Riceputt

Rice putt is actually easier to make than gothambu putt.
Take a cup of rice flour and sprinkle it with warm water mixed with salt. Keep on crushing whatever lumps you come across. One way to see if the rice flour is ready is by making a ball of this. If the ball keeps its shape in your palm, and don’t fall apart, it is ready. If there is too many lumps, you can put it in the mixie and run one or two times. It will be ready. Just make sure you add water little by little.
Will post the picture tomorrow:)I already made gothambuputtu today!!

Gothambuputtu/Wheat cake?

Our all time favorite dinner is this-gothambuputtu.what can we call in English? Wheat cake? Hmmm
Anytime if I give a choice to the guys for dinner they wouldn’t even listen to the menu ;) they will say-putt. It’s always gothambuputt. Well it’s easy for me since the left over curries from lunch will go easily with that, along with a ripe banana. For son, all he needs with this is pappadam and a glass of milk.

Take wheat flour and sprinkle warm water mixed with salt. Try to make crumbs out of this with your fingers. Make sure you don’t put too much pressure or else instead of crumbs you would end up with dough! Once it’s evenly wet with not many big lumps its ready. You don’t need too much water. Sprinkle whenever you need.

If you have a puttkutti to make that’s awesome or you can make this in an idly maker. If you are using idly cooker after you spread this crumbs on the plate, sprinkle grated fresh coconut generously on top or if its puttkutti, at the bottom and in between and top. Let the steam come out for about 2 minutes and its readyJhave it hot with kadala curry, potato stew or potato masala or payar thoran/mezhukupuratti or even sambarJnot the watery sambar, thick sambar.
Since I took the picture at night the flash made this picture whiter instead of the light brown color!

Meencurry/Fish curry

When I talk about fish curry what comes in to my mind is a movie! Doordarshan used to broadcast other language movies every Sunday sometime back .One of the movies was Mudal Maryadai. Sivaji and Radha was the main characters I think.. It was a beautiful movie. In that, there is a scene where radha brining MEENKOLAMBU to sivaji and he is eating, that. When I saw that, I felt my mouth watering. I don’t now what meenkolambu is, I think it must be the Tamil name for meen curry. But somehow the way he was eating that and the name meen kolambu, made a lasting image in my mind. I wish I would get meenkolambu someday.

This is the picture of meencurry I made .I used to make it watery all the time. But my mother makes it with very little gravy. She says it’s a curry that you need to just dip the finger tip and eat rice. It will be that hot. I learned from her and made this one day. It turned out real good. She doesn’t put coriander powder at all. Only chili powder, turmeric, shallots, ginger and garlic, fenugreek seeds, kudam puli, curry leaves, green chili and salt.
I made this with salmon. Salmon has this fishy taste that my husband just doesn’t like. Fish has fishy taste!!!(Like mathy/chala taste) Anyway, I tried a different way to cook salmon and it took away all that fishy taste out! What I do is, while the curry is in the stove, I would fry the salmon pieces lightly in little oil. Not too much, just till it changes the color, then I will put the pieces in the gravy.

Jasmine and Aralipoo

Even if there are only one or two mullappo sometimes, it smells sooo good .Especially at night .

Jackfruit/Chakka

Almost every time we go home, the season for chakka would be over.At least this time i hope we will get atleast a couple of them!!I just love those sweet,juicy,fruits:)This one is just behind our kitchen and i heared last year the tree was full of chakkas that some of them were touching the ground,not so uncommon though!

Ethakappam/Banana fry

I don’t get ripe plantain that often here. Once I saw very ripe plantains in Hy –Vee but couldn’t see the price for that. When I asked the person who was arranging vegetables, he came and had a took at those ripe, plantains with black spots in it and told me, ‘take as much as you want!! I am not going to charge you for them’! Wow, I couldn’t believe my luck!! I love making ethakappam or just steam it and eat it. Many people prefer not too ripe plantains. But I like them very ripe, not just this, but chakka(jack fruit too).I love it when they are soo ripe that it almost looks rottenJweird taste huh!

