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.

Vegetable kootu (other methods)

I am continuring with Kootu preparation other methds

Ingredients


1.Blore katharikai 1

2.payatham paruppu (green gram dal) 2 table spoons

3.fresh grated coconut 1 table spoon

4. urad dal 1 t spoon

5. red chillies 2

6. jeera 1 t spoon

7. salt to taste

8. jeera powder 1 t spoon

9. mustard seeds 1/2 t spoon, urad dal 1/2 t spoon jeera 1/2 t spoon, little oil, for garnishing

10. curry leaves and coriander leaves for garnishing (optional)

11.Asafotida powder little

Method
Soak the dal in water for some time.
cut the vegetable into small pieces. (you can add half a potato and half a carrot, and a little beans to this for varied taste)
Keep a Pressure cooker on the stove with little water. Add the dal. when it comes to boil add the cut vegetables . Don't add salt. close the lid. After 2 whistles switch off the stove.
Open the cooker after it is cool and the pressure comes to normal.

Fry urad dal, jeera and red chillies in oil, a kadai till brown add half the coconut stir for some time and take out from stove and grind it into a smooth paste .

Add this paste to the cooked vegetables.

Keep it on the stove add salt and jeera powder, and mix well.

Take a small kadai, and put little oil and put the mustard seeds, once it splutters, add the urad dal and jeera . when the dal is brown , add the asafotida powder and add the remaining coconut and also the curry leaves and the coriander leaves and mix well. Add this to the Kootu which is in the Cooker. Mix well and Serve.

ANOTHER METHOD.

You can do one more type of kootu with the same ingredients. Instead of the fried and ground paste of urad dal, jeera and red chillies and coconut, Grind fresh (without frying) jeera, 2 green chillies and coconut into a paste. Use the same methodology in preparing but add this paste to the cooked vegetables.

This paste will be useful while making

Vellai (white) Pooshanikkai kootu

instead of payatham paruppu soak kadalai paruppu(channa dal) in water
use only pooshanikkai (ashgourd)

method same and add the green chilli, jeera, coconut paste.

You might need some thickenning powder for this kootu as this dish tends to become watery.

So after adding the ground paste, make a paste out of rice flour, little asafotida and water and add it to kootu and stir well. this will give the kootu the right consistency.

Vegetable Kootu

Vegetable Kootu is a South Indian dish which is served in a meal. It is prepared with Vegetables and lintels.
Here we will see many Kootus and the first one is the most simple and easy to prepare dish.

Squash (Blore Katharikkai) Kootu

Ingredients:

1. Blore katharikai 1
2. payatham paruppu (green gram dal)
3. sambhar powder 1 t spoon
4. fresh grated coconu 1 table spoon
5. salt to taste
6. jeera powder 1 t spoon
7. mustard seeds 1/2 t spoon, urad dal 1/2 t spoon jeera 1/2 t spoon for garnishing
8. curry leaves and coriander leaves for garnishing (optional)
9. Asafotida powder little

Method

Soak the dal in water for some time.

cut the vegetable into small pieces. (you can add half potato and half carrots, and a little beans to this for varied taste)

Keep a Pressure cooker on the stove with little water. Add the dal. when it comes to boil add the cut vegetables and add the sambhar powder . Don't add salt. close the lid. After 2 whistles switch of the stove.

Open the cooker after it is cool and the pressure comes to normal.

Keep it on the stove add salt and jeera powder, add half of cocnut and mix well.

Take a small kadai, and put little oil and put the mustard seeds, once it splutters, add the urad dal and jeera . when the dal is brown , add the asafotida powder and add the remaining coconut and also the curry leaves and the coriander leaves and mix well. Add this to the Kootu which is in the Cooker. Mix well and Serve.