LEMON RICE

Lemon rice is simple south Indian lunch box rice dish... Lemon rice is nothing but steamed rice mixed with juice of lemon with yummy crunchy peanuts and cashews..

Lemon rice can be made with leftover rice also....It is best with mango pickle and papad..

INGREDIENTS:

• Lemon juice - 3 tsp
• Cooked rice - 1 cup
• Ginger chopped - 1 tsp
• Green chilli - 2 no
• Peanuts as required
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Tumeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Asafoetida
• Channa dal - 1 tsp
• Curry leaves
• Oil - 1 tsp
• salt to taste

PROCEDURE:

• Squeeze the lemon and extract the juice and add salt as required
• In a small frying pan, add oil and tamper the mustard seeds,channa dal , ginger,green chilli,curry leaves ,tumeric powder,asafoetida and curry leaves..
• Turn off the heat.. Mix this tampering to lemon juice 
• For lemon rice ,rice should be fluffy and cool
• Now add this lemon juice mixture to rice and mix gently ...Mix with fork so that it maintains fluffiness and not become mashy....
• Serve with pickle or potato fry...

TIPS:

• Grinding of ginger and green chilli gives much more flavour
• To extract more juice ,keep the lemon in water for an hour..

RAVA LADOO

Rava ladoo is easy and simple to make sweets.. Its my hubby favourite.. I usually make big batch of roasted powder rava and sugar mixture and stored it in freezer.. Whenever we need it just mix with milk powder and hot ghee and then make them into ladoos.. yummy rava ladoos ready in no time..

For this type of rava ladoo, I prefer fine variety...we can also add finely chopped nuts

INGREDIENTS:

• Rava -  1 cup
• Milk powder - 1/2 cup
• Powdered sugar - 1 cup
• Ghee - 1/4 cup
• Elachi powder
• Nuts 

PROCEDURE:

• Dry roast rava and grind them into fine powder.. but if you don't like fine powder ,you can use fine variety of rava

• In a bowl, add rava ,powdered sugar,nuts and milk powder mix well
• heat the ghee 

• Add ghee little by little to mixture and mix in a small batch and start making ladoos
• Make tight ladoos
• Yummy Rava ladoos ready

PAL KOZHUKATTAI

Pal kozhukattai is delicious dish from Tamilnadu... Pal kozhukattai is a rice dumplings cooked in coconut milk with sugar/jaggary.. My mother used to make it with sugar.. its so yummy and those dumpling just melt in mouth ...

There are many ways to make this pal kozhukattai ..this is very simplest method..

INGREDIENTS:

• Rice flour - 1 cup
• Grated coconut /coconut milk - 1/2 cup
• Sugar - 1/4 cup
• Ilachi powder - 1 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Gingely oil - 1 tsp
• Water as required
• Milk - 1 cup

PROCEDURE:

• In a sauce pan, heat the water until it boils and bubbles .. add gingely oil to water
• In a bowl add rice flour and salt and mix well 
• Now add this boiling water little by little to rice flour and mix using wooden ladle its forms crumple as shown as pic... this flour now half cooked

• Grease your fingers make them into soft dough

• Then make them into small balls and steam them in idli cooker

• Grind the coconut into smooth thin paste.. or extract thin coconut milk

• In a sauce pan ,add this coconut thin paste and milk and little water let it boil in very low flame
• Add sugar and ilachi powder.
• Add steamed rice balls in this coconut  milk .. let it cook for few more mins.
• Yummy pal kozhukattai ready

APPLE JALEBI

Apple jalebi is also called as apple fritters.. It is little modified version of jalebi..If you are bored of normal jalebi go for this version ...its so yummy ...serve hot ...

INGREDIENTS:

• Apple - 2 no
• Maida - 11/2cup
• Corn flour - 3 tsp
• Curd - 1 cup
• Sugar - 1 cup
• Water - 3/4 cup
• Ilachi  powder 
• Kesar color

PROCEDURE:

Jalebi batter:

• In a bowl , mix maida ,corn flour, curd and make lump free batter
• Add kesar color to the batter
• Leave this batter for 2 - 3 hours on counter top
• Make a batter so that batter is running consistency as shown Pic

Sugar syrup:

• To make sugar syrup, In a sauce pan add sugar and water mix well..
• Let it boil and reach one string consistency..
• Add Ilachi powder ...Add a 1 tsp of lemon juice to sugar syrup and mix well

For frying:

• Wash , peel and cut the apple 
• Heat the oil for frying

• Meanwhile, coat the apple with dry maida 

• Dip the apple in jalebi batter and fry in oil
• Take the jalebi out when it is golden brown and crispy
• Now dip in sugar syrup

• Yummy apple jalebi ready

KOOZH AND KALI

Koozh is fermented porridge made from kali.. we can even say it is farmer's breakfast in Tamilnadu... It is so healthy made from Ragi(finger millet)....During festive season of Aadi mostly very amman temple serve this Koozh...

