Vegetable Dum Biriyani

Ingredients
Basmathi Rice - 1 cup (250 ml cup)
Water - 1 cup
Onion - 2
Tomato - 2
Green  chilly - 2
Home made chilly powder - 1 tblsp
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tblsp
Mint leaves - fist full
Coriander leaves - fist full
Carrot - 1
Potato - 1
Peas - 1/2 cup
Oil - 3 tblsp
Bay leaf - 1
Cloves - 2
Pattai  - 1 inch piece
Elachi - 1
Curd - 3 tblsp
Salt


Preparation
1. Cut onion and tomato to thin slices length wise.Slit green chilly. Finely chop mint and coriander leaves. Cut carrot and potato to cubes. Place potato in water or cut just before adding to biriyani.
2. Soak rice in water for 30 min and pressure cook for 1 whistle with 1 cup of water and salt. Add salt for rice alone.
3. Soak peas in water for overnight. Remove water and then pressure cook for 3 whistle.
4. Heat oil in heavy bottom pan and temper with pattai, elachi, cloves and bay leaves. Add green chilly and onion. Fry onion until brown and then add ginger garlic paste. Fry until raw smell goes off. Add tomato and fry until mushy. Add mint and coriander leaves. Fry until leaves shrinks. Add chilly powder and curd. Mix well. Add peas, carrot and potato. Cook in slow flame for 10 min or until all blends well and oil separates.Add salt for gravy alone.
5. Remove half gravy and set aside. Spread half of the cooked basmathi rice over gravy in heavy bottom pan. Then spread the reserved gravy over rice. Again spread the remaining rice over gravy. Basically we are layering the gravy and rice in the pan.
6. Now place a fry pan on stove and fill half with water. Place your heavy bottom pan with layered rice and gravy on fry pan. Close the rice pan with plate and over it keep any vessel with hot water or hot content in it. I used the pressure pan I used to cook the basmathi rice. keep flame in low and cook for 30 min to 40 min. Switch off and keep it for 5 more min and then open. Mix well. Serve hot !

Note
1. Instead of pressure cook the basmathi rice you can also do boiling method. Boil water and then add rice and cook until 90% done. Add salt. Take out rice and then use for layering.
2. You can also add other veggies like beans, cauliflower etc.

Cooking Tips II

Tips
1. Never skip ingredients like jeera, sombu, garlic, ginger and hing. These items are added to nullify gastric troubles.
2. Prefer gingerly oil for spicy recipes and fish recipes.
3. Always prefer hot water to knead chapathi dough.
4. While tempering ensure oil is hot enough so that when you add tempering items it should splutter well. You will hear sound as well as you can smell the nice aroma of the item you temper. Let it be mustard, jeera or sombu , curry leaves .. what ever .. you can hear it and smell it as well. Also make sure you dont burn ingredients while tempering!
5. After kneading dough for chappathi, puri, idiyappam etc. always cover it with wet cloth or just coat with oil to avoid dough outer portion getting dry.
6. Always soak basmathi rice in water before you cook. The ratio of rice is to water depends on how long you soak in water. I always use 1:1.5 if the soak time is 15 min. If more then its always 1:1.
7. While you prepare curd at home do add some tblsp of curd to warm milk (Milk should not be cold or hot!). If we prepare with slightly warm milk then the curd we get is thick and creamy!
8. When you are mixing rice always use wooden spoon or ladle like dosa flipper. So that rice does not breaks much.
9. Place 2 or 3 cloves in sugar bottle to keep ants away from sugar.
10. Before storing dal, flour, rava etc store the packets in fridge (You can use side doors)  for 2 to 3 days. Then unpack and store in air tight containers. You get longer shelf life.
11. Remove stems of green chilly, roots of coriander leaves and stems of curry leaves. Pat dry if there is any wetness. Then store them in fridge. You get longer shelf life.
12. If you want to retain good color of veggies in poriyal then keep pan open and cook. Dont close the pan and cook.
13. For vatha kuzhambu and kara kuzhambu be generous with sesame oil to balance heat. You can also add small piece of jaggary towards end to enhance taste.
14. To pressure cook dal the ratio of dal to water is 1:2. Pressure cook for 3 whistle.
15. For variety rice , after cooking rice spread it over large plate or bowl. Add 1 tblsp of sesame oil. Dont mix while rice is hot. Adding oil helps to keep grains separate.

Kozhi Kari Varuval

Ingredients
Chicken - 500 gms
Onion - 2
Tomato - 2
Ginger garlic paste - 3 tblsp
Home made chilly powder - 2 tblsp
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Oil - 3 tblsp
Sombu - 1 tsp
Pattai - 1 inch piece
Curry leaves - 1 spring
Salt

Preparation
1. Finely chop onion and tomato. Cut chicken to bite size pieces.
2. Heat oil in pan and temper with sombu, pattai and curry leaves. Add onion and fry until golden brown in color. Add ginger garlic paste and fry until raw smell goes off. Add tomato and fry until it turns mushy. Add chilly powder, turmeric powder and chicken. Mix well. Add 1 cup water and salt. Close pan and cook for 15 min in low to medium flame or until chicken is cooked and oil separates. Serve hot!

