Pepper Pumpkin Burger

Ingredients:

Jalapeno Peppers - 4

Red Pumpkin - 1 bowl cubed

Burger Buns - 4

Turmeric, Salt, Asafoetida, Chilly Powder, Urad Dal & Mustard, Regular Oil

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Boil the cubed Red Pumpkin after adding salt & turmeric. Let it boil till it is easy to mash. Then drain the water and keep aside. While cutting the Jalapeno peppers ensure that the seeds are removed since the seeds are very pungent.

In a Kadai pour 3 teaspoons of oil. Add the asafoetida, mustard, Urad dal and turmeric power. When the mustard splutters add the cut Jalapeno peppers. Keep frying till the peppers are glazed. Then add the red pumpkin and sprinkle with water. Add the chilly powder (One can use the sambar powder to get a different taste as well). When pepper and pumpkin have mixed well, toast the buns and add the vegetables to make the pepper pumpkin burgers.

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Kadamba Dal

Ingredients:

Kidney Beans - 1 table spoon
Whole Urad Dal - 3 table spoons
Moong Dal - 3 table spoons
Onion - 1 small

Ginger, Turmeric, Salt, Jeera, Asafoetida, Urad Dal & Mustard, Regular Oil,Green Chillies Curry Leaves
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Method:

Soak the kidney beans and the dal in water the previous night. In the morning boil all the three together in the pressure cooker adding a little bit of turmeric and required amount of salt

In kadai pour 2 teaspoons of oil. Add the mustard, Urad dal, Asafoetida, Green Chillies, Curry leaves and Ginger. Once the mustard splutters add finely chopped onion. Keep frying till the onion turns golden brown.

Then add the boiled mixture of the three dals and a cup of water. Let it boil and mix well. Serve hot with Chapathi or Rice
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Porichakuzhambu Powder

The porichakuzhambu powder has become an important ingredient in my kitchen shelves. This magical powder can be used to make quick porichakuzhambus. My mother-in-law recipe for the same is as below

Pepper - 1 tumbler
Black Gram (Kadala Paruppu) - 1 tumbler
Urad Dal - 1 tumbler
Red Chilli - 3/4 tumbler

Heat a kadai. When it is hot switch the stove off and fry all the above items for a while. Mix in a spoon of Jeera and 6 sprigs of curry leaf. Once cool, mix and powder all the ingredients.

When preparing Porichakuzhambu, add 2 spoons of this powder to the already boiled vegetables.

Limpoca Curry

Ingredients:

Baby Lima Beans - 1/2 cup
Peeled Baby Carrots - 1/2 cup
Potato - 2
Oil
Salt

For seasoning - Curry Leaves, Coriander Leaves, Urad Dal, Chilli Powder, Mustard, Jeera, Turmeric powder

Boil the potatoes, carrots and baby Lima beans till its about three fourth's done. Remove and drain the excess water. In a Kadai add the oil. Add all the seasonings except coriander leaves. Let the Urad dal turn brown & the mustard splutter. Then add the Baby Lima beans, potatoes and carrot. Keep frying them till the vegetables mix well. Garnish with finely cut coriander leaves and serve.

American Nombu

Well, whether it is Karadaiyan Nombu in India or the United States, one had to make the Nombu Adai. I was skeptical about how the whole dish would come out given the fact that the ingredients were all US made. Fortunately for me, it beat my expectations.

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Ingredients:

Rice Flour - 1 Measure

Jaggery - 3/4 Measure

Cardamom - 2

Water - 2 Measure

Butter - 4 spoons

Add 1/2 spoon butter to a vessel and fry the rice flour till it is off white in colour. This ensures that the Adai is cooked well. Keep it aside.

Now boil the water in another vessel. When it boils, add the jaggery. Wait till the jaggery gets dissolved. Then remove the same from the stove and keep aside. Keep it a while to let the sediments settle down. Strain the same & bring to boil again.

Slowly add the rice flour while stirring. Ensure that no lumps are formed. Keep stirring on low flame till the rice flour is mixed well and
the right consistency (like Kali) is reached.

Take the mixture and roll into small balls. Flatten them and make a hole in the middle. Grease your hands with a little butter to facilitate the process.
When all the mixture is made, arrange them in the Idly Plates for steaming.

If you are using the cooker, ensure that the weight is not used. Let it steam for a while till there is a shine in the Adai. Remove from stove and serve with Butter.

Note:

- It is customary to add boiled Karamani / Moong Dal while making the Kali.

- It is also customary to add a pinch of salt. The little salt also acts as a catalyst to ensure sweetness

- The Nombu Adai is usually served with Thaladam / Thalagam the preparation of which would be the topic of another post.

Peppy Potato

Living in Atlanta, the most common and easily available vegetable is the Potato. Added to that my husband is a stauch rasikan of the Urulaikizhangu Roast (Urulaikizhangu in Tamil means Potato). He can live on potato roast day in and day out. I became really bored of the dish and decided to try something new with the challenge of making him like the Potato in a different form as well .... So here is the Peppy Potato
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Ingredients:

Potato - 5 big ones
Coriander leaves i.e Cilantro - 1 cup finely chopped
Green Chillies - 3
Pepper powder, Turmeric, Salt
Asafoetida, Urad Dal & Mustard
Regular Oil, Coconut Oil
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Method:

Peel the potatoes and cut into cubes. Boil them with a spoon of turmeric making sure they do not become very mushy. When almost done add the salt. Stain the potatoes and keep aside. In a pan pour about 4 spoons of the regular cooking oil. Add the Urad Dal, Mustard, green chillies and asafoetida. When the mustard splutters, add the pepper & finely chopped coriander leaves. Let the leaves fry for a few seconds in the oil. Then add the poatoes. Keep frying till they get mixed well. Finally add some more pepper powder and 2 teaspoons of coconut oil. The Peppy Potato is ready to be served. (One can use coconut oil for the entire the dish, for the diet conscious, just adding drops of coconut oil in the end of any dish gives the flavour)
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Simple Pineapple Sweet

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Ingredients:

Pineapple - 2 slices finely chopped

Milk - 2 cups

Rice Flour - 3 spoons

Cashew; Raisins; Mixed nuts - 1/2 cup

Ghee - 1 spoon

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Method:

This is a very simple Pineapple sweet that I had tried when I was in school after reading in some book. Break the cashews & nuts into small pieces. Roast them along with the raisin in a spoon of ghee. Then bring the milk to boil in a saucepan. Mix the rice floor with 2 spoons of cold milk. Pour the mixture into the boiling milk and add the pineapple slices. When it thickens, add the cashews nuts and raisins. This sweet is good to eat when it is warm as well as refridgerated. When refridgerated, topping it with some vanilla custard or icecream would tingle the tastebuds. Happy Eating

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