Tips , tips , tips.

Discussion in 'Ask ChitVish' started by Chitvish, Sep 27, 2005.

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  1. Priya Amarnath

    Priya Amarnath Bronze IL'ite

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    Dear Mrs.Chithra

    I tried ur vazhaipoo pitlai recipe today, it came so well. Thank You so much for sharing the recipe.

    Can you please include kothamalli podi(coriander leaves podi) and pineapple pickle in your new thread for pickles and podis.

    Also can you please share the navarathnakuruma recipe and aloo dum recipe, Please take your own time.

    Love and Regards
    priya
     
  2. Chitvish

    Chitvish Moderator IL Hall of Fame

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    Tips for Morkuzambu.

    This dish is more popular in Kerala than in Tamil Nadu since it is made with plenty of coconut.

    In Kerala, the vegetables are boiled with a little pepper powder (optional ), haldi & salt. Then a paste of plenty of coconut, green chillies & a little jeera ( optional) thickly ground is added, followed by thick slightly sour curds, whisked well. The tempering is done in coconut oil – curry leaves dipped in coconut oil are also added. The recipe for this will shortly be posted in Kuzambus thread.

    In Tamil Nadu coconut quantity is cut down. So red chillies, little tur dhal & jeera are soaked & ground with less coconut & green chillies.

    Some prefer to soak gram dhal & or little rice along with the above & grind.

    Someothers soak little dhaniya & grind with the other ingredients.

    In some houses, a small piece of ginger is a must for morkuzambu!

    My modifications to cut down on the coconut are as follows & it works very well.

    If the recipe requires 1 cup coconut, ½ cup fresh grated carrots+1 big or 2 medium tomatoes+ 2 tbsp coconut will be a good alternative. Adding any of the above dhals or dhaniya or rice additionally, is your choice. Do not use the sour variety of tomatoes – it alters the taste. Grated carrot – tomato combination gives very good thickness & one will not mind the use of less coconut. There need not be any fear of carrot flavour or taste at all – carrot does not have a unique flavour! The orange colour of carrot gets very diluted in the final product & unless you tell them, nobody will find out. I have been following this method suggested by a dietician, for many years successfully. In all North Indian sabjis, tomatoes give the required thickness & here also it serves the same.
    Please go to
    Morkuzhambus - Many Methods
    Morkuzambu Vadai
    Instant Morkuzambu
    Mampaza Kootaan/Kuzambu
    Kaalan
    Urundai & Bonda Morkuzambu
    Morcharu
    Morsambar
    Mampaza Puliseri
    Nenthrampaza Morkuzambu
    Omum(ajwain) Morkuzambu
    Milaku Morkuzambu
    Jiffy Morkuzambu

    Khadi Varieties:
    Kichdi & Khadi
    Moong Pakoda Khadi
    GramDhal Kadi
    Jain Pakodi Kadhi
    Spicy Punjabi Kadhi
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Jun 28, 2009
  3. Chitvish

    Chitvish Moderator IL Hall of Fame

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    Malabar Paratha - little tricky !

    Dear Sunitha,
    The dough should be very soft. We can make maximum 4 parottas from 1 cup flour. Pat the dough very hard on a clean surface, to make it soft.(we see that in roadside restaurants!) Rest it well.

    Once again mix with hands before making it. Roll each ball to an oval shape as thin as possible.Spread 1 tsp oil & make pleats as we do in sarees.( or roll it like mat ) It will become one strip. Hold the ends of the strip to elongate it as much as possible. Hold one end & coil the other end round & round. Only then layers will come. Roll out very gently without applying pressure-don’t make it very big. Then layers will not come. Roll only on one side. Make parottas as usual..Once done, pat on the sides of the parotta using both hands, to get the layers.

    This is quite tricky. Don’t worry if you don’t get it at the first attempt.
    Love & regards,
    Chithra.
     
  4. sunitha

    sunitha Gold IL'ite

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    wow!

    Dear Chithra Madam

    That sure sounds tricky.I did make a very soft dough,but then I found it difficult to roll since it was getting stuck to the chapathi kal.Then I starting adding dry flour to help in rolling...I did not do the pleat method,will try that next time and I turned it over and again rolled it...which was again a mistake...Will try by this method next time...

