast the walnuts in 180C pre-heated oven for about 55-7 mins till nuts turn slightly brown in color.
Roast the onions in 1 tsp of oil in a pan till lightly brown color.
Wash the bulgar and blend it in a processor.
Mix the mash potato, blended bulgar, garlic, salt and pepper.
Divide the mix into two parts. Place one part into the baking dish. Layer the onions and walnuts on top. Then layer with the second potato mix. Cut over the top into squares roughly and pour the olive oil so that it sweeps between the cuts.

Bake in pre-heated oven at 10C for 40 mins. You will see it will turn lightly brown in color.

Serve warm as it is or you can have with tuna (which i had and it tasted superb) or with cooked chicken mince.

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

Notes :
You can add variations like cashew nuts, raisins or even cooked meat instead of walnut areas.

EGG CHEESE PARATHA

Egg Cheese Paratha - STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Ingredients :

The Stuffing :
Egg - 2 nos:
Cheddar cheese grated - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1 large chopped finely
Green Chilli - 2  - 3 nos chopped finely
Coriander Leaves - a handful chopped
Salt
Oil

For the Dough:
Wheat Flour - 1 cup
Warm Water - 1/2 cup (almost)
Salt

Preparation:
Prepare the dough by adding sufficient water and salt and knead till you get a soft dough. The dough shouldnt be sticky or too dry. Cover with damp cloth and keep aside.

Prepare a scrambled egg. First beat egg nicely with salt. The add in the onions and chilli and beat again. In a pan, add a bit oil and move the pan round to make oil coated over the whole pan. Then pour the egg mix over and once half fried start scrambling the mix witha  spatula. Once the mix is done add in the cheese grated and the coriander leaves. Mix and keep the mix to cool down.

Now take ball sized dough (larger than a golf ball) and flatten them and roll them out round. Not very thin. Apply half  tsp of oil one one half and then place a spoonful of mix on one half of the dough. Cover it with the other half of the dough into half and Apply oil on top of half covered dough. Again fold into half to form a triangle as shown in pic 2 & 3. Then dust the dough with flour and roll the dough lightly to a bigger triangle and thinner.

In a heated pan, put the triangle stuffed dough and wait till one side has lightly brown spots. Turn over and apply oil to the brown spotted side and vice-versa. Turn over again and cook for 30 seconds or so and serve. Serve with boondi raitha.

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

WHEAT SANDWHICH BREAD LOAF

 Wheat bread

I have been planning to make wheat bread for a healthier diet and finally i managed to make today and i was so glad when i sliced the bread it was so much looking perfect and the taste was awesome!!!

Ingredients:

Wheat Flour - 2.5 heaped cups
All purpose Flour - 1 cup ( you can use whole wheat instead)
Warm Water - 1.5 cup
Oil - 4 tbsp
Sugar - 1/3 cup ( i used half white and half brown sugar)
Dry Yeast - 1.5 tsp
Salt - 1.5 tsp

Preparation :

Add in a bowl the suagr, warm water and yeast and keep it in warm place for 10 mins till the mixture turn frothy on top. By 10 mins your can smell the yeast in the whole kitchen. Add the salt and oil to the mix.

In the a big bowl mix both the flours nicely and then add the yeast water and knead to a dough. its gonna be a messy job with your hands. If the dough is too sticky use oil on your hands and knead for 10 mins or more till you get the dough like an elastic (This is very important for the bread to come out nicely). Rub oil all over the dough and keep this dough covered with a cling film in a bowl and keep it in warm place for 1 hour till the dough doubles in size. fter 1 hour, on a well foured surfce, gently punch down the dough to release the air trapped inside and gently knead again for a min. Shape the dough like a loaf and keep it in bread pan and covered for another 45 mins to double in size.

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F . Brush milk on top of the bread and then spray water inside the heated oven to create a moisture and put in the bread pan. Bake for 30 mins. By now the whole house will be smelling with awesome smell of baked bread. I felt i was in bakery store ;).

The pic shows as soon ,after the baking was done

Then roughly cover with aluminum foil and bake further for 10 mins and allow the bread to cool on rack itself. To know if the bread is done, tap at the bottom and it will sound hollow.

Let the bread cool down completely before slicing it and enjoy!

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

PINEAPPLE JAM

Pineapple Jam

I have never ever in my life made a jam on my own. I ahve seen several times when my mom used to make. I decided i will see what the reuslt is after trying to make pineapple jam. You wont believe it!. the home-made jam is ten times better than the market bought one. and even more smoother :)..


