Idli

Chettinad is famous for its soft, malligaipoo idlis.

Achis use Idli ponni and Ulundu, in ratios ranging from, 4:1 to 5:1.

Achis never use soda or any other softner.  If we follow their tip, we are sure to get very soft idlis.

 

Tips Tips Tips for Soft Idlis:

The quality of Ulundu/black gram is the predominant factor, which determines the texture of the idlis.

If you are living overseas (other than India), try to get good quality Ulundu imported from India. Avoid half ulundu for idlis, at least for Dosais we can manage. Also, try to buy from time to time (i.e) try not to over stock.

If the quality of ulundu is not good enough, try to increase the ratio of Ulundu, like 3:1. For 3 cups of rice, 1 cup Ulundu.

While soaking rice and ulundu, soak them separately and grind them separately.  Because, soaking, as well as grinding time differs for Ulundu and Rice.

Rice needs to be soaked at least 3 to 4 hours. To expedite soaking, try to use warm water, the temperature should be warm, NOT hot.

Ulundu can be soaked for ½ to 1 hour.

Grind Ulundu for atleast 30 minutes. If the quantity is more, grind for 45 minutes.  Add water little by little, from time to time.

The process may appear to be tedious, but the result will be definitely rewarding.

Now-a-days many youngsters give up this healthier breakfast, just because they don’t know these simple techniques.

Once you learn to do well, it will be very easy.

You can make 6 to 8 cups during weekends and refrigerate in separate containers for each day’s use.

When you refrigerate, next time when you use, make sure to leave it outside the fridge for ½ to 1 hour before making idlis.

 Idli – Dosai Maavu/Batter:

Ingredients:

 Idli Ponni Rice/Parboiled rice – 4 cups

Ulundu/black gram – 1 cup

Salt – 3 tsp.

 Perfect Ulundu/Black gram for Idli

Idli Ponni/Par-boiled Rice
 

 

Method:

Soak rice in water for 3 to 4 hours.

After 2 to 3 hours, soak ulundu for min 30 minutes.

Grind ulundu first, adding enough water from time to time and set aside.

Grind rice, until it becomes fine. Add salt, combine ulundu and rice really well. Add enough water, the batter should not be thick. Thick batter hardens the idlis.

Store it in two containers, each half filled.  Allow it to ferment for 6 to 8 hours. By the time it should have risen and doubled up.  If not fermented enough the idlis won’t have any flavour, will be hard and tasteless.

If rainy season, allow more fermenting time.  To expedite the process you can leave the batter inside the convection oven (baking oven, with lights on). Make sure, oven is switched off.

Now the batter is ready. Steam cook the idlis for 5 to 7 minutes.

Soft idlis can be served with Chutney or Sambhar.

 

 

Kuzhi Paniyaram:

 




We can use Aappam mavu/batter to make Kuzhi Paniyaram as well.


Aappam batter can also be used to make crispy Vendhaya Dosai. Just we need to dilute

the batter with little more water and make thin Dosais as usual. This will turn out very

well, similar to the Restaurant Dosais.



Ingredients:

Aappam mavu/batter 

Big onion – 1(finely chopped) (or)

Small Onion – 10 to 12 (finely chopped)

 Curry leaves – few (finely chopped)

 Coriander leaves – 1 tbs (finely chopped)

 Spring onion – few sprigs (trimmed and finely chopped) – (optional)

 Green Chilli – deseeded and finely chopped (optional)

 Grated Carrot – 2 tbsp

 Salt – to taste








Method:


Mix all the above ingredients and combine with the Aappam mavu. Take a non-stick

Kuzhipaniyaram pan, grease with oil. Pour the batter until the kuzhi is half filled. When one

side is done, turn over and cook the other side, until golden brown. It can be served with any

kind of chutney or sambhar.

It’s very simple, yet very delicious. If you don’t possess a kuzhi-paniyaram pan, you can use

Dosai pan. You can make Mini Uthappams. Kids will enjoy both Kuzhipaniyaram and mini

Uthappam.

