A Reluctant Chef

Background

I usually make this when I am feeling nostalgic (which is often!). Each time I melt butter to make ghee, I heat butter till it melts and keep it on medium heat till it froths and pops and the sounds die down. I turn the heat off and remove the vessel. When done transferring the liquid fat into another container, all that remains is the milks solids at the bottom. Courtesy the non stick pans we use now, the bottom does not get burnt and the milk solids retain their cream-brown color.

Growing up, my mom would often use the left over milk solids to make “nei kasandu”. I have no clue how to translate it for non-tamilians. Following her example, I make it too. It is yummy, obviously high in sugar and fat but a delicacy for sure

Stuff you will need:

Left overs after making ghee
Sugar depending on taste
Whole wheat flour about a cup (adjust based on the ghee and sugar)

How to make it?

Set the pan with the milk solids left over from making ghee on the stove on low medium heat till the solids start to melt. Add the whole wheat flour and mix. Stir till the flour is roasted and causes the milk solids to leave the pan and become a brownish mix of ghee and flour. Add sugar and mix. When a heavenly smell emanates from this concoction, turn heat off and remove from stove. Let cool and make into balls.

Eat them each time you pass em

Special Notes

This is a good way to clean the pan used to make ghee as well as make a satisfying treat for those with a sweet tooth. Absolutely not healthy!

Background:

Today my niece turns ONE according to the lunar calendar. For those familiar with Nakshatra and Rasi that Indian calendars follow, today is the same nakshatra as the day she was born in. Keeping with tradition we had her Ayusha-homam today. This is done to bless the child will a long life.

Being her aunt, me and K went over bright and early and I made kesari. This simple dish is my favorite and can be made in many different ways. The basic recipe is the same and it can be given a twist with the addition of milk and saffron like I did today or cut pineapple chunks like some others I know do.

Stuff you will need:

Rava (cream of wheat) - 2 cups
Sugar - 2 cups
Ghee - 3/4 cup
Water - 2 cups
Cardomom - 10 - 15 peeled and pounded
Cashews - 15 broken into bits
Raisins (golden or black) - 20
Saffron - a pinch
Milk - 1/4 cup

How to make it?

In a wide mouthed pan heat 3 tsp ghee and fry the cashews till golden brown. Set aside. Next fry the raisins till they swell and look huge. Set aside. Add three fourths of remaining ghee and set heat on medium. As the ghee melts, add the rava and fry it. It should look fried with reddish dots. Now add water slowly stirring all the while till all the water is done. The kesari will now become soft and look cooked. Now add the sugar and stir slowly till the mix bubbles and becomes sticky. Continue stirring till the kesari leaves the sides of the pan and when divided splits into two parts without sticking. At this point, stir in the remaining ghee, add the fried cashews, raisins and mix. Turn heat off and mix the pounded cardomom in.

Serve hot.

Serves 8 - 10 people depending on serving size.

Special Notes:

You can omit the milk and saffron. Feel free to experiment with the quantity of sugar and ghee. The resulting product might be more like upma but can be had as a snack. Add diced fruits when making the kesari to give natural sweetness and cut down on sugar. Pineapples are a great idea. Try this with alternatives to rava/sooji like cracked wheat, semolina or flattened rice (poha).

Background:

I love parathas. Specially when I don’t make them. After a hectic Saturday filled with friends and family, I was not keen on standing in the kitchen for a long time. Scanning my shelf that contained cook books, I extracted Mallika Badrinath’s 100 Tiffin ideas. Thumbing through the chappathi section I saw this recipe for Masala chappathi that involved a lot of different spice powders mixed in with wheat flour and made into a dough with milk and thick curds. Intrigued I set out to make my version of these masala chappathis.

Following a nudge from Srivalli of Cooking 4 all seasons, I would like to submit this as an entry for the Roti Mela event she is hosting.

Stuff you will need:

2 cups - whole wheat atta (Whole wheat flour or Durum wheat flour)
Paratha masala - 2 tsp (Available in Indian groceries. Can be substituted with a mix of cumin/coriander/red chili/sea salt powders.)
Kasuri methi - 2 tsp (Dried and crushed fenugreek leaves)
Ghee - 3 tsp
Salt - to taste
Sugar - to taste
Thick curds - 1/2 cup
Warm Milk - 1/2 cup

How to make it?

To the atta, add the dry ingredients and the ghee. Work the flour till the ghee is all mixed in. Now add the curds and the milk and knead till you have a firm soft dough. Rest covered for 30 minutes. Knead again and let rest till ready to roll out the dough.

When ready, make equal sized balls of the dough (I get approx 8 - 10 for the measure of atta I use). Using a rolling pin and a flat surface, roll out the dough using a scoop of atta to flour the surface if the dough sticks. The key is to roll out the dough in a circle and get it as thin as possible. Once done, transfer to a heated flat pan and cook on medium high heat constantly turning the chappathi till both sides are well cooked. Store in a casserole to keep warm till ready to eat.

