GREEN CAPSICUM CHUTNEY

Tongue tickling spicy Capsicum chutney is totally different than the regular chutney varieties like Coconut Chutney, Onion Tomato Chutney, Peanut onion Red Chutney. To check other interesting chutney varieties click here. This spicy chutney that can be served as side dish to Dosa, Idli and it goes very well with steam rice. It is very quick to prepare compromising taste. Simple yet yummy taste most satisfying comfort chutney that you can mix with steam rice and it tastes divine in lunch box.  It could ease your busy morning routine. 

Recently I served this chutney with Idly in small get together party at home in Diwali Festival time, and it was instant hit by all our friends and they started asking for recipe. So, I thought to share it in my space.  I bet this chutney will undeniably instant hit in your family too. 

Ingredients:

Green Capsicum (Medium)– 1 no.

Tamarind/ Imli/Puli – 1 inch piece

Hing / Asafoetida – a pinch

Salt to taste

Masala items:

Urud Dal/White Lentil – 3 tsp

Channa Dal / Split Bengal Gram – 2 tsp

Roasted Ground Nut – 1 tbsp

Dhaniya/Coriander Seeds – 2 tsp

Red Chili whole – 2 nos.

Seasoning:

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Urud Dal/White lentil – 1 tsp

Curry Leaves – Few

Red chili – 1 no.

Method:

1   Step 01) Clean and chop the capsicum and shell out the inner part and cut them into small pieces. Heat a pan with 3 tsp of oil and add the seasoning items let it splutter and transfer them into a plate. In same pan in low flame add above Masala items ingredients

     Step 02) Nicely roast all the Masala items till it turns to golden color and transfer it mixer jar and allow them to cool. In same pan add 2 tsp of oil and fry the capsicum, tamarind, hing/asafoetida, salt and saute till the capsicum shrinks. Switch off the flame and allow them to cool

      Step 03) Add the fried capsicum in to mixer jar and then grind it as paste adding little water and adjust the salt if any.

Serving: This chutney goes very well with Idli, dosa and other south Indian breakfast recipes. And most importantly it taste divine with steam rice.

Note:

You can tweak this chutney into lots of variations as per your taste buds.  

Below are some variations:

01) To increase the volume of the chutney, you can add onion and tomato and fry them before adding capsicum. If you are adding tomato then reduce the tamarind quantity. Tomato itself gives tangyness to the chutney.

02) Adding garlic makes it more flavorful. Use it as per your family preference and taste buds

03) You can also add coconut to enhance more richness to the chutney. But, the shelf time is less

04)The above chutney procedure gives nice shelf time.  Without any fear you can pack this chutney rice for lunch box.

05) You can also replace green capsicum with red or yellow. Or even combination of all 3 vegetable.

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Fried Banana with Sesame Seeds and Grated Coconut

How about enjoying something completely different varieties of sweet dish other than regular Diwali sweets.  It is completely healthy, stomach filling sweet dish that can simply liven up your taste buds. Today I am delighted to share Fried Banana recipe in Plantain. 

Making Fried banana takes only three steps 1) make batter to dip 2) simply peel and slice the banana into horizontal pieces 3) dip and deep fry. Let them cool for several minutes before serving, it will turn extremely crispy you can literally hear the sound of it. I bet it will be favorite snack for your family members of all ages and perfect party food.

Ingredients:

Plantain |Banana  – 1no.

Oil for frying

For Batter 

Rice Flour – ½ cup

Sugar – ¼ cup

Baking Powder – ½ tsp

Salt – 1 tsp

Grated Coconut – 3 tbsp

Toasted Sesame seeds – 2tbsp

1/3 cup water

Method:

Step 01) Take mixing bowl, add rice flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, grated coconut, toasted sesame seeds mix well with spoon and add water and stir until nicely combined batter. Consistency should be medium not too much watery or solid.

Step 02) Chop the top and bottom portion of banana. Peel and slice into 4 pieces and cut them horizontally into 3 pieces

Step 03) Heat a pan with oil. Dip the banana pieces into the batter and fry for about 4 minutes or until they turn to golden color. Transfer fried banana to paper towel to drain the excess oil.

Serving Tip:  

Let the fried banana cool for several minutes before serving, this enhances more crispiness. 

