Kothu Parotta

Parotta - 5

Finely chop:

Onion-1

Tomato-1/2

Green chillies-3

Garlic cloves-2

Coriander leaves for garnishing.

Oil- 1/2 tbsp

Chilli powder-1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder- a pinch

Salt-a pinch only for the veggies

Chilli sauce-2 tsp

Procedure:

1.Shred the parottas into bite sized pieces.

2.Heat oil in pan and add all the finely chopped veggies with a pinch of salt.

ry well for 5 mins or until the raw smell goes off. Then add shredded parotta and all dry powders.

3.Pour chilli sauce and garnish with coriander leaves.

Idli Upma

A dish made out of left over idlis.

Mash all the left over idlis,. Temper mustard, urad dal,channa dal, curry leaves, red chillies,asafoetida in a teaspoon of oil and add the crushed idlis. Mix well and serve hot. Sprinkle chopped coriander on top.

Vegetable idli

Another dish which might turn out as kids favorite.

Mixed veggies- carrot,peas,beans,corn kernels, onion
Chopped green chillies,ginger,coriander leaves

Mix all the veggies in idli batter and make soft idlis.Temper mustard,curry leaves,urad dal, asafoetida and red chillies if required.Always serve hot with chutney/sambar/milagaipodi/chutney powder.

Soft idli

Idlis are not so boring as many people consider. If made in the right form with a proper side dish, no more funny faces or frowns on dining table!

Ingredients:

Idli rice - 4 cups
Urad dal - 1 cup
Fenugreek - 1 tsp
Salt for taste

Procedure:

Soak all the ingredients separately. Ground together. Add adequate salt (1 tsp here) and mix well only with hand. Allow it to prove/ferment overnight. Add 1/2 tsp oil in idli plates and pour the batter. Steam for 5 mins,take the idli cooker off the stove, give a standing time of 3 mins before opening.Now using a spoon scoop out all idlis.

Kanchipuram Idli

1.Make idli batter as mentioned in the 'soft idli' post.
2.Temper a fistful of urad dal, a teaspoon of mustard, a sprig of curry leaves, 5 chillies split into 20 pieces.
3.Add this to idli batter and mix well.
4.In idli mould keep a cashew, pour the batter on it and sprinkle somefinely chopped coriander leaves on top.
5.Steam the idlis for 5 mins, give a standing time of 3 mins and take out. When you turn the idli upside down, top portion will have a cashew and bottom will have coriander. Yummy kids favourite idle is ready. Serve hot with chutney/sambar.

Kara Kozhukattai-Urad dal stuffing/Ulundhu pooranam

Ingredients:

Rice flour -1/2 kg or raw rice 1/2 kg
Urad dal -1/4 kg
Asafoetida,Salt for taste
Red chillies -10

For tempering:
Mustard,curry leaves and red chillies

Procedure:
1. Make rice flour mould as mentioned for sweet kozhukattai
2.Soak urad dal overnight and grind it along with asafoetida,salt and chillies.
3.Temper mustard, curry leaves, chillies in a teaspoon of oil and add the ground dough. Sttir it for 5 mins. Ensure it does not get burnt.When the dough starts thickening, switch off stove. Allow the mix to cool down and make small balls (pooranam/stuffing).
4.Make rice flour maouls, stuff it with pooranam and steam it in idli plates for 5 mins.

Sweet Kozhukattai-Coconut stuffing/Thengai pooranam

An interesting yet time consuming sweet dish especially prepared for Lord Ganesh. Also known as kadubu/mothagam.

Makes 20-25 medium sized kozhukattais

Ingredients:
Raw rice - 1/2 kg
Salt- a pinch
Coconut-1 fully grated
Jaggery-1/4 grams
Cardamom powder- 1 tsp
Oil- 2 tbsp


Procedure:
1. Soak rice in water for 2 hrs and drain all the water. Dry it and powder it. You can use readymade rice flour available in stores which may not be as good as homemade one.
2.Boil water and add jaggery.When the whole jaggery dissolves, sieve and take out all sediments. Boil again jaggery syrup until it reaches one-string consistency i.e. if u take a pinch of jaggery syrup with 2 fingers, it should form a thread or string between your 2 fingers.Now add the grated coconut,cardamom powder mix well.Allow it to cool down for 15 mins; start making small balls out of the mix. Dip your hand in a bowl of water after making every ball so that the next ball wont stick between fingers. Ensure that the water does not collapse the balls or make the jaggery mix watery.Keep it aside until the whole jaggery mix gets over.Now 'pooranam'(stuffing) is ready.
3.Sieve the flour and take out all the coarse particles.
3.Boil 1/2 litre of water in a pan, add a pinch of salt and start adding rice flour little by little in the boiling water . Do not allow any lumps.Mix well and make it into chpathi dough consistency. Add more water if required. The dough should be soft.
4. Pour a spoon of oil on your palms and rub both palms together. Take a small lemon size of rice flour dough and start pressing it in one palm with other hand's fingers.Make a small cup out of it.Insert the pooranam and close the rice flour cup. Make more kozhukattais and bake it in steam using idli plates.

