Aaloo Secret Sabzi (no onion or tomato)

Current prices of Onions in India makes a foodie to venture out for non onion recipes.
A day when you do not have onion, tomatoes in your refrigrator and no other veggies to go for other than potatoes. So the dish just happened and became a real hit!!!!

Serves 4
Ingredients:
6          - Potatoes
7          - Medium sized carrots
2          - Green chillies
3          - Garlic pods
1 tbs    - Kashmiri chilly powder
1 tbs    - Dry coriander powder
1 tbs    - Dry jeera powder
1/2 tbs - Turmeric powder
1 tbs    - Amchoor powder
1 tbs    - Jeera
1/2 tbs - Saunf
1 tbs    - Kasoori Methi/ Fenugreek leaves
Salt to taste
2 tbs    - Oil
500ml  - Water

Method or Vidhiee:
1. Wash carrots and dice them into chunks.
2. Grind the carrots with garlic.
3. Wash the potatoes dice them into medium chunks and soak them in water.
4. In a pressure cooker add in the oil.
5. Heat it and then add in Jeera, Saunf, green chillies.
6. To it add in the ground paste and lower the flame.
7. Saute them for 1 min.
8. Add in the dry masala powders and saute for 2 mins.
9. Now add in the potatoes and coat them with the paste.
10. Finally add salt and kasoori methi.
11. Add water and pressure cook till 3 whistles.
12. After they are done add in chopped green coriander.
Serve hot with rice/ Chappati/ Dosas.

Tip:
You can add in any other vegetables also. Most suitable would be green peas.
This dish might be bit sweet but you can balance with the chilly powder
Dish does not require Garam Masala powder.

Ganesh Chaturthi / Vinayagar Chaturthi

Ganesh chathurthi is the festival celebrated by Hindus in India.

Its the birth day of Lord Ganesha who is always considered as a favourite god of all from small baby to oldies. Ganesha idols are made in various forms from ancient dancing , sitting postures to the modern computer Ganesha. These idols are painted in various colours. On this auspicious day Modhaka/Kuzhukattai’s which are favourite to Ganesha are made in households and offered to god. These are then distributed among poor and rich as prasadam. This festivals extends for 10 days in northern part of India especially Mumbai. Ten days poojas are done then the idol of Lord Ganesha is immersed in sea water. This is done as a farewell and ask Ganesha to come back next year again.

Lets now learn how to make his fav dishes J

There are essentially two ways of making the dough…One is by soaking the rice and grinding it, which is pretty elaborate but very tasty, and the other is using rice flour. I shall explain both the procedures below.

KOZHAKATTAI DOUGH BY SOAKING RICE:

Raw rice-1 cup

Salt

Coconut oil.

Water

Method/Vidhiee:

1. Soak the raw rice for 2-3 hours and grind in the mixer or grinder to a smooth batter. It does not matter how much water you use as it gets cooked in it finally.
2. Pour the batter in to a kadai. Make sure that there are no clots and add 1/2 -3/4 spoon of salt and a spoon of coconut oil.
3. Switch on the stove setting it on medium low  and keep stirring to avoid clots.
4. After a few minutes, you will find that the water content is rapidly used up to cook the rice batter, and it slowly thickens.
5. After a few more minutes, it will thicken and be cooked. The signs for that is you will find that when you stir, it comes together as a ball.
6. Also the whiteness of the raw rice will give way to a very slightly off white cooked rice ball.
7. Immediately transfer to a bowl and add a spoon of coconut oil.
8. With your hands, knead the ball inside the bowl by smoothing it and bring it together. This step is very integral as this is what binds the dough and takes away the stickiness.
9. At this point, the dough should be well cooked and seamlessly shape in to a ball.
10. Set aside in the bowl and cover with a lid.

KOZHAKATTAI DOUGH USING RICE FLOUR:

Rice Flour-1 cup

Water-2 cups

Salt

Coconut Oil- 2tbs

Method/Vidhiee:

1. In a kadai, pour the water, add coconut oil and salt and allow to boil.
2. Immediately, simmer the stove and add the measured 1 cup of rice flour in to the water.
3. Use a whisk and remove all the clots quickly.
4. With a spatula, rapidly stir in the mixture as if will thicken using the water to cook the rice.
5. As before, keep stirring until you see that the water is all gone and the entire batter scoops up in your ladle as a single mass.
6. Stir for a few more minutes until you are satisfied and the batter does not stick. This would happen only if, the water is not used up so do not fret.
7. Transfer to a bowl, add another spoon of coconut oil and knead well to form a  ball.
8. Set aside covered in the bowl.

