Home made Coriander Powder | Coriander Powder | Indian Spice Powder

Coriander powder is one of the few ingredients that you must need in Indian Cooking. Now a days, you can find coriander powder in almost every grocery store.But i like to make my batch of coriander powder at home for the past one year.When we were in India, i never brought any spice powder like chili powder, sambar powder and coriander powder from stores. Amma always make big batch of all these and pass it to me.After moving to US, initially i brought it from stores and tried various brands,but i'm not satisfied with any of those brands.First they are available in large packs(minimum 200gms,yep it's more for 2 people) and it lost it's flavor just after few weeks.Home made coriander powder also lost its flavor over the time,but not as quick as store brought ones.So i had started to make coriander powder on my own in little batches for our need.If you have good blender,then it's very easy to make & also it's so fresh and more aromatic than any store brought coriander powder. 

Home made Coriander Powder

Preparation Time : 15 mins | Cooking Time : 5 mins | Makes : 1 cup 
Recipe Category: Spice Powder | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Coriander seed - 1 cup or as needed

Procedure

Heat a kadai in medium flame and add the required coriander seed and roast it on medium flame.Once the coriander seed becomes aromatic and also slightly becomes brown in color,switch off the flame and let it cool.When the coriander seed is still warm,add it into the blender/mixie jar and grind in medium speed for 2 mins, you will get coarse coriander powder at this stage.To get fine powder, again run the blender in medium speed for 1 to 1 1/2 mins,you will get fine coriander powder.That's it, Home made fresh and aromatic coriander powder is ready.Store it in air tight container for long shelf life.

Notes:

• Sieve it once,if needed.
• Roast till aromatic is most important to get flavorful powder.
• Instead of dry roasting, you can use sun dried coriander seeds also.
• Don't let the coriander seed cool completely.
• Grind the coriander seed still it's warm,it helps to get fine powder.
  

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Mango Lemonade | Mango with lemon Juice | Summer Drinks

Mango Lemonade, a delicious and refreshing summer drink made from the fresh mangoes and lemon. Now, here in Texas, it's already feel like summer, for the past one week, the temperature is above 80F during day time.But i love this season because of all seasonal fruits available during this time, out of all fruits, my favorite is Mango. I love to have them as it is, so hardly i make any juices/lemonade/lassi with it.

But when i make any drink with mango, my first choice is Mango Lemonade. Mango and lemon goes very well together and it's really a great thirst quencher for summer. Here in the ingredients list, the mentioned quantities are based on our liking, you can add more or less as per your liking and also remember depends on the sourness and sweetness of the mango, you may need more or less of the sweetener  and water. So use this as guidance and make this delicious drink when mangoes are in season.

Mango Lemonade

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 0 mins | Serves : 2 to 3 
Recipe Category: Drinks | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Mango lemonade, Mango Juice, Summer Drinks Mango Lemonade, a delicious and refreshing summer drink made from the fresh mangoes and lemon.

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

Ingredients
Mango - 2 
Lemon -1
Cold Water - as needed
Honey/Sugar - as needed
Ice cubes - for serving
Mint leaves - for serving(optional)

Procedure

Peel the mangoes and cut the flesh into small pieces.

Put all the mango pieces into mixie/blender jar, squeeze the lemon juice and then add honey/sugar.

Grind into smooth paste, then add enough water and again grind till it becomes frothy.

That's it, Homemade Mango Lemonade is ready to serve. Serve it with few ice cubes and mint leaves.

Related : How to make Mango Falooda

Notes:

• Depends on the sweetness of the mango,you can add more or less honey/sugar.
• If the mangoes have more sourness ,then you may need more sugar/honey.
• Add more or less water as per the consistency you preferred.
• If you like dominant mint flavor, add few leaves while blend the juice itself.
• As i like mango flavor more, i just add few leaves of mint while serving.
• Add ice cubes just before serving,otherwise the lemonade will be diluted and it becomes bland.
  

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Fruits Spring roll | Rice paper fruit rolls | Vietnamese rice spring rolls | Summer rolls

Fruit spring rolls, an ideal recipe to make on summer/spring season with rice paper rolls and fresh fruits. It's a healthy and refreshing snack to munch on any time of the day! You can serve this as fruit snack or as dessert. 

