'Adai'

Adai is another South Indian Tamil dish which is exclusively prepared by Tamil people.
It is also made like a Dosa on a Hot Plate or Dosai Kallu. This is much more healthier as lots of lentils are used in this dish.
Ingredients:

1. Raw Rice 1/2 cup
2. boiled idli rice 1/2 cup (alternately one cup of raw rice can also be used)
3. urad dal 1/3rd cup
4. channa dal 1/3 cup
5. tur dal 1/3 cup
6. black small chick peas a hand ful
7. green chillies 2 or 3
8. red chillies 3 to 4
9. ginger a small bit
10. Asafotida /perungayam little
11. salt to taste (approximately 1 and 1/2 t spoons )
12. curry leaves and coriander leaves
13. one onion cut into small bits.(optional)
14. 1 to 2 table spoons of grated coconut (optional)
15. oil for making the adai on the hotplate.

Method:

• Soak the rice and the three dals together for 4 to 5 hours

• Soak the chick peas separately for 4 to 5 hours.

• Grind the drained chick peas with chillies, ginger, asafotida, salt into a nice paste in the mixer.

• Drain the water from the dals and add this on top of the paste into the mixer and grind it into a little coarse batter. (If you want smoother 'adai' you can grind this also into a smooth batter.

• Cut the coriander and curry leaves and mix it thouroughlly with the batter.
• Add the grated coconut and mix it well.
• Use the batter to make adai immediately or keep the batter inside the fridge so as to take it out when ever you want to make adai, as this batter should not be kept outside for raising like dosa batter.

• Onion should be cut into very small pieces and added to the batter just before making the adai.

• Heat the dosai kallu very well and make the adai adding oil around the adai and this should be done on a medium flame and wait till the adai becomes golden brown and then turn it around.
• Unlike dosa the adai takes a little longer time to get crisp.

• Eat it with ' sambhar' or 'vellam' (jaggery).

• Adai aviyal is a famous dish in the South Indian Restaurants but some how I don't like the combination of adai with avial
• A little butter on top of the hot adai will add to the taste very much but watch your weight!!

Dosai/Idli Maavu (Batter)

• Dosai is generally called Dosa and I am going to give tips as to how to make the basic batter or maavu.

• Dosai is made out of Rice and Urad dal.

• At home, the Maavu is same for Idli and Dosai and normally the first two days idlis are made and then dosai is made with the same batter .

• If you have a typical Idli Grinder:

• Soak 4 cups of rice for 6 hours. 1 cup of urad dal for one hour.
  

• For this raw rice can be used. if you need good idlis it is better to use idli rice which is boiled rice which is specially used for making idlis and dosas.
  

• For best results use 3 cups of idli rice and 1 cup of raw rice.

• Soak 1 cup of urad dal just one hour prior to your grinding time.

• Grind the rice into a nice batter in the grinder keep aside and then grind the urad dal separately.

• While grinding the urad dal keep adding little water so that you get a fluffy smooth batter.

• Add 1 and half table spoon of salt and mix both the batters thouroughlly with hands and keep for the maavu to raise. (yeast is formed which makes this dish very healthy)

• Normally it is kept over night at normal temperature. (around 30 degree C).

• This can be stored in the fridge for upto 10 days.

• Before making idlis, keep the batter out side the fridge for some time. Just mix the maavu lightly and make idlis for the first two days so that you will get soft idlis.

• Then onwards mix the maavu thoroughly and make dosas.

• Dosas can be made from first day also after mixing the maavu nicely.

• One table spoon of vendhiyam (fenugreek seeds) can be added to the urad dal and ground together for better results and healthier idlis and dosas.

• One table spoon of 'aval' or rice flakes can be added to the rice while grinding it so that you get crispier dosas.

• If you don't have a grinder and you have only the normal mixer here is what should be done:

• Soak 3 cups of Rice and 1 cup of urad dal. the soaking time for urad dal is same . (just one hour )

• Use only raw rice as it is tough to grind the boiled idli rice in the mixer.

• While grinding the dal use ice cold water for fluffy batter.

• Alternately you get what is called 'idli' rava in the stores and you can buy it and just mix some water with it and make it into a batter , just grind the urad dal and mix both adding salt.

• This batter will be nice only for idlis as the idli rava is coarse and dosa will not come out smooth.

• The best and easiest method to make dosa while you have only the mixer:

• Just soak 2 cups of raw rice and one cup of urad dal together for around 4 to 5 hours. you can add some fenugreek seeds and also a little rice flakes.

• Grind them into a paste using cold water. add salt.
  
• Keep it outside the fridge for about 6 to 8 hours and you can make crisp nice dosas with this batter.