Ingredients :


Pineapple - 1 chopped (deseeded and skin removed)
Sugar - 1/2 cup (adjust sweetness according to the pineapple's taste)
Cinnamon Powder - a pinch
Nutmeg Powder - a pinch


Preparation:

Clean pineapple well. Then once chopped, put into blender and blend roughly like 2-3 pulses. I kept few pieces inside as i love having fresh fruit pieces inside the jam. Then add in the puree and sugar in a pan and heat. Keep stirring still you get a thick consistency of a jam. Cool properly and store  in a sterlized bottle. (To sterliize, clean bottle properly with hot water and dry out and no water should remain inside the bottle)

How to test if the jam is done:
Keep a plate in a freezer for a min or so. Pour a big drop of jam onto the cold plate and with your finger mark a line between the jam. You will the jam wrinkles in between. Alternatively you can slant the plate and see if the jam runs down. If it doesnt run down that means its done.

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

TOMATO CHUTNEY (for Idlis n Dosas)

Tomato Chutney

Its weekend and you are lazy to make some sanbhar for the dosa or idli? Why not try this chutney which can be made in a jiffy and kids will love it too and a great combo with cocnut chutney :)

Ingredients :

Tomato - 2 medium sliced
Onion - 1 med sliced
Dry red Chilli - 3-4 nos (quantity according to the spice needed)
(Roasted Chana Dal (Pottukadalai) - 1/2 tbsp (optional)
Salt to taste

Preparation:
Add a tbsp of oil to a pan and add in the red chillies, onions and tomatoes and saute till it becomes soft. Dont turn the onions brown. Once cooled, grind the to a paste. Add the roasted dal, salt and grind. Serve with dosas or idlis. If you want to temper them you can do it by adding mustard, urad dal and curry leaves.

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

IDLI FRY ( too simple to resist making ;) )

IDLI FRY

Hi all. I m back again with yet a super duper easy recipe for all of u especially a tea time snacks for the kids.
This Idli fry can be mainly be used when u have leftovers and really dont know what to do with the leftover idlis...

Ingredients:
Idli - 5-6 nos
Oil - sufficient enough for shallow frying
Salt & Pepper


Preparation:

Heat oil in a non-sticky pan (using these pans will make very less use of oil). Meanwhile cut the round idlis in vertical 4-5 strips depending ont eh size of thickness you need. Once the oil is hot, add in the strip idlis and fry on all sides till very light brown in color. Dont over fry then as they will become hard. Pick them over a tissue to absorb any extra oil and sprinkle salt and pepper over them and mix.. Serve hot with ketchup or any sauce and with tea.. yummmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyyy and simple isnt it???

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

Notes:
You can add in a pinch of chilli powder or chat masala or any thing that u like. Its upto your tastebuds ;)

RAGI ELA ADA ( MILLET ADA IN BANANA LEAF)

RAGI ELA ADA

These evening snacks or breakfast is very healthy and mostly kids favourites. The sweet stuffings on the inside makes it even more tastier. Like in Kerala, we dont get to pluck banana leafs here. We have to pay to get them in bunch of 6 or 7. So I dont make these frequently as I dont have any clue what to do with the excess banana leaves.

Today I was no mood to cook, though i had to do for the dinner. My little one is so irritated today that for each and everything she keeps crying. One way or other I got her to sleep. So, while I was surfing through my cookery pics I noticed I havent uploaded this for a long while. So here goes the recipe..

Ingredients :

Ragi Flour -  1 cup
Rice Flour - 1/4 cup
Water
Salt

For the Filling:
Ripe Plantain : - 1 nos chopped in cubes
Coconut grated - 1/2 cup
Poha/Beaten Rice - 1/2 cup
Cardamom Powder - 1/4 tsp
Sugar - 1-2 tbsp (as per ur taste)

For Wrapping - banana leaf


Prepapration:

Wash and cut about more than 1/4 of the total leaf and keep aside

Mix all the ingredients for the filling and keep aside.

Mix all the flour with water and salt to make dough. Now take a small ball size from the dough and spread onto the banana leaf as shown in the pic (the pic shows for the ada made with rice flour) Dip fingers in water and spread the dough if its sticky.

Add in the filling ingredients of about a 2 tbsp or so and fold the leaf in half. Make like these more and steam them in idli steamer or any steaming utensil for about 15 mins. When warm, unfold and serve.

The above pic is made with rice flour and details are given below. In here, the filling comprises of just coconut, cardamom powder and sugar.

Note:
You can do this same with the Rice flour. For that you have to add boiling water to the dough and mix and the rest procedure is the same as for the ragi ela ada.

Fillings can be changed according to your needs and taste. Jaggery is very common filling in this. Since it was out of stock, I didnt add.

