Sundakaai, was not at all my favourite. one day my Keerakara amma made me buy a pack of sundakka. When i tried it in dal, i liked it, it is not as bitter as it is in vathal/dry salted form. Then i tried this karakuzhambhu, we liked it and now iam buying a pack of sundakka, once a month. It improves digestion. Now-a-day's, i take much care to add digestive aid's to the food we cook. The following are some of the digestive friendly, that can be added to our cooking, Ginger-Garlic, corriander seed's, Cumin Seed's, Saunf, corriander leaves, Mint leaves and curry leave's.

Coming to Sundakka, It is called as Turkey Berry in English. Its vastly used in Tamil cuisine and Thaai Cuisine. Check more about it in Wiki.

Sundakkai

Again Iam repeating..Green Sundakka don't taste bitter. it just gives a subtle taste.

I prepared the kara kuzhambhu, as i prepare Vatha Kuzhambhu, but with less oil.



Ingredients:

Sundakkai - 20 (remove its stem & cut into half or just crush each, with spice grinder stone mortor.)
Garlic - 7 pod's
Shallots/small onions - 1/2 cup(min 10 in no.)
Tomato-1
Dhania powder/Corriander Powder - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
Sambhar Powder - 1 tbsp
Tamarind- a small lime sized ball
Oil-1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal or Bengal gram dal- 1/2 tsp
Methi seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves-10

Method:

* Remove the stem and Wash the sundakka's and Crush each sundakka or cut them into half and keep aside.

* Soak the Tamarind in half a cup of luke warm water for 5 minute's. Squeeze the tamarind and get ready with your tamarind water. Add a pinch of turmeric powder, 1 tbsp Corriander powder, 1 tbsp Sambhar Powder and little salt to the tamarind water and mix well. keep it aside.

* Get ready with your shallot's and Garlic.

* Now Heat a Thick Bottomed Vessel or kadaai, add oil, when it's heated, add mustard and let it pop. now add methi seed's, curry leave's, garlic and shallot's/small onion's. saute them well. add the finely chopped tomato and saute it along.

* Add the sundakkai and saute it for half a minute. Now add the Tamarind water and mix well. Lower the flame and close the kadaai with a lid, and let it sit on low flame for about 10 minutes, till the sundakka gets cooked.

Serve it hot Rice.



You can prepare this dish, for a person, who have recovered from fever. its really good to improve the taste bud's. and also improves digestion.

Sundakka Kara Kuzhambhu

Sundakka Vathal / Dry Turkey Berry:

Sundakka Vathal



If you want a home-made medicine to improve your digestion, then here it is.

1. Heat two tbsp of oil in a pan.

2. Put some 10-15 sundakka vathal and fry them for a minute.

3. Crush the fried sundakka and put it in a bowl of rice and have a tsp of ghee and mix well with the rice. consume it to improve your digestion. Repeat this for a Week on every meal.



Check my sundakka dal here. its the basic dal recipe. remove the stem of sundakka and crush the sundakka and cook it in a cup pf water for about 5 minute's and then add to the dal. Moong dal is preferred. it tasted so good too..

Have a Great Week end!!


I was happily napping one fine afternoon (which is rare these days with a 5.5months old hyperactive baby :)), my tummy started kicking me. Opened the fridge no veggies except for 1 not so fresh beetroot and half a packet of bread. I remembered the left over puthina chutney which I had for idly that morning, so made this quick sandwich.


So what are u waiting for.....no veggies in stock try this sandwich with the ingredients that are sure to be in your pantry!


Onion Mint Sandwich Recipe

Prep Time10 mins 
Cooking Time: 05 mins  
Serves1
Recipe CuisineIndian
Recipe TypeBreakfast

Ingredients:


Ingredients:

Bread slices - 4 ( I usually use wheat bread)
Urad dhal - 2 tsp
Mint (Pudhina) leaves - 3 tbsp
Finely chopped onion - 1
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder
Chilli powder - a pinch
Sambhar powder - 2 tsp (optional)
Ghee - to toast




Method:

1. In 1 tsp of oil, add urad dhal, let it temper then add mint leaves and saute well till the leaves are crushed, add few drops of water and grind it to a fine paste. keep it aside.

[Though this is not the original recipe for pudhina chutney, this goes well with sandwiches]

2. Drizzle oil, add onion, turmeric powder, chilli powder, sambhar powder and saute till the onions turn light brown.

3. Take  2 bread slices and apply the mint paste on both the slices on one side.

4. Place the onion filling in between the 2 slices and press it.

5. Toast it with ghee in a toaster or in dosa pan.

You can substitute the mint leaves with corriander leaves.....It tastes gud too! 'Just not any other dish'.