Anyway, today i had 3 ripe plantains at home. I took one ripe plantain and got rid of the skin . Then cut that one in to 3 pieces. Then I made 3 slices from each one of them. I got 9 ethakkappams out of one plantain.

Take a cup of all purpose flour and make a batter little thicker than dosa batter (some people use wheat flour instead of all purpose flour).add enough sugar (if you think the plantain is not ripe enough, or if you just need it to be sweeter).add a pinch of soda bi. Some people add a little rice flour to this. I don’t, I like to make it as simple and easy.mix it well. Heat oil and when the oil is really hot, dip each slice of plantain in this batter and put that in the oil. Turn it to the other side when you see it becoming slightly golden color. Cook in medium heat. When both sides are golden color, take them out and place them in a plate with a paper towel, to soak the extra oil. It does not drink too much oil too .but makes sure the oil is hot and you are not using very ripe plantain.

Kozhukkatta

When I got a fresh coconut (a rare thing nowadays!!)And saw the bottle of jaggery(sarkkara) I knew what I wanted to make for tea yesterday. Something I love kozhukkatta.

Another easy recipe .
Take a cup of rice flour. Make dough by adding warm water mixed with enough salt for your taste. Add a few cumin seeds too. Keep it aside,
Put a steamer on stove. I use the vessel to make idly, and use the flat separator for this.
Take half a cup of freshly grated coconut. Add crushed jaggery(very well crushed), 1/2 cups. If there is any big pieces crush it. Mix this well using your fingers. Add ¼ teaspoon of dried ginger powder.(optional).
That’s all I use to make this easy kozhukkatta.
Make small balls like you make for chappthy. Make a big hole in the middle of this ball and put the coconut/jaggery mix inside that hole and close it .if you are a perfectionist make perfect round balls. I am not, so I just cover them enough so that the mix won’t come out. Finish the dough by repeating the same method.

Apply some oil on top of the plate you are using to steam this rice balls. Put one by one and steam it abut 15-20 min in medium heat.
Ready for tea.

CHEERA SAMBAR

You need one cup toor dal. Half a bag of spinach, chop them coarsely. Two small tomatoes, cut them in to 4 , Two big garlic pods cut in to 4,One small onion, cut them in to 4.Put all these together in a pressure cooker. Add a tea spoon of turmeric and salt and cook. I normally let 2 whistles.After it’s cooked, add ¾ table spoons chili powder, 1/2 coriander powder, 1/2 ts roasted and powdered cumin seeds, one or two pinches of uluva/fenugreek seeds.Also add a pinch or two of asafetida. Mix well. Or if you want you can use sambar powder but also add roasted cumin powder in it. Season it with mustard seeds, red chili and curry leaves.Very easy to make and very tasty too.This is what I am sending to Indira of Mahanandi for JFI- Greens

IDIYAPPAM

Idiyappam

Boil 2 and a half cup of water. Add a few drops of oil. And salt. Once it boils add two cups of rice flour. You might want to add more hot water if the flour is really dry. The dough shouldn’t be watery.
Heat water in idly cooker. Oil idly plate, and seva nazhi. Put the dough inside seva nazhi and press it on to the plate. Sprinkle fresh coconut. Then steam cook it. Wait for about 5 minutes before you can take it out. Let it cool for a few minutes before turning it on to a plate.
I love this. I make this for dinner along with potato stew or kadala curry. My son have this with sugarJ

MORU KACHAL

Morukachal

Most of the time I don’t make it the normal way with coconut. I make it the easiest wayJ

Beat yogurt (about 2 cups-one and a half cup yogurt and half cup water). If it’s thick add enough water to get the right thickness you want. I don’t add too much water, because I like it a bit thicker.
Take one big garlic pod, a piece of ginger, one big green chili. Crush them.

