Killu Vadam - Fryums made using leftover rice - Step by step

      Killu vadam or killu vathal is made using left over rice. The name comes after the dough is pinched (Killu) and then dried . My great grand mother, would grind the left over rice with green chillies or red chillies in the stone grinder.We can also use chilli powder.And dry it under the sun. We would be sitting and watching for crows. Since the rice is cooked the day before, it has a unique taste, which cannot be got from the store bought ones. Our days during holidays were so happy ,with these vadam making process. The vadams has to be dried completely, to have a longer shelf life.Here in Charlotte, the sun light is good, but it has occasional rains too. So I was preparing everything in the midst of this not trustwprthy weather.So what are you waiting for, prepare this yummy fryums .

Soaking Time : 2 hrs

Preparation time : 20 mins

Drying time : 3 days

Yield : about 2 cups of vadam

Ingredients:

1.Cooked Rice - 2 cups

2.Green Chillies - 6 green chillies or more

3.Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp

4.Pearl onion - 1 cup ( chopped)

5.Salt - to taste

6.Water - to soak the rice

Method:

* Take the cooked rice in a bowl and soak it in water for atleast 2 hrs.This will increase the volume of the rice. So this step is very essential . If we have left over rice we can also soak it overnight. I cooked the rice fresh  and soaked it in water. But traditionally it is prepared using left over rice.  * Strain the rice well and add it to the blender. Throw the green chillies, and grind them well. I have used green chillies for the spice, but you can use red chillies or even chilli powder.  * Chop the pearl onion ,cumin seeds and salt to the bowl . Mix all the ingredients well. Adjust the salt according to your taste.  * Now take a plastic bag and spread it on a table. Start dividing the mixture and place the vadam in equal interval. Place some weights on all the corners. This is Day - 1. We can also keep the vadam on a dhothi or cotton saree, but it will take much time to dry ,compared to the plastic. In the evening brin the vadam inside and let it dry under a fan.  Day - 2: * Now again place the vadam under hot scorching sun. Now the vadam would have dried 40 % . Again in the evening, bring the vadam inside and dry it under the fan.  Day - 3  * On day -3 , the vadam would have shrink . So we can transfer them to plates and start drying them. At the end of the evening, the vadam would have dried completely. At my place, the sun is not that scorching, so it took me around 3 days. But if your place is so hot and humid, then it will dry quickly. * Once the vadams are dried completely, then store them in air tight container . If the vadam  is dried properly, it will stay fresh for years.If not it may go stale.When your vadams are ready, heat a pan of oil . * Fry the vadams in medium hot oil. don;t fry them in very hot oil. Because, the vadams may not cook completely.Strain the vadams and serve.

Notes:
* Instead of green chillies, we can use red chillies or chilli powder, but the colour of the vadam will change.
* Adding onion, will make the vadam to dry late, if you want you can skip the onion to dry the vadam quickly.
* If the vadams are not dried well, then they may go stale.
* Adjust the spice level according to your taste.
* Since ,we are adding green chillies, it may change the colour of the vadam. But while frying it will be golden brown.

Linking this to "Friendship 5 Series ", started by "Savitha Ramesh" and "Geetha Achal"

Eggless Strawberry Ice Cream - 5 ingredients Ice Cream - Step by Step

Who doesn't like ice creams ? Every one does. What if we prepare it at home, with healthy option ? Yes it will be very good. For the day 2 of "Summer Special " series, I prepared strawberry ice cream. Strawberry is in season now. So I bought s box of strawberry and prepared this ice cream. This is a no cook method and one bowl method too. This can be prepared in no time. Just with the available ingredients,we can create magic. The ice cream tasted very good, after 2 nd and 3 rd day. Too good to serve for our kids. Rohith was praising me for this treat. Any one can prepare this easy ice cream.Prepare this simple ice cream and send me a picture.:)

Check my Mango ice cream recipe here 

Preparation Time : 20 mins
Freezing time : 12 hours
Yield : 3 cups ( approx)

Ingredients:
1.Whipping Cream - 1 cup
2.Whole milk - 1 cup
3.Sugar - 1/2 cup
4.Strawberries - 10
5.Lemon juice - 1 tsp

Method:

