Methi Pulav

Ingredients:

• 5 -6 Tblspns Oil
• 2 Tblspn Ghee
• 5 cloves
• 2 small pieces of cinnamon
• 2 cardamom
• 1 Tomato chopped
• 1 large onion sliced thin and slit widthwise
• 3 Garic cloves(the fat ones) chopped
• Pudina(mint) leaves picked from 5 sticks and chopped coarse
• Methi(Fenugreek) leaves picked from 1 huge bunch and chopped coarse
• 1 1/2 cups Rice
• 1 1/2 cup peas
• water
• salt to taste

To grind(Masala):

• 1 onion
• 8 green chillies(as per your tolerance)
• Pudina leaves from 6 sticks
• 7 garlic cloves(fat ones)
  4 cloves
• 1" cinnamon stick
• 3 cardamom
• 1" ginger
• 1 heaped tblspn Coriander(Dhania) powder
• 10 sticks fresh coriander
• 3 Tblspns grated coconut(optional)
• 2 pinches Turmeric powder

Procedure:

1. Grind all the ingredients listed in the masala section to a smooth paste and keep aside
2. Wash and soak the rice in water for 1 hour.
3. Heat the oil in a heavy bottom vessel.
4. Add the spices-cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and fry until you get a nice aroma.
5. Add the garlic followed by sliced onions and fry till soft.
6. Now add the tomato and greens(pudina and Methi). fry for 1 minute .
7. Lower the heat ,add the masala and fry till you get rid of the raw smell.
8. Now drain the water from the rice and add the rice along with the peas and fry for a while.
9. Add the required amount of boiling water to cook the rice. (here i do not mension the amount of water since it varies depending on the variety of rice. Generally the rice to water proportion is 1:2. For Basmati , water added is a little less ).add the salt to taste.
10. Cook till the rice is done.
11. Serve hot.
    

Tips:

1. Goes well with a onion and tomato raita, or a fried curry like Potato or green plantain fry
2. One variation can be to soak a handful rof channa overnight and replace green peas with soaked Channa.
   

Kidney Stone - Home Medicine

Extract from Mangayar Malar
Ingredients
Nigella(English) - Karun Jeeragam(Tamizh) - Kalonji (Hindi)
Honey

Preparation
Slightly heat it in a dry vessel, and make powder of it and store in a air tight container.
Early in the morning, in a empty stomach, to half spoon of the powder , add half spoon of honey, and mix well, and have it.
Have for about continuous seven days, and all Kidney stones should get dissolved and come out along with urine.

Home made Hot Chocolate - From cocoa

Ingredients (for 1 cup)
Milk - 1 Cup - Hot Boiling
Sugar - 1spoon
Water - little bit
Cinnamon - a pinch
Cocoa - 1 spoon

Method
1. Add Sugar, and cocoa to and add about 2 spoons of boiling water and we the cocoa well, and stir in.
2. Now add little hot milk, to an inch and stir well.
3. Add the remaining hot milk.
4. Stir in cinnamon.
5. Enjoy Home made chocolate on a real cold day :)

Ennai Kathirikai Kozhambu

http://sashiga.blogspot.com/

Kollu Kozhambu

From Aval Vikatan
Ingredients :
Horse Gram - 1 Cup
Dhaniya - 3 spoons
Red Chilli - 5
Jeeragam - 1 spoon
Garlic - 4-5
Chinna Vengayam - about a cup
Curry Leaves - 2 strands
Coconut milk - 1 cup

Preparation
1. Soak Kollu overnight, and next tie in a cloth to sprout for a day or two.
2. Pressure cook the kollu for about 3-4 whistles.
3. Fry - Dhania, Chilli, Jeeragam, onion, curry leaves, garlic, and grind the mixture with few spoons of the Boiled kollu.
4. Season with Kadugu, Vendhayam, Curry leaves, Chinna onion.
5. Add the remaining kollu, ground masala, salt, and the ground coconut or coconut milk and bring to a boil.
6. Tastes good with hot rice.


Note : Kollu allows to dissolve kidney stones.

Pav Bhaji

Ingredients

For the pav
8 ladi pavs
4 tbsp butter
1 tsp pav bhaji masala (optional)

For the bhaji
1 1/2 cups potatoes, boiled and mashed
1 cup cauliflower, finely chopped
1/2 cup green peas
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup capsicum, finely chopped
2 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
1/2 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 1/2 tbsp pav bhaji masala
1/2 tsp black salt (sanchal)
4 tbsp butter

To be ground into a chilli-garlic paste
3 to 4 whole dry kashmiri red chillies , soaked in warm water
4 to 6 cloves garlic (lehsun)

For serving
1 large sized onion, chopped
4 lemon wedges
1 tbsp chopped coriander (dhania)

Method

For the bhaji

1. Boil the cauliflower, peas and carrots till they are soft. Drain out the excess water.
2. Heat the butter in a large pan, add the onion and capsicum and sauté for 2 minutes. Then, add the prepared chilli-garlic paste and sauté till the onion softens.
3. Add the tomatoes and simmer till the oil separates.
4. Add the turmeric powder, chilli powder, pav bhaji masala, black salt and salt and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Add the boiled vegetables and potatoes and mash thoroughly using a potato masher, adding ½ cup of water if required.


For the pav

1. Slice each pav into 2 horizontally. Apply a little butter to each side and sprinkle with a little pav bhaji masala, if desired.
2. Heat a large tava and cook the pav on both sides till the pieces are lightly browned.


How to proceed

1. Serve the hot bhaji on 4 individual plates and top with the onion and coriander.
2. Serve with the hot pav and lemon wedges.

Tips

1. Pav bhaji masala is a spice blend which is readily available at most grocery stores.

7 Cup Sweet

Ingredients
Milk - 1 cup
Gram flour (Besan) - 1 cup
Sugar - 3 cups
Grated coconut - 1 cup
Ghee - 1 cup

Optional - Chopped Nuts(Cashew, Badam, Pista..) and Raisins

Method
In a big flat heavy bottomed wok, Put one cup of ghee, now add in the gram flour and grated coconut and cook till the raw smell goes. Note if dry coconut add later at the end.
Now add in the milk and stir until you see no lumps let it come to a boil and then add in the sugar and stir on a medium low flame. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 20-25 minutes or until the mixture starts to get frothy. At this stage, you have to be hovering around the stove more often, stirring. Keep stirring frequently for another 15-20 minutes. Ensure that it does not catch the bottom and burn. After a while, the whole mixture starts to pull away from the bottom of the pan and starts moving with the spoon, like a dancing doll.
Grease a plate with ghee and pour the mixture onto it and allow it to cool. After, about 15 minutes cut into squares or diamonds. And wait for about an hour before you remove from the plate. You can see neat cakes as desired. Enjoy this easy preparation, make it for your family or impress your guests with it.

Tips :
If using Desicated coconut add at the end, not as above. Can add at the time of adding the nuts.
If dry coconut, can reduce the amount of Ghee by about 3-4 spoons off the cup. Also can reduce milk by few spoons.