Vellai Paniyaram — Chettinad Special (200th Post)

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Chettinad Palaharam, chettinad recipe, Paniayaram recipe, tips for vellai paniyaram, Vellai Paniyaram

Here comes my 200th post, with the chettinad special dish vellai paniyaram. In any chettinad house this dish is inevitable. This is served in all of the chettinad functions. You will find this as one of the breakfast items in marriages.

It is a very simple recipe, but needs some practice. I have tried it a few times and never got it right. Finally I could nail it 🙂 It is always accompanied with the spicy millagai chutney (Red Chili Chutney) , recipe in the next post.

Ingredients:

Raw Rice/Pachai arisi : 1 cup ( measure exactly up to rim)

Urad Dal/Ulunthu : 1 1/2 tablespoon/make a gopuram over rice ( urad dal, we get in US is poor in quality, so I use 1/4 cup which gives better result)

Water : as needed to grind

Salt : as needed

Milk : 1 tablespoon( optional)

Oil : to deep fry

Method:

• Soak rice and urad dal in water for 2 hours.
• Grind it to a smooth batter with salt, just like dosa batter.
• This batter needs to be a little extra watery than dosa batter. So you can add extra milk and bring it to that consistency.
• Heat oil in a pan for deep frying.
• Take a ladle which is not at all deep.( In Tamil we say kuli illatha karandi)
• When the oil is hot enough, in the ladle take the batter and make sure the bottom of the ladle doe not have any batter. And pour it in one place.
• With another ladle, pour oil on the top of the paniyaram.
• Let it get cooked for a minute. Now turn the sides and cook around 30 sec.
• Drain oil and place it in a paper towel to drain extra oil.

Tips:

• This paniayaram should be thin and not thick, you can see the last picture on how it looks when cooked. Once the first is cooked , tear it and see if the center is cooked well, if not then cook for some more time.
• This paniyaram has to be cooked one at a time and not more than one.
• Do not over cook once the side is turned. They must look white and not brown, hence the name vellai paniyaram.
• This batter can be prepared and stored for later in fridge. Make sure to have a little watery consistency than dosa batter.
• In case urad dal is very good quality, these paniyaram might come out very thick and like a ball.
• In this case adding little milk or water helps(I have tried this option). You can also add rice flour and adjust( I haven’t tried this)
• In case Urad dal is too less, then paniyaram becomes very thin and rubbery. In this case you can add some urad dal flour and adjust.
• The sides of this paniayaram will form a flower shape which is the exact shape of this paniyaram.
• Final tip my grandma gives me is, when you don’t get it right make uthappam with this batter 🙂

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Happy Pongal — Non food post

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Chettinad nadu veetu kolam, Chettinad pongal kolam, Chettinad style pongal, Chettinad style pongal celebration, how to put nadu veetu kolam, nadu veetu kolam, pongal celebration, pongal kolam, pongal preparation in open space

Happy Pongal/Makara Sankranthi/Lohri to everyone. For Tamilians pongal is another major festival. I love this time of the year, never missed being at home with grandparents for pongal. For the past 2 years after marriage , I am away from them and miss them badly. Pongal brings us lots of excitement, starting with pongal kolam, preparation of pongal, offering to sun god, etc etc…. There is a slight difference in the way pongal celebration is done in my in laws place and my mom’s place. From my mom’s side it is quite hectic and in- laws way of celebration is a little simpler. I have to follow my inlaws way of celebration 🙂

One work that I totally love is the pongal kolam/rangoli that we put in the front yard of our home. This is the way we chettiars prepare pongal. This kolam is not done with the regular rangoli powder, instead we use raw rice paste. It stays for a week, if we don’t disturb it. Me and my grandma we used to do this on the evening of the day before pongal. Some pictures from my archive on how we do it at my hometown. Pongal is usually done in pongal panai in both my in laws and my mom’s place and not in pressure cooker. I follow that method. Will post this way of preparation soon.

In my in laws place, we make Sakkarai pongal, velai pongal. Kathirikai puli kuzhambhu, paruppu masiyal. Then we have parangikai, vazhakkai, avarakkai, sakaravali kizhanghu uppu poriyal.

