RED PICKLES/THAKKALI OORUKAI

Tomato pickle is going very well with any south Indian food such as Idlies, Dosais, oothappam, and so on. It is an instant recipe and can be cooked in a jiffy. Very tasteful and has long shelf life.

How to make tomato pickle that serves for two ?

Ingredients:

Red country tomatoes  medium size four

Fenugreek seeds powder (roasted) one pinch

Asafoetida one pinch

Salt to taste

Red chilly powder half spoon

Sesame oil half cup

Mustard seeds one spoon

Curry leaves one sprig

Procedure:

Wash the tomatoes and pressure cook the tomatoes (as shown in the image below) with two whistles.

Set aside to cool.

Peel off the tomatoes.

Mash them.

Heat the frying pan with sesame oil over a medium flame.

Add mustard seeds to splutter.

When it starts to splutter, switch off the flame.

Add curry leaves, red chilly powder. fenugreek powder, asafoetida and turmeric powder and give an instant stir.

Then add tomato pulp and switch one the flame in medium level.

Add salt and a piece of jaggery to balance the tanginess.

Cook until the oil separates from the pulp.

Yummy tomato pickle is ready to have.

Use most free spoons. Store in a dry jar. You can store it for ten days. You can make it often whenever it exhausts. It will come in hand during urgent needs.

FOXTAIL MILLET DOSAIS

Fiber rich, high protein empowered Foxtail millet can be used too make delicious dosais with chutney, sambar, tomato chutney etc.

How to make?

Ingredients:

Fresh Fox tail millet flour 250gms

Urad dal 50gms 

One spoon of fenugreek seeds

Adequate water

Salt to taste.

Procedure:

Soak urad dal and one spoon of fenugreek seeds for one hour.

Wash and grind them with adequate water to a smooth and fluffy batter.

Take 250 gms of foxtail millet flour in a mixing bowl.

Pour the batter in the mixing bowl and mix with the dry flour by adding adequate water.

Add salt and mix.

Blend well with hand.

Close with the lid and set aside overnight.

In the next day morning, you can notice it fermented well.

Heat the dosa pan and pour the one big spoon of batter over it.

Spread the batter to a thin round in a circular motion.

Drizzle oil over the sides of the dosai.

Close with the lid and allow to cook for one second.

Flip over the dosa.

collect the dosa in a dry plate.

Repeat the process as per your requirement.

It pairs very well with tomato onion chutney or with any souring dishes like sambar, mint chutney and coriander chutney.

  

KACHAYAM TRADITIONAL SWEET

Kachayam is one of the traditional sweets of kongu folks. It is specially prepared and brought as a gift sweets by the people when they visited their relatives home. They will bring a lot in a closed silver buckets to show their abundance of love.

It has a long process and many members take part in preparing this sweet.

Let us start our procedure to make this yummy kachayams.

Ingredients:

Raw rice IR 20 or Pongal pacharisi 350 gms

Jaggery crushed powder  350 gms

Adequate water to prepare jaggery syrup

Cardamom seeds crushed one tablespoon

Ghee one cup

Refined Peanut oil to deep fry

Procedure:

Wash and soak the raw rice overnight.

Drain the water completely and spread on a paper or dry white cloth for one hour.

Blend the raw rice into a fine powder.

Sieve the flour to get a fine powder.

Again give the remaining coarse raw grains to a mixer and blend two to three  seconds.

Sieve again until the entire raw rice turns into a nice flour.

Bring to boil the jaggery with one cup of water until the one string consistency reached,

Collect the flour in a dry mixing bowl and pour the jaggery syrup and stir gently giving a rotatory stir.

Stir well until the flour and syrup combined each other.

Let the batter be looser

Allow to cool and close the dough with the lid.

Allow more than 12 hours.

Divide into equal portions and make balls.

Spread the white or color cloth.

Make the circular discs in rows using first three fingers.

Heat the frying pan with oil over a medium flame.

Drop one disc at one time. Notice the disc is raising up like a poori.

Take two big spoons and keep the fried disc in between the spoons.

Let the flame now in simmer level.

Drain the excess oil by holding the fried kachayam in between the spoons.

Collect every kachayam in a dry plate.

Repeat the process until the dough used entirely.

Crush the cardamom seeds and sprinkle over the kachayams on both sides.

Yummy kachayams are ready to have.

BARNYARD MILLET SWEET PONGAL

Barnyard millet sweet pongal is an easy and quick sweet which can be made in a jiffy. It is a whole -some grain that can be cooked a variety of dishes as that of rice and wheat. It is an excellent substitute for rice as well.

Ingredients:

Jaggery 150 gms
Barnyard millet one cup
Raisins one tablespoon
Cashews one tablespoon (optional)
Cardamom seven pods.
Cow ghee half cup
Minute piece of pachai karpooram /edible camphor
Adequate water approximately three cups


Procedure:

Pressure cook the barnyard millet with adequate water. no soaking needed. Cook directly in the cooker with one whistle and simmer it for few minutes. Switch off the flame.
Melt the jaggery with adequate water until it thickens and sticky consistency.
Add a minute pinch of edible camphor and mix well.
Open the lid of the cooker and add the jaggery syrup and mix well.
Fry the raisins and cashews in ghee.
Transfer the fried ingredients to the barnyard and jaggery mixture.
Add cardamom seeds crushed.
Add the remaining ghee over it and mix gently.
Glossy pongal is appealing delicious.


Yummy barnyard millet sweet pongal is ready to have.

TRADITIONAL FOXTAIL MURUKKU

Foxtail millet is a versatile crop which can be cultivated in any season of the year with the shortest crop cycle of sixty to ninety days. No other crop can be grown in such a short period, 

According to Dr. Narasimma Rao, the former scientist of the Agricultural University, foxtail millet and jower should be included in the subsidised food scheme to prevent the incidence of diabetics.

Its scientific name is Setaria italica.

This millet is a host of nutrients with a nutty flavour. 

fiber rich, high protein and low glycemic index of the foxtail millet is nowadays becoming very popular in our region. We are consuming all the millets weekly thrice in any other form. thinai murukku is one of them. 

Crunchy and tasty thinai murukku..

How to make?

Ingredients:

Foxtail millet flour two cups leveled

Bengal gram flour with chilly powder one spoon, ajwain grain powder one tablespoon and one pinch of asafoetida  one cup leveled

Cow butter one tablespoon

Sesame seeds one spoon

Salt to taste

Adequate water

Sesame oil to deep fry

You can use refined peanut oil also to deep fry.

Procedure:

Blend Bengal gram one cup with red chilly powder, ajwain seeds and asafoetida into a  fine powder.

In a dry bowl, mix the millet flour and Bengal gram flour, salt well in a dry mode.

then add butter and mix again.

Add adequate water and knead into a soft and non-sticky dough.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium flame.

Take a portion of the dough and fill it in a murukku press having a star hole disc.

Squeeze into two turns small rough spirals over a ladle.

Drop in the oil.

Deep fry the six murukkus at a time

Allow to deep fry until both sides are well fried and sizzling oil bubbles cease.

Drain the excess oil and collect the murukkus in a dry plate or tissue paper as you opt.

Repeat the process.

One full plate murukkus are ready to enjoy with your family members!

Do try out..!