Chilli Cheese Sandwich - Quick breakfast - Step by step

Chilli cheese sandwitch is my favourite breakfast. We used to have it with my friends at "Gangotree" restaurant @ T.nagar. Those are beautifull days, where we order different chaat items and chat till it crosses 8 or 9pm. Then, I will walk to my home @ Teynampet. Nostalgic.Those are the days, where I used to walk a lot. Yeah, it will be approximately 1 kilometre from "Gangotree" to my home.I will happily walk back, with the memories of my friends in my mind.But after coming to US, walking has decreased a lot, and hence the increased in weight :)  This breakfast or snack can be prepared within 10 minutes. The sharpness of the green chillies gives a unique taste to the sandwitch. I have used cheddar cheese, you can try it mozerella ,for its unique white colour.

 

Serves                         :     1
Preparation time       :      5 minutes
Cooking time             :       5 minutes

Ingredients:
1.Wheat bread slices           -          2
2.Green chillies                   -          2
3.Cheese                              -          3 tbsp.
4.Cilantro                            -           1 tbsp.
5.Butter                                -           1 tbsp.
6.Pepper pwdr                      -           a pinch

 

 

Method:
* Spread butter on both the sides of the bread slices. This way, when we grill, there will be beautifull brown layer on top of the bread.

* Take a small bowl, add shredded cheese , chopped chilli and cilantro. Knead them to make a paste.Cheese has its own sal , so just add some pepper powder.



* Spread the chilli and cheese mixture on top of a bread. Use a spoon and spread them evenly.

* Now place the other bread on top of the cheese spread.Press it firmly.

 

* Pre heat the grill and slightly grease the grill with oil. Place the sandwitch on the grill. Grill it for 2 to 3 minutes or until, it turns golden brown.

 

 

Cut the sandwitch and serve it with some ketchup!!!

Notes:

* This sandwitch can be made as a toast, by applying the cheese on one side and just grilling, without topping it with another bread.

* Adjust the number of chillies according to your taste.

* I have used cheddar cheese, you can use mozerella. I prefer cheddar, because of the low fat, it has.

* If you want, you can also use some chaat masala to the sandwitch. 

* We can also toast the bread on a tawa, if we don't have grill at home.

 

Hotel Tiffin Sambhar - டிபன் சாம்பார் - Step by step

    All south Indian hotels serve these sambhar as an accompaniment for idlies, dosas or pongal. The taste comes ,by grinding fresh spices . So I would recommend , to grind fresh spices for the sambhar. We can add any kind of veges. The secret of hotel sambhar is , they add little sweetness to the sambhar. Jaggery or sugar gives that magic touch. But don't add it more, then you would end up in sweet sambhar. I love this sambhar with anything. Kids will love too.

 

Ingredients:

1.Carrot                      -       1

2.Potato                      -        1

3.Beans                       -        5

4.Toor dal                   -        3/4 cup

5.Turmeric pwdr         -        1/4 tsp

6.Pearl onions             -         1 cup

7.Tomato                    -          1

8.Tamarind                 -          gooseberry size

9.Jaggery                    -          1 tbsp.

10.Salt                        -           to taste

11.Curry leaves          -           few

12.Cilantro                 -           few

13.Garlic                    -           1 or 2

14.Red chillies           -           2

 

To Roast and Grind:

1.Red chillies             -      6

2.Chana dal                -      1 bsp

3.Urad dal                  -       1 tbsp

4.Coriander seeds      -       2 tbsp

5.Cumin seeds           -       1 tsp

6.Methi seeds            -        1/2 tsp  

 

For tempering:

1.Oil                          -         1 tbsp.

2.Mustard seeds        -          1/4 tsp

3.Cumin seeds          -           1/4 tsp

4.Methi seeds           -            1/4 tsp

5.Hing                       -           a pinch

 

Method:

* Wash the vegetables. Cut the veges into length wise . Add enough water and cook the vegetables. Reserve the water cooked from the vegetables. We can use the water for the sambar.

 

* Take the ingredients for"to roast and grind" , in a pan. Roast the ingredients till golden brown. Cool the ingredients completely.

* Wash the toor dal . Take a pressure pan, add the washed toor dal, little oil, a pinch of hing,turmeric pwdr , garlic pods. Pressure cook the dal ,till it is mushy. When the dal is still hot, mash the dal using a ladle.

