Karamani Sundal

From Gita Iyer (Agraharam YouTube videos)

Ingredients
Black eyed peas (karamani) - 1 cup, soaked for a few hours and pressure cooked with salt for 5 mins.
Red chillis - 6
Channa dal - 1 tbsp
Dhania seeds - 1 tbsp
Uncooked rice - 1 tsp
Hing - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - a few

Tempering:
Oil
Mustard - 1 tsp
Curry leaves- a few
Red chillis - 1

Method

1. Dry roast the following ingredients together in the same order: channa dal, red chillis, dhania seeds, raw rice, curry leaves, hing. Grind to rava-like consistency in the mixie.
2. Temper with tempering ingredients and add in the cooked karamani. Stir fry till all water has evaporated.
3. Sprinkle ground powder per  taste and adjust for salt. 
4. Store any remaining powder in air-tight container for future use.

Ellu sadham

From Gita Iyer (Agraharam YouTube videos)

Ingredients
Black sesame seeds - 1/4 cup
Urad dal - 1/8 cup
Red chillis - 4 long
Curry leaves  - 10
Salt
Rice (sona masoori, ponni etc) - 1 cup uncooked - cook it like you regularly would.

Tempering:
Sesame oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Hing - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - a few

Method

1. Dry roast the urad and the red chillis and curry leaves till urad turns red/brown. Set aside
2. Toast sesame seeds till it pops/becomes crunchy. 
3. Cool both urad and sesame seeds into a slightly coarse mixture. Use short pulses else sesame seeds will exude oil and the mixture will turn into a big glop.
4. Add tempering ingredients into a pan and when mustard pops, add the ground powder.
5. Mix the ellu podi with rice as required and serve.

Peerkangai Kootu

From Gita Iyer (Agraharam YouTube videos)

Ingredients
Peerkangai (ridge gourd) - 2 medium size
Green chilli - 1 
Poppy seeds - 1/2 tsp
Coconut - 1/4 cup
Milk 1-2 tbsp
Pottu kadalai - 1 tbsp
Moong + tur dal - 1/3 cup (pressure cook with turmeric, salt and 1/2 tsp jeera)

Tempering:
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Coconut oil

Method

1. Cook chopped peerkangai with turmeric and salt till done.
2. Microwave coconut with a few tbsp of milk for a minute.
3. Grind poppy seeds + coconut + green chilli + pottu kadalai.
4. Add the boiled dal to the cooked peerkangai and bring to a boil for 10 mins
5. Add the coconut paste and bring to a boil and switch of heat.
6. Temper with the tempering ingredients.

Paruppu usili

Again, from Gita Iyer (Agraharam recipes YouTube)

I usually make the whole amount of the steamed usili mixture specified below and split it into two and freeze one of the halves. It de-freezes beautifully (take out of the freezer the previous night and put it into the regular refrigerator section) to make another batch of paruppu usili. If you do that, reduce the beans amount by half.

Ingredients
Tur dal 1/2 cup (soak for 2 hours)
Channa dal 1/2 cup (soak for 2 hours)
Red chillis - 6
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Hing - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - 10
Salt
Green beans - About 40 (chopped)

Tempering:
Oil
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Method
1. Grind the soaked dals with red chilis, turmeric, hing, curry leaves and salt. No extra water should be added and it should be ground a little coarsely.
2. Put the ground dal mixture into a pan making little depressions here and there and pressure cook this for 12 minutes.
3. When the usili is cooled down, crumble it with your fingers.
4. Add a generous amount of oil to a pan and pop the mustard seeds.
5. Add the chopped beans with a little water and cook till beans are soft (should not be mushy)
6. Add the usili mixture, mix well and roast till you can see brown spots here and there.

Thani kuzhambu with pumpkin

Another one from Gita Iyer (Agraharam recipes YouTube)

Ingredients
Red chilles 5
Channa dal 1 tbsp
Dhania seed 1 tbsp
Urad dal 1 tbsp
Shredded coconut - 3 tbsp
Tamarind extract 1/2-1tsp (depending on how sour you want it)
Jaggery - 1 small piece
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 10
Pumpkin about 1/4 kg - cut into pieces and cooked with salt and turmeric

To temper
Channa dal - 2 tsp
Urad dal - 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Hing - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Coconut oil

Method

1. Roast red chillies, channa dal, dhania seeds and urad dal till it begins to change color. Then add the coconut and continue roasting it till coconut turns light brown. Add the curry leaves. Grind this roasted mixture into a fine paste.
2. Heat coconut oil in a pan and add all tempering ingredients. When mustard begins to pop, add the tamarind extract mixture (mix concentrate with water if using concentrate) and the jaggery.
3. When above mixture comes to a boil, add salt and 1/2 tsp turmeric and boil.
4. Add the pumpkin and let the flavors blend in
5. Add the ground coconut paste and bring to a boil and switch off heat.

