Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Avaraikkai Poriyal | Broad Beans Stir fry

Avaraikkai Poriyal, a simply stir fry made with board beans.It's one of the common accompaniments that served along with South Indian lunch meal. 

Here rarely i bought avaraikkai from Indian stores because most of the times, it was not so fresh. Last week, when we went to Indian store on weekdays to buy some dal and i noticed that the employees open the fresh carton of avarakkai and refilling the basket. Immediately i bought a pound of avaraikkai.

After making sambar with it , reserved some for making poriyal.For today's lunch i prepared this avaraikkai poriyal &  paired them with Urundai kuzhambu and after had a hearty lunch,here i'm sharing the recipe.




Avaraikkai Poriyal

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 15 minsServes :
Recipe Category: Accompaniment | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Avarakkai Poriyal,Broad Beans fry Avaraikkai Poriyal, a simply stir fry made with board beans.It's one of the common accompaniments that served along with South Indian lunch meal.
Ingredients
Avaraikkai/ Board Beans - 20
Pearl onion - 2
Grated coconut - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard & urad dal - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - few
To Grind 
Green chili - 1
Pearl onion - 1
Garlic - 1  pod
Cumin seed - 1/4 tsp

Procedure
First we have to remove the thick fiber at the sides of the avarakkai, with the knife, snip off the tip of one end and the pull it with your hand till the end, do the same on the other end too.Once finished removing the thick fiber on all avaraikkai, cut into small pieces.
Heat 1/4 cup of water in a kadai, once the water comes to boil, add the chopped avarakkai.
In the mixie jar add all the ingredients listed under "To grind"  and grind into coarse paste and add it into the avarakkai.
Add salt & cook till the avarakkai becomes soft. Then add the grated coconut and mix well.
In the tempering pan, heat oil, add mustard & urad dal, once the mustard splutters, add the finely chopped pearl onions & curry leaves, once the onions becomes translucent, remove from heat and add it into the avaraikkai poriyal and stir well.
Tasty Avarkkai poriyal is ready to serve.

Related: How to make Avarakkai Kootu


Notes:

  • Don't forgot to remove the thick fiber of avarakkai.
  • Adjust green chili according to your taste.
  • Garlic & cumin seed give wonderful aroma to the poriyal.



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Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Ragi Dosai | Finger millet Dosa | Kezhvaragu Dosai | Ragi dosa with ragi flour

Ragi Dosai, a healthy dosa recipe made from the finger millet flour. Finger millet is one of the healthy grains, in our childhood days , amma used to make adai ,puttu and kanji using ragi flour and she found it very difficult to make us eat those things.Later she totally stopped making them because none of us in home liked them much. But now as I understood  the importance of whole  grains/ millet in our diet, I tried to include them as much as possible.

Traditionally ragi dosa is made from the whole finger millet, but here in this recipe, I have used the flour for a short cut method. It's such a simple trick to make the batter in minutes. Whenever i make idli/dosa batter, i used to soak a little extra urad dal for making this ragi batter. So I would be having two varieties of batter for the whole week and no need to worry about breakfast and dinner !! Every South Indian can understand me on how much it means to have a variety of batters on hand !! It would make life a lot easier !! 
Amma learned  this recipe from her sister and during one of our phone calls, she mentioned it to me and the next day itself I tried them and it was  so delicious. Ever since it has become a regular in my home. With this batter, you can make them as thin crepes or as thick pancakes.But i liked them as thin crepes and it tastes great with both chutney and sambar !! Now let's check out on how to make ragi dosa.
Definitely all millets are an acquired taste at least to me.So try to include little by little in the beginning. Click on below image to see the detailed recipe for other ragi recipes.

Ragi Dosai with Ragi Flour

Preparation Time : 8 hrs for fermenting | Cooking Time : 15 minsMakes : 8 dosa 
Recipe Category: Dosa/Millet | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
ragi dosa, ragi dosai, finger millet dosa,finger millet, ragi dosa with ragi flour, traditional recipe Ragi Dosai, a healthy dosa recipe made from the finger millet flour.
Ingredients
Ragi Flour - 1 cup
Urad dal - 1/4 cup
Fenugreek seed - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil for making dosa

Procedure
Soak urad dal and fenugreek seed in water for 30- 45 mins. Once the dal is well cooked, drain the water and add into mixie jar along with enough water.
Grind into smooth batter in mixie/blender. Measure and take ragi flour in a bowl and add water enough water into it and make a thick batter.
Now add the urad dal batter along with salt into ragi batter. Mix it well.
Cover it with lid and let it ferment.In the next morning, the batter would be risen wonderfully.With the laddle, mix the batter, if needed add some water and making as pouring consistency.
Heat the dosa pan, add a laddle pull of batter and spread it in circular motion.Sprinkle some oil on the edges of the dosa.Let it cook for 2 mins.
Then flip the dosa and allow to cook on other sides too. Remove it on the plate and serve it your favorite chutney.
Tasty, crispy & healthy Ragi Dosa is ready. If interested in instant ragi dosa without fermentation, check this out
For other millet dosa, try out this kambu dosa 
For varities of idli and dosa side dish, check out my collections
Notes:
  • Fermenting time varies depends on the temperature where you live, if you live in cold place, put it in oven for overnight with lights on. I do the same every time to  ferment the batter and it works like a charm.
  • If you live in hot places, 6 hrs itself is enough to ferment.
  • This dosa stays soft even for 2-3 hrs.
  • To enhance the taste, use ghee instead of oil.
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Thursday, November 24, 2016

Kadala Curry | Kerala Kadala Curry | Black Chana Masala with coconut

Kadala curry, a delicious and flavorful  curry made with black chickpeas and coconut masala. In Kerala, this kadala curry is usually paired either with puttu or appam. 

