Thenkuzhal

Thenkuzhal
In India appetizer is very popular. We eat this Thenkuzal snack with coffee.

Ingredients

 

 

•  Rice Flour………… 4 cups
• Urad Dhal Powder….1/2 cup(Roast Urad Dhal till reddish,
• Cool it and powder it very finely in a mixer. )
• Butter……………......... half stick
• Salt………………........ to taste
• Asafoetida……….........1/2 tsp
• Pepper/jeera Powder… 1tsp(optional)

Method

• Mix rice flour and dhal powder, salt, jeera melted butter asafoetida and little water and make a thick dough. Heat a pan with oil. 
• When the oil is hot,take a thenkuzhal press(you can buy the press) and fill with handful dough and make circular motion pouring into hot oil.
• When they are fried both sides remove them.

Olive Pickle

• Olive Pickle (like Avakkai)
• Olives..............2 to 2 1/2 measures
• 1: 1/2 : 1/4 measure Chilli Powder : 
• Salt : Mustard Powder

• Chopped or crushed peeled garlic - 4-8 cloves (or do i mean pods? not the whole things....).
•  you can skip them if you want.Grind up a few toasted Methi seeds (1/8th teaspoon?) with the mustard. Drain the olives. Make small incisions on the side if the olives are not pitted. 
• Mix the powders and the olives and let them sit for a few hours (at least two). 
• Add oil (preferably sesame) and bottle! That's it!
• Usually (fresh) green olives with pits are not sour enough like the pitted or marinated kind. If that is the case, add some lemon juice at the end (cut down on the oil). 
• Or, if you can find good amchoor, add some amchoor along with the powders. 
• You can also add a few kala chana but they will need to soak in the pickle for a few days before they are edible. 
• To speed up the process, you can soak them for a couple of ours in warm water, dry them *thoroughly* with some paper towels and then throw them in.
• This is the basic recipe.... you can vary the mustard powder and use it

Tapioca Vathal("javvarisi" Vathal/Karuvadam)

We can make vadam in many ways.We call it vadam, vathal, karuvadam.These things takes usto  our olden days.In our house we make large quantities of vathal koozh.It is very to eat this koozh. we use raw rice and javvarisi (Sago) with chili green paste and salt.We can use flour or rice..


Recipe for vadaam

• Tapioca(Jawarisi)............ 1 cup
• Green Chilies - ................6
• Asafoetida.......................1/4 tsp
• Ajwain - ..........................half tsp
• Lemon Juice....................1tsp
• Salt to taste
• Oil - 1 tsp

Method



Elai Vadam



• Soak tapioca in water for 2 hours.
• Grind tapioca with chillies, salt, hing to about dosai consistency
• Boil 2 glasses of water with 1 tsp of oil and ajwain
• Add the tapioca dough to the boiling water
• Stir continuously adding water, if very thick(depends on the tapioca-sometimes it 'drinks water' as we say), till the tapioca looks transparent
• Let the mixture cool down[if the mixture is very thick after it cools down, add more boiling water to get it to the right consistency)
• Add lemon juice and mix.
• On a plastic paper, spoon the mixture like vadam.
• When the vadam dries up, it automatically will detach from the plastic.
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Elai Vadam

Elai Vadam

 Poritha   Elai Vadam

Vadam(It is like pappad, . deep fried in oil and eaten as a side-dish for sambar rice, rasam rice. (can also be used as savory with coffee and tea)While frying they almost triple their original size and can be used as a savory with tea and drinks.

Ingredients 

• Raw Rice .............1cup
• Boiled Rice...........1 cup
• Green Chili..........3
• Asafoetida...... pinch
• Salt to Taste

Method

Soak both rice for 3 hours and grind finely with chilies and salt .

• Take the vadam Thattu apply oil in all plates.
• Take 1 tsp batter in each plate and spread it thin and put them in the stand.
• Steam the for 5 minutes.



• Let it cool. Peel each and put them in plastic sheet inside the house.
•  Next day the elai vadam will be ready to fry..

Dried Vadam

Adai

Adai

Adai With All Grains

Batter

Adai (with all grains) Adai Dosa is a very popular South Indian dish.

Ingredients 

• Raw Rice...........................3 cups
• Whole Black Urad dhal.... 1/2 cup
• Tur Dhal............................1/2 cup
• Red Beans................... ....1/4 cup
• Chick Peas..................... .1/4 cup
• Whole Moong dhal...........1/4 cup
• Red Chili........................ .10
• Curry Leaves....................few(cut into small pieces)
• Asafoetida.......................1/2 tsp
• Salt to Taste

Method

• Soak all grains separately for 5 hours and grind with chilies, salt and asafoetida coarsely. 
• Add curry leaves. Heat a dosa griddle ( a flat tawa/frying pan) on medium heat, pour 1 tea spoon of til(sesame) oil ,when it is heated, add the batter and spread it like dosa and pour 1 tsp oil or ghee on it..
• When it turns golden , turn it and cook the other side.Serve hot with chutney/ jaggery or mulakai podi.( you can add finely chopped cabbage or onion with the batter .This dosa is very good for health)

