Kadalaiparuppu sundal/Channa dal sundal-Sundal recipes

Kadalaiparuppu sundal is  a must menu during varalakshmi pooja at my MIL’s home…She does not change the sundal menu and by default it should be kadala paruppu sundal…My mom makes sundals extremely so well and as usual I called her and asked her for tips and she gave me the most useful tip about kadala paruppu sundal and here it is…Kadala paruppu gets cooked so fast and so you do not have to soak it and you can wash once and directly put it in cooker for 1 whistle or you can soak the split channa dal and drain water again put it in a wok along with water and let it cook for few minutes.,.Make sure you switch the stove off in advance so that it does not go mushy…I follow the firt tip of not soaking it and cooking directly in the cooker.You can follow any of the way.

Ingredients:

Kadala paruppu	1 cup
scraped coconut	1/4 cup
oil	1 tsp
mustard seeds	1/2 tsp
curry leaves	a spring
asafetida	2 generous pinches
dry red chili	2 roughly broken

Method:

1.Wash the kadala paruppu well and put it in a cooker and add enough water till the paruppu gets immersed.Cook it for 1 whistle.
2.After that cool and drain the water and keep the cooked kadala paruppu ready.

3.In a wok add oil and once it gets hot add mustard seeds and wait for it to crackle.Then add dry red chili,curry leaves,asafetida,cooked kadala paruppu and salt and mix it well.,..

4.Wait till you find no traces of water in the kadalaparuppu and stir it for a couple of minutes in medium flame…Finally add the scraped coconut..Give it a quick stir and switch the stove off…Yummy sundal is ready.


Notes:

Instead of cooking in cooker you can directly cook in wok.The choice is yours.
You can even add grated carrort and mango at the end.

Mosambi/Sathukudi juice-[Easy juice recipe]

My mom is a great fan of sathukudi juice :)She always insist me to have it for breakfast or during the mid day :)I was never a great fan till few days back but all of a sudden I started to drink this juice like something…It is so very good for health and it provides energy to you…

 

Ingredients:

Mosambi	3 medium sized
salt	a pinch
sugar	1 tsp or as per your need
pepper powder	a pinch
water	1/4 cup

 

 

 

Method:

1.Cut mosambi into 2 halves.If you are not using the juicer to extract the juice then remove the seeds and peel the outer green skin…ensure that the white skin is also removed..

2.In a blender put the flesh of the fruit sans seeds,sugar,very small quantity of water,a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper powder and nicely blend it..

3.Using a strainer,strain the juice and enjoy the taste.If you feel it is too concentrated then add water and mix well and serve.

 

 

 

Notes:

You can use chilled water while blending and enjoy the cool mosambi juice.

serve immediately after making it else it will taste bitter.

You can top ice cubes too

Adding pepper powder and salt is purely optional

If you have the mosambi juice extractor,you can very well use it extract the juice and then add all the ingredients in the blender to get the frothy appearance.

Cold coffee-Yummy coffee recipe

I am someone who love cold coffee a lot…I cannot even accept the addition of cream or ice cream in my cold coffee…Being a coffee lover that I am got addicted to this drink…I always thought that you will need magic ingredients to make this one but only later I did realize that all it requires is very easy ingredient that is readily available in the pantry…umm the moment I think of it,I could feel the taste in my tongue :p

Ingredients:

Chilled milk	1 cup(boil the milk,cool it and then refrigerate it)
sugar	as per the need
Instant coffee powder(I used BRU)	1 tsp or more to get the flavour and the color

Method:

In a blender add chilled milk,sugar and instant coffee powder and blend it well…Transfer it in a glass and enjoy.

Notes:

You can add any ice cream of your choice and blend it to get a more creamy texture

You can even drizzle chocolate syrup and relish the taste.

Cucumber salad[Easy salad recipe]

It has been sometime since I posted some recipe.I so badly wanted to write something…Office work keeps me busy during weekdays and works at home keeps me busy on weekend but I ensure that I try new varieties during weekend and relish the taste till the next weekend…We have started to include more veggies,salads and fruits juices in our daily menu..Even when I come late from office I make this salad and enjoy the goodness.


Ingredients:

Cucumber	1 medium sized
salt	a pinch
pepper powder	a pinch or 2
jeera powder	a pinch or 2(I used more as I love the flavour)

Method:

1.Peel the skin of the cucumber and slice it into thin rounds and keep it ready.
2.Just before serving add salt,pepper powder and jeera powder.Give it a quick mix and serve mmediately.

Notes:
You can also add red chilli powder instead of pepper powder.
You can also add a drop or 2 of lemon juice if you wish to have the tangy effects.

How to make rice flour for preparing savouries

With lotsa functions in the past and with lotsa celebrations in the future I have prepared a good number of dishes and all the pics are resting safe in my PC…I wanted to write a post on all the sweets and savories that I made…So I have decided to post all those recipes in my next few posts…Keep watching this space for more..
Rice flour is an essential ingredient for any savoury item and when the flour is perfect the outcome is also perfect…Since Ganesh chathurthi is today my next few posts are going to be related to kozhakkatai’s…The main ingredient for kozhakattai is rice flour…Let us see how to make this.

