Surakkai (bottle Gourd) Kootu

Ingredients :

Surakkai - 1 small (equivalent to 1/4 kg)
Moong Dal - 1/2 cup (soaked in water for half an hour)
Water - 1 cup
Onion - 1 (chopped)
Green Chilli - 3 (or as required)
Grated coconut - 1/4 cup
Fennel seeds - 1 teaspoon
Curry Leaves - few strands
Oil - 1 teaspoon
Vadagam - 1 teaspoon (optional)

Method :

1. Peel the skin of the surakkai and cut into small pieces
2. In a kadai , add water and moong dal and boil for 5 minutes.
3. Add onion and surakkai pieces along with salt and let it boil for 10 minutes. Add water if required
4. Grind coconut and green chilli to a fine paste. Now add fennel seeds and grind for few seconds only. Fennel seeds need not be ground finely
5. Add the ground mixture to the kootu.
6. Season vadagam and curry leaves and add to the kootu. Switch off and serve hot
7. Surakkai kootu mixed with plain rice and ghee will be delicious.

Notes:
This veggie is supposed to be good for feeding mothers

Seppangizhangu (Colocasia) Fry

Spicy seppangizhangu fry is one of our favourites. It is so irresistible that the entire batch will be finished off even before it comes to the dining table.

 
Ingredients :

Seppangizhangu (Colocasia) - 10 nos
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Red Chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Lemon - 1/2
Salt as required
Oil to fry

Method:

1. Boil the kizhangu and refrigerate overnight. This is to remove the stickiness in the kizhangu
2. Next day, peel the kizhangu and make fine slices
3. Coat it well, with all the ingredients

4. Spread out and shallow fry the kizhangu till each is individually fried.
5. Crispy colocasia is a snack by itself.

Red Kidney Beans Gravy

Ingredients :

Red Kidney Beans - 1 cup (Soaked overnight)
Onion (big) - 1 (finely Chopped)
Tomato (big) - 1 (finely chopped)
Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup
Fennel Seeds - 1 teaspoon
Tamarind paste - 2 teaspoon (or according to taste)
Chilli powder - 2 teaspoons
Coriander leaves - few strands
Vadagam - 1 teaspoon (optional)
Water -  3 cups

Method :

1. Cook red kidney beans in pressure cooker with water enough to cover the beans for upto 2 whistles
2. Heat a kadai and season with vadagam. Then add onion, tomato and saute well.
3. Add Tamarind paste, red chilli powder , salt. Add water and allow the contents to boil.
4. Add the cooked beans to the gravy.
5. Grind coconut and fennel seeds in a blender to a fine paste adding little water while grinding
6. add the ground paste to the gravy and let boil for few minutes
7. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice and pappadom.

Carrot and Beans Moong Dal Poriyal

Ingredients :

Carrot - 1/4 kgs (approximately 3 medium sized carrots) - Cut into bite size pieces

Beans - 1/4 kgs (approximately 15-20) - Cut into small pieces

Moong dal - 1/2 cup

Green Chilli - 4 nos (chopped)

Urad Dal - 1/2 teaspoon

Curry Leaves - few strands

Oil and salt as required

Method:

1. Soak Moong Dal in water for half an hour

2. Heat kadai with little oil and season with Urad Dal. 

3. Add Green chillies and Moong Dal and saute for 2 minutes

4. Add Beans and carrot to the kadai and saute for another 5 minutes or till the veggies are cooked.

5. Garnish with Curry leaves and serve hot with rice and choice of gravy.

Egg Kurma

 

Ingredients : 

Boiled Eggs - 4 nos

Onion (big) - 1 (finely chopped)

Tomato (big) - 1 (finely chopped)

Ginger paste - 1 teaspoon

Garlic pods - 5 (finely chopped)

Peppercorns - 1 teaspoon

Fennel Seeds - 1 teaspoon

Coconut (grated) - 1/2 cup

Curry leaves - 2 Strands

Coriander leaves - few strands

Salt to taste

Method :

1. Heat a kadai with little oil and fry peppercorns and fennel seeds till the aroma comes out.

2. Grind peppercorns, fennel seeds and grated coconut in a blender to a coarse powder

3. Heat the kadai again with oil and saute Curry leaves, onion, tomato, ginger and garlic until everything gets cooked well.Add water to the content to get a gravy consistency.

4. Add the ground paste into this and add boiled eggs to the gravy.

5. Let the gravy boil for few minutes.

6. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice

Modhagam (Kozhukattai)

This is another special dish made during Vinayagar Chathurthi and Varalakshmi Nombu, 2 famous festivals for Hindus. It is also a special offering to lord Ganesha. This dish consists of two parts, a sweet dish (pooranam) covered by steamed rice (kozhukattai)

Ingredients :

Pooranam:
Channa Dal - 1 cup
Jaggery - 2 cups
Water - 1/4 cup
Cardamom pods - 5
Grated coconut - 1 cup

Kozhukattai:
Rice flour - 1 cup
Water - 2 cups
Gingely oil - 1 teaspoon
Salt - a pinch


Method:

For the pooranam:
1. Soak channa dal in water for an hour
2. Boil dal in pressure cooker upto 3 whistles.
3. Mash the dal to a fine paste.
4. In a bowl, add water and dissolve the jaggery in it. Filter the dissolved jaggery to remove any impurities
5. Heat a kadai on medium high and boil the filtered jaggery paste till it becomes thick (takes approximately 10 minutes)
6. Add the mashed dal into the above jaggery paste and mix well.
7. Add coconut and cardamom pods to the mixture. Keep stirring until it is possible to make small balls out of the mixture. Switch off the stove and keep the kadai aside

For the Kozhukattai:
1. In a bowl, pour the rice flour and salt.
2. Bring the water to a roaring boil.
3. Add the boiling water little by little to the rice flour (take care while mixing, use a spatula for this ). You should be able to make balls. To test this consistency, pour little gingely oil in the palm and try making a ball. If you could , then stop adding water.
4. Now you are ready to make kozhukattais. Take small amount in the palm and make small cups and put a teaspoon full of pooranam inside the cups and close them
5. Steam the cups in a steamer for 5 minutes
6. Delicious kozhukattai is ready to serve

Karuvaadu varuval / Anchovies Fry

  

Ingredients :

Dried Anchovies - 1/4 kg

Onions (medium sized) - 2 (finely chopped)

Garlic - 5 pods (finely chopped)

Ginger paste - 1 teaspoon

Fennel powder - 1 teaspoon

Red chilli powder - 2 teaspoons (or as required)

Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Tomato (medium sized)  - 1 (finely chopped)

Curry leaves - 1 strand

Method: 

1. Heat oil in a kadai and put curry leaves. Once the leaves become slightly crisp, add onions.

2. Saute the onions well for 7-8 minutes

3. Add garlic pods and ginger paste to the sauteed onions. Fry till the raw smell of the ginger and garlic goes away.

4. Add tomato to the above mixture.Saute tomato until it becomes well cooked and mushy.

5. Add Turmeric powder, red chilli powder , fennel powder. Saute for few minutes.

6. Check for salt and add if required. Dried Anchovies already contain salt so add them finally only if it is required.

7. Serve hot with choice of rice.