visual recipes

Pasi Paruppu Payasam (Moong dal Kheer) – recipe

Payasam (பாயசம்) is the tamil word for Kheer and no traditional celebration/festive food is complete without one of the many varieties of Payasam. One of the very popular payasam recipe is Pasi Paruppu payasam. Pasi paruppu is the Tamil word for moong dal. Let’s see visual recipe of this delicious kheer.

Ingredients:

Pasi paruppu / Moong dal (split and without cover) – 200 gm

Jaggerry – 300 gm (as per taste)

Coconut milk – 300 ml

Cashew nut – 25gm

Khishmish – 10gm

 

Step 1: Keep ready shredded jaggery, coconut milk and golden fried cashew nut and khishmish.

Step 2: Slightly roast moong dal (pasai paruppu) in a pan.

Step 3: Add a half table spoon of oil or ghee and roast it for few minutes. This avoids  sabudana from getting t sticky and get dissolved while cooking.

Step 4: Pressure cook moong dal and sabudana along with 3 cups of water. Wait till one whistle and keep it in low flame for 5-7 minutes.

Step 5: Once cooked it, open the cooker lid.

Step 6: Add jaggery and coconut milk now and stir well.

Step 7:  Cook it in low flame with lid open… Taste it and if needed, you can add little more jaggery. Optionally, you can add few elaichi too.

Delicious traditional pasi paruppy payasam is ready to be served…

Enjoy !

Mushroom in Coconut milk gravy – visual recipe

There are very few mushroom recipe that goes well with South Indian main dishes like Idly, Dosa, Idiyappam, Aapam etc. Mushroom in coconut milk gravy is one recipe that makes an wonderful accompaniement to the above mentioned main dishes. And yes, it also goes well with roti,jeera rice,biryani,pulao,ghee rice etc.

Ingredients:

• Button Mushroom – 400 gm
• Onion – 2 (big)
• Coconut milk – 2 cups (depends on its thickness)
• Ginger – garlic paste – 1 table spoon
• Garam masala – 1 tbsp
• Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
• Jeera – 1 tbsp
• Mustard seeds – 1 tbsp
• Turmeric powder
• Red chilly powder (as per taste)
• Green chilly – 2
• Curry leaves – 7-8
• Coriander leaves
• Salt – as per your taste
• Tomatoes (optional) – 2

Step 1:

Cut the mushroom into pieces and keep aside.

Tip: Before using mushroom, sprinkle little turmeric powder, coat them well on mushroom and keep aside for few minutes. If the mushroom turn blue, discard them since they are not fit for eating and might be poisonous.

Step 2:

In a frying pan, add little oil and saute mustard seeds, curry leaves.

Then, add the chopped onions, followed by ginger-garlic paste and green chillies.

Stir fry till the onion turn golden yellow.

Then add  rest of the ingredients except mushroom and coriander leaves. Fry for 2-3 minutes.

Step 3:

Add the stir fried ingredients into a pressure cooker.

Add the chopped mushroom and salt (as per taste, note we have added little salt during frying process also) and mix well.

Add little water.

Switch off the gas when the first whistle comes from the cooker.

Step 4:

Transfer the content back into kadai.

Step 5:

Add the coconut milk into the ingredients.

Let it simmer for 2-3 minutes and switch off the stove.

 

Step 6:

Mushroom in coconut milk gravy is ready to serve.

The dish goes well with variety of main dishes like Idli, Dosa, Roti, Jeera rice, Ghee rice, Biryani etc. My favourite being with Idli.

Potato Poriyal – visual recipe

This recipe for potato poriyal is slightly different from the usual poriyals for that slight different taste. You can serve it hot as a side dish or as a main dish with coriander paratha, small puris or toast bread if you want.

INGREDIENTS (Serves 2):

Potatoes (diced)-2

Onion (diced)-1

Chana dal – 2 tbsp

Oil-2 tbsp

Curry leaves-5

Mustard seeds-1 tsp

Cumin seeds-1 tsp

Desiccated coconut-4 tbsp

Green chillies (slit into two)-2

Curd water-1/2 cup

Turmeric-1/2 tsp

Asafoetida-a pinch

Coriander (chopped)-2 tbsp

Kasuri methi-a pinch

Salt to taste

METHOD :

Step 1: Heat the oil in a pan and fry the diced potatoes till almost brown or till they get cooked.

Step 2: In the meantime, boil chana dal.

Step 3: After the potatoes are cooked, remove them from the pan and add mustard seeds in the same pan and wait till they splutter.