    Thanks a lot.

    Cheers:thumbsup
     
  5. Chitvish

    Chitvish Moderator IL Hall of Fame

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    Tips on Demystifying Ulundu Vadai & Thayir Vadai.

    Ulundu vadai was "elusive" for me also for a long time! Now, I follow a few tips which help me to be successful, every time.

    Follow either of these 2 methods before grinding. Wash the dhal only once. First method is to soak in water for 30 mts & drain well for 45 mts. Then grind.

    The second is immerse in the same amount of water ( as the dhal ) for 1 hour in the fridge. I find both these tips equally good.
    Grinder is the best.
    If using grinder, first run the grinder, adding 1 tbsp of water. The add dhal first gradually in tablespoons & then all the dhal.

    But mixie also gives very good results if you add water in teaspoons gradually.

    Grind to a fine frothy mixture.(you should be able to make balls with your hand-it should not be slimy - no need to fluff as for idlis ) adding water very little by little. To be on the safer side I grind green chillies, ginger, salt & hing separately & add to the dough before removing ( this will make the dough a liitle lose-remember!).Next is shaping the vada which is already given in tips. But I am repeating it for the sake of continuity.
    The general method to shape vadai is either wetting the hand with water ,shaping it & carefully sliding into the oil or using oiled plastic sheet , patting on it & sliding into the oil.Try this - usually a flat wooden ladle is given along with nonstick pan etc.It has to be 2-2 1/2." wide at the end. You can use a wooden dosai thiruppi also. At the end, smear a little oil + water mixture & holding it above the oil , keep lemon size dough - pat it to a small vadai with the wetted fingers - put a hole in the centre with the back of a spoon - now, slide it into the oil with the help of the sides of a palette knife OR keeping it upside down, lightly pat on the reverse side of the vadai side - quickly flip the ladle - it just slips into the oil. You can easily make 5,6 vadais for one batch. The vadai retains the shape very well. This may sound tricky & difficult when reading , but when you try, it is simple & easy.Some people add boiled potato,aval,rava,tur dhal etc to udad dhal to get it crisp-but without any addition, plain udad dhal gives good results. I really tell you, these tips are "hard earned" after experimenting many times & I hope they work for you!
    new ulunduvadai1.jpg

    The flame should be medium. Remove to tissue paper &in 1-2 mts tranfer to a basin of cold water.This way the excess oil also is removed & the vadai becomes soft.Keep them in cold water for 30 mts. In the meanwhile get the curd mixture ready. Slightly beat the (preferably fresh) curds . Add ground coconut & green chillies, salt. Temper with mustard seeds & jeera. Now carefully take each vada & gently press with both hands to remove excess water. Arrange them horizontally on a plate. Try to avoid keeping one over the other. You can have 2 or 3 plates. Pour the curd mixture on this evenly.
    Decoration ideas are already given.
     
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2009
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  6. Chitvish

    Chitvish Moderator IL Hall of Fame

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    Tips For Thogayal.

    For those, who have not tasted thogayal, it is like a thick chutney & is eaten for lunch or dinner with rice.

    Thogayals form an important side dish in Tamil Nadu cooking. If you run short of vegetables, a thogayal with a raita, rasam & papad will constitute a meal. It can be made very spicy or less spicy, according to individual taste. It can be mixed with hot rice & ghee & eaten as the first course in a meal.

    In general, the following method is followed. The vegetable is chopped fine.

    In a kadai, heat 2 tsp oil, add mustard seeds & udad dhal. When fried, remove & keep them separately. Now fry red chillies, hing powder & finally the vegetable well. Remove, grind the last 3 ingredients with tamarind & salt. Lastly, add fried mustard seeds & udad dhal, grind lightly & remove.

    Vegetables which are prepared by the above method are mainly, ridge gourd, chow chow, big onions, carrot & beetroot.

    For coconut thogayal, the same procedure is followed, but coconut is not roasted, instead ground fresh.

