Unniappam - Lord Krishna's Favourite ! Rice flour - 1 cup Mashed or grated banana - ¼ cup ( one small ripe banana is enough ) Powdered jaggery (without lumps ) - ½ cup Cardamom powder - ½ tsp Warm water - about ½ cup Mix all ingredients using a hand blender or a whisk. For very soft appams increase the banana a little & decrease the water. Now a days I make the same with wheat flour instead of rice flour & that is also good. You can also try with half of each flour. The secret is in blending well incorporating air which makes it light. Hence I suggest a hand blender or whisk. In the place of bananas you can add minced ripe jackfruit. Don’t add both. But if you add fruits use them up within 2 days.It will not last more than that. Also the addition of fruit makes it soft, but it will absorb a little more oil. So, pat well with absorbent tissue 2,3 times. When you fry appams in appakkaara also, keep turning them to get uniform golden brown appams. For a change & slightly longer shelf life, soak ¾ cup wheat rawa & ¼ cup thin rice for 5-6 hrs. Grind fine (without adding water ), adding 1 cup powdered jaggery & cardamom powder. Make unniappams the usual way. Adding little grated fruit is your option. This is also very soft & tasty. The variety is endless! PS - now a days, I shallow-fry with less oil than for deep-frying.I cover the pan, as soon as pour the batter, for a minute, on high flame, then open, lower the flame & flip. I follow this method for all appams, successfully.
Kanchipuram Idli - now enjoyed all over the world ! Raw rice - ½ cup Boiled rice - ½ cup Urad dhal - 1 cup Pepper - 1 tsp Jeera - 1 tsp Hing powder - 1 tsp Dry ginger powder - 1 tsp Curry leaves - few Oil - 2 tbsp Ghee - 2 tbsp Fruit salt - as given, below Salt. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Soak rices & dhal together for 4 hrs. Grind coarse & keep for 8-10 hrs - Food processor is ideally suited for this grinding, Coarsely powder pepper & Jeera & add. Add hing & dry ginger powders. Heat oil & ghee, temper mustard seeds, chopped curry leaves & add. This is usually steamed in a single round vessel as a single idli – about 5, 6” high. If you so wish, you can steam in 2 round vessels one kept over the other so that each idli will be 3” high. Adjust the dough to idli dough consistency. Keep the steamer ready, boiling & grease the round vessels. Add fruit salt, at the rate of 2 level tsp for 3 cups dough. Whisk the dough very well, immediately transfer to greased vessels & start steaming, as you do idlis. This will take 35-45 mts to cook completely. Insert a skewer, if it comes out clean, the idlis are done. Remove from steamer, cool. Transfer to a plate & cut like cake pieces. Serve with coconut chutney or any green chutney. The idli will be soft on its own, but the addition of fruit salt gives it a very spongy & porous texture. This preserves well for 2 days.
Pori Urundai - Let us learn it, since Karthigai Deepam is around the corner ! For SBS photos, please go to http://www.indusladies.com/forums/963714-post1.html Aval pori or Nel pori - 3 cups Powdered jaggery - 1 cup (pagu variety) Dry ginger powder - ½ tsp Cardamom powder - ½ tsp Small coconut pieces - 2 tbsp Lime juice - 2 tsp (optional) Sieve & clean the pori – pori must be crisp & fresh. Spread it on a plate & keep ready. Mix jaggery with1 cup of water & boil in a veesel till it dissolves completely. Strain & boil again. When the syrup is boiling add coconut pieces & lime juice. Boil until the following consistency is reached. A tsp of syrup when dropped in a small cup of water should form a firm ball. ( usually it is said that if this ball is dropped on a metal plate, a sound should be heard !). If using a candy thermometer, it should read 240 deg F. Remove from stove & add both powders & mix well. Pour all over the pori, mixing both, simultaneously & completely. All this should be done fast. Keep a little melted ghee ready in a cup. Smearing ghee in your hand, shape small heaps & keep in another plate. This is best done on a butter paper to prevent sticking to the plate. After the entire pori is done, shape the heaps into balls.(since this is done for naivedyam, remember to use a "non-eatig" plate!) Do not apply pressure – roll them lightly, as otherwise, they may become hard on cooling. Cool completely & store in airtight containers. Lime juice is added to give a “shine” to the pori. For the same reason, it is better to smear ghee & not rice flour in your hand. Our First Lady has certified it!
