Coconut Chutney for idli/dosa...

India is a vast country... and the specialists in idli/dosa are the South Indians. We have the Tamilians, the Malayalis , the Telugus, and the people of Andhra Pradesh....
The coconut chutney for idli/dosas...has basically coconut as the main ingredient.every family has their own mix of spices giving out a flavour and taste of its own....
I sat and thought for nearly one hour..to.whom I should refer for a good recipe... then it struck me, my cousin sister Subhashri, truly a veritable artist in arriving at a fantastic taste, in any South Indian Food. A highly capable person, Subhashri by choice is a housewife... She lives in Andheri, maintains a five star level in housekeeping..and is my favourite cousin She would be the ideal person to help me...
So I contacted Subhashri...and she was all ready and willing, as always
Take half a coconut and grate it, next take 2 heaped tablespoons of roasted chana ( not chana dall ).
2 to 5 green chillies, according to required taste...2 sticks of imli (tamarind ), half an inch of adrak (ginger)sliced...A handful of chopped kothmir and salt.
First take the imli, chillies, ginger sliced, the chana and salt....now grind fine.. then add coconut and water and grind to required consistency,...
Take out in a dish. Heat 1 tablespoon til oil, when hot add half a teaspoon of mustard seeds. When it starts spluttering, throw a few curry leaves and season the chutney with this

I wish I was there, I usually cant resist Subhashri's chutney.

Eat the chutney with idli or dosa.. Two wonderful combinations with idli or dosa is sambhar and dosa molagapodi.

Subhashri do let me know when you are making idlis, I surely wont miss it.

Dont forget the glass full of buttermilk to complete the taste...
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Manni's Dosai Molagapodi...

When I posted the spicy Molagapodi, I have few requests for the not so spicy variety. I immediately thought of my sister at Pune, Leelu...the cooking connoiseur. She is a great lady...you just have to mention what it is you want and your recipe is ready all written down..Fantastic woman.
As i have already mentioned earlier. She was a five star cook. There was nothing under the sun she could not tell you how to make,..
So to get on with our Dosa Molagapodi, I am giving Leelu's recipe verbatim.
1. 50 grms urad dal
2. 25 grms chana dal
3.1 tea spoon mustard
4. 5/6 long red chillies
Fry 1, 2, 3, on a low flame to a light brown colour.
5. 50 gram Til, sesame seeds, Fry lightly till aroma comes out.
6. In half tsp oil fry the cillies on a low flame, add 1 teaspoon hing to this. Cool.
GRIND sll above items together to a coarse texture, after adding salt. cool and bottle.


Eat with ghee or oil with idlis, dosas, parathas, and with what you like.

Do let me know how your family enjoyed it.
Dont forget the cool glass of buttermilk at the end of the eating.

Dosa Molaghai Podi.

Some people know it as 'Dynamite', others call it 'Gunpowder' and many call it 'chutney powder' BUT whatever you call it, it is the same good old 'dosa molaghai podi.',the only thing that makes your idli or dosa come alive in taste.

You will find it in any South Indian house, sometimes a little more spicy, sometimes milder, or at other times almost bland. Wherever idli or dosa is made, you will find some molaghai podi., served along with the coconut chutney, and onion sambhar. Mouth watering combination!..!..!......

I had got this recipe from my mother in law. And it has never yet failed me even once. So... here we go....

Take a biggish cutori of Urad Dal and half the cutori of Chana Dal.
In four teaspoons til (sesame) oil, p;ut in half a teaspoon of hing, and one teaspoon mustard seeds, add the urad dal and roast till reddish, take the dal into a plate and keep for cooling. In the same kadai, add the chana dal, and fry till reddish in colour.keep aside for cooling.
Now take about 15 red chillies and fry till crisp. this makes the grinding easier.
Take half the cutori of white til and roast dry. and keep for cooling. Now take 4-5 pieces of imli (tamarind) and a lump of gur that is jaggery .keep the tamarind pieces spread out on the hot kadai .

Now
grind the red chillies first,fine, then add the dals and til and salt and grind rough like rava.Now lastly add the imli pieces and jaggery.

Your molaghai podi is ready.

Serve it with Ghee or til oil along with sambhar and coconut chutney.
This calls for winding up with a hot strong cup of coffee.!...!....


