Bitter gourd/ karela vege, microwave

Wash, peel, cut into small pieces after removing seeds. Add 1/2 tsp of salt to the 1/4 kg of bitter gourd pieces. Mix well & keep it in the fridge for a day, or you may keep it for some time & squeeze out the bitter water from the gourd.
 2 big onions cut fine, 2 big tomatoes cut fine
1/2 cup of cooked dal( arhar/ moong)  salt
1 tsp chili pdr,  2 tsp curry pdr.    1 tsp chana masala

In a micro safe dish, add the gourd pieces along with a 1 tsp of oil & cook for 5 minutes. remove &  add 1 tsp of oil & 1 tsp of jeera/ cumin seeds & micro high for 1 min. then add 2 big onions cut into small pieces along with tomatoes, you may add finely cut garlic pieces which is optional. Micro high for 4 minutes. then add the cooked gourd pieces along with dal & other spices, mix well & cook for 2-3 minutes.
This goes well with roti & rice also.

ps- as you all know, bitter gourd is supposed to be very good for diabetics, for whom even bitter gourd water is recommended to bring down the sugar level. When it is cooked with dal, it helps to reduce its bitterness, especially when it is mixed with salt & kept, it helps to reduce its bitterness also.

the same recipe can be done on gas too.

Bottle gourd/ ghia vege- Microwave

wash, peel & cut bottle gourd/ ghia into small pieces, put in a microwave dish along with some peas, optional, wee bit of water, cover & cook for 5 minutes. Check if it is soft, or cook for another 2-3 minutes, add salt, turmeric pdr. 1/2 tsp, curry powder to taste along with 1 tsp of oil & toasted jeera/ cumin seeds ( opt.) Mix well & micro high for 2 minutes. This goes well with roti, rice & sambar/ rasam.

Sweet avil/ chiwda

As for no cook sweet avil, take avil wash it well if it is thin one, if it is  slightly thick, wash well, sprinkle some water & keep it aside, as it will get soft & save you the trouble of squeezing water from it. Suppose you have 1 cup avil, then approximately 3/4 or slightly less for those who don't like very sweet vellam/ gur/ jaggery preferably powdered. With your hands, mix well both avil & vellam together, till it get thoroughly mixed, for those not high on potassium, can add some grated coconut also. Last add some nuts & raisins. It will be ready in a jiffy. You can make this for Gokulashtami/ Janmashtami !

Mysore rasam, a type of soup

To make Mysore rasam, you need 1 cup of tamarind juice, 1 big tomato, salt to taste, 2 big pinch of hing pdr, curry leaves, little fresh coriander leaves.
Roast 2 tbsp of arhar dal, 1/4 tsp of methi seeds, 1 tsp of jeera, 2 tbsp of coriander seeds with 1-2 red chilies ( depending on its sharpness). Cool & powder this masala well. But today, after powdering the masala, I also ground 1 tomato with it.

In a pan, add tamarind juice, salt, hing boil for some 7-8 minutes, along with some finely cut coriander leaves. Then add the ground masala, mix well & let it boil for at least 5 minutes. In case you feel it is thick, add some more water as desired & boil well. No need to add any cooked dal, as you've powedered the dal & added. To season in a tsp of ghee, add 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, once it cracks add some curry leaves cut fine, add to rasam.

Note- those who don't want to grind tomato, can cut & add to boiling tamarind juice in the beginning.

ps- this can be drunk like a soup if not made too spicy or can be had with rice & some dry vegetable, like beans, cabbage etc.

Mango pickle- Avakkai

Avakkai is the mango pickle which can be preserved for a couple of years when taken care.
 I made this 1 kg of raw mango, washed, wiped well, cut into small pieces, discarding the seed.
Normally earlier, it was said for 4 cups of raw mango pieces, 1 cup of salt & 1 cup of chili pdr. But I found that 1 cup of salt makes it too salty, so put just about 3/4 cup of salt, 1 cup of red chili pdr. ( in case the chili pdr is too sharp, then you may reduce the quantity of it a bit). Add 2 tsp of turmeric pdr. to the mango pieces along with salt, chili pdr. & mix well, in a clean dry container, keep covered for a day. You may add 2 tsp of dry methi seeds, or roasted methi pdr., those who aren't allergic to peanuts can add a cup of peanuts, along with til oil the next day when you store in a clean glass bottle. The oil should come above the ingredients, then only it would last long.

ps- always use clean dry hands & dry spoon when you use pickles, so that they last long.

Mangoes are good source of Vit A & other minerals also.

