Karuveppilai Powder - Curry Leaf Powder

#KaruvaeppilaiPowder  #CurryLeafPowder : Fresh and aromatic #Karuvaeppilai [ #Curry Leaf ] is one of the very important ingredients in Tamilian cooking. We also use dried curry leaf in the preparation of essential powders that are necessary for our day to day cooking. So the leaves are dried and made into a fine powder when good quality curry leaves are available in the market.

This powder can be preserved in a clean and dry container for future use.

Pluck leaves from stem and discard stems.
Keep aside tender leaves. Tender leaves are not suitable for making curry powder.
Spread a big clean cloth on the floor in an empty place inside your house.
Now wash the leaves thoroughly and spread over the cloth to dry.
Keep stirring the leaves on the cloth to dry well.
Now transfer the leaves into big plate and let it dry for 3 to 4 days inside the house or in the shadow.

When the leaves are completely dried, it becomes brittle and makes a " kala kala " sound.
If you feel still the leaves are not completely dried then keep in the Sun for quarter to half an hour.

Then powder the dried leaves using mixer grinder.

Store in a clean and dry air tight container.

This powder comes in handy whenever we run out of curry leaves at home.
This curry powder is generally added to sambar powder, rasam powder, milagai podi for idly, pepper powder and also in paruppu podi.

Note :
The dried leaves can be stored in a clean and dry air tight container. These dried leaves can be used in all our recipes just like fresh curry leaves.

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For some more Powders

Masala Powders and Liquid mixes


Ideas for different dishes for Lunch

Lunch recipes

Ideas for breakfast and dinner

Tiffin recipes

Raspberry Muffins - without oil or butter

I wanted to make muffins so that I can store them and have them for breakfast, hence no cooking in the mornings.. But most of the recipes wither call for oil or butter, and I don't want to add extra fat at the start  of my day. So tried this recipe using apple sauce and the result was delicious fat free muffins, the texture was the same as done with oil . So I was able to remove oil without compromising on the taste or texture.  From now on I am going to make these muffins often and enjoy them without any guilt..

Ingredients :

Egg - 1
whole wheat flour - 1 1/2 cups
rolled oats - 1/2 cup
butter milk - 1 cup
brown sugar - 1/2 cup
apple sauce - 1/3 cup
baking powder - 2 tsp
baking soda - 1/2 tsp
cinnamon powder - 1 tsp
vanilla - few drops
raspberry (fresh or frozen ) - 1 cup

Tips regarding the ingredients

1. If u want the muffins to be on the sweeter side, increase sugar to 3/4 cup.
2. If you are not able to buy apple sauce in the market then peel and core 3-4 apples and chop them and in a sauce pan cook with 1/4 cup sugar and water for 15-20 mins. and then blend it to get a fine consistency.
3. If you want you can use 1.4 cup of any oil instead of apple sauce.
4 .Also can use mashed banana, but that will give a more banana taste to the muffins.
5. If you do not have butter milk, just take one cup of milk and add 1 tbsp of lemon juice or vinegar.


Method :

Preheat oven to 200 C
1. In a bowl take one cup of butter mil and add 1/2 cup of oats and let it sit for 10-15 mins.

2. In a dry bowl mix wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.

3. In a mixing bowl break one egg and whisk with brown sugar.

4. To this now add the oats and buttermilk mixture.

 5. Mix till combined , then add the apple sauce ( if using oil add that) now and just mix till it combines.

6. Now add the flour mixture and combine till everything is incorporated. 

7. Add the raspberry and fold it in gently making sure not to break the berries. 

8. line 12 Muffin liners/cupcake liner/cups in a cupcake tray and fill up to 3/4 thcup in each.

(I ran out of cupcake liners, so I oiled the tray and dusted with some flour. This works well but the cleaning part later is pretty hard)

9. Bake for about 20 mins ,till a tester inserted come out clean. 

Can have it as it is or with some raspberry sauce. 

You Might like to try

Whole wheat banana muffins

Vanilla cake on stove top

Choco lava cake

Rasagulla

Banana bread

Brinjal/ Eggplant/ aubergine Chutney

#BrinjalChutney  #KatharikkaiChutney : To be frank I am not a huge fan of #brinjal, that is till I made this dish yesterday. I had a big eggplant lying in my fridge that I had bought last  week. I was trying to find some way to use it up but at the same time not spend too much time in the kitchen as I had had a long day at office. But most of the dishes I came across for Brinjal chutney asked for the brinjal to be roasted over flame. I have hot plate as my stove top and hence no flame. So I kinda picked and chose the parts I liked from all the recipes I went through and made this chutney. The end result was so amazing , I am going to be making this often. This is really healthy as very little oil is used .

