Tomato Rasam

Rasam rice is undoubtedly my ultimate comfort food. Just try having hot Rasam with steaming rice, mixed with a spoonful of home-made ghee along with any 'thoran' or 'paruppu-usili'. Nothing can beat this meal on a rainy day.

My Amma is famous for her fragrant 'rasams'. The secret behind her 'rasam' is a 'mathhu' which is a simple wooden mechanism which helps to churn butter out of curd. I must say that this is an incredible device used in almost all the house-holds in southern India. Back at home, Amma is very particular about the 'mathhu' to be used, because she has two separate 'mathhu' - one for butter milk and one for 'rasam'. Anyway, lets make ourselves some lovely 'rasam'...

and for that you will need:

Ripe Roma tomatoes : 1 big or 2 small nos
Tur dal ( Arhar dal) : 1/4 cup
Rasam powder : 1.5 tsp
Tamarind paste : 1/2 tsp
Salt : to taste
pepper pdr : to taste (optional)
Turmeric pwd : 1/4 tsp
Garlic (crushed) : 1/2 tsp (optional)
Mustard seeds : 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds : 1/2 tsp
Asaphoetida pwd : 1 pinch
Ghee : 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves : 1 tbsp


Method:

Pressure cook Tur dal in some water with turmeric pwd till soft and mushy. Boil 3/4 cup water in a pan and add chopped tomatoes, salt, garlic, pepper pwd. Cook on slow fire. When the dal is cooked, add rasam pwd in the dal and mash with 'mathhu' as shown below.




Now stir in the tamarind paste in the cooked tomatoes and simmer for a few minutes. When it comes to a boil, pour the dal mixture into the pan with tomatoes. Add salt and stir. All the mixture to become frothy i.e. you will see bubbles on top of the 'rasam'.Keep the pan on low heat, keeping in mind not to boil the rasam any more.




The final step is to put 'tadka' or tempering. For this heat some ghee in a separate pan and add mustard, cumin and asaphoetida pwd. When the seeds crackle, pour it in the rasam. Garnish it with Coriander leaves and serve hot.

Happy news to share....!!

I am very Happy to announce the arrival of my neice. Yes, my sister-in-law and 'jeejaji' are blessed with an adorable baby girl today. CONGRATULATIONS.. !! to the lovely couple...

and this cake is for my shweet cooochie poo neice..!!

Oats Rava Idli

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Keeping this in mind, Amma always made sure that we ate our breakfast, no matter what. Almost every other day we had either 'idli', 'dosai' ,'upma' or sometimes 'pongal'. When ever its a 'no-idli- batter-in-the-fridge' day, she would make Rava idli or rava dosai. I was thinking of healthier version of 'rava idli' and thought of adding some powdered Oats in the rava idli batter and...voila..!!Surprizingly, it tasted so good. Oats rava idli turned out so soft and spongy...Try this recipe and let me know your views...

For the recipe you will need:

Dry roasted rolled oats : 1/2 cup
Rava (semolina ) : 1 cup
Mustard seeds : 1 tsp
Bengal gram dal (chana dal) : 1/2 tsp
Spit black gram (Urad dal) : 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida pwd : 1 pinch
Dry red chillies (whole) : 1 nos
Green chillies (optional) : 1 (chopped)
Grated carrot (optional) : 1/4 cup
Yogurt : 1/2 cup
Water : as needed
Salt : to taste
Eno fruit salt or baking pwd : 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves (chopped) : 1 tbsp
Vegetable oil : 1 tsp



Method:

Grind Oats coarsely and keep aside. Heat oil in a pan.Add mustard seeds, chana dal, urad dal, dry whole red chilli and asafoetida and stir.When the dals are light brown and mustard seeds crackle, add green chilli and semolina and stir well. Remove the pan from fire and allow semolina to cool. Now add carrot, coriander leaves,salt, oats and yogurt. Mix the batter well. Grease the idli mould and boil water to steam idlis. Stir in Eno fruit salt with some water and mix it quickly with the batter. The batter should be slightly thicker compared to regular idli batter. Spoon the batter into each mould and steam the idlis for about 15 minutes. Allow the idlis to cool for a few minutes before taking them off the mould. Serve hot with Chutney. I usually make zuchhini chutney for Rava idli.

