Carrot Halwa (Gajar ka Halwa)Recipe

I become nostalgic when I think of carrot halwa, amma used to make it with regularly. Those days we did not even know that red carrots did exist ,no google no blogs. Amma came to know of this carrot halwa through a neighbour.From then she used to make it for us now and then .I was a big fan of this halwa(till today I am) even though I was not fond of milk.Its winter time and we see the red carrots or Delhi carrots in the market, my kiddo was at the back of me to post a sweet recipe for Christmas and New year . So thought of posting a sweet for New year and prepared this . Amma used to make this in the pressure cooker, but I used a non stick kadai.It is a very humble dish which calls for ingredients that are available easily in every house.Wish you all a Happy New year and may this year bring in all the joy.

Carrot Halwa Recipe- Ingredients

Red Carrots - 1 cup grated (about 250 grams of carrot)
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Milk - 3/4 cup
Cashew - 10
Ghee - 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Heat 1 tsp ghee in a kadai , fry the cashews and keep it aside.In the same kadai add some more ghee and add the grated carrots and saute well till raw smell leaves.
2. Now add the the milk and cook till all the milk is absorbed.You can add the sugar and stir well till it mixes well with the carrot and milk .Stir till everything comes together and reaches the halwa consistency
3. Garnish with roasted cashews and serve hot or cold.It tastes great when served with vanila icecream(Yum).

My Notes:

• You can reduce the amount of sugar if the carrots are sweet.
• Using condensed milk enhances the taste, you can reduce the milk to 1/2 cup and add 2 tbsp of condenced milk.
• You are free to add kesar colour if you want your halwa to be bright.(I didn't)
• We can try this halwa with regular carrots but colour may differ.

Tomato Chutney with Potato Recipe

After I have started blogging I am trying to recollect dishes that amma used to make and is totally forgottenn now.One such recipe is this tomato chutney with potatoes,which is a favourite in our household . If it is this chutney for breakfast or dinner nobody will complain about having idly,although we love to have it with dosa.My brother and me we used to hate idlies.This is the first time I am trying this chutney and it came out well.We had it with dosa as kido hates idlies(in the genes u see).This chutney is just like our regular tomato chutney but the addition of potatoes makes it a favourite among kids.It tastes great when the onion and tomato are ground in a ammikal,which is not possible in todays apartment culture and who has the time or energy to use an ammi with a hyper active kid at home, who keeps me on my toes the minute she is back from school.This chutney can be made tangy or spicy as per ones liking.It may remind one of a potato gravy sans ginger garlic paste or a southIndian version of potato gravy.

Tomato Chutney with Potato Recipe- Ingredients

Onion - 2 chopped
Tomato -2 chopped
Potato - 1 peeled and chopped
Red Chilly - 3
Oil - 3 tbsp
Curry leaves - 1 spring
Mustard - 1tsp
Salt to tast

Method:

1. In the mixie add one chopped onion, 2 tomatoes and red chillies and grind to a fine paste.Chop the other onion finely,also peel and chop the potato to small bite sized pieces.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard once it splutters add the curry leaves followed by the finely chopped onion and potato and saute well.
3. Now tip in the ground onion tomato puree and cover and simmer till the potato is cooked and the raw smell of the chutney leaves and switch off the stove. Serve with hot idlies, dosa or rotis.

My Notes:

• You are free to increase the number of chillies as mine was on the milder side.
• Adjust the consistency of the chutney as per your liking.If you are packing for lunch make it thick.
• The amount of oil can be decreased if using a non stick pan.
• Add sesame oil while serving for kids it enhances the taste.
• You can also make it as regular tomato chutney without potatoes.

Paneer Bhurji(No onion ,No garlic )Recipe

Back after a much needed break ,a stay with my parents.We even had great time with my sister and brother.The kids also had great time playing together.Good food ,great chit chats and nice time together.We had been planning this kind of a holiday for a long time (say 2 years) and some how it wouldn't work out, finally we made last minute plans and hurray!!! it worked.We even had or rather shall I say we tried our hands at baking .Although our trial was not a super success it wasn't a flop either.So you can soon expect cakes in the blog , thanks to sis, who is a senior blogger and great baker as well.Now to the recipe this bhurji I came across while surfing through TV channels.Its a no onion no garlic recipe,tried it the next day a it came out great,that my kid had a small bowl of it as such.