         In my ammama (mummy's mother ,she is great cook) house, ...she used to used make this kali...There will be big wooden ladle specially designed for this ..and she dips her hands in a water take a hot kali makes them into big balls... It is served with dry fish kuzhamu or kara kuzhamu..

         As i said before koozh is prepared from fermented kali..kali is fermented in water overnight ..next day it is mixed with water and curd ... it is served with murungai keerai poriyal, kara kuzhamu...or simply served shallots, green chilli and pickle.

      Koozh is very good coolant ,it is mostly taken in summer..

INGREDIENTS:

1. Ragi (finger millet ) powder - 1/4 cup
2. cooked rice - 1/2 cup
3. salt to taste
4. curd as required
5. Water - 2 cup

PROCEDURE:

KALI:

• In the sauce pan , add ragi and salt
• Now add water little by little and mix them into lump free batter 
• Switch on the stove, In low flame cook them slowly

• Mix well continuously otherwise it will form lumps.
• It will come to thick paste like consistency ,now add mashed cooked rice
• cook for few more mins ,now switch off 
• Wet the hands and make them into big balls,do this when they are hot.

• Now kali is ready.

KOOZH:

• Fill the bowl with water
• Dip the ladle in water,using this ladle scoop out the kali and drop them in water

• Now fermented it overnight
• Next morning mix well with water 
• Add curd and mix well
• Koozh is ready

STUFFED OKRA

Every weekend my hubby prepares lunch for us..This weekend he prepared stuffed okra... it is yumm yumm.. When your hubby cooks for you and you sit relaxing ,its a heaven...

Ingredients:

1. Okra - 250g
2. Onion - 1no
3. Urad daal - 1tsp
4. Mustard seeds - 1/2tsp
5. Curry leaves
6. Oil

For stuffing:

1. Chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp
2. Coriander powder - 1 tsp
3. Grated coconut - 3 tsp
4. Besan - 1 tsp
5. Tumeric powder - 1 tsp
6. Groundnut powder - 1 tsp
7. Lemon juice - 1 tsp
8. Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Chop off both ends and make a slit
2. Mix all the stuffing ingredients with little water
3. In a frying pan, add oil and tamper mustard seeds,urad daal,curry leaves
4. Add onion and saute well
5. Meanwhile stuff the okra
6. Now stuffed okra in the pan..saute well
7. Cook in very flame for 8 -10 mins
8. Serve hot.

INSTANT RASAM WITHOUT RASAM MASALA

Rasam is south Indian soup traditionally made with  tamarind water and rasam masala.. every household have different version of rasam.. Rasam can also made using tomato , lemon, pineapple..even i tasted green apple rasam...

This rasam recipe actually my mom's recipe..I made little improvisation ...

INGREDIENTS:

1. Black Pepper - 2 tsp
2. Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
3. Garlic - 5 no
4. Tomato - 1 no
5. Curry leaves
6. Tamarind - lemon size
7. Dry red chilli -3 no
8. Asofoetida
9. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
10. Coriander leaves 
11. Salt to taste

PROCEDURE:

1. Soak the tamarind in the Luke warm water.. extract the juice from it
2. In a mixer jar,add pepper and cumin seeds and grind into course powder
3. Then add tomato , garlic , curry leaves ,coriander leaves... Pulse it again.. Don't grind it just pulse it (I use this method so that we will eat curry leaves )
4. Mix this mixture in tamarind water and add salt to taste
5. In the sauce pan, add tsp of oil then add mustard seeds,curry leaves, dry red chilli and asofoetida
6. Now add this tamarind mixture to pan...When foaming bubbles forms on the surface..switch off the flame..never let it boil..
7. Garnish with coriander leaves..