All about Food

Ven Pongal is a favourite breakfast dish of South Indian’s. It’s a rice & lentil preparation served along with coconut chutney and sambar. 

Ingredients:

• Raw rice 1 cup• Green gram ( Moong dal) 1 cup• Black pepper corn 1 tsp• Cumin seeds 1 tsp• Ginger fine julienne cut 1 inch length• Cashew nut 6 pcs• Curry leaves 2 sprigs• Ghee 2 tbs• Cooking oil 1 tbs• Salt to taste
Heat a pressure cooker over low flame. Pour the ghee and oil once it’s hot, add cumin seeds and black pepper. Saute for a while and when black pepper starts sputtering, add ginger, cashews,curry leaves and saute for about 2 minutes till ginger raw flavor diminish. 

Add washed, drained rice and lentil in to pressure cooker and stir well. Add required salt to taste and let saute for about 2 minutes. Add 4.5 cups of water and allow to cook for about 3 whistle duration. Once it’s done, leave it to cool, until the pressure inside the cooker is completely released. Serve hot with Coconut chutney and sambar. Happy Cooking! 

Basically a South Indian favorite Rice preparation. As this is popular for its attributes, there have been continues modifications unto this and dished out to individual pallet. 

Ingredients & Method:

• Cooked rice 3 cups• Fresh curd 2 cups• Channa dal 1tspGLAS• Urad dal 1 tsp• Mustard seed 1/2 tsp• Asafoetida 1/2 tsp• Dried red chilly 2 nos cut in halves• Finely chopped ginger 1/2″ length• Chopped Green chilly 3 nos • Curry leaves 1 sprig• Cooking oil for tampering• salt to taste.  

Take, a mixing bowl, add cooked rice and smash it little bit to get a creamy consistency while you add curd. If not done, after adding curd, the rice grains get hard. Ensure that the rice is completely cold and if it’s hot, the curd gets coagulated and it wont be possible to get the right consistency of Curd rice. Whisk the curd nicely, add in to rice along with salt to taste and mix well. 

Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds, Channa dal, urad dal, red chilles, curry leaves and saute untill dal turns golden. Once done, add along ginger, green chili and saute for about a minute. 
Pour the tampering in to rice and mix well. Serve it cold or at room temperature along with pickle, curd chilly fried or with appalams. 
If you want to serve it after few hours, make sure to add few tbs of fresh boiled, cold milk to avoid sourness.

Curd rice variations could be with1) Shredded carrots and cucumber. 2) Fried Cashew nuts & sultana. 3) Pomegranate Seeds & Grapes
Happy Cooking! 

A Rice preparation from South India, commonly served during breakfast as well as during other meal hours too. 

Ingredients & Method:
• Urad dal 1 tsp• Channa dal 1 tsp• Groundnut (Peanut) 1 tsp• Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp• Turmeric powder 1 tsp• Dried Red chilly 3 nos cut in halves• Chopped Ginger 1″ length• Curry leaves 2 sprigs• Cooked rice 4 cups• lemon juice 2 tbs• Coriander leaves 1 sprig• Cooking oil 2 tbs• Salt to taste

Take a pan, heat over medium flame. Pour oil and allow the oil to get hot. Add in mustard seeds, curry leaves  and chopped ginger. Once mustard seeds start sputtering, add channa dal, urad dal, peanut and red chilly. Let it saute for a while to turn dal golden brown.Now add turmeric powder, lemon juice, salt to taste and mix thoroughly. Add in cooked rice and mix well. Cover and cook for about 2 minutes. Put of the flame and let it rest for 2 minutes.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot. 
Accompaniment could be coconut chutney or pickle. 

Happy Cooking! 

Ingredients & method:

• Tamarind  2 large lemon size ball and soak it in hot water for about an hour. • Coriander seeds 4 tbs. Dry roast it brown in low flame and keep to cool. • Channa dal 4 tbs. Dry roGlast and allow to cool. • Peanut (ground nut) 3 tbs. Dry roasted• Cumin seeds 2 tsp.Dry roast it to brown and allow to cool. • Black pepper whole 2 tsp. Dry roast and leave to • Mustard seed 2 tsp, dry roast and keep aside. • Fenugreek (Methi seed) 2 tsp dry roasted• Curry leaves. Washed & dried 10 sprigs. Dry roast it and allow to cool• White sesame seeds 3 tbs dry roasted. • Grated dry coconut 1 full. dry roast on a low flame and powder it coarsely,• Dried Red chilles 25 gms. Add a tbs of oil to get it roasted properly. 
• Turmeric powder 1tsp
Grind all ingredients together except coconut along with a tsp of Asafoetida to a coarse powder. Heat a pan over low fire, add 5 tbs of cooking oil and bring to heat. Add a teaspoon of mustard, 2 sprigs of curry leaves,2 tsps of urad dal, 2 tsps of channa dal, 2 tsps of white sesame seeds, 2 tsps of peanut  and saute till it’s golden brown. 
Once its done, pour in the tamarind paste and ensure no seeds are dropped in. Add required salt to taste, stir well and cook till it turns to a paste consistency At this stage  add about 5 tbs of palm sugar* and stir well. Add in the grounded coconut, and a cup of water. Mix well and cook for about 2 minutes and put off the flame and leave it to cool. 
Take cooked rice in a bowl and mix puliyogara paste as required. Add a teaspoon of sesame oil for flavor. 
Happy Cooking! 

