Colourful Oothappam

Oothappam is a thick dosa. Many varities can be created viz., Plain, Onion, Mix Veg, carrot, spinach, etc.

Prepare the batter like you do for idli / dosai.

Here I am sharing the carrot + Onion ootappam.

Ingredients :-

1. Dosa / idli Batter - 1 litre
2. Onion - 1 No. Big
3. Carrot - 2 Nos.
4. Green Chillies - 2 Nos (optional)
5. Coriander Leaves - 3 tbsp
6. Ginger - 1 tbsp

Procedure :-

• Grate the carrots
• Finely chop Onion, green chillies (optional), ginger, coriander leaves
• The ootappa should be thick, so pour one and half laddle of batter into the dosa tawa and spread it in round shape. the layer should be thick.
• Pour 1/4 tsp oil all around it.
• Sprinkle the chopped veggies and grated carrot on top, cover and cook on low flame.
• When one side turns golden brown, (here you can flip & cook if you like, but the veg will get roasted and lose its attractive colour), serve it hot with chutney or sambar.

Pumpkin vegetable / Kaddhu subzi / Mathan Upperi

Pumpkin / manjal poosani (Tamizh) / Mathan (malayalam) is a vine, the fruit is orange in colour. It is rich in anti-oxidant Vitamin-A,  minerals etc. It is believed to be very good for prostate problems.

Sharing with you a simple and easy, dry vegetable dish using pumpkin.

Ingridients :-

1. Pumpkin cubes - 1 cup
2. Grated coconut - 2 to 3 tbsp
3. Coconut Oil - 1 tbsp
4. Mustar Seeds - 1 tsp
5. Urad dal - 1 tsp
6. Hing powder - 1 pinch
7. Red chilli - 1 no. cut into two
8. curry leaves - 5 nos.
9. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
10. Sat to taste
11. Water

Procedure :

• To the pumpkin cubes, add turmeric powder, salt, water and boil till they are tender.
• Drain and keep aside. (you can drink the water like soup, or check out for my forthcoming easy masala daal recipe for which you can use this water)
• Heat oil in a wok, add hing powder (Asafoetida), Mustard seeds, urad dal and let the seed splutter, the urad turn golden brown.
• Add the grated coconut, curry leaves and red chilli and saute till the coconut turns golden brown in colour (this is optional - enhance the flavour. you can just saute it for a minute too & continue the process)

• Add the cooked pumpkin cubes, saute for two to three minutes on low flame.

• Transfer to a serving dish. Declicious, pumpkin vegetable is ready.

Kutchi Daabeli

Daabeli originated in the Kutch region of Guajarat. It is a salty, spicy, tangy, sweet snack. Aloo masala is stuffed inside the ladi pav, garnished with onion, coriander leaves, pomegrante seeds and sev. Buttered & roasted crispy on tawa top.

Dabeli will not be good in all shops. If you keep hunting, if you are lucky you will end up finding a good one. Most of the shops sell only the sweetest ones. So tried to prepare at home suiting to our taste with an equal ratio of the different tastes and flavour. sharing with you the recipe.

Prepare the Daabeli Masala Powder

Ingridients :- (makes 3 Nos)

1. Potato - 2 medium sized
2. Jeera - 1/2 tsp
3. Butter / ghee / oil - 2 tbsp
4. Daabeli Masala - 1 tsp
5. Salt to taste
6. Water
7. Onion - 1
8. Pomegranate seeds - 2 tbsp
9. Coriander leaves - 3 tbsp
10. Sev - 2 tbsp (optional)
11. Garlic Groundnut chutney
12. Tamarind Chutney
13. Green spicy chutney
14. Pav bread

Procedure :- 

• Boil, peel and mash potatoes completely
• Heat oil in a wok, add jeera, daabeli masala and saute for 10 seconds
• Add mashed potatoes, salt and water and cook the mixture well to let the masala blend.
• Cook till water is absorbed completely and the masala becomes dry and thick
• Add pomegranate seeds, chopped coriander leaves, mix well and keep aside
• Take the pav, cut it in 'L' shape (i.e.) slit two sides keeping the other two intact.
• Apply tamarind chutney, garlic groundnut chutney, green chutney
• sprinkle some onion, stuff potato mixture
• heat a tawa, apply some butter, roast both sides of the pav till they become crisp
• sprinkle sev and chopped onions on the sides, yummy daabeli is ready to be relished!

