HEALTHY TOMATO SOUP

Ingredients :

Ripe tomatoes : 2 nos
Onion : 1 nos
Garam masala : 1 tsp
Chilli powder : 1 tsp
Low fat or fat free milk : 1/4 cup
Flour : 1 tsp
Olive oil : 4 tsp
Croutons : 10 pieces
Salt : To taste
Aesofoetida : A pinch
Curry leaves : A few
Cilantro to garnish.


Directions :

In a pan heat 2tbsp of oil and add aesofoetida and onions. Let the onions caramelize and release all its juices. Add salt as per taste this will make the onions cook faster. Once the onions are translucent add the chopped tomatoes and mix well. Once the tomatoes are half cooked add garam masala, chilli powder. Let all the ingredients blend well and cook.Close with a lid and simmer for 5 mins or until the tomatoes are tender and masala are well cooked.

Turn off the heat and then allow it to cool for 20 mins. In a mixie blend all together until they are smooth. Strain the mixture.

In a new bowl add the rest of the oil and flour. Cook the flour for a min and then add the milk. Allow the milk to boil and thicken for 3 mins. Then add the strained juice and simmer for 5 mins.

You can add curry leaves if you like. Garnish with cilantro. While serving add crontons and serve hot. This will make a hearty sunday brunch and no guilt on the weight part :)

Note: You can add cream if you want towards the end or can also use full fat milk. This will make the soup really rich.

Sambar for Idli (Hotel Sambar)

Sambar for Idli (Hotel Sambar)

Ingredients:

Toor dhal - 3/4 cup

Yellow Moong dhal - 1/4 cup

Tamarind - small lemon size

Salt - to taste

Small Onions - 1 cup

Tomato - 1

Curry leaves - few

Asafoetida - a pinch

Roast and Grind:

Red chillies - 4 or 5 (to spice level)

Coriander seeds - 1 tbspn

Fennel seeds (saunf) - 1/2 tspn

For seasoning:

Mustard -1 tspn

Urad dhall- 1 tspn

Methi seeds - 3 nos. (should not add too much or else can be cooked with dhal)

Oil - 1 tbspn

Directions:

• Cook both the toor dhal and moong dhal together and keep it aside.
• Get the tamarind Extract .
• Roast and Grind the Chillies , Coriander seeds and Fennel seeds.
• In a pan, add the oil, and the items for seasoning.
• Now add curry leaves
• Add Onions and tomatoes and saute it for few minutes.
• Now add the Tamarind extract and  allow it to boil for 5 minutes.
• Then add the cooked dhal (both mixed) and the grind mixture to this.
• Add Salt and required amount of water allow it to boil for 5 minutes.
• Yummy yummy sambar is ready to serve with Hot idlis as in hotels.
• The measurement here in this recipe is enough to serve four nos.

Moong Dhal Masala

Moong dhal Masala

Ingredients:

Green gram (Moong dhal) - 1 cup

Onion - 2 nos. finely chopped

Tomato - 2 nos. finely chopped

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbspn

Chilli powder - 1tspn (or to taste for spicy level)

Coriander powder - 1tspn

Garam masala powder - 1/4 tspn

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Water - required amount (1 to 1.5 cups)

For seasoning:

Oil - 1 tbspn

Mustard - 1/4 tspn

cumin seeds - 1/4 tspn

Curry leaves -few

Directions:

• Soak the Moong dhal for 1 hour and cook it in a pressure cooker and keep it aside.(should be very soft when cooked)
• In a pan, add the oil, and the ingredients for seasoning.
• Add curry leaves.
• Wait till it splutters.
• Now add the chopped onions and the ginger garlic paste.
• Saute it till onions are half cooked.
• Now add the chopped Tomato and saute it.
• Then add the Chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala and turmeric powder.
• Mix it well
• Now add the cooked moong dhal and add some water to make it gravy.
• Allow it to boil for five minutes. Keep stirring now and then while its boiling.
• Moong dhal masala is ready to serve with hot chappathis.

