Sorakkai Kurma (Bottle Gourd Korma)

Korma or Kurma is a mild creamy curry that has many variations. In the Mughlai Cuisine, the creamy gravy uses yogurt or fresh cream. In the South Indian variation Kurma uses coconut and cashew nut paste to bring out the creamy texture of the gravy. The famous  is one of the most demanded dishes in South Indian Restaurants. There are many many variation to this and one of them is today dish called Sorakkai Kurma. It is a great combination with chapati but can also be served with rice.

Ingredients

• Bottle gourd - 250 gms (1/2 lb)
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Onion - 1 medium (chopped)
• Ginger Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
• Tomato - 1 (chopped)
• Green Chilies - 2 or Red Chilly Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Coriander powder - 1 tsp
• Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Oil - 2 tsp
• Fresh Coriander leaves (Cilantro) - for garnish

Ingredients to grind

• Fresh Coconut - 3 tbsp
• Poppy Seeds - 1 tsp

• Method

  1. Wash and peel the skin of the bottle gourd. Cut into small cubes.
  2. Heat oil in a pan and crackle the cumin seeds.
  3. Add the chopped onions and saute for few minutes.
  4. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute.
  5. Next add the chopped tomato and saute till tomatoes become mushy.
  6. Add the bottle gourd pieces, turmeric powder, chilly powder, coriander powder and garam masala.
  7. Add 1 cup of water. Cover and cook till the bottle gourd is soft (about 7-10 minutes).
  8. In the meantime, grind together the grated coconut and poppy seeds with little water to a fine paste. You can also add 4-5 cashews along with this for enhanced flavor.
  9. Reduce the flame and add this ground paste to the simmering  curry.
  10. Simmer for another 2-3 minutes and switch off.

  Serving Suggestion

  • Serve with chapati or white rice.

  Variations

  • Try with other vegetables like ridge gourd (peerkangai), chayote squash (chow chow), zucchini, yellow squash or pumpkin. 
  • If you like to make the kurma white in colour, skip the tomatoes, turmeric powder and red chill powder. Use yogurt and green chilies instead.

Kanchipuram Idlis (Savory Rice Cakes)

Kanchipuram Idlis are spiced up rice cakes that are popular in the town of Kanchipuram. The main flavorings are cumin, pepper and ginger. Another interesting thing about these idlis is their shape. These idlis are traditionally made in Lotus Leaf Cups, also called the "Donnai". These leaves impart the classic flavor to the idli. These days Kanchipuram idlis are made in tumblers or a deep flat dish to differentiate it from regular idlis. It is then cut into pieces and served. Well, those who are not worried about all these fancy presentations, please make it in the regular idli mould. It will taste just as good.

Kanchipuram idlis can be served with chutney or sambhar. My favorite combination is with idli podi. You can make it for breakfast or dinner. It can be made in no time if you have idli batter on hand. I have shared the recipe to make the Kachipuram idli batter below. However, you can also flavor your regular idli batter with the seasonings and enjoy Instant Kanchipuram Idlis any time.

Ingredients

• Raw Rice - 1 cup
• Idli Rice (or boiled rice) - 1 cup
• Urad dal - 1 cup
• Salt - as needed

Flavoring

• Crushed black pepper - 2 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Dry ginger powder - 1 tsp (or use fresh grated ginger)

Seasoning

• Sesame oil - 1 tblsp
• Urad dal (or channa dal) - 2 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Curry leaves - few (chopped)
• Cashew nuts - 10 (broken)
• Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp

• Method

  1. Soak both the rice together in one bowl. In another bowl soak the washed urad dal. Let it soak for at least 2 hours.
  2. First grind the soaked ural dal with little water to get a very light and fluffy batter.
  3. Next grind the rice to a coarse paste. Mix both the batter together with required salt.
  4. Let it rest in a warm place and ferment. It may take anywhere between 6 hours to 10 hours depending on the warmth. When the batter is fermented it will considerably increase in volume and have a sour fermented aroma.
  5. With the batter ready, mix the ginger, pepper and cumin with the batter. You can go ahead and make idlis at this stage.
  6. To make it extra tasty, make a seasoning of mustard seeds, curry leaves, cashew nuts, urad dal and asafoetida. Add this to the batter and mix well.
  7. Pour the batter in greased idli moulds or tumblers or a deep pan. Steam it for 15-20 minutes on high flame.
  8. Let it cool for about 5 minutes.

