Maa Laado or Pottu Kadala Ladoo is very famous in the Thirunelveli district. It is a big ball that is prepared and given for all functions and celebrations. Though it seems simple to prepare, one can easily identify a good Maa Ladoo. This recipe was given to me by my aunt Padhu Chithi who lives in the district and is a pro in preparing this sweet. My photo entry to Jugalbandi's Click for the month of May on Beans and Lentils.

Gadgets:

Wok

Bowl

Mixing Spoon

Blender

Ingredients:

Roasated Channa Dal/Pottu Kadalai - 1 cup

Sugar - 1 cups as per original recipe but I used 3/4th cup

Elachi- 3 pods

Roasted Cashews - 1/4 cup

Melted Ghee/Clarified Butter - 1/2 cup

My additions - Saffron -1/8th tsp

Camphor - a tiny pinch

Preparation:

1. Roast the pottu kadalai or roasted channa dal in the wok on medium heat for a few minutes to remove the raw smell.

2. Allow it to cool. Apart from ghee add the rest of the ingredients and powder well.

3. Add ghee a little at a time and form balls.

Mango the king of fruits is one of my favorites. Raw or ripe, baby or matured, sour or sweet, raw or cooked mango can be eaten anyhow. To me mangoes are a summer delight. All the heat melts away when you eat mangoes everyday. Mango Trifle Pudding which I prepared for the weekend birthday breakfast/brunch is a wonderful desert that can be made healthy. My sister in law loves it and I pamper her every time she visits me by making it for her. 

Gadgets:

Trifle pudding bowl
Saucepan
Mixing bowl
Cutting Board
Knife
Peeler



Ingredients:






Mangoes (ripe) - 4 cubed ( big chunks)
Banana - 2 sliced
Cake (white) cubed - 2 cups ( make from white cake mix, eggs, oil and water)
Cherries - 15
Custard - 4 cups (made out of custard powder, milk and sugar) or vanilla yogurt from the store
Apple Sauce - 1 bottle
Nuts- almond/walnuts 1 cup optional

Preparation:



1. Layer the cubed cake in the bottom of the pudding bowl.

2. Next add a thick coat of apple sauce followed by 2 cups of yogurt or custard.

4. Add mangoes and banana the next layer.

5. Add nuts if you want then follow the above steps again and finish it up with the mangoes on the top.





6. Decorate with cherries and keep it covered in the fridge for an hour at least before use.

I was clearing my freezer and found a packet of frozen raspberry from Trader Joe's. As I was wondering what I could make of these frozen raspberries my husband suggested thokku. I got all excited about the idea and got down to preparing it.I was thinking that it would turn out ok because of the tartness in the berries. It was so delicious to me. I could taste the salt, sugar, spice from the chillis and tartness and this was a wonderful combo to have with anything. A pregnant woman would feast on this one for sure. I found this very interesting that this berry can take in a lot of spice and still be not as spicy.My entry to AMFM : Raspberry hosted by Ammalu's Kitchen for the month of May.

Gadgets:

Wok
Mixing Spoon.

Ingredients:

Frozen Raspberry - 1 packet
Fresh Raspberry - 1 box
Oil- 1 tbsp
Mustard Seeds- 1 tsp
Fenugreek Seeds - 1 tsp (dry roasted and powdered)
Red Dry Chillis - 5 whole
Chilli Powder - 5 tsp
Asafoedita - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Brown Sugar or Jaggery - 1 tsp

Preparation:

1. Defrost the raspberries.

2. Heat the wok.Add Oil, mustard seeds, dry chillis, asafoedita and the frozen raspberries one after the other.

3. Cook the raspberries for some time until all the liquid disappears. Add chilli powder, jaggery or brown sugar, salt, turmeric and cook it for 2 more minutes.

4. Add the fresh raspberry into this mix and mush them and mix with the thokku/chutney above.

3. Allow it to cool and store it in the bottle.

This weekend I prepared a birthday brunch for my nephew who loves one thing the most , Potatoes. I saw this recipe in a cook book called Vegetarian some days ago and just improvised on it. The Potato Raja loved it and was a big hit with the kids and adults. These potato cups turned out very crunchy and tasty. We put candles on them instead of the cake and asked him to make his wish. Happy Birthday!!