Tomato Soup

The Receipes I write in these blogs are tried by me many times and come out quite well.
Ingredietns:

1. Ripe Tomatoes 1 kg
2. Onion 1,or if big 1/2
3. Garlic 1 small (optional)
4. Carrot 1 small bit (optional)
5. Elachi or Cardomom few pods
6. Cinnamon stick 2 inch bit
7. Cloves few
8. Black Peppers few
9. Cumin seeds or Jeera 1 t spoon
10. Jeera powder 1 t spoon
11. Coriander seed powder 1 t spoon
12. Chilli powder 1 t spoon
13. Turmeric powder 1/2 t spoon
14. Sugar 1/2 t spoon
15. Pepper powder 1 t spoon
16. Salt to taste
17. oil 1 to 2 tspoons
18. Maida (all purpose flour) 1 tablespoon
19. Butter 1 to 2 tspoon
20. Milk 1/2 cup
21. lemon 1/2 (juice extracted without seeds)

Method:
Cut the onions.
Take a Thick bottomed vessel and add the oil. when the oil gets heated put the jeera, pepper, cloves, elachi, cinnamon stick and fry for a few minutes. Add the cut onions and garlic. when the onions turn light brown , cut and add the tomatoes and the carrot bit. add jeera powder, coriander powder, pepper powder, chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt and sugar. Now add 6 to 8 cups of water. keep the vessel closed and let it boil for 1/2 an hour. when the tomatoes are fully cooked and the water level has reduced, switch off stove.
Cool this and strain it through a metalic strainer. Strain it very well till all the juice comes out of the tomatoes and the other ingredients. now sqeeze the half lemon add the lemon juice after removing the seeds.
This base can be kept in fridge for a week or so.
When you want to serve the soup, take out the required quantity of soup and add milk. (For one kg of tomatoes 1/2 cup of milk will be needed. if less quantity of soup is to be served add less milk.)
Take kadai heat the butter add the maida. Stir it well and add the soup to the maida so that the soup gets thickened. Make sure there are no lumps of maida and the soup has a smooth texture.
Serve it hot adding fried bread crumps which can be fried separately and kept in a closed container so as to add when ever it is needed.
Fresh Cream can also be added while serving on top of the hot soup.
Pepper powder and salt can be added as per taste from the dispensers.

Variation for added taste:
Cut a small piece of Pumpkin and add it when you add the carrots in the soup.  Then when you strain the soup after it is cooled down  you will get a thicker soup.  when you strain the  soup if you can not get the whole juice out of the mixture , just blend  it in a mixer and then strain  so that  it can be strained fully.

Rava Upuma or Uppittu

This is a South Indian dish eaten as breakfast or 'tiffin'. This in itself is a complete meal and can be prepared very quickly and easily.

Ingredients:

1. Rava or Semolina 1 cup
2. Oil 1 to 1 1/2 table spoons.
3. Mustard seeds 1 t spoon
4. Broken urad dal 1 t spoons
5. Channa dal 1 t spoon
6. Green chillies 4 or 5
7. Ginger 1 small piece
8. Curry leaves 1 or 2
9. Coriander leaves few (optional)
10. Onion 1 medium size
11. Vegetables few beans, 1/2 carrot, 1 small potato, a small bit egg plant, small bit bell pepper, (simla mirch or kodai milagai), few peas
12. Salt to taste
13. Turmeric powder 1/2 t spoon
14. Ghee 1 to 2 tspoon Optional
15. water 2 to 2 1/2 cupts

Method:

Fry the rava in a dry Kadai or iluppa chatti till light brown. 1 t spoon of ghee can be added while frying for additional taste. keep it aside.

Cur the onions, and other vegetables and chillies and ginger into very small bits.

Put the oil in the kadai and add the mustard seeds . Once it splutters add the urad dal and the channa dal when urad dal turns brown add the cut curry leaves and chillies and ginger. Now add the cut onions. fry till light brown and add the other cut vegetables. (all the vegetables need not be used what ever vegetable from the list given is available can be used.) add the salt and the turmeric powder. fry for a little time add the water. Cover it with a lid. Let it boil. Check if the vegetables are cooked. When done, Reduce the flame, and add the rava little by little and keep stirring the mixture with a sturdy spoon. Stir till there is no chunks of rava in between and all the ingredients are mixed evenly. Cover it and keep it for a few minutes. add the coriander leaves and the ghee and switch off the stove. Upuma is ready.

If no vegetable is available , it can be done only with onions. Even if onions are not availabe it can be done with just green chillies and rava which incidentally was known as 'grahana upuma' in our house, as it is very easy and fast to prepare this and we were supposed to fast during the eclipse (grahana) and eat any food only after taking bath after the eclipse is over. So our mom used to prepare this quickly and it used to taste so good after fasting for few hours!

