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Beetroot Jam

Beetroot is a naturally sweet veggie which can be easily used for making jam stuff.

Let us see how to prepare it.

Ingredients:

Beetroot - 3 Medium sized

Sugar - 1 cup (200 gm)

Preparation time: 30 mins

Method:

Peel the beetroot skin and pressure cook the beets to boil. You can boil either the whole beetroot or cut them into small pieces and then boil. Let it boil for 2 to 3 whistles in the cooker.

Once cooled, smash the beets in a mixie or chop them into fine pieces. I prefer smashing in a mixie.

Now, add the smashed beets and sugar in a pan and let it cook in medium flame for about 30 to 40 minutes. 

Frequently stir the mixture in the pan to avoid burning. The amount of sugar can be adjusted depending upon the likeness for sweet in the dish.

In around 40 minutes, the mixture gets the texture of jam. You can switch off the flame now.

Let it cool and it can be served along with bread or rotis.

The remaining can be refrigerated for future use.

Instant Mango Pickle

Mango Pickle is one of the mouthwatering Indian pickle and of course it's my all time favorite side dish. It goes good with curd rice and rice kanji and sometimes as a dip with Corn, Tortilla chips.

I got this recipe from one of my Malayalam friends. Lets see how to prepare a quick mango pickle.

Ingredients:

Green mango - 1 (medium sized)
Mustard seeds - 2.5 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli Powder - 3 tsp
Curry Leaves - 2 to 3 strands
Salt - As needed
Oil - 2 tsp

Preparation time: 30 mins

Method:

Cut the mango into square pieces. Add salt to the cut mango pieces and set aside for about 30 minutes.

Mix 2 tsp of mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds together and powder it. Its your choice to powder into a fine coarse or a medium textured mixture.I used a hand ural.

Now, heat oil in a pan and once the oil is heated, add mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add the powdered mustard and fenugreek mix to the oil.  Then add chilli powder, curry leaves and salt required.

After 5 seconds, add the cut mango pieces into the pan and mix until all the masala gets mixed with the mango well.

Now the pickle is ready. Let it cool in the pan. Preserve the rest in fridge.

This can be taken with rice, chapathi, roti and lot more. Enjoy this easy and delicious pickle.

Idiyappam Recipe

Idiyappam is one of the most popular dish in South India. It can be even called as rice noodles. This food can be given to even small kids. It is digested so easily and also everyone love the soft texture of the food.

Let us see how to prepare idiyappam from the scratch.

Ingredients:

1 cup rice soaked in water - for atleast 3 hrs

You can use either idli rice or normal rice for soaking. The rice should be soaked completely as if we soak for preparing idli batter.

Servings: 3 Adults

Method:

Grind the soaked rice in grinder. Grind it to a fine and soft batter. It can be even watery, need not be very thick.

You can opt any one of the following 2 methods for making the loose batter into a idiyappam consistent solid batter.

Method 1:

Heat a flat base pan in medium flame. Once the pan is heated, pour the batter.

Gradually the batter loses its water and starts to solidify. You have to continuously stir the batter in the pan so that it creates lesser lumps.

While stirring you can sprinkle little oil to the pan. At one stage, the batter will not stick to the pan. At this stage, switch off the flame.

Allow it to cool a bit. When it is as warm as you can handle it, give some press to the batter with your hand. Now take the batter and place it in the idiyappam squeezer. Squeeze it and boil either in idli cooker or idli pan.

The remaining batter can be stored in refrigerator for future use. Try to finish the stored batter in maximum of 4 days.

Method 2:

Pour the loose batter (the one we grind it in the grinder. Its consistency should be like idli batter) in the idli cooker or idli pan and make idlis.

Since the idlis are prepared with only rice, they will not  be so soft.

Now place the hot idlis in the idiyappam squeezer and squeeze it in a plate. This can be directly consumed, because the batter is already boiled.

Here also, the remaining batter can be refrigerated.

Note: In both the methods, try to squeeze when the batter / idli is hot. When hot, it will be more soft to squeeze.
Idiyappam prepared using method 1 will be more softer than method 2. But method 1 gives you really a hard exercise for your arms.

Semiya Bhadh / Semiya Pulav

Semiya Pulav can be prepared as a easy dinner recipe. All you need is some veggies and vermicelli.

Here comes the recipe for the simple dish.