Karadayan Nombu Adai

iNombu Adai

Karadayan Nombu : (March 14th) Karadayan nombu is a religious function observed by women in memory of Savithri who saved her husband Satyavan from the clutches of God of death-Yama. This special Adai is made and offered to God on this day (March 14th) 

Ingredients

• Fried rice flour................2cups
• Powdered jaggery..........2cups
• Water .......................... 2cups
• Coconut pieces..............quarter cup
• Cardamom powder........1 tsp
• Karamani payaru
• (Lobhiya in Hindi
• and small brown beans ), ........quarter cup

Roasted rice Flour, Karamani and coconut flakes

Method

Nombu Adai

• Cook the payaru in cooker
• Fry the rice powder. Add water , jaggery mix well and boil.
• Strain the jaggery syrup . 
• When it boiled add cooked beans, coconut rice flour and cardamom powder. 
• See that it does not form lumps.
• Take little oil or ghee grease the idli vessel. 
• Take a lemon size dough and flatten in a round shape and make a hole in the centre. 
• Steam them for about 10 minutes. Eat them with butter.

Kara Adai(salt Adai)

Ingredients

• Fried rice flour................ ........2 cups
• Cooked small kidney beans.... 1/4cup
• Pieces of coconut................... 1/4 cup
• Water......................................2 cups
• Hing....................................... a pinch
• Water..................................... 2cups

Seasoning

• Mustard ........ ........................1 tsp
• Urad dhal............................... 2 tsp
• Green chillies........................... 3
• Chopped.ginger....................... 1 tsp
• Curry leaves.............................few
• Red chilli.................................1
• Oil..........................................2 tsp
• Salt to taste

Method

• Heat a pan with oil add mustard , dal ,chilli, ginger and curry leaves. 
• When the mustard splutter , add water,cooked kidney beans,, salt and coconut. 
• When the water boils add the rice powder . 
• Mix it with out forming lumps. 
• Take lemon size dough(wet your hands) flatten it in plantain leaf or idli vessel and steam them.
• Tips
• Add the flour when the water boils. If the dough is very thick add little hot water and mix it.

Potato Vada

Fried Potato Vada

Potato Vada

Potato vada

Potato Vada 

Ingredients

• Potato..................................5
• Green Chilies........................6
• Chopped Ginger....................2 tsp
• Turmeric Powder..... .............quarter tsp
• Chopped Coriander Leaves... 3 tsp
• Gram Flour (Besan)..............2 cups
• Red Chili Powder.................1 tsp
• Asafoetida .......................... half tsp
• Salt to taste
• Oil to fry

Method

• Boil the potatoes, peel and mash them nicely.
• Add green chili, ginger, coriander leaves and salt. 
• Mix them well and make lemon sized balls.
• In a bowl mix besan, chili powder, asafoetida, salt with water and make batter. 
• Dip each vada fully covered with batter, deep fry in hot oil till light golden brown.
• Serve hot with fried green chillies and chutney

Idli , Chutney and Mulakaipodi

After steaming idlis

Idli Thattu

IdliThattu

Idli thattu(idli mould)

Idli

Grind the soaked rice and urad dhal separately in the wet grinder.



Ultra wet Grinder

Idlies

Idli is most often eaten at breakfast or as a snack. The traditional idli is a small round patty of batter made of boiled rice and lentils(Urad dhal) and steamed. The 2"-3" diameter idli is served with chutney /sambar or milakai podi..Milakai podi contains ground chilies, lentils, sesame seeds, flax seeds and hing and is useful,if idlis are to eaten later. Dipping in oil can prevent more souring of the idlis in the days heat and helps the dry seasonings to stick. Idlis are good for health since they are steamed..

Ingredients

• Boiled Ponni Rice............3cups
• Urad Dhal.......................1 cup
• Puffed Rice.....................1 handful

Method

• Soak the rice and dhal for 3 hours separately and grind for about 20 minutes each in wet grinder..
• Mix both together after grinding. Add salt and Keep the batter to ferment
• Next day spoon the batter onto an idli thattu(mould). 
• Heat water in idli cooker, and place stand in.
• Steam for 5-7 minutes.Remove them and serve hot with chutney and mulakaipodi. (Make small idlis in baby idli thattu(baby idli mould) for children

Kutti Idli

Chutney

Ingredients

• Grated Coconut................ 1 cup
• Green Chilies......................4
• Tamarind.Paste...................half tsp
• Dalia(Pottu Kadalai)...........2 tsp
• Curry Leaves.....................few
• Ginger ................ .............small piece
• Mustard Seeds..................1 tsp
• Red Chili...........................1

Coconut Chutney

Method

• Grind all ingredients with half cup water into coarse paste. 
• Heat a pan with oil add mustard, curry leaves and red chili. 
• When the mustard splutters a dd to the chutney.

Milakai Podi

Ingredients

• Red chilies................ ......1 cup
• Urad dhal.........................1 cup
• Chana dhal (split gram)..... half cup
• Sesame seeds..................4 tsp
• Asafoetida(hing) ..............half tsp
• Salt to taste

MethodFry all ingredients with little oil except sesame seeds( should fry without oil)    Grind all together with salt into coarse powder.

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  Mulakaipodi