Here are my fav. books

I love cookbooks and so do many of us :) i think i am looks driven on this love of mine (i know..pretty shallow of me) but what can i do... I think books that are bound and have beautiful photos speak to the reader and also in a way show how the final product looks..tho i know the photos are doctored up...but still, there is an idea. i think books with pages and pages of recipes bore me and remind me of good ol' school books and boy! do i dread that :)


I think the only book i have that is a complete recipe book with no photos is ironically one of my favorites..i know i am contradicting myself (not a surprise for people who know me :D ). The book is 'Time Tested Recipes South India - Palghat Kerala'written by Mrs.Parvathi Ramanathan. This is the only book i know, which had recipes tuned to the way Palghat Iyer's cook. So, when i get silly doubts and it is really late at night for amma..i refer this book.



The other book i love is a book called 'Bread' by Eric Treuille and Ursula Ferrigno. This is a beautiful book with lovely photos and i have tried many recipes from this book and it has been a success..I love this book, as i enjoy baking and it assures me success and not a major clean-up in the kitchen..which drives me nuts ;)


This is off to Nags who blogs at
For the Cook in me and is hosting a fun event Show Me Your Cook Books!!

Semi-Homemade Banana Pudding

In all honesty i am not a fan of bananas. I used to love them in India..but after coming here, i feel the bananas do not have the flavor we used to get there. I have really lost interest in that fruit....but sadly jeeves has not!! actually it is the only fruit he will eat on his own without any heckling from my side ;)..actually i have stopped asking him if he wants a piece when i eat my fruit...coz i am his wife not his mom!!..and he is a big guy now.....

When JFI-Bananas was announced, i was sure that it is going to be vazhakkai..i also had a recipe in mind,little did i know ripe bananas were the ones that wanted in on the fashion shoot...now who am i to break hearts ;) so here you go you yellow wierd shaped fruits...the field is urs.

I had this pudding at an office get-together and i was like.... shit! there are nanas..damn! but i guess people loved it, as that lady had tons and i mean tons of people requesting her recipe. She was sweet and basically sent out a floor email of the recipe..when i read it..i was like...what! that is soo easy.

So last week...i know, last week and i post today! we had some friends who were moving out of state calling up and wanting to drop in and say bye once more...i did ask them to stay for dinner..but they were busy, so i thought i could make this desert. i had bananas,pudding and nilla wafers and a faint recollection of the recipe...so i put it together, and it was pretty easy and super super super fast ;)

Ingredients:

2-3 bananas - not too ripe,ripe..but not too ripe
1 packet of instant vanilla pudding (i got the sugar one..not the one with splenda)
1 packet nilla wafers
3 cups vanilla soy milk
1 tbls vanilla extract

Method:

1. Prepare the pudding as per directions using the soy milk and adding the vanilla extract for extra vanilla flavor.

2. Slice bananas into thin disks.

3. Take a couple of tall glasses, place 4 nilla wafers, then top with some pudding, then top with bananas. Make one more layer the same way and then top the bananas with pudding and let this hang out in the fridge for a few hours..the longer the better.

4. Just before serving, break a few nilla wafers on top for extra cruch...yummy ( i even had one myself!)

Notes:

1. You can use plain milk instead of soy milk.
2. It is better to get the sugar free pudding for health reasons..i had this full sugar pudding on hand, so i just used it. You can also make pudding grom scratch if you want to make this desert in an hour instead of 15 mts (he he).
3. Vanilla extract can be omitted too...i added for extra vanilla flavor.
4. You can make the pudding in a big container, but may lose out on the looks ;)..i think if you are having guests..this is a better option.
5. I am ashamed to give this as an entry for JFI..as it is soo easy, but i will deal with the shame in my own way....no i am not telling how....

This is my entry for the JFI- Bananas hosted by Mandira of
Ahaar .

Pineapple Kesari Bhath

My earliest memory of eating pineapple kesari was around when i was 10. Our neighbour and my amma's good friend is kannadiga madhwa. Aunty is very religious and would often send over the prasad for us..actually for me to eat, as she was aware that i loved this kesari and her cucumber kosambri. Well, i was not happy to wait for aunty to make and send and would as usual whine about how i never get to eat what i like and all that bakwaas rona-dhona...Well, one day when i came back from school amma had made this for tiffin and boy was i thrilled.