Note
You can also add chopped coriander leaves and pepper powder towards end.

Channa dal fry

Ingredients
Channa dal , oil , salt and chilly powder

Preparation
1. Soak channa dal in water for 4 hrs. Remove water and spread over cloth or paper for 1 hr.
2. Heat oil in pan and deep fry dal until bubbles disappear. No need to wait for golden brown color change.
3. Sprinkle chilly powder and salt over fried dal and mix well.

Vazhaikkai Varuval / Raw Banana Fry

Ingredients
Raw banana - 1
Oil - 2 tblsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Urud dal - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 spring
Turmeric powder - 1/3 tsp
Hing - generous pinch
Home made chilly powder - 1 tsp heaped
Salt

Preparation
1. Peel skin of raw banana and cut to cubes. Put in water preferably in rice washed water.
2. Heat oil in pan and temper with mustard, urud dal, curry leaves and hing. Add raw banana pieces, turmeric powder, chilly powder and salt. Sprinkle fist full of water.Mix well. Close pan and cook in slow flame for 5 min or until it turns dry. Fry until golden brown and crisp. Serve hot!

Note
You can also cut raw banana to rings instead of cubes. Instead of chilly powder, you can also try with pepper and jeera powder.

Gose kootu

Ingredients
Gose - 2 cups
Onion - 1
Green chilly - 2
Oil - 2 tblsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 spring
Grated coconut - fist full
Garlic - 4 pods
Channa dhal - 4 tblsp
Turmeric powder - 1/3 tsp
Hing - generous pinch
Salt

Preparation
1. Cut Gose to thin strips. Slit green chilly. Finely chop onion and garlic.
2. Pressure cook channa dhal with water, turmeric powder and hing for 3 whistle.
3. Heat oil in pan and temper with mustard, green chilly, garlic and curry leaves. Add onion and fry until brown. Add gose and 1 cup of water. Mix well, close pan and cook until its done. Now add cooked dhal, grated coconut and salt. Mix well and allow to boil until thick consistency is attained. Server hot!


Note
1. You can also add tomato and coriander leaves as well.
2. No need to mash dhal as when you mix with gose it gets somewhat mashed and few dhals needs to remain as such!

Brinjal Drumstick Poriyal

Ingredients
Brinjal - 2
Drumstick - 2
Onion - 1
Tomato - 1
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tblsp
Home made sambar powder - 2 tblsp
Turmeric powder - 1/3 tsp
Oil -3 tblsp
Sombu - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 spring
Salt

Preparation
1. Finely chop onion and tomato. Cut drumstick and brinjal to finger size pieces.
2. Heat oil in pan and temper with sombu and curry leaves. Add onion and fry until brown. Add ginger garlic paste and fry until raw smell goes off. Add tomato and fry until it turns mushy. Add sambar powder and turmeric powder. Fry for couple of min and then add drumstick and brinjal. Add 1/2 cup water, salt and mix well. Close pan and cook until veggies are done and oil separates from poriyal. Serve as side dish for any rice combo. My favorite is with keerai kuzhambu.

Note
Before cooking keep the brinjal pieces in water, preferably in rice washed water. Else cut just before adding.

Muttai Kothu Parotta

Ingredients
Parotta - 2
Onion - 2
Tomato - 1
Green chilly - 2
Curry leaves - 1 spring
Egg - 1 or 2
Sombu - 1 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tblsp
Salt
Oil - 3 tblsp
Home made chilly powder - 1tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Pepper - generous pinch

Preparation
1. Finely chop onion and tomato. Slit green chilly. Roughly cut parotta to small pieces.
2. Heat oil in pan and temper with sombu and curry leaves. Add green chilly and onion. Fry until onion turn brown. Add ginger garlic paste and fry until raw smell goes off. Add tomato and fry until it turns mushy. Add chilly powder and garam masala powder. Add 2 tblsp water. Mix well. Add salt.
3. When boils add parotta pieces and mix well. Group all the mix to one side of pan and make space to cook egg. Add egg and generous pinch of salt and pepper for egg. Cook in low flame. When egg crumbles and gets cooked. Mix well with parotta pieces. Cook for another 5 min or until all blends well. Serve hot with Raita or Salna!

Note
1. You can also add chopped coriander as well. Add salt to onion-tomato masala alone as parotta already has salt.
2. You can also add salna or kurma and skip garam masala, chilly powder and ginger garlic paste. You can also fry parotta pieces in oil before adding to masala mix. Dont add water for this method.

