Soya chunks rice # OPOS

My daughter's  friend 's  mom usually prepare this  kind of rice. I want  to try  this , Yesterday when I google something , i came across  this soya chunks rice, Tried  my hand and  got a  good comments  from the family members too. Today I tried  in layering them in pressure cooker and done in 10 mins. with very less oil & ghee .
Ingredients :
Soya  chunks  = 2  cups
Basmati Rice - 2 cups (Today I used  ordinary raw rice, no stock of basmati rice)
Salt  - to taste
vegetables  - carrot, capsicum , beans ( i used   little  carrots  only)
 Onion  - 2  sliced
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
 jeeragam , saunf  - 1/2 tsp
 red  chilly powder  - 1/2 tsp
 oil+ ghee  - 3 tsp
 clove - 1
Coriander leaves - to garnish

  Method :
 Soak the soya chunks  in hot water for 5 mins  and  drain and wash the chunks in cold water  2 times  and squeeze the water completely.
 In a   pressure cooker add the ghee+ oil , add jeera, saunf  , clove ,1 bay leave,then layer onion  sliced  , next  layer  ginger garlic paste , red chilly powder , then nicely cut vegetables with  a  pinch of salt spinkled  , and sprinkle garam masala, next layer   soaked basmati/ raw rice   sprinkle  salt ,  add 2  cups of water slowly by the side without disturbing the layers ,cook for  2 whistles  by closing the lid ( just  10 mins ). Then open the lid and garnish with fresh coriander leaves  and  enjoy the soya chunks rice. Soya is good for health , we can use  in kanji maavu /  adding  with  wheat flour  to prepare chapathi .

Appalam vatha kuzhambu

Vathakuzhambu  is our  all time favourite . We  prepare   vathakuzhambu with green  vegetables .. called as Vendaya kuzhambu , with manathakkali / sunda vathal./ kathrikai  vaththals... we   used  to prepare  as  vathakuzhambu . If we prepare with urad  appalam  it is appala kuzhambu , its  a finger licking dish . During my school days  , my friend's mom makes   urad  appalam , rice appalam in her house , She prepares  vathakuzhambu with appalam   in her house most of the times , It was tasty  still I recollects aroma/ the  taste   and  remembers  the aroma  and taste whenever I prepare this appala kuzhambu.
Ingredients:
 Appalam - 3 medium size ( make  each of them  into 8 pieces)
Tamarind juice - ( 2 goose berry size  - soak and take extract for  3 cups)
 Samabar powder  - 2 tsp
 Salt - to taste
 Thur dal - 1 tsp
 Vendayam (methi seeds) - 1/2 tsp
 Kadugu (mustard seed ) -  1/2 tsp
 Gingelly oil- 4 tsp
 Curry leaves - 5 / 6
Hing  - 1 tsp ( powder / katti perungayam )

Method:
     Take a kadai  pour the gingelly oil and temper kadugu ,  thur dal  ,vendhayam,( fry dal and vendhayam till golden colour) curry leaves  add hing then   add the  pieces  of appalam  and  roast them . After that add the tamarind juice , sambar powder and salt  . Allow to  boil and  make it  half  the quantity  of  what we added , we can smell  a good aroma of  appalam, gingelly oil , curry leaves .. Now we  get the correct consistancy of the vatha kuzhambu . You can have  the aroma in the  whole house . We can enjoy  with hot rice, arisi upma,  curd rice ...with pazhaya sadham ,( a healthy diet ,,, now  American  agree that our  pazhaya sadham is a  healthy diet and they are selling in bottles) ...... the list  is endless. We  can give the whole world  to the vathakuzhambu.

Sutta Vaazhaikai podi

Vaazhaikai podi is very old recipe  prepared  my granny , mom , it is  our favourite recipe too. My grand ma   put this vaazhaikai  in   venneer aduppu which they use to heat hot water to take bath.My mom  used to roast in direct flame in  gas stove , I too follow the  very same  . Some   used to steam  the vaazhaikai  in cooker without adding water , then preparing  in the usual way .When we roast directly over the gas stove this gives   smoky  flavour too for this podi which we like very much.
Ingredients:
 Raw banana ( vaazhai kai ) -- 2
Red chillies  --  7 or 8
 Kadalai paruppu  - 3  tsp
 Urad dal  -  3 tsp
 Salt  - to taste
 Tamarind  - 1 gooseberry size
Hing  - small katti ( little more )
 oil -  1 tsp

 Method :
           In kadai add the oil and roast  kadalai paruppu ,  urad dal . rechillies , hing , remove from fire then add tamarind ,  allow to cool  .In a mixie add the roasted ingredients  and salt  and  grind  coarsely .In the meanwhile , roast the vaazhaikai  in  direct flame on the gas stove  till the skin becomes  black . Then remove the skin , mash it by hand . Then add  this in the mixie with the  powder and give a   whip for  2 sec, if we do for more time  then it will become mashy . Give   just a whip  to get a  podi structure .  we can  mix  this  podi  in hot rice  with a dash of gingly oil  ,  or  we  can use  as a side dish for  curd rice , This recipe  is forgotten  one.

