chicken Kuzhambu

Ingredients:

• Chicken - 1/2 kg
• Small onions - 1/2 cup
• Garlic - 5 to 6 pod
• Tomato - 1
• Tamarind - small ball
• Coconut - 1/4 cup
• Kasa kasa - 1 sp
• Jeera - 1/2 sp
• Oil - 2 tb sp
• Cinnamon - 1" stick
• Bay leaf - 1
• Curry Leaves
• Split urudh dhal
• Fenugreek - 1/2 sp
• Red chilli - 2
• Chilli powder - 2 sp
• Dhania powder - 1 sp
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 sp
• Salt to taste

Method:

Peal the onion and garlic. If they are big cut into two. Cut the tomatoes.
Wash and clean the chicken.
Heat oil in a cooker pan or a thick bottomed vessel. Season with split urudh dhal, fenugreek seed, red chilli, spices and curry leaves. Add the onions and garlic and sauté briskly on high flame.
Add the Chicken and toss well. Close and cook and stir ocassionaly. Add a little water as the chicken itself will let out water. Add the tomatoes.
When the chicken is cooked almost add the chilli powder turmeric powder dhania powder and salt. If needed add a little water.
When the chicken is completely cooked add little tamarind water.
Grind the coconut, Kasa kasa and Jeeragam into a paste with little water.
When the chicken is completely done check for salt and spice and pour this coconut paste an bring it to a boil. Serve for Biriyani, Rice or chapathi.

Note: If the chicken is hard the you may pressure cook and then add tamarind water. You can also avoid or lessen the quantity of coconut if you are diet conscious. You can also add few cashews to make it mire thick and rich. In this case add little more chilli powder as the cashew may take out the spiciness. 

Thengai Chutney

Ingredient:

• Coconut - 1/2
• Roasted Bengal gram dhal - 2 tb sp
• Green Chilli - 5 to 6
• Salt - to taste
• Oil - 1 sp
• Mustard - 1/2 tsp
• Split urudh dhal - 1/2 tsp
• Red chilli - 1
• Curry leaves 

Method:

In a mixie blen grated coconut, Roasted bengal gram dhal (Pottu kadalai or odacha kadalai), green chillies and salt with little water. When it is ground to a paste pour the content in a serving bowl. Heat oil in a kadai or a ladle add the mustard urudh dhal, red chilli and curry leaves. Fry them and pour the content into the ground chutney.

Note: Chutney is a good combination with Idly, Dosai, Pongal, Upma, Vadai and Bajji There are lot of Variations that you can make with a simple coconut chutney.
1. You can avoid the bengal gram and use only coconut and green chilli as it will purely have coconut taste. Diet conscious people can reduce coconut and increase roasted bengal gram dhal.
2. You can also add few cashew nut while grinding the chutney as it gives a rich taste.
3. Instead of green chillies use red chillies it will give a nice flavor and color to the chutney slight orange shade.
4. While grinding the chutney add a pod of garlic, this gives a nice flavor but how ever many do not like the smell of garlic in it. please avoid taking chutney with garlic at night especially to avoid bad breath.
5. The other varion you can make is. While seasoning the chutney sauté few small onions slicing them along with mustard and urudh dhal.
6. You can also add a a hand full of ground nut with out skin instead of roasted bengal gram dhal.

vazhaipoo vadai

Ingredients:

Vazhaipoo - 1
Thoor dhal - 1 cup
Bengal gram dhal (Kadalai paruppu) - 1/4 cup or even less
Coconut - 1/4 cup
Small onion - 1/2 cup
Curry leaves - 10 strings
Coriander - a small bunch
Red chilli - 6 to 10
Jeera - 2 sp
Asafoetida - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste.

Method.

Clean the vazhai poo and keep aside.Soak both the dhals together for about half an hour.
Peal and slice the small onions into round slices.Chop the curry leaves and coriander.  Grate the coconut.
In a mixie run the jeera red chilli once, to this drain and add the dhal. No water. Blend it coarsely.
 Put the contents in a bowl. Run the vazhai poo in the mixie so that it is coarse and not  a paste. Put this along with the dhal.
Mash the onions with hand so that the layers come separately and put it with the contents. Add turmeric powder, salt, asafoetida, grated coconut, curry leaves and coriander leaves.
Check for salt.
Heat oil in a kadai make small ball and press it between palms and fry in hot oil.