Uppu appam/ namkeen appam

This namkeen appa is made from idli batter. To the normal idli batter, you season with 1 tsp of oil, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 2 tsp chana dal, 2 tsp udad dal, green chilies 3 or to taste according to the batter you want to make with.
Heat oil till hot in a kadai, or poaching dish/appakarai, add spoonful of the batter, cook well on both sides till golden, drain on a colander or on a kitchen towel. This goes well along with the sweet appam as a good snack.

ps- in case you feel the idli batter is slightly thin than normal, make one appa & see , if it takes in too much oil, add 1-2 tsp of rava/ suji, mix well & make, it will take in less oil & also come out crisp.

Sweet appam

This is a typical south Indian dessert, made specially during certain festivals. It is easy to make provided you mix the batter well in right proportion & consistency.

I made this by taking 1 cupful of vellam/ gur/ jaggery soaked it in a cup of water. Once the gur was completely dissolved, then I smashed 2 big ripe bananas in it, then added 1 cupful of wheat flr./atta, about 3/4 cup of rice flr., mixed it well. The batter should be like idli batter. Mix & keep this batter at least 2 hours before you want to make appam. In case you feel the batter is slightly watery, add 1-2 tbsp of rava/ suji before you make, this will also make the appa crisp !

Heat oil/ ghee in a appakarai/ poaching dish or don't worry if you don't possess one. Heat oil in a kadai till quite hot, reduce the heat, take a ladleful of the batter pour it gently, wait for a minute, then keep putting hot oil on it, then turn it gently, as you do, you'll notice that it puffs up a bit, fry in medium heat on both sides till brown like in the picture to the left. Drain & keep, this normally last for at least 3 days outside.

Scarf/ Muffler, crochet

This scarf was designed by me. I thought instead of the fringes in the end, this edge may look better. Also the design in the middle was tried for the 1st time.
Any takers?

Egg-less banana bread

2 big bananas     1 tbsp cream    1 tbsp curd
 1-2 tbsp milk      1 heaped tsp baking pdr
1/4 tsp salt  8 tsp sugar & 6 tsp sugar substitute
maida/ all purpose flour about 1 1/2 cups
nuts & raisins

Mash the bananas well along with cream & sugar with a spoon. Add curd & maida, mix well along with baking pdr. If you want you may add more maida, then you may need to increase the quantity of milk & slightly baking pdr. To be frank, I never measure maida when I bake, I simply keep the packet open & keep adding as I beat well. Add milk, sugar substitute, for diabetes you may omit normal sugar & add only substitute. When you mix, the batter should be too thick, it should be somewhat like idli batter or like any cake batter, add nuts & raisins, mix well. Pour into a greased dish & bake in preheated oven at 150 deg C for about 20 min. or when you insert the knife it should come out clean. Cool slightly & cut into pieces. Tastes good hot/ cold.

Brinja/ aubergine & potato curry, microwave

1/4 kg brinjal wash & cut into thin long pieces
3 big potatoes , wash & cut with skin into thin long pieces. Microwave the potatoes with 1/4 tsp turmeric pdr & 1/2 tsp oil covered for  2minutes, remove cover & micro high again for 2 minutes. Add the brinjal pieces, mix well, cover & cook for another 3 minutes. Mix well, cook adding curry powder to  taste along with salt for another 3 minutes uncovered. This goes well with roti, sambar & rice.

ps- brinjal is a good source of iron.

Simple beans vegetable, microwave

This is a very simple recipe with French beans. wash & cut beans into small pieces as seen in the picture. Heat 1 tsp oil in a microwaveable dish, add 1/2 tsp msutard seeds, micro high for 2 minutes, the seeds will crack, then add 2 tsp of udad dal & 1 red chili, micro high for another minute, then add the beans & microwave the beans with wee bit of water covered for about 6-8 minutes, depending if it is 1/4 or more beans you want to make. Then add salt to taste, you may garnish with 1-2 tbsp of grated coconut. For better flavour, grind grated coconut along with 1 green chili & 1 tsp jeera/cumin, add when the beans are well cooked along with salt & micro high for 1 minute.

ps- beans being high in fibre, is good for health. This is a very healthy dish, can be had with rice & sambar or rice & rasam.

GS special grilled toast

In the below picture, you can see that I had spread a very healthy vegetable lentil combination on it. It is made of some rajma/ kidney beans soaked & cooked soft overnight, some green moong dal/ pachai payaru cooked soft, 2 big onion, 3 tomatoes were ground along with 2" ginger, 6 pods garlic, 6 green chilies. In a heavy pan, with 1 tsp oil, I cooked this ground masala well, then added the ground/ mashed lentils along with salt to taste, cooked well till dry. I spread this mixture on a very lightly buttered bread slice & topped with some grated cheese & grilled it in hot oven for 5 minutes or till cheese melted. that was our dinner tonight !