In my mom’s place, we make sakkarai pongal, velai pongal. Kathirikai puli kuzhambhu, paruppu masiyal, palakai kootu, karunaikizhangu kuzhambhu. Then parangikai, vazhakkai, avarakai, sakarvali kizhanghu proiyal.

Usually at my hometown, after preparing all these, we make an offering to the sun god. Which is usually done at the front yard where we have some space. Then bring it to the pooja room and there we have one more kolam called nadu veetu kolam. We place these offerings on top of this kolam and pray. Then we happily eat them 🙂

Since we don’t have open space and it’s all carpet in my apartments here in US, I have planned to just do the nadu veetu kolam in our coffee table 😉 and do the offering to god. This is how it is.

Here is my preparation for tomorrow’s pongal 🙂

 

Unsweetened Applesauce

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Applesauce, Baking, Eggless Baking, Eggless Baking Tips, how to make unsweetened applesauce, Sweetened apple sauce, Unsweetened Applesauce, unsweetened applesauce recipe

If you are looking to replace eggs in baking, here is the replacement ‘Unsweetened Applesauce’. A very simple and delicious recipe. There were a lot of recipes which called for unsweetened applesauce but I never gave it a deeper thought of preparing 😛 until I found 2 apples in my fridge. So here it is …

Ingredients:

Apple : 2 (peeled and chopped)

Water : 3/4 cups

Vanilla Extract : 1/2 teaspoon

Cinnamon Powder : 1/2 teaspoon

Lemon Juice : 1 teaspoon

Method:

• Bring water and apples to boil.
• Add all other ingredients and boil in leave it to simmer for 10 mins with lids on.
• Heat until 10 mins or till the apple turns soft and then stop.
• Cool down totally and then blend well to a fine paste. Store in an airtight container in fridge.
• When ever a recipe calls for unsweetened applesauce use this.
• If you need sweetened apple sauce add 1/2 sugar to this while boiling.

Simple replacement for eggs in baking 🙂

Good Night’s sleep

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Effects of eating in the midnight, Gadget Intervention while sleeping, Good Night's sleep, How to sleep well, Mid Night snack, Sleeping, Sleeping disorder

Dear friends this is off and out of my blog’s content. But thought of sharing this awareness of sleeping in night. How many of us sleep well during the night? Do we sleep from 10 PM to morning 6? Do we get at least 6 hours of sleep? If you can do so, you are way good and on right track.

Definitely I am not the one who sleeps well. I struggle a lot to sleep. I have to roll on for hours together to get sleep. I keep myself preoccupied with so many thoughts. Its a battle between my thoughts and sleep.

Recently I watched a talk show in a Tamil channel about why younger generation doesn’t sleep on time?

Many younger generation people argued that they got sleep for 6 hours but they slept from mid night 2 to next day 8. They were quite comfortable with that sleeping time. Some said we can’t sleep at least until 3 in the mid night.  Some said they can happily watch TV programs in the night. They can play games and chat with friends. Everything was in and around gadgets.Yes I am one of them.

Just because I can’t sleep, I will watch movies, TV programs in the night. When I am on bed I get some thought and check my mobile. Check for emails. As I am awake I get hungry and snack something in the midnight. This is something worse I know it myself but I can’t help it. I am not getting sleep 😦 What ever we eat in the midnight doesn’t get digested properly and sugar settles in the liver which is dangerous. This is one reason why we put on weight.

Some experts, doctors have come to the show and they pointed few information which gave me a big time shock.

• The light that we get from gadget in the darkness very badly affect our retina in the eyes. Nerves in the eyes are affected.
• Eating in the midnight increases your weight.
• Not sleeping on time from 10 PM to 6 AM affects hormones. There are certain hormones which secrets only in the midnight when we sleep. If we don’t sleep at that time the hormone secretion level dips downs to a very low range. This can cause digestive problems in the younger age. Later change to fatal around 40 to 50 years of our age.
• The one which gave me a jerk is this one, If we don’t sleep well as ladies in the midnight we have a great chance of getting breast cancer. Some ladies who are prone genetically for breast cancer are asked to wear black glasses when they sleep to avoid the chances of breast cancer in them.
• The complete world operates with Sun. We need to sleep and work according to the Sun’s rules. When it sets we need to sleep and when it rises we need to wake up. Simple example are flowers, they bloom when sun rises and goes down when Sun sets.

