THAMIZHATCHI's VEGETARIAN RECIPES

[Thamizhatchi]

SPICY PASTA

Ingredients:
1. Pasta - 1 cup (any type)
2. Red beans - 1/4 cup - cooked with little salt
3. Onion - 1 big chopped
4. Tomato - 2 chopped
5. Chilli powder - 1.5 tea spoon
6. Cilantro (Coriander leaves) - 4 spoons chopped
7. Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 tea spoon
8. Salt - to taste
9. Seasoning stuff - little mustard seeds, cumin seeds, turmeric powder
10. Garam masala - 1/4 spoon (optional)

Method:
1. Cook pasta like u cook rice either in cooker (one whistle) or boil it in a vessel. Add 1/4 spoon of turmeric powder and 1/4 spoon of salt while u cook.
After cooking, if the pasta is too sticky, add plenty of cold water, separate the pasta and drain the water.

2. In a pan, add 4 spoons of oil and when hot, add the seasoning stuff. When mustard splutters, add onions, tomato, ginger-garlic paste and fry for 2 minutes in medium flame.

3. When well cooked, add chilli powder, garam masala, salt, red beans and 1/2 cup of water and cook for 3 minutes in medium flame till the gravy boils.

4. Finally add cooked pasta and cook for 2 more minutes by stirring occasionally. Add little water if the mix is too thick. When cooked remove it from the range.

5. Add cilantro and mix once.

6. Optional: Before serving add one tea spoon of butter or ghee and mix gently. Cooked vegetables can also be added but it will make the pasta too heavy.
For orange color, you can add saffron or orange color powder a pinch and mix before switching off the range.


Note: Pasta has a lotta minerals and hence is good for health.

Enjoy your Spicy Pasta!

[Thamizhatchi]

Okra / Eggplant Rice

Ingredients:
1. Rice - 1 cup
2. Okra - 8 , cut (1 inch in length) or cut eggplant - 2 cups
3. Green Chillies - 2
4. Ginger-Garlic Paste - 1/2 spoon
5. Turmeric powder - 1/4 spoon
6. Chilly powder - 1/2 spoon
7. Onion - 1/2 cup chopped
8. Tomato - 1/4 cup chopped
9. Oil
10. Seasoning - Mustard-1/4 spoon, Fennel seeds-1/4 spoon, curry leaves - 5 leaves
11. Salt to taste
12. Water - 2 cups

Method:
1. Rinse rice and soak in cold water for 10 minutes.
2. In a pan or cooker, pour 5 spoons of vegetable oil and when hot add the seasoning items.
3. When the mustard splutters, add onions, green chillies and ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder and fry. Cook in medium heat for 1 minute.
4. Add tomatoes and fry for 1 minute.
5. Add Okra, chilly powder and salt and fry for few minutes till the okra gets half cooked.
6. Add water and allow the mix to boil.
7. As the water boils, add the rice, mix well and check for taste. If everything is fine, close the lid!!

Note: Incase u cook in a pressure cooker, allow two whistles.

[dev]

Hi,

Won't the okra become too mushy if cooked with rice?.

[Thamizhatchi]

Hi Dev,
Good question!. When you cut okra 1 inch in length (not too small) and fry it in medium heat for quite a while, it will not be too sticky!! (that comes in the 5th step)
Also, after preparing bindi rice, do not stir it often. Instead toss the vessel gently and let it stay for 5 - 10 minutes before serving.


All the best!

[Thamizhatchi]

Recipe for Mixture:

Time: Minimum 1 hr

Ingredients:

1. Besan Flour - 4 cups
2. Oil for frying
3. Salt to taste
4. Peanuts - 1/4 cup
5. Roasted channa dal - 1/4 cup
6. Curry leaves - 1/4 cup
7. Cashew nuts - 1/4 cup
8. Turmeric powder - 1/4 sppon
9. Poha (Aval) - 1/4 cup
10. Murumura (Pori / crispy rice) - 1/4 cup
11. Chilli powder - 1 spoon
12. Garlic - 5 flakes (Optional)

Method:

a) Boondhi

1. Mix well one cup of besan flour with 1/4 cup of water to the consistency of Dosa batter, add 1/4 spoon of salt and add a little turmeric powder.
2. Boil oil and when the oil is hot enough for frying, keep the boondhi plate 5 to 6 inches above the oil pan and pour little mix
into the boondhi plate and with the palm rub the plate so that the mix drops in the oil (each drop separately), and keep moving our palm on the boondhi plate till all the batter drops into the oil.
3. Make sure the oil isn't too hot. Keep the boondhi plate aside and fry the boondhi for 20 to 30 seconds till it gets crispy.
4. Remove from the pan and drain the excess oil by putting the boondhi on a paper towel.
5. Repeat steps 2 to 4 untill all the batter gets over.
6. Sim the range when done.

b) Oma podi

1. Mix well one cup of besan flour with little water to the consistency of chappathi batter, add 1/4 spoon of salt and add a little turmeric powder.
2.Continue with the same oil. Put little batter in the omapodi maker.
3. Press the omapodi maker so that omapodi falls in the hot oil. Fry till it gets crispy.
4. Remove from the pan and drain the excess oil by putting the omapodi on a paper towel.
5. Repeat steps 2 to 4 untill all the batter gets over.
6. Sim the range when done.

c) Items to be deep fried

1) Heat oil and in a metal strainer, add peanuts and dip it in hot oil till it gets fried.
2) Remove the strainer from oil and drain the excess oil by putting the contents on a paper towel.
3) Repeat the above for curry leaves.

d) Items to be slightly fried

1. In a hot pan, put a spoon of oil and fry poha by adding little turmeric powder and salt.
2. Once crispy, put it aside.
3. Repeat the above two steps separately for murmura/pori, cashew nuts, slightly mashed garlic flakes and roasted channa dal.

