Vada curry

Ingredients:

Gram dhal - 1 cup

Red chilli powder - 3 tsp

Dhaniya powder - 2 tsp

Green Chillies - 3 chopped fine

Onion - 4 chopped fine

Tomatoes - 3 chopped fine

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp

Sombhu - 2 tsp

Garlic - 10 to 12 (don't peel off skin)

Salt

Grind to a paste:

Coconut poo - 1/2 cup

Sombhu - 2 tsp

To Temper:

Cinnamon - 2

Cloves - 2

Bay leaf - 1

Method:

Soak gram dhal for about 1 hour.

Drain and grind gram dhal in mixie coarsely along with sombhu.

Crush garlic and add to this mixture.

Make into small balls.

Arrange these balls in idli plates and cook over in a medium flame for 10 minutes.

Remove and cool.

Smash it nicely.

Heat oil and temper with the given ingredients.

Add onion and saute well till golden brown.

Add ginger garlic paste and saute well.

Add tomatoes and saute well.

Add the dry powders and the smashed gram dhal with some water.

Allow it to boil for 2 minutes over a high flame.

Add the ground paste and make it to boil in a high flame for 4 minutes.

Garnish with coriander leaves.

This curry is very well suited for appam.

Appam

Ingredients:

Raw rice - 1 cup

Boiled rice - 1 cup

Urad dhal - 2 tsp

Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp

Hot water - 4 to 5 cups

Salt - 2 to 3 tsp

Method:

Wash and soak all the ingredients together for 1 hour in hot water.

Grind well adding salt to it.

Allow it to ferment for 6 to 8 hours.

Pour the batter in an appam pan and serve with Vada curry.

Vaniila Sponge Cake

Ingredients:

Maida - 100 gms

Sugar - 100 gms

Butter - 100 gms

Eggs - 2

Baking powder - 1/2 tsp

Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp

Method:

Sieve maida and baking powder together for 3 times to remove lumps.

Powder sugar in a mixie.

In a bowl, beat butter so that it is creamy. Add powdered sugar and mix well.

Beat vanilla essence and eggs well.

Add flour and eggs and mix well.

Bake at 180 for 30-35 minutes.

Oven Temperature Chart

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Fahrenheit	Celsius	Gas Mark	Description
225	110	¼	Very Slow
250	120/130	½	Very Slow
275	140	1	Slow
300	150	2	Slow
325	160/170	3	Moderate
350	180	4	Moderate
375	190	5	Moderately hot
400	200	6	Moderately hot
425	220	7	Hot
450	230	8	Hot
475	240	9	Very hot

Baking Tips

Grease and dust the baking tins (with flour), if specified.

For baking, aluminum tins are best.

Before putting the baking tin, preheat the oven to the desired temperature. (It will take 10-15 mins for the oven to get heated.)

Use a pastry brush to spread shortening evenly, making sure all inside surfaces are well covered.

Use bottom shelf to bake cakes and biscuits.

For heavy cakes such as fruit, spice, and marble cake, line tins with double thicknesses of buttered paper.

Remember each oven varies in cooking time – there is no correct time.

When making a recipe for the first time, check after about 2/3 of the time given in the recipe.

Do not open the oven door frequently – the cake is likely to collapse halfway through.

To test if the cake is done, insert a skewer or toothpick in the cake at the place where cake has risen most, and if it comes out clean, the cake is done. This is a very important test for fruit cake.


Cool cake in pan 10 - 15 minutes before loosening the edge and turning it out onto a wired rack to cool.

Sponge cakes shrink slightly from the sides of the tin when they are baked.

Creamed cake mixtures are springy to touch when done

Allow light cakes a few minutes, before turning out of the tin.

Never cool a cake under the fan because this will make the cake hard.

Cake Recipe Tips

The most important rule in baking is to weigh carefully and follow the recipe exactly.

Wherever indicated, plain self-raising flour should be used as per the recipe.

Never attempt to interchange the ingredients.

Always sieve flour with baking powder before using – this ensures light texture.

Margarine can be substituted for butter, but you compromise on the flavor !

Do not use salted butter.

Castor (or powdered in mixie) sugar is generally used.

Always use fresh eggs.