Step 4: Once they start spluttering, add cumin seeds and onions and fry them till golden brown

Step 5: Then add green chilles, curry leaves, chana dal and curd water and mix well.

Step 6: Let the water reduce by half and then add turmeric, salt, asafoetida and the fried potatoes and mix.

Step 7: Let the potatoes absorb all the water and then add desiccated coconut and kasuri methi and mix well.

Step 8: Finally, add chopped coriander and mix well.

Step 9: Garnish with desiccated coconut and coriander and serve hot.

TIP: If you don’t have curd water, either use water or add curd (beaten roughly) to the dish and cook. Eventually the curd will curdle and you will be left with the water. Remove the curdled curd with a spoon.

Stuffed Tomato Snack

This is a quick and easy snack. You can also use it as a starter. I’ve tried some stuffing , you can try and make many many variations with it. So much fun!

Firstly, slice off  very thin slices from the top and bottom of the tomatoes. Then cut the tomato into two pieces. Scoop out the centre carefully. It would look like this:

Now the tomato is ready to be stuffed.

I’ve tried out three themes for it, as I said, you can make many different varieties with this.

Mr. Tomato goes to Italy

Ingredients:

Carrots – chopped into small pieces

Spring onions –  finely chopped

Garlic – 4 cloves, chopped

Milk – 5 spoons

Cheese- one cube

Pepper powder

Oil – one teaspoon

Salt

Procedure:

Heat the oil in a pan. Add garlic spring onions and carrots to it. After a min, add milk to it. Turn the flame off after a few seconds. Add grated cheese to this, and after it begins to melt, mix well. Add a pinch of salt. Let this mixture cool down.

Stuff this in the tomato and sprinkle some pepper powder over it and serve.

Mr. Tomato goes to China

Ingredients:

Cabbage

Capsicum

Carrot

Garlic – 5 cloves

Soya sauce – One teaspoon

Oil- 1 teaspoon

Pepper powder (as per taste)

Salt (as per taste)

Procedure:

Chop cabbage, carrot and capsicum into thin, long slices.

Heat the oil in a pan and add garlic and the chopped vegetables to this. Mix well and let this cook on a high flame for a couple of  minutes. Then add salt according to taste and pepper powder. Add soya sauce to this and mix well. Let it cook for a minute. Turn off the flame and let this cool down.

Stuff this in the tomato and serve.

 

Mr. Tomato goes to India

Ingredients:

Boiled potato – cut into small pieces

Amla – cut into very thin slices

Ginger – finely chopped

Tomato sauce – 2 teaspoons

Salt

Coriander for garnishing

Procedure:

Mix together all of these ingredients.

Stuff this in the tomato and garnish with coriander and serve.

Home made Pizza – recipe

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups of all purpose flour(maida),
2 cups warm water,
1 packet(2 teaspoons) of dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar,
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoon salt,
2 Tbsp Olive oil,
1 cup Pizza sauce,
1 cup shredded cheese(mozzarella)
Cut Vegetables of your choice

Method for preparing dough:
Step 1: Add sugar and dry yeast to warm water and set it aside for 5 mins to allow it to bubble.
Step 2: Add flour,salt,oil and the mixture(prepared in step 1) to the Food Processor. Mix the ingredients and prepare soft dough. If you do not possess a Food Processor,use your hand to knead the dough for 15-20 minutes.
Step 3: Smear olive oil in a bowl and place the dough in it.

Step 4: Roll the dough in that bowl for oil to be spread evenly.
Step 5: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and keep aside for 1 hour 30 mins in a warm place such that the dough doubles itself
Step 6: Punch down the dough and divide the dough into 2 balls.
Step 7: Keep the dough balls seperate bowls for 10 minutes.
Step 8: Place the Pizza Stone and preheat the oven for 450 degrees for at least 30 minutes

Method for preparing Pizza Crust:

Step 1: Take the dough and press and pat it to make a circular base about 10 -12 inches wide and thickness about 1/2 an inch.
Step 2: Take a cutting board and sprinkle some “corn meal” on it. Transfer the Pizza base on it
Step 3: Apply olive oil on the Pizza base.

Step 4: Add 2-3 Tbsp of Pizza sauce, 1/3 cup of cheese and cut vegetables on the crust.

Step 5: Again sprinkle some “Corn meal” on the Preheated Pizza Stone,place this pizza crust on it and bake for 15 minutes.

Delicious, yummy home made pizza ready to eat!