CABBAGE PAKODA

Just to share with you.....

My place is near to Palani where lord Muruga is sitting on a small mountain.Lord Muruga is considered as Tamil god(Tamil Kadavul). Every month on the day of Karthigai lot of people used to visit this temple. This is almost common with every people. My mom also used to visit every month.When I have holiday she used to take me too. Otherwise she will go and while coming she used to bring me this Cabbage Bonda (really big one)from one hotel .All these were in my 12 - 15 yrs. After that for some reasons she used to go whenever she finds time and I too forgot asking for Bondas. That cabbage Bonda was the base for my today's recipe cabbage pakoda. I usually make with out rice flour but my anni (Mallika) told me to add rice flour too. It came more crispy than before so now-a-days I started adding rice flour too.

Again ,for this recipe I am not mentioning quantities since there is no hard and fast rule in making this.

Consistency of the mixture

Pakodda's

Ingredients

1. Cabbage cut length wise.It should like thin lengthy strips

2. Equal or little more/less onions cutted as lenghty strips

3. Besan / Kadalamavu

4. Rice flour (Besan 1 cup means rice flour 1/2 cup)

5. chilli powder

6. Salt and oil as needed

Preparation

1. Mix all together by adding little water.It consistency should be like in the picture .

2. Don't concentrate on shapes simple spill the mix in oil and deep fry it.


NOTE

You can make bonda's too with same mixture (if necessary add little more water) but for that make small rounds with mixture and fry in oil.

PAASIPAYIR / WHOLE GREEN MOONG DHAL

Just to share with you.....

In South Indian villages kadancha passipayir (whole green moond dhal) and kadancha kollu (horsegram) are very common. People used to cook in mud pot and used to mash the dhal with matthu when it is well cooked which is really really awesome. But now its difficult to do like that.so letz customise according to this trend. The excess water drained from the cooked dal is used to make Rasam in usual way.This rasam will be more tasty and the color of the rasam will also be good with light greenish.

Kadancha Passipayiru

Ingredients

1. Whole green moong dhal - 1/2 cup (I mean the cup which comes along with electic rice cooker)

2. Tomato Medium size -1/2

3. Onion medium size -1/2

4. green chillies -4 to 5

5. Turmeric powder -1/4 tsp

6. Salt may be 1/2 tsp (as needed)

For sauting (optional)

1.oil - 1 tsp (coconut oil gives more taste)

2. curry leaves as needed

3. Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp


Preparation


1. Pressure cook all the ingredients mentioned upto 6 whistles with 2 cups of water.

2. Then mash it (by using mathu /blunder anyway)

3. Its ready to have with rice. While having with rice add ghee for more taste.

4. For richness you can saute it with the ingredients given in ingredients heading.

EGG/MUTTAI/KOTHU PAROTTA

Just to share with you.....

One of my favourite is Parotta's.In India whenever I feel like having it my dad used to get from the hotel infront of my house. when I came here (US) I thought I may miss that. But that is not true. I used to get cooked Parotta's and have with mutton and chicken gravies. I learnt to make my own muttai parotta's too with that. You can also try this.

Egg Parotta

Ingredients

1. Cooked parotta's -1 packet (usually cooked is good than raw ones. one pack may contain 5 0r 6 Parotta's)

2. Onion big size finely chopped -1 (more the onion more the taste is)

3. Tomatoes medium size -2 (chop finely)

4. Chilli powder-1/2 to 1 tsp

5. Turmeric powder -1/2 tsp

6. Salt and oil as needed

7. Curry leaves and corriander leaves chopped

8. Eggs - 5 (almost one egg for one parotta)


Preparation

1. Heat the parotta's and cut/tear it into very small bits and pieces with hand .

2. Pour 3 to 4 tsp oil in kadai.Heat it then add finely chopped onions and tomotes.Again how finely you are chopping is proportional to the taste.

3. Fry them well for 5 to 10 mins

4. Then break the eggs and pour in that masala and mix well in the masala

5. Finally add the parotta's into it. Mix them all well .Cook them for another 5 mins .

SEMIYA CUTLET

Just to share with you......

You might have heard about many cutlets using different vegetables. But cutlet using semiya is a different one. Savorit is a brand of semiya/vermicelli.Near dindugal I used to see the Savorit semiya company whenever I used to pass that way (on the way to Trichi-where I did my college).One day I was searching something and suddenly I saw the Savorit verimilli recipes in the net.Suddenly a flash of my past memory came so I clicked that site and I got this recipe from there. I have altered the recipe a little bit.

SEMIYA CUTLET

Ingredients

1.Vermicelli /Semiya -1 cup (cup which comes along with rice cooker)

2. Bread crums as needed (if you don't have crums the take 2 slices of bread)

3.Potatoes medium -1 (boiled and mashed)

4.Green Chillies -3

5.Coriander Leaves and curry leaves -2 tsp (finelly chopped)

6.Onion - 3(finely chopped)

7.Salt and oil as required


Preparation

1.Boil water in a container. Add vermicelli and little salt and cook for 2 to 3 mins and drain the excess water and keep aside.

2. In a bowl add cooked vermicelli, mashed potato, onion , chillies, curry and corriander leaves and a pinch of salt.Mix them all together.

