Pepper Rasam

Ingredients:

One big lump of tamarind
Pepper corns - 1 teaspoon
Corriander seeds (dhania) - 1 teaspoon
Urad daal - 1 tea spoon
Red chillies - 3 or 4
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Curry Leaves - 7 or 8
Jaggery (optional)
Ghee - 1 teaspoon
Oil - 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds
Salt

Directions:

1) In the oil lightly roast the pepper corns, red chillies, dhania seeds and urad dal until golden brown. Grind and make a paste.
2) Grind the cumin seeds and currey leaves without roasting
3) Soak tamarind in water to make pulp and mix the above two with the pulp and a couple of cups of water
4) Bring it to a boil till the smell of raw tamarind goes away.
5) Add salt to taste and a little bit of jaggery (optional)
6) Temper mustard seeds, 1 red chilly and a couple of curry leaves in ghee and top off the boiling rasam. Serve hot as soup of with some rice.


Note: This rasam is extremely good for colds, sore throats and sinus congestions.

French Onion Soup & Spicy Asparagus

French Onion Soup

I was inspired to try this recipe after having an amazing bowl of french onion soup at a French/Italian restaurant called "The Vans on the Hill". Its a cozy little place on top of a small hill with a great view. So I did a little research online (specifically the recipe on this blog- http://foodieshope.blogspot.com/ - helped me a lot) and mixed and matched a couple of recipes to come up with this -

Ingredients:

1) One medium sized white onion (thinly sliced into 1 inch pieces)
2) A bunch of green(spring) onions (finely chopped)
3) An inch wide cube of butter (You could use margarine if you like)
4) A tea spoon of all purpose flour
5) Salt & pepper to season
6) Vegetable broth
7) Fresh thyme
8) Crushed garlic
9) A mini french baguette of any bread of your choice
10) Grated mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1) In a pan, melt the butter and saute the white onions until golden brown. For extra flavor saute until the edges are a little burnt.
2) Set some chopped green onions aside for garnishing. Add the rest of the green onions, crushed garlic and thyme and saute for 2 minutes.
3) Add the all purpose flour and let it brown for a minute.
4) Pour in the vegetable broth and season with salt and pepper.
5) While the soup comes to a simmer, cut the french baguette into slices big enough to cover the bowl that you will be serving the soup in. Place these under the browler until the edges are golden brown. Top them with the grated cheese and shove them under the broiler again until the cheese melts.
6) Dish out the bubbling soup into a bowl and top it with the slice of bread so that it is half soaked. Sprinkle the green onions set aside and enjoy!!!!

Note: If you want to spice this up a bit you could add some red chilli flakes or flavour it with a couple of drops of soy sauce.

Spicy Asparagus

This recipe was inspired by a couple of shows on food network and I have seen Rachael and Giada make amazing variations of Asparagus. This is my own version:)

Ingredients:

1) 10-15 stalks of asparagus
2) 5-10 cloves of garlic
3) Olive oil
4) Sale and pepper
5) Red chili flakes

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Break the bottoms off the asparagus stalks. A great trick suggestion by a cook on the food network is to bend the asparagus until the unwanted part splits away from the tender part.
2) Spread out the asparagus on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil (to make clean up easier)
3) Spray or brush olive oil to coat the asparagus and sprinkle salt, pepper, red chili flakes and finely chopped garlic on top of the asparagus.
4) Bake the asparagus for 10 minutes and flip over the asparagus stalks and bake again for 10 minutes. Serve hot and enjoy!

Note: You may season with some lemon juice before serving to get a citrus tang to the asparagus:)

I promise to make a comeback!

I am extremely excited to be back to the blog world. I look forward to trying out some exciting recipes and posting them here.....Coming soon........................:)

Vada (Aama Vadai) and Coconut Rice (Narali Bhat)

Aama Vadai

Ingredients:

1) Chana Dal - 1 cup
2) Toor Dal - 1/2 cup
3) Urad Dal - 1/2 cup
4) Ginger - 1 inch long
5) Green chillies - 5-6 (or more if you like it spicy)
6) Curry leaves - 10
7) Salt
8) Oil to deep fry


Directions:

1) Soak the toor dal and urad dal together and the chana dal separately for a few hours (overnight).
2) Grind the toor dal and urad dal together to a fine paste in the mixer along with the ginger and green chillies. The mixture should be thick with less water. Now grind part of the chana dal with this mixture and mix in the rest of chana dal as it is.
3) Chop the curry leaves finely and mix it in. Add salt to taste.
4) Heat oil and deep fry vada shaped balls of the mixture. (The shape should be flatter than what you see in the pictures, kind of like medu vada)
Enjoy this hot with ketchup or chatni!



Coconut Rice

Ingredients:

1) Basmati Rice - 1 cup
2) Jaggery - 3/4th cup
3) Elaichi pods - 3 or 4
4) Cloves - 3 or 4
5) Peppercorns - 5 or 6
6) Ghee - 1 or 2 spoons
7) Cashews - 10 to 15
8) Raisins - 10 to 15
9) Freshly grated coconut - 1 cup


Directions:

1) Heat the ghee and saute the cashews in it till light brown and keep aside.
2) Start cooking the rice separately until it is almost done but not too well done.
3) In the same ghee saute the elaichi, cloves and peppercorns. When you feel the flavour rising from them add the coconut and jaggery and saute till all the jaggery melts.
4) Add this mixture to the almost done rice, along with cashews and raisins and mix it up well so that the jaggery gels in with all the rice.
5) Steam it for 15 minutes and serve with something spicy to contrast the sweetness.


