Dangar Chutney

As we all know dangar pachadi is something we make as a side dish for rice. This is something called dangar chutney. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:-

1. Urad dhall - 5 tbsp
2. Green chillies - 3 (acc to taste)
   
3. Ginger - a small piece
4. Coconut - 2 tbsp
5. Salt to taste
   

First fry urad dhall to golden brown and let it cool. Grind it into a fine powder. Now grind coconut + green chillies + ginger + salt into a fine paste. Add urad dhall powder and mix it well. Finally add water to adjust consistency. Serve it with Pesarattu dosai, Adai as a side dish.

Channa Dhall chutney

This is something my grandma and my MIL prepares. I have not tried this yet. So this recipe is from my MIL. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:-

1. Channa dhall - 1 cup
2. coconut - 2 tbsp
3. Red chillies - 3 (acc to taste)
   
4. Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
5. Urad dhall - 1/4 tsp
6. Oil - 1 tsp
   

First fry channa dhall in a dry pan till it becomes pinkish in color. Let it cool and soak it in water. Let it soak for half an hour. Pre heat remaining oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds, fry urad dhall, red chillies and coconut till it becomes golden brown. Let it cool. After half an hour, drain it and grind everything nicely. Add water to adjust the chutney consistency. This is again a side dish for idly and dosa.

MInt Chutney

This is my favorite chutney. Here is the recipe I follow to make mint chutney.

Ingredients:-

1. Mint Leaves - 1/2 cup
2. Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup
3. coconut - 3 tbsp
4. Green Chillies - 2 (acc to taste)
5. Dalia split - 2 tbsp
6. Tomato - 1 (finely chopped)
   
7. Onion - 3/4 (finely chopped)
8. Salt to taste

For Seasoning:-

1. Oil - 1 tsp
2. Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
3. Urad dhall - 1/2 tsp
4. Asafoetida powder - a pinch.

Pre heat pan, pour a drop of oil, fry onion till it becomes transparent, add tomato and saute till its 3/4th cooked. Keep it aside. Now fry coconut to golden brown and keep it aside. In the same pan, saute coriander leaves for 2 mts and finally saute mint leaves till it becomes tender and soft. Let everything cool and grind italong with green chillies, dalia split and salt, into a fine paste. Add water to adjust consistency. This is mint chutney. Now preheat the remaining oil, splutter mustard seeds, fry urad dhall to golden brown. Add asafoetida powder and fry it for a second and pour it on top of chutney. Those who like to eat mint leaves rice, can mix this with rice and can eat it. This can be a wonderful side dish for idly or dosa.

Onion Chutney and an award

I got the recipe from a blog (forgot the name) long back. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:-

1. Onion - 2
2. Red chillies - 3 (acc to taste)
3. Salt to taste
4. Oil - 2 tsp
   

This is very very simple to make. But I love the taste of this chutney. Pre heat oil in a pan, add onion, red chillies and salt and fry it till it becomes transparant. Let it cool and grind it into a fine paste. Add water to adjust the consistency. Enjoy it with hot idllies or dosa.

Anisheetu of My Kitchen passed me this award. Thanks Anisheetu.
The following rules apply to this award:

1. Only 5 people are allowed to receive this award
2. 4 of them followers of your blog.
3. One has to be new to your blog and live in another part of the world.
4. You must link back to who ever gave you the award.

Passing this award to Rashmi, Sangeeta, Uncle Che, Suganthi and Hirfoan Khan

Coriander Leaves chutney 2

This is something which my MIL prepares occasionally. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:-

1. Coriander leaves - 1 cup
2. Onion - 3/4 (finely chopped)
3. Garlic - 1 clove (chop it)
   
4. Green chillies - 2 (acc to taste)
5. Red chillies - 1
   
6. Coconut - 3 tbsp
7. Ginger - a small piece (optional)
8. Salt to taste
9. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
10. Urad dhall - 3/4 tsp
11. Oil - 1 tsp

Pre heat oil, splutter mustard seeds, fry urad dhall, red chillies to golden brown. Keep it aside. Fry onion till it becomes transparant. Keep it aside. Fry garlic to golden brown. Fry coconut till golden brown, keep it aside. Finally fry coriander leaves for 3 to 5 mts. Let everything cool and grind everything nicely. Add water to adjust the consistency. Serve it as a sidedish for idly or dosa.