If you don;t have time to make the chutneys separately, you can grind them together.  

1. Tamarind - lemon sized (soak till they become tender)
2. Dates - 8 nos (soak along with tamarind)
3. Jaggery - 3 tbsp
4. Green chillies - 5 nos
5. red chilli powder - 2 pinch
6. Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup
7. Mint leaves - 1/4 cup
8. Salt to taste

Grind the above ingridients together and use for daabeli and other chat items too.

Daabeli Masala

DAABELI MASALA

Ingridients :

1. Cloves - 1 tsp
2. Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
3. Black Pepper - 1/2 tsp
4. Coriander seeds - 1/2 tsp
5. Dry Ginger Powder - 1/2 tsp
6. Turmeric Powder - 1 pinch
7. Red Chilli - 6 Nos.
8. Mace - 3 or 4 blades
9. Star Anise - 2 nos
10. Bay Leaves - 2 nos
11. Black Cardamom - 2 Nos.

• Dry roast cloves, fennel seeds, black pepper, coriander seeds, red chilli, mace, star anise, bay leaves and black cardamom. 
• In a mixer put the roasted ingridients, dry ginger powder and turmeric powder. Grind little coarsely. 
• Allow it to cool and store in an air tight container

Batata Vada / Potato Vada

A Potato based flavourful & filling snack which also forms the patis for the famous Indian Burger aka Vada Pav.

Potato combined with spices, seasoned is shaped into balls and dipped in batter and deep fried in oil.  

Those who don't have time to sit for a detailed lunch, buy a vada plate or vada & pav, munch and go. A filling and delicious snack.

Ingridients :- (makes 5 to 6 Nos.)

1. Potatoes (medium) - 2 Nos
2. Ginger - 1" piece
3. Garlic - 5 big pods
4. Green chillies - 2 Nos
5. Coriander Leaves finely chopped - 2 tbsp
6. Salt to taste

for tempering :-

1. Oil - 2 tsp
2. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
3. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
4. Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp

For the batter :-

1. Gram flour - 2 tbsp
2. Rice flour - 1/2 tbsp (optional. you may use completely gram flour too. but this gives crispiness)
3. salt to taste
4. Turmeric powder -1 pinch

Procedure :-

• Boil, peel and mash the potatoes coarsely (leaving some chunks)

•  Finely chop coriander leaves and green chillies

• Peel and grate garlic as well as ginger

• Heat oil in a wok, add mustard seeds when they splutter, add jeera. 

• When it turns colour, add grated ginger-garlic and green chillies

• Saute for a minute

• Add turmeric powder, salt and the mashed potatoes

• mix well, cover and cook for 3 to 4 minutes by stirring in between.

• Remove from flame, let it cool

• Divide into equal portions 

 

• make small balls and slightly flatten them.

• Heat Oil for frying

• In a bowl add the gram flour, rice flour, salt, turmeric powder.

• Adding water little by little make a batter of dosa batter / cake batter consistency (i.e. should be slightly more than dropping consistency)

• When the oil is hot, dip the potato balls into the batter and put it in oil and deep fry till they turn golden brown.

• Transfer into an absorbent paper to remove excess oil

• Serve with the garlic groundnut chutney powder

Note :

1. Prepared the batter after putting the oil to heat up as it will avoid excess oil absorbtion.
2. The garlic chutney powder can be served as it is or in a little oil, fry some power, which will make them taste more crisp and then serve.
3. Even without chutney, the vadas taste good.

For Vadapav, serving proceudre, click here 

Garlic Groundnut Chutney Powder

Garlic Groundnut Chutney powder is a Maharashtrian Recipe which goes well with Chapathis, Rice and is also used in the very famous vada pav for garnishing. The advantage of the chutney powders is they have long shelf life of two to three months and comes handy. A simple yet lip smacking recipe.

Ingridients :-

1. Ground Nut - 1 cup
2. Garlic - 5 pods
3. Red Chillies - 5 nos
4. Salt to taste

Procedure :-

• Roast the ground nut and red chillies separately, allow them to cool.
• In a mixer add red chillies and garlic pods, grind.
• Add the roasted groundnut, salt and use whipper and grind coarsely giving frequent breaks and open the lid of the mixie jar to let the hot air out. (this is to prevent the oil oozing out due to heat generated during the grinding process)
• Cool and Store in an air tight container.