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

BROWN BREAD HALWA

Brown Bread Halwa

Its been quite a long time since I have posted recipe. I m not lazy to cook, but very lazy to type. I hate myself for that sometimes.. Finally I decided its high time I put my hands to work on this :)... This bread halwa is on the healthier side than normal bread and trust me its tasty!! You can use your leftover bread. Now you know what to do when you wonder what to do with leftover brown bread :) :)...

Ingredients :

Brown Bread - 7 slices
Milk - 2.5 cups (I used the low fat version)
Sugar - 1 cup or as needed as per taste
Ghee or Clarified Butter - 2 tbsp
Nuts and Pista Slivers - few

Preparation :

In a pan, fry nuts in ghee, add keep aside

Remove the Four borders and cut the bread into cubes(not necessary it need to cut into exact cubes). In the same pan, fry the bread in ghee till slightly roasted. Once cooled, powder the bread into crumbs.

Start boiling the milk and add in the bread crumbs and sugar. Keep stirring and once milk boils, you will start to see that the mixture starting to thicken. Add in more ghee if needed for smoothness. Add in water or milk if you need in more loose consistency. I ddi add a bit more milk as the mixture will thicken more when cooled down. So basically it all depends on your personal choice of consistency.

Add in the nuts and pista slivers. Garnish with pista slivers and serve warm or cold.


Cheers,
Neetz ;)

Sabudana Tikkiya n Sabudana Kheer - Repost for CWS - SAGO SEEDS and IFTAR MOMENTS

These recipes goes for the event conducted by Niloufer  and event announced at Priya easy n tasty recipeat http://kitchensamraj.blogspot.com/2010/07/cooking-with-seeds-sago-event.html :) and also to Iftar Moments Hijri 1431 conducted by Umm Mymoonah

SABUDANA TIKKIYA

SABUDANA KHEER

CWS -Sago Seeds event

Iftar Moments Hijri

Cheers,

Neetz ;)

TUNA PUTTU (STEAMED RICE CAKE WITH TUNA)

Tuna Puttu

Puttu is one of the main dishes of Kerala especially for breakfast. Its very tasty and a filling food and the best combo for this usually are with kadala curry (chana) or with banana and sugar. I somehow never used to like much when i was a kid. but now i simply crave for it now and then :)... This recipe is same as the usual puttu made, except that i added an extra layer of tuna masala.

Ingredients:

For the Tuna :
Canned Tuna in water - 1 tin
Onions- 1 medium chopped finely
Garlic - 1 clove chopped finely (opt)
Ginger - one small piece chopped finely (opt)
Green Chilli - 2 nos chopped finely
Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
Tumeric Powder - less than 1/4 tsp
Salt if needed

For Puttu:
Chemba Puttu Podi - 1 cup
Coconut grated - little
Salt
Water

Preparation:

For the tuna masala :

Heat little oil in a pan and add in the onions, ginger garlic and green chilli. Saute till onions turn slightly brown in color. Add in the podwers. Saute till raw smell of the powders go and then add in the tuna. Saute till tuna gets fried on low flame and keep aside.

For the Puttu :
Mix in the chemba puttu podi, salt and water. Mix in such a way that you get soft lumps of the mix, at the same if you knock with your finger it falls down. Thats how you will know the mix is proper. If the lumps are too hard you will get a hard output.

In a' puttu kutti' or you can even use coconut shell, put in coocnut grated first then a bit of puttu mix and then tuna. Then again add puttu mix, then tuna and puttu mix and last on top coconut grated. You can do the mixing however you wish. Steam over a pressure cooker till you see steam coming out of puttu kutti's holes. Poke out with a putti kutti stick and VOILA, your tuma puttu is ready :)

Have as it is or with kadala curry or banana :)

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

TIP :
You can use white outtu podi instead of chemba puttu podi.
You can arrange the fillings in whichever way you like it.
I havent used the optional items for the above mix. You can add in for more flavour and taste.

OATS HALWA - Repost for CELEBRATE WITH SWEETS

Oats Halwa

Ingredients :


Quaker Oats - 1 cup
Ghee - 1 tbsp + for greasing
Milk - 1 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Nuts - around 10 pieces
Almond Slivers- for garnishing
Preparation:
Mix the sugar in milk and mix till the sugar gets diluted and keep aside. Then in a grinder grind the oats in a coarse form and keep aside. Then grind the nuts in coarse form and keep aside.


In a pan, add ghee and when hot, roast the powdered oats till brown in color. In between add in the powdered nuts. Once oats is brown in color add in the milk and saute till the mix starts leaving the sides. Grease a glass plate with ghee and transfer the halwa to the plate and spread evenly. Once cooled cut into desired shape and garnish with almond slivers.

