Beans Usili

                      Beans Usili, a side dish for rice has a different taste and is is also rich in Protein as Dhals are added.

Beans Usili

Ingredients :

Beans   250 gms.
Toor Dhal   1/4 cup.
Channa Dhal / Kadalai Paruppu  1/2 cup
Red chillies    2 to 3
Grated coconut ( optional )   2 tbs.

For seasoning :

Oil   2 tbsp.
Mustard, Split Urad Dhal, Curry Leaves, Hing

Method :

1. Soak the Dhals for 30 mins. Drain the water and coarsely grind them in the mixer with
    little salt and the red chillies. 1 chilly can also be used for seasoning. Add 1 tbsp. of
    water, if required.

2. Cook the sliced Beans in water till they become soft, absorbing all the water.Add the
     salt in the end.They can be also pressure cooked in a small cooker just for 1 whistle
     with 1/2 tsp. of sugar for retaining the green colour.After 1 minute, gently release the
     pressure, remove the weight and open the lid. This also helps to maintain the natural
     colour of Beans.

3. Heat 2 tbsp. of oil and add the seasoning things with 1 red chilly if preferred.After the
    mustard splutters, add the ground Dhal and constantly stir on a medium or low fire till
    it is cooked.

4. Then add the cooked Beans.Mix well.Stir on a low fire for  5 mins.Grated coconut can
    be added, if preferred in the end. The healthy and tasty Beans Usili is ready.

Note :

1. Without Toor dhal, only 3/4 cup of Channa dhal alone can be used.

2. Most people steam cook the Dhal ater grinding in the mixer.In that case less oil can be
    used.Steam cooking takes extra time.

Milagai Bajji

            Milagai Bajji ! What else can be better with a cup of tea or coffee and Milagai Bajji to rejuvenate us on a cold or rainy day !My choice is always to prepare the batter at home than to go in for ready made mix. The batter is nothing but to mix all the ingredients.

Milagai Bajji

To make 12 Bajjis
Ingredients :

Bajji Milagai  6
Besan flour / Kadalai mavu    1 cup
Rice flour    1 tbsp.
Chilly powder   1/2 to 1 tsp.
Cooking Soda   1/4 tsp.
Turmeric Powder, Salt
Oil for deep frying

Method :

1. Mix all dry ingredients well. Add water and make a batter like Idli batter.Cut the
    Milagais into 2 pieces lengthwise.Then only the batter sticks. There are 12 pieces.

2.Heat the oil and add 2 tsp. of hot oil to the batter and mix well. This gives crispy
   Bajjis.

3. Dip  Milagai pieces in the batter. Take care that they are coated well with the batter.

4. Drop them one by one in the oil. Do not crowd.Four of five can be deep fried even in a
    medium sized Kadai.Drop the coated Bajjis gently that both the sides are inside the oil 

5.When on side is cooked, gently turn one by one to the other side. Do not insert the
   laddle till the batter is cooked. Otherwise the wet batter sticks to the sides of the
   laddle.

6. Remove from oil once the bubbles are gone.The hot and tasty Bajjis are ready.

Poori

                        Poori is a very common tiffin item.Yet loved by all. Following a few tips, excellent Pooris as in the hotels can be made at home.

                                              

Pooris

To prepare 8 to 10 Pooris

Ingredients :

Wheat Flour   1 cup
Salt
Sooji/ Rava  1/2 tsp.
Sugar   1/2 tsp.
Oil for frying

Method :

1. Mix salt, sugar and Sooji well with the wheat flour. Add water little by little and make
    a dough that should be tight but the same time it can be made into balls and rolled
   into Pooris easily.1 tsp. of oil can be added.1 cup flour requires a little less than 1/2
   cup of water.

2. The Pooris should be made as soon as the dough is prepared. They should not be
    allowed to rest as done for Chappathis.

3. Knead the dough, roll them into balls, press them into Pooris. The Pooris should be 
   thick.Then only they puff up.

4.Heat the oil and on medium flame, insert the Pooris  gently through the oil, that the
  entire surface of the Poori is immersed in the oil.Then the Poori definitely puffs up. Turn
  to the other side. Remove from the oil once it is cooked.If allowed in the oil for a long 
  time, it becomes stiff.

Tips :

1. Only wheat flour should be used. Maida gives stiff Pooris. 1 tbsp.of Maida can be added
    to retain the puffy texture for a long time.

2. The dough must be firm and do not allow it to rest.

3. Press the ball into thick Pooris to puff up in oil.

4. The Pooris dropped in the oil must be completely immersed in the oil to puff up.

5. Turn to the other side after it puffs up. Remove from the oil at right time to get soft
    Pooris.If left in the hot oil for a longer time, it becomes very stiff.

 

Susiyam

               Susiyam is a special sweet made in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu along with the Vadais, Bajji and Bondas in the early morning on the day of Deepavali.

             Other sweets like Laddu, Badhusha, Adhirasam, Somasi etc and the savouries like Mixture, Murukku, Kara Sevu are prepared a day or two ahead of the Deepavali.

              The filling is almost similar to the filling made for Modaham or Boli.

Ingredients :

For the filling : 

Kadalai Paruppu / Channa Dhal  1/2 cup
Powdered Jaggery ( Vellam )   1 cup
Grated coconut   1/4 cup
Cardamom Powder
 Ghee / Oil 2 tsp

For the outer covering :

Rice Flour   1 cup
Urad Dhal 1/4 cup

Oil for deep frying

Method :

1. Soak the Channa Dhal for 2 hrs. and cook in a pressure cooker well that it looses shape
    and can be mashed.

2. When it is still hot, mash the paruppu well.In the same pressure cooker or any thick
   bottomed Kadai, mix the mashed kadalai Paruppu,coconut and powdered Vellam
   well.Keep it on the stove on a medium flame. Let it boil with continuous stirring.
   Take care that the mixture doesn't get burnt or sticks to the sides of the vessel.
   It is safe to put the mixture to simmering flame but it takes a long time. I always do
   that.

