LETZ COOK/CRAFT/MAKE

I know a lot of people, who don't like Pavakkai (karela) and even refuse to taste it. I was one among the lot till last month, but after much persuasion from my mom decided to give it a try for Tamil New Yr's. She said for first timers, frying the karela was a good choice. Now after tasting it I have to agree that its not bad at all. Honestly this would not be my favorite dish, but with all its health benefits I wouldn't mind having it once in a while. Ingredients: Pavakkai (Karela) (sliced) - 2 cups Chilli powder - 2 tsp (can be changed according to taste) Salt - as needed Turmeric - 1 tsp Oil - for frying Method: Discard the seeds and slice the pavakkai into thin rounds. Wash and let dry. Sprinkle all the powders on top. Add as less water as needed to coat the pavakkai slices with the powder. Let it marinate for 15-20 min and then deep fry in oil, till it turns crispy. Remove and strain on a kitchen towel. You can store this in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks. Se...

I was never a fan of eggplants back home but now I try to make it once in a while. When made well it tastes delicious. I usually make this podi fry with potatoes but tried it with brinjal for tamil new yr's and it came out pretty well. Ingredients: Brinjal (Eggplant) (sliced) - 2 cups Onions (thinly sliced) - 1 Salt - as needed Oil - 4 tbsp To Powder: Channal dal - 2 tbsp Thur dal - 2 tbsp Red chillies - 4 Dhania (coriander seeds) - 2 tbsp Methi (fenugreek seeds) - 1 tsp Jeera (cumin seeds) - 2 tbsp Method: Boil the brinjal slices in water with a pinch of turmeric for about 5min. This helps to cook it faster when mixed with the powder. Dry roast the "to powder" ingredients and grind into a coarse powder. Heat oil in a pan and add sliced onions. Once the onions turn golden brown add the ground powder, salt and boiled brinjal slices. Fry in low heat till the brinjal is cooked and absorbs the masala. Serve with rice and sambar. This can also be made without boiling the brinj...

I've noticed that most of my north Indian friends are not aware that rasam can be made with so many different ingredients - lemon rasam, dal rasam, pepper rasam, garlic rasam, tomato rasam, neem flower rasam etc etc. Each has its own predominant flavor. I like tomato rasam for its tanginess, that the tomatoes impart. Also for me rasam is a good time saver. It takes exactly 15 min to prepare from scratch. Its a good remedy for indigestion and cold. Ingredients: Thin tamarind water - 2 cups Pepper - 2 tsp (can be increased if needed) Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1 tbsp Garlic - 3 cloves Green chillies - 2 Turmeric powder - 1 tsp Rasam powder - 1 tsp (optional) Tomatoes - 2 (ripe and juicy ones) Coriander leaves (chopped) - 2 tbsp Seasoning Ingredients: Mustard seeds- 1 tsp Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1 tsp Red chillies - 2 Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp Methi (fenugreek seeds) - 1/2 tsp Oil - 1 tbsp Method: Grind pepper and jeera in a blender to a coarse powder. Add garlic cloves and green chillies and bl...

Banana flower has lots of nutrient value - Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Calcium and iron too. Cooked banana flower eaten with curd or boiled banana flower mixed with buttermilk is considered an effective medicine for menstrual disorders like painful menstruation and excessive bleeding. Banana flower helps increase progesterone hormone which reduces the bleeding in women. More medicinal info from the comments left by MenakaSury : banana flower has a medicinal value for a number of chronic ailments including dyspepsia,hook-worms in intestines, menorhoea. When taken with panan kalkandu, it is a definite cure for dysentry. Vazhaipoo combined with pasiparuppu and karunaikizhangu made into a vada (as described by you) cures peptic ulcers. But one must be careful to use the right oil for deep frying. I am not also exaggerating when I say that the plantain flower mixed with cow's milk and plantain fruit (taken once in a week) is a good antidote for obese women. When the flower is mixed with aama...

Last year when I first read about the Green Blog Project , I was very excited as we had so many veggies growing in our backyard and this was a good event to participate in. I was a month old in the food blogging world and it was one of the first few events that I participated in. I made vegetable fried rice from carrots and beans and tomato thokku from tomatoes grown in my backyard. After sending my entries I was eagerly waiting for the roundup and was amazed at all the other entries. I usually stick to traditional and easy growing veggies. But after looking at the roundup, I was surprised to see so many people growing traditional Indian veggies with such ease. This effort started by InjiPennu has encouraged a lot of food bloggers to grow their own vegetables either be it in small containers/pots or a big backyard. I had totally dismissed the idea of growing anything in winter. When Mandira of Ahaar hosted the GBP winter/spring 2007 event and gave us some very good tips on grow...