Paneer Bhurji(No onion No garlic)Recipe- Ingredients

Paneer - 100 gms (crumbled)
Capsicum - 1 (medium sized one chopped to bite sized pieces)
Oil - 1 tbsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala powder- 1 tsp
Salt - to taste

To Grind:

Green Chilly - 1
Ginger - 1 inch piece

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan, add the jeera immediately add the Green chilly ginger paste and fry till raw smell leaves.
2. Now add the cubed capsicum and saute it for 2 minutes , see to it that the capsicum doesn't loose its crunch.
3. Add the powders and salt and saute well, finally add the crumbled paneer , mix well for a minute and switch off the stove.Your paneer bhurji is ready to serve with roti,as a stuffing for bread sandwich or chappathi roll.

My Notes:

• The original recipe called for grated ginger and finely chopped chilly but I made a paste of this as we do not like biting into bits of ginger.
• Its a no onion no garlic recipe but you are free to added onions and ginger garlic paste.
• You can even add grated carrots and boiled peas along with capsicum .

Chicken and Potato Gravy Recipe

This Sunday it was chicken and potato gravy.A combination of chicken with potato can never go wrong.Actually I wanted to try a gravy from a magazine but I was hesitant as the recipe did not have any ginger garlic paste ,so just made adjustments to suit our taste.The gravy came out well,and I got a thumps up from my daughter thats a great compliment.Her christmas holidays are on and she is much excited at visiting her grandparents.Hope to have a nice time ,even my sister is coming over and hope we have a nice time together.Next post I will update about all the fun we had.Coming to this recipe its an easy one without much fancy ingredients.

Chicken 'n' Potato Gravy Recipe- Ingredients

Chicken - 1/2 kg
Onion - 2 medium sliced
Tomato - 1
Red Chilly Powder - 1tsp
Potato - 2 (peeled and chopped )
Coriander powder - 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
Garam Masala Powder- 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste

To Marinate :

Red Chilly Powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder -1/2 tsp
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1/2 tsp

To Temper:

Oil - 3 tbsp
Cloves - 3
Cinnamon - 1 inch
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
Bay Leaf (Brinji Elai) - 1
Curry leaves - 1 spring

To Grind:

Tomato -1
Coriander Leaves - a handfull

Method:

1. Marinate the chicken for 1/2 hour with the ingredients in "To Marinate".In the meantime you can chop the onion,potatoes and tomato as well as grind the "To Grind" ingredients to a fine paste.
2. Now heat oil in a pressure cooker add the ingredients in the "To Temper "list followed by the onions, when the onions turn pink add the chopped tomato and ginger garlic paste .You can now add the powders, saute well ,add the marinated chicken,followed by salt and mix well till it is coated well with the masala.
3. At this stage add the ground mix to the chicken , mix well, and add a cup of water and pressure cook the chicken for two whistles.After the pressure is released check for seasoning and add the potatoes and cook for one more whistle.Now your chicken potato gravy is ready to be served with hot rice,idly,dosa ,roti or even with a mild pulav.

My Notes:

• You can omit the potato and make it as chicken Gravy,but potatoes add volume to the gravy and blend well with chicken.
• Grinding the coriander leaves along with the tomato enhances fresh aroma to the gravy .
• You can even cook the gravy in a pan instead of pressure cooker but it takes longer to cook.
• This gravy is of apt spiciness for our taste buds.Adjust the chilly powder to your taste,mine was not very spicy.

SenaiKizhangu Vadai(Yam Vadai)Recipe

The recipe I want to share is amma's recipe ,she makes this vadai once in a way and my kid loves having this when we visit my mothers place.She calls it "kuttti vadai".Amma says that we should add senai kizhangu in our diet atleast once a week,I usually prepare a varuval(lazy),but I wanted to try this for the blog hey blogging had brought the better side of me.My kid is happy that I blog as she gets to eat different food items,all thanks to blogging. Senai kizhangu or some call it karunai kizhangu in Chennai has great medicinal properties ,its a good medicine for piles.I also read in "Snehidhi"(tamil magazine)that it serves as a healthy food for teenaged girls. Although it is deep fried you can have it once in a while.

SenaiKizhangu Vadai(Yam Vadai)Recipe- Ingredients

SenaiKizhangu (yam) - 1 cup (Boiled and mashed)
Onion - 1 (chopped finely)
Green chilly -2 nos
Curry Leaves - 1 spring
Ginger - 1/2 inch
Garlic - 5 pods(medium sized)
Turmeric Powder- 1/2 tsp
Fennel Seeds Powder - 1/2 tsp
Fried Gram dhal (pottukadalai)- 1/2 cup < br /> Salt to taste
Oil to deep fry

Method:

1. Pressure cook the peeled and washed senaikizhangu, drain the water, cool and mash it well without any lumps. You can add salt, Turmeric and fennel seeds powder while mashing.
2. Now in a dry mixer powder the fried gram dhal to a fine powder and store it in a dry container.In the same mixie jar just pulse the onions and curry leaves(alternately you can chop them finely).Now make a paste of the ginger, garlic and green chilly(GGG paste).
3. Mix the Onion,curry leaves mix and GGG paste to the mashed senaikizhangu(yam).At this stage you might find your vadai mix sticky. Now slowly add the powdered Fried gram dhal little by little to bring the mix to a consistency to shape it into vadais.Check for salt.
4. Heat Oil in a kadai, shape the mix into desired shapes (preferably small ones)and deep fry them on medium heat till they turn brown (not black).serve hot as a sidedish for sambhar rice or even as snack with sauce.