Dosa

Dosa is a very common tiffin in south India. Most of us know the recipe for making dosa. This is especially for my friend Sangeeta. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:-

1. Boiled rice - 4 cups
2. Whole urad dhall - 1 cup
3. Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
4. Salt to taste

Soak rice and urad dhall for atleast 6 hours. Add fenugreek seeds to urad dhall while soaking. After 6 hours, drain the water and grind urad dhall first nicely. Then grind rice very nicely and mix both together. Add required amount of salt and mix everything well. The consistency of the batter should be a little more watery than idly batter. Add water to adjust the required consistency. If you want to make dosa in the evening, you prepare this batter in the morning and keep it outside (some people may not prefer sour batter. so they keep it in the fridge immediately after grinding). I prefer a little bit sour batter to make dosa.
If you are ready to make dosa, then preheat dosa skillet and pour a laddle full of batter and make a circle according to the size you prefer ( I make 3" to 4" diameter dosa for my girls and for us 6 to 7") Pour 1 tsp of sesame oil (preferably) on the side and let it cook under low flame. Flip it and let the other side also cook. Adding oil on the other side is optional (I usually avoid). when both sides are fully cooked, serve it hot with some chutneys or sambar.

Tomato chutney

My co-sister makes this very often. I like her version of tomato chutney. Here is how she makes.

Ingredients:-

1. Tomato - 2 (chop it)
   
2. Onion - 1 (chop it)
   
3. Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
4. Channa dhall - 1 tsp
5. Urad dhall - 2 tsp
6. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
7. Red chillies - 2
8. Coconut - 2 tbsp (optional)***
   
9. Salt to taste
10. Oil - 1 tsp

Take a pan, pre heat oil, add mustard seeds, when it splutters add urad dhall, channa dhall, coriander seeds, coconut and red chillies one by one and fry it till golden brown. Change it to a small vessel. Now in the same pan, add onion and fry it till it becomes transperant. Add tomato and salt to onion and saute for another 2 mts. Let everything cool. Grind it into fine paste adding required amount of water to adjust the consistency. Serve it as a side dish for idly or dosa.

*** - Other than coconut chutney, I usually avoid using coconut for making chutneys. Instead increase the quantity of dalia split. Taste will definitely differ.

Coriander Leaves Chutney

Kothamalli chutney - this is how we call this chutney. I like to eat hot and soft idllies with a dallop of coriander leaves chutney. Here is the recipe for making coriander chutney.

Ingredients:-

1. Fresh grated coconut - 1/2 cup
2. Dalia split peas - 3 tbsp
3. Coriander leaves - 1 cup (washed and finely chopped)
4. Green chillies - 2 (acc to taste)
5. Ginger - a small piece
6. Salt to taste

For seasoning:-

1. Oil - 1 tsp
2. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
3. Urad dhall - 1/2 tsp
4. Asafoetida powder - a pinch

Grind coconut + coriander leaves + ginger + green chillies + dalia split peas + salt, to a fine paste. Add water to adjust the required consistency. Take a small pan, pre heat oil, splutter mustard seeds, add urad dhall and asafoetida powder and fry it till golden brown and pour it on top of chutney. Serve it with hot Idly or dosa.

Here is an award from Rashmi. She has given me this friendship award. Thanks Rashmi.
I would like to pass this on to

1. Vani of Illatharasi
2. Sangeeta of Direct from Sangeeta's kitchen
3. Gayathri - Newyork Visitor
4. Hirfoan Khan - Real Traffic
   

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Would like to pass this on to

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2. Sangeeta - Worldinurpocket
3. Vani - Illatharasi

Coconut chutney 2

This is another way of making this chutney. I learned this from one of my friend. This is my favorite side dish for idly, dosa, upma and pongal. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:-

1. Fresh coconut - 1 cup
2. Dalia split - 2 tbsp
3. Green chillies - 2 (acc to taste)
4. Ginger - a small piece
5. Salt to taste

For seasoning:-

1. Oil - 1 tsp
2. Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
3. urad dhall - 1/2 tsp
4. Onion - 1/2 (finely chopped)
5. Curry leaves - few
   
6. Asafoetida powder - a pinch

Grind coconut + Dalia peas + green chillies + ginger + salt, to fine paste adding required amount of water. This is chutney. While seasoning,take a small pan, pre heat oil, splutter mustard seeds, add urad dhall and asafoetida powder and fry it till golden brown. Now add the chopped onion and curry leaves and saute till onion becomes transperant. Pour it on top of chutney. This kind of seasoning is new to me. But I like this kind too.