Beans Vellai Porial/ Beans Curry

 

Beans are rich in Vitamin K, Vitamin A, Vitamin C and dietary fibre. Recently researchers have found that beans possess excellent anti-oxidant capacity.

This simple curry is very easy to make in a very short time.  Kids would love to eat. 
 

Ingredients:

Beans – 250 gms

Green Chilli – 1(slit into half)

Grated Coconut – 2 tsp. (optional)
 

Tempering:

Curry Leaves – few

Mustard Seeds – ¼ tsp.

Urad Dhal – ¼ tsp.

Zeera/cumin seeds – ½ tsp.

Final Addition:

Poriyal Podi – 1 tsp. (according to taste you can add more or less)

You can find the recipe for Porial podi,  under the label Podi Varieties.
 

 

 

 

Method:

Wash and slice the beans into small rings.

Heat the pan with 1 tbs. of oil, after it gets heated add the mustard seeds, once they splutter, add urad dhal, followed by jeera, chilli and curry leaves.

After a minute, add beans. Cook for few minutes, add necessary salt. Cook until soft, it might take 7 to 10 minutes. Toss the grated coconut, stir well. Switch off the stove and mix the porial podi. Serve hot with rice and ghee/sambar/puzhi kozhambu.

 

 

 

 

Broccoli Porial

Broccoli is rich in dietary fiber, minerals, vitamins, and anti-oxidants that have proven health benefits.

I used to cook broccoli with masala, like other veggies. It won't be tasty, yet we know broccoli is healthy. So, dutifully all of us would eat. But after I learnt this recipe from an aunty, it was not a chore any more. Even kids started liking broccoli.

This is very simple and quick recipe, which can be made in few minutes. Instant healthy vegetable side-dish.

Ingredients:
Broccoli - 1
Cut into small flowerets

Tempering:

Green chilli - 1 (slit into half)
or 1/4 tsp of crushed red chilli

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Fennel seeds - 1/4 tsp

Urad dhal/black gram - 1/4 tsp

Asafotida/hing - 1/8 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Oil - 1 tsp

Ghee - 1 tsp (final addition)

Salt - to taste

Method:
Take the broccoli flowerets in a large microwaveable bowl. Toss the salt, sprinkle some water, combine well. Cook in microwave for 3 to 4 minutes. Broccoli is best eaten half-cooked, so do not cook through.

In a kadai, add oil and the tempering ingredients. Once the mustard splutters add broccoli, mix well. After a minute, transfer to a bowl. Toss the ghee.

Serve with hot rice and ghee, it's a divine combination.

Tomato Chilli Chuttney

,

Ingredients:


Ripe Tomatoes - 5

Big onion - 3 to 4  (big to medium) or

Small onions - 15 to 20

Dried red chilli - 10 ( less spicy variety)

Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp ( I use Baba's chilly powder for its beautiful color)

Salt - to taste


Tempering:

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp.

Asafoetida/hing - 1/8 tsp.

Curry leaves - few

Gingelly oil/nallennai - 2 tsp.


Method:


Slice onions ( If using big ones), add 2 to 3 tsp of water and cook in microwave for 2 minutes. This is to get rid of the raw onion flavor, if you don't mind the strong flavor you can skip this step.

(Alternatively you can fry all these items in a kadai with little oil, for 5 minutes , before grinding.)

Add everything together in a mixer and grind well.

Take oil in a kadai, after it gets heated, add mustard and hing. After it splutters add curry leaves and the ground chutney.

Let it cook in low heat for 8 to 10 minutes.

Finally, dribble Gingelly oil over the chutney. It adds nice flavor and taste to the chutney.

Spicy tomato chutney is ready to serve. It goes well with, Idly, Dosai, Aappam and Vellai Paniyaram.

Aappam

 

 

Appam is my son's favorite dish. It's not only delicious but also got medicinal value, which use to cure mouth ulcers, stomach ulcers and reduce body heat. The combination of fenugreek, rice, jaggery and coconut milk works wonders.

Usually, we eat with coconut milk. But for the spicy touch, we use to make tomato chilly chutney, in addition to coconut milk.


