Thakkali Urugai/Tomato Pickle

tomato thokku without any pickle masala version.But today's version is a slightly different one with the pickle masala and bit spicy which I learned from my friend's mom.This is a flavorful and tangy,spicy pickle which goes very well with curd rice,other tiffin varieties such as idly,dosa and upma.Now on to the recipe.......

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Tomatoes	2lbs
Tamarind paste	2tsp
Chilly powder	2tbs
Oil	1/2cup
Fenugreek seeds/vendhayam	1/2tsp
Mustard seeds/kadugu	3/4tsp
Salt	to taste

For tempering

Ingredient	Quantity
Mustard seeds	1tsp
Curry leaves	1 sprig
Asafoetida	1/8tsp

Method

                                Chop the tomatoes finely,dry roast the fenugreek seeds,mustard seeds separately and powder it in a mortar or blender,keep aside.
Heat 2tbs of oil in a heavy bottom pan.Once the oil is hot add the chopped tomato and cook it for 5-6 minutes.

Now add the tamarind paste,chilly powder and salt to it,cook it covered in the medium flame till the oil separates or it becomes thick(mine took 23mins.).Stir it in between to avoid  burning.At this stage add the ground powder,stir it well and cook it for a minute.

Heat the remaining oil in a small pan and do the tempering with the ingredients.Add it to the tomato paste and mix it well.Store it in a clean,dry air tight bottle after cooling.

 Tomato pickle is ready.

Enjoy....................

• Be generous in the oil to keep the pickle fresh and for long shelf life.
• Cover the tomato while cooking otherwise it will splash.
• Sliced garlic can also be added in the tempering. 
• Chopping the tomatoes to fine pieces makes the cooking fast otherwise it takes long time to get cook.
• Do not cook for a long time after adding the powder.

This goes for Cooking Concepts#9-Spring Seasonal Food event happening at Sravs Culinary Concepts and Pickles and Preserves Fest at Sizziling tastebuds.
Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Soya Chunks and Green Peas Biriyani

Spring has started and the flowers bloomed,the plants are looking fresh with the new tender leaves in my home garden.The weather is also pleasant to enjoy the gardening work.The mint plants in my garden are also with new leaves,makes me tempted to cook some recipe.As my family loves the flavor of mint I made mint chutney yesterday and I used the remaining leaves for this biriyani.I used the pressure cooker to make this biriyani it can be made with the electric rice cooker also.

Today's recipe is a healthy one pot meal which is a protein packed and is a good option for lunch box and parties.As the soya chunks resembles,chicken my kiddo loves to eat anything with that.The quality of basmathi rice what I got this time is not good,so the biriyani turned out little mushy and the grains are broken.Other than that everything was perfect and we enjoyed the meal along with seasoned curd rice and mangoes.Here goes the recipe .....

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Soya chunks/meal maker	1cup
Basmathi rice	11/2cups
Green peas(soaked/frozen)	1/2cup
Onion	2no.(medium size)
Tomato	2nos.(medium size)
Ginger&garlic paste	2tsp
Red chilly powder	1/2tsp
Coriander powder	3/4tsp
Garam masala powder	1/4tsp
Turmeric powder	1/8tsp
Coconut milk	3/4cup
Lemon juice	1tsp
Coriander leaves(chopped)	as needed
Salt	to taste
Oil	2tbs

To grind

Ingredient	Quantity
Coconut(grated)	2tsp
Green chilly	4nos.
Mint leaves	1/4cup
Coriander leaves	1/4cup

For tempering

Ingredient	Quantity
Fennel seeds(sombhu)	1/2tsp
Cloves	4nos.
Cinnamon	1 inch piece 2nos.
Cardamom	2nos.
Bay leaf	1no.
Green chilly	4nos.
Ginger&garlic paste	2tsp

Method

                                  Soak the basmathi rice in the water for 1/2 an hour,grind the coconut,mint leaves,coriander laeves and green chillies to fine paste.

 Cook the soya chunks in the boiling water with a pinch of salt and garam masala powder.Once its cool down rinse in the cold water for couple of times and squeeze the excess water,keep aside. 

Heat the pressure pan or cooker with the oil and temper it with the whole spices given for tempering.Add the onions,cook till golden brown colorThen add the ginger&garlic paste and fry it for a while.

 Now add ground paste and fry it till the raw smell goes away then tomatoes,cook it mushy.

 Add in all the powders,salt and fry it for 30 seconds then add the coconut milk and 2cups of water.

Now add the green peas and soya chunks to it,let it boil.

 Once the water boils add the drained rice to and mix it carefully,add the coriander leaves,cover it with the lid.Keep it in the medium flame for one whistle and let it be in the low flame for 5 minutes,turn off the stove.Once the pressure subsides remove the lid,add the lemon juice and mix it gently.

 Serve it with raitha or any curry of your choice.

Serve it with raitha or any curry of your choice.

• Adding coconut milk is optional but gives a nice flavor and taste to the biriyani.
• Rinse the boiled soya chunks atleast 2-3 times to get rid of the smell.
• Mixed veggies such as carrot,beans and potato can also be used.
• A tbs of ghee and broken cashews can also be added for extra taste and flavor.