I actually had a deep fried snack planned to RCI - Karnataka..but after frying the last bread batch up..my courage failed me...and Jeeves (my husband) has been asking everyday...kuch meetha hai kya?? and just the other day when he wanted to eat my stash of pineapple i told him to move away (i know..i am a meanie ;)..so i thought this is the best option for RCI and for fixing Jeeves sweet and pineapple fix ;) boy! i am smart

This is off to Asha of Foodie's Hope who is a total sweetheart and is hosting RCI - Karnataka

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

Rava: 1 cup
Sugar: 2 cups
Water: 2 1/2 cups
Pineapple: 1 cup (finely diced - do not use the core)
Ghee: 1 1/2 tbls
Almonds: 10 (broken in bits)
Raisins: 2 tbls
Saffron : a generous pinch

Method:

1. Boil water in a kettle and keep it hot to make the kesari.

2. In a pan, put 1 tbls of ghee, fry the almonds and raisins till the raisins are plumped and keep aside.

3. To the same pan, add the rava and fry till fragrant,remove and keep aside.

4. Again in the above pan, add the pineapple, 1/2 cup of sugar (from the 2 cups), 1/4 cup of water (not from the 2 1/2 cups) and cook the pineapple in medium flame till soft and all the water has evaporated.

5. Add the rava to the pineapple and mix well, and gently add the water while stirring the rava-pineapple mix.

6. Reduce the heat to medium low, add the nuts and raisins, 1/2 tbls of ghee,
1 1/2 cups of sugar,saffron and mix well. Switch off the gas and eat it hot or cold.

Notes:

1. You can definately reduce the sugar to 1 1/2 cups..it was quite sweet actually.

2. I personally prefer adding rawa to boiling water and not vice-versa...but for this kesari it is not possible...i did land up with a few lumps :( which i very lovingly transferred to jeeves bowl ;) ha ha

3. You can make the same kesari with bananas too.....

Veggie Bread Rolls

I have a confession to make..i love all food deep-fried..and am certain there are many who are the same. So, i love the samosas,bajjis,bondas...but i love these veggie bread rolls the best. I think it is because, you have to make these at home to eat them..i have never seen them sold anywhere. I remember as a child asking ..actually begging my amma to make these..as she really did not like to make too many deep fried snacks. I think her her reluctance to make any deep fried food was my basic lack of portion control..which sadly has continued to my adulthood too ;)..anyway i digress..i would basically eat 4 to 5 of these and feel miserable the rest of the evening..but would be ready to eat thair-chadam (curd rice) at dinner time ;) he he. She would make 2 types of filling, one was with potatoes and peas the other was tomato and onion. They both are equally delicious and the last time i went home..amma made these and guess what....i overate again ;)

I made the potato peas bread-roll..here is the recipe. I of-course added garlic, which was a complete no-no in my house..so feel free to add in any veggie you want..

Ingredients:

Bread - 10 slices
Potatoes - 3 medium (boiled and mashed smooth)
Peas - 1 cup (boiled and mashed roughly)
Onion - 1/4 cup ( finely diced)
Green Chilly - 1 (finely chopped)
Garlic - 1 (finely chopped)
Cilantro - 2 tbls (finely chopped)
Ajwain -1/2 tsp.
Red Chilly Powder - 1/2 tsp.
Salt - to taste
Water- to dip the bread in
Oil - to deep fry(yep..this is not healthy or as RR would say figure friendly...bah!)

Method:

1. Mix in all the ingredients except the bread and oil and keep aside.

2. Heat the oil in a pan to deep fry.

3. In a wide bowl, take some water..dip a slice of bread in it for a second, take it out and squeeze all the water..taking care the bread does not lose the shape.

4. Add some of the vegetable filling in the middle of the squeezed out bread and close the edges. Form the bread into an oblong shape making sure the bread is well sealed.

