Preparation of Omappodi

3 cups besan
1 tbsp rice flour
1 tsp ajwain (cleaned and soaked in water for a few minutes)
A lemon sized ball of butter (unsalted)
Oil for frying
Salt to taste
Grind ajwain to very find paste. Mix along with besan, rice flour, butter, salt and enough water to form soft dough. Heat oil in a pan. Take a small quantity of the dough and press through an Omappodi (sev) mould directly into the oil. Cook on a moderate flame till done. Cool and store in air tight container.

Recipe Vella Dosai

Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
jaggery (powdered) 3/4 cup
ghee - 2 tbsp
cardamom powdered 6 pods
Oil

Mix whole wheat flour and jaggery with enough water to forma batter of puring consistency. Add ghee and cardamom powder and mix well. Heat a griddle (tawa) and spread a ladleful of batter evenly. Pour oil around it. When cooked, turn over and cook again. Serve hot with pure ghee.

Recipe Vegetable Bonda

mustard seeds 1 1/2 tsp
black gram dal 1 tsp
Bengal gram dal 1 tbsp
red chillies (broken) 3
asafoetida powder 1/2 tsp
ghee 4 tsp
Oil for deep frying

Outer cover
besan 6 cups
red chilli powder 1 tsp
asafoetida powder 1/2 ts
salt to taste

filling
Potatoes (boiled, peeled and smashed) 1/2 kg
green chillies (cleaned and chopped finely) 15
beans (chopped finely) 100 gms.
carrots (scrapped & chopped finely) 3
green peas (shelled) 200grms
curry leaves (cleaned & chopped finely) 2 sprigs
cashew nuts (broken) 10
turmeric powder 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Mix besan, asafoetida powder, red chilli powder and salt with enough water to make thin batter and set aside. Heat ghee and add mustard seeds, black gram dal, Bengal gram dal, red chillites and asafoetida powder. When brown add cashewnuts and washed beans carrots, green peas, green chillites turmeric powder and curry leaves. When cooked add salt and mashed potatoes. All the mixture to cool and form medium sized balls. Healt oil in a pan. Dip each bass in batter and deep fry till golden brown. Drain and serve hot with chutney or sauce.

Preparation of Seedai

Rice soaked in water for 6 hours - 2 cups
drained and powdered into a fine flour

urad dal - 1 tbsp.
coconut scrapings - 2 tbsp.
white til - 1 tbsp.
Oil for deep frying
A pinch of asafoetida
Salt to taste

Roast the flour till light pink in color. Roast the urad dal and make into a fine powder. Mix the rice flour, dal powder, salt, coconut scrapings, asafoetida and 2 tbsp. hot oil. Add water and make into a thick dough. Keep aside for 30 minutes. Spread a cloth and roll the dough into tiny balls. Deep fry them in hot oil. Store in an airtight tin.

Preparation of Karanjis

flour 2 cups
a pinch of salt
ghee 1 tsp.

For the filling:
finely grated coconut - 1
poppy seeds - 1 tbsp.
cardmom powder - 1 tsp.
sugar - 1 cup
nuts and raisins, sliced - 2 tbsp.
Oil for frying.

Mix flour, ghee and salt. Make a stiff dough and keep aside.

Make a syrup with sugar, add the coconut and cook over a low fire. Add roasted poppy seeds and cook till the mixture is thick. Add the nuts and cardamom powder. Cook till thick and remove from fire. Cool.

Now take a small portion of the flour dough and make a small disc of 6 cms, Over a plastic sheet. Put a small portion of the coconut mixture in the center. Fold the edges and make a half circle. Seal the edges and the piece should look like a half-moon. Thus make all the pieces. Deep-fry them and remove. Cool and store in airtight tins.

Rava Ladoo preparation

rava 2 cups
ghee 1 cup
cardamom powder 1 tsp
powdered sugar 2 cups
chopped cashewnuts 2 tbsp.

Roast the rava on a low fire by adding 1 tbsp. ghee till pink. Cook and grind the dry mixture in a mixer. Mix the powdered sugar, cardamom powder and melted ghee with rava powder. Add the nuts. While still warm, make into small balls. Cool and store in airtight tins.

Erichery preparation

Raw bananas, peeled 6 No. (cut into long pieces)
curry leaves 8
green chillies, sliced 3
coconut scrapings 2 cups
cummin seeds 1/2 tsp.
turmeric powder 1/4 tsp.
coconut oil 2 tbsp.
mustard seeds 1/2 tsp.
red chillies 2
Salt to taste

Mix banana pieces with turmeric and salt and cook till soft. Mash slightly. Grind 1 cup coconut, 1 red chilli and cummin to a fine paste. Add to banana mash. Reserve.

