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!

Appam & Vegetable Stew

Appam is a south Indian breakfast item. It is eaten with either stew, egg curry or chicken curry or else coconut chutney.

It reminds me of my childhood days in Kerala.  Anyways (deep sigh), lets get back to business.

I had this misconception that appam is very difficult to make and so, I never even cared to find out about the process until one day I saw my sister-in-law making it. Realized it is doable.


Well, like everything else, I make it from scratch. No store brought rice flour for me.

Ingredients:

Pachari, (white raw rice) – 2 cups (I use idli rice)

Coconut – 1 cup

Yeast – 1 tsp

Sugar – 1 tbsp

Cooked rice – ½ cup

Salt - as required

Warm water

Preparation:

Clean rice and soak it for 5 hours.

Now drain and transfer to a mixer.

Add the coconut, cooked rice, sugar, yeast and little warm water and grind to a paste.

Transfer to a big vessel and allow to ferment for 8 hours.

When the batter is ready, add a little bit of salt.  Mix well.

Warm the appam chatti (appam maker)

Pour a ladleful of batter into the appam chatti and rotate it.

Cover and cook.

Fluffy, tasty appam is ready.

Appam goes very well with vegetable stew. Very easy to make and nutritious. Here goes.

Ingredients for Stew:

Potatoes (cut in small cubes) – 2 nos. 

Beans (cut in 1" long piece) – 10-12
Green peas – ½ cup
Carrot (cut into small pieces) – 2 nos.

Cinnamon – a small stick
Cloves – 2 nos
Cardamon - 4 (remove the skin)
Onion (chopped) - 1 medium size
Ginger (cut into thin long piece) - 1" piece
Garlic (chopped) - 1 clove
Green chillies (sliced) - 2 nos.
All Purpose Flour - 1 tsp
Milk - 1/2 cup
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Black Pepper powder- 1/4 tsp
Vegetable oil - 1 tbsp.
Curry Leaves - a few

Preparation:

In a non stick pan, add oil. When the oil is hot, add cinnamon, cloves and cardamom.

Now add ginger, garlic and curry leaves. Then add green chillies.

After a few seconds, add onion and saute till it becomes transcluscent.

Now add the potato cubes, carrot and green peas. Add salt and water. Mix, cover and cook till    vegetables are well cooked.

Mash some potatoes so to thicken the gravy.

In a bowl mix the flour and milk together until all the lumps disappear.

Pour this to the vegetables.

Add garam masala and black pepper powder. Mix and simmer in low flame for 5 min.

Vegetable Stew ready.  Happy eating!

Idiyappam- A Traditional South Indian Breakfast Item

Idiyappam is something that I make more often for breakfast. It is very easy to make and requires only few ingredients.

Idiyappam is made with rice flour. You can make your own rice flour or else it is available in any Indian store. My mother is a great believer in home made stuff. She makes things like pickle, rice flour, masala mix etc. herself.  It tastes different and is much more delicious than the store brought stuff.

So,  to make your own rice flour, you need to wash and soak white rice 'pachari' overnight. Drain completely.  Then grind it into a fine powder in a grinder. Roast it for a few minutes till you get the aroma, cool and store in an air tight container. Quite a lot of work,  right? Go for the store brought and be happy :)

Idiyappam is a traditional South Indian breakfast and goes well with chicken curry, egg curry, green peas etc. I prefer either egg curry or green peas curry. It is delicious, healthy and extremely easy to make. What else can you ask for, right? So lets get straight to the recipe. Shall we?


Ingredients:

For Idiyappam (this makes 10-12 medium size idiyappams)

1 cup rice flour
warm water as needed
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup grated coconut

For Green Peas:

1 cup green peas (soak overnight)
1/2 of a medium size onion
Ginger 1"
Garlic - 1-2 cloves
Vegetable oil 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
2-3 Green chillies
1/2 tsp coriander powder

Preparation:

Idiyappam:

Boil 1 cup water. Take the flour in a bowl. Add the salt and sugar. Mix. Now add the warm water little by little and mix it with a spoon.  Keep adding the water till a dough is formed. Now knead it with your fingers. It doesnt need lot of kneading. Cover and keep it aside for 10 min.

Slightly oil the idli plates and keep aside.

Transfer the dough into a 'seva nazhi' and press it onto the idli plates. Top it with grated coconut.

Boil some water in an idli maker. When it starts boiling, put the idli plates back and steam for 10 min.

Idiyappam ready!