  Serving Suggestions

  • If you have made the kanchipuram idli in a big pan, cut the idli into small pieces.
  • Since this is made with raw rice, you have to eat the idlis hot. If not it will loose its softness.
  • Serve with any chutney, sambhar or idli podi.
  • Check out the recipe of a very similar dish called "Rice Dhokla" that is made in Maharashtra and Gujarat. 

Rose Cookies / Achu Murukku

Rose cooky is a famous South Indian snack made during  festivals. It is known as Achu Murukku in Tamil and Malayalam and Gulabi Puvullu in Telugu. It has a very pretty flower shape.

I have some pleasant childhood memories of my grandmother making these rose cookies during Christmas. Myself and my cousins used to enjoy putting the petals of the rose cookies in our fingers as rings and snacking on it.

To make these murukkus, you need the achu (rose cookie mould). Making these murukkus may be a little tricky at first. With little tips, tricks and practice it is very simple to make.

In my place, we always add egg while making this. However, you can make rose cookies without eggs too. I have mentioned in notes below.

Make and enjoy this tasty snack with your loved ones.

Ingredients

• Rice powder - 1 cup
• Maida or All Purpose Flour- 1/4 cup
• Sugar - 1/2 cup
• Coconut Milk - 1/2 cup (+ 1 or 2 tbsp if needed)
• Egg - 1  (NOTE: If you want to make it egg less, then ignore egg add little extra coconut milk while making the batter.)
• Salt - a pinch
• Oil - for deep frying

Preparation

• Apply oil on the achu murukku mould and let it rest for one or two days. This will help in making the murukkus easily.

Method

1. I usually take all the above ingredients in the biggest jar or the mixie or a blender and blend for few minutes to get a smooth thick batter. You can also mix with just a ladle or hand mixer.
2. Remove it into a bowl. Mix in 1 tsp of sesame seeds - black or white, with the batter.(The batter should have the consistency of dosa batter. If it is thicker, the murukkus won't be crispy. If it is thinner, the batter won't stick to the mould. )
3. Heat oil in a wide kadai. Leave the murukku mould inside the oil. Only if it hot enough, the batter will stick to it.
4. When the mould has become hot, dip it carefully inside the  batter such that only 80% of the mould is covered with batter. This is important so that the murukku easily comes off the mould.
5. Gently hold the mould inside the hot oil. You will see the oil bubbling.
6. After few seconds, shake the mould handle gently to release the achu murukku into the oil. You can also use a fork to help release the murukku.
7. Let it fry in medium heat till the bubbling of the oil subsides.
8. Turn the murukkus half way so that both sides have an even golden brown color.

1. In the meantime, leave the mould in the hot oil so that it is ready for the next murukku.

Variation (Method 2 - Making murukku batter with raw rice)

• Raw rice - 1 cup
• Sugar - 1/2 cup
• Maida - 2-3 tbsp
• Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup
• Egg - 1
• Water - 1/2 cup - 3/4 cup

Wash and soak the raw rice in the exact measure of water for 1-2 hours. Grind it to a smooth batter with the other ingredients. Make the murukkus as above.

Kambam Choru

Bajra also known as 'Pearl Millet' used to be one of the widely available grains half a century before. Last few decades it lost its popularity and people opted for more easily available grains like rice and wheat. Nowadaysmillets are coming back into the markets due to its health benefits. People with diabetes, high cholesterol etc are trying to include more and more millets into their diet.

Today I want to share a very old Pearl millet recipe called "Kambu Sadam" or "Kambu Choru".

