How to Peel Tapioca Roots | Cassava | Maravalli kizhangu

Tapioca roots also known as kappa, maravalli kizhangu or kuchi kizhangu in South parts of India.  Though tapioca roots are native to South America, it's a staple food in kerala state of India and it's one of their common breakfast foods 

In our home, we used to have the steamed tapioca as a snack for the evenings or as elevenses food. It's one of our family favorite snacks of all time. You might already know this if you have followed me on IG. 

Related : How to make Tapioca Adai

Whenever I share the steamed tapioca pictures on IG, I get a couple of requests for how to peel the tapioca because the skin is so hard.  Yeah, I know compared to Indian tapioca, the tapioca available here in North America is a bit bigger and the outer skin is also thicker.  

Immediately I shot a quick video for IG reels and shared it. But I thought a separate post would be more helpful so here i'm with this post on how to peel and cut the tapioca. Hope this post is useful and informative.  

How to Peel Tapioca Roots

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 0 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Kitchen Basics | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
How to peel Tapioca Roots, Kappa, Maravalli Kizhangu,Cassava Let's see how to peel Tapioca Roots easily.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients

Tapioca roots - 1

Procedure

First take a tapioca root, cut into half with a sharp knife.

Next make a sharp slip on the skin of the tapioca roots and gently lift the skin using the knife. 

Then switch to the dinner knife and run it along the skin. It will help to remove the skin from the tapioca roots.

Once the skin is peeled, cut the tapioca vertically into two slices and remove the thick string at the center.

Now cut the tapioca roots into desired shape and it's ready to use.

Related : How to make Indian Style Steamed Tapioca with Coconut 

Notes: 

• If the skin sticks to the root well and stubborn to peel off through sliding the knife method, then simply trim the skin using a sharp knife :-)

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Vazhaipoo/ Banana Flowers are the blossom that grows on banana plant and it's used in south indian cooking a lot. We make usili, kola urundai, vadai,poriyal with banana flower, all are really delicious and we as a family love them in any form. But cleaning banana flowers is such a painstaking process and also many beginners are not aware of this, so this post might useful for all the beginners in cooking and  experts this post  is not for you :-) but if you're willing to take a look on how i clean my vazhaipoo/banana flower, you're more welcome.
At one time, when we were in hosur and i was still a beginner in cooking then, bought a vazhaipoo, called Amma & asked about the cleaning method and did all the cleaning, it took around 2 hrs. Once finished cooking them, i had noticed that it had a strong bitter taste and wondered why it had such a bitter taste, then again called Amma, she told that very rarely some vazhaipoo/banana flower has strong bitter taste(mild bitter taste is normal) and it's not advisable to consume them. Later i threw them in trash with heavy heart. So always taste a bit of  raw florets, if it doesn't have any bitter taste, proceed cleaning them, else discard them. Lesson learnt that day !!! Ok, now it's time to check out the cleaning method.

How to Clean Vazhaipoo | Banana Flower

Preparation Time : 20 mins | Cooking Time : 0 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Basic | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Banana Flower - 1 

Procedure

First take the banana flower, peel the first layer of petal and you can see the banana florets inside, remove them and place it on the plate. Do the same for next couple of petals. Next take one flower in your hand and inside you can see a stamen(the one with round head ) and a transparent layer.Remove them and discard it. Similarly do the same for all the florets. As you go on, the florets became smaller in size inside. At that stage, there is hardly any transparent layer, so just remove the stamen alone.At one stage, you find it hard to remove the petals, at that stage, don't remove the petals, you can used them as it. Just remove the stem from it and chop them along them with florets.That's it, now it's ready to chop and cook.

Notes:

• Your hands may have dark stains while cleaning. To remove that, just apply some coconut oil on hand after cleaning , rub it with tissue paper and wash it with hand wash or you can use the hand gloves to avoid staining.
• Banana florets becomes dark when keep it outside for long. If you're not cooking them immediately, put them in butter milk, it helps to become dark.
  

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How to make Papdi | Home made Papdi recipe

Papdi are nothing but small un puffed puris made from the all purpose flour. Papdi is a very crispy snack that can be used in many chaat items like dahi papdi, bhel puri and so on. Though it's easily available in any Indian stores, i always prepare on my own whenever needed. Home made papdis are the best, but to be honest, it takes quite a lot of time for rolling and pricking the puris and it's definitely a labor of love. Pricking the puris all over is the key to get flat,crispy puris, otherwise the puris would puff up and become soggy soon. I have prepared few chaat items with this papdi, so stay tuned for more chaat items coming soon.    

