Dates and oat meal porridge

Deseed, chop and coarsely grind dates and store in the refridgerator.

Toast a couple of handfuls of almonds in the microwave for about 2-3 minutes. Store. (this is your weekend preparation)

Prepare your oatmeal the regular way. that is boil a tumblerful of water, add 1/2 cup of oatmeal. stir cook till it cooks to a thick , pourable consistency ( about 2-3 mts). Add 1/2 cup of skimmed milk, and a generous helping of the dates mixture. take off flame , top with a few toasted almonds. Fruits are optional.

Oats dosa

Instant Oats - 1 cup
Rice flour - 1/2 cup
Semolina (Rava/sooji) - 1/2 cup
Sour buttermilk - 1/2 cup
Ginger, green chillies, onions - 1 cup (finely chopped)
Salt to taste

Mix all the flours together and add the buttermilk. Add sufficient water to make a thick batter. Let stand for an hour. Add the finely chopped ginger, green chillies and onions and salt.Season the hot dosa pan with gingelly oil and pour dosas of medium thickness. Cook till both sides are done. Serve with mint chutney

Wholesome Oats upma

1) Oats - 1 cup
2) Finely chopped assorted vegetables - 2 cups (onions, carrots, beans, green peas, sweet corn, mushrooms etc)
3)White broad beans/paneer/chicken fillets - 1/2 cup (you can choose any one these based on your preference, this adds the protien part to the dish)
- If you opt for the white broad beans soak for about 3 hrs and pressure cook for 4 whistles. drain all water.
- If you opt for paneer, dip in chilled water for 2 minutes and cut into cubes- If you opt for chicken fillets, cut them into strips and saute them in a teaspoon of oil till the meat turns a white opaque colour.

4)chopped Green chillies - 3
5)chopped ginger - 1 teaspoon
6) Kashmiri chillie powder - 1 teaspoon
7) Garam masala or kitchen king masala - 1/4 teaspoon

Heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a skillet , add the ginger, green chillies and saute. Add the rest of the vegetables and cook till 3/4th done. Add the broad beans/chicken/paneer and saute for 2 mts. Add the oats. sprinkle water and cook covered for a minute on low flame. Add the chilie powder and garam masala. Add salt to taste. Stir fry till oats is cooked (about 2 minutes) sprinkling more water if necessary)PS: Its important to just sprinkle water. If you pour as you would for regular sooji (semolina), this upma becomes soggy and porridge like.

Vellayappam (appam/palappam)

Appam is a Kerala breakfast favourite. The same is cooked in Tamil Nadu but just pronounced with a lengthening of the 'A' syllable..'aappam'. There are many ways of making the appam batter ferment. My mom generally uses a 'kappi'. Kappi is made by mixing a couple of teaspoons of the ground rice batter in a glass of water and simmer stirring it till it thickens into a gooey paste. this is then cooled and added to the batter. A pinch of baking soda is added teh next morning, before use. A second method uses 'toddy', a kind of arack obtained from the coconut palm. The third and easiest method uses 'yeast'. I use yeast because it saves time and I like the taste. The rest of the process remains the same whichever fermentation method you choose.
Raw rice - 2 cups
Fenugreek seeds (uluva/vendiyam/methi) - 1/2 teaspoon
Coconut milk - 1/2 cup ( the readymade coconut milk powder works fine)
Dry Yeast - 1/4 teaspoon
Sugar - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt to taste.

Soak rice and fenugreek seeds for 2-3 hours. Grind to a smooth batter in a mixer bowl. Take 1/2 cup of water and boil till its lightly warm.

Dissolve the yeast and the sugar in the luke warm water. Mix the coconut milk, salt and dissolved yeast into the rice batter. Let ferment overnight.

Appams are made in a special shallow kadai called 'appa chatti' (see the pictures). The non-stick variety is available in most stores. Heat the appa chatti and pour in a ladleful of batter. Slightly rotate the appachatti to make the batter swirl creating a lace like crisp outer ring and a thicker middle portion.

In case you don't find an appachatti. Just warm an ordinary dosa pan and pour out the batter. Close it with a lid and simmer till its nicely done. Do not turn over.
Appams taste great in combination with fish curry, vegetable stew, channa masala, or peas curry.

Simple Potato masala

Potatoes - 4 Nos
Onions - 2 Nos
Green chillies - 4 Nos
Ginger - 1 medium sized piece
Fennel (perumjeerakam/saunf)- 1/2 teaspoon
Chillie powder (cayenne pepper) - 2 teaspoons
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Coriander powder - 1/4 teaspoon

For seasoning

Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Peanuts - 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves - 4-5 sprigs

Pressure cook the potatoes with their skin on. Cool and peel. Crumble potatoes to form uneven pieces.