Ingredients:

Vermicelli - 1 and 1/2 cup
Onion large - 1 medium sized
Green Chillies - 3 to 4
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Salt - As needed
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Tomato sauce - 4 tsp

In the following items, you can add all the veggies or any veggies based on your choice or stock.

Beans - 4
Carrot - 1
Potato - 1
Cauliflower - 4 to 5 florets
Corn - 3 tsp
Green Peas (either fresh or frozen) - 3 tsp
Cabbage shredded - 3 to 4 tsp
Capsicum - 1/2
Pudina  / Mint leaves - 7 to 8
Corriander leaves - For Garnishing


Servings: 2 Adults
Preparation time: 30 Mins

Method:

If the vermicelli is roasted, you can readily use them. If not roasted, first roast the vermicelli in little oil until they turn pale brown.

In a flat base pan, add oil and sauté the onions until it becomes transparent. Now add the ginger garlic paste and sauté for 2 mins.

Once its done, add the mint leaves and sauté. Then add all the vegetables and sauté them until they become tender. Once they become tender, add salt, little garam masala and sauté again until the raw smell goes off.

Now add water to the vegetables in the ratio of 1 : 2.5, i.e for one cup of vermicelli add 2.5 cups water, so that they will boil without burning at the bottom. Let the vegetables boil in water for 5 mins.

Now add the roasted vermicelli. Reduce the flame between sim and medium. Let the vermicelli boil in water for 5 to 10 minutes. Once its boiled, water will be absorbed and there will be very little water content.

At this point, add the tomato sauce and mix well gently. Make sure you are not smashing the boiled vegetables. Once the sauce is mixed, let it be in flame for another 3 mins.

Now Semiya Bhadh / Semiya Pulav is ready to be served. You can garnish with little coriander leaves.

Ravai paniyaram

Ravai paniyaram is a sweet dish prepared during Krishna Jeyanthi. Let us look at the recipe below.

Ingredients:

Rava - 1 and 1/2 cup.
Riped Banana -  1
Milk - 350 gm
Cardamom - 4 to 5
Grated Coconut - 3 tsp
Sugar - 1 cup
Salt - a pinch(optional)

Servings: 25 count
Preparation time: 1 hr
Cooking time: 40 mins

Method:

Soak rava in milk for 1 hr. Once it is soaked, rava will be so soft and sticky. The milk will be all absorbed by the rava.

After rava is soaked, mix together banana, cardamom, grated coconut, sugar and salt. Grind it to a fine paste in mixie. You can add a little water to grind, but not too much water.

After the mix is ready, heat the paniyaram pan in stove in medium flame.

Once the pan is heated, base the pan with little ghee. Pour 1 tsp of oil in the pan in each of the hollow base. Once the oil is heated, pour the batter in the hollow base of the pan.





Cover the pan with a lid for 5 mins so that the upper portion will boil evenly. In approximately 5 to 6 minutes, turn the batter other side using a fork or stick.

Allow both sides of the batter to heat properly so that it turns to golden brown.

Now ravai paniyaram is ready to be served.

Note: Be cautious in adding banana. If banana is more in the batter, the paniyaram will be soggy.
          Also, the paniyaram tastes very good when it is warm than very hot.

Kaara coconut chutney / kaara thengai thuvayal

This is a perfect side dish for any breakfast items like idly, dosa or any kanji items.

Ingredients:

Grated coconut - 1 cup
Dried red chilli - 2 to 3 (based on the liking for kaaram)
Garlic clove - 1(small)
Ginger - a small piece
Tamarind - a small ball of a gem size
curry leaves - 10 leaves (optional)
Salt - As required

Serves: 4 Adults
Preparation time: 5 mins

Method:

In the mixer or blender, add all the above ingredients and mix it until all the items are grinded properly.

You can check for the salt and add if necessary.

Since its a thuvayal, u need not season it. If you want to season this, you can do with mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves.

Paal Kanji / Milk Kanji

Paal kanji is a traditional south indian recipe which can be given to even a six month child. It has more nutritious value and hence it can be consumed by infants to old aged.

Here is the simple recipe for the dish.

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup
Jeera / Cumin Seeds - 2 tsp
Methi seeds - 1/2 tsp
Garlic cloves - 8 to 10
Milk (either raw or boiled) - 2 cup

Servings: 2 Adults
Preparation time: 20 mins

Method:

Rinse the rice throughly in water and add required quantity of water to the rice and transfer it to pressure cooker.