* Grind the roasted ingredients using a blender. Pulse it finely.

 

 



* Slice the pearl onions into two pieces, chop the tomato finely.Take a pan, add oil, splutter with mustard seeds, cumin seeds, methi seeds and hing.

 

* Add the sliced onion and curry leaves.Sprinkle some salt and sauté the onion, till it turns translucent.Add turmeric powder and mix it. 



 

* Add the tomato pieces and sauté it ,till it turns mushy. Sprinkle salt to the tomato. This will speed up the cooking process.

* Add water to the tamarind and extract the pulp from it. Add the tamarind extract to the pan and boil it.

* Add the cooked veges with the water. Mix it well and let the vegetables get mixed  .

* Add the roasted and grinded masala into the sambar.

* Now dump in the cooked dal into the pan. Bring it to boil.

* Now adjust salt to taste. Add the powdered jiggery to the sambar.

* At last ,add some curry leaves, chopped cilantro and red chillies. Cover the pan and let it get cooked in sim for atleast 10 minutes.

 

At last turn off the stove .Serve the sambar with hot idlies, dosas or pongal.!!! 

 

 

Notes:

* We can add whaterver vegetables ,we want.

* We can also try making sambar with moong dal. But toor dal works fine for me.

* Instead of  jiggery, we can also add some sugar.

* The amount of masala given can be altered according to our taste. If we want, we can also add some sambar powder to the sambar.

* Don't add so much tamarind pulp, then the sambar will taste sour.

* Adding red chillies at the end gives out nice aroma to the sambhar.

 

Linking this to "Tamizhar Samayal Tuesday" hosted by "Nalini Suresh".

 

 

Vegetable stew - Best accompaniment for idiyappam - Step by step

   January month is a quite busy month for me. As my two kids have their birthdays this month, along with pongal . Yes started planning for my son's birthday. That's the reason, I was away from blogging for quite few days. Today, I cannot go without posting anything in my blog. This post was in my draft for quite long. So posting it .

   This is a traditional dish of "Kerala".This stew goes very well with idiyappam or chapathi. It has a mild flavor and spices.The texture is very much important for this dish. Thick coconut milk gives the beautifull texture. So for a day , forget all your diet and indulge in this stew for your heavenly comfort. This is one of the comfort foods, that will brighten your days. I prepared idiyappam for the stew. You can check the recipe for making sofr idiyappams here.

 

Serves                  :   2
Preparation time  : 10 mins
Cooking time       : 25 mins

Ingredients:
1.Onion              -      1/2 ( sliced)
2.Green chillies -       2 (slit)
3.Carrot              -      1
4.Beans               -      4
5.Peas                 -       1/2 cup
6.Potato              -        1
7.Coconut           -        1 cup
8.Corn flour        -        1 tsp
9.Water               -         as needed
10.Salt                 -         as required

For tempering:
1,Oil                   -          1 tbsp.
2.Fennel seeds    -          1 tsp
3.Curry leaves     -          few



Method:
* Cut the carrot and beans finely. I like them to be very small. Peel the potato and chop it finely. Take a pan, add the cut vegetables and add enough water to the pan.  Cook the veges ,till they are 80 % done. Turn off the stove . Don't discard the water. Reserve it for the stew.


* Take another pan, add oil and temper with fennel seeds and curry leaves. We can also add whole garam masalas at this point. But I don't prefer to use lot of masala. Now add the sliced onion and slit green chillies. Sprinkle some salt ,for the onion to cook fast. Saute the onion till it is translucent. Don't brown the onion.

* We can also add few pieces of tomato, but take care not to over cook them , then the colour of the stew will change. If you want to have the stew ,in pure white colour, then don't add tomato.Now dump the cooked vegetables with their water to the pan.

* Take the coconut in a blender and grind it finely, adding little water. Now pour hot water to the coconut paste and take out a thick milk out of it using  a strainer .This is our first milk. Keep it aside. Now grind the residue of the coconut again in the blender and pour hot water to the coconut and take out the milk from it using a stainer. This is our second milk. Now repeat the process, until the coconut becomes dry. Mix all the other stage milk, except for the first coconut milk. Now pour the second milk to the pan and bring it to boil.