With Bread slices

Soak bread in water for 1 minute, squeeze out the water and mash it and add to the above mixture.

Knead them well. Shape them into balls and flatten them and deep fry them in oil.

With Bread crums

Make ball using the mixture. Take bread crums in plate.Roll the ball over the bread crums then flatten the ball and deep fry in oil.

KITCHADI (SEMIYA & RAVA)

Just to share with you...

Instead of making plain rava or semiya/vermicelli if we make that as kichadi it will taste good. We are taking some veggies too.This will be a good food for kids.

Kitchadi

Vegetables

Beans, carrot, green peas ,cauliflower,cabbage,potato .No hard and fast rule for the proportions and the type of vegetables. Whatever you have take those and cut into small pieces as you cut for poriyals.

Others

1. Onion small -1

2. Green chillies - 5 to 6

3. Tomato small size- 1

4. Mustard - 1/4 tsp

5. Oil -3 tsp

6. curry leaves as needed

7. Turmeric powder -1/2 tsp

8. Rava or Vermicilli - 1cup

Preparation

1. Cut vegetables into fine pieces (one cup).

2. Take 1 cup of rawa/vermicelli and lightly roast without oil and fry for few minutes. You can skip this step too if you are in hurry.

3. Pour 3 teaspoons of oil in a fry pan and add mustard seeds. When it splatters, add curry leaves and chopped green chillies ,onions and fry till it is done.

4.Now add the vegetables, turmeric powder , salt and fry them until they turn soft .Now add 2 cups of water and when it begins to boil add rava /vermicilli and keep stirring till all the water is absorbed and it becomes thick (fully cooked).

BAJJI VARIETIES

Just to share with you......

Bajji is the simplest snack we can make to have in the evenings.During winter season we really want something hot in the evening. I had so many varieties of bajji's but for all the batter is same.Bread bajji is the onw which I used to have during my MCA. That was the first time (in hostel) where I had bread bajji. One lady used to bring in the afternoon and evening we have to rush for it. whenever I make bread bajji's I remmeber those plesant memories.Also that Chilli bajji I had for the first time in Kodaikannal when I was in 5th standard.(In my school they took us to kodai kills that time) .

Make Potato bajji, Onion bajji, Brinjal bajji, Cauliflower bajji, Applam bajji, Plaintain bajji/Vallakkai bajji, Bread bajji, Chilli bajji using same batter.

Ingredients for Batter

1. Besan Flour /Kadalamavu - 1 cup

2. salt as need

3. Little appa soda if you have (sodium bicorbonate) and color powder.If you don't have color powder add 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder because the besan which we are getting in US is not giving very good color like Indian Kadalamavu.

Preparation of batter

1. Mix all the ingredients together well by adding little water so that it will be in idli/dasa batter consistency

BREAD BAJJI

1. Take bread slice.cut diagonally and make four triangles.

2.Dip each in batter and fry in oil.

Potatoes and Brinal bajji

Slice the potatoes or brinjals diagonally very thin (like potato chips).Dip it and fry in oil

Onion Bajji

Take big onion/Periyavenkayam slice into rounds and dip in batter then fry that in oil

Plaintain/Valakkai Bajji

Make thin slices with the grater dip that in batter and fry in oil

Appalam Bajji

Take one appalam cut it into half dip that in batter and fry that in oil

Chilli bajji

Take long green chilli on the tail end side cut to split into two portion but at the head end it should be attached and the stem should be there.Dip this in batter and fry in oil.

Cauliflower bajji

Boil water and put the cauliflower florets ,little salt and cook it. Then put that in paper napkin and take out all the water then dip each florets in bajji batter and fry well.

MUTTON KULUMBU (GOATMEAT KULUMBU)

Just to share with you

Here in USA we get nice mutton in Halal grocery stores. The lamb that we get in American grocery stores are not that good. So try this recipe with the halal stores mutton. Also if you buy muton don't keep it for many days in freezer so finish it off in 3 days.

Mutton Kulambo

Rice and Mutton Kolumbu

Ingredients

For cooking mutton

1. Mutton - 1 and 1/2 pound

2. Redchilli powder - 1/2 tsp

3.Turmeric podwer-1/2 tsp

4.Salt as needed

For grinding

1.Onion -1 (if you have small onions/red shallots/chinna venkayam then take that equalent to big onion/periya venkayam/ballari venkayam)

2.Corriander seeds -3 tsp

3. Jeera - 1/2 tsp

4. Red chillies -4 to 5

5. Curry leaves as needed

6. Grated coconut -2 tsp

7. Pattai/Cinamon sticks- 2

8. Cloves/Kirambu-2

9.Sombu- 1/4 tsp

10.Little turmeric powder

11.Oil as needed for frying above ingredients

For sauting

1.Oil - 1 tsp

2.Onion - cutted 1 cup

3. Curry leaves as needed

Preparation

1. Pressure cook the mutton with the ingredients mention under For Cooking mutton for 5 to 6 whistles with water.

2. Fry well all the ingredients under For Grinding grind that well.

3. Pour oil in Kadai.Heat and add cutted onions (optional) and curry leaves then add the grinded masala and pressure cooked mutton and cook for 10 to 15 mins so that raw smell goes away and gravy thickens.