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Badusha | Balushahi - Diwali Sweet Recipe

In southern part of India call as Badusha and northern part call as Balushahi - This sweet dish is so soft and flaky in texture and melts in your mouth. Its must have sweet dish during festival like Diwali. This recipe requires simple ingredients which are always available in our kitchen and you can able to prepare this dish very easily. Small balls are prepared from all purpose flour which are deep fried and dipped in sugar syrup to give it a sweet flavor.

This Badusha always reminds my childhood days. Usually in our city, light cuts off at 6 to 8 pm every 3 days and my father brings this sweet dish for us. We enjoyed the light cuts because of this sweet dish. Is it funny! Those were care free days and guilt freely we were gulping this wonderful sweet!

Ingredients:

For Dough:

All Purpose Flour / Maida – ½ cup

Baking  Powder – ¼ tsp

Baking Soda – a Pinch

Butter – 2 tbsp

Yogurt/Curd – 2 tbsp

Salt - a pinch (optional)

Oil for deep frying

Sugar Syrup:

Sugar – ½ cup

Water – ¼ cup

Lemon Juice – 2 tsp

Garnishing:

Chopped Almonds - 5 to 6nos

Chopped Pistachios – 6 to 7 nos.

Method:

Step 01) Take a bowl add all purpose flour, baking soda and baking powder sieve together to mix it well. Add butter and crumble it.

Step 02) Add curd and mix it lightly. Do not knead like a dough at this step (because at this step we don’t want to make gluten to form) Dough should look like flaky see the picture below. Cover the dough with lid and let the dough rest for 10 to 15 minutes.

Step 03) In low flame heat a pan add sugar little bit of water cook it till you get one string consistency syrup. Add little bit of lemon juice. Lemon juice helps the sugar syrup to avoid crystallization. Switch off the flame

Step 04) Take the flaky dough and knead it once again as smooth dough (Do not mix it too much, just all the dry flour is to be evenly mixed. Take the dough in to small size give a shape like ball and flat little bit and in the center make a dent from your thump ( ball should have rough edges when you fry and put it in sugar syrup, the syrup will go into all the small holes) So make sure balls should not have smooth edges

Step 05) Heat oil and fry them in medium heat till you get the golden color patches appear on both sides. Add them to sugar syrup. Let them to sit in the sugar syrup for couple of minutes and then put it in a serving plate and garnish with chopped almonds and pistachios.

Note:

Baking soda and baking powder helps to aerate the dough

No need to add extra water to dough, as Butter and curd itself gives enough moisture for dough

Lemon juice helps the sugar syrup to stay as sugar syrup. It will not solidify when cools down.

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Thondekai | Tondli | Tindora | Kovakkai Chutney

Kovakkai | Tindora | Ivy Gourd |Baby watermelon| Thondekai | Dondakaya | Tondli -  Well , what's in a name ..Call what you want. 

Few months before, my Mom-in-law was here for summer vacation and she taught me so many chutney varieties and other super yummy dishes. I have noted down all that wonderful recipes from her. I have learned many recipes in kovakkai, today I am sharing one simple recipe from that collection.  Kovakkai chutney | Tindora Chutney taste different than the regular one. That is what we want for our taste bud isn’t?   I am sure you would love them! 

Ingredients:

Kovakkai/Tindora/ Ivy Gourd  -  15 to 20 nos

Green Chili – 1 no.

Red Chili – 1 no.

Tamarind / Imli – ½ inch

Curry Leaves – Few

Grated Coconut – 1 tbsp

Salt  to taste

Seasoning:

Mustuard Seeds – ½ tsp

Urad Dal – ½ tsp

Hing/Asafoetida – ¼ tsp

Red Chili – 1 split

Method:

Step 01) Wash and cut the edges in both the sides and chop them in to pieces

Step 02) Heat a pan with 2 tbsp of oil, add all the ingredients except coconut and fry them nicely for about 5 to 7 minutes. Once the vegetable is shrikes, add grated coconut mix everything well and saute it for 2 more minutes. 

Step 03) Allow them to cool and grind them semi coarse in a mixer. If you want smooth consistency then, add 2 tbsp of water and grind. Garnish with seasoning.

That’s it yummy Kovakkai chutney is ready to serve. 

Tindora | Thondekai chutney is excellent side dish for Chapatti, Idli and dosa and rotti. So easily you can tweak them as Kovakkai Thogayal and it will be awesome for steam rice and great with anything and everything. I will share next time!