Adai & its variations.

Adai is made of rice & dals. The combination dals can vary as per one's liking, & each combination will have its own taste !
Rice 2 cups   chana dal 1 cup     udad dal 1/4 cup
arhar dal( tuvaram paruppu) 1 cup   methi seeds 2 tsp
red chilies 3           green chilies 3-4 or you may use only green chilies as per your taste, as it has Vit. C  & salt to taste, about 1 1/2 tsp.
soak rice & dals together for about 3 hours & grind it coarsely along with chilies & salt. let it ferment till eve/ over night. In a thick tava, heat it well, smear some oil & put ladly full of this batter, spread it, put about 1 tsp of oil all over it, cook it in slow flame, turn & cook well on both sides till it gets golden like in the picture on the left. 
For onion lovers, you may add some finely cut onion & mix it with the batter or put it on top of each adai & make it in the same way. 
Coconut lovers may add some grated coconut in the batter & make in the same way.
This goes well with Milagai podi/ gun powder, those with sweet tooth may love it with gur/ jaggery/ vellam  & butter.

Or the batter can be made with rice, not basmati, normal parmal/ boiled rice will do 2 cups, you may use black udad dal  11/2 cups, chana dal 1 cup, arhar dal 1/2 cup along with chilies to taste, soak & grind in the same way. Only thing when using black udad, you may need to soak a bit longer. The coarser you grind, it will come out crisp & better. This is a good snack. it is rich in carbohydrates, proteins too, when eaten with sambar which has veges in it, it makes a complete meal. You may add some finely cut curry leaves a big handful to the batter, as it tastes good, or finely cut drum stick leaves, as these are rich in iron & calcium also in the batter & make adai as usual.

ps- those who are diabetics, you may use less of rice, or use dalia instead of rice, wash & grind it last with dals. You can use green moong dal also, those who aren't allergic to peanuts may grind it with dal last. There is no hard & fast rule to the combination of dals one wants to use!
You can see the picture of the batter below.

Simply cabbage vege & its variations

cabbage is one of the vegetable easily available all over the world. it is rich in quite a few minerals, but those who are high in potassium, must make sure that you boil cabbage in enough water & discard the water before you use.
This simple cabbage vege was made by boiling it in water & cooking till just done & discarding the water.
For seasoning, I used 1 tsp of oil, 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds, 2 tsp of udad dal & 1 red chili split. Added the cooked cabbage, salt to taste & stirred for 2 minutes. For those who aren't high in potassium, may add about 2-3 tbsp of grated coconut. or better still to have, grind grated coconut with 1-2 green chili & 1/2 tsp of jeera / cumin .  Add this to the cabbage after seasoning, along with salt, stir for 2 minutes well & remove.

I had this for lunch along with green capsicum sambar  & rice !

Avil/ chiwda/ flaked rice Kheer/ payasam

Avil is one of the best source of iron & carb. This can be made into a variety of dished very quickly as it cooks fast. it can be poha for breakfast, kheer or another sweet dish with gur / vellam !

For kheer- 1 cup of avil/ chiwda                   1/2 l. milk            sugar/ splenda to taste    nuts & raisins

wash avil well, add little water & milk, boil in a large vessel on slow flame or else if you're not careful, milk will boil over ! This may take just 5 minutes or so, let it cook a little more, as then milk will also thicken, then if you're adding sugar, add it & let it boil, or in case for diabetics, if you're adding splenda/ any sugar substitute, remove from gas, add & mix well. For decoration, in 1 tsp ghee, add nuts & raisins of your choice, add to kheer, mix well. It tastes good hot/ cold.

Cranberry/ karonda/ kalakaai- urinary infection

 Cranberry/ karonda/ kalakaai in Tamil is very good for urinary infection. ‘Real’, used to make cranberry juice, which when had helped one to get rid of the burning sensations while passing urine. Cranberry can be made into pickle & eaten also, which is very good for health. Wash , wipe & cut these into 2 as they’re quite small. Heat about 1 tbsp of oil for about 250 gms of cranberry, add mustard seeds, once it cracks, add turmeric pdr ½ tsp, chili pdr to taste, add the cut pieces, salt, hing & 2 tsp of methi seeds roasted & powdered. Sauté for a minute, remove, cool & store in the fridge. It tastes good with curd rice.

Labels: Cranberry/ karonda, urinary infection