Karadaiyan Nombu Adai (Sweet and Savory)

Last Saturday was Karadaiyan Nombu for us (Sunday in India). Karadaiyan Nombu is a traditional festival celebrated in our community. Ever since childhood I have a big fascination when it comes to nombu because of the yellow thread.  I always ask my Mom I not married why are you tying this over my neck, my mom used to say this is a different thread. Even in school I hide this thread as I don’t want my friends to think I got married:-)

Specialty of nombu is preparing Sweet and savory Adai and tying yellow thread. Myself and sis enjoy Adai with a big chunk of room temperature butter. I can talk about how I enjoyed for the entire post, but let me get into the recipe:-)

Typically Amma soaks the rice and dries in a cloth and pulse it, but I have preapered Adai with store bought rice flour

General steps:

• Dry roast 2 cups of rice flour for 2-3 minutes and keep aside

• Dry roast the black karamani for 2-3 minutes and soak in warm water for 2 – 3 hours, strain it and add twice the water and pressure cook for 1 whistle. Avoid mushing the karamani

Having a sweet tooth, I always prefer Sweet Adai over savory, and hence the post:-)

Sweet Adai

Ingredients:

Rice flour – 1 cup, sieved

Grated Coconut (Fresh/Frozen) – 1/4 cup

Jaggery –  1 cup

Karamani – 3 tbsp

Warm Water – 1 cup + 3/4 cup (keep 1/4 cup warm water separately)

Cardamom powder -1/4 tsp

Salt – a pinch

Sesame oil – to grease

Method:

• Soak jaggery in 1 cup + 3/4 cup of hot water. Since I had big chunks of jaggery it took a while, but to speed up the procees, jaggery can be cut into small pieces or cooked with water

• After the  jaggery completely melts in water, strain the impurities.
• In a pan, add jaggery syrup and bring to boil. Add the coconut, black eyed beans and cardamom powder; mix well. Add the rice flour

• Cook till it comes to non sticky dough consistency. Cover the dough with a damp cloth, as it tends to dry soon

• When the dough is cool enough to handle, make small spheres, flatten it and gently make a small dent in center. Since rice flour is gluten free, they tend to be sticky, so greasing hand with sesame oil helps to make Adai

• Steam it in a greased idli plate for 10-12 mins.

My Notes:

• If the dough becomes dry add extra water. For the flour that I used, the extra 1/4 cup water was not needed. If you feel dough is dry, add 1 tbsp of water else no need to add. Water added should be boiling hot water, so its better to keep 1/4 cup hot water separately
• Color of the Adai depends on the jaggery color

Savory Adai

Ingredients:

Rice flour – 1 cup, sieved

Grated Coconut (Fresh/frozen) – 1/4 cup

Karamani – 3 tbsp

Salt  – as needed

Water – 2 cups ( keep 1/4 cup warm water separately)

Sesame oil – to grease

For tempering

Coconut oil – 1 tsp

Mustard Seeds – 1/4 tsp

Green Chilli – 1, chopped (Adjust according to your taste)

Channa Dal – 1/2 tsp

Ginger -1 tsp, peeled and finely chopped

Curry leaves – 1 sprig, chopped

Asafoetida – a generous pinch

Method:

• Add oil to the pan. Once the oil is hot, temper with mustard seeds, channa dal, ginger, green chilli, curry leaves and asafoetida. After it splutters, add 2 cups of water and salt. Bring to boil. Once the water starts boiling add coconut, karamani and rice flour

• Cook till it comes to non sticky dough consistency. Cover the dough with a damp cloth, as it tends to dry soon
• When it is warm make small balls and flatten it into patties and make small holes in the middle as we do for pinwheels.

• When the dough is cool enough to handle, make small spheres, flatten it and gently make a small dent in center. Since rice flour is gluten free, they tend to be sticky, so greasing hand with sesame oil helps to make Adai

• Steam it in greased idli plate for 10-12 mins.

