Channa Masala - South Indian Style

Today's recipe is a South Indian version of channa masala goes very well with pooris and roti.This is a coconut version with the flavorful garam masala.
The recipe I noted from my mom's recipe collection book and make it for parties and potluck to accompany pooris.Here goes the recipe............

Basic Information

Soaking time 6-8 hrs
Preparation Time 15 minutes
Cooking Time 30 minutes
Serves 4(generously)

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Chickpeas/channa/kondakadalai	11/4 cups
Onion/ vengayam(finely chopped)	2 (medium size)
Tomato(chopped)	1(medium size)
Tomato(pureed)	2(medium size)
Green chilly/pachamilagai	3
Ginger&garlic paste	1 tbs
Red chilly powder/milagai podi	1 tsp
Turmeric powder/manjal podi	1/4 tsp
Coriander powder/dhaniya podi	2 tsp
Garam masala powder	1/4 tsp
Coriander leaves/kothamalli	1 tbs(chopped)
Lemon juice	1 tsp(optional)
Salt	11/2 tsp
Oil	2 tbs

Grind to a fine paste

Ingredient	Quantity
Coconut(grated)	5 tbs
Cashews/mundiri	3
Fennel seeds/sombu	1 tsp
Poppy seeds/kasakasaa	1/2 tsp

For the seasoning

Ingredient	Quantity
Cloves/lavangam	3-4
Cinnamon/pattai	1 inch piece
Cardamom/ellakai	1
Bay leaves	1
Star anise	1

Method

• Soak the chickpeas for 6-8 hours and cook it in a pressure cook along with a pinch of salt and water for 2- 3 whistles.Grind the given ingredients to a fine paste with little water and keep it aside.

• Heat the pan with the oil,do the tempering with the whole garam masala.Add the onion and green chilly,saute till transparent.Add the ginger&garlic paste an fry it till the raw smell goes off.Once the ginger &garlic paste add in the tomato and cook it till mushy with a pinch of salt.Now add the pureed tomato and cook it for couple of minutes.Add in all the spice powders except the garam masala powder and give it a mix.

• Add around 11/2 cups of water and let it boil till the raw smell disappears.Now add the ground coconut paste and around 1/2 cup of water,let it boil for another 5 minutes.At this stage add the cooked chickpeas and let continue boiling for another 2-3 minutes or till it gets thick.

• Finally sprinkle the coriander leaves and garam masala powder,put off the flame.Add the lemon juice and mix it well.

• Channa masala is ready.Serve it with poori or pulao.

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


This recipe is off to  Cook Book Challenge #9 June week 3.

Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Kodi Kura - Andhra style Chicken Curry

Today is one of our blogger buddy Shama's birthday  and few of our friends decided to shower her virtually.
I made this yummy and spicy,flavorful Andhra style chicken curry.This recipe is so simple and easy,the highlight of the recipe is the freshly ground spice powder.This is no coconut version and adapted the recipe from here.Lets move on to the recipe...............

Basic Information
Recipe Source  Divya's Culinary Journey
Preparation Time 15 minutes
Cooking Time 30-35 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Chicken(with bones)	2 lbs
Onion/ vengayam(finely chopped)	2 (medium size)
Tomato(pureed)	2 (medium size)
Ginger&garlic paste	2 tbs
Red chilly powder	2 tsp
Coriander powder	2 tsp
Turmeric powder	1/2 tsp
Curry leaves/karivepillai	1 sprig
Coriander leaves/kothamalli	1tbs(chopped)
Salt	11/2-2 tsp
Oil	3 tbs

To Roast and Grind

Ingredient	Quantity
Fennel seeds/sombhu	1 tsp
Cumin seeds/jeeragam	1/2 tsp
Poppy seeds/kasakasa	1 tsp
Cloves/lavangam	3
Cinnamon/pattai/lavangam	1 inch

For the tempering

Ingredient	Quantity
Cumin seeds	1/2 tsp
Star anise	1

Method

• Clean and cut the chicken to a bite size pieces and add 1/2 tsp of salt,turmeric powder and chilly powder.Mix it well and keep it.
• Meanwhile dry roast the given ingredients in a pan and grind it to a semi coarse powder,keep it aside.
• Heat a pan with oil crackle the cumin seeds and star anise.Then add in the curry leaves and onion,saute till it becomes transparent. 
• Add the ginger&garlic paste,continue sauteing till the raw smell disappears.Now goes in the tomato puree and cook it for couple of minutes.
• powder and coriander powder,give it a mix.
• Add the marinated chicken pieces and cook it for couple of minutes till it changes the color,add in the remaining salt,coriander powder and the ground spice powder.Add around a cup of water.
• Cook it covered in a medium flame till the chicken becomes tender.
•  Andhra chicken curry is ready.
• Serve it rice or pulao.

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

• The amount of spices given is for a medium spicier version.
• Here I used the chicken legs and thighs.

Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Vendhayakeerai Karakulambhu/Fenugreek leaves in Tamarind Sauce

When I was watching Revathi Shanmugam's cookery show she mentioned about the kara kulambhu using methi aka vendhayakeerai.
As we make sambar and kootu out of methi leaves and making karakulambhu sounds interesting.So wanted to try, fortunately I had a bunch of fresh methi leaves lying in the refrigerator,with no second thought I tried this kulambhu.
The kulambhu came out so delicious and flavorful with the fresh methi leaves/fenugreek leaves.I served the kulambhu with rice along with snakegourd kootu and papad.Here goes the recipe..................

Basic Information

Preparation Time 15 minutes
Cooking Time 20 minutes
Serves 3

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Fenugreek leaves/vendhayakeerai	3/4-1 cup
Onion(finely chopped)	1(medium size)
Tomato(finely chopped)	1(medium size)
Garlic/poondu(chopped)	5 fat cloves
Sambar powder	1 tbs
Turmeric powder	1/4 tsp
Tamarind/puli	small lemon size
Thalipu vadagam	1/2 tsp
Curry leaves/karivepillai	1 sprig
Salt	1 1/4tsp
Oil	2 tbs

Method

Soak the tamarind in 1/2 cup of water and extract the juice,to this add sambar power,turmeric powder,salt.Mix it well and keep it aside.
Heat a pan with oil and add the vadagam and fry it,add in the curry leaves,onion and garlic.Saute it until transparent.
Now add in the fenugreek leaves and saute it till it wilts,add the chopped tomato,cook it till mushy.

Add in the tamarind mixture and around a 1/2-3/4 cup of water,let it cook till the raw smell goes off in a medium flame.

Vendhayakeerai Karakulambhu is ready.

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

• Instead of thalipu vadagam,1/2 tsp of mustard seeds and 1/8 tsp of fenugreek seeds can be used.
• Sambar powder can be substituted with red chilly and coriander powder.
• Do not chop the fenugreek leaves otherwise it may be bitter.

Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Rava idly/Instant Rava Idly

Today is the final day of Blogging Marathon for this week and the letter is R for cooking with alphabets.So I made rava idly and this version sounds so simple and easy to make.
 I used eno fruit salt to get the idly fluffy and soft.Here I used roasted vermicelli also along with the rava(semolina)

Though we like this idly a lot it rarely appears in my kitchen.After the themes were announced,I was happy to see the letter R so that I can make it for blog in steam cooking method.Off to the recipe..................

Basic Information

Preparation time 10 minutes

Cooking time 15 -20 minutes

Makes 10

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Semolina/rava/sooji	11/2 cups
Vermicelli/semiya	1/3 cup
Thick Yogurt/ketti thayir	1 cup
Ginger/inji(finely chopped)	1 tsp
Green chilly/pachamilagai	2-3(finely chopped)
Eno fruit salt	1 tsp
Carrot (grated)	1-2 tbs(optional)
Cashews/mudiri	10(halved)
Curry leaves/karivepillai	1 sprig
Coriander leaves/kothamalli	for garnishing
Salt	11/4 tsp
Oil	2 tbs+1 tsp for greasing
Ghee/nei	1 tbs

For the tempering

Ingredient	Quantity
Mustard seeds/kadugu	1/2 tsp
Urad dhal/uluthamparppu	1 tsp
Channa dhal/kadalaparuppu	2 tsp
Asafoetida/perungayam	a pinch

Method

Whisk the curd and set it aside.Heat a tsp with oil and fry the halved cashews till golden,remove it.In the same pan heat the remaining oil and ghee.Do the tempering with the given ingredients the add ginger,green chilly and curry leaves.Add in the semolina.

Fry it in a medium flame till it becomes golden.Now add the roasted vermicelli and fry it for a minute.Put off the flame.

Add it to the whisked yogurt,add salt and mix it well.Adjust the consistency with water.Let it stand for 3-5 minutes.Now add the eno fruit salt and mix it well.

Grease the idly plate with oil and keep halved cashew in each circle and pour the batter.Steam it for 10-12 minutes or till a tooth pick comes out clean.With the help of knife or spoon remove it from the idly plate.

Rava Idly is ready.

Serve it with chutney of your choice.

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

• Don't keep the batter for a long time after adding the eno fruit salt,steam it right away to get a nice fluffy idly.
• Here I used slightly sour yogurt to get a nice tangy taste.
• If the batter is too thick add little more water to adjust the consistency.
• If the batter is too thin also,the idly doesn't comes out good.

Check out my fellow bloggers participating in Blogging Marathon #41.

Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Egg Roast/Kerala Egg Roast

For the day 2 under the theme cooking with alphabets is E and I chose to cook Egg Roast on stove top.
Egg roast is a popular Kerala dish,often served for breakfast to accompany aappam,dosa and idiyappam.
The highlight of the recipe is the amount of thinly sliced onion and coconut oil,but here I used the regular cooking oil(olive oil).I served this egg roast with aappam and the left over with rice,it tastes great with rice also.Here goes the recipe.............

Basic Information

Preparation time 15 minutes

Cooking time 20-25 minutes

Serves 3

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Egg/muttai	3
Onion(finely sliced)	3 (medium size)
Tomato	2 (medium size)
Ginger & garlic paste	1 tbs
Green chilly/pachamilagai	2-3(slit lengthy)
Red chilly powder/milagai podi	1 tsp
Coriander powder/dhaniya podi	11/2 tsp
Garam Masala powder	1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder/manjal podi	1/4tsp
Curry leaves/karivepillai	1 sprig
Coriander leaves/kothamalli	for garnishing
Salt	11/4 tsp
Oil	2-3 tbs

For the tempering

Ingredient	Quantity
Mustard seeds/kadugu	1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds/sombu	1/4 tsp

Method

Boil the eggs and remove the shell and make slits on the top and bottom,keep it aside.
Heat a pan with oil and crackle the fennel seeds and mustard seeds,add the sliced onions.Saute it along with a pinch of salt for a minute.Now add the green chilly and curry leaves,continue sauteing till the onion becomes nice and golden.Now goes in ginger & garlic paste,fry it for a minute or till the raw smell goes off.Add in all the spice powders and salt,give it a mix.

Add the chopped tomatoes and cook it until mushy.Sprinkle some water if it too dry.Let it cook for another couple of minutes.Finally add the boiled eggs and mix it well.Sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves and put off the flame.

Serve it with aappam.

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

• As my chilly powder is spicy I used 1 tsp,if you want you can add up to 11/2 tsp.
• If the tanginess is not enough add a tsp of lemon juice at the end.

Check out my fellow bloggers participating in Blogging Marathon #41.

Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Carrot and Almond Kheer - Microwave Oven Method

Another session of Blogging Marathon has started and I am here with a simple and flavorful kheer.For this series of BM I chose to cook with alphabets in different cooking methods.
For the day 1 the alphabet is C and sharing you a kheer or milk recipe made in microwave oven.I have already shared a version of carrot kheer but this version is slightly different and no need of condensed milk or evaporated milk.
I made this kheer along with the soaked almonds and the output is so yummy and delicious.You can try the same method in the stove top also.Wth no further delay lets move on to the recipe.................................