Muttai Kurma Kuzhambu

Ingredients
Boiled egg - 4
Oil - 3 tblsp
Onion - 2 big size
Tomato - 1
Green chilly - 1
Garlic - 6 to 8 pods
Chopped ginger - 2 tblsp
Home made chilly powder - 1 tblsp
Turmeric powder - 1/3 tsp
Salt
Curry leaves - 1 spring
Grated coconut - 2 tblsp
Sombu - 1 + 1 tsp
Khasakhasa - 1 tsp
Pattai - 1 small piece

Preparation
1. Finely chop onion. Grind tomato, ginger , garlic and green chilly to smooth paste. Grind Khasakhasa, coconut, 1 tsp sombu and pattai to smooth paste.
2. Heat oil in pan and temper with 1 tsp sombu and curry leaves. Add onion and fry until golden brown in color.
3. Add ground tomato mix and fry for 2 min. Add chilly powder and turmeric powder. Cook in low flame. Fry until all blends well and oil separates. Add water and boiled egg. Close pan and cook for 5 min in low to medium flame.
4. Add ground coconut mix and salt. Allow to boil for 10 more minutes or until all blends well and thick consistency is attained. Serve hot!

Note
You can use a knife and make 2 or 3 deep cuts in boiled egg before adding to gravy.

Idly Upma

Ingredients
Idly - 6
Oil - 3 tblsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Urud dal - 1 tblsp
Channa dal - 1 tblsp
Dry red chilly - 2
Curry leaves - 1 spring
Onion - 1 big size
Salt

Preparation
1. Finely chop onion. Cut Idly to small pieces or just mash roughly.
2. Heat oil in pan and temper with mustard, channa dal, urud dal, red chilly and curry leaves. Add onion and fry until golden brown. Add salt.
3. Add Idly pieces and mix well until all blends well and then switch off stove. Serve hot!

Note
Add salt for onion alone. Idly already has salt.

Rava Upma Adai

Ingredients
Rava Upma and Oil

Preparation
1. Mix Rava upma well and make small balls out of it. Flatten each ball to get adai shape. I used  a lid to get work done easily.
2. Heat tawa and cook the adai until both sides turn golden brown in color. Sprinkle few drops of oil on top and spread oil on sides as well. Cook in low to medium flame.
3. Serve hot with coconut chutney or pudina chutney/pudina thogayal!

Note
1. By preparing this easy adai you can make use of left over upma for evening snack!
2. You can also add grated coconut or carrot as well.

Pudina Thogayal

Ingredients
Mint leaves - 1 cup (Tightly packed)
Green chilly - 1
Finely chopped Ginger - 1 tblsp
Urud dal - 1 tblsp
Channa dal - 1 tblsp
Oil - 1 tblsp + 1 tsp
Hing - generous pinch
Salt
Tamarind - 1 small piece
Grated Coconut - 2 tblsp
Mustard- 1 tsp
Split Urud dal - 1/2 tsp


Preparation
1. Clean and wash mint leaves. Slit green chilly.
2. Heat  1 tblsp oil in pan. Fry urud dal and channa dal to golden brown color. Take out.
3. To same pan add ginger, hing and green chilly. Fry for 1 min. Add mint leaves and saute until leaves shrink and gets cooked.
4. Switch off stove and add tamarind and coconut. Mix well.
5. First grind dal to coarse powder. Then grind mint portion to smooth paste. Add to dal powder and mix well.
6. Heat 1 tsp oil in pan and temper with mustard and urud dal. Add to mint thogayal. Serve as side for rice or tiffen items.

Note
Do not over cook mint leaves. It gives bitter taste.

Peerkangai kootu

Ingredients
Ridge ground/Peerkangai/Chinese okra - 2 cup
Moong dal - 3 tblsp
Coconut - 2 tblsp
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Green chilly - 1
Oil - 1 tblsp
Garlic - 3 pods
Small onion - 4
Mustard - 1 tsp
Urud dal - 1/2 tsp
Pepper - 4 or 5
Turmeric powder - 1/3 tsp
Hing - generous pinch
Salt
Curry leaves - 1 spring
Coriander leaves - 1 tblsp

Preparation
1. Peel skin and remove seeds of ridge ground. Cut to small cubes. Finely chop coriander leaves and onion. Crush garlic. Slit green chilly.
2. Grind coconut, jeera and pepper to smooth paste.
3. Soak dal in water along with hing and turmeric powder for 15 min and pressure cook for 3 whistle.
4. Heat oil in pan and temper with mustard, urud dal and curry leaves. Add green chilly and garlic. Fry until garlic turns brown and then add onion. Fry until it turns golden brown. Add ridge ground and 1/2 cup water. Close pan and cook until its done. Add coconut paste, salt and cooked dal. Mix well and cook until all blends well and thick consistency is attained. Add coriander leaves, mix well and switch off stove. Serve hot!

Note
1. Do not cook both dal and veggie together.
2. You can replace moong dal with thoor dal.
3. You can make use of ridge ground skin for making thovayal.