Baking powder and baking soda should be fresh .(Whether the previous stock is used up or not, buy new stocks for best results.)

Have all ingredients at room temperature for best results.

When using icing sugar for decorations, always sieve before using.

When decorating a cake with icing, you can make a quick decorating tube. Put icing in a heat-safe zip-lock plastic bag. Immerse in simmering water until the icing is melted. Snip off the tip of one corner, and squeeze the icing out of the bag.

There is no denying that light feathery cakes can only be obtained by using eggs and eggless come second

Select baking tins so that there is space around the tins in the oven for heat to circulate.

Tiffin kurma (1)

Ingredients:

Tomatoes - 3 to 4 chopped fine

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt

Oil - 1 tsp

To grind to a fine paste:

Coconut - 1 cup

Roasted gram dhal - 3/4 cup

Cinnamon (pattai) - 1"

Cloves(Kirambhu) - 4

Khus Khus - 1 tsp

Sombhu - 2 tsp

Poppy seeds - 1 tsp

To temper:

Small onions - 7 to 8 chopped

Green chillies - 4 chopped fine

Curry leaves - few

Method:

Heat oil in a vessel and temper the given ingredients.

Add tomatoes and saute well.

Add turmeric powder, salt and the ground paste with enough water to the desired consistency..

Make it as a thin gravy.

When it is about to froth, switch off.

Garnish with coriander leaves.
 

Very well suited for dosas, idlis.. and lip smacking too.

Variation:

If you didn't like the raw smell of the gravy, you can make it to boil for 5 - 7 minutes and can serve.

Chinese Vegetable Fried Rice

Ingredients:

Long grain/Basmati rice - 1 cup

Water - 6 cups

Carrot - 1

Beans - 4 to 5

Capsicum - 1 small

Cauliflower - 1/2 cup tiny florets

Spring onions - 3

Spring onion tops - 1 cup chopped

Oil - 1 tbsp

Salt

Soy sauce - 1 tbsp (optional)

Ajinomotto - a pinch

Method:

Wash the rice.

Boil water and add rice and 1 tsp salt.

Cook uncovered over a medium flame, stirring occassionally so that every grain of rice is separate.

Drain the rice and allow it to cool.

Scrape the carrot and string the beans.

Drop the both in boiling water to which 1/2 tsp salt is added.

Boil for 1 minute.

Remove, drain, cool and then dice carrot and beans.

Dice capsicums.

Heat Oil.

Fry onion and cauliflower over a high flame for 1 minute.

Add carrot, beans, capsicum and salt and fry over a high flame for 2 minutes.

Add rice, ajinomotto, soy sauce and spring onion tops.

Can omit soy sauce if you didn't like the flavor.

Stir fry over high flame for 3 to 5 minutes.

Serve with Chilli sauce, Gobi fry,...

Onion Chutney

Ingredients:

Salt to taste

Red chilli powder - 1 tbsp

Gingelly Oil - 2 tbsp (preferred)

Tamarind paste - 1 tsp

Grind to a paste:

Onion - 3

Tomato - 1

To temper:

Mustard seeds - 1 tbsp

Hing - 1 tsp

Method:

Heat oil in a kadai and temper.

Add puree, salt, tamarind paste, red chilli powder and fry till oil floats on the top.

Serve this chutney with mudakathan keerai dosai.

Mudakathan Keerai dosai

This is a special variety of greens commonly seen in villages. It is a creeper. This greens helps us to relieve from joint/ knee pains which is seen in old aged people. It is slightly bitter in taste.



Ingredients:

Mudakathan Keerai - 1 bunch cleaned well

Idli rice/Parboiled Rice - 2 1/2 cups

Urad Dhal - 1 tbsp

Fenugreek seeds - 2 tsp

Jeera - 2 tsp

Curry leaves - few.

Salt

Method:

Soak idli rice, urad dhal and fenugreek seeds together for 2 hours.

Make this into a fine batter.

Grind Keerai(greens) into a puree in mixie.

Mix these two batters adding salt to it.

Allow it to ferment for 6 hours.

Grind curry leaves and jeera.

Mix the ground paste with the batter.

Pour in dosas and serve with onion chutney.