I promise to post Zuchhini chutney recipe soon!!

Avocado Coriander Paratha

The other day I was leafing through the pages of Woman's era magazine when I happened to see an interesting recipe called guacamole originally from Mexico. Its a simple and healthy dip eaten with Chips or Bread sticks. One of its ingredients was Avocado. Wow...Ok, so I decided to get some avocado and whipp up some guacamole. But friends, when I started off with the recipe, I thought.."why can't I make some thing 'Indianish' out of avocados. And I just love what I made with my gorgeous avocados....

For the recipe you will need:

Avocado (ripe) : 1 nos
Coriander leaves : 1/2 cup
Salt : to taste
Green chillies : 3 nos
Whole Wheat flour : 2 cups
Water ( for dough) : as required
Ajwain : 1/4 tsp
Sesame seeds(optional) : 1 tsp


Method:

Cut the avocado lengthwise around the seed. Open the two halves to expose the pit.Now gently tap the pit with the blade of a sharp knife. Make sure you use enough force so that the knife edge wedges into the pit. Do this carefully.Twist the pit out of the avocado with the knife blade and throw. You can use a kitchen towel to get rid of the pit from the knife. Next step is to scoop out the avocado pulp from the shells using a spoon into a mixing bowl.





Mix the rest of the ingredients and make a dough using water. Allow the dough to rest for some time. Now make roud Parathas using the dough and sprinkle a few drops of ghee while cooking on tawa. Serve hot with Tomato thokku. For recipe click here

Tomato Thokku / Chutney / Pickle

Tomato Thokku is one of my favourite home made pickles. It is amazingly versatile as it can be eaten with chappathy, curd rice, upma, bread and even with salt crackers(monaco biscuits)!!! Nonetheless, its very simple, quick and tasty.

For this recipe, you will need:

Ripe Roma tomatoes : 5-6 nos
Red chilli pwd : 1 tsp or to taste
Salt : to taste
Turmeric pwd : 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds : 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds (optional) : 1/4 tsp
Fenugreek seeds : 1/2 tsp
Jaggery pwd or Sugar : 1 tbsp
Asafoetida pwd : 1 pinch
Red chillies (whole) : 1 nos
Gingelly oil : 2 tbsp
Curry leaves : 1 tsp


Method:

Dice the tomatoes roughly. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds,Fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida, Curry leaves and whole red chillies. When the seeds crackle, toss in the tomatoes and stir well. Simmer the pan and allow the tomatoes to become mushy. Now add red chilli pwd, turmeric pwd, salt, jaggery pwd and mix. Do not cover the pan with lid because you want the water to evaporate. Cook it for sometime untill it attains a thick chutney like consistancy. Turn off the heat and allow the thokku to cool completly. Serve with Chappathy, Dosai or Rice.

Kothhu Chappati

Left-overs Chappathy always comes handy to make something healthy , filling and most important...'quick 'n' easy' dish. So I thought of whipping up something new, mixing almost every veggie I had in the refrigerator and finally I managed to bring a smile on his face...:):)..he he

This recipe tastes almost like the 'kothhu parotta' we get near railway station and bus stands in India. Apparently, its extremely simple, one pot meal and nutritious too.

For the recipe you will need:

Leftover chappati : 6-7 nos
onion (medium size) : 2 sliced
Tomato : 2 sliced
Mixed Vegetables (optional) : 1/2 cup
green pepper (capsicum) : 1/2 cup finely chopped
Salt : To taste
Red chilli powder : to taste
Turmeric powder : 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder : 1 tsp
Garam masala powder : 1/2 tsp
Tomato ketchup : 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds : 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds : 1/4 tsp
Oil (I used Olive oil) : 1 tsp
Coriander leaves : for garnishing


Method:

Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan and all mustard and cumin seeds. when they sizzle, add sliced onions and stir. Allow the Onions to turn light pink and then add turmeric,salt, chilli pwd, garam masala, coriander pwd. Mix and the add tomato. When the tomato softens add the vegetables and capsicum and mix well. In the mean while, tear the chappatis into strips or small bite size pieces. Finally stir in the tomato ketchup and chappati pieces. Adjust the salt according to preferance and serve hot, garnished with fress coriander leaves.