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Split Black Lentil Dosa

Split Black Lentil Dosa - Healthy and delicious dosa/adai prepared from Split Black Lentil. Black lentil has many health benefits. Lentil has special benefits like energy to burn while stabilizing blood sugar, rich in dietary fiber; provide excellent important minerals like B- Vitamins and protein all with no fat.  What else, we require in breakfast! Follow the step-by- step photo recipe on how to make healthy split black lentil dosa.

 Ingredients:

Soaking Ingredients:

Sada Rice – 1 cup

Idly Rice – 1 cup

Tuvar Dal/Thuvaram Paruppu / Yellow Lentil – ¼ cup

Karuppu Ulantham Paruppu/ Split Black Lentil – 1/2 cup

Masala items for grinding:

Red chilies – 5 to 6nos

Curry Leaves – Few

Ginger – ½ inch piece

Jeera /Cumin Seeds – 1 tbsp

Pepper corn – 6 to 7nos

Hing/Asafoetida – ½ tsp

Salt – 2 tbsp

Oil 

Split Black Lentils

Method:

Step 01) Wash and soak both the rice’s together for 4 to 5 hrs.  And soak the tuvar dal for 1 hr and black lentil for 2 hrs.  Don’t over wash the black lentils and don’t discard the lentil skin.

Step 02) In wet grinder, grind the masala items first without adding water. Once it is nicely pulse down, add the soaked rice and use the soaked rice water to grind.

Step 03) Then add tuvar dal followed by black lentils. Grind it little bit coarse texture (i.e. not so rough or too smooth)

Step 04) Transfer the batter to a container/vessel and add salt and mix and beat nicely with your hand.  Allow the batter to rest for at least 2 to 3 hrs for fermentation. In summer season there is no need of fermentation.

Step 05) Heat tawa over medium flame, sprinkle few drops of water on tawa, if they sizzle, it is ready for Dosa. Take ladle full of batter pour it on center of tawa and then just rotate the batter to take shape of round. Pour 1 tsp of oil around edges of dosa and flip and cook on both side of dosa till surface turns to light golden brown.

Tips for fermentation of batter in cold season

In summer season, you can make immediate dosa after grinding.  But, in cold season it is bit difficult to ferment. Temperature is very important factor for fermentation.  Here are some tips, you can follow:

     01) Reserving the soaked water of rice and dal and using the water while grinding helps to fermentation. Reason, the starch of the rice is quickly consumed by the bacteria.

     02) Nicely rotate and beat the batter with your hand, speed helps the batter to aeration. Hand has the microbes that are the starter for fermentation. (Find out in your home, who has better bacteria in hand and tell them to mix the batter for u. Luckily my hand has!  :))

     03) Place the batter container under some wooden mat. Wood also releases some sort of light heat. 

     04) Or in the oven, just turn light on, light energy converted in to heat energy.

     05) Take big vessel filled with 1/4 level of Luke warm water and then place the batter container/vessel in it.

        

     06) ¼ tsp of yeast dissolved in ¼ of warm water and pour that mixture into batter and mix nicely.

     07) If nothing above works... baking soda does the magic. 

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Kollu Rasam | Horse Gram Rasam

Kollu Rasam /Hore gram Rasam –  Rasam  is a category of hot spicy soup in southern Indian style.  There are various recipes of Rasam can be prepared in so many different process of method using different seasonings, base ingredients and special rasam Masala powder and fresh grounded spices.

 However, among many varieties of rasam,  Kollu Rasam stands tall to its simple preparation and heavenly incomparable taste. This recipe does not require any special/specific rasam powder. We are using fresh grounded spices which are always available in our pantry like Garlic, black pepper, cumin seeds, curry leaves and tomatoes. The taste of horse gram/kollu simply makes it stand out from other Rasam recipes.

Many people make rasam with only cooked kollu/horse gram drained water but, here pounded handful of cooked kollu and mixed it in rasam. This tastes good and filling. Rasam mandi is tastes divine with curd rice.

Ingredients:

Black Pepper corn – 2 tsp

Jeera/Cumin seeds – 2 tsp

Garlic flakes – 4 to 5

Tomato – 1 medium

Broth Ingredients:

Kollu/ Horse gram – 2 tbsp

Imli/Tamarind Juice – ½ cup

Water – 2 cups

Masala Powder:

Turmeric Powder – 1/ 4 tsp

Salt

Hing

Jaggary Powder – 1tsp

For Tempering:

Mustard Seeds – ½ tsp

Urad Dal/White Lentils – ¼ tsp

Cumin Seeds – ¼ tsp

Red chili  – 1 no.