My Notes:

• It is important that you drain the boiled yam or it may absorb lot of oil. Adjust the amount of Fried gram dhal powder accordingly
• These can be used as kebab in frankies/ Chappathi rolls.
• The vadai mix before frying can be used as stuffing in chappathi(planning to try it).
• I found that the mix was easier to shape after an hour of refrigeration.
• You can make the mix the previous day and make the vadais the next day also.(Easier during parties or when u have guests).

Vendhaya Keerai Sambhar Recipe

I buy fenugreek leaves or vendhaya keerai whenever they are fresh.In chennai we get two types this one is the large one the other is very tiny one.I usually make a dhal,kootu or sambhar with this greens.This greens keeps good for about 2 days under refridgeration .This sambhar goes well with rice and dosa or idly.Fenugreek leaves serve as a good medicine for the diabetes.These greens are rich in dietary fibre and I was amazed to know that fenugreek leaves are high on protein.So planning to include more of this leaves in everyday cooking. Now to the recipe.

Vendhaya Keerai Sambhar Recipe- Ingredients

Thuvar Dhal - 3/4 cup
Moong Dhal -1/4 cup
Fenugreek Leaves -1 cup (cleaned)
Onion - 1 chopped
Tomato - 1 chopped
Red chilly Powder - 1 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tbsp.
Turmeric Powder -1/2 tsp + 1 pinch
Tamarind - Gooseberry sized soaked in water
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
water as required
Salt to taste

To Temper:

Oil - 3 tbspn
Mustard seeds -1 tsp
Urad dhal- 1 tsp
Jeera - 1/2 tsp < br /> Red Chilly - 2 nos

Method:

1. Wash and pressure cook the dhals with a pinch of turmeric and asafoetida till done, mash them.
2. Heat oil in a frying pan and add the items in the "to temper"list,when the mustard starts to spluter and the urad dhal turn golden brow now add the onions followed by the tomato.When the toamato turns mushy add the Fenugreek Leaves and saute till it shrinks.
3. Now add the powders and salt followed by a little water to cook the leaves.After the leaves are cooked add the tamarind juice (the amount of tamarind depends upon personal taste).
4. Boil it till the tamarind looses its raw smell ,add the mashed dhals and bring it to a boil.Now your Fenugreek leaves Sambar aka Vendhaya Keerai sambhar is ready to serve with rice,Idly or dosa.

My Notes:

• You can use only thuvar dhal instead of a combination of dhals,but moong dhal adds creaminess to the sambhar.
• Sauting of the greens is very important to get rid of the bitterness of the greens.
• We usually dont add curry and coriander leaves to keerai sambhar.

Chana Masala(Dry) Recipe

I was reminded of my school days when this recipe came to mind. Mom used to make this specially for me. I would love to have it with any variety rice especially coconut rice this masala would add a spicy touch to the otherwise bland coconut rice. But somehow I totally forgot this recipe. Last week when I was breaking my head for an easy and different recipe to try with chana this recipe came to my mind.I immediately soaked the chana to try masala. This recipe is a dry version and quite different from the ones that use ginger garlic paste and garam masala. This is a SouthIndian version.It can be served with rice and also with roti. We had it with "Methi roti".It was a great combo. Try it yourself.

Chana Masala(Dry) Recipe- Ingredients

Kabuli Chana- 1 Cup(soaked over night or 8 hours)
Onion- 1 (finely chopped)
Sambar Powder - 1tsp(I used store bought)
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Green Chilly -1 (slit)
Salt to taste
Oil - 2tsp

Method:

1. Pressure cook the soaked chana in fresh water and a little salt for 3 whistles or until it is cooked soft but not mushy.Drain the chana form the water and reserve this water.
2. Heat oil in a fry pan when hot add the onion and saute with a pinch of salt till it turns pink, now tip in the Powders along with slit green chilly saute till the raw smell leaves.Now pour the water that we reserved. Let the masala and onions come together.check for salt.
3. Now add the boiled chana and toss well to coat the masala, switch off the stove after 2 minutes and your south Indian style chana masala is ready to serve with variety rice , roti or even as a snack.