Use this smooth outer dough to make delicious Vella Kozhukattai, Uppu Kozhukattai and Ammini Kozhukattais.

VELA KOZHUKATTAI

Grated coconut-1 cup

Grated jaggery(Depending on brand, degree of sweetness etc)- 1/2 – 3/4 cup

Powdered cardamom-1 tsp

Milk-1 tbsp

Water-2-3 tbsp

Method/Vidhiee:

1. Always prepare the poornams or filling ahead as the outer dough has to be made last just before consolidating the Kozhukattais.
2. In a kadai add the jaggery and very little water about 2  Tbsp and 1 tbsp milk and allow to melt.
3. When the jaggery is well melted add the fresh grated coconut and mix well.
4. Also put in the powdered cardamom and stir in well until the mixture leaves the sides.
5. I prefer to make my poornam a little thicker by keeping it on the stove for a longer time to enable me to make them in to balls.
6. Cool the poornam filling and make them in to little balls.

1. Keep the Kozhukattai outer dough prepared and ready as per instructions. Keep it covered under a moist cloth and over that a lid to preserve the moisture and the warmth.
2. Create an assembly line with the Poornam balls, outer dough, greased idli plates and a small cup having 2-3 spoons of coconut oil.
3. Grease your palms with coconut oil and then take a ball of the outer dough and smoothen it between your palms.
4. Make a little depression with your thumb and make it in to the shape of a diya with smooth sides.
5. Fill the depression with the coconut jaggery poornam and close the edges and seal it with your fingers.
6. Continue until you finish the poornam filling.

TIPS:

1. If your sweet poornam/filling is not as thick as you would like it to be, don't fret. Allow it to sit on the stove for a couple of minutes more and add 1 spoon or two of wheat flour. This will bind them together.
2. Another option is to make rough balls and pop them in to the refrigerator for a few minutes. This will automatically firm them up.
3. Before steaming the prepared Modhakas, keep them covered as if they exposed to the air etc, they get dry and crack up. This might render the  poornam to seep out during steaming.

UPPU KOZUKATTAI

Bengal Gram- 1/2 cup

Urad Dhal-1/4  cup

Green Chillies-3- 4

Hing

Salt

Method/Vidhiee:

1. Soak the Bengal Gram and Urad Dhal for about 3 hours just as you would for Paruppu Usili.
2. Used the proportion of 1/2 cup of bengal gram to 1/4 cup of urad dhal. If you want more numbers, of Urad Dhal balls,  you can extrapolate it to 3/4 cup of bengal gram to 1/2 cup of urad dhal.
3. Grind the bengal gram and urad dhal in the mixer with salt, green chillies  and curry leaves with as little water as possible. The water added is  important as this affects the final consistency of the urad dhal crumble.
4. It should not be ground too smooth but a little short of that, a little coarse.  Add hing and  a spoon of oil and mix it in well.

5. Place a seasoning kadai on the stove, add oil and mustard, When the mustard splutters, add it to the ground paste.

1. Grease 1 or 2 idli plates and fill the firm ground  paste in the idli plates. Steam in the pressure cooker for 12 – 15 minutes. Switch off gas and remove the plates and allow to cool.
2. Transfer the cooked dhal idlis to a plate and pour 1 spoon of coconut/gingely/canola oil on them and slowly crumble them with your oiled fingers.
3. Try to do this when its still warm.
4. Now with the help of a oil greased hands again, press the crumbles in to 1 inch balls. Keep covered in a container to retain the moisture.
5. Close like a coconut and make a little tuft resembling a coconut.,
6. Keep your hands oiled when you are working with the Outer Dough.
7. 

   Place the prepared modhaks in greased idli plates and steam in the pressure cooker for 12 minutes.
8. Switch off stove, and after a few minutes transfer.

AMINI KOZUKATTAI

Green chillies -2 cut in to small pieces.

Curry Leaves – 2-3 strings

Hing/Asefatida

Mustard

Broken Urad Dhal.

Salt.

Oil

Method/Vidhiee:

1.      The outer dough of Kozhukattais have negligible salt. So take the dough and add sufficient powder salt and mix it in by kneading well. If you feel the dough is a little dry, add a few drops of coconut oil to your hands.