Coconut Chutney

This is my favorite side dish for idly, dosa, upma and pongal. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:-

1. Fresh coconut - 1 cup
2. Dalia split - 2 tbsp
3. Green chillies - 2 (acc to taste)
4. Ginger - a small piece
5. Salt to taste

For seasoning:-

1. Oil - 1 tsp
2. Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
3. urad dhall - 1/2 tsp
4. Asafoetida powder - a pinch

Grind coconut + Dalia peas + green chillies + ginger + salt, to fine paste adding required amount of water. This is chutney. For seasoning,take a small pan, pre heat oil, splutter mustard seeds, add urad dhall and asafoetida powder and fry it till golden brown. Pour it on top of chutney. Seasoning is optional. This is the traditional coconut chutney we make.

Pudina Idly - Mint Idly

This is my MIL's recipe. She follows all these tricks with idly batter to make my girls eat idllies. Here is the recipe for pudina idly.

Ingredients:-

1. Idly batter - 1 cup
2. Mint Leaves - a hand full - increase or decrease acc to taste (wash it)
3. Curry leaves - few (wash it)
4. Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp
5. Green chillies - 2
6. Salt - to taste (only to make mint paste)
7. Sesame oil - 1 tsp
   

First microwave mint leaves for one to two mts. Also add curry leaves and coriander leaves to it and microwave it for one more minute. Let it cool. Grind it into a fine paste adding salt and green chillies. Just sprinkle water while grinding. This needs to be a thick paste and not like chutney. keep it aside. Take idly moulds, spread a drop of sesame oil in each mould and pour half laddle of idly batter, add 1 tsp (or acc to taste) of mint paste on top of it. Again pour half laddle of idly batter on top of mint paste. Steam cook it for 20 mts. This idly needs no side dish. If you wish try eating this with milagaipodi.

Pesarattu Dosai

This is something we make with moong dhall. I personally like this dosai. I follow the recipe which my MIL taught me. Here is the recipe I follow to make this dosai.

Ingredients:-

1. Boiled rice - 1 cup
2. Moong dhall - 2 cups
3. Red chillies - 2
4. Green chillies - 2 (acc to taste)
   
5. Salt to taste
6. Asafoetida powder - a pinch
7. Curry leaves - few
8. Sesame oil - 2 tsp
   

Soak rice, dhall and chillies for 2 hours. After 2 hours, grind it adding salt into a fine batter. Add curry leaves and asafoetida powder. Mix it well. When you are ready to make dosa, heat the skillet and spread a laddle full of batter into circle and sprinkle oil. Let it cook for 2 to 3 mts. under low flame. Turn it to other side and let it cook for another 2 mts. under low flame. Enjoy it hot with some chutney.

Puli Avil - Tamarind Avil

This is my favorite. I eat this with a dallop of yogurt. Here is the recipe for puli avil.

Ingredients:-

1. Rice Flakes - 1 cup
2. Tamarind water - to soak rice flakes
3. Salt to taste
4. Sesame OIl - 2 tsp
5. Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp
6. urad dhall - 1/2 tsp
7. Asafoetida powder - a pinch
8. Red chillies - 1
9. Curry Leaves - few

If you are using raw tamarind, then squeeze out the required amount of juice to soak rice flakes. Heat the tamarind water and soak the rice flakes in tamarind water. Add salt to the mixture and cover it with a lid for 10 mts. Drain it after 10 mts. Keep it aside. Take a pan, pre heat sesame oil, add mustard seeds, when it splutters, add urad dhall, asafoetida powder, red chillies and curry leaves and fry it till golden brown. Now add the rice flakes. Mix it well with the lentils. Try this and lemme know the comments.

Aval upma

We can also call this flattened rice or poha or rice flakes. This is a very simple recipe. Here is the recipe for making aval Upma.

