Avial , A kerala cuisine

1. Wash all the vegetables and slice them as said and keep aside.
2. Grind together coconut, green chillies and cumin seeds together by adding little water and make a fine paste and keep aside.
3. Heat the coconut oil in a deep bottom kadai or pan. Add the curry leaves,Asafoetida,  mustard seeds and allow them to crackle.
4. Add the vegetables and little water . Close it with a lid and allow it to cook for few minutes.
5. Check it after 10- 12 minutes.The vegetables would almost cooked by now. ( another way to check is check out for steam, once steam is seen coming ..its indicator that vegetables are cooked)
6. Add the fine paste and curd and mix well. Add salt and mix well. 
7. Cook it further for some 5-6 minutes will the coconut is well cooked.
8. The avial is ready. Serve it hot with steam rice and Sambhar.

 


Preparation Time: 1 hour
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Serves : 5 -6 persons
Shelflife:1 day
Serving Suggestion: Serve hot with steam rice and Sambhar.

• Chop and slice all the vegetables into equal size.
• Grind the paste finely
• The variation of vegetables can be left to personal choice .
• Take fresh coconut for this cuisine
• Use only coconut oil for this particular dish.
  

Spring onions - 2 bunches
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Red chilly powder - 1 teaspoon
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Salt - to taste
oil - 1 teaspoon

1.  Pick fresh spring onions with crisp leaves since they are much taster and healthy.
2. Wash them nicely under tap water and let them dry for few minutes.
3. Peel the outer layer of the spring onion . This is would give you good crispness to the food as the outer layer tends to wilted and tasteless due to over exposure to the environment.
4. Chop them into 1 inch pieces . Chop the bulbs in a way that you get in ring shapes as it them look nice especially to the childrens.
5. Keep a kadai over flame and add oil in it. Let the oil to heat for a minute.
6. Once the oil gets hot, add Asafoetida and  Mustard seeds. Let the seeds crackle.
7. Now add the chopped spring onions and saute them for a minute. Don't add water. Spring onions have natural moisture in them and let the vegetable to cook in its own water content so that becomes tastier and healthier.
8. Add the turmeric powder and chilly powder and saute for a minute.
9. Add salt as per taste and saute it well. 
10. Keep sating for some 7-8 minutes.
11. Once the vegetable is cooked well, it will be tender soft and will be transparent .
12. Remove and serve hot with chapatis or dal chawal.

Preparation time: 15 minutes.
Cooking time: 10 miutes.
Serves : 4 -6 persons.
Shelflife: Best fresh.
Serving suggestion: Serve hot with Chapati or Dal chawal.

• To pick good quality spring onion , always check the leaves. The one with crisp leaves are best.
• Also pick those spring onions which are bit green. ( Not necessary that it should be fully green, a part of it should be greener). Those are healthier as per nutritional value.
• Always peel off and discard the outer layer of the Spring onion, since they are not much crisp and tend to spoil the other parts which cooking.

Click here to learn and know more about Maharashtrian foods and cuisines- An Introduction To Maharashtrian Cuisine.

Indian vermicelli is delicacy which is quiet tasty and delicious. Vermicelli is widely used in many indian recipes like kheer, pulao and upmas. I had already posted few recipes with vermicelli as its main ingredient.
Many people tend to have a opinion on vermicelli that it might not be intresting stuff to eat especially childrens. Even i was one of them. As a child i always used to find vermicelli also called semiya as a boring food and would run away at the mention of it. I still remember how maa used to run after me asking to atleast taste it and i would give her a good chase making her angry and tired. Now that i am grown up girl who is incharge of kitchen and everyone's health at home, its now that i realise the pain she would to take while cooking in the kitchen. Love you maa.

This food which i used to find damn boring as a kid is one of my favourite as a grown up girl. And now though i am grown up and cook them very well yet when it comes to my favourite food, i ask my maa to cook for me instead , i simply love the cook when she cooks for me. It is rightly said in hindi that "maa ke haath ke khane mein jaadu hota hai", i completely agree with it.

This recipe is a south Indian (Tamil Nadu) recipe and is a healthy breakfast . Adding vegetable adds a good taste to this recipe and makes it look delightful to the eyes of kids who run away from food. As such this recipe doest need any side dish and can be served alone which adds a good factor. It is quiet interesting to cook and more interesting to serve them. Also this can be counted as a good evening snack and also for a good party menu .

The vegetables which can be added to vegetable upma are similar to those of Pulav. And the amount of vegetables can be adjusted as per one's choice and love for veggies. I prefer more veggies since i believe in having more veggies to my diet for a good health and balance. So the vegetables that can be added are carrots, peas, potatoes and cauliflower . Even cashewnuts can be added to make it intresting . Besides that a good thadka gives a excellent taste to vegetable Upma.


Ingredients:
Vermicelli - 1 packet ( available ready made in market)
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves - 1 string or 10-12 leaves
Onion - 1 medium, finely chopped.
Carrots - 2 carrots, cut into thick jullinne or big strips
Peas - 1/2 cup (soaked overnight for atleast 6 hours)
Potatoes - 2 potatoes, cut into thick jullinne or big strips
Cauliflower - 1/2 cup (optional), cut into tiny florets
Grated Coconut - 2 tablespoons.
Vanaspati or desi ghee - 1 tablespoon
Salt - to taste.



