Cauliflower Masala

Ingredients

• Cauliflower - 1/2 of the flower
• Onion - 1
• Tomato - 1
• Channa dal - 3 tspn
• Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tspn
• Curry powder - 1 tspn
• Chilli powder - 1/2 tspn
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn
• Fennel seeds & curry leaves for seasoning

health tip

Cauliflower and other vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, and kale contain compounds that may help prevent cancer. Sulfur-Containing Phytonutrients in cauliflower promote liver detoxification. It is rich in Vitamin C, K and folate. Spicing cauliflower with turmeric helps promote men's health. Channa dal adds protein to this dish.

Cauliflower Masala

method

1. Soak the channa dal in water for 30 minutes.
2. Dice the onions & tomatoes. Cut the cauliflower into florets & soak them in warm salted water.
3. Heat some oil in a pan & season it with fennel seeds & curry leaves.
4. Saute the ginger garlic paste, onion & tomato. Add turmeric powder, salt, curry powder, chilli powder & drained channa dal. Saute them till the oil separates.

Adding split gram dal(pottukadalai) powder at the final stage will absorb extra moisture & make the cauliflower nice & dry.

5. When the oil separates, drain & add the cauliflower. Cover the pan with a lid & cook till the florets are 3/4th done. Sprinkle water if needed. Open the lid & let the masala dry out. Garnish it with coriander leaves.
   

Mor Kuzhambu

Ingredients

• Sour Yogurt - 2 cups
• Green Chillies - 2
• Channa Dal - 1/2 tspn
• Toor Dal - 1/2 tspn
• Rice - 1/2 tspn
• Coconut - 3 tspn
• Coriander seeds - 1/2 tspn
• Cumin seeds - 1/4 tspn
• Hinge - a pinch
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn
• Curry leaves - for seasoning
• Garlic - 1 pod (or) Ginger - 1/2 inch

health tip

Yogurt is rich in Calcium, Vitamin B2, B12 & protein. Yogurt has a friendly bacteria Lactobacillus which helps to regulate the digestive system & boost the immune system. Daily consumption of 3 oz of yogurt helps to lower LDL(bad cholesterol) & increase HDL(good Cholesterol). It helps to prevent stomach ulcers & reduce the risk of colorectal(colon) cancer.

Mor Kuzhambu

method

This dish is very famous in all the southern states of India. This dish goes very well with white rice & paruppu usili. You may make this recipe simple with all the ingredients as listed above or you may enhance it further by adding any available vegetables.

1. Soak the channa dal, toor dal and rice for 30 minutes.
2. You may add veggies to this dish but if you do so you need to cook them separately by adding some salt. Refer to the tips section below for more information.
3. Whip the yogurt for few minutes and set aside.
4. Grind coconut, cumin, coriander, ginger (or garlic), green chillies and all the soaked ingredients into a fine paste.
5. Heat some oil in a pan and season it with curry leaves and hinge.

   You may create many different variations of this dish by adding different vegetables. Some of the suggested vegetables are potatoes, white pumpkin, chow chow, okra, yam and Dal koftas(urundais). Remember to fry the Okra before adding to this dish. You may also add dried vathals like manathakkali, sundakkai, okra and eggplanths to this dish but they also require prior frying.

   
   
6. Add the ground paste & turmeric powder to the pan and saute it for two minutes or until the raw smell goes off.
7. Add the whipped yogurt to the mix & heat them all for couple more minutes. Do not let it boil as the yogurt will curdle with excessive heat.

10 Minutes Vegetable Biryani

Ingredients

• Basmati rice -2 cups
• Salt - 1 1/2 tspn
• Frozen mixed veggies - 2 cups cups
• Small Potato - 1
• Biryani masala - 2 tspn
• Onion - 1
• Water - 3 cup
• Mint & Coriander

health tip

Most vegetables are naturally low in fat and calories. None have cholesterol. (Sauces or seasonings may add fat, calories, or cholesterol.)
Vegetables are important sources of many nutrients, including potassium, dietary fiber, folate (folic acid), vitamin A, vitamin E and vitamin C.

