ahmi

Kara Kuzhambu is very rare at home. i usually prepare ennai kathrikaai, but today, i wanted to prepare side dish for idli, so thought kara kuzhambu will go well with idli's than ennai kathrikaai and prepared it. It tasted so good with idli's. yet to have it with rice;)

Ingredients:

Brinjal / Kathrikaai - 4 (cut each brinjal into 4 parts)
Small Onions - 12
Garlic - 5
Tomatoes - 2
Curry Leaves - a sprig

Sesame Oil - 3 tbsp
Mustard - 1/4 tsp
Fenugreek / Vendhayam - 1/4 tsp
Dry Red Chilli - 2

Chilli Powder - 2 tbsp
Corriander Powder - 3 tbsp
Tamarind Paste - 2 tsp


Method:

Heat 3 tbsp of Oil in a Pan, add mustard and let it pop. add fenugreek seeds and fry them and add curry leaves and fry it too.

Add Garlic and small onions to the pan and fry them till they are almost cooked. add the chopped tomatoes and mix well with the onions.

Add Salt, Turmeric Powder, Chilli Powder and Corriander Powder to the pan and mix well in slow flame
till the oil seperates. Add Brinjals to the pan and fry them for a minute in a medium flame.

Add a Cup of water to the pan and let it boil. add tamarind paste and mix well.

Let the Kulambu boil in a slow flame with a lid over the pan for about 4-5 minutes till the oil seperates.

Serve Hot with Rice or Idli's. it tastes Great i Tell You..

Three Years back, when i tried to make murukku, it turned out to be a big flop. then i never dared to give a try. But this year, i wanted to try at any cost. To my Surprise, i made it perfect. My Thanks to Raji of Raks Kitchen. Her Ribbon Pakkoda is the base for this Murukku Recipe.

Ingredients:

• Idiyappam Flour - 2 cup's. / 500 gms
• Besan Flour / Kadalai Maavu - 1/2 cup (or) 120 gms
• Pepper Powder - 2 tbsp
• Butter - 2 Tbsp ( at Room Temperature)
• Sesame seeds / Ellu - 2 tbsp
• Salt to Taste

How to Prepare?

Mix all the above ingredients in a wide vessel. By keeping on Sprinkling little water, keep mixing the flour's, till they all come together like our chapathi dough. Form Cylindrical shaped Dough, that could fit into the murukku press. For above 500gms of flour, 4-5 cylindrical pieces should shape up.

Heat 2 cup's of Oil in a Thick Pan.

Get Ready with Murukku Press. For the above murukku shape, use a Star shaped disc. Fill the prepared Cylindrical dough into the Murukku Press and close it with its lid.

Press the dough over the heated oil. Depending upon the size of the pan and the Oil in the pan, Press the dough. Need not overload the Pan. Its better to Press a Cylindrical dough in two  or three phases to ensure even cooking.

Fry till the murukku turns into golden colour in high flame and reduce the flame, then slowly remove them from oil to a jalli or place them over tissue paper.

* To make them in round shape's: In the back side of a Slotted Spoon / Jalli Karandi, press the dough.
Give circular motion while pressing. then drop the murukku along the slotted spoon slowly into the oil. This way, you can make perfect murukku shapes. but its time consuming, to finish up the whole batch.

Again in slow flame, start pressing the dough over the oil. once pressing is done, increase the flame. then reduce the flame, once the murukku is fried to golden colour.

After they have cooled, store them in an air-tight container and enjoy snacking these Crispies..

As Diwali is just a week away, i know, many of you all will be preparing Sweets and Snacks for Diwali. So just send me your Sweets and Snacks to me. It will be nice to see, how you have packed the sweets and snacks in a box, to gift to your dear friends and family. you can also give your ideas on Gift Packing.
You need not restrict to Indian Sweets and Snacks. Send me Baked Goodies also.
Send in your entries by November 15 nth to glassofhoney@gmail.com .


Here are the Simple Guidelines for Diwali Sweets and Snacks Event.

Rule: Please dont send store bought sweets and snacks pictures.

(a) Prepare Sweets , Snacks and picture it.

(b) Feel Free to Post as many Sweets, Snacks Recipes as you like on your blog.

(c) Link back to this event announcement is a must.

(d) Use of the Logo to the event is also appreciated.

(e) I will also accept your old post’s, but you should link back to this announcement post.
     Re-Publishing old post’s will make me more happy!

