Mrs.Mano's Tamilnadu Delicacies

[Sowmya]

Dear Mrs.Mano
Tried your "papaya curry" y'day.It was very tasty.Thanks a lot.

Regards
Sowmya

[rajshank]

Hello Shanthy!
Thanks a lot for the feedback on Badam burfi.
I am posting a peda recipe for you.
This peda recipe is from a milkmaid book. Hope this will be helpful to you!

MALAI PEDA:

Ingredients:

Milkmaid- 1 tin, milk- 1 1/2 cups, citric acid- 1/4 tsp, corn flour- 1 tsp, Cardamom powder- 1/2 tsp, ghee- 1 tbsp, yellow colour- a few drops

Procedure:

Heat ghee in a pan. Add milkmaid, milk and the citric acid dissolved in a little water. Continue heating and allow the milk to curdle. Make a paste of corn flour with 2 tbsp of water. Add this to the milk after it is curdled. Continue the heating on slow fire till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. Add colour and mix well. When cooled a little, shape in to pedas and decorate with cardamom powder

Hello Mrs. Mano,

What is Citric Acid called in US? Will i get it in the US? Can i use vinegar as a substitute? And when u said "allow milk to curdle", will it become like when we make paneer at home...that is the milk gets seperated ..Or does it mean to keep boiling the milk, till it becomes lesser in quantity...i have loads of doubts... And i like Malai Pedas very much and want to try this recipe badly...

[Mrs.Mano]

Dear Honey!
The ingredients for the naan and the kulcha are more or less the same. While Naan is from U.P, Kulcha is a Punjabi dish. Naan is thinner while Kulcha is thicker in preparation, at least with the thickness of ¼”. Here are the recipes for Naan as well as kulcha. Kulcha is shallow-fried after it is baked. And its shape is round while Naan’s shape is like a teardrop.

KULCHA:

Sprinkle 1 tsp of sugar and 3 tsps of fresh or dry yeast over 150 ml warm milk and leave it to froth for 20 minutes. Sift 3 cups of flour with 1 tsp of salt. Make a well in the center. Pour the yeast mixture in it with 2 tbsp of ghee. Mix well and slowly add 4 tbsp of yogurt. Knead well and make soft dough. Cover it with a damp cloth and leave it to rise for 6 hours. Knead well again and divide in to equal parts. Roll out each part into a round disc of 5” diameter and ¼” thickness. Place them in a baking tray. Cover them again with a damp cloth and leave them to rise again for 30 to 45 minutes. Brush each with oil. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 140 deg C-gas mark-1 for 10 minutes. Remove them and shallow fry in a hot griddle like parathas.

NAAN: FOLLOW THE SAME METHOD. Ingredients slightly vary. For 3 cups of plain flour, use 1 tbsp of yeast, 1 tsp of sugar, 2 tbsp of yogurt, 2 tsp of salt and 2 tbsp of ghee.
At the last stage, mix 1 tbsp of ghee with 1 tbsp of sesame seeds and brush them on the naan before baking it. You must bake it at 190 Deg C- gas mark-5 for 4 to 5 minutes. There is no need for shallow frying after that.
NB: For kulcha, you can mix 1 tbsp of calonji seeds [dry onion seeds] with 1 tbsp of ghee and brush on the kulcha before baking.

[Mrs.Mano]

Dear Thattai!

I am very glad to know that you have got successful results with the Pongal, briyani, and kuzhi paniyaram. Yr heart-warming response really motivates me to post more and more tasty recipes.
The pongal with lentils and green gram is always tasty and tomato thokku is a delicious accompaniment for this pongal. I think that I have already posted the recipe for it.
About this briyani- I have learned it form a Muslim friend. I have crossed over so many briyani recipes in the past and tried almost all of them. But, I feel that this is the best of all to date. I am glad that your mother also has enjoyed making it.

About sambar sadham-When you pour the tamarind extract and cook it with the prepared podi, it may be a little watery. So that it will still be in a flowing consistency, even after you have mixed the rice and dal and every thing. So it will not be thick after it is cooled.
Once again I thank you very much for the nice feedback you have given on my recipes.

[Mrs.Mano]

Hello Shreya!
Here is the recipe for Prawn vadai.

PRAWN VADAI:

Ingredients:

Prawn- 500 gms
Ginger paste-1 tsp
Garlic paste- 1 tsp
Coarsely ground Green chilli- 1 tsp
Onion paste- 2 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1 tsp
Chopped coriander- 2 tsp
Gram flour- 4 tsp
Chilli powder- 1 tsp
Beaten egg- 1
Gram dal powder- 2 tsp
Breadcrumbs- 1 tbsp
Lime juice- 2tbsp
Enough salt and oil

Procedure:

Clean and wash the prawns. Mix them well with lime juice and the turmeric powder and keep it like that for 30 minutes. Then wash the prawn again. This way, the smell of the prawns will disappear. Steam the prawns for 10 minutes and allow them to cool. Grind them coarsely with all the pastes and enough salt . Add chilli powder, coriander leaves, flours, egg and the bread crumbs to the ground mixture and mix well. Make balls, faltten them like vadais and deep fry them in hot oil.

[Mrs.Mano]

Dear Indu!
I also do not know about these old measurements except for one thing. An aazhaakku is 1/8th of a ‘padi’.

[Mrs.Mano]

Dear Sowmya!
thank you very much for the feedback on pappaya curry.

[Mrs.Mano]

Dear rajshank!

You can use a little vinegar instaed of citric acid. when the milk is curdled, it will look like crumbled paneer. Again, when the corn flour paste is added, it will blend everything into a fine mass.

[shreya23]

dear mrs mano
thanks for the prawn vadai recipe, i will try it out this weekend &let u know.
shreya

[padmasini]

Is milkmaid same as sweet and condensed milk you get here?