Pulikachal | Puliyodarai /Puliyogare /Tamarind Rice Mix | How to make Tamarind Rice or Pulisaadham

Fond memories are associated with Puliyodarai for me. Picnics with cousins, school tour to amusement parks, ngo outings to tribal villages and so on... Whenever I tell amma that I will be going out for a day long outing, she generally makes me some puliyodarai or thayir saadam with a simple potato roast to take along. And after all that fun, laughter and some body pain, sitting together for a hearty lunch with your favorite food duo peeking out of your tiffin box ~ ah how I want to re-visit my childhood days.

I still remember the days when I traveled to my native village for our school holidays. My aunt makes puliyodarai, wrap it up in individual parcels in banana leaves {if not, its finally ends up in sibling war} and then uncle takes us with him to tend the goats in the greenlands. We play all day long while he takes care of the goats and when its time for lunch, we run to the good ol' neem tree's shade, sweating like anything and even that simple tamarind rice seemed like biryani for us...

Its been a long time since I made, rather say had tamarind rice and in fact I had no intention of making this. During my pregnancy I was advised to take as little amount of tamarind that I could and thats been continuing till date. This infact was made by my MIL for my sister-in-law. She's in her second trimster and still doesn't step into the kitchen and so MIL made some homemade thokkus for her. Again doctor's advise and so she left the pack of tamarind preserve and I grabbed it. It comes so much in handy on lazy days and am so asking her to make another batch.

~*What U Need*~ Tamarind/Puli - 1 lemon sized ball Turmeric - 1/4 tsp Hing or Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp Jaggery - 1 small marble sized piece Curry leaves - 1 sprig Peanuts - 1 handful To Temper: Mustard seeds - 1 tbsp Red chillies - 5-6 Urad dhal - 4 tbsp Channa Dhal - 3 tbsp Hing or Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp Curry leaves - 2 sprig Sesame oil - 5 tbsp To Roast and grind: Channa dhal - 2 tbsp Red chillies - 4 Fenugreek seeds/vendhayam - 3/4 tsp Urad dal - 1 tsp Peppercorns - 1 tsp

How I Made it:
Soak tamarind in half cup warm water for half an hour and extract juice. Set aside. Roast all ingredients give under 'to roast' to golden brown and powder it, set aside. In a kadai, heat oil and temper with the given ingredients. Then add tamarind extract, turmeric, salt, curry leaves and hing. Add enough water, the mixture be of rasam consistency. Boil for 15-20 mins, till it reduces to half. Add the jaggery and the ground masala powder. Boil till you get a thick paste and the oil separates. Roast the peanuts in more oil and add this to tamarind mixture. Remove from flame. Cool down and store in a clean container.

To make puliyodarai, cook desired amount of rice. In a kadai, add 2 tsps of sesame oil. Add the desired amount of pulikachal and fry for few seconds. Add the cooked rice and mix gently till the rice grains are evenly coated. Add salt if only needed.

** My Notes:
** The pulikaichal can be stored for 20-30 days in the fridge. But always use a clean dry spoon.
** Sesame oil is the best to use when making tamarind rice but if you want u can use vegetable oil too.
** If you are carrying the rice for a train journey or a long day trip, then cool the rice completely before mixing.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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Strawberry Curd & Nutella Strawberry Curd Brushcetta

I have a thing with fruit curds, I love them, I drool over them when I see them popping across blogs but I have never tried them. Its nothing but fear ~ fear that the curd might get scrambled. Am never fast, you know and so continuous whisking is never my league. Another reason, standing in front of the stove for a continuous 15 mins is never my kid's thing. He hates it, literally and he starts wailing by the 5th minute. And so I never attempted making a fruit curd.

Now if I had the nerve to try any fruit curd then it would have been a sensational orange curd. But see what I have done here, strawberry curd ~ till date I have never browsed for anything of this genre. But the 4 mini-cartons of strawberry that I had purchased during my last week grocery shopping were starting to wilt (okay, I am a mad strawberry picker, I accept that fact ;)) and amma was yelling of getting bored with the tall glasses of berry smoothies that I have been throwing at her every morning in the name of healthy breakfast smoothies.