Note: If the quantity of bengal gram dhal is much then the vadai gets harder. Increase in quantity of coconut may dissolve the vada when you drop it in oil. also soaking the dhal over night will give an dunplesant smell and hard and dry vada.

Avarakkai masalai

Ingredients:

• Hyacinth Beans (Avarakkai) - 200 gm
• Onion - 1
• Tomato - 1
• Oil - 2 sp
• Garlic - 2 pod
• Mustard - 1/2 tsp
• Split urudh Dhal - 1/2 tsp
• Bay leaf - 1 piece
• Curry leaf - 2 strings
• Chilli powder - 1 sp
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt to taste

Method:

Cut the avarakkai in thin pieces Boil in little water with salt. Heat oil in a kadai season it with spice, mustard, urudh dhal curry leaves and garlic. Then add the onions sauté for two minutes then add the tomatoes and sauté well till the tomatoes are cooked well add the chilli powder turmeric powder and salt. And cook well till the contents get pulpy. Now drain the avarakkai and add to it and cook well.

Note: For more taste you can grins 1/4 cup of coconut, 1/2 tsp of jeera and kasa kasa and add the paste to it. This will increase the volume make the consistency taste and look richer. 

Pepper Chicken

Ingredients:

• Chicken - 1/2 kg
• Pepper - 1 tb sp
• Salt - to taste
• Curry leaves - 6 strings
• Coconut oil - 4 tb sp
• Onion - 1
• Lime - 1

Method:

Wash and clean chicken. Slit the leg pieces. Powder the pepper in a mixie. Marinate the chicken with the powdered pepper, salt, lime juice, curry leaves. Leave it covered for an hour. In a kadai pour 3 table spoon of coconut oil and drop this chicken with the marination. close and cook then cook it open till the chicken is completely done. Slice the onion. In another pan pour the remaining oil and sauté this onion slices and curry leaves. fry till the onions are brown sprinkle a spoon of sugar over the onions. This gives a nice flavor and a glossy effect.
Put it over the chicken in the kadai and toss once. Serve this chicken for chapathi or basmathi rice.

Payaru vazhaipoo thoran

Ingredients:

• Green gram (Paasi payaru) - 1/4 cup
• Plantain flower (vazhai poo) - 1/2 cup
• Coconut - 1/4 cup
• Small onion - 4 to 6
• Curry leaves - 3 strings
• coconut oil - 2 tbsp
• green chilli - 4 to 6
• Jeera - 2 tsp
• turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• salt to taste

Method:

cook the green gram in water with salt. do not over cook. take the inner part of the vazhai poo and chop well. put little salt and a dash of coconut oil mix and keep. When the green gram is cooked (See to it there is very little water) add this chopped vazhai poo in it and toss well. close and cook for 3 minutes. 

grind coconut, green chilli, geera and turmeric powder coarsely. Turn off the stove and add the ground coconut and toss. put the curry leaves and pour the coconut oil. serve with rice or kanji or even for chapathi.

Egg Fried Rice

Ingredients:

• Basmathi Rice - 1 cup
• Water - 1 3/4 cup
• Salt - to taste
• Aginomotto - 1 pinch
• Carrots - 1/4 cup
• Beans 1/4 cup
• Onion - 1 small
• Cabbage - 2 leaves
• Capsicum - 1/2
• Egg - 2 nos
• oil - 2 tbsp
• Butter - 1 tbsp
• Pepper powder - 1 sp
• Vinegar - few drops

Method:

soak the rice in measured amount of water and salt in a cooker. Add the chopped carrots and beans. Pour two spoons of oil and a pinch of aginomotto in the rice. Close the cooker and leave it on sim for 15 min with out weight.
In a kadai melt butter add the chopped onions, salt pepper and aginomotto and sauté for a minute. Then add cabbage followed by capsicum and turn off the stove. Take this contents in a plate.
Heat the kadai again melt butter. In a bowl beat the egg with little salt, pepper and vinegar. Pour the egg in the kadai and scramble nicely. Now mix the vegetable egg and rice together.

Kathirikai Aviyal

This is also called as kallaveetu aviyal.... it is a dish to accompain Idly or Dosa or Chapathi fo rebreak fast as well as dinner.

