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Pooran Poli

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 I had tried Poli for a few times but got the best after listening to Ms. Revathi Shanmugam's video. I am capturing what I tried here in my online cookbook. Ingredients: 1. Channa dhal- 1 cup 2. Maida- 2 cups 3. Turmeric- a pinch 4.Jaggery- 1cup 5.Ground nut oil- around six spoonful 6. Ghee as needed 7. Salt- a small pinch 8. Coconut- 1/2 cup (optional). Adding coconut enhanced the taste and I liked it this way. Soak channa dhal in water for 4 hours and pressure cook for 3-4 whistles. Cool and blend in mixie. Add jaggery to a wide bottomed pan and add 1/4 cup of water. When jaggery starts to boil, add channa dhal, grated coconut and a scoop of ghee. Keep stirring until it becomes thick. Keep the stove in medium flame. The stuffing (pooran) is ready. Take a wide bowl, add maida, salt, turmeric and oil. Mix well with your hands. Sprinkle little water and make a soft dough. Do not add any cooking soda. Do the maida mixture only at the time of making Poli. If you store maida batter in

Kesari Bath

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 Kesari is a very easy sweet that is made by everyone including beginners. Secret for good kesari, lies in standard of roasting of Suji (Rava). Yesterday I made Kesari and Vada for my family as evening snack. Here is the recipe. Ingredients: 1. Rava- 1 cup 2. Water-3 cups 3. Sugar- 1 cup 4. Saffron strands- few 5. Cardamom powder- 1/2 tbsp 6. Cashew nuts- 8 7. Raisins- 2 tbsp 8. Ghee- 4 tbsp. Procedure: 1. Take a thick bottom pan. Add 2 tbsp of ghee and add raisins and cashew nuts. 2. Once Raisins puff up, remove raisins and cashews from the stove. 3. Add one more tbsp of ghee and roast the rava in medium flame for atleast 4- 5 minutes and transfer it to a bowl 4. In the same pan, Boil 3 cups of water and once it starts boiling, add rava and mix slowly. 5. Add sugar slowly and ensure there are no lumps. 6. Add one more scoop of ghee, add cashewnuts, cardamom powder and raisins. 7. Add saffron strands and food colour soaked in few tablespoons of milk. 8. Keep stove in medium flame and t

Apple Cinnamon Jam (ஆப்பிள் லவங்கம் ஜாம் )

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  This is indeed a beautiful moon lit, full moon morning. After jogging for a while, and making breakfast, I tried cooking jam for the first time and it came out delicious. All we need are, Red apples- cut (2 cups) Sugar- 1 cup Lemon juice- 1/2 lemon Cinnamon powder- 3/4 tbsp In a broad pan, add apples, sugar and cinnamon powder and stir well for some time. Add lemon juice to avoid crystallizing of sugar. Add 1/2 cup of water and let the apples cook, in sugar and cinnamon mixture Mash the apples using a thick ladle. After a while, the texture will be like what I have shown. Store in a air tight bottle. Jam without preservatives is ready முழுமையான பௌர்ணமி காலை. அதிகாலை நடைபயிற்சிக்குப்பிறகு, இன்றைய பொழுதின் காலை நேர வேலைகள் முடிந்தபின்னர் நான் ஆப்பிள் லவங்க ஜாம் செய்தேன். இத்தனை சுலபமா என்று ஆச்சர்யமாக இருந்தது. இதை செய்ய மிகக்குறைவான பொருட்களே தேவை ஆப்பிள்- 2 கப் லவங்க பட்டை தூள்- 3/4 தே.கரண்டி சர்க்கரை- 1கப் எலுமிச்சை சாறு- 4 தே.கரண்டி ஆப்பிளையும் லவங்கப்பட்டை, சர்க்கரை சேர்த்து ஒரு க

Thattu Idli without idli stand

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Thattu idli, is a special variety of idli, prepared with sago. Adding sago makes it very soft. 1. Raw rice- 2 cups 2. Idli rice-2 cups 3. Urad dhal- 1 cup 4. Sago- 2 cups 5. Fenugreek - 1 tbsp. We tasted this Thatte Idli during our last visit to Karnataka,India and have always wanted to try this recipe. Soak all the rice and sago together for 4 hours. Soak Urad dhal and Fenugreek separately. Grind together adding salt in a wet grinder. Allow to ferment overnight. I have only an idiappam stand and here is how I managed. I bought some banana leaves, cut them to suit the idiappam plates and I greased the leaves with sesame oil and steamed them.   In ten minutes, we got best thattu idlies that goes well with chutneys, sambar or podi. Happy Cooking! These idlies were not very white as these were cooked in leaves. That is okay for someone like me who does not want to add another utensil to my small kitchen.

கடகட குழம்பு ! Kadakada Kuzhambu

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We are constantly being lured to buy instant foods... instant noodles, instant coffee, what not? Here is a healthy recipe of previous generation. The term Kadakada means, doing in a hurry. Imagine life hundred years back, life was never easy in terms of kitchen gadgets. With firewood for cooking, even to cook lentils will take longer. If there are guests who come without notifying, how to cook and give them an instant lunch? This was one such recipe that could be done with roasting and grinding by hand. Lets go some centuries back... with this lockdown and pause to ponder about how life would have been. This recipe has good proportion of lentils and is also delicious. Most of the ingredients we would anyway have at home and there is nothing that you would need to buy, if you are someone who cooks regularly. Ingredients: 1. Toor dhal- 2 tbsp 2. Urad dhal- 2 tbsp 3. Moong dhal- 2 tbsp 4. Channa dhal- 2 tbsp 5. Coriander seeds- 2 tbsp 6. Fenugreek (Venthayam): 1 tbsp 7. Black Pepper corns

Tawa Idli/ Idli/ Simple Dishes with Kids

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Tawa Idli! Feeling bored amid Covid 19 lockdown? Do you have idli batter and idli podi, and some oil? Lets get started. Take a pan, put 4 tbsp of cooking oil or sesame oil. As the oil becomes hot, add a spoon full of  Idli chilli powder (also known as idli podi). Let it fry in the excess oil. Add a ladle of idli batter in the center and close the tawa with a lid. The corners will get crispier. Do not turn. After a while, your crispy tawa idli, that tastes like Idli in the top and crispy dosa on the other side will be ready. This does not need any side dish. Enjoy the below video of Tawa idli cooking by our son, Siddharth!

Mango Ginger Thokku

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  Musfata Center- a place usually popular among locals in Singapore was looking different in Phase III. There were very few people seen and most of the staff were immersed in their own chats. Though baby mangoes (Maavadu) are nowhere to be seen, we were happy to see some rare goodies from India. Mango Ginger- a variety of Ginger that has strong aroma of raw Mango was something that caught my attention. I made a yummy pickle and my family enjoyed it as as a side dish. Here is the pickle recipe 1. Wash and peel the mango ginger. 2. Give it a good blend in a mixie adding half a cup of water. 3. In a pan, add 2-3 tbsp of sesame oil, add the blended mixture. Add  2 tbsp of chilli powder and salt to taste. Keep stirring regularly until the ginger cooks and you would see the oil oozing around the sides. 4. Store it in an air tight container. 5.Shelf life would be around a week with refrigeration