Dhal

This is one of jatpat recipe that can be prepared as side dish to chappathi's or pongal or can even be had with rice.

Ingredients
Moong dhal 1 cup(cooked)
peas 1/4cup
onion 1(chopped)
tomato 1
oil 2 tsp
mustard seeds 1/4tsp
green chilli 1
turmeric powder1/4 tsp
chilli powder 1-2 tsp
sat totaste
coriander leaves few to garnish

Pressure cook dhal & set aside.Or u can cook mong dhal in microwave oven with out lid for 20mins.In a kadai add oil &then mustard seeds.When it pops add split chilli , onion & tomato & saute.Now add the cooked dhal.To this add chilli powder, turmeric powder & salt.Allow it to boil.Sprinkle coriander leaves & mix.Serve hot with chappathi,rice or pongal.

for variation u Can even add ginger garlic paste to this dhal.U can even avoid chilli powder.Instead add more green chillies & after taking of the stove add some lime juice to it.Reduce tomatoes if u r gonna add lime juice to dhal.

Ravai kesari

Kesari is a stop gap sweet we can prepare when we have guests at home.It can be made in no time.Since both my husband & myself love sweets i prepare something or the other quite often.

Here is the recipe
Ingredients
Ravai 1cup
Sugar 1-2cups(depends upon the ur taste)
ghee 2-3 tsp
cashew nuts 10-12
raisins 10
range color powder a pinch

In a kadai add ghee.Fry cashew nuts & raisins set aside.In the same kadai add little more ghee & fry the ravai.Now add water & mix to avoid lump being formed.Allow the ravai to cook.Mean while add orange color powder in a tsp of water & mix & set aside.When ravai is done add sugar & the color.Mix them all until sugar dissolves.Garnish with the fried cashew nuts & raisins.

Iam sending this post to the food in colors orange hosted by aparna

Paruppu usuli

This is one of my mother's speciality dish.When i was a child i loved my mom's cabbage paruppu usili with garlic rasam.Nothing can match the taste.I generally eat rasam rice only with chips or vadam.But when my mom prepares paruppu usuli i have it with rasam.This is one of my favorite.My mom also prepares paruppu usili sevai.

My husband eats paruppu usili rice itself.He has sambar as side dish.He loves usili & more kozhambu combo a lot.

I made usili this weekend when we invited couple of our friends for lunch.Everybody loved this.I made it with beans.

Here it goes,paruppu usili recipe

All u need are

Channa dhal 1 cup
red chillies 4-5(depending upon the spice level)
salt to taste
beans 1 cup
oil 4-5 tsp
mustard seeds 1/4tsp

soak channa dhal for at least 1 hr.More u soak softer it will be.My mom soaks it overnite.Grind channa dhal,red chilli adding required salt to a smooth paste.Now steam the channa paste in idly mold for 15mins.When done allow it to cool a bit.Then break up the channa mold now with hands.Crumble nicely to make the mold into powder form.

In a kadai add little oil splutter mustard seeds & add the chopped beans.Add salt & sprinkle little water.Saute & cover to cook.When the beans are cooked added the crumbled dhal to it & mix well.Saute for few mins.

Usili is ready.Isn't it easy to make???
Relax & make it.U can also cook the beans separately in microwave oven to save time when dhal is being steamed.


We can almost any vegetable we prepare adding coconut.

Snake Gourd salad

I am Member of Isha yoga Centre in Coimbatore.The yoga i learnt there changed my life a lot.They teach not only yoga but help us c our life in a new perspective.Will give all details in a separate column about Isha yoga.Coming to this salad the day when v had our dikshai we were served food.Speciality of the food is that it was uncooked.No match sticks used no gas.But the food they served were so gud.Above all a very healthy food.Though its not possible to eat them all the time i try to incorporate that food along with our regular food.

One such food is this snake gourd salad.Unless u tell people they will not be able to tell u its snack gourd.It will taste like cucumber salad.I made few changes like seasoning it.

Here is the salad for u all.
Ingredients
Snake gourd 2(if its the small one)
capsicum (1/4 of a capsicum)
tomato 1
salt & pepper to taste
Oil 1 tsp
mustard & uradh dhal 1 tsp
coriander leaves to season

Finely chop snake gourd,capsicum & tomato.Mix them all.In a kadai add oil & splutter mustard seeds & add uradh dhal.Add this to the vegetable mixture.Add salt & pepper & adjust according to taste.Garnish with coriander leaves.

We donot add carrot to this as all the ingredients in this salad are soft.If u want to add carrots & more color to this salad grate carrot & add to this salad.U can also add cucumber to this but will not make much of a difference in the taste.

Try it u will definitely love it.

Kosambari/kosmali

Kosambari is like a salad,usually made with carrots or cucumbers.I like to call this as ‘Indian Salad’.This is a special item prepared in marriages & on Srirama navami day in our house.

Here is how I made..

Ingredients

Split moong dal 1/4 (cup soaked in water for 1/2 hour)
Carrot 1 peeled and grated
Grated coconut 2 tsp
Cliantro few chopped
Lemon/lime juice 1tsp.
Salt to taste.

For seasoning
Oil, mustard, urad dal and red or green chillies 1.

Soak split yellow/moongdal for about half hour. Then drain the water and mix veggies.Mix together soaked dal, grated carrot , coconut, cilantro leaves, lime juice.Add salt to taste.Heat oil, when its hot add mustard seeds,urad dal and chilis to it. When urad dal starts to change colour turn off heat and this seasoning to veggies. Mix well.

Ghee rice

A restaurant in US gives ghee rice along with the side dishes like ennai kathrikai.It tastes so gud i always end up eating this ghee rice all the time & almost never order anything else.So i decided to prepare ghee rice this weekend at home as even my hubby loved it.

This ghee rice reminds the dhal rice my mom gives me when i was young with lots of ghee in it although this doesn't have dhal in it.

This is how i made it.

Wash the required quantity of rice & set aside.In a kadai add ghee.To this add jeera,the bay leaves & Cinnamon sticks.Then add rice & peas to this mix well.Add warm water.I added 2 &1/2 cups of water for one cup of rice.When the water boils transfer to microwave safe bowl & cook for 10 mins with out lid & 10 mins with lid.Adjust timing for 3-4 mins according to the rice variety.

Serve hot with any sabji of ur choice.I made thakali kozhambu & served with kosambari

Idly uppma

I was left with a lot of Idli batter. I know it keeps for a long time and I can make idlis whenever but I already had some left over from before too so that makes a lot of batter in the fridge! Moreover I've had idlis so many times now I just want to stop for a while!!I had to finish the batter so I went ahead and made the idlis but it didn’t stop there. I made Idli upma from it, unless you tell someone what the upma is they wouldn’t guess its from Idlis…hehe

Here is how i made it
Ingredients
10-12 idlies(powdered)
vegetables(cut) 1cup-i use carrots,beans,peas,corn kernels,capsicum
tomato 1
onion 1
green chilli 1
jeera 1/2tsp
mustard 1/2tsp
turmeric powder 1/4tsp
salt to taste
pinch of hing
oil for tampering
coriander & curry leaves
Idly milagai podi or red chilli powder 2-3 tsp
Break up the idlis with your hands or with the help of fork. Heat oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds, urad dal and chana dal. Saute for a minute. Add the curry leaves and green chillies. Add the chopped onions anf fry till soft. Add the turmeric powder and saute for a minute.Add the veggies & idly milagai podi or red chilli powder. Add the idli powder and mix well. Add salt to taste . Garnish with chopped coriander and serve.

I always prefer to add idly podi to prepare idly uppma