5. Now drop this in the hot oil very gently and deep fry for a few minutes.

6. Eat these when they are hot....and yeah yeah..go ahead and overeat ;)

Notes:

1. Do not get greedy and put too much of filling inside.

2. Preshape the filling in oblongs, so that they fit in the bread easily.

3. Make two at a time and deep fry immidiately, you cannot preform all the bread ahead with filling and fry later,as they will get soggy......water, bread...get it ;)

This is my entry to the WYF- Snacks hosted by Hima of SnackoRama

Wine drunk tofu with sweet sour vegetables

Tofu is a regular feature in our meals...but i usually buy the readymade baked tofu...and use the extra firm tofu that is water packed just for baking or scramble. But, i have been lazy to go and do grocery shopping..to be honest a little scared, as i seem to spend lots and hoard stuff like crazy..the minute i step in whole foods...buying everything in sight! that store does it to me..i wanted to practice restraint ( yeah...just practice..it is very very hard!!). I decided to do the tofu baking myself and this way i control the ingredients.

The baking process is very simple...but the important part is flavor. You must like the way the marinade tastes to enjoy the final product. So, here goes my recipe..as usual everything can be substited.

Ingredients:

Marinade

red wine -1/4 cup (i used cabernet sauvignon)
olive oil -2 tbls
hoisin sauce - 1 tbls
crushed red chilly flakes - 1 tbls
salt -1 tsp

Other

vegetables - 2 cups (i used brocolli,carrots,snow peas,sugarsnap peas,corn)
brown sugar - 1 tbls
rice wine vinegar - 1 tsp.(optional)
peanuts - 2 tbls (toasted)
almonds- 2 tbls
raisins - 1/4 cup
sesame seeds - 1 tbls (toasted)
green Chilly sauce - 1 tbls
red chilly sauce -1 tbls
sunflower oil - 1 tbls
salt - 1/2 tsp.

Method:

1. Drain the tofu over a few paper towels and place a heavy book on it. Let the tofu remain this way for 30 minutes.

2. Prepare the marinade by mixing all the marinade ingredients together and keep aside.

3. After the tofu has been drained for 30 minutes, slice the tofu into pcs and place it in a baking dish in one layer and pour the marinade over the tofu. Let the tofu stay in the marinade for 1 hour.

4. Preheat the oven to 400F and bake the tofu for 30 minutes ( close the dish with an alluminium foil). After the 30 minutes are done, flip the tofu and bake for 20 minutes more without the foil. Baked tofu is ready people!!

5. In a large wok, heat 1 tbls of oil, when it starts to smoke add the veggies and 1/2 tsp. of salt and the brown sugar. If you feel the veggies are getting too dry, you can add the marinade on it to go along.

6. When the veggies are cooked, but have a crunch to them, add the peanuts,raisins,almonds,sesame seeds, green chilly and red chilly sauce and coat the veggies well.

7. Serve this on a bowl and top it with tofu pcs. Do eat the veggies hot..as they become limp when cold..and they do not taste good.

This dish has grapes fermented in form of red wine and also 1/4 cup of raisins so it is going to Swapna of Swad who is hosting AFAM and the theme is grapes.



Notes:

1. All the tofu draining and marination can be done a day earlier. If you do not have the time for allowing to marinate..it is ok..you can bake it the minute you add the marinade to the tofu.

2. Please use the wine you would drink for the marinating the tofu.You can use white wine or altogeher skip this and add more soy sauce instead.

2. Extra tofu pcs. can be stored in ziplocks, but be consumed in a few days. You can also freeze the tofu and thaw it when you want.

Amish -Parker House Soft Dinner Rolls

There has been a sisterhood of the bread going around in the blogosphere and there is mailing of the dough in mysterious packages..the usps,fedex and ups guys are fainting when they try to get a wiff of the package...what is there in it???? IT IS THE BATTAH(batter)...(s'pozed to say with a flourish!)

I was pretty excited when i received a package from Suganya and no i did not faint when i smelt or tasted the batter...it was of-course fermented and tasted sweet and sticky ( obvious right...sugar,milk....)

I did think on what i would make..initially i thought something dramatic...but when i saw the way the amish bakers of the blogosphere prior to me had tackled the dough and raised the bar too high..i chickened out and made something simple and basic...and i am glad to say they came out delicious in taste..in the looks department..they are average..huh!