*Rice flour dough should be soft and moulable without any lumps. If required add spoons of water and oil.

Naan

Makes 4 big naans.

Ingredients:
Maida/All purpose flour - 2 cups
Yeast - 1/2 tsp
Salt,sugar
Ghee
Coriander leaves- very finely chopped
Thick curd - 2 tbsp
Milk - 1/4cup
Oil - 1 tbsp
Butter- 1tbsp

Procedure:

1. In a bowl add maida, curd and milk. In 1/4 cup of luke warm water add yeast, salt and sugar and mix well with a spoon. Wait for 5 mins so that the yeast gets activated. Now pour it on the flour and mixt well to make dough. Add a teaspoon of oil on the flour so that it will not be sticky.
2.Allow the dough to get fermented by yeast which will take 4-5 hrs.
3. The dough will get fluffy and doubles in quantity which is a sign that it is ready.
4.Now make triangle shaped naans and toast it in a tawa. Coat the naan with butter while toasting and sprinkle coriander leaves on top.

Pasta

A Favorite Italian dish of many people across the globe! Pastas are available in different shapes and sizes. The one pictured here is called 'Penne'.The below mentioned cooking procedure is applicable for all types of pasta.

Ingredients:

Pasta- 3 cups

Tomato sauce-1/4 cup

Chilli flakes

Dried Basil for seasoning

Garlic cloves - 4

Onion-1/2

Carrot-1/2

Peas-1/2 cup

Cheese slices-2

Olive oil

Method:

1.Cook pasta in boiling water for 5 mins; drain the water and keep aside.

2. fry onions,garlic cloves in olive oil.

3.Add carrot,peas and allow to cook well. Sprinkle water if required but ensure not to add more water.

4.Add the cooked pasta, salt,tomato sauce and mix well.Close the pan lid and cook for 2 mins.

5.Now add the cheese slices, allow them to melt and mix well.

6.Season with basil.

Tips:

Olive oil,chilli flakes,basil can be replaced with any cooking oi, green chilies and coriander leaves; but pasta might look like upma :) Cheese slices can be avoided by fat conscious people. But making these changes will make pasta lose its authenticity; so try to stick to the given ingredients as much as possible!

Pav Bhaji

Ingredients:

Pav/Bun - 4 slices

To cook well & mash:

Potato -1

Carrot-1

Beans-100gms

Green peas-100gms

(You can add other veggies like capsicum, cauliflower,etc)

Butter - 4 tbsp

Onion-1

Tomato-1

Giner,garlic paste-1 tsp

Cumin powder-1/2 tsp

Pav bhaji masala- 1tsp

Green chillies-2

Chilli powder-1/2 tsp

Salt for taste

Lemon-1/2

Coriander leaves

Red food colour (optional)

Procedure:

1. Cook and mash the vegetables.

2. Put 1 tbsp butter in a frying pan and add onions; cook until it turns translucent. Now add the tomatoes, green chillies and fry well.

3.Now add the mashed vegetables,all powders,salt,food color and mix well.

4. Add one more tbsp of butter and mix well until the butter starts floating above. Add water if the mixture turns out very thick.

5.Squeeze the lemon and add coriander leaves and switch off the stove.

6. Make Pav by lightly roasting bun with butter; take it out before it turns crispy.

Aapam

Ingredients:

Raw rice - 1 cup

Fenugreek - 1/4 tsp

Urad dal- 1/4 cup

Shredded coconut - 1/2 cup or coconut milk 1/2 cup

Cooked rice-1/2 cup

Salt, a little sugar for taste

Procedure:

1. Soak rice, dal and fenugreek for 3 hrs and grind well with coconut.Add salt and sugar and mix well with hand.

2. Allow the batter to ferment overnight and make aapams using aapam pan.

Ven Pongal

The most easiest and wonderful recipe!

Ingredients:

Raw rice 1 cup

Moong dal 1/2 cup

Pepper corns, curry leaves, cumin seeds for seasoning

Salt, asafoetida for taste

Cashews for garnishing

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Procedure:

1.Cook rice and dal in 4 cups of water. Switch off the stove after the pressure cooker whistles twice.

2. Add ghee in a pan; once the ghee gets heated, add cumin seeds, pepper corns and curry leaves and allow them to pop.

3. Now add the cooked rice and dal , mix well. Garnish with roasted cashews.

Ven pongal can be served with chutney/sambar. But a better combo would be pongal & brinjal kothsu.