Baby idlis in sambar

Mini idlis or kutti idlis or as i call them baby idlis floating in sambar are very popular in lot of south indian resturants. They are called "14 Idlis". Their entry was late, since i never had them as a child like many children do so now. Maybe my liking towards idli would be better if i had these babies eariler than now.I think they are called mini idlis and not baby idlis, because it is not justified to be called "Baby" with its entry so late. We grow from babies to adults or small people to bigger peope ;-)(samma kadi - rite). Anyways, these idlis are best served afloat in sambar(maybe rasam too, like rasam vada) along with chuntneys. Personally both my husband and i are not great fans of idlis/dosas and i make them say once in 3-4 months. This gap makes us relish these to a great extent.

Receipe :

Rice - 2 cups
Urad Dhal - 1/2 cup
Methi seeds - 1 tsp.
Salt as per taste.

Soak the above separately and grind the rice first and dhall later. Mix them and ferment it overnite. Use kutti idli stand to make these baby idlis. When hot put it in sambar and enjoy with chutney.

Checkout foodies hopes idli cocktail http://foodieshope.blogspot.com/2006/08/idli-fair-besan-laddu-for-ganesha.html

This is my entry for Weekend Breakfast Blogging hosted by Pavani of CooksHideout.

Some pictures from San Diego Wildlife Park

Merkeets playing

I am feeding a Lorikeet

Asian Elephants from India.

In the Lion Camp. We heard the lion roar couple of times, it was amazing, guess she was it a nice mood to allow us to click some great pics.

From the train ride, we saw few gorillas.

African Elephants. All african elephants have trunks.

Off to LA/San Diego

It is going to be a hectic trip for us. Driving to LA in couple of hours, stay there for the nite and reach San Diego sometime in the morning. Return back by Sunday nite. Oh, lot of time on the road, but just thought we would see off my inlaws who are leaving in few days.

So long.....

Snakegourd Raita/Pudalangai Pachidi

Yogurt, buttermilk etc have been an integral part of every indian, but in different forms like s.indians have to finish off any meal with curd rice or curd and in other parts they have it has sweet/salt lassi or raitas. I get easily bored with tomato, cucumber, onion raitas and have tasted others like spinach & onion, radish which taste good. The one that recently caught my eyes were "Snake gourd" raita(from a south indian cookbook). I enjoy any dish made out of Snake gourd and during summer time every week there is something made of it, since here i get fresh ones at this time only.

Ingredients :

~ 1 Snake gourd.
~ 2 Green chillies.
~ 2 Tsp Cashewnuts.
~ 1 Tsp Coconut.
~ 1 Tsp Musturd for tempering.
~ 2 Tsp Oil.
~ Salt as required.
~ 2 Cups beaten curds or thick buttermilk.

Method :

~ Slice the snakegourd finely. Fry them till they are soft in 1 Tsp Oil.
~ Grind cashewnuts, coconut, green chillies in a blender/mixie.
~ In a bowl mix the fried snakegourd, ground mixture and curd.
~ Add salt and mustard just before serving.

Can be enjoyed with any rice .

Note : Instead of cashewnuts 'Poppy Seeds' can be substituted.

This is my entry for JFI # 5 hosted by Vineela of Vineelascuisine.

Raw Mango Salad or Kethu Manga(Cut Mango)

I am not sure if kethu translates to cut, but in tamil kethu manga are raw mangos cut into pieces and eaten with chili powder + salt. Elliots beach(Beasant Nagar) and marina beach have many vendors selling kethu manga which used to be very yummy. I miss Chennai, especially the beaches where water is so warm you can stand for hours together, unlike the beaches in Bay area, CA where one can hardly stand in the water for maybe 5 minutes in peak summer. I compare the beaches in Chennai to the beaches in Los Angeles, CA and Maui, Hawaii where the waters are very warm and sand so soft that you want to settle with the beach as the backyard.

Ok, coming back to the recipe, which is very very simple. The main item raw mango has to be raw for it to taste good. I find it hard to get raw mangoes here, and there are many a times when i think i got the raw one, to find it ripe.

The receipe for Kethu Manga :-

1 Raw Mango, cut finely.
1 Tsp Chili Powder or as per taste.
1 Tsp Salt or as per taste.

Mix above and enjoy.

Note: You can add tempering of 'mustard seeds/kadugu' and 'asfotedia/hing'.

Ven Pongal

What an awesome food to start my offically first food post. Ven Pongal is loved by a majority of south indians for its unique taste which is not so spicy like other rice dishes. It tastes very good when had it very hot. Ven pongal can be had it for breakfast, lunch or dinner.


Ingredients :

Serves 2

Rice - 1 Cup
Moong Dal - 1/4 Cup
Water - 4 Cups
Ghee - 2 - 4 Tsp
Ginger - 1 Tbs(grated)
Black pepper - 1 Tsp
Cumin - 1 Tsp
Curry Leaves - a few
Cashews - 2 Tsp
Salt as per taste


Method :
________

~ Fry rice and dal in a pan till raw smell goes.

~ Pressure cook rice + dal with 4 cups water along with salt.

~ Meanwhile fry grated ginger, black pepper, cumin, curry leaves, cashews in ghee till golden brown.

~ Mash the cooked rice and mix the fried ingredients in it, add salt if needed and top it of with
a table spoon of ghee.

~ Enjoy when it is hot with Chutney or mixed vegetable kootzu or just with sugar.

Note : I crush the black peppercons to increase the spicyness from the peppers.

My First Post

Hi....

Welcome to my little home in the blogsphere. Recently i found about cooking blogs which made me start my own so that i can store and organize all the recipes in one place as well learn more from other bloggers.

I am a true Chennaite,living in California and enjoy cooking traditional indian food along with trying other cuisines.

Most of my recipes are time and again tested on my DH who is my best critic and other tradional receipes come from my mother who is such a wonderful cook and is very passionate about cooking. As my father says "It is not the quantity which is important, but quality of the food you make and serve".

Thanks for stopping by.