And so I set to make strawberry jam over the weekend. Midway chopping, amma peeked into the kitchen and when I told her that a jam was in the making, there she was with her don't-you-ever-use-so-much-sugar tantrum. And so I had to come up with a preserve that uses minimal sugar but can sit in the fridge for a minimum of 1 week. That was when the 'curd' idea came up and I started browsing for recipes. Every single recipe that I came across made a big batch of curd and what I was looking for was a tester. So after going through this and predominantly this here I am with my version of strawberry curd. It was sweet but not overpoweringly sweet and the strawberry flavor was just there. I tried them on toasts, butter croissants but I loved the nutella bruschetta the most.

~*What U Need*~ Strawberries - 1 cup, chopped Sugar - 2 tbsps Egg yolk - 1, medium Water - 1 tbsp Butter - 2 tbsp Lemon juice - 1 tsp(optional)

How I Made it:
In a bowl, add the chopped strawberries and 1 tbsp sugar and set aside for 15 mins. Puree it and strain to remove the seeds.

In a small saucepan, add the strawberry puree and 1 tbsp water. Over medium heat, allow to cook till mushy and soft, about 10 minutes. Add the remaining sugar and butter and stir till melted, remove from heat.

In a wide bowl, whisk the egg yolk till smooth. Add 1 tbsp of the hot strawberry mixture and whisk to temper the egg. Add the remaining mixture and whisk till smooth.

In a double boiler, cook till the curd thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon, about 10 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and pour curd into a clean jar. Let cool, then cover and chill.

Serve with toasted french bread or hot croissants or simple toasts.

** My Notes:
** It will keep in the fridge for a few weeks.
** This makes around 3/4th cup of curd
** The recipe can be easily doubled for a larger batch.
** I skipped the lemon juice.

Nuttella Strawberry curd bruschetta ~ its simple, you dont need a recipe for this. Slice a french baguette as desired, toast with some butter, smear nutella as needed, top with strawberry curd and slices of banana. Serve!!!

So thats it Folks...
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PB&J muffins | Wholewheat Peanut Butter & Jam muffins | Breakfast muffins

A generous slather of Peanut butter in one slice, a dollop of fruit jam on another slice, an optional smear(not in my case) of nutella, a few slices of banana slid in between, bread buttered and toasted to perfection is what I call a tummy-satisfying breakfast. Though it never makes for a guilt free indulgence, I love to have once in a month and mostly on Fridays - a celebration that the week is coming to an end, a celebration that its gonna be late night sleeping and late morning waking up for the next two days. Whenever I make this for myself, Mr.A opts for a simple cereal breakfast. Says even seeing me taking bites of this calorie-ladden sandwich is enough to make him go full in the tummy. That is how I love PB&J sandwiches.

I wanted to feed this awesome combo to DH just so that he could get the hang of it and that is when I started searching for recipes which incorporate these two ingredients into one awesome recipe. The recipe search led to Google throwing leads to PB&J muffins or cupcakes and following them led me to make these for our breakfast. One thing that I like about breakfast muffins is that you can make them the previous night, chuck it into the fridge and you don't have to break your head over what has to be done for BF.

I wanted to make these on the healthier side as Mr.A is calorie conscious at-times and so I used whole wheat flour. That made the muffins on the heavier and chewier side and so do-not forget to pour milk into your favorite mug before grabbing a muffin. I split it, toasted it slightly, smeared some more jam and served it for breakfast. The salty peanut butter complemented well with the sweet jam and HE loved it.

~*What U Need*~ Whole wheat flour - 3/4 cup All purpose flour - 1/4 cup Peanut butter - 3/8 cup Honey - 2 tbsp Egg - 1 Oil - 2 tbsp Milk - 1/2 cup Sugar - 2-3 tbsp Baking powder - 1 tsp Salt - a pinch Mixed fruit jam - 2 tbsp or more

How I Made it:
Preheat oven to 175C. Line a muffin pan with liners. Whisk dry ingredients in a bowl. Stir peanut butter and honey till smooth.

