Puliogere

Ingredients:

PULIOGERE PASTE

Puliogere powder:3-4 tblsp
Tamarind paste: 1 bowl
Jaggery: 1 bowl (crushed)
Dry coconut: 1/2 cup (powdered)
salt: to taste

Tampering: 
urud dal: 1 tsp
chana dal:1tsp
peanuts nut: 1 cup(roasted)
curry leaves: 2 strands
oil: 5 tblspoons

Cooked rice: as much required.
[1 tblspn puliogere paste would be enough for 2 bowls of rice in case required, can add more].

Preparation:
Simmer the tamarind paste to become thick. Add jaggery and stir for it to melt. As it melts, add salt and puliogere powder and mix well. This will turn it into a thick pulpy form.Off the flame and add dry coconut powder. Mix well. In another pan, heat oil and put in all the dals. When they turn brown add roasted peanuts and curry leaves. add this to the paste and mix well. You can keep this paste for more than a week.

Take in cooked rice and 1 to 2 tblspn of puliogere paste and mix well. add salt if required and chopped coriander leaves if preferred.
N.B-> jeera rice or basmathi rice is best suited for it but here in the picture i used picture i have used boiled rice.

ALTERATION:

Powder thick Poha/Aval. Wash the powdered poha. keep aside for it to fluff up. Mix in lemon juice and salt into it with chopped corriander leaves. In a vessel, heat oil, pop in a tsp of mustards and jeera. Put in some chopped onions saute till soft add a tblsp of puliogere paste mix well add the fluffed up poha/ aval powder. mix well. Serve.

KAPPA or tapicoca

Ingredients:
Tapioca: 1 kg
garlic pods: 5 pods
turmeric powder: 1/4rth tsp
salt: to taste
coconut: 1/2 bowl
mustard seeds; 1 tsp
curry leaves: 1 stem
oil: 1 tblsp
Procedure:
De-skin, Cut and clean tapioca. In a pressure cooker add tapioca, turmeric powder, garlic and salt with required amount of water. Pressure cook till 3 whistles. Wait for the pressure to go. When done. drain the water into a cup and keep aside. Mash the tapioca. Add the drained water, bit by bit to make sure the tapioca is moist. It is fine if the tapioca seems water at this stage. Add in coconut . Meanwhile in a small vessel heat oil. add mustard and curry leaves. add it to the tapioca. Mix well and serve. It is a typical Kerala dish. KAPPA!

Bitter guard crisps

Ingredients:
2 bitter guards: cut into circles 
red chilly powder: 1 tsp
turmeric powder:1 tsp
garam masala: 1 tsp
salt: to taste
corn flour/rice flour: 3 tablespoon ( pref. corn flour)
oil : to deep fry
Proceedures:
Wash the cut bitter guard rings. Add in the red chilly powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder and salt . Mix well. After which only, add corn flour or rice flour to coat each rings dryly.it should seem dry coated. deep fry each rings in smoking hot oil and yummy bitter guard crisps are ready. It's yum as a  side dish with rice. 

Murukku

Ingredients
Rice flour: 1 cup
Gram flour (Besan): 1/2 cup
Split black gram powder ( urud powder)=  1/4th cup
cumin seeds (Jeera): a pinch
Sesame seeds (Til): a pinch
water: as required
salt: to taste
Oil: to fry
Proceedure:
Sieve all 3 flours together. Dry roast them till the flour is cooked. it may take a while. Keppt the mixture aside for cooling. When cold, mix in the rest of the ingredients in which the water should be added enough to make the mixture into a tight dough. Put the dough into the mould and press in into the hot smoking oil. cook for at least 2 minutes for the murukku to be crispy. 
Yum murukku ready. 

Lemon Rice

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Ingredients:

Cooked rice: 1- 1.5 cups
Lemon: 1/2  (if want real tangy, then 1)
Onion:1 ( chopped)
Turmeric: 1/4 tsp
Salt: to taste
roasted peanuts: ( a handful)
oil: 2 tsp
mustard, curry leaves and dry chilly: ( for tampering.


