Coconut Rice - Modern way ToI

Coconut rice is made with many variations. One version is when chana dal and rice are steam cooked along with grated coconut.

Ingredients:

Chana dal: 200 gms

Rice: 350 gms

Coconut: One half of a whole coconut (can use the whole coconut if the size is small)

Mustard seeds: ½ tsp

Cumin seeds: ½ tsp

Urad dal: ½ tsp

Red chilli (Whole): 2

Curry leaves: 4-5

Salt to taste 

How to go on.....

- Soak the chanal dal for one hour before cooking. Rinse the rice before cooking.

- Take oil in a pan and heat it. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, red chilli and curry leaves in to it. Once the mustard seeds start to crackle, add soaked chana dal and rice and mix the ingredients well. Add adequate water, but see to it that you add only as much water the whole mixture needs to cook.

- Add salt and grated coconut. Put the lid on the vessel and allow it to cook for 10 minutes. - After 10 minutes, mix the ingredients well and see how well cooked the chana and rice are. If you feel it will get ready by another five to 10 minutes, then allow the entire thing to cook in a low flame. Add another two spoons of oil at the same time. Let it settle for a while.

- If you want to cook it in a pressure cooker, it will taste equally better. But add less water than what you would have if you were cooking in a vessel.

- Serve the hot coconut rice will appalam and piping hot rasam. It is indeed a yum treat for taste buds.

Vazhakkai Vathakkal ~ Roasted Raw Bananas

I had got 2 raw bananas from the Indian Street this weekend and after much thought , my childhood and office days back in India tempted me to check out of a South Indian side dish - roasted Raw banana.......and after much research I found this one which matches my taste buds ...........


Vazhakkai Vathakkal ~ Roasted Raw Bananas
Recipe source - Bharathy of Spicy Chilly

Ingredients

Vazhakkai/Raw banana- 2
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Salt- to taste
Sambhar powder(better option) or red chilly powder - 1tsp

To temper-

Oil- 1-2 tbsps
Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp
Urad dhal-1/2 tsp
Curry leaves- a sprig


Method

Peel the green skin of the raw bananas and immerse in a pan of water.[this is to prevent the brown coloration of the peeled veggie]
Slice them into thin rounds (not too thin: say, slightly less than half cm each).
Simultaneously boil a wide pan of water( 2 cups more or less, to immerse the slices comfortably) along with salt and turmeric powder.
Throw in the slices as soon as you are done, boil for a few seconds and drain the slices from the hot water using a colander.
Be careful not to over cook the pieces and see to it they are firm and half cooked. Be careful with the boiling water while you drain too :)

Heat oil in a wide non stick kadai.
Splutter mustard seeds, brown the urad dal, throw in the curry leaves and finally the pre cooked slices.Add the chilly/sambhar powder.Toss the slices.
Check salt and toss once a minute.
Let them get fried for 10-15 minutes in low flame until roasted and browned on both sides.
Remove from fire and serve hot with rice and curry.

Masala Vada

Masala Vada and these 2 words just take me back to my college days, where everyday I longed to have the vada at the University Canteen ......the vada tasted same everyday and she used to keep aside some for me , cos as they plated the vada, it would just vanish...So this recipe is from our Canteen Amma from the University of Madras......

So all you need is a cloudy weather....masala tea or coffee and vadas :)...Can't ask for anything more

So we shall start off with

1 cup Soaked Channa Dal ( soak it for 2 - 3 hrs)

1 Green Chilly

2" Ginger

Keep aside 2 Tbsp of dal  and grind the rest into a coarse mixture

Next you would require

1large Onion - finely chopped

1Tbsp fennel seeds / saunf

10 - 12 curry leaves

2 pinch asafoetida

1Tbsp red chilly powder

Salt to taste

Now add the channa dal ( whole , kept aside) and the ground mixture to the above ingredients

Mix well

Heat oil in a pan

Shape the vadas to your convenience , you might just want round ones or flat it on a plastic sheet and then slide it slowly 

Keep the gas over medium to low heat , else the vadas might be uncooked from inside

Deep fry until brown and drain on a kitchen towel

Serve hot with chutney , sauce of your choice