Pani Puri / Gol Gappa

'Chaat' is a snack item spread across north-east-west-south of India. A delicacy to be devoured with relish - as the name suggests. A very tempting item which is tangy, spicy, sweet & salty, sold in carts & stalls. The way the puris, the ingridients like the chopped coriander leaves, Onions, tomatoes, the packet of sev, papdis and puris are arranged and the aroma of the ragda that is  steaming  & variwill tempt one to walk towards the cart / shop to relish some.

There are variety of chaat items viz., Pani Puri, Bhel Puri, Sukha Bhel, Ragda Patis, Sev Puri etc. each one different in their own way with additions or deletion of few ingridients with variable presentations. The important thing to top all that is the chaat masala - a special combination of some special spices which adds the aroma & that extra taste which will linger in your mouth for long time and make you crave for more.

Pani puri - round puris are prepared, a whole made on the top inside which mashed potato or green gram or soaked bhoondhis is stuffed and this is immersed in two different pots containing Sweet & tangy potions and spicy salty potion according to one's preference  and served in a katori or cup. the whole puri with the contents is then put in the mouth and there starts your pleasant journey into the world of chaat......the different tastes of tanginess, sweet, salt and spicy........creates a pleasant experience in you.

Making of Puris

1. Maida - 1 cup
2. Rava / sooji - 1/2 cup
3. Salt to taste
4. water to knead
5. Oil for frying
6. round biscuit cutter / bottle cap

Procedure :- 

• Mix maida, sooji and salt into a bowl, mix well
• Adding water slowly, knead a soft dough

• set it aside for 1 hour by covering it with a moist cloth.
• Divide the dought into equal portions of small size, make ball out of it.
• dust the board, spread each ball using rolling pin like a chapathi
• using a round biscuit cutter or suitable bottle cap, cut round puris

• Deep fry them in oil in batches (when you put them into oil, press them with the laddle to make it puff)

• Place on an absorbant paper to remove excess oil and store it in an air-tight container
• you may get some flat puris in the process, preserve them for making a sev puri or for bhel puri :-) or you can crush them in a bowl, pour some sweet as well as spicy potions of pani puri and enjoy.

Making of Pani :-

Sweet Pani :

1. Tamarind - two lemon sized
2. Jaggery - 5 tbsp or more as per your taste
3. Dhania - 1tbsp
4. Dates - 10 nos.
5. Pani puri masala - 1 tsp
6. Mint - tbsp
7. Water
8. Salt to taste

• Boil water add tamarind & dhania boil till tamarind becomes tender.
• Using a chalni & a laddle crush the tamarind & dhania and collect the pulp into a vessel.
• Soak dates and grind to a nice paste along with mint leaves. Add it to the tamarind pulp.
• Add pani puri masala, Salt and required water

Spicy Mint Pani 

1. Mint leaves - 1/4 cup
2. Coriander leaves - 1 cup
3. Green chillies - 4 nos (or as required)
4. Salt to taste (use rock salt for best flavour)
5. Water
6. Pani Puri Masala - 1 tsp

• Grind mint leaves, coriander leaves, green chillies together.
• Mix this in a litre of water, add salt and pani puri masala
• Filter through a sieve and keep the pani.

For pani puri / Gol Gappa

You need :-

1. Puris
2. Sweet Pani
3. Mint spicy pani
4. Soaked bhoondi or boiled & mashed aloo or moong

• Take a puri, make a hole on the top.
• Place some bhoondi / aloo / moong inside
• Dip the puri in sweet pani 
• Dip it in mint pani
• Put it in your mouth, relish the toungue tickling pani puris / gol gappas
• You can adjust your taste by increasing or decreasing the ratio of sweet or mint panis (sweet or medium or spicy)
• During Summer, just add few ice cubes into the mint pani and enjoy it cool.

Tomato Rasam (without Tamarind & Dhal)

This rasam will be really helpful when you don't have time to boil or soak tamarind or cook dhal. Hence it is a very simple, quick and delicious recipe.