Ingredients:-

1. Rice Flakes - 1 cup
2. OIl - 1 tsp
3. Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
4. Urad dhall - 1/2 tsp
5. Asafoetida powder - a pinch
6. Green chillies - 1
7. Red chillies - 1
8. Curry leaves - few
9. Hot water - to soak
10. Salt to taste
11. Fresh coconut - 2 tsp

First put the rice flakes in a flattened vessel, add salt and add the hot boiling water. Cover it with a lid and let it be there for 10 mts. . After 10 mts drain it fully. Let it cool for another 5 mts. Take a pan, pre heat oil, splutter mustard seeds, add urad dhall, asafoetida powder, green chillies, red chillies and curry leaves and fry it till golden brown. Now add the rice flakes and mix everything well. Mix it carefully. Now sprinkle the fresh coconut and mix it well. Serve it hot with chutney.

Spicy Biscuit

This is another version of making biscuits with maida flour. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:-

1. Maida - 1/4 cup
2. Salt to taste
3. Red chillies powder - 1/2 tsp (acc to taste)
4. Asafoetida powder - a pinch
5. Baking soda - a pinch
6. Oil to fry

Add baking soda, a little amount of salt, 1 tsp of oil and asafoetida powder to maid and add a little amount of water and make it a soft dough. Spread it into a 7" roti. Cut it into small pieces and fry it to golden brown. Let it cool for a minute. Now put it in a container, sprinkle the remaining salt and chillie powder, cover the lid and shake it nicely. This is another snack, we can give it to kids. If its too spicy for kids, then avoid adding chillies and try adding a little amount of pepper powder.

Sweet Biscuit

This is a tea time snack, my mom used to make with Maida flour. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:-

1. Maida - 1/4 cup
2. Baking Soda - a pinch
3. Salt - a Pinch
4. Oil 0 2 tsp
   
5. Sugar - 1/2 cup
6. Oil - to fry

First take a pan, add sugar and 1/2 cup water and bring it into a fine syrup. In the mean time, mix baking soda, oil and salt to the maida and add little amount of water and make it a fine dough. Spread it into 7" roti. Now with the help of a knife, cut the roti into whatever shape you like. Pre heat oil and fry these roti pieces into golden brown and immediately put it into sugar syrup. Mix it well. Careful while you use spatula for mixing. This is a wonderful evening snack.

Rava Kichadi

I like to eat rava kichadi all day. I have heard that to make traditional rava kichadi, we have to use moong dhall also. But I am not sure how to use it. So I left moong dhall. Here is the recipe I followed to make rava kichadi.

Ingredients:-

1. Rava (coarse Sooji) - 1 cup
2. Vermicelli - 1/4 cup
   
3. Onion - 1 finely chopped
4. Peas - 1/4 cup
5. Oil - 2 tbsp
6. Ghee- 2 tsp
7. Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
8. Urad dhall - 1/2 tsp
9. channa dhall
   
10. green chillies - 1 (acc to taste)
11. Ginger - a small piece
12. Cashew - few
13. Curry leaves - few
    
14. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
15. Salt to taste
16. Asafoetida Powder - a pinch

Take a pan, pour a drop of ghee, fry Sooji to golden brown. Keep it aside. Also fry vermicelli to golden brown and keep it aside. In the same pan, pre heat oil and ghee, add mustard seeds when it splutters, add urad dhall, channa dhall, cashew nuts, green chillies, asafoetida powder and ginger and fry it till golden brown. Now add onion and peas and saute' for 3 mts. Add turmeric powder and salt and mix it well. Add 2 1/2 to 3 cups of water and bring it to boil. Now add vermicelli and rava gradually and mix it with whiskers. Keep stirring to avoid lumps. When water is fully absorbed, mix it once again and turn off the stove. Garnish it with Curry leaves. Serve it hot with some chutney.

Samosa

This is one of my all time favorite. I am not an expert in making samosas. My MIL makes very good samosas. I tried making some yesterday. It was not in triangle shape (!) but the taste was good. Here is the recipe I followed to make samosas.

Ingredients:-

1. Maida (all purpose flour) - 1 cup
2. Potato - Medicum sized - 2 (cook it, Mash it and keep it aside)
   
3. Onion - 1/2(finely chopped)
4. Green Peas - 1/4 cup
5. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
6. Salt to taste
7. Cumin Seeds - 1/4 tsp
   
8. Green chillies - 1 (acc to taste)
9. Red chillies powder - 1/4 tsp
10. Garam masala Powder - 1/2 tsp
11. Oil - To fry and to kneed the dough
12. Baking soda - pinch
13. Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp
    