Now i pass on the torch to the three sweetest,nicest and kindest chicks of the blogdom ........they are (drumroll please...)

Laavanya of Cookery Corner
Sig of Live to Eat
Sirisha of Ambrosia...Indian Indulgences




I am not going over the recipe on how to ferment the dough..it is given in detail
here

I followed the recipe of the Parker House Rolls from a book called "Bread" by Eric Treuille and Ursula Ferrigno. Keeping to my nature and not following any directions 100%....i did make some substitutions...so here is what i did.

Ingredients:

2 tbls dry yeast
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup soy milk
1 tbls flax seed powder
4 tbls butter (unsalted)
31/2 cup bread flour
2 tsp. salt
(i also used the batter which has 1/3 sugar,milk and all-purpose flour in it)

Method:

1. Warm the milk to room temp. and add the yeast to it. Let it remain in the milk for 5 minutes...then stir it well to dissolve.

2. Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl and keep aside.

3.Mix the soy milk and the flax seed powder and whisk well till it foams ( this is a sub for 2 eggs)

4. In a large plastic bowl, mix the bread flour and salt. Make a hole in the center and pour the batter,butter,yeast with the milk and the soy milk with flax seed powder. Stir it with a wooden spoon well....and then turn it to a clean counter.

5. Knead the dough well...you can add a little more flour if the dough is too sticky. The dough should feel soft but not too sticky. Knead it for 5-7 minutes and put the dough in a lightly buttered non-mettalic bowl and cover with a dish towel. Keep this aside for 1 1/2 hours.

6. After 1 1/2 hours, take the dough and punch it down and let it rest for 10 mts.

7. When 10 mts are done...divide the dough to 16 portions,form them into balls and place them on buttered baking pans. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes more.

8. Preheat the oven to 425 F and bake these rolls for 15-20 mts..till they sound hollow when tapped underneath and are browned. Cool them on wire-racks...

I forgot one step..that was to give them a brush with the milk before they went in for baking...but they turned out just fine!

We had them with spicy chole and they paired well. I was a little apprehensive that the rolls would be too sweet with that sugar..but it tasted just fine (somewhat like the pillsbury french rolls -freezer section)

Vegetable-Paneer Kurma

There are times when you want something masaledar..and brimming with all the veggies you love with of course paneer yummm..i always land up making this. It is also a great way to throw in leftover veggies or when you have just 1 carrot..handful of beans..1 potato....(u get it..) on hand.

Again... with the weather getting cooler..i start to crave all things bad (i will blame everything and everyone except my lack of self control)..i make this spicy sabji..which i love.

The recipe is super easy and as usual..add..subtract or delete what u want..

Ingredients:

Mixed veggies - 3 cups (diced medium) i used carrots,cauliflower,peas and beans
Paneer - 1 cup (diced)
Onions - 1 medium (diced)( yep....this deserves an entry for itself)
Green chilly -4
Garlic - 4 pods
Ginger - 2"
Cinnamom - 1/2 stick
Cloves -4
Cardamom -4
Coconut - 1/4 cup (grated)
Pine Nuts - 2 tbls ( can use almonds or cashews)
Red Chilly powder - 1 tsp.
Yogurt - 1/2 cup
Jeera - 1 tsp.
Oil - 1 tbls (3 tsp)
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Pan fry the paneer without oil and when browned..take them out on a plate and keep it aside.

2. Add 2 tsp of oil to the pan and fry the garlic,ginger,green chilly cinnamon,cloves,cardamom,onions,coconut,pine nuts,red chilly powder and 1/2 tsp of salt. When the onions start to brown..put this in a mixer and make a smooth paste..adding the yogurt in this (do not add any water)

3. Meanwhile..boil all the vegetables with reqd. salt and drain the water out.

4. In a pan, add 1 tsp of oil, add the jeera, then add the ground masala and cook on low flame for 5 mts, then add the veggies, reqd.salt and cook it for a couple more minutes. Check for consistency now.

5. When you like the consistency,add the paneer..give a good stir and take it out of the flame.

6. Now go ahead...eat it up..tastes great with rotis and bread.

Notes:

1. You can totally omit the nuts..instead add poppy seeds

2. Adding tomato paste would be yummy..but i wanted the kurma to be white.

3. Instead of yogurt..u can add milk,soy-milk or cream!??

Oatmeal Pongal...Khichdi....

When it is the weekend..i like to make something substantial but easy for lunch..as we get up really really late..so making a full blown lunch is painful and i am no longer in the mood to eat out.. the food really sucks..and i am bored to make sure that there is no meat..no cheese...no this and that...i figure, i might as well make it.

This dish is basically pongal..but has some khichdi element..so the confusion on the title..i thought how would 'Ponchi' sound..nah...'Khigal' worse i tell u...anyway, here is the lo-down on the recipe. It needs a little pre-planning..not that u guys are going to make this...but if you are..keep this in mind.

Ingredients:

Green Moong - 1/2 cup
Red Lobia - 1/2 cup
Carrots,Peas,Green Beans and Corn - 1/2 cup each
Onion - 1/2 medium
Green Chilly -2
Oats - 1 cup (i used quick cooking oats)
Milk - 1 cup
Water - 1 1/2 cups
Pepper-Jeera Powder - 1/2 tsp (freshly powdered...if possible)
Mustard Seeds,Channa Dal and Urad Dal - 1/2 tsp. each
Oil - 1 tsp.
Ghee- 1 tsp.

Method:

1. Presoak the green moong and red lobia for 2-3 hours (overnite..even better)

2. Pressure cook this for 4 whistles, till they are well cooked..mush them a little.

3. Toast the oats on a dry skillet and keep aside.

4. Dice the carrots and beans to bite sized pcs.

5. Chop the onions finely and split the green chilly in the middle.

6. In a wide pan, add the oil, then add the mustard seeds..when it pops add the channa dal,urad dal and fry in medium high till light brown.

7. Add the onions,green chilly and the rest of the veggies and saute till the veggies are tender. You can add a little water to help along.

6. Add the oats, the milk and the water with required salt and let this cook on medium heat.

7. Add the cooked green moong and lobia when the oatmeal starts to thicken.

8. It will take only a couple of minutes for this to come together. Add the
pepper-jeera powder and 1 tsp. of ghee and remove from heat.

9. The oatmeal thickens a little more in time.


Notes:

1. Adding curry leaves and ginger to this would be really great.. i was out of both of these.

2. Adding cashews to this will be even better..did not strike me when i was making this..

3. This makes a lot..easily enough for 4..just to let u know :)

Citrus Overload...

I do not know why i came up with this name..maybe because i cannot call it a screwdriver makeover ;) My earliest memory of drinking would be when i was 17...my best friend's parents had gone out of town..so i went to spend the night at her place. She, her younger sis who was 16 and me opened her dad's whisky and had it.. i really do not remember how it tasted..us doing something improper..was good enough for us. After a drink, my friend was.. 'let's stop re'..but her sis and me had a couple more..ganged up on her and made her drink a few more ;) The rest of the night passed by 3 of us talking and fantasizing about what would happen if we were to get caught and what if we become hooked to drinking ;) sweet times!

This concoction is off to the Monthly Mingle - Liquid Dreams hosted by Meeta .

What you need ..of course add,subtract or delete what you wish...

Ingredients:

1 part vanilla vodka
2 part orange juice
1 part lemonade (not plain lemon juice)
ice- lots

Method:

Pour all the above in a martini sharker or a huge jar (make sure to wrap a towel around it to prevent spills - u gotta improvise people) and shake away to a couple of beats of good music....strain and put in a fancy glass,tumbler or what u have on hand and cheers ;)

Notes:

1. You can omit the lemonade..it is a screwdriver..

2. You can omit the lemonade and the vodka..you get......plain OJ..

3. If you omit the vodka and orange juice.....you get the drift..

Pal Payasam and an Award

It is a custom to make pal payasam at my home to celebrate anything...what a freakin lie!! well the real deal is my sis and me hate pal-payasam (it is true) and appa is a diabetic and my mom never makes anything for herself.. so this was a novelty at my place.. only when my grandma would visit us and make this as prasadam for guruvayuappan..her favorite god..she even lives in guruvayoor so that she can go to the temple twice a day!

