Lemon punch

Ingredient:
Lemonade - 1 bottle
Ginger ale - 1 bottle
Minute Maid Lemonade Frozen concentrate- 1 can

Method:
Thaw the Minute maid lemonade Frozen concentrate.Mix all the 3 together.Pour them in the punch bowl or juice dispense .slice some fresh lime/lemons and add them to the punch to give the extra touch.Add few ice cubes to the glass before serving.

Thirattu paal

Ingredients:

2% or whole Milk - 6 cups
fresh lemon juice - 2 table spoon
karupatti(Palm jaggery) - 1 cup or to taste
vellam( jaggery) - 1/4 cup or to taste.
cardamom- 2

Method:
 
This is one of the Chettinad traditional food.Boil 6 cups of milk( I used 2%) in a heavy bottom vessel( keep stirring occassionally to avoid milk getting burnt at the bottom).Once it comes to  boil, keep the  flame in low and add the lemon juice.Keep stiring and now the milk would start to curddle.Once it curddles add the jaggery and palm jaggery ( increase or decrease the sweetness as per your taste).keep stiring inbetween in a low flame for  a long time( it took more than 3 hrs for me).The water would slowly evaporate and it would start thickening up.If you like cardamom you can add it at this stage.The consistency would be little watery and not as thick as milk kova.Once that consitency is reached switch off the flame. After it cools down, it tightens a little bit.

Note: After the Milk curddles, its full of wave water and it takes lot of time for all the water to eavporate.I removed 1 cup of wave water and then added the jaggery and palm jaggery.still it took 3 hrs on a low flame.

 

Simple Fish Fry - Method 1

Ingredients:

Fish - 1 vey big Tilapia fillet or 2 small size Tilapia fillet. ( If using frozen , thaw them first).
Red chilly powder - 1 table spoon
Corriander powder - 1 table spoon
tumeric powder - 1/8 tsp
salt - 1/4 tsp or to taste
Fresh lemon juice - 1 tsp
ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Fresh curry leaves - 1 string ( 10 to 12 leaves)
cooking oil - 4 table spoon ( 1 table spoon for the marination and 3 tablespoon for shallow fry)

Method:
Put the curry leaves in a microwave safe plate and microwave for 1min ( every microwave is different, so keep an eye on it).It would turn crispy and dry. Crush them with hands and Keep it aside.
Wash the fish with salt and turmeric, drain the water completely and cut them to desired size.
In a bowl mix all the ingredients(red chilly powder, corriander powder, turmeric powder, salt, lemon juice, ginger garlic paste, crushed dry curry leaves and 1 table spoon of cooking oil) together very well except fish .It will be like a thick paste.Rub the paste over the fish pieces.
Let them Marinate for atleast 30 to 45 minutes.
Heat 2 to 3 table spoon of oil in a pan. Once the oil is hot, drop the fish pieces let them cook on one side in medium flame , once it turns brown. Flip and fry the other side until they are cooked well.
Transfer them to a plate and serve it.

Coconut chutney with Almonds

Ingredients:

Fresh grated coconut -3/4 cup

Green chilly 1 and 1/2 ( adjust according to your taste )

Almonds 5 ( you can removed the skin if you want, but  it is optional )

Dhaliya/ pottukadalai - 1 table spoon

Ginger 1/2 inch piece

Curry leaves fresh - 1 full spring 

Salt to taste

To Temper:

Oil 1 tsp

Mustard 1/2 tsp

Urid dhal 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves few

1 red chilly - optional

Method:

Grind all the ingredients together with water.Consistency should not be too thin nor too thick.

Heat oil and add the items given under to temper , once they splutter, pour it on top of the ground chutney. Serve  with hot idli, dosai or pongal. 

 

Channa dhal coconut Chutney

Ingredients:
Channa dhal - 1/4 cup
grated coconut - 3/4 cup
green chilly - 2
tamarind - very very small piece
ginger  - 1/2 inch piece
cilantro - 4 strands
salt to taste

To temper:
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Urid dhal - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - few
red chilly - 1 ( optional)

Method:
 Dry roast the channa dhal, until the color turns slightly. Turn off the heat and soak the dhal in water for at least 20 minutes.
Meanwhile saute the coconut with our oil for just few minutes ( color should not change ) and let it cool.
Saute ginger, chilly, cilantro, tamarind all together with out oil for just a minute and turns of the flame.
After 20 minutes, grind the channa dhal first then add the rest of the ingredients and grind it well by adding water.Add salt according to taste.
Consistency should be little thicker than the normal chutney.
To temper: Heat the oil , add mustard, urid dhal, curry leaves, red chilly and let it splutter. Add it to the chutney.

