Rice Uppma mix

Ingredients

• Parboiled rice - 4 cups
• Raw rice - 2 cups
• Toor dal - 1 cup
• Black pepper - 3 tspn
• Cumin seeds - 2 tspn

method

This mix comes in handy if you are in a hurry or if some unexpected guest arrives. Rice uppma is a fine dish but is always used as an emergency stop gap dish on most functions because of the ease of preparation of this dish. Making uppma with this mix doesn't require lot of skill or time. Although it takes 10 minutes to make the uppma, the mix takes 2-3 days to prepare because of the need to wash and dry the rice and dal (sun or air dried). This mix can be stored for months.

1. Wash the rice & dal separately & drain the water thoroughly.
2. Spread them in a towel separately & dry them out under sun if you live in a tropical region. Those who can not dry it out under sun can dry them inside the home by spreading it on a dining table & leave it till it gets completely dry. When you bite a grain or two of rice it should be hard just like the rice before washing. To achieve this level of dryness, you may need to use an even to dry the rice and dal further for few more minutes at the minimum temperature setting. Please use a cookie sheet to dry them in the oven. Keep an eye on the rice so that it does not puff up.
3. Grind them separately in a blender to a coarse powder (coarser than rava).
4. Grind the pepper & cumin together into a coarse powder. Mix them all together & store them in a dry place.

   You may mix the ground rice & dal powder together and run them through a sieve to eliminate any finely ground particles. The powder has to be coarse and not too fine for the uppma to come out good.

   
   

Stuffed Eggplant Curry

Ingredients

• Purple eggplant - 10
• Large onion - 1
• Garlic pods - 4
• Chilli powder - 3/4 tspn
• Coriander powder - 3/4 tspn
• Cumin powder - 1/4 tspn
• methi powder - 1/4 tspn
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn
• Salt - 1 tspn
• Jaggery 1 tspn
• Tamarind paste - 1 tspn
• Roasted peanuts - 1/4 cup

health tip

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

Stuffed Eggplant Curry

method

This is a tangy & spicy dish. The eggplants are quartered, stuffed & cooked in tamarind juice. The very look of it will make you drool. This recipe is in response to the Vegetable Marathon Eggplant event. For this recipe you will need fresh baby purple eggplant with no bruises. This dish goes well with rice & Paruppu masiyal (Dal).

1. Dry roast the peanuts & let it cool.
2. Heat a teaspoon of oil in a kadai & saute the diced onion & garlic till they become tender or translucent. Let them cool. When cooled, grind into a fine paste adding roasted groundnuts, all the powders & salt.
3. Wash & cut the eggplants. Cut them from bottom halfway through top with the stem intact.
4. Stuff the eggplants with the ground paste. Keep the remaining paste aside.

Eggplant gets oxidized & turns brown when exposed to air. To prevent this soak the sliced eggplant in water till it is ready to cook.

5. In a kadai heat some oil & season it with cumin seeds & curry leaves. Add the stuffed eggplants & remaining paste with a cup of water. Cover the kadai & cook the eggplants turning from time to time not to let the bottom burn.
6. When the eggplants are 3/4th cooked add the tamarind paste & jaggery with another cup of water. Taste it & add salt if needed. Cover the pan & cook them till completely soft. Garnish it with coriander leaves & serve with rice.
   

Vathal Kuzhambu

Ingredients

• For grinding
• Coriander seeds - 1 tspns
• Toor dal - 1 tspn
• Channa dal - 1 tspn
• Urad dal - 1 tspn
• Rice - 1 tspn
• Dry red chilli - 4nos
• Methi - 1/4 tsp
• Pepper corn - 1/2 tspn
• Jeera - 1 tspn
• Onion - 5 nos small 0r 1/2 medium
• Garlic - 3 flakes
• Coconut - 3 pieces
• For Sauteing
• Small onion - 5 or 1/2 medium
• Tomato - 1
• mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
• urad dal - 1/2 tsp
• tamarind paste - 1/2 tspn
• curry leaves - 1 sprig
• salt to taste
• Sesame oil - 1/4 cup

Vathal Kuzhambu

method

1. Roast all the ingredients given for grinding.
2. Grind the roasted ingredients to a fine paste when cooled.
3. Soak Mango & Eggplant vadagams (if you have any) in water for 30 minutes. You will be adding them directly to the Kuzhambu in the last step of this recipe.
4. Fry the vathals (vadagams) like Sundakkai, Manathakkali, Vengya vadagam, Okra etc in some oil. Adding more than 5-6 sundakkai is not recommended since it gives the kuzhambu a bitter taste.
5. Heat some oil in a kadai & season it with mustard, urad dhal & curry leaves. Add the chopped onions & tomatoes & saute it with some salt.
6. When the tomato gets mushy, add the ground masala.
   

   Black eyed bean can also be used. Cook the bean & add it to the kuzhambu along with vathals.

7. Saute the masala with 1/4 tspn of turmeric powder for 3-4 mins & add some water. Add tamarind paste along with 1/4 tspn of jaggery. Mix in the soaked & fried vathals. Cover the kadai with lid & let it boil till the soaked vathals are cooked.
8. This recipe serves 4 - 6 people. This Kuzhambu recipe is little milder. You may add one more chilli or some chilli powder if you prefer it spicier.
   