Even though I live miles away from home, I still try and celebrate most festivals, just to stay in touch with the tradition. So this time when I found banana leaves (vazhai elai) in a Korean store, I was excited like a kid in a candy store. I was so happy that I can serve my complete tamil meal on a banana leaf for the first time. Iniya Tamizh Puthandu NalVazhthukal Some info about tamil cuisine from the web: Tamil cuisine is known for its aromatic, flavourful and sometimes spicy food. Tamil cuisine is one of the oldest vegetarian culinary heritages in the world and on most auspicious days only vegetarian meals are prepared. Even among non-vegetarians, ceremonial feasts are always vegetarian. So for Tamil New years day, I stuck to a completely vegetarian menu. Though stainless steel cutlery and crockery are used in urban homes, food is still served, on ceremonial occasions, in the traditional way - on a banana leaf, "vazhaillai", a freshly cut plantain leaf. It is very hygien...

This winter we did not start any new plants as we had to go to India for about 5 weeks. We had a friend water our plants and I was worried about them. We were surprised to find all the plants hale and healthy when we got back and especially our curry leaf plant thrived well. When we bought the plant it was about 4 inches tall and now its more than a feet tall. We move it out in the summer and bring it back inside in the fall. So for the Green Blog Project - Winter/Spring 2007 hosted by Ahaar , I decided to make curry leaf powder, which when made right can be stored for a few weeks. If you keep it longer, it loses its aroma. Also this is different from the very famous curry powder. Curry powder is made by dry roasting and grinding a mixture of spices. Curry leaf powder can be had, mixed with rice and ghee. This will also be one of my entry's to the JFI-WBB: Green Leafy Vegetables event hosted by Indira . Some interesting facts about curry leaves from here . The curry leaf plant (o...

I used to love festivals back home as it meant having friends and relatives, wearing new clothes, eating good food and watching tv the whole day. Now that both my brother and I are miles away from home, my parents hardly celebrate it the way they used to. So I decided to carry on the tradition and invited friends over for dinner yesterday. The menu was vegetable biriyani, mutton biriyani, tandoori chicken, gobi 65, carrot-mint raitha and boiled egg. One of my friends made delicious vegetable kababs and another one got a yummy mocha cream cake. I got banana leaves from a korean store last week so served everything on plates covered with banana leaves just like the way back home. I am posting a few pictures from yesterday and will try to post recipes one by one as soon as possible. Clockwise from top: Carrot-Mint raitha, Gobi 65, Tandoori chicken, Mutton biriyani, Kathirikai (Eggplant/Brinjal) chutney, Pickle and Vegetable biriyani in the centre.

I don't use my electric grill often. So i searched online for some grilling recipes and found about the panini. It's basically a sandwich that's grilled. The sandwich can be made with any vegetable or meat of choice. I decided to make mine with grilled veggies and goat cheese. Ingredients: Bread slices - 8 Onion - 1 (sliced) Green bell pepper/Capsicum - 1 (sliced) Mint chutney - as needed Tomato ketchup - as needed Chilli sauce - as needed Cooking spray/oil for grilling (butter can also be used) Goat cheese - as needed Method: Heat the grill to a medium temperature. When hot, spray with cooking spray and grill the sliced veggies. Meanwhile spread mint chutney on one slice of bread and ketchup on another. Add goat cheese to the slice with mint chutney and place the grilled veggies on top. Sprinkle chilli sauce and cover with the slice with ketchup. Grill the sandwich till crispy and brown on both sides. If you have an open grill place a heavy vessel on top of the sandwich t...

Ever since my binge shopping at the Indian stores I have too many vegetables stored in the fridge. I decided to use the mint to make a chutney that can be used as a spread or with chat items. Ingredients: Mint - 1 bunch Coriander - 1 bunch Green chillies - 2 to 3 (as needed) Garlic cloves - 2 Salt - as needed Lime juice - 2 tbsp Method: Clean the leaves and grind everything to a smooth paste adding very little water. At times when I am in a hurry I clean the mint and coriander bunch and cut 1 inch in the bottom and add the whole bunch to the blender (leaves, stem and all). It isn't the ideal way to make chutney but mine tastes fine. The lime juice helps retain the color and this can be stored in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks.