Breakfast recipe: Sevai/ idiyappam

 Sevai is a South Indian breakfast. Easily digestible and can be given to kids or sick people instead of  Idli.

Ingredients:

For 2 persons

Parboiled rice : 1cup (heaped)

Raw rice ; 1/4 cup

Salt : as required

For seasoning:

Red chili - 2

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Hinge : a pinch

Curry leaves : few

Coconut oil - 1tbs

Method:

1. Soak par boiled rice and raw rice together for 3 hours and grind it to a very fine paste.
2.  Add salt and mix well.
3. No need to ferment.
4. Pour the batter on the idli plate and cook for 8 minutes.
   
   
   
5. Place the idli in sevai nazhi and squeeze by turning the handle.
   
   
   
6. Keep a plate at the bottom and collect the squeezed sevai.
   
   
   
7. Spread it in a plate to get it cooled.
8. When cooled the threads won't stick to each other.
9. Heat the coconut oil and add mustard seeds and broken red chili and hinge.
10. Remove after the mustard seeds splutter and add curry leaves and add to the sevai.
    
    
    
    
11. Grease your hand with little coconut oil and mix the sevai with mustard seeds well.
    
    
    
12. Serve with morkuzhambu or sweetened coconut milk.

Morkuzhambu recipe:( Easy method)

Ingredients:

Coconut (grated) -1/2 cup

Curd - 1/2 cup

Jeera - 1tbs

Green chili - 2

Rice flour - 1 tsp

Hing - a pinch

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Salt - 1/2 tsp or as required

For seasoning:

Coconut oil - 1tsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Hing - a pinch

Red chili - 1

Curry leaves - few

Method:

Grind coconut, Jeera, green chili with rice flour into a fine paste.

Churn the curd.

Mix the ground paste with curd.

Add salt, turmeric powder and hing and mix well.

Boil for 3 sec.

Do the seasoning with the ingredients mentioned.

Morkuzhambu is ready.

Tips:

You can have it with morkuzhambu or you can make lemon sevai or coconut sevai as we do the lemon rice or coconut rice.

Sweet puttu (Navratri special)

 Sweet puttu is usually done on Navratri Friday. It is yum and soft.

Ingredients

Raw rice flour - 1cup

Jaggery - 1 or 3/4 cup

Cardamom powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Grated coconut - 2tbs

Ghee - 1tbsp

Cashew - 8 (broken)

Method:

Making rice flour:

Soak 1cup of raw rice for 20min and dry it under the fan for half an hour. It should come in hand to hold and should fall when left. You can grind it to powder in the mixe. It is better to grind slightly coarse. It should not be too coarse or fine powder.

You can buy puttu mavu from the store.

1. Dry roast the rice flour till it turns brown. Sprinkle warm water with a pinch of turmeric powder and need well keep doing till you get a dough which you can make a first of dough and can spread when left.

2. Soak jaggery in 1/4 cup of water and filter the dirt or sand particles.

3. You can keep the rice flour in a muslin cloth and tie it tightly and steam cook for 20mins. Or you can grease the idly plates with coconut oil and steam cook. Leave the bottom plate empty. Fill the other plates with rice flour to avoid water entering the rice flour.

3. Heat the jaggery syrup add cardamom powder, grated coconut and make the pagu. It should come in hand to roll like a ball .

4. Keep the steamed rice flower in a bowl and add the pagu(jaggery syrup) . Mix thoroughly.

5. Put this mixer in the mixe jar and whip for 2or 3 times. It will become so soft. 

6. Heat the ghee and roast the cashews and add.

Mix well. Puttu is ready.

Note: you can add soaked toor dal after steam cooking along with the rice flour.

Neer dosa

 Neer dosa is a simplest form of soft dosa and tastes so good with coconut chutney.

Ingredients:

Raw rice - 1 cup.

Salt - as required

Water- 2 cups

Method:

1. Soak the raw rice for 5 to 6 hours and grind thoroughly into a paste.
   
   
   
2. While grinding add only the soaked rice into the jar and add little water and grind it into a smooth paste.
3. Now add the rest of the water to make a thin consistency of batter.
4. Do not add the entire water first which wont let you grind the rice into a smooth paste.
5. Add salt and start making dosa as we do it for rava dosa. 
6. Take a ladle full of batter and start pouring from the outside to the middle of the pan.
   
   
   
7. Close it with a lid. Allow it to cook. Do not flip. Wait till the the entire dosa gets cooked and fold it into four folds and keep separately. Do not stack one above the other. It will stick to each other when hot. When cooled it wont stick.
   