These are the fact that we need to accept and understand. I have made a resolution myself that I will not touch any gadget once I go to bed. Try to sleep by 10 PM. I am following it for the past one week, first 2 days was difficult but slowly I can realize Yes I can sleep by 10. It’s just my mind set. Even if some thought ponders, just have to tell myself that I need to sleep. All my worries can wait.

A good night’s sleep is definitely needed for every one, those who have little kids it is difficult. Otherwise lets change our attitude towards sleep 🙂

GM Wonder Soup + Glimpse of GM diet

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GM Diet, GM Diet Day 7, GM Diet experience, GM Diet Glimpse, GM Diet how to replace meat on Day 5, GM Diet Indian Version, GM Diet tips, GM Diet Vegetarian version, GM Wonder Soup

During the GM diet, we are suggested to have the GM wonder soup. This is so good , simple and tasty. This wonder soup can be had from Day 4 of the diet.

Ingredients:

Onion : 1 red large

Tomato : 2 large

Cabbage : 3 to 4 leaves chopped finely

Celery sticks : 3 to 4 chopped to small pieces

Green Bell Pepper : 1 chopped

Olive oil : 1/2 teaspoon

Salt : 1 teaspoon

Pepper Powder : 1 teaspoon

Water : 2 3/4 cups to 3 cups

Method:

• Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add onions and Bell peppers. Saute for 3 to 4 mins.
• Add the other vegetables. Saute for 2 mins.
• Mix water, if needed add salt and pepper now, else it can be added later.
• Pressure cook it for 3 whistles.

Soup is ready 🙂 It tastes really good. I loved it.

Glimpse of GM diet:

Day 1 : Only fruits, exception of Banana and avocado. Lots of water. No vegetables and milk. Unlimited fruits allowed.Drink only black tea or black coffee without sugar. No fruit juice allowed.

Day 2 : Only Vegetables. Can be taken either raw or steamed. Have one potato in the morning either baked or boiled. No fruits or milk. Unlimited vegetables allowed. Drink only black tea or black coffee without sugar. No fruit juice allowed. Avoid oil. Salt is allowed.

Day 3: Mix of day 1 and day 2. Potato, Banana, Avocado, Milk is restricted. This is as well unlimited. Drink only black tea or black coffee without sugar. No fruit juice allowed. Avoid oil.

Day 4 : up to 6 Banana and skim milk. If full fat milk restrict it to 750ml. No other fruits and vegetables. In between the wonder soup can be had. Drink only black tea or black coffee without sugar. No fruit juice allowed.

Day 5: Lean meats allowed. Since I am a eggitarian I had 1 egg in the morning, and 1 egg in the afternoon. For dinner I had Tofu. You can replace this with Cottage cheese /Paneer. You need to have 6 tomatoes compulsorily. Drink only black tea or black coffee without sugar. No milk or fruits. GM wonder soup can be had. No fruit juice allowed. Avoid oil.

Day 6 : Same as Day 5, but no tomatoes.

Day 7: We can have up to 2 cups of rice. I cooked only 1 1/2 cup which I was unable to finish, you tummy shrinks well by this time. Can have wonder soup, black tea. Any fruits allowed as usual except banana and avocado. Avoid Oil as much as possible. Lots of vegetable recommended. Today we can have fruit juice.

Remember through out to keep yourself hydrated, drink lots of water. Everyday atleast 10 to 12 glasses of water. Workout on alternative days is better. I have some foot problem so I restrained myself to only walking and walked for atleast 1.5 miles everyday from 4th day. First 3 days workout was impossible for me 😛

I am gonna have the dinner for Day 7. It really feels awesome after this diet. I am feeling very energetic and gives a lot of happiness. I am sure to have lost pounds , not sure how much I have check it tomorrow. Will get you guys my picture before and after soon. One thing I realized is not to worry about weight loss, but this have given me more energy and I feel very light. Yes in between I had the thoughts of giving up, but by god’s grace I could make it. Thanks a lot to all my friends who gave me support from day 1.

If anyone would want to go for a detox this is a great way of doing it.