Veg Biriyani

method

This is one of the easiest recipes I have ever made. You can add as many vegetables as you like to this dish and are not restricted to just carrot, peas & potatoes as listed on this recipe. Frozen veggies can be substituted for fresh vegetables. Making it in pressure cooker makes the job easier. The recipe in the masala powder box may call for adding more masala than normally required. Please exercise caution since the masala powder consist of lot ground spices & may make the Biryani more stronger than usual.

1. Slice the onion length wise.
2. Dice the potato & other veggies if using fresh. Otherwise soak them in water to thaw them.
3. Heat some oil in a pan preferably pressure cooker.
4. Saute the onions & veggies along with biryani masala & salt for 3 minutes. Wash the rice & add it to the veggies. Mix in the measured water, chopped coriander & mint leaves.
5. Cover the pressure cooker & cook it for 1 whistle.

Coconut milk may be added to enhance the taste of the biryani. Reduce the amount of water if you are planning to add coconut milk. Liquid measurement is always 1 1/2 cups per cup of rice while cooking in pressure cooker.

Eggplant Avial

Ingredients

• Indian eggplant - 4-5 or 3 cups diced(if using other varieties)
• Medium Potato - 1 or 1 1/2 cups diced
• Medium onion - 1
• Medium tomato - 1
• Coconut - 3/4 cup
• Sombu(fennel seeds)- 1/2 tspn
• Cumin seeds -1/2 tspn
• Chilli powder - 1/2 tspn
• Poppy seeds(optional) - 1 tspn
• Garlic paste - 1/2 tspn
• Roasted split gram dal(Pottukadalai) - 2 tspn

health tip

Eggplant is an excellent source of dietary fiber, vitamins B1, B6 and potassium. It is also a good source of copper, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, niacin and folic acid. The skin is rich in antioxidant called Nasunin which helps nourish the brain cells. Potatoes are rich in Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, copper, potassium, manganese, and dietary fiber. They are very high in carbohydrate.

Eggplant Avial

method

1. Dry roast the coconut, fennel, cumin, roasted split gram dal, poppy seeds & grind them with chilli powder into a fine paste.
2. Dice the eggplant, potato, onion & tomatoes.
3. Heat some oil in a pan & season it with 1/2 inch cinnamon stick, some fennel seeds & curry leaves.
4. Add the garlic paste & saute the diced onion & tomato. Add some turmeric powder & salt. When the tomato gets mushy, add the diced eggplant & potatoes. Saute them for 2 more minutes & mix in the ground paste. Dilute it with water to make a gravy &. Add chilli powder & salt if needed. Cover it & cook till the veggies are soft.

   You may accelerate the whole cooking process by pressure cooking for 1 whistle

5. Garnish it with coriander leaves & serve it with Idli or Dosai.
6. This recipe serves 4 people

Eggplant Fry

Ingredients

• Baby eggplant - 4
• Chilli powder - 1/2 tspn
• Rice flour - 1 1/2 tspn
• Corn starch - 1/2 tspn
• Salt - 1/4 tspn or as per taste
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn

health tip

Eggplant is an excellent source of dietary fiber, vitamins B1 and B6 and potassium. It is also a good source of copper, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, niacin and folic acid. The skin is rich in antioxidant called Nasunin which helps nourish the brain cells.

Eggplant Fry

method

1. Wash & cut the eggplants into thin slices.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together, toss the eggplant slices & sprinkle little water to the mix. Adding little water helps to hold the dry powder stick to the eggplant while frying.
3. Deep fry the slices till the outer layer is crisp.
4. Chinese eggplant may also be used for this recipe.

Beetroot Vadai

Ingredients

• Grated beetroot - 2-3 cups
• Channa dal & Toor dal -1 1/2cups combined
• Chopped Onion - 1 1/2 cup
• Chopped coriander & curry leaves - 1/4 cup
• Chilli powder - 3/4 tspn
• Sonuf(Sombu) - 1 tspn
• Hing - 1/4 tspn
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn
• Salt - 1 tspn

health tip

Beet greens are a very good source of calcium, iron, Vitamins A and C. Beetroots are an excellent source of folic acid. Betacyanin is the pigment that gives beetroot its color and has powerful antioxidant properties. Beet fiber has been shown to have cholesterol lowering capabilities. Beetroot contains the bio-active agent betaine which supports healthy liver function.