   
   
8. Serve hot with coconut chutney.

Method 2: 

1. Neer dosa can be made instantly using rice flour. 
2. Mix rice flour with water to the above consistency and add salt. 
   
   
   
3. Keep it for 10 minutes and start making dosa as mentioned above.
   
   
    
   

   
   

   
   

   

   
   

   
   

   
   
   
   
4. 1 cup of rice flour may yield 4 to 5 dosas.

Mint Rasam recipe

 Mint rasam is a South Indian recipe, had with rice and any vegetable curry/ appalam for lunch. It can be had as a soup too.

Ingredients:

Toor dal -1/4 cup

Tamarind - Berry size

Pepper - 1/2 teaspoon

Jeera - 1/2 tsp

Rasam power - 1 tsp

Mint leaves - 1 handful

Coriander leaves - 1 handful

Tomato - 2 medium size

Hinge - 1/4 tsp

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Salt - 1 tbsp. or as required

Water - 2 1/2 cups

For seasoning

Ghee -1 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1tsp

Jeera - 1/4 tsp

Red chili - 1

Hinge - a pinch

Curry leaves - few

Method:

1. Pressure cook toor dal and keep aside.
2. Soak tamarind in hot water and extract the juice
3. In a vessel add tamarind water, hinge, salt, turmeric powder, half of the coriander leaves and mint leaves. Add 1 chopped tomato and allow it to boil.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Add rasam powder and boil for two seconds. Do not boil too long.
   
   
   
5. Grind half of the tomato, mint and few coriander  leaves.
   
   
   
   
6. In a pan add ghee and add the ground tomato and sauté. Add the tamarind mix  and slightly smashed the toor dal to the pan.  Allow it boil for a few seconds.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. Season the above mentioned  ingredients and add the rest of the coriander leaves on the top. Delicious mint rasam is ready. Enjoy with hot rice, ghee and appalam/chips/any vegetable curry. 
   
   
   

Mint rice - Vegan style

 Mint rice in vegan style is very simple and easy to make. One of the best mixed rice.

Servings - 2

Ingredients:

Raw rice - 1 cup

Mint leaves - Handful

Coriander leaves - little

Green chili - 2

Green peas fresh/frozen - 1/4 cup

Grated coconut - 1/4 cup

chana dal 1 tbsp.

Daniya - 1tbsp.

Ground nut - 1 tbsp.

Cashews - few

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Cooking oil - 1 tbsp. 

Method:

1. Pressure cook the raw rice and allow it to cool by spreading it on a plate and sprinkle some oil on it.
2. Clean the mint leaves, coriander leaves and green chili. 
3. Chop half of the mint leaves and keep aside.
4. Heat the pan and fry the ground nut and cashews in a little oil and keep aside.
5. Roast chana dal, daniya and green chili in the pan. Roast chana dal till it turns dark brown with a good aroma. Add the whole mint leaves and coriander leaves and sauté for few seconds.
   
   
   
6. Dry grind the grated coconut, green chili, roasted daniya, chana dal, mint leaves and coriander leaves.
7. Heat the remaining oil and add the mustard seeds. Once it splutters add green peas and the chopped mint leaves and sauté for few seconds.
   
   
   
8. Add the ground powder over the rice.
   
   
   
9. Add salt and add roasted ground nut and cashew to the rice.
10. Add this entire mix into the pan and mix thoroughly. Mint rice is ready.
11. Have it with chips/ appalam / vadam.
    
    
    

Pulliyodarai podi and Pulliyodarai.

 Pulliyodarai podi is a substitute for pullikaichal.

This has a shelf life of more than a year. You can add oil as per your requirement. It is simple and easy to make and nothing much to clean after it is made unlike pullikaichal which splatters everywhere. Also it can be used in Aval upma, sepangizhangu fry. 

Below is the picture of poha upma made using Pulliyodarai podi.

Ingredients:

Tamarind (cleaned) - 1 orange size

Daniya - 2 table spoon

Chili - 30

Methi seeds - 1tsp

Sesame seeds - 1tbs

Method :

1. Dry roast sesame seed first after cleaning and removing the stones/ sand if any. Keep aside.
2. Now dry roast daniya and methi seeds. Keep aside.
3. Dry roast red chili.
4. Dry roast cleaned tamarind keeping the stove in sim or very very low flame. Keep stirring, Tamarind will get charred easily. Do not use iron pan for roasting. While cleaning remove the seeds, shell of the tamarind fruit if any and also the coir (nar in Tamil).
   