Kosambari/Moong dal Salad

Tags

GM Diet, GM Diet Day 6, Healthy Salad, Kosambari, Moong Dal Salad, pasiparuppu recipe, Split Mung Bean Salad

Kosambari is a very traditional salad made in Karnataka. In my office they used to serve it during the Ugadi festival. The first time when, I saw this it was made out of the split mung bean. A salad with split mung bean, I did not like it much and was scared to touch it 😛 Later when I attended a wedding , it was a proper Karnataka wedding, they served this kosambari. Again I avoided it. I had a friend who is half Tamil and half Kannada, he was sitting next to me while having food in the wedding. He said why don’t you try , this is excellent. I said No, how can you make salad in this. He said try maadu( give it a try), if you don’t like it, leave it. He forced me to eat it, then it became my favorite 🙂 It was excellent in taste and one best salad.

For my GM diet, I need to have some protein on Day 6. So Indian version(Vegetarian) of GM diet suggested to have kosambari which is a high source of protein. I can happily have it 🙂

Ingredients:

Moong dal /Split Mung Bean : 3 table spoon

Coconut (unsweetened) : 1 1/2 teaspoon

Carrot grated : 1 1/2 teaspoon

Cucumber grated : 2 teaspoon

Salt : 1/2 teaspoon

Pepper powder : 1/2 teaspoon or Green chili : 1 small

Lime juice : 1/2 teaspoon

Cilantro leave : Few Chopped

Method:

Wash Moong dal and soak in water for 1/2 hr to 45 mins. After 45 mins drain water and set aside.

Grate carrot and cucumber.

Add the cucumber to Moong dal. The cucumber water content will soak the moong dal better, leave it for an hour.

Next add carrot, grated coconut, salt, lime juice, either pepper powder or green chili, cilantro leaves and mix well and serve.

Healthy Kosambari is ready 🙂 This serves 1 person.

The traditional recipe has green chili, I did not want to add during diet, so changed it to pepper powder 🙂

And to my GM Diet day 5 completed and day 6 going on 🙂 Day 5 was a little difficult in the evening. I thought of giving up, but finally could make it 🙂 As of now day  6 is as well going well. Tomorrow is going to be a feast day 🙂 the last day and its fully rice and vegetables 🙂 I am glad I am gonna finish it 🙂 Thank you friends for your wishes

Simple Vegetable salad + GM Diet update

Tags

GM Diet, GM Diet Day 3, GM Diet Day 4

I had prepared this simple vegetable salad  for my 2nd day of GM diet.

Ingredients:

Broccoli : 10 to 12 pieces

Carrot : 1/2 (cut into pieces)

Corn : handful

Onion: 1/4 of a large

Cucumber: 1/4 of a large (cut into pieces)

Cabbage : shredded handful

Tomato : 1 (cut into pieces)

Pepper : 1/2 teaspoon

Salt : 1/2 teaspoon

Cilantro Leaves : Few to garnish

Lime Juice : 1/2 teaspoon

Method:

Steam the carrot, broccoli, corn for 5 mins. Next mix this with all other ingredients and serve 🙂

 

Day 3 of GM diet went well. I could feel lighter. This is a day of both vegetables and fruits. In vegetables no potato. In fruits no banana and no avocado. No Milk as well this day. I could eat the mix of both day 1 and 2, felt much better.

Today is Day 4 with just banana and milk. I am just so happy 🙂 Yeah I already had 2 banana’s and 2 glasses of milk. Also there is this GM wonder soup which can be had in between. Recipe to follow soon. Day 4 we can have up to 6 banana’s and 750ml of milk preferably skim milk. Trust me its very heavy with banana after the 3 days of diet. I could already feel that my tummy has gone down a bit 😛

Thank you friends for all your wishes, I have come long way in diet for sure 🙂

GM Diet Day 2

Tags

GM Diet, GM Diet Day 2

This was not at all a bad day as I expected it to be. I could feel more energetic than day 1.

Second day:

Only Vegetables, no fruits, milk. One potato boiled or baked is allowed in the morning. As much less oil as possible.