LEMON SEVAI ( Rice sticks )

Ingredients :

Rice Sevai : 1 Packet
Lemon : one big no.
Green chillies : 5 nos ( based on spice level )
Salt : To taste.

Seasoning:

Oil : 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds : 1 tsp
Channa dal : 1 tsp
Urad dal : 1 tsp
Aesofoetida : A pinch
Methi seeds : 4 nos
Turmeric : 1tsp.
Curry leaves : 5 nos
Cilatro : To granish.

Directions:

In a boiling water add the sevai and cover the lid. Cook for about 2 to 3 mins or until its done. Drain the water and keep it aside.

In a pan, pour oil, once its hot add the mustard seeds, channa dal , urad dal, aesofoetida, turmeric, methi seeds, curry leaves and finely chopped green chillies. Once the mustard splatters add the rice sevai and salt and stir it well until all of them belnds together. Switch off the heat and allow it to cool for 2 mins. Then add the lemon juice and mix well.Granish with cilantro and serve hot.

AVIAL ( Mixed vegetable in Coconut Stew )

Ingredients :

Carrot : 1 Stick cut length wise
Beans : 10 nos cut into half
White Pumpkin : 10 big length wise cut pieces
Green Beans : 1/4 Cup
Cucumber : 1 no ( cut thick length wise )
Kohlrabi ( Nulkol ) :5 lenght wise pieces
Raw Banana : 5 Nos cut legthwise.
Potato : 5 nos cut lenghtwise
Salt : to taste



To grind :

Coconut : 1/2 Cup
Jeera : 2 tbsp
Ginger : One some bite size piece
Aesofoetida : A Pinch
Sour curd : 1/4 cup
Green chillies : 5 nos ( based on spice level )

Seasoning:

Jeera : 1 tsp
Coconut oil : 2tbsp
Aesofoetida : A Pinch
Curry leaves : 5 nos
Cilantro for garnish

Directions :

Cut all the vegetable in the same size and shape. Cook potato, carrot, beans and kohlrabi first. Once they are lightly cooked add white pumpkin, cucumber, peas, raw banana as these take considerably less time to cook. Add salt to the vegetables. Do not over cook them. They need to have a little bit crunch too it. Drain excess water if any after the vegetables are cooked. You can preserve the water and use while kneading the roti dough or can preserve it in ice cubes for days.

Grind all the ingredients as said above into a smooth paste. I generally grind the curd with the mixture, you can also add at the end to the vegetables instead of grinding. Grinding the curd makes it get mixed well with the masala

Add the masala to the vegetables and simmer the heat. Bring it to a boil and turn the heat off.In a saute pan, place the coconut oil ( you can use regular oil if you want ) , add jeera, curry leaves and aesofoetida. Once the jeera turns colour pour them to teh stew and garnish with cilantro.

Serve hot with rice. You can also eat with rotis.

Note : You can add any number and variety of vegetables. This is the best way to make kids eat all kinds of vegetables. It tastes Yummy too !

Carrot Rice

Carrot Rice

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup

Carrot - Big size -grated - 3

Onion - 2

Fried Groundnut - 2 tbspn(Peel the skin and powder it)

Oil - 2 tbspn

Salt - to taste

Cinnamon - 1 inch piece

Cloves - 3

To Grind:

Coriander seeds - 1 1/2 tspn

Cumin seeds - 3/4 tspn

Red chiilies - 3 or 4 (to taste)

Grated coconut - 2 tbspn

Directions:

• Add 1 tspn oil in a pan and fry the item to be grinded. At the end add the grated coconut, and fry till it becomes brown. 
• Now Grind these and keep the powder aside.
• Finely chop the Onions, grate the Carrot (Peel the skin of the carrot and put in hot water for 2 0r 3 minutes.No need to cook)
• Cook the rice and make it to cool. 
• In a pan, heat the oil , put Cinnamon, cloves (those who doesn't like the taste of cinnamon, cloves remove it from the oil immediately as it splutters).
• Then add Onions to it. Saute till it becomes golden brown
• Then add Carrot to it. Saute till the raw smell of the carrot goes. (If needed sprinkle some water)
• Then add the rice, salt and the grounded masalapowder to it.
• Now mix it in medium flame till the rice gets slightly hot.
• Before switching off the stove add the powdered groundnut to it and mix it
• Serve it with Onion Raitha and Tomato Sauce.
• Yummy carrot rice is ready.