Puttu paired with kadala curry is definitely a match made in heaven.Though i grew up eating puttu as breakfast for at least once in a week, we usually had with sugar and banana or sometimes had with green gram sundal 


This Puttu and kadala curry combination was introduced to me when we were in Bangalore. When we were there, a new Kerala restaurant("Thalassery Restaurant") was opened just opposite our building.

In the early morning itself, they started to make puttu with puttu maker in the small veranda in front of the restaurant and i loved to watch them making from our balcony and it's really tempted me, so one day, for morning breakfast we bought their famous breakfast combo  puttu & kadala curry. 

It was so good and I liked their curry more than the puttu. Their curry was coconut based and slightly yellow in contrast to the northern chana masala curry and also had small bits of coconut in the curry and it really enhanced the taste when I had it with puttu. Later on, it's been our favorite take out item from that restaurant just for their kadala curry ! 

After coming to the US, I had a bad craving for that kadala curry for a while, so i tried it on my own with the taste that i remember. After a few trials, I'm able to replicate the closest taste of that restaurant and it's simply divine with the puttu or idiyappam or appam ! 

Now let's check on how to make this delicious kadala curry !




Kadala Curry

Preparation Time : 8 hrs for soaking | Cooking Time : 30 minsServes : 4 or 5 
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Kadala Curry, Kerala Style Kadala Curry, Chickpeas Masala, Chickpeas Masala with coconut Kadala curry, a delicious and flavorful curry made with black chickpeas and coconut masala.
Ingredients
Black Chana - 1 cup
Pearl Onion - 12
Tomato - 1
Coconut bits - 2  to 3 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Coriander leaves - few
Salt - to taste
Coconut oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard - 1/4 tsp
To roast & grind
Red chili - 4
Coriander seed - 2 tsp(1 tsp of coriander powder)
Fennel seed - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece
Cloves - 3
Cardamom - 2
Coconut - 1/4 cup tightly packed
Garlic - 2 

Procedure
Soak  the chana overnight  or minimum 8 hrs and put in the pressure along with water and salt and cook it for 5 whistle.
In the mean time dry roast the ingredients, heat the pan, add red chili,cinnamon,cloves,cardamom,fennel seed and coriander seed(as i have no stock of coriander seed, i used coriander powder) in the pan and roast till nice aroma comes.Keep it aside, then add the coconut and garlic in the pan.
Roast till it all the moisture from the coconut is gone.Keep it aside and let it cool completely Switch off the flame.In the heated pan add the coriander powder and roast it slightly and add into other roasted ingredients.
To make coconut bits, take a pieces of coconut as shown below in pic and cut into thin strips.Then peal the pearl onion and cut into small pieces and tomato into small pieces.
Once the pressure is released from the pressure cooker, check whether it's cooked,it should be mushy when pressed between you fingers.Heat the kadai with oil and add the mustard, let the mustard splutter.
Add onions & curry leaves, saute till the onions becomes translucent,then add the tomatoes & saute .
Add the coconut bits & turmeric powder and saute till the tomato becomes mushy.
Grind the roasted ingredients into smooth paste and add it. Add enough water and make the consistency as per your liking.
Add the cooked chana & salt(remember we already added while cooking chana)just to the masala and give a good mix.
Let it comes to boil and keep the flame in medium for 7-8 mins or until the raw smell leaves,finally add the coriander leaves and switch off the flame.
Serve it with Kuzha Puttu and appalam or even with chapathi also it tastes good.

Related: More puttu & idiyappam varieties  


Notes:
  • Roasting coriander powder gives the same aroma as of roasting coriander seed and grind them as powder.
  • If you want more flavor, add 1/2 tsp of garam masala at the end.
  • Biting coconut bits in between the curry tastes so good, highly recommend to add it.
  • Coconut oil gives great flavor to the curry.




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Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Red Radish Fry | Radish Poriyal | Red Radish Poriyal

Last week while we were shopping for vegetables, i saw this cute red radish along with greens,so i bought a bunch and it's been sitting in the fridge for more than 5 days, so today i prepared this simple stir fry  and it turns out so delicious. I remember that the radish we used to make in our home back in India have strong flavor and i found it very unpleasant in those days.But this radish doesn't have any kind of strong flavor, don't know whether it's a different variety or the size makes the difference.Anyhow this radish taste so good and i'm gonna make this often.