Heat oil, adds mustard, and let it splutter, add cumin seeds, and add this crushed mix. Stir well for a couple of minutes then reduce heat. Add turmeric powder. Stir and switch off stove. Add a little asafetida too. Once it cools, add yogurt. Mix well. Switch on the stove and heat this in low heat. Till its hot, but never boil it. Turn off the stove and sprinkle a pinch of red chili powder on top.

MUTTA AVIYAL

I learned this from my MIL. Even though she is a 100% vegetarian she would make all non veg things for her kidsJ.she wouldn’t taste it but it comes awesomeJ

Hard-boil 4 eggs.
Take half a cup coconut (dry or fresh).grind it a couple of seconds along with a small piece of onion ,half a tea spoon of cumin seeds and a tea spoon(according to your taste) of red chili powder.

Slice one big onion thinly, take two small tomatoes (or one big tomato) and slice them thinly. Take one green chili and split in to two. Add half teaspoon of turmeric powder and salt too. Cook all these together. Add just enough water to cook.
Once it’s cooked, add the coconut mix and mix well. Add little coconut oil too. Reduce heat and add boiled eggs (each one cut in to 4 long slices) in to this. Don’t stir too much or the yolk will be separated from the whites.
Mutta Aviyal is ready.

CHICKEN CURRY

The story how I got this recipe goes like this:

We were watching the Vishu program and there was this program about Kalabhavan Mani. A very good actor. He was showing how they make chicken curry in their part of the world. Watching that my husband said it looks so tasty .I thought let me give it a try! He did not give any quantities of ingredients. The program ended in the middle of an advertisement. But I got the main part. So thanks to Kalabhavan Mani for thisJsince I couldn’t see the whole program, I had to do the rest according to my imaginationJ

For one lb chicken use at least 3 big onions. Slice very thinly.

Lots of ginger and garlic sliced thinly.

One or two green chili sliced in two.
Mix all this well with your hands.

Add some cinnamon powder. Add masala powder, pepper powder, chicken masala powder, red chili powder, turmeric and very little coriander powder. Pour coconut oil in the middle of this and add salt. Mix well again. Make sure you mix well. I put half a pack of chicken masala for this, and add other powders to match thatJit will be really hot. Now add chicken pieces. Mix well with your hands. You will get a sweet smell. Now cook in medium heat. I did not see if he added water to this, but I added half a cup of hot water anyways. Make sure you take a bigger vessel to cook this. Stir often. I did not cover it with a lid because I did not have a big lip t cover my big uruliJkeep stirring every now and then till the gravy thicken. Add some more oil if you need. Keep on stirring. I let it cook for a little more than 30 minutes this way. The end result was the best chicken fry/curry I ever made.

I gave up on making chicken curry as it never came out dark red or almost black like some people makes. I used to envy those peopleJ,not anymoreJ .Then I got an easy recipe from Jen, my friend .That was the only chicken curry I made until now.

Thanks to Asha.

thanks to asha for her delicious recipes of chocolate and walnut cakes .i made a few changes but it came out realy good.

Old is Gold and Pazhacake recipe:)

I am talking about old is gold.
I don’t consider all old things are gold. But there are a few things I just love, fascinated with, obsessed with.
I love old movies. When I watch a new movie it doesn’t stay in my mind after the movie is over. But the old movies has more life in it, more emotions in it and I feel more realistic. Even though people might say the acting is sometimes a bit over or even artificial I still find them interesting.
I loved watching Pather Panchali,Appu,Aparajitho etc. The Bengali actresses are beautiful. I don’t get bored watching them.
I like old Hindi movies too. Whenever I think about it, this song scene comes to my mind–
Pyaar huwa iqraar huwa hai, pyaar se phir kyu darta hai dil Raj Kapoor singing in shree420.
Also the old songs that my father used to sing to me like-jalthe he jiskeliye ,….
Tuute hue kvaabon-madhumathi
Saranga theri yaad me etc etc.
I never get bored of these precious songs. I remember waiting for the Hindi movies in Doordarshan.
We both love old Malayalam movies, especially Nazir ,Sathyan etc .Those black and white movies has their own charm. We saw the old movie ‘puzha’ recently. Somehow we can relate to those movies. When I was a child we used to go visiting my grandparents houses during summer time. At one house I remember the dimly lit bulbs at night. Hardly brighter than a candle. And at another house, there was no electricity. Only oil lamps. Everybody would have dinner very early, goes to sleep early too. I remember looking at the shadows flickering on the wall when I try to sleep.
We used to get ‘Velleppam’ for breakfast. There was this ‘umma’ who used to make them in the mornings. Never tasted anything that good after that.
So when I watch those black and white movies, I can relate to that time and life easily. The life I saw around was very ordinary and very down to earth people .

