SURAIKKAI KUZHAMBU/BOTTLEGOURD GRAVY

Bottle gourd is one of the least calorie vegetable, providing just 14 calories per 100 g. It is one of the vegetables recommended by the dieticians in weight-control programs.

Fresh gourds contain small quantities of folates, contain about 6 µg/100g (Provide just 1.5% of RDA). Folate helps reduce the incidence of neural tube defects in the newborns when taken by anticipant mothers during their early months of pregnancy.

Fresh calabash-gourd is a moderate source of vitamin-C (100 g of raw frit provides 10 mg or about 17% of RDA). Vitamin-C, one of the powerful natural antioxidants that helps human body scavenge deleterious free radicals one of the reasons for cancer development.

Calabash facilitates easy digestion and movement of food through the bowel until it is excreted from the body. Thus, it helps in relieving indigestion and constipation problems.

In addition, the vegetable is also a moderate source of thiamin, niacin (vitamin B-3), pantothenic acid (vitamin B-5), pyridoxine (vitamin B-6) and minerals such as calcium, iron, zinc, potassium, manganese and magnesium.

Bottle gourd tender leaves and tendrils are also edible and indeed contain higher concentrations of vitamins and minerals than its fruit.
                            source:  nutrition and you

Bottlegourd gravy is an excellent combination with hot steamed rice. Kongu folks are experts in trying various versions with bottlegourd. This is also one of the versions.

Ingredients:

bottlegourd one medium size
shallots one cup
redchillies three
mustard seeds one spoon
gingelly oil to temper one tablespoon
roasted and powdered coriander seeds one tablespoon
cumin seeds one spoon
pepper one spoon
curry leaves one or two spigs
fenugreek seeds roasted and powdered half pinch
shredded coconut half cup
garlic pulses two
asafoetida half pinch
bengal gram fried one teaspoon
tomato diced one

Procedure:

Wash and peel off the bottlegourd.
Chop the bottlegourd into cubes.
Grind the coconut grates, coriander seeds,
cumin seeds, pepper, garlic pulses, fried bengal gram and red chillies  into a fine paste.
Heat the pan with gingelly oil and add mustard seeds.
Add shallots. and curryleaves.
Saute them for a while.
Add turmeric, asafoetida, bottlegourd cubes and saute a while.
Add fenugreed powder.
Then add tomato pieces.
Add coconut paste with required water.
Add salt required.
Allow to cook for ten to fifteen minutes.
Finally add coriander leaves.

Tasty bottlegourd gravy is ready to serve.

PEANUT CHUTNEY/ VAERKADALAI THUVAIYAL

This chutney is one of the best combinations for idlis, dosais, oothappams, paniyarams and any other south indian dishes.
very nutritious and tasty. you never forget its unique roasted peanut flavour. It contains high protein contents.

How to make this yummy chutney..here it is :)

Ingredients :

Roasted peanuts one cup
shredded coconut half cup
tamarind small gooseberry size
jaggery small piece
garlic pulses two
red chillies two
curry leaves one spig

salt to taste

coriander leaves fresh optional half cup

Procedure

Dry roast the groundnuts or peanuts in a pan and keep aside to cool down.
Shred the coconut.
Peel off the garlic pulses.
Clean the groundnuts and remove the skins.
Put all the ingredients above mentioned together in the mixie jar with required water and salt.
Grind them into a smooth paste.
Add water if you want to dilute.
Tempering is your choice. no need to temper and no oil.
The simple raw chutney is pretty enough to make  your main dish as heavenly breakfast.

Try out and come back..

:)

RAW PAPAYA CHANNA DAL KOOTU

This is a healthy and tasty dish goes well with hot steamed rice

The unripe green fruit of papaya has a mild flavour. Green papaya has a smooth white flesh and is a rich source of vitamin C. Papaya offers an excellent source of potassium and fiber and is low in calories. It has a high amount of pectin which helps in digestion.

Health Benefits from Green Papaya:

The anti-inflammatory virtue from the papain in papaya greatly reduce inflammation in diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, gout and asthma.

The rich fiber in papaya bind to cancer-causing toxins in the colon and is eliminated from the body during bowel movements.

Papaya is commonly known for its fine and natural laxative virtue which aids digestion. Taken regularly, it can help habitual constipation, bleeding piles and chronic diarrhea.

The three very powerful anti-oxidants in papayas help prevent the oxidation of cholesterol. Oxidized cholesterol forms dangerous plagues that can eventually cause heart attacks or strokes.