Green Peas curry:

Soak the green peas overnight. Add some salt and cook them in a pressure cooker.

Once cooked, slightly mash the green peas and keep aside.

Slice the onion, ginger, garlic and green chillies.

 

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. When it splutter, add ginger, garlic, onion, green chillies and curry leaves. Saute till onion changes color and becomes transcluscent. Add turmeric powder. Mix.

Now add the cooked green peas. Add water if needed. Add salt if needed. Cover and cook for 10 min in low flame.

Serve hot with a cup of tea :) Have a great morning!!

Carrot Cake

Today is a beautiful day. A magnificent sunny day..very romantic. So decided to bake something for my lovely husband, something which is his favorite. The first thing that comes to mind is Carrot Cake.

I have never heard of Carrot cake before I came to this country. In India,  we gorge on our carrot halwa in winters made with pistachios and raisins. Hmm.. hot hot carrot halwa in a chilly winter afternoon and a little bit of gossipping with your friends is all that one needs to make the day perfect.  Gossiping, by the way, is healthy for you.. OK..so lets not get into that..We are talking about carrot cake here.

Trying somehting new has always been my passion. But when it goes wrong, that ruins the entire day and what it does  to me is another story altogether. But this one is a success story. The ultimate Carrot cake you will ever have in your life. Forget about the store brought. This is easy to make and what else,  you can boast about it.. So ready..here it is..

Ingredients:

1 cup All purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
zest of an orange
pinch salt
1 1/2 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp grated coconut
1/2 cup walnuts
2 tbsp dried chopped cranberries
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup yogurt
2 eggs

Frosting:
11/2  cup powdered sugar ( I had only granulated sugar. So I powdered it in a mixer)
4 tbsp butter
Two 8 oz cream cheese

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 deg.F. Butter and flour two  8" cake pans.

In a bowl mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, orange zest and salt. In another bowl mix grated carrot, grated coconut, walnuts, cranberries.

In another bowl, mix together the oil and sugar until sugar is well coated in oil. Add the yogurt and mix till the batter is smooth. Add the egg one at a time and mix thoroughly.  Now to this add the flour mixture and combine well. Fold in the nuts and coconuts.

 

Transfer this to the two pans evenly. Bake for 30 min until the cakes are firm. Cool.

Now mix together the ingredients for frosting until smooth. Spread this frosting on one layer and keep in the refrigerator for 30 min for the surface to set. Take it out and spread a little more of the frosting. Top it with the second layer and spread frosting evenly onto the sides and top.

Keep it in the refrigerator overnight.

Cheese Cake

Cheese Cake used to intimidate me. I stayed away from making this,  thinking it is complicated.  But cheese cake is my husband's favorite.  And I thought to myself, how can I say something is complicated until I try it? So began my search for the perfect cheese cake recipe. And as they say, if you desire for something with all your heart, you get it.

This almond crust cheese cake is the ultimate.    I don't remember, from where I got this recipe. But what is  the big deal,  right? Result is all that matters. I am sure you will love it and will thank me later for this recipe.  So Cheese Cake for desert today? What do you think?

Ingredients:

2/3 cup Graham Crackers                  
1/2 cup Toasted halved almonds       
3 tbsp Sugar + 3/4 cup extra for the filling                                     
1 tbsp Melted butter                          
8 oz Cream cheese                         
8 oz Mascarpone cheese                 
Lemon juice, 1/2 of a lemon
2 Eggs                                        
1 tsp Vanila Extract

(All the above ingredients should be at room temperature)

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 deg.F
Butter the baking pans and keep it ready.

In a blender add the graham crackers, 3 tbsp sugar and almonds and pulse.

Add the melted butter. Pulse again.
Transfer to a buttered baking pan. Press with your finger tips. This is the base of your cheese cake.

Cover bottom and sides of the pan with aluminium foil. Bake the crust at 350 deg. F until the top is brown,  not more than 10 min. Cool.

Now reduce the temperature to 325 deg.F. In the same blender add the cream cheese and mascarpone, lemon juice, vanilla and rest of the sugar. Blend.

Now add the eggs one at a time. Blend thoroughly after adding each egg.

Transfer this to the cooled crust.

Place the pan in a roasting pan and fill hot water into the roasting pan until it reaches halfway up the sides of the baking pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool and refrigerate overnight.

To make it extra special, drizzle some chocolate sauce over and hmm..sit back, relax and enjoy every bit of heaven :)