Idly Podi

Ingredients:

• Urudh Dhal - 1/2 cup
• Thoor dhal - 1/2 cup
• Red chillies - 1 cup 
• Curry leaves - 10 to 20 strings
• Tamarind - a very small ball 
• Asafoetida - 1 tsp
• Mustard - 2 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

Heat little oil in a kadai.

Fry the urudh dhal till golden brown and transfer it to a plate.

Heat little oil again and fry the thoor dhal and add it to the plate.

Heat the left oil add the mustard, asafoetida, tamarind, salt and curry leaves fry them and add to the plate.

Add the red chillies and fry them in the same kadai.

Once all the content is cooled grind them to a powder in a blender. Taste and adjust the salt.

Once cooled store it in an air tight container.

Note: The curry leaves can be avoided if you do not like the flavor or added in excess if you like them.

Some add bengal gram dhal also, in case of add it fry them in the same manner as the other two dhal. Red chillies can be adjusted again to the need. 

Vellaipoondu Oorugai

Ingredients:

• Garlic - 500 gm
• Gingilee Oil -200 ml
• Lemon juice - 400 ml (it might take some 10 to 12 lemons)
• Water - 200 ml
• Jaggery - 3 to 4 tbsp
• Salt - 75 gm
• Mustard - 1 tb sp
• Asafoetida - 2 tsp
• Chilli powder - 400 gm

To Prepare the chilli powder

• Red Chillies - 150 gm
• Coriander seeds - 50 gm
• Jeera - 50 gm
• Fenugreek - 50 gm
• Asafoetida - 2 tsp

Dry roast all the above together and grind the powder. this powder should come for 2 cup (400 gm)

Method:

Dissolve salt in lemon juice and water together.
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed vessel. add mustard and asafoetida.
When the mustard splutter add the mix of lemon juice, water and salt. then add the ground chilli powder.Let it boil well till the raw smell evaporates.
Add the garlic to it and cook well. Simmer it till the garlic is well cooked and the oil comes out.
If needed add more oil. Taste for salt, spice and lemon's sourness.
Let it cool well and then bottle it.

Note: If the garlic is big in size slit them into two. If the lemon flavour is too strong and sourness is strong add chilli powder. If the ground shilli powder is too fine it will not coat the garlic well, so have it normal and too coarse also. When you squeeze the lemon see to that you dont squeez it too much that the rind is alos squeezed it might tase bitter.

While using the pickle there are chances for a white fungi formation on the pickle, in such cases you can throw the top layer, heat some gingilee oil and add to the pickle. The fungi formation happens only when there is no oil covering the top layer of the pickle.

Crab Masala

Ingredients:

• Crab - 3
• Small onions - 1 cup
• Onion - 1
• Tomato - 1
• Garlic - 8 to 10 pods
• Ginger - 1"
• Turmeric powder - 2 tsp
• Pepper - 1 tsp
• Fenugreek - 1 tsp
• Split urudh dhal - 1 tsp
• Red chillies - 3
• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Curry leaves
• Salt - to taste
• Tamarind solution - 2 tbsp 

To Grind

• Coconut - 1/2 cup
• pepper - 1 tsp
• Red chillies - 4 to 6
• Fennel seeds - 1 tsp

Method:

Clean wash the crab with little rock salt.

Peel the small onions and garlic and halve them into two.

Chop the onion and tomato. Cut the ginger into small cubes.

Grind coconut and other ingredients to a smooth paste.

Heat oil in a pan add the seasonings (pepper, urudh dhal, fenugreek seeds, red chillies and curry leaves).

Add the small onions, garlic and the chopped onion, ginger and saute well.

Once cooked add the tomatoes and cook well. Add salt and turmeric powder.

Toss in the washed crab. Close the pan and let the crab cook. open and toss the content occasionally.

A nice aroma evaporates announcing the crab is cooked well.

Add the ground paste and the tamarind solution. Let it simmer for few minutes.