Vitamin A available in papaya helps to reduce lung inflammation. So it is useful for active as well as passive smokers.

The papain in unripe papaya is extremely beneficial for those who are deficient in gastric juice, have excess of unhealthy mucus in the stomach, dyspepsia and intestinal irritation.

Consumption of unripe papaya juice help to contract the muscle fibers of the womb, resulting in proper and regular menstrual flow. It is especially helpful in cases of menstruation cessation in young ladies due to cold or trauma.

                                                                                                                                          source : google

How to make Raw green papaya kootu?

Ingredients :

Raw papaya peeled off and diced into even cubes one cup
channa dal cooked one cup
shallots chopped half cup
Coconut grates, green chilly one and cumin seeds one spoon ground paste one cup
mustard seeds one spoon
curry leaves one spig
turmeric one teaspoon
salt as required
cooking oil one tablespoon

Procedure:

Pressure cook channa dal with little turmeric with two whistles.
Keep it aside to cool.
Peel off the raw papaya and dice into small cubes.
Heat the pan with cooking oil.
Add mustard seeds to pop up.
Add onions and curry leaves.
Add little turmeric.
Add papaya cubes and saut them for a while.
Add coconut paste
Add little water and allow to boil.
Add salt requred.
Finally add cooked channa dal.
Allow the ingredients to boil for some time.

Yummy papaya kootu is ready to enjoy with steamed rice.

Try out..!

:)

URAD DAL MURUKKU/THAENKUZHAL

This snack is being prepared during Diwali festival in larger quantity and stored for more than one week.

It is not spicy and its ingredients are very few such as raw rice flour, urad dal flour, cumin seeds, ajwain powder, butter, asafoetida and salt. No chilly at all.

Ingredients:

Raw rice flour two cups
Slightly dry roasted urad dal flour one cup
Asafoetida one pinch
Cumin seeds one spoon
Salt as required
Butter one full spoon
Water to knead
Cooking oil to deep fry

Procedure:

Dry roast the urad dal slightly.
Allow to cool down
Grind to get nice flour and sieve into fine texture.
Take a dry wide bowl and add butter.
Heat it to melt
Add rice flour, urad dal. flour, salt, cumin seeds, ajwain powder and knead together.
Knead the ingredients by adding. little by little water until you get soft and non sticky dough.
Heat the cooking oil in a dry pan
Grease the murukku maker and squeeze the murukku directly into oil.
Care to reduce the flame when squeezing.
Flip other side with the long needle.
Take out the murukku when sizzling sound ceased.
Allow to cool and collect them in a airtight container for future use.

Thaen kuzhal murukku is ready to be enjoyed with tea.
:)

BEETROOT CHUTNEY

As you already know, Beets are highly nutritious and cardiovascular health friendly root vegetables. Beets are packed with certain unique pigment antioxidents in the roots and in its top green leaves have been found to give protection against coronary artery disease and stroke, lower cholesterol levels within the body. Amazingly beets have anti aging effects too..!

Regular intake will give enormous health benefits..

How to make Beetroot chutney ?

Ingredients:

Beetroot medium size two
garlic pulse two
ginger grates one tablespoon
onion dices one tablespoon
curry leaves one handful
tamarind small gooseberry size
jaggery piece one
salt required
cooking oil one tablespoon
coriander leaves chopped one cup optional
green chilly one

Procedure:

Wash the Beets and peel off and grate.
Heat the pan with oil
Add onion dices and green chilly
saute for a while
Add curry leaves, ginger grates, garlic pulses.
Add beetroot grates.
Saute well in a medium heat.
Add tamarind, jaggery and salt.
Saute for a minute.
Switch off the flame and allow to cool down.
Blend with little water to get thick paste.

Thats all. 

This chutney is very tasteful and comes out with an attractive pink colour with an excellent flavour. This chutney will go very well with idlies, dosais, oothappam, idiyappam and hot rice with one spoon of ghee or gingelly oil.

IDIYAPPAM WITH BEETROOT CHUTNEY

Idiyappam is enjoyed by the people of Tamilnadu and Kerala with various versions of side dishes such as vegetable stew, coconut milk, kondaikadalai kuruma etc. It can be transformed into lemon strings, tamarind strings, tomato strings,egg strings, spicy coconut strings and many other nonvegetarian variations. Nonvegetarian gravies like chicken gravy, fish gravy, mutton gravy or bone soups are also craving side dishes for these White Plain Idiyappams.