Whipping Egg whites

1. Egg whites are easier to separate when the eggs are cold.
2.  Wipe down your mixing bowl & beater with white vinegar to ensure that they are free of any lingering traces of oil or grease that could prevent egg whites from whipping up properly. The acid in the vinegar also negates the need for cream of tarter, so if your recipe calls for it, you can leave it.
3. Avoid using aluminum bowls & tools because any acid you add to whites to increase the stability will react with aluminum & turns egg whites gray. Never use cold bowls, as chilled egg whites will take longer time to reach full volume.
4. Egg whites expand up to 8 time in volume, So a mixing bowl accordingly.
5. Egg whites can be beaten to 3 stages. First level is Soft peak. It barley holds the shape. The peak flop over immediately when the beaters are lifted. Second stage is Medium peak. At this stage the whites holds their shape well, but the tip of the peak curls over itself when the beaters are lifted. Third stage is stiff peak. As the name says the peak stands straight.

6. Over beating the whites beyond the third stage results in dry & stiff whipped eggs, which will certainly collapse when heat is applied.
7. When the recipe calls for folding other ingredients after whipping, it is better to fold them using a wire  whisk than using a plastic or metal spatula.  Spatula will put weight on the whipped whites, making them to loose their volume.

Banana Walnut Cake

Ingredients

• All-purpose flour - 1 cup
• Walnuts, chopped - 1/2 cup
• Banana, skin peeled, and ripe fruit mashed smoothly - 1
• Sugar - 1/4 cup
• Vegetable oil - 4 tablespoon
• Baking powder and orange extract - 1 tspn each
• Milk if needed-1/4 cup

health tip

Banana is packed with lot of minerals especially potassium which lowers blood pressure. Walnuts are rich in omega-3 which is good for heart.

banana walnut cake

method

This cake was due for a very long time. Every time I try to make this cake I will run out of one or more ingredients. Most of the time the missing ingredient would be banana without which I would not do any justice to this recipe. After a very long time, I got hold of all the necessary ingredients & successfully baked this low fat delicious banana cake.

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Make sure the baking powder is well blended with other ingredients. In another bowl add the vegetable oil, orange extract & peeled banana & mash the banana finely using potato masher or by hand.
2. Mix the wet ingredients along with the dry ones. If the dough looks stiff add 1/4 cup of milk.
3. Pour the mixture into a greased baking pan.
4. Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees & bake the cake mixture for about 30 - 45 minutes. Check if the cake is done by inserting a toothpick on it to see if it comes out clean. If the toothpick comes out clean the cake is done. If not, you will have to bake for few more minutes. Once the cake is done, take it out of the oven & let it cool in a cooling rack.
   

   This cake can also be made into muffins. You will need to fill 3/4th of the muffin cups & bake them. It is a wholesome breakfast filled with fruits & nuts.

   
   

Simple tips to get professional cleaning look

Chrome Faucets
Clean the faucet with home made all purpose cleaner & then wipe it with rubbing alcohol. Rubbing alcohol removes the hard water deposits & make the chrome faucet gleaming like new at no time. For touch job, wipe it two or three times or till the deposit dislodges. You can get rubbing alcohol from the pharmacy section of any grocery store.
Mirror
Wipe it of with wet newspaper, then buff it with dry newspaper.Microfiber cloth does the job too.
For Glass doors & windows
Mix 1 part of white vinegar with 4 parts of water in a spray bottle. Spray it on the glass to be cleaned & wipe it off.
For greasy microwave
Heat a cup water & add a teaspoon of White vinegar & 1/4 tspn of soap. Wipe the microwave inside out while the mixture is still warm. Wipe them again with a towel rinsed in cold water.
For stove top
For greasy stove top you can use the above mixture & wipe them up while the mixture is still warm.
Base board
To remove the dust from baseboard wipe them with dry microfiber towel. It picks up all the dust.
Stain around the drain stopper 
Wet a old rag with 1 part vinegar &1 part water.  Layer the rag around the stained area. Leave it there overnight. Rub it vigorously using a nylon brush in the morning & wash it thoroughly. Always check the homemade cleaners in an inconspicuous area before trying it somewhere.

Cabbage kottu

When we were newly weds, my Hubby used to describe the recipes he made during his bachelor life. I thought he was a much better cook than me back then :-). One of the dishes that he makes is kootu & he completes the dish by mixing ground coconut & cumin seeds. However, when I make the same dish, I neither do the grinding nor add the coconut & this makes the dish taste very normal. But, when I want to make it really special, I would make it like him by adding ground coconut & cumin to the final dish. He really loves all kinds of dish as long as they have coconut on it. You can try this recipe to enhance your ordinary kootu dish into an extraordinary one.

Ingredients
Chopped Cabbage - 2 cup
Chopped Onion - 1 small
Green chillies - 2
Coconut - 3 piece
Cumin seeds - 1/4 tspn
Channa Dhal - Less than 1/4 cup
Cumin seeds,Urad dhal & curry leaves for seasoning.

Method
Slit one green chilli from bottom halfway to top. Add the chopped cabbage, onion, washed channa dhal & and the slit green chilli along with water ( around 1/4 - 1/2cup) in a cooking vessel. Let it cook with the lid closed. Mix them from time to time to make sure it doesn't get burned at the bottom. Add some more water if it is evaporated. Let it cook till the channa dhal & cabbage gets cooked. In the meantime when the veggies are cooking grind the coconut, 1/4 tspn cumin seeds & the remaining one green chilli into a fine paste. When the veggies are cooked, add the ground paste & salt. Let it cook for 5 more minutes & season it with the seasonings in some oil. Using little bit of ghee along with oil for seasoning also gives a nice flavor.