Monday, May 31, 2010

June special - Beetroot Vadai

I am Madhavi. My husband and I love to eat and hence to cook. I recently discovered India has so many amazing cuisines to offer beyond Tamil Nadu (at home) and Punjab (at restaurants in the US). So we started our journey of cooking different cuisines from India. We have covered Kashmir, Punjab and Rajasthan so far. But my favourite would still be close to home - and that is Chettinad food. Chettinad is famous for its art and architecture,huge mansions and also its food - especially non-vegetarian food. In the recent days, we have seen many Chettinad restaurants that gained popularity like Karaikudi, Anjappar, Ponnuswamy etc. I always end up at Solai's blog if I am looking for a Chettinad recipe. She has one of the best collection of recipes for Chettinad food. My all time favourites are Chettinad pepper chicken, Kuli paniyaram, Kandarappam etc. You should try it out too. Many recipes are simple to make after a long work day, healthy and tasty - for example, Kosamalli, Pachadi, Kootu etc.

For this month, lets try one of the well-kept secrets of the tastiest way to eat beetroot - Beetroot Vadai. You can find the recipe at
http://solaiachiskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/05/beetroot-vadai.html

-- Madhavi

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Thulli Payasam - The final Day

Many of you would have tried the payasam and there might be some happy faces !!

I made the payasam for a dinner party. Everyone there loved it(luckily noone had aversion to Bananas like Madhu ;) ). Below are some pictures, though i have to improve on the photographs.

The recipe can be found here.One thing to be noted here the Payasam was better when had fresh. It looked better and tasted better as well. So try to make it the same day you want to have it. I added more ghee than specified in the recipe.

Whoever tried the recipe, do add comments. And lets await Madhavi's recipe of the month. :)

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Logo

Finally, here is the logo for us - We are the Desi super cooks. Please paste this in your food blog

Madhavi - super cook of June



A few words about Madhavi - what she thinks about herself

I am Madhavi. My husband and I love to eat and hence to cook. I recently discovered India has so many amazing cuisines to offer beyond Tamil Nadu (at home) and Punjab (at restaurants in the US). So we started our journey of cooking different cuisines from India. We have covered Kashmir, Punjab and Rajasthan so far. But my favorite would still be close to home - and that is Chettinad food. Chettinad is famous for its art and architecture,huge mansions and also its food - especially non-vegetarian food.

Looking forward to something interesting next month from Madhavi ....

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Yay!!! Am making it

Last week for a lunch party i planned to make Thulli payasam , but the pineapple upside down cake that a friend made took over the party. Tomorrow there is a dinner party at a friend's place. And yes ! this time for sure i am making it. I am so curious about how the banana drops are going to turn out. Hope i dont screw it up. :)

But another trick is to find out Ripen Bananas :( Usually in the stores i see almost raw ones. Let me try my luck. I will update how it come and what was the response.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Recipe for May : Thulli Payasam

Its the second month and we see so many members already!!!Exciting...

As Madhu mentioned , I am currently trying out the Kerala food and i have been finding a better occasion to try out this dish. I got a perfect chance now.
This is one of the Keralite delicacy that they make for Onam. I have heard of it before but not tasted it till now.

Before we get to the recipe,for those who dont know what we are talking about : Thulli payasam(Kheer made of banana drops) is made of Banana and coconut milk. It is a sweet dish which is usually served warm.

Here is the recipe that I am going to follow.
http://arcthomas.blogspot.com/
Ane below is the recipe that i copied from the blog:

Rice flour - ¾ cup
Bananas, ripe – 3nos
Ghee – 2 tsp
Brown sugar/jaggery – 2 cups
Coconut milk – thick and thin a cup each
Ghee toasted Cashew nuts and raisins or chopped coconut – to garnish
Dried ginger powder ( Chukku) – 3 pinches

In a blender puree 2 bananas with ¼ cup of water, add ghee and rice flour, blend till a thick batter is formed, adding more water if necessary. Keep it for 10 minutes. Boil water in a large sauce pan and drop the prepared batter in to it through a slotted spoon to make drops ( thulli, hence the name ) When the batter drops are cooked it will raise to the top. Whisk the cooked drops with a slotted spoon and spread on a plate. Repeat till all the batter is over.

Finely chop a banana. Heat ¼ cup water in a thick bottomed vessel and add banana. Cook till the pieces are tender, adding more water if necessary. When the pieces are completely cooked, add brown sugar, 1 tsp ghee, cooked thulli, and cook for another 5 minutes with constant stirring. Add thin coconut milk (mix canned coconut milk with equal quantity of water to make thin C milk), ½ cup of water and cook for 5 minutes. Add thick coconut milk and cook for 2 more minutes. Turn off the heat. Keep the vessel covered for the next five minutes. Add ginger powder, ghee toasted cashew nuts and raisins or toasted silvers of coconut. Payasam is now ready to serve.


I am going to try the payasam this month and going to post my experiences on May 27th.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Kofta Noor Jahani


The recipe of the Month April was Kofta Noor Jahani. It is a Sanjeev Kapoor Recipe ( of Khana Khazana fame).

You can find the recipe here

The host of the month was Madhumita and you can find her post here