Saturday, January 21, 2017

Mini Uthappam



Uthappam is  a thick pan cake made with thick dosa batter. Unlike the normal crispy thin dosa this is spongy and soft. This is a famous traditional South Indian breakfast or dinner. There are many variations in Uthappam depends on the base and the toppings. recently I bought mini uthappam pan from chennai.  So Today I made mini Uthappam for breakfast with various vegetable toppings.



Ingredients:

Idli / Dosa Batter-2 Cups

Chopped carrot - 1/4 cup

Chopped onion - 1/4 cup

Chopped tomato - 1 no

ChoppedGinger- 1tbsp

Chopped Green Chilli  -2

Chopped coriander leaves - a handful

Ghee/cooking oil-1 tbsp
Method:


1.  Wash and finely grate the carrot, chopped onion, tomato, Very finely chop the green chillies and Ginger. Keep each one separately in a plate.
2.Heat dosa pan and grease it with oil/ghee. Take the dosa batter. It should be thick.
3. Pour mini (half laddle) uthappams top with your favourite. Cook in low to medium flame.
4.Gently turn the uthappam to other side and drizzle little ghee or oil and cook the uthappam on other side in low flame
5.Repeat the same step for other toppings like tomato, capsicum, panner, carrot and podi uthappam
6.Yummy Variety Uthappams are ready to serve with TiffinSambar and variety chutney.


Monday, January 9, 2017

Manga Arachu Kalaki

Arachu kalaki is A typical traditional Iyer dish from kerala. As I belong to Tirunelveli in tamil nadu My village is near kerala border and follow some dishes from kerala. This dish is a curd based gravy prepared using kanni manga /Kadugu manga or Vadu manga or Maavadu-preserved in salt water ground with green chillies,  and coconut and tempered with mustard seeds, red chillies and curry leaves.It goes well along with hot steamed rice, poricha kuzhumbu, Pulikeerai .Today I made arachukallaki along with poricha kuzhambu.   It is really delicious and makes a excellent side dish.


Ingredients :
 Mavadu - 4 to5
Unsour curd - 1/2 cup 
Fresh grated coconut - 1 cup
Green chillies - 2 to 3  
Salt - If required
For seasoning :
 Mustard seeds - 1/2 tso
 Dry red chilli - 1 [ broken ]
curry leaves-1 twig
Oil - 1tsp
Method:
1.Wash the mavadu and cut into pieces.
2.Grind coconut, mavadu, green chillies, in a mixer and mix well .
3.Pour the whisked curd on top and mix everything well.
4.Heat coconut oil in a small pan. Add the mustard seeds. Once they start to splutter add the whole red chillies(broken into pieces). 
5.Switch off the flame and then add the curry leaves.
* No need to add salt because the mangoes have already salted. If needed salt,add little..

Saturday, January 7, 2017

Carrot Halwa



Starting this new year on a sweet note , Season’s special Carrot/Gajar ka Halwa sounded like a perfect idea! Carrot halwa is a delicious dessert prepared from carrot , milk, dry fruits and nuts. . The ghee and cardamom powder gives it an unparalleled aroma and rich texture. Traditionally, carrots are slowly cooked in lots of milk and sugar. Milk has to reduce about one-third of it's original quantity. This  gives a delicious light fudgey texture.Every bite just melts in mouth.It is a  versatile recipe that can be prepared in a number of ways. Season’s special Gajar Halwa is loved by  my family! 

Ingredients:
  Carrots – 1/2 kg
  Sugar – 1 cup ( as per sweetness can less or add)
  Milk –2 cups  
  Ghee - 2tbsp
  Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
  Condensed milk - 3/4 cup
  Almonds/ pistachio to garnish
Method:
1.Wash the carrots and trim their edges. Scrape the skin lightly and grate all the carrots using a grater and keep aside. I used my food chopper.
2.Soak the almonds in some warm water for 15 – 20 mins. Peel the skin off and chop them into slivers and keep aside.
3.Heat ghee in non-stick pan or heavy based pan over medium flame. Add grated carrots and roast them for 3-4 minutes while mixing continuously till the raw smell must not be there at all
4.Pour milk over ghee roasted carrots and stir to mix well. Bring it to boil over medium flame.
5.When it starts to boil, reduce flame to low and cook until almost milk is absorbed and mixture
6.The color of the carrots would have completely changed and it would have gotten cooked completely.
7. After 15-20 minutes, when all the milk is evaporated, add condensed milk and Stir it well and add very less sugar as condensed milk is very sweet in itself. . Stir occasionally in between to prevent sticking.
 8. Stir and cook until sugar is dissolved and condensed milk also is absorbed and mixture thick.
9.Then Add cardamom powder, garnish with almonds and pistachio mix properly and turn off the flame.
7. Transfer it to a serving bowl and either serve it hot or cold