Adai

Breakfast is most important meal of the day for me. If I have good breakfast I am in good mood. I prefer savory items for breakfast. This is protein packed breakfast.


Ingredients:
Black Urad dal whole - 1/4 cup
Par Boiled Rice - 1 cup
Tuwar Dal - 1/4 cup
Red chilli - 3/4 (as per taste, optional if kids don't like it)
Heeng - 1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves - 2 strands
Salt as per taste

Method:
Soak the dal and rice for 3-4 hours or over night. Drain water and roughly grind all the ingredients together. Not soft like a paste, still you should be able to feel the texture. The best part of Adai is you can make it as soon as the batter is ready, it need not ferment. Make adai like dosa, but little thick. Enjoy and save rest of the batter in fridge.

Savory Modak - Koyakattai

I love sweet modak, specially ones made by Amma. Some people do not enjoy the sweet version. If you are one amongst them no worries as there is a savory version of the modak. Its very simple dish to make once you know how to make it. Amma used to make it with hand. In this modern world there are molds that can be used to make the modak.

Ingredients:

For Stuffing:

Urad dal - 1 cup (soaked in water for 1 hour)

Grated Coconut fresh or frozen - 1/2 cup

Green chilli - 2/3 (as per taste)

Curry leaves - few strands

For tempering:

Oil

Mustard seeds - 1tsp

Urad dal - 2tsp

Red chilli - 2/3 cut into pieces

For Covering:

Rice powder - 1 cup

Water  - 1 1/4 cup

Salt as per taste

Oil - 2 tsp

Idli stand or any other vessel to steam.

Method:

To make Stuffing:

Drain all water from the soaked dal, Grind it rough with salt, green chilli & curry leaves. Season it with urad dal, red chilli & mustard.  Add grated coconut. Steam this mixture in idli stand for 10 mins.Turn off the gas and let the mixture cool.

To make outside covering

Take a pan and 2 tsp oil, water and rice powder. Keep stirring until it leaves the spatula and comes clean when touched with hand. Turn off the gas and let the mix cool.

To make the modak:

Make small balls out of the stuffing mix. Grease a idli stand just 1 plate (Grease the 2nd plate on the stand so it can be little higher than water level). Grease your hand with little oil, make a round ball with the covering mix. Use your fingers to shape it like a small flat circle. Take 1 stuffing ball and stuff it in the flat circle and now slowly close it towards the center folding it in the shape of modak. Alternatively you can grease the modak mold and stuff the stuffing. Keep the modak in the idli plate. Keep the modak at some distance from other. Now steam for 12 mins on high flame. Turn off the gas and remove the modak. It is ready to be enjoyed.

Modak - Koyakattai

I love sweet modak, specially ones made by Amma. It just makes me drool. Its very simple dish to make once you know how to make it. Amma used to make it with hand. In this modern world there are molds that can be used to make the modak.

Ingredients:

For Stuffing (Poornam):

Grated Coconut fresh or frozen - 1 cup

Jaggery - 1/2 cup

Cardamon powder - 1tsp

Ghee - 2 tsp

For Covering:

Rice powder - 1 cup

Water  - 1 1/4 cup

Salt as per taste

Oil - 2 tsp

Idli stand or any other vessel to steam.

Method:

To make Poornam (Stuffing):

Take a pan and add jaggery and some water. Heat on medium flame until the jaggery melts. Add grated coconut and keep stirring until it becomes thick and the water dries. Add ghee and cardamon powder. Keep stirring till the mixture is dry. Turn off the gas and let the mixture cool.

To make outside covering

Take a pan and 2 tsp oil, water and rice powder. Keep stirring until it leaves the spatula and comes clean when touched with hand. Turn off the gas and let the mix cool.

To make the modak:

Make small balls out of the poornam mix. Grease a idli stand just 1 plate (Grease the 2nd plate on the stand so it can be little higher than water level). Grease your hand with little oil, make a round ball with the covering mix. Use your fingers to shape it like a small flat circle. Take 1 poornam ball and stuff it in the flat circle and now slowly close it towards the center folding it in the shape of modak. Alternatively you can grease the modak mold and stuff the poornam. Keep the modak in the idli plate. Keep the modak at some distance from other. Now steam for 10 mins on high flame. Turn off the gas and remove the modak. It is ready to be enjoyed.

Parikai Poornam - Karela sabzi

Karela is something that either you love it or don't like it at all. If you find it bitter this sabzi can be your thing. It has the sweet and sour tangy taste. I love this so much that I can just eat it as a snack. This recipe Amma learnt from my Lata Mami and I learnt it from Amma.

Ingredients:
Karela - 4
Tamarind pulp - 1 small lemon sized
Salt
Dosa Milagai podi - Spiced chutney powder or Sambhar powder
Oil
Jaggery (optional)

Method:
Chop the karela into thin round slices. If it is too big, cut it length wise and then chop into small pieces. Take oil in a pan and add the karela pieces and shallow fry till it is crisp. You can deep fry for faster time, but I like it shallow fried. Add thick tamarind pulp and let it boil. Now add salt as per taste, add the dosa milagai podi as per taste and jaggery if you like sweet and sour taste. Goes well with roti or rice and some dal/moolakootal.

Kakadi Koshimbir - Cucumber Raita

I love cucumber and curd. So imagine the combination of both is so good. This is a easy recipe and can be put together in the last minute. You can just eat this as a salad as well.

Ingredients:

Cucumbers - 2

Roasted Crushed peanut - 1/2 cup

Yogurt - 1 cup

Salt

Sugar (optional)

For Tempering:

Green chillies - 2

Mustard seeds - 1tsp

Jeera - 1tsp

Heeng - 1/4 tsp

Method:

Chop cucumbers, add roasted crushed peanuts, yogurt, salt, little sugar if you like. Mix it well. Season with mustard, jeera, heeng, green chillies.

You can make it with either cucumbers or onions and tomatoes or grated radish. 

Elai Ada Savory

Ingredients:

Coconut  1 cup

Salt

1 cup rice

1 tsp boiled rice

Method:

Soak rice 1 cup for 2 hrs add 1 tsp boiled rice also for softness when soaking rice. Grind it very nicely as a thick paste add a little salt. Add little salt to the coconut. Then spread batter in banana leaf spread coconut mix and fold the banana leaf and steam for 10 min. If you don't have banana leaf, just spread it in idli stand, add stuffing and cover again on top and steam.

Elai Ada Sweet

Ingredients:

Coconut  1 cup

Jaggery 1/2 cup

Ghee

Cardamon powder

Ripe Jack fruit (optional)

1 cup rice

1 tsp boiled rice

Method:

Make poornam as of sweet modak. If you get jack fruit you can cook the jack fruit add in poornam (this is original elai ada)

Soak rice 1 cup for 2 hrs add 1 tsp boiled rice also for softness when soaking rice. Grind it very nicely as a thick paste add a little jaggery for a little sweet.Then spread batter in banana leaf spread poornam and fold the banana leaf and steam for 10 min. If you don't have banana leaf, just spread it in idli stand, add poornam and cover again on top and steam.