My Notes:

• In the dough becomes dry add extra water.For the flour that I used, the extra 1/4 cup water was not needed. If you feel dough is dry, add 1 tbsp of water else no need to add. Water added should be boiling hot water, so its better to keep 1/4 cup hot water separately

Thengai Sadam (Coconut Rice) with coconut milk

When I open my lunch box and I see coconut rice, its a happy face.. Easy and delicious variety rice. Though i love the usual version without coconut milk, after trying this version started doing this often.  I had 1/4 cup coconut milk in fridge (Leftover after preparing Vegetable Stew) and was thinking what to do with it. Suddenly remembered Thai rice prepared with coconut milk, so added coconut milk while cooking rice and resulting coconut rice was much flavorful and tastier

Cooking rice with coconutmilk

Ingredients:

Rice : 1/2 cup

Thin Coconut milk : 1/4 cup

Water : 3/4 cup

Ghee/ Coconut oil – one drop

Add drop of ghee/ oil and Cook rice in pressure cooker for 2 whistle or rice cooker and spread them in a wide pan

Coconut Rice:

Ingredients

Cooked Rice – 1 cup

Coconut – 1/3 cup

Salt – as needed

To temper:

Coconut Oil – 1 tsp

Peanuts – 5 tbsp

Cashews – 7 roughly broken

Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp

Urad dal – 1 tsp

Channa dal – 1 tsp

Asofetida/ Hing(Perungayam) –  pinch

Green chillies – 1 slitted (Adjust according to your taste)

Curry leaves – few

Method:

• Add 1 tsp of oil and when the oil is hot add the mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal, cashew nuts, curry leaves asofetida and peanuts and cook till they become golden brown. Add coconut and sauté for a minute
• Add the tempered ingredients to the pan containing rice, salt and mix gently. Check for the seasoning and add salt if required. Serve the rice with chips/ gravy

My Notes:

• Coconut milk is optional you can cook rice without that in that case add 1:2 water

Kasi Halwa (Poosanikai Halwa) – Guest Post for Sujitha Ruban

Couple of days ago Sujitha asked me to guest post for her blog. I am excited to do a guest post in Sujitha Easy Cooking blog. Like her blog name suggests, her recipes are easy for beginners. I found a wide variety of healthy recipes, yummy snacks, mouthwatering sweets, interesting cakes/ cookies and many more in Sujitha’s page. With her simple steps and step by step pictures, she makes it easy to follow her recipes.

Sujitha’s view on Traditionally Modern Food

Vidya Srinivasan is dedicated food blogger, When i request the guest post, happily she agreed and sent a sweet traditional recipe she is the Writer and Editor of Traditionallymordenfood, at first i have no clues from the blog tittle, when i have a look at her page, found some traditional Recipes with Modern touch.. great inspiring name i felt from her page.. She had a good collection of baking recipes, very interesting to read her simple step by step  instruction, as like the sweet post, vidya is such a sweet person

Thanks a lot for the opportunity Sujitha:-)

Kasi Halwa:

Ingredients:

White pumpkin – 2 Cups

Brown Sugar – 1 cup (Adjust according to your sweetness)

Ghee – 1/4 cup

Cashew and raisin – to garnish

Cardamom powder – pinch

Orange food color – pinch

Saffron – 1/8 tsp

Salt – pinch

Method:

• Grate the pumpkin and squeeze the water from the pumpkin. Keep the water for cooking pumpkin

• Add ghee to the pan and sauté the cashew nuts and raisin till cashew nuts are golden brown. Keep them aside
• In the same pan add the pumpkin water and bring to boil. When you see bubbles, add the grated pumpkin and cook in a low flame. Cook the pumpkin in a low flame till it becomes soft
  Add sugar and saffron strands. Continue cooking in medium flame

• Add food color, salt and remaining ghee and continue cooking till you see glossy texture and halwa leave the sides. Add cashew nuts, raisins and cardamom powder and mix well. Halwa is ready to serve

My Notes:

• White sugar can be used instead of brown sugar
• If the pumpkin is so watery add 1 cup of pumpkin water to cook pumpkin and add remaining water if required
• Halwa can be stored in fridge for 3-4 days and in room temperature for a day

Do checkout Kasi Halwa recipe in http://www.sujithaeasycooking.com/2015/01/guest-post-by-vidya-srinivasan.html

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Pattani Sundal (Frozen Green Peas Sundal)

Yesterday evening after returning from work hubby asked what Sundal today. I had planned to prepare Moong Dal Sundal, but then I realized I forgot to soak Dal. Then I remembered I had some frozen peas.  Amma use to prepare Sundal with dry peas by soaking and pressure cooking them, but I thought of trying with frozen peas. Sundal was ready in 5 minutes – quickest Sundal I ever had

Pattani Sundal

Preparation Time : 3 min | Cooking time : 5 mins | Serves : 2

Recipe Category : Appetizer/Snack

Ingredients:

Frozen peas – 1 cup + 1/2 cup

Salt – To taste

Grated coconut – 1/3 cup

Green chillies – 1 (Adjust according to your taste)

Coriander leaves – 4 – 5 sprig

Ginger –  small piece ( approx 1/2 tsp)

To Temper:

Coconut Oil – 1 tsp

Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp

Urad Dal – 1 tsp

Channa Dal – 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves – 1/2 sprig

Red chilli – 1

Hing – a generous pinch

Method:

• Microwave peas for a minute and set aside

• Blend coriander, chilli and coconut without adding water

• Add oil to the pan, when the oil is hot add the items under ‘To Temper’ and let them crackle. Add the green peas and salt, toss them for a minute

• Add the blended mixture and sautè for 2-3 minutes till raw smell goes off. Switch off the stove

My Notes:

• Coconut oil gives nice aroma for sundal, so it is preferred
• If you are using Dry Peas, then soak them overnight, or at least for 4 hrs in warm water.  Pour enough water and pressure cook for 3 whistles
• Instead of adding coconut mixture at the end, you can also add after tempering

Gobi 65 – Baked

Ever since I had this dish for the first time, I have been having a big question in my mind – why is it named 65?. As I mentioned in Cauliflower Peas Masala, cauliflower is my sister’s favorite veggie, and this is her default order in most restaurants.  First time when I tried baking cauliflower, it was total flopshow. Invited Hubby’s friends for dinner and  thought of baking this. That day I added yellow corn meal. I marinated cauliflower for 2 hours, it was soggy and I didn’t get proper fries, then I did some gimmick and managed. Again I wanted to try this with white corn flour, and reduce my marination time, and finally succeeded!

Gobi 65 – Baked

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Standing time – 15 minutes | Cooking Time : 20 – 25 mins

Recipe Category: Snack

Ingredients:

Cauliflower -1 medium sized flower

Cornflour – 1/4 cup

Rice flour/ All purpose flour – 2 tbsp (I used rice flour)

Ginger Garlic paste – 1/4 tsp

Red chilli powder – 1/2 tsp (Adjust according to your taste)

Garam Masala – 1/8 tsp

Oil – 1 tbsp + 1 tsp

Turmeric powder – a pinch

Salt – to taste

Oil/Cooking spray – to grease (I used Pam olive oil spray)

Method:

• Parboil cauliflower and strain them

• Preheat the oven to 400 degree Fahrenhait and place the baking paper (I used Aluminum foil) on baking tray and grease

• Combine all spice powder and mix well. Add cornflour and rice flour and mix well, and if required sprinkle some water (I used around 1 tsp) and let it marinate for 15 minutes

•  Place the marinated cauliflower and bake them for 10 – 15 minutes and broil for 13 -18 minutes, turning in between

My Notes :

• Broil helps to get the fry texture so don’t skip it. Can broil for some more minutes if you need it crispier
• After turning the oven to broil, keep monitoring frequently to avoid burnt texture
• Avoid overlapping for even cooking
• If there is excess moisture, they turn out to be sticky. So avoid adding much water, also grease the foil throughout to avoid sticking
• Alternatively, you can also deep fry them in oil
• Ajwain can be added while marinating cauliflower
• Chat Masala or any spice powder can be added for taste

Sugarless Tomato Jam

Having a sweet tooth, I always prefer to have a little sugar in my plate while having breakfast. Seeing this, my mother in law used to prepare tomato jam exclusively for my breakfast purposes! I became so addictive to that and learnt the recipe from her. But seeing the sugar addition, I was alarmed, and so thought of trying Jam with honey instead of Sugar, like I did for Eggless Dry fruit and nut cake. My friend Lori was my inspiration in cooking with honey. We liked the taste of this jam, and I didn’t find any difference in taste between honey and sugar. This has now become my new way of preparing jam!

Ingredients:

Firm and ripe Tomatoes – 10

Water – 3 tbsp

Honey – 3/4 cup (Adjust according to your sweetness)

Cardamom powder – 1/8 tsp (Optional)

Method:

• Add  honey and water to the pan and cook for a minute.

