Adai

                                       My mom used to prepare this adai when i was in hometown,but she used to prepare it as dosai instead of adai. Recently my mind was thinking to prepare some different variety of dosa. I have tried pesarattu, tomato dosa,mysore masala dosa,utthapam, but i havent tried an adai. So finally i decided a date and prepared this adai for dinner. I prepared three variations of adai in this adai batter, each has its own taste. I prepared kara chutney and coconut chutney for this adai. The small piece of adai dipped in kara chutney and then coconut chutney,taste yummier than other combination. Initially, I hestitate to prepare this because adai will be too thick and along with dhal,it will be so heavy and family members may get angry on me( Because my husband and my son don't like idli,uttapam varieties) But after preparing this adai with slight variation ,they love this adai.


Ingredients:

Idli rice - 1 cup
Raw rice - 1 cup
Toor dhal - 1 tbsp
Urad dhal -  1 tbsp
Moong dhal - 1 tbsp
Channa dhal - 2 tbsp
Red chilli -  5
Hing - a pinch
Curry leaves - 3 tbsp
Salt - as per taste
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Small onion - 5
Drum stick leaves - 1/4 cup(optional)

Recipe:

* Soak rice,dhal,curry leaves and red chilli for 4 hrs.
* Chop small onion into small pieces.

1.Grind all the ingredients along with jeera ,hing,salt and very little water. Grind it into coarse paste. Add onion, 2 minutes before stopping the mixie/grinder.The onion should not be smashed completely and also should not be in thick pieces.The adai batter should be little bit thick . Add drumstick leaves and mix well.
2.Take a thick wide tava,heat it in slow flame and  sprinkle some oil on top. Take a big scoop full of adai batter , pour it in center of the tava and slowly spread out . Spread out for 1/2 inch thickness.
3.Make 3 or 4 holes on adai and sprinkle some oil on holes and around adai. Cook in slow flame for 3 minutes.
4.Once the adai turn brown downside,turn it to other side. Once again sprinkle some oil on holes and around adai.Cook till the adai is crispy and slightly brown in color.

         Serve hot with coconut or kara chutney.

Note:

* While serving kids, u can pour little water to the batter and make it thin and prepare dosa instead of thick adai.( i love that taste too). For spicy lovers, we can sprinkle some idli milagai podi on top and sprinkle some chopped onion and cilantro and serve.
* To make adai more crispier and brown, add butter finally, to toast both side.

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Minestrone soup

                               Me and my husband are great fan of soups. Where ever we go, we used to order soup along with an appetizer. I have tasted soups in indian and chinese restaurants but first time in my life i tasted a different soup in an Italian restaurant ,Olive garden. The soup is bit thick and has lots of ingredients in it. Taste it different . I love the salad and soup they serve in Olive garden.  Single bowl along with toasted bread ,fills the stomach. So far, i love the soup,breadstick, bruschetta and salad,they serve in Olive garden. On my next visit, i will taste this soup without fail.

Ingredients:

Onion - 1 small

Garlic - 2 cloves

Carrot - 1

Beans - 7 nos

Cauliflower - 1/2 cup

Cabbage - 1/2 cup

Kidney bean - 1/4 cup

Channa - 1/4 cup

Spinach - 1 cup

Diced tomato - 1/2 cup

Tomato puree - 1 cup

Vegetable stock - 1 cup

Macaroni pasta - 1/2 cup

Crushed pepper - 4 tbsp

Oregano - 2 tbsp

Cheese - 5 tbsp

Salt - as per taste

* I don't have macaroni pasta in stock,so i added normal egg pasta while preparing this dish.

Recipe:

* Chop onion and garlic into very fine pieces.

* Chop all the vegetables into medium size pieces.

* Soak kidney bean and channa for 7 hours.

* Chop spinach in strips.

1.Cook  kidney bean and channa in a cooker for 3 whistle.

