Idli(rice cakes)

Ingredients

• Boiled rice                              3 cups
• Raw rice                                1 cup
• Urad dhal                               1 cup
• Fenugreek seeds                    1/2tsp
• Salt                                        3spoons

Method

1. Soak rice and fenugreek seeds together and urad dhal seperately for 4 hours.
2. Grind urad dhal first in a wet grinder then grind the rice.
3. When the rice is ground add the urad dhal flour also into the grinder.
4. Add salt and grind for few more minutes so that it mixes well and allow it to ferment.
5. Once the flour rises and ferments pour it into idli plates and steam it for 20 minutes.
6. Serve with cocnut chutney,sambhar,kothsu,onion chutney,pudina chutney or tomato chutney.
7. It is a very easyily digestible and popular breakfast or tiffin in south indian homes.

                                                   once it has fermented it doubles in size.

                                            Grease the plate with oil and then pour the dough.

                                                                 Steam it for 20 minutes

                                                 Serve with cocnut chutney and sambhar.

Lemon rice

Lemon rice or elumichai sadam is the easiest of the kalanda sadam or (rice variety).My mother used to make it on the chitra pournami day and Kaanum pongal day(a day after sankaranthi).It is quiet easy to prepare with some cooked rice,seasonings and lemon.

Ingredients

Rice	1cup
Lemon	11/2
Turmeric powder	1/2tsp
Salt	11/2tsp
Asafoetida	1/2tsp
Oil	2tsp
Mustard seeds	1tsp
Channa Dal	1tsp
Green chillies	3
Curry leaves	few

Method
1.Cook rice in a rice cooker and spread it on a plate and cool it with one tsp oil on it.
2.Heat oil in a pan  heat some oil add mustard seeds,when it crackles add Channa Dal,green chillies,turmeric powder,switch off the stove and add curry leaves and asafoetida.
3.Add the rice to the mixture and salt and mix well with lemon juice.
4.Serve with fried papad,vadagam or potato curry.

Notes

• You can add fried cashew,roasted peanuts to improve the taste.

channa masala or chole

Ingredients

Kabuli channa	250gms
Onions	3
Tomatoes	3
Cloves	3
Cardamom	2
Cinnamon stick	Small piece
Turmeric powder	1/2tsp
Chilli powder	1tsp
Chole masala powder	11/2powder
Salt	To taste
Ginger	Small piece
Garlic	3pods
Coriander powder	1/2tsp
Cumin powder	1/2tsp

To grind

Onion	21/2
Tomatoes	3
Ginger	Small piece
Garlic	3pods
Coriander leaves	2tbs

To season and granish

Coriander leaves	1tsp
Cumin seeds	1tsp

Method
1.Soak channa overnight and pressure cook for 25 minutes with cloves,one cinnamon stick,cardamom 1/4tsp of turmeric powder and salt.Cut onions,tomatoes,ginger and garlic grind 21/2onion,tomatoes,ginger and garlic to a fine paste.

2.Heat oil in a pan add cumin seeds and fry the onions.

3.Add the ground paste,turmeric powder,chilli powder,coriander powder,cumin powder,salt and fry further

.
4.Cook for few more minutes and add the boiled channa and mash up a little channa and add it so that it becomes a little thick.
5.Garnish with corriander leaves and serve with poori,bhatura,roti or nan.

Palak Roti

Palak Roti  is the Indian flat bread with chopped spinach leaves and some spices added to it to make it more healthier and tastier.Palak Roti is nothing but adding chopped palak or spinach to the wheat dough and making a helathier version of the chapathi or roti that you make.

You will Need

• One cup of Wheat flour 
• One small bunch of Palak Leaves
• Salt to Taste
• Half a tsp of Chilli powder
• Half a tsp of Cumin powder
• A pinch of Turmeric powder
• Half a tsp of Garam masala powder.

Method

1. Clean and cut the palak into small pieces.add it to the wheat flour.
2. Add all the other ingredients and make it into a soft dough.
3. Roll it out into rot is and cook it on the taw a on both sides.
4. Serve hot with dhal,vegetable or raita.

Appam

Ingredients
rice   2 cups
urad dhal  1/4 cup
coconut milk 1 cup
soda        1/2 tsp
salt
sugar 1tsp

Method


soak rice and dhal for 4 hours.grind into a smooth paste with salt and allow it to ferment.
just before making the appam add a little sugar,soda and coconut milk.
keep the dough in a dosa consistency and spread it into a appa kadai and close it and cook it.
once it gets cooked like in the above picture serve with stew.

