Thalagam

Thiruvadharai always comes in the month of Margazhi with hot flavorful Kali(Sweet rice pudding) and Thalagam a.k.a 7 kari kootu. The name thalagam is mostly associated with the people of Tirunelveli as they have a different method of preparing this 7 kari kootu. I love my mom's way of preparing it and she said that she got the recipe from my aunt(My dad and his family hails from Tirunelveli).In my house we prepare this thalagam frequently and not just on thiruvadharai as all of us love  it.It goes well with hot plain rice and papad or appalam.

Preparation time:30 mins

serves:4

Ingredients:

Mixed large diced vegetables(Yellow pumpkin,white pumpkin,elephant yam(senai),seppankizhangu,Mochai payaru or fresh field beans,carrot,vazhaikai and beans)-350 gms

tamarind-1 small lemon size

fresh grated coconut-1/4 cup

coconut oil-1 tbsp

curry leaves-few

Turmeric powder-1 tsp

hing or asafoetida-1 tsp

salt-as required

To be roasted and grind to a fine paste:

Channa dhal-2 tbsp

Dry red chillies-8 or 9(Depending on your spice level)

Raw rice- 2 tsp

Coriander seeds-1 tsp

Sesame seeds(white)-2 tbsp

curry leaves-few

Grated Coconut-1 cup

Procedure :

1.Take all the ingredients given for roasting and grinding except coconut and sesame seeds ,and roast them till they are golden brown and nice aroma arises.Keep them aside to cool.

2.Roast the grated coconut in low flame for 5 mins and keep it along with the other roasted ingredients above.

3.Now keep the flame high and allow the wok to heat up.Then add the sesame seeds to it and keep stirring it.The sesame seeds will splutter rendering a nice aroma.Do not allow them to burn.Once the spluttering stops,remove them and keep it with the other ingredients that are already roasted to cool down.

4.Now grind all the roasted ingredients to a fine paste by adding a little water.

5.Soak the tamarind in water and extract its juice.Boil the tamrind extract till the raw smell goes off.

6.Boil all the vegetables mentioned above with required salt,hing and turmeric powder and add the tamarind extract to it and simmer it on low flame.

7.Now add the ground paste and the fresh grated coconut to the vegetable mixture.

8.After heating the thalagam on low flame for 5 minutes.switch off the flame and add coconut oil and curry leaves as garnish .

9.The thalagam is ready to be served.Serve hot with plain rice and appalam(papad).

Pav Bhaji(Hot toasted buns with a vegetable gravy)

Well what to say ! I have absolutely No words to describe the Pav Bhaji as it is one of my most favorite dish . Whenever I make Pav Bhaji I would love click pictures but the moment it is ready I forget everything and just gobble it up with hot toasted Pav buns! I just love the Bhaji with vegetables well mashed and here goes the recipe of my favorite dish !

Preparation time :25 mins

Serves:4

Ingredients :

Mixed vegetables ( potatoes,carrot,cauliflower,beans,capsicum peas)-2 cups

Big onion chopped-1 no

Chopped tomatoes-2 nos

Ginger garlic paste-2 tsp

Jeera or cumin-2 tsp

Turmeric powder-1 tsp

Chili powder-1 tsp or as desired 

Pav Bhaji masala-1 tbsp

Salt - as needed

Oil-1 tbsp

To garnish:

Butter-1 tbsp

Chopped Coriander leaves-a few

Sliced lemon-1/2 

Chopped raw onion-1 tbsp

Procedure :

1. Heat a wok with 1 tbsp of oil and add the cumin seeds.After it splutters add the chopped onion and sauté well till the onion turns transparent . 

2. Now add the ginger-garlic paste and mix well.After the raw smell goes off add the tomatoes,salt,turmeric powder,chili powder and the Pav Bhaji masala and sauté till the tomatoes are soft .

3. In a pressure cooker add all the vegetables and cook them for 5-6 whistles and mash the vegetables to a semi purée. Add the onion tomato mixture to the mashed vegetables .