Rasagulla

Rasagulla

Ingredients:

Milk - 4 cups

Lime - 1/2

For syrup:

· Water - 3 cups

· Cardamom - 1 (crushed)

· Sugar - 3/4 to 1 cup

 

Directions

1. Heat milk in a pan. Stir it once in a while to avoid burning the bottom.

2. Once the milk starts boiling, reduce the heat to medium and add lime juice to it, then milk starts to curdle.

3. After 3 to 4 minutes Paneer is completely separated from milk. Remove this from heat .

4. Strain the Paneer using a nice muslin cloth. Hang the muslin cloth for 1 hour to drain the water from paneer.

5. Then Squeeze the muslin cloth to remove the extra moisture completely.Now remove the paneer from cloth and knead it for 5 minutes.

6. Make equal sized small balls from the paneer and keep aside. Now the Paneer balls are ready.

7. Heat Water, Sugar and Cardamom together in a pan. Once it starts boiling, add the paneer balls to it, cover the pan with a lid and cook for 7 to 10 minutes.

8. You can cook these paneer balls in pressure cooker too. After cooking, the size of the balls will be increased from its original size. 

Tastes yummy when served chilled.

 

Sabubiyam Upma - Javarisi upma

Ingredients

2 cup Sago (Sabudhana)
2 cup buttermilk or curd (sour)

1/4 cup Yellow Moong dhal
 4 green chillies.
salt- to taste

Grated coconut - 2 tbspn

1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp urad dhal
1/2 tsp channa dhal
A bunch of curry leaves
A bunch of coriander leaves
A dash of asafoetida(optional)
2 tblsp oil


Method :


Soak the sago in the buttermilk for 2-3 hrs. (See to that the buttermilk is neither too thick nor too thin, but should be sour).

Cook the Moong dhal and keep it aside.
Chop the green chillies and curry leaves.
Heat the pan and add oil. Add mustard, channa dhal and urad dhal.
Add, chillies and curry leaves to it. Cook for 5 minutes and add soaked sago and cooked Moongdhal to it. Also add chopped coriander leaves to it. Mix it well. Add salt. Keep mixing till the Sago gets heated up.

Two minutes before switching off the stove add the grated coconut and mix it. Sago Upma is ready.

They taste real good by themselves without a side dish like chutney. Goes well with coconut or tomato chutney.

Sago Idli

Ingredients

2 cup Sago (Sabudhana)
2 cup buttermilk (sour)
1 onion
4 green chillies.
2 tsp salt or to taste
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp urad dhal
1/2 tsp channa dhal
A bunch of curry leaves
A bunch of coriander leaves
A dash of asafoetida(optional)
2 tblsp oil


Method :


Soak the sago in the buttermilk for 5-6 hrs. (See to that the buttermilk is neither too thick nor too thin, but should be sour).
Chop the onions and green chillies and curry leaves.
Heat the pan and add oil. Add mustard, and channa dhal and urad dhal.
Add onions, chillies and curry leaves to it. Cook for 5 minutes and add this to the soaked sago. Also add chopped coriander leaves to it. Mix it well. The consistency should be like the same for rava idli.
Pour these in idli pans and cook them for 15-20 minutes.

Note: These idlis are too soft and sticky. They should not be cooked for too long but see to that the sago is cooked well. It comes out by practice. Just try it out. The amount I said can make around 20 idlis. They taste real good by themselves without a side dish like chutney. Goes well with coconut or tomato chutney.

Parupu Podi ( dal powder )

Ingredients :

Thuvar dal : 1 Cup

Channa dal : 1/2 Cup

Urad Dal : 1/4 Cup

Moong dal : 1/4 Cup

Whole Pepper : 2 Tsp

Hing : To taste

Buna channa ( Pottu kadalai ) : 1/2 cup

Ground Nut without skin : 1/2 Cup

Red chilli powder : 1/4 Cup ( based on spice level)

Salt : As required.