(f) E-mail me to glassofhoney(AT)gmail(dot)com

with SUBJECT as Diwali Sweets and Snacks along with the following details..

Your Name:

Your Blog Name:

Name of the Dish:

Link/URL of the Post:

Attach a Picture of the Dish. Size does not matter.

(g) Deadline for all the entries will be the 15 nth of November-2010. I will do the roundup as soon as possible..

(h) If you don't have a blog, but you want to be part of this wonderfull event, you can send me your Recipe along with the picture of the dish. Dont forget to mention your name and your location.

So Iam eagerly looking forward for your entries.

If you need any clarification’s on the above feel free to mail me glassofhoney(AT)gmail(dot)com or leave a comment below.

To Make me Eat Fruits will be very tough. My father and me used to have fight on it. the same continues with my husband also. But when my son feeds me any fruits, i will eat. We are Strange Mom and Son!   But I love to eat Vegetables. My meal starts of with small quantity of rice and more vegetables(poriyal).

Whenever I prepare two poriyal's i see to that, two vegetables should be of different colours. if Keerai / Greens are prepared for the day, i avoid Beans and Broad Beans. its simple as no two identical colours on my plate. its good to have different colours of vegetables for a meal.  i found that my Poriyal recipe's are very less  in the blog and thus am in the process of adding two at a time ;)

Avarakaai Poriyal / Broad beans stir fry

I cook this atleast once in a week. This Broad Beans have good fibre content. without googling, thats what i know about the vegetable.

Ingredients:

Avarakaai / Broad Beans - 1/4 kg
Big Onion - 1
Grated Coconut - 2 tbsp's

For Tadka:

1 tsp Oil
1/4 tsp Mustard
1/2 tsp Split Urad Dal
1 sprig Curry Leaves
2 Dry Red Chilli's

Method:

Trim the head and tail part of the Avarakaai / broad beans. Wash them Thoroughly &  (Naar edukkavum).  and chop them into small pieces.

Add a 1/2 cup of water to the chopped avarakaai and boil them for 3-4 minutes.
or
Microwave the avarakaai with little water at very high for about 4 minutes. [Use the leftover water for preparing sambhar or Curry.]

Heat Oil in a Pan, add mustard and let it splutter, add urad dal, red chilli's and curry leaves and roast them. add the cooked avarakaai without any water to the pan and give a stir. add salt to taste and grated coconut to the pan and give a stir.

Remove from the flame and serve with Hot Rice and Ghee.

Cabbage Poriyal with Chick peas / Cabbage Stir Fry

Ingredients:

Cabbage - 100gms
Green chilli -2
Boiled chickpeas - 1/4 cup
Onion - 1

For Tadka:

1 tsp oil
1/4 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp split urad dal
1 sprig curry leaves

Method:

Have Pressure Cooked Chickpeas Ready.

Chop the Onion and Cabbage finely.

Heat oil in apan, add mustard & let it splutter, add urad dal, curry leaves , slitted green chilli and roast them.

Now add chopped onion and fry till they turn transparent. add the chopped cabbage an give a stir.

Add boiled chickpeas an salt to taste to the pan an give a stir.

switch off the flame and serve for vathakuzhambu or sambhar rice.

I very rarely buy or cook, Podalangai / Snake gourd. But after trying out Podalangai Kootu, it has become frequent at home. Its Such a simple recipe to try out. it tastes great too. Normally Podalankaai Kootu is cooked with Chana dal. But this kootu is with Moong Dal.

Ingredients:

Moong Dal / Pasi Paruppu - 1 cup
Snake Gourd / Podalankai - 2 (medium sized)
Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup
Cumin - 1 tsp
Pepper - 1 tsp
Dry Red Chilli - 2
Turmeric Powder - a pinch
Oil - 1 tbsp


Method:

Dry Roast the Moong Dal for 3 minutes. and Pressure Cook the dal with half cup of water for upto 3 or 4 whistles.

Wash, de-seed and Chop the Snake Gourd finely.

In a Kadaai, dry roast the cumin seeds, red chilli's and pepper. Grind the roasted ingredients along with grated coconut and little water.

Heat a Pan, and add a tbsp of oil, add cumin seeds, curry leaves and fry the chopped snake gourd, till they are fully cooked, it may take upto 4 minutes to cook. after the podalankaai / snake gourd is cooked add the cooked dal and mix well. and add the grinded coconut mix , a pinch turmeric powder, salt to taste and a cup of water and let the mix boil for few minutes.


Switch off the flame and serve hot for Rice.