4.Mix everything well and add a little water if it's too thick and boil it for 5 mins in low flame.Switch off the flame and garnish with chopped coriander leaves and chopped onion.Serve with hot Pav buns with a dollop of butter on top.Delicious Pav Bhaji is ready !

Tips :

• You can add a slice of lemon along with Bhaji .
• Reduce or add more of chili powder according to your spice level.

Pindi Chole Recipe (Chickpeas cooked with a special spice powder)

This is one of the fantastic recipes which I got to try after tasting my friend's pindi chole along with ajwain poori. It was too yum and the taste was lingering in my mouth for a long time .It made me call my friend to get the recipe and to try it the same weekend .it was a great hit with my family as they liked it more than the ones served with batura at the restaurant.The recipe called for homemade special masala powder which rendered very delicate flavour to the dish.

Ingredients:

White Channa or chickpeas -2 cups

Tea bag-1 or tea infusion -1/4 cup

Cumin seeds-1 tsp

Tomato purée -from 3 tomatoes

Oil-2 tbsp

Fresh coriander leaves-for garnish

Fried potato cubes(optional)-for garnish

Fried green chilies(optional)-for garnish

A)To be roasted and grinded to a fine powder:

Dhaniya or coriander seeds-1 tbsp

Cumin seeds or jeera-1 tsp

Bay leaf-1 

Cinnamon - 1 inch stick

Cloves-1 no

Cardamom(preferably black)-1 no

B)To be grind to a fine paste:

Green chillies -2 no

Onions-2 big ones

Garlic-4 no

Ginger-1 inch

Fresh coriander-1/4 cup

Procedure:

1.Soak the chickpeas with a tea bag or tea infusion and pressure cook it along with the tea bag for 8 whistles or till soft .

2.Dry roast the ingredients given in A) till nice aroma arises and powder them dry in a mixer. 

2.Grind the ingredients given in B) to a fine paste by adding a little water.

3.Heat the oil in a wok and add the jeera seeds .Once it  splutters ,add the onion mixture paste and saute till the raw smell goes off.

4.Then add the tomato purée, salt and mix well.Once it is sautéed well add the powdered masala powder .

5.simmer the flame and cover it with a lid.Once the gravy is thickened switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves.

6.Hot and yum pindi chole is ready to be served with batura or poori  topped with fried green chillies and potato cubes or chopped onion .

Tips:

*Soak the chickpeas overnight.

*The consistency of the chole is semi dry but if you wish you can make it as a gravy also.

Gobi Manchurian Dry(Crispy Cauliflower Florets in a mildly hot sauce)

The moment my family lands in a restaurant the first dish to order will be gobi manchurian dry or chilli gobi.My son loves it too.The spicy sauce on the outside with a crispy cauliflower core is something I relish a lot.I like my gobi manchurian to be spicy but as my kid likes it and does not like very spicy stuff I made it less spicy. Once I went to a resort and had gobi manchurian dry and even after an hour the gobi manchurian remained crispy coated with the sauce and as usual I was curious to know the method and got to know from the chef that it was first fried in a oil at a lower temperature and then after some time again it is fried for a second time in the oil  at a higher temperature.Thus frying twice gives this cauliflower a crispy texture for long time i.e. even after it cools down or sauteed in sauce.(But I fried once as we were ready to eat immediately after it is prepared.)

Ingredients:

For Gobi 65/frying the cauliflower florets:

Cauliflower-500 gms

Corn flour-1/4 cup

Rice flour -1/4 cup

All purpose flour/Maida-1/4 cup

Salt-to taste

Pepper powder-1 tsp

Chilli powder-1/2 tsp(optional)

Oil-to deep fry

For the sauce:

Oil-2 tbsp

Chopped onion-1 no

Chopped capsicum-1 small no

Chopped garlic-7 pods

Finely chopped spring onion-1/4 cup

Green chillies-3 no(adjust according to your need)

Vinegar-1 tbsp

Tomato Ketchup-3 tbsp

Soy sauce-2 tbsp

Procedure:

Gobi 65/Crispy Cauliflower florets:

1.Clean the cauliflower and soak them in hot water with salt to remove worms if any.Then drain the cauliflower and place them in a bowl.Add all the other dry ingredients for frying the cauliflower and mix them well so that the flours coat the cauliflower uniformly.If necessary add little water but not too much.