Method:

1. Take a kadai and roast the vermicelli till it changes its colour to light pink . Dont allow it to turn brown, just roast it enough that it changes the colour. Roasting makes the vermicelli softer and tastier. These days readymade roasted vermicellis are easily available in market, even those can be used instead of roasting them also it costs just 2 rupees more then the ordinary ones.
2. Remove the roasted Vermicelli is a plate and allow it to cool.
3. Take a deep bottomed kadai and keep it on flame.
4. Add a tablespoon of oil to it . Add the mustard seeds and allow it to crackle.
5. Once the mustard seeds crackle, add the chopped onions and saute them till it turn translucent or pinkish in colour.
6. Now add the curry leaves and saute it for a minute.
7. Once this initial thadka is ready, add 3 cups of water in the kadai and allow it to boil.
8. When it boils, add the chopped vegetables and salt and stir well. Close the kadai with a lid and allow it to cook for sometime till the vegetable become tender soft and gets cooked well.
9. After some 10 minutes, check the vegetables, they must be ready by now.
10. Add vanaspati or ghee and stir once again. Add the vanaspati or ghee at this stage since, it gives a fresh taste and aroma to the upma and thus making it delicious.
11. Now add the roasted vermicelli to the kadai and keep stiring it nicely till the vermicelli gets cooked and turns soft. Also see that the water gets absorbed as the upma gets ready.
12. When the water gets absorbed completely and the vermicelli is soft and cooked, remove it and keep aside.
13. Vegetable Vermicelli Upma is ready to serve.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes.
Cooking Time: 20 minutes.
Serves: 4 persons.
Shelflife: Best fresh.
Serving Suggestion: Serve hot as breakfast or as evening snack.



Note:

• Vegeables can be added as per choice and likings.
• Even cashewnuts can be added in this upma along with the veggies and allow them to get cooked in the water along with it.

Click here to know all about Tamil Nadu cuisines- Introduction To Tamil Nadu Cuisines And Recipes.

Ulandam Kanjee is a Tamil Nadu cuisine which can also be found in many parts of kerala too. Its a simple yet healthy food which gets digested easily. The word Ulland is tamil word which means urad and Kanjee means podridge .
In many parts of Tamil Nadu, Ullandam kanjee or even ordinary kanjee is called as poor man's food as this food can be easily made at home. Kanjee means the same to South Indian people as is Roti to the North Indian. Also Kanjee doesnt need any particular side dish. It can be taken without side dish too. And on the other hand, it can also be taken with thogayal. I had posted Thenga Thogayal recipe in my previous post. Refer it for making thogayal, the side dish for most types of Kanjees.
Kanjee is usually made only with rice in most southern India. The popular Palan Kanjee is nothing but only boiled rice. For palan kanjee the left over rice is soaked in water the whole night and it is served with shallot onions also called sambhar onions and pickles. I am looking forward to post Palan kanjee in my blog in future. But Ullandam Kanjee is my all time favourite and i can go with it anytime and any amount. I am posting the recipe down , hope people would love this kanjee.


Ingredients:
Rice - 2 cups
Urad dal - 1/2 cup
Garlic pods - 6-7 nos
Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
Cumins seeds - 1 teaspoon
Fresh grated coconut - 2 tablespoons
Oil -1 tablespoon
Salt - As per taste.


Method:

1. Take a frying or kadai and fry the fenugreek seeds (vendiyam) in it for 1-2 mins without oil. Keep it aside.
2. Take a deep bottomed vessel, a bigger one probably. Keep it on flame and add water in it.
3. Usually we add water in ratio of 3:1 . That is 3 cups of water to 1 cup of rice. But for kanjee add more water, since we need the starch water for kanjee. Kanjee means liquid rice a podridge. So add more than the required amount as per your need. Normally I prefer adding 5 cups to 6 cups.
4. Let the water come to boil. Meanwhile wash the rice and keep aside.
5. When the water starts boiling, add the washed rice to it.
6. When the rice boils partially, add the fried fenugreek seeds and garlic pods to it. Also add salt as per taste while it is still being cooked.
7. Keep a check time to time to know if the rice is fully boiled.
8. Once it is boiled, add the grated coconut to it and allow it to boil for some 2 mins more.
9. When the rice is completely and wholly cooked, remove it from flame and keep aside.
10. Now, in a pan or kadai take 1 tablespoon of oil and heat it. Add the cummin seeds to it and allow it to crackle.
11. Once it crackles, add it over the kanjee and stir well.
12. Serve hot with thogayal or pickle. I would suggest to serve it with thenga thogayal.

Preparation Time: 40 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4 persons

Shelflife: 2 days

Serving Suggestion: Serve hot with Thenga Thogayal or pickle.

Note:

• Kanjee must be liguid in form. But the rice should be over boiled too.
• Use big rice for best results.
• Add salt as per taste, as such kanjee needs more salt so check the taste after adding salt.
• In case, if you feel the kanjee is over salted then add some water and boil it for some minutes.
• Garlic pods not only adds taste but also health benefits as it is good for digestion. Hence it is best food for those who suffer from fever or any kind health problem where they find it difficult to eat food.

Click here to read and know more about Tamil Nadu Cuisines and recipes - An Introduction to Tamil Nadu Foods And Recipes.