Thakkali saadham / Tomato rice

 

I brought some attractive, reddish, juicy and ripe tomatoes. They looked very beautiful, I enjoyed clicking them :). I have two people in my home who love tomatoes crazily- my mom and my hubby. My mom's vegetable shopping is never complete without buying tomatoes and so is Rajender. Both of them love dishes made with tomato too.

The scientific name of tomato is Solanum lycopersicum. It is also called as love apple (!!!). Tomato plant is grown world-wide for its edible fruits.  There are 7500 varieties of tomatoes (surprising isn't it ?). Tomatoes are rich in lycopene which is a powerful anti-oxidant. The lycopene in tomatoes are better absorbed by our body when they are cooked or preserved. Lycopene offers protection against neurodegenerative diseases and some forms of cancer. Tomatoes are also rich in vitamin C and vitamin A. 

The tomato rice I prepare will be more like a biriyani. I love the version without much spices too. Actually this recipe is very easy and can be prepared in a few minutes time.  Try this one-pot dish for a healthy, easy and enjoyable meal.

Ingredients :

Tomatoes- 4 nos

Onion-1 no

Basmati rice- 2 cups

Garlic- 4 pods

Ginger- 1/2 inch piece

Green chillies- 4 nos

Cardamom- 2 nos

Cloves- 3 nos

Cinnamon- 1/2 inch piece

Fennel seeds- 1/2 tspn

Red chilli powder- 1 tspn (adjust according to your taste)

Oil- 3 tbspns

Salt to taste

Method :

First grind half of the onions, green chillies, ginger, garlic and fennel seeds into a paste. Heat oil in a pressure cooker ( I prepared it in a pressure cooker, you can use rice cooker too). When the oil is hot add  cardamom, cinnamon and cloves. When they emit a nice aroma add the onions and saute well. Then add the ground paste and chilli powder. Saute until the raw smell disappears. Now add the cut tomatoes and saute till they become soft. To the above mixture add rice and mix well. Then add enough water  and salt to taste (I add 3 cups water for 2 cups of basmati rice). Close the pressure cooker and cook for 3 minutes after the first whistle comes. Remove from fire and open the cooker after 10 minutes or after the pressure is released.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Quality of toamto is very important. Look for ripe but firm, red tomatoes. Do not add too much spices. Very little will give a nice aroma and taste. The dish will be much tastier if the tomatoes are a bit sour. Happy cooking !!!

Have a beautiful weekend !!!

Era varuval / Prawn fry

This is a very simple prawn fry. We just loved it. Hope you will also like it. Here we get big variety,  frozen prawns but nothing can be compared to the small variety, fresh prawns which I ate when I am young.  Might be the above statement is true or might be its just the age that matters :). My mom used to deep fry the prawns and I still have that taste in my tongue, a bit sweet yet spicy and crispy hmmm...:).

Ingredients :

Prawns- 250 gms

Onion- 1 no

Tomato- 1 no

Garlic- 2 pods

Ginger- a 1/2 inch piece

Green chillies- 4 nos

Black pepper corns- 20 nos

Red chilli powder- 2 tspns

Coriander powder- 1 tbspn

Cuury leaves- 20 leaflets

Coconut scrappings- 1 tbspn

Cinnamon- 1 inch pice

Cloves-4 nos

Fennel seeds- 1/2 tspn (optional)

Salt to taste

Oil- 3 tbspns

Method :

Cut onions, ginger, garlic, tomato into pieces. Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a pan. Fry onions, green chillies, ginger and garlic until they become brown. Now add tomatoes and saute well until they turn soft. Add pepper corns and coconut scrappings to the above mixture and saute for 30 seconds. Remove from fire. Allow the mixture to cool and grind them into a paste in food processor. Wash prawns and keep aside. Now heat a pan with 3 tablespoons of oil. When the oil gets heated add cloves and cinnamon. When they emit a nice aroma add the ground paste. Saute well for few second and to this add red chilli powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder. Add enough salt to this mixture. Fry for a few seconds and then add prawns to it. Add half-a-cup of water and allow the mixture to boil well. Simmer the mixture until all the water content is gone. Remove from fire and garnish with coriander leaves. When serving squeeze lemon juice on the dish.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : The taste is much better if you fry the onions until it turns brown. Do not cook the prawn in high heat for a long time. They become rubbery. You can add fennel seeds when grinding the masala. It enhances the flavour of the dish. Add lots of curry leaves when making any sea food, that makes a lot of difference. Happy cooking !!!