Vadakari - Don't miss it when you visit Chennai. An excellent side dish for aappam, idli & dosa.: For vadas:<!--?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /--> Gram dhal - 1 cup Onions - 2 (chop fine) Salt Oil - to deep fry Grind together: Onion - 1 Ginger - 1” Garlic - 4 Red chillies - 5 Green chillies - 5 Cardamom - 3 Cinnamon - 1” Cloves - 3 Fried gram (pottukadalai) - 1 tbsp Dhaniya - 1 tsp Jeera - ½ tsp Other Ingredients: Oil - 3 tbsp Onions - 4 Garlic - 6 Saunf - ½ tsp or less Tomatoes - ½ kg Mint leaves - few (optional) Salt, haldi Coriander leaves - to garnish. Soak dhal for 2 hrs, drain & grind coarse, adding salt. Add finely chopped onions, make small balls & deep fry in hot oil. Remove when golden, do not wait to brown them. Deskin & puree tomatoes. Cut onion & garlic into thin long pieces. Heat oil,fry onion & garlic till brown. Then add saunf &ground paste & fry till oil separates. Mix tomato puree & fry till there is a good aroma. Pour 3 cups of water, haldi, finely chopped mint leaves& salt. When it boils, add lightly crumbled vadas & boil for a few mts. If it becomes thick, add some hot water. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Note: You can buy masal vadais & make this dish, if you are in a hurry.
Rava Morkali - no way, you can compromise on oil ! Well roasted Bombay rava - 1 cup Sour butter milk - 1 cup Water - 1 cup Salt Hing 1/2 tsp To temper: Oil - 3 tbsp (minimum) Mustard seeds - ½ tsp Urad dhal - 2 tsp Curd chillies - 7,8 Curry leaves - few Keep rava mixed with buttermilk, water, salt & hing ready. A whisk is very good for this. Heat a kadai, add oil & the tempering ingredients. When the chillies are almost black, add the mixture with one hand, thoroughly whisking with the other hand. Keep on stirring till halwa consistency is reached. Empty on a greased plate. When cold, cut into pieces. Variation: If you do not have curd chillies, you can use half red chillies & the rest green chillies. For this, one more tbsp of oil will be very good, but definitely not less ! Decorating with coconut isoptional.
Elai Adai - Keralithinte Maathram (?) Valsan. This is a very traditional sweet made in Kerala.Ripe jackfruit is used for this. Still in Kerala, this is offered as prasadam to the deity in some temples. For the outer covering: Raw rice ½ cup Boiled rice ½ cup A pinch of salt & 2 tsp jaggery Inner filling Minced ripe jackfruit 1 cup Jaggery ½ cup Grated coconut 2 tbsp Or Grated coconut 1 cup Jaggery ½ cup Chakka varatti 2 tbsp (jackfruit jam made with jaggery) For the outer covering: Soak equal amounts of raw rice & boiled rice for 2-3 hrs. Grind fine adding salt & jaggery. The consistency should be slightly (only) thinner than dosa batter. Filling: If you are using fresh fruit ,mince it fine, cook for a while & add jaggery & grated coconut. You should get the dough like consistency. If you are using chakka varatti first mix grated coconut with powdered jaggery (this will be real sweet) & put it on fire & stir to make the filling (this can be done in the microwave-4-5 mts). Then add 2 tbsp(or less) chakka varatti, mix well & remove from stove. Take plantain leaves ( this imparts the adai the real flavour), cut them to roughly 6”square, clean & show them over the stove for a few seconds to make them flexible. Spread 2 tbsp ground batter on the leaf like a thin dosa, over that keep 2 tbsp filling & fold it into half. Keep the steamer ready & steam 3 or 4 at a time for 7-8 mts. Serve hot or cold.
