Seeyam

Ingredients:

• Wheat Flour - 1/2 cup
• Oil - To Fry
• Sugar - 4 - 5 tspn (as per the taste_
• Water - Little over1/3 cup
• Baking soda - few pinches

Procedure:

• Put wheat flour, baking soda, water in a bowl and mix it well
• Keep it covered for around 10 minutes
• Heat oil in a kadai
• Make small round balls and fry it 
• If Seeyam is not coming out puffy, you could add few pinches of baking soda to it
• Once fried, remove and serve hot or this can be eaten the next day as well

pottu kadalai urundai

Ingredients:

• Pottu kadalai (Split Chick Peas/ Dalia Channa)- 1 1/2 cups
• Jaggery - 1 cup
• Water - 1 cup
• Cardamom powder - 1 tspn

Procedure:

• Heat a pan and add water
• Once the water starts boiling, add the jaggery and cardamom and let it boil
• Stir this jaggery water continuosly until it reaches right consistency (syrup should not dissolve when a drop is added to plain water)
• Add the pottu kadalai to this, mix it and make the balls before the jaggery becomes hard.
• Store it in a tight container

kadalai urundai

Ingredients:

• Roasted peanuts without skin- 1 cup
• Karupatti (Jaggery)  - 1/2 cup (depends on your taste choice)

Procedure: 

• Crush the karupatti (Jaggery) into small piecess and urud dal
• Transfer this to the mixer jar, add the roasted peanuts
• Grind it coursely (not like a powder)
• Add jaggery if the it is not enough
• Transfer this mix to a plate and make it as small balls
• Store it in a tight container

pasi paruppu sambar (moong dal sambar)

Ingredients:

• Onion - 1/4 cup
• Salt - As required
• Sambar powder - 1 1/2 tspn
• Oil - 4 tspn
• Tomato - 1 medium size
• Egg plan (Kathirikkai) - 2 medium size
• Mustard seeds, urud dal - little
• Yellow split Moong dal (pasi paruppu) - 1/3 cup

Procedure:

• Cook the split moong dal seperately . Moong dal should be half cooked.
• Heat oil in a cooker and add mustard seeds and urud dal
• Add onion to it once the mustard seeds start sputtering
• Now add the cooked moong dal
• Add sambar powder, cut tomato, cut egg plant and required salt
• Add little water to this and cook for a whistle in the cooker
• Once done, remove from the stove and serve with rice, chapatti, dosa.

Vazhakkai kadalaparuppu kuzhambu

Ingredients:

• Channa dal - 1/3 cup
• Onion - 1/3 cup
• Salt - As required
• Sambhar powder - 2 tspn
• Mustard seeds , urud dal - Little
• Shredded Coconut - 1/3 cup
• Green Plantain - 1 1/2

Procedure:

• Cook channa dal seperately with enough water
• Add oil in a cooker and add the mustard seeds and urud dal
• Once the mustard seeds spatters, add onion and fry till golden brown
• Now, cut the green plantain (vaazhakai) into small pieces and add it to the onion and fry for a minute
• Add cooked channa dal to this
• Add the sambhar powder
• Meantime, grind the coconut nicely and add it to this. Coconut can be added more if you like more thick gravy
• Add salt and cook for a whistle and remove from the stove
• Serve with White rice, chapatti

kathirikai murungakai Puli Kuzhambu (Drumsticks kulambu)

Ingredients:

• Oil - 6 tspsn
• Onion - 1/3 cup
• Salt - As required
• Sambar powder -2 tspn
• Shredded Coconut - Little more than 1/3 cup
• Egg plant (Kathirikkai) - 3
• Drumsticks - 5
• Tamarind - little

Procedure:

• Heat the oil in cooker , add mustard seeds and urud dal.
• Add the onion and fry till golden brown
• Add the egg plant and drumsticks
• Grind the coconut nicely and add it to the pan
• Add sambar powder, salt
• Now add the tamarind water and mix it well
• Add little more water to make it right consistency
• Close the cooker and cook it till the vegetables are cooked
• Serve with rice, chappathi, dosa

Tips: You can add garlic to this if you wish to ..