* Adjust salt to the stew. Now mix the corn flour, with little water and make it a fine mixture, without any lumps. Add the corn flour mixture to the stew. This will thicken the stew to some extent.

* When the corn flour is cooked, turn off the stove and pour the first coconut milk to the stew. This will prevent the milk from curdling. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve with hot chapathi or idiyappam.

Notes:
* Don't add too much corn flour, then the stew will be too thick.
* Add the amount of green chillies according to your taste.
* The potato, has to be cooked immediately, after cutting. If not it will change colour, then the stew will not have that beautifull white colour.
* Don't discard the cooked water, it has the nutrients from the veges.
* Don't brown the onion, as it may change the colour of the stew.
* The first coconut milk will curdle, if we add it , when the stove is on.

 

 

 

Kesar Badam Kulfi - Quick and easy dessert - பாதாம் குல்ஃபி - Step by step

    Wishing all my friends a "Happy New Year". Let this year fulfill all your dreams and hopes. Last year was a wonderfull year for me. It was full of surprises , happiness and trials. Hope to have a superb 2014.This year, visited India after 3 years. This was the biggest happiness of all. Yes, nothing can be more ,than visiting our blood relations. Hope to have a very successful 2014 towards my career.

    Enjoy this simple dessert for this new year. This kulfi can be prepared in no time, with minimal ingredients. I have adapted the recipe from " Manjula's Kitchen". It tasted so rich and yummy , and it resembled the kulfis as we get  in our country.   This dessert can be prepared ,way ahead of time.When I prepared this humble kulfi for our guests , they were amazed with its taste.

 

Ingredients:

1.Whole milk               -          4 cups

2.Bread slice                -           1

3.Corn flour                 -            1 tsp

4.Sugar                         -           1/4 cup or as required

5.Almonds                   -            1/2 cup (chopped)

6.Saffron                      -            a pinch

7.Cardamom pwdr       -            a pinch  

 

Method:

* Take half cup of milk separately. Trim the edges of the bread and cut into cubes. Take a blender, add bread slices, corn flour and half cup of whole milk . Blend them well.

 

* After the bread is grinded ,it will reach this consistency. Keep it ready. This mixture ,helps the kulfi to retain its smooth texture. If not it will be like ice cube.

* Take a heavy bottomed pan, add the remaining 3 1/2 cups of milk. I have used my pressure pan to heat the milk. Bring the milk to boil . After it comes to rolling boil, bring the flame to medium low. Let it get cooked in low heat for 12 minutes. Don't stop mixing the milk, if not it will be burnt at the bottom.

* Mean while ,take a small cup ,add saffron strands and add a tbsp. of boiled milk. This way, saffron gives out beautiful colour. Let it get soaked for atleast 10 minutes.

*After 12 minutes, milk would have reached this consistency. It would have reduced to 2 I/2 cups. This way , milk attains creamy texture.

* Now slowly, add the grinded mixture into the milk. From now on, we should not leave our hands ,from mixing. Because, corn flour has the tendency to stay down. Cook for more 4 minutes.

* After , 4 minutes, corn flour would have cooked with the milk. Now add sugar .We can check the sugar and alter it according to our taste. I have added 6 tbsp. of sugar to the milk.



*Now add the chopped almonds to the milk mixture. We can also, add pistachios or any other nuts.

*Now saffron would have infused into the milk. Slowly add the saffron milk to the mixture.Cook for another 2 minutes, untill everything is blended well.

*Take a popsicle mould or paper cups or stainless steel glasses. Divide the mixture in these glasses. Cover the glasses with aluminum foil , in a way that it touches the surface of the milk. If not the kulfi will have crystalised layer.

*Insert ice cream sticks or popsicle sticks into the aluminium foil.Freeze the kulifs for atleast 6 hours or overnight. While serving, just take out the glasses , My guests enjoyed the kulfi well. It had the same taste,which we get in India.So simple and elegant dessert to please our guests.

Notes: 

* Always use whole milk for a good kulfi.
* We can also replace almonds with pistachios.
* Never leave the boiling milk unattended,if not it will be burnt and will have bitter taste.
* Instead of using popsicle moulds, we can also use a single bowl and freeze it. So we can cut like cake slices for the guests.