Ginger and amla pickle (Ingi, nellikai oorugai)

Ginger and amla pickle (Ingi, nellikai oorugai) - preparation time 20 mins
We used to include ginger in most of our dishes. It have medicinal properties and good for digestion. When i was preparing amla pickle i thought of including ginger to the recipe. Because ginger is spicy it might suppress the distinct bitter like taste of amla.
Make this pickle using fresh amla and ginger. The flavour of amla and spicy ginger taste will be present in this pickle. Try in little quantity and use so we don't require any preservative and will be fresh.

Ingredients:-
Boiled amla - 10 remove the seed and chop to small cubes
Ginger - one small cup grated (about 50 gms.Wash, peel the skin and grate)
Red chili powder - 1 to 2 tsp (according to your spice level)
Salt - as per taste
Sesame oil - 3 tbsp
fenugreek seed and Mustard seed - 1/2 tsp (Roasted and ground)
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Tamarind paste - 1/4 tsp
Jaggery syrup - 2 tbsp

Preparation method:-
In a bowl mix boiled amla pieces, turmeric, chili powder, salt along with sesame oil.
Heat a kadai, add little oil, mustard to splutter. Add the grated ginger and fry. Close it and cook for few minutes.
After few minutes add the amla, turmeric, chili, salt, tamarind paste and jaggery syrup to the ginger.
Mix well and check the spice level and adjust to your taste. When the amla is too sour it might require more chili powder, salt and jaggery.
Cover the kadai and cook in very low flame. Remove the lid and stir frequently because we are not using much oil so the pickle will stick to the bottom of the kadai.
If you want you can add little more oil. Till the water content get removed keep stirring the pickle.
Switch of the flame and leave it to cool. When the pickle is cool transfer to a clean bottle or jar and keep. after 3 days you can refrigerate and use the pickle.

Ullunthu and pachai payaru methu vadai ( urad dhal & green gram vada)

Ullunthu and pachai payaru methu vadai ( urad dhal & green gram vada)
During a sunday i thought of making some green gram sundal and Black gram (urad dhal) vadai. As i soaked more green gram thought of keeping a small cup or handfull of soaked green gram to make sprouts and us next day. I boiled remainin green gram and made the sundal.
For making urad dhal i soaked only a small cup of dhal. I ground the urad dhal along with required ingredients but the flour became little watery and cannot make vadai. I am left with no option added the soaked green gram with this and ground to vadai flour. 
This gave birth to my new recipe :-). Actually this vadai was soft for long time. So try this recipe and enjoy eating. I forgot to take pictures.

Ingredients:-
Urad dhal - 1 cup (washed and soaked for 1 hr)
Green gram - 1/2 cup (washed and soaked for 3 hrs)
Salt - required amount
Green chili - 2
Onion - 1 (finely chopped)
Curry leave - 10 (finely chopped)
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Oil - To deep fry

Preparation method:-
Remove water from soaked urad dhal, chili, ginger, salt and grind in the grinder for few mins. Add soaked green gram and  ground to smooth fluffy vadai dough. 
Mix the chopped onion and curry leave to the vadai dough.
Heat the oil for deep frying. 
Make small ball in the flour and make vada using the plantain leaf or plastic sheet or silver foil and fry in medium hot oil. If oil is too hot the vada will get burned so cook in medium flame.
When cooked and golden brown remove from oil and transfer to bowl. If excess oil remove using tissue.

Carrot Halwa (Carrot innipu)

Carrot Halwa - Preparation time minimum 45 mins

When i was thinking to make some sweet for niece birthday. Making of rava kesari is usual so i want to make some sweet which will be tasty, quick and people not used to make frequently. I searched in net and finally ended up making carrot halwa. The procedure is same in almost all the blogs. I just want to make slight difference in the measurement of ingredients and procedure of making so ended up in my way of cooking.

Usually the carrot will have a unique raw smell or taste which i want to overcome because it will reflect in the halwa even after cooking. Which i removed by roasting in ghee initially before starting to cook the carrot in milk. Some people don't like to eat the cashew's roasted in ghee and some want to make the procedure bit quick (like me) so skipped roasting cashews in ghee and added directly to carrot cooking in milk :-). If you want you can add plain (unsweetened) kova to the halwa but i think even milk and carrot is enough to make the dish rich enough along with the ghee. 

It is your innovation which can get into the recipe only think that has to be taken care is - ingredients goes in should be cooked and the dish should taste good. 

Ingredients:-
Grated carrot - 1 cup
Milk - 1 cup
Ghee - 4 tbsp
Cardamon - 3 or 4 crushed finely(i use the skin portion also so the full flavor comes out)
Sugar - 3/4 cup or 1/2 cup (The carrot i used is not sweet so used 3/4 cup)
Cashew - 10 (chopped)

Preparation method:-
Heat the kadai, add the grated carrot and 1 tbsp of ghee. Fry carrot for 5 mins in the ghee to get rid of the raw smell of the carrot.

Now add the milk (i used raw milk) to carrot and mix. 

Cook in low flame by stirring the mixture occasionally so the mixture won't stick in the bottom and the boiling milk won't come out of the vessel.

When the carrot is cooked and milk is reduced add the sugar, chopped cashew to the mixture along with crushed cardamon.

You can soak some saffron strands in warm milk, crush and add at this stage if you want to enhance the flavour.
Cover the mixture and leave to cook till the milk is reduced. Keep stirring occasionally.

When almost all the milk is reduced add the ghee and mix with halwa. Now don't cover the halwa but keep stirring the halwa till the ghee seeps out on the edge of the halwa.

Nice aroma and ghee will come from the carrot halwa. 
Serve this halwa hot. Yummy, healthy and colorful carrot halwa is ready.

Making of Karasev

Making of Karasev - Prepartion time 20 to 25mins

Mom won't make this snack but when i visit my grandfather home during annual holidays he used to get some snack daily from near by town. It will be tied in a dry leaves but will be fresh and hot. The quantity will be very less but quality the best. One such snack is karasev the pepper we used to get in each and every bite will be spicy and the karasev will melt in our mouth.
With all above dreams i tried that snack in my home. It came out well but the taste that is still lingering in my mouth hmmmm.... memories are always sweet and tasty know.
I didn't have the karasev laddle or frame that people used so i tried only in thenkuzhal achhu.

Ingredients:-
Rice flour - 1.5 cup
Bengal gram flour - 2 cup
Butter - 1 or 2  tbsp
Hot oil - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Pepper - 2 tbsp or to your spice level coarsely ground (it has to go through the hole in the plate).
Oil - to fry

Preparation method:-
2:1.5 (rice:bengal gram)
Wash 2 portion of raw rice and dry in shade.
Make fine flour using the dried rice and seive using the flour filter.
Grind bengal gram in flour mill, seive and keep.
Mix rice and bengal gram flour in 2:1.5 proportion along with butter, hot oil, salt dissolved in water and ground pepper.
Sprinkle required amount of water and make dough (chapathi dough consistency).
Heat the oil and press the dough using the murukku presser directly into the hot oil. 
As we added butter and hot oil to dough murukku can be easily broken into piece using the frying laddle (to look like karasev). 
When the bubble suppressed remove from oil and transfer to the bowl.
I sprinkle some freshly groung pepper over the murukku and served. It gave additional taste.