Fast forward many years.. i am married to a nut and he dreams of sweets and payasams and is constantly begging, demanding and asking for sweets and payasams. I decided to make pal-payasam today as he has been working waay to hard at work and as i do not like this...(yeah! from hate to do not like...) so, i may have a cup instead of fighting with him over who ate more and who gets more....

Here is the recipe..super simple

Ingredients:

Full Milk - 1 litre
Sugar - 1 cup
Rice - 1 fistful (i used ponni rice)

Method:

1. Wash rice at-least 5 to 6 times to remove the starch.

2. Put this rice in a huge vessel (that can fit in ur biggest cooker), add the milk and pressure cook this for 4 whistles and let it simmer for 10 minutes more. The milk should come only to half the vessel, so that there is space for the milk to expand when pressure-cooked.

3. When the steam is released,take the vessel out of the cooker and keep it on the gas top and cook it on low heat for 10 mts.. you should get some color on it by now.

4. Add the sugar and cook it for 10 minutes more on low heat so that it reduces and gets deeper in color.

5. Pour into bowls (like me) or coffee mugs (like my husband!) and drink up ;)

Notes:

1. This is not the thick and creamy versions.. as there is too little rice.

2. Have tried making it low fat.. not that great.. but can be done

Now on the award...ta.dah!!
keerthi has been kind to give me this award.. thanks keerthi it does make me happy to realise that i am a schmoozer.. in real life that is a horror but in blog life.. a compliment..that is for sure..



i am supposed to pass this on to five.. but i think i am giving this to every person who makes the effort to hit my blog ( yep.. i am selfish;) but on a serious note.. it is cool when i see people who get a minimum of 30 hits on every entry go all out and compliment and encourage others.. that is cool and you all know who they are.. so keep on rocking people or should i say keep on schmoozing ;)

Quinoa....what is that ??

What is Quinoa!! went thru my mind when i saw it in whole foods a couple of years back. I did not pick it up but was definately intrigued..i then heard about it.... in vegan and vegetarian forums and thought that perhaps i would try it out. The first time i bought it .. i peered in, it looked really like fat mustard seeds but creamy in color, i put the packet in a canistor and forgot about it. I think more than forget, i was too lazy to experiment.. what if i don't like this! i have to make something else!! or nope.. no veggies at home..yeah right ;). But, you get the point, it was one excuse after another and then it happened.. i got bored of eating indian,mexican,chinese,sushi and yes.. indo-chinese..so it was then i said what the hell.. just make it and i love it and it is quite regular at my home.

The texture as nutty and delicious, but i also feel it is very light to eat, so it great for dinner.. as i will not feel guilty when i walk to baskin and robbins for desert.. yep! they are that close to my home he he he

This quinoa dish is a mix of both indian and italian flavors.. no parm cheese tho :(

Ingredients:

Quinoa - 1 cup
Water - 2 cups
Carrots - 1/2 cup (diced small)
Peas - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1/2 cup (diced small)
Garlic- 1 clove (crushed)
Green Chilly - 1 (finely diced)
Rosemary - a few stalks (chopped finely)
Pine Nuts - 2 tbls (toasted)
Raisins - 2 tbls
Olive Oil - 1 tbls
Salt - as needed

Method:

1. Wash the quinoa a couple of times using a fine mesh strainer and cook it in a pot adding 2 cups of water. Boil the quinoa and water, then let it simmer to cook well.
When cooked, take out from heat and let this cool, the grains will be quite sepetate by now.

2. In a pan, add the oil, then add the chopped rosemary,garlic,green chilly,onions and carrots and cook in medium heat till soft.

3. Add the peas,raisins and salt and cook in medium heat till all the veggies are cooked.

4. Now add the pine-nuts and the cooled quinoa and stir this gently.

5. Take out from heat and serve warm.


Notes:

1. Do not add more than 2 cups of water to cook the quinoa. Maintain the 1:2 ratio.

2. Toast the pine-nuts in a seperate saucepan before you add to the quinoa.

3. Make sure you do not burn the veggies.. i know u guys will not.. but the quinoa is delicate and all the flavors show.

4. The 1 cup makes tons...i mean it, so plenty of left-overs :)

Now guys, i want you people to try it out.. no you do not have to follow my recipe.. but i think it is fun when we try something new.. you know, they all taste great :)

To know more about quinoa read here

Ribbon Pakkodam

i admit.. this is a crappy photo... i was tired people!!