Nataraja Iyer Rasam

 

This rasam recipe was invented by Nataraja Iyer. Long time ago he wrote a cookery column in a tamil magazine. At that time he gave this recipe to his readers. My mom used to prepare it often. It was a big hit in our household. Everyone liked it. I forgot this recipe for a long time and one fine day I  remembered about this rasam. I asked my mom for the recipe even she could not remember it. So I searched in internet and found a single post about this rasam.

This rasam preparation is very unique. We never boil tamarind juice when making rasam but this recipe calls for boiling the tamarind extract. Nataraja Iyer asked the readers to prepare this rasam in a brass vessel (pithalai sombu) for a better taste. I do not have any brass vessel. So I prepared it in a heavy-bottomed aluminium cooker. This is the most flavourful rasam I ever had. Anybody will get hooked to it,  because of  its nice aroma and excellent taste. Try this, you will love it.

 

Ingredients :

Cooked and mashed toor dhal- 1 cup

Tamarind- size of a lemon

Dried red chillies- 5 nos

Green chillies- 4 nos

Curry leaves- 20 leaflets

Jeera seeds- 2 tspns

Black whole pepper- 1 tspn

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tspn

Asafoetida powder- 1/4 tspn

Mustard, fenugreek and jeera seeds- 1/2 tspn

Jaggery (vellam)- a small piece

Garlic- 3 pods (crushed)

Salt to taste

Oil or ghee for tempering- 1 tbspn

Method :

Cook and mash toor dhal. Mix 2 cups of water to it and keep aside. Take tamarind and soak it in 3/4 cup of  warm water for 10 minutes. Extract the tamarind juice by squeezing it . Now add 3/4 cup of water again to the extracted tamarind juice. Once again add 3/4 cup of water. Take the tamarind juice in a brass or any heavy-bottomed vessel. To this add broken red chillies, crushed green chillies, curry leaves,  a small jaggery piece, salt, turmeric and asafoetida powder. Boil this mixture well until it becomes half of its original volume. Now add the cooked dhal and coarsely ground jeera and balck pepper seeds to the boiled tamarind mixture. Boil this mixture again until a froathy layer forms on the top. Remove from fire. Take a pan. Heat oil or ghee. When the oil gets heated add mustard, methi seeds (fenugreek) and jeera seeds. When they splutter add curry leaves and crushed garlic. Switch off the stove and transfer the tempered ingredients to the rasam. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves. A very aromatic rasam will be ready to be served.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Use brass vessel if possible or any heavy-bottomed vessel. Do not miss any ingredients. Ghee adds a lot of flavour. Use tamarind which is sour enough. Happy cooking !!!

Broccoli-Seasame stir-fry

When I am very young I read about broccoli in English story books.  Most children,  in the books I read,  hate to eat broccoli  and their parents made sure they eat broccoli because it is very good for health. I used to wonder how that vegetable would look !!  I saw broccoli for the first time after I came to Germany. A green coloured cauliflower !!! I tasted it for the first time in mensa (canteen). In canteen they used to serve a cup of boiled broccoli. To tell the truth I hated it on my first encounter itself. Rajender loves this vegetable (thats very strange !!!). He has read that broccoli has many anti-cancer compounds and I am sure that is the reason for his broccoli love :).

 

The scientific name of broccoli is Brassica aleracea. It is rich in cancer fighting phytochemicals and anti-oxidants. Broccoli is high in Vitamin C, K and A. It is also a rich source of dietary fiber. It is also shown to have anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties.

