Masala Kuzhi Paniyaram

Often we get confused what to do with left over idli / dosa batter. Here is a better way to use the batter in a different and tasty manner. We can prepare masala kuzhi paniyaram with our dosa batter itself.

Lets see how to prepare this.

Ingredients:

Idli batter - 1 cup
Large Onion -  half, chopped
Green Chilli - 3, finely chopped
Asafoetida - a large pinch
Curry leaves - very few, finely chopped
Corriander leaves - very few, finely chopped

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together and set aside for 10 minutes. In the mean time, heat the paniyaram pan in stove in medium flame.

Grease the pan with 1 tsp oil in each mould of the pan. Once oil is heated, pour the batter into each moulds and sprinkle one more tsp of oil over the batter. Close the pan with a lid. Reduce the flame to low.

After 5 minutes, turn the other side with skewer. Take care that the paniyaram is not broken. Allow to cook on other side for 3 minutes. Sprinkle some more oil if you need. Flip both sides for few seconds and remove the paniyaram from pan.

Masala Kuzhi Paniyaram is now ready.  It goes very well with Kaara Chutney or coconut chutney.

Simple Prawn Briyani

This was a quick and easy briyani than I expected.It just took less time to prepare this whole dish. Lets see this easy recipe.

Ingredients: 

Prawns - 500 gm , cleaned and deveined
Rice - 2 cups

For Briyani Masala:

Cloves  -  2 tsp

Cardamom -  2 tsp

Bay Leaves - 3

Poppy seeds - 2 tsp

Fennel seeds- 2 tsp

Cinnamon - 1 stick

Onion - 1 large

Tomato - 1 large

Green Chilli - 4 to 5
Ginger garlic paste -  1 tsp

Pudina Leaves - handful, finely chopped

Corriander leaves - handful, finely chopped

Corriander powder - 2 to 3 tsp

Chilli powder - 3 tsp

Curd - 3 tsp

Cooking Time: 40 minutes

Method:

In case of basmati rice, soak rice in water for 20 minutes and parboil rice in a separate pan. In case of normal rice, cook the rice almost completely but make sure each grain of rice is separate. While boiling rice, add 1 tsp of cloves, cardamom, bay leaf, poppy seeds, fennel seeds and cinnamon stick to the rice. Rice also gets these flavors well. Adjust salt accordingly.

In the mean time, heat oil in a pan. Once oil is heated, add 1 tsp of cloves, cardamom, poppy seeds, fennel, cinnamon, bay leaf to the pan. After they splutter, add onions. Saute onions until golden brown. Now add ginger garlic paste. Once the raw smell of the paste goes off, add pudina, corriander leaves, tomato and saute them until the tomato melts in oil. Add corriander powder and chilli powder. After few minutes of saute, add curd. Adjust salt accordingly.

Now add the cleaned prawns to masala. Let them cook for 15 minutes in low flame with closed lid. Dont add water to the masala since prawns will release water while cooking.

By this time, rice will be ready to be added to masala. Take parboiled basmati or boiled normal rice from the pan. Make sure to take out most water from rice if any. Spread rice in such a way that rice covers the whole masala evenly. Close the lid and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, switch off the flame and gently mix the rice with masala. Take care not to break the rice. Prawn briyani is now ready.

Coconut burfi

Let us see recipe of one of the simplest and easiest sweet, coconut burfi. I used condensed milk to prepare it in less time.

Ingredients:

Coconut - half of a medium sized coconut
Condensed milk - 200 ml
Cardamom - 4 to 5 (or cardamom powder 1 tsp)
Cashew - few for garnishing
Raisins - few for garnishing
Ghee - 1 tbsp

Servings: 10 to 15 burfis

Method:

Grate the coconut, mix the grated coconut and condensed milk in a flat base pan and allow it to heat for atleast 15 minutes in low flame. Stir the contents often to avoid burning.

Instead of condensed milk, we can also use normal milk. In that case, we have to use 100 gm sugar for 200 ml of milk. Allow the milk to drain and blend along with coconut gratings. Then add sugar to the contents and stir well in low flame.

Once the milk and coconut are well blended together, crush the whole cardamom or the cardamom powder to the contents and mix well. Let it be in simmer for another 2 minutes.

In the mean time, add ghee to a pan and roast the cashews and raisins until they are golden brown. Once its done, add the roasted nuts to the coconut and mix well again.

Switch off the flame and transfer it to a wide plate. Grease the plate with little ghee before transferring. Now make cuts lengthwise and horizontally to the coconut mix in order to get the shape of burfi. Allow it to cool. Once its cooled, we can split the cut pieces. Each piece is a burfi now.

Coconut Milk Curry / Sodhi Kulambu

Sodhi kulambu is a favourite vegetarian feast in southern Tamilnadu side.This has to  be prepared purely with coconut milk. Kids generally love it. It is obviously not a good choice for people with cholestrol. But once in a while, it is worth to try.

