Chettinad Masala Paniyaram

Masala Paniyaram or Masala paniaaram is a tasty snack.

Ingredients:

·        Raw rice - ½ cup

·        Husked black gram / uluntham paruppu / urad dal - ¼ cup

·        Onion - 1/4 cup chopped

·        Curry leaves – a few

·        Green chilies - 7

·        Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

·        Oil - for deep frying

·        Salt - to taste

Method of Preparation:

·        Soak rice and black gram together in water for about 2 hours.

·        Grind it to a vada batter's consistency.

·        In a pan, add 1 tbsp oil and add mustard seeds, chopped onion, green  chilies, curry leaves and sauté till the onion is transparent.

·        Now, add this and salt to the batter and mix.

·        By using your hand or with the help of a spoon, put the batter in the form of balls into the oil.

·        Fry them into golden colour and place on a tissue so that the excess oil is absorbed.

·        Serve hot with or without any chutney, or during tea time.

Beetroot fry / Beetroot Poriyal

Ingredients:

·        Beetroot- 250 gm

·        Grated coconut- ¼ cup

·        Fennel seeds- ½ tsp

·        Poppy seeds (Khas khas) - ½ tsp

·        Onion- ¼ cup

·        Garlic -3

·        Sugar- 2 tsp

·        Edible oil- 3 tsp

·        Chili powder-1tsp

·        Salt to taste

Method of preparation:

·        Peel the skin of beetroot and cut it into small cubes.

·        Grind coconut, fennel seeds, and poppy seeds into a fine paste and further add onion and garlic and grind a little.

·        Mix this ground masala with beetroot and add salt.

·        Cook till beetroot becomes soft.

·        Add sugar and oil.

·        Fry till all the masala firmly coat on it.

Serve with cooked rice or chapati.

Vegetable khichdi

 Ingredients:

• Rice – 2 cups
• Carrot – 2
• Beans – 10
• Grated cabbage – 1 cup
• Green gram – 1 cup
• Peas – ½ cup
• Cinnamon – a small piece
• Cloves – 5
• Green chili – 3
• Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
• Ginger garlic paste – 1 ½ tsp
• Onions – 3
• Turmeric - A pinch
• Garam masala – 1 tsp
• Edible oil – 1/3 cup
• Salt to taste

Method of preparation:

·        Soak rice and green gram for about an hour.

·        Grate onions, carrots and beans.

·        Add some edible oil in a cooker and place the cooker on a stove.

·        When oil gets heated, add cumin seeds and mustard seeds and fry.

·        Add cinnamon, green chilies, ginger garlic paste, turmeric and stir.

·        Add vegetables and peas and cook under low flame.

·        Add rice and green gram and fry for some time.

·        Add 4 cups of water.

·        Add salt.

·        Cook until the cooker sounds four whistles.

·        Vegetable Khichdi is ready.

Serve hot with sambar or kurma.

Alternate names of khichdi are

khichdi, khichri, khichdee, khichadi, khichuri, khichari,khitchdee, kichchadi, khichadi, and so on.

Sago Pudding / Javvarasi Payasam

It is an easy to prepare dessert, also called Sago Pudding or Sabudana Kheer.

Pearl sago is called Javvarisi in Tamil.

Ingredients:

·        Javvarasi - ½ cup

·        Sugar - 1 cup

·        Milk - 1 cup

·        Cardamom - 3 pods

·        Cashew - 3

·        Raisins - 6

·        Ghee - 2 tbsp

Method of preparation:

·        Fry the javvarasi in ghee until golden brown.

·        Add ½ of cup water and stir continuously.

·        When javvarasi is cooked, add sugar and stir till it melts.

·        Remove from fire.

·        Add boiled milk and powdered cardamom.

·        Mix well.

·        Fry cashews in the remaining ghee and add to the payasam.

Serve hot or cold.

Hotel Style Sambar

Sambar, sambhar, Sambaaru, or Kuzhambu

Ingredients:

• Arhar dal / Toor dal (Thuvaram paruppu) - ½ cup
• Green chili - 3
• Sambar Onion or Small onion - 10 (or a big onion)
• Vegetables like drumstick, potato, eggplant, carrot, radish, beans- 2 cups.
• Tomato - 1
• Tamarind - a betel nut size
• Turmeric powder - ¼ tsp
• Asafetida / perungayam /Hing - 2 pinches
• Jaggery  - ½ tsp
• Red chilies - 4
• Black gram / uluntham paruppu /Urad dal - 1 tsp
• Cumin seeds / Jeerakam - 1 tsp
• Coriander seeds / malli / dhania - 1½ tsp
• Fenugreek seeds (vendhayam) - ½ tsp
• Curry leaves - 3 sprigs
• Grated coconut - 4 tsp
• Edible oil: for frying and tampering
• Salt - to taste

For tampering:

• Mixture of mustard seeds and husked black gram (Urad dal) - 1 tsp
• Curry leaves - a sprig

Method of preparation:

• Take a pressure cooker. Add the dal with 1½ cups of water. Cook for about 3 whistles. Wait for some time. Release the pressure and slightly smash the cooked dal.