Bean's Poriyal and Beans Usili are the Poriyal's that i cook alternatively every week. Usili is my favourite, and i love cooking this in microwave for a less oil version of usili. If you feel, that cooking dal's in microwave makes it harder, then you have to sprinkle some water over it, to get them cooked soft.

Bean's Paruppu Usili

A Protein and Fibre Packed South Indian Poriyal.

Bean's Usili - Microwave Version

[Serves - 2]

Soaking Time: 2 hrs.

Cooking Time: 10-15 minutes.

Ingredients:

Bean's - 250 gms
Toor/Tuvar Dal - 1 cup
Chana Dal - 1 cup
Dried Red chillies- 3
Turmeric powder - 1/ 4 tsp
Fennel / Saunf / Sombu - 1/2 tsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Urad Dal - 1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves- 10
Oil- 1 tsp

Method:

Soak the Toor,Chana dals and chillies for 2 hours. Drain and Grind them with Saunf/fennel, little salt and with 1 tbsp water into a coarse paste. Crumble them into small pieces.

Spread them on a Microwave safe Bowl and Microwave it on High for three minute's.

Chop your bean's into half-inch size. and microwave them on high for about 5 minute's.

In a pan, Heat oil, add mustard and some saunf. add urad dal, and fry till they turn golden color. add Curry leaves, The microwaved and crumbled dal. coat them with oil and fry them for a minute.

Now add the cooked bean's and mix well with the dal. fry them for a minute in a slow flame.

Beans Usili - Microwave Version

Serve hot with Rasam or kuzhambhu.

Why Do we Add Saunf / Sombu ?

Fennel seeds can relax the intestines and reduce digestive disorders. In this way, Hard to digest Dal's easily digest's with the use of saunf.

Japanese Food is Flavourfull and its texture is unique and it tastes different too. Rice texture in the form of sushi roll is an example. Cold Udon Noodles is a famous dish, which is served with veggies or tofu. Tofu is added on soup's as it plays a vital role in Japanese Cuisine. Vegetable Tempura, Deep Fried Tofu's are Perfect Vegan Treat.

It was a Great Chance for me to learn about Japanese Cuisine, and trying out few recipe's from it. I also had great wrap-up with the blogger's who had send me entry. Thanks DK for the Wonderfull Chance given to me. Hope i have done some justice to it.

Here I Present A.W.E.D - Japan Roundup.

japan

Mugicha (Roasted barley tea) from Cham.

Mugicha (roasted barley tea) is a tisane, made with roasted barley. Very popular drink in Japan. Try this Healthy Drink!



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Japanese green tea sorbet from PJ. A Perfect Cool Japanese Sorbet for this Summer.



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Pink Diamonds (Jelly made with Agar-Agar) from DK. Simple, Delicious Pink Diamonds from DK. Thanks for the opportunity given to host A.W.E.D. it was real fun to explore Japanese Cuisine.



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Kasutera, Japanese Honey Sponge Cake from Asha.
Spongy, Japanese Cake with aroma of honey and dusting of confectioner's sugar on top looks absolutely Delicious. Check out for Sure.



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Daifuku from Lavi



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Hakusai Cabbage N Tofu Cream soup from Priya. Simple soup with chinese cabbage, milk, vegetable stock water and tofu.



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Deep Fried Tofu from Lavi



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Gyoza from Madhumathi. Japanese Dumplings with Cabbage as stuffing served with sauce.



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Potato Korokke from Siri. Japanese croquette called 'Korokke'. Its usually made with vegetables.Siri has tried it out with mashed potatoes and it looks so Perfect!



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Okonomiyaki (Japanese savory pancake) from Cham. Cabbage and batter are mixed together to make Okonomiyaki, a Japanese savory pancake or pizza. Cham says its ideal for a nivice pancake maker to try.



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Rainbow Sushi from Simran. Simran has tried wrapping different colors of veggie's in Sushi Roll. Peeping vegetable's, tempts us to pick up one roll!



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Kappa Maki (Cucumber Rolls) from Priya. A simple cucumber rolls with sushi rice. Priya Says, Making Sushi Roll is quite easy.



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Cucumber Tsukemono from Christine.Tsukemono are Japanese pickles. Worth of Trying! Christine also shares Japanese Spinach Roll in the same post, with sesame dressing that look's great too!