I hated broccoli until I found this recipe. Whenever I came across broccoli in grocery shop I felt a sense of guilt running deep inside me.  The first reason for this is,  Rajender loves it and I am not ready to cook it for him and the second reason is,  I am avoiding such a nutritious veggie.  I was sure that Indian way of cooking cannot make this veggie any better. More and more you cook this veggie,  worser it becomes. So I tried to find a non-Indian recipe version for this vegetable (in internet, sorry I do not remember the source) and  here it is for you :

Ingredients :

Broccoli- 1 no

Lime- 1 no

Seasame- 2 tbspns

Red chilli flakes- 1 tspns

Jeera seeds- 1 tspn

Garlic- 2 cloves

Olive oil- 2 tbspns

Method :

Cut broccoli into bite sized pieces as shown in picture. Make thin slices of garlic. Squeeze out the juice from half lime piece. First, steam the broccoli until it is cooked but it should retain its firm texture. The steaming process takes approximately 5-8 minutes. Now heat a pan. Add olive oil. When the oil gets heated add seasame, jeera and sliced garlic. Fry for a few seconds until the seeds splutter and the garlic browns. Add steamed broccoli to this mixture. Simmer the flame and mix everything well. Remove from fire after 3 minutes. Sprinkle lime juice and chilli flakes on it.  Add salt to taste. Broccoli stir-fry will be ready to be served.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Make sure you do not over-cook this vegetable. It must be cooked but should retain its firmness. Steaming is the best option because boiling in water leads to the loss of cancer- protective phytochemicals. Try to retain its bright green colour. If you cook it too much it becomes light green in colour and doesn't look or taste appetizing. Follow the exact recipe. This veggie never mingles well with our Indian spices (my personal opinion), so avoid them. Never discard broccoli stem,  thats the tastiest part.  Happy cooking !!!

Rava dosai

A very simple dosa preparation. No need for soaking, grinding, mixing, fermenting etc. This is a slight variation of the usual rava dosai preparation. I have used eggs instead of maida. I learned this from one of my friend. They taste much better than the maida version. A healthy version too because we are substituting a simple carb with good quality protein. Try it for a wholesome breakfast.

Ingredients :

Rava- 1 cup

Rice flour- 1/2 cup

Egg- 1 no

Cashew kernels- 8 nos (broken into small pieces)

Ginger- a small piece (minced finely)

Curry leaves- 10 leaflets (minced finely)

Green chillies- 4 nos (minced finely)

Jeera seeds- 1/2 tspn

Salt to taste

Oil for frying (you can use ghee if you wish)

Method :

Mix all the items mentioned above except oil. Make a batter by diluting the mixture with water. The batter should be very thin. It must be several times thinner than dosa batter and if you take the batter in a laddle and pour it, it must fall freely like thick buttermilk. After preparing the batter wait for half-an-hour. Now heat a pan. When the pan is hot enough pour a laddle of batter. You normally get a net-like dosa as shown in picture. No need to spread it. Dribble oil  and fry both sides until it turns crispy and golden brown. Serve with coconut chutney.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : The most important thing is you need to have a good pan. Use a thick bottomed pan in which the heat spreads evenly and at the same time slowly. Simmer the flame. Do not keep on high flame. The above mentioned points will help in cooking the rava dosa evenly. They also remain intact and crispy. I have only a hot plate.  The pan I use becomes hot quickly and that too only in the center. I had hard time getting a properly shaped dosa. I think electric pan can do wonders, when preparing rava dosa.  Cashews and ginger impart a very nice taste to the dosa. Happy cooking !!!

Have a happy week end friends !!!