You will need

Raw rice

2 cups

Take 2 cups of rice and add water to it till the rice gets immersed…Let it soak in water for 15 minutes…

After 15 minutes completely drain the water and allow the rice to drain further using a tiny hole sieve.

Once you do not see any dripping water in the rice take a neat white cloth and spread it in floor…Add the drained rice to the cloth and spread it well…Let the rice dry for another 10 minutes…After that collect the rice in a vessel and grind it to smooth powder(I usually give it in rice mill)…Store it in a air tight container and use it when needed…
If you do not have a rice mill near your place grind it in a food processor and sieve the powder…The coarse particles with stay in the sieve…Add this coarse particles again in the processor  and grind it till smooth and continue the sieving process for the rest of the flour…
Your rice flour is perfectly ready!

Paal poli[Easy sweets recipe]

Paal Poli I could attribute this only with Avani avittam as my mom diligently makes it during this day…This time I had a fluctuation whether I can make pooran poli or paali poli finally confusion ended as my MIL preferred paali poli…This time avani avittam was on a weekday and so I made the pooris the before day all I did during avani avittam was dip the pooris in flavoured milk and eat it and relish the taste..This requires simple ingredients but taste is always yummy :)




Ingredients:

 

Maida	1 cup+1 tsp for dusting
salt	1/2 tsp
oil	1 cup(you can added if needed)
Milk(full cream or partial cream)	1/2 litre
Sugar	1tbsp(you can add more if needed)
Cardamom powder	1/2 tsp
water	as needed

 

Method:

1.Ina  bowl add maida and salt..mix well…add water and form a dough similar to chapathi dought…If you feel the dough is dry then you can add a tsp of oil…Let the dough rest for 10 minutes..

2.After 10 minutes pinch a small ball from the dough…dust it in maida and using the rolling pin roll it to thin circle…Let the circle be medium   in size…Holding one side of the circle close it so that one side touches the other…Seal the ends well with your hand so that the ends does not open when you put it in oil…

3.Heat oil in a wok and when it is hot simmer the stove and drop the folded pooris…Wait it till turns golden brown color…Drain it from oil and put it in a vessel…Repeat the process for the rest of the dough.

4.Now add milk in a vessel and allow it to boil..,.When it reaches to the brim…Switch off the stove…add sugar and cardamom powder to it and mix well.,..

5.When it is still hot,using a tong dip the pooris in the flavoured milk for half a minute and take it out…Ensure both the sides of the pooris are dipped in milk…Repeat the process and arrange it in a plate…Pour the floured milk on top of the pooris if you want the soggy version…Enjoy the softy softy paal poli.

Notes:

1.My mi have a habit of dipping the pooris first in hot water and then in the flavoured milk..This way the pooris get soggy texture even during the first dip in the flavoured milk :)

Masala Tea[Easy tea recipe]

Saturday and Sunday are meant to try new dishes at home.Weekdays my MIL takes care of the cooking activities  and I help her in cleaning activities…sometimes even during weekdays if I  come to home from office early before  by 08.00pm I make dinner…So weekends I take the charge and try something or the other..My FIL makes the morning decoction and I have the habit of wrapping our tea time at 03.00pm…Some days we   run out of coffee decoction and we don’t like to have instant coffees…In such cases tea comes as respite…Normal tea is sometimes boring so I try either ginger tea,cardamom tea or masala tea…I will post the other tea recipes sometime soon…Masala tea is just flavorful with the blend of all the spices…Sipping a hot cup of masala tea on a raining day is what I like the most :)Now off to the recipe…

 

Ingredients:

tea powder/tea leaves	3tsp
sugar	as per the need
cardamom powder	1 tsp
bay leaves	a small leaf
cloves	5
cinnamon	2 small sticks
ginger(peel the skin and smash it well using a pestle and mortar)	1 small piece smashed
water	1 cup
boiled milk	1 cup

 

Method:

1.Boil milk and keep it ready.

2.In a wok add water,tea powder,cardamom powder,cinnamon sticks,bay leaves,cloves and smashed ginger and allow it to boil…

3.When the mixture boils well and comes to brim…simmer the stove and allow it to boil well…This helps to get a thick and flavorful essence…Let it boil for 5 minutes…

4.After 5 minutes switch off the stove and filter the contents to get only the essence.

5.Take a tumbler add sugar.Add the prepared essence to 1/4th of the tumbler and pour milk…Mix well and enjoy the masala tea.Use more essence if you need dark tea.

 

Notes:

1.You can use tea leaves in place of tea powder.Here I do not get good tea leaves and so I use tea powder.

2.Instead of preparing the essence first you can directly add all the spices in the milk and allow it boil well and then you can strain and serve it hot :)