• Add the tomato puree to the honey syrup and stir it occasionally, till it thickens

• Cook till moisture is completely observed. Tomato and water should not run separately. If the jam is taken in a spoon, it should flow as a paste

• Allow the jam to cool completely.  Store in an airtight container

 My Notes:

• Sugar (White/Brown) can also be used instead of honey. Add sugar and water in a pan and cook till sugar melts completely
• Jam stays good upto a month
• Can  also boil tomatoes and then blend that
• Agave nectar can be used instead of honey

Ammini (Mani) Kozhukattai

Almost every year, Ammini Kozhukattai will be prepared on Vinayaka Chaturthi as an evening snack. Amma generally prepares some for prasadam, and some for us to eat. In the evening, she prepares a fresh batch with the leftover dough, pooranam, and vada batter. Having a sweet tooth I usually make frequent visits to kitchen and attack the sweet puranum. There will be less Sweet Kozhukkatai left, so she prepares this easy snack for the evening.

Ammini Kozhukattai

Preparation Time : 5 mins |  Cooking Time : 15 mins | Serves : 2

Recipe Category : Snack

Ingredients

Rice flour – 1 cup, sieved

Water – 1 cup + 1/4 cups

Coconut – 1/4 cup

Salt – as needed

Coconut oil – 1 tsp

To Temper:

Coconut oil – 1 tsp

Mustard Seeds – 1/4 tsp

Urad Dal – 1 tsp

Red Chilli – 3 ( Adjust according to your taste)

Hing – generous pinch

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Method:

• In a sauce pan, add coconut oil and 1 cup of water and bring to boil. When it is boiling and you see bubbles, add the sieved flour (Have 1/4 cup of water boiled in separate pan/kettle)
• For the flour that I used, the extra 1/4 cup water was not needed. If you feel dough is dry, add 1 tbsp of water, else no need to add. Water added should be boiling hot water, so its better to keep 1/4 cup hot water separately

• Cook till it comes to non sticky dough consistency. Cover the dough with a damp cloth, as it tends to dry soon

• When the dough is cool enough to handle, make small spheres (Marble Size). Since rice flour is gluten free they tend to be sticky, so greasing hand with coconut oil helps
• Grease the idli plate and place the kozhukattai and steam them for about 8- 12 minutes. Remove from the plate when it comes to room temperature

• Add coconut oil to the pan, when oil is hot add mustard seeds. When it splutters, add hing, red chilli, urad dal and curry leaves. After the dal is golden brown, add the steamed balls, grated coconut, salt and mix well. It tastes yum without any side dish

My Notes:

• Traditionally, raw rice is washed well and drained, spread in a towel till the moisture drains completely, and ground into a fine powder. Since it will take time, I have used store-bought Rice Flour
• Idiyappam flour can also be used to prepare Kozhukattai
• Can combine Rice flour and water to dosa batter consistency and add coconut oil and cook till you get a dough to the consistency similar to the one shown in above picture
• To get the outer layer soft, boil the water well for making the dough. Dough should be almost cooked with the hot water so that you get non sticky pliable dough
• When the kozhukattais are done, they will be shiny. Do not over cook, it may give you rubbery and broken Kozhukattai

Baked Thattai

Thattai is one of my favorite snacks. When my mother in law came to visit us, she used to prepare thattai and put them in big box. We snack them all day. On krishna jayanthi, i wanted to do some thattai. Generally they are deep fried in oil.  After seeing Baked Seedai result, I was confident enough to try my luck with baked healthy thattai. Thattai and seedai are almost similar – for thattai, chilli powder is the additional ingredient. Crispy and yummy thattai without much oil was ready. After Krishna jayanthi, I posted this pic in my FB page. Somehow it took me so such time to draft this post. Thanks to everyone who messaged me in FB for thattai recipe, and sorry for the delay in posting it.

Baked Thattai

Preparation time:  5mins  |  Cooking time: 25 – 30 mins

Recipe Category: Snacks

Ingredients:

Rice Flour- 1 cup

Urad Dal – 2 tbsp

Butter – 3tbsp

Red Chilli powder – 1 tsp heaped (Adjust according to your spice level)

Salt – as needed

Asafoetida – 1/8 tsp

Oil – to grease

Method:

For urad dal Flour:

Take 1/4cup of whole urad Dal and dry roast till they are golden brown. When it comes to room temperature, grind them into fine powder

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and grease the parchment paper with  oil
• Dry roast the rice flour in low flame for 2/3 minutes. Do not overcook till they change color
• In a wide vessel, add the rice flour and 2 tblsp of urad dal flour and salt. Sieve them for even mixing. Add asofetida and chilli powder to sieved flour and mix well