Ingredients :

Brinjal/eggplant / aubergine  - 2 cups

(cut into 1 inch cubes) 

Tomato ( roughly chopped)   - 1 medium sized

Green chillies slit                  - 3

Tamarind                             - 1 small lemon sized ball

curry leaves                         - 1 sprig

oil                                       - 1/2 to 1 tsp

garlic pods                           - 2

For initial frying

Jeera         - 1 tsp

Mustard    - 1 tsp

Urad dhal  - 1 1/2 tsp

Channa dhal- 2 tsp

Asefotida   - 1/2 tsp

Oil - 1 tsp

Method :

1. Heat a saucepan and add one tsp of oil and once hot add mustard and let it sputter. Then add jeera and all the dals and asefotida. 

2. When the dals start turning brown transfer them to the mixie jar. 

3. In the same pan add a little oil if required and drop in the green chillies, garlic , brinjal and tomatoes. Also add required salt,close the pan with a lid let it cook for about five minutes till the brinjal and tomatoes become soft.

4. While the brinjal and tomates are cooking grind the dals along with tamarind till they are slightly coarse powder.

5. Check in between if the brinjals are cooked, if they start sticking to the bottom of the pan add more oil, or just add some water. I just added about a quarter cup of water . .
6. Once they are cooked and slightly cooled down transfer it to the same mixie (blender) jar and grind it .

7. Grind it till the brinjal and tomatoes are finely ground.

 Tips:
Can temper it with some mustard seeds and curry leaves if required. It tastes good as it is as well.

serve with idly or chapathi or dosa .


Also goes well with mild pulav and biryani.






You may like to try :

Bringaraj chutney

Ammaan pacharisi thuvaiyal [ Asthma plant chutney ]

Pudhina yogurt chutney

Vallarai [ centella ] chutney

Poduthalai thuvaiyal

Capsicum Chutney

Muttacos [ Cabbage ] chutney

Pineapple Mint chutney

Ammaan pacharisi [ Asthma plant ] Paruppu thuvaiyal

Maangai herbal chutney [ Raw mango herbal chutney ]

For Other Chutney Varieties

Chutney Recipes

For variety of recipes

Recipe Index

coconut milk extracting

Coconut milk is used in recipes such as kuzhambu, paal saaru, side dish for appam, briyani, etc.,
Coconut milk has to be extracted from fresh coconut.
Coconut should not be tender.

coconut scrap               : 1/2 cup
lukewarm water            : 1 cup

Extracting milk from coconut scrap :

Now take 1/2 cup coconut scrap in a mixie jar.

Run for 2 or 3 rounds only.

Add 1/2 cup lukewarm water ( heat water in a vessel till air bubbles are formed at the bottom ) and again run 2 or 3 round.

Now strain through a colander.
this is first milk which is very thick.

Put back that strained coconut scrap in mixie again.
Add 1/4 cup of water.
Run 1 to 2 rounds.
Extract the milk.
Now what you have got is second milk thinner than first one.
Repeat again to get third milk.
Third milk is very thin and watery.

Note : milk can also be squeezed out of coconut scrap with hand.

Rice Pancakes - Rice Dosa

#RicePancakes / #Ricedosa
I found this recipe pop up on my Facebook timeline at the right moment when I had lots of leftover rice, with which I had no clue what to do . Tried this today with some minor modification to the original recipe and it was really tasty and very filling. The dosa batter is ready in a jiffy and its a great recipe to use up leftover rice. I think in the future I am going to make extra white rice so that I can make this dosa the next day.

Ingredients

Cooked Rice- 1 cup
Besan          - 1/2 cup
Rice flour    - 2 tbsp
onion          - 1 small
chillies        - 1 tsp finely chopped
curry leaves - 1 tsp finely chopped
Dhania         - 2 tbsp
(coriander leaves)
Hing            - 1/4 tsp
(asafoetida )
Turmeric     - 1/4 tsp
Salt              - to taste
Oil               - 1-2 tbsp to make dosa

This quantity makes about 7-8 dosas.

Method :

1. Mash the cooked rice slightly and add besan , rice flour and hing . Mix it.
2.  Add enough water to the mixture and combine to get a dosa batter consistancy, it will be slightly thick and not too liquidy.
3. Add chopped onions, curry leaves, dhania ,chillies, turmeric and salt and mix well.
4. Heat a tava/pan and spread a little oil and spoon out one and half ladle of the batter and spread it slightly. Add a few drops of oil on the top as well.
5. Cook on medium heat, once bubbles start appearing on the top and it looks slightly cooked turn the dosa over and cook for about a minute.
6. When both sides are cooked remove and serve with any chutney of your choice.

Tips
I used less then 1/2 tsp of oil per dosa, but if you prefer more oil in your dosa you can add more or can add ghee or butter as well.
This dosa is good with milagai podi as well. The recipe for Milagai podi is here.




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