Another thing that I love is old houses. I like new houses too but love to see pictures of old houses more. It’s like they hold a lot of secrets within those walls. Some houses has the well attached to the kitchen, I just love those type f houses.

Oh talking about all those I am going to write the recipe for the snack ‘pazhacake’.I don’t think you can get that in any hotels.But you can still find them in small teashops, with a couple of benches and desks and a glass shelf with snacks in them.

Recipe for Pazhacake

Take 2 or 3 very ripe bananas. Grind them well and add the seeds of a cardamom while grinding.
Pour this in to a bowl and add wheat flour, just enough to get a thick batter. It should be thicker than idly batter and slightly thinner than chappathy dough. Add sugar, according to your need. A pinch of salt. A pinch or two of soda bicarbonate. Add some chopped coconuts too. Mix well. Keep it aside
Heat oil, and spoon this batter in to hot oil and deep fry. Reduce the heat and cook in medium heat so the inside will be cooked too. When they get a golden brown color take it out. One good thing about this snack is, it doesn’t drink too much oil. An easy snack for evening tea.

Nisagandhi

This blooms only at night,a rare sight:)

KANIKONNA

This is infront of our home:)its beautiful.

My cooking style:)

I dont do certain 'must do it' things in my cooking:).If iam making payasam for my home,i dont bother to fry cashew and kissmiss and cardomom etc.I think its a lot of effort to do it:)Even without that it comes out good;)Atleast for me!!But if iam making it for guests i try to do it properly.Some times i feel even the smallest things are very hard tasks!! When i see a recipe,if i find a name that i dont know,i would never try that.I would feel its going to be hard.
Oh by the way ,same goes with my baking too!! I hate to add vanilla essence!!I think opening that small bottle is the hardest thing to do!!So i dont.
Another thing i dont like to do - season curries properly.I feel lazy when i think about doing it.If i have to season it,i need shallots,and curry leaves whenever i need.But the problem here is,i dont get both these things often.So i stopped using them altogether .Only if there are any guests i would go out of my way to buy them,search for them in all the stores around.So i use only mustard and red pepper.These two had no scarcity so far:)So you may never find curry leaves in most of my pics here:).There are people who believe making a curry is incomplete without curry leaves in it:)Like my mother.She cannot season a single thing without a handful of curry leaves.She would go and pick on my small plants!!I have 3 pots of curry leaves,but not big enough to start plucking.But even she got used to my no curry leaves curries;)She likes it.

Manga pulisseri

Take a ripe mango.If they are not too sweet that would be better.Peel the skin and cut them in to cubes.Add enough waterto cover the mango pieces.Add some turmeric ,one or two green chilis sliced in to two ,and salt .Let it cook.Take half a cup of coconut(fresh or dry),half a teaspoon cumin seeds and grind it,add enough water to make fine paste.Once the mangoes are done,add this coconut mix in it and stir well.Let it boil slightly.Once it boils reduce heat and add yogurt.(beat the yogurt well before you add in to the curry,so that there wont be any lumps)about half a cup.Add a teaspoon of black pepper powder too.Check if you need more salt.Keep on stirring till it becomes hot,but never let it boil.Take it out from the stove.Season it with mustard seeds,curry leaves and red chili.