Beetroot Vadai

method

1. Wash & soak the dal for 2 hours.
2. Grate the beetroot & squeeze the juice out. You may also grind the beetroot coarsely instead of grating. Either way you will have to take out the juice completely. You can see the pictures below for both grinding & grating. Beetroot juice that is left out may be used to make healthy soup.
3. Chop the onion, curry leaves & coriander finely.
4. Grind the sombu(sanuf) coarsely. Drain the dal & grind it coarsely along with ground sanuf without adding water. The dal should not be ground finely. Grinding them for 2-3 seconds yields a good texture.
   

   If the ground mix is watery, you may reduce the water by adding a teaspoon or two of besan flour. If the mix is still too thin, you may make usili instead of vadai by sauteing the ground mix in a nonstick pan with some oil till the mix becomes dry and powdery.

   
   
5. Mix the ground mixture, chopped onion, curry leaves, coriander leaves & other powders together. Make equal sized balls & flatten them & fry the vadais in hot oil. This recipe yields 20 vadais.
   

   Vadai can be frozen for future use. Make the vadai as per the procedure & freeze them before frying them. Place the vadai 1/2 inch apart in a flat freezer safe box. Place a plastic wrap between each layer if two or more layers have to be added(see the picture below for reference). Freeze them flat. You may thaw the frozen vadai by placing them separately in a microwave safe plate & by microwaving them for 1-2 minutes followed by frying.

   
   

Plain Yogurt

Things required

• Milk - 1 quart
• Live culture - 1 tbspn
• Non fat dry milk powder - 1/2 cup (optional)
• Thermometer -(optional)
• Thermos box or Insulated bag needed during cold weather.

health tip

Yogurt is rich in Calcium, Vitamin B2, B12 & protein. Yogurt has a friendly bacteria Lactobacillus which helps to regulate the digestive system & boost the immune system. Daily consumption of 3 oz of yogurt helps to lower LDL(bad cholesterol) & increase HDL(good Cholesterol). It helps to prevent stomach ulcers & reduce the risk of colorectal(colon) cancer.

Homemade yogurt

method

Yogurt is a fermented dairy product made by adding bacterial culture into milk, which converts sugar(lactose) in the milk into lactic acid. Bacterial culture is derived from existing yogurt. It is important to change culture whenever the yogurt gives off smell or texture. Store bought non-fat plain yogurt can be used as culture. While selecting the store bought yogurt for culture look for the labels with active live culture. Leave the store bought yogurt overnight at room temperature to ferment the culture little more. During summer you can leave it out for 5-6 hours. The end product resembles the culture in taste & flavor. Good quality culture results in flavorful yogurt.

1. Bring the milk to rolling boil (around 220 degrees)in a stove top. Microwaving is not preferred because of its uneven heating. Boiling the milk prevents contamination. Adding dry milk powder yields thicker yogurt & increase the calcium level.
2. Let it cool to lukewarm(110 degrees Fahrenheit or 43 degree Celsius).
3. Pour the milk into a glass or a vessel & add the culture. Leave it overnight in a warm place(100 degree Fahrenheit or 38 degree Celsius). At winter time yogurt can be allowed to set in a thermos box or in an insulated bag. It can also be allowed to set in an oven by pre-heating the oven at 100 degrees. Do remember to turn the oven off after pre-heating. Leave the yogurt in warm oven for 7 -8 hours
4. At any time of the year it needs to be incubated at 100 degrees for not less than 7 hours. More than 7 hours of incubation yields thicker & sour yogurt. Taste the yogurt after 7 hours & refrigerate it if its done or leave it till it ferments to your desired taste.

Sour yogurt(fermented for 8 hours) is mixed with rice. Sweet yogurt(fermented for 7 hours) is mixed with fruits.

Adding the culture to milk when it is too hot(more than 110 degree) or too cold(below 100 degree) results in a slimy texture and will not allow the yogurt to set correctly. Extreme changes to temperature in the milk may also kill the bacteria in the culture.