Coconut semiya
Ingredients:
1. Semiya
2. Salt
3. Water
4. 2 tbsp cooking oil
5. Grated coconut
6. Mustard
7. Curry leaves
8. Red chilli
9. Groundnuts

Prepraration
If semiya is non roasted fry the semiya to golden brown colour (without oil).
Boil water and add the semiya to the boiling water. The semiya will be cooked in 3 to 5 minutes. Put the semiya onto a strainer to drain away all the water. As soonas the semiya is put onto the strainer, pour cold water on it and also pour 1 tbsp oil on it. This makes the semiya non sticky. Fry groundnuts witout oil and keep aside Fry coconut without oil till reddish and keep aside Crackle mustard in oil. Add curry leaves. Then add the groundnuts and coconut. Put off the flame and add the semiya little by little and keep mixing. Also add salt to taste during the mixing.
Coconut semiya is ready ……….Very tasty and easy to make.

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Thoram paruppu (thuar dal) – 2 tbsp
Kadalai paruppu – 2 tbsp
Ulutham paruppu (urad dal) – 3 tbsp
Pepper – 10
Salt – to taste
Oil – to fry
Grated coconut – 1 cup
Perungayam (hing, asafoteda) – to taste
Red chillis – 10 

Fry each of the paruppu (dals) separately in oil till golden and keep aside to cool. Grind all the paruppu together into a coarse powder.

Fry chillis and pepper in oil. Add it to the above mixture and grind again (keep the powder coarse coarse)

Fry coconut in oil till red. Cool.

Now add the coconut,perungayam and salt to the mixture. Grind again just about one or 2 rounds. Do not grind more than 1 or 2 rounds as the powder will not remain dry anymor (an oily texture will come about if coconut is mashed up too much). 

To relish the delicacy, mix the powder with rice and a little oil/ghee .
Can also be used as a side dish along with oil for Dosa or Idly

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Instead, why don’t we make some ready to eat stuff and take it along…. 

I have tried to put in recipes of some powders. These are to be mixed and had with rice. These can be stored for a long time and they give the required spicy taste and south Indian kick when you are abroad….all mummy’s ideas… 

Paruppu podi: 

Thoram paruppu (thuar dal)– 1 cup
Red chillis – 3 to 4 (can put in more if more spice is required)
Pepper – 10 to 15
Salt to taste
Refined oil

Fry the thoram paruppu in a little oil till the colour changes to reddish brown. Keep it aside to cool. Fry red chilli and pepper in oil and keep aside to cool

Put all the fried ingredients along with some salt and grind into a fine powder and store.

Mix it with rice along with some ghee or oil while eating. 

Some more recipes to come up in the next blogs

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You can store it for long and mix it with rice whenever you want to have puliogare. I took this mixture with me when I went abroad it served me very well.

It is my amma’s recipe…. I promise, it is great…

Ingredients:

Pepper
Jeera
Red chilli
Dhania
Methi
Asafoteda
Copra – finely grated
Ellu (Til)
Tamarind
Oil
Mustard
Kadalai paruppu (gram dal)
Curry leaves
Groundnuts

 Preparation: 

1. Pepper, jeera, red chilli, dhania, methi, asafoteda – fry above without oil. Make powder
2. Copra – fry without oil and grind a coarse mixture
3. Ellu – fry without oil and make powder
4. Soak tamarind in water for an hour. Take out the tamarind water after squeezing the tamarind. Filter the water
5. Heat oil in a kadai. Crackle mustard, kadali paruppu, red chilli, curry leaves and the add groundnuts
6. Pour the tamarind water into the crackled stuff above
7. After water boils,  add mixture 1.
8. After sometime add mixture 2 and 3
9. Let the final mixture boil till the oil separates on top.
10. Store in bottle and use it to mix with rice just before serving

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This is a festival celebrated by Tamil Brahmins. This is a day for the ladies to pray that their husbands (or husbands to be) are always with them and that their relationship never dies.

It is an equivalent to karvachauth celebrated in north India….of course…since this festival concerns a very small community….it is not that famous and widely celebrated.

However, the point of this post is that I would liket o put in the recipe for the dish that is made as a neivedyam for godess Lakshmi during this festival. It is called Kaaradai. It comes in the sweet and salt versions.

This is also called nombu adai

Sweet:

Ingredients:
Rice flour: 1 Cup
Water: 1 Cup
Jagerry: I cup
Cashews: few
Coconut(grated): 1 Cup
Kaaramani ( red kidney beans): 1 cup –> soak in water overnight and cook it in a presure cooker
a pinch of salt
Elaichi powder : 1 tsp

Heat the rice flour in a kadai and seive it. Keep aside.
Heat water and then add jaggery. Allow it to dissolve. Then filter it.
Heta the jaggery water with a very low flame. Add a pinch of salt and the rice flour to it.
Mix it well.
Add one cup of kaaramani, coconut, cashwes and elaichi powder and mix.
take away from flame and make some patties out of the mixed dough like flour.
Cook in steam (like idli)

Salted:

Ingredients:
Same as above, except for jaggery
Salt to taste

Add rice flour and salt to plain water. Add all the other ingradients also.
corriander leaves and asafoteda can be included optionally.
Make patties and steam cook it (like idli)

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I found out from someone that adding a pinch of sugar to the palak while cooking would keep it green. I have not tried it…but you can try and let me know if it works.

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Someone told me that I could sprinkle some vinegar and then wipe it off with a cloth and this would remove the grease. Got to try it.

My doors are all wooden…and So I am not sure which is the right remedy to use…not sure what suits wood..

However …got to try it and check.

Also heard that kerosene can be used the same way by sprinkling and wiping away….

If someone has done this please let me know if it works

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take urad dal (ulundhu in tamil) 1 portion. add a handful of methi seeds (vendhayam in tamil, menthya in kannada). soak in water for about 1 hour.

optionally take sabu dana (jevvarussi in tamil) and soak it in water for 2 hours.

after the soaking time is over….wash each of the soaked items separately about three to 4 times and starin the water.
Me being a slight environmentalist….I advice you to collect the water that comes out of washing these ingrdedients into a bucket and keep it for drinking for your pet (as it does have nutrients) or atleast pour it for plants and not to waste the water…
if you dont have plants then please get some…

put the urad dal into grinder and por water a little and grind into fine paster for about half hour. The paste will keep fluffing time after time and water must be poured now and then during the grinding so that the paste does not get too thick and dry.
after this, add the rice (and jevarussi if that has been soaked) to the urad dal paste and let the grinder further grind for anotherhalf hour to 45 mins…
keep adding little water at a time so that the grinder does not get stuck and the paste is not too thick.

finally add about 1 to 2 handfuls of rock salt and grind for sometime.

now take out the paste and keep it aside in a vessel till it ferments (it will raise if left for sometime in warm conditions).

then store in refrigerator.

note:
1. The same flour can be used for idli and dosa
2. if you want flour only for dosa you can add a little lesser urad dal. (1 urad dal portion for 8 portions of rice)
3. the grinding can also be done in mixie….but this is not as good as grinder

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To remove odor from a flask, put half cup vinegar in it and wash with cold water after half hour.

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Chopping raisins is made easier if you grease the knife with a little butter.

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