Chips

Slice raw banana very thinly.Extremely thin.Take a bowl with enough water to cover the cut bananas.Add about a tea spoon of turmeric in that,and salt too.You should add salt according to your liking.Even if you happened to add a little more,dont worry because you will drain the water after about 5 minutes.Take a plate and put a paper towel in it and spread this bananas on that paper towel.Then heat oil(i use canola).When the oil is realy hot,add one by one.Make sure there is enough place for the bananas to float around.When they start turning slightly brown take them out and spread on a paper towel.This time is important,take them out fast or else it will be burned.Another way to check if the chips are ready, is to check the oil.If they are ready the oil will not make bubbles and the bananas would have a papery /rustling feel when you try to take them out.Some people sprinkle salt after its done.Some people put a piece of turmeric in the oil till the frying is over ,to give the chips color.Hope this helps:)

CHICKEN FRY

My son and husband both loves fried chicken with dosaJ They can sit and eat it forever it seems. This is how I make the fried chicken.

A pack of ready to cook chicken. All you need to do is cut it in to small pieces and wash.

Make a paste of ginger and garlic. In a bowl,mix red chili powder,turmeric,ginger garlic paste,pepper powder,a few drops of lemon juice and salt. Add the chicken pieces in this mix and coat the pieces well with this mix.(check the salt before adding chicken,and add if you need more).Keep it for at least and hour to marinate. I tried it right away once, it came out just as well!! Deep fry them. After you add the chicken to fry, reduce heat and fry till it is brown. Ready to serveJ

SHRIMP

I was bored cooking shrimp in the same way. Today tried it differently. As usual another easy recipeJ

Shrimp- one pack (I use the frozen shrimp)

Chili powder- one table spoon

Coriander powder- one table spoon

Turmeric – ½ teaspoon.

Ginger piece- cut in to thin long pieces

Onion – a small one chopped

Green chili – 2 or 3 cut in to two.

Kudampuli – One soaked in warm water.

Coconut milk – thin coconut milk (add water to thick coconut milk to make it thinJ) , enough to cover the shrimp.

Salt – as needed.

In a vessel, mix shrimp, powders, ginger, onion, green chili, thin coconut milk and salt. Put on stove and let it boil. Once it boils add kudampuli. Heat and let the gravy thickens. Adjust chili powder/ salt if needed. Once the gravy is thick reduce heat. Add thick coconut milk, about one and a half table spoons. Mix it. Season it with mustard seeds curry leaves and red chili .Very good with steaming riceJ

AVIYAL

One of the easiest curriesJ. If the gravy and other side dish for lunch looks red, I use green chili for aviyal. (there would be one gravy/curry and two side dishes most of the time) .One item will be gone if there is a non veg item . Or else normally I use red chili powder.

I use almost all the vegetables in it. We say ‘aviyal paruvam’, that means a messJ So, by making a mess of vegetables you get a tasty dish.

I use,Cucumber,Egg plant,Plantain,Drumsticks,Potato,Carrot,Beans,Tomato(green or red, but should be hard, not too ripe). If raw Mango is available that too, but make sure you don’t put too much.I cut all these vegetables in to long pieces. Then I put some turmeric and salt and add just enough water for them to cook. Some of the vegetables have their own water in it,like Cucumber and Tomatoes. Then I put coconut ,cumin seeds, a small piece of onion and either green chili or red chili powder in the small jar of a mixie and run it just for a couple of seconds. So they don’t get too pasty. It should be a little coarse. Don’t add water. Then once the vegetables are cooked, add this mix in it and stir. Adjust salt .In the end add some coconut oil and a few curry leaves on top. I think it goes well only with rice!But with Boss,it goes with almost anything,putt,chappthy,dosa etc!!