Preparation:
                     Heat a vessel, pour in oil. When hot, add the tampering ingredients. Then add chopped onion and sauté for a minute or so and then add a pinch of turmeric and salt. Meanwhile, squeeze lemon juice. 

Make sure this onion mixture and rice have completely cooled down. Mix the onion mixture, lemon, rice, peanuts and coriander leaves( if you preffer) and serve. 

N.P-> You can avoided peanuts if not preferred. This makes a yum lunch to school for kids.

Idli and chutney

Idli basically belongs to Tamil Nadu. But The whole of South India has adopted this dish with their own twists.
Idlis are basically steamed food made of raw rice or Semolina( rava or sooji).
As a whole, Idli is a very healthy dish as it is made of healthy ingredients and is steamed. 
To make it more healthy i have added a bit of vegetables to my version of Idli.


Ingredients:

Idli:

Raw rice: 1 cup

Urud dal (deskinned and split black gram): 1/2 cup

salt: to taste
chopped Vegetables: 1/4rth cup( optional)

Chutney:

Coconut: 1/2 cup (scraped)

Green chilly: 1

salt: to taste

Mustard seeds: 1/4rth tsp

Curry leaves: 1 stem

Dry red chilly 1 or 2 de stemmed

Oil: to garnish

Preparation:

Idli:

Soak raw rice and urud dal for at least 4 hours. Grind them into a paste using adequate amount of water. Please make sure the paste is thick. Keep it for fermentation overnight. While about to prepare, you can add vegetables of your choice to the mixture, but make sure they are chopped well and it doesn't rule the taste of the idli. In a deep vessel boil water for steaming. Pour portions of the paste into the desired moulds (preferably idly moulds) and cover the lid for steaming. Steam for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the size of the mould. check if the idlis are done by pricking it with a tooth pick. if it comes out clean, then idlis are done!

Please do not de mould the idlis immediately after taking out the steamer as it needs to be cooled before separating it from the moulds. use a butter knife or a spoon for the de moulding purpose and serve with chutney.

note-> you can add vegetables of your choice into the idli paste if you desire.

Chutney:

Grind scraped coconut, salt, green chilly and a little water in the mixer-grinder till a smooth paste of the ingredients are made. Pour it on to the serving bowl. Heat a little oil, preferably, coconut oil, splutter a few mustard seeds, curry leaves and dry chillies and pour over the chutney, serve with hot idlis...

YUM!

Uthappam chat style!

Uthappam is a typical South Indian dish. Traditionally, made of fermented white rice and urud dal ( split black gram) paste. The taste of uthappam would be that of a dosa but with crunchy steamed veggies over it.

Dont know about others, but for me, uthappa is always a way to utilize the left over dosa bacter. After preparing dosa for a day it so happens the bacter to be left for the next day but, with variety lovers as my family, dosa the next day would be a total no-no.

Besides this, i faced another problem that my family doesn't like uthappam much unlike me. SO, i thought about a twist to mix what they love to something they don't like. And i mixed chat flavour(Indian sweet sour street food) to uthappam and THERE! they loved it!

Ingredients:

Fermented raw rice and urud dal( split black gram) bacter: 2 cups

Onion: 1, chopped.

coconut: 1/2 bowl.

coriander leaves: a handful, chopped.

Jeera (cumin seeds): 1/2 t-spoon

Mustard seeds: 1/4rth t-spoon

chat masala: 1 t-spoon

salt: to taste

Oil: a little

Preparation:

Heat oil and splutter mustard and jeera. Add onion and a bit of salt for onion to cook fast. Then add coconut, chopped coriander leaves and sauté for a minute add salt and chat masala and the topping is ready.