Serves two

Special notes:

I only add ghee while making the dough. Some people like to make the dough sans ghee but smear ghee once the chappathi is done. Both works well. These can be had with pickle and curds or with dhal as my husband prefers it.

Background:

I usually make this when I am tired of pulav and other varieties of mixed rice (think lemon, puliogare, coconut, biriyani or bisi bele baath). The reason I love this is because I make it infrequently and it is a very versatile dish lending itself to immense customization.

I called it vegetable rice because that is all it is - vegetables and rice.

Stuff you will need:

Rice - 1 cup (I use sona masoori)
Tomatoes - 5 small - chopped to fine pieces
Onion - 1 medium - Chopped to fine pieces
Ginger - 1/2 inch cube - chopped fine
Green chillies - 3 slit and halved
curry leaves - 2 sprigs - chopped roughly
Garlic - 2 pods - chopped fine
Carrots - 2 medium - chopped fine
Green pepper - 1 medium - chopped fine
Green peas - A handful
Oil - 1 tbsp
Cumin - 1 tsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Asafoetida - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1 tsp

How to make it?

Pressure cook rice with 2.5 glasses of water for 3 whistles and set aside to cool. In a shallow wok, heat oil. Add mustard. When it pops add cumin, asafoetida and turmeric. When cumin browns add ginger, garlic, chillies and curry leaves. Saute a bit and add onions. Saute till pink and add tomatoes. Cover and cook till tomatoes are formless. Add rest of the vegetables and cook till all moisture is absorbed into the vegetables and the mixture looks kind of dry. Turn of heat and set aside.

Now fluff the rice cooked earlier such that grains are separate. Now, slowly add the rice to the cooked vegetable mixture taking care not to make the rice grains mushy. The finished product should be reddish yellow, rice looking whole dotted with vegetables.

Serves two.

Special Notes:
Try this basic recipe with different types of firm vegetables to get different flavors and tastes. This does not require masala powder but one can try and experiment by using other spices.

Background:

Molagai thokku was my dad’s favorite relish. Ever. Even as he struggled with diet restrictions following hospitalization and a low sodium diet, My mom’s mom created a molagai thokku minus the salt with plenty of jaggery. Appa loved it and would devour it creamy thayir sadham.

So, when Amma spied a bag full of lush green serrano peppers I had bought from our local farmer’s market, she asked me if I would like the thokku. I was all for it and she made the prep as I watched on.

What better way to usher in Mother’s day than a shared cooking experience?

Stuff you will need:

Serrano peppers - 1lb
Salt to taste
Asafoetida - 1 tsp
Gingelly (Sesame) oil - 2 tbsp
Tamarind - lump the size of a small lemon
Mustard - 1 tsp
Urad dhal - 2 tsp
Jaggery - A ball the size of a small lemon

How to make it?

In a non stick pan or wok, heat a bit of the gingelly oil and temper mustard, urad dhal till reddish brown. Add asafoetida and the chillies and the tamarind. Saute till color of peppers turn a dull green. Set aside. When cool, add salt and grind to a fine paste.

In the same wok, add the remaining oil and heat. Add the ground chilli paste, jaggery and saute on low-medium heat till the oil separates out.

Remove from heat and let cool. Store in an air tight container. Keeps a couple of months in the fridge.

Special Notes:

Use Jalapeno peppers for a milder tasting relish.

Background:

Making sevai the traditional way is a labor of love, not to be taken by the faint of heart. Ok! I kid. It definitely is a laborious process but the end product is so dadgum good that it makes the pain worthwhile. Amma makes this every time we have guests visiting. Finely made sevai serves as a benchmark of the kind of esteem the host holds you at.

More than just being a food item, Sevai in my eyes represents the epitome of motherhood. The love, the patience, the hard work and at the end of it all no visible traces that it existed at all.

So, inspired by this, here is my tribute to the person who I hold dearest in my heart - Amma.

Stuff you will need:

2 cups parboiled/idli rice - soaked overnight.
Salt to taste
Idli steamer
Seva nazhi or extruder.

How to make it?

Grind the soaked parboiled rice using a traditional grinder to a soft batter. Mix the salt in when almost done grinding. The consistency should be that of dosa maavu. Pour it and it should fall easily.

In the idli plates, smear oil or spray with cooking spray. Ladle out the batter in the cups and steam on high for about 7 - 10 minutes. Lower flame, remove idli plates and scoop out the steamed batter. These should look like small idlis sunken in the middle. Pop four such idlis into the extruder and turn to get silky soft thin rice noodles. Remove and cool. Repeat the process till batter is done.

Using the sevai as base, separate into as many heaps as required and make puli sevai (mix puliogare), lemon sevai (prepare as you would for lemon rice), coconut sevai (as done for coconut rice) or serve just as is with mor kuzhambu and pappadom as a side.

Serves four.

Special notes:

Sevai is just a base like rice. Use your imagination to come up with new varieties like masala sevai, cumin pepper sevai, thayir sevai etc.