* Wash and hull the strawberries.I have used fresh strawberries, as it is very necessary for a tasty ice cream. I have used about 1 lb ( 450 gm) of strawberries. * Chop the strawberries finely and add it to the bowl. Add sugar and lemon juice to the strawberries. Keep it aside for 5 mins. The amount of sugar depends on how sweet is the strawberry. So adjust it accordingly. The lemon juice will balance the sweetness,so don't skip it. * The strawberries would have released the juices.Mix it well.so that the sugar melts with the strawberry juice. * Reserve some strwaberry pieces and transfer it to a blender. Now pour the whole milk and whipping cream to the blender .I didn't have 2 cups whipping cream,so I replaced 1 cup of whipping cream with 1 cup of whole milk. The more whipping cream, you use, the creamier the ice cream will be. But still, there's no offence in using whole milk. * Now grind the mixture and pour it into a glass bowl. Sprinkle the reserved strawberry pieces to the bowl.Its completely optional to sprinkle some reserved strawberry pieces. If you don't like chunky ice cream, then blend all the pieces. *Cover the bowl with a lid. Freeze the strawberry mixture in the freezer for atleast 2 hours. * After 2 hours, take the ice cream out  .The ice cream would have almost set, but there will be icicles on it. We are going to break the ice. So we are going to churn the ice cream. * Whisk the ice cream well and return to the freezer. Again, churn the ice cream again for every 2 hours. I churned the ice cream for 4 times ,every 2 hours.                                                                 Serve the ice cream for your guests. The ice cream doesn't have any preservative, so try to finish it off asap. Mine got over within a week.

Notes:
* Adjust the amount of sugar according to your sweetness of the strawberries.
* We can also use all whipping cream ,instead of whole milk.
* Adding strawberry chunks is purely optional.
* The acid from lemon juice balances the sweetness.
* We can replace strawberry with any fruit.
* Instead of whipping cream, we can use coconut cream too.
* Aluminium tins will freeze fast. Since I didn't had aluminium, didn't use it.

Linking this to "Friendship 5 Series ", started by "Savitha Ramesh" and "Geetha Achal"

Tomato Pickle - தக்காளி ஊறுகாய்- Summer special - Step by step

          Tomato pickle is my favourite among others. My mom used to prepare this in batches always. During March and April, my mom will gear to preapare vadagam,vathal and pickles. These condiments will last for a year and again, when its all over, she will prepare it again for the next year.This is our tradition for almost 3 decades.During our schooling, we used to sit in the terrace and guard these thing from crows.Fond memories. When my sister and I got married, she used to prepare more and send it to us.So whenever I go to India for vacation, I would pack everything and bring it here. This year,since we have moved to sunny state, I wanted to try my hands in preparing my favourite pickle. Noted all the points my mom gave and prepared this wonerfull pickle. This pickle tastes great, a day after it is prepared. 

Chekc my Travel time Tomato thokku recipe here

Preparation Time : 32 hours
Cooking time : 30 mins
Yield: 500 gm (approx)

Ingredients:
For drying:
1.Tomatoes - 9 ( About 2 lbs)
2. Tamarind - goose berry size
3.Salt - 1 tsp

To temper:
1.Methi seeds - 1 tsp
2.Hing - a fat pinch
3.Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
4.Sesame oil - 1/2 cup
5.Red chillies - 20
6.Salt - to taste
7.Garlic pods - 20

Method:

* Try to use juicy tomtoes for the pickle.I used these juicy tomatoes.Wash and pat dry the tomatoes. Remove the stems and keep them ready. * Cube the tomatoes using your knife.The cubes can be big or small.  * Take the cubed tomatoes in a mixing bowl, add tamarind and salt. Shake them well . Cover the bowl with a muslin cloth and keep it in the sun ,during day time. At night, keep it inside . By the end of the day, tomatoes would have started releasing its juices. * On day - 2. we are going to strain the tomatoes and tamarind from its juices and arrange them on a clean plate. Place the tomatoes under the sun. We are going to de hydrate the tomatoes. This will increase the shelf life of this pickle. * When the tomatoes are sin dried, keep the red chillies uner the sun too. This will make the red chillies crisp and will make the red chillies into fine powder ,while grinding. * On the evening of day 2 , the tomatoes would have de- hydrated and ready for making pickle. Lets start making the powder for the pickle. Dry roast methi seeds to golen brown. Turn off the heat and add hing to the pan. The heat is enough for the hing to get roasted. Let it cool. * Take the sun ried red chillies,dry roasted methi seeds and hing in a blender and make it into a fine powder. This is the only spice powder,we are going to add it to the pickle. So alter the amount of red chilles accoring to your taste. * Now take the sun dried tomatoes,tamarind and grind it into a fine paste. (My mom would also add some ginger and garlic to the tomatoes and grind. This will give a good flavour to the pickle. But I have skipped it. Also, my mom, will not marinate the tomatoes with tamarind. She will just pulse the tamarind with the tomatoes.)  * Grind the tomatoes to fine paste. There should not be any lumps. Now mix the grinded puree and the tomatoe juices together. Keep them ready to be cooked. * Now lets start making the pickle. Take a heavy bottomed pan. Add oil .Let it get heated. We need more oil ,as it acts as a reservative. * Temper with mustard seeds. The mustard seeds should be lot ,which will give good flavour to the pickle. Now throw  the peeled garlic pods to the oil. The garlic should be small in size. Bigger garlic pods will not give flaour to the pickle. Saute the garlic pods well. * Now add the grinded tomato puree to the pan and mix. Start mixing the tomato puree well. Cook the puree in medium flame. Because the tomato puree will start splashing . * Once the tomatoes are loosing their moisture, add the powdered pickle masala to the pan. Start mixing again. Now check for the spice level. If you want more spice, then just add plain chilli powder ,because we cannot go and dry the red chillies again. ( My mom always asks me to sun dry more red chillies, than needed. so when we want to make the pickle spicier, just grind the extra red chillies in the blender). * The mixture will start oozing out oil and the pickle will gather like a mass. This is the right consistancy for the pickle.Now adjust salt to taste.Turn off the flame and cool the pickle.  * Before starting the pickling process, sterilize a glass jar with hot water and dry it completely under sun.This step is essential for the pickle to stay fresh. Once the pickle is cooled completely, transfer it to the glass jar and store. The pickle will stay fresh on the kitchen counter for a week. If you have very bad humidity in your house, then refrigerate the pickle. Serve the pickle with rotis,idli,dosai or even curd rice. My pickle got over within a week.