Meen kuzhambu / Fish pulusu / Fish in tamarind gravy

 

Meen kuzhambu needs no introduction. Most NV eating people simply love it. I remember Sivaji's Mudhal mariyathai movie whenever I make this tasty dish. He acted so nicely, even people who doesn't like meen kuzhambu will be tempted to try it.  Such a great actor !!! If you get a good variety fish then meen kuzhambu has no equals. In villages, people make this dish in an earthenware. Fish cooked in an eathenware has a rich native taste. Meen kuzhambu when consumed on the next day of preparation is the tastiest.

Fish is a good source of protein. Fishes are also rich in omega-3, a healthy fatty acid. Omega-3 fattyacids are heart healthy. Research has proved that they reduce triglycerides and lower blood pressure. They are also shown to reduce the risk of arrhythmias which can cause sudden death and moreover if you enjoy this super tasty gravy you will feel happy :)

Many different fishes are used in cooking. Here in Germany, we get only a few varieties. I have used salmon fish and as you can see in picture they remove the skin and bones completely for such large fishes. Indian variety fishes are the tastiest and fishes taste better with their skin and bones intact :)

Ingredients :

Fish (any fish you like and you are comfortable with )- 250 gms

Tamarind- one lime- sized ball

Onion (shallots are the best)- 1 no or 15 shallots

Tomato- 1 no

Curry leaves- lots :) some 40 leaflets or so

Garlic- 6 pods

Green-chillies- 4 nos

Coriander powder- 2 tbspns

Chilli powder- 3 tspns

Turmeric powder- a pinch

Mustard and jeera seeds- 1 tspn

Fenugreek seeds (methi)- 1/2 tspn

Oil- 4 tbspns (seasame oil is the best)

Salt to taste

Method :

Soak the tamarind in warm water and extract the juice. Cut onions and tomatoes. Slit the green chillies. Clean the fish and make pieces out of it. If you buy a fish with skin intact it is essential to remove the scales with a knife. Heat oil in a pan. When it gets heated add fenugreek,  mustard and jeera seeds and allow them to splutter. Now add the onions, green chillies, curry leaves, garlic pods and a pinch of turmeric powder. Saute well until the onions turn translucent. To this mixture add enough salt and cut tomato pieces. Saute well until the tomato pieces turn soft. Add coriander powder and chilli powder at this stage and mix well. Suate for a few seconds until the raw smell of coriander powder disappears. Now add tamarind juice and enough water to dilute the mixture and allow it to boil. Then simmer the mixture for sometime until the consistency of the gravy is good enough (not too thin, not too thick). Now at this stage add the fish pieces and simmer for another 5 minutes ar until oil seperates out. A very yummy fish pulusu will be ready. Serve with hot rice.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : A good variety fish is very important. If you press the fish with your hand the flesh should be very firm and the gill region should be nice pink in colour. If the fish doesn't meet the above criteria it will break into small pieces when you drop them in gravy. Adjust the chilli and salt level according to the sourness of the tamarind. Use shallots and seasame oil if possible. Be lenient when you use oil. Try making it in an earthenware. Use lots of curry leaves. Wait for a day before using the fish kuzhambu, it really makes a lot of difference. Happy cooking !!!

Kovakkai oorugai / Dondakaya pachadi / Tindora or Indian ivy-gourd pickle

 

One more invention in my culinary journey :). It all started just yesterday.  I was looking in the fridge and found few kovakkai. They were very less for making a dish. I donno what to do with them. Then I thought of pickling them. I am seeing many of my blogger friends preparing nice pickles and I wanted to make one too. Kovakkai is very crispy, delicious to eat even when it is raw and it doesn't have any strong smell or taste. The only thing it lacks for making a delicious pickle is the sour taste. But it doesn't matter because lemon juice could do the magic. Thus started the idea of pickling kovakkai and you won't beleive, it turned out to be a very yummy and crispy pickle.  I have finished half of the pickle just by eating them like a salad. 

The crispiness of kovakkai is the highlight of this pickle. Even raw mango looses its crispiness when pickled but kovakkai remained very crispy and fresh in the lemon juice, mustard-fenugreek powder gravy. Friends, do try it. You will definitely love it. The preparation is also very, very easy. The below picture is taken immediately after making the pickle and the second picture is taken today morning. You can see that the kovakkai have shrunken in size and totally immersed in the gravy.