A delicious South Indian breakfast dish. Its made from fermented batter of rice and lentil. The toppings could be of your choice and even grated cheese could be applied.

Batter for Uthappam.

• Urad dal 1/2 cup• Par boiled rice 1 1/2 cup• Fenugreek 1/2 tsp• Salt to taste.

Soak rice, urad dal, fenugreek and leave it for 4 hours. 
Grind the soaked rice,dal and fenugreek to a coarse – smooth consistency. Mix the batter and leave it to ferment overnight. Add salt to taste before cooking.Ensure the batter is not too thick or loose. 
Ingredients for Masala

• Finely chopped onion  2 medium sized• Chopped Tomato 1 medium sized• Boiled potato finely mashed 1 medium sized• Finely chopped Ginger 1/2″ length• Green chili finely chopped 2 nos• Curry leaves. 1/2 sprig finely chopped• Coriander leaves 1 sprig finely chopped• Coriander powder 1 tsp• Red chilly powder 1/2 tsp• Cumin powder 1/4 tsp• Salt to taste
In a mixing bowl, add all above and mix it thoroughly without mashing. 
Heat the pan in medium flame and pour the prepared batter depending upon the size and thickness of the Uthappam you want to make. Spread the masala generously on the applied batter. Ensure its evenly spread across. Drizzle few drops of oil on it. Let it cook for about a minute and its time to turn it and allow to cook for another minute. If required, apply few drops of oil. Now the Masala Uthappam is ready. Serve it along with Sambar & Chutney. 
Happy Cooking! 

A very simple one pot cooking using Amaranth leaves which is rich in Carbohydrates,Vitamins,Proteins and Minerals. It’s widely used in South India and its delicious too. 

Ingredients:

• Raw rice 3 cups• Amaranth leaves 1 bundle weighing approximately 250 gms• Chopped onions 3 medium sized• Green chili slit 4 nos• Black peppercorn 1/2 tsp• Garlic peeled  10 cloves• Bay leaf 3 nos• Green cardamom 5 nos• Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp• Clove 6 nos• Ghee 2 tbs• Cooking oil 1tbs• Tomato cut in quarters 2 medium• Salt to taste. 

Take a pressure cooker,keep on low fire and heat. Add ghee and oil to heat. Add cloves, cardamom, peppercorn, bay leaf and saute for a while. Add  chopped onion, green chili and garlic along with the whole spices. Add required salt at this time, so that the  water content in it will get dried and onion gets brown quicker. 
Add the washed and drained rice in to it and give a good mix. Allow to saute fir about 2 minutes, add chopped amaranth leaves and add 5 cups water. This quantity is keeping mind on the release of water from Amaranth leaves. After 2 whistle, put of the flame and allow the pressure to get released completely. Serve the rice hot along with Yoghurt or Raitha. 

Happy Cooking! 

A delicious South Indian breakfast dish prepared out of Rice and lentil batter steaming in a specific mould.

Ingredients:

• Idly rice 1 cup• Raw rice 2 cup• Urad dal 1/2 cup• Fenugreek 1 tsp• Mustard seed 1tsp• Finely chopped onion 1 medium• Green chili chopped 2 nos• Curry leaves chopped 1 sprig• Urad dal 1tsp• Chopped ginger 1/2 inch length• Chopped fresh coconut 2″ length• Cooking oil as required.

Preparing batter for Kuzhipaniyaram. 
Soak 1/2 cup of Urad dal,1cup of Idly rice and 1 cup raw rice along with 1 tsp fenugreek (methi)for about 4 hours. 
Grind dal to a smooth paste and keep aside. Now grind the rice  separately and mix both batter together and leave it to ferment for about 8 to 10 hrs. 
Add required salt and check for batter consistency. Ensure its not too thick or liquid. The batter consistency should be slow dripping. 
Heat a pan, add a tbs of oil and let to heat. Once oil is hot, add a tsp of urid dal and stir for a minute and allow dal to turn slight brown. Now add a tsp of mustard seed and chopped curry leaves and sate till it starts sputtering. Add finely chopped onion, green chili, ginger and fresh coconut. Saute for a while until it turns light brown. 
Now take in a bowl, the required quantity of batter and add the sauted mixture to it and mix well. 
Grease Kuzhipaniyaram mould and place on medium flame. Once the pan is hot, pour in the batter to each mould and fill up to 3/4 of cavity, cover the pan with lid and cook for about 3 minutes in low flame.  This allow paniyaram to raise and fill mould. 