Ingredients

• Pearl Millet - 1 cup
• Water - 2 1/2 cups
• Salt - to taste

Method

1. Wash the pearl millet once or twice. Soak it in 1 cup of water for about 15 minutes.
2. Pulse it in the mixie or food processor a few times so that the grains break down. This step is optional but speeds up the cooking process.
3. Take the broken millet, remaining 1.5 cup water and salt in a pressure cooker. Cook for 4-5 whistles. Let the pressure go off naturally. It takes a little longer to cook than rice.

Serving Suggestion

• Kambu sadam or kambu choru is ready to serve with any pickles or curry of your choice. People looking for healthy alternatives to rice can try this with your favorite curry. In our house we enjoy it with fish curry.

Tips

• If you do not have a pressure cooker, you can cook it in an open pot but it will take a long time.

Kambu Koozh

Kambu also known as 'Pearl millet' or 'Bajra' is a very nutritious grain. It was very common in many parts of India 5 to 6 decades back. In Rajasthan and Maharashtra, bhakri is made with bajra flour. In Tamil NaduKambu Sadam, Kambu Koozh, Kambu Adai and Kambu Kali were commonly eaten as breakfast. Decades ago, it was known as the poor mans food. One big chembu (bowl) of Kambam Koozh was known to keep the farmers energetic without hunger for many hours. It also kept their body cool in-spite of their hard labor full day in the hot sun.

Pearl millet is high in iron, calcium and vitamin B-complex. Due to the growing awareness of the nutritional benefits of bajra, these days people are trying to include it in their diet.Thus, bajra porridge now become a part of healthy diet.

Ingredients

• Pearl Millet (Kambu, Bajra) - 1/2 cup
• Water - 1.5 cups
• Buttermilk - 3/4 cup
• Salt - 1/2 tsp
• Topping
• Peal Onions - few
• Green Chili - 1

Method

1. Wash the pearl millet and let it soak in 1/2 cup of water for 10-15 minutes.
2. Grind this in the mixie coarsely. You can also make koozh with store bought kambu flour. However I prefer to grind the whole grains. This gives the final product some texture.
3. Add the remaining 1 cup water and cook it. You can use the pressure cooker or cook in open pot. This is called Kambam Choru or Kambu Sadam and can be had as a meal by itself with some pickle or curry. I usually make kambu choru for dinner and use the leftovers to make Kambam Koozh for breakfast the 
4. Let the Kambu Sadam cool down. After it cools, make lemon sized balls and keep them soaked in some drinking water.
5. Let this rest in the water overnight or for at-least 2 hours. A slightly fermented taste makes it even more tastier.
6. When you are ready to use, dissolve the balls in the water. Whisk in the buttermilk and salt. Tasty Kambam Koozh is ready to serve.
7. You can serve this koozh or porridge topped with some chopped pearl onions and green chilies.
Serving Suggestion
• Serve along side any variety of vadams, mor milagai and little pickle.
Tips
• You do not have to leave the kambu choru to ferment before making koozh. You can make it immediately too.
• You can follow the same recipe and make kambu koozh with store bought kambu maavu (bajra flour).

Medhu Vadai

Ingredients 
Split Black Gram (Urad dal) - 1 cup
Ginger - 1" piece (grated)
Green Chilies / Dry red chillies - 3-4 (finely chopped)
Crushed Black Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Curry leaves - 1-2 strands (leaves finely chopped)
Oil - for deep frying
Salt - to taste
Water - very little for grinding (app. 1/2 cup)

Optional Ingredients

Onion - 1/2 (chopped)
Cilantro - handful chopped
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Any Vegetables - 1/2 cup
Coconut pieces

Method
1. Soak the urad dal overnight or a minimum of 1/2 an hour.
2. Drain the water and grind the dal in grinder/blender/mixie using as little water as possible.

3. Take this urad dal batter in a bowl and add required salt, grated ginger, green/red chillies, crushed pepper, asafoetida and chopped curry leaves.

4. You could add in the optional ingredients too if you prefer. Mix the batter nicely.
5. In the meantime, heat the oil for frying the vadas.
6. To shape the vadas, wet your hand, take a small portion of batter on the palm your hand.
7. Using the finger of your other hand or the thumb of the same hand, make a small hole in the center of the batter.
8. Gently slide the batter into the hot oil. The hole helps in even cooking of the vadas inside and out. The vadas should be fried in medium heat.
9. Once the vadas get golden brown on one side, flip it and cook the other side.
10. Once the vada fully turns golden brown, remove it and let it rest on paper towels to remove excess oil.
11. Serve hot with coconut chutney or sambar all by itself or with any south indian breakfast items like idli,pongal etc.