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Japanese daikon carrot salad from PJ. 'Daikon' comes from two Japanese words: dai -meaning large and kon-meaning root. PJ has used Carrot and Radish to prepare this Yummy Salad.



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Cold Udon Noodles with Peanut Sauce from Pavani. Noodles packed with peanutty flavor and packed with veggies. Look's Great!



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Stewed hijiki seaweed with carrots from Ksenia. Hijiki is stewed or cooked with other ingredients. This staple is packed with a lot of minerals. a Healthy shot from Ksenia.



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Okonomiyaki aka "Japanese Pizza" from Soma.Okonomiyaki means “whatever you like, grilled” in Japanese. Soma follows it for an Yummy Pizza for us.



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Soba Noodle Salad with Vegetables and Wasabi Sauce from Sweatha.Soba Noodle's with mushroom, zucchini, carrot's and wasabi sauce. Looks Splendid!



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Udon Noodle Stir fry from DK. Look out Dk's step by step picture's of this Yummy Healthy Udon Noodle with Green's.



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Udon Primavera from Meera. Meera has added some Great Veggie's of her choice to make this Udon a healthy Treat.



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Yakisoba Noodles from Priya.A.W.E.D - Japan event made Priya Venture Japanese Cusine. Check out this Yakisoba Noodle's with Tofu and Veggie's.



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Chilled Sesame Udon Salad from Priya. This Chilled Udon Noodle's with Sesame from Priya has to be tried.



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Vegetarian Tempura from Graziana.Vegetable Tempura with Sweet Potato, Pumpkins and Mushroom. Tempura is a classic Japanese dish of deep fried battered vegetables served on rice.



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Yakisoba noodles from Malini. Another Yakisoba Noodles with capsicum's.



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Spicy Chilli Capsicum Tofu from Malini. A spicy tofu dish. This should be great with Noodles.



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Thank You all Participants, You all made this event Look Great and its going to be usefull for the foodie's to try on your recipe's. Hope i have not left any of your entries, if i have left, it might be because of my mistake and please let me know about it by mailing to glassofhoney(AT)gmail(dot)com.

Also Have a Look on next A.W.E.D - Srilanka MAY Edition on Siri's blog.

Finding out some cooking secret's from my mom is very difficult. but i will try my most to pull out the secret. Corriander leaves was one secret, she used for her delicious Paneer Masala. after trying Paneer masala, i loved adding corriander leaves, to all my gravy's. it alway's gives a nice taste to the gravy. its a healthy green too. here iam going to share two different forms of Corriander Chutney. One is Corriander Stem Chutney, that can be served for idli, dosa and vada's. and the other one is Green Chutney with Corriander leaves and Mint/Puthina Leaves, that can be used as a spread for sandwitch.

Corriander Stem Chutney




Corriander Stem Chutney / Kothamalli Kaambu Chutney:

Ingredients:

1. Corriander Leave's - 2 tbsp
2. Corriander stem's - 15 (refer the above picture)
3. Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup
4. Green Chilli - 2
5. Roasted Gram / Pottukadalai - 1 tbsp
6. Oil for seasoning - 1/4 tsp
7. Mustard - 1/2 tsp
8. Split Urad Dal - 1/2 tsp

Method:

Wash the Corriander leaves and stem's.

Grind the corriander leaves and stem's along with Grated coconut, green chilli, roasted gram, salt and few tbsp's of water. add water, as in what consistency, you need it.

Heat 1/4 tsp of oil in a pan, add Mustard, when it crack's add urad dal. when the urad turn's golden colour, switch off the flame and pour the mustard, urad dal over the chutney.




Kothamalli Kaambu Chutney

It taste's extraordinary. Try it out, to find the difference. Taste's perfect with Idli, Dosa and Vada's.

Green Chutney for Sandwitch:

Green Chutney for Sandwitch






Ingredients:

Half bunch of corriander leaves,
a small cup of mint leaves ( sauted for a minute in pan),
2 green chilli's,
1/4 cup grated coconut and
ginger of half-inch size.

Method:

All grinded into chutney, with few spoon's of water and salt.



It tasted great with Sandwitch and idli's. dont avoid the coconut, it surely reduces the soarness of corriander leaves. Today, we had egg's over this green chutney spreaded over sandwitch bread. it tasted so Good.

How about Idli Sandwitch??

Idli Sandwitch

Spread some green chutney on flat side of one idli and some tomato sauce on other idli's flat side.
insert, veggie's of your choice, Greated cheese, inbetween two idli's and serve it with chutney and sauce.

Hope you like both the chutney's.
Both the chutney's are for Dear Cilantro's JFI- Cilantro.