Gadgets:

Sauce pan
Bowl
Wok
Mixing spoon
Box Grater
Fork
Cutting Board
Knife
Muffin Pans / Tortilla cups/ any container that you can bake with.

Oven


Ingredients:

Red Potato - 10
Red Onion - 1/2 thinly slicked
Garlic - 3 cloves minced
Salt
Pepper
Oil - 1 tbsp
Butter- 1tbsp
Mozzarella Cheese - 1/2 cup
Water to cook potatoes in

Preparation:

1. Put the potatoes in the sauce pan and fill it with water and allow it to cook for 8 minutes.

2. Heat the wok and add butter and allow it to melt.Add garlic,onions pepper and salt and cook them well.

3. When the potatoes are cooked for 8 minutes drain the water and using a box grater, grate the potato's and mix them with the cooked onions and garlic mix. I recommend that mix one potato at a time so that the onions will gets evenly mixed.

4. Spray the muffin pan or any container with oil and then using a fork add the potato into the muffin pan and bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes or until they are brown on the top.Add some cheese on top and put them back into the oven to bake for 15 more minutes and serve them hot.

It was a cold and chilly day here in San Diego and that made me just want to cuddle up with my blanket and read a book. This weather was so perfect for something warm and comforting to drink/eat. The most comforting soup for me is Tomato Soup and so I decided to make myself some. I remembered that Mythreyee of Paajaka had posted on Tomato Soup and I decided to adapt her recipe as it was so easy and simple to follow. I did make a few changes here and there but I think I still was able to make some comforting soup for me and my family to have for lunch. My entry to MBP: Soup & Salad an event started by Coffee of The Spice Cafe, but hosted by Raaga, The Singing Chef

Gadgets:
Pan

Mixing spoon

Blender

Seive

Bowl

Ingredients:


Wine Ripe Tomato - 6

Celery - 1 cup chopped (used this instead of carrot) Bell Pepper - 1 (used instead of carrot)

Garlic - 2 cloves

Onion - 1

Bay leaf - 1

Cumin - 1 tsp

All purpose flour - 1 tbsp (used instead of corn flour)

Butter - 2 tbsp

Oil - 1 tbsp

Milk - 1/2 cup

Water - 3/4 cup

Salt

Pepper

Sugar

Cilantro

Preparation:


1. Heat the open faced pan and add 1 tbsp of oil and then add garlic, bay leaf,cumin and onion with a some salt and cook until they become transparent.

2. Add celery, bell pepper and cook for 2 minutes. Then add the chopped tomatoes, pepper and cook with water for 5 minutes.

3. Turn off the stove and cool it. Transfer into the blender and blend well.

4. Pass through a filter/sieve and keep the liquid in a bowl.

5. Heat the pan again and add 1 tbsp of butter and turn the flame to low and add APF and make a rue. Add milk and the liquid and allow it to cook on low flame for 5 minutes with constant mixing.

6. Add pepper and sugar and cook for a few more minutes.

5. Toast the bread until they are crunchy. Add 1 tbsp of butter and cut them into cubes .Garnish the soup with the bread and cilantro.

6. Serve hot with Bread Cups.

One author that ruled my childhood was Enid Blyton. I dreamt of going to boarding school, getting care packages, having midnight feasts with friends and learning french. Malory Towers and St.Clare's were so amazing and made my life so enjoyable as a kid. It exposed me to various kinds of food that existed in some part of the world and made me wish to taste them some day.

Thanks to it that my sister was a big Enid Blyton fan and we came up with the idea of having a candle light feast with out friend and neighbour Devi.We set our plan in motion and had our first feast at her balcony and ate idli's and tomato chutney with lemonade during the quarterly break and had vatha kohazmbu for the half yearly break at my place. For the annual candle light feast we made our sister cook peas masala, chapathi, custard and refrigerator cake and asked another friend to join us and had it in our balcony with candles. Sure its no match to the food in mid night feast but, we did create the effect by eating what we could find in our household and with candles.

Upper Fourth at Malory Towers, Chapter 11 : A Day Out, pg. 76,

"There were tongue sandwiches with lettuce, hard-boiled eggs to eat with bread and butter, great chunks of new-made cream cheese, potted meat, ripe tomatoes grown in Mrs. Lucy's brother's greenhouse, gingerbread cake fresh from the oven, shortbread, a great fruit cake with almonds crowning the top, biscuits of all kinds and six jam sandwiches!"

