Friday, January 18, 2008

Appams and Stew

Serves 4

Ingredients:

For The Appams
1 cup raw white rice
½ cup grated coconut
½ tsp fresh yeast (khamir)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp flour (maida)
salt to taste
½ cup water

For The Vegetable Stew
3 cups mixed vegetables (potatoes, peas, carrots, beans)
1 cup thick coconut milk
1 cup thin coconut milk extracted from a medium-sized coconut in a blender

Spices
½ tsp pepper
½ tsp cumin (jeera) powder
½ tsp coriander (dhania) powder
½ tsp minced ginger (adrak)
½ tsp minced garlic (lahsun)
A few cloves (laung)
1 stick of cinnamon (daalchini)
1 green chilli, finely minced
2 tbsp fresh coriander
1 large onion
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp vinegar or ½ a lime

Preparation:

For The Appams
Soak rice overnight and grind with coconut in a blender. Put the yeast in a glass with 1 tsp flour, 1 tsp sugar and half a cup warm water. Let it bubble and rise. Then, add it to the ground rice. When it ferments, stir thoroughly. Use a ladle to pour the mixture one spoonful at a time into a greased appam pan or wok. The pan should be fairly hot and have a lid. Spread the mixture thinly like a pancake. Cover each appam while cooking, until done. It should be crisp at the bottom.

For The Vegetable Stew
Boil the vegetables in a pan with the thin coconut milk until tender. Add cloves and daalchini. Fry onion, ginger, garlic and green chillies lightly and add to the vegetables. Lastly, add thick coconut milk and simmer. Garnish with chopped fresh coriander.

Aloo Tikki

Serves 2

Ingredients:

3 cups potatoes boiled and mashed
¼ cup refined flour (maida)
1 cup flaked rice (poha)
2 green chillies chopped
1 onion chopped
1 tomato chopped
2 tsp cumin powder (jeera), roasted
2 tsp red chilli powder
1 cup curd (yogurt)
salt to taste
3 tbsp vegetable oil
½ cup green chutney
½ cup tamarind chutney

Preparation:

Wash the poha thoroughly and squeeze out all the water. Soak it in about ⅛ cup water for 5 min so that it becomes soft and then mash it. Add mashed potatoes, refined flour and salt. Mix to a smooth mixture. Take a little potato mixture and flatten it on your palm in the shape of a circle which is about 1 cm thick. Similarly, make tikkis from the remaining mixture and keep aside. Heat about 3 tbsp oil in a frying pan (preferably flat) or non-stick pan. Fry the tikkis on medium heat until golden brown on both sides. While frying, turn the tikkis over so that they don't burn. Serve the tikkis hot. To serve, take 2 tikkis on a plate. Flatten them and then add some chopped onions, chopped tomatoes and green chillies. Add about 1 tbsp yogurt, a little green chutney and some tamarind chutney. Sprinkle a pinch of red chilli powder, roasted cumin powder and salt. Optionally, garnish the tikkis with chopped green coriander leaves.

Aam Sharbet

Serves 4

Ingredients:

200 gms raw mangoes, peeled and diced
1 medium-sized cinnamon stick
½ tsp black pepper
2 tsp fresh mint, chopped
½ tsp black salt
1½ tbsp sugar
a pinch of salt
150 ml water

Preparation:

Boil the mangoes with the cinnamon and black pepper. Strain and keep the water aside. Blend the pulp till smooth. Put all the ingredients into a churner and churn. Serve chilled.

Jimikand Ka Saag

Serves 4

Ingredients:

250 gms yam (jimikand)
Oil to deep fry
5-6 cloves garlic
2-3 whole red chillies
A few sprigs coriander leaves
1 tbsp coriander seeds
Turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
Salt to taste

Preparation:

Cut yam into big pieces and boil till tender. Remove, drain, and cut into medium-thick slices. Heat sufficient oil in a kadai (Pan) and deep fry till golden crisp. Peel and wash garlic. Remove stems of red chillies. Clean, wash, and chop coriander leaves. Grind together garlic, coriander seeds, turmeric powder, and red chillies to a smooth paste using a little water. Drain excess oil from kadai, leaving about three tbsp. Heat the oil. Add cumin seeds; when they begin to change color add the masala paste. Stir fry for two to three minutes, add two cups of water, and bring to a boil. Simmer for five minutes. Add fried yam slices and salt. Cook for five minutes. Remove, serve hot sprinkled with coriander leaves.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Vengan Batata Nu Shaak

Serves 6-7

Ingredients:

4 eggplant sliced
4 potatoes sliced and peeled
4 tomatoes sliced
1 tsp of red chilli, turmeric, coriander and cumin powder
1 tsp garam masala
4 tbsp oil
4 cups watersugar and,
salt to taste
For garnish coriander leaves finely chopped

Preparation:

Heat oil in a pan. Add tomatoes, spices and a little sugar. Fry on medium heat till the tomatoes are soft. Add potatoes and eggplant. Fry again for about 5 min. Add water and cook covered on medium or low heat till the vegetables are cooked. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.

Vazakkhai Poriyal

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 raw bananas, peeled and cut into small pieces
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp coconut oil
½ tbsp mustard seeds
1 tsp black gram or urad dal
2 diced green chillies
A few curry leaves
2 finely chopped onions
Salt to taste
4 tbsp fresh coconut (grated)

Preparation:

Boil raw banana pieces with ½ tsp salt and when partially cooked, remove from fire and drain the water. Heat a frying pan, add oil and mustard seeds and once the seeds sputter, add urad dal, green chilies, curry leaves and onions. When the onions are cooked, add grated coconut and salt to taste. Add the boiled raw banana pieces and toss before removing from fire. Serve hot.

Dalma

Serves 4

Ingredients:

½ cup chana dal
1 potato
150 gms yellow pumpkin
1 brinjal
1 raw banana
½ papaya
1 inch long piece of ginger
A few sprigs of fresh coriander leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
4 red chillies, whole
1 tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp sugar
1 tsp oil
1 tsp 'five mixed spices' (panch phoran)
4 cups water

Preparation:

Peel, wash, and cut the potato and pumpkin into one inch sized pieces. Wash and cut the brinjal, banana, and papaya into half-inch pieces. Peel, wash, and mince the ginger; wash and chop the coriander leaves. Dry roast one teaspoon of cumin seeds and red chillies in a pan and powder both. Boil four cups of water and add to it the dals, coconut, salt, minced ginger, turmeric, and cook until the dals are half done. Add potato, pumpkin, brinjal, banana, and papaya. Cook until the vegetables become tender. Add sugar and mix well. Add salt as per taste. Heat ghee or oil in a pan, add the panch phoran, and fry till the seeds splutter. Add the cooled dal. Sprinkle the roasted cumin seeds and chilli powder. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with steamed rice.