Tomato Rasam

Rasam is my all time favorite simple comfort food. I always and still love my mom's rasam recipe and till today never achieved in making like what she makes. The easiest recipe is never easy for me. :-) So I took the help of the MTR Rasama Powder for the rescue. It turned out very good and colorful. You can serve this with your choice of sides/fry.

Ingredients:

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3 ripe Tomatoes chopped

3-4 Garlic pods crushed

1 tbsp Tamarind pulp

1/4 tsp Chili powder (optional)

3-4 tsp MTR Rasam Powder

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

1/4  cup Cilantro chopped

1 tsp Oil

1/4 tsp Mustard seeds

1/4 tsp Cumin seeds

1/8 tsp Asafoetida

1 Sprig Curry leaves

2-3 dry Red Chilies

Salt to taste

Water as needed

Method:

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1. In a deep sauce pan add oil and when it's hot add mustard seeds and when they start to sputter add ddry red chilies, curry leaves, asafoetida and finally the garlic.

2. When the garlic turns slight brown reduce the flame to low and add chili powder and turmeric powder.

3. After few seconds, add the tomatoes and cover and cook in medium flame until the tomatoes are cooked for about 5 mins.

4. Now add rasama masala, tamarind pulp and enough water about 3 cups keeping the flame in medium and keep the lid half open.

5. Just about when it is to boil, you can see some foam coming up.

6. Off the flame and add cilantro sitr it once and cover it and let it sit for about 2-3 mins.

7. Serve this with Steamed rice with any sides/fry.

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Beet Root Rasam

Tengai Obbuttu/Kayee Obbattu for Tamil New Year's Day - Flatbread With Sweet Coconut Filling

TENGAI OBBUTTU / KAYEE OBBATTU

Obbuttu / Obbattu is a delicacy prepared on all happy and auspicious occassions. A Ugadi feast or a Chittirai Pirappu (Tamil new year's day ) feast is never complete without the delicious obbuttu / obbattu. It can be relished as it is or with warm milk. Savouring it with payasam /payasa might be a overkill but it is heaven for people with hopeless sweet tooth!

INGREDIENTS FOR FILLING

Coconut gratings - 1 cup
Powdered jaggery - 1 cup
Semolina - 2 tbsps
Cardamom powder - 1 pinch

METHOD

1. Dissolve jaggery in half cup of warm water and strain.
2. Dry roast semolina and keep aside.
3. Grind coconut smoothly sprinkling little water.
4. Cook jaggery water and coconut paste till it becomes thick.
5. Switch off flame and mix in roasted semolina and cardamom powder.
6. Let the poornam / hoorana cool down.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE DOUGH

Maida /Plain flour - 1 cup
Chiroti rave ( very fine semolina ) - 1 cup
Turmeric powder - 1 pinch
Salt - 1 pinch
Cooking oil - 2 tbsps

METHOD

1. Mix maida, chiroti rave, turmeric powder and salt in a bowl.
2. Knead into a soft dough adding water little by little.
3. Add oil and knead again .
4. Cover with a lid and allow it to stand for about 2 hours.

TO MAKE THE OBBUTTU /OBBATTU

1. Take a lemon size ball of dough and flatten it.
2. Take a portion of the filling, make a ball and place it on the flattened dough ball.

                                    

3. Pull the edges to seal the filling inside the dough ball.
4.Grease a plastic sheet and place the dough ball with filling on it with its sealed surface down.
5. Cover it with another greased plastic sheet.
7. Roll the dough ball with filling using a rolling pin, into a thin chapati ( flatbread).

                                    

8. Heat a greased tava on low fire.
9.Peel the rolled chapati carefully and place it on the tava.
10. Cook the obbuttu/obbattu on both sides ( with or without ghee ) till reddish brown patches appear on the surfaces.


                                      

                                       


Relish the warm crisp obbuttus/obbattus with payasam/payasa !

Crawl Space Encapsulations in South Carolina Using Spray Foam Insulation

Crawl Space Encapsulations With Spray Foam Insulation
(How Encapsulating Your Crawlspace can Save on Energy Bills)

What is done to my Crawl Space in South Carolina, when Encapsulated with 3 mil plastic and a Spray Foam Insulation Band?

1. Your crawl space will first be cleaned and removed of all old insulation, debris, and examined for moisture problems, mold, etc.  A good insulation contractor will make sure to check the home or mold, water moisture, or water moisture damage before installing a crawl space encapsulation system using 3 mil Poly and a spray foam insulation band.

2.  Your crawl space will then be prepped and fitted with a 3 mil poly layer, sealing your home and crawlspace from the probably wet and dirty crawlspace floor.  The installers will then run the 3 mil plastic up the walls of your crawl space and tack the plastic in place, so that the next step where the spray foam insulation will go on evenly.

3.  The 3 mil plastic will then be sealed off around the band of the flooring system, creating a new building envelope for your home, thus resulting in more energy efficiency in your home. 

This is a very simple process and is also a lot more cost effective then doing spray foam insulation on the underneath side of the floor.  Crawl Space Encapsulations in Myrtle Beach, SC offer many benefits, and one is that of crawl space pest control.  However, when chooosing a insulation contractor, you need to make sure that the contractor you choose knows the local building codes for termite treatments on the band board.  There is only a couple of inches of play when installing the 3 mil plastic, and it must be below the termite treatment line.  This is a common mishap for some insulation contractors, but a good insulation contractor will know this.  This leads me into my next topic of discussion for this blog post which is what are some of the Advantages of Crawl Space Encapsulations with Spray Foam Insulation in South Carolina.

Advantages of Crawl Space Encapsulations

• Energy Efficiency - by encapsulating your crawl space in Horry County SC, or any other warm climate, you improve the overall efficiency of your HVAC system
• Get Rid of Damp and Musty Smell - by encapsulating your crawlspace, you will have a much more dryer and cleaner smelling crawl space.
• Humidity and Moisture Control - Crawl Space Encapsulation in South Carolina can decrease humidity and moisture in your crawl space.
• Crawl Space Pest Control - because most insects and other pest that attack your home thrive in wet, moist enviorments, having a clean, dry crawl space will control the amount of pest your see.

The crawl space of most residents homes in South Carolina and North Carolina are usually a neglegted area when it comes to maintenence and energy efficiency.  I hope that this blog post will inform whomever may read it the advantages of encapsulating there crawl space, and the energy savings that it can bring.