I had one boiled potato in morning with pepper and salt. Then had carrots, corn for afternoon. In between I could manage with black tea. Evening I prepared some salad with half a teaspoon oil( recipe to be followed) and black tea. One thing that I could find about myself was I crave for salt more than sugar. I just found it myself. Though I know I am sweet tooth and eat lots of sugar. I felt this day with just pinch of salt I was satisfied. Weird for me 🙂

Starting today with Day 3 which is a mix of day 1 and day 2. This should be an ease as far as I think 🙂

GM diet day 1

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GM Diet Day1

I have successfully completed my day 1 in GM diet 🙂 Day full of fruits. Exception of Banana and Avocado 😦 I missed them so much. I can really live on both these fruits but they are not allowed on day 1. No milk. We can have only black tea or black coffee with out sugar.

I had apples, oranges, blueberries, grapes and some black tea yesterday. I drank almost 3 liters of water to keep myself hydrated. By evening I got a little dizzy as well head ache. For a foodie like me who keeps munching something, this is a little difficult.

Have entered Day 2 with lots of confidence, this is one difficult day as it is only vegetables. Instant sugar will not be available. Hoping to cope up 🙂 Will update tomorrow on the progress 🙂

Neer Mor (South Indian Style spiced Butter Milk)

Tags

Buttermilk, chithirai thiruvizha, Lord Kal Alagar, Lord Parvathy, Madurai, Meenakshi temple, Meenakshi Thiru Kalyanam, Neer Mor, South Indian style butter milk, Spiced Buttermilk

Neer Mor / Butter milk, is such a perfect summer drink. Its extremely hot in India during summers, no one would dare to get out of the house between 11 am to 3 pm 😛 . During summer this is a drink which is always available at home 🙂 Hailing from the temple city Madurai, I would like to share details of a festival we celebrate every year.

Lord Meenakshi (incarnation of Lord Parvathy) has her temple in Madurai which so famous for the architecture. We have a festival that goes on during the summer when Lord Meenakshi is married to Lord Shiva. This festival is called the chithirai thiruvizha/ Meenakshi thiru kalyanam. Lord Kal Alagar (incarnation of Lord Vishnu) is believed to be Meenakshi’s brother. Lord Kal Alagar stays in Alagar kovil a temple situated 13 miles from Meenakshi temple. He has to come all the way from Alagar kovil to Meenakshi temple for his sister’s wedding. It is believed that he travels in a pallaku(couch) and the travel takes a weeks time. This whole picture happens every year and we celebrate Meenkashi’s wedding so wonderfully. Marriage happens in Meenakshi temple with the idols of Shiva and Meenakshi. Kal Alagar idol is carried from Alagar kovil to Meenakshi temple.

My house is located in the mid way of Alagar kovil and Meenakshi temple. Alagar’s idol passes through my home. During this time the whole Madurai residents would gather to worship. We all get dressed up so well 😀 and meet a lot of people in our community. Its a lot of fun. We invite friends, relatives to our home. Ahh I miss those days so badly, what a lovely time it used to be 🙂 The beauty of this festival is that though it is a Hindu festival, Muslims, Christians all gathers and celebrate it. I see this as a great unity which is why I love it 🙂 As this festival takes place during summer, many people distribute Neer Mor, Pannakam to help get rid of thirst and dehydration. So when ever I prepare neer mor, it reminds me of this festival 🙂

Ingredients:

Yogurt : 3 tablespoon ( can be full fat or skim)

Water : 1 cup

Salt : 1/4 teaspoon

Ginger : 1/2 teaspoon grated

Green Chili : 1 very finely chopped

Curry leaves : 1 strand finely chopped

Cilantro leaves : 2 – 3 strands finely chopped

Asafoetida : 1/4 teaspoon

Cumin seeds : crushed 1/4 teaspoon or Cumin powder : 1/4 teaspoon

Method:

Put the yogurt, salt, water, ginger in blender and blend it for 2 to 3 mins. Now transfer it to a glass. Mix asafoetida, chopped curry leaves, cilantro leaves, cumin seeds or powder. Mix well. You can serve it immediately or after refrigerating for some time.

Some people temper oil and use mustard seeds and add it. I wouldn’t want it that way, as the taste of buttermilk would change.

It helps in avoiding dehydration. It soothes you stomach.

Enjoy this refreshing summer drink friends 🙂

Additional notes : You can make it thick by adding more yogurt and less water or you can make it very thin by reducing yogurt and increasing water.