First mix maida, baking soda, a pinch of salt thoroughly and add water little by little, kneading into the pilable dough. cover it and keep it aside for 10 to 20 mts. In the mean time, take a pan, pre heat a tsp of oil, add the cumin seeds and when it crackles, add onion, green chillies and green peas and saute' for 5 mts. Now add the mashed potatoes, add turmeric powder, garam masala powder and salt and mix everything well. If necessary, sprinkle a handfull of water and mix it again. When everything is fully mixed, remove it from the stove and let it cool. This is the filling. Make a small balls out of the dough and spread it into a circle of 6" diameter. Cut it into two halves. Moisten the edges with a little bit of water. Join both the edges and make it a small cone. Now add a tbsp of masala filling and close the third side of the cone. Pre heat oil and fry 4 or 5 samosas to golden brown. Serve it hot with green chutney and tamarind (dates) chutney.

Mango Vatha Kozhambu

I have never tasted this before. When my MIL told me to try making this one, I was really confused whether to try it or leave it. As we say necessity is the mother of invention, I ran of vegetables and left with 1 ripe mango. So thought of trying this one today. Surprisingly, it tasted really good. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:-

1. Ripe Mango** - 1 Cut it into 4 big pieces
2. Tamarind - a medium lemon sized.
3. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
4. Salt to taste
5. Sambar powder - 3/4 tsp
6. Red chilly powder - 1/4 tsp
7. Jaggery - 2 tsp (optional)

For seasoning:-

1. Sesame Oil - 5 tbsp
2. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
3. Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
4. Curry leaves - few
5. Asafoetida powder - a pinch

Take a pan, pre heat oil, add mustard seeds when it crackles, add fenugreek seeds, curry leaves, asafoetida powder and let it fry till golden brown. In the mean time, squeeze out the juice from tamarind and keep it aside. You may need nearly 2 cups of tamarind juice. When the ingredients becomes golden brown, add the tamarind water, turmeric powder, sambar powder, red chillies powder, salt and let it cook for 5 mts. Now add the cut mangoes in it and let it cook under low flame for 15 mts. A nice mixed aroma of mango, tamarind, sambar powder will come out of the kozhambu after 15 mts. Now add the jaggery. If necessary, mix 1/2 tsp of rice flour in 2 tbsp of water and pour it on top of it and let it boil for another 3 to 5 mts. Serve it hot with rice and potato curry will be a wonderful sidedish for this rice. Mangoes can be used as side dish for curd rice.

Vella Dosai (Jaggery Dosa)

My grandma used to make this very often. I love to eat this with a dallop of sweet creamed butter. Here is the recipe for jaggery dosa.

Ingredients:-

1. Wheat flour - 1 cup
2. Jaggery - 1/2 cup (same cup used for wheat flour ; make it a powder)
3. Cardamom power- 1/4 tsp
4. Ghee - 1/2 tsp

We need to make wheat flour in the form of dosa batter. For that we need one to one and half cup of water. Take required amount of water and heat it. Make it a luke warm water. Put the jaggery in it and let it melt in it. The normal water now will become jaggery water. Now add wheat flour gradually and whisk it till it becomes moistened. The batter should be in dosa batter consistency. Now add the ghee and cardamom powder and keep it aside for 10 mts. Now pre heat a skillet, spread 1/4 tsp of ghee in it and pour a laddlefull of batter and spread it into a circle. Pour 1/4 tsp of ghee around the edges and let it cook under low flame. Flip on the other side and again pour ghee (optional). Cook it till its fully done. Do not burn the dosai. Jaggery can burn easily. So try to cook it in low flame. I like to eat this dosa hot with a dallop of butter.

Beetroot Vadai

This recipe I got from Solai's True Chettinad Kitchen. I first tried this with carrot. It also came out well. Here is the recipe with beetroot.

Ingredients:-

1. Beetroot - 1/2 cup
   
2. Onion - 1/4 cup
3. Channa dhall - 1/2 cup
4. Toor dhall - 1/2 cup
5. Urad dhall - 1/4 cup
6. Raw rice - 2 tbsp
7. Red chillies - 2
8. Green chillies - 1
9. Asafoetida powder - a pinch
10. Curry leaves - few
11. Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
12. Salt to taste
13. Oil - to deep fry

Soak the ingredients 3,4,5,6,7 & 8 for half an hour. Shred beetroot nicely and keep it aside. Chop onions finely. After half an hour, grind the soaked ingredients coarsely without adding much water. Mix the shredded beetroot and onion, curryleaves, fennel seeds, salt, asafoetida powder and mix every thing well. Pre heat oil in a pan, make small vadas from the mixture and deep fry it until it becomes golden brown. Serve it hot with chutney.