Add oil, sugar, egg, and milk and whisk till well blended.

Combine peanut butter mixture with dry ingredients, stir just until moistened. Using an icecream scoop, fill muffin cups till 1/3 full. Spoon 1 tsp jam in centre of each. Top with batter. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Place pan on wire rack to cool, about 5 minutes. Remove muffins to rack and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes.

Enjoy with more jam and a cup of milk.

** My Notes:
** I used smooth PB. But you can use chunky too.
** If you are not a peanut butter girl like me then use nutella.
** These are low fat and using whole wheat makes them on the heavy side.
** These make great breakfast muffins.
** U colud use homemade strawberry preserve too.

So thats it Folks...
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Thakkali Thokku / Tomato Thokku / Spicy Tomato Preserve

Spicy but tangy at the same time, Thakkali thokku has become a favorite among the family. Every other week, I make it a point to buy about 1 kg tomato, and prepare thokku out of the whole lot. And yes, the pickle gets over within two weeks. Thanks to 'A', he prefers this thokku to the regular chutneys these days. Now that is good with me as I donot need to take the pain of making a chutney for dosas or idlis. Also days when I am late from office and by late I mean after 10, I need not panic over what needs to be served for dinner.

Rather I can come home to hot dosas and tangy accompaniments and finally a satisfied tummy. Its such a versatile spread, I have even tried it with breads and the tanginess pairs beautifully leaving you salivate for more. This is for you if you are lazy like me, a handy preserve in days of chaos over what needs to be done for dinner.

~*What U Need*~ Tomatoes(Bangalore variety) - 5, large Red chilli powder - 1 tsp Sambhar Powder - 1 tsp Turmeric powder - a big pinch Salt - to taste Jaggery - a small piece Fenugreek powder - 1/2 tsp To temper: Gingelly oil - 3 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Curry leaves - 2 sprigs Hing powder - a pinch Garlic cloves - 5

How I made it:
If not having fenugreek powder, dry roast fenugreek seeds till golden brown and powder it. Wash the tomatoes and chop finely. Heat a heavy bottomed pan with oil and add mustard, curry leaves, asafoetida and crushed garlic cloves and fry. Add the chopped tomatoes.

Add the spice powders and salt. Stir well and cook in medium low for 5-8 minutes , till the tomatoes start leaving water. Add the jaggery and fenugreek seeds powder and mix well. Cook till the oil starts oozing out and the mixture is reduced. Cool down. Store in airtight container and refrigerate.

Serve as sides for dosas or curd rice.

Serve as sides for dosas or curd rice.

** My Notes:
** Use Bangalore variety tomatoes, the country are so tart and using them will result in a very tangy-tart preserve.
** Always use gingelly oil as it gives the needed flavor.
** Add more oil as that helps in keeping it good for days.
** Always use a clean dry spoon to scoop the thokku.

So thats it Folks...
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Amla / Gooseberry Lemonade & Amla Lemon Syrup

Amla a.k.a gooseberry is one heck of a fruit. With its bizzare taste, this is one fruit that is loved by many Indians. That being said, it finds it way into many Indian kitchens to be flavored, pickled and enjoyed. Yes, Amla pickles is one of the common sides that goes well with curd rice / sambhar rice. I have amlas only to enjoy the after-taste that comes when you have a gulp of water after eating one. A sweet lingering taste which I enjoy everytime when I have one.

The huss loves amla and so whenever we go grocery shopping he picks a bunch of them and chucks them into the fruit bowl of the fridge and there they would lay till they rot. Only buying is his habit. He never haves them unless I shove them down his throat... So finally I end up de-seeding, blending them with some chilled water and serving it as a chiller with honey as the sweetener... a healthy thirst quencher. I made this squash when the huss turned up with two dozen of amlas. The reason that he stated was they were fresh, round and juicy, I could not stop with one. So I added some freshly squeezed lemon juice and made a syrup out of it. This comes in as a handy squash when you have surprise guests at home.

