TOMATO THOKKU

There are always so many side dishes for 'pepper pongal'. Coconut chutney, brinjal kothsu, and green gram sambar are very famous combinations for milagu pongal. But this one is a delicious and tastiest side dish for the 'milagu pongal'. It seems simple to prepare. But the result will be fantastic!!

தக்காளி தொக்கு

Ingredients:

medium sized tomatoes-5
turmeric powder- half sp
chilli powder- half sp
fenugreek seeds- 1 tsp
asafoetida- a pea-sized piece
gingelly oil- 1/4 cup
mustard seeds- 1 tsp
salt to taste

Procedure:

soak the ripe tomatoes in hot water for half an hour.
Then remove the skins.
Mash the tomatoes in a mixi.
Fry the fenugreek seeds and the asafoetida in a tsp of oil to golden brown.
When cooled powder them finely.
heat a pan and pour the oil.
When they splutter add the tomato with the turmeric powder.
let it cook on medium fire.
When the tomato mixture in thickened add the powders with enough salt.
Let the tomato thokku cook for a few more minutes.
The tasty tomato thokku is ready now!!

Monsoon Munches- Hituku Belae Kunukku - Field beans,rice and lentil savoury

MONSOON MUNCHES

HITUKU BELAE KUNUKKU

Kunukku is a savoury dish prepared with ADAI ( a rice and lentil pancake) dough, rather with the left over Adai dough. This dish can be prepared even otherwise for it has a delicious and crunchy outer coat and the inside has the texture of Uppma. A handful of Hitukubelae ( this lentil is obtained by soaking the fresh field beans and then pinching them out of their husks) added to the dough makes the Kunukku a real delicacy.


INGREDIENTS



Rice - 1 cup
Tur dal- 1/2 cup
Bengal gram dal - 1/2 cup
Split black gram dal - 1 tbsp
Red chillies - 4
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Curry leaves - a few
Coconut pieces/ gratings - 2 tbsps
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Hituku belae - 1/2 cup
Oil - for frying


METHOD



1. Wash and soak all the dals with rice and red chillies for one hour.
2. Grind the soaked ingredients coarsely without adding water. The thick batter will have the texture of soaked semolina.
3. Mix in salt, curry leaves, asafoetida, field beans and the coconut gratings. If coconut pieces are used, they can be added to the dough in the last stage of grinding.
4. Heat oil in a kadai and drop the batter with the help of a tea spoon to make eight to ten Kunukkus at a time.
5. Fry the Kunukkus to a golden brown colour and drain them on a paper towel.


Enjoy the Hituku Belae Kunukku with coconut chutney or tomato ketchup.

Chapathi Ladoo ~ Leftover magic

With the onset of monsoon, most of the days, we have roti for dinner. Earlier, roti wasn't a favorite with my husband for dinner. He doesn't have problem eating it for breakfast, but when it comes to dinner, I will have to make parathas with various stuffing. Of late, he has started liking roti for dinner. I always count and make. But when guests are there, I tend to make more, just in case it falls short. Some days, I do have one or two as leftovers, which will be used up during lunch. Once I had four rotis from previous day's dinner and I made ladoos. I have been wanting to try this for a long time, after seeing the same in many blogs. It was enough to satisfy the sweet cravings during the day.

There isn't much of a recipe here. The rotis are to be made crisp so that it can be powdered. The roti powder is mixed in melted jaggery and cooked till it gets together. Its then shaped into balls while warm. The measurements are approximate and take it as cue. You can add some roasted cashews or raisins or some roasted coconut too.  Next time, I wanted to try it with dates in place of jaggery.

You need

• Roti - 4 nos, preferably a day old
• Jaggery powdered  - 2 tablespoons
• Ghee -1 teaspoon

Method

Heat a tawa. Roat the roti one by one till it is crisp. Alternatively, you can MW it for a minute and give another minute of standing time. It will turn crisp, like papad. Break the crisp rotis into pieces and pulse in the mixer grinder to powder. The consistency of the powder is up to you. If you want you can powder it fine or coarsely, as I did.

Heat a kadai.Add a teaspoon of ghee. When ghee is hot, add the powdered jaggery. When the jaggery melts and starts bubbling, tip the roti powder. Mix so that it comes together. Remove from fire. When it is warm, shape into lemon sized balls. If it doesn't hold, add few drops of milk.

You can serve this as after school snack for kids.

This goes to PJ's  scrumptious delights from left overs