2.Heat oil in a wok and deep fry the cauliflower at a medium heat until they turn golden brown on outside and cooked inside.Drain them on a kitchen paper towel.

For the sauce:

3.Grind green chillies along with vinegar to a fine paste.Keep all the vegetables ready for the sauce.

4.Heat oil in a pan and add the finely chopped garlic.Once they are sauteed add the chopped onion and fry them till they are transparent.

5.Once the onion is done add the chopped capsicum and suate for 2 mins.Then add the tomato sauce,chilli-vinegar paste and soy sauce to it.

6.After a minute add the deep fried cauliflower florets to this sauce and saute them on high flame.Mix well and then add the chopped spring onions and switch off the flame.

7.Serve hot as a starter or as a side course with fried rice or noodles.

Tips:

*I ran out of soy sauce and the nearby shops didn't have so went ahead with out it.But adding soy sauce is essential for an enhanced flavour and taste.

*I deep fried the cauliflower only once as we were about to eat as soon as it was prepared.But as said above you can deep fry twice for a longer crispy texture.

*Do not discard the shallots that come along with the spring onion.Chop them and use it along with the onions for the sauce.

*The sauce has to be prepared in high flame as done for other Chinese dishes.

*I omitted food colour,but if you wish you can add it to the flours before deep frying the cauliflower.

Palak Poori(Spinach Poori)

Poori remains as a favorite food for most of the Indians.unfortunately it is not for me.even in my childhood days when my mom used to make pooris every weekend I would go and cajole her to make chappathis for me instead of poori and I used to have chappathis with potato masal.Few times my mom refused to make chappathis and I hardly eat 2 pooris to fill my tummy.

After marriage , I still had to make pooris as its my hubby's favorite breakfast and he likes to have pooris with masal and coconut chutney .In spite of hating pooris I always end up making them for my folks.From last year, my hubby was on a weight reduction mode and thank god he avoided pooris and these days I make it once or twice a month or if there is any special occasion .One such occasion came last week ,it was my brother s birthday and he too liked poori.The only difference was I wanted to add some healthy element to this calorie ladded dish and ended up making palak pooris.It came out well and everyone(except me!) relished it a lot.It goes well with potato masal or channa masala.

Preparation time:20 mins

Makes:16-18 medium size pooris

Ingredients :

Spinach/palak-1/2 bunch

Whole wheat flour-1.5 cups

Ajwain/omam-1 tsp

Green chillies-1 (optional)

Salt-to taste

Water -to knead

Oil-to deep fry

Procedure:

1.Wash the spinach leaves and sauté them on a pan in low heat.

2.Add the ajwain or  Omam and green chillies to the spinach and grind them to a paste .

3.Add this paste to the wheat flour along with salt and knead them to a soft dough by adding water little by little.The poori dough need not too soft or kneaded for a long time like chappathi dough.Also make pooris immediately after you knead so that it doesn't  absorb too much oil after frying.

4.Make small balls out of the dough and roll them out into pooris uniformly .You can also use any round shaped lid and press it on them to get perfect round pooris.

5.Heat oil in a wok and deep fry the pooris till they puff up and gets cooked .Make sure you fry all the pooris in medium flame through out .

6.Drain them on a kitchen tissue and serve hot with potato masal or channa masala.

Tips:

*You can add 2 tbsp of soaked rava or semolina(in a tbsp of water) to the dough before kneading so that the pooris remain puffed up even after taken off from oil and cooled down.

*Make sure the oil is at the correct temperature before frying the pooris.