My Notes:

• See to it that the boiled chana is soft yet firm and not mushy.
• The same recipe can be tried with black chana or any other legume.
• you can omit the onions and add grated coconut after you switch off the stove and try it for Navaratri.
• Adjust the amount of sambar Powder according to your spice level.
• Sqeeze a slice of lemon for a tangy taste.

Methi Roti Recipe

Back after a 2 day visit to vellore for a wedding,had a nice time catching up with relatives and had great food at the wedding.Coming back to the recipe Methi Roti is a healthy way to sneak in greens in your kids lunch box ,so I buy Methi whenever I see fresh Methi in the shop.It is best suited for lunch box as it stays soft for long.Just methi rotis with a cup of curd makes for a filling lunch for kids.This meal I prepared for my daughter who wanted me to post only as full course meal rather than one dish .She enjoyed her lunch of methi roti with channa masala and curd. You can chop the methi leaves if the leaves are big.Next post will be the chana masala which is simple and easy.

Methi Roti Recipe- Ingredients

Wheat Flour - 1 Cup
Methi Leaves - 1 cup (cleaned and Chopped)
Red Chilly Powder - 1tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Water as required
Oil - 1tsp

Method:

1. Heat oil in a kadai and saute the cleaned and chopped methi along with chilly,turmeric and garam masala powder and salt till it shrinks in quantity.Let it cool.
2. Take wheat flour in a mixing bowl,add the methi mixture and required water to make a soft pilable and non sticky dough.
3. Make lemon sized balls of the dough and roll each ball into thin circles using the rolling pin.Use flour for dusting .Roll the rotis as thin as possible.
4. Heat a tawa on medium heat and place the roti on the tawa and drizzle a little oil (optional),when you see bubbles turn it to the other side and cook till brown spots appear on both the sides.
Now your Methi roti is ready to serve.We had ours with chana masala.You can have it with curd and some pickle for a wholesome meal.

My Notes:

• This roti does not require any resting time.You can go head with rolling the roti as soon as the dough is ready.
• Adding garam masala is optional,but it lends a nice aroma to the roti.

Sprouted Peas Masala Recipe

Our doctor always recommends us to include sprouts in our menu everyday, so I keep looking for any chance to include it.This masala is easy and quick one provided you have dried or fresh peas sprouts on hand.You can even try this with unsprouted fresh peas or soaked ones also.The masala goes well with any variety rice or sambar rice and also with roti equally.Now off to the recipe.

Sprouted Peas Masala Recipe- Ingredients

Sprouted Dried Peas - 1 cup
Onion - 1 (finely chopped)
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Chilly Powder - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste

To temper:

Oil - 3 tbspn
Mustard seeds -1 tsp
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. Pressure cook the sprouted peas for 2 or 3 whistles(do not over cook)with salt and turmeric powder.
2. Heat oil in a kadai and the items in "to temper" list, then add the onions along with a pinch of salt, add the chilly and garam masala powders and saute till raw smell leaves.
3. Add the cooked peas and toss till the masala is coated well. Your sprouted peas masala is ready to serve with rice ,roti or even in your sandwich.

My Notes:

• Mine is a dry version you are free to add a tbsp of coriander powder while sauting and 1/2 cup of water to make a thin gravy.
• If you do not like biting on fennel seeds you can use fennel seeds powder.But I would recommend the use of fennel as whole or in powder form for this enhances the taste of the dish.

Medu Vadai Recipe (Ulundu Vadai Recipe)

This vadai is my kids favourite vadai as it is crispy on the outside and soft inside.This vadai is made during pooja's as an offering .When made for pooja's we avoid onions in this recipe.I love to have it with sambar but my kid loves it with curd ,Will post the curd vadai soon.Although it is deep fried it is rich in protien.Hot vadai with piping hot sambar on a cool evening is a true bliss.

Medu Vadai(ulundu Vadai) Recipe- Ingredients

Urad Dhal(full deskinned) - 1 cup (I used Udayam brand)
Ginger - 1 inch (peeled)
Green chilly - 3
Onion - 1 (finely chopped)
Salt to taste
Water to grind (3 tbsp)
Oil to deep fry

Method:

1. Wash and soak a cup of urad dhal for an hour. Place the soaked dhal in a strainer to remove all the water and grind the dhal along with ginger, green chillies and salt.
2. Grind the dhal till it turns out fluffy,(add water by spoon only to enable the grinding )and transfer it to a bowl and add the onion
3. Now that the batter is ready you can heat oil in a kadai. Wet your hand, take a lemon sized ball of the batter place it on a zip lock cover, flatten it and make a small hole in the center.
4. Transfer the flattened batter to oil and fry on medium till you get a golden color. Drain from oil and transfer to a plate with tissue paper. This helps in absorbing any excess oil.
Serve hot with coconut chutney or sambar or both.

