Mango Sambhar in South Indian Thaali

          Mango Sambhar is flavourfull combo for rice.I love this vege ,more than any other in the world. Don'no why,may be because of its flavour and taste . This taste has been inherited by Rohith and he loves this sambhar a lot. Today I prepared mango sambhar and wanted to post the recipe,as one of my reader was asking me to post it for a long time. Suddenly ,I thought,why can't we prepare a thaali out of it. Its been ages ,where we had thaali in Chennai.We always enjoy that in Saravana Bhavan. This thought was there in my mind so long.Today I wanted to do it . So Grabbed all the dishes and arranged into a thaali.
           My South Indian Thaali had Veg cutlet,Phulka,Tomato thokku,Mango Sambhar,Ladies fingure pepper fry,Garlic Rasam,Rava Ladoo,Fryums,Paruppu podi,Rice ,Ghee and curd. I closed H's eyes and showed the thaali to him. My H was totally impressed with the thaali presentation.Rohith got excited and started mixing curd,sambhar ,ladies fingure . The best part is ,he started eating it immediately. The next day,while going to school,Rohith said "Amma mango sambhar was delicious and I want that variety food today also". Felt very happy and I would say,this is my happiness. This can never be replaced by anything in the World. Will post the recipe for Rava Ladoo,Vegetable cutlet,tomato thokku and phulka soon.

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Rava Ladoo,Veg Cutlet,Phulka,tomato thokku,Mango Sambhar,
Ladies fingure pepper fry,Garlic rasam,Paruppu podi,ghee,rice,curd and fryums.



Ingredients:

1.Raw Mango                   -          1( cubed)

2.Toor dal                         -          1/2 cup

3.Onion                             -          1/2 (chopped)

4.Tomato                           -          1 (chopped)

5.Garlic pods                     -           2 - 3 pods

6.Chilli pwdr                      -           1 tbsp

7.Turmeric pwdr                -           1/4 tsp

8.Tamarind extract             -           1/4 cup

9.Salt                                 -           to taste

              

For tempering:

1.Mustard seeds                -            1/4 tsp

2.Cumin seeds                   -             1/4 tsp

3.Methi seed                      -             1/4 tsp

4.Oil                                   -             2 tbsp

For garnishing:

1.Curry leaves                    -             a handfull

2.Cilantro                           -             a hand full

3.Red chillies                      -             2 to 3

Method:

* Pressure cook the toor dal ,till soft.

* Take a pan,add oil ,splutter with mustard seeds,cumin seeds ,curry leaves and methi seeds.

* Dump in the onion , sprinkle salt  and fry till it turns transulent.

* Now add the chopped tomato and again sprinkle salt to make it cook fast.

* Cover the pan and cook the tomatoes till it becomes mushy.

* Now add the mango pieces and cook till the mango gets half cooked.

* Add the turmeric pwdr and chilli pwdr .Turn the stove to sim ,let the masala looses its raw smell.

* Pour the tamarind extract and bring it to boil.

* Mix the dal with a laddle,so that it gets mushy.Dont use blender,if not the sambhar will not taste good.

* Bring sambhar to boil and chk the mango.

* When the mango is cooked completely,turn off the stove and garnish with curry leaves ,cilantro and red chillies.Keep the pan on the stove covered for dhum.

* Serve it with rice and pappad.

Stuffed eggplant fry / Gutti Venkaya Koora / Kathirikkai varuval

Eggplants are my H's favourite.Whenever he goes for grocery shopping,picks the eggplants immediately.He would live with eggplants all seven days.So this time also I got a bag of 2 lbs eggplants from him. Bored of preparing it the usual sambar,kaara kuzhambu,stir fry,gothsu.This time I wanted to prepare the stuffed fry.So grinded cumin,coriander and peanuts.Stuffed them into the eggplants and fried.The outcome was scrumptious and lipsmacking .We thoroughly enjoyed it.The magical addition of cumin and coriander transferred  the fry from good to awsome.This fry can be had with any rice.My choice would be curd rice.Nothing to say more,over to the post.

For grinding:

1.Peanuts                     -     2 tbsp

2.Coriander seeds        -     1 tbsp

3.Cumin seeds              -     1/2 tbsp

4.Onion                        -     1/2 (chopped)

For thr fry:

1.Purple eggplants         -    7

2.Turmeric pwdr            -    1/4 tsp

3.Chilli pwdr                  -    1 tbsp

4.Oil                              -    2 tbsp

5.Mustard seeds             -   1/2 tsp

6.Urad dal                      -   1/2 tsp

7.Salt                              -    as required

8.Curry leaves                 -    handfull

1.Fried peanut,coriander and cumin seeds 2.Grinding with onion
3.Sauting 4.Frying with the grinded mixture.

