Quinoa Payasam ( Kheer)

I have posted many recipes in my blog using quinoa. Quinoa has become my everyday staple food . It has low glycemic index and a very good alternative for rice, if you are in the process of reducing your weight.  Longtime, I have been thinking to try some dessert using quinoa. This quinoa payasam came out so well . I have used quinoa, jaggery, nuts and dry fruits . It was so yummy ! 

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Serves: 3 to 4 people 

INGREDIENTS:

Qunioa - 1/2 cup

Milk - 2 cups

Jaggery - 1/2 cup 

Water - 1/2 cup

Saffron strands - 3 to 4 no.s 

Dates - 2 no.s

Cashews - 5 no.s

Ghee - 1 teaspoon

METHOD:

1. Soak quinoa in cold water for 15 to 20 minutes. Now drain water, In a pressure cooker add some ghee, and roast  quinoa for 1 to 2 minutes. Now add 1/2 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of water. Also add a stainless spoon in the cooker. It will prevent the spewing of milk from the cooker. Cover with lid. Pressure cook in high flame for 3 whistles. Once the pressure settles , open the lid.

2. Now add another 1 1/2 cup of milk. Also add few saffron strands. Allow it to start boiling. Now add jaggery and keep stirring, till the jaggery dissolves. You can see the kheer turns thick and creamy. 

3. Now in a pan, add some ghee. Add chopped dates pieces and fry for sometime and add it to the kheer. Now , in the same pan, add some more ghee and chopped cashew nut pieces. Fry for sometime till it change colour and pour it over the kheer.  Serve the kheer hot or cold ! 

Vella Poori/வெள்ளை பூரி/ White Poori

       Vella poori literally translated in English as white poori is one of the most common snack made among south Indian Tamil Jains . This dish brings back fond memories of my childhood . Back in those days, when I was just 6 or 7 years old, we used to go to our grandparents village to spend summer vacation.

         My grandfather's mom (Great grandmother) is very fond of me and am her favorite. The moment I came in , she will ask me what I would like to eat the most. My immediate reply , will be of only two things all the time. Poli (Sweet chappathi stuffed with channa dal and jaggery) and Vella poori. Immediately, She will make arrangements and prepare for the dish. During those days, there weren't any tabletop grinder or mixie. She uses manual stone wet grinder and make the dough for vella poori and prepare it. The taste is heavenly and absolutely cannot resist it. My dad always says that, vella poori taste is more tied to the location it is made. Meaning that, in different parts of Tamilnadu, we get different variety of par boiled rice. Near my father's hometown, their parboiled rice have some intrinsic taste , and the vella puris made out of it will be very delicious. 

        Today, when I asked my dad and my grandmother (My dad's mom) for the recipe  to post in the blog, they immediately made vella poori and took pictures,videos and shared the recipe with me. Am sharing it here, So you can try and see . 

Recipe Courtsey: Thanks to my grandmother for the authentic recipe, Dad for taking pictures and videos, Padma amma for cooking and demonstrating it . :) 

Yields : 15 to 16 no.s of poori

INGREDIENTS:

Parboiled Rice or Idly Rice - 1 1/4 cup

Toor Dal - 1/4 cup

Peanuts (not roasted) - a handful

Dry red chilli - 3 no.s

Salt - As required

Oil- For deep frying

METHOD:

1. Take rice and wash in running water for 2 to 3 times. Soak it for about 2 hours. In a separate bowl, wash and soak toor dal just 30 minutes . Do not soak toor dal for longer time .

2. In a mixie, First take rice and grind for 2 to 3 seconds. Sprinkle some water and grind for another few seconds. You can see the rice gets little coarse. Now to that, add toor dal, dry red chilli , salt and peanuts. Grind again. Sprinkle little water when you grind. You can also grind in batches and mix in the end. The dough should be firm and thick for making pooris. If there is excess moist in the dough , you can keep in the fridge for sometime to remove the moist.

3. Take lemon sized ball of the dough . Spread a clean cloth on the rotti plate. 

4.  Grease your hands with oil. Take a lemon sized ball and gently pat it to get a round shape and slightly thicker. 

5.  Now deep fry them in oil. When you press the poori with the ladle, it puffs and comes up.

6. Please watch the below video of vella poori making. Enjoy the pooris just plain or with any chutney of your choice !!

Tomato Dosa

Another variety of dosa made with tomatoes, sooji/rava/semolina, rice flour and wheat flour. Easy to make and taste delicious with a tangy flavour. 

Preparation Time: 10 min

Cooking Time: 1 hour

Serves:  10 dosas

INGREDIENTS:

Tomatoes - 2 medium size 

Ginger- 1 inch sized

Dry red chillies - 3 nos.

Rava/sooji/Semolina - 1/2 cup

Rice flour- 1/2 cup

Wheat flour - 1/4 cup

Chopped onions - 1/2 cup

Cumin seeds- 1 teaspoon

Black pepper powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Salt - as required

Water - 3 cups

METHOD:

1. Grind tomatoes, ginger and dry red chilli in to a fine paste without any lumps. No need to add any water while grinding.

