Poosanikai Pomegranate Thayir Pachadi(Ash gourd pomegranate Raita)

With mercury on the rise ,I am trying to include fruits and vegetables in my diet that are ideal for this season.One such delicious recipe is this raita made with ash gourd and pomegranate .Usually we make raita with ash gourd but to make it colourful,healthy and appealing I added carrot and pomegranate along with it.The pomegranate gives a mild sweetness to this raita and a cup of this raita when made with low fat yogurt is so healthy and makes it suitable for diabetics and weight watchers too.It goes well with Sambar or kuzhambhu and plain rice .

Preparation time :15 mins

Serves:2

Ingredients:

Grated ash gourd-3 tbsp

Grated carrot-3 tbsp

Pomegranate -2 tbsp

Low fat yogurt or regular plain yogurt(curd)-1 and 1/2 cups

Hing /asafetida -1/2 tsp

Salt-to taste

Oil-1 tbsp

To be grind to a paste:

Grated coconut-2 tbsp

Green chillies-1

To temper:

Mustard seeds -1 tsp

Jeera/cumin seeds-1 tsp

Curry leaves-few 

Procedure:

1.Grind green chilli and coconut to a fine paste .

2.Beat the yogurt to a uniform consistency.add salt and hing to it.

3.Add the grated ash gourd ,carrot and pomegranate to the yogurt . Add the ground paste also to it and mix well.

4.Heat oil in a wok and add the tempering ingredients and once the mustard splutters ,add it to the raita.

5.Serve the Raita chilled along with hot plain rice and sambar or vatha kuzhambhu .

Cucumber Canapes/Cucumber Chat/Cucumber Discs

Back after a nice vacation with family and friends at Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary.We had  great fun and got an opportunity to see few wild animals in its natural habitat.Its been a while since I posted on my blog and finally here I am.Summer calls for vegetables like cucumber and onion.I usually make raita or salad with cucumber.So this time I wanted to make something different and after a lot of browsing and reading I got an idea to make canapes which can be a perfect starter or snack in any party.The use of hung curd and fresh mint makes it more suitable for this summer. You can add fried sev or mixture to the topping when serving for kids and they will love it.These cucumber canapes can also be prepared in a jiffy if you have hung curd or cream cheese ready in your house.

Preparation time:10 minutes

Serves:2

Ingredients:

Hing curd-1/2 cup

Roundly sliced (1 inch thickness)cucumber-1 no

Finely chopped onion-1 small

Red chilli powder -1 tsp

Cumin powder-1 /2 tsp

Chat masala- 1 tsp 

Mint leaves-10 approximately

Sev or mixture (optional)-for topping

Salt-to taste

Procedure:

1.In a bowl add the hung curd(or cream cheese),salt,red chilli powder,cumin powder and chat masala and mix well.

2.Take the cucumber slices and top it with hung curd and sprinkle chopped onion and a mint leaf.You can also add sev or mixture.

3.serve immediately as a snack or starter.Yummy cucumber canapes are ready.

Tips:

*You can also add grated carrot or pomegranate as a topping along with onion.

*Optionally you can get creative and add sweet chutney or green chutney as toppings.Then add sev on top to make cucumber chat.

Melon Medley/Melon Salad

The Mercury is on the rising and there are no words to describe the intense heat here in Chennai and all I want is to bite in to the cool and juicy water melon or musk melon or cantaloupe .I eat both fruits separately and suddenly thought of making a salad using both.It is very easy to make and has a burst of freshness of mint.You can also add yellow water melon for a more colourful look.

Preparation time:10 minutes

Serves:3

Ingredients :

Diced Watermelon-1 cup

Diced Cantaloupe or musk melon-1 cup

Chopped fresh Mint-10 to 12 leaves

Honey-2 tbsp

Salt-1/2 tsp

Freshly ground Pepper-1 tsp

Lemon juice-2 tsp

Procedure :

1.In a mixing bowl , mix all the above ingredients together except salt.