• Soak tamarind in a little water for about 15 minutes. Squeeze and obtain its extract.

• Cut onion, tomato and vegetables. Slit the green chilies length-wise.

• Heat a little oil in a pan. Add red chilies, dal, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves, grated coconut and fry till it turns light brown. Make a fine smooth paste of the fried ingredients with little water.

• Heat oil in a pan. Add green chilies and onion, fry till onion turns brown.
• Add all the cut vegetables and fry for about 2 minutes. Add tomato, asafetida and turmeric powder. Fry for a minute. Pour enough water so as to fully immerse the vegetables. Cover and cook till the vegetables are cooked.
• When the vegetables are cooked, add tamarind extract, jaggery, salt and the ground paste. Cover with a lid and bring to boil.

• Add the cooked dal and required water. Remove from heat when samabar starts boiling.

• Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and husked black gram. While spluttering, add curry leaves, remove from heat and add this with sambar.

Tastes good with idli, dosai, ooththappam / oothappam / uthappam, vadai, pattanam pakoda, bonda, pongal and cooked rice.

Naattu Kozhi Soup

A delicious medicinal soup from a native breed of chicken, prepared in Venthanpatti, Thekkur, Nerkuppai, Muraiyur, Surakkudi, Kozhikudippatti, Maruthippatti, Muthuchamypatti, Kalappur, Navinippatti areas, that cures common cold, cough, and fever. It is also called ‘Nattu koli rasam’.

It is a type of South Indian Desi Chicken soup. Hen or cock also becomes chicken after the preparation.

Ingredients:

·        Chicken pieces with bone: 1 lb

·        Ginger and garlic mashed:  3 tsp

·        Onion:  ½ finely chopped

·        Tomato: ½ finely chopped

·        Grated coconut:  5 tsp

·        Coriander powder: 1 tsp

·        Cumin powder: 1 tsp

·        Edible oil

·        Fennel & mustard seeds for seasoning

·        Black Pepper powder to taste

·        Salt to taste

Method of Preparation:

·        Clean and wash chicken pieces and cut them into cubes. Cut the bones into halves.

·        Heat 4 tsp of oil in a pan.

·        Add onions along with fennel, mustard seeds, salt and Sautee for few minutes until golden brown.

·        Add the rest of the ingredients listed above and sauté for about 3 minutes in medium heat, until the chicken and all the curry powders are mixed and blended well.

·        Add 3 cups of hot water and let the soup simmer for about 20 minutes in low heat.

Serve hot with rice or simply drink hot.

Pattanam Pakoda

It is also called Patnam Pakora. It is a very tasty, crispy outside and soft inside snack.

Ingredients:

·        Rice flour: 1Cup

·        Bengal gram flour: 1 Cup

·        Ghee: 6 tsp

·        Cooking soda: a pinch

·        Finely cut Onions: ¼ cup

·        Finely cut curry leaves: little

·        Finely cut cashew nuts: 1 Tbsp

·        Green chilies: 2 (cut finely)

·        Finely cut ginger: 1 tsp (optional)

·        Red Chili Powder: ½ tsp.

·        Edible oil: To deep fry

·        Salt: to taste

Method of preparation:

·        Rub ghee with a pinch of soda on a flat plate until frothy.

·        Mix both the flours with that evenly.

·        Add salt, chili powder and mix well.

·        Mix finely cut onions, green chilies, ginger, curry leaves, cashew nuts with that.

·        Sprinkle very little water until it holds. (Like bondas batter)

·        Prepare balls and deep fry in hot oil until crisp.

Serve hot with chutney.

Kavuni Arisi

It is a special dessert prepared in chettinad area.

Glutinous rice is popularly called kao hnyin in Myanmar (Burma).This kao hnyin has become kavuni in chettinad area of Tamilnadu. Arisi means rice. Glutinous rice is also called sticky rice, sweet rice, waxy rice, botan rice, biroin chal, mochi rice, and pearl rice. It is a type of short-grained Asian rice that is especially sticky when cooked.

Ingredients:

·        Kavuni Arisi (Glutinous rice): 1 cup

·        Sugar: ½ cup

·        Ghee-1 table spoon

·        Grated coconut: 2 tablespoon

·        Cardamom:  5

Method of preparation:

·        Soak the rice in water for about 4 hours.

·        Add 3 cups of water and pressure cook in medium flame for about 12 to 15 minutes. The idea for prolonged pressure cooking is to obtain soft cooked rice.

·        Smash the hot, softly cooked rice with a ladle and drain out the excess water if any.

·        Add sugar.

·        Prepare cardamom Powder (using mixer- grinder) by adding some amount of sugar.

·        Add this powder and ghee with the rice and mix well.

The sweet item ‘kavuni arisi’ is ready for serving.