MUSSELS

I was making an ‘easy chicken thoran recipe’. I got it from one of the TV shows I guess. then boss told me it tastes like the masala for mussels. so we decided to try that.
I never tried mussels before. I used to eat it when we go to Trivandrum. there is a restaurant called sagara at vazhuthacaud junction. It will be crowded always. As soon as one person gets up the next one would be sitting. It is not a fancy restaurant very ordinary looking restaurant with very little space. They have the most tastiest sea food items I have ever tried. I remember having idiyappam and mussels one day.
But I was under the impression that cleaning mussels is a huge task. But boss told me he would do the cleaning and washing .so I thought then why not give it a try!!
Here is the recipe for the mussels I make. The pictures are not that good. It s actually very hot, and looks almost kind of red. But this pic doesn’t look that red because I did not have enough time to fry it ,lunch time was already lateJ

Mussels- I buy the frozen pack, it has two separate packets of mussels in it and I use both. (You would get about 15 to 20 ).

Place that packet in microwave, in a microwave safe plate. Make sure you make a few punctures in the pack before you place it in microwave. I use 6 minutes to cook it. After that take only the mussels that are opened and discard the un opened ones. I cut the black, hairy thing away. Wash it lightly.

Powder about 1 table spoon of chili powder,1/2 table spoon coriander powder,1/2 table spoon garam masala,3/4 tea spoon fennel seeds, about 1 ½ teaspoon of black peppers. make a powder of all these.

Chop one big onion. Chop ginger and garlic too.(take as much as you need, the more the merrier).

In a skillet, heat oil, take according to your taste and need .I take about a table spoon of oil. Fry a couple of cloves, a small piece of cinnamon and one whole cardamom. After that add the chopped ginger and garlic. Fry for a couple of minutes. Then add onion. Stir till the color changes slightly. Then add the powdered masala. Stir again. Now add the clean mussels and stir well. Let the masala coat the mussels well. Add salt. After a couple more minutes add grated coconut(fresh or dry, as much as you need, I add about ½ cup ).stir again. Check to see if you need more chili or salt. Add whatever is needed. Keep on stirring till you get a brown color. If you need, add some more oil. Now add a handful of chopped fresh coconuts(optional). Keep stirring. When you think it has the brown color it is ready. It doesn’t take that much time, since the mussels are already cooked. The more time it stays on stove, and continues stirring you will get better taste, but don’t burn it.. Add some curry leaves on top .ready to eat.

Adding grated coconut is also optional. But it makes it even tastier.

EASTER

Today is Easter.As usual i made Easter Appam,i call it KINNATHAPPAM. It's made in a bowl.Also made beef curry.I have been making this ever since i got married ,every year as a tradition that my father used to do for us.After lunch today Boss and i was talking about our childhood days for about 2 hours.I told him,how my father used to make Easter and Christmas, special for us. First of all,he did all the cooking all by himself. He would meassure and soak Pachari(white rice?)for a couple of hours.Then drain it.There would be a lady who comes to help,Sarada chechy.She will use the old method-ulakka and ural to powder the rice.It takes a long time.I remember watching her doing it.She would go out in between to use pan/vettila murukkan.Then she will roast the flour.My father would be nearby watching carefully to see that, it does not get over roasted.Then that lady would grind freshly grated coconut,that too in our old 'attukallu'.Then father would mix all this along with coconut water with yeast in it.He will cover it and put that on top of our arippetti:).Arippetti is a big wooden box ,where there is 3 big sessions(Each one could be of different shape and sizes).One to put Champavari/brown rice,one to put Pachari,another one to put Wheat.There is also a box inside that has 8 sections to keep dals and pepper etc.It's almost as big as a small dining table.Then the next day he would wake up early,before 5 am i guess.Would test the batter and add sugar and salt and powdered cardomom.Then he would fry cashew nuts and kissmiss.Sometimes he would put cherries too.Then he would grease a steel plate,fill about half a plate with this batter.Decorate this with cashews and kissmiss.Then steam it ,in Appachembu,that we use for making idlies,for 45 minutes.He is very particular about this 45 minutes time period:).After that he will take it out and let it cool.After that will change this in to a bigger plate.It would be a beautiful,perfect appam.Then he would make beef.He would wash and wash till the water runs clean:)He would say never use it with blood in it,his belief.I dont know how he does it even now.Then he would use a lot of garlic,ginger,ulli(small onion).Then in a seperate plate he would cut fresh coconuts in to uniform small pieces.I have to say all the pieces looked exactly the same.Then he would use the old fashion cooking method,aduppu.Use dried coconut leaves and all those things,logs etc to cook this.He would sit nearby this and once its cooked,he would stir it till it is dry.Atleast 2 hours i guess he would use.Then in the end he would season this beef fry with lots of curry leaves and also that cut coconut pieces.The result is the yummiest beef fry i ever tasted.It will be very hot,spicy hot i mean, that by the time you finish it ,your eyes will be watery and your head will be sweaty.I remeber this always.I try to make this for every Easter and Christmas.May be not half as good as what he used to make,but i know he would have been proud .I miss him so badly.I couldnt get the camera to work,i had to use the cell camera.but will post the pics as soon as i fIgure out how to post it:)