Heat oil. Add mustard seeds, green chillies, curry leaves and red chilli pieces. Add one cup coconut scrapings and fry till golden. Add the banana mash and mix well. Serve hot.

Preparation of Curd Rice / Bhagala Bhath

Rice 2 cups
milk 2 cups
ginger 1 cm
fresh curd 2 cups
green chillies 3
mustard seeds 1 tsp
curry leaves 8
Asafoetida a pinch
Oil
salt to taste

Boil the rice in a pressure cooker. While it is warm, slightly mash up. Heat oil and fry the mustard seeds and asafoetida. and add chopped green chillies, ginger and curry leaves. Pour over the rice.

Beat the curd and add salt. Pour over the rice and mix well. Add the milk and mix thoroughly. Cool. If it becomes quite thick, add more milk. Serve with pickle.

For preparing it for children you can add grapes in it. They like it very much.

Preparation of Dosa

Rice 2 cups
Black gram 1 cup
fenugreek seeds 1/2 tsp.

Soak rice and black gram with fenugreek seeds separately in water for 4 hours. Grind them separately. Add with salt and keep it for overnight.

Heat a griddle, smear generously with oil and spread the batter into a dosa. After few minutes turn over and add some oil. Serve with chutney or Sambar.

Preparation of Aviyal

White pumpkin peeled, cubed - 100 grms

Drumsticks, peeled, cut into 3 cm pieces - 10 pieces

Yam, peeled cubed - 100 gms

raw bananas peeled, cubed - 3

brinjals, cubed - 2

french beans, chopped - 1 cup

Green chillies - 5

Red chilies - 3

Yoghurt - 1 cup

coconut oil - 4 tpsb.

turmeric powder - 1 tsp.

cummin seeds - 1/2 tsp.

currery leaves - 8

Coconut scrapings - 3 cups

Salt to taste

Wash all vegetables. Add salt, turmeric, ground green chillies and curry leaves. Cook in a little water in a pressure pan till all vegetables are soft.

Grind the coconut finely and mix with the yoghurt. Add this paste to vegetables and check salt. Coook for a few minutes to blend. Heat oil and add red chillies. Pour oil over the Aviyal and serve hot.

Reciepe - Coconut Rice or Thengai Sadam

Rice - 2 cups
coconut - 1
cashew nuts - 2 tbsp.
urad dal - 1 tsp.
mustard seeds - 1 tsp.
red chillies and green chillies - each 2
salt to taste
asafoetida - one pinch
coconut oil - 3 tbsp.

Pressure - cook the rice. Heat oil in a Pan and add mustard seeds. As the seeds pop add the urad dall, asafoetida, boroken red chillies and cross cut green chillies and few curry leaves. Then add coconut scrapings and fry till aroma comes. Pour over the rice and add salt. Mix thoroughly. Add the fried cashew nuts. It is delicious to eat.

Preparation of Sakkarai Pongal

In Tamil Nadu Pongal festival is celebrated for four days. Sakkarai Pongal is the favoruite dish for many. Here we can see how we can prepare it.

2 cups rice

1 litre milk

1/2 cup moong dal

3 cups of grated jaggery

2 cups of ghee

50 grms cashewnuts and raisins

1 tsp. cardamom powder

First wash the rice and moong dal thoroughly and cook with milk in coocker for 15 minutes. Add little water in jaggery and boil it separately. Strain it to remove the stones in jaggery and boil it for ten minutes making it two thread consistency. Now coocked rice is ready add ghee in it and stir it well. Then add boiled jaggery syrup. Stir it continuously in low flame for 5 to 10 minutes. Then add cardmom powder and roasted cahsewnuts and raisins. Now your sweet Sankkarai Pongal is ready to eat.

Preparation of Kaju Katli or Chashew Burfi

I like Cashew Burfi or Kaju Katli very much. So I prepared it in home. Here we can see how we can prepare it.

Cashewnuts 1 cup
Sugar 3 cups
Milk gova 100grms.
Ghee 1 cup
Cardamom powder 1 tsp.

Soak the cashewnuts in water for 4 hours. Drain the water and grind like rava by adding some milk.

Make a sugar syrup to one-thread consistency and add chashewnut paste and cook in a low flame by adding ghee slowly. After ten minutes add Milk gova and cook till the mixute leaves the sides of the vessel and add cardmom powder. Pour over a greesed plate and cut into desired shape.