Sep 5, 2007

Kitchen Tips

Kitchen Tips 
















  • When making idli mixture,mix it thoroughly the night before
  • . Put it in to a deep bowl and tie a thick cloth on top of it. 
  • Don't stir the batter next morning. 
  • Just pour the dough into the molds and you will be surprised at the light spongy idlis you get.
  • To peel tomatoes quickly place the tomato on a fork and hold it over the gas flame till the skin busts. 
  • Keep turning it for a few minutes, then peel with out any trouble.
  • To prevent coconut oil from freezing in winter, add a few drops of castor oil to the coconut oil.Shake well and store.
  • To make karela's (bitter gourd) less bitter, rub them with wheat flour and salt and set aside for half an hour.
  •  Wash thoroughly before cooking them.
  • To prevent boiled potatoes from breaking,boil over a low flame and remove immediately when soft enough
  • When making mooli roti(radish parathas) the radish juice which is squeezed out after grating, should not be thrown away as it contains most of the nourishment. 
  • Use it to knead the dough for the parathas instead of water.
  • To make rava kesari roast the rava in ghee and add milk. Soak for 30 minutes in the milk. Then make sugar paku and make rava kesari.

Sep 4, 2007

Pavakai Poriyal,(Karela fry)






Lots of people do not like pavakai(karela because of its bitterness).I was one of them. But after tasting shashi's karela fry, I liked this curry very much.Karela is good for diabetes
Ingredients
  • Karela(pavakai)............4
  • Potato..........................1
  • Onion...........................1
  • Green chili.....................2
  • Ggarlic..........................2 pearls
  • Chili powder.................1tsp
  • Garam masala...............1tsp
  • Mustard seeds..............1tsp
  • Jeera(cumin seeds).......1tsp
  • Hing.............................1 pinch
  • Salt to taste
  • Oil 

Method
  • Wash, wipe and remove the seeds .
  • Cut the pavakai, onion and potato into small pieces.
  • Heat a pan with 3tbsp of oil add mustard seeds, jeera(cumin seeds). 
  • When the mustard crackles add the, garlic onion and potato . 
  • Fry them till the potato becomes tender.. 
  • Add the pavakai pieces,turmeric powder, chilli powder, garam masala powder salt and hing.
  • Cover and cook them all in a medium flame.Stir it in between. 
  • When the pavakai becomes crispy , change into a bowl. Serve with chapathi or sambar/rasam rice

Sep 2, 2007

Chapathi (Phulkas)

Chapathi Dough
Chapathi Phulkas are very soft flat bread
Phulkas

How to make soft chapathis? I tried the chapathis  the following way and out came out soft.
.
Ingredients
  • Wheat flour......... 2 cups
  • Warm water .......1cup
  • Oil.... ..................1tsp
  • Salt to taste
Method
  • Mix flour, salt oil in a bowl and add water slowly and mix the flour to make a dough.
  • Apply oil on the dough and keep for sometime.(You can add warm milk instead of water)
  • The dough should not be hard.
  • Divide the dough into small balls.Roll the dough into thin round shape.
  • Heat a tawa and place the chapathi let it change the colour then turn it to the other side..small babbles appear. 
  • Remove it and put it directly on the high flame.
  • With in a minute the chapathi starts to puff fully . 
  • Remove it and apply ghee. This type of chapthis are called phulkas.

Search This Blog