2.Add salt just before serving and toss well to mix it(Otherwise melons may turn watery).

3. Refreshing melon salad is ready. You can refrigerate the salad and serve it cold 

also.

Vegetable salad with green chutney and roasted Peanuts

Few years back I used to say eeewww :-(,when I see a salad and believe me now I started eating them on a regular basis.This time the credit goes to my mother in law as she makes salads regularly at home and everyone likes to eat it.After marriage I was surprised to eat raw vegetables along with rasam or sambar.But some of my mother in law's salads are really tasty with addition of simple ingredients and also due to the increasing awareness of healthy eating,I developed a like towards tasty salads and they are truly stomach filling and helps you to take reduced amount of rice or roti.It serves as a good side dish for sambar or vathakuzhambu  with hot plain rice also.

Serves:3

Preparation time:10 mins

Ingredients:

Grated Carrots-2 nos

Finely Diced cucumber-1 no

Finely chopped onion-1 no

Finely chopped tomato -1 no

Pomegranate kernels -from 1/2 of its fruit

Roasted and coarsely powdered peanuts-4 tbsp

Green chutney-3 tsp

Salt-to taste

Chopped fresh Coriander leaves- few

Procedure:

Mix all the above ingredients in a bowl and serve.yummy vegetable salad is ready to eat.

Tips:

1.Refrigerate salad for later use.

2.To know how to make green chutney click here.

3.You can even add chopped capsicum,steamed American sweet corn kernels to this salad.

Daangar Pachidi(Urad dhal flour raita )

Everytime I make murrukku or thattai for diwali or krishna jayanthi,I was always left with some roasted urad dhal flour which I used for it.This time after krishnajayanthi, again I had some leftover roasted urad dhal flour and one day when I called my mom ,I told her I don't  know what to do with this  leftover urad dhal flour.she told me that we can make a delicious raita with this roasted urad dhal flour and it is known as Daangar pachidi traditionally.It tastes great with any vathakhuzhambu or sambar.I was quite unsure whether there will be any raw smell of urad dhal flour as we roast the urad dhal only till it turns light pink and not golden brown for murrukku or thattai.But to my surprise the Daangar pachidi came out superb and here goes my post for the recipe of Daangar pachidi.

Preparation time:5 mins

Serves:2

Ingredients:

Roasted urad dal flour-1 1/2 tbsp

Thick curd-1 cup

Hing-1/2 tsp

Salt- to taste

Coriander leaves chopped- few to garnish

Oil-1 tsp

To temper:

Mustard-1 tsp

Jeera -1 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Green chillies chopped-2 no s

Procedure:

1. In a vessel add the roasted urad dhal flour, salt, hing and curd and mix well.

2. In a small pan,add a tsp of oil and add the tempering ingredients.once the mustard and jeera splutters add it to the curd mixture.

3. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve it with vathakhuzhambu or sambar or puliyotharai.

Carrot Raita

A very tasty and healthy accompaniment for any mixed rice or pulao or Briyani.It tastes good even with vatha khuzhambu.Generally it is done by grinding the carrot along with coconut and chilli but I prefer grated carrots as they give a nice texture to the raita.you can even add vadai to this raita and transform it into curd vadai or thayir vadai topped with boondi .

Preparation time:10 mins

Serves :2

Ingredients:

Grated carrots-2 small nos

Thick Curd(should not be sour)1 cup

Green chilli-1 no

Grated coconut -1 tbsp

Coriander leaves- few

Salt- to taste

Sugar-1/2 tsp 

Hing-1/2 tsp

Oil-2 tsp

To temper :

Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp

Curry leaves -few

Procedure :

1.Grind coconut ,coriander leaves,green chilli to a paste.

2.Beat the curd and add the above step paste ,salt,hing,sugar and grated carrot.

3.Heat oil in a small kadai and add the tempering ingredients.once the mustard seeds splutter,add it to the curd and serve with any pulao or any mixed rice.