There is no strict recipes for this rolls, you can customize as per your liking or as per the fruits available in your refrigerator. Having fruit as it is very boring sometimes, but making this kind of gorgeous rice paper rolls with fruits really tempts everyone to give it a try on.

So far i have tried this thrice and each time all are gone in a few mins. It's so addictive and the idea for this rolls was inspired from gemma stafford . As i said earlier, there is no hard rule or  measurement for this rolls so whatever i give under "Ingredients" column is what i used on that day to prepare the rolls. You can add more or less fruits as per your liking.

Next, coming to the rice paper, i have brought them from Asian Store in our area where it's  available in both square and round shape. I have bought the square rice papers and used the same. 

And i'm also sure that you can find them in most of the groceries stores under the Asian section. It comes really handy when you want to make any rolls.In addition to the fruit rolls, you can also use this rice paper as wrap for salads and serve them.It would be more interesting way to have the boring salad.

Fruit Spring Rolls

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 0 mins | Makes : 6 
Recipe Category: Dessert | Recipe Cuisine: Vietnamese
Rice paper fruits roll, Vietnamese fruit rolls, Summer fruit rolls, fruit spring rolls, summer fruit rolls, rice paper rolls,fruit rolls Fruit spring rolls, an ideal recipe to make on summer/spring season with rice paper rolls and fresh fruits.

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

Ingredients
For Rolls
Apple - 1/2
Pineapple(round slices) - 4
Kiwi - 2
Strawberry - 4
Lemon Juice - 1 tsp
Rice paper - 6
For Dipping Sauce 
Honey - 11/2 tbsp
Lemon -1
Water - as needed
Pepper - as needed

Procedure

Cut apple,pineapple into thin strips and strawberry and kiwi into thin slices.Add the lemon juice on apple to prevent from color change.Take the rice papers.

In a large bowl, take warm water and dip the rice paper in the warm water for 15 sec or until it becomes soft and more pliable.

Place the rice paper on the clean working board,place few strawberries first, then add few pieces of apples and pineapples.

Then finally add few kiwi pieces and fold the rice paper from the sides as shown in below pic.

Then roll the rice paper from bottom to top as shown in below pic, do the same for the remaining rice papers.

Now for the dipping sauce , add the honey in a bowl,then squeeze the lemon into it and add some crushed peppercorns. 

Finally add some water and mix it well.

Serve fruit rolls with dipping sauce.

Notes:

• You can add whatever the fruits you like, but choose the firm fruits only.
• For dipping sauce, give a taste test and add more or less water as per your liking of sourness and sweetness.
• Adding some peppers give a nice punch.
• Depends on the brand, the rice paper takes different time to become pliable,so see the instructions on the rice paper and proceed as per the instructions
  

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Nethili Karuvadu Kuzhambu | Dry Anchovies Curry with Veggies

Neithili Karuvadu Kuzhambu, a spicy and tangy curry with dry anchovies and lot of country vegetables. Here in the curry, i have used brinjal, drumstick,raw mango and drumstick along with dry anchovies. All these veggies give great flavor to the curry,even without any one of the veggies,i never prepared this curry so far.
While making any dishes with dry fishes, always under do the salt, as dry fishes have lot of salt in it,over doing the salt totally spoil the dish. And the other thing is wash the dry fishes well as it has lot of dirt and sand in it especially when you buy from local fish market . The imported dry fish that come in package hardly have any sand,but still it's better to soak for 15 mins in hot water and wash it thrice before using it. 

Nethili Karuvadu Kuzhambu

Preparation Time : 30 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Dry Anchovies/Nethili Karuvadu - 20 to 25
Tamarind - a goose berry size
Raw Banana - 1/2 
Green Mango - 1/2
Drumstick - 1
Brinjal -1
Green chili - 1
Tomato(small) - 1
Pearl onion -5
Curry leaves - few
Seasame Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard  -1/2 tsp
To Grind 
Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup
Garlic - 2 pods
Pearl onion -1
Cumin seed - 1/2 tsp