Im reposting this recipe for the event "CELEBRATE WITH SWEETS" conducted by Niveditas kitchen

MOONG DAL DOSA

Moong Dal Dosa

From the e-book of Manjula,  found this very easy and simple dosa recipe. Everyone at my home loved it. And people who wants to watch their weight, can have this dosa when u crave for it instead of the rice variety :)..

Ingredients:
Yellow Moong Dal - 1 cup (soaked overnight or atleast for min of 4 hours)
Ginger - 1/4 piece
Green Chilli - 2 nos
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Salt

Preparation:
Grind the moong dal with ginger and green chilli. Grind with very little amount of water. Batter should not be very loose. Remove the batter to a container and add in cumin seeds and salt. Mix thoroughly. Haet oil in  dosa pan, spread the batter round with the back of a spoon. Once brown in color,turnover dosa for the same to be done on other side. If needed add in a bit of oil on both sides.Serve hot with sambar or chutney.

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

VEGGIE BONDA

Veggie Bonda

Ingredients:
Dosa Batter -  4 cups
Rice Flour  -  2 tbsp
Carrot - approx 1 grated
Onion - 1 medium sliced
Curry leaves - 3 twig leaves
Beans - 5-6 nos chopped
Cabbage - 1/4 grated
Cumin Seeds - 2 tsp
Salt


Preparation:


Mix the dosa batter and rice flour together with salt.Mix in all the veggies to the batter and keep aside. In a wok heat oil and add a spoonful of veggie batter and fry till light brown in color. Serve hot :)

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

KOZHUKATTA- Repost for mothers day event and Cooking with seeds:)

Kozhukatta

I still remember those school days where i used to run back home from school ,expecting my mom to make something or other for snack special :)... This sweet dumpling was one of the commonest which she used to make and my fav too.. Its been quiet a long time i made these.. last day i was craving for these and i couldnt stop myself from making this :).. so here goes the recipe to all :)


Ingredients:
Rice Flour - 2 cups
Salt
Hot Water

For Filling:
Coconut - 1 cup
Jaggery - 3/4 cup
Cardamom powder - almost 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 2 tsp (you can roughly powder if you want)

Preparation:
I had the jaggery in cubes, so i grated them. Then with hand mix all the ingredients nicely for the filling and keep aside.

For the outer covering, boil water and once boiled, pour over the rice flour (add salt to it before) and keep mixing with a spoon till you get a rough made dough. Keep it to cool down. Then with hand mix the flour to a dough and then make medium balls like as you would make for a chappathi. Now flatten with the tip of your fingers so that roundball is now like a circle. Place a spoonful of filling inside and cover the dough. Repaet the process for the whole. In case if the dough is too sticky. dip ypur hands in cold water and spread the balls. Steam cook in pressure cooker till done (of course w/o the weight). Roughly about 15-20 mins will be needed. Have hot with a cup of tea..its will divine :)

This entry I am sending it to for mothers day event conducted by Panch Pakwan

I would aso like to send this entry for the cooking with seeds event conducted by priyaeasyntastyrecipes

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

KOTHU CHAPPATI

Kothu Chapathi

It is very common to throw away the leftovers as most of them says its not good for health. But rotis that are made, can be used in many ways when it comes to leftover part.. This is one way of  making the dish and you will love it!!! :)


Leftover Chapathi - approx of 6-7 nos
Onion - 2 med nos sliced
Green Chilli - 2 nos
Capsicum - 1 no cut into strips
Potato - 1 med cut into cubes
Ginger paste - 1/2 tsp
Garlic Paste - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp
Papprika Powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Tomato Sauce - 1 tsp
Chilli Sauce - 1/2 tsp (opt)..(if you use this sauce then dont use green chilli)
Salt
Oil
Coriander leaves for garnishing


Roll the left over chappati 2-3 nos each and cut into strips and keep aside. In a pan add oil and once heated add in the mustard seeds. Once the seeds start popping add in the fennel seeds, onions and ginger garlic paste and saute. Once transparent add in the green chilli and tomato and cook till tomatoes are mashed. Then add in the capsicum pieces and the powders and saute for about a min or 2 on low flame. Then add in the sauces and mix well till all the veggies are covered with sauce. Saute over low flame. Add in the stripped rotis and mix well again. cook for a min or two and garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with raita.