In a nonstick pan pour a deep spoon full of bacter( as making pancakes) and spread the bacter over the pan by rotating the pan and not with the help of a spoon. Then immediately spread a spoon full of topping over this cooking pancake and put the lid over for it to cook. when done make sure to over turn it so that the topping be a part of the uthappam. Serve!

Note: you can add tomatoes, capsicum, corn(chopped), and other veggies and flavours of your choice. But i made sure of adding coconut to maintain the "South indian Touch. The filling is totally upto your taste.

Puttu and kadala or steamed rice cake and Bengal gram gravy

Ingredients

(Puttu or steam rice cake:)

Roasted Rice flour: 1 cup

Water: enough to soak wet it

Salt: to taste

Coconut: for garnish

(Kadala curry or Bengal gram gravy)

Kadala: 1 cup (soaked overnight)

Coconut: 1/2 cup grated

Corriander powder: 1 tablespoon

Chicken masala powder( optional): 1/2 tspn

salt : to taste

Mustard: 1/4th tspn

Oil: 1 tspn

Dry red chillies: 2

Curry leaves: 1 stem

Preparation:

(Puttu)

You can get instant puttu powders in the market or roast the rice flour till a slight yellow colour tends to appear. When cooled. Mix water and salt then little by little add to the roasted rice flour while you mix the mixture with hand. Wet the rice till you will be able to make a non sticky ball when tried.

If you have Puttu mould, then place the steel net in the base, fill a bit of coconut, the rice mixture, a little coconut again rice mixture, till the mould is filled and then steam it.

If you do not have puttu mould then take coconut shell. fill the base with a thin layer of grated coconut then fill in the rice mixture, then again fill grated coconut and steam.

Remove the mixture on to a plate. If in a puttu mould, remove with the provided stick else slightly dab the coconut shell with its open mouth facing the plate. yur puttu is ready.

(Kadala curry or the Bengal gram curry)

Preassure cook kadala or bengal gram toll crack appear on them. This is an indication of it becoming soft. When done, blend coconut, coriander powder and chicken masala (optional) with little water to forma smooth paste. Pour this paste into the preassure cooked kadala or bengal gram and let this mixture come to a boil. When boiled, let it simmer on medium flame till it reached a gravy consistency. Splutter mustard in oil . Also put in curry leaves and dry red chilly in the spluttered mustard and oil and then garnish the gravy with it.

this curry or gravy is best suited with steamed rice cake or puttu. A taste of kerala breakfast.

You can also substitute rice flour with wheat flour or sooji(semolina)

Poha vada

Ingredients:

Poha: 1 cup

Besan/ chick pea flour: 1 tblsp

rice flour: 1 tblsp

Salt: to taste

Onion:1

hing/ asafoetida: 1 pinch

Corriander leaves" 1 tsp

Curry leaves; a few

Jeera: 1/2 tsp

Ginger garlic paste: 1 tsp

oil; to fry

Preparation:

Wash poha and keep aside for at least 10 minutes. mix the rest of the ingredients into it and wish a few drops of water, make a dough. Make small discs off it and deep fry. Serve.

Spring Dosa

Ingredients:

Raw rice:1 cup

Urud Dal: 1/2 cup

Salt: to taste

carrot: 2 medium

Capsicum: 1 medium

Cabbage: 1/4 th a small cabbage

Onion: 1

Soya sauce: 1/2 tsp

sugar: 1/4th tspoon

Pepper: 1/2 tsp

Preparation:

Soak raw rice and urud dal at least for 4 hours. Grind them into a smooth dosa bacter and keep it over night for fermentation, can use eno for instant fermentation.

to prepare filling,

Cut the vegetables as long thin strips. In a vessel, heat oil put it onion first and saute for a min put the rest of the veggies and saute for 2 minutes. add the pepper, salt and sugar and saute again for a minute till the cabbages becomes soft. then add soya sauce and saute for a minute and the filling is ready.

Prepare dosa on a dosa tava, and when done place the dosa on a plate. take a very small portion of the filling spread all over the dosa (1 side) evenly. Fold the dosa 3 times and press a bit to sttle the folded dosa. Diagonally cut the folded dosa into 3 portions and there1 your delicious spring dosa is ready!