Curry leaves – 2 to 3 no.

Oil – 1 tbsp

For Garnishing:

Fresh Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp

Method:

1   Step 01) Wash and soak the kollu/horesgram for 1 to 2 hrs and then cook them in a pressure cooker up to 3 whistles. Drain the water in a separate bowl. (Don’t discard the drained water from cooked kollu; this recipe specially calls the broth to use). Grind the cooked kollu into fine paste

       Step 02) In a mortar and pastel crush the cumin seeds, pepper corns and garlic flakes

     Step 03) Heat thick medium size bottom pan add oil for seasoning, add mustard allow them to crackle then add cumin seeds, urad dal, red chili and curry leaves and saute for 2 mins. and then add crushed cuminseeds-pepper-garlic mixture fry for 2 more minutes and then add tomato pieces and fry till tomatoes turns to mushy

     Step 04) Add the tamarind juice, 2 cups of water, turmeric powder, hing, jaggary and salt cook them till it starts to bubble form at edge. Add drained kollu water and grounded kollu paste and cook them nicely and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

Serving: Serve with steam rice, or as hot soup or even with curd rice. It taste so good however you want to take them.

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Paruppu Poli | Puran Poli for Navratri

One can prepare this sweet dish in chana dal (kadalai Paruppu), or tuvar dal (tuvaram paruppu). Or even equal proportions of both the dals. This time I prepared with Tuvaram Paruppu. This recipe doesn’t require any exotic ingredients and very easy to prepare.

Last weekend when we are watching Tamil movie, there was a scene in that everyone was enjoying the delicious poli and my husband immediately looked at me with a big smile on his face asked “ Can we have?” it’s been a long time, I have not prepared this wonderful dish and Navratri is also approaching and I have not shared poli recipe on my space, so I just thought to do it immediately.  He helped me in the kitchen to flip the poli and we enjoyed the hot poli very much smearing ghee on top. I must tell you, it tastes too good when you add extra ghee on top :)

In Kannada they call it as Holige or Obbattu,  in Maharashtra as Puran Poli, and In Tamil as Parrupu Poli. To make it more healthier sweet dish, you can use wheat flour instead of all purpose flour.

Ingredients to make Poornam:

Tuvar Dal/Tuvaram Paruppu/ Yellow Lentil  – ½ cup

Powdered Jaggary - ½ cup

Elaichi / Cardamom Powder – 1 tsp

Water – 1cup

Ingredients To make outer shell:

All Purpose Flour / Maida – 1 cup

Turmeric Powder – ¼ tsp

Salt – ½ cup

Clarified Butter – 2 tbsp

Water – ½ cup

Method:

Step 01) Wash tuvar dal and soak it in water for 1 hr. And then cook the dal nicely in pressure cooker or stove top pan.

Step 02) Drain the water completely and allow the dal to cool down and then blend it in mixer with cardamom powder and jaggary and transfer this paste into bowl. Refrigerate the pooram for 1/2 hr, when it is nicely cool down you can size them into balls or scoop it with spoon as pooram stuffing

Step 03) In a bowl add maida, turmeric powder and salt mix well. Add water little by little and knead the dough.  Smear 2 to 3 tsp of oil knead as smooth as possible like elastic dough and covered it with lid. Let the dough rest for ½ to 1 hr this helps the dough more smooth and pliable

Step 04) In any flat surface (I inverted a steel plate) Grease the plastic sheet with generous amount of oil and then place the ball of dough and pat on greased surface and place the pooram in center

Step 05) Pull and fold the pooram evenly with the patted dough cover and seal as per below picture and start patting  the stuffed dough into poli shape

Step 06) Heat tawa add teaspoon of ghee and gently place the flattened poli on it, and cook them on low flame and flip when raw appearance of dough disappear and cook till you get the golden color patches appear on both sides.

Note: 

1. Good option is banana leaf; this leaf helps poli to flip it on tawa more easily and not burning your finger
2. If you are using plastic sheet then, it is better to transfer to your hand and then place it on tawa, that way you can avoid the burning of plastic sheet and your hand.
3. If you are pro, keep it in very low flame and pat stuffed poornam dough directly on tawa.
4. You can also use grated coconut to the pooram stuffing but, shelf time will be lesser.

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