 

Ingredients :

Kovakkai / Tindora- 12 nos

Mustard- 1 tspn

Fenugreek seeds- 1/4 tspn

Lemon- 2 nos (medium sized)

Garlic- 5 pods (thinly sliced)

Green chillies- 4 nos (slit longitudinally)

Chilli powder- 1 tbspn ( or as per your taste)

Turmeric powder- a pinch

Asafoetida powder- few pinches

Mustard seeds- 1/2 tspn

Curry leaves- 10 leaflets

Oil- 4 tbsons

Salt to taste

Method :

Cut kovakkai as shown in picture. Slice the garlic pods. Squeeze the lemons and take out the juice. Fry mustard and fenugreek seeds in a pan until the fenugreek turns brown in colour. Now dry grind the fried mustard and fenugreek into a coarse powder. Heat oil in a pan. When the oil gets heated add mustard seeds. When they splutter add the curry leaves and garlic pieces. Saute well until the garlic browns. Now switch off the stove and to the hot oil add chilli powder, mustard-fenugreek powder, turmeric and asafoetida powder. Saute for a few seconds. Take care not to burn them. In the mean time add the squeezed lemon juice and enough salt to the kovakkai and slit green chilli pieces. Now transfer the entire hot temepered mixture to the bowl containing kovakkai. A very tasty pickle which goes very well with curd rice will be ready.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Select only the kovakkai which are very firm and crispy. When tempering take care not to burn any ingredient. Wait for a day (if you can) before using the pickle. I have used only 12 kovakkai. If you use more adjust the ingredients according to your requirement.  Use green chillies along with kovakkai for that nice, green chilli smell. Green chilli adds a lot of flavour. Salt, oil and chilli powder should be used leniently to keep them preserved. I think they will stay  for a few weeks if you keep them refrigerated. Happy cooking !!!

Vendakkai, verkadalai varuval / Bendakaya, palli vepudu / Okra or ladies finger stir fry with groundnut kernels

 

My husband's favourite vegetable. Groundnut is also his favourite. If I serve them together he just loves it. This dish is inspired by a ladies finger and groundnut deep fry recipe which my in-laws prepare often. (I will share that recipe later). That dish tastes awesome and is served in wedding  parties or other grand functions. I like  that dish but I feel guilty to deep fry this green, beautiful veggie. I love the rich green colour of vendakkai. When I got these fresh looking ladies finger I asked Rajender what to do with it. He asked for that deep fried dish but I wanted to try this healthy version. This turned out to be very good. If you love ladies finger and groundnut you will definitely enjoy this dish.

 

Ingredients :

Ladies finger- 1/2 kg

Groundnut- a handful or as much as you wish

Onion- 1 no

Green chillies- 5 nos

Curry leaves- handfull

Mustard and jeera seeds- 1 tspn

Jeera powder- 1 tspn

Oil- 3 tbspns

Salt to taste

Method :

Wash and wipe the ladies finger well. Now cut them into small pieces as shown in picture. Cut onions and green chillies into small pieces. Heat oil in a pan. When the oil gets heated add mustard and jeera seeds. When they splutter add the onion pieces, green chillies, curry leaves, enough salt and groundnut kernels. Saute well until the onions turn translucent. Now add the okra pieces and saute on low flame. Before removing from fire add jeera powder and mix well. Remove from fire when the okra is cooked. This tasty, healthy stir-fry is a great accompaniment for rice and chappathi.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : The main thing is to retain the real taste of okra. Do not overfry them. Let them retain their original colour and flavour. Use small groundnut kernels for better taste. Here I don't get them. If you like you can add chilli powder too instead of green chillies. If you like the groundnut to be crispy deep fry them in oil and add to the ladies finger at the end of preparation. Happy cooking !!!