Verkadalai & Pottukadalai Urundai - Delicious, though old-fashioned. Verkadalai Urundai: Select unsalted peanuts fried light brown &crisp. Peanuts - 4 cups Powdered jaggery - 1 ½ cups. Lime juice - 1tsp Ghee - to smear on hands Add ½ cup water to jaggery & heat the mixture on the stove, stirring frequently till jaggery dissolves completely. Strain the mixture to remove dirt from jaggery . Boil the strained liquid till it reaches this stage – one tsp taken out &added to little water should be able to be rolled into a ball without disintegrating . This is the correct stage. With a candy thermometer, it shpuld read 228 - 230 deg c. Add lime juice & remove. Keep the peanuts ready in a lightly greased plate – pour this syrup all over , simultaneously mixing syrup & nuts completely. Keep some ghee ready nearby. Smear your hands with ghee& make small balls – don’t roll it tight now . You must roll all the balls fast before the whole mixture becomes firm. After you have rolled the whole mixture , take each ball &shape it better. Cool completely & store in airtight box. Pottukadalai Urundai: Same as above.
Paruppu Podi - First in a series of Podis to be eaten with hot rice & Ghee. The traditional recipe used to be only tur dhal, red chillies & salt. I collected recipes from a cross section of my friends & arrived at this tasty combination. Tur dhal - ¼ cup Moong dhal - ¼ cup Fried gram (pottukadalai ) - !/4 cup Gram dhal - 1 tbsp Udad dhal - 1 tbsp Seasame seeds (white) - 1 tbsp Horsegram - 1 tbsp Red chillies - 3 Pepper - 1 tsp Dry ginger - 1” Salt Curry leaves - few (optional) On a dry kadai, fry all ingredients (except, fried gram, red chillies, pepper & salt) each separately till a nice aroma comes & the colour changes. The above 4 ingredients should be just lightly fried, hot enough to powder them. Curry leaves can also be fried to crispen them Powder all ingredients together to a fine powder. This is very good, mixed with hot rice & ghee. Serve with a raita.
Jaggery Puttu - Easy, but details shoud be followed to get " feathery Puttu" ! For SBS photos, please go to http://www.indusladies.com/forums/963715-post2.html Raw rice - 1 cup Powdered jaggery - 1 cup Freshly grated coconut - 2 tbsp Ghee - 3,4 tbsp Cashew chopped - 1 tbsp Cardamom powder - 1 tsp Wash & soak rice for 1 hour. Drain & dry on a cloth. Grind fine in the mixi & sieve fine. Dry roast it on a kadai till the colour changes. Cool & keep ready in a shallow vessel. Heat 1 cup of water with a pinch each of salt & haldi to tepid. Now add this water gradually to the roasted flour, stirring thoroughly. The mixing should be such that it will not turn into dough form, but it should be in the powdered form, wet enough for steaming. You should be able to hold it in your hands, but if you let it go, it will fall as powder. If the water becomes a little more, puttu will not be granular. If the water is less, it will choke the throat & be stiff ! Roughly for 1 cup of roasted flour 5/8 – ¾ cup water will be correct, approximately. It is preferable to siev this in a rava sieve, rubbing the flour nicely against the sieve for it to fall. The flour should be very soft to touch. These are the subtle points which help in making soft puttu, successfully. Hence, I am giving in detail ! Sprinkle very finely grated coconut & steam well for 10 mts. If well steamed, it will not stick when you touch it. Spread it on a plate to cool, add 3 tbsp ghee & break it into granules. Mix cardamom powder. Heat 1 cup of water with jaggery till it dissolves. Strain & boil again. The correct consistency is – a tsp syrup added to 2 tbsp of water should form a firm ball. Remove, add to the steamed powder little by little, stirring continuously. The entire powder & syrup should get completely mixed. Spread on a plate, rub well with clean hands to break into granules. I do this step in the Food Processor. Or, after cooling thoroughly give one run in the mixi for not more than 2,3 secs ! Add cashews roasted in ghee.
Ellu Podi - the Second in Podi Series. Ellu is til or seasame seeds. Excellent with rice & ghee, also can be used as a topping for puliyodarai. White seasame seeds - 1 cup Red chillies - 8-10 Urad dhal - ¼ cup Freshly roasted peanuts - ½ cup (remove red skin) Hing - 1 tsp Copra - ¼ cup ( optional ) In ½ tsp oil, fry red chillies, urad dhal & hing. Roast dry seasame seeds till they splutter. Roast salt also. Powder together. This can also be used to sprinkle on curries like, brinjal, kovakkai, potato etc.