Mrs.Mano's Tamilnadu Delicacies

[Mrs.Mano]

Hello Kala!

I could understand yr happiness. It will definitely be like that if one’s recipe is appreciated by every one in the family. Credit goes to you also as you have tried it very sincerely. Thank you very much for the nice feedback on the 'chicken briyani'..

[Mrs.Mano]

Hello Rain!

Thanks a lot for yr sincere feedback on ‘paruppu urundai kuzhambu’.

[Mrs.Mano]

Dear rsankar!

Thank you very much for the nice feedback on ‘Kuska briyani’.

[sheilakrishnan]

Dear Mrs. Mano,

Thank you very much for the Milagu Ponggal recipe. I am anxious to try it. Only two questions before that, does the rice and dhall have to be soaked for one hour before preparation? What is the purpose? Also is it correct to use 10 cups of water for 2 cups rice?

Thanks again.

regards

Sheila

[gvb]

Dear Mrs.mano,
I'll use more tomatoes and reduce dhal as u said.Thanks for ur suggestion.

Regards,
Suganthi.

[rain]

hello mrs.mano,

i would love to try your kuska biryani. while going thru your instuctions i saw this term 'dum'.what does this mean? can i get the same results in the pressure cooker? and how can i substitute fresh & frozen shredded coconut here for 2 cups of rice. please suggest how to go about this recipe. thanks for ur help.

regards,
rain

[arrecipes]

Dear Mrs. Mano,
I tried out Kuska Biryani and Chettinad Chicken gravy on Sunday. Both the dishes turned out to be delicious. Thanks for providing us with such wonderful recipes.

[Mrs.Mano]

Hello Arrecipes!

Thanks a lot for the nice feedback on kuska briyani and chettinadu chicken gravy. Here is the recipe for ‘Potato paal curry’.

URULAIKKIZHANGU PAAL CURRY:

Ingredients:

Cubed potatoes- 3 cups
Shredded coconut- 2 cups
Onion slices- 1/2 cup
Green chilli-3
Shredded ginger-1 tsp
Garlic flakes- 4
Fennel seeds- 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon- a small piece
Mashed tomatoes without skin-1/2 cup
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp [optional]
Salt to taste
Ghee- 2 tbsp
Chopped coriander leaves- 3 tbsp
Curry leaves- a handful
Oil- 1 tbsp

Procedure:

Grind the onion with the ginger, garlic, cinnamon, green chillies, and fennel seeds coarsely. Extract thick and thin milk from the shredded coconut. Heat a pan and add the ghee and the oil. When they become hot, add the ground paste and fry well with the turmeric powder. Add the potatoes with enough water, salt and also the thin milk. Cook well till they are almost done. Add the tomato and cook until every thing is well blended and cooked well. Lastly, add the thick coconut milk with the greens. When the milk starts to simmer, put off the fire.

[Mrs.Mano]

Dear D!

I regret for the delayed response. The Navaraththiri week has almost come to an end. But I am posting here a few recipes on sundal varieties for you.

KADALAI PARUPPU MASALA SUNDAL:


Ingredients:

Bengal gram- 1/2 kilo
Chopped onion- 1 cup
Shredded coconut- 2 cups
Fried cashew nuts- 2 tbsp
Oil- 3 tbsp
Curry leaves- a handful
Turmeric powder- 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Grind the following ingredients to a fine paste:

Cinnamon- 1, shredded ginger- 1 tsp, red chillies-4, fennel seeds- 1 tsp,

Procedure:

Soak the Bengal gram over night. Then drain the water and cook the Bengal gram with enough fresh water and salt. When the Bengal gram is cooked, drain the water again. Heat a kadai and pour the oil. Add the chopped onion and fry for a few minutes. Then add the ground paste with the turmeric powder and fry well. Add the cooked Bengal gram and fry for a few minutes. Put off the fire. Add the shredded coconut, curry leaves and fried cashew nuts and mix well.

SPROUTED BLACK EYE BEANS MIXED SUNDAL:

Ingredients:

Black eye beans- 1 cup
Green grams- 1 cup
Shredded coconut- 1 cup
Ginger paste- 1 tsp
Green chilli paste- 1 tsp
Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Asafotida pr- 1 tsp
Chopped coriander leaves- 2 tbsp
Curry leaves- a handful
Shredded carrot- 1 cup
Oil- 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Procedure:

Soak the black eye beans beans for 12 hours and then drain the water. Sprout them well. The next day, add enough water and cook the black eye beans with enough salt until they are cooked well. Cook the green grams with enough salt until they are cooked well. Heat a pan and pour the oil. Add the mustards and when they splutter, add the pastes and fry for a few seconds on slow fire. Then add the shredded carrot with a pinch of salt and fry until it is half-cooked. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Cook for a few seconds.

[Mrs.Mano]

Dear Sheila!

If we soak the rice and the lentils in water for some minutes, they will be cooked quickly and it will be easy to mash. In normal cooking, if you soak the raw rice for at least 10 minutes and boiled rice for 30 minutes, the texture of the cooked rice will be very very soft and you can also see the cooked raw rice thin and long. In briyani types, the grains will not stick with one another. If you soak mochaikkottai, black eye beans etc in water for long hours, you can see the difference after they are cooked to the ones which are cooked directly
For pongal varieties, 4:1 measurement of water and rice is always correct. But sometimes, some rice varieties do need a little more water. So 5:1 is the safest one when you cook the pongal directly. You can also prepare the pongal by the pressure cooker method with less water in the ratio of 2 1/2 :1