Chop the onions, green chillies and ginger. Heat a teaspoon of oil in a skillet and add the peanuts. As they turn a reddish brown add the mustard seeds and allow to splutter. Follow with curry leaves and ginger. Add the green chillies and onions. saute till onions turn pink. Add the chillie powder, turmeric powder and coriander powder. Saute for a minute and add the potatoes. Add a cup of water and allow to simmer for a few minutes.

Thaval Idli

Toor dhal (sambhar paruppu) - 1 cup
Channa dhal (kadala paruppu) -1cup
Urad dhal (uzhunnu/black gram) - 1cup
Raw rice - 1cup
Dry Red chillies - 7
Asafoetida (kayam) - 1/4 teaspoon
Coconut - 1/2 cup (cut into thin slices)

Forseasoning

Curry leaves - 3 sprigs
Mustard - 1 tsp
Urad dhal and channa dal -1 teaspoon each

Soak all the dhals and rice for about 4 hours. Grind into a batter. Add the red chillies and run the mixer one more time. Add the asafoetida and coconut.

Heat a teaspoon of oil and crackle the mustard. Add the rest of the seasoning ingredients. Let ferement for about 2 hours. pour and steam in idli moulds.

Macaroons

Icing sugar - 2 cups (finely powdered refined white sugar)
All purpose flour (maida) - 1/2 cup
Baking powder - 1 teaspoon (5 gms)
Egg whites - 5 Nos
Nuts - 20 gms (chopped)

Sieve sugar and flour together. Add in egg whites and mix well to a smooth batter. Add chopped nuts.

Grease a baking tray. Use a teaspoon to place tiny dollops of the mixture onto the tray. Bake at 300 degrees for 15 min.

Spicy tomato masala

Ripe tomatoes - 5 nos (diced)
Onions - 2 big ones (sliced)
Kashmiri chilli powder (piriyan mulaku podi) - 2 dessertspoons (20 gms approximately)
Sugar - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt to taste

For seasoning

Curry leaves - 4 sprigs
mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon

Heat a teaspoon of oil in skillet. Crackle the mustard seeds and add half the curry leaves. Add the sliced onions and saute for a minute. When it starts turning translucent add the tomatoes and saute. Finally add the chilli powder and 1 1/2 cups of water. Close lid and simmer for 5-6 minutes till tomatoes are soft. Add salt to taste and 1/4 teaspoon of sugar. Top with rest of teh curry leaves.

Easy choclate

Skimmed milk powder - 1 cup
Cocoa powder - 1/4 cup ( the pure dark, unsweetened variety; not drinking choclate mix)Condensed milk - 1/2 cup
Almonds - 5-6 nos

Lightly toast the almonds in a skillet, cool and coarse grind them in a mixer bowl. Sift the milk powder and cocoa so that they blend through well. Add the powdered almonds and the condensed milk. Knead well to form a dough. Make little balls out of it and place on a butter paperd tray. Refridgerate for 2 hours. It's ready to eat!PS: Store the choclates in the refridgerator if it's not yet in your stomach ;-)

Tasty fish fingers

Fish fillets (any white fleshed fish works for me) - 1/2 kg
Pepper powder - 1 teaspoon
Lemon - 3 juicy ones

For the batter
Corn flour - 1 cup
Egg white - 2 eggs
Rice flour - 1 teaspoon
Semolina - 1 teaspoon
Salt & Pepper powder - just a little bit
Bread crumbs - as required to roll the fingers in
Oil - to deep fry

Cut the fish fillets into strips. Marinade in the lemon juice, pepper powder, and some salt for about 1 hour.Seperate the egg whites from the yolks. We need only the egg white here (cuts down the calories ;-). Whisk the egg whites well and add in the cornflour, rice flour and semolina. Semolina is optional but adds to the crispiness. Add a little water if the batter is too stick. Stir well to clear any lumps. Season with salt and pepper powder.Dip the fish fingers in the batter and swirl till they are well coated. Spread the bread crumbs in a plate and roll the batter coasted fish fingers till they are covered by bread crumbs. Deep fry in any odourless vegetable oil.Place them on kitchen tissue to absorb the extra oil and serve with tomato ketchup and onion rings marinaded in lemon juice.

Instant jam tarts

Marie or arrowroot biscuits - 1 packet
Mixed fruit jam - as required
Cherry preserves - as required

Arrange the biscuits on a baking tray. Top each biscuit with a dollop of jam. Spread it out to cover the entire top of the biscuit. Bake on medium heat for about 4 minutes. Let cool and garnish with a cherry on top.

Fruit salad in cake n custard

For the fruit salad ( serves 2-3 people)

1) Apples - 2
2) Orange - 1
3) Black grapes (seedless)- 1/2 cup
4) Green grapes (seedless)- 1/2 cup
5)Pineapple - 1/2 a medium sized fruit
6)Bananas - 2
7) Lemon juice - 2 teaspoons (10gms)
8) Honey - 2 teaspoons (10gms)
9) Assorted nuts (almonds, cashews, pine nuts etc) - 1/4 cup (optional)

Cut all the fruits. Add the lemon juice and honey. Refridgerate for 1/2 hour.