Methi Roti

This is one way of eating Methi Leaves in our diet. I usually make this roti every other week, so that my girls eat methi leaves. Here is the recipe for methi roti

Ingredients:-

1. Methi Leaves - 1 cup (washed and very finely chopped)
2. Wheat Flour - 2 cups
   
3. Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
4. Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
5. Red chillies Powder - 1/4 tsp (acc to taste)
   
6. Salt to taste
7. Sesame oil - 2 tsp
   

Add methi leaves, salt, cumin seeds, turmeric powder, chillies powder and salt to the wheat flour and mix it well. Add just required amount of water and make a nice and soft dough. Spread the sesame oil on top of the dough, cover it and keep it aside for half an hour to one hour.

Make small balls (a medium sized lemon) out of the dough and roll it into a circle form. Heat the pan, cook the rotis under medium heat. Apply ghee (optional) on top of it and enjoy it with some nice side dish.

Chapathi

Making soft chapathis is an art. My MIL is an expert in making soft chapathis. I am not there yet. So this recipe is from my MIL. Here is the recipe for making chapathi.

Ingredients:-

1. Wheat Flour - 3 cups
2. Water - required amount to make the dough
3. Salt - a pinch
4. Sesame Oil - 1 tsp

First add salt to wheat flour. Add water gradually and mix the flour to make a soft dough. Apply oil on top of the dough and cover it and keep it aside for an hour. Make the dough into small balls. Spread the dough into circles (choose the size. I make small chapatis, my MIL makes big ones). Cook the chapatis on hot tava. Flip it when one side is half cooked. Spread a teaspoon of ghee (optional) on top of it and enjoy it with a good bhaji.

Coconut Sevai

Sevai is basically rice noodles. In my mom's place, they usually make homemade sevai. But now a days we get instant sevai(rice noodles) in stores. I use the ready made rice sevai for making this.
Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:-

1. Rice Sevai (noodles) - 1 cup
2. Oil - 2 tsp
3. Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
4. Urad dhall - 1/2 tsp
5. Channa dhall - 1/4 tsp
6. Green chillies - 1
7. Red chillies - 1 ****
   
8. Fresh Coconut - 4 tbsp
9. Asafoetida Powder - a pinch
10. Cashew Nuts - 5
11. Curry Leaves - few
12. Salt to taste
    

First put the rice noodles in a wide vessel, Pour one to two cups (just to cover the noodles) of hot boiling water. Put the required amount of salt in it and cover it with a lid and keep it aside for 10 to 15 mts. After 15 mts. drain the excess water (by then, noodles will be fully cooked). Take a wide pan, pre heat oil, add mustard seeds, when it splutters, add urad dhall, channa dhall, green chillies, red chillies, asafoetida powder, cashew nuts and curry leaves and fry it till golden brown. Now put the coconut, and saute' for a minute. Now add the noodles to it and mix everything well. Serve it hot with coconut chutney or some other chutney.

**** - Using red chillies is optional.

Puli Pongal (Tamarind Pongal)

This is another pongal, my grandma prepare and I like the way she prepares it. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:-

1. Raw rice - 1 cup (measuring cup)
2. Tamarind - a little less thansmall lemon sized
3. Sesame oil - 3 tbsp
4. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
5. Salt to taste
6. mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
7. urad dhall - 1/2 tsp
8. Channa dhall - 1/2 tsp
9. red chillies - 1
10. Asafoetida powder - a pinch
11. Curry leaves - few.

First grind the raw rice coarsely and keep it aside. Squeeze juice from tamarind upto 2 1/2 (1:2 1/2) and keep it aside. Now take a pressure pan, pre heat oil, add mustard seeds, when it splutters add urad dhall, channa dhall, red chillies, asafoetida powder and curry leaves and fry it till golden brown. Now put the rice, add tamarind juice, turmeric powder, salt and mix everything well. Cover the pressure cooker and cook it upto 2 whistles. Rice should not be over cooked. We can also increase/reduce the quantity of tamarind water accordingly. When the pressure is fully released, open the pressure pan, mix it again, add some more curry leaves and cover it for another 3 mts. This Puli Pongal can be served with onion raita. I usually serve it with potato chips and a dallop of yogurt.