In the cooker, add jeera, methi seeds and garlic cloves together and close the lid.

Let the rice boil fully so that it will be easy to smash it with spoon.

Now add the milk to the cooked rice and heat. The milk should reach its boiling point. Once the milk is fully heated, remove from flame.

Now paal kanji is ready to be served.

Note: You can add salt to the kanji and have it with any kaara coconut thuvayal. Or else, u can have it with jaggery also.

Ellurundai / Sesame Balls

Ellurundai is prepared generally during Krishna Jeyanthi. It is actually a healthy snack and prepared in minutes.

It is very useful in building strong bones and healthy hair.

Servings: 15 Sesame balls (small)
Preparation time: 20 mins

Ingredients:
Sesame seeds: 100 gm
Jaggery syrup: 3/4 cup

Heat a flat surface pan in medium flame. When the pan is heated, dry roast the sesame seeds. When the seeds pops up in the pan, remove from flame.Do not overcook the sesame. It gives a bitter taste then.

Once the sesame seeds are cooled, mix it in a blender for just 5 seconds. It need not to be so much fine powder.

 Take a small piece of jaggery, it can be of the size of a small gooseberry. Add very little quantity of water. You can just sprinkle the water in a low flame. The syrup's consistency should not be very watery. Remove from flame when it is mildly thick.

Pour the syrup in the blended sesame seeds.Once the jaggery syrup has cooled down to warm temperature, mix it well with sesame and shape to balls.

Note: You can even add roasted groundnuts and roasted bengal gram (Pottu Kadalai) to the sesame blend.

Carrot Halwa Recipe

Carrot Halwa is one of the easiest, healthy and tasty desert of all time. My kid loves to have this.

I got this recipe from my friend 3 years back. Just thought of blogging the steps to prepare it.

Servings: 3 - 4 Persons
Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

3 Shredded Carrot
2 cups milk (either raw or boiled)
1/2 cup sugar
2 cardamom
2 tsp cashew nuts
1 tsp raisin
3 - 4 tsp ghee

Method:

In a flat surface pan, add the shredded carrot and milk together. Let the carrot boil in milk until it becomes tender. Let the whole cooking be done in medium flame.

In the mean time, heat 3 tsp ghee in another pan and fry the cashew nuts until it becomes golden brown. Then add the raisins. Once the raisins puff, remove from flame and keep it aside.

When the carrot becomes tender and the milk has drained in the pan, add sugar and cardamom to this.Sprinkle 1 tsp of ghee to the boiled carrot. 

Mix the carrot and sugar well to avoid burning of the pan in the bottom. When sugar is added, it oozes out more liquid when melted. In few minutes, the liquid in the pan will be drained. Now add the fried cashew nuts and raisins to the pan and mix it with the carrot. 

Once the water is drained and carrots are mixed together with milk and sugar, remove from flame.

The carrot halwa is now ready to be served.

Sarkarai Pongal / Sweet Pongal Recipe

Sarkarai Pongal / Sweet Pongal is a traditional south indian recipe made during any festival or auspicious occasions. This one is a very simple recipe with less time consumption. 

This recipe is inspired from my Mom's cooking stuff.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup raw rice / normal rice
• 1 cup jaggery (crush the hard pieces into small one)
• 2 to 3 cardamom 
• 2 tsp cashew nut
• 1 tsp raisins
• 4 - 5 tsp ghee

Servings: 3 persons
Cooking time: 30 mins

Method:

Wash the rice well and pressure cook until it is fully boiled. There is no problem even if the rice is overcooked. 

In the mean time, heat a pan and add 3 tsp of ghee to it. Once the ghee is heated, add the cashew nuts and fry until golden brown. Then add the raisins. Once the raisins bubble, remove from heat and keep it aside.

In a medium flame, add 1/4 cup of water to the boiled rice. Now add the crushed jaggery pieces to the rice. You can add 1 tsp of ghee to this. Once heated, the jaggery starts to melt in the rice. You need to mix the rice and jaggery well so that it will not be burnt in the bottom of the pan.

Once all the jaggery gets melted, add cardamom to this mixture. The rice starts to get a fine solid texture in a few minutes. Now add the fried cashew nuts and raisins. Mix them well and switch off the flame.

The sweet pongal is now ready to be served.