Procedure

First soak the tamarind in water for 30 mins.In the meantime, take the karuvadu and soak it in warm water for 15 mins,then remove the head with your finger and wash it in water for atleast thrice and keep aside until use.Then chop the veggies(brinjal,mango,banana,chili) into thick strips, drumstick into 11/2 inch pieces,tomato into small pieces and keep it ready.Heat a kadai with oil, add mustard, let it splutter then add the pearl onions & curry leaves, saute for 1 min, then add the other veggies expect tomato.Saute the veggies in the oil for 2 mins, then add the tomatoes & karuvadu one by one, give a good mix with the veggies.Extract the tamarind juice from the soaked tamarind and add it into the veggies and then add turmeric powder.Add chili powder & salt and bring to boil.Cover the kadai with lid and cook till the karuvadu and the other veggies are well cooked.In the mean time, grind all the ingredients listed under "To Grind" into smooth paste.Once the karuvadu & veggies are cooked , add the coconut paste and water(if needed) and bring into boil. Cook till oil separates on the top. That's it Tasty & Finger licking Nethili Karuvadu Kuzhambu is ready.

Notes:

• Brinjal, drumstick,raw banana & mango give great taste and flavor to the curry, i highly recommend to add all of these.
• Sesame oil gives great flavor to the curry.
• Nethili and other veggies almost take(10-12 mins) same time to cook.
• Under do the salt as karuvadu already have salt in it.Do the taste test and if needed, add at the end.
• If the raw mango has more sourness, then reduce the quantity of either mango or tamarind.
  

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Palakottai Poriyal | Jackfruit Seeds Poriyal | Jackfruit Seeds Stir fry

Palakottai Poriyal, a delicious accompaniment for the meal prepared with jackfruit seeds.As summer has started in tamilnadu, you will be seeing lot of mangoes & jackfruits in the market soon.Though i hate summer for various reasons, there is one reason i always looking forward in summer is the various fruits (especially mangoes & jackfruit )that nature provide us during this season.
During schooldays, every summer, we went to my grand mom's place and all my cousins also would be there. So whenever a jackfruit was brought, my periamma (mom's sister) would cut open the jackfruit(it's really a tough job) and remove the fruits from inside  and we all sat around her and waited for our turn to dig in.Within a minutes it would be gone. Nostalgic memories.

Here in Houston, I can see jackfruit in the Hongkong market all around the year, but it tastes great only in the summer season. As we brought only the whole fruit, usually I left out with a lot of jackfruit seeds. I love them as simply boiled with salt. But sometimes, I make this poriyal along with sambar for our lunch. Now let's see the procedure.

Palakottai Poriyal

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 3
Recipe Category: accompaniment/snack | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Jackfruit seeds Poriyal, Palakottai poriyal,Boiled palakottai Snack,Boiled Jackfruit seeds Palakottai Poriyal, a delicious accompaniment for the meal prepared with jackfruit seeds.

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

Ingredients
Palakottai/Jackfruit seed - 11/2 cup
Onion(medium) - 1
Red chili powder - 3/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Salt - to taste
Grated Coconut - 2 tbsp
To Temper
Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard & urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - few 

Procedure

First peel the palakottai, for that, take a palakottai,with sharp knife gently make a slit in the outer skin of palakottai, then with your fingers, you can peel it off.

Similarly do the same for the rest of the palakottai and keep it ready.

In a pressure cooker, add the palakottai, water(just enough to cover it) and salt. Cook it for 3 whistles.

Then finely chop the onions and cut each palakottai into four pieces.Heat a kadai and temper the ingredients listed under "To Temper", then add the onions.

Saute till the onions becomes translucent and then add the spices(turmeric, red chili powder(instead of chili powder you can use some dried chili too)) & salt. Saute till the raw smell of the spices leaves.

Add the palakottai, give a good mix and keep the flame in low for 5 mins or until the flavors infused in the palakottai and then finally add the grated coconut and switch off the flame.

Tasty Palakottai poriyal is ready. Serve it as accompaniment for your meal

Related: How to make Jackfruit payasam/Chakka pradaman

Notes:

• Peel the palakottai would be difficult if it's fresh or wet, let it dry for 2 to 3 days in a wide vessel/plate without covering. It helps to peel the skin easily.
• Palakottai have slight sweetness, so add little extra chili powder to balance the taste.
• You can 1/2 tsp of garam masala powder for the extra flavor.
• You can serve this as evening snack too.

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