Khaman Dhokla (Serves 4)

I have tried various versions of this recipe - this seems to work best for me ! Happy cooking !

For the Dhokla  :

• 2 Cups Besan

• 1 tsp Sugar

• 2 tbsp Lemon juice

• 2 tbsp Curd

• 4 Green chillies

• 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

• 1/2 tsp Sesame seeds

• Shredded coconut powder

• 6 tsp Oil

• Fresh coriander leaves

• 1 Pinch soda

Mix besan, oil, salt and sugar.  To this , add chilli powder, lemon juice, curd and boiled water to make a paste. You will know you have the right consistency when your pour the batter and it falls in a straight line without breaking. Now add soda.  Take a container ; grease it with lots of oil (Preferably sesame seed oil ) and pour this paste in it. I usually cook this in a rice cooker ; you can however cook it in a pressure cooked without the weight. Once done , leave it till it cools down completely. Put the vessel upside down on a plate and the Dhokla will come out of the vessel with ease. Cut this into square pieces and keep

For the Tadka   :

Heat the oil.   Add mustard seeds, sesame seeds and green chillies.  Fry it for a couple minutes.  Spread this over the dhokla. Adorn with shredded coconut powder and coriander leaves.

Tips : Innovate by making dhokla in idli plates. You will get round dhoklas. These can be cut into two. Stuffed with vegetables of your choice and served to children. They will love it.

Mango Paayasam {Serves only one – coz its so yummy :) }

I ate Mango Payasam yesterday, it’s a heavenly dish and there are many ways of making it. Here is one way which I like. You can add a different flavor to this by including milkmaid or coconut etc.

Ingredients (For the Payasam) :

·         Ripe Mango – 1 (Alfonso is preferred  ; but if not available you can use any other variety of sweet mango)

·         Milk – 3 cups

·         Raw rice – 50 gms

·         Sugar – 150 gms

Ingredients (For garnishing) :

·         Roasted Cashews / Raisins

·         Cardamom Powder

·         Rabri (if you like the taste)

·         Saffron Strands

·         Ghee

Boil rice with a cup of milk in the pressure cooker. Peel the mango , cut it into small pieces and grind to a very nice paste. Boil the remaining milk in a pressure pan till it is reduced to one and half cups. Add the mango paste , the boiled rice and sugar and stir well.

Garnish and serve .

Tips : Serve this cold with a couple of thin slices of mango mixed in J

Tomato Chutneys - 3 versions

Tomato Chutney – Version 1

Ingredients :

·         Tomatoes - 2 medium

·         Onion – 2 medium

·         Red Chillies – 3 small

·         Oil

·         Salt

·         Mustard seeds

Cut the tomatoes and onion into small cubes. Fry these in oil till cooked (not brown) along with chillies and cool.

Grind them in a mixer once cool , add salt. Heat oil in pan, add the mustard seeds and pour into the chutney once they splutter. Serve with Idli / Dosa / Pongal .

Tomato Chutney – Version 2

Ingredients :

·         Tomatoes - 2 medium

·         Onion – 2 medium

·         Red Chillies – 3 small

·         Chana Dal

·         Oil

·         Salt

·         Mustard seeds

Cut the tomatoes and onion into small cubes. Fry these in oil till cooked (not brown) cool.

In another pan add some oil , and fry the chana dal and red chillies  till the chana dal changes colour.

Grind all these in a mixer once cool , add salt. Heat oil in pan, add the mustard seeds and pour into the chutney once they splutter. Serve with Idli / Dosa / Pongal .

Tomato Chutney – Version 3

This was my dad’s favorite ! Its pretty spicy ; try at your own peril.

Ingredients :

·         Tomatoes - 1 small

·         Onion – 2 medium

·         Salt

Cut the tomatoes and onion into small cubes. Grind them in a mixer along with the green chillies. Add salt to taste and serve with Idli / Dosa / Pongal . This tastes well without the tomato too :)

Sweet Pongal (Serves 6)

It was pongal season. I made some pongal for Joy , Manisha and Pou last night.This time I did a picture too J

Ingredients :

·         Rice – 1 Cup

·         Water – 6 cups

·         Jaggery – ½ Kg

·         Cashwenuts

·         Raisins

·         Ghee

·         Cardamom

In a bowl , add rice and water and cook till rice is done…there will be a little bit of water left at this point.

In a pan , add a little water. Add the jaggery and mix well till the syrup is done.

