Coconut Chutney for Idli

Ingredients for the Chutney.

1 Cup fresh grated coconut or 1 Cup desiccated coconut (Coconut powder).

2 tbsp. roasted chana dal (Bhuna chana).

1 Green chili/Hari Mirch.

1/2 inch ginger/Adrak.

Salt.

Ingredients for the Tadka.

1 tsp urad dal (Split, skinned black gram).

1/4 tbsp. mustard seeds/Rai or sarson.

1/4 tbsp. cumin seeds/Jeera.

1 sprig of curry leaves/kadi patta.

A pinch of Asafoetida/Heeng.

1 Red chili/Saboot lal mirch.

1 tbsp cooking oil.

Preparation.

Grind together all the ingredients mentioned under Chutney with little water to a smooth consistency.

Heat oil in a small pan. Add the mustard seeds. When they splutter, add the cumin seeds and urad dal, Fry till the urad dal turns light brown.

Then add the curry leaves, red chili and Asafoedita.

Fry for a minute, immediately pour the hot tadka mix on the chutney.

Mix it well with the coconut chutney.

Serve coconut chutney with any Idli, Dosa, Vada or Pakoda of your choice.

This chutney is also available in Walmart in frozen section of Indian foods but it is generally very old, as already old left over coconut is used (From Coconut Oil factories) and then long storage, transportation, and the shelf life of the chutney even in a refrigerator is not more then two days.

Malai Koftas

Ingredients.

For the Koftas,

2 cups peeled and diced boiled potatoes,
1 Cup mixed vegetables (Carrots, Beans, Peas, Sweet corn) boiled.
1 Cup paneer cubes.
2 tbsp. of thickened/heavy/double cream.
1 tbsp cumin powder.
1 tbsp coriander powder.
1/2 tsp red chili powder.
1/2 Cup chopped nuts (Almonds, Walnuts and Cashew nuts)
1/4 raisins chopped fine.
Salt to taste.
Vegetables/Canola/Sunflower cooking oil to fry the Vegetable Koftas.

For the Sauce.

3 tbsp. Vegetables/Canola/Sunflower cooking oil.
2 Large Onions quartered.
2 Tomatoes quartered.
2 tbsp. garlic paste.
1 tbsp. ginger paste.
2 tbsp. coriander powder.
1 tbsp. cumin powder.
1/2 tbsp red chili powder.
1 tbsp poppy seeds lightly roasted and ground into a powder.
3 tbsp. nuts (Cashews and Almonds) ground into a thick paste.
Salt to taste.
2 tbsp garam masala.

Preparation:

Mash the potatoes, mixed vegetables, paneer and cream together, add the Kofta spices to this mash and mix well. The resulting dough should be firm. If not add some more boiled potato.
Season with salt.
Make this dough into dumplings and put 1/2 a tbsp. of the nut and raisin mix in the center of each dumpling, roll them into rounds.
Heat the oil kept aside to fry Koftas. On a medium flame. Deep fry these dumplings till a pale golden color.
Drain on paper towels and keep aside.
For the gravy, first heat the 3 tbsp oil in a deep pan and fry the onions till light brown.
Grind into a paste along with the tomatoes, onions, ginger, garlic, coriander, cumin and red chilly powder.
Put this paste back into the pan and fry till the oil begins to separate from the masala.
Add the poppy seeds powder and nut paste and fry for another 2-3 minutes.
Add 1 Cup of warm water (The Sauce for this dish is meant to be thick so do not add too much water) to this masala to form a sauce/gravy. Mix well . Season with salt.
Bring the sauce/gravy to a boil and then reduce the fire to a simmer.
Gently add the koftas to this Sauce/gravy and cook uncovered for 2-3 minutes.
Turn off the fire and sprinkle the garam masala allover the top of the dish.
Cover immediately and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
Serve with hot Naan, or rice.

Rasam ( Charu )

ॐ नमः शिवाय!

"Rasam", also called Charu is a very normal and popular dish in South India, though I lived mostly in North India and I never heard anyone talking about Charu or Rasam there, but yes many use it as a regular dish in their menu mostly South Indians, I myself never liked it as a kid, though it was a regular dish in my home, I always avoided it, not any more.

Rasam can be prepared in many ways but it does help in good digestion and helps the system to remain regular, particularly if people consume meat products or heavy junk food, "Rasam", Should be a compulsory item in your menu.

One way to prepare "Rasam" is.
Items.

Water, 1/2 litre.
Tamarind= equal to your one finger length and width,
Jeera (Cumin) seeds = 10 to 20, do not count :-), just put approximately,
Turmeric powder= 1/4 small spoon, ( Optional)
Red Chilly powder = 1/8 small spoon, ( Optional)
Tomatoes ripe= One, cut into small pieces, ( Optional)
Black pepper= two or three, ( Optional)
Table Salt = To your taste.
Coriander strands with stem, ( Optional)
Vegetable Oil= 10 to 15 ml.
mustard seeds = few,
Garlic pods = one or two ( Semi smashed),
Red Dry Chilly= One ( Break it into two halves),
Curry leaves = Few,

There are other ingredients also but for good Rasam or Charu these are enough.

Boil water in a clean steel vessel, add Tamarind and let it become soft, mix with a spoon, add Cumin, turmeric powder, chilly powder, salt, black pepper seeds, and tomato pieces, let it boil for few more minutes, add coriander leaves with the stem.

After few minutes remove the coriander stem and discard.

In a separate pan, take vegetable oil, add mustard seeds, garlic, red dry chilly, cumin, and curry leaves, saute at low heat and add to the boiled charu, it might splash, take precaution to keep it away from your face.

mix and your "Rasam " is ready.

Rasam can be taken with cooked rice and clarified butter or it can be taken as a drink but as it is spicy take it slowly or with few drops of clarified butter.

To drink, you can filter the whole Rasam using a tea filter to remove all the floating ingredients, I like it this way.

The spice contents can always be reduced to minimum or if you are a spice buff, drink it with more spice in it. :-))

Do not drink more than one glass, you know the reason why, but people suffering from diarrhoea should avoid it.Have a nice Rasam time.

ॐ नमः शिवाय!

Sianala, Montreal, Jan 2008.