Pudhina rice

You will Need

• One cup Basmati Rice
• One bunch of Pudhina or Mint leaves
• Two pods of Garlic
• Small piece of Ginger
• Two Green chillies
• One sliced Onion
• One Carrot
• Ten Peas
• One Potato
• Salt to taste
• Ghee

For Seasoning

• Two Cardamom
• Four Cloves
• One small Cinnamon stick
• One Bay leaf
• One tsp Fennel Seeds

Method

1.cook basmati rice in the rice cooker and spread it on a plate and cool it with little ghee.
2.Grind pudhina,greenchillie,garlic,ginger and a little scraped cocnut or raw onion for binding.
3.Slice the onions and fry it in a thick pan with some oil with all other seasonings.
4.Add the ground paste and fry further.
5.Dice the vegetables and boil with salt and add it to the onions.add salt and fry for a minute.
6.Cool the mixture and add the rice and mix well.add ghee while mixing if required.it adds taste.
serve with raita.

Curd rice

Curd Rice or yogurt rice is the most comforting food of south India especially Tamilnadu.It is basically cooked and mashed rice with yogurt,salt and some seasonings.It is very easy to make and it is very safe and comforting food because of the hot and humid climate in this part of the world.

As a child it used to be my lunch box menu a lot of days in a week.Not only me most of the children used to bring curd rice in their lunch boxes.

You will Need

• One cup of Rice    
• Half a cup of milk     
• Yogurt or curds    as required
• salt to taste
• A pinch of Asafoetida   
• Half a tsp of Sugar        
• Few green grapes or pomegranates.

For Seasoning

• One tsp of Mustard seeds  
• One Green Chili
• One small piece of Ginger              

How to


Cook rice with 3 cups of water.mash it up when it is hot and add milk.
In a little oil crackle mustard seeds and finely cut green chili and ginger and add it to the rice.
when the rice cools down add salt,sugar,asafoetida and curds and decorate with green grapes of pomegranates.Enjoy it with some pickles or any type of chutney.

Most of the Indian especially south Indian meals is finished with curd rice.

Tomato rice

I  make tomato rice in three different ways.This type of tomato rice i ate in a restaurant called arusuvai in T Nagar.I quiet liked it so just came home and tried it.Those who like the flavour of mint and saunf will really like it.

Ingredients

Rice	1 cup
Onion	2
Tomatoes	3
Green chillies	3
Mint leaves	1cup
Salt	2tsp
Oil	2tbs
Saunf	1tbs

Method
1.Cook rice in a rice cooker with little less water than usual.cool in a plate byspreading it in a plate and  adding 2 tbs of oil or ghee so that it does not stick to each other.

2.Heat oil in a pan add saunf and  fry the onions  and green chillies.

3.Add tomatoes,salt and fry well till the raw smell goes.add Mint leaves fry for a minute

4.Cool the mixture and mix it with the cooked rice and serve with chips and raita.

kozhukattai(ulundu)

The outer dough preparation is given in the vella kozhakattai page it is the same.

for the filling

• Urad dhal    1cup
• Green chillies   4
• Asafoetida   pinch
• Salt
• Lemon juice
• Mustard seeds
• One tsp of oil

Method
Boil water with salt and gingelly oil,when it starts boiling add rice flour slowly,without forming any lumps.
bring it to chapati dough consistency and put off the gas and close and keep it for half an hour.
For the filling(ulundu poornam)
1.soak urad dhal for half an hour

2.Grind it with green chillies,salt and asafoetida.grind into a coarse paste.

3.Apply oil in the idli plates and Steam it  for 20 minutes

4.Take it out cool and break it into small pieces.If it is a little hard whisk it in the mixer for few seconds like sometimes we do for paruppu usili.

5.Heat oil in a pan crackle mustard seeds and add the broken urad dal and saute for few minutes.
add lime juice at the end and the filling is ready.

6.Make a cup like mould with the rice flour and fill it up with poornam and close it in the shape shown in the picture and steam it in the idli plate for 20 minutes.

kozhukattai(vellam)

Ingredients for the filling
Coconut      scraped 1cup
Jaggery      3/4cup
Cardamom powder a little

Ingredients for outer dough
Raw Rice(ponni)   1cup
Water        1cup
Gingelly oil  1tsp
Salt   1/2tsp

Method
Boil little(half a cup) water and add the jaggery.let it dissolve(you can strain it since there will be some dirt in the jaggery)else you can heat jaggery and coconut together  and become thick and finally the elaichi powder.let the consistency of the poornam be sticky and made into a soft ball.

Soak rice for two hours and grind it into a smooth paste in dosa dough consistency

Boil water with pinch of salt and gingelly oil.when it starts boiling add the rice flour slowly so that no lumps are formed.

keep it closed for half an hour.put it on a plate and knead well to become like a chapati dough

Make a cup kind of mould with the rice flour and keep some sweet filling the poornam in the centre and close it.

like this make about 15 of them arrange them in a idly plate and steam it for 20 minutes and it is ready.

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It is also called modhakam and made on pillayar chathurthi,varalakshmi nombu,Friday's of the
Adi masam(tamil month)and Thai masam(tamil month usually comes after sankaranthi)