Coriander leaves thokku

This thokku can be had with idli, dosa, pongal, yogurt rice.   You can also make coriander  rice with little tempering of mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves and peanuts.

Ingredients

Coriander Leaves.   -  2 bunches
Tamarind.                 -  lemon size
Red Chillies.              - 8 to 15 (depending upon the spice level of the chilli and your level to handle it)
Asafoetida.                -  Small piece or 1/2 tsp of powder
Mustard Seeds.        - 1/4 tsp
Sesame  Oil.              - 4 tbsp
Mustard Seeds Powder.   - 1/8 tsp
Fenugreek Seeds Powder - 1/8 tsp
Turmeric powder  1/4 tsp
Jaggery.          - 2 tsp
Salt to taste

1. Soak the tamarind and red chillies in 1/4 cup of hot water.

2. Clean the coriander leaves in water and drain them.  When soaked tamarind becomes soft add the tamarind, red chillies, coriander leaves and salt in a mixie jar and grind it by adding the water used for soaking the tamarind.

3. In a pan add the oil.   When the oil is hot add mustard seeds.  When the mustard seeds splutters add Asafoetida, fenugreek seeds powder and mix it.  Then add the ground paste, mustard seeds powder, turmeric powder and jaggery.  Saute till the oil leaves the sides of the pan.  Switch off the stove.  Cool it completely and store it in a air tight container inside the fridge. 

Note:

1.  Always all the pickles should be stored in a jar cleaned in hot water and dried completely. 

2.  Use only wooden or plastic spoon to serve.    Again the spoon should be dry

3.  Enough salt, oil and chillies to added because they act as preservatives

4.  At any point of time do not handle the spoon with wet hands

5.  All the above notes will help to maintain a longer shelf life of the pickle

Dal, curry leaves and coriander leaves thogayal/chutney

Ingredients

Tur dal.            - 3 tbsp
Channa dal.    -  2 tbsp
Urad dal.         -  1 tsp
Red chilli.       -   5
Asafoetida.    -   1/4 tsp/ small piece
Tamarind.     -   small piece
Oil.                  -   1 tsp
Coconut.        -   Shredded 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Curry leaves. - 4 strips
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp


Heat a pan and add all the dals, red chilli and saute them till dal changes colour to brown colour.  Now add tamarind and Asafoetida and sautee for few seconds and switch off the flame.

Add everything to a mixie jar and grind to a coarse paste adding little water

Healthy Salad

Ingredients

Sprouted Moong dal (Green Gram).  - one hand full
Cucumber.     -   1
Zucchini.       -   1
Tomato.         -   1
Radish.          -    1/2
Green apple.  -    1/2
Lemon Juice. -     1/2 tsp
Red pepper.   -     1/4
Green pepper -     1:4
Two pinches of black pepper powder
Salt to taste

Chop all the vegetables into smallest cube size.   Mix everything after adding lemon juice, salt and pepper powder.   Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper before serving to avoid sogginess.

Lemon Ginger Green Chilli Pickle

Ingredients

Lemon.    -  2. Nos
Ginger.    -  4  inch
Green Chillies. -  4 nos
Asafietida Powder     -   One pinch
Turmeric Powder.      -   One pinch
Mustard Seeds.     -  1/8 tsp
Sesame Oil.          -   1 tsp
Fenugreek Seeds Powder.  -  1 pinch
Lemon juice - from 1/2 to 1 lemon
Salt to taste.

1.  Chop the ginger and lemons into Julinnes
2.  In a pan add oil and when the oil is hot add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds splutter add asafietida powder, turmeric powder and fenugreek seeds powder mix it and immediately add the chopped green chilli and sauté for few seconds and switch off the flame.  When it cools add chopped lemon, ginger and salt to it and mix it well.   Add juice of half lemon.  Store it in a air tight jar in the fridge.

Ginger Chutney

This chutney goes well with idli, all kinds of dosa and pongal,


Ingredients

Ginger.     -  4 inch
Urad dal.  -   2 table spoon
Red chilli. -   6 to 8
Curry leaves. - few
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida.      -  1/8 tsp
Sesame Oil.     -   2 tsp
Jaggery.           -    2 tsp
Tamarind.      -    small piece
Salt to taste

1.  In a pan add 1 tsp. oil.  When the oil is hot add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds splutter add Asafoetida and few curry leaves and switch off the flame.  Keep this tempering separately.

2.  In a pan add 1 tsp oil and when the oil is hot add urad dal and red chillies saute till the urad dal changes its colour to golden brown.   Now add tamarind and chopped ginger. Sauteed till the ginger is slightly cooked.   Switch off the flame add add everything from the pan to mixie jar after it cools.  Add salt and jaggery to the jar and grind it to a coarse paste adding 1 tsp of water. 

3.  Remove the ginger chutney from the jar and add the tempering to it.  

Almond Coconut Curry leaves Chutney

This chutney has a different taste from the regular coconut chutney and it goes well with idli, dosa, pongal, vada etc

Ingredients

1/4 cup.       -  Shredded Coconut
10 - 15.        -   Almonds
2 nos.          -   Green Chillies
1 tsp.           -   Fried Gram (pottukadalai)
1/2 inch.     -   Ginger
Hand full of curry leaves
Small piece of tamarind
1 tsp.          -  Coriander leaves
4 nos.         -  Garlic cloves (optional)
Salt to taste

Tempering

1/8 tsp.       -  mustard seeds
1/8 tsp.      -  Asafoetida powder
1/2 tsp.      -  Oil
1/4 tsp.      -  broken urad dal
Few curry leaves

1.  In a pan add oil and add slit green chillies, chopped ginger and garlic.  Saute in medium low flame till the garlic is cook (do not burn the garlic).  When it is done add the tamarind, curry leaves and coriander leaves just mix it and switch off the flame.  Cool it completely

2.  Add the almonds and fried gram to a mixie jar and grind to powder then add the above ingredients from the pan to the mixie jar, shredded coconut, salt and grind it by adding water to the required chutney/dip consistency.

3.  Make the tempering with the above ingredients and add it to the chutney/dip.

Pav Bhaji in Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

Bhaji

Chopped Cauliflower.   -  2 cups
Potatoes.                        -  4 medium size
Tomatoes                       -  4 medium size
Carrots.                          -  2
Green Pepper/Capsicum-  1
Onions.                           -  2 medium size
Green peas.                    -  2 to 3 tbsp
Beetroot.                        -  1 small size
Ginger.                           -  1 inch
Garlic.                            -  4 cloves big size
Chopped coriander
Paprika.                          -  1 tsp
Cumin Seeds Powder     -  1/2 tsp
Pav Bhaji masala powder- 1 tsp
Coriander Seeds Powder -  3/4 tsp
Mango Powder.               - 1/2 tsp
Oil.                                      -  2 tsp
Butter.                               -  1 to 2 tsp

For serving

Pav buns
Chopped onions
Chopped coriander leaves
Lemon wedges

1.  Chop all the vegetables except onion into big chunks.  Pressure cook them for two whistles mash them and keep aside.

2.  In a pan add oil and when the oil is hot add cumin seeds stir and then add finely chopped onions, garlic and ginger.  Saute till the onion are well cooked. Now add cumin seeds powder, paprika powder, coriander seeds powder, mango powder and sauteed till the oil leaves in the sides of the pan.  Now add the mashed vegetables, pav bhaji powder and butter.  Bring it to boil, switch off the flame and garnish it with coriander leaves.

3.  In a pan add butter and toast the pav buns.   Serve it with bhaji, chopped onions, coriander leaves and lemon wedges

Brown Sugar/Jaggery kesari

Ingredients

1/2 cup.                    -  Rava
3/4 cup to 1 cup.      -  Jaggery
1 tsp.                        -  Shredded Almonds/Cashews
3 to 4 tsp.                 -  Ghee
1/8 tsp.                     -  Cardamom Powder
Pinch.                       -  Nutmeg Powder

In a pan add 2 tsp of ghee, rava and add almonds/cashews.  Roast them for a while.   Make sure rava doesn’t become brown.   Now add 1 1/4 cup of boiling water to the rava and stir it quickly to avoid formation of lumps. When the rava is cooked add jaggery, cardamom powder, nutmeg powder and keep stirring till it becomes thick like halwa consistency.  Now add rest of the ghee stir it and switch off the flame.

Pot in pot rasam

I would like to start a new series of pot in pot cooking. I think everyone should be already knowing this method.  We used to keep rice and dal together in Pressure Cooker in separate containers and cook.    I thought why not we keep the ingredients of sambar, rasam, kootu etc on top of the rice and dal in the cooker. I tried it for two days hence this recipe came out. Actually we could avoid cooking of the rasam and sambar on stove top and boiling it for a long time in order to remove the raw smell.  After pressure cooking the ingredients all we need to do is adding tempering to it.  This reduces lot of our cooking time. For this we need bigger cooker depending on the members of the family.  This recipe is for a family of 5 to 6 people. Almost all my recipes are for a family of 5 to 6 people.

Ingredients

Tur dal.        - 2 tbs
Tomato.       -  2 medium size
Tamarind.    -  Small Gooseberry size
Green chilli.-  1
Garlic.         -  4 to 5 cloves (optional)
Turmeric Powder- 1/4 tsp
Rasam/Sambar Powder - 1 - 2 tsp
Coriander leaves
 Salt to taste

Tempering

Mustard Seeds - 3/4 tsp
Pepper powder. - 1/8 tsp
Cummin seeds. -  3/4 tsp
Ghee/oil.           -  1/2 to 1 tsp
Asafietida.        -   1/4 tsp
Curry leaves

1.  Take 3 containers which fits inside the pressure cooker to be staked one on top of the other.  One container you can keep rice with required water

2.   Chop the tomatoes to big chunks and split the green chili.

3.   In one container at the bottom of the cooker u can keep rice adding required water to it.

4.  In the second container on top of the rice you can add tur dal with required water and turmeric powder to it.

5.  On top of the tur dal you can keep another container adding chopped tomatoes. Green chilli, sambar/ rasam Powder, garlic and tamarind and close it with a lid.

6.  Close the lid of the pressure cooker and cook it for 6 to 7 whistles.

7.  When the pressure releases normally take the rasam ingredients out of the cooker and blend the whole thing with a hand blender.

8.   Keep a pan and add ghee/oil to it.  When the oil is hot add mustard seeds after it splutters add asafietida, cumin seeds, pepper powder and curry leaves sauté for few seconds and add the ground paste and add required water around 2 to 2 1/2 cups of water. When you see some lathers on top of the rasam switch off the flame and add chopped coriander leaves.

The same recipe can be done instapot.  Cooking mode - rice.  

Red pepper dry curry/ sigappu kodai milagai curry

Ingredients

Red Pepper.     -  5 to 6
Onion.             -  1
Mustard seeds.-  1/2 tsp
Asafietida.      -   1/4 tsp
Turmeric Powder- 1/4 tsp
Red Chilli Powder- 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp
Coriander Seeds Powder - 1 tsp
Sesame Seeds Powder-  2 tsp (see the link given below)
Channa dal/Besan Powder- 2 tsp
Oil.       - 2 tsp

Sesame Seeds Powder recipe. -  https://savithrishomecooking.blogspot.com/2020/01/sesame-seeds-powder.html?m=1

In a pan add oil. When the oil is hot add mustard seeds.  After the mustard seeds splutter add asafietida, chopped bell pepper, thinly sliced onions.  Sauté till onions and pepper are 3/4 cooked.  Now add turmeric powder , red chilli powder, channa dal/besan powder and sesame seeds powder.  Sauté in medium flame till the raw smell goes and everything well combined.  Switch off the flame.

Brown Rice Upuma

Tried rice upma with brown rice.  The taste was so good and different from the white rice.  As I thought this is a healthy option to white rice, I tried this. It came out well.  Also the dal in it adds protein to the dish.

Ingredients

Brown Rice.       -   1 cup
Moong/tur  dal.  -   2 tsp to 3 tsp
Red chilies.         -   1
Green chilies.      -   2
Asafietida.           -   1/4 tsp or small piece
Coconut oil.         -   2 tsp
Scrapped coconut-   3 tbsp (optional)
Split Urad dal.     -   3/4 tsp
Channa dal.         -   1/2 tsp
Curry leaves.       -   6 to 8
Ginger.                 -  1/2 inch
Salt to taste

1.   Wash brown rice and dal two times drain completely and spread it on a clean towel and allow it to dry under the fan for 1/2 hour.

2.   After rice and dal dries grind it to a coarse powder in a mixie jar.   Sieve the flour and take only the rava.

3.   In a rice cooker add the oil and when the oil is hot add channa dal, urad dal, red chilies and asafietida sauté till the dals become golden brown colour.  Now add green chilies and curry leaves mix it.  Add 3 cups of water and required salt and scrapped coconut to it.  Bring it to boil then add the rice and dal rava pouring it slowly to the water mixture and simultaneously stirring it to avoid any formation of lumps.   Close the lid of the cooker and put the weight.  Reduce the flame to low and leave it for 8 to 10 mts.  Then switch off the flame.   Let the pressure release naturally.   Open the lid and mix it.

White Sesame Seeds Powder/Podi

This can be used to mix it with rice or add as curry powder to certain curries.

Ingredients

White Sesame Seeds.   -  1/4 cup
Urad dal.           -   3 tbs
Channa dal.       -   2 tbs
Red Chilli.         -   3 nos
Black Pepper.    -    1/2 tsp
Asafietida.         -    1/4 tsp
Oil.                    -    1 tsp
Salt to taste


In a pan dry roast the sesame seeds till they change colour and start spluttering.   Remove from the fire and grind it separately in a nixie jar.  After grinding remove and keep separately.   Now add oil and add channa dal, urad dal, red chilies and black pepper.  When the deals change colour add asafietida, salt and switch off the flame. Add them to a nixie jar and grind them.  Mix both the powders and keep it in the fridge.  

Eggplant dry curry / kathirikai podi pota kai

Ingredients

250 grams.   -  Eggplant/ 2 cups chopped eggplant
1 no.            -   Onion
1 tsp.            -   Paprika/ 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp.         -   Turmeric Powder
3/4 tsp.         -   Coriander Powder
2 tsp.            -    Sesame seeds powder (recipe link given below)
1/2 tsp.         -    Mustard Seeds
1/2 tsp.         -   Split Urad dal
1/4 tsp.        -    Asafietida
2 tsp.           -    Oil
Salt to taste
Sesame seeds powder recipe
https://savithrishomecooking.blogspot.com/2020/01/sesame-seeds-powder.html?m=1

In a pan add oil and when the oil is hot add mustard seeds, split urad dal and Asafoetida.  When the urad dal become golden brown colour add chopped onions and sauté till onions are half cooked. Now add chopped eggplant and sauté eggplant till it is three fourth cooked.  Now add turmeric powder, chilli powder, salt and coriander powder and sauté for a while.  Now add sesame seeds powder and sauté till everything is well combined.  Switch off the flame.