Vaazhakkai kootu kuzhambu

Another winner from Gita Iyer (Agraharam YouTube videos)

Ingredients
Tur dal - 1/4 cup (pressure cook with a little turmeric)
Black eyed beans - 3 tbsp cooked with salt
Raw banana - 1 medium size, chopped into bite size pieces
Coconut 1/4 cup
Urad dal 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Sambhar powder - 2 tsp
Tamarind extract (1/2 tsp tamarind concentrate)
Salt

To temper
Coconut oil
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - a few

Method

1. Fry 1/2 tsp urad + 1/4 cup coconute + 1 sprig curry leaves. Urad dal should be roasted but coconut should not brown.
2. Mix chopped raw banana, sambhar powder, tamarind extract, cooked black beans (there should hardly be any water in this mixsture) and salt. Pressure cook for 1 whistle (turn off stove after first whistle.
3. Boil the pressure cooked raw banana mixture on the stove with a little water till the raw smell goes off.
4. Add the cooked tur dal to the above mixture and let it boil for 10 mins.
5. Add the ground coconut paste the boiled mixture and bring to a boil. Adjust for salt and turn off heat.
6. Season with all the tempering ingredients.

Keerai Poricha Kootu

I have a bunch of delicious recipes from the fabulous Gita Iyer of Agraharam (YouTube) fame. I am noting them all down for my own reference.

Ingredients
Whole green moong dal - 1 cup
Urad dal - 2tsp
Red chilles (dry) 2
Black whole pepper 1/4 tsp
Shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
Spinach - 1 big bunch
Curry leaves - a few
Salt
Coconut oil

For tempering
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Coconut oil

Method:
1. Cook whole green moong dal for 15 minutes in pressure cooker.
2. Roast 2tsp urad dal and curry leaves in coconut oil till urad dal is well roasted (red/brown color).
3. Grind urad dal + curry leaves from above with raw coconut.
4. Cook spinach with a couple tablespoons of water and salt till it is wilted and cooked.
5. Add the cooked green moong dal to the cooked spinach and let it boil for 10 minutes.
6. Add the ground coconut mixture to the cooked spinach-moong dal and let it come to boil and switch off heat immediately. Adjust for salt if needed.
7. Temper with mustard and urad dal (no hing or curry leaves).

Crustless Broccoli Jalapeno Pepperjack Cheese Quiche

Quiches are one of those dishes which sound fancy but are delicious, super easy to make and quite difficult to mess up. Because, eggs, cheese and veggies - how bad can they taste together?

We had bought a big bag of broccoli and I was thinking of ways to finish it up. Steamed broccoli tempered with some garlic sauteed in olive oil tastes delicious - but how much broccoli can you eat that way?

So onto quiches it was. The recipe below is an amalgam of my own addition to recipes from several sources on the web. What all that browsing taught me was, quiche recipes follow a same basic template - you just add on to that.

Crustless Broccoli Jalapeno Pepperjack Cheese Quiche

Ingredients
Broccoli - 2 cups, chopped into small bit sized pieces
Onion - 1 large, sliced fairly thinly lengthwise
Jalapenos - 3, 2 chopped into pieces (divide into two portions), 1 sliced into rings
Garlic - 6 cloves, sliced thinly breadth-wise
Pepperjack cheese - 1.5 cups, grated (divide into two portions)
Eggs - 4
Milk - 1.5 cups
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (red chili powder), optional
Butter 1tbsp, melted + some more to cook veggies
Olive oil - for cooking
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray cooking-oil spray onto a 9" square pie dish..
2. In a pan, heat olive oil and butter. Toss in the onions, add a little bit of salt and cook, stirring frequently till onions begin to turn brown.
3. Toss in the garlic and give a couple of turns. Then toss in the broccoli and cook uncovered till broccoli is crisp tender. Season with pepper and salt. Divide the mixture into two portions. Start the next step while the broccoli mixture is still warm.
4. Spread one portion of the jalapenos on the base of the pie-dish. Then spread one portion of the broccoli mixture on top of it. Finally spread one portion of the grated cheese.
5. Repeat step 4.
6. In a bowl, whisk the eggs till frothy. Then mix in the milk, flour, melted butter, chili powder, salt and pepper till combined.
7. Pour the egg mixture on top of the ingredients in the pie dish. Arrange jalapeno rings on the top.
8. Place pie dish into the oven. Bake for 45 minutes or until the eggs are no longer runny in the center and are more or less firm (start checking on the dish from the 35 minute mark).
9. Put the oven on broil and transfer pie dish to the topmost rack. Take quiche out of the oven as soon as brown spots start appearing on the (usually 2-3 minutes, watch like a hawk else you might be looking at a burnt quiche - I caught mine just on the nick of time).
10. Let quiche rest for at least 10 minutes before serving warm.