Homemade Papdi

Preparation Time : 20 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Makes : Around 40 
Recipe Category: Chaat | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Maida/ All Purpose flour - 1 cup
Ajwain - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Water - as needed
Salt - to taste
Oil - for frying

Procedure

Take the flour and ajwain in a bowl, give a good mix, then add the oil and mix it well with the flour.  Add water slowly and make a stiff dough just like poori dough. Let it rest for 20 mins.Then make equal size balls from the dough and roll a ball into thin disc with the rolling pin. Using a round cookie cutter or any bowl, cut into small circles. Prick the cut out dough with the fork.The holes should be very near, it actually helps to prevent the papdi to puff up while frying.Do the same for the remaining dough.Heat the oil for frying, add few at a time and fry it on medium flame.Once it becomes golden brown, remove from the oil & place it on the tissue paper.Let it cool completely and store it in air tight container.

Notes:

• Don't discard the left out dough from the cutting, you can make balls from the same and use it again.
• Prick the holes helps to prevent puff up and make it crispy.
• Store it in air tight container to retain the crispiness of the papdi.  
  

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How to Cook Millets in Open Pot | Millet Cooking | Cooking Basics

Millets are the gluten free grains and can be used in the place of rice in almost all rice based dishes. Compare to the rice, millets have high nutrients, so it's advisable to include the millets in your diet regularly. When it comes to indian cooking, especially south indian,  you can include the millets(kodo,little or barnyard) easily in the place of rice based dishes like pongal, khichadi, upma or even as plain cooked millet along with curries. The options are nearly endless and it tastes good too.
Few years back, in tamilnadu, i literally noticed the arrival of all the new millets in the markets like never ever before. At that time,even all the cooking shows & cook books were all about the millets and its benefits. Initially as usual i was hesitant to try those millets, later i had taken my own time and included those millet one by one and tried various dishes with it and now it became the part of our regular cooking. When it comes to pongal or khichadi, i cook the millet in pressure cooker since i won't mind if it became too mushy for pongal or khihadi. But if i'm making the millet instead of rice for our meal along with kuzhambu and poriyal, then i prefer to cook them in open pot. After many attempts of cooking in pressure cooker, still i don't get it correct either it's too mushy or under cooked. But this way of cooking in open pot always yield fluffy cooked millets.I have cooked kodo,little and barnyard millets in this way and it all turned so fluffy and each grains separated!!

How to cook millet

Preparation Time : 20 mins | Cooking Time : 8 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Basics | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Millet(samai) -1/2  cup
Water - 1 cup

Procedure

Soak the rice for 1/2 hr. Heat the water in a pan and add salt(if you're using) and bring the water into boil.Drain the water from the soaked rice and add into the boiling water.Bring the rice to boil and then keep the flame in low and close the pan with lid.Cook until all the water is absorbed and switch off the flame.Let the pan closed for 10 more mins and then open the lid ,gently fluff the rice with spatula.Tada, perfectly cooked millet is ready.

Notes:

• Make sure that the flame is low while cooking the millet.
• Pot/pan with glass lid is helpful to look into the pan while cooking the millet and switch off the flame when all water is absorbed
• It takes approximately 6-8 mins to absorb all the water, by that time, the millet also well cooked.
• If you don't have pan with glass lid, then use whatever you have, check in between to make sure that all the water is absorbed before switch off the flame.
• Don't stir the millet frequently, it will become mushy.
• After switch off the flame, let the pan covered for at least10 mins, before opening and serving.
• If you want , you can add salt while cooking the millet.

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How To Cook Perfect Basmati Rice in a Pan | Fluffy Basmati Rice

Perfectly cooked basmati rice is little bit tricky to get it right especially if you're a beginner in the cooking. For our daily cooking, we use boiled ponni rice and i cook it in pressure cooker  with 1:2 ratio of rice & water and it turned out perfectly every time. And i use basmati rice only for pulao, briyani or fried rice,but when it comes to basmati rice, i find it difficult to cook the rice in pressure cooker,either it turned out over cooked or under cooked. Even i tried it in electric cooker, still i couldn't get it right.
Finally i returned to old fashioned way of cooking the rice in a open pot. Even on my first attempt,to my surprise, the rice are perfectly cooked and the grains are so separate, just like the way i like it. Now i have been using the same method for cooking the basmati rice for more than a year and it turned so perfect every SINGLE time!!!! Those who have struggle to cook  basmati rice  perfectly, give this method a try !!!