EASTER APPAM RECIPE

The way i make easter appam is very easy.
Grounded coconut - one cup (fresh coconut.)
Rice flour - one and a half cup
Yeast - 1/2 to 3/4 tea spoon
One cup luke warm water
Sugar - one table spoon
Add yeast in luke warm water and add sugar in that.Mix well and keep it till form/bubbles come.
Mix coconut and rice flour and add this yeast mix in it and mix well.Dont add too much water,add only enough water to make a thick batter.(use luke warm water to mix,this helps fermenting easily).
Keep it in a container and close the lid.Keep it over night.The next day,it should be fermented.
Add enough water to make a batter almost like idly.Not too thick not too thin.Add sugar and powdered cardomom(add as much sugar as you want,this appam tastes better if its sweet,but not too sweet like payasam).I add about 4 table spoons of sugar.Check to make sure if you need more.Add a pinch of salt.
Grease a steel plate.(it should fit inside your idly cooker).Fill about half the plate with batter.Decorate with fried cashews and raisins.Steam cook,for about 20 mintutes.Take it out and let it cool,while it cools cover it lightly with paper towel.Make another one.By the time the second one is done,the first one would be cooled enough to take out from the plate and ready to eat:)

Pecan Pie

The pecan pie i make is a mix of a couple of recipes:)
Crust recipe-
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Butter - 3 tb
Shorterning - 3 tb
Salt - pinch
Sugar - 1 tb
Ice water - about 4 to 5 tb,enough to make a dough.
Mix all of these together and add ice water little by little,and make a dough.Cover it in a plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge ,till i tell you to take it out:)
For Pie filling
Pecan - 1 1/4 cup
Egg - 2 large
Molasses - 1 tb
Corn syrup - 1 cup (you can replace this with maple syrup or pancake syrup)
Brown sugar - 1/4 cup
Salt - a pinch
Butter - 2 tb
Vanilla essence - 1 /2 ts
Pre heat oven to 375.
Melt butter,add sugar .Mix.Add eggs(beat lightly).Add vanilla.Add molasses.Mix.Add corn syrup.Add salt .Mix all well.
In a microwave safe bowl ,heat the pecans for a minute.Take it out and stir.Heat for one more minute.Make sure it does not get burned.
After doing all these,take the dough out.Roll it ,it should be bigger than your pie pan.
(i use the small aluminum pie pan for this recipe.The size is exactly the size of the prepared pie crust that you can find in the baking section.)
Put the rolled out dough in the pan.Make sure you leave out enough loose edges.After making sure it fits inside the pan,add pecans first.Pour the filling.Bake for 35 to 45 minitues.Cool it in a wire rack.
Easy pecan pie.(i dont keep the dough in refrigerator for 2 hours,it makes it harder to roll out.).

PITLA

My Mil gave me this recipe.I love this.