This is my favorite childhood snack and i remember amma would make dabbas of these at a time and hide them in different places so that my dad and me would not get to them. So, my father and me would go through 10-15 dabbas to find the extra stash... yeah! we both love to eat snacks. I remember being greedy and eating handfuls when i would open the dabba in the store-room where this dabba would be eventually found and then take some on my plate 'formally' for my mom to see ;) this way i would have had waay too much and would skip dinner... which eventually would culminate to ... you know what! me getting yelled at.. well, all that was just like water off a duck's back, because i love pakkodam :)

I am submitting this to Latha who is hosting goodies for Krishna Janmashtami at the
yum blog


This recipe was something i have never written down, but asked my mom a hundred times to repeat and keep telling her 'i am writing amma!!' so this is off my memory. Actually, it is fairly simple and it came out really good... but nothing close to my mom's who is the family pakodam champion ;) i think all of us go thru this, whatever we make, our mom's do better...

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 3 cups
Besan - 1 cup
Chilli powder - 1 to 1/1/2 tsp.
Hing - a pinch
Butter - 1/4 cup (room temprature)
Salt - to taste
Warm water - to make the dough
Oil - to deep fry

Method:

1. Sift the rice flour and besan to ensure they combine well and are free of lumps.

2. Add the red chilly powder, softened butter and salt and mix it in the dough well.

3. Add the warm water and form a dough. It should be thick but not too hard ( your hands will really hurt when you press the dough out, if the dough is too hard)

4. Make big oblongs of this dough and feed it in the pakkodam press.

5. Heat oil and press the pakodam in a circular motion and deep fry till golden.

6. Line tissues in the container you are going to store these goodies and place the pakodams after they have cooled in a strainer/colander.

Notes:

a) if you do not have butter on hand, warm oil can be used instead.

b) the dough should be soft when pressed by hand so that you do not get an arm workout when you are pressing over the oil.(i know people say the dough should be hard...ignore them ;) )

c) trust me, it tasted fine, not crappy the way that photo has come out... but
of-couse nowhere close to amma's :)

Oolan

This is my no.1 favorite along with morukootan. This was very much a regular in my house as i used to love this, and another regular was molagutal which is my sister's favorite. This dish is simple,delicious and naturally low in fat. Anytime i visit India and my amma wants to know what i want for lunch, my standard answer is make morukootan with oolan and papadam.. it really trasports me to a happy place and nourishes me when i become the bear and move on to sleep for hours and hours to end. When i get up and i am grouchy, i go to the kitchen and looking at leftovers of oolan makes me smile and i am to another round of pigging out with curd and mango pickle..he he

The recipe is so simple.. here it is

Red Pumpkin - 2 cups
White Pumpkin- 2 cups
Red Lobia -3/4 cup
Green Chillies -2
Coconut oil - 1 tsp.
Salt to taste

Method;

1. Soak the red lobia overnight and pressure cook it till soft. This never gets mushy.

2. Dice the pumpkins in 1" cubes and slit the green chillies in half.

3. In a kadhai, put the pumpkins, green chilly and 1/2 cup of water with 1/2 tsp. of salt and cook till the pumpkins are soft, not too mushy (it does mush a little)

4. Now mash the cooked lobia a little and add to the pumpkins. You can add more water if you feel the dish is too thick.Add remaining salt as needed.

5. When the oolan starts to boil, add in the coconut oil and switch off the gas.

6 Now serve this with morukootan or sambhar.. it tastes soo good.

Notes:

Coconut oil really adds another dimension to this dish, so do use it if you have.

Add minimum water to cook the pumpkins, as they have enough water in them.

You can use one color pumpkin too

The consistency of the dish should be on the thicker side not soupy...but should not be too thick (u guys get it right!!)