How to cook Basmati Rice

Preparation Time : 30 mins | Cooking Time : 07 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Rice | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Basmati Rice -1 cup
Water - 2 cups
Salt - to taste
Sesame oil - 1 tsp

Procedure

Soak the rice for 1/2 hr. Heat the water in a pan and add salt.Add the oil into the boiling water and then drain the water from the soaked rice and add into the boiling water.Bring the rice to boil and then keep the flame in low and close the pan with lid.Cook until all the water is absorbed and switch off the flame.Let the pan closed for 10 more mins and then open the lid ,gently fluff the rice with fork.Tada, fluffy perfectly cooked basmati rice is ready.

Notes:

• Adding sesame oil gives great flavor to the rice and also helps to avoid sticking the rice grains.
• You can cook the rice without adding salt also.
• Make sure the flame is low while cooking the rice.
• Pot/pan with glass lid is helpful to look into the pan while cooking the rice and switch off the flame when all water is absorbed
• It takes approximately 7 mins to absorb all the water, by that time, the rice also well cooked.
• If you don't have pan with glass lid, then use whatever you have , while cooking, in between, open the pot and check to make sure that all the water is absorbed before switch off the flame.
• Don't stir the rice frequently, it will make the rice mushy.
• Gently fluff it with forks to separate the grains.
  

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How to Clean and Cut Mushrooms | Cooking Basics

I still remember the first time when i tried the mushrooms at restaurant in chennai and i didn't like it much. The flavor and the texture was so new to me and i was bit hesitate to give a try on any new food back then. Then slowly i had developed the taste for mushroom and started to have it on restaurant. After marriage, when i started to cook on my own, seriously i dont know how to clean the mushrooms since we don't cook mushrooms in our home back then. I have so many questions like the hairy part on back side of the mushroom is edible? or why the skin is so pale sometimes? or whether i have to cook with or without stems? Later i got all the answers from the basic cookbook that i borrowed from the local library. So just like me back then, if you're beginner in cooking and don't know how to clean the mushrooms,then this post would help you to understand the basics.

How to Clean and Cut Mushrooms

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 0 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Basics | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Mushrooms

Procedure

First take the mushrooms from the pack and put it in warm water for 30 secs, then gently remove the dirt on the top of mushroom with your fingers.Do the same for all the mushrooms and place it on cutting board.Discard the water, if needed, you can wash in warm water for one more time.If the top of the mushroom is pale in color,then hold  the mushroom button downwards and peel the fine layer on the top by start peeling it from the inside where the mushroom button and stem is attached.Ref pic for understanding. You can skip this step,if the mushroom is fresh and all white.Then trim the stem slightly and cut into desired shape as per your dish required.Tada, all done and ready to cook.

Notes:

• Don't soak the mushroom in water for long time, it has the tendency to retain more water.
• Wash the mushroom more than once if it has more dirt.
• If you don't like the hairy part of mushroom,remove it before cutting.
  

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How to boil eggs | Boiled Eggs with perfectly cooked yolk | Cooking Basics

Why would a post required on how to boil the eggs? Yep,that might be the question in your mind when you read the title. Though I have been eating eggs from childhood and i tried various egg recipe with boiled eggs for past 6 years,still when comes to boil the egg perfectly is bit tricky for me. Either it's over cooked and leave the green ring around the yolk or under cooked with middle part is still gooey in consistency. 

Seriously for really very long time,I don't know that green ring around the yolk is a result of over cooking the eggs.I thought that might be the nature of some eggs,silly me.Later i googled on how to cook eggs perfectly, i found lot of method and tried each one of them, but the method that i have mentioned here works perfect for me every time without fail.It yields perfectly cooked yolk every time yeah,literally every time,neither it has green ring nor it's gooey at the center.So i'm sharing this here that might be useful to beginners in cooking.

Name

Preparation Time : 30 mins | Cooking Time : 10 mins | Makes : 3 
Recipe Category: Basics | Recipe Cuisine: General

Ingredients
Eggs - 3 

Procedure

Take a deep sauce pan, add water up to 3/4 of the pan and also it should be enough to immerse the egg completely, put it on heat and bring to vigorous boil, then add the eggs.Let it be in flame for exactly 1 & 1/2 mins.Remove from heat and cover it with lid and set it aside for 30 mins. Discard the hot water and run the eggs in cold water for 2 mins, then peel the eggs.Tada, Perfectly cooked eggs every time.

Notes:

• The water should be enough be immerse the eggs completely.
• When you drop the egg in hot water, gently drop the egg with tongs.
• 30 minutes standing time is must to get completely cooked yolk,if you remove it from hot water sooner, then yolk would be slightly running.
• Run it in cold water  helps to remove the shell easily. 

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