Easy Poosanikai kootu (White pumpkin gravy)

Easy Poosanikai kootu (White pumpkin gravy) - Preparation time 10 to 15 mins
During december we went to our native place for chariot and darshan festival of god Nataraja @ chidambaram. Very good experience. We visited some near by temples also. Felt very divine and charged up for the year. When we visited our in-laws place for lunch I tasted this recipe, It tasted good and simple. We discussed about many more recipes and the way of cooking.


Ingredients:-
White pumpkin (poosanikai) - 1 cup (remove the skin and chop to small cubes)
Salt - To taste
Bengal gram - 1 tbsp (boiled in water till it is cooked)
Rice flour - 1/2 tsp
Milk - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Red chili - 2
Mustard seed - 1/4 tsp
Urad dhal - 1 tsp
Sesame oil - 1/2 tsp
Grated coconut - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sting


Preparation method:-
Boil poosanikai with little water (as the vegetable contains water content use little water to cook.) and salt.
To cooked poosanikai add boiled channa dhal, paste of milk and rice flour. Boil for few seconds and switch off the flame.
In a tawa heat oil, mustard to splutter, urad dhal to golden brown, red chili, curry leaves. Garnish the poosanikai kootu with this.
You can take this with white rice or as a side dish to chapathi.

Ginger Butter milk (Ingi more)

Ginger Butter milk - Preparation time 5 mins
One of the favourite drink during hot chennai summer. We can always change the taste of buttermilk by adding different spices to the buttermilk. We don't like when curd is too sour. Refrigerate when it is fermented and smell of curd comes. Refer making of curd.


Ingredients:-

Curd - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup
Coriander leaves - 1 tsp (washed and finely chopped)
Ginger - 1/2 inch chopped to fine pieces
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Salt - to taste (I always use rock salt for cooking).


Preparation method:-
In a small pot add the curd and mash with a ladle to make it to thick paste.
Add the water and mix well. I use the traditional wooden maathu (buttermilk churner) to make thin buttermilk.
Using filter remove any aadai or creamy texture.
Now remove the skin of ginger, chop to small pieces and crush.
Add this to buttermilk along with chopped coriander leaves, hing(asafoetida) and salt. Mix well.
If you make with freshly fermented curd this will be most delicious and tempting drink.
Surely you won't stop with one glass.

First aid in our kitchen

First aid in our kitchen
While chopping vegetables if you get any cut then keep some pure turmeric powder to stop the blood immediately.
When hot coffee/milk fell over skin e.g. your hand, keep the hand under running water for 15 to 20 mins to cool down and place some ice cubes in clean cloth and tie that cloth over the hand.  
If you face some digestion problem chew 1/2 tsp of cumin and drink hot water. If you have ajwain (omam) it is even more good but it will be bit spicy.
To bring down the head pain use ginger powder. Take 1/2 tsp of ginger powder, make paste using water and slightly heat it and apply over the forehead. Sleep for few mins you can see the relief.
When your dinner is heavy and don't feel comfortable have some buttermilk (it should be watery) with asafoetida, rock salt(kaal uppu) and cumin powder.

Will share more.....

Rasam powder

Making of Rasam powder or podi
Mom used to freshly ground the rasam powder using ammi and kozhuvi (grinding stone made using rough granite) and make rasam. Now a days i am preparing and keeping for few weeks because i can't ground for one day in my mixer. 

Ingredients:-
Coriander seeds: - 1 cup
Cumin seed - 3/4 cup
Pepper - 1 tbsp
Red chili - 5 

Preparation method:-
Heat a tawa. Add coriander seed, cumin seed, pepper and red chili to tawa.

Roast in a medium or low flame till the cumin splutters and coriander change in colour. When roasted nice aroma comes.

Cool the roasted ingredients and grind to coarse powder (don't ground to powder because it will smell like medicine).

Only coarse and correctly roasted rasam powder will give very nice smell and taste to the rasam.

Store in a airtight container. Make rasam podi 15 days once so it will be fresh. If you want and can then prepare freshly when you want to make rasam.

Beetroot Rasam

Beetroot rasam - Preparation time 15 mins
This is my favourite rasam made by mom and its her special recipe. The color of the rasam will be very attractive and pleasant. Till now I haven't tasted anywhere or heard of this rasam from anyone. Try it out it will be very different and healthy.

Ingredients:-
Beetroot:- 1/2 (peel the skin, slice to 1 inch pieces and pressure cook with little water)
Tomato - 1
Tamarind paste - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Rasam powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Cooked toor dhal - 2 tbsp
Red chili - 2 (remove the seeds. When i use red chili i make sure to remove the chili seeds).
Water - Required amount
Cumin - 1 tsp
Pepper - 5
Ghee - 1/4 tsp

Preparation method:-
In a vessel add 1 cup water, chili, tamarind paste, salt, rasam powder, turmeric, chopped tomato, boiled beetroot pieces along with the boiled water and boil till the raw smell of tamarind goes off.
Mix 1 cup of water with cooked toor dhal and mix well. Add this to boiling rasam.
When rasam starts bubbling switch of the flame and transfer to serving bowl.
Garnish rasam with cumin and pepper roasted in ghee (if more health conscious like me then use sesame oil).
Goes well with white rice and Yam dry curry.

Cabbage & Cinnamon gravy (Muttaikose, pattai kootu)

Cabbage & Cinnamon gravy (Muttaikose, pattai kootu) - Preparation time 15 to 20 mins

This recipe will be different and easy to make. 

Ingredients:-

Cabbage - finely chopped 1 cup

Coconut - 3 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Pasiparuppu (Mung Dhal) - 50 gms. (or 1/4 cup)

Cinnamon - 1 inch stick

Cummin seeds - 1 tsp

Urad dhal - 1 tbsp

Curry leaves - 2 string

Water required amount

Sesame oil - 1 tsp

Mustard seed - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric - 1/4 tsp

Green chili - 2 or 3 (according to your taste)

Preparation method:-

In a vessel boil 2 to 3 cup of water and add the mung dhal. Cook till the dhal become soft. If water is not enough to cook add required amount of hot water and cook (If excess water in dhal you can filter that water and use to cook the cabbage).

Boil water in a vessel.Add turmeric, salt and cabbage. Cook till cabbage is soft. Add cooked mung dhal to cooked cabbage and boil for few mins.

Grind coconut, chili & cinnamon to coarse paste and add to the cabbage kootu & mix well. Switch of the flame.

In a pan add oil, mustard seed to splutter. Now add urad dhal and make light brown and add cumin seed. When in splutters garnish the cabbage mung dhal kootu with this.

Finally add chopped curry leaves. You can mix this with rice or take along with chapathi.