Kerala Style Cabbage varavu or sabzi

Ingredients:

Cabbage: 1/2 cabbage (small)

Onion: 1 chopped

Mustard seeds: 1 tsp

Curry leaves: 1 stem

turmeric powder: 1/4th tsp

Salt: to taste

Scraped Coconut: 2 tblsp

Preparation:

In a kadai or vessel, heat oil and pop in mustard seeds. when done put in curry leaves. Within seconds, put in chopped cabbage, onion, turmeric powder and salt. saute till cabbage is soft. Add coconut to it and saute for 5 more minutes. serve.

Cucumber Pachadi

Ingredients

Green cucumber:1
Coconut: 1/2 scraped
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp+ 1 tsp
Curd: 1/2 cup
Oil: for tampering
Curry leaves: 1 stem
Salt: as req.

Preperation
Deskin green cucumber and dice it. In a mixer, put in coconut, curd, 1/2 mustard and run the mixer till a fine paste is made. Pour this paste on the diced cucumber and add req. salt. In another vessel, heat oil, pop mustard seeds. when done add curry leaves and pour on the pachadi.. serve... you can refrigerate it for later use too ...

Kootu cutty

Ingredients

Bengal gram: 1.5 cup (soaked overnight)
Raw banana: 1
Coconut: 1/2 scraped
Pepper cons: 1 tblsp
corriander powder: 1 tblsp
Turmeric: 1/4 tsp
Cummin seeds: 1 tsp
Salt: as req.

Preperation:

Preassure cook bengal gram and raw banana( diced) till splits appear on the bengal gram. [ After 1 whistle on high flame, 3to 4 whistles on sim flame]. The meanwhile in a mixure, blend in coconut, peppercons, turmericpowder, jeera, corranderpowder. Just mix them in so as to crush the peppercons and the mixture to mix in well and dont make a fine paste. When the preassure cooker lid is removed pour the mixture to it and let it cook. Garnish with a little curryleaves and a tsp of oil.Serve!

Instant Rawa Dosa

Ingredients:
Rawa(semolina): 1 cup
Curd: as req
Salt: as req
Eno: 1 satchet

Preperation

In a cup semolina, put in curd and salt and mix so that ir becomes a thick bacter as in for idli bacter. Keep mixing for say 5 to 10 min as semolina expands and so the bacter may required more curd after 5 to 10 minutes.. When done. Heat a non stick dosa tawa , while doing so mix a pack of eno and mix for say 2 minutes. Then put in a few drops of oil on tawa and rub off with a clothand then take a scoop of bacter on the tawa and with the back of the spoon spread in the dosa shape.
A tip: always run the back of the spoon in one direction else the shape is gone.

Sambar

Ingredients:

Tuvar dal (pegion dal): 1/2 cup
Onion: 2 big
Carrot: 1 medium or big
Raw banana: 1
Yam: a small peice
Pumkin: 100g
Potatoe: 2 medium
yellow cucumber: 1/2th cup (cubed)
drumsticks: 1 big
Tomatoe: 2 big
Brinjal: 2 medium
Ladies finger: 100g
coconut: 1/2
tamarind pulp: 1 cup
chana dal (chick pea dal): 1 tblsp
urud dal ( black gram dal): 1 tsp
fenugreek seeds: 1 tsp
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
Garlic pods: 10 pods
Ginger: 1 inch
corriander powder: 1 tbsp
Sambar masala: 1 tsp
Dry red chilly: 2
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Oil: as required
Jaggery/sugar: 2 tblsp(if sugar); a small peice(if jaggery)
Salt: as required
Curry leaves