Paruppu urundai kulambu

Ingredients:

• Oil - 6 tspsn
• Onion - 1/3 cup
• Salt - As required
• Sambar powder - 1 1/2 tspn
• Sombu (Fennel seeds) -1 tspsn
• Garam Masala - 1/2 tspn
• Shredded Coconut - 1/3 cup

Procedure:

• Refer the link in my blog dal vada (paruppu vada) to make the paruppu vada.
• Instead of making flat vada, make it as small balls and fry it till golden color
• Heat the oil in kadai 
• Add the onion and fry till golden brown
• Add the garam masala powder to it
• Grind the coconut and sombu (Fennel seeds) nicely
• Add it to the frying onion
• Now add salt, sambar powder and add little water
• Boil this for few minutes
• Add the vadas prepared as above to the boiling gravy
• Remove from stove after 5 minutes
• Serve hot with rice, chapatti, dosa

Bread Bhaji

Ingredients:

• Bread -6
• Chilli powder - 1/2 tspn
• Oil - To Fry
• Salt - As required
• Asafoetida (perungayam) - 2 pinches
• Besan flour (kadala maavu) -  3/4 cups
• Rice Flour - 1/4 + 1 tbspn 
• Water - Little
• Baking soda (aappa soda) - 2 pinches
• Food color - 1 pinch (optional)

Procedure:

• Heat the oil in kadai 
• Once the oil is hot, put the stove on Sim.
• Mix besan flour rice flour, chilli powder,  Asafoetida, baking soda, salt
• Add water little by little making the mix not too watery and not too thick
• Cut the bread into different sizes that you would like
• Add these slices to the batter and mix it well
• Take out and fry it in the hot oil till it is cooked well
• Serve hot with tomato ketchup or Coconut chutney

Vazhakkai Bhajji (plantain bhajji)

Ingredients:

• Vazhakkai (plantain) -2
• Chilli powder - 1/2 tspn
• Oil - To Fry
• Salt - As required
• Asafoetida (perungayam) - 2 pinches
• Besan flour (kadala maavu) -  3/4 cups
• Rice Flour - 1/4 + 1 tbspn 
• Water - Little
• Baking soda (aappa soda) - 2 pinches
• Food color - 1 pinch (optional)

Procedure:

• Heat the oil in kadai 
• Once the oil is hot, put the stove on Sim.
• Mix besan flour rice flour, chilli powder,  Asafoetida, baking soda, salt
• Add water little by little making the mix not too watery and not too thick
• Peel the skin from plaintain
• Slice the plaintains to thin pieces using a shredder/cutter length wise
• Add these slices to the batter and mix it well
• Take out and fry it in the hot oil till it is cooked well
• Serve hot with Coconut chutney

Vazhakkai chips (Plantain Chips)

Ingredients:

• Vazhakkai (plantain) - 2
• Chilli powder - 1/2 tspn
• Oil - To Fry
• Salt - As required

Procedure:

• Heat the oil in kadai
• Peel plantain's skin .
• Using the chips maker (shredder) make round chips
• Add this to oil immediately (or directly slice the plantains to the oil)
• Fry till the chips look crispy
• Strain the oil, transfer it to a bowl
• Now add the salt and chilli powder and mix it gently
• Chips can be stored in a container for having it later.

VenPongal

Ingredients:

• Rice - 1 cup
• Yellow Moong dal - 1 cup
• Water -5 1/2 cup
• Ghee - 4 tspn
• Oil - 4 tspn
• Grated Ginger - 1 tspn
• Cumin seeds- 1/2 tspn 
•  Peppercorns - 1 tspn
• Broken Cashew - 2tspsn
• Salt - as required

Procedure:

• Heat the pressure cooker
• Add the oil and 2 tpsn ghee to the cooker
• Add cumin seeds, peppercorns, ginger and cashews
• Fry until cashew turns light brown
• Rinse the rice and moong dal and add it to the cooker
• Mix it with the ingredients for a minute
• Add 5 1/2 cups water (if you want the rice not to be watery, you can add less water)
• Add salt and close the pressure cooker and cook 
• Once cooked, add remaining ghee on top of it
• Serve hot with sambhar, coconut chutney

Pattani Sundal (Thenga Manga pattani sundal)

Ingredients:

• Pattani - 1/3 cup
• Onion - 1/4 cup
• Red Chilly -1
• Oil - 4 tspn
• Coriander leaves - little
• Sambar Masala - 1/2 tspn 
• Salt - as required 
• mustard seeds and urud dal - little 
•  grated coconut - 3 tspn
• Cut green mango - 3 - 4 tspn (optional)

Procedure:

• Soak the pattani overnight (for around 8 hours)
• Cook the pattani in the cooker for a whistle
• Heat oil in the pan
• Add mustard seeds and urud dal
• Add the onion and red chillies.
• Add the masala powders and salt
• Fry till the onion is golden brown
• Add the cooked pattani with only little water (do not add more water here)
• Add the grated coconut and coriander leaves to garnish 
• Mix and turn off the stove
• Serve Hot with sambar rice,curd rice, venpongal or as a snack

Tip: You could add the cut mangoes towards the end while adding the coconut and coriander leaves

Muttai Poriyal

Ingredients:

• Egg - 3
• Onion - 1/4 cup
• Green Chillies -2 (medium size)
• Oil - 3 tspn
• Coriander leaves - little
• Sambar Masala - 1/2 tspn or chilli powder + coriander powder+ turmeric powder - 1/2 tspsn
• ground pepper - 1/2 tspn

Procedure:

• Heat oil in the pan
• Add the onion and green chillies.
• Add the masala powders and salt
• Fry till the onion is golden brown
• Break the egg and add it directly to the frying onion
• Stir it and cook well till the eggs are cooked well
• Add coriander leaves to garnish
• Serve with Sambar rice, curd rice, chapatti

Nethili Karuvadu (kuchi Karvudu) kuzhambu

Ingredients:

• Kuchi Karuvadu - 3/4 cup
• Onion - 1/2 cup
• Green Chillies -2
• Garlic Pods - 6 (optional)
• Oil - 5 tspn
• Tamarind - little
• Sambar Masala - 1 tspn

Procedure:

• Soak the karuvadu in water for 10 minutes
• Heat oil in the pan
• Add the onion and green chillies, garlic pods (optional)
• Fry till the onion is golden brown
• Add tamarind water and the karuvadu
• Add the sambar masala and little salt
• Add little water and boil it till it becomes thick and oil oozes out 
• This goes well with Rice, dosa, chappati

Carrot Poriyal

Ingredients:

• Carrot - 3 medium size
• Onion - Very little
• mustard seeds and urud dal mix - 1/2 spoon
• Green Chillies -2
• Oil - 3 tspn
• Shredded Coconut - 4 ts[n

Procedure:

• Heat oil in the pan
• Add urud dal, mustard seeds
  
• Add onion and cut green chillies and saute it for a minute
• Shred the carrot using the shredder
• Add the carrot to the pan
• Add little water (around 1/4 cup) and add required salt to it
• Let it cook for few minutes
• After the carrot is cooked, add the shredded coconut
• Take it out of the stove
• Serve with sambar, rasam

Muttai Kuzhambu (Egg Curry)

Ingredients:

• Boiled Egg -3
• Onion - 1/2
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tspn
• Red Chillies - 6
• Oil - 6 tspn
• Coconut - Little less than 1/4 cup

Procedure:

• Heat oil in the pan
• Cut onion into small pieces, Add the onion to the oil and fry
  
• Grind the red chillies, cumin seeds, coconut nicely
• Add the ground mix to the frying onion
• Add salt and bring it to boil adding little water
• remove the hard shell of the eggs and add it to the gravy mix
• Keep the burner low and cook it for few minutes till the oil oozes out of the gravy
• Serve hot with rice or chapatti

Chettinad Chicken Kuruma (kuzhambu)

Ingredients:

• Chicken-1/2 kg
• Onion - 1 (big)
• Tomatoes-2 (small size)
• Garlic-5 pods
• Ginger garlic paste- 2 teaspoons
• Chili powder-1 table spoon
• Coriander powder-2 to 3 table spoons
• lemon juice-2 teaspoons

Marination

• Curd-2 table spoons
• Turmeric powder-1 teaspoon
• Chili powder-2 teaspoons
• Salt-2 teaspoons
• Ginger garlic paste-1 teaspoon 

Seasoning

• Cardomom-2
• Cinnamon-2 small pieces
• Clove-2
• Birinji leaf-small piece
• Star anise-a small piece
• Mint leaf-little
• Curry leaf little
• Fennel seed-1 teaspoon

Grinding

• Cocunut-2 table spoons
• Cashewnut-5
• Fennel seeds-1 teaspoon

Procedure:

• Marinate the washed chicken pieces with the items provided above for marination for 1 hour.
• Grind the items in “For Grinding" list to a smooth paste
• Add 1 table spoon of oil in pressure cooker and fry  the items in ‘for Seasoning’ list for a minute
• Cut the onion, tomatoes, garlic and Saute  one by one nicely and add ginger garlic paste
• Add the marinated chicken and saute for 3 minutes
• Add the chilli and coriander powder and 2 to 3 cups of water.
• Add required salt and mix , Close the cooker and cook for a whistle.
• Once it is done,add the ground paste and let the gravy boil for 5 minutes
  
• Once everything is well mixed and the gravy looks right consistency, Switch off the stove
• Add the lemon juice and mix well and Your chettinad chicken gravy is ready
• This dish goes well with White rice
  

Spicy Mutton Masala

Ingredients:

• Mutton-1lb
• coriander seeds-3tsp
• Pepper-2tsp
• Whole Red chillies-7to8(Adjust according to your spice level)
• cumin seeds-1tsp
• Cinnamon-1inch
• Cardamon-2nos
• Cloves-2nos
• Yogurt-1/2cup
• Onions sliced-1medium
• Tomato-1(optional)
• Oil-2tbsp

Procedure:

• Heat a pan and dry roast all the spices,Pepper,coriander seeds,red chillies,cumin,cardamon,Cinnamon,cloves & grind it to a paste with ginger garlic paste.
• Heat Oil in the pan & fry onions till they turn golden brown color
• Add the chopped tomatoes, ground paste,& saute for a couple of minutes
• hen add the yogurt, mutton, salt and little water
• Mix well, cover & cook till the meat is tender or well cooked.
• At this stage check the taste and fry it well till you get the desired consistency.
• This dish goes well with Rice.