Ingredients:


Raw rice/long grain rice/paccharisi - 1 cup

Idli ponni arisi/idli rice/par boiled rice - 1 cup

Urad dhal/black gram - 1/4 cup

Fenugreek seeds - 2 tsp

Salt - 1 tsp

Coconut milk:

Grated coconut - 1 cup

Crushed Vellam/Jaggerry - 1/2 to 1 cup ( I use 1/2)

Cardamom powder - 1/8 tsp or
Crushed cardamom - 2

Warm water - 1 cup

Hot Milk - 1/2 cup


Method:


Soak rice, dhal and fenugreek for 1 hour.

Add salt and grind like idly/dosa batter.

Allow it to ferment for 6 to 8 hours, the batter would have doubled up by the time.

Fermented batter produces a nice aroma, esp., from fenugreek .

Now, it's time to make Appam

Take a non-stick Appam pan, pour one scoop of batter into the pan and rotate it (the pan) to

spread evenly. The centre would be thick, and the corners would be thin. If bubbles appear,

then it indicates the batter has fermented well enough. Cover with the lid, let it cook for 30

seconds to 1 minute, at medium heat, until the corners become crispy and the centre portion
cooked enough. Transfer the Appam to plate and stack the appams one over the other.

For coconut milk, thaw the coconut if it's been frozen. Fresh coconut yields more milk,

though. Add enough warm water and grind it in the mixer. Squeeze out the milk using a

kitchen linen.(clean white cloth)

You can extract more milk with the same coconut again, repeating the above procedure.

Add Jaggerry to the hot milk and let it dissolve. Strain it with a filter, to get rid of sand

particles from the Jaggerry, if any. Mix it with coconut milk, check the sweet, add more

Jaggerry/sugar, if needed.

Serve Appam with coconut milk.

For spicy touch, serve with tomato/chilli chutney. 

Kandharappam

 

 

Kandharappam is a kind of Prasad (as the name states), offered to Lord Kandhan or Murugan. 

This is a very special sweet, which is made during festivals and functions like, Deepavali, Pillaiyar nonbu, marriages, betrothals, even get-togethers.

The sweetener used here is jaggery, which is made from unrefined healthy sugar cane juice.

Ingredients:

Raw rice/long grain rice (paccharisi) – 1 and ¼ (one & quarter) cup

Ulundhu/Urad dhal/Black gram (without skin) - ¼ cup

Vellam/Jaggery – 1 cup (5 achus)

Fenugreek seeds – ½ tsp (it gives a rich flavour and softens the batter)

Cardamom powder – 1/8 tsp

Grated coconut – 1 tbsp (optional)

Oil – for frying

Method:

Soak rice, black gram and fenugreek seeds together for an hour.

Grind all the ingredients except jaggery,with water. once the rice has been ground well, we can add jaggery and let it blend completely for 5 more minutes. The batter should neither be watery nor too thick. More or less like Uthappam mavu (batter)

For grinding we can use grinder or mixer.  Grinder is preferable for soft appams. If we use mixer, leave the batter to cool for ½ an hour before frying.

We can add 2 to 3 spoons of milk, just before frying. Use a deep kadai instead of flat one for frying.  Deep fry the appam one at a time. Stir the batter until the bottom, before frying each appam. Because, the rice flour settles at the bottom.

Appams are tasty when it is served hot, but tastier after few hours of making or even the day after.  They would have turned soft like sponge by that time. This is why we make Kandharappam on Deepavali eve, to serve the next day. Should be finished by next day, otherwise refrigerate. To reheat, steam in idli pot to get soft appams.

This batter can yield up to 35 to 40 appams (small to medium)

If you want you can make more appams by increasing the quantity of ingredients proportionately. The ratio of rice and urad dhal is 5:1.

 

Tips Tips Tips..

Everytime we may not get the right consistency, sometimes appam can stick to the bottom while frying, perhaps the batter is too thick, try to add little more milk to dilute.

Also, if the appam turns hard, probably dhal content is not enough, add one scoop of idli batter and try again.

Any rectification you try, first try with small quantity of batter, in a separate bowl. Once it works out well, you can continue with the rest.

 

Avoid Basmathi rice.