( Speacial thanks to Nethra Raman for helping me with the research on the material)

Bhag's blog " This book makes me cook" food event made me re live these wonderful memories and inspired me to make something that they had at the midnight feast. I decided on the shortbread and liked this recipe from Joy of Baking. It was perfect because I wanted to use up my almond meal that had been sitting in my pantry.

Please click on the link to get to the original recipe Almond Shortcake Cookie. I changed the ingredient proportions and made it into heart shaped cookies because I wanted to make them fast. The total time in the preparation of this cookie is 35 minutes from start to finish.

Gadgets:

Mixer
Bowl
Baking tray
Wax paper/parchment paper
Rolling pin
Heart shaped cookie cutter
Spatula
Mixing spoon

Ingredients:

Rice Flour - 2 Tbsp
Almond Meal - 1 1/2 cups
All Purpose Flour/Maida- 1/3 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Butter - 1 stick/1/2 cup
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Granulated sugar - 1 Tbsp

Preparation:

1. In a bowl beat the butter and sugar until they are smooth and well blended about 2 minutes. Add Vanilla essence and blend that in.

2. Add APF, Almond Meal, Rice Flour and mix well.

3. Put the dough in a cling wrap and store it in the fridge to get the butter to cool for 15 mins.

4. Preheat the oven to 300 degree F.

5.Place a parchment paper and place the cooled dough. Cover the dough with another parchment paper on the top and with a rolling pin roll out the dough into the 1/4 inch thickness.

6.Using a heart shaped cookie cutter cut out hearts and place them on the baking tray lined with parchment paper.

7. Bake for 14 minutes.But like we do with all cookies bake the cookie for 7 minutes and turn the tray around so that the cookies in the front goes to the back and that way they would all bake evenly.

8. Enjoy this short bread with a warm cup of tea like I just did. Something healthy and I think if you have allergy problems you can prepare the same without any all purpose flour. I will do that the next time and report on it.

Indians and Mexicans have a lot in common apart from the food. Just the other day I found out that they call their grandfather thatha as we do in Tamil.The marriage of Mexican and Indian flavors blends and creates some interesting and tasty food. During the football season my husband's friends always come over to watch the San diego Chargers play. I decided to offer them lunch instead of some snacks. This is how I came up with the burrito. I had some dal makhani from dinner and took it up another notch and used it instead of the refried beans to prepare a burrito.Next time you have some channa masala, dal makhani or any curry you can try to make it into a burrito. This main course is my entry to DK's Culinary Bazaar's A Worldly Epicurean’s Delight – In short A.W.E.D. event for the month of May.

Gadgets:

Plate

Knife

Cutting board
Spoons
Tava/griddle

Ingredients:

Tortilla - 1

Sour cream - 1 tbsp
Cilantro salsa - 2tbsp ( just any normal salsa will do but just add more cilantro )
Rice cooked - 1/2 cup ( I used basmati rice)
Avocado - 1/2
Dal Makhani - 1/4 cup
Roasted peppers - 1 small tin
Cilantro - 1tbsp
Tomatoes - 2
Oil - 1tsp
Chilli Powder - 1tsp
Salt to taste
Garlic - 2 cloves

Preparation:

1. Heat the wok.Add some oil and garlic. Add 2 chopped tomato and salt and cook for a few minutes. Add roasted jalapenos and chilli powder and cook for a few minutes.Allow it to cool.

2. Heat the Tava and warm up the tortilla.

4. Place the rice on the warm tortilla and then add dal makhani, salsa, sour cream, avocados, cilantro in such a way that when you fold the tortilla the rice is on the outside and the rest are engulfed inside the rice.




5. Serve with some chips and salsa and you are good to go.

"Pori" (puffed rice) is one memorable snack from my childhood. There are three people who have made it so for me. My grandmother "Tiruppur Manni", Sarasu who worked at our house and our family friend "Aatha". These three women offered it as a snack to me. During vacation pori and peanuts at Tiruppur was so tasty and had its own flavor. At home, when Sarasu used to sell pori and pattani (dried peas) and bring back the remaining to give me some made me feel very happy. Aatha, totally changed the plain pori into something magical by adding some ingredients that made it a very spicy,salty and tasty snack. Its been so long since I had pori and thinking of this wonderful snack I decided to make some the other day. I even made a cone from old news paper and added some pori into it to get the whole experience.