PEERKANGAI THUVAYAL (CHUTNEY)

This is a dish which is exclusive. This is prepared with Ribbed Gourd which is called Peerkangai in Tamil and Tori in Hindi and Heerekkai in kannada. This is eaten mixed with rice and is a very tasty dish which my children love.
Ingredients.

1. Peerkangai one if big or two if small
2. Grated coconut 2 to 3 table spoons
3. Urad dal 1 to 2 table spoons
4. Channa dal 1 t spoon (optional)
5. Red chillies 2
6. Mustard seeds 1/2 t spoon
7. Asafotida a small quantity
8. Coriander leaves 1/2 bunch or a hand ful (cut ones)
9. Green chillies 1
10. Tamarind if paste a little less than quarter t spoon , other wise a small bit
11. Salt to taste
12. Little oil for frying the dals

Method:

Scrap the outer surface of the 'peerkangai' slightly and cut them into small pieces.

Take a kadai or illuppa chatti . Put a t spoon of cooking oil. Add the mustard seeds and red chillies once it starts spluttering, add the urad dal and channa dal.

When urad dal turns slight brown add asafotida powder , half the salt. remove from the Kadai and put it in the mixer.

Now in the same kadai put the cut peerkangai( don't add any water just add cut and washed peerkangai) and also the green chilli and cover it with a lid. when it is cooked (it will get cooked very quickly) add some salt (the other half) and the coriander leaves and switch off the stove and let it cool. There will be some water left by the cooked vegetable in the kadai which can be used to grind the thuvayal.

Meanwhile grind the fried ingredients (dal and the redchillies) and add the grated coconut and the tamarind paste (or tamarind).

Drain the water from the cooked vegetable and keep it separate. Now add the cooked vegetable and coriander leaves which is in it to the already ground dal and coconut and grind to a paste. Add the drained water if necessary and grind again till you get the right thuvayal consistency. The dish is ready.

If you prepare this dish in the morning, keep it in the fridge for re use later in the evening. When ever you re use it do not heat it in microwave or anyother way as the possiblility of the dish going bad while reheating are very high. So use very hot cooked rice to mix with the thuvayal when you re use.

Vengaya chutney (onion chutney)

This Onion Chutney can also be used as a side dish for Idlis and Dosas.

Ingredients:

1. Urad dal 1 table spoon
2. Onions 2
3. red chillies 2
4. tamarind very little (if paste use 1/4 t spoon)
5. salt to taste (1/2 t spoon)
6. a small bit of jaggery (vellam) (optional)
   

Method:
fry the dal and red chillies together till the dal turns brown in a frying pan and keep aside.
Cut the onions into small pieces and fry till light brown.
grind the fried dal, fried onion, tamarind and salt into a paste. (chutney)
Onion chutney is ready

Variation:
Instead of Tamarind tomatoes can be added and made into a chutney. In the above recipe after the onions are fried and kept away, cut one tomato and fry in the frying pan for few minutes .
grind the onion, tomato, dal all fried separately and salt together and the chutney is ready.

Milgai Podi (Dosai Milagai podi)

Ingredients:

1. Urad dal 1 cup
2. Channa dal 2 table spoons (optional)
3. red dried chilli 10 or 12
4. white sesame seeds (vella ellu) 2 table spoons
5. little mustard seeds
6. little oil for frying
7. hing or asafotida powder or the katti perungayam
8. salt 2 t spoons

Method
Take a Frying pan and add a t spoon of oil. put the mustard seeds and red chillies and the asafotida. When chillies turn a little brown remove from frying pan.
Now put the dals and fry till urad dal turns brown. remove from pan and put the sesame seeds in the pan and fry till brown.
switch off the stove and put the salt in the hot pan. mix well
Now grind all the ingredients in the mixer and the 'podi' is ready.
Note: If sesame seeds are not available podi can be done with just urad dal, and red chillies but the sesame seeds give the podi the needed added taste.

Thengai Chutney (Coconut Chutney)

Ingredients :

1. Freshly grated coconut One cup
2. Green Chillies One
3. Chutney dal (pottu kadalai) puffed channa dhal 1 table spoon
4. Ginger one small bit (optional)
5. tamarind very little
6. salt to taste

one spoon oil mustard seeds and urad dal for garnishing

Grind the ingredients from one to 6 in a mixi and garnish with mustard seeds and urad dal.
For additional taste you can add 3 or 4 cashewnuts while grinding the chutney.

If chutney dal is not available, little channa dal can be fried in oil till brown and used.
Chutney can be made even without any of these dals.
If you are not very particular about the chutney being white a handful of coriander leaves can be added while grinding the chutney. The chutney will turn green but the taste will be better.