Aval Nanachathu - Beaten Rice with Jaggery and Coconut

Aval means beaten rice. It is mixed with jaggery, cocunut, cardamom and chuku and at the end you get a delicious snack which is tasty as well as healthy. You can also add dry fruits like raisins and cashew nuts to take it to another level.

My grandma used to make it whenever we  visited her (we means me and my sister). That was long time back.  My aval nanachathu is nothing compared to hers, to be honest.
 

How I wish I could go back in time, to be with my grand parents, listen to  their stories again,  sitting in the open verandah and eating the sweet delicious mango  from the backyard. Hmm..I can still hear the waves and the birds singing one of their favorite songs and the sound of wind rustling through the cocunut trees. How I wish I could just be there and never return..

Well, I have a job to do here, right?  Let me finish this first and I can time travel once I am done.

So here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Aval (beater rice) - 3 cups

Jaggery  - 4 -5 cubes
Cardamom Powder - 1 tsp

Chuku - 1 tsp

Cocunut - 1 cup

cocunut slices - 1/3 cup

Raisins & cashew nuts - a few (optional)

This is how I make it:

Take aval in a colander and run some water through it in order to soften.

Melt the jaggery and strain to take away all the impurities.

Now pour the melted jaggery into a saucepan and simmer, once it starts simmering,      lower the flame.

Add the cocunut, chuku, cardamom and cocunut slices and mix well with the jaggery.

Add the softened aval and mix well.

Add the dry fruits.

Voila..Aval Nanachathu is ready to be served. Enjoy!!

Chemmeen (Shrimp) Thoran

Here is my  ultimate Shrimp Thoran recipe. It is a South Indian dish which goes well with rice and a good companion for beer.

I would say,  for me, the most difficult part is peeling and deveining the shrimp.  It is time consuming and a dirty affair. But I still do it, don’t ask me why. May be because I am not a  fan of frozen food and also I like creating  things from scratch.

Like I said, cleaning is a dirty affair. To make it easy, I put some polythene sheets or papers all over my dry sink when I devein. When done, just toss the paper/polythene sheets. Otherwise, it is very difficult to get rid of the veins from the sink. When done, clean the sink with some lemon juice to get rid of the smell and voila, your sink is as clean as new.

If you want to save time, go and get the frozen ones instead, already cleaned and deveined for you.

Ingredients:

Shrimp (prawns) – 1 lb.

Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
Vegetable oil – 2 tbsp.
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Ginger  - 2 “ piece
Garlic – 2 cloves
Onion – 2 medium
Green chillies – 4 nos.
Curry leaves - a few
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp.
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Chilli powder – 1 tsp
Chicken masala – 1 tsp
Black paper – ¼ tsp
Coconut slices – ½
Salt – as per  taste

Preparation:

Peel shrimp and devein. Now clean it with cold water. Transfer to a bowl. To this add  turmeric powder, lemon juice and salt. Rub it onto the shrimp and wash it off. Transfer to a colander and let the water drain completely.

In a non-stick pan add 1tbsp. oil. When the oil is hot, add the shrimp, sprinkle little salt and fry. Be careful not to  overcook. It takes only 5-7 min. When one side is done, flip over and cook the other side. Transfer to a bowl.

In the meantime, cut the onion lengthwise, grate the ginger, chop the garlic and keep it ready.

In the same pan, add 1 tbsp. oil.

When the oil is hot,  add mustards seeds and allow to splutter.  Then add ginger and garlic and curry leaves. Fry for 2 sec.

Now add onion and green chillies.  Saute till the onion changes color, deep brown.

Now add turmeric powder, coriander powder, chilli powder and chicken powder, black pepper and salt.  Saute for 2 sec.

Add coconut slices and sprinkle some water so the masala don’t burn.

Now add the fried shrimp. Mix well to coat the shrimp with the masala and cover and cook in low flame for 5- 7 min.

Shrimp (Chemmeen) Thoran is ready. Happy eating!

Rawa Idli - Semolina Cakes

Rawa Idli is a South Indian Breakfast item, made with semolina/sooji/rawa. A good combination is Sambar-Idli. Hmm…yum..yum..

Why keep it only for breakfast?  In fact,  I would like to  have it any time in the day. I remember my Sagar Ratna days in Delhi. They used to serve the best Rawa Idlis. Don’t know the status now, though. As the demand increases,  the quality goes down. That is the law the restaurant people follow.

They used to serve it with sambar and coconut chutney.  This is how I like to have my Idli. I take a whole Idli and immerse it in the sambar bowl. Allow the Idli to soak for few seconds and have it with a spoon. Hmm..

Lets not waste time and get straight to the recipe.  Shall we?

Makes:  10 Idlis
 

Ingredients:

Sooji – 1 cup

Vegetable oil – 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds – ½ tsp

Chanda dal – 1 tsp

Urad dal – 1 tsp

Whole red chilli – 1 nos.

Asafoetida – a pinch

Curd – ¾ cup

Coriander leaves – a few

Ginger – 1“ piece

Green chillies – 2 nos.

Cashew nuts – a few

Preparation:
 

Heat oil in a non stick pan.

Add mustard seeds. When it starts to splutter, add chana dal, urad dal, broken whole red chilli, grated ginger and asoefitida and saute till  dal changes color.  Don’t burn.

Add the sooji and roast in low flame for a few seconds till you get the aroma.

Now transfer to a plate and allow to cool.

In the mean time, keep idli plates ready by greasing the plates so idli doesn't stick and comes out easily. Boil the water in the  idli maker.

In a bowl mix together yogurt, finely chopped green chillies, salt and chopped coriander leaves. Add the sooji and mix it well. Add a little bit of water, if needed.

Immediately spoon it to the idli plates. (If you don't do it immediately, batter will thicken). Top it with cashew nuts. Cover cook for 10-12 min.

You can place a round thin slice of a red tomato on the base of the idli plates before you pour the batter for beautiful colourful idlis :)

Yum yum Rawa Idli ready in minutes. Have it with sambar and a cup of tea. Have a pleasant morning!