Variations
        - You could sneak in any veggies to get different vadas like cabbage vadai, spinach (keera) vadai, carrot vadai, broccoli vadai etc.
        - With the left over vadas you can make other delicasies like curd vada, sambhar vada, rasam vada etc

Vazhaipoo Usili

Ingredients
Plantain flower - 1 medium size
channa dal (Kadalai Paruppu, Bengal Gram Dal) - 1/4 cup
Tur dal (Tuvaram Paruppu, Red Lentils) - 1/4 cup
Dried Red chillies - 2 or 3
Green chilli - 1
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Asafoetida (Hing, Perungayam) - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste

For the seasoning 
Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 spring
Method
1. Wash and soak both the dals for atleast half an hour.
2. Clean the banana flower and chop it finely. Check out the step by step instructions to clean banana flower.
3. Grind it coarsely along with green chilli, red chillies, asafoetida and salt.
4. Cook the chopped banana flower with little water and salt in a pot. You can also microwave it or steam it. It cooks pretty fast.
5. Simultaneously, take small portions of the ground dal mixture in idli plates (or any vessel) and steam it for about 10 minutes.
6. After it is cooled so that its comfortable to handle, crumble the cooked lentil balls with your hands. Alternatively, just pulse it in the food processor or mixie till it gets crumbled.
7. Heat oil in a kadai and splutter the mustard seeds and curry leaves.
8. Add the crumbled dal mixture and roast it for a few minutes.
9. Add the cooked banana flower and toss everything together. 
10. Check for salt and switch off. Since this vazhaipoo usili has lentils, it goes well with white rice and some non dal curry like mor curry, rasam or puli kulambu. It can also be used as a side for chapattis.

Other Recipes with Banana Flower

Manga Thokku

Ingredients:
2 cups Grated mango
2 tsp Red chilly powder
A pinch of asafoetida
1 tsp Salt (adjust)
Curry leaves (optional)
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder.
1-1 1/2 tsp Salt (depending upon the sourness of mango adjust)
Oil 5 tblsp
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds

Method:
1. Heat the oil in a kadai. Add mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, asafoetida. 
2. After it splutters, add the grated mango, turmeric powder  and saute  the same  till it becomes tender. 
3. Take out from the gas and allow to cool.   
4. Add the chilly powder, salt and mix well. Transfer it to a glass bottle or bharani.

Serve with dal rice, curd rice, dosa etc.

Mor Kulambu

Buttermilk curry (moar kulambu) is a traditional savory dish made in southern part of india. It is usually served with rice and some spicy side dish. It goes very well with fish fry. The different variations of mor kulambu are plain mor kulambu (made without any vegetables) or mor kulambu with veggies. The veggies that are traditionally used are okra, pumpkin and cucumber. Other veggies like squash varieties(zuccini, yellow, acorn, butternut), cabbage or cauliflower can also be used instead.
            The following is the recipe of okra mor curry. It is a very quick and simple recipe and is delicious with rice for a hot summer day.

Ingredients
Batch I
Rice - 1 tsp
Toor dal - 2tsp 
ginger - very small pc
G.chilli - 4 cnt (as per ur taste)
Cilantro - 2 strands
Cumin seeds -1/2 tsp
coconut - 2 tsp (grated)
Tumeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Batch II
Curd - 1 cup
Lime juice - as per need if curd is not sour enough.
musturd seeds - 1tsp
curry leave - 1 strand
Dry red chilli - 2 cnt
Tomato - 1/4 (optional)
okra - 6 to 8 cnt
Oil - for tempering
Salt - to taste

Method
1. Grind the ingredients from batch I very well.
2. Now add the curd and grind it for about a min.
3. In a pan put oil for seasoning, put mustard seeds, curryleaves and dry red Chilly.
4. Then add tomato if needed.
5. Now add okra and fry it 3 min and add water and let it cook.
6. Once the okra is cooked add the curd mixture, add required salt and allow is to get warm. 
7. Take the pan off the stove before boiling to prevent the curd from curdling.
8. It's yummy with rice, fried and spicy veggies.