Red Radish Fry

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 15 minsServes : 1 or 2 
Recipe Category: Accompaniments | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
Red Radish - 8 to10
Onion -1(small)
Green Chili -1 
Salt - to taste
Grated Coconut - 2 tsp
Oil - 1/2 tsp
Mustard & urad dal - 1/4 tsp 
Curry leaves -few

Procedure
Wash the radish well, trim the top and bottom of the radish and then cut into thin circles. Cut onions into thin slices and keep it ready. Heat the pan with oil, add mustard & urad dal, let the mustard splutter.Then add the onions,green chili(slit) and curry leaves and saute till the onions becomes translucent and then add the sliced radish.Add salt and mix well. Cover the pan with lid & cook the radish till it's soft, stir in between to avoid burning at the bottom.Finally add  the grated coconut and mix it well & switch off the flame.Mild and tasty radish poriyal is ready.Serve it with any spicy kulambu along with steamed rice. We had it with manathakali kulambu.
Notes:
  • Adjust the number of green chili as per your taste.
  • Instead of thin slices, you can cut the radish into small pieces too.
  • No need to add water for cooking radish. Radish itself leaves lot of water while cooking.



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Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Poori | How to make Puffed Poori

Poori, a Indian deep fried bread made from wheat flour /Atta. It's one of the common homemade breads for breakfast in South India. Making puffed poori is an art and it's absolutely delicate to watch the pooris puff up while frying.

Back home in my childhood, I grew up eating pooris made with maida/all purpose flour more than the pooris made with whole wheat flour. Now, I like both types of pooris equally :-)
Poori
During our initial days of marriage, ST told that he didn't like pooris, so I was a bit hesitant to try pooris for breakfast/dinner for a while . One day I was craving for pooris, so made it with maida just like my mom makes and asked ST to give it a try. 

To my(and his) surprise, he liked them very much and said it was so delicious. Since then, it has become his favorite  breakfast and nowadays, he asks me to make pooris for breakfast ! It always makes me so happy when someone starts to like the food because of me :-) 

How to make Puffed Poori 

There are a few things to be taken care of to get the puffy poori. 
  • The dough should be firm, not as soft as chapati/ roti dough. Depends on the quality of the flour, it may take a couple of tbsp of water more or less than i have mentioned in the recipe.  
  • Rest the dough for a minimum 20 mins. It helps to roll the dough easily since it's not very pliable dough, the resting time is really important.
  • Roll the dough on even thickness on all sides. Don't roll the poori so thinly then it would be like papad after frying.
  • The oil should be really hot for making puffed poori.
  • Gently press the poori with a ladle while frying, it helps to puff the poori beautifully.Poori Dough

Adding Rava to the Poori Dough.


You can make the poori without adding any rava into the poori dough. But adding rava helps to keep the poori puffed up for a longer time otherwise it deflates immediately. So I would highly recommend adding the rava to the poori dough ! 

Ok, now let's see how to make the delicious poori !
Puffed Poori




Poori | How to make Puffed Poori

Preparation Time : 20 mins | Cooking Time : 15 minsMakes :
Recipe Category: Breakfast/Dinner | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Poori, How to make Puffed Poori, Puffed Poori, Poori Recipe Poori, a Indian deep fried bread made from wheat flour /Atta. It's one of the common homemade breads for breakfast in South India.
Ingredients

Wheat flour - 1 cup
Rava - 2 tsp 
Oil - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Water - 1/3 cup
Oil - for frying


Procedure
Measure & take the wheat flour & rava in a bowl , add salt & mix well. Then add the oil.
With your finger tips mix the oil with the flour well and then add enough water to make a stiff dough.Cover it & let it aside for 10 -15 mins.
Make equal size balls from the dough. Take a dough and roll into small disc with rolling pin.
Heat the oil in the sauce pan, once the oil is well heated(if you drop a piece of dough in the oil, it should come up on the top immediately) drop the rolled dough and with the help of spatula, gently press on the top. It helps to puff up the poori.
Flip on other side and cook that side also till it becomes golden brown.Drain it from the oil and place it on tissue paper. Repeat the same for the remaining dough.

For the perfect round pooris, you can cut the rolled dough into circle using any lid or cutter like i did here.

Then fry the pooris as usual. It will gives a perfect round pooris :-) 

Tasty & Fluffy poori is ready. Serve it with poori masala/ your favorite curry. We had it here with chana masala. 

Related : How to make Poori Masala / Potato Masala

Notes:
  • Make the dough as stiff,otherwise it absorbs a lot of oil while frying
  • Don't use flour while rolling the poori, it will settle in the oil while frying.As we continue the frying, it becomes dark in color and sticks to the poori.
  • Don't keep the dough more than 30 mins. It will absorb more oil while frying.
  • Make dough just 15 - 30 mins before frying.
  • Don't place the rolled pooris on the paper, it absorbs all the moisture from the dough,so while frying, the pooris doesn't puff up well and it becomes very hard.



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