Samba Godhumai rava payasam PIP method #OPOS

Usually we propare  payasam  during the festivals, amavasya, navarathri times. During  Navarathri we prepare daily a  payasam , sundal ,  kalandha sadham for neivedhyam. Each day    we have a  special payasam  as neivedhyam . One day we prepare Samba Godhumai Rava payasam. It is a  healthy one also easy to prepare too.
 Ingredients :
 Samaba Godhumai rava- 1 small cup
 Vellam  -  1/2   to  3/4  cup(  according to your taste )
 Elaichi powder  - 1 pinch
 Boiled cold milk  -  3/4   cup

  Method :
              Dry roast samba godhumai rava  till the  flavour  comes , not to brown / red  colour.
 We can prepare  payasam  in open vessel  / in cooker .Today I prepared in 2 lt cooker .. Take  the cooker  put the vellam  ( jaggery)and  add water just to the level of  jaggery  , heat  it to  get dissolved  , filter this  jaggery  water , to remove the impurities  and  pour it in the cooker  and pour  1/2  cup  more  water   , in another vessel  take the  samba godhumai ravai and add milk  and close it with lid  tightly  and place it in the cooker in the jaggery water  close the cooker with lid and  allow for 2 whistles . After a meditation for  3 minutes  open the cooker and   mix the jaggery water with the cooked  godhumai rava  and   whisk it quickly , then add  elaichi powder .If  you want you can add cashews  roasted in ghee   also . Now  the tasty, healthy  payasam ready ( i didnt  have the  cashews in stock , so didnt add )

Brinjal stuffed curry

Again  kathrikai   ...... this time  our favourite  stuffed curry .We have to prepare this  with extra care, otherwise  it will get broken . Very tasty  curry , When we have this ready made podi we can prepare very quickly.
 Ingredients:
 Kutty kathrikai ( tender) - 1/2 kilo
 Salt  -  to taste
 Curry powder -  2 to 3 tsp ( according to spicy )
 Oil -  4 tsp
 Turmeric powder  - 1/2 tsp
 Curry leaves   - 4  /  5 
 To prepare curry powder :
 Dania ( coriander seeds  )  -  3 tsp
 Chana dal -  2 tsp
 Red chillies - 4  / 5
 Tempering :
 Kadugu  - 1 tsp

 Dry roast  dania. chana dal. red chillies in kadai  and powder it in a mixie.
 Wash the brinjal  check for the worms then  slit  from bottom side  or  top side  without cutting  fully. Take the curry powder and  add  the required salt and mix  thoroughly. Then stuff this mixer inside the slit brinjal without braking into pieces.
 In a  kadai  add   oil  , add    kadugu , curry leaves  temper it , then add the stuffed brinjal slowly  turning every now and then with out bracking  into pieces  cook it  by closing it with the lid.. In  5 minutes  it will be ready .
Another method , # OPOS:
For  this we  stuff the brinjal  first with curry powder ( as  given above) and   take a   2 lt cooker  add  4 tsp of oil  , curry leaves , then arrange the stuffed brinjal carefully  and  add 2  tsp of water from the side and  cook for  1  whistle / 4 mins. Allow the pressure to settle down and  open the lid and  take  the stuffed  brinjal carefully and  serve  with hot  rasam sadham / mor kuzhambu . Enjoy   the   stuffed  kathrikai  curry.

Easy Vegetable koottu # OPOS

My mom made us to  eat all the vegetables, saying  " ovvoru kayile  ovvoru saththu  irukku "..... She prepared deliciously also . She wont use more spicy or more  ingredients .. with anjaraipetti  ingredients    we got  very very yummy food prepared  my mom.  , I  try to follow her methods  as far as possible.
Now  I am using one pot one shot  with the same ingredients ,Sometimes  Mom use   grated coconut, red chillies , jeeragam .  grind coarsely  and  ading to the koottu , Sometimes  simple  koottu without  coconuts .
Today I prepared simple delicious koottu with out coconut .
Ingredients:
 Snake gourd/ pudalangai   - 2 ( 1/2 kilo){ cabbage/ avaraikai/ raw tomato / peerkangai   also we can  use instead of pudalangai}
 Turmeric powder -  1/2 tsp
 Green dal (payatham paruppu)   - 3 tsp
 Salt  - to taste
Green chillies - 2  to 3 ( sliced)
 Tempering:
 Oil - 2 tsp
 Kadugu - 1 tsp
 Curry leaves -  4 /5 leaves

 Method :
   Wash and   cut the pudalangai  remove the centre part and seeds   and cut  it into small pieces .
 Take  a  2  lt cooker use   2 tsp oil  ,then add the ingredients  as layers ..   cut  vegetables , green dal , salt , green chillies,turmeric powder , then add   2 cups of water be the side of the cooker without disturbing the layers , Cook for  3 whistles  or  10 to 12  mins. Allow the cooker get cooled, open the cooker mash the koottu and  add the  tempering ingredients  garnish with fresh coriander leaves( but i dont have today ).You can use  this koottu as side dish for sambar rice/ vatha kuzhambu rice/ rasam rice .... 
             

Easy Mysore pa

Making mysore pa  is   not  a easy one, some times  this will become  sunnambu katti  some times  juicy ..... How to solve this  in aeasy way to get a  soft mysore pa  using sugar syrup hack procedure .
 In our   food group we  used to  prepare  many sweets  using this method, so that we can be hazzle free , using lee ghee  can enjoy the sweets.
Ingredients:
 Besan -
 Sugar ,
 water.
 ghee
1 cup roasted gram flour ( Roasted in 1/4 cup ghee ) Roast till raw smell goes 1 cup sugar Quarter cup water Switch off sugar syrup at 4th whistle Mix well n add extra 2 tbsp ghee it is perfecto It's really mouth melting .