Gramina Kitchen

Lemon pickle,easy way

2009-05-15T13:09:00.000-07:00

We get so many pickles in the market.But they are commercialised.Health conscious people think twice before consuming.Home made pickles have their own merit and it is always welcome.

Ingredients:

Lemon---2 numbers
Redchilly powder---3tab.sp
Asafotida---1tea.sp
Fenugreek powder---1tea.sp
Salt----2tab.sp

oil---1tab.sp

Method:

Wash and cut the lemon in to small pieces.
Remove the seeds.
Add all the other ingredients to it.
Mix well and cover it.
Keep it in the pressure cooker and cook it for 3 sounds.Take it out.
Heat the oil. Pour the oil over the lemon and mix well.
Pickle is ready.

Tips:

As we keep chilly powder and salt ready,same way dry roast some fenugreek and powder it in a blender and keep ready.
When we make dosa,we can add little of this powder,the taste of the dosa is doubled.
When we make buttermilk kuzhambu,we can use this to add flavor.

Fenugreek is very good for health.

Kerala puttu

2009-05-14T18:18:00.000-07:00

Puttu is a prominent recipe of Kerala.When I was a small girl ,about 8 years old,my aunty she was in Kerala then,she mentioned of this puttu.My mother and my elder brothers wanted to make this.Those days it was a laborious one as we have to make it from the scratch.We neither had blender nor ready made rice flour available in the market.In the traditional way,rice flour was made ready.It took one day as the rice was to be soaked and then dried and powdered with ulakkai(a long cylindrical piece of wood used to crush rice and other things)Next day it was dry roasted till brown.There was no puttu making pot ( An aluminium pot with a cylindrical almunium tube of width 21/2 inches diameter and 9inches in length on top which has a holed small plate inside and covered at the top with a plate of 3 holes)

My brothers cut a bamboo 9 inches in length.Both bottom and top were wide open.Take a small pot and boiled water in it .Small aluminium cup which fits in to the pot was taken and made holes in it with a nail.Over this the bamboo piece was placed and tied nicely with a cloth so that no steam escaped out except through the holes.The bamboo tube was filled with rice powder and coconut alternately to the brim.Then a plate with holes,an oil strainer was placed over.After 10 minutes the puttu was ready.It tasted awesome.It was really worth the labour.My brothers were very proud of their endeavour.

After marrying ,when I settled in Kerala,I saw my neighbour making this puttu so easilywith a readymade puttu machine with ready made powder.

Then one of my friends showed me to make this with a coconut shell.

Now a days ready made powders are available making the job much easier.

It is very delicious and a much filling one.We can make it easily.

Ingredients:

Rice powder---3cups

Shredded coconut----1cup

Salt to taste.

Method:

Dry roast the rice powder in a thava till the colour changes without any oil.

Take 1to 11/2 cup of boiled and then cooled water.

Add little by little in to the rice powder and mix it.

When we hold it ,it holds and when we scatter it ,it separates.That should be the status of the mixture.

Take a coconut shell (top one with 3 eyes),pierce one hole thoroughly so that it can be placed over the pressure cooker.

First put water in a cooker and close it and heat it

Then take the husk ,put little coconut,then the rice mixture,then again coconut till the brim of the shell.The bottom layer and the top layer should be coconut.

Place it over the cooker and cover it with a plate with holes.(You can either use the one we use for oil strainer or the idly thattu or take the aluminium foil 1foot ,fold it so that we get a squarewith little thickness and make on it some 10 holes)

When you see steam coming out through these holes puttu is ready.

Tips:

Instead of rice,we can use wheat powder or ragi powder.

Before using we should dry roast the powder nicely.

If you find this coconut shell difficult,mix the coconut also along with the rice powder

and just put this on idly thattu pressing lightly and cook as you cook idly.

Zucchini kootu

2009-05-12T14:51:00.000-07:00

Vegetarian dishes are always easy to make ,filling and good for health.When we are very busy attending so many other activities,we may not get time to do grocery in time.

One day in such a situation,I had only 3 or 4 zucchinis left in the fridge.My grand children were very hungry.

Just for a change,I cut the zucchinis and made a kootu.

It turned out well and the children as well as the adults relished it.

I wish you also try it and give me comments.

Ingredients:

Zucchini--2numbers

Turmeric powder--1/4tea.sp.

Chana dhal----1tb.sp

Shredded coconut--3tb.sp

Jeera--1/2tea.sp

Green chilly--1(very small)

salt to taste.

Urad dhal--1tea.sp

Mustard---1/2tea.sp

oil--1/4 tea.sp

Method:

Wash and cut the zucchinis into small pieces.Put it in a shallow pan with the chana dhal. Cook it for 5 minutes with little water and the turmeric powder.Add salt.