Bitter gourd or Egg plant.
Stir fry cut vegetable in little oil. Do not deep fry.
Toor dar -1 cup cooked.
Coconut -she wrote one half of a coconut. I could say about 1 and a half cup.
Chana dal-1tsp
Black pepper-1/4 tsp
Red chili-10 or 12
Kayam--
littleTamarind-according to your need
Jaggery-"
Roast coconut,chana dal,peppers,kaya- all thsi till brown. Grind it well. Add tamarind soaked in water when you grind it.In the stir fried vegetable add turmeric,salt and the above coconut mix and cook. Add cooked toor dal and add jaggery. Boil and season it the way you like it.

CILANTRO CURRY

Cilantro-2 bunches

Egg plant-small-1/2 kg

Green chili-5

Tomato-2

Garlic-5
Onion-1 big

Cumin-1 ½ ts

Red chili powder-1 tsp

Cashew nuts soaked-6 or 7

Coriander powder-1 1/2tsp

Coconut-1 cup

Chop cilantro coarsely and put that in boiling water. Then drain it. In little oil fry green chili, garlic and cumin seeds. Add coconut in this and stir for a couple of minutes. Grind all this well.

Chop onion and tomato and stir fry in oil. Add the coconut mix and salt .Boil.
Add eggplant fried in oil in this(no deep frying).readyJ

Food

I will post the recipe that’s the easiest one, to begin with:).My favorite- Urulakizhangu Mezhukupuratti,i feel unfair to call it potato fry!!This is the way i make it:Cut potatoes not too thin not too thick. Not too long not too short:)Heat oil. Add these potatoes in it, add red chili powder, turmeric powder, salt and mix it. Cover for a few minutes and then open it. Keep stirring till it’s done. Add chili powder or pepper powder if you need it be more hot or if needed add salt. If i feel like giving Boss a treat i will add onions too;)he loves onions in this .Cooking is over:).I make Carrots,Beets,Cabbage and Cauliflower in the same way too.Now, whenever i make this, I also make Thenga chammanthy(fresh coconut dry chutney).I just add coconut, a little puli (tamarind)a little ginger, ulli(onion),chili powder or red chilies, salt and little water. Grind it well. This is ready too.There should be either fish curry or theeyal to go with these. If there is theeyal then i will make omlet. If there is fish curry then no theeyal and omlet:)I love this combination. It goes well with hot rice.Talking about this reminds me of how much I love POTHICHOR.Whenever we travel by train, we take pothichor with us, just rice and curries packed in banana leaf.Even the thought of it makes my mouth water. There would be certain items in it that’s a must.1)There is a chammanthy podi (made with roasted coconut in a special way),or red thick chammanthy,tomato fry, kadu manga achar(tender mango pickle),omlet. Sometimes Boss wants to have fried fish, so there will be a big piece of fried fish too. Last time when we went to Madras, we all had this for dinner. As soon as the train started moving, I wanted to open it and eat!! It was only a little after 2 pm and we all had lunch a little less than an hour before. It was hard for me to wait till it was 7 to have it. My mil makes the best pothichor i ever had:)

These are a few of my favorite things:)

These are a few of my favourite things..
Its raining here.Its good to see the rain and the fresh clean look outside.But somehow it lacks a beauty that we see in our KALAVARSHAM/MONSOON in Kerala.Its wonderful,its so so so beautiful.Seeing rain is nostalgic for me.
I remember getting up early mornings listening to the sounds of rain,when we were at home back in kerala.We were going to celebrate Onam a week earlier:)The night before ,Boss's cousin and me were preparing flowers to make POOKALAM the next day.We were seperating the petals the whole night.Now what i saw in the morning was the petals floating in the water in the naduthalam.i just sat nearby and watched. It was still dark,even though it was almost 6 am.nobody was awake other than me and his mami in the kichen starting the day.I was hoping for the rain to stop,only then we can make the POOKALAM!! I went out and sat on the cane chair,in the verandah.all the plants are soaked in water but looking so green.As i was watching,the rain slowly came to an end. I saw his cousin coming.We both decided to start the work.He is a good artist.He drew a beautiful outline.It took almost 2 hours by the time we finished it.It was the first time i made one and it was very very beautiful.