2. Now in a bowl, take this tomato paste. Also add sooji/rava, rice flour, wheat flour ,salt, pepper powder, chopped onions, cumin seeds . Now add 2 cups of water. Allow the batter to rest for 15 minutes. Do not rest the batter for too long, as it will be difficult to make  dosas then. After 20 minutes, add another 1 cup of water, to get a watery consistency batter . 

3. Now , heat the skillet. Take some batter and pour it from outside to inside. Do not try to spread the batter. Please follow the video below . Rava Dosas takes longer to get cooked. Wait until it is cooked properly, to flip it to the other side. 

4. Tomato Dosa is ready. Serve with any chutney of your choice !

Ashgourd Fry (Kerala Style)

White Pumpkin/Ash gourd/Vella Pusani is a watery vegetable , low in calories and high in vitamins. Its high water content helps you to keep hydrated and cool. This Kerala style ash gourd fry is very simple and made with very minimal ingredients. It gives an amazing taste and can be eaten just with plain rice . 

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Serves - 2 - 3 people

INGREDIENTS:

Ash gourd - 3 cups chopped .

Small onions - 1/2 cup chopped

Grated coconut - 3 tablespoon

Green chilli - 2 no.s

Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Asafoetida powder - as required

Salt - as required

Oil - 1 tablespoon

Mustard - 1 teaspoon

Curry leaves - as required

METHOD:

1. Chop ash gourd in to small pieces and wash it in running water and keep aside. In a mixer, take small onions,grated coconut, green chilli, turmeric powder and grind in to a coarse form. Do not grind it into a fine  paste. 

2. Now mix this masala paste with chopped ash gourd.

3. In a pan, add oil. Now add mustard and once its splutters, add curry leaves. 

4. Now add the ash gourd pieces. Also add required salt. Cook in medium to low flame with occasional stirring, for the pumpkin to get cooked and turn soft. It approximately takes 10 minutes. In the end, sprinkle some asafoetida powder. This ash gourd fry can be had just with plain rice and taste really good !.

Note : If you dont have small onions, you can also use normal onions. 

Broccoli Paratha

When ever I left with any less quantity of vegetables, which is not sufficient enough to make curries, I mash and mix them with wheat flour and make chappathi. That way, I try and find new chappathi recipes. In the same way, this time I tried broccoli paratha . The taste was very nice and this chappathi can be eaten just with plain yogurt or any curry of your choice !. 

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Yields: 8 no.s of parathas 

INGREDIENTS:

Whole Wheat Flour - 2 cups

Salt - as required

Garlic pods - 3 to 4 no.s

Garam masala - 1/2 teaspoon

Broccoli florets - 10 to 15 no.s

Green chilli - 2 no.s

Water as required

Oil - for cooking the parathas.

METHOD:

1. Wash broccoli in running water. In a pan, add some water and salt. When it boils, add the broccoli florets and let it be in hot water for 3 minutes. This process is called blanching and it removes any insect or impurities in the broccoli. Now, filter the broccoli and allow it to cool down. 

2. Now grind the broccoli with garlic, garam masala and green chilli in to a paste, by adding very less water. Do not make the paste watery. Also there shouldnt be any lumps in the paste. Add the paste in the wheat flour. Add required salt, oil  and water. Kneed the dough well. Since we have added broccoli paste, the flour requires less water to form the dough. So add water little by little, to make a smooth and soft dough. 

3. Take lemon sized dough, flatten them using roller pin and cook the chappathi in tawa by adding required oil. Broccoli paratha is ready !. Serve with any curry of your choice !.

NOTES:

If you want more greenish colored paratha, reduce the amount of wheat flour you have used. In this recipe, I used 2 cups of wheat flour. You can use 1 to 1.5 cups of wheat flour to get a dark green colored parathas. 

Tomato Ketchup/Sauce

          Tomato Ketchup/Sauce is a common dip for fries,bread etc. My son fondly love this ketchup and have it with any kind of dish - be it biryani or chappathi, or bread or fries. He wants ketchup for everything. He always ask me to buy this ketchup from outside. But the store brought ketchup has too much preservative that keep it unspoiled for more than a year. So I always tell him "No" for ketchup or any sauce.

          Later one day, he suggested me why not I make a home made tomato ketchup for him. He also said, it is an easy process and requires just tomatoes, vinegar and sugar. I was very surprised because, he not only loves ketchup, but also remember the ingredients for making it at home. So, for him, I tried to make with what ever items he has told and certainly it was way more delicious than the store brought ketchup !. 

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Yields : 1 bowl of sauce

INGREDIENTS:

Fully Ripen Tomatoes - 4 no.s

Sugar - 4 teaspoons

Vinegar - 1 tablespoon

Kashmiri chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Salt - as required

METHOD:

1. In a pan, take sufficient water and sprinkle some salt and allow it to boil. Add tomatoes to that. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, and you can see the skin of tomatoes comes off . It denotes that tomatoes are cooked well.