Directions :

Dry roast all the ingredients above separately ( Except chilli powder, hing and salt) until light brown. Cool and place it on a mixer, add hing, salt and chilly powder and ground it coarsely.

This powder can be preserved for months in air tight container. Serve it with hot rice and ghee.

Credit for this receipe too goes to my aunt.She is a good cook.

Sambar Powder

Ingredients :

Dhaniya : 1 Cup

Channa dal : 1/4 Cup

Urad Dal : 2 tbsp

Turmeric : 1 tsp

Methi seeds ( Vendiyum ) : 1tbsp

Red Chilly : 1 1/2 cup ( based on spice level needed )

Hing : To taste

Directions :

Dry roast all the above ingredients except turmeric and hing until light brown. Cool it and place it in a mixer, add hing and turmeric and grind it coarsely. Cool it again and store it in a air tight container.

I learned this receipe from my aunt so all credit goes to her. You can use this spice for while making roast potato or raw banana curry. It tastes yummy.

Masala Pori ( Masala Puffed Rice )

Ingredients :

Puffed Rice : 4 Cups
Kashmiri Chilli powder - 1 Tbsp
Turmeric : 1tsp
Salt : To taste
oil : 3 Tbsp
Hing : To taste

Directions :

Heat the oil in a pan, When its hot add the turmeric, salt, Hing and chilli powder. You should get a nice smell when the chilli powder heats in the oil , at this stage add the Pori ( puffed rice) and lower the heat to medium. Mix well until everything blends together. Remove from heat. You can serve hot or cool it and store it in a air tight container .

Murungakai adai (Munakaya)

Murungakai Adai

(Drum stick adai)

Ingredients

For  4 persons

Drumstick  - 5

Uraddhall - 50 grams

Green gram - 100 grams

Rice - 150 grams

Gram dhall - 150 grams

Toor dhall - 50 grams

Onion chopped - 100 grams

Ginger -  one little piece

Green chillies - 3 -finely chopped

Red chillies - 4

oil - 2 tbspn

Curry leaves , coriander leaves -little chopped

Asafoetida -pinch

salt and Ghee - to taste.

 

Directions

 

Soak all the dhall varieties and rice for 2 hours.

Grind all these along with Redchillies added to it.

Cook the Drum stick and take only the pulp inside.

In a pan, add oil, curry leaves,Green chillies and onion.

Fry till golden brown.

Add Asafoetida, ginger, pulp of drumstick, Coriander leaves.

Saute it for two minutes and grind

Mix it with the dhall varieties and rice ground before.

 

Now pour like adai or dosa with oil or ghee added on its sides.

Serve it with Coconut chutney, Jaggery.

 

amirthabalam - morkali (dish from buttermilk)

Amirthabalam

(Morkali)

Ingredients

Buttermilk - 1 litre

Rice flour - 1 cup (200gms)

Salt - to taste

Green chillies -4 or 5 (to taste)

Ginger - finely chopped - 1 tsp

For tempering:

mustard

urad dhall

gram dhall

asafoetida

curry leaves

Directions

• Mix the Butter milk and rice flour without any lumps. 
• Add salt to taste. and keep it aside.
• In a pan, add oil for tempering, add mustard, urad dhall, gram dhall, curry leaves and asafoetida
• now add green chillies and ginger wait till it gets sauted.
• Now add the mixed buttermilk and rice flour.
• Keep stirring to see there is no lumps formed.
• It may take 10 to 15 minutes to get cooked.
• It will be like a paste.
• Good when served hot.

Bittergourd chips

BITTER GOURD CHIPS

(with no bitter)

Ingredients

Bittergourd-2 nos

Salt - to taste

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Chilli powder - to taste

Lemon - 1

Directions

• Slice the Bitter gourd in a bowl into thin slices to the thickness of potato chips.
• Add turmeric powder, salt and Lemon juice and keep it aside for 1 hour
• Deep fry the Bitter gourd and drain the oil in a stainer.
• Now add Chilli powder to taste.
• Bittergourd chips is ready with no Bitterness.