Prepration

Dice all vegetables( into small cubes). In a preassure cooker, With the tuvar dal put in all the diced vegetables( exclude 1 onion), 6 pods garlic and ginger and cook till 2 whistles are done. In a pan, heat oil and put in cumin seeds along with fenugreek seeds. after say around 5 to 10 sec ad the urud dal and chana dal and saute till they turn golden.Then put in scraped coconut, 1 sliced onion, 1 dry red chilly the remaining pods garlic and saute continuously on medium flame till the coconut turns dark brown and the oil seperates from the mixture. when this happens, add corriander powder and sambar powder and saute for say a minute. Remove the mixture to a plate and after cooling run in mixure to make a smooth paste of it. Open the preassure cooker and pur in the tamarind pulp and allow it to heat. Then add the coconut paste you just made and allow it to boil. Add the sugar(or jaggery which ever) and salt. Allow it to simmer till the right consitency is attained and the curry is cooked.
For tampering: heat oil pop in mustard seeds. when done popping put in drychilly and curry leaves. Pour the mixture on to the curry

And serve with rice.

Tip: while adding the mixture if the curry is too tight add water. The curry is done when the light coloured foam over the curry almost is gone.

Idli, Sambar and vada.

Ingredients:

Idli:
Raw rice: 1 cup
Urud dal: 1/2 cup
Salt: tot aste

Sambar:
Onion: 1
Tomato:2
Garlic: 5 pods
Tuvar dal: 1/2 cup
Tamarind juice: 1 bowl, Can also use 1 lemon juice instead
Mustard: 1 tsp
Curry leaves: 1 stem
Dry chilly: 1
SAmbar powder: 2 tsp
Red chillt powder: 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder: 1/4th tsp
Salt: to taste
Sugar: 1 tsp

VAda:
Rice flour: 1 cup
Urud dal powder: 1 cup
Eno: 1 satchet
else,
Raw rice : 1 cup
Urud dal:1 cup

SAlt to taste
Onion: 1
green chilly:2
Mustard seeds:1 tsp
Curry leaves: 1 stem

Preperation:

Idli:
Soak Rice and urud dal for atleast 3 hours, Grind and make a paste, add salt and keep it for frementation for over night. Then in a deep vesel put 2 glass of water. While the water boils, Oil the idli vesels and pur the bacter on to it. Then put in the vessel and let it steem for 5 minutes. remove and serve.

Sambar:
Put in chopped onion, deskinned garlic pods, diced tomato and tuvar dal in a preassure cooker. add required water and red chilly powder and turmeric powder. Put on the wistle and let 2 whistles come. When the pressure within is done with, open the lid. Mix slightly with a spoon and add turmeric water ( if lemon juice... add a cup od water too). Then in a glass of water mix sambar masal and pour it in the curry. Let it cook and simmer till the right consistency of the curry is obtained. Then add sugar and salt. Then for tampering. In a small vessel, pour in oil, pop mustard seeds then red dry chilly and curry leaves and pour it on the curry. Serve with idli.

Vada:
If you want an instant vada, mix rice powder, urud dal powder with salt.Put in chopped onion, green chilly and tamper it with mustard seeds and curry leaves. Mix a bit of water till a dough is made with and add eno and mix till the dough becomes fluffy and soft... If not enough fluffy add 1 more eno satchet.

If the traditional way, Soak raw rice and urud dal. GRind it with minimum water. And add salt chopped onion, green chilly and tamper it with mustard seeds and curry leaves.keep it overnight.

Heat oil for deep frying. Rub water in your hands. TAke a small ball of dough roll to a ball pat it on your hand and make a hole in the middle put it in the oil and try till brown.

Sreve hot..

Dosa and Onion Chutney

Ingredients:

Dosa:
Raw rice: 1 cup
Urud dal:1/2 cup
Cooked rice: 1 tblsp (optional)
Salt: to taste
Oil: 1tsp

Onion Chutney:
Coconut: 1/2
Onion: 1/2
Garlic: 2 pods
Red chillt powder: 1/2 tsp
Tamarind( else lemon): 1 very small peice. ( 1/4 th lemon juice)
salt: to taste
Oil: 1 tsp
Mustartd: 1 stp
Dry red chilly: 1
Curry leaves: 1 stem.