Lets see the recipe to prepare this dish.

Ingredients:

Coconut - half of a medium sized coconut. Grate it.
Moong Dal - 1/2 cup (approximately 50 to 75 gm)
For Masala:
Green chilli - 5 to 6
Ginger - 1" piece
Garlic - 4 - 5 cloves(medium sized)
Turmeric - a pinch
For Vegetables:
Potato - half cup (6 to 7 cubes when cut into pieces)
Carrot - quarter cup
Beans - quarter cup
Drumstick - 1/2
Small Onion - 1
Seasoning:
Lemon - half
Corriander leaves, curry leaves - few for seasoning

Cooking time: 45 mins

Method:

Take 3 sets of coconut milk from the grated pieces. First add 1 cup of water to the grated coconut and grind it in the mixie. After 2 to 3 minutes of grinding, filter the first set of coconut milk and collect it in a pan.

Then add 11/2 cups of water to the already ground coconut and grind them again. This time filter the coconut milk and collect it in a separate bowl. This is the second set.

Again add 2 to 21/2 cups of water to the already ground coconut and grind them again. Now filter the coconut milk and collect it in a separate bowl. This is the third set of coconut milk.

In the mean time, boil moong dal and keep it aside.

With the 3rd set of coconut milk, add the vegetables listed above and allow them to boil. Grind the masala items together. Once the veggies are boiled well, add the masala items and boiled dal. Also add the second set of milk now together with masala. Let it boil for another 10 minutes. Once the raw smell of ginger and garlic goes off, add the first set of thick coconut milk. Just after 2 minutes, add the corriander leaves. Now squeeze half lemon to the gravy and switch off the flame. Lemon is a must to be used ingredient.

Sodhi kulambu is now ready. It goes well with rice, idly or dosa.

Puliyodharai

Puliyodharai is one of the all time favorites of many food lovers. When I prepared this time, it was a big hit at home. My kid loved the dish very much.

Lets see how to prepare this dish.

Ingredients:

Tamarind - 1 big lemon sized ball

Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp (max. of 10 to 15 count, adding more fenugreek gives a bitter taste)

Red chilli - 14

Asafoetida - a generous pinch

For seasoning:

Mustard - 1 tsp

Urud Dal - 2 tsp

Channa Dal - 2 tsp

Ground nut - 2 tsp

Preparation time: 1 hour

Servings: 4 Adults

Method:

Soak the tamarind ball in 1 to 1 1/2 cups of water overnight. 

Now, add little oil to a hot pan and roast the fenugreek seeds first. Just roast it for 2 to 3 minutes, make sure it is not roasted very dark. Keep it aside.

Add little more oil to the pan and add all the red chillies. If you are using asafoetida bar, add that also to the red chillies while roasting. Otherwise add it during seasoning.Roast the chillies in a way they are not roasted very deep. Keep it aside. 

Once cooled, grind together fenugreek seeds and chillies (and asafoetida if added)together in the mixie. Make it to a coarse paste. It need not be very soft like powder. Just make it to a coarse powder.

Now, take the tamarind extract from the soaked tamarind. In a heavy bottomed pan, add together tamarind extract and the ground mixture from the mixie. The tamarind extract can be little watery. When boiling, it will become thick.

During boiling, check for salt and chilli. The main rule in preparing puliyodharai mix is salt and chilli should be strikingly felt. If you still feel to have more flavor, add little chilli powder or salt  as per your taste. Add little oil to the mix when boiling. Allow the mix to boil until the tamarind extract becomes thick like chutney. If you take it with spoon, it should not flow like water. It should be thick.

In the mean time, add 3 to 4 tbsp of oil in a pan. Once oil is heated, add the mustard seeds. Once it splutters, add urud dal, channa dal, ground nut together and roast them together until they are golden brown. Take Care not to roast them until they become black in color. If you use asafoetida powder, add the large pinch of asafoetida to the seasoning and switch off the flame. Keep them aside. 

Dont mix the seasoned items to the tamarind extract. They will take the sour essence and you cant bite it when mixed with rice. When the tamarind extract becomes thick enough, switch off the flame. Puliyodharai mix is now ready

Prepare rice in the regular process, but make sure each grain of rice is separate. Dont boil it too much.

When the rice is still hot, transfer it to a big bowl. Add 3 to 4 tbsp of oil to the rice and wait for 2 minutes. Now add the puliyodharai mix and seasoned items together. Mix the rice and the mix together with a spatula. Make sure each grain of rice is mixed together with the puliyodharai paste. Check for salt. Add required salt as per your taste and mix it well. 

Allow it to cool for 30 minutes. Puliyodharai is now ready to be served.