This main dish is a quick and very easy recipe to make. Another important matter is the Beetroot chutney is a wonderful and tempting side dish that goes very well with this main meal. It is a healthy and easily digestible dish to children, elders and patients. They are fond of this dish much with jaggery coconut milk.

Let us move to prepare now...

Ingredients :

Best quality brand raw rice flour( I used Nala raw rice flour here) three cups
Boiled water with salt three and half cups
Gingelly oil one spoon

Procedure:

Boil the water with half spoon salt.
Pour the boiled water little by little.
Mix together with the help of spatula or a big spoon.
Allow to cool for five minutes.
Then using hand to knead the raw rice flour into a soft and non sticky dough.
Cover the dough to avoid dryness. If so, add boiled water little. Knead again to get soft dough.
Squeeze the dough into idli making mould into soft strings using omapodi pressing equipment.
Steam them using idli pan with three cups of water in the bottom.
Allow to steam for six minutes.
Transfer the idiyappams into a dry basin with the help of a small spoon.

Dazzling white idiyappam is ready to serve. You can have it with any side  dish of your choice. But I recommend Beetroot chutney is the very best combination for this Idiyappam. It will be the next posting in this blog.

:)

MANATHAKKALI VATHAL PULIKUZHAMBU/SUNBERRY RAW FRUIT ( DRIED) TAMARIND GRAVY

Today we are going to try Manathakkali pulikuzhambu or Dried sunberry fruit tamarind gravy. It is so yummy and tempting side dish matching with hot rice.
very easy to make.. can be prepared fast..
healthy too since its ingredients are of medicinal values such as cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, garlic, coconut, poppy seeds, pepper seeds etc.

Ingredients :

Sunberry fruits dried 50 gms
You can buy these fruits as readymade pack in grocery or any departmental stores.

Coriander seeds roasted and powdered one spoon
Cumin seeds roasted 3/4 th spoon
Turmeric one spoon
Red chilly powder one small spoon
Shallots peeled off one cup
Red chilly one split
Curry leaves one cup
Coriander leaves finely chopped half cup
Tamarind one goozberry size
Coconut grates one cup
Garlic pulses three
Asafoetida half pinch
Fenugreek dry roasted powder half pinch
Gingelly oil one tablespoon
Cooking oil one tablespoon

Procedure:

Blend the coconut grates, tamarind and garlic pulse into a smooth paste.
Heat the dry pan with the cooking oil.
Add mustard seeds. Allow to pop up.
Then add onions, red chilly, curry leaves,
Asafoetida, turmeric powder.
Let the flame in low level.
Add the ground coconut paste.
Add one cup of water and required salt.
Allow to boil until gravy consistency obtained.
Heat the small tempering pan with one spoon of oil
Fry the dried sunberry into crunchy fruits.
Transfer the fried fruits into the boiling gravy.
Allow to boil for a while with. adding one tablespoon of gingelly oil.
Garnish with coriander leaves.

Yummy Manathakkali vathal pulikuzhambu is ready to serve with hot rice....

:)

SPICY KOLUKATTAI

This is a naivedhyam offered to God Ganesh during Shri Vinayakar Sathurthi.
loved by all devotees; a very easy,  quick recipe that everyone make.

Let us learn about the preparation of the yummy kolukkattai within ten minutes.

Ingredients:

Raw rice flour ( I used Nala Brand raw rice flour here.)
urad dal one spoon
channa dal one spoon
curry leaves finely chopped
onion finely chopped one cup
coriander leaves finely chopped
mustard seeds one spoon
ginger finely chopped one spoon
asafoetida one pinch
green chilly one finely chopped
red chilly one broken
salt as required
water required
cooking oil one tablespoon
gingelly oil one spoon

Procedure:

Allow to boil the water with required salt and one spoon gingelly oil.

Heat the cooking oil in a separate pan and add mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal, onion, curry leaves, red chilly, green chilly,ginger, coriander leaves.

Saute a while and add asafoetida.

Allow to fry the onions turned into golden brown.

Add boiled water into the dry raw flour and mix well in order to get a non sticky and soft dough.

Transfer the fried items into the dough and incorporate them mixed well into the dough.

Make them into round balls and flat tgem with fingers to elongated shape.

Spread the wet white towel on the idli mould.

Keep all the elongated finger printed shapes on the cloth as shown in the image.

Steam them for ten minutes and collect them in a dry plate.

Yummy kolukkattais are ready to enjoy.

This is a suitable dish to be served in the evening of monsoon or rainy days along with tea.

:)