Basic Information

Preparation time 15 minutes

Cooking time 20-25 minutes

Serves 2

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Carrot(grated)	1 cup
Almonds/badam	20-25
Sugar/sarkarai	1/2 cup + 1tbs
2% Milk/paal	21/4 cups
Cardamom powder/elakkai	1/4 tsp
Saffron/kungumapoo	few strands
Ghee/nei	2 tsp
Pisatchios/pista	as needed for garnishing

Method
         
                            In a microwave safe bowl boil the milk for 8-10 minutes and soak the almonds for 15 minutes in hot water and peel the skin and keep it aside.
In a microwave safe bowl heat 1/2 tsp of ghee for a minute,then add the grated carrot and cook it for 2 minutes.Now add 1/4 cup of milk. 

Cook it for 2 minutes or till it becomes soft.Let it cool for couple of minutes.Now put the cooked carrot and soaked almonds in a blender and grind it to a fine paste.

Add a tsp of ghee in the same microwave bowl and heat it for a minute then add in the ground paste and cook it for a minute.Now add the sugar and let it cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Add in the milk and cook it for another 5 minutes.In between stir it for couple of times.Finally add the cardamom powder and saffron strands and give it a mix.

Serve it chilled.

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

• The cooking time varies from oven to oven.
• If you want to use sweetened condensed milk,add around 3 tbs and reduce the sugar quantity.
• Cashews can also be added along with almonds.
• Use a deep,wide mouth,microwave safe bowl to avoid spilling.

Check out my fellow bloggers participating in Blogging Marathon #41.

Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Kozhi Saaru/Village style Chicken Stew

After a small break I am here with a flavorful village style kozhi saaru which is my grand mother's signature recipe.
As today is the 2nd Tuesday and sharing this recipe for Tamizhar Samyal Tuesday Event happenings at my space.
This kozhi saaru is mainly prepared for breakfast to accompany idlys but it tastes well with rice also.My grand mother used naatu kozhi(country chicken) for this recipe,but here I used the chicken legs.Lets move on to the recipe............................

Basic Information

Preparation time 20 minutes
Cooking time 40 minutes
Serves 3

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Chicken(with bones)	1 lb
Onion/ vengayam(finely chopped)	1 (medium size)
Green chilly/pachamilagai	2
Turmeric powder/manjal podi	1/4 tsp
Red Chilly powder/milagai podi	1 tsp
Curry leaves/karivepillai	1 sprig
Coriander leaves/kothamalli	1tbs(chopped)
Salt	11/2tsp
Oil	2-3 tbs

To saute and grind

Ingredient	Quantity
Shallots/chinna vengayam	10
Red chilly/varamilagai	3-4
Tomato	2(medium size)
Ginger/inji	1 inch piece
Garlic/poondu	4-5 cloves
Coriander powder/kothamalli podi	1 tbs
Coconut(grated)	3 tbs
Cloves/lavangam	3
Cinnamon/pattai	1 inch piece
Poppy seeds/kasakasa	1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds/jeeragam	1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds/sombu	1 tsp
Black pepper/milagu	1 tsp

Method

• Clean and wash the chicken,cut into bite sized pieces.To this add the turmeric powder,red chilly powder and 1/2 tsp of salt.Mix it well,set it aside.

• Heat a pan with a tsp of oil and  crackle the cumin and fennel seeds then goes in the whole spices.Add in the shallots,ginger and garlic.Saute it until transparent.

• Add in the chopped tomatoes and cook it till it becomes mushy,finally add in the grated coconut and mix it well.After cooling grind it to a fine paste.

• Heat the pan with the remaining oil,add in the chopped onion,green chillies and curry leaves.Saute it for a minute.

• Now add in the chicken pieces and saute it till the color changes.At this stage add in the ground paste and mix well till everything blends well.Add around 3 cups of water and remaining salt.Cook it covered in a medium flame till the chicken becomes soft and tender.Stir in between to prevent burning.

• Finally sprinkle the coriander leaves and put off the flame.

Serve it with idly,dosa or rice.

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

• The stew needs to be slightly thinso adjust the water accordingly.
• If you want to use ginger&garlic paste then omit the whole ginger and garlic,add it along with the onions while sauteing for the curry.

This recipe is off to Tamaizhar Samayal Tuesday.

Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com