Background:

Mor koozhu or Mor kali always reminds me of my dad’s grandmom (Periamma paati as we called her). I had the good fortune to have heard tons of mythological stories from her, have my hair braided with flowers and in general get to know the grandmom who gave me my grandmom. In her last years when she would often visit us, she would ask my mom to make this for her. She loved the sour taste of the buttermilk and the crunchy seasoning that also included mor milagai fried in oil. Savory, not definitely health food but a cup of which has the uncanny ability to transport me to the agraharams of yore.

Stuff you will need:

Rice flour - 2 cups
Butter milk - 1 cup
Salt to taste
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dhal - 2 tsp
Asafoetida - 1 tsp
Mor milagai (deep fried) or red chillies - 5

Curry leaves - 1 sprig washed and chopped
Gingelly oil - 1 tbsp

How to make it?

In a broad vessel mix rice flour, salt and buttermilk to a nice pouring consistency. Add water if you have to. In a frying pan, heat gingelly oil and season mustard till it bursts, add urad dhal, curry leaves, asafoetida, red chillies or mor milagai and saute. Now pour the rice batter and turn slowly till oil is absorbed. On medium heat turn every so often till the mixture solidifies and does not stick to the pan. Cover and cook on low heat for five minutes till rice flour is completely cooked.

It is OK to stop at this stage and serve hot. Or continue to turn and heat on low medium heat and add some more oil till the mixture drys up and crumbles into tiny balls.

Serves four as a snack

Special Notes:

Definitely a snack that is high on oil and has no nutritive value but definitely ranks high on the taste scale. Typically made as a palaharam in the good old days.

Background:

Looking for healthier alternatives from the regular coconut chutney that is a side to most of the ‘tiffin’ I make, I discovered ‘peanut’ chutney when one of our friends visited. From then on, it is a standard fixture in my house with dosas and as a spicy spread on bread.

Stuff you will need:

Peanuts aka Groundnuts aka nala kadalai - 2 handfuls
Dry red chillies - 2 - 3 depending on taste
1 pinch asafoetida
Marble sized ball of tamarind
Salt to taste

How to make it?

In a small pan roast peanuts till they start popping. Add red chillies and saute for a min before turning heat off. Let cool and grind with water, tamarind, salt, asafoetida and the chillies. Depending on taste, make it a smooth chutney or leave it a little coarse. Enjoy as a side to dosa, idli or as a spread on bread or like hummus on a pita bread.

Serves two

Special notes:

Optionally one may season the chutney with mustard seeds tempered in oil.

Background:

I make this when I am tired of the regular varieties of upma that cannot handle masala all that well. This is also a good way to use leftover pasta. This recipe is versatile and lends itself to many variations.

Stuff you will need:

1 cup pasta (penne/fusili/macaroni/shells) - boiled, drained
2 tsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
3 small tomatoes - finely diced
1 small onion - chopped fine
2 green chillies - slit
1 inch ginger cube - chopped fine
1 medium size carrot - chopped
1 small green pepper - chopped fine
Green peas - handful
Sweet corn - handful
Salt to taste
Small bunch of coriander - trimmed and chopped rough

How to make it?

In a non stick pan, heat the oil and add cumin seeds. When it browns, add ginger, green chillies and saute. Add onions and saute till translucent. Add tomatoes and cook till oil separates out. Add rest of the chopped veggies, salt and cover and cook till vegetables are cooked but not mushy. Now add the boiled and drained pasta and mix gently to evenly coat. Remove from heat and garnish with cut coriander. Serve hot.

Serves two

Special Notes:

Feel free to add garlic if liked and other vegetables like potato, red peppers, beans or eggplant. Also experiment with the spices to achieve different tasting upmas.

Background:

Poondu rasam is the somewhat distant cousin of the regular rasam I made. One that visited once in a blue moon. Being married to a person who’s definition of masala started with garlic, it is not easy to incorporate this pungent pod in most of my dishes. I would sneak it in sometimes in other stronger tasting side dishes. Rasam being the delicate soup it is was not one to mask the flavor of garlic rather the one to highlight it. On rare days when I felt the rebel in me peek out I made this.

Stuff you will need:

A marble sized ball of tamarind soaked and juice extracted
2 small tomatoes diced
1 green chilly slit
1 pod of garlic - crushed or finely diced
Salt to taste
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 pinch of asafoetida
1 handful thuvar dhal - cooked and mashed
1 tbsp ghee
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 handful coriander leaves chopped roughly

How to make it?

In a thick bottomed vessel add diced tomatoes, tamarind juice, salt, turmeric and asafoetida. Cook on medium heat till it starts frothing and raw smell of tamarind goes away. Add the cooked and mashed thuvar dhal and add water if volume is less. In another small pan heat the ghee and add mustard seeds till they start popping. Add the green chilly and the diced or crushed garlic. When done add this to the boiling rasam. Garnish with cut coriander and cover to lock in flavors.

Serve four

Special Notes:

This rasam does not call for rasam or sambar powder that is a staple of most paruppu rasams. However the green chilly may be substituted by 1 tsp of sambar powder.