Notes:
* Pat dry the tomatoes ,if not it will reduce the shelf life of the pickle.
* We have not used turmeric powder, the colour of the pickle is from the tomatoes.
* We can also grind some garlic and ginger long with tomatoe mixture for a good flavour.
* Instead of marinating the tomatoes with tamarind,we can also grind the tamarind directly along with tomatoes.
* Already the tomatoes are sour so add tamarind according to it. If not the pickle will become too sour.
* If your pickle masala is less spicy, then we can add plain red chilli powder .

Linking this to "Friendship 5 Series ", started by "Savitha Ramesh" and "Geetha Achal"

Creamy Corn Soup - Step by step

       Soups and salads ,has become part of my family now a days.Whenever, I run out of ideas, soups come handy.It has less calories compared to other greasy food. The key ingredient is broth. Never try to prepare soup without broth. The soup will not taste good,without broth.Yesterday, I prepared this soup along with some moist grilled chicken. It went very well.We can also add some chopped carrots,beans and peas. Add the corn flour accoring to the consistancy you want.Adjust the spice level according to your taste.I have still more soups in the to do list. Egg drop soup ,is one among them. Will try to psot it next week.

Check the other soup recipes here 

* Tomato Soup 

* Chicken Soup

* Broccoli Soup

* Cauliflower Soup

* Creamy Chicken Soup

Preparation time : 5 mins
Cooking time : 10 mins
Serves : 4

Ingredients:
1.Sweet Corn - 1 cup
2.Ginger - 2 tbsp ( finely chopped)
3.Garlic - 2 tbsp ( finely chopped)
4.Spring onions - hand full (chopped)
5.Chicken / Vegetable broth - 2 cups
6.Water - 1 cup
7.Pepper power - to taste
8.Corn flour - 1 tsp
9.Salt - to taste
10.Sesame oil - 1 tsp

Method:

* Take all the ingredients for soup. We can either use chicken broth or vegetable broth. Even you can make the broth at home. Just throw some cilantro stems,carrot,onion,pepper corns,garlic to a cooker and add water. Pressure cook for atleast 3 whistles. Strain the water and use.Chop the white part of the spring onion and keep it separately. * Take a pan, add oil and saute chopped ginger and garlic pods. When it is sautee, add the white part of the spring onion and stir.  * Now pour the chicken broth and bring it to boil. Since I had less broth I used water.  *If you want, you can skip water completely and use broth alone. Broth will give good taste to the soup. * Now ad the sweet corn and cook. The sweet corn will cook within 3 minutes. * Remove 3/4 of the corn and belnd it in a blender. Give it a mix. The mixture should be fine. * Pass the grinded corn through a sieve. This will make sure that the soup has a smooth texture. *Take corn flour in a cup and mix it with water. Now pour the corn starch mixture to the soup and mix. If you think, that your soup is thin,add more corn flour mixture to the soup.If it becomes thick, add some more broth to make it thin. * Adjust salt and pepper powder to your taste.At last garnish with choppe spring onions. Serve the soup hot with some garlic toast!!!

Notes:

* Always use broth to make any soup. It gives unique taste to the soup.

* Use amount of corn flour accoring to your wish.

* We can also use little carrots, beans and peas to the soup. They have to be chopped finely.

*While blending the corn, make sure it grins finely.

* We can also add milk or heavy cream at the end to give a creamy texture.