   
   
5. Dry grind sesame seeds first into fine powder then add roasted red chili to it and grind it into fine powder.
6. Now add roasted daniya and methi seeds and grind.
   
   
   
7. Finally add roasted tamarind and grind it into a fine powder. Add tamarind in two parts. Sometime it may stuck. I added the entire quantity in one go.
   
   
   
8. Dry grind into a fine powder.
9. Store it in a dry glass/plastic container.
10.  Care should be taken while using every time that you use dry spoon with dry hands.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

 Making Pulliyodarai using the Pulliyodarai podi:

Ingredients:

Raw rice - 1cup

Gingely oil - 2tbs

Mustard seeds - 1tsp

Urid dal - 1 tbs

Chana dal - 1tbs

Red chili - 4

Hinge - 1tsp

Cashews - 1tsp

Ground nut - 1tbs

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Salt - 1tbs

Pulliyodarai podi - 2tbs

Method:

1. Pressure cook raw rice. Transfer the rice into a plate immediately (without using a ladle) after the cooker sets down.
   
   
   Pour 1 tbsp. of gingely oil over the rice as we do for dosa. Add turmeric powder on it.
   
   
   
2.  Leave it under the fan to get cooled. Rice should be cooled completely. Do not use ladle till it cools.
3. Heat the rest of the oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. 
   
   
   
4. Add broken red chili, urid dal, chana dal after the mustard seeds splutter.
5. Roast till the dal turns golden brown.
6. Add ground nut when the dal is slightly brown and after that add cashew also.
7. Roast till the ground nut gets roasted. Mean while the dal also turns golden brown.
8. Now add hinge and then curry leaves.
   
   
   
9. Add this entire items to the cooled  rice.
10. Add salt and Pulliyodarai podi.
    
    
    
11. Mix thoroughly. Pulliyodarai is ready.
    
    
    You can use it for more than 30 hrs.
12. Serve with vadam/ appalam/chips/curd.
13. You can add turmeric lastly while you are seasoning. Similarly you can add Pulliyodarai podi on the spread rice kept for cooling. 

Breakfast recipe : Rava dosa

 Rava dosa is easy and instant South Indian breakfast dish. Very tasty dish and comes out very crispy than ordinary dosa.

Ingredients:

(for 8 dosas)

Rice flour : 1 cup

Rava : 3/4 cup

Butter milk/ curd : 1/2 cup

Green chili : 1

Coriander leaves - few

Curry leaves - few

Ginger grated - 1/2 tsp

Black pepper - 1tsp

Jeera - 1tsp

Hinge - 1/4 tsp

Onion (small) - 1 (optional)

Salt - as required or 1tsp

Water - 2 and 1/2 cup

Cooking oil for making dosa.

Method:

1. Add rice flour, rava, salt, hinge, grated ginger, water and butter milk in a vessel. 
2. If you are using curd, churn well and then add. Mix the batter thoroughly. 
3. It should be soaked for minimum 20 mins. 
4. Meanwhile cut the onion into very small bits and add to the batter. I didn't use onion.
5. Chop curry leaves, coriander leaves and green chili into very small pieces and add to the batter.
6. Make black pepper and jeera into coarse powder and add to the batter.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Making dosa:

• After soaking 20 mins heat the dosa pan and spread 1/2 a tsp of oil evenly. 
• Mix the batter thoroughly every time before making each dosa.
• Pour the batter on the pan in a circular way and then filling the gaps here and there using a ladle without touching the pan. You will get gaps and holes in between.
•  you should not spread the batter as you do it for normal dosa.
• Slightly pour 1/2 tsp of oil on the edges and gaps. Keep it in medium flame.
• Wait for 2mins. the corners will turn brown and you can see the batter on the top surface is also cooked by the change of color.
  
  
  
• Just remove carefully from the pan. Do not flip the dosa.
• Repeat the process for the rest of the dosa.
• It will take more time to get cooked than the ordinary dosa.
• If the dosa doesn't come out of the pan, simmer the stove add little more oil. Remove slowly.
• If the proportions are as mentioned and butter milk or churned curd is used, definitely it will come out well. But definitely it will take more time to get cooked.
• You can use the sour left over dosa batter around 1 cup instead of curd or butter milk.
• Yummy crispy dosa is ready. Serve hot with coconut chutney or idly milagai podi