For the cake n custard

1) Ready to make custard powder(vanilla) - 2 dessertspoons (20 gms)
2)Milk - 1 litre
3) Sugar to taste
4) Ordinary sponge cake (tea cake) - 1 loaf

Keep 1 cup milk seperately and boil the rest of it. Into the cool milk add the custard powder and make a smooth paste (ensure there are no lumps). Pour this into the boiling milk along with sugar to taste. Keep stirring till it reaches a thick, pourable consistency. Note that we need to make this a little thicker than the ordinary custard. Let cool slightly.

Slice the cake.

Method

In a flat glass dish (you should be able to see the colourful layers of this dish from the outside), place a layer of cake. Top this with a layer of fruit salad. On top add a layer of custard. Again a layer of cake, followed by fruit and then custard. Repeat process till everything is finished.

Note that the topmost layer should be custard. Sprinkle a few cherries or nuts to make the top more colourful.

Refridgerate till its time to serve.

Peanut (kadalai) sundal

Raw peanuts (kadalai/kadala) without the shell - 100 gms
Raw mango - 1
Fresh grated coconut - 10 gms
Green chillies - 3 Nos
Garlic - 2 cloves
Curry leaves and mustard for seasoning

Soak the peanuts overnight. Drain and pressure cook for 4 whistles. Heat a little oil and crackle mustard seeds. Add chopped green chillies, curry leaves and chopped garlic. Add the boiled peanuts and salt to taste.
Grate the raw mangoes. Add to the peanut mixture along with the grated coconut. Toss everything together.

Flax and wheat pancakes

Organic flaxseed - 1/4 cup
Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
Egg - 1
Demrara sugar - 10 gms
Water for the batter

Finely powder the flaxseeds in a dry grinder to make flaxseed flour. Mix all the ingredients together with sufficient water to make a thick dosa batter.

Pour out medium thin pancakes on a non-stick pan and cook on both sides. Serve with a drizzle of honey or maple syrup.

Poondu mulaka podi

Garlic (poondu) - 5-6 cloves
Dry Red chillies (cayenne pepper) - 6Nos
Roasted gram (pottu kadalai/pori kadala/chutney dhal) - 1 cup
Curry leaves - a few (optional)
Salt to taste

Dry roast the garlic cloves till they are golden brown and most of the moisture is gone. Dry roast the red chillies and warm the roasted gram seperately. If you are adding curry leaves, dry roast them till crisp too. Pound everything into a fine powder using a chutney mixie bowl or coffee grinder. Add salt to taste.

Poondu mulaka podi can be used as an accompaniment to Idlis and Dosas. To use , take the required quantity and a little gingelly (sesame oil/ellennai/nallenna) oil to mix into a dip like consistency.

Paruppu podi

Pottu kadalai (Roasted gram/pori kadala) - 1 cup
Dry red chillies (cayenne pepper) - 5-6 nos
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Salt to taste

Dry roast all three ingredients seperately. Put everything together in a mixer bowl and powder to a fine mixture.

Paruppu podi can be used as an accompaniment to Idlis and Dosas. To use , take the required quantity and a little gingelly (ellenna/nallenna) oil to mix into a dip like consistency.

Paruppu podi can also be added to cooked white rice to make an easy flavoured rice variety. Cook and cool the rice. Use a fork to seperate the grains, add a couple of teaspoons of paruppu podi,season with a little gingelly oil or ghee (clarified butter).

Fish fingers

Fish fillets (any white fleshed fish works for me) - 1/2 kg
Pepper powder - 1 teaspoon
Lemon - 3 juicy ones
For the batter
Corn flour - 1 cup
Egg white - 2 eggs
Rice flour - 1 teaspoon
Semolina - 1 teaspoon
Salt & Pepper powder - just a little bit
Bread crumbs - as required to roll the fingers in
Oil - to deep fry

Cut the fish fillets into strips. Marinade in the lemon juice, pepper powder, and some salt for about 1 hour.Seperate the egg whites from the yolks. We need only the egg white here (cuts down the calories ;-). Whisk the egg whites well and add in the cornflour, rice flour and semolina. Semolina is optional but adds to the crispiness. Add a little water if the batter is too stick. Stir well to clear any lumps. Season with salt and pepper powder.Dip the fish fingers in the batter and swirl till they are well coated. Spread the bread crumbs in a plate and roll the batter coasted fish fingers till they are covered by bread crumbs. Deep fry in any odourless vegetable oil.Place them on kitchen tissue to absorb the extra oil and serve with tomato ketchup and onion rings marinaded in lemon juice.