Do let me know how the family reacted when served .!..!......

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Moyuki Varati ( Roasted in Oil )

I put on my thinking cap and sat quietly for 10 minutes. I needed a vegetable dish to go with the mori koyambi. and it worked, Inspiration leapt at me, The all time favourite.. potatoes !....and potatoes it was. And good old Manni was there to dip into for details...... Take six or eight medium size potatoes, peel them and cube them - one inch cubes. Now cut each cube into half..... this helps to cook the potatoes evenly on all sides.
Now take a thick bottomed Kadai, put in about six tablespoons of til - sesame- oil, add half a teaspoon of mustard, half a tsp of hing - asafoetida - about 8 leaves of kadi patha, one teaspoon of red chilli powder, half a tsp of haldi, and required salt .
When the mustard starts spluttering add the cut potato pieces, and stir well, now you need to develop a lot of patience, to crisp the potatoes slowly, gently and patiently. Every five minutes stir gently and see that every piece is covered by the spices.
next five minutes come on get ready again, gently, slowly stir the potato pieces..
They will start crisping , and dont get fooled by potato bits, they will suddenly crisp well, when you are not looking. so be alert now they crisp faster.
Remember, no water, and no covering while cooking.
If at any time you feel the oil is not enough, please add one or two tablespoons til oil. All the pieces must be covered with oil and spices.

Of course you will have to make the Mori koyambi in advance.

for lunch you will have rice, mori koyambi and Potato Moyuki Varati and Urad dal Appalams, In case you dont get appalams, you can use urd dal papads.

My mouth is watering imagining the yummy taste.

This potato vegetable can be used in sandwiches, in parathas as filling, and let your imagination go wild.!.!.!. what you cannot achieve....

The inevitable glass of buttermilk should be served.

Ah! !! such satisfaction. and all at home - thats a bonus.

Those of you who like a variety in spices, can occassionally us Bedekar's Pickle Masala, instead of plain red chili powder. This gives an absolutely different range to fragrance and taste,

Another variation is using Dosa Molagapodi instead of plain red chilli powder.

My next blog will show you how to make the Dosa Molagapodi .

Wait patiently till then.

Do let me have your comments, it makes life glow better. Thanks

Moyuki Varati ( Roasted in Oil )

Manni's More Koyambi

More Koyambi is the South Indian name for Kadi.Now Kadi brings to mind a whole range and variety of kadis , that originate from India. With so many states and peoples with so many varieties of cooking we have quite a formidable list of kadis!.. to name a few, we have the Gujerathi kadi, the Punjabi Kadi, the Sindhi Kadi, etc., etc., all kadis have as a base ingredient - curds, with the exception of Sindhi Kadi which does not use curd at all.

This particular More koyambi was one perfected by my mother, known as Manni to every body. Manni was a wizard in cooking!
For this More Koyambi we need 3 or 4 cups buttermilk...
Next Grind together, a quarter coconut, 4-5 green chillies, 1 tsp rice powder, 1 tsp besan, salt to taste, half tsp haldi powder and 1 tsp sugar.
Mix the ground coconut into the buttermilk and bring to a boil.
Put in two tsps of coconut oil, and a few crushed Kadipatha.
Season: Intwo to three tsps til oil (sesame oil) splutter half tsp mustard, a quarter tsp methi - fenugreek and one red chilli. When it splutters pour it into the buttermilk.

Eat with rice and papad.

Happy eating.

Till my next blog.

Paripi Thoghail

Now that the Vatha Koyambi is made and done, we must think about the Paripi
Thoghail.
the excitement of the Vatha Koyambi will not be complete without the Paripi Thoghail. the two eaten together provide a satisfaction, that is undescribable, for the P.Thoghail we need half a coconut grated . In three teaspoons of til (sesame) oil, add two red chillies, half a teaspoon of hing, and a small cutori of toor dal,and fry on slow gas till a nice brown colour.

Grind this fried masala with the half grated coconut and salt. Your Thoghail is ready!...
So terribly simple isn't it?..