Turn off and transfer to a serving bowl when the gravy reaches the needed consistency.

 crab 

Note: Basically crab is rich in calcium, good for young mothers who breast feed. Crab need to be washed well in lot of water as there will be sand in the nook and corner of the shell. Right time to buy crab is when no moon day is nearing as it will be fleshy. We add pepper as it is healthy but be careful while adding pepper as excess will burn the lip. You can also make it only small onions as it will add more taste. Crab for that matter any sea food will get cooked soon so not to worry 10 to 15 minutes is good enough to cook crab. If you need more gravy then ground onion and tomato can be added once after adding the small onions and garlic and cook till the raw smell goes. the ginger helps in digestion. Cut it into cubes so it can be picked out later to avoid chewing them or shred them and add.

Karunai Kizhangu Masiyal

Ingredients:

• Karunai kilangu (Yam) - 500gm
• Small onions - 200gm
• Garlic - 100 gm
• Tomato - 1
• Tamarind - size of a lime
• Chilli powder - 3tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Curry leaves - few strings
• Pepper - 2 tsp
• Urud Dhal - 1 tsp
• Red chillies - 5 to 7
• Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
• Oil - 5 tbsp

Method:

Pressure cook yam and remove the skin.

Make a solution of tamarind and salt.

Peel and slice the onions and garlic. Chop the tomato.

In a large mixing bowl, smash the onions and garlic by hands, add the cut yam and mash all well, slowly add the tamarind salt solution and mix well. Add turmeric and chilli powder. 

Mix well and check for salt and spice.

Heat oil in a heavy based vessel (a cooker pan or a kadai) add pepper, split urudh dhal, dry red chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida.

Pour the semi solid yam mix into it and cook well.
Cook till the water content evaporates and the oil comes out of the mix.

Note: This dish is a best combination for curd rice. It will take a long time for mix to get cooked and the oil to come out. Adding enough oil will help the dish cook well. This could be kept out of refrigerator for a day and can be stored even for a week in fridge. A good dish to take during travelling.

Adai

Ingredients:

Boiled rice - 1/2 cup
Raw Rice - 1/2 cup
Bengal gram thal - 3/4 cup
Thoor Dhal - 3/4 cup
Urudh dhal - 2 tbsp
Red chillies - 4 to 6
Somph - 4 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tbsp
Grated Coconut - 1 cup
Small onions - 250 gm
Curry leaves - 5 to 8 strings
Coriander leaves - 1 small bunch
Salt to taste
Oil

Method.

Clean, wash and soak both the rice together.
Clean, wash and soak all the dhals together for 40 min to 1 hour.

In a blender or grinder grind the rice less than fine. Then grind the dhal, red chillies and somph together coarsely. Mix it with the rice batter.
Peel and slice the onion finely. Squeeze the onions by hand so that the rings seperate.
Chop the curry leaves and coriander leaves.
Mix all the ingredients Rice batter, dhal batter, curry leaves, coriander, turmeric powder, salt, grated coconut and small onions.

Heat the thava and make adai with a laddle of batter like dosa.
Adai will be a little thick. Make a small hole in the middle and pur few drops of oil in that also.

Note: Adai could be served with Red Chutney or Avial. It will also be good with country sugar or Jaggery and butter.
Drumstick leaves could also be added instead of curry leaves and coriander leaves.

Rottupakkoda

Ingredients:

Par boiloed rice (Idly rice) - 2cup
Roasted bengal gram dhal - 1 cup
Red Chillies - 5 to 8
Somph - 2 tsp
Garlic - 3 to 4 clove
Salt - to taste.
Oil

Method.

Clean wash and soak the rice for an hour.
Make a paste of red chilly, somph, garlic and salt in a mixie. 
Grind it in the grinder with little water. when hals done add the paste also and grind it fine. (consistency like adai or idly batter not watery)
In a blender powder the roasted bengal gram dhal (pottu kadalai or odachakadalai). sieve the powder and add to the rice batter.

Now the consistency will be like that of chappathi dough (more or less).
Heat oil in a kadai. Fill the mould with dough and make like murukku. drain and crush the pakkoda.

 

Palampuri

Ingredients

Nendram Palam - 2

Maida - 1 cup

Rice flour - 2 tbsp

Cooking soda - 1 pinch

Salt - 1 tsp

Food color (yellow) - 1 pinch

Oil

 

Method

Peel and slice the bananas. it should be a little riped banana.

Make a batter with maida, rice flour, salt, cooking soda and food color with little water. Make it a little thick (like that of dosa batter).

Heat oil in a kadai. dip the banana slices in the batter and fry well.