2.      Make a smooth ball.

3.      Greasing your hands, shape it in to smaller balls, say, the size of naphthalene balls and keep covered in a bowl.

4.      Complete the dough by making small balls and arrange on greased idli plates.

5.      Steam them in the pressure cooker without weight for 10 minutes on high. As they have already been cooked once, it will cook in steam pretty fast.

6.      Once the cooker is switched off, wait for a few minutes and collect all the balls on the serving bowl.

7.      In a seasoning kadai, add 2 spoons of oil. When hot, add broken urad dhal, mustard, green chilies, hing and curry leaves.

8.      Drop over the kozhukattais and mix well.

Delicious Mini/Ammini Kozhakattais are ready to be served.

Janmashtami/Sri Jayanthi/Krishna Jayanthi Basic Snacks

This festival is one of the most sought of festival of hindus in India. The day is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Krishna or otherwise called as Lord Vishnu. It is said that Lord Krishna likes some of the following sweet & savoury accompanied with white cow butter. So to learn about his favourite eatables scroll below. Make it and celebrate the day along with your fellow beings.

UPPU SESDAI
Ingredients:
Rice flour - 2 cups
Soak rice in water. Drain it and dry it on a thin cloth. Once its dried grind it into powder.
Be sure to strain the rice powder once and take of the little granuels.
Uradh Dhall / Ulatham parupu - 1/2 cup
Asefatida - 1tps
Unsalted white butter - 1/2 cup
Warm water - 1/2cup
Salt - As per taste
Sunflower Oil - to deep fry

Method/ Vidhiee:
1. In a pan dry roast the rice flour till it turns hot. Keep stirring so that it doesn't turn brown. Keep the flame low.
2. Once its done, transfer them to a big bowl. Let it cool.

3. In the same pan dry roast Uradh dhall/ Ulatham Parupu till they turn golden brown.
4. Once they are done transfer to a plate and cool it.

5. Once the dhall is cool. Take it and grind into fine powder. To have fine powder use strainer to strain the granuals.
6. Take the bowl which has rice flour. To it add dhall powder, salt, asefatida & white butter.

7. Mix well and do not press hard.
8. To it sprinkle warm water at times needed and make it into a semi solid dough.

9. Note that this dough would not come like a chappatti dough.
10. Roll on ball and see whether it doesn't crack.
11. Once the mixture is done roll the mixture into small balls and dry them.

12. In a heavy bottom pan heat oil.
13. Once the oil is hot lower the flame and add the balls one by one on to the side of the pan.
14. Leave it for 1 min and then keep rolling the balls.

15. You can raise the flame in middle and then again lower it so that the balls turn brown.

16. The balls should turn light brown colour.Means its done.
17. Take them out on a tissue paper and drain excess oil.

18. Once the balls cool down a bit tranfer to a air tight box.
19. Do not close the box immediately as water vapour may form inside it and it would get spoilt.
20. Close half the box for ten min then fully close it when once all the mixture is done.

Enjoy the UPPU SEEDAI savoury. Present it to Lord Krishna and enjoy it with all your near and dear ones.

Tip : You can add white sesame seeds powder or seeds, but be careful that the balls don't burst.
        You can also add jeera powder or seeds as above.
Caution : To much of water or butter would make the balls crackle like small bomb in oil or might dissolve in oil. Hence, be careful and test one first and then if it turns well start the process

VELLA SESDAI
Ingredients:
Rice flour - 2 cups
Soak rice in water. Drain it and dry it on a thin cloth. Once its dried grind it into powder. Be sure to strain the rice powder once and take of the little granuels.
Uradh Dhall / Ulatham parupu - 1/2 cup
Elaichi / Elakai/ Cardamom  powder - 1tsp
Unsalted white butter - 1/2 cup
Warm water - 1/2cup
Salt - 1/4tsp
Jaggery - 1/2 cup (If your jaggery is dark brown this measurement is ok. If, its light brown then ou can take 3/4 cup  measurement)
Sunflower Oil - to deep fry

Method/ Vidhiee:
1. In a pan dry roast the rice flour till it turns hot. Keep stirring so that it doesn't turn brown. Keep the flame low.
2. Once its done, transfer them to a big bowl. Let it cool.