Cutting Board

Knife

Wok

Mixing Spoon

Ingredients:

Pori ( Puffed rice ) -3 cups

Garlic - 6 thinly sliced

Curry leaves - some whole leaves

Peanuts - 1 1/2 cups

Roasted Channa dhal (pottu kadala)- 1/2 cup

Sun Flower seeds - 1/2 cup ( my addition to the recipe)

Turmeric - 1 tsp

Chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp (add more if you want it spicy)

Dry red chilli - 2

Mango powder -1 tsp

Asafoedita- 1/2 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Oil - 1 tbsp

Preparation:

1. Heat the Wok to medium high and add oil.

2. When the oil warms up add asafoedita, mustard seeds and allow for them to pop.

3. Then add garlic, and cook them for a min.

4. Add peanuts and roast them for 3-4 minutes then add roasted channa dhal, red chillis, turmeric,chilli powder, sun flower seeds, salt and curry leaves.

5. Add the pori and coat it well with all these ingredients. The pori that is white will turn light yellow.

6. Roast it for 2 minutes and then serve it hot or allow it to cool and store it in a tin or ever silver box and have it with tea or coffee any time.

Health tip: When you have cold if you eat Pori the cold will disappear faster.

Idli and Dosai's are wonderful to eat, but sometimes when we are left with just 2 cups of batter at the end we often wonder what we can make out of it. Idli/Dosai does not taste great with this batter because, the dough is not fresh and is a little sour. One delicious way to use up the batter is by making uranda dosai. It is a prefect make ahead appetizer, for pot lucks, with afternoon tea or like the Horlicks ad(in Tamil)puts it "appadiye sapuduvain"(eat it as is). Made these 2 days ago with my daughter. She was so fascinated that she could get something round,but tasted like crunchy dosai on the outside but soft like idli on the inside. A must try if you enjoy idli/dosai.

Gadgets:


Kuzhi appam stone/kallu
Bowl
Tea SpoonSkewer/stick Table Spoon
Cutting Board Knife



Ingredients:

Dosa/Idli batter - 2 cups ( old or new batter can be used)
Onion (Red)- 1/2 chopped finely into cubes
Cilantro- 1 tsp chopped
Green Chillis- 1 or 2 depending on the spice you like chopped
Asafoetida - a few shakes
Ginger- finely grated or chopped
Rava - 1tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - a little



Preparation:

1. In a bowl add onions, chillis, cilantro, asafoetida, salt, ginger, rava and the dosa batter and mix it well.

2. Place the appum stone on the stove and turn the heat on to medium -high.I used the non-stick appam stone, if you have the iron one add oil to it and then pour the batter, in the non-stick one all you need is to spray a little oil and then add the mix.

3. If need be add some oil to each uranda dosai.When you see that they are done using a stick and a spoon flip them over and allow them to cook.

4. Once they are done remove with the spoon and plate them.




5. Serve them hot (they taste the best then) with chutney and sauce.

I made hummus over this weekend and had them with pita bread and salad for dinner. My daughter loves hummus. I am so glad that she does because it is healthy, has protein, is tasty and easy to prepare. These days they sell many varieties of hummus. One of my favorite hummus is cilantro. It takes 5 mins max to prepare, if you are using garbanzo beans from a can. However, it takes longer if you like to make it from scratch by soaking the beans over night with plenty of water and then cooking it in a pressure cooker with salt and a pinch of baking soda.

Gadgets:Blender/Food processor
Bowl
Spoon
Can opener (if making from tin)


Ingredients:Garbanzo beans./ channa - 1 cup
Lemon (half)- juice
Salt
Tahini sauce/paste - 1 tbsp ( Available at Hendry's in San Diego or at Trader Joe's)
Pepper cons - 9
Garlic - 3
Cilantro 1/2 a bunch
Water - 1/3 cup ( add more if need be)
Olive oil to garnish - 2 tsp
Pita bread to go with hummus

Preparation:

1. Open the tin and wash the beans well. Then put it in the blender with tahini sauce/paste, garlic,cilantro,salt, pepper cons and water and blend.

2. Transfer into a bowl and drizzle with olive oil and serve with pita.

Note: I usually make some plain hummus in case there are people who just like them at parties.