Note: I have never had the combination of vada and coconut rice together before. This was the first and they make a good combo especially if you don't have a sweet tooth. The sweet coconut rice can also be eaten with a pickle.

Tamil New Year

These are the dishes that I made for the tamill new year

1) Payasam
2) Pongal
3) Mango pachchadi
4) Neem pachchadi

Ram Namavi

What you see above is the stuff that i made for Ram Navami
1) Neer Moar
2) Panagam
3) Sundal

Bruschetta

Ingredients:

1) Fresh Tomatoes (1-2)
2) French bread / Baguette
3) Olive oil
4) Balsamic vinegar
5) Olives
6) Chopped Garlic
7) Parmesan cheese
8) Red chilly flakes
9) Chopped mushrooms
10) Sun dried tomatoes or sundried tomamto paste


Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 300F.
2) Cut the bread into 1/2 inch thick slices.
3) If you have sun dried tomato paste, spread a littls on each slice. Top the slices with the chopped tomatoes, garlic, olives, sun dried tomatoes and mushrooms.
4) Place them in the oven on a cookie sheet and let them bake for 10 minutes.
5) Top the slices with a 1/4 spoon of olive oil each and bake them for 5 more minutes. When the edges start browning, take the slices out of the oven.
6) Before serving, top the slices with a lil balsamic vinegar, parmesan cheese, chilly flakes and if you like the flavour, oregano.

Note: This is an ideal starter to have with red wine and if your main course is pasta. Really easy to make and tastes great. If you do not want the toppings to be hot, bake the slices and then add the toppings.

Gudi Padwa

Here are pics of the stuff that I made for Gudi Padwa. (Chatni with neem flowers, gulab jamun, amti, potato curry, koshimbir of tomato and onion, varan-bhat, mango rice). I am not putting up any recipes here for these, but if interested email me for the recipes.

Puran

I made this yesterday for Holi. Traditionally puran poli is made but I didnt find the time for it. Maybe next time!

Ingredients:

1) 1 cup chana daal
2) 1 1/2 cup water
3) Elaichi powder (2-3 elaichies)
4) 1 cup sugar
5) 1/2 spoon ghee

Directions:

1) Pressure cook chana daal just a little and drain excess water
2) Added sugar to chana daal and cook on low heat till the mixture starts thickening
3) Add elaichi powder and stir it in and cook some more
4) Once in the serving plate, garnish with ghee and serve hot

Credits: Again, mom's recipe and her suggestion to make it for Holi. So thanx to her for that and all the other times she has made puran and puran poli and "kata chi amti" from the excess water that comes out of cooking the chana daal. :)

Karadaiyan Nombu Adai

This is a dish made on the ocassion of "Karadai Nombu" which is an important festival for the tamilians. Its the day a woman prays for the well being and long life of her husband in remembrance of the Satyavan-Savithri katha. Both sweet and salt adai are made on the ocassion and the recipes for these are below.

Sweet Nombu Adai

Ingredients:

1) 1 cup rice flour
2) 1 1/2 cup water
3) Elaichi powder (2-3 elaichis)
4) 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh coconut
5) 1 cup jaggery
6) 2-3 spoons boiled black eyed beans (Also known as chavali, lobiya or karamani)


Directions:

1) Roast rice flour for 5-10 min. Do not let it change color.
2) Bring the water to a boil in a pan and add the jaggery
3) Once the jaggery melts filter the water to remove sediments and place it on heat again.
4) Add elaichi powder and let the liquid come to a boil
5) Add the boiled beans and coconut
6) Turn the heat down and slowly add the roasted rice flour and mix it into the liquid as smoothly as possible without letting it form any lumps and take it off the heat once you have gathered the whole mixture together. The mixture should be of the consistency of chappati dough probably a little harder.
7) Once the dough cools down, make them into the shape of medu vadas. Grease idli plates with ghee or oil and steam for 5-10mins.
8) Serve hot with unsalted butter.



Salty Nombu Adai

Ingredients:

1) 1 cup rice flour
2) 1 1/2 cup water
3) Green chillies finely chopped (1-2)
4) 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh coconut
5) Curry leaves finely chopped (4-5)
6) 2-3 spoons boiled black eyed beans (Also known as chavali, lobiya or karamani)
7) Asafoetida (hing)
8) Salt
9) 1 tbs oil
10) Mustard seeds (1 tsp)


Directions:

1) Roast rice flour for 5-10 min. Do not let it change color.
2) In a pan heat the oil and add mustard seeds. When they have burst open, add chillies and curry leaves and fry them for 1 min. Then add the water and let it boil.
3) Add the hing and salt to the boiling water
4) Add the boiled beans and coconut
6) Turn the heat down and slowly add the roasted rice flour and mix it into the liquid as smoothly as possible without letting it form any lumps and take it off the heat once you have gathered the whole mixture together. The mixture should be of the consistency of chappati dough probably a little harder.
7) Once the dough cools down, make them into the shape of medu vadas. Grease idli plates with ghee or oil and steam for 5-10mins.
8) Serve hot with unsalted butter.


Credits: These recipes are suggested by my sister-in-law Bhargavi and my mother-in-law and their kind guidance encouraged me to try them out yesterday. Turns out that they came out quite well. So a big thank you to both for them for the recipes and for the encouragement.