Finally,
Mix all the contents of a) to d) in a big pan, and while the contents are slightly warm, add chilli powder and little salt and mix gently.

Mixture is ready and store it in a air tight container.

Note: Break omapodi gently to small pieces and separate boondhi if its sticking to one another.

[Thamizhatchi]

Recipe for Masal Vada

Ingredients:

1. Channa Dal - 1 cup
2. Moong Dal - 4 spoons
3. Dry Red chillies - 4
4. Fennel Seeds - 1/4 spoon (Optional)
5. Onion finely chopped - 1/2 cup
6. Coriander leaves finely chopped - 2 spoons
7. Curry leaves finely chopped - 2 spoons
8. Salt - 1/2 spoon or as required
9. Oil to fry

Method:

1. Soak Channa dal and moong Dal with 3 cups of water for about 1 hour.
2. Drain water and grind coarsely with red chillies and fennel seeds.
3. Mix the chopped onions, corainder leaves, curry leaves and salt.
4. Make 10 to 12 balls with the vada mix.
5. Heat enough oil to fry in a deep pan. When the oil is hot enough to fry, pick a vada mix ball, press gently to vada shape and put into the pan and fry till the color turns light brown.
6. Masal vada is ready!

[Thamizhatchi]

VENPONGAL

Ingredients:

1. Raw rice - 1 cup
2. Moong Dal - 1/4 cup
3. Black pepper - 1/4 spoon
4. Cumin - 1/4 spoon
5. Giner finely chopped - 1/2 spoon
6. Curry leaves - 5 to 6
7. Hing - a pinch
8. Cashew nuts - 5 to 6 broken
9. Salt to taste
10. Oil or ghee - 5 spoons

Method:

1. In a vessel, wash rice and moong dal in cold water and add 4 cups of water and salt and pressure cook up to 4 whistles.
2. In a seasoning pan, add oil or ghee and season items 3 to 7.
3. Add this mix to the cooked rice and moong dal.
4. Again in the seasoning pan, add oil or ghee and fry cashew nuts and add it to the cooked rice and moong dal.
5. Mix all together and if you want the pongal little more soft, add hot milk 1/2 cup while mixing.
6. Your Venpongal is ready.

[Thamizhatchi]

KARAKUZAMBU

Ingredients:

1. Black pepper - 1 table spoon
2. Cumin - 2 table spoon
3. Red chillies - 3
4. Coriander seeds (Dhania) - 2 spoon
5. Peanuts (Groundnuts) - 1 table spoon
6. Sesame seeds - 1 table spoon
7. Tomato (Ripen) - 1 chopped
8. Onion - 1 chopped
9. Tamarind paste - 1 table spoon
10. Turmeric powder - 1/4 spoon
11. Garlic - 5 flakes
12. Seasoning: Mustard - 1/4 spoon, curry leaves little, hing - a pinch, small red chilli, Methi (fenugreek) - 5 to 6 seeds (Optional), Sesame Oil - 2 tea spoons
13. Coriander leaves - 5 twigs chopped
14. Any vegetable like eggplant, okra, green pepper, yam chopped length wise - 1 cup
15. Salt to taste.

Method:

1. Fry items 1-4 separately without oil and grind them coarsely together.
2. Fry item 5 and 6 separately without oil and grind them coarsely separately.
3. Fry onions and tomato together with few spoons of oil and grind them.
4. In a pan, add oil and when hot add seasoning items.
5. When mustard splutters, add garlic, turmeric powder, cut vegetables and fry in medium heat till the vegetable gets cooked.
6. Add the mix from 1st and 3rd method and 1 cup of water, tamarind paste or tamarind juice,1 spoon of salt and allow the mix to boil.
7. Once the vegetables are cooked, add the mix from method 2 and stir well and after few seconds, switch off the range and add the chopped coriander leaves.
8. Add a spoon of ghee before serving. (Optional).

[Thamizhatchi]

Purple Cabbage Rice

Ingredients:

1. Shredded purple cabbage - 1 cup
2. Green chillies cut lengthwise - 2
3. Rice cooked - 2 cups
4. Crushed pepper - 1 spoon
5. Seasoning : Black mustard 1/4 spoon, hing a pinch, cumin 1/4 spoon, Ginger - finely chopped - 1/4 spoon, curry leaves - few
6. Salt

Method:

1. In a pan, add 4 spoons of oil and/or a spoon of ghee.
2. Add the seasoning items and when the mustard splutters, add green chillies, fry for few seconds and add chopped cabbage.
3. Add salt and cook in low gas till the cabbage gets cooked by 80%.
4. Switch the gas off and allow the curry to stay till it gets slightly warm.
5. Mix it with rice and while mixing add crushed pepper.
6. Purple cabbage rice is ready to be served!!.

[Thamizhatchi]

UPMA

Ingredients:

1. Sooji - 2 cups
2. Onion - 1/2 cup chopped
3. Green Chillies - 3 cut in middle
4. Seasoning - little mustard, cumin, Channa dal (Kadalai paruppu), hing, curry leaves
5. Salt, oil, water

Method:

1. Boil 5 cups of water separately.
2. In a pan, add 8 spoons of oil and add seasoning items and when the mustard splutters, add chopped onions and green chillies and fry in medium flame.
3. When the onion is cooked, add the sooji and fry till the sooji absorbs oil.
4. Add salt and mix well.
5. Slowly add hot water in one hand and stir the sooji in the other hand till all the water is poured.
6. After switching of the range, stir to make sure there are no small loafs.
7. Optional - Add 1/4 th of a spoon of ghee to upma while serving.
8. UPMA is ready to be served.