My Notes:

• Adding salt while grinding prevents the batter from turning watery if salt is added later.
• You can add a tsp of rice flour to the ground batter to thicken the consistency.(I didn't)
• Always be careful with the amount of water used.More the water in batter the vadai tends to absorb oil.If the batter is too thick then the vadai turns out hard.
• I grind my vadai batter in the mixie , as it is only for 5 of us. Use a grinder for a larger crowd.
• To check for the batter's fluffiness just drop a small ball of the batter in water if it floats then you have ground the batter smoothly.
• You can add finely chopped green chilly, curry leaves and coriander leaves also.
• You can add peppercorns and jeera while grinding which gives an extra zing. Adjust the number of green chillies if using pepper.

Kongunad Chicken Curry Recipe

On a lazy sunday morning while gazing at newspaper this recipe caught my attention.What better day to try a new dish than a sunday .So I decided its going to be this chicken curry for lunch.I was pretty sure this would win hands down while I was roasting the masala itself.The aroma of fresh spices and coconut being roasted wafted the kitchen.My kid enjoyed her sunday lunch with this curry with rice and chicken65.

Kongunad Chicken Curry Recipe- Ingredients

Chicken - 1/2 kg
Onion - 2 medium sliced
Tomato - 2
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Chilly Powder - 1tsp
Salt - to taste

To roast and grind:

Oil - 1 tspn
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
Peppercorns - 1/2 tsp
Coriander seeds - 1tbsp
Red chilly - 3
Cloves - 3
Cinnamon - 1 inch
Garlic cloves - 10 (medium sized )
Onion - 1
Coconut - 1/2 grated

To temper:

Oil - 3 tbspn
Mustard seeds -1 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 spring
Green chilly - 3 slit

Method:

1. Roast the ingredients in "To roast and grind" in oil, cool and grind to a smooth paste.
2. In a kadai heat the oil add the ingredients in "To temper" and then saute the onions,once the onion turns pink add the chopped tomatoes,salt,chilly powder and turmeric powder.
3. Add the cleaned chicken pieces and saute well .Now add in the ground masala and water to cook the chicken.Cover and cook for about 10 minutes .
Your Kongunad chicken curry is ready to serve with rice or dosa.

My Notes:

• The original recipe called for poppy seeds also to be roasted and ground but I did'nt add any.
• The amount of green ,red chillies and peppercorns can be altered as per need.
• I added chilly powder for color sake and reduced the amount of peppercorns.
• This gravy is of apt spiciness for our taste buds.

Noolkol Kurma Recipe

This NoolKol(kohl rabbies) kurma goes well with rice as well as with roti ,dosa,idly and even idiyappam.It is a regular in our house atleast once in ten days.altough my kid is not fond of it with rice she loves having kurma with dosa.This kurma can be made using other veggies like potato,peas,carrot,beans as mixed veg kurma.

Noolkol Kurma Recipe - Ingredients

Noolkol/Kohl rabbies (peeled and cubed)- 2 cups
Onion - 1 chopped (medium)
Tomato - 3 chopped (medium)
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 spring
Sugar - 1 pinch
Coriander powder - 2 tbsp
Chilly powder - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tbsp
Coriander leaves for garnishing

To grind:

Coconut (grated) - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1 small one

To temper:

Cinnamon sticks - 1 inch
Cloves - 3
Cardamom -1

Method:

1. First grind the coconut along with the onion to a smooth paste and set aside.
2. Take a pressure cooker ,heat oil and add the ingredients under "to temper".You will get the good flavour of the spices frying in oil.
3. Add in the onion and saute till it turns pink, then followed by tomatoes,curry leaves and ginger garlic paste.
4. Add in a pinch of sugar while frying ,this enhances the taste and color of the kurma.Add the chopped noolkol and saute for a minute and add the masala powders and salt.
5. Fry this for 2 more minutes, add about 1/2 a cup of water and pressure cook for three whistles.
6. After cooker cools down open it and add the ground coconut mix.Allow it to boil for not more than a minute and switch off the stove.
7. Transfer it to the serving bowl and garnish with coriander leaves.Serve hot with rice,roti or dosa.

My Notes:

• Noolkol can be replaced by potato and peas or a mix of veggies as you wish.
• We usually make it for lunch and use the remaining for dinner along with Roti or dosa.