Cheers,
Neetz ;)

VATTAYAPPAM (Easter Special -1) - Steamed Rice cake

Vattayapam - Steamed Rice Cake

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL MY BLOGGY FRIENDS :)

Finally Easter!!! yahoooooo... this is my little princesses first easter and I wanted to make it as special as it could be :).... i made 3 special dishes on this day and this is one of them :).. We took pics where she was cutting the appam (of course we were there to help ;) )... Every Easter we do somethign special..but all days this easter was most special to me with my child :).....

This is one special appam where you can make it easily within no time (except for the fermentation part though). Can be a savoury for the children and I bet they will be asking for u more :)


Ingredients :


Raw Rice - 1 cup
Coconut - 3/4 cup
Cooked Rice - 2 Tbsp
Yeast - 1 tsp
Sugar - 2 tbsp + 1/2cup
Water - 1/3 cup
Nuts - 6 nos roasted in ghee
Raisins - few nos roasted in ghee


Preparation
Soak the rice overnight or for 6-8 hours. Grind the rice to paste in a mixie with minimum amount of water just to make the mixie run. Then remove about 2 tbsp of the coarsely grounded rice mix and keep aside.
Keep the yeast soaked with sugar (2 tbsp) in 1/3 cup of warm water for about 10-15 mins till a dome like foam is formed.
Add in the coconut grated and cooked rice to the mixie and grind to a smooth paste. In a pan add in the 2 tbsp coarsely grounded rice mix and 1/3 cup water. Cook till soft and the mix is like a smooth dough (water will be evaporated). Add this to the grounded mix of rice and coconut and grind again. Add in the yeast mix and again vroom vrrom :). The batter will be like sort of idli batter and remove and keep in a big container as the batter will rise. Keep it in a warm place about for 6 hours. Then add in the 1/ cup sugar mix and keep for about 2 hours more aside.


In a pressure cooker add water to steam cook in a round pan (pan that comes with pressure cooker). Rub ghee to the pan and keep aside. Add the nuts and raisins that has been roasted in ghee into the batter, mix and pour the batter into the pan. Cover with a aluminium foil. Make sure the pan is not kept low enough as water might get in. Steam cook for about 20-25min. To check if its done put a knife through and if the knife comes out neatly then its done :).

P.S : in case you want the nuts and raisns over the top decorate after 10 mins of steam cook over the batter and then resume with the steam cook :).

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

Arachivitta Sambhar and Idli

Arachivitta Sambhar and Idli

I am being a bit too lazy nowdays in coming up with new new recipes and updating on blog. Too busy these days that sometimes end of the day I feel like i will do tomorrow.. sigh..it goes on like that then finally i think its not fair when many can do it i tooc an :D.... i am crazy about this tamilian sambar. they have this unique taste i always thought how to make it when one of my tamilian friend said to me how to make it..its easy and believe me you will keep slurping again and again once you have tasted it :)...idli is the best combination i could think of and luckily i had the batter ready with me.As the anme says, this sambar comprises of spices thats grounded which makes this special and finger licking taste.


SAMBHAR


Ingredients:
Toor Dal - 1 cup
Moong Dal - 1/4 cup
Shallots - 15-18 nos
Tamarind - lime size soaked in warm water
Tomato - 1 med (1/2+1/2)
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt


Pressure the dal with salt and turmeric for about 4-5 whistles and once cooled down mash them and keep aside.


To grind:
Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
Channa dal - 1 tsp
Raw Rice - 1 tsp
Jeera/Cumin - 1/2 tsp
Fenugrrek seeds - 1/4 tsp
Dry red Chilli - 3 nos
Grated coconut - 1 tbsp


Grind the above ingredients with 3-4 shallots and half of tomato to a paste.


For Tadka:
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
Dry red chilli - 4 nos
Curry leaves - 2 strings
oil


In a pan, heat oil and add mustard and urad dal..once spluttered add in rest of the ingredients. Then add in the remaning shallots and saute till shallots are semicooked and then add in the half of chopped tomato and grinded paste and saute till raw smell of the masala goes. Once sauted well add in the dal and mix. Cook for about 2-3 minutes and add in the tamarind water. add an extra 1 cup water and cook for about 2 minutes. garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with idli.

IDLI
Raw rice - 2 cups
Urad dal - 3/4 cup
Salt


Soak rice and urad dal overnight and wash properly and then grind them to a paste. The batter should be thick enough to cover a spoon once dipped and taken out. Keep in a warm place for fermenting. I usually keep for overnight till the batter turns slightly sour. Once fermented, add salt and mix. Then pour batter (about approx of 3 tbsp) into idli platter (rub oil into the platter before pouring the batter)and steam cook in pressure cooker for about 15-20 mins. cool, and with knife or spoon carefully remove the idli from side.

Cheers,
Neetz ;)