Preperartion:

Dosa:soak rice and urud dal togehter for atleast 3 to 4 hours. Grind into paste along with cooked rice. add salt. Keep it overnight for fermentation. This is the traditional method. If you want instantly.. then ad eno just after grinding. Then, in a non stick tava. sprinkle oil when hot. then whipe off the oil. Pour a spoon ful dosa and spread it... let the flame be in medium... when the sides start to seperate from the pan turn over the dosa for 2 sec... serve on the plate.

Chutney: Grind together coconut, tamarind, garlic, onion, red chilly powder. Add it a little water to make a bit gravy. When done... pour in a vessel, add salt. In a small vessel, heat oil, pop some mustard seeds... when done add dry red chillies and curry leaves. When done pour on chutney.

Pulli Inji

Ingredients
Tamarind juice : 3 cups
Ginger: 2 inch
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Onion: 1/2 big
Jaggery: 20 grms
salt: to taste
Roasted and powdered boiled rice :1 tblsp
Oil: 1 tblsp

Preperation:
Chop Ginger. In a vessel (clay vessel preferably) , pour in the oil and let it heat. Add mustard seeds and let it splutter when done add ginger and stir for say 10 seconds, then add onion and saute for a minute. Add tamarind juice to it and let it boil. Then let it simmer for 5 minutes till it is in't waterry but pulpy or say till it becomes a bit thick. Then add jaggery and salt. And lwait till the jaggery is all desolved. Mix well and add the boiled rice powder. Let it finally simmer for say a minute. When cool you can bottle it and use it as pickle.

Green gram curry (with coconut)

Ingretients:
Green gram: 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp
Coconut : 1/2 coconut
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
Oil: for tampering
Mustard: 1 tsp
Red dry chilly: 2
Curry leaves: 1 stem

Preperation:
In preassure cooker ( i use prestige, hawkins may need more water) put in green gram and put in around 2 cups of water. Put on the lid and after the 1st whistle comes reduce the flame to sim and let 2 to 3 whistles happen. Then let the preassure in the cooker go, it may take some time. Mean while, Run the coconut along with the cumin seeds witha little water in the mixer to make a coconut paste. When the cooker lid is opened put int his paste and let the curry coom and simmer. When the curry is all se. Take a small vessel, pour in oil, Put some mustard seeds in and when its splutters put in dry red chilly and curry leaves. Then pour this mixture in the curry and serve.

Onion theeyal (ULLI THEEYAL)

Ingredients:

Onion : 2 medium size

Tomato: 2 medium size

Garlic: 5 pods

Ginger: 1inch

Coconut :1/2 small

Dry red chilly: 2

Pepper cons: 1-2 tblsp

Mustard seeds: 1 tsp

Curry Leaves: 1 stem

Corriander powder: 1 tblsp

Garam Masala: 1 tsp

Tamarind: 1 lemon size or 1/2 lemon juice

Salt: to taste

Sugar: 1 tsp( optional)

Preperation:

Scrap coconut. Heat oil in a pan. When oil is hot add coconut red dry chilly and pepper cons to it. Saute till oil seperates which happens only when the coconut turns brown. Also make sure this is done on medium flame.Then add corriander powder and garam masala and heat for a minute. Then keep away for it to cool down. when cools down make a paste of it in mixer. Heat another vessel, add oil to it. When it heats up add mustard seeds and when the splutter stops add curry leaves. Then add chopped ginger, garlic and sliced onion to it. Saute it the colour of the onion changes. Add tomatoe and after a minute add a pinch salt. Saute till onion tomatoe is perfectly done. Add tamarind juice( tamarind soaked in 1 tea cup water)/ lemon juice with 1 tea cup water. When it startes to boil add the coconut paste. Cook till curry done then add salt and sugar. Servewith rice.