2. Take water in a pan and bring to boil.Add all the vegetables and half cook it.Keep the water and use it as vegetable stock.

3.Cook pasta and strain water and transfer to a bowl.

4. In a large pan, heat up olive oil in medium heat. Once it hot,add onion and finely chopped garlic. Fry till they are translucent. Add half cooked vegetables and stir. Now add tomato puree,dices tomato,vegetable stock and add crushed pepper,oregano and salt. Cover the pan and cook for 10 minutes. Once it starts to boil,add cooked kidney bean,channa,spinach. Cover and cook for 5 more minutes. Check the consistency, add water according to it.Cook for 2 more minutes and switch off the flame.

5. While serving, take a soup bowl. Add cooked pasta first and pour soup on top. Finally garnish with shredded cheese or crumbled cheese.

                      Serve with toasted french loaf bread.

Note :

* Add any type of vegetables like zuccini, broccoli, celery .

* While serving for my kid,i just added a small spoon of tomato sauce to make sweeter.

* My son love garlic bread,so i made garlic bread using french loaf and had it with soup. It gave a different taste than normal bread.

* This soup along with toasted bread will fill the stomach. 

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Vendakkai poriyal / Lady's finger curry

                        This is one of my favorite poriyal which my mom prepares in home. I think ,it is my mom's unique recipe because i haven't tasted this anywhere else except my mom's kitchen. Whenever she prepare it,she will prepare more specially for me.I like to have it mixing with hot rice and also with variety rice. It goes well with chapathi too. After marriage i used to prepare this dish only rarely because my son and my husband like fry one. Recently i prepared this  and enjoyed having it with rice and rasam rice. Heaven..... Those who like tangy food,this is right dish for them.

Ingredients:

Vendakkai / lady's finger - 10 no.
Onion - 1 medium size.
Tomato - 1 big.
Tamarind - small gooseberry size.
Shredded coconut - 3 tbsp
Homemade chilli powder - 2 tbsp.
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp.
Salt - as per taste.

Recipe:
* Chop onion and tomato into very fine pieces.
* Chop vendakkai into thin circular slices.
* Soak tamarind in 1/4 cup water.

                           In a thick bottom pan,add 3 tbsp oil. Once it is warm,add chopped vendakkai. Fry it in slow flame,till it turns crispy. Once it is crispy,add chopped onion. Fry for about 2 minutes. Now add chopped tomato,homemade chilli powder,tumeric powder and salt.Fry till tomato is mushy and cooked. Now add tamarind water and cook for about 5 more minutes. Once the  tamarind water is absorbed,add shredded coconut and fry for 3 more minutes.Once everything is mixed up ,switched off the flame.Serve with hot rice topped with ghee or coconut oil ,or we can serve it as a side dish for variety rice or chapathi. The taste will be tangy spicy one.

Note:
* We can avoid adding coconut,if someone prefer not too.
* Adding chopped small onion gives a extra taste to this dish.

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Poosanikai halwa / Kasi halwa

                                    Next to thirunelveli halwa,i like this poosanikai halwa. I have tasted this halwa only in marriage feast.They will serve only small scoop of this halwa,so i didnt get impressed with this halwa. But when i was pregnant ,my MIL neighbour came to my house to give  sweets for me. She prepared this halwa in big sambadam( big steel container) . I am not a big fan of sweets.But when i tasted this halwa,i have become big fan of it.Me and my FIL loved it and finished it within three days. Yummy halwa. After delivery, i lost sweet carving but in my mind i was thinking to prepare it one day.Finally that day came and planned to prepare for this year diwali. Initially i thought it is very easy process.just shred poosanikai,cook it,add sugar ,mix it .Thats it. Process is simple but it is time consuming process. Shredding takes more time .It take atleast 40 minutes for overall preparation.Finally i can able to prepare this halwa and get the texture and taste. It need experience to make a perfect halwa but i am happy atleast i could prepare an halwa little bit similar to halwa prepared by perfectionist .