Raw mango cooler

Raw mangoes - 1 kg
Sugar - to taste ( I use about 1 1/4 cup)
Cardamom (elaichi) - 4-5 nos
Cumin seeds (jeera) - 1 teaspoon

Peel, cube and pressure cook the raw mangoes for 2 whistles. Cool and blend them into a smooth paste.Boil 1 1/2 cups of water and add the sugar. Boil to syrupy consistency.Pound the cardamom and cumin seeds.Blend all the ingredients in a mixer bowl.Refridgerate.To make your cooler, add enough cold water to half a glass of the mango syrup and drink!

PS: Add more sugar if you have sweet tooth :-)

Tangy Mango Thokku

Mangoes that are 3/4th ripe - 4-5 nos
Jaggery (gud/sharkkara/vellam)- 50 gms
Chillie powder - 2 teaspoons
Salt to taste

Peel and slice mangoes. Boil 1 glass of water in a thick bottomed vessel and dissolve the jaggery in it. Keep stirring till the water turns to a slightly syrupy consistency (string consistency/kambi padham). Add the mango slices in and allow to cook on slow flame stirring ocassionally to avoid burning.Add the chillie powder and salt. Keep stirring till the mangoes are cooked and mashed to a loose jam like consistency. Cool and store in fridge. Keeps good for a week!PS: Mango thokku is best eaten with curd rice. It also goes well with dosas and idlis

Summer recipes

Am going to kick off this forum with a few easy to make recipes made out of the fruits and vegetables of summer. Please feel to add in your own.

Kanthari thayir

Kanthari (bird's eye chilli/thai pepper) - 5
Small onions (shallots) - 2
Ginger - 1 small piece
Curry leaves - a sprig or two
Curds (yoghurt/thayir) - 1 cup

Grind the kanthari, small onions, ginger and curry leaves in a mixer bowl. Add to the curds (yoghurt) with a dash of salt. Refridegerate before serving.Lovely accompaniment to spicy pulavs and biriyanis.

Kanthari chammanthi (chutney/dip)

Kanthari (bird's eye chilli/thai pepper) - 6-10 nos
Small onions (shallots) - 5 nos
Coconut oil - 2 teaspoons
salt to taste

Peel the shallots. Coarse grind the onions and kanthari together in a mixer bowl. Just a turn or two on the mixie should produce the desired effect).Add the salt and the coconut oil. mix well.Serve as a side dish to boiled tapioca (cassava root /kappa/kuchi kizhangu)

Rava idli

Rava idli is one of the easiest breakfast recipes ever. The batter is so easy to make with no messy soaking and grinding ritual like the other idlis.

1) Rava (semolina/sooji) - 1 1/2 cups ( if you do not have pre roasted rava remember to dry roast the rava in a skillet. Constantly stir it to keep from burning and till it emanates a fragrance)2) Sour buttermilk or loose yoghurt - 2 cups

For garnish
Finely chopped green chillies - 3 nos
Finely chopped ginger- 1 large piece
Roasted peanuts with skins removed - 2 teaspoons ( coarsely break them up)

Cashews - optional
Toor dhal - 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds
Curry leaves

Marinate the rava in buttermilk for about 2 hrs. The rava bulks up to form a thick batter. Add a little water if too thick. However, this should be a little more thicker than the ordinary idli batter.Heat a little oil and crackle the mustard seeds. Add the rest of the ingredients for garnishing and str till golden brown. Add to rava mixture with salt.Pour into Idli moulds and steam cook till done.

PS: The picture shows rava idli served with karuvepilai chutney. For karuvepilai chutney recipe, see under 'Chutneys'.

Ada dosa

Green gram (whole moong) - 1 cup
Split green gram (moong dhal) - 1/2 cup
Raw rice - 1/2 cup
Bengal gram - 1/4 cup
Black gram - 1/4 cup
Horse gram - 1 cup
Yellow lentils (toor dhal) - 1/2 cup
Onions - 2 ( chopped)
Green chillies - 2
Ginger - a short piece
Asafoetida - a pinch
Fennel seeds (saunf) - 1/2 teaspoon
Coriander leaves - a bunch
Curry leaves - a few sprigs
Salt to taste

Soak the lentils for a couple of hours.

Put the soaked gram varieties and rice along with all the other ingredients, except onions, in a mixer bowl , add suffiicient water, and grind till it reaches a thick, pourable consistency (looks like coarsely ground dosa batter). Add salt to taste and 1 teaspoon of gingelly oil. Let ferment a couple of hours and refridgerate.
This keeps good for 2-3 days.Next morning, heat a flat pan, pour out a dosa. cook both sides.

Idlis and dosas

Idlis and dosas are a ubiquitous presence in most south indian homes. The best part is that you can make the batter on weekend and then store it for an all week breakfast sail through :-)Do post in your idli - dosa variations too...