Ingredients:

• Brinjal - 4
• Potato - 2
• Tomato - 2
• Onion - 2
• Chilli powder - 1 sp
• Salt to taste
• Pepper - 1 sp
• Oil - 1tb sp

For the paste

• Coconut - 1/2 cup
• Kasa Kasa - 2 sp
• Split roasted bengal gram (Pottu Kadalai) - 2 tbsp

Method:

Cut all the vegetables into square pieces.Heat oil in a kadai. Season with pepper and curry leaves. Add the onions and sauté it well. Add the brinjal and potato sauté for 2 to 3 minutes then add the tomatoes. Sauté till the vegetables are cooked add chilli powder and salt and cook till the raw smell of chilli powder goes. Then pour a glass of water and bring it to boil. Allow it to boil for 3 to 5 min then add the ground paste. Bring it to a boil and tun off the stove.

Note: Peel the potatoes and put it in water. Same way put the brinjal also in water as you cut them to avoid blackening.

Vegetable Kurma

Ingredients:

• Onion - 1
• Potato - 1
• Tomato - 1
• Carrot - 1/2 cup
• Beand - 1/2 cup
• Peas - 1/2 cup
• Cauliflower - 1/2 cup
• Coconut - 1/4 cup
• Green chilli - 5 to 8
• Cumin seed - 1 tsp
• Coriander powder - 2 sp
• Turmeric powder 1 sp
• Coriander - 1/2 bunch
• Curry leaves
• Bay leaf
• Cinnamon
• Salt to taste

Method:

Cut all the vegetables into small squares. Break the cauliflower into small florets, boil water blanch the florets with little salt drain and keep aside.
Heat oil in a cooker pan add the spices and curry leaves followed by onions. sauté it for a minute. Then add the vegetables, peas and cauliflower. Sate for 3 minutes. Then add the chopped tomatoes.
When the tomatoes are cooked add coriander powder turmeric powder and salt. Pour a glass of water and add half the coriander leaves. Close the cooker and pressure cook for a whistle.
Grind Coconut, cumin seed green chillies and coriander leaves.
Open the cooker allow it to boil and pour this ground paste. Bring it to boil and turn off immediately.

Note: If you let it boil for a longer time after adding the coconut paste the coconut may churn and float like foam on top surface. This goes good with chapathi, poori, parotta or biriyani. Change the consistency as per you need.

Sambar for Breakfast

This sambar is usually called pachadi in our native. Its for breakfast to accompain Idli, Dosa, Upmas, Pongal or Idiyappam. Its called pachadi when green gram dhal (Paasi paruppu ) is used and sambar when thoor dhal is used. Some people adds both the dhal equally so just to increase quantity.

Ingredients:

• Brinjal - 3
• Potato - 1
• Onion - 1
• Tomato -1
• Green chillies - 6 to 10
• Green gram dhal - 1/4 cup
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Oil - 1tbsp
• Tamarind - a small ball
• Salt - to taste
• Mustard - 1/2 ts
• Split urudh dhal - 1/2 tsp
• Jeera - 1/2 tsp
• Red chilli - 2
• Asafoetisda - 2 pinch
• Coriander leaves 
• Curry leaves

Method:

Pressure cook dhal with turmeric powder and asafoetida.
Cut brinjal, potato, tomato and onion in small pieces. Slit the green chillies. When the dhal is cooked open the cooker and put all the cut vegetables add a glass of water and pressure cook for two whistles.
Open the cooker and let it boil. Make a solution of tamarind and salt and pour into the sambar.
In a kadai heat oil add all the seasoning stuffs along with curry leaves and asafoetida. Once the mustard splutters pour the sambar in it and bring it to a boil.Garnish with coriander leaves.

Note: If you feel the sambar has gone little thin (Watery) dissolve a spoon full of idly batter in very little water and add it to the sambar when it boils.

potato fry

Ingredients:

• Potato - 2 large
• Garlic - 1 pod
• Mustard  1/2 tsy
• Split urudh dhal - 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves - 1 string
• Oil - 2 tbsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Salt to taste

Method:

Peel the potatoes and cut them into small squares. Heat oil in a kadai and season with mustard and urudh dhal add the crushed garlic and curry leaves. Add the potatoes and sauté for a minute.
Then add the chilli powder turmeric powder and salt.
Sauté till the color changes to golden yellow and the potatoes are completely cooked.

Note: Put the potato in water after you peel it and also the cut potatoes in water. When you are about to put it in the kadai drain it from water and put. And no water to cook potato this way. This hardly takes 5 min to cut and 5 min to cook.