Carrot Payasam (Kheer) - Dessert

Ingredients:
1. Carrots - about 10-12
2. Sweet condensed milk (Milkmaid) - 1 can
3. Unsweet condensed milk - 2 cans
4. Cashew nuts - about 15 pieces

Method:
1. Peal the skin of the carrots and grate them.
2. Steam the carrots with little water for 10 mins.
3. Allow the steamed carrots to cool and beat it in a mixer (without the water) to make a semi solid paste.
4. Put the carrot paste in a pan, and add the unsweet condensed milk to this paste and heat it in medium flame.
5. Also add the sweet condensed milk (about 3/4th of the can) and keep stirring the mixture.
6. When the mixture starts to boil, remove the pan from the flame.
7. In another pan, add 2 spoons of ghee. When it heats up add cashews and fry it till it becomes brown and add it to the mixture.
8. Serve the payasam hot.

This is the first time I had carrot payasam in my life and it came out really well. Thanks to my friend SriVidya for giving me the recipe and helping me to try it out!

Baadam Milk -Dessert

Here is what you need:

1. Milk
2. Badams (Almonds)
3. Sugar
4. Elachi (Cardamom)
5. Saffron(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffron)

Method:
For 4 people:
1. Soak about 30 baadams in hot water for 3 hours.Cover the vessel while you let the badams soak.
2. After 3 hours, peel the skin from the baadams.
3. Grind it with about 3-4 elachis and a little water.
4. You should grind it till you get a semi-solid smooth paste.
5. For every cup of the paste, add about 1.5-2 cups sugar depending on your tolerance to sweet. (You can always add sugar later if you think you need more sweet to your baadam milk)
6. Add hot milk to this and stir till the paste becomes liquid and all the ingredients are mixed together.
7. Take about a cup of hot milk, and add little saffron to it.
8. When you see the milk starting to turn yellow, pour this into the baadam milk and stir well.
9.Allow it to cool for sometime and then refrigerate it.
10. Drink the badam milk cold.

Note: When you remove the baadam milk from the refrigerator, it will be a little solid. Add milk to it before drinking!

Masala Vadai - Snack

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup of toor dal, urad dal and chana dal (equal proportions)
2. Curry leaves
3. Corriander leaves
4. Onion - 1
5. Oil to fry
6. Ziploc bag - 1
7. Salt -  to taste
8. Garam masala -  a pinch
9. Red chilies - 4-5

Method:

1. Soak all the dals in water for 1- 1.5 hrs.
2. Drain the water, add the red chilies ,3/4th tea spoon of salt and grind it till you get a coarse paste. (Do not add water while grinding)
3. Cut onions into small pieces and add this to the dal paste along with cut curry leaves and coriander and a pinch of the garam masala.
4. Heat oil in a pan.
5. To the ziploc bag, add little oil. Make small,flat balls of the dal mixture on the ziploc.
6. Fry in oil till it turns golden brown.
7. Serve hot with tomato ketchup.

Cabbage Kootu

I did not know kootu is really easy to make till my Mom gave me this recipe.

Ingredients:
Cabbage - 1 small
Moong dal - 1/2 cup
Sambar powder
Red chillies - 4-5
Coconut - 1/4th cup
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Salt
Oil
Mustard
Urad dal

Method:
1. Cut the cabbage into small pieces
2. Pressure cook the cabbage and moong dal with appropriate amount of water. Cook for 3 whistles.
3. Grind the coconut, cumin seeds and the red chilles with little water to make it into a paste.
4. After the cabbage is done, add a little water, and heat the mixture on medium flame.
5. Add 2 spoons of sambar powder and salt.
6. Add the paste to this mixture and allow it to boil till a proper consistency is obtained.
7. In a small pan, heat 2 tea spoons of oil and add mustard.
8. When they splutter, add little urad dal.
9. Add this to the cabbage kootu.

