Avial

Ingredients :

Raw banana - 1 no
Carrot - 1 no
Drumstick- 1 no
Potato - 1/2 cup
Cucumber - 1/2 cup
Beans - 3 nos
Green chillies - 3 nos
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tbsp
Curry leaves - A few
Water - 1/4 cup
Thick curd- 1 cup
Mustard seed - for seasoning

For grinding:-
Grated coconut - 1 1/2 cups
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 1/2 sprig

Preparation method :

1. Half cook the vegetables in water with turmeric powder and salt.

2. Add the ground paste to the cooked vegetables and stir for a minute.

3. Once they blend along, add curd and mis well. Boil for a minute (do not over boil) till the curd

gets along with the water.

4. Season the above reparation with oil(coconut oil is preferred), mustard seeds and curry

leaves.

5. This dish goes well with adai, rice etc..

Masala Bread

Ingredients :

Oil

Onions - 2, chopped

Tomato - 1, cut

Capsicum - 1, chopped

Green chillies - 4

Salt for taste

Turmeric

Brown/white bread

Preparation method :

1. Add oil in a kadai/pan and fry onions till they turn slight brown.
2. Add cut tomato, green chillies & capsicum and fry well.
3. Add salt and turmeric powder and little water.
4. Cook for 1-2 min (do not over cook).
5. Spread this masala on the bread and cover with another slice of bread.
6. Leave it for an hour and when ready to eat, heat it in a microwave for 30 seconds.

Mutter Paneer

Ingredients :

1. Fried paneer
2. Boiled Peas - 100 gms
3. Onion - 2 nos
4. Ginger garlic paste - 1tsp
5. Tomato - 1 no
6. Garam masala - 1tsp
7. Cloves - 2 nos
8. Cashews - 3-4 nos
9. Grated coconut - 6-7Tbsp
10. Chilli powder
11. Turmeric powder
12. Salt
13. Oil for frying

Preparation method :

1. Grind the onions and keep aside.


2. Grind the tomatoes seperately with 3 cashews and coconut and keep aside.


3. Add oil in a kadai or pan and add the onion paste and the ginger garlic paste. Fry till the onion paste turns golden brown.Add the tomato, cashew and coconut paste now and fry a little.


4. Add cloves, boiled peas, chillie powder, garam masala, turmeric powder & salt and fry.


5. Once the water content in the mixture evaporates, add the fried paneer and water.


6. Cook for 7-8 minutes and Mutter paneer is ready.

Pal Payasam

Ingredients :

1. Milk - 2 cups
2. Semiya
3. Sugar - as reqd
4. Ghee - 3 Tsp
5. Cashews - 5-6 nos
6. Raisins - 5-6 nos
7. Saffron - a pinch

Preparation method :

1. Add a teaspoon full of ghee to a kadai and fry the semiya (do not deep fry)
2. Keep this aside and add the rest of the ghee and fry the cashews and raisins. Keep aside.
3. Pour the milk in a pan and once it comes to a boil add sugar.
4. Mix the sweetened milk and add a pinch of saffron.
5. Once the saffron turns the milk light yellow in colour, add the semiya, cashews and raisins.
6. Cook for 2 minutes and turn off the heat.
7. Serve hot or cold.

Curd/Thayir Vada

Ingredients :

1. Whole Black gram – 200 gm
2. Pepper - 20 nos
3. Asafoetida – A pinch
4. Grated coconut – 1 cup
5. Green chillies – 5 – 6 nos(finely chopped)
6. Dried red chillies - few
7. coriander leaves
8. curry leaves
9. Salt – As reqd
10. Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
11. Oil for deep frying vadas

Preparation method :

1) Wash the black gram well and soak it in water for about 1½ hrs.

2) Grind it to a thick paste.

3) Add salt, pepper and asafoetida and mix well.

4) Heat oil in a pan or a kadai.

5) Make vadas with a small hole in the middle and fry until golden brown.

6) Once the vadas are made, drop them in plain cold water for a minute.

7 ) Meanwhile, grind together grated coconut, green chillies and curry leaves into a thick fine paste.

8) Mix together the above paste with the curd along with salt.

9) Add seasoned mustard seeds, dry red chillies and curry leaves into it and mix well.

10) Remove the vadas from the plain water and drop them in the curd mixture.

13) Garnish with coriander leaves.