Ingredients:

Poosanikai - 4 cup
Sugar - 1 3/4 cup
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
Color - a pinch
Cashew - 10 pieces.
Ghee - 4 tbsp

Recipe:
1.Shred the poosanikai into fine shreds leaving the green part.After shredding squeeze the water and keep remaining poosanikai in a bowl.
2.Take a thick bottom pan and add 2 tbsp ghee.Fry cashew nut pieces  and keep it in separate bowl.
3.In same pan ,add shredded poosanikai .Cover and cook it for 10 minutes in slim-medium flame.
4.Once poosanikai is cooked well and raw smell fades ,now add sugar and color.Mix well and cook in slim flame.
5.Stir it continuously.Stir till the poosanika turn translucent and become shiny.
6.Once the halwa comes together without sticking to the pan,add remaining ghee,cardamom powder and stir.
7.Finally add fried cashew nut and mix well.
  Either serve hot or cold as it is or transfer it to a plate and cut it into cubes.

Note:
*Adjust sugar according to the taste.
* We can add any food color or can add saffron soaked milk to get yellow color halwa.
* Take time to cook shredded poosanikai before adding sugar.After adding sugar, poosanikai won't  cook.
*Cook till all the moisture in poosanikai is reduced before adding sugar.

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Chiroti

                           When i was very small kid,  my father used to buy  "ineese" from bakeries( i don't know right spelling). Though it is dry,i like the little crispy texture and sweet taste one.During ramalan time, my neighbor grandma used to send me panniyaram,coconut chutney,semiya sweet and this "ineese" like sweet. It will crispy and brittle.I like this ,than "ineese".Only recently i came to know the name of this sweet as "chiroti". I have tried it many times. Each time i try to make it in home,it came out in different texture,sometimes soft and sometimes crunchy. After many experiment,finally i got the crunchy chiroti. It is different from normal sweet which used to soft and juicy.

Ingredients:
Maida - 2 cup
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Salt - a pinch
Rice flour - 1/4 cup
Ghee - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Oil- for frying

Recipe:
* Powder the sugar into very fine powder.
1.In a bowl, add maida,salt and ghee . Knead a stiff dough like puri dough and rest it for 1 hour.
2.In a small bowl,mix rice flour and ghee. Mix it into a smooth lump free paste.
3.After one hour, take dough and divide it into equal pieces.Make it into ball and roll like chappathi. Roll as thin as possible.Roll all the dough balls and place it separately in a plate.
4.Take a plate and place one chappathi on it. Now apply rice flour paste on top of it as thin layer.Also spread  1 tbsp rice flour on top.
5.Now place one more chappathi on top of previous rice flavor spread-ed chappathi. Same way ,place all the chappathi one above other.
6.Once all done,using hand roll the chappathi from one side towards other.Once rolled in cylindrical shape,seal the edges using fingers.
7.Take a knife and cut the rolled chappathi into 1/2 inch pieces and keep it in a plate.
8.Heat the oil in a wide pan. Heat it in a low-medium flame.
9.Roll the pieces into desire shapes( Circle or rectangle like ineese).
10.Slowly drop one or two rolled chiroti into oil.
11.Deep fry the chiroti in low-medium flame. When one side turn color slightly,turn to other side.Fry till the chiroti is crispy and crunchy.Transfer it to a plate lined with a paper towel.
12.When it is hot,sprinkle fine sugar and powdered cardamom on top.Sprinkle on both sides.

Notes:
* If we use less ghee while preparing paste,we won't get layers in chiroti.
* We can also dip this fried chiroti in sugar syrup.
* Also we can serve fried chiroti with almond flavor milk.Place chiroti in a plate and pour almond milk on top.
* While rolling the rolled chapathi ,don't roll so hard. We won't get layer if we press hard.
* The rice flour mix will help to get space in between each layer in chiroti.

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