• Add water slowly and knead them into a pliable dough

• Grease your hands with coconut oil and make small balls (approximately 1 tsp dough). Flatten the balls on greased palm (2-3 inch in diameter) and carefully place on baking tray
• Bake in the preheated oven for 12 – 15 minutes. Then flip over very carefully and bake for another 12-15 minutes

My Notes:

• Cumin seeds, sesame seeds, curry leaves and Chana Dal can be added
• If you are frying, the thatti has to be fried in a medium low flame, as it will help for even cooking. Heat oil in a pan, When the oil becomes hot gently put the thattai to the oil. Cook till the hissing sound of oil subsides.
• I used the store-bought rice flour. Alternatively you can wash and soak the raw rice for 1/2 hours and dry them in a cloth till moisture completely dries, and grind them into fine powder

Mango Rice

Whenever I have confusion on what to cook for rice accompaniment, or during busy days, Variety rice is the one which helps me. Easy to cook, and a complete meal. I was thinking of coconut rice, but when I opened the fridge, saw raw mangoes and brinjal. Brinjal rice is my favorite, but whenever I buy Mangoes I always do instant mango pickle. This time, for a change, I tried Mango rice and after tasting it, decided I should do this frequently.

Mango Rice

Preparation Time : 10 mins |  Cooking Time : 20 – 25 mins | Serves : 2

Recipe Category: Entree

Ingredients

Cooked Rice – 3 cups

Raw Mango – 1 cup, peeled and grated ( or chopped in a chopper)

Turmeric powder – 1/8 tsp

Salt – as needed

Tempering:

Sesame Oil – 1 tsp

Mustard seeds -1/8 tsp

Bengal gram/channa dal – 1 tsp

Peanuts – 1/4 cup

CashewNuts – 2 tbsp

Red chilli – 3 (According according to your spice)

Asafetida-  generous pinch

Peanuts -1/4 cup

Curry leaves – few

Method:

• Cook rice and spread it in a wide pan
• Add oil to another pan. When oil is hot, add mustard seeds. when it splutters, add bengal gram, peanuts and cashewnuts , red chilli and Asafoetida
• When dal turns golden brown, add turmeric powder, salt and curry leaves

• Add grated mangoes and mix well to combine with the spices. Need not cook for a long time

• Add cooked rice and mix gently. Enjoy this rice with any chips like Microwave potato chips or any fry like Oven Roasted Cheppan Kizhangu, Potato Fry

My Notes:

• Use sour/tangy mangoes for this dish. If your mangoes are not sour enough, then add a little more than 1 cup
• You can also add coconut to this rice

Kondakadalai Sundal

Today being Varalakshmi Pooja, I had prepared Sweet Kozhukkatai, Sundal, Wheat Appam and paruppu Payasam. Kondakadalai Sundal is also prepared during Vinayaka Chaturthi and Navarathri. It goes well with rice and as a tea time snack. Previously I had posted Channa Masala with kondakadalai, and this sundal is a no-onion no-garlic version, as it is prepared for pooja. Knowing today is pooja day, many of my friends asked for Kozhukattai recipe, knowing I would have prepared that. But to update the notes better, and to make a detailed recipe, I need to discuss with two Kozhukattai experts (my Mom and Mother in Law). Recipes for Sweet Kozhukattai and paruppu Payasam are coming soon.

Kondakadalai Sundal

Preparation Time : 5 min | Soaking Time : 8 hrs | Cooking Time : 25 min | Serves : 3

Recipe Category : Appetizer/Snack

Ingredients:

Chickpeas/Kondakadalai/Channa- 1 cup

Shredded Coconut (Fresh/Frozen) – 3 tbsp

Salt – as needed

To Temper:

Mustard Seeds – 1/4 tsp

Urad dal – 1/2 tsp

Dry Red chillies – 2

Channa Dal – 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Hing/Asefotida – generous pinch

Coconut Oil- 1 tsp

Method:

• Soak  Channa overnight, or at least for 8 hours. Drain the water, add 3 cups of fresh water and pressure cook for 3 whistles. Once the cooker comes to room temperature drain the water and keep Channa aside

• Add oil to the pan, when the oil is hot add ‘to temper’ items let it crackle
• Add  chana and required amount of salt and mix well and cook it on low flame for 2 mins. Add coconut and saute for a minute and switch off

My Notes:

• Coconut oil gives nice aroma for sundal, so it is preferable
• Tinned Chickpea can also be used
• Instead of adding coconut at the end, you can also add after tempering