In another pan , heat ghee and add cashwenuts, raisins and cardamom powder. Add this and jaggery to the rice and some more ghee and cook till ghee leaves the side.

Tips : You can serve this hot or cold J

Venn Pongal (Serves 2)

Dedicated to all my friends who love my pongal.

Ingredients :

·         Rice – 1 Cup

·         Masoor Daal (yellow) – ¾ Cup

·         Water – 6 cups

·         Ginger – a medium sized piece – sliced

·         Curry Leaves

·         Cumin Seeds – 2 teaspoons

·         Peppercorns – 1 teaspoon

·         Cashwenuts

·         Ghee

·         Salt

In a pressure cooker (in which you intend to cook this pongal) , fry masoor daal till it changes colour (Don’t use any oil). Add the rice and mix till rice becomes whiter. To this add salt and water and pressure cook for 6 whistles.

In a pan , heat the ghee. Add in this order – Cumin Seeds , Peppercorns (grind 2-3 peppercorns coarsely to get taste) . Once the peppercorns splutter , add ginger . Fry on high for a minute , add cashewnuts and switch off the flame. Add this to the pongal once you are able to open the pressure cooker and serve hot with Gotsu / Chutney / Pickle (recipes will follow)

Tips : Do not change the quantities. This is made best in a pressure cooker , but try doing it as you would cook rice if you please.

Cabbage Rice (Serves 2)

With the prices of Onion soaring pretty high , how about having a recipe that doesn’t use Onions ? J

Ingredients :

·         Rice – Basmati – 1 Cup

·         Cabbage – 1 small

·         Green Peas – a small cup

·         Ginger – a medium sized piece

·         Green Chillies – 2 small

·         Garlic – 5 Pods

·         Coconut scrapings – 3 teaspoons

·         Cumin Seeds

·         Cloves - 2

·         Cardamom - 2

·         Tej patta – 1

·         Oil

·         Salt to taste

In a pan heat some oil , add the cloves , cardamom and Tej patta. Now add the cumin seeds. Grind the Green Chillies , Garlic and Coconut using a litte bit of water together and add this mixture to the spices. Now add the cabbage and mix well on high flame for 1 minute. Add the rice and salt and cook in pressure cooker / microwave.

Serve hot with Raita / Pickle.

Tips : Use fresh ingredients. If you like spicy food , you can increase the number of green chillies.

TamBram Curd Rice

Ingredients :

·         Rice – Cooked – 1 Cup

·         Ginger – a medium sized piece – sliced

·         Green Chillies – 2 small – Sliced

·         Raw Mango – Cut into small pieces – 2 teaspoons

·         Carrot – Grated – 2 teaspoons

·         Oil

·         Mustard Seeds

·         Milk – a small tablespoon

·         Curry leaves

·         Curd

·         Salt to taste

In a pan , heat oil. Add mustard seeds and wait for them to splutter. Then add green chillies, ginger and curry leaves to this and leave on high flame for 1 minute. (This is called Tadka)

Mix hot rice with cooked milk. Add salt and curd and mix well. To this add all the ingredients followed by Tadka and mix well. Serve with avakkai Pickle J

Tips : Some people prefer having curd rice chilled. I like to have this one when its hot

Tapas Potatoes with Salsa Dip

For the Salsa Dip :

·         1 large finely chopped Tomato

·         2 finely chopped garlic

·         Cumin – a pinch

·         Vinegar – ½ spoon

·         Pepper – to taste

·         Salt – to taste

·         Paprika – a pinch

·         Chopped Coriander – 2 spoons

·         Chilli Flakes (Optional)

In a bowl , mix all the above ingredients well. If you are the one that likes extra spice , you can innovate by adding Tabasco sauce to this mixture. This salsa dip tastes well when made with fresh tomatoes and coriander.

For the potatoes:

·         2 Large Potatoes

·         Oil

·         Breadcrumbs

·         Salt to taste

·         Chilli Powder – to taste

·         Paprika – a pinch

Peel the potatoes and cut into nice thick 1 inch cubes.  Deep fry them in oil on low flame for about 15-20 minutes. Once cooked remove from the frier , mix the bread crumbs ( small quantity) and salt. Now fry them on a low flame in about 2 teaspoons of oil to give them the crispiness and crunchiness.

Remove from flame when done. Add the Paprika and Chilli Powder and mix well. Serve hot with the Salsa dip.

Tips : Salsa dip tastes best when fresh. Spanish potates are usually dry roasted, I recommend bread crumbs to give that additional zing and flavor.