    Banana flower – Chopped & boiled flowers ( refer pitlai ) to be ground like coconut thogayal.

    Brinjal – Roast on the gas till the skin turns black. Cool, peel & grind like above.

    Grind fine tamarind, roasted red chillies & salt fine. Now add mustard seeds & udad dhal, grind lightly. Then add lightly crushed brinjal, give a grind to get a homogeneous mixture. Big brinjal is ideal for this.

    Coriander & curry leaves – do as for coconut.

    Puthina leaves – fry lightly & grind like above.

    Peels of oranges (yes! ) – chop them, fry very well & grind as above.

    The centre portion of yellow pumpkin (parangikkai, mathan) – same as above

    Dhaniya thogayal – In 1 tbsp oil, fry ½ cup dhaniya seeds, 5-6 red chillies, ½ tsp pepper, 1 tsp mustard seeds& 2 tsp udad dhal. Grind as above, adding tamarind & salt.

    Paruppu thogayal – Fry in 2 tsp oil, 1 red chilli & ½ cup tur dhal till golden. Remove, add ¼ cup grated coconut, salt & grind.Do not use tamarind. This is an ideal side dish for milaku kuzambu. This combination is also very famous.

    Sometimes, the tamarind is not used, but grated fresh coconut is ground with

    fried ingredients, particularly for ridge gourd & chow chow. It is then called “ poricha thogayal”.

    For raw mango alone, grated raw mango, green chillies, grated coconut & salt are ground together. A tsp of coconut oil added gives a good flavour.

    The above are the traditional ways to make thogayal.

    But now, few small onions, green chillies, & finally a tomato are added while frying for thogayal & ground.

    In Kerala cooking, a spicy thogayal is eaten as a side dish for mulakootal.



     
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  7. Seetha3

    Seetha3 Senior IL'ite

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    Dear Chithraji:

    Thanks for the Thogayal recipes. I made chow chow thogayal and it was yum [​IMG] !! Waiting to try the rest!!

    I have a couple of questions. Abt the middle portion of pumpkin should I use it along with the seeds? Orange peel is the most interesting one- do I have to remove the pith and is it kamala orange that you are referring to?

    Thanks again

    Seetha
     
    Last edited: Oct 26, 2005
  8. Chitvish

    Chitvish Moderator IL Hall of Fame

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    Doubts clarified.

    Dear Seetha,
    You can add the seeds also when frying - the taste is very good.
    You can use kamala orange - if you fry the peels chopped very well, it is sufficient. No need to remove the white part.
    Love & regards,
    chithra.
     
  9. Chitvish

    Chitvish Moderator IL Hall of Fame

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    Curryma Podi - Old fashioned, but very versatile !

    I took this recipe from a very old cookery book called "hindu paka

    shasthram", which means Indian cookery book. The book mentions the


    price of 60 kgs of rice as Rs. 7.00! So, we can only try to guess how ancient


    this book must be !


    I tried making this powder with the recipe given there & I find it very


    convenient to have around in the kitchen. I wish to share it with you.


    Red chillies 85 gms (2 cups)

    Pepper - 10 gms (1 tbsp)

    Jeera 5 gms (2 tsp)

    Dhaniya 140 gms(2 cups)

    Haldi 5 gms (1 tsp )

    Hing 2 gms ( 2 tsp )

    Gram dhal 85 gms (1/2 cup)

    Urad dhal 85 gms (1/2 cup)

    Rice 100gms (1/2 cup)

    Curry leaves 20 gms

    Dry roast each ingredient separatey & powder everything together.

    This powder can be added to any vegetable, made into a curry – both green


    vegetables and root vegetables along with or without coconut.


    This is an ideal masala for all roasted curries.


    This can be used as a stuffing for brinjal curry.

    For pitlai, rasavangi, puli vitta kootu etc, this can be mixed with cooked dhal & added.

    For an emergency sambar, grind this with coconut & add to fried onion & tomatoes, with or without dhal.

    If we stretch our imagination a little, this powder is very useful in our everyday cooking.

     
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2005
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  10. Ami

    Ami Silver IL'ite

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    Mrs.Chithra, have u tried this podi with rice?
     
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