Method:

* Wash and pat dry the egg plants.

*  Make 4 slits to each eggplant,but dont cut them fully.

* Take a pan , dry roast the peanuts,coriander seeds and cumin seeds.

* Cool them and grind with onion.

* Now add turmeric pwdr, chilli pwdr and little salt, to the grinded paste and mix well

* Stuff the eggplants with the 3/4 of the masala.

* In the same pan,add oil splutter with mustard seeds and urad dal.

* Now add the stuffed eggplants and fry them by covering it.

* When the eggplant is partially cooked,add the remaining masala and fry.

* Cook the eggplants in low flame ,by covering it.

* Sprinkle salt and cook it.

* Serve with rice and pappad.

Spicy brinjal fry !!!

Lemonade / Lemon juice / Neembu Paani

Lemonade or Lemon juice is a thirst quenching drink for summer.Its  a very simple drink,that no one can resist from drinking after a long summer day.To  make our body hydrate ,water is a must . This drink hydrates our body and  totally energises it.We used to prepare it in a lot and refrigerate it in bottles.So whenever we feel like having ,just empty the bottle :) This is also a best  drink for outdoor parties.Just chill out with this drink.

Ingredients:
1.Lemon        -     2
2.Sugar          -     4 tbsp
3.Salt             -     a pinch
4.Honey         -     1 tbsp
5.Mint for garnishing

Method:
* Trim the edges of the lemon.
* Squeeze out the juice and pour it to the blender.
* Add salt,sugar , honey and ice cubes to the blender .
* Give it a blend .
* Pour it in a jar and refrigerate it.
* Serve chilled.

Tiramisu - An Italian layered cake made easy - A detailed post with complete pictures

          Tiramisu is a heavenly Italian layered cake. I got to know about this cake ,thru my friend Sho ,who used to tell about the cake often. That made me to try this cake at " Carinos " restaurant last year. I was totally lost in its taste. When I was searching for  a cake recipe for My H's b day,this cake caught my eyes. The process was very easy ,with little steps. So wanted to try this recipe from "show me the curry" video.The original recipe called in for lady fingure,which I was not able to find .So used the white sponge cake as the base. We can either buy a cake mix and use it.Or we can just prepare a basic vanilla cake and use it as a base.But if you were able to get the lady fingure,then just immerse it in the coffee and arrange it as a base .The coffee flavour was tremendous and the silky cream gave a fabulous touch to the cake .Usually rum is added with coffee for a royal touch,but I have omitted that .H was completely satisfied with the cake and I was happy too.When I took it to the party,the bowl was emptied  pretty soon.Tiramisu made my day,we had a blast .

Ingredients:

For Tiramisu :
1.Cream cheese                          -         8 oz
2.Whipped cream                       -          1 1/2 cup
3.Egg  yolks                                -          3
4.Sponge cake                            -          1 square
5.Sugar                                       -           6 tbsp
6.Strong coffee                           -           1 cup
7.Unsweetened Cocoa powder   -          2 to 3 tbsp

For the sponge cake:
1.Pillsburry white cake mix     -       1/2 packet
2.Egg whites                          -       2
3.Oil                                      -       1/4 cup
4.Water                                 -       3/4 cup
5.Butter                                 -       1 tsp (for greasing)
6.All purpose flour                 -       2 tbsp (for dusting)

Whipped cream,cream cheese,eggs,sugar,coffee,sponge cake.

 Method:
For preparing sponge cake:
The original recipe called for lady fingure.Since I was not able to find that,used the alternative white sponge cake.It was a super duper hit.You can also make the sponge cake from the scratch and the recipe is here ,basic vanilla cake .Take half the measurements for preparing the cake as we need a thin layer only.I was too busy to do it from the scratch.So used store bought mix as it was so easy.I bought pillsburry white cake mix and followed the procedure to bake the cake.You can buy any cake mix and follow the procedure in the box.
   * Preheat the oven to 350 degree F .
   * Grease a square pan with butter and flour it with a all purpose flour.
   * Separate the egg yolks from the white .Keep the yolks, for the cream topping ..
   * Take a mixing bowl,add egg whites,oil and water.
   * Beat it really well,untill it forms a frothy mix.

1.Cake Mix   2. Baked white cake

* Measure the cake mix and take half of it.
* Add the cake mix into the mixing bowl and gently fold in.
* Pour the mixture into the greased cake pan and tap it to spread evenly.
* Bake the cake for 25 to 30 mins or untill tooth pick comes out clean.
* Cool the cake completely on a wire rack.