Serve hot with rice!
(Note: The amount of chillies can be changed according to the amount of spice you want)

Molagu(Pepper)Rasam

Ingredients for 2:

1/2 spoon urad dal
1/2 spoon channa dal
1 tea spoon jeera
1/2 spoon corriander seeds
about 20 pepper corns
Tomato - 1
Mustard
Ghee
Tamarind - small lemon size or about 3/4th tea spoon
Curry leaves, corriander leaves
Salt

Method:
Dry roast urad dal,channa dal, jeera, corriander seeds,curry leaves and the pepper corns till the dal turns light brown.
Allow it to cool
Grind them into fine powder

In a bowl, boil a cup of water and add the tamrind paste or tamarind.
In a sauce pan, add one table spoon of ghee. When the ghee heats up, add mustard.
When the mustard seeds splutter, add the sliced tamoto and saute them well.
Add the tamarind water to the tamotoes and add another cup of water.
Now add salt and allow the mixture to boil.
Add the powder and allow it to boil again till all the contents come together.
Garnish with corriander leaves.

Serve hot with rice and paapads!

(Note: the number of peppercorns really depends on how much spice you can tolerate. So it can be changed according to your taste.)

Vengaya Sambar

Vengaya Sambar recipe:

Ingredients for 2:
Small onions (chinna vengayam) about 6-7
Tamarind (puli), lemon size piece or about 1 spoon tamarind paste
3/4th cup toor dal
Sambar powder and salt to taste
Curry leaves
Tumeric powder
Oil
Mustard, methi seeds, corriander seeds,cumin seeds.
3-4 dry red chillies
About 1 cup grated coconut
1 handful channa dal
1/2 handful urad dal

Method:

1. Cut the small onions appropriately.
2. Pressure cook the toor dal with twice the amount of water and 1/4th spoon tumeric.
3. Heat a bowl of water and add the tamarind paste or the tamarind paste.
4. In a sauce pan heat about 2 table spoons of oil.
5. When the oil heats up add the mustard seeds and allow them to splutter.
6. Now add little methi seeds along with the curry leaves.
7. Then add the small onions and saute till they turn golden brown.
8. Add the tamarind water and 3 spoons of sambar powder and close the pan for about 5 mins for the onions to soften.
9. In a small kadai, add a table spoon of oil and when it heats up, add channa dal, toor dal, corriander seeds and 3-4 chilles and saute them till the dal turn light brown.
10. Allow it to cool and grind them along with a cup of grated coconut and appropriate amount of water. This mixture should be semi-liquid.
11. To the boiling tamarind water, add the toor dal and the grinder mixture.
12. Add salt to taste and water if necessary.
13. Allow this mixture to boil until a proper consistency is obtained.
14. Serve hot with rice.

Note: Corriander seeds can be replaced by corriander while grinding.Alternatively you can also add daniya (corriander) podwer after you grind the other ingredients. All the spices can be altered according to taste.
Thanks to my Mom for this great recipe!

Tomato sabji

Here is an easy to make tomato sabji that goes really well with hot chapattis and also with curd rice. Thanks to my uncle who gave me this recipe. I make this whenever I am too bored to cook elaborately.

Ingredients for 2 people:
About 5-6 tomatoes
2 chilles
Oil (about 2 tablespoons)
Chilli powder
Tumeric powder
Rasam powder
Mustard, Cumin seeds
Salt to taste
1 - 1 1/2 cups of water
and Corriander (for garnishing)

Directions:
Cut the tomatoes and the chillies into small pieces.
Heat the 2 tablespoon of oil in a wok.
When the oil is heated, add 1 spoon of mustard and allow them to splutter.
Add 1 spoon cumin seeds and the chilles.
When the cumin seeds turns brown, add the tomatoes and saute for 5-6 minutes.
Add 1/4 tea spoon of tumeric powder and 1/2 tea spoon of chilli powder.
Add about 1-1 1/2 spoons of rasam powder and salt to taste.
Add the water to this mixture.
Close the wok for sometime and allow all the ingredients to mix together and the tomatoes to soften.
After about 6-7 minutes, open the lid and allow any excess water to evaporate.
When the mixture has become semi-liquid, granish with coriander leaves.
Serve hot with chappatis.

Note: The amount of spices and chillies can be altered according to taste.