I would like to send this to Innovative-in-laws "Garnish the dish" event.

Rasmalai

Ingredients :

1. Whole Milk - 4-5 cups
2. Lemon juice - 1tsp
3. Sugar - 1 ¼ cup
4. A pinch of saffron
5. crushed cardamom seeds - ¼ tsp
6. blanched almonds - 3-4 tsp
7. crushed pistachios - 2 tbsp

Preparation method :

1. Boil 2 cups of whole milk to half the quantity and add lemon juice.

2. Mix it well and when it starts curdling, strain the granules using a muslin cloth and keep aside for an hour.

3. After an hour, crush the contents of muslin cloth, knead into a dough and make small balls as done in gulab jamoons.

4. Add the rest of the milk to a hot pan and boil till it gets into half its quantity.

5. Add the sugar and saffron to it. mix well.

6. Now add the milk balls into it and slowly keep stirring,making sure the balls do not break.

7. Once the milk thickens well, switch off the heat and decorate with almonds and pistachios.

8. Chill in refrigerator and serve.

Mango rice

Ingredients :

1. Rice - 2 cups(cooked adding salt while being cooked)
2. Grated coconut - 3 tbsp
3. Grated mango (raw) - ¾ cup
4. Ghee - 2 tbsp
5. Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
6. Dried red chilly – 2-3 nos
7. Green chillies(finely cut) - 3 nos
8. Curry leaves - 1 sprig
9. Salt - 1 tsp
10. Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
11. Cashewnuts - 12 nos(cut in small pieces)
12. chana dal - 1 tsp
13. urad dal - 1tsp

Preparation method :

1)Heat ghee in a large pan over medium heat.

2)Add mustard seeds, 2 red dried chillies broken into halves.

3)Add green chillies,chana dal and urad dal. Stir for few seconds.

4)Add curry leaves, a pinch of salt and a pinch of turmeric powder.

6)Add grated mango, coconut, fried cashews and raisins and cook till it becomes a thick paste.

7)Add rice to this thokku. Switch on the gas to low flame and slightly stir for another 3 minutes to mix all the ingredients well.

P S: This "thokku" can be frozen and used for next 1 month.

Kozhukattai

Ingredients :

1. Roasted rice flour – 2 cups
2. Boiled water - 1 1/2 cups or more
3. Salt - As reqd
4. Grated coconut - 1 cup
5. Jaggery – ½ cup or as reqd
6. Cardamom - 2 nos

Preparation method :

1)Boil about 2 cups of water in a vessel along with the reqd salt.

2)Mix together the roasted rice flour and the boiled water.

3)Knead them well to form a dough.

4)Add coconut, jaggery and cardamom in a mixer and blend well.

5)Coat your hand with extra flour to prevent sticking and Make 10 small balls off the above dough and flatten them.

6)Place a small quantity of the coconut mix in the middle of the flattened balls.

7)Seal the edges so as to form the shape of a ball.

8)Repeat the procedure for the remaining balls.

9)Steam these balls for 10 mins.

Uthappam

Ingredients :

1. Idli Batter - As reqd
2. Onion - 1 no
3. Carrot - 1 no
4. Coriander leaves - As reqd
5. Green Chillies - 2-3 nos
6. Oil - As reqd

Preparation method :

1)Cut onion and coriander leaves into small pieces and grate carrot.

2)Mix them well together.

3)Pour 1 tbsp of oil on a tava.

4)Pour 2 ladle of idli batter or idli mavu and spread a little ( do not spread it very thinly as in case of dosas).

5)Sprinkle chopped onion, carrot and coriander leaves.

6)Flip the side to cook the other side too.

7)When both the sides are cooked, remove from the tava and place it on a serving plate.

Carrot Halwa

Ingredients :

1. Carrots - 1 lb
2. Milk - 1 cup
3. Sugar - 1 cup
4. Ghee - 3 tsp
5. Cashew nuts - for garnishing
6. Raisins - for garnishing

Preparation Method :
1)Peel the carrots and grate them.
2)Soak the grated carrots in the milk and pressure cook.
3)Heat sugar and ghee in a non stick pan.
4)Add the pressure cooked carrots and milk. Stir well.
5)Keep the lid closed when the milk and ghee boil together.
6)When the halwa begins to thicken, remove from flame.
7)Garnish with cashews and raisins roasted in ghee.