~*What U Need*~ Amla / Gooseberry - 10 Lemon juice - 1/4 cup Sugar - 3/4 - 1 cup Water - 1/2 cup Salt - a dash

How I Made it:
De-seed the amla. Pulse it with some water till smooth and the juices have separated as shown below.

Strain and separate the juice. Add sugar with water and boil till sugar is dissolved and you get one-string consistency.

Add the lemon juice and mix well. Next add the amla juice. Mix well, cool down and store in bottles.

When serving, pour the concentrate to 1/4th of the glass, top with water, add ice cubes and serve.

Healthy and refreshing chiller!!! This is a good way to add amla in kids diet.

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Mango Squash & Home Made Mango Cooler

Its been a long time since I had any store bought juice / soft drinks. There were times when I used to pick a 1.5 litre pack of frooti whenever I went grocery shopping. I was such a fan of that drink. But then pregnancy set in and I was forbid from having any sodas/coolers and gradually I started detesting them. Courtesy... articles telling flies and pesticides found in all these drinks. Thanks to 'A' he has also joined me and together we have sent the habit flying out of the windows. And now thanks to blogging I have come across quite many 'preserve' posts and that led me to me making homemade mango squash.

Home-made fresh mango squash with no added preservatives...

When I handed over a glass of the cooler to the huss, he gave me a stare and asked me when I got Frooti from the market. So when I explained him that it was homemade, he was taken back and came over for another glass. The squash lasted only for 3 days in our case and hence I am not sure of the shelf life of the small batch.

A glass of homemade mango cooler

This is a very handy preserve when you get surprise visitors. Also you can use this as topping for ur ice-creams / cakes / fruit salad / anything that needs a fruity topping as I did in my Mango Choco-Chunk Cake(recipe coming soon).
Since I made this in a small quantity, I skipped adding the preservative and replaced the citric acid with lemon juice. But if you need to make a big batch, hop over to Nit's Mango Mood.

~*What U Need*~ Mango pulp - 1 cup Water - 1 cup Sugar - 1.5 cup Lemon juice - 1 tsp

How I made it:
Peel and chop mangoes. Blend it into a smooth mixture.
Add the sugar, lemon juice and water in a pan and heat until the sugar dissolves and you see bubbles coming up.
Bring the sugar syrup to room temperature and then mix the mango pulp with this until you get an even and smooth mixture.
Now pour the squash into an air-tight container and refrigerate until use.
Homemade Mango squash is ready.

To serve, fill 1/3rd of the serving glass with mango squash and remaining with water. Combine well and serve chilled topped with ice cubes.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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Karuveppilai Podi / Curry leaves powder

Can you believe that I need to pay to buy curry leaves at my place. The flavorful leaves which once we got free when buying vegetables from the market is Re.1 per bunch. But what dish will be yummy and aromatic without adding curry leaves, so left with no other option but to buy some, I got a big bunch of curry leaves. Due to increasing temperatures, the leaves started drying. I didn't want to waste them and hence was asking ideas to the huss on what to make out of the whole lot. He came up with "Why not try karuveppilai podi? U can use it many ways, side dish for idlis /dosas, karuveppilai saadam, or you can even add in dishes to enhance the flavor." I tried it with a small batch and now am on my way to make a bigger one ;)

~*What U Need*~
Curry Leaves - 1 cup(packed)
Urad dal - 1/8 cup
Channa dal - 1 tbsp
Dry red chilli - 2
Garlic - 1 clove
Salt - to taste

How I Made it:
Wash curry leaves to remove dirt and dry them completely. Dry roast curry leaves till they are crisp and you get a nice aroma. Alternatively you can allow it to dry under shade for 4-5 days. Next dry roast channa dal, urad dal and dry red chilli till golden brown. Remove and allow to cool. Roast garlic also.

In a mixie, first add curry leaves and grind for 2 mins followed by remaining ingredients and grind to a coarse powder. Add salt and chopped garlic. Continue grinding till well combined. Store it in air tight container.

Serve with idly/dosa or make flavorful karuveppilai saadam.

Sending this to Gimme Green held at Chef Al Dente



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