Kasayam for infant and toddlers cold

Ingredients:
Pepper corns - 1 table spoon
Jeera - 1 table spoon
corriander seeds - 1 table spoon
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
palm sugar (panag karkandu in tamil) - 2 table spoon

Method:
  Boil 2 cups of water with all the ingredients except palm sugar.Let it simmer, when it reduces to 1/2 cup add the palm sugar , stir well for 2 min and turn off the flame. Drain the liquid with a tea filter and give it to the kids when they have cold.It helps to get the cold out and it really worked with my daughter.

Masala Coke

Ingredients:
Coke - 1 cup
Black salt - 1/8th tsp
Jal jeera powder - 1/8 tsp
Lemon Juice - few drops.

I got this recipe from one of my friend.Mix all the ingredients together and enjoy your Masala coke.The drink has to be served cold and it would taste good when had once they are mixed. All the measurement are approximate adjust them according to taste.

Lemon Rice spice powder

Ingredients:
channa dhal - 1 tsp
corriander seeds - 3/4 tsp
red chilli - 1
fenugreek - 4 to 5 seeds

Roast in a drop of oil and make a coarse powder :  Channa dhal, corriander seeds, Red chilli powder and fenugreek seeds.

Heat oil , add mustard, channa dhal, peanuts, finely minced ginger, finely minced green chilly, curry leaves, turmeric powder, Lemon juice. Turn off the gas add the cooked rice, adjust salt and add the ground spice powder according to taste.

scrambled tofu

onion - 1 chopped
tomato - chopped ( equal to onion)
garlic 1
ginger little
Tofu - 1 box cubed finely
sambar powder - 2 tsp
tumeric - 1/2 tsp
salt to taste
curry leaves 1 spring
mustard - 1/2 tsp
briyani leaf - 1
sombu 1/2 tsp
oil - 2 tsp

Method:
Heat  oil , add mustard , briyani leaf , sombu and curry leaves.Once they splutter , add onion and saute well , later add grated garlic and grated ginger , add tomatoes.Add  turmeric , salt and sambar powder  .Saute until raw smell leaves.Add 1/2 cup of water and let it thicken.Now add finely cubed tofu .Adjust salt and spice level.simmer and saute for long time in low flame until it becomes like egg burjii.

Rava dosa / Onion rava dosa

Ingredients:
Rava - 1 cup
Rice flour - 1 cup
All purpose flour (maida) - 1/2 cup

Pepper jeera powder - to taste 

Optional incidents : 

Onion - little Finley chopped

finely chopped cilantro - few strands grated ginger - small piece

finely chopped green chilly - 1

Method :

Add water and mix all three together along with salt and pepper powder.The consistency should be too thin , almost similar to thin butter milk. 

Add the optional ingredients and make the dosas right way.

You can spread ghee on top when cooking the dosa.

To make onion rava dosa . 

Heat the griddle, sprinkle some finely chopped onion. To top of this using a ladle spread the dosa batter . Sizzle some oil .

Cover and cook on both sides .

Serve hot !!!

Aapam/kulipaniyaram

Ingredients:

Raw rice ( sona masoori ) - 1 cup heap
Boiled rice ( idli rice ) -  3/4 cup
Urid dhal - 1/3 cup
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp

Soak all together for 4 to 6 hours and grind to a fine batter.Ferment it over night and use the next day.

Easy Adai

Raw rice -1 cup
Idli rice - 1 cup
Thoor dhal -1cup
Channa dhal -1 cup
Urid dhal - 1 cup

Soak all together along with few red chillies for few hours.Grind all together along with fennel seeds and salt .This batter can be used right away and there is no need for fermenting.

Add Chopped onion, grated carrot, chopped cilantro , grated ginger or chopped spinach to the batter before making the Adai.
Take a ladle full of batter pour them in the tava, sizzle some oil , cook both sides and serve.