Ground coarsely 2/3 of the coconut with green chilly and Jeera . Add this to the zucchini and mix well

Just saute the remaining coconut to brown colour

Season it with roasted urad dhal and mustard.

Cilantro Thogayal

2009-02-03T17:43:00.000-08:00

We always want something new to taste with rice and normally pickles take their turn. The readymade pickles are really commercialised and so oily for preservation.My husband can't eat his rice with buttermilk or curd without some pickle.One day there was no pickle in the house. I saw some cilantro in the fridge loosing its glamour.I thought why not make a thogayal with it. After all Cilantro is good for health.

Why don't you try it, easy to make and nice to taste.

Cilantro Thogayal

Ingredients:

Cilantro----1cup(washed leaves)

Coconut---1tab.sp

Tamarind paste--1/4 tea.sp

Salt ---As per taste

Urad dhal---2tab.sp

Red chilly---3 numbers

Asafoetida---1/4 tea.sp

Method:

Fry the urad dhal and the red chilly in a pan,no oil.

Powder it and keep aside.

Put the cilantro in a blender and grind for 2 minutes.

Add the coconut and tamarind to the cilantro and grind .

When all are mixed well add the ground powder, salt and asafoetida.

Mix every thing well.

Thogayal is ready.

Goes well with rice ,dosa etc.

Easy Tips:

Thokayal Podi:

Urad dhal----1cup

Red chilly-----About 15 (numbers) - adjust according to taste

Asafoetida----1tab.sp

Fry these ingriedients without oil.

Put in a blender and powder coarsely.

If you keep this podi ready, you can make thokayals easily.

In this case,you have to put tamarind,coconut and cilantro and this powder and grind.

Thokayal is ready.

If you want coconut thokayal,just put coconut,tamarind,salt and this thokayal podi and grind.Coconut thokayal is ready.

Channa Sambar

2009-02-03T17:09:00.000-08:00

We were returning from Chicago to Maryland. The flight was delayed for more than 2 hours.We never expected this delay. It was November night.The cold weather and the tiresome journey frustrated us.

When we reached home ,we were very hungry .there was nothing left in the fridge except some cooked black channa.

Immediately I cooked some rice and made this channa sambar.

With in 10minutes we were able to fill our hungry stomach with this delicious recipe and we all got rejuvenated.

Channa Sambar

Ingredients:

Black channa cooked---1cup

Tamarind paste----1tb.sp

Salt-----As per taste

Sambar powder----2tb.sp

Turmeric powder---1/4tea.sp

Asafoetida-----1/8tea.sp

For seasoning:

Urad dhal--1tea.sp

Mustard seed--1/2tea.sp

Fenugreek---a pinch

Cilantro--2to3 twigs

Method:

Put all the ingredients in a deep pan with 2cups of water.

Cook it for 10 minutes.

Fry mustard ,urad dhal and fenugreek with little oil spray.

When mustard splutters add it to the sambar.

Cut one or two twigs of cilantro and add to it.

Channa sambar is ready.

Easy to make and very tasty to eat with rice, dosa and chappathy.

No oil, and channa adds to our protein.

Variations:

Substituting white chana or kidney beans for black channa,we can do the same recipe.

Tips:

Soak the black channa or white channa or kidney beans for 10 to 12 hours in water.

Wash well and cook it in the cooker.

Again wash and drain.

Store in small sandwich bags and keep it in the freezer.

Whenever you want you can use it.

Ginger Juice for Digestion

2009-02-02T16:58:00.000-08:00

Ginger is widely recommended as an aid for good digestion. It is a commonly used spice in Asian cooking. It is also used for preventing motion and morning sickness up to a certain extent.

If you do not use ginger in your daily cooking, then this juice is a great way to get some into your system. It has a sharp taste from the ginger, with a hint of lemon and some sweetness from the sugar.

Ginger Juice

Ingredients:

Ginger-----2cups(washed&cut)

Sugar/Jaggery------2cups

Lemon juice-----1cup

Method:

Grind the ginger nicely with two cups of water in a blender.

Squeeze the ground ginger and extract the juice.

Filter it and keep it aside for 15 to 20 minutes.

Transfer the juice to another vessel and discard the white residue.

Take a deep pan and pour about 1/4 cup of juice and the sugar.

Heat it till the sugar dissolves and the syrup is little thickened.

Remove from fire and add the remaining juice and mix well.

Allow it to cool.

Then add the lemon juice, mix well and jar it.

To serve, mix 1/4 th glass of ginger juice and 3/4 th glass of water.

If you want to take the concentrate juice without mixing water, don't take more than 2oz.