CHAYOTE CHUTNEY/CHOW CHOW THOGAYAL-THOGAYAL RECIPES

I tried this thogayal from a cookbook. A very tasty thogayal that goes well with plain rice topped with sesame oil.

Ingredients 

• Chayote / Chow chow – 1 no( medium size)
• Tamarind – Small gooseberry size
• Red chilly – 3-4 nos
• Urad dal – 1 tsp
• Channa dal – 1 tsp
• Hing / Asafetida – 1 pinch.
• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Salt & water – As needed.

Method :

• Heat a kadai with a tbsp of oil and add red chilly, urad , channa dal and hing.
• Roast till the dals turn golden brown.Set aside.
• Peel off the skin of chayote and chop finely.Saute and cook till soft.
• Let it cool down and then grind everything with tamarind ,salt and water.
• Serve with plain rice & sesame oil..

 

EASY VEGETABLE PULAO / VEG PULAO RECIPE

I don’t remember the source for this recipe but its really an easy to make,delicious rice variety.I usually prepare this for my husband’s lunch box .Tastes great with simple onion raita..So here we go ,

Ingredients :

• Basmati rice – 1/2 cup
• Water –  1 cup (Little less than 1 cup for fluffy rice)
• Carrot , beans , peas and potato – 1 cup (chopped )
• Green chilly - 2 nos (slit cut )
• Ginger – 1 inch size (Chopped finely )
• Garlic – 5 flakes( –do-) OR use ginger. garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Big onion –1 no (-do-)
• Cinnamon – a small stick
• Cloves – 2 nos
• Cardamom – 1 no
• Bay leaf – A small leaf
• Jeera – 1/4 tsp (optional)
• Oil – 2 tbsp
• Ghee – 2 tsp 
• Roasted cashew – to garnish

Method :

• Wash and chop all the veggies and set aside.
• Wash and soak the rice in required water.(i soaked for 30 mins)Do not drain the water.
• In a broad kadai , add oil , jeera and the spices in the same order.
• Add the ginger , garlic pieces ..saute well and then add the finely chopped onions,  slit green chillies.Saute till it becomes transparent.
• Finally add the chopped vegetables and the required salt.
• Mix well and add the rice with soaked water.(the water should be 1 cup )
• Transfer everything into a cooker and add 2 tsp of ghee to it.
• Cover and Cook for 1 whistle.

Serve hot with raita !!

Karuveppilai Podi / Curry Leaves Powder Recipe

I learnt this podi recipe from my MIL..She makes the best thogayals and podis . We have this podi with idli/ dosa and  plain rice topped with sesame oil.. Its a healthy and delicious podi variety.

Ingredients :

• Curry leaves – 1 bunch (1 cup)
• Red chilly – 2-3 nos
• Pepper – 1 tsp
• Urad dal (round) – 2 tbsp ( or u can add 1 tbsp of urad and  1 tbsp of channa dal )
• Hing / Asafetida – 2 pinches
• Salt – to taste

Method :

• Heat a kadai with a tbsp of oil and add the red chilly, urad dal, pepper corns and hing.
• Roast till the dal changes to golden brown color.
• Transfer the roasted ingredients to a plate.switch off the flame.
• In the same hot kadai , add the curry leaves and toss it well.(fire off!!)
• Leave it for sometime.. the curry leaves become crispy.
• Finally grind everything to a fine /a bit coarse powder by adding the required salt. ( i always grind a bit coarse)

Serve with idly / dosa or mix with plain rice by adding sesame oil.

Garlic Rice / Poondu Sadam - Leftover Rice Recipes

I learnt this from my neighbor.Yesterday when i was chatting with her , she told me about this garlic rice/ Poondu sadam . I tried on the same day .It was very tasty .I made it with the leftover rice I made for lunch.Its not necessary that the rice should be separate or grainy..Simple ingredients and can be made in jiffy.

Ingredients :
 1cup - 200ml

• Rice – 1/2 cup
• Garlic  bulbs -  2 nos (Peel the skin and crush the whole ones just with a ladle)
• Small Onions – 10 nos (finely chopped ) ( replace with 1 big onion, finely chopped)
• Green chilly – 2 nos (slit cut)
• Salt – as needed.
• Coconut oil or ghee - 1 tbsp

To temper:

• Cooking oil – 2 tbsp
• Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Urad dal – 1 tsp
• Red chilly – 1 no (pinched into two)
• Curry leaves – a few.

Method :

• Pressure cook the rice and set aside.
• In a kadai , add 2 tbsp of oil and temper with mustard , urad dal and red chilly and curry leaves.
• Then add the crushed garlic , small onions, green chillies and saute till garlic turne golden brown.
• Finally add everything to the cooked rice and mix well by adding salt.
• Add a tbsp of coconut oil / ghee and serve hot !!

No side dish is required.If desired ,have with pickle..

Sponge Dosa Recipe - Fermentation Method

I learnt this from my neighbor.Whenever i run short of idli rice / Puzhungal arisi , I make this dosa.The ingredients and the method are a bit different from the usual poha dosa. Usually its batter is made using buttermilk and no fermentation is needed or may use cooked rice and prepare. But i ferment the batter at least for 8 hours.So u can prepare this dosa only by the next day.Try this soft sponge dosa recipe , i am sure u will like it.

Ingredients :
1 cup - 200ml

• Raw rice – 1 cup
• Poha / Aval – 1/2 cup(heaped)
• Fenugreek seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Salt & water – As needed.

Method :

• Wash and soak the rice , poha and methi seeds together for 2 hrs.
• Grind it to make a smooth batter by adding salt & water.
• U can grind it using mixie too.Use ice cold water if using mixie
• Keep the batter for 8 – 10 hrs to ferment.
• The next day , mix the batter well and make dosas.
• U all know , this dosa is small in size .So do not spread the batter on the tawa.Make it a small circle.
• Apply oil around the dosa if desired.
• Then cover cook and don’t flip the dosa.

Serve hot with Coconut or Tomato chutney !!
I served with tomato–mint chutney ..

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