Ingridients :-

1. Tomatoes - 4 Nos.
2. Rasam Powder - 1 tbsp
3. Salt to taste
4. Turmeric Powder - 2 pinch
5. Asafoetida powder (Hing) - 1 pinch
6. Jaggery - a small piece
7. Curry leaves - 1 sprig
8. Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp
9. Ghee for tempering - 1 tbsp
10. Mustar seeds - 1 tsp
11. Green chilli - 1 no. cut into two pieces (optional)

 Procedure :-

• Grind tomatoes into a puree in a mixer.  Transfer it to a vessel.
• Add Rasam powder, Turemeric Powder, Hing Powder, Jaggery, Curry leaves, Green Chilli and salt.
• Boil till the raw smell goes. Put off the flame.
• Heat ghee and add mustard seeds, let it splutter.
• Add this tempering to the rasam.
• Garnish finally with finely chopped coriander leaves
• Yummy & easy toungue tickler is ready to be served with white rice. 

For this easy recipe you can just have roasted or fried papad if you don't have time to make any vegetable side dish.

Appam / Nei appam

Appam is a spherical sweet dish made using rice flour and Jaggery. This sweet takes a most important place in the house of Tamil speaking Brahmins who hails from Kerala.  It is also known as neiyappam as ghee is mixed along with oil to give it a nice flavour (pure ghee will make it hard hence mixing with oil). For marriages in seer this sweet dish also takes an important place.

Many gets confused between an aapam and appam. Aapam is not a sweet and it is shaped like a dosa.  There is also a dish called vellai appam  (white appam) from kerala. Whereas appam / nei appam is a sphere shaped and is a fried sweet dish.

Special mould - a vessel with depressions is used to make the appams. If you don't have it, then prepare the batter to dropping consistency and drop in hot oil in a kadai, and deep fry.

Ingridients :- (to make 15 - 20 appams)

1. Raw Rice - 1 Tea Cup
2. Jaggery   -3/4 tea cup
3. Small Banana - 1 No.
4. Cardamom - 4-5 nos
5. Ghee - 2 tbsp
6. Coconut pieces - 1 tbsp
7. Coconut Oil - 1 Tbsp (frying coconut pieces)
8. Oil for frying

Procedure :-

• Soak Raw Rice for 2 hours & drain. 
• Grate jaggery. 
• In a mixer grinder, grind the soaked rice, jaggery, cardamom and small banana together into a nice paste.  Small elaichi banana softens the Appam and also gives nice flavour.
• Allow it to ferment for minimum 6 hours or leave it overnight.
• Before making Appam fry coconut pieces in coconut oil (you can add even without frying). Frying enhance the flavour and taste.
• In the appam moulds (appa kaaral) pour little ghee and oil into each depression, heat it. 
• Pour a small laddle of batter into it. When it rises, becomes fluffy and you see the ends turn colour into nice golden brown & crispy, with a sharp spoon  or a skewere turn it and let the other raw side cook till it is done.
• yummy appam is ready.

Notes / Tips :-

• Boiled rice can also be used instead of raw rice.
• Banana will help you to get a soft appam & nice flavour. If you don't have small elaichi banana, you can use half robusta banana or the golden kela.
• If you still find your appam hard for any reason, you can add a pinch of baking powder.

Karthigai Deepam

Karthigai Deepam is also a festival of lights like deepavali. It is celebrated as Lord Karthik's Birthday. Lord Karthik also known as Lord Murugan-the youngest Son of God Shiva and Goddess Parvathi born in Karthik Nakshtra (Star) of Karthik month.

Today is the day of celebration in south. Today and tomorrow people light all the lamps in their house (metal as well as earthen) and place it in front of their house, near the windows etc.

It will be a nice sight to see those lamps in the dark night giving warmth to eyes and beautifying the sorroundings. 

The main neivedhya is appam, pori and adai. Appam is a sweet ball shaped one fried in oil. Pori is puffed rice of different varieties mixed with melted jaggery separately and shaped into balls. Adai is a salty dish.

In the Shiva Temple at Thiruvannamalai (in Tamilnadu) this day is celebrated in grand manner. Early morning poojas are conducted and five lamps are lit signifying the five elements viz., air, water, fire, space and earth. In the evening the maha deepam (big lamp) is lit at the top of Thiruvannamalai after the Ardhanareeshwar's appearance. Huge wick made of cotton and so many litres of ghee is used to light it. This lamp stays for two to three days so that people from other parts come, visit the place to have the darshan of the maha deepam.

Uploading pictures of this years as well as earlier years for you.