Quiche refrigerates well and tastes quite nice even when cold.

Note
1. You can substitute pepperjack cheese with any kind you like. I thought pepperjack gave a nice spicy kick to the quiche.
2. The jalapenos are optional. Again, I thought they enhanced the flavor of the quiche.

Curry leaves raita

I found this recipe on this blog. It has never occurred to me that one can use ground curry leaves in raita, especially considering that I love the curry leaf flavor. So, trying out the recipe was a no brainer. The raita is delicious.

Here is my slightly modified take on the original recipe:

Curry leaves raita

Curry leaves raita

Ingredients (enough for two):
3 sprigs tender curry leaves (the mature ones could taste a little bitter)
A small piece of ginger
6 pepper corns
A few pinches asafoetida
A small piece green chili (only for flavor)
1 tbsp grated coconut
1 cup curd, beaten smooth
Salt

For tempering:
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal
1 broken red chili
5 curry leaves
Oil


Method:
1. Wash the curry leaves.
2. Grind the curry leaves with ginger, pepper, asafoetida, chili and coconut to a smooth paste. Add just enough water to help with the grinding.
3. Mix the above paste with the beaten curd. Add salt to taste. The mixture can be refrigerated at this point if you plan on serving later.
4. Just before serving, add oil to another small pan and place on medium heat. Add the broken red chili and the urad dal. When the urad dal changes color, add mustard seeds. When the mustard pops, add the asafoetida and the curry leaves in quick succession.
5. Add the entire tempering mixture to the curd mixture and mix well.

Serve hot with rotis and a side dish or with pulao

Notes:
1. Do not add so much green chili to the raita that it becomes spicy. Raita usually helps in taking the heat off the other dishes and you probably don't want to be in the position of having to make another raita to take the heat off this one!

Chettinad chicken pepper kuzhambu

Recipes from Solai's blog has been featured several times in this blog before and for a tasty reason. I visited her blog after a gap and was pleasantly surprised to find a whole bunch of new recipes on it.

But one particular recipe caught my eye: http://solaiachiskitchen.blogspot.in/2012/05/chettinad-milagu-kozhi-kuzhambu.html

Because, any recipe with the words "chicken" and "pepper" in them makes me want to run to the kitchen and cook the dish asap. Besides, this recipe sounded very promising.

I made it and it was delicious. Both S and I could even slurp the kuzhambu without any accompaniment.

I did not make any change at all to the recipe. Follow it as is for a wonderful pepper chicken dish.

Chettinad chicken pepper kuzhambu

Potato tomato peas curry

This recipe has it's base in the recipe in the Bedmi ki aloo subzi recipe here. I wanted to add some more vegetables, so made some modifications. The end result was a spicy tangy delicious curry.

Potato tomato peas curry

Potato tomato peas curry

Ingredients (enough for 2-3):
1 medium. 2 small potatoes
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3/4 cup frozen peas (if fresh peas are used, boil for 5 minutes in microwave before adding)
1 tsp ginger, grated
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 heaped tsp coriander powder
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp kashmiri red chili powder
1 tsp aamchur (dry mango powder)
3 pinches of jeera powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
Salt to taste
2 tbsp fresh, chopped, coriander leaves
Water

For seasoning
1/2 tsp jeera
5 whole methi seeds
A pinch hing
2 tsp sesame oil  (or any oil)

Method:
1. Boil the potatoes and peel. Mash potatoes with fingers and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan. Add the jeera. When it sizzles, add the hing, methi seeds and the grated ginger. Stir fry for 10 seconds.
3. Add in the sliced onions and a little salt and fry till the onions change color.
4. Add in the chopped tomatoes and the turmeric and coriander powder. Cover and cook for a few minutes till the tomatoes turn mushy.
5. Add in the chili powders and stir till mixed well with the onions and tomatoes.
6. Add in the rest of the spice powders (aamchur, jeera powder, garam masala powder) and mix well.
7. Add in the mashed potatoes and 3-4 cups of water. As the original recipe says, the consistency should be soupy.
8. Now add in the frozen peas and mix well. Bring the entire mixture to a boil. Then, cover the pan, lower the heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes or till the mixture has reached a semi-gravy consistency. Adjust for salt.
9. Mix in most of the coriander leaves and garnish with the rest.

Serve hot with rotis and raita on the side. Delicious.