3. When the mixture becomes thick enough to be rolled into ball,add cardamom powder,
    ghee and switch off.It can be left in the same vessel till it becomes cool and still
    thick.This sweet filling can be prepared the previous day and can be kept even outside
    the fridge.This can be refrigerated for longer life if prepared in large quantity.

4. For the outer covering soak the Urad Dhal for 1 hour and grind as done for the idli
    batter.As we always prepare Uzhundha vadai on Deepavali day,the grinder has to be
    compulsorily used and washed. But the batter is grounded separately for Susiyam and
    Vadai one after the other as the consistency varies.My daughter always uses only the
    mixer and she says the Susiums are fine.

5. To the Urad Dhal batter, mix the rice flour and make a batter to the consistency of
    Dosai or Bajji batter.

6. Earlier make the sweet filling into round balls. 25 to 30 Susiyams can be made out of

7. Heat the oil and dip the balls in the rice and dhal batter gently and drop in the hot
    oil. 6 to 10 balls can be fried in 1 batch depending on the size of Kadai and quantity of
    oil used.When the bubbles disappear indicating that Susiyams  are cooked,remove from
    the oil.The tasty Susiyams are ready.

Note :

1.If there is no time to use the grinder or the mixer to grind the Urad Dhal, Maida can be used for the outer covering as my mom does.But my preference is only the mixture of Dry rice flour and fresh Urad Dhal batter as given in the recipe.

2. A second choice for the outer covering, if there is no dry rice flour, soak 1 cup of raw rice together with 1/4 cup of Urad dhal for 2 hours and grind in the wet grinder or mixer to your convenience.

3. The third option is to make a mixture of Maida,rice flour and Urad dhal flour.Together
 it should be 1 1/2 cups.

4. If it happens that the sweet filling is left over, it can be kept in the fridge and later can be used for Modagams or Boli.If we feel it is one time work, we can purposely make more
of the sweet filling and keep it the fridge to be used later for Modagams or Boli.If the outer covering batter is left over, we used to mix it with the Kadalai Mavu batter for the Bajji and Bondas, we do on the day of deepavali.If not, it can be mixed with the Idli or Dosai batter.

Butter Murukku

                         Butter Murukku, for some reasons has not been tried by me. My co sister is an expert in preparing this Murukku.For this year Diwali, Urad Dhal Powder was out of stock.I always roast 1 Kg. of Urad Dhal and get it powdered in the Grinding Mill. The powder is also fine and comes for 6 months.

                     Mixture was prepared by me.Without Urad dhal powder, I could have prepared Ribbon Pakoda, Kara Sevu etc.But this time I was firm about Butter Murukku. It was perfect.I regretted for not trying it earlier.It is so simple with the common ingredients available at home.

Butter Murukku

                                       

Out of 3 cups of Rice Flour

                                    
Ingredients :

Rice Flour :  1 cup
Besan Flour / Kadalai Mavu   2 tbsp.
Pottukadalai Mavu   2 tbsp.
Jeeragam /  Whit Ellu   1 tsp.
Butter    2 tsp.
Oil, Hing, Salt

Method :

1. Mix all the ingredients except oil well.Add water little by little and make a dough, not
   very hard nor loose.

2. Heat the oil and press the dough in the oil using the Murukku mould. Use the disc
    with the 3 holes in the shapes of stars. Press only 3 or 4 Murukkus in1 batch depending
    on the size of pan.

3. When one size is cooked, turn to the other side. When the bubbles disappear, remove
    from fire.Later store in airtight container. The very tasty and very easy to make Butter
    Murukkus are ready.

Mint / Pudhina Masala

                 This Pudhina Masala is a different type of gravy with a good taste and flavour for Chppathis, Dosai , Appam etc.

              Usually Mint is used for the Chutney and all types of Masala Rice like Veg. Pulao, Briyani, Tomato Rice etc.

              We all know that Mint is very good for health.This healthy gravy with the Mint is a change from the routine recipes.

Pudhina Masala

Ingredients :

Sliced Carrot, Potatoes, Beans, Peas     2 cups
Onions     2
Tomatoes    2
Oil   3 tbsp. ( Plus optional 1 tsp.Butter / Ghee )
Salt, Jeeragam

To grind in the mixer :

Grated coconut  1/2 cup
Kasakasa   1 tbsp.
Ginger   1 small piece
Garlic   5 - 7 pods
Cloves   3
Cinnamon 1 piece
Green chillies   4
Cashew    6
Cleaned Mint leaves  1 cup

Method :

1.Pressure cook the sliced vegetables in a cooker just for 1 or 2 whistles. Release the
   pressure slowly and carefully after a minute to retain the colour of the vegetables.

2. Grind the Masala in a mixer.

3. Heat the oil and Ghee, add 1 tsp. of Cummin ( Jeeragam ). Then add the finely
   chopped onions and saute till they turn brown.Add little salt.

4. Add the finely chopped tomatoes and saute well till they shrink.

5.Add the ground masala with little water and stir on a low fire for 2 to 3 minutes.

6. Add the cooked vegetables, salt to taste and water to the required gravy consistency.
    Simmer on a low flame for 5 mins. Switch off. A tasty and healthy Mint Gravy is ready.

Note :

Oil can be reduced.Cashew can be done away with the Pottu Kadalai. But oil, ghee and cashew are the real taste makers along with the Masala and Pudhina leaves.