3. In the same pan dry roast Uradh dhall/ Ulatham Parupu till they turn golden brown.

4. Once they are done transfer to a plate and cool it.
5. Once the dhall is cool. Take it and grind into fine powder. To have fine powder use strainer to strain the granuals.
6. Take the bowl which has rice flour. To it add dhall powder, salt, cardamom powder, jaggery and mix well in a processor.
7. Mix well with unsalted white butter.
8. To it sprinkle water at times needed and make it into a semi solid dough.

9. Note that this dough would not come like a chappatti dough.
10. Roll on ball and see whether it doesn't crack.
11. Once the mixture is done roll the mixture into medium sized balls and dry them.

12. In a heavy bottom pan heat oil.
13. Once the oil is hot lower the flame and add the balls one by one on to the side of the pan.
14. leave it for 1 min and then keep rolling the balls.
15. You can raise the flame in middle and then again lower it so that the balls turn brown.
16. The balls should turn light brown colour.Means its done.
17. Take them out on a tissue paper and drain excess oil.

18. Once the balls cool down a bit tranfer to a air tight box.
19. Do not close the box immediately as water vapour may form inside it and it would get spoilt.
20. Close half the box for ten min then fully close it when once all the mixture is done.

Enjoy the VELLA SEEDAI savoury.
Present it to Lord Krishna and enjoy it with all your near and dear ones.

Tip : You can add copra or dry coconut for the crunch flavour, but be careful that the balls don't burst.
Caution : To much of water or butter would make the balls crackle like small bomb in oil or might dissolve in oil. Hence, be careful and test one first and then if it turns well start the process

KAJURKAI
Ingredients:
Maida - 1/2 cup
Atta -1/2 cup
Khus Khus / Poppy seeds - 2tbs
Elaichi/ Cardamom - 3 pods
Ghee - 3tbs
Copra / Dry coconut -1/4cup
Badam - 2-3
Kismis - 5
Sugar powder - 1/4cup
Rice powder - 3tbs
Water
Oil - to fry

Method/ Vidhiee:
1. Soak poppy seeds for 1 hr. Wash it and drain them.

2. Grind them and fry in 1tbs ghee.
3. Dry raost the copra and cool it.

4. Cut kismis and badam into small bits.
5. Mix well copra, poppy seeds, kismis, badam, rice flour, sugar powder and keep aside.

6. In another bowl mix atta, maida, salt and make a dough.
7. Flattent the dough and cut into round rings.

8. Fill in the rings with the poppy seeds mixture.

9. Put water drop on the sides of the rings and close it semi-circle.

10.Close them and seal it.
11. In a pan heat oil and keep in low flame.

12. Put the Kajurkai's into oil and fry till they turn golden brown.

11. Drain them on to a tissue paper and sprinkle sugar powder over it .

Enjoy by sharing with others.

VELLA OPPRA
If you some of the VELLA SEEDAI dough. You can make one more sweet VELLA OPPRA.
Sprinkle the dough into the hot oil.
Keep strring till it turns brown.
Drain it on to tissue paper.
It would turn crisp once it cools down.

This sweet can be given as VELLA OPPRA to young kids and oldies who cannot chew :)

Dry Black - Nightshade Roasted or Manathakali Vathaal

Manathakali seeds or otherwise called as Black Nightshade seeds. Down south of India these seeds are separated from the black nightshade spinach leaves. They would be black /green colour.
Traditional process of dehydrating and using it as and when required. It is believed to have medicinal properties that can heal mouth ulcers and also clears of worms in the stomach.

Ingredients:

• 200 gms  - Black Nightshade seeds or Manathakali vedhai
• 100 ml     - Buttermilk
• 1 tbs        - Rock Salt
• 50 ml       - Oil

Method / Vidhiee:
1. Wash the Manathakali seeds and dry them.
2. Mix rock salt to the buttermilk. Beat them well.
3. Soak the seeds into the buttermilk for 2 days under sunlight.
4. After 2 days drain excess fluids and dry them under the sun for at least 4 days.
5. You can see the seeds shrink and turned into brown and black.
6. Once they are crisp store them into an air tight container.

7. When needed heat oil and slow or switch of the flame.
8. Put in some dried seeds into it and roast them. Beware they get roasted in seconds.

9. Once they turn into filled seeds into a round shape drain them.

You can crush them and mix it with rice and use them.
It can also be used for making the famous Varthal Kozambu of south India.

Note: Drying time may vary depending upon the humidity the seeds are kept. Hence, it might take less or more days to dry.