Linking this to Show me the hits  series#3 Soy Recipes started by Sangeetha and hosting by Prabha of Prabha's Cooking.
Also linking to Serve It Series- Pressure Cooked/Slow Cooked  event happening at Priya and hosting by Jaya.
Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Microwave Easy Cooking-Event Announcement

Hello friends,I am happy to announce that I am guest hosting Srivalli's Microwave Easy Cooking(MEC) event.Thank you so much Srivalli for giving me this opportunity.
Microwave oven is not only for reheating the food,a variety of delicious food can be cooked.A lot of one pot meal,exotic sweets,scrumptious fries,subzi and a lot more can be cooked in less time.So here comes a challenge to cook in the microwave and request you all to send in your innovative and interesting recipes to make the event success.

Here are the guidelines for the event

* The entire cooking needs to be done in Microwave oven. The use of food processor or other gadgets for grinding is allowed,but no stove top.

 *Please mention clearly the timings used for cooking process and the recipe with final cooking in microwave is not allowed.

* Multiple entries are permitted.

* Recipes submitted to other events are also permitted.

* Recipes from archives can be accepted ONLY if updated as current post.

* Both veg and non-veg recipes are allowed.

* Recipes from non bloggers can be accepted.Please send your recipe to sureshnalini4@gmail.com

*The last date for the submission is April 30th 2012

*Link to Srivalli's MEC event announcement page and this announcement page is mandatory.
*Link your recipes to the following linky tool.

Looking forward for all your wonderful recipes.

Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Mixed Vegetable and Cranberry Beans Curry/Masala

Hello friends,hope everyone is doing good and happy to see you all after a short break.In my family one after the other was sick in the last two months and some of the personal work which kept me away from blogging.Now things are getting better and back to the routine.

Today's recipe is a delicious curry which can be made with the mixed vegetables and fresh beans.This curry goes very well with roti and rice,for this recipe I used fresh cranberry beans.

Cranberry beans are white beans with red marks which highly rich in protein and fiber.These beans are also called as borlotti beans.

Here is the recipe for the delicious and tasty curry.......

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Cranberry beans(cooked)	1cup
Cauliflower florets	2cups
Green beans	15-20nos.
Potato	2nos.(medium size)
Onion	2nos.(small size)
Tomato(chopped)	2nos.(medium size)
Chilly powder	11/2tsp
Coriander powder	2tsp
Turmeric powder	1/4tsp
Curry leaves(chopped)	2 sprigs
Coriander leaves(chopped)	1tbs
Salt	to taste
Oil	2tbs

To grind

Ingredient	Quantity
Coconut(grated)	4tbs
Ginger	1/2 inch piece
Garlic	3 cloves
Fennel seeds(sombhu)	1tsp
Cinnamon(pattai)	1/2 inch piece
Clove(lavangam)	2nos.
Cashews(broken)	1tsp

Method

               Cook the cranberry beans in the pressure cooker for a whistle with a pinch of salt.Put the cauliflower florets in the hot water with salt and turmeric powder and cut the french beans into one inch pieces.Boil or bake the potatoes and cut it into cubes.Grind the ingredients given to a fine paste and keep aside.

• Heat oil in a pan,saute the onion till transparent with a pinch of salt and add the tomatoes,cook it until mushy.

• Add the chopped green beans and saute it for a minute.Now add the chilly powder,coriander powder,turmeric powder and salt to it.

• Mix it well and add the ground paste and fry it well.Add 1/2 cup of water to it and cook it covered until the beans is tender.

• Once the beans is done add the cauliflower and cranberry beans,mix it well.Finally add the potatoes and mix it gently.

• Keep it in the medium flame for 4- 5 minutes or till the masala gets blended well.Garnish it with coriander leaves.

• Serve it with roti or rice.

Enjoy................................ 

• Instead of cranberry beans fresh green peas can be used.
• Other veggies such as carrot,broccoli also be used.
• If the masala gets stick to the pan add a tbs of oil to it.
• Saute the ground paste till the raw smell goes off. 
• The red color marks on the cranberry beans will disappear after cooking.
• If you don't want to use coconut use one more onion and tomato while sauting but adding the coconut paste gives nice flavor and taste to the curry.
• Use half a tsp of garam masala powder and 2 tsp of  ginger&garlic paste if you are not using coconut.

Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Thenkuzhal/Murukku

This post has been lying in my draft since Diwali and finally posted it today.Murukku is a traditional snack which prepared for festival especially Diwali.There are lot of variants in the murukku recipe and this is my mom's recipe,uses home made rice flour. I used the store bought rice flour and here is the recipe for crunchy and yummy murukku....



Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Rice flour	4cups
Urad dhal	1cup
Roasted gram dhal(pottukadalai)	1/4cup
Cumin seeds	1tbs
Butter	5tbs
Asafoetida	1/4tsp
Salt	to taste
Oil	for frying

Method


                 Dry roast the urad dhal to a nice golden brown color and powder it in the blender and sieve it(used store bought urad flour and roasted it),powder the pottukadali and sieve it.

Take a large mixing bowl and mix rice flour,urad flour,roasted gram dhal flour,cumin seeds,salt and butter.Make a smooth  and stiff dough with water.
Heat the pan with oil and fill the murukku press with the prepared dough using the round eyed disc.Squeeze it on a ladle or small plates.
Drop it carefully in the oil once the oil becomes hot enough.Cook both the sides till the sizzling sound stops and drain it on a paper towel.

Once it becomes cool store it in an air tight container.

• Instead of cumin seeds,sesame seeds can be used.
• If you are making large quantities make the dough in batches otherwise the color may turn dark.
• While dropping the murukku the oil should be hot,then reduce the temperature to medium.

Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com