Chettinad Mushroom Biryani(kaalan biryani)

Ingredients:

• Mushroom - 200 grams
• Basmati Rice - 2 cups
• Onion - 1
• Tomato - 2
  
• Coriander leaves - Little
• Mint leaves - Little
• Bay leaf - a small leaf
• Lemon extract - 3 to 4 drops
  
• Ghee and Oil - 4 to 5 spoons
• Salt - to taste
• Coconut milk - 1 to 2 cups (Optional)

Grind below ingredients as paste:

• Fennel seeds - 1/2 tspn
• Cinnamon - 2 inch stick
• Cloves - 4
• Green chilies - 4 to 5
• Ginger garlic paste - 1 spoon

Procedure:

• Slice Onion into length-wise. Chop Tomatoes finely. Cut Mushroom into pieces.
• Grind and make a paste of the above mentioned ingredients. Soak Basmati rice for 10 minutes.
  
• Heat Ghee and Oil in the pressure cooker.
• Add Bay leaf and fry for a minute. Add Onion and fry till it turns into golden brown in color.
  
• Add ground paste and fry till raw smell goes off.
• Add Chopped Tomatoes and fry till it becomes soft. Add little salt which makes the tomatoes soft .
  
• Add Mushroom pieces and fry till it becomes little soft.
• Add Coriander and Mint leaves and fry till it becomes wilted.
• Then add soaked Basmati rice and fry for 2 minutes.
• Now add 3 cups of water(either Coconut milk+water or water), Salt and Lemon extract.
• Cover and cook for 1 whistle (depends on cooker - same as cooking rice)
• Serve with thayir vengayam.
  

Prawn Curry (Yera kozhambu)

Ingredients:

• Prawns/Shrimps - 2 cups
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Lemon juice  - 2 tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Grated Coconut - 5 tbsp
• Ginger - 1 inch
• Garlic - 3 cloves of garlic
• Cinnamon - 2 small pieces
• Greenchillies - 3
• Onion -1, finely chopped
• Tomatoes - 3, finely chopped
• Fennel seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Coriander leaves for garnish
• Oil - 2 tsp

Procedure:

• Marinate the prawns (shrimps) with turmeric powder, chilli powder, lemon juice/and salt for about an hr. Frozen shrimps can be used too. Marinating for an hour helps to the shrimps to thaw and also absorb the flavors.
• Grind the following together - coconut, ginger, garlic, cinnamon, clove and greenchillies to a fine paste, using some water.
• Heat oil in a saucepan and add some fennel seeds. 
• Add finely chopped onions and saute well till the onions turn slightly brown. Add the tomatoes and cook till the tomatoes are done.
• Add the prawns now and saute for some time and then add the ground paste from Step 2 and stir well.
• Add about 2 cups of water and cover the sauce pan and let it simmer.
• Garnish with a few coriander leaves and it goes well with rice, idli/dosa, chapatti

Vegetable Kuruma

Ingredients

Green Beans- 1 cup
Carrot-1/2 Cup
Peas-1/4 cup
Onions-1/2 chopped finely
Tomato-1 chopped finely
Ginger garlic paste- 1 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon- 1 stick
Cloves- 4
Star anise-2
Garam masala powder- 1/2tsp
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
Salt to taste

To grind
Green chillies-4 to 5 or acc to taste
Coriander seeds- 1tsp
Jeera-1 tsp
Saunf or Aniseed- 1tsp
Cashews -6
Khus khus-1tsp
Coconut 4 to 5 tsp
Coriander leaves- 1 tsp finely chopped

Procedure:
Heat 4 tsp oil and 1 tsp ghee in a pressure cooker .
Add cinnamon, cloves and star Anise.
Add the onions, saute for some time and add the ginger garlic paste.
Fry for some time and add the tomatoes. Saute till the tomatoes become soft and add all the vegetables.
Add salt garam masala and turmeric powder.
Add the ground masala and fry for some time .
Add 1 glass of water and pressure cook.
Simmer for 5 mins after the 1 st whistle.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with poori or chapathis or paranthas.