Now, open the lid and check whether it’s fried to golden color crust at bottom and flip each to other side and cook till the sides are properly done. 
Serve paniyaram with coconut chutney. Happy Cooking! 

It’s an Yamani dish made out of special blend of spices and it’s cooking process is entirely different from any Biriyani. 

Ingredients for Mandi spice mixture. 
• Coriander seeds 2 tbs• Cloves 8 buds• Cinnamon stick 2″ Length• Cardamom green 8 pods• Cumin 1 tsp• Black pepper whole  1tsp• Dried lemon peel 1 full lemon• Saffron 1 pinch• Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp• Salt to taste

Ingredients for Rice preparation
• Basmati Rice 5( soaked & washed) • Chicken 1/2 kg. Cleaned & washed• Finely sliced onion 3 medium• Sultana 50 gms• Cashew nut 50 gms• Cardamom 4 pods• Cloves 4 buds• Cinnamon 1″length• Ghee 2 tbs• Cooking oil 2 tbs• Salt to taste.

Step 1.
On a low flame, keep a saucepan, add all above spices and roast it untill it releases its aromatic flavor. Remove from stove and allow to cool. Grind it to course – smooth powder and Mandi spice mixture is ready. 

Step 2.
Clean and wash half chicken. Cut in 2 pieces and drain the water. Sprinkle required spice mixture and rub over nicely.If required, you may use a teaspoon of oil to ensure the spice is well coated and let the marinated chicken to rest for an hour. 

Step 3.
Heat a cooking pot ( ensure, the cooking pot is oven proof) over medium flame, pour the ghee and oil. Once it’s hot, add sliced onion and the whole spices and the sultanas. Add required salt at this time, so that the onion and sultana get caramelized quickly. Add the Rice to it and the spice mixture and stir well. Pour about a litre of water ( water should be twice the quantity of chicken) and check for salt.
Place a rack that fit cooking vessel and place the marinated chicken on it and transfer the vessel along with the rack to a preheated  oven and cook at 180 degree Celsius  for about 30 minutes. 

Now the Chicken Mandi is ready to serve. 
Happy Cooking! 

Ancient grains, known to then inhabitants and cultivated thereafter since Neolithic era, Millets Nutritional benefits and it’s gluten free properties make it popular across the globe.Here I have used 5 assorted millets to make masala upma. 

Ingredients:
• Foxtail millet 50 gms• Barnyard millet 50 gms• Little millet 50 gms• Proso millet 50 gms• Pearl millet 50 gms• Onion thinly sliced 2 medium sized• Green chilly 5 nos finely chopped• French beans 6 nos thinly chopped • Carrots 1 medium sized chopped• Capsicum 1 no finely chopped• Channa dal 1tsp• Urad dal 1 tsp• Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp• Curry leaves 2 sprig• Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp• Coriander powder 1 tsp• Chilly powder 1/2 tsp• Clarified butter 2 tbs• Cooking oil 1 tbs• Salt to taste.

Soak millets well in advance for minimum 24 hours if you plan to make Millet upma. 
Heat a wok in medium flame. Pour clarified butter,oil and allow to heatOnce the oil is hot, add channa dal and saute for a minute. Add urad dal and saute for about 2 minutes. Add mustard seeds and curry leaves.  Once mustard seeds start sputtering, add sliced onion, green chilly and saute. 

Add required salt at this time, so that the onion will get caramelized fast. Once onion is done, add turmeric powder,chilly powder, coriander powder and the vegetables. Saute for a while and add 1 litre of water. Check for salt and if required, add it at this stage. 
Once the water start boiling, add washed and drained millets and give it a good stirring. Cook for about 30 minutes at medium flame. Keep checking in between and stir to avoid catching. Once it’s cooked properly, serve it hot. Since it’s masala upma, there is no need for any accompaniment, however, yoghurt would be optional. 
Happy Cooking! 

An all time favorite of the common, which was found in most of all restaurant menu. 

Ingredients:
• Bread slice 10 slices• Butter 100 gms• Sultanas 50 gms• Milk 1 litre• Eggs 3 nos• Sugar 100 gms• Cinnamon powder 1 tsp• Nutmeg powder 1/2 tsp
Cut and remove the crust from bread slices, apply butter on one side and cut in triangle. Grease a baking tray or suitable Pie dish and arrange the bread to form a layer. Spread generous quantity of sultana and if there is sufficient quantity of bread, form another layer of bread. In a saucepan, Warm the milk, crack egg in to it and sugar and whisk it briskly. Add cinnamon powder  and mix. Pour the milk on top of the layered bread and spread butter across the layer and spread sultana. Sprinkle nutmeg on top of it leave the dish for about 10 minutes enable bread to soak. 
In a preheated oven,bake it for about 30 minutes at 170 degree Celsius or until the crust is golden brown. 
Happy Cooking!