Ribbon Pakoda

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 4 cups

Besan flour / pottukadalai mavu - 1 cup

Butter - 1 tbsp

Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp

Chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp
Seasame seeds - 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying.
Method:

• Mix all the flours, powders and seasame seeds & cumin seeds. Rub the butter into the mixture with your fingers.
• Add water to make a soft dough.
• Heat the oil in a kadai.
• Put a small portion of the dough into a murukku press and squeeze into hot oil into a big circle.
• Deep fry till golden brown.Leave to drain and cool on a paper towels.
• Store them in air-tight containers.

Enjoy with tea.

Ven Pongal

Ingredients:
Raw rice - 1.5 cups
Split moong dhal - 1/2 cup
Ghee - 3 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 2 tsp ( crushed )
Pepper corns - 1 tbsp ( crushed )
Cashews - few
Curry leaves - few
Salt to taste.
Method:

• Wash the rice and dhal .
• Add 6 cups of water,salt and pressure cook for 5 whistles.
• In a kadai, put 3 tbsp of ghee. When it is hot add cashew nuts, pepper and jeera powder & curry leaves and fry for a while.
• Once the pressure is released add this to the cooked rice. Mix well.

Serve hot with sambar.

Sardine Fish Curry / Matthi Meen Kuzhambu

Ingredients:
Sardine Fish - 6 pieces

Onion - 1 (chopped)

Tomato - 1 (chopped)

Garlic - 3 pods

Curry leaves - 2 string

Tamarind - small lemon size

Chilli powder -3 tbsp

Corriander powder -3 tbsp

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Methi seeds - 1 tsp

Mustard seeds -1 tsp

Seasame oil - 4 tbsp

Salt to taste.
Method:

• Clean the fish and rub it with 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tbsp chilli powder , and salt and leave it for half an hour
• Soak tamarind in water and squeeze out the juice.
• Heat the oil in a pan. add mustard seeds after pops up, add methi seeds,cumin seeds & fry till brown.
• Now add chopped onion,garlic pods and curry leaves & fry till golden brown.
• Then add tomatoes fry till the oil separate from the gravy.
• Now add corriander powder,chilli powder,turmeric powder,pepper powder, salt and fry 2 to 3 minutes.
• Now add tamarind juice.mix well .if it is too thick add enough water.close the lid and bring to boil. Allow to boil 5 minutes.
• Now add fish pieces one by one.close the lid and keep the heat in low flame 7 to 10 minutes.
• Fish curry is ready.

Serve with steamed rice.

Paruppu Kuzhambu

Ingredients:

Toor Dal - 3/4 Cup

Green Chili - 2nos

Garlic pods - 3

Crushed cumin Seeds - 2 tsp

Asafoetida - a pinch

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Small onions - 4 nos

Tomato - 2 ( cut into pieces )

Sambar powder - 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Dry Red Chili - 2 nos

Curry leaves - few

Oil - 1 tbsp

Salt to taste.
Method:

• To a Pressure cooker add toor dal, chopped tomato, small onions, asafoetida, turmeric powder, garlic pods,cumin seeds,sambar powder, salt,green chili and add 2 cup of water. Pressure cook it.
• Open the cooker and mash the dal.
• In a small frying pan add oil when its hot add mustard. Allow them to splutter.Add dry red chili and curry leaves.
• Add this to the dal.
  Serve with steamed rice along with ghee.

Tomato Rice / Thakkali sadam

Ingredients:
Basmathi Rice-2 cups
Tomato- 3(medium size)

Onion - 1 ( cut into length wise )
Green chillies - 2 nos

Mint leaves-10
Corriander leaves - few ( chopped )

Ginger garlic paste- 2 tbsp

Red chilly powder-1 tbsp

Ghee-1 tbspOil-2 tbsp
Bay leaf - 2

Water - 4 cups

Salt to taste.
For powder:
Cinnamon-1inch

Cardamom-2

Cloves - 2
Fennel seeds - 1 tbsp
Poppy seeds - 1 tsp
Method:

• Wash & soak the rice 15 minutes.
• Heat oil & ghee in the pressure pan and fry all the spice powder and bay leaves.
• Add sliced onions,green chillies and saute it. Put the ginger garlic paste and fry it nicely..
• Add the chopped tomatoes and fry it well.
• Now add the chopped mint leaves and give it a stir.
• Add the red chilly powder and fry it until the raw smell disappears. Put the finely chopped corriander leaves and mix it.Now pour 4 cups of water and allow to boil.
• Now add the soaked rice and pressure cook it for 2 whistles in medium heat.
• Remove the cooker from stove.
• Allow the cooker to cool naturally.

Serve with onion raita.

Spicy Mutton Curry

Ingredients:

Goat meat/Mutton - 1/2 kg

Onion large - 1 ( chopped )

Tomato - 1 ( chopped )

Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsp
Green chillies - 2 nos

Fresh ground black pepper powder - 2 tbsp

Corriander powder - 2 tbsp

Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tbsp

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Corriander leaves - few
Curd - 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Oil - 2 tbsp

Salt to taste.
Method:

• In a pressure cooker heat the oil on a medium flame.
• Add the mustard and cumin seeds and wait till mustard seeds start splattering.
  Add the onions and sauté till golden brown.
• Add ginger, garlic paste and green chillies and sauté for about 1 minute.
• Then add the tomatoes & fry it till the tomatoes are soft.
• Add the chilli powder ( optional ), cumin powder,coriander powder, pepper powder, garam masala and sauté for about 1 minute.
• Now add the cleaned mutton pieces and stir till mutton turns slightly pale on the outside.
• Now add the yoghurt, and salt and stir well mixing all the ingredients in the cooker. Let it cook for about 2 minutes.
• Now add the water and curry leaves and stir well. Now close the lid and pressure cook the mutton till it is tender.
• Now open the lid and add curry leaves and let it simmer for 10 minutes.or Cook till the gravy is thick.
  Garnish with corriander leaves and serve warm.
  

100 th Post - Tomato & Mint From Our Garden

My daughter's Tomato Plant

Homemade cheese pizza

Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 4 cups
Warm water - 1 1/2 cups
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Salt - 1 1/2 tsp
Yeast powder - 2 1/4 tbsp
Olive oil - 2 tbsp
Mozzerella cheese - 1 pkt
PIzza sauce
Pizza pan.
Method:

• Pour warm water into a bowl.





• Add the sugar and salt. Mix it until well blended. Add the yeast and mix some more. Let this mixture sit for about 5 minutes.


• Add 4 cups of flour and the olive oil and mix until well blended. knead well.
• The dough should turn into a ball.Once dough no longer sticks to your hands lightly coat dough ball with olive oil and place into a lightly oiled mixing bowl.
• Cover bowl with plastic wrap or foil and set aside to rise for 1 hour.
• After about 45 minutes the dough should have about doubled in size.. Let it rise for another haf an hour.
• The dough is now ready to be rolled out.
• Then punched down (deflated) the dough, dumped it out and cut it in two pieces.
• Knead them a little more and balled them up again.
• Put dough ball on a lightly floured cutting board, flattened it out,You could also just roll it out with a rolling pin too.
• Now we're ready for the other ingredients like pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese.
• Placed the dough on pizza pan,apply pizza sauce and spread it around.Then add layer of mozzerlla cheese.







• Preheated the oven to 450° F and then baked the pizza on the middle rack for a little over ten minutes or so.

Now the delicious pizza ie ready to enjoy!