2. Now take the tomatoes out of water. Grind them to a fine paste, without adding any water. There shouldn't be any lumps in the paste. 

3. Take pan, add the tomato puree prepared. Allow them to boil. Stir in between.

4. Stir occasionally to avoid the sauce getting burnt. You can see the sauce reduce in content and turns thick. Add required salt, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of kashmiri chilli powder  . Sugar and salt level depends on your level of sweetness and taste. You can taste and adjust accordingly. Usually we prefer, less sweet sauce. Hence I have added 4 teaspoon of sugar for 4 big ripened tomatoes. 

5. Now cook further, till most of the water evaporates and the sauce turns thick as below. Now add 1 tablespoon of vinegar and mix well for 1 minute. 

6. Tomato Ketchup is ready !. Vinegar acts as a preservative for this ketchup. You can refrigerate and keep the sauce for 3 to 4 days. 

SEE ALSO : French Fries Recipe 

French Fries

Today am sharing with you a recipe,  for home made easy french fries for kids . It is  deep fried potatoes that are finger shaped.  My son always wants me to buy french fries outside. Being a vegetarian, I was little concerned about the oil they used to fry the fries. Usually, in restaurants or in fast food places, they use the same oil in which they also fry chicken. Hence I always dont want to buy it outside.  So, for my son, I tried making french fries at home. It came out very well and my son validated it being as similar in taste with restaurant fries ! Please try it and leave your comments.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 1- 2 kids

INGREDIENTS:

Potatoes - 2 medium sized

Salt and pepper - to taste

Oil - For deep frying

METHOD:

1. Wash and peel potatoes. Cut them in to thin finger like shapes. Soak them in cold water for about 20 minutes. It removes excess starch from the potatoes.

2. Now, drain the water well. Again, soak the potatoes in hot water for another 10 minutes. It allows the potatoes to get cooked slightly ,reducing the frying time in oil.

3. Now , in a clean cloth , allow the potatoes to dry well . 

4. Now, put the fries in a box after they are completely dried. And freeze them for 1 hour.

5. After an hour of freezing, take it out. Deep fry them in oil . Keep the flame in medium flame and fry for 1 to 2 minutes. You can see the potatoes are cooked slightly without much change in color. After frying, allow them to cool completely.

6. After the fries cooled down completely, keep the oil in high flame and fry the potatoes again,  till they change color to golden brown. Please be careful to adjust the flame from high to medium flame, as the fries may get burnt very easily. 

7.  Once the fries cooled down, sprinkle some salt and pepper. Serve French Fries with Tomato Ketchup ! 

Kalla Veetu Aviyal (Chettinad Gravy)

This is an very easy recipe to make, when you dont have any fancy vegetables to cook. This recipe needs only brinjal and potato along with some spices and coconut. I learnt about this recipe from my friend Sindhu Ramakrishnan. It tasted very delicious with rotti. It can also be had with aapam or idiyappam as well.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 2-3 people

INGREDIENTS:

Brinjal - 1 large sized
Potato - 1 large sized
Onion - 1 medium sized
Tomato - 1 medium sized
Oil - 2 tablespoon
Cinnamon - 1 small pieces
Cloves - 2 no.s
Fennel seeds- 1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaves - little
Turmeric powder- 1/2 teaspoon
Kashmiri red chilli powder/Paprika powder(optional) -1/2 teaspoon
Salt- as required
Coriander leaves - as required


MASALA PASTE:
Coconut - 4 tablespoon grated or desiccated
Dry red chilli - 3 to 4 no.s
Fennel seeds - 1 teaspoon
Cashew nuts - 6 nos

METHOD:

1. Chop onion, tomato very fine. Also chop brinjal and potatoes fine and immediately put them in water, so that they dont turn dark due to oxidization.

2. Now , take the items mentioned in the "masala paste" section and grind them with less water in to a smooth paste. If you dont have cashews, you can use  1 tablespoon of pottu kadalai/roasted gram.

3.  In a pan, add 2 tablespoon of oil. Now add cinnamon,cloves,fennel seeds and some curry leaves. Add, chopped onions and fry till they change colour.

4. Now add chopped tomatoes , turmeric powder and salt. Fry them till the tomatoes turn soft.

5. Now add chopped brinjal and potatoes . Also add kashmiri red chilli powder and 2 cups of water. Kashmiri red chilli powder is not a spicy one and gives a nice colour to the gravy. It is purely optional, and you can skip it, if you dont have. Allow the gravy to boil and keep checking if brinjal and potatoes are cooked well. It may take approximately 13 to 15 minutes.

6. Now add the coconut paste which you prepared in step 2. Adjust the water consistency according to your requirement. Allow it to boil for another 5 minutes. Stir occasionally to avoid the gravy gets burnt at the bottom. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

7. Serve the gravy with rotti or aappam or idiyappam. !

Rotti with kalla veetu aviyal and some tofu !