When I saw the koyambi and thoghail on the table, I had to do some quick thinking. The quantity of thoghail was a lot more than needed for the koyambi. So I announced that today we would eat our rice mixed with the thoghail and use the koyambi as a taste enhancer !... Luckily for me everyone wanted some change, so there was a universal acceptance of my suggestion !.. Thank god for that. The accessories were brought in, the til oil and fryums all crisp and inviting.
Now put a heap of rice in the middle of your plate, pour two spoons of til oil and one or two tablespoons of the thoghail. Mix with your fingers take a dab of koyambi and one piece of fryum and put into your mouth - all together and slowly take small bite by bites and savour the tastes and fragrances.

Delicious isnt it?...
And of course such spicy food must be followed by a glass full of buttermilk to complete the satisfaction.!..


Do let me know how the whole family enjoyed this meal, I would love to know.

Bye for now.

Vatha Koyambi

When the announcement about Rakhee Sawant's Swayamvaram is flashed on TV there is a hysterical reaction- When is it? Where will it be held? In a Maharaja's palace, or in a 7 star hotel ,what do you think she will wear? after some debate about whether she will wear a saree, or a lahenga, etc, there is a lull in the talk.
This is exactly the same reaction that takes place when I announce that , maybe this week-end we shall haveVatha Koyambi and Paripi Thoghail for lunch there is a frenzied discussion about cancelling of some programmes to be at home for lunch, or a discussion about inviting some friend who has been persistently reminding us not to forget them when I next make Vatha Koyambi !...
After all the details are sorted out, there is calm all around. Every thing has been settled.

Actually it is very, very simple to make. I dont know why I dont make it more often.

Soak in water about 50 or 60 grams tamarind (imli) , take out pulp and keep aside.
In a kadai put in 4 or 5 tablespoons of til oil (sesame oil). When hot add 1 teaspoon mustard seeds, 1 teaspoon methi seeds, 1 tablespoon toor dal and 3 red chillies.
( keep peeled and ready, small Madras sambhar onions. a quarter kilo will do.)
When the spices in the oil stop spluttering, add the onions and stir occasionally so they don't burn. When there is fragrance of onions and methi frying, pour the tamarind pulp into the kadai, Add 4 teaspoons sambhar powder, 1/2 teaspoon haldi, 1 teaspoon hing, salt as needed, 1 lump jaggery, 2 sprigs kadi patha.
Let boil merrily. After 5 minutes, add 3 or 4 raw urad dall papads , torn into pieces- not fried-
and sufficient water , say 4 to 6 cups Now let it boil peacefully for 20 minutes.
Next take two teaspoons of wheat flour, mix it in one cup of water and add to Koyambi.
Stir well. Sim for 5 minutes. Then take off the gas.

Everyone has some sambhar powder in the house, but I use MTR sambar powder.

The raw not fried urad dal papads are optional. You may or may not add the papads.

This Koyambi is to be eaten with rice , Paripi Thoghail and fryums

The method for paripi thoghail is in my next post.

Enjoy eating.

A Multipurpose Green Chutney

Anytime of the day, any hour of the day, any day of the week at any time, you will find this green chutney in my house, in my fridge or on the kitchen platform. It is a perennial favourite of each and every one, at home and friends or relatives.

So naturally there is a continuous refrain around the house aaji the chutney is almost finished. You are going to make a new lot tomorrow I hope., or mummy you are making some chutney tomorrow I hope. What is this chutney ???... It is something that can be eaten on bread, toast, rotis, parathas, kichdi, salads, cutlets, patties, and what have you... It is so versatile that it has to be on the dining table at every meal !..!...! so...o...o..o..o

I have decided to make public the secret of making this chutney... You will need, one teacup full of grated fresh coconut, three cups full of chopped green coriander, please use the tender part of the stem also,six or seven garlic flakes-peeled, two or three green chillies, salt to taste, two teaspoons of sugar, and half a lime. Put all the items except the half lime, into the mixer and grind not very fine-not very rough, remove into a dish and squeeze the lime into it.

Your chutney is ready - come on people get it ! !.....

I am expecting your comments on how you find this chutney.

A satisfying cup of Tea.

Tea - we drink tea at different places, in a canteen, at a restaurant, at an eating place, at a chai-wala, and ah! at a friends house. Can you imagine how a cup of tea is made in each of these places ?... one thing is common for sure. Most of the time tea, milk, water and sugar are boiled together. Very often you will get different aroma's, sometimes pudina, sometimes elaichi, some times lemon grass, adrak - ginger, and of course we must not forget the chai masala !...

I think back to my younger days it was maybe between the 30's and the 40's, when I would serve my father his cup of tea every morning. He was fanatic about the way tea should be made.
First of all the required water for one cup of tea should be boiled. Then either you put in one teaspoon of tea leaves into the boiling water, or put the leaves in a tea-pot and poured the boiling water on it. Now put a lid on either the tea-pot or the vessel containing the boiling water with tea leaves. Leave to stand for five minutes. In the meantime pour required milk into the cup and add sugar, one and a half spoon or two spoons per cup. Next strain the tea brew into the milk and sugar. Stir gently and serve. You will get cup of tea like what the Britishers drink at the club, where my father learned all about tea.

Make a cup of tea and let me know how it tastes ...

There are a couple of points to remember .... To get the right taste of tea, it must be sweet.
Now coffee is another matter. less sugar brings out the taste of coffee!....

If you want to add any fragrances, like lemon grass, pudina, ginger, elaichi or masala, you should add it to the water kept boiling for tea. This would be the right time.

Enjoy your tea and send me your ideas or suggestions. They will be welcome !...

Onion Thoghail - a spicy South Indian Chutney

Wanting to put a stop to the never ending grumbles to a lunch of dal and rice or, curds and rice. You cant say there was no choice !.. In summer what else could you eat... fried foods, spicy foods, masala wala foods, all end up in gas, indigestion, bloated stomach etc., So the idea of adding one plain chutney to the menu sounded an excellent one. Also it gave one more option in variety.
So onion thoghail it was going to be. You only have to throw a couple of items, grind them and fry the ground chutney, and there you are... your chutney is ready. .

Ok, first of all we need four or five medium sized onions cut into one inch squares, then six or seven red kashmiri chillies, keep them on a hot thava so they crisp up and grind fine easily,next you needfour or five imli pieces, then one lime sized lump of gur- jaggery, add salt to taste, Next put all the items, onions, chillies, gur, imli and salt into the mixer and grind. if tough one tablespoon of water may be added while grinding.
In a kadai
put in 6 to 8 teaspoons of til oil, splutter half teaspoon of rye - mustard seeds, and half a teaspoon of urad dall, when dall becomes light brownish, add the ground onions and fry it till it leaves sides.

Your onion chutney is ready. I'll tell you a secret on how to eat it. Take some rice on your plate. Put one heaped teaspoon of chutney on it, pour two teaspoons of raw til oil and mix with your fingers. dont use a spoon, Now take fingers full of rice chutney mix and eat. Wow ! one of the tastiest food that ever entered your mouth. To make it more interesting, crush a piece of fried papad over the onion rice and eat it together. Interesting isn't it?

To wind up an interesting and tasty lunch drink up a glass full of chaas- buttermilk

Wasn't is satisfying ?

Do let me know how you fared in making this lunch.. Thanks

Pepper rasam - a refreshing drink - for all seasons.

I live in flat no.2 , in the flat next to me lives a bachelor, Manish Mudaliar. He goes to work all day and returns late at night A couple of months back his parents came to visit him. That week end I did not see Manish at all - we would meet sometimes for a few minutes, whenever I wanted to borrow his Eco.Times. Of course apart from this when he just moved in, I had gate crashed into his house one morning and demanded a cup of tea. All in the name of getting to know the new neighbour !.. Manish makes good tea, and after exchanging names, I returned home.

I was wondering where Manish had disappeared. I rang his door bell. His mother opened the door. Where's Manish I asked. she replied.. he had a bad cough and cold , today he has been to the doctor, and taken medicine. "He is sleeping now". After a couple of hours when Manish was not yet visible, I went to ask about him. His mother said, he is much better now. he is resting. I stood there and thought for one minute.

"A case for good old pepper rasam. I went into my kitchen, and got ready to make some pepper rasam for Manish.

A quick phone call to my sister Leelu, the wizard cook in our house (Leelu lives in Pune) O.K. Leelu said now soak 2 or 3 pieces of imli (tamarind) and squeeze out the water , then take half a teaspoon of jeera and a half teaspoon of black pepper..crush the two together roughly.
In a vessel put one and a half teaspoon ghee, when hot put in a quarter teaspoon of rye (mustard seeds)., about 8 or 10 kadi patha leaves, a quarter teaspoon hing, then add the crushed jeera and black pepper, and 8 or 10 nice big garlic pods, beat each one with a heavy weight. Add all the garlic pods into the rasam. Fry for two minutes, add tamarind water, a quarter spoon haldi and necessary salt. Now add three cups of water and let it simmer for ten minutes.
The pepper rasam is ready !..

I filled two cups of rasam into a suitable vessel . I rang Manish's bell. He opened the door.
I gave him the rasam and told him to drink it just now. "Thank you aunty," he said.
After 15 or 20 minutes, he rang my door bell, "Aunty did you make it?" he asked.
"Yes", I answered.
"I drank all of it", he said. "It was so good. I feel great now". He was smiling.

Pepper rasam never fails !..My panacea or all ills.

Easy Pumpkin Sabzi

My friend Seema, who is a good cook had told me last evening how to convert a quarter kilo pumpkin into a dish for dinner. I confessed that apart from the pumpkin there was not much in the way of vegetables. She assured me that I would need only dry masalas available in most kitchens. First of all I cut the pumpkin into one inch cubes . Then in my favorite kadai I put one tablespoon cooking oil, when it became hotI put in half a teaspoon of rye,(mustard seeds) quarter teaspoon of methi seeds, a pinch of hing and then pumpkin pieces mix well, then add a teaspoon of salt and two pinches of haldi . Now add a green chilli cut into three or four pieces and two tablespoons of water, mix well, cover and cook on slow flame.

After 10 minutes add gur (jaggery) to taste and squeeze half a lime. Mix again and sprinkle half teaspoon of chaat masala.

If gavar is available, a handful of cut pieces can be added with the pumpkin pieces.
If you want it more spicy add a half teaspoon of red chilli powder with the green chillies.

Now enjoy your rotis with this simple pumpkin subsi.
Serve a cutori of dahi with the dinner.

Till my next blog, bye.....

Quick Brinjal Vegetable (Sabzi)

Two days back I came home from office ready to make the subzi for the rotis. I was confident that some vegetables would be there and i would cut, chop, and cook.
That's all there is to making a vegetable.Ha !
When I opened the fridge I was in for a rude shock.
There were 3 small ,pathetic looking, sad brinjals. And the rest of the frigde was as bare as Mother Hubbard's Cupboard.!! Whatever was I to do, my son Ramesh would be home in half an hour, and look expectantly at the dining table, then at the fridge.

Never one to say die, I looked around for something else to go with the brinjals. I discovered two shrivelled tomatoes, probably kept aside for a salad. WELL Sorry -- no salad today ..!
I grabbed the tomatoes, rather I clutched the 2 tomatoes, as if somebody was waiting to snatch them from my hands..

Then I went to the onion basket. Thank God!! there was better luck here Three big onions. WILL do I thought to myself in glee.

The dinner was saved by the onions. They would provide the body for the vegetables !..!..

I put all the vegetables into a tub of water.... Then peeled the onions and cut them into one inch cubes
Next came the brinjals , sufficiently rehydrated !...!..now. I destemmed them and cut them into one and half inch length strips. I took a medium sized kadai put 3, maybe 4 spoons cooking oil nd 2 pinches of mustard seeds, and a dash of hing. Then I added the onions and tossed them for 5 minutes on high flame. Now I added the brinjal peices, 2 pinches of haldi and a teaspoon of salt.

Now I was ready for the tomatoes shrivelled no longer, nicely rehydrated. Chopped them into one inch pieces and added them to the kadai. NOW !...! I knew I had surely forgotten something. The best thing was to taste a piece of brinjal... which I did. OH ! no.. I had completely forgotten the green chillies.I ran to the fridge and yanked the door open, God help me, I mutterred. and you wont believe it. there were four healthy lucious green chillies.. S a v e d !!.. !...
. I snatched up two chillies cut each into 3 one inch pieces , and dumped them into the kadai.
A lovely mouth watering aroma invaded th kitchen. Saved.

Saved by three shrivelled , miserable brinjals ..!...! .

Pushpa Ma'am's