First Let me Tell You, that you can send your entries for A.W.E.D - Japan till May 10th.

When I first Came across this Wonderfull Sweet in Veganyumyum. I loved the stuffing and the recipe, was resembling our Modak / Kozhukattai recipe. I wanted to give it a try, and when i have a reason for it, why should i delay, and when i tried it, i found it to be so easy. adding Adzuki bean's/Thatta Payir as stuffing, made this an healthy sweet too. I could not produce, the actual endresult, as the Modak preparation took over me. But iam sure, when the recipe give here is followed, you will relish it definetly.

Adzuki Bean's / Thatta Payir / Red Chori Bean

Adzuki Bean's Before and After Soaking.

and this was the first time, i tried these adzuki bean's called as Thatta Payir in Tamil and generally called as Red Chori bean in India. The stuffing part with this adzuki bean tasted so Good. This was the one, which highlighted the taste.

So Click Here for Recipe..

Daifuku with Adzuki Bean's Stuffing

This delicious sweet is for A.W.E.D-Japan.

japan A.W.E.D LOGO

You can send your entries to A.W.E.D - Japan, till May 10th, as i will do the roundup only by the weekend.

and I have a small wish. Japanese Love Cake is a Famous Dessert in Japan.
Here is the Recipe. the below are the ingredient's.

Japanese Love Cake Ingredient's

if any one could bake this cake, i will surely cherish and celebrate your attempt! Looking forward for your entrie's and reply's..

We are great fans of Saravana Bhavan Sambhar. But ever since i tried Suganya's Sambhar, we both liked it a lot, and iam sure, now Saravana Bhavan Sambhar had taken a backseat. I even enjoy preparing this sambhar, as it just takes very less time. Peeling the shallot's/ Madras Onion's is one small job here. This is best with Idli, Dosa's and Vada's. you can check Suganya's recipe. I have modified the quantity of ingredient's and the preparation method according to my way. i assure you, this is a Fool Proof one.

Araichivitta Sambhar for Idli, Dosa and Vadai




Arachuvitta Sambhar Recipe

Prep Time15 mins 
Cooking Time: 25 mins  
Serves2
Recipe CuisineIndian
Recipe TypeBreakfast

Ingredients:



Araichivitta Sambhar for Idli, Dosa and Vadai

Take half cup of Toor Dal and a fist full of Moong Dal and Pressure cook them until 4-5 whistles. till they are fully cooked and become mushy, when mashed.

10-15 shallot's/ Chinna Vengayam
and Keep them aside.
* Have a small lemon size of Tamarind soaked in a cup of warm water. soak for at least 5 minute's.
* Heat a Pan, Fry the Following by adding one by one in the same order. it takes 2 minute's.

  • Corriander Seed's / Dhania - 1 tsp
  • Chana Dal / Kadala Paruppu - 1 tsp
  • Raw Rice / Arisi - 1 tsp
  • Cumin / Seeragam - 1/2 tsp
  • Fenugreek / Vendhayam - 1/4 tsp
  • Dry Red Chilli / Kanja Milagaai - 3 no.
  • Grated Coconut / Thuruviya Thengaai - 1 tbsp
Grind them into a dry powder.


* Add 3 shallot's and half of a tomato to the above Grounded powder and add 2 tbsp of water and grind them into a thick paste. Keep them aside.

* In a Pan / Kadaai, Heat 2 tsp of oil, add 1 tsp mustard, 1/4 tsp Fenugreek, 1 tsp Urad Dal, 1/4 tsp Asafoetida powder, 2 Dry Red chilli's and 10 curry leaves.

* Now add the remaining 12 shallot's, and saute them, till they are semi-cooked. add a chopped tomato and saute along with shallot's. Now add the Grinded paste and add 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and saute them for a minute, till the raw smell of onion's and masala's goes off.

* Add the Mashed Toor and Moong Dal mix to the Pan/ Kadaai. mix well with the masala's.

* Add the cup of Tamarind water and mix well. add half cup of water to make the sambhar little watery.

* Add salt and 2 tbsp chopped corriander leave's. let the sambhar boil for 2 minute's and switch off the flame.


This Sambhar is flavourfull with Fenugreek, Asafoetida, corriander leaves and shallot's. it's heavenly with idli, dosa's.

Araichivitta Sambhar

Now this Araichivitta Sambhar leave's to RCI-Pondicherry, under Tamil Cuisine.

LOG

You can send Tamil Cuisine special's, Andhra Cuisine Special's and Kerala Cuisine Special's to RCI-Pondicherry.