Tip 
    - You can make pakodas and add to the curry for a different touch. 

Rasam

Rasam is a south indian curry/soup usually had with rice. It is made with tamarind, tomatoes, pepper, cumin, garlic, lentils etc. It is called saaru or chaaru in telugu and kannada. In the traditional 3 course south indian meal, it is usually had as a second course with sambhar being the first course and curd being the grand finale.

           There are many different types of rasam based on the ingredients used. But the basic recipe remains the same, the recipe that is given below. The additional ingredient is added to the basic rasam to enhance and change its flavour. Some of the variations of rasam that I am familiar with are :- Poodu (garlic) Rasam, Pineapple rasam, Mango Rasam, Milagu (Pepper) rasam/ Milagu Saaru, Neem leaf rasam, Ginger rasam, Lemon Rasam - sourness comes from lemon juice instead of tamarind juice, Paruppu Rasam/ Pappu Saaru - made with lentils, Chettinadu Kozhi (Chicken) Saaru/ Rasam - made with chicken broth/stock instead of water, Tomato Rasam/ Saaru - with tomato puree as main ingredient, Mysore Rasam - a fragrant soup made with fried grams/dals, Jeerige saaru - made with cumin, Coconut Rasam, Carrot Rasam - Boiled and Crused carrot is added to the rasam, Beetroot Rasam - Boiled and crushed beetroot is added to the rasam etc. 

Ingredients 
Tamrind - lime sized
Tomato - 1 (finely chopped or crushed)
Garlic - 3-4 cloves (crushed)
Green Chilly - 1
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp 
Water - 3 cups 
Salt - to taste 
Oil - 2 tblsp 
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 7 leaves 
Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp 
Coriander leaves (cilantro) – handful (chopped)

Rasam Powder ingredients
Black Peppercorns - 3 tsp
Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
Corriander Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Toor Dal - 2 tsp
Red Chilly - 2  

Method 
1. Dry roast and grind everything under ‘rasam powder ingredients’ very coarsely. This is the Rasam powder.
2. Soak the tamarind in warm water for 5 minutes to get tamarind juice.
3. Heat little oil in a pan, add the garlic, green chilly and tomatoes. Let the tomatoes cook for while, until they become soft and juicy.
4. Now add tamarind juice,  turmeric, salt, cilantro and water.
5. Bring it to a boil then reduce the flame.
6. Add the rasam powder and asafoetida. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Do not let it boil.
7. In the meanwhile, heat oil in pan, add  mustard seeds and curry leaves.
8. Once it splutters add it to the rasam. Garnish with some fresh chopped cilantro. Tasty rasam is ready to serve. Plain rice with rasam and paapad is an excellent combination.

Vendakkai Pulikulambu

Ingredients
Okra -1/2 pound cubed
Small onion - handful Sliced
Tomato -1 chopped
Tamarind water- ½ cup
Kuzhambu milagai powder (or sambar powder)-1 1/2 tsp
Garlic Sliced-3-4 pods
Curry leaves-1 string
Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp
Methi seeds- ¼ tsp
Oil-2 tbsp
Turmeric-couple pinches
Salt to taste

Method
1. Warm the kadai with oil and add thalippu (thaduka) with mustard seeds, methi seeds and curry leaves. 
2. Add the sliced onion, okra and garlic, sauté it. 
3. Add the chopped tomato and sauté it with salt, turmeric and kulambu powder. 
4. Add the tamarind water. 
5. Let it cook for 10- 15 mins.on medium heat until oil separates. 
6. Serve it with steamed rice and appalam. 

Tips
- Same recipe can be followed just with pearl onions or with just garlic and peppercorns or with any vathal or with drumstick or with drumstick and brinjal together.
- Can be cooked with couple tablespoons of ground coconut paste also (another variation).