Preparing strong coffee:
* Take 1 1/2 cups of water and bring it to boil.
* Now the water should be reduced to 1 cup.
* Add instant coffee to the water,leave it for 1/2 a minute and cover it.I have used bru coffee,but you can use any instant coffee powder.
* Turn off the stove and cool completely.

 Method for the cream topping:
* Take a mixing bowl ,add cream cheese and 3 tbsp sugar.Mix it using a hand blender well,till the sugar gets dissolved into the cheese.
* We have the remaining egg yolks ,after preparing the white sponge cake.Take a bowl and mix the yolks with 3 tbsp of sugar.Mix it real good ,till the sugar is dissolved in the egg yolk.

     

1.Mixing cream cheese and sugar  2.Mixing egg yolk & sugar in double boiler
3.Mixing the egg in the mix 4.Dumping in the whipped cream

* Now we are going to cook the egg yolk in double boiler method.Take a pan of water and bring it to rolling boil. Now place the egg yolk bowl on top of the boiling water ,so that the bowl touches the hot water and whisk the egg yolks well.Dont stop mixing ,if not the egg yolk will  scramble .
* Whisk the egg yolk for a minute or untill the dark yellow colour of the yolk  becomes pale yellow.
* Pour the egg yolk immediately into the cream cheese and mix it as shown in the picture.
* Pour 2 1/2 tbsp of coffee into the bowl and mix it.
* Now dump in the whipped cream into the bowl and mix it .
* Mix well.so that all the ingredients are blend together.

Layering the Tiramisu:
* Take a serving dish with a lid.
* Cut the sponge cake into two halves horizontally.
* Place one half inside the dish.
* Take a kitchen brush ,dip in the coffee and smudge the cake completely as shown in the pic.But dont pour the coffee,there are chances for the cake to disintergrate.
* Scoop the cream topping and spread it evenly on the cake as in pic.Save some cream topping for garnishing the tiramisu.

1.Smudging coffee on cake  2. Applying cream mixture
3.Spraying cocoa powder 4. The final outcome

* Take a tea strainer and sprinkle the unsweetened cocoa powder evenly on top of the cream layer.
* Now repeat the layering process ,by keeping the other half of sponge cake,spreading the cream  and sprinkling the unsweetend cocoa powder.
* Close the lid tightly and refrigerate for minimum 8 hours or overnight.

Serving suggestions:
* While serving ,cut the cake carefully , with a knife .
* Scoop the saved cream topping and place it on the cake.
* Top it with brown chocolate and sprinkle some powdered sugar.
* Dig into the heavenly Tiramisu and enjoy your day.

Heavenly tiramisu

Chef's Note:
* Care should be taken ,when we mix the egg yolk .in the double boiler,as there are chances for the egg to  scramble.
* I felt that the cream topping had more whipped cream,so we can reduce the whipped cream to 11/4 cup.
* We can also use mascrapone  cheese instead of cream cheese.But mascrapone is difficult to find.
* We can also add rum to the strong coffee and smudge the cake.It will give an extra flavour to the cake.
* Sprinkling bournvita instead of cocoa powder is a superb alternative.
* Once the cake is refrigerated,then dont disturb the cake.Because,any changes like sprinkling of additional cocoa powder will not work,after the cake is set.

Mango Pachadi / Mamidikaya Pachadi / Mango Relish

       Mango and summer has lot of connections.We used to go to our friend's village ,in our child hood days for our vacations.There will be lot of mango trees ,just behind the farm house. Where we can  grab the mangoes ,without climbing the trees. Freshly picked mangoes ,were brought to the shed laid outside for cooking.The maids will prepare lot of dishes out of it. Like mango chutney,mango pickle,mango rice. One important dish will be this mango pachadi.We used to wander around the village and visit all the farms.After physically burning our calories,the lunch will be divine for us.The lunch will surely include this pachadi.After our lunch we will run to see the milk man milking the cows.The fresh milk will then be poured into the filter coffee, yes it is poured directly into the dication,without heating.That coffee will never have any competiter at all.Unforgettable days.I was just carried away with my memories.
    Coming back to the post ,mango pachadi or mango relish is a tangy side dish for rice.Though there are several varieties, in preparing,this is very simple and easy preparation.Mom used to do this often during summer,where we get mangoes a lot in chennai.My MIL will prepare it slightly different.Will post the recipe soon.Untill then enjoy this pachadi with curd rice.

Ingredients:
1.Mango               -  1 cup (cubed)
2.Jaggery               -  1/2 cup
3.Oil                      -  2 tbsp
4. Mustard seeds   -   1/4 tsp
5.Urad  dal            -   1/4 tsp
6.Red chillies          -   4
7.Curry leaves        -   few

Method:
* Powder the jaggery well.
* Wash and pat dry the mango.
* Peel the skin and cut the mango into cubes.
* Take a pan ,add oil ,temper with mustard seeds,urad dal ,red chillies and curry leaves.
* When the red chillies and urad dal turn golden brown,add the mango.
* Stir in the mango ,cover and cook till it becomes tender.
* Sprinkle salt .
* When the mango is cooked,dump in the powdered jaggery.
* Mix well,stir well to melt the jaggery.
* Serve with any rice.

Kodi Vepudu / Andhra Chicken fry / Kozhi Varuval

Kodi vepudu is a spicy andhra chicken fry. Kodi means chicken,vepudu means fry,this is the meaning for this name. I came to taste this dish from a Indian restaurant,next to my apartment. H and me became a very big fan for this dish from that day on. Whenever we feel like having spicy food,then we go for this fry. When  I was carrying Ashwath,this is my ultimate food for my spicy cravings. Being inspired by its taste, I wanted to prepare this at home. It came out very well. This is a very spicy fry, so be cautious while feeding it to the kids. This fry goes very well with sambar rice or rasam.

Caution : The content in this post are very spicy .There are chances for your tongue to get twisted :)

Ingredients:
For marination :
1.Boneless chicken       - 500 gm
2.Red onion                  - 1/2
3.Ginger garlic paste      - 1 tsp
4.Chilli pwdr                  - 1 tsp
5.Kashmiri chilli pwdr     - 1/2 tsp
6.Turmeric pwdr             - 1/4 tsp
7.Garam masala pwdr     - 1/4 tsp (optional)
8.Lemon juice                 - 1 tbsp

For frying:
1.Red onion                  - 1
2.Green chillies              - 5
3.Curry leaves                - a handfull
4.Mustard seeds             - 1/2 tsp
5.Urad dal                      - 1/2 tsp
6.Oil                               -  1/4 cup      

Method:
Marination:
* Wash and cut the boneless chicken .
* Grind the onion well.
* Take a mixing bowl, add chicken,grinded onion,chilli pwdr,kashmiri chilli pwdr,turmeric pwdr,ginger garlic paste and lemon juice.
* Mix well and cover it.
* Leave the marination for an hour.

Cooking the chicken:
* Take a pan ,add the marinated chicken and cook with 1/2 cup water.
* Cover and cook the chicken untill tender.
* Retain little cooked water from the chicken.

Frying:
* Slice  red onion,chop the green chillies.
* Take a pan, add oil .Temper with mustard seeds ,urad dal and curry leaves.
* Fry the sliced onion ,green chillies till translucent.
* Add the remaining water from cooked chicken.Let the water gets mixed well with onion.
* Keep the stove on medium.
* Now add cooked chicken and fry till the moisture is evoparated.
* Fry the chicken till it gives out oil.
* Garnish with cilantro ,serve with rice ,dal or rasam.


Note:
* Dont over cook the chicken,then it might be hard.
* If you want this dish to be medium spicy,then reduce the green chillies according to your taste.
* Since we are frying the chicken in medium high,there are chances of the chicken to get black.So keep stirring in between.
* While cooking the chicken,add less water.Because there are chances for the chicken to get hard,while evaporating the excess water.

Sending this to Usha of "My spicy kitchen " Chicken Feast event

Orange Milkshake

This post has a hilarious story behind .I was working on this post,acidently my son published the post.I noticed this after a day.Totally shocked to see my unfinished post ,wired all over the world.Then went ahead and edited the post.Coming back to the post.H bought oranges from Sams club.We could not have it as such,becoz ,it was  very sour. I cannot waste the whole bag of oranges . Orange juice was the other option.We tried ,but Rohith wanted to have something else. I wanted to experiment with orange to prepare milk shake.To my surpirse ,it came out very well. Rohith enjoyed it thoruoughly.

Ingredients:
1.Orange                 -            4 cuties
2.Milk                     -             2 cups
3.Ice cubes              -            hand full
4.sugar                    -             2 tbsp
5.Vanilla ice cream   -            2 tbsp (otpional)
6.Honey                  -            1 tbsp (optional)

Method:
* Peel the